#cyrano

The Byler fandom rightfully discusses how the painting is the Cyrano trope - but there are two specific details within the plot of the actual Cyrano de Bergerac play, and its many film adaptations, that relate so completely to the WillElMike triangle that they must specifically be pointed out, because it is utterly impossible for this level of similarity to be a coincidence.

Also spoilers for a 100+ year old play, I guess.

Firstly, in the play, Roxane thinks the heartfelt letters she receives are from her lover Christian. She has no idea they’re actually from Cyrano, confessing his own deep love for her through the guise of Christian since he has no hope that Roxane will ever reciprocate if he tells her directly. Roxane spends the entire play under the wrong assumption, obsessed with Christian and swearing her undying love for him because she’s in love with the way those letters make her feel. They speak her language, they move her to her very soul, and she loves the beautiful mind that created these works of art for her, yet she has been misled as to whose mind it truly is. (Sound familiar???) It’s only in the last ten minutes of the play that she finally learns the truth - and she does a complete 180. The discovery that it was Cyrano’s feelings the whole time immediately makes her realize that it’s Cyrano whom she’s really loved this whole time, and her last lines are telling Cyrano she loves him. Never will you find a review of this play complaining that it is “unrealistic” for Roxane to have a 180 like that, or that it’s “rushed” or “has no buildup” or “makes no sense.” The narrative is structured so that the entire audience is on the edge of their seats, waiting and rooting for Roxane to find out the truth, and when she does, it’s absolute catharsis. The play cannot possibly end until she realizes. If it ended without her ever finding out, the entire narrative would collapse.

Secondly, Christian dies toward the end of the play, and Roxane spends several heartbroken years mourning him, thinking he’s her lost soulmate and she’ll never love again. (Again, sound familiar???) It’s only after his death, when she thinks Cyrano is reading “Christian’s last unsent letter” aloud to her until she notices the depth of passion and truth in his voice as he reads, that it finally clicks for her.

Need I say who and what each of the Stranger Things counterparts to this story are? That’s right. Mike is Roxane, El is Christian, Will is Cyrano, and the painting is the letters. This is why a reveal of the painting’s true origin at some point in Season 5 was all it would take for Mike to finally understand his own heart, just like Roxane, and thus all it would take for a general audience to be on board with Mike ending up with Will.

- Emcee from Cabaret (needs NO explanation)

- Sally Bowles from Cabaret (can you imagine what they would do with that song!!??)

- Roland from Constellations (if you don’t know this show plez go read it it’s all about alternate universes and the butterfly effect)

- Audry 2 from Little Shop (BUT 👆not the normal deep voiced Audry I’d want them to do the gravely screaming voice they do I think that’d be SUCH a take)

- Moritz from Spring Awakening (again I feel like this needs no explication)

- Ilse from Spring Awakening

- Lady Macbeth from Macbeth (out damned spot- do we see the vision here?)

- Macbeth from Macbeth (the dagger monologue)

- Cyrano from Cyrano de Bergerac (I think the vibe of I’m-very-famous-but-can’t-handle-day-to-day-life would be very fun to watch them do)

- Amadeus from Amadeus (full out CRAZY energy)

- Blanch from A Street Car Named Desire

- Stanley from A Street Car Named Desire

- Medea from Medea (the Euripides version exclusively I do NOT fuck with any other version)

i've managed to fuse cyrano with tamlen angst because i love to put my little guys in the torment nexus. sorry verano. and cyril.

anyways, based on the idea that that 1. the origins crew is probably way more careful handling darkspawn than we see on screen 2. the fact that most cultures in thedas practice cremation probably is very handy in the blight to avoid it spreading more than it has to 3. the fact that in companion au, as a non-warden verano probably wouldn't be able to safely handle tamlen's body much at all when he's been that ghoul'd up. he has to watch cyril and alistair do it instead