❧ “In the darkness of the mystery which surrounds the fate of these innocent children it is with poignant emotion that I recall them as they appeared, so full of life and joy, in those distant, yet incredibly near, days before the World War and the downfall of Imperial Russia.”
❧ “Olga was perhaps the cleverest of them all, her mind being so quick to grasp ideas, so absorbent of knowledge that she learned almost without application or close study. Her chief characteristics, I should say, were a strong will and a singularly straightfor, ward habit of thought and action.”
❧ “Tatiana was almost a perfect reincarnation of her mother. Taller and slenderer than her sisters, she had the soft, refined features and the gentle, reserved manners of her English ancestry. Kindly and sympathetic of disposition, she displayed towards her younger sisters and her brother such a protecting spirit that they, in fun, nicknamed her "the governess."
❧ “Marie had splendid eyes and rose-red cheeks. She was inclined to be stout and she had rather thick lips which detracted a little from her beauty. Marie had a naturally sweet disposition and a very good mind.”
❧ “Anastasia, a sharp and clever child, was a very monkey for jokes, some of them at times almost too practical for the enjoyment of others. I remember once when the family was in their Polish estate in winter the children were amusing themselves at snowballing. The imp which sometimes seemed to possess Anastasia led her to throw a stone rolled in a snowball straight at her dearly loved sister Tatiana. The missile struck the poor girl fairly in the face with such force that she fell senseless to the ground. The grief and horror of Anastasia lasted for many days and permanently cured her of her worst propensities to practical jokes.”
- Anna Vyrubova (friend and personal confidante of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna)
There's like a 90% chance this will not make sense to anyone else but let me indulge in a little autistic crackposting abt Fall Out Boy for a second
I genuinely love the use of violins/classical instruments in Folie and the way it contrasts with their use in SMFS. Like in Folie, their inclusion gives it a sense of discordance, almost desperation. "I am ripping everything apart and trying everything in my power to get through to you, to get my head above water, to scream for help. This is so far out of left field but I don't feel like I have any other options left." But in SMFS, they almost feel like they're doing the exact opposite. "I am staring down at the pieces of the mess I've made and gingerly sewing it back together. I'm trying to soothe the chaos and rawness and show you that even when things seem so far gone, they can always be reeled in and thrown a life raft." It's just. Idk. Something about the musical similarities being used to create polar opposite emotional states gets me. "I was not ok, and expressing that in the only way I knew how, but I can take that and put myself back together again in the same way I tore myself apart."