#tzipporah in general???

[actuallyfingolfin]

completely unrelated to the stuff i normally post on this blog BUT there’s a prince of egypt musical and i am 100% obsessed with it

#prince of egypt musical #cw religion #just to be safe #my post #nolo.txt #like #the way they do the burning bush???????? THE HARMONIES??? THE OMINOUS ECHO?? THE WAY ITS A CALLBACK TO DELIVER US??? S U P E R B #also luke brady is a fantastic moses #also-also the footprints in the sand callback during the act 2 finale??? #tzipporah in general??? #the plagues!!!! #i'm going to be incoherent about this for weeks guys

[bestanimatedmovie]

Choose your favorite!

Vote in the other polls!

What fans say:

Beauty and the Beast:

This is the only animated film ever to be nominated for regular best-picture*. It literally is responsible for the creation of the best-animated-feature category. It was Howard Ashman’s last work and his biggest passion project, and I would argue that there’s a strong reading of the film as a metaphor about the stigma and shame of aides and Visual Queerness that Ashman was experiencing at the time. It’s also one of the best works of hand animation that’s ever been committed to film before or since. In the ballroom scene you can watch the dynamic camera angles they move through and the way that all those ruffles on Bell’s dress swirl so perfectly and naturally. That shit is so complicated, most animators wouldn’t even bother, but it was all hand-drawn(!!), cell-by-cell by James Baxter, yet another absolute titan of the industry that had his hands on this film.**

Soundtrack fucks and the animation pussy is poppin

*Mod note: it was the first but two others have been nominated since (Up and Toy Story 3)

**Mod note 2: I'm leaving the videos for next round, but because submitter wrote so much about the scene, I'll leave the link here

The Prince of Egypt:

First of all, don't let the fact that it's a religious film put you off, because there is SO much to love about it. Gorgeous animation? Check. Amazing soundtrack (composed by Hans Zimmer)? Check. Wonderful scene composition? Check. A compelling take on the classic religious story that does much to humanize and expound on the characters in a way that brings them to life? Check. Powerful scenes that will take your breath away and can be appreciated regardless of whether you're religious or not? Check. Dreamworks' passion project at the time with a lot of obvious effort and love poured into it through all stages of the production process? Check. The Prince of Egypt has done so much to rewire the brains of 2-3 generations of children who grew up in religious families, myself included, and damn it all if it doesn't go hard with it. Vote for the Prince of Egypt.

The animation is GORGEOUS! The music is FANTASTIC! It makes you want to CRY!

The first time I watched it, the opening theme was playing ("Deliver Us") and I realized it was the first time I'd ever heard my culture's music in a major film. Also, the animation is simply beautiful.

It's a thoughtful adaptation of one of mankind's oldest stories. The music slaps.

The music? The script? The animation? Everything? How they blended the 2D and the CGI, how they animated the water and fire, the songs, the 3D sequence where Moses becomes a hieroglyphic carving on the wall, the imagery matching the gods invoked in "Playing with the big boys" sequence, the last plague being animated as mist that gets bigger the more lives it takes, how they managed to make the featureless desert SO pretty, the parting of the red sea animation that took 2 years to make (and looks amazing!), how it's a very respectful adaptation of (the first part of) the book of Exodus, how they managed to have ALL the people consulted for its religious importance agreed on at least one thing (Moses saving a random person rather than Miriam), Tzipporah (all of her), how Miriam has her timbrel on her last scene (and it's even Miriam's song playing!), how they researched how blood was slathered on the doorposts (hyssop) and how the script on the tablets for the 10 commandments would look, how it doesn't shy away from the blood and death. That part on the bridge of When you believe where the children start singing in Hebrew (Mi chamocha)? 11/10, no notes, fantastic, amazing, showstopper!

It's the only religious movie I've ever enjoyed. The creators consulted with multiple leaders of different religions to make sure it was as accurate and representative as possible

It's a well knwon classic that tells the story of the Exodus without being fucking boring and has legendary songs. Literally it's the Prince of Egypt. My favorite scene is the one where he parts the sea obv

The perfect storytelling structure, the voice acting, how you can tell what a character is thinking by their facial expressions alone (not everything must be said aloud), how very much HUMAN each character is, the use of color and lighting, the music and incredible lyrics, the style of animation...favorite scene impossible to choose! Yocheved's lullaby when she sets him adrift in a basket? When Moses meets Miriam again as adults, and she sings the lullaby, the same lullaby he always hums, triggering his memories and causing him to remember? The song Through Heaven's Eyes as he fits in with Tzipporah's people and falls in love with her? The PLAGUES?! Btw. This is based on the Exodus story with artistic liberation used to stay true to the message, but you can be of any faith (or lack of faith; I myself am agnostic) to enjoy the movie. In the end, it is simply a compelling ans human story.

That opening, god the song “deliver us” goes so hard it immediately hooked me. The scene of crossing the red sea is universally loved and iconic because of how beautiful it is but the rest of the movie goes so hard too, especially with the wall paintings depicting children being killed like.

I love the scene with the plagues song

Oh my god it's such a gorgeous film and a wonderful retelling oh my god and the music is also amazing

Banger music. Banger animation. Jewish. What can't she do? I feel so strongly about this.

Combined 2D animation with early 3D animation beautifully, and has an amazing soundtrack. Also the Plagues song slaps.

#Beauty and the Beast #The Prince of Egypt #best animated movie #round 2 #tournament poll #tumblr's favorite

[slyandthefamilybook]

I saw your appreciation post for Jews who change their names to make them pronounceable for goyim, and I was wondering if you have any advice for how to correctly pronounce Hebrew names for people who aren’t used to them?

sure no problem

I guess the first place I would start is the vowels. Hebrew doesn't have all the vowels that English has, and has some that English doesn't. The pronunciation varies by region, but a general Ashkenazi style follows:

Patach (common English transliteration: ah) (IPA: ä)

Kamatz (common English transliteration: uh or o) (IPA: ɔ)

Chirik (common English transliteration: ee) (IPA: i)

Segol (common English transliteration: eh) (IPA: ɛ)

Shva (common English transliteration: ih) (IPA: ɪ)

Tzere (common English transliteration: ey) (IPA: eɪ)

Shuruk (common English transliteration: oo) (IPA: u)

Cholam (common English transliteration: oh) (IPA: oʊ)

(there are more vowels but we don't need to get into them rn)

The other thing is that each vowel is pronounced individually (the only diphthongs are eye (IPA: aɪ) and ooy (IPA: uɪ), but the second is not used commonly in names). So Eliezer is eh-lee-eh-zehr, not eh-lie-zur. Occasionally names will have an apostrophe to separate vowels to make this easier, like Ya'akov (yah-ah-kohv) or Me'ira (meh-ee-rah).

Hebrew also has some consonants that can be hard for goyim, most notably tzaddi and khaf/khet. Tzaddi makes a ts sound like at the end of quartz, but will often come at the beginning of a name like Tzipporah (tzih-poh-rah, not tizz-pour-uh). Khet and khaf make the sound ch as in loch (they're technically two different sounds but I don't want to complicate things). Think of the sound you make when you have a hair stuck in your throat and you're close. I believe the proper way to write this sound in English is kh, but it's usually written ch in names. So Chaim is khah-yim, not chaym or haym, and Yechezkel is yeh-khez-kel, not ye-chez-kul. If you can't make the sound substituting it with an aspirate (the h sound) is okay.

And that should be enough for a basic run-down. I don't want to get too deep in the weeds and if you do want to actually learn Hebrew there are much better resources. But there ya go

#ask #lifeandtimesoftrying

[tanakhsexywoman]

TANAKH SEXYWOMAN ULTIMATE POLL

You've asked for it, so here you have it! The Tanakh Sexywoman Tumblr poll. (not affiliated with Tanakhsexyman)

-The pairings have been randomly generated.

-Sexual assault victims like Tamar bat David and Dina are not included, because it teeters on victim-blaming to call them sexy, even in jest.

Round 1:

Deborah vs. Vashti

Batsheba vs. Serah daughter of Asher

Queen of Sheba vs. Sarah

Rahab vs. Jezebel

The anthropomorphized Jerusalem in Lamentations vs. Tzipporah

Jephthah's daughter vs. Whoever Song of Songs was written about

Eve vs. Pharaoh's daughter

Ruth vs. Potiphar's wife

Rachel vs. Huldah

Naomi vs. Abigail

Zelophehad's daughters vs. Tamar

Gomer vs. Jael

Hannah vs. Jochebed

Hagar vs. Delilah

The Witch of Endor vs. Queen Esther

Miriam vs. Abishag

*The polls will go live at 9:00 AM 2/8 EST*

Happy voting!

