Strazalin: Our Last Summer, The Ravenloft/ABBA Jukebox Musical
This started as a joke, but now I think it’s pretty great…So I curated a playlist of all ABBA songs which I felt really embodied the story told in I, Strahd: The War Against Azalin by P.J. Elrod. This turned into a pretty great jukebox musical for Ravenloft, and so I’ve written out this analysis. I think this is better than Mamma Mia, so take that as you will. There’s a way that ABBA speaks to Ravenloft like no other musical group will do. Most of this playlist are songs from Strahd’s perspective which is most of the novel too. So here are my ramblings, and there’s a link at the bottom to go follow the playlist on Spotify if interested.
Act 1
1. Our Last Summer - Our story begins with Strahd von Zarovich reminiscing about the time he’s spent with Azalin over the past few summers (many years of summers in fact). There’s a montage of scenes as a preview to the rest of our story. Alternate: Our story begins with Strahd von Zarovich reminiscing about the time he’s spent with his lover, Alek Gwylim, and his obsession, Tatyana and her reincarnations. He is ultimately oblivious to the impending War about to be.
2. Watch Out - Strahd meets the Zarovan tribe. In a meeting with Madam Eva, Strahd is warned to watch out for the Necromancer who he is destined to go to war with. (The Necromancer turns out to be Azal’lan.)
3. Arrival - Firan Zal’honan arrives in Barovia from the Mists. Bagpipes are in the background - Strahd mentions bagpipes like once in this book, so it fits.
4. The Day Before You Came - Strahd reflects on his normal routine the day before Azalin came into his life stirring up all kinds of chaos.
5. I’ve Been Waiting for You - Strahd has been waiting for The Necromancer for a long time. Suddenly, he finds him.
6. I Have a Dream - Both Strahd and Azalin join forces with the common goal, or dream, of breaking free of the Dark Powers control and out of the Mists back to the material plane.
7. I Let the Music Speak - More like, I let the magic speak. This song starts the tale of Azalin tutoring Strahd in magic. Side note but also Strahd keeps mentioning Azalin not being one for music. Strahd is a music man and plays the organ. This song slaps so gotta do it.
8. When I Kissed the Teacher - So…Strahd is engaged with his tutor.
9. Andante, Andante - See the above. Also, “please don’t let me down” is his way of saying don’t betray me even though it is inevitable. Just think about it.
10. Knowing Me, Knowing You - Inevitably, Strahd and Azalin split. Azalin moves to the tower renovated by Van Richten in 5e. They know each other well to know they can never really live without being in fear that one would destroy the other.
11. Me and I - While trying to break free, Strahd’s personality splits apart in Mordent. His two personalities sing this one.
12. Two For the Price of One - Again a play on Strahd’s two personalities. Azalin handles Strahd putting him back together again.
13. When All is Said and Done - Strahd wakes up in Barovia a while later unaware of what happened and that his personalities split. In the crystal ball he finds Azalin in a domain of his own, Darkon. They have biting words. This tension marks the end of Act 1.
[End of Act 1]
Act 2
14. The Name of the Game - Strahd wonders what the game with Azalin is all for. What is the name of the game? This opens Act 2. This tension is the key aspect of Act 2.
15. I’m a Marionette - This song can be used in reference to many different apprentices of Azalin including my PC in CoS. Since he cannot master new magic, he is forced to use others to master what he cannot. These apprentices are usually subject to Azalin’s mental games and manipulation making them a marionette. Strahd was also one as Azalin curse Strahd in order not to put the big picture/dots together. This is the name of the game.
16. Rock Me - Azalin and Strahd chat escalating to Azalin challenging Strahd to a war between their domains.
17. Soldiers - It’s war. Soldiers sing the song that neither dark lord will knowing that neither can see battle due to being stuck in their own domains.
18. The Winner Take It All - Strahd singing The Winner Takes it All is all I’ve ever wanted, but ultimately, Azalin is the better ruler and has a victory over Strahd in the sense that Strahd will always view Azalin with fear.
19. One of Us - This song is sung by both Azalin and Strahd missing each other in their domains. The loneliness of being a Dark Lord I suppose.
20. Move On - Eventually, Strahd and Azalin just move on from war. It’s just not worth it. Not until Strahd is more creative in his approach to battle with Azalin.
21. So Long - I final fuck you to Strahd from Azalin.
22. As Good As New - Azalin and Strahd’s relationship has never been better than being out of war and being separated.
23. The Way Old Friends Do - Azalin and Strahd are old friends. “And after fights and words of violence, we make up with each other - the way old friends do.”
[End of Act 2]
And that’s the show! The War Against Azalin really slaps, so I would recommend also picking up the book for spicy content (and also listening to it with your Strahd cardboard cutout if you’re like me and @sapphogothicc. Here’s a link to the playlist:
Loki scenes with an ABBA a song in the background (I just really love ABBA music, don't judge me, I am brainrotring both and Lokius and their songs and this is the result, this post is very stupid).
Imagine the possibilities:
"Dancing Queen" with people fighting in a room with psychedelic lights.
"Mamma mia (here we go again)" when they visiting in a moment from Loki's past (especially if Loki himself is fighting, at the time of Thor the Dark World or the first Thor movie, I'd say).
