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tikitm · 5 years

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tiki being a music nerd for 13 minutes straight

uhhHh so oscar and ozpin’s theme are mixing more ?? i hear little bits and pieces of ozpin’s theme , then oscar’s in ‘trouble on the argus limited’

in the same track , ‘trouble on the argus limited’ , ozpin’s theme begins to play , but then takes a ,,, darker, more sinister sounding note instead of that higher , more hopeful note in his theme that he usually has

the main theme , rising can be heard when ruby is telling the plan in ‘trouble on the argus limited’ and it’s soft , but it’s there , which carries on the theme that they’re trusting ‘in the light’ and ‘rising like the moon’

the playful theme in ‘mistral central station’ that captures the character’s excitements ?? amazing

then it goes into dee and dudley’s theme that sound Annoying as Heck , and then it blends into qrow’s theme ?? beautiful stunning amazing bird dad

then you hear ozpin’s theme again , which slowly gets taken over by oscar’s theme again , and they they seem to blend together again , like they have been doing

the piano part of smile in ‘mistral central station’ gave me goosebumps !! ilia has come such a long way as a character and it makes me happy that she funny has a straight path she Wants to go on

and there it is - ‘like morning follows night’ - a perfect , slow , version of it that really enraptures sun’s ,,, softness for blake and how he came to support her and after all , he did support her and help her and that makes me soo happy

but then it trails off into a lighter tune when the camera pans to yang and her friends and hhhHhh im soft

wow then it takes a dramatic tone shift to a dark and sinister theme for ‘spider’s web’ because cinder is starting to get into some Shady Shit™️ because she’s desperate for any kind of information on anyone

and then it pans right into that cue music that neo is Right There™️ , ready to attack , and then it goes into softer , more sinister and mischievous music that shows that wow they’re actually up to something , and it’s going to be big and bad and it’s going to put someone to shame

AND THEN THE THEME OF ALL THINGS MUST DIE PLAYING SOFTLY AND SLOWLY ??? amazing. im so excited akdhsks

all things must die slowly transitions into one thing and that makes me happy because it’s their two themes blending into one another , showing that they’re working together - but the sinister undertones show that they don’t fully trust each other and there Are secrets and undertones being kept

‘say her name’ starts out soft and slow and relaxing , but then gets more mysterious and faster as it goes , showing the severity of the situation

ozpin is being really shady and not that trustful right now , and oscar’s trying to Fight It to give them the information they need and stuff , which shows through the undertones of his theme playing throughout the track , then his theme slowly taking over , showing that he is fighting against ozpin’s control - he wants to be his own person , which is way it’s even more upsetting when qrow says that he isn’t

and then the music picks up and up and up faster and faster and louder and louder , showing ruby’s decision to say jinn’s name -

and then it goes silent. it stops

and whOOsh jinn !! genie in a bottle !! genie in a lamp !! her upcoming theme has a few familiar notes that form a familiar melody , but they’re hard to place

and then the music picks up , showing ozpin’s desperation to keep things ‘close to the chest’ and BOOM the music stops

im literally going to do an entirely different thing for ‘a delicate balance’ because there’s so much to say about this track - and it’s e i g h t m i n u t e s

‘our creation’ - im guessing it’s for the god of light’s moment with ozma

it’s soft , slow , and with the choir in the background , it makes the music seem ,,, important and urgent - like something Needs to be done and that something needs to be done quickly

and oof ozma’s theme soft in the background , showing that after all , he is still human and he wants a normal life and all that and hhhh i feel so bad

im skipping around im sorry

‘brunswick farms’ has that sinister , dangerous vibe , but we’re not sure what it is yet - dangerous , mysterious - we don’t know.

and it’s slow - it slows down at certain points to really emphasize on the scariness

the slow piano at a certain point gives it a certain softness that it shouldn’t have - a false sense of security , if you will . but then it turns into more mysterious , with hints of qrow’s theme (which im guessing is for the part of his drinking™️) that is slow

AND OH SHIT THERES THE PART WITH THE DROPPING OF THE BOTTLE

and ruby YANKS herself up and woAh that’s kinda scary

‘the apathy’ is probably the scariest track in the ost. it’s slow , sinister , and it’s literally telling you something is about to happen

AND THEN THE MUSIC PICKS UP !! ITS THE SLEEP PARALYSIS DEMON BAY BEE

they’re running they’re running they’re running they’re running uh oh sisters

every time the music slows down it stops the melody slightly , that’s the part where the apathy SCREAMS , slowly zapping the motivation out of them

and each time it gets louder and louder and bigger because their influence is getting more and more overwhelming

and then the music slows down slightly because they’re giving up , and the sinister , scary theme is getting louder and louder - and then the silver eyes stops the music for a split second

and maria is over there , trying to coach ruby into using her eyes and then - BAM

and now they’re running out of the house , yelling for oscar to GET THE DAMN TIRE

and weiss sets the HOUSE ON FIRE and wow she’s committed arson

and they have to get the HECK out of there as quick as they possibly can

im doing something completely different for the grimm reaper skjsk

‘welcome to argus’ gave me goosebumps. the soft ,, piano of ‘rising’ gives them hope - gives us hope - because they made it. after all that shit , they made it. finally.

and then it gets into a more cheerful , nice theme of argus , with little notes of oscar’s theme in the beginning because ‘CUTE BOY OZ’ and then they’re touring around argus , looking at all the sights and stuff

ruby’s surprise in jaune’s sister is shown through the ‘ooh !!’ moment in the music that interrupts the melody of the entire track

‘cashews’ is amazing. it’s shows the literal stupidity of the entire interaction - from maria and cordoven’s banter , to a more serious match music , then slower , sadder music because ‘oop racism’ , but then it picks up again lmao

there isn’t much to say about the track ‘silver eyes’ but it shows the softness - the emotion - that goes into using silver eyes

‘jaune’s arc’ gives me whiplash. because it’s slow in the beginning - then it picks up speed to show jaune’s anger as he shoves oscar against the wall and Yells because his love died for ‘nothing’ , and he lets oscar go with sadness and regret , but he doesn’t say anything. and then as they’re looking for him , jaune has time to think things over. you hear the melody of ‘forever fall’ towards the middle , then the melody - the song itself - takes over as something to signify that jaune really Misses her , but gets closure

AND THEN OSCAR’S THEME !! HAPPY , HAPPY BOY !! its so happy !! he feels good about his new clothes - and despite what he says , he gave himself closure for now , but im sure itll be touched upon later because of the cut off of his theme , interrupted by qrow’s theme to show qrow’s grumpiness and all that

and then ruby’s speech !! she had a little bit too many speeches , but the theme ‘rising’ plays again , to show her - their - determination to get to atlas and figure it out because they WILL rise like the moon - like the sun - no matter what. they won’t give up.

‘the heist’ !! a theme that gives everyone Anxiety because no one thought it would work , and the moment it did work , it didn’t . weiss and maria sneak onto the airship and take them out , with the others standing around waiting , and yang and blake off on their own

a small version of oscar’s theme plays as he comforts ruby , showing how much he’s grown into his own character

and then the music picks up and oof it turns suspenseful because oh Shit where’s blake

‘into the canon’ is not only scary on screen , but also scary music wise. it’s suspenseful , it mixes both blake and yang’s fights and the other fight together. the music is fast and urgent , showing that they have to get away and fast and if it doesn’t work , bad things will happen. bad things are going to happen.

but first !! the battle music for cordoven’s fight. fast , playful , serious at the same time. it shows both perspectives of the fight - absolute absurdity , which cordoven feels , and the urgency that the team feels. cordoven thinks this is childish - disgraceful. the team thinks this is important - something that Has to happen or else they can’t complete their mission.

and ruby goes DOWN THE CANON

i have to do an entirely different thing for ‘protecting each other’ too

OH NO HERE COMES THE GRIMM

the music gets dangerous , crazy , fast - they have to do something quick or bad things will happen and that won’t be okay. huntsman and huntresses are supposed to protect - if they can’t do that , then what are they good for ?

jinn’s theme , then the hopeful theme of indomitable is just 👌👌

-‘flight to atlas’ gives closure - peace that they couldn’t find for a while. it’s slow , soft , showing that they made it - it was a long , stressful process , but they made it. with a lighter version of qrow’s theme , small undertones of ozpin’s and oscar’s theme , and then how the music SWELLS when they see atlas because it’s beautiful - it’s grand , it’s amazing - and they made it. there’s a sense of triumph in there , a sense of urgency and a sense of pride. they rose , and they’re going to try and stay there

uhhHHh thanks for sticking around to hear my literal Ramblings about the ost and me being a music nerd - this ost is just so good ?? and if you haven’t listened to it go give it a listen ! the vocal tracks are Amazing , and so are the instrumental ones.

#rwby #rwby6 #rwby soundtrack #oscar pine #ruby rose #jaune arc #ozpin #qrow branwen #im tagging the characters that i actually mentioned by name akdhjaa #welcome to tiki #being a music nerd #im so sorry about this

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pellicano-sanguino · 5 years

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I was recently made aware of the fact that there's a freaking Dragonlance musical (yes, made all the way back in 2014, I'm late on the news). It's uploaded to Youtube in full (according to them, it's uploaded with the permission of the creators) and with subtitles (it's a Russian production).

I went in expecting it to be just as badly made and cringeworthy as the animated movie, and I was motivated to watch it purely by nostalgic feelings about the books (they were the first fantasy books I read) and general interest in musical theater. But turns out I... actually liked it??? Not in a so-bad-it's-good kind of way, I genuinely found it enjoyable. What an unexpected turn of events.

Heh. Quality subtitles.

Disclaimer: It's been ages since read the books, so if I remember something wrong, feel free to correct me.

Now, this is not the next Phantom or Elisabeth or anything like that. This seems to be a rather small production. The props and effect are minimalistic and cheap, looking more like a bunch of larpers than actors (not saying larpers can't have great props, I used to larp myself when I was younger). The singing carries the story, there is very little spoken dialogue and the actors don't dance. We do get a bunch of background dancers, who at first seem really out of place crawling on the floor while the main actors just stand there and sing.

I'm also going to point out that the Dragonlance books are not the easiest or most obvious choice for a story to be adapted into a musical. These books have long, complicated plots that often arch over several books and have a whole bunch of characters. Also, being able to open the vast world and history of Krynn to an audience who may not have read a single book is challenging. Not gonna lie, I am unsure how much someone without any prior knowledge of the series will get out of this show. They do plot explaining surprisingly well but there are plenty of times where you're going to be a bit confused if you don't know the backstory.

The musical's name is The Last Trial, and it's (somewhat loosely) based on the Legends-series, describing the rise and fall of the dark wizard Raistlin Majere, who is probably the most popular Dragonlance character ever. Well, it's a wise choice, since you can tell this story with a slightly smaller cast and don't have to prop dragons. However, I question one thing. You're really going to make a musical about Raistlin? One of his trademark characteristics is his failing health, his violent, chronic cough, resulting in a creepy, raspy voice. And this is the guy you're gonna make sing.

More quality subtitles.

Oh yeah, and another thing I'm going to have to question. Are we really making this a love story? I mean, yeah, I get that all that happens between Raistlin and Crysania does also happen in the books, but I never saw any kind of romance between them. All I saw was a heartless bastard manipulating the feelings of a sensitive and naive woman. The impression I got of Raistlin from the books was a person who's asexual, aromantic and hates everyone (and who's not handsome by any standards, but rather creepy looking, especially his eyes). Not a romantic hero at all. But hey, I can kinda understand the appeal (after all, I do like such musicals as Phantom and Elisabeth, so I can totally see why a cruel and cold character gets all the fangirls; everybody likes bad boys).

The musical opens with a short introduction of this story's Greek Choir-character, Astinus. Astinus is tasked with recording the history of Krynn so he makes a good plot exposition role. I recall there being some hints that he might not be fully mortal. After the intro, stage lights reveal a violin player, who begins to play the musical's theme. The violin player stands out a little, since she's wearing modern clothes despite the story being set in a medieval-ish world. But I got to admit, the music is very, very nice, with a rather calm melody that fits the setting of a magical world of fantasy very well. This could easily be soundtrack for a fantasy movie. The beautiful music is what made me like this show.

Speaking of music, it's time for the main character to deliver the show's first song. Despite rolling my eyes at the thought of Raistlin singing with his ruined voice earlier, I have to admit, they chose the actor really well. There are at least two castings (maybe even more) of this show, and the one I saw, had Evgeny Ergorov playing Raistlin. His voice is very pleasant to listen and it carries hints of ambition, arrogance and of a powerful will that is calm and calculating but under its seeming calmness also very dangerous. I am surprised how quickly I accepted the fact that Raistlin can sing and that instead of having a voice that mirrors his suffering he has a voice that mirrors his might. The lyrics being in Russian helps, being sung in a language I don't speak a word of makes everything sound more magical and poetic. There is certain lyrical beauty to Russian and it fits the songs perfectly (obviously, since the songs were written to be sang in this language).

If we handwave the fact that Evgeny is way too pretty to be playing Raistlin (I'm presuming he's not that bad looking by het standards here, as a lesbian I'm not really the person to be judging male beauty), he looks the part and gets nicely into character. He has Raistlin's prematurely grayed hair, black robes and the staff with a glowing gem held by dragon claws. The musical goes out of its way to disrobe him, though, probably as a fanservice thing (robes really don't let you see his body well...). In the books I don't recall him ever wearing anything else, the mages in Dragonlance wore their robes everywhere like uniforms. Oh well, if wizards can prance around in muggle clothes in the Harry Potter movies, we can do the same here.

Evgeny has a rather strong stage presence. His eyes, while not as creepy as in the books, cast a very cold and powerful gaze, judging everything with distaste and cynicism but never underestimating anything in his arrogance. This Raistlin is full of pride but not blinded or hindered by it. The only trademark part of his character that I consider to be missing is his failing physical health, that creates an opposite to his powerful mind and allows him to manipulate people by using the compassion they feel when seeing a sick, suffering man. Many more prideful men would be insulted when offered help and proclaim that they can take care of themself, but Raistlin never does this; he relies on the help of others whenever it's convenient and never considers such a thing to be below the world's greatest wizard.

