Geeky Things: Window to the Abbey & The Power of Storytelling Through Music

 

Hello and Welcome to Geeky things, in these articles I attempt to steer towards a more conversational tone rather than a review and for today's article I will be discussing with all you lovely geeks, a particular band close to my own heart, Window To the Abbey. 

I'll delve into the stories of the songs and touch upon the subsequent effect that their music has had on me personally. So, without further adieu, let's get into Moving around Bias.

Link to site: https://www.windowtotheabbey.com/ 

Social Medias for Window to the Abbey:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/windowtotheabbey/

The Summer 2018: While browsing YouTube one hot summer day, I stumbled across a song titled "Common Ground" with a picture of voice actor and lead singer, Troy Baker, as the background. Although I wasn't quite sure what I was going to get from clicking on the video as I'd listened to Troy's previous albums "Sitting In the Fire" as well as "Random thoughts on a Paper-napkin."
I absolutely loved the indie/alternative rock tracks, however, "Moving Around Bias" was a far cry from what either former albums were trying to do.  While the past records were more in touch with grunge/punk and various other genres, "Moving Around Bias," aimed to show a deeper and more vulnerable side of life. Instead of Rebelling against the world, Moving Around Bias challenges its listener to delve into the day to day difficulties. This is in fact, The side of life that people in their every-day lives may choose not to deal with Or perhaps they're unable to.
However, the message rings clear in each of the songs, and it is that from Loss, to love, to breakups, and all that falls in-between, the core theme of "Moving Around Bias" is, the beauty of finding comfort through pain.
The more I listened to these songs,  I found myself drawn to discovering what songs, out of the 14 tracks, truly spoke to me personally and here's what I found.

Track 12, "Radio": "Here I'm stuck in traffic. Stuck here in this traffic. Turning on my...Radio. And all I hear is static (2x) Coming through my Radio...Coming through my Radio. To Find You...To Find You..."
Radio, similar to "Hyde Park" or "Something New Under the Sun" is one of three peaceful songs within the album.
When the song begins it starts with a beautifully done piano solo and gradually moves into the lyrics, as simple as they may seem, when paired with their profound melody, it takes me to a day where, everything was going wrong.
From the time of waking and starting the day, it had been one spiraling disaster after the next. In the silence of that day I was reminded, through Radio, that sometimes we need that static.
We need to listen to the silence of the world sometimes in order to ground ourselves in what is that we are seeking out. If it's peace or someone we associate with peacefulness, Radio reminded me that in the worst moments, the silence is what's needed to get our feet back on the ground.

Troy Baker: Window to the Abbey

Track 1 "Heads out &Water Into Wine":
Similar to Troy's cover of "The Promise," "Water into Wine" is a fun song with a more upbeat tone. Written after a visit with Troy Baker's colleague Ashley Johnson, "Water into Wine" is the kind of song that I find myself humming, when it's dance like tune gets stuck in a loop in my head.
From the get go, it feels like the kind of song you could get up and dance or run to and I enjoy listening to it while doing more monotonous day to day tasks.
Unlike Radio, "Water into Wine" has the perception that life is an adventure and while it has it's downs, there are also moments of joy and excitement. As such, life exists to be experienced in all ways possible, from the highs of happiness to it's lowest lows that may come our way, even the worst days can fade into a better tomorrow, if we have the courage to face it.

 "Something New Under the Sun": When thinking of someone close to my heart, I'd say my grandfather means a lot. He's the kind of grandfather you hope other people have experienced, the kind who love their grandchildren unconditionally.
The ones who listen to the silly stories and ramblings of the grandchild or desire to shower them with gifts of praise and wisdom, encouragement or to join the grandchild in laughter.
This is my grandfather, a patient man who loves his family and enjoys the little things that come his way.
Upon learning that the song was written about Troy's own Grandparents, it quickly began to remind me in many ways of my own who I love dearly.
While they are still around and continue to love me, the song often reminds me that time with them is precious.
The people we cherish are even more precious as We are not promised tomorrow, the ones we love could be there today and then gone tomorrow.
 Even if there are those in our lives with whom we disagree with, we still need to remember that in this life we truly only get one shot.
 We may not be perfect, but the time spent in anger or hate towards someone is wasting time. It is time we could try to do our best, with the moments that are given to us.
That person may not be around in five or ten years time, so we need to try, somehow, to enjoy what we do have.
 With that in mind, "Something New Under the Sun" is an incredibly moving, bittersweet, and powerful song that tugs at the heart strings with its themes of love, life, and ultimately the grief that comes with loss.

