#anyway *DRAMATIC OVERTURE*

[braisedhoney]

never lets me have any fun. this is exactly why i mess with him all the time, spoilsport… lol

[missmaywemeetagain]

I’m not big into musicals and although The Phantom of the Opera is probably the most well known one, I have never fully indulged myself in it. What are some of your favorites moments from the musical and what about it changed your life?

(I figured I might as well learn about it and you seem like an amazing teacher!)

Oh, Stephanie, honey darlin’, I just LOVE this can of worms you are opening for me—thank you so much for asking!! ❤️ (Did I spend way to much time on this? yes. Did I love every minute of it? also yes. Did I cry watching the Overture clips? 100% yes.)

So, I was pretty young when I first listened to the soundtrack (only 8), and digging way deep, I’ll say that the drama of the music itself really got to me—the big orchestrations and amazing voices had me instantly hooked. Also, I was so fascinated that almost the entire musical was sung and that made it incredibly interesting to listen to because I could pretty much figure out the whole story just from the lyrics. I had been exposed to musicals prior to this, mainly Disney ones and good ole Rogers and Hammerstein ones, but this was so different. It was dark and scary (murder! crazy genius madman! problematic love story!). It was dramatic af. And it pulled at my heartstrings in a way nothing had ever done before. And I know Phantom isn’t for everyone because the opera-esque style of singing is not everyone’s cup of tea (and honestly, I am not really a classical opera fan either LOL), but I loved it cuz I’d never heard people do such amazing things with their voices before.

I saw it live for the first time just after my 11th birthday (and 12 -13 times since in various places, not counting filmed productions), and I will say I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. There is so much to look at and take in and somehow I always find something new each time I see it. It's a complete spectacle in the best way possible, honestly. It was everything amazing about theater that I longed to be a part of.

It changed my life because I wanted to be Christine Daae (lol). The more I listened, the more I wanted to sing like her and that led me to the fact that this was a musical and people could actually be in this production. So I learned as much as I could about the production and I tried to mold my little voice to be like Christine’s. And moreover, it inspired me to seek out more musicals in a similar vein, which opened an entire new world to me (hey, there Les Miserables and Evita and all the dramatic 70s/80s/90s musicals lol). Basically, Phantom turned me fully into a theater kid. I was already a dancer, and even though I was relatively shy, I thought that maybe, just maybe this was something I could do. And it set me on the path to do so! Lord knows without Phantom I may have ended up a STEM kid, but lol no. Luckily, my parents were SUPER supportive of this new passion and I owe so much to them for all the lessons and theater tickets and performances they had to sit through and for torturing them with the same thing over and over again LOL. Thanks, Mom and Dad! Anyway, I was the ultimate theater/choir kid in high school, and eventually got my Bachelor’s Degree in Theater as well.

Soooo, favorite moments! (There are many—I could go through the whole show but I’ll try to cut it down lol). 

The Overture (see links below). Seriously incredible music, sets the tone for the show, but when you see the stage production and see how the entire set transforms like magic and that chandelier rises above the audience, my god, it’s incredible. The organ kicks in and the floor vibrates and it's this (brilliant) sensory overload that will make you feel every emotion and sensation. It's magnificent, truly. And this was a HUGE deal in theater in the 80s cuz no one had done anything like it before. And let me tell you, there is nothing like watching that chandelier rise (and fall, later) right over your head! Every time I hear it to this day, I get goosebumps, but if I’m watching it, I will cry. That’s how moving it is. Here's some bootlegs of the stage production (which don't quite do it justice, but it'll have to do! WARNING: Flashing lights) Great quality BL (begins around 3:20 but the Prologue is a good watch!). Another one from Broadway (different angle)

The title song (The Phantom of the Opera) number is crazy. I’m not sure what they were thinking putting synth, an organ, strings, and electric guitars together, but somehow it works (the 80s were WILD lol). Throw in a stunning soprano cadenza at the end and it makes it both incredibly surreal and interesting. And the staging is fantastic. There’s a moving catwalk with body doubles. There’s a boat on a dry ice lake with candles rising out of nowhere. It’s just awesome. The costuming is iconic, too. 

The Music of the Night is beautiful. And it takes a major vocal and acting talent to traverse it well. I won’t get too technical vocally, but when done well, this song is so seductive and impactful. It’s a love song about music, about Christine, and it’s innocent and sexual all at once (when done well).

Masquerade (at the top of Act II) is a fabulous ensemble number and the costuming is amazing. Iconic number overall.

Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again is my favorite song of the show (if I have to pick). For anyone who’s experienced loss (esp. that of a parent), the lyrics will hit you right in the heart. But I love listening to (and singing) this one so much. 

The Point of No Return is the most underrated number in the show, imo and one of my faves. It is sexy. as. hell. and a bit unexpected, really ramping up the passion btw the Phantom and Christine under the guise of this opera that the Phantom has written and is forcing everyone to perform. A good performance has a lot of nuance and will get you a little hot under the collar. 😏 I honestly don’t feel like I can explain it well enough, but a good watch/listen/reading the lyrics will get you there. 

The Final Lair is the insane climax and it’s a bit of a roller coaster but I love it. You’ll go from hating the Phantom to weeping over him in the span of the scene. 

The staging, sets, costuming, and makeup overall (of the original production). Like I mentioned above, a lot of what they did in Phantom was new tech for the late 80’s and to this day has a pretty stellar effect on stage. The chandelier rising and falling throughout the show is just super cool. The (4 hour) makeup for the Phantom was pretty cutting edge back in the day and has a wonderful effect on stage when done well. 

I highly recommend watching the 25th Anniversary at Royal Albert Hall from 2013 if you can’t see it live. The quality is amazing, the talent is fantastic, and while the staging isn’t quite the original because of the size of the venue, it gives you a pretty good idea of the vibe. If you don’t want to watch the whole thing at first, there are plenty of clips on YouTube of the major numbers via The Shows Must Go On (linked above). (If you are just watching clips, you may want to read a synopsis of the show as a whole so it makes sense what’s going on.) The 2004 film starring Gerald Butler and Emmy Rossum is actually pretty decent from a cinematic perspective (though I have some major qualms about GB's vocal performance) but if it's all you have, its a pretty good representation of the story. And listen, with 35 years of material, there are so many cast recordings and bootlegs, you're bound to find a combo of actors that you like! (I won't dive into that here though, cuz that's a whole other can of worms...)

Anyway, I could go on forever about it, but I will stop there as to not put you to sleep! If you choose to check it out, I hope you enjoy and you’ll have to let me know what you think! ❤️

[the-goya-jerker]

the ask about overstimulation and your response made me think of the eroticism of the use of silence/simplicity in music. I find songs that manage to have a sense of grandiosity while simultaneously being bare-bones to be incredibly erotic - what's your opinion? (If I'm not being clear, Talk by Hozier is an example of what I'm talking about - it sounds Big And Dramatic through its simplicity and use of quiet; it wouldn't be nearly as erotic or grand if not for the vocals being nearly whispered). Thanks for your blog, it's super interesting and a nice breath of fresh air on here :)

So with this one I did pick Talk by Hozier as a specific one, since that's what you mentioned.

I think Hozier in general does a really good job of using silence and deceptively simple instrumentation/vocals in order to create a grandiose sound. I'm personally a very big fan of him, particularly for the ways he incorporates his blues and jazz influence.

Some other great examples from him are Angel of Small Death and the Codeine Scene (a lot of the sounds here are percussive behind an almost echoing voice), Cherry Wine (you can literally hear birds in the background from how much space is created in the song). My personal favorite of his is either Empire Now or In a Week.

With that in mind, Talk does some really great things with the simplicity of the instrumentation. The guitar line is repetitive, the use of organ in the background creates a lovely droning tone, the almost otherworldly tone of the vocals in their reverberation. Also, the bass line? It fucks severely! Bass lines are inherently sexy! The bass is the most sexy instrument, in my humble opinion.

