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cxptain-carol · 5 years ago

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𝐛𝐨𝐲𝐬, 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬 + 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐬 | 𝐥𝐲𝐲

➮ summary: you may be one of the best toy makers the north pole has ever seen but that all changes when yangyang joins your department, determined to dethrone. maybe it would be easier to stay on top if he wasn’t so darn cute.

➮ paring: liu yangyang x fem!reader

➮ word count: 4.7k

➮ warnings: i don’t know a thing about woodworking, swearing, my attempts at world-building, bts’ jin is mentioned?

➮ genre: fluff, light angst

➮ racially inclusive reader

➮ north pole elves!au

➮ a/n: did i write this for myself? yes. is it cheesy and unnecessary? also yes. all that aside, merry christmas and enjoy this mess!

“I think I’d rather be in the candy cane department over doll-making. At least you get food.”

Hendery shook his head as he idly munched on a frosted sugar cookie.

“It’s not even worth it; you have to spend all day dealing with melted sugar and Kun breathing down your neck.” Yangyang nodded, nervously adjusting his red and green hat while they waited.

The warm room was filled with elves of his age group who hadn’t been assigned to a department yet. There was a crackling stone fireplace at the center, and a group of elves Yangyang recognized from his last year of school sat in a circle before it as they laughed and exchanged candy ribbons. Looking around at all the elves who lounged around, curled up on couches eating snacks, no one seemed anxious about the job they’d be assigned as it was (most of the time) carefully thought out by the North Pole’s career committee.

Out of their friend group, Kun had already begun working in the candy cane department. Sicheng worked in gift wrapping and Lucas, who was in the same age group as the remaining three, had been given his job last week as a reindeer trainer.

There were even more options for work, but most elves saw toy-making as the highest honor. It was no secret that North Pole elves loved Christmas more than life itself and spent every day of the year preparing for it. The spirit of giving and spreading holiday cheer was just second nature to them. After finishing school and being assigned a career, elves dedicated the rest of their lives to their craft. Each department had a Head Elf and each unit—which contained multiple departments—was led by a Director who reported to Mr. Claus weekly and kept everything running smoothly.

Kun had become Head Elf in the candy cane department to the surprise of many, but it was well-deserved as he had been taught by his parents from a young age and could work faster than any of the older elves who had most likely become sick of dealing with melted sugar all day.

Yangyang, Xiaojun and Hendery eagerly awaited their assignments as they sat in the crowded room, happily taking advantage of the many treats scattered about: it was the North Pole, of course. Yangyang wondered if there was a chance he could end up in one of the food departments, like baking. Baking was led by Mrs. Claus and was known to be one of the most difficult and precise jobs an elf could have. There was no way he could end up there.

Suddenly, the front door of the hall swung open and a large group of elves entered, all but one of them carrying a little sign with their department written across. She stood in the center of the line, a clipboard in her hand.

“I hope you all are very excited to receive your jobs today!” She beamed and received warm smiles from each elf in the crowd before her: it was unheard of for an elf to be bitter for no reason.

“When I announce a department, I will read the names of the elves who have been assigned there and then I trust you can find the correct representative who will lead you where you’ll be working. In case anyone forgot, it is possible to change your department should a problem arise, just bring it up with you Head Elf and the two of you can speak with the career committee.”

“With that, I will begin with the Department of Candy Canes.”

About five minutes had passed and Yangyang had already heard a few departments he would have liked to be assigned to. As the grandfather clock ticked, he grew a little more impatient but much less particular about which job he’d get.

“Next, Department of Toy Trains: Liu Yangyang…” That was all he heard.

Before he could process it, he was standing up from the couch and making his way over to a rather short elf with neat black hair and a ski-slope nose. A few moments later, Hendery had joined him in line and began making polite conversation with the other elf; Yangyang overheard that his name was Ten.

After the list was complete and the new group being called was sled-builders, Ten led the elves out of the hall and into the snow, where the toy train factory sat atop a hill. They made it there quickly and talked energetically along the way, completely unfazed by the cold. North Pole elves spent their entire lives in freezing temperatures and were practically immune to them.

As Ten reached the front doors of the large building, he raised his fist and knocked out the rhythm of ‘Jingle Bells.’

Much to Yangyang’s surprise, a pretty elf answered the door, flashing a wide smile at the newcomers before ushering them inside.

“Welcome, welcome. This, as you can see, is the wonderful toy train department!” She exclaimed, opening her arms wide as she signaled to look around the room.

At least fifty elves sat at desks in the center of the room, machines lined up on the walls and a large station full of almost every paint color imaginable standing in the corner. To the right of Yangyang was a cart stacked high with intricately carved wood pieces. To the left was a shiny spiral staircase that led to the second level which bordered the walls, twenty or so more elves working up there, some having extremely loud conversations with those on the lower level.

“I think you guys are going to have a great time working here! It’s a lot of fun as long as you follow the rules and aren’t afraid to ask for help. We just got new paints and I’d hate for them to be ruined so please do seek out Ten if you’ll be painting.” She motioned towards Ten who waved politely.

“Today is mostly just a shadow day for you guys, so feel free to sit by anyone if you know them or if you just want to make a new friend; we’re all very friendly here.”

Yangyang hid a chuckle as he watched an elf angrily pluck another’s toy train from his grasp and chuck it into the garbage bin as he huffed about wheels.

“That should be it. Feel free to ask me any questions throughout the day. I’m Y/N, your Head Elf.”

Yangyang smiled back at you and made his way over to Hendery who stood looking around the room for a place to begin. He probably should have done the same, but couldn’t take his eyes off you as you walked over to Ten and started up a conversation. It had only been a few minutes but he was already charmed by the cute little smile you wore as you spoke.

“I see you’re fascinated with Y/N, huh?” Hendery’s voice brought Yangyang back to the task at hand.

“She’s cute,” he responded, strolling between the rows of desks to observe what each elf was doing. While at first toy trains seemed like a boring department, it became clear that a lot of effort went into the models and many of them turned out lovely. The best ones were sitting atop an abandoned desk in the back of the room.

“She’s the youngest Head Elf this department has ever seen. I remember people talking about it; she outdid all of the elves who had been doing this for decades. Just like Kun.” Yangyang nodded, taking a seat at an empty table as he watched the elves work around him. He wanted to gain some knowledge before starting; the last thing he wanted to do was look like a fool in front of the best toy train-maker the North Pole had seen in years.

A few seconds later, you took your seat in the back of the room next to Yangyang at the one desk he had been eyeing for minutes now. Humming to yourself, he watched as you gingerly picked up a handful of colorful train cars and carried them to the painting station. He quietly walked over to watch from the side as you sprayed them with sealant and and set them to dry on a floor to ceiling shelf that had to have been holding hundreds of little cars.

You wiped your hands on the front of your apron and adjusted your hat before turning to the boy who had been watching you.

“So, what looks the most interesting? Personally I love the details: carving and painting little designs. Ten’s pretty good at painting in general and there are many skilled woodworkers in here in case that’s more your speed. If you’re a little overwhelmed you can always sit with Eugene over there and make your first wheel and axle.”

A round-faced elf waved joyfully at Y/N at the mention of his name.

“I think I’ll just stick to watching you. I gotta learn from the pros,” Yangyang replied coolly.

“Oh, stop it.” You waved your hand at his compliment and sat back down at your desk, picking up a blank wooden car and your chisel. Yangyang pulled up a chair next to your desk and sat beside you, examining silently as you worked.

You lightly sanded the smooth surface of the car’s side and brought your chisel to it, delicately carving a swirl. The swirl was soon connected to another one in the opposite direction which framed a cluster of holly berries and three leaves. You brushed away the wood shavings and set the car aside, picking up another one. Yangyang was in awe.

“How did you do that so quickly? That was so neat; I thought you only started last year!” You chuckled humbly and it was one of the sweetest sounds he had ever heard.

“Just practice.” You shrugged.

A tall brunet elf with silver-rimmed glasses walked by your desk and leaned over to see your steadily growing pile of cars.

“Looks great, Y/N.” He shot you a thumbs up and you smiled in return. Yangyang was still busy admiring your woodworking skills.

“Yangyang, would you like to try carving something?” You offered, holding out your chisel and a blank car. He happily took them and went to work, swiftly outlining a frame on the car with a pencil before pushing the chisel tip into the wood. He tried his best to keep his hands steady and stay on the line but under your watchful gaze, he faltered. What was supposed to be a perfect line was now bumpy.

“That’s normal at first. Let me help.” You stood up behind his chair and took his hands inside yours, keeping them firm and stable as you guided the chisel tip to carve out a straight line parallel to the rim at the top of the car. Yangyang was trying to focus on your technique but couldn’t; you were so close he could smell sawdust and the bitter scent of wet paint that lingered on your apron.

With newfound confidence, Yangyang successfully carved four frames around the faces of the car and showed them to you with a proud smile on his face.

“That looks great!” You patted his shoulder before standing up from the table. “Sorry Yangyang, but I think I have to help the others out now.”

He nodded, a little sad that you had to leave, but waved as you made your way to the front of the room, a spring in your step.

“Is there anything I can do to get her to pay attention to me?”

Hendery looked out at the darkening sky, sifting through soft snow with his fingers and tilted his head a to the left with a pout.

“No, probably not.”

Yangyang threw his head back and groaned.

“Give it a rest. You’ve known her for one day and think you two are gonna end up together? She seems a lot more focused on toy trains than dating, honestly.” Yangyang’s head shot up.

“That’s it! I’ll get really good at that and impress her!”

Hendery chuckled. “It sounds more like you’re trying to outshine her, not impress her.” He lazily picked up a ball of snow and tossed it at his conflicted friend.

Lying in the snow beside Hendery, Yangyang thought hard about his plan. He wanted you to like him; you just were so interesting to him. While he had started the day nervous about the job he’d be assigned, he was ending it entirely bewildered by Department Head Y/N.

“What’d you think of the newbies?” Ten asked with a lollipop between his lips as he hopped up to sit on a vacant desk. The factory hadn’t opened yet and you two were preparing for the day’s work.

“They seem normal,” you replied nonchalantly.

It was too early for you to tell your best friend, but you undoubtedly felt something for the bright-eyed Yangyang you met yesterday. He was just too cute for his own good.

Ten eyed you suspiciously.

“You like Yangyang.”

“Shut up,” you mumbled through your embarrassed smile. Attempting to drown out the sound of Ten’s laughter, you rushed to the back to organize the paints. Ten slowly followed suit, grabbing an apron from the rack and tying it around his waist.

“When do you want to start keeping track of inventory?” Ten pulled the lollipop out of his mouth and cocked his head to one side.

“Today,” you replied definitively. You grabbed your clipboard from its hook on the wall and tucked it in the crook of your arm. Adjusting your elf’s uniform, you ran to the front doors and checked your watch.

“And we’re on in 3, 2, 1!” You pulled the doors open and the usual workers entered in a neat line, Yangyang and Hendery in the back, much to your surprise.

