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cherrylng · 6 days ago

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My Chemical Romance - Gerard Way interview [INROCK (May 2006)]

“I'm using the word "love" for the first time. I can definitely say this is based on real experience.”

Gerard Way / My Chemical Romance INTERVIEW: AI ANAZAWA

My Chemical Romance have been laying low of late in order to work on a new album following "Sweet Revenge". If all had gone according to plan, recording would have started at some place in Los Angeles by now, but this time it is Rob Cavallo, who produced their heroes Green Day, who is in charge of production. According to Rob, the new album has "some dark stuff, some references to Queen and The Doors. There are also some experimental parts that are reminiscent of System of a Down." The working title of the new album is "The Rise and Fall of My Chemical Romance." It is significant that the album is about 'the rise and fall of My Chemical Romance', even though they have only released two albums so far. As we wait for the album to be released before the end of the year, we attempted an email interview with Gerard, who says he loves Japan.

How have you been? How are you doing these days? Gerard Way (vo.): Good question. I actually just got back from Japan the other day, can you believe it? The day we finished touring in Australia, I went to Japan for a holiday. I was so happy this time because I got to see the beautiful land of Japan without working. What else have I been doing recently? In six days I'll be heading to Los Angeles to prepare for the recording of the new album.

I heard you were visiting Japan. Where did you go and what did you do? Gerard: Hahaha, you already answered your own question. I went to a lot of places. Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Miyajima, Hiroshima and many other places. I also stayed at a ryokan across the sea by boat. I went hiking and visited a lot of temples. I had dinner with a geisha… I had so many wonderful experiences.

Were you alone? Or do you have friends in Japan you can rely on? Gerard: I went with my girlfriend. And her younger sister and her boyfriend, who are both artists by the way. My sister's boyfriend is from Kyoto, so he showed me around. If it wasn't for him, I would have been completely lost. So it's thanks to him that I've had such a great experience. Of course, meeting Kazu, the Japanese label manager, was another highlight of the trip. For me he's not just a label manager, he's a good friend. We got some great photos together.

"I feel like when I go to Japan, I come back a better person afterwards."

What did you buy in Japan? Gerard: I bought a lot of straps to put on my mobile phone, hahaha. I also bought a lot of souvenirs for my family and friends. Tea, Godzilla, and Studio Ghibli stuff.

Why Japan? Gerard: Because it's my favourite place in the world. It's beautiful and I like the way people take care of things. I feel like when I go to Japan, I come back a better person afterwards.

Is there anything you've learnt since you've been here? Gerard: Wow, well… I learnt about respect and the importance of thinking about what's good on a larger community level and not just about yourself.

Don't you think more Americans should travel more and see more of the world? Gerard: Everyone should, not just Americans. It's the only way to learn about the world.

I heard a rumour that you bought a CD of the Don Quixote theme song while you were in Japan. Gerard: Yeah, I liked it so much that Kazu helped me find the CD and buy it. I'm sure Matt Cortez, our guitar tech, will be thrilled when he hears it.

You once said that "I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love" (first album) was about finding yourself, and "Sweet Revenge" was about polishing yourself, so you want to make the next album the ultimate My Chemical Romance album. What exactly do you plan to do to make that happen? Gerard: I think some of the songs on the previous albums have inspired us to grow up and take more risks as a result. For example, "You Know What They Do To Guys Like Us In Prison" on "Sweet Revenge" showed us that we could explore new and more diverse areas. It's like a warm-up before a boxing match knockout. Another thing I can say is that the new album will be more colourful. It will definitely have more depth and you'll see that we don't care about the outcome, we're just going to do what we want to do.

What can we expect from the new album? Are you planning any collaborations with anyone? Who will be your producer? Gerard: I'm looking forward to some intense stuff. Also, there will be a lot of wolves. I don't know about collaborations yet, but we're going to have Rob Cavallo as producer. I'm very happy about that. It's a huge honour.

You mentioned that the new album will have more songs based on real-life experiences. What are the themes of the lyrics? Gerard: Death is still a theme in the new album, but this time it's more humorous than before. There's also a lot of references to self-loathing, self-awareness and a lot of longing. I'm using the word "love" for the first time. I can definitely say that this is based on real experiences.

Looking back, what do you think of your work so far? Gerard: I'm very proud of it. At the same time, I feel that I could have done better. Especially my parts. But hey, I'm good at criticising myself.

"I've been sober for the last year and a half, and it's made my life a lot better."

I heard that "Sweet Revenge" was a concept album, and the makeup was based on that concept. Do you think it was good the way it was? Gerard: Of course. It was necessary for us to make an artistic statement and to get the idea across. It was specific to "Sweet Revenge", and we'll do something different next time.

With that album, you guys were accepted by many people, especially the MTV demographic. I think your popularity has exploded, especially over the past year, thanks in part to the elaborate promotional videos you've made. When we spoke at Summer Sonic two years ago, you said that you still had a strong New Jersey underdog mentality, which I remember fondly. Was it a slow and gradual process for you guys to become popular since then? Or was it a sudden, dramatic change? Gerard: Even though we'd been around for quite a while, it was a sudden change. We just couldn't keep up with the fame. I don't think anyone can ever be prepared for fame. And we didn't get along well with celebrities, so we never got over the underdog mentality. Celebrity pretence was never our forte.

How important is the visual aspect? What can we expect to see from you in the future? Gerard: The visual aspect of the album art and the stage is very important. The costumes we've worn in the past, they've just naturally taken shape to suit the stage. That's why I don't wear the old stage clothes for photo shoots these days.

You have been relatively open about your depression and alcoholism. How are things going for you there? You seem to be a lot happier these days. Gerard: I'm doing great. I've been sober for the last year and a half, and it's made my life a lot better.

Finally, I know you're of Italian descent, but what other bloodlines are you mixed with? Gerard: Italian and Scottish, as well as German and Swedish. My name comes from a Catholic saint. That's a very Italian way of giving a name.

Oh, at the end of the day, did I forget to ask you anything else? Gerard: Hahaha~ I think we covered it all. Thanks for today!

Translator's Note: Please do support me via ko-fi! ☕

#Gerard Way #My Chemical Romance #MCR #The Black Parade era #my scan #translation #interview #INROCK #INROCK May 2006

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cheynovak · 2 months ago

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Sheriff’s Bargain

Characters: Beau Arlen x F/Reader Y/N

Summary: Y/N, a seasoned con artist, is arrested after returning to Montana, where her past comes back to haunt her in the form of Sheriff Beau Arlen—the man she abandoned five years ago. Facing charges linked to a drug lord, she’s offered a deal to work as an informant. Torn between her criminal life and lingering feelings for Beau, Y/N must decide whether to help him bring down the crime ring or continue running from her past.

Warnings: Mentioning of breaking the law

English is not my first language

*Please do not copy my work, reblog/comments/likes are appreciated*

I’ve always lived by one rule: never get attached. It’s a good rule when your life revolves around lies, schemes, and the occasional robbery. My world was all about the next con, the next score. Keep it simple. Keep it clean. And most importantly, never catch feelings.

But then I swiped right on Beau Arlen.

It all started with a silly swipe on an online dating app. I’d been scrolling aimlessly, a glass of wine in hand, bored out of my mind, when his profile caught my eye. Tall, rugged, with an easy smile and sun-kissed hair, he was the definition of all-American charm.

Sheriff.

That little detail was tucked away in his bio, barely noticeable. I knew then it wasn’t just boredom pulling me into a potential meet-up; this was a chance. Law enforcement wasn’t usually my playground, but something about him made me curious. A sheriff? That kind of information could be worth a lot in the right hands.

I was hooked. So, I did what I do best. I played the part—Y/N, the carefree, slightly adventurous girl just looking for a connection. We started chatting, and he was exactly what I expected—kind, witty, a little rough around the edges but warm. He was also recently divorced. No kids. And I learned, without even asking, that I was the first woman he’d dated since. That little fact should’ve sent warning bells off in my head, but instead, it intrigued me. Made me want to know more about him, which was the first sign I was slipping.

I could already picture our first date, where I’d play innocent and sweet while subtly probing for information. The game was on.

Two days later, I found myself in the dimly lit corner of a small bar in Austin, Texas, waiting for Beau to arrive. The place was a quiet little spot on the outskirts of town, not flashy but comfortable. The kind of place where people didn’t ask too many questions, which worked perfectly for me.

I caught my reflection in the glass behind the bar—subtle makeup, a touch of vulnerability in my expression, nothing to hint at what I was really up to. It was all part of the game. I had done this a hundred times before. The thrill of deception, of being in control, made my blood hum with excitement.

Then the door swung open, and there he was. Even in the dim light, Beau Arlen commanded the room. He spotted me, his eyes lighting up with that easy-going smile. It hit me—he wasn’t just handsome. He had a presence. Something solid. Steady.

I hadn’t expected that.

“Y/N, right?” His voice was deep, with a Southern drawl that made my skin tingle. I smiled, standing up to meet him.

“That’s me. Beau, right?” I played it cool, though my heart was beating a little faster than usual. I chalked it up to the challenge ahead.

As the night went on, we talked and laughed, and I skillfully steered the conversation, dropping little hints, hoping he’d spill some intel about the sheriff’s department or something juicy I could sell to one of my mob contacts. But he didn’t take the bait.

Instead, he told me about growing up in Texas, his time in law enforcement, and how hard the divorce had been on him. How he hadn’t dated anyone seriously since the split. I was the first. The way he said it, so matter-of-fact, yet vulnerable, made something inside me twist. This wasn’t just another target. This was a good man, a man who had been hurt. A man who trusted me.

That’s when I felt the first crack in my carefully built walls.

One date turned into two. Then three. Each time, I told myself it was just part of the plan. I’d get the information I needed, make my move, and disappear before he ever realized who I really was. That’s how it always went. But every time I met up with Beau, something shifted.

I found myself laughing more. Enjoying his company. He was good. Not in the usual way I was used to, not someone trying to get something from me. He was just good. And damn it, that scared me.

The night we were supposed to go to a local diner, I had a plan. I'd go home with him and I’d dug around, found out where Beau kept his work laptop. All I had to do was slip away while he was distracted, clone his drive, and sell the sheriff’s department intel to the highest bidder.

Easy.

Except it wasn’t.

We sat in his truck after dinner, parked by a lake just outside the city, and he looked at me—really looked at me. Not like I was Y/N, the girl I pretended to be, but like he saw something deeper. Something real. His thumb brushed against my hand, and for a second, I forgot what I was supposed to be doing.

“You know, I didn’t expect this,” he said softly, his voice rumbling like distant thunder.

“Expect what?” I asked, my heart doing weird somersaults in my chest.

“To actually like you,” he said, turning to face me fully. “I mean, I thought you were pretty, sure, but this… it feels like more.”

My breath hitched. This wasn’t part of the plan. I wasn’t supposed to feel… anything. But I did.

I’d conned a hundred men before Beau. And not once had I ever felt guilty. Not once had I ever hesitated. But now, looking into his eyes, I knew I was in trouble.

“I don’t think you’re telling me everything,” he added, his voice soft but firm, like he knew something was off but wasn’t sure what.

My pulse raced. Did he know? Had he figured me out?

I could end it here. Lie. Run. Disappear like I always did. But then, he leaned closer, his hand brushing a strand of hair behind my ear, and I couldn’t do it. Not this time.

“Beau, I—” I stopped myself, words failing me for the first time in forever.

I pulled away just before his lips could touch mine.

“I—I’m sorry, Beau. I can’t.”

I scrambled out of the truck, my heart pounding, and started walking. I didn’t know where I was going, just that I had to get away. I couldn’t do this. I couldn’t let him in.

“Y/N!” Beau called after me, his voice tinged with confusion and worry. “Wait! What’s wrong?”

I kept walking, my breath coming in shallow bursts. I heard his footsteps behind me, getting closer until his hand caught my wrist, gently pulling me to a stop.

“What’s going on?” he asked, his eyes searching mine.

I wanted to tell him. I wanted to spill everything, but I couldn’t. Instead, I surged forward and kissed him. Soft, quick, just a taste of what could’ve been. When I pulled back, Beau looked at me, eyes wide with confusion.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, my throat tightening. “This isn’t working out.”

The hurt flashed in his eyes, but I didn’t wait for him to respond. I turned and walked away, each step feeling like I was ripping my own heart out.

By the time I got back to my apartment, I had made my decision. I couldn’t stay in Texas. Not with Beau here. If I did, I’d only end up hurting him worse. I packed my bags quickly, grabbing whatever I could fit, and disappeared into the night like I always did. No note, no goodbye. Just gone.

Five years.

It had been five years since I left Texas. Since I left Beau. I told myself it was for the best, that he deserved someone better. Someone real. I moved from city to city, pulling cons, making deals, and trying to forget the way he made me feel.

But I never did.

And now, here I was, back in Montana. The last place I ever thought I’d return to. The past, the one I’d tried to bury beneath years of schemes and lies, still haunted me in the form of a tall, rugged sheriff named Beau Arlen.

I thought of him more times than I cared to admit. His smile, his voice, the way he looked at me like I was someone worth knowing. Someone real. I was too much of a coward to look him up, to even think about reaching out. Instead, I did what I did best—hid behind the shadows. I checked his Facebook like some creep, scrolling through his life from the safety of a screen, always too afraid to hit that “Add Friend” button. He looked happy. He seemed like he’d moved on.

I told myself I had too. I built a flawless career as a private contractor, stealing, selling intel, playing my cards right with every dangerous figure I crossed. Everything was perfect.

Five years of dodging bullets and walking out of every con cleanly came to a crashing halt. I got caught. They found a trail leading back to me. Somehow, they connected me to an old case in this godforsaken town. I didn’t even remember the details anymore. I’d worked for a drug baron here once, years ago. A minor job. But I should have known better than to think I could outrun every ghost from my past.

The small, gray interrogation room smelled like stale coffee and disinfectant. I sat at the table, my hands cuffed in front of me, but I wasn’t worried. I’d been in tighter spots before, and I was always good at talking my way out. If I played this right, I could convince them I was just another innocent woman in the wrong place at the wrong time.

But what I wasn’t prepared for had just walked into the room.

The door swung open, and there he was. Beau.

Sheriff Beau Arlen.

