Vick || they/them || 20s
extremely normal about caves
currently descending into dragon age madness
---
big fan of rocks, birds and other creatures, music, languages
opera enjoyer (go listen to reri grist and grace bumbry and olga borodina)
I queue a lot of things but don't have a queue tag
---
feel free to dm/ask for discord!
---
icon: dragon age inquisition tarot card for lavellan hunter
header: the sun and moon and five peaks (night) by kate oh
title: from "non rifugiarti nell'ombra" by eugenio montale
#opera - for more general opera posts, specific operas will usually get tagged with their name
#weh und wunden - stuff related to healthcare (in the middle of a strange and unexpected possible career pivot but we persevere) (tag not only for career stuff)
#da - catchall dragon age tag (used to use dao, da2, dai, dragon age)
dragon age worldstates:
worldstate 1 (one must imagine sisyphus happy):
#seredaposting - warden sereda aeducan
rogue, romanced leliana, crowned bhelen in orzammar and anora in ferelden, executed loghain, did morrigan's ritual, still alive in DAI
#margaretposting - margaret hawke
mage, purple, romanced isabela for a while but ended up with anders (unfortunately), left anders alive, did not get trapped in the fade 🎉
#iscaposting - inquisitor isca lavellan
warrior with templar specialization and two-handed weapons, had alistair stay in the fade, allied with both mages and templars, drank from the well of sorrows, romanced blackwall and solas (thank you MRM), dissolved the inquisition, wants to save solas
#tamsenposting - tamsen "rook" ingellvar
mourn watch mage, mainly orb/dagger combat (hasn't specialized yet), probably will romance davrin or harding, saved treviso
worldstate 2 (mages can't catch a break):
#edwenaposting - warden edwena cousland
warrior with berserker specialization and weapon/shield, turned over fereldan circle for annulment, probably going to romance zevran
leliana's arc from origins to dai is genuinely interesting (not the unpopular opinion part) but her becoming divine should be the culmination of her corruption arc tbh. leliana as divine should have uncomfortable consequences regardless of whether or not she ends up hardened. that's her nightmare ending. that's a tragedy.
i'm fine w morrigan being a gender locked romance in origins bc her arc is to me abt the horror of quite literally compulsory heterosexuality. would have been cool for her to come out aveline-style in witch hunt to torment me specifically tho.
the thing i hate abt theatre rn and i feel this way abt a lot of institutions (and datv tbh) is that everybody wants authenticity and nobody actually wants to be authentic. for some reason it's an unpopular opinion to say 'i think you should have a clear set of goals abt how you want to be a part of your community and make art that supports those goals.'
ppl are so, so scared that audiences will never come back the way they were before march of 2020, and that is genuinely just so fucking ridiculous, bc ppl are starved for meaning. stop advertising, stop marketing, and start DOING THINGS THAT ARE WORTH ADVERTISING AND MARKETING.
Oghren: Well, here we are, elf. The homeland of your people.
Zevran: I am from Antiva, Oghren. I don't go into forests as a rule.
Oghren: Huh, I thought you elves were all from the woods. With the flowers and the wind and what-not.
Zevran: The Dalish perhaps. Most of us were born with a roof over our head.
Oghren: Then why the sod do we keep hearing about elves frolicking in the thicket and nug-spew like that?
Zevran: Could it be that Orzammar's archives aren't the most accurate authority on elves?
Oghren: Heh. Orzammar's archives are hardly an authority on Orzammar's archives.
Zevran: I'm just cheered by the thought that you might have picked up a book at some point.
Oghren: Heh. It had pictures. Dirty ones.
Zevran: (Sighs) Well, naturally.
i love this bc oghren is supposed to be this gross old man here — and he is — but he holds his own against the guy who uses 'be inappropriately sexual until the other person leaves you alone' tack constantly. and also bc zevran is so snobby. i'm from ANTIVA. i had a roof over my head. you don't KNOW ME. wow can't believe you read.
and also sort of endearingly twelve-year-old-y to go nuh-uh!!! and in the process fling out some collateral damage: i'm not uncultured and DALISH any more than i'm uncultured and dwarven! i just tried to run away to a dalish clan and got rejected and i have zero lingering feelings abt that and also?? i hate the outdoors. and i don't have to tell anybody abt my mom unless i'm trying to persuade them not to kill me bc they feel sorry for me — oghren is NOT allowed to feel sorry for him and also NOT allowed to look down on him or lump him in w anyone who might warrant sympathy or pity and also btw if anyone even cares nothing oghren said actually surprised him. of course it was a book w dirty pictures. fork found in kitchen. SO.
Watching and listening to opera, even if there's no opera house near you, is more accessible than you might expect. I post a fortnightly list of upcoming opera video streams, but that focuses on newly-available content. There's much more to see beyond that.
Below the cut is an extensive but non-comprehensive list of resources for watching and listening to opera all over the world. Many of these streams are free, others are available on a rental or subscription basis. English captions are available unless otherwise specified.
Opera on Video for Free
Operavision: Weekly free streams of new or recent opera productions, which then remain available for 6 months. They broadcast a mix of the classic and the new, the traditional and the regie. Occasionally, the weekly production will be an operetta, ballet, or a singing competition.
Arte: An arts channel with wide-ranging and thoughtful taste. What's available depends heavily on where you are. There are always a few operas available worldwide, but those with European IP addresses will have a wider selection.
