#cats 2019 review

[millenari]

i was just looking through negative Cats reviews at my local theater's website (yeah im not sure why) but this one has enraptured me. 'one of them should be in p‌orn instead of a musical' sis you CANT just say that and then not clarify WHICH character you're talking about that's such a Compliment...

#'i dont want a grown man dressed like a cat purring in my ear' SPEAK. FOR. YOURSELF. #cats fan on main #cats the musical #this was *probably* from late 2019 #a lot of reviews talk about not understand the plot/lyrics so i think sound quality may have contributed to a lot of them. esp in canada #one of the reviews refers to 'angelical cats' lmao #cats negativity

[sprnklersplashes]

no I'm fine I'm just thinking about how tumblr seems to be leaning towards using 'sex appeal' and 'fuckability' as markers of morality or whether someone deserves respect and being a little unsettled by it

#u can dislike a person without talking about whether or not you'd fuck them. #thinking in particular about that review of cats (2019) that did notes on here that calls tswift 'sexless' #and ppl applauding it like no bro... that's WEIRD #anyway.

[sizzlingbirdllama]

Watch this amazing video on Instagram and enjoy 🃏

#female joker #joker gaming 123 apk #jeff joker moreau #joker 2019 #dark knight joker #reelsvideo #insta reels #funny reels #reeltoreeltapedeck #ig reels #instagram #artists on tumblr #black tumblr #my 2022 tumblr year in review #cats of tumblr #русский tumblr #illustrators on tumblr #artwork #digital art #nail art #art #net art #gif art #ai art #traditional art #pixel art #oc art #photografy #photoshop #photoshoot

[adamwatchesmovies]

Furie (2019)

At first glance, Furie may seem like nothing more than Vietnam’s gender-swapped and localized version of Taken. In a way, it is, but the small tweaks lead to some major changes in the story's tone. With a terrific performance by Ngô Thanh Vân and well-shot, well-choreographed fight scenes, what you’ve got a movie that deserves your attention.

Ex-gangster Hai Phuong (Ngô Thanh Vân) became estranged from her family after she began associating with criminals and had a daughter out of wedlock. Now, she’s a debt collector living in the countryside and hasn’t spoken to her brother in years. When Mai (Cát Vy) is kidnapped by organ traffickers, Hai Phuong must return to the big city she left behind to rescue her daughter.

I admire the way Lê Văn Kiệt gets us invested in his protagonist without making her too clean and sympathetic. Right away, you know she’s tough. Not only is she a single mom surviving on her own, she does it by working a job that makes her an outcast and forces her to beat people up. Ex-communicated by her parents and brother, violence and anger is basically all she knows. The way she treats her daughter reflects her bitterness but you recognize the love present too. That motherly instinct is one of the film’s greatest assets. Several times, it isn’t enough for our heroine to beat people up for her to be pointed in the right direction. The people who have information to give will only dispense it once she connects with them on an emotional level. Often, it’s with other women who are mothers themselves; people who understand better than anyone else how desperate she is to get Mai back. This maternal love puts her directly at odds with the villain, Thanh Sói (Trần Thanh Hoa), on multiple levels. Both are women making their way in the world by whatever means necessary but Hai Phuong left the criminal life behind to raise a child. She’s giving part of herself away to Mai while Thanh Sói is looking to take pieces of Mai to sell on the black market. It naturally aligns itself in a way that feels organic and satisfying.

Ultimately, this is a story about motherhood, which means the fights are brutal but never excessively so. It’s desperation - not anger - that drives Hai Phuong and frequently, she’s the underdog. When she wins, it’s by exploiting every possible resource available and by the skin of her teeth. This does make a few narrow escapes feel just a little bit too convenient, though well-earned. The action scenes themselves are nice and varied. The initial chase when Mai is abducted is spectacular. It piles on the stress and gets you fully invested in the story.

Even if Veronica Ngo was just ok in the role, you wouldn’t miss the ending for the world. Her performance takes the film to the next level. She’s crafted a fully-realized, three-dimensional woman full of conflict and contradictions suddenly focussed on this one, seemingly impossible mission. Set in America, it would ring false but in faraway Vietnam, it feels so real while also fulfilling the power fantasy you crave out of a movie of this kind.

In recent years, you might’ve seen Veronica Ngo (sometimes credited by her Vietnamese name, Ngô Thanh Vân) in more and more American films: she was Rose Tico’s sister in The Last Jedi and had small roles in Bright, Da 5 Bloods and The Old Guard. She’s an actress to keep an eye out for and I say start checking out her filmography before it’s the cool thing to do. See Furie and work your way up from there. (Original Vietnamese with English Subtitles, November 20, 2020)

#Furie #movies #films #movie reviews #film reviews #Le-Van Kiet #Veronica Ngo #Cat Vy #Phan Thanh Nhien #Pham Anh Khoa #Tran Thanh Hoa #2019 movies #2019 films

[thevaudevilledemon]

For the penultimate review of the Special Effects Movie Marathon, I'm looking at the Razzie award winning Box Office Bomb that was Cats 2019.

Is it wrong to say I think it's overhated?

#cats movie #cats musical #cats 2019 #movie review

[thankskenpenders]

Happy new year, everyone! Welcome to 2024, the year that will mark the 10th anniversary of Thanks Ken Penders. I'd like to go over my plans for the blog for this year.

