#elizabeth's fabulous shoes

[spiritundaunted]

Those shoes do sound FABULOUS though! 🤩

(Apparently an awful row about the midnight follies.)

(From Counting One’s Blessings, letters of the Queen Mother complied and annotated by William Shawcross)

This was the only article I could find about York’s at the Midnight Follies, from The Era, January 16, 1924:

[blowflyfag]

WRESTLING ALL STARS: Heroes and Villains : JUNE 1996

VIEW FROM RINGSIDE

By George Napolitano 

[The Bodyguard for Hire and his snake share a moment with their #1 fan: Tekla Benson.]

We would like to welcome everyone to another edition of WRESTLING ALL STARS. Since our last issue there have been quite a few changes in the wrestling world. For starters on January 22 in Fresno, CA, during the WWF Royal Rumble, the bizarre Goldust defeated Razor Ramon to win the WWF Intercontinental title. The following day in Las Vegas, Nevada, during a live Nitro Tv broadcast, Macho Man Randy Savage defeated Ric Flair to regain the WCW heavyweight title. Also on the card, Lex Luger and Sting defeated Harlem Heat to win the WCW tag team title. 

On January 27 in Philadelphia, PA, the Sandman’s reign in ECW came to a screeching halt when he was defeated by the mysterious Raven. Needless to say, Raven had plenty of help as the “new”  Fabulous Ones (Stevie Richards and the Blue Meanie) as well as Raven’s new squeeze were at ringside to lend their support. In the Sandman's corner was his manager. Woman. After the title loss, Woman took the microphone and asked the Sandman to join her in WCW. The Sandman looked around and hesitated for a moment. Then Too Cold Scorpio joined him in the ring. Now Woman offered to take the both of them to WCW just when it looked like they were going to accept her offer, they flatly refused and said they were never going to leave ECW. 

[Woman looks to be headed for WCW. Will she take any of her ECW talent with her?]

[Woman was in Sandman’s corner when he lost the ECW belt to Raven. Are their days together over?]

[Woman asked this man, Too-Cold Scorpio, if he wanted to come with her to WCW. Been there, done that, Scorpio replied, declining.]

In Las Vegas, at the WCW Clash of the Champions, Hulk Hogan and the Macho Man had two special guests at Ringside during their tag team battle against Ric Flair and the Giant. One was Kevin Green from the AFC Champion Pittsburgh Steelers, and the other was the former manager of the “Mega-Maniacs,” the lovely Miss Elizabeth. With Savage’s ego as big as it is you can bet that soon he will get jealous that his ex-wife, the lovely Elizabeth, is spending so much time with Hogan.

[Diesel and Lawrence Taylor at last year’s Wrestlemania press conference. It hardly feels a year has passed since LT made his spectacular WWF debut against Bam Bam Bigelow.]

The following week in Canton, OH after a Monday Night Nitro match between Ric Flair and the Hulkster, it certainly looked as if the Macho Man’s jealous rage was starting to burn! While Flair and Hogan battled toe to toe inside the ring, Jimmy Hart ran over to the other side and attacked Elizabeth. As soon as Hart grabbed Elizabeth, Arn Anderson immediately tossed his shoe into the ring toward Flair. 

Grabbing the show by the heels, Flair pounded right into Hulk Hogan’s eye! Flair then rolled Hogan over and pinned him in center ring! After the verdict was rendered, a bloodied Hogan rolled out of the ring and fell straight to the floor bleeding profusely from his eye. Elizabeth immediately ran over to try and comfort him, but as soon as she did the Macho Man pushed her away. Elizabeth didn’t know what to do, but she continued to kneel next to the fallen Hulkster. Finally Savage helped Hogan up and led him to the dressing room. Do you think that the Macho Man was jealous that Elizabeth was there to help the Hulk? 

Oooh..Yeah!

As far as the tag team title is concerned, you know that eventually Sting and Luger will have a major falling out. Luger is still very much a part of the Dungeon of Doom, while his partner, Sting, hates everyone else in that infamous group. It’s only a matter of time before their team is blown to smithereens!

[The Stinger is one-half of the WCW tag team champs, with Lex Luger. But Sting and Lex have not been seeing eye to eye as of late. How much longer can they work together as a team?]

While we are on the subject of tg teams, we must acknowledge that the awesome Road Warriors have reunited after a three-year layoff. Before Animal’s back injury caused the team to dissolve, the Legion of Doom (as they were then known) were the premier tag team in their sport. Now that they are back, the Road Warriors are determined to regain their rightful place at the top of the tag team empire. 

Razor Ramon is livid! Ramon can’t believe that he lost the Intercontinental belt to Goldust. Although Goldust had expert coaching from the sidelines from his “Director” Marlene, it was Goldust who applied the finishing touches inside the ring. NOW that Goldust has the gold Intercontinental belt strapped securely around his waist, it’s not going to be easy prying it off of him.

By winning the Royal Rumble for the second year in a row, Shawn Michaels earned the right to face the WWF champion at Wrestlemania XII in Anaheim, CA.

[Here’s a pair of partners who aren't getting along: “Macho Man” Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan.]

At the WWF Royal Rumble, the awesome Vader really made his presence felt in a very big way, but that pales in comparison to what he did the following night on Raw. After easily finishing off his opponent, Vader continued to apply his deadly Vader Bomb from the top rope. After witnessing several Vader bombs in paid succession, interim acting president Gorilla Monsoon came to ringside to try to stop the unstoppable Vader. After failing in his attempt to stop Vader, Monsoon grabbed the microphone and said that Vader was indefinitely suspended for his actions. Hearing this, Vader flew into a rage and immediately attacked the President. Sonn Monsoon found himself on the receiving end of several Vader Bombs. Eventually Razor Ramon and Shawn Michaels ran into the ring to try and stop Vader, but by the time help arrived the damage had already been done. Within minutes Monsoon was taken by ambulance to a local hospital to have his injuries treated. With Monsoon out of commission the WWF has named “Rowdy” Roddy Piper as its new president!

[Eddy Guererro has made a smooth transition between ECW and WCW. He still maintains a lot of his AAA (Mexican) style, however.]

Former ECW champion Shane Douglas is back after a short and unsuccessful stint in the WWF. While in the WWF Douglas called himself “Dean'' Douglas and critiqued the other wrestlers’ performances in the ring. Although Douglas talked a good game, he just couldn’t produce in the WWF. Whether he will regain the form that made him a star in the WCW still remains to be seen. 

Henry Godwinn has brought his cousin Phinneas T. Godwinn to the WWF, and they are being managed by the original country boy, Hillbilly Jim. When Hillbilly Jim was going strong he had several family members with him yoo. Hillbilly’s family consisted of his Uncle Elmer, Cousin Junior and Cousin Luke. Old time fans will recall that Uncle Elmer was even married in center ring at the Meadowlands Arena in New Jersey. But that wasn’t the first WWF wedding. That distinction goes to Butcher Vachon who got hitched on a Saturday Night Live segment during the glory days of WWF. The other WWF wedding was the marriage of Macho Man Randy Savage and his lovely valet, Miss Elizabeth, at SummerSlam in Madison Square Garden. Today, as we know, these two are back together again, but they are no longer married–as their marriage ended in a bitter divorce. 

[Bret Hart with belt. Will the Heartbreak Kid be his Wrestlemania opponent?]There has been quite a bit of talk in the wrestling world about the controversial “Billionaire Ted” skits with the “Huckster,” “The Nacho Man” and “Scam Gene” which have been appearing on the WWF telecasts. The skits poke fun at WCW Head Ted Turner and ex-WWF stars Hulk Hogan, Macho Man Savage, and Gene Okerlund. Actually the skits are very funny, but unfortunately WCW doesn’t think so. Now WCW has threatened the WWF with legal action if they continue  to air the “Billionaire Ted” skits. The war between WCW and the WWF has really heated up, and it’s obvious that the war is only going to intensify in nature in the next couple of months. That’s all for now. See you at ringside!

[yorkshire-rockchick]

Please can we know about your OCs, I've seen the odd mention to them in your fics on AO3

Oh, I love my OCs and can say so much about them.

THE PLAYERS;

Harry Winters - Goal keeper who moves up from the academy team at 16. Good frieds with Noah and Drew, boyfriend of Chloe.

Ezekiel Noah Gordon - Goes by Noah because he hates his first name. Came up from the academy. Plays as a right back defender. Good friends with Harry and Drew

Andrew "Drew" Cameron - A Scottish trans player who also went to the AFC Richmond academy. Plays as a striker and looks up to Jamie and Dani. Unofficially adopted by Paul and Tom.

THE FAMILY MEMBERS

Isabella "Izzy" Rosenfeldt - Anders girlfriend, later wife. They've been together since they were 15. You know the woman who hugs Anders at the end of the last episode when Richmond wins? This is her, I just made her interesting. She's half Spanish, half American. Her dad works for the US Government which is how she ended up in London.

Erin Reynolds - Paul Reynolds wife. They met at church and are the only Richmond couple to get married in a church due to both of them having a Catholic upbringing. Erin speaks Irish as a first language and didn't learn English until she was 16 when she decided she wanted to go to law school.

Olivia Catherine "Liv" Reynolds - Paul and Erin's eldest child. Named after her godparents. She is smarter than most children her age, likes hanging out with the team and calls them all her uncles. Based on the line "You told my daughter..." in series 2 when everyone has a go at Jamie

Emily Grace Reynolds -Erin and Paul's youngest daughter. Based on the line "What about sonograms?" when everyone has to delete photos off their phones.

Sophie O'Brien - Tom O'Briens wife. They met when Tom accidentally crashed his car into Sophie's. They get married after 6 months because they both like each other and they think it is a good idea. Sophie has a masters degree in chemistry and teaches at a private all girls school. She eventually gives up her job to focus on her PhD.

Pippa Kukoč (nee Edwards) - Sasha Kukoč's girlfriend, later wife. She is a nursing student who has a placement in the local Accident and Emergency department which means she sees a lot of the Richmond players. She is Jeff Goodmans cousin so he disapproved of her relationship at times.

Elizabeth - the fabulous creation of @orbitalpirate, she is a curvy goddess who is loved by Thierry Zoreaux.

Chloe Morgan - Harry's girlfriend. Knows nothing about football beyond what colours Richmond play in. Grew up in care so had a rough start in life. Rebecca offers her a job working for Richmond as a means to support herself and she loves it.

THE PETS

Spagetti the Corgi - Arlo Dixon's corgi. Occasionally looked after by Olivia Reynolds. Spagetti is a rescue dog, so everyone jokes Arlo is a rescue human after he moved in with Jeff.

Alfred Bumbercatch - Moe's cat. Alfred turned up one day and that was that. He is a Sphynx cat so Moe knits him a lot of jumpers.

Arthur the Rabbit - Tommy Winchester's rabbit. Arthur is spoiled and has free run of the house. Decan claims not to like him, this is a lie. Jamie laughs every time he hears the name.

Marshamallow McAdoo-Bumbercatch - Isaac and Moe's Pomeranian puppy that they get when they get married. Pretends not to like Alfred. Isaac treats her like a princess and it shows at times.

Cleo the cat - Jamie and Colin's maine coon cat. She is stubborn and only likes Jamie and Colin. She has been known to poop in the shoes of people she does not like.

