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acaplaya-musings · 2 months

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Voiceplay Visuals: We Don't Talk About Bruno

("You're gonna show/talk about That Moment, right?" Yes of course I will be showing/talking about That Moment; who do you take me for? 😝)

This video was uploaded on the 26th of February, 2022, it features Ashley Diane (in her second full-length collaboration with Voiceplay), and it is of course a cover of the ridiculously-popular song We Don't Talk About Bruno, from the very-popular Disney movie Encanto (which I have seen 2 or 3 times, including in cinemas, but I'm also very familiar with the movie soundtrack, because it's amazing). To cover such a popular song (let alone acapella-style) can be a challenging task, because obviously there'll be a lot of people who'll already know the original song quite well and who will be prepared to make comparisons, but this is Voiceplay we're talking about! They're not called "the theatre kids of acapella" for nothing, and Disney covers is one of the things they do best (and the video currently sits at a very impressive 5.6 million views on Youtube! (EDIT: as of the 13th of March, it's now 5.7 million!))

So of course I have a lot to talk about with this one, so let's get into it!

Layne was in charge of the video, arrangement, and direction for this one, and he and Tony worked together on set design and costuming. Needless to say, Layne and Tony did an amazing job (and yes, this was of course filmed at Pattycake Productions Studio, which Layne and Tony own and run together)

As for the costuming/characters: Cesar is playing Felix (is it perfect casting, or is Cesar just amazing at slipping into basically any role he's given? You decide), Ashley plays triple roles of Pepa, Isabela, and Mirabel, Eli is maybe Agustin (Agustin doesn't have a lead singing part in the song but the outfit is close enough), Layne is Dolores, and Geoff is either Camilo, Bruno, or both (Camilo pretending to be Bruno perhaps, like in the original scene in the movie?)

If we don't count Jingle Bell Rock (where Eli was wearing glasses while dressed as "Sandy Claws", then I'm fairly certain this is the last/most recent time that Eli has actually worn glasses for a Voiceplay video? And perhaps the only time he's worn them since growing out his facial hair.

Also I'm pretty sure I heard from someone that Geoff's "ruana" (google it) is in fact just a regular blanket/piece of fabric draped (possibly secured/pinned) over his shoulders (it's kind of a Look though ngl)

Not even 30 seconds in and I already stumbled upon a way-funnier-than-expected screencap 🤣

*pfft* XD

Basically, Cesar 100% understood the assignment as Felix, totally hammed it up, and it's highly entertaining 😁

(Also I swear Geoff did a very miniscule eyeroll here? Amazing, love him)

"Hey where'd you get that?" 😂

I know I'm not meant to be talking about vocals in these posts (per my own rules), but I have to give a big shoutout to Layne, who freaking killed it with Dolores's solo part, and it's always so lovely to hear him actually getting a vocal part in a song, as amazing as he is at vocal percussion 💜

Cesar continuing to do The Most (affectionate), and also it's kinda sweet how Geoff is looking at Layne here imo <3 (and also it kinda fits with how the characters they're playing, Camilo (probably) and Dolores are siblings!)

"Grappling with prophecies they couldn't understand." "Do you understand?"

(If you're rewatching a Voiceplay video, try shifting your focus to someone other than whoever you typically focus on for a certain part of the song! It will probably be worth it!)

Trust Geoff to get a dark/spooky section of the song! Voiceplay is nothing if not consistent 😝 (well, sometimes, in regards to some things 😂)

"When he calls your name, it all-" "-fades to black"

I was trying to get a good screencap of Cesar and Ashley on the "we! don't! talk about Bruno!" line, but eh, couldn't get a decent one.

(Oh btw obligatory kudos to Eli for lighting design!)

"He told me my fish would die, the next day, DEAD!"

(Great face, Ashley 😂👌)

Also pay attention to Geoff during this line (before it cuts to a closeup of Ashley) - I love his little shoulder shimmy to the more-uptempo beat!)

"He said that all of my hair-"

"-would disappear..."

"Now look at my head!"

(Rip Eli, but there was no way anybody else was singing that line - it was practically made for him! 😆) (Also love Ashley touching his head in comfort/sympathy 😄)

"He told me that the life of my dreams would be promised and someday be miiine"

(Yes yes of course Ashley is very pretty and I love the petals and the slow-mo on her, now CUE!)

"He told me that my power would grow, like the grapes that thrive on the viiiine"

Yep, that still continues to be up there as one of the most bonkers-ridiculous moments in a Voiceplay video ever. 🤣 (Also if it weren't hilarious enough, check out Ashley's Offended(tm) face in the first and second pictures above, and Layne's Extremely Concerned face in the second picture! ("uhh, Geoff. something you wanna tell me, dude?"))

I'm a little fuzzy on specifics, but apparently the idea for this moment came about when Voiceplay was acquiring clothing for everyone, and Ashley's outfit arrived in two different sizes (just in case one might fit better than the other). Turns out one of the copies of the outfit was a perfect fit for Geoff, and one thing led to another, and we ended up with Aspiring Disney Princess Geoff that you see in the images above 😄😋)

(When I said "don't just get you a man who can do both, get yourself a man that can do everything" back in my Frozen 2 Medley post, I meant it!!!)

(Oh and this section really was slowed down in post-production in order to make the petals (and hair flips!) look nice, and so both Ashley and Geoff were having to sing/lip-sync to sped up versions of their vocal lines!)

"Hey sis..."

(I don't know why this is so funny but it just is 😂)

Ashley in glasses for Mirabel's part!

"Seven foot frame, rats along his back!" *(goat scream)*

(Genuinely not even joking about the goat scream actually)

Geoff and Cesar were competing this whole video in terms of who could be the Biggest Ham I swear 😂

I somehow didn't pick up on this till a commenter pointed it out, but Layne copies Geoff's "spooky finger wiggles" movement! It's got Younger Sibling vibes ngl (though Dolores is actually older than Camillo iirc, and I'm an only child anyway so idk)

Ashley and Cesar were both great in this video, really seemed to play off each other quite a bit!

Man, what a video. Amazing to watch, and also a really great to watch other people react to, for multiple reasons! 😁

There's not much for me to say that I haven't already said about Voiceplay before, but I will say that if you liked this one, go watch their Mini for Surface Pressure if you haven't already! It was filmed during the same shoot as this one (same set, same clothes), and uploaded a few days prior. It's only a short video, sure, but it's still very much worth a watch.

#voiceplay #acapella #we don't talk about bruno #geoff castellucci #eli jacobson #layne stein #cesar de la rosa #ashley diane #acaplaya analysis #voiceplay visuals

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juneviews · 1 year

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axelle judges bl shows > My School President

/!\ SPOILERS AHEAD

summary: Tinn has been crushing on Gun for over two years, and decides that senior year is the year he needs to make a move. For that, he becomes the school’s student body president in an effort to help Gun’s music club avoid cancellation.

where to watch: youtube

grade: 8,5/10

pros:

- this show manages to take a very basic story that honestly shouldn’t have lasted more than one episode, and develop it in an endearing, quirky and very interesting direction through its writing. the writing of the show gives so much care to the characters and their feelings, and treats them in honestly such a rare way with making tinngun experience a lot of obstacles with maturity but never break up, as well as giving all the side characters a lot more love than usual. this really took the show from what could’ve been extremely forgettable & seen 50 times before plot, to truly one of the best bls in a while!

- similarly, there’s so much care put into the show: the original soundtrack is really great and the fact that the opening credits changed every 3 episodes to indicate changes in the story & characters was SUCH a good idea! you can tell the creators of the show really put so much effort & thought into it & imo it more than paid off!