Round Two List

Round Three List

Semifinals

#jumblr #tanakhsexywoman

[cassiopeiacorvus]

HLAW 2024 DAY 5

Family/Friendship/Romance

tagging: @hanaleeappreciationweek, @lizzybeth1986, and @sazanes

As we all know, I'm Team Hanara for life, so here's my introduction for Hana and Kiara's three kids.

General Notes

All three kids call Hana “māmā” and Kiara “maman”.

They split their time between Castelsarreillan and Hana’s duchy Anthopolis.

I designed their personalities around the concept of the Freudian Trio where Jolie is the Id, Basim is the Ego, and Oswald is the Superego.

🤘🏽Oswald "Ozzy" Theron-Lee🤘🏽

BIRTHDAY: ♉ 07 MAY 2024

ENNEAGRAM: 1W9 Self-Preservation Instinct

MBTI: ISFP-T The Adventurer

NOTES

Had a goth phase in his teens where he went by “Oz”. Was confused about why Uncle Drake and Titi Tzipporah jokingly called him Ozzy Osbourne because he didn't initially know who that was.

His hobby is jewelry making. He started it out with simple embroidery bracelets but has expanded to metalwork.

Will be the future Duke of Castelsarreillan after Kiara passes on the title to him.

🌻Jolie "Jojo" Theron-Lee🌻

BIRTHDAY: ♐ 15 DEC 2027

ENNEAGRAM: 7W8 Social Instinct

MBTI: ENTP-A The Debater

NOTES:

Is best friends with Liam and Tzipporah’s youngest daughter Corinne. It is an experience every time they're together.

Dyed her hair pink after she heard that Hana wanted to as a teen. Since then, she's experimented with every color under the sun.

When I initially designed her, she looked like a mini-Hana, but has now shifted to looking like a mini version of her grandfather Hakim.

🌊Basim "Bas" Theron-Lee🌊

BIRTHDAY: ♎ 25 SEP 2029

ENNEAGRAM: 9W8 Attraction Instinct

MBTI: ESFJ-A The Consul

NOTES:

Was given his name because he smiled a lot as a baby. Was humorously introduced as "our bouncing baby boy, Basim" by his mothers.

Shares Kiara’s love of languages. As he gets older, he starts collaborating on some of her translation projects.

Like water, he can be a tranquil lake or a raging ocean if you threaten him or his family.

#playchoices #the royal romance #hana lee #hanaleeappreciationweek #HLAW #HLAW Day 5 #cassiopeiacorvusdraws #cassi originals

[heavenboy09]

25 YEARS AGO TODAY

ON DECEMBER 18TH, 1998

THE VERY 1ST UNKNOWN ANIMATION STUDIOS TO MAKE HEAD WAY WITH THE BIGGEST ANIMATION STUDIOS OF ALL TIMES.   DISNEY

THEY FINALLY MADE THEIR MARK ON THE WORLD 🌎 ON THIS VERY DAY.

FROM DREAMWORKS PICTURES

& DREAMWORKS ANIMATION PRESENTS

1 OF THE GREATEST BIBLICAL & MUSICAL ANIMATED FILMS 🎥 OF ALL TIMES

BASED ON THE  BIBLICAL STORY  OF EXODUS

IN  ANCIENT EGYPT 🇪🇬, THE  ENSLAVED  HEBREW PEOPLE  PRAY TO GOD FOR DELIVERANCE. 

PHARAOH SETI , FEARING THAT THE GROWING NUMBERS OF HEBREWS COULD LEAD TO REBELLION, ORDERS A MASS  INFANTICIDE  OF ALL NEWBORN HEBREW BOYS. YOCHEVED AND HER CHILDREN, MIRIAM AND AARON, RUSH TO THE  NILE RIVER, WHERE SHE PLACES HER NEWBORN SON 👶 IN A BASKET 🧺 ON THE WATER 💧 , BIDDING HIM FAREWELL WITH A FINAL LULLABY.

MIRIAM FOLLOWS THE BASKET 🧺 AS IT FLOATS TO SETI'S PALACE AND WITNESSES HER BROTHER SAFELY ADOPTED BY SETI'S WIFE, QUEEN TUYA, WHO NAMES HIM

MOSES.

BEFORE LEAVING, MIRIAM PRAYS THAT MOSES WILL RETURN TO FREE THE HEBREWS .

YEARS LATER, MOSES AND HIS ADOPTIVE BROTHER RAMESES, HEIR TO THE THRONES OF EGYPT 🇪🇬

BOTH OUR DESTINED FOR SOMETHING BIG ON THE HORIZON

1 IS DESTINED TO BECOME A PHAROAH WHO WILL KEEP A TERRIBLE & LONG LASTING REIGN OF ENSLAVEMENT GOING FOR MANY GENERATIONS TO COME

1 IS DESTINED TO COME BACK YEARS LATER

& FIGHT FOR THE FREEDOM OF HIS PEOPLE

& DELIVER THEM TO A LAND FREE OF THE  TYRANNICAL OPPRESSION OF EGYPT 🇪🇬

BUT IN ORDER TO DO SO

THIS CHOSEN SON OF EGYPT 🇪🇬 BORN ON THE SLAVES

WILL RECEIVE A MESSAGE FROM THE CREATOR HIMSELF

FROM BURNING 🔥 BUSH 🌳 THAT MOSES LISTENED TO

FOR THE OCCURRENCE OF 40 DAYS

THIS DIVINE INTERVENTION WAS

THE POWER

& THE VOICE

OF

GOD ☁️

FOR MOSES

IS THAT CHOSEN ONE

& WITH THE POWER OF GOD'S HEAVENLY MIGHT ABSORBED INTO MOSES STAFF

HE SHALL DO

HIS WONDERS.......

IT'S TIME TO LET THE PEOPLE GO ....

DREAMWORKS PICTURES &

DREAMWORKS ANIMATION PRESENTS

DREAMWORKS 1ST ANIMATED FILM

AND ONE OF THE GREATEST ANIMATED FILMS OF ALL TIME.

THE POWER IS REAL

THE STORY IS FOREVER

THE TIME IS NOW

THE PRINCE 🤴🏾 OF EGYPT 🇪🇬

HAPPY 25TH ANNIVERSARY TO DREAMWORKS PICTURES & DREAMWORKS ANIMATION

THE PRINCE 🤴🏾 OF EGYPT 🇪🇬

YOU WILL BELIEVE IN MIRACLES ✨

#ThePrinceOfEgypt #DreamWorksPictures #DreamWorksAnimation #TheBookOfExodus #God #Moses #Rameses #Tzipporah #Miram #Aaron #Jethro #PharaohSeti #QueenTuya #TheTenCommandments #WhenYouBelieve

#The Prince Of Egypt #DreamWorks Pictures #DreamWorks Animation #The Book Of Exodus #God #Moses #the ten commandments #When You Believe #Spotify

[darkmasterofcupcakes]

So...am I a dummy for not realizing the reason Tzipporah was taken to Egypt in “Prince of Egypt” until I was well into adulthood? 

I know the most likely reason now, but for some reason, maybe because I’m asexual, I always just sort of assumed she was supposed to just be like...a general servant? Somehow I never realized that when Rameses said for her to be taken to Moses’s chamber, they meant his bed-chamber....or what that, or the fact that hearing that order is I think the only time Tzipporah actually looks scared (if only for a brief second) in that whole section. implied. 

#Prince of Egypt #Tzipporah

[simply-yelly2]

Holy cow, she looks like Tzipporah from the Prince of Egypt. Which is funny because that is my favorite movie and Tzipporah is my favorite character aside from Queen Tuya. However, it is not her at all.

Tagging @opal-tea and @justawfulxmenart as always for Kiesha'ra goodies.

This is Oliza. Not quite how I've always envisioned her, but I do like how she turned out. And there is a story to be told here.

So today was kind of a free day for my class and we got out crayons and paper for them to draw. Both I and my co-teacher decided to join them and just for fun I decided to draw Oliza. You might see traces of the crayon here and there, plus a contribution from one of my students in the form of a purple squiggle. I started out with crayon, but then decided to add marker (we have some special ones that I used for many of the details). I had wanted to use tan for her skin tone, since I do see Oliza with lighter skin, but I could not find a tan crayon and this one marker seemed promising (the swatch test up there).

Not the best, but I think you can make out the brows that are just like the ones I'd given Sisal.

For her outfit I gave her a simple dancer's costume, but I was going to make it purple. But then I thought about it. Plum is the color of mourning for the serpiente and it is a shade of purple, so I feel like purple in general is a color avoided unless mourning. I decided to go with green after a further debate.

Unlike Sive, Oliza is never described wearing jewelry, but I felt like she needed something and the one gold bangle is iconic because her daughter (Hai) has one. I then gave her a cobra bracelet, complete with red eyes to fit the Cobriana.

