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news365timesindia · 3 months ago

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[ad_1] Neymar Jr with kids (PC: FIFA) Brazil and Al Hilal SFC superstar, Neymar Jr believes Saudi Arabia has all the potential to be the best World Cup ever, if the Kingdom secures the right to host the FIFA World Cup in 2034. Following an exclusive tour of the Saudi Arabia FIFA World Cup 2034 bid exhibition, Brazil’s all-time top goal scorer and Riyadh resident has thrown his full support behind the bid. Having lived in the Kingdom for the last year and witnessed the country’s deep love of the game alongside its ambitious plans to host in 2034, Neymar Jr said: “I think it’s the best project I’ve ever seen in my life, and I’m happy to be a part of it and help out in some way. It’s incredible. They’ve thought of everything, not only for the players but also for the fans.” The tour, led by Hammad Albalawi, Head of the Saudi Arabia FIFA World Cup 2034 bid unit, gave the global icon a chance to immerse himself in the future and explore the bid’s five proposed host cities of Riyadh, Jeddah, Al Khobar, Abha and NEOM through interactive digital displays. Scaled models brought to life some of the 15 incredible stadiums proposed to host the FIFA World Cup in ten years’ time. Aiming to be the first ever host of a single nation 48-team FIFA World Cup, the Saudi Arabian bid promises to be easy to get to, with 60% of the world’s population within an 8-hour flight; and easy to get around, with average internal flight-times between host cities under two hours. About players and fans being at the heart of the Saudi bid plan, Neymar Jr remarked: “Everything relates to football. They’re thinking about the players so that there are no long flights and travel time, making it easier to get from the game to the hotel and from the hotel to the game, so that we can recover faster.” In playing for Al Hilal SFC and in living in Riyadh with his family, Neymar Jr has experienced the growth and investment that has gone into growing the game in Saudi Arabia, as the country continues on its trajectory as one of the fastest and most exciting growth stories in world football. For the Latest Sports News: Click Here But it’s the warmth of the people that stands out most for the 32-year-old Brazilian, and that’s something he wants the world to embrace. “I have to admit that I was quite surprised by Saudi Arabia, by everything. Because from the outside, from a distance, we have a very different perspective of what the country is really like. When people come here, they have a different, a very positive perspective, just like I did. I was surprised. “So, it is very important for everybody from all over the world to know more about Saudi culture. I have to say that I’m very happy. My family is very happy. Today, I’ve been living here for over a year, so I’m already settled”, added Neymar Jr. Despite an unfortunate injury setback which has limited his appearances for Saudi Pro League Champions Al Hilal SFC the forward, who has featured and scored for Brazil in three different FIFA World Cup finals, has been stunned by the support he has received from local fans during his recovery. An aspect he puts down to the fresh energy of the country’s youth, with 63% of the Saudi population under the age of 30. “It creates an incredible buzz because there are so many young people, practically all around my age, who have been following my career for most of my life. So everywhere I go, I’m very well received; it’s overwhelming. I’m very grateful for the kindness that they show not only to me but to my family”, added Neymar Jr. Looking ahead Neymar Jr is keen to make an even bigger impact on the game in a county where it means so much and to help shape future generations in Saudi and beyond. “When you become a star, when you become someone important in the football world, I think your influence grows immensely. I know I have a big influence today. I’m aware of my role. Cristiano Ronaldo is a big idol, one of the biggest names in football history, and so is Benzema. Neymar Jr on the FIFA World Cup 2034 (PC: FIFA)

“So we know our power, we know our influence, and what we want is to help. We want to influence all the kids and the youth to do the right things and to bring joy to everyone with our football”, reflected Neymar Jr. Saudi Arabia’s investment in youth football development was on brilliant display as the tour demonstrated in real life the Kingdom’s commitment to grow the game for all. Dreams came true for a number of girls and boys from a Saudi Arabian Football Federation youth regional training center in Riyadh, who got to meet with and show their skills off to their footballing hero Neymar Jr. In the last three years, the number of youth regional training centers across the country climbed to 23; more than 300,000 boys and girls now play in the school’s league; there are 64 annual youth competitions across the country; and registered football coaches have jumped from 700 in 2019 to over 4,000 today. Asked whether he felt Saudi Arabia would have a good team in 2034, if they were to host, Neymar Jr was emphatic in response: “Oh, definitely, definitely. I think that not only the Saudi Pro League but also the Saudi players are getting better every year in terms of quality and competitiveness. So that means they will definitely be more competitive in 2034. “It’s a long way to go, there’s a lot of work to do, but I think they have everything to become one of the strongest teams in the tournament in 10 years’ time.” Playing and living in a country with such passion for football, with 80% of the people playing, watching or engaging in the game, has clearly had an impact on the prolific forward and brings further motivation for growth. “This opportunity to play in the Saudi league and live in their country is very important to the people. That’s why I say I’ve been welcomed here; I’m very happy, and I’m sure it can only get better. For sure, other stars will come here. I think many will have the opportunity to come here, and I think everyone should have the opportunity to experience what I’m experiencing here”. The official Saudi Arabia FIFA World Cup 2034 bid – founded on the slogan ‘Growing. Together.’ – was submitted to FIFA at the end of July. The deciding vote on who will host the 2034 tournament will be made at the FIFA Congress on December 11 of this year. Also Read: Viktor Gyokeres’ potential move from Sporting to United will be one for football romantics to cherish The post “I believe it has all the potential to be the best World Cup ever”: Neymar Jr on Saudi Arabia’s plans to host the FIFA World Cup 2034 appeared first on Sports News Portal | Latest Sports Articles | Revsports. [ad_2] Source link

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news365times · 3 months ago

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starswallowingsea · 2 years ago

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okay i think. the presentation/traveling exhibit board concepts im putting together are going to focus on samurai and cowboys since i think both of those are popular historical groups in both the us and japan and now i just. have to read

#this is for my mock jet presentation since i havent heard about interviews yet #but i want to have it prepared anyway to show i am in fact dedicated and have ideas #for my proposals and to be able to walk them through my thought process for this topic #i think it will also be easier to make these interactive for the traveling exhibit part #bc they're just gonna be like the smithsonian traveling exhibits thats just a bunch of giant displays with text and pictures #but they still have a small part that is interactive like the one that i watched over for that one day in feb 2020 #had a little mailbox you could put a note in and we could hang them up #that was like. answer one of these questions what would you do if you were mayor of your town #it was an exhibit about rural american history or smth so like #yeah i'll cross that bridge when i get there but im just trying to get ideas #im also gonna just. have a slide dedicated to characters in media in both america and japan #who are samurai and cowboys #just to show that they are popular character tropes and archetypes in media and would have at least #some sort of audience there that would be interested in visiting these exhibits #and the whole point of them being like the smithsonian traveling exhibits is that small towns can get them #and make the information more available bc its free and local and something parents can take their kids to for 30 minutes on a weekend #to learn more about history in their/another country #jdsomavpoisdf anyway #shay speaks

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five-rivers · 4 years ago

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Oh God, imagine the social media reaction to tinyMight, the feral adorable badass. Imagine his bullies and unfortunate small-time villains from 40+ years ago finding out who they tried to beat up. Imagine those few who have seen Yagi but don't know he's All Might wondering if skeleton man is All Might's twin or something. Imagine the shenanigans if the de-aging takes longer to undo. Interactions with Gran, Izuku, the other teachers.

Sequel to this.

Toshinori felt his smile grow progressively more fixed the longer the detective stared at him with that haunted expression. Was he in some kind of trouble? It sounded as if the villain had swapped him for another rookie hero, one named All Might (cool name!), but that shouldn't be Toshinori's responsibility. Maybe the quirk also linked them, somehow? That would explain why the villains had been trying to kill him, and why the banana hero- Present Mic didn't want him to leave. On the other hand...

Oh, he should just ask. That would be easier.

He opened his mouth to do just that when the detective spoke instead.

"This is going to be so much paperwork," he said.

"I'm sorry?" said Toshinori.

"Yagi," continued the detective, "I love you like a brother, but ever since I met you, my paperwork load has tripled. Tripled."

"I've only just met you?"

If possible, the detective looked even more haunted.

Luckily, at this point, Present Mic opened the door to the car and slid into the seat next to the detective. "Thanks for coming, Detective Tsukauchi," he said. "Anyway, we have confirmation on the quirk that did this to you, and, well. It isn't time travel."

"Thank god," said Detective Tsukauchi.

"Um. I thought it was teleportation...?"

"You've been de-aged by about forty years," said Present Mic, all in a rush.

What. What?

The car started up in the silence.

"Are you telling me that I'm in the future? Oh my gosh, that's an amazing quirk."

"No, no, you're in the present. You're not-- It isn't going to send you back to the past when it wears off. You'll just, you know, go back to your normal age."

"Wow. That's still a really cool quirk. Does it have to be forty years, or can he adjust the amount of time? Like, he could use it on people with degenerative mental diseases, give their families one last time with them. Or, or for witness statements! It would be pretty good for a hero, too, you could de-age villains into kids and then they couldn't fight anymore... but maybe it'd be a little unethical... Hmm..."

"You don't seem very, uh, alarmed?" said Present Mic.

"What would I be alarmed about?"

"All of your friends and family being forty years older?" suggested Present Mic.

"Haha, I don't have any of those," said Toshinori, smiling as large as he could and giving the hero two thumbs up.

Present Mic and Detective Tsukauchi just stared at him.

Then Tsukauch turned to Present Mic. "You said it'll wear off? When?"

"Uh. The quirk registry wasn't entirely clear about that. But it does wear off."

"The press is going to be a nightmare," said Tsukauchi, rubbing his face.

"Why?" asked Toshinori.

The hero and detective exchanged another glance. Toshinori could practically hear them mentally screaming you tell him, no, you tell him at each other.

Tsukauchi coughed into his fist. "Well, Toshi- excuse me, Yagi-kun, you're... You've realized those two were trying to kill you?"

"It was... sort of hard not to, honestly," said Toshinori. "Is it because I'm a hero or something?"

"How did you-?"

Toshinori silently pinched the fabric of the overlarge jumpsuit leg between his fingers and raised an eyebrow.

"Right. Well. You're the Number One hero."

"Wow," said Toshinori. It seemed to be something he kept saying, today. "How did I do that without a quirk?"

"What?"

"He's a late bloomer," said Tsukauchi, quickly. "A late bloomer. You're a late bloomer."

"Uh. Okay?"

"UA is so cool," said Toshinori, shielding his eyes against the sun as he looked up at the building.

"Haha, yeah," said Tsukauchi.

"Did I really go to school here?"

"You teach here, too!" said Present Mic.

"That's so cool," said Toshinori. "I can't believe I'm going to be a hero for over thirty years. That's like, the longest any hero has ever served."

"There are a couple who've served for longer, now, actually," said Present Mic. "Like Yoroi Musha, Recovery Girl, and Gran Torino."

"Yoroi Musha is still a hero?" asked Toshnori. "Like, actively? That's so long."

The gate behind them beeped, and Toshinori turned around just in time to take the bottom of a boot straight to the face. Needless to say, he fell over.

"Gran Torino!"

"Holy crap! I thought he'd dodge! Toshinori, you idiot, are you alright?"

"Ow," said Toshinori, trying and failing to recognize the voice that was referring to him so familiarly.

"Gran Torino, you really can't go around kicking people like that."

"Yagi-kun? Are you okay? Should we get Recovery Girl?"

Toshinori raised a shaking hand, thumb up. "I think I have a concussion."

When they got to the infirmary, it was already occupied by a couple students and... a strange homeless-looking man, but that didn't make sense. Maybe an undercover hero was stopping here for some reason? But why?

The students, one small and green, other with a mix of red and white hair, stared at him openly.

"Oops, sorry," said Present Mic. "Didn't think that anyone would be here before noon."

The homeless man sighed deeply. "Neither did I," he said, "and yet..." He fixed a baleful glare on the two students.

"I-I'm sorry, Aizawa-sensei," squeaked the green one. "I tried to get out of the way of the door, but I didn't want to run into Todoroki-kun, and-"

"It isn't your fault, problem child," said Aizawa with a sigh heavy enough to crush an elephant, who... was a teacher, evidently. Man. Standards for teachers' dress had really fallen in forty years, hadn't they? "The first year support class shouldn't have been doing anything with explosives of that caliber. Anyway, who's-"

"Are you Midoriya-kun's secret brother?" asked the red and white student.

"Who?" asked Toshinori.

"Todoroki-kun! You can't just ask people that!"

"You have to admit, he looks just like your father-"

"All Might is not my father."

"Riiiiiight," said Present Mic, guiding Toshinori to a bed with a hand on his back. "Now, why don't you just relax here while I go get Recovery Girl?"

"Coward," whispered Tsukauchi.

Present Mic shrugged and disappeared.

"So," said Aizawa, exhibiting a well-practiced air of boredom. "Are you related to All Might?"

"Eraserhead-san," said Tsukauchi, through clenched teeth, "may I introduce you to Yagi Toshinori? Yagi-kun, this is Aizawa-san. He's in charge of class 1-A."

Aizawa went pale. "Please tell me it isn't time travel."

"If it was time travel, we would be in an underground bunker or something," said Tsukauchi. "No, it was an age-regression quirk."

The green student inhaled sharply, then let off a small, "Oh."

"Wait," said the red and white student- Todoroki?- narrowing his eyes.

"Don't say it," urged the green haired boy.

"What do you think about quirks, Yagi-san?"

"Quirks are great!" said Toshinori. "I sure wish I-"

"Had a note book to write about them in!" interrupted Tsukauchi, loudly.

Toshinori frowned up at him, confused. What did he say?

Todoroki rubbed his chin with a finger. "To... analyze the quirks in?" he asked.

"Um," said Toshinori. "Yes?"

"See, Midoriya-kun?" said Todoroki, turning to the other boy. "He's just like you. You're the same." He touched his pointer fingers together.

Midoriya, for his part, looked extremely flustered.

"The same," repeated Todoroki. He looked back at Toshinori. "Do you happen to have a brother? A twin, perhaps?"

"Uh, I don't think so? But, then, I was a doorstop baby, so..."

Todoroki nodded sagely. "So you must have reunited with your long lost brother, the skeleton man, later in life-"

"Stop calling him that!" hissed Midoriya, yanking on his friend's uniform jacket.

"I wouldn't have to, if you'd just tell me your uncle's name-"

"He isn't my uncle."

Both Aizawa and Tsukauchi looked like they wanted to die. Or at least be somewhere else.

"Uh," said Toshinori, wanting to change the subject even with his concussion. "What are your quirks, anyway?"

"My quirk is called Half-Hot, Half-Cold," said Todoroki. He raised his hands. "It allows me to make fire from my left side, and ice from my right."