- the characters are amazing. I gotta talk about my boi tinn bc he has everything of the “perfect & boring bl love interest” which is a trope I’ve criticized where the love interest is handsome, smart, talented, rich, has everything going on for himself except for a personality, which makes half of a ship so fucking boring in bl shows, but here my boi tinn is my literal fucking fave bc we get to see so much of his point of view. we see him freak out about his crush, be shy, be awkward, etc. but we also see that his family life & the pressure put on him is real, which adds layer to his character. as for gun, he’s equally as amazing, and so much of the show allows him to explore his feelings which makes him such a relatable character. sound is also another fave of mine, he has a great character development just like win, tiw is literally an iconic friend & deffo the mvp of this show, yo got a good storyline about insecurity, and por & phat were adorable and completed the team well. I literally fell in love with this group of friends so much & they absolutely carried the show!

- the acting & chemistry, man. so as you might know already, I’m a hater LMAO. I don’t like new pairings easily at all, especially when it contains both new actors I’ve never seen before. but when I say fourth & gemini stunned me, I really mean it. first of all they have an insanely natural chemistry that really puts a lot of more experienced pairings to shame lol, and it’s the same for satang & winny who play winsound and literally stole the show for me! I swear I started by rolling my eyes at the possibility of winsound & then I got converted real quick LMAO. but apart from that, the acting is just so fucking GOOD. fourth shined the most for me, he brings a vulnerability to his character that is very impressive for his age, but gemini also did an amazing job showing the complexities of tinn. satang also impressed me greatly, this boy has amazing heart eyes & also displays a lot of vulnerability, I hope to see more of him! but honestly everyone did a great job & really sold their characters to me <3

- I feel like what makes this show special is that it doesn’t stay surface level at all. when the guys lose hot wave, another show would show them being disappointed & depressed for one episode and move on, but msp went further by having them internalize their feelings & then ultimately fight once they can’t contain it anymore. them blaming each other then crying & apologizing is honestly one of my favorite scenes of the show?? it was such a real scene that was FELT, and also a great display of friendship there. another good example is the fear of coming out & the wish to hide their relationship, as well as the homophobia experienced by tinngun in the last episode. another show would’ve likely completely skipped through that & showed tinngun accepted by all without batting an eye, but instead by showing tinn’s mother’s uneasiness around her son dating a guy, and that asshole teacher being a complete homophobic dick who thinks he’s in the right, or even those teachers who shook their heads at tinngun being cute at prom, it all felt more realistic & added layers to the show and their relationship where it’s not all sunshine & rainbows, yet they still stay strong & support each other. all of these moments really add a lot of depth & importance to the show, and also strengthen the characters & their relationships a whole lot.

- the pace is also perfect to make it a super entertaining show & I never felt bored for even one minute!

cons:

- as quirky & fun & entertaining as this show was, it is still pretty basic in most of its storylines: gun’s mom being sick, the guys losing hot wave, tinngun’s relationship leaking online... and like honestly that doesn’t take any of my enjoyment of the show away so who cares, but it does keep me from grading this show any higher. yes I literally have nothing else to put in the cons LMAO

would I rewatch it: absolutely! it joined my comfort shows list <3

I expected this show to give me sorta love sick vibes (one of my fave comfort shows), but I didn’t expect it to be a more updated version of a just as healthy couple as phunnoh, giving me a just as vibrant & enjoyable high school slice of life that I love so much. I literally fell in love with this show, man. it was entertaining, and endearing, and honestly it became an instant favorite. I couldn’t recommend it more!

#axelle judges bl shows #my school president #my school president the series #bypiningbisexuals #I had a LOT of things to say LMAO

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tatelangdonsweater · 1 year

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I just finished all 11 seasons of AHS, and… honestly, I’m amazed. I came for Evan Peters, but I stayed for the beauty of the series and the other amazing actors in it.

Now. Here’s my ranking of all eleven seasons (note: I’m ranking AHS Red Tide and AHS Death Valley separately). Disclaimer: everything here is just my opinion. You don’t have to agree with me.

1. Murder House. It’s a classic for a reason. Tate and Violet’s romance is to die for (no pun intended), and Jessica Lange does a great performance as Constance. Also, Addy and Violet deserved better.

2. NYC. For some reason, I love learning about this specific period in LGBT history, and the last two episodes were a heartbreaking- but realistic- portrayal of AIDS. Made me cry. And the soundtrack was the best of all the seasons.

3. Hotel. It was dark, it was sexy, and I loved the plot twist- totally came out of left field. Also, Lady Gaga and Angela Bassett? Iconic.

4. Coven. Has my comfort character, Kyle Spencer, in it. Also love Misty Day (that girl is definitely autistic I do not make the rules). I didn’t really warm up to Madison in this season, but I did eventually in Apocalypse. This season also has very striking visuals- the intro is the best one of the series, imo.

5. Cult. Evan’s acting as Kai was superb (and he’s also really hot hehe). I liked how it differed from previous seasons in that there weren’t any supernatural elements here. I also liked the political commentary.

6. Freak Show. As much as I love Evan’s darker characters, I also love when he plays good boys. And Bette and Dot are lovely. That being said, I don’t really understand why they threw in the character of Chester so close to the end of the season. Didn’t make much sense to me but 🤷🏽‍♂️

7. Red Tide. I liked how it satirized the whole “all artists are a little crazy” trope, and how far people are willing to go for greatness. I loved Alma (the little girl). It’s a little unnerving to see creepy child characters, but she did it well.

8. 1984. This one was kinda mid. But I do love a good slasher. I liked the ‘80s outfits and soundtrack, and the intro was great. I just feel like they dragged it out a bit.

9. Apocalypse. I know this is a fan favorite, and I liked seeing characters from Murder House and Coven again, but I feel like it was really rushed and the new characters (save for Michael) weren’t really developed. Also wasn’t a fan of how much the narrative jumped around.

10. Asylum. I’m so sorry 😭 but there was too much going on in this season. Maybe if they’d stuck with the Bloody Face + asylum storyline, then it would have worked, but the whole alien abduction thing was…. idk. Maybe it’s just because I don’t enjoy those types of stories. I loved Kit and Lana, though, and loved to hate the nuns.

11. Roanoke. Again, this one was a dud. No AHS intro, characters weren’t exactly memorable… this gets points for Kathy Bates’s character, though. And Audrey and Rory’s relationship, which reminded me of Tahani and Jason from The Good Place.

12. Death Valley. This one was just a snooze-fest. The characters and story weren’t memorable at all, and like I said, I’m not a big fan of alien abduction plotlines. Also felt rushed to me.

Can’t wait to see what else Ryan Murphy comes up with!

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moon-yean · 6 years

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babylon berlin thoughts

I finally found the time to finish Babylon Berlin and alsdkfjalösdjkf!!! Guys, watch it when it comes to Netflix on January 30!!! (Serious spoilers behind the cut, don’t read unless you’ve seen it all. I mean it. This show relies heavily on twists.)

Can I just say... Regierungsrat Benda ??? What the hell ??? Everything about that storyline was killing me already anyway because of the inherent tragedy but wow @ the show making one of the nicest characters kill one of the other nicest characters + his little kid. Just... what the hell. I was ready to rip my hair out.