She also has her hair done up in a braid down her back. I mentioned on Sisal's picture that I imagine the Serpiente wear their hair loose for the most part, get some swishy action when dancing. But they will probably wear it up when serving in the army. The avians I feel put their hair up to keep it from blowing in their faces when flying and it kind of makes them look put together. I made the bands be silver since she is a member of royalty and can avoid precious metals, hence the gold on her arms and the silver in her hair.

I did not add any gold or red to her hair. I feel like that would be more of an effect on her snake/wyvern form. Kind of like an iridescent shimmer. In human form, Oliza has normal black hair like any member of the cobra royal family.

Hmm...I think this was a good try with what materials I had on hand. I will probably do a digital version since I now have my computer and also kind of have an idea on how she is going to look.

As for the character herself...I love Oliza, but she is a very complicated person for me. I will not say any more, except that Oliza in my rewrite is Bi. She is married to a man (Nicias), but has had relationships with men and women. Something that came to mind while at work is that maybe Avian does engage in a few relationships before being formally joined. Obviously, any kind of physical contact is not allowed, but you can offer flowers and poems.

Kind of a means for the young people to decide if they want to go through with the arrangement or not.

#kiesha'ra

[signed-sapphire]

The Fallen Star ✨

A Wish rewrite

Scrapped Act I— Prologue (comic)

Warnings: implied death, shitty picture quality I’m sorry the brush gets messed up when sending files over from my iPad

Masterpost | Next (coming soon, hopefully)

Sooooo I tried a comic? The monochrome coloring like C.A.S. is definitely easier, although this brush is screwed up when sending the files over from my iPad… will have to look into a different brush. But other than the terrible quality, I think it turned out pretty good?

I tried out a purple-toned line art color.. not sure if it works with the greyscale.

But I mean I definitely enjoyed it… I spent three hours hyper fixating on it today when I should’ve been studying….

Shit mate when I tell you Magnifico was HARD TO DRAW. Amaya was manageable bc I redesigned her a bit (Tzipporah was my first ever animated crush, LET ME SIMP) but Maggie…

I need some help redesigning him, btw! Any tips are appreciated, as well as any feedback in general about the whole thing. I’ve never done a comic before. It’s fun, though a LONG process

Also how tf do you draw a goat

#asha #princess asha #star x asha #disney wish #asha x star #the fallen star au #wish 2023 #human star #starsha #saph doodles #the fallen star comic #i guess? #should I continue this comic format or go back to writing and some doodles #now that the epilogue is out of the way the comic formatting will be a lot easier for me #or harder who knows #anyways #artists on tumblr #fan art #illustration #wish disney #wish star #wish #star wish #wish concept art

[experimentaldata]

Tagged by @momentofmemory to list my top 10 favorite female fictional characters 💙 what a difficult choice! There are so many awesome ladies. But I’ll try...in no particular order:

1. Kate Bishop, Hawkeye

Because...just look at this 😂😂😂

2. General Amaya, The Dragon Prince

I’m a simple woman. I see a badass girl in full armor, I stan her immediately.

3. Claire Temple, Daredevil TV series

I loved Dawson’s performance in the NMCU and I really wished we’d gotten to see more of her.

4. Riza Hawkeye, Fullmetal Alchemist/Brotherhood

I mean what more can you say.

5. Milla Donovan, Daredevil Comics

I just love how she is a capable, charming, and sexy woman who knows what she wants and gets it (for awhile, anyway) without having to be a Strong Female Lead™️. If that makes sense?

6. Tzipporah, The Prince Of Egypt

Tiny me watching this in elementary school thought she was, like, the coolest person ever haha.

7. Katara, Avatar the Last Airbender

There’s a lot of awesome ladies to pick from in this show, but Katara has some incredible character development so she gets the spotlight.

8. Meg Murray, A Wrinkle In Time

Ok don’t hate me but I actually haven’t watched any of the film adaptations of this book. However, Meg was my favorite female character growing up so she deserved a mention.

9. Pike Trickfoot, Critical Role

A multifaceted healer? One who is a genuinely good person without being (pardon the pun) holier-than-thou? Sign me up. Love how Ashely played this character.

10. Counselor Deanna Troi, Star Trek: The Next Generation

Fashion icon. Hair for days. The voice of reason and all around amazing woman. That is all.

Thanks Mem! Tagging @daughterofluthien @feenyxblue @darnitjack @empressportugoose and anyone else who wants to try :)

#this was fun #kate bishop #hawkeye #daredevil #claire temple #milla donovan #the prince of egypt #tzipporah #meg murry #awit #atla #katara #tdp #general amaya #deanna troi #star trek tng #fma:b #riza hawkeye #pike trickfoot #cr1 #image id in alt text

[themountainsays]

I was listening to the soundtrack of the prince of egypt and now i want to draw a frozen (ii) prince of egypt AU art thing for each song.

#frozen ii #prince of egypt au #elsamaren #Starring: Elsa as Moses Runeard as Ramses Anna as Miriam Iduna as Elsa's mom Honeymaren as Tzipporah Yelena as Tzipporah's dad #Idk i dont remember his name All is Found as the song Miriam sings to Moses in that one scene I love Arendelle as Egypt #and the Northuldra as the Hebrews. Of course it wouldn't a 1:1 AU but more of a story with the same general beats: child from #an opressed people being raised by the Royal family of the opressor discovering their heritage meeting their long lost sister and #dedicating their life to saving their people from the one they once called family.

[ifyouseekay468]

Ex christian culture is having a crush on either Esther (specifically from either vegitales or friends and heros), Jezebel (just in general), Tzipporah (from the prince of Egypt OBVIOUSLY), Potiphar’s wife (bonus points if it’s the Joseph Musical version), Mary Magdalen, Joan of Arc, and Bathsheba growing up without even KNOWING it

#okay to rb #tw religion #ex christian #lesbian #wlw #sapphic #lesbian culture #ex protestant #ex baptist #ex religious #blasphemy #am I the only one? #the prince of Egypt #joseph and the amazing technicolor dreamcoat #religious trauma #religious trauma syndrome

[hellzabeth]

i have opinions about The Prince of Egypt musical adaption and you’re going to listen to them: An Essay

So, quick disclaimer: The Prince of Egypt is one of my favourite movies of all time. The casting, the music, the animation, I think it’s one of the top-tier movies that have ever been made. I went into seeing the London West End production of PoE with a full expectation that nothing I saw on stage would ever live up to how much I love the movie. I was fully aware there are plenty of limitations to what can be shown live on a stage with human actors and props.

That being said, I was enormously disappointed with how the whole thing was handled.

The Good

Now before I launch into a whole tirade of what I didn’t like about the production, it does behoove me to say what I think they did do well. 


The casting of the role of Moses was done fantastically, as was Miriam, Tzipporah, and Yocheved. The swings and the ensemble were really engaged and well placed, going through lots of quick changes to go from Hebrews to Egyptians to Midianites and back.


The two Egyptian queens, wifes of Seti and Ramses, are actually given names, lines, and character beyond being simply tacked onto their respective kings. We get to see how they feel about the events happening around them, and there’s even a scene where Ramses meets his wife and courts her, whereas in the movie, she stands in the background and says nothing. This is one of the areas I was hoping the musical, which would naturally have a longer run-time, would expand on, and I was pleased to see the opportunity was taken.

Light projections on enormous curtains were used to very good effect, taking us instantly inside the walls of the palace and then out to the desert. 


Over all, the work was really put in to be engaging and emotional, and the orchestra really worked to deliver the right musical beats.


One of two stand out scenes as being done very well was the opening “Deliver Us”, which included a bone-chilling moment of Egyptians separating a mother and her baby, with her screams as she’s dragged off-stage, and the blood on the guard’s sword. It really brings home the fear as Yocheved tries to lead Aaron and Miriam to the river with her, not to mention Yocheved’s actress nailed the lullaby. 


The second was at the other end of the show, “When You Believe” was beautifully performed by the whole cast, though it was somewhat stunted by what came before...

The Bad

Oh boy.

So the main problem with this show is not the music, not the staging, not even that sometimes the ensemble was a little off-beat (the lai-lai-lai section in Though Heaven’s Eyes comes to mind). Any mistakes there can all be forgiven, since sometimes things just happen in live performance, someone’s a bit off or something’s just not possible to do on the budget allotted. 


The problem is in the script.

The Prince of Egypt movie is a story that stands not only on the shoulders of its fantastic music and visuals, but also on its emotive retelling and portrayal of the characters within - mainly Moses and Ramses. And while the stage musical does spend a lot of time with the two mains, it neglects two other, incredibly important characters.

Pharaoh Seti, and God. 


