#i may post the amy art complete with a background when i have time

[siggiedraws]

I saw your art featured in Dreamcastle™'s Amywave video! I was not expecting to see your name and art pop up! Amy with a digital pet was a really cute idea.

thank you! In case you didn't know, the digital pet is actually Sonictchi, it's a real tamagotchi version of Sonic from the obscure Saturn game "Tamagotchi Park"!

he is very adorable

[lauren-e-s-art]

Paintings from my AP art class in high school (around 5 years ago, isn't that crazy?). This is from my main series, something about painting my friends in the colors I think represent them, I'm not entirely sure what the concept was there.

The first is my friend Ansley, my first of the batch. I didn't hear from her for 4 years after we graduated, but she's in the US somewhere.

Second is my best friend Sam, I drew a line across his nose and eyes with a marker because I hated doing faces and I didn't like how it looked. People were NOT happy with that line. Sam just paid me a surprise visit for a week in Kenya so it was great to see him again. He's the only person here I've completely kept up with after graduation.

Third is my friends Kate, Kristy, and Yeji. It's fine, Yeji (far right) looks like she worked out the best. Kate is in Australia training to be a nurse, Kristy is in school to be a lawyer in Kenya, and Yeji is in California finishing up her last year in music school.

Forth is Isaac, Chris, Hanuel, and Charlie, all kind of friends. Isaac was/is kind of allergic to women, Charlie is an asshole who makes girls cry (and apparently dates them afterwards??) and betrays his friends, Chris is perusing an acting career in London, and I have no idea what Hanuel is up to.

Fifth is my friend Bernadette, painting is based off a picture I took at a glow-in-the-dark party at a friend's birthday. She's going into accounting or accounting (?) in Canada, I think this is her last year, I'm not sure if she's staying there after she graduates.

Sixth is my friend Kathleen, we did a photo shoot on our friend's trampoline and it's one of the few in the series I actually like because I could not do faces and her hair mostly hid hers. She is currently in possession of the original painting, it's not like I'm doing anything with it. She training to be a librarian somewhere in the US. I've actually run into her a few times over the years.

Seventh is Rediet, Lauren, Vicky, Amy, and Yolanda, 5 girls who were consistently on the sports teams throughout high school. I'm actually not sure where any of them are at the moment, I think I saw a post of Yolanda's on ig a while back of her graduating uni, so good for her. I was never really close to any of these girls, but they were all really nice.

Eighth is Zach and Anson. Zach might still by in Canada and Anson is out of the military with a super sick hand tattoo. I feel like I really started to have fun with this one, not doing too much on the clothes but having fun with the background.

Ninth is Lydia and Anna. I'm not sure what either of them is up to other than Lydia being in the US. My friends actually reminded me that Anna was literally the only girl I had consistent beef with all through high school, which when I thought about it, I can believe. Lydia's sweet though.

Tenth is Karuga, Joshua, and Daniel (I think). I'm not close to any of them either, but I was looking for a cool pose and they pulled through. Karuga look exactly the same all these years later, Daniel is pretty friendly, and I know literally nothing about Joshua other than he was one of the 'hot guys' in high school that was so attractive people couldn't date him. High schoolers are so weird. Love the background of this one.

I wish I had gone on a different path with this project, I was definitely setting myself up when I decided to go down a realistic path rather than something more my speed, like jellyfish. I wonder if I had continued with this at the time, if I would have continued on the path towards cartoonish designs, but who knows. I've stayed away from painting people since this. I also wonder what I would have done if I had known that I could have done 3D instead of 2D. If I ever end up teaching art, I hope I'm better at directing my students than my teacher was.

September 2019 - May 2020

Paint, pen, and marker on canvas paper

[despazito]

Complete list of all problems known so far in Pokemon Sword and Shield with data and/or proof for each problem

[I am copying this post from the pokemon subreddit from u/Terotu]

Seeing as there's a lot of people that don't quite know the extent of the issues and that there's no real compilation of the problems, I feel like everyone needs a list with info and sources of each and every current problem with the games, it's a long list but I've tried to put it all together, it's not just dexit people. I will post everything that is 100% confirmed and known so far, there's potentially other problems, but this is made as a somewhat "quick" digest with info that has been 100% proven, for anyone out of the loop that wants to know exactly what's happening with these games.

1. The number of usable Pokemon has been cut, only less than half are now usable, known as Dexit, it means that you won't be able to use these pokemon in the new games, you won't be able to transfer them in, and you won't be able to do anything with them sans sticking them in home for the foreseeable future (Home will probably be a paid only subscription based service just like its predecessor), for all intents and purposes, these Pokemon are basically removed from the main games franchise and they will take probably years to come back, if ever. An image with the cut/not cut pokemon can be found here, pokemon in green are confirmed to be in, pokemon in purple have galar forms, pokemon in yellow are in the data, but there's nothing for them, they could be leftover data like the items and other things, could be giveaway/event only, could only come from other games, etc, there's no way to know what's the plans for them at the moment, if any, pokemon in red are cut. The excuse GF used for this culling was that it let's them work on delivering better animations and a more carefully crafted game, since they don't have to put more time and effort into redoing the models. This is complete BS as the game polish is worse than ever, and the models seem to just be somewhat edited XY models.

2. Just like the Pokemon cut, about 144 moves were removed, 99 moves excluding the let's go and other outlier moves, this includes extremely important and used mainstay moves like Hidden Power, return/frustration and Pursuit, on top of extremely old moves that have been there since gen 1, some of these moves were important for the viability of several Pokemon, which may cause them to be way less effective if not way worse when it comes to battles, on top of this, it also removed some SIGNATURE MOVES of certain Pokemon. The full list for deleted mainstay pokemon moves can be found here Attempts at transferring Pokemon with these moves will apparently get this message: "This move can’t be used. It’s recommended that this move is forgotten. Once forgotten, this move can’t be remembered."

3. Short game, the first streamer beat the champion at around the 14 hour mark, while he did this by skipping a fair amount of trainer battles, other streamers are clocking in about 16-20 hours, seems like the average will be about 18 hours to beat the game. Here's one of the many streamers, he's right before champion and clocking in at 14:34.

4. The graphics are extremely mediocre, it constantly looks worse and less polished than LGPE, the textures are often inexcusable. Examples of the bad graphics seen here 1 2 3 4 5 6 A comparison with LGPE can be seen here and here Here's a game recently released for switch, another picture found here, the difference is unreal.

5. There's constant graphical issues, not just low quality graphics, pop in is present at all points of the game due to bad coding, trainer models will also disappear mid battle when an attack with a high number of particles is used, this also happened in SM, however, SM moved the camera away to avoid people seeing it, they didn't even try this time. This means it's either a carry over from SM and they just copy pasted most of the code, or they somehow have to remove the trainers to avoid a switch from somehow getting fps drops. The pop-ins can be evidenced here and here. Trainers dissapearing mid battle can be evidenced here

6. Animations, one of the main reasons why GF cut pokemon, at least in the interviews, are as shoddy as ever. There's extremely lazy animation all over the game, from normal attacks to key moments in the game, such as the encounter with the box legendaries. Most of the animations are also completely copy pasted from older games, one example seen here with Hau(the entire character of hop is basically a copy paste of hau.) Most of the animations for the camp are also copy pasted from xy amie, evidenced here. Pokemon battle animations are just as bad as before, if not worse, pictured here is a pokemon headbutting with its feet. Another example found here, THE MAIN BOX ART POKEMON CINEMATIC, THIS IS THE GAME CLIMAX, another example on the other version found here In fact, it could be considered way worse if compared to the last gen, example of upscaled USUM cutscenes. (Notice the graphical change isn't that big, the only difference here is increasing the resolution)

7. Cutscenes and restrictions, like previous Pokemon games the cutscene and story forcing and restrictions are insane this time around, seems to be even more intrusive and in your face than before at times, while keeping the same level of cutscene intrusion than past gen. The video for this point was taken down, but if you wish to see this you should be able to find it by searching the gameplay clips/streams online

8. The difficulty, just like the cut scene problem, this carries over from earlier games and it's even worse.There were constant heals, to the point where in the first routes you're not able to go beyond 3 trainer fights without getting a full heal. The first streamer avoided fights and didn't train at all, it still was one shotting gym leader dynamaxed ace pokemon.This can be seen here.

9. Post-Game is almost non-existant, as usual since masuda-Ohmori started directing, there's no frontier, there's also no frontier like facility. The post game consists of battle tower and a very short sequence of missions where you beat some dynamax pokemon for your rival to catch the other legendary. Not only this, but the battle tower is also an inferior version of past towers, it doesn't have super single nor super double battles, it has no triple battles and there's no "tower bosses", it's just random trainer npcs after another.

10. Problems with game design and behavior, beyond difficulty and progression, there's other problems in the overall game design. Examples of this is not being able to catch Pokemon in the wild areas until you got a badge allowing you to do so, which usually covers your current level. Meaning if you find a level 31 shiny or a level 31 pokemon you really want, you won't be able to catch it until you go and beat the next gym. For shiny hunters, this one is gonna be really important, you cannot see if your Pokemon is gonna be shiny or not in the overworld, this means that on top of the badge limit, you also got this potential problem. Evidenced here.

11. Removed past features with virtually no new additions, seems like this is a mainstay in Pokemon, removing older features so they become one of a time gimmicks, but unlike earlier titles this new game doesn't adds anything new except dynamaxing, which is limited to gyms only. This particular gen removes Mega Evolutions and Z moves, mega evolutions in particular were a huge deal and seeing them suddenly removed means that there's little reason to get involved with any new addition, no matter how mainstay or how much GF forces it when it will very soon be gone. A list of these removed features can be found here.

12. No scaling whatsoever, models are the same sizes of XY (giving more plausibility to them not really redoing the models).Any argument against this is thrown out of the window when dynamaxing exists, since the models seem to be edited XY models then the problem remains. Here's the non scaled model in sword and shield. Here's an scaled model, released in a game that came out 15 years ago for a the Nintendo Gamecube, something way less powerful than the switch.

13. No GTS, retera thread on the discovery found here, the only strings that refer to the GTS are leftovers from Let's Go code, as seen here and here. This is most likely due to Home(this means that you will have to pay for switch online+home for services older games already included) Thanks to /u/c_will for pointing this one out and gathering the info.

14. A 20 dollar price increase for less content than earlier 3DS games, with subpar graphics and removal of features, an overall shoddy release for a higher price point.

15. Performance, game is locked to 30 fps, and while that's not a big issue by itself, this is coupled with slowdown at certain moments such as dynamaxing, it can drop fps to the floor and turn the game into a slideshow for a while. Evidenced here. Still gathering more info on this one, as it's a relatively new occurrence that hasn't happened to all users, take this one with a grain of salt

16. The overall lack of quality, polish and effort put into the game, this is all the minor/somewhat minor but still very telling problems with the game. This is apparent in many ways all throughout the game, things like the wrong backgrounds or just voids for pokemon battles. Two example of the wrong backgrounds seen here and [here] (https://clips.twitch.tv/FriendlyCleanOstrichArsonNoSexy) One example of the void background seen here (these happen on indoor fights and some non indoor but scripted battles)Examples of backgrounds on indoor and everywhere else in both LGPE and colosseum, seen here and here. Then there's complete lack of music in the game story most important moments, seen here. Starters are also shiny locked. The entire world freezes when using certain objects, as seen here. To this, you add up the emptiness of the wild area and the badly implemented weather changes that don't make much sense, both seen here No animation for flying, no elite 4, no victory road, etc, this is added to all the other problems that show the lack of effort put into them.

This franchise deserves better.

You deserve better.

These games are not only a huge step down from earlier titles, but it goes beyond what used to be already barely  tolerable standards to way below standards, keep in mind this is the biggest, most profitable franchise on earth.

This is the first time a pokemon main game is released on console, people were excited for game freak to finally do whatever they wanted and it's been done with the most minimal of  efforts, all the money you've spent on Pokemon didn't went on making this a better game, it went straight into the pockets of the people in charge, those that made sure this was made with the most minimum effort and those that cut  corners.

Companies that made games decades ago on hardware less powerful than the switch shouldn't be doing a better job than game freak, and companies doing work in the switch have completely obliterated game freak when it comes to developing a video game.

