#max with the same huge bowtie

[blueberry-obsessed]

Oh my god guys look it's bubbles and buttercup!!

[thetwobosses]

Even more Saints Row reboot preview details from various publications (quoted parts are sections copied verbatim from the articles, not necessarily Volition’s own words):

Polygon:

“Ileso” in Santo Ileso means “unhurt,” or “unscathed.”

“While this is a more grounded game than Saints Row 4, it’s hard not to be a more grounded game than Saints Row 4, honestly [..] We’re still going to have outrageous antics; we’re still going to have lots of fun. This is not a grimdark Saints Row.”

The Saints’ origin: “They’re a startup business, they just happen to be criminals. The idea comes from Eli, a bowtie-wearing MBA and one of the four founding friends that start the Saints. “He just didn’t realize the business he was going to build was a criminal empire,” Jeremy Bernstein said. “So that means the next step is to make connections with people that can shoot guns.””

Neenah is the gang’s wheelman and was kicked out of the Los Panteros, Kevin, “a DJ party animal character“, was thrown out of The Idols.

“You’re building criminal ventures, and each criminal venture is unlocking its own custom gameplay with it. And that’s in addition to all the other stuff that you can do out in the world.”

The action and combat takes inspiration from films like John Wick, Baby Driver, and Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw.

Lots of driving combat, you can still shoot out of the windows but they decided to not implement cruise control as they wanted the cars themselves to be used weapons more than the firearms.

You can also traverse the map with aircraft, hoverboards, bikes and wingsuits, the wingsuits are even the focus of one of the side hustles.

Co-op play is across console generations. (so I’m assuming PS4 and PS5 can play together and same with XBO and XBSX)

Jim Boone said, “You get to decide what buildings you want to put down, you get to decide how you want to interact with them; you don’t have to interact with them if you don’t want to. But there’s a lot of depth there, and there’s a lot of aggression with this whole criminal empire area, and I think that is a huge separation from anything that we have done before.”

PC Invasion:

One of the new districts is Rancho Providencia, “the home turf of one of the competing gangs, which is a bit of a more downtrodden area than the neon lights of El Dorado, which calls to mind the grimier aspects of Vegas”

Neenah is the “driver and mechanic of the group. She’s an art school grad who couldn’t get a job at a museum and ended up working for the Los Panteros gang. It turns out she’s quite sick of working for others and would much rather work for herself, which is how she ends up becoming part of the core of the Saints.” 

Kevin is “a thrill-seeking DJ who’ll go to the ends of the Earth for his friends, and who’s seeking a place to belong and a real family.”

Eli has a fresh new MBA and wants to become an entrepreneur. He “very much treats the Saints and their rise to power as analogous to any other business. He doesn’t want the Saints to be a street gang. He wants to build an organization. As such, he’s the man with the plan… but he’s also quite handy with a shotgun.”

The Los Panteros HQ is in an abandoned car factory. Marshall Defense Industries is a PMC that owns and runs the commercial areas and is all about money. The Idols “are all about fame and notoriety: these are the taggers, the DJs, and the ravers. A lot of them are the rich kids from the mansions who spend their nights partying and causing chaos.”

You can use a helicopter and a giant magnet to abduct fancy cars.

Inverse:

Jim Boone said, “It was a great opportunity for us to tell the story we wanted to tell and most importantly tell a story that is contemporary that we think the people will relate to. What that means is, that could be everything from imagining the kind of debt that people deal with these days, student loans, the kinds of things you want to be able to do for the American Dream; imagine if you were in that world and you could form your own criminal empire.”

Playstation Lifestyle:

“You get to build your own buildings and set up your own less-than-legitimate businesses anywhere in the city, on empty lots across the environment. And the choice is entirely up to the player. Go ahead and build a toxic waste dump in the financial district, or launder money up near that gated communities.”

Gameplay similar to previous games. “This is not a precision shooter. Players aren’t meant to be turtling up and taking cover. It’s a run-and-gun experience that has been refined and, according to Volition, feels “really good.” It’s bold, in-your-face combat. Similarly, driving has seen a major overhaul, giving players the ability to upgrade any vehicle—even a garbage truck—for off-roading in the great rocky deserts of the American Southwest.”

Brand new game engine.

Volition has teased “pranking” in co-op but hasn’t specified what it means.

Rock Paper Shotgun:

The journalist summed up the gangs as “Los Panteros (Mad Max body builders with hammers), Marshall (PMC narcs with high tech weapons, apparently lead by Colonel Sanders), and The Idols (extremely hardcore Twitch influencers).“

“”We will absolutely have humour in the game," said Bernstein. "It's become such a staple of Saints Row that I don't think we could do the game without humour.”“

Stephen Quirk said, ”As you place buildings in your criminal empire you're building a crew, you're acquiring employees. Based on your choices of what buildings you place, you're also placing additional Saints there.”

"There are a couple of Easter eggs in there for the very sharp eyed, but by-and-large it's all new people with new quirks and new idiosyncrasies."

"Santo Ileso is our amalgam lots of different influences from the Southwest," said Frank Marquart. "It is definitely not exact replicas of what's in the Southwest, but I'm sure as you drive around the world you'll see things that are reminiscent of the actual Southwest."

[kaypeace21]

Byler hints in the background of s1-3

Honestly, this should just be called- ‘my autistic brain casually (and without even trying) notices shit in the background, but never mentioned it- because I thought it sounded too crazy to talk about’ XD. But the symbolism and Easter eggs give my byler-shipping heart so much life. So I thought, since you guys prob. didn’t notice it- I’ll mention it anyways.  So here goes.

Drawings/rainbows

There has been a theme in s3 about how Mike equates ‘falling for girls’ as a part of growing up, and his feelings for Will as something childish that he has to has to grow out of. 

- confessing to El : “A feeling … yeah, like, something… like OLD PEOPLE say it sometimes”.

