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cheri-translates · 3 years

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[CN] S2 Gavin - The Stories Project

🍒 Warning: Detailed spoilers for content not yet released in EN!🍒

Trigger warning: Mentions of suicide

Features S2 Gavin but contains no spoilers regarding the S2 storyline

This is a continuation of The Broadcast Countdown Project. Do read that first!

[ This was released on 25 August 2021 ]

[ Chapter One ]

Gavin and I are standing outside Door 501 of the 7th block in Pavilion Village.

This is also the home of Zhang Nian, the kidnapper who handed me an anonymous letter in the TV station before eventually committing suicide.

A thorough investigation of the case involving the anonymous kidnapper and his suicide has ended. The STF has also removed the cordoning around the scene.

I liaised with the TV station, planning to showcase the incident from start to end in a special episode of the show which will be aired in the last episode of “Inquiries”.

Gavin: This used to be a crime scene. If you’re afraid, wait for me here. If you need any materials, I can head inside and find them for you.

MC: It’s okay, I don’t avoid such things... Also, I have a feeling that there’s definitely something behind this case worth seeing in person.

The husband and wife who were kidnapped had related the details to me, and mentioned that even though Zhang Nian had kidnapped them, they weren’t treated harshly at all.

It’s just that Zhang Nian was deaf and couldn't speak. He could only communicate with them with hems and haws, which ended up frightening them.

In hindsight, they realised that Zhang Nian never harboured malicious intentions towards them.

MC: What was Zhang Nian’s goal and what did he want to tell us? The answers to these riddles... they might be hidden here.

Gavin pushes the door open, and we step into Zhang Nian’s house.

Gavin: This place was sealed off since the incident, which is why the arrangement of furniture we’re looking at is the same as when he was still alive.

In contrast to the dim and cold space I had imagined, the living room is well lit.

The cream coloured wood flooring, a white cloth sofa, a simple wall painting of the ocean... all of these elements set off one another in the indolent afternoon sunlight, displaying a warm atmosphere.

MC: This place gives me such a strange feeling... the person who lived here must have really loved life...

Gavin: His fiancée decorated this place.

Gavin taps on a magnet on the refrigerator. Tiny colourful slips of paper are stuck underneath zebra, bunny, and elephant magnets.

“Special discount for wax gourds on Tuesday, special discount for pork ribs on Thursday.” - It’s as though the weekly booklet of discounts from the supermarket had been copied down.

“Invitation cards, wedding dress, decide on the hotel.” - The ring which had rolled onto the zebra crossing in the news immediately flashes across my mind.

Aside from that, they have simple recipes on them.

MC: What a pity. If that incident didn’t happen, they would have had a perfect life here.

Gavin: All the furnishings and decor came to a halt when the incident happened to Xu Wen. He did everything he could to retain traces of her existence. As for his own life...

Gavin opens the refrigerator, showing me that it’s more or less empty aside from condiments which had been used a few times.

White cold mist hover in the empty space, out of sync with the warm tones in the living room.

Gavin: This too.

He opens a wall cabinet to reveal a few boxes of ordinary flavoured cup noodles. The incandescent light in the cabinet is chilly, shining on plastic film surrounding the cup noodles.

Imagining the taste of cup noodles submerged in MSG, I once again turn towards the recipes stuck on the refrigerator.

Gavin shuts the cabinet, then points at the bedroom.

Gavin: MC, I want to show you something.

[ Chapter Two ]

Gavin: During the investigation, we found these.

Gavin guides me to the bookcase, then pulls open a drawer at the bottom.

MC: A disability ID, marriage certificate, graduation certificate, guarantee card for a hearing aid and a bank book...

Gavin: We checked his background. He grew up in an orphanage.

Gavin: Back then, the orphanage didn’t have adequate facilities, and didn’t have teachers or special medical setups for guiding people with hearing issues. He was always reclusive in the orphanage, and didn't have friends.

Gavin: When he was ten years old, people from the orphanage and community sent him to school.

While saying this, Gavin retrieves a pile of books from the drawer and shows them to me - they are all sketchbooks, and the pages have long since turned yellow. It’s evident that they were here for a very long time.

MC: He can draw?

Gavin: In these books, there are some sketches of streets and still life. Some are comics modelled after existing works. Although I don’t know much about art, I think he could draw pretty well.

While flipping through the pages, I find myself affected by the exquisite details conveyed in these drawings.

