#Famous Authors From USA

[jessicaclancyperseveres]

Famous Authors From New Zealand

Embark on a literary journey through the picturesque landscape of New Zealand with our collection of books by renowned authors from the Land of the Long White Cloud. Explore the unique voices and fascinating stories of iconic writers such as Katherine Mansfield, Janet Frame, and Witi Ihimaera. Immerse yourself in the rich cultural heritage of New Zealand by delving into the pages of these celebrated works, showcasing the beauty and diversity of this small yet powerful island nation. From moving short stories to epic novels, our selection of books by famous authors from New Zealand is sure to inspire and captivate readers of all ages. Discover the magic of New Zealand literature today!

Email: JessicaClancyPerseveres@gmail.com

Address: United States

[vanteguccir]

── ୨୧ !　𝗚𝗔𝗟𝗔𝗫𝗬 𝗚𝗜𝗥𝗟

　　　　　　　　　　𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒕 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒐𝒍𝒐 x reader

SUMMARY: Where Matt has a crush on Y/N, an influencer extremely well-known in the USA, but when she goes to the Zach Sang Show, Matt discovers that she also has a crush on him. When the two meet at a party, how will Matt react?

REQUESTED?: Yes, from anon.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: That is my work, I DON'T authorize any plagiarism! | English isn't my first language, so I'm sorry if there's any grammar error.

　　　༻✦༺ 　༻✧༺　༻✦༺

"Hi beautiful people! I'm Zach, and that is Dan, and welcome to the studio for the first time after many requests, Y/N!" Zach began with his standard intro, the camera moving away from him and onto Y/N, who was sitting comfortably on the couch facing her microphone.

"Hii, wow... I've lost count of how many nights I've spent hours watching your show, Zach, so being here is an honor! Thank you so much for having me." Y/N spoke with a smile on her face, her eyes shining with excitement.

"It's amazing to have you here too. Believe me, the honor is ours." Zach replied, smiling just as much. "But tell me, how is life? Crazy, I imagine." He asked with a smile, taking in Y/N's features.

"Don't remind me, literally crazy! As I have Instagram, Tiktok, and YouTube to manage and post content every day, at least in one, I haven't had time to stop much, you know?" Y/N spoke while gesturing with her hands. "But it's been incredible. Over the past five years, I've loved every moment of it."

"I can only imagine, especially since you have a knack for fashion too, right? I see you a lot at events." Zach commented, taking a sip of his water.

"Yes, exactly. My content is a little bit of everything: humor, fashion, relationships, makeup, Q&A, day-to-day life, etc. I like this really mixed stuff." The girl let out a laugh when she finished.

"Yes, I think that's what attracts so many audiences to you too, right? You have subjects that cover all audiences." Zach commented, receiving a nod from the influencer. "And tell me a little about how it all started, from the beginning."

"Well, I've always been a person who loved to talk, my friends at school joked that if I sat next to an unknown person for ten minutes, within the first minute I would come up with a random topic and start a conversation." Y/N smiled when she heard Zach comment that that was something super interesting and traits of an extroverted person. "Plus, I've always liked having an audience and social media. I had Musical.ly many years ago, where I posted short makeup and hair videos."

"Wow, Musical.ly, I completely forgot it existed." Dan commented, laughing along with the other two.

"Yes, it looks like it was a crazy dream." Zach nodded, glancing briefly at Dan before returning his gaze to Y/N. "I saw some videos from that time. You once mentioned that you took makeup courses, right?"

"Yes, I took makeup courses at Make-up Forever Academy while I was at school. It's always been my favorite hobby." Y/N said, as she stirred her Starbucks coffee cup, her drink still warm. "And on Musical.ly, I only posted that, but over time, the app lost popularity, and people started looking for me on Instagram. At the time, my Instagram was pretty empty, I didn't post almost anything there, just some also makeup things. But then, I needed to change that since Instagram gave me a lot more tools to create more expansive content. It was the moment that I completely lost my shyness with cameras, you know? That's when I started talking about other things besides makeup and hair, and the audience grew. Famous people started following me as well, I remember I panicked about that." She paused, laughing, accompanied by Zach, who was listening intently.

"And my followers started asking for a YouTube channel, where I could make longer videos and each one about something specific. I thought a lot about it, but I took courage and created my channel, and it totally exploded, almost all of my followers from Instagram started to follow me there, but on YouTube the number of people doubled."

"It caught the attention of the public who only used YouTube, right?" Zach commented, nodding in understanding.

"Exactly! And I was just with this two social medias for a few years, until I discovered Tiktok, that's when I discovered that it was like an improved Musical.ly, and that a lot of people made content just on it. I remember thinking: why not? I was already fully on the Internet, and it wouldn't hurt to have another social network. The audience continued to grow, and there were shares all the time, likes, and comments, and with that, we reached 16 million subscribers on YouTube and 6 million followers on Tiktok and Instagram." Y/N finished, her face showing a smile as she momentarily remembered her long journey there.

"Your history with the Internet is truly incredible, you are one of the biggest influencers in the United States and well known all over the world, having started at 15 years old and fighting to grow and gain your own space." Zach praised, clapping playfully as Y/N waved her hand like it was nothing, her face turning red in embarrassment. "But you mentioned a subject I wanted to bring up: celebrities." He said, laughing when he saw the girl take on a fearful look.

"Jesus, what are you going to say?" Y/N asked with a smile on her face, she had already opened up her life and tastes so much to her audience, that she knew she would definitely have said something about celebrities that she didn't remember at that moment, but that Zach would bring up.

"There was a video on Tiktok where you were answering a question from a fan, who had asked what your favorite YouTube channel and your celebrity crush were." Zach began, approaching the microphone to his face. Y/N widened her eyes, taking a sip of her drink to hide her expression, vaguely remembering the video in question. "And you answered that your favorite channel was the Sturniolo Triplets and that your celebrity crush was Matt Sturniolo, is that correct?"

"Oh my God." Y/N muttered, hiding her red cheeks in her hands. "Yes, it is." She let out a nervous laugh. "The triplets are super funny, I just love their content! I'm not going to lie, I've never missed a video of them. I saw that Chris came here this year, right? I think their journey with YouTube is incredible." She said, Zach nodding as he confirmed that Chris had been on the show recently.

"They really are incredible people. Their content is gold. But, is Matt still your crush?" He asked again, looking at her with a smile on his face.

"You're not going to let this go, are you?" Y/N asked as she smiled sheepishly. "Yes, he's still my crush. I mean, have you seen that man? He's hot, has an incredible sense of humor, and is kind! Just perfect, just no more than Harry Styles." She counted the characteristics mentioned with the fingers of her right hand, laughing when she mentioned the British singer, trying to take all attention away from her admission about her crush.

"Yeah, guys, it seems like if you're not Matt, or Harry, you don't enter Y/N's list." Zach joked, looking at the camera, receiving laughs from the other two there.

　　　　　༻﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡༺

The triplets were lying on the sofa in their home, each in a corner of the space, while using their phones. Sounds of tiktoks and reels echoed through the walls.

Nick was on his tiktok, browsing his For You, watching the millions of edits that his fans made for them, some videos of other subjects appearing from time to time. The boy let out a laugh when he saw an edit of himself with clips taken from the last car video, double-clicking on the screen to give it a like before scrolling his thumb up, Y/N's voice suddenly sounding from his phone.

Nick took his thumb away from the screen momentarily, paying attention to what one of his favorite influencers was saying, smiling as he heard her tell a little about her history with social media.

His smile was replaced by wide eyes seconds later when the girl's comment about his channel with his brothers and about Matt sounded.

"What?" He asked loudly, catching the attention of Matt and Chris, who had confused looks on their faces.

"What what?" Chris asked, locking the screen of his phone and tossing it to the side.

Matt only looked up from his own phone screen momentarily, returning his attention to his Instagram feed.

"You know Y/N?" Nick asked, his eyes darting from Matt to Chris quickly.

"That super famous influencer that Matt has had a crush on for years? Yes." Chris agreed, nodding his head as he adjusted himself in his seat, receiving a slap on the arm from his brother, who lowered his cell the moment the girl's name left Nick's lips.

"She knows who we are, and not only that, she talked about us on Zach's show." The redhead said with wide eyes.

"Zach Sang?" Matt asked, receiving a nod from Nick, who got up and walked closer to his brothers, sitting between the two and raising his phone, increasing the screen brightness and volume before hitting play on the tiktok again.

The video was a compilation of the show's favorite moments with the influencer. The triplets watched in silence until they got to the part where Y/N talked about her channel, also confirming her crush on Matt. Chris quickly turned his face to Matt with his mouth open in shock.