Astinus appears again and explains the next song number to the audience. In the war preceding the events in this show, Raistlin fought with a bunch of other heroes to defeat a dark dragon goddess called Takhisis, the primordial source of evil in the Dragonlance pantheon of gods. According to the musical, Raistlin's role was to work as a double agent – he swore an oath to Takhisis and became her servant only to stab her in the back so she could be sealed away in Abyss. It's been ages since I read the books, so I can't tell if this is how it really went. My faint memories claim it wasn't quite like that, but this is what the musical tells us so let's just go with it. Takhisis, the highest ranking of all the evil gods, is trapped in Abyss, but she still plots her escape and bears grudge to Raistlin. She can't enter the world of mortals in the waking world, but she can appear in their dreams.

Like evil, Takhisis takes many faces aside from her iconic multiheaded dragon queen form. She invades Raistlin's dreams in the form of the Dark Lady and torments him with nightmares and ominous predictions that he'll one day be her servant again and open the gate of her prison. In this version, Takhisis is played by Vera Zoodena. And wow. Just... wow.

Her Dark Majesty can easily be interpreted as a kinda succubus-like, sexy and seductive femme fatale (because god forbid we have evil female characters who aren't overly sexualized...). This kind of role is very easy to overdo and instead of intimidating and charismatic turn out to be just... cheesy and slutty. But Vera Zoodena knows that a revealing outfit and sexy posing isn't all you need for a powerful female villain. Yes, she is very much directed as seductive, but instead of making me feel like someone made her wear that costume and ordered her to pose like that, I feel that she is in complete control of everything. Vera's stage presence is amazing. Femme fatales rarely have any effect on me (well, they are usually geared towards a male audience anyway) but this Takhisis makes chills run down my spine when she sings. Her voice is so haunting and sexy, I can feel her fingers tipped with deadly claws menacingly caress my skin by just listening to it. (I'm sorry. I promise to keep the TMI to a minimum. But I'm totally hot and bothered for Takhisis.).

Raistlin's nightmares are interrupted by his twinbrother Caramon, who intuitively knows his brother is suffering and rushes to wake him up. Raistlin thanks Caramon for driving away the unwanted dreams, but remains distant. Caramon then begins to sing, advising Raistlin to give up his ambitious plan, which he now reveals to the audience; Raistlin intends to descend into Abyss and challenge Takhisis, ascending to godhood himself if he manages to defeat the goddess. We have fought our wars, says Caramon, the Dark Lady is safely locked away in Abyss and the world needs heroes no more. Well, that's easy for you to say, you're not the one getting your dreams invaded.

Let's talk about Caramon a little. He is supposed to be the opposite of his twin; physically strong but mentally not the brightest, a handsome fellow with a big heart that overflows with kindness towards his friends and family. No ambition, no selfish arrogance guiding his actions, all he longs for is a simple, comfortable life and he cares deeply about the wellbeing of his loved ones. Compare that to Raistlin, who cares not about the feelings of others, uses people as stepping stones to reach his own selfish goals and in his pride desires always more power; when he has become the most powerful wizard in the mortal world even that is not enough, he needs to challenge the gods.

While I do think the actors in this musical do a pretty decent job mostly, I have to say I'm a little disappointed in Andrei Loboshov playing Caramon. His acting is a bit wooden occasionally and he comes off as comically dumb sometimes (I mean yeah, Caramon wasn't the sharpest sword in the weapon rack but still). Also his voice is kinda mediocre compared to others. This is Caramon, he is supposed to be charming and lovable. And handsome. Again, I know I'm not the right person to judge male beauty, but compare this guy to the one playing Raistlin (who is supposed to be the ugly twin). Like, come on.

Raistlin refuses Caramon's offer of simple living. He points out that as a creepy weirdo he will never belong anywhere and will never be as accepted by others like someone normal like Caramon is. He is determined to seek godhood, and abandons his brother's company while making plans how to reach his ambitious goal. He receives a letter that informs him that a priestess of Paladine (the highest ranking of the good gods, adversary of Takhisis) called Crysania seeks to meet him. Fate seems to smile upon the dark wizard, for a priestess of Paladine is exactly what he needs for his plan...

So. Crysania. I have... mixed feelings about this character. On one hand, I admire the sincerety of her character, her genuine kindness (she is the priestess of the greatest of the good gods after all) and her determination to attempt to do the right thing. And yet she is doomed to betray her god out of her love for a heartless man. Stories about a pure maiden who falls in love with a cursed prince are numerous and the appeal of such stories is clear. However, Beauty and the Beast this is not. My main problem with Crysania is this: I fucking feel bad for what happens to her! She is dumb and naive and thoroughly amai and a very good example of what happens when a woman tries to ”cure” or ”save” a cruel man. It's not even her own fault because Raistlin manipulates the fuck out of her (and even if it were purely because of her own stupidity, victim blaming is bullshit so there!). I just want to rush in there and swoop her in my arms and give Raistlin the middlefinger like NO, you do not deserve the love of this woman, you do not get to use her for your ridiculous ego-inflating power fantasy plans, farewell and up yours!

When I read the books, I imagined Crysania looking unearthily beautiful, like a Greek statue come to life, and having an aura of holiness and piety in her voice. Here she is played by Elena Minina and damn, she is amazing. I don't know how they managed to find someone who so much resembles the official artwork of the character. I find her beauty stunning (just my opinion, there are probably a ton of people who consider her mediocre) and her voice is incredible. It's so clear, like the singing of birds and the sounds of running water on a stream, like silver bells tied to a dancer's ankle. I don't know how to describe it. I know nothing of opera or other top quality singing but I could easily imagine Elena being a truly professional singer. And this is really what made me fall in love with this show; the songs and the amazing singers delivering them.

Raistlin and Crysania meet in the city of Palanthas and have a little talk. Crysania reveals to the black mage that her god Paladine is aware of his plans and does not approve. She attempts to convince him to abandon his plan, not just for the good of mankind and the cosmic balance (the proper balance of good and evil is very important in Dragonlance pantheon) but for his own sake. Repent before it's too late and save yourself! Knowing that this is a chess piece he very much needs, Raistlin immediately goes into manipulation mode and starts to suggest things to Crysania. Oh, you came to me just as a messenger of your god? What if I told you he sent you to me for different reasons – to help me. He proceeds to flatter Crysania, praising her faith and purity (maybe to suggest that someone like her couldn't commit anything unholy, and thus can help him without fear of angering her god) and plants the idea to her head that light and dark mages aren't so black and white, and that sometimes dark magic is necessary to reach a noble cause.

Crysania listens and admits that Raistlin makes many good points but still she advises him to give up his plan. At this moment Raistlin has a coughing fit (the only time we see the fragility of his body in the musical) and Crysania's heart is immediately melted by compassion and she offers her help (as a priestess of Paladine she has healing powers). Raistlin accepts her healing magic but refuses her plea to bring him to the temple to be treated properly there, since even Paladine's clerics can't cure the curse that ruined his body. But appealing to her compassion works for his advantage, as did letting her get close and touch him (it's like he knows she's going to fall in love with him and attempts to bond with her to make it happen.). He insists on leaving but invites Crysania to meet him at the Tower of High Sorcery if she wants to speak with him more. Once she's alone, Crysania sings about how she understands that her fate is tied to this mysterious man who she used to think of as an enemy but is fast growing more fond and respecting of. She feels sorry for him and wants to save him so badly. Let the fire burn my hands, I will endure it or die trying. Meanwhile, I'm here whispering ”don't do it” under my breath. This is a very pretty song.

Astinus steps once more on stage. Crysania asks him how does Raistlin think he can break open the gate of Abyss. Astinus reveals that the gates of Abyss were locked so that they could only be opened by a black mage and a light priest working together (which the gods thought would be unthinkable, apparently, since that would be bringing together two sworn enemies). Crysania understands now what Raistlin had in mind for her. So, he thinks I'm going to be his key. Despite knowing this, she still wants to see him to learn more and asks how to find her way to the Tower of High Sorcery. Astinus tells her that the road there goes through the Grove of the Dead, making it a very perilous journey. Crysania considers this a test of courage set upon her by Raistlin and declares that she will go there.

Next we visit a charming little place called the Inn of the Last Home. The inn is run by Tika, Caramon's wife and she merrily spends time with the customers who sing and dance the night away. Tika is played by Irina Kruglova and it's a shame she has such a small role, since she has a lovely voice.

Back during the war Tika was one of the heroes and fought just as well as everyone else, but now has settled down since just like Caramon she longed for a peaceful, adventure-free life.

When I saw this character, I got worried. It looks like it might be a kender. Good grief, the goddamn kender are the worst thing Dragonlance universe came up with. * shudders* Back in my larp days there was a universally known unwritten rule among gamemasters: no more than one kender per ten other characters. Everyone obeyed this rule and good for them. I never got to play one, but a friend of mine did. She crawled under the tables and stole everyone's shoelaces.

The joyful tune is disturbed when Crysania comes in and asks if anyone can show her to the Grove of the Dead. Tika tries to convince her not to seek the Grove, explaining that wizards enchanted the forest so that non-magic users couldn't find a way to their tower.

The guests agree with Tika, no one knows what the Grove hides, for the Grove never returns its dead. Crysania is still determined, if no one comes to be her guide, she goes alone. The guests and Tika then come up with an idea to have Caramon go along to keep her safe. No one else dares to go there, but Caramon is a true war hero.

Unfortunately this is the exact moment Caramon enters the inn, drunk as a lord and holding a letter he wrote to Raistlin. Look, Raistlin sent my letter back unopened, and even wrote on top of it ”I have no brother.” The separation of the twins was hard for Caramon and he started to drink his depression away, becoming less like a hero and more like pathetic drunk every day. He sings a sad, drunken, wailing song about how this letter hurt him so deeply.

They are stealing his axe - they are kender! Out! Throw them out!

Crysania rolls eyes at such a guardian, baffled that the intelligent and well mannered Raistlin could have such a disgraceful twin and she goes forth on her own. Tika then shames Caramon for being such a wreck and giving everything up so easily like the opposite of Rick Astley and sends him after the priestess. Your brother messed with her head, now it's your job to get her back safely! Reluctantly Caramon goes, not thrilled to be back on the adventuring business.

The background dancers felt out of place earlier, but in the Grove of the Dead they fit in perfectly, creating an ominous atmosphere. These living shadows creep up to Crysania, who faces them without fear and sends them back with the power of faith. She's prevented from proceeding any further when she comes face to face with an undead warrior named Lord Soth.

In the books, the death knight was sent to assassinate Crysania by Raistlin's sister Kitiara, to prevent the opening of the gates of Abyss. Lord Soth failed in his attempt, Crysania didn't die but she was wounded. Kitiara doesn't appear in this musical, and we don't actually see Lord Soth wounding Crysania. Instead he just poses dramatically and seems to scare Crysania and Caramon from approaching the Tower. He and the rest of the shadows are sent away by Raistlin, who appears to sing a new song.

The song is all about how names have power. It's a very fitting song for a mage, but kinda out of place. I guess it implies that by the power of knowing the name and origin of the creatures of the Grove he can send them away and allow the travellers to reach the Tower. But it looks like he's singing it to Crysania, which makes no sense. Also, what is he doing there? He should be far gone by now, time travelling to the past (yes, this story involves time travelling, a kind of magic that I've always thought way too powerful to exist, since if you have the power to go back in time, wouldn't you be able to keep trying a thing over and over again until you reach a timeline where you're successful? Way too convenient for my taste in magic.).

In the Tower of High Sorcery the Conclave of Mages is holding a meeting re: what to do with Raistlin. There are the white robed light mages and the black robed dark mages, but where are the neutral red ones? Balance of power is important in Dragonlance lore, and besides the forces of good and evil there existed the middle path that was kinda allowed to do whatever they wanted because they held loyalty to neither side. They could have easily put some red mages in the background here, so I wonder why they didn't (local prop department only had white and black robes?).

The conclave calls forth Dalamar, an elf who was spying Raistlin for the Conclave while being his apprentice in dark sorcery. Dalamar reveals all that he knows of Raistlin's plans; that his teacher has time travelled to the city of Istar to look for the gate to Abyss and to learn from another dark wizard who lived there at the time. By doing so Raistlin has apparently broken some union laws the Conclave held and they are disgusted with this (I told you time travelling should be banned!). But then they decide to send Crysania back in time to Istar too, for whatever reason. In the book it was because she was injured and needed a level of healing only the clerics of Paladine back in Istar's days of greatness could offer. But here it's a bit unclear, since we don't see Crysania get wounded and the Conclave never mentions any reasons behind their decision to send her time travelling. Maybe they were just as naive as her and thought she could stop him. Crysania tells them she intends to prevent Raistlin from opening the gates of Abyss and they just... seem to go with it.

Dalamar and Par-Salian (leader of the Conclave) high five at their decision. Classy wizards are these.

One nice detail they kept are Dalamar's scars. You can see them on his chest. Raistlin wasn't born yesterday, he knew damn well that Dalamar was spying him and to show him that he knows, he burned the elf's chest with his fingertips like branding a calf. Just so you know, I'm on to your scheme and could dispose of you any time I want, I just don't think of you as a threat and don't care if the Conclave finds out because they won't be able to stop me. In the books Dalamar had a bizarre habit of flashing his scars to people. Look at what he did to me! No, stop, put your robes back on, nobody wants to see that, you kinky biscuit!

While the background people are working on propping Istar (mainly just covering everything in white), Dalamar sings a short song that reveals that he actually sends Crysania back in time because he is loyal to his teacher. Whatever you say, Dalamar. Whatever. Anyway, we have travelled back in time to Istar now. Everything and everyone is white and shiny and full of faith. Crysania is awestuck at the beauty of the city and the grandness of faith. Istar is a theocratic city state, and we also meet the guy who runs the city, known as the Kingpriest.

Good god, Alexi Tolstorkorov who plays the Kingpriest has the perfect voice for the role. It's a powerful, booming and majestic voice, making him sound like a charismatic cult leader when he preaches his truth. His voice demands respect and acknowledgment of his authority. Alexi is also rather tall, which makes him look properly intimidating. And considering they probably didn't have much of a budget, they propped him rather decently. Very good Kingpriest, 10/10.

Kingpriest. Dude. You’re saying that to a blind person!