“Nice to see you two up bright and early! Most of the new recruits are late their first day back,” you sighed before marking their names as present. The two waited awkwardly in front of you as you flipped through your papers, finally landing on the right one.

“Okay, so the both of you will be working with Ten on paints today.” You flipped the pages back and smiled. Yangyang looked defeated at the news.

“Oh, and don’t forget,” you turned to the rest of the room. “I’ll be checking to make sure all meet today’s quota. 100 finished trains each.” The announcement was met with nothing but joy, and few shouts of “Sure thing, Y/N!”

You watched as Yangyang followed Ten to the back of the room and put on an apron. After checking a few more elves in for the day, you made your way over to your desk and sat down, picking up an unfinished train car and attaching a little black chimney. Twenty more now donned tiny ebony chimneys and you were on your twenty-first when Yangyang sat down at the desk beside you.

He waved but quickly turned to back his work. Curious, you stood up from your seat and began to study him, He had collected fifty or so blank train cars atop his desk and was carving in little details. They weren’t as good as yours, you noticed, but they were better than what you expected from most elves.

As the days counted on and Christmas came closer, you grew attached to Yangyang but not in the way you expected. He was getting increasingly better at toy-making and met his quota every day, something you didn’t expect from a newcomer. He worked quickly and made seemingly perfect trains.

You started to hate it, just a little bit.

One day in late December, you and Ten sat casually eating candy after the factory had closed. You two had loosened your aprons and taken off your hats as you curled up on the pair of armchairs nestled in the back of the room, discussing the day.

“Did you exceed the quota today?” You asked, practically falling asleep as you talked. That day, you worked extra hard and carved 50 more cars than you needed, just to make sure Yangyang didn’t outrank you. In the recent weeks he began consistently exceeding quotas, but never managed to do better than you, something that you took pride in.

“Yeah, I went fifteen over but I think you should go see how Yangyang did,” Ten replied in a mischievous tone that did not go unnoticed. Puzzled, you stood up from the chair and went to bulletin board hung up across the room. You spotted your name first.

Department Head Y/F/N: 250

You smirked to yourself before finding Yangyang’s name.

Liu Yangyang: 275

Your eyes widened and didn’t revert back until your feet had carried you back over to Ten where you began pacing back and forth.

"How could he beat me? I mean, I’m Head Elf, not him and Mr. Claus himself recognized my skills!” Ten was thoroughly enjoying himself as he watched you break the situation down. Secretly, he believed you needed to be knocked down a peg sometime.

“I mean, I’m on track to be the Director of Toy-Making next year after some training in figurines and stuffed animals! This is just making me look bad!” You said all of this very fast.

“Relax, Y/N. He’s not taking your job anytime soon. If anything, I think he likes you.” Ten smirked.

“How?”

He sighed, sitting up in the armchair.

“It’s obvious; he’s probably just trying to catch your attention.”

You had calmed down but Ten’s statement left you even more confused as you looked around the room, taking note of the time as your gaze landed on the grandfather clock.

“Well, if he thinks surpassing me at my talent is going to make me fall for him, he really needs to get his shit together.”

With a chuckle, Ten tossed his candy wrapper in the garbage bin and grabbed his coat off the rack, leaving you you overthink in peace.

“Good morning, Y/N!” Yangyang piped up from the desk beside you.

“Morning,” you responded blankly. You had planned out your whole day the night before: you needed 325 cars painted by closing time. There was no way Yangyang could beat that. You had woken up extra early and got to the factory before Ten to make sure everything was ready at your desk. Despite how trivial it was, you even dressed up in your favorite red suspender dress with a soft green sweater and matching leggings underneath to keep you warm.

You both worked side by side at the painting station for a few hours before either of you decided to address the elephant in the room.

“What are you playing at?” You suddenly turned to Yangyang, setting down your crimson-dipped paintbrush.

“Hmm?” He faked a clueless look and you rolled your eyes.

“Why are you doing this?”

He cocked his head to one side and let out an exasperated sigh.

“I know it may seem like it, but I’m not trying to upstage you, Y/N. I’m just trying to be the best toy-maker I can.”

You chuckled and moved closer to Yangyang to bump him with your shoulder.

“You’re annoying,” you stated, even though you still wore a tiny smile on your lips which didn’t go unnoticed by him.

“But I also have more cars done than you, so…” He trailed off, smugly motioning at the drastically different size of your piles. You gasped and began working faster, prompting him to laugh. In the corner of your eye you saw Ten and Hendery eye you two curiously.

“Your dress is cute, by the way,” Yangyang said suddenly. You didn’t look up at him; your cheeks had already begun heating up.

“Thanks,” you replied. Even without an upward glance, you were almost positive there was shit-eating grin on his face in that moment.

The awkward silence after that only lasted for a minute or so before Yangyang broke it abruptly.

“You know, if you don’t finish today, I’d be happy to take over as Department-”

“Yangyang!”

You shook your head, tut-tutting at his antics. You picked up another car and swiped your brush across it lightly, watching as the blank surface turned vibrant and bold. You knew you’d never get tired of toy-making when it brightened up the world like this.

“Hey, Y/N, could you grab another paintbrush for me?” Yangyang motioned towards the cabinets a few steps away. Pretending to be irritated, you sighed loudly and strolled over, swinging open a marked door and grabbing a brush. Yangyang had already made his way over to take it from you but as you turned to look at him, his eyes were transfixed on something above your heads.

“Well, oops.” Yangyang giggled at the awkward situation, while you were flat-out lost. Finally catching on, you lifted your gaze and saw it. Mistletoe.

“I mean, you wouldn’t disregard a holiday tradition, would you Y/N?” He jokingly took a step closer.

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” You stepped in, holding your breath. The small space between you two had your heart beating so fast you could hear it, despite the whirring of the machines and the loud conversations that filled the room. Without thinking, you raised your arm.

Before he could react, you had swiped your wet paintbrush across his cheek and were running away, the heartwarming sound of your laughter trailing behind you.

There was far less tension between you two these days. Nearly all of your time was spent side by side, working diligently with a conversation every now and then. You found yourself slowly becoming infatuated with Yangyang; his youthful demeanor, his comforting voice, and his skilled hands. Even though it was nearing Christmas, you couldn’t seem to help that you were far too distracted by him.

However, your newly formed crush didn’t stop the competitive nature of your relationship. You two never ceased to tease each other and your days were filled with constant one-upping. While it was fun, even Ten noticed that your efficient ways had begun slipping away. Most days, you were barely meeting your quota.

“Something has to be done about Yangyang.” You bit down hard on your bottom lip as you sat atop a vacant table in the back of the factory. There was no response.

“Ten?” You looked around. You could've sworn he was sitting right next to you. With a sigh, you spotted him chatting up Hendery by the front door.

You hopped off the desk, adjusting the candy cane held tightly between your teeth and brushing off your uniform before you sat down at your own table. There sat an empty crate which you slid in front of you, happily picking up finished trains and packing them inside. You gently cradled a little orange train in your palm, admiring the pretty little rainbow you had carved just days prior. Only a few more days and all the toys in the North Pole’s factories would be delivered to the children of the world.

But as it usually does, time flew past like a feather-light snowflake in the wind and for the first time, were you not prepared. All that playful banter with Yangyang over the past few weeks really set you back, and now here you were, two days before Christmas.

You had closed the factory and said goodbye to everyone that evening, tidying up the facility as no one would be working there the next day: all elves celebrated Christmas Eve in the town square or visited the Claus house to help prepare Santa for his big journey. The partying only stopped on Christmas day when all the elves went back to their school or their jobs.

It was in the silence that you sat down to do your work. You had been calculating everything throughout the course of that day and it brought you to learn that you had 100 trains to finish by the crack of dawn.

A tear threatened to fall from your watering eyes but you blinked it away—it was a hard pill to swallow, but you got distracted and had to pay the price.

As you slowly picked up a wooden car, your tired hands dug your chisel into the polished plane, carving out a heart. At the sound of icy winds rattling the windows, you shook, your hand faltering and creating a faint scratch down its center.

You sighed out, rubbing your temples as you stared at the pile of unfinished cars before you. That stubborn tear was on the brink of escape until you heard a noise at the front door.

Maybe it was Director Jin? He could’ve seen that the lights were still on, you pondered. Jingling your keys in your hand, you ran over to unlock the door.

Lo and behold, in all his rosy-cheeked and messy-haired glory, it was Yangyang.

“Y/N,” he said, breathless from the cold. “Hey.”

“W-Why are you here?” You questioned, stepping back to let him in. You blinked as the cold air pierced you through your fur-lined sweater and tickled your legs until the heavy door shut loudly, causing you to jump.

“Ten told me you were staying after and I wanted to help,” he admitted, nervously shoving his hands into his pockets. You let his words sink in slowly as he waited for a response.

Tears brimmed in your eyes as you launched forward, tightly wrapping your arms around him. He froze at the sudden contact but you felt him loosen up and wiggle his arms out of your grip to hug you back. You two stood like that for what felt like hours, just drowning in the warmth and comfort of each other. Like it wasn’t a competition between a novice and an expert; it was just Yangyang and Y/N.

You regretted letting go as soon as you broke apart but held onto his hand as you dragged him to the back of the room were you had been sitting just minutes prior. He took the seat beside yours and watched intently as you picked up your second chisel and a blank car before handing them to him.

“Could you carve and then I’ll paint? Things will go a little bit faster if we do separate tasks, I think.” You thought out loud as you sifted through the mess on your desk looking for your paintbrush.

“Y/N, look.” You spun around to see what Yangyang held out.

Carved in the side of the train car was a neat rectangle, inside lay a cluster of holly berries and two swirly lines.

“Beautiful,” you said, looking up into Yangyang’s eyes.

“Not as good as what you can do,” he mumbled, setting the car down on the desk.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” You yelled jokingly. “You’re amazing!”

“Y/N, I know you’re trying to be humble but you’re literally Head Elf here. You’re like the best of the best.”

You shook your head, your gentle gaze focused Yangyang as you scooted your chair over closer to him.

“And you still managed to outdo me at least ten times this month.” You grinned with satisfaction as his cheeks turned pink.

“About that,” he began, a hint of fear in his voice. You motioned for him to keep talking.

“Well, I may have completely overworked myself to try and impress you.”

You took a second to process his confession before bursting out into laughter.

“Me? Impress me? I was scared you were gonna take my job!” You shook your head in disbelief, an exaggerated ‘humph!’ leaving your lips.

“So, did it work?” Yangyang’s eyes lit up in anticipation as your face changed. You pulled your chair even closer to him and looked into his eyes.

“Yangyang, you didn’t have to wear yourself out to catch my attention,” you hand softly cupped his cheek as you leaned in.

“I was already falling for you.”

You sealed the last syllable as you pressed your lips to his cheek, leaving behind a smudge of glitter from your lip gloss. You leaned back in your seat, shyly looking away as you felt your cheeks heat up. With a tired sigh, Yangyang pulled you back into him, where you happily rested your face on his shoulder. It was only when you heard the grandfather clock’s ticking in your ear that you sat up.

