Let's Opera with (the incredibly classy) Vii Zafira! Il Trovatore.

[Jaz]

Edit2: What's with thouse half-assed : salute : icons. I will have to bring some here from the 'Dex.

Well, they'll probably destroy the thread for IR users (see several posts above/below, depending on how you configured your threads).

 

[Patrick Bateman]

The count dominated the scene just as advertised. But powerful presence is obviously not enough to get the girl.

Actually, I would love an anti-bioware game actually written to play with the idea of fate. Bioware and others like to mention how the player character is free of the bounds of fate and similar stuffies, yet in the end all of that amounts to nothing as all choices are Biowarian ones. Instead of that we should make a game with actual choice and consequence were everyone tells the heroine how she can't win against fate but she, and the player, keep trying and trying, making hundreds of choices, all of which have real consequences, just to have destruction and despair sweep everything away at the last moment in a manner that fits perfectly the endgame scenario the consequences of the heroine's choices created.

Cue Ah, la maledizione! with thunder and orchestra.

That would have been awesome. But that would imply the need for actual talent and effort by the developers, who are unfortunately unable to deal with the basics. So what remains is "if you want anything done, do it yourself" approach, reserved for those whose courage is greater than wisdom.

Which production or recording is that from? It looks pretty high class.

The photo was from the Metropolitan production (the production started in 2009 I think), which featured Dmitrij Hvorostovsky as Conte De Luna, Marcel Álvarez as Manrico, Dolora Zajick as Azucena and Sondra Radvanovsky as Leonora. It was even remotely transmitted in real time and watched over the video wall in many different countries.

Also, this guy…

Her: Age is just a number.
Him: Yeah. And jail is just a room.

Even though I have yet to meet gypsies like the ones depicted here, the overall vibrance of the scene was mervallous.

Try hiring a Gypsy band for a party. A great, unique experience.

 

[Vii Zafira]

I'm terrible sorry about the present delay. Something truly horrible happened in my life and now I'm, uhm, trying to cope with it. Yeah, totally. That's it. Like, really.

…

Pew pew pew! Eat laz0rs, evil rubber forehead aliens!

Anyway, next update between tomorrow and the day that comes after monday, the one which is ruled by the spirits of Mars and whose english name I totally forgot.

Now I'm back at, uhm, copying with tragedy, yes. I need to unlock the faction with the cool ships before I get busy again, or before my friends decide it is time to force another "Vii really needs to stay away from addictive MMOs for a little while" maneuver on me.

 

[Kz3r0]

Take your time.

 

[Jaz]

Hey, yeah. RL comes first, and we won't run away, anyway .

 

[Crooked Bee]

Pew pew pew-ing should always take priority.

 

[Patrick Bateman]

Hopefully your friends will be persuasive. Too many brave people have fallen to the temptation of an MMO, never to come back to life.

 

[mrowakus]

It appears to me our majestic and splendorous cat Vii has succumbed to the evil of MMO. Pray there is someone out there who will traverse the bowels of the netherworld and save her from the impending doom.

 

[Vii Zafira]

@ Mrowak

No, no. I'm almost done with the update. It's just this is the week of my birthday (Do you remember I had told you guys I would not be able to join for the campaign after sunday?) so I was a bit bussy with my friends and boyfriend and stuffies. And then there was the pewpewpew-ing, which means I must have slept about three hours in the entire week as either partying, MMOing, or sleeping had to leave. Sleeping never had a chance. Poor sleeping.

Now I'm no longer "(almost) seventeen." I feel old. And wrinkly. And decided to dwelve into the depths of darkness and the secret arts of the Left Hand in search for eternal youth and prettiness. I'm almost too old to live.

Anyways, right now the only thingie keeping from looking like some zombie stuffie is that I am really good at makeup. Not good as in, like, I can apply eye shadow without lossing the eye but good as in, say, my highlighting is almost professional level and all that.

@ Patrick

Don't worry, I don't like MMOs that much. I just have a really obsessive and impassioned personality so I kind of go all holy fu, this is AWESOME! on anything I kind of like, become completely absorved on it for a couple of days or, at most, weeks, and then go "I'm bored. Where's the next shiny thingie?"