Perhaps because he didn’t go through systematic training, he wasn’t limited to one style in the way he expressed his art.

A distinct and unique style leaving a deep impression seems to break through the sheets of paper, revealing the emotions the artist had hidden in his heart.

MC: ...he must have been a really talented artist.

Gavin points at the wall - there’s a sketch hanging on it. It takes up almost half of the wall, and it’s mounted in a white frame.

MC: The person in the drawing is Xu Wen.

MC: ...it’s drawn really well.

Gavin releases a “mm”, and is unable to hold back a sigh.

Gavin: Extraordinarily well.

It doesn’t matter if it resembles the actual person. It doesn’t matter if it was meticulous or not.

The person in the drawing has her eyes curved upwards with a smile on her face, and she looks like any other young girl you can find in a crowd.

But the limitless gentleness and happiness contained in her eyes - that’s a unique feature belonging only to one person.

Gavin: They seemed to be schoolmates. I read through Xu Wen’s background - she graduated from the same school for deaf students. But there weren't any questionable points in this case, which is why we didn’t probe further. If you want to know the specifics, we'd have to investigate again.

My heart hovers in the air, wanting to figure out everything about this matter.

But from the STF’s perspective, this case is already closed...

Gavin gives me an affirmative gaze.

Gavin: I know what you're going to say. I want to continue listening to this story too. He wasn’t able to speak, but he left behind a voice that he hoped for others to hear.

After a pause, he turns his head, once again glancing at the drawing hanging on the wall.

Gavin: I can feel such emotions.

Gavin says this softly, and the light in his eyes grow deeper.

Floating dust in the surroundings gather on Xu Wen's portrait. We stand in this warm and tranquil space, as though we can sense their story surging forth without a sound.

[ Chapter Three ]

After this, Gavin and I gather information about Zhang Nian and Xu Wen from various sources.

A few days alter, we arrange to meet at a cafe to exchange materials collected from our individual investigations.

MC: I found the teacher from the school for deaf students. He said that when Zhang Nian first arrived at the school, he didn’t even know how to use sign language. He was gloomy and blue.

MC: Only Xu Wen knew how to converse with him, and would teach him sign language after school.

MC: After learning of his interest in drawing, she used her pocket money to buy him colouring pencils and drawing paper in secret without her parents’ knowledge.

MC: They had a pretty happy time in school. Zhang Nian even organised a small exhibition in school, and many teachers and students supported it.

MC: But after graduation, his days became a little more difficult.

He didn’t have a place to stay, and he couldn’t find work. While Xu Wen could rely on her parents for financial assistance, he could only rely on himself.

MC: During this time, Xu Wen seemed to have been using her parents’ money to buy him stationery for drawing, and even accompanied him to set up a stall for his paintings...

MC: But they couldn’t earn money at all.

Gavin opens a few files in front of me.

Gavin: Afterwards, he found a job in a finance company. He went around conducting financial transactions for people, and earned commissions based on the number of successful transactions.

Gavin: Not long after, this company was reported for illegal fund-raising. Both he and his boss were jailed for three years.

I recall seeing his ID from before - a crew cut and a white shirt along with a black suit which looked tidy and fitting.

Turns out he wasn’t working at a bank...

Gavin: Even during his time in jail, Xu Wen never gave up on him. She’d visit him every weekend and converse with him via sign language from across the glass.

Gavin: Of course, Zhang Nian behaved very well in jail, and gave his own drawings to many prison guards. After he was out of jail, he found a stable job.

Separated by the scorching 3pm afternoon sunlight, the gaze Gavin gives me is deep with a tranquil light.

Gavin: Do you know why he planned this kidnapping and handed you the video clip anonymously?

I shake my head. This has been my biggest question.

Gavin takes out a few photographs from the file.

Gavin: Before the case was closed, these documents couldn’t be disclosed to the public, which is why I didn’t tell you at the time.

I scrutinise one of the photographs - an A3-sized sheet of paper is stuck on a door, with a few lines written on it.

From the format of the digits, they appear to be bank account numbers.

Gavin: He was behind this door.

MC: Then these bank account numbers...

Gavin: We checked them.

He points at the first line of digits, then speaks calmly.

Gavin: The first account is for an animal treatment centre. It treats stray cats and dogs which meet with accidents.

Gavin: This one is for a 10 year old girl with hearing issues. She lives with a granny who sells fruits, and is currently saving money for surgery.