Keep in mind that your purchase of these games causes this:

Continue the yearly release cycle that makes the games rushed and forces the devs to insane crunch time, creating the low morale problem

Tells them that you're ok with these problems, and they will keep lowering the bar and cutting corners on development

Your money will continue going into the pockets of those responsible for these problems

I implore you to be a smart consumer, I've played Pokemon since I red, ever since I was a child, I can no longer support this franchise, I probably won't buy a Pokemon product ever again if this is gonna be how they're gonna treat the games and its fans.

[oversimplify-it]

Story Process Tag by @herpixels​

I was tagged by @dynastiasimss​ - Thank you so much for tagging me!! 😊💖💗 This will most definitely get a bit wordy because I’m terrible at explaining things concisely! 😂 Also, I’ll mostly be talking about my process for 2.B.A Grandmaster but I’ll touch on my process for Erin in San Myshuno too!

I’m also going to get tags out of the way up here so that no one has to scroll all the way through this ... absolute novel that is under the cut LMAO so I tag: @cyansimblr  @x-simss @matchacake and any other simblrs who wanna do this!! and feel free to skip if you want!

1. Your writing process My writing process is very, very chaotic, and changes with the wind... Erin in San Myshuno doesn’t really have a process, I just play the game and then put in some dialogue based on the events. None of it is guided by my hand at all though! 2.B.A Grandmaster on the other hand is written in part based on what happens in game and in part by my own creative vision. Most of the time, I let stuff happen, and then fill in the blanks in between events. I go in game, play Sims as I normally would (skill build, take care of needs, go out to venues, etc.) and then watch what weird and interesting things happen. For example, Augusta’s meeting with Xavier in the beginning was completely the game’s doing! He was the only one to show up for the Welcome Wagon event, so I rolled with that. Scenes like Kaitlin’s meeting with Maverick and those sort of things are planned by me, as they’re necessary to create a more full narrative! It’s like collaborative storytelling, but my “partner” is a game that is weird and random and crazy. 😂 After stuff happens in game and I get screenshots, I then actually write for it. I chose to write novel style for the series because - as some of my long-term followers may remember - I had another story that was just screenshots with dialogue on them? And it was very hard, LOL, it didn’t suit my workflow very well and I ended up dropping it after a month or so. I wanted 2.B.A Grandmaster to be something I could post consistently, and so I opted for a style that I was more familiar and experienced with!

2. Scene building For the most part, I just work with what sims gives me, but as I mentioned above, some scenes I actually go to the trouble of setting up. For those, I still use the sims animations mostly (I’ve used poses about 3 times in 2.B.A Grandmaster so far) but I do usher my sims around the "set” as I see fit. I build a lot of my own lots and locations for 2.B.A GM because I tend to get a vision in my mind of what I want and refuse to settle for less. 😂 One such case is the scene where Maverick meets up with Octavia--

I made the alleyway we see here - it’s two entirely empty buildings sandwiched side by side on an otherwise empty lot in Oasis Springs. The only part I bothered to decorate was the alley itself because I knew I wasn’t going to use the rest of the area, but maybe we’ll revisit it sometime and I’ll finish the two buildings! I actually loved making this set and like how it turned out, LOL~

Then I just have whatever sims are involved in a scene interact with each other for ages until I feel like I have enough screenshots to make a scene. I usually have a vague idea of what’s going to be said in any given scene - especially the ones I actually planned out beforehand - but I get some excess screenshots to be safe. I try lots of different interactions and pause like every few frames to get interesting expressions and stuff, LOL. Lots of “Complain about Cold Weather” and “Give fake bad news” ...

3. CC/Pose making I don’t actually make my own CC for 2.B.A GM specifically (I’ve made a couple eyeshadows but I don’t use them super frequently) but there is a scene coming up in the future that I plan to make poses for. I have a very clear image in my mind that includes a lot of subtle expressions and very specific things that I doubt I could find poses for, so I’m gonna have to brave the terrifying landscape of blender in order to make it a reality. 😧

4. Getting in the zone I don’t have any sort of “ok, show time” ritual like some people do but I wish I did, because my motivation waxes and wanes so unpredictably. Some days I just don’t feel like doing anything, and other days I edit and write for 5 posts in a row! I am always listening to something though, usually music, every once in a blue moon a video with lots of talking. 5. Screenshot folder

UGH... 

6. Captions I don’t do captions on 2.B.A GM posts, but for my city living gameplay I do! I keep them simple, because I don’t want to make it too much work for myself. Erin in San Myshuno’s style of editing is 100% based around ease, because I wanted something to post often that didn’t put too much of a strain on me. Verdana in white, typically 35-40 px, with a gradient border. Each sim we encounter has a different gradient color, usually based on their outfit or just the ~vibe~ I get from them. Erin’s gradient is Hot pink to ... gee, what would you call it. Sonic the Hedgehog Blue LMAO-- I chose that gradient because that’s the color of the overlay, which I’ll talk more about in the next section!

7. Editing My two ‘series’ - and I use that term loosely LMAO - have different editing processes, so I’ll try to summarize them both. Basically, for 2.B.A Grandmaster, I touch up the saturation and brightness depending on the scene. If it’s evening in the shots, I usually won’t touch brightness, and if it’s night, I might even lower it a bit for more accurate lighting! Once that’s done, I blur everything but relevant elements of a scene, usually the character we’re following or who is speaking. I have to select the character from the background manually which takes a bit, but other than that it’s very minimal.

My shots aren’t super glamorous, but I prefer simple screenshots and actually being able to keep up with a story schedule as opposed to what happened with my last story. 😬 As for Erin in San Myshuno, barring captions which I only do when I feel it’s necessary, it’s literally just an overlay on otherwise untouched screenshots. 😭 I would do more, but again, it’s supposed to be an easy downtime sort of series for me so~

This goes over top all screenshots on the “Add” setting at 20% opacity. It brightens things up and softens them, as well as making the colors slightly more harmonious! If anyone wants me to go more in depth on editing, or maybe captions, please let me know! I’m happy to talk about it if it’ll help anyone, and I know that a lot of tutorials cover how to do stuff in Photoshop, whereas I use FireAlpaca (which is 100% free btw! It’s more of an art program, but not bad for editing) 8. Throwback!

Oh boy, so this is one of my first posts on simblr. For starters, I didn’t know about camera mode at the time, so that’s the first thing I would change obviously LOL. 😬 The framing I did at the time was ... cute, but it makes the pictures feel kind of cramped and small in my opinion, so I did away with that for all of my later stories. Also, Amy and Gemma aren’t very well centered in this picture! Other than that, this isn’t actually terrible I don’t think, so aside from maybe blurring the background as I do on 2.B.A GM now, I wouldn’t change too much! Thankfully, I had observed other people’s stories before making my own on here for a little bit, so I wasn’t starting with absolutely no idea what to do, but I still think I’ve improved since I made these. 😊

This was a ton of fun!! If anyone has questions or wants more info on anything I covered in here, absolutely feel free to ask, and thank you so much if you actually read through all of this - I know I rambled for quite a while!! 🙏

[kaleid-tay-scope]

New Reputation: Taylor Swift shares intel on TS7, fan theories, and her next era

Snakes begone. The 29-year-old superstar is back with a new album and a new outlook on life. We go inside the pop monarch's latest chapter.

Alex Suskind

May 09, 2019 at 12:00 PM EDT

Peggy Sirota for EW

THE PALM TREES ARRIVED IN FEBRUARY, seven in all, set against a pastel blue backdrop with superimposed stars. It appeared that a new Taylor Swift era was upon us — that the old happy-go-lucky Taylor was not, in fact, dead. Or did it? It was only an Instagram photo, just one more picture in an infinite content scroll. But it also came from a pop star known for prodigious hint-dropping, whose fans turn every piece of info into an online archaeological dig.

As expected, the summery post sent Swifties sifting through each detail with a fine-tooth comb. What did the trees symbolize? An overdue vacation? A recently purchased beach house? A secret palm-frond collection? Or maybe, as many surmised, it was new music. One Twitter user predicted that the number of stars in the background of the photo hinted at a single drop: “There’s about 60/61 [stars]️. There’s 61 days until April 26, FRIDAY, a SINGLE RELEASE day!” Another said it was the unofficial announcement of her next LP: “Okay so in this picture there are 4 palm trees on the left (4 country albums). There are two palm trees on the right (2 pop albums). There is one large palm tree in the middle. This represents her new album.” These may sound like ludicrous conspiracy theories — for the record, they were mostly correct — but they fit firmly within the Taylor Swift Musical Universe (it’s like the Marvel Cinematic Universe but with more guitars and fewer Stan Lee cameos).

“I posted that the day that I finished the seventh album,” says Swift about the photo. “I couldn’t expect [my fans] to know that. I figured they’d figure it out later, but a lot of their theories were actually correct. Those Easter eggs were just trying to establish that tone, which I foreshadowed ages ago in a Spotify vertical video for ‘Delicate’ by painting my nails those [pastel] colors.”

It’s now April, and the 29-year-old pop star is in a Los Angeles photo studio, giving her first sit-down magazine interview in three years. She wants to discuss the art of placing hints inside her work, as well as the upcoming record, which she recorded as soon as she finished the Reputation Tour. She’s also keen on detailing her own obsessions, talking up the TV shows, books, and songs that help shape her outlook on life.

Over the past 13 years, Swift has perfected the pop culture feedback loop: She shares updates about her life and drops hints about new music, which fans then gobble up and re-promote with their own theories, which Swift then re-shares on her Tumblr or incorporates into future clues. It’s like a T-Swift-built Escher staircase of personal memories and moments that tease what’s next. “I’ve trained them to be that way,” she says of her fans’ astute detective work. Swift is a pop culture fanatic herself (see: the jean jacket she’s wearing on the EW cover) and has an innate understanding of the lengths her audience will go to be a part of the original creation. “I love that they like the cryptic hint-dropping. Because as long as they like it, I’ll keep doing it. It’s fun. It feels mischievous and playful.”

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Through this approach, Swift has designed the ultimate artistic scavenger hunt — and it’s easy to get swept up in its drama, even if you don’t listen to her music. Her moments aren’t always hidden, either. Sometimes Swift highlights aspects of her world just so fans feel like they’re on the journey with her. Like the time in March 2018 when pop singer Hayley Kiyoko was accused of shading Swift after mentioning her name during an interview. On Tumblr, Swift re-shared a fan’s post, adding commentary that defended Kiyoko, which immediately dispelled any conflicts between the two artists; Swift’s post subsequently received more than 29,000 notes. Four months later, she invited Kiyoko on stage during the Reputation Tour to sing her hit “Curious.” Kiyoko returned the favor when she had Swift join her that December at a benefit on behalf of the LGBTQ organization the Ally Coalition to perform “Delicate.” Fans of both artists were elated by the mutual support.

The feedback loop also extends outside of music. In October 2018, Swift broke her silence about politics by publicly endorsing two candidates for office in her adopted state of Tennessee, while encouraging her followers to register to vote. She kept up the civic momentum through Election Day when she asked fans to post selfies after voting; Swift then eagerly re-promoted her favorites on Instagram stories.

This practice of sharing and re-sharing and sharing again is why listeners consider Swift one of the world’s most accessible pop stars, someone willing to not only interact with her audience but invite them to secret listening sessions, or make the occasional surprise visit to their wedding or prom. It’s a symbiotic relationship, one that, as Swift tells EW, helped her dig out of the darker era of reputation. “It’s definitely the fans that made that tonal shift in the way I was feeling,” she says. “Songwriters need to communicate, and part of communicating correctly is when you put out a message that is understood the way you meant it. reputation was interesting because I’d never before had an album that wasn’t fully understood until it was seen live. When it first came out everyone thought it was just going to be angry; upon listening to the whole thing they realized it’s actually about love and friendship, and finding out what your priorities are.”

Then, during the Reputation Tour, she had an epiphany: that despite the caricature that she thought had been created of her, there were many people who saw what others had simply refused to. “I would look out into the audience and I’d see these amazing, thoughtful, caring, wonderful, empathetic people,” she says. “So often with our takedown culture, talking s— about a celebrity is basically the same as talking s— about the new iPhone. So when I go and I meet fans, I see that they actually see me as a flesh-and-blood human being. That — as contrived as it may sound — changed [me] completely, assigning humanity to my life.”

At tour’s end, she channeled that positive energy into the studio, recording the new album in just under three months. But the fast pace won’t mean a short LP. Swift confirmed that her seventh record (she hasn’t announced a title yet; the working nickname among fans is TS7) will include more songs than any of her previous releases. “I try not to go into making an album with any expectation,” she says. “I started to write so much that I knew immediately it would probably be bigger.”

