Scattered thoughts on Étoile
Jun. 24th, 2025 04:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
regshoeThere is podfic! I highly recommend both this and the original story :D
[Podfic] Folie à deux (29 words) by DevilWithABirdDress
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Étoile (TV)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Tobias Bell & Cheyenne Toussaint
Characters: Cheyenne Toussaint, Tobias Bell, Jack McMillan
Additional Tags: two geniuses equals more ulcers for jack, he doesn't deserve this but it IS funny, if i don't get more cheyenne and tobias interacting in season 2 i am going to be so sad, Podfic, Podfic Length: 10-20 Minutes, Audio Format: MP3, Audio Format: Streaming
Summary:
I'm seven-eighths of the way through rewatching, and I've been thinking about important things like the timeline and how to pronounce people's names:
So, the two absolutely clear dates that I've noticed so far are: Jack's whiteboard calendar in episode 1, which tells us it's around 14 October 2024 (it's a weekly calendar showing the dates of the Mondays in October, with the 14th circled); and the poster for 'Off-Rhythm' that Geneviève hangs up in her office in episode 6 (♥ to that scene, by the way), which has the date 'samedi 16.11.24'. That plus the Nutcracker around the Christmas season dates things roughly: the show takes place over the last few months of 2024 (/possibly into the new year). But I'm puzzled: surely ~a month is far too short a time for the whole swap to be arranged, begin and get to the stage of Tobias's first Paris piece being performed? Are they just really handwaving the admin/organisation/etc., or have I missed something?
Pre-canon timeline thoughts: Mishi was cut from the Paris school two years ago (summer/autumn 2022) by Geneviève. But Geneviève is still only the interim director of Le Ballet National, and two years already seems like a long time to be interim anything, so she was probably fairly new in post at that point. Gabin was discovered and accepted into Le Ballet National by Geneviève, so he's probably been there not much more, and perhaps substantially less, than two years (and so he may not know Mishi from before she was cut). Cheyenne was in New York five years ago, in 2019, and presumably that's when she and Jack had their affair. Jack ominously turns 45 in episode 5; Geneviève is 48; Mishi is 19; Cheyenne was born in 1991 so she's ~33; I don't think we know exactly how old anyone else is?
I have very mixed feelings about the terribly tangled love triangle between the main three characters. Jack and Cheyenne have great chemistry and I love their dynamic, but I just don't think they go together that way. It's not the sort of relationship that needs or wants romance/sex to make sense, you know? And they seem to have thought so too, since they evidently decided not to continue things after last time. I somewhat surprised myself by liking Jack/Geneviève much better, but a) they end the series on a bit of a mess and I'm not sure how they'd get things back from there, b) much as I like Jack, I think Geneviève deserves better, and I love the happy ending she does get in the finale despite what happens with her and Jack. The contrary femslasher part of me kind of wants to ship Cheyenne/Geneviève, but they really don't seem to gel together well at all, and I don't think it's the kind of conflict that makes for a good enemies ship either (also I think Cheyenne at least is pretty definitely straight: if there had been women too Crispin would have threatened her even harder about them, and she doesn't seem like the type to fail to recognise or act on her own socially-frowned-on feelings if she had them). So ??? to all that. I'll see what I think after rewatching the finale.
In sharp contrast to that, Tobias/Gabin are uncomplicatedly utter OTP material. They're totally bonkers and perfect and I love them so much. I love how intense Gabin is so soon in their relationship, especially in the scenes in episodes 4 and 6 where he accuses Tobias of having let him down—and Tobias just goes, OMG, yeah, you're totally right, I just remembered I still have a boyfriend and I need to go and break up with him now, whoops. I rewatched episode 7 yesterday and I love all the angst in it. I love 'my message is never clear' vs. the very clear message in the finale. Aargh.