On that note, still mourning Jänicke!!! When they showed Charlotte sitting with his parents and them congratulating her on her new job... just, stawp. Stop killing me. Why are all the death scenes in this show both the best (in the way they are shot and the tension is built and just alöksdjfölajsdf) and the worst (because they keep killing the characters ppl might actually care about most)?

ngl I cried during a bunch of episodes, you can guess which.

And the end... wtf there were so many crazy twists in this show, I totally didn’t see this coming (until they started the flashback to the wedding of his brother and we see him turning around and I recognized the actor who plays the doc). And I just realized that that’s the reason the mob boss (Edgar~ ok is that even his real name) had the painting of Anno’s horse!!! Though this raises all kinds of questions about Gereon’s dad and the prostitutes shooting that little home vid in that location because uhmm that dude is also Anno’s dad and did Anno know and was he involved with that or what?! He was involved with the blackmail, right? Just wtf?!

Also that ep with the assassination attempt during the Dreigroschenoper was awesome and makes me crave an Assassin’s Creed game set in that era. I dug it when that storyline got video game-y, less so when it became comic book-y (the train fight with Wolter... everything was so great until they started to actually green screen fight each other on top of the train, that shit was goofy and silly but ok I’ll let it slide because I wanted Wolter dead the minute he forced Charlotte to take him on as a “customer” despite her refusal plus he was just a corrupt and repulsive dick in general, the actor was great but I totally didn’t get how reviewers apparently loved his character or found him super funny or something?).

Also can we just talk about how this show was able to give me the most profound history chills with the most subtle moments? Or not even just the subtle ones. When General Seegers revealed his anti-semitic colors to Benda I was ready to jump through the screen and throttle him. Not that any of that is a surprise but... the fact that it’s kept on the down low all the time makes it so much more shocking when it erupts out in the open.

Speaking of which, Fritz and his friend, whatever his name was, were so clearly up to no good in hindsight. Like these two dudes are the only ones who ever mention Hitler in passing. Surprise surprise. Ugh!!!

The show is somewhat maddening but that’s the time it’s set in. Just makes you want to scream, knowing where everything is going.

Yeah idk I have so many thoughts but I’m just glad the show’s been renewed. The whole cast is so perfect and I love Gereon and Charlotte and if they iron out the kinks and tighten the plotting, this could become, like, the best show of all time. It’s super well-directed and -acted and I’m surprised the different styles of the creative team didn’t show through more but yeah, they need to smoothen the writing a little bit and make it less convoluted.

But there were so many standout scenes and sequences, some of the best on TV this year imo. Aside from everything I’ve already mentioned, how great was the episode where Gereon tells the story of him and his brother on the battlefield? Or the scene where he breaks into Wolter’s apartment? Just so well done and filmed, damn. And I love how they really took the time with some of those scenes and luxuriated in them long past the point where other shows might have gone. It makes the balance on the whole a bit uneven but it produces these really memorable pieces.

Oh yeah and if I want something from S3-onwards, it’s that the show should ease off on making Charlotte a broken mess and damsel in distress, S2 kind of really hit the brakes in terms of her character development. Liv Lisa Fries was amazing and kept it coherent but more of her S1 self pls.

And also, can the show please run for enough seasons that it doesn’t end in 1938 during the November progroms like the books apparently will?! Like damn, that would be the most depressing series finale ever.

#babylon berlin #babylon berlin spoilers #meta #bb meta #bb s1 #tv show: babylon berlin #mine: musings #also the soundtrack is freaking AMAZING and makes the show imo #so many great cues #anyway i sadly don't have time to make edits/gifs atm but i'll start that up once the show hits netflix

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blushinggray · 3 years

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Free! The Final Stroke screeching/reaction (spoilers)

AHHHHH I JUST WATCHED THE FINAL STROKE MOVIE TODAY IN THEATERS ON PREMIER DAY AND IT WAS LAKSJDFOAIFJWOEI to summarize it all, it was Very Gay, which was to be expected but they DID NOT have to get so freaking extra with it 😩😩😩

much screaming and many spoilers ahead

FIRST OF ALL, KIRISHIMA NATSUYA: HE WAS SO FUCKING HANDSOME DAFKJOIEFJOSIDJF. SO HANDSOME. SO HANDSOME AND STUPID AND OVERLY FRIENDLY AS WE LOVE HIM TO BE ALKDSJFOAIEW.

he was in the film for a total of maybe 5 minutes altogether, which was kind of a lot bc the film kind of was just putting all the characters back in for the sake of putting them in imo? for the fans, lol. so everyone could see their faves. and in these five minutes that he appeared, our mans:

bragged about his little brother he's so proud of

got laughed at by nao for being natsuya (aka dumb and straightforward) as usual

trained with sousuke (he was hanging out in the same pool with him, nao, and makoto to train and aid in sousuke's rehab training)

got a call from ikuya after the international swimming competition in sydney!!!! in that same cafe he's always at!!!! and he was with nao at the time he got the call. casual and cool as always, being the cool big brother or whatever. he ended the call with a curt, "you got it. see you. don't catch a cold."

HE WAS HANGING OUT AT CAFE MARON WHILE THEY WAITED FOR THE SYDNEY COMPETITORS TO COME BACK TO JAPAN. HE WAS BEHIND THE COUNTER WITH ASAHI (WHO WAS HOLDING BABY TSUKIMI IN A CARRIER ON HIS CHEST!!!!!) AND HE THREW HIS ARM AROUND ASAHI AND WAS GETTING SO CLOSE LIKE ALKSDJFAOIEJAOEI. I have absolutely no clue what he was saying at the time bc i was too busy freaking out and trying to hold in the sounds bc the theater was so quiet. but his GODDAMN FACE. HE WAS SMIRKING. SO HANDSOME 😩😩😩😩😩😩😩

and of fucking course, they were all out together at a restaurant when the sydney competitors came back, and he was like, "wth no one else is drinking alcohol tonight?" and nao was like "ofc not haha" AND YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT

HE FUCKING FALLS ASLEEP AT THE TABLE AFTER DRINKING AND EVERYONE IS SURROUNDING HIM AND PATTING HIM LIKE "dude..." and ikuya is sitting there like, omg can't believe this mess is my brother....

i thought that just might be his last scene in the film but then we show back up to the kirishima household and natsuya is eating some sort of luxury holiday(?) bento and ikuya is like "aren't you gonna save any for me?" and natsuya's like "of course not. this is for me, you gotta wait until next year xD" and then ikuya just fucking SNATCHES up several different foods and stuffs his face with all of them and natsuya starts arguing with him over them laskjdfoawiefjao where was this brotherly affection all this time?????

and then cut to a few seconds later, natsuya's bumming in his room on the floor like in s3 when ikuya comes in and tells him about his new future goals and alskdjfaoei brothers sharing their ambitions together 😩😩 WHAT IS GOING ON. EVERYONE GETS ALONG SO WELL NOW???