Crysania finds Raistlin among the crowd (disguised as a cleric, because he's smart enough not to prance around in his black robes here) and informs him that Caramon got sent back with her as well but they got separated in the crowd. Raistlin didn't expect his brother to join Crysania in her attempt to stop him, but accepts this new turn of events and is already figuring out how to use it to his advantage. Raistlin tells her that he has already located the gates of Abyss here and soon they will open them together. I was expecting Crysania to tell him she has no such intentions, but here she just seems to... be too distracted by Wow such great city! Very pure! Much faith! Which is... awkward. Because this is fucking Istar, in the past. Crysania should know what happens to this city. Like, did they not teach history in whatever school priests of Paladine go to? Apparently they did not and it is up to Raistlin to open Crysania's eyes and reveal the ugly truth to the audience.

Raistlin sings a song about the corruption of Istar, how the priests are drunk with power and use it in manners that should be blasphemous to do in the name of good gods. Not only is magic and the worship of evil and neutral gods forbidden, some of the good gods are banned too and there's racism (I wholeheartedly cheer at the guards jailing kender, though.) and all other disgusting misuses of religion as justification for evil. The city if full of narcisstic men who put their own words in the mouth of god and present it as truth. It's interesting that Weis and Hickman came up with Istar, since Hickman is a devout mormon, so you'd think he's not the kind of person to present a theocracy as a corrupt cult. Anyway, Raistlin uses this moment to again cultivate in Crysania the belief that light and dark are not the same as good and evil. If priests of Paladine can be capable of such wickedness, then logic follows that a black mage can seek a noble cause. Maybe I'm not your enemy, aren't the ones who betrayed your god while claiming to serve him much more deserving to be your enemies? I only seek to rid the world of the source of all evil, while they seek to tear the whole world apart in their crusade against even the smallest shadow.

And then Crysania goes and confronts her fellow priests and the Kingpriest himself like the dumb shit she is, accusing them of their false faith and questioning their authority. Like good grief Crys, how fucking amai can you be?! Did you really think that one woman marching in front of a cultist leader and his brainwashed minions could make them see the light and better their ways by just shaming them? Like oh no, she is giving us the shounen anime protagonist Convincing Shouting treatment and telling us to give up our corrupt religion that benefits us greatly, whatever shall we do? Tell her she's right and that we are ashamed of ourselves for not noticing earlier? Or how about... we just burn her at the stake for heresy?

Seriously Crysania, did you stop for two seconds to consider what could go wrong with your master plan? Anyway, it's a very nice song between Crysania and the Kingpriest. It also shows Crysania's budding doubts about her faith. She is disgusted that she had to have this revealed to her by an enemy, that her brothers and sisters who she is supposed to trust were holding an ugly secret from her.

So, Crysania is held captive at the temple for heresy. Raistlin doesn't seem particularly concerned with this. Having Crysania doubt her faith works for his plan. Caramon gets imprisoned too, after asking people if they've seen his brother, who's a mage. Use of magic being forbidden, even family members of mages get thrown in jail. There Caramon sings a song how he trusts that his brother will soon come save him. It's sad to see Caramon projecting his own family loyalty to his brother who has never helped anyone if it wasn't relevant to his interests. You poor man, still blind to the truth that your brother can't be redeemed.

In the book Caramon was made to fight in a gladiator arena with other prisoners. This musical also makes him fight, but frames it differently. Here the Kingpriest arranges the fights to find the best warrior to be the Chosen One to deliver world of evil or something along those lines. Disguised as a cleric Raistlin declares Caramon as a volunteer to fight. He is brought to the arena but refuses to pick up his sword, because it's one thing to fight in a war and for self defence but this is just slaughter for the amusement of others and he wants nothing to do with it.

I like how when Caramon refuses to fight, his opponent strikes this seductive pose. Fight me, my love, you know you want to...

The Kingpriest is not pleased for Caramon's refusal. Raistlin explains to him that the man is an honorable knight (yeah sure) who cares not for his own life but will defend the life of another. He suggests that they bring Crysania to the arena. The Kingpriest agrees to this, and Caramon immediately picks up his sword to protect the lady. The fight is fierce and has surprisingly many real swordplay techniques used (I usually expect very little realism from stage swordfights). Yes there's still lots of unreasonable things like turning your back to your enemy and coming way too close during the close combat (you come to a distance I can punch you, you will get pommel to the face) but this is still one of the best stage swordfights I've seen. It's also unusually fast, more often stage fencing uses slower, wider strikes to make it easier to follow the fight. Here, I noticed many of the techniques used only when I was taking screenshots, they happen so fast.

I didn’t even notice this block by grabbing blade at first viewing.

Oh, this looks like a throw! Are they really going to do a throw?

Apparently yes.

I have to tip my hat to the guy who plays Purple Fake Dreads here. He is agile!

He is fierce!

He is bouncy!

Fly away, Purple Fake Dreads!

I especially like the move where he places his foot on Caramon's leg and steps up on it to kick him in the groin.

Go, go, Purple Fake Dreads!

Caramon, who fought more carefully and defensively than his aggressive and impatient opponent, wins the fight, and the Kingpriest grants him and Crysania their freedom as a reward. The citizens of Istar then begin a mass with the Kingpriest, and the chanting gets more and more ominous until everything goes red. The event known as Cataclysm happens.

Angered by the corruption and arrogance of the Kingpriest, the gods threw a fiery mountain down on Istar, sinking the city to the bottom of the sea, changing the landscape and geography of Krynn permanently. Raistlin, Caramon and Crysania escape the divine wrath by time travelling again, to a timeline little after the Cataclysm. This they do offscreen.

Having witnessed the destruction of Istar, Crysania grieves for the innocent lives struck down for the crimes of a few. Her faith weakens once more. Her god doesn't answer to her call, so Raistlin asks her to follow him, which she does. After all, he is the one who showed her the truth and hasn't lied to her, and for that she respects him. She still believes that her fate is tied to the dark wizard, but she is beginning to doubt if her role ever was to help him see the light and not the other way around.

Istar being at the bottom of the sea now, Raistlin can no longer use the gates in there, much to his annoyance. However, there is a second Gate hidden in Zhaman fortress, in a well guarded dwarf kingdom. The black mage needs to find a way to get inside, and simple knowledge of history tells him how to do it.

Caramon comes to his brother, demanding to know why he betrayed him and made him fight in the arena instead of helping him escape. After listening to this for a while, Raistlin tells him that he's being an idiot; arranging for him to get chosen to fight in the arena was his plan to get him out from jail. You got yourself arrested out of stupidity, getting you to be chosen as the one to fight wasn't easy either, you know. So don't come to me claiming I didn't help you and Crysania to get your freedom so we could all escape together instead of leaving you behind to go down with the rest of Istar!

Okay, I get it, Caramon admits. But I'm still done with all of this and I'm going back home! Oh really, Raistlin comments, what a shame, I could have used your help. It hurts me to see the change in Caramon as soon as Raistlin says that, because the dumb man doesn't understand that he's just being manipulated. Caramon is so desperate for any sign of brotherly love from his twin that as soon as Raistlin hints that he could help him, he's ready to do anything. Of course I will help you in any way I can, my dear brother! You poor man, you poor faithful dog wagging your tail no matter how many times your master mistreats you.

What Raistlin has in mind for Caramon is war. Around this time in history, there was a war waged against the dwarf kingdom. Raistlin intends to make history repeat itself, and he needs Caramon to lead the army. What army, it's just the three of us, asks Caramon. And then Raistlin begins to sing, while the background dancers begin what looks like a yoga session. Raistlin is a good speaker and manipulator, he easily convinces warriors to join their attack to Zhaman fortress. Knowing history helps him, for he knows what kind of people went into this war and what their motivations were. Little by little they gather quite an army to march into war. Caramon questions if what they are doing is the right thing and that they are lying to people to lure them into an unnecessary war. Raistlin convinces him the war is inevitable, and Caramon, too eager to please his brother, turns a blind eye to the unethicalness of it all.

While Caramon is working his hardest to earn them an entry to the gates, Raistlin focuses on working his mindgames with Crysania. He needs to get her to agree to go along with his plan. So he attempts to use her compassion, and sings to her a sad song about his childhood, colouring everything a little to make himself look more like a sympathetic victim of forces beyond his control. He claims to have began learning magic purely for self defence, being bullied as kid, and then goes on to claim that magic is an addiction that can't be fought once you've tried it. He also very clearly has become aware of Crysania falling in love with him and fans those flames as best he can, being all gentlemanly and nice to her even if he's a jerk when he's with his brother. This is one thing that people don't get about abusive people; they are perfectly capable of playing nice when it's beneficial to them and just because someone is ”such a nice guy” doesn't mean they can't be monsters.

Crysania is smart enough to call bullshit on Raistlin claiming to have always been an enemy to Takhisis, pointing out that he did fight on her side during the past war. But Raistlin pulls the ”It was all according to my plan, so I could betray her”-card out of his sleeve. I'm a traitor to both sides and both good and evil look forward to my funerals. Pity poor me who attempted to do what was right but ended up being unfairly hated by everyone. Well, Crysania buys it all, poor woman. They get closer and closer and looks like they are about to kiss...

But no kissels. Excited Caramon arrives to bring news that Zhaman has been conquered. Crysania leaves the men alone, and Caramon sings a happy song about how much glory he has gained in these battles and thanks Raistlin for making him the leader of the army, giving his life meaning and saving him from being a useless, depressed drunk.

Raistlin is initially annoyed that his alone time with Crysania was interrupted, but knowledge that he now has access to the gates he so desires to open puts him in a good mood and he joins Caramon in the victory celebrations. At some point it even looks like he... smiles a little... and not sarcastically. Who is this stranger and what have you done with the real Raistlin?

Now all Raistlin needs is to make sure Crysania will follow him to the gates. At night, when they are alone again he begins to sing a romantic song for her, posing sexily while he gazes at the starry sky, and she joins the song. By now she is completely and utterly in love with him and filled with joy when suggested that the feelings might be mutual.

Raistlin does an excellent job at seducing her considering he has no prior experience in romance whatsoever. He often takes Crysania's hand while they walk but never makes any more forward moves himself, allowing her to be the one who initiates their first kiss.

Except this time too they are interrupted before the kiss can happen. This time by peeping tom Takhisis making her nightly visit to Raistlin's mind and being all Oh my, things are getting juicy in here, wait until I get my popcorn! Raistlin is startled, looks away and tells Crysania to get out. This is the first time Raistlin's behaved like that in front of her, so she's frightened that by making that first move crossed his line and angered him. She runs away, brokenhearted.

Raistlin is left alone with Takhisis, who in her turn tries to play mindgames. She suggests to Raistlin that maybe he wasn't encouraging Crysania's love just because it was convenient for his plan, maybe he too is falling in love.

Raistlin is horrified of such a thought but compliments her Dark Majesty for pointing out his weakness so he can make sure to overcome it. I made her fall in love with me, using her weakness of compassion and pity against her, surely I am above falling into my own trap! Well, regardless of how her love was born, comments Takhisis, your feelings are genuine – don't you want to keep her? Love is stronger than you are, puny mortal, it would overcome you.

Love brings no happiness, only suffering, sings Raistlin. Look at Crysania, who was so fearless, yet now is afraid, made so weak by her love. I must not return a false love, not fall for a creation of my own making. And so he fights to resists the basic human urge, the need to be loved, considering it a dangerous weakness. Without love I can't be hurt. I won't let my feelings hinder me, my brother is nothing but a sword for me and Crysania is nothing but a key. Love will break and weaken any ruler.

Nothing matters more than love, whispers Takhisis (rather uncharacteristic for the goddess of evil to spout such sappy fortune cookie aforisms). No, power is much more dear to me, answers Raistlin, but he is a complete emotional mess after fighting his feelings and can just tiredly beg for the Dark Lady to leave him alone.

Caramon, while unable to hear Takhisis, heard everything Raistlin said and his heart breaks when he finally learns that his brother doesn't love him. So it was all lies, I meant nothing to you? Or maybe I knew this all along and was lying to myself. When Caramon says he's leaving, Raistlin calls out to him, weak and exhausted after chasing Takhisis out of his mind. And even now, after hearing the truth, Caramon hesitates only a moment before coming to Raistlin's side, making sure he's alright. He even takes off his cape to cover the sleepy wizard warmly.

Kind people are unable to ignore a call for help, even when uttered by someone they know wouldn't return the favor, because for kind people there is no such thing as ”someone who doesn't deserve help.” I still want to kick Raistlin for being such a dick, though. While watching Raistlin sleep, Caramon sings a sad song about how he misses the lost happiness and innocence of their childhood.

The next song is very painful. It's Crysania basically slutshaming herself. Instead of recognizing that her broken heart is the result of Raistlin's mindfuckery, she blames herself. And more alarmingly, she makes a decision to change. By now she is as desperate for Raistlin recognizing her worth as Caramon was for any sign of brotherly love. It hurts me to see her like this, because it reminds me too much of real women who end up trying to change to better please their male lovers. This is what has become of her – the fearless lady who went forth to save a wicked man and prevent him from going through a horrible plan has turned into a blind minion of said man, willing to do whatever he wants. Raistlin has corrupted Crysania, broken her in an incredibly vile way. Instead of leaving the cruel man, she is finally convinced to aid him in opening the gates to Abyss. In her despair to be deemed worthy, Crysania decides to do the one thing Raistlin has always been asking of her, even if that means going against her god's will. At one point in the song it looks like she's talking to Paladine (kinda looking skyward) and saying something along the lines of ”I expect you to condemn what I'm about to do.” And so she betrayed her god and went down to Abyss for the sake of love.

Into the Abyss they go, singing a triumphant song together. They went with music forth to battle, not knowing what horrors lie beyond the gates. Crysania is made fearless by her faith, but not the faith she had for her god but her faith in Raistlin's might, sincerely believing it to be powerful enough to defeat a great goddess. Raistlin is made fearless by his trust in himself.

Not too long after passing the gates, they are welcomed by her Dark Majesty herself. Takhisis is aware of Raistlin's plan to kill her, but she pretends not to know. She congratulates Raistlin for opening the gates for her like a good little minion and offers him a place at the foot of her throne. Either she is being sarcastic, or she is attempting to avoid the fight with intimidation tactics, allowing Raistlin a peaceful way out if he chickens now that he is actually face to face with a powerful goddess.