The world seemed to stop as he stepped into the room, his broad frame filling the doorway. He was even more rugged than I remembered—his shoulders a little broader, his face a little more weathered, like the years had hardened him in ways I hadn’t expected. But his eyes—those sharp, piercing eyes—still had that same warmth I used to get lost in. Except now, there was something else there. Something colder. Something guarded.

I swallowed hard, my heart slamming against my ribcage as his gaze locked on me. For a second, I thought I saw recognition flash across his face, but he didn’t give anything away. He just stood there, towering over me, a shadow from my past I couldn’t ignore any longer.

"Well," he said slowly, his voice low and steady, "this is a surprise."

I forced a smile, my brain scrambling for something to say, something that would make this less awkward, less… devastating.

“Beau,” I breathed, the sound of his name on my lips feeling both familiar and foreign. “Sheriff in Montana now, huh?”

He raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned against the doorframe. “Yeah. A lot’s changed since you ran out on me.”

I flinched at the reminder, feeling the weight of my past mistakes crashing down on me. I opened my mouth to respond, but nothing came out. I wasn’t prepared for this. I wasn’t prepared for him.

Beau pushed off the wall and walked slowly toward the table, his eyes never leaving mine. “You were always good at disappearing, Y/N. But I gotta say, I didn’t expect you to turn up in my town again. And especially not like this.”

I couldn’t help the bitter laugh that escaped me. “Trust me, neither did I.”

He sat down across from me, his expression unreadable. The tension between us was thick, the weight of everything unsaid pressing down on both of us. I wanted to explain, to tell him why I left, but the words stuck in my throat. What could I say? That I was scared? That I wasn’t good enough for him?

“So,” he said, breaking the silence. “Are you gonna tell me what you’ve been up to these last few years? Or do I have to guess?” He motioned the map in front of him.

I swallowed hard, trying to maintain my composure. The old me—the con artist—was good at staying cool under pressure. But sitting here, across from Beau, my past and present crashing together, I felt completely exposed.

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” I said, forcing a smirk I didn’t feel.

His gaze hardened slightly. “Try me.”

I leaned back in my chair, trying to regain some control. “It’s not what it looks like. I wasn’t involved in that mess you claim. Yeah, I worked for a guy who… let’s just say he wasn’t exactly on the right side of the law. But that was a long time ago.”

Beau didn’t say anything, just watched me with those intense eyes, waiting for more. I could feel him seeing through every half-truth, every lie I was about to tell.

“Look,” I sighed, “I’m good at what I do. Too good, apparently. But I’m not the bad guy here. I didn’t expect to get dragged into some old case. It’s a misunderstanding.”

He leaned forward, his voice dropping to a whisper. “And what should I believe, Y/N? The woman who ran out on me without a word? Or the con artist who’s sitting in front of me now?”

My breath caught in my throat, his words cutting deeper than I’d expected. He knew. He’d known all along what I was. And I’d left him to deal with the pieces.

“I never meant to hurt you,” I said softly, my voice cracking.

Beau’s jaw clenched, the tension rolling off him in waves. “Anyway.”

The silence between us stretched on, heavy and suffocating. I didn’t know what to say. For once, I had no plan, no angle. It was just me and him, with all the lies I’d told hanging between us.

Finally, Beau stood up, his expression unreadable. “You’ll have your chance to explain everything in court. Until then, you’re staying here.”

He turned to leave, but just before he walked out the door, he stopped and glanced back at me, his eyes softer, almost sad.

“Five years, Y/N,” he said quietly. “I waited for you to come back. But I guess I never thought it would be like this.”

And just like that, he was gone. The door closed behind him with a finality that echoed through the empty room.

I leaned back in my chair, staring at the cold, metal table in front of me. I had been prepared to face the law, the consequences of my actions.

But I wasn’t prepared to face Beau.

After hours of being questioned and trying to maintain my calm facade, they finally led me to a cell for the night. The cold metal bars and uncomfortable cot were a far cry from the life I’d gotten used to. But it wasn’t the first time I found myself behind bars—though, this time, the stakes felt higher. This time, it wasn’t just a con gone wrong or a deal gone sideways. This time, it was Beau.

The weight of the past—the lies, the broken promises—pressed on my chest as I lay on the thin mattress, staring at the ceiling. I replayed the moment he walked into that interrogation room over and over in my mind. The look in his eyes, the way he had spoken to me like I was both a stranger and someone he knew too well. Five years, and it felt like no time had passed. I hated that I still cared. I hated that he still had that effect on me.

I closed my eyes, willing myself to sleep, but the memories wouldn’t let me rest. What could have been. What I’d lost.

By morning, I was exhausted, but I wasn’t surprised when Beau showed up again. This time, though, there was something different in his demeanor. Less tension, more determination.

He stepped into the cell block, arms crossed as he leaned against the bars. “You look like hell,” he said, though there was a flicker of something softer in his tone.

“Thanks, Sheriff,” I muttered, pushing myself up to sit on the edge of the cot. “It’s not exactly the Four Seasons in here.”

He didn’t smile. His eyes, clear and unreadable, stayed locked on mine as he walked over and unlocked the door.

“We need to talk,” Beau said, his voice low, all business. “I’ve got a proposition for you.”

I raised an eyebrow, intrigued despite myself. “A proposition? Let me guess, you’re about to offer me a way out of here if I spill some dirt?”

He shrugged, leaning against the wall with that infuriating calm of his. “Something like that. Here’s the deal: you work with us on this case, become an informant, and help us bring down the drug ring you were involved with years ago. In return, I’ll see what I can do about your punishment.”

I tilted my head, narrowing my eyes. “What do you have on me, Beau? Because I don’t think you’re offering this out of the kindness of your heart.”

For a moment, his expression hardened, but then he sighed. “Right now? We’ve only got this case—the drug operation from a few years back. We can link you to some old players, but nothing major... Yet.” He paused, letting the weight of his words settle in.

“But I’m good at digging, Y/N. If I want to, I’ll find more. I know now how you operate. You’ve left a trail, and it’s only a matter of time before I catch up to it.”

My stomach tightened. He wasn’t bluffing, and I knew it. I’d done a lot of things over the years, and if Beau really wanted to bring me down, he could. He’d find enough to keep me locked up for a long time.

“So, what?” I asked, leaning back against the wall and crossing my arms. “You want me to turn informant, feed you intel on the people I worked with, and in exchange, you’ll make sure I don’t rot in here for the rest of my life?”

“Pretty much.” His voice was even, controlled. “You help us, and I’ll do what I can to make sure you walk away from this with as little damage as possible.”

I stared at him, trying to gauge if this was a trick, but I knew Beau well enough to know he didn’t play games like I did. He was giving me a chance—a real one. Maybe the only one I’d get.

I looked down at my hands, the cuffs no longer around my wrists but the weight of the offer felt just as binding. Was this the way out? The part of me that had always survived by running wanted to take the deal, to keep my head above water and stay one step ahead of the law. But there was another part of me, the one that had started to unravel the moment Beau walked into that interrogation room, that wondered if I was finally done running.

“Fine,” I said after a long silence, my voice steady. “I’ll do it. I’ll work with you. But I want to know what I’m dealing with here. How much danger am I in?”

Beau’s lips pressed into a thin line. “The drug baron you worked for, Declan King, is still a player. He’s gone underground, but his network is vast, and we’ve been after him for years. You’ve got connections. You’ve got intel. That’s why we need you.” He paused, his eyes darkening slightly.

“But make no mistake, Y/N—if King or his people find out you’re working with us, you’ll be in more danger than just sitting in this cell.”

I swallowed, nodding. I knew what I was getting into. Hell, I’d danced with danger my whole life. This was just another step in the same game.

“Alright, Sheriff,” I said, standing up and meeting his gaze. “I’m in. I’ll help you take down King.”

Beau didn’t move for a moment, just stared at me like he was trying to figure out if I was bluffing. But then he nodded once, curtly. “Good. You’ll start today. We’ll set up a safe line of communication, and you’ll feed us whatever you know. But don’t think for a second this is going to be easy. One misstep, and this deal’s off.”

I forced a smile, though my heart was pounding in my chest. “Don’t worry. I don’t make missteps.”

His eyes flickered with something—something I couldn’t quite read—but he turned to leave, pausing just before stepping out of the cell.

“And, Y/N?” he said, his voice soft but laced with warning. “This isn’t just about you getting out of trouble. I expect you to come through on this. Don’t make me regret giving you this chance.”

The door shut behind him, and I was left alone in the cell, the reality of the deal sinking in. I had agreed to work with the law—to work with Beau—and for the first time in my life, I wasn’t sure if I was doing the right thing or setting myself up for a fall.

But one thing was certain: there was no turning back now.

Let me know what you think, like, share or comment <3 If you liked this, please check out my masterlist for other stories.

Taglist: -> If you want to be added let me know what you like to read!

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#beau arlen #big sky #big sky edit #fanfic #jensen ackles #jensen fucking ackles #x reader #fluff

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goldennikko · 2 years ago

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MY NUMBER — kim chaewon

summary : you and chaewon meet for the first time at a restaurant. however, the waiter in charge of the group made a serious error and you were forced to intervene. she didn't get your phone number that night, but the label hosted a party to which you were invited.

pairing : chaewon x jung!reader

tags : f!reader ; lots of gay panicking ; lots of awkward moments ; friends as matchmakers

requested: ✔

word count : 3.9k

"unnie, we're here."

chaewon woke up to kazuha nudging her and she grumbled in response, but she managed to climb out of the van with the help of sakura. the short-haired girl squinted at the bright sign, trying to read the name of the restaurant yunjin had discovered the day before.

le lieu royal.

"what does it mean?" the leader heard eunchae ask yunjin and the american was quick to respond, sounding excited. "the royal palace."

sounds really fancy, chaewon commended.

yunjin led the way inside, where a waiter led them to the table she had reserved for the group. the girls marveled at the restaurant's interior design: red and black were the dominant colors, with a hint of gold thrown in here and there.

"it looks really good here." sakura commented as she adjusted her seat. kazuha nodded from beside yunjin, who flicked her hair back with a proud grin.

"how did you find this?" chaewon asked curiously.

"apparently, this restaurant is well-known among idols, particularly hybe artists. i just don't know how so." yunjin answered with a shrug.

the previous waiter reappeared, smiling as he handed them the menu. the girls thanked him, and he bowed before leaving to attend to other customers, who happened to be an artist. the girls' heads turned as eunchae's eyes widened and subtly pointed at a guy.

"isn't that jungkook sunbaenim?!"

the golden maknae, who appeared to have just returned from a schedule, was indeed sitting there. despite the fact that he was surrounded by his management team, his eyes seemed to be searching for someone.

reaching over, chaewon slapped eunchae's hand in panic before the bts member noticed them pointing at her, causing eunchae to yelp while holding her hand to her chest.

sakura patted her head as the leader smiled apologetically at her.

"sorry, i panicked."

eunchae simply pouted but let it go, returning her gaze to the menu after one last look at the jeon jungkook.

the girls talked quietly, exchanging their thoughts on the food on the menu. yunjin mentioned some food recommendations she'd heard from other artists, which they decided to try and gave to the waiter when he came back to take their orders.

the girls quickly struck up a conversation, but chaewon was too preoccupied with scanning the restaurant. there were far too many artists, most of whom she knew by name and some by face.

her gaze returned to jungkook, who stood up. the moon shape of his eyes indicated that he was smiling behind the mask.

then you appeared, dressed both attractively and handsomely. a red hue appeared across her cheeks as she felt her cheeks burn up, realizing she was checking out the newly arrived girl. chaewon's heart skipped a beat when your eyes crinkled happily, but it was quickly crushed when jungkook took you into his arms.

"ooh, unnie found someone pretty." yunjin teased when she finally noticed the frozen girl.

chaewon snapped out of her daze. "huh? no, no. i didn't…" she denied it, but the flush on her cheeks and the way she threw a glance over her shoulders said otherwise.

the girls followed her line of sight just in time to see you pulling away from the guy and punching jungkook in response after he whispered something to you. chaewon frowned as he laughed, watching you glare up at him.

"oh, sunbae is talking to her." sakura said.

chaewon quickly shook her head. "i think she's his girlfriend. stop staring!"

yunjin looked at her friend in disbelief. you dressed as if you wanted to attract both men and women. even kazuha could see it. with one last wave from you, they watched you walked away from jungkook's table. they had no idea where you had gone, but you would never leave your partner hanging like that.

but chaewon was in denial and refused to admit it, insisting that you were already taken.

"maybe she's meeting someone else?" eunchae suggested.

chaewon turned around to see you gone, and jungkook was returning to his seat, but she shook her head to get rid of the image of you in her head, the way you carried yourself with such grace, or the way you pushed your hair off your shoulders, and the way—

"no. enough, that's enough. kim chaewon."

the girls watched in amusement as their leader gay panicked miserably, her anger issues showing as she clenched her fists on the table. yunjin crossed her arms and leaned back in her seat, shaking her head and looking at the other girls.

"she's hopeless." the american commented.

sakura laughed. "i think she's broken."

"how do we fix her?" kazuha asked, concerned, but eunchae shook her head. "she's beyond fixing, unnie."

the waiter then arrived and served them the food they had ordered. the sight of the food made their mouths water and the smell made their stomachs growl. at that, the girls exchanged surprised looks and pointed at each other, blaming one another.

"that was you?"

"what? no! i think it's yunjin."

"why me? maybe it's you?"

"i think it's zuha."

however, they couldn't tease each other any further because the waiter tripped while holding a glass of wine. because he was standing next to chaewon, the liquid was inadvertently thrown over the poor leader's lap.

chaewon pushed herself away from the table as she gasped at the coldness seeping through her. the other girls shot up from their seats, staring at the mess in front of them. the waiter apologized profusely, bowing repeatedly.

"i'm sorry! i'm so sorry! i apologize!"

"it's okay. hey, can you, uh, calm down now?" chaewon tried to calm down the panicking man because all the other customers were staring at them, not to mention they were all idols, and she was becoming even more embarrassed, but then a stern voice cut in.