The project will also feature a mix of old and new collaborators (on the candy-coated lead single “ME!” Swift brought in Panic! At the Disco frontman Brendon Urie and coproducer Joel Little, both of whom she had never worked with), but she is unsurprisingly coy about doling out much more information, as if doing so would break the carefully honed T-Swiftian feedback loop. “There’s a lot of a lot on this album,” she says. “I’m trying to convey an emotional spectrum. I definitely don’t wanna have too much of one thing…. You get some joyful songs and you get the bops, as they say.” There’s also, she adds, some “really, really, really, really sad songs,” but “not enough to where you need to worry about me.”

She gives us one more clue: The true distinction between TS7 and reputation is in the delivery. “This time around I feel more comfortable being brave enough to be vulnerable, because my fans are brave enough to be vulnerable with me. Once people delve into the album, it’ll become pretty clear that that’s more of the fingerprint of this — that it’s much more of a singer-songwriter, personal journey than the last one.”

The past month has seen a deluge of Swift activity, from the release of the new single to dropping more hints in interviews about the record and its title, which is apparently hidden somewhere inside the “ME!” music video (current fan guesses include Kaleidoscope and Daisy). But if the Easter eggs from the pop star seem like a business-as-usual routine, she says this album does indeed mark a new era of her life, where she’s been better able to prioritize what’s important to her.

“Our priorities can get messed up existing in a society that puts a currency on curating the way people see your life,” she says. “Social media has given people a way to express their art. I use it to connect with fans. But on the downside you feel like there are 3 trillion new invisible hoops that you have to jump through, and you feel like you’ll never be able to jump through them all correctly. I — along with a lot of my friends and fans — am trying to figure out how to navigate living my life and not just curating what I want people to think living my life is. I’m not always able to maintain a balance, and I think that’s important for everyone to know about. We’re always learning, and that’s something that I also had to learn — that I’ve got to be brave enough to learn. Learning in public is so humiliating sometimes…. Do I feel more balanced in my life than I ever have before? Um, probably yeah. But is that permanent? No. And I think being okay with that has put me in a bit of a better position.” Strong words to live by, to quote, to re-share, to tweet back to her, and see if she’ll respond.

[lynzuglyliar]

Lynz Way & Chantal Claret: Stalking & Online Bullying, A Masterpost.

This post is intended to document and expose Lindsey Way and Chantal Claret’s bullying behaviour, which has been discussed a lot on this blog and on others. In this post we touched on some of this behaviour, such as Lindsey using her art to mock Lucinda Montano and testimony from Lucinda that Lindsey and Chantal online bully fans.

You may also want to read our previous post about Lindsey’s estranged sister and mother so that you have some background knowledge needed for this post.

To cut a long story short, Lindsey dropped her mother and sister, Amy not long after Bandit was born:

It looks like Lindsey has dropped her family- they’ve met Bandit once. When her mother was sick, Lindsey didn’t get in touch. Amy thinks Lindsey is embarrassed of them. Not nice, but then again, a lot of people fall out with their families. So, if Lindsey doesn’t want anything to do with her family, then why does she continue to monitor what they do? Why does she share this information with her friends?

Here is an extract of the court documents between Frances Bean Cobain, Courtney Love and Frances’s ex-husband (Silva v. Love et al.):

Here is a screenshot of the original text messages between Frances and Lindsey (Way):

We have highlighted the areas where Frances refers to Lindsey’s sister and mom.

First up “even her go fund me pic is with the papa roach guy. That’s some stalkerish dedication right there”. What is Frances referring to?

Well, Amy just happens to be a big Papa Roach fan:

Please note the date of the court documents as September 2015. Why was Amy setting up a GoFundMe page? Well, at this time, Amy was single, around six months pregnant and working full time to earn money for the arrival of her first baby, as well as supporting and caring for her ill mother single-handedly.

Frances Bean mocking Amy for setting up a GoFundMe is all the more disgusting when you remember just how much she is worth from her father’s estate alone.

Also, when Frances laughs at Amy being “stalkerish” for using a photo of her with her favourite band, is she not laughing at all of us who have ever been excited to meet their favourite celebrity?

Luckily, she’s never done anything embarrassing like that, right?

No matter what happened between Lindsey and Amy, whether she did drop her family out of embarrassment or whether it was something else, mocking Amy with her friends is not cool. It’s mean, it’s nasty and it’s just the kind of behaviour that Lucinda said she was was responsible for.

Ok, so how about “our bloodlines suck”. I get that Frances had a turbulent upbringing with the loss of her father and instability from her mother. Lindsey’s dad was also absent for most of her life, but that’s not what Frances is referring to here, she’s directly referring to Lindsey’s mom and sister. What exactly have they done wrong? They weren’t ‘cool’ enough for Lindsey’s L.A. lifestyle. That’s it. Does that make them the same as a drug addict mother or a father who (no disrespect intended to Kurt) killed himself? Is getting a picture with your favourite band really that bad? Are their bloodlines comparable, really?

To our final point, Frances says, “anyway let me know what info you get about ur mom and sis”. Not only does this look like Frances is fishing for more of Amy’s “stalkerish” behaviour to laugh at, but it suggests that Lindsey was actively researching what her mom and sister were up to and sharing it with her ‘coven’, despite taking nothing to do with them (by her own choice). Lindsey saw her sister’s plea for money to support her new arrival and help with her mother’s care and what did she do- laughed about it with her multi-millionaire friend. Classy.

So let’s take another look at that screenshot, because Amy isn’t the only one on the receiving end of their taunting:

Charlie is also being called out for her own “stalkerish dedication”- “it’s gonna be Charlie in 5 years”.

So, to Charlie. By now you’ve probably heard the Legend of Charlie. She’s famous in the MCR/MSI fandom (mostly for the wrong reasons). We believe that she was one of the first victims of Lindsey and Chantal’s bullying. Here’s a quick recap (of what we know, anyway) about the Charlie saga.

Charlie was an MCR fan. She had a popular blog and was well-known in the fandom. Like most MCR fans, Charlie became an MSI fan when introduced to them through Gerard and Lindsey’s marriage. At 14 years old, Charlie even met Lindsey during the 2008 MSI tour:

In 2010, (when Charlie was 16) Lindsey Way and Jessicka Addams announced an art show. Charlie, being a big Lindsey fan, booked her tickets from the U.K. to L.A., excited to meet Lindsey again and see her art show. Lindsey and Jessicka ended up moving the art show to another date, when Lindsey heard that Charlie had already booked her flight, she kindly invited Charlie to visit her at the studio during her trip, since she would be missing the show. Here are some pictures from this meeting:

Lindsey even gave Charlie this note after their time together:

But soon after this, things turned sour. We’re not exactly sure what happened, we don’t think anyone but Lindsey and Charlie know the full story. Some people speculated that Lindsey wasn’t happy that Charlie posted the letter seen above. Anyway, there was a backlash against Charlie. Her and her friends’ Tumblrs were hacked and their private conversations were leaked, including this one:

You can imagine just how much flack Charlie got after this message was leaked. Also, please note that ‘fandom mom’, agony aunt and Lindsey’s “lady-friend”, Anna posted this, despite being around 10 years older than then teenage Charlie. Nice.

We’ve tried to avoid mentioning Charlie on here and contrary to popular beliefs, such as this one:

 .... it’s not because we think she’s completely innocent. Certainly, she did some problematic, ‘fangirly’ stuff. But so do most fandoms and it’s not like Anna wasn’t doing exactly the same thing. Mainly we’ve tried to leave her out of it because she’s not a public figure and because she’s had enough shit from the fans as well as Lindsey et al. especially from her BFF, Chantal Claret.

It has been widely speculated for years that Chantal has set up fake Twitter accounts to bully fans. So after we saw this Twitter exchange (below), we thought it was time to bring Charlie’s story to the forefront. Please note that Charlie is now more or less out of the fandom and this post is in no way intended to drag her back into this mess.

So why would Chantal be so intent on bullying Charlie, one of Lindsey’s biggest fans?

We did a bit of digging and we’ve traced it back to a Vimeo video that Charlie and her friend made when they were 16. We remember seeing it years ago, but we think it’s been deleted now. Here’s our best recollection of it: in the video Charlie’s friend (sorry, we don’t know her name) talked about how she was friends with Donna Way on Facebook (please note: at this time, Donna accepted most requests from MCR fans on FB). Apparently, Donna had taken a shine to the girls and invited them to stay with her in New Jersey. Charlie and her friend were talking fangirly shit about how funny it would be to be invited to Gerard’s old house and maybe even stay in his old bedroom. Not the most mature thing, but it was typical shitposting talk that you’d expect from a couple of excitable teenagers. It was a video for their friends, after all.

Unfortunately for them, Chantal was up to her private investigator work (much like when she made the nowaymikeyway blog with Lindsey) and set about making sure the video went public and everyone (including MCR members and Charlie’s then-boyfriend) knew about it:

As you can see, this is the account ‘morrisseystears’ that Charlie and @poisondwarfiero were discussing in the twitter exchange above. We can’t 100% prove that this was Chantal but knowing her behaviour, Charlie’s confidence that it was her and based on these tweets (below), we are convinced that this was one of her many sleeper accounts.

“#HiC” clearly means Charlie and “stay on the internet and stuck in their houses” refers to Charlie dealing with panic attacks and agoraphobia due to the fallout from her divorce from Lindsey and the MCR/MSI fandom.

Can we also talk about Chantal’s use of the term “skin wearers”? Does that sound familiar? It should. It’s what Lindsey and the rest of the spooky pie coven refer to their fans, fans like you, as:

So, if you’re a fan of Lindsey, be sure to know that this is what her and her friends call you. Cute. Wonder what other terms of endearment they have for fans?

Here’s some more proof from Lucinda that Chantal and Lindsey bullied Charlie (although Jessicka has since owned up to also being part of the group that bullied her). In our previous post, we blanked out Charlie’s name as we didn’t want to cause her any more upset. However, we now think that her story should be told as it is an important part of demonstrating how cruel and conniving the ‘coven’ can be:

Chantal’s bullying was so bad, referring to people (mostly teenagers) as “cunts”, “bitches” and “whores” that she’s now deleted all her tweets from before 2016/2017. She’s also fallen out with A LOT of people, including those who used to be her close friends. See this friendly twitter banter directed at Chantal from Giuliana Mayo:

Fast forward from February 2013 to September 2013 and we have this:

and this:

Also, notice Jessicka sticking up for Chantal and claiming that she is not a bully (lol). This is the pack mentality of the coven. But now they’ve dropped Jessicka and are online bullying her with references to her mental health.....

Anyway, we digress.... But it wasn’t just Chantal that bullied fans online. Christian Addams, Jessicka’s husband also got involved in the bullying of Charlie, a 16 year old fan (who is British btw) :

Considering that Lindsey followed all these people at the time - Jessicka, Christian, Chantal - there’s no way that she didn’t know that this bullying was going on.

It doesn’t end there though the @JOJrobot twitter account was also used to bully fans (along with another account @CourtneyThug- now deleted and owned by someone unrelated to this mess). Jessicka claims that she did not run the JOJrobot account but it has now been re-appropriated to the @JOJ_official account (that she ALSO says she doesn’t run... funny that). You can see that here:

So Chantal was @Morrisseystears, Jessicka was @JOJrobot, meaning that Lindsey was most likely @CourtneyThug as these accounts would ‘tag-team’ the bullying of fans, often interacting with each other. The JOJrobot account (as you can see is now @JOJ_official) was responsible for these tweets bullying teenage fans @ruthieforadream and @AyeraJeanGrey:

Notice that the JOJ account uses the same bullying tactics that Chantal implements, tweeting famous people that their target is fans of in order to embarrass them and maybe even get their idols to block them. This is a pattern of behaviour that can also be seen in CourtneyThug’s tweets. The @CourtneyThug account was equally as nasty and also targeted another teenage fan, all because they briefly followed an anti-MSI twitter account. They tweeted disgusting stuff about the people she/he was a fan of (another Jared Leto fan, not that that’s important though) and refused to back down, even when they unfollowed the anti-MSI account and begged to call a truce:

Not really related, but a bit of a lol, Jessicka the JOJrobot accounted tweeted to get self-promo for Jessicka:

and, even weirder, tweeted Eliza (Cuts) Siep (ex-girlfriend of Gerard Way and fanfic writer extraordinaire):

Since Jessicka has been booted out of the coven, she seems to regret her bullying past and is trying to make amends and distance herself from them:

So to sum it all up:

- Lindsey monitors the actions of her mom and sister despite taking nothing to do with them

- Lindsey and Frances make fun of Lindsey’s relatives

- Chantal is a bully

- Charlie isn’t the devil

- Jessicka was a bully, is now (hopefully) reformed

- Christian Addams was a bully

- Lindsey knew about the bullying and was most likely @courtneythug

These women in the ‘coven’ are still operating fake and sleeper accounts. To our knowledge (and we will update if anything changes) these are their current sleeper accounts-

Lindsey Way- @weirdtrufax on Tumblr and Twitter (previously @ratsinyourwall on Tumblr and @ceilingrats on Twitter) also @Vee00181 on Twitter.