NEXT: we'll go back to the beginning i guess lmfao but they're preparing for some sort of university festival

we start off with an easily misunderstandable shoujo-style situation where asahi is talking to ikuya like, "i know it's your first time... you don't have to be nervous. i know you can do it." and ikuya's like "no! i can't 😣" like the tsun he is backed up against the wall. and then it turns out they're trying to make a mille feuille cake.... but everything he's made so far looked like crepes

and for some damn reason, KISUMI comes outta nowhere into the kitchen and is like "ooooh what's this? a mille feuille cake? although they all look kinda like crepes haha ^^" and then ikuya RUNS THE FUCK OUT OF THE KITCHEN, yelling, "i told you i couldn't do it!!!" like the fucking tsun he is... and asahi is yelling at kisumi like "why did you just say that!!!" and starts rubbing his knuckles into kisumi's head and kisumi's just laughing like, "oh did i do that hehe"

and for some reason... seijuurou is working at the booth in his speedo and swim team jacket. i mean i'm not complaining but sir.... PLS TAKE MY MONEY AND GIVE ME YOUR FAT OCTOPUS BALLS. (he literally started a batter mixing competition with hoshikawa inside the booth, like what are they even doing in the same booth???)

then rin and sousuke show up to ikuya, asahi, and hiyori(?)'s booth, and they're offering them the crepes and then they get into a conversation about smth that leads into them showing the embarrassing photos they have of each other?????? like ikuya has a pic of rin in his maid costume for some reason??? (tho it isn't shown) and rin shows an embarrassing pic of ikuya he has in his phone that he got from natsuya???????????? and then ikuya starts chasing after rin yelling at him to delete it lasdkjfoaei

and then haru is off to the side selling ugly ass bird mascots again lmfao. bc ofc he is. love that weirdo

BUT THE REAL KICKER HERE IS KINJOU!!!!!!!!!!!

APPARENTLY, HIS VILLAIN BACKSTORY COMES FROM HIS CHILDHOOD CRUSH (/exaggerated) ON HIYORI ALSKDJFOAIE WHAAAT. apparently he was that annoying kid in the playground who would go up to hiyori and bother him bc he wanted a friend. bb hiyori was literally like "why are you even talking to me so much?" in his sandbox. and bb kinjou is like, "well there's gotta be smth you like, right? what is it?" and hiyori's like "well i feel kinda happy when i'm swimming... :)" as images of ikuya flash into his mind, that gay ass

BUT KINJOU'S GAY ASS EYES START SPARKLING TOO AND THEN HE'S LIKE "I GOTTA LEARN WHAT THE BIG DEAL ABOUT SWIMMING IS" and he runs home, begs his brother to take him to the pool. but next time he brings his swimming stuff with him to the playground, hiyori isn't there anymore and apparently he left for america at that time (or smth). so poor baby basically got ghosted

but hiyori still knows him when they're older!!!! kinjou shows up when they're throwing out the trash after the uni festival and calls out to hiyori to taught him (which is where that bullying preview scene came from i guess) and alkfjeoiaejoaifj omfg it's like that estranged childhood friends (sorta) trope but it'll never go kinjou's way bc hiyori is and will always be in love with ikuya 😔

kinjou would make such a good yandere tho!!!! he has a feral expression on a few times throughout the movie, and during a race he gets super competitive mid-race and... ngl he was kinda sexy 😳 i'm actually kind of surprised by how taken i was with him in this movie. doesn't help that he's unfairly handsome and his hair looks fucking amazing. i MAY OR MAY NOT be exploring this man in the future..................

i also found the ending with haru pretty interesting!!!! it kind of hints at neurodivergence? smth along the lines of disassociation or multiple personalities? (guess 50% off was kinda right on that end lmfao).

he gets obsessed with beating albert wahlander, which is the most fired up i've ever seen him (to the point of almost hurting himself) and then the shadow or whatever effect albert has on haru kind of just overtakes him and pushes haru out of his own body in a way... it doesn't make sense to describe it this way, i know, but haru is literally watching himself say hurtful things to his friends while being overtaken by this... albert obsessed persona?

it's so interesting to see haru being the one obsessing over someone instead of the other way around for once!!! at the end of the movie (after all the credits) haru says the same thing he once said at the beginning of season 1? about how "at age 5, you're a prodigy. at age 15, you're a genius. at age 20(?), you're average." and this is def gonna be explored/concluded in the second part of the final stroke movie so i'm excited for that!!!! april 2022 come at me!!!!

there were SOOOOO many other things going on, plot wise and fanservice wise, and ofc kyoto animation was fucking TOP TIER SHIT. all the water effects... there was a shot where haru was looking at his reflection in the water and they make a drop fall and spread and shake his reflection in the waves and it was lafkjsefoiaeja fucking glorious. the soundtrack was lovely too. there was a RADWIMPS-esque beginning song and a sexy ass electric guitar buildup for kinjou (which may or may not be contributing to my growing obsession with him...)

AHHHH!!!! it was so good and everyone was so cute and handsome and gay and funny. we literally see every single character we've met before in some way, shape, or form lmfao. i might just go back to the theater and watch it again on one of the upcoming holidays this week.... SO GOOD. SO GOOD.

I LOVE ALL THESE GAY SWIMMING BOYS SO MUCH 😩😩😩

#free!#free! the final stroke #misc

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currantlee · 3 years

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My Top 5 favorite Pokémon Boss Battle Themes

So, I fell into a pit of my Pokémon nostalgia. Don't look at me, I loved these games as a kid, and I don't enjoy what they have become. That being said, I really hope the Sinnoh remakes - both BDSP and Legends - are good, since Sinnoh was my first region and I'd hate to see it butchered. Plus, they look promising. But I'm not getting my hopes up yet, I'll wait for reviews.

Anyways, one of the things I enjoyed so much about these games is the music. I could probably hum you some of the Sinnoh tunes, or even sing the lyrics I imagined for them (it's obvious that Sinnoh is still my favorite region, isn't it?). Or I could list some of my favorite music tracks from all across the series. So... I did just that to get my hype energy somewhere 😂

So yeah, I hope you enjoy this little list 😊 I tried to explain the stories and memories associated with those musical themes as well as I can for those of you who aren't into Pokémon. That being said - spoilers for Pokémon OmegaRuby and AlphaSapphire, Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver and especially the Sinnoh games ahead.

Oh, and if you do know Pokémon - please leave a comment or reblog and tell me what your favorite boss battle theme is, I'd love to know!

Since Pokémon doesn't have an explicified boss definition, here is what I define as boss battles in Pokémon:

Rival Battles

Gym Battles

Elite Four Battles

Champion Battles

Commander Battles

Admin Battles

Legendary / Unique Pokémon Battles

Frontier Brain or similar Battles

With that being said, let's go!

#5: Pokémon UltraSun/UltraMoon: VS Ultra Necrozma

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I will admit, I haven't played the game. I heard this battle is actually pretty difficult, but I can't speak for myself on this. Pokémon games have stopped to be enjoyable to me with Sun and Moon, which had an amazing storyline and some great gameplay concepts, but just... Not enjoyable to me. And USUM seemed like cashgrab to me. I will say though, this musical theme has something and might as well be the best legendary battle theme of modern Pokémon for me.

#4: Pokémon OmegaRuby/AlphaSapphire: VS Brendan/May

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In Gen3, Game Freak tried out a new approach with the rival character. See, you always have a rival in Pokémon, and up until this point, all rivals were pretty much jerks. What this new approach was? Well... Let's just say they made the rival character the crush of the player character.

Depending on whether you play as Brendan (whom everyone thought to have white hair before ORAS, except Hidenori Kusaka and Satoshi Yamamoto, who make the Pokémon Adventures manga) or as May, the other will be the rival, and let me tell you, the game pushes this ship really hard in my opinion. It's no wonder why the manga chose to write Ruby and Sapphire, Brendan's and May's counterparts respectively, as a romantic couple, who even confess their love for each other - twice.

Their battle theme conveys this perfectly: this isn't two people who hate each other battling, these are two friends, who might like each other more than you like a casual friend, battling to spend time together. Despite that, both of them are determined to not lose.