“Not only that, but we’re also falling behind schedule.”

With laughter filling the room, you two happily began working on the trains once again. As the wind howled outside and bells rang out from the town square, you and Yangyang stayed awake for hours, painting, carving, talking and kissing until the pale pink ribbons of day broke the open the darkness and painted the sky, falling peacefully across the North Pole. Even when you two emerged from the factory far too exhausted to celebrate, you knew you’d never regret the time you spent that night, forgetting the worries of world as you basked in the pure serenity of being with him, something so much better than the satisfaction any fancy title could ever give you.

#nct fluff #nct blurbs #nct #nct yangyang #wayv imagines #wayv yangyang #yangyang #yangyang x reader #yangyang blurbs #wayv #wayv fluff #liu yangyang #nct scenarios #wayv scenarios #nct christmas #christmas!au

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mst3kproject · 6 years ago

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521: Santa Claus

Ever since they included a Christmas episode in the first Netflix season, I have been slowly coming to terms with the fact that this blog will not live long enough for me to do all the Christmas movies on Christmas. Might as well get on with it. This one goes out to @casualcollectorlightme.

It’s Christmas Eve, and Santa Claus is setting off on his annual trip to take gifts to the children of the world. He’s anticipating trouble: a demon named Pitch has been ordered to stop him. If nobody gets any presents, then the children of Mexico won’t see any point in being good, and will turn to evil en masse! Can Santa, with his friends Merlin the wizard and Vulcan the smith, thwart Pitch’s wicked plot and save Christmas?

My favourite thing about this movie is its weird portrayal of Santa, and for once I actually can explain why it fascinates me. If you’ve ever seen the movie Mothra, you probably had a good laugh at the bit set in the foreign land of Rolisica, which shows us what Japanese people in the 60’s thought Americans were like (if you haven’t seen it then for heaven’s sake do so – it’s funny as hell). Santa Claus is kind of a whole movie about that, because when it was made in 1959, Santa wasn’t really a thing in Mexico. The film was an attempt to import him, and so we get to see our beloved Christmas traditions through the eyes of a people who aren’t very familiar with them.

We begin with a tour of Santa’s workshop, which is not actually at the North Pole, but floating in space somewhere above it. In American Christmas movies the toy factory would be staffed by elves, but this one goes for another short, energetic option: children from around the world, in the form of a parade of offensive stereotypes embodied by tone-deaf six-year-olds. This is very strange, not only because they all seem to be singing in the snow rather than working, but because we find ourselves unavoidably wondering who these kids are. Where are their parents, and how did they end up in Santa’s custody? Are they orphans he took in, or is this some kind of mass kidnapping operation? Do they get an education? What happens to them when they grow up?

When you give it a moment’s thought, however, this setup actually makes more sense than elves. What the hell are elves, after all? Where do they come from and why do they work for Santa? Nobody ever asks that, because it’s just part of the mythology (and when movies do try to offer answers they’re almost always weird and disappointing). You might as well ask why the Easter Bunny is a rabbit. That’s just how it works. If you haven’t grown up hearing about it, though, the idea that orphaned children get raised by Santa, helping to bring joy to the rest of the world… that's messed-up, but it works.

The same applies to Santa’s collection of magical surveillance equipment, which looks like something out of a Salvador Dali sugar high. American Christmas films, like the classic Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer or even Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, rarely go into how Santa sees you when you’re sleeping and knows when you’re awake. Again, he just does. Because Santa was something new to the Mexican film-makers, though, they felt like they had to explain it. Their attempt tried for whimsy but took a wrong turn and ended up smack in the middle of fucking creepy.

It’s creepy in several ways, too. I mean, the giant lips that speak in the voices of children’s wishes are an awful image, but there’s also the fact that Santa is spying on you directly. He’s watching your dreams. He’s listening to your whispered conversations. He’s reading your fanfiction. The Three Naughty Boys discuss how they don’t believe in any of this and Santa speaks to them, informing him that he knows very well what they’re planning! Santa is Big Brother, always watching – and this is true of the ordinary concept of Santa Claus, too! We sometimes make jokes about this but it seems harmless to us because we never delve into the details the way this movie does.

This thread of explaining things we don’t normally think need explanation runs through other areas of the movie as well. Why does nobody ever wake up and see Santa Claus? Why don’t our dogs bark at him? Because he’s got a sleeping powder and a magic flower that can make him invisible. If that were as far as it went, then it wouldn’t be too strange. I can see similar things appearing in something like a The Santa Clause sequel… except that there, they would probably have been made by the elves. Since Santa Claus does not have mechanically (or dentally) gifted elves, it needs to provide another origin. Hence the inclusion of Merlin the Magician and Vulcan the Smith, which seems like a weird juxtaposition of mythology to us, but as far as the Mexicans know they’re all ‘American’ so they’re close enough.

Santa Claus also feels obliged to confront the awkward question of class differences. Santa is supposed to be an egalitarian figure: he doesn’t care if you’re rich or poor, only if you’ve behaved yourself. Poor kids should therefore get just as many presents as rich kids, which is manifestly not true in the real world. Most American movies just pretend everybody is middle-class and ignore the issue completely. Santa Claus tries to do something with it and the results are once again, weird.

There is, for example, the never-named Rich Boy who is tired of toys and just wants to know his parents love him. Santa makes his wish come true by drugging Madre and Padre into heading home from their Christmas Eve out, and the question of whether he got any other gifts is never brought up. The nearest thing the movie has to a main human character, however, is adorable little Lupita, whose father is out of work. She wants a doll for Christmas and frankly any doll will do – she struggles with the idea of stealing a rag doll from a craft market, but puts it back, and Santa rewards her by bringing her a doll her parents could never afford.

And that’s nice, but what message does it send to all the well-behaved children in the real world whose parents can’t afford to buy them anything fancy? That they weren’t good enough? That they didn’t write a nice enough letter or say a nice enough prayer? That Santa just doesn’t give a shit? There’s a reason most Christmas movies don’t touch on this.

The specific doll Santa brings to Lupita also kind of bugs me… it’s just not a good present for a child like her. Lupita is around five or six years old. She needs a doll she can cuddle, play with, and carry around with her, like the one from the market. The one she gets is as big as she is and wearing a fancy dress. That’s not a toy, that’s a piece of décor. It’s the doll that sits in the rocking chair in your grandmother’s living room and which you swear you can see move out of the corner of your eye. It’s not huggable, if she takes it anywhere it’ll get dirty or broken, and there’s a cynical part of me that thinks her parents probably sold it the next day so that they could buy food or pay the rent on their hovel or something.

Then there’s Santa’s adversary. American Christmas movies pit Santa against bad weather, other supernatural entities like Jack Frost, and ordinary grouches like Phineas Prune. In this movie, the villain is the devil. This does, I guess, make a certain amount of sense, since Santa is dedicated to rewarding well-behaved children while Satan wants to collect the souls of the wicked, but we’re just not used to this meeting of religious and secular imagery. Christmas is a Christian feast pinned to the ass of a much older Pagan solstice festival and it has never managed to really do away with this duality. Most people keep the Christian and folk sides of Christmas pretty separate, but here we see them collide head-on.

Finally there’s the stuff that’s just plain terrifying. Like the creepy laughing reindeer. Or the rather complicated explanation of why Santa must make it home before sunrise. When the sun comes up, the mechanical reindeer will turn to dust, leaving Santa unable to return to his palace in outer space. What will happen then? Why, he’ll starve to death, because Santa and his helpers subsist on sweets made from clouds and stardust, and cannot digest normal food! Wait, the toy-making children, too? What does happen to them when they grow up? Can they return to Earth and start eating burgers like the rest of us, or do they remain children in Santa’s bondage forever? I told you this movie was weird.

Santa Claus is not as enjoyable in its own train-wrecky right as its Martian-Conquering cousin, but it is my favourite of the MST3K Christmas episodes. The movie itself is cheerful and the host sketches are a positive delight. I particularly love everybody’s joy at the terrible Secret Santa presents, and their all-inclusive seasonal song that distilled tumblr to its essence decades before tumblr ever existed. The very best part, however, is the awesome Christmas mods they did for the bots. I love the snowglobe in Tom Servo’s head, and here I am once again helpless to articulate why it’s so damn funny.

#mst3k #reviews #santa claus #holiday reviews #(sort of)#50s #just fuckin weird

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walkingshcdow-a · 6 years ago

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🔥 gimme the salt on poto

Satly Saturday | Buckle Up. | Accepting!

Do you want ALL THE SALT or just some of it? Because i feel like I could write a dissertation on everything wrong with PotO and, more specifically, the Phandom and be only a diploma shy from my doctorate.

One of the things I’m incredibly angry about is that it is still an “unpopular opinion” that Meg Giry is anything but blonde and white. In the novel, she is described as “swarthy” with dark hair and eyes, but even if that were not the case, who does it harm to headcanon her as a WoC? I think it is much more damaging to ascribe white traits and white traits only to her, not only because in the Leroux text, she is not white, but because other interpretations of PotO, whether they be the stage show or a roleplay portrayal, should be more open to diversity in general. The world is diverse. And the world was diverse in the 19th century. Historians, novelists, and filmmakers tend to whitewash history and create a false monolith of Europe and the Americas, except when it furthers a particular narrative (typically revolving around the American South, even when the American South has no bearing on a story, like PotO, which takes place in a different country altogether). It’s disgusting.

The thing that gets me, though, is that the Phandom largely just accepts that Meg Giry is white and blonde. That’s the way it is in the stage show and since stage shows (and their subsequent film adaptations) are visual mediums, whereas novels rely on imagination, it’s “easier” to use images from the show to make aesthetics, fan art, etc. about Meg. It’s pure laziness most of the time; ignorance in other instances. This, to me, is dangerous in a different way than adamantly demanding Meg Be White for thinly veiled reasons tied up in racism. We know the latter is wrong. We take people to task on the latter. We demand more and better from our fandoms than casual, but intentional, racism. When it’s unintentional… or when it’s intentional because 99 percent of media including Meg Giry whitewashes her, we still hit that like button or that reblog button, instead of demanding better from our fandoms. I’m not calling for people to spam content creators with vitriol over their blonde, cherubic Meg Girys. I am calling for people to create more black Meg Girys, more Asian Meg Girys, more Jewish Meg Girys, more Latina Meg Girys, more Middle Eastern Meg Girys. Take what precious little Leroux gave us about her and expand your interpretation. Be kind to interpretations that are racially/ethnically different than the norm, or even than your own. The headcanons someone is posting about a Romani Meg Giry might be their way of connecting their own heritage to the text, of seeking representation that was hinted at in the book and destroyed in later interpretations. The fan art of a black Meg Giry might be a young woman’s way of seeing herself or her friends or her sisters in an art form (ballet) that has traditionally been unkind to WoC. Meg as a woman of color is so important - especially when you dare to mash up Leroux with ALW because the traits they each give her, when put together, create a complex and nuanced young woman that anyone might be happy to identify with. Whitewashing her takes that opportunity away from fans, especially young fans, who do not otherwise see themselves reflected in this beautiful melodrama. Ad who wants to be the gate keeper to a world of fun and joy? The ones we should be taking to task are the casting directors of PotO productions - especially in the US and UK, since those shows are most widely seen and publicized. Not just the ALW show (although I do hold the ALW show responsible for whitewashing Meg in the first place), but future productions of PotO by other creators.