"Oh, neat," said Toshinori. "There must be so many applications like that! I mean, combat is obvious, but it might be even better for rescue work- Lots of casualties in natural disasters are because of exposure, you'd be ideal to counteract that in any weather. Or if a victim is going into shock! Plus, it'd be useful to have in everyday life, if they ever change the public quirk usage law- Did they change that?"

"No," said Aizawa.

"Actually, yes," said Tsukauchi, "but probably not in the way you're thinking..."

"Don't use your quirk in public," said Aizawa.

"You don't have to worry about that, because-"

"Don't use your quirk in public," said Tsukauchi, interrupting again. "Please."

"He does have a hero license, though, so technically-"

"Problem child."

"Sorry."

"Oh, oh, and what's your quirk?"

"Please do not fall out of the bed, To- Yagi-kun," said Tsukauchi.

"I'm not going to," said Toshinori.

"Well," said Midoriya, who had a very complicated expression on his face, "my quirk is, uh, a strength enhancer..."

"Just like yours," said Todoroki, as if he had just made an irrefutable point.

Oh, yeah. Toshinori's older self had a quirk. Maybe that's what Tsukauchi was trying to keep him from talking about? He wished they had told him beforehand if it was some kind of secret.

Also: was Todoroki implying that Midoriya was Toshinori's son? That'd be, like... Wow. If this was forty years in the future, and Midoriya was about the same age as him, that meant he'd had Midoriya when he was forty? Hm. He wasn't sure how to feel about that...

Luckily, before he could start in on a spiral about whether the idea of himself at forty or the idea that he had kids was the thought that was bothering him, Present Mic came back with a little old woman who was, apparently, Recovery Girl.

Wow. Yeah. That was sure a change in... everything. Yep. Really driving home the whole 'forty years in the future' thing. It sure was.

Recovery Girl sighed deeply. "What did you get yourself into this time, Toshinori?"

"Gran Torino kicked him in the head," said Tsukauchi.

"I'm going to skin that man alive one of these days," said Recovery Girl. "But I was talking about the other thing. Although, I suppose that's rather obvious. Do you mind if I heal you, dear? It will probably knock you out for a little bit."

"Sure," said Toshinori, who was beginning to strongly desire an escape from the increasingly awkward conversations around him. "Knock me out. Please."

"Alright, then."

And then she did.

#boku no hero academia #fic #prompt fill #ask #answer #bnha #this prompt has been marinating for #uh #a while #oops

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violet-t-9 · 4 years ago

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My take on why Caleb doesn’t trust Astrid and Eadwulf

Why does Caleb not trust Astrid even though she helped the M9 multiple times by now and let them leave? Well, Liam has always kept good track of what happened in previous episodes of the campaign and I believe Caleb was drawing information from all his previous encounters with Astrid and Eadwulf, so here is just some highlights on what they know about them so far. This is another long post. Again, all quotes are not exact and straight from my memory. This is just my biased personal interpretations so take it as you will.

To illustrate my points, I recommend that you watch the Narrative Telephone episode Widogast’s Web of Words. It described the three of them this way:

1. Eadwulf as the boy whose mind was eaten, and he had “no mind of his own”.

2. Astrid as the girl whose eye was cut out, and she “never saw true again”.

3. Caleb as the boy whose heart was swallowed he “never knew love again”.

1. Eadwulf: From all the interactions we have seen with Eadwulf in it, he always appeared to defer to Astrid/Trent and this very much reminded me of the “no mind of his own” aspect. He “looks to Astrid” for what to do for multiple situations, and is clearly pretty content to be a follower. Otherwise, Eadwulf didn’t get to interact with Caleb a lot in general so to Caleb he must still be kind of an enigma. Whenever Eadwulf did answer Caleb’s questions he seemed like he was pretty content in his role as a Volstrucker as well and was pretty nonchalant about his job (basically talking about it like a summer job and very casually) without showing any hesitancy about what he does/carrying out his missions. His apparent association with the Raven Queen fascinates me and I don’t think Caleb knows what to make of that either. So far from what we’ve seen, Eadwulf clearly still cares about Caleb but also has lost some capacity to think for himself due to the trauma and abuse he suffered. This may also be why Eadwulf could be harder to reach than Astrid in a sense. So far, he has not given any indicator that he doesn’t believe in Trent’s system.

2. Astrid: “never saw true again” gave me the impression of her being “blind” to what is actually right and the true nature of Trent’s system, and given the evidence so far Caleb is right to think she is still buying into Trent’s ideology. When Caleb went to Astrid’s house to talk with her, she apologized and Caleb made a very high insight check. Astrid was “genuinely mournful for his pain” but there is also something “hardened” in her that was more like a “I’m sorry that you have suffered, as many people have, life is suffering and sometimes it is necessary”. Clearly, she on some level believe that what they are doing as Volstruckers to be the right thing. She said she felt guilty about her actions sometimes, but did believe that they were making a necessary sacrifice to protect the rest of the empire. Caleb even remarked that “he blinded you”. Basically, Astrid thought that Trent’s system and ideology is a necessary evil that is ultimately good for the empire because the Volstrucker does hard things so civilians can be safe. However, there is doubt in her, especially since Caleb continued to try to reach her. She made a remark at the dinner episode, something like “what we did was for the greater good... right?” and she sounded uncertain. I do think changing her mind would be easier and she may have started to see the flaw in Trent’s system already. As of right now though, Astrid seems to be already training other Volstruckers (I could be wrong, but she mentioned “tutelage”) and Caleb/Liam’s comment about her buying into the system is clearly not mistaken based on what we have seen from her so far.

She is also ambitious in a sense that she wants to replace Trent, and she keeps reminding Caleb of that (”race you to the top”, “he is just an old man...”, “it could be an opportunity if you struck first”). She sees Caleb as an opportunity (I think Matt confirmed something about it or about her ambition when the Traveler was analyzing Astrid but can’t quite remember). She clearly doesn’t like Trent, and wants Trent gone, but it doesn’t mean she doesn’t believe in Trent’s system (all evidence suggests she does still buy into it). She also likely wants to use Caleb to further her own goals, and like Fjord said “not in an evil way” but that Caleb defying Trent would be very beneficial/convenient for her own goals. She clearly still cares about Caleb a lot and is happy to see him again, and like I said, this doesn’t mean she is trustworthy. Caleb’s concern is mostly what Astrid would do if she does replace Trent and he is right to assume things wouldn’t change much given Astrid’s belief in the system right now (her mindset of “Volstruckers are necessary and they do the dirty work so the empire can thrive”). Her helping M9 doesn’t really cancel out her ideology, it just shows that she genuinely cares for Caleb. Furthermore, so far Caleb’s presence is good for her goals. We don’t really know what she would do if Caleb appears more a threat than a benefit to her ambitions one day.

So far, Caleb is the first one to break away from Volstruckers and I do think that gives Astrid hope that Trent can be taken down, but she could very well want to keep the program around if she ever gets in charge after Trent. She is very much dangerous, ambitious, conflicted and fascinating. Her caring for Caleb is clearly not all of her character, she has her own plots and I love her for it (thanks Liam for developing this character) and I love how Matt portrays her.

3. Caleb: another reason why Caleb may not trust his “old friends” is that his heart has very much been broken. “He never knew love again” is an apt description. This is more just interpretation from my part, but I think Caleb has partially lost his ability to trust others and he doesn’t trust anyone outside the M9, his immediate found family and their extended families (it took him a LONG time to trust them as well). Honestly? He is for the most part right to not trust people so far (exhibit A: Essek reveal) and all his paranoia from early episodes have come true, so I would not be surprised that this one does as well. [I wanted to use Yussa as a counter argument for trusting people then I remembered they trusted him with the knowledge of Aeor and he proceeded to yeet himself into the astral sea in 48 hours (the poor man).]

So yeah, reason 3 is that Caleb is just not a very trusting individual in general. He has expressed that he loved Astrid and Eadwulf, but that feeling has of course faded after more than a decade of not seeing them. He does still care for the both of them, but he does not - and should not - trust them to want to reform the Volstrucker system and change the Empire the way that Caleb wants it changed.

Now there is clearly still hope that Eadwulf and Astrid can change their mind, especially if Caleb keeps reaching out. Astrid has already shown some hesitancy and reconsideration. They also both helped the M9. I do believe that it is possible for them to eventually see Trent’s system as it is, and they have the capacity to change for the better. Right now though? Yeah, they are still pretty much buying into Trent’s system as far as I can tell. Helping M9, caring for Caleb and wanting Trent dead are separate issues and have nothing to do with what they believe in ideology-wise. I really hope that Caleb does make it back and gets to try reaching out to them again after the whole city thing is dealt with. I am very excited to see where both of these characters will go. They are very complex and fun to think about.

#caleb widogast #eadwulf #astrid beck #critical role #cr spoilers #cr discourse #campaign 2 #the mighty nein #narrative telephone

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publiccollectors · 4 years ago

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From the discussion “Towards A Self Sustaining Publishing Model” hosted by Printed Matter.

Some things I have learned in over 30 years of publishing since my teenage days as a zine maker, administrating my project Public Collectors, and from working in the group Temporary Services and our publishing imprint Half Letter Press.

I have just ten minutes to speak. If only one or two things that I share are useful, that’s plenty! It took me decades to understand some of this stuff.

Use every exhibition invitation with a budget to print something. Use the whole budget to print something. Make something in a large enough print run so that you have something to give away and surplus that you can sell. Your publication can be a folded sheet of paper, a booklet, a newspaper, a poster, a book, or anything in between.

Be able to print at least something at home. Buy a cheap laser printer or inkjet printer, find a used copy machine, buy a RISO or some other duplicator, carve something into a potato or a piece of foam and print it. Being able to do at least some of the printing and production at home—even if it’s on a tiny scale—will compel you to print things that you might have convinced yourself not to send out or bring to a professional printer. Hopefully the ability to print impulsively and compulsively will result in good work. Figure out how to keep making things on every scale. Look for cheap used printing equipment on Craigslist. Team up with friends and buy equipment together that you can share. Start a printing collective in your basement.

Ideally your publication should cost 1/5th or 1/6th of the retail price to make. If you sell a $10.00 publication through a store, you are probably only going to make $6.00 or less after the store takes its cut. So ideally your $10.00 book costs $2.00 or less to make. Don’t aim to just break even. Aim to make a profit so you can keep making more publications and pay for your life. Publishing will probably never be your sole income but don’t lose money on purpose. Make things that are priced fairly and look like they justify what they cost to buy. The fact that you didn’t find a more affordable way to print something is not an excuse to sell something that feels cheap and shitty for a ridiculous sum of money. Good cheap printing is easier to find than ever before. Do your homework.

Figure out the cheapest and least wasteful ways to do everything. Ask other publishers where they get their work printed. Look for local printers so you can avoid shipping fees. Ask local printers if you can pay in cash for a discount. Ask printers if there is a cheaper way to do what you want to do by adjusting the size of your paper or the paper stock or some other small shift in form. If you print things yourself, buy the paper that is on sale. Design a publication around the paper that you found for cheap. Discount warehouses sometimes have good paper. Even dollar stores sometimes have good paper. I’ve even bought paper at flea markets. Costco sells an 800 sheet ream of 24 lb paper for $6.99. I use it all the time. It rules. I also recommend getting your jugs of organic olive oil there, but you can’t print with that.

Free printing is good printing. If you have access to free printing, use it. Free printing is like free food at art openings and conference receptions. It is one of those pleasures in life that never gets old. Come up with an idea that is based around the aesthetics of whatever free printing you have access to and make the publication that way. Eat the cheese and bread. Drink the wine. Make the copies at work.

Buy bulk shipping mailers on eBay. Find bubble wrap and other packing materials in the trash. Look out for neighbors who just bought new furniture—it’s usually wrapped in miles of packing material you can use for shipping books. Boycott terrible right wing fuckers like ULINE. Seriously, they give money to everyone horrible. Trump? Check. Ted Cruz? Check. Scott Walker? Check. ROY FUCKING MOORE? CHECK FUCKING CHECK! Tear up their catalogs and use them as packing material to protect your books. Make publications that have a consistent size so you can purchase cardboard mailers in bulk and get a discount on them. Buy packing tape in bulk. Buy everything in bulk. You can store your extra reams of paper under your bed or on top of your kitchen cabinets if necessary. Be like a wacko survivalist prepper, but for office supplies. Go to estate sales and look for the home office in the house. Buy the dead person’s extra tape and staples and rulers and scissors. I’ve been using some random dead person’s staples for years because I bought their staple hoard. Staples aren’t like meat and milk. They don’t expire.

I’m against competition. Try to avoid competing with other artists for resources. If you don’t truly need the money, don’t ask for it. Artists should have a section on their CV where they list grants they could have easily gotten but didn’t apply for because they are privileged enough that they don’t need the money as much as someone else. I almost never apply for anything but the one thing I do apply for and get every year is a part-time faculty development grant from Columbia College Chicago where I teach. It pays adjuncts up to $2,500 a year to fund their projects and seems to be completely non-competitive. My union negotiated to get us more money. I have used that grant to make over a dozen publications. The value of the publications I make and sell with each grant is about three or four times the value of the grant itself. Some years I make more from the grant than I do from the limited number of classes I teach. But I don’t depend on this grant to be a publisher and I’d still be able to make things without it.

Make things in different price ranges so everyone can afford your work, but also so that you can sustain your practice. Make a publication that costs $2.00, that costs $6.00, that costs $20.00, and make something special for the fancy ass institutional libraries that have a lot of money to spare and can buy something that costs $300.00. Likewise, make things in all different size print runs. Is there something you can print 1,000 of that you can keep selling and giving away for years, to enjoy that quantity discount that comes with offset printing a large number of publications?

Collaborate with people and pay them with publications (if they are cool with that) that they can sell on their own. Sometimes this ends up being better pay and more useful than an honorarium, and it helps justify a larger print run. But see what they need—don’t assume. Barter with other publishers and sell each other’s work and let each other keep the money. This helps with distribution. Sometimes it’s easier to sell their work than it is to sell your own. Help others expand the audience for their publications.

Fund your publishing practice by asking your friends who teach to invite you to talk to their college classes about your work. Use those guest speaker fees to print something. I sometimes tell people on social media: If three or four people will invite me to speak to their class, it could fund the entire next issue of X booklet series that you like so much. This has often worked. Also, sometimes their students end up ordering publications. Sometimes lectures about publications generate more income than the publications themselves.

