#WOOHOO NEW SONG EPIC | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

rayatii · 15 days ago

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I know it's been a while, but I wanted my gameplay to take a specific direction so that's why it took so much time. (I took so many screenshots it may be divided into 2 posts or even more)

LMAO Uncle Pepe's ghost walked in on his nephew and niece-in-law WooHooing 😂

Awww it's nice to see these two get along so well

Uncle Pepe, chill, stop yelling at Uni the giant unicorn plushie

Of course, Principessa got sick again during early morning, and Nemorino had to take her to the hospital.

Why is Atalanta always so antagonistic towards rabbits?? (Also, Adina is sad bc Sofia Bjergsen, who was a good friend of hers in high school, died during the night. I swear every time I would restart this part of the gameplay (I'll explain below) someone would die in the night after their Try For Baby.)

Feeling Principessa's love, and jamming on the guitar!

LMAO Giannetta spying on these two's canoodling 😂

LMAOOOOO Giannetta attempting to spy on Atalanta?? (and also her binocs glitching into Atalanta 😂)

Let's dance!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO PRINCIPESSA 😭 she has been there since Adina's childhood 😢 (also I think that new base game update where you get to choose how your Sims react to a death is kinda broken. I made them both sniffle-cry, but then they would stop and kinda laugh to themselves.)

(also, in a previous save file, Principessa died in front of Atalanta's stable, and Atalanta got sad and even cried.)

Anyway, as you might have figured out, Adina is pregnant (I decided not to have her take a pregnancy test, and she figured it out on her own). And since it's Rebate Day, I thought it might be a good idea to convert her childhood bedroom into a nursery.

Nemorino making a flower arrangement for Adina 🥰🥰

Sanook why are you complaining about dirty floors it's literally your job to clean them

Feeling the baby 🥰 Anyway, I took our fwendos to Adina's parents' place to announce the future addition to the family. (Unfortunately, I chose a bad time as it was time for Adina's dad to go to work.)

But Adina's mom was there, so that's that. (I like how sometimes when Nemorino greets his in-laws, they autonomously do what English-speakers call "kissing cheeks", altho it doesn't involve actually kissing the cheeks; you just kiss the air over the other person's shoulder, and your cheeks just kinda touch. It's a common greeting in my country)

Nemorino busking at GeekCon while Adina competes in the Hackathon (she later won.)

Looks like he has improved well enough that he's gaining some nice tips!

OMG, GIANNETTA'S DAD DRESSED AS DARTH MAUL?!!

Nice costume also, Giannetta's mom

This random Twi'lek cosplayer gave Nemorino an enchanting introduction right of the bat?!!!!! He responded positively, but thank goodness he didn't flirt back.

(Anyway, Adina and Nemorino both competed in the Ultimate Gaming Test, but both failed with a score of 30.)

You gotta stay in shape when you're pregnant!

Adina invited her dad over now that he's back from work, to tell him the big news. He looks delighted.

Wanna feel your grandkid?

I took Adina and Nemorino on a date at a karaoke bar, since there's a karaoke competition. Here's Adina doing pretty well singing a James-Bond inspired jazz song.

(Unrelated, but James Bond movies were my special interest when I was 13. I used them to deal with my crazy hormones.)

And here's Nemorino doing not-so-well singing a pop song...

Adina won the competition! And to congratulate her, Nemorino decided to gift her his flower arrangement. It's poor quality, but she seems to like it.

And here they are singing a ballad duet. I love how the audio combines both Adina's nice singing voice and Nemorino's not-so-well-trained voice. Take courage, Nemorino, you will improve soon!

Sharing some chocolate-covered strawberries in the bathroom. I think this solves the hunger and energy needs more easily.

It's Hallowseve Day! love this epic animation whenever you select "put up decorations".

This year, they are Princess Leia and her smuggler lover!

This is all that Tumblr will allow me to post for now, so the rest will follow shortly.

#the sims 4 l'elisir

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moa-broke-me · 6 months ago

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Ok-

I NEED to add It's Tough to Be a God to mine, this is the one I have currently (in order because I'm a bit anal retentive):

Done for from EPIC: The Musical (I imagine it as a duet between him and Celestia)

Cotton Candy from the Helluva Boss soundtrack (line 'better yet, let them eat cotton candy' is just. YEAH)

You should See me in a Crown by Billie Eilish (more dangerous and powerful, my fictive really likes it)

VOID by Melanie Martinez (his inner thoughts during the thousand years he was Han Solo'd)

The Court Jester by thquip and Fukase (Everything about it fits with the backstory I gave him and yes I know it contradicts with canon but I have a sort of AU in my head and it makes perfect sense there. Also whenever I hear the line 'foolish king, you sit in empty meaning on your throne/but in your time away, you've ended up alone' I imagine him singing it to Celestia while draped, tauntingly, over Luna's empty throne and that image is DELICIOUS. This is all explained in the AU)

Stayed Gone from the Hazbin Hotel soundtrack (I imagine it, also, as a duet with him and Celestia)

Laplace's Angel by Will Wood and the Tapeworms (I imagine this being sung while he's wrecking havoc after escape)

The Bidding by Tally Hall (no story placement, just a good song and fits him well, I think)

Blitzø's Bad Trip from the Helluva Boss soundtrack (Sort of a soliloquy from his second stint in stone)

Tongues and Teeth by The Crane Wives (obviously, because it's pre-redemption fluttercord vibes)

Curses by The Crane Wives (Fluttercord vibes too oddly enough, but sort of... mid-redemption I think?)

Leopard by Jack Stauber (he's redeemed now, though still the same mischievous self)

Somethin' Stupid by Frank Sinatra (for what I hope are obvious reasons)

Loser Baby from the Hazbin Hotel soundtrack (Luna duet for once, woohoo! Makes more sense in the AU)

Respectless from the Hazbin Hotel soundtrack (one last Celestia duet)

All the Good Girls go to Hell (Fluttercord, but he makes her worse just as much as she makes him better)

Wasteland, Baby! by Hozier (One last Fluttercord entry. Just fits his new softer, but still rebellious vibes)

And counting because I don't know when to stop!

Tongues and Teeth by The Crane Wives is Fluttercord I think

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ducktracy · 4 years ago

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187. daffy duck & egghead (1938)

release date: january 1st, 1938

series: merrie melodies

director: tex avery

starring: mel blanc (daffy, turtle, duck), danny webb (egghead)

starting off the new year with a bang—the first cartoon of 1938 is one of my favorites! two tex avery creations, daffy and egghead, make their second appearances paired together.

both characters have gotten a makeover, though egghead’s is more drastic: he now has hair and talks in a dopey drawl courtesy of danny webb. daffy, on the other hand, now has blue irises and a matching ring around his neck—this design would be exclusive to this short only. but, it IS the first cartoon to pen him as daffy duck! he’d appear in a number of looney tunes shorts with porky as the year would go on.

like so many other “hunter vs prey” shorts, egghead is determined to hunt daffy. daffy, however, is prepared to do everything in his power to make egghead miserable.

ben hardaway, who would have been directing his own cartoons at the time of this cartoon’s release, is the writer, and it shows throughout. ben is notable for his more hayseed sense of humor, relying on puns so corny you’ll be flossing your teeth for a week to remove the kernels. his punny touch is noticeable right at the start, with daffy and egghead bursting out of literal nutshells in an odd little introductory sequence. irv spence does some nice animation here: daffy shakes his fists in the glory, soon to be interrupted by the fire of egghead’s gun. egghead chases after a HOOHOOing daffy, the smoke from the gun spelling out to the audience “DUCK SEASON STARTS TODAY”.

the scene is odd, but more so out of uniqueness rather than perplexity. one wonders how tex really would have prefaced the cartoon if he were paired with another writer instead.

in a tradition that would carry out into tex’s MGM days, one of our first impressions of the short is a facetious disclaimer:

a sense of tranquility is established through a soft, sweeping rendition of��“morning song” from the william tell overture. various gorgeously painted backgrounds fade into each other to convey the passage of time and rise of the sun, each background absolutely stunning in its own right. in a tex avery cartoon, such peace and harmony can only mean one thing: chaos is soon to follow.

our eponymous hunter creeps onto the screen, remarking aloud on the eerie stillness of his surroundings. “i wonder if there are any more hunters out here this morning.” right on cue, a swarm of hunters pop out of the reeds, reciting a popular catchphrase from the ken murray show reused in many a ‘30s WB cartoon: “whoooooooooa, yeaaaaah!”

the sound of quacks ring out from the recesses of the reeds, turning egghead on the alert. just as he prepares to hunt his prey, a signature avery gag of epic proportions interrupts the scene... literally.

tedd pierce’s silhouette darkens the screen as he makes his way to his movie seat--a latecomer. egghead spots him and urges him to sit down and not scare away his prey. the latecomer does so, only to rise up again and change seats. our frustrated sportsman urges the silhouette to sit down again, which he does so. the silhouette never utters a word, and that’s the best part. the matter of fact delivery of the gag, the control of it all is what makes the gag so funny. such even temperament from the silhouette juxtaposes starkly with the wild nature of avery cartoons. the normal is now the ridiculous.

when the silhouette snoops around for a better seat once more, egghead loses all patience and fires his gun straight at the silhouette. tedd pierce’s theatrics are hilarious--he twirls around, clutching his heart, hamming up his injury to the last drop. the anticipatory drum-roll as egghead looks on brings the entire act together. finally, pierce collapses, much to the contentment of egghead. he merely rubs the dust off his hands in a job well done and continues where he left off.

cartoon characters shooting audience members isn’t an alien move in warner bros. cartoons (bugs in rhapsody rabbit, daffy in the ducksters), yet the inclusion of the silhouette and its subsequent dramatics brings a new level of inclusion with the audience. imagine what an uproar this would get in a packed house! it’s a great way to break the barrier between cartoon characters and the audience. WB did a great job of making the audience feel included. hell, a majority of daffy’s character throughout the ‘40s hinges on this! but that’s an analysis for another time.

speaking of daffy, he’s the perpetrator of those quacking sounds in the reeds. egghead parts the plants to see if his prey is still there. he is—daffy gives him a viscious bite on egghead’s bulbous nose before going back into hiding.

“that duck’s craaaa-zy!” daffy pops his head out of the reeds again, shrieking a reply of “you tellin’ me? WOO WOO WOOHOO!”

daffy’s voice is significantly more shrill than his dopey guffaws in porky’s duck hunt. in fact, it’s so shrill that this could easily be considered one of his most annoying cartoons. though his 100% screwy, totally out of his mind personality isn’t my favorite personality for him, it’s still pretty damn great! so if you like obnoxious daffy (like me), this is a short for you. if you can’t stand him being a lunatic, stay away!

with that, daffy takes an exit, whooping and shrieking all the way in a direct throwback to his ecstatic exit in porky’s duck hunt. this is a game-changer for the merrie melodies series—the screwy, lunatic antics were typically reserved for the black and white looney tunes shorts. and here we have daffy, splitting the ears of his patrons and being a royal nuisance in the more expensive, esteemed merrie melodies, typically reserved for song and dance numbers! this ain’t your mother’s merry melody.

when daffy takes refuge within a cluster of reeds positioned in the middle of the lake, egghead uses this as an opportunity to lure out his prey with a decoy. specifically, ONE LOVE-LURE DUCK DECOY.

egghead sends the obnoxiously feminine duck decoy out into the water, quacking in time to the beat of stalling’s “the lady in red” underscore. the decoy disappears into the reeds, and there’s a pause.

a flurry of aggravated, warbled quacking cues us in that daffy is pissed off. the action is all hidden behind the plants, leaving details of their altercation is up to the audience’s interpretation. what we do see is daffy’s physical anger: he pops out of the water at the bank of the lake, throwing the decoy down at egghead’s feet. a makeshift sign cleverly held up by a cattail echoes a beloved catchphrase from the radio show fibber mcgee and molly:

bubbles rippling on the surface indicate daffy’s presence. he pokes his head out to heave a teasing quack at the befuddled hunter before dipping back down again, prompting egghead to stick his rifle in the lake. cue a tried and true gag that was likely much funnier then than now: the ol’ tie-the-gun-into-a-bow trick.

the next gag is one that tex avery would refurbish in his MGM debut, the early bird dood it!: egghead physically lifts the lake up like a blanket, where daffy appears just in time to give his nose another honk for good measure. cue crazed laughter and intricate water aerobics. daffy halts, addressing the audience directly with a flimsy reassurance: “i’m not crazy, i just don’t give a darn!”

