Uploaded December 2012 | Updated September 2026, 1 day ago
#58 - This one was a very special commission. Imagine my surprise when I got asked to do a tribute video... for Mercedes Lackey, and her characters Belladonna Aura and Zach Marlowe.
We chatted extensively about what she wanted, hammered out a script based on the storyline she'd given me, and then she cut me loose. "Make me cry," she said. Well, I think she did.
The end of Bella and Zach's story was forced upon Mercedes by the closure of CITY OF HEROES, a game near and dear to both our hearts. For two creative spirits, this was a heartbreaking event for us both. Still, out of sorrow comes something of meaning. I am privileged and grateful that I was able to make this for her, thus preserving a story that might otherwise have been lost.
When she first gave me her script idea, she asked me to use VNV Nation's "Illusion." But I thought of a different piece of music that I believed would work just as well - Poets of the Fall's absolutely beautiful track "Sleep" off the SIGNS OF LIFE album. She told me I was welcome to do it my way as well, so this is the recut version of her video, using "Sleep" instead.
Like my other videos, this one is tagged as Samuraiko Productions, for those who follow my work. Enjoy!
Footage from CITY OF HEROES and CITY OF VILLAINS, used per general permission from NCSoft/Paragon Studios. Music is "Sleep" by Poets. All rights reserved by their respective owners.
"Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use."
#58 - This one was a very special commission. Imagine my surprise when I got asked to do a tribute video... for Mercedes Lackey, and her characters Belladonna Aura and Zach Marlowe.
We chatted extensively about what she wanted, hammered out a script based on the storyline she'd given me, and then she cut me loose. "Make me cry," she said. Well, I think she did.
The end of Bella and Zach's story was forced upon Mercedes by the closure of CITY OF HEROES, a game near and dear to both our hearts. For two creative spirits, this was a heartbreaking event for us both. Still, out of sorrow comes something of meaning. I am privileged and grateful that I was able to make this for her, thus preserving a story that might otherwise have been lost.
When she first gave me her script idea, she asked me to use VNV Nation's "Illusion." But I thought of a different piece of music that I believed would work just as well - Poets of the Fall's absolutely beautiful track "Sleep" off the SIGNS OF LIFE album. She told me I was welcome to do it my way as well, so this is the recut version of her video, using "Sleep" instead.
Like my other videos, this one is tagged as Samuraiko Productions, for those who follow my work. Enjoy!
Footage from CITY OF HEROES and CITY OF VILLAINS, used per general permission from NCSoft/Paragon Studios. Music is "Sleep" by Poets. All rights reserved by their respective owners.
"Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use."
