#Rush Arts Philadelphia

[ohnoitsnoma]

this scene means so so much to me

[lowpolyhamster]

its always sunny in girladelphia doodles

[zayphora]

Word on the street is a dirtbag from another decade is wheeling around New Amsterdam—a cold-calling legendary writer with a mean streak and a chip on her shoulder.

You’d better not cross her path. I hear she’s a heavy hitter.

A design of Jessica Telephone of Blaseball as a Bomb Rush Cyberfunk playable character! Alias “Dial,” since it seems like most of the writers in BRC have assumed one-word names. Stay tuned for her cyberhead alternate 👀☎️

(ID in alt text.)

[whilstiveputdownthisfic]

the crowd gif from Louis's Philly show (my show) eeeeeee i'm in there somewhere

from LTHQ's IG stories

July 28th, 2023; as of 10:30 a.m. DST

[curls-cat]

partner and i went to the philadelphia museum of art last weekend. i had an amazing time, we spent two days there so i could finally see the whole museum without feeling rushed. my favorite painting was nocturne. but i just wanna show y'all this one by viggo johansen

it's called 'my friends' and i just. do you think he sat in the corner and lovingly sketched all his friends talking? do you think he asked them to hold still for a bit? do you think they knew how much he loved them? he wanted to immortalize them, to show everyone this evening with people he loves all gathered in a room together, a warm room after dark full of art and wine and soft light

[dumbass-duo-showdown]

Ahem ahem

After months of waiting!

I AM PRESENTING THE BRACKET FOR DUMBASS DUO SHOWDOWN!

CLICK FOR BETTER QUALITY!

The first 16 battles will happen at 8pm CET (gmt+1)!

Group 1!

Uhh btw some of these were put on one day accidentally

Roronoa Zoro & Monkey D. Luffy aka Zolu (one piece) vs Good times with Scar & Grian aka desert duo (hermitcraft)

Bill Preston & Ted Logan (bill & Ted’s excellent adventure) vs Jessie & James from team rocket (Pokémon)

Wayne & Raj (total drama) vs Denji & Power (chainsaw man)

Burton & Shawn (psych) vs Rosencrantz & guildenstern (hamlet & rosencrantz and guildenstern are dead)

Josuke Higashikata & Okuyasu Nijimura aka Josuyasu (JoJo’s bizarre adventure) vs Shouyo Hinata & Tobio Kageyama (Haikyuu!)

Isaac & Miria (Baccano) vs Jay Walker & Cole Brookstone/bucket aka Bruise (lego ninjago)

Ace & Deuce (twisted wonderland) vs Aang & Sokka (avatar: the last airbender)

Tommyinnit & Tubbo aka Clingyduo (dsmp) vs Shiver, Frye, & Bigman aka Deep Cut (splatoon)

Blue Beetle (Ted Kord) & Booster Gold (Michael Carter) aka boostle VS Mustard Lesbian and Ketchup Gay from this post

Mordecai & Rigby (regular show) vs Lindsay & Tyler (total drama)

Rui Kamishiro & Tsukasa Tenma aka Ruikasa (project sekai) vs Zuke & Mayday aka Bunk Bed Junction (no straight roads)

Ruffnut & Tuffnut Thorston (how to train your dragon) vs Jedediah & Octavius (night at the museum)

Merry & Pippin (lord of the rings) vs The Doctor & Donna (dr who)

Jedward (irish music history) vs Min-Gi Park & Ryan Akagi (infinity train)

Grif & Simmons (red vs blue) vs Beavis & Butthead (Beavis & butthead)

Bender & Fry (futurama) vs Porsche & Pete (kinnporsche)

GROUP 2

1/8-18:30 & 2/8 18:30

Kaz & Oliver (mighty med) vs Bobbi Morse & Lance Hunter aka Huntingbird (agents of S.H.I.E.L.D)

Henchman 21 & Henchman 24 (venture bros) vs Spongebob & Patrick (Spongebob Squarepants)

Galo Thymos & Lio Fotia (promare) vs Yusuke & Kuwabara (Yu Yu Hakusho)

Charlie Kelly & Mac (it is always sunny in Philadelphia) vs Donald, José & Panchito (the three Caballeros)

The Bros (the bro duet) vs Chai & 808 (hi-fi rush)

Markiplier & CrankGameplays aka Unus Annus vs Knockout & Starscream (transformers)

Caspar & Shez (fire emblem warriors: three hopes) vs Yukiko Amagi & Chie Satonaka aka Yukichie (persona 4)

Tk Strand & Evan Buck Buckley (911 on fox lonestar) vs Shane & Ryan (buzzfeed unsolved)