"What I Deserve":
 "I hope I never get,
 never get what I deserve...
 take what the world wants
 fall onto me...."

What I Deserve, is a truly honest song. Written about a father and a daughter in the midst of tragedy, this song carries a double meaning, as put by Troy Baker during one of his band's live streams on twitch, "I hope I never get what I deserve, I only ever hope that I get what I need, which is grace, mercy, and patience."
 All of us need these things, we desire understanding, we desire mercy, and above all we crave love.
When what we may receive in our lives is unpleasant at best, we desire compassion to help us in the trying moments, even though at most we may not get it. Even if Compassion and Mercy and grace is needed, the sad reality is that We may not get what we deserve, but does it truly constitute that we truly deserve to go through all the unpleasantness completely broken?
 What I Deserve, seemingly examines this in the most beautiful of ways, a song about grief at it's heart, and begging that may we never get what we may truly deserve in the midst of a world that all to often does just that.
As for what the song says to me personally, I hope I never get what I deserve, I don't want to know what it means to be completely alone and more importantly, I don't want to know what it is like to live without the grace that has been afforded to me. Because that thought alone is more frightening than ever being alone in this massive world.

 The BreakUp Song:

"So this is how it ends...
not with a whisper but a bang.
Slamming doors and broken picture frames...
puffed up pride and called out names...
Alright so go
peddle your wares on down the road
your manufactured love will stop the show
for all the fools just passing by
who have yet to get wise."
The BreakUp song, a piece of music who's message is truly needed for the young of today's world. Sometimes in life we have to break up with those most important in our lives, as they may prove to be problematic or toxic.
However, when thinking of a break up, our minds may resort to that of a romantic relationship, in this case the song is speaking of breaking up with a friend.
To that point, Life is built on relationships of all kinds, family relationships, peer relations, and romantic interests, but as children, teens, and  young adults we first begin relations outside our family as acquaintances and hopefully, if we share some common ground, we can develop that relationship into a healthy long lasting friendship.
Unfortunately in the real world all relationships are messy to one degree or another and when the relationship we had becomes troublesome, there are two pathways to be taken.
We can either try to mend the broken bridge and give the person who wronged us a second chance or we can distance ourselves from them and try to move on from the hurt they've caused us.
When there is hurt too deep that forgiveness is impossible and neither party can come to the middle ground, as Troy Baker has beautifully put in interviews past, "It's ok to break up with a friend" and he's absolutely right.
Sometimes we don't need that negativity in our lives, we don't need the drama that keeps repeating itself over and over with this person who we have given every ounce of platonic love and affection to. Because it's not healthy for the individual on the receiving end of the endless excuses and reasons or pity parties of pretending they can do and be better.
The tears we shed and the words we have said are simply wasted on a relationship that is broken, and it is better to move on instead of trying to cling onto what could've been.

In conclusion, though I covered only a few of these pieces of music, every single one of them has something unique to offer their listeners. No matter what your journey is or experiences, there is sure to be a meaning to these songs that speaks to you as much as they have spoken to I and continue to do so. I love Project Window to the Abbey and I look forward to the day that Troy Baker and his team of incredibly passionate musicians put out another album.
Until then, stay geeky everyone. -Faith

Geeky Things: Loving the Fables Universe

Hello my fellow geeks and welcome to the first article of a new segment, Geeky Things.  These articles will work more like conversational pieces, where I get to geek out along with you, so if you'd all like, submit below for what I should cover in the next Geeky Things article.

In today's article of Geeky Things I'm going to put some love into showcasing a comic series which has been around for seventeen years. With the up coming anniversary of Fables in July, this article can help to kick start a bit of love for the twisted fairytale and multi genre comic series.

Where My Love Began: I'll admit I've come to find the Fables universe rather late, however, it all began with Tell-Tale's the Wolf Among Us hooking me into the hidden world of FableTown and snatching my wonderful fangirl heart into the persona of Sheriff Bigby Wolf. I have a friend to thank for the wonderful game recommendation and I whole heartily say, nab a physical copy of this and its respective material.

Of course I had to cosplay the lovely character of Bigby, complete with my own diy fake paper made Huff & Puff cigs and a pack to boot!) 

However, the cosplay was just the first step and following about five playthroughs of the Wolf Among Us, my interest in its lore and universe didn't stop there. I began to look for comic books and promptly found myself searching about the lovely summer comic con for any hint of fables.

 What I ended up with were three comic issues based around the game's story with much deeper lore explaining certain actions and characters. 

While I love the little arc I've read (and I plan on getting the rest) I wanted to read "Fables Proper" as it is called. The mainline Fables series penned by the great and famous Bill Willingham, for which the Wolf Among Us was based upon.