irv spence takes the next showdown between hunter and duck. look at how much more appealing egghead is in his hands! egghead leans down to retrieve his gun he tosses aside, when daffy zooms into frame and fights him for it. daffy’s consistent smile as he and egghead battle for dominance, both trying to reach higher and higher on the gun, is hysterical—he’s absolutely getting a kick out of egghead’s frustration. though it was clear he was reveling in porky’s own anger in porky’s duck hunt, here his enjoyment is much more blatant. he loves being a pest.

daffy slides the rifle beneath his legs and out of sight, bopping egghead on the fist and causing him to slug a haymaker against his own head. signature irv spence grawlixes add a nice level of two dimensional graphic design, like something straight from a comic.

out of nowhere, a random turtle disrupts the altercation. the turtle is a parody of parkykarkus from the chase & sanborn hour, speaking in a thick accent and slightly butchered grammar. he opts to settle daffy and egghead’s fight once and for all, posing as a referee. “just a minute, chums. just a minute!” he supplies the two with pistols, both fitted for their respective sizes. to daffy, “turn around.” to egghead: “now you turn around.”

i love how daffy’s curiosity with the turtle’s interruption is noticeable. so noticeable, in fact, that the turtle grows hostile, getting up in his face and shouting “KEEP YOUR NOSE OUT OF OTHER PEOPLES BUSINESS, AIN’T IT!” it’s rare to see daffy lacking control of the situation, even this early on.

the two put their backs together per the turtle’s command, walking ten paces backwards in time to the turtle’s countdown. just as the turtle reaches ten, daffy jumps behind egghead, who fires. a potentially gruesome conclusion is avoided as the bullet hits the turtle’s chest instead, causing his head to rocket upward, hit a branch, and shrink back into his shell. in a hardawayian touch, daffy hands egghead a cigar, walking off screen, satisfied.

random as the scene is (hardaway’s influence seems to be particularly strong throughout this whole middle section), irv spence’s timing and appealing animation makes up for it. the switch to another animator entails an inevitable downgrade in draftsmanship.

after egghead realizes he’s been duped, he retrieves his rifle and prepares to shoot daffy. though initially startled, daffy thinks on his feet, and eagerly places an apple on his head for egghead to aim at instead. stalling’s fitting accompaniment of “william tell overture” raises in key each time egghead fires (and subsequently misses), a pattern that sounds almost identical to scott bradley’s scores under the direction of tex at MGM.

egghead shoots a tree, the lake, a barn, and even straight past daffy, who grows increasingly irritated at the hunter’s incompetence, moving closer to him with each effort. hardaway’s influence is strong with the next gag, matched with tex’s fast pace to prevent it from overstaying its welcome: daffy thrusts pencils, sunglasses, and a sign that says BLIND on it before turning to the audience and tssking. “too bad. too bad!” harsh indeed. i imagine this gag would have been prolonged had hardaway directed this cartoon or wrote it under another director.

if anything, this cartoon certainly displays the importance of the relationship between director and writer. writers have a much bigger influence on the cartoon than one might believe! there’s a reason as to why chuck jones and mike maltese are touted around as a dynamic duo. i wouldn’t call hardaway a bad writer by any means, but his influence is certainly potent. tex is a strong director, and thankfully he could cushion the blows of hardaway’s corniness as much as he could, but it’s also evident that certain decisions were made that tex wouldn’t have made in other circumstances.

decisions such as daffy singing an entire ode to his lunacy as the cartoon’s song number. this is definitely a hardawayian insert--a prototype, hayseed, screwball bugs bunny sings his own nutty anthem in hardaway’s hare-um scare-um just a year later. full song numbers have been making their way out the door in avery’s cartoons, and by either this year or next they’d be absent in total from the merrie melodies series. it’s unlike avery to write a whole song about characters explaining their nuttiness.

that is why i have qualms with the scene. at his zenith, daffy never attempts to explain or justify his screwiness. even in the mid-’40s, when he’s able to think and speak coherently and isn’t a mere caricature of his name, he showed no self awareness for his condition. the “look at me, ain’t i a crazy one?” jokes with him were out the door by 1939. half the fun with him is how unaware he is of his daffiness--he lives in it constantly, always zipping from emotional extremes, but never stops to tell the audience just how crazy and fun he is. here, his self-awareness seems ingenuine and prideful. daffy is my favorite character for his humanity and relatability (even--if not more so--when he’s a total loon). here, he lacks that dynamism. he’s merely a stock reflection of his namesake.

with that said, daffy’s rendition of “the merry go round broke down” is my favorite merrie melody song number, period. i’m certainly biased due to my undying affinity with daffy, but irv spence’s animation is genuinely fun to watch, and mel blanc does a wonderful performance. i know all of the words by heart! essentially, daffy’s justification for his daffiness is because the dizzy pace of the merry go round went to his head and made him nuts. while this sense of bragging is relatively out of character for him, it makes for a contagiously fun song, and also, this is his second film ever. they still had much to explore.

the scene concludes with daffy shaking hands with his reflection in the water and diving back in. fade out and in to egghead, still furiously attempting to pursue his prey. cue a fun little avery gag where our hunter nonchalantly opens the reeds he’s hiding behind like a pair of blinds. daffy’s carefree quacking and swimming in the lake almost seems to mock him. in a gag that would be reused in avery’s lucky ducky over at MGM to a greater extent, daffy puts on a mask to scare away the oncoming bullets. indeed, the bullets retreat into egghead’s gun, prompting befuddled stares at both the gun and the audience.

daffy engages in another round of spastic water aerobics, HOOHOOing all the way. he only pauses to cling to a cattail, echoing an averyian daffy catchphrase that he would also shriek in daffy duck in hollywood, “ain’t i some cutie? ahah! i think i’ll do it again! HAHAHA!”

a nice, jazzy score of “bob white (whatcha gonna swing tonight?)” accompanies yet another endeavor by egghead. he’s either stupidly bold or boldly stupid to keep up such a tiring charade--or both! egghead loads a pair of gloves tied to a string into the barrel of the rifle, cleverly using a cattail as a bore brush. and, despite the absurdity of his makeshift fishing pole, it works: one gloved hand grabs daffy by the neck, the other konking him on the head and knocking him unconscious. egghead reels in his prize, dumping daffy into a net and letting out a handful of gleeful “WHOOPEE!”s.

avery’s timing is succinct--immediately after egghead snags his duck, the sound of a siren drowns out his celebration. a duck nearly identical to daffy approaches the scene in an “asylum ambulance”. “gee, t’anks a lot for catchin’ dis goof!” duck confiscates his fellow duck comrade. the decision to turn the conversation confidential, complete with the lowering of the voice and shifty-eyed glances is great. “y’know, we been after dis guy for months!”

despite everything that egghead has endured, he seems genuinely shocked at the duck’s claim that daffy is “100% nuts”. “oh YEAH?” he echoes, daring to believe it. duck nods. “yeeeeah!” with that, he gives egghead a honk right on the nose.

daffy, completely unscathed, wastes little time in joining the festivities as both ducks beat the tar out of egghead from both ends, literally kicking him in the arse and honking him on the nose. both ducks head to the lake, HOOHOOing in shrill unison as they bound off into the horizon. egghead only has one more option... to join them. thus, we iris out on our brave hunter HOOHOOing into the horizon himself.

as i said at the beginning of this review, this cartoon is one of my favorites--for this era, anyway. despite its imperfections, it’s still a rather fun and rousing cartoon. it’s exciting to see daffy becoming more recognizable, in terms of voice, demeanor, and appearance. the same can be said for egghead as well, though i doubt anyone has the same attachment to him as they do other characters. i certainly don’t.

admittedly, porky’s duck hunt is a more solid cartoon. this cartoon feels much more like a string of gags than anything, though i suppose that could be said for many a tex avery cartoon. he wasn’t known for his moving stories. hardaway’s corny, hayseed sense of humor serves as the biggest detriment to the cartoon, but luckily tex is a strong enough director to try and work around those weaknesses as best he could. and even though i disagree with the reasoning behind the song number, the song number will always be my favorite merry melody song.

i didn’t mention the backgrounds very often, but they’re STELLAR. the colorful, whimsical palette brings a lot of energy and vitality to the table. if you were to describe the cartoon in one word, “energetic” would certainly be it.

so, with that said, go watch it! this is a really fun cartoon that serves as an interesting look into early daffy’s character, obnoxious as he may be.

link!

#lt #daffy duck and egghead #looney tunes #reviews #avery #long post

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evermoredeluxe · 3 years ago

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🦔🐧

Guess what I did last week? I bought socks with HEDGEHOGS ROASTING MARSHMALLOWS on them AND socks of PENGUINS SKIING. HOW AMAZING IS THAT!!!

Anyway, well that's the last time I tell anyone anything about animal anons plans, otherwise they will be spoiled and ruined by my friends! Oh well, it's all in good fun (and also forced me to keep my commitment of posting tonight despite being depressed that Jurgen got sent home...#gbbospoilers)!

Well as many people have predicted correctly, I passed the Bar! Hallelujah! I was sworn in as an attorney this week so I am officially an esq! I also am scheduled to received my dolly booster shot next week and earlier this month I started a new (not 80 hours a week) job! So I have had a fabulous month and have many things to be thankful for including my epic sock purchase! Which is perfect timing for the holiday ahead! So I wanna know what you are thankful for this year? I know it's been a tough year for so many so it can be as small or as large as you can think!

I'm so excited to learn more about everyone's year and what you're thankful for! Remember to tag animal anon (if you so desire) because I love scrolling through all your amazing responses! And since it was requested of course I LOVE atwtmvtv and the short film! My favorite vault song is IBYTAM because I love LOVE LOVE CS (please everyone go watch his performance with Jhud from the CMAs, it is mind-blowing)!

And remember, animal anon thinks you are all beautiful talented gorgeous people who are all killing it at life! ❤

omg congrats on passing the bar animal anon💗🥳 the best news ever. im so proud of you!! and also you got a job? woohoo, you’re killing it!

love that you’re so excited about your socks, i bet they’re very cute <3 very happy about you getting your booster!! also, idk that show but sorry about jurgen haha. im really thankful for taylor’s albums and all the other creative content we got this year :) im v excited about spider-man: no way home ahhh! also, my favourites from the vault are (obviously) atwtmvtv and forever winter. i honestly love all of them, it feels illegal to say what’s my fav lol.

#I LOVE YOUUU #animal anon #anonymous #replies

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klaineccfanficlibrary · 4 years ago

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Do you know of any fics about Klaine celebrating their one year anniversary of dating? (So season 3 era)

March 15, 2012 by livelife13

Kurt and Blaine's one year anniversary! Includes original Darren song. Rated for implied sex,make out scene, and skinny dipping

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Klaine's First Anniversary by MyMuseMyrtle

How Kurt and Blaine celebrate the one year anniversary of their first epic kiss.

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Reminiscent by Audette

For their one year anniversary, they went back to Dalton.

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One Year by FangirlFreakYoli

Kurt and Blaine's one year anniversary. Whet will they do? FLUFF

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One Year, Another Morning by Free Lies

In honor of Klaine week 2012, Blaine surprises Kurt in bed the day of their anniversary. Kinda fluffy.

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Ides of March by skwirelygurli

Kurt and Blaine celebrate their one year anniversary, with a minor setback. Kurt has laryngitis. Klaine.

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Pink Roses by JoCriss

Everything is going to be perfect. Or so Kurt thought. *in celebration of Klaine's one year anniversary*

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Happy Anniversary Baby by YourGayBarSuperStar

It's Blaine and Kurt's one year anniversary and Blaine has planed a magical night, but will everything go off without a hitch? Pure Fluff!

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Klaineiversary! by katieklaine27

One year ago today, something magical happened, That is Klaine. March 15th. A magical day. Blaine surprises Kurt with an awesome anniversary present! woohoo!

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Say Hey, I Love You by darrenchris

It's Kurt and Blaine's one year anniversary as Klaine, and Blaine enlists the help of some Warblers and the New Directions to tell Kurt how he feels. Utter Klaine Fluff, so enjoy.