I also think that for people who aren’t fans of Meg, who don’t pay her much mind, don’t understand why this is such a contentious issue for those of us who love her, whether we love her from Leroux, Webber, or another iteration. For me, the version I take issue with is the ALW version… largely because I believe ALW Meg to be a composite of Meg Giry, La Sorelli, and Cecile Jammes from the Leroux novel. You see traits of each woman reflected in ALW Meg. She’s aged up, perhaps not prima ballerina, but a principal dancer. She’s superstitious, but level-headed. Kind, almost maternal, but bubbly and fun. She’s bold and fascinated by the strange goings-on around her. If ALW had wanted to give her the blonde, blue-eyed good looks of a Barbie Doll, he would have done better to name her after Jammes, who has a peaches and cream complexion in the novel. He could have even named her after Sorelli, though this move would have been more difficult, since Sorelli was a principal dancer and not the daughter of one of Erik’s employees. No. He chose to name her after Meg Giry and elevate her to secondary character status. The least he could have done was make her look the part. It would not have been the first time a principal cast member in an ALW was a PoC. Ben Vereen played Judas in the Broadway debut of JCS. So, why so scared to cast a black woman (or, really, any WoC) as Meg Giry? Come on, ALW. Would it have been so hard? It could have started the conversation about race in period dramas or the conversation about racism in the fine arts (especially ballet) twenty or thirty years earlier. And even if it didn’t, PotO would still be the beautiful leviathan it is today.

Of course, I know that in a post-LND world, a lot of people have bigger complaints about Meg Giry’s treatment in modern stagings. I agree with them - the characterization of Meg Giry in LND is painful to watch. It’s inconsistent with what we know of her in the original show; it certainly is divorced from the novel in all ways. The flaws with Meg’s character in LND have nothing to do with the fact that she’s made into a sex worker (although that choice is questionable from a narrative standpoint, not a moral one. What does it add to Meg’s arc that she sold herself to help buy Phantasma? The implication that we’re meant to see her as lesser than Christine for it is the real moral quandary, But I digress). Rather, the flaws with Meg’s character stem from her being inconsistent with all previous and recognizable versions of her character and with the anti-feminist need to pit two women, who were previously the best of friends, against each other over a man… Not even a man who treats one or both of them right… like… it pits two best friends against each other over an abusive narcissist. It does no characters any favors, least of all poor Meg, who is made out to be needy, jealous, emotionally unstable… It does a poor job getting from Point A to Point B.

This bastardization of Meg’s character would probably seem like a great bullet to dodge, insofar as representation goes. I think it would be absolutely disgusting to cast a black woman as LND Meg, due to all the negative stereotyping that would end up clouding even the best performance. However, LND was not the commercial or critical success ALW hoped it would be. Not even close. It underwent a lot of rewritings, still was not highly successful, and (by and large) disappoints both fans of the original story and newcomers to the PotO story. It is nowhere near the cultural phenomenon that PotO is. And so, then, again I ask - why have we not seen a WoC in the role of Meg? It’s only very recently that we’ve seen PoC in the roles of Christine, the Phantom, and Raoul. Meg is still depicted as white. I’m hoping that the trend of diversifying Broadway is more than a trend, but instead a cultural shift in how Broadway appeals to the masses. I hope to see a WoC play Meg (and Madame Giry, who I’ve neglected to mention until now, woops) within my lifetime.

Honestly, I think that I only really started thinking about this critically two years ago when my Salt Squad and I got talking about representation in the Phandom, particularly in the RPC. I was rereading Leroux at the time and meditating on Kay (as one does) in my spare time and it occurred to me that if I wanted to see some change in the Phandom, I had to be a part of the side I wanted to see prevail. I had to be some of the change I wanted to see in the Phandom. So I took up Meg as a muse. I’m starting to see more and more racially diverse Megs in the Phandom and that thrills me. I want to @fillescharmxnt because her Meg is what I aspired for mine to be in so many ways. There are plenty of other fanartists, fic writers, and aesthetic makers who are doing such great things with recontextualizing Meg Giry for the 21st century.

I do want to include this disclaimer, though: just because someone is roleplaying, writing, drawing, headcanoning Meg as white, doesn’t mean that their ideas are without merit. There are plenty of very talented artists, writers, and bloggers who depict Meg as white. My goal is not to shame them - a lot of them do great work, both from a technical and emotional standpoint - but rather to invite them to the conversation about Meg Giry, race, and representation. I urge these fans to challenge their notions about Meg Giry and to be open to accepting ideas that are different from theirs. Even those of us who HC Meg as a WoC enjoy and support content with blonde Meg (like… can we talk about the Brazilian actress with the freckles?!). All I ask is that fans of white Meg Giry enjoy and support content with black/Asian/Jewish/Romani/Latina/Middle Eastern/Other Meg Giry in return.

Fans can question the media they consume. Fans can challenge the media they consume. But at the end of the day, it is the media that we create and ask to be created that make the most difference. The only way media gets created is if there is a demand for. Be willing to demand a more inclusive, more historically accurate depiction of Meg Giry and you will be rewarded with a creative explosion of fan created content.

#asks #meme response #((this is not what you asked for is it?))#tw: racism #fictioncoxnt

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fqtoxicity · 6 years ago

Text

New Post has been published on My Quin Story

New Post has been published on http://www.myquinstory.info/speak-comfort-to-me-jacob/

Speak Comfort to Me Jacob

Warning

This article deals with themes that some readers may find disturbing so reading discretion is advised. For those of you that continue, you will find some very good information plus exclusive access to a very damming document on the pharmaceutical industry.

Speaking Comfort

Ah, Dickens’ famous “Christmas Carol.” Who hasn’t seen this classic at least once in their lives and many watch it religiously every year. One particularly poignant part is where the ghost of Scrooge’s former partner, Jacob Marley, frighteningly confronts Scrooge in the dank, dark rooms of Scrooge’s London abode.

Cowering in fear Scrooge cries out “Jacob! Old Jacob Marley, tell me more! Speak comfort to me, Jacob!” With that the ghost candidly replies, “I have none to give.”

This line echoes in my mind almost daily. Why? Well, frankly I get asked to speak comfort to someone almost daily. Despite the lull times in advocacy throughout the fluoroquinolone (FQ) community the never-ending stream of contacts by those newly or chronically floxed goes on. This last week I was averaging at least a new contact a day, either from someone who was recently floxed, had connected the dots in their long battle with health problems, or a family member of someone suffering.

Many times, the folks are scared, some half out of their wits, and almost all are asking for me to speak comfort to them.

Yes, I do feel terrible.

Yes, I do sympathize with their predicament, having been there myself.

I reach down and struggle to find what words of comfort I can, but I cannot lie. I will not. Often, like Marley, I have no comfort to give. The truth and comfort collide. FQ Toxicity aka FQAD is ugly. It’s terrible. And for some, it’s hell on earth.

While it is true that some do heal or at least gain some semblance of normalcy in their lives, the hard-cold truth is, for many, that it does not go away, or worse yet comes back after they thought it was gone. I am so sick of seeing this happen to good people. This is why I maintain this website as opposed to just walking away.

You see, I have learned enough about this condition, for myself. I have made enough contacts and know enough about my own health problems brought on by FQAD to walk away for good.

But then comes along one more, another victim, shocked and reeling, wondering how this could have happened to them. From doctors to average folks, they come looking for answers, directions, and comfort. Some answers I do have and I can usually point them in the right direction. Comfort on the other hand, that is a hard one to sell. I can express my sorrow and show brotherly love, I can share statistics, but I cannot promise them that it will be okay; that everything will be alright.

What makes this a tragedy of epic proportion is that it is hiding in plain sight. How one of the most commonly prescribed antibiotics is undermining the health of the world. And no one suspects, UNTIL it is too late and happens to them or a loved one.

Maybe We Should Just Remove Them

I used to be a proponent of allowing the FQ’s to remain on the market. To allow them to be used in institutionalized setting with informed consent in life or death situations. But responsible use of the FQ’s is eluding us and is nowhere on the horizon.

Take Levaquin for instance, it is still massively prescribed, with doctors doling out 32 million prescriptions for the drug only in the US in 2015 (1). Despite warnings and a admirable and loud outcry, the prescription rate only dropped about 10% in 2016 (1), with around 30 million still be dolled out.

“It turns my stomach,” as John Way used to so powerfully say.

On my website, My Quin Story, I have a small poll in the right hand column that asks, “Were you previously Floxed, thought you recovered, only to have symptoms reappear later?”

Of the respondents so far 91 people or 96% have answered yes, while a mere 4 or 4% have answered no. To be fair, the website deals with those chronically impacted by the FQ’s, but I get my fair share of the newly floxed as well. I am sure the numbers will change but you get the general idea. People’s live are being permanently altered.

The Crux of the Problem

One of the most damming documents I have read in a while comes from the Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics from 2013. The article is titled “Institutional Corruption of Pharmaceuticals and the Myth of Safe and Effective Drugs.” The three authors are from Harvard, Rowan, and York Universities. The title speaks for itself but let me quote the introduction, “Institutional corruption is a normative concept of growing importance that embodies the systemic dependencies and informal practices that distort an institution’s societal mission. An extensive range of studies and lawsuits already documents strategies by which pharmaceutical companies hide, ignore, or misrepresent evidence about new drugs; distort the medical literature; and misrepresent products to prescribing physicians. We focus on the consequences for patients: millions of adverse reactions. After defining institutional corruption, we focus on evidence that it lies behind the epidemic of harms and the paucity of benefits.” (2)

The “paucity” of benefits. In other words, an epidemic of adverse events versus few benefits.

Documented in this paper is the shocking statistic: 30 Adverse Drugs Reactions occur for every one that leads to hospitalization. About 81 million side effects are currently experienced every year by the 170 million American who use pharmaceuticals. (2)

You can read this shocking article here.

One of the authors Donald W. Light, from the Edmond J Safra Center for Ethics and Harvard University, also wrote an article in 2014 entitled “New Prescription Drugs: A Major Health Risk With Few Offsetting Advantages.”

In this article he writes, “The pharmaceutical industry refers constantly to its “R&D pipeline” of new drugs under development. But there is a second, parallel pipeline—the trial-journal pipeline. It consists of randomized clinical trials designed with the marketing departments to produce evidence that their drugs are more effective and safer than unbiased trials would show. Commercially funded clinical trials are at least 2.5 times more likely to favor the sponsor’s drug than non-commercially funded trials. The FDA accepts these biased trials and uses them to approve drugs.” (3)

While some of us in the FQ community are resting on our laurels there is the silent pushback happening against our meager strides forward.