Gavin: The both of them had a habit of sending money to these accounts.

Gavin: Even though Zhang Nian continued sending money to them after Xu Wen passed away, he could only maintain his own livelihood with his income.

MC: What you’re saying is, if the video camera could capture this... and document them properly so that more people would know about them...

Perhaps he could help these people. Even if it was for the last time.

MC: ...but that was such a complex method. There was no need to do a good deed in such a roundabout manner, and even kidnap people to reach that goal.

Gavin silently picks up one of the photos from the table - it’s a note that Zhang Nian wrote before he committed suicide. A short message is written on it - It’s Wen Wen’s birthday today.

Gavin: Aside from that, he more or less did think of seeking revenge.

Gavin’s finger remains on the photograph.

Gavin: In Zhang Nian’s life, Xu Wen was the only one who gave him warmth. She was his lover.

Gavin: After losing such a person, it isn’t difficult to guess what kind of an attitude he had when facing this world, and facing the people who caused such an ending.

Gavin: When people are in pain, their hatred will involuntarily become amplified.

Gavin: From this perspective, at least he didn't take things even further.

Gavin’s voice is dull, as though he’s mulling over something, or affected by their misfortune.

I can’t help but reach across the table, gently bumping the tip of his finger with mine.

Silence permeates the air. He curls his finger slightly, hooking it around mine.

[ Chapter Four ]

The files, photographs, and a few scattered pages of a notebook are spread on the table randomly, as though illustrating their entire story in front of me.

The car accident was a tragedy, but it wasn’t the only tragedy. I find myself hesitating to speak. When I open my mouth, I sigh.

MC: Xu Wen was such a good person. She tugged onto him from beginning to end, and never gave up on him for a single moment. She actually managed to pull him out of the abyss.

Even though she couldn’t hear nor speak, she used her gentle gaze to heal the person she loved.

Gavin tidies the items on the table one by one, storing them properly.

His composed voice is mixed with ruefulness. He seems to be slightly moved, but has more or less come to terms with his emotions.

Gavin: From the perspective of an observer, there were many dismal and extreme traits in Zhang Nian’s personality. This is a point that can’t be denied.

Gavin: However, he was abandoned from the moment he was born. The path he walked on all these years, and the world that he saw - those are things we’d find difficult to relate with.

Gavin: Perhaps from the time he knew about the world, he realised that living was already something requiring courage.

Probably seeing such stories again and again when handling various cases, Gavin’s attitude is objective and calm.

Gavin: No matter what attitude he had when he made this decision, he shouldn’t have done so.

In contrast to the practised manner in which Gavin handles his emotions, I remain immersed in the regretful ending experienced by the two.

MC: Aside from her, he had nothing else.

The furniture, the recipes underneath the magnets, and the drawing hung on the wall... these images flash past me one by one.

MC: If I were the one who experienced this, and the only important person in my life was gone, I’d lose my connection with this world. Perhaps death would be a form of liberation.

Before I can finish speaking, Gavin raises his voice, cutting off my impending sigh.

Gavin: It wouldn’t.

He looks at me resolutely and decisively.

Gavin: No matter when, death will never be a form of liberation. Pain can always be treated.

Gavin: Whether it’s because someone important is no longer around, or if you were to lose contact with someone, it’s inevitable to carry some pain.

Gavin: Perhaps time is needed, and perhaps meeting a certain someone is needed, to gradually put an end to such pain, and to use various methods to put an end to such pain.

Gavin: But things will always get better.

Gavin seals the brown paper bag which is filled with materials related to Zhang Nian and Xu Wen, then places it at the corner of the table which has been warmed by the sun.

I watch as his palm presses against the paper bag, a moment of hesitation surging past his slightly lowered gaze. Almost at the same time, he looks up at me -

There’s only certainty in his eyes.

Gavin: No matter when, never give up on yourself. Xu Wen was constantly pulling him out of the abyss. He shouldn’t have given up like that.

[ Chapter Five ]

By the time Gavin and I walk out of the cafe, much of the sun’s heat has dispersed. Wind blows over from the river, and it’s refreshing and soothing.

Countless little flowers with names I’m unaware of bloom among the grass along the street, swaying in the evening breeze of midsummer.

MC: The weather is really nice today.

After sitting down for an entire afternoon, I can’t help but stretch, relaxing my shoulders and back.