In the movie, Seti strikes an intimidating figure. He is old, hardened, and wise in the ways of ruling his kingdom - and is voiced by Patrick Stewart, who brings his A-game to the role. Both Moses and Ramses admire him and look up to him immensely as young men, and the relationship he has with both of them deeply informs their characters as the story progresses. It’s from Seti that Moses learns that taking responsibility for your actions is the respectable thing to do (and later, the true horror of having your idol turn out to be not what you think), and it’s from Seti that Ramses takes a huge inferiority complex.

There are two lines that Seti gets in the movie, one spoken to Moses, and one to Ramses. These two lines define Moses and Ramses’ actions later on in the story:

To Ramses - “One weak link can break the chain of a mighty dynasty!” To Moses - “Oh my son... they were only slaves.”

Guess which two lines are absent from the musical?

One Weak Link is turned into an upbeat song, rather than shouted at a terrified and cowed young Ramses. Instead of being openly a traumatic, internalised moment of negative character development for Ramses, it’s treated as a general philosophy that Seti passes down to his son. Instead of a judgement that is hung over Ramses’ head like a sword of Damocles, lingering in his mind through the whole story and coming up in a shouted argument with Moses later, it’s said and then moved on from. 


The “they were only slaves” comment, on the other hand, is absent entirely. This changes Moses’ relationship with Seti enormously, as well as his relationship with the Hebrew people. Upon finding the mural depicting the killing of the slave children, Moses is appropriately horrified, and Seti shows up to comfort him and defend his terrible actions. Moses leaves this interaction... and then sings about how this is indeed all he ever wanted! He has no moment of horrific realisation that his father thinks of the slaves as lesser, as lives that can be thrown away. This means that the scene where he kills the guard doesn’t lead into a discussion of morality with Ramses as he runs away, but rather Moses breaking down about his heritage as though it’s a negative, instead of something he’s realised is just as valuable as his life as an Egyptian. Instead of Moses being shown as having a strong moral core that protests against the idea of any life being lesser, he bemoans his Hebrew blood loudly, and makes little mention of the man he killed. His issue that causes him to run away is being adopted, rather than his guilt that he’s a murderer, and nothing Ramses can say will change it.

Later on, we don’t see Ramses express this opinion either (in the movie - M:”Seti’s hands bore the blood of thousands of children!” R:“Hah, slaves!” M:“My people!”) so it seems the core reasoning for the necessity of the extremes God had to go to in order to convince Ramses to let the Hebrews go is completely gone.

Which leads us into God Himself, as a character. 


God is a tricky topic in general. He is hard to talk about as a concept and as a character, and even harder to depict in a way that won’t offend someone. The Prince of Egypt movie always struck me as a very good depiction of the Old Testament God - vengeful and strong-willed, commanding and yet nurturing, capable of great mercy and great cruelty in one fell swoop. God is incredibly present in the story, a character in and of Himself, speaking with Moses rather than simply commanding him. The conversation at the Burning Bush is bone-chillingly beautiful. Moses is allowed to question, he’s allowed to enquire, he’s allowed to express how he feels about God’s choice, and God is given the chance to respond (and reprimand, and comfort).

In the musical, the Burning Bush scene lasts all of two minutes, during which God (the ensemble cast, acting as one moving flame, speaking in unison) monologues to Moses, and Moses is not given room to question, talk to, or build a relationship with God. Later on, once some of the plagues have gotten underway, Moses rails against God, flinches in his resolve, and tries to back out... and God says nothing. It’s Miriam and the spirit of Yocheved that convince Moses to keep going. As a character, God is nearly absent. Even when it comes to calling upon the Plagues, or parting the Red Sea, God’s voice is absent. Moses does not pray. He does not even use the staff that God encouraged him to pick up as a symbol of his becoming a shepherd of the Hebrews out of Egypt. 


It’s these little changes, these little absences of such vital lines and presences, that ends up changing the whole vibe of the show. Seti is more like a dad than an emotionally distant authority figure, and God is more like an emotionally distant authority figure than a character at all. Ultimately, the whole feeling that one is left with at the end…

The Ugly

… is that the script doesn’t like God, or religion in general.

A bold statement to make, considering the source material is one of the central biblical stories in EVERY Abrahamic religion. Moses as a figure is considered so important and close to god, that The Prince of Egypt, even with its sensitive portrayal, cannot be aired in a number of Islamic states, because it’s considered disrespectful to depict any of the prophets, especially an important one like Moses. Moses is arguably the MOST important prophet in the Jewish canon.

However, I haven’t highlighted one of the most noticeable script changes - the elevation of Hotep, the high priest, to main antagonist.

In the original movie, Hotep is a secondary villain, a crony to the Pharaohs, bumbling and snide and two-faced. He and his fellow priest Hoy are there primarily to juxtapose how charlatans can control power through flattery and slight of hand, reassuring Ramses that Moses’ miracles are merely magic the same as what they can do. They even get a whole villain song, “Playing With The Big Boys” which is a lovely deconstruction of lyrics vs visuals, where while the priests boast that their gods and magic are much more powerful, in the background the staff, transformed into a snake by god, devours and defeats the priests’ snake handily. The takeaway from the song is that God’s power is true, and doesn’t need theatrics.

It’s a good little nugget of wordless world building. And it is completely absent from the stage musical, with only a vague reference to the chant of all the gods names.

Hoy is gone, and Hotep is the only priest. He actively speaks out against the Pharaoh, boasts about having all the power, and is played as bombastic and proud. He’s a wildly different character, even threatening Ramses at one point. In the end, it’s shown that Ramses won’t let the Hebrews go not because he has inherited his father Seti’s cruel attitude towards the lives he considers beneath him, but because he is being actively bullied by the priest, and will lose his power and credibility if he doesn’t do as he’s told. Ramses is even given a whole song about how little power he really has. The script desperately wants us to feel sorry for Ramses’ position and hate the unrepentantly, cartoonishly evil priest.

That’s another matter as well - a LOT of time is dedicated to making the Egyptians more human and sympathetic, portraying them as largely ignorant of the suffering beneath them, rather than actively participating in slavery. Characters speak out of turn without regard for formality and class, even to the royal family. They are casual, chummy even. And this would be fine - in fact, it’s good to have that sort of third dimension to characters, even ones who are doing reprehensible things, to show the total normalcy and banality of evil - if it were not for the fact they still include a completely open-and-shut case of evil right next to them.

Hotep has no redeeming features. And on the other side, God is barely present, certainly not in a relatable context. Moses has several lines about how cruel and unnecessary God’s plagues are - and you know what, in this version, they are unnecessary! Ramses is not the stone-hearted ruler that his movie counterpart is, he has no baggage over being a potential failure, because it was never really given to him in the same way! By taking away Ramses’ threatening nature, numbers like the Plagues lose half their appeal, as the back-and-forth ‘you who I called brother’ lines between Moses and Ramses are completely absent. Moses is faithless, and is less torn between the horror of what he’s doing and the necessity of it for the freedom of his people, and more left scrabbling for meaning that he doesn’t find. And the only thing hanging over Ramses is Hotep nit-picking everything he does and threatening him, which is considerably less compelling than the script seems to think it is.

This is best exemplified at the end, when all the issues come to a head. The angel of Death comes and takes the Egyptian first borns (which was actually a well done scene), and the Hebrews leave to a rousing rendition of When You Believe. But then we cut to Ramses and Hotep, with Hotep openly threatening to revolt against the Pharaoh - whom was believed, especially by the priesthood, to be a living god! Hotep is so devoid of redeeming features he cannot even be trusted to stand by his beliefs! - unless Ramses agrees to chase after the Hebrews. Reluctantly, Ramses is badgered into the attempt.

Back with the Hebrews, Moses parts the Red Sea… not with his faith, not by praying to God for another miracle, not even by using his staff as in the most famous scene of the movie… but by holding out his hand and demanding the ‘magic’ work. Setting aside the disrespect of Abrahamic religions to call one of the most famous miracles “magic” (and my oh my, if there was a fundamentalist of any religion in the audience they might have gasped to hear it), it again belittles the work of God, and puts all the onus on Moses, not as a conduit for God’s work, but as the worker himself. Then, the Egyptians arrive in pursuit, lead by Hotep, not Ramses. Moses sends the Hebrews through first, lead by Miriam, and stays behind with Tzipporah… to offer his life in penance to Ramses! The script has completely stripped both Ramses and Moses of their convictions towards their causes, and Moses cannot even stand by his decision to lead his people.

Then, in a moment of jarring melodrama, Moses has a sudden vision that Ramses, his brother, will one day be called Ramses the Great (an actual historical Pharaoh who reigned 1279-1213 BCE). There is no historical evidence that this was the Ramses that ruled over the Hebrews (there are 11 Pharaohs called Ramses through the history of Ancient Egypt), and maybe if the scene was acted a little better, it wouldn’t have been so sudden or jarring. Even more jarring, is that then Hotep arrives with the rest of the army, and Ramses refuses to lead the charge into the parted sea. Hotep does so himself, and is the one to have the final dramatic moment, being crushed under the water.