"Matt, THE Y/N has a crush on you." Nick reinforced, pausing the video and turning to his brother, who had wide eyes as he looked at the phone that had Y/N's face on the screen, a disbelief look on his own face.

"That's crazy." He muttered, shaking his head in denial. "It's not possible that my longtime crush has a crush on me, too. That only happens in movies. Right?" Nick rolled his eyes at the comment.

"It might be crazy, but it's not a lie. She wouldn't talk about our channel and reveal her crush on you if it was a lie or a joke." Chris commented as he fixed the hood of his sweatshirt, earning a nod from Nick.

"Next week, there will be that huge and super chic party for the biggest influencers and YouTubers in the United States here in LA, and we received an invitation. I'm absolutely sure she will be there. It would be a great opportunity to make contact with other YouTubers and get to know her, maybe even ask her to participate in a video with us." Nick reminded his brothers of the invitation, locking his phone screen and looking at the two.

"Are you sure about that?" Matt asked, an expression of uncertainty on his face. Out of the three, he was the least fond of parties, although none of them were very fond of it either.

"It would be great for the channel, Matt." Chris reinforced, shrugging. "It wouldn't hurt to try. If we don't like it, we can leave right away. But meeting Y/N seems amazing to me right now, and it would be a great opportunity for you."

"Okay."

　　　　　༻﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡༺

"Are you guys sure about this?" Matt asked after turning off the key in the ignition, keeping his hands on the wheel as he looked ahead, his ears picking up the loud sound coming from the party.

"Matt, it's just going to be a test, okay? It's interesting for us to make more contacts." Nick responded from the backseat, resting his hands on the sides of the front seats as he looked in the rearview mirror, waiting for Matt to look back.

Matt looked up, focusing on Nick through the mirror, who had a neutral expression. The boy shifted his gaze to Chris beside him, who was already looking at him.

Chris offered a reassuring smile, taking his left hand to Matt's right shoulder, squeezing the area.

Matt exhaled deeply as he mentally prepared himself. It had been years since he had attended such a big party.

It didn't take long for the triplets to get out of the vehicle. Matt locked the doors before they started their walk to the mansion where the loud sound of pop music was coming from.

Nick quickly pulled from the pocket of his jeans the invitation he had received in the mail that stated his and his brothers' names on expensive-looking paper and beautiful writing, holding it ready to present to the security guards at the front.

After being granted entry, the three entered the house, stopping for a few seconds at the beginning of the living room while their eyes traveled over the people there, recognizing some of their social media.

The mansion was extremely chic, decorated with golden tones and diamond chandeliers, long marsala red curtains covered the huge windows and columns that resembled those of Greek temples were spread throughout the space, along with two staircases in each hemisphere of the room with wooden handrails and a red carpet that led upstairs.

Youtubers, influencers, and celebrities filled the space, talking or dancing, some drinking, dressed in extravagant and expensive clothes.

Chris surreptitiously pointed to a specific point, making his brothers look there.

"That's Y/N, right?" He asked, earning a nod from Nick.

To Matt, the earth seemed to have stopped spinning, and the world seemed to have become static. The celebrities in the room suddenly stopped, the sound became muffled, and the smell of drinks and perfume disappeared. His breathing seemed to catch, and his throat felt dry.

Y/N looked perfect, having opted for an all-silver outfit: a mid-length skirt with a thigh-high slit from Diesel draped in synthetic silver along with a white crop top also from Diesel adorned her body. A pair of thin silver high heels decorated her feet, complemented by a silver Diesel bag and jewelry in the same color.

She looked like she came out of one of those galaxy movies, but much prettier than its characters.

Matt could have watched her from afar for seconds or minutes, just admiring her beauty and every detail of herself, but it still seemed to be too quick for his liking. Nick woke him from his hypnosis with a weak slap to his chest, getting his attention.

"You definitely don't know how to disguise it." He commented, rolling his eyes.

"Shut up, Nick." Matt responded quickly, frowning and briefly looking at Y/N again, before turning to his brothers. "I'm going to get something to drink, are you coming?" He asked, needing a cold soda at that moment.

Chris nodded, answering for himself and Nick, following his middle brother to the bar that was in the separation between the kitchen and the living room.

The space was extremely chic, a circle-shaped bar with a gold colored counter decorated with details in yellow and navy blue tiles, giving an air of wealth. At the front there were stools with synthetic gold upholstery and at the back, after the space where the bartender circulated, there was a large circular and high table filled with all types of drinks, including the most expensive ones.

Matt leaned his hips against the counter, choosing not to sit down, and glanced briefly at the bartender.

Nick sat on the stool next to him and Chris sat next to Nick, the two starting a conversation about a subject that Matt didn't pay attention to, his attention focused on the people around him, or rather, on one specific person.

His blue eyes went back and forth to Y/N's silhouette, admiring her from afar as he wished to be by her side, accompanying her and being the person she was talking to.

The girl next to Y/N and who had been talking to her since the moment Matt entered the room walked away, saying something while blowing an air kiss to the influencer, who smiled in response and turned around, facing where Matt was, but not looking directly at him, running her eyes around the people while taking sips of her drink, probably alcoholic.

Matt took a deep breath as he gathered his courage, straightening up and starting to take long steps towards the girl, crossing the room and passing among the famous people there.

"Matt, what do you want to- Matt?" Nick began, turning to where Matt was and stopping mid-sentence when he saw that his brother was no longer there.

"He's on his way to get his pot of gold." Chris commented, poking Nick with the index finger of his left hand and pointing at Matt, who was already approaching Y/N.

The brunette stopped next to Y/N, turning so that he was also facing the people around and shoulder to shoulder with her, a few centimeters between them. His hands were in the front pockets of his jeans as he breathed slowly, trying to calm his nerves.

And then her voice sounded like it was the easiest thing she'd done all day. Her voice was silky in person, so inducing that it sent goosebumps across Matt's skin.

"You were working up the courage to say hi..." She lifts the glass, taking another sip, her lips shiny with gloss and bright red lipstick, her tongue escaping her mouth momentarily, licking the residue of the drink there. "Or would you just stare at me all night?" She turned around, facing him.

Matt almost choked on his own saliva as he heard Y/N confirm that not only had she noticed he was there, but she had also noticed that he had been looking at her this entire time. A weight settled in his chest. Perhaps it was shame or lust due to the way she said that without reservation.

"I didn't mean to disturb you. You seemed quite engaged in your conversation." He made up an excuse, knowing full well that he could have gone to the girl from the moment he arrived, but his fear of what would happen held him back.

"Engaged? In a conversation about who here has the most money and fame?" Y/N threw back, furrowing her eyebrows.

Matt looked around them, stopping his eyes briefly on the girl who had previously spoken to Y/N and who was now watching the people with a gaze torn between judgment and desire. A loud laugh escaped his lips as he shook his head in denial, the pettiness of some people impressed him.

"For what it's worth, you're the only famous person here that interests me." Matt commented, his blue eyes focusing on Y/N's face, analyzing her closely. An expression of satisfaction came over his face as he saw a red color take over her cheeks.

"You flatter me, Matt." Y/N looks back at him, their eyes meeting for a few long seconds, before hers travel across Matt's face, mentally taking note of every detail she could notice in the few seconds.

The boy smiled arrogantly when he saw her eyes on him, receiving an eye roll in response.

"Do you like what you see?" He asked, his voice taking a deeper tone and his pupil dilating as his lips stretched into a smirk.

"Don't let it go to your head." Y/N responded as she scoffed playfully, allowing the beginning of a smirk to emerge on the right corner of her lip.

At that moment, Matt felt like he could do something, anything, that would make her smile like that again or smile a bigger smile. He thought of a million possibilities of what he could say to cause that reaction in her, longing to feel the butterflies in his stomach again.

"You look beautiful tonight." Matt praised, his blue eyes traveling over Y/N's body momentarily, returning to her eyes. "Not that you just look beautiful tonight. You always look beautiful. But today you..." The boy tried to justify, getting caught on his words. "Look perfect."

A sigh escaped his lips, an apologetic look taking over his eyes as his right hand scratched the back of his neck lightly, feeling like a complete idiot for getting tangled up in front of the girl he has a crush on.

"I'm sorry, this isn't how I pictured myself meeting you." He groaned, looking at the ground in shame, hoping something would surge and save him.