Ontario Pipping Plovers (birbs from canada) vs Kaminari Denki & Ashido Mina (My hero academia)

Rin Okumura & Kuro (blue exorcist) vs Adam Blampied & Sullivan Beau Brown (No barrels rolled)

Chip & Gillion aka Fish and Chips (just roll with it) vs Josuke Higashikata & Yasuho Hirose aka Yasugap (jojo's bizarre adventure)

Soldier & Demoman (team fortress 2) vs Cuphead & Mugman (the cuphead show)

Nott/Veth & Jester (critical role the mighty nein) vs Troy & Abed (community)

Walter White & Jessie Pinkman (breaking bad) vs Barbie & Ken (barbie life in a dreamhouse)

Cuddles & Toothy (happy tree friends) vs Heath Burns & Hoodude Voodoo (monster high)

Pete Wentz and Gabe Saporta (bandom) vs Wei Wuxian, Jiang Cheng & Nie Huaisang (MDZS/the untamed)

TAGS TO CHECK OUT!

#propaganda #dumbass duo showdown announcements #dumbass duo showdown update #round 1 #art gallery #polls

[dance-world]

Shomari Savannah - Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater

Shomari Savannah (Burtonsville, Maryland) began his dance training under the direction of Monica Harris and went on to train at the Dance Institute of Washington. He is a graduate of the University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA where he earned a BFA in Dance. 

As a scholarship recipient, Shomari attended summer intensives at the Rock School for Dance Education, Alonzo King Lines Ballet, Dance Theatre of Harlem, and most at The Ailey School from 2013 – 2016 in both the Scholarship and Independent Study Programs. Shomari has been a recipient of the Nadia Chilkovsky Founders Award and the Pennsylvania Ballet’s Choreographic Award, choreographing for Pennsylvania Ballet’s second company in 2015.

He has performed works by a range of choreographers including Alvin Ailey, William Forsythe, Alonzo King, Ray Mercer, Matthew Rushing, Zane Booker, and Meredith Rainey. While at The Ailey School, Shomari performed Memoria by Alvin Ailey with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 2014.

From 2014-16 he performed numerous ballets by established and emerging choreographers as a member of the Ailey Student Performance Group. He has also danced with DBDT: Encore, the second company of Dallas Black Dance Theater, and with the Dallas Opera. In 2015, Shomari joined the Teaching Artist roster of Ailey’s Arts In Education & Community Programs.

[oceangirl24]

20 Questions for Writers

Thanks @mrsmungus for the tag. ❤️

❣️How many works do you have on AO3?

13 total, including three fanart art gifts. The only writing I have is my current work. I'm bringing the old FFN stories over on another account.

❣️What is your total AO3 word count?

834,995- 1 million before the year's end would be nice.

❣️What fandoms do you write for?

So far only Boy Meets World. The fanart gifts have been in other fandoms.

❣️What are your top five fics by kudos? Autumn in Philadelphia Trilogy- 243

Flashbacks- 109

Christmas to Last a Lifetime- 94

Not too shabby for such a massive series with an OC as a main character.

❣️Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes. Eventually.

Ever single comment is incredibly important to me and I don't always have the spoons to respond the way I want to. Rather than rush a response, I wait until I can give it my full attention. There are times, however, when certain comments appear to go answered for months. Those are comments from people I am in touch with privately and have already thanked. I will respond to those in time as well.

❣️What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

The Darkest Night without question.

❣️What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

At this point, probably Christmas to Last a Lifetime.

❣️Do you get hate on your fic?

Is having someone throw a tantrum in your comments hate?

The writer who did this was upset over how the first part of AiP ended because they did not read the tags or summary. They also complained about my OC being better than theirs and whined about liking Audrey more as though at 11 years old I created with Aud malicious intent to hurt them 20+ years later. 🙄

This was the person who also tried to push me out of the fandom, harassed me, and stole my work.

So, hate, no. Immature, entitled behavior, yes.

❣️Do you write smut?

No it's not my thing to read or write. My story is canon compliant and I'm staying true to the content of the show as well. Since it's a 90s kids' sitcom, situations were only dealt with to a certain degree.

❣️Do you write crossovers?

Technically. lol The AiP trilogy is a crossover with BMW and its sequel show, Girl Meets World, but since it's in the same universe I don't count it.

I am in the works of doing a real crossover that I'm really excited about, hopefully soon.

❣️Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Yes. See the hate on fics response.

I debated how much to say since my socials are still being monitored but you know what, I don't care.

This person stole big chunks of my work from three of my stories and readers have noticed. That's how I became aware of it. Two readers brought it to my attention and just recently another mentioned it also.