I kind of enjoy STO mostly because the space combat is like a mixture of Starfleet Command and Bridge Commander, both of which had some really awesome space combat even if they did not come even close to Nexus. STO is kind of dumbed down compared to both those games I mentioned but, like, being an MMO the developers can go with some really massive battles and thus put you in situations completely different to the skirmishes and one-on-one starship duels in those games.

Some of the fleet actions are really epic, and it gets really cool when you have to be constantly keeping in mind your power configuration, the cooldowns of your special maneuvers and overloads, your position relative to the enemy flotillas in a big and kind of confusing battlefield, where's the enemy fire coming from, which ships are targetting you and which your "pals," deciding whether the amount of fire coming your way can be resisted by just diverting a small amount of power to shields or instead is time to divert all power to engines, activate evasive maneuvers, and let your "friends" deal with hot plasma death, etc, it's all really good fun.

Whomever designed the clothes should be shot, though. And I should really stop switching characters and names every two days so I can activate the bloody Klingon Empire instead, the ships of the Federation don't look cool at all.

And ground combat sucks balls.

@ Miss Bee

I didn't knew you were reading my opera thingies T_T You never posted before.

I'll get the next one done fasty fast just for the mean Bee.

@ Jaz
@ Kz3r0

Thank you for the understanding. :3

 

[Kz3r0]

 

[Patrick Bateman]

A fairy happy birthday to you Vii.
Now that you're over the hill, it's time to start looking at retirement plans.

But first get some sleep. They don't call it "beauty sleep" for nothing, just like growth hormone is rightfully called "the hormone of youth" by some people. First things first, dark arts next.

 

[mrowakus]

@ Mrowak

No, no. I'm almost done with the update. It's just this is the week of my birthday (Do you remember I had told you guys I would not be able to join for the campaign after sunday?) so I was a bit bussy with my friends and boyfriend and stuffies. And then there was the pewpewpew-ing, which means I must have slept about three hours in the entire week as either partying, MMOing, or sleeping had to leave. Sleeping never had a chance. Poor sleeping.

Poor sleep indeed. Good thing you had a good time IRL, however. I remembered what you said and expected a major celebration of sorts. Glad I put those points in clairvoyance.

I am still convinced that MMO is the DEVIL. :rpgcodex:

Now I'm no longer "(almost) seventeen." I feel old. And wrinkly. And decided to dwelve into the depths of darkness and the secret arts of the Left Hand in search for eternal youth and prettiness. I'm almost too old to live.

Nahh, it will take more than a few years for you to join us - old grandpas - in constant complianing how Mass Effect gives one cancer, and how damn kids these days can't appreciate 'dem classics like Arcanum or PS:T.

I can give you one part of the secret of the eternal youth, however. Sleep while you can. Nothing destroys one's physical and mental powers as sleep deprivation.

Anyways, right now the only thingie keeping from looking like some zombie stuffie is that I am really good at makeup. Not good as in, like, I can apply eye shadow without lossing the eye but good as in, say, my highlighting is almost professional level and all that.

See? Anything that makes one look like a zombie must be EVIL!!111. (Looks in the mirror) Oh gawd. I almost wish I could use that eye shadow trick of yours.

Don't worry, I don't like MMOs that much. I just have a really obsessive and impassioned personality so I kind of go all holy fu, this is AWESOME! on anything I kind of like, become completely absorved on it for a couple of days or, at most, weeks, and then go "I'm bored. Where's the next shiny thingie?"

I guess all gamers go through a phase like that. Alas, sooner or later game has to become REALLY good in order to generate an ounce of interest in one.

I kind of enjoy STO mostly because the space combat is like a mixture of Starfleet Command and Bridge Commander, both of which had some really awesome space combat even if they did not come even close to Nexus. STO is kind of dumbed down compared to both those games I mentioned but, like, being an MMO the developers can go with some really massive battles and thus put you in situations completely different to the skirmishes and one-on-one starship duels in those games.