Rocky the horse - Izzy's horse, brought for her by Anders after they found out they couldn't have children. Izzy swaps horse tips with Rebecca after Rebecca also gets a horse.

There are more OCs to be added, both human and pets but they are still in development.

[vincentcatagainsttheworld]

#Repost Deborah Harkness FB page Wednesday Memories-in the run up to the release of season 2 of A Discovery of Witches, Deb took us through a series of Book to Screen Magic. I am still in awe of the dedication to detail that went into the making of season 2. Cat "Ready for their closeups--from book to screen with our fabulous hair, makeup, and wardrobe teams for A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES Series 2 on this #Book2ScreenMagicMonday As any of my readers know, I like a bit (!) of description. As a historian, I love researching hair and costume and imagining how things like the heel on a shoe or the number of undergarments someone was expected to wear might shape a character's actions and reactions. And as a reader, I love being able to fix things in my imagination be they people, places, or things. So the hair, makeup, and wardrobe teams on #ADiscoveryofWitchesS2 had a real challenge when it came to translating my words from page to screen. This was all the more difficult because we weren't doing a historical re-enactment of late 16th-century clothing for a single day or even a few days. That would have been difficult enough, given the poor rate of survival for actual clothing items and the impossibility of reconstructing clothing based solely on portraits which don't always reveal enough about undergarments and structure. But if we add those issues to the problems of consistently delivering a look over hours, days, weeks, and months--sometimes with gaps between days of shooting, sometimes with very short windows between entire costume/hair/makeup changes, and with the logistics of getting women into their costumes in a timely fashion, I think it's fair to say that our teams worked miracles to deliver a look for each of our characters that was wearable, changeable, consistent across shooting days, and period correct, as well. And that was true for not only our main cast but also every supporting artist on the streets of the Blackfriars, at the court of Elizabeth or Rudolf II, and back at Sept-Tours. They also had to perform this miracle not only for 1590, but for the modern storylines, as well I have to admit, I was an additional challenge. https://www.instagram.com/p/CmuALPCIR3x/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[littlequeenies]

Though for daytime Kim loves trousers and super shirts, for dressy or evening dates she likes to be softly feminine. Here she chooses soft-touch Angora. Turquoise dress with striped sleeves, 12 gns., and matching sleeveless, striped, long waistcoat, 11 gns. It’s all part of a five-piece set by Gladrags, including some super trousers, and each piece can be bought separately. It’s the collector’s item of the season! — Accessory-wise, Kim’s gone overboard for the crochet or knitted beret and scarf look, and has chosen here (far left) pale turquoise Angora beret and scarf from Gladrags (both 3 gns.). — Shoes and handbags are an important part of her wardrobe, too, and she chooses these chunky two tone shoes from Ravel, 99s. 11d., with a large matching shoulder-strap bag, 69s., also from Ravel. White beret from Kangol, 9s. 11d. SUE MARSH

Kim Moon Is A Zip Girl Because… she’s been married to a pop star, The Who’s Keith Moon, since she was seventeen years old, and anyone who has ever come into contact with Keith will know that life with such a character could never, for one moment, be dull! — Petite, pretty, twenty-one-year-old Kim met Keith in a Southampton club. And it was four years ago, when they married, that she gave up her modelling career. — Now Kim has her hands full looking after their delightful “butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth” baby girl, three-year-old Mandy. — When she goes shopping, Kim says she often has difficulty finding clothes she not only likes, but which fit her, so she has to compromise and buy stuff she likes when she sees it, otherwise she feels she may not get a second chance when she is looking for it. — A strict upbringing in an Irish convent school has made Kim resentful of restrictions of any kind. Naturally she values her freedom with time and money, and her philosophy is that life is too short to get hung-up on small issues. — One of the hazards of having a pop star for a husband is that he spends a lot of time away from home. Kim admits that there are times when she gets bored with housework and being alone, so she and Mandy stay with friends or have lots of friends stay with them. — “Of course I miss him desperately when he is away,” she said, “but in a way it makes our marriage all the more exciting when he returns.” LINDA NEWMAN

Pretty Kim Moon has been blessed with a fantastic bone structure, but she insists that added contours are vital. — “I’ve gone mad about the shimmery shiny look right now. I emphasise the bones with a super highlighter by Charles of the Ritz and then I do some important face-shaping with something by Eylure, which I believe is really meant as an eye shadow! Still it does the job perfectly and it seems to suit my skin, so I don’t worry. The foundation I use is a lovely frosty liquid by Gala, then I paint glossy lips in one of those red hot colours by Elizabeth Arden. I don’t generally use mascara unless I’m just pottering about the house and haven’t bothered with fake lashes. I think eyes look best with loads and loads of lashes, some super shadow and a little highlighter on the brow bone. Nothing else. I wear lashes by Eylure and I’m crazy about those eye shadows called Innovation by Coty. This one’s Grape, a fabulous colour. —Kim’s hair was very professionally done in a coilly top-knot, but she says she seldom goes to a hair salon. — “I nearly always manage my hair myself. It’s quite long but it’s fairly easy to handle. I wash it regularly and condition it with Lifetex—but if I want it trimmed, I go to Lesley Cavendish.” — With plenty of time on her hands, Kim says she often likes to spend evenings at her dressing table. — I’ve always loved changing my looks around, I get tired of looking the same way too long and I know other people do. So sometimes I have mad evenings when I get all my cosmetics out and experiment with different colours and techniques. I think it’s important for a girl to keep her looks interesting and alive; the same old face too long can be a drag.” — When it comes to the cleanse routine, Kim is another no-soap-and-water follower. — “My Mother taught me never to use soap and water on my face and I never have done. I remove all my eye make-up first with Pond’s Cold Cream and then I cleanse my face with Johnson’s Baby Lotion. My skin is fairly normal and I don’t find I need to use a moisturiser—still, perhaps I will in years to come!” JANICE COLLIER

Source: Rave magazine, September 1969

model Kim Kerrigan (The Who’s drummer Keith Moon’s wife, later the wife of The Small Faces/The Faces keyboardist Ian McLagan) for UK Rave magazine, September issue, 1969

[cosmiksouls1]

Check out this listing I just added to my Poshmark closet: ✨💖✨Relaxed Fit Lilac Lounge Dress Caftan💖✨.

[abybweisse]

Scenario where all the phantomhives are alive and crazy family shenanigans. I totally see undertaker as crazy grandpa.

🎉 Scenario request: the Phantomhives live

How about what the twins' tenth birthday party might have been like, if the attack had never gone through as planned?

Twins: *looking at the clock, as it strikes 6pm*

Tanaka: *knocks on the door and gently opens it* Young masters, it's time for your party to start.

Twins: Yay!

Ciel: Presents!

Our Earl: Cake!

Tanaka: Ho, ho! Soon enough.

They make their way downstairs to the great hall of Phantomhive Manor, where party games have been set up. Their parents, many of the servants, and several guests are standing around.

Twins: Games?! *running from booth to booth to see what's there*

Rachel: Boys, boys! Over here.

Everyone to the twins: Happy Birthday!!!

Rachel: Happy birthday, my dear sweet angels!

Vincent: Happy birthday, boys!

Diedrich: *deadpan* Yes. Happy birthday. *whispers to Vincent* When do we get to the food?

Vincent: *chuckles and waves it away, not whispering* Undertaker's concerned if there will be enough wood to build your coffin someday.

Undertaker: *chuckles and winks at Vincent and Diedrich then tips his hat to the twins* Happy birthday, young Phantomhives. I hope you enjoy this day to its fullest. Someday, the birthdays will end and--

Vincent: *stepping in front of Undertaker to cut him off* Enough of that for now -- *nervously* haha -- this is a day of fun.

Diedrich: *mumbles* Seriously. And people think I'm the death of the party?

Rachel: *directing the twins away from all that* Come say hello to the other guests. Helloooo, An! Hellooo, Midfords!

Madam Red: Hello, sister! Hello, my lovely nephews! I have a huuuge gift for each of you in the pile.

Twins: Yayyyy!

Francis: Happy birthday, Ciel and E--

Lizzie: Happy birthdaaaayyy! Cieelll! I have something extra special for youu~~<3!

Francis: Elizabeth, calm down. That's not very lady-like behavior.

Lizzie: *puts a hand to her open mouth* Sorry, mother.

Alexis: *very serious™️* Happy birthday, boys. Ten years already. *puts out a hand to shake hands, but when Ciel puts his hand forward, Alexis grabs him by the hand and pulls him into a bear hug. Pulls our earl in for a group hug* *gushing with love and joy* Ooooh~~<3! *calling to Vincent* They are growing up so fast! Cherish these precious moments! *finally lets the boys go, and they catch their breaths again*

In turn, other guests wish the boys a happy birthday, and they play games until it's time for the feast, consisting of all the boys' favorite dishes. Then cake. And then presents... while Diedrich sits next to the platters of sandwiches and keeps nonchalantly selecting them. Vincent nudges Undertaker and tilts his head at Diedrich, and in response Undertaker tsks and pulls a tape measure from who-knows-where. Perhaps it was actually up his sleeve? 🤷🏻‍♀️

The boys received a veritable mountain of gifts, ranging from the practical (like hand-knitted socks from a maid and finely made socks and shoes purchased by Francis) to the fabulous (like Madam Red's: she nearly bought out the entire boy's section of Hamleys. When the boys got to Elizabeth's gifts, she became very excited. She gave Ciel a handkerchief she had painstakingly embroidered with his initials.

Ciel: It's lovely. I can tell your embroidery work has improved.

Lizzie: It has! It has! And.... I'll embroider more items for you, Ciel!

Our earl tried to be enthusiastic about the gift he received from her: replacements for some Noah's Ark animals he had misplaced. But then he saw that two were a mated pair he didn't previously have, and that made him happier.

Our earl: *genuinely thankful* Elizabeth, thank you for the carved animals. I don't think I had this pair. *holds up a set of leopards* By the way, have you ever noticed the pair of lions on those sets always both have a mane?

Lizzie: *finger to her lips, confused expression* Oh? No, I'd never noticed. Isn't that the way they should be?

Tanaka: *overhearing* Hoh, hoh, hoh....

Our earl: I don't think so. Only the male has a mane. Where are all the lionesses?

Lizzie: *still a bit confused* I have no idea. Oh! So, what are you going to open next?!

Later. Around 10pm, way past the boys' usual bedtime, the twins are still full, done with opening gifts and playing... and exhausted. Diedrich has run out of sandwiches, and most of the guests have said their farewells....

Twins: *yawning*

Rachel: *seeing them and stifling a yawn of her own* Alright, angels, it's off to bed for you two. Tanaka, please see to them.

Tanaka: Yes, my Lady. *turning to the boys* Come along, young masters.

The boys grumble, as young children often do when they are tired but don't wish to admit it. But they go with him, giving in to the call of sleep and pleasant dreams.

They head upstairs. Then, as they head down a hallway, the boys see their father, Diedrich, and Undertaker heading down the same hallway but in the opposite direction, towards Vincent's private study.

The twins can make out some of their conversation:

Vincent: Come along, Diedrich. We have things to discuss.

Diedrich: *mildly protesting in hushed tones*

Vincent: Good grief. Must I have a butler provide another platter? Yes, ok.

Undertaker: *snickers at Diedrich and tilts his head* Perchance I might finally get to have one?