Despite our communities’ valiant past efforts, I, and a few others, have noted that the term FQAD (Fluoroquinolone Associated Disability), which was coined by the FDA on November 5, 2015 is being slowly redacted across the Internet.

In addition, you remember those commercially funded clinical trials that Donald W. Light mentioned above? Here is one sponsored by Janssen Research & Development, LLC to study FQAD.

They are going to study participants who were exposed to an oral fluoroquinolone (FQ) with an occurrence start between 2007-01-01 and 2015-12-31 (inclusive) and are between 18 and 65 years of age (inclusive). Participants exposed to an oral FQ will be observed. The oral FQ included are Levofloxacin, Ciprofloxacin, Moxifloxacin, Ofloxacin, Gemifloxacin. Participants will not receive any intervention as a part of this study.

The official title of the clinical trial is: Fluoroquinolone Associated Disability

The Study runs from May 17, 2018 through July 21, 2018

Let me make it clear that I believe the purpose of this study is to disprove FQAD. It is to pushback against the FDA’s acknowledgement and coining of the phrase “FQAD”.

Remember “Commercially funded clinical trials are at least 2.5 times more likely to favor the sponsor’s drug than non-commercially funded trials.”

Beatrice Golomb at the University of California, San Diego, says that investigating medication that has been on the market for years isn’t a priority for research agencies, and scientists are reluctant to publish results that drug companies might find unfavorable. (1)

There’s a long history of adverse action against people who expose drug and chemical harms,” says Golomb. (1)

Where Does That leave Us?

The detractors are out there, and they are many. From the pharmaceutical companies that spend untold millions to dissuade through tacitly controlling research and phraseology, and formulating the very thought process used by the medical establishment, to websites that ‘candy coat’ the reactions by focusing away from the ugly truth. Using dismissive phraseology and denying the ugly reality is both a misrepresentation and an insult while there are people at risk or suffering. It plays right into the hands of entities that want to continue to roll in the obscene profits and shields those who do not want to look at the actual horror that is ruining human lives.

I have already been asked, on more than one occasion, to ‘tone it down.’ To present the FQ’s in a more favorable light. To not tell the truth as I see it.

Let me throw in a caveat about hope. I believe in hope and find my solace and meaning through Christianity. I will not however lie. Lying sets up people for further disappointment and prevents changes from ever happening by downplaying the ugly truth.

Our politicians and law makers must see the ugly truth in order to enact change. If they believe things are ‘not that bad’ they will not have the impetus to enact change.

In the mean time you have a duty to warn. If you are reading this for the first time remember, the FQ’s are indiscriminate in their ability to damage the human body in numerous ways from metabolic to genetic. For many these drugs are the difference between good health and bad. They have the ability to manipulate our genes via epigenetic changes and direct DNA interaction. There are NO ways to determine who will have an adverse event to these drugs and there are NO ways to determine how severe or long lasting an adverse event will be.

The best defense is information. Often, there is a safer alternative. So, do yourself, your friends, and your loved ones a favor, become informed.

This website makes use of licensed stock photography. All photography is for illustrative purposes only and all persons depicted are models.

#Advocacy #Clinical Trials #Dr. Golomb #Pharmaceutical Corruption #Psychological

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itfirmokdigital · 4 years ago

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Top Best Tips To Buying A Digital Piano For Your Kid

Best Tips To Buying A Digital Piano For Your Kid

Buying a digital piano for your child can be somewhat scary – particularly on the off chance that you don’t have any melodic foundation. There is a lot of inquiries and various contemplations to be considered. Keep in mind, it isn’t only an actual article that you are buying for your child.

Pianos can possibly transform your kid into an inventive and fan music player than you can even grasp. Thusly, to improve this cycle, the correct kind of instrument must be thought of.

On the off chance that you don’t know what to consider or even the correct strides to assist you with buying the privileged digital piano for your child, at that point, this article is appropriately devoted to you. digital pianos are astounding venturing stones for the acoustic piano.

They for the most part aren’t unreasonably costly, and simply take up a sensible measure of room. When thinking about buying a digital piano for your kid, don’t stress over getting a piano with the most developed highlights. Except if it is a prerequisite for your child’s playing experience.

What we strongly suggest is getting a piano that won’t confuse the learning cycle for your kid. Your child needs to comprehend and in particular have a great time when utilizing the piano.

Piano For Kid Beginners

What piano would it be a good idea for me to purchase for my youngster?

The Best Keyboard Piano for Kids 2020

Alesis Recital with 88 Keys.

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RockJam RJ561 with 61 Keys (Our Top Pick)

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Best Keyboard For Child To Learn Piano Uk

Best keyboard for toddlers

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Alesis Recital-88-key Semi-weighted

Yamaha PSR-EW300-76-key Soft Touch Sensitive

Casio CTK2550-61-key Soft

The ONE Light Keyboard-61-key Soft

How To Be A Great Piano Teacher

To turn into a piano educator, you should be capable of playing the piano and understanding music. Some piano instructors acquire a degree in music execution, hypothesis, or training. Music educators can decide to instruct in schools, just as offer private exercises.

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Top 5 Adult Piano Methods

Alfred’s Adult All-In-One Course.

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What amount is a utilized Kawai infant amazing piano worth?

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Best Digital Piano Under $500

Roland FP-10

Yamaha P-45

Korg B2/B2SP

The Way How To Teach A 4 Year Old To Play Piano?

The “right” age to start piano exercises changes from kid to the youngster. A decent first test is an age when your youngster can tie their shoes. Numerous long term olds can make incredible progress with piano exercises. The following are the abilities you can expect your kid to pick up in their initial not many long stretches of exercises.

Schoenhut Baby Grand Piano 18 Key

Schoenhut’s littlest piano is an ideal decision for acquainting a small kid with the universe of music. This little instrument is fun, instructive, and very solid. For starting artists, it advances eye-hand coordination and creates melodic innovativeness.

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Vintage Toy Grand Piano

Vintage Fisher Price Grand Piano Toy 1986. Generally excellent condition for age. Stickers are risen from capacity yet keys play well.

Black Toy Piano

Definitely. it is a lovely instrument and small kids will slam against it occasionally. Yet, that will just bring about it building up a kid’s den “patina”. The synth capacities are various and not youngster natural, but rather that offers you the chance to associate with them.

Schoenhut Fancy Baby Grand Piano

The Schoenhut Piano Company is an American maker of toy pianos, dolls, and other wooden toys. It was established in 1872 in Philadelphia as the A.

Schoenhut Baby Grand Piano 18 Key

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Mini Grand Piano For Toddlers

This piano is the smallest of the Steinway grand. Infant Grand. At 5′ 1″ (155 cm), .

Schoenhut 30 Key Classic Baby Grand

With straight legs to flaunt an exemplary look, This 30-key infant stupendous is complete in style and solid for little artists. Special toll-like tones are made by little sledges striking metal bars, creating an enchanting sound that will have little piano players hypnotized.

The Width of the keys advances appropriate finger position in the most youthful of musicians, empowering a simple change to a bigger piano. This model is astounding for kids who have been acquainted with pianos, and for youngsters who are just beginning their excursion to execution pieces! Incorporates: Schoenhut protected tri-play learning framework and seat.

Toy Pianos For Sale

Infant Einstein Magic touch toy piano.

Vtech Zoo Jamz Piano.

Fisher-Price Laugh and Learn Silly Sounds Light-up Piano.

Korg small piano.

Most ideal Choice Products Miniature smaller than normal child terrific piano.

Melissa and Doug Learn-to-Play Classic Grand Piano.

Pyle 49-key console for youngsters.

How To Teach Piano To A 5 Year Old In The Year 2020?

The main thing to think about piano exercise age is that each youngster is unique. A few kids can begin at age four or more youthful, while others need to stand by until age seven or eight. Some have begun as late as their youngster years and discovered extraordinary achievement in piano.

Schoenhut Baby Grand Piano 37 Keys

With exquisite bent legs, this 37-key infant fabulous is stylish, instructive, and solid. It has three octaves and a console that is practically a large portion of the size of a grown-up piano.

This infant terrific is ideal for kids in the middle of the baby and pre-high schooler ages. Special toll-like tones are made by little mallets striking metal bars, delivering a beguiling sound that will have youthful musicians hypnotized.

The Width of the keys advances appropriate finger arrangement in maturing performers, making an astounding establishment for the progress to a grown-up, 88-key piano! Incorporates: Schoenhut licensed tri-play learning framework and seat.

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The best age to begin piano exercises is commonly between the ages of 6 and 9-years of age. While more established understudies may make some simpler memories figuring out how to play, understudies as youthful as 6-years of age can likewise learn since the keys of the piano are anything but difficult to work.

Wooden Toy Piano

A wide range of kinds of wood is utilized in a piano for different parts. These incorporate birch, maple, fir, oak, mahogany, coal-black, tidy, and numerous other extraordinary woods.

Midnight is a dark hardwood, thick in synthesis with a high-caliber, even sparkle finish when finished. Customarily set up from elephant’s tusks or creature teeth, that are adequately enormous to cut or scrimshaw, ivory is intense bone tissue.

Piano For Kids Online

Totally. While there is no uncertainty that having a decent customary instructor can be useful, the truth of the matter is you can show yourself how to play piano/console viably with the Musiah online piano exercise course, and you can do it with or without the inclusion of a conventional piano/console educator.

Child Size Baby Grand Piano

Infant amazing pianos are from 4′ 6″ long up to 5’3″ long. They weigh roughly 550 lbs. Medium fantastic pianos are normally from 5’5″ long up to 6’3″ long.

Should I buy a keyboard or piano?

Digital keyboards – The least expensive, generally helpful, and generally adaptable. Sound and feel aren’t in the same class as acoustic pianos, however, keyboards function admirably as a first instrument. Digital pianos – Larger and more costly, however almost as flexible while emulating the vibe of an acoustic piano well.

Best Keyboard For Child To Learn Piano

best keyboard for child to learn piano uk

Yamaha Piaggero NP12.

Roland GO: Keys GO-61K.

Casio CT-S300.

Yamaha PSS-A50.

Korg B2N.

Alesis Piano 61 MkII.

Yamaha PSR-E363.

Casio WK-6600.

Piano For Kids

Can a child learn piano on a keyboard In The Year 2020?

While there are a few styles of piano, even the littlest ones take up a decent measure of room. Nonetheless, keyboards are a lot more modest and can without much of a stretch be moved around.

Guardians regularly approach piano instructors if it’s all right for their children to figure out how to play piano on a keyboard or on a digital piano, and the appropriate response is total!

Yamaha Digital Piano

10 Best Yamaha Digital Pianos In 2020

Yamaha Arius YDP 181.

Yamaha DGX 660 88-Key Digital Grand Piano.

Yamaha P255 88-Key Digital Piano.

Yamaha YDP163B Digital Piano.

Yamaha YPG-535 88-Key Portable Grand Piano.

Yamaha P125 88-Key Digital Piano.

Yamaha P71 88-Key Digital Keyboard.