And here is me going through my yearly "huge sci-fi battleships going pew-pew". phase. Nonetheless, I shall not be swayed by the evil of MMO. Starfleet Command though…

Anyway, we should pester Ulm about the next session more. We don't even know the date of our next meetup. I posted short summary of our quest and leads we have after our last game on the 'Dex. I hope he will get the right message from that.

And do continue with Il Trovatore, once you feel like it. You are keeping us on the edge of the seat, you know.

Lastly, late but sincere, Happy Birthday Vii! I hope you enjoyed the heck of it. I would sing you "Sto lat" but the witch of your calibre is going to live far longer than the meagre one hundread years.

 

[Crooked Bee]

Happy birthday, non-cat! You're the best.

 

[Vii Zafira]

Act the third; Il Figlio Della Zingara. Scene the first.
In which a certain gypsy shows us just how awesome you can be without no one noticing.



So here we are, once again, ready for some epic singing. Let me say, one more time, how very sorry I am about this delay, but don't worry nor fret too much: We are almost there! Only three more scenes to go, and they are all kind of short. This scene is, also, kind of short, and I had planned on doing both this one and the next one, also shortish, in a single post but, alas, I wanted to show you people that this was still alive.

Anyway, as this scene begins we rejoin the Count of Luna as his army lays siege upon Castellor, where Manrico and Leonora are hidden. There are three very awesome moments in this one part: Squilli, echeggi la tromba guerriera is a delightful little song, and since first listening to it I haven't been able to imagine the Count's armies as anything other than Asterix's roman legions. Then there is a very small moment for Ferrando to shine while reporting to the Count, and finally we get to a terzetto with the Count, Ferrando, and Azucena singing with choral accompaniment.



—> http://youtu.be/TALvfYqzQiM <—

Accampamento. A destra il padiglione del Conte di Luna, su cui sventola la bandiera in segno di supremo comando; da lungi torreggia Castellor. Scolte di uomini d'arme dappertutto; alcuni giuocano, altri puliscono le armi, altri passeggiano. Poi Ferrando dal padiglione del Conte.

A camp. To the right the Count of Luna's pavilion, above which flutters the flag as a symbol of supreme leadership; far away the towers of Castellor. Men of arms can be seen everywhere; some gambling, others cleaning the weapors, others walking by. Later Ferrando (comes out) the Count's pavilion.

Alcuni armigeri: Or co' dadi, ma fra poco giuocherem ben altro gioco.

Some armigers: Now with dice, but soon enough we'll play well another game.

Altri: Quest'acciar, dal sangue or terso, fia di sangue in breve asperso!

Others: This steel, of blood now clean, will of blood be soon sprinkled!

Odonsi strumenti guerrieri.

Are heard the instruments of warriors.

Alcuni: Il soccorso dimandato!

Some: The help demanded!

Altri: Han l'aspetto del valor!

Others: They have the appearance of valour!

Un grosso drappello di balestieri, in completa armatura, travesa il campo.

A big platoon of crossbowmen, in full armor, passes through the camp.

Tutti: Più l'assalto ritardato or non fia di Castellor.

All: More the assault delayed will not be of Castellor. (What was Yoda doing writting opera librettos I do not know)

Ferrando: Sì, prodi amici; al dì novello è mente del capitan la rocca investir d'ogni parte. Colà pingue bottino certezza è rinvenir più che speranza. Si vinca; è nostro.

Ferrando: Yes, brave friends; To the next day is mind of the captain the fortress assault from all sides. There fat loot (that's really what it says there, my MMO experience has nothing to do with this!) is certainty more than hope. If victorious; it's ours.

Tutti: Tu c'inviti a danza! Squilli, echeggi la tromba guerriera, chiami all'armi,
alla pugna, all'assalto; fia domani la nostra bandiera di quei merli piantata sull'alto. No, giammai non sorrise vittoria di più liete speranze finor! Ivi l'util ci aspetta e la gloria,
ivi opimi la preda e l'onor.