First of all: in the very near future, I'll have a post with my thoughts on Sonic Dream Team, and I'm sure I'll write one last Sonic Prime review once the final episodes drop on the 11th. I've also been sitting on an unfinished piece about the Sonic LEGO sets. I wanted this to be longer and more detailed piece that not only reviewed the sets but also went into the weird disconnect between homogenized image of Sonic the Brand and the actual fiction it's based off of, but it'll probably end up getting cut down a lot just so I can put something out. Let's just say I did a fun little thing with one of the sets.

Second: yes, I would like to return to regular TKP updates this year. As I've said many times, I wanted to do this in 2023, but I've been suffering from creative burnout after finishing SLARPG and have generally been unable to focus on any of my creative goals this past year. I'm hoping that this year will be better and I'll be able to get back into the swing of covering Archie Sonic issues. Even doing one issue every week or so would be vastly preferable to continuing the hiatus. I'm still only halfway done!! But aside from burnout, my other main hurdle is that I need to reread my own archive to refresh myself on all these things after nearly three years away. This will take some time.

The thing is, though, this year I'll have an extra incentive to go back through my previous writing and brush up on all things Archie Sonic. Because you see...

I've decided that I want to make a video essay about Penders. The comics, the copyright battle, The Lara-Su Chronicles, everything.

The why

I've thought about doing this before, but I never committed to the idea. I was too busy with gamedev, or I thought it'd end up being too long, or I figured that there were already enough videos on the subject, or I just lacked confidence in my ability to put together a video essay. So I told myself it wasn't meant to be, and let the multiple YouTubers who have cited me as a source on their own Penders videos fill that void.

Recently, though, a few things have happened that have convinced me it might be time. For one, YouTube video essays/media retrospectives/etc. are just getting longer and longer. When Quinton Reviews is out here doing 21 hours of videos on Sam & Cat, a subpar Nick sitcom that only lasted one season, I don't feel so crazy for wanting to make a video about several hundred comic books and two lawsuits that'd be at least an hour or two long lmao. Admittedly, I've also been self-conscious about doing a long video essay like this as a trans woman who has yet to do any vocal training. But these days I feel like I see a lot more transfem YouTubers who have done little to no vocal training, and that's given me more confidence on that front.

But the big one was Hbomberguy's recent plagiarism video. As I sat there watching it, I kept thinking about the time I found a CBR article that was just a crude 800 word summary of my two previous articles on Penders, published by a CBR writer who's put out over 4000 articles since 2019. If I've already been plagiarized before, and my writing is so frequently passed around as a go-to source on Archie Sonic drama, then I wouldn't be shocked if there were YouTubers out there straight up just plagiarizing me. I don't watch other peoples' videos on Archie Sonic, so I'd never know! So if people are just gonna paraphrase me when covering these topics anyway, why not take matters into my own hands and make what I would consider to be the definitive video on the subject? If hacks like James Somerton and iilluminaughtii can churn out these shitty video essays and people will still watch them, surely it can't be that impossible to make my own, right? (And also, uh, Hbomb literally told me I should make the video lol. If you're reading this, thanks for the encouragement.)

The what, how, and when

So here's the plan.

Part of this video essay will be an adaptation of my Medium article on the recurring themes of Ken's Archie Sonic run, with its content touched up and expanded upon. There were a few things I skimmed over in the article because I didn't want it to get too long, but again, people are out here watching ten hour videos about bad Nickelodeon sitcoms now. I can get away with elaborating a little more. I can add a few paragraphs talking about the Chaos Knuckles arc, or throw in a little more historical context I've discovered in the years since.

After covering the comics, the back half(-ish?) of the video will be dedicated to the copyright battles and their ensuing controversies, trying to give an accurate picture of what actually went down, the sheer scale of how bad Archie fucked up, and what our takeaways should be. This will have some similarities to my New York Magazine article on the subject, but I'll be rewriting it from scratch. I REALLY had to keep things short for that article because I was already way over the expected word count, and my tone was a little more straight-laced than normal because I was trying to keep things Professional. I can riff more and insert more of my own opinions this time, like I normally would.

I'll inevitably have to touch on some of Ken's Bad Tweets when discussing things that have happened after the lawsuits, but I don't want the video to just devolve into a list of times people got mad at him on Twitter, so I'm gonna try to keep that to a minimum in favor of focusing on his actual work. Things like the Scourge the Speed Demon incident and his continued statements on certain characters' copyright statuses probably warrant mentioning, though. And finally, assuming that the book really does come out this summer, I would like the grand finale of the video to be about those first couple chapters of The Lara-Su Chronicles.

I don't currently know when this video will get done, but it'll probably be in the back half of the year, especially with me waiting for the book to either drop or get delayed yet again. But I've actually already started writing a bit of the script, and will keep chipping away at it for a while.

So, uh, yeah, look forward to that? Wish me luck?