Have an emailing list and write newsletters to announce new publications. Stay in touch with people who like what you do. Expect to spend a ton of time corresponding with people. Have some cheap things and cool ephemera on hand that you can send people for free when they mail order your publications. Reward people who support you directly with something nice that they didn’t expect. People like handwritten notes. It’s okay if they are very short but sign the packing slip and at least write “Thank you!”

Above all, know that publishing is a life journey and not a get rich quick scheme, or even a make very much money scheme. Enjoy the experience of meeting and working with others, trade your publications with other publishers and build up an amazing library of small press, hard to find artist books. Get vaccinated and travel and sleep on each other’s couches. Be generous with your time, knowledge, resources, and work. Tell Jeff Bezos to fuck off by never selling anything you make through Amazon. Find the bookstores that you love and work with them forever. It’s nicer to have deeper relationships with fewer bookstores than surface level interactions with dozens of shops run by people you don’t know.

Think about your publishing family. Bookstore people are your family. People that organize book fairs and zine fests are your publishing family. Other publishers are your family. People who follow your work for years on end are your family. Printers and binderies are your family. The postal workers that know you by name and that you know by name are your family. The person who doesn’t care if you make the free copies at work is your family. Over thirty years later, I’m still in contact with people I exchanged zines with through the mail when I was a teenager. In some cases I still haven’t met them in person. It’s fine! They are my family. Your students are your family—particularly once they graduate or drop out, as long as they continue making books and zines. Your family is your family, particularly if they value and support your publishing practice. And for this reason, this talk is dedicated to my late father Bruce Fischer, who let me use the company copier and postage meter when I was in high school, and to my mom who sat on the floor with me and helped me hand collate and staple my zines.

That’s what I’ve got for now. Stay in touch and with luck, and enough vaccines and masks and hand sanitizer, maybe I’ll see you at a book fair. – Marc Fischer • Thank you to Be Oakley of GenderFail for the invitation to present, to the other presenters Vivian Sming, Yuri Ogita, and Devin Troy Strother, and to the wonderful people at Printed Matter for hosting this! You should be able to find the video archived on Printed Matter’s YouTube Channel. Presented on April 2, 2021

#Public Collectors #Publishing #Printed Matter #Be Oakley #Sming Sming #Coloured Publishing #GenderFail

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slashingdisneypasta · 4 years ago

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Hello! Can I request a headcanon where the queen of hearts (1951), Maleficent, Cruella, Shang yu and Yzma (separated) take care of a lost (orphaned) little girl (like 5-6) and adopted her as their own. Thank!

