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maxismatchccworld · 4 years ago

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Patch Notes

PC:1.69.54.1020 / Mac: 1.69.54.1220 Console: Version 1.35 Happy Holidays Simmers! It’s time to go back in to Create a Sim! Where in this update you will find 100+ new skin tones, customization sliders for skin tones and makeup, and three improved base game hairstyles! Every skin tone now has a value slider that allows you to change the light to dark value of that skin tone, unlocking a much wider variety of skin tone options for you to play with! You will also find that our skin tones are now filterable to warm, cool, and neutral tones (as well as miscellaneous that covers our occult skin tones).

The new makeup sliders add more choices and opportunities for you to customize your Sims, and express your Sim’s style! Hue, saturation, value or brightness, and opacity are now available to modify on the makeup. We have locked some of the sliders where it did not provide an optimal experience or make sense for the makeup. Expect us to continue our work on these issues into the future to provide you with more. In addition to the customization opportunities provided, you can also save custom swatches as you tweak your sliders to get the perfect look. When you click on the swatch (for skin tones and makeup) as you modify the sliders, you will have an opportunity to save your custom settings, so you can re-use it later without having to remember your perfect looks! Did we mention that we made some hair updates? We did - we updated a base game child hair (cfHair_BraidedPonyTail), and we added a second version of that hair that removes the baby hairs (cfHair_BraidedPonyTailPlain). And we updated a base game male hair that you may find difficult to recognize from the original hair (ymHair_flatTopTextured)!

We have updated the Main Menu!... Again! The idea behind this change is to create a more cohesive experience and give Packs a more proper space as we continue to grow our content lineup. As a nice bonus, we highlighted the Gallery in a more meaningful way to inspire you.

-SimGuruGnome & SimGuruRusskii

Now onto the fixes:

Sims 4

Sketching so much that the Digital Sketch Pad just quit on you? Never fear! Freelancer Sims that use the Digital Sketchpad will now be able to complete designs without being reset abruptly.

Happy Birthday to all! Sims will now properly Age Up. Adulting is hard but they will make it, don’t worry.

Fixed an issue in which Doors, Windows, and Arches had cutouts when being reflected in Mirrors. Rorrim Rorrim no eht llaw, ohw si eht tseriaf erutaef fo meht lla?

Sims that do not have the Fishing Skill, or have not been Fishing at all, will not get notifications about identifying Fish. THEY WERE FISHING WITH THEIR MINDS.

The following careers have added the “Take Vacation Day” option, yay!Editor Russkii note: I didn’t want to add each line in each pack for this fix, it would have looked weird and robotic so that is why I chose to do one bullet point for all in this section.

Child Sims will no longer forget they are in their Sleepwear when they go to school. Though in these times of Work and School from Home, I don’t blame them one bit.

The Sweet Escapes Country Toilet will no longer be Comfortable AND Uncomfortable at the same time… There can only be one!

Sims with the Best Selling Author Aspiration can now complete their task of writing 3 Best Sellers.

Fixed an issue in which resized objects would disappear when they were part of downloaded Gallery items.

We revised our Careers (Pack specific and not) and we made sure there were no Chance Cards that were repeated constantly.

We noticed we had added the option to Clean Up Toddler on kitchen and bathroom sinks for both Toddlers and Children by mistake, so we removed it for both age groups from the sink… but how would have they fit? Like… how? These are the questions that keep me up at night.

Build Snowpal interaction is no longer available on non-natural ground (For Simmers that own Seasons and/or Snowy Escape). That's why it's called a Snowpal, not a Floorpal!

Gardener (Seasons)

Military (Strangerville)

Lifeguard for Teens and Conservationist (Island Living)

Law, Education, and Engineer (Discover University)

Civil Designer (Eco Lifestyle).

Get to Work

We made a clarification on the Xenophilia moodlet when interacting with Alien Sims. It should no longer say “From Discovering Aliens” but now it correctly reads “From Interacting with Aliens.”

Fixed an issue in which childbirth was not possible if Simmers changed the color swatches of the Surgery Tables. Now listen, I have heard about renting whole hospital wings for a birth in real life and other eccentricities, but this… was really something.

Get Together

Male Sims will no longer get Pregnant after receiving calls from NPC Sims.

City Living

NPC Sims will now text and call with invitations to Festivals. I personally welcomed the calm and quiet of my phone not beeping about constantly. But I can’t miss a Festival!

Sims rejoice! Yard sale customers will no longer invade their Home Lots and use Household objects. It is a Yard Sale… OUT in the yard, not an Open House.

Did you ever regret trusting some Sims enough to give them your apartment keys to constantly get visits from them for Milk and Juice? You can rest assured that they will no longer visit you for this purpose. I think some neighborly love is appreciated, but this went beyond the proverbial ��May I have a cup of sugar?” type of situation.

Fixed an issue in which interactions to participate on GeekCon contests would not appear when interacting with objects.

We decided to give a bit more clarity when displaying the location of Festivals, so now it will display as “Near <insert location>” and not a distinct location that is not entirely correct. This is true for Festivals in Snowy Escape as well.

Cats and Dogs

Pets will no longer sleep in random places when told to sleep on their Pet beds. In my world they can sleep where they are most comfortable, my conspiracy… allegedly.

Seasons

Sims can now Shower in the Rain… Jury is still out on Singing and Dancing.

Sims will no longer “lose” their shovels when performing other autonomous activities while performing the interaction “Shovel Snow.”

Our friendly neighborhood Snowpal has been properly renamed to Chill from Chil. Everything I knew before was a lie… a LIE!

Ever felt like the Holiday spirit has just been too much to handle, and Father Winter starting to show up everywhere and not letting you do much of anything getting a bit… out of hand? Fear not! Father Winter will stop replicating himself* to spread holiday cheer. *Note this fix is not entirely retroactive, new saves should see this without issue. Existing saves will correct themselves over time.

Get Famous

Duck Security SCROO9E Super XL Smart Vault will no longer disappear after Sims Woohoo in it… you can say Woohoo can be romantic and magical, but maybe not to this extent?

NPCs from the Actor Career sometimes would never show on Set, making gigs impossible to complete. We've spoken with their union reps and everyone has agreed to stop this ridiculous strike. What were they striking about? Was there even a Strike? We may never know.

Island Living

Mermaids and other Occults should no longer be able to make hybrid occults. How were they making them? Oh boy, I'm not sure if it's appropriate for me to give you the mermaid-birds and spellcaster-bees talk.

Randomly generated Mermaid Sims will no longer be seen without some features in affected Simmer Saves. However this fix is not retroactive, so it should be seen fixed in new saves.

Pizza delivery to Lagoon Look Lot has been fixed to arrive promptly. This is Sulani Deep Lagoon Pizza, home of the 2x1 Mermadic Kelp Pizza and the Salty Llama Combo, may I take your order? <Descriptive Simlish on the line> Uh huh… uh huh… <Indescribable Simlish on the line> Yes, we now can ACTUALLY deliver to Lagoon Look… <Interrogative Simlish on the line> Yes, we told our delivery Sims that they need to deliver it there and not keep the pizza for themselves… like give it to the actual client. <Surprised Simlish on the line>

Discover University

Has this ever happened to you? Your Sim is ready to make an offering to the Sprites only to find a crystal stuck without being able to move it? No longer a problem, Sims now can remove offerings so all their rituals can resume. Sprites rejoice.

We fixed an issue for our Console Simmers that wouldn’t allow them to close the Humanoid Robot’s Behavior Module Menus correctly.

Fixed an issue that would cause items to be repossessed when loans were fully paid. That is NOT how it worked Repo Person… NOT how it worked.

Sims with Research & Debate Skill 3 or higher will no longer be able to “Convince to” with Toddler Sims.

Masquerade Secret Society Masks are now properly unlocked in Create a Sim when joining the Secret Society.

Fixed an issue in which Heckle animation was sometimes not being performed autonomously by Sims while playing Ping Pong.

Eco Lifestyle

Fixed an issue that triggered the Off-the-Grid notifications after traveling to different Lots in Evergreen Harbor, even when they are not labeled as Off-the-Grid.

We spoke to all Eco Inspectors, and they have agreed that they should NOT be charging the Energy efficient appliances fine if your appliances are fully upgraded to be super efficient and amazing. I mean all that work and still get fined? Not in this house!

Fixed an issue in which some placeholder text was showing in notifications after Dumpster Diving.

The Americana Station Speakers will now play Music… as the prophecy foretold.

When the We Wear Bags N.A.P is active, Grim Reaper will not be partially invisible when appearing on a Lot. Grim Reaper contributes!

Living the No Appliance lifestyle? We’ve got news for you! Sims will no longer be penalized for not having “Eco-Friendly Appliances.” No appliances, no fines!

Snowy Escape

Vending Machine Canned Soups and Drinks won’t spoil anymore. Time to stock up!

Sims can no longer go on Hikes while holding their Toddlers.

Space Heaters will now be able to be placed on Lots from Inventory. Sharing the warmth everywhere!

Fixed an issue in which the Shoe Removal Sign in 5-1-2 Kiyomatsu was not working properly. We also added Shoe Removal Signs in 5-1-1 Kiyomatsu and 2-4-2 Wakabamori.

Sims will now be more visibly furious when having the appropriate furious sentiment toward other Sims. “Yes, I’m mad!... No! This IS my furious face!”

Fixed an issue with some animations that would stutter while Snowboarding or Skiing. We also made sure that Sims with a high level of those skills would not always choose the Bunny Slopes.

Izzy Fabulous’ Star Simmi Rank was just too fabulous so we had to correct it to be one star less than displayed. Don’t worry Izzy, you are a full 4 stars in my book, you are that fabulous to me.

After much debate of whether it is the Cave Shrine or the Mountain Shrine for Hiking destinations we finally decided to just call it Mountain Shrine.

We revised the Snoop-Proof Bamboo Blinds and it is now possible to drop’em like they’re hot with the Thousand Words Window.

NPC Sims will no longer “take over” the Slopes for themselves for an indefinite period of time, now they will be sharing with all Sims the joys of the Slopes.

Fixed an issue in which Sims would get highlighted in the Sentiment Panel as if receiving new Sentiments every time traveling is involved.

Sims with Rock Climbing Skill 7, or higher, are able to autonomously climb the Tall Wall (Such tall! So much wall!). There is no need to not face what makes you uncomfortable… autonomously.

Had a chat with Yamachan and asked if he was ok, he seemed to start random conversations and then randomly say goodbye without reason. We are happy to report that he is OK now and will try not to do that. Give us a hug Yamachan.

Food Stalls at Mt. Komorebi Festivals won’t be closing shop randomly during Festival hours anymore. <guitar and piano intro> Closing time, open all the Stalls and eat all the food in the world...Closing time, turn all the lights on and let Yamachan greet you heeeere…

Create a Sim asset ymHat_EP10HelmetGoggles has been fixed to no longer display clipping around the neck area as well as we made sure no facial hair is removed when wearing this asset.

Dine Out

Experimenting with photo frames will no longer use the same picture of an Experimental Meal when displayed.

Hot Pot meals are now part of Restaurant Menus! I miss the times I would go to eat Hot Pot at a restaurant. One of my favorites has a conveyor belt that carries your fixings never leaving your table for a thing. *happy sigh*

Vampires

Vampire Sims will no longer be affected by temperature, so they won't be constantly obsessed with lighting fireplaces trying to get warm.

Post edited by EA_Leeloo at 6:30PM

Source: https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/984647/december-7th-2020-patch-notes

#s4 patch notes

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defdaily · 4 years ago

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KNIGHT Magazine March 2021 Issue featuring JAY B

Translated by defdaily

JAY B: Back to the starting point, to set off again

At first sight, Jay B does not seem to have the looks of a popular “Flower Boy”; he has single eyelids typical in Korean boys, and the corners of his eyes crescent up with warmth and pureness as he smiles, drawing people close to him. “Sexy”, “Steady”, “Introverted”，“Warm”，“Sharp” and “Domineering” are all words fans use to describe him. These seemingly unrelated characteristics come together in Jay B and sparks a charisma that is unique to him.

9 years on since debut, he is an all-rounder who sings, dances and composes and his vibrant abilities are obvious to all. However, the entertainment industry is a place that is never short of talent and worthy competitors. Being GOT7’s leader and facing the responsibilities and stress, he did not go down an easy path. Through the endurance, he figured out his own direction of growth and pace - one that is neither nervous or rushed but instead calm and steady. The start of 2021 ushered in the end of his artistic contract and signing new companies, but that did not affect his pace; he made a comeback with his members, writing songs and preparing for his solo album, continuing to do what he is good at, facing the odds calmly and confidently, “2021 to me is a brand new start; I will return to the starting point and start anew.”

Embracing the essence, upholding greatness

Looking through Jay B’s portfolio, he went through many profile changes in the early years. From being an aspiring B-boy, to debuting as an actor, as a boy group duo JJ Project, and 2 years later debuting as GOT7 leader. At every stage, he did his best in whatever he wanted to do. Grabbing every opportunity and going forward earnestly. For dance, he once gave up on his studies and joined a professional dance group very early on. After debuting as a leader, in order to shoulder the responsibilities, he reigned in on his youthful flippance and impetuousness and learned to be tolerant. Through several details, he is managing well. When appearing on variety shows as a group, he made efforts to ensure that every member had the chance to showcase their talents. Before showcases, he is obviously nervous himself but would never forget to remind the others to drink up. He even prioritized group activities over his own, concertedly rejecting solo activities arranged by the company. Till date, he is still the one with the least solo activities. “Instead of myself, it would be better for the other members to begin their solo activities first.”

He is clear-cut and is never trapped between choosing one thing over the other. As a trainee, he also experienced a rebellious phase where he wanted to give up. When he did not know what he wanted, he would follow his heart. He once wrote on SNS “Do whatever you want. If you really love something, then follow your heart and do it.” His motivation sets him on a simple path; start off with love, and put in all his effort into it, working hard to hand in his best submission. He assigned the name Def. to his solo writing, which holds the meaning of “the best, the greatest of all”. Years ago, he had said in a variety show, “When I grow a little older, I must become a truly cool celebrity, and a multi-talented artist.” At that time, when faced with many fresh opportunities, he eagerly leapt forward to try them out, to bloom from all corners. Later, interviewers asked him what his future plans are for the next 5 years, and he said, “Definitely to continue my music-related work, and if my body allows me to, I will continue dancing.” And now, his dreams have more definitively settled on the area of creative music composing, hence, when asked whether he would consider moving into acting again, he said, “Now I can’t fully embody and express a character, but I think I should learn and understand deeply before going into acting. Learning to have restraint and storing one’s potential will help with a better start.

I will open up my heart

Some say the creative must embrace change at all times and maintain a keenness for observation; similarly, Jay B’s awareness of the world is astute and meticulous. He observes life through film lenses, and reflects upon his own feelings in the process. “Through the photos I take, I discovered that my photos are people-centric, and I often am curious about what they are thinking, how they are feeling at that very moment.” The happiness and sorrows of people often differ from one another, but they always leave marks. He likes to record down his surroundings, the people around him and the banalities of everyday life, and incorporate them into his creative works. For example, when writing the song “Rainy”, he laid out photos that he took on a rainy day on the floor of his studio, began arranging and rearranging them, and pondering over the sequences. Thus led to the birth of a rainy love story.

Whether it is on stage or composing music, the ever-changing styles he expresses are undoubtedly based on thoughts and experiences in life. In addition to photography, reading books, watching movies and having conversations with people who have experienced life are all some ways in which he draws inspiration from. “In the future I would like to ponder over everything that I experience genuinely in my life, and describe my true thoughts and feelings. It may not necessarily have to be positive; sometimes it can also be a form of relief by expressing the negativity in a straightforward manner.”

Having been in the spotlight of the entertainment industry for many years, he is no stranger to receiving criticisms, yet he always digests it quietly. His warm, honest aura, along with his sensitivity and sympathetic nature, creates a juxtaposition in his personality. On the performing stage, he is cool and powerful, as if he has an unlimited source energy waiting to be released. In everyday life, the same Jay B he stores that energy and softens up, creating an entirely different image. He is used to treating others with kindness, and knows how to live as himself: “Instead of paying attention to the criticism and living like someone else, I would rather be myself and accept the criticism.” He loves life, and likes to play with his three cats. He remembers a funny incident, “One of my cats likes to lick the carpet, so there was one time I accidentally stepped on the carpet and almost fell.” Like many young folks, during his leisure time, he reads and sleeps to relieve stress. When his schedule is packed, he would take a stroll at the working site, sometimes taking photos and videos and sharing them along the way. He has his own world, but it is not locked up at all; it is wide open and welcome for everyone to visit. There was once where he read a word in a book that reminded him of b-boying, so he simply left the house and b-boyed along the streets, posting a clip of it on SNS. He thinks that the name that Chinese fans call themselves sounds nice, but he also likes calling everyone “best friend”. Realizing he might sound impolite, he carefully added that it does not mean he does not like the former, just like an old friend with no filter who says what they want but never fails to consider your feelings.

