And To Beat A Dead Horse, One Of The Points That I Stressed In My Video Essay Is That: The Existence

And to beat a dead horse, one of the points that I stressed in my video essay is that: the existence of a “happy ever after” for Elisabeth and Death RIDICULES Elisabeth’s refusal to succumb to her suicidal thoughts.

If there exist a happy ending, then logically, Elisabeth should have no fear in accepting Death’s invitation (to kill herself). And when she does, she is framed as foolish and stubborn. Which is NOT a good look.

I can’t say original Viennese production is avidly anti-suicide, but you are meant to root for Elisabeth when she does refuse Death. It’s portrayed as triumphant moments. Because Elisabeth and the audience share an unspoken understanding that there is no “after.” Death is NOT a solution to problems, just an end.

By making Death’s “happy ever after” a SOLUTION to Elisabeth’s life problems, it is sending an extremely problematic message, one that shamelessly glamorizes suicide.

Society has moved past the need for "together in the afterlife<33" endings to Elisabeth. Like, if that's your takeaway, why would you produce the show oabfösbgödlf

It's not a story about love, it's a twisted mockery of a love story. Lucheni's narration - because it was always supposed to be that and only that!!!! He is not an objective source of information and that is 900% the point!! - uses the conventions of a love story to make a point. Seeing what happens should horrify the audience, and if it doesnt horrify the audience, the audience should think about it a bit and be horrified upon realising that they've been made to root for something horrible (a relationship that kills and destroys) and possibly even find it sweet or comforting. Goes for Elisatod and Todolf both. Lucheni makes a big old romance or seduction narrative - something we're societally wired to enjoy and root for - stand for a lifelong fascination with death. He's the OG romanticiser. But, at the end, it doesn't work if the audience isn't shown the tangible effects and end results of that narrative, which to me are

Elisabeth's cruelty, bitterness and brokenness throughout act 2 and how she TANGIBLY harms other people in the course of her pursuit of freedom (this could also start in act 1 already, with Milch). In this we can root for her, but the audience should never forget the price paid. It's not that she's evil - far from it - we should almost see her selfishness as the only coping mechanism she has in her situation and be drawn to deeply understand and care for her and hope against hope that she'll reach happiness somehow. Which makes it even more tragic that it does still harm others, and EVEN MORE tragic, awful and uncomfortable that happiness slips from her grasp and she's literally joyful that she's DYING

Elisabeth's death as a "ruined" ending to the show. There's a kiss and the music swells triumphantly, still in keeping with Lucheni's pretense that this is a grand love story, but the audience should be left feeling empty and horrified after it ends. I don't care if it's bad for marketing ajfkdkkf. Tod should PUT HER ON THE FLOOR or otherwise show that after the charade is over, she's dead and her imaginary boyfriend can't save her or accompany her because he's an empty husk that doesn't exist unless she's there to imagine him - or, if Tod is a more real figure, that he doesn't care, or can't care. He cares during her life because she pertains to his fate-assigned task, but afterwards, there's literally no way for him to and no reason to. She's gone to a place he can never know about or follow her to. Or he's just done. I think it's a very grave mistake when the show is directed to have a genuinely triumphant-seeming ending. Death is not REALLY happiness, death is not really freedom, even though Lucheni spends the entire show gaslighting us to think that. If Elisabeth has a happy ending, it becomes a show that legit encourages suicide in a way that no amount of todolf flirting or Mayerling kissing can. (I see people wonder about whether todolf romanticises suicide, but in staged productions, it literally never does. It can't, because Tod never is outright tender with Rudolf, or is implied to stay with Rudolf after Mayerling. At least in European prods - idk if this happens in some of the Asian prods, I don't watch them because I don't like what I've seen of the way zuka, toho or koreabeth are directed ajdkkdkf. I can't believe homophobia is protecting todolf from the romanticisation treatment but I think it is 💀).