Diedrich: Undertaker, you ate half of a cake, and it wasn't even a sma--

Undertaker: *turning to Vincent and cutting Diedrich off* What have I been saying? Something had been brewing for months now.

Vincent: Yes, yes. That incident earlier today was a close one.

Diedrich: *starting to fade out* Good thing we thwarted it just in time. Otherwise, the entire party could have been ruined.

Vincent: *barely audible now* My boys would have been devastated.... *fading out completely at the end*

The twins were too far away to hear anything more of their conversation, but they exchanged glances, just briefly. What was that all about?

Well, that ended up being longer than I had originally intended, but I kept thinking of things to add! I hope you enjoy it. 😊

[chelleztjs18]

Lost in Assistance - Ch. 4

Elizabeth Olsen x Fem!Reader

GIF: I do not own this GIF. Found it on gifimage.net

Summary: Y/n is a professional celebrity's personal assistant in Hollywood got hired with two years contract to be the assistant of the famous and talented Elizabeth Olsen / Lizzie by her manager. Both Y/n and Lizzie hate each other since day one, and they have mutual friend. One is as stubborn as the other, will Y/n stay when Lizzie gives attitudes and tries her best to make her quit before the contract ends?

Warning: fluff, angst, smut (in future chapters), swearing words ( +18 only)

All chapters

Today is Wednesday but not just a regular Wednesday. It’s the day of the meeting with Elizabeth Olsen and her manager, Jane Vernon.

Your phone alarm sounds break the silence in your room slowly but sure it gets louder enough to motivate you to start the day. You woke up with mixed feelings. Excited yet nervous at the same time. You turn on some music. Sunset Lover - Petit Biscuit starts to play and you get ready. After a fresh shower, you put on just enough nude color makeup then you go to your walk-in closet to pick a close-fitting button up white shirt with burgundy stripes and black slim fit women's suit and trousers with burgundy open toe high heels that match with your nails color since it’s your favorite color. You get your side parted wavy medium length burgundy colored hair done that makes it flow down to your shoulder. You may be the type of girl who doesn’t really like to put on much makeup, but you take your hair, clothings and nails pretty seriously as well as your perfume.

As soon as you are all ready and putting your heels on while sitting on a little sofa in the middle of your closet, your phone rings. You guessed that it’s Mitchel and you are right. 

“Good morning darling.” You answered as you continued to put on your shoes. “Oh wow, that's the spirit! Good morning love! Are you excited for today? Are you ready?” said Mitchel on the other end. “Well, yeah but no but also yeah that I’m all ready to go.” You replied while you took another look in front of the mirror and slowly twirled to make sure you looked good. Then you spray a little bit of perfume and you are ready to go downstairs while still on the phone. “Okay great. I will see you over there, I want to say hi to Jane. Everything will be okay. Don't be nervous, okay Y/n?” Mitchel tried to make you feel better. “Thank you Mitchel. I appreciate it. I’m leaving soon so I’ll see you there. Bye.” You grab your medium size leather purse and go downstairs.

As usual, your mom is already awake, sitting on the big living room couch. “Morning Ma. I have a meeting this morning. It shouldn’t be that long but you know Mitchel, he might want to have brunch after that but just call me if you need anything, okay? Love you Ma.” You gave her a hug and went to the garage. “Okay hun. Good luck. Love you too.”

You put on your prescription aviator style sunglasses, blast some music to amp you up started by White Lies - Odesza then start driving. The sun was up but not too bright, the traffic wasn’t as bad as you thought it would be so you arrived there a little too early. 

As you walked into the lobby you saw a coffee shop so you decided to get some ice coffee for you. Just when your order is ready and you are about to grab it, you notice a familiar face whose order is ready too. It was Lizzie grabbing her order. Eye contact was caught between you two and you gave a smile just to be friendly and she replied with a nod and small smile. You recognize her even though her long dirty blonde hair flawlessly covers both sides of her face and she is wearing sunglasses that were intended to cover her face so she won’t be recognized. You both walk towards the elevator and blend in with a group of people in the elevator. You saw her pressed the floor button then she dived back into whatever she was doing with her phone. The elevator stopped on your floor, some people went out to go to other offices which are on the same floor as Vernon’s office. Lizzie went out as well but she stopped in front of the elevator to answer a phone call so she didn’t know that you both actually have the same destination to meet Jane.

After you greeted and talked to Aaron, Jane’s assistant, he informed you to wait in the waiting room. Few minutes later, you heard that Lizzie came in and was told the same thing as you were. She is sitting on the chair across you talking on the phone with her best friend about the plan to meet up after the meeting, while you are browsing on your phone and enjoying your ice coffee you can feel that sometimes she takes a quick glance once or twice at you without knowing who you are and why you are there. 

“I don’t even wanna be here. I still think it’s a stupid idea to get me another personal assistant. This already made me upset to begin with and it’s just gonna make me not like this person already even though I know it’s not her fault to get hired by Jane.” She tried to talk as quietly as possible but not quite enough for you not to be able to hear it. Aaron came and told her that she can come into the meeting room. “I gotta go, I’ll see you later after the meeting. Bye.”

She hangs up then proceeds to follow Aaron to the meeting room. After what you heard, you can only chuckle to yourself knowing this is not gonna be easy work between you both. Aaron comes for your turn. “Ms. Y/l/n, they are ready for you. You can come this way.” Aaron guides you to the meeting room. You smiled and thanked him as he opened the door for you.

You come into the meeting room that has large windows around it that give natural light and a pretty sky view decorated with clouds and top of skyscrapers of L.A with the trails of the streets and cars that look so small from up here. You see Lizzie is sitting next to Jane with Mitchel sitting in front of them, parted by a big rectangle glass table. 

“Y/n darling! You made it!” Mitchel came to you and gave you a cheek to cheek kiss as always. “Hi Mitch. I’m glad to be here.” You smiled.

“Come, let me introduce you to these fabulous ladies. Jane, Lizzie this is Y/n Y/l/n. She is my best friend slash the best personal assistant you are looking for. Y/n, this is Elizabeth Olsen and her manager Jane Vernon.” Mitch proudly introduces you to them. 

“Nice to meet you Y/n, Mitch talked a lot about you once he knew I was looking for a professional assistant. I hope you don't mind me calling you by your first name.” While Jane offered her hand for a friendly handshake yet felt so formal, you can see from the corner of your eyes Lizzie’s jaw dropped a little, looking at you up and down realizing you might have heard what she said on the phone earlier about you. “The pleasure is mine Mrs. Vernon and yeah I don't mind you calling me by my first name” You gave a firm professional handshake and smiled. “You can call me Jane.”

You then slightly turn your head to Lizzie and her beautiful green eyes are now so easily noticeable by you without her sunglasses on. “Ms. Olsen, It’s nice to meet you.” You smiled and tried to stay professional even though you know how she feels about this meeting and about you. There is an awkward vibe from Lizzie towards you since she thinks you heard her conversation but her stubbornness about this whole thing is bigger than the awkwardness itself that made the friendly Lizzie respond a little cold to you. “Thanks, same here.” She gave you a quick handshake but you can feel the softness of her skin even though just for a few seconds.

The four of you take a seat. “So Y/n, this is not an interview because practically you are already hired because I read your resume plus the reference from Mitch here. I gotta admit, it’s pretty impressive. Lots of years of experience working in this field, you have worked with big names in Hollywood. You speak five languages and that’s another big plus. We have this meeting just so we can sign the contract and agreement. I believe Mitch already gave you the details of Do’s and Don'ts and our expectation specially from Lizzie here.” Jane explained while she was looking at your resume then slid some papers in front of you on the table for you to take a look at it.

“Well, to be honest what I wanted was actually simple, I don’t want any new personal assistant but Jane insisted on giving it a try, so here I am. So, I hope you are as great as your resume Y/n to make my try worth it.” Lizzie said it in a quite firm tone with the best pretend smile she can do. Deep down she hoped what she just said would’ve just made you change your mind.

“Ha Ha Lizzie was just joking. Isn’t she funny?” Jane laughed awkwardly and tried to give Lizzie a look about what she said. 

“Is that so, Ms.Olsen? Don’t you worry about it. I hope the way I work and the way I do my job suits you.” You gazed at her eyes before you gave a fake smile. You tried to remind yourself in your mind that you respect Mitch and don’t want to put him in a hard time with his client even though Jane is a good friend of his otherwise your reaction would be different.

“This is the contract, it will be only for two years but it might be for less than that. If it does change to less than two years, there will be a notice in advance. It can also be terminated early if there is a mutual decision by both parties. All of this is written in it. It says you acknowledged and  agreed with what I just informed you. You can sign on every section that’s marked X” Jane explained all the details while she showed each point. You read everything, gazed at Lizzie’s mesmerizing green eyes and gave a little smirk to her then signed each section. As you can see, this clearly upset Lizzie.

“Okay, everything is good. In this envelope, there are all Lizzie’s schedules, addresses and numbers. Plus all lists what she likes and dislikes. Sometimes you need to drive with her, sometimes you don't have to. I’m sure you know the drill, but just a friendly reminder that everything is confidential, especially all Marvel related. You can start on Friday. I guessed that’s all. Welcome to our family Y/n. We are thrilled that you joined us here, right Lizzie?” Jane finalized everything with another handshake with you and Mitchel. “Yeah, sure. Now if you guys excuse me, I gotta go right now. Sorry.” Lizzie put a tiny smile in the corner of her lips, waved goodbye then left in a rush and looked upset.”

As soon as Lizzie left and the door was closed, Jane apologized. “Ummm, Mitchel, Y/n I’m truly sorry for how Lizzie acted earlier. Trust me, she is actually a very sweet, genuine and friendly person. That’s the reason I have been her manager and agent for years, she’s like a sister to me. It’s just that she sometimes can be very determined or stubborn with what she wants or what she doesn't want and not afraid to show it but I’m sure she will slowly understand why I need to have Y/n’s help. She just has anxiety when she has to adjust or deal with new people. I hope you guys can understand.”

“Don’t worry about that Jane. I have met Lizzie and I know how sweet she is. Like I told you before, Y/n has her own way of working and don't be surprised with how straight forward she is plus she doesn't sugar coat things. She is eccentric in a good way. Right Y/n?” He nudged your arm and smiled.

“Haha. yeah sure Mitch.” You answered jokingly. “I guess we better get going. Thank you Jane. Nice seeing you as always.” You and Mitch bid farewell to Jane and left. “Bye guys. See you again.” Jane walked back to her office room.

“Mitchel, what the hell was that? Why did she act like that? On top of all, why didn’t you tell me that she actually didn’t want an assistant?!” You tried to whisper so nobody at the office heard as you both were walking out of the office.

“Yeah about that, I forgot to tell you. I’m sorry. “ Mitch squinted his eyes waiting because he was worried how your reaction was gonna be.

“You are lucky we are best friends otherwise I wouldn’t sign that contract and would’ve said NO on the spot after what she said. I already don’t like her. This is not gonna be easy.” You said it jokingly but it has a little bit of truth in it.

“Haha. I love you too!” Mitch replied happily, knowing you would help him no matter what. Both of you parted, continue with your days.

Ch. 5

[chosetherose]

Some thoughts:

1. I have no idea if this was sent by a troll or could potentially mean something. I suppose time will tell. I normally don’t receive mysterious intel, fwiw.