The instrumentation sounds simple anyway though. There's all these moving parts but it sounds simple, repetitive, rhythmic, slow, all in the best way. It makes it feel like the song swallows you whole.

I think the intended meaning is really erotic too. Here's what Hozier himself said about it.

"There’s all these lofty notions of, kind of, of true love, and lofty tales and kind of romantic language is used in the verses. And the chorus just admits to, like, “I’m only using this language to distract from the fact that I’m trying to seduce you here, for fear that you find out how I’m imagining you.”

Like, the singer is horny, they want to seduce this person, their intentions are far from pure. But they're wrapped in these romantic notions of devotion, comparisons to Orpheus and Eurydice. The singer isn't Orpheus though, he's the forces behind the story itself. He's "the voice that urged Orpheus", "the choiceless hope in grief", "the dreadful need in the devotee", and he's Eurydice's forgiveness. Or at least he says he is. It blends with the tone of the voice, the grandiose emptiness, in order to create a sense that this is some primordial thing, like the very serpent in the garden, whispering in your ear, trying to seduce you.

I like the vibes of corruption, of hidden intentions. I love the mythological references. I like the implication of the singer being more concept than person when they make these romantic overtures. I love the tone of the song.

10/10.

[viric-dreams]

Since the topic's been going around and getting me thinking:

Ockham enjoys the typical shows of romance, particularly those expressed physically. Heshethey does struggle though to be the only person in a relationship and the only means of physical/emotional intimacy or support for someone because of hishertheir transitory nature and personal priorities overriding romance. The Greater London Polycule is a good fit for himherthem. Emotional intimacy might be a bit more difficult because of the current identity crisis happening, but heshethey wouldn't turn down sex or any kind of physical intimacy. That's something that Ockham doesn't really have any hangups about, possibly related to living in close quarters with people most of hishertheir life and seeing it as something mundane and relatively normalised. Especially with hishertheir eclectic set of memories and experiences (many of them serpentine), Ockham finds the sexual mores of Victorian Londoners particularly inane at times. These elements also makes Ockham open to trying pretty much anything a partner may suggest, at least once.

On the other side of the spectrum is Roberts, who's actively irked by any overt signs of romance on Grand Geode, usually because that means said sequencers are distracted or shirking duties. Realistically, the negativity comes from it being something that he feels that he could never have as a consequence of both his sexuality and position (though it's not something he's self-aware enough to know, nor wants to think about). Anyone making romantic overtures at this point would be pushed away out of a mixture of him not believing that he deserves it, that said person is after some sort of advantage because of his position, and that it would be a distraction from The Work, with a healthy bit of fear of the unknown thrown in for good measure. He's built up a ridiculous amount of intricate rituals around physical contact with people that make sense only to him. Having any sort of a sex life is a nightmare when you're almost everyone's superior officer and instantly recognisable, and come with enough emotional baggage to hold every piece of sentient clothing in Polythreme, and thus regulated to quick and faceless encounters, often in foreign ports. Even then, the intricate rules persist: sex is sex, direct and perfunctory. Kissing is off limits, absolutely no lingering touches, nothing that feels too much like intimacy or involves giving up control or trusting someone. Get what you're here for and go.

Nite's lack of memory has made everything a novel option and possibility. This is not necessarily a good thing. His strong streak for showmanship and craving attention lead to some somewhat extreme behaviour. Those grand gestures that only seem to work in romance novels are exactly what appeals to his sensibilities and he's convinced that they would work in real life, and is apt to try. If boomboxes and romcoms existed in this era, he would be that guy. It clearly seems to work in the films, so absolutely worth attempting in real life. Because a lot of what he imagines romantic behaviour is comes from stories and not real life experience, he starts with the idea that this is what romance and seduction should look like. Many of these things are things he doesn't even necessarily enjoy, but he tries anyway because what does he know, maybe that's just how things are done. This does eventually modulate over time, when he gets a better sense for his own preferences, and the flair for the dramatic remains, but tempered. He is also very quick to emotionally open up and try to deepen a relationship (either romantic or otherwise), often faster than the other person is comfortable with. After a handful of negative experiences he's gotten better at this. Unlike Ockham, whose sexual tastes generally tend to be broader and has a fairly solid sense of hishertheir boundaries, Nite has the same "I'll try anything" approach, albeit it closer to an "I have to try everything to know what I like" outlook, and no moderation or sense of pacing. This has led to a handful of upsetting experiences (both for himself and any partner(s) involved) when he inevitably discovers far too late that this was not a good idea. His lack of knowledge of his own boundaries makes him dangerous to both himself and others.

Tamara's been on dates with some of her peers back in Varchas, but it was never something that intensely interested her, nor did she ever have a serious relationship. It was expected that she would eventually settle down, either with someone of her choosing from a similar class background, or through a suitable suitor introduced through her family. She did enjoy the attention that flirtation brought, but would be the first to tell you that she doesn't really know what she wants out of a partner either romantically or sexually, but of course has plenty of time to figure it out. In London, she has far more important priorities at the moment and isn't even entertaining the idea. Her initial suspicion surrounding Ockham's kindness was quickly assuaged upon realising that heshethey doesn't necessarily want anything from her at all and offering her a place to stay was simply an act of one outsider recognising another and offering a helping hand. Of course, there's plenty more regarding Ockham about which to be suspicious, but that's a different topic.

The Rubbery Barber Surgeon is in a healthy and loving butch/femme relationship with The Tentaclar Surgeoness. He enjoys filling the traditional masculine role that the Surgeoness, a huge fan of pulpy romance novels, seeks in a partner. Thus far, things have gone well for them, and they seem perfectly compatible. She might just be the one. He may have visited a particular jeweler on Flute Street a couple of times. He's slowly planning a very special date night for them in the near future.

[fructidors]

ok here goes

mozart l'opera rock lighting infodump

by tumblr user and amateur theater tech nerd fructidors

(flash warning for some of the gifs)

disclaimer the (limited) experience i have with theater tech has been like 96.7 percent sound i have touched a lightboard exactly once in my life i am not at all qualified to make this post i've just overheard a lot of other techies talking about lights. also it has been barely a week since i watched this musical for the first time so i am just new to all of this in general. anyways onwards

i feel like what really makes the lighting in mlor stand out is that it doesn't just accentuate the set and costumes and actors, it engages dynamically with them. it doesn't feel natural, or suspend disbelief-- it's showy and bright and just as much a part of the spectacle as the copious amounts of eyeliner! and that almost feels fourth-wall-breaking in a way?

so i was going to just do my favorite moments but uh. turns out i have way too much to say so we're going song by song

overture/penser l'impossible: i love the opening and the patterning on the floor it's so dramatic (i think these are gobos? like i said. clueless) the set's so well lit here too i don't know if the gold highlights count as lighting but i am obsessed. also it sets up this show's habit of Making Everything So Red when something bad happens

also shoutout to the bubble of neon pink mozart apparently brings with him wherever he goes. icon

la chanson de l'aubergiste/le trublion: grouping these together since i don't have a ton to say about either of them

he's coming out of the floor ooooooo

no actually i love this trapdoor and how the guy's lit from below/within So Much oh my god. i think they do it again with the clown but with fog and. perfection i love it if i could change one thing about mlor i would give it a turntable because it deserves a turntable but i also think every show should have a trapdoor

transition into le trublion !!!! another cotton candy mozart moment we love to see it

bim bam boum: ok oh my god here's where it starts getting good.

sorry about the watermark on this one i literally could not get it to be normal without it but. oh my god ohghmygpod. are you seeing this. peut-être que mozart n'est pas un magicien but i genuinely think the lighting designer might be

and the dress. is a disco ball thing.