I've dealt with it thanks to my dear friends who have had my back through this year + long ordeal.

And ngl, it was satisfying to see her panic and meltdown when the report was submitted and rush her ending. The subsequent attempts to cover her tracks have been popcorn worthy as they have been both comical and pathetic.

Anyone who knows me will tell you I'm too nice and give too much benefit of the doubt which is why no one outside of my friends' circle has seen the massive report on the theft and harrassment.

However, should you dear [REDACTED] try it again, I'm holding onto that report and won't be so nice the second time around. It won't be your friend who's been asking for the link since December 8th that I'll give it to either.

❣️Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not to my knowledge.

❣️Have you ever co-written a fic?

Not yet!!! But soon and I'm so excited.

❣️What's your all-time favorite ship?

As for canon ship, they change all the time, but currently it's

❣️What's the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

At this point it's looking like Birthday Wishes. lol I mean, I have it outlined to the end and the next chapter is almost ready to go, but I'm prioritizing Saudade and have little time for BW, unfortunately.

❣️What are your writing strengths?

I'm not sure. May be characterization? Possibly world building and character development.

❣️What are your writing weaknesses?

Conciseness. lol Also SPAG editing. My brain skips words like crazy when writing and even editing. No matter how many times I go over things, I miss so much.

❣️Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I avoid this personally because I know enough that I'd mess it up. And I only know Swedish which isn't really a language that figures into my work naturally.

As for fics I'm not writing, it really depends on how it's done.

❣️First fandom you wrote for?

Boy Meets World. First published was Labyrinth.

❣️Favorite fic you've ever written?

Ah, how to chose. Autumn in Philadelphia trilogy. I can't get anymore specific than that. lol

No pressure tags to play for: @axolotlsupremacyowo @tsunderesalty @amberlide @winterlovesong1 @justanotherpersonwhowrites @obscureobsidiandraws @stealing-your-kittens @bees-and-sunshine @ligercat

If anyone would like to be included in the tags, please let me know and I'll be sure to get you next time.

[alldancersaretalented]

Dancers You Might Know That Competed Against ALDC (Dance Moms) - Season 3

Season 3 Episode 1 In10sity Dance Denver 2012

Gianina was in this episode as a cameo

ALDC does not appear on any official results for In10sity Denver 2012 or 2013

Season 3 Episode 2 Xpression Fort Wayne 2012

Ally Serigne came in 2nd in Teen Solos

other well known studios: Tr!ve Dance Company

Season 3 Episode 3 In10Sity Dance Youngstown 2012

competition created just for dance moms

Season 3 Episode 4 Dance Troupe Greensboro 2012

Season 3 Episode 5 In10Sity Dance Invitational Woodbridge 2012

competition created just for dance moms

Season 3 Episode 6 On Stage America, Voorhees 2012

Nick Daniels placed 1st in Junior Advanced Solo with "Ordinary People" (Encore PAC), and 4th with his other solo "Extreme Effects!" (Art of Gymnastics and Cheer), he competed under two different studios - He placed ahead of Nia (didn't place) Chloe (10th) and Kendall (9)

Nick Daniels Group "The 151st Psalm" (Art of Gymnastics and Cheer) came in 3rd behind CADC (2nd) and ALDC (1st)

other well known studios: Jamie's Dance Odyssey

Season 3 Episode 7 WILD Dance Intensive Detroit 2012

competition created just for dance moms

Season 3 Episode 8 In10sity Dance Ft. Lauderdale 2012

competition created just for dance moms

Season 3 Episode 9 Xpression St. Louis 2012

Season 3 Episode 10 Xpression Bernardsville 2012

Season 3 Episode 11 In10sity Minneapolis 2013

competition created just for dance moms

Season 3 Episode 12 POWERHOUSE Cincinnati 2013

competition created just for dance moms

Season 3 Episode 13 Xpression Grand Rapids 2013

competition created just for dance moms

Season 3 Episode 14 Energy Dance Highland 2013

Mari Dudash (CADC Dancer later on) places 4th ("Hollywood") and 5th ("Titanium") in Energy Junior Solo under Dance Grosse Ile

Ava Cota ("My Prayer", BDA) places 1st in Energy Junior Solos and wins title

other well known studios: Karen's School of Dance

Season 3 Episode 15 POWERHOUSE Philadelphia 2013

competition created just for dance moms

Season 3 Episode 16 Energy Youngstown 2013

Mari Dudash (Dance Grosse Ile) places 3rd ("Titanium") and 4th ("Hollywood") behind Chloe (2nd) and Maddie (1st)

Sammie Lenzi (RDP Dance Center) places 1st in Energy Petite Solo and wins title, the following season she switched to ALDC