2.@corneliastvendor made a connection to Emily Dickson. Here are some more thoughts on this:

I included the full letter, below (link) and am color coding my references for simplicity.

There is a mention of “sinful world” which made me think of Track 9 “Guilty as Sin?”

“I am without lanterns, looking for myself” is a direct quote from Emily Dickson.

“heavenly bodies” was the theme of the Met Gala in 2018. Specifically, the theme was “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination”

This letter was written before The Wizard of Oz was but the Kansas reference is giving WOZ vibes.

We all know which city Taylor’s current Beard plays for…

London Boy lyrics (@missy832001 noticed this too).

Daisy reference.

***

To Elizabeth Holland

about 20 January 1856

Your voice is sweet, dear Mrs. Holland - I wish I heard it oftener.

One of the mortal mustics Jupiter denies, and when indeed its gentle measures fall upon my ear,I stop the birds to listen. Perhaps you think I have no bird, and this is rhetoric - pray, Mr.Whately, what is that upon the cherry-tree? Church is done, and the winds blow, and Vinnie is in the pallid land the simple call "sleep." They will be wiser by and by, we shall all be wiser! While I sit in the snows, the summer day on which you came and the bees and the southwind, seem fabulous as Heaven seems to a sinful world - and I keep remembering it till it assumes a spectral air, and nods and winks at me, and then all of you turn to phantoms and vanish away. We cannot talk and laugh more, in the parlor where we met, but we learned to lovefor aye, there, so it is just as well.

We shall sit in a parlor "not made with hands" unless we are very careful!

I cannot tell you how we moved. I had rather not remember. I believe my "effects" were broughtin a bandbox, and the "deathless me," on foot, not many moments after. I took at the time a memorandum of my several senses, and also of my hat and coat, and my best shoes - but it waslost in the melee, and I am out with laterns, looking for myself.

Such wits as I reserved, are so badly shattered that repair is useless - and still I can't help laughing at my own catastrophe. I supposed we were going to make a "transit," as heavenly bodies did - but we came budget by budget, as our fellows do, till we fulfilled the pantomime contained in the word "moved." It is a kind of gone-to-Kansas feeling, and if I sat in a long wagon, with my family tied behind, I should suppose without doubt I was a party of emigrants!

They say that "home is where the heart is." I think it is where the house is, and the adjacent buildings.

But, my dear Mrs. Holland, I have another story, and lay my laughter all away, so that I can sigh. Mother has been an invalid since we came home, and Vinnie and I "regulated," and Vinnie and I "got settled," and still we keep our father's house, and mother lies upon the lounge, or sits in her easy chair. I don't know what her sickness is, for I am but a simple child, and frightened myself. I often wish I was a grass, or a toddling daisy, whom all of these problems of the dust might not terrify - and should my own machinery get slightly out of gear, please, kind ladies and gentlemen, some one stop the wheel, - for I know that with belts and bands of gold, I shall whizz triumphant on the new stream! Love for you - love for Dr. Holland - thanks for his exquisite hymn - tears for your sister in sable, and kisses for Minnie and the bairns.

From your mad

Emilie.

I'm out with lanterns looking for myself with my lover🏮🎸

🤔

[mermaidsirennikita]

do you by chance know any good HRs that are not set in like the standard 18th or 19th century or medieval times (and not 1920s either, there are quite a few m/m romances in that period for example, it’s the where were YOU during world war one of it all). i’m talking more like renaissance period and later, but it being TRUE historical romance. or maybe authors are looking at 17th century mens fashion and are like „well i’m not touching that”. i think i remember seeing one on goodreads but it might have been a fever dream…

Hmm, weeeeelll, the vast majority of the romances I've read have been set in the Georgian, Regency, and Victorian eras. You can tell that there's an aesthetic element that plays into it, FOR SURE--Elizabeth Hoyt will write all about a hero's powdered wigs and flash little high heeled shoes, but Elizabeth Hoyt is a bold soul whose lack of fucks to give is unmatched by most.

There are of course American-set westerns, which are not inherently bad--like I mentioned today, Lorraine Heath has some well-regarded westerns (I've yet to read them). Beverly Jenkins writes westerns, as well as books set around or shortly after the Civil War, Indigo being among the. These are 19th century, of course, but they're a nice change of pace.

Jeannie Lin writes romances set in Tang Dynasty China, which is like, roughly 610s-900s AD.

I haven't read this book, though it's on my shelf--Susan Wiggs writes Tudor-era romances that kick off with a book called At the King's Command which apparently stars a Romanov princess??? Again, have not read, but will read and do own lol.

Nicola Davidson also writes Tudor-era books. I haven't read them, but she has a reputation for being high heat, often featuring queer characters, throuples, etc. I've heard good things.

Speaking as someone who studied the Italian Renaissance primarily in college, I'd be interested in more Renaissance books, but... I get it. It's hard to sell a guy who's walking around in hose, with his pageboy hair and a fabulous hat with a feather in it. I'd read that book, but a lot of people wouldn't. Plus, there's the whole "everyone died at 30" thing. While technology in the 19th century onward was far from what we have now, I think it's less alien, and the life expectancy (for the upper classes) was starting to go up.

[bewitching-elizabeth-olsen]

Press: Elizabeth Olsen, Much Like Wanda Maximoff, Comforts Herself With Classic TV

W MAGAZINE: For W’s second annual TV Portfolio, we asked 26 of the most sought-after names in television to pay homage to their favorite small-screen characters by stepping into their shoes.

WandaVision was the first television show produced by Marvel Studios, and any gamble Disney+ took to make the series happen immediately paid off. At one point during its nine-episode run, WandaVision was the most popular streamed show in the world (beaten only recently by another Marvel series, Loki). The suburbia-set series received critical acclaim, snagging 23 Emmy nominations—one of those for Elizabeth Olsen, who was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for her performance as the titular Wanda—and convinced even the biggest Marvel skeptics to buy into its delicious plot.

It might come as a surprise, then, that Olsen doesn’t really watch that much contemporary television herself. But who could blame the actress, when most of her time is spent filming scenes for the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Wanda Maximoff (also known as the Scarlet Witch), a wielder of chaos magic who materializes in the small town of Westview—first as a 1950s-era housewife married to a humanlike robot named Vision (played by Paul Bettany), then as a ’60s housewife, then a ’70s housewife, and so on. When the actress does watch television, though, she prefers to get into some of those older shows, like Murder, She Wrote, which she chose to re-create above, and, of course, episodes of ’90s sitcoms like Full House, of which there was no dearth in the actress’s childhood.

My contract with Marvel was done. Kevin Feige, who runs Marvel, had me come into his office, and he pitched me WandaVision. I loved the concept of it, but I was terrified of a new streaming service—that is now Disney+.

Did you know the entire concept going in, or was it revealed to you over time?

He told me that he wanted to create a story about Wanda Maximoff manipulating reality to mimic the sitcoms that she grew up with in order to comfort herself. He wanted it to be kind of trippy, for it to feel like a sitcom, but twisted, kind of Twilight Zone-y. That reminded me of Twilight Zone: The Movie, where there’s a boy who is obsessed with television, has a horrible family, and he conjures up a bunny that kills his whole family. It’s really wacky. I just thought, It would be incredible if we do anything that’s a piece of that.

Were you personally a fan of I Love Lucy and other old sitcoms?

Yeah, I watched Nick at Nite all the time. I loved I Love Lucy, Laverne & Shirley. I didn’t like The Brady Bunch, but I loved the Brady Bunch sequel movies. That made me excited to get to reference The Brady Bunch [in WandaVision].

Did you shoot the episodes in order, or did you go back and forth between the 1950s and ’60s?

We tried to film everything in order. The exteriors, though, we hopped around. Our fences, the color of the houses, the flowers all look different from decade to decade. Luckily, it was pretty contained, but it really was sad to wrap the sitcom. We wrapped it when Paul and I and Kathryn [Hahn] and Teyonah [Parris] were filming the ’70s opening montage to the Brady Bunch theme, and that was how he wrapped it—in six bizarre outfits, with a pregnant belly on a tandem bike.

Did you keep anything from the set?

I’m not a keeper, because I feel like I’m not allowed to [keep things]. I feel like everything goes into some box that they hide from everyone, then maybe eventually they’ll retire and reuse shit. I have no idea.

I thought you might keep Wanda’s apron!

That would have been a really impractical apron. It was made out of gauze. Anything would bleed right through it.

Do you have an understanding of women in each decade now? Did you have to wear the undergarments and the whole nine yards?

Yeah. I loved the undergarments. It’s all helpful for the time, for the character, for how women move, how they talk. The shoes were the worst. I did wear vintage period shoes. And that’s awful. My feet don’t even like heels, let alone heels that have quite literally no support.

Is it difficult to have kissing scenes with all the purple paint on Paul Bettany when he’s dressed as Vision?

It’s really hard. It comes off on me, even though they try as much as they can to powder him. They have to powder his hands all the time, because if he wants to touch my face… They have to be on top of us for those scenes. It’s really not practical.

So which character did you decide to play for our portfolio?

I decided to be Angela Lansbury [as Jessica Fletcher] in Murder, She Wrote. I asked my friend Clayton Hawkins, who’s a hairstylist and great with wigs, if he could get a cheap wig and wrap my hair. And that’s what we did. I was watching Murder, She Wrote in London a lot.

During lockdown?

I was filming there, and in and out of lockdowns, but filming through lockdowns as well. And that was one of the things that would be on the television. I think I never really sat down and watched Murder, She Wrote until then. It’s fabulous. Great guest stars, great whodunits. My favorite moment is when they solve it and play it out for you in the solving of the mystery and going backwards. It’s just delicious, and it feels good to watch. There’s a great horse-racing episode that I loved, because I love the racetrack.

Did you have a TV show you loved growing up?

I never did Dawson’s Creek, I never did any of those shows. What did I watch, though? I loved Family Matters, Step by Step, The Torkelsons. And I loved Full House. We had all the VHSs, and it was very easy to watch at my house.

Did you have a crush on John Stamos?

Yes.

Who was your cinematic crush when you were growing up?

Frank Sinatra. I didn’t know they were old movies that I was watching. So when you say “TV shows,” what I consumed as a child was all old musicals, like Oklahoma!, Guys and Dolls, Carousel, West Side Story. I loved classic musicals, and I was in love with Frank Sinatra. I would do scenes with him in my bathroom, which then turned into scenes with George Clooney as I got older and I realized Frank Sinatra was an old man. I was like, Well, maybe if I get older, I can at least work with George Clooney, as his daughter’s friend or something, and then we have a thing.

What was your first red carpet look? Was it for Martha Marcy May Marlene?

Yeah, Cannes was my first red carpet look. I was in the Row. I was in a black Row skirt and a lace top, and I didn’t have an undergarment on. I didn’t know that flash photography at night was going to be my enemy, and my publicist worked really hard to try and remove those pictures from the Internet. [Laughs]

Do you have a secret skill?

You know what I’m really good at? Removing stains. I believe I can remove a stain from anything.

How did you learn to remove stains?

Probably started with my mom, who’s a soaker. That’s kind of the first rule: patience. And then, because I cook so much, I think I just had to learn. I’m pretty “woman of the house” handy.

I thought you were going to say that your secret skill was that you can sell real estate. Because when I first met you, you had a real estate license.