Chantal Claret - @mcrIord on twitter

[im-fairly-whitty]

10 Starters

Tagged by @slusheeduck for the “10 Starters Challenge.” Essentially taking the first line of 10 of your fics/works (or the first paragraph to get the vibe of it.) 

It was so so much fun digging through my story trunk and remembering all these fantastic projects! Here we go:

1. The Arbrel

My very first novel, started this one when I was fifteen and it's a loose mess of a plot featuring people who have animal-based superpowers. 

Unfinished and always will be. 

Mitch dashed down the alley, his stolen prize grasped tightly in his hand as he weaved around crushed cardboard boxes and jumped over loose piles of leaves. The cold October air bit through the holes in his jeans and the hood of his sweatshirt slid off, baring his short dark hair to the chilled twilight of the Minnesota evening.

2. Dr Who fanfic

I thought Coco was my first foray into fanfic, but then remembered an old Dr Who self-insert drabble I wrote forever ago. 

For some reason I've forgotten, it seems to have been part of a homework assignment.

A package of gluten-free spaghetti, that’s all I had wanted when I walked through the automatic doors of my neighborhood Smith’s. Instead of procuring my pasta as according to plan, I now found myself precariously perched upon the ice cream freezer.

3. Honey Rubies

There was a spooky story contest at a Haloween party I attended in high school. Wrote this oneshot from the point of view of a disturbingly cheerful clinically insane murderer and swept away first prize no contest after completely terrifying my friends. 

Maybe available for posting if requested.

I love my white chair, it is solid and secure and always there. I know it is always there. Around it spreads a beautiful field of emerald grass that stretches to a horizon of blue that soars up to form a ceiling of azure far above my head. I call this place Amy. The first Amy was a person, not a place, she was always there too. Until one day she wasn’t.

4. Hitman for Hire: Unfinished Business Only

A story about a hitman who takes business from spirits with unfinished business, killing their murderers so that the spirits can move on before warping into dangerous poltergeists like the one that killed his mother, who was a psychic. 

I only ever wrote the first chapter of this one since I decided I wasn't comfortable jumping down the dark rabbit hole that this story would require (it would definitely be an M rating and I don't like wandering past pg-13), but I do love the chapter a lot. I could be convinced to post what I have already if requested, but will likely remain unfinished.

“... and once the ladder tipped I fell right on the fence below. It was a two-story fall! And then my idiot brother-in-law just watches me bleed out, a piece of rebar through my neck. You ever bled to death? Like, it’s quick, but not that quick.” The lanky man rubbed a hand on his neck, grimacing.

5. How to Hate the Planet Earth 

An alien scout has just finished her report that the Earth is ready for harvesting but is feeling guilty about having doomed the planet and its population that she's come to love. Now with three days before the end of Earth she recruits a depressed and confused art student to help her find all the reasons to hate Earth to make her feel better. 

A finished 30k romp of a story featuring a one-eared cat, a retaliatory gang, and an overall "Good Omens/Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy" vibe. Could possibly be convinced to post, but it’ll need editing first.

Taking a sip of coffee Hinge picked up her pen with new resolve, focusing on the bitter taste. 

The native’s addictive stimulant of choice, “coffee...”

She took another sip of the disgusting, awful, really despicable drink. 

...causes headaches if the habit is not sustained...

Her next sip had an extra taste of vanilla.

...which isn’t hard, since the delicious...

Frowning she crossed it out and tried again, taking another swig, savoring the nutmeg. 

The terrible, not tasty, not amazing nutmeg she had discovered yesterday while taste-testing all the different kinds of flavors you could order.

6. Never City

A dystopian retelling of Peter Pan, Sixteen-year-old Peder isn't happy when the Tinker asks him to kidnap two young boys before the government does. He and his group of robotic lost boys prefer to stay hidden in the shadows of Never City, but he agrees anyway. He doesn't want the government to trap the minds of John and Michael Darling in digital "lifechips" like they did with the lost boys Peder now cares for. 

 It’s a full and polished YA novel manuscript I was shopping around to agents last year, but not sure if I'm going to anymore since my writing has improved a ton since then so I’m feeling stuck in limbo with this one.

Peder had plenty of experience reviving the dead, he just needed to work a bit faster than usual tonight.

7. Nightmare Knight

There is a man that’s been in Samantha’s dreams for months now. No, not “the man of her dreams,” literally a man, always in the background, just casually watching her from a distance every night. She’s never able to talk to him, so when he shows up at her house one morning to offer her an apprenticeship as a nightmare slayer, she’s more than intrigued. Her real life is a dead end as far as she’s concerned, and maybe she sort of had to lie to her new mentor and kind of run away from home, but she’s not going to let anything keep her from taking full advantage of this chance to escape her real life. Little does she realize that in the dreamscape, her devil-may-care attitude will lead to attracting all kinds of devils who DO care, unleashing exactly the kind of monsters she’ll be training to kill. By the time she does realize it, it might be too late.

I have a full finished novel manuscript of it but am currently rewriting it.

“I am dreaming. I am paying attention.” Samantha said aloud, focusing as hard as she could.

8. Hillbriar

Dani Hillbriar, youngest of three, has enough problems in her fifteen-year-old life before she wakes up coughing sparks one morning, not to mention the scaly rash on her shoulder. Turns out that her brother, sister and father are having the same unexpected health issues, which reaches a terrifying crescendo when her brother Marcos sprouts giant leathery wings right in the middle of the living room. Turns out that Dad's crazy uncle has left the family a huge property in the middle of Montana in his will, an apparently magical property that happens to comes with the ability to turn into a dragon in order to protect it. Something that neither Dani, her family, or the dragon community at large are at all pleased about as the family is pulled into the secret-ridden politics of the Hillbriar family that have been covered for years. 

A novel I have planned out but is mostly unwritten, I'll be working more on it sometime.

It's not like like I woke up planning to burn my house down, I'm not a freak. It just kind of happened.

9. For Whom the Bell Tolls - Coco

Baby's first real fanfic (not counting the Dr Who drabble). Ernesto De la Cruz a year post movie decides to pay Miguel a visit to give the kid a taste of what regret feels like.

It had been a year since paradise had turned to hell.

10. The Way You Keep Me Guessing: Coco Teacher AU

Yall know this one. Here’s the first line of the first chapter I did for it. Imelda was still angry with Hector, meaning that when he was late to the welcome-back assembly she couldn’t text him to see where he was. She’d maintained complete radio silence for three months now despite his best efforts and was very proud of herself for it.

***

If you’ve got 10+ works to choose from and the fancy hits you, go ahead and tag yourself! This was a lot of fun and is making me itch to get back to some of my original works projects.

[prolix-yuy]

I have been WAITING for this and the wait DID NOT DISAPPOINT!

First of all, love how this starts with them post-coitus and then you rocket us ten years earlier. I was invested before and I'm invested now.

Then Dieter speaks up with a hint of euphoric satisfaction, always aiming to ruin the moment.

What a characterization! I know exactly what I'm in for with this statement. He's gonna be such a mess and I'm gonna love him for it.

Dieter Bravo is a fucking idiot.

It only took a singular 10-minute interview to figure it out. 

YES MY BODY IS READY

The misquoting of Shakespeare and Pulp Fiction absolutely destroys me. This is such a mood. Like I "know" him from the Bubble but the way you're setting him up here reminds me of so many douchenozzles I've met who act this exact same way. May they all be as nuanced as Dieter under the surface because I sure as hell never stuck around to find out.

He’s an entourage of one with an ego spanning across a dozen invisible people.

This is such an excellent portrayal of his ego, what a line. I'm so fucking hooked on your description of him, he's so vivid.

The background of our reader is super cool too! I love how she's "the golden child" in comparison to Dieter's "disaster baby" outlook, and how badly Hollywood wants them to be tabloid stars. Plus all of the stress around not wanting to let down the source material and the fanbase puts so much weight on her to make it work with Dieter (no matter what she has to do to cope).

Scripts? Forget about them. 

Improv? Forget that, too.

Vibes.

God I hate him so much. I'm gonna sleep with him.

You hate the career-cursing nickname.

I feel her here, wanting to be more than just a headline splash and no one is acknowledging her actual talent, just that she's popular in the moment. She's gonna kill it!

His ignorant confidence can be infectious. The guy with the neon crocs gets along with everyone — even the production assistant he continuously steals coffee from.

That's exactly the vibe I get from Dieter, that he's a himbo but a very friendly one.

And he stands by his commitment to work with you behind the camera when you’re locked in close-ups. In past productions, former co-stars allowed the script supervisors feed lines to get some shut eye. Dieter? He stays put until you get the take you’re excited about — because he’s excited, too.

This! I love this. This tells me more about Dieter than anything - that he's completely into the project even when he's a goof, that he wants everyone to succeed, and that he works hard. I admire him a lot for this, even knowing he's going to jump into her pants later.

Acting or not, it’s better to avoid that can of worms. It didn’t work for Brangelina. It didn’t work for Jen and Ben.

Ohhhh baby the groundwork is set. That electricity is going PLACESSSSS

I love that he's drinking vodka cranberry. Is he afraid of a UTI?

“Around you? I’m terrified.”

NO. AMY NO. You are going to kill me with this man's eagerness and openness. He's gonna destroy me.

(The rule of three is haunting you with this shoot.)

I love bringing in some fun filmmaking terminology with the rule of three/thirds. The little touches here and there add to the immersion.

“So you worry all the time in that trailer. Got it.”

Cheeky little bastard, but more well-adjusted than I was thinking he'd be. Acknowledging needing an outlet (his art) is a nice way to pull in canon and also show that he's maybe a little more well-rounded than we think.

“Like I said: terrified, but not in the way you might think.” He pulls a frown. “You’re beyond talented, a total knockout, quick as a fuckin’ whip with improv if the line sucks. I’m not worried at all about you, but me? Gotta stay on my A-game to keep up. Why, are you worried I’m gonna fuck it up?”

Oh THERE it is! That little undercurrent of not being good enough. And lavishing praise on the other person? Let's just...fix this man with some smut, shall we?

All of their banter is A+ top tier wonderful. I want to call it all out but I would just be copy-pasting the whole fic into this comment. They're both so quick on the retort and witty with their comments. Their dynamic will absolutely propel me through this fic like a rocket.

“Okay… you lost me. Was that— when you say ‘kind of’, what would you say is the percentage of—”

I am ROLFing Amy, this is such a good scene.

And then showing her that he marked up the SCRIPT?! Instead of being "vibes only"?! I love him coming to meet her halfway. He's so eager to please.

“I’m gonna kiss you,” he decides, moving a fraction from his chair to hover by yours — it’s a request for permission without asking at all. “I’m gonna kiss you, and you can decide if this is real or if this is a method acting thing. Got it?”

BYEEEEEE THIS SENT ME. I'm gonna pass out. He's so eager and sweet and sexy and I'm going to need a whole change of clothes after this sex scene, I know it.

I absolutely adore the duality of the scene where they're "acting" as their characters, but also expressing their desires for each other and using the characters as shields. The moments of confession, the corrections, and the jokes around "not being in the script" and "requesting rewrites" kept the scene just a little meta for us to GODDAMN BREATHE because it was SO HOT.

“Babe, every character I agree to play eats pussy,” Dieter reassures with utmost sincerity. “I would outright refuse the role if they didn’t.”

AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH.

Somehow you’ve landed in the palm of Dieter’s hand, but you can’t find yourself ashamed of getting here.

AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

“Mine.” Because Richie is possessive.

Dieter is worshipping.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH

My God, this is gonna be such a good series. it's already so electric and full of tension, I know it's only going to get better as you fold in the grey areas of work vs pleasure, the non-anonymity of Hollywood romances, and their warring personalities. I am on the Dieter train with a ticket to Yearntown, baby! Can't wait for the next installment!