Season 3 Episode 18 Masters of Dance Arts Bernardsville 2013

competition created just for dance moms

Season 3 Episode 22 Masters of Dance Arts Coraopolos 2013

competition created just for dance moms

Season 3 Episode 23 POWERHOUSE Fort Wayne 2013

competition created just for dance moms

Season 3 Episode 24 Dance USA Youngstown 2013

competition created just for dance moms

Bryant Culler (CADC later on) performs solo

Season 3 Episode 25 Masters of Dance Arts Columbus 2013

competition created just for dance moms

Season 3 Episode 28 In10sity Dance Syracuse 2013

competition created just for dance moms

Season 3 Episode 31 Believe Lancester 2013

Haley Huelsman competes under Jennifer Napolitano SoPA, comes in 5th with her solo "Gypsy" behind Maddie (1st)

Haley comes in 3rd for title with her other solo "August Rush", behind Maddie who comes in 1st

Jade Cloud (Select Team, New England Dance) comes in first in Power Solo 12-14 with "Vengeance"

other well known studios: Dance Dynamics, New England Dance and Gymnastic Centers

Season 3 Episode 32 Xpression Orlando 2013

competition created just for dance moms

Season 3 Episode 33 Believe Sandusky 2013

Season 3 Episode 34 Masters of Dance Arts Charleston 2013

competition created just for dance moms

Season 3 Episode 35 POWERHOSE LV 2013

competition created just for dance moms

Season 3 Episode 36 In10sity Dance Buffalo 2013

competition created just for dance moms

Season 3 Episode Masters of Dance Arts New Orleans 2013

competition created just for dance moms

[thebowerypresents]

Geese Prepare for Next Chapter at Sold-Out Music Hall of Williamsburg on Friday Night

Geese – Music Hall of Williamsburg – December 6, 2024

In a series of year-in-review features, several New York Times critics use variations on a term one of them called “algorithm breakers” — that is, output that eludes “easy categorization, keeping us off balance.” The term in that particular instance was for movies, but it could just as easily apply to other art forms. Maybe I liked it because it helps with a band not at all easily described: Brooklyn’s Geese. Not in the lazy “they’re genre-benders, wow!” kind of way, but because, like fellow shape-shifters (and recent tour mates) King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, theirs is a sound that thrives at the pressure points of where different rock styles clash into near chaos but hold steady to create invigorating music. They hit a little weird at first — and you’re reaching for why. But they’re under your skin already.

Geese’s first record, 2021’s Projector, had jittery post-punk for days, running the gamut from Television to Radiohead. The next record, 2023’s mesmerizing 3D Country, felt like a mutation, taking that sound every which way from chamber-folk to scuzzy-noise jamband, from pretty to zany to screamy. At times and in moments, they’re the kind of band you sort of can hear whatever sound you want in (I hear Beck at his most experimental). But in aggregate, they don’t feel derivative, and you’re more apt to marvel at how what they have hangs together at the brink of where it’s about to come apart at the seams and wobble off the front of the stage. 

Wouldn’t you know it: Geese also have a festival. Friday night was the second of three shows at Music Hall of Williamsburg, part of the band’s second-annual Geesefest, each with a different collection of cannily curated openers. (Friday had NYC’s Guerilla Toss, filling the room with big-rock-sound pow, and earlier, Philadelphia’s Cold Court, doing a ferocious jazz-punk thing.) Over a nearly two-hour set, Geese frontman Cameron Winter and his rambunctious cohorts served a little bit of everything, throwing back to Projector with “Rain Dance” and a punched-up “Fantasies/Survival,” peeling off more than half of 3D Country with standouts including a raging “Mysterious Love,” a woozy “Domoto” and, to close the show, the tender “Tomorrow’s Crusades,” Winter’s pained-happy falsetto carrying the “Where would I be without you” refrain. 

The story of the night, actually, was new songs: three billed as Geese tunes and one (the terrific “Drinking Age”) from Winter’s own just-released solo album. Each was a flavor of Geese, showcased in well-selected places in the overall set, without distinctly pointing to a direction the band might be headed with their next mutation. But most of all, the band seemed to love playing them, seemed to love their abandon, seemed to love their people, seemed to love this moment they’ve hit where they’re graduating to bigger things and have a lot of growth to celebrate. The crowd knew it, too: We all savored the rush of what already felt like an underplay-sized room for Geese. It’s the excitingly early, not just promisingly early stage: not quite Chapter 1 of their story anymore, and certainty that many more chapters are on the way. —Chad Berndtson | @Cberndtson

Photos courtesy of Toby Tenenbaum | @tobytenenbaum

[starfolk7]

1 for Lies of P and your other fandoms (how yould you forget Pino and friends? xD)

Omg you're right I blanked and forgot to list that in the tags MY BAD JFHDHD

1. List 3 positive things about your current fandom(s)

I guess I'm gonna organize these by fandom lol

Pokemon:

- Diversity! Since it's been around for so long, there's tons of fics to read. If you can think of it, someone has probably written it. There's a Mewtwo fic I found in college that's basically a retelling of the events of the first movie, but holy shit it's written so beautifully it made me cry in front of my friends rjrhdgde. It's a dense read, but still one of my absolute favorite fics to this day. That's just an example of things you can find!