Tackling the unknown is full of delight

“Unknown challenges, to me, are very interesting. I find tackling new things to be a really great thing.” In this new year, with a new company and new plans, Lim Jaebeom has started on his journey of transformation. Taking on a path that he has to take alone, even though he may still be adapting to this new identity and role, “I am really alone now, it feels fascinating yet a little awkward.” He understands to cherish, and wishes to continue making even greater music for the group. He also looks forward dearly for his music to find a place of its own in the music sphere. Being faced with the challenges that await him, he is eager to create a world of his own. At a certain program where he was asked by his members, “Are you happy?”, he hesitated and replied: “I don’t know.” In fact, he is just like the music that he writes - it does not shock or excite but you will never get bored of it after repeated listens; the kind of music he pursues is not one with intricate formal design or various showy techniques, but one that expresses of real and honest emotions triggered by real and honest events.

As he faces the ebb and flow of the tide calmly and inches closer to his dreams with each step, he is still the young boy he was before, fiery passion in his gaze, sincerely embracing change, maturing and growing through it. Perhaps he might not know when his personal happiness will arrive, but he has never stopped looking for it. For his era is imminent.

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badwolfrunning · 4 years ago

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Family & Bonds AU Headcanons

I an dabbling in a couple of AU’s currently. Primarily what I have posted is a Family and Bonds AU titled....Family Bonds. (original. v crafty. wow.) Anyway, lengthy post under the cut.

I shifted the family tree from Bonds in order to accommodate the incredible characters designed by middlewarnersibling in Family to be the Warner trio's parents, and I love that story line for them.

In Bonds, it seemed odd that Bosko would some how not notice his lover's aging or just how she managed to keep all three kids a secret, but I figured, one was totally possible and that one child was Slakko, their father from Family. So it goes like this:

Oswald and Ortensia have a daughter named Odelia.

Odelia has an affair with Bosko Warner

Culminating in middlewarnersibling’s character Slakko Warner. Odelia still never tells Bosko and before the baby arrives, Bosko’s bleeding heart brother, Kokko offers to marry Odelia so the baby at least appears “legit.”

So Kokko becomes the Warner trio’s legal grandfather.

According to Family, Slakko meets Ophelia, a cat toon who sings and dances. They hook up and reluctantly wind up in a shotgun marriage and eventually all three kids are born.

Yakko is approx 5-6 years older than Dot and 3 years older than Wakko, putting him solidly in the middle.

Their birthdays are all in different seasons; I have decided Dot is mid-late June, Wakko is early October and Yakko is January, so their age gap gets all wonky at certain times of the year.

Babs and Buster were actually about 14/15 respectively at the launch of Tiny Toon Adventures which makes them both a couple years Yakko's senior.

I also think it makes for an excellent joke about Yakko always gunning for older women.

(For future reference, yes this makes Buster a solid 7 years older than Dot.)

The rest of the primary Tiny Toons crew is pretty much on par with the exception of Hampton and Dizzy who I headcanon as younger by about a yearish.

(Why yes, Yakko and Dot both have deep seated parental trauma, why do you ask? Wakko does too but it uh....comes out in a different way.)

I headcanon an interesting arch for Slakko which involves something of redemption? In Bonds while Bosko is on the hunt for the Warners he finds this other Warner and decides to see if he has any information. Slakko is living alone in a bit of a shite apartment and mostly keeps to himself and has been ok at staying out of bigger trouble. So when Bosko and his boys arrive at his door he's suspicious and ready to make it a fight if he has to. But there isn't much of a fight; Bosko demands to know where the trio is, Slakko honestly has no idea but Bosko doesn't believe him. The weasels and whomever else Bosko brought as his cronies beat the shit out of him but he holds true to his story.

So Bosko finally believes him. More or less. He doesn't want to have to come back here so he decides to make sure that Slakko can't ever 'see' his children again and has whomever's with him hold him down and burn his eyes with dip. So Slakko's left blinded, injured and probably should be dead but he's not.

Yakko remembers that his folks hardly ever reported an injury or used a hospital unless they absolutely had to. So, close to the end of the show Yakko finds out his father actually used medical services and decides to figure out how to get himself listed as an emergency contact. Not that he intended to ever come to assist but more so that he can make sure to be notified of anything particularly fatal. In Family, he lamented that he never got to say goodbye to their mother and as much as he disagrees with him, Yakko never wants to miss that chance again. So, post Bonds, he ends up finding out about Slakko's sudden blindness and discreetly, not to the knowledge of Slakko or his sibs, decides to help out. Just this once, is Yakko's reasoning.

Um....some cute things I headcanon....

I kept Wakko's diabetes....not cute but like, it's more light hearted than that other stuff tbh

Also not 100% cute: Babs continues to go to therapy to address things like depression and PTSD but it takes some....convincing for Yakko to see someone again. Especially after being made to on the lot. But after a particularly bad night he agrees to give it a shot.

Basically, they coax each other through episodes and have learned to spot when they're each using coping mechanisms in harmful ways and call each other out on it. They make a fantastic team.

They also don’t totally shy away from the conversations with their daughters. They introduce what’s appropriate and with their age gap that can be tricky.

They both also have a very....interesting time being parents early on. Babs is waiting to see if she'll feel what her mother must have felt that made her leave them in a huff and Yakko's struggling to come to terms with the fact that there was nothing wrong with him, his father just never wanted them. Basically they're looking for when another shoe will drop but it won't because they don't just love their kid, they wanted them.

They got to make a choice their parents didn't.

I do have fankids for Babs and Yakko, both girls, both named after powerful women in art and history. Lucille Ophelia and Jacqueline Madeline. (If any of you know the Madeline namesake I will be impressed AF)

Lucille very strictly goes by Lu, call her Lucy and you die (unless you're Wakko. This kid plays favorites and he is it.) and she is a handful of a teenager. Sharp tongued and sharp witted.

Jackqueline, or Jackie, is 5 years younger and is so naive and sweet it hurts and she is Daddy's Girl capital D. Yes, at first they figured she was just masterful at the cuteness game like Dot was but as it turns out, she's got that Wakko style innocence.

Babs jokes that she's clearly actually Wakko's kid. (There is absolutely no possible way for that to be true. Which is why it's funny instead of suspicious.)

They have both watched Animaniacs and Tiny Toon Adventures and just to piss off her dad, Lu says Tiny Toons is her favorite.

Skippy, like Dot, had a dance focus and so, in a few years' time, she's gonna run into him on the set of a music video. That'll be fun!

Babs and Yakko have pissed of more than one director for going off on what appear to be essentially joke tangents but it's actually the two of them attempting to out do each other until there's a clear winner. They are both spotlight hogging, competitive lil shits.

It's Babs' idea for Wakko to try fronting the band he's in and his bandmate get stupidly jealous and steals his girl....oops.

Dot is stupidly beautiful and very much lovable (wow. shocking.) And some poor poor blue bunny is gonna fall face first into a sitcom level affair....and since he can't tell either of his best bros about it he ends up drunkenly calling Babs who just laughs her ass off the whole time.

Yakko can play chess in his head. Like...he doesn't need the board. He can just keep track of the pieces. (Honestly, having to be so damn smart is a complex brought on the physical and verbal abuse from his father.)

Wakko....honestly, as smart as he can be and as righteous as he is, he has that Warner independence streak something bad after touring. He tries a bit much and ends up starting a fight with someone and long story short, he's caught with that twink stuff from Family (unfortunate name tbh basically, think crack.)

Yakko is obviously beside himself and Dot is more or less oblivious as she's at university at this point. Basically, shit hits the fan and the brothers split.

Dot tries to keep in touch with Wakko but he severs the connection from both his sibs.

Wakko does get clean. He also falls in love with a remarkable human toon named Jesse.

He’s also still friends with Foghorn, who is actually a pretty great support in all of this.

I headcanon Wakko as demi homosexual.

Much to her own surprise, Babs LOVES being a mom.

Yakko struggles with partnership. A lot of what goes into being a parent are things he’s already experienced and he has a hard time NOT being a know it all and actually partnering with his wife....it’s a fun dynamic.

Yakko also still has a crush on Max Goof that he SWORE he was over but after seeing him at random very much IS NOT.

It's not just Wakko making horrible choices btw. Sorry this was meant to be the cute stuff....uh....

Both Yakko and Wakko walk with their sister at her wedding (told you things will circle back!)

#animaniacs #family and bonds #family bonds au #is it an au when it's just blended fics?#bonds #family #animaniacs family #animaniacs bonds #Headcanon Time #fanfic #relax #he isn't going to leave his wife for max #pretty sure #lol #none of these kids are het or mono tbh

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thesims4blogger · 4 years ago

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The Sims 4: New Game Patch (December 7th, 2020)

There’s a new Sims 4 update available for PC/Mac and Consoles. IPC:1.69.54.1020 / Mac: 1.69.54.1220 / Console: Version: Console: Version 1.35

Happy Holidays Simmers!

It’s time to go back in to Create a Sim! Where in this update you will find 100+ new skin tones, customization sliders for skin tones and makeup, and three improved base game hairstyles! Every skin tone now has a value slider that allows you to change the light to dark value of that skin tone, unlocking a much wider variety of skin tone options for you to play with! You will also find that our skin tones are now filterable to warm, cool, and neutral tones (as well as miscellaneous that covers our occult skin tones).

The new makeup sliders add more choices and opportunities for you to customize your Sims, and express your Sim’s style! Hue, saturation, value or brightness, and opacity are now available to modify on the makeup. We have locked some of the sliders where it did not provide an optimal experience or make sense for the makeup. Expect us to continue our work on these issues into the future to provide you with more. In addition to the customization opportunities provided, you can also save custom swatches as you tweak your sliders to get the perfect look. When you click on the swatch (for skin tones and makeup) as you modify the sliders, you will have an opportunity to save your custom settings, so you can re-use it later without having to remember your perfect looks! Did we mention that we made some hair updates? We did – we updated a base game child hair (cfHair_BraidedPonyTail), and we added a second version of that hair that removes the baby hairs (cfHair_BraidedPonyTailPlain). And we updated a base game male hair that you may find difficult to recognize from the original hair (ymHair_flatTopTextured)!

We have updated the Main Menu!… Again! The idea behind this change is to create a more cohesive experience and give Packs a more proper space as we continue to grow our content lineup. As a nice bonus, we highlighted the Gallery in a more meaningful way to inspire you.

-SimGuruGnome & SimGuruRusskii

Now onto the fixes:

Sims 4

Sketching so much that the Digital Sketch Pad just quit on you? Never fear! Freelancer Sims that use the Digital Sketchpad will now be able to complete designs without being reset abruptly.

Happy Birthday to all! Sims will now properly Age Up. Adulting is hard but they will make it, don’t worry.

Fixed an issue in which Doors, Windows, and Arches had cutouts when being reflected in Mirrors. Rorrim Rorrim no eht llaw, ohw si eht tseriaf erutaef fo meht lla?

Sims that do not have the Fishing Skill, or have not been Fishing at all, will not get notifications about identifying Fish. THEY WERE FISHING WITH THEIR MINDS.

The following careers have added the “Take Vacation Day” option, yay!

Child Sims will no longer forget they are in their Sleepwear when they go to school. Though in these times of Work and School from Home, I don’t blame them one bit.

The Sweet Escapes Country Toilet will no longer be Comfortable AND Uncomfortable at the same time… There can only be one!

Sims with the Best Selling Author Aspiration can now complete their task of writing 3 Best Sellers.

Fixed an issue in which resized objects would disappear when they were part of downloaded Gallery items.

We revised our Careers (Pack specific and not) and we made sure there were no Chance Cards that were repeated constantly.

Build Snowpal interaction is no longer available on non-natural ground (For Simmers that own Seasons and/or Snowy Escape). That’s why it’s called a Snowpal, not a Floorpal!

Gardener (Seasons)

Military (Strangerville)

Lifeguard for Teens and Conservationist (Island Living)

Law, Education, and Engineer (Discover University)

Civil Designer (Eco Lifestyle).

Editor Russkii note: I didn’t want to add each line in each pack for this fix, it would have looked weird and robotic so that is why I chose to do one bullet point for all in this section.

Get to Work

Get Together

Male Sims will no longer get Pregnant after receiving calls from NPC Sims.

City Living

NPC Sims will now text and call with invitations to Festivals. I personally welcomed the calm and quiet of my phone not beeping about constantly. But I can’t miss a Festival!

Sims rejoice! Yard sale customers will no longer invade their Home Lots and use Household objects. It is a Yard Sale… OUT in the yard, not an Open House.

Fixed an issue in which interactions to participate on GeekCon contests would not appear when interacting with objects.

Cats and Dogs

Pets will no longer sleep in random places when told to sleep on their Pet beds. In my world they can sleep where they are most comfortable, my conspiracy… allegedly.

Seasons

Sims can now Shower in the Rain… Jury is still out on Singing and Dancing.

Sims will no longer “lose” their shovels when performing other autonomous activities while performing the interaction “Shovel Snow.”

Our friendly neighborhood Snowpal has been properly renamed to Chill from Chil. Everything I knew before was a lie… a LIE!

Get Famous

Duck Security SCROO9E Super XL Smart Vault will no longer disappear after Sims Woohoo in it… you can say Woohoo can be romantic and magical, but maybe not to this extent?

NPCs from the Actor Career sometimes would never show on Set, making gigs impossible to complete. We’ve spoken with their union reps and everyone has agreed to stop this ridiculous strike. What were they striking about? Was there even a Strike? We may never know.

Island Living

Mermaids and other Occults should no longer be able to make hybrid occults. How were they making them? Oh boy, I’m not sure if it’s appropriate for me to give you the mermaid-birds and spellcaster-bees talk.

Randomly generated Mermaid Sims will no longer be seen without some features in affected Simmer Saves. However this fix is not retroactive, so it should be seen fixed in new saves.

Pizza delivery to Lagoon Look Lot has been fixed to arrive promptly.

This is Sulani Deep Lagoon Pizza, home of the 2×1 Mermadic Kelp Pizza and the Salty Llama Combo, may I take your order?

Uh huh… uh huh…

Yes, we now can ACTUALLY deliver to Lagoon Look…

Yes, we told our delivery Sims that they need to deliver it there and not keep the pizza for themselves… like give it to the actual client.

Discover University

We fixed an issue for our Console Simmers that wouldn’t allow them to close the Humanoid Robot’s Behavior Module Menus correctly.

Fixed an issue that would cause items to be repossessed when loans were fully paid. That is NOT how it worked Repo Person… NOT how it worked.

Sims with Research & Debate Skill 3 or higher will no longer be able to “Convince to” with Toddler Sims.

Masquerade Secret Society Masks are now properly unlocked in Create a Sim when joining the Secret Society.

Fixed an issue in which Heckle animation was sometimes not being performed autonomously by Sims while playing Ping Pong.

Eco Lifestyle

Fixed an issue that triggered the Off-the-Grid notifications after traveling to different Lots in Evergreen Harbor, even when they are not labeled as Off-the-Grid.

Fixed an issue in which some placeholder text was showing in notifications after Dumpster Diving.

The Americana Station Speakers will now play Music… as the prophecy foretold.

When the We Wear Bags N.A.P is active, Grim Reaper will not be partially invisible when appearing on a Lot. Grim Reaper contributes!

Living the No Appliance lifestyle? We’ve got news for you! Sims will no longer be penalized for not having “Eco-Friendly Appliances.” No appliances, no fines!

Snowy Escape

Vending Machine Canned Soups and Drinks won’t spoil anymore. Time to stock up!

Sims can no longer go on Hikes while holding their Toddlers.

Space Heaters will now be able to be placed on Lots from Inventory. Sharing the warmth everywhere!

Fixed an issue in which the Shoe Removal Sign in 5-1-2 Kiyomatsu was not working properly. We also added Shoe Removal Signs in 5-1-1 Kiyomatsu and 2-4-2 Wakabamori.

Sims will now be more visibly furious when having the appropriate furious sentiment toward other Sims. “Yes, I’m mad!… No! This IS my furious face!”

Fixed an issue with some animations that would stutter while Snowboarding or Skiing. We also made sure that Sims with a high level of those skills would not always choose the Bunny Slopes.

Izzy Fabulous’ Star Simmi Rank was just too fabulous so we had to correct it to be one star less than displayed. Don’t worry Izzy, you are a full 4 stars in my book, you are that fabulous to me.

After much debate of whether it is the Cave Shrine or the Mountain Shrine for Hiking destinations we finally decided to just call it Mountain Shrine.

We revised the Snoop-Proof Bamboo Blinds and it is now possible to drop’em like they’re hot with the Thousand Words Window.

NPC Sims will no longer “take over” the Slopes for themselves for an indefinite period of time, now they will be sharing with all Sims the joys of the Slopes.

Fixed an issue in which Sims would get highlighted in the Sentiment Panel as if receiving new Sentiments every time traveling is involved.

Sims with Rock Climbing Skill 7, or higher, are able to autonomously climb the Tall Wall (Such tall! So much wall!). There is no need to not face what makes you uncomfortable… autonomously.

Food Stalls at Mt. Komorebi Festivals won’t be closing shop randomly during Festival hours anymore. <guitar and piano intro> Closing time, open all the Stalls and eat all the food in the world…Closing time, turn all the lights on and let Yamachan greet you heeeere…

Create a Sim asset ymHat_EP10HelmetGoggles has been fixed to no longer display clipping around the neck area as well as we made sure no facial hair is removed when wearing this asset.