It was then that I found the beautiful deluxe editions of volumes one through three for Fables Proper and I fell in love with the stories instantly. 

An Obscure Fandom: The Fables fandom is small, there's a hastag Bigby Wolf cosplay and perhaps a handful of cosplay videos (makeup tutorials and skits) but they are very few and far between. For a series that has been around for almost seventeen years with various spin offs such as the Wolf Among Us comics or the short lived 12 issue Ever-After, there is little buzz around the fables series since it ended in July 2015 with it's 150th issue. 

What makes the whole thing more saddening is, reportedly Vertigo Comics is being "shut down." 

However, while it is mere speculation and rumor at this point, Fables happens to be one of their properties and as such, fans of the series will want to grab what they can. As apparent by the deluxe editions flying out of stock on Amazon, Fables fans and those intrigued by Fables (including I) are going to need to empty our pockets if we desire to own the graphic novels. As Fables proper has been collected in multiple issues of these graphic novels. While I own up to issue 27, there's no telling when Vertigo may or may not go. However, it will be a sad day should DC comics discontinue the selling of this incredible series unless something is done to pull Fables back into the limelight.

Movies and Television Failures: Back in 2014, a studio and two broadcasting stations (ABC & NBC) had acquired the rights to do tv shows and a movie for Fables was also in the works. Unfortunately none of these were to be and for some reason they all fell through, however, many speculate that although Fables failed to find solid ground on the silver and small screens, Once Upon A Time and Grimm were respectively both derived of similar concepts. For example, Grimm has the dark nature and investigative propperties of Fables while Once Upon A Time follows the characters we know (i.e. Snow White, Prince Charming, etc) trapped in the real world in a little hidden community away from the world called Storybrook, do these premises sound familiar at all to the hardcore Fables Fans?
While it is true that Mr. Willingham himself took to denying and even defending the brilliance of OUAT, it is still a wonder what really happened to getting Fables off the ground. All the while the series was more than likely at the peak of its popularity back in 2014, especially given the release of Wolf Among Us the year before.
Still, since the ending of both Grimm and OUAT, it would be great to see someone adapt the Fables Universe and bring a fresh perspective to new audiences who may not be familiar with the obscure comic series. In fact, it could garner interest in Fables again if a film or tv show were to be brought to wide audiences, however, there is little hope for that happening at least for now.

But What's it all about?: Fables is in the running with a genre known today as the twisted fairytale genre. This genre takes characters from the world of classic fairy tales and places a spin on them that leads to reinvention of tales we've all grown to know.
 The story for Fables is simply that, a powerful force has made the fairytale characters abandon their home and seek refuge in our world, the Mundy world as its named. It is here that Snow White and Bigby Wolf must keep law and order, all the while facing challenging ordeals of maintaining their own lives both romantic and otherwise. Through a series of trials and tribulations they go day to day facing unhappy fables and devious intentions, rebellion, and social class based riots, as they struggle to find their place in the mundane world.
Other fairytale stories similar to this would be books such as Unenchanted or the Sisters Grimm series by Michael Buckley.

To Wrap Up: No matter the series, whether its Fables, UnEnchanted, or the Sisters Grimm, the realm of re-telling these classic fairy tales is unlimited. Fables itself paved the way for a multi-facet of genres using Fairy-tale folklore and classic literature figures as well. Where other series merely use fairytale characters, Fables had the means of taking all kinds of Folklore from oral storytelling to French stories, Fables is truly a unique series and one that should not fall into obscurity.
I highly, highly recommend checking out all of the aforementioned books, tv shows, graphic novels, and comics, they are all worth the time to sit down and enjoy with a cup of coffee and your favorite snack and to share with a friend or two because these stories will stay in your library and memory for a long, long time.

The Wolf Among Us: Game Noir

The Wolf Among Us: Video Game Noir

About the game: 

 The Wolf Among Us, one of the late Telltale Games licensed products via Warner Bros, shipped five episodes over the course of 2013 to 2014.
 Over the course of the game's release it has taken gamers into a shady and dark world of neon lights, smoke and alcohol vices, and downtrodden fairytale creatures such as the Big Bad Wolf, Bluebeard, Snow White, and many others whom players may recognize. 

