JUGULAR ─── original applyfic

JUGULAR

"Can you blame me for thinking it better to garner the love of a thousand mortals instead; to hold the adoration of a city instead of one consort's frail, mortal flesh?"

- Jennifer Saint, ARIADNE

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THE TAUREAU ACADEMY OF BALLET IS KNOWN FOR CREATING STARS.

Founded by Hénri Escoffier back in the late 15th century, shortly after ballet's conception during the Italian Renaissance, the academy has consistently earned its place as the most prestigious ballet school in the world, putting Juilliard and the Vaganova school to shame. Hence, it is not surprising that entry to the academy is almost miraculous; annually, only seven students are admitted to take on the two-year programme to ballet stardom. From the first day they enter, the seven students are subject to early morning and late nights dedicated to dance.

The true pursuit of all of those at Taureau? If ballet stardom wasn't enough, the annual Escoffier scholarship- was a one way ticket, if you will, to leading the world of ballet. In simpler terms, the recipient of the Escoffier scholarship, (the star of the season, the belle of the ball) would be entitled to any role they wished to play in, under any dance company of their choosing. The press' focus remained on these recipients, for who knew who was going to change the trajectory of ballet?

Aria Huynh was not the typical candidate for Taureau, let alone the Escoffier. Whilst many of those who graced Taureau's halls had been trained to dance as soon as they could manage wobbling onto their feet as toddlers, Aria had been introduced to ballet at the age of twelve, after watching a community production of The Nutcracker at Christmas. Almost summoned into a trance, an ungodly amount of time dedicated to dance and the convenient sugariness of talent aided her way towards a competitive and, in due time, successful application.

Nearing the end of her time at Taureau, Aria was well-known by both students, professors and the press. After a risky love affair with the heir to the academy Théodore Escoffier and an even more controversial, highly publicised encounter with French-Thai socialite Dion Srisuwan, she was far from the doe-eyed, "small town" girl she had been. Tossed into a world led by scandalous temptation, yet still succeeding in her pursuits at Taureau, Aria seemed to have wished up everything she had ever desired. She could practically taste the sweetness of the Escoffier scholarship and a few lifetimes worth of wealth.

An inconvenient time to die, right?

Quite clearly, someone had had enough. The opening night of her final performance at Taureau, portraying both Odette and Odile in Swan Lake, she had been found dead in her practice room. By the star of the show's still body, a dainty silver dagger tossed after someone had cleanly slit her jugular, blood staining the white of her leotard.

Change isn't treated well in the slaughterhouse. Aria learnt that far too late.

OR — in which seven hopefuls do whatever it takes to become the star of the ballet season

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nhung hong as ARIA HUYNH
' THE PRIMA BALLERINA '

louis garrel as THÉODORE ESCOFFIER
' THE MASTERMIND '

dew jirawat as DION SRISUWAN
' THE DISTRACTION '

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tag 5+ friends if interested!!

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( 🥀 ) - you have one (1) new message from ally!!

i am genuinely quite nervous to publish this, simply because i love this idea so so much and i'm rather possessive of it oopsies!! but back to blood, guts and gore, i love my mad little ideas!

if you want to get a flavour for the vibes of this applyfic, i'd definitely have a read of the plots of swan lake, the mayerling and giselle ballets (which all inspired this applyfic!) and the various versions of the myth of theseus, ariadne and the minotaur. this piece, alongside most ballet-inspired media, is also influenced by black swan. i'm back in my indulgent writing era (english lit has forced me to continually think of biblical references in text) so look forward to that!! forms and the works will be out relatively soon, so i hope you are excited as well <3