Look at those four women standing beside her Dark Majesty. I didn't get it at the first viewing, but look at them; different colours, wearing a crown decorated with dragon horns – they are the rest of her five necks! The iconic fiveheaded dragon queen form does appear in the musical, cleverly interpreted!

Intimidation tactic seems to be working, Raistlin looks hesitant for a while, but Crysania turns his head so he can't see the Dark Lady and instead looks her in the eyes and this seems to break the fear instilled in Raistlin after so many nightmares. Time for mindgames and backstabbing is over, Raistlin steps up and voices his intentions loud and clear, challenging the goddess of evil.

This is the first time we see Takhisis express anger, now that all pretense has been thrown to the wind. You can almost see her breathe fire as she gives the INSOLENT MORTAL I WILL BREAK YOU IN HALF!-speech. She then summons her minions to fight for her. Including some weird glowstick-lightsaber wielding guys. They didn't have the budget to prop actual horrors from beyond, so they got creative. I think Takhisis should have summoned a bunch of her evil dragons. No matter how incredibly powerful your wizard is, if a flock of red dragons appears, he is toast. Delicious magical toast.

In the next song Takhisis sings about how great her powers are, with a big emphasis on the fact that she can take countless forms. One great way they show this is the actress playing Crysania also joining the song as clearly a Crysania-shaped incarnation of the Dark Lady. She has been tormenting Raistlin with nightmares and goes to work with his fears and darker memories again. It is fascinating that Crysania seems to be one of the things he fears, but that is probably because of his fear of falling in love and therefore becoming vulnerable.

You know, seeing Takhisis and Crysania together and hearing their beautiful voices simultaneously, makes me want to ship them. I know it's a ridiculous crackpairing, Crysania would deem it blasphemous and Takhisis would be like ”She's not as good as Mina.” But hey, if Crysania is ready to betray her god, why not go all out and fall in love with her god's literal rival? Like how deliciously angsty would that get? I'm sorry, this is stupid. Actually, no, I'm not sorry. Because you know what, I can't go to any show's fandom without seeing a fuckton of male/male ships of characters who hate each other in canon/are sworn enemies, so I should not have to be ashamed for blushing at the thought of femslashing Crys and Taksu. The ship may be full of holes but I will sail it!

More random minions. The background dancers just really, really wanted to show off their cool fedoras and scarves, no matter how unfit they are in a fantasy setting.

The next foe Raistlin faces is a succubus. She unfortunately lacks the charisma of Vera Zoodena and comes off as trying too much. I'm sorry, but whatever she's trying, it just doesn't work. Raistlin seems nervous though, and shouts to her ”Don't touch me!” Oh, the bookworm nerd doesn't like me, eh, says the succubus, I'll just pick his brother then. And she goes to snuggle with Caramon's doppelganger. This is a rather interesting scene, because there's a book that tells about the twins' childhood and apparently there was an incident where a girl initially showed intered towards little Raistlin and got his hopes up and then crushed them by deciding to go for the handsome twin instead. So, yeah, Raistlin has brother issues, and of course Takhisis uses them against him.

Time for more childhood trauma. Takhisis summons the images of the kids who bullied Raistlin when he was little. As someone who still occasionally has nightmares of my own bullies, I have to admit I feel sorry for him here. The cruelty of children can wound a person very deeply. The creatures make Raistlin retreat, tearing open wounds he thought had scarred permanently long ago. Anxious and unable to fight his fears, Raistlin falls on his knees and, much like in his childhood, instinctively cries Caramon for help. But his brother is not here to protect him, to chase away the bullies and watch over his sleep so he can wake him up from nightmares.

Now that Takhisis has Raistlin exhausted and crawling on the ground, she appears to him in the disguise of his mother. She calls for Raistlin, and the wizard reacts to the familiar voice, rushing towards her but stopping midway when he finally gets a grip of reality, that these are all shadows summoned by Takhisis and nothing more. Once Takhisis realizes her game is discovered, she drops the pretense and appears as herself, casting her dark spells on Raistlin, pulling him closer. Eventually all of his strength is consumed and he collapses, fallen victim to the Dark Lady's power.

Crysania to the rescue! Having been separated from Raistlin in the darkness of the Abyss, she finally finds him and immediately puts her healing powers to work. Takhisis tells her she is too late, death has claimed the wizard. I will not give him to you, Crysania exclaims, continuing to revive the man she loves. If needed, she is willing to give her own life in exchange of his. Takhisis speaks to Crysania, telling her that even she feels sorry for her, but a flame always leaves its mark. And then, just as life is returning Raistlin's body, the Dark Lady blinds Crysania's eyes.

And now we get to the most painful scene in the show. Blinded Crysania seeks Raistlin's hand and tells him that they have defeated darkness (What?! How? When? The last I checked, Takhisis seemed to be alive and well. I don't get it.). My eyes can see light no more and I am wounded, but your path to godhood is open now. And then Raistlin answers... that I don't need you anymore. I... I... fuck... Crysania begs him to stay with her, to hold her hand. She was ready to give her life for you! All she wants is for you to hold her hand! I don't cry often when reading books but I remember sobbing all the way through this horrible ending.

Singing arrogantly, Raistlin leaves Crysania behind, blind and wounded, all alone in the darkness of the Abyss. I did what was necessary to reach my goal. The gates were sealed cleverly but with the help of a fool's love I opened them. I don't need you anymore. The price of love in exchange of becoming a god is not too high.

Takhisis speaks to Crysania again, and it's clear now that when she said earlier that she feels sorry for Crysania, it wasn't because of her grief over Raistlin's death, but because she wasn't aware of being used.

Taksu, please, can you not. (Why is everyone in this musical such a dick to blind people?)

Crysania sings a sad song about the senselessness of cruelty and my heart breaks for her. After devoting her life to a man who abandoned her to die alone in the dark, the inside of her chest is pitch black and a void deeper than Abyss where her heart used to be. A final song of grief echoes among the shadows. The Dark Lady's minions dance with Crysania, surprisingly calmly considering they are creatures of evil. Even Takhisis herself holds her in her arms for a while (please kiss her. I know you're not the goddess of death but please. Just kiss her.). Eventually she collapses at the foot of her Dark Majesty's throne and ends her song. The only thing I can do is close my eyes before this void and wait for someone to push. And that's the image we leave Crysania with. A betrayed, blind woman standing on a cliff's edge, waiting for the moment she has to fall down.

Astinus appears again and tells what happened next. Raistlin went on to challenge all of the gods until he was the only one left. However, he did not possess the gods' ability to create. In his war against the gods he had left the mortal world in ruin, and now as the only god of Krynn, he could not repair it. The mortal world had become as desolate, dark and lifeless as the Abyss.

Now, in the books this is not what happens. It's what could happen, but Raistlin gets shown this grim future and that scares him to finally give up his ambitious plan. However he had already opened the gates and entered Abyss, so he chose to remain there and prevent Takhisis from coming through the gates until they had been properly closed behind him. Some versions of the musical also apparently have this ending. However, I prefer this one, where Raistlin reaches that future and has to for all eternity bear the heavy burden of being the one who brought forward the end of the world, all alone in the darkness, the only remaining witness to the devastating results of his actions. I think an ending where we allow him the chance to correct his errors and sacrifice his life nobly for the sake of preventing Takhisis from entering Krynn, is cheaper and doesn't give proper emphasis on the fact that actions have consequenses and often, even in stories involving time travel, once you've made a mistake, you cannot undo it! I prefer stories with the moral ”Don't do this, once you do it there's no going back” than ”Don't do this but if you do, there's always a second chance if you're ready to make some sacrifices.” I know this is fantasy, but in real life, there often aren't second chances. You can only break a fragile thing once. You can only lose someone's trust once.

We get one final song, Lord of Nothing, and it's a great song number. For whatever reason Takhisis sings it with Raistlin, despite the fact that she should be long since defeated in this timeline. Maybe she will forever live on in Raistlin's mind, a fragment of his imagination formed from the memory of nightmares. I don't know, but I don't even care, Vera Zoodena has such a great voice that she can raise Takhisis from the dead any time she wants.

One reason I love this song is that it's basically the Dark Lady vigorously rubbing salt on Raistlin's wounds. Yeah, you wanted this, you wanted this so bad, well look at your kingdom now, oh great Lord of Nothing! As she sings the background dancers gradually take away all of the props, including Raistlin's staff and his robes and then disappear offstage, leaving him standing there alone on the empty stage. It is very satisfying to hear Raistlin sing in anxious manner, desperately trying to lie to himself that he can still fix this, oh please don't let me be left alone in the void. The last one to leave is Astinus. He gives Raistlin his quill and scroll of history before disappearing.

I liked this show and was amazed how nicely it adapted the original material. It's very different to the kind of musical theater I usually watch (Takarazuka). But even a smaller production, with a very small prop budget and actors who sing well but don't dance at all, can be as entertaining as a big, colourful spectacle.

There's been some translating projects going on. Maybe some day there might be an English version done.

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sci-phi-guy · 6 years

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Blade Runner 2049: Thoughts and Critique?

A few weeks ago (11/2/17 if Tumblr doesn’t time-stamp these posts) I saw the film Blade Runner 2049, the sequel to the 1982 ‘flawed masterpiece’ of the same name minus the date.

And much like it’s predecessor it’s a flawed film, however those flaws are much more present that I wouldn’t call it a masterpiece; but it isn’t bad, it’s actually quite good, so much so that it definitely sticks out when compared to many modern films based on pre-existing franchises or iconography.

This film is frustrating, to put it bluntly. Frustrating because it’s a mixture of being both excellent, alright, and at some parts bad.

I haven’t posted jack-squat on this blog in ages, and my ability to express and articulate viewpoints hasn’t had much opportunity to be refined well, so consider this a warning that this kind of opinionated, and I wouldn’t fully call it a critique. Also this will be riddled with spoilers, so if you plan on watching this film to make up your own mind (which I would highly encourage), please don’t read this until doing so.

Overall I thought the film was good, but there were so many flaws that I wouldn't call it great. Many of those flaws act more like trade-offs from the original film that were worked differently in the new one, which do and don't work.

Visually it's really impressive, with director Denis Villeneuve knowing what to focus on in each scene and how the lighting, color composition and blocking help establish tone and flow the film through. However the original film had so much visual detail in it that your eyes were allowed to wander wherever with what felt like a vast but cluttered, overused and believable world. The new film feels almost empty at times, crowd scenes don't feel crowded, and the lack of background detail and constraint the director puts on you don't allow you to wander that much; the camera confined, but only because it knows what to focus on.

The scene of them flying to Wallace's building as it towers over the pyramids of Tyrells' in a rainy fog while a Tibetan choir sings genuinely chilled me.

Which leads me to the music which was also great, when it's there. It's nice that the composer tried something close but also distinct from the original film's score, but most of the music is this loud thunk noise; it doesn't sound as varied as the originals, nor does it get baked into the film as well.

The plot was simple but well-defined, some of the characters were good and well-defined (some of them), and the actors who played them did a good job performance-wise. Deckard in the original only did one-bit of 'detective-work', but K is a genuine detective in this new film, doing a great deal of work to solve this mystery of sorts; it does bite him hard by the film's end, which was smart and to me unexpected.

And yeah, the way women were in this film was unusually distracting, namely because it had so much presence in the film's plot, and as consequence affected the overall feel of the film. I liked Robin Wright's character, and I kind of like Luv when she wasn't in the presence of Wallace Breen. And yes, the scene when we first see him felt almost unnecessary, like it told you that "here the bad guy does something bad to tell you he is bad guy", when his ambition and goal was enough already, we don't need to see him make out with a naked woman and then kill her right after; my mom described this part as "voyeurism", and my parents' dislike for this movie is far stronger than anything I can say.

As for Karen (I know it's Joi, but she condemned herself as Karen the moment she brought out the holographic meatloaf), this was the most distracting thing about this movie, namely because she had so much in it, yet gave so little outside of being a motive for the male leads actions. The scene where she melds with the prostitute to have a three-way, while visually cool my man-ass will admit, inappropriate story-wise. Like Ryan thinks he's a born replicant, fails his Voight-Kampff test, and then has sex? I couldn't believe that, as I watched this scene in the theater, I was preferring the grubby, uncomfortable love scene in the original Blade Runner; because unlike this one, that scene between Deckard and Rachael had some sort of an odd context in the film, and was also appropriately-timed as well.

The part where they brought back Rachael to torment Deckard, after parading her skull around was cruel, but it's placement in the film is interesting because it does address a question the Final Cut of Blade Runner brought up: Is Deckard a replicant or not? They don't answer it, they leave it, toss it around actually. And it gives a pausing moment where Deckard says only one line: "I know what's real.............."

In the ending of the 2007 Final Cut of Blade Runner, Deckard finds an origami unicorn in his apartment, an image he saw in a daydream earlier in the film. They don't give a direct answer as to what Deckard is, they only hint and prod but never define. This twist ending is hailed by so many people as for making up a great majority of the original film's unsatisfactory 1982 version; it's far better than any 'happy ending', that's for sure.

But here's the thing: this man, whose profession is hunting down and killing people who have been defined as not real, who has been nearly killed by those who know they are not real , and has fallen awkwardly in love with someone who he knows and who she now realizes is not real, has now come to possibility that he himself may not be real. What does he do?

He accepts it. We don't know what he accepts, but whatever it is, he simply moves on.

And while Blade Runner 2049 may not follow this theme of accepting ones' reality to its' exact beats, it does what this film does in a whole and takes parts of what the made the original film work and expands on them with some strengths and weaknesses everywhere.

K knows his implanted memories are fake, yet accepts them as the bedrock of his identity, regardless of the slave-like state he lives in society. It's only when he begins to question whether he was born or not that he becomes more erratic, until it eventually leads the great detective to assumes the role of somebody he is not. It's why the twist near the end when we realizes that the child was a girl and not a boy like he assumed is so effective; K did far great a deal of intuitive detective work in this film, and yet even he misses out on what were some vital clues to fit the possibility that he may be more than what he is, whether he likes it or not. And it's only when he's in-front of that gratuitous billboard, when not-his-Karen calls him something only his-Karen could, that he accepts what he is, and goes to save Deckard.