Happy Reading! - HKVoyage

#Klaine #klaine fanfic #klaine fanfiction #fic finder #anonymous #early!Klaine #canon!Klaine #Season 3 #anniversary

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borisbubbles · 4 years ago

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17. CZECH REPUBLIC

Benny Christo - “Kemama”

youtube

So first off, thank you for the nice commens. 😇The past few months haven’t been the happiest time for me, so thank you for your patience as I scraped my bearings together for another post! 😁

So I will now extend that same sympathy to Benny Christo, whom I think I damn fucking underrated. Let’s jump in~

ENTRY ANALYSIS

As one may expect i INSTANTLY liked “Kemama” because you know, it’s a fun, laid-back, tropical afro-breeze, completely different from anything else we would see in NFs and the year. EXACTLY the type of song I was hoping the Czech NF would deliver (and deliver they did, see NF Corner). This level of mild like swung into strong unironic like upon realizing that the title is a contraction of “Okay Mother” 😍 and the song deals with the subject of overcoming racially-tinged discrimination and rising above the hate. That just feels very poetic and apt? “Kemama” felt like the entry that had to overcome the highest odds in order to earn the respect it so fully deserves, and still hasn’t fully reached it.

.In our Western European bubble, comprised mostly of gays and left-liberal straights, we have a very grateful and universal acceptance of many different kinds of [lizard] people that make up Eurovision casts. Yet with “Kemama” we may have reached an unusually grimy undercurrent of coded racism.

Of course nothing I read was outrageously rancid, than Cod for that. The worst statement I read was a double-whammy of “EWW THIS ISN’T CARIBBEANVISION” and “WHY WOULD SOMEONE FROM *KENYA* WANT TO REP CZECHIA IN EUROVISION?”, and yes they first got the continent wrong and then *also* got the country wrong in the follow-up post and then they were torn limb from limb by a pack of aformentioned left-liberals. I’m sorry but i can’t not have any other response than laughter in the face of yet another fucking MORON faceplanting themselves with words like a... racist JK Rowling if you will?

Still, while I never read something outright vile about Benny doesn’t mean I found his deniers really annoying and they were! Think “Ew Solovey is ‘Too Aggressive’ it will NEVER DO WELL IN ESC”, a statement that isn’t coded nor racist (and yet extremely false and misguided), functioned as a similar idea by the same minds. A statement borne from the same breed of narrow-minded stubbornness which has caused elitist morons to be all “there is **SOMETHING** about “Kemama” i do *NOT* like and I cannot lay my finger on it... but I **DO NOT** like it at ALL. It won’t ever qualify because everyone will think the same way I do” -- Eurovision snobs, tiptoeing around racial coda in January 2020.

They would also insist that Benny was “arrogant” because he was seemingly impervious to their (de)constructive criticism. Like, if you were a biracial butterfly living in a slavic country who had to deal with statements such as the above on a regular basis, you WOULD block out the noise. And if you heard them often enough you will start to block them out pre-emptively. DO YOU NOT KNOW HOW COPING MECHANISMS WORK?? (oh wait you’re white-privileged. Nevermind 🙄)

So naturally, when Benny decided that he would revamp “Okay Mother” by adding in MORE African elements it only made me love him even more lol. 😍 Was it a bull-headed, contrarian and possibly really stupid decision? Yes, yes and absolutely yes. Was it worth it? Well he managed to incite even more meltdowns in a group of people I feel nothing but contempt for, so hell yeah? Eurovision was cancelled anyway so who cares how much ‘worse’ “Kemama” actually got.

Okay, so we’ve arrived at the revamp.

Granted, it wasn’t the best ‘vamp, I’d be a fool to deny it. The new elements threw a wrench in the melodic balance of the song. Out went tropical laid-back fun, IN went that fucking guitar oh my god this is some Hotel FM piano levels of overbearing I swear. (nb: this still didn’t stop me from ironically stanning Hotel FM’s lame asses anyway 😍). However, it made the personal backstory that I loved and savoured take a backseat to the now inferior composition. 😭

Regardless, New Kemama was fundamentally the same song, and I fundamentally liked Old Kemama, so whatevs, it made no different to me. In the eyes of many Eurovision diehards we were experiencing WORST PRESHOW SEASON EVER (after three songs... lol) and nothing clinches this brainworm more than a revamp announcement. “OH MY GOD HE WILL RUIN IT! I CAN GUARANTEE YOU I *WON’T* LIKE IT”. Self-fulfilling prophecies, ya know? It certainly didn’t help when the official channel accidentally uploaded a vid with broken soundmixing (‘OMG HORRIBLE LAST IN THE SEMI!!!!’ calm the ever-loving HELL down) and took another FULL WEEK to upload the correct vid. The damage had already been done. Typing "SEE I TOLD YOU THE REVAMP WOULD BE SHITE HA HA HA” in the Kemama comment box really just is the ESC equivalent of reponding with “Actually, *all* lives matter :smug:” to a BLM support pamphlet, isn’t it?

NF CORNER

While not my favourite NF of the bunch, I found the Czech NF to be lowkey epic. Not epic enough to remember its name but regardless Czechvision or whatever marked the end of an era because it was also the last selection spearheaded by Jan Bors :o

I think I’ve made it clear enough in the past that I’m somewhat mixed on Bors Era Czechia - Lake Malawi were a toetapping good, Ickolas was a pockmarked, skin-crawling evil and the other three inhibit a purgatory somewhere between “moderately nice” and “moderate timewaste.”

Still, I have great respect for the man who orchestrated Czech’s comeback after scoring NINE POINTS TOTAL across three years with the mindset of “So what? Why says we can’t win?” so ofc I was all into the idea of the “EIGHT INDIE ANGELS, HAND-PICKED BY BORS HIMSELF” NF that would serve as his swan song.

Naturally things went down the drain the second Bors left, with one of the eight peacing and his successor cancelling the live broadcast (does anyone remember what exactly happened? I vaguely recall one was the cause of the other but lol it’s July can’t be bothered to factscheck (Factsczeck?) anymore, bitches.

Anyway, ON TO THE GOOD STUFF, and yes, there was plenty.

We All Poop - “ All the Blood (Positive Song Actually)”

youtube

Yes, as you can imagine I ofc IMMEDIATELY fell into like when I saw that chyron and invisioned the inevitability of the Czech Rep’s Rep immediately alienating every parent just based on their name alone <3 😍 w/e WAP quickly became that “Good but not great” song you find in every NF that everyone gushes over because it’s the whitest option available. Like, yes, “All the blood” is good, but musically it’s identical to Green Day and Twenty-One Pilots and god name ANY 90s-early00′s American Punk Rock band. For me the enjoyment came from the fact that WAP were openly crazy vegan fundamentalists and the VC clip actively condemns the use ANY animal protein by replacing the cattle and game with LITERAL HUMAN BEINGS. 😍 :fusedmarcintensifies: :kasiamosage:

Pam Rabbit - “Get up”

youtube

Ohhhh YES a glorious experimental Synth-Trap song only I could love and ofc I did. God what is there even to say; the provocative darkness of the verses combined with the swirling amorphousness of the chorus gives me LIFE. LUFF THIS SHIT <3333 Ftr, this was also the fave of Slovene Juror duo / synth angels / Boris faves ZALAGASPER, further proving their pathetic naysayers that they own all things music and the haters can suck a series of-

Barbora Mochowa - “White and Black Holes“

youtube

Lol, yes even with a “Get up” existing, there was a song I liked even more. Barbora proved a very competent Lana del Gay last year, but I was a YUGE fan of this year’s... Kate Bush-Björk blend of ethereal awesome. It is so soothingly beautiful and the rare example of a song that I find completely free of flaws. Were the competition not such a hard place, I’d be pissed she didnt win (at least she won the jury vote MASSIVE KUDOS to every alum on that) but w/e this selection had opions and I’m rather robbed of a “Kemama” than I am of a BRILLIANT IRREPLICABLE AETHERBALLAD. ~Danse balance sûr les white and black holes~

Elis Mraz & Cis T - “Wanna be like”

youtube

I *VERY* strongly felt that if the Czech Republic wanted to win ESC, they should have picked Elis and even now I STILL believe she could have won. That isn’t to say I gushed over “Wanna be like” because I find it kind of annoying lol. Yes, I LOVE an annoying female voice (:Tones&Icackle:) but Elis’s reaches a Camilla Cabello sort of place for me (good lord get Senorita OFF the fucking radio) and the Scat + White Guy Rapping middle-eight. 😬. However, the second I opened up the video clip for this paragraph and was immediately BLASTED by Elis murdering a ukelele and wearing a “schoolgirl” outfit straight from a Japanese tentacle porn movie and OH MY GOD THE AGGRESSIVE TWERKING made me reconsider that hey, this min-sized Meghan Traynor actually kinda highkey owns, yo! Yet, I’m not at all bothered we lost her in the Czech NF because we got UNO DOS QUATRO CINCO SEIS :fatmansplit: fill up the megameme slot instead, so...

Eurovision 2020 vs Eurovision 2021

BENNY RUINED HIS SONG AND NEVER WOULD HAVE QUALIFIED. jk I’m not a moron. Sure, “Kemama” wasn’t an easy sell because you know AFROBEAT in a contest where half of the people watching are fash (ie: all of Eastern Europe, who watch out of ~Nationalistic Sentiment~ 😬), but there are Kemama live renditions out there and he owns them SO hard lol. A few soundmixing issues really would not have stopped Benny from qualifying in that RIDICULOUSLY WEAKSAUCE SEMIFINAL are you fucking kidding me. He probably would’ve bombed in the Grand Final, but I mean it’s Czech and it’s not Ickolas so ofc it would have.

And Czech renewed him for 2021 regardless of the sceptics, woohoo! I think part of it was due the Czech not wanting to re-organize an ENTIRE NF from scratch without Jan Bors, but probably also because Benny owns live when he isn’t engaged in psychological trench warfare with actual human detritus <3 and also because the Czech fucking CARE about their artists and don’t drop them like a sack of rotten potatoes wtfshitprus.

Can’t wait for the moment when he qualifies and Efendi does not, etc, etc.

FREAKY! FRIDAY! FACTOR!

I’d say that the core around which the Ben Drama spun was pretty standard fare: niche fave beats out the concensus fave, meltdowns ensue, people convince themselves it was the WRONG decision because it wasn the result they wanted, try to disown the song and make a fool of themselves because the song slaps, sorry. Even the revamp drama felt more of less generic for me, because yawn fantards melting down over a revamp of a song they don’t even like what else is new.

However, what I do take away that the revamp was ENTIRELY Benny’s idea which he told no one about (cue to JAN BORS having a social media meltdown like he’s Caesar at the Ides of March 💔) added MORE afrobeat just to troll his haters even more <3 God, I’d say it was bad from a musical perspective but this level of in-your-face defiance is fucking iconic and hilarious, sorry. This entire this year is so batshit bonkers that the concept of a someone potentially shooting themselves in the foot and “torpedo��ing” their qualification chances (not rly, he would’ve Q’d anyway lol) JUST to take the moral high ground in a racially coded argument only HE took seriously may not even be the craziest concept in the year! (lol it definitely isn’t. Look at the pics I haven’t greyed out yet)

This and more yield Benny some well-earned Senheads! Yay!!

Score: 3 Senhits out of 5.

#Eurovision #Eurovision 2020 #Eurovision Song Contest #Czech Republic #Czechia #Bohemia #Ben Christovão #Benny Christo

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nbbkatherine · 4 years ago

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Connecting the Dots

Homeland by Cory Doctorow; Charlie’s Angels, 2019 Elizabeth Banks film; Numb3rs tv show; You Look Like a Thing and I Love You by Janelle Shane; Parasite, 2019 Bong Joon-ho film; the chilliad by Molly Of Geography webserial; Westworld tv show; Future Friends album by Superfruit; Dickinson tv show; after-words bookstore in Chicago, IL; webcomic name by Alex Norris; American Gods by Neil Gaiman; GINGER by BROCKHAMPTON; Russian Doll tv show.

Woohoo it’s been two years of Never Be Bored! This blog is all about relating different types of media together, and in the twenty-five posts so far, I’ve written about over one hundred books, movies, tv shows, and more. We could plot out each of these posts on a graph—nodes for individual recommendations and edges connecting recs in the same post. So buckle up folks, today we’re going to connect those dots so that we get one, big, beautiful connected graph.

Already some of the work is done. Too Like the Lightning is featured in Really Big Worms and The R Smith Edition. Worm is featured in The R Smith Edition, All Superheroes Need Therapy, and It’s the End of the World as We Know It and I Feel Fine. The first twelve posts all got a bonus recommendation from A Year In Review. Kurt Vonnegut wrote both Slaughterhouse Five from Nonlinearity and Galápagos in And So On. Elsewhere University from Strange and Yet Familiar got a shoutout in A+ in Applied Magics.

