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ensemble might as well just be called "Everyone Calls Out Sarastro" because honestly that's exactly what it is

he's a weenie who can't even get over his dead wife and his kids already 
he went from all-powerful runner of He Man Women Hating Club in the opera to a wimp here which is honestly the funniest thing to me
he was much more intimidating before the Queen came over and whooped his ass for the throne, but now he's really just a shell of who he was.

@bumbleberry (can't quote rn the site's glitching): yeah that was basically original opera's sarastro. basically if you weren't a male completely willing to join his weirdo club (read: most of the people in this godforsaken opera) you were Shunned. You're female? Shunned. You don't want to join because it's just not really your thing and you would really rather be left out of the story? Shunned.
New Sarastro at least isn't a sexist moron, but still. His kids were drowned, his wife was killed, his entire kingdom was overthrown by his former best friend, what can he do but move on. He's such a pitiful excuse that I can't even show his design yet lmao

This is the greatest thing i have seen all week ngl

The update isn't ready yet, but I did manage to update the entire Cast list- cleaned things out and adjusted some of the little descriptions to fit (as well as cleared up some things that weren't very clear, such as the little thing on Papagena at the end. Who is Papagena, you ask? Don't worry about it, she's dead anyway!)

Finally, an update! (a small, off-schedule one, but hey, better than the hiatus this thing was on for like a month)

scene change is basically us finally returning to Tamino and Papageno's Excellent Adventure, featuring Tamino realizing he's done messed up big time with the whole "literally release some guy from hell" thing. also featuring the triumphant return of flute spirit and some others

sterling shows up later in a short amount of time. _{unfortunately...}

I think having a synopsis for any opera besides The Magic Flute wouldn't spoil anything at all (any other mozart opera because they don't play a major role in the plot, Don Giovanni because it happened before the events of Ensemble, and The Marriage of Figaro because of foregone conclusions and the title itself giving away the plot). Ensemble however varies wildly from The Magic Flute, so if you saw the Magic Flute you still wouldn't see a lot of the things coming. (There's a specific point during Ensemble's second half that's radically different to the opera's whole point, and from there on out it becomes completely impossible to mimic the opera due to circumstance).
All other similarities and differences I stay mum on, but keep in mind that some things are mimicked more than others...

I googled Opera Cat out of sheer curiosity and here's some of the best pics ive found



I also found whatever in the fresh hell this is: www.beijingoperacats.com/

Beijing Opera Cats apparently.

Opera cats suitable for weebs and squeebs.

updated yet again! featuring FINALLY A SCENE CHANGE THANK THE LORDS ALMIGHTY
although i really don't think anyone missed tamino and papageno because they're losers

I mean he really did mess up
like not even failed-the-end-of-term-final level mess up
like release Literal Don Juan from hell despite everything he has seen tell him that's NOT A GOOD IDEA level mess up
how did he even manage to do that; that's expert levels of messing up right there

I mean. all of the clues were right there in front of him. The abandoned bar, the whole dining room being scorched and bloody, Leporello acting all weird, Papageno literally explaining to him bad cats go in the incinerator 5 minutes before Tamino goes ahead and lets Don Giovanni out... to use a metaphor I've already used today; it's like watching a parent force their five-year-old to watch Watership Down as a "babysitter movie", it's terrible and can only result in harming yourself and others but I can't say I didn't warn you.

it took me literally an entire day to figure out what could rhyme with "mollies" that would really put enough emphasis on itself. the monster of mollies, indeed...

might do a revamp of the main posts some point this month(?) but idk
that bright green gets annoying after a while.
ah well added the title of act one to the comic archive and a quote that shows up for the first time in-story not far from now. What Does It Mean? guess we'll never know.