These were sooooo fun to think of, omg XD I feel all warm inside, thanks for the request! I hope you like it as much as I do ^^

~~~

Cruella DeVille (You can imagine either animated, OUAT or live action Cruella, but I liked this gif ^^):

· Cruella, is more of a… fun, rich aunt. You know, when you can post the child back to its parents any time you like with a sugar high and new Xbox?

· But, as the capable entrepreneur and businesswoman that she is, she rises to the challenge of ‘parenting’, when the stinky orphaned girl living on the streets (You, obviously) show potential in the fashion industry.

· She takes you right to the adoption agency, picks you up and plops you on the counter like a pair of shoes and asks how much you cost. You just smile sweetly, like the most adorable munchkin ever despite the off way your new caregiver handles you, and the agent has some reservations, of course, but Cruella’s able to speed up the adoption process with her connections and her money.

· Your relationship at first is similar to Oswald Cobblepot and Martin’s. And if you haven’t watched Gotham, I’ll explain; Sort of distant, but the adult is trying at least. They’re just not used to having a pre-teen around. And, somehow, they’re making the child feel more understood and taken care of then anyone else ever has, despite both parties’ reservations.

· Slowly you bond (Over fashion, obviously) and Cruella turns into, honestly, a pretty good mum (For a villain who wants to kidnap puppies from her friend and make a coat for herself out of them, anyway). She learns to not gag when your shows are on the telly, she takes more time off work to take care of you and turn up to your school things (Like parent-teacher interviews, concerts, art exhibitions, and assemblies if you’re going to get an award- she even makes artful collages out of your work on the fridge), and you two even learn how to cook some easy dinners together.

· (Cruella can cook, I think, but I can imagine they’re more fancy stuff that a kid really isn’t interested in)

· You’re a two-person team kind of family.

· She doesn’t like you to be around Jasper and Horace because their stupidity and lack of fashion sense could be contagious.

· For the longest time, you just call her Cruella… until one day she says she loves you (Which is visibly difficult for her. Not because the words aren’t true, but because she’s not sentimental) and you finally call her ‘Mum’.

Maleficent:

· You start following her around, lost and having decide the scary green lady with a cute bird pet is the one to go to for help. She tries to scare you off, but of course you’re already scared anyway! But not of her- of being left alone.

· So you keep following her through the forest, until you reach her castle and Diablo has become attached to you and is sitting on your shoulder instead of hers, nuzzling your little face.

· She leaves out some food for you for dinner and lays a clean blanket down on an abandoned bed in a random room down a dark hallway. It’s a spooky night, in that creepy castle… but the blanket smells like grass and you find that if you close your eyes and smoosh your face into it, you don’t think about the things that could be hidden in the dark. Also, Diablo comes in and keeps you company.

· Mal is sure that you’ll be gone the next day. That’s why she was so kind. She was sure you were just a determined straggler and if she offered you a home for a night, then you would be the fickle little child that you are leave without so much as a thank you the next day.

· But you don’t leave.

· And you do say thank you, and even make her a mud pie outside the castle.

· She gives you a bit of a smile (Not soft, because Mal is still an evil fairy, but it’s a refreshing look on a face that had been pinched the whole time), resigning to you. You’re all alone like her. Maybe it won’t hurt so much to let you stay.

· Okay, as a parent, Mal isn’t so bad. She settles into the pace easier than Cruella or Yzma, at least, and her lifestyle allows for a far stabler childhood for you then Shan Yu’s. Plus, she’s outwardly very calm, which is a huge improvement from if you were living under the Red Queens roof.

· Distracts you with magic when she’s busy or just when she wants to watch the awe in your face as you watch sparkles dance around the room like real life stars.

· Keeps you away from all her villainy- you don’t need to be messed up in all that. Basically no one except her crow knows you exist and she’d like to keep it that way.

Shan Yu:

· Shan Yu finds you after he pillages your village (And you’re the only survivor) and you followed along behind his men for a while until they noticed you. Which didn’t take long, of course, they’re a group of highly skilled Huns in the ways of hunting and warfare.

· He uses his noggin (A very good noggin. Much cleverness) and identifies the favourable factors to having a little girl with them. You’re unassuming, for one, and can be trained (And moulded) to be used as a diversion for them in the kind of situations in which brute force do not apply and wouldn’t be helpful.

· He also acknowledges the need to train the next generation into their image to continue the Huns control over China even after he passes away. So, off on the quest to take over China you go, with them.

· He is so big, that you can perch on his wide shoulder and he’ll be fine still marching along.

· He gets a bit soft when interacting with you. At least, he certainly doesn’t treat you like an adult because you of course aren’t one. He encourages your childish wonder and your playing around. He’ll even play eye spy with you as you travel, or play a little tug of war if you get a piece of fabric or rope (Yes, like a puppy) and he’s just sitting down chilling somewhere on a rest break or at camp, pretending that the game is actually a contest until he smirks and tugs just a tiny bit harder and you fall forward onto your face XD (He only uses one hand the entire time)

· He’s a really chill dad, really, despite the whole… killing everyone in your village… First impressions, amiright? XD

· The rest of his men either hate you with every fibre of their huge beings or love you even more, and that’s the tea. One of them once rolled you up in a blanket and strapped you to a horse so you would stop annoying them by running around in front of the mules. You decide whether this was one who hated you or loved you. (Another came along and put a roll of bread in your mouth so you could eat, but didn’t release you)

· You’ve also been tied (Safely and comfortably, yes but still tied with your feet off the ground) to a tree as a time out and dropped in lakes (Once they knew you could swim) to calm your shit when you got hyper.

· You sleep in Shan Yu’s tent until you’re like 14 and declares that you’re able to defend yourself and can kill a man, so he can keep you safe.

Queen of Hearts:

· Goodness, who let this woman adopt? (Well, I mean, no-one could stop her) Even Hades would be better, and he tried to have a baby assassinated.

· This woman would be unintentionally manipulative towards this child (Like Norma and Norman Bates. Jesus christ). Whenever the kid doesn’t do anything that she wants them to, she’ll get p i s s e d, and that might legitimately mess with the kids psyche. She won’t behead the lil girl, of course, which I guess is bit of a saving grace (she isn’t that cruel) here? But it’s definitely a good thing the gentle King of Hearts is around, to settle the flames and calm down his wife and new daughter when games go awry.

· (And ya’ll play lots of games. Some of the time, living with her and her husband as your parental figures is a dream for a little girl like you)

· She does try her very hardest to be kind and not to lose her temper, and it is made so much easier by the fact that you’re an innocent little girl (Younger than Alice was), and she’s very fond of you. So, in a way, adopting you is helping her with her issues, and by extension, helping the rest of Wonderland.

· You get a big fancy throne-like highchair at the royal dinner table.

· Your little family is a bit or very messy, but you are never not loved. You always know that you’re loved.

Yzma:

· When Yzma takes you in, its because Kronk discovered your little form sleeping in an alleyway and ran with you in his hands back to her, and BEGGED her. This sweetheart (Kronk, not Yzma) could not handle the knowledge that a little baby girl was abandoned and all alone on the streets. And Yzma’s the most well-off, influential person he knows! Of course he’s going to go to her for help.

· When she finally gives in, its because you called her pretty. She’s just like… pause… “Seems like an intelligent enough… eugh… child... Kronk come! We have to disinfect it.”

· Kronk rushes after Yzma, still holding you and clarifies for you: “She means a bath.”

· So, now, you have your protective, psycho, affection-challenged mother and your sweet, dumb, beloved… uncle. Yeah, uncle. We’ll go with uncle.

· Yzma takes a while to get used to you, and she’s very defiant against getting called ‘Mum’ or ‘Mother’ (Mama or Mummy have a more youthful feel, according to Yzma.), but she’s pretty immature due to her psychosis so she tends to blend well with your child personality.

· You laugh so much, with her. Most of the things she says are hilarious, especially when she’s exasperated and mutters about Kronk.

· She doesn’t want you to grow up without a brain like him (Or to mix with other children- she will not be dealing with chicken pox or nits. If you did get either of those things, she would be living in a full-on hazmat suit and spray everything you touch, and you. Kronk would end up getting the sickness because he gives you lots of hugs and takes care of you while you’re sick or you have the nits) so she gets you a home school teacher.

· On your birthday (They do the day Kronk found you if you don’t know it), Kronk wakes Yzma up at the buttcrack of dawn drags her along to set up the day for you. Including a treasure hunt, where its clear that Yzma wrote the clues because its very translucent through the sentences she wrote that she didn’t have coffee before writing them. Very bitter.

· She does want to make you happy though and buys you literally the best present for a child of that time. I don’t know what it is, but it’s the equivalent for them of a little car or coloured TV (Like the Barbie or Hot Wheel ones) for us. She’s so smug about it, too, like ‘Shove that up your 4 layer cake with different flavours, Kronk.’.

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mcrmadness · 4 years ago

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Pink, amber and coral :)

Ask game: 20 colour asks.

Hello, and thanks for the ask :D (I read this to the tune of a Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy book title :D)

---

pink - which is your favourite animal? zoos or farms?

Cats! And especially tigers!

And oh, the second one is a good question! I do enjoy zoos and animal parks but I just get to those quite rarely. I think Finland has only one actual proper zoo, and it's in Helsinki, and the last time I visited was in 2002 or so when I was 11. The rest here are more of animal parks which sometimes have some more exotic animals in them, e.g. a snow leopard, but mainly they have more common animals that exist in the Finnish nature as well - or they have all kinds of different ungulates which are easier to keep and set up the exhibits for.

But I think I have to say I like farms more than zoos, as long as it's not intensive farming where animals become numbers in the system instead of individuals with names. And since I am a horse groom who is occasionally dreaming of other animal related jobs, especially zookeeper's job, I still would prefer an animal park or farm animal park if it means I get to also interact with the animals from the ground instead if behind bars or glass. I really like to hang out with animals and interact with them and pet/scratch them if they like it, and I think I'd be miserable working at a zoo where I would have to only watch them.

---

I'll put the rest under a cut because I, again, could not stop talking :D

amber - can you drive? if not, how do you get around?

Yeah, I can drive. I got the driver's license a couple of months after I turned 18 (in 2009). I was planning on getting it on my birthday but I failed the first test and had to do it again, and it meant I had to take a few more lessons before I was allowed to try it again. But then I finally made it - and also never forgot the roundabout traffic rules again because it was one of the reasons why I failed the first test :D

I also got a car before getting the driver's license, and my current one is my second car. It's an absolute lifesafer to own, especially in my city which is not that big but has even worse public traffic system and too many uphills to every direction. I don't love anything as much as the feeling of not having to run after busses and stress over if I'll be able to catch one or not, because I'm always running late. With my own car I'll always have a ride, even if I'm running late despite it.

I also often choose to drive to other cities instead of public transport. It's just the feels of freedom. I live in east Finland and for some reason it's always more difficult to travel horizontally than vertically in Finland, so you often have to switch busses or trains several times, or use both, and the timetables might not always line-up nicely, so it's very stressful to try and find something that would match. But with a car you can just... hop in your car and drive and you're there without worrying about switching to other vehicles.

---

coral - which is your favourite disney movie? who makes the better movies, disney or pixar?

The Lion King, definitely. I saw it from a VHS shortly after it came out and have loved the movie ever since. It's also the only (original) Disney, of the ones we had on VHS, that had the music I absolutely adored. I realized this only when I was already an adult and found out Hans Zimmer made the score for the film. Also the "musical numbers" are better than in most films, and I usually hate musicals.

I hyperfixated on the Lion King when it was released on a dvd (at least in Finland) in 2003 when I was 12, and I bought it as well as the sequels and just, well, hyperfixated for some time :D

I think Pixar makes better movies than Disney. I have been a "fan" of Pixar ever since Toy Story came out, altho, I haven't seen any of the newer Pixar nor Disney movies since the early or mid 2000s. I think The Incredibles is probably the last one I saw? Except for Toy Story 3, that one I have seen and it was actually great, too. And MOnsters University.

I think the reason why I was always more drawn to Pixar than Disney films were the stories. I had some of the original Disney princess movies on VHS as I was growing up and I always hated them, they were so boring? I preferred the animal movies over movies about humans, and I also often was so annoyed by the music in all those movies, apart from The Lion King and 101 Dalmatians - which I didn't even have on VHS ever but borrowed it from my cousins sometimes.

Now, as an adult, as I look back at those Pixar movies, I have realized that they probably fed my aromantic side a lot. Most of the old Disney movies were about a princess finding a prince in the end, meanwhile the princesses being extremely boring as characters. But Pixar movies were (are?) all about the adventure and friendships (or a found family, even?), and I don't remember there ever being any proper romance? Like, sometimes they indicated some sort of a romance or how there COULD be one, but I don't remember any of them ending in a romance, or that it would have been the main idea of the whole story. Or even a subplot.

So, Pixar is my answer :D And Toy Story will probably forever be The Pixar film for me. It was also one of my first childhood hyperfixations as I was already old enough to understand and also memorize things. (I was 4 or 5 when I first saw it.)

#zediina #ask games

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olympivnshq · 6 years ago

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congratulations nyla ! this application was nothing short of exquisite. andrea is wholesome, and well rounded in the way you have thought her out and she seems like the perfect mortal counterpart to ATHENA. even through your descriptions and your sample, we could feel the regal hints and athena’s natural class shining through. we’re excited to see you interact with your first faceclaim choice: RACHEL WEISZ.

☆ﾟ*・ﾟ OOC INFO.

Hello my name is Nyla and my timezone is PST. I’m an avid fan of Rick Riordan’s writing and have always loved Greek mythology. I’m currently in university working towards a dual degree in classics and English literature so you could say that studying Greek mythology makes up a big part of my life

☆ﾟ*・ﾟ DEITY — GENDER. AGE RANGE.

ATHENA—F. 30-35

☆ﾟ*・ﾟ MORTAL NAME. JOB/OCCUPATION. BOROUGH/NEIGHBORHOOD.

ANDREA SCOTT. Curator for the American Museum of Natural History – in charge of acquisitions and collections. Upper East Side

☆ﾟ*・ﾟ AESTHETICS.

The sound of stilettos on freshly waxed marble floors, signed contracts, expensive fountain pens, classic statues, glass cases of artifacts, a stack of books, hair wrapped into an elegant chignon bun, brownstone apartments, appointment books filled with cursive writing, impeccable perfection, expertly winged eyeliner, lunch break walks across central park.

☆ﾟ*・ﾟ FACE-CLAIM.

Rachel Weisz / Annabelle Wallis / Olivia Wilde

☆ﾟ*・ PLAYLIST.

i. A seven nation army couldn’t hold me back // ii. But in all chaos, there is calculation // iii. They wanna make me their queen // iv. Whose side am I on, whose side am I? // v. I find it hard to tell you, I find it hard to take // vi. Everybody falls down, all the way down // vii. Ink on her skin incomplete // viii. Fifteen flares inside those ocean eyes // ix. I can hold the weight of worlds // v.In spite of all my fears, I can see it all so clear

☆ﾟ*・ HOW WOULD YOU PLAY THEM?

Athena is completely at peace when she is hard at work. She does not enjoy remaining idle with nothing to do, she enjoys a challenge and would like nothing better than to be strategizing and solving problems all day as she is well aware that her mind is leagues beyond everyone else’s. A master of linguistics, she’s able to converse with anyone that she meets, understanding not only the language, but the inherent focus of what people try to tell her. She is comfortable in her solitude, conceding that her intelligence alienates her and puts barriers around her that make it seem like she is unapproachable, however, to the brave souls who do cross that self-made barrier, she is a loyal and determined friend and source of refuge. Athena is a very difficult goddess to impress, as she requires nothing less than perfection with every task, but that being said, she is also a goddess who will come to those who need her and help them when she can. She is not the most forgiving of the goddesses and has a penchant for striking back at those who go against her, making sure that she always has the last word, and that attitude extends to her fellow gods and goddesses – she can hold grudges for a very long time and she would not hesitate in retaliating when she feels that she’s been slighted.

Andrea was raised with a silver spoon in her mouth, adopted by a wealthy railway tycoon who was based in New York, she was more of a publicity stunt for his more charitable benefactors than anything else. It took time, but her adoptive father did grow fond of Andrea, spoiling her and ensuring that her thirst for knowledge was quelled with the finest education that money could buy, and a seat on many of the city’s philanthropic committees as she grew older. She attended Oxford university and holds several degrees, including an undergraduate degree in art history and a doctorate degree in curatorial studies. Having studied in London for most of her post-secondary career, she was able to travel Europe and become immersed in the art and culture that the world had to offer, but New York called and she decided that achieving her educational accomplishments, it was time to come home. Andrea has inherited Athena’s fierce and relentless nature, but she is warmer, and easier to approach, eager to help whenever she can. While she is very particular about the standard of her own work, she understands that she cannot demand the same level of perfection from everyone and regularly tries to check herself and adjust to come to the safer middle ground between her expectations and what is possible. She is highly respected in New York society, not by her adoptive father’s name, but because of the work that amazing work that she does in bringing great examples of art and culture to the city. Andrea has yet to tap into the battle and strategy side of her goddess counterpart, but she has always been interested in the history of war, and is sometimes approached by federal organizations like the CIA and Departments of State due to her expertise in foreign affairs and linguistics – both hobbies and subjects of interest that she picked up in university and continued to study in the little free time she had when she was not working on acquisitions for the museum. She lives alone in a brownstone townhouse in the upper east side, where many of her walls are covered from floor to ceiling with books and documents. She surrounds herself with them as they bring her joy, and she likes to know that her personal collection can rival those of the world’s most intellectual bibliophiles. Andrea is well connected but doesn’t keep many close friends because of how intimidating she can be, often resorting to dry humor and raised eyebrows. She questions people, and picks them apart from mere observations and often doesn’t even realize that she is being blunt or revealing truths that people would rather not hear.