"what's happening here?"

chaewon got goosebumps all over her body when she heard the voice, and the red flush of her cheeks returned when she turned her head and saw you standing in all your glory. chaewon's blush worsened as she watched you eye the mess and remove your blazer. she hadn't realized you were handing her the garment until kazuha took her hand and helped her take the blazer from you because you had broken her.

chaewon cleared her throat and let out a high-pitched thank you, causing the girls behind her to facepalm. the situation was stressing you out, but the flustered idol made it slightly better, so you gave her a quick smile before turning to the waiter who caused all of this commotion.

"you. let's talk." your stern voice returned and the guy followed you, his ears flushed with embarrassment. the other restaurant employees were bowing to the customers, with one man loudly apologizing for the inconvenience.

you walked past an elderly waitress, whispering something to her, and she nodded in response. they turned to the elderly woman who approached them as you passed through a door.

"ms. kim? kindly follow me."

chaewon did as she was told, her mind racing with the possibility that you knew her. the elder waitress had addressed her by her family name, so perhaps you recognized the idol or perhaps it was the old woman who knew her, but she wished it had been you.

click. chaewon jumped at the sound and turned around, only to realize they were in a restroom. chaewon nervously returned the elderly woman's gentle smile.

"apologies, ms. kim. the boss has gone to get you some extra clothes. she'll join us in a moment."

boss? chaewon blinked at her words. was it you? you're the boss of the restaurant? the elderly woman watched in amusement as chaewon processed her words. she knew that look, she'd seen it before. so she stood quietly with a smile.

the door clicked open and chaewon let out a small 'eep' as you entered the comfort room with your clothes hanging on your arms. the woman turned to leave, offering you two a bow, which you returned and chaewon hurried to do the same.

with a soft smile on your face, you finally faced chaewon. "i apologize for the inconvenience, ms. kim." you said as you extended your arm where your clothes hung.

ms. kim... ms. kim? so she knows who i am? oh my goodness. oh my god, chaewon panicked yet again. she stood there, frozen, staring at your lovely face. you were undeniably more attractive up close.

meanwhile, you waited patiently, confused as to why the idol was staring at you. is there something on my face? you wondered, briefly glancing at the mirror. there's none though? i hope there's none… maybe on the other side of my face?!

you were beginning to worry about your appearance in front of the beautiful idol. you didn't want to leave a bad impression, like she'd remember you because of the dirt you hadn't noticed on your face or something. aside from that, her stare was so intense that it made you nervous.

"uhm, ms. kim?"

chaewon didn't hear you, but she noticed your lips moving. you shifted your weight from one leg to the other, opting to wait for the idol to recover from whatever state she is in. am i that unbearable to speak to? the longer chaewon stared at you, the more attractive you became to her, but also the brighter your face turned.

it took her a while to come to, but once she did, she jumped and snatched your clothes before sprinting to the nearest open cubicle, which was right next to you two. in a panic, she swung the door open, almost hitting herself and you, but you dodged. you stared, perplexed, at the door she had slammed shut.

is she that mad? or i'm now unbearable to look at as well? shit. you faced the mirror, turning your head from side to side to check for something on your face.

fucking shit. what was that, chaewon? what in the world was that?

chaewon clutched the garments close to her chest, biting her lip to keep the frustrated squeal from escaping her throat. she buried her face in your clothes, red ears poking out from behind the curtain of her short hair, as the sweet scent of your perfume entered her nose.

just… what the hell, kim chaewon?

when the door opened, you looked up to see the idol finally dressed in your clothes, but you quickly averted your gaze, not wanting her to feel awkward. you quietly handed her a paper bag into which she placed her own clothing.

chaewon tried to catch your attention and apologize for her actions, even though she knew she'd just panic, but you refused.

"i know your night is probably ruined, but please do try to still eat." you started and the idol paid attention, watching you speak. "the food is good, i promise, and it's on the house."

chaewon's eyes widened at your statement and she shook her hands in the air, relieved, when you met her gaze. before she could say anything, you unconsciously grabbed her hand and shook your head.

"it's on us, ms. kim. please allow us to make it up to you and your members."

chaewon couldn't say no to you, so she sighed and nodded. she looked at your clasped hands and you quickly let go, causing disappointment to bloom in her chest. she consoled herself by resting one hand on her arm.

"thank you."

"of course, ms. kim. apologies again. shall we?"

you led chaewon back to their table and gave them a deep bow, which they returned before you left. the girls looked at chaewon, who groaned and buried her face in her hands.

chaewon would scan the restaurant for you all night, but you had hidden in the office. even then, she hoped you'd come out. the leader told her members what happened, which they should have expected, but they were disappointed to hear the story.

"you should've asked for her number." sakura sighed.

chaewon was perplexed. "she's jungkook sunbaenim's girlfriend!" she hissed to the oldest girl.

"unnie, she wouldn't go out of her way like that if she really is sunbae's girlfriend." yunjin pointed out.

kazuha nodded along. "that's true. sunbaenim didn't even care when your… crush disappeared into the restroom for fifteen minutes or so."

"she's exaggerating, but she's right!" eunchae agreed, a bit weirded out by the way kazuha worded that, but still agreed.

chaewon furrowed her brows. "but she's the boss. shouldn't she be naturally concerned about her customers?"

sakura was so done with her. "if i were a boss, i wouldn't care." sakura was lying, she'd care, but not like that.

chaewon remained silent while poking at her food. the girls sighed before changing the subject and yunjin was the one who led the conversation about food. when they were finished eating, the same elderly woman led them out the door with a bow. chaewon stood stiffly in front of her as the girls thanked her and returned the gesture.

"yes, dear?"

chaewon took a deep breath. "uhm, could you please thank her? i appreciate her concern."

the woman nodded, her lips pulling up into a soft smile. "of course, my dear. anything else?"

when the idol opened her mouth, the words "her number" almost slipped off her tongue, and the old lady wished chaewon would just say it because watching you two act like little children was painful. even though she was smiling the entire time, an imaginary irk was already on her brow.

chaewon, however, shook her head, overcome by the fear that you were really jungkook's girlfriend, and held her tongue. so instead, she shook her head, and chaewon entered the van, staring at the restaurant until it was no longer visible. the short-haired girl slumped against her seat, disappointed at not getting your number.

"...was what she said."

you were sitting on the couch, the red flush on your face forcing you to hide it in your hands. the old lady was amused by your reaction and chuckled lightly, despite wanting to smack you for being a chicken, as the door opened and jungkook stepped in, raising his brows at your flustered state.

"you good there, saeng?"

you shook your head. "no, she was too pretty."

jungkook huffed out a laugh. "chaewon, huh?"

you hummed and faced the guy after composing yourself and rolled your eyes at the grin on his face. "get that stupid grin off your face please."

"you like her~"

"shut up please."

you never left chaewon's mind after that night. you afflicted her as if you were a virus and she was the odd willing recipient. the girl wanted to return to the restaurant and maybe ask for your phone number this time. however, she was still unsure whether you were jungkook's girlfriend or not. besides, her schedule was already jam-packed and she didn't know how to fit her own desires in.

days passed and chaewon found herself thinking of you even while at a party, more specifically, a get-together party hosted by the label. almost every artist under the label was present, but everyone kept an eye out for the idols below eighteen years old and kept them away from the alcoholic beverages. the leaders also checked the clock from time to time to see if the minors should go home.

it'd be really funny if she's here as jungkook sunbae's date, chaewon thought bitterly and drank the drink in her hand to hide her less than pleased expression behind the glass.

"hobi's here!"

chaewon ignored what was going on behind her, but the girls were on pins and needles trying to figure out what was so exciting that had their seniors running over to hoseok, who had just arrived.

then their eyes widened as they reached for chaewon and smacked her repeatedly. the leader cursed and narrowed her eyes at her members, who only pointed to the door. she turned around, puzzled, and her jaw dropped at the sight.

you were clinging to hoseok's arm, laughing at the bangtan boys' antics as they hyped you up. you wore a dress and tied your hair, exposing your neck and ears, which were adorned with jewels and earrings.

"ah, hoseok's little sister?"

"yeah, she owns le lieu royal, you know?"

"ooh! right! i remember!"

as she watched you whisper in hoseok's ears, the familiar flush returned to her cheeks. hoseok sunbaenim's little sister? the main dancer gave you a small nod and you walked away, heading for the drinks.

chaewon felt a push on her back and she walked mindlessly towards you.

whoever that was, thank you. if you hadn't pushed her, she would've stayed standing there.

her steps were hesitant and slow, but she wanted to seize the opportunity. it had to have meant something, right? she had predicted your presence and arrival, chaewon hoped.

she came to a halt right behind you and heard you thanking the waiter before turning around, eyes widening at the sight of the le sserafim's leader standing there silently.

"ms. kim…?"

the short-haired girl huffed at your formality. "chaewon. call me chaewon please."

you blinked, but smiled gently at her. "then call me y/n."

"you're…?" chaewon didn't know how to ask you, but you assumed she was talking about hoseok.

"hobi oppa's sister? yes, i am."

but chaewon shook her head, which confused you. "no, no. i got that. but, like, are you…"

you waited for her to finish her question, but all she did was stare helplessly into your eyes, captivated by your face. but then jungkook appeared out of nowhere, a teasing grin on his face. you reached out to shut him up, but he simply dodged your hand.

"yes, she's single." jungkook said, causing the both of you to blush. he left, but turned back around to yell at chaewon. "and hopelessly in love with you!"

chaewon looked up at you, slightly embarrassed, with questioning eyes, but you avoided her gaze. you were blushing, hard, and you tried to hide it by sipping your drink.

chaewon laughed because she thought you were cute. she wasn't sure if that was the real reason, or if she was relieved you were single and interested in her as well. all of the above perhaps. you tilted your head in admiration as you watched the girl.

"i'm sorry for acting that way." chaewon said quietly, but you could hear her over the music.

you made a humming sound. "it's all right. have i made you uncomfortable?"

chaewon shook her head quickly. "no, no, you made me feel... safe."

chaewon smiled, biting her lower lip to keep it from spreading further as your shoulders bounced in shock and excitement. relief flooded you and your previous fears and hesitance disappeared.

you grinned. "i'm glad."

a slow song started playing and you looked over to see taehyung by the dj's area, wiggling his brows at you. you rolled your eyes at him before returning your attention to chaewon, who had extended her hand to you.

chaewon was glad she wore the suit tonight.

"shall we dance, ms. jung?" chaewon asked with a crooked smile.

you laughed and gave her your hand. "we shall, ms. kim."

despite being taller than her due to your heels, she drew you in by the waist and you wrapped your arms around her shoulders.

"you look stunning." chaewon tilted her head to catch your gaze when you had avoided her gaze after her unexpected compliment. "y/n/n, stop avoiding my gaze."

you laughed. "sorry, chaewon-ie."

then she remembered something. "your clothes, they're at the dorm."

you hummed and she felt you play with the baby hairs at the back of her nape, lightly tickling her. "it's fine, you can keep it."

chaewon flushed and gave you a look as if to ask if you were sure. you simply laughed and nodded, causing her to smile back.

you stayed with chaewon for the rest of the night. you danced with her, talked with her, joked with her, and shared your interests with her. chaewon wore this lovestruck expression the entire night, her members from afar playfully gagged, and stared at you with heart eyes, eyes bouncing all over your face to memorize your features.

chaewon had memorized every single one of your habits as well: how you'd duck your head to hide your blushing face or avoid her gaze when she complimented you out of nowhere, how you'd grab her arm to steady yourself as you laughed at seungkwan's antics when you found him in the middle of the room.

when hoseok took the dance floor, you cheered him on, and chaewon, who should have been watching him, found herself staring at you instead. chaewon noticed how your eyes turned moon-shaped when you smiled, how your voice stood out among the other people shouting, how you swayed to the music, and how you approached hoseok after to give him a big hug. chaewon adored all of it and all of you already.

the night seemed long, but it was also short, and before you knew it, it was time to part ways. it was past curfew and eunchae had to go back to the dorm, which meant chaewon and her other members had to as well.

"i have to go." chaewon pouted sadly.

you smiled at her cuteness and reached out to hold her cheek. "that's okay. i'll take you out on a date when you're free if that's okay with you."

chaewon eagerly nodded and moved closer to you, wrapping her arms around you. you returned her hug, eyes closing at the warmth, and took a few seconds to separate.

chaewon would've stayed there in your arms and warm embrace, but she had duties so she begrudgingly pulled away. you watched as chaewon turned to leave, only to turn around and walk backwards.

"bye?" she called out in hesitance, waving her fingers.

you smiled. "you're forgetting something."

chaewon came to a halt, furrowed her brows, and tilted her head. you chuckled and approached her. you took her hand and placed a piece of paper on her palm before making a fist with it. then you grabbed her necktie and planted a shy, hesitant kiss on her cheek.

"my number." you said, pointing to the pink lipstick stain on her cheek. "as well as that."

you left her there, staring at you with a surprised expression. her members inside the van were cheering so loud you could hear them and you giggled into your fist. chaewon's face had turned bright red and goosebumps had risen all over her skin. she watched you walk past the bts members, who were all beaming, especially hoseok, pushing the maknae line off you when they tried to tease you.

chaewon dashed to the van after she was done processing and gay panicking, squealing loudly as the door closed. the members laughed at her as she stared at the paper with your number written on it, but she didn't mind the teasing that was about to come her way.

meanwhile, hoseok sighed contentedly. "ah, my baby sister is growing up. i'm so proud of her."

hi?

ms. kim?

chaewon giggled, typing out her reply.

yes, ms. jung.

take care, okay? good night!

you, too.

chaewon slumped back against her seat once more, clutching her phone to her chest. the only difference was that she finally got your number this time and was on cloud nine.

nikko note: i'm not really proud of this one, but i find it a tiny bit cute. thank you for the request! i was kinda pressured and worried when i received one hehe. thank you for trusting me with your request, but feel free to request if you're not satisfied with it TT hope you enjoyed it! thank you!

#nikko reqs!#nikko works!#le sserafim #lesserafim reactions #lesserafim imagines #le sserafim x reader #kim chaewon #chaewon #kim chaewon x reader #chaewon x reader

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beardedmrbean · 6 months ago

Note

"Disney wasn't an antisemite"

Uh you sure you wanna die on that hill?