One of my favorite moments in the entire game is the ending of it. After the credits (during which Brendan and May are riding their bikes home together) have rolled, you arrive at the pond where you and your rival first met, and they will challenge you to a battle once more. It's when you hear this theme, the one you've listened to every time you battled Brendan or May during the game, and it's just an amazing moment in my opinion, one that is accompanied by this soundtrack, following absolute silence.

And yes, I prefer the remake version of this track.

#3: Pokémon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum: VS Cyrus

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Since Kingdom Hearts is currently my main fandom and therefore most people following me probably know more about that series than about Pokémon, let me explain who Cyrus is: Cyrus is the Xehanort of Pokémon. And that up there is his battle theme. And safe for the one time they butchered it by turning it into a disco song for USUM, it's absolutely perfect.

I especially like the beginning. It conveys intensity and the dangerous situation you're in. I mean, Cyrus literally wants to destroy the universe to replace it with a new one he will rule as a god. He also regards all emotions as weakness and will openly admit that his grunts are useless and merely tools to him. Honestly, he is the most terrifying antagonist of the entire series to me, mainly because his plan is that of a madman, but he is actually serious about it (and unlike Xehanort doesn't let go of it even after his defeat).

At the same time, the musical theme sounds hopeful - like all will be good. And I mean, all is eventually good. You have your Pokémon with you, and Cynthis (who also has a badass battle theme by the way) helps you out too. Here is a great thing about the Sinnoh plot: Cynthia has been built up as a character you can trust, and her philosophy is the direct contrast to Cyrus'. So when she helps you battle Cyrus and Team Galactic - you know she won't let anything happen to you. Despite how terrifying Cyrus is as a villain, you know you're safe, because you have not only your Pokémon, but her on your side. Oh, and she is the final boss of the game. So in the end, you and your Pokémon overcome not only the villain, but also the person who held your hand the entire time.

Sorry this turned into me gushing about the plot of the Sinnoh games, but I can't help it 😅 On with the show!

#2: Pokémon HeartGold/SoulSilver: VS Champion/Red

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If Cyrus is the Xehanort of Pokémon, then Red is it's Yozora. And while his musical theme is technically not his alone, I definitely associate it with him more than I associate it with Lance.

One of the best things about Red in my opinion is how he is foreshadowed during the entire game. Like, in the first city you visit, an elderly man will tell you about a boy named Red who three years ago saved the neighbouring region Kanto from the evil Team Rocket. Then, you hear nothing about him for a very long time - until Blue Oak mentions him again on Cinnebar Island and you meet his worried mother at Pallet Town.

While Red is technically an optional secret boss, the game makes you want to beat him through the little details it reveals about him. That he is a legend, that he is the true Champion of the Indigo League... To me, his mother worrying about him was always what got me the most.

I have to say, I also got a soft spot for the 8-Bit-version of the theme, it's just not what I grew up with. I admittedly never played GSC. I also like the Gen7 take on the theme, which mixes the original melody with the Alolan vibes.

#1: Pokémon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum: VS Dialga / Palkia

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I don't know how, but they managed to make the piano in this theme as epic as a theme for those two Dr Who-deities deserve. It sounds mysterious and it makes you respect what is in front of you, without sounding bombastic like Arceus' theme (which is also freaking amazing, ngl). Not that that is a bad thing, but I feel like the mysterious vibe fits Dialga and Palkia, who are the embodiments of two very abstract concepts. Arceus is simply god, and that's that. But Dialga and Palkia are the embodiments of time and space, two concepts that are far more difficult to grasp than "god".

Dialga also has an amazing battle theme in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky, which definitely deserves an honorable mention here (Palkia's theme in said game is okay, but they definitely got the short end of the stick IMO).

I really hope they're not going to butcher this theme (or Cynthia's. Or Cyrus'. Or any of the Gen4 themes really) in the remakes. But the one thing Pokémon didn't mess up completely for me so far is the soundtrack (except that one time they turned Cyrus' theme into a disco song, which really doesn't fit him at all). So I have faith in that at least.

What's your favorite boss battle theme in Pokémon? Leave me a comment if you like, I'd love to hear about it!

#Fandom #Pokémon #Soundtrack #Opinion #Top 5 #Currantlee talking

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r-manoff · 2 years

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Inspired by an anon who shared their reviews of every piece of mcu content we got this year:

WandaVision: imo the best series we got this year. It truly marked a new beginning for the mcu with the whole multiverse stuff and the little things in this series is what makes it so unique. The storytelling, the commercials, the whole freaking plot if you will. All of it is so insanely done and it’s understandable how this series won so many awards. I will say that the “Ralph Boner” joke will never not piss me off. The fact that you could’ve introduced Evan Peters’ Pietro as part of the X-Men when they would finally show up, but went with this… no words.

FatWS: they really said, lets make two sidekicks two mainkicks and ran with it. Loved Sam and Bucky’s interactions. Obviously, we already knew that Sebastian and Anthony have amazing chemistry on and off screen, but they really got the chance to make it all about them and not about Steve (this is no hate, Steve is my fav mcu character). They had their moment to shine, but aside from that, this series shed a light on so many social issues that are very much today’s problems as well. I think they did a great job at incorporating those aspects. I will say that I was maybe a little scared at them making it a bit too politically correct, but the whole storyline with Isaiah Bradley was so moving and shows how America’s vision of the stars and stripes is really fucked up. It breaks down the whole pride that this country has built around patriotism. I can’t wait to see how Mackie will do in the freaking fourth Captain America movie

Loki: what do you want me to say? That I liked it? Because I’d be lying if I did. I realize that the Loki we lost in Infinity War is not the one we would be seeing in the series, but in all honesty, he didn’t even feel like the 2011 Thor version. Did the showmakers really thought that making Loki canonically pansexual meant to make him participate in selfcest???? Is that what we think of when we think of pansexual? On what planet— this whole series felt like an acid trip ngl. I understood nothing, I felt like I was watching a totally different Loki that we had never seen before, I don’t like Sylvie, and I don’t see what they’re gonna do with the second season, where in the mcu timeline it’s gonna take place, and how the fuck they are gonna justify S*lki…

Black Widow: Natasha… the love of my life. She deserved this movie sooner. The fact that we got one after she died in Endgame is only because the fans had been begging for one since forever. Is it fan service? Perhaps, a little, but it also sets up Yelena mostly, Melina and Alexei as a part of the mcu. I personally wouldn’t have known how to introduce them earlier on without disrupting the events as we know them. I still think this is one of the best mcu movies, very much like catws. Its feminism wasn’t forced (which is usually the case with female led superhero movies, lets be honest), they still somehow managed to make me cry over a chaotic Russian family, and the way Natasha got closure in this movie is so important. This movie shows us how her biggest motive was to bring together the people she loved. She literally walked out of the mcu with a smile on her face because she succeeded in uniting her first ever family. It’s so telling for her character that this is her main objective: family. One thing I will never forgive the movie makers for though is the little piano bit of “Infinity War” in the soundtrack “Faces to the Sun.” I cried like a baby when I heard that in the theater. I won’t forget this pain, marvel.