Easy Piano Songs For Kid Beginners

Piano Tutorials – Kids Songs

Diminutive SPIDER.

OLD MCDONALD HAD A FARM.

Column ROW YOUR BOAT.

Sparkle TWINKLE LITTLE STAR.

I LOVE YOU (BARNEY SONG)

Glad BIRTHDAY TO YOU.

YANKEE DOODLE.

This buying a digital piano for your child audit has a portion of the components that you ought to consider while looking available:

1. The Size Of Piano For Kid Beginners

Size is an overall factor and it applies to the two tenderfoots and middle-level piano players. Digital pianos arrive in an assortment of shapes and sizes. There is a wide scope of alternatives from 25 to the ordinary 88 keys. Individuals pick them contrastingly relying upon their inclinations.

Some go for pianos with a lesser key tally, while others go for the full-sized 88 keys pianos. All in all, what does this infer? Indeed, you need to choose the kind of piano to pick, and why you lean toward it over others. For this situation, it is a lot of basic since you definitely realize the piano is for your child.

All in all, what’s the most ideal choice for your child, as far as size?

It’s simple for guardians to persuade themselves not to go for the full-sized digital pianos. Since their children are simply in the learning stage, they don’t see the requirement for it. Likewise, pianos with fewer keys accompany a lower sticker price and are significantly more minimized than the full-sized ones.

While this might be valid, you’ll be exceptionally relinquishing on your youngster’s playing aptitudes. Your youngster might not have the ability to exploit an 88-key digital piano, yet as they advance they are restricted to the sort of pieces they can play. Proficient music pieces require the presence of a full-sized digital piano.

In addition, your child is developing, in this way, you will presumably need to redesign en route in the event that you decide on anything underneath the standard size. Hence, a full-sized keyboard probably won’t be your inclination for the time being, however it guarantees that your child has a bit of leeway sooner rather than later.

2. Weighted Keys

when buying a digital piano for your child’s music, another contributing variable is having a piano with weighted keys. A weighted digital piano uses the mallet system to strike the strings when the keys are played. The weighting of the keys assumes a significant part in the style and strategy of the player.

Consequently, this is the reason most digital piano producers put more exertion into the weighted sledge system. It genuinely recreates the characteristic feel of an acoustic piano. Yet, before you buy a digital piano with weighted keys, you should initially be conscious of the various kinds that exist, and which type suits your kid.

Choose Best Keyboard For Child To Learn Piano

Spring activity: this is generally dispensed to modest keyboards. Spring activity is accessible in 2 classes. These are; speed touchy otherwise called contact reaction, and speed heartless. The spring activity changes the volume of the note contingent upon how hard or delicate the keys are squeezed.

Semi-weighted: this activity is just the speed touchy alone. It is in the middle of weighted and spring activity keys.

Weighted move: the weighted activity takes you closer to real acoustic piano keys and their vibe.

Sledge Action: this accepts a musician as close as conceivable to an acoustic piano. It encourages heavier weighting on the lower keys, which recreates the heavier mallet activity present in an acoustic piano.

Your youngster can develop their finger fortitude, through the assistance of a weighted activity digital piano. In this way, your child sees extremely smooth progress into an acoustic piano, rather than somebody who utilizes a non-weighted keyboard.

3. Learning Material

When buying a digital piano for your child on the web, you likewise need to think about the learning angle. Learning is a huge achievement in the improvement of the human cerebrum.

For your kid to dominate anything, they need to continue learning, and a while later actualize what they realize. The solitary way your kid can develop to be a gifted piano player is through consistent preparation of their brain with piano related learning materials.

Besides the piano teacher answerable for your kid’s piano exercises, there have been a ton of advancements by piano producers, especially provided food for tenderfoots. You may ask yourself how you can transform your kid’s screen time into a profitable encounter.

You can without much of a stretch do that through the different viable piano applications, and best of all, the greater part of them can be gotten to and utilized for nothing.

What you basically need to do is interface your youngster’s piano image with a viable versatile application. Through this, melody stroll through, and exercise plans are encouraged in a manner that doesn’t want to learn.

Thus, your child will consistently anticipate the following practice meeting, since these applications persuade them to plunk down and rehearse. The exercise modes, for example, the Yamaha Educational Suite (Y.E.S), additionally offer astonishing highlights that make the overall learning experience for your kid, a great one.

Along these lines, it would be capable for you to recognize such stuff and exploit them.

4. Financial plan

In case you’re hoping to buy a digital piano for your child now, there is a typical issue that most guardians face, and the issue is tied in with spending. As a parent, you may think that it’s confounded when keen on buying a digital piano for your child snappy.

The explanation is that it is difficult to completely comprehend if your youngster is simply experiencing an examining stage, or will really seek after the piano further.

We really concur that this is an extremely significant issue to manage. It’s conspicuous we as a whole need to use our well-deserved cash in a dependable and valuable manner. That is the reason we imagine that planning is huge, prior to buying a digital piano for your child.

You need to know your wallet and the amount you can really have the option to put resources into buying your child a keyboard. Luckily, most digital pianos comprehend this issue and simultaneously hold their top-mark capacities, which guarantee that your child actually learns the correct way.

A ton of digital pianos can be bought for under $500. In the event that to be sure you are in a strict financial plan, note that there is a great deal of good modest digital pianos discounted.

Decline to agree to anything less and rather research by understanding surveys, asking companions, and furthermore your youngster’s piano teacher on the most reasonable digital piano to buy.

Exploit the opposition between piano brands attempting to catch your consideration, and you’ll clearly profit by their value offers. It’s an open door that can guarantee you set aside a ton of cash, and simultaneously promise you a decent quality instrument.

Last Word

The above-examined focuses are the most basic ones, and really, you ought to exceptionally think of them as when keen on buying a digital piano for your child. These are a lot of components that add to your youngster’s playability in a positive way.

A full-sized digital piano is actually a test. Be that as it may, when joined with incredible showing experience, your youngster may go to be a magnificent player. There are huge loads of advantages that are capable by your youngster once they figure out how to play the piano.

From physical to the mental turn of events, it assists your child with building up a positive way. A spending plan is additionally basic to consider. It is a great idea to guarantee that you are getting an acceptable incentive for your cash.

#Buying A Digital Piano For Your Kid #digital piano #piano

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tilly-tarot-card-readings · 5 years ago

Photo

3 Magical New Tarot Decks 2020 to Supercharge Your Intuition Today

There are some beautiful Tarot Decks 2020 out that will inspire a deeper connection with your intuition. Each year hot new releases of tarot decks are published with beautiful artwork that excite new interpretations and messages for us. The start of this year has seen a fantastic amount of new Tarot Decks 2020 and I am here to showcase 3 of the most ridiculously stunning Tarot Cards.

It is a fabulous way to refresh your view on what’s available for Tarot Decks 2020 or to buy as a gift so go ahead and treat yourself to a new Tarot Deck today. If your looking for some new Tarot Cards and would like to view selection of

Learn Tarot Books I also have a blog post on this too.

(Links are to Amazon for you — I receive a commission if you buy one which helps support the blog so thank you in advance).Here are my 3 Magical New Tarot Decks on Release soon (you can re-order on Amazon now for a lower price).

The Muse Tarot by Chris-Anne on pre-order now with Amazon.

Infused with a wildly eclectic spirit, The Muse Tarot will illuminate your path toward inspiration and magic with its bright symbolism and powerful Muse energy through Tarot Cards. The suits are recast as Emotions (Cups), Inspiration (Wands), Voices (Swords) and Materials (Pentacles) to deliver messages from the source of creation. The detailed guidebook contains card meanings, poetry and word prompts to offer insight into your readings while stoking the sparks of your creativity. Ignite the Muse within! Tarot Decks 2020: Buy The Muse Tarot Through Amazon (I receive a small commission which helps support the blog).

About the Illustrator Chris-Anne of

The Muse Tarot Deck.

Chris-Anne Donnelly is a deck creator, artist, and magic-maker, as well as a marketing strategist and owner of Pixelbrand — a branding and graphic design company. She has successfully Kickstarted three independent card decks: The Sacred Creators Oracle, The Light Seer’s Tarot, and The Muse Tarot and she offers unique courses for creators that combine marketing and branding with manifestation and intuition.

The Star Spinner Tarot: (Inclusive, Diverse, LGBTQ Deck of Tarot Cards, Modern Version of Classic Tarot Mysticism)

Let the stars light your way . . .

Enter a world where fairies play, mermaids yearn, and threads of the familiar and fantastic are spun together to guide you on your own personal journey. Featuring beloved indie comic artist Trungles’ enchanting illustrative style, the Star Spinner Tarot reinterprets classic tarot imagery for a more inclusive and diverse reflection of the modern world, with illustrations drawn from a wide range of stories, myths, and fairy tales.

Contents: 81 full-colour cards and a 160-page guidebook * A great gift for tarot collectors and enthusiasts, or anyone seeking guidance and personal growth * Perfect for anyone seeking a modern, diverse, inclusive, or LGBTQ+ way to explore the tarot * Traditional tarot decks are 78 cards; this set contains 81 cards, including multiple Lovers cards to reflect a range of romantic expression

About the Illustrator of the

Star Spinner Tarot.

Trungles (Trung Le Nguyen) is a Vietnamese American comic book artist and illustrator. His work explores diaspora stories, LGBTQ+ themes, and the role of fairy tales in the popular imagination. He has contributed work for Oni Press, Boom! Studios, Limerence Press, and Image Comics, as well as the blog The Nerds of Color and the podcast Asian America. Buy the Star Spinner Tarot Deck Through Amazon (I receive a small commission which helps support the blog).

About The Legendary Ladies Goddess Tarot Deck

Creativity. Love. Balance. Courage. Reinvention.

Find your goddess within and tap into your inner strength with this empowering deck of 58 goddesses from beloved artist Ann Shen. The cards feature colourful portraits of female deities from around the world, and the accompanying booklet describes how you can invoke their unique powers in your own life. Let these legendary ladies lead you toward your ultimate destiny. More about the Legendary Ladies Goddess Tarot Deck can be read about in my Blog Post Here.

Select a goddess based on your needs, pull a card to let fate guide you, or do a full reading to discover what the universe has in store. * A must-have for the modern mystic and feminist historian alike

* Also makes a great gift for anyone interested in spirituality, personal growth, mythology, or the Tarot

Includes: * 58 full-colour cards, each depicting a goddess * 80-page booklet with descriptions of the deities and their mystical powers, and instructions on using the cards as a tool for self-discovery.

About Ann-Shen the Illustrator (Direct from her About Page)

“I’m Ann Shen and I’m an illustrator, letterer, and author based in Los Angeles. With over eight years of industry experience, I’ve had the honor of working with an incredible roster of clients including Disney, Facebook, Papyrus, and the New York Times. I’ve worked on everything from theme park design to fashion doll packaging, editorial illustrations to apparel designs. I’ve spoken about my work, finding your passion, and following your curiosity at Art Center College of Design, California College of the Arts, and more.” Tarot Decks 2020: Buy the Legendary Ladies Goddess Tarot Deck Through Amazon (I receive a small commission which helps support the blog).

