ingvild

By my calculations, I'll have time to breathe again sometime after Christmas.

Anyway.

Princess Tutu is one of those shows I've never either wanted or needed fic for. It's just too perfect the way it is. The only thing I could ever do for it was the Spot the Reference series.

However, omnicat wanted Tutu fic for her birthday, and what omnicat wants, omnicat gets.

It's in the mail, hon. Happy birthday.

So I woke up with the strangest desire to write a Code Geass fic. Since it's set post-series, I'll put the general fic idea beneath spoiler text:

So Suzaku and Nina are fighting terrorists with her sort of being the Q to his James Bond, only he's angsty and dorky, not suave, and also, she and Nunnaly are the only ones who's supposed to know he's alive. They're trying to preserve the peace and keep Nunnaly from being overthrown and also kinda doing penance because let's face it, they have a lot to make up for. Somewhere along the line Suzaku realizes that he needs the help from someone who's as good in a Knightmare as himself so he recruits Kallen, who isn't exactly surprised he's alive Spin!Zero!Zaku, but not all that happy about it, either.

I've never wanted to write in Code Geass fandom before, or read in it for that matter. It's just one of those shows I watched and was done with. I'm the same with Harry Potter. Read the books, don't need anything else.

This was the only thing I ever did for Princess Tutu. That show was just perfect the way it was, didn't need anything else.

I don't know what it is. If it was just the tightness of the plot, why aren't I all over Code Geass and Harry Potter? If it was about how many characters I love, why aren't I writing the heck out of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha? (There's even a ten-year time gap there!)

Why is it that Gundam Wing remains the one show I've had, and have, lots of ideas for? (And I mean lots.) The only ones that've come close to rivaling GW for me are X-Men and Elfquest, and really, I didn't write that much for them.

Obviously, how much room I think there is for stories is part of the reason, as is how involved I got with the world and the characters. But it can't be all. Maybe it's just my quirks.

Luckily, I'd already learned from Buffy the Vampire Slayer to never dismiss a show based on the name, so I didn't hesitate with this show, and you shouldn't either. Watch it, you'll be doing yourself a favour.

Princess Tutu

Once upon a time, the brothers Grimm and H.C. Andersen met, had a fine meal consisting of ballet, magical girls and metatext, and then they had a love child.

Uhm. Maybe not.

How about: I was skeptical after the first three episodes, so I stopped for a while, then watched more, and finished the show in two days, waited a week, wathced it again, and waited another week - so now I've seen it three times in less than four weeks.

Yeah, that doesn't tell you much either. How about I just post the opening narration from the first episode?

Once upon a time, there was a man who died.
The man’s work was the writing and telling of stories, but he could not defy death. The last story he was working on was about a brave and handsome prince who vanquishes a crafty raven. But now, it seems their battle will go on for eternity.
“I’m sick and tired of this!” cried the raven.
“I’m sick and tired of this!” cried the prince as well.
The raven escaped from the pages of the story, and the prince pursued the fell creature. In the end, the prince took out his own heart and sealed the raven away by using a forbidden power.
Just then, a murmur came from somewhere. “This is great!” said the old man who was supposed to have died.

One day a small duck sees the prince dancing alone on a lake. She looks at his sad and lonely eyes and wants to bring his smile back, so the writer - yes, the dead guy - gives her a magic pendant which will let her turn first into a girl, and then into a magical ballerina - the titular Princess Tutu. She sets about locating and returning the shards of the prince's heart.

However, it's not so straightforward. The prince's best friend and girlfriend are not interested in him getting his heart back, and then there's the fact that he didn't exactly break it apart just for fun...

Halfway through the first season, the show changes direction. It changes direction again at the beginning of the second season, and the again halfway through the second season. Just when you think you know what's going on, the show throws you a curveball and everything is challenged - not just for you, but for the characters as well.

Taking the music mostly from classic ballet and programme music (like "Pictures from an Exhibition" and "Scheherazade"), and many of the dances used directly from different ballets as well, the show offers another layer if you're familiar with this, but it's not necessary to understand it.

A total of 26 episodes of pure joy, I can't recommend this show enough.

I want to watch it again.