"So you imagined meeting me?" Y/N smiled, feeling arrogant. She bit her bottom lip, feeling smug as she watched Matt blush and his eyes widen. "I'm kidding. You look beautiful tonight, too." Y/N let out a low laugh, returning the previous compliment, running her tongue between her lips, wetting them as her eyes traveled over Matt, pausing lingeringly on his exposed collarbone with the tank top he was wearing, the necklaces that decorated his neck made her mouth water.

Before Matt could even open his mouth to answer her, the sound of footsteps approached, catching both their attention. Y/N tore her eyes away from Matt's blue ones and looked ahead, seeing the same girl from before approaching again, holding herself back from instantly rolling her eyes.

The boy realized that the conversation would change direction and that, perhaps, he would no longer be included in it. A subtle sigh escaped his lips, and he tucked his hands into the pockets of his jeans again, looking at Y/N briefly, realizing that she was already looking back.

"I'm sorry." She asked, pressing her painted lips into a thin line before a beautiful, wide smile replaced it. "Text me on Instagram. You will be my priority to respond." Y/N spoke before being gently pulled away by her "friend", turning her face back quickly and sending the brunette a wink before looking forward again.

Matt watched her from behind as her high-heeled legs took long, quick steps away from him, a goofy smile taking over his features. He would definitely send that text.

[hard--headed--woman]

Sooo you're used to it by now, here's my 4th special pride post, and today we're going to talk about

Marguerite Radclyffe-Hall !

Marguerite was born in 1880 and died in 1943. She was a British poet and writer, author of "The Well of Loneliness", a revolutionary and very important novel in lesbian literature. She never tried to hide her homosexuality.

Neglected by her parents as a child, she studied at King's College London, then in Germany. She reached adulthood without a vocation, and spent a big part of her twenties in a series of relationships with women who later left her to marry.

In 1907, at the spa town of Bad Homburg in Germany, Marguerite met Mabel Batten, a lieder singer nicknamed Ladye, and the two fell in love. Batten was 51 at the time, with a husband, grown-up daughter and grandchildren. Hall was 27.

The two move in together when Mabel's husband dies. At the time, Marguerite was known for her "masculine" appearance and constant wearing of "masculine" clothes; Mabel Batten nicknamed her "John", a nickname she kept all her life.

In 1915, Radclyffe-Hall fell in love with Una Troubridge, a cousin of Mabel's whom she had known for 10 years. Battel died the following year, and in 1917, the two women moved in together. The two lived together until Hall's death, despite Hall's many affairs (that Troubridge painfully tolerated).

She has written eight novels and several poems.

Her first novel, "The Unit lamp", (1924) tells the story of a young girl who dreams of moving into a London apartment with her friend Elizabeth (a so-called "Boston marriage") and studying to become a doctor, but feels trapped by her emotionally-dependent, manipulative mother.

The novel's length and complexity made it difficult to sell, so Marguerite chose a lighter theme for her next novel, a social comedy : "The Forge". The book was quite successful this time.

Her next two novels were a great success, especially "Adam's Breed" (1926), which won the Prix Femina and the James Tait Black Award, something that had only been achieved once before.

But her best-known novel is "The Well of Loneliness". Published in 1928, it tells the story of a butch lesbian, from her childhood in England to her stay in Paris, where she becomes a famous writer. The novel was the subject of an obscenity trial in the UK (despite not being sexually explicit), resulting in the destruction of all copies. The USA authorized its publication after a long, long legal battle. Considered a classic, an extremely important work of lesbian literature, "The Well of Loneliness" was 7th on Publishing Triangle's 1999 list of the best gay novels.

In 1930, Hall won the gold medal of the Eichelbergher Humane Award. She was a member of the PEN club, the Council of the Society for Psychical and a member of the Zoological Society of London.

She died of colon cancer in 1943, aged 63. Her impact on literature, and lesbian literature in particular, remains significant to this day.

You can find the list of her novels (and more details about her life) here !

And some of her poems here :

Hope you enjoyed, and see you tomorrow for the 5th post!

[tengensbunny]

𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐞 (𝐚����𝐣) - 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐧, 𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐱𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜➩ 𝐚 𝐬𝐮𝐠𝐚𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐲 𝐚𝐮 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬

𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲 ➩ 𝘈 𝘮𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘯 𝘈𝘜 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘗𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘑𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 [𝘧/𝘯] 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘨𝘢𝘳 𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘺

𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐬 ➩ 𝐟𝐞𝐦 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐱 𝐠. 𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐨𝐤𝐚, 𝐭.𝐮𝐳𝐮𝐢, 𝐤.𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐨𝐤𝐮, 𝐬. 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐳𝐮𝐠𝐚𝐰𝐚, 𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐨 (𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩), 𝐤. 𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐢, 𝐤. 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐨𝐛𝐮, 𝐢. 𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐢, 𝐡. 𝐠𝐲𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐢

➩ 𝐍𝐒𝐅𝐖 𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 || 𝟏𝟖+

𝐏𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: 

𝐠. 𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐨𝐤𝐚

➩ A well renowned billionaire who owns various water resorts with his business partner Sabito.

➩ One of the major sponsors for Sabito’s cruise lines.

𝐤.𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐨𝐤𝐮

➩ Rengoku is one of Japan’s most famous directors.

➩ He’s responsible for directing some of the greatest films known to man.

➩ He also started and runs his own Acting Agency.

𝐭.𝐮𝐳𝐮𝐢

➩ Despite owning his own jewelry line, Uzui is also well known for his Fine Arts Agency.

➩ He’s known for creating some of the most well renowned J-Pop Groups.

𝐤. 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐨𝐛𝐮

➩ Shinobu is one of Japan’s finest doctors.

➩ She also owns 50% of the hospitals in Tokyo and is known to be able to cure almost everything.

𝐤. 𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐢

➩ Mitsuri owns one of the finest fashion lines in Japan.

➩ Her products range from clothing, accessories, and jewelry.

𝐢. 𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐢

➩ Iguro is one of the best tattoo artists in Japan.

➩ He’s known for being many celebrities tattoo artist and even doing some free lance art on the side of buildings.

𝐬. 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐳𝐮𝐠𝐚𝐰𝐚

➩ Sanemi owns one of the most luxurious car brands in Japan.

➩ Not only does he own his own company, he designs many of his vehicles as well, catching the eye of many individuals from his unique and intricate designs.

𝐡. 𝐠𝐲𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐢

➩ Gyomei is a well known author and poet from Japan.

➩ His works are known to be best sellers all over Japan and the USA.

𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 || 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏

[thelostdreamsthings]

{Why is Telegram a big headache for the Jews, USA and France?

Why did they decide to literally kidnap the owner Pavel Durov at the Paris Airport?

Pavel Durov, founder and CEO of Telegram, was arrested today in France, there are different charges against him.

Telegram is the main source of information about the Israeli genocide and massacre in Gaza.

Thousands of videos of Jews massacring children have been posted on Telegram channels by journalists living in Gaza.

Israel is trying to stop that flow of information and that is why it has killed over 100 journalists in Gaza alone.

The most accurate information about the situation on the ground in Ukraine comes out on Telegram, and NATO can't control it.

Many people use Telegram as their source of information because the information comes directly from the field.

Many dead NATO soldiers appear on Telegram and the CIA and NATO command can no longer hide their direct involvement in the war broke out in Russia.

Telegram did a lot of damage to the French army in Africa.

The Africans organized all their protests, resistance and everything else against the French occupation forces through Telegram.

Russian mercenaries, obviously, use different platforms, but Telegram played for them an important role in accelerating the deterioration of France's military posture, especially in Africa.

This is a famous photo of Telegram founder Pavel Durov giving Putin his middle finger.

In 2011, Durov said that the Russian government had requested him to cancel the accounts of anti-government figures on his social media platform.

Durov not only did not follow, but also publicly released this photo of "raising the middle finger to Putin" in the media, which received cheers from the West.

After the 2014 Ukrainian coup, Durov refused to provide the Russian government with information on users involved in the Ukrainian colorful revolution.

In the same year, he left Russia, claiming that Russia was "unable to keep up with the information age". Shortly after, he acquired French and UAE citizenship and stated that he had no plans to return to Russia.

Today, Durov was arrested by France on charges of using the platform to "support terrorist activities" and "pedophilia" after refusing to provide user information to the United States and Israel, facing 20 years of imprisonment.

Durov helped Ukrainians stage a coup d'état in 2014.

Then the whole West glorified him.

He also trolled the Russian FSB and sent them the “encryption keys” to telegram in 2017.

Back then the west cheered his fight on.

The founder of Telegram has been detained by French intelligence services at Le Bourget Airport in Paris while exiting a private jet.

He is expected to be presented to a judge later this evening, facing multiple charges, according to TF1.