I did. It’s definitely expired. I got my real estate license because I didn’t want to work in a restaurant in New York as a summer job. So I thought, I’ll work in a real estate office. I was dealing with my sister’s friend who was a realtor, and I dealt with his rental clients. And I would mispronounce streets in New York all the time, because I had just moved there.

Press: Elizabeth Olsen, Much Like Wanda Maximoff, Comforts Herself With Classic TV was originally published on Elizabeth Olsen Source • Your source for everything Elizabeth Olsen

[boujeeboutiques]

Shopping in the past Style - It's Aberdeen City and Shire

michelle mea hoodies clothing If shopping tops the list of your favourite pastimes, plus Aberdeen City and Shire won't disappoint.From designer boutiques to a host of high street names, you'll locate all the labels and pinnacle character outlets you'd expect from a major city.The city has for centuries been the main shopping destination for a big catchment place, and a popular destination for European shoppers taking a weekend crack. With its striking skyline, historical obsolete town and impressive granite buildings this is a prosperous, cosmopolitan city.

The pleasing range of excellent shopping centres ensures that you'll always be practiced to locate exactly what you'on the subject of looking for and if it's something more exclusive or a tiny quirky that you'concerning after, one of Aberdeen's independent retailers will be skillful to meet the expense of that too.At a mile long, Aberdeen's Union Street is Britain's longest high street and is jam packed subsequently than than than a host of household names and high street favourites. At the upper encroachment less you'll locate the newly opened Hugo Boss, G -Star Raw and Cruise, along moreover premium stores once Jaeger and Jones the Bootmaker.

Cruise, which opened in the autumn of 2007,  michelle mea hoodies clothing is one of the UK's leading independent luxury retailers gone a fabulous reputation not by yourself for designer brands, but as a showcase for well-ventilated spiteful edge fashion. Brands currently also-door door to at Cruise optional association Gucci, Prada, Dolce and Gabbana, Versace, Dior, Hugo Boss, Paul Smith, Vivienne Westwood, Fendi, Chloe and Jimmy Choo to state a few. At the bottom halt of Union Street, just past it meets the historic Castlegate, is The Bon Accord St Nicholas Shopping Centre.Right in the heart of the city it has a impressive range of stores and is the prime retailing place in Aberdeen. The biggest shopping center in the city, it is split into two buildings and has three floors extending to 630,000 sq ft on summit of two levels. Built in a serpentine touch to maximise shop unit frontage, it is covered by a barrel vaulted glazed roof gone a 90-ft high glazed field.

Flagship stores member in the works New Look and Monsoon, one of the largest in Scotland, a large Boots and Woolworths and shops such as The Body Shop, River Island, Miss Selfridge, Dorothy Perkins, Ortak and Oasis. A auxiliary Costa Coffee will revive the most weary shopper, though the restaurants within the Upper Mall, John Lewis and Marks and Spencer, located at either fade away of the Centre, remain a poplar rendezvous for a casual lunch and a catch-occurring gone links. And of course, there's a Starbucks, taking into account an outside sitting place, if you fancy a spot of cafe culture. Just across from the city's Union Terrace Gardens, The Mall Trinity is a good, one floor shopping middle following about 27 stores including Debenhams, Argos Extra, T-Mobile, HMV, Superdrug, Waterstones and a large Primark.

Cobbled Belmont Street, known for its well-liked bars, cafes, and art habitat cinema, is with the location for The Academy shopping centre. Surrounding an Italianate style piazza, it has an excellent range of upmarket brands and individual shops, coffee shops, bars and restaurants, and the gate-space piazza is often a focus for alive entertainment throughout the summer months. Here the style living will locate independent shops such as Attic, AB10 and Concept, which specialises in casual designer-ware for men. A real style leader in Aberdeen, Attic is continuously introducing choice collections including U.A.R.M, Green Apple Tree and Six Pack. AB10 has anything from footwear to trappings, following many main stream brands including G-Star, Ted Baker, Miss Sixty, Replay, Firetrap and Gio-Goi.

Nicknamed 'Little Chelsea', the Thistle Street place of the city is the usual style quarter of Aberdeen considering a range of independent shops stocking anything from clothes, shoes and frills, in colleague in crime to avow shops, delicatessens, French bakers, florists and art galleries. Bellino and Hamish Munro both have excellent ranges of shoes by continental designers, and if you craving a dress for a big night out, attempt Frox - as soon as anything from funky to formal, it's evening wear behind than attitude. Esslemonts and Esslemonts 2 p.s. a stylish unconventional of menswear and women's fashion from leading brands such as Camel Active, Tommy Hilfiger, Remus, Hobbs and Turnover.

Verdict, along with re Thistle Street, stocks a broad range of really unfamiliar designer clothing and superfluities that are both wearable and attractive. From contemporary evening wear and fused accessories through to casual jeans and edgy tops, Verdict was named by style guru Caryn Franklin as one of the peak ten independents in Scotland.

For stylish, eternal designs Kafka, just not in the disaffect away afield afield off from the corner in Alford Place, has the latest from Armani, Burberry and Prada, even if Kafka for men can be found taking into account mention to Rosemount Viaduct.

Aberdeen's taking place and coming place, The Green, is residence to a range of first class bistros and colossal dining, and a number of trendsetting shops have plus opened in the place, including Coco Violet, designs for the cool and accepted. It houses an eclectic amassing of fashion for the girl that wants to stand out from the crowd, taking into consideration stunning items you won't locate anywhere else in Aberdeen, let alone the UK. For shoes subsequent to a difference find the money for a see at Fenner and Coburn at Netherkirkgate when an wonderful accretion of distinctive designs.

Meanwhile Zoomp, tucked away in Jopps Lane astern John Lewis, has a broad range of clothing covering unnamed casual to Jimmy Choo and Matthew Williamson.

If it's a retro vibes you'as regards after, head to The Closet in Jopps Lane for quirky, vintage retro - an Aladdin's cave of retro finds and one off pieces , or manageable Retrospect, which was recently featured in Vogue magazine, even though Vintage Phoenix in Chattan Place will tailor your finds to fit.

Jewellery, art and antiques

Aberdeen is not known as the Silver City for nothing - the excited granite buildings that make taking place much of the city are testament to that - however the city is plus the residence of some independent jewellers who can design that signature fragment to celebrate a enormously special occasion.

Family-owned Finnies the jewellers, has Scotland's largest amass of diamond jewellery - and biggest accrual of grandfather clocks. As ably as more than 26 watch brands, you'll locate unfamiliar gifts including silver snooker chalk holders. Jamieson and Carry is substitute intimates make a attain of, conventional in 1733. From pearls to pendants it's a true favourite gone jewellery lovers. You can even commission a special fragment to be individually intended and made in-house. Sandy Menzies Designer Jewellers push a constantly evolving range of contemporary jewellery. The design and production of commissioned pieces in precious metals and gemstones is also easy to use, even if George Kite on the subject of Holburn Street features a range of objector Scottish designers.

For antiques, head for the city's West End, where you'll locate Elizabeth Watt going considering reference to for Thistle Street, specialising in ceramics, silver and jewellery even if Rendezvous, re Forest Avenue, has immense art deco finds as proficiently as contemporary art. Thistle Antiques upon Esslemont Avenue is the area to go for satisfying earliest mirrors and lamps, and Atholl Antiques upon Great Western Road has character furniture and paintings. For earliest maps, grow Colin Wood upon Rose Street, who carries a definitely earsplitting range.

Gallery Heinzel specialises in contemporary Scottish art from its base in Aberdeen's Thistle Street. The gallery hosts occurring to 10 exhibitions a year showcasing the play a share of conventional and emerging Scottish artists. The Carby Art Gallery, in a contemporary art freshen, offers a unique gallery experience. Resident performer Ian Carby, famed for his vivacious landscapes and shoreline scenes, exhibits adjacent-door door to international and local artists plus sculptures, ceramics, jewellery and photography

If you'vis--vis searching for that special flavor that's a tiny bit every second from the unspecified, Nova upon Chapel Street has long been a favourite behind Aberdonians. Its combined have enough maintenance selection ranges from the cool and funky to the timeless even if Annie Mo's, upon Holburn Street and the bottom fall of Union Street, as well as stocks an uncharacteristic range of gifts along previously some beautiful furniture.

Markets

Aberdeen's Country Fair is a monthly have enough maintenance gone on zenith of 30 stalls of full of beans farm fabricate, local crafts, in flames-baking, food and beverage. The main vent takes area upon the last Saturday of all month and there's a smaller weekly report all Saturday at the Academy Shopping Centre. One of the largest markets in Scotland, it provides local farmers and crafters the opportunity to showcase their setting home-grown and handcrafted products. A typical Aberdeen Country Fair will feature everything from Aberdeen Angus beef, fish landed at Aberdeen and Peterhead Harbours, local fruit and vegetables, baking, cheeses, confectionary, Scottish whisky, wines and handmade crafts.

[slipping-through-my-fingertips]

Now Put Your Hands Up

New fic!! AO3 link here

Summary: Tina and Brittany teach Burt Hummel “Single Ladies”

Missing scene in “Goodbye”

Burt Hummel liked to think he knew his son fairly well. These last couple years he felt like they were finally moving towards each other again. He’d lost Kurt after Elizabeth passed. They were both grieving. Sometimes Burt forgot that he didn’t just lose his spouse, Kurt had lost his mother. It was easy to chalk Kurt’s behavior up to grief. 

The hiding in his bedroom. Exiling himself. Cooking dinner for the two of them. For the most part, doing the cleaning. 

Burt missed his wife but he knew she was never coming home. Every day, he waited for a Kurt that he remembered to walk through the front door. He never came. It was always this new Kurt that Burt didn’t know how to connect with even though he tried to talk to him at dinner and when they’d watch tv together. 

Then, two years ago Kurt wandered into the garage as light on his feet as ever. Burt never understood Kurt’s careful footsteps because no one could hear anything over the noises of their machines. Hell, they screamed at one another to talk shop. He remembered that conversation perfectly. When Kurt had joined glee club, Burt was disappointed it wasn’t a sports team but Kurt never was the kid to follow the norm. It had been so long since he had seen his son smile like he had when he talked about singing and dancing. 

Burt chuckled when he remembered thinking Beyoncé was one of the girls in glee and Kurt had corrected him. 

“No, dad, she’s, like, the biggest pop star in the world.”

As nice as this trip down memory lane was, Burt was no closer to knowing what to get Kurt for graduation. This kid was the hardest person to buy for because the only things Kurt wanted and didn’t already have were too damn expensive. 

Cause as funny as it would be to see the look on Kurt’s face if Burt got Beyoncé to come to his graduation party, it just wasn’t plausible. He could already see Kurt’s jaw-dropping. But that wasn’t possible, this was a small town in Ohio and Burt could not afford her. 

“Hey dad,” Kurt said, coming in through the front door. 

“Hi bud, how was school? Where’s your brother?” 

Kurt was sliding off his shoes. 

“School was good. Tina made it through a love song without crying.” 

“And Finn?”

“He left with Puck.” Kurt shrugged. 

“That means we’ll have another mouth to fed at dinner,” Burt said. 

“Maybe two?” Kurt questioned, already pouting hopefully. “Blaine wants to study together.”

“Yeah okay, Blaine can come over.”