Before I can take a few steps, I suddenly remember the moment I met Zhang Nian face-to-face, causing me to halt in my footsteps. He had walked towards me in a timid manner, a sincere and apologetic expression on his face.

He had handed me a letter, its edges creased from being pinched. Then, he turned away hurriedly before running away.

Too much time has passed. Even his Evol has lost its effectiveness.

Gavin senses that something is off about me, and draws a few steps closer. I wave my hand at him, signalling that I’m fine.

Having second thoughts, I can’t help but sigh with emotion.

MC: If only Zhang Nian was willing to contact me earlier and tell me about what exactly happened...

MC: If only I could tell him how nice today’s weather is. I wonder if he’d have made such a decision.

Gavin responds decisively from beside me.

Gavin: He wouldn’t.

Gavin: If someone told him that the weather would be nice today, he’d have definitely held on for a while longer.

Gavin: But he couldn’t always wait for someone to pull him along and bring him out of the abyss. He had to muster his courage and walk out by himself.

I nod quietly, gripping the notebook in my hand.

MC: Gavin, aside from the original plan for this episode, I think I’d need to add some new content...

Gavin halts in his footsteps, immediately reading the thoughts in my heart.

Gavin: Are you thinking about how there are many people in the world like Zhang Nian?

MC: Mm.

There are definitely some people who are shouldering pain alone, and are hesitating at the crossroads of life and death.

MC: Although this tragedy can no longer be salvaged, we could prevent even more tragedies from occurring.

I turn towards the direction of the river, looking afar at the boundless sky.

MC: I want to tell them about the beautiful scenery all around the world, and the beauty of the four seasons.

MC: Tell them about the colours of sunset, the sounds of the ocean...

MC: And tell them that as long as they’re willing to wait for a while longer, there are still people on earth who will love them.

MC: I want their eyes to be able to see the world that I see. I want them to believe that this world is always worth it.

Realising how overly idealistic and visionary my words are, I give Gavin a smile.

MC: ...I might have sounded too exaggerated.

Gavin: Nope. It will be a very meaningful show.

He suddenly reaches out, combing my hair which has been blown messy by the wind. His fingers linger on the ends of my hair for a long time.

The corners of his lips curl upwards slightly, and he brings me into his arms.

Gavin: Thank you.

Gavin: This world is always worth it.

His voice is far too soft. For a moment, I wonder if I misheard.

MC: What did you say? I couldn’t hear you clearly.

Gavin chuckles, then raises his volume.

Gavin: Since the weather’s pretty good, want to go for a drive?

MC: Did you drive here today?

Gavin: Mm. It’s rare to have such nice weather, so I took the car out for a drive.

MC: Wow~ That is rare. It’s been such a long time since I sat in Captain Gavin’s car.

Gavin takes my hand, striding with large steps as he leads me forward.

Gavin: Let’s go. The car’s in front.

- End -

Filming for the special episode of “Inquries” came to an end. When the final episode aired, the show became a trending topic. After watching it, many members of the audience provided assistance and support for organisations targeted at disabled individuals. Although Zhang Nian and Xu Wen have already left this world, they’ve enabled people who experience difficulties in life to obtain warmth. Such warmth continues to last. I guess being able to allow more people to believe that the world is worth loving, and to do what little they can to help those in need is what it means to be a person in the media industry.

More S2 content: here

#mlqc #mlqc cn #mlqc spoilers #mlqc gavin

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holycow99 · 3 years

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石田お寿司 12/9/21 stream translation Part 2

This is not the full translation of the stream. I only translated the parts I could understand & interpret or parts I found interesting/important. I’m still a beginner in Japanese, so the translations may not be accurate. If you want to repost, please repost at your own risk.

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*Someone asked about Choujin X.

I: I’ve given the manuscript for chp 8. It’ll be released in a few days. I don’t really have much to say about this. I wanna write this month’s goals for Osushi. The big plan is to fix(?) chp 8. Then, I wanna release another two chapters this month. Chp 8 has 20 something pages. I want to at least draw the chapters in a weekly pace. What I mean by that is I wanna draw 72 pages per month. If I could draw 72 pages a month, I drew 18 pages per week during Weekly Young Jump too. So, I wanna draw 18 pages per week, which is 72 pages per month. That’s the amount of pages for weekly publication. It’d be nice if I could draw at least this much by myself. If I drew 25 pages weekly for three weeks, It’d have a total of 75 pages. I can currently get it done. If I updated 3 chapters a month, I’d have a total of 70-something pages per month. Then, nobody will complain. It’s not like anyone is complaining. It’s so that I won’t complain to myself. This is directed towards me as a challenge. Of course, it’s okay if I couldn’t do it. It doesn’t matter if I can or can’t, I thought it’s better to have a goal.