Who threw that rock through the reviewer's window??? I think we're meant to believe Gabin when he says it wasn't him—he's heartbroken in that scene and seems totally sincere, and he's perfectly willing to admit to the things he did do. I initially thought that if Tobias had done it, he wouldn't have wanted to let Gabin take the blame and would have owned up when Gabin talked to him about it, but rewatching that scene outside the police station I'm reconsidering—he's pretty angry at Gabin there, perhaps he would (/wouldn't consider it that much of a priority). Who else could it have been?? I've read one fic which entertainingly suggests that Melanie, Gabin's dance partner, did it. But in canon I think I'm now leaning towards it probably was Tobias... but it seems slightly odd that it never comes up again. Hmmm.
I was puzzled by the inconsistent pronunciation of Cheyenne's name by the English-speaking characters: Jack, Nicholas and Susu say ʃeɪ'ɛn, shay-EN, which agrees (approximately) with how Cheyenne herself and other French-speaking characters pronounce it; but Tobias, Gael and Crispin say ʃʌɪ'ɛn, shy-EN. Is that a mistake on the actors' part, or in-universe mispronuncation by the characters?—which I could totally believe from Tobias (who's terrible with names) but seems odd from Gael (who knows Cheyenne pretty well) and Crispin (who boasts that he knows everything about her—but not how to pronounce her name??). So I looked it up further and according to Wikipedia, Cheyenne is actually not an originally-French given name, which I had assumed because it sounds reasonably like one. It's the name of a group of two Native American tribes and in that context is pronounced ʃaɪˈɛn, shy-EN, or ʃaɪˈæn, shy-AN; and it's also a given name used in English and originating probably from the Lakota language (i.e. different Native Americans from the actual Cheyenne??), and in that context is pronounced ʃaɪˈæn, shy-AN. The equivalent page on French Wikipedia doesn't give a pronuncation but also says it's American in origin, and doesn't list many French examples. So maybe the inconsistency is because actually our Cheyenne pronounces her name quite unusually, and Americans get it wrong because they're more likely to know the usual pronunciation?
[Podfic] Folie à deux (29 words) by DevilWithABirdDress
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Étoile (TV)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Tobias Bell & Cheyenne Toussaint
Characters: Cheyenne Toussaint, Tobias Bell, Jack McMillan
Additional Tags: two geniuses equals more ulcers for jack, he doesn't deserve this but it IS funny, if i don't get more cheyenne and tobias interacting in season 2 i am going to be so sad, Podfic, Podfic Length: 10-20 Minutes, Audio Format: MP3, Audio Format: Streaming
Summary:
Who decided that letting Cheyenne and Tobias in the same room was a good idea?
Podfic of Folie à deux by Lirazel.
I'm seven-eighths of the way through rewatching, and I've been thinking about important things like the timeline and how to pronounce people's names:
So, the two absolutely clear dates that I've noticed so far are: Jack's whiteboard calendar in episode 1, which tells us it's around 14 October 2024 (it's a weekly calendar showing the dates of the Mondays in October, with the 14th circled); and the poster for 'Off-Rhythm' that Geneviève hangs up in her office in episode 6 (♥ to that scene, by the way), which has the date 'samedi 16.11.24'. That plus the Nutcracker around the Christmas season dates things roughly: the show takes place over the last few months of 2024 (/possibly into the new year). But I'm puzzled: surely ~a month is far too short a time for the whole swap to be arranged, begin and get to the stage of Tobias's first Paris piece being performed? Are they just really handwaving the admin/organisation/etc., or have I missed something?
Pre-canon timeline thoughts: Mishi was cut from the Paris school two years ago (summer/autumn 2022) by Geneviève. But Geneviève is still only the interim director of Le Ballet National, and two years already seems like a long time to be interim anything, so she was probably fairly new in post at that point. Gabin was discovered and accepted into Le Ballet National by Geneviève, so he's probably been there not much more, and perhaps substantially less, than two years (and so he may not know Mishi from before she was cut). Cheyenne was in New York five years ago, in 2019, and presumably that's when she and Jack had their affair. Jack ominously turns 45 in episode 5; Geneviève is 48; Mishi is 19; Cheyenne was born in 1991 so she's ~33; I don't think we know exactly how old anyone else is?