- “And Will too. I was thinking we could all have new presents to play with and *scoffs* Sorry, that made me sound like a 7 year old... (apologizing to El)

- Mike getting in a fight with Will (after d&d), and saying they can’t be close anymore: 

Mike says, “It’s not my fault you don’t like girls!”, and then he tries to ½ apologize only to say, “I’m not trying to be a jerk. Ok? But We’re not kids anymore.” Explaining, this is just the way things are-boys fall in love with girls, get girlfriends, and this is just a part of growing up (heteronormativity).  He tells Will “I mean, what did you think, really? That we were never gonna get girlfriends? We were just gonna sit in my basement all day and play games for the rest of our lives?” And poor Will who is probably more aware of his feelings just responds. “Yeah, I guess I did. I really did.” And of course Mike immediately apologizes for being an “ asshole”, after this.

But here’s the thing! Mike actually does wish he didn’t have to grow up and that he could play games with Will (without girlfriends) for the rest of their lives. His room, in s3, SCREAMS that he’s trying to grow up/act straight... but he can’t let go of his feelings for Will. 

He literally takes down his old childhood poster from s1-2 for a more mature/adult poster. But on the same wall (where the old poster used to be) he hasn’t removed a single d&d drawing Will has given him. He’s pretending that he’s grown out of d&d when Lucas is around- because he’s emulating how (the straight) Lucas acted, all season. But Mike has it BAD (and is seriously pinning) for Will! Like, I love Will but his art at 11 years old isn’t so great to justify it still be on Mike’s wall at age 14.  He’s just that whipped (and literally can’t part with a single drawing Will has ever given him) XD

Like... it’s cannon that Mike caresses Will’s drawings 

He’s that ‘ dumbass blinded by love’ who thinks anything Will’s draws is a perfect- masterpiece. Mike could literally see Will draw scribbles and think it’s amazing! Like in s2 he just guides his hands through the scribbles he drew on the wall- no joke! XD

However, what’s interesting though is the one other things he took down from his wall. In S1 Mike (before he even met El)  has a heart sign, with a red heart being propelled by a rainbow. Yet in s3 , the season where he’s ‘obsessing’ about El- it mysteriously disappears. However, in the first ep of s3 when Mike is making-out with El we see a emergence of the heart being propelled by a rainbow (in El’s room) as a drawing. Probably signifying Mike participating in compulsory-heterosexuality and that no matter how hard he tries- he’s not straight!

So given the fact he can’t part with any of the pictures on the wall...you better believe Mike still has that giant binder filled with every drawing Will has given him . And he’s probably hidden it away , with the rainbow heart sign (because he knows it would look suspicious to have laying around). 

-Also, Mike literally has more rainbow symbolism than Will (and has had it through every season) XD

-the s2 ref being the most on the nose) Forbidden fruit + rainbow = queer forbidden romance. And during the 80s, that rainbow-apple poster in the AV Club was suspected to be in reference to Alan Turning (the gay ‘father of computers’).

Animal easter eggs that relate to byler and the upside down/supernatural-plot .

tigers- Mike keeps a tiger poster (which was right next to that rainbow-heart sign) in his basement through s1-3. In s1 we see Will also has a tiger drawing, which is later put on the wall (like a poster) in s2.  Sara Hopper (like Will ) had her death faked by the government (and had a tiger plushie in s1)- and Kali probably had something to do with it since in the prequel novel ‘suspicious minds’ had Kali talk non stop about her fav animal , tigers.  Theory  here. But again, Jancy is also connected to tigers as a romantic symbol (just like byler).

sharks- The Duffer brothers themselves said they based the s1 demorgorgan off of sharks, which Nancy even references in s1. Mike and Will have shark iconography in their room/basement. Will has a jaws poster shown in s1-2, and Mike has shark toys visible in s2. The shark (and bear) symbolism hint at the fact that Will created the upside down/demorgorgans/mind-flayer using his powers- theory here.

bears- Will since s1 has had bear symbolism around him. Bears symbolically represent  “wisdom” like ‘Will the wise’ and were associated with the demorgorgan/upside down in s1 and 2 as well . Max and Nancy compared demogorgans to bears- and Nancy and Jonathan used a bear-trap to capture a demorgorgan in s1 . 

But s3 made bears a romantic symbol- Mike was going to buy a golden teddy bear for El as a romantic gesture. The golden bear had a bowtie (it’s male). And the gray bear that Mike gives to her, was originally Will’s (as shown in s1 &2). This gray bear is coming right in between Mike and El (at the end of s3). They even kiss , while El presses the bear right in between them.  In conclusion these romantic bears represent Will. * I mean that whole awkward kiss (where Mike’s eyes are open and he doesn’t kiss back- happens in Will’s room, in front of Will’s open closet,  with Will’s bear smushed between them (pretty blatant foreshadowing).

dinosaurs- This one is probably a stretch but we see this boy has tons of dinosaurs (at least 6). He starts to info-dump on El about how much he loves them. But, she has no interest. And if the wtf look didn’t make this obvious.

She even gets up and walks away, ignoring his tangent about dinosaurs. 

She literally couldn’t care less about his interest in them. 

But in spite of this, we see Mike gave her Rory in s3 (since it’s in her bedroom). And in s2 we see him sadly look at Rory, with 2 other dinosaurs in frame. This, along with s1 implies he has a huge collection of various dinosaurs .But his collection is missing one of the most popular dinosaur species... the brachiosaurus (the long necked dinosaur).

And right after this scene in s2 scene, we go to Will’s room. And he has a huge brachiosaurus! This boy couldn’t even afford a halloween costume and had to have his hand-made by his mom... but he could afford this huge -fancy dinosaur replica? I bet Mike bragged about his dinosaur collection to Will (like he did with El). But Will being a nerd, was actually impressed. So Mike actually gave him his best/fav toy in his collection- kind of like what he did with Rory.

frogs- This is the most hilarious thing to me. I laughed for like 20 minutes on my rewatch. In s1 Will has a GIANT stuffed plushie of a frog next to his jaws poster and teddy bear. I’m dead! Will doesn’t even disagree with the “frog face“ insult. 