do i need to explain the stroke of lighting genius this is. she is not merely being lit she is emitting light she is a part of the lighting this was probably hell to get right but ohhhhmy god they pulled it off also i love the way mozart is lit in this entire song so much

the moving lights in this one also make me absolutely insane here are some stills of them as well as the transitions in and out of that bit in between the second and last choruses

this is one of my favorite songs lighting-wise in the whole show it's so ephemeral and dreamy and clearly gives off exactly the vibe it wants to it's visually stunning and emotionally effective no notes whatsoever and of course the transition out of it is perfect as well

six pieds sur terre: (sorry ah vous dirais-je maman but it's really just that one light on constanze) i'm equally insane about the lighting on this one it's not even that pivotal of a song it didn't have to go that hard but. somehow it did

i love the transition into it so much

but the lighting in the bridge is. oh my god it's. these are just the transitions in and out of it since they're the most like. dynamic parts but i would put in the entire bridge if i could

et enfin. at the end of the song there's this effect that i genuinely cannot get over i think it's floor lights but there's something about the color and placement of constanze and aloysia and their dresses that makes it look like they're lit from within? it's so magical i love it so much

j'accuse mon père: i am soooooo so normal about this lighting. so normal about this song in general. you have never met a person more normal about j'accuse mon père than i

this gif is weirdly low quality for some reason but look at this. the flames. mozart, isolated, in that harsh red again, his father in white, everyone else in blue.

these ones with mozart in the foreground are. they're so. images of all time oh my god you could put them in a museum. (obviously most of the credit there goes to the people with cameras but the lighting adds that stark juxtaposition that i think really gives the effect it's. effect)

i realize now that i'm probably going to be saying "this is one of the best lit songs in the show" for like half of these songs. but this really is right up there with bim bam boum in that it powerful, eye-catching lighting that adds so much weight to its emotional effects. here, the lighting colors in the scene, not over it.

ok i have hit the image limit so the rest is coming in more parts. told you i had too much to say about this

pt 2:

[sbk-zgvlt]

Random question.

What type of music do you think Sebek World like? I mean like genres and artist and all that

I World think about it myself but my music knowledge starts and ends with Taylor swift and 90s riot grrrl, so...idk

Bestie I listen to fnaf songs on a daily 😭😭 but ill try my best!!

Now i wont do stuff like oh Sebek would like mitski or penelope scott or mother mother

Classical. He loves classical. Most importantly, my favorite piece of classical (AT LEAST I THINK ITS CLASSICAL DONT KILL ME), william tell overture finale.

Its very fucking dramatic, and to be weirdly specific sounds like the bgm for a crowd celebrating while a countdown is going on but its actually leading to something bad, and the villain is the one orchestrating the whole thing and their face is seen everywhere in tv screens to "celebrate" along with the crowd and the hero has to watch in horror knowing that this day will only end in death. Anyways.

Look man, he hung out with his GRANDPA most of the time if he wasnt with Diasomnia as a child!! And his grampas old!!! He would probably put on some classical music and Sebek would sit down and listen and i just thought of something cute oh my god

Grampa Zigvolt hard of hearing, yes? So Sebek always shouts to be heard which eventually turns into a habit, yes? Grampa put on classical music, yes? Sebek stays completely silent because he wants his grampa to listen to the music properly so he listens too and sits by his grampa's chair looking out the window watching the clouds and the sky and the sun setting and he has never felt this calm and peaceful in years

Classical music is more of his escape when even he gets too overwhelmed with anything loud. It also reminds him of his grampa :33

,,,but also I heavily believe in theater kid Sebek. And I think, if he ever found out about it, he would like The Amazing Devil songs. More specifically the horror and the wild album because it is also dramatic as fuck and LOUD as fuck but also quiet in this serene melancholic way.

Haha i infodumped errrr yah thays it classical music sebek enthusiast :33

[frociaggine]

I almost wish that the relationship dynamic between Harrow and Inathe had gone a different direction...I feel like our girl just desperately needs a straight up best friend. Somewhere there is a scene where Ianthe makes Harrow have a traditional sleepover and she braids her hair and makes her try on all of the most ridiculous outfits from Valancy's wardrobe and forces her to share all her embarrasing tween thoughts about Gideon. She teaches her all about being a fancy socialite and forces her to listen to dramatic readings of trashy necromantic romance novels. Don't get me wrong it's still terrible for both of them and they still kind of hate each other; it's just a dynamic that I think would be very interesting and fun to see.

This ask sent me into a spiral of, like. GIVE HARROW A FRIEND!! She's never had a friend in her life! Gideon hasn't either but I feel like she's more friendly and would find it less hard to talk to people given the opportunity (also she has Ianthe now I guess).

tbh I do think the Ianthe/Harrow dynamic was genuinely sort of a friendship because Ianthe sensed that it would Not Go There for years and IMO didn't make major romantic overtures, but you're so right that the vibes are different

Anyway. Harrow needs a friend ASAP. You are SO right. She had a nice moment hanging out with Dulcie in the River bubble but it was way too short.

[andrewlloydwebber]

phantom broadway last night

first of all, nehal joshi as andre my beloved. he is so energetic and frantic and FUNNY. he is so such a fanboy of carlotta, a perfect gentleman. for example, you could feel that he felt bad for christine during managers 2. i usually don't laugh at some of the manager's silliness but he got some good laughs out of me during the il muto ballet sequence (andre was struck with horrible stage fright and had no clue what to do!). also loved his frenetic cajoling of firmin on "your public needs you". anyway, best andre EVER.

first time seeing john riddle! i really adored him as well, such genuine passion and care for christine, so sweet and even during twisted every way, you could see raoul really does believe he's doing the right thing out of love for her. he's not toxic and manipulative ljke paul's raoul, john riddle actually took the time to craft his performance around seeing things from a team raoul perspective. which seems like a basic thing but i've seen so many raoul actors resent that they're not playing the phantom and just have awful or boring performances because of it. but john's actions were genuinely motivated and i just really love him as raoul.

last time i saw julia was with paul as raoul and she was a dull as dishwater christine. i much preferred her at this performance considering she had a great co-player in john, i think everyone had much more energy. i also preferred ben crawford this time around but i feel like he sings his vowels like an over dramatic cartoon parody of the phantom. i know others have commented on that.

elizabeth welch's hannibal princess acting is unmatched. her ensemble character is so ready to accept the role of elissa, had even been practicing the movements while carlotta is singing, and then it's all taken away from her when meg speaks up on behalf of christine.

THE AUDIENCE MEMBERS WERE SO RUDE. late seating during the auction, overture, hannibal (as late as carlotta's think of me). and a guy in my row made us get up during "managers 2" because he hadn't gotten back to his seat in time. i feel bad for the ushers because i know there's little they can do, but if you are late you should just go home and feel bad rather than distract and disrupt the people who made the effort to be at the show on time. i was so appalled that ushers were out with flashlights during the overture helping people find their seats, at least wait for a less iconic moment. i know it's probably shubert policy but seriously!!!!!!!!!!!

im back next saturday for what looks to be my penultimate show. after that i don't have plans until the april 15th 8pm show :/

[cookinguptales]

(i love tumblr, functional website.) anyway you posted something recently about your writing being about being loved and known at the same time and also softness and i really appreciate those things bc i feel like thats a theme that comes up in my own writing too? and you do such an excellent job of if. basically i appreciste you and your work!!

(it's okay, I figured something like that happened lmao)

Thank you. ;;

I feel like when I was younger, I was all about those flashy, dramatic romantic overtures, but... idk, maybe I'm just old and tired haha. I think about the moments in my life that have really, really touched me and that have really stuck with me and they're all so quiet. A friend letting me sleep on her shoulder during class because I was too tired to keep my head up any longer. Going to visit someone's apartment for the first time and them turning down the heat because they know I don't handle it well. My dad going out and buying my favorite foods in anticipation of a visit.

There's something so sweet about a person knowing you and remembering you and caring for you despite all that. Of them thinking about you when you're not there and doing something quietly kind just because they want to make your life a little easier and a little lovelier. I feel like that's what I end up romanticizing these days.