C: And the fact that you’re streaming right now is amazing!

I: Right? I spent a lot of time at the end of August doing rectifications, plotting, etc. They’re all important things to do. Since I have a little bit of free time, I thought of streaming.

C: It’s okay to draw the chapters slowly. Do you concern about maintaining the quality?

I: The quality is as usual. I mean, that’s one of the reason. It’s also to match the quality of the work. The drawing style in Choujin X is different, so of course the drawing will be different too. There are things that have changed. I want to match the vibe of the work, and also, I wanna prioritise speed over the quality. By speed, I don’t mean I wanna write them in a hurry. I want them to have a quality that’s easy to balance. I’m still playing around with it.

C: Until what chapters do you plan to release the physical copy?

I: I can just release it. I do have a plan for it, like releasing 2 volumes altogether.

C: I’m okay with anything as long as you don’t collapse later on.

I: You’re exactly right. I’m doing it with ease. So that the serialisation will go well, I’m adjusting my pace. This is just my ideal, but I wanna serialise another manga. It doesn’t have to be serialised, I have another stuff I wanna release. I’m finding the time to make one. If I make it a rule to do other things after I’ve done 75 pages per month, I don’t have to draw more. I could use the time to do other stuffs.

C: Don’t push yourself.

I: I’m not.

C: Are you overworking?

I: Not at all. I have many hands.

C: Did you play JJ?

I: I played the game like hell.

C: Is it easier to not have assisstants?

I: That’s a good question. This is kinda weird, people say that your work will progress more if you have more assistants, but that’s not the case. I did TG without knowing that. People will ask you to check on their works. So, the more the people, the more the workload. There’s probably an appropriate number of people you should have. 4 people would probably be enough during TG. But there were more people, like the helpers, but they did regularly help. It was quite a lot. I won’t be able to do my own work when there’s a lot of staffs. I don’t have assistants for choujin X so that I can do it with ease, and umm… It’s the fastest way for me. Of course, I do think the quality of the work will increase if there are staffs. I’m trying to see if I can speed up my work to a certain extent without having to check on others’ works and consider about other people, while creating the quality contents I’m capable of.

C: Working alone or with assistants finish faster?

I: It depends on the stuffs you’re making. For choujin x, I think it’d be hard for me to draw them if I had assistants. It’ll be great if we can have divisions.

C: Are you gonna hire a care assistant? (t/n: The Japanese word is Meshistant, which means assistant who mainly takes care of the mangaka’s meal, chore, etc. So, I just put it as care assistant.)

I: Definitely no. I didn’t let my assistants do the chore. I even cleaned the toilet myself. I kinda hate it. I hate the label they give to such people. Meshistant. I don’t like people who call them that. I don’t mean you. I probably won’t be fond of mangakas who use that word. They’re your staffs, right?

C: Do you think of the story all by yourself?

I: Yeah. Sometimes I do get ideas from my surrounding. But, most of it came from mine.

(t/n: I’m not sure if the last sentence is correct. I couldn’t really understand what he meant, but it’s something like that.)

C: I’m having a hard time to sleep. Recommend ways for me to sleep well.

I: Probably read books. It can make your eyes feel tired. Then, maybe by not sleeping? But you might think it’s better to sleep. I understand. I wanna keep trying to fall asleep, but then I’ll watch movies while lying down. I have trouble sleeping lately. I used to sleep a lot.

C: Meshistant is also an honourable job.

I: Then, why not just hire people who specialised in that. Like housekeepers. They have that, right? Something like a home helper. That is better, isn’t it? Using assistants who’re enthusiastic to draw manga to do stuffs like that is awkward for me.

*Someone commented about hiring maid.

I: Maid? Then, I’d like that. Hahaha. Should I hire a maid? I’m recruiting maids.

C: Even at the age of 250,000, you still have trouble falling asleep.

I: Yeah.

C: Are they hired to make meals?

I: Yeah. There’s various types of assistant in the manga industry. This one refers to an assistant in charge of meals.