He’s just like ‘well, he’s my frog face’ . Time to snuggle with this frog that looks just like Mike . Will is so in love but also low key savage dragging Mike like that. I can only imagine Dustin and Lucas saying “nah, you don’t look like a frog”. And poor baby-Mike asking Will what he thinks, and Will not being able to lie, just saying “ Well... some people like frogs.”  XD

We also see that in s2 the frog is missing but the Jaws-poster, coin jar, and the bear (we later see El holding in s3) remain .Probably to indicate this is when Will started to subconsciously suppress his feelings for Mike. Although @theclericwill pointed out -that , instead, Mike may have used the frog-plushie as a pillow... for his frog-face XD

Throwing shade at Mileven/mileven shippers in s2 

In the Montauk pitch (later named Stranger things) they describe the Mike and El dynamic by saying “ If Mike is the Eliot of our show,Eleven is our Et.” (AKA they’re from different planets)

-In s2 , Erica  is forcing He-man and barbie to make out. Lucas angrily separates the two. And then this discussion happens.

Erica: “Hey , They’re in love!”

Lucas (livid- and standing right next to a rainbow): “No, actually,  they’re not. They don’t even exist on the same planet.”

Not to mention I doubt it was a coincident they had a (bratty) pre-pubescent girl be the proxy for most mileven shippers.Like not all mileven shippers are bad, but almost all the toxic ones (that the Duffers have to deal with) are tween girls. And to the Duffers, only a child could think 2 people are ‘in love’ after a week of knowing each other. Or that El could understand such things like romance- given the fact that her and Mike are from different planets (given how El has no experience with the outside world).Mike even says in s2,  he can’t hate Max because he ‘doesn’t know’ her (despite knowing her as long as he knew El). Meaning he doesn’t love El since he doesn’t know her. 

Plus, El told Mike, he treats her like ‘garbage’ and ‘a pet’ . And Finn after s1, said that the Duffers told him Mike thought of El as a puppy, and she is even compared to Dart (a demo-dog in s2). Mike asking Dustin, angrily “What, You have a bond? Just cause he likes nougat (eggos)?” Being a  blatant dig at people obsessing over this shallow aspect of their relationship.

Mileven was also compared to that  of family members. In s1, right before they kissed, she asks “will you be like my brother?” (while wearing Nancy’s dress). And Mike also referred to her as his ‘cousin’ . Not to mention, El loved ted’s laz-eboy chair (and Nancy said Karen and Ted “never loved each other” ). And right before Karen is about to cheat on Ted - she looks at him sleeping in the chair (and the lyrics are ‘I should have walked away’). 

It’s pretty hilarious, since so many people try to ‘no-homo’ byler by saying Mike thinks of Will as a brother/or family- yet, their relationship has never been directly compared to a sibling (unlike mileven).

People also seem to not realize Mike lied in s2 (just like he did in s3). He thought El was dead in s2. He told Max it “got her like it did bob” and then he made a spectacle in front of everyone saying “I never gave up on you”. Which was a blatant lie (since he just told Max a few minutes earlier, she was dead -_-). Mike simply blamed himself for her death (he said they needed her to save Will and even referred to her as a “weapon”). So when she died he felt the most responsible- and was hoping she was alive (and would answer his call) to alleviate his own guilt. Not because he loved her (that was an act). When he saw Will’s dead body, but heard his voice, he went on a rescue mission to save Will (from another dimension). But, Mike didn’t even bother going into the woods after seeing El outside his window (something he did for Will in ep 1, during a storm). And then in s3 Mike couldn’t even bother to call El and apologize- but ran to apologize to Will in the woods during a storm (bringing that whole parallel -full circle).

Plus, El told Mike, he treats her like ‘garbage’ and ‘a pet’ . And Finn after s1, said that the Duffers told him Mike thought of El as a puppy, and she is even compared to Dart (a demo-dog in s2). Mike asking Dustin, angrily “What, You have a bond? Just cause he likes nougat (eggos)?” A blatant dig at people obsessing over this shallow aspect of their relationship.

Bob and Mike parallels- the Rubik cube

Both are unathletic, smart, love comics, the only 2 to not treat Will ‘different’- and would do anything to protect their loved ones. And they also had crushes on Byers in childhood, and tried to give their Byers normalcy (despite them not being a ‘normal family’). They purposely display, and have Will -mirror Joyce- and Mike -mirror Bob- in multiple shots, throughout s2.

And both Mike and Bob are AV club leaders. Bob mentioned in one of the  earlier episodes  that he founded the Hawkins Middle AV club . And Mike later grabs Bob’s Rubik cube, and mentions this after his death (to solidify the connection- even if subconscious in our minds. He even proclaims after this “we can’t let him die in vain” . And this is when Mike makes the plan to help Will (before El shows up). 

gif credit: cath-avery, dailystrangerthings

[inikavulpixelreviews]

Let’s Talk About Pokemon - The Blipbug Family

824: Blipbug

Then we move onto our obligatory caterpillaroid, and HAH. THAT BUG IS A NERD.

Blipbug is simply ADORABLE. Its oblong head put me off for the first moments looking at it but then I put those dots together with how its eyes look like glasses and it's dressed up with a little “bowtie”, and I guess what's supposed to be a dorky haircut. This nerd bug is the embodiment of “Many thoughts, head full.” It's such an endearing little bug.

There’s like, two things keeping it from perfection from me, one is a fugly color scheme. It feels like we haven't had a stereotypical green-worm Pokemon in quite some time, whatever happened to those? Either that or make it mostly black with a much deeper orange and white highlights to both reinforce the “dorky kid in a school uniform” look while still calling back to its roots as a ladybird larvae.