- Sub-fan bases. Basically, if you're a big fan of a certain Pokémon, a type of Pokémon, one of the games, etc., you're going to find your people very easily. Kind of falls under the first one a bit but ya know lol.

- Some of the cutest and also the most badass fanart comes out of this fandom. I have both art of a Sylveon with a lollipop and art of Mewtwo breaking out of their armor from the first movie. The duality of man djrhdgs

SoulsBorne

-Maybe I've gotten lucky and just found really nice people, but so far my experiences in the community have been largely positive! I've met some of the loveliest people by posting my Dark Souls and Bloodborne fics, and it really got me back into writing OCs again (you know that's my lifeblood lol)

-Character and lore analyses. Not that I agree with all of them, of course I don't, but if you want an analyses of anything in these games, there's some mad lad out there that's done it, whether it's a post or through an entire fic. Gives you tons to think about!

-ART!! Holy shit there's so many amazing artists in this community. We don't talk about how much SoulsBorne art I've snagged at conventions (I got more of it and Elden Ring stuff at Magfest don't look at me fjfhdhd)

Lies of P

-I haven't been in this fandom for long, but so far everyone I've met has been very sweet! They're also super OC-friendly. I can't tell you how many Stalker and Puppet OCs I've seen, among others, it's really amazing!

-Probably gonna say this for all of my fandoms but the ART OMG. There's so much gorgeous fanart floating around for this game it's insane. Still on the hunt for more Romeo pieces tho rjrhehe

-Headcanon diversity. Do you want a totally mute P? One that talks sometimes? One that's Had Enough? What I'm getting at is there's a P out there for everyone! People have been exploring all the different character angles on him and it's wonderful to see.

Ultrakill

-THE HYPE. Since this is an early access game still in development, the hype that cranks up every time an update is announced is INSANE. I don't think I've ever seen this level of it for an indie game. I got in just in time to witness this for the Violence update and the rush it gives you seeing everyone so excited is amazing!! It helps that every single update has just been an absolute banger. We have reason to be super excited, the devs do stellar work!!

-LORE. Do you wanna feel like Charlie at the corkboard in It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia? Because that's where I'm definitely at right now. Since we're in the last act of the game, there's so much speculation and so many theories about how the game will end. On top of that, people have been playing in the lore sandbox ever since this game started. I know I've def been up at night wondering how the hierarchy of Heaven works and what certain layers of Hell were like before Certain Events TM (I'm being vague because I know at least one person wants to play this bear with me lol). Basically there's tons to explore and the community collectively goes insane about different bits, we have fun here lmao

-I'm bundling art and memes into this one because oh my GOD. The tonal whiplash is a rollercoaster ride. You can go from the most heart-wrenching art of Gabriel you've ever seen to a piece that goes "V1 is a shrimp now" and sometimes you just need that snap back to some levity. The memes are absolutely top-tier. It helps that the voice actor for Gabriel already does memes and shitposts on his YouTube channel, so he just carries that over for Ultrakill stuff sometimes and y'know what? This game is dark, I'm gonna need these memes for when the ending makes me bawl like a baby. The Violence layer already has me feeling the creeping sense of dread (if you know you KNOW).

[ms-m-astrologer]

Was doing some research (as the buzz wears off) on Saturn going into Pisces. Neptune is already in Pisces - “heavy fog and water” is my first thought.

But the weird part is that the two will not be exactly conjunct until February 20, 2026 - at 0°43’ Aries. A very long build-up that has a surprise plot twist at the end.