I: What did I wanna talk about? Oh yeah, about Animal Rap. I’m thinking whether or not I should upload animal rap video during stream, but where is the file? I’ve decided to upload it after this stream ends. What was it that I wanna talk about? Can you tell me about my current status, such as about the Sui exhibition in Osaka and Nagoya, or about Ms. Towada’s illustrations?

C: How about a live rap?

I: Good idea.

C: About the plan for 30,000 subscribers.

I: That’s right 2x. We’re talking about what to do to celebrate 30,000 subscribers.

C: I can be your maid for free.

I: I’ll definitely pay you. If it’s for free, then you won’t feel your sense of duty. I’ll give a huge salary and pressure you so that you’ll work responsibly.

C: Ms. Towada can both write novels and draw. Amazing!

I: I also can. Hahaha. I also…ah, but I can’t write novels. I won’t lose to her.

C: Do you have double eyelids.

I: Mine is hidden one.

C: Appear in First Take.

I: I won’t.

C: Are your eyelashes long?

I: Yes. My eyelashes are long, I have hidden double eyelids, I am of medium build…but I’m already worn-out.

(t/n: He used the word ‘boroboro’. I couldn’t really find the proper word to translate it in this context. Worn-out is the only one I could think of that suits the context.)

C: Are you handsome?

I: Well…I’m pretty good looking.

C: Have you been going to the gym?

I: No, I haven’t, since I was busy with work. I wanna go though.

C: I wanted to go to Mr. Kunimitsu’s concert.

I: Me too.

C: Which one is more handsome? You or Kaneki?

I: Wouldn’t that be Kaneki?

C: How about another stream with Ms. Towada?

I: I re-listened to the stream with Ms.Towada. For some reason, she was laughing a lot in the stream. Though she always like that. It’s slightly embarrassing. She’s acting like she’s at home. It felt like she’s disclosing my family situation, so it’s a bit..., but I can do that again from time to time. When I wanna do something related to JJ, then I’ll call her. That’s the most suitable content.

*Someone asked him to invite his younger sister.

I: It’s impossible to invite my younger sister.

*People wanted Goubaru to be the guest.

C: Goubaru, huh?

C: Do you have someone you wanna invite?

I: No, I don’t. The corona is one thing, but I’m completely okay with not meeting people. I do talk to people I’m close with. I think that’s already enough. It’s not like I have someone I’m involved with. I do usually talk to Mr. Kunimitsu.

*People want Hanae Natsuki again.

I: Hanae? That’s definitely impossible.

*He’s talking about Japanese youtubers.

C: Can you beat boxing?

I: I’m practising at the moment.

*Currently taking about Japanese artists.

* Someone asked who he thinks could be the next popular artist.

I: Lately, I only listen to instrumentals. The one that I like recently is the girl band called Chai. The group’s vocalists are twins. The group is great. It’s not like I like the band because there’s someone who caught my intention. I listened to their songs first before I decided whether I liked them or not. I thought this kind of voice also exists.

C: Congrats for TG’s 10th anniversary.

I: Thank you. Thank you to Brazil as well. (t/n: Someone commented Brazil.)

*He pinned his Chai comment.

C: People who just came don’t understand what’s going on.

I: It’s okay if you don’t. Hehe.

C: Sensei, can you eat choco mint?

I: I can.

C: I thought the bgm was from Animal Crossing.

I: This is Yorushika’s Escape.

*Still talking about Japanese artists.

C: Have you seen Midsummer?

I: Yes, I have.

(t/n: He said something about the new evangelion movies. But I couldn’t really translate that part properly. He basically watched the Rebuild Evangelion movies from the start since he never watched it before. He planned to go to Yamaguchi prefecture, the birthtown of Evangelion’s author to watch the last movie.)

Y****: I’m reading Toro Hedoro! I recommend it!

I: I do read that. Don’t underestimate me! I do read One Piece as well, but half-way through.

C: You can watch the Evangelion movie on Amazon Prime.

I: I wanna watch the final movie at the cinema. Has the final movie come out? It has? But I’m still gonna watch at the cinema.

C: Have you read Tokyo Ghoul?

I: Nope.

C: I recommend Tokyo Ghoul!

I: Is that so? I have a story regarding TG, but it’s probably gonna be quite deep.

C: One Piece has reached 100 volumes!

I: That guy and Odacchi have reached 100 volumes, right? Hahaha. That guy is Luffy, while Odacchi is Oda sensei. Hahaha. I can’t call him that. Odacchi is Oda sensei and Kishikage is Kishimoto sensei. I see, that guy has reached 100 volumes? Way to go! Hahaha! No one is watching this anyway. I’ll properly lick his boots if he’s in front of me, since he’s the real deal. I’ll be very obedient and sucking up to him.