Let’s start off easy, making connections with what we’ve already got.

Do you hear that? Arrival, from Nonlinearity, and The Vast of Night, featured in Something in the sky, are two sci-fi movies about listening to aliens. For a modern take, with lots of scenes about trying to figure out xenolinguistics, go for Arrival, but if you’d rather something creepy and retro with dramatic monologues, give The Vast of Night a try.

Takeshi Kovacs is one bad ass mother fucker who is just over this shit, but still somehow gets roped into flashy fight scenes. If you liked that character in Altered Carbon, from To Whom Am I Speaking?, you’ll like the story of Duncan Vizla, aka the Black Kaiser, an almost-retired hitman in Polar, a Year in Review bonus rec to Floor It.

Bright Star (featured in The Northwestern Edition) and Hadestown (featured in It’s an old song) are both blues/jazz/folk musicals about a double love story. Bright Star is loosely based on a Missouri folk tale, Hadetown is inspired by Greek mythology. Both are excellent.

Cosmo Sheldrake (The How How Much Much and I from Strange and Yet Familiar) and Hozier (Hozier and Wasteland, Baby! from Daisies & Death) both create music that makes you imagine old fairy magic in the forest. Cosmo Sheldrake’s “Hocking” is like what I’d envision playing at a fae celebration of summer solstice, while Hozier’s “Wasteland, Baby!” is the sad love song from after the party’s over.

And now, let’s add entirely new nodes to our graph with new recommendations to connect posts.

Too Like the Lightning by Ada Palmer (Really Big Worms, The R Smith Edition) is a very idea-forward book, and (one of) the catalysts that kicks off the story is a stolen newspaper article draft. Ada Palmer is a professor who researches intellectual history, and it absolutely shows in her writing as her books explore the implications of a society based on certain ideas. Cory Doctorow is another favorite author of mine who also writes idea-forward fiction—if you liked Too Like the Lightning, try his Homeland, in which Marcus Yallow is entrusted with an archive documenting government and corporate crime, and has to figure out how to publish it without getting arrested. I would also highly recommend this book, available to download for free from Doctorow’s website, if you liked The Information: A History, A Theory, A Flood by James Gleick (Something in the sky). Although Homeland is fictional, as you read you’ll learn things too—about information security, the darkweb, evading surveillance, and protesting tips.

I want more action movies starring women, because I love a good fight sequence and watching things go boom, but I’m tired of watching men with big guns in movies with, like, one named woman character. Kingsman: The Secret Service (A Year in Review bonus rec to Non je ne regrette rien) just barely passes the Bechdel test, but I will give it a bonus point for having two badass women main characters who aren’t love interests (ugh, the bar is so low). And if you liked the aesthetic of Kingmen’s gentlemen spies, then you might like Elizabeth Bank’s 2019 reboot movie Charlie’s Angels. Naomi Scott, Ella Balinska and Kristen Stweart all kicking ass on screen? Yes, please! Continuing in that vein, see also Ocean’s 8 (Floor It) for an all-women heist crew, set on stealing diamonds from the Met Gala.

My favorite episodes of Hannibal (Daisies & Death) are the one-off monster-of-the-week type episodes, where the FBI is investigating a murder and Will Graham, profiler extraordinaire, is called in for help. If you’re into crime shows like that, try Numb3rs, streaming on Hulu, a tv show about two brothers—one, Alan, an FBI agent and the other, Charlie, a mathematician. Together they solve crimes, using fluid dynamics, disease spread modeling, wavelet analysis, and many more areas of applied math. (I learned a little about sabermetrics, the statistical analysis of baseball, from one episode, so I dropped that term in conversation with a sports-obsessed acquaintance freshman year in college. We became good friends, and I’m pretty sure that conversation was part of why.) For more on applications of mathematics to real world problems, read The Code Book by Simon Singh, featured in On Computability, which details the math theory behind creating and cracking encryption over the centuries.

The Imitation Game, a Year in Review bonus rec to On Computability, is named for an artificial intelligence thought experiment proposed by Alan Turing in 1950, before anything resembling modern computers even existed. In Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson, robots across the globe gain sentience and begin to turn against their human makers—hilariously in retrospect, I recommended this book in It’s the End of the World as We Know It and I Feel Fine back in March. Anyway, between those two extremes, where is the field of artificial intelligence today? To learn more, try You Look Like a Thing and I Love You by Janelle Shane, a truly delightful book that will both show you how far research has come and will reassure you that the robot uprising won’t be happening anytime soon.

Bad Times at the El Royale (Just you, and me, and this gun) unsurprisingly takes place at the El Royale hotel. For reasons that would be spoilers to name, the setting is essential to the plot of the film—the story could not have unfolded in the way that it did anywhere else. This is also true of Parasite, 2019 Bong Joon-ho film currently streaming on Hulu, where many scenes take place in a rich family’s house—which was actually designed and built in pieces for the movie. An absolutely incredible dark comedy/thriller, Parasite explores the things a person might just do to get ahead. For another thriller with characters willing to go to extreme lengths for their own personal reasons, try Thoroughbreds, from Non je ne regrette rien.

Lore Olympus by Rachel Smythe, featured in It’s an old song, retells the story of Persephone and Hades but in a vaguely modern setting—where the two first meet in a crowded bar. For more modernized Greek myths, check out the chilliad by Molly Of Geography, a wildly funny adaptation of the Illiad. Follow along with Homer Bard, undeclared freshman Alpha Sigma Phi pledge, as he recounts the story of the epic prank war against the Trojan House. If your favorite characters from this ongoing webserial are Achilles “AC” Myrmidon and Pedro Klaus “PK” Liebling but were looking for something a little more traditional, then you might like Madeline Miller’s The Song of Achilles, a retelling of Illiad from the point of view of Patroclus, recommended in Is it better to speak or die?.

Firefly (The Family We Made Along the Way) is a tv show with an interesting blend of aesthetics—some people wear dusty cowboy hats and some people live in floating mansions and there’s a scene where the crew get a job to transport cattle from between planets. If you’re into that, try the tv show Westworld, streaming on HBO, about a Western-themed amusement park, populated by android hosts—who talk and dress and live as if it’s the 1800s, looking exactly like humans, with no idea that their entire world is a vacation destination for the wealthy. As the series continues and secrets are revealed, plot twists will keep you glued to the screen. See also Sense8 (To Whom Am I Speaking?), which likewise features lots of action and a cast of characters who keep secrets and deals with the question—what makes us different from each other?

In The Northwestern Edition I wrote about the different a cappella groups on campus; if you like that style of music then you might have heard of the group Pentatonix, the first a cappella group to win the Grammy for Best Instrumental Arrangement. Two members of the group, Mitch Grassi and Scott Hoying, also make up the duo Superfruit, and I adore their (synth-pop, not a cappella) album Future Friends. “Imaginary Parties” (which has an excellent music video) and “Bad 4 Us” are my song recs for Freckle and Caleb respectively, characters from The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo, the five-episode series from Baby if you love me, won’t you please just give me a smile?.

If you’re interested in queer art history, consider following Dan Vo on Instagram, one of the tour guides of the V&A’s LGBTQ tours, recommended in The Eye of the Beholder. You might also like Dickinson, an Apple TV show about Emily Dickinson growing up, writing poetry, getting into trouble with her parents, and falling in love with her friend Susan. Although it’s set in 19th century Massachusetts, the dialogue and music are thoroughly modern, which makes for a fun juxtaposition—in the first episode, Emily imagines going on a carriage ride with Death while “bury a friend” by Billie Eilish plays in the background. For more stories about the life of a queer poet, try Zami: A New Spelling of My Name by Audre Lorde, featured in Looking Forward, Looking Back, about her experiences growing up, writing poetry, getting into trouble with her parents, and falling in love with lots of people, in 1940s and 50s New York City.

Here’s how you spend one perfect day in Chicago: you wake up late one November Saturday. Down in the Loop, you visit the beautiful Chicago Athletic Association, which despite the name is actually a hotel, for Chicago Art Book Fair (A Year in Review bonus rec to The Northwestern Edition). You browse brightly colored lithographs and maybe pick up a zine or two. Then you take a walk north, across the river, to E Illinois and Wabash, to after-words bookstore. Down in the basement, you look through the new and used books in search of something interesting. Take your time in River North, find something good to eat, because you have plenty of time before taking the Red Line up to Argyle, to catch a performance of the The Infinite Wrench by the Neo-Futurists, featured in Next!.

In My Favorite Shapes (This Might As Well Happen), we get to hear Julio Torres talk about, for example, an oval looking at his reflection in a pond and wishing he were a circle. Some of my favorite shapes are the pink blobs from Alex Norris’s webcomic name, three-panel comics with a repeated punchline—an excellent of example of how sometimes you don’t need a lot of fancy detail to convey emotion. For another webcomic about the absurdities of life, check out Poorly Drawn Lines by Reza Farazmand (And So On).

Forgotten gods and old magic tied to old places. In Digger (webcomic featured in The Family We Made Along the Way), a perfectly respectable wombat finds herself traveling strange lands and meeting a couple of gods (well, sort of). For another story of an ordinary person who gets caught up in the affairs of gods, try American Gods by Neil Gaiman, about an ex-convict who meets Mr. Wednesday, an American incarnation of the Norse deity Odin the All-Father. The things we are allowed to forget shape us—at one time, Odin had power because many people knew that he was real, but in this book, Mr. Wednesday is weakened because so many people have forgotten him. One of my favorite moments—in just about any written work I’ve ever read— is the line of dialogue in The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin (A+ in Applied Magics) that Revealed a Thing Forgotten. You’ll know it when you see it, and any further description would be a major spoiler.

On the scale of how much singing is involved in rap albums, on one side you have something like neo-soul Overgrown (Looking Forward, Looking Back), where Ivy Sole shows off her vocals, and on the other you have R.A.P. Ferreira’s purple moonlight pages (Something in the sky), which has more of a jazz-rap feel. Somewhere in between is GINGER by BROCKHAMPTON, which has both catchy sung hooks and rapid-fire bars; two of my favorite songs off this album are “SUGAR” and “IF YOU PRAY RIGHT.” I’ve seen them in concert twice and I look forward to being able to again, someday.

Lastly, if you liked Palm Springs, from This Might As Well Happen, a rom-com in which Nyles and Sarah fall asleep and wake up on the day of Sarah’s sister’s wedding over and over again, but were looking for something a bit darker, then you might like Russian Doll, a black comedy tv series that begins when two people keep dying and reliving the same night. For another duo of characters with great dialogue bumbling through life and death together, try Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard, featured in It’s an old song.

Here’s a visualization of this blog, with and without labels:

#books #movies #tv #webserials #music #things to do and see #Chicago #webcomics

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ladyamandapanda12 · 7 years ago

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The King and I

The King and I Chapter 5 part 1

A/N: So I figured i had been sitting on the first 3000 words long enough. So here you guys go. I’ll try not to make Part 2 such long of a wait.

Summary: Tia has to leave London, and face her feelings for Chris. Can she leave so easily? Will she come back? And if she does will Chris wait for her? Is she going to be in the middle of an epic battle? Guess you’ll have to read to find out.

Tags: Adult situations, more so fluff then anything, angst

Word Count: 2,973

@@myluvislikewow @sergeantmistress @theycallmebecca @devikafernando @theflimmaker1999

“Tia do you have to go?” Sebastian peeped out. His face red, and streaming with tears.

Tia kneeled in front of him. “My little love, we go through this every time. You know I have to get back home. I have a lot of grown up stuff I must take care over there. I will be back soon, I promise. We can talk every week just like usual, and you can draw me pictures and write letters.”

“Bbbutt…BUT…I WANT YOU TO STAY HERE!!”

“SEBASTIAN….” Chris raised his voice to cut through the whining. “Do not yell at Tia. Am I understood?” Truth was Chris was not happy about Tia leaving either. And just like Sebastian his temper was on the rise as well.

“Tia please don’t go, we will miss you too much..” Henry said solemnly keeping his head down and eyes fixated on the red and gold carpet.

Tia motioned for Henry to come and stand in front of her. She whispered something in his ear, making sure to cover her mouth so no one else could hear it. Once she was finished he nodded at her and gave her a hug. “It will be our little secret okay?”

“Yes Tia.” He said with a little bit of hope in his voice.