Anyway, the last time both Saturn and Neptune were together in Pisces was intermittently between 1847-9. My friend Wikipedia provided me with some events which struck me as typical:

May 1847 - Architectural Association School of Architecture founded in London

May 7, 1847 - American Medical Association founded in Philadelphia

June 1, 1847 - first congress of the Communist League, London

February 21, 1848 - publication of The Communist Manifesto, London

February 1848 and onward - revolutions in France, Hungary, Germany, and elsewhere in Europe

March 18, 1848 - Boston Public Library opens

March 29, 1848 - Queen’s College, London, first to award academic qualifications to women

July 1848 - Public Health Act, England and Wales, begins to address sanitation issues

July 19, 1848 - first Women’s Convention in Seneca Falls, NY; introduction of “bloomers”

August 19, 1848 - first newspaper articles in eastern US about the California gold rush

January 23, 1849 - Elizabeth Blackwell becomes the first woman MD in the US

Looking up those years in art and music was disappointing, as there was a decided lack of definite dates. Grrr. But I found three representative things for 1848:

April 1 - disgusting POS of a human, composer Richard Wagner, first wrote down his intention to write what would eventually become his “Ring” cycle of four operas. Talk about a blend of inspiration (Neptune) and discipline (Saturn).

September 1848 - the pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood of artists, poets, and critics is founded in London.

And best of all, to me anyway: sometime before October 1848, Joseph Bracket wrote the song “Simple Gifts:”

'Tis the gift to be simple, ’tis the gift to be free

'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,

And when we find ourselves in the place just right,

'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.

When true simplicity is gained,

To bow and to bend we shan’t be ashamed,

To turn, turn will be our delight,

Till by turning, turning we come ’round right.

Makes me feel better about what’s to come, to think about those words - set, of course, to Aaron Copland’s wonderful music.

[ericspeartree]

Hey all, here are my creativity test results. Think there's some work to be done! Here are some design preferences and prejudices too:

Design Preferences: 

Subversive Film - I am absolutely crazy about movies. I won’t sit here and try to argue that there’s one kind I love more than any other, because I’ve seen so many that I can find one from any genre that I absolutely adore. Still, I have extra respect for movies that push the boundaries of what can/should be done in film. I love any film that goes out of its way to defy the medium and any established rules of filmmaking. Within these terms, I’ll mention a few favorites: Mulholland Drive (2001), Pierrot Le Fou (1965), Persona (1966), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), and Gummo (1997) stand out above many others to me. If I had to pick a favorite genre, it’d probably be horror, but if it ever comes down to movies I’m ready to talk all day about them. 

Sample Heavy Music - I adore the art of sampling. Few things give me as much of a genuine rush as when I’m listening to an album and I recognize the origin of a sample used in a song. My favorite album of all time is “Since I Left You” by The Avalanches, an album under the Plunderphonics subgenre that is made up of between 900 to 3,500 different samples, depending on who you ask. It is an album full of lively, danceable tunes that I cannot recommend enough. Other artists I love for their sampling abilities are Daft Punk, DJ Shadow, the Beastie Boys, MF DOOM, Madlib, Earl Sweatshirt, and Boards of Canada. 

Varying Kinds of Literature - I would hesitate to call myself well read, but I do try my best to read as much as I can. I think the novel is one of the most powerful mediums, since it can be formed in any way the author sees fit. It is truly a playground for creativity and I’ve found great pleasure in many kinds of literature, so I’ll name a few writers and works I love: Cormac McCarthy (Blood Meridian, All The Pretty Horses), Flannery O’Connor (Wise Blood, A Good Man is Hard to Find, Good Country People), David Foster Wallace (Infinite Jest, Good Old Neon), Thomas Pynchon (Inherent Vice, Gravity’s Rainbow), and Toni Morrison (Beloved). I think what I love most about these writers/works is how much they all utilize the flexibility of the novelistic form to create worlds and characters that could not be rendered in any other medium, or at least would be very difficult to. 

Design Prejudices: 

Minimalistic or Overly Plain Branding: I know many people generally despise the concept of branding as a whole, but I think I’ve pretty much come to terms with its universality. I often find that I grow attached to some kinds of branding, particularly logos, which upsets me even more whenever companies go out of their way to “rebrand” to some minimalistic junk. I understand the need (or perceived need) to appear modern/sleek/cool but to me there is nothing cool about something that looks like it can belong to any old brand. Some entities who I believed have changed their branding for the worse over the years: Pringles, Snapple, La Liga, Firefox, and Google. God forbid they do anything to the Coca-Cola logo. 

Clothing With the Brand Name on It: This one is real specific. I won’t pretend that I have a clue when it comes to fashion; my method for getting dressed every day is to wear whatever happens to be at the top of my drawer. Still, I find that I simply refuse to buy any clothing where the brand’s or store’s name is just blasted onto the front of it. The worst for this are places like Hollister, Aeropostale, even some of the hype-beast luxury brands, but special mention to Gap because I didn’t think I could hate 3 plain letters on a hoodie so much. 