#tkp post

[sasaranurude]

Okay. I've been playing Tokyo Debunker today, since the release happened to catch me on a day when all I'd planned to do was write fanfiction. I just finished reading the game story prologue (it was longer than expected!), so here's a review type post. If you're reading this post not having seen a single thing about this game: it's a story-based joseimuke gacha mobile game that just released globally today. It's about a girl who suddenly finds herself attending a magic school and mingling with elite, superhuman students known as ghouls. If you look in the tumblr tag for the game you'll see what appears to be a completely different game from 2019 or so: they retooled it completely midway through development, changing just about everything about it due to "escalating competition within the gaming industry."

I'll talk about how this looks like a blatant twst clone at the end.

Starting with the positive: The story is charming. I enjoyed it thoroughly the entire time and am excited to read more. The mix between visual novel segments and motion comics was really nice--it broke things up and added a lot of oomph to the action or atmospheric scenes that visual novels generally lack. I like the art in the comic parts a lot. the live2d in the visual novel parts is... passable. Tone-wise, I think the story was a little bit all over the place and would like to see more of the horror that it opened on, but I didn't mind the comedic direction it went in either. The translation is completely seamless. The characters so far all have unique voices and are just super fun and cute. Of the ones who've had larger roles in the story so far, there's not a single one I dislike. It's all fully voiced in Japanese and the acting is solid. (I don't recognize any voices, and can't seem to find any seiyuu credits, so it seems they're not big names, but they deliver nonetheless.) Kaito in particular I found I was laughing at his lines a ton, both the voicing and the writing.

He's looking for a girlfriend btw. Spreading the word.

The problem is like. The gameplay is the worst dark-pattern microtransaction-riddled bullshit I've ever seen. Hundred passive timers going at all times. Fifty different item-currencies. Trying to get you to spend absurd amounts of real world money at every turn. There's like five different indicators that take you to various real-money shop items that I don't know how to dismiss the indicator, I guess you just have to spend money, wtaf. Bajillion different interlocking systems mean you have zero sense of relative value of all the different item-currencies. I did over the course of the day get enough diamonds for one ten-pull, which I haven't used yet. Buying enough diamonds for a ten-pull costs a bit under $60 (presumably USD, but there's a chance the interface is automatically making that CAD for me--not gonna spend the money to check lmfao), with an SSR rate of 1%. BULLSHIIIIIT.

There's like a goddamn thousand-word essay explaining the dozen different types of character upgrades and equippables and equippables for the equippables!! Bad! Bad game design! That's just overcomplicating bullshit to trick people into thinking they're doing something other than clicking button to make number go up! That is not gameplay!

In terms of the actual gameplay, there is none. The battle system is full auto. There might be teambuilding, but from what I've seen so far, most of that consists of hoping you pull good cards from gacha and then clicking button to make number go up. There's occasional rhythm segments but there's no original music, it's just remixes of public domain classical music lmao. I'd describe the rhythm gameplay as "at least more engaging than twisted wonderland's," which is not a high bar

At least there's a cat in the rhythm bit.

And like, ok, I gotta remark on how derivative it is. Like I mentioned in my post earlier, this game is unabashedly aping twisted wonderland's setting and aesthetic. (That said, most of the stuff it steals from twst is magic school stuff that twst also basically stole from Harry Potter, so...?) However, it isn't exactly like twst: in this one, the characters say fuck a lot and bleed all over the place and do violence. Basically, the tone is a fair bit more adult than twst's kid-friendly vibe. (Not, like, adult adult, and I probably wouldn't even call it dark--it's still rated Teen lol. Just more adult than twst.)

Rather than just being students at magic school, the ghouls also go out into the mundane world to go on missions where they fight and investigate monsters and cryptids. Honestly, the magic school setting feels pretty tacked-on. The things that are enjoyable about this would've been just as enjoyable in about any other setting--you can tell this whole aspect was a late trend-chasing addition, lmao. So, yeah, it's blatantly copying twst to try to steal some players, but... Eh, I found myself not caring that much. Someone more (or less) into twst than me may find it grating.

Character-wise, eh, sure, yeah, they're a bit derivative in that aspect too, but it's a joseimuke game, the characters are always derivative. Thus far the writing & execution has been solid enough that I didn't care if they were tropey. If I were to compare it to something else, I'd say the relationship between the protagonist and the ghouls feels more like that of the sage and wizards in mahoyaku than anything from twst. There's some mystery in exactly what "ghouls" are and their place in this world that has me intrigued and wanting to know more about this setting and how each of the characters feels about it. I have a bad habit of getting my hopes up for stories that put big ideas on the table and then being disappointed when they don't follow through in a way that lives up to my expectations, though.

So, my final verdict: I kind of just hope someone uploads all the story segments right onto youtube so nobody has to deal with the dogshit predatory game to get the genuinely decent story lol. Give it a play just for the story if you have faith in your ability to resist dark patterns. Avoid at all costs if you know you're vulnerable to gacha, microtransactions, or timesinks.

#suchobabbles #Tokyo Debunker #it's a global simultaneous release so I'm curious to see how it ends up doing in Japan #it's gonna be competing directly with stellarium of the fragile star which releases in a few days lmao. and is about a magic alchemy school #looks like the two games twt accounts have a similar number of followers #and then theyre competing with bremai releasing in may... #also adding this at the very end since i cant confirm anything: #but i found out abt this game bc it was rt'd by the former localization director/translator of A3en #i dont know if she worked on it or maybe her friend or maybe shes just hype! who knows! but i think her word (or rt) is worth something

[nevadear]

AND SCENE!