Dine Out

Experimenting with photo frames will no longer use the same picture of an Experimental Meal when displayed.

Vampires

Vampire Sims will no longer be affected by temperature, so they won’t be constantly obsessed with lighting fireplaces trying to get warm.

It's here – and a day early! Today, a free game update brings you 100+ skin tones, customization tools for skin tones and makeup, three improved base game hairstyles, and a main menu makeover. Available now to all The Sims 4 players! pic.twitter.com/p7QIIkI74d

— The Sims (@TheSims) December 7, 2020

A huge thanks to @Xmiramira @EbonixSims @MiaZaff1 @RaonyPhillips & @catherinegYT for the candid conversations & constructive feedback! Their input, representing their viewpoints alongside their player communities, was instrumental to current & future improvements. #GameChangers !

— The Sims (@TheSims) December 7, 2020

Every skin tone now has a value slider, unlocking thousands of customizable options. In addition, we made improvements to both new and existing skin tones, including strengthening the quality of suntans and sunburns.

— The Sims (@TheSims) December 7, 2020

#news #the sims 4 #ts4 #sims 4 #game patch

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kda-chat · 5 years ago

Text

10 Years Later Headcannon

In this headcannon, the K/DA girls are much older and further along in their careers. Respectively in this headcannon, Akali is 32, Kai'sa is 33, Ahri is 34, and Evelynn is 35 (give or take). This headcannon will mostly focus on K/DA girls (sorry non-Sivir extras).

At this point in the headcannon, K/DA is still present but not as active as before. However, K/DA has not disbanded. The girls have moved out of the K/DA house and are on their own but they are still present in each other's lives as if they never moved out.

XXX

Akali

As the youngest member in her thirties, Akali has shown considerable amount of growth in her art style. She has branched out to different genres of music from ballad, 90s music, rock, classical, and much more. Akali has taken time to travel the world to study music styles from different cultures, appreciating what each community has to offer. When Akali is not working on her music, she is aiding in raising and developing music and art programs for children living in underprivileged areas.

On the side, Akali scouts new and trying artists. When she sees a potential artist, she reaches out to help start their career, using her platform to promote their work. Sometimes the project fails, she's had a few bad apples, but most artists are successful and thriving on their own.

Akali still wears a signature hat but not as often as usual. She constantly has her hair up but also likes to keep her hair down. When she wears her hair down, she usually wears a beanie. She doesn't dye her hair as often, so it's back to her usual shade of black. Being married to Evelynn, Akali's taste in clothing has gotten expensive.

Speaking of marriage, Akali and Evelynn married way before Kai'sa and Sivir. They were quick to tie the knot and gotten backlash from "fans" saying that they were moving too fast. Regardless, Evelynn and Akali are happily married for more than seven years, growing stronger than ever.

As a married woman, Akali learned how to effectively communicate with Evelynn and work with her on equal terms. It took a while for Akali to overcome the inferior complex she had (because she was always raised in a hierarchy system ever since she was little). She constantly saw Evelynn as superior to her, which Evelynn assured her that they were equals. The two of them worked together to establish their equality and that it was okay for Akali to be selfish and self-indulge without Evelynn at times.

Evelynn

The Queen of the Tabloids relinquished her title. She is not in "scandals" or drama as much anymore. Fans notice how mature she has gotten over the past years. While Evelynn loved music, she focused her career in acting and has gotten a massive amount of respect in her work. She has been nominated for various awards and won a fair share of them. The type of movies she has done ranges from drama, action, and romance.

On the side, Evelynn is a business woman. She established her own company where she designs her own clothing, makeup collections, and purses. She often has charity events and sales where the money raised goes to organizations that help LGBTQ youths, women recovering from abuse, and many others.

Evelynn has grown out her hair nice and long, almost similarly to Victoria (my OC/Evelynn's mother). Her style of clothing hasn't changed much. She loves wearing tight fitting, expensive clothing, but being married to Akali, she started to wear more casual/baggy clothing as well (much to the dismay of the male gazes, boo hoo).

As a married women, Evelynn parties/attends parties less often and focuses on working on her and Akali's forever home. She has specifically designed the house they are living in, making sure it had what Akali wanted and what she wanted. A massive mansion with plenty of room for a village, Evelynn is already in the progress of filling it up. She has adopted a number of dogs, which Ahri hates because she doesn't work well with any kind of pets. Ahri is getting use to it when she visits.

Speaking of adoption, Evelynn has expressed her desire for children with Akali. It's a step that they are taking slowly, mostly for Akali's sake because she's nervous about becoming a mother. Evelynn is open to a surrogate (because succubus can't actually birth children like humans, there's a whole succubus/incubus lore about it.) or adoption. [Akali does not want to have the baby herself, which Evelynn won't push her to do.]

Despite Akali's hesitation with having a child, she has been reading up on "Raising Children" books, studying intensely. She does want to have a child with Evelynn after all.

Ahri

The immature and fiesty foxy has grown wiser over the years, shocking. Still dedicated to music, Ahri has released a number of hit singles and has been a judge on popular singing competitions. She continues her FOXY cosmetic business, jokingly saying she's competing with Evelynn's business.

When she's not working on music, Ahri works as an ambassador/executive director for Gumiho Organization, a special nonprofit organization for helping young children born with mythical powers, qualities, and/or characteristics (much like Ahri herself). With Evelynn's help, who supported the project, Ahri started this organization to help orphaned children that were left to figure out their unique abilites/identites/characteristic, find them homes, and provide them with an education that will help them in life.

Ahri keeps her hair short now, almost like how she did her prestige skin. It's just easier for her to manage. Ahri's style of clothing has turned more buisness like, wearing blazers and all. Her tails aren't crystals anymore, she missed her fluffy tails and wanted them back.

Ahri's relationship status is currently single. She has had a couple of partners that lasted for a few months. A year was the longest for Ahri. No permanent partner yet for her, but Ahri is more driven on working on her career than working on her love life. If worse comes to worse, Evelynn will begrudgingly make room in her mansion for Ahri to live with her and Akali.

In all seriousness, Ahri is considering adopting a kit child that she took an interest in. Nine-tailed foxes are rare to come by and this little one is the first one that Ahri seen since herself. Of Japanese origin, so they're called a kitsune, Ahri is seriously considering adopting this pup. The hesitation is because Ahri is worried that she might not be a suitable mother. It'll take Kai'sa and Evelynn's encouragement for Ahri to finalize her decision.

Kai'sa

Dancing is still a huge passion for Kai'sa and she has choreographed numerous of dance routines with major artists. She starred as the lead in a movie about a dancer dealing with mental health and the pressures of the dance competition/community, a story that is greatly inspired by her own life. The movie made a positive impact, especially for other dancers.

With the success of the movie, Kai'sa has managed and organized dance programs across the world, teaching a class when she's on location. Kai'sa has written a book about mental health, as well as making a documentary on how she handles her Void PTSD. In the dance community, she is nicknamed as "Kai'Queen" and she has signature dance moves that are nicknamed the "Kai Kai", "Bokkie Bokkie", and "Kai'sa sa Slide".

Kai'sa doesn't sport her purple hair look anymore. It is back to her usual chocolate brown hair. However, she loves braiding her hair and always has it in some unique style that looks like it has been blessed by the gods. Her clothing style hasn't changed much. She still loves leggings and is always down with a comfortable sweater to top it off.

Kai'sa and Sivir were patient with their marriage. With Sivir's status as the heir of Azir's fortune, it took a long time for Sivir to adjust to her new lifestyle while dealing with the public eye. Many haters claimed Kai'sa was dating Sivir for money, but true fans knew that wasn't true. They married much later than Akalynn, currently hitting their one year anniversary. They had a quiet wedding with close friends and family.

The two of them live together in a lavish home. Marriage has taught Kai'sa to rely on Sivir more, especially when she has bad sleepless nights due to bad dreams and insomnia, and that she isn't alone (she never was, but sometimes she gets in her head).

Kai'sa and Sivir adopted one large Alaskan Malamute and a Maine Coon cat. Ahri is fine with the cat, surprisingly. The dog...not so much.

In regard to children, Kai'sa and Sivir are considering adoption but Kai'sa also expressed a willingness to hold the baby herself. Nothing is final, but both women are anticipating a wonderful addition to the family in the near future.

XXX

Hope you enjoyed this headcannon. I had a lot of ideas for this, I do have more, but maybe I'll save them for next time. Feel free to ask if you want to know more. ❤❤

#kda #kda evelynn #kda akali #kda chat #kda kai'sa #kda ahri #k/da #k/da kai'sa #k/da evelynn #k/da akali #k/da ahri #sivir #pizza girl sivir #pizza delivery sivir #like #follow #reblog #headcannon

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grimmjowkurosakidrake · 5 years ago

Note

fic propmt for ss- Sasuke going through emo phase, Sakura bubble gum pop who are neighbors and are annoyed by each other’s taste in music

Look at me answering fics prompts months after, I’m the worst I know! XD

This fic is a songfic inspired by A*Teens’ A perfect match! I know the ask was about Sasuke’s emo phase and you were expecting a little bit more Fall out boy than Dir en Grey but deal with me, my emo phase was my visual kei phase so I don’t know much about western emo music. Also, both Sasuke and Sakura are Japanese xD!

Well, without further ado, the fic:}

Perfect Match

Your family says that it’s just a phase, the fact that you like to wear dark colors on your clothes and you listen to angry music because that is what boys your age do and there’s nothing to worry about.

They don’t like to talk about the anger and the sadness you feel. You’re twenty and already in collage. You don’t think this is a phase anymore, now you’re just angry.

They don’t like to talk about how you’re a lot more sensitive than your brother and how you’re not all that much interested in becoming a lawyer just like him.

You are the second son of a rich family that never had to struggle for anything, you have absolutely nothing to be sad or angry about, or at least, that’s what they think.

But even with all the money they have you still had to sell your TV and your music system just to buy tickets for a “The Gazette” concert back in 2009 and even thought they can totally afford for suits you don’t want and private tutors you don’t need, you still had to sell your car and work for four months just to travel to Seoul and get tickets for the “Metallica” and “Baby metal” concert hosted there this year.

It was a great experience, it made you happy beyond belief, but that happiness you experienced, those feelings that for once weren’t depressing and anxiety-infusing, weren’t enough for your family.

Maybe that’s why you’re angry.

You’re angry when you arrive at your street on the buss, alone, because no one would come and see you at the airport and you’re definitely angry when your find Sakura, your childhood neighbor, dancing to fucking Reol’s “Give me a break” on her brand new music system that her mom bought her last month just so she could go and spend the money she makes on the Maid Caffe she works part-time on her mindless clothes and accessories.

She looks cute, you have to admit, with her too short, hot pink shorts and her Harajuku style black crop top with a Kabuki mask printed on it. She’s wearing the pink pearl collar you saw her buy a few days after your trip and you just know that the eyes of those stupid cat earrings she’s wearing are actually real diamonds.

It angers you how she can spend her money on making herself look how she wants to look so easily when you can’t even buy a pair of ripped, black jeans with all the money your father makes.

So, you lash at her “Could you shut up with that shit, please?” You ask her from across your own lawn, “I don’t want to listen to your garbage today.” She glares at you, her green eyes accentuated by her cat eye makeup, and then she turns up the music.

She’s a fierce girl Haruno Sakura.

-----------------------------------

You find yourself obliged to talk to her again when your parents invite hers to a late dinner on your house.

They force you to take her to your room and warn you with a tight lipped “behave yourself or else…” that makes you wonder what else could they take away from you now that you don’t even have a car.

She makes herself comfortable on your bed as you turn on your computer and My Chemical Romance’s Teenagers starts rolling through the music list. She makes an annoyed face at your choice in music but doesn’t say anything.

It’s your room, your rules, after all. And she’s smart enough to acknowledge this universal rule.

She’s wearing nicer clothes today. An all-black assemble consisting of a lite crop top only covering her small breasts paired with a big black bomber jacket and loose black, dress pants with a cute bow on top. Even when you couldn’t care less about clothes and fashion you think she looks insanely good tonight and you can’t take your eyes off her.

“You like my outfit?” She asks with a smirk when she notices your intense gaze on her.

“Yeah…” You answer, sitting by her legs on your bed.

“It’s by Yohji Yamamoto’s summer collection!” Beams Sakura, “You would think that with this level of minimalism it would be from a European designer you know?”

Whatever she says it sounds like a question, and even when you don’t know of what she’s talking about you mumble a small “Sure” as you come closer to her.

She smiles, “but no, it’s one of our own!” Giggles Sakura with clear excitement in her voice “We really do have to start appreciating our own artists more.”

“That sure is interesting,” You answer, so near her face that you can feel her warm breath against yours.

You really want to kiss her.

She’s beautiful, awful taste on music and all, she’s always happy and cute, more than anything. Happy like you never are, always optimistic and irreverent like her music and her clothes so kissing her red-looking lips that never stop smiling it’s all you can think about.

She kisses you first, the sweet taste of her lips on your own and the feeling of her petite arms around your neck making you feel like never before.

“I didn’t know you were interested in art,” she comments as she ends the kiss.

“I’m not,” you smirk, “But South Park says you can get a girl by faking interest in her and they’re not wrong.”

Sakura doesn’t hit you or screams, she just pushes you away, takes off her jacket and takes a copy of The Mist from your bookshelf to read in silence. You are able to see the expanse of her pristine, beautiful back and the beautiful Sakura tree branch tattoo that adorns her right arm and collarbone the whole night until she eventually leaves with her parents.

But you’re not allowed to touch and that is punishment enough.

-----------------------------------

You invite her to see a horror movie a few days later and she accepts, Sakura seems to hate the movie the whole time but the way she blushes when you put your arm around her shoulders makes you think she may be enjoying herself anyway.

You don’t understand until she invites you to an art gallery for a friend of hers whose work is being accepted that you finally understand the appeal of doing things you hate just for the person you like.

Her friends are boring and snobbish, but she’s wearing a form fitting red dress with her back bare and she allows you to rest your hand there the whole night.

You’re allowed to kiss her anywhere and everyone just knows that she’s yours and you’re hers by principle of her the closeness you share.

When you discover that you both want to go to a 2000s bands tribute after the party and she shows you the blue leather skirt she’s going to change into, you discover that maybe you’re not all that different.

-----------------------------------

Her clothes are always styled to look the way she likes them. Be it cute or sexy or that delicious combination of both that you like so much on her. With her short, pink skirts and her long, boyfriend t-shirts.

Her family is a very progressive one and they don’t mind how much skin she shows off or the art she has on her skin.

Everything is pristine on her, even her few tattoos, because she planed and wanted those changes on her.

But the holes on your pants are messy and not at all how you want them to look. You had to cut them yourself after all and you’re shit with anything that has to do with clothes, you don’t know about fabric and you always end up cutting where you should not.

This all ends when you start dating Sakura.

This time you’re in her room, listening to freaking Grease’s You’re the one that I want (and not saying anything because her room her rules, after all), as she carefully cuts holes on your jeans.

She looks happy to do so, because she loves clothes and spicing them up, she even buys a few skull patches to sew on the pockets and those small details make you happy just like the concerts and music make you happy.

You kiss her deeply when you go to your own house by night and she winks at you from across her window as Marina and the Diamonds’ Bubblegum bitch blasts through her music system.

As your parents who always thought of her as the nice girl from across your lawn frown at the lyrics of the singer crying “I'm gonna be your bubblegum bitch!”, you can’t help but think that she’s a perfect match for you.

#Sasusaku #Sasuke Uchiha #Sakura Haruno #sasusaku fic #sasusaku au #sasusaku prompts

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xgoldentigerlilyx · 4 years ago

Text

Saved for a rainy day

Hello once again! Made another mini fan drabble for the marvellous @themetaphorgirl and her Criminal minds AU called Patron Saints of Lost Causes! Link to the master post here! https://themetaphorgirl.tumblr.com/post/620060589788725248/read-on-fanfictionnet-read-on-archive-of-our-own

So hope you enjoy!

Word count: 1140

——————————————————-

The rain had been pouring all day on the St.Thaddeus campus, flooding the grounds and the floor of the cafeteria. Which meant tonight, supper was in the auditorium. At the front of the room was a long buffet-style supper spread, and students bustling around. There were a few tables set up around the auditorium, but for those who couldn’t fit at the tables sat in the chairs in clusters. Fortunately for Aaron, RA’s got first pick on seating arrangements so he chose a table large enough for his group of friends. ‘More like my group of misfits.’ He thought to himself as the kids started flooding in through the doors.

The first people to sit with Hotch were James, David, and Alex. They took their seats, and started up some small talk while they waited for everyone else.

Next, Derek, Emily, and JJ met them while they talked about their cancelled sports and clubs. “I’m bummed, coach was supposed to give me some pointers for the game on Friday during practice today,” Derek complained to everyone at the table as they settled.

Finally, Penelope and Spencer walked through the large auditorium doors, nearly being shoved down on their way to the nearly full table. “Sorry we’re late! I needed to change into my special rain boots!” Penelope exclaimed, showing off her rainbow boots with sparkly designs. When they arrived, they all left a possession on their spots to mark them while they grabbed their food.

After supper with lots of conversation and fooling around, the headmaster told them they have 30 minutes before bed checks to hang out with friends or play games in the auditorium.