The design also feels pretty samey when you compare it to Scatterbug. Again, feels like they were drawn off the same template or something. I know there’s nearly 900 of these friggin things by now and there’s bound to be odd similarities here and there but EHH. A bit too alike. Even so, Blipbug has a lot more charm than Scatterbug does so...

Personal Score: 9/10

825: Dottler

And what else is a nerd gonna become other than a sleep-deprived recluse? Well. Obviously not ALL. But I'm certainly not gonna be helping out that statistic. I'm someone you could call a nerd and I'm sleep-deprived and recluse as hell. I'm one to talk!

I'm a bit less of a fan of Dottler though. Its shell is obviously meant to evoke a doppler radar tower, in the same way I suppose Blipbug has something to do with blips on a radar. The radar theme is evidently what has it pick up the Bug/Psychic typing! Which is our first ever with that typing, took em long enough.

I do like its namesake dots through, which light up during its different animations. Its dreary face is also fun. It just feels like fairly standard affair for a “cocoon” stage at this point. And I can take or leave the little cartoon feet, eh. I feel like it'd look best if either it stood on a little more buggy legs or if it just floated outright.

Personal Score: 6.5/10

826: Orbeetle

And what else would the nerdy shut-in become other than a MAD SCIENTIST?! Well, I can't say I'm a mad scientist myself. At least not yet. I draw weirdo monsters, is that close enough?

Orbeetle has gone and poised itself into a machine-like orbular construct not too much unlike Eggman or Wily. The only difference being it's built said floaty device into its very head. I do love the neat visual that the clear beetle-body is actually just the thing's huge head, with its huge ass brain inside. It's even got the stereotypical “swirly glasses” you see all the time in media that usually denotes the “mad scientist” role. Though I wish it was a little more obvious that they were glasses or goggles, cause as-is they just look like wacky eyes. BUT they do make a cool ripple effect when it uses its Psychic abilities! Even its dots light up, which looks really neat.

It's even got a bit of a mecha thing going on, only fitting for mad science men! Its mean eyebrow-antenna also double as a mech's head-crest, but it's also a pretty unorthodox mech shape. Reminds me of Big Zam a bit, but even more wacky in the body department. Though I've also heard from my friends that happen to be Gundam nerds that there's some Gundam references in this design as well. It's going over my head. I only know what Big Zam is because it was a Game Grumps meme at some point.

Speaking of other franchises, I think some more of its appeal to me is coming from how much it really looks like a boss robot from the Mega Man X series. It fits right in with their insectoid bosses like Izzy Glow or Antonion. Orbeetle could be some kind of... Gravity Beetle!

It's also got a really fun pun for a name. Orbeetle as in it's a very orb-shaped beetle, but also the name together sounds like Orbital, hah. It plays in with the line's overall radar theme by having Orbeetle slightly evoke an orbiting satellite, which are well known for being able to detect where particular signals are. Hence the Psychic type in general.

On top of all this, it'd be easy to point at one of these, apparently a popular toy from the 60s that could've possibly played a role in inspiring the whole line. Possibly hence why they went after a ladybird in particular. I do understand the general grimace with this being Pokemon's second ladybird line, but I've repeatedly said I'm perfectly fine with repeats so long as their distinct from the first time around. (Or, let alone this line be way more interesting than Ledyba ever was). I’ll excuse it just this once, but it’d be way less egregious if the rest of Gen 8 wasn’t just filled with repeat animals.

G-Max Orbeetle:

OH, OH!! AND it gets a whole dang Wily Machine to itself! Translating a ladybird into a UFO is legitimately slick, and totally justifies the repetition to me. Because of course, in Japan they refer to a ladybird's spots as “stars”, so Orbeetle of course winds up being Space-themed.

The Pokedex even describes this thing as having brain waves so powerful that it can brain-wash everything in its immediate vicinity and mind-control everyone. Mind control being both a nifty gadget or power used by both aliens and mad scientists across all sorts of media. It even gets a special G-Max move that intensifies gravity! Neat!

Personal Score: 9.5/10

[Archive]

[anisanews]

2022 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 spy shots and video: Flat-plane-crank V-8 sings

The C8 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray has been out for over a year and the general consensus is that the Bowtie brand has a huge hit on its hands.

But the Stingray represents just the first stage of the mid-engined C8 Corvette’s performance. There is still a handful of models to come, one of which will be a track-focused Z06.

Fresh prototypes of the Z06 have just been spotted ahead of the expected reveal this summer. The car should arrive as a 2022 model.

The prototypes may look like previous testers for the Stingray but there’s no missing the much wider rear wheels. The rear fenders also appear to be wider than on the Stingray, which makes sense given the wider rubber. On the Stingray, the rear tires max out at 305 millimeters, but the rear tires on the Z06 are expected to max out at 345 mm. We can see on some of the prototypes that the front tires, in this case Michelin Sport Cup 2 R tires, already measure a meaty 275 mm.

Inside, we can expect a few elements unique to the Z06. An official sketch has teased what appeared to be the Z06’s cabin. The layout of the dash matched the design used in the Stingray, but the controls on the steering wheel were different and included a giant red button with “Spec Mode” written on it. There was also the layout of a racetrack in the instrument cluster, and carbon fiber on many of the surfaces instead of the usual leather.

As for what’s powering the car, we can count on an engine related to the 5.5-liter V-8 fitted to the C8.R race car. The race car’s engine is a naturally aspirated unit complete with dual overhead cams and a flat-plane crank—and this is the same configuration expected for the Z06. Just listen to the engine in our latest spy video.