I mean, I'm still a dramatic bitch who has a weakness for, like, near-death confessions and stuff! Don't get me wrong! But I feel like what I really end up emotionally connecting with are the moments that come before that and after that. The small moments that give the big moments meaning. A big confession doesn't mean anything if you don't build up to it. It doesn't mean anything if you don't know how to talk to each other after it's done.

I love writing two people coming to really know each other. I love writing them unconsciously making a space in their life for that person to occupy. I love them working together so they both become something more than they already were. I want to write the kind of relationship where they're loved for who they are, but still feel inspired by the other person to grow.

Like we all wanna see the roses, but someone's gotta be down there spreading the fertilizer! And I guess that's me. lmao

[noeffingbody]

Part 6: "This one is about you. You know who you are. I love you"

Fortnight - A song that exists outside of time itself, this one explores perspective in the most interesting of ways. Is it the past? Is it their future? Is she living this reality right now? Or is this an endless loop, a cycle that never ends? This deeply unsettled narrator is dreaming of a life with someone who is just beyond her reach, but only slightly. They could be neighbors, they could shoot the shit, they could comment on each other's lawns and sweaters, and the weather. But the subtext will always be: I love you. I will always love you. I won't ever stop loving you. "And for a fortnight there, we were forever." A contradiction wrapped up in the truth. They ended so quickly but they were also timeless, they will keep returning in different phases, in different clothing, in different lifetimes, but they'll always love each other. In the end, the perspective shifts, the person seems to have run away from their life, gotten a new car, but the new life can't begin without the other person. And so she keeps replaying this conversation they had, really the most inane ones, and she keeps reminding herself that she touched him, he touched her. It was real, it wasn't a hallucination, it wasn't a lark. It was...substantial.

The Tortured Poets Department - Really, this song is like, the dream that she talks about throughout the album. This idea of two poets who love each other, getting each other through their very poetic blowups, their dramatic gestures, their overtures, is heavily romanticized in this song. The idea that other people just can't relate...it's ridiculous to call ourselves Dylan Thomas and Patti Smith...but, but, but what if we were? There is a hesitancy to this song, a consideration of it all ending, which seems beyond just plainly "dying" as they both say would happen to each of them. It would be the ending of this Idea, this Grand Plan, this Dream, which seems worse than death itself. All through this song the narrator is soothing and also lowkey pleading with her muse, "who else decodes you?" but she's also implying that no one else understands her either. "I felt seen" feels like a simple thing, but as someone who has so many people watching them and decoding them, often to disastrous results, this must seem like the most romantic thing. The most priceless feeling must be to feel a companionship, an equality, an artistic understanding of what the other person actually means. There are ideas of twins and the double album itself represents this idea as a whole, this embodiment of two artists, double meanings, two halves of a whole. When she's presenting this relationship in this song, she is very careful, very hopeful, very girlish and solemn, sincere, while also trying and failing to stay cool. There is a soft shrugging off her outer layer to feel comfortable in what was truly inside. "My life finally makes sense."

Guilty as Sin? - The question mark kills me here. Who is she asking exactly? The audience? The people who will crucify her anyway? I don't think so. I think she's asking herself. Her internalized concepts of faithfulness and love and the rules that accompany them. Once you grow up, you start that questioning...but I don't feel guilty, how could I be guilty if I haven't done anything wrong? Seems bizarre. I love this song for so many reasons. The way it exists in an album exploring the strange voyeurism that surrounds her, yet here is something so private that it feels sacred. All the interior dressing that surrounds this couple, their conversations, how she imagines what they do, how they express love. It's all about her inner voice, her desires, her fantasies. These things are just hers, and so it's not really about legislating her heart. It's more about the readjustment of her own values. Actually, the two of them together is what's holy, these feelings are religious, her belief system is their dreams, their sessions of "make believe" fantasizing. She doesn't follow any other deity except that. My favorite books have these themes, where love exists outside a system of transactions, where it becomes private and intimate, it's not a constant performance of morality or dignity or couple goals. It is so impossible these days that it doesn't seem like anything less than a miracle. So what if she rolls the stone away?

loml - "Our field of dreams, engulfed in fire" is the parting image of this song. It finally happened, their mutual dreaming was destroyed, and not by anyone else but him: "your arson's match, your somber eyes." It seems like he wasn't happy doing it, but he did it just the same. They rekindled the flame, they blew it up into a dream life for just the two of them, and then he burned it all to the ground. Every masterpiece, every "painting" (or song, ahem) that he showed her turned out to be a lie. And in that lie, she found herself in hell. It wasn't that he had made her life miserable, the opposite might be a better summation. But in the act of revoking her belief in him and in what they had, she felt like it was a punishment he had devised just for her. The most heartbreaking lyric in the song is still "It was legendary, it was momentary..." And for a fortnight there, they really were dylan thomas and patti smith. "We were forever" outliving any versions of themselves that came before them or will come after them.

[grandhotelabyss]

Re: Wagner, the semi-recent Alex Ross (New Yorker classical music critic) book on Wagner and the surrounding culture is very informative and stylish. For getting into the music itself, the Herbert von Karajan album Preludes and Overtures is a great introduction to the melodies and themes, allowing them to get into your head so you regonize the motifs when they pop up in the actual operas. At least it worked for me! For the operas, I would listen to Tristan and Isolde before Parsifal or the Ring cycle. Shorter, harmonically revolutionary, and as close to perfect as the man got.

Thanks! Yes, the Ross is on my Wagner list, as is the new Penguin Classic of the Ring libretti. Years ago I was asked to review a book about Wagner's influence on modernism, which also doubled as an attempt to vindicate him as a revolutionary rather than a reactionary. I lacked the expertise, but I did the job anyway. (I never turn down book reviews even if I don't know about the subject; I figure I'll learn what I need to know from the book and then imagine the rest!) I mainly took it as an occasion to denounce academic historicists—here's the review, still online—but the book as a whole did convince me of Wagner's pervasive influence on modernism, even without mentioning his influence on Anglophone literary modernism, as demonstrated by often crucial allusions in both The Waste Land ("Oed’ und leer das Meer") and Ulysses ("Nothung!"). I've listened to some of the music over the years, but for my knowledge of the dramatic or literary content of Wagner's opera, I fear I've so far relied on comics books. Comic books, however, of a very high order in the form of P. Craig Russell's superb graphic novel adaptation. (Russell, now celebrated as the first out gay mainstream comics creator, will be familiar to Sandman readers as the artist of the classic "Ramadan." Fun fact while I'm digressing: he also did a beautiful short piece that may be read as a companion to Schrader's aforementioned Mishima biopic and was in fact published the same year the film was released: "Dance on a Razor's Edge: A Ballet on the Death of Yukio Mishima." You can read it here, but try to go in with an ad blocker.)

[phoenixyfriend]

Hey who wants a Star Wars/Bridgerton crossover? Too bad, you're getting one because I finished S2 the other day and I'm having Thoughts about "Regency but actual historicity only matters when it gives us cause for drama" and, of course, Ahsoka Tano.

(You probably don't need to have watched Bridgerton to understand this.)

We take some post-war no-66 AU Disaster Trio+Padme-and-the-twins and have them do a 'diplomacy' visit to a rather old-fashioned planet that was hit by Separatists (mostly they set up a base in Antarctica, but a few ships did get shot down over populated areas so...) and the sapient population is mostly humans that have been cut off from the rest of the galaxy for so long that they didn't know other planets were even inhabited, let alone so widely.

Now that they know, they'd like to trade, etc. The safest way to do that, in order to do things like 'acquire spaceships and not be raided by space pirates' is to reach out to the recovering galactic republic.

For the purposes of plot, we'll say that Earth (Terra) does have some raw materials that are useful for whatever reason. IDK. Space needs all the coal they can get for raw carbon to make bacta or some similar nonsense.