They all agreed to hang out in Lincoln house in Derek and Spencer’s room for their free time. They put their hoods over their heads, and stood outside the auditorium underneath the overhang of the building, providing them one last bit of dryness before they went into the rain.

Penelope, however, had a different idea. Instead of pulling her hood off, she undid the zipper and threw her coat to Hotch.

“Penelope, what are y-“ Aaron tried to ask, putting her jacket on the ground before she grabbed his right hand and ran into the pouring rain.

Once a few feet away from the rest of their friends, Penelope let go of Aaron’s hand and threw hers into the air, immediately becoming soaked. Her hair matted down, and what makeup she had been wearing was running down her face.

“Penelope Garcia!” Hotch protested once his hand dropped to his side, the rain pelting his hood. The wind was so strong, it blew off the hood and soaked his head and dropped into his sweater. His arms wrapped around his torso as he walked back to everyone else under the overhang, but before he could make it another person grabbed his hand. It was JJ this time, her jacket thrown next to Penelope’s and making a small pile. He accepted defeat and followed back into the rain begrudgingly with the two girls, who were now holding hands and dancing around in the heavy rain.

James, unzipping his jacket slowly, turned to Alex. “Would you like to dance?” He asked her quietly, putting his jacket aside and holding an offering hand to Alex. Alex thought for a moment, and took off her jacket, putting her hair into a quick ponytail with a ribbon. Grabbing his hand, she replied, “I would love to.” They walked into the open, and grabbed each other’s hands, dancing to imaginary music, twisting and turning.

Derek, feeling a tad left out, tore his jacket off and ran into the rain, immediately slipping. JJ and Penelope watched him, and each offered a hand after laughing at him. He smiled cockily, and as he grabbed their hands he pulled back, making them fall into the mud with him. They continued to laugh, while Rossi walked over to Spencer.

“Hey kid, why aren’t you out there?” David asked, tightening his own jacket rather than going to take it off. Spencer snapped out of his trance while looking at his friends, and shifted his focus to Dave with a furrowed brow.

“I’ve never done...this before. I suppose I never got the chance.” He sighed, looking down at his old rain boots with holes in the sides. “I could ask you the same?” He asked Rossi.

David chuckled. “You think I’m the kind of person to dance in the rain? With these new shoes?” He asked rhetorically, showing off his new leather shoes. A terrible choice for the rain and mud, Spencer thought.

Before he could reply, his hand was rigged out from the small patch of dry near David. He looked to who was pulling him, and his eyes met the back of Penelope’s head. ‘She looks a bit like a wet cat.’ He thought to himself before he comprehended he was in the cold rain. “Pen! What’re you doing?” He squeaked, not even attempting to pull back. She could pull him even if he struggled.

Penelope stopped once they were with the rest of their friends. They all looked around them and laughed. What an odd group of people, all out in the soaking rain.

James and Alex, still absentmindedly had their hands linked and blushing like mad. Derek, covered in mud and trying to flex his wet arms to JJ who was simply ignoring him and pushing her hair behind her ears to keep it out of her face. Hotch, trying to talk to Derek about how he should put his long sleeves back over his arms but still smiling with childish glee. Then there was Penelope, laughing, and Spencer trying to rattle off the statistics of how they may all catch colds but smiling with the rest. He enjoyed this and hated how much he missed out on doing this before.

Noting Dave’s absence, they all turned to look at him and cheer him out. “Come on, David! Join us!” “Don’t be a buzzkill!” “Nobody cares about your shoes, you can buy new ones!” The kids shouted to their Italian friend who shook his head in defeat. He pulled off the leather jacket, and slowly stepped into the rain and joined his circle of friends.

For the next few minutes, they played a game of aggressive duck duck goose where Derek tackled Emily into the mud, Spencer slipping and hitting his own knee, and James only tagging Alex.

Only when a teacher spotted them, they stopped their game, all sporting sore knees and arms. They grabbed their jackets, everyone opting to just carry them. They would be no use anyway, they’re already soaked. Everyone said goodbye and walked off to their respective houses.

That night everyone slept well, and got to sleep in the next day because of extensive flooding on campus.

“I’ve never done...this before. I suppose I never got the chance.” He sighed, looking down at his old rain boots with holes in the sides. “I could ask you the same?” He asked Rossi.

Penelope stopped once they were with the rest of their friends. They all looked around them and laughed. What an odd group of people, all out in the soaking rain.

For the next few minutes, they played a game of aggressive duck duck goose where Derek tackled Emily into the mud, Spencer slipping and hitting his own knee, and James only tagging Alex.

That night everyone slept well, and got to sleep in the next day because of extensive flooding on campus.

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chiseler · 4 years ago

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Glad Rags: Fashion and the Great Depression

Some years ago, in a breathtaking lapse of taste, The New Yorker published a fashion spread that aped iconic photographs of Dust Bowl migrants. I was as appalled as the next right-thinking person by the pouting models in $400 distressed cardigans pretending to thumb rides along desert highways. But if the charge is infatuation with the aesthetics of the Great Depression, I am guilty, guilty, guilty. Throw me in the clink—just so long as it resembles the hoosegow that Barbara Stanwyck saunters around in Ladies They Talk About (1932).

Why was everything, from automats to automobiles, from nightclubs to radios, from skyscrapers to bus stations, from cocktail shakers to the battered hats on homeless men, so elegant in the thirties? Why did bums back then look better than bankers today? Why are the movies and music, the clothes and every aspect of design from typefaces to elevator panels, so intoxicatingly stylish?

The easy answer is that art deco glamour was a form of escapism, a consolation to the down-and-out, and an expression of irrational optimism. Cruise ships, trains, office towers, mechanized restaurants: art deco was all about speed and modernity, the thrill of zooming into the future. (Then why does deco still look modern and alluring, while the space-age design of the sixties just looks dated and silly?) If cynicism was society’s ballast during the Depression, style was the kite-string tugging upward, the flag that kept flying.

It’s not the swells in their glad rags that I admire most, or even the bootleggers in silk shirts, but the wardrobes of working girls. Take the plain, slinky black dress that Stanwyck, as an ambitious office worker in Baby Face, accessorizes with a series of different detachable white collars and cuffs. Those starched cuffs and collars—chic, yet as humble as table-napkins—are perfect, almost poignant symbols of Stanwyck’s determination to better herself with the small means at her disposal. In Golddiggers of 1933, out-of-work chorus girls draw lots for the privilege of wearing a gorgeous, borrowed outfit to an audition. The little hats that hug one side of the head, the soft dresses molded to the hips, the scarf collars and pleated hems, create a look that collapses the two meanings of “smart.” Neither frivolous nor utilitarian, it’s a neat, streamlined look that is still seductive; it signals quiet confidence and also wit, the sort of wisecracking verbal self-defense these girls mastered.

Movies like Baby Face tell their stories largely through their heroines’ clothes and belongings: they climb from cotton frocks to furs, from paper matchbooks to jeweled cigarette cases. (Clothing is no less crucial to the gangster’s rise; tailored shirts and luxurious overcoats are almost the point of his law-breaking.) Like Stanwyck in Baby Face, Joan Blondell in Blondie Johnson starts out in the drab, shapeless clothes of the down-trodden. Alight with anger after her mother dies, denied aid by a sanctimonious government official, she vows to get hold of dough, “and plenty of it.” Next we see her, she’s wearing a snazzy velvet suit that fits like a glove and conning suckers out of ten dollar bills by pretending to be a damsel in distress. She’s willing to bat her eyelashes and exploit her curves, but it’s really her brain she uses to get ahead, rising to become the head of a criminal “corporation,” and fiercely defending her virtue, even while clad in diaphanous pajamas. In Hold Your Man, Clark Gable calls attention to the warmth of the room, trying to talk Jean Harlow into doffing her coat. She complies, but when he suggests she remove her hat as well, she quips, “I’m pretty cool about the head.”

It’s this sense of wit and sass that’s often missing from latter-day reconstructions of the thirties, making people in period pieces appear overly formal. Current actors, looking embalmed in handsome clothes and make-up, fail to capture the way Cagney in his pin-striped suits was always poised on the balls of his feet, ready to crack into a tap dance; or the stunning bodily freedom with which women wore their thin, fluid, backless gowns, somehow never looking unduly exposed. Carole Lombard in shiny satin wide-legged lounging-pajamas and high heels furiously riding an exercise bicycle: there is the deco spirit in a nutshell. I sometimes wonder if it was the sheer delight of wearing such flattering clothes that gave women in thirties movies their unequaled zing.

Their sleek clothes don’t hide the female form the way dresses of the 1920’s did with their dropped waists and bosom-flattening bands. Neither do they exaggerate it with structured undergarments like those abandoned after the first world war and re-introduced after the second. It takes little insight to observe that the times when fashion has been most extreme in its devotion to the hourglass figure have been repressive eras for women, and periods when their clothes were more androgynous have been times when women made strides toward equality. In the early thirties, however, fashions were feminine without being cartoonishly so; they simply revealed the way women really look. The ideal of beauty was slender but not boyishly skinny, effortlessly athletic without gym-workout muscles.

Thirties dames look sexy on their own terms, not trussed up for male consumption like women of the fifties in their waist-cinching girdles, teetering stilettos and torpedo bras (often filled out with falsies on actresses of the fifties.) Many women in the early thirties wore very little under their clothes, as pre-Code movies prove with their obligatory lingerie shots. One almost feels sorry for pre-Code men faced with gals like Blondell, who in Blonde Crazy allows Cagney to inspect her flimsy underwear but repels his every advance with a slap that sends his head snapping back against his spine.

It is surely no coincidence that the interwar period was perhaps the only time when fashion was dominated, or at least heavily influenced, by women designers. Chanel borrowed from men’s tailoring to make women’s clothes simple, comfortable and sporty, without making them mannish. Madeleine Vionnet pioneered the bias cut, constructing garments so the grain of the fabric ran diagonally across the body, creating that smooth, clinging drape that defines feminine style of the thirties. Stanwyck’s lithe, bold stride wouldn’t be the same without the skirts that show off her beautiful hips and just enough of her killer gams. The jazzy, diagonally-striped ensemble that Claudette Colbert wears in It Happened One Night—something she has apparently purchased with the proceeds from pawning her wrist-watch—is the sartorial equivalent of her cocked eyebrow and throaty, sarcastic delivery.

These are Hollywood movies, of course, in which actresses often wore dresses so tight they couldn’t sit down between shots. But there’s plenty of documentary evidence that ordinary women, while they made have had less perfect figures, had just as much stylistic sass. Inept, small-time criminals Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow might never have become folk heroes if police hadn’t found a roll of undeveloped film in their hideout in Joplin, Missouri in 1932, and if the pictures hadn’t shown Bonnie wearing a snug beret, a skirt and sweater as jazzy as Colbert’s, and standing with her high-heeled foot hiked saucily on the bumper of a Ford V-8.

Or consider the stout matron in Walker Evans’s 1935 photograph of a New Orleans barbershop, sporting a blouse with sizzling concentric stripes, a jaunty black tie and a black hat with a rakish white feather. Men were no slouches either. Evans’s 1936 pictures of street scenes in the “negro quarter” of Vicksburg, Mississippi feature men lounging idly in shirtsleeves, unbuttoned vests and felt hats, each one a fashion plate. Lined up in a row in the wood-frame buildings behind them are hand-painted signs for the Savoy Barber Shop, the New Deal Barber Shop, and the Brother In Law Barber Shop. These men may not have jobs, but at least they have well-trimmed hair.

One can always ask, was there really such an epidemic of elegance in the thirties, or did photographers just seek out images of dignity? In the same way, one can look at the photographs of Robert Frank or the documentary footage of Los Angeles in The Savage Eye (1960) and wonder if there was really an epidemic of ugliness and vulgarity in the late fifties and early sixties, or whether artists just emphasized it. But the question is moot: either way, the images reveal how Americans—or at least their professional observers—saw themselves. Struggling against deprivation and anxiety, they were proud, stoic and stripped to their lean, essential spirit. Prosperous and secure, they were hapless victims of an aesthetic crash. A movie like Murder by Contract (1958), about a hit man killing time in L.A., staying in suffocatingly tacky motel rooms, seems to be the portrait of a man sleepwalking through a society where taste has flatlined.

Fifties style was artlessly boastful; its ideals were plastic mannequins of happiness, innocence and surfeit. This is why when it failed it failed so hideously: the old, the poor, the ugly, the lonely look caught in a pitiless glare, all their shortcomings exposed. The beehive hair, bouffant skirts, school-girl necklines and cat’s-eye glasses made young women look stodgy and matronly, and older women look grotesquely girlish. In the thirties, haute couture expressed sublime hauteur, but it was based on aesthetic principles so sound that even when they trickled down to the cheapest knock-offs and most threadbare hand-me-downs, they still looked good. And so we come to the paradox of men in breadlines, women in migrant camps, whose je-ne-sais-quoi can inspire fashion spreads.

I am haunted by a bit of archival footage from the superb documentary Riding the Rails (1997), which shows a group of teenage hobos gathered on an open flat-car. Their elegance is unforgettable. It’s partly that their ragged clothes are so well-cut—in those days before baggy, one-size-fits-nobody garments—and partly that they’re worn with such an air. One boy wears an overcoat that’s too big for him and a handkerchief knotted on his head; he looks like a Napoleonic soldier retreating from Moscow. Men today who affect newsboy caps tend to wear them as though they were balancing a plate on their heads, but these boys wear their soft caps pulled down low over one eye, making them look at once tough and shy. They also seem, like everyone Dorothea Lange photographed, to stand and move with uncommon, easy grace: idle, but charged with contained energy. Their faces are wary, reticent and disillusioned. In another archival clip, boys sitting around a fire in a hobo jungle respond to a reporter who asks them why they are on the road. “Out here for my health,” one deadpans. “Just riding,” another tersely shrugs.

These are the real-life versions of the characters played by Frankie Darro and the Warners juveniles in Wild Boys of the Road (1933). Several things about that film are startling. One is how the kids dress and act like grown-ups (at a school dance, they wear evening clothes and circle the floor to “The Shadow Waltz”), as opposed to today, when grown-ups dress and act like kids. Another is how quickly and completely two middle-class boys turn into outcasts, panhandlers, embittered scavengers living in a garbage dump. But most startling of all is the way stoicism and dignity are taken for granted, the universal determination not be a burden or feel sorry for oneself. The elderly interviewees in Riding the Rails are candid, matter-of-fact, wry and compassionate. There is more to elegance than dressing well, than being tasteful or—that overused and inelegant word—“classy.” There is an intangible quality, a kind of mental and moral grace. Elegance has spine, but it’s not rigid; it bends but doesn’t break. It is understated; it is reserved. It knows the virtue of holding something back—some strength, some anger, some sense of irony—because there is more than one rainy day.

by Imogen Sara Smith

#The Chiseler #Imogen Sara Smith #Fashion #Great Depression

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the-risen-tide · 5 years ago

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OKAY SO, I finally went to see the new Cats movie in theaters. I wanted to give myself a bit to collect my thoughts, because HOO BOY are there thoughts. Not terrible ones though...like my reviews of everything else, I gave it a look with a level head.

Because I can’t really review without spoilers, I’m going to put my thoughts under a cut. Read at your own peril.

Now, I’d promised myself ages ago that I’d go into the movie with an open mind and a clear head. I’d already seen reviews that were divided greatly on it (mostly between people who’d already seen Cats on stage and those that have never seen it ever), but as usual it’s a good idea to have your own opinion.

That said.

I loved it.

The weird part is, at first, I came away from it thinking that I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would. But everything about it from the visuals to the music (especially the new song, I’ll get to that in a bit) and the story, all of it was still sticking with me after I left the theater, and I began loving it more in hindsight than I did sitting there in the moment, if that makes sense.

Cats has always been one of those shows that breaks quite a few rules of what people think a show should be. More an opera than a musical, more a dance/ballet performance than a story, with a look that allows the audience to use their imaginations, and as such can put more than a few people off of it. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but despite that, it’s memorable, and has a great following. The movie seemed to try to take that feeling from the stage show, strange and mystifying and daunting (maybe even a bit awkward), yet charming and inspiring and heart-catching. In many ways it succeeded, and some ways it didn’t...and where it didn’t was probably mostly the fault of the presentation. And of course, opinions are going to vary wildly on it.

But anyway, for those that know and love the show, it’s a good idea to see this one as just another production, an alternate canon, because you can’t compare each production to each other (much less a movie to a stage show), as that’s where an adaptation fails in everyone’s minds. This one seemed to take inspiration from the original 1981 production and build a new story from the ground up, while of course still keeping the music and songs that everyone loves. The lyrics of some of the songs do call back to the original production (the version of Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer used was from that one, and not from the 1998 video and subsequent performances, which I found surprising; but not displeasing, they did it very well), and while I was a little disappointed that Jemima/Sillabub wasn’t an important character as she is in the stage show, I remember Lloyd Webber at first wanting a kitten character with both Victoria’s dance prowess and Jemima’s singing prowess, who embodies the show as a whole. He got what he wanted in movie form with Victoria, and they took the character to a whole different direction than the original, which was interesting.

So, to sum up, one can see this movie as an adaptation of the original ideas for the stage show. It isn’t my personal canon concept, but it’s one I ended up liking just as much. Now, here are my personal likes and dislikes.