Breaking news—the love interest role in Claire White's latest blockbuster finally has a star, and it's none other than Stella Castillo, pictured above, the youngest daughter of Hollywood moguls. Brace yourselves for a wild ride as Stella Castillo, usually seen in her parents' flicks, takes on a meatier role in one of next year's most hyped movies.

But hold the popcorn—whispers on the red carpet suggest Stella Castillo's previous filmography is more "meh" than marvellous.

Is this casting coup the pinnacle of Hollywood nepotism, or will Stella Castillo flip the script and prove she's a force to be reckoned with? Love her or hate her, one thing's for sure: this star-studded spectacle is about to kick off, and only time will spill the juiciest deets straight from the set.

So, grab your shades, folks, because this Hollywood rollercoaster is just getting warmed up and PinkCelebTea will report every step of the way—you know how it is!

View comments

NEXT UP: Our insiders spill the tea—Louis Alvarez ain't exactly doing cartwheels about acting alongside what they're dubbing an 'untalented and undeserving' co-star. Trouble behind the scenes already?

⠀actress ( nepo baby! ) -- "show the world what they're missing"

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ the youngest daughter of the castillo family, she made the decision to enter the acting industry in 2019. initially, she starred in her parents' films and, eventually, the tv show 'yellowjackets.' however, her performances faced more criticism than praise, prompting her to take a break from acting. she returned to the scene in mid-2022 with a role in 'the summer i turned pretty,' alongside actors lola tung and christopher briney. gradually, her acting skills began to receive more positive reviews, although some people remained hesitant due to her family connections and the previous projects she acted in. determined to prove herself beyond being "the castillo's daughter," she took on a role in claire white's latest film.

( @andscene-if ) - template by kaori96 on deviantart.

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⁰¹ despite being allergic to fur, stella takes pills to manage her allergies, fulfilling a promise she made to her mom to get a siamese cat for her 16th birthday.

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⁰² in 'yellowjackets,' she portrayed gwen ramirez, one of the newest members of the girls' varsity soccer team. gwen's character was particularly close to jackie taylor, the captain of the yellowjackets.

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⁰³ for her 18th birthday, stella got a small sun tattoo on her left shoulder, a shared experience with one of her closest childhood friends who opted for a moon tattoo on their right shoulder.

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⁰⁴ her character in 'the summer i turned pretty' was harvey serrano, a childhood friend of the fisher and conklin families. harvey and conrad fisher, her character's childhood sweetheart, had been dating since they were 12 but eventually broke up two years prior to the events of the story.

#oc: stella castillo #and scene #if #interactive fiction #choice of games #hosted games #and scene if

[bomberqueen17]

every other year

So my family has this thing, where every other year we get together for Christmas, and the off years are for those of us with in-laws to go see them.

Odd years are my with-family years, even are with Dude's family.

And then we do Thanksgiving the opposite. So this is an odd year, so Thanksgiving is here in Buffalo, and Christmas is with my family.

And somehow this never fucking works.

So the year Dad died was an even year. I was to be here for Christmas. Dad died very suddenly on Dec 21st of 2020. Mom wouldn't let me come home. I spent Christmas silent in a corner at Dude's mom's, because I was grief-stricken and in shock. I was not allowed to view his body, he was cremated before I could come home.

The next year was to be our first Christmas together without him. Last-minute, older sister called us all up-- second week of November-- and said "ah can we do Thanksgiving together instead? My in-laws are demanding we do Christmas with them!"

No, I said, because I can't change my plans so suddenly. Everyone else could, so they did, and I got in my car and left the farm just after they all arrived, because I had already made promises and it was too late to cancel them. I drove home crying, cold and alone, and had a very quiet thanksgiving with dude's mom and aunt. Because I had promised to. I spent Christmas with some friends in Rochester, because they had room for me.

Last year was a Christmas-here year. We had Thanksgiving at the farm, and we had a wonderful time, and then I came home and it snowed five feet and I spent Christmas shoveling snow to rescue Dude's mom. We couldn't get his aunt out but fortunately she had enough provisions to get through it.

This year in like October my older sister called me and asked to clarify what the plans were, and I told her, it's an odd year, so it's a Thanksgiving apart, Christmas together year. She said great, that's fine, we're on, let's do it. So I made my plans.

November eighth her husband invited his mother to come up for Christmas, neatly locking them out of coming up here. So she called us all again and said "ah! switcheroonie! Thanksgiving together instead?"

And again I said, "I cannot change my plans so suddenly," because Dude's mom had already reviewed the menu with us, had already bought the ham she was going to make, had already begun her preparations, because that is the kind of person she is.

"Maybe we'll come up right after Christmas," older sister said, and I said "I can make arrangements to accommodate that, let me know as soon as you can".

No, the answer was no, she couldn't make that happen. She couldn't drive up twice in two months. "Why don't you guys come down here instead," she asked, which is what we did in 2017, the last time we were all together, but that had been the plan from the beginning that year, we did Christmas together and it worked out. Another time we did New Year's together as a make-up for Christmas but I can't figure out which year that was. I did confirm just now looking back at my photos that they missed christmas 2019 and we did a make-up New Year's event at the farm that year.