Overall.......... like, vbw please, less KKOG and more alle fragen sind gestellt. If you want a sparkly elegant princess love story with lots of drama, banger music and don't mind if there's no actual criticism or metacommentary, just go watch Anastasia 💀 (i mean that one does also have historical criticism, but it's just COMMUNISM BAD, aristocracy GOOD lol. Ajdkkdfb if Elisabeth was written by Lucheni, Anastasia was written by dowager empress Maria Feodorovna lmao)

My obsession with profoundly indescribable relationships, whether it be friendship, romance, queerplatonicism or symbolic, can be traced back to my early fascination in the Robin x Raven ship in OG Teen Titans cartoon. In other words, Robin x Raven is why I’m so into Elisabeth das Musical. In this essay, I will-

Right??? Who is he? Is this why he tends to date fellow vigilantes and superheroes? Because he doesn’t have a life outside of it??? WHO IS THIS MAN???

What are Dick's hobbies in Canon? What does he like to do outside of being Nightwing? I don't know to much about him beside his general personality.

Yes

When Elainna was younger, her father used to tell her about her mother.

Shawn Tsang, the woman who looked Nightwing in the face and left. Shawn Tsang, the woman who Dick Grayson had come back to in the wake of his injuries.

Shawn Tsang, the woman who had died in a simple but violent crime. The likes of which Batwoman could have prevented. Could have saved her from.

Elainna likes to think her mother would be proud of her, now, even though Nightwing hurt her and Elainna's father more than anything else ever could.

Because Batwoman is... she is something. She is not quite the kindness that her father tells her of. She is not a tribute to Shawn Tsang the Defacer or Shawn Tsang the helper. She is something almost all Elainna's own.

And, maybe, she is something Shawn Tsang could have loved.

He is always so funny

My favorite is: “Me? Domesticated papa? If I have to deal with a newborn, I’d rather grab a missile and implode. Disgusting! I feel sick!”

Like mood

happy birthday major babygirl! here's a personal list of favorite moments

The Shawn Tsang arc isn’t just important because of the pregnancy scare subplot (which I also love because it’s so personal and intimate). It’s also in how Shawn and Dick are both crucial to each other’s growth.

Like obviously for Shawn, her teenage encounter with him sparks in her the sense that her anger could be redirected to a better cause. But throughout the coverage of the Run-Offs and the subsequent events, Shawn presents a flaw in Nightwing/Dick’s philosophy. He has a psychological reason to fear anger and try to suppress it. But the way he almost demonizes it, to the point of fearing that their children will be angry like Shawn, is frankly a bias.

Because not only has Shawn NOT done anything harmful and destructive in that arc, her anger is actually an agent to push for change. She’s angered by how children from certain communities are treated so she opens a non-profit philanthropic center to help them. She’s angered by the prejudice towards former criminals (who really didn’t commit that heinous a crime) so she helps them deal with their past and settle into a new life. Because anger is NOT inherently bad. Anger means they care. Anger pushed for change. Changes that are systematic and long-term and not just “beating up one alien villain and saving the Earth THIS TIME.”

That’s why I think Shawn and Dick are so complementary to each other’s character arcs because Shawn has to learn to accept but also regulate her emotions and Dick has to learn that the world has never been and can never be black and white, and there are changes that needs to be done that he can’t do just by donning tights and a mask. That only ANGER can do. I wanted them to fight more. I wanted them to argue and then try to see it through the other’s eyes. I want them to hold onto the intensity of their relationship. But the comic gave them up. So I gave up on the comic.

🔥 + Shawn

my actually-unpopular opinion here is i think shawn tsang might be the best written love interest dick has ever had, and that their relationship would be a better endgame for him than dickbabs or dickkory

shawn’s redemption and growth from her teen-self is a really really cool backstory. it exemplifies nightwing's whole batman-but-better deal. she forces dick to face his biases in a way that helps him grow as a character, and it’s clear that more planning than just “we need a love interest” went into her character design

that's something i think it'd be nice for a defacer solo series to explore—how she transitions from kid-villain to adult-hero, with or without nightwing’s support

i also think shawn’s presence in nightwing let dick be an adult in ways he isn’t usually able to. it’s not just getting older and having a job, but also the change in maturity—the concept of dick thinking about kids Right Now As Nightwing rather than in a future timeline or an elseworld. god. that’s so cool <3 and it works so well with damian because there’s so much conflict and so many feelings and i just. <3333

behold, an image with no cisgender heterosexual explanation