SAME OLD MISTAKES: ACT I

THE FAMOUS LAST WORDS SERIES.

gif credit @ pedrorascal

Pairing: Dieter Bravo x Female Reader ( Dieter x You )

Word Count: 3.7K

Summary: A decade ago, you were at the height of your aspiring acting career. Your secret romance and very public feud with Dieter Bravo, however, made you a Hollywood icon.

Warnings: Smut, Porn with Plot, Enemies to Worse Enemies Lovers, Dieter is a total moron, ‘Scripted’ Sex, Protected sex, Dirty talk, Praise kink, Doggy, that Move Javier Pena did in S2 Narcos that has never left my brain

A/N: After many requests, I give you the prequel to Just Old Habits. Spending two months simping over a Judd Apatow character was not on my 2022 Bingo card. 

Next Chapter. | Series Masterlist.

PREVIEW:

“I think it’s important to be on the same page for shit, and this is a Hail Mary for professionalism, so here goes: do you wanna have sex with me?”

You freeze in your sip of your vodka and cranberry, causing a dribble of liquid to fall down the corner of your mouth. 

Dieter springs into action, setting his cigarette into the ashtray on the coffee table to catch the droplet on your chin before it can ruin your off-blue shirt.

“Absolutely not.” You snort, raising your hand to push his thumb away and stopping just before you can make contact. Why are you stopping? 

“I mean—” No. “—kind of?”

What the hell are you saying?

Keep reading

[songbay]

How We Chose The Winners

The Songbay Lyric Writing Competition: How We Chose The Winners

The winners of the 2020 Songbay Lyric Writing Competition were announced at the end of last year. The standard was incredibly high and the process of choosing the winners, from a short list of over a hundred and fifty, was a challenge! In this blog post, we reveal some of the thought processess of the judges. We’ll also be sharing the winning and commended entries throughout this article in case you missed the announcements last year. Perhaps this information may even help you with your preparations for our 2021 contest later in the year!

This year’s competition was organised and managed by Justine Perry, a freelance professional lyricist and writer. She currently manages Songbay’s Lyric Improvement Service

Our judges were Gary Cubberley, Chris Porter, Olga Wells, and Justine Perry. Their musical backgrounds are impressively diverse. From film composing, songwriting, musical theatre, lyric writing and opera, to music production, TV/ Radio commercials, arranging, recording, mixing, mastering, session singing, vocal coaching and instrumental teaching. The Songbay creative team has some very high profile clients-  Kasabian, Keane, Ellie Goulding, Ed Sheeran, Gary Barlow, INXS, Nick Cave & The BadSeeds, Patti Labelle, John Lee S-Club 7, Jamie Cullum, West One Music, Faye Tozer Steps, Amy Pearson, Gareth Gates and Dagny (to name a few).

There were some great prizes on offer, the winner-Mandy Vinson, had her lyric turned into a fully completed song by our expert songwriting team using our Lyric to Song service >>  Whilst our runners up, received free use of our Lyric Improvement Service.

Commended Entry:

(Isaac Gray with lyric Swept Away  View Lyric)

The challenge was to write a lyric incorporating three random words – ‘flamboyant’, ‘ramble’ and ‘hope’.  No easy! Trying to make the words interconnect within a strong lyric way was a serious challenge.

Commended Entry:

(Songs4Singers with lyric He Will Live Forever  View Lyric)

So how did we choose our winners?

Here are some comments from the judges that provide a little insight into the selection process.

Commended Entry:

(Ward Lane with lyric Remember View Lyric)

“Some lyrics immediately stood out.  I tried to put my personal preferences aside and pick the lyrics that were strongest in terms of storytelling and emotional connection, technique, and how well the lyrics lent themselves to music” Justine Perry

Commended Entry:

(Plasma Baby with lyric Drift Away  View Lyric)

“I went for lyrics where the three required words were used most naturally, that also displayed originality, imagery, and poeticism. Essentially, I asked myself, did the lyric move me emotionally; could I imagine this in a song? I tend to be drawn to the ambiguity, where a word can mean different things to different listeners, whilst still making sense from a variety of viewpoints. There were some lovely lyrics that achieved this, I chose those that seemed the most creative and original.” Olga Wells

Commended Entry:

(Ceciliya with lyric Flamboyant Art  View Lyric)

“I tend to look at lyrics from more of a ‘music-writing’ perspective, i.e. could I see the lyric actually working as a song? For me, I like clarity and simplicity. This creates a clearer message for listeners and much stronger ‘hook lines’ that I can then reinforce musically. Additionally, I’m looking for scansion and implied rhythm – this makes any songwriter’s job much easier.” Chris Porter

Commended Entry:

(Brett Hunt with lyric Buffett  View Lyric)

“I looked for lyrics that had a clear story, that resonated on an emotional level that I could also envisage working well in song format, i.e. lyrics that could easily transfer to songs with regard to rhythmic flow, hook lines, and naturally contrasting emotional sections. From a songwriting perspective, I tend to interpret the emotions displayed in the lyric as the basis for my musical harmonic (chord) progressions, and the storyline as the song’s melody. With this in mind, I was really looking out for lyrics that displayed strong emotion and story-telling qualities.”  Gary Cubberley

4th Prize Winner

(Maria Teresa Guzman with lyric Tomorrow Without Me View Lyric)

Interestingly, since each judge approached the task from his or her own professional background and musical ideology, their choices and comments were remarkably similar. Four entries were particularly noteworthy, chosen as winners by three of the four judges. It is interesting to note that all the judges placed a great deal of emphasis on the ability of a lyric to transfer to music, something that is often overlooked by inexperienced lyricists.

3rd Prize Winner

(Sheena Hope with lyric The Fire View Lyric )

We received some submissions that used the three required words ingeniously. However, these did not make the short list due to their complexity or length. Essentially we were looking for lyrics, not poems, and this was overlooked at times. We also detected an emphasis to impress rather to create a lovely lyric- a sort of a paradoxical trap of lyric competitions!

A good lyric is not the same as a good poem and a bad lyric is not the same as a bad poem. Often the two are confused. Inexperienced lyricists, sometimes forget the purpose of a lyric, i.e., to work with a song, to create the feeling, to create memorable hook lines, to enhance rhythmic potential, to work with music and harmony to form a symbiotic relationship. Some of the entries reviewed took the form of intellectual poems, it was difficult to envisage these working in song format.

These very same considerations are examined in our Lyric Improvement Service. Launched last year, it is a cost effective way of improving your lyric and writing skills, helping with all aspects of lyric writing, from improvements in word choices, to working with rhythm and melody. Find out more here: Lyric Improvement Service >>

2nd Prize Winner

Martin Hampton with lyric Good Grace and Hope View Lyric

Our first-prize winner was offered free use of our Lyric to Song Service. This service was launched last year to help Songbay lyricists create completed songs from their lyrics. It can be difficult to break into the music industry as a lyricist alone – most publishers do not accept ‘lyric-only’ submissions, whilst others will want to hear some examples of your lyrics in song format. Find out more here: Lyric to Song service >> 

1st Prize Winner

Mandy Vinson with lyric Watching  View Lyric

WATCHING BY MANDY VINSON Verse 1: I watch her with her paper and pen Jotting notes and doodling She looks at me with her flamboyant eyes Points at her book with a big ole smile Says, hey mom, I’m just like you I’m doing this, just like you do

Chorus: There are times when I feel like giving up I get let down and times get tough When I feel I can’t reach my calling I’m reminded, there’s someone watching

Verse 2: I watch him as he tightens his strings Strums down slow to find the perfect ring I ask him what he’s trying to play He says not sure yet, but someday I hope, to play just like you Hes watching, everything I do

Chorus: There are times when I feel like giving up I get let down and times get tough When I feel I can’t reach my calling I’m reminded, there’s someone watching

Bridge: Even when my mind starts to ramble And all my strings become untangled I’ll work hard, fight and push through Because my loves, live life as I do

Chorus: There are times when I feel like giving up I get let down and times get tough When I feel I can’t reach my calling I’m reminded, there’s someone watching There’s someone watching My kids are watching

  Our winner Mandy received the fully produced version of our Lyric to Song service >>. Our latest songs created through our Lyrics to Music Service can be heard here >>

  The Songbay Lyric Writing Competition 2021 will launch in September. So if you have any ideas for this year’s challenge? We’d love to hear your thoughts, we’re @Songbayteam on Twitter and @songbaylicensing on Instagram.

How We Chose The Winners was originally published on Songbay Music and Lyric Sales

[dcarsi-95]

Karate Krane

After quite a while of procrastination, how about I start with a project I’ve been meaning to get out there for a while? This one I named Karate Krane originally started out as a written novel, but as I began making illustrated pictures on what some of the characters look like, I later decided that they’d look a lot better in a comic of some sort — it was also supposed to be a single story, but I’ve lately been leaning towards making it a series instead.

The story owes it origin to a Kung Fu Panda fanfic I found some years ago called Within Her Grasp (the first second chapter should give ya’ll the gist of my story’s inspiration). With Tigress in said fanfic believing that “winged balls of feathers on stilts [aren’t] the stuff Kung Fu Masters [are] made of”, I couldn’t help but imagine Tigress and Crane in a similar situation as this moment here between Master Shifu and Po in the first movie, with Tigress shaming Crane on how scrawny he is where Shifu shames Po on how overweight he is; it was there that I thought it would make an amusing story to have a crane placed under the guidance of tiger martial arts master (much to the tiger’s chagrin) by said tiger’s master.

In a way, it started out pretty similar to the first Kung Fu Panda movie (I even had the idea that there might’ve been an antagonist similar in some ways to Tai Lung), except instead of Kung Fu, the crane was learning karate, and instead of taking place in ancient China it was to take place in a more modern time like the 1970s, though I’ve lately been considering making the timeframe even more modern for reasons I will delve into later.

The crane in my story is Chris Junichiro Kato, who is mostly whooping crane but has a heritage originating in Japan.

He’s, in reality, not as confident as he’s depicted in this here pic, at least, not at first. He’s actually quite timid and not the most assertive and even has a bit of a geeky side. In the story, he ends up applying or getting applied to some hardcore, heavy-duty martial arts academy, where most everyone is pretty muscular, which is why few of them see Chris as cut-out for it since he is so skinny, but he’s later able to make up for his lack of thew with his amazing reflexes. Not sure exactly how he ends up in this academy; probably either encouraged by friends and/or family who take notice of his remarkable reflexes or is assigned to a teacher there by another teacher who perceptive enough to see Chris’ potential, or is taken into the guidance of his assigned teacher under the request of said teacher’s daughter, who also sees Chris’ potential — I thought it would be a bit too much like Kung Fu Panda if it was because he was some prophesied “chosen one” destined to combat some former student who’s aiming to take revenge for some wrong done unto them like in the case of Tai Lung.

His teacher, of course, is a white tigress whom I’d originally named Master Hung Ga (because some sketchy research I did years ago on Chinese martial arts made some association with the tiger in a certain martial art by that name), although if she is teaches karate, I might want to make her of a more Japanese background, since karate is Japanese and the name Hung Ga is more Chinese in origin — I dunno, really… *shrugs* Although I’ve lately come to imagine her being Russian; I can easily picture her with a thick slavic accent.

Then there’s her daughter Michelle, a classmate of Chris’ on whom he has a crush on.

(Yeah, I know; she’s an orange tiger, whilst her mom is a white tiger, but y’know, her dad might’ve been orange as well) Originally, I pictured her being initially like how Astrid was to Hiccup in the first How to Train Your Dragon movie towards Chris, though not as cold and unattached and—at times—downright mean, more like pompously dismissing him in a typical high school popular girl kind of way. Lately, however, I’ve come to envision her more being a lot nicer to Chris, always willing to stand up for him when he’s unable to do so himself, and even encouraging him to do things most others would doubt he has the competence for (much like how Mei-Ling encouraged Crane to volunteer for the Lee Da Kung Fu Academy), and supporting him all the way. Personality-wise, she can be a tough cookie who isn’t afraid to speak her mind, and while she does show some interest in girly things from time to time, she also has a tomboyish side, and even takes interest in things that would conversely gross Chris out; they sort of fall into the “Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy” trope that way — I’ve even imagined her trying to teach Chris how to spit, much like in that scene from Titanic! XD

She’s also got a number a friends including a snow leopardess, a kangaroo and a doberman pinscher, but those—along with Chris’ friends—are more minor characters that I’ll cover in future posts, though I do imagine the snow leopardess (I believe I named her Amy) also has a pretty nice personality and is also willing to lend support.