Shang-Chi: this reminded me so much of Black Panther in its cinematography… it was absolutely breathtaking. It’s about the only word I can come up with to describe this movie. I loved how you could view this movie on its own rather than having to be aware of everything that’s going on in the mcu. It’s I think refreshing to see something independent after all the other stuff that came out this year and that was really connected to the mcu as a whole. Shang-Chi is about family, continuing on Black Widow. No romance, no potential love interests—it’s about family and friendship. At a certain point it didn’t even feel like I was watching a Marvel movie, I was just watching some solo movie that was about a family healing from a huge loss. I don’t need to remind everyone that Tony Leung stole the show, but Simu Liu is so perfectly cast it’s killing me. It helps that he is so incredibly charming in real life, but man, he really is the perfect Shang-Chi even though I know nothing of his comic origins. I was blown away by this movie and I am excited to see Xu Xialing ruling the Ten Rings !! Imagine her and Sharon teaming up…

Eternals: unlike many people in this universe, I actually really enjoyed Eternals. I was sold bc of the amazing actors in this (Richard Madden, Gemma Chan, Salma Hayek, Angelina Jolie, Kit Harrington—all personal favorites of mine), but I do realize how so many new characters being introduced at once is a bit much. It felt like Endgame in a way but without the huge warm up. We were kinda thrown into this movie without being told what it all means in the grander scope of things which is I think the way you should view this movie—something on its own. Again, the theme of family is very visible here as well, these characters have known each other for thousands of years and their dynamics are interesting to watch. I may have taken away something from this movie than was intended—namely that our world is worth saving. It’s precisely because of this meaning that I think this movie is so beautiful. Quite a few of these characters won’t appear in future movies, but then again, Harry Styles will so what the fuck

Hawkeye: I have a hard time ranking the series bc Hawkeye and FatWS are really on one line in my opinion. They both have a crackhead duo in them (Hawkeye even two wtf), they both are about ‘taking on the mantle’ of the original avengers, but they both do it so differently. Hawkeye is much more comedy than FatWS, the latter is much heavier in its political matters, but even this one has something so gritty and raw about it that it’s hard to be distracted by Kate and Yelena when Clint is clearly doing some grieving of his own. Natasha was at the forefront here and I was not expecting that. She was mentioned in every single episode and it shows how this series was as much about establishing Kate as the new Hawkeye as it was about Clint mourning Nat. He managed to get past her death and live his life again. Yelena is definitely the part that had me most excited about this series, but I was surprised by how much I actually enjoyed this. It was incredibly fun to watch and I’m curious to see when we will see Laura’s history as a SHIELD agent play out. They left quite some questions hanging there—Laura’s storyline, do we really believe Fisk is dead, what will Maya do now her uncle’s out of the picture? And most importantly, is the Rogers musical finally canceled bc that shit needs to be burned down

Spider-Man: it’s so surreal that this movie even happened. I srsly cannot believe it. I cry just thinking about it. This movie is pure fan service but done in the best way possible. It still made sure that despite the multiverse characters Peter still had his own story arc to deal with and this is the first Spiderman movie in the mcu that I wholeheartedly enjoyed. I never would have believed myself a year ago if I said I’d put a SM movie high on my mcu ranking, but here we are. If it weren’t for covid restrictions I would’ve watched this movie many more times, but alas, pirated versions will have to make do. We finally got the Peter that is more true to his origin story and I think that’s (a small) part of why I love this movie so much. If you’re able to watch this movie, do it. This is like all your worlds colliding into the perfect utopia, you won’t be disappointed.

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cheekbites-moved · 3 years

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ok i still havent gotten the secret ending but farming for it might take me a bit so im gonna make a thoughts post for age of calamity now:

Major spoilers obvs so ill put it under a read more

things i enjoyed:

revali beatdown simulator

the controls for the divine beasts are a bit clunky, but i think the angles they used for them did an excellent job at really making the player feel like we were actually controlling a divine beast. so i think it was done well.

link’s personality really gets to shine full force in this game with the amount of cut scenes and it was wonderful to see

every character clearly had a lot of love put into how they operate. they truly all feel unique, & all of their play styles fit them really well in my opinion

the game does a really good job of making you understand what a real threat the monsters are. like in botw they’re intimidating at first, but once you’re far enough into the game they become just an inconvenience to work around if anything. this game managed to actually make certain monsters intimidating for me again, and i think that’s a real accomplishment

the blight battles are actually somewhat challenging in this game and that is truly a commendable achievement lol i think all the bosses are good tbh. i didnt rly dislike or not enjoy any of them.

the way daruk and link’s friendship & urbosa’s motherly relationship towards zelda got to shine was. so good. it’s all i could’ve ever wanted

seeing the descendants again was really nice & it was awesome to see the champions interacting with them!! especially sidon and mipha omggggg. that was. really fucking good shit

kohga. just. kohga in general. getting to see more of him was really rad, he’s such a fun guy! and his english va was Excellent. you could really tell he was having a lot of fun playing him, and it was lovely to see! :)

zelda getting to really shine in this game was also lovely to see. and her being so assertive and badass by the end? omg. it was so wonderful especially after botw. man.

the combat is done very well imo. im rly glad that they took so many elements from botw, but also added their own flares to make it feel fresh. it was rad.

sidon’s tagline is “winning smile” and his power is “boundless optimism” and i think that’s beautiful

the music in this game is SOOOOO good oh my god. multiple times during playing i had to pause to just appreciate it. it’s pretty much all remixes of botw with a few originals for the new characters, but they all slap. there was not a single song in this game i didn’t like. it is definitely one of my favorite video game soundtracks officially. maybe one of my favorite overall soundtracks in general tbh.

the visuals obviously look just like botw, but it still looked fucking gorgeous at some points. like. man. they really went off to make it look not only faithful to botw as far as appearance goes, but also as far as capturing botw’s beauty and it was. excellent to see!

if anything is true to botw’s backstory, it’s definitely how op link is. cause he was established to be op in botw, & when u finish botw he is also op as hell. he is so fun to play as the higher leveled he gets. he absolutely kicks ass. especially with a two-handed weapon??? daaaaammmmnnn. thats my badass baby boy!!!!

link eating rocks not once, but TWICE. just showing PEAK gremlin energy. 10/10 for those scenes they were great

the ending was really beautiful actually and i did cry like a little baby for it what about it

things i didn’t like:

obviously first and foremost.. this is not the game we were advertised. and no matter how much i overall enjoyed the game, it will always have some layer of being tainted attached to it due to the false advertising. this is not the prequel we thought we’d be getting. & not using “prequel” specifically doesn’t matter when all the advertising, including the box art talks about this being the story of what happened 100 years ago. with no indication it wasn’t the story of what happened 100 years ago in the botw timeline, but a separate universe/timeline entirely. i do hope we get dlc for the game at some point giving us what we were advertised, but at the same time... rly wish that the story that’s in the final game was dlc, & the story we were promised was the original :/ or just having the game have two separate storylines originally would’ve been cool. i just wish it wasn’t falsely advertised.

fort hateno can fucking eat my whole entire shit WHY is that part so needlessly obnoxious compared to everything else oh my god

being forced to fulfill revali’s power fantasy TWICE hurt my soul

fuck any mission where you have to protect the useless hylian guards. i hate them. they suck.

the ai for player characters when you aren’t playing as them can also be pretty useless. it was really frustrating failing missions because my fellow party members weren’t helping me, and i was basically expected to be in two places at once to get shit done myself. :/ ik you can just switch between characters to make it easier, but like. i like playing as link the most. he’s my favorite character, & ofc since he’s mandatorily played for most of the story, he’s gonna be the most leveled up character regardless so he’s just the best to play as in general especially for harder missions. it was annoying to be forced to play as other people Solely cause the ai was so useless.