No, I said reluctantly, I can't do that, because among other things I can't leave my cat at the boarding kennel long enough to go to Baltimore after having spent the holiday near Troy NY. And like, it is a *brutal* drive back from Maryland to Buffalo and there is always snow somewhere along that route, we've had a miserable time of it both years we've gone down there.

Anyway. So now they're coordinating Thanksgiving plans, and someone asked a question and I answered, and then said, "I will, as I said, not be able to attend", and Farmsister wrote back with the most condescending bullshit I have ever encountered, saying that since she spends every Thanksgiving right there, and anyone is always free to join in, I'm not being excluded just because I choose to be somewhere else.

Did she think I felt like I hadn't been invited??? Does she think I'm somehow letting the family down by honoring promises I had already made???? I promised to be somewhere else, that is not the same thing as declining to attend!

So that set me off and I've sent a bunch of unhinged shit to the family groupchat, but. Like. i'm not crazy. Am I????????

Older sister was like "well we can make plans for next year" and I said straight out to her, okay, so I go to my in-laws this year on Thanksgiving, and I say I want to reverse things, and do Christmas with my family next year, and this is enough notice so they'll surely go along with it, and so mother-in-law buys her tickets for California and is confirmed and is going out there next Christmas, no problem. And then next November 1st or 8th or 16th my brother-in-law pitches another tantrum, and again plans are reversed, and I'm left out of Christmas, having already excluded myself from these other plans. What do I do then?

Maybe I'll tell my dude to plan to go with his mother to California, I said, and the two of them can go and be out of the way, and then I can sit by the phone and be available, and if you have space to squeeze me in I can show up, and if not I can make last-minute plans with the friends I go to when this happens (every time) and I need last-minute plans, they're always welcoming. I can't do this to Dude, he needs things to be set, but I can scramble last-minute. So is that what I should do? Just leave myself open, so I can come if you have room for me, but I won't know until the last minute.

I understand that this is my horrible brother-in-law's fault (NOT farm-BIL, who is not involved in this; he also has a horrible dramatic family but unlike some he has put in a lot of work and tries to keep that from spilling over to affect other people too much) and my sister is in a stressful position trying to keep everything together. I get that. But it is literally always my problem that I cannot drop everything and scramble. And I'm blamed for it, that I'm inflexible and can't just make the best of it. Everyone else is mad that I can't just pretend this is okay. And, obviously, blames me. And I'm sort of over it.

So anyway I'm writing this down because I'm fucking terrible at planning and at remembering things, but my blog entries are a big part of how I have been able to piece together the truth in the face of literally the entire rest of my family claiming that it's never been a problem before.

No, it's been a problem every time, it's just that it's only my problem, so nobody else remembers or cares. But it has, in fact, been a problem. Every time. Just, only for me.

#about the author #personal #family shit #holidays #bullshit

[macravishedbymactavish]

Christmas Miracles (Alex Keller x GN!Reader)

A contribution to The Holiday Writing Challenge, sorry I've been so MIA my dudes.

| Blog HQ | Modern Warfare 2019 / 2022 Masterlist |

TW for slight angst with a happy ending, Cat Dude!Alex with OC feline Neko

“It's Neko.” Your husband trailed off, grief saturating his tone. After a minute of loaded silence he continued. “The vet said she's in stage II kidney failure.”

Your jaw dropped at his words, hand covering your mouth as you listened to the soft whimpers on the other end. Comprehending how half his world just fell to pieces.

“She's fine though. She eats, drinks, follows us to the bathroom and screams at random.” You whispered, shocked by the news you just received. Your husband brought the cat in for a minor dental procedure, not to write out her final will and testament

A couple of small sniffles, “I know. They said she'll be ready to pick up in an hour or two.”

“I'll talk to my lead and pick you up. We'll go together.” You decided, sitting back in your chair. “It'll be okay, I love you.”

“Fuck I feel pathetic. I love you too.” Alex sighed, ending the call. Tears burned in the back of your eyes, knowing the undescribable bond between the two.

“I'm nervous.” He whispered, knee bouncing anxiously against yours. Eyes scanning the room as he waited for your names to be called.

“It'll be okay.” You mumbled, fingers slipping through his. Squeezing three times; silently forgiving him for not returning the gesture.

His eyes were red, and still swollen despite mostly calming down 20 minutes ago. The entire ride to the clinic was filled with apologies and wondering out loud if the staff will notice he was crying minutes prior.

“Hey you two, we're going to exam 3.” The tech walked over, gesturing for you to follow.

“So, before we bring Neko in we want to review the notes from the procedure and discharge paperwork.” She started, eyeing at your boyfriend who was staring mindlessly at the door. Unable to process any of what was said until he knew his feline soulmate was alright.

“Procedure went amazing, we didn't pull any teeth as the previous problem resolved.” The tech explained, showing you images of the x-rays and Neko's teeth. “We did notice on the pre-op labwork that she does have evidence of some kidney disease however.”

Your eyebrows raised unconsciously. Relief flooding your system. Disease isn't nearly as bad as failure.

Nudging Alex with your elbow, silently reminding him to be present in the conversation; you listened as the vet tech continued to explain the ranking of severity. Stage IV being failure.

Neko was stage II. Mild to moderate disease.