Dislikes: The background characters aren’t given as much personality as they are on stage, or at least, aren’t shown as much personality; and with many of them taking on different designs, it’s hard to tell who’s who until you see the credits, where everyone’s named. You only ever know a few of the main characters, their own stories, and that’s it. Not even Munkustrap gets named directly, and he’s still got his role as the sort-of narrator and introduction to the world of the Jellicles. Of course, this is probably a minor grudge, as background characters can’t be as prevalent in a movie version without it going on longer than needed. But, at least they’re still there, and still lend their charm to the setting, and perhaps in subsequent watches I’ll be able to see more of who everyone is and what they’re doing.

Still, leaving characters in the background also means leaving various character relationships behind, save for the main ones. Demeter, who in the stage show is still an ensemble character (but an important one for the subplot of Macavity), has been downgraded to another of many minor characters; Cassandra now mostly fills the role of a forefront ensemble singer, and nobody really seems to have anything that connects one to another emotionally. Basically it was like the relationships common to many of the productions were ret-conned or tossed altogether; the focus is on the main characters. But again, another minor grievance, as it is a movie, and a separate production, and no production is canon...and we still have our imaginations to go on. X3

Also, personally, I disliked that they made Bombalurina evil. On stage, though she’s presented as the “good-bad girl”, attractive and seductive, she’s still a beloved part of the ensemble, friend to quite a few of the queens, and protective in a sisterly way over Demeter. “Macavity” is meant as a duet with the two warning the others of his malevolent deeds; in the movie, she’s not seen until nearly the end, and the song is sung in praise of him while helping him bring the Ball to a halt. It was a good number, though, and the different take on the character probably had to be there plot-wise...but still, IMHO the character deserves better.

Plus, it’s no wonder why Munkustrap was thought boring by his actor; they didn’t really give him his “protector” role. The fight with Macavity is taken out entirely. Again, Munk as a character also deserves better.

Also, Jennyanydots deserves better. X3 She’s presented as a comedy-relief character, and honestly I think they tried a little too hard with that, along with Bustopher Jones; both of their segments were a tad cringey to me...but theirs were the only ones, really. The music in them was still superb, it was just the way they were presented. They could have probably just stuck Bustopher with the comic-relief role (as he is somewhat in the stage show), and that would’ve been sufficient.

I believe those were my only grievances. Now let’s get to what I liked.

THE MUSIC, first of all. STILL awesome. I feel like, really, the movie kept in what made the stage show important...and as with musicals, that was keeping the tones of the beloved songs, from the overture at the beginning all the way to The Ad-dressing of Cats. That plus the impressive dancing. I could still catch some little bits of choreography from the stage show in them, although mainly it was all revamped for the movie...but they kept the music, so that’s the biggest point (though some were edited down a bit to make time for dialogue; understandable, still). Skimbleshanks’ number has to be the most impressive, by far.

Adding to this, the new song, Beautiful Ghosts, written together by Lloyd Webber and Taylor Swift. Wow. You can tell they made a song that would really fit into the show...it’s haunting and sad, and yet hopeful, and the more I listen to it with Victoria’s story in mind, the more I tear up. It’s brilliant.

The story, I also liked. I admit, it has to be hard to try and make a plot out of a musical that has a fairly bare-bones presentation to it, and is mostly comprised of songs adapted from a poetry book about cats. There are many ways they probably could have taken the plot, but they did it very well, in my opinion; plus they still kept the most important events from the stage show: Grizabella’s redemption arc, and Macavity’s trying to derail things, straight down to kidnapping Old Deuteronomy and her being brought back through Mistofelees’ magic; I love how that bit was presented, too. He and the others are expecting a grandiose magic return, and instead it’s off-screen and softly sung, and as the music swells from solemn to joyous, you know it’s just as magical all the same.

I knew that Growltiger would make an appearance in this, but I didn’t realize he’d be made his own character, when in the play, he’s a character that Gus the Theater Cat played in the past...only the first few lines of his song was sung, too. But at least they kept his appearance from the play, down to the “somewhat-missing” ear. X3 That bit was clever, I liked it.

Also, Victoria and Mistofelees are adorable as heck in this one, can’t lie. XD

Speaking of the characters, the casting too is pretty great. Robert Fairchild, I could see actually playing Munkustrap on stage. He has the same cadence and comforting tone of voice and is a lovely singer. Sir Ian Mckellan, I couldn’t see anyone else playing Gus (he even has a very similar voice to the original 1981 cast member)...and Taylor Swift did make a good Bombalu, if in appearance and voice. X3 And of course we can’t forget Francesca Hayward’s performance as Victoria; hope to see her career expand. Dame Judi Dench made a very regal Deuteronomy (and yes, the thought of a female Deut has grown on me), and it’s good to see that she got to be in Cats, knowing her history. And as predicted, Idris Elba made a pretty sinister Macavity. X3

So, all in all?

This movie probably gets so many negative reviews from the general public, because most of the general public has never seen the musical, and really don’t know what to make of the adaptation. X3 This is definitely not for anyone who doesn’t like musical theater, let alone Cats...I feel that the movie was only made with the true fans in mind. And that’s just fine; not everything has to cater to the public at large, because if you try to do that, it’s not really a passion project. Cats has always been unique, and still is, and there are people out there who very much appreciate the hard work that has been put into it. The sets are phenomenal. The CGI could use work, but for an experimental style, it was done pretty well (yes, it’s possible to get past the uncanny-valley looks of the characters, at least it was for me, because they didn’t bother me in the first place). It shows that they tried hard to stay true to the spirit of the stage show, while also putting something completely new into it. And I think they nailed the spirit, which is the important thing in an adaptation: the spirit.

There’s a few things that could be changed, namely in presentation overall...they could have used another director, to be honest...but the casting, the music, the dancing...heck, some of the designs...that’s all good. Actually it’s funny to me to observe how easy it is to make a musical-type movie into a stage show, a-la The Lion King, but how hard it is to do it the other way around. XP

Would I watch it again? Heck yes. Buy the DVD? Heck yes (especially once they’ve put out the full version). Does it hold up to other productions? No, but I didn’t expect it to; it’s a movie. They took all the essential things and rebuilt it, simple as that.

And so, overall, I give the movie a score of 3.5 out of 5. It’s not my canon, but it’s still good, and you can ignore the hell out of the reviewers, they’re all plebs. XD

Thank you, my dears!

#text post #blog post #movie reviews #cats the movie #cats the musical #cats musical #cats 2019 #cats spoilers

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kiraraneko · 5 years ago

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CATS as reviewed by a furry

Apparently this is a movie review blog now lmao (listen I just have some Opinions™ I feel like writing down lately) You’ve already heard from a hundred sources about the terrible CGI and bad quality of the film overall, so I’m going to focus more on the characters themselves and how they’ve been translated from stage to film. As someone whose been a fan of CATS since childhood AND is active in the furry community, I hope this will be different from the other reviews. (YES THERE ARE SPOILERS)

Let’s just start this off by saying - everyone who keeps comparing this film to “furry porn” clearly is not familiar with furry porn, because the alleged “hornyness” of the actor portrayals is pretty in-line with the stage play. The only reason this movie comes off as so much more sexual is because the bad fur CGI doesn’t keep your brain from knowing these people are all basically nude. The stage play costumes feature fur tufts and limb wraps that work to somewhat hide the human silhouettes, whereas (even with some characters in coats and accessories) everyone’s fur in the movie is so skin-tight they end up being unmistakably human, so every sway and hip-thrust comes off as slightly disturbing in an uncanny way instead of feline and graceful.

Victoria the White Cat Now here’s where I’ll admit to my blatant bias - Victoria has always been my favorite cat (other than Rum Tum). Here’s a bit of trivia for you: Ever wonder why my fursona is a white cat? (Jumpcut to me as an 8 year old wearing a scarf around my waist, pretending to be Victoria). Her role in the play is small but she’s elegant, beautiful, and an incredibly talented dancer, and I always idolized her for that. So, you can imagine I was pretty delighted to find that she plays the role of “main character” in the film. Now in the play, the cats explain to the audience about who and what they are, with Munkustrap (the grey tabby) serving as a kind of narrator/translator and leader. Since you can’t exactly address a stage audience in a movie, Victoria fills that role of the “questioning onlooker”, which I feel fits her character very well considering she’s both a younger/newer cat to the Jellicle scene and she was the first to accept Grizabella, which connects her nicely to the entire story (both in the play and the movie). What I was markedly less jazzed about was the addition of her own song in the movie. I think it was a nice attempt to expand her role, but as an extension to Memories, I found Beautiful Ghosts to be frankly kind of boring and unnecessary. She’s essentially saying to Grizabella “I was just abandoned and I don’t have anything, at least you have good memories to look back on” which to me, came off as belittling to Grizabella with a dash of “poor me” for Victoria. However, the reprise version with Old Deuteronomy I actually ended up liking much more. It is less condescending when two old cats are singing to one another, versus a kitten who has their whole life ahead of them lecturing Grizabella about a past she knows nothing about. One last thing I’ll note about Victoria is her slight re-design in the movie - she’s been given some light striping patterning as opposed to being a pure white cat. This doesn’t bother me at all as I assume when it comes to lighting and rendering, pure white fur would have been too distracting on screen. Jennyanydots / The Gumbie Cat I’ll just come right out and say that this segment was probably the worst translation from the play in the entire movie, and it happens early in the film, so you’re already questioning what the hell the rest of the movie is going to be like. In the play, she’s a slow-paced and motherly type cat that only becomes energetic at night, when she sheds her fur to reveal a vibrant coat and goes to work teaching vermin of the house good manners and skills like crocheting (as opposed to hunting them, like other cats would do). In the movie, she’s flitting about the kitchen like a hyperactive rabbit, rampantly consumes some of the insects she’s painstakingly coached, and whines about wishing to leave her household. If this butchering of her character weren’t enough, they actually included the fur-shedding bit in an incredibly disturbing skin-unzipping sequence where she steps out of her cat skin to reveal a sparkly dress underneath. Characters in the CATS play occasionally do wear some clothing accessories, but this movie does not know the meaning of subtlety, and various characters are wearing fullbody clothes which even further breaks any illusion of these characters being cats. It just constantly wants to remind you that these are human people in unitards jumping around on a greenscreen. Rum Tum Tugger Undoubtedly a fan favorite, Rum Tum is the rockstar cat who swoons all the kittens and makes a general ruckus, with stylistic influences of Mick Jagger and Elvis. To say the least, I thought his part in the movie was fine, but certainly doesn’t quite have the punch to it that the stage play does. The movie has him breaking into a 50′s style diner while milk is liberally poured for all the younger cats. Both his character and that of the Gumbie cat’s are diminished further as she makes fun of his singing and dance moves - which may have been a funny addition, if it weren’t for her alleging his show-offiishness to a recent neutering. This joke just went a little too far in my opinion, and really detracted from the rest of Rum Tum’s performance. Bustopher Jones A very charming and gentlemanly cat, Bustopher’s sequence started well and then just got really weird. His song prominently describes his love of fine dining, his cheerful demeanor, and his well-groomed fur. The last of which was directly contradicted in the movie, as he rolled around in actual garbage making an utter mess of himself. He’s shown gorging himself through the entire segment with increasing fervor, until it’s just a bit too much to bear witness to. At one point, he’s meant to trapeze into a trash can, but the cat who jumps on the other end of the catapult is markedly smaller, and nothing happens. This is actually quite a funny moment, until once again, the joke goes a little too far and Bustopher comments being “sensitive about his weight”. This is just.. a bizarre comment considering he’s sung an entire song about being charmingly large and we’ve just watched him unabashedly stuff his face for five solid minutes. Applying human weight-shaming to the ideals of a cat is just completely unnecessary, awkward, and contradictory to his character. It changes him from an indulgent but experienced chap into something to be pitied. Asparagus / Gus the Theatre Cat Possibly my favorite segment of the movie, this is the only part I actually teared up at. As a child, I always thought Gus was a very boring character with a boring part, but watching as an adult I can understand and appreciate him much better. Sir Ian McKellen did an absolutely phenomenal job of channeling the frail, endearing, proud character of Gus (despite the wonky camera work of the scene). This might be the only part of the movie that matched, or perhaps even exceeded the stage play version, and I don’t think it’s any surprise that it also happens to be the most subdued sequence, relying almost entirely on character acting and line delivery, instead of fancy effects cluttering up the screen (as this musical should be). The end of his storytelling features some “lightning strikes” for emphasis, created by what I imagine would be a simple shadow stencil, and it added some genuine atmosphere to the idea of Gus as a performer with simple stage effects. It was a nice subtle touch, and I only wish the rest of the movie could have been more like that. I found his line condemning “modern productions” to be more poignant than ever before, and it makes you wonder if this movie suddenly became painfully self-aware. Also I just want to throw this in: Before Gus’s song, there’s an unintentionally hilarious shot of Mr. Mistoffelees walking up on him drinking milk from a dish, except Gus is mostly in shadow with his cat features obscured and is standing fully upright, so he just appears to be a hobo man lapping at a dish, like someone legit just walked up on Ian McKellen being a complete fucking weirdo. Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer This segment was another one that just didn’t come across quite right. These two are mischievous partners in crime, causing mayhem and stealing treasures. The '98 film version characterizes them as playful and upbeat, delighting in trouble-making, but they don’t seem to be quite experienced or clever enough to get away 100% of the time. The 2019 version came off as almost.. sinister to me. They coerce Victoria into stealing, frame her, and then leave her to what could nearly be her death, all while sort of talking through their lines with a cold inflection. This is supposed to take after the original “languid” London version, but they don’t play off each other very well and you don’t get a sense of the fun, amusing partnership they’re supposed to have. It’s mostly just watching them destroy several rooms of a house and then leaving Victoria to her fate like utter assholes. I don’t really have anything more to say on these two, it was just kind of bland and forgetful and leaves you disliking them instead of enjoying watching them have a fun romp. Skimbleshanks the Railway Cat I would give Skimbleshanks the award for “most baffling redesign”. As mentioned earlier, this movie takes cats-wearing-clothing to an uncanny level, and this is certainly the uncanny-est. While the play version has him in a cute waistcoat and arm warmers with elbow patches to give a “train conductor” vibe, the movie has him in full bright red overalls, with other reviews calling him “gay nightclub Mario”, lmao! As much as I wanted to enjoy this number, the sight of him was just too weird to look past. The tap dancing during his skit was a fitting addition to his character - he is quite bouncy and light on his feet, so I thought it suited him very well and really liked that part. His song picks up after that, with all the cats dancing on the rail and there’s more weird camera work, at one point zooming out so ridiculously far it’s actually jarring. The rest of his song was okay, a CGI greenscreen that can do anything you want unfortunately just isn’t as creative and inspiring as watching actors build a train engine representation out of junkyard scraps on an actual stage. Magical Mr. Mistoffelees The movie really took some liberties with this character, and I’m still on the fence about whether it was a good choice or not. In the play, Mistoffelees is a magician cat, performing tricks through his segment (including the most complex dance routine of any character) while other cats usually sing about his feats (in the ‘98 film, it’s Rum Tum). They went for the younger, unsure version of Mistoffelees in this new movie, and doubled up on it by turning him into something of a comedic-relief character. He doesn’t quite have a handle on his magic, and he trips up on his words and his feet several times through the movie. This would have been fine if his musical number hadn’t been such a let down. This is supposed to be his grand moment, but his “magic” ends up being underwhelming and the chorus repeats for SO long you’re practically begging for it to end. Where “Oh! Well, I never! Was there ever a cat so clever as Magical Mr Mistoffelees?” was once a cheerful and upbeat line, it will certainly become a droning echo in your mind after watching this movie. The added plot of his implied attraction to Victoria I also found kind of weird, though I’ll admit that might just be my personal tastes. I always liked Mistoffelees being a more aloof kind of cat. Grizabella / The Glamour Cat Alright buckle in, I’ve got some strong opinions about this one. Grizabella is undeniably the star of CATS - she’s an incredibly emotional character, visually intriguing, and her performance in the musical is nothing short of heartbreaking. She was referred to as “the Glamour Cat” in her prime, but it has turned into an almost mocking title as the other cats reject and shun her. We never really know why, but it can be implied she may have been cold and elitist to the other cats who once adored her, or had some other tragic and sudden fall from grace. Despite Jennifer Hudson putting in a damn good effort to play the role of this character, the movie itself let her down. The CATS play and the Jellicle ball which it centers around, while being a musical, is foremost a ball in which cats perform for the honor of being chosen. The dancing is just as important as the singing, and Grizabella’s character is heavily communicated by her posture. She’s hunched, stiff and limping, reaching out for others to accept her, and at one point even attempts to mimic some of the other cat’s dance moves before slinking away in shame. The 2019 movie paradoxically chooses to use extremely tight face-shots for just about every character routine. It is frustrating and claustrophobic to watch a movie where cats who are supposed to be expressing their character through movement are shown from only the shoulders up, just standing there singing into a camera - and this frustration is paramount at the Grizabella sequences. Jennifer Hudson, singing her absolute heart out with tears pouring down her face, is still emotionally lacking because of the terrible cinematography refusing to show her doing any actual acting. I was so distracted by the mucus running down her face that I couldn’t even connect with her. I thought the costuming of Grizabella was very well done, but you barely got to see any of it. Overall a very disappointing performance, because Hudson was doing all the right things, and it could have been great if the movie had met her even halfway. Macavity the Mystery Cat Played by the incredible Idris Elba, Macavity underwent some heavy changes and expansion in this new movie. He’s the main antagonist of the play, and most of his antics like committing serious crimes and alluding the police are sung about as rumors but doesn’t himself sing, and actually doesn’t have any speaking lines in the play, adding to his mysterious character. When he eventually appears, he battles with Munkustrap and steals Deuteronomy (who is brought back by Mistoffelees). Macavity is usually depicted with vibrant clashing colors, wild hair, and uses quick threatening movements, while the Idris Elba version rein-visioned him as extremely sleek, black-furred, and sly and cunning, often emerging from the shadows to tempt other cats with their vices. He is given numerous speaking lines, and his villainy is expanded on as he kidnaps the other cats in an attempt to be the chosen Jellicle. I actually quite like this interpretation of the character, and it makes him a little more relatable instead of the vicious enigma he is in the play. Something of note is just how literally the new movie took the rumors of Macavity’s powers. His abilities, which were muted and used sparingly in the play, were used constantly and without hesitation in this movie. He spends most of his time teleporting other characters and creating illusions, but then uses trickery to try and win the Jellicle ball, and fails to demonstrate his power of levitation when it really matters. So whether he does or doesn’t have real powers seems to be.. situational to say the least. Another thing I want to point out is just how uncomfortably sudden Macavity’s reveal is. He spends most of the movie in the shadows hidden under an oversized coat and hat, and then suddenly appears at the Jellicle ball without any disguise on whatsoever. Idris Elba is a damn fine looking dude, and you can clearly see his very human-shaped abs beneath his sleek Macavity fur, which is so close to his actual skintone that I’ve seen him described as “extra naked” and it’s pretty accurate. You just really aren’t prepared for this moment when it happens. Growltiger This guy is a rough and rowdy pirate-esque character with a dramatic love life. His segment was cut from the ‘98 film, so seeing the play in person is just about the only way to experience it. Because of this, it’s probable that many people may not even be aware of this character, so I was pretty excited to hear that he would be featured in the 2019 movie. Growltiger is quite overdue for his time in the mainstream spotlight. Turns out, unfortunately, Growltiger's Last Stand is not what you get. His appearance in the movie is more or less a cameo with a short introduction, and the rest of the time he’s serving as Macavity‘s henchman in the background. This is based on the 2015 revival of him as a dock worker, but I feel it was a weak representation of his character, and really wish he’d been shown in a better light. The movie cuts out pretty much every fight scene, and Growltiger‘s would have been dramatic and fun to watch, especially after Gus’s reminiscing. Instead, he was kind of lazily thrown into a river by Gus, who previously bragged about playing the role of Growltiger on stage, which is kind of an interesting juxtaposition if you don’t think about it too hard. Old Deuteronomy A surprising change was the decision to make Deuteronomy female, played by Judi Dench. I love old grandpa Deuteronomy, but this didn’t really bother me. Deuteronomy is a wise, beloved leader of the Jellicles and there’s not really anything integral about the character that says they couldn’t be female. Deuteronomy carries himself with dignity, but isn’t afraid to dance along with the songs of the other more lively cats, and Judi Dench certainly has an air of authority and respect about her. The character’s songs are reflective and thought-provoking, but once again, the 2019 movie fails to make any of these sequences actually entertaining. The absolute worst part of the entire movie comes at the very end, when Deuteronomy makes horrific, unblinking eye contact with the camera, and slowly talks her way through the Ad-Dressing of Cats. This is absolutely bewildering considering how the movie deliberately sets up Victoria as a main character in place of the audience, only to completely chuck that out the window of a moving car just to break the 4th wall in the most uncomfortable way possible and directly address the audience anyway. What is even the point? I can’t imagine there’s a single person that would watch that and be okay with it. The Ad-Dressing of Cats is supposed to be a cute, fun little recap of everything the cats supposedly taught you, but this movie made it feel like a lecturing stare-down. Other notes The Awefull Battle of the Pekes and the Pollicles was cut entirely from the movie, which is fine because it isn’t integral to the story or anything, considering it was also cut from the stage play when I saw it live. I kind of shudder to think of how The Great Rumpus Cat would have been interpreted in this movie, so I think we were all probably spared some indignities. While this movie was watchable and certainly an interesting take on the play, it creatively added very little and only succeeded in making me desperately want to go watch the ‘98 musical. I thought at least this movie would be a fun soundtrack to view, but many of the songs just didn’t have the punchiness, joy, charm, or energy that I’m used to. There were parts of it that I liked enough to say this isn’t the worst movie I’ve ever seen, but that’s not exactly a glowing review. From the perspective of a theatre fan and a furry: If I want to see CATS, I’m most certainly going to choose the filmed musical over this new movie any day. I’m infinitely more charmed by the graceful 80′s style dancers of the play than I am by the uncanny valley, painfully human cat-people of the new movie (and honestly I haven’t seen a single piece of fanart for it, so that really tells you all you need to know).