Potential charges include terrorism, drug-related offenses, complicity, fraud, money laundering, concealment, and possession of child exploitation content.

The main concern of EU authorities regarding Telegram is its encrypted messaging, as reported by TF1}

{And despite Durlov helped NATO in the 2014 coup in Ukraine, Russia is working to free Telegram founder Pavel Durov after he was arrested in France.}

If Pavel Durov could be arrested on these charges, then any country can arrest the leaders of Facebook, Google, Apple, Microsoft… any tech company that helps people communicate!

France is a 🤡 puppet of USA and Israel, who are mad at not having backdoor to Telegram.

Regarding Pavel Durov, Julian Assange, TikTok, Scott Ritter etc. etc. ⬇️

"The illusion of freedom will continue as long as it's profitable to continue the illusion. At the point where the illusion becomes too expensive to maintain, they will just take down the scenery, they will pull back the curtains, they will move the tables and chairs out of the way and you will see the brick wall at the back of the theater." Frank Zappa

[batboyblog]

Public Domain Notice!

Happy Public Domain Day here in the USA!

today, January 1st 2023 marks the day all works published in the year 1927 enter the public domain! This includes books, movies and music.

Here are a few of the most famous and important works entering public domain today:

The final two Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle. You likely have heard something about this, while the character of Sherlock Holmes has been public domain for many years a handful of stories in Conan Doyle's last collection of Holmes stories, The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes, published in 1927 remained under copy right. The famously litigious Conan Doyle Estate Ltd has used it's control of these copyrights to pressure movie, TV, and even authors to pay them when using the public domain character of Sherlock Holmes or adaptations of public domain stories. Well finally the last of their copyrights have finally run out and you can publish a collection of all 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories (and 4 novels) if you want, or use elements from these final stories in your own Sherlock Holmes story and the Conan Doyle Estate Ltd can finally go fuck itself.

speaking of detectives, the first 3 Hardy Boys novels, The Tower Treasure, The House on the Cliff, and The Secret of the Old Mill are also entering public domain, as such you are free to include Frank and Joe Hardy in your own work of fictions, but be careful to stick to their characterization from these first 3 books.

other exciting books entering the public domain today are, To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf, Men Without Women (a short story collection) by Ernest Hemingway, The Big Four by Agatha Christie (big year for detectives huh?) Mosquitoes by William Faulkner, Twilight Sleep by Edith Wharton, The Gangs of New York by Herbert Asbury, Der Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse, Amerika by Franz Kafka

in terms of movies one of the most famous silent films ever made and one of the most visually iconic, Metropolis directed by Fritz Lang will reenter the Public Domain, The American copyright lapsed in 1953 making the film widely available and allowing for versions with material that had been cut from the 1927 version to be published in the 1970s and 80s. However under an international copyright agreement the film was returned to copyrighted status in 1996. But Today it's back back back again in the Public Domain!

Other exciting films entering the public domain are The Jazz Singer the very first "Talkie", Wings the very first Academy Award for best picture (or "outstanding picture" as it was then) The King of Kings directed by Cecil B. DeMille, Sunrise directed by F.W. Murnau (his first American film!) and The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog first first thriller directed by legendary director Alfred Hitchcock

the musical Show Boat by Oscar Hammerstein II will also enter the public domain with songs like Ol’ Man River, the musical Funny Face, and Good News with songs like Funny Face and The Best Things in Life Are Free, stand alone songs (I Scream You Scream, We All Scream for) Ice Cream, Puttin’ on the Ritz, Potato Head Blues, Gully Low Blues, East St. Louis Toodle-O, and Mississippi Mud will all be free to the public today

Finally a piece of Disney history is entering the public domain. Oswald The Lucky Rabbit first appeared in 1927 and will be free to appear in works of fiction this year, a year ahead of his younger brother Mickey Mouse

[miguelswifey04]

boxer! miguel o’hara x doctor! reader (part 1)

summary: where you’re the new doctor at the boxing gym and you meet miguel o’hara, the famous and most strongest boxer. will you and him both explore the depths of your desires or keep it professional?

🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱

you were hired to be the new doctor of the UFC gym where the famous boxer, miguel o’hara, was part of. being a well known olympic-level doctor for the USA women’s gymnastics team the UFC immediately hired you on the spot since you wanted a chance of scenery. it would be a lie to say you didn’t miss the bonds and friendships you created with the women on the gymnastics team but you needed to do this. you needed to expand your horizons.

now after the first fight of the new season, miguel o’hara had become victorious but was definitely battered up. he was sent to you after his win to be fixed up but lo and behold he wasn’t expecting to see a pretty doctor like yourself to be the new doctor around here. his eyes widen for a moment as he sees you. “oh, you must be the new doctor..." he says with a weak smile. he was beaten up pretty bad and was furrowing his brows due to his exhaustion. you glanced at him and smiled sweetly, “yes! i am.” you fixed your doctor’s coat and went to put on gloves. miguel’s eyes wandered to your figure taking in your slim and muscular build. he was a little curious to see that you were athletic and in shape but he quickly looked away when you turned around to face him with that pretty smile of yours.

standing tall, his muscular form showcased his battle-worn physique. his brown skin glistened with a fine sheen of sweat, testament to the demanding match he had just endured.

tightly bandaged hands, speckled with patches of dried blood, were evidence of the brutal punches miguel had delivered. despite his injuries, the aura of authority clung to him, radiating an air of confidence and power.

he approached the doctor, his steps slightly unsteady from exhaustion. taking in the your slightly shorter stature, curvy yet athletic figure, his eyes roamed over every delicate curve with a mix of appreciation and desire. miguel’s gaze lingered on the doctor's mocha skin, drawn to its inviting warmth, contrasting with his own deep brown eyes.

“mmm, a new doctor, huh?" miguel’s voice was hoarse, a result of the intensive match. it carried a hint of a rugged charm, overshadowed by a layer of weariness. "you’ve got your work cut out for you, doc. gonna need some tender loving care after that fight."

the ache in his muscles made a massage seem tantalizingly appealing to him, but miguel wondered if the doctor's touch had the potential to ignite a different kind of fire within him. nevertheless, he needed to maintain his professional demeanor, at least for now.

“name’s miguel o'hara, but you can call me migs," he introduced himself, granting the doctor permission to address him as such. "so, doc, what do you think? can you patch me up and get me back in fighting shape?

you nodded your head as you patted down the bed where’d you needed him to sit on, “yes of course! nice to meet you, migs. my name is dr. y/n but you can just call me y/n.” you smiled sweetly as miguel followed your instructions and watch him situate himself on the bed. “likewise, doc.”

“this isn’t something i can’t do after all i have experience as i used to work with olympic gymnasts.” you carefully touched him.

he extended his bruised hand towards the doctor, seeking their touch. the injuries inflicted upon his hand during the fight throbbed gently, acting as a reminder of the intensity with which he fought. miguel’s eyes never left the doctor, his gaze filled with an intensity that could rival the fire burning within him.

“but let's put those skills to the test, doc," Miguel continued, a subtle grin playing at the corners of his lips. "my hands might be a little roughed up, but i’m sure you can work some magic and bring them back to life."

he leaned forward, his toned body shifting slightly as he closed the distance between them. the scent of sweat and adrenaline clung to his skin, mingling with the subtle allure of his natural musk. the enticing combination teased the air between them, heightening the small space that separated their bodies.

“as an olympic-level doctor, you're not afraid of a little challenge, are you?" miguel’s voice dropped to a low and seductive tone, his eyes glinting with a mixture of playful challenge and raw desire. "because I could use a little TLC, doc, especially from someone as skilled as you. think you can handle it?"

miguel obediently took a seat on the bed, his body relaxing under the doctor's gentle guidance. the softness in your voice soothed him, creating an atmosphere of trust and comfort. though he was used to handling situations with authority and dominance, in this moment, he allowed himself to surrender control and place his well-being in the doctor's capable hands.

his dark brown eyes followed the doctor's every move, studying your grace and precision as you prepared to tend to his battered hands. miguel’s hands were strong and calloused from years of training and fighting, a visual representation of the skill and power he possessed in the ring.

as your nimble fingers began to unwrap the bandages, miguel’s senses were immediately heightened. the gentle touch against his skin sent a shiver of anticipation coursing through his body. he fought the urge to lean even closer, wanting to immerse himself in the doctor's touch, in their essence.