How about we ask the Jewish Press what they think

Actress Meryl Streep reignited a debate that has simmered below the surface in Hollywood for decades: Was Walt Disney anti-Semitic?

The occasion was the annual awards event of the National Board of Review, an organization of filmmakers, students, and movie scholars. Streep presented an award to Emma Thompson, for her role in the new movie “Saving Mr. Banks,” about the making of the 1964 Disney film “Mary Poppins.” Thompson co-stars as Poppins author P.L. Travers, alongside Tom Hanks as Walt Disney.

Streep took the opportunity to blast Disney as racist and misogynist who also “supported an anti-Semitic industry lobbying group.”

She did not actually call Disney an anti-Semite, but many people took it that way. The Hollywood Reporter declared that Streep accused Disney of being “sexist, racist and anti-Semitic.” Film professor David Hajdu said Disney was “a deeply flawed human being. A misogynist? You bet. An anti-Semite? That, too.” An unnamed “female Academy member” interviewed by the Reporter referred to him as “that old anti-Semite, himself, Mr. Disney.”

Hollywood historian Neal Gabler examined the anti-Semitism charge in his 2006 biography of Disney. “Of the Jews who worked [with Disney], it was hard to find any who thought Walt was an anti-Semite,” Gabler reported. “Joe Grant, who had been an artist, the head of the model department, and the storyman responsible for Dumbo… declared emphatically that Walt was not an anti-Semite. ‘Some of the most influential people at the studio were Jewish,’ Grant recalled, thinking no doubt of himself, production manager Harry Tytle, and Kay Kamen [head of Disney’s merchandising arm], who once quipped that Disney’s New York office had more Jews than the Book of Leviticus. Maurice Rapf concurred that Walt was not anti-Semitic; he was just a ‘very conservative guy.’ ”

On the other hand, one former Disney animator, David Swift, has claimed he heard Walt make an anti-Semitic remark, and another ex-staffer, David Hilberman, has alleged that one employee was fired because he was Jewish. (However, according to Gabler, Disney himself was rarely involved in firing anyone except the top brass). In addition, the original animated version of the “Three Little Pigs” portrayed the Big Bad Wolf as a stereotypically Jewish peddler, although after complaints, the segment was altered.

When it comes to explicit proof that Disney was anti-Semitic, the critics’ case weakens.

“There is zero hard evidence that Disney ever wrote or said anything anti-Semitic in private or public,” according to Douglas Brode, author of Multiculturalism and the Mouse: Race and Sex in Disney Entertainment. Brode told The Hollywood Reporter that Disney used more Jewish actors “than any other studio of Hollywood’s golden age, including those run by Jewish movie moguls.”

Gabler also revealed that Disney “frequently” made unpublicized donations to a variety of Jewish charities, including a Jewish orphanage, a Jewish old age home, Yeshiva College (precursor to Yeshiva University), and the American League for a Free Palestine. The League, better known as the Bergson Group, publicly supported the armed revolt against the British in Palestine by Menachem Begin’s Irgun Zvai Leumi. Disney was embracing not just Zionism, but its most militant wing.

How, then, did the rumors of Disney’s alleged anti-Semitism spread so far and wide?

That’s where Meryl Streep comes in. The “anti-Semitic industry lobbying group” with which Disney was associated was the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals. The group’s statement of principles said nothing about Jews; its declared purpose was to prevent “Communist, Fascist, and other totalitarian-minded groups” from gaining a foothold in Hollywood. Among its members were politically conservative actors such as John Wayne, Clark Gable, and Ginger Rogers. But some of its other members were accused of being privately anti-Semitic, and in general it had a reputation as being reactionary.

Gabler believes that “the most plausible explanation” for the rumors about Disney were a kind of guilt by association: “Walt, in joining forces with the MPA and its band of professional reactionaries and red-baiters, also got tarred with their anti-Semitism. Walt Disney certainly was aware of the MPA’s purported anti-Semitism, but he chose to ignore it…. The price he paid was that he would always be lumped not only with anti-Communists but also with anti-Semites.”

The irony is that while Meryl Streep was condemning Walt Disney for associating with extremists, she herself was doing the very same thing. The actress to whom she gave that award when she made her anti-Disney speech, her close friend Emma Thompson, is active in the anti-Israel boycott movement.

Streep hailed Thompson as “splendid, beautiful, practically a saint…a living, acting conscience.” Yet this “saint,” together with other British actors, publicly urged a boycott of Israel’s Habimah theater troupe when it participated in a festival in England. Habimah, of course, has nothing to do with Israeli government policies or any political issues. Its only “crime” is that it’s Israeli.

By contrast, Thompson had no problem with the National Theater of China taking part in that festival, even though it really does represent the Chinese regime – a regime guilty of the most heinous human rights violations, aid to terrorists around the world, and support for the genocidal government of Sudan. But of course, hypocrisy is the hallmark of the “saints” of the anti-Israel boycott crusade. ______________________

The Antisemitism claim is literally communist propaganda.

#walt disney #anonymous

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fourseasonsfigs · 1 year ago

Text

Taolin Forest Wen Kexing (Handcrafted)

This beautiful figure showed up on the artist's Xianyu page as an immediately available in-stock piece, and I pounced on it. You can tell by my profile pic how much I like this costume, after all!

The artist works in ultralight clay, which has been a new medium to me, and so far I've been impressed. It is very light (as the name suggests!) and appears to be extremely flexible. I was initially very worried about her figures breaking in transport, as they all have very delicate thin little details, but everything seems surprisingly sturdy. It bends, but doesn't deform, and doesn't seem to break with careful treatment. I do baby my figs, but shipping / customs is always a wild card.

For something like this, I would normally absolutely air column wrap it to protect it from crushing damage. I don't worry about the fig breaking parts off - I worry about it getting squished! If this fig got crushed it would certainly destroy it, given all the thin, flat loops of clay making up most of this figure.

But, I didn't have to, because the artist packed it in a rigid styrofoam cooler box. This is of course deadly on the shipping fees, especially since my warehouse flags the wooden base as air freight only. But, the only thing worse than paying volumetric air freight charges is getting a crushed figure, so what can you do?

I too am deeply disappointed by my lack of quality unboxing photos. Why did I not remove this top layer of bubble wrap? NOBODY KNOWS.

This is an extremely tall figure, by far my largest figure by a wide margin. The full size, including base, is 27 cm, of which 2cm is the base. This makes the figure itself about 10 inches high for us Americans.

The fan is not clay but paper, which was a nice surprise. I would have been fine either way, but I like the paper. I'm also very appreciative that the artist included it in this rigid plastic box so keep it from getting squished inside the protective cooler. Box. Protective box.

Here he is without the fan. He's gorgeous! You can really see the detail on his belt and his long, elegant fingers.

In fact, here's a closeup of those hands and the beautiful detail on the belt. His fingers may look even a bit longer than you might expect, but that's because they need to hold the fan. You can even see the slight indent for the fingernails. This artist is just amazing. She says she puts her whole heart into crafting these figures, and you can tell.

Holding the fan as so. If you don't think I wasn't a little stressed out carefully wedging the fan in between those beautiful fingers, you have somehow (incredibly) missed all the other cases of my fig related anxiety on this blog. I'm not even a high stress person! Normally.

Alright, let's spin this beauty around, shall we?

My camera decided to focus on many things, but Wen Kexing's perfect face was not always one of them. So we'll get some closeups. But first, let's do our bottoms-up and top-down pics:

Please do note the beauty mark on the middle finger of his right hand!

For size comparison, here's Wen Kexing with his OG official fig counterpart:

You can definitely see what I mean by how big this fig is! Maybe I should call it a statue instead of a fig.

Alright, time for our close ups.

Just beautiful. I'll need to commission a matching A-Xu in the Taolin forest costume so I can have them heading off to Siji Manor.

This figure was an incredible price - less than $50 USD. An absolute bargain. I can't even imagine the time that went into this. This was less expensive than other individual figures or pairs of this size, so perhaps I just got lucky with the artist clearing space.

I had really wanted semi-realistic figures like this when Word of Honor was released and I watched it for the first time, so getting this now makes me really happy. The artist also had a snowy mountain set that I picked up around the same time, which should be arriving here relatively shortly. Please look forward to it! I can't wait myself.

Material: Ultra-light clay

Fig Count: 386

Scene Count: 26

Rating: Pure artistry

[link back to Master Fig Index for more posts]

#wen kexing #lao wen #word of honor #word of honor merch #gong jun #figthusiast #wenzhou

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dreaminginthedeepsouth · 8 months ago

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LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

April 7, 2024 (Sunday)

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

APR 08, 2024

In August 1870 a U.S. exploring expedition headed out from Montana toward the Yellowstone River into land the U.S. government had recognized as belonging to different Indigenous tribes.

By October the men had reached the Yellowstone, where they reported they had “found abundance of game and trout, hot springs of five or six different kinds…basaltic columns of enormous size” and a waterfall that must, they wrote, “be in form, color and surroundings one of the most glorious objects on the American Continent.” On the strength of their widely reprinted reports, the secretary of the interior sent out an official surveying team under geologist Ferdinand V. Hayden. With it went photographer William Henry Jackson and fine artist Thomas Moran.

Banker and railroad baron Jay Cooke had arranged for Moran to join the expedition. In 1871 the popular Scribner’s Monthly published the surveyor’s report along with Moran’s drawings and a promise that Cooke’s Northern Pacific Railroad would soon lay tracks to enable tourists to see the great natural wonders of the West.

But by 1871, Americans had begun to turn against the railroads, seeing them as big businesses monopolizing American resources at the expense of ordinary Americans. When Hayden called on Congress to pass a law setting the area around Yellowstone aside as a public park, two Republicans—Senator Samuel Pomeroy of Kansas and Delegate William H. Clagett of Montana—introduced bills to protect Yellowstone in a natural state and provide against “wanton destruction of the fish and game…or destruction for the purposes of merchandise or profit.”

The House Committee on Public Lands praised Yellowstone Valley’s beauty and warned that “persons are now waiting for the spring…to enter in and take possession of these remarkable curiosities, to make merchandise of these bountiful specimens, to fence in these rare wonders so as to charge visitors a fee, as is now done at Niagara Falls, for the sight of that which ought to be as free as the air or water.” It warned that “the vandals who are now waiting to enter into this wonderland will, in a single season, despoil, beyond recovery, these remarkable curiosities which have required all the cunning skill of nature thousands of years to prepare.”

The New York Times got behind the idea that saving Yellowstone for the people was the responsibility of the federal government, saying that if businesses “should be strictly shut out, it will remain a place which we can proudly show to the benighted European as a proof of what nature—under a republican form of government—can accomplish in the great West.”

On March 1, 1872, President U. S. Grant, a Republican, signed the bill making Yellowstone a national park.

The impulse to protect natural resources from those who would plunder them for profit expanded 18 years later, when the federal government stepped in to protect Yosemite. In June 1864, Congress had passed and President Abraham Lincoln signed a law giving to the state of California the Yosemite Valley and nearby Mariposa Big Tree Grove “upon the express conditions that the premises shall be held for public use, resort and recreation.”

But by 1890 it was clear that under state management the property had been largely turned over to timber companies, sheep-herding enterprises, and tourist businesses with state contracts. Naturalist John Muir warned in the Century magazine: “Ax and plow, hogs and horses, have long been and are still busy in Yosemite’s gardens and groves. All that is accessible and destructible is rapidly being destroyed.” Congress passed a law making the land around the state property in Yosemite a national park area, and the United States military began to manage the area.

The next year, in March 1891, Congress gave the president power to “set apart and reserve…as public reservations” land that bore at least some timber, whether or not that timber was of any commercial value. Under this General Revision Act, also known as the Forest Reserve Act, Republican president Benjamin Harrison set aside timber land adjacent to Yellowstone National Park and south of Yosemite National Park. By September 1893, about 17 million acres of land had been put into forest reserves. Those who objected to this policy, according to Century, were “men [who] wish to get at it and make it earn something for them.”

Presidents of both parties continued to protect American lands, but in the late nineteenth century it was New York Republican politician Theodore Roosevelt who most dramatically expanded the effort to keep western lands from the hands of those who wanted only their timber and minerals.

Roosevelt was concerned that moneygrubbing was eroding the character of the nation, and he believed that western land nurtured the independence and community that he worried was disappearing in the East. During his presidency, which stretched from 1901 to 1909, Roosevelt protected 141 million acres of forest and established five new national parks.

More powerfully, he used the 1906 Antiquities Act, which Congress had passed to stop the looting and sale of Indigenous objects and sites, to protect land. The Antiquities Act allowed presidents to protect areas of historic, cultural, or scientific interest. Before the law was a year old, Roosevelt had created four national monuments: Devils Tower in Wyoming, El Morro in New Mexico, and Montezuma Castle and Petrified Forest in Arizona.

In 1908, Roosevelt used the Antiquities Act to protect the Grand Canyon.

Since then, presidents of both parties have protected American lands. President Jimmy Carter rivaled Roosevelt’s protection of land when he protected more than 100 million acres in Alaska from oil development. Carter’s secretary of the interior, Cecil D. Andrus, saw himself as a practical man trying to balance the needs of business and environmental needs but seemed to think business interests had become too powerful: “The domination of the department by mining, oil, timber, grazing and other interests is over.”

In fact, the fight over the public lands was not ending; it was entering a new phase. Since the 1980s, Republicans have pushed to reopen public lands to resource development, maintaining even today that Democrats have hampered oil production although it is currently, under President Joe Biden, at an all-time high.

The push to return public lands to private hands got stronger under former president Donald Trump. On April 26, 2017, Trump signed an executive order—Executive Order 13792—directing his secretary of the interior, Ryan Zinke, to review designations of 22 national monuments greater than 100,000 acres, made since 1996. He then ordered the largest national monument reduction in U.S. history, slashing the size of Utah’s Bears Ears National Monument by 85%—a goal of uranium-mining interests—and that of Utah’s Escalante–Grand Staircase by about half, favoring coal interests.

“No one better values the splendor of Utah more than you do,” Trump told cheering supporters. “And no one knows better how to use it.”

In March 2021, shortly after he took office, President Biden announced a new initiative to protect 30% of U.S. land, fresh water, and oceans areas by 2030, a plan popularly known as 30 by 30. Also in March 2021, Supreme Court chief justice John Roberts urged opponents of land protection to push back against the Antiquities Act, saying the broad protection of lands presidents have established under it is an abuse of power.