“So, to make sure we have it right. She doesn't have kidney failure. Her kidneys just aren't as effective as they used to be?” You asked, feeling Alex relax beside you. Letting out a loud sigh of relief when the tech left the room to grab his cat.

New tears brimmed in his eyes when the carrier was brought into the room. Irritated meows flooding the room, along with your husband's soft sob.

You listened to the dietary changes, recommended supplements and follow up appointments as Alex cooed at the small animal. Chuckling softly as she continued to berate him for leaving her here all day.

“Thank you, we'll call in the new year to book.” You smiled, waving at the staff before leaving the clinic. Rolling your eyes at your husband, who held the carrier up to his face. Apologizing to his feline friend, and explaining to her how awesome it is that she'll get so much more soft food now!

“It's a Christmas miracle.” Alex sighed happily on the drive home, one arm in the carrier. Scratching Neko's cheek as he smiled wide.

“It's a sign you need to brush up on your medical terminology.”

Taglist: @bloodonmyhands-1221 @bowtruckleninja @v1naco

Alex Keller Taglist: @glitterypirateduck @deadbranch @gcing-back-to-505

A/N: This is 100% based off my situation today, except I was Alex. I cried thinking my cat was in kidney failure.

Except it was my husband (Alex Keller at home) who has zero medical training who thought disease and failure were interchangeable. Leading me to pre-maturely mourn my feline soulmate.

#alex keller fluff #alex keller x reader #alex keller x gn! reader #alex keller #cod mw2 #cod mw2019 #call of duty #call of duty modern warfare #call of duty modern warfare 2019 #call of duty modern warfare 2022 #cod alex

[white-cat-of-doom]

Ian McKellen has come to the defense of CATS (2019), and the musical in general, with a concise assessment:

“If you think the film got bad reviews, you should have seen the reviews for the stage show!”

For the majority of the article (or everything pertaining to CATS):

Sir Ian McKellen has reflected on the critical mauling of Cats in a new interview with Attitude.

The acting legend, who plays a theatre reviewer in his upcoming movie The Critic, starred in Cats alongside the likes of Dame Judi Dench and Taylor Swift.

The star played the role of Gus: The Theatre cat in the Tom Hooper-directed flop, which received universally negative reviews.

“I have to temper what I say about Cats,” McKellen told us of the furore four years later.

“When I saw it in the theatre, directed by a good friend of mine, in its previews. I was sat next to the most powerful man in American theatre, who was wondering whether to bring the show to Broadway. Of course, it broke every record.

“At the interval, he said: ‘I don’t think Broadway would accept amateur British attitudes to singing and dancing.’ Almost every critic agreed. If you think the film got bad reviews, you should have seen the reviews for the stage show! His eight-year-old niece on the other side of him said [imitates a New York accent]: ‘I loved it!'”

He went on: “When critics are clearly at odds with the public… A show you know the public are enjoying, or would enjoy, is killed by some negative [reaction]… In the case of Cats, the disapproval seems to be universal.”

#CATS Musical #CATS the Musical #CATS 2019 #Ian McKellen #He is completely right #The musical might be near universally derided but it was a smash hit being popular and loved enough to still be running 42 years later #There is obviously something more to all of it than just the stereotypical viewpoints spewed ad nauseam

[lotrreactionmemes]

If I had a nickel for every time a piece of media I liked had a recent billion-dollar adaptation that fundamentally misunderstood and disrespected the source material that got lots of negative internet attention, I would have two nickels. Which isn’t a lot but it’s weird it’s happened twice.

Seriously though, what are the odds that the two things this blog has fixated on—LotR and Cats—have both had this happen to them within just a few years of each other? Been given the same treatment by Hollywood and consequently received the retaliation of the internet?

The main difference though is that I will still defend a lot about Cats (2019), while Rings of Power I will not.

Also, Amazon is putting a lot of money and effort into erasing negative reviews of RoP and getting good critic scores, whereas Cats didn’t get the same support. Even so, and I find this especially hilarious, Cats (2019) still has a higher audience score on Rotten Tomatoes than Rings of Power does.

#amazon lotr #lotr tv show #rings of power #cats 2019 #cats the musical

[nockergeek]

For the past two years, my partner and I have spent October watching horror movies. Some are films we know, others are new to us. Each year, we try to theme the movies; 2021 had Undead October (all vampires, zombies, and ghosts), and 2022 had Otherworldly October (all threats from space or other planes of reality).

2023’s theme? Kingtober - all movies based on stories by Stephen King.

We try to watch a movie everyday, but sometimes life gets in the way. The last two years, we’ve ended up with around 21 movies watched. We’re just shy of three weeks in, and up to 14 movies.

Our reviews so far:

(Note: these reviews are our opinions. As always, your mileage and tastes may vary.)

Movie 1: Carrie (1976). Stephen King’s first published novel, the first film adaptation of his work, and one of the best. The direction and cinematography is fantastic, and while maybe not scary, it tells a tragic tale of a girl victimized on all sides. Highly recommended. A.

Movie 2: The Shining (1980). I’m a fan of the book, and… I have notes. I’m with King on this one - Kubrick did not make a good adaptation. He has a great sense of framing shots, but no sense of humanity. Jack’s slide into madness feels more like a facade cracking. C at best.