“you’ve got quite the touch, doc," he murmured, his voice low and husky. "feels like you know just how much pressure to apply, how to bring out the healing without sacrificing sensuality."

his gaze never wavered, their eyes locked in an unspoken understanding. miguel’s fingers twitched involuntarily, as if craving the doctor's touch, wishing to trace the contours of your body, to imprint the sensations on his fingertips.

he leaned back slightly, exposing more of his hands to your tender ministrations. as individual strands of bandage fell away, his injuries were laid bare for inspection. bruises and cuts painted a vivid picture of the relentless battle he had endured.

miguel indulged in the anticipation, wondering how the you would heal him, wondering if your touch would ignite a new fire within him, a different kind of intensity. he relished the moment, knowing that in the your hands, his body would be both vulnerable and safe.

———

a/n: i need to stop with these AU’s 💆🏽‍♀️

this is definitely going to be in parts <3

tags 🏷️: @kairiscorner @dracuilina

[srbachchan]

DAY 5799

Jalsa, Mumbai Jan 2/3, 2024 Tue/Wed 6:28 AM

🪔 ,

January 03 .. birthday wishes to our Ef and greetings to all ..

Ef Himanshu Srivastava .. Ef Nandkeshor Dattatreya Paatil .. Ef Omnia from Egypt 🇪🇬 .. Ef Anuradha Raheja from Madurai .. and Ef Megha VJ from USA 🇺🇲 ..

.. ✨

🌹

Babuji .. a prominent member of the Freedom Fighters for Independent India .. and how his modest home was opened for secret meetings and a place to hide, for the freedom fighters ..

In one of his conversations with me he did describe how the great freedom fighter Chandrashekhar 'Azaad' had sought refuge at his home and remained rolled up in a 'bistar band' .. बिस्तर बंद .. the 'HoldAll' of my times, a canvas type rolled packaging with straps to tie it up, inside which was laid a mattress, pillows, your shoes and other essentials for travel .. all then rolled up and tied in leather straps, which then became an essential baggage element during travel .. it would and was opened up by releasing the straps, unrolling it and viola, a ready made bed - mattress pillows and all .. open it up on the bed or floor or a train berth .. most convenient and the most important baggage material for travel .. well on train and cars and bus travels .. until the airplane arrived as the more, now common mode of travel ..

So 'Azad' remained rolled up in the 'holdall' - a most convenient and descriptive word coined for this kind of baggage essential - and secretly spent a night there at Babuji's home .. rolled up in a holdall !!

The dedication and will of the freedom fighter ! Incredible !!

Chandrashekhar 'Azad' later took on the British forces, a large contingent, in the famous Allahabad park, then known as Alfred Park, alone, hiding behind a tree, firing bullets from his pistol , until when his ammunition was exhausted and when he felt he would be caught, he ended his life behind that tree, by shooting his last bullet .. at himself .. not wanting to give himself up to the British ..

The park has now been renamed in his honour .. The Chandrashekhar Azad Park ..

I spent a large amount of time at this park, for picnics etc., and this was where the popular Allahabad Flower Show used to be held, where I went with Ma .. she won several cups for Best Garden, and Best Flower, the rose, competition !

I remember seeing that famous tree, behind which Azad took shelter and fought the British contingent ..

The park was a large expanse of green and flowers and trees right almost in the centre of the city .. a canopied structure in the middle of the park, was inhabited by a Band, every Sunday, playing old tunes of the time ..

The park also had a most well kept grass tennis court, where I saw some great International players during their tournament, organised by the Allahabad Civic authorities .. I cannot remember their names .. was too young for that .. but they were from Britain, and some European countries , I think ..

They were invited for a tea reception at Justice Mootham's residence, the then Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court ..

If my memory does not fail me .. Justice Mootham ! yes that name is correct in memory ..

7 :00 AM

a bit misleading the time , for I have been up since 4 .. loitering about in my room, nursing a muscle pulled back in spasm, unable to sleep or rest .. so a selective spray, that boasts of 'pain relief' within minutes - they all do - was generously applied and ..

And ..

Well, the discomfort remains .. ahahaha ..

🤣🤣🤣

The greetings of the New Year, the greetings for the Birthday have all been overwhelmingly large, and this has provided an enormous amount of space occupation on the mobile .. which as I try to address, is becoming a most arduous task ..

SO ..

may I just acknowledge all that have sent their wishes and greetings here and express my inadequacy in making personal responses ..

PLEASE ..

my gratitude then and my love for this ..

❤️

Laziness persists .. and that induces a temperament , which is difficult to describe ..

The absence of routine may sound odd, but routine puts and gathers the body in a way that keeps it going .. else , one never has a solution as to what can be done to occupy time .. and several essentials loose their essentiality !

Making sense ..

No ..

Well then too bad ! 🥹

Was going to suggest, you get lazy to experience and endorse my words, but that would be so ethically incorrect ..

Hence its a wish for the effervescent day ahead .. and my love 😍

Amitabh Bachchan

PS : I was right .. 👇🏽

Orby Howell Mootham

Sir Orby Howell Mootham (17 February 1901 – 19 July 1995) was a British lawyer, legal writer, and judge who was the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court from 1955 to 1961, the third-last British judge to serve in India.

[mask131]

So you want to know about Oz! (3)

Last time, we left on our sick and despaired mister Baum, as he realized he could never kill the child of his mind and despite his best efforts, the Oz fan would NEVER LET GO.

So, he decided "What the hell... If they want Oz books, they'll get Oz books!". And so he wrote more, and more, and more Oz books. At least, Baum understood that, in effect, people literaly did not care about any continuity. They were just interested in A) seeing old characters return and B) having more inventions and new lands thrown at them. They were all about that nostalgia and worldbuilding, without any care in the world for any cohesiveness or continuity error. So Baum gleefully invented and added as much as he could and went full whimsical-worldbuilding in what is truly a chaos to piece together when you try to look at Oz as a cohesive fantasy.

However that's the thing with Oz: it is not a cohesive fantasy series. The first two novels were not meant to be serialized or have sequels, as such, when he started doing them, Baum was forced to change things. It is as early as the fourth book, "Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz", which I like to call "BIG RETCON - the book" because it was Baum's first time at doing a huge lore retcon conflicting what was said in earlier books. Many people like to oppose in terms of worldbuilding Tolkien and C. S. Lewis - but I do believe Tolkien's archnemesis would be L. Frank Baum, with C.S. Lewis standing in the middle of the spectrum. Baum was just as prolific in content and enormous in scope as Tolkien when it came to worldbuilding... but when you put all things side by side it literaly makes no sense unless you look at the outside reasons that forced Baum to change his lore every three books or so. You know, it was a different time, fictional lore wasn't even a thing...

From six Oz books we went up to FOURTEEN Oz books in total. The man literaly kept writing them until his death... The last of the Oz books Baum wrote was "Glinda of Oz", published in 1920. L. Frank Baum died in 1919 from a stroke - he had finished the last Oz book, but it was only published posthumously... Yes, we can say the power of Oz was so strong it survived Baum...

It actually DID survive though... In a way you might not expect.

There are many, many ways to "cut" the Oz book series. There is the "original trilogy". There is the "original six books". You can go with "the fourteen books Baum wrote". But for decades the dominating division went by an official title, used by both publishers and fan-circles around the USA... The Famous Forty.

Yes, you heard it right... Famous FORTY.

"But... but why are there FORTY Oz books if Baum only wrote FOURTEEN? It's a mistake in spelling right?"

No. There are FORTY Oz books that are considered "official" (I am not even getting in the non-official ones) by Oz canon. Well, only if you are not a purist who considers that only the books Baum wrote are Oz-canon and the rest are just fan-sequels (I am such a purist). It doesn't help that so far ONLY the books L. Frank Baum wrote are in public domain, the others are still under copyright law.

And why did we go from fourteen to fourty? Why... For money of course! It has always been the reason why Oz went beyond its original "stand-alone novel format". "Money makes the world go round" as the song says...

When Baum died, his publishers of the time, Reilly & Lee, started SWEATING. Because the Oz series was still their best-seller, their cash-cow, their sacred little idol... They couldn't JUST stop it there! They needed to have the series continue... And you know what they say in the editing world! "If you author dies... JUST REPLACE HIM!"

The idea of replacing Baum as the author of the Oz novel actually worked like a charm thanks to something Baum himself introduced... Baum, as the series was serialized, inserted himself as a character of Oz. More precisely he refused to present himself as an author or inventor, and when dealing with fan mail (literal mail, letters) or writing his prefaces, he presented hmself as "The Royal Historian of Oz". It was part of the fun game he had with children: he pretended the Oz novels were all official chronicles of what actually happened in Oz, and that it was his job to write them down. (That's also why he hoped the sixth book great finale of "Oz is cut off from the rest of the world" would work at killing the series, because "Oh well, I'm stuck in the USA, too bad I can't get in Oz anymore to write my... What? What did you say? THEY SEND RADIO BROADCASTS NOW?")