In October 2021, President Biden restored Bears Ears and Escalante–Grand Staircase to their original size. “Today’s announcement is not just about national monuments,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, a member of the Laguna Pueblo in New Mexico, said at the ceremony. “It’s about this administration centering the voices of Indigenous people and affirming the shared stewardship of this landscape with tribal nations.”

In 2022, nearly 312 million people visited the country’s national parks and monuments, supporting 378,400 jobs and spending $23.9 billion in communities within 60 miles of a park. This amounted to a $50.3 billion benefit to the nation’s economy.

But the struggle over the use of public lands continues, and now the Republicans are standing on the opposite side from their position of a century ago. Project 2025, the blueprint for a second Trump presidency, demands significant increases in drilling for oil and gas. That will require removing land from federal protection and opening it to private development. As Roberts urged, Project 2025 promises to seek a Supreme Court ruling to permit the president to reduce the size of national monuments. But it takes that advice even further.

It says a second Trump administration “must seek repeal of the Antiquities Act of 1906.”

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

#Letters From An American #Heather Cox Richardson #public lands #the Antiquities Act of 1906 #history #Department of the interior #tribal nations #Teddy Roosevelt #conservation #conservatism #preservation

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serpercival · 4 months ago

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Hiiiii this is bfpierce hello I’m loving the fox!trapper series so far but i have one question that’s driving me INSANE so I’m completely new to this magical realism or whatever it’s called and his ears are driving me INSANE so i think in chapter like two or something of the mating habits of the American red fox it’s mentioned that these fox features developed later rather than him being born with it (unless I’m misremembering it lol i have read like ten chapters since then) so that makes me wonder does he have two sets of ears or just the fox ears? also ily mwah <3

HI HELLO!!!!! Aah I'm so excited to get an ask about this :3 In my head he only has the fox ears and I believe @trappper-johnathan has mentioned picturing the same. His hair's puffier thanks to the undercoat and he wears it a little bit longer to hopefully cover up the lack of normal ears so tbh from more than speaking distance it's probably a little hard to tell at first glance. I'm literally in the middle of writing a scene where BJ gets to do a pretty thorough exam and this is such a good reminder to include a bit about that dksghsghshg. It is, of course, extremely sexually charged.

I'm really into speculative biology thanks to following Biblaridion's Alien Biospheres from the very beginning and my subsequent mild insanity about what the hell Doctor Who's Time Lords look like on the inside, so one of the major things keeping me hooked on this concept has been trying to make all of these things vaguely anatomically possible. God knows if I'm succeeding. I've drawn diagrams but I am not an artist by any means so I sincerely doubt they would be helpful for anybody except for me.

Please send more asks if you have more questions, I would be unbelievably delighted to answer!!! It's made me so happy to see the positive response to fox!trapper, it's such a goofy concept but he is my best friend.

ALSO. Your Coda series has been so much fun! Loving every single piece of it. I'm deeply unwell about Requiem for a Lightweight and the fic associated with that episode knocked me out of the goddamn park.

#inbox #foxtrap madness #serpercival writes

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justforbooks · 2 years ago

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David Crosby, who has died aged 81, was a premier-league rock’n’roll star twice. In the mid-1960s he was a founder member of the Byrds, the Los Angeles band often credited with inventing the genre “folk-rock”. This was defined by their shimmering recording of Bob Dylan’s Mr Tambourine Man, its distinctive harmonies and chiming 12-string guitar carrying it to the top of the charts in Britain and the US in 1965.

Arrogant and argumentative, Crosby was sacked from the Byrds in 1967, but, after producing Joni Mitchell’s debut album, Song to a Seagull, he found an ideal berth with Crosby, Stills and Nash. It was a group of distinct individuals who wrote their own songs, but together they created one of the great harmony-singing blends in pop history. Their debut album, Crosby Stills & Nash (1969), was an immediate smash, and proved hugely influential on a rising generation of west coast artists. Crosby’s long hair, walrus moustache and buckskin jacket made him look like a frontiersman for the Age of Aquarius. Their second album, Déjà Vu (1970), with the addition of Neil Young, and the band becoming Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young (CSNY), felt like the crowning moment of a California golden age. It topped the US chart, reached No 5 in the UK and has sold 14m copies.

The members then embarked on solo ventures and their reunions grew increasingly rare, though they reformed for a stadium tour in 1974, a lavishly wasteful affair that Crosby nicknamed “the Doom tour”. A major obstacle was that Crosby, a regular marijuana and LSD user, would succumb to a ferocious addiction to crack cocaine, with near-fatal consequences. This came to a head on 28 March 1982, when he was arrested by the California Highway Patrol after he crashed his car into the central divider on the Interstate 405 highway. Police found freebasing paraphernalia and a .45-calibre pistol in the car, and it was later determined that Crosby had suffered a seizure from “toxic saturation”.

A couple of weeks later he was arrested again on similar charges, this time at a Dallas nightclub where he was performing. A spell in a rehab facility in New Jersey failed when Crosby fled the premises. His decline from prince of west coast rock aristocracy to struggling addict was halted only when he was jailed in Texas in 1986, following yet another drugs-and-firearms arrest.

In 1985, Spin magazine had told its readers “The Tragic Story of David Crosby’s Living Death”, but after being paroled from Huntsville prison in August 1986, Crosby staged a remarkable comeback. He marked his return with the enthralling autobiography Long Time Gone (1988) and the solo album Oh Yes I Can (1989). He would make six further solo discs, in addition to Crosby & Nash (2004), two albums with Stills and Nash (Live It Up in 1990 and After the Storm, 1994) and American Dream and Looking Forward with CSNY (1988 and 1999). In 1987 he married Jan Dance, who had survived her own addiction purgatory alongside him. Shortly after being diagnosed with hepatitis C, in 1994 he underwent a liver transplant, the operation paid for by Phil Collins (Crosby had sung on Collins’s 1989 hit Another Day in Paradise), and bounced back with renewed energy.

Born in Los Angeles, he was the second son of the cinematographer Floyd Crosby and his first wife, Aliph Van Cortlandt Whitehead, a scion of the influential Van Cortlandt dynasty. Floyd came from an upper-class New York background, his father having been the treasurer of the Union Pacific Railroad, and his mother the daughter of a renowned surgeon. He had tried his hand at banking in New York before working on documentary films in the South Pacific (including FW Murnau’s Tabu, for which he won an Oscar) and eventually moving to Hollywood, where he won a Golden Globe award for his work on Fred Zinnemann’s western High Noon and made numerous films with Roger Corman.

David’s early musical influences included classical music and jazz as well as the Everly Brothers and bluesman Josh White, and he recalled how he would take the harmony parts when the family would gather to sing extracts from The Fireside Book of Folk Songs. A trip with his mother to hear a symphony orchestra “was the most intense experience I can remember from my early life” (as he wrote in Long Time Gone), because it illustrated how musicians could collaborate “to make something bigger than any one person could ever do”.

He attended the exclusive Crane school in Montecito, California, then Cate boarding school in Carpinteria. Though intelligent, he regarded academic work with contempt and refused to apply himself. One area where he did shine was in musical stage shows, such as his performance as the First Lord of the Admiralty in Gilbert and Sullivan’s HMS Pinafore. He subsequently attended Santa Barbara City College, but quit and moved to LA to study acting. However, music was becoming his true focus, and he began playing in folk clubs with his elder brother Ethan (who would take his own life in 1997). When a girlfriend became pregnant, Crosby hastily left town and worked his way across the country towards the folk-singing mecca of Greenwich Village, New York, where the likes of Peter, Paul and Mary, Phil Ochs and Joan Baez were breaking through, while Dylan was about to transform the musical climate entirely.

Crosby formed a partnership with the Chicago-born folk singer Terry Callier and they performed frequently together, before Crosby travelled down to Florida in 1962 to sample the folk scene in Miami’s Coconut Grove district. He then worked his way back to Los Angeles via Denver, Chicago and San Francisco. In LA he met Jim (later Roger) McGuinn and Gene Clark, all of them fascinated by the Beatles and the idea of mixing folk with rock’n’roll. They became the Jet Set, which evolved into the Byrds with the addition of the bassist Chris Hillman and drummer Michael Clarke.

Signed to Columbia, the Byrds had already built an enthusiastic local following by playing in clubs such as Ciro’s on Sunset Strip by the time Mr Tambourine Man was released in April 1965, and its success was followed up by their debut album, released in June. Crosby’s distinctive tenor voice was integral to the band’s vocal blend, and he began to develop an idiosyncratic songwriting style.

Influenced by jazz as much as rock, his songs used unusual chords and unconventional melodies. On the band’s third album, Fifth Dimension (1966), one of his most significant contributions was co-writing Eight Miles High. This psychedelic milestone gave them a Top 20 US hit, and also reflected Crosby’s infatuation with the jazz saxophonist John Coltrane. Their next album, Younger Than Yesterday (1967), featured Crosby’s ethereal Everybody’s Been Burned as well as his self-indulgent sound experiment Mind Gardens, while the song Why reflected his admiration for the sitar maestro Ravi Shankar. When the Byrds met the Beatles, Crosby’s enthusiasm for Shankar helped spark George Harrison’s interest in Indian music.

Crosby’s green suede cape and Borsalino hat had made him a Hollywood Hills style icon, but his days as a Byrd were numbered. He had irked his bandmates at the Monterey pop festival in June 1967 by making rambling speeches about LSD and the assassination of John F Kennedy, and also by getting on stage with Stills’s band Buffalo Springfield in place of the absent Young. Crosby’s song Lady Friend (1967) flopped as a single, and during the making of the album The Notorious Byrd Brothers he was fired after arguments over the choice of material. His song Triad, depicting a menage-a-trois, was vetoed by his bandmates as being too risque (Jefferson Airplane subsequently recorded it). Nonetheless, Crosby played on and co-wrote several tracks, and The Notorious Byrd Brothers is arguably the Byrds’ finest album.

Borrowing $25,000 from Peter Tork of the Monkees, Crosby bought a 74ft schooner called Mayan, where he would write some of his best-known songs including Crosby, Stills and Nash’s Wooden Ships. The obvious potential of CSN immediately won them a deal with Atlantic Records, which released their debut album in May 1969. Their second-ever live appearance was at the Woodstock festival that August. Though dominated by the all-round wizardry of Stills, the album showcased the different writing skills of each member. Crosby’s Guinnevere demonstrated his fondness for unusual scales and harmonies, while the bluesy Long Time Gone was a heartfelt response to the assassination of Bobby Kennedy and indicated the group’s willingness to embrace political and social issues.

Déjà Vu, released nine months later, brought another strong showing from Crosby. The hanging chords and mysterious time changes of his title track made it one of his most mesmerising compositions, while Almost Cut My Hair was his battle cry for the counterculture. However, personality clashes within the group while on tour in 1970 prompted them to split.

All the members made solo albums, including Crosby’s If I Could Only Remember My Name (1971). Additionally, he formed a successful duo with Nash, which brought them US Top 10 hit albums with Graham Nash David Crosby (1972, also UK No 13) and Wind on the Water (1975), and they reached No 26 with Whistling Down the Wire (1976). In 1973 Crosby reunited with his previous band for the album Byrds, and in 1977 Crosby, Stills and Nash released CSN, which reached No 2 on the US album chart and outsold the trio’s debut. However, by the time they made Daylight Again (1981), another US Top 10 hit, Crosby was in the throes of addiction. Allies (1983), a patchwork of live and studio material, was the group’s last effort before he was jailed.

Crosby’s post-prison renaissance continued with regular tours with CSN, who went on the road almost annually from 1987, with Young joining them in 2000, 2002 and 2006. He released the solo album Thousand Roads (1993), which gave him a minor hit single with Hero, then picked up the pace dramatically in the new century with Croz (2014), Lighthouse (2016), Sky Trails (2017) and Here If You Listen (2018). For Free, featuring Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen and Michael McDonald, came out in 2021. His final release, in December, was David Crosby & the Lighthouse Band Live at the Capitol Theatre.

One of his regular musical collaborators was James Raymond, his child with Celia Crawford Ferguson, whom Crosby had left pregnant in California in the early 60s, and who had given her baby up for adoption. She later moved to Australia. Raymond met his birth mother in 1994, then in 1995 introduced himself to his biological father at UCLA medical centre, where Crosby was having treatment following his liver transplant. An accomplished musician and composer, Raymond played in the jazz-rock band CPR with his father and Jeff Pevar (they released four albums between 1998 and 2001), was music director for Crosby’s solo live shows and also became a member of Crosby, Stills and Nash’s touring band from 2009.

Yet Crosby’s creative rebirth coincided with a calamitous breakdown in relations with his old comrades. In 2014 Young said CSNY would never tour again after Crosby described his new partner, Daryl Hannah, as “a purely poisonous predator”, and in 2016 Nash, who had always gone the extra mile for Crosby throughout his addiction years, also announced his estrangement from him.

In 1991 Crosby was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Byrds, and in 1997 with Crosby, Stills and Nash. He won the 2019 Critics’ Choice movie award as the “most compelling living subject of a documentary” for AJ Eaton’s film David Crosby: Remember My Name.

Crosby continued to be plagued by health problems. He suffered from type 2 diabetes, and in 2014 was left with eight stents in his heart following major cardiac surgery.

He was the sperm donor for the children of Melissa Etheridge and her partner Julie Cypher: their son, Beckett, who died in 2020, and daughter, Bailey.

Jan and their son, Django, survive him, as do James, a daughter, Erika, by Jackie Guthrie, and a daughter, Donovan, by Debbie Donovan.

🔔 David Van Cortlandt Crosby, musician, singer and songwriter, born 14 August 1941; died 18 January 2023

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at http://justforbooks.tumblr.com

#JUST FOR BOOKS #David Crosby #in memoriam

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drifting-pieces-blog-blog · 1 year ago

Text

Breaking Down The Comics: Under the Mask

Moon Knight, Issue 20: Cut Adrift off the Coast of America

LOOK AT THIS COVER. I laugh every time I see it. It reminds me of like, Night on Bald Mountain when the devil creature is over the city and about to do his evil things. I feel like the past two covers for this run are just the artist (Bill) going, “I don’t know… Moon Knight in various poses of angst?” For no reason!