It's not just him, but alot of the other characters here display varying takes on this theme of acceptance. Joshi half-heartedly accepts her death along with the possibility that K lied to her, Luv without choice accepts her dual position as the high-end of a massive corporation while being a slave to that corporations' leader, and even Wallace, literally blind in his grasp for power cannot accept his nor humanity's limitations and thus seeks a born race of slaves to fulfill his desire. Even the underground revolution of replicants, who show up for only a few minutes of a near three hour movie, consist of those who cannot accept their place in society because it is that of a slave.

Blade Runner 2049 is a flawed film, but it's still a good one despite some shortcomings and frustrating choices throughout. It walks away from the long line of passable films modern Hollywood has been rolling out with an established franchise attached to it, but only a few feet. Overall, it's a short step in the right direction.

#bladerunner #bladerunner 2049 #film review #critique #?#sch-phi guy #opinion

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thesinglesjukebox · 6 years

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youtube

TWICE - LIKEY [8.00] Title checks out.

Jessica Doyle: At first listen “Likey” seems underwhelming by Twice standards, as even applying the full force of Sana to “me likey, me likey likey likey” doesn’t result in a skull piercing along the lines of “neomu hae, neomu hae” or “kung, kung” or even “sign-EUL BONAE, sig-NEUL BONAE.” (The closest we get is Momo pouting about BB cream and lipstick, and she’s immediately followed by a more conciliatory Tzuyu.) Lyrically it could even be read as a continuation of “TT,” the members painting themselves as emotional messes at the mercy of the listener. The difference is in the potential for an alternate reading: Twice as emotional messes at the mercy of the audience, Twice given the opportunity to acknowledge the constant mental-health assault that is idol life. Everything feels like a careful signal (…bonae), from Jihyo as leader holding the camera and talking about the small screen, to the tourist-pristine presentation of Vancouver in the background, to Dahyun’s brief trap interlude, to the slouchier outfits of the dance-practice video. “Likey” doesn’t have to be Twice’s catchiest or most distinctive single when it can be Twice’s smartest. [7]

Alfred Soto: A haiku of romantic need, “Likey” recalls prime Stock-Aiken-Waterman in its concentration: boom boom boom it goes, its breathy vocals and hint of woodblock percussion leading the charge, until this time it knows it’s for real. [7]

Iain Mew: “Likey” is another proof for the interpretation that made me love “Cheer Up” – that it was a demonstration of what happens when you play along with a role with such absolute conviction that real emotions and portrayed emotions begin to blur. In “Likey” the same theme is both more heartbreakingly explicit lyrically, and present again in the music. There’s no fixed-grin mega-chorus this time, but bursts of a buoyant, colourful twist on the K-pop-house wave. Each chorus plays out like a perfectly presented social media life, splashing across all the complexities and effort they sing about going on outside of it. [9]

Katie Gill: I’m a sucker for Twice. They’re a group that knows how to have fun, which shines through in their performances and sound, and I’m always here for their bright bubbly bubblegum pop. Add in those fun synths and an amazingly fun prechorus/rap break, and you’ve got a song that’s tailor-made for me to fall in love with it. I just wish that they didn’t hang the chorus on such an awkward phrase as “me likey.” [7]

Mo Kim: “Like is such a common word, not enough to express my feelings,” Mina laments in the chorus. Nayeon is more conciliatory: “But I like you, even if I can’t sleep, even if I’m late.” And Sana, by now a familiar and comforting presence, chirps back in ironic response: “Me likey, me likey likey likey, me likey likey likey.” It may be the best-executed joke in their entire discography: if there’s one thing that Twice has mastered, it’s the gap between what we know we feel and what we know how to say, and how that gap gets mediated through cinema cosplay, hooks as persistent as a lovestruck teenager, and alien soundscapes. “Likey” draws on all of those strengths, washing the anxiety of a social-media crush through pastel pink filters and emerging as the group’s surprisingly soulful thesis statement. [10]

Alex Clifton: A sugary-sounding song about a love/hate relationship with social media described in addictive terms. The struggle to project an ideal version of oneself on social media, to put effort into the perfect selfie, is nothing new, but I’ve never heard it described in a song in such opposite terms–yes, it’s a struggle; yes, it’s something we enjoy; yes, I need that rush of dopamine any time someone likes my posts to function. I’ve tried to wean myself off social media this year, but I’ve still felt the pressure to word things perfectly to gain the most appropriate attention. How do I make this funny? How do I make this unusual? How do I make this particular post–and, by extension, myself–wholly likeable? To hear it all jumbled so starkly in such a song–especially one that’s rigorously upbeat, one that could play in the background quietly and maybe slip out of notice as a standard pop song–is magnificent. [8]

Leonel Manzanares: I’ve always enjoyed how Twice likes to get busy, production-wise. This time there’s a fuzzy guitar intro joining a line of bubbly synths, a cascade of slow arpeggios in the verses, and even a half-time trap breakdown in the bridge. And I’m glad that the inconsistencies in their previous singles are a thing of the past, but why don’t they just sound as exciting as they used to? “Signal” was absolutely divisive, but was it really their creative peak? [6]

Ryo Miyauchi: Out of all of the animated parts, Momo’s drive the story home. Her pout about makeup before the chorus goofs around as much as it runs frantic from all of the upkeep the girls have to do for that perfect Instagram picture. The others are more concerned to hit the right vocal spots to reveal just how much they’re breaking a sweat, but that’s Twice for you: the sugary beats and ditzy voices mask a deliriousness from all this need for attention. [7]

Joshua Minsoo Kim: In virtually every aspect of “Likey,” production duo Black Eyed Pilseung capture the inwardly frantic yet outwardly calm nature of using social media as an avenue for affirmation. It’s more structurally complex than “TT” and “Knock Knock,” but more cohesive than “Signal” and “Cheer Up.” This middle ground proves apt, as the song’s constant innovations and driving energy mirror the constant shifting of attention one experiences while scrolling through endless feeds of content. One could argue that the pre-chorus’s winding melody brings the song to a halt, but this only bolsters the song’s conceit. Compared to the rest of “Likey,” the vocalizing there registers as conversational. But it isn’t long before we’re pulled away into the chorus’s onslaught of Twice-as-hell catchphrases, transfixed by the sound of people transfixed by their screens. It’s a statement in and of itself: how could the real world possibly hold up to the notifications that blow up our phones? The entire song is sprinkled with onomatopoeiac representations that drive home this half-serious point: applying BB cream and lipstick, a crowd of people cheering, an angelic choir praising us in the chorus. And the only possible way “Likey” could have started is with its blaring horns and bouncing synthline–fanfare fit for a professional athlete’s entrance music. We’re ultimately left with our prized possession: a “Heart! Heart!” notifying us that someone’s liked our post, our image, our self. Amusingly, it’s preceded by the girls singing the sound of a quickly-beating heart. It turns out both hearts are our lifeblood. [10]

Will Adams: The popular consciousness’s fixation on millennial culture has endured for so long that it’s become easy to identify the quality of each thinkpiece: Does it treat social media users with disdain, or does it take the time to recognize the benefits they attain from it? In a better world, “Likey” would have been the urtext, at once acknowledging the enormous pressure to look a certain way – sucking it in, angling light so hits you just so, swiping through filters – and the rush of seeing the appreciation come through in short, warm buzzes. Each line offers a different reading, mimicking how quickly we sift through the emotions, never quite resolving them. And we get those mixed feelings elsewhere: a “Heart! Heart!” hook that’s both annoying and endearing, a breakbeat instrumental that’s both ecstatic and wistful, and the moment you receive that like, both time-stopping and boundless. [7]

Maxwell Cavaseno: Contrary to popular belief, sincerity is never a pure answer. There is nothing less flattering to the human face than your own tears, gushing down your face, mixing with snot and drool over your whimpering pleas to make you look more like a slug than any person of desire (no offense meant to my invertebrate audience, as someone with far less of a spine). Nowadays, in the harsh kiln of radioactive beams from our webcams, phones, and any possible source of laser-like intense study, we’ve learned to fix rigid plasticine smiles and gussy ourselves up in the desperate hope for approval and kindness from even the most distant stranger. Try making it through the days when even the robocalls don’t hit you back. I don’t imagine anyone in Twice was spending their Hallow’s Eve like myself, hysterically laughing at my own reflection after slathering on gaudy amounts of makeup and facepaint in the hopes of the slightest sliver of approval (should I be wrong, please provide info in a corresponding email). But they are likewise burdened with the task of smuggling themselves into the day-to-day of their intended audiences. This group basically shattered me with Momo’s sobbing babble of a voice and our mutual insistence that hysteria “isn’t myself at all.” Now, in the same way, her voice echoes giggling pleas for attention, acknowledgement, the cheap reminder that yes, somebody up/over/out there might be fooled into thinking they like “me.” The blare of the flange-drenched VST horns and the percussions slip from the freestyle/Atlanta bass skips on the verses to the 4x4 bridge to the hesitant 130-BPM breakstep fills on the pre-chorus are not as triumphant as they are propulsive, hurriedly pushing oneself along further and further. For all the moments that shouldn’t succeed (the Migos flow breakdown and the weird gap before the final chorus threaten to busy up the record too much), it’s a perfect balance of charming leap and trembling flail forward, doing its best to never sound as starved a record as it is. That’s the genius of Twice at their peak form, that something so violently happy never betrays the insane loneliness and desperation at its core. We love you so much. [10]

[Read, comment and vote on The Singles Jukebox ]

#twice #likey #twicetagram #TSJ Best of 2017

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alababwa · 7 years

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breakdown of walt disney world’s magic kingdom’s new nighttime firework show “happily ever after”:

-- very long post under the cut. pic above is a screenshot from the DIS on youtube’s recording of its opening night performance on may 12, 2017

i tried to break it down by segments with character appearances and different music changes. i didn’t go too into detail about all the fireworks as most of the focus was on the castle projections. also mentioned where new animations were. i apologize if i missed anything, please feel free to send me corrections.

Prelude instrumental music

Narrator voiceover: “And they all lived happily ever after. Each of us has a dream. It calls to us and when we’re brave enough to listen and bold enough to pursue, that dream will lead us to a journey to discovery who we were meant to be. All we have to do is look inside our hearts and unlock the magic within.”

Intro of “Happily Ever After” by Jordan Fisher & Angie Keilhauer

The castle facade changes different orate designs and colors with fireworks going off to music

Castle facade transitions to the castle with large windows to show a starry sky -- firework shoots across sky in the back of the castle in an arch like the old Disney logo

Balcony below clock shows pink, Tiana in her blue dress appears in the balcony singing about the Evening Star “Down in New Orleans (Prologue)” (New animation from Mark Henn)

Music of When You Wish Upon a Star builds as it transitions to Part of Your World then back to When You Wish Upon a Star

facade looks like an ocean scene as Ariel swims past then up the tallest tower,

facade transitions to a view above Paris where you can see Chef Gusteau’s and the Eiffle Tower.

Facade transitions to a share the look of Rapunzel’s tower, where she’s leaning out of from the castle’s tallest spire.

“Out There” from The Hunchback of Notre Dame

facade transitions to the big stain glass of Notre Dame with a silhouette then showing his face of Quasimodo singing and jumping around the castle to the song

Quasi climbs the tallest tower and pulls the bells to the song

"Touch the Sky” from Brave

Facade changes to forest-y scene and the crests of the Dunbroch are dropped down as well

Merida, riding in on Angus: “Your destiny lies within you. You just have to brave enough to see it. Then your journey begins.”

Merida aims bow to shoot a arrow skyward toward the top of the castle, to which a firework goes off as if it’s the arrow shooting off into the sky

Dandelion seeds rain down facade to transition to a waterfall; Lightning McQueen and Cruz Ramirez (for Cars 3 promo) look to audience from a bridge then drive off

Carl Frederickson’s house floats up with the numerous balloons from behind the front part of the facade

Bottom half of castle changes to under the ocean, where Marlin, Dory, and Crush swim by

“How Far I’ll Go” from Moana

Facade changes to a more fiery background with torches and the structure mimics tapa and the housing of the village of Motunui, showing Moana discovering the canoes

Scrolls of tapa designs & Maui’s tattoo of Moana shows as clips from the movie play. Part of the castle has Moana’s sail as well.

At the climax of the song, Tala as a manta ray swims up from the bottom of the castle toward the sky

Friendship Segment

Castle facade looks like it’s made of toy parts, but is darkend to spotlight a giant Genie lamp sitting on the balcony

Aladdin: “Trust me, having a best friend by your side opens up a whole new world of possibilities!”

Castle brightens and looks to be a moving toy with lots of moving gears as instrumentals of Never Had a Friend Like Me plays

Music transitions to Trashing the Camp, characters, mostly the gorillas, from Tarzan make appearances all over the castle

Bugs crawl over the castle as music transitions to Hakuna Matata, where Timon dances and Pumbaa and young Simba appear

Facade changes to a much more toy-like version of what it was as “You Got a Friend In Me” plays, Woody and Buzzlightyear interact on the balcony; other toys like Jessie, Mr. & Mrs. Potatohead, Slinkydog, Rex, etc appear in various places around the castle

Toy castle crumbles as music changes to “Bare Necessities”, the castle is more green as Baloo, Mowgli, the baby elephant, and other monkeys dance to the song

Castle changes to a more candy like appearance as Wreck-It Ralph and Vanellope on his shoulders appear on the balcony

Baymax and Hiro appear as facade changes to the first toy-life facade on the bottom of the tallest tower with music transitioning back to “You’ve Got a Friend In Me”

Facade shows seal of the ZPD as the Big Donut bounces by

Facade changes to the headquarters of Riley’s Mind where you can see Sadness and Joy before memories orbs start falling from the tallest spire

Choir singing “That’s What Friends Are For” from the Jungle Book”: “And when you're outside, looking in Who's there to open the door? That's what friends are for!”