 Although we know these characters from classical authors such as the Grimm brothers or even their respective on screen movie counterparts, The Wolf Among Us differs in various ways.
 Where the modern and Disney interpretations of these stories would typically tone down certain subject matter, the Wolf Among Us is true to the rough origins of select characters.
  In fact, it goes so far as to point out that the mundies (i.e. the humans of the real world) have tales about these characters with details that are simply not true at all.
 If you do a bit of digging, it is true that many of our watered down fairytales were done so as to subvert the original adult oriented themes.
 As the Grimm brothers and other authors of these stories were writing many of these tales to the audiences of a much different time period.
 Of course, the idea of what was appropriate and what was not has greatly changed in modern times. This is evidenced by the versions of fairytales we have now as these later editions toned down the  darker themes to make them appealing to children.

 However, The Wolf Among us rejects this idea of modernization in several ways.
This includes the usage of a rather obscure and slightly jaw dropping fairytale called Donkeyskin by the 16th century writer, Charles Perrault.
These themes and history of the characters is briefly explored using similar methods much like ABC's Once Upon A Time, with characters relaying their tales through a big book of fables, where their history is recorded.
It is also shown that there are mundy versions of these tales (as revealed by the episode smoke and mirrors).

 The Wolf Among Us, like a select few within the medium in today's take on fairytales, is a twisted version of the classic fairytale stories we know. Because, by taking the heroes and villains of these classic tales and placing them into real life roles it is easier to bring these classics into the modern light for today's audiences.
Similarly, like Once upon a time,The Wolf Among Us introduces us to Fabletown, a fictional location.
The town is a hidden community which is located in the Big Apple, New York City, where it was located in the original comic series Fables by Bill Willingham. The various fables are exiled here after a force known as the adversary, forces them from the homelands. 
Where the game differs to its comic book counterpart is in terms of theme and content. Certain details are left out or skimmed over briefly, such as Snow White's history with the dwarves or the day Bigby first fell in love with Snow.
Another massive difference is the context and theme of the game vs the original comics. Although the Fables series had detective based scenarios, the Wolf Among Us takes a more 1980's centric Private Eye approach and uses several allusions to the PI genre.

For example the Jaded PI, the use of codenames (i.e. Mr. Smith), and the lying client trope are all massive parts of the hard boiled/private eye genre. Often in these types of stories the classification of PI is categorized by tropes such as vices or the detective has a great deal of knowledge about their city. In this case, Bigby falls into all of these, as his vices of smoking and alchol are all products of the PI genre.
Other characters within the Wolf Among Us also fit into these types of PI genre categories. Examples of these would be people like Nerissa or Ichabod Crane. Both of them fall into the line of a fem-fatale (Nerissa is both the fem-fatale and a lying client) and the lying client (Ichabod falls into the role of a pawn and the lying client).

The Story:
The story opens with Bigby Wolf investigating a ruckus following a call he receives from a fairytale character named Mr. Toad.
Following a fist fight with his old rival, the woodsman, Bigby has an encounter with a mysterious gal and returns to his apartment complex called "The Woodlands."
With the intent to wait for the mysterious gal for his "statement", Bigby is soon in for a crude awakening. The following morning, he and Snow White discover the same unknown fable has been murdered and left on the stairs of the apartment complex.
 In a whirlwind of chasing down one lead after the other and hitting opposition on all sides, Bigby and Snow White are sent by Ichabod to uncover the culprit behind these series of disappearances and murders.
At first it seems this is an issue of money within a sect of unsavory business, and it all starts with the mysterious gal. Although Bigby's chance encounter with her seems a coincidence at first glance, as the story continues the classic PI "this is bigger than we thought" moment happens and it turns out Bigby has bitten off more than he can chew. This leads to a series of twists which no one of fabletown can predict.

However, the story is only one aspect of the Wolf Among us and there is much more to be unpacked with the series main leads and cast of characters such as Ichabod Crane, Mr. Toad, the three little pigs, and others who are not just of Grimm Brother fame.

 As with all telltale games there are a plethora of characters, one of these being the main lead and filling the role of our jaded private investigator is Bigby Wolf.
The romantic love interest or even the side kick role is filled by Snow White, however, as there are so many, I will only cover the main two (for the sake of surprises, please buy this game while you can).