Written by Tilly Tarot

Tarot Card Reader/ Blogger/ Creator of

TillyTarot.com

. Over 30 Years experience as a Tarot Reader and as seen in National Magazines High Spirit + Soul & Spirit.

If you enjoyed this article about

The Muse Tarot

The Star Spinner Tarot

and

The Legendary Ladies Goddess Deck

please comment!

Chillax with 5 Best Scented Candles to Boost your Tarot Card Reading

How to Read Tarot Cards in 5 Easy Steps Intuitively by Tilly Tarot

3 Magical New Tarot Decks 2020 to Supercharge Your Intuition Today

Celebrity Tarot Reading: Madonna – 7 Tarot Cards to Reveal her True Personality.

10 True Love Tarot Questions: Get Emotionally Involved

TAGS:

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LEGENDARY LADIES GODDESS TAROT

STAR SPINNER TAROT

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TAROT DECKS 2020

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TILLY TAROT

TRUNGLES

Tilly Tarot

Thank you for stopping by. I'm the Creator/Blogger/Tarot Reader of Tilly Tarot; a Blog dedicated to Tarot and helping others to learn and develop intuition. I perform personalised Tarot Readings especially for you - no free computerised one's here. I was given my first Tarot deck age 7 and haven't looked back since! My vision is share all my experience and only produce Tarot Readings for you from the heart.

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salmonycoral · 5 years ago

Text

Martine Gutierrez

“Frida Kahlo once said, “I am my own muse. I am the subject I know best.” It’s a sentiment that also eloquently describes Martine Gutierrez, a transgender Latinx artist who routinely performs the triple roles of subject, maker, and muse in her own eclectic body of work.

By establishing a practice of full autonomy, wherein Gutierrez conceptualizes and executes every detail on both sides of the camera, the artist has taken complete control of her narrative. For her latest exhibition, Indigenous Woman, Gutierrez created a 146-page art publication (masquerading as a glossy fashion magazine) celebrating “Mayan Indian heritage, the navigation of contemporary indigeneity, and the ever-evolving self-image,” according to the artist’s “Letter From the Editor.”

“I was driven to question how identity is formed, expressed, valued, and weighed as a woman, as a transwoman, as a Latinx woman, as a woman of indigenous descent, as a femme artist and maker? It is nearly impossible to arrive at any finite answers, but for me, this process of exploration is exquisitely life-affirming,” she writes.

Gutierrez uses art to explore the intersections of gender, sexuality, race, and class as they inform her life experience. The Brooklyn-based artist uses costume, photography, and film to produce elaborate narrative scenes that combine pop culture tropes, sex dolls, mannequins, and self-portraiture to explore the ways in which identity, like art, is both a social construction and an authentic expression of self.

I was drawn to Gutierrez’s work as it took me a while to decipher what I was actually looking at. Being a transgender artist means they have experienced the world as both genders and I think this gives her a broader understanding of both worlds. I loved her used of mannequins to portray the fantasy that is presented in fashion magazines and having taken more time to research her work in depth have been inspired by her one person production capabilities.

Fashion editorials and beauty features with titles like Queer Rage, Masking, and Demons pepper the pages of Indigenous Woman, alongside advertisements for faux products like Blue Lagoon Morisco sunless bronzer, paired with the tagline “Brown is Beautiful.” Gutierrez subverts the traditional cisgender white male gaze while simultaneously raising questions about inclusivity, appropriation, and consumerism.

While her exhibition is on view at Ryan Lee Gallery in New York, VICE caught up with Gutierrez to talk about her masterful interrogation of identity.”

Reference:

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/9kvaey/martine-gutierrez-trans-latinx-artist-indigenous-fashion-photography

#contextualresearch

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cosmomoore · 5 years ago

Note

Wanted to share this information, but also wanted to just say that it is important to order the dolls now if you are interested and able to, rather than later, because if the KS isn't funded, the dolls will not be made.

For me personally, I had to figure out what I wanted to do because I knew I wanted to support this campaign and I knew I wanted these dolls.

Originally I had planned to save this summer to purchase a Villitunes BJD that would be up for sale later this year. I have been wanting a Villitunes BJD for a long time, so I was looking forward to purchasing one.

When I heard that CGD was set to launch their KS this month I suddenly had a decision to make. What it basically came down to with me was, did I prefer to have some plus size fashion dolls or a BJD? I also had to think did I want to support a new company or an established doll maker?

Well as you can already tell, I opted to support CGD. My main reasons for doing so is because I love Fashion Dolls and give them a lot more attention than my BJDs. Also, this gave me the opportunity to support a new company that is focused on diversity and inclusion which is something I think is very necessary in regards to toys.

So I made my decision, decided which options I wanted and created a second account in order to so. KS will only allow you to select one reward, so creating a second account was the only idea I could come up with. Also, since the KS will not charge until it is completed, I figured I would put some money aside from my paychecks from now until the to cover my selections. Anyways, I probably overshared, but I wanted to express what I went through to come to the decision that I did. I hope so badly the KS is fully funded so we can all add these awesome dolls to our collections!!

Hi! After the dolls are funded and everything, would you have the customizing ready dolls available for sale or just the basic/premium and the customize ready ones are kickstarter exclusive? My budget is kind of tight right now so I'm trying to figure out if I can afford getting a premium doll /and/ a customizing ready one, but if they are kickstarter exclusive then I will go ahead and splurge because I Really Really love these dolls lol.

If we reach full finding we definitely intend to continue selling the dolls online! However it may be awhile before we’re set up for that. (It will take aprox all year to manufacture and ship out the KS dolls, and then It will probably be several months after that before our online store is ready)The Kickstarter (Basic & Premium) dolls will have exclusive boxes and the Fashion pack is exclusive to Kickstarter.

Thank you for your support! ♥

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aion-rsa · 3 years ago

Text

Cruella Meme Reactions Reveal Problem with Streaming Blockbusters

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

The following contains Cruella spoilers (but only what you already know from Twitter and Instagram).

Cruella de Vil’s mother was killed by a vicious pack of Dalmatians. It sounds goofy to read that in print, but for many social media users who didn’t go to the theater opening weekend or shell out a steep $30 for Cruella on Disney+, this is likely all they’ve heard. And it’s true, early on in the Emma Stone-led film, a pack of Dalmatians really push mama off a cliff.

However, there is a lot more to the movie than this questionable plot point, not that you would know it from looking at Twitter or Instagram. And to be fair, many of the memes created in response to this scene are a howl.

“Bambi’s mother caused the car to swerve, killing the hunter’s daughter,” one Twitter user has Don Draper pitching Disney. “Inclusivity win!” snarked another, “dog that pushed Cruella’s mother off cliff was nonbinary.” Then there were those with gifs and graphics like those below.

Man the death scene of Cruella's mother was so intense in order for us to sympathize with Cruella. I mean look at this. It is cinematic genius pic.twitter.com/Be6DfSR7yX

— SmashMarioPro2000 (@SmashMarioPro) May 30, 2021

this is the last thing cruella de vil’s mother saw before she died pic.twitter.com/ewsbhHcBPS

— ?! (@notlucyb) May 29, 2021

Absolutely gutted to hear what happened to Cruella's mother, fucking heartbreaking pic.twitter.com/wCp9V4UQus

— 3am Wizardless Wasteland (@FrightninTwit) May 31, 2021

this is how cruella’s mother died pic.twitter.com/89yMHxxaLf

— prash (@littlechirons) May 31, 2021

Other folks, meanwhile, were simply outraged on a moral level by the scene, suggesting this vilified a wonderful dog breed. Said Windows98 Tech Support, “Cruella’s mother is killed by Dalmatians despite Dalmatians being friendly, sociable dogs, so Disney just fucked this up from every conceivable angle.”

The irony is of course that most of the folks discussing this—from the meme makers to those claiming moral outrage—have not seen the movie. But they have seen 15 seconds of the scene in question. Throughout the weekend in other social media posts (most of which have been taken down), fans who compressed the inciting moment of puppy-inflicted murder off their Disney+ accounts shared the scene out of context. It spread like wildfire, particularly because the clip wasn’t hidden behind a $30 surcharge or paywall.

Which is exactly what should give Disney and other studios pause as they continue to dabble in day-and-date release strategies with major properties, particularly pricy star-studded summer blockbusters. Because unlike Paramount’s theatrical-only A Quiet Place Part II, Disney can no longer control how this 15-second clip is disseminated going forward (no matter how many times they have tech companies take it down), just as this social media reception—which will only continue to influence how folks talk about the studio’s expensive movie—is now also outside of Mickey’s control.

To be clear, the scene in question is pretty ridiculous, and a moment we also personally found unnecessarily glib and on-the-nose. However, the sequence is not the sum total of the movie or even what the film is really about. Even the filmmakers didn’t take it seriously.

Cruella is directed by Craig Gillespie, whose previous credits include the dark tragi-comedy I, Tonya and the movie about Ryan Gosling being in love with a sex doll (Lars and the Real Girl). Meanwhile one of its most prominent writers is Tony McNamara, who penned the scathingly sardonic The Favourite and The Great. Unlike most Disney films, acerbic whimsy is the goalpost for Cruella. Even with the dubious scene in question, Gillespie previously told us about how the moment was intended to evoke dark chuckles.

“It was candidly something that, on the page for Disney, sometimes felt a little flip or aloof,” Gillespie told Den of Geek about the studio’s initial reservations for the movie’s tone. “They weren’t sure, like when you were talking about a mother’s death, that you could have any humor in that scene. I knew that with these actors that they could do that nuance so beautifully that it would just elevate all of it.”

Indeed, within seconds of the moment young Cruella’s mother goes flying, the film immediately starts nudging the audience into knowing that it’s aware of how absurd this is via Emma Stone’s voiceover. As the anti-heroine intones, “[It’s the same] sad story: genius girl gets her mother killed and ends up alone.” The tongue is firmly planted in the cheek, especially since this bizarre—and admittedly a little extra—plot point isn’t what the movie’s largely concerned with.

It’s a gag, which sets the story in motion. And that story isn’t so concerned with Cruella’s Dalmatian fixation. Rather it’s keyed into her obsession for their owner, Emma Thompson’s supremely evil Baroness. Eventually, Stone’s Cruella goes to work for Thompson in the London fashion world, and the picture winds up being mostly focused on a murderous rivalry that’s better in-keeping with McNamara’s The Favourite (or The Devil Wears Prada) than 101 Dalmatians.

Of course that context is entirely absent in the online discourse, which in social media is often reduced to a vapid monoculture where adults critique family movies and committee-approved corporate product, and then wonder why they aren’t watching high art with a singular voice. But in the case of Cruella, that usual pessimism is amplified because the film isn’t being discussed by those who saw the movie (or fans who don’t care about devouring every spoiler)… Instead it’s being discussed by the same individuals who think they saw the movie in a 15-second clip and are never going to pay for a ticket price, much less $30, to watch the rest.