Sully and Mike show up on balcony with many doors fro Monsters Inc

Giant Door opens as “open the door” is sung

Toy balcony facade returns, balcony comes to life to sing in a spotlight “That’s what friends are for” in a solo low deep voice

Choir starts singing “Never Had a Friend Like Me” while facade changes to a more neon and lights appearance like the movie’s scene, with various girls from the same scene dance around the castle as Genie performs; voices transition to Genie’s instead of Choir

On finishing big note, tallest tower rockets off into the sky

Family segment

Facade looks more like a castle with big open windows again, Olaf appears on a snow-covered balcony

Olaf: “Some people are worth melting for” with a sigh

Slow acoustic cover of “Love is an Open Door” plays, a big moon rises across facade

Wall-E and Eve fly across facade

Music transitions to an Instrumental version of “Can You Feel the Love Tonight”

Facade looks pink, covered in flowers, and waterfalls as Simba and Nala nuzzle

Music transitions to a cover of “You’ll Be In My heart”; family scenes flash across facade

Kala hugs baby Tarzan

Riely and her parents are playing around

Baby Dory is hugged by her parents

Russel runs into Carl’s arms for a hug

Dumbo gives his mother many kisses

Judy hugs her parents

The Parr family shares a group hug

Romance Segment

Facade changes blue and purple, silhouettes of Disney couples appear across the castle

Ariel & Eric

Tiana & frog!Naveen (WHY IS HE A FROG IN THE ROMANCE SCENE???)

Cinderella & Prince Charming

Belle & Beast

Aurora & Phillp

Snow White & her Prince

Jasmine & Aladdin

Rapunzel & Eugene

Aladdin (as Prince Ali) and Jasmine fly across facade on the Magic Carpet as instrumental version of “A Whole New World” plays briefly before transition to “I See the Light”

Lanterns from Tangled start to appear, floating up the castle, it darkens toward the end

Silhouette of Rapunzel and Eugene at the bottom of the castle, glowing before they let go of two last lanters that fly up to illuminate a couple of the couple sihouettes once more

Small instrumental of “A Whole New World” finishes the song

Villains Segment

Facade transitions to the Emperor of China’s palace

Emperor appears on balcony: “A that flower blooms in adversity is the more rare and beautiful of all.”

Shan Yu appears in the tallest tower before Mulan as Ping appears in the balcony fires off a rocket, which launches off the castle and flies off as a firework

Syndrome appears at the tower and shoots a bolt of lightning at an Omnidroid, which starts destroying the castle’s facade and blowing holes in it, the Parr family appears in those holes

Ocean rises up from the bottom of the castle before a giant Ursula wearing Triton’s crown and wielding his trident rises up from it, her tentacles wrapping around the castle spires (New animation from Eric Goldberg) Prince Eric is standing the balcony before he jumps into the waters as Ursula shoots lighting at him from the trident; she returns under the depths as a bolt of lighting cracks and the water recedes

Orange smoke rises from the bottom of the castle, revealing Pride Rock in flames as Simba and Scar duel and silhouettes of hyenas and lionesses watch; giant shadow of them fighting is in the background as well

Orange smoke plumes quickly up to reveal Jafar as a giant snake. Aladdin drops down from one of the mid-level spires with a sword. Jafar lunges at him with fangs bared as he jumps to the next spire and swings around it before jumping down to swing his sword at him. He jumps down once more off to the bottom of the castle where Jafar follows (New animation from Randy Haycock)

Facade quickly changes green as black thorny vines wrap around it, Maleficent appears, cackling in a blast of green fire as the castle is shocked with lightning. Prince Phillip on Samson rides across the bottom of the castle. In purple smoke, she changes to her dragon form and blows green fire at Prince Phillip’s shield in the balcony

Fire changes orange as music (which had been playing their respective instrumental soundtracks to the fight scenes) transitions to the Pirates of the Carribbean theme. Castle is on fire and you see a silhouette of Jack Sparrow and another pirate (i’m not quite sure who it is) swordfighting, various silhouettes of known characters that fight flash across the facade like

Eric at the wheel of his ship(?)

Aladdin with a sword

Merida with her bow

Mulan with a staff from I’ll Make a Man Out of You

the Parr Family

Phillip throws his sword into the heart of dragon!Maleficent

Facade darkens to a rainy scene with a dying fire at its base as sparks fly up

Hero segment

Face of Mufasa appears in the dying flames at the mid-level of the castle as the music of “I Can Go the Distance” starts building up

Mufasa: “Look inside yourself. You are more than what you have become. Remember who you are” the “remember” fadingly echoes twice

Castle facade darkends as cover vocals of “I Can Go the Distance starts”

Aladdin appears at the bottom of the castle, looking sullen for a moment then stands proudly looking in the distance (New animation from Randy Haycock) - he fades away

Tarzan appears opposite of him, standing up like he finished fighting Saboor then fades

Mulan appears in the bottom of the tallest tower holding the village girl’s doll and kneeling down to place it before fading

A glowing, newly-annointed-god Hercules appears in the balcony holding Megara in his arms as he rescues her from the underworld

Interstumentals build as flash of triumphant scenes show like

Moana cheering

Snow White being embraced by her Prince after waking with the dwarfs cheering

Ariel in her silver dress being spun in Eric’s arms

Cinderella waving from her wedding carriage

Vanellope receiving a trophy

Aladdin sealing Jafar and Genie ruffling his hair

Elsa and Anna hugging

Tiana and Naveen running down the aisle after getting married

Facade turns gilded as slowly the windows start being covered by stain glass featuring with Choir singing “I Can Go the Distance” ending chorus:

Cinderella with her glass slipper

Aladdin

Tarzan

Woody

Merida

Elsa & Anna

Mulan

Peter Pan

Alice

Snow White

Pinocchio

Moana

Tiana in her green dress, holding frog!Naveen

Aurora

Beast

Belle

(and a few more I think; youtube videos make it hard to see those tiny details)

Narrator: “And so our journey comes to an end but yours continues on. Grab hold of your dreams and makes them come true for you are the key to unlock your own magic. Now go; let your dreams guide you. Reach out and find your happily every after.”

“Happily Ever After” starts playing as fireworks go off, the stain glass facade changes to the ornate castle.

A Brief transition in the song changes to “You Can Fly” as Tinker Bell flies out of the tallest tower across the sky and the song goes back to “Happily Every After”

The ornate design of the castle keeps changes colors in bursts with accompanying fireworks until finale

#happily every after fireworks #magic kingdom #happily ever after #walt disney world #This is where we create happiness #i worked on this for like an hour and a half almost two hours idk who has a life i don't

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papermoonloveslucy · 7 years

Text

Together for Christmas

S1;E13 ~ December 24, 1962

Executive Producer Desi Arnaz Directed by Jack Donohue Written by Bob Carroll, Jr., Madelyn Martin, Bob Weiskopf, and Bob Schiller.

Synopsis

The Carmichaels and Bagleys are spending their first Christmas together in Danfield and Lucy and Viv do nothing but argue over their family's special traditions. In the end, however, the kids show Lucy and Viv the true meaning of Christmas.

Regular Cast

Lucille Ball (Lucy Carmichael), Vivian Vance (Vivian Bagley), Jimmy Garrett (Jerry Carmichael), Ralph Hart (Sherman Bagley), Candy Moore (Chris Carmichael)

Dick Martin (Harry Connors) does not appear in this episode, although he is mentioned.

Guest Cast

Tom Lowell (Alan Harper, right) makes his second of three appearances as Chris's prep school boyfriend.

We learn that Alan Harper belongs to the country club. Although he sings with the carolers, he does not speak in this episode.

Joe Mell (Ernie, the Butcher) makes the first of his five appearances as a background player on “The Lucy Show.” He also appeared in a 1969 episode of “Here's Lucy.” In 1964, he appeared in the TV special “Mr. and Mrs.” (aka “The Lucille Ball Comedy Hour”), which featured many of the Desilu regulars and was directed by Jack Donohue, who directed “Together for Christmas.” In 1971, he was a Taxi Driver on “Lucy and the Lecher,” a cross-over episode of Danny Thomas's “Make Room for Granddaddy” in which Lucille Ball played Lucy Carter, her character from “Here's Lucy.”

Bob Stephenson (Johnny, the Parcel Post Delivery Man) makes the second of his two appearances on the series, after playing the YMCA clerk (uncredited) in “Lucy Digs Up a Date” (S1;E2).

The Mitchell Boys Choir (uncredited). Fourteen young boys from the troupe play the YMCA carolers. Unlike the real-life Mighty Mites boys football team in “Lucy is a Referee” (S1;E3), they do not get screen credit.

Robert Mitchell was an organist at St. Brendan Church in Los Angeles in 1934 where he organized a boys' choir that he directed for 66 years. In 1936, the Mitchell Singing Boys, as they were also known, were cast in their first film, The Girl from Paris. Other films in which the choir appeared included Going My Way with Bing Crosby in 1944, The Bishop's Wife with Cary Grant in 1947, and Blondie in Society in 1941. The Mitchell's Boy Choir soon became America's most popular Boys Choir and appeared in over 100 movies.

This is the first (but not the last) episode not to have Lucy's name in the title. This episode was filmed before “Lucy and Her Electric Mattress” (S1;E12) and saved for broadcast on Christmas Eve. During the roll of the credits after the main title sequence, the theme music has jingle bells added to it. This is the second time this music was changed to fit the theme of the episode, an enhancement that was eventually dropped. The first was in “Lucy Is a Referee” (S1:E3) when it sounded like a marching band.

This is the first Christmas the Carmichael and Bagley families have celebrated at home together. We learn that Lucy usually takes her kids to visit her mother in Jamestown and Viv usually takes her kids to visit her uncle in Philadelphia. It is unclear if this is Uncle Ned, who was mentioned in the previous episode “Lucy and Her Electric Mattress” (S1;E12). Both Lucy and Viv will be taking the train to their respective hometowns. It has already been established that fictional Danfield is located on a rail line, not unlike New Rochelle, a real-life New York town also mentioned in the previous episode.

The main conflict of the episode comes from marrying differing holiday traditions:

When Lucy and Viv argue whether to buy a goose or a turkey for Christmas dinner, Ernie the butcher jokingly suggests stuffing the turkey with a goose! As silly as it seemed in 1962, the practice would become popular in the 1980s with the ‘turducken’ or ‘gooducken’ - a three-bird roast consisting of a a turkey or goose stuffed with a de-boned duck and chicken.

About Viv's propensity for mistletoe, Lucy remarks that the only way a man could get into their house un-kissed would be through the coal chute. Coal delivery, a common home heating method before the popularity of oil heat, played an integral part of the final moments of “Lucy Builds a Rumpus Room” (S1;E11).

In addition to buying gifts for the family and Harry next door, Jerry also plans to buy for Tommy and Amy Shaffer - all with $1.10. This is the first mention of Tommy and Amy.

Talking on the phone to Tommy, Jerry says,

“I’ll bet we’re the only people in the world two have two Christmas trees. One is green and one is - you’ll pardon the expression - white.”

This is a momentary acknowledgment of the headlines of the year. In 1962, President Kennedy dispatched troops to force the University of Mississippi (a state institution) to admit James Meredith, a black student. At the same time, he forbade racial or religious discrimination in federally financed housing.

Chris asks her mother whether it would be appropriate to buy Alan Harper a bottle of after shave, but Lucy is suspicious when her daughter confirms that he does indeed have whiskers! Although Alan stands next to Chris in the episode’s final moments, he doesn’t have any dialogue.

Sherman talks about Mr. Everett at the Y. The YMCA was prominently featured in “Lucy Digs Up a Date” (S1;E2) and mentioned in a couple of other episodes. Jerry says he sang “White Christmas” for Mr. Everett and there wasn't a dry eye in the house! The sentimental holiday song was written by Irving Berlin in 1942. The version sung by Bing Crosby is said to be the best selling single of all time. Jerry says he doesn't know “Good King Wenceslas,” a popular carol that dates back to 1852.

When their difference prove nearly irreconcilable, Lucy and Viv decide to give up on staying home for Christmas, and revert to traveling to see their families. Lucy says she left a note for the milkman. Until the end of the 1960s or so, most suburban homes had milk delivery, which involved leaving milk bottles on the porch (sometimes in a milk box). If a customer did not wish to have milk (or other dairy products) delivered that day - or for a period of days - it was standard procedure to ‘leave a note for the milkman’.

In the final scene, the carolers (including Chris, Sherman, Jerry, and Alan) enter singing “Deck the Halls” and then switch to “O Come, All Ye Faithful.” Lucy (or Lucille) brushes away a tear.

VIV: Merry Christmas, Lucy. LUCY: Merry Christmas, Viv.

Callbacks!

Desilu started doing a Christmas tag at the end of “I Love Lucy” in 1951. In 1956 they fleshed out the tag to a full episode featuring clips. It did not enter syndication and wasn't seen again until 1989 when the wrap-around segments (but not the clips) were colorized. The fully colorized episode was seen in 1990 and has become a holiday staple for CBS, airing along with a newly colorized “I Love Lucy” episode.

Although this Christmas Eve “Lucy Show” would remain in black and white, the series did air another holiday episode in 1965 when the series was in color. Like this episode, the ending also featured an established singing group, the St. Charles Boys Choir, although they were credited. Like this episode, it also mentions Charles Dickens’ perennial favorite “A Christmas Carol.”

Like Lucille Ball and Lucy Ricardo, we learn that Lucy Carmichael is from Jamestown, New York, and has a living mother. While Vivian Vance and Ethel Mertz were both raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Viv Bagley hales from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This is likely to assure that she could convincingly travel home for Christmas within a reasonable time.

Lucy and Viv sing “Jingle Bells” while decorating their trees. Although the song was sung in the “I Love Lucy” Christmas tag, in “Lucy Goes to Sun Valley,” a 1958 episode of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour,” Lucy says that Ricky proposed to her at Christmastime, so their ‘song’ is "Jingle Bells,” or – as Ricky pronounces it - “Yingle Bells.”

The literal “trimming” of the branches of the Christmas trees was also done by Fred Mertz in “The 'I Love Lucy' Christmas Show.”

When Lucy and Viv angrily take turns ripping the decorations off each others trees, it is reminiscent of when Lucy Ricardo and Ethel Mertz ripped pieces off each others dresses while singing “Friendship” in “Lucy and Ethel Buy the Same Dress” (ILL S3;E3).

Blooper Alerts!

Who? Johnny the Parcel Post delivery man mistakenly calls Viv "Mrs. Bradley" instead of "Mrs. Bagley". Then Lucy calls him Bob, the actor's real name. This dialogue overlaps Viv calling him Johnny, so the mistake is partially obscured.