The Takeaway

After watching the show, I’m afraid I could never recommend it as either a play, an adaption, or even as a faithful retelling of a bible story. Its character drama isn’t compelling enough to be good as a standalone play, with it two main characters declawed and their core motivations reduced to a squabble between brothers rather than a grand interplay between two cultures and ideas and trauma handed down from their father. As an adaption of the movie it’s upsettingly bad, with grand numbers like the Plagues rendered piecemeal and fan favourites like Playing With The Big Boys missing entirely. As a retelling of the bible story, it’s insulting, completely cutting God out of the equation, taking no opportunity to reintroduce Aaron as an important character (which he was, in the bible, as Moses was a notoriously bad public speaker, with a stutter, and Aaron often interpreted for him) and more importantly, completely erasing God’s influence from the narrative.

I don’t know who this show was… for, in that case. If it wasn’t for drama lovers, movie fans, or people of the faith, then who the hell was it for? Why change such a critically acclaimed and well-beloved story? Why take away all these defining moments? If you wanted to tell a story about how religion is the true evil, how God can command people to do terrible things, and how those who uphold organised religion like Hotep are unrepentant, one-dimensional monsters… why would you tell that through the Prince of Egypt?

Underwhelming at best, infuriating at worst… just watch the movie. Or read Exodus. At least the Bible’s free.

#the prince of egypt #the prince of egypt musical #PoE #review #essay

[arc-palaceofwonders]

Updated Muse List

Primary:

Hannah Foster [Team Starkid]

Ramses II, Tzipporah [the Prince of Egypt]

Joffrey Baratheon [GoT/ASoIaF]

Uncle Iroh, Toph Beifong [AtLA]]

Melinda Gordon [Ghost Whisperer]

Ziva David [NCIS]

Neal/Baelfire, Belle, Gideon, [OUAT]

Jafar, Jasmine [Aladdin] 

Belle [BatB] 

Mulan 

Maggie Norrington [PotC OC]

Richard, Abe, Sprout, Dinah Woodhull, Hannah Tallmadge, Rachel Brewster, Jane Townsend [AMC Turn WS]

Patrick Jane, Angela Ruskin Jane, Lorelei Martins, Haley Meyers [Mentalist]

Secondary:

Tia Dalma/Calypso [PotC]

Tywin Lannister, Tysha [GoT/ASoIaF]

AU Peter Pan [OUAT]

Tali David-DiNozzo [NCIS]

General John Macnamara [Team Starkid]

Adam [BatB]

Tertiary/By Request

Chel [Road to El Dorado]

Dr. Henry Jekyll [J&H the Musical]

#blog update #Out of my mind [ooc]

[percedurza]

I HAVE ALREADY SPOKE ON LENGTH ABOUT THE PRINCE OF EGYPT BUT NOT THE WHOLE THING ONLY THE PLAGUES AND MOSTLY PASSOVER. I JUST WATCHED THE FULL MOVIE FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE I WAS A KID IM GONNA TALK ABOUT IT AGAIN BECAUSE IT WAS SO GOOD. OKAY.

okay let me first say that i was in tears within the first ten minutes of the movie. deliver us was so powerful and heartbreaking i cried BEFORE THE TEN MINUTE MARK. yeah.

when moses' mother sang her final lullaby to her son and pushed him downstream in that (blessed and very fortunate) basket my heart hurt. i cried with her. that was the last time she would ever see her baby.

when his sister sang her prayer for her baby brother, wishing for him to come back to deliver them as well, that just drove the nail in harder.

in a later scene before the banquet you can hear moses humming that last lullaby and since deliver us was just maybe ten minutes prior you remember it and realize he really did keep that final song.

and the banquet oh yeah ramesses gets appointed this big title? and he names moses as the grand architect

and theres this captured hebrew lady brought in for ramesses but shes fierce (i would be too, she was captured and brought to the people she hates the most) and so ramesses orders her to be brought to moses' chambers instead

moses goes to his chambers and suprise! she escaped! moses chases after and sees her sneaking out with her camel and distracts some guards so she wont get caught and once the guards are gone he goes after her again aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand

miriam (moses' sister) meeting him in the city streets and recognizing him, telling him he's her family and him shutting her down and calling her a slave.... it hurt. when she hums that lullaby and he RECOGNIZES and then rushes back home to have a dream about that day he was sent away (in beautiful animation designed to look like the hieroglyphs on his wall) its all so painful to watch him be forced out of nowhere to realize his life is a LIE because hes not a true prince of egypt, he's born of the slaves, and then his father the pharaoh justifies the order to slaughter innocent babies by saying "they were just slaves" and OUGH

moses kills a man. unintentional but he killed a man while trying to stop him from beating a slave. oops.

he cant live with this so he runs away into the desert. theres this scene where he collapses to the ground and sheds all of the jewelry and adornments from his life as royalty but as he takes off the ring ramesses gives him, he looks at it. and slowly puts it back on. because no matter what, he still loves his brother, and he always will.

moses falls into a well. yeah. chases off some ruffians and then basically faints and falls in. these girls the ruffians were harassing started pulling him out and SURPRISE SURPRISE the captured lady from the banquet is there and she drops him back in when she recognizes him and walks away all smug and her name is tzipporah! just an fyi (very pretty name love it)

moses basically gets adopted into the group of hebrews and moses says something about not ever having done anything of worth and so tzipporah's father jethro sings a little tune to him!

through heavens eyes is a masterpiece. i really dont know what else to say also i want jethro to be my dad hes so nice

aaanyway moses and tzipporah get married during the through heavens eyes montage! i just think thats nice

OKAY now juicy stuff the BURNING BUSH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

the scene in which moses encounter the burning bush and god.

god claims that he has seen his people (the hebrew slaves) suffering and cannot stand for it any longer, so he wishes to send moses as a sort of ambassador of god

and moses doesnt think hes worthy of being god's messenger, which god quickly shuts up by pointing out how he's kind of, like, GOD

and he teaches moses those big old words, "LET MY PEOPLE GO" wahoo!!!!!!

he rushes home to tell tzipporah, and shes like "but ur just one dude" and hes like "well i kinda have to also the hebrews are suffering in slavery so :////"

tzipporah and moses head on over to meet ramesses and theyre all excited to see each other and then moses is like "behold the power of god!!!!!!" and his staff becomes a snake. pretty gnarly if i do say so myself

and then the high priests are like "ok" and start basically performing and rapping the names of the egyptian gods at moses in response i really dont know how to describe it but its basically a whole lotta smoke and mirrors. not actual miracles

moses talks to ramesses and asks him to let his people go, and instead doubles the slave's workload. the slaves basically hate moses now because yeah he technically is the reason theyre getting pushed harder and even his own brother aaron seems to loathe him. miriam talks to moses and he sees ramesses' ship gliding down the nile nearby

he calls out to ramesses and he just sends his guards after him. and so moses brings the staff down and turns the river to blood.

THEN THE REST OF THE PLAGUES ENSUE!!!

theres this specific part of the plagues scene in which ramesses stands between two statues of egyptian gods and glances at them as if to ask why the fuck arent they doing anything about the LITERAL hellfire and general havoc being brought down on the city. just thought that was a really cool detail.

AND OOOOOOOOOOOOOOH passover. i really shouldnt get excited about talking about an event that killed a whole heck ton of kids but its like fnaf at this point who cares ANYWAY THE DEAD KIDS

i already talked about the passover scene but what i didnt include (i think) is how when god's spirit or whatever idk enters the palace, it passes over a statue of ramesses and you just think, oh fuck wait RAMESSES HAD A SON.

and sure enough, that son is dead. moses walks in as ramesses pulls a sheet over his sons dead body and ramesses finally, after all of the plagues, tells moses he can take the hebrews and leave.

as moses walks away you can see ramesses glare at moses because he may have said he was done but. hes not. of course.

moses and the hebrews are leaving with yet another beautiful musical sequence (when you believe) and you can see the hordes of former slaves walking to the sea.