All: You are invited to dance! Blare, echo the warrior trumpet, call to arms, to battle, to raid; be tomorrow our flag of those merlons be planted high. No, never before smiled for us victory with more delightful hope so far.

Il conte uscito dalla tenda, volge uno sguardo bieco a Castellor.

The count leaves the tent, turns a sullen look to Castellor.

Conte: In braccio al mio rival! Questo pensiero come persecutor demone ovunque m'insegue! In braccio al mio rival! Ma corro, surta appena l'aurora, io corro e separarvi… Oh Leonora!

Count: In arms of mine rival! This thought like persecutour demon everywhere pursues me! In arms of mine rival! But I run, spout barely the aurora, I run to separate you… Oh, Leonora!

Odesi tumulto.

It is heard a tumult.

Conte: Che fu?

Count: What was? (i.e: What did happen?)

Ferrando: Dappresso il campo s'aggirava una zingara: sorpresa da' nostri esploratori,
si volse in fuga; essi, a ragion temendo. Una spia nella trista, l'inseguir…

Ferrando: Near the camp was going around a gypsy: Surprised by our scouts, she turns to escape; they, a motive fearing, a spy doing (literaly: In the) evil, pursue her…

Conte: Fu raggiunta?

Count: Was she caught?

Ferrando: È presa.

Ferrando: She's held.

Conte: Vista l'hai tu?

Count: Have you seen her?

Ferrando: No; della scorta il condottier m'apprese l'evento.

Ferrando: No; by the escort's condottiere was I informed of the event.

Conte: Eccola.

Count: Here it is.

Tumulto più vicino. Detti, Azucena, con le mani avvinte, trascinata dagli esploratori, un codazzo d'altri soldati sua tenda seguito da errando.

Tumult all around. The aforementioned, Azucena, with hands tied, dragged by the scouts. A throng of other soldiers to the tent behind them wanders.

Esploratori: Innanzi, o strega, innanzi…

Scout: Advance, o witch, move forward…

Azucena: Aita! Mi lasciate… O furibondi che mal fec'io?

Azucena: Ay! Leave me… O, furious one, what evil have I done?

Conte: S'appressi.

Count: Approach.

Azucena è tratta innanzi al Conte.

Azucena is handed to the Count.

Conte: A me rispondi e trema dal mentir!

Count: Answer to me, and tremble about lying!

Azucena: Chiedi!

Azucena: Ask!

Conte: Ove vai?

Count: Where do you go?

Azucena: Nol so.

Azucena: I don't know.

Conte: Che?

Count: What?

Azucena: D'una zingara è costume muover senza disegno il passo vagabondo, ed è suo tetto il ciel, sua patria il mondo.

Azucena: Of a gypsy it is custom to take without design the wandering steps. And it is her roof the sky, her fatherland the world. (in the romance languages there are fatherlands, from the Latin patria, instead of a motherlands)

Conte: E vieni?

Count: And you come?

Azucena: Da Biscaglia, ove finora le sterili montagne ebbi a ricetto!

Azucena: From Biscaglia, where until now the sterile mountains have been refuge!

Conte: Da Biscaglia!

Count: From Biscaglia!

Ferrando, fra sè: Che intesi! O qual sospetto!



—> http://youtu.be/_ieOwHBmEks <—

Ferrando, to himself: What do I understand! O, what do I suspect!

Azucena: Giorni poveri vivea, pur contenta del mio stato; sola speme un figlio vea…
Mi lasciò! M'oblia, l'ingrato! Io deserta, vado errando di quel figlio ricercando, di quel figlio che al mio core pene orribili costò! Qual per esso provo amore madre in terra non provò!

Azucena: Poor days I lived, correctly content of my rank; only hope a son was… He left me! He forgets me, the ungrateful! Alone, I go roaming and for that son looking, for that son that to my heart a horrible sorrow did cost! Like that I show love no mother in earth did show!

Ferrando, fra sè: Il Suo volto!

Ferrando, to himself: Her face!

Conte: Di', traesti lunga etade tra quei monti?