A couple of other characters I’ve recently thrown into this mix include an earthly manifestation of God in the form of a tricolored tetrahedron who goes by the name of Joe (for Jehovah, which, if I’m not mistaken, is an alternative to Yahweh) and a conical, bluish-purple/purplish-blue manifestation of the closest thing to the Devil (although I’m not sure he truly is the Devil) who probably goes by the name of either Stan (for Satan) or Lucie (for Lucifer). Again, I’m not sure he’s really the Devil or if him and Joe are just two manifestations of the two side of God’s nature (in the universe this story takes place in, I guess God has two natures: one’s more firmly adherent to what is absolutely moral, and the other isn’t afraid to bend the rules a little), two sides of the same coin.

Originally, it was going to be just Joe, who hangs around Chris, as well as other characters, as sort of a conscience and life coach, but I later decided to add Stan/Lucie (can’t quite decide which name) so that the two of them would be like Chris’ shoulder angel/devil duo, where Joe—though not all preachy and all that—advises Chris to “do the right thing” and gives advice with chiefly altruistic implications, whilst Stan/Lucie tries to tempt Chris to pursue somewhat more self-centered gratifications that may or may not slightly deviate from what is completely moral, and whilst the two of them do often butt heads with each other when it comes to guiding Chris’ actions they do sometimes call truces and work together — ultimately, while they usually don’t agree on how to do it, they both have Chris’ best interests at heart.

I designed Joe as a tricolored tetrahedron or three-sided pyramid as sort of a reference to the Holy Trinity, with his white fourth face symbolizing a unity between all three aspects of said Trinity, but also because his more angular shape symbolizes his strict adherence to the moral code, to do things “fair and square”, in contrast to Stan/Lucie, who of course is of a conical shape, and thus more circular in cross section, and tends to be more deviant. Of course, not wanting to be religion-specific, I do aim to make symbolic references to other religions to make Joe seem more unitarian, like I might have him and Stan/Lucie come together (if they really are but two sides of the same coin) and form a star of David, and sometimes even a yin-yang taijitu in reference to Taoism.

Although my story originally lends a lot of inspiration from KFP and was set in the 70s, lately, as I’d been also pondering on the depiction of his daily life of regular teenage pursuits, and as I listened to songs like Hey Mickey, Mony Mony, Another One Bites the Dust, Addicted to Love, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, and all other sorts of songs from the album Rhino Instant Party Disc: Regular Strength (for those who don’t own the album, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun is not included) as well as a number of more recent pop songs, I’d come to consider maybe pushing the story’s timeframe to a more recent date like the 80s or 90s, maybe even the 21st century, and that maybe instead of being about Chris’ struggles and trials in karate training, maybe it should instead focus more on his daily life in high school. There might still be a side plot in which Chris tries out some sort of activity in which physical strength is a standard, but instead of martial arts it might be something like rugby football (even though Chris is really not much of a sports kind of guy) because Michelle is involved in such a team herself, or maybe the school has a gym that includes a kick-boxing program, or maybe it also includes a karate program — whichever way, I think this story is going to focus a bit more on Chris’ teen life and a tad less on whatever physical he gets involved in, but I still think the latter’s still going to have some significant role in it. I dunno, I’ve run it all by my mom and she seemed to agree that this was a good change in direction, and we both agreed that the original storyline was a bit of a ripoff of KFP, but what do you guys think?

Do you like the changes I’ve made so far? Are you more in favor with the original storyline and think I’ve given it a sufficiently original twist? Do you like the characters I’ve shown so far? Have any ideas of your own that you’d like to add? What are your thoughts on it all? Please share your opinions with me, as I’d love to hear them. Thank you.

[celticbotanart]

SO I GOT THIS QUESTION ON MY SEA WITCH VIDEO, AND SINCE I’VE BEEN RECEIVING QUESTIONS LIKE THIS A LOT, I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE IMPORTANT TO SHARE MY ANSWERS HERE AS WELL. Question: " it's a shame how I want to be a an artist and I cant even draw this good and I don't even know or have all the tools... I just don't feel like I'm ever going to be an artist. Any tips?? how come I don't have all the tools?? I only have like 10... how many years have you be been drawing in paint tool sai??? I'm only 15, and did you take classes or are self-taught???? srry for a the questions ... I'm just trying to find hope and motivation 😔“ 

*** Well, first of all, that mentality  of "I'll never be a good artist" mindset has to go away. Being good at art is rarely about someone's natural skill and much more about years and years of practice. I didn't even dream I would be able to paint such a portrait when I was 15 myself (I am 27 now, so you can already see where I am going with this). So please, don't think it is "shameful" you can't draw like that yet when I didn't draw like that when I was your age, lol. Some teens can paint and draw insanely good - examples: Kiwi Byrd, Tamberella, Sara Teppes, they aren't teens anymore but they are currently like 19 or 20 and they've been posting art for years now. They are exceptions or they simply perceive/absorb art skills  differently, but you can see they are ALWAYS drawing and posting something, from a sketch to a full painting, they are always producing art, which of course, speeds their improvement a lot. I will ALWAYS show and link this to people, because more than anything I want to de-romanticize and un-mistify this idea that art is 1- easy (it is not, no matter what it may seem or how some people might be quicker to learn it, it is still hard to learn new tecniques and styles and to study art) and 2- that art is absolutely impossible to improve: THIS IS MY IMPROVEMENT MEME CHART THAT COVERS FROM 2003 to 2016.  As you can see, at your age I literally drew some anime-style characters and fanarts, most based out of something else (like the Amy Lee manga portrait, it was referenced on one of Amy's most famous promo pictures). I only started with digital art when I was sixteen and only got a tablet pen (a Wacom Bamboo Fun small) three years later when I was 19. Tools are helpful, but when you are a beginner, they don't really matter to be quite honest. I mastered watercolors  by constantly practicing with the cheapest, worst quality watercolors and nankin ink you can ever imagine from the age of 14. They were literally school / tools for children quality. That Amy Lee I mentioned earlier on my chart was all done with ballpoint pen. And to this day, ballpoint pens are one of my absolute favorite materials do draw with because they are cheap, simple and we can achieve awesome effects and textures with them. They were all done recently with only common ballpoint pens: 

If your foundations aren't good in drawing, your art won't look good no matter how many tools you have and no matter how expensive they are, the art will still look bad. If you can make wonders with cheap-ass materials, you will be fine in any situation. If you have 10 tools (I guess they are commons stuff like pens, pencils, colored pencils?) you already have a very good start. I've been drawing on Paint Tool SAI since 2009, which means this year will be 8 years of using the software. 

This was literally my first attempt on Paint Tool SAI, in 2009:

This was one of my latest paintings with the same software, made last month:

On the other hand, I still use a Bamboo Pen small tablet, which is a good one but far from what you would call "the best" tablet; again, remember what I said up there - try to work with what you have in your hands. Sometimes upgrades will have to be necessary for you to improve, for example, you can't improve at playing the violin if your violin is a cheap/beginner violin because in that skill, the quality of the instrument counts a lot for the quality of sound you will get. Art supplies work more or less the same way, but unlike the violin, it is not a deal breaker if you have cheaper stuff or if the quality is inferior.  I've taken a few classes / attended a few fast courses because these are super expensive here in Brazil where I live. But I was once an apprentice of this dude who had a painting studio near where I live. It last only a few months, I had to stop attending due to many reasons, oil paintings not really being one of the easiest materials to deal with being one of them, BUT I still learned a great deal on traditional painting which I use to this very day on my digital art. Another tip would be exactly that - try watching traditional oil painting videos, they have great techniques and tips that can easily be applied on digital (my favorite is Andrew Tischler's channel, his videos are dynamic and his technique is insanely good). Observing old paintings that you might like also help a lot (my favorite painter is by far William Bouguereau, I've been observing his art since 2009, and I try to apply what I see in his works on mine). 

However, I would say I am mostly self taught - and by that I mean I read and watched a ridiculous amount of tutorials online, from deviantart and on youtube, and whenever I see a tutorial I stop to at least take a look. Don't judge tutorials by the quality of the art being presented in it, I've learned A LOT about SAI by reading tutorials and watching speedpaints on YT of what would be considered "bad anime art" or just "weaboo anime art". Since learning art can be tough and you can get really unmotivated and bored, draw whatever you want: fanarts, OC's, animals, landscapes, it doesnt matter as long as you like it. You can see on my improvement chart that 90% of stuff in there is fanart. It has its cons (for example, people can take the longest time to recognize your original art or not pay attention to it at all, like it still happens to me) but it definitely has its pros as well.  Also, I am very good at drawing faces and characters (hence this only took me 3h to paint, i've been painting faces since ever and they are one of my favorite things to paint), but I am extremely bad at drawing and painting backgrounds. They can come out looking nice, but I still can't paint just anything (for example, I can paint a forest decently, but I can't paint a city scape with buildings and such). My backgrounds are often very limited, simple and / or just suggested (like in my recent "Goblin" video, the forest behind him is only suggested, but it is enough to convey the message). I should practice more on BG's, but I don't lol. So don't be like me on that, haha. Long story short: - art is hard and takes a long time to learn and to improve, it is completely normal to take time to improve; - don't be fooled by the illusion of expensive art supplies = good art. Work with what you have at hands, try different tools and  supplies and see what suits you the best; - read read read read read tutorials and watch as many YT speedpaints and tutorials you can. Even if they are long, even if they seem they won't add you anything new or good. - draw a lot, and draw what you enjoy. I hope this was somehow helpful!

[kxavierreyes]

Big The Cat & Froggy QR Codes

After my Amy Rose QR Code set, I was wondering if some of my friends wanted one more Sonic character for me to give some QR Code treatment. Well, here he is his folk... Big The Cat! :D

Introduced in “Sonic Adventure 1″, Big the Cat is a more laid back character who enjoys helping out with his friends through thick and thin and he likes fishing on his free times. His own name not only refers to his size but also his strength when it comes to handling situations his pals need help with. Big The Cat may not be one of the more popular characters in the Sonic series, but people including myself actually like this character. He’s strong, friendly, and is a neat change of pace from the “cool” factor many Sonic characters have. Sometimes we just need to lay back and enjoy life every once in a while, that’s the kind of message I get from Big the Cat. :)

For this standee art, I decided to have Big the Cat sitting down in a background resembling the Mystic Ruins jungle from “Sonic Adventure 1″, it fits the character well in my opinion. And of course, I couldn’t forget about Big’s pal Froggy! I decided to have Big hold onto Froggy to reflect their friendship. 

Let me know how you think this one came out folks! I’m happy with the results but I want your opinions of course.

I wonder now... could this new post help spark the idea of a “Cream the Rabbit” QR Codes set to help complete Team Rose? Or maybe I should go back for a while to other series I’ve previously represented like Nights, Space Channel 5, or Super Mario? Perhaps I should surprise everyone with a different series I had planned to work with like Kirby? I’ll leave it up to everyone here. Thanks for your support, have yourself a fantastic day, and take care! ^-^

[sandiegodjstaci]

Danielle & Mitch's English/Spanish Grand Tradition Estate Wedding

Danielle & Mitch's English/Spanish Grand Tradition Estate Wedding

Of all the San Diego Latin DJs calling the 619 home, Danielle & Mitch chose me to DJ and MC their English/Spanish Grand Tradition Estate Wedding on Friday, January 18, 2019. The following write-up is based on San Diego DJ Staci’s crazy organized & detailed outline for this Grand Tradition Estate wedding. The ceremony was at Compass Garden waterfall. Cocktails were at the Orchid Bar. DJ service began with dinner.

  THE COCKTAIL HOUR & DINNER MUSIC

While San Diego DJ Staci offers couples pre-set cocktail & dinner playlists to choose from, Daniellle & Mitch opted to hand-select their background music for their Grand Tradition wedding.

Dinner Music ➔ Big Band/Old Jazz/Swing, This must be the place–Talking Heads, Say You Love Me– Fleetwood Mac, Body and Soul– Tony Bennet/Amy Winehouse, Stand By Me– Ben E. King

  GRAND TRADITION ESTATE WEDDING RECEPTION

MC Welcome ➔ “Good evening! Welcome to Danielle & Mitchell’s wedding reception!!! I am the Master of Ceremonies, DJ Staci. Please take your seats so we can officially welcome our guests of honor. Be sure to post your photos today with #BecomingDaniTanner. If you need to charge your devices, I do have a mini charging station up here including some universal chargers.”