Tia turned to give Sebastian her attention again, she hugged and kissed him. Telling him that she loved them both, and that they always have a place in her heart. Tia gave Henry a nod and henry took Sebastian’s hand and led him back inside. Only turning to wave goodbye once they reached the threshold of the palace.

“What was that about?”

“I told Henry that I was going to need his help, and he is helping me with Sebastian.” Chris nodded his head in agreement. He didn’t quite understand but he knew what was done is done.

“I love you my king...” Tia stepped forward and kissed his bearded cheek. Cupping the other side with her soft manicured hand. “…Please take care of yourself.” Chris leaned in and kissed the palm of her hand.

“I promise my queen. Please come back to me soon.”

“I will baby.”

Chris grabbed her waist and brought her closer to him. There was only a slight moment where their breaths hitched in anticipation. Then he crashed his lips on to hers and tightened his grip around her waist. Only when they broke for air did she realize that they had been kissing longer than expected.

“I have to go.” She whispered, eyes still closed while their heads leaned on each other’s for support.

“Please stay, we had so much fun the last two days. Especially yesterday morning.”

Tia had a flash back of yesterday morning.

“Sire Please!” Moans and gasps of air was all that was heard throughout his chambers. Tia’s pleas went unanswered. How she ended up on the shoulders of the king, with his head barried between her legs was a mystery to her. Especially because this was just supposed to be a ‘snuggle/cuddle’ sleep over. Between Chris ravaging her sweetness, and then pounding her into the next millenia love making lasted all morning.

Being pulled from her thoughts she knew she had to leave. “I can’t, not just yet my love. I promise I will be back, sooner than you think.” She grazed his nose with hers and kissed him again this time she slowly released his bottom lip.

“Eh hem. I’m sorry Tia, but if we don’t go you will miss check in.” Banks interrupted.

“See you later hun.”

“Bye my queen. Call me when you get home?”

Tia nodded and swiftly turned and climbed into the car. With a nod from Tia, Banks pulled off quickly. She knew to just go so no one changed their minds.

“Thanks lady, I could’ve stayed in his arms forever.”

“You have some explaining to do. The last time I saw you, you wanted nothing to do with him. Now I’m pulling you guys apart. What In The Actual Fuck??”