2022 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 spy shots – Photo credit: S. Baldauf/SB-Medien

Peak power is expected to hover around 625 hp. Although this is less than the 650 hp of the C7 generation’s supercharged V-8, there are plenty of buyers who appreciate naturally aspirated power, even if it means a lower top-end compared to a force-fed mill. The engine in the new Z06 is also expected to scream all the way to a 9,000-rpm redline, which should appease the many fans who were saddened to see the Z06 switch from naturally aspirated to supercharged power when the C7 generation arrived.

For the power hungry, a twin-turbocharged version of the new V-8 with something closer to 800 hp is expected in a new Corvette ZR1. Beyond the new Z06 and ZR1, expect Chevy to launch a pair of hybrids. One is expected to be a model to replace the Grand Sport. The other is expected to be a flagship combining the ZR1 engine and an electric motor (or two). Don’t be surprised if it ends up being badged a Zora, after Corvette father Zora Arkus-Duntov. An electric Corvette is also thought to be in the works.

Sadly, there’s no word whether a manual transmission will be offered in any C8 variant, and there’s a good chance one won’t make it at all, though it’s hard not to love Chevy’s brilliant 8-speed dual-clutch transmission that debuted in the Stingray.

from Anisa News https://ift.tt/3tzhC7S

[kujo1597]

Peridot blew out the match she used to light the candles. Amethyst should arrive soon and she wanted this evening to be perfect.

She’s been planning it for weeks after all.

With a nervous sigh Peridot fixed her dark green three-piece suit. She’s never celebrated Valentine’s Day before.

Well, apart from buying discounted chocolates and sharing them with Lapis while watching Camp Pining Hearts. Which is a nice evening but not exactly celebrating the holiday,

“Oh,” Peridot exclaimed, she forgot something. She quickly picked up a tiny collar with a bowtie attached to it and found her brown havanese curled up on the couch. Peridot slipped the bowtie over Max’s head. He has to look handsome too, they are a package deal. Peridot giggled at how cute Max looked while taking pictures.

Okay, maybe Peridot dressed him up because she wanted an excuse to put him in a bowtie. Peridot quickly made a post to Max’s social media accounts with the picture attached.

The doorbell ringing interrupted Peridot’s Max petting time. He jumped off the couch and ran up to the door with Peridot close behind.

Peridot took a nervous breath then opened the door and sure enough, Amethyst was standing right there. The sight of her in that short lilac dress and deep purple cardigan took Peridot’s breath away. And that bun too. Stars, how’s it possible for somebody to look so beautiful?

“Hey Peri,” Amethyst greeted her with a big grin. “You look really handsome tonight.”

Amethyst meant it too, green is a good colour on Peridot and this particular shade went very well with her striking silver eyes and tall blonde hair, the solid black plugs were a nice touch. Peridot always looks good in men’s wear.

“Thank you,” Peridot said with a blush. “You look absolutely beautiful.”

“Heh, thanks,” Amethyst couldn’t help feeling a bit bashful. She then felt tiny paws on her thigh and gave Max a pat on the head. “You look good too.”

Max wagged his tail and bounced his way back to the couch now that he’s done greeting Amethyst.

Before leading Amethyst to the kitchen Peridot held out her arms for a hug and got a strong embrace. “Happy Valentine’s Day.”

“Happy Valentine’s Day Peri.”

The two kissed deeply before heading into the candlelit kitchen.

“Dinner smells great,” Amethyst said as soon as the aroma hit her.

Peridot’s pride swelled. “Thanks, I made chicken kiev, macaroni and cheese, and broccoli. It’s not the most romantic meal but it’s something we’ll both enjoy.”

“It’s not the food the food that makes a meal romantic, it’s the company,” Amethyst knew full-well something that cheesy would get a cute groan out of Peridot.

And it did, “stars I swear Amethyst, you’re way more of a cheeseball than me.” Peridot glanced at the oven and saw the timer ticking down. She gave Amethyst a peck on the cheek. “You make yourself comfortable, I need to get supper out of the oven.”

The oven beeped just as Peridot put her oven mitts on, she took the food out and plated it. Two chicken kievs for Amethyst, one for herself, a heaping pile of macaroni and cheese for them both, and a fair amount of broccoli too. She then cut a plain chicken breast into thirds and diced up a serving and put it into Max’s bowl with some kibble.

She then put the bowl on the floor and called Max who came into the room like a bullet. Max gobbled down his food.

Amethyst chuckled. “You really gave him a lot tonight.”

“Yeah, I do spoil him with chicken on occasion,” Peridot said as she put the plates on the table.

“This looks great! Thanks for cooking dinner.”

Peridot grinned. “You’re welcome. It’s surprisingly simple but it’s delicious.”

Amethyst took a bite of the chicken and the herb butter, meat, and breading tasted divine. “Oh my god Peri, you outdid yourself this time.”

Peridot giggled at the compliment. “Thank you.”

They ate while talking for a bit but there was a flaw with the way the table was set up. Amethyst couldn’t see Peridot’s beautiful eyes through the reflection on her glasses.

“Hey, I know a candlelit dinner is romantic and all but I can’t see your eyes.”

“My eyes?”

“Yeah,” Amethyst started to blush. “I really like seeing them light up when we talk.”

“Oh,” Peridot quickly put out the candles then flicked  the lights on. “I didn’t know that.”

“It’s kinda dumb,” Amethyst tucked her hair behind her ear. “I just think it’s great how excited you get about everything and I like seeing every part of that.”

“I feel the same way,” Peridot blurted out. “When you laugh your smile’s so amazing. It makes me feel all big inside.”

Peridot’s face and ears were completely covered in a blush. “I love you Amethyst, every part of you.”

“I love you too Peridot,” Amethyst said in response. “Your cute face, the way you scrunch up when you get really giggly, your style and how it kind of contrasts with you being such a huge nerd. And,” Amethyst sighed, “this sounds like a line, I know, but I mean it. I also like your burns, they show how strong you are and they’re kind of beautiful with their texture and patterns.