“Thanks, Dad! I’m going to call him now.”

With that, Kurt went up the stairs. Burt rubbed his eyes and tried to focus again but all he could think about was Tina crying in glee club. She must’ve been so happy to sing a solo and not let a tear fall. Burt tried to remember the last time he saw her.

Feels like years but it was probably only a week or two ago. He definitely remembers the first time he met Tina. They were still at their old house. Kurt’s bedroom was in the basement because he wanted more space or something. Brittany and Tina were in those dance outfits, leotards maybe? There had been music playing. That “Single Ladies” song by Beyoncé. 

Kurt had looked like he wanted the ground to swallow him. Tina and Brittany were confident and curious when Burt interrupted them. 

It was at that moment, they started to understand each other again. All because of some Beyoncé song. Wait, Beyoncé! 

Burt knew exactly what to get Kurt now. He just had to get some phone numbers. 

***

Dinner was a short affair. Puck and Finn wanted to play video games then Blaine and Kurt wanted to study some more. Burt reminded both pairs to keep their bedroom doors cracked open. Carole laughed at his antics from the kitchen. 

“Let me help you clean up,” he told her. 

“You know they’re going to make out anyway, right?” she asked. 

“Who’s they? Finn and Puck or Kurt and Blaine.”

Carole laughed again. “I was thinking Kurt and Blaine but you’ve got a point. Finn and Puck do act like a couple sometimes. I swore they were holding hands when they came in earlier.” 

Burt smiled at her as she closed up the dishwasher and started it. 

“Movie?” Carole asked.

They went into the living room. Burt sat down and put his arm around the back of the couch and Carole snuggled into his side. 

“What would I have to do to get Finn to keep a secret?”

“That depends,” Carole said. “For how long and from who?”

“A week or so. It’s for Kurt.”

“I think letting him pick the next two Friday night dinners might do it. And maybe a weekend off from the shop.”

“Hard bargain.”

Carole looked up at him. “It’s worth it.”

As it turns out, Carole was right. Finn was more than willing to hide the fact that Burt needed Tina and Brittany’s phone numbers. He decided it was best to not ask Burt why and just be satisfied with choosing this week’s dinner. 

Burt came across another bump in his plan. What were these two teenagers going to think about an almost 50-year-old man texting them? This was weird and kind of creepy. He shouldn’t do it but on the other hand, it was for Kurt and Finn already gave him their numbers. 

Of course, Carole was at work so he couldn’t ask her advice. 

Burt: Hi girls, it’s Burt Hummel. Kurt’s dad. I was hoping you two could help me out with Kurt’s graduation gift. I’d appreciate it if you could keep this from him because I want it to be a surprise. 

Tina, surprisingly as it was during the school day, got back to him instantly. 

Tina: Mr. Hummel, Tina here. I’d love to help. What’s the present?

Burt: I need help learning a dance routine.

Brittany: Kurt’s fabulous. I love everything he does and I love dancing. Want us to come after school to help?

Burt: I’m so thankful for both of you being willing to help out. Kurt’s out with Rachel this afternoon so it’d be great if you could meet me at the garage. I don’t want to risk him coming back early.

Wouldn’t it be a twist for Kurt to come down the basement, slightly horrified, by his father dancing to “Single Ladies” with two of his glee club friends? 

Burt was going to make sure it was a surprise but on his terms, not Kurt’s. 

As they said they would, the girls met him at the garage. He had cleared a spot out back for them to practice. Rehearse, the Kurt in his head corrected. 

“So, what's the big number?” Tina asked. 

“6.02214076 × 1023,” Brittany recited. 

“What?” Burt asked. 

Brittany repeated herself then said, “it’s avocado’s number.”

“Don’t you mean Avogadro’s number?” Tina corrected. 

“I’m pretty sure it’s avocado.”

“Anyway,” Burt said, changing the subject, “to answer your question, Tina, it’s ‘Single Ladies’.”

“Ooo, yay! I love that one,” Brittany said, clapping. 

“Let’s start with your feet placement,” Tina told Burt. 

She tapped his legs and positioned him correctly. Brittany stood in front of Burt to show him the specific step and Tina stood next to him to help configure his body the right way. 

In just over an hour, Burt knew the order of the steps. Now, he had to learn to be in sync with his dancemates. He tried to tell them he only needed lessons, not backup dancers but the girls insisted. The dance was simply not the same without backup. 

When he got home from the shop that night, with a promise to Brittany and Tina for one final rehearsal before their performance, he caught himself humming the tune of “Single Ladies”. He assumed he was going to have to learn the words too. Brittany said it helped sometimes to use the lyrics as a guide to remember dance steps. Tina disagreed, she liked to memorize lyrics so well that it was second nature to sing while dancing. If she focused too much on the words, she’d lose her place in the dance. 

His singing and humming only escalated after their second rehearsal, which Burt had totally nailed the performance on his second try. Burt made an effort to stop himself when Kurt was around not wanting to risk him asking questions. There was no doubt in Burt’s mind that Kurt would start to investigate why his father was suddenly a Beyoncé fan. He might even convince Burt to buy tickets for her next tour. As much as Burt was enjoying “Single Ladies” he had no desire to be dragged to a concert. 

On the day Burt was sitting on the edge of the stage waiting for Kurt, he wasn’t nervous. This performance was going to be great. The only concern he had was whether Kurt would like it or not. 

[trikadekaphile]

Carrie’s 1985 Esquire interview

https://classic.esquire.com/carrie-fisher/

This is the interview that got her a deal to write “Postcards from the Edge.”

HOME: Los Angeles, California

AGE: Twenty-eight

FATHER: Eddie Fisher

MOTHER: Debbie Reynolds

MOST FAMOUS STEPMOTHER: Elizabeth Taylor

OEUVRE: Shampoo, the Star Wars trilogy, Garbo Talks, Mr. Mike’s Mondo Video

UPCOMING OEUVRE: Stan Dragoti’s The Man with One Red Shoe and Woody Allen’s Hannah and Her Sisters

LAST BOOK READ: West with the Night by Beryl Markham

FAVORITE LINE FROM LAST BOOK READ: “Life is life and fun is fun, but it all goes quiet when the goldfish die.”

At age eleven Carrie Fisher was copying lines from Maugham’s Of Human Bondage into her diary. She dropped out of high school after becoming a chorus girl in her mother’s Broadway show Irene and made her movie debut as a teenager who sleeps with Warren Beatty in Shampoo. She attended London’s Central School of Speech and Drama and at eighteen got a leading part in a science-fiction film called Star Wars that made her character, Princess Leia Organa, a pop-culture heroine.

We meet her at her rustic L.A. ranch house, where a blue neon VACANCY sign hangs outside the kitchen door. She is wearing black-based striped pants, a deep fuchsia sweater, and unmatched earrings—one an oversize face and the other a small globe of the earth. Fisher’s secretary sits in the kitchen answering fan mail, her housekeeper does the laundry, and a friend talks to Fisher’s myna bird.

Our conversation moves to various settings: on the wooden swing in her bedroom, in the backyard between the pool and the full-size plastic cow (a sign at the front gate warns BEWARE OF THE COW), on a drive to Knott’s Berry Farm in her blue BMW with Bruce Springsteen blasting in the background. Her life is proof of her favorite T-shirt of the moment: IT’S NEVER TOO LATE TO HAVE A HAPPY CHILDHOOD.

On Being America’s Niece

“I can have an entire country of people come up to me and say, ‘You have your mother’s eyes, your father’s nose, your mother’s mouth, your first stepmother’s legs.’ I grew up in a big small town called America. My parents were ‘America’s Sweethearts,’ and I think I’m ‘America’s Niece.’ I look like your niece, someone who you could bring home to your whole family and it would work.”

How She Picked Her Parents

“Early on, people used to ask me, ‘What’s it like to be Debbie Reynolds’s daughter?’ And I would say, ‘You mean compared to when I wasn’t?’ That portion of time when I lived with the Andersons and then moved in with the Wilsons for a while; you know, to sample each form of growing up—being an accountant’s kid and a car salesman’s kid and so on—until I finally arrived at being a movie star’s kid, liked that, and said, ‘Let’s stay here, this is fabulous, we’ll go with this one.’”

Inquiring Minds Want to Know

“My family is really the epitome of an unfilmable Dynasty. I call us blue-blooded white trash, and there’s an obsession in this country with that kind of thing. I sometimes believe certain things I read about myself. You know, you have a transcendental experience in front of the National Enquirer and think, ‘Of course, why, that must have been true what I read about myself. I am going out with Andrew Stevens.’ I made a horrible mistake—I thought I was going out with Andrew and I called him, and he was going out with somebody else. It turns out he’s just my neighbor.”

May Divorce Be with You

“A few years ago I found these scrapbooks of my parents’ breakup in my mother’s attic—someone had actually compiled them and sent them to her at the time. I looked through them and discovered a lot of things I didn’t know about it, which is an amazing thing to do when you’re sliding through your twenties and your parents have been broken up your entire life. I realize now, of course, that they’ll never get back together. And now I hear that the child of the woman who sent these things to my mother is compiling the scrapbook on my marriage to Paul.”

So What Went Wrong with Her Marriage to Paul Simon?

“Once I was on this talk show hosted by this child psychologist who kept asking me questions like, ‘When did you realize your father was a horrible human being?’ And finally I said to him, ‘You wanna hear about the wire hangers, don’t you?’ Questions about my marriage are ‘wirehanger questions,’ and no matter how I answer them they’re wired to blow, no pun intended. ”

What About the Book on Her Friend John Belushi?

“I think Woodward is brilliant at that wire-hanger aspect of life. I hear that he’s going to be playing Belushi in the movie version of the book: ‘Bob Woodward IS Wired!”

Drugs

“It’s very good to get through them while you’re still young, and then talk about how great or bad they were for the rest of your life.”

What’s the Difference Between New York and L.A.?

“Three hours. Most people know that. I’m stunned that you don’t.”

What It’s Like to Be Her

“I feel like I’m the doctor and the patient, but a lot of times the doctor isn’t in. I operate at such a level that sometimes it feels dangerous. If I fell off the edge of myself, I don’t know how long it would take to get back up. People think that I’m on drugs because of this velocity of being. And at the same time it’s slow enough for me to be aware of it. Like when I just said ‘velocity of being, ’ I liked the sound of it. ”

Why 60 Watts of Rock?

“In the face of something operating at full throttle, I can finally relax. That’s my form of meditation. My system is recharged in the presence of great rock ’n’ roll, it’s a very high testosterone outlet. Movies are very estrogen—they take you in, give you a house, make you dinner while you warm your feet by their fire. My mother brought me up on them. The Philadelphia Story, It’s a Wonderful Life, Bringing Up Baby—those are my black-and-white teddy bears. But rock ’n’ roll grabs your ear, wrestles it to the ground, and slaps a big wet kiss on it.”

Kids Say the Darndest Things

“I was photographed at an age when I was helpless to do anything about it—two hours. You can tell from the distressed look on my face in all my childhood pictures that I don’t like to be photographed. One time when I was five or six my governess took a picture of me and she was very tight to my face, and I said, ‘No ECUs, no ECUs.’ I hate extreme close-ups, even now.”

O Mein Papa

“David Letterman said he’d heard that my father sang everywhere, and I said, ‘Yes, the world is his shower.’ And often he likes to use women for soap.”