“Tonight I’m going to be sharing a lot of stories about Danielle & Mitchell with you. To get rolling, let’s tackle the first ‘I love you.’ Danielle said it first at the end of September 2015. His response? ‘I’ve never said it before. I thought only married people said it.’ This amazing story folks played out in a Rubio’s parking lot, yes.”

“Bienvenidos a la recepción de la boda de Danielle y Mitchell. Yo soy la Maestra de Ceremonias, DJ Staci. Por favor tomen asiento para darle la bienvenida oficialmente a nuestros invitados de honor.”

“Ladies & gentlemen, put your hands together for the introduction of the wedding party…”

Grand Entrance ➔ Mi Gente, Jay Balvan

1. Give it up for Bridesmaid/Dama de Honor Lauren K & Groomsman/Padrino Derek S!!!

2. Show some love to Bridesmaid/Dama de Honor Angelica P & Groomsman/Padrino Dustin E!!!

3. Please welcome Bridesmaid/Dama de Honor Thalia P & Groomsman/Padrino Hayden T!!!

4. Give it up for Bridesmaid/Dama de Honor Marlene M & Groomsman/Padrino Trenton T!!!

5. Show some love to Maid of Honor/Dama de Honor Sidney D & Best Man/Padrino Nathan T!!!

➔ Shining- DJ Khaled, Beyonce, Jay-Z ➔ “They met in October 2013 at In N Out. He was her manager. Their first date was not until 2015. Together they enjoy hiking with their dog Panda, watching movies, playing Nintendo Switch, & trying new restaurants. In 2 days, they are going on a 2-week honeymoon to England! Damas y caballeros, pónganse de pie para recibir por primera vez al Señor y la Señora Tanner…Ladies & gentlemen, get on your feet to welcome–for the FIRST TIME EVER–Mr & Mrs. Mitchell T!!!”

➔ First Dance ➔ Hard to Concentrate- Red Hot Chili Peppers ➔ fade early: yes ➔ “On September 9, 2017, Mitch’s parents were in town from Arizona. Mitch & his parents with Danielle & her parents headed to their fave hot spot, the Local Tap House. At LTH, Mitch set up a group photo with both sets of parents. As the photo was being snapped, he got down on one knee during & asked Danielle a very important question. And now we welcome Mr & Mrs. T to the dance floor for their first dance as husband and wife. Y ahora recibamos al Señor y la Señora Tanner en la pista para su primer baile como esposos.”

5:45 PM ➔ Meal Served: Buffet ➔ Dismiss tables: Day-Of Coordinator

6:45 PM +/- ➔ Toasts ➔ champagne ➔ “Ladies & gentlemen, I hope you are enjoying your meals. May I have your attention please for the toasts. Damas y caballeros, espero que estén disfrutando de la comida. ¿Me permiten su atención por favor para el brindis? Recibamos a nuestro primero orador…Welcome our first speaker:

➔ Mitch’s best friend, Best Man/Padrino Nathan T

➔ Danielle’s best friend, Maid of Honor/Dama de Honor Sidney D

➔ Mitch’s older brother, Groomsman/Padrino Trent T

➔ Father of the Bride/Padre de la Novia, Arthur R

➔ Father of the Groom/Padre del Novio, Ron T

➔ Father-Daughter Dance ➔ “Isn’t She Lovely,” Stevie Wonder ➔ fade early: about 2 minutes ➔ “Danielle says, ‘One of my favorite memories of my dad while I was growing up is ‘helping’ him make his 30-day fruit cakes around the holidays. He would always let me lick the bowl clean. He has cared for me in the best way possible–from new clothes to countless home cooked meals. I could not have asked for a better dad. He taught me to stick up for myself and emulate his strength in my daily life.’ Now let’s welcome Danielle & her father, Art R, to the dance floor. Recibamos ahora a Danielle y su papa, Art, en la pista de baile.“

➔ Formal Cake Cutting ➔ I won’t share you– The Smiths

➔ Group Photo on dance floor

➔ Open Dancing

8:00 PM +/- ➔ Garter/Liga Removal ➔ Stronger– Kanye West

➔ Garter/Liga Toss ➔ My Heart Will Go On– Celine Dion

➔ Garter/Liga Caught ➔ Good Life by Kanye West

➔ Bouquet/Rama Toss ➔ P.Y.T.– Michael Jackson

➔ Money Dance/Baile de Billete (to regular dance music)

9:55 pm ➔ Last Dance

  DANIELLE & MITCH’S DANCE MUSIC RECIPE

Dance Music Rating ➔ R- or X-rated

Priority During Dancing ➔ maximum dancing/use my expertise to read the crowd

Notes ➔ “We want about 40% of music to be Spanish and 60% everything else.”

Play A Lot ➔ Hip Hop/Trap (Migos, Drake, Future, J Cole, DJ Khaled)

Play A Few ➔ 80s Pop/Rock/New Wave, 90s Pop/Rock/Rap, Top 40

(40%) Spanish ➔ use my expertise, Cumbias, Salsa, Merengue, Reggaeton, Nortenos, Bachata

♥ M U S T – P L A Y S ♥

Suavemente. Payaso de Rodeo, Lets Dance –David Bowie, Wild Thoughts– DJ Khaled, Clandestino– Shakira, Work– Rihanna, I like it — Cardi B

♥ P L A Y – I F – Y O U – C A N ♥

Love Shack– b-52’s, Walk it Talk it – Migos, God’s Plan, the Motto, In my Feelings, Big bank by YG

♥ D O – N O T – P L A Y S ♥

Country, Don’t Stop Believin, Chicken Dance, Whip Nae Nae

  GRAND TRADITION ESTATE WEDDING FLOOR PLAN

This is a problematic floor plan in which the guests seated in front of the DJ get deafened during dinner, impedes the DJ’s visibility of center stage (making it difficult to know when the cake cutting is done & the song should be faded, for example), and makes the volume on the dance floor quieter. None of the guests seated at table 16 sat down to eat dinner–the table was completely empty all night. The DJ/MC can do his/her best work when placed on the edge of the dance floor.

  SAN DIEGO WEDDING VENDOR LIST

Here is the amazing team of San Diego wedding vendors I had the pleasure of working with on this Grand Tradition Estate wedding:

Venue/Catering ➔  Grand Tradition Estate

DJ/Lighting  ➔  DJ Staci, the Track Star

Photography/Videography  ➔  Splashes of Time Photography

Flowers  ➔  Travis Payne

Desserts  ➔  Simply Sifted

  Again, I was honored to be the one and only San Diego wedding DJ Danielle & Mitch trusted with their English/Spanish Grand Tradition Estate wedding. Thank you!

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  Like DJ Staci's vibe? Get instant access to her San Diego wedding DJ pricing here!

  GIVE IT TO ME BABY

[personalcoachingcenter]

How This Scrappy Startup That's Partnered With Target and Nickelodeon Stays Lean and Gives Back

In this America’s Small-Business Heroes edition of The Fix, Entrepreneur Associate Editor Lydia Belanger shares her conversations with founders and executives who have solved problems while keeping social impact in mind.

Nuria Santamaría Wolfe says she grew up feeling like she was living in two worlds. Born in El Salvador, she moved to Los Angeles with her family at age 3. Her childhood home life was filled with Latino culture, and Spanish is her first language, but living in the U.S. immersed her in the American mainstream. She learned how to transition between the two worlds, she says, and proudly grew up with a bicultural identity.

Even before graduating high school, Santamaría Wolfe knew that she wanted to pursue a career addressing the ways in which Hispanic people were underserved and underrepresented. She decided to study economics in college at Stanford and minored in Spanish, despite her fluency, to ready herself to use the language in a business context.

Eventually, she worked her way up to Twitter, where she headed up multicultural strategy for the social platform, identifying the market opportunities associated with long underrepresented and growing demographics.

“I got to the point where I realized, sometimes brands understand the opportunity and don’t act on it,” Santamaría Wolfe says, “or want to act on it but don’t know how to act on it.”  

Related: How Lyft Goes Beyond Picking Up Drunk People From Bars by Giving Patients Rides to the Doctor's

Then, in 2015, she became a mother and saw a massive opportunity for more Latino culture in children’s media. She co-founded Encantos Media Studios with the goal of creating products to the bridge gaps between cultures. The first brand under the Encantos umbrella is Canticos, which publishes Latino nursery rhymes in books, sing-along videos and interactive app formats.

“We weren’t going to wait for Disney or another media company to do this,” Santamaría Wolfe, who also serves as Encantos CEO, says. “We were passionate about doing this not just because it was a business opportunity, but almost because of social good. We felt we had to do it -- for the culture, for the people.”

Santamaría Wolfe and her team have several goals for their self-funded media startup. They founded it as a public-benefit corporation and prioritize giving -- through in-kind donations, partnerships with charitable organizations, events, educational materials for kids and parenting resources.

They also want their products to appeal to more than just Latino families. The long-term plan is to create content for a range of cultures. For instance, Canticos stories, Santamaría Wolfe explains, are meant to make Latinos feel proud to see their culture represented, and give non-Latino parents an opportunity to expose their kids to diverse and bilingual content.

But the mass appeal the company had worked to cultivate would be much more powerful as a mass-market scale. Not to mention, financial growth would allow the public-benefit corporation to better fulfill its social mission. As partnership opportunities have arisen with big players such as Target, Nickelodeon and Burt’s Bees, Encantos has worked to deliver new products quickly by leveraging existing smaller partnerships and in-house talent, when possible.

“When we think about going from a small, family-owned startup to scaling and playing with the big guys,” Santamaría Wolfe says, “it’s about finding that balance of capitalizing on short-term opportunities while not sacrificing the long-term vision that we have.”

Here’s how Encantos has stayed lean despite the demands of new distributors.

The fix Target and Encantos began talks due to the retailer’s hunger for more bilingual children’s books. When Encantos first met with Target, it had four book titles out in market at the time. The problem was, they were not mass-market friendly and featured details such as a slip-cover and accordion-like expansion that made them more suited for boutique book stores. Encantos anticipated Target would want a smaller, pared-down version -- the existing one wouldn’t fit on its shelves -- and brought a mock of a simpler version to the meeting. The companies worked together to retain the authenticity of the stories and the interactivity of the products that Encantos has prioritized from the day it was founded.

The original, novelty design of Canticos books has a slipcover and folds out in an accordion style. This format is better suited for boutique bookstores than mass-market distribution.

Image Credit: Encantos Media Studios, PBC

The challenge, however, was that Target wanted the new version of the books in a matter of three months, while Encantos had slated production for them a year out. Despite the magnitude of this deal, Encantos used its existing resources to handle it. The company called up its printer, a fellow startup, and explained the situation. The printer fast-tracked the process, and Encantos made Target’s deadline.

Related: Productive Partnerships: How a 'David' Can Partner With 'Goliath'

This fall, Encantos has entered into another large partnership, with Nickelodeon. It had already been creating animated content for its own YouTube channel, which has more than 117,000 subscribers -- its singalong videos contain animated versions of the artwork in Canticos nursery rhyme books. Again, the company faced an aggressive timeline: The new content is slated to debut in spring 2018.

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“We had to work on short-form, digital content that needed to live on Nickelodeon’s platform,” Santamaría Wolfe says. “We had to up the ante of the quality and quantity. And we were not set up to do that.”

In this case, Encantos made the decision to call upon new help for aspects such as storyboarding and post-production, hiring an animation studio.

“It’s about understanding where your limitations are going to be,” Santamaría Wolfe says of the decision, “and when it’s time to bring in an additional partner.”

That said, Encantos relies heavily on its diversely talented in-house team. For example, the company’s art director for Canticos books also designs the website and will soon work on additional consumer products Encantos and Nickelodeon has in the works, such as children’s bedding. Encantos’ CTO has a music background and consults on lyrics and translations, but the company’s production work happens externally.

“You have to be self-aware, as an organization,” Santamaría Wolfe says. “It’s great to wear all hats and be a jack-of-all-trades, but you have to know when it’s not going to be enough and fill those gaps in talent.”

She also notes that, when possible, companies seeking rapid growth should also look for jacks of all trades when hiring external talent as well, rather than seeking several one-off freelancers to build relationships with.

The results Canticos books appeared on shelves of 400 Target stores in October 2017 after the three-month turnaround earlier this year.

“We remained working with a partner that we respected and appreciated,” Santamaría Wolfe says of Encantos’ relationship with its printer, which has helped release six titles, four of which come in two book formats. “Small companies work well with small companies.”