 Bigby Wolf (main lead/Jaded detective):

 Within the game the player controls Bigby Wolf, son of the North Wind and Winter Wolf of the original Fables comics.
Bigby is a variant of the Big Bad Wolf from stories like Little Red Riding hood, The Three Little Pigs, and Peter & the Wolf.
However, He is also considered a werewolf, according to his comic book origins.
According to the comic books, Bigby was transformed into a half human via a lycantrophy knife by Snow White, but the game glances over much of this as well as the reason that Bigby smokes.
According to the comic version, Bigby also drinks and smokes heavily mainly due to his heightened sense of smell. Because by smoking, he is able to dull his senses in order to avoid a sensory overload which comes with living in the mundy world.
There is also an easter egg, in the episode smoke and mirrors, where Bigby states "you can't fool this nose" in relation to knowing what Snow White's perfume smells like.
It is stated, In the comics that her scent is the one he knows and this reason gives him access to being able to find her and know her location at all times. However, much of these references are very subtle within the game than it is within the original comics.
Within the Wolf Among Us, Bigby is the Sheriff of Fable-town and is tasked with keeping order among the community. As the story is mainly focused upon Bigby and his viewpoint, the player is put in control of him for the entirety of the game, from which they see the world and others through his perception.
Through using the right and left analog sticks as well as the assigned buttons to navigate the community and various locations within Fable-town, if places are explored thoroughly the player may gather important clues to progress forward.
All of this is useful in an attempt to uncover the culprit behind a series of murders that have caught the attention of the Fable-town Business office. In this place, Bigby is employed by Sleepy Hollow's infamous Ichabod Crane and works alongside Bufkin and Snow White to help the Fables adjust to living in the Mundy World.

In relation to those around him, Bigby is seen as a monster due to his checkered past in the Fable Homelands. Because of this, Bigby has very few fables who like him except for Snow White, Colin, and Bufkin.
Bigby's rough and lone wolf personality, due to rejection by the fables as caused him to become closed off. Often he protects himself from opposition through a variety of sarcastic and gruff responses.
This sense of humor adds to his jaded demeanor of a hardened fable who has lost faith in his fellow fables, is willing to use severe means to his advantage, and break the rules to get results.
However, he will differ in personality depending on your choices and can be kind and gentle or rude and blunt.
 The latter and rougher personality hearkens back to his history of misdemeanors and "blowing a few houses down" back in the Homelands, however, Bigby can either change his ways or retain his vile wolf reputation depending on the player's reactions to specific situations.

Snow White (Love interest):

Similarly, the relationships you have with the characters of The Wolf Among us will be altered depending upon what is said or done.
For example, Bigby is constantly interacting with Snow White throughout the game and your actions will either harm or help her relationship with Bigby. 

Snow herself begins as a timid and uncertain character, however, depending on how Bigby treats her authority, she becomes more assertive and commanding.
However, as the story continues, Snow takes charge when Ichabod Crane loses power and From then on out, Snow White dramatically changes.
Instead of the would be damsel in distress, Snow becomes Bigby's equal and their relationship flourishes and They work together despite the tension of the current situation.
As Snow White is not a playable character, her personality and actions are set in stone, but her reactions to Bigby's deeds are entirely determined by the players choices within the narrative.
 Interestingly enough, it is implied that Bigby has romantic feelings towards Snow, which is another nod to the comic book roots of these characters.
Ironically if The Wolf Among Us season 2 had been made it would've explored Snow and Bigby further, a few years following the end of their last adventure in season 1.

The Verdict: While the Wolf Among Us season 2 may never see the light of day, it's predecessor and comic books are still around.
For those interested in this obscure fairytale title, I highly recommend playing both the game and reading its established lore. All 150 comic issues are available in graphic novel form on various online sites and second hand comic book shops such as New Dimensions.
 This game is an absolute must buy for anyone who enjoys cult classic Noir. In gaming this genre is often overlooked and has few decent titles to name save for a select few. However, this video game and even those unfamiliar with the comic book series of Fables will enjoy it, along with other Telltale names such as the Walking Dead, Batman, and Tales From the Borderlands.
It is an experience that I can say, without a doubt, will leave you wanting to go back and play again.

Welcome!

This Blog: Hello and welcome to Reviews, Gaming, and Geeky things! Here you'll find posts about the latest games/graphic novels, comic based Tv, movies, and more. Reviews of all kinds exist, from in depth breakdowns to nostalgia posts about some pop culture classics.

About me: I'm a really big nerd of various fandoms, I enjoy everything from Final Fantasy to the wide DC and Marvel universe. I'm very much a cosplayer and geeky gamer myself and enjoy a variety of books and graphic novels such as Lantern City or Sherlock Holmes.

Other things: I love to analyze and break down things from films to symbolism in books.
 I am hoping this blog can be a place where not only will I cover reviews and give my thoughts on the latest gaming news, but I hope to provide thought provoking analytical articles. In turn I also hope to keep everyone up to date with news within the industry. I.e. Gaming Conferences, release dates, etc.

Last Words: As this is the introduction, my last and final hope is that to you all stay geeky, be geeky, and share your geekdom proudly.
-Kind regards to all my fellow geeks, Faith.