1. are they more likely to stand with the pantheon or against it?

Athena will definitely stand with the Pantheon. She believes in necessary order, and believes that the Pantheon is the only way to achieve this. She believes that each God and Goddess has a role to fulfill, and without the order that this balance maintains, the world is sure to delve into complete chaos and discord.

2. what is their stand on mortals?

She sees humans as important. She is not naïve, and doesn’t believe that they are unnecessary because of their lack of powers in comparison to the Gods, but she does see how easily manipulated they are by their emotions. It irks her to see so many problems come from the human inability to control themselves, and has little patience for the errors that happen as a result. That being said, she does not give up on the human race as it is not in Athena’s nature to back down from any challenge, and she believes that with guidance and proper shaping, mortals have plenty to offer the world.

☆ﾟ*・ SAMPLE PARA (OPTIONAL)

Heels clicking on the freshly waxed marble of the empty museum halls, Andrea looked around. In her opinion there was no greater privilege than the one that her job as curator provided her, being able to wander these halls and have access to all the art and history that the walls of the museum housed. She knows everything there is to know about every piece, observing them and taking them in as if each object has a life of its own that is worth knowing, for that is how she feels about knowledge – something to be appreciated as one would appreciate another human being. Perhaps that was her mistake, seeing more worth in her solitude looking at the displays, than in idle conversations filled with small talk and topics void of substance.

She passes through the artifacts of war exhibit, impressed as she always is, with the job that the display staff have done to showcase the great artifacts on loan to the museum from Greece and Rome, but she can’t help but succumb to the chill that goes up her spine when she looks at some of the items. The freshly shined brass of the swords, the murals of battles from the myths that she knew almost too well… it’s almost as if she was a part of the history, and not just the acquisition of each item. Yes, she had chosen each piece and planned the exhibition in her head spending many sleepless nights going over the blueprints and plans, but looking at them now she felt like she could see the battles taking place, with flashes of faces that she did not completely recognize invading her mind as she walked through the room. Her hands grew cold, remembering scenes that she knew she had not taken from any movies, watching in disappointment from above at the recklessness that fueled battles, always thinking that there was a more strategic way to go about each play.

Chalking it up to lack of sleep and an attachment to the museum’s newest exhibit she cleared her throat and took a final look at the space, satisfied with her final run through before the ribbon cutting ceremony that afternoon, and sparing one last glance at the spears and shields that were displayed in their full splendour in the middle of the room, stamped and brandished with the familiar symbol of an owl’s intelligent eyes.

☆ﾟ*・ ANYTHING ELSE?

Here is a link to a pinterest board that I made for Athena!

#ohq:accepted #lsrpg #mature rp #fantasy rp #athena #rachel weisz

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starlitfaery · 6 years ago

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ooc

The following post will contain KH3 spoilers, marked and sectioned off, that you may need to fully understand this theory on the Fae in Kingdom Hearts and where their fabled world, often called in our world, the Otherworld, is located, and how I was friggin right about how Maleficent truly sees Riku as one of her own.

no images will be used as Mun is too lazy to find appropriate sceenshots of every scene I will refer to.

ANYWHO!! Let’s get this show started, feel free to reblog this post, just remember to tag appropriately since some people still don’t know the game

First some background and history on the fae, just a bit.

Fae = Faerie = Fairy = Fayrie = The Good Folk = Little Helpers = People Under The Hill = basically any sort of nickname you can think of besides fairy or an alternate spelling of fairy, because if they heard you dissing them by daring to say they weren’t good and kind and just and shit, then they often chose to make you their next pranking target for a while. I tend to just use the word Fae to generalize and make things easier

The fae are said in some cultures to live under the hill, their world, because it is a whole other world in mythos, is hidden from human sight. Often, it has even been said that to travel to the Otherworld, is to see death.

Because animals can see the fae easily, animals also see ghosts

(In fact, many traits attributed to fae, are also attributed to ghosts, or vice versa, but that’s only partially important to this post)

It’s said that in the world of the fae, there is no such thing of time. Years can pass in the human world, or mere minutes, and the fae would barely even notice if at all. The funny thing is

Aqua says that about the Dark World too.

In her game, Fragmentary Passage, she makes a note of how she has no friggin idea what’s going on out there in the Realm of Light, how she can’t understand how long she’s been trapped, but she knows time has passed, she can’t tell though.

She cannot tell how long she’s been there. Because “there is no time in the realm of darkness.”

We can assume from that, that she didn’t get hungry, she didn’t get exhausted. In fact she started the game as lvl 50, so it’s not like she started over just cause she basically died.

That’s another thing, there are 5 thousand million and one references to dying being equated to being lost to the darkness

Which brings us to the thought that the Realm of Darkness is where the dead go

The Sleeping Worlds are often said to be nestled in the Darkness

in her game, Aqua takes solace in the fact that while she wandered Cinderella’s world, she never saw a person there trapped alongside her, so she assumed they were all safe and alive even though their world wasn’t

she didn’t take a moment to wonder if the heartless she was killing were the very villagers she was glad weren’t trapped with her, she should have, but she didn’t

so here’s the rub, whenever a person in our universe was said to be stolen by the fae, they were believed dead for as long as they were missing, sometimes they would return and they would either be the same age they were when they disappeared or older than they should be

time does not exist to the fae, not in such a way that we mere humans understand according to all the myths and fables and legends

so, all that said, let’s leave Aqua for a moment in the Darkness which is basically close af to Death and to the Fae, and see other characters affected

Maleficent is not merely a dark witch, she is a dark fairy. As a fae, she cannot actually lie, she can withhold truth, she can twist truth, but she cannot blatantly lie. she can say things that are truth to herself

she and The Three Good Fairies are kin, but the truth of the matter is, fae politics are strange and unusual, and a good large amount of fae would stab you in the toe if you dared say they weren’t good, so we honestly can’t take their title of Three Good Fairies seriously

Maleficent however admits she is dark, admits she can do great evil

she takes pure unadulterated pleasure in wreaking chaos across all worlds

in bringing the Realm of Light, notably full of humans, and covering it in Darkness, which, as we stated above, could very well be where the fae actually live

we only have a few fae we get to know in KH, Maleficent, Fauna, Flora, Merryweather, Tinkerbell, and Peter Pan (edit! and the Gullwings, whom are single minded the entire time and focused only on treasure)

however, Peter Pan is often likened to a changling more than a human or a fae, a child created or strengthened through fairy magic, through chaos magic. some versions of the tale have it that Tinkerbell stole a human babe and all that pixie dust eventually turned him into one of them, others tell of him being fae right from the start

unseen normally in kh and most modern depictions of Pan, is that he will legitimately kill people once they’re no longer of use to him, all he cares about is his enjoyment

and Tink? she does everything to make Pan happy, because she loves the chaos just as much as him, she’s his enabler in that regard, and dislikes when he chooses to allow something she doesn’t like (exhibit a: Wendy)

all fae the same, in that they seek out something that brings them joy, and then they tend to spend a large time of their life doing that over and over and over and over and over and over again

The Three Good Fairies hereby shortened to TGF have this thing, they like helping humans. They like to give humans magical things and see what happens afterwards. They like to make clothes too, and their chaotic nature shows in the way they interact with humans, unable to stop squabbling amongst themselves because obviously each separate fairy knows better than the other two

all of the KH fae have their respective territories, though Maleficent, as stated before, obviously wants to make her territory larger, for the most part, they don’t interact with each other

and none seem to call a single place home except for Pan and Tink, but then, they have a world to play with humans they’ve picked, and often grab new humans when eventually their humans grow to have no use to them

who is to say they didn’t all come from the fabled Otherworld, and simply spread out across the Realm of Light since, if the Otherworld is truly nestled in the Realm of Darkness and thereby void of humans and full of Heartless, all fae love to interact with humans?

since humans can do what they can’t, they can lie

and fae are often noted to steal away their favored humans, to a place beyond time

in KH1, Riku asks Maleficent why she’s helping him, and she says, he’s like a son to her.

anyone that’s known me long enough knows that I strongly believe she was twisting the truth so that the other members of her Circle wouldn’t look down on her, because it appears that a fae’s inabillity to lie is NOT well known in KH, i never see it mentioned anywhere

and so her Circle overhears her saying to the young boy that threw his world into darkness (into chaos, into death, into her home) that may or may not be able to weild a keyblade, that he’s like a son to her, obviously she’s manipulating him, lying to him to gain his favor

but i don’t believe that, when i took a look at the japanese version, the way they spoke to each other, riku was rude af and Mal didn’t seem to mind at all, led me to believe that she truly held affection for Riku

in CoM it’s shown she gave him a huge fucking room with a gazillion books, he had always been given a choice in what he did, she gave him options, asked if he would join her plans or continue freeloading, because he was a freeloader

she found his friends, told him “hey that Sora friend of yours seems to have new friends”, let him see what was going on and take from it what he would, and did no more than offer him a place to crash, maybe do a few errands, hey kid wanna learn magic while you’re here, hey kid wanna go to Hook’s world I think your other friend is there

(it’s implied he’s the one that kidnapped Alice/Snow White depending on the order of you doing the words in KH1, but if that were completely true, he would have seen Sora while grabbing Alice)

he was given everything by her, everything he could want, because that’s how she and her kin work

they take the unwanted, the children the adults, they take the forlorn, the depressed, the anxious, they take all the ones that believe they would not be missed, and they give them everything they want in order to keep them among the fae

is that not what happened?

and, here’s where we get to kh3 spoilers, just a few but honestly, considering when it happens i’ll call it an endgame spoiler even though it has basically no bearing to the actual end of the game (as far as we know)

KH3 SPOILERS START HERE, I’M TRYING TO BE AS VAGUE AS POSSIBLE WHILE STILL GETTING THE IDEA OF THE SCENE ACROSS

in one world i’ll not name, Maleficent is wandering around all willy nilly with Pete, marveling at the world, when a corridor of darkness opens up behind her and out walks a Riku

he’s like “you better not be thinking of getting in my way”

and she’s like “i wouldn’t dream of it my child, play around to your heart’s content and let us both do whatever we want and not get in each other’s way”

and then Pete’s like “new phone who dis” as Riku is happy with her answer and smiles and walks away

and Mal is like “a friend, but i couldn’t begin to tell you from when”

KH3 SPOILERS END HERE

that scene reminds me heavily of the fact that the fae have a strange understanding of time

she knew instantly he was time displaced, and didn’t question it

if anything, she seemed outright proud of him traveling through time

like a mama birb watching her chick learn to fly

(again, very much of a “you’re like a son to me” vibe being more truth than fiction)

and we also see that her affection for him extends to anyone with his face, because she sees something in him that basically screams out to her Fae instincts to grab him, teach him, initiate him into her culture of darkness and timelessness

and riku

he took to darkness easily

it was intuitive to him, he was reckless yet strong

and she praised him for it

so yeah

Maleficent is a Fae, Riku is Fae-touched and Fae-Chosen, Repliku is basically a changeling, Mickey and Aqua basically died when they entered the Realm of Darkness

The Fae World is in the Realm of Darkness

.....did I mention the changeling bit? No? Okay Imma run through that real quick

so basically changeling can refer to one of two people, a human child stolen away from the humans, or the fae creation made in the child’s image and used to replace the child in the human’s crib

because normally it’s done to a small child or baby

and it is a fae creation used to replace the original

the human is taken in by the fae of that area, lives amongst them, slowly turning into one of them

and the creation, often created from whatever elements are around and a spell said over them, is meant to be tougher than the human child, able to withstand any cruelties that the human child would have received

(because often the changelings were said to happen to unhappy children suddenly changing)

(there’s also a few other things that normally denoted a changeling child but i’m not gonna get into that here cause it’s more of a socioeconomic politics things)

the creation would know everything the original knew

and they would believe themselves the original

some tales eventually had the changeling eventually leave their human homes to go join back with the fae, but honestly, anything past about 15 years old was free game in most tales, i think i remember one where the once-human and the creation tried to kill each other

but yeah, and Repliku is a changeling but created by Vexen instead of by a fae (but for all we know he was a science-leaning fae and that was his obsession)

aaand i think that’s everything??? i’ll edit if i realize i forgot something but yeah

Maleficent = mom figure of riku

Fae = darkness = death

#long post #riku #maleficent #repliku #aqua #kh3 spoilers #kh aqua #kh riku #kh maleficent #kh repliku #riku replica #theories and thoughts with essie #2200 words long jfc #friggin done. can't write anymore rn #[[ saved ]]#[[ hcs ]] mal #[[ hcs ]] riku #[[ hcs ]] repliku bros

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slingspeacea · 7 years ago

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☆ // SUBJECT: THE EARP HOMESTEAD. LOCATION: PURGATORY, COLORADO

a collection of research exploring the idea, that if not for wynonna earp’s low budget and physical filming location, purgatory and its key landmarks should have been based in the united states, around the colorado river specifically. !important: earp roleplayers are more than welcome to also adopt this divergence if they agree with it, and may 100% feel free to REBLOG this post. please remember when interacting with my character, in all verses, that they are from purgatory, colorado, and not from canada. if after reading this, you feel bothered, please let me know and we can absolutely follow writers’ show canon in our threads!!

☆ // WARNING!!

this divergence is strongly opinionated. the writers of the show have confirmed the plot setting for the television series wynonna earp, is in fact located in alberta, canada. i am 100% aware that alberta is absolute show canon. however, as a roleplayer, creative writer, and western fanatic, i can neither ignore, nor let wyatt earp and doc holliday’s history get completely washed away for the sake of filming convenience. make no mistake. i love the show, the storyline, and i love the characters immensely; but because of both the comic book series, and nonfictional history, their story’s location does not make any sense to me or add up at all.

☆ // PART I. WYATT’S JOURNEY.

first, let’s begin with wyatt earp’s original routes and a few historical events. i’ve taken the time, and mapped wyatt and doc holliday’s trail out below in order. they were obviously riding on horseback and taking ferries or trains, so they wouldn’t have been using main roads or highways ( although busy trails later became paved highways and roads throughout america ). at only one point does wyatt travel through canada and it is during his two, long journeys to alaska. as you can see below, he really goes nowhere near alberta or calgary on his way to his next stop, seattle, washington.

it would make way more sense for purgatory to be located somewhere in the united states, in one of the towns wyatt earp lived or stayed in for a prolonged period of time. not to mention the old west is well... united states history, and all notable events regarding the old west happened in the states. the original 1993 wynonna earp comics even pay homage to places like tombstone ( and can i mention when the t.v series says they’re loosely based on the comics, they are hardly anything like them? like barely even remotely? ). it mentions white trash and trailer parks, hill billys, pabst blue ribbon, you name every southern stereotype, and they cover it. no surprise, it is based in america.

“ two u.s. marshals and a sheriff lie dead in san diablo, new mexico. when marshal wynonna earp hits the trail to bring the killers to justice, she uncovers connections to a devastating new drug...and a pack of redneck vampires! modern firepower and frontier justice --that's wynonna. “ wynonna earp, comic issue #1, summary.

but that’s totally besides the point, and another post probably worth making entirely. let’s get back to the real wyatt earp and docs holliday’s actual history. below are some maps, and i’ve linked bigger versions so they’re easier for y’all to see.

larger map images for reference: a, b, c.

exhibit one: map a. ↳ this displays his route from dodge city in 1875, up until his last ride to los angeles where he would also die in 1923. this map is all prior to docs death specifically, which is extremely important. why? because doc had obvious connections to both constance clootie and bulshar. this has become even even more so evident in season 3. wyatt earp did not travel through canada until after docs actual death. this alone raises a red flag as someone who thinks placing purgatory in canada was an easy cop-out by show writers, and as someone who often ponders plot holes in the show’s storyline.

another point i have to to stress, is that a majority of wyatt earp’s time with doc holliday throughout life was spent in the southwestern united states. their stomping grounds are where a majority of the route lines cross on the map, and they traveled between each of those cities, owning saloons, gambling, hunting outlaws, etc.. countless times. i’ll have more to add about this later under section iii, which heavily regards the revenants.

exhibit two: map b. ↳ map b is probably the most important of all three. it depicts what his ride would have looked like from wrangell, ak to nome, and then from wrangell, ak to seattle, wa. google maps actually wouldn’t let me map the whole thing through from idaho and washington to alaska, because fun fact, you have to fly and take ferries to get around from the usa to those alaskan towns. phew, can you imagine wyatt’s adventure to alaska on horseback and water?? his wife actually tried to stop him from making the journey because she was pregnant at the time, but of course, he saw an opportunity for wealth and didn’t listen.