When it came time to replace Baum, the editors just went "Hey, so, a new Royal Historian was hired by the Crown of Oz! Don't worry, the chronicles of what is going on in this new land are still around!". That's how Ruth Plumly Thompson came in the picture.

Now, I am not as knowledgeable on the other "Oz Royal Historians" as Baum. As I said, I am kind of a Baum purist. But here's some of the few things I know...

Ruth Plumly Thompson, the second "official Historian of Oz" by the editors' system was a huge fan of Baum's work, and so she jumped on the occasion to write more Oz books. (There were even rumors at some point that Thompson was Baum's niece and thus that the Oz books was just a family business). The Oz books were her main source of income, and so she worked VERY hard at doing Oz chronicles: she published one book each year.

Ruth Plumly Thompson's way of doing Oz was VERY different from Baum. I can't list all of the differences, but most notably Thompson' stories were closer to the traditional European fairytales, while Baum had always tried to subvert traditional fairytale tropes or avoid fairytale cliches at the time to truly do something new and fresh (him having a GOOD WITCH in the first Oz novel was a HUGE thing in the 1900s America where all witches were by default evil). Thompson also favored male protagonists (Baum always was fonder of female protagonists for Oz), and she introduced a lot of romances and love stories - something Baum was STRONGLY against, because in his aesthetic children did not care about romance and romantic love had nothing to do in youth literature.

Thompson wrote 21 OZ BOOKS, yes, 21, from 1921 to 1976. Well, to be exact, she wrote 19 books in one swift series from 1921 to 1939, then took a long Oz pause, and wrote two additional Oz books in the 70s, but these two books are not considered part of the "Famous Forty". The last of these two was not even an Oz book originally but rewritten to fit an Oz novel - "The Enchanted Island of Oz", published the year of Thompson's death. [This tactic of taking a standalone fantasy novel for children, and reinventing it as an Oz book, had been used by Baum himself prior. His tenth Oz book, "Rinkitink in Oz", was originally its own thing, before he rewrote it as part of the Oz series, explaining why Oz only appears in the final chapters of this novel].

While most of these novels are just as forgotten, if not more obscure, than the many other Oz books Baum wrote, there is one element that tends to regularly pop up in Oz adaptations. Have you never wondered why the Good Witch of the North is sometimes called "Tattypoo"? (A name I personally HATE). The name appears for example in "The Muppets' Wizard of Oz", despite Baum never giving any name to the Witch of the North. Well, this was a Thompson invention! She was the one who named the Witch Tattypoo in her book "The Giant Horse of Oz", where she worked at giving a backstory to this character... a VERY divise backstory among Oz fans for many, many reasons too long to explain here.

Now, I said famous FORTY, and yet with Thompson's books added we only have 33 books.... What's the rest?

Three Oz books, "The Wonder City of Oz", "The Scalawagons of Oz" and "Lucky Bucky in Oz", were published in the early 1940s by John R. Neill, considered the third "Royal Historian of Oz". What is very interestng is that John R. Neill had worked on the Oz series for a very long time... since the very early Oz books in fact.

Everybody remembers the original illustrations for "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" - these were done by an artist named W. W. Denslow. It was the art where Dorothy is this chubby little brunette girl. Well, you might be surprised to learn Denslow only worked on this Oz novel. When Baum wrote the sequel, "The Marvelous Land of Oz", Denslow did not return. Rather John R. Neill entered the picture. He would become the "official" artist of Oz, illustrating not only all of the Baum books (except the first one), but also all of the Thompson books. And while he originally tried to match Denslow's style to make a smooth transition for the child audience, he quickly grew his own style - he notably was the one who brought to us a tall, thin, blond and fashionable Dorothy that is a far cry from the more "proper farm girl" Dorothy of Denslow. In fact, Neill's work as an artist does show in the way he writes Oz, as he has very cartoony ideas and works heavily with the visuals, so that the text can allow for cool-looking illustrations.

Unfortunately, the Oz curse strikes again: Neill died in 1943, the very year following the publication of his third Oz book. There was a fourth Oz books in the plan, that he had written the manuscript of right before his death: "The Runaway in Oz". However, Reilly & Lee refused to publish the unfinished work... We would have to wait until 1995 for this book to finally see the light of day: kept by Neill's widow, it was finally published by the house Books of Wonders, in a format edited and illustrated by Eric Shanower (another prominent Oz artist which we will have to talk about later).

Outside of these three main Historians, three more were recognized by the editors. Jack Snow, who in the late 40s published two "official" Oz books, "The Magical Mimics in Oz" and "The Shaggy Man of Oz". He also created an "official guide" called "Who's Who in Oz", but which was noted to have some inconsistencies with the books (which is expected given the Oz series is INCONSISTENCY - THE SERIES). There are a lot of rumors around of a third, unpublished Oz book by Snow called "Over the Rainbow to Oz", but nothing allows us to confirm the existence of such a book.

Rachel R. Cosgrove published one "official" Oz book in 1951, "The Hidden Valley of Oz". She had prepared in 1954 a second Oz book, called "The Wicked Witch of Oz", but Reilly & Lee refused to have it publish because, at the time, "Oz books didn't sell" (CRAZY, right? Now, in the mid-50s, Oz books didn't sell anymore?). She still managed to have it published in the 1990s, by The International Wizard of Oz Club (another beast we'll have to talk about).

Finally, the last official "Royal Historian of Oz" was Eloise Jarvis McGraw, but she wrote her only official Oz book in collaboration with Lauren Lynn McGraw, her daughter. Their work was "Merry Go Round in Oz". They created another Oz novel, "The Forbidden Fountain in Oz", but while it was published it was not included in the "canon" Famous Forty, and in 2000 Eloise Jarvis McGraw published a third Oz novel alone, "The Rundelstone of Oz".

And thus you have it! The Famous Forty. The Forty books Reilly & Lee, the official publishers of the Oz books, deemed, edited and sold as the "canon" Oz books.

... But of course, this being Oz, and the Oz books entering public domain in the 50s, 60s and onward, the Famous Forty as far from the only Oz books to exist. Oh no...

On one side, you have The International Wizard of Oz Club, which I talked about previously. From the 50s onward they worked as the second main publishers of Oz books, since Reilly & Lee had stopped doing Oz novels on the accounts that "it doesn't sell anymore". It was the Club that published the last two Oz novels of Thompson, and the fourth unpublished novel of Neill, and the rejected novel of Cosgrove, and the second book of the McGraw duo, and many others! They published 8 Oz works in total from 1958 (Jack Snow's short story "A Murder in Oz") to 2006 (Gina Wickwar's Toto in Oz).

To that you can add three Oz novels that were recognized as "official" by the Baum Family Trust. Two were written by William Stout, "The Emerald Wand of Oz" (2005) and "Trouble Under Oz" (2006) ; the last was by Kim McFarland, "Sky Pirates over Oz" (2014)

And I am not even talking about the many books written by several descendants of L. Frank Baum! Two of Baum's sons attempted doing Oz books: Frank Joslyn Baum, the eldest ("The Laughing Dragon of Oz", 1934) and Kenneth Cage Baum, the youngest ("The Dinamonster of Oz", written in 1941 but only published in 1991). However the most prolific Baum-related author is without a doubt Roger S. Baum. Great-grandson of the original author, he wrote FOURTEEN Oz books, yes as much as his great-grandpa, starting with "Dorothy of Oz" in 1989, and ending with "The Oz Enigma" in 2013.

And ALL OF THAT is not even accounting for all the non-official Oz authors and their many, MANY books... Go check the Wikipedia pages for the list of Oz books, or the many pages of the Oz Wiki, you will be impressed.

I wasn't lying when I was saying there were Oz bookS in plural...