#CATS #cats the musical #movie review #furry fandom #rambles #no one is going to read all of this lmao #i just wanted to share my thoughts

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theabominableblogger · 5 years ago

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My Reaction to “Birds of Prey“

*in best Roman Sionis impression* WHOOO!

Figured I might as well FINALLY watch it. On with the show!

*silently jams to the opening logos*

This animated intro is great.

*snorts at the little animation of how an egg gets fertilized*

Why is this animated Joker a different (and actually better) character design than what we got in Suicide Squad? Were we robbed of Letoker in full Joker suited glory? I think we were.

“Behind every successful man is a badass broad.” *points at screen in agreement*

I love Harley’s freaking rainbow apartment

The hyena!

This movie has the same amount of color saturation as “Pulp Fiction”

Freaking Bernie the Beaver is holding her tissues! We stan supportive friends!

*gasp* Cass!

This guy [Roman’s driver] looks an awful lot like Jon Hamm and that is never gonna go away

“It’s not a party without a little drama!” I love Ewan McGregor

*snorts in hilarity when Harley turns to address the audience about how much she doesn’t like Roman in front of Roman*

“Do give the Joker my [Roman] best.” Uhhh....

*jams the crap out to “Boss Bitch” by Doja Cat*

*laughs at Harley drunkenly giving relationship advice to a female bust in the club*

“Some people have the Eiffel Tower. Or Olive Garden.” Can we please hear the stories about Gotham’s Olive Garden?

Oh that shot [of Harley walking away from the Ace Chemicals explosion] is great

[Four Minutes Ago] *snorts in hilarity*

So far I actually really like Rosie Perez as Montoya.

Huntress!

*Huntress kills the mob people in the flashback* That was awesome. And the way Montoya steps back and forth to investigate the body is great.

“Harley Quinn just called open season on herself.” And oop.

God, seeing Ewan as Black Mask is really gonna throw me off but man this is gonna be a great performance.

*jaw drops in horror when Zsasz removes someone’s FACE*

JESUS CHRIST HOLY SHIT RATED “R” HUH?!?

“Is that a snot bubble?” Shit!

OHHHHH THAT SHOT OF ROMAN WITH THE MASK ON!!! AAAAAAHHHH!!

The SATURATION IN THIS MOVIE

Also the soundtrack and aesthetic in this movie is very... “Suicide Squad”-esque

Man that sandwich looks good

*jaw drops when Harley accidentally throws her sandwich into the road*

Also they de-saturated everything again hahaha

Oh my gosh that guy [”Happy”] is HUGE

[GRIEVANCE: COSMETIC VANDALISM] Yeah, that sounds about right

“Par-ley??” *snorts*

Her [Montoya’s] shirt....

Also why is she wearing that shirt at work?

This movie is giving me huge Tarantino vibes

Why does the actor that plays Montoya’s boss looks familiar?

Oh! He’s Rufus in “Supernatural.” Bobby’s kinda buddy!

“Ms. Montoya, we do have a dress code.” There we go.

They are really just going back and forth in the timeline to cover everything, aren’t they?

Harley’s using nonlethal rounds?

The action set pieces in this movie so far are awesome.

*says “Run, piggy, run!” along with Harley*

Of course Dinah is singing “This Is A Man’s World”

Also I’ve seen like a 20 second Twitter compilation of Roman saying the f-bomb and it’s glorious

“We could make our own family.” Oh snap.

WAIT THAT’S THE GUY WHOSE FACE ZSASZ REMOVED!

Does... Roman... like Dinah? Like... that? Or is this manipulation?

*chuckles when drunk Harley slides up next to Dinah at the bar*

*gets very uncomfortable at a guy trying to take advantage of a drunk Harley*

C’mon Dinah...

What’s the song playing here [when Dinah’s beating up the guys in the alley]?

Uh whatcha doing in the corner there, Zsasz?

“Oh sooongbirrddd?” Noo...

Did I just see a street sign that said “ANUS”?

So is Cass faking a broken wrist or does she actually have a broken wrist?

So far my favorite characters are Montoya and Dinah. Not gonna lie.

*has to muffle laughter when Roman does the mmkay hand sign*

“I mean, I like crossbows!” *giggles*

Holy shit, Zsasz is jealous of Dinah.

“Look at his little ears, the little haircut...” *insane giggling*

ZSASZ IS DYING IN THE BACK I LOVE THIS SONG

Dinah is clearly rethinking some life decisions while looking at that statue of Roman

*jams out to “Sway with Me” by GALAXRA*

*Cass robs Zsasz of the diamond* WHOOP!

*winces when Roman does acupuncture*

“SHE’s a chILDDD!!” *laughs*

ZSASZ

Ho shit that shot of Roman on top of the stairs looking down at Harley

“VOTED FOR BERNIE” HAHAHA

*Harley completely derails Roman’s villain monologue* THIS IS AMAZING

HE [Roman] GOT A BOWL OF POPCORN

*Zsasz licks Harley’s cheek* EEUUUGGGHHH!!

Did that goon just pull a tampon out of Harley’s pocket?

I’M SORRY CAN WE TALK ABOUT THE PICTURE OF NUDE ELEANOR ROOSEVELT?

*gasps when Roman backhands Harley across the face*

OH HERE WE GO

HOLY SHIT THIS IS GREAT

ROMAN IN THE STRIPED SUIT

THE CHOREOGRAPHY

WHY WAS IT SO SHORT I LOVED IT

Where is this cover at on the official soundtrack?!?

“I’ll give you ‘til midnight.” Hold on, hold on, what’s the timeline for this movie?

Harley’s just booking it in the background

Aaaand we’re back at the beginning!

Aaand there’s Harley!

Wait there’s about an hour left and we just now got to Harley meeting Cass?

CONFETTIIIII!!

Is she just using paint bombs on all the guards?

Harley, trying to enter the cells: I AM PRESSING. EVERY BUTTON. I CAN FIND.

Why would they put Cass in the cell block with all the adults?

OH HALSEY! COME THROUGH!

*Harley slides across the floor to knock a guy down* OHHHH!!!

Daniel Pemberton’s orchestral score for this movie is reminding me an awful lot of “Into the Spiderverse”

Is that Katana’s sword?!? How the hell did it get there?!?

WAIT SHE’S GONNA HUFF THE COCAINE?!?

Jesus, now THIS is Harley’s fighting style! Holy crap!

*gasps when Harley gets kicked back and knocks off a car door off its hinges*

*jaw drops* SHE JUST SET THAT DUDE’S BEARD ON FIRE

How does everyone seem to know where Harley is?

*Smash cut to Harley buying laxative for Dinah in the store* Hahahahahaha!

“I do not care that you’re [Cass] a kid.” Yeah, Harley, didn’t you uh... assist in the murder of Jason Todd in this universe? Hmmm???

Wait so how long ago have Harley and the Joker been together?

Doc calls Harley “lotus flower”!

Those are the nuns from the school in the beginning!

She is actually... talking to the beaver

“[Joker] Sounds like a dick.” I mean, yeah.

Also I just realized that Harley drew an actual dick in the Joker drawing’s mouth

HUNTRESS!

OH NOW WE’RE GETTING INTRODUCED TO HELENA!

*eyes widen in shock at the Bertenelli massacre*

*chuckles at the smash cut to Helena practicing in the mirror*

*Roman sees someone laughing in the club* Oh no.

“Get on the table.” Uh.

Oh no what is he doing?

“DANCE, ERICA!” Ohh. Shit.

“Take your dress off.” *jaw drops in horror*

God, I cannot watch this. Holy-

*has to avert eyes*

*Roman stops Dinah from leaving* NO.

“You soothe me, little bird.” AHHHHHHHHHHHHH-

OK, I can take a breather now. Ohhhh my God...

They’re [Harley and Cass] really just having a girl’s night

BRUCE, NOOOOO!!!

“No one knew we were here except-” DOC SOLD THEM OUT!

“This next bit ain’t very pretty.” Oh boy.

“I [Roman] own this town. You have my protection.” Mmmmm... no?

Whoa this super dramatic cover of “Hit Me with Your Best Shot”

OH HE’S [Zsasz] GONNA SEE THE TEXT SHE [Dinah] SENT [to Montoya]!

*Roman starts to break down* Oh. Shit.

OH THIS MUSIC

*Roman puts the mask on* OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

OH THIS IS GREAT

Also of course Joker and Harley had a hideout in Amusement Mile

*winces when Montoya punches Harley right in the boob*

*Harley kicks Montoya out the window* Oh she dead

*gasps* Zsasz!

Man that sideways shot of him is terrifying!

OH FRICK NO

JESUS I DON’T LIKE THIS

So is it implied that Zsasz only kills women or what? I thought he was an equal opportunity killer?

“That’s why he [Roman] needs me [Zsasz] to look after him.” Dude.

...did they just kill Zsasz?

Everyone except Harley is pointing guns at each other and all I’m thinking of is that scene from “The Office”

*snorts in hilarity for Harley clapping for Helena completing her kill list*

Oh Roman just brought a whole freaking army

OHHHH HE’S GOT THE MASK

Oh this music *chef’s kiss*

Oh my God is Roman gonna find Zsasz’s body?

Oh that crane shot out of the lair and back outside? That’s some good shit. Cathy Yan, I see you.

“I [Helena] DON’T HAVE RAGE ISSUES!” DINAH’S FACE!

*Helena pounces on a goon in the slide down and kills him* Geez that’s awesome

This whole set is great

*Helena gives Cass her old toy truck* THIS MAKES ME SAD

Yeah when did Harley have time to put on her skates?

Some dude just gets shanked then leaps back up

That fight scene just went by real quick

*gasps when Roman shoots Montoya*

*jaw drops when Dinah does the Canary Cry*

*Harley gets sideswiped by one of Roman’s goons* Yeah no there’s like half a rib cage gone

*Harley works on overtaking one of Roman’s goons’ car* CRAZY TOWN BEEP BEEP!

*Harley backflips onto the top of Roman’s car* OHHHH!

Founders Pier... geez that looks great

Wait are those all Roman’s goons just lining the dock or are those just statues?

Oh they’re all statues. That’s creepy.

“exCUUSEE me?!?” *snorts in hilarity*

*jaw drops when Cass tucks a grenade in Roman’s coat and activates it*

*still shocked when he FREAKING EXPLODES*

I’M SORRY THEY JUST KILLED OFF BLACK MASK

*Cass finally goes to the bathroom* Finally!

“Does she always [Montoya] talk like the cop in a bad 80s movie?” *laughs*

Guys Helena is great

*laughs when Helena laughs at the fact that Harley stole Dinah’s car*

“They call themselves the Birds of Prey.” Yay! Lemme see them again!

Harley’s jacket has a bedazzled vagina on the back of it

Look at Cass with her jacket and sunglasses!

“Yeah, I made the kid my apprentice.” Yeah, that’s not gonna last long.

#the blogger reacts #dceu #birds of prey #harley quinn #ewan mcgregor #black mask #roman sionis #dinah lance #black canary #huntress #helena bertinelli #cassandra cain #renee montoya #victor zsasz #joker #daniel pemberton #bop #rosie perez

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rockmiyabideusexmachina · 5 years ago

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2019 Megaman Summer Fanart Contest Results! [Part 2 - K/DA Akane]

In part deux of this year’s summer contest results, I threw Akane in the title due to the inspiration for the theme, and as I fully expected, nobody actually drew a K/DA-styled Akane. Yet that didn’t stop entrants in this category from trying to bribe me by including Mrs. Stelar in their submissions. Such an artistic temptation didn’t work on my strong will, despite entrants best attempts, in the previous category. Will it for this one? Find out after the break!

Thank you again to all who participated! This set of entries certainly was varied in scope, and definitely had me reconsidering placements over and over in my head, before I finally settled on them. I will be contacting all winners today, after these posts go live.

For the (mostly) full gallery with images at their actual resolution, in case you have issues viewing on tumblr, head here: http://imgbox.com/g/2sbxl6nX4C

I will also include a direct link after each entrant’s name, if the images won’t load for you.

Category 2 - K/DA Akane (this category focused on Mega Man characters in a pop group music scene, with a minimum of 3 members in their group. Scenes could range from stage performance to day-in-the-life to album covers, etc.) 1.) @inanehipsterslang: [ENTRY...is seriously 33 pages! I will avoid uploading every page into this post, so the rest of the entries don’t get buried. This one gets it’s own separate full gallery link instead.]