AAND just like i said RAMESSES WASNT FINISHED! he brings a whole bunch of soldiers on horseback and chases the hebrews, and god literally rains fire on them again this time in the form of a flaming tornado that sweeps across the sand, making a big old wall of fire that the egyptian soldiers cant get through

which gives moses the time to do the famous parting of the sea. he brings that staff down in the water and DOES GODS WONDERS!!! yay!!!

watching them walk on the seabed was beautiful. with some lightning strikes you could see the silhouette of some kind of shark swimming in the water (looked it up there are sometimes whale sharks in the red sea this is accurate)

and the fire tornado recedes into the earth, the fire fades, the soldiers chase on at ramesses' orders. the water sweeps them away just as the hebrews make it to the other side and it later cuts back to ramesses, alone on the rocky shore, screaming out at moses. hes completely alone, soldiers presumably dead, and no family to speak of. his side of the sea is cloudy and gloomy, still stormy, but when it jumps back to the hebrews in celebration, the sun shines bright and happy. the hebrews are free.

the movie ends with moses walking down the mountain sinai, ten commandments in hand, while the last snippet of deliver us plays once again.

only one other movie has evoked this much of this kind of emotion in me.(the one movie is klaus LMAO klaus made me ugly cry) there was not a single second of watching this that i didnt have goosebumps.

the movie itself just looks pretty. all of the characters have unique and neat designs. (its also nice to see a movie with only poc in it like im just saying)

the musical scores and numbers are so expertly made. my favorite has to be deliver us but through heavens eyes is a very close second. through heavens eyes made me feel better about myself, in a way. the entire movie was like some healing experience.

all in all, this is an S tier movie, and i BEG BEG BEG anyone who hasn't seen it to watch it. just pirate it or something (i did lol watched it on an illegal streaming site)

if you're not religious and havent seen it, think of it as a chance to learn more about abrahamic faiths. if you are religious and havent seen it, well hey! here you go!!

#the prince of egypt #long post #beware

[cassiopeiacorvus]

A Lesson in Sources

read on AO3

rating: G for general audiences

word count: 4,720

summary: Eleanor Rys, Crown Princess of Cordonia, needs her father's assistance with an essay. King Liam is all too happy to oblige.

author's note: written for day 3 of @kingliamappreciationweek hosted by @lizzybeth1986. Day 3's theme is Liam the Historian so be prepared for a crash course in Cordonian history. In this story, Liam and Tzipporah are 45, Eleanor is 16, Gabriel and William are 12, and Corinne is 10. The line breaks in the story are from cutekaomoji.

What were the impacts of Queen Kenna's victory at the end of the War of the Five Kingdoms? How did her marriage at the end of the conflict impact the relationships between the kingdoms, if at all? Be sure to include at least three primary sources.

Eleanor stares at the computer screen, hoping an essay will spring fully-formed from her head like Athene. Instead the cursor blinks, mocking her.

The first part of the question is easier. What impact did Kenna's victory have? Eleanor is sitting right here, Crown Princess of Cordonia, heir to an unbroken line of royalty dating back centuries. But marriage? Eleanor has had years of history tutors, but they focused on the impact of her rule, not on Kenna as an individual. Did Kenna even marry at all? She had heirs, yes, but marriage isn't a requirement for them.

Eleanor is still staring at the screen when her father, King Liam, walks by. He knocks on the open door, breaking her concentration.

"I see you've commandeered my study," Liam says, smiling. Eleanor looks around herself. She hadn't realized her textbooks and reference materials had covered the entirety of her father's desk.

"I was hoping your study's atmosphere would improve my essay," she says. The room is surrounded by bookshelves on all sides. His desk faces two brown leather armchairs. In one corner, a globe sits next to an end table buckling under the weight of too many books.

"May I?" Liam asks, gesturing to her computer. She scoots aside and he turns the laptop towards him. He stares at the essay prompt, then to her empty document, and then to her. Eleanor pouts.

"What are you having trouble with?"

"The first question I understand. But the second… I don't recall anyone ever mentioning who Queen Kenna married in real life. The Georgios Ramón Richárd Martín novels say one thing. The television show adaptation did something different. The video games offer too many options if I'm being honest. And I have to find primary sources? Ugh." She ends her rant by banging her head on the desk. Eleanor looks up to see her father giving her a worried expression. "Dad, will you help me?"

Liam's eyes like up with what Eleanor thinks is a manic gleam. "I know exactly what to do," he says. "Be ready on Sunday." With that, he leaves, a spring in his step. Eleanor tilts her head in confusion. Sunday was Family Day in the Rys household. This week, it was her father's turn to pick their activity. What did he have in mind?

»»------------------- ♔ --------------------««

Sunday arrives with sunshine and a bird trying to make its theatrical debut right outside Eleanor's window. She dresses and heads to the main kitchen of the palace. The household staff had weekends off, meaning she and her family handled meals for those two days. Really it meant the entire family minus her mother, Queen Tzipporah. While her mother had many skills, cooking was not one of them. If possible, Tzipporah had negative cooking skills. The kitchen still hadn't recovered from the Baking Incident of 2025.

In the kitchen, her father is already at the counter frying tiganopsomo in a pan. Her mother is at the sink washing dishes. Her youngest sibling, Corinne, is standing at attention next to Liam, ready to drizzle honey onto the fried, feta-stuffed dough.

"Good morning," Eleanor says, sitting down at the island counter. Tzipporah waves from the sink and Liam gives her a smile. Corinne nods vaguely, still focused on the dough. Eleanor is content to watch them cook. Liam carefully scoops one tiganopsomo out the pan and places it onto a wire rack to cool. It's immediately assaulted with honey as Corinne squeezes the bottle. The bread ends up soaked.

Tzipporah finishes with the dishes and walks by to view Corinne's work. She laughs and says, "That one can be yours, Rinn. Let's go for a drizzle next time, yeah?"

"Your loss, Mommy," Corinne replies, "The honey is the best part." But her next tiganopsomo is much less saturated.

Tzipporah leans on the counter next to Eleanor. "Heard you had trouble with your history essay."

"Don't remind me."

"I was never really good at history in school," Tzipporah says, "I loved learning, but my teachers just made it so boring."

"You love it when I explain history to you," Liam says.

"You could never be boring, darling," Tzipporah says, blowing him a kiss. Eleanor holds back a chuckle as Corinne audibly gags in front of them. Her father is about to reply, when her brothers, Gabriel and William, come in.

Gabriel greets everyone with a wave, but William looks dead on his feet. He hops onto a barstool and lays his head on the counter.

"Well, hello to you too," Tzipporah says to him. William groans in response.

"Tired, Will?" Liam asks as hands out meals to everyone. He makes sure to hand honey-drowned tiganopsomo to Corinne.

"Why would anyone get up this early?" Will whines.

"It's ten o'clock," Tzipporah says.

"Exactly."

"I've been up for hours," Corinne says.

"You're solar-powered. That doesn't count," William says.

"No one told you to stay up all night sewing," Gabriel says beside him.

"Tell that to my brain." He picks up a tiganopsomo and nibbles on it, sighing in satisfaction. "Mmm. Carbs." The family follows his example and eats. The sweetness of the honey combined with the tangy saltiness of the feta almost makes Eleanor mimic the sounds of her brother.

After they finish breakfast and clean up, Liam claps his hands together, declaring, "We're heading to the library today." Eleanor isn't surprised. Liam has always favored more relaxed locations for Family Day. At sixteen, she's certain she's visited every museum, heritage site, and garden Cordonia has to offer.

"Are we helping Nelle with her essay?" Corinne asks.

"Yes, but I believe this trip will benefit everyone." He holds up a USB flash drive. "We have to get going or we'll be late for our appointment."

»»------------------- ♔ --------------------««

The National Library of Cordonia stands in the center of the capital city next to the clocktower. To Eleanor, it's a perfect mix of the old and the new. The main part of the library was a curved wall covered entirely in glass windows. Inside, she could already see patrons reading, studying, or creating in the makerspace.

The original part of the library had stood since Queen Charis had added it to the city in her efforts to expand education during the eighteenth century. It was taller than the glass extension, but more square and ornate. Its signature feature was the blue dome that shown brightly against the morning sunlight.

Eleanor saw her father gaze at the statue of King Fabian in the courtyard as they approached the steps of historical portion of the library. Waiting for them was a short curvy woman with olive-toned skin, brown eyes, horn-rimmed glasses, and curly black hair. Her eyes light up at the sight of royal family coming toward her.

"Oh, you're all early, how wonderful," she says, "Good morning, Your Majesties, Your Highnesses." She ends with a quick bow to each of them.

"Thank you, Miss Stravou," Liam replies, "We appreciate you accommodating us on such short notice."

"It's not a problem at all, Your Majesty. I'll show all of you through the back entrance."

She leads them around the side of the old building to a small door she unlocks. As Eleanor's eyes adjust to the light, she sees the mobile shelving system on display throughout the room.

"I thought it would be informative to briefly take you through the archives, Your Majesties," Miss Stravou says, "Sadly, there wasn't enough time to prepare and materials for you to handle."

"Oh, I'm sure Liam will get us back here, don't you worry," Tzipporah says.

"What's in the archives?" Corinne asks.

"Since this is Cordonia's national library, our collections contain items from every part of the country," Miss Stravou says, "Illuminated manuscripts from Castelsarreillan, miner's notebooks from Ramsford, even pieces of Castle Stormholt! The list is nearly endless."

"What's your favorite item in the collection?" Gabriel asks.