Sitcoms About Nice/Overly Dumb People: Full disclosure, I have a dark sense of humor (within reason, obviously). I find that what makes me laugh in comedy is people acting completely awful. Think shows like It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Veep. It works best because it shows the absurdity of life and the situations that arise from it. That’s why so many other comedies simply don’t work for me; they’re too focused on being nice that they just end up feeling toothless and milquetoast. I won’t name the shows I don’t like out of respect (it’s hard to write and direct!) but it’s something that always gets on my nerves. 

[mochalottie]

Why hello there

Ask game: 8, 13, 33, 34 ?

Woah!! So many questions love it~

8) Where do you take inspiration from?

That is a very good question and I suppose it would depend on the fic in question. For my earlier stuff (2018 hyperfixation on FFXV hello there) it was a lot of songfics. Sometimes, it can be from my own experiences (Our Hearts was actually based on family stuff I had to deal with, and writing Spider's seizures and such was difficult but very therapeutic), and other times it can be from something completely random. Like, my Jaskier as a witcher series was written as a christmas present meant to be a one shot and it just got away from me. Or the sole Persona 5 fic I wrote in a month based on a professionals dance on Strictly Come Dancing. But when it does hit, it's like a fecking truck

13) Who is your least favourite character to write for? Why?

If I was being stingy I would say Quaritch, but I can't cause his voice is so characteristic and can flow really easily. I think the one that gives me the most trouble is Norm, because trying to be sassy whilst (possibly, slightly) scientific is hard. I'm an arts student I'm not meant to know how to work a microscope help please XD

33) What's the biggest compliment you've gotten?

Oh gosh, that's really tricky to choose, because I adore and cherish every single compliment. Like, I honestly didn't think Our Hearts would be that popular at all. And I love every single comment written by someone, even the key smashes.

But if I did have to choose, I would say that my (admittedly small at first) fic pushed @eirianerisdar to start a Tonowari adopts Spider fic is the biggest compliment. I mean, when you read someone's work so voraciously you're checking your bookmarks everyday for updates, and then that person comments on your story? Ugh my heart soared the entire week.

34) What's the harshest criticism you've gotten?

Em, I don't think I've actually gotten much criticism? (touch wood). I think there's been a few kind ones that have pointed out tiny mistakes. And there was one a few years ago that told me off for not knowing the amount of traffic that would be between Philadelphia and New York. Like, sorry, I live 3000 miles from your city give or take, in a completely different country that drives on the other side of the road. I've no idea when your rush hour is mate.

Thank you for the ask bestie~ <333

[byneddiedingo]

Ray Milland and Carole Lombard in Mr. & Mrs. Smith (Alfred Hitchcock, 1941)

Cast: Carole Lombard, Robert Montgomery, Gene Raymond, Jack Carson, Philip Merivale, Lucile Watson, William Tracy, Charles Halton, Esther Dale. Screenplay: Norman Krasna. Cinematography: Harry Stradling Sr.. Art direction: Van Nest Polglase, Albert S. D'Agostino. Film editing: William Hamilton. Music: Edward Ward.

If Alfred Hitchcock's name were not attached to Mr. & Mrs. Smith, would we remember it at all today? Perhaps as one of the last films of Carole Lombard -- it was the last released before her death in January 1942, though the posthumously released To Be or Not to Be (Ernst Lubitsch, 1942) was the last one she completed filming. Or perhaps as one of the lesser examples of the romantic/screwball  comedy genre that flourished in the 1930s and '40s. But even hardcore Hitchcockians find it difficult to fit it into the director's canon. Hitchcock had said he wanted to work with Lombard, and when Lombard liked Norman Krasna's story and screenplay, the teaming was put into play. Lombard and Robert Montgomery play Ann and David Smith, who discover that their three-year-old marriage is invalid, owing to a legal technicality. Complications ensue, especially when David doesn't rush into remarriage as quickly as Ann likes. She kicks him out of the apartment, and then his law partner, Jeff Custer (Gene Raymond), makes a play for her affections. Lombard is very much at home in this kind of comedy, and Montgomery is good at it too. The weak link is Raymond, who has the kind of role, the "other man" patsy, at which actors like Ralph Bellamy in The Awful Truth (Leo McCarey, 1937) and His Girl Friday (Howard Hawks, 1940) and John Howard in The Philadelphia Story (George Cukor, 1940) excelled. Raymond plays his part with a pinched, rather prissy manner that hardly sits well with the fact that he's supposed to have been the best fullback at the University of Alabama. In fact, the character seems to have been coded as latently gay: Witness Lombard's reaction when Ann learns that he decorated his own very tasteful apartment. Much of the film skirts around matters forbidden by the Production Code, including whether the now-unmarried Smiths should sleep together, which a director like Lubitsch or Hawks would have treated with more wit and finesse than Hitchcock does. This was only his third film made in Hollywood, and it was his first with a completely American setting; the first two, Rebecca (1940) and Foreign Correspondent (1940), were set in Europe and England. His unfamiliarity with American idiom shows up particularly in his treatment of the Alabama football jock Jeff and his parents (Philip Merivale and Lucile Watson), proper Southerners who are shocked at the suggestion that Ann has been sleeping with David. But whenever Hitchcock is working with Lombard and Montgomery, especially using Lombard's great gift for uninhibited physical comedy, the movie comes to fitful life.