Anyways… Let’s finish this run!

So we left off with Marc finding plans for Nimrod to attack Manhattan and Marlene being undercover as his personal bodyguard.

Now, up to this point, Moon Knight has been abroad. This whole run has been him retracing steps and places Marc has worked.

I've noticed that in the original comics, any time Moon Knight had to travel out of the country, Marc Spector is the one in charge.

He is well traveled and he has contacts all over. If there's a country, Marc has most likely been there being paid to be a bad guy.

Perhaps Jake doesn't feel comfortable traveling. His home is New York and always has been. He found his identity there and his friends.

Steven will sometimes travel, if it involves luxury, but usually once they leave the hotel Marc takes over.

Now, we are finally heading back to New York.

Which, oddly enough, Marc never feels at home on American Soil. He'll show up for a fight or two, but perhaps he just doesn't feel like he has a home there. He did, after all, leave his home in a hurry after a fight with his father. America is something Marc left behind.

ANYWAYS:

We see Moon Knight with scuba gear on... and still wearing his cape I might add... trying to reassure his contact that "Spector and I will take care of it."

He notes that while he has faith in the plan, "our real strong suit is playing it by ear."

This is true. Moon Knight is amazing at winging it. When things go to shit, he just goes. Which is probably for the best because a lot of his plans tend to go to shit. He's...He's not good at thinking things through. (Especially Marc).

Streglov (the government contact) mentions that he really doesn't like the fact that Marc is emotionally at risk in this mission. Not just for revenge, but also that Marlene is involved.

Moon Knight quips that "I didn't like anything about this operation, Streglov, but we're stuck with it."

Once in full scuba attire:

(WHAT ARe YOU WEARING MOON KNIGHT. That cape can’t be easy to swim in. Is that breathing respirator OVER YOUR MASK?! Are you….wh…. The depths this man will go to to keep his mask on…)

As Moon Knight goes for a swim at night in full outfit...

"Sure cold down here this time of night. Gives me the chills... Chills to match the goose bumps I got when Streglov mentioned Spector. Didn't like his tone of voice. Almost as if he was embarrassed to refer to Spector as a separate man. Guess I'd better face the grim possibility --Streglov may be catching on that Spector and I are one in the same man."

Hmmm... Now, in the last issue, we had no issues with identity. Marc was undercover and comfortable not being himself. Moon Knight was an easy guise to slip into.

He is grappling with 'secret identity' right now. He doesn't like the idea that people know who is under the Moon Knight mask.

But also, he doesn't like the idea that people see the man under the mask as Marc Spector.

He's so uncomfortable being known as Marc that he would go to great lengths to keep the guise up that they are different people.

Which, in this particular circumstance, it IS silly. They are on a boat. It's assumed Marc got on the boat and now Moon Knight is there going on the mission saying that Marc sent him to do it and to trust him.

There's a certain level of self delusion going on in which he wants everyone to believe that Marc is still on the boat. Perhaps that he wants to believe that Marc is still on the boat.

In Moon Knight's eyes, Marc has very little place on this mission and he would rather everyone just play along.

So it looks like the terrorist plan is to put four oil tankers out in the water in key locations, purge the oil, letting the gas build up until a spark sets the whole thing off in an explosion.

Nimrod is on one of the tankers. He plans to blow his tanker and send a signal to the others to blow their own. The pressurized explosion form the built up gas will be devastating and then the oil in the water will catch fire, encircling the island in a raging fire inferno.

Moon Knight is to get on Nimrod’s tanker, cut a hole in the hull and release the gas to prevent the explosion. He will then stop Nimrod, preventing him from signaling the other tankers, giving other teams time to take them out.

A convoluted plan on both ends.

Would the ship blow up? Yes. Science has proven that this is what caused some famous explosion at some point (I'm not looking up which boat it was. It was in port and the built up gas caused a devastating explosion that wiped out the whole town, but if you know it then kudos to you).

Are there better ways to do this? YES. JFC yes. Just put a bomb on the boat. Why is he going so over the top? Why is the only method of preventing the explosion cutting a hole to let the gas vent? What about all the oil in the water that is polluting and causing a fire hazard? And with that much gas build up, ANY spark could set off an explosion. What if it goes off before you’re ready?!

Convoluted plan aside... Moon Knight gets on the tanker, now in search of Nimrod himself.

Moon Knight is now lamenting that he needs to keep control of his emotions. "I've got to control myself... Avoid hasty judgements... Keep myself from thinking about it..."

Good luck with that buddy. Hasty judgments should be your middle name.

Back with Nimrod, we see Marlene still playing bodyguard.

Nimrod is doing his bad guy rant about how Moon Knight destroyed his base. He rants about how he's a one man army and will take down the city no matter what it takes.

As Moon Knight makes his way through the tanker, taking out bad guys, he reminds himself that he's not doing this just because of Marlene.

As Moon Knight busts into Nimrod's room, Nimrod shoves Marlene forward, demanding that she attack him.

Luckily, the two other lady bodyguards jump in and attack first.

Oh! And here we see our hero once more face on the floor in a helpless position.

Back at Grant mansion: Hey! We haven't seen this place in a while!

Frenchie has taken Jake's cab back to the mansion to GET TO THE CHOPPER.

Back on the tanker, Moon Knight wakes up in a very Bond-like situation.

I do appreciate that each time we look at Nimrod after this while Moon Knight is tied up, Nimrod is upside down. It’s a fun touch in perspective.

Nimrod gloats a moment then moves to unmask Moon Knight.

Back in the day, secret identities were pretty sacred. All heroes who wore masks kept their identity pretty tightly locked down (Notable exceptions to those that wore masks: Tony Stark who can't stop telling people who he is and Captain America who no longer has the ability to just be Steve Rogers).

In current times, Moon Knight really stopped caring and ever since Civil War (don't get me started on that Marvel Event), the only one who really keeps his identity is Spider-Man. And that really depends on what Spider-verse you live in.

So back in the day, Moon Knight kept his identity a secret unless you were in his close circle of friends.

This really worked well for Steven Grant, who needed to maintain his social standing to get into high class crowds. It also helped Jake keep his own personal life and let him work the underground.

When it came to Marc, it really didn't matter. Marc didn't really have a normal life anymore.

Not to mention the only people that knew who Marc Spector even was were probably those that had come up against him as a Mercenary.

So Nimrod is momentarily shocked then laughs about how he now has both his nemeses helplessly held captive.

He leaves Moon Knight helpless and we get...this...view....

Um... Anyways...

Moon Knight realizes that the crescent darts are still on his belt, being mistaken for decoration!

So he wriggles around till one pops off and falls towards his restrained hands. He misses quite a few of them.

Of course on the last dart, he finally catches it.

Now he just has to saw through the rope restraints.

Back up top, Nimrod is relaxing with his three bodyguards. They doze and Marlene finally gets a chance to slip away.

Just as she is about to leave the room, one of the other bodyguards wakes up.

Marlene assures her that she's just going out for fresh air, but the guard is suspicious She wakes up Nimrod.

Marlene finds an escaped Moon Knight and they team up together to start taking out the guards.

The hapless lackies all taken care of, they return to look for Nimrod, only to walk into a trap!

Nimrod makes a run for the detonator to blow the other ships. Marlene tells Moon Knight to go. She'll deal with the other two ladies.

We get several pages of Marlene in an out and out brawl with the other two ladies (all three are in bikini uniforms, but not drawn softly. Bill gave them good muscle definition for the time.) To the credit of the writing team/artist team, it's not a cat fight. They use martial arts, punch, and hit one another with chairs and things.

Marlene makes nice work of the other two and wins the fight.

Meanwhile, Moon Knight is up against Nimrod and his Arsenal of weaponry.

Moon Knight is hit by a grenade and once again....

He sure does spend a lot of time down there.

Dizzy from the hit, he stares down the barrol of a gun and remembers his friend being gunned down right in front of him.

"A memory of Ben Abramov, his oldest friend, jerking from the impact of a sniper's bullet... Twisting slowly through pain towards a last fall into a darkness called death..."

He acts and kicks the gun at the lat moment, causing it to discharge into Nimrod's face.��

"And another memory, also snarling... Nimrod Strange crushing Marlene to his chest, smearing his lips over hers..."

Moon Knight jumps up, enraged.

"You've killed my friend and soiled my woman, Madman!"

He attacks the disoriented man, punching and coming at him head on despite bullet fire.

When the fire becomes too intense, he falls back to get the high ground.

Nimrod makes a last desperate run for the detonator and Moon Knight tackles him.

Moon Knight takes a blow to the head that leaves him in his favorite position on the floor.

We get a really nice page here and you really have to admire the art, the layout, and the tension. This is just a fantastic page!

He knocks out Nimrod before he can push down on the detonator!

And now we get a bit of our nit and gritty man showing his emotions.

MK: Marlene...I...That last gesture...It was stupid. I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me.

Marlene: Hush, Steven. If such a gesture can ever by earned, you did tonight.

He cuts the detonator and calls for Frenchie to be picked up. He leaves Nimrod on the boat and rushes to inform the agents waiting that the mission is a success.

Moon Knight laments that Nimrod knows who he is and will most likely tell everyone who he really is.

Just as he's about to confess to everyone that he and Marc Spector are the same person, Nimrod wakes up and manages to set off the bomb.

His ship blows, taking out everyone still on it.

Thankfully, the other ships have been disabled and taken out before they too can blow.

"You were saying?"

"Oh, nothing. Just that Spector and I are a good team. He does the undercover work and I'm the visible one up front."

Hmmmm. Very true. Very visible.

Epilogue:

Back in Jerusalem... At the home of widow Anna Abramov, she receives a message.

"Anna- Ben's work finished --Spector."

She crumbles the letter and weeps silently.

"Then she sips some tea and wraps herself against the chill, and for a time she is quiet, and she is still, and she is alone... An hour from now the tears will start again...and last until dawn."

END ISSUE and end to Nimrod Strange.

This was a long run of Just Marc Spector in his element.

We got to see a lot of Marc’s skills and the things he did before Moon Knight and what gave him the ability to put on the mask and be as brutal and effective as he is.

It also showcased Marlene in good light and we even got a lot of Frenchie action.

As for the bad guy, he seemed like he was supposed to be bigger than he was. He boasted a LOT about his abilities, his firepower, and being unstoppable. But he just hit behind his goons for hire, his bodyguards, and his weaponry. He really just didn’t strike me as a big top tier villain.

And maybe that was some of the point. A single guy with power and an idea that managed to gather people together to try to do terrible things and hurt a lot of people.

This was a very run run, especially traveling to Israel and going against the elite three. The story and imagery in that one was amazing.

Honestly, it was pretty amazing to just focus on Marc. So that makes up for the fact that the villain was just utterly detestable, and not in a fun hate the villain sort of way.

We also got to see him be utterly pissed and petty, culminating in spitting on Nimrod, then instantly feeling shame that someone saw him. I think that sums up Marc pretty nicely. It isn't often he gets to spit on a terrorist who enjoys killing and hurting people. But then he feels shame that he let his emotions out. Oh Marc, stop being a bottle of suppressed emotions.

It ends in a way that a lot of Moon Knight comics tended to end back in the 80s: A sad and lonely note. Though they won and get to go home, there is still the Widow who is alone and will always be alone.

Marc sends her the note, but Marc can slip back down into his safe mask of nothing and doesn’t have to think about her anymore. His friend is dead, and it’s another name added to his list of people he failed and watched die.

What did you guys think of this run? Thumbs up or down for the bad guy?

I think what’s really exciting after this and seeing Marc work, is knowing where it’s all culminating in at the end of the first big 1980s run of Moon Knight.

#Moon Knight #Moon Knight comics #Marc Spector #Marlene #Analyzing the comics #I really disliked Nimrod #But damn I loved the art in this one #I'm glad he wasn't in the villain rotations #I can't wait to get back to my girl Scarlet #And the poses in this issue #What the hell were half those poses #Never change Moon Knight #You lay on that floor #You earned it #On the floor again is the alternate title of this review

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chosetherose · 1 year ago

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Taylor Swift’s epic “Eras Tour” is on track to become the biggest in concert history, with the potential to gross over $1 billion.

That milestone would break the record for global concert tours currently held by Elton John and could up the ante for an era of even higher ticket prices, show grosses and concert-industry revenues.

“What we’re seeing on this particular Taylor tour is almost like a once-in-a-lifetime phenomenon,” said Jarred Arfa, executive vice president and head of global music at Independent Artist Group, who represents Billy Joel, Metallica and other acts. “It’s pretty astonishing.”

Over the past week, Swift announced dozens of new international dates that will take her to South America, Asia, Australia and Europe. Besides her original 52 U.S. dates, which end in August, she’ll be playing 54 shows overseas, bringing her to 106 gigs by the last show in London next summer. More dates could be added.

Music executives have been speculating for months about how much Swift’s tour has been making. Swift, in an unusual move for the industry, is not reporting her nightly grosses after the shows to Billboard Boxscore, which tracks such data, but instead planning to report them later, according to Dave Brooks, Billboard’s senior director of live music and touring. This has fueled questions about how much the pop superstar is making and how such towering grosses may reset expectations for other major artists.

Swift’s outsize success comes amid a booming market for arena and stadium shows from superstars like Beyoncé and Madonna. For blockbuster tours, per-show concert grosses “are higher than they’ve ever been,” Brooks said.

These performers are charging higher prices for general-admission tickets, aisle seats and VIP packages—partly to offset a large jump in their costs—even as some smaller shows in clubs and amphitheaters and music festivals struggle.

Arena and stadium concertgoers, despite grumbling about prices, continue to cough up for shows. That’s boosting industry revenues, which increasingly are concentrated in concerts by the world’s biggest artists, Brooks said. In Swift’s case, the biggest concern isn’t prices—it’s getting tickets in the first place.

The Wall Street Journal analyzed Swift’s Eras Tour based on conversations with high-ranking concert executives, examining how much revenue Swift’s shows are generating in ticket sales versus how much money she’s actually taking home in profit.

Will the Eras Tour become the first to gross $1 billion in revenue?