Obviously, they need to be assessed to see if they can abide by Republic law in order to be viable to trade with and gain ship access etc. This is complicated by the fact that there is not a singular planetary government, but many, many, many fractured ones. Most of the bigger ones appear to have gotten that way through imperial conquest, which is... not great. The solution is to send some senators and Jedi to make overtures to multiple governments, convince them to hold some sort of global congress (proto-UN) in order to set up at least a representative body that the Galactic Republic can interact with, in order to do things like Make America (and many others) Stop Doing A Slavery.

Padme, bringing along her former-Jedi husband Anakin (and through him, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka, who are there as The Jedi, since Anakin isn't officially a Jedi anymore, because he has a wife and children, and also some clones there as support, and a few handmaidens), is the Senator chosen to go to Regency England.

Who, since the king is... not well (he's old and has days where he thinks he's forty or thirty or twenty again, due to dementia or Alzheimer's or something), is ruled primarily by Bridgerton's interpretation of Queen Charlotte, who dresses a few decades out of style purely to be dramatic and extra af in 1800s court dress, and is also mixed race, which has led to Bridgerton-the-show's England being racially egalitarian, even though the classism is still a huge issue.

Anyway, this is Queen Charlotte:

The core of the awkward plot is that in order to get Queen Charlotte to work with them, they have to play by her rules and engage with London's court games, with all the ballroom dances and promenade, etc.

Since Ahsoka is Of A Marriagable Age, she has to attend things, and dance with people, and she can't just tell people that Jedi Don't Marry (and she's a Jedi again, she's finishing her padawanhood with Obi-Wan, the war is over and she's back and she is going to be a knight, dammit) because that would ruin Queen Charlotte's fun, so she has to play along for at least a few weeks.

There is a lot of Hot Gossip about how she's... well, she's not human, sure, but her brother seems to be wealthy, so maybe the dowry is good? And for anyone who wants to explore, marrying her would be a ticket off planet! Ahsoka at one point tells everyone that any man who wants to marry her needs to beat her at fencing, arm wrestling, or straight up brawling. Anakin and Obi-Wan and Padme all approve, and the Queen thinks it's hilarious so nobody can like... stop her.

Much drama is had about her wanting to just bring along one of the troopers as her socially-necessary escort to things, because those are men! Who could take advantage of a young lady like herself! Someone does try to get her alone for an entrapment plot but when people walk in on them as planned, she's got him in an armbar and refuses to explain why but. Whatever was happening, it wasn't that kind of inappropriate.

Eventually the Queen deliberately lets slip that actually, Jedi can't marry, and all of the money in Skywalker's hands is actually Amidala's (there might be some switcheroos going on where people don't realize that Padme's the senator instead of Anakin, because gender things in Regency England, and also she's definitely swapping out with the handmaidens to get servant secrets), and so if anyone wants a dowry, it'll have to be by getting her good favor, not just Skywalker and Kenobi's.

Something something "but you're a general, Kenobi, shouldn't you be a man of wealth and taste, like all of our great military leaders?" "...we're monks." (Various marriage-minded mamas try to get their daughters into his affections. They do not succeed. Anakin eventually drops a joke that if Obi-Wan was ever going to marry, it would have been to Duchess Satine Kryze of Mandalore, who is definitely still alive here, and who has basically proposed to him twice, and the instances were twenty years apart, and since that hasn't happened, Obi-Wan definitely isn't marrying, ever.)

Someone asks Ahsoka whom she would marry if she did have to follow Regency England rules, where she's got to marry Up, and she lists off just. Boys that she's managed to save the lives of, since apparently she can only marry a boy with these rules.

1. Lux Bonteri (Anakin counters that she's too good for him)

2. The Prince of Mon Cala (shot down because togruta and Mon Calamari can't procreate, and an heir is necessary for Regency rules, which they are required to follow here)

3. Korkie Kryze (Anakin decides this is the least objectionable option)

Ahsoka finishes by saying that if she had to marry but didn't have to follow Regency Rules, she'd just marry, like, Rex or something. Rex gives her a fist bump for this declaration.

"Whaddaya say, Rexter, you wanna get hitched?" "Well, I don't have anything else on my schedule for tomorrow. Senator Amidala can probably officiate. Think I can get a lightsaber if I'm married to a Jedi?" "Worth a shot!"

(They don't actually get married but man do I love Rex and Ahsoka being Absolute Besties.)

There are also Bridgerton-character-specific plots in my head that probably don't make sense unless you've seen the show but I'll describe a few with hopefully enough detail to work for the people who are only here for Star Wars.

This is Colin Bridgerton. He is the third son of a Viscount (though his father died, so now the Viscount is his eldest brother), and his big thing was that he wanted to go traveling. He did a trip to Greece and greatly enjoyed it. His primary role in the show is as a potential love interest for two young women, Marina Thompson and Penelope Featherington. He would be interested in Ahsoka possibly due to the opportunity to See The Stars. He's a much more genial kind of guy than most of the men we see, though there's still some casual Rich Boy moments. He's generally polite, kind, and even funny.

This is Penelope Featherington. She is secretly the author "Lady Whistledown," who anonymously pens a gossip column that the ton reads religiously. She is young (mid teens, though the actress is mid-thirties) and clever, but she's a wallflower who currently has no marriage prospects. She'd be invested in the opportunity to enter a society where she can earn money etc. without it causing her to lose her status and possibly being able to do things like Inherit, which she can't in Regency England.

Eloise Bridgerton! Colin's younger sister (she's the fifth child of eight) and Penelope's best friend (until an incident late in the second season), a budding activist. She's very 'baby's first step into feminism,' and she gets into a decent amount of trouble in the second season by 'consorting with political radicals' who advocate for women's emancipation, etc. She'd be very interested in Padme and the handmaidens, and learning that Padme is the chosen representative (either directly elected, or picked by an elected queen) of an entire sector.

Benedict Bridgerton (second son) is an art student who is... you know what Gil's like in Paris (Girl Genius)? Like that, but for real. I don't think he has any interest in leaving the planet or marrying one of the SW cast, but he is probably pretty interested in scoring with a Nabooan handmaiden.

Genevieve, the modiste. She's a dressmaker by trade, pretending to be French because the ton is fickle and people won't buy if she admits she's English. I feel like she'd strike up a friendship with Padme's team on the basis of providing guidance on what the Rules Of Propriety are in this period to the wardrobe team.

The Prince (whose name I forget), a Prussian royal that is Queen Charlotte's nephew. She keeps trying to set him up with an English noblewoman so he spends more time in the country instead of going back to the continent. I don't think she'd try to set him up with a Star Wars person, but I do think it would be very funny if he falls for one of Padme's girl gang.

Portia Featherington, Penelope's mother. Her family's fallen on some hard times (her now-dead husband gambled away most of their money, including the dowries), and she's very conniving and scheming and all such things in order to get her family back to a good place. She's a bitch about it, but she's also usually right, and S2 ends on a note that has her putting her daughters before everything. I'm not sure what her exact plot would be here, but getting one of the girls married off to a Star Wars person probably features.

The Dowager Viscountess Bridgerton (the mother of the aforementioned Bridgertons) and THE BITCH HERSELF, Lady Danbury.

They like to matchmake (they've twice gotten one of Violet's kids married off to Lady Danbury's... charges? Her godson, and then a family she was 'sponsoring' due to a scandal from twenty years earlier).

Lady Danbury is also something of a friend? Ish? To the Queen, and one of the only people that gets to talk back and get away with it. She is magnificent.

Anyway, I think they'd be delighted with the idea of like. Joining forces with Padme and Anakin to matchmake local girls who want to Get Out Of Here with one of the clone troopers.

[soft-october-night]

The Love Interests in the Works of Jane Austen: An Assessment

This is an "extremely scientific" and "thoroughly researched" ranking based on personality, money, family and connections, and is a bit of a blend between the book characterizations and the film characterizations (and is in no way only based on my own opinions). Here we go, grouped by book but not much else.