“It has been a crazy week girl.”

~~~~~~

It had been a month since Tia had left London. She had received at least 20 pictures from the boys a piece. Drawings of their days, what they had for lunch, and dinner, who they played with that day the usual. They talked on the phone every week. Sebastian on Mondays, Henry on Wednesdays, and Chris every other night light clock work. Damn did she miss her men. But it wasn’t going to be too much longer. She had a trick up her sleeve, which would get her back to England sooner than expected. Until then she went on about her normal life. As much as she can anyway. She was ready to go back, London was her home now.

Only a few short more weeks had passed before she had gotten the phone call she was waiting for.

“Hey Max! What’s going on?” Max was the PR manager for Tia’s latest project.

“You ready to go back to London?”

“FINALLY!”

“Ha ha ha I will take that as a yes. The premiere is on the 21st that gives you a week, before you hit the carpet.”

“Totally manageable! I got this.”

“Oh, Tia? Try not to disappear until after the premier. Yeah?”

“I make no promises. See you next week.”

This was it. She was finally going back to her home. I hope they are ready. Lord now what am I going to wear. She thought to herself, as she moved through the look books for her red-carpet look.

Meanwhile back in London a week days later….

“Daddy, daddy, daddy guess what I saw today!!! Daaaaad! Where’d you go??”

“I’m in the office little prince!” Sebastian ran down to the end of the corridor where he found his father sitting at his big mahogany desk. Dressed in 3-piece suit, with onyx loafers.

“Guess who I saw on tv today!”

Chris chortled as the little one ran across the room and passed Chris's entourage. He hopped on his lap wide eyed in excitement.

“What’s that buddy?”

“The Rock and Tia! They are coming here for a pre..pre…Remayor.”

“A premiere?” Chris asked.

“Yeah that’s what I said a pre..pre..Remayor! She will be here tomorrow night. Can we please, please, please stay up to see her walk the red-carpet daddy?”

“I will think about it buddy.” Not willing to take no for an answer Sebastian pulled out the big guns. His famous puppy dog stare and pouty lip. “You suck that lip back in mister. I said I will think about it.”

“But I miss her, she’s like mommy I need her here with us.” Chris’s heart melted. How could he say no to this? His son was truly hurt, and all he wanted was to see his mom. Which in this case Tia held that spot for him.

“Bud do you remember mommy?” Chris asked

“My real mommy?” Chris nodded in agreement. Sebastian turned to a photo on the credenza behind him and pointed. “That’s her, she went to heaven a little while ago. I miss her, but I know she wants me to be happy. She.. she… wants all of us to be happy. I'll always love her.”

Tears welling up in Chris’s eyes. “You know buddy you’re right, and a very smart young man. You are going to be a great human being which is all I want for you and your brother.” Chris kissed the top of Sebastian’s forehead and the little one hugged his neck and jumped off his lap.

“Besides she thinks Tia is pretty cool too.”

“Alright buddy you can stay up tomorrow and watch.”

“Woohoo!” Sebastian sprang out of his father’s lap and ran out of the office to go tell Henry. Chris was left sitting in his office chair pondering the conversation that just transpired. Maybe it was time to make Tia apart of the family officially. Wait did he just say she thinks Tia is pretty cool?

~ ~

It was great to be back in London. To feel the energy, the smell, the sound, it just felt like home. Premiere night was tonight! Tia had sung and composed a couple of songs for the movie, and had a couple of scenes with the rock as his stand in girlfriend. No biggie, everyone has a scene with the rock, right? First thing first info meetings.

Everyone managed to arrive at the Marriott within an hour of each other. Max was standing at the head of the conference table debriefing everyone.

"Good morning everyone I know it's early so I’ll make this quick. Alright so we have a little over 12 hours before premiere time. Everyone needs to be there on time. Even though this the last one doesn’t mean we can start slacking. Secondly, I want everyone to go out for an hour be seen. Create some excitement like how cool is it if the rock is at the local coffee shop?"

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Tia Dwayne if you guys could go out together that would be great. Actually, whomever is your 'partner in crime' in the movie try to go together."

"So, your majesty where you wanna go? This is your city."

Tia chuckled "Oh my city huh? Just because I’m here all the time doesn’t make it my city. Well I guess it does. But I’m not royalty. Let’s see we can go easy and go to the eye? It's quick, fun, you get a great view of the city, always a good crowd, and the best part quick. We could be back here and asleep in no time."

"My sistah let's do it to it."

After they unloaded their suitcases, Dwayne and Tia left straight for the eye. Making sure to grab her vlogging camera so she can make a video about it later.

The ride was amazing. It truly is the best way to see the city. Word had spread fast about their outing. Of course, it was almost peak tourist season so the little outing was not a letdown. It was almost 10am and they had made the daily news website. Pretty crazy considering they had only been out for about an hour.

Only problem is that the quick media coverage blew the whole surprise. Tia wasn’t too much worried about the boys since they were still in school. It was Chris she really wanted to surprise. Maybe he hasn’t seen it yet? She thought to herself. Only 4 minutes passed before she got her answer in the form of a text message.

But before she could check her messages Rock called to her. “Tia. The car is here. Let’s go back.” Once situated she immediately checked her messages. Sure enough it was Chris and he didn’t sound too happy about the surprise.

Chris: So, you were just going to sneak in and sneak out or what?

Tia: Of course not!! I was going to come see you tonight, after the premiere.

Chris: You know that I try to have the boys in bed by 10.

Tia: I know, I'm counting on that...I wasn’t coming for the boys tonight... I figured I would surprise them at breakfast.

Chris: Oh yeah? Well who exactly where you coming to see tonight then?

Tia could tell that he was softening up. So, she decided to mess with him just a little.

Tia: Are you actually going to make me say it?

Chris: Text it. But, Yep!

Tia: 'huffs' finnnee smart ass. Maurice dammit, I'm coming for his flautas! You happy?

Chris: You are an awful tease woman!

Tia: Who said anything about being a tease?

Chris: What if I don’t want to wait until tonight? What if I want you before then?

Tia: Well I’m on the way to the hotel to start pre-getting ready. I’m sure I could squeeze you in for a quickie ;-).

Chris: What if I don’t want a quickie?

Tia: Then I’ll see you tonight after the premiere.

Chris: Well fine then. I'll see you tonight my queen.

“Who you texting over there? Must be a man you are blushing hardcore over there.” Dwayne said.

Tia immediately blushed. “I guess you could say he’s my boyfriend.”

“Is he here?”

Tia nodded.

“No disappearing young lady.” He said while wagging his finger at her. Tia couldn’t help but laugh.

“Don’t worry I won’t disappear until after the premier.”

“Oh, okay cool then. Wow that was a short ride. How come we didn’t walk?”

“Seven miles on foot? I’m not that adventurous.” She stated plainly.

“Alright well, I’ll see you tonight then. Say hi to the boyfriend.”

“Will do.”

-----

Getting ready for the premiere was like clockwork for Tia. Facial, mani-pedi, deep tissue massage, and a v-steam. Hair and make-up was right on time at 4 o’clock. It took a total of 2 hours to get ready. She was on the red carpet just in time. Camera flashes everywhere as she walked down the red carpet in her emerald green dress. She realized she had missed the attention, then quickly remembered once a photographer made a very inappropriate cat call at her why she left it. Tia had managed to make it into the theatre, and in her seat without any hiccups. As she looked around the packed auditorium all she could think about was getting to Chris. She had really missed her man, and the teasing text messages earlier didn’t help. All they did was add oxygen to the fire that was already flaming pretty high within her.

“Eh hem!!!...” Showtime Tia thought to herself Only 2 hours and 21 minutes until this is over then a quick peak into the after party then I’m out. “… Ladies and gentlemen tonight is a special night indeed. Not only is this the last stop on the premiere tour…” Applause “…But tonight we are joined by a very special and most honorable guest. His Royal Highness King Christopher Robert Evans the first!!” Tia’s heart skipped a beat. Everyone stood up and clapped and cheered for Chris as if he had won an Oscar for his performance. Granted he was the king and he looked especially dashing in his 4-piece Alexander McQueen suit. Chris smiled and greeted the room. “Thank you for letting me attend on short notice. I know these premieres are planned out months in advance.”

“Well of course your highness. You are always welcome! Unfortunately, we don’t have the royal box cleaned and outfitted for you. It will only take but a few moments.”

“Non-sense I will sit in the audience, just because I’m king doesn’t me I’m better. I will be honored to sit among the fine actors and actresses that made this film.”

Applause

Damn he’s good! Tia thought to herself.

“Well of course your highness please take a seat anywhere.” Chris gave a swift nod in appreciation and left the stage. As he walked down the aisle he found his seat. Wouldn’t you know that there was one right next to Tia. She was Six seats in and he would be seated to the right of her.

“Do you mind Miss. Tia?”

Tia stood up quickly and gave a short courtesy. “Of course not your majesty. I would be honored! Please sit.” Chris moved to sit next to her, and Tia appeared unfazed. She had to be there was essentially a whole auditorium watching them. Once everyone was settled and the movie began that’s when the fun began. Chris leaned over and whispered in her ear. His breath warm and smelled of cigars and peppermint. Tia hated that he smoked, but she was the first to emit she loved the way his kisses tasted after he had did though.

“You look gorgeous my Queen.”

“Thank you baby. I thought we were going to meet a little later. What are you doing here?”

“I’m here for my quickie.” Tia's eyes went wide. Only thing she could do was to try and keep her cool. So without taking her eyes off the screen she leaned over and answered him in a hushed voice. “Oh really? Well unfortunately your royal highness, that window of opportunity has closed. However after the after party, I might be able to help you pry open that pesky window open.”

Chris was a little taken aback by her response. If she wanted to tease, he could definitely show her a good tease. “Or… I can loosen up the hinges on that window. And take my appetizer now.” With one fluid motion he took off his jacket and put it in his lap. One of his security gestured to take it and Chris shook his head in disagreement. He placed his arm around Tia’s shoulders and the women 2 rows behind them gasped. All Chris could do was chuckle. He placed his jacket across Tia’s lap. “You are a very good girl for wearing a dress that has a slit so high." As Chris moved his hand up the slit up her thigh Tia widened her legs for him. Chris slid his hand further up her leg, the further he went he could feel the heat coming off her warm sex. Tia let out a small hiss, then all of a sudden Chris stopped. His attention focusing on to one of his security guards. He was speaking into his cuff link, that Chris could hear through an ear piece. He gave a swift nod, and turned his attention back to Tia. “I have to go. But I’ll see you tonight my love.”

“Is everything okay?”

“I don’t know, but I’m going to find out. I love you my queen.”

#the king and i #Chris and Tia #woc ofc #part 1 of 2

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larasatirachel · 4 years ago

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Unlocked on December 2020

This post created by author’s willingness to challenge herself by doing something productive during a pandemic. As it happened, an Indonesian news and media Instagram account, Folkative, shared a challenge for their followers to write any slightly activity to get out from their comfort zone, everyday on December 2020 in Folkative’s comment sections. Sounds like what she wanted to do all year. But instead, she just start to continuing her neglected blog.

And here she is.

Tulisan ini dibuat dengan keinginan penulis untuk menantang dirinya sendiri melakukan sesuatu yang dapat menghasilkan pada masa pandemi. Kebetulan, akun Instagram Folkative, membagikan sebuah tantangan kepada pengikutnya untuk menulis setiap hari dibulan Desember 2020 dalam kolom komentar Folkative, mengenai aktivitas sekecil apapun yang membuat mereka keluar dari zona nyamannya. Kedengarannya seperti suatu hal yang ingin penulis lakukan sepanjang tahun. Tapi, daripada melakukannya di sebuah kolom komentar, dia memenuhi tantangan itu dengan melanjutkan blog-nya yang terbengkalai.

Dan disinilah dia sekarang.

(udh kayak nulis abstrak)

1 Desember 2020

Try to being creative by creating a blog. And that’s not even for me. Haven’t post anything yet, but I’m gonna.

Have done a Proofreader Subtitle online training.

Joining this December 2020 Challenge by an Instagram account, Folkative. So, hello Tumblr. You’ll see me here more often now.

2 Desember 2020

I made my very own first recipe! An healthy scrambled egg with Chinese cabagge, atau kalau diartikan ke Bahasa Indonesia adalah telur orak arik dengan sawi putih. Berawal dari niat mengurangi kemalasan dan keborosan untuk Go-Food terus, akhirnya keberanian untuk mencoba itu muncul. Most simplest ingredients using just 1 sheet of Chinese cabbage, 1 egg, 1 garlic, 1 shallot, 2 pinches of salt and 1 mug of water. So what did I do was boil the sliced Chinese cabbage with hot water until it’s shriveled and the water shrink. Watch out if the water starts to dry. Put in thin sliced garlic, wait a moment then put in the thin sliced shallot as well. Boil them out until it smells good and there’s only a small amount of water left. Also the water looks different too, like a broth. Then, crack the egg and start scrambling and stirring them up, using light and medium fire. Take a good look at the egg, if you see it looks good enough then put 2 pinches of salt, stir them up again. Then eat it! With rice! Biar kenyang.

I bought my love love KFC Cream Soup for my grandpa. He liked it. But I’m here praying that the KFC crews put less salt in my grandpa’s cream soup.

I stood up for myself, to not be okay for being used by others. Even if its your family. Soon, I believe I’m getting better at knowing which acts is got me just for being used and which acts is really need my help.

3 Desember 2020

I barely productive or achieve something new on this day. The only things I did was achieve a small emblem pack on mobile legend for destroyed 5 enemy turrets in one day. THAT AINT SOMETHING! y on earth do I write this as an achievement? And this is not even something new! (well, of course because you got nothing to write in the first place, Ras. duh.)

I also found out that most listened Indonesian artist 2020, Pamungkas, was a really cute guy. No, not by looks, I’m sorry. But in his Instagram account, he shared the journal he wrote and I love the way he thinks, the way he sees life, his goals, and I love the most he writes. He literally share his day with all things happen in words. A guy who write a journal --or should I say a diary?. Well, I find it really cute. I’ll try to listen to his songs later.

At ten to eleven p.m I still hope something good and new and surprising would happen to me. But then, I just fell asleep.

4 Desember 2020

Earlier this morning, when I woke up, I did actually have an intention to do some exercise like walking for an hour or two kilometers maybe. That is me, myself, my thought at 8 a.m, lying on the bed. Then 5 minutes later, the different me appears, still on the bed, but rather than thinking, she scroll Instagram all the hella whole time. But that iiss also me, that is myself. And again, this aint an achievement nor a new thing happen on December 2020. This just another failed goal. Actually I was about to walk around neighborhood to get some dinner, but my family held me down to order a delivery instead. So, yep, still a failed one.

Oh! I did feel like I am healing from my trust issues. Am healing. A present continuous, yes. Still have it, but I dont really feel like not trusting anyone anymore. On process, but a progress.

Trying to listen to Pamungkas 1st album, Walk the Walk. Dude, dis really not my kind of music. It does calming, but like too calm, much far less beat than my kind of music. But I still listening to it by the time I’m writing this at 1 a.m on the next day. HEY! I AM TRYING NEW THING RIGHT NOW!! WOOHOO!!! FINALLY! A NEW ACHIEVEMENT!

For the first time in forever, I downloaded some mp3s music. Of course by request. My dad asked me to download some christmas songs to put in his flashdisk. So, thank you soundcloud and the users.

I’m so happy that I and my aunt agreed to pay together for dinner. I kinda pay too much, but that is great. That makes me feel great. And even when she said “sok banget uang masih segitu aja mau bayarin” IT DONT EVEN AFFECT ME LIKE AT ALL, HER WORDS DONT KILL MY GREAT VIBE, I AM FEEL SECURED. I dont know why, I dont know how, I sure am grateful.

For the record, my writing is getting longer everyday. Unlocked.

4 Desember 2020

I skipped this day. Of course it is not the first time. That "I'll do it later" thing is such a trap. I trapped on a procrastination, for 3 frickin days. But I must say I will write this later too cause its 11.46 on Dec 7th and I'm sleepy. Actually its kampung melayu. (VERY MUCH LAME UNFUNNY NO GOOD INSIDE JOKE, LARAS.)

5 Desember 2020

I skipped this day too, and I am skipping it again.

6 Desember 2020

Actually I also skipped this day but of course I remember this: I on this day I successfully unlocked a new recipe at the very first attempt. I made bakwan! With tepung bakwan siap jadi, a cup of tepung serbaguna, toge, wortel serut, kol, pepper, salt, water, ketumbar and maybe a little kunyit bubuk, I made a VERY REALLY GOOD vegetables tempura. I might think its just a beginner's luck because trust me its way too good.

7 Desember 2020

Ooookay, finally, the actual date, right on time. So, new thing is I filled an quizionare from prakerja with iming iming get 500k and found some potentially funny questions.

I'm too sleepy to remember! But still got it for scrolling instagram, so I'll do this tomorrow. Really.

11 Desember 2020