king rhoam’s attempt at a redemption arc. i’m not sorry that i just fucking hate this man. i don’t mind him entirely in botw bc you can see clear, genuine remorse during the cut scene at the end of the great plateau. but the redemption arc he gets in this game? after all the fucking shit he does in this game? especially when after his ~redemption arc~ i had to sit through a cut scene of him being an absolute fucking asshole to baby zelda after her mother just died????? absolutely fuck that shit. i don’t appreciate that crap at fucking all. he’s a verbally abusive piece of shit and i hate his guts.

obviously there was gonna be some retconning of how certain things worked in botw in order to make this kinda game work but the way sheikah technology works in this game is so goddamn confusing i do not get it. the works of botw are never outright said or explained completely, but it’s straightforward enough that it doesn’t really matter. this game does try to explain certain things and it just becomes. really clunky and confusing very quickly.

the story is alright, i guess, but..... really confusing/convoluted as hell at times to a point that it’s. really fucking distracting. especially in comparison to how straightforward botw’s story is. like..... cannot help but be annoyed that such a problem wouldn’t have been a thing if they stuck to botw’s story.

i was sad when the egg thing died but i dont like the egg thing.... it is the MAIN reason shit was retconned so much & i just. dont get its purpose. but i did really like the reveal that zelda made it herself. that was good shit!

also the egg glitched out like. a LOT. idk what the fuck was going on with the poor thing but there was multiple times during a cut scene or when i was just sitting there that it was freaking out in the background and it was rly weird

elemental overworld boss monsters................. obnoxious. especially elemental guardians like goddamn bro what the fuck

i know warriors’ games aren’t about exploring anyway but the limitations for exploring was really sad/frustrating. this is still somewhat the world of hyrule before the calamity, which is something we’ve always wanted to see. not being able to explore even the immediate area at certain points because of shit like timed missions was really upsetting, man. :( i just wanted to see hyrule castle Before the calamity why was did they have to rob us like that.....

creepy corrupted egg’s transformation. why. what was that. what the fuck

even though i did enjoy the boss fights, it did get. incredibly taxing eventually to have to fight the SAME bastards so many times. like yeah botw is also guilty of this with the blights, but goddamn.... at least i have a choice to avoid certain encounters with them? this game has you fighting the same bitches like upwards of 3-4 times. it was. really annoying tbh. like the fights themselves are enjoyable, but damn we added new characters and it still inevitably lacked variety in boss fights.

no playable kass >:( if he’s available later in dlc then fine but i wish he was playable in the original game. so many random choices you’d never expect are. why couldn’t he also be there >:(

overall:

it will forever have that sour taste for the false advertising attached to it unfortunately, but that aside, i overall did enjoy the game! i think it has a lot to love in spite of the issues i encountered. as someone who has this as their first warriors game as well, it did lend itself to letting me see the appeal of them. idk if i’ll get more, but i do get why they’re so beloved/popular now. it was an alright time, with some amazing highlights that i’m gonna think back on very fondly for a very, very long time. if i had to rate it..... 7/10

#hw #aoc #hw aoc #hyrule warriors #age of calamity #legend of zelda #botw #danni plays hw aoc #mine #long post #v long post sorry lol i have so many thoughts/feelings

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forr-everrmorre · 7 years

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Anastasia - October 14, 2017 Matinee

I just got back from Anastasia and I’m still internally screaming despite it ending like 4 hours ago. here’s my detailed explanation description. (and I mean very, VERY detailed. a lot of it is under a cut bc I get into super spoilery territory)

Zach was on as Dimitry, and Ian and Kristen were on for Zach and Molly respectively. ZACH. DIMITRY.

before anyone asks, I didn’t record an audio. I got so caught up in the moment I forgot lol whoops.

honest to god, even before the curtain went up I was crying when I heard the opening notes of the Prologue.

NICOLE IS SO ADORABLE

during Last Dance Of The Romanovs, the suitor dancing with Kristen didn't lift her properly and right after they looked at each other and he was like "whoops"

the death of the Romanovs actually scared me like they made it terrifying with the window shattering effects and the red EVERYTHING

Lily can actually be seen comforting the Dowager Empress after Last Dance Of The Romanovs

yes, I internally screamed when Ramin came on. don't judge me.

Gleb so confidently says his opening Leningrad monologue, then Dimitry just comes in and roasts the hell out of him

when Dimitry says "Hail our brave new land", he's mockingly waving his arms around while right behind him Gleb is doing the exact same thing and honestly same.

right after that, Gleb like goes up to Dimitry and he legit RUNS OFF STAGE IN FEAR OMFG

during the part where everyone is like saying something good about Leningrad then saying something snarky, Gleb’s face is like "see, great place waIT WHAT"

after singing his verse in A Rumor In St Petersburg, Vlad immediately hits Dimtry with his hat

everyone's so happy during Rumor, but at the end right before the final shhhh, Gleb just gets on the podium and everyone just does the shhhhhh in fear

before moving on, I would like to mention that I love Kristen Smith Davis, Sissy Bell and Shina Ann Morris.

Dimitry is HIDING BEHIND A COUCH WHEN ANYA COMES INTO THE THEATER IM

Vlad's also hiding and it scares Anya when he comes out

now’s a good time to mention that when a song is starting, the projection usually gets like a subtle change in hue and it’s really cool

Gleb does this like intimidating version of the chin thing (tm) that basically LIFTS one of the fake actresses, then he like lightly blows on one of them and they all run away

Anya throws/hits with a book Dimity and Vlad at least 3 times in Learn To Do It

When Vlad makes them dance, at first Dimitry takes these GIANT UNGRACEFUL STEPS AND ITS HILARIOUS

the background changed from winter to spring once it seems that Anya's finally confident in her ability

Gleb's like shouting in his office until he turns and sees who Anya is and his voice just softens in like two seconds

you can tell that even when Gleb is trying to be funny and personable, he's still a stiff military man

THE CHIN THING (TM) WAS SHORTER THAN PROMISED SMH RAMIN

there's one part during the last verse where Anya harmonizes with Gleb, but it's so subtle that you probably can't tell from a recording

when Gleb says “it’s the silence after I remember most”, not only is it dead silent, there’s also the sound of wind in the background

James Pierce quickly became one of my favorite ensemble members just from how he acts drunk before My Petersburg

Dimitry gets like a potato or something from the street rats' fire and gives it to Anya before My Petersburg

ANYA SAVES DIMITRY AT ONE POINT DURING THE FIGHT SCENE

when Zach was climbing the bench for My Petersburg while the turntable was spinning, you could tell he was having a little bit of trouble and it was adorable

(he also had trouble taking the second can of beans out of his bag during Rumor btw)

also ZACH KILLED IT IN MY PETERSBURG

THE LIGHTING DESIGN IN ONCE UPON A DECEMBER GIVES ME LIFE

they project the phantom images of the Romanovs dancing on the walls of the side of the theater. you probably can't see it from the orchestra seats tho

Dimitry lifts Anya A LOT

I knew from the recording that a lot of the actors were fantastic singers, but live, so many of them are STELLAR. Christy, Ramin, and Constantine in particular imo are so much better live.

btw Stay I Pray You gave me chills. that song really lets the ensemble shine. literally. half the song, Christy, John and Zach were just standing there not singing while the ensemble KILLED IT.