A Night to Remember

“I came home one night when I was sixteen, and there was blood all over the bedroom. My brother Todd had accidentally shot himself with a blank. The next day the Daily News headline was PICASSO DIES, and under it was a picture of my brother, and my mother in a mink hat. We were still up at 8:00 in the morning after this whole night at the police station, my brother was in the hospital, Picasso was dead, and all these photographers were at our door because the big story, in all the confusion, was that my mother had shot my brother, and she and I were discussing why she’d done it: ‘Well, you know, he wouldn’t clean his room.’ Or, ‘He never fed his turtle or brushed his teeth, so I finally had to penalize him in a way he’d understand.’ Someone came up to her in the hospital and said he thought it was a publicity stunt for her play Irene, and she said, ‘Yes, I shot him, and I only have one other child to shoot for publicity for the next play, so obviously there’s just one play left.’”

Something She’s Noticed About the President

“A good actor would have this thing down of not looking so expectant between sentences. You have to conceal the fact that you are waiting to talk, and look like you’re listening. He never looks like he’s listening; he’s always waiting to talk. He becomes an entire energetic called ‘President Waiting to Talk.’ Also, he’s not funny, but he really wants to be. I don’t want someone to want to be funny. I want him to be funny, or not.”

Favorite Bumper Sticker

“LOVE IS THE LIBERACE MUSEUM. That expressed it so succinctly for me, and I felt better having that clearly stated on my vehicle.”

Oh, and One Other Thing About the President

“He’s melting. No one’s noticed yet, but he is melting. We’re talking about a semisolid mass with dark hair. If the Democrats had come out and just said, ‘He’s melting,’ I think they would have done much better. I usually don’t talk about this unless someone looks like he also knows—if you know the President’s melting, you know how to identify other people who know that too. It’s going to be a real flood when he finally goes into total liquidation.”

Will She Ever Play Princess Leia Again?

“Yes, the Yiddish Theater has asked me to do it.”

[silverfrostheart]

Help if you want jdhdhf

Here's this list of tarots major arcana bullhocky. I should note, in a fight, tarot can only use 5 cards at a time. So he's not OP lol. And he CAN run out of magic. But he's still quite strong and possibly gaster level? But Hey here's the list. It's incomplete but help if you want! I certainly need it -w-;;;;

1. The Fool

The Fool is traditionally both the first and the last card of the Major Arcana; in fact, the Major Arcana cards together comprise the Fool’s journey through life. The Fool represents new beginnings, excitement, courage, and potential.

The Fool is also full of advice that wouldn’t look out of place stenciled onto a lime-washed board and sold at a Hobby Lobby, things like “Believe in yourself and follow your heart” and “Have faith in where the universe is taking you.”

Like that one aunt, “The Fool is all about new experiences [and] personal growth.” He is also a little pouty, and appears to have been captured in the middle of saying, “It’s their loss!” The Fool has very fine bone structure.

The little white dog prancing dog at his feet is supposed to represent a “protector,” though it’s not sure from what, if anything, a nine-pound dog is qualified to protect you. “All the tools and resources he needs” for this trip are packed into a bindle the size of a bento box. He’s wearing yellow slouch boots and carrying a single white rose — it’s like using Goop to outfit an Everest ascent.

The Fool represents innocence, a kind word for stupidity. “He does not seem to mind if he does not really know what lies ahead,” which sounds like a really passive aggressive thing to write in someone’s yearbook.

Magic ability-portals

Character who represents this card- Underswap sans

2. The Magician

The Magician (whose more metal name is The Magus) is the first card of the Major Arcana. The Magician also symbolizes fresh starts and new beginnings, because 100% of people who ask for a tarot reading want a new beginning.

The Magician is driven and goal-oriented; he can “apply skill and initiative to accomplish all [his] goals.” His description reads like a performance review. He’s also wearing a snake for a belt.

The Magician card is holding a symbolic staff and making a symbolic hand gesture. He is holding symbolic tablets, wearing a symbolic robe, and standing hip-deep in symbolic flowers. Above his head floats the symbol for infinity. The Magician is like a junior high essay on The Scarlet Letter.

Magic ability- create sheilds/forcefeilds

Character who represents this card-Canvas

3. The High Priestess

The High Priestess “sits at the gate before the great Mystery” and “in front of the thin veil of awareness, which is all that separates us from our inner selves.”

If you’re the kind of person who’s into tarot, you are the kind of person who wants to draw the High Priestess card. On a “What tarot card are you?” quiz, the High Priestess is the card everyone wants to get. The High Priestess is the Elizabeth Bennet of tarot cards.

Moreover, her message is “trust your inner voice,” which is a message absolutely everyone wants to hear. No one goes to a tarot reader to be told, “Your instincts are totally wrong.” A tarot reader’s primary job is to be an enabler — in your heart you already know you’re going to quit your job to be a yoga teacher, you just want someone to tell you that teaching yoga is your destiny.

“Knowledge of how to fix [your problem] will not come through logic or intellect but through your intuition,” she says, which is a real load off for people not overly gifted with logic or intellect.

Magic ability-

Character who represents this card-Tarot himself

4. The Empress

The card of feminine energy, the Empress represents fertility, beauty, and abundance. She may indicate either a physical or metaphorical pregnancy, which seems like something you should really nail down.

The Empress wears a bold patterned caftan she picked up in Yucca Valley. She’s sitting on a red velvet chair that looks like she found it on the sidewalk and tried to reupholster it herself. The Empress definitely uses the DivaCup.

Magic ability-Healing

Character who represents this card-Alterswap Toriel

5. The Emperor

The Emperor is the patriarch, the masculine seat of authority and power. The Emperor is paired with the Empress, even though he’s clearly at least thirty years older than she is. His expression is both scornful and wary, and he seems to suffer from mild rosacea.

The Emperor is seated on a throne “decorated with four rams’ heads, representing intellectual heights, determination, action, initiative, and leadership.” It is not at all obvious why rams’ heads should represent these things, and the last three sound like they were borrowed from Six Sigma.

Magic ability- Fire

Character who represents this card-Ferrell ( @jumpybox )

6. The Hierophant

The staid male counterpart to the much more fabulous Priestess card, the Hierophant represents institutional authority and established traditions. Like the Priestess, he is a religious figure, but in a much more orthodox setting.

No one is ever excited about getting the Hierophant, the middle school principal of tarot cards. If you were the kind of person who got excited about orthodox religious authority, you likely wouldn’t be getting your tarot read in the first place.

Moreover, the Hierophant offers good, boring advice, like “… follow due process and to stay within the conventional bounds of what is typically an orthodox approach. Instead of being innovative, you will need to adapt to the existing set of beliefs and systems that are already in place. You will need to do what is expected of you.”

But the Hierophant is not all bad. The card can also represent a wise mentor, someone like a priest, boss, or teacher. It also may represent a gateway to higher consciousness, as does without exception every other tarot card.

Magic ability-

Character who represents this card-Aion ( @cutiegrumpycerym )

7. The Lovers

The Lovers card represents love, of course, and of the most rarified kind. The lovers share the deep emotional, physical, and spiritual connection you could expect from the kind of couple who calls themselves “lovers.” The two lovers stand among symbols of fertility and intimacy. The woman is gazing at the giant flaming angel in the sky, and the man is gazing at the woman’s pelvis.

The Lovers card also represents a crossroads, and the need to make a decision. “Unlike the Fool’s choice which has no wrong answer, the choice of the Lovers is very much right or wrong.” What’s more, “these decisions or choices are incredibly important and significant so it is essential that you choose the right path.” No pressure.

Magic ability-long distance communication with someone you care for

Character(s) who represents this card- Cross and Xchara

8. The Chariot

The Chariot represents will power, control, self-assertion, and victory. Also, in a refreshingly literal twist, the chariot can represent driving. The card is a real grab-bag of mystical symbolism, including stars, moons, alchemical symbols, and two extremely irritated sphinxes, the leftmost of which is actually rolling its eyes in disgust.

Everything the Chariot says, you can imagine being shouted through a megaphone: “this struggle will ultimately make you stronger!” “get in the race and win it!” “you have to dominate and beat the competition!” “assert yourself and be bold!” “pick up those knees!”

Magic ability-augmented speed

Character who represents this card-Mans (Spidertale Sans - @jumpybox )

9. The Hermit

The Hermit looks like a thinner, tanner Gandalf. He wears the grey cloak of invisibility. Having reached the snowy summit of his harrowing spiritual quest, he now looks sad and a little sleepy.

The Hermit represents being single and loving it. “Be content with being alone or associate only with those on your level,” the Hermit says emphatically over brunch. “Do not waste time and energy on those not ready or not worthy.” (cough, *Brian*) The Hermit is constantly posting about introverts on social media.

Magic ability-Invisibility

Character who represents this card-Chronicle ( @shigxx -I HOPE THIS IS OK AAA)

10. Strength

“The Strength Tarot card represents strength,” a popular tarot site helpfully explains, but unlike the amped-up jock jam sloganeering of the Chariot, Strength here means inner strength of character.

Strength is personified by a lovely woman wearing a long white dress wreathed in flowers giving a lion a comprehensive dental exam in what is surely a very specific fetish. “This lion is happy to submit and surrender to the woman,” who has tamed him with her strength of will and really on-point eyebrows.

Magic ability-augmented strength

Character who represents this card-Altertale sans

11. The Wheel of Fortune

The Wheel of Fortune represents life’s inherently cyclical nature. Sometimes things will go well, other times badly, but in the end, balance will be restored. The Wheel also represents karma, as well as fate and the external forces that control our destinies.

The Wheel of Fortune has absolutely everything you want in a tarot card, including an angel, a lion, a bull, a snake, a Sphinx, esoteric letters and symbols from several major world religions, and an eagle that looks like the artist started out trying to draw one thing and then changed their mind halfway through.

Magic ability-

Character who represents this card-

12. Justice

The Justice card represents justice, as one might expect, and more sternly, the idea that one gets what they deserve. Justice is all about taking responsibility for one’s self, and she gets a little blame-y: “your decisions and actions have long-term consequences and your present and future circumstances are most likely a result of these decisions and actions.”

Lady Justice sits on a throne, holding in one hand a double-edged sword; and in the other, a set of scales. She looks stern and unbending. “A little white shoe pops out from beneath her cloak, reminding us of the spiritual consequences of our actions,” in a note as charming as it is inexplicable.

Magic ability-

Character who represents this card-Storyshift Chara

13. The Hanged Man

Like the Death card, the Hanged Man sounds much worse than it is. The card represents surrender: the man is described as a “willing martyr,” someone who sacrifices himself to a greater cause. The Hanged Man also represents a period of watchful waiting, and he is doing that waiting upside-down.

The Hanged Man is suspended from the World Tree, and “given the serene expression on his face, it is believed he is hanging on the tree of his own will.” (Really?) He may represent “letting go,” a thing you absolutely should not to when hanging upside-down from a tree.

Magic ability-

Character who represents this card- Error/Eri/Geno

14. Death

Books that teach tarot reading advise readers to preface the revealing of the Death card with some variant of, “Now don’t freak out…” In fact, the Death card usually symbolizes a time of change, where one door closes and another opens. This can be a very positive thing, a time of renewal and new beginnings. Then again, sometimes the card symbolizes death.