"Waterloo" when they are trying to stop Lady Loki from reset bombing a particular time, with the lyrics "And I have met my destiny in quite a similar way/ The history book on the shelf/ is always repeating itself" go in the background. (In alternative, to Lokius shipper, it would be a perfect song for Loki and Mobius, trust me, go listen to it if you don't know it).
"Money, money, money" showing a timeline in which a character has reached peak of success (like that scene in the trailer when Loki is near that Asgardian-like throne).
"Super Trouper" can be used to emphasise any epic moment, but I'd suggest a moment in which there is a great explosion/light for some reason, so you can really grasp the the lyrics of "Super Trouper, lights are gonna blond me"
"Take a chance on me" with Loki saying to Mobius one last time he can trust him, and proceeds to do something incredible and absolutely crazy but, for some reasons, it works.
"Does your mother know?" would be perfect to Loki disguising himself and tricking various people while they think they have everything under control. I think it really incarnates the cocky attitude "Nah, you can't play me. When the going gets tough, the tough get going, so you'd better go back play with dolls."
"SOS" while Mobius and Loki finally admits in someway (not explicitly) they are friends/they care for eachothers, you know, helping eachothers in battle or something like that (or, if you ship Lokius, when they declare to eachothers, but still not explicitely). Or, in alternative, if Loki is fighting alone and then Mobius (and eventually the rest of the Minutemen) come to help him.
"Lay all your love on me" is the song I'd use as the background to an apocalypse, heck, I'd listen to that song during an apocalypse.
I know this is pretty useless, I might delete it, I just like ABBA songs a bit too much, maybe.
literally there is nothing i love more in the world than doing little mundane activities with people like cleaning my room while my friend sits on the bed and we gossip together or going grocery shopping or showing someone clothes i’ve bought or cooking while i sit on the countertop and we sing badly. actually like never mind post canceled because i think i just described intimacy and domestic life with another person that’s literally it . that’s what i crave. pat of butter seeking her hot knife here!!!!!!
They’re finally here – made to order pride socks, straight from my Etsy shop! Link in bio; if you have any questions feel free to comment or message me 🤟
[ID: Distracted boyfriend meme. A man, labelled “dating”, is distracted by a woman, labelled “carbon”, while his girlfriend, labelled “romantic”, is annoyed with him. End ID]
Aroace culture is feeling like allos’ experience of gender is tied to their sexuality/romantic orientation, and wondering if you feel out-of-place in both male and female spaces bc you’re genderqueer or because you can’t relate to something their lives seem to revolve around. To me the cultural ideas around gender seem to be influenced a lot by attraction, and that’s not something I can understand, so I don’t really get why gender is a thing? Cishets are so confusing
This ASAW, I'd like to make a quick post talking about queerplatonic relationships and why the term is used, as many people mistakenly believe it's a useless synonym for friends.
To start, the "queer" in "queerplatonic" is not the same as queer as in LGBT+. Queer here is referring to strangeness; to how these kinds of relationships are outside the norm. And that's the point, really – queerplatonic relationships are relationships that do not fit into the expectations for platonic and romantic relationships, thus "queering the platonic." You don't have to be queer as in LGBT+ to use the term "queerplatonic," because the term does not inherently have anything to do with whether a person using it is LGBT+.
The term is, however, inherently connected to the aro community, because it originated from there. Those who do not experience romantic attraction and thus are less likely to enter romantic relationships decided they needed a term to describe their relationships that are different from typical romantic ones but are also different from typical friendships. Overtime, it also spread to ace spaces, and today is used regardless of sexual or romantic orientation.
Going back for a minute to explain this concept better – what do I mean when I say "queering the platonic" or "not fitting into the expectations for platonic and romantic relationships?" Well...
Doing traditionally romantic things (such as cuddling, kissing, or going on dates) with someone you have a platonic bond with.
Living together/sharing taxes, getting married/raising children/etc with other typical adult things with someone you have a platonic bond with.
Having multiple consensual relationships.
And more examples that I can't think of as of right now.
Oftentimes, mentions of these sorts of things in queerplatonic relationships is met with "But friends can do all those things!" and, sure, but the question is not ability. It's normality.
Is it normal to see two friends getting married platonically? If I went to a school and took a survey, could I expect at least a few students to say their parents are not romantically involved? Can I walk over to the romance section of my local bookstore and see a good selection of polyamorous representation and have that be the usual sight on a trip to that store?
No, no, and no.
These things are not normalized. That is why we have queerplatonic, because to have strong bonds that are not strictly romantic and monogamous yet involve activities that are commonly considered to occur in romantic relationships are not normalized, or even considered acceptable by some people.
Yeah, sure, queerplatonic partners can be friends. They can have a strictly platonic bond. They don't have to use this term to describe their relationship.
But I'm not seeing any stories at my local bookstore about someone deciding to move across the ocean and live with someone they do not want to be romantically involved in while also being in a romantic polyamorous relationship with several other people (aka what I want to do with my life).
That's why we use queerplatonic.
Tl;dr: Queerplatonic relationships are not about whether the people in them are LGBT+ or if the relationship is both non-romantic and non-platonic; they're about if a relationship goes against amatonormativity and relationship norms.
This has been a PSA. Go support queerplatonic relationships.