(t/n: Ishida was using the word ‘aitsu’ to refer Eichiro Oda. As far as I know, it’s an impolite way of calling someone older or in higher status than you in Japan.)

C: He’s scarier than Hikakin (a Japanese youtuber.)

I: Right. We are in the same industry after all. But I think Young Jump and Jump are different subsidiaries. Although, Hara sensei seems to have met with Odacchi, so maybe there’ll be an opportunity for me to meet him. But probably no. Someone like me won’t be able to meet Eichiro Oda sensei. I won’t meet him. He seems like a unique person.

*Ishida talking about an illustrator and youtuber called Saito Naoki.

(t/n: I couldn’t translate the first half of this part because they’re talking about something that had happened, and I don’t know the context of it.)

I: The name ‘Saito Naoki’ is very nice. Is it a pen name? It totally sounds like a real name though.

C: Are you close with Kishida Mel? (t/n: Kishida Mel is an illustrator and a character designer.)

I: I’ve never met him, but Kiyoppi, Kiyohara Hiro sensei and Melcchi are good friends. He’s like a friend of my friend. You have things like that, right?

C: The name ‘Ishida Sui’ is cool!

I: I seriously wanna change my pen name. I wanna change to something like Gengoro. I wanna change to a manlier name. I didn’t give a thought about my name before. I used that name because I thought I was gonna be famous in the future, so I didn’t wanna use my real name. I seriously thought that I couldn’t become a mangaka if my real name was exposed. I was like “Since I’m gonna be famous, let’s avoid using my real name.” I was being vigilant about it, so I half-heartedly named my pen name.

I: The name Gengoro is nice. Tagami Gengoro. Tokyo Ghoul’s author, Tagami Gengoro. The Tokyo Ghoul’s author, Tagami Gengoro’s exhibition is now open. I’d definitely sounds like a bearded fatty. With round glasses to top it off. Isn’t Tagami Gengoro a character from a gay manga?

*Ishida searching for Tagami Gengoro.

I: Everyone, don’t search for it. I’m scared something dirty will appear. Is it not? Oh, it isn’t. what’s the name again? There is a character named something Gengoro, right? It’s Tagame Gengoroh! I got it now! Tagame Gengorohw as born in 1964 and a Japanese mangaka. He calimed himself to be a ‘Gay Erotic Artist’. This is the one! It’s Tagame Gengoroh sensei.

*Ishida was looking at Tagame Gengoroh sensei’s illustrations.

I: This one. Wow, this is indeed gay! Hahaha.

C: I can’t believe it came out of your mouth.

I: Surprisingly, I do talk about these kind of stuffs. (t/n: I mean, he’s the man who wrote a whole R-18 chapter.)

I: So, I can’t use the name Gengoro, since there’s someone with this name.

C: Is the name ‘Ishida Sui’ an anagram of your Surname?

I: Yes, it is.

C: Are you gay?

I: Hahaha! Even if that’s true, you didn’t have to ask that kind of question! Let’s just say that I’m okay with both.

C: Kuso Miso. (t/n: Kusomiso is a gay manga.)

I: Of course, I’d be reading them (probably referring to gay manga). I mean, manga like Kuso Miso Technique are popular, right?

C: Ishida GayGoro.

I: Hahaha. That’s just gay.

C: You’ve been to a gay bar before, right?

I: Not at all. When I was hanging out with the staffs, Goubaru said he wanted to go to a Okama bar while crying.

(t/n: According to the internet, Okama is a term referring to guys who adapted female characteristics.)

C: I think it’s completely normal to be gay nowadays.

I: We’re talking about gay now. It’s not normal in the first place. It’s just a sexual orientation. If you pick on every little thing, everything will become a problem. Those who deliberately say they’re not prejudiced against gays are actually are. Even if you tell that to people, they’ll probably filter what they wanna say. They’d be conscious of every single thing they say. Things like that don’t matter.

C: Sensei, let’s talk about something else.

I: Why? I’m okay with it.

C: I’m bi.

I: Does it matter? It’s okay.

C: It’s difficult to say something regarding gender issues, right?

I: Well…It’s difficult, since it’s concerning your mindset. It doesn’t only apply to gender issues; you can hurt someone by making careless remarks. It’s just that you sometimes accidentally let out your opinions. I also think I sometimes make unnecessary remarks, so I might do that.