Death here is a skeleton wearing a suit of armor that indicates death’s invincibility. He is riding a horse with a very small head and red eyes. A collection of disproportionately small people bow before Death’s inevitable slaughter as he regards them with a goofy grin.

Magic ability-

Character who represents this card-Reaper (ofc)

15. Temperance

The Temperance card signifies calm, balance, tranquility, and avoiding extremes. Temperance is cautious, keeping one foot on dry land.

In her hands she holds two cups of water, one hot, and one cold, creating that mystical symbol of cosmic balance, tepid water. Supposedly, the water she is pouring is actually flowing backwards, from the lower cup to the upper one, though it’s impossible to verify that.

Magic ability-

Character that represents this card- Core frisk

16. The Devil

Unlike the Death card, which seems bad but is good, the Devil card seems bad and is bad. The Devil represents materialism, vice, and addiction. He controls our lowest, most animal desires. At his feet, a man and a woman are chained, in servitude to their baser nature. However, the chains are loose and they could slip their heads from them if they tried, indicating that their bondage is voluntary.

The Devil is more disappointed than terrifying, and his Satanic hand gesture is a dispirited wave. The chained lovers at his feet look dopey and complacent, gesturing towards the inky cave of the insatiable unconscious like it’s a showcase on The Price Is Right.

Magic ability-

Character who represents this card- Fresh

17. The Tower

Following on Death and The Devil, the Tower is a very bad card. It symbolizes sudden catastrophe. After this time of chaos, new and better things may emerge, but that’s likely small consolation during your current era of unremitting disaster.

The Tower is a sturdy-looking building that probably seemed safe, but now it has been struck by lightning and it’s on fire, and the same lovers who were so dreamily enraptured on the Lovers card and so calmly drugged out when chained to the Devil are now plunging headlong to their ruin amid 22 symbolic flames. The man’s mouth is open with surprise, while the woman’s is pursed in anger, as if to say, “I warned you about the lightning.”

Magic ability- earth manipulation

Character who represents this card-

18. The Star

After the destruction of the Tower, the Star is all love and light. The card represents joy, kindness, hope, and faith — basically anything you’d want to embroider on a tea towel.

On the Star card, a naked woman is serenely pouring water from a clear, still pool onto the grass, where it runs off in five streams said to represent the senses. The woman is pretty but in an approachable way. Behind her is a field of stars and a tree in which roosts the sacred (if extremely crudely drawn) “ibis of thought.”

Magic ability-

Character who represents this card-Nebula

19. The Moon

One might assume the Moon would be a good card, suggesting femininity, fertility, and other mystically significant things, but in fact, the Moon is a mixed bag at best. The card represents intuition, but also subconscious fears and dark impulses. The Moon is associated with the eerie, mysterious elements of our unconscious minds, including recovered memories and nightmares.

The moon itself is upstaged by all the weird animals that are roaming around beneath it. A lobster crawls out of the depths of a dark pool, symbolizing the disturbing images that bubble up from our unconscious minds, and joins two dogs baying at the moon (some interpret these canines to be one dog and one wolf). Beyond the animals is a narrow path between two desolate towers. The moon wears the expression of someone who has just said their final word of an argument in bed and is now pretending to be asleep.

Magic ability-

Character who represents this card-Nightmare

20. The Sun

The Sun is everything the Moon is not: open, positive, upbeat. Whereas the Star is serene and blissful, the Sun is way too chipper. The Sun played “Get Lucky” at his wedding. The Sun cheers for the kiss cam. The Sun likes to shout “I can’t hear you!” from the stage. The Sun means well, but all the other cards are embarrassed for him.

On the tarot card, the Sun itself looks a little embarrassed, pointedly averting his eyes from the spectacle below him: a naked, wreathed baby riding a white horse in front of a field of sunflowers, like the result of a dangerously escalating feud between Mary Engelbreit and Anne Geddes.

Magic ability-

Character who represents this card-Dream

21. The Judgement

The Judgement card means judgement, not surprisingly, but also an inner voice, sudden realization, or higher calling. Judgment is about resolution, the cathartic climax to all of your struggles. The Judgment card also looks absolutely crazy.

The card shows a group of pallid, naked people rising up from their graves in a colorless, blasted landscape to the call of a trumpeting angel. The angel appears to be faking playing a trumpet, and not even faking it well. He holds the instrument stiffly while pointedly avoiding eye contact with the zombie cult members whose arms are upraised in worship of him.

Magic ability-

Character who represents this card-Outerfell asgore

22. The World

The World is the last card of the Major Arcana, and represents the summation of the journey begun by the Fool. After all the adventures of the past twenty-one cards, the World represents accomplishment, closure, and completion.

Unfortunately, the last card of the soul’s journey is also a bit of a mess. When you hear the phrase “the world,” many images may come to mind, but one them is probably not a dancing lady wrapped in a purple shawl, holding a baton in each hand, and surrounded by a lion, a bull, an eagle, and a human figure described as a “cherub” though he looks at least 28. The lady looks a little off-balance and more than a little drunk, which is perhaps not a bad symbol for closure after all.

Magic ability-

Character who represents this card-

[lakambinimagph]

Where power really lies: Depiction of female superheroes today

      Chances are you are one of many who saw Captain Marvel in theaters recently or maybe you saw Wonder Woman when it was released back in 2017. Or maybe you are one of those who likes to shout “Darna!” when you were younger (or you still do it today). Next to being a princess, becoming a superhero is one of many young girls’ fantasies.

      But why is it that despite the long history of comic books and comic book movies, only now are we seeing successful films or upcoming films about female superheroes? Has the film industry finally realized that you don’t need good-looking men with ripped muscles to be the face of your movie? Or that women have been demanding for big productions revolving around female comic book characters? Or, maybe, these filmmakers and storytellers had a hard time figuring out how to write an excellent female superhero that truly embodies the essence of being a woman in this society.

      Let us take a look on three superheroes and why their great characterization has contributed to their success as films and to their impact on women here in the Philippines and around the world.

Wonder Woman: Love is not a weakness, but strength

Wonder Woman, or Princess Diana of Themyscira, is a DC Comics character that has very feminist roots. She was created by William Moulton Marston who wanted to create a superhero who gains victories not through violence but through love or compassion. His wife, Elizabeth, suggested that he make the character a woman.

      There have been numerous adaptations of Wonder Woman and many fabulous women have had the chance to step into this role. A lot of you though are mostly familiar with the recent adaptation played by the incredible Gal Gadot in movies such as Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) and in her own solo movie, Wonder Woman (2017).

      Unlike her fellow superheroes in DC Comics, previous films or television series about Wonder Woman have failed to attain the success that films about Superman and Batman have reached. For a long time, there weren’t any films about this female superhero. That’s unfortunate because, how many reboots of Superman and Batman occurred already? Two? Three? I’ve lost count (and also stopped caring). What, then, did Gadot’s Wonder Woman did right, that previous versions failed at, that made it such a hit with women everywhere?

      It’s because it stayed true to what her creator, Marston, wanted the character to be. He wanted a female superhero “with all the strength of Superman plus all the allure of a good and beautiful woman.” This was perfectly portrayed in the film, where Diana displayed qualities such as compassion, sweetness, and peace-loving and wasn’t seen as weak because of these. In fact, the film emphasized that these traits made her stronger. It’s not because of her capability to punch through hundreds of bad guys, but the strength of her character and goodness of her heart is what made Wonder Woman really special.

Captain Marvel: A ‘90s Heroine with Present-Day Struggles

      Carol Danvers, or Captain Marvel, graced our screens and made her debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) just a month ago. It is the 21st film in the MCU and is the first one to be led by a female superhero. Makes you wonder what took them so long…

      When the first posters and trailers came out, there were people, mostly men, who criticized Carol for “not smiling enough” or “not showing any emotion” besides looking fierce and tough. Some of them even photoshopped the posters to make it look like she is smiling. Brie Larson, who plays Captain Marvel, clapped back at her haters and posted on Instagram photoshopped images of other superheroes like Iron Man and Captain America smiling on their own posters. She showed how ridiculous it is that women can’t be portrayed as tough or fierce just like male superheroes. Brie also said that, sadly, many women have experienced this kind of thing, having men tell you that you should smile more because you’ll look prettier that way. It’s like women are not allowed to feel any other emotion or that we can’t look serious.

      Coincidentally, a similar situation happens to Captain Marvel in the movie, where a biker guy tells Carol to smile. Both Brie and the director, Anna Boden, have said that it was not a response to that criticism but that it was not an uncommon thing that women experience. It was written in the script long before the controversy happened and, lo and behold, the same thing happens in real life.

Darna: A Powerful Dalagang Pilipina

      The Philippines also boasts a rich collection of superheroes, but none has had a greater impact on Filipino pop culture like Darna. There isn’t a single Filipino who doesn’t know this female superhero. When you are asked to mention a Filipino superhero, I bet the first one to come to mind is this character.

      Darna was created by legendary comic book cartoonist, Mars Ravelo. He started working on this character before World War II, when she was still named Varga. She was intended as the Philippines’ equivalent of Superman, drawing on Ravelo’s concept that America is “male” and our country, as the one colonized by them, as “female.” He proposed the idea to both Filipino and American publishers but was turned down because, according to them, “female superheroes will not sell.”

      But, as we can see now, Darna became a big hit with readers and many film and television show adaptations have come out throughout the years. Rosa del Rosario was the first actress to play Darna on screen in 1951. Other actresses that have brought this character to life are Vilma Santos, Lorna Tolentino, Rio Locsin, Angel Locsin, and Marian Rivera. There is an upcoming remake of Darna and, with Angel Locsin and Liza Soberano exiting the project, who knows who the next woman to step into her shoes would be. There is a pressure on both the filmmakers and the actress who would play Darna because this character is so iconic and well-beloved by Filipinos.

      Of course, Filipinos were quickly endeared to her not only because of her superpowers, but also because of her love for her family, a trait that is very special to Filipinos. Darna, as her alter ego Narda, takes care of her grandmother, Lola Asay. Who would also forget her brother and sidekick, Ding. Also, we grew to love the ever-inspiring story of a simple village girl who, upon encountering a small meteorite from space, transforms into a powerful being. It’s a very good metaphor than you can become someone extraordinary despite of your small beginnings.

Dawn of a New Age

      These three superheroines all have faced their challenges and criticisms. For some reason, they underwent greater scrutiny than their male counterparts. But, despite all these, they found a way to triumph and still make their impact on women all around the world. Their films made millions at the box office and it’s good to see that the film industry is now more confident in telling superhero stories from a woman’s perspective. In the past, and, unfortunately, some movies still do this, women are just there as love interests or as the prize that the hero gets to win at the end. There are still others that sexualizes female superheroes, but because of the help of social media, these kinds of films get called out quickly.

      Women using social media to better voice out what they want to see in these kinds of films may be one of the reasons why the film industry is starting to pay more attention and improve their characterizations of women in films. Women are now at the forefront and not just sidekicks to male superheroes. Let’s hope that this continues and lastly, let’s hope that future endeavors continue to portray these female superheroes with a much honest reflection on how it is to be a woman in this present society.

Words by Jemimah Cresencia

Graphics by Kimberly Joy Alejo

Image Source for Darna, Wonder Woman, and Captain Marvel.