(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

[_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.

I always feel so bad for Svetlana no matter the version. I mean, the one time she visibly responded to Molokov was when he mentioned the children. Before that it was eye rolling and "you're really stupid, you know that?" And even though she's onstage for a total of fourteen minutes, including cast introduction, the video being shown, etc, analyzing Svetlana via song lyrics alone was a challenge. I mean, I write her in a game which helps, but that was all from lyric analysis given how little we get to know about her. (Ha, its all good. I have -a lot- of feelings on the Anatoly/Florence thing)

My Anatoly and I basically picked apart every song they had, how lyrics were sung on top of the lyrics themselves, and at least in the concert version, Anatoly really only had strong reactions to Svetlana being mentioned where he was mostly dull and not invested otherwise. The brief interactions and I went with it. (But no, really. "I love you very much" to leaving to "I love him too much" in the span of a week. I rest my case)

But thank you so much for the comment, it was ridiculously sweet and yay, I'm not completely insane with my headcanon if people who don't play in War can see it and think it works <3 I'm glad it was thought provoking for you.

[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 definitely in the children's best interests that Anatoly come home. And yet there she is, telling Florence that "it's best he goes with you" -- why?? well, actually my headcanon on that topic is that she was deliberately over-forgiving to guilt-trip Florence and make her tell Anatoly to go home, because otherwise Anatoly would never have. If she had been ~righteously angry~ then Florence would have been defensive and tried to keep Anatoly with her.

Have you looked at/listened to any of the other productions of Chess? There's a lot of fodder for characterization and motivations there! The 2008 RAH concert is inherently limited because it's only a concert and not a fully staged production, but you can get a lot even from just an audio recording of a show! (

[_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 your side and how you always end up alone. The fact she threw Anatoly's words back at him during Deal, so clearly she knows him damn well which is why she gets all LIAR when he's all YOU NEVER UNDERSTOOD. The fact that when Anatoly wins, he said it was to be free. (He needs his fantasy and freedom, what?)

Florence definitely helped with the reasoning. I mean, she did give him a way to. But the fact is, she started it. Like, Anatoly was polite enough during Model of Decorum and Tranquility but she was the one who started with the flirtation in Mountain Duet. Anatoly was just "She is so a spy. At least she's pretty" And she was PR, she knew the press. So she knew he was married and had children. She was there during the press questioning and Embassy Lament. And how she refers to Svetlana as a problem and an opponent. (Which Anatoly always deflects those comments) I think there was a lot that went into the defection. Mostly pride and wanting something different. Trying to find what he felt he had lost if we look back at Where I Want to Be. But with Florence going from Freddie straight to Anatoly and Anatoly really having no one in England beyond Florence, while there might have been feelings and caring, it was also built on codependency and nothing solid. At least, that's my interpretation that my Anatoly and I came up with. Especially since even though he's all "How can I love you so much and still let you go" during the reprise of You and I. He thinks he does but he's not fighting it and even though before he didn't know one way or the other if he was going back to Russia, he does. And at the end, he's standing next to Svetlana. (Like I said, we analyzed EVERYTHING between looks, lyrics, vocal intonation, blocking as minimal as it was)

I've looked at other versions but I haven't really listened. So I never saw I Know Him So Well as a conversation so much as internal monologuing. But I can see the over forgiving to guilt Florence. Or being all "Oh honey, you think you're special? This is how it goes. I've known him for years, you've known him what, one? Please"

[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
Finally could see the writing on the wall
Sadly, she realized she'd left him behind
And sadder than that, she knew he wouldn't even mind
And though there's nothing left to say
Would he listen if I stay?"
It's pretty obvious how this was meant originally to apply to Florence leaving Freddie, not Svetlana leaving Anatoly (otherwise that paints an entirely different picture of the relationship between them than what's shown the rest of the time). The Sydney version of the song finally has lyrics written specifically FOR Svetlana:
"Yesterday, the girl that I was fond of
Saw the truth at last, the writing on the wall
Sadly, the words describe an empty affair
Sadder than that, she knew he wouldn't even care
Her life, no longer his concern
What to do and where to turn?"
I really wish they'd used those lyrics in the 2008 RAH concert -- since that's supposed to be the "definitive" version, so why not acknowledge the existence of the new lyrics? Because really, it just doesn't make any sense to have Svetlana leaving Anatoly! Argh. (But generally the Sydney production does Svetlana a good turn - she's there at the chess match the whole time (since there's only one match) and she gets You and I with Anatoly too.)

The staging of I Know Him So Well varies among productions too, but at least in the original staged London production (also in Broadway, iirc) Florence and Svetlana have a few lines of dialogue right before the song starts, so I think it's implied the song is a continuation of their conversation (at the very least, they're in the same place physically.)

You make a number of good points about Svetlana's characterization! I honestly hadn't noticed those internal references myself. Sadly, I don't think Tim Rice was really paying attention to that at all when he wrote the show, I doubt he put all that in deliberately... :/

[_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!