Encantos sells its books across the U.S. as well as in Europe, Asia and Latin America. It recently added Costco Puerto Rico as a distributor.

Encantos and Target worked together to design a smaller, board format for Canticos books (top). The revamped format features the book's title in two languages on the cover, rather than being reversible like the boutique version is.

Image Credit: Erica Rojas

The company will grow its digital reach from to 2.6 million when it hits Nickelodeon’s platforms this spring. The studio that will have made this possible is based in Canada, and Santamaría Wolfe explains that this was a strategic move: Canada offers tax credits for animation work, which is saving Encantos money -- money that it can allocate to public-benefit efforts.

“I think we’ve been really smart about the way in which we’ve used our resources, financial and people wise,” Santamaría Wolfe says. “We try to move fast, but very thoughtfully, in the way that we do things, and it’s given us opportunities to start to give back very early on.”

Another take When trying to decide whether to complete a project internally or with external help, companies should ask themselves what the costs of each option are, says Amy Blitz, a lecturer at Babson College who has led organizational research at IBM, McKinsey and other institutions throughout her career.

“A company might decide it wants to do something in-house if it decides that type of project is core enough to its strategy going forward that it needs to develop those kinds of capabilities,” Blitz says.

Related: 9 Ways to Recruit the Best Talent for Your Startup

She cites Apple’s move into retail in the early 2000s as an example. The tech giant determined it would be beneficial to operate its own stores, rather than leave the sales of its products to third parties such as Best Buy. Similarly, Netflix and Amazon have been producing their own TV content, as well as streaming licensed works.

Companies should have insights into whether their direct competitors are building vs. buying certain aspects of their business, but know the same strategy may be right applicable for any number of reasons. A company that takes on a new project in-house may have to dial down efforts in another area. Because of this, Blitz says, it’s important that a company knows where it wants to focus -- and plan ahead.

Other costs may involve managing the group that is completing the project, whether it's longstanding employees or a freelancer or agency. Although outsourcing allows more flexibility for companies that don’t need certain capabilities on a constant or regular basis, the tradeoff is building rapport and trust. Terms of a partnership such as each party’s ownership and responsibilities inevitably come into play.

Blitz shares an anecdote of a pair of partners that built a technology solution to keep sensitive information such as intellectual property private. Other organizations may agree upon regular check-ins or surveys to make sure each is holding up its end of the deal, happy with the arrangement and seeking ways to improve it. Another idea is to have internal and external teams report to the same person to “force the two groups to see each other as collaborators, rather than competitors,” Blitz explains

Read more there

[mrlongkgraves]

Keeping the Beat: A retreat for kids with pacemakers and ICDs

Photos by Richard Koch

Every year in early September, something extraordinary happens at the YMCA Camp Burgess on Cape Cod. That’s when a group of kids with pacemakers and implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) descend on the campground for the Keeping the Beat Retreat, a weekend filled with games, outdoor activities, dancing, singing and bonding. This year, I was lucky enough to get to join in on their fun as a volunteer counselor.

The weekend began with hugs, high-fives and screams of excitement as the kids piled off the bus and connected with old friends and former counselors. As a first-timer, I was clearly in the minority. Many of the kids have been attending the retreat for years, some since it began in 1999.

A quiet moment with a ukulele

The medical team: Dr. Bevilacqua, Kimberly Deckett, Dr. Mah and Amy Walsh

More dancing

Hanging out at the courts

Having fun at the arts and crafts tent

Face painting and costumes at Carnival Night

Another group gets ready to zipline

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Dinner, dancing and s’mores

The festivities started on Friday night with dinner and a dancing party, followed by a huge campfire by the lake with s’mores and lots of “repeat after me” songs. Judging by the volume, the kids knew many of the songs by heart. By the time we finally made our way back to our cabins, it was way past many of the younger kids’ bedtimes.

About the retreat

The Keeping the Beat Retreat offers some Boston Children’s patients with pacemakers and ICDs the only opportunity they may have to attend a camp-style retreat. Kids with chronic heart conditions are often excluded from traditional camps, and yet aren’t considered “sick” enough to attend a medical camp. In addition to providing a safe, structured environment for these kids to explore and have fun, it also helps build more trusting relationships between the kids and the medical staff, which can ultimately help improve the kids’ health.

The next day, the retreat got into full swing early, with bingo and breakfast followed by dancing. I quickly discovered that no meal at the retreat is complete without a few spins on the dance floor. Manning the DJ booth for the weekend was Lou Bergholz from Edgework Consulting, retreat director extraordinaire. Not only did Lou have his pulse on the kids’ favorite tunes and dances, both new and old, but he also knew every attendee personally by name.

After clearing the dance floor, the kids began the first of four activity sessions for the day. For each session, they got to choose between rock climbing, arts and crafts, boating and swimming, archery, ziplining, outdoor games and photography.

“What surprised me the most was how immediately positive the experience was for the kids,” says Maia Borensztein, a research assistant at Boston Children’s and another first-time volunteer. “Usually it takes kids a few days to warm up. But they just jumped right in from the moment they arrived and were willing to try everything.”

Lou Bergholz, retreat director, helps get the crowd cheering.

Keeping an eye on health

Throughout the weekend, Dr. Doug Mah, director of the Pacemaker and ICD Program at Boston Children’s and medical director of Keeping the Beat, along with Dr. Laura Bevilacqua and nurses Amy Walsh and Kimberly Deckett kept an eye on everyone. While nurse Jamie Harris couldn’t be there in person this year, she was key in coordinating and organizing this year’s retreat.

The medical oversight is so well-orchestrated that you barely even notice it. One minute the medical staff would be dancing along to “The Wobble” or “Cotton Eyed-Joe,” and the next giving a dose of medicine before jumping back in to join a conga line.

“It was really cool to see how comfortable the kids were with each other and the staff,” says another first-time counselor, Cate Gray, a researcher for the Boston Adult Congenital Heart (BACH) Program at Boston Children’s. “It’s one place where they can be totally comfortable talking about their heart conditions — they were all comparing scars and swapping stories.”

After dinner on Saturday, the main lodge area was transformed into a huge boardwalk-style area for Carnival Night, a big favorite with the kids. Wacky costumes and western wear are encouraged as kids, counselors and medical staff play a variety of carnival-style games to earn as many “chips” as possible for their cabin.

I was completely wiped out by the time we headed back to our cabin. We got ready for bed and gathered around the girls’ bunks to talk about highlights of the day. After we counselors turned in for the night, the girls stayed up, talking about their favorite TV shows and sharing stories about their lives. It struck me how inclusive and kind they were with each other. As the mom of two teenagers, I know this isn’t always the case.

Ice cream for breakfast

Sunday morning was the much-anticipated ice cream breakfast. (Yes, it was as good as it sounds.) The kids exchanged emails and Twitter handles while Lou spun some more tunes. When he played “Fight Song” by Rachel Platten and “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey, all the kids stopped what they were doing to join in. It was incredible to watch these kids, of all ages and backgrounds, respond in the same way to these songs of courage and hope.

Lining up for the ice cream breakfast

After a morning activity session, we gathered back in the main lodge for lunch, followed by a slideshow of the weekend’s highlights. Then we headed outside and made a huge circle for a final closing ceremony. In turn, each group of kids, counselors, staff and clinicians ran inside the circle to give and receive high fives from the rest of the group.

As I watched the kids file back onto the bus, it was hard to believe the weekend was already over. Time to start the countdown to next year’s retreat.

Learn how you can help support the Keeping the Beat Retreat.

The post Keeping the Beat: A retreat for kids with pacemakers and ICDs appeared first on Thriving Blog.

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[breakingthchabit-archive]

Rules

This is an INDEPENDENT MULTI MUSE RP blog for characters based around Disney and their productions such as Descendants, the characters of this blog are; Harry Hook, Doug Sieben, Evie Queen, Isabelle Hollow (OC Tinkerbells daughter) and Nyx Agóri (OC Hades daughter), Apollo de Châteaupers (OC Son of Esmarelda), Jefferson Hatter and Ally Kingsley.

ABOUT THE MUN

     Both mun and my muses are of legal age (mun is 24+, while muses are canon age ), however in a few verses my muses are underage so there will be no NSFW whatsoever. I find it very difficult to interact with child characters so will rarely ever accept a thread if the muse is under sixteen unless it is due to a meme.

     Penname is Amy, I use she/her pronouns. I live in Britain so am on the GMT timezone (I think it’s GMT +1 but I’m useless with this stuff so I’m sorry if I’m wrong)

       My blog usually states that I am Semi-Hiatus, this is because I am usually either in work, babysitting my sister or just don’t have the energy to write. When I do have the chance to write then usually I will write everything and then post them slowly or queue them all depending on how I feel about a thread at that time.

        A lot of my icons are made by myself so please don’t use them unless I post some stating that they are free to use and edit. However, the 100x100 icons are not my own and have been found on Hollow Art until I can make my own.

         I’ll be the first to admit that I post A LOT of ooc stuff (I usually delete it because it’s just to clear my mind), if you don’t want to see it then ((Bad Girls Have All The Fun (OOC)) is my tag so blacklist it.

BLOG

      This blog is mutuals only

      I am OC friendly, but my muses need to ‘click’ with the characters because otherwise it would be forced and it will be bad for both of us, I WILL NOT interact with characters that are product of incest, and I will not interact with characters that are all powerful with very little thought put into them to balance it out.

      I don’t follow personal blogs and if someone follows me, I sometimes block them if there is no indication that they are an rp blog or have a sideblog so please be careful with following me; at least let me know via IM if you have a side blog.

       Cutting posts is difficult for me when I am on mobile so I apologise in advance. If I am on mobile then I will either tag it, or I will warn you in advance.

        I will very rarely do about the mun posts, if they interest me then I’ll do them but sometimes I just haven’t got the time to do them.

VERSES

     MY VERSES ARE OPEN, I usually end up creating a new one every week so feel free to give me a reason to keep them

INTERACTIONS

        So as I’ve said, I’m a multi-muse blog, a lot of people are put off by this I know, but it’s easier for me if I have one blog rather than a number of sideblogs because I have tried that once before and it didn’t work.

        If you want to send a meme then please, please, PLEASE, state the character you want, I currently have EIGHT muses so it becomes extremely difficult to choose who to answer with and not everyone is happy with my choice.

         I will try and add a character when I send a meme but in all honesty, I do forget from time to time.

         Each of my muses are different, and I play them differently; however their backgrounds remain the same, if you aren’t happy with how I play my characters then you can leave my blog, simple as that.

          Please tag your stuff, it’s not triggering to me, however I know a number of things can be triggering to my own followers and it will be easier for me as I am never completely sure about what to tag and what not to tag.

           Never EVER godmod unless you have my permission, I dislike it greatly when someone decides my character is going to do something in their reply and actually writes them doing it. My characters are my own and even if you portray them somewhere else, we have separate minds. I will ALWAYS ask before directing your muse somewhere if out PLOT called for it.

             Due to being on mobile a lot, I am unable to reblog asks as threads without difficulty, so please make a new thread for it. You don’t have to link it to the ask, a title works perfectly.

THREAD RULES

         I’m comfortable doing one liners, but they will sooner or later be turned into paragraphs and maybe even multiparagraphs (I’ve gone from one to six in two replies before now).

           I will use icons from time to time, I usually prefer beginning a new thread (particularly with someone new) with an icon but after a few replies they tend to be lost. Sometimes I’ll use gifs too but not always and don’t worry about using them yourself.

          I will happily add characters to our threads if needed, I don’t mind playing other Disney characters, plus it gives me more inspiration and may result in more characters on my crew. HOWEVER, please, if you want to add characters, write them as well, don’t leave it all to me.

NSFW AND SEXUALITY

          I’m a bit grey when it comes to the area of smut, I won’t write sex……..but describing situations for my characters I can do if it means teasing my RP partners muse. So NSFW will happen but open smut won’t……if that makes sense.

         ALL of my characters are within the LGBTQ+ community, they may not appear that way within the films but my own characterisations of them are within the community in some way

          Please tag your NSFW stuff, if you don’t then I will unfollow you. I have a nine year old sister who walks into my room without knocking so for NSFW stuff to appear on my dash……that would end bad.

SHIPPING!

        I am a multiship blog.

         I LOVE both platonic, familial and romantic ships.

         I’m open to new ships and will try anything as long as there is chemistry there and as long as it’s not incestuous.

          I will be creating tags for my ships so that I have subverses for my main verses just to make things easier (even though it’s more complicated to do)