The music industry keeps track of superstar concert tours via gross concert-ticket revenue figures that artists provide. It’s these figures that are used every year to rank successful tours. (Artists don’t include their costs, profits and deal making.)

Elton John currently holds the record for the highest-grossing global tour, with his ongoing “Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour,” which has run from 2018 to 2023. So far, the tour, which ends in July, has raked in over $887 million. John surpassed prior record-holder Ed Sheeran’s “Divide Tour,” which ran between 2017 and 2019 and brought in $776 million.

Back in December, Billboard estimated that Swift’s 52-date U.S. leg would gross about $590 million; the average ticket price for the U.S. leg is $215, Billboard said.

Now that Swift is performing 106 shows worldwide, she could cross the record-breaking $1 billion line. But it’s not a done deal. Top tickets in the U.S. tend to cost 20% to 30% more than in the rest of the world, which makes the U.S. a more lucrative market than Europe or Asia. Swift’s 54 international shows aren’t worth as much as her American ones, though in some cases the venues overseas are larger in size, allowing for more concertgoers and revenue.

Asked how much the Eras Tour might end up grossing, Arfa, of Independent Artist Group, says Swift may very well reach $1 billion.

Others aren’t so sure, with some estimates putting her around $700 million to $900 million. That would still eclipse Swift’s previous “Reputation Stadium Tour” in 2018, which grossed about $345 million across 53 shows. Her average ticket price back then was $119, according to Pollstar.

A spokeswoman for Swift did not respond to requests for comment.

Executives generally expect Swift’s current tour to exceed Beyoncé’s, even if the pop-R&B superstar delivers eye-popping numbers of her own. That’s what happened the last time the two artists toured as solo artists: Back in 2016, Beyoncé’s “Formation World Tour” grossed $256 million.

So how much actual profit is Swift making?

Just because a tour grosses $1 billion doesn’t mean the artist is making $1 billion. It’s more complicated than that.

Superstars like Swift aren’t paid per show; they’re paid for the full tour. Still, it’s easier to get a picture of Swift’s earnings by thinking in terms of per-show grosses and profits.

For her U.S. shows, Swift set ticket prices ranging from roughly $50 for cheap seats to nearly $900 for VIP packages. Swift didn’t engage in “dynamic pricing,” which allows ticket prices to float upward (or downward) based on demand. Since her shows tend to sell out, the number of tickets sold each night depends on the size of the stadium. Such venues often host roughly 50,000 to 60,000 concertgoers, but can sometimes hit 80,000 or higher.

According to a person familiar with the matter, Swift grossed approximately $40 million via concert tickets over a recent weekend of shows. This $40 million figure would break down to more than $13 million per concert over three shows.

That generally tracks with concert executives’ estimates for Swift’s average per-show gross, which they put at $10 million, though shows could range from $6 million to $13 million or so.

But revenues are one thing, profits are another.

How much does the tour cost?

The expense of running the concert includes renting out stadiums, along with production, labor and transportation costs. The Eras Tour, in particular, is one of the most technically ambitious in recent history, with its various segments showcasing different albums of Swift’s career accompanied by unique backdrops and costumes.

Other payouts go to Swift’s concert promoters around the world, including Messina Touring Group, which is affiliated with AEG Presents, the No. 2 concert promoter globally after Live Nation. Promoters often get a 10% cut, Billboard’s Brooks said. But Swift is an unusually big superstar, which means she may be more able to secure highly favorable deals, executives said. Also, unlike most stars, Swift is not working with a booking agency in the U.S.—just Messina Touring Group—which eliminates a major cost.

Some executives expect Swift is taking home 40% to 60% of the estimated $10 million average per-show gross, while others think this take-home figure is probably 50% or lower.

To boil it all down, let’s imagine what all of this looks like in practice: First, the hosting stadium takes a cut, lopping off $2 million to $3 million from the $10 million gross. From there, Swift pays her staging costs and the promoter’s cut, which together could remove 50% of the remaining $7 million to $8 million. That gives her about $3.5 million to $4 million in profit per night.

That figure, multiplied by roughly 100 shows, takes you to $350 million to $400 million in profit for the entire 2023-2024 tour.

Accounting for various unknowns, a broader estimate would put Swift’s profits from selling tickets to the Eras Tour in the neighborhood of $300 million to $500 million.

What about her merchandise sales?

Concert executives said the Eras Tour is likely grossing another $2 million-plus a night through merchandise—all the $75 hoodies, $55 long-sleeve shirts and $45 short-sleeve shirts that fans are eating up. Fans, they say, are likely spending about $50 to $75 a person, after accounting for those who don’t buy anything. Even among the ranks of superstars, Swift’s merchandise is highly prized by her fans, known as Swifties, allowing her to gross more on everything from T-shirts to portable phone chargers. Some other superstars, especially non-veteran acts, might earn $25 a person or less.

During the weekend of shows where Swift grossed approximately $40 million via tickets, she also generated approximately $10 million via merch in total, according to the person familiar with the matter. That means about $3 million in merchandise revenue per night.

But Swift also has to pay a merchandise company. Of the $2 million-plus in average per-night merch revenue, Swift could be left with around 70%, after various payouts, concert executives said. That amounts to about $1.4 million in merchandise profit per night. If Swift’s merch sold like that over 100 shows, it would bring an additional $140 million on top of the $300 million to $500 million from tickets.

The upshot: Swift is looking at possibly over $500 million in profit across tickets and merchandise from the Eras Tour between the U.S. and overseas.

But there are even more income streams than that.

Even then, the Eras Tour doesn’t stop generating income.

There’s the cash from Swift’s partnership with the credit-card company Capital One, which is the U.S. presenting sponsor of the tour.

Swift’s alliance with Capital One, which goes back to 2019, is typical for superstars of her stature, for whom such deals typically involve hefty paydays. Swift, for her part, has appeared in Capital One commercials.

Last November, Capital One cardholders got early access to Swift’s tickets via a presale. At Swift’s shows on this tour, light-up wristbands were given away to fans; the bands were branded with Capital One’s logo.

Then there’s the merch on Swift’s website, which many fans likely bought before and after attending shows—especially if they wanted to avoid long lines at the venue.

Finally, there’s the tour-related income from increased interest in Swift’s music.

Swift is selling thousands of albums every week, often vinyl records and CDs. At the same time, she’s experiencing a spike in online streams as the Eras Tour rolls across the U.S. In the week ending June 15, Swift had six different albums in the top 25 of the Billboard 200 chart, according to Luminate, driven partly by the jump in streaming activity.

Executives said the tour has caused a Beatles-like mania. Some Swift fans who haven’t been able to get tickets have listened to shows from stadium parking lots. Others who got in have reported “post-concert amnesia,” where you’re so overjoyed you don’t remember a show afterward.

Such fans are likely among those helping fuel the streaming spike. That intensified listening, in turn, creates another waterfall of profits for Swift.

“She’s just capturing this moment of popularity so perfectly,” Arfa said.

#get it get it

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hoboonthetracks · 2 years ago

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Jazz on a Summer’s Day

JAZZ ON A SUMMER'S DAY

They say that 1959 was the year that changed jazz. It was the period when the music broke away from its traditional modes to create new forms, specifically allowing soloists to break free and express themselves. It was year that America: the found its groove with jazz leading the charge. The list of albums that were released that year is just incredible - check them out.

However when scholars and aficionados talk about music in that year four jazz albums are cited, each a high point for the artists concerned and a real soundtrack of the times and all four stand up to this day and somewhat. They are:

Miles Davis, Kind of Blue

Dave Brubeck, Time Out

Charles Mingus, Mingus Ah Um

Ornette Coleman, The Shape of Jazz to Come

All four may be different but they are equally sublime. They are timeless and to have heard them contemporaneously must have been something else. The albums, jazz and that period of time has established itself as an integral part of American history and it quickly found itself an audience and voice in the jazz clubs, nightclubs and parties on this side of the Atlantic as well. Jazz - especially Trad Jazz - was huge in the UK at the end of the 1950s and the aficionados, beatniks and modernists quickly lapped up this modern jazz creating friction - that led to numerous verbals and fist fights between the Trads and Moderns. For this was modern and new. Frightening, exciting, exhilarating and refreshing.

Like the music the shift was rapid and the records soon found their way into the stores the length and breadth of the country. The kids snapped them up, played them, danced to them and nodded their heads to them. And whilst ding this they studied the album covers of all these new imported sounds on the Verve, Blue Note and Capitol labels. See, it was more than the music. It was also about the style, the clothes, the colours, the modernist art, architecture and furniture, and the graphic design. It was Hollywood PLUS! Britain was looking west. Cigarettes, glamour, bourbon, Ivy League clothing and jazz. As the legendary retailer and original modernist John Simons says on his company's website: "I came to art really through record covers, I was extremely interested in the Bebop revolution in America in the post-war years. I would always find myself in record stores looking at the covers. They were very often done by interesting modern artists, which reflected the music. As a fourteen and fifteen-year-old that drew me to it. To me the Bebop revolution made the Punk revolution look like right wing conservatives! So far out man… I can’t even tell you."

Then in August 1959 a small independent film was released that gave the UK modernists a visual interpretation of their new-found music. Entitled Jazz On A Summer's Day the film is a dazzling documentary of the Newport Jazz Festival held a year earlier on Rhode Island, USA. The festival was founded in 1954 and soon became the hippest event in the country. It wasn't long before Bert Stern, a young New Yorker specialising in "still" advertising photography, had the bright idea of filming the Newport Jazz Festival, in which 50 top-flight American jazz musicians and vocalists took part and to which jazzanistas in their legions flocked from all over. Stern has a wonderful gift for capturing the colour, style and panache of the venue, artistes and audience. He then intersperses this with film of the city of Newport from the harbour with its racing yachts skimming gracefully over the sparkling and shimmering water to shots of kids paying on the beach and onto the cool cats arriving at the event.And “cool” is the word.

The music featuring the Jimmy Giuffre 3, Thelonious Monk Trio, Dinah Washington, Louis Armstrong and Mahalia Jackson to name just a few is scintillating. The multi-racial crowd has never been hipper and as day turns to night Stern and co-director Aram Avakian capture a vibe that is like nothing anybody had seen, heard or felt before in America or at one of the few cinemas that showed it in the UK. The reviews were superb, those that saw it had now bought into this whole new scene and Britain edged that little bit closer to the 1960s...

FOOTNOTES

In 2020 the film was given a new 4K restoration by IndieCollect, and premiered at the 57th New York Film Festival - the trailer looks fantastic . It was meant to have a cinema and Netflix release but due to Covid this doesn't seem to have happened. You can however watch the pre-restored version on Vimeo and Youtube.

Meanwhile the photos that accompany this piece are from the incredible book Jazz Festival by Jim Marshall and released by Reel Art Press. The book includes photos from the 1958 festival - amongst other years - and Marshall can actually be seen on the film. If you haven't done so already then check out the book!

#jazz #film #miles davis #jimmy giuffre #thelonious monk #dinah washington #jim marshall #louis armstrong

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magpigment · 1 year ago

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list of names i use to pick character names!

i scoured several baby names sites years ago and i still use this list to this day if i’m stumped on what to name a character of mine! figured i might as well post it since it might help someone else! feel free to add on ^^

https://parenting.firstcry.com/articles/50-baby-names-that-means-healer-for-girls-and-boys/ (boys?? ig??) Aeson Before Jason, it was Aeson. This variation of name had commanded the hearts and minds of the warriors. Aeson means ‘healer’. Alaunus Alaunus is the name Sun God in Gaulish. It also means prediction, and revenge, which also happens to be related to the Greek god named Apollo. The name Alaunus signifies ‘brightness’. Asa A simple, sober, and scriptural name, Asa, means ‘expert, healer, or an individual born in the morning sun’. This is a uni-sexual name, that sounds equally good on females. Galen Galen is the name of a second-century physician who developed the basis of medicine. Galen means ‘quiet or healer’. Helem Helem, an Israeli word, signifying ‘to dream or to heal’. This name is slowly losing its existence, however if you like sound of it, you can definitely pick it up for your boy. Jayr Jayr, which means ‘healer’, has been used in America since the founding of the provinces, all thanks to the Puritans. Despite being an old name, its a rarely used one. (girls?? ig??) Airmed The name Airmed comes from the Irish mythology. A woman named Airmed was known for her ability to heal people during battle. There goes a folklore that healing herbs sprouted from her tears and healed the body of the injured. Althea This sentimental and ethereal name comes from the Greek folklore and has a peaceful ring to it. Althea implies healing power. Amethyst Amethyst has been utilized in healing and enchantment since time immemorial. As Amethyst is a birthstone from February, it would be best utilized for a young lady from February. Emma Emma, the generally acclaimed name, has numerous takers everywhere throughout the world. So no big surprise individuals decipher it unexpectedly. While its most regular meanings are ‘widespread, complete or whole’, in Teutonic, Emma signifies ‘healer of the universe’. Leigh Leigh has several meanings. In Celtic, Leigh signifies ‘healer’. This name can likewise be spelled as Leigha. It is a unisex name. Reselda Reselda, an enchanting Latin American name, which means healer, is getting a charge out of moderate degrees of utilization in European nations. Sirona The name Sirona belongs to the Celtic healing goddess. In the eastern Gaul, the figure of Sirona appears in carvings near the German sulfur springs. Even its temples are built near the thermal springs and healing wells.