alberta is a far stretch out of the way. he would have had to go over or around the canadian rockies, and since he was traveling to and from alaska from either washington state and/or idaho with a clear destination in mind, it would make no logical sense whatsoever. the red triangle, accurately labeled show’s location wtf?? is where the show’s canon ghost river triangle is located. i know what you’re probably thinking, they never say it straight up in the series, but writer’s confirmation aside, upon researching there is one particular episode which gave us show purgatory’s exact location right away. here is a picture of waverly in s01e03, with a map of purgatory. . . and here is another .... and now here is an actual, real map which indisputably matches waverly’s layout. note: those are not my screencaps, you can find the original post i got them from here !!

exhibit three: map c. ↳ vildal, california is where he built his home in 1911. the earps bought a small cottage in vidal, the only home they ever owned. beginning in 1911 and until Wyatt's health began to fail in 1928, Wyatt and sadie earp summered in Los Angeles and spent the rest of the year in the desert working their claims. The "happy days" mine was located in the whipple mountains a few miles north of vidal. wyatt had some modest success with the happy days gold mine, and they lived on the slim proceeds of income from that and oil wells. ( source: wikipedia. )

so, my question is likely the biggest plot hole in the whole freaking television series. how the heck did wyatt’s family homestead end up all the way near calgary, alberta, canada?? the show writers ignore this entirely and uses an insane amount of liberties. wyatt never had any children to begin with, but if one wants to paint the picture of family, love, loyalty, and closeness as they do on the show, i would think that the earps would have remained somewhere closer to wyatt’s grave. at the very least in the same country.

the other major thing to take into consideration, is that by the time map b and map c were traveled, real doc holliday was also dead and no longer amongst the living. i bet your thinking, ❝ okay so maybe vidal, california would have been an alright place for the show to take place, since that was wyatt’s actual only home. ❞ and i totally agree, but the more i thought about making this wynonna’s hometown and ground zero for the homestead, the harder i could picture the gang there. problem is, the landscape is nothing but desert. it’s hot and arrid. in vidal there are there are no prairie winds, or great plains, or chinook rocky mountain sunsets. on the show we see mountains, rivers, forests, and more importantly, large amounts of snow.

this leads the divergence trail back to none other than the myth, the man, and the legend, doc holliday. let’s dive a little more into his relationship with wyatt in the next section.

☆ // PART II. DOC AND WYATT.

how wyatt and doc met in history & the show. ↳ earp had run two cowboys out of wichita earlier in 1878. during the summer, the two cowboys—accompanied by another two dozen men—rode into dodge and shot up the town while galloping down front street. they entered the long branch saloon, vandalized the room, and harassed the customers. hearing the commotion, earp burst through the front door, and before he could react, a large number of cowboys were pointing their guns at him.

in another version, there were only three to five cowboys. in both stories, holliday was playing cards in the back of the room and upon seeing the commotion, drew his weapon and put his pistol at morrison's head, forcing him and his men to disarm, rescuing earp from a bad situation. no account of any such confrontation was reported by any of the dodge city newspapers at the time. whatever actually happened, earp credited holliday with saving his life that day, and the two men became friends.

how wyatt and doc actually parted ways in history. ↳ according to a letter written by former new mexico territory governor miguel otero, wyatt and holliday were eating at fat charlie's the retreat restaurant in albuquerque, "when holliday said something about earp becoming 'a damn jew-boy.' earp became angry and left…." holliday and dan tipton arrived in pueblo, colorado in late april 1882. ( source: wikipedia. )

doc’s death in real history. ↳ in 1887, prematurely gray and badly ailing, holliday made his way to the hotel glenwood, near the hot springs of glenwood springs, colorado. he hoped to take advantage of the reputed curative power of the waters, but the sulfurous fumes from the spring may have done his lungs more harm than good. as he lay dying, holliday is reported to have asked the nurse attending him for a shot of whiskey. when she told him no, he looked at his bootless feet, amused. the nurses said that his last words were, "this is funny.” holliday died at 10am on november 8, 1887. he was 36.

wyatt visited sick doc before he died. ↳ wyatt heard of doc’s death shortly after he had died. he was close by in aspen, colorado at the time, and it’s thought that he may have visited doc before his death. josephine earp told a story about sitting beside doc’s deathbed, but it’s thought that she may have confused this with another occasion ( because of old age ). she additionally gave an account of doc and wyatt’s last meeting in the lobby of a denver hotel. both men were quite upset and josie said that wyatt cried afterwards. there’s also a story that doc’s gun was also sent to wyatt although again not a lot of evidence to prove whether or not it’s true.

wynonna earp flashbacks. ↳ in s01e03, wyatt visited his bedside, where doc is very ill and lying down in a tent. it’s implied doc was resting, wyatt packed up his things for him, and dispite his sickness, earp keeps urging him to ride with him to purgatory. doc rejects knowing he can’t and says goodbye. this is likely right before he seeks out constance clootie for immortality, in whatever town they were in. there is no viable way his transformation could have happened in purgatory, because the church in wynonna’s vision quest later on was somewhere on the outskirts of town.

on the series, doc holliday had already come across constance clootie, and gained his immortality before the best friends had their argument and wyatt disowned him for becoming something of the devil’s work. wyatt also finally admits to his family being cursed. doc was also as equally heartbroken about wyatt’s opinion of his choice, and throughout the series, we see how deeply he considers and takes an earp’s opinion to heart. despite being set in modern years, and appended romantic aspects aside, his relationship with wynonna mirrors that of his and wyatts.

consider that wyatt already killed constance clootie’s sons, and bulshar clootie is the man he was fixed on punishing for cursing him. it’s entirely plausible doc followed closely behind wyatt’s tail after being shunned, and that wherever wyatt was going was only a few days ride from doc’s staying place. the witch clootie admitted she turned doc ageless to hurt wyatt and succeeded, but we also know that where blushar goes, clootie is looking for vengeance. it’s conceivable to theorize certain suspicions such as, but not limited to; doc wanting take back his immortality due to wyatt’s rejection, and in turn while meeting clootie, got tossed with the final seal into the well.

the “earp well” lol. ↳ we know doc winds up in a well , but it’s location seems to appear elsewhere from it’s original place on the earp property in season one’s pilot episode, to somewhere in a random forest, in s02ep08. the earp property is said by wynonna to be only 10 acres ( 0.125 sq miles ). for a farm where you have to drive to get from point a to point b, this is not very large or inaccurate. all shots of the property are also mainly rolling farmland with no large forest vegetation resembling that of the well’s site. i’m going to chalk this discrepancy up to this scene having been in the pilot, having a low budget and limited choices for pilot filming location.

doc’s well was never on the actual earp property like some probably assume at first glance, but instead, somewhere else entirely. just go on ahead and re-watch. after retrieving peacemaker and talking to dolls, wynonna drives up to the purgatory town line, truck facing towards the town. it makes for a clear ( or not so clear ) clue hinting the well’s whereabouts. in s2ep08, juan carlo takes wynonna outside of purgatory to the outskirts for her vision quest. the well is clearly located in that area and tied heavily to the flashback in the church. from a teen wynonna was a drifter. she could have stashed the gun in an abandoned well anywhere, somewhere safe, and no where too close to the homestead. but here is another thought, doc and wynonna’s fates were entwined, so who knows? maybe she felt specifically drawn to that area and frequented there to clear her head when she was younger. merely a concept.

finally, bobos imprisonment in the well further proves it’s located elsewhere, since revenants can't step foot on earp land without being burned. this gives us some room to play for setting up wynonna earp’s story in colorado.

tying history and flashbacks together. ↳ this is where it gets complicated, where it’s hard to put things into words, and where my divergence really starts, because the show canon entirely ignores actual history when it comes to the true separation and deaths of both of these men. we have no clue as to the location in either of these flashbacks on the show, but we do see wyatt is wearing a jacket and scarf. it’s apparently cold outside so there’s at least that to work with. the state of colorado has cold winters, which also works in this divergence’s favor.

if the real doc holliday died in glenn springs, colorado, and the real wyatt earp was in aspen, colorado around the time of his death, we could place purgatory somewhere in that area. doc faked his death on the series, between the time he decided he would became immortal, and the time he was thrown in the well shortly after. sewing these realities together puts purgatory in colorado. doc’s death would make the location default. in regards to the comic taking place in the deserts of the united states, this divergence will also have that covered later on.

the canadian show takes an extreme with creative freedoms and gives no resolution whatsoever as to how wyatt earp somehow settled down in alberta, candada ( did they even do their fact checking?? ) or how every family member has lived there ever since. the actual wyatt earp had no children, and his home was and will always historically be in vidal, california.

so, let’s make this more believable. what if in another universe that isn’t real history, but makes a hell of a lot more sense when unified with the show’s, wyatt earp made a home in colorado after bulshar was buried? not only close to where is thought to be his best friends grave, but where he can keep an eye on, and protect, bulshar’s remains until he dies? bobo moved him, but where were they prior? on the show wyatt is also said to have been partially involved in entombing bulshar’s body. therefore, this explanation would make 100% total sense as to why wyatt and his wife never made it to vidal, california. his life’s journey would have been stopped dead in its tracks, so he could keep the demon who cursed his family from the widows, and make sure bulshar never returned. one could claim, in a historically based, fictional western series, that wyatt earp built a ranch because of this, and settled down with his wife in a town called purgatory, colorado.

☆ // PART III. WYATT’S CURSE, THE REVS, & THE GHOST RIVER TRIANGLE.

wyatt earp’s curse. ↳ the earp curse makes all people that wyatt earp had killed in his lifetime resurrect over and over again. those revenants can only be killed by the peacemaker which only the current heir can use. wait a minute. wynonna voice: say whaaaat?? wyatt never killed multiple people in canada. at any point in history. how would the 77 people he killed even get to canada if revenants can’t leave the ghost river triangle in the first place?? can you say, major woops? this is personally my favorite fudge up.

the ghost river triangle. ↳ the ghost river triangle is an area of cursed land, partially framed by the splitting of the ghost river into two, that imprisons the resurrected outlaws killed by wyatt earp. should a revenant cross the boundary line, they experience hell on earth. to quote waverly, in leavin' on your mind: '...everything from the mountains to where the north and south ghost rivers meet, forms the ghost river triangle. it cuts through the big city, contains thousands of square miles of forest, foothills, prairie, the badlands. and all of it...cursed.'

forest, foothills, prairie, and badlands? yeah, if we want to place divergent purgatory somewhere in the united states to make the show a little more historically accurate, the ghost river triangle definitely parallels to none other than the colorado river. the colorado river runs through colorado, utah, arizona, nevada, california, and all the way down to mexico. at least three of those states were in fact, wyatt’s stomping grounds before and after his historically recorded vendetta ride.

not to go with some total, mythical, movie cliche here, but in an alternative wynonna world set in the united states, the ghost river triangle could have also been named by the native americans who inhabited the land along the colorado river. factually, many parts of the colorado river are actually suspected to be haunted. let’s not get too carried away, though. alberta canada is in fact home of a real place called the ghost river valley, and there’s totally no disputing that.

wyatt’s vendetta ride ↳ in history the vendetta ride was a deadly search, where wyatt lead a federal posse for outlaw cowboys they believed had ambushed, and maimed virgil earp and killed morgan earp. the earp brothers had been attacked in retaliation for the deaths of three cowboys in the gunfight at the o.k. corral on october 26, 1881. from march 20 to april 15, 1882, the federal posse searched southeast cochise county, arizona territory for suspects in both virgil's and morgan's attacks. several suspects had been freed by the court, owing in some cases to legal technicalities and in others to the strength of alibis provided by cowboy confederates. up to this point, wyatt had relied on the legal system to bring the cowboys to justice. now he felt he had to take matters into his own hands.

i could be wrong, but i have a feeling the chase for bulshar is loosely based on this part of wyatt earp’s history. the parallel of his two own brothers dying, and two of clootie’s sons dying, is a little thought provoking, no? coincidental even? an eye for an eye, perhaps? there is a lot of wyatt’s history left to be uncovered and explored, and that’s if the show writers even decide to reveal anything else at all. on the show, wyatt got innocent people killed, there was one hell of a lot of collateral damage surrounding him.

i feel 100% comfortable standing firmly by the headcanon that after wyatt was cursed and his brothers were killed, that he went on a tear after bulshar and destroyed anyone who got in his way. this is important, because these events could be tied to his life in tombstone, arizona, and the events which took place in and after the shootout at the OK corral. if he was cursed in tombstone, then there is no way around it, one of the ghost river triangle’s points would have to begin there.

the revmap, i mean . . . revamp. ↳ below is a map which bases a divergent ghost river triangle heavily off of history. it takes into consideration doc holliday and wyatt earp’s routes, where doc’s last known whereabouts were, where wyatt would have killed the most men, and finally, his vendetta ride. in total the divergent river triangle’s perimeter is about 2,500 miles and takes 36 hours nonstop to drive. in contrast, the show’s ghost river triangle is 617 miles and takes about only an easy 12 hours to drive from point to point. purgatory is west of denver, and the homestead is about where the house icon is. ( larger image version is here. )

yeah okay, so the size may be of some issue, but vastness aside, there are three things this triangle does have, that the other doesn’t. firstly, historical accuracy. it includes nearly all of the areas where a number of wyatt’s targets made their peace. if we tie back to wyatt’s vendetta ride and the whole paralleling idea for a moment, many of the revenants who rode with bulshar would've died in various areas of colorado and the purgatory area. secondly, the terrain might aid with narrowing revenant whereabouts down. deserts and mountains surround a majority of these iconic towns. and lastly another argument can be made that because some revenants do want to end the earp line, few might've simply migrated to colorado and placed themselves somewhere closer within wynonna’s line of fire.

i could continue ridiculously blabbering on and on about why i chose this location divergence for my character. everything from climate, to terrain, and how there are salt flats in utah nearby, or my really strong distaste for how the show writers erased wyatt earp and doc holliday’s real history, but in honesty i think everything i’ve covered above nicely sums up my research and premise. anywhooo, that’s all for now folks, hope you enjoyed the read!

#- ̗̀ ♤ // — V: MAIN. » ̖́-#- ̗̀ ♤ // — V: CANON. » ̖́-#- ̗̀ ♤ // — DIVERGENCES. » ̖́-#- ̗̀ ♤ // — HEADCANONS. » ̖́-#phEW IT'S FINALLY FINISHED #if you have questions #don't be shy !!

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buri-art · 7 years ago

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Wuqiao Acrobatics World

A few years ago while trying to keep my Mandarin skills in tact, I saw a short documentary about Wuqiao, Hebei Province, said to be the birthplace of Chinese acrobatics, and where all the villagers can at least do some acrobatics (I treat that saying with a big grain of salt, but phrases like this do have some impact on local identity). For my last six-day backpacking trip in China, I planned it around going to Wuqiao for a day trip and seeing this circus-y place myself.

I’ll start out by saying that if you don’t speak Chinese or feel very comfortable getting around in a place that speaks no English, I wholeheartedly recommend going with a tour group from Beijing or Tianjin if you want to go here yourself. The venue is designed for groups with coordinated performance times and dependable transportation. I found this out through trial and error and missed a few morning performances that way. Sniffle!

Anyway, if you search “Wuqiao” in English most of the results will be the same short article on multiple websites and several tours designed for foreign travelers from Beijing, so while I don’t have a specific recommendation, I can say that Chinese tour guides will vary a lot and as long as you have a small group, you’ll have an easier time getting a good guide who will be flexible to your interests. So now onto my June 19, 2018 experience!

Sometimes when people talk smack about tour groups, they say it’s because they want to the see the “real” things, not touristy things. I see where this comment is coming from; sometimes a superficial run-around of a handful of packed locations that the locals never go to and then hours spent being shoved into gift shops is going to make it feel like you learned nothing in a foreign country except for the stresses of international travel. However, as someone who has worked in foreign tourism before, I want to point out a couple things: 1. If you have a good guide, you’re going to get a far more awesome experience than you might have been able to plan on your own. You’re not lame for enjoying the good (and often amazing) services of a tour operator who cares about giving you a good time. 2. In China, you’re getting something “real” anyway. That was one of my biggest impressions of this very dilapidated tourist venue.

“This is so China,” I thought.

To boil the past several decades of Chinese economic history down simply, China has lifted millions of people from starving to having disposable income (it can’t be understated how large of a feat this has been, though poverty is still a significant issue). When a population goes from “most people are so poor that everyone stays put” to “whoa, we have... money?? Um... let’s do fun stuff! Let’s go places!!”, this is what gives birth to the development of domestic tourism. And China, as you might guess, is chock full of amazing landscapes and historical locations.

China got this great idea: Now that people are making money, let’s make them spend money, so we can make more money!

China, more so than any other place I’ve been, will find any way it can to monetize a tourism destination. Is there a cool rock? Put a fence around it to obstruct the view, make people pay to see it. Is the lake too big to put a fence around it? Have Zhang Yimou make an “Impression” show there and have people pay to see that! Too big of an area to charge admission at each spot? Block off the whole area and add some nifty transportation options inside. No possible way to block it off because the historic area is in actual daily use? Call in the vendors, kids, we’re still going to make something off of this!

Yes, I’ve been to places with free admission, and often I only stopped in because they were free admission. And I rather liked a lot of those free places, yes. But in general, if you’re traveling to see something, you’re going to pay to see it, even if it means paying admission to even get closer to a village.