"The poetry. I know King Varden was a controversial ruler," Miss Stravou says, "But he was quite the gifted poet."

"Wasn't he the one who ran away with Queen Alisa of Scotland?" William asks, perking up.

"That's one theory," Liam says, "All we know for certain is that he disappeared from the historical record and left the kingdom to his daughter, Queen Kendra."

The other theory, Eleanor thinks to herself, is that King Varden was assassinated, along with Queen Alisa, in order to put a grief-stricken Kendra on the throne. The nobles were hoping to use her as a figurehead, but she proved stronger than they had bargained for, leading to many of the established noble families to lose their positions as Great Houses.

Miss Stravou leads them up through the archives and into the main building. "The older part of the library is primarily used for offices and employee spaces," Miss Stravou says, "However, there are a few rooms available to reserve for study or research." The newer expansion has far more modern rooms, Eleanor recalls, but she is certain her father finds old buildings more comforting. The family is led to a small room at the end of the hall.

"Here we are, Your Majesties," she says. The room is small, with an ornate wood table with several chairs around it. The back wall is covered in a built-in bookshelf. Upon closer inspection, the books appear to be about Cordonian tax law. Directly across from the shelves is a podium and a computer stand with a laptop. Next to it is an old-fashioned projection screen. Looking up, Eleanor sees an equally old-fashioned projector clinging to the ceiling.

"My office is right down the hall if I'm needed. The rest of the library is through the door in the center of the hallway," Miss Stravou says. "I'll leave you to it." She closes the door on her way out.

The rest of the family sits down as Liam plugs his thumb drive into the laptop. He pulls up a slide presentation. The title screen is split into two. On the left side is a fourteenth century painting of Queen Kenna that Eleanor has seen many times. On the right is a vertical royal blue banner that has "A Brief Summary of Sources of The War of the Five Kingdoms" as its title. Under that is "By King Liam" in small text.

Liam steps up to the podium, steeples his fingers, and says, "Let's begin."

He pauses for dramatic effect. Eleanor is completely neutral. She looks over and sees her mother smiling fondly at Liam. Gabriel is nonplussed. She thinks William might have gone back to sleep. Corinne is staring intently ahead. Despite the lackluster response, Liam pulls up the next slide.

The theme song for The Crown & The Flame comes roaring out of the speakers, the slide bearing the title screen of the show. William snaps up, looking around the room.

"Thank you," Liam says. The next slide after that is called "The Genuine And Entertaining Memoirs Of A Well-Known Woman Of Intrigue, Zenobia Allisandra Nevrakis. Written By Herself."* It shows off a leather-bound book weathered by time.

"This is the most complete source we have of the War of the Five Kingdoms," Liam says, "King Luther of Abanthus and his soldiers murdered most the kings, queens, and nobility of the other four kingdoms, leaving his kingdom with the final word on the subject of the war."

"Ok, so why is this essay giving Nelle so much trouble," William says, "There's a source right there."

"Ah," Liam replies, "It's not about taking whatever source you can find and using it. You have to think critically. What problems do you think Eleanor could run into using Princess Zenobia's memoir?"

"Well… if Abanthus killed everyone else, than there's no one to say anything differently."

"Correct. What about you three?" Liam says, gesturing to Eleanor, Gabriel, and Corinne.

"Zenobia may not be the most reliable of people," Eleanor says, "It's her memoir. She could be more focused on making herself look good than on what factually happened."

"Even if it's the most complete story we have, it's still not everything," Gabriel says, "She wasn't there for everything that happened during the war."

"It's not just what she says about herself," Corinne says, "She could be wrong about other people too."

"Excellent, all four of you," Liam says. "Many scholars have called into question the reliability of Zenobia's autobiography. I recall one Castelsarreillan historian who wrote a one thousand-page book on the subject."

"Olivia was not fond of that," Tzipporah snorts.

"Olivia has very strong feelings about her family," Liam replies.

"She shouldn't have started that fight at the Cordonian Medieval Historical Society if she wasn't prepared to get dragged by someone with three PhDs."

"Getting back to the subject of sources," Liam says. "Let's get more practical. Who do each of you think that Kenna married?"

"Raydan," Tzipporah says.

"Hmm… Diavolos," Eleanor says.

"Val. This isn't up for debate," William says.

"Tevan," Gabriel says, earning a bewildered look from his brother.

"It's obviously Dom. Why would be anyone else but him?" Corinne says.

Liam says, "And I've always favored Queen Annelyse. These six are the ones most often assumed to have married Queen Kenna, so we'll go through the evidence for each." The next slide Liam pulls up is of a quote from Zenobia's memoir.

I recall my brother's wedding day with annoyance. I arrived at the throne room where I was assaulted by the rabble of the Stormholt soldiers and the sight of my brother being overjoyed, an expression that has rarely crossed his countenance and one I would rather never see again. Beside him was Kenna, I apologize, Queen Kenna. I've no doubt she'd demand the respect of her title even in a book about my exploits.

"This is our main evidence that Queen Kenna married Diavolos," Liam says, "Four sentences, passed down through hundreds of years."

"That feels rather clean-cut to me," Eleanor says. "It's Prince Diavolos's wedding day. He's standing beside Queen Kenna. Ergo, he married her."

"Excuse me, sis," William says, "You said that Zenobia was unreliable five minutes ago."

"It'd make sense for her to say that Diavolos married Kenna whether it was true or not," Gabriel says, "It strengthens the Nevrakis family's tie to the throne."

"And Zenobia would love to be sister-in-law to the Liberator of the Five Kingdoms," Corinne adds.

"It's more politically advantageous to marry Prince Diavolos," Eleanor huffs, "You defeat the enemy in battle. You forge an alliance to broker peace. What's the best way to create a solid alliance? Marriage and children. Marrying Prince Diavolos is the smartest strategy."

"Well I think you're full of sh—" William starts.

"We attack arguments, not people, William," Liam says.

"Watch your mouth," Tzipporah says.

William crosses his arms and turns away from the both of them. "Val makes more sense," he says, pouting.

"Then we'll do Val next," Liam says, pulling up the slide. It's an old piece of paper, yellowed and stained. In cursive handwriting is written "Valentina Greaves, 40, Master-at-arms, Duchess of Valtoria." "Valentina" is violently scratched out and replaced by "Val" in another, less refined hand.

"This is our only physical evidence that Val Greaves ever existed," Liam says. "Archeologists have tried to find her grave site, but nothing has been found. Some believe she may have chosen to be cremated and had her ashes spread."

"Or?" William says, nodding at Liam.

"Or?" Corrine repeats.

"I-I don't have another theory. I thought Dad might come up with something."

"I don't have a theory about her final resting place," Liam says, "However, the scholars who believe that Val married Kenna, posit that she was given Valtoria and elevated to a duchess to make their marriage more palatable to the remaining nobility. It may even be the inspiration for the later law that requires this of all consorts."

"But wouldn't it be hard to be a duchess and queen consort and Master-at-arms?" Corinne asks.

"Val's tough enough to do it all," William says.

"Corinne brings up a valid point," Liam says. "Being Master-at-arms would require Val to live at Stormholt. Valtoria is on the other side of the country. She could've make the trip, but it would've taken her longer to travel in between the two than it does now. Could she have done it if she married Kenna? I have no doubt she would. But it's something to consider."

"But wouldn't that apply to anyone she married?" William says, "Especially someone who was already a monarch, like Annelyse or Tevan?"

"That is certainly true."

"But monarchs have a whole staff to help them if they need to leave their palace for a time," Gabriel says.

"And Val wouldn't? Duchesses have staffs. Mom's had Ms. Gladys as majordomo even before she got married to Dad."

"Good point, Will," Tzipporah says.

"Ok, but does Val have a right hand?" Gabriel asks.

"What are you talking about?" William says.

"Would Val have a person at Valtoria that she could trust to run things so that she could be queen consort and duchess and Master-at-arms? Annelyse had Raydan. Kenna had Gabriel, Leon, and Jackson. And Tevan had Aurynn."

"Why do you even like Tevan so much?" Corinne interjects, "He doesn't do anything. Kenna saves him and then he's in like three episodes. He's not even a playable character in the arcade game."

"Rinn, you can't begin to understand the depth of Tevan's love—" Gabriel starts.

"We're getting off topic," Liam says. "Tevan is an interesting historical figure to examine, however, Corinne. Sometimes the absence of something can give us just as much information as the presence of it."

Gabriel perks up at Liam's words. "What's your source for Tevan, Dad?"

"Poetry," Liam says, "There isn't much about Tevan in the historical record, but many of his poems were found in a hidden compartment in Castle Stormholt. His writings talk fondly of his many lovers, but there are fifteen pieces about a woman he calls the 'Queen of My Heart.'"

"It must be Kenna," Gabriel says, "She saved him after all. And they were found in Stormholt, so someone who lived there must've saved them. They could easily be letters about his wife."