Anya and Dimitry leave the train compartment by the time Vlad starts singing We'll Go From There, so he’s basically monologuing the entire time

after Vlad says "I'll bow as if I'm still a frisky young pup" HIS BACK CRACKS

when Dimitry's doing that thing where he's half standing on a bench, half leaning on the train, the ladies on the bench just look at him as if he's crazy the entire time

the way that them jumping off the train transitions into Traveling Sequence was SO COOL

THE STAGING FOR STILL WAS SO

ITS PROBABLY ONE OF MY FAVORITE SONGS PRODUCTION WISE DESPITE HOW SIMPLE IT WAS

so like Gleb's standing off to the side from Traveling Sequence and he starts singing and it's all dark and stuff

around when he reaches "a son becomes a man at his father's knee", a soldier gives him his jacket. then around "I am nothing but a man with nothing but his orders to fulfill", another soldier gives him his train tickets. but then around "until your heart replies", another one gives him a gun.

at the end of it, there's like 4 vague shadowy soldier figures behind him, and he turns around and all of them salute before the lights fade.

Journey To The Past gave me chills. that's all I'm saying.

I never liked Paris Holds The Key that much, but the freaking choreography CERTAINLY made up for it. hands down my favorite choreo the entire show

before Dimitry's lil solo in Paris Holds The Key, it looks like he's about to ask Anya to dance, but someone else grabs her hand before he can. I’m nope

the projection and lighting design makes it look like the end of Paris takes place on the top of the Eiffel Tower and I am so down with that

again, Christy is FANTASTIC live

honestly, Dowager Empress sounds so broken during Close The Door and I am so not ok

Little Anastasia appears behind the windows during Close The Door and I am so not ok

at the end of the number, the Dowager Empress makes a picture she has of Anastasia face down on the table and I AM SO NOT OK

when the doorman of The Neva Club tells Gleb where to get food HE JUST LOOKS SO OFFENDED LIKE “TF WHO DO YOU THINK I AM”

the choreography of Land Of Yesterday is some goOD STUFF M8

theres a good 5 seconds Lily spends shooing Count Leopold away while she’s dancing

after the instrumental break, everyone except Lily is passed out and the lighting makes it look like morning, which is why she stomps her foot and says “the night’s young”

Vlad just sneaks up and is awkwardly facing outwards in the circle dance thing at the end of Land Of Yesterday

honestly The Countess and The Common Man is a blessing and it’s hilarious

right after they say “when you sent me our sign”, they show what it was (it’s like a super subtle hand gesture). they do it at least 2 more times in the show.

during the instrumental break, they’re both just dancing like crazy and the panting at the end involves them stretching, having cracked backs, and Vlad timing his pulse

the kiss after “until you’re kissed” is SO LONG and they do weird stuff during it, I’m just,,,, nope,,,,,

they kiss like 4 more times before Land Of Yesterday Reprise btw

Gleb watches their last kiss and his face just says “what the hell are you people doing”

also freaKIN LAND OF YESTERDAY REPRISE MAN. RAMIN IS SCARY GOOD AT THIS ROLE.

A Nightmare is actually so chilling like I can’t

it does the same thing with the lighting as Once Upon A December where Anya’s the only one properly lit and everyone else looks like ghosts but just everyone being crowded around Anya instead of gracefully dancing around her seriously sets the tone

ASKDJFLGKD IN A CROWD OF THOUSANDS B Y E

THE BLOCKING IS SO SIMPLE BUT EFFECTIVE

ANYA LEANS IN ON DIMITRY WHEN SHE STARTS SINGING

I SWEAR THEY GET THIS FREAKIN CLOSE TO KISSING AT THE END BEFORE DIMITRY DOES THE “YOUR HIGHNESS” THING AND I AM DEFINITELY NOT OK

Vlad’s being alone during Meant To Be makes it super powerful

also, HELLO QUARTET AT THE BALLET

THE WAY THAT EACH OF THEM STAND UP AND FACE THE CROWD WHILE SINGING MADE IT REALLY FEEL LIKE WE WERE SEEING INTO THEIR THOUGHTS

Gleb like almost pulls out his gun like 3 times I stg

Gleb is also the only person who doesn’t applaud at the end of the ballet. he’s also the only guy not wearing a tux at the ballet. (he basically wears the same outfit the entirety of Act 2 until the Finale) they really make it very clear how out of place he is in Paris.

also the ballet itself was AMAZING. Lyrica, Kyle and James were hella good

I swear I was as stressed out as Dimitry was during Everything To Win and I knew what was gonna happen

right before Once Upon A December reprise, there’s the scene where the Dowager Empress comes into Vlad, Dimitry and Anya’s dressing room and like???? it had some gold comedic timing but was also super serious????? how???????

also Dimitry watching Anya and the Dowager Empress being reunited just breaks my heart??????????

that line in The Press Conference where the guy’s like “we do exclusive interviews”, he legit pays off Vlad to start talking and they like talk off to the side until Lily gets everyone’s attention

there’s a phone on either side of the stage during that scene and the sopranos who do that harmony at “the Princess Anastasia” use them almost as microphones and I’m in love?????

GET. ROASTED. COUNT. LEOPOLD.

during Everything To Win Reprise, Gleb is very clearly closing all the doors behind Anya but like Anya never notices until she turns around

also, when she turns around, it does the song transition as perfectly as it happens in the soundtrack and it’s gr9

idk if it was just this performance, but Gleb sounded a lot more somber and conflicted during the dialogue of Still/The Neva Flows Reprise, but then when the singing starts again, he was honestly terrifying, like Anya was legit backing into a corner

this was something I noticed from the bootlegs, but I’m pretty sure no matter what angle you view it from, Young Anastasia is blocked by the archway during Still/The Neva Flows Reprise while you can very clearly see the rest of the Romanovs. idk I just always found that to be an interesting choice

at the end of Still/The Neva Flows Reprise, GLEB ALMOST PULLS THE TRIGGER ON HIMSELF AND DEAR LORD GLEB THAT GOT DARK FAST

listen,,, every time Dimitry has lifted Anya before,,,,,, she like let out a little squeal of surprise,,, except after they kiss,,,,,,,,,, she’s just staring into his eyes the entire time,,,,,,,,,,,, can y’all believe they invented love,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

the Finale was just beautiful ok

especially when the singing starts again and then the Romanovs come on stage around Anya and Dimitry

all around this show was just beautiful and amazing and I cried multiple times

also Zach totally got the loudest applause (I’m pretty sure it was louder than Christy’s tbh) and yes I live for understudy/ensemble appreciation

BONUS ROUND: STAGE DOOR AFTER

Kevin was actually the first person to leave, and a few people recognized him but he just waved and left

NICOLE IS SO SMALL AND ADORABLE

apparently Christy just restocked the candy. time to put Creepy Anya above the candy box again.

John was such a nice dude

Caroline was so bubbly and happy the entire time I love her

BUT CHRISTY FREAKIN ALTOMARE

she took the time to talk to any fan who had something to say to her

like she spent like 5 minutes talking to the people next to me since they apparently all went to the high school she graduated from

and when I talked to her, I told her about how much the soundtrack and Royal Misfits helps me get through the really rough days and and she game me a hug and I’m

not

also Zach came out and everyone was like “DUDE YOU WERE AWESOME AS DIMITRY” and tbh big mood

anyways. thats it from me about Anastasia. except probably not. catch me two weeks later just randomly posting something I loved about the show because it was r e a l l y f r e a k i n g o o d.

#anastasia #anastasia the musical #anastasia broadway #christy altomare #zach adkins #John Bolton #ramin karimloo #caroline o'connor #mary beth peil #grand duchess anastasia nikolaevna romanov #dimitry #vlad popov #gleb vaganov #lily malevsky-malevich #dowager empress #meet the royal mess #hey i made this post wow #btw the large part is broken up so it's easier to read bc no one liked giant walls of text

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