[demeterdefence]

Thinking about your "Rachel bashing og greek myths" post, methinks she believed herself to be making greek culture a favor similarly to the author of The Phantom of Manhattan, the unofficial sequel to The Phantom of the Opera

In the preface, the author begins by saying that Phantom, unlike Frankenstein or Dracula, barely made a dent in world culture until Andrew Lloyd Webber came along to make the musical, which he considers the "true" version even tho like...it wouldn't exist without the novel! He bashes Gaston Leroux and basically states that his attempt at writing failed miserably and it's like DUDE, again, the musical and your problematic sequel wouldn't even exist without it, and just because it was bigger in France than in the usa it doesn't mean it had zero impact in culture

But of COURSE unless it's usa-approved then it doesn't count and isn't worth anything *sarcasm*

PHENOMENAL point, FANTASTIC point, absolutely true and correct

i can't be a total dick and say this is an issue solely created and implemented by rachel, because we've seen non-western cultures and religions absolutely whitewashed to hell and back - like, people have been drawing jesus of the bible as white for centuries when he was a middle eastern palestinian jewish man, and good god look what the west has done to the religions of india, china, and japan. but it's the way these kinds of stories drip with a sort of smugness in removing the original culture, in depicting it as backwards and broken.

rachel wants to claim she's making a feminist retelling, but the original myth was already feminist. ancient greece didn't pretend their society was not fiercely male dominated and patriarchal, and hades stealing persephone was absolutely in line with the traditional myths - the twist is that demeter wins. demeter punishes the male gods who stole her daughter, and the ferocity of her rage and grief forces hades and zeus to give in. if persephone hadn't eaten the pomegrante seeds, she wouldn't be in the underworld at all! this is a story that is so clearly a triumph for the mothers and daughters of ancient greece, of many worlds over, because it depicted explicitly that a mother's love was more powerful than even the gods. and rachel pisses all over that.

literally even going beyond that, looking at the society that is olympus and the underworld - all the technology they use, all the innovations they have. who exactly is making these??? where exactly is the material coming from??? you can handwave away most of the inventions by saying it's magic, but we've seen demeter talk about algebra, which was invented in the ninth century by a muslim scholar from persia. in speedrunning to this so called perfect modernized world, rachel actually erases the cultural offerings and developments of dozens of other ancient worlds, and kind of just gives the credit to the underworld, which is run by a slave driver.

persephone constantly bemoans the dullness of the mortal realm, and prefers to literally lounge around doing nothing, when the mortal realm is inventing the olympic games, the democratic forum, FOOTBALL. you have thousands of things to show the gods involved in - largely because the gods were the patrons!!! why do we never see zeus looking over the olympic games??? they happen in his sanctuary!!!

like the disdain rachel has for ancient greece is insane. she can't even bother to research the food typical of the time period, seeing as she writes persephone being looked down on for being vegetarian when vegetables were a key and staple diet of ancient greece. one could argue that a vast majority of ancient greece were vegetarian by general habit. she's baking cheesecake and french desserts and having fast food and carrot cake and maybe - maybe - she'll mention baklava. the ancient greeks are FAMOUS for their art, but we sure wouldn't know that from lore olympus. the only character who even references ancient greek music is apollo, with his lyre, and that's not exactly a ringing endorsement.

and this is not to say that an adaption has to follow the ancient text to a t - that's just not feasible and no one is expected to do so. but there's really something to how rachel does dismiss or ignore the canonical importance of so many of these stories to replace them with a western interpretation. even the therapy speak is grating. in episode 227, when persephone is talking about the concept of virginity, she's absolutely correct in pointing out how that's largely a social construct - but in light of the world she lives in and the world she helps control, the same idea could have been reached through means other than americanized psych talk.

so often, people will look back at the ancient world and think we are morally superior because we do not have the same views, or we have seemingly "developed." that is a view i abhor, because it removes the very act of learning and developing and understanding. rachel really talked big about how removing the incest of ancient greece made the story better, but incidentally, she managed to also take out the feminism, and literally the entire lgbt culture of ancient greece. apollo was even considered the patron of homosexuality! he was called to bless same-sex unions! zeus had DOZENS of male lovers; ares, hephestus, and hermes had known male relationships, and several of the ancient heroes and gods of greek mythology were described in terms we would refer to as transgender in modern times.

if rachel had gone "i'm writing a love story that's originally inspired by the myth of persephone and hades but it's very much modern and removed from the myths" that would be one thing, and i would not be bristling at that; myths have inspired countless stories over the centuries and will continue to do so for centuries to come. the problem is rachel wants to claim a rooting in these myths with zero understanding of how they work or why they work, and absolutely lets her contempt for the ancients shine through in every single aspect of her comic. it's gross and it's petty and she deserves none of the self-appointed "mythology expert" she's given herself.

[nordickies]

I have a question, are nations seen as ordinary people or are they seen as famous, like they are celebrities?

How unhinged do you want me to get about this topic? I have so many thoughts but no skills to write them down in a comprehensible manner. I have a lot of ideas on how Nations could potentially work in their universe, so exploring ideas like this is fun. The canon gives us some hints about it, but I love deep-diving into stuff. As a warning, this is how I view the situation and use it in my interpretations. I tag my thoughts on the nationverse as Nordickies Nationverse AU - so just to clarify, I don't even try to explain the canon with this! This is, once again, just my own thoughts and ideas. Feel free to implement them in your work.

The way I think Nations work, it would be impossible to see them as totally detached from the public consciousness. After all, they work for their government - their job description is to represent their country, domestically and internationally. But, how they're supposed to represent their state is a bit different than, say, a Head of State (like a president) would. They're not political personas; in fact, they would probably be pressed to be excessively apolitical. Their political rights would be almost certainly stripped away. They're not equal to their country's citizens in that regard.

While a Head of State would represent a country in diplomatic and political settings, a Nation would represent a country in entertainment, so to speak. These immortals don't hold any authority, so the only purpose they would have is to entertain people - Be the symbolic figure for people who share a national identity. This also makes Nations more people-oriented, easily approachable, and relatable. They regularly visit schools, hospitals, and ceremonies, work as a spokesperson for humanitarian organizations, appear at national celebrations or major events, support their athletes in international competitions, do interviews, etc.

And, of course, a massive part of their job is to uphold relationships with fellow Nations, which is a form of entertainment in itself. That's what the World Meetings are all about, for example. They're not political meetings, and they don't decide anything there. It's like a massive corporate party, just a chance for all the Nations to gather in one place for half a week and have fun. Keep up appearances, meet coworkers, and do networking. It's almost a facade sometimes, but the intentions are good. I think the Nations enjoy that particular side of their job more than anything.

But it hasn't always been like this, and I think the role of Nations has changed a lot throughout history. This sort of "celebrity" status only developed through celebrity culture and expectations of the modern world. Every Nation views their role differently, primarily based on their culture, personality, and even global status. The USA is far more famous than, say, a micronation. Some Nations love the luxurious celebrity lifestyle and genuinely love to meet and work with their people. But others prefer to keep to themselves and avoid publicity as much as possible outside work hours. I don't think there even is an agreed standard on what kind of role a Nation is expected to serve, to be honest - it's all determined by the local culture and government, not to mention Nations that don't even have an independent state! To summarize, some are far more public and famous than others.

But, this public role does come with a heavy burden. Being the representative of potentially millions of people means that Nations are not individuals anymore. They're not supposed to have needs, desires, or opinions - especially if those diverge from the masses or conflict with their state's interests. They don't even have an individual name anymore, and they just carry the name of their land. Their personal experiences don't matter because they're not a person anymore.

Every single thing they do can be praised or criticized (especially nowadays through social media). When their people are divided, whose side are they going to take? Do they serve their people or their government? Who do they really represent at the end of the day? Their government tells them that they represent the people, the nation. But their people may see them as the face of the system. And maybe, in their heart, they don't feel a particular connection to either of them. But that's a scary thought because if they're not here to serve their nation, then what is their purpose?

They didn't exactly ask for this role; they were just put into this situation. Nations don't know what they're doing or why they are here, but they feel this sense of duty and responsibility to be here for their people. Their personal needs, feelings, or even opinions don't matter. They have grown up thinking that they're here for humanity, not for themselves. But sometimes, they catch themselves thinking how unfair it is. They're expected to be perfect, to conform to the norms others have assigned to them. They can't disappoint people, but always put their best face forward and be the picture-perfect representative. But let's be real here, it's always going to be impossible to please everyone. They probably have loud critics, and what would entertainment be without scandals and controversies? It's such a fascinating and complex part of Nations' existence that I love to explore in the Nationverse.

Ah, I got off the rails, but I seriously have so many thoughts on the whole concept. I love developing this AU. I'm a logical person, and I must make sense of everything. I adore overanalyzing media, especially silly media like this. So, figuring out the small details of Nationverse is always fun for me. It really gets my creativity going because I'm curious about worldbuilding overall. If you didn't get it, I apologize. But if you did, I applaud you.