I love it all.”

Peridot started to tear up when she hear all that. She quickly wiped it away.

“Oh no Peri, I didn’t wanna make you cry,” Amethyst didn’t miss it and neither did Max.

“It’s okay,” Peridot said to reassure them, mostly Max who takes his job of companion animal very seriously. “It’s just- wow, thanks.”

Amethyst tightly gripped Peridot’s hands from across the table until she calmed down.

“You mean so much to me,” Peridot sniffled then smiled. “I couldn’t be happier.”

“Same,” Amethyst said with a smile of her own.

They met beside the table then hugged.

“We should finish eating,” naturally, it was Peridot who slightly spoiled the moment with her practicality.

Amethyst laughed because that’s so typical of Peridot. “Yeah, wouldn’t want all that work to go to waste.”

Before they left the kitchen Peridot took a purple box off of the counter.

She handed it to Amethyst. “This is for you.”

Amethyst opened the box and was hit with an unmistakable smell. “Chocolate.” She looked at all the different shapes, colours, and hand-brushed patterns with a smile.

“I made them myself, there’s a variety of flavours and there should be a guide in there,” Peridot’s nerves returned from earlier. “I know jewelry is more typical with adults but well, you know my financial situation.”

“Are you kidding me?!” Amethyst exclaimed. “I love chocolate and you made some for me!” She dug out the leaflet with all the flavours. “And you even made weird ones.”

“I think I saw one of my French ancestors curse me when I put onion in the one batch.”

Amethyst chuckled heartily. “Thanks for getting cursed for me.” She then dug a small box out of her bag and handed it to Peridot. “This is for you.”

Peridot opened the box and inside it was a set of plugs with green alien heads on them. She immediately burst into a giggle-fit.

“If Christmas taught me anything it’s that you like goofy plugs,” Amethyst said.

“I have ones shaped like wreathes too,” Peridot had finally calmed down. “Oh these are great, I’m definitely gonna wear them.”

“Awesome,” Amethyst gave Peridot a catlike grin.

Peridot put her present down and took off her jacket. They then curled up on the livingroom couch together. Amethyst ate her chocolate as Peridot got the movie started and shared her candy with her girlfriend after she got settled.

“Careful,” Peridot spotted a certain mark on the one. “Some of these contain peanuts.” She put the chocolate into Amethyst’s mouth.

“You worked with peanuts?” Amethyst couldn’t believe it, she fished out one that hopefully wouldn’t send Peridot to the hospital.

“Yeah, I wore gloves and a mask, I know how much you like them,” Peridot replied as she accepted the offered chocolate.

Good, it was raspberry. Amethyst wasn’t reading the guide.

“You’re nuts.”

“Keh heheheheh, please tell me that pun wasn’t intentional.”

Amethyst made a noncommittal noise.

The two shared a laugh and then watched their movies in peace while being huge cuddly dorks and sharing chocolates.

[connorrenwick]

Being Your Own Creative Boss with Desi Moore

The following post is brought to you by Squarespace. Our partners are hand picked by the Design Milk team because they represent the best in design.

Becoming an established professional in any line of work can be a long road traveled, but what if you want to really niche down? We reached out to talk to Desi Moore, aka Dude It’s Desi, about how she not only got her foot in the door of creating in the entertainment industry, but also what’s kept her there. Squarespace is the website building platform that has helped Desi out by getting her portfolio site organized in a way that represents her brand and welcomes new business with vigor, letting her quirky and fun personality and style shine through!

Back in 2003, Desi found herself in a place lots of us have been – young, undecided on a future career, and having a good time living a fun, carefree lifestyle. She had just relocated back to Los Angeles from Brooklyn and had the realization that a plan was necessary for the next steps she was hoping to take as an artist.

“I just thought artwise, without a college degree, who would hire me and for what? But I swore when I moved back to Los Angeles that I would not work another day in a restaurant, and that I had to get something legit in the entertainment biz on my resume to get some sort of foot in the door. The movie advertising agency Trailer Park hired me to be their receptionist, and I did that for about a year.”

Just before Desi planned on submitting her two weeks notice to take a position as a film director’s personal assistant, Trailer Park opened a print department specific to movie posters.

“Of course I thought that was super cool, but again why would they hire me when I had no experience. However, when the print department found out I was leaving they offered me a job. Apparently my goofy illustrated company newsletters, cut out 3D lunch menus, and all the weird arty shit I made and surrounded myself with in my reception desk area caught their eye and they saw potential in me – which to this day I am still very grateful for. So, I turned down the personal assistant job and immersed myself and became completely obsessed with learning and succeeding in being an Art Director. I worked really long hard hours and will never forget how stoked I was when I saw my first official movie poster printed.”

There’s usually that moment that stands out, the one that makes you decide to commit to what you’re doing and have a go at it with everything you’ve got in you. For Desi, it was a specific movie poster that ended up being more of a lesson than a success.

“I made a poster for Mad Max Fury Road that was super time consuming because I constructed a giant mass of people, car parts, motorcycles, smoke, destruction, skulls, etc. Each piece had to be painstakingly and intricately masked out (that is where you cut something out of its environment). So halfway through I was like ‘Oh my god this sucks, my hands and eyes are killing me, what was I thinking?!’ But I kept on going and finally finished it. The client and I both thought it turned out really cool, but in the end it didn’t end up getting used for anything, but hey that’s showbiz for ya!”

Being a creative individual in a business world can sometimes be a struggle, and you’ll often find yourself at a crossroads trying to balance both sides of a company.

Desi says, “I do find it a struggle. The business side of things: discussing money, paying bills, finding the time and energy for paperwork, etc. has always been a struggle for me. Being such a right brained individual it’s not a natural forte for me. But I absolutely love being my own boss. In my art career it offers me the freedom to work on such a variety of projects: huge movies, indie movies, album covers, gig posters, clothing brands, paintings and illustrations, whatever! So I never get bored or feel pigeonholed as an artist.”