Murmurs! When Lucy goes to the pantry to get the axe, a studio audience member can be heard to say “She's gonna chop it down!”

Artificial! When Lucy and Viv are tying the two butchered trees together, you can tell that the trees are artificial. Viv must insert the severed top portion of her white tree into the 'trunk.'

The two trees fastened together symbolizes that the two families have become one!

“Together for Christmas” rates 4 Paper Hearts out of 5

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jackgrady · 4 years

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Lemonade.

Starting off this new venture, I chose an album very close to me – “Lemonade” by Beyoncé. This album was truly redefining from an artistic vision and an artist’s standpoint. Beyoncé experimented with different styles on this album along with creating some of her most memorable songs. Accompanying the album was a visual album with videos to tell the story of the album as well as create a vision of her expression for the listener to further enhance the album. By stimulating our eyes with the visual album, and more importantly our ears with the actual album, Queen B did something revolutionary all while creating her most intimate album to date.

All Night – One. From my standpoint the stand-out track from the album is “All Night” and it only furthers my point that Queen B herself has claimed this was her favorite song off the album. This reggae-inspired track details Beyoncé dealing with Jay-Z’s infidelity and rekindling their love and trust through forgiveness. The electric guitar pulsating throughout the song, mixed with strings and horns provide an eclectic sound to some of the most personal lyrics on the album. One line that continually sticks out is, “They say true love is the greatest weapon to win the war caused by pain.” Beyoncé hits some high notes on this song, and it is a shame that it sometimes gets lost in the album. Perhaps most astonishing to me is the fact that Diplo, known for his EDM music, both wrote and produced the track.

Love Drought – Two. Euphoric, the one word that always comes to mind when hearing the chill-wave instrumental at the beginning of the song. Upon hearing the line, “Ten times out of nine I know you’re lying, but nine times out of ten I know you’re trying,” most listeners would assume B is discussing Jay-Z’s infidelity and I must admit I thought the same for the longest time. The line is actually directed at Beyoncé herself after one of the writers was told the singer was not recording new music even though she was in secret. The message of the song is simple – love through it all. Beyoncé knows her and her partners share love, but it must happen first to prove how powerful it is. Her airy vocals, yet high, vocals mixed with the synthesizers and hints of trap in the background create a symphony – and an album highlight.

6 Inch (feat. The Weeknd) – Three. One of four features on the album, Queen B enlisted The Weeknd to complete a song left off her self-titled album in 2013. The song deals with the theme of female empowerment with lyrics like “She grinds from Monday to Friday,” and “She works for the money” furthering the message. B splits the song with half soulful vocals and the other half being a powerful, yet airy, chorus sung in an almost spoken-word fashion. The pulsating beat throughout the song, mixed with her harmony of background vocals towards the end, as well as The Weeknd’s assured vocals create a luscious song. Her final words on the track, the repeated utterance of “Come back,” in a desperate yet saddened way provide one of the most haunting parts of the entire album.

Freedom (feat. Kendrick Lamar) – Four. The organ in the background of the instrumentation for the song is a bold choice for Beyoncé. One of B’s most anthemic hymns of her career, it is only made more anthemic by her lyrics. It is next to impossible to not want to march after listening to the song. Beyoncé’s elegance of a heavy topic in the beginning of the song plays point to a peaceful, yet necessary, need for acceptance by the world. This peaceful stance is interrupted beautifully by Kendrick Lamar’s aggressive flow, yet poetic verse. This song has been interpreted many different ways, but personally it feels like Beyoncé’s call for action especially in the era of increased police brutality against African-Americans.

Formation – Five. The first song from the project to hit our ears, Formation was a bold start to the new era of B’s artistry. It was clear from her first performance of the song in Black-Panther clad outfits at the Super Bowl, the world’s biggest stage, that this song meant something powerful. The strong beat mixed with B’s assured delivery of her verses creates a new type of anthem. This song and its lyrics calling for ladies to “get in formation” was interpreted as a call against police brutality, especially when viewing the accompanying music video. Beyoncé’s strong presence in this black anthem about gaining power through hard work and taking what is rightfully hers by simply “slaying” created a song we are sure to not forget.

Sorry – Six. The song that told us more about the Carter’s marriage than a tabloid could also introduced the world to Becky. This song provides an interesting talking-point. When B put “Lemonade” on streaming services three years after its release, she included both the finalized version as well as the original demo. The original demo, with its airy production and B’s angelic vocals create an intriguing contrast to her lyrics about infidelity and the breaking apart of family. This version is a sorrowful take on losing her partner while the finalized version takes more of a “bad-b****”-type take on the lyrics. The finalized version includes a more trap-like beat along with a completely different vocal delivery by B. She almost speaks the song while singing it. She firmly states, “I ain’t sorry,” and that she “ain’t thinking ‘bout you.” Her delivery shows her power over her unfaithful lover and tells the world that a woman’s life doesn’t revolve around her lover, but rather that he can easily be dropped.

Hold Up – Seven. This song cannot escape the powerful video that accompanied it. Her delivery on this song is yet again an almost spoken-word way but deals with a simple theme – infidelity. A follow up to “Sorry” and its jaw-dropping revelations, B declares no one will love her lover like she does, and that they “put her good love to waste.” She is a bad-b**** yet again by knowing her power and looking in the mirror to see it. An anthem for women, this song, along with others, provided a rare glimpse into B’s psyche all while swaying along to a simple reggae beat.

Don’t Hurt Yourself (feat. Jack White) – Eight. B enlists Jack White of the White Stripes to f*** up someone’s s***. A rock ballad, with choir background vocals, Beyoncé did something drastically different by creating a hard rock song discussing Jay-Z’s infidelity yet again. This time is different, however, due to her powerful message at the end of the song, “If you try this s*** again, you gon lose your wife.” She makes it clear that she is not to be messed with, but rather she has the power in the relationship and if he loves her, he will stay faithful.

Sandcastles – Nine. The minimalist production by Beyoncé could be polarizing. She sings all that she has in her sorrowful delivery of lyrics dealing with forgiveness. “And your face, what is it about you,” is perhaps Beyoncé at her most vulnerable as she pours her heart into singing this one line. This delivery mixed with the bare bones piano instrumentation in the background creates a resonating song that sometimes gets lost in the pack.

Daddy Lessons – Ten. Beyoncé gives country music a try in this song with her various riffs along with a guitar and some horns. The lyrics deal with lessons bestowed by her father and the wisdom his lessons hold. He tells her to “shoot” when men like him come around and to look out for her family, seemingly to symbolize the fractured nature of B’s family.

Pray You Catch Me – Eleven. The first song off of the album, Lemonade. Rather than commanding attention with an over-the-top song, Beyoncé goes minimal with a piano and some strings. She details the over-arching theme of the album, betrayal and dishonesty, in the opening line. Her minimalist take to open up such a gut-wrenching theme which will play out over the album’s story is to be applauded, especially her harmonies with herself at the end of the song. It sets the stage for the s*** about to go down perfectly.

Forward (feat. James Blake) – Twelve. Beyoncé and James Blake take a subdued approach after unfolding the drama and betrayal of the first half of the album, and following the beginning of redemption and forgiveness from “Sandcastles” to transition the album from hurt and betrayal to one of the realization of true love and the struggle to redeem such a love. The song acts as a transition but it still contains beauty through the harmony of Blake and Knowles.

Overall, the album is surely revolutionary and evolutionary in terms of Miss B’s artistry. She broke chains all by herself and gave us a rare glimpse into her apparently tumultuous life. The album is a ride but is a MUST listen.

#beyoncé #lemonade #album review #song analysis #music #jay z #jay z and beyonce #formation

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thementalattic · 7 years

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A couple of years after Estelle and Joshua saved the kingdom of Liberl, trouble brews in the lands of the mighty empire of Erebonia, and it’ll be up to Class VII to save their home. This is The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel.

Genre(s): RPG

Developer: Nihon Falcom | XSEED Games

Publisher: XSEED Games

Release Date: August 2017

Played Main Story

Platforms: PC, PS Vita

Purchase At: Steam

Good:

Great setting and plot.

Great voice acting.

Fantastic music.

Bad:

Simplified quartz system.

Review

I heard about Trails of Cold Steel while playing the second chapter of Trails in the Sky, and while I was on the fence about buying the two games in this new entry of the Legend of Heroes series for the PlayStation Vita, XSEED announced the release of this PC version of Trails of Cold Steel. Preferring the upscaled visuals if not just the bigger screen and the new content, I jumped at the chance of playing Trails of Cold Steel on PC.

And you know what? I absolutely love it. I often play games for reviews with a distinct sense that I’m not fully enjoying the game as much as I should, since I’m working with a deadline. But with Trails of Cold Steel, I was hooked from the very beginning and even though I still played with a deadline in mind—one I inevitably missed considering the length of the game—I just couldn’t pull away from playing, spending hours playing it every time I had the chance.

I spent my last couple of weekends playing for hours Saturday and Sunday, something I haven’t done in a while.

Arts are even flashier in Trails of Cold Steel

Trails of Cold Steel takes us back to the world of Trails in the Sky, the world of the Orbal Revolution, the fantasy quartz equivalent of the industrial revolution, with the difference that Orbal technology leads to anything from Magic to airships and even a crude form of internet and mobile networks. Basically, it’s the starting point for technological innovation, one that drives progress and even social, political and economic changes.

Trails in the Sky showed us Liberl, a Kingdom not without its issues but generally very relaxed, with nobles and commoners on the same level, where the people love the Queen and she’s humble and kind.

Here’s the gang!

Trails of Cold Steel on the other hand gives us Erebonia, a country you hear in passing references in Trails in the Sky, particularly for its military might. In this game, however you see how it works from within, the conflicts that keep its population tense, the near-war state it maintains with its neighbouring countries and the Empire’s constant struggle between keeping its traditions and moving forwards.

While in Liberl Nobles are much like commoners in their outlook—save for that one annoying noble in Trails in the Sky whose attitude is played for jokes—in Erebonia they’re very different. Nobles control their regions very differently from one another, with the greater houses often treating commoners with contempt.

Where you’ll spend most of the game, and the place hiding most secrets!

Opposing them are the Reformists, commoners in government who earned everything they have, who even have the Emperor’s backing and support. They want to centralise and standardise things, to keep the wheels turning as they should, even if it means taking some power from the nobles.

And that schism, that conflict of ideologies is at the core of this wonderful setting, which in true Nihon Falcom and specifically Legend of the Heroes fashion, gives a name, a face and a distinct personality to every single citizen you come across. Every NPC, from the little girl playing with her dog to the old cranky pawnshop owner have their own life, a spark that makes them feel alive.

Bosses can be massive!

The protagonist Rean and his classmates start their new lives as part of Thors Military Academy, one of the most prestigious schools in the country, one where both commoners and nobles attend, though they don’t mingle. Nobles are in Classes 1 & 2 and the commoners take the next three numbers.

Except for our heroes, Class VII, a new course that draws its students from across the nation and makes no distinction of social classes or family heritage. They have different background, opinions, ideologies and yet they’re supposed to work together to overcome the challenges ahead of them, using their new experimental battle orbments, the Arcus units, to form “Combat Links” that boost their effectiveness.

Aren’t these adorable?

The problem is, those links depend on the personal relationships. If the students despise or mistrust each other, forming those links is impossible and this plays into the interpersonal conflicts and growth of the characters in the game, a clever way of combining story and gameplay. In fact, Trails of Cold Steel goes even further. If a character decides that they won’t be active in combat, they really won’t be.

Trails of Cold Steel’s plot has some amazing political and social intrigue—and a few genuinely awesome twists—but at its core is about the characters, their lives at school, their issues with their families, no matter their social standing. In fact, these stories play out in tandem with the crises the characters face in their monthly “field studies,” which in game terms follow the same blueprint as the story arcs of new settlements in Trails in the Sky, where you can complete a set of optional quests for rewards and some mandatory ones that push the story forward.

Turbo mode is a blessing in this port, especially in the Nord Highlands!

Trails of Cold Steel also adds a bit of this on the school town, with Rean, the protagonist, helping the student council by completing tasks for the student body and the nearby townspeople. Doing so nets you some nice rewards and you can use these “free days” to interact and improve your bonds with your classmates, unlocking new manoeuvres for when you’re in a combat link.

While the Combat Link mechanics of the Arcus orbments is pretty fun and leads to some amazing moments, such as the Burst link technique, I’m not a fan of the quartz and Orbal Arts system of the game, which has been streamlined too much. Where before you combined quartz of different elements and strengths to unlock arts, in Trails of Cold Steel you get the arts by equipping the quartz that gives them. There is no longer the need to experiment with different combinations, what you see on the quartz is exactly what you’re getting.

Part of this streamlining comes from the Master Quartz mechanic, a special quartz that levels up and unlocks special abilities for the equipping character. Arts are among those special abilities. The cookbook approach wouldn’t have played very well. The downside is that we lost some flexibility. Trails in the Sky also attempts to convince you to change the master quartz, even giving you shops, but with how difficult it is to level one of these quartz, changing them around never feels worth it.

Combat is as good as ever and in Trails of Cold Steel it feels much faster, which adds to the excitement. At first it took some getting used to, as the area of effect and pushback mechanics of the fights are easier to follow from the isometric perspective of Trails in the Sky, but once you get the hang of it and learn to “unbalance” opponents to give your linked buddies an opening to attack, even the longest fights become a joy to play.

Love the dialogue in this game

One part of this game that deserves special praise is the voice acting, and the PC version includes many more recorded lines. I’ve read harsh descriptions of the talent, calling the amateurs, but if they’re amateurs, they’re fantastic. There is a degree of earnestness in their voice, and while some of them have characters with rather strange turns of phrases, such as Laura and Jusis, the noble-born, even their deliveries feel genuine. And the writing is clever enough to poke fun at some of the more cringe-worthy dialogue and deliveries. Though that’s not to say there aren’t some weaker performances, because there are. Elise, Rean’s sister is perhaps the worst of all, both in delivery and voice tone.

This dude is such a badass that he stands on tanks while they fight!

Reminds me a lot of Persona

Skeletal dragons, a classic. I approve!

Yep, there are grades, much like they were in Trails in the Sky

Oh Angie, she’s after every woman with a pulse. Gotta love her!