Edmund Bertram: absolute trash. His family has treated you unbelievably shitty since day one and not only has he BARELY noticed, he ALSO has treated you shitty. Will fall in love with someone beautiful and fun and when she dumps him will come crawling to you for a rebound. His passion for you is so lackluster that even the esteemed author who wrote about it barely spared a paragraph on your relationship. Has a job but only because his dad owns the land the church is built on. You’ll gain no connections or family by marrying him, since he’s literally your cousin.  0/10

Henry Crawford: There IS such thing as too much fun, and that is never clearer than in this man, who will try to seduce you as a game, freak out when his middling overtures don’t work and then try and seduce you “for really real” this time. You will definitely move up in the world if you marry him, and if you play your cards right it seems like his sister is also just REALLY into you, so see how that goes. Life will be pretty okay until you find him in bed with one (or more, who knows) of your relations. 3/10, 8/10 if you’re into that

John Willoughby: Will be like something out of a romance novel, you’re thinking he’s going to propose and then he just fucking ghosts you and embarrasses the fuck out of you at a party by acting like he doesn’t know you. Somehow marry him (congrats on the inheritance you must have, btw) and get ready to take a backseat to the whims of his aunt for as long as she lives. 1/10, at least you get to live in a nice house.

Edward Ferrars: Oh Edward. He’s a bit of a mess, isn’t he? Super kind, your family loves him, he made a bunch of stupid decisions in his youth that are coming back to bite him in the ass. He is loyal to an absolute fault, but you luck out when his fiance turns out to be a bit of a gold digger and dumps him when his mom disowns him. He doesn’t have a job and neither do you, but his family doesn’t wanna speak to him (lucky you!) and you’ll be happy and poor together if you two can work on your communication skills. 7/10.

Colonel Brandon: He’s got a nice house, the respect of his friends and the community, and he has a LOT of passion. He’ll give your sister’s penniless husband a job, dramatically rescue you from a rainstorm, make sure his dead girlfriend’s daughter is happy and taken care of even after your ex fucks HER over too, and is all around a pretty decent guy. Just. Uh. Maybe, kinda, sorta, needs to go after women his own age and is probably with you because you remind him of his dead girlfriend. 5/10 with the wildly inappropriate age gap, 9/10 without it.

Mr. Wickham: Please don’t. He’s a thirsty bitch who lives for drama and you think he’s fun until you find out he tried to sleep with one teenage girl and is making eyes at your fifteen year old sister behind your back. Marry him (through the grace of mysterious benefactors, cause he ain’t marrying anyone unless he’s paid the right price) and get ready for a life of being surrounded by military men in the north of England while your husband tries to fuck everything that moves. Work that out somehow with him and you might actually be happy. 0/10.

Mr. Bingley: He is a softboi who will do literally anything his friends tell him to do. He is SUPER rich, and marrying him will throw your sister’s into the path of other rich men and he is REALLY into you, but get ready to be sucking up to his sisters for literally the rest of your life. Unless he can ship Miss Bingley off to live with Mrs. Hurst, have fun trying to wage a war of barely concealed insults over the breakfast table every morning, and if you’re marrying Bingley I’m sorry but that is a war you just cannot win. He doesn’t have a job but he does have five thousand a year, and neither of you can manage money. You’ll love simply and deeply and be happy as any two can be. 8/10.

Mr. Collins: Last resort to rescue yourself from a life of being a burden to your parents until they die and then having to become a governess or something. Has a job but never shuts up about his boss. You will have to rearrange everything in your house according to his boss’ will. 2/10

Mr. Darcy: Is a anxious disaster who doesn’t know how to talk to girls at parties and needs to learn how say no to going out when he’s just not feeling it. He doesn’t have a job because he’s a landlord; he owns half of Derbyshire and has ten thousand a year, but turns out that all of that money and land can’t buy tact or charisma. Doesn’t know how to flirt and thinks he’s doing a great job (he’s not). He’ll propose to you out of the fucking blue one day by insulting literally everything about you, but don’t worry! Reading his letter unlocks Darcy 2.0. This patched version gives him humility, a personality, and he WILL gain the ability to rescue your family from utter ruin. Marry him and enjoy a life of luxury and witty ripostes, but beware! You ARE going to have to deal with Lady Catherine until the day she dies, not to mention Caroline Bingley’s barely concealed contempt every time you meet in polite company. Darcy 1.0 3/10, Darcy 2.0 8/10.

Captain Wentworth: Absolutely top tier. Has a job, has earned everything he has, including a fortune and the respect of his peers, superiors, and subordinates. His sister and her husband are practically the only happily older married couple you know, his friends are super fun and nice (even the dour one with all the poetry knows how to have a polite conversation). If you dumped him ten years ago on the advice of your almost comically shitty family yeah, he’s going to hold a grudge, but he WILL NEVER STOP LOVING YOU and the MOMENT he gets over his pride will do everything and anything in his power (including leaping the bounds of propriety!) to win you back. Based on his love, money, and connections you should RUN, not walk, into his arms TODAY and allow him to rescue you from your family and whisk you off to see the world on his ship, at least until Napoleon busts out of Elba. 12/10

Mr. Eliot: Will lose all your old schoolfriend’s husband’s money in a bad deal, has debts out the ass, might be trying to get with either you or the woman your dad has been flirting with for the last few years, you’re not sure. Is totally ruining the rekindling relationship you’re trying to get going with your far superior ex. He wants the land and title your dad has and will stop at nothing to get it. Marry him and you can move back into your old house (maybe? it’s a little unclear what with all the debts) but have every single cent your mother left you immediately put into some dumbass scheme. 1/10

Henry Tilney: another softboi who just wants to act in the school play while his dad and brother plan to ship him off to military school and berate him for not joining the football team. Bring him shopping with you to pick out dresses, spend long nights over tea chatting about books. Has a job, but again, only because his dad owns the land the church is on. Loves you even though you have some very strange ideas about his house, and will forgive you when he realizes you thought his dad either murdered or imprisoned his mom. If he can find the courage to tell his dad to fuck off and let him live his own life, expect a long, happy marriage of snuggling together in a window seat somewhere, sipping tea and reading. 9/10

John Thorpe: Trash bastard man. Peaked in whatever equivalent of high school he had. Shitty and rude to everyone, would post racist memes on facebook and start fights if he could, all while being shitty and manipulative and CREEPILY possessive of you. -2/10

Robert Martin: A sweet himbo farmer who just wants to love and worship you. He has a job, is pretty rich, and while his connections may not be above his class, he’s an earnest boy who wants to take care of you and be taken care of in turn. Marry him the first time, absolutely do NOT let your friend influence you against him, because who KNOWS if you will get a second proposal! (You will, he likes you THAT much.) Marry him and enjoy a sweet, simple life of exactly zero drama (unless your friend is around). 7/10

Mr. Elton: Trifling gold digging trash who doesn’t know what the word no means. Do not marry, unless you want to be censured by decent, hardworking people -1/10

Frank Churchill: Knows how to have fun, but you know there’s something more going on. He won’t let you see his letters, he sends out secret notes, then he smiles and tells you that everything is totally a okay. Another boy with ANOTHER overbearing aunt, only this one doesn’t know how to say no. Marry him if you’ve got the money, but he will always be longing after the poor girl next door that auntie wouldn’t let him married, and would have cheated on you already if she was into it. 3/10

Mr. Knightly: He’s your brother in law and you’ve known him almost your whole life, so that’s a little sus, but he is also the ONLY person in your entire life who knows how to tell you no (and you really, REALLY need to be told no sometimes.) He is extremely wealthy, but more importantly he’s kind and caring about people who are considered “beneath” him. He will break his weird no dancing rule to dance with your shy friend, he will ream you out for being shitty to unwed spinsters who value your opinion, and somehow has the correct read on everyone all the time. You will gain no connections by marrying him, since the two of you already have the exact same connections anyway, but the two of you should be content in a test of wills that will last a lifetime. You’ll be very happy as long as he doesn’t get super pedantic and start correcting you about everything. 7/10

[celeste-fitzgerald]

The Electric Light Orchestra - ELO (album review/fangirl session)

I've decided to go ahead and start doing reviews of ELO albums for funsies (aka I am very bored right now haha). I use the term "review" very very loosely. Basically this will just be my very subjective, random thoughts on the songs. This is 100% my own opinions and I expect (and invite) people to disagree on lots of this.