Every year, someone gets more and more ambitious with massive comics for these contests, and it truly is hard for me to not reward those who put in that time and effort for my silly little contests, as I try to objectively judge everything. And in so many ways, this entry from inane is so different from the rest, as well. It focuses on the lyrics of an actual song that you’ll see on most pages, while telling it’s own separate story in a very different way, to create a pop group. And once again, your tale does such a beautiful job mixing a deeply serious mood with humor interjected; with moving dialogue from the heart, that feels personal, and hits home in a lot of ways. You certainly thought outside the box with the theme, and can craft a great story!

2.) @iandimas: [ENTRY]

As always, Ian’s crisp colors draw my eye in, but I think one of these mama’s slightly more revealing stage outfits was intentionally designed to do the same thing...Akane missed the memo about ties being required for this gig.

It was definitely a surprise to see characters who rarely ever get drawn by anyone (Misora’s mom, Veil, and Emilia) in your piece. It certainly gives off the pop idol vibe with the flashy stage lights, video board and excessive fog machine use, that Veil could use less of. Cute, and well done!

3.) @ask-the-half-enlightened-one: [ENTRY]

A private concert for the Servbot army, featuring Miss Tron, Marino and Meddy. I really liked the subtle purple glow from the lights in this one, that even without full color, gave off a great vibe to fit the scene. Unique outfits for all of the ladies, that still fit their personalities well.

And did you all catch the little subtle W-I-L on Tron’s belt? Or notice how each of the ladies are flashing a specific hand gesture? Or how the second Servbot from the left sure does seem to be throwing up his hands in the air like he doesn’t care, in a Y...MCA...pose. Even the Bonne speaker machine sort of forms a giant W with a skull on it. Hmmm...I think there’s a hidden message in this pic.. XD

_______

Just came up a little short, but here are the other great entries for this category, in alphabetical order by alias -

@bracedshark��: [ENTRY]

Oh no, the hunter trio have finally become Maver-X!! I bet it’s the fault of their producer, $igma. Bracedshark bring us the timeless tradition of boy bands fleeing the paparazzi and adoring fans. Some want the attention, others just want to haul it out of there! It might not quite be Neon Tiger Beat Magazine, but I love the Beat on the mag cover! ;D Their relaxed, sporty outfits retain a lot of the basic design of their normal armor, and honestly, I’d kinda love to see/wear in real life.

@dahlia-the-nurd: [ENTRY] [Solo Tundra] [Solo Jewel] [Solo Star] [Solo Gemini]

Dahlia based her entry off of actual group Fifth Harmony, but even not knowing that, you have to love the flair of the clothing design for each of the Robot Masters here. While I am refraining from directly adding each individual pic in this post to keep it shorter, you can see each one linked above.

I certainly love Gemini’s popped collar and glam rock attitude the most, but it’s also neat seeing Tundra’s ice crystal braid all done up like that. That was some nice creative thinking. Certainly a great group shot!

@hyperbole1729: [ENTRY]

Hyperbole’s entry was a very clever parody on the Elite Beat Agents game, using Commander Beef and his Net Agents in the titular role. Their singing and cheering on people in need is meant to help, even if they seem to show up in situations that, you know, don’t really seem to be the most appropriate time for singing and dancing.

Like, say, when Navi babies are sleeping, or a woman finds out her husband is likely dead in space and her son doesn’t get why daddy’s not coming home. XD It’s one of those things that shouldn’t be so funny, but I loved where you were going with it, as a parody!

@janitorbot: [ENTRY] (*RAFFLE PRIZE WINNER - Archie Issue 33 Pg. 19*)

Prancing dads who think it’s hip to be square. Well, to everyone but Bass, they look cool. Janitorbot’s pic has the doctor trinity working together again to achieve their Ph.D in synchronized pop dance moves and finger *pew pew pew*-ing. I’m only imagining them singing Kaze yo Tsutaete, and you can’t tell me otherwise. The facial expressions for each character here makes this pic so wonderful!

@larytello: [ENTRY]

Reploids of the world, spice up your life! Lary’s pic reimagines the Spice Girls with a single representative from 5 different series. Nice job getting them to fit each Spice Girl’s unique look. Although I would have figured Misora the better option for Ginger Spice, rather than Baby, with her hair color. XD But I’d assume she is the youngest of the group here, too.

I’m sure the glittery background was partially created by the battlechip obtained from a Mushy virus. The sparkles and your shading all turned out really well here!

@prar-draws: [ENTRY]

Prar’s beautiful piece features Ciel, X and Zero as Kpop idols, with a glamorous angelic vibe. Gosh, those feather adornments around each of their heads turned out so pretty, and unique for each character. I mean, just in general, each of their outfits are really gorgeous. The definition and texture you create with your brushstrokes will always wow me!

roninapprentice: [ENTRY]

Ronin’s pop group is known as Claw, based off of the cat-like appearance of Cinnamon’s strongest weapon, and Axl’s helmet, giving him that pointy, cat ear look. With those connections, why not have an album cover where they all adopt cat-like looks? Their eyes even glow within the dark scene! Certainly a cute idea, with a background that even almost feels like a cat tower playground for the trio, even though you mentioned it was a laser tag arena. I can only imagine how distracted these 3 would be, pawing at the lasers all around! XD

#Rockman #Megaman #Mega Man #Rock Miyabi's 2019 Summer Megaman Fanart Contest

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dwindledglow · 5 years ago

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001. MEET ALEXANDRA

FULL NAME: alexandra kalla thompson. PREFERRED NAME: alexandra. NICKNAME/S: xana and xan. DATE OF BIRTH: january 7th, 1999. GENDER & PRONOUNS: cis female & she/her. ORIENTATION: hetero. RELIGION: agnostic. RELATIONSHIP STATUS: engaged to bryson hill. OCCUPATION: model and professional dancer. RESIDENCE: in between west chelsea, new york city and bridgehampton, suffolk county.

002. CHECK ALEXANDRA’S BACKGROUND

HOMETOWN: philadelphia, pennsylvania, united states of america. NATIONALITY: american. ETHNIC BACKGROUND: african-american. LINGUISTICS: english which is her native language, french and italian in a fluent level and spanish and portuguese both of which she only knows the basics to get by. EDUCATION: she has a degree in dance from juilliard school. CRIMINAL RECORD: clean. BIRTH ORDER: fourth and last. FATHER: tyler dajan brown, born on april 30th, 1965 in baltimore, maryland. his whereabouts, as well as living situation, are unknown to alexandra but last she heard, he worked as a record store clerk in atlantic city, new jersey. MOTHER: nora jada thompson, born on august 4th, 1968 in st. petersburg, florida, currently residing in sagaponack, suffolk county. she is the owner of four restaurants - wabi-sabi, a japanese cuisine place in soho, new york city, 1946 house, a contemporary french-american cuisine place in miami beach, florida, magari, an italian cuisine place in dumbo, brooklyn and scusi, an italian cuisine restaurant in miami, florida. SISTER/S: none. BROTHER/S: william bakari thompson, born on july 1st, 1987 in tallahassee, florida, currently residing in new york city and working as a personal trainer. carter kaluuya thompson, born on may 21st, 1991 in tallahassee, florida, currently residing in new york city and working as a publicist. jordan kade thompson, born on december 17th, 1993 in tallahassee, florida, currently residing in new york and working as a music producer and songwriter. SIGNIFICANT OTHER: bryson hill. CHILDREN: apollo kade hill, born on november 3rd, 2019 in southampton, suffolk county, new york. OTHER RELEVANT FAMILY: amani robins thompson, née white, william’s wife thus sister-in-law. monique byers-thompson, carter’s wife thus sister-in-law. jada niaara thompson, carter & monique’s daughter, niece. alice mia thompson, née cooper, jordan’s wife thus sister-in-law. maya anne thompson, jordan and alice’s daughter, niece. ivy ayana thompson, jordan and alice’s daughter, niece. EX/ES: kyrie howard and andrew russell. PETS: thor, a labrador retriever.

003. GET UP CLOSE & PERSONAL

HEIGHT: 5′8″ or 177 cm. WEIGHT: between 125 lbs or 57 kg and 130 lbs or 59 kg. BODY BUILD: alexandra has a hourglass shape, meaning she has a naturally willowy frame. she’s slim but has adequate curves in the right places and her body is toned without being muscly ; she has lean muscle, mostly. her hips are wide, her legs long and toned, and her bum is also toned. xana has a big bust — she’s a 34DD — and a flat stomach with some muscle definition, in a very feminine way. EYE COLOR: deep brown, often mistaken for black. EYESIGHT: her eyesight is not perfect but it’s not awful either. in short, she can get away without glasses or contacts for most of her daily activities but, especially at night or in places where there isn’t much light, she wears glasses to aid her with the eye fatigue and blurry vision. same goes for when she’s painting, drawing or doing anything that might require a lot of her focus. HAIR COLOR & STYLE: she has dark brown, nearly black, hair which, as of recently, has been cut into a razor-sharp bob. otherwise, she enjoys playing with it and styling it differently. naturally, her hair is curly so when she can't be bothered that’s how she wears it. for events, she prefers keeping a sleek straight style or a sleek ponytail. if it’s something more chill, she’ll keep it in loose waves or throw it in a bun. she’s a fan of playing around with wigs so sometimes, you’ll find her with bobs and fringes or lobs. other times, you can catch her with braided hair, cornrows braids — also called boxer braids — or braided ponytails / buns. it all depends on her mood for the day and the occasion. DOMINANT HAND: right. NOTABLE PHYSICAL TRAITS: one thing that becomes obvious when you gaze at her, is her willowy figure and hourglass shape. her long legs are definitely one of her best features, alongside her nearly perfect measurements. likewise her glowy and pristine skin, alongside her round shaped face and combo of big dark eyes and plump lips are yet another notable traits of her. SCARS AND MARKS: there are no particularly prominent scars, she has some minor ones courtesy of every day life, here and there. alexandra also has a few moles throughout her body and she has a barely visible birthmark on the back of her neck. TATTOOS: the first of alexandra’s tattoos comes at the tender age of sixteen, a little after she was scouted as a model and life started to rock onwards in a path that would become more simple and seamless than it had been until then ; the tattoo placed on the beginning of her back, reads lux in tenebris meaning light in darkness and is designed in cursive font — reference. as a response to the hardships and critics she found earlier in her career, she has a semi-colon — reference — on the underside of her right hand’s middle finger, representative of how sometimes she may stop but she’ll always carry on. on the underside of her left hand’s middle finger, she has her family name thompson tattooed in cursive and on her left hip, she has the word africa tattooed in small font. on the inside of her right heel, she has the greek symbol of inguz — reference — which means when there’s a will, there’s a way ; something that has helped her through her life. on each of her ankles, she has very small wings tattooed — reference — and, lastly, directly on her left side’s ribcage, she has a pair of boxing gloves hanging from a pin, in small scale and turned into something very dainty, meant to represent bryson and what he means to her. PIERCINGS: she has one on the right side of her nose, which she doesn’t always wear, and she has her regular lobes pierced. VOICECLAIM: gabriella wilson, otherwise known as H.E.R. ACCENT & INTENSITY: she doesn’t have your typical new york accent but she also doesn’t have a philadelphia accent, or a miami one. due to having lived in various places and how they impacted and influenced her in different ways, she has a mixture of a new york, philadelphia and miami accent. you can distinguish the influences too, and you can definitely tell she has a notable ( and unique ) accent too. ALLERGIES: peanuts, palm oil, pollen and pecans. PHOBIAS & FEARS: trypophobia. MENTAL & PHYSICAL ILLNESSES: none so far. ALCOHOL USE: on social gatherings or when it’s a special occasion. SMOKING: no, she stopped smoking when trying to get pregnant. NARCOTICS USE: no, she has never used any narcotics or heavy drugs. INDULGENT FOOD: sometimes, she indulges in food when she’s feeling down. SPLURGE SPENDING: rarely. she’s a responsible spender. GAMBLING: no, never.

004. DIG DEEPER

CAN THEY DRIVE? yes, she can drive. CAN THEY COOK & BAKE? yes and yes. CAN THEY CHANGE A FLAT TIRE? yes. CAN THEY TIE A TIE? yes. CAN THEY SWIM? yes. CAN THEY RIDE A BICYCLE? yes. CAN THEY JUMP START A CAR? no. CAN THEY BRAID HAIR? yes. CAN THEY PICK A LOCK? no. EXTROVERTED OR INTROVERTED? extroverted. DISORGANIZED OR ORGANIZED? organized. CLOSE OR OPEN MINDED? open minded. CALM OR ANXIOUS? in-between. PATIENT OR IMPATIENT? in-between. OUTSPOKEN OR RESERVED? outspoken. LEADER OR FOLLOWER? leader. OPTIMISTIC OR PESSIMISTIC? in-between. TRADITIONAL OR MODERN? modern. HARD-WORKING OR LAZY? hard-working. CULTURED OR UNCULTURED? cultured. LOYAL OR DISLOYAL? loyal. FAITHFUL OR UNFAITHFUL? faithful. NIGHT OWL OR EARLY BIRD? she’s a night owl with an early bird twist. HEAVY OR LIGHT SLEEPER? she’s not the lightest of the sleepers but she’s on the light sleeper side more than on the heavy one. COFFEE OR TEA? both. DAY OR NIGHT? night. TAKING BATHS OR SHOWERS? baths. COCA COLA OR PEPSI? coca-cola. CATS OR DOGS? dogs. NETFLIX OR CINEMA? cinema. SHOWS OR MOVIES? movies. LAPTOP OR GAMING CONSOLE? gaming console. HEALTHY OR JUNK FOOD? both. ICE CREAM OR FROZEN YOGURT? ice cream. PIZZA OR HAMBURGER? hamburger. LOLLIPOPS OR GUMMY WORMS? lollipops. BEACH OR POOL? beach. SNOWBALLS FIGHTING OR ICESKATING? both. LITERATURE OR SCIENCE? literature. HISTORY OR ART? art. CHOCOLATE BARS OR COTTON CANDY? cotton candy. XBOX OR PLAYSTATION? playstation. FACE-TO-FACE OR PHONE INTERACTIONS? face-to-face interactions. DRAMA OR SCI-FI? drama. HORROR OR COMEDY? comedy.

005. ALEXANDRA’S FAVORITES

FAVORITE ACTIVITY: dancing. FAVORITE ANIMAL: tiger. FAVORITE BOOK: and still i rise by maya angelou. FAVORITE COLOR/S: yellow. FAVORITE CUISINE: italian. FAVORITE DISH/ES: parmigiana, fettuccine alfredo and panzanella. FAVORITE DRINK/S: coconut water, strawberry-mango mocktail, mai tai and piña colada. FAVORITE FLOWER/S: plumerias. FAVORITE GEM: amethyst. FAVORITE MOVIE: moonlight by barry jenkins. FAVORITE SONG: chosen by blood orange. FAVORITE SCENT/S: fresh paint, the scent of new books and mint. FAVORITE SHOW/S: how to get away with murder, scandal and sense8. FAVORITE SPORT/S & TEAM THEY SUPPORT: basketball, she supports miami heat, and american football, she supports the philadelphia eagles. FAVORITE SEASON OF THE YEAR: fall. VACATION DESTINATION: anywhere in thailand.

#── ✰. ┊ alexandra : — HEADCANON. ❜

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sijjak · 5 years ago

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GROOVL1N DAZED December 2019

RAVI

Do you like Manhwa (Korean comic) characters?

When I was young I really liked them. I don’t think there were a lot of big chances for me to hear about them.

Then what about the character on your t-shirt?

I’m the type of person that likes to wear pattern or character t-shirts casually. But when I wore this today, I think it suits me even better than I expected.

The character on the clothes you’re wearing today, Felix, means happiness in Latin. What moment are you most happy these days?

I’m the happiest when I’m on stage. Or when I’m working on an album and preparing to be on stage? And when I suddenly plan something and think I’m doing well for something I prepared, I’m happy then too.

There’s a Ravi song that talks about happiness, ‘Live’. The message you want to give with your music seems well defined here.

I want people to be able to grasp my intentions for making music, but I also hope that people can interpret it freely. When someone thinks about my songs, it’s fun to watch the reactions of that’s right and that’s not it. There are times where I’m like ‘it’s exactly that!’, but on the other hand, there are also times where I think ‘you can think about it like that too.’

Then what message does your new album <Limitless> have?

I feel that there are a lot of people who will try and lock someone inside the mold they made for themselves. I have confidence, but there are other people who make limits and a mold for me and try to lock me inside that. I don’t think there are limits for anyone. It’s a message I’m sending to people so that they don’t put limits on themselves, and a message I’m sending to the people who lock other people inside that mold.

Just this morning the new album’s track list was released.

This album is being announced in two parts. While the texture is similar, they’re a little different. There are five, six songs included respectively, and <Limitless Part 1> is a little more exciting, and has strong music with a hip hop color.

You said you brought Coldbay and Xydo to GROOVL1N by directly DMing them. How did you end up together with Chillin Homie?

Coldbay and Xydo are rookie artists, and I thought it would be good if there was a friend that could fulfill a more intermediate role. At that time, I got a recommendation from the producer GXXD (Girlnexxtdoor), and so I immediately called him there and met him, and we were like-minded, so he ended up joining.