Count: Say, have you been a long period in those mountains?

Azucena: Lunga, sì.

Azucena: Long, yes.

Conte: Rammenteresti un fanciul, prole di conti, involato al suo castello, son tre lustri, e tratto quivi?

Count: Do you remember a child, progeny of counts, stolen from his castle, since then three five years periods, (I haven't been able to find a direct equivalent of the romance Lustro/Lustrum, so if you know of an english word with the meaning of a period of five years please do share) and brought there?

Azucena: E tu, parla… sei?

Azucena: And you, speak… are?

Conte: Fratello del rapito.

Count: Brother of the abducted.

Azucena: Ah!

Azucena: Ah!

Ferrando, notando il mal nascosto terrore di Azucena: Sì!

Ferrando, noticing Azucena's badly hidden terror: Yes!

Conte: Ne udivi mai novella?

Conte: Did you ever heard anything of this?

Azucena: Io? No… Concedi che del figlio l'orme io scopra.

Azucena: Me? No… Allow me to look for the footprints of the son.

Ferrando: Resta, iniqua…

Ferrando: Stay, wicked woman…

Azucena: Ohimè!

Azucena: Ay!

Ferrando, ai conde: Tu vedi chi l'infame, orribil opra commettea…

Ferrando, to the count: You see that who the vile, horrible work did…

Conte: Finisci.

Count: Continue.

Ferrando: È dessa.

Ferrando: It's her!

Azucena: Taci.

Azucena: Keep quiet.

Ferrando: È dessa che il bambino arse!

Ferrando: It is her who the child burned!

Conte: Ah! perfida!

Count: Ah, perfidious!

Coro: Ella stessa!

Chorus: She, herself!

Azucena: Ei mentisce…

Azucena: You have been lied…

Conte: Al tuo destino or non fuggi.

Count: To your fate now you will not escape!

Azucena: Deh!

Azucena: Whoopsie! (alright, alright. I'm just tired of translating to ay! and ah! and oh! all those exclamation thingies)

Conte: Quei nodi più stringete.

Count: Those knots make most tight!

I soldati eseguiscono.

The soldiers carry that out.

Azucena: Oh! Dio! Oh Dio!

Azucena: Oh! God! Oh, God!

Coro: Urla pure.

Chorus: By all means, scream.

Azucena: E tu non m'odi, o Manrico, o figlio mio? Non soccorri all'infelice madre tua?

Azucena: And you don't hear me, o Manrico, o my son? Will you not help this unhappy mother of yours?

Conte: Sarebbe ver? Di Manrico genitrice?

Count: Could it be true? Of Manrico the parent?

Ferrando: Trema!

Ferrando: Tremble!

Conte: Oh sorte! In mio poter!

Count: Oh fate! In my hands!

Azucena: Deh, rallentate, o barbari, le acerbe mie ritorte… Questo crudel supplizio
è prolungata morte… D'iniquo genitore empio figliuol peggiore, trema! V'è Dio pei miseri, e Dio ti punirà!

Azucena: Ay, slow down, o barbarians, the harsh twisting of me… (Wha…?) This cruel torment and prolonged death… Of vile parent the even more impious son, tremble! Cares God for the miserable, and God will punish you!

Conte: Tua prole, o turpe zingara, colui, quel traditore? Potrò col tuo supplizio
ferirlo in mezzo al core! Gioia m'inonda il petto, cui non esprime il detto! Meco il fraterno cenere piena vendetta avrà!

Count: Your spawn, o filthy gypsy, him, that traitor? I could with your torment injure him right in the middle of the heart! Joy floods my chest, which can't be expressed in words! With me the brotherly cinders full revenge will have!

Ferrando, coro: Infame pira sorgere, ah, sì, vedrai tra poco… Né solo tuo supplizio
sarà terreno foco! Le vampe dell'inferno a te fina rogo eterno; ivi penare ed ardere l'anima tua dovrà!

Ferrando, chorus: Dreadful pyre arise, ah, yes, you'll see soon… But your torment will not be just earthly fire! The flames of hell for you intense eternal pyre; There will suffer and burn your soul!