TL;DR: They're celebrities/public figures, but their level of fame and willingness to interact in celebrity culture is totally dependent on their personality and role in society. Some bathe in the public light, and some avoid it like the plague. It's a source of fluff and angst in this AU; I love it <3

[jessicaclancyperseveres]

Key Importance of Reading and Making It a Habit for All Ages

A book by a professional author Houston, whether they are fiction or non-fiction, can teach us things that we would not have known otherwise. Reading a wide range of subjects can increase your knowledge, which will enhance your ability to converse with others.

Email: jessicaclancyperseveres@gmail.com

Address: United States

[boreal-sea]

Hey, I have a question and I was wondering if you could help because it’s really been confusing me lately. If not, for any reason at all, you’d rather not I totally understand. You can just delete the ask.

With a lot of pro-ship arguments I see the phrase it’s “just fiction” and idea that fiction can’t harm anyone. However propaganda is still obviously dangerous and representation is important. I don’t know how exactly the rules are different for these things and I’d really appreciate any thoughts you had on the topic, if you have any. I might be missing some obvious part to this, my brain tends to do that

So it's not that the rules are different, it's that the entire context is different, including the intent, impact and scope.

I used to deal with this mental conflict as well, as a young person. I was raised republican, and one of their big tactics is oversimplifying things. So you learn "violence is bad", and then you see BLM protestors and the January 6th rioters, and the simplified world view says "if you think the BLM thugs are justified, then so were the January 6th patriots - they both rioted, they both fought for their rights against the establishment".

Now obviously, those two situations are absolutely not equivalent when you think about them for longer than a millisecond, but the simplified world view does not want you to think. In the simplified mindset, "destroying property" is always wrong, no matter the reason why. So if you are OK with it in one situation, you cannot disagree in another and vice versa. And that is the mindset Antis have when it comes to fanfic: if propaganda is bad and can negatively influence people, if giant blockbuster movies, famous novels, and popular TV shows can negatively influence stereotypes about people and cause other harm, then it is equally wrong to write about icky kinks on Ao3.

The thing is though, these are not at all equivalent situations. Propaganda is created with the explicit intent to influence people's opinions about a subject area. The scope and impact of famous authors and directors is way, way bigger than a fan author on Ao3 - and big-name folks like that do actually have to deal with the impact of their work. Spielberg regrets the negative impact Jaws had on sharks, for instance.

A fanfic you write for yourself and post on Ao3 for a niche audience of fans is going to get a couple thousand hits, at best. It's very unlikely to ever escape the awareness of people in your fandom. And especially if you have tagged it correctly, the only people who are going to read it in the first place are people who are already into that kink, or who are open to it. It is never going to influence culture at large. My kinky fanfic is not going to have the same cultural impact as Steven Spielberg's Jaws did in 1975. And no, my fanfic is not going to "normalize rape culture".

Any work of fiction can have unintended impacts. This is not a logical justification to not create art. "Problematic art" not only deserves to exist, it needs to exist. If you don't agree with that, then you might as well be on the side of the folks in red states across this nation who are banning books in schools, forcibly rewriting history to erase slavery from the USA's past, and thinking they can get rid of "problematic media" they claim is "grooming their children".

[niuniente]

Regarding fandoms and comments, I've recently had negative comments that tell me I'm not good and should just quit writing. Well, it worked. I no longer am able to write without it affecting my mental state. People who do the bullying do it to get rid of authors they don't like that doesn't fit their mindset. When does it end? I didn't want it to hurt my mental health and get me to quit, but it did.

People treating each other badly whenever they can never ceases to make me sad.

I try to think the quote "hurt people hurt people" when dealing with negative people. Happy, balanced people, who view others as their equals, have no need to leave negative comments, send hate messages etc. to others just because they can.

Take a little break but don't let anyone stop you from doing what you love! I try to keep this mentality and I always think about how Billy Idol (80's famous singer) just kept pushing forward whenever someone or something said no to him:

When he was a child, he wanted to play a guitar. Parents said "No, you can only play a violin" -> Billy secretly got himself a guitar with 5£ at the age of 9 and learned to play it by himself.

His teenage girlfriend dyed his hair white. Everyone said it looked horrible on him -> Billy kept the white hair and made it his trademark.

He discovered punk and FINALLY managed to put a band together in his late teens. Too bad that London, where he lived, had closed all bars and pubs from punk bands. They weren't legally allowed to play anywhere. -> Billy and a few other guys established their own place for all punk bands, where all where welcome to play.

He went to university to study music. He was bullied and ostracized by other students as he was too weird, too freaky looking and listened to punk instead of jazz -> He was lonely but staid in the school and kept his looks and music taste.

He started to dislike being a band member and wanted to have a solo career. Everyone said you can't make it, you suck, you can't make compose a shit -> Billy decided to start a solo career as Billy Idol anyway.

When he started to get a little footing in the Europe, he decided that he wants to go to USA. It would give him better markets and more chances to succeed. Too bad that Europe's most famous punk band, Sex Pistols, has just epically failed in their attempts to make it in the USA. America hated punk and Billy Idol was nobody compared to Sex Pistols. Everyone called him delusional for having such stupid dreams. -> Billy went to USA anyway

In America, all record labels he went to said the same thing; you will never make it here. You sing punk and we hate it. You sing with British English and we hate it. You look so fucking ugly that no one will come to see you. If you want to succeed here, you need to change your music style for radio friendly stuff, change your accent and change your looks. -> Billy thought that if singing with American accents helps, he does it. Otherwise, fuck you. This is the music he wants to do and this is his style and how he wants to look. -> This decision led him to become super famous. Everyone loved his music and the fucking ugly guy became one of the 80's sex symbols, and his music videos were literally directed to sell with sex to the female audience.

Also, it was told him with dead certainty by many people that your music will never play in radios. EVER. Well, what do you know, his music still plays in the radios, 40 years later :3

So, keep going! Keep writing! There's audience for every single style out there and just because some asshat wasn't impressed, it doesn't mean others wouldn't like your stuff.

I mean, how much emphasis do we want to put into asshats words anyway? Which matters more; some random asshat's feelings or our own joy and inspiration when we do something creative?

[wikiweird]

Spite House -

Spite houses are unique and often peculiar structures that are built primarily to annoy, inconvenience, or retaliate against someone or something. They typically serve as a form of protest or revenge by individuals who feel wronged or antagonized. Spite houses can be found in various parts of the world and have become intriguing architectural curiosities.

The motivations behind building spite houses can vary. Sometimes, they are constructed due to disputes between neighbors, family feuds, or disagreements with local authorities. In other cases, they may be a response to perceived injustices or attempts to thwart unwanted developments.

One famous example of a spite house is the "Skinny House" located in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. It was built in 1874 when a man named Joseph E. Sturgis inherited a narrow strip of land from his father. However, his brother, who also inherited a share, built a large home on his portion, obstructing Joseph's view and access to sunlight. In retaliation, Joseph constructed a spite house on his small strip of land, which measured just 1.67 meters (less than 6 feet) wide at its narrowest point. The Skinny House stands to this day, serving as a testament to a long-standing family dispute.

Another famous example is the Hollensbury Spite House in Alexandria, Virginia, USA. In the 1830s, John Hollensbury, the owner of a nearby grocery store, grew frustrated with people using the alley next to his property as a shortcut. To deter them, he built a small, wedge-shaped house in the middle of the alley. The Hollensbury Spite House remains a prominent feature in Old Town Alexandria and has become a popular tourist attraction.

Spite houses can take on various forms and architectural styles. Some are intentionally designed to be visually bizarre or impractical. The primary goal is often to make a statement or inconvenience those who provoked the construction. However, not all spite houses are meant to be inhabited; some are merely symbolic gestures.

While spite houses may be intriguing to observe, they also reflect the conflicts and disputes that arise between individuals. They serve as reminders of the lengths some people will go to express their dissatisfaction and seek revenge through unconventional means.

Read more

[discovercosmos]

2024 May 20

Aurora Dome Sky

Image Credit & Copyright: Xuecheng Liu & Yuxuan Liu

Explanation: It seemed like night, but part of the sky glowed purple. It was the now famous night of May 10, 2024, when people over much of the world reported beautiful aurora-filled skies. The featured image was captured this night during early morning hours from Arlington, Wisconsin, USA. The panorama is a composite of several 6-second exposures covering two thirds of the visible sky, with north in the center, and processed to heighten the colors and remove electrical wires. The photographer (in the foreground) reported that the aurora appeared to flow from a point overhead but illuminated the sky only toward the north. The aurora's energetic particles originated from CMEs ejected from our Sun over sunspot AR 3664 a few days before. This large active region rotated to the far side of the Sun last week, but may well survive to rotate back toward the Earth next week.

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)