"But there's so little of him everywhere else," Eleanor says, "Some historians think that he didn't even survive the slaughter at Stormholt that started the war. How do we know those poems are Tevan's and not someone trying to imitate him?" She turns to Liam, "Dad, I know Zenobia's memoirs aren't the best source, but does she ever mention Tevan during the war?"

"That's the most interesting part about Tevan," Liam says, "He isn't mention at all in Zenobia's narrative about the war. Or its aftermath. Or even before the war. We know from a scant few letters from Kenna's father King Marcellus that Stormholt, Fydoria, and Abanthus were allies while Zenobia, Kenna, and Tevan were growing up. We know from oral history that Kenna visited Fydoria as a child. Surely, Tevan and Zenobia would have met at some point? So why is he completely absent from her life? Curious, yes?"

"I cannot believe you just made me care about old poetry," William says.

"It's his gift to others," Tzipporah says, "And his gift to me can be explaining why Kenna definitely married Raydan."

"Ah, yes, you've been very patient, my queen," Liam says.

"I have."

"Then wait no more."

Liam click around his slideshow once more and stops at a picture of a chest. It's stuffed with various objects: papers, clothes, weapons, and jewelry.

"I said previously that Zenobia's memoir is the most complete narrative of the war," he starts, "But it isn't the only one. Many of the pieces in this collection contain coded messages and objects dating back to the fourteenth century, which is our best estimate of when the war took place." Liam's next slide shows a compilation of coded messages and their translations. "Many of the messages haven't been decoded, but those that have frequently mention Raydan Lykel, who acted as spymaster first to Queen Annelyse and then to Queen Kenna."

"Who gathered all of this?" Eleanor asked.

"No one's entirely sure. Scholars are torn between an Abanthian noble and a member of the Black Asps."

"Maybe it was made by Raydan. Wasn't he the leader of the Black Asps?" Corinne asks.

"That was only in the television show," Eleanor replies, "In the novels, he had a sister who was called the Adder of Lykos. She was the leader of the Black Asps. The show also gave some of her lines to Zenobia." Eleanor stops herself from continuing. She could see she was getting off track again. They were here to study history, not the abject failure in adaptation that was The Crown & The Flame television show compared to the original novels.

"There's a small historical precedence for the Adder," Liam says, "But if she's the leader of secret organization, it would make sense not to see much of her." He advances to the next slide. On it is a heraldic flag. In a field of blue bordered by argent silver sits a sword facing a running horse.

"This," Liam says, tapping the projector screen for emphasis, "Is the oldest heraldic symbolism we have for our family."

Eleanor gazes at the picture again and is struck by the sheer improbability of her family line having survived this long. The thought is both exciting and daunting.

"How did it end up in the chest?" Gabriel asks.

"This specific version of the flag was only used by Queen Kenna her closest associates, not the rest of her soldiers. If this flag is in a chest with notes about Raydan, it's an easy to reach the conclusion that they were close, perhaps even married."

"Maybe someone stole it?" William asks.

"For what purpose," Eleanor says, "This collection seems… sentimental. Not like a person gathering information… but memories instead."

"I always though Raydan married Princess Aurynn?" Corinne asks.

"Those are fighting words to some people," Tzipporah says, laughing.

"Tzipporah's right," Liam says, "Who Raydan married is almost as hotly debated as Kenna's potential spouses. Especially when you factor in the fandoms of the novels, television show, and the rest of The Crown & The Flame franchise.

"The fights that I got into on the fan forums were legendary," Tzipporah says, "The official website eventually shut them down. Those were good times." She shakes herself. "So Raydan, he has just as much evidence for and against him as anyone else?"

"I'm afraid so, my love."

"Damn," Tzipporah says, "What about Annelyse? I know you've been bursting at the seams to talk about her."

Liam smiles at her and advances to the next slide. It shows two sides of a gold coin. One side is a crowned woman silhouetted by the sun. Inscribed on the bottom of the coin is "Queen Annelyse of Aurelia." The other is a crowned woman silhouetted by the moon. Her inscription reads "Queen Kenna of Stormholt."

"This coin is one of many," Liam starts, "The majority of them date back to around the fourteenth century. They've been found everywhere and in everything from family vaults to taverns. Scholars believe these coins acted as the main currency for the kingdoms after the war ended."

"So… the coins mean they got married, right?" William asks.

"I believe so," Liam says, "It's not definitive, however. These aren't the first coins of their kind. Monarchs before and after the founding of Cordonia were fond of putting their faces on the currency. Queen Korinna I famously minted new coins every time she took on a new lover. Her daughter Queen Korinna II used currency to establish her alliances with neighboring kingdoms."

"So we can't say for certain what this specific coin meant for the two of them?" Gabriel asks.

"For the moment. For all we know, they could uncover a love letter between the two of them tomorrow. That's the beauty of history; our relationship to it is always changing," Liam says.

"Why do you think they married?" Eleanor asks.

"From what little we've gathered about them, Queen Kenna and Queen Annelyse complimented each other," Liam starts, "Kenna was a wartime ruler. She knows how to win peace. Annelyse knows how to keep it. Archeologists have examined the bodies of people from Stormholt and from where Aurelia was believed to be. Do you know what they found? The people of Aurelia, from the lowest to the highest classes, had less evidence of injury and malnutrition than anyone else on the island. Annelyse represents the kind of ruler I strive to be."

"You already are," Tzipporah says, smiling. Liam starts to reply when Corinne cuts him off.

"Wait! Wait! Wait!" she says, "We're forgetting the most important person! The one Kenna so obviously married because why would she not? Dom!"

Liam chuckles. "I didn't forget him," he says, clicking to the next slide. It shows a picture of a desiccated tree bark carved with "K + D." The handwriting is crude, almost childish.

Corinne gestures at the picture like it's the most obvious thing in the world. "See. She married Dom. They probably carved the tree on their wedding anniversary or whatever old married people do."

"This looks like a primary schooler wrote it," William says, "It was probably from when they were kids. Doesn't mean they got married."

"The 'D' could just as easily stand for Diavolos," Eleanor adds.

"Why would she marry a man who looks like a horse when she could marry a man who turns into a dragon? Checkmate, Nelle."

"You really think Dom could turn into a dragon?" Gabriel asks.

"There's no proof that he can't."

"That's not quite how historical research works, Rinn," Liam says, "But I love your passion. As for dragons… some believe that dragons among the Rhukaksu Drako are a metaphor for their fierceness in battle.**

Corinne looks unimpressed by the response, but doesn't press further. Beside her, William looks slightly annoyed.

"But wouldn't Dom run into the same problem that Val did? If she would've had to become a duchess to make her marriage acceptable to the nobles, what about Dom?"

"Scholars have actually recently recovered a book about Fydorian nobility that may show that Dom is technically a noble," Liam says.

"You've gotta be kidding me."

Liam advances to his final slide with a humorous shrug. It simply says "History. Constantly Changing."

"So… how are we feeling?" Liam asks. He looks at all of them, eyes shining. They stay silent as they process the mountain of information they've just learned. Finally, Corinne raises her hand.

"So no dragons?" she asks, disappointed.

"No, probably not," Liam replies.

She frowns, her brows furrowed in what Eleanor assumes is intense concentration. Corinne raises her hand again and says, "Daddy, may I be excused?"

"Yes," Liam says with a sigh. Corinne jumps down from her seat and leaves the room, presumably heading for the fantasy section of the library.

"I thought this was supposed to be a brief summary?" Gabriel asks.

William shrugs his shoulders. "I still think Kenna married Val."

"Play your cards right and your dad will teach you how to write a rhetorical précis," Tzipporah says.

"I don't know what that is and I never ever want to."

"Did this help with your essay, Nelle?" Liam asks her.

"I have the opposite problem now," Eleanor says, "Maybe there's too much information to process?"

"That sounds like a better problem to have to me," Gabriel says.

"Ah! Now that I've given you an overview," Liam says, grinning, "It's time to narrow down your focus so you can come up with a thesis!"

"And that's our cue," Tzipporah says with a laugh, "Will, Gabe, let's let Liam and Nelle work on her essay. I gotta make sure Corinne hasn't claimed all the bean bag chairs in the fantasy section. Again."

The three of them leave, but not before Tzipporah pecks Liam on the cheek. Eleanor gazes confidently at her father and he mirrors her expression.

"Alright," Eleanor says, "Let's come up with a thesis."

»»------------------- ♔ --------------------««

*This is a real title of an eighteenth-century memoir written by an anonymous woman.

**Rhukaksu Drako is the name I've come up with for the Fire Tribesman of The Crown & The Flame.

#playchoices #the royal romance #kingliamappreciationweek #KLAW #liam rys #cassi originals #playchoices fanfic