And one more big disclaimer: I have a tendency to pay no attention to lyrics when I listen to songs. There are exceptions of course, but a lot of the time I have no clue what they're saying. Which means there may be times when I'll be like "oh wow this song is so pretty" when in reality it's a song about, like, death. Hopefully I won't screw up that bad, but if I make a bad error, please politely correct me!

With all that out of the way, here we go!

10538 Overture: 8/10 I'll be honest - the first time I heard this one I was unimpressed. It was so different from the ELO songs I was used to, and I didn't really understand the hype around it. But it started to grow on me a lot. It just sounds so...epic. The orchestration feels so full and heavy (thank you to Roy Wood and his army of cello overdubs). And I think it's a perfect encapsulation of ELO's vision to combine classical instruments with pop/rock music. Also, the god damn FRENCH HORN. I swear to god, you can't go wrong with french horns. Listen for the horn, it makes it all so much more dramatic and ahhhHHH.

Look at Me Now: 7/10 Hello, Eleanor Rigby (I'm sorry that's all I think of when I hear this one ahaha). More seriously though, this is probably the song from the album that gets stuck in my head most often. There was definitely one day last week when I kept going about my business and then suddenly bursting out into "aHHHH, LOOK AT ME NOOOOW." I just find it super catchy for some reason. And the oboe!! The oboe fits so perfectly with this one, I love it!

Nellie Takes Her Bow: 4/10 Eh. This one doesn't really capture my attention for some reason. Also it's very long, and a bit disjointed. The piano sounds quite nice though, and I like Jeff's voice in it. If someone has a favorite part of this song or something, please let me know so I can listen for it and maybe find a reason to love it.

The Battle of Marston Moor (July 2nd 1644): 5/10 I'm not particularly fond of the song itself, but the story behind the recording of it makes me laugh a bit. Bev refusing to play on it because it was so, in his own words, "appalling" is kind of hilarious to me. The song itself is interesting, but it really just sounds like an entirely orchestral song to me and feels out of place on the album.

First Movement (Jumping Biz): 9/10 I adore this one! It's just so much fun! Lovely little instrumental track with gorgeous guitar work. Plus...I think it's an oboe again? I could be wrong though. But it's a very interesting little oboe riff and it fits super well. I just all-around love this song.

Mr. Radio: 3/10 I have conflicting thoughts on this one. I feel like it's probably objectively a really good song, but there's something about it that just gets on my nerves. And I have no idea what it is. I just really don't like it lol.

Manhattan Rumble (49th Street Massacre): 6/10 I really like the heavy, driving downbeat in this song. I do enjoy this one a lot, but it's not one of the standout tracks on the album for me.

Queen of the Hours: 7/10 Okay the string parts in this have to be inspired by Mars from Holst's The Planets, right?? Please tell me I'm not the only one who hears it. Anyways, I quite enjoy this one! I love the vocal parts when it goes up high, it sounds really cool. Just an overall great song.

Whisper in the Night: 10/10 AB.SOL.UTE.LY. GORGEOUS. My favorite on the album by far. It's so heart-achingly beautiful. And my god, Roy's voice is stunning on this track. So passionate, and the vibrato, god damn. It's just...SO good. Breathtaking. Perfect. And the way the choir comes in on "angels sing." AAAAHHHHHHHHH. IT'S SO GOOD.

Overall: 7/10 The album has definitely grown on me a lot since the first time I listened. I was initially caught off-guard by how unpolished it felt compared to ELO's later albums, but now that I've adjusted to the sound, it has a very nice charm to it.

Feel free to let me know your thoughts on any of this! And yell at me if I dissed your fave track XD

[phantomtrader19]

Phantom of the opera 1st & 3rd preview review

PART 1

Auction - I was absolutely overjoyed to see the chandelier onstage!! I personally loved the new set, it was sad to see the angel had gone but I’m so glad they put the homage to Maria bjornson in the centre where the angel was as seen below (it’s modelled after Maria I overheard)

The cloth covered piece behind the chandelier is a broken middle section of the inner proscenium that when the overture starts re-assembles and rises into place absolutely stunning addition!!

some words were changed

“Lot 666, a chandelier until recently believed to be destroyed... *normal lyrics* “Our workshops have restored it and fitted it with wiring for the new electric light so that we may get a hint of how magnificent it will look when re-assembled” so like the restaged tour lyrics.

Standard auction really not much change but haunting as always!

Overture - perhaps a new sound system? But the overture was absolutely thunderous and I was LIVING for it, lighting design is new and a lot more flashes of light which upped the dramatic feel to it! The chandelier was new and I thought it looked absolutely wonderful it certainly didn’t disappoint it’s a lot bigger than the original which was a cool change. The curtains rose like before and the inner section of the proscenium was sort of like a centre piece and as the overture gets to the middle part where the music sort of slows then dramatically picks back up again (I hope I’ve explained that okay 😂) the dust covers on everything are very swiftly removed and it looks beautiful. The audience went crazy for the overture and it was just amazing to witness!

Hannibal - Saori’s cadenza was so fierce and you could tell she was having a blast up there! Again she got an applause as she came out on stage. The ensemble was fabulous as expected costumes again all the same but fresher as they were all brand new or from the uk tour 2020. Christine doesn’t come out with the ballet girls she joins just before they all do that lovely en pointe section which Lucy does as she is a trained dancer as well! A couple ballet girls now wear their wigs in curlers and tied up in ribbons to give that extra feel of a dress rehearsal which I’m still to figure out if I liked. Yukina Hasebe one of the ballerinas wears a black wig in a plaited ponytail with a black fringe which was interesting but they all wear their regular degas wigs the rest of the show. Everything else remained relatively the same.

Think of me (Carlotta) nothing different I don’t think, Saori sounds brilliant she’s so sassy I love her! Her tantrum is brilliant as she’s so tiny and all this anger bursts out of her it’s really funny!

Lily was also absolutely divine in this part aswell gorgeous voice and good comedic timing.

Greg Castiglioni has a nice voice but not too convinced on his portrayal as piangi not my fave but not bad! (I miss Paul tabone so much!)

Think of me (Christine) My heart was pounding as the piano started I was so eager and excited to hear Lucy safe to say she doesn’t disappoint she’s so radiant and has the voice of a bell, her cadenza is the movie cadenzas but higher and it was fantastic Think of me was much the same but again the set looked so bright and new it really was gorgeous, I absolutely love the new addition of the mini proscenium inside the outer one it frames the stage just beautifully! Rhys’ part was great aswell lovely voice :)

Angel of music - much the same again, the ballerinas have a bar where they practise upstage left which was a nice touch. Lyric change to -

Meg - “your face Christine, so strange”

Christine - “I’m changing Meg”

Meg - “No one’s changing”

In the third preview the lyrics changed to

Christine - “he’s with me even now”

Meg - “Your hands are cold”

Christine - “all around me”

Meg - “Christine are you alright”

Christine - “it frightens me”

Meg - “don’t be frightened”

So reverted back to something similar to the original lyrics! Ellie is a lovely Meg and her wig is auburn and it looks lovely!

Dressing room - everything the same

The mirror - everything the same again killian has a great voice and sounded very threatening! when the phantom brings Christine through the mirror Raoul calls out angel and instead of the title song beginning the music continues into a dramatic swell no where near as long as the restaged tour though.

Title song - Raoul leaves the dressing room as the title song begins and the ballerinas walk onstage congregate round Raoul and then they all walk off as Lucy and Killian appear on the bridge so no more doubles a bit of a restaged tour moment again I’m still to figure out how I felt. There seems to be extra set pieces like flat cutouts of staircases which move with the bridge which I really enjoyed, I think it added more depth to the stage.