Yggdrassil is such an insanely powerful Earth Art

Isn’t Legram gorgeous?

Love these maps

She’s adorkable

Massive and incredibly phallic-looking guns. Is the Empire compensating?

Rean Schwarzer, main character, nice guy, total badass!

Some optional, some required in every Field Study. They rarely pay you money though…

This mechanic could’ve been better. the bonuses are great, but it takes too long to level.

S-Crafts are amazing as ever, especially Angelica’s

That’s a questionable name for a food place.

You’ll be seeing these a lot!

Those eyes…

Some familiar faces show up!

Home sweet home

The rest of the cast, those with easier characters to play, really shine and do something I think is still very difficult to do, they made the translated Japanese jokes work. Their delivery is spot on and I found myself laughing at many of their comments. It’s great when voice acting feels so natural that it brings the characters to life. Instructor Sara’s actress is superb, as you can feel the character’s humour and simple joy of life and booze in every line.

Music is of course superb, as it tends to be in Nihon Falcom games, and the theme for one of the final bosses is outstanding. There is something about RPGs and fighting against incredible odds that makes orchestral music and choirs feel incredibly epic.

Conclusion

Trails of Cold Steel is one of the best JRPGs I’ve ever played in my life and the new standard by which I will judge future entries in this long-running Nihon Falcom series. The only other thing I can say is that I hope XSEED releases Trails of Cold Steel 2 on PC soon and then give us Trails of Cold Steel 3 as soon as possible after its September release in Japan. I cannot wait!

TMA SCORE:

5/5 – Hell Yes!

I absolutely loved #TheLegendOfHeroes #TrailsOfColdSteel! Our review! @XSEEDGames @nihonfalcom

A couple of years after Estelle and Joshua saved the kingdom of Liberl, trouble brews in the lands of the mighty empire of Erebonia, and it’ll be up to Class VII to save their home.

I absolutely loved #TheLegendOfHeroes #TrailsOfColdSteel! Our review! @XSEEDGames @nihonfalcom A couple of years after Estelle and Joshua saved the kingdom of Liberl, trouble brews in the lands of the mighty empire of Erebonia, and it’ll be up to Class VII to save their home.

#Erebonia #Gaming #Hell Yes!#JRPG #Nihon Falcom #PC #Review #RPG #The Legend of Heroes #The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky #The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel #Trails of Cold Steel #Video game #XSEED Games

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kkutlesa · 7 years

Text

Genre(s): RPG

Developer: Nihon Falcom | XSEED Games

Publisher: XSEED Games

Release Date: August 2017

Played Main Story

Platforms: PC, PS Vita

Purchase At: Steam

Good:

Great setting and plot.

Great voice acting.

Fantastic music.

Bad:

Simplified quartz system.

Review

I spent my last couple of weekends playing for hours Saturday and Sunday, something I haven’t done in a while.

Arts are even flashier in Trails of Cold Steel

Here’s the gang!

Where you’ll spend most of the game, and the place hiding most secrets!

Bosses can be massive!

Aren’t these adorable?

Turbo mode is a blessing in this port, especially in the Nord Highlands!

Love the dialogue in this game

This dude is such a badass that he stands on tanks while they fight!

Reminds me a lot of Persona

Skeletal dragons, a classic. I approve!

Yep, there are grades, much like they were in Trails in the Sky

Oh Angie, she’s after every woman with a pulse. Gotta love her!

Yggdrassil is such an insanely powerful Earth Art

Isn’t Legram gorgeous?

Love these maps

She’s adorkable

Massive and incredibly phallic-looking guns. Is the Empire compensating?

Rean Schwarzer, main character, nice guy, total badass!

Some optional, some required in every Field Study. They rarely pay you money though…

This mechanic could’ve been better. the bonuses are great, but it takes too long to level.

S-Crafts are amazing as ever, especially Angelica’s

That’s a questionable name for a food place.

You’ll be seeing these a lot!

Those eyes…

Some familiar faces show up!

Home sweet home

Conclusion

TMA SCORE:

5/5 – Hell Yes!

0 notes

nitemice · 7 years

Link

Hey, here's my latest post over on my main blog:

For an album by Paramore, After Laughter is severely lacking in many of the trademark features we’ve come to know and love from the band. Their new album manages to feel wildly unlike them, and yet inextricably linked to them.

Paramore is one of my all-time favourite bands, along with Garbage, They Might Be Giants, The Little Stevies and a few others, so I was super excited for a new album. That anticipation only grew when I heard the first single Hard Times, which felt funky, and fresh; different from Paramore’s previous stuff, but awesome.

My anticipation was further exasperated by the fact I didn’t listen to the album initially when it came out on May 12, because I was in the middle of my review of Sumo Cyco’s Opus Mar and I wanted to be able to go in fresh.

That said, despite all my hype, I couldn’t bring myself to buy After Laughter without hearing it in full. And what a shock I got!

As with last album, Paramore’s lineup has changed for this album. This time they have lost Jeremy Davis, but have gained one of the original Farro brother, Zac Farro, leaving the band with Hayley Williams, Taylor York and Zac Farro. This turns out to be just another chapter in Paramore’s tumultuous history, of which I wasn’t fully aware until recently.

As much as some would like to put that history out of mind, it has actually formed an important element of Paramore, as it’s given them something to sing about album after album. In fact, I can’t think of another band whose lyrics comment on the state of said band as much as Paramore, and this continues to be true on this latest album.

As with my other album reviews, I’ve listed previous Paramore songs each track reminds me of (with the album they come from), a rank for each track on this album, as well as a comment about each track. Plus there’s an overview of the album as a whole at the bottom.

1. Hard Times

Reminds me of: Turn It Off [Brand New Eyes], Fast In My Car [Paramore] Rank on this album: 1 Being the first single, Hard Times was the first thing I heard from this album, and what a powerful way to open! It bursts through the door with a tropical energy, thanks to bongo beats and light guitar riffs. The lyrics are a clear comment on the band history, as well as Hayley’s personal struggles, presented in relatable language. The upbeat nature of the tune sharply contrasts with these lyrics, but it’s all about overcoming and getting through the “hard times”, so it feel like a victory dance in musical form.

2. Rose-Colored Boy

Reminds me of: Be Alone [Paramore], Still Into You [Paramore], Looking Up [Brand New Eyes] Rank on this album: 5 Rose-Colored Boy uses its upbeat, 80’s-inspired sound to tell the story of a relationship between the titular optimist and a pessimistic narrator, who’s struggling with the encouraging influence of the boy. Like the songs that surround it, the lyrics here feel somewhat counter to the boppy, fun feel of the music.

3. Told You So

Reminds me of: Hard Times [After Laughter], Ain’t It Fun [Paramore], Let The Flames Begin [Riot!] Rank on this album: 3 Told You So has a boppy, light feel, with tropical undertones and lyrics that contrast with the tone of the song, similar to Hard Times. Distortion is also used to interesting effect, to symbolically distort certain lyrics, making it feel surprisingly natural and fitting. An interesting mixture of riffs also appear, playing across guitar, synth, and pitched percussion.

4. Forgiveness

Reminds me of: Grow Up [Paramore], My Heart [All We Know Is Falling] Rank on this album: 11 Forgiveness is a laid-back tune with a great syncopated rhythm which transforms into a full-on swing during the choruses. The backing guitar riff is very choppy, leaving space for a set of vulnerable vocals, which don’t pack much power, but totally work in the context.

5. Fake Happy

Reminds me of: Interlude: Holiday [Paramore], Fences [Riot!], Tell Me It’s Okay [Paramore] Rank on this album: 7 Fake Happy opens with an intro thankfully different from the rest of the song. In fact, there’s an edited version on Spotify that does away with it altogether. It’s a drab, slow and depressing lament that sounds like it was recorded underwater. From here, the song pivots into a boppy, soft rock with a slight 80’s vibe, which just continues to open up as it goes. The lyrics comment on the pressure to always act happy and make out that everything is good. My favourite part (possibly on the whole album) would have to be when the choir chimes in with their riff, because it sounds so much like the Bob-Omb tune from Mario 64. I love it; it’s hilarious and I laugh every time I hear it.

6. 26

Reminds me of: Rose-Colored Boy [After Laughter], Last Hope [Paramore], Misguided Ghosts [Brand New Eyes] Rank on this album: 12 The most vulnerable-sounding track on this album, 26 is a semi-acoustic song, dominated by restrained vocals and plinking guitar. These are joined by some classic Paramore violins in the latter half, which fill out the sound beautifully with a lullaby-like quality. The lyrics here are more hopeful than most other songs on the album, about overcoming the pessimism of others and yourself.

7. Pool

Reminds me of: Decode [Brand New Eyes], Still Into You [Paramore] Rank on this album: 6 Apart from a very familiar sounding riff that opens and remains in the background of the song, Poolis a mellow, contemplative-pop style track that heats up slowly. The sound has watery quality to it, which match the song’s title and the lyrics where water is used as a metaphor for the various elements of a dubious relationship.

8. Grudges

Reminds me of: Where The Lines Overlap [Brand New Eyes], Part II [Paramore] Rank on this album: 4 Grudges opens with springy, synthy riff that heavily reminds me of Crying. From here, the song moves back to a light pop-rock flow with an interesting, shifting rhythm. The lyrics are about recovering a friendship and making up for lost time, and opportunities.

9. Caught in the Middle

Reminds me of: Daydreaming [Paramore] Rank on this album: 8 Caught in the Middle‘s biggest strengths is its catchy bridge, which is a total earworm, and ever-driving beat, which keeps the song moving. Shifting between a sparse but solid 80’s guitar riff in the verses and a funky reggae feel in the choruses makes for a widely varied song that never overstays its welcome, stylistically.

10. Idle Worship

Reminds me of: Fake Happy [After Laughter], That’s What You Get [Riot!], Conspiracy [All We Know Is Falling] Rank on this album: 2 Idle Worship is the track that finally made me “get” this album. It’s an electronic new age track, with an ethereal vibe. I read this song as a regretful plea from Hayley, to the fans who look to her as a beacon of guidance and “salvation”, to understand her situation. She’s just human, with as many mistakes as any of us, and holding her up as a “superhero” or “saviour” puts an unreasonable amount of pressure on her. The verses can get a bit shouty and breathless, but it feels right in the context. The “la la” refrain sounds phoned in, but again it seems to fit. The chorus is catchy and sort of fun, which helps disguise the true bite of the song.

11. No Friend

Reminds me of: Idle Worship [After Laughter], Future [Paramore] Rank on this album: 10 Picking up where the last track left off, No Friends is a very unusual sort of track. It mainly consists of drums and a variety of guitars, playing a hypnotically repetitive melody. Underneath, the voice of Aaron Weiss of mewithoutYou delivers a poetry-like medley of somewhat surreal lyrics in a Nick Cave-like muttering. It starts off too quiet to decipher, getting louder and clearer as the track progresses. The lyrics again comment on Paramore’s turbulent history and their relationship with their fans, echoing thoughts from Idle Worship, as well as eluding to various previous tracks from Paramore’s body of work.

12. Tell Me How

Reminds me of: Forgiveness [After Laughter], (One Of Those) Crazy Girls [Paramore], Hate To See Your Heart Break [Paramore] Rank on this album: 9 As the last track of the album, Tell Me How is a bit of an anti-climax. It’s a Nerina Pallot-style contemplative-pop track, which starts out calm, yet emotive with mainly piano, vocals and percussion. As the song goes on, the guitar and drums get louder and rockier, introducing a tropical, marimba-like riff. The lyrics echo many of the themes of Forgiveness.

At first blush, the most obvious thing about After Laughter is that it feels so totally different from Paramore’s previous albums. It’s a much more contemplative and measured collection of thoughts and tunes. With this, it lacks many of the hallmarks that we’ve come to take for granted from Paramore: the roaring vocals, the shredding guitars, the punchy, punky rock. Instead, many of the tracks have an 80’s or tropical Caribbean feel, with some more adventurous drumming and instrumentation thrown in. Overall though, they have swapped the rage and despair of previous albums for a mostly jolly, middling, ho-hum sound that often doesn’t really match the lyrics it accompanies. To my ear, the lyrics are also much more coherent and easy to follow.

As a whole, the album doesn’t flow super-well. Nearly every track is totally stand alone, providing no interaction with its neighbours. That said, thematically, the songs seem to come in pairs: something that could have been highlighted by ordering the songs differently.

Some songwriters write fictional stories in their lyrics. Others like to borrow from the stories of those around them. With Hayley, you really believe that everything she says and sings about is something she has personally experienced, and that’s never been more true than on this album. Each song feels like a letter to a specific person or group, ranging from different (current and/or former) band members, to the band’s critics, to its fans. Each packs a considered and sometimes surprising message that makes the album both easier and harder to fully grasp.

It may take a while (I know it did for me), but if you really focus in on the lyrics of the songs, you’re able to get a sense of Williams’ headspace. From there, you start to understand where this album comes from, as opposed to the surface impression of everything that’s missing or different about it. After I understood that, and the sentiments behind the songs, I also started to like more of the tracks for what they are, rather than despite it.

Once I really started to understand this album, it became hard to review because I felt like I was contributing to the problems covered by the album. I don’t want to misrepresent Paramore or contribute to their anxiety. There are things that I love about Paramore that just aren’t here, but I feel bad to have a crack at them for that. Everyone changes, and we have to accept that. It’s an affront, but Paramore may argue that that’s what their fans need.

Much like Paramore’s last album Paramore, After Laughter feels quite different from everything that’s come before. When I first heard that last album, I didn’t like it much. However, despite that initial take, Paramore eventually became probably my favourite of Paramore’s albums, because of its mixture of emotion and fury. And with time, I think that will be true, to some extent, of this album too. I doubt it will ever be my favourite, but I can say I’ve already begun to like it.

RATING: 7.5/10 – ★★★★★★★✬☆☆

But you don’t have to take my word for it…Listen to the album for yourself, and make up your own mind. Then you can let me know what you think of Paramore’s After Laughter.

So, are you a fan of Paramore? What’s your favourite songs of theirs? Did you pre-order After Laughter? What do you think? Did it live up to your expectations? Have I said anything you disagree with? Tell me & everyone else who passes through here what you think in the comment below.

To Infinity and Beyond,

Nitemice

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