[moviemunchies]

Well, I absolutely loved the first movie, so I was super-pumped for this one!

After the last movie, Billy and his foster siblings have been working as Philadelphia’s superheroes, thought the city isn’t always appreciative. But the daughters of Atlas, hespera and Kalypso, are now free from the realm of the gods, and they don’t appreciate how the Wizard Shazam stole the power of the gods, much less that he gave that power to children. Using the reforged wizard’s staff, they resolve to steal back that power and avenge the gods on an ungrateful human race.

It’s nice to see the Shazam family with more to do as heroes; still, it feels that we don’t get enough of them. We get enough that they’re all still distinctly different, recognizable people, and I appreciate that, but I thought we could have done with more development. There are tantalizing bits of information on their lives outside of the Plot (Mary apparently gave up college to help support the family??). We barely get Billy outside of his superhero form in this movie, which is a bit disappointing too.

I’ve seen it argued quite a lot that even in the first film, Billy and his superhero form feel like two different people. I understand that complaint, but I understood it as “In adult superhero form, Billy doesn’t have the inhibitions that he does as a kid, and acts a bit wilder because he can.” That being said, I definitely see that argument holding more water in this movie–especially because we see so little of Billy outside of his superhero form.

After seeing this, I would argue that SHAZAM! might work really well as a television series? That way, you can have time dedicated to all of the family characters and none of them feel short-changed.

It is also a little disappointing that after the last movie’s mid-credits scene, this movie is not about the schemes of Mr. Mind the evil caterpillar. Supposedly there was a draft of the script in which Mr. Mind was responsible for opening the realm of the gods, but as it is he has nothing to do with anything. I sort of get wanting to save him for something bigger, or deciding that it didn’t work for the story quite yet, but considering the entire premise is that these are kids that become superheroes, one might think that they might rush to get to the point while the child actors are still children?

Still, this movie still gets the tone of the original movie, so it’s loads of fun to watch. There’s lots of humor! The idea of kids as superheroes is still hilarious, as each of these kids decides to do different things with their powers and their lair. And it’s great to see what they do in this completely strange situation, where goddesses and mythical creatures start menacing their city.

Also, the Wizard comes back! And he has a lot more to do, and he’s delightful to watch on screen.

The fight scenes are pretty good. Obviously, they’re not like John Wick style martial arts fests, but as superhero action scenes, they’re good! Again, we’re watching a bunch of kids with superpowers, and they use those powers the way that you might expect them to. If I have a complaint with them, it’s that I don’t think electricity quite works the way it does in this movie.

The ending includes a pretty gratuitous deus ex machina, and I don’t know how I feel about that? It’s not entirely out of nowhere, but it’s quite obviously a stretch for that to happen to resolve everything. I’m also not fond of the way it was spoiled in a lot of marketing material right as the movie came out (and neither was the director!).

I can’t help but strongly suspect that this movie was hurt by a lot of the behind-the-scenes drama at Warner Brothers and DC. This movie was supposed to release a year ago, and now it’s part of a universe that’s officially canceled. The director was assured that technically, there’s no reason that Shazam shouldn’t be incorporated into the new DC cinematic continuity, but I have my doubts it’ll come to fruition, especially considering that this one didn’t do well in theaters (the lack of good marketing, and the announcement of canceling its continuity didn’t do favors).

AND the biggest profile villain of the hero (Black Adam) was given a spin-off movie with a big-name action star, who appeared to have no plans to crossover. The Rock was more interested in seeing his character fight Superman–something we’re unlikely to see now that the DC movie universe is rebooting (in part due to that film failing to make back enough money with its massive marketing campaign).

So while I found this movie enjoyable–good action scenes, fun characters, great humor–I guess I was really hoping for a big last hurrah for the series in its second installment. And this isn’t really that. If you were a big fan of the first movie, like I was, you’ll probably enjoy this one as well. But I can’t say you’ll enjoy it as much, partly for reasons that are not really this movie’s fault.