(Yeah, that one’s going to be controversial. I know it’s a very famous film, and Kubrick is a director with vision, but I don’t feel like he gets people well. Also knowing what he did to Shelley Duvall makes it hard to watch her scenes.)

Movie 3: Doctor Sleep (2019). An intriguing sequel to The Shining, and you definitely need to have seen that film to appreciate the visuals in this one. Better characters, but a far more complex plot that doesn’t quite fire on all cylinders. Decent use of Chekov’s boxes, though. A high B-.

Movie 4: Silver Bullet (1985). A passable popcorn werewolf movie. Good story (Cycle of the Werewolf is a good novella) marred by some rough acting, uneven pacing, and some really bad effects. I’m guessing they didn’t have Rick Baker werewolf money. A solid C+, and very watchable.

Movie 5: Cat’s Eye (1985). A perfectly serviceable anthology with two thrillers based on short stories, and one new kid’s fantasy/horror story. Really only marred by horrible synth music. It would get a B, but Drew Barrymore gets flipped off by a troll, so it gets an automatic A+.

Movie 6: The Dead Zone (1983). One of the best King adaptations so far, easily up there with Carrie. David Cronenberg is a fantastic director, and he and Christopher Walken tell Johnny Smith’s tragic story of unwanted psychic visions with craft and grace. This one gets a solid A.

Movie 7: Creepshow (1982). George Romero and Stephen King’s homage to old EC horror comics. It’s intentionally campy and wonderfully stylish, with vivid colors and dark comedy throughout. Good use of animated interludes, which really drives home the comic book feel. A fun B+.

Movie 8: Christine (1983). The tale of a boy and his evil, possessed, regenerating murder car. John Carpenter does a great job adapting the book to film, and has some fantastic shots, the best of which is Christine in flames chasing a bully down like the devil itself. Another solid A.

Movie 9: Children of the Corn (1984). Wow, this movie was bad. Poor pacing, terrible effects, high-school-level acting, multiple characters making dumb decisions, and odd exposition kids ruin what is otherwise a neat concept. Such a letdown after the last two films. D-.

Movie 10: It (2017). This one was solid, a very good adaptation. It did a good job of ratcheting up the terror, making you want to see how It was going to mess with the members of the Losers Club, and had good character arcs too. Let’s hope Part 2 holds up as well. This one gets an A.

Movie 11: It Part 2 (2019). So, yeah, the follow-up was just about as good as the first one. Excellent pacing with moments to breathe and laugh between the horrors, and a surprising amount to say about trauma and healing. Maybe a bit overlong, but still good. B+.

Movie 12: Graveyard Shift (1990). A movie about an old textile mill with one hell of a rat problem. This one is both over- and under-acted at the same time, and the lead has zero presence or charisma. Mildly entertaining, though, in a campy way. Still better than Children of the Corn. C-.

Movie 13: 1408 (2007). One skeptical writer vs. the most evil room ever. Purely psychological/paranormal horror, and excellently written and acted. Lots of fake outs and mean-spirited twists in this smallest of haunted houses. Among the best we’ve watched so far, and an easy A.

#horror movies #stephen king #movie marathon #Kingtober

[the-forest-library]

September 2023 Reads

Reign - Katharine McGee

Kissing Kosher - Jean Meltzer

Skip to the End - Molly James

Every Duke Has His Day - Suzanne Enoch

The Plus One - Mazey Eddings

Meet Me at the Lake - Carley Fortune

The Love Plot - Samantha Young

Maybe Meant to Be - K.L. Walther

Cleat Cute - Meryl Wilsner

Sammy Espinoza's Last Review - Tehlor Kay Mejia

The Borrow a Boyfriend Club - Page Powars

Lost in the Moment and Found - Seanan McGuire

Thornhedge - T. Kingfisher

Men at Arms - Terry Pratchett

Just One Damned Thing After Another - Jodi Taylor

Climbing the Stairs - Padma Venkatraman

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks - E. Lockhart

Fangirl, Vol 3 - Rainbow Rowell, Gabi Nam

The Witch's Hand - Nathan Page

King-Cat Comics and Stories #73 - John Porcellino

King-Cat Comics and Stories #76 - John Porcellino

King-Cat Comics and Stories #78 - John Porcellino

King-Cat Comics and Stories #79 - John Porcellino

When Sharks Attack With Kindness - Andres J. Colmenares

We Are Starlings - Robert Furrow

Wild and Precious: A Celebration of Mary Oliver - Mary Oliver

The Book of (More) Delights - Ross Gay

Bones of Belonging - Annahid Dashtgard

White Women - Regina Jackson, Saira Rao

The Country of the Blind - Andrew Leland

When You're Ready, This Is How You Heal - Brianna Wiest

While You Were Out - Meg Kissinger

Trauma is Really Strange - Steve Haines

Young Forever - Mark Hyman

The Pegan Diet - Mark Hyman

Bold = Highly Recommend Italics = Worth It Crossed out = Nope

Thoughts: 

I hope Ross Gay continues to write about the delights he finds in the world for years to come.