Al cenno del Conte i soldati traggon seco Azucena. Egli entra nella sua tenda, seguito da Ferrando.

With a gesture of the Count, the soldiers carry Azucena along. He goes into his tent followed by Ferrando.



Poor defenseless Azucena fell into the hands of the evil, twisted Count and is going to be painfully executed so that her captor can both revenge his late brother and enjoy making his rival suffer! Will Manrico leave his loving, kind, innocent mother to meet such a grizzly end at the hands of his enemy, or will our titular troubadour heroically ride out of Castellor, army of brave and manly singing soldiers in tow, to her aid? Do not miss the next scene of this riveting tale of hot blooded people with swords and really cool voices!

I'll try to make it super fasty fast but I will not promise anything, as every time I do promise to be quick and constant there ends up being a three months delay between an update and the next.



@ Mrowak

Oh gawd. I almost wish I could use that eye shadow trick of yours.

You can. The idea of guys not using make up is retarded: All those hot and cute guys you see in movies, boys' bands, fashionable nightclubs, etc, use as much make up as the hot and cute girls with them, and the ones calling them metrosexuals and girly are the ones not getting the hot and cute girls so their opinion is inherently flawed.

Why listen to the opinions of…

… and…

… when you can instead learn from them and them? Of those two types of people only one was just seen in the company of T-Ara and SNSD.

Come to the pretty side!

Just begin by turning those thingies lack of sleep puts around your eyes into smooth, healthy, bright skin. Before you know it you will be, like, totally addicted. :3

And here is me going through my yearly "huge sci-fi battleships going pew-pew". phase. Nonetheless, I shall not be swayed by the evil of MMO.

You should give STO a try, maybe. It has some very good ideas here and there, like a character system that's fully skill based while still keeping classes or archetypes in. Do you want a Science Officer that commands a ship-of-the-line instead of a support ship and is focused on beam weapons and tanking? Go right ahead. Do you instead want a Tactical Officer that flies a science vessel and uses the extra science crew to slot skills and maneuvers that disable enemy ships in preparation for an overpowered torpedo salvo? Cool, you can do that too.

Basicaly, you can customize your build in any way you see fit by a mixture of what ship you are commanding (both the model, the equipment, and the crew), what bonus both the captain, the bridge crew, and the duty officers give by means of skills and passive traits, what abilities you can use (from your choice of active traits, equiped devices, innate abilities of your captain, and the abilities you train your bridge crew in, and especialized ship systems), etc, and then the game plays a lot like Starfleet Command with that, with a focus on maneuvering, managing your ships power grid and shields, so a skilled player in a suboptimal ship can still defeat a lesser player in a super ship by being smart and devious.

And then all the social content is optional. You can easily play by yourself, following the storyline and the secondary missions you enjoy and only getting into group based PVE or PVP when you feel like it. It is actually how I would recommend you to play it: Do the tutorial, turn the difficulty slider all the way up to Elite as the difficulties below that are kind of casual friendly, and then solo your way through the storyline and those kind of side quests you enjoy (patrols, clusters, fleet battles, etc).

The really bad thingie, though, is that the game has no punishment for dying outside some Dragon Age like wound thingies that are totally meh, and you can basically defeat some hard battles by means of just charging, exploding, respawning, charging, exploding, respawning, etc. Instead of exploiting that do as I do: When you blow up transwarp back to the homebase, drop the quest, and then retake the quest while there. That way the mission will be reset, otherwise the ships you destroyed remain destroyed and the damage you did remains done.

If you do that it is actually a pretty fun single player starship battle game with some multiplayer modes and a chat box added to it. You can also replay "episodes" you already cleared later on for extra difficulty as the scaling isn't linear: Easy missions become less easy and hard missions become more hysterical the higher level you are, if you are playing in Elite mode. Also, the game comes with an included mission creator so you have hundreds or thousands of player made missions, from hardcore battle situations to roleplaying missions with dialogue trees and stuffies. It's pretty neat.