She also owns a gallery – Showboat �� in Los Angeles, an entirely different creative outlet. “As far as owning the gallery, my favorite thing is it’s like I have a big ‘ol rubber approval stamp for any idea I may have. The show concepts and artists are all decided by me. Once I even painted the whole space purple, rented a clawfoot bathtub, and exactly replicated the When Dove’s Cry video set to a tee – purple roses, smoke machine, faux doves, stained glass windows, and my friend dressed as Dr. Fink. Dan Monick beautifully lit and shot portraits of people in the bathtub all night. Carmen Electra even showed up and stole the show! Basically I spent a bunch of cash to create the raddest free Prince photobooth ever. Business-wise nobody else would have ever probably approved that idea but I did, and so it happened.”

This spring, Desi is stretching her creative legs even further and releasing a children’s book – ABCs of the 80s – in collaboration with a former coworker from her Trailer Park days.

“Erin (Campbell Dunkerley) has a young daughter and really wanted to teach her about all the cool eighties things she grew up with along with her ABCs at the same time. Being an 80’s kid myself, I was totally onboard! Erin had some letter ideas and even a few clearances already in place. She was super cool about giving me creative control of the drawings and layout of the book. We were basically on the same page as far as the letters went (although for ‘N’ I did begrudgingly draw The New Kids on The Block instead of the Nancy Reagan / Mr. T D.A.R.E program, but in return I got to do payphone over Pop Swatch so it’s all good – teamwork making the dream work!) I’m not used to working on one single project for so long and I had a hard time focusing at the start of it. So me and my little dog Crackers went up to my friend’s cabin in the mountains in California for a month last year to begin it. So very cliché I know, but it was awesome and I now get why people seclude themselves when working on a book. It hits stores everywhere March 5th and a limited advance amount are available now via http://abcsofthe80s.com!”

When it comes to choosing a favorite project Desi has worked on, I’m willing to bet you’re already familiar…

“I really love when someone says ‘just do your thing’ and I can execute my vision on a project. Being micromanaged or being used as a tool to create something I don’t believe in is never fun. As far as my favorite project to date, I would say it was working on the poster for the movie Bridesmaids. I got to see it through from start to finish, beginning with creating the concept, to art directing the photoshoot with Mark Seliger, and on to constructing the final poster. The cast were all so sweet and hilarious. We shot several setups that day and one included going to a park with Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, and the rest of the girls to pose with a whole bunch of puppies, bunnies, and swans in bowties and berets. The bunnies wouldn’t stop humping and right then I knew it was career highlight for sure. In the end, we went with the original idea of making the girls look like badasses posing against a brick wall, juxtaposing the whole typical demure bridesmaids in a cupcake dress thing. The original copy line I came up with that almost made it was just simply ‘What?’. Shoutout to Damon Wolf and Maria Pekurovskaya from Universal for being a dreamteam and letting me do my thing and have fun with it!”

When it comes to searching out inspiration for her work Desi says, “I really love to travel and have my eyes opened to new customs, colors, and patterns. I travel often and try and be as porous as possible and stow it all away in my brain to subconsciously draw inspiration from when I’m just back in LA working in my studio. I like when the inspirations all get mixed up together and create a whole new vibe of their own.”

Further inspiration comes from a source that’s right at our fingertips, literally.

“On a daily basis, I would be lying if I didn’t say Instagram. There are so many amazing accounts that lead you down rabbit holes of incredible art that I would never be exposed to otherwise. I also have made friends with some wonderful and inspiring artists via Instagram and we share what we find and dig, weaving the web further. I would also be lying if I didn’t say I go into very deep Instagram meme holes on a daily basis – but hey, no shame in that game – humor is the icing on the cake of life!”

It’s clear that Desi’s outlook on the world, her eye for art, and her inherent creativity know no bounds! Squarespace has helped her corral all of the bits and pieces she excels at into one amazing site that shows all of her hard work and long hours off in a cohesive, beautiful way.

Ready to get to work on your own portfolio? Take the first step with a Squarespace website. Use coupon code DESIGNMILK at checkout to get 10% off your first purchase.

via http://design-milk.com/

from WordPress https://connorrenwickblog.wordpress.com/2019/01/28/being-your-own-creative-boss-with-desi-moore/

[justasmallbloginabigklainefandom]