Goodreads Goal: 324/400 

2017 Reads | 2018 Reads | 2019 Reads | 2020 Reads | 2021 Reads| 

2022 Reads | 2023 Reads

#2023 reads #book reviews #book recommendations #books #booklr #bookish #reading #bibliophile

[catboy-jaebeom]

this shapeshifting vessel is a lie

it's been a year already since my last pinned, and I got shadowbanned exactly around that time back then because of course I did, so here's a new one 🩷

I'm Autumn, but you can call me Faon as well. my pronouns are they/ them. ticked all the boxes on the queer registration form, and I'm currently in a queerplatonic poly relationship. I was born in '95. central european & white. future linguistics student. proud plant parent. kpop fan. I really adore vampires and I write original and fan fiction, as well as poetry. I speak english and german, and I'm studying french, japanese, korean and finnish. lover of bats, snakes, horsies, deer and cats, as well as sharks. I sometimes make cat ear edits and vampire edits of idols and actors ( see: my icon ) so if you want me to make one for you, you can DM me.

my interests and hyperfixations change over time — yes, it was a phase, mum! name a constant state of being, mum! — and I change my username every two years, round about. currently I'm really into the quantum leap spin-off, live action one piece show, and I'm watching a couple of kdramas and such at the side. I play baldur's gate 3, vampyr and control, but also 2064: read only memories.

I was very active in the shadowhunters and the dragon age as well as the james bond / 00q fandoms, and I will reblog every single gif of spirit - stallion of the cimarron, it's my childhood movie. also, Jin Oshiro from STRAY (2019) deserved better, thank you. you may know me as leafmiilk, taehdenveri, fliederfuchs or thetevinterelf.

this blog of mine was created in 2012, I was on here already when you could still count on the superwholock people to throw gifs at posts although I was never one of them, which, trust me, was a hilarious feeling in hindsight asjfjahajft. I have one sideblog worthy of note @splittergheist which is my writing blog, and I have a secret sideblog for my omegaverse / miscecanis stuff ( much more the lifestyle, world building and concept than the smut and stuff, I'll be honest, but no hate at all!! ) that I might give out if someone asks nicely and privately.

that said, I tag my posts extensively, and if you ask politely, I will try and tag specific things for you too! please be nice in my inbox or I'll simply delete your ask and block you. 🦈 oftentimes I will message you privately when you've sent me an ask that doesn't seem to be an ask game or such! and while I do post stuff for tag games I'm not a fan of tagging others unless we're, like, really close, sorry ><

relevant kpop stuff can be found under the tag. I also put some "reviews" written by mutuals about my blog there, thank you everyone, you're lovely 💚🌼

and thank you everyone else for reading this, may your days be bright I think we all could need that at the moment. I would super love new people to talk to ( please have your age / some approximate of it in your bio; I'm totally fine with talking to minors but I would like to know I am before I do, thank u ) so message me or reply to this!

kpop stuff

ult group: GOT7

other groups I like: NCT 127, WayV, Red Velvet, ITZY, Seventeen, SHINee, ONEUS; ...

soloists I like: XIA / Kim Junsu, Taemin

biases: Lim Jaebeom & Choi Youngjae; Nakamoto Yuta; Xiaojun; Kang Seulgi; Hwang Yeji; Joshua Hong & Lee Seokmin; Choi Minho & Taemin; Kim Leedo & Lee Seoho; Park Seonghwa & Jeong Yunho; Kanemoto Yoshi; ...

wreckers: Mark Tuan & Kim Yugyeom; Ten Lee; Kim Mingyu & Lee Woozi; Kang Yeosang & Song Mingi; ...

for as long as xitter still lives, you can find my kpop account under: jaebueomgi

blog reviews

@meant-to-be-a-hero wrote on 22nd November:

Shall I compare Autumn's blog to a summer's day? I shall not, because I am not a hack. Equal parts language jokes, kpop boys (and girls, but I don't look at those) and #bitter millennial blogging, there's something for everyone here at Autumn's blog. They are also one of the few people who still write funky things in the tags, a true dying breed on Tumblr. I feel like I'm reviewing a restaurant or something. Either way, click follow, thank me later, because you will. It's a good blog, Bront.

— ★★★★★(★★) [ 7 out of 5 ]

@klutenpetter wrote on 22nd November:

It seems I have misplaced the URL of the blog in question that I was supposed to review.

— ★★★★★ [ 5 out of 5 ]

#itzy #got7 #nct 127 #red velvet #xia #vampires #langblr #quantum leap 2022 #baldur's gate 3 #wayv #shinee #cbjb does stuff #stray 2019

[abronzeagegod]

Hi, it me. This is series of links of my stuff:

i have an art blog that i just reblog a lot of art @this-art-i-like-it

i wrote a lot of Eldritch Tech Support this year with even more coming 2024

back in 2019 i wrote a dark fantasy book (that will get a sequel at some point i promise, i'm not done with them yet) it's pretty good i promise, it's for sale and can use a review or two if you're super kind amazon (there are free versions around and a pdf on my personal website that i'm going to revamp at some point)

i'm also currently working on getting a YA novel project edited and finished to sell in 2024, it's a sci-fi alternate history spy thriller with teens running around in over their heads fighting an evil CIA agent (redundant i know) and a eldritch horror, typical just-teen-things i'll name this one day

i also have a kofi if you want to support me or commission me to write something for you, i also take payment in cat photos

#some links #so i don't lose this for later when i try to do a masterlist of everything from 2023