The only problem are the trekkers. I had only heard stories about them until joining the game and, man, they are worse than expected. Riveting discussions about the mistakes Cryptic did on the uniforms or that ship model, complex debates about how the game should enforce Starfleet's dressing code on player characters and stop allowing for ships with personalized appearance, etc. It's like nerdolandia on steroids, but given the game's now F2P most people seems to be, like, normal people who likes sci fi and pewpewpew games instead of retarded fanboys. -_-U

Well, that and the game being quite obviously a beta, full of weird bugs and stuffies.

But for me the greatest joy's in the PVE fleet battles, that usually pit a small team of players against massive enemy numbers and give them a bunch of objectives to accomplish. Those can get really hectic and intense.

Lastly, late but sincere, Happy Birthday Vii!

Thankies!

I would sing you "Sto lat" but the witch of your calibre is going to live far longer than the meagre one hundread years.

What kind of left handed witch would I be if I were not planning on living forever, one way or another? I'm just too awesome to deserve anything else, but first I need to accomplish my philosophical and profound, deeply spiritual quest of getting to look just like an idol and max the charm and sexiness skill tree. Not even the divine laws can stand against someone charming, beautiful, and fashionable!

@ Kz3r0



And thank you for all the corrections. I'll fix that mess before posting the next one.

@ ChiBee

Happy birthday, non-cat! You're the best.

Thankies, ChiBee!

@ Patrick

A fairy happy birthday to you Vii.

Thank you very much!

Now that you're over the hill, it's time to start looking at retirement plans.

¬_¬U . . . . . . . . . . . .

 

[mrowakus]

Act the third; Il Figlio Della Zingara. Scene the first.

So here we are, once again, ready for some epic singing. Let me say, one more time, how very sorry I am about this delay, but don't worry nor fret too much: We are almost there!

No worries. Fun takes priority before everything.

This update was actually very engrossing. I loved both parts. I have to say though, that I wouldn't have guessed that the first part took blace in an army encampment.

There are three very awesome moments in this one part: Squilli, echeggi la tromba guerriera is a delightful little song, and since first listening to it I haven't been able to imagine the Count's armies as anything other than Asterix's roman legions.

Pretty much, though for some reason the image of Gaullish village fits better here simply because I don't remember Roman legions ever being happy about fighting those pesky Gauls.

In which a certain gypsy shows us just how awesome you can be without no one noticing.

Hands down Azucena rules in this scene. She and the Count are the best characters in this Opera, and I'd be really hard pressed to say who of them is better (so far). The second part with both of them in one scene was truly memorable.

The Count strikes as self-righteous and blinded with love, but it's part of the charm. Otherwise he has both feet firm on the ground. Azucena, on the other hand, is caring and torn but my paranoia is telling me there's something behind her getting caught and blurting out that Manrico is her "son". Probably I am reading too much into it.

Now, I am waiting for inevitable showdown when Manrico and Count will pierce each other with long, sharp, pointy objects, at the news of which Leonora will commit suicide, and Azucena exclaim "Whoopsie!" and silently wander in the indefinite direction, the farther from there, the better. And I will eat my hat if Azucena comes out from it with anything more than a scratch.

@ Mrowak

Just begin by turning those thingies lack of sleep puts around your eyes into smooth, healthy, bright skin. Before you know it you will be, like, totally addicted. :3

Somehow this idea sounds both terrifying and compelling at the same time. I may actually give it a spin after… uhh, some consultation with a few experts I know.

You should give STO a try, maybe.

By the sound of it, it really appears to be a good game. What I fear, however, is that it might turn into one big time sink with repetetive stuff sucking most of the enjoyment away until what remians of you is but an empty, broken husk. (Un)Luckily, it appears that I cannot permit myself the comfort of yet another addiction. Maybe some other time.

It's like nerdolandia on steroids, but given the game's now F2P most people seems to be, like, normal people who likes sci fi and pewpewpew games instead of retarded fanboys.

That's the consequence of becoming, an empty, souless husk. It still beats being a Mass Effect fanboy.