https://baby.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Gothic_Baby_Names Arachne (girl) - Young woman who challenged Athena and was turned into a spider Balor (boy) - One-eyed giant in Irish mythology Griffin/Gryphon (boy) - Mythological beast with the body of a lion and the wings and head of an eagle Isolde (girl) - tragic Irish heroine Moon (unisex) - ancient symbol of fertility (last names) Addams - from the famous show The Addams Family Bara - a noted femme fatale from the 1910s Baudelaire - French poet famous poet from Gothic period in literature Gorey - artist who has a goth aesthetic Mortem - after fashion design Rose Mortem who is married to Goth band frontman from The Awakening Stoker - last name of the writer of Dracula (dark sounding names) Akeldama (boy) - field of blood; where Judas Iscariot committed suicide Dade (boy) - dark one Draven (m) - Child of the shadows Leila (girl) - Arabic for night Mara (girl) - a maleficent female wraith in Scandinavian folklore that causes nightmares Shadow (unisex) - black Shiva (boy) - God of destruction (creepy) Avarice (girl) - greed Badriyah (girl) - full moon Golgotha (unisex) - Hebrew for skull Melancholia (girl) - a mental condition and especially a manic-depressive condition Morte (boy) - French for dead Thorne (unisex) - sharp Vladimir (boy) - alleged vampire Wolfe (boy) - deadly beast (creative gothic names) Ascelin (unisex) - of the moon Aelfwif (boy) - Germanic word for elf + battle or war Alaric (boy) - first king of the Visigoths; means all-powerful ruler Clove (girl) - spice Draconia (girl) - dire Druscilla (girl) - it sounds dark but actually means fruitful Dyrk (boy) - one who admires nighttime Mallory (girl) - cursed or ill-fated one Perdita (girl) - lost in Spanish Quillon (boy) - sword Twilight (girl) - dusk Vespers (unisex) - Catholic evening prayers Xander (boy) - vampire hunter from the television show, Buffy, The Vampire Slayer (nature) Ash (boy) - what's left after a fire Belladonna (girl) - poisonous plant with purple flowers Branwen (boy) - Bran is a Celtic word for crow Briar (boy) - a thorn Chrysanthemum (girl) - flower associated with death in Japan and some European countries Foxglove (girl) - a beautiful but poisonous flower Hellebore (girl) - flower that blooms through the snow in the middle of winter Hemlock (unisex) - poison Socrates took to commit suicide Merula (boy) - Latin for blackbird Oleander (unisex) - a beautiful but poisonous plant Onyx (unisex) - stone that is pitch black Raven (girl) - bird often associated with death Sage (unisex) - a spice Willow (girl) - weeping tree; symbol of death (books) Basil - from The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde Desdemona (girl) - tragic Shakespearean heroine Grendel (boy) - name of the beast from Beowulf Eulalie (girl) - figure from Edgar Allen Poe poem Manfred (boy) - the lord in The Castle of Otranto, a gothic novel by Horace Walpole Nimue (girl) - an Arthurian sorceress Tempest (unisex) - as in by Shakespeare

https://baby.lovetoknow.com/baby-names/celestial-boy-names-related-space-astronomy (galaxy) Baade - last name Burbidge - last name Cygnus - swan Fath - conquest Fornax - furnace Helix - spiral ornament Leo - lion Phoenix - dark red Reinmuth - counsel mind Serpens - the serpent Virgo - young (planet, moon, satelite) Atlas - moon of Saturn; name of a Greek titan who held the heavens on his shoulders Hyperion - moon of Saturn; named for a Greek titan Jovian - name of the system that includes Jupiter, its rings, and its moons Mars - planet name representing the Roman god of war because the planet is red Mond - German word for "moon" Oberon - moon of Uranus; named after the king of the fairies in a Shakespeare play Phobos - one of Mars' moons named after a horse who pulled Roman god Mars' chariot (star and constellation) Alnair - the bright one Aquila - the eagle; constellation Azmidi - unknown Celaeno - the dark one Chertan - two small ribs Dorado - the swordfish; constellation Elgafar - the forgiver Felis - cat Hydrus - the male water snake; constellation Wurren - little fish (astronomers) Asaph (Hall) - discovered the moons of Mars Edwin (Hubble) - American astronomer who created a galaxy classification system Kepler (Johannes) - determined planets traveled around the sun in ellipses Sagan (Carl) - American astronomer who helped popularize astronomy (astronomy terms) Albedo - ratio of reflected light Aphelion - the point where a celestial body is furthest from the sun while orbiting Barlow - type of lens for a telescope Blazar - type of active galaxy Comet - ball of ice and debris orbiting the sun Dob - short for Dobsonian; type of reflector for a telescope Equinox - when day and night are of equal length Phoenix or Phoena (The magical fire bird in Greek mythology. In Greek, Phoenix means "rising bird" and Phoena means "mystical bird" or "purple.") Gibbous - when the moon appears more than half illuminated Meridian - imaginary north-south line Mak - nickname for the Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope Zodiac - set of constellations

https://baby.lovetoknow.com/baby-names/137-magical-girl-names Althea (Greek for "with healing power) Andromeda (In Greek mythology, she became a star. The name means "advising like a man.) Diana (Roman goddess of the hunt and the moon who is often associated with witchcraft and Wiccans. The word means "divine" in Latin.). Holly (English word for a type of plant, the name is often associated with Wicca.) Iris (Greek for "rainbow" and also the name of a flower. Iris was the Greek goddess of the rainbow.) (fairy) Aine (Irish name that means "brightness or splendor." In Celtic folklore, Aine was the queen of the Munster fairies and a goddess of the summer.) Asteria (Greek for "star." She was the goddess of justice. Also known as the "crying fairy.") Calliope (Greek for "beautiful voice.") Devas (Persian/Greek fairies that live in nature and appear as small balls of light, like fireflies.) Mab (Irish for "baby." In Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Mab is the queen of the fairies.) Selkie (In Scottish mythology, Selkie is a name for fairies which means "seal folk" as they had the ability to change into seals and human form at will.) Titania (Greek for "great one" or "giant." Titania was the queen of the fairies in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.) (dark fairy) Agatha (Greek for "good woman." Agatha Harkness is a witch in Marvel comics.) Belinda (German/Spanish word for "pretty one" or "serpent" or "beautiful snake." A goddess of heaven and earth in Babylonian mythology." Ceridwen (Welsh for "beautiful as a poem." A Celtic goddess of poetry and a sorceress in Welsh folklore.) Dahlia (Swedish origin, the name for a flower. A dark witch character in the television show The Originals.) Eris (Greek goddess of discord and strife and a witch in the Maleficent Disney movie.) Koko or Kohko (Algonquin name that means "the night.") Lamia (Evil witch in the book and movie Stardust. A Lamia was a snake with the head and breasts of a human female in Greek mythology.) Melinoë (In Greek mythology, a nymph associated with nightmares and mental illness as well as the moon. She is associated with wearing the color yellow.) Opal (A dark pixie character in the Artemis Fowl series. The word comes from the Sanskrit and is a type of gem.) Tanith (A Phoenician goddess of the moon. Tanith Lee is an acclaimed dark fantasy author.)

(elven) Amberle (Elven princess character from the Shannara series.) Elanor (A Sindarin name that means "sun star.") Siofra (An Irish name that means "fairy" or "elf.") Vila (In Slavic mythology, a type of winged elven race that are beautiful and live in the clouds.) Willow (English origin. A type of tree and also a witch in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.) (witch) Alcina (Greek for "strong willed." A witch from Greek mythology and also an opera by Handel.) Aradia (The "first witch" from the Wiccan work Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches.) Aurora (Goddess of the dawn in Greek mythology and also the name of Sleeping Beauty in the Disney movies.) Circe (Geek for "bird." Circe was a witch in Greek mythology.) Cirilla or Ciri (A pale-haired sorceress from The Witcher books, video games and television show.) Fleur (French for "flower." Fleur Delacour is a French witch in the Harry Potter series.) Lilith (Asyrrian word for "ghost." Lilith was Adam's first wife in Hebrew mythology who became a demon.) Merlinne or Merlynne (Welsh for "sea fortress." A feminine version of Merlin, the wizard in the story of King Arthur.) Minerva (Latin for "of the mind; intellect." Minerva McGonagall is a witch in the Harry Potter series.) Sabrina (A name of Celtic origin that means "white rose." Also a famous teenage witch on television.) Sadira (Persian for "lotus tree." Sadira is a sand witch in the Aladdin Disney television show.) (mystical) Aisling (Irish name that means "dream or vision.") Amitola (A Native American name that means "rainbow.") Ariadne (A Greek goddess of fertility.) Avalon (The mystical "isle of apples" in Celtic and Arthurian legend.) Celeste or Celestia (Latin for "heavenly.") Epiphany (Greek word that means "revelation" or "revelation of a divine being.") Kachine or Kachina (A "sacred dancer" or "dancing spirit" in southwestern Native American cultures.) Luna (Italian for "moon." Luna was a Roman goddess of the moon.) Maia (Greek for "mother." Maia was the goddess of spring and "mother earth" in Roman mythology.) Merope (Greek for a bird that eats bees. In Greek mythology, one of the seven Pleiades, a group of nymphs who were turned into stars by Zeus. Also Voldemort's mother in the Harry Potter series.) Nokomis or Nakomis (Chippewa name for the daughter or grandmother of the moon.) Seraphina or Serafina (Hebrew for "fiery," Seraphina is based on the seraphim which are angels in Judaism and Christianity. Serafina Pekkala is a witch in the His Dark Materials series.) Ulloriaq (A Native American name that means "star like.") Zorya, Zora or Zarya (A pair of goddesses in Slavic mythology who are the morning star and evening star.)

(mermaid) Acantha (Greek for "thorn." A nymph in Greek mythology). Asrai (A fairy that lives in seas and lakes in English legends. They are associated with the moonlight.) Asterope (A Greek word for "starry face." She was a nymph in Greek mythology.) Clio (Greek for "glory." Cleo was a sea nymph in Greek mythology.) Daphne (Greek for "laurel tree." Daphne was a nymph in Greek mythology.) Kailani or Kailee (Hawaiian for "sea and sky.") Larissa (Greek for "citadel." A nymph in Greek mythology and the name of one of Neptune's moons.) Lorelei (In German folklore, Lorelei was a mermaid who lured sailors to their death in the Rhine River.) Melia (Greek name that means "work." Melia was a nymph in Greek mythology and the daughter of Oceanus.) Narice or Nerissa (Greek for "from the sea." Niamh, Neve, Nieve or Neave (Gaelic for "bright." In Irish folklore, Niamh was the daughter of the sea god.) Ondine (Latin for "little wave." Ondie was a nymph and water spirit in German folklore.) Sereia (Portuguese name that means "mermaid.")

https://baby.lovetoknow.com/baby-names/47-rare-boy-names-that-are-unexpectedly-cool Aero (air-oh) - air Axton - swordsman's stone Asar (ah-sar) - unknown; Greek form of Osiris, God of the Dead Benno - bear Brage (brah-gee)- first Druid (droo-ihd) - strong seer; Ancient Celtic priest or magician Enos (ay-nohss)- man or mortal Kalix - most beautiful Omri (om-ree) - my sheaf Orvar - arrow Osten - stone island Rodion (roh-dee-on) - song of the hero Scion (si-on)- descendent Taft - building site Torin - chief Yudel (yoo-dehl) - praise Zoar (zor) - light or brilliance (Extraordinary and Rare Long Names for Boys) Alderic (ahl-day-reek) - old ruler Benesh - blessed Caishen (ki-shen) - god of wealth Coleman - dove Jacobus (juh-koh-bus) - supplanter Janeiro (juh-nayr-oh) - January Ledger - tribe spear Raiden - thunder and lightning Taranis (tuh-ran-iss) - thunder Tristram (trihss-trum) - riot Whittaker (wit-uh-ker) - white field Yorick - farmer Zhubin (zoo-bihn) - spear-like

(elemental) Aidan (Gaelic) - fire element; fiery Ethereal (English) - air element; extremely delicate Garnet (Middle English) - earth element; dark red gemstone Gale (Middle English) - air element; jovial Rain (American) - water element; abundant blessings River (Latin) - water element; flowing body of water Sky (Old Norse) - air element; cloud Zephyr (Greek) - air element; west wind https://baby.lovetoknow.com/baby-names/graceful-tree-names-girls Apple Ash Aspen Catalpa Cherry Hazel Holly Juniper Laurel Madrone Magnolia Myrtle Poplar Willow Yew (scientific tree inspired) Balsamea - Abies balsamea, or balsam fir Betula - Betula lenta, or black birch Carya - Carya ovata, or shagbark hickory Castanea - Castanea dentata, or American chestnut Celtis - Celtis occidentalis, or common hackberry Cercis - Cercis canadensis, or redbud Gleditsia - Gleditsia triacanthos, or honey locust Ostrya - Ostrya virginiana, or American hophornbean Swietenia - Swietenia mahogoni, or mahogany Taeda - Pinus taeda, or loblolly pine Tilia - Tilia Americana, or American Basswood

(unique/cool) Baylisiana - there is only one Pennantia baylisiana, or Three Kings Kaikomako, left in New Zealand Dentelle - there are only two Bois dentelle, or Lace Wood trees, left in Mauritius Erythrina - coral tree, or Erythrina schliebenii, found in Tanzania Kaikomako - also inspired by the Pennantia baylisiana (Three Kings Kaikomako) in New Zealand Mpingo - African blackwood tree with a purplish hue Pennantia - also inspired by New Zealand's Pennantia baylisiana (Three Kings Kaikomako) Socotra - Socotra dragon tree, also known as Dragon Blood tree, found in Yemen (rare) Auxin - hormones in trees that stimulate cell growth Cambium - the growing part of the tree trunk Chi (Vietnamese) - branch Clematis (English) - twig Crown - the upper part of the tree with the branches Dalia (Hebrew) - hanging branch Lignin - a strong, natural chemical glue that holds the central heartwood of a tree together Ritva (Finnish) - birch branch Verbena - leaves, twigs (meaning tree) Alani (Hawaiian) - orange tree Anargul (Kazakh) - blooming pomegranate tree Ashley (English) - ash tree clearing Björk (Icelandic) - birch tree Eglė (Lithuanian) - spruce tree Elowen (Cornish) - elm tree Fidan (Turkish) - sapling Hadas (Hebrew) - myrtle tree Hadassah (Biblical) - myrtle tree Hollis (English) - holly trees Iva (Slavic) - willow tree Jela (Serbian) - fir tree Kalina (Polish) - viburnum tree Kiri (Maori) - skin of a tree Liepa (Lithuanian) - linden tree Lina (Arabic) - palm tree Lovorka (Croatian) - laurel tree Melia (Greek) - ash tree Moriko (Japanese) - forest child Oihana (Basque) - forest Ornella (Italian) - flowering ash tree Pomona (Roman) - fruit tree Randa (Arabic) - scented tree Taimi (Finnish) - young tree

if anyone has more they’d like to add feel free!

#dandy talks #writing #writeblr #enjoy i suppose

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