But that means building stuff to justify it being something to see and spend money on. That means, with extra money suddenly available to you and/or pressure from above to make something snazzy and brag-worthy really fast, you build a lot of things. Domestic tourists have come to expect big fancy stuff, and construction makes this world (or at least this country) go round!

And then you do the press reports. Take some good pictures. Have people make a cool documentary. Welcome the tour groups, stay busy while the place is shiny.

And then let it fall into disrepair.

There are many tourism facilities in China which are really, really nice, and kept that way. But there are also not only tourism projects finished and then abandoned, or slowed indefinitely partway. This is pretty “real.” It’s not just tourism; this is very “real” for a lot of China’s rapid economic development and construction projects, even entire new cities that they couldn’t get anyone to move into.

So yes, by coming to Wuqiao Acrobatic World, you’re getting a very real experience of what modern day China is like, especially outside of the biggest cities or especially famous tourism facilities.

But you know what makes that awesome? The people here were so much fun to interact with.

Before leaving on my trip, I told some Chinese friends and coworkers where I was going, and they had never heard of Wuqiao. When I told them about it, some reacted in horror that I’m interested in acrobatics. “But it’s so sad,” one friend said. “The kids go through so much pain to train like that.”

Yes, the performance arts and competitive sports worlds of China have a long and ongoing history of this. But I also really, really like watching circuses. If someone loves their art and works hard at it, then I want to watch them, I want to be impressed by them, I want to reward that hard work by giving it my attention. I’ve had some fun experiences in the past with helping backstage when grassroots level diplomatic groups of performers went to my college in the US or in the city I worked for in Japan, and I’ll never forget how spirited those Chinese contortionists were, and how easy they made being bendy look.

So anyway. In all this preamble I haven’t even gotten to my travels yet. I took a morning train in from Tianjin and with only some little red tuk-tuk like cars with three wheels available for transportation, I went with a guy who gave me a ride for 5 RMB (about 77 US cents). He was a nice old guy who also picked me up later right on time for my return that afternoon. But, uh, one of the doors of the little vehicle wouldn’t close.

It’s a short ride, but not really walking distance, especially if you only have about six hours to spend there. The town is still mostly farming community, on the platform of the train station you can watch people take care of sheep and stack up dry reeds. The town is hot and dry in summer with smooth traffic, wide roads, and no tall buildings. I arrived at the Acrobatics World on a weekday morning with no line to get tickets and enter.

There were a few scattered people who stared and whispered (loudly), “Whoa, it’s a foreigner,” a phrase that after a while either bounces off of you completely or piles up on you so much that by the end of a trip off the beaten path you think your trapezius will snap if you hear it again. I found buildings under construction and a temple, and because many tourism facilities have temples built into them, I assumed I’d politely go straight through it. Not so! Turns out you go around this one, which I would have had no idea about had a woman not approached me and told me so.

So, with no one in sight (an odd sight in and of itself at a tourism facility in China), I went hunting for the acrobats.

I hunted a long time, saw a few people here and there. Passed a few people making noise in what looked like a wuxia version of a renaissance festival fairground, but according to the maps, I decided to press northward, looking for, well, whatever it was I was looking for, or at least trying to figure out what all was there.

Well, like, nobody, basically. A few people here and there, but mostly some lonely statues in various groupings around a wide park, some architectural pieces ignored and serving no purpose, some poorly kept animals (I chose not to check out the “Funny Zoo” area), but mostly big expanses of nobody. After living in a place like Shanghai for a while--a place unkind to introverts--you come to really appreciate those periods of nobodyness, and walking around this place had the same sort of bizarre allure of photos of abandoned, flooded shopping malls.

This would be such a great spot for hanfu photoshoots with nobody in your way! But I’d need someone to take the photos, something to wear in the photos, and a much better hair day than I was having on that whole trip.

Anyway, based on the size of the building, I had assumed that I reached the “main spot” I was aiming for, whatever that was.

This was a combination of performance space and museum, so I started at the museum. When I approached there were a couple women hanging out on the red queuing gates, not quite doing acrobatics, but not keeping their feet on the ground either. They were surprised to see me, and I asked if I could go in, and they were like, “um... okay,” and turned the lights on inside. I asked if I could take pictures, and they said yes. While enjoying myself in the first room of the winding exhibits, I heard them talking to each other and saying, “She asked if she could go in. Then she asked if she could take photos.” What I wish I would have overheard them saying would have been something like, “What the hell is she doing over here, doesn’t she know that the only action taking place in this whole facility is going on as scheduled over in the Jianghu Culture City ren-faire-ish-place?” But I heard no such thing, and enjoyed the museum in ignorance.

As far as Chinese museums are concerned, they’re a very mixed bag, but I rather liked the contents of this simple, small one. Everything had good English translations--and by that I don’t mean clear and grammatical, but actually useful content that puts what you’re seeing into context. Here are a few bits I liked:

Not all of the rooms were as interesting as others; and although I have a passing interest in how Chinese circus is used diplomatically, I didn’t have enough of one to stay in those exhibits for long. I was starting to get the sense that I was missing out on the performances. If I felt less rushed and was there with friends, however, I probably would have had a great time in this room, with this corner of traditional circus props, easily in arms’ reach and not mounted in place.

Nothing said not to play with them, but nothing said that it was okay to touch them either. I decided to err on the side of doubt. After all, assuming such things in the past had lead me to get bitten by a penguin.

Back to acrobats, I zoomed through the very empty painting and gift shop (if it can even be called that) rooms, where the people working there did not even look up from their phones. After that I found where they keep the horses (poor, skinny horses... let’s not even get to those bored, chained monkeys I saw later with nothing and nobody around to prevent a wandering tourist from walking right up to them--I imagine that could have been more disastrous than my encounter with the penguin). Then I found--what?? People??? What’s more, it was like a group of moms and a couple little kids watching some teens in capes on a round stage, the Red Peony stage. I asked if I could watch, and finally, these people told me what I wish someone would had told me in the first place:

All the performances are scheduled in different locations. The Jianghu Culture City has the morning and late afternoon performances, and the northern buildings and horse track have the early afternoon shows. Ohhhhhh, no wonder.

So I hurried over to where all the smart tourists and their group guides were; watching this guy.

I only caught the tail end of his act, and from the looks of the stage he must had been smashing bricks with his face or something earlier, who knows. He climbed down the handles of the swords at the end of his act, but if I had gotten there earlier, I assume I would have seen something like this:

Hmm. Not super sharp at tourist-reach, but still, ouch.

Immediately after that everyone shuffled over to this tent for some other folk acrobatics by a little troupe: Some lovely ladies young and not-as-young, some burly men, a dwarf, and a guy from the audience picked out for the knife-throwing show who had the build, expression, and haircut of a circus performer himself. He was at the other shows that day too, so I don’t suspect he was a plant. Chinese men just have some weird haircuts, that’s all.

Couldn’t really get good pictures in there, but you had a girl sitting on a chair balanced on a swinging trapeze, a routine with blocks complete with juggling and handstands and flips, the aforementioned knife-thrower who doubled as the clown of the show, a jar juggler who catches the big jar on his head and neck, a jar juggler who spins a much, much, much, much larger iron jar on her feet that three burly men needed to lift together, and this lady doing what you see here:

A note here about those tour groups---they were overwhelmingly made up of middle age men. I did see a few families with small children, some younger couples, and a fair number of women mixed with the men, but the groups of men who all knew each other was striking. Maybe I just happened to go on a day when they were planning big outings, who knows.

After that, there was a very, very small “performance” in this little back-alley area of the Jianghu Culture City, where there were many performance areas with signs stating the folk artist and their performing times, but with seating areas filled with, well, seats that they had probably pulled out of other areas and had not yet taken to the dump.

That said, some of the area felt downright homey. I was the only person over there at first when a lady was about to do her sales pitch--I mean, “performance” explaining that they were selling fans decorated with the origins of the 100 most common Chinese surnames. Many of the men bought them for 30 RMB each ($4.61 USD). I got one for my roommate since her surname is rather uncommon, she hadn’t seen something like that before and found it interesting.

Anyway, the lady there was very friendly, and insisted I put my heavy backpack down on her chair so I could relax while looking around (she also insisted I leave it there while enjoying my afternoon, but I declined). She would have been the right person to meet right away when I got to the park, she explained the whole schedule of the park (which I had mostly figured out by then) and helped me to plan how to make the best of my time left that afternoon, and she walked with me part way to the only place to get food in the whole area. She was on her way home for lunch, she said. Everyone working there is local and all the performers go home for lunch, except the director, who often has to show VIP guests around. Since she was so cheerfully talking about the place and clearly took pride in this being their local claim to fame (I got that sense from a few other people too), I considered asking if it was true that everyone could do at least a little acrobatics. I decided against asking, but kind of wish I had.

If you do ever get there and want to make sure you get to the see every performance offered from the moment the park opens, you do have the option of staying at the Red Peony Hotel! This is really your only option for food anyway. The staff was very friendly (and not overly friendly, so I could thankfully eat my meal in peace!), though I can’t say the food or ambiance was anything special, even for a tourist facility.

The fish sauce tasted like ketchup.

It was a really long lunch break. I imagine that’s when wiser people would have walked around the odd groupings of statues and architecture of questionable purpose in the park, or gone to the museum to play with hula hoops and throw ceramic jars at each other. I went out to the empty horse track to reapply sunscreen, smell the nature, listen to birds, and gaze into the lotus pond. And frown at how skinny the horses were.

The Red Peony theater opened at 1:30pm. There was a very small line; I was one of the first people there and got a good seat in a round theater that looked like it could hold up to 200 audience members. People continued to trickle in for 25 minutes. They were starting late that day, they said, blaming it on either having VIP tour groups who take their time or having foreign performers who take their time. For twenty minutes they played a Backstreet Boys song on repeat, and I looked at the apparatuses around the stage--a small Russian swing, three aerial hoops of different sizes, a couple silks, a triple-wheeled Wheel of Death (does it have a different name when three people are cheating death?) behind a curtain, a large net hung up out of the way, and some set pieces that looked like a wooden ship set to either side of the stage. After twenty minutes of Backstreet Boys they played the entirety of Hotel California before starting the show.

They had signs forbidding photography and Yours Truly is a rule-follower even in China where these silly rules about video recording are flat-out ignored even at Cirque du Soleil performances, so I doodled the show on the train a few hours later.

This was no Cirque du Soleil, let’s be clear about that. It was more like the community theater version of a Broadway show; everyone was doing their best but items were unintentionally dropped and costume pieces flew off, but everyone was encouraging because the kids were doing their best.

Let’s look back at a few parts of that sentence: 1. Encouraging audience: Chinese audiences can be extremely frustrating to perform in front of, because they are so likely to chat among themselves or play on their phones--I charitably chalk this up to a cultural difference that historically elevates the pleasure of the audience over the hard work of performers, but it still drives me crazy in my current job that involves training kids to do things in front of audiences. That said, this works in another way--when a Chinese audience is engaged, they’ll be very, very engaged, and even if these performers were dropping their stuff, they still kept the audience’s attention and smiles and applause, so it’s all good.

2. Their best: Sure, they weren’t the sort of performers I’d expect to see if I paid the big ticket price to go watch the Shanghai Circus, which is primarily geared toward foreign tourists. But they are still insanely skilled and have obviously poured hours and hours and hours of their life into this. Also, very importantly, many (but not all...) of them look like they truly enjoy it. As a point of comparison, I went to the Shaolin Temple eight years ago, and the whole little town of Dengfeng surrounding it was filled with schoolyards of boys from all over China studying there to fulfill their kung fu dreams. The boys in the temple, however, are often problem children sent there for discipline. I watched the show they put on, which the adults are full-on performers for. The boys also performed amazing stunts, but the whole time looked like they were sick and tired of tourists and having to do the same flips and feats every day. It was unintentionally funny to see such bored, sour looks on their faces as they were soaring through the air. The performers in this show did see themselves as performers and acted like it--though the expressions came much more naturally to some than others.

3. Kids: Yeah, no two-ways about it, the vast majority of this cast looked very, very young. This includes both the foreign troupe and the local Chinese kids. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if none of the local performers in this show were adults. Even the stage crew looked like they were all teenagers.

My friends’ words about “aren’t you sad for them, having to do all that painful training?” rang through my head during a couple of the performances in particular. The five contortionists smiled charmingly and performed without mishap, but I was very afraid that someone was going to break in one way or another. Their bodies shook with both unbalance and strain, and sitting that close to the stage, I could read some “uh oh” in their faces at times. The rollerskating show was charming at first with the pairings of what looked like high school boys with elementary school boys, all of whom kept a gracious performer’s attitude the whole time, even with small mishaps. At the end of the act they spun the little boys around by cords on their necks (like the graceful aerial hoop duo had done in a less startling way). Despite being really impressed, my stomach churned with pity for them.

The foreign troupe had quite a mix as well of veteran and less-veteran performers, and some mishaps here and there, but overall good shows. They seemed a little casual and self-managed, like one of the kids who performed earlier in the show snuck out into the middle of the audience later to watch his buddy and then sneak backstage again. I had to wonder about them too--how long were they going to be in Wuqiao? Did they go to other places around the world too? Did they choose the circus life, or did the circus life choose them?

Before getting dragged too deep into wondering about the darker sides I know exist behind something I love watching perhaps a little bit more than the average person does, the clown came out.

The very, very, very white, platinum blonde clown.

She and the person in a polar bear suit did a charming, although not particularly funny or impressive routine, but what struck me most was how naturally she lit up being on stage, and that she might had been told in clown schools that she was “too pretty” to be a clown (something I recall hearing about happening to many young women who try to go into that). What was really captivating about this clown was that it was like she wanted more than anything to be a clown, and she looked like she was having the time of her life.

At the end of the show the performers all came out to, well, not do a final bow persay, but wave at all the tourists on their way out to go to the “Home of the Demon Hand” theater across from the Red Peony Theater. I let things clear out before standing up, and the clown saw me, locked eyes, and very smilingly said, “AMAZING!!”

Amazing to see another lone white girl there, I’m sure.

We were both on our way out in opposite directions, but we had the following conversation: Me: Where are you from? Her: Ukraine! Me (pointing to the guest performers heading backstage without her): Where are they from? Her: (wild look over her shoulder, a look back at me, a giant shrug and nervous laughter)

We waved and then went our separate ways, but I wanted to say, “Come back here, girl, give me your life story.”

Instead I went to the next show and squeezed into what I thought would give me a good view of the sleight-of-hand tricks that old’ Demon Hand was apparently famous enough for to have his own theater hall.

The 74-year-old man in a silk outfit (the top of which he later took off to prove he had nothing up his sleeve) and ponytail started the show by very, very firmly insisting on no photographs, but they had the option of getting a logo’d photograph with him before the show. A small crowd of people, mostly middle age men but a spunky younger woman too, went up and forked over their cash.

To be honest, I got really irritated for the first ten minutes or so of the show. He was a gifted performer, yes, but he was more of an improve comedian who talked a big game (his sleight of hand tricks were impressive, yes, but they made up a very, very small portion of his show). Furthermore, I couldn’t see very well around the guy in front of me, so I had to lean forward and to the sides. It was so much trash talk with men in the audience that I couldn’t follow very well (my Chinese is good, but not enough to understand all the humor), and it wasn’t very possible to stand up and leave without calling a huge amount of attention to myself.

Call attention to myself I did anyway.

As part of his goading the audience, he invites skeptics to come crowd around him and watch him closely to verify his tricks. I stayed put, not really in the mood for all the talk and just wanting to see some impressive tricks to justify my staying put. Well, he saw me, and pointed everyone’s attention in my direction, and I had to announce where I was from, and he ordered me down to his side to watch.

So I sat directly next to him and had to play along with the “I’ll show you some real Chinese kung fu!” bravado and do my best to answer any quick questions he shot at me to answer, like “how many are under the cup?”.

He made some men bet their cigarettes on a few tricks, and was accumulating a stack of cigarette boxes on the table. The number of people standing, sitting, and squatting around him dwindled. I awkwardly stayed put because I knew he’d call me out if I tried to escape, so better that I stayed there and ready to quip back the next time he quipped something at me. And yeah, I totally had a better view of the tricks and could appreciate them a lot more from the table-eye view, so it was my luck that I was the one foreign face in the room.