Not even the divine laws can stand against someone charming, beautiful, and fashionable!

Has there ever been more noble cause?

Lastly, you have infromed Ulm when you are going to play Pathfinder next, right? Just confirming.

 

[Patrick Bateman]

There are three very awesome moments in this one part: Squilli, echeggi la tromba guerriera is a delightful little song, and since first listening to it I haven't been able to imagine the Count's armies as anything other than Asterix's roman legions.

I enjoy the choir parts in Il Trovatore and this one is no exception. The Count's army doesn't strike me as similar to the Roman legions in Asterix though. The Romans knew they were about to get the beating of their lifetime and were quite despondent. Anyway, this kind of merriment prior to battle happens only in opera and other works of fiction. It is as though they are celebrating the victory in advance. Everybody, but the Count, whose mind is not on the upcoming battle - he is brooding with thoughts of jealousy and unrequited love.

There fat loot

:lol: Yep, definitely a post victory mentality.

sterile mountains

Barren mountains would be a more appropriate expression.

Poor defenseless Azucena fell into the hands of the evil, twisted Count and is going to be painfully executed so that her captor can both revenge his late brother and enjoy making his rival suffer!

The scene was very dramatic and the final tercet carried it out perfectly. I liked the transition between the initial soldiers' merriment towards the later drama - passion is running high all the time, only the roots of passion are different.

Somehow this idea sounds both terrifying and compelling at the same time. I may actually give it a spin after… uhh, some consultation with a few experts I know.

Letting the girls have their way in things like this is the quickest road to perdition. They enjoy performing … experiments (cue the Jon Irenicus' voice over from Baldur's Gate 2).

 

[Kz3r0]

Tanks for the update. here some suggestions:

(What was Yoda doing writting opera librettos I do not know)

This can be said of Opera as a whole.

There fat loot(that's really what it says there, my MMO experience has nothing to do with this!)

It could be worse if you think that the direct translation would be fat booty.

Ivi l'util ci aspetta e la gloria, ivi opimi la preda e l'onor.

I see that you didn't translate this, well, opimi is a reference to spolia opima:
http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spolia_opima
They are referencing to win the enemy General.
A possible translation would be:
There the gain awaits us and the glory, there of a General the prey and the honor.

Il conte uscito dalla tenda, volge uno sguardo bieco a Castellor.

A more funny translation would be that the Count gives Castellor the evil-eye , not the more appropriate tho.

Ferrando: Dappresso il campo s'aggirava una zingara: sorpresa da' nostri esploratori,
si volse in fuga; essi, a ragion temendo. Una spia nella trista, l'inseguir…

The latter part should be:
Them, with reason fearing a spy in the wretch, pursued her.
Trista is the feminine of tristo, grim, gloomy, not only with evil intent, it can refers even to extreme thinness, skeleton like, for example in Italian Don Quixote is called:
Il cavalier dalla trista figura.
Wretch is the best translation here.

(I haven't been able to find a direct equivalent of the romance Lustro/Lustrum, so if you know of an english word with the meaning of a period of five years please do share)

The only way to translate that in English is something like a decade and half ago.

Azucena: Io? No… Concedi che del figlio l'orme io scopra.

Azucena: Me? No… Allow me to look for the footprints of the son.

Orma here is used more as traces than footprints.

Azucena: Deh!

Azucena: Whoopsie! (alright, alright. I'm just tired of translating to ay! and ah! and oh! all those exclamation thingies)

The correct translation here would be Oh, God.Always if interests you.

Azucena: Deh, rallentate, o barbari, le acerbe mie ritorte…

Azucena: Ay, slow down, o barbarians, the harsh twisting of me… (Wha…?)

Ritorte is a reference to the ropes tying her.



CYA:

 

[Patrick Bateman]

I think that it might be time for an update.

 

[mrowakus]

I think that it might be time for an update.

I'll think we'll gonna have to wait for that a little bit. It's just this time of the year where majestic cats find themselves preoccupied with stuff mare mortals cannot possibly hope to comprehend.

 

[Jaz]

Ah, pity.