Wiener Staatsoper Streaming: Free streams, available globally, from one of the world's best-regarded opera houses. Not every production is streamed, but a lot of the hot tickets are. After each stream, the VOD is available for 3 days. Multiple caption languages available.
Operastreaming.com: A project of the theatres of the Emilia-Romagna region in Italy, focusing on Italian rep. Expect lots of Verdi. Streams remain available for 6 months.
Müpa Home: Free opera broadcasts, usually in concert format, several times a year, in the mix with classical, folk, and pop programming. Captions are usually Hungarian-only.
Bayerische Staatsoper TV: A rotating archive of performances from this top-tier house, with about one new live opera stream each season.
Atlanta Opera Film Studio: A small archive, free with registration for live events, from the award-winning regional company. For archive access, you can subscribe.
Operaonvideo.com used to be a priceless resource, but now video links are available to donors only. However, the site can still be used to find out which productions may have clips or full recordings available.
And never discount the devoted curatorial efforts of opera queens.
Opera at the Cinema
The Met's Live in HD broadcasts reach cinemas globally, usually with encore performances after the live event. During intermissions, you can see interviews with the performers and behind-the-scenes features. In the US, tickets are around $25. To locate a participating movie theater, use the Met's Theater Finder tool.
The Royal Ballet & Opera also broadcasts to cinemas around the world (though, notably, not in the US and Canada). Their program includes ballet broadcasts. Tickets in the UK are around £22 but vary by theatre.
The Opéra de Paris's cinema showings are available in a much more limited area - only France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Switzerland. Like the RBO, they also offer ballet. Tickets at Pathé cinemas are around €19, but will vary elsewhere.
All the above houses also offer a streaming service - speaking of:
Rentals & Subscription Services
Medici: A streamer with extensive opera, classical, ballet, and jazz performances. A solid bet if you're looking for the great 20th century divas like Callas, but there's a wide range of dates and styles. It's subscription-based, but many local, academic, and national libraries across the world subscribe, so it's worth checking to see if you already have free access. Some summer festival streams are free to all.
The Met Opera On Demand: A remarkably comprehensive archive of the Met's work, including all Live in HD broadcasts (posted after a delay). Some audio recordings go back to the 1950s. You can subscribe monthly, or rent operas individually at around $5 USD.
Stage+: The streaming service of classical music label Deutsche Grammophon, so it's not exclusively opera. Great for Wagner fans as there are multiple Ring Cycles available, including the Chéreau. Some Met broadcasts, too. Expect a focus on singers signed to DG.
Paris Opéra Play: Several operas stream live each season, plus there's a growing archive of past recordings. Ballet, too. Captions are in French and English. Subscriptions are around €10/month (half-off if you're 28 or younger) and rentals are €15.
Glyndebourne Encore: A very fine collection of recordings from the English summer festival. Unmatched for English-language rep. Slow to update, but the good stuff is very good indeed. Subscriptions and rentals available.
MyOpera by Teatro Real: streams and archives from Madrid's Teatro Real, plus other performances licensed from other houses. For new recordings, it can take a while for the date of the performance to be confirmed or the video to be posted.
Mezzo: A broadcast TV channel, but there is a streaming component for subscribers. Available mostly in Europe, East Asia, and a good number of African countries. Content often overlaps with Medici and focuses on European houses.
Marquee: Arts streamer that also carries theatre, ballet and jazz programming. Not a massive selection - mostly very popular titles, but a couple of deep cuts for good measure. (Great destination for Shakespeare fans, though)
A number of opera houses also have their own streaming services; some with archives, some without. They include La Scala in Milan, Gran Teatre Liceu in Barcelona (the only service with Catalan captions), the Royal Opera in London, Malmö Opera, and San Francisco Opera.
Radio/Audio
Queer opera zine Parterre maintains a useful list of upcoming audio broadcasts on its front page, with the opportunity to chat with other users.
The Metropolitan Opera frequently streams live audio from weekday performances on their website. They also have a Saturday matinee radio program, which goes out to a long list of partner stations all over the world. Perhaps the most globally-accessible way to experience opera. (Additionally, there is their extensive archive of live audio recordings on the Met Opera on Demand service, noted above).
Stage+, as noted above, is part of Deutsche Grammophon, and as such has a large catalogue of albums from DG's long recording history.
Public radio organizations in the US typically have a designated opera slot on their classical stations, often matching/alternating with the Met matinee slot - try WQXR in NYC. Among European radio broadcasters there are many high quality stations, including France Musique, Berlin's Radio 3, Munich's BR Klassik and BBC Radio 3.
(small note that this is a shortcut that is more abt style and ease than anatomical accuracy. it helps to take time to really properly study hands, makes it easier to bend the rules a bit like this and have it still look good!!)
"If you meant what you said Alistair, then swear on the divine. 'Tis not often you get to be in her presence"
"I- It's- You never stopped being mean, do you?"
I try to always think of the flow of the legs in relation to the overall posture, so getting those curves and straights into play is really handy.
I've added an extra colored line here (the green one) that I tend to do with poses that are leaning heavily, so the line of action becomes more clear and less broken up by the hip. This works best for standing poses (and is obviously not anatomically correct, it's just my preferred way of drawing bodies).
In sitting poses, the straights help to emphasize contact with the ground.
wait have you guys heard about alastair parker (blackwall va) playing hades in hadestown on the west end. please tell me you've heard about that and if not i have some bootleg audio for you here (via @/dykeghasts on twitter)