Toward the end of the routine he dared anyone in the rowdy audience to come sit in his chair and do the tricks themselves to make a bet. No one did.

He told me to sit in the chair.

I half-way expected that. Thankfully I can play along well as the casual “I just came here to have a good time, I don’t know what you’re making me do and I never asked for this, but okay, tell me what to do” young foreign beauty* there to make the show more interesting for the audience.

*(This is how the locals describe me, and they often insist on taking photos with me. Often without permission. Often when I am looking my worst from days of backpacking in hot weather with tired looking skin, extremely unruly hair, and practical although unflattering outfits.)

He asked me to place a bet, but I think we had some difficulty understanding each other’s Mandarin, because he’s got a thick local accent and I have a foreign one.

Him: You don’t smoke, do you? Place a bet for something else. Me: Me? Him: What do you want? Food or something? Me: ...how about something sweet? Him: Money!? Me: No, sweets... Him: No no no, we can’t do money. Come on, there’s no point if you don’t bet anything. Hmm. Tell you what. If you win, I’ll make you my ghdrtsmplwssz. Me: (His what???)

I have no clue what he said. My guess is something along the lines of either “disciple” or “bride.”

Well, the coolest part was that he had me hold one little styrofoam ball in my hand, and next thing you know, I had two of them in my hand, and that was pretty impressive, enough to make the whole show’s worth of trash talk worth the experience.

And then he had me stand up with him and he thanked me as the audience applauded, and he introduced me as his ghdrtsmplwssz, everyone clapped, and then he hugged me a few times from different angles so a couple sides of the audience could see my face. I played along with a wide-eyed “what the hell is going on, save me” look.

And then he went in for the smooch.

I can do the “pure innocent maiden who blushes at the sight of a man’s lips” routine really well. Plus, practicing martial arts makes me really fast at blocking incoming attacks like this that I have faced at a few times throughout my life, so the dramatic hand in the air, lean backwards, and turned maidenly face were all automatic rather than calculated.

We repeated this a few times, with the lean getting more comically pronounced each time. He tried to insist that this is what they do in America (like the hug), but my maidenly virtue won out in the end, and he graciously played it off and gave me the send off back to my seat in the audience. Sorry dude, I’m stubborn about kissing strangers.

After that was the horse show. I skipped it and went back to the Jianghu Culture City to catch some of the repeats of morning shows I missed.

Which was really only one. A lady saw me walking around and tried to help me plan where to be at the right time, in a helpful, non-pushy way (I am so grateful when I get this mix of helpful and non-pushy). The only other show I had time to see was Chuipotian, the suona (horn) performer. His bio introduces him well:

It was a short show with just a few audience members, including a couple women who wanted photos with me and a girl who looked around one year old who kept wandering off so her dad had to chase her while mom enjoyed the show. I found his crosstalk with the audience a lot more enjoyable than Demon Hand’s, though I had to stay on my toes to make responses here too.

As for the sound of the suona, it’s like a screaming duck. If you’ve ever seen Beijing Opera, you can probably recognize its sound. (I don’t think it’s used as much in southern opera styles. On that note, I find southern styles more melodic.) It was a fun cacophony of a show.

He mostly used smaller ones, this just makes for the funnest photo. He also included some non-instrument related tricks, like taking a lit cigarette from someone and doing tricks with the smoke, swallowing the cigarette, and pulling it out of his ear, still lit. All while reminding you that smoking is harmful to your health.

Immediately after the show, the ladies with him pulled me aside and started teaching me his catchphrase. They caught on through the crosstalk and a little conversation before the show that I’d be a good person to do a little social media routine for them, saying “(Something I could not for the life of me understand but sounded catchy), he’s the real deal from Wuqiao, CHUIPOTIAN!” After rehearsing it several times to make sure I got it right, and the woman in red holding the camera directing me to just be big and fun with it, we recorded it with me standing next to him, looking into the camera, and pointing at him. They were all very pleased with my good work and looked forward to uploading it.

They were super nice and fun to talk to (there weren’t any other immediate performances to watch while everyone else was still at the horse show), and Chuipotian gave me his business card so we could be friends on WeChat, but within ten minutes of taking my leave I dropped it. Good thing I’m not a juggler.

My friend the 5 RMB driver with the one functional door met me right at the appointed time, and people chilling at the train station were also very aware of me. They were a great mix of kind and looking out for me, but not all up in my business. I appreciate it greatly.

And then I left on a crowded, cheapest-seat car of a train that would take over three hours to reach Tianjin. I had enjoyed the day and all the people I got to interact with the (even old Demon Hand, I guess), but being an introvert, I was grateful to have the chance to chill and make the above doodles in my notebook.

But then people figured out I understand Chinese and started chatting with me.

For three straight hours.

To be honest, it’s been a while since I’ve been in the position to play a vehicle of foreign exchange for hours and hours at a time, and it can be fun, but it’s such a relief when you can rest.

And rest I did, on the night train I switched to in Tianjin to get to my next stop on the trip. I slept pretty well for it being on the cheapest berths, stacked three-high with little more than the average Chinese man’s body width. After maneuvering on the top berth with my heavy backpack, I felt like a pretty good circus performer myself.

#China #circus

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femmfaetale · 7 years ago

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Making Shades Of Purple - Leoji Drabble

When Guang Hong Ji met Leo, he never would have thought it would come to this. He never thought he would get even close to any Western boys, and most definitely not that close.

It had been exactly two weeks since he had sex with Leo de la Iglesia for the first time. To Guang Hong’s disappointment, so far it had been their only time. He honestly had not stopped thinking about it since. He wasn’t sure how Leo could be so casual about the whole thing, just moving on to continue talking about assessments in class once again the next day. Was that normal? Or was it abnormal that the events just kept being replayed in Guang Hong’s mind over and over?

That first time with Leo started with drinks at the bar on campus, which led to talking about Leo’s art project, which led to Guang Hong sitting in the art room, shirtless and blushing so much while he tried to sit still and pose for Leo’s painting. Leo had flicked paint on him when all Guang Hong could do was sit there and squirm, which led to squeaks and giggles, and paint flying and splattering across the room as they wrestled with paintbrushes. They had covered themselves in red and blue paint. Leo reaching out to grab a paint brush out of Guang Hong’s hand had lead to a chaste kiss, which lead to their paint-covered chests being pressed together, paint palettes being dropped, fingers intertwining; making shades of purple where the red and blue pigments mixed between them.

In all honesty, it was the most beautiful thing Guang Hong had ever experienced. Leo was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.

***

When he had seen Leo for the first time, it was in his first “Art in the Asia Pacific” class. Guang Hong had just begun his two years on exchange to study in Australia. Chinese Contemporary Art was getting a lot of attention and he had big plans to start an independent gallery back home. His classes at university back home never covered any of the more avant-garde shit that he was interested in exhibiting, though. He had plans. He had to travel for that, but he as on track.

Leo was the tanned, long-haired beauty that sat in front of him during their hour-long lecture. Guang Hong wouldn’t admit it but he had spent too much of that first lecture looking over Leo’s shoulder to get glimpses of the sketches Leo was doing in his notebook instead of taking notes. What started out as a small cluster of tiny flowers, soon transformed into a beautifully shaded collage of overlapped floral patterns, waves and skulls. It was an interesting mix, but even just looking at these rough sketches, Guang Hong was captivated by the balance of light and dark this boy had chosen to use.

***

The second time Guang Hong saw Leo was more-or-less through forced interaction. Leo had sat next to him in their tutorial which had Guang Hong taking frantic glances at the beautiful boy next to him. But to his absolute shock and horror, their teacher had announced that they would be doing one of those stupid fucking “get-to-know-you” exercises. They each had to purposefully talk to somebody they hadn’t met yet and then tell the rest of the class three facts about the person they had just met. Guang Hong fucking hated these. He could feel the heat in his cheeks rise to new levels as he turned, giving an unsure look to the beautiful guy sitting next to him.

“Well…I don’t know anyone, I’m on exchange” The boy said in a deep, accented voice that Guang Hong was not expecting. Was that American? It was a shock after being surrounded by the harsh twang of the Australian accents humming around them. “So, can I chat with you?” He asked. Guang Hong noted that although his voice was deep, it was soft. It seemed to compliment the soft, warm glow that radiated from Leo’s skin. He wondered if he was warm to the touch but he shook that thought out of his head before it could fully develop.

“Uh. Y-yes. I am on exchange too.” Guang Hong stuttered a little. He wasn’t shy, really. He had come across the fucking ocean to study and be around new people. It was something about talking to this boy though, that made him come off this way.

“Oh cool!” The other boy’s caramel eyes seemed to light up. “I’m Leo de la Iglesia, what’s your name?” He was smiling now, showing off beautifully straight teeth and beautifully sculpted cheek bones. Damn.

“Oh um.” Guang Hong paused for a moment. He hated this, he really did. “I use Ji as my English name,” He gave a half-smile, trying his best to not make too much eye contact.

“English name?” Leo’s head cocked to the side as he asked the question.

“Yeah. Yeah I’m from China. My Name is Guang Hong Ji but well…in this country Guang Hong is a mouthful and English names are common for us to choose to make things easier and-“

“What do you prefer to be called?” Leo asked. Guang Hong’s heart sped up a little. He hadn’t been asked this question since he arrived in Australia a month ago. Against his will, the blush across his cheeks was intensifying.

“Well I mean. Guang Hong, I guess but-“ he was a little unsure of where this was going.

“Guang Hong it is, then.” Leo continued to smile.

So, he’s cute and culturally sensitive. Fuck.

Guang Hong was in trouble with this one. Boys were so not the purpose of coming here, no matter how beautiful they were.

***

As their first class together went on, Guang Hong seemed to relax a little more. First day nerves were normal, right? Especially in a completely new environment. But it helped a lot to know that Leo was pretty much in the same situation. It was…nice. And so, at the end of their class, Guang Hong had eagerly asked for Leo’s social media.

They spoke via Snapchat throughout the rest of the day, sending each other worried-faced selfies when they got lost. By the end of the day they knew that they only had the one class together and had exchanged class schedules.

By Thursday, Guang Hong and Leo were meeting up on their lunch breaks, going to the bar, and discussing what teachers they liked and disliked so far. They talked about their interests and what it was they actually planed on doing with their study. Leo had turned out to be doing a Visual Arts degree which needed a certain amount of theory classes per semester – which was why he was in Guang Hong’s class in the first place. He was an artist; a painter and performer. Guang Hong was intrigued and he’d be lying if he didn’t admit that he was impressed.

“So. Can I ask you something? Are we like at a point where we can ask each other shit now?” They met after their class at the bar again on Friday evening. Leo’s face was glowing even more than usual as he slurred a little, looking into his glass of beer. He had said that it was gross but that it was the cheapest thing they had. Guang Hong had taken the slightly more expensive but equally more delicious choice and chosen a pink drink that looked more like soda than anything alcoholic. He felt a little silly but logically, he knew that getting something he liked over what he thought he was supposed to like should win out.

“Guang Hong, are you queer?”Leo asked anyway, despite Guang Hong not actually answering his first question. He paused. Guang Hong felt as though there could be a thousand tiny lightening bolts surging through his chest in that moment.

“W-what?” He was taken-a-back to say the least. He had never in his life been asked outright about his sexuality. And never before had he had a conversation with actual words instead of just through kisses in secret and blowjobs in clubs. Never had this come up with someone who actually might enjoy his company.

“Like. Are you gay?” Leo clarified. “I’m sorry if I’m intruding or being offensive I don’t mean to be, I’m not…I wouldn’t judge you no matter wh-“ He was rambling. It was kind of sweet.

“I am. Yeah I. I like boys.” Guang Hong looked down at his own lap. God, he had never actually said that out loud, in English or in Mandarin.

“Oh good” Leo said way too casually for Guang Hong’s taste. “I am too. I mean I like girls too but…anyway the reason I’m asking is because I need to make a visual proposal for a body of artwork.” His eyes were lighting up when Guang Hong’s lifted to look back at the other boy. He was speaking in an animated way that he could tell Leo was passionate about what he was saying. He liked that. He liked that Leo cared. He also relaxed a little with the help of Leo, speaking so indifferently about something Guang Hong usually kept pretty hidden. So while his heart attempted to calm down after his minor confession, he sat and he listened.

“So, what is your proposal exactly?” Guang Hong Asked. He wasn’t an artist himself but he was in love with the way Leo spoke about it.

“I want to paint the diversity within a minority,” Leo simply stated. “So, do you wanna help me?” He asked. Guang Hong was kind of entranced by this strange, somewhat impulsive boy.

All he could do was nod.

Guang Hong Ji doesn’t think he will ever let go of his time with Leo in that art room.

#my writing #drabble #yoi #leoji #artist Leo #yuri on ice #leo de la iglesia #guang hong ji

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anniversary-magazine · 4 years ago

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The Belonging of Memories — Q+A with Painter Gideon Rubin

Scientifically intriguing yet poetic in its elusiveness, memory has been an unbounded theme among inspiring artists and thinkers in the past decades. In Matter and Memory (1896), an essay on the relation of body and spirit, philosopher Henri Bergson wrote on the relationship between mental images and souvenirs, sensations, and imagination, notably stating that there is no consciousness without memory.

Bergson's reflections in this remarkable topical book allow us to introduce London-based Israeli artist Gideon Rubin's paintings as a shortcut to the universality of consciousness. Appropriating fragments of other people's lives and giving them new perspectives and narratives in his work, Rubin creates what could be clues to comprehend the framework of human remembrance.

Cover image:

Gideon Rubin, Girl in the Water, 122 x 102 cm, Oil on canvas, 2011

We asked the artist some questions to learn more about his relation to art and the past's belonging.

Eve Laliberté: EL

Gideon Rubin: GR

EL: What brought you to painting? Was becoming an artist a dream, a plan, or a coincidence?

GR: It was pure chance and destiny. Or maybe the other way around. I first started painting during a backpacking trip in my early 20's in South America, on a salt desert between Chile and Bolivia, to be exact. I was born in a house surrounded by my grandfather's paintings, but only when I left Israel and began travelling did I start painting myself, and the need to paint appeared. Everyone around me was surprised. No one saw this coming, myself included.

EL: There is a strong feeling of enigma emanating from your body of work. You paint most of your pieces by drawing from old photographs belonging to other people. Why are you interested in souvenirs?

GR: I am always drawn to objects. The older the stuff is, the better. One of my most pleasurable activities is wandering off at flea markets and antique shops. My parents' house looks more like a 'British museum' jumble sale, as my mother is an obsessive collector who has difficulties throwing anything out. It's not only their intrinsic beauty that draws me in but also the way they hold times' passing. That's what I have a hard time resisting to. It's their stories that pull me in again and again. As if by working with these objects, touching them, painting them - some hidden angels or unearthed truths which weirdly enough seem relevant to me now, can reveal themselves.

EL: Interacting with fragments of strangers' lives, you take part in redefining the narratives. Are the memories you paint yours or someone else's?

GR: I used to think they're not mine, but now I'm less sure, so maybe both. Of course, the point of departure is someone else's memories and life. Then, I'm drawn to a specific image because it touches something within me, even if buried deep in my subconscious. Only then something quite interesting happens. The image becomes everyone's memory. I am very interested in how it crosses over, how by altering a few details, we, as viewers, can relate in a more direct way to someone else's story.

EL: Where do you typically find the photographs you draw inspiration from?

GR: Antique markets, flea markets, antique shops, used bookshops, and eBay, of course.

EL: Is there an aim to bring history forward in your paintings? Or perhaps to underline the universality of human experience? Why?

GR: A friend, who's an art critic, writer, and curator who has written about my work a few times in the past, once said that I try to stop time in my work. As if I look at history, freeze it, and drag it to the present. I like this. I think it's a fundamental quality in art, which makes it relevant to our lives — our here and now. I think this relates to how I experienced Velasquez and the Old Masters for the first time. There is this painting in the Met, in New York,' The Moore'. It's not only an admiration for how the image was made or its beauty, but also how much it touches and penetrates our present life that is so mind-blowing.

EL: It's as if the figures are waiting for us to tell them something, to give them an identity. Why are you interested in the "incomplete"?

GR: I have a vast catalogue at home - which my parents had to drag from NY - 'Unfinished' from an exhibition of unfinished works by all the Masters, which was held at the Met Breuer in New York I think, last year.

Oh, how I wish I could have seen this exhibition. Picasso once said,' To finish a piece of work is to kill it' - I'm a firm believer in that. It is so much easier to feed the viewer with every detail and nuance, so much more challenging to leave things a bit more open.

EL: Could you share any book, movie, documentary, or location that you particularly like or have inspired you recently?

GR: Next to my bed, I have 'The Flame' by Leonard Cohen. What's weird is that as you read his poems, often, you can hear his voice reading the lines in your head. I've also re-read a little book of poetry recently by Wisława Szymborska translated to Hebrew, which I always enjoy. And third and last is an artist's book by Francis Alys - which I recently had to buy, again, as I lost my original copy. One of my favourite art books of all time, 'The Prophet and the Fly': beautiful, poetic, and political, all wrapped up in one exceptional book.

All images courtesy of Gideon Rubin

#Gideon Rubin #Painter #London #Israel #Featured

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zhangedward · 4 years ago

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Scoe 10x Cat Urine Astounding Ideas

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How To Remove Cat Spray Smell

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#Scoe 10x Cat Urine Astounding Ideas #Cat Spray South Park

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