The first preview the candles on the candelabras were poking out of the floor as they usually did and Lucy and killian appeared on the boat and however the candelabras didn’t rise which was confusing however they did in the third preview apparently it was a technical malfunction so I was very happy to see it fixed as the lair looked really bare without them.

I Have brought you - nothing different

Music of the night - mostly the same but it was like the phantom could put Christine to sleep when he sung close your eyes her eyes closed and she seemed to kind of lose consciousness it was a really nice touch to see how much control the phantom had over Christine. The catch is gone now :(

The morning after/ I remember - again the same

Stranger than you dreamt it - Lucy’s acting in this scene was just out of this world you can tell her Christine was absolutely horrified by the sight of the deformity and killian was fantastic!

Magical lasso - same as normal

Notes/ prima Donna - exact same as before except i don’t know if it was just me but the curtain behind the manager’s desk seemed a lot larger which was nice as it filled up a bit more of the empty space. Raoul wore a brown bow tie for this scene. Saori and Lily both were fantastic in prima donna would love to see lily again and will most likely be seeing Saori anyway in my upcoming visits. Rhys was really good in this song he was very clever and lovely belt. Francesca Ellis is definitely a standout in the show her voice is so unique unlike any other I’ve ever heard her acting is also 10/10! Managers I think could work on their timing for the comedic parts but that’s the only complaint Matt and Adam are great otherwise :)

Il Muto - lovely to see Manon Taris back on stage and James Hume and I want to say Hywel Dowsell were amusing to watch aswell! Saori and Edward court as Don Atillio were great Lucy was so cute as Serafimo!

The ballet - all the ballerinas were gorgeous! And the male ballet dancer was fantastic! Andre was trembling like crazy when trying to introduce the ballet and engaged with the audience quite a bit which was fun, the ballerinas screamed a lot when they noticed the phantoms shadow on the backdrop and the music had a build up behind the actual original score which made the reveal of buquet’s body more dramatic!

The Rooftop - Lucy looked gorgeous in her rooftop costume! She seemed genuinely distressed and her acting again just shone through, Rhys at the beginning was giving me Hadley Fraser/ restaged tour vibes coming off as dismissive of Christinebut he begins to soften Lucy’s soar was sublime probably one of the best I’ve heard it just floated from her!!!

All I ask of you - Rhys and Lucy had a lot of chemistry and she was beaming from ear to ear when Rhys sung to her. Beautifully done

All I ask of you reprise - the controversial Pegasus.... would it have been nice for the phantom to appear on top of the angel? Yes, is the Pegasus statue THAT bad absolutely not it was beautiful! Killian was fab! Loved the sustained note on “when he heard you siiiiiiinggggggggg” liked a lot!!!

CHANDELIER CRASH WAS SO COOL, killian appeared in box five and shot sparks from his staff essentially shooting the chandelier down. It crashed like it did in the original and swung really fast over the audience and made an explosion noise which was changed at the third preview the music sort of rumbled instead of the explosion which worked better as the explosion was rather odd since the chandelier didn’t collapse or like the restaged tour chandelier spew fake glass.

INTERVAL The blue curtain is GORGEOUS

[hopeshoodie]

Hello hopeshoodie! I’m a longtime fan/lurker, first time asker of your blog. Knowing you don’t shy away from more complex questions about LITG, I was wondering if I could ask your opinion on my work in progress thesis called, “Fusebox and the Fallacy of the Friendship Couple.” I don’t play a lot of romance games, but I have played Litg season 1-3, cause je suis un pitre.🤡 Idk if you agree, but I feel like Fusebox doesn’t truly understand the concept of the word “no.” Even though the game stresses the importance of “no” does Fusebox really practice what they preach? Like you can tell a character you’re not interested in them, but then in the next episode they come slithering back like “ok now u want to kiss me?” 🥺👉👈 Or someone out of nowhere will hint that someone has an obvious crush on MC and it seemed like she gave them the sign she’s interested in coupling up. Why does Lottie get the security of a genuine friendship couple during her Love Island journey, but the same courtesy isn’t extended to MC? I don’t mind coupling up with characters I’m not interested in for the sake of dramatics and gameplay, but it’s when they start forcing romantic overtures between said characters is when I get a bit uncomfy. It’s almost as if Fusebox is guilt tripping you for not liking certain oh-so sweet and cuddly characters, especially if you’re pursuing a female LI or one of the “not as nice” male LIs. I get that it’s a romance game, but why can’t MC have the temporary option of a friendship couple if they’re not vibing with their partner? It makes me feel like an insecure teenage girl in a Lifetime movie, y’know in a “if I don’t go down on the quarterback will he still take me to prom” kind of way? I’m not playing season 4 but from what I’ve heard it sounds like the villa is filled with nothing but f*ckbois and pushovers so poor MC’s prospects are even more limited. Anyway, are all romance games like this or is this something unique to Fusebox because of the content the game is based on?

P.S. Sorry for the length, but I did say it was like a thesis.

I 100% agree with you (other than that Lottie and Bobby absolutely were a friends with benefits couple not a platonic couple), and I feel like the core problem (not having enough/any platonic options for MC) manifests in three ways- other characters acting inappropriately, MC acting inappropriately towards other characters, and railroading players into a romantic storyline.

But first I’ll acknowledge that I know WHY it happens and that it’s kind of common in romance based games- I think a lot of fantasy/adventure/sci fi Ifs that heavily feature romance get away from it a bit, but with the games that are strictly dramas a lot of times you do HAVE to pick and romance someone. It might be more noticeable in LITG because of the mechanics of bringing in new Lis constantly, so you feel like you’re waiting for someone and have to couple someone else in the meantime.

But it obviously happens because writing IF is hard and if you gave the choice to be platonic with every LI you would triple the amount of writing needing to be done (because you have not-dating, dating, and dating platonically + the variations on those once you break up). And also no matter how meticulous your coding is, there’s always going to be a way to trick the program into thinking you’ve romanced someone you didn’t intend to or to have a character you dated early on still default to romantic dialogue. When I wrote IF it was such a challenge to balance giving platonic options, letting readers choose different paths, and structuring out logical storylines.

But it’s a pretty noticeable problem in LITG because literally every character is into MC, and it ends up coming across super inappropriate at times (see literally everything I’ve ever written about Bobby’s storyline). This is less interesting to me than the other two issues, because it seems unavoidable, but yes literally ever character is /into/ MC at the drop of the hat and the unique personalities suffer for that because they don’t all have in-character justifications for that attraction and affection for MC. Things like Bobby being up MC’s ass about being meant for each other, rejecting all the LIS when coupled only for them to be surprised or hurt when you switch, and every single relationship constantly only being contextualized as romantic, hurts the immersion.

And FB ends up railroading you into romantic relationship even when you don’t want one. Boat Party FORCES you to pick a secondary LI who you’ll get accused of cheating with, and even in the later parts of S2 your LI will default to being in love with you even if you haven’t been with them or have only been platonic. That’s frustrating from a player customization perspective.

But in my mind, the most interesting way FB misuses platonic couples/hypocritically violates romantic boundaries is in S3 and a bit of S2, by giving us non-romanceable friend characters but then allowing MC to violate that boundary. Because FB clearly wants to teach readers that no means no and not everyone will cater to their whims, in real life or in a game. But then you can cheat with Noah, who had been strictly platonic MC up to that point, or motorboat Elladine, or flirt with Seb whilst he’s naked. And these characters all ‘stay friends’ with MC after the player makes those choices. I am excited to see that S4 has Hazeem who is just blatant about not being interested in MC and can be her bro, but then they immediately send him home lol.

So yeah. I feel like FB could make this better by emulating S1 and having one or two distinct characters who are strictly platonic friends with MC (but then adding the ability to couple up with them as a strictly platonic relationship).