I have very mixed feelings about the terribly tangled love triangle between the main three characters. Jack and Cheyenne have great chemistry and I love their dynamic, but I just don't think they go together that way. It's not the sort of relationship that needs or wants romance/sex to make sense, you know? And they seem to have thought so too, since they evidently decided not to continue things after last time. I somewhat surprised myself by liking Jack/Geneviève much better, but a) they end the series on a bit of a mess and I'm not sure how they'd get things back from there, b) much as I like Jack, I think Geneviève deserves better, and I love the happy ending she does get in the finale despite what happens with her and Jack. The contrary femslasher part of me kind of wants to ship Cheyenne/Geneviève, but they really don't seem to gel together well at all, and I don't think it's the kind of conflict that makes for a good enemies ship either (also I think Cheyenne at least is pretty definitely straight: if there had been women too Crispin would have threatened her even harder about them, and she doesn't seem like the type to fail to recognise or act on her own socially-frowned-on feelings if she had them). So ??? to all that. I'll see what I think after rewatching the finale.
In sharp contrast to that, Tobias/Gabin are uncomplicatedly utter OTP material. They're totally bonkers and perfect and I love them so much. I love how intense Gabin is so soon in their relationship, especially in the scenes in episodes 4 and 6 where he accuses Tobias of having let him down—and Tobias just goes, OMG, yeah, you're totally right, I just remembered I still have a boyfriend and I need to go and break up with him now, whoops. I rewatched episode 7 yesterday and I love all the angst in it. I love 'my message is never clear' vs. the very clear message in the finale. Aargh.
Who threw that rock through the reviewer's window??? I think we're meant to believe Gabin when he says it wasn't him—he's heartbroken in that scene and seems totally sincere, and he's perfectly willing to admit to the things he did do. I initially thought that if Tobias had done it, he wouldn't have wanted to let Gabin take the blame and would have owned up when Gabin talked to him about it, but rewatching that scene outside the police station I'm reconsidering—he's pretty angry at Gabin there, perhaps he would (/wouldn't consider it that much of a priority). Who else could it have been?? I've read one fic which entertainingly suggests that Melanie, Gabin's dance partner, did it. But in canon I think I'm now leaning towards it probably was Tobias... but it seems slightly odd that it never comes up again. Hmmm.
I was puzzled by the inconsistent pronunciation of Cheyenne's name by the English-speaking characters: Jack, Nicholas and Susu say ʃeɪ'ɛn, shay-EN, which agrees (approximately) with how Cheyenne herself and other French-speaking characters pronounce it; but Tobias, Gael and Crispin say ʃʌɪ'ɛn, shy-EN. Is that a mistake on the actors' part, or in-universe mispronuncation by the characters?—which I could totally believe from Tobias (who's terrible with names) but seems odd from Gael (who knows Cheyenne pretty well) and Crispin (who boasts that he knows everything about her—but not how to pronounce her name??). So I looked it up further and according to Wikipedia, Cheyenne is actually not an originally-French given name, which I had assumed because it sounds reasonably like one. It's the name of a group of two Native American tribes and in that context is pronounced ʃaɪˈɛn, shy-EN, or ʃaɪˈæn, shy-AN; and it's also a given name used in English and originating probably from the Lakota language (i.e. different Native Americans from the actual Cheyenne??), and in that context is pronounced ʃaɪˈæn, shy-AN. The equivalent page on French Wikipedia doesn't give a pronuncation but also says it's American in origin, and doesn't list many French examples. So maybe the inconsistency is because actually our Cheyenne pronounces her name quite unusually, and Americans get it wrong because they're more likely to know the usual pronunciation?