Which is a new phenomenon that comes with high-profile, and highly marketed blockbusters heading increasingly toward day-and-date streaming releases. Disney should be particularly concerned since they’re continuing to experiment with releasing major blockbusters via Disney+’s paywall. The studio prides itself on its theatrical releases being “events” instead of movies.

But unlike all the previous pre-pandemic Disney “events,” Cruella is one where folks don’t have to pay a full ticket price to be part of the conversation, and therefore at least see the studio and filmmakers’ entire vision. It even stands apart from WarnerMedia’s HBO Max strategy (or Netflix), as audiences also don’t have to just click play from the comfort of their own couch and watch it on a service they’re already subscribed to. Instead folks can glimpse just one moment, taken out of context, for free on that phone, and the whole thing becomes skewed. And Disney’s ability to sell more tickets and “Premier Access” surcharges just became that much harder.

Disney will continue exploring the benefits of Premier Access this summer with Black Widow and Jungle Cruise in July. However, judging strictly by the box office and social media chatter, A Quiet Place Part II’s old school approach of just putting it in theaters suddenly appears like the more forward-thinking strategy.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

The post Cruella Meme Reactions Reveal Problem with Streaming Blockbusters appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3iaFUmy

#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

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dippedanddripped · 4 years ago

Link

KYLE

NEW YORK

NICO

JOE

FRESHGOODS

& ALEX

JAMES

How do you stay creative during a pandemic? For answers, we turned to four culture makers across the US—New York Nico, Kyle Ng, Joe Freshgoods, and Alex James — on how they meet the demands of staying productive in our new reality. We’ve equipped each of them with a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold2 5G, a revolutionary smartphone that allows them to stay creative, whether doing everything in one place, or out on the go hunting for inspiration. Perfectly designed for the creative life, the Z Fold2 is three devices in one: folded closed like a regular smartphone, open flat like a tablet, or laid on a surface like a mini-laptop. It’s four machines, if you include its camera, with its impressive depth of field and hands-free shooting. Each of the culture makers we selected were tasked with taking photographs and screenshots that give us a glimpse of their creative process, what inspires them, and how to balance between work and play. The results we got back were surprisingly intimate, quirky, unexpectedly funny, and humane. Take a peek into their lives below.

NEW YORK NICO

SHOT ON A SAMSUNG GALAXY Z FOLD2

DOWNTOWN NEW YORK

(JUN — AUG 2020)DOWNTOWN NEW YORKDOWNTOWN NEW YORKTIGER HOOD, A STREET GOLFER WHO HITS MILK CARTONS THROUGHOUT THE STREET; OR THE GREEN LADY OF BROOKLYN, WHO ONLY DRESSES IN GREEN. THESE ARE JUST TWO OF THE FASCINATING INDIVIDUALS THAT NEW YORK NICO, A DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKER, HAS CAPTURED ON HIS

INSTAGRAM

ACCOUNT.

Having grown up in Union Square and gone to school in the Village, he’s dedicated his project to capturing all the indispensable local characters who make up the quirky flavor of the ever-changing NYC. So when Covid hit the city, claiming the lives of tens of thousands and forcing countless others out of their homes, Nico immediately went to work to help save a part of the city that was vanishing before his eyes. Catapulting off of the viral success of his Instagram — which has 472k followers, attracting attention from the New York Times and celebrities like Alec Baldwin and Chloe Sevingy—Nico launched contests such as Best New York Mask, Best New York Photo, and Best New York T-Shirt, that raised nearly $300,000 for charities such as God's Love We Deliver, Color of Change, and The Campaign Against Hunger. Since the pandemic, Nico launched the #MomNPopDrop hashtag for quirky and iconic small businesses that were struggling to stay open. He started with Army & Navy Bag on Houston Street by going down to the store and taking a photo of its owner. Then for the next week or so, lines began forming outside his shop. “When I saw the response to that, I was like, holy shit. These posts are making a huge impact,” he said to Elle. For Highsnobiety, Nico photographed, as an extension of his practice, various scenes in the daily life of New York City: dog-walking in the streets, vendors, business owners. An ATV driven by a Chucky doll. All photos were shot on the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold2 5G, which was convenient enough to take with him for unexpected moments on the go that, with a clunkier machine, he would have missed just seconds later. And what moments these were — a testament to what keeps New York strong, the New York that he loves, which he believes will survive the pandemic.

KYLE NG

SHOT ON A SAMSUNG GALAXY Z FOLD2

DOWNTOWN NEW YORK

(JUN — AUG 2020)DOWNTOWN NEW YORKDOWNTOWN NEW YORKKYLE NG IS A CONNOISSEUR OF THE T-SHIRT. “IT’S LIKE A BILLBOARD FOR WHO YOU ARE,” HE SAID IN SSENSE. HE’S THE FOUNDER OF BRAIN DEAD, A STREETWEAR BRAND RUN BY A LOS ANGELES-BASED CREATIVE COLLECTIVE OF ARTISTS AND DESIGNERS, WHO FEATURED IN OUR JULY EDITION OF

THE NEXT 20

“The best t-shirts are ones with an approach, a perspective, and a culture already around it,” he went on. Simultaneously, the t-shirt for Ng is a signal of individuality that defines itself as part of a collective and a cultural context. This year, when the Black Lives Matter protests began in Minneapolis and spread around the world, Ng had the idea of making none other than a t-shirt to both commemorate the moment, and raise money for the Movement for Black Lives. He contacted Dev Hynes of Blood Orange, and designed a shirt in two hours, putting it for sale the next day. It made $500,000. Ng did what he does best: putting the times in a graphic. Brain Dead is celebrated for immersing itself in the cultures of post-punk, skateboarding, and underground comics. Comfortable with collaborating, Ng has worked with brands such as The North Face, Levi’s, and even Shake Shack. Yet as international as his brand’s reach is, he is still attuned to LA at the local level. As a research practice, Brain Dead works with the people involved in a particular culture, which makes fashion and community organizing one and the same. With the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold2 5G’s “flex mode,” Ng is able to toggle through multiple windows at once, in the smartphone’s tablet mode, and compare designs and photos. It’s a boon for his Covid-era productivity, where sales (perhaps unusually) have been up 120%. For Highsnobiety, Ng photographed himself and his collaborators with the Z Fold2 in and around his studio, where he recently worked on a series of t-shirts inspired by horror movies for Halloween. Other scenes are more quotidian: journeys looking for mushrooms at the market, his dog. Perhaps most iconic of the moment, one photograph shows his mail-in ballot with the “I Voted” sticker an image emblematic of the brand itself and some of its core values.

ALEX JAMES

SHOT ON A SAMSUNG GALAXY Z FOLD2

DOWNTOWN NEW YORK

(JUN — AUG 2020)DOWNTOWN NEW YORKDOWNTOWN NEW YORK“ROCK ISN’T A TREND FOR ME NOR MY BRAND. I DON’T WEAR A SLAYER OR MOTÖRHEAD T-SHIRT BECAUSE I THINK THEY LOOK COOL, I WEAR THEM BECAUSE I’VE BEEN THRASHING TO THAT MUSIC IN MY BEDROOM LONG BEFORE THESE LAMES WERE AROUND,” SAYS ALEX JAMES, THE OWNER OF PLEASURES.

It’s a streetwear brand known for its DIY aesthetics drawn from music subcultures like metal and new wave, and has attracted the likes of The Weeknd, Kylie Jenner, A$AP Rocky, and Kim Jones. Growing up in the suburbs of New Jersey to working class parents, James came of age during the ‘80s and ‘90s, immersing himself in the music scene of New York that would hail this period the last of its kind, before the Internet and Giulani killed the underground. This was an era defined by Sonic Youth, CBGB’s, Chloe Sevigny in Kids. The last bastion of Gen-X culture. PLEASURES, which was launched in 2015, began as a way of making affordable clothing inspired by vintage band merch. Yet as laconic as he is about his design choices, James cares a lot about accessibility. “PLEASURES is an inclusive brand. We want to include everyone and not alienate our consumer,” he said in GOAT. This harkens back to his younger years spent rummaging through thrift stores and estate sales for clothes, and hanging out all day at record shops. Hence the touch of nostalgia in PLEASURES’ designs. The culture that it represents is of a recent past that might be seen as dead if people like James weren’t dedicated to preserving it. “Rock was around first and will be here forever,” he says. For Highsnobiety, James shot surprisingly intimate photos with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold2 5G of scenes from his home life. Some of the smartphone’s features, like its hands-free shooting (all you have to do is wave at the camera and it’ll take a picture) allows for users to appear in portraits with others in front of the camera, like James does with his child. Other shots show scenes from his home, like his intricately woven carpet, or a bouquet of flowers. It’s a reminder that some of the most inspiring scenes in daily life are those closest to you.

JOE FRESHGOODS

SHOT ON A SAMSUNG GALAXY Z FOLD2

DOWNTOWN NEW YORK

(JUN — AUG 2020)DOWNTOWN NEW YORKDOWNTOWN NEW YORKIT WAS A BAD SITUATION THAT TURNED INTO A GOOD ONE. IN 2018, JOE FRESHGOODS — THE DESIGNER WHO CO-OWNS THE FAT TIGER WORKSHOP STORE IN CHICAGO—HAD A CONTRACT WITH ADIDAS TO RELEASE TWO SNEAKERS AND AN APPAREL COLLECTION, BUT THE DEAL FELL THROUGH LAST MINUTE.

The clothes were already made, so Freshgoods, who was able to retrieve the dead stock, went ahead and put it for sale for a 40 percent markdown at a drive-through fundraiser for public schools in Chicago. His hope was to raise money for the laptops, tablets, and headphones kids need for remote learning during quarantine. His dedication to Chicago runs deep. When Freshgoods drops a t-shirt at a pop-up in the city, lines stretch to over 90 minutes to cop them. It goes back to when he used to sell his own branded t-shirts secretly while he was working for the Chicago streetwear shop Leaders. People trust him because he’s committed to the city. Since the pandemic, he introduced Community Goods, a charitable brand that raises funds for small Black-owned businesses in Chicago and The Greater Chicago Food Depository. While working at Leaders, he met Chance The Rapper, whom he considers an old friend. In 2017, Chance went on to wear one of Freshgoods’ hoodies when accepting the award for Best Rap Performance. (It reads “Thank you.”) The exposure catapulted Freshgoods to a new national platform—raking in collaborations with McDonald’s, Nike, Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Chicago Bears—yet he has stayed true to his Chicago roots. Shot entirely with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold2 5G, Freshgoods’ photos for Highsnobiety give us a look into his creative studio. The smartphone’s hands-free shooting also makes it even easier to take self-portraits, with having your arm awkwardly jutting to the corner of the picture. More shots show scenes from the Fat Tiger Workshop, and all its swag and splendor. It’s a space he co-owns with Terrell Jones and Desmond Owusu, and has been a stalwart in the local community. “We’re a community store,” he said in The Fader. “We’re like a barber shop.”

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