Yes, yes it’s been 4 days since I wrote this journal. Mobile legends does get me addicted. I have a goal to achieve Epic rank before January and it became an obsession. Rather than writing this. So, this afternoon I found out that I accepted as an Proofreader Subtitle in Tujju Media with Nabila’s recommendations. And now I’m having a video call with Theo and Pangeran Christian on Pange’s birthday.

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patricksilvrrozartistry · 7 years ago

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Current Music Obsessions: December 1 - 16, 2017

Sorry for being a bit late on this. Been pretty busy these last few days. ANYWAYS, I don't have as many honorable mentions this time, but I still got a lot of obsessions in general. I'm still working on purging my watch later playlist, so it's probably gonna be a while before things mellow out. Anyways, here are the honorable mentions.

Ilios - Into the Void The Dark Element - The Ghost and the Reaper Deathless Legacy - Witches' Brew Corvyx - Ready For It? (Taylor Swift cover) The Great Discord - Persona Right to the Void - Lines Concealed Reality - Hakai Tasters - Jakarta Coronatus - Mountain Sky Tragul - The Message Emptiness - Ever Heretoir - Golden Dust The Augurist Complex - Eartheater Noah Cyrus - Again feat. XXXTentacion My Dinosaur Life - One Fast Move or I'm Gone Sunflower Bean - I Was a Fool Sevdaliza - Hear My Pain Heal Distorted Harmony - Natural Selection Omnimar - Not Strong Arrayan Path - The Eleventh Mantra Wildpath - Buried Moon

Here come the many real obsessions.

1) Pussy Riot - Police State

I finally got around to checking them out last year when they dropped Make America Great Again. I knew they were a controversial band before checking them out after hearing about "free Pussy Riot" a few years ago, so it doesn't shock me to see them come out with a song centered around police brutality. It has a rather upbeat sound, but the lyrics hit you in the face. Definitely am gonna check out more of their work.

2) Cher - The Greatest Thing feat. Lady Gaga

I found this gem through Twitter and I'm so mad it never got a proper release. Two of the biggest gay icons did a song together and it never got properly released. AND IT'S SUCH A GREAT SONG. It's so good!

3) The Hardkiss - Кораблi (ПРЕМ'ЄРА)

This song has a slightly different vibe to it compared to their other songs. It feels a bit darker. I think the video also helps to sell that darker vibe. It's a great song and has a catchy chorus. I'm really digging the more prog rock direction they've been going in lately. Really looking forward to their next release.

4) Madonna - Like a Prayer

I found a new "feel good" artist for me, and it's Madonna. I never really dabbled into her music, but I decided to do so recently and I found this gem. It's so lovely and just puts me in such a positive mood. If any of you want to recommend me any other songs from her, feel free to do so.

5) The Hit House - The Ordinary World

I wasn't all that interested in The Evil Within when it first came out a few years ago, because the story just seemed to be boring and lackluster in the beginning, but after watching Metal Ass Gaming play the beginning of the second one, I had to give it another shot. So I watched Markiplier play it and liked it, then I watched him play the second and LOVED IT. Such a wonderful game that is unexpectedly emotional. And this is the ending theme song. It fits the game so well and I love the overall vibe of it. It has a nice atmospheric rock feel to it with a bit of a cinematic vibe.

6) Dool - The Alpha

I finally got around to listening to their new album and loved it. Such a great doomy rock album. This song is definitely one of my favorites off it. I find myself singing the chorus quite frequently because it's so catchy. I really need to check their front woman, Ryanne van Dorst's other project Elle Bandita and see how they differ.

7) The Great Discord - Gadget

The Rabbit Hole is such an epic album and is a massive improvement compared to their last release. Duende was great, but this is on some next level shit. This song alone shows how much they've grown and evolved since then. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would ever hear "woohoo" sung in a pretty voice in a progressive metal track, but these guys did it and it's wonderful. Definitely go give this album a listen.

8) Debler - Cuando las Estrellas dejen de Brillar feat. Ailyn (ex-Sirenia)

So this song is fucking beautiful. Ailyn and Debler's frontman's voices go so beautifully together. Not only that, but Ailyn hits some impressive whistle notes. She's pretty much the symphonic/gothic metal scene's version of Mariah Carey, but isn't a diva and is precious and needs to be protected.

9) Deadspace - The Liquid Sky

These guys actually messaged me on here about a month or so ago and I'm so glad they did. Their music is amazing. @deadspaceaus are a blackened doom metal band from Australia and their frontman has a gorgeous voice. I'm so looking forward to listening to their new album, because this song alone has me intrigued. Definitely go check them out.

10) My Propane - Before You Are Dead

This is their latest song they've released and it's epic and in your face from start to finish. I love how before the song starts, Valerio just calmly says "Ok, here we go" and then the guitars kick in and he's screaming right afterwards. I can't wait for them to release a full length album.

11) Vuur - The Fire ~ San Francisco

This is one of the standouts off their debut album. It has such an interesting vibe to it. Anekke said in a track-by-track video that the high notes she sings are to represent the sirens of firetrucks. How creative is that? I also find it slightly ironic that I got into this song just as the wildfires in SoCal were making media attention.

12) Ciara - Paint it Black (The Rolling Stones cover)

I randomly found this cover and fell in love instantly. I never expected to hear something like this from her. It's so cinematic and so dark and haunting. I love it. I honestly prefer over the original version. There's just something about this version that is so much better than the original. Maybe it's because it's so dramatic, and you guys know that I LOVE dramatic music.

13) Muna - I Know a Place

The About U album is wonderful and full of so much emotion. This song is definitely one of the more positive and upbeat ones on it. It's not one of my favorites off it, but it's definitely a great jam.

14) Elegy of Madness - Nobody Cares

Discovered this song through an acoustic version their record label shared on YT, so I decided to see if I could find a studio version and I got obsessed. It's so catchy, but it's so epic and powerful. I'm definitely am gonna check out more from them.

15) Tyminski - Southern Gothic

This is the closest I'm probably am ever going to get to listening to country music, all because it doesn't sound like mainstream country music. The only bit that sounds remotely country to me is the singer's voice. Everything else sounds like a modern pop song and I love it. Even the vibe of the song itself doesn't seem like a country song. I'm very interested in this guy and will be checking out more in the future.

16) Kari Rueslatten - Gone

Silence is the Only Sound has a very different vibe compared to To the North. It sounds a bit more positive and peaceful and not as ambient and mellow. This song is one of the least upbeat songs on the album and has more of a pop-rock-ish vibe to it. Really digging it.

17) My Indigo - My Indigo

This is Sharon den Adel (Within Temptation)'s new solo project and I'm blown away. This song is so gorgeous and lovely. I didn't expect it to be as powerful as it is. I'm always finding myself singing "my indigo" throughout the day. Definitely go check this out and I'm so excited to hear the full length album.

18) Plague of Stars - When Morning Came (live)

They shared this live video on their channel, so I checked it out and was blown away. I've been a fan of Melissa Ferlaak for a few years and this project is the heaviest and most aggressive she's been a part of. I really need to listen to their debut album already, especially since new songs are in the works.

19) Bent Knee - Terror Bird

This song got stuck in my head one day and wouldn't leave for days, all thanks to me not remembering what it was. It was actually these posts that helped me find it! It made on here a while back. It's a really great prog track and their front woman has such an interesting voice. I imagine this would be what Bjork would sound like if she made a prog album.

20) Revenience - Shamble

I rekindled my love for this song recently. It's a really great symphonic metal track with a bit of a prog-power vibe to it. I had the chorus stuck in my head for a few days after I randomly listened it, and that's how the obsession started all over again. I really need to check out more from them.

21) Starkill - All I Want for Christmas is You

MARIAH CAREY WHO? They SLEIGHED this song! I'm not a fan of the original since it's so overplayed, but this version is wonderful. Adding this onto my list of nontraditional Christmas songs I can listen to to get in the holiday spirit.

That's it for the first half of December. I wonder what other gems I'll come across this month.

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linaliveshere · 7 years ago

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Hold up, Harry Styles?!

There is no bigger name in the world right now than Harry Styles. The singer has just released his much-anticipated solo album, a self-titled, 10 track masterpiece which shot to the top of the charts in 84 countries.

From the smoothness of opening track ‘Meet Me in The Hallway’, the rocky vibes of ‘Kiwi’ and ‘Carolina’ to the Bowie and Prince inspired debut ‘Sign of the Times’, this album is something so extraordinary and breathtaking in a time where brit-pop and brit-rock are more valued now more than ever.

It’s no lie that since the start, Harry has always been pinned as the ‘one’ out of One Direction. His charisma, personality, talent and of course his looks, made him irresistible to almost everyone who crossed his path. When the group kept on growing and gaining popularity, Harry’s performance ability quite literally outshone the rest of the boys, to the point during the stadium tours that One Direction were doing, Harry was the main reason a lot of people went to watch. The aura around Harry has always been so positive and uplifting, and it draws anyone in, no matter if you listened to One Direction or not.

There was always speculation that Harry would be the first and the most successful of the 5 boys when it comes to going solo. However, he kept going with One Direction and his song writing ability was continually highlighted. People of all ages, gender and credentials realised his absolute potential.

When One Direction inevitably went on their hiatus, a lot of people, including myself, thought Harry would be the first of the remaining members to branch out into a solo career. Imagine my shock when he uploaded to Instagram for the first time in over a few months with his infamous long locks adorn in his hand. And the even bigger shock when the rumours surrounding his acting debut came true with pictures of him on set of Christopher Nolan’s upcoming war epic, Dunkirk.

Even throughout all this, Harry’s personality, values and morals have not wavered. He remains down to earth and will do anything to make his fans happy. If you look up ‘Harry Styles Fan Experiences’ on any social media platform, dozens upon dozens of articles, videos and blog posts will come up. I have been lucky enough to be a part of that special group of people who have met him, and honestly it was one of the best things that has ever happened to me.

His intelligence and forethought about everything gives the effect that people know everything about him, but we hardly know anything at all. He still manages to captivate an entire audience without the absolute sole reliance on social media. Many stars these days rely on that to keep their relevance, but not Harry. That’s what is special about him.

I am not going to lie when I say that when the hiatus was announced, my first thought was immediately to Harry and the fact that he could now possibly go solo, which is all I’ve wanted.

Another thing about Harry which puts him head and shoulders above the rest is his out their personality and how he does express himself to the public. One of the things that is publicly known about Harry, especially at the start of One Direction’s fame, was how he felt about how the general population saw him. In One Direction’s first documentary, A Year in The Making, Harry was greatly affected about what people said about him. As time went on, he became more confident in his ability and in himself, which made him stand out from the rest. From becoming a front runner for the skinny jean and boots craze, to the dad tops and the crazy suits, which he is synonymous for now. Moreover, the way he handles rumours and if anyone does talk bad about him or the ones that he loves, he still treats everyone with the same kindness. With continuous taunts about his sexuality, especially from people who are meant to be ‘fans’, he stays respectable and tells ‘it’s never been a question to me’.

Seeing him grow and become more confident gave me so much confidence in me and my ability to live my life. I know they say that having a role model is an easy way out or a lame thing to do, but I can proudly say since the time I was 15 that Harry Styles was someone who helped me make decisions, brought the best people I know into my life and gave me some of the happiest and best memories ever, some that I will treasure for the rest of my life.

Break-down of the album:

Meet Me in the Hallway: An incredible opening to the album. Smooth guitar and Harry’s vocal ability is significantly highlighted in this song. This song just makes you feel like you’re floating around on something to be honest. Angst lyrics from his point-of-view about wanting someone a lot more than they want you.

Sign of the Times: The debut single, and the longest track on the whole album, pays homage to two of Harry’s greatest inspirations- David Bowie and Prince. It represents a lot of what Harry stands for as a person, and again his vocal ability is realised in a song with this much power and vigour. An unbelievable introduction to the rest of the album. The music video just makes this song that much more epic, with Harry being flung over 1000 feet in the air from a helicopter.

Carolina: The first official dance bop of the album, this song was written about a girl Harry knew for less than a day, and she left such an impression on him that he wrote a bloody song about her?! And yes, her name is mentioned in the song, it’s just up to you to figure out where. The la la la la in the chorus will without a doubt will be stuck in your head for days on end. The lyrics ‘there’s not a drink that I think could sink her’ resonates with me on a very personal level, so I can’t wait to send a cheers Harry’s way when he sings this song at one of the concerts I am going to.

Two Ghosts: This is the song that every media outlet has been claiming is homage to Harry’s 4-month relationship with Taylor Swift 5 years ago. Despite that, this song is beautiful. The lyrics are about love lost then the hope that something may happen again. It is probably the one song that is closest to Harry’s One Direction days (even though it’s still quite far from it). It has been said that Harry has been holding onto this song for quite a while, and it shows.

Sweet Creature: If a song could make you fall in love over and over again, this song is it. The delectable ohh ahh’s, with cherished lyrics such as ‘Two hearts and one home’, along with the infinite strum of an acoustic in the background makes this song so undeniably happy and makes you want to hug everyone you love.

Only Angel: If this song is not considered the follow up single to Sign of the Times, Harry and his team are idiots. The start of this song starts out very melodic, almost identical to the grafting of Sign of the Times. Slowly you start to hear a ‘woohoo’ in the background, and that gets louder until the beat completely changes to an absolute rock out. This is a massive homage to one of Harry’s favourites, The Rolling Stones. The lyrics by now take a bit of a sexy turn, talking about someone who is naughty and nice at the best of times. The heavy use of guitar and drums in this song will make is a fun one live.

Kiwi: This is my favourite song off the album. When I first saw the track list to the album, my eyes immediately were drawn to Kiwi, because every other song I know that is centred around this word tend to be about one thing and one thing only. Much like Only Angel, there is a heavy influence on guitar and drums. The lyrics insinuate alcohol and drug use, which include ‘It’s New York baby always jacked up, Holland Tunnel for a nose, it’s always backed up’ which has sent many people into an absolute frenzy. And if that didn’t suffice enough, the lyrics of the outro bridge ‘she sits beside me like a silhouette… hard candy dripping on me till my feet are wet…. and now she’s all over me, it’s like I paid for it’ sent Twitter on the night of the album release into a manic.

Ever Since New York: Harry debuted this on his Saturday Night Live residency, and it was quite a soft-spoken song with a lot of ad-libs and key changes, again like much of the album, referencing to his outstanding vocal talent. The studio version was different, which I did not mind at all. The sounds of a piano come through and take central dominance in some parts of the song, making it very melodic.

Woman: ‘Should we just look up romantic comedies on Netflix and see what we find?’ The talking opening gives way to a kazoo/duck sound which dominates much of the song (which we now know is Harry’s voice extremely edited). The sultry lyrics underlie a lonely Harry and how he wishes she was doing all these things to him as she was doing to her significant other at that point in time. The bass in this song is incredible, and the music breaks between verses and chorus’ hold some epic guitar action.

From the Dining Table: An undeniable of loneliness and how tough tour life and fame can be in terms of relationships. To add another shock to the system for everyone listening to album, the first lines talking about masturbation. The lyrics ‘even my phone, still misses your calls by the way’ is a yearning to those who have love and left him, despite the fact if they used him or not. A great counterbalance to the opening song of ‘Meet Me in the Hallway’, and a perfect ending to an incredible album.

Buy Harry Styles now or stream:

•Apple Music: https://itun.es/au/GY8ejb

•Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/user/harrystyles_official/playlist/5fwwLMCP6Pz3qYsLIdPa83