Glee 6x01 liveplurk

Yuè [glee 6x01] and we're back............. in fucking Lima

Yuè lemme talk about season 6 before I start this rewatch cause uhm we all know that the storylines are fucking stupid, but still season 6 is my 3rd place favourite season (yes you've heard that right, I like season 6 more than 3) Yuè why? because those storylines are probably the worst ever, but they handled it surprisingly well Yuè 1. back to Lima? suprised to be happy to see the old places I missed Yuè 2. Klaine breaking up? both grow as individuals and by the time they're back together, they're stronger than ever Yuè 3. Blaine x You Know Who? okay, why... why... whY..... although you cannot deny that You Know Who got Blaine out of his depression which means something Yuè 4. new newbies? OH SHIT they're actually likeable Yuè honestly with Klaine, I Yuè 'm sad, especially now that I saw that they were so good together in season 5, but as glee presents it, their relationship became kind of unhealthy between seasons and I can't blame them from taking a step down to think Yuè and their new boyfriends? fuck them, really Yuè but I love how they both grew as characters and how they both admitted they have problems and that they're willing to work on it Yuè I'm so happy Blaine ended on a happy note for me, because I love him so much, but during season 4 and 5 I had this huge hate/love relationship with him because sometimes I couldn't stand him, and during the entire hiatus I flat out hated him for dating Dave Yuè but after 6x01/6x02 I took that all back cause I'm proud of my boy Yuè also of Kurt Yuè again, like I said glee made it look like they needed to break it off in order to improve, and sure, they also could've worked it out together and they could've stayed in New York together, but that didn't happen so this is what we have to work with Yuè and now to the episode Yuè like I said I am going to laugh in her face for this cause hahahaha you fucked up Yuè the show flopped and I am enjoying it Yuè no but really how offensive was this show if that's a thing??? Yuè worst first song of the episode ever Yuè well girl you finally had a home in New York remember and we all know what you did with that Yuè I really do not feel bad for her Yuè again I wonder how Lea felt about Rachel's character assassination Yuè this song is so awful Yuè I mean her voice is really great in it and powerful but the song is just ew in general Yuè ywah do you see that that's the Broadway dream you've been working for for so long and then threw away like it's yesterday's garbage Yuè were they even married I thought it was illegal Yuè but really how long has she been gone Yuè "they say you have to loose everything before you can really find yourself" Yuè BLAINE Yuè WHY ARE Y OH IN LIMA THO Yuè hey that is the Loser Like Me instrumental Yuè that is my fave Blaine outfit btw Yuè Oh Blaine Yuè he's so sad Yuè OH M Y MOTHER FUCKING GOD WHAT THE HELL Yuè I feel like cryi ng Blaine why Yuè hang on.. "parents" Yuè I LOVE THIS SONG OKAY AND HEY DARREN SANG IT LIVE Yuè I don't like the "girlfriend Rachel" thing tho Yuè I'm actually on the verge of tears because Blaine looks so sad and he has suffered so much wtf?? Yuè that wasn't a Phalanx rollercoaster ride... it was way worse Yuè you know you can actually parallel their storylines a little bit cause they both fucked up and ran home Yuè Sue Yuè really Yuè Sue stopped being funny a while ago cause this is just awful bullying why has no parent pulled out their children Yuè but really Sue could've ended on a high note but instead they did this Yuè KURT Yuè MY BOY Yuè funny enough he's the only Broadway Baby that has a successful NYADA career Yuè LEXINGTON ELDERLY HOME Yuè "and an accountant at night" Yuè thanks Rich for telling Kurt he's not over Blaine Yuè Blaine ... she is not a show choir genius Yuè MOTHERFUCKING WARBLERS Yuè random extra thing: I love Blaine and Rachel's fashion styles in this season Yuè TH AT OFFICE THO WITH A SHRINE TO HIS BLAZER AND BOWTIES H BLAINE Yuè "you're way past the maximum age to be dancing and singing with these guys" the fuck guys he's 20 Yuè hey Sam Yuè Spencer wtf Yuè Sam. .. that's not okay Yuè homophobic language isn't automatically okay since he's gay Yuè I miss Becky Yuè Janet is just weird Yuè OH NO Yuè OH NONONO Yuè THE KLAINE BREAK UP Yuè I CAN'T WATCH THIS Yuè I'VE ONLY SEEN IT ONCE AND I DIDN'T ACTUALLY SEE IT CAUSE I DIDN'T HEAR A SHOT CAUSE O WAS SHOUTING THE ENTIRE TIME Yuè and yet I can still hear the way Blaine's voice cracked in my head Yuè BABY Yuè what a way to cheer my up and make Schue likeable Yuè let's introduce this season's song thief: Cliff Yuè or I think his name was Cliff Yuè no but Rachel's outfits are the only good things about the season Yuè and if I reduce a female character to her look you know you fucked up Yuè back to the Rachel worshipping Yuè so many references to 1x01 in this Yuè Oh no.. That's So Rachel Yuè "LET'S JUST SAY I WAS FEEDING MY WORM TO A WARBLER" BLAINE YOUR FACE OH NO Yuè Blaine basically admitted he never saw the show Yuè "i was paralysed with fear... and I'm paralysed" Yuè please stop the Rachel worshipping Yuè thanks Superintendent Harris for being a sane character Yuè Oh Kurt Yuè look at that Rachel is actually a great friend Yuè Oh no Yuè I can't believe no one showed up not even Artie Yuè Kurt... honey Yuè I wrote a reaction fic on this a week ago or so Yuè HE SAW A THERAPIST Yuè thank you NYADA for giving Kurt an opportunity to fix shit without making him drop out Yuè Sue can you please not Yuè you have never showed them mercy Yuè YOU SMELL LIKE A NURSING HOME Yuè OH NO Yuè WHY SCANDALS Yuè Blaine sounded so unsure in that HI Yuè THEY DUNNO HOW TO HUG CAUSE THEY'RE S USED TO KISSING EACH OTHER Yuè I love they finally showed how much this relationship means to Kurt Yuè BLAINE WTF Yuè KURT SAME I'M GONNA EB SICK Yuè IT WAS SUPPOSED TO E SEBASTIAN Yuè you know why does this always happen to Max Adler Yuè he's also playing Tank in Switched at Birth and even though it's much worse, the storylines are somewhat the same Yuè in glee, Karofsky bullies and tortures Kurt, and then Kurt dates Blaine and forgives Karofsky, and when the break up, Karofsky dates Blaine Yuè (TW: RAPE) in Sab, Tank rapes Bay, and then when Bay dates Travis, her friend Mary-Beth starts dating Tank. But here's the thing: Bay never forgave him, duh Yuè THIS IS HORRIFYING Yuè IF KURT HUMMEL IS WILLING TO CRY ON A FLOOR IN A BATHROOM IN A TACKY GAY BAR YOU KNOW HE LOVES YOU Yuè shit.. .Fin was supposed to be here Yuè yeah it's true she's up against Blaine and Schue Yuè why the fuck did they have her singing this song??? Yuè Elsa's daughter will end up with Kristoff Yuè yeah I'm. not a fan of this song but she looks stunning in that dress what an aesthetic Yuè time for some Wicked green Yuè well