(Untitled)

[_will_i]

Title: Endgame
Author: Flying Toe Shoes
Rating: PG
Genre: Angst, drama
Pairing: Anatoly/Svetlana, Anatoly/Florence
Disclaimer: Still poor with medical bills, don't sue. Based off of characterizations and history from War Is Coming on Insanejournal. What happened in Bangkok via Svetlana. Pulled from another rendition of Deal No Deal for a later

Comments

[zedille]

Oh, this was very nice! You did a great job taking the song lyrics and placing them in a story. The show and its stagings are kind of vague about what exactly is going on between Svetlana and Anatoly (especially in Endgame!), but I really like how you fleshed it out and added all these layers of subtext and history to the two of them. And the lyrics were paraphrased very well - they're recognizably the lyrics but not so literally rhymed that it would seem odd coming out of the characters' mouths in context here

[_will_i]

Aww, thank you! That was the sweetest comment to wake up to. Its mostly based off the Chess in Concert version, which I forgot to mention. But yes

[zedille]

I first started watching Chess (my first version was also the 2008 RAH concert!) because Kerry Ellis was in it, so I was always aware that Anatoly was married. That rather affected my opinions towards the Anatoly/Florence pair, and I've always thought of her as a full character instead of the Act II "oh we need to cause some plot/relationship drama so let's bring in the wife! except we have to keep Florence and Anatoly sympathetic so the wife can't actually do anything" sort of thing she's been turned into. Like her attitude in I Know Him So Well -- she's practically falling over herself to forgive Florence, so she's not even angry a little bit that Florence induced Anatoly to defect? how much sway Florence actually had in that decision is of course a matter to debate, as you point out in your story, but she must have had something to do with it. It's especially galling in the London versions where it's specifically stated she has children (Broadway and Sydney she doesn't) -- she's responsible for the children too, and it is

[_will_i]

You and I are very much alike then XD The Freddie in War was always wanting an Anatoly or Florence so she uploaded some videos of Freddie being, well, Freddie. Which included the end of Deal. And that was what hooked me. Because not only did I love the song (I have a thing about songs where you don't know who you can trust. Case in point? The Riddle from The Scarlet Pimpernel) but KERRY ELLIS. Who I saw in We Will Rock You and fell in love with. So I listened to everything and was all OMFGKERRYELLISSVETLANAWHYSOHEARTBREAKING. (I mean, I also am one of those weird theatre kids who doesn't worship the ground Idina Menzel walks on and don't really like her all that much)

She's clearly a full character to me. A lot is telling just in the things she says (Even in the US version of You and I). Someone Else's Story (I legit raged when I learned it was originally a Florence song and then you have people saying it should still be her song why do we need to flesh out Svetlana?) Her verse in I Know Him So Well about how no one is ever truly on

[zedille]

Reposting this comment because the previous one got marked as spam because of the link.

I have a habit of conflating characters with the actors who play them, so if I'm fond of the actor beforehand then I'm more inclined to like the character, and if I like a character I tend to like the actor too. This happened both ways with Svetlana and Florence -- I liked Kerry Ellis, so I liked Svetlana (as you said, her performance was just so heartbreaking!); and I was previously, well neutral towards Idina Menzel, but then her performance as Florence didn't convince me at all (she and Josh Groban could have had more chemistry, let's just say...) There are only a few Florences who can convince me and, well, Idina Menzel is not one of them.

The fact that Someone Else's Story was written originally for Florence means that some of the lyrics really don't quite apply to the Svetlana/Anatoly relationship:
"Yesterday, a girl that I was fond of

[_will_i]

Oh, I do that as well. My dislike of Idina has intensified since watching Chess. (Yet I still love Julia Murney so who knows) But Kerry as Svetlana definitely endeared me to Svetlana beforehand.

And those lyrics are just heartbreaking. Because Svetlana is heartbreaking. You would think that with the RAH supposedly being the definitive version, that they would have been in there as well but I can still justify it as people telling her to leave and considering it because he's never around, etc, but in the end, she still can't. (This is what I do, things dont make sense I will MAKE them make sense >.>) Still I would have loved those versions. And Svetlana doing her bit in You and I (Okay, I want to hear Kerry and Josh sing together. Shush)

Huh. Well. OH well, this made it look like they were monologuing so they were! =D

Thank you! And ha, I do tend to over analyze so yes. And even if he wasn't paying attention and meant it doesn't change the fact it's there and can be used!