Watch the Behind the Album movie here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/music-video/harry-styles-behind-the-album/id1234039985

To see if Harry is touring near you this year, head on over here: http://hstyles.co.uk/tour

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ddrkirbyisq · 6 years ago

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Let's see...what has been going on these days...? Dance Music and JaSmix I guess let's start off with what is probably most interesting (?) to the majority of readers. March JaSmix is only 1.5 weeks away! You'll be hearing more reminders and announcements from me in the near future as I wrap up all of the logistics, but in the meantime I've been trying to put together music for the night, as well as going through a bunch of new music and editing it accordingly. I'm quite particular with not only my music selection but also my music quality and editing and I'd like to think that it really makes a difference in the quality of dance events when that sort of attention to detail is taken. Given that I'm relatively well-versed in both dance AND music (as in audio production, not just music in the general sense) I've always felt that I have a bit of a unique perspective on curating music for dance. (Not to mention some of the songs are tracks that I produced myself...) Let's talk about a couple of different things: Tempo modifications We're all familiar with it. Often times it becomes necessary (or even "interesting/exciting") to raise or lower the tempo of a song to better fit a social dance form. The track may (probably) have not have been written explicitly with dance in mind. Or the dancers you are catering to might be more comfortable with a certain range of tempos. This presents a unique dilemma as you are forced to make some compromises between "danceability" vs song feel and the original intent of the song. First things first: I'm firmly in the camp of timestretching without pitch-shifting. As a composer and producer it just gives me a really weird feeling to alter the pitch of a song, *particularly* if I'm not doing it in musical increments. Okay, I get it, most people probably won't notice if you resample a song so that it's 50 cents off (i.e. halfway between "normal" notes). But it still just gives me a really icky feeling, and can you imagine being someone with absolute pitch who is bothered by off-center tuning? Ugh! I admit this is probably not a huge deal, but really, unless you have a specific reason to change the pitch of a song, just don't do it. PLEASE do not just change the playback speed of a song and call it a day, use a quality timestretching algorithm. There is one unfortunate exception to this rule which is if you aren't going to use a quality timestretching plugin or algorithm in the first place. =( For small adjustments, I'd rather hear something that's just resampled with an odd pitch than something that's poorly timestretched. There are several very good timestretching algorithms out there these days. Unfortunately you aren't going to get the best quality without using a proprietary solution, but for example the Elastique Pro algorithm comes =standard= in most DAWs (FL Studio, cubase, etc etc). If you are going to just run your edits in Audacity, at the very least use the higher quality SBSMS algorithm, please! It's worth noting that you can download the demo version of a DAW like FL Studio for free and do all of your editing in that -- the demo limitation is that you can't save your project files, but you won't need to! Ok, but before the actual execution of the tempo modification, we also need to decide how much we are going to shift the tempo. This is where =your= judgment comes in, and this is a compromise that I find really interesting because I'm constantly struggling to balance different factors: - What tempo most people would find fun to dance to - What tempo I personally would like to dance to - What tempo allows less experienced dancers to comfortably dance - Staying true to the original "feel" of the song The first common problem here is tempos that don't actually work well for dancing. This is really common for less experienced dancers/DJs who have a hard time visualizing a dance. Or even more experienced dancers who are picking out songs for a dance form that they're unfamiliar with. If you've never touched west coast swing in your life, it's going to be really difficult for you to know what a good tempo for that dance feels like, (let alone what makes for a good WCS song). If you are having this problem, you probably ought to really try and dance to the songs yourself (or at least pretend?), or ask a partner-in-crime if you don't have the feel for it. The second and in my opinion more sinister problem is a tempo that is perfectly danceable but kills the spirit of the song. This is especially prevalent for songs which have been shoehorned into a dance form that they weren't intended for, the most common example of this is "let's take this fast waltz and turn it into a cross-step waltz". I really hate this because it commonly flies under people's radar and leads to a really sluggish or unnatural song that is really disappointing to hear and/or dance to. If your approach to tempos is to say "oh, cross-step waltz is supposed to be 114BPM, right? So let's make this song exactly 114BPM!" I'd strongly urge you to compromise more towards the original tempo of the song. I will always strive to modify the tempo as little as possible in order to hit a good compromise because I think the further you go the less fun a song becomes. As a composer, I write my music in such a way to fit the BPM and feel that I'm going for, and going significantly astray is really going to muddle up the intention of the song. There is plenty of dance music out there -- if you want a slower cross-step waltz, you can find a different song...don't just shoehorn a track into a given tempo. That said, I understand I'm also a more advanced dancer and as such might feel more comfortable with a wider range of tempos than others. In the end it's all up to your discretion, just don't forget that you should always be trying to make a compromise. Of course, if you happen to also be the composer of the song, you can just edit the original project file itself and reconstruct at the new tempo directly without any time-stretching. Woohoo! Music editing I pretty much edit all of my own music, regardless of whether I have a version on hand which has already been edited by some other source. I wish I could settle for trusting other people's edits but there are just too many faults which I see commonly: - Low quality timestretching and/or awkward tempo (as described above) - Obvious and/or awkward cuts - Low quality source or resulting render (this isn't the year 2000, 128kbps doesn't cut it anymore!) I also have a bunch of other things that I like to do, including: - Trimming leading/trailing silence - Adjusting fadeins and fadeouts. For fadeouts, I like to use nonlinear fadeouts so that it's obvious that there is a fadeout starting at that point. (ease out) - Manually automating volume adjustment if the different sections of the track have levels that vary too much for the dance floor - Dynamic range compression/bringing volumes in line with other tracks in general (think about of those classical tracks with tons of dynamic range that are way too soft compared to all the pop songs) Some of this is getting into territory that is harder to do without a working knowledge of audio processing. For example, you can't just "turn the volume up" on a soft piece of music (if it is already normalized) as that will just lead to a bunch of clipping. So there you need to understand what a limiter/compressor does and how to apply one. Of course, this is extremely standard stuff in the world of music production, so it's as simple as dragging around a single slider in my izotope ozone mastering suite. If you are still working in something like Audacity this is going to be a lot more cumbersome. ReplayGain is another option, of course.

I don't know how other people go about doing their edits, but for cuts, repeats, and crossfades, I really believe in taking the effort to make the edit seamless. This requires some level of understanding of the underlying music, but mostly just knowledge about how to edit precisely. "Guess and check" isn't good enough here, you want to actually line up the waveforms:

This is even easier for songs with prominent drum transients, but even for more acoustic works you can quite visibly line up the beats as shown above. This will ensure a seamless edit. If you're working in Audacity you have the benefit of being able to be sample-accurate with your splices -- use it! In FL Studio unfortunately you're limited to the midi timebase, but setting PPQ to 960 and using a high tempo is definitely good enough. Of course, in the cases where you can't directly splice together two sections, you'll need to crossfade them together, but the same thing applies -- line up the transients and waveforms visually before adjusting the crossfade. You'll know if you have things lined up if you can hear a proper "phasing" effect when overlaying the two tracks on top of each other. I realize this is mostly just me ranting about how music editing ought to be more precise, but if anybody actually wants anything explained in a more instructive way I can do that too. Snowboarding Went to Tahoe with a group for some snowboarding action this past Sunday! It was quite fun, though also extremely exhausting. I brushed up on some things beforehand that I wanted to work on and I think it really helped, and the powder was super nice as well which was nice. Of course that doesn't mean I didn't fall on my face + butt a lot, actually I had quite some epic wipeouts as well as I was getting a little more confident. I felt like I was really getting the hang of turns more, especially turning to toe side for some reason (I had an issue with over-rotating and not being able to control speed for my heel side turns, maybe just need to lower myself more and be more in alignment), and even worked on linked a few of them together, though I think I would need to just be better at controlling speed before getting more confident and successful with it. Overall though I was pretty happy with how I progressed, despite sort of worsening as the day went on (not to mention being super bad at getting off the lift this time for some reason). The trip really took a lot out of me though, I feel like I've just really recovered from it, eugh. Cooking Made pizza again! This time with premade pizza dough, which was much easier. Tried to really pile on the toppings this time, to good success:

Um...I haven't really made too much other exciting things so I donno why I even had a section for this, but ok. Gaming Quite a lot of progress here! First off, I finished normal difficulty of Dead Cells! I haven't unlocked everything yet (still need quite a lot more cells to do that), but I did go through the different biomes afterwards and visit each one at least once, as well as getting all of the different runes, so that was fun. If I decide to keep playing the next thing to do will be trying to do runs on higher difficulties...we'll see. I also finished Mega Man Unlimited! Quite a fun fan game, and it really felt quite true to the spirit of Mega Man, while still offering up some new things here and there as well. Rainbow Man's stages (with the Quick Man-like beams) felt a bit BS but once you know them they're fine...I guess quick man's stage is sort of like that as well, but this felt a bit more obnoxious since at least with Quick Man's stage it's more instinctual ("just get to the next screen as quickly as possible") whereas Rainbow Man's stages are much harder to read at a glance so it feels almost impossible to survive some of them on a first try. Regardless, it was a fun experience overall! There are more game modes to go through but I think I'm done with the game. As of now I've moved onto mostly playing Unavowed, which has been pretty enjoyable so far! (I just got to the "twist"). I wouldn't say anything has really floored me yet, but it's been overall a great package when considering it all put together. Some things I've appreciated: - Optional exposition through hover text is an interesting idea that I think works well for the genre - Being able to customize your experience by both choosing your background, dialogue choices, and team has been great - The moral / philosophical dilemmas presented at the end of the chapters have been interesting to compare and contrast with each other, and I think being put into somewhat similar "choice" situations with very different contexts is elucidating in terms of what factors into these decisions in my mind. Cool stuff. Unfortunately none of the choices have really felt "impactful" in terms of game effect so far, which is something that we only really saw in Life Is Strange, but that is also something that is quite difficult to pull off, so I understand. Still, there are some really pivotal points in the story where it would have been really interesting to see a choice given instead of being forced down a specific path. Our group also started playing Wandersong! What a great energy and spirit to have in a game. I think it's something that a lot of developers and designers could learn from. We've only just started, but I think it's been pretty inspiring so far. Super fun! Sleep (or lack thereof) Been having troubles with my sleeping schedule these days (though last night was not too bad). I guess it's a bit difficult without a job forcing me to maintain a regular schedule no matter what, but I'm hoping to fall into some good habits again hopefully, as it's really annoying/unfortunate to not be able to sleep at night sometimes. Half of it is getting back onto a good rhythm and the other half is trying not to stress out about really random silly things like "I should really try to dye my hair in the next week do i have enough time to do that" ... Hopefully I'll find some success...

#Blogger

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drifter-off-to-see-the-worl-blog · 8 years ago

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Funny Girl, Fanny Brice and Feminism

Last night I was lucky enough to attend Birmingham Hippodrome's sell-out performance of Funny Girl. My wonderful (and I'm compelled to say insane) friend Loren purchased tickets for me and my equally lovely friend Laura for Christmas (this is kinda our thing, we eat food, we drink alcohol, we watch musicals, even perform in them occasionally. Loren and I went as far as having a weird lesbian / robot love affair at one point - if you've seen Return To The Forbidden Planet you'll get this, if not, it's a must see, Rock 'n' Roll Shakespeare at its finest!)

In my normal (totally self-diagnosed) autistic style, a couple of weeks before the show I sat down to watch the film version (I'd just like to point out here that I'm nowhere near as bad as Loren, she can perfectly recite an entire film after one viewing, but don't remind her of this, she gets grumpy if you do!) The night was set, house to myself and a few glorious hours of uninterrupted Barbra Streisand, however, by the end of the film I was just left feeling... annoyed?!?! (even more annoyed than after Disney's Into The Woods, don't even get me started!)

http://www.cornel1801.com/video/Funny-Girl/Barbra-Streisand-Fanny-Brice.jpg

I'm essentially going to spell out the plot, so - SPOILER ALERT!!!

Firstly, the film is gorgeous and thoroughly deserves all of its accolades, equally, Streisand is incredible and most definitely Oscar worthy. My issue is with the character of Fanny Brice, because I simply don't know whether to put her in my notebook of feminist icons or never let my 8-year-old niece Courtney watch the film for fear Brice becomes her role-model!

So, arguments for feminist icon:

1.) Fanny relies on her personality and talent to get ahead in her career, not her looks, massively challenging the chorus-girl stereotype (and I'm all for tearing up labels!)

2.) Brice calls the shots with regards to her career and will only do what she feels is right for her (female empowerment, totally on board with this!)

3.) She's the breadwinner in her relationship with Nick Arnstein and has worked hard to make her own fortune (gender equality, woohoo!)

Arguments for banning my niece ever hearing about Fanny Brice:

1.) DESPITE ALL HER SEEMINGLY FEMINIST MORALES, A BLOODY (pretty lousy may I add) MAN MAKES HER DECIDE TO QUIT HER CAREER SO HER (big cry baby) OF A HUSBAND GETS TO FEEL LIKE HE'S THE BOSS?!?! - can you tell this angers me somewhat?

Now, I appreciate it's not as simple as this, in the end Arnstein leaves her anyway and she ends the film doing what she does best, singing her heart out on the stage; it's just a shame she's singing about ending up alone but still loving an idiot of a bloke all because she dared to have a successful career, ugh!

https://youtu.be/RKivfzjQxOQ

Fanny Brice - My Man (1938)

youtu.be

Fanny sings her trademark song on the show Good News 10-03-1938

This is where last night's musical helped, because for their ending, Brice, played excellently by the fab Sheridan Smith, still does the boohoo I'm all alone but still in love song, but then appears to have a f**k that epiphany and belts out Don't Rain On My Parade, the last line of the whole thing literally being 'nobody, no, nobody is gonna rain on my parade!!!!!!!!!' After this, I felt Fanny Brice edging closer to the feminist notebook.

https://cdn.thestage.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Sheridan-Smith-as-Fanny-Brice.-by-Johan-Persson-700x455.jpg

As usual, a musical debrief with Laura and Loren helped me put things in to perspective, with Laura just as annoyed as me with Fanny's failings and Loren glad she didn't do the clichéd fall in love with the male best friend who is obviously much better for her (I'd just like to stick up for Eddie here, as he is literally the only decent character in the entire thing!) So in the end maybe Fanny Brice should neither be applauded as a feminist role-model, nor hidden from my niece forever, because as a feminist myself, I should accept that Brice is just another woman trying to find the right balance between being herself, being a wife, being a mother and trying to achieve a decent work / life balance and rather than being judgmental, I should be empathetic towards my fellow woman. Like the film and musical, the real-life Fanny Brice was just as complex, having being married before she met Nick Arnstein and marrying Arnstein despite knowing he'd already served a 14-month jail term for wiretapping (things conveniently left out of Fanny's fictional lives). She was both hugely successful and had epic failings, but, most importantly, she never quit, something I think all women and men can relate to and endeavour to do.

#funnygirl #musical #birminghamhippodrome #theatre #fannybrice #barbrastreisand #sheridansmith #feminism

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