You’re the head of GROOVL1N, so isn’t a heavy weight on your shoulders?

I can definitely feel a sense of responsibility. I feel a sense of responsibility to the people who help me during my promotions, but this time it’s on a different level. There’s the people I gather, you know. There’s this responsibility that I have to do better, that it has to turn out better. There are times where I feel pressured too.

Is it the sense of responsibility that makes you move? You really filled up one entire year. You had nearly 10 albums come out and your face lit up a lot of entertainment programs as well.

I want the company to have more influence, and until I can get to that place, I’m going to show the most. TV programs are fun of course, but I also want to let people know about me and GROOVL1N. And I want to reach out even closer to my fans and my family.

Always in interviews, you say that it’s selfishness that’s your driving force to move. Is that still true?

At first, it was my personal selfishness, but now it’s a little different. Now, I want to contribute to the culture that I like and love. Dance, photography, design, etc., I’m planning a project called the ‘GROOVL1N Mob’ to gather artists of various fields. I hope that the GROOVL1N Mob culture and scene can have a good impact. Simply put, this is a good start, now I want to spread good things.

Don’t you want to rest a bit?

Umm, I want to rest, but when I think about resting, I don’t really want to rest like that (laughs). Already, resting has become unfamiliar. Because I’m always moving, that is even more awkward. Even now, I have my new album release ahead of me, but I’m already preparing my next album.

There was a funny fan expression about Ravi who goes without any rest. “Is Kim Ravi three people, Kim, Ra, and Vi?” Even if you had three bodies, it seems like it wouldn’t be enough.

Waa, awesome. There was that sort of reaction? But actually, I want it to look like that. To make people think ‘How can he pull all these things off?’ Keep releasing music and at the same time showing my face on TV. If people become curious about me or start to like me, they’ll have more of an interest in GROOVL1N. If the good artists that are with me are to shine more, I have to shine. I have to work harder.

For <1 Night, 2 Days>, you have been set as a fixed member.

Since I was a child, it was a program that I watched and grew up with. It’s amazing that I became a member of the program. It’s really exciting.

Now for all of your songs you’ve traveled to all corners of the world. Is there a place you want to especially go to?

Actually, there’s more places and food I don’t know. I’m the type of person that only goes to places I’ve been and only eats what I’ve eaten before. Haha. If it’s a place with no bugs and good air, then anywhere is good. I’m scared of bugs. They have so many legs...In places with good air, I want to breathe without any irritation or asthma and breathe healthily.

In <1 Night, 2 Days>, there are individually made distinct characters. If you were the producer, what sort of character would you make Ravi into?

I think I would just make it comfortably. I’m not really the type of person that makes myself someone like that. I’m just the type to naturally enjoy the environment and my relationships with people.

Besides work, what’s something that you’re interested in these days?

I’m learning martial arts tumbling. I was wondering about what I could do to show more of myself on stage, so I ended up learning it.

But doesn’t that eventually end up being work?

I guess so (laughs). These days I don’t have a hobby, really. I can’t even see my dog a lot.

It’s going to be Christmas soon, what are you going to do?

On Christmas, there is a GROOVL1N show in Busan. In the new year, we’re doing a party in Daegu.

Have you imagined what you might be like in 2020?

In 2020, I think I’ll end up being busy doing stuff for myself and because of other people. Get a lot of results from albums or whatever work I plan. I hope there are more places like shows, advertisements, TV programs or wherever where people can see me and GROOVL1N. I want to fill up 2020.

This year is Felix’s 100th anniversary. If you live to be 100, what sort of image will you have?

If I’m here after 100 years, I’d want to still be on stage? I hope to be able to stand on stage with an okay condition and have an image that contributes and has a good influence on this culture. Not just me, but it’s the same for all the GROOVL1N friends. I want there to be more people who are happy because of us.

Cold Bay & Chillin Homie & Xydo

How was the Felix the Cat shooting today?

C: It was the first time I’ve done shooting with <Dazed>. It was fun. Before we came to the filming site, I worried a lot about whether I would match the concept well, but I did it enjoyably.

It looks like you guys all have good chemistry together.

X: Yes, all our personalities are different, but I think we fuse well. We have a lot of consideration for each other, and even though we’re young, we’re all mature. Cold Bay, despite his outward appearance is very warm, and Ravi is reliable and always works really hard. He always works without rest, and wants to show us a good image. As you know, he’s also a boss. So for us too, it’s an environment where we can follow suit and work hard.

Chillin Homie, you heavily participated in <Show Me the Money 8> and joined the GROOVL1N label in September.

H: It wasn’t a big participation, but even so I’ve worked harder than last year. I wanted to show a change from the image I show or my rap style, so I thought the most suitable place for me would be GROOVL1N. I joined GROOVL1N without any concerns.

Is there a special meaning to the label name, GROOVL1N?

C: It’s a combination of the words ‘groove’ and ‘goblin.’ As you know, the Eastern symbol for goblin is 도깨비 (Dokkaebi). The meaning it carries is ‘the cool group of the East.’ Our logo too is the representation of goblin horns.

In October, you released the digital single <Spotlight>. The lyrics are about your own story, correct?

X: Yeah. that’s right. It’s my story, but it’s also a song I want people who share the same conflicts and worries with me to hear. There were times that seemed to be endlessly difficult and that even if I kept trying, I couldn’t see in front of me. After I joined GROOVL1N, good things started happening. Of course, there is some luck too. There is the meaning that someday I’ll go towards my dreams and make positive things happen.

Cold Bay, you are an engineering student at Korea University. How did you end up getting Ravi’s offer?

C: I’m in the department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Korea University. I participated in the Yonsei cypher diss track ‘Killitkomori’ at the Korea - Yonsei sports competition,* and it became something that people were talking about. At that time, I got a DM from Ravi and we communicated and I featured for him, and now I’m a member of GROOVL1N.

*T/N: Korea and Yonsei University have a famous rivalry, so every year they have a big competition against each other. It’s a very well known event in Korea.

What are your plans going forward?

H: I want to show my various colors. Because of the image I showed on <Show Me the Money 8>, people know me as a Boom Bap* rapper, but that’s only one part of me. Going forward, the songs that will come out will definitely be good. You can anticipate it, because I’ll do well.

*T/N: Boom Bap refers to a type of rap genre that has drum sounds that are similar to the words ‘boom’ and ‘bap.’

C: Actually, my album came out yesterday. It seems like I’ve only been working towards now. For now, I’m going to take my time, and find some time just for me.

X: I’m preparing for my EP that will come out in January. And please listen a lot to the group song that will come out in December.

The last year of the 2010s, 2019, will be over in a month. How was 2019?

H: If I look back from when I first started rap to now, I didn’t have confidence. I’m thankful that people are able to know my name from such a short time. I think I'm still adjusting to that. I don’t think I’m a perfect artist yet. Right now I’m just adjusting to the process of slowly becoming complete. This year, I got settled with GROOVL1N, and overall 2019 was good.

C: I’m going to school and I entered a company, in 2019 my life changed a lot. It was stressful, but more than that, it was a year where I got a lot of good energy.

X: The beginning of this year was hard. I couldn’t see hope, and I was very worried that I would have to keep going through this. As one month and one month passed, there were a lot of good changes, and those changes keep continuing on. I only cared about speed, and I think this year was a time where I found my direction. I thoughtlessly felt this pressure that I had to do well and I senselessly only looked forward and ran, but now I found my direction, and now I have a view of where I can go.

Felix means ‘happiness’ and ‘good fortune’ in Latin. What is happiness and good fortune to GROOVL1N?

H: I like to drink with the guys. It’s not anything special, but to me that’s the recent greatest source of happiness (laughs). My colleagues in the company are older than me. When I think about being the youngest, it’s nice that I can lean on the guys who are older than me.

C: Umm, GROOVL1N’s happiness. It’s happy to think that, as much as all of our thoughts, people will get interested in us and approach us. We’re a very new company. This is the first happiness that we all think about and hope for. Also personally, the greatest happiness for me is doing things that are fun and I'm confident in.

X: Talking often with my usual friends. I think right now I have to be happy. I’m the type of person that pursues myself for my happiness in the far future. Today’s filming too was happy.

What will GROOVL1N be like in 2020?

X: GROOVL1N has to have an impact in 2020. As much as we can make an impact, perfectly. Until now, we’ve been warming up, 2020 is when we will have to run.

#groovl1n #dazed interview #dazed december 2019

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vinylexams · 5 years ago

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A very special fireside interview with XUXA SANTAMARIA

Check Insta for our thoughts on this landmark album from Oakland duo XUXA SANTAMARIA. Stay right where you are to read a really fun interview I scored with the band this week. They’ve just released Chancletas D’Oro on Ratskin Records out of Oakland and Michael blessed me with my very own copy. It was so good I knew I needed to tell you all about it and I wanted to pick their brains a little bit, too. Without further ado, please enjoy:

//INTERVIEW

You’re still breaking into indie world at large, but you’ve already got a huge following back in California and your home-base in Oakland. What has it been like to be featured in major outlets like The Fader?

SC: We are a funny project; we ebb and flow from being total hermits to having periods of relatively high visibility (relative to aforementioned hermit state). I wouldn’t say we have a huuuge following in CA but I do think that the ‘fandom’ we’ve developed here is really genuine because we don’t play shows out of an obligation to remain visible but instead do so because we feel super passionate about the work and the audience and I think people respond to that energy. I for one, and perhaps this is because of my background in performance, have a hard time performing the same stuff over and over without change which accounts for us being selective with our playing live. That’s also why videos are such an important part of what we’re about. The piece in The Fader was important to the launch of this album because it established some of the themes and, to an extent, the aesthetics of this album in a way that can be experienced outside of a live setting. None of this is to say we don’t like playing live, in fact we love it, we just like to make our sets pleasurable to ourselves and to our audience by constantly reworking it. We strike a weird balance for sure but we’ve made peace with it. If we ever ‘make it’ (lol) it’ll be on these terms.

Chancletas D'Oro is a pretty incredible record and while it reminds me of a few bands here or there, it’s got a really fresh and unique style that merges dance with all sorts of flavors. How would you describe your music to someone who is curious to listen?

MGK: Haha, we generally struggle to describe our music in a short, neat way (not because we make some kind of impossible-to-categorize music, but just because it’s the synthesis of a ton of different influences and it’s hard for US to perceive clearly). But with that caveat in mind - IDK, bilingual art-punk influenced dance/electronic music?

SC: Thank you for saying so, we’re pretty into it :) Like Matt says, we struggle to pin it down which I think is in part to what he says – our particular taste being all over the place, from Drexciya to The Kinks to Hector Lavoe- but I think this slipperiness has a relationship to our concept making and world building. As creative people we make and intake culture like sharks, always moving, never staying in one place too long. Maybe it’s because we’re both so severely ADHD (a boon in this instance tbh) that we don’t sit still in terms of what we consume and I think naturally that results in an output that is similarly traveling. Point is, the instance a set of words - ‘electronic’, ‘dance’, ‘punk’- feel right for the music is the same instance they are not sufficient. I propose something like: the sound of a rainforest on the edge of a city, breathy but bombastic, music made by machines to dance to, pleasurably, while also feeling some of the sensual pathos of late capitalism as seen from the bottom of the hill.

The internet tells me you’ve been making music as Xuxa Santamaria for a decade now. What has the evolution and development of your songwriting been like over those ten years?

MGK: Well, when we first started out as a band we were so new to making electronic music (Sofia’s background was in the art world and mine was in more guitar-based ‘indie rock’ I guess - lots of smoking weed and making 4 track tapes haha), so we legit forgot to put bass parts on like half the songs on our first album LOL. We’ve learned a lot since then! But in seriousness, we’ve definitely gotten better at bouncing ideas back and forth, at putting in a ton of different parts and then pulling stuff back, and the process is really dynamic and entertaining for both of us.

SC: This project started out somewhat unusually: I was in graduate school and beginning what would become a performance practice. I had hit a creative roadblock working with photography - the medium I was in school to develop- and after reading Frank Kogan’s Real Punks Don’t Wear Black felt this urge to make music as a document of experience following Kogan’s excellent essay on how punk and disco served as spatial receptacles for a wealth of experiences not present in the mainstream of the time. I extrapolated from this notion the idea that popular dance genres like Salsa, early Hip Hop, and Latin Freestyle among many others, had served a similar purpose for protagonists of a myriad Caribbean diasporas. These genres in turn served as sonic spaces to record, even if indirectly, the lived experiences of the coming and going from one’s native island to the mainland US wherein new colonial identities are placed upon you. From this I decided to create an alter ego (ChuCha Santamaria, where our band name originally stems from) to narrate a fantastical version of the history of Puerto Rico post 1492 via dance music. We had absolutely no idea what we were doing but I look back on that album (ChuCha Santamaria y Usted - on vinyl from Young Cubs Records) fondly. It’s rough and strange and we’ve come so far from that sound but it’s a key part of our trajectory. Though my songwriting has evolved to move beyond the subjective scope of this first album - I want to be more inclusive of other marginalized spaces- , it was key that we cut our teeth making it. We are proud to be in the grand tradition of making an album with limited resources and no experience :P

We’re a big community of vinyl enthusiasts and record collectors so first and foremost, thanks for making this available on vinyl. What does the vinyl medium mean to you as individuals and/or as a band?

MGK: I think for us, it’s the combination of the following: A. The experience of listening in a more considered way, a side at a time. B. Tons of real estate for graphics and design and details. C. The sound, duh!

SC: In addition to Matt’s list, I would just say that I approach making an album that will exist in record form as though we were honing a talisman. Its objecthood is very important. It contains a lot of possibility and energy meant to zap you the moment you see it/ hold it. I imagine the encounter with it as having a sequence: first, the graphics - given ample space unlike any other musical medium/substrate- begin to tell a story, vaguely at first. Then, the experience of the music being segmented into Side A and Side B dictate a use of time that is impervious to - at the risk of sounding like an oldie - our contemporary habit of hitting ‘shuffle’ or ‘skip’. Sequencing is thus super important to us (this album has very distinct dynamics at play between sides a/b ). We rarely work outside of a concept so while I take no issue with the current mode of music dissemination, that of prioritizing singles, it doesn’t really work for how we write music.

MGK: We definitely both remain in love with the ‘album as art object/cohesive work’ ideal, so I would say definitely - we care a lot about track sequencing, always think in terms of “Side A/Side B” (each one should be a distinct experience), and details like album art/inserts/LP labels etc matter a lot to us.

What records or albums were most important to you growing up? Which ones do you feel influenced your music the most?

SC: I know they’re canceled cus of that one guy but I listened to Ace of Base’s The Sign a lot as a kid and I think that sorta stuff has a way of sticking with you. I always point to the slippery role language plays in them being a Swedish band singing in English being consumed by a not-yet-English speaking Sofía in Puerto Rico in the mid 90s. Other influences from childhood include Garbage, Spice Girls, Brandy + Monica’s The Boy is Mine, Aaliyah, Gloria Trevi, Olga Tañon etc etc. In terms of who influences me now, that’s a moving target but I’d say for this album I thought a lot about the sound and style of Kate Bush, Technotronic, Black Box, Steely Dan, ‘Ray of Light’-era Madonna plus a million things I’m forgetting.

MGK: Idk, probably a mix of 70-80s art rock/punk/postpunk (Stooges, Roxy Music, John Cale, Eno, Kate Bush, Talking Heads, Wire, Buzzcocks, etc etc), disco/post-disco R&B and dance music (Prince, George Clinton, Chic, Kid Creole), 90s pop + R&B + hip hop (Missy & Timbaland, Outkast/Dungeon Family production-wise are obviously awe-inspiring, So So Def comps, Jock Jams comps, Garbage & Hole & Massive Attack & so on), and unloved pop trash of all eras and styles.

Do you have any “white whale” records that you’ve yet to find?

MGK: Ha - the truth is that we’re both much more of a “what weird shit that we’ve never heard of can we find in the bargain bin” type of record buyer than “I have a custom list of $50 plus records on my discogs account that I lust over”.

SC: Not really, I’m wary of collectorship. That sort of ownership might have an appeal in the hunt, once you have it do you really use it, enjoy it? Funnily, I have a massive collection of salsa records that has entries a lot of music nerds would cry over (though they’re far from good condition, the spines were destroyed by my Abuela’s cat, Misita lol, but some are first pressings in small runs). For me its value however, comes from its link to family, as documents from another time and as an amazing capsule of some of the best music out of the Caribbean. I’m glad I am their guardian (a lot of this stuff is hard to find elsewhere, even digitally) but I live with those records, they’re not hidden away in archival sleeves, in fact, I use some of that music in my other work. Other than that, the records I covet are either those of friends or copies of albums that hold significance but which are likely readily available, Kate Bush’s The Dreaming or Love’s Forever Changes, or The Byrds Sweetheart of The Rodeo as random examples

Finally, is there a piece of interesting band trivia you’ve never shared in another interview?

SC: haha, not really? Maybe that we just had a baby together?

Congrats on your new baby, and also for this wonderful new album. It was a pleasure chatting with you and I can’t wait to see what the future has in store for you and your music!

#xuxasantamaria #interview #oakland #music #electronic #electronicmusic #ratskin #ratskinrecords

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