C: I want to be embraced by Masataka Kubota. (t/n: Masataka Kubota is a Japanese actor who played as Kaneki in the live-action.)

I: That’s right. Must be nice. I want us to embrace each other.

Part 3

#ishida sui #tokyo ghoul #jack jeanne #choujin x #chojin x #ishida sushi channel

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timextoxhajima · 3 years

Text

Grounded: Level 8

Level 7 | Level 9

Member: Minho (Lee Know)

Genre: idol minho x idol trainee reader

Taglist: @jaehyvnsvalentine @licorice526 @lolwhatameme @felixn-recs @yunapixie @rindomo @sleeping-hero-of-procastination

A/N: This chapter includes fake character idol profiles so please don’t attack me that your face isn’t there. No, I am not glorifying the fact that only korean girls are pretty, but this is in fact the most culturally accurate account of a fake profile I can create given the context.

WI5HES (위셔스) is a South Korean girl group under HYBE (previously known as BigHit Ent.). The group currently consists of Ju Rin, l/n, Ga Hyun, So Eun and Min Jung. WI5HES debuted on March 15, 2021 under HYBE. They are HYBE’s first girl group since 2014.

Stage Name: Ju Rin

Birthname: Wang Ju Rin

Position: Leader, Lead Vocalist, Sub-Rapper

Birthday: May 10, 2000

Zodiac Sign: Taurus

Height: 167cm (5′5)

Weight: 48kg (106 lbs)

Blood Type: A+

Stage Name: l/n y/n

Birthname: y/n

Position: Main Dancer, Lead Rapper, Sub-Vocalist

Birthday: June 15, 2000

Zodiac Sign: Gemini

Height: 164cm (5′4)

Weight: 49kg (108 lbs)

Blood Type: O

Stage Name: Ga Hyun

Birthname: Choi Ga Hyun

Position: Lead Vocalist, Lead Rapper, Lead Dancer, Visual

Birthday: October 25, 2001

Zodiac Sign: Scorpio

Height: 170cm (5′6)

Weight: 51kg (112 lbs)

Blood Type: O

Stage Name: So Eun

Birthname: Kang So Eun

Position: Main Rapper, Lead Dancer, Sub-Vocalist, Center

Birthday: November 5, 2001

Zodiac Sign: Scorpio

Height: 172cm (5′6)

Weight: 50kg (110 lbs)

Blood Type: B

Stage name: Min Jung

Birthname: Gwang Min Jung

Position: Main Vocalist, Lead Rapper, maknae

Birthday: August 15, 2003

Zodiac Sign: Leo

Height: 163cm (5′3)

Weight: 46kg (101 lbs)

Blood Type: AB

“Five is better than three, annyeonghaseyo, WI5HES-ibnida!” The echo of your introduction rings through the dressing room, backstage of the MCountdown stage. It draws goosebumps from your arms and your back. Min Jung grits her teeth, attempting to contain her anxiety when she sees herself on stage through the recording for the first time.

So Eun’s sobbing into Ju Rin’s shoulder, and Ga Hyun has her phone out, randomly snapping photos of So Eun’s slightly smudged make-up.

“Yah, haven’t you taken enough?” Ju Rin wraps the rim of Ga Hyun’s phone with her palm, covering the camera, unable to contain her grin.

“Aw, come on!” Ga Hyun pouts, retracting her phone and wiping the lens with her sleeve. “It’s not everyday we get to debut.”

Knock Knock

“Who is it?” Ju Rin cranes her neck behind her, nodding for Min Jung to get the door. Already halfway down a bow, Min Jung opens the door to reveal a strange mixture of Hyunjin, I.N, Soobin, Yeonjun and Beomgyu.

“Oh, annyeonghaseyo,” Min Jung’s reflexes are to greet Hyunjin and I.N first.

“Annyeonghaseyo,” Hyunjin and I.N bow to the lot of you, and suddenly everybody’s bowing. “Congratulations on your debut!”

Ju Rin releases So Eun to receive the adorable box of cupcakes from Hyunjin and I.N.

“Chan-hyung and the others send their regards. They couldn’t be here today for a separate schedule.”

“Oh, we’re not the ones you should be reporting this to,” Ga Hyun snickers, pulling away from what looks like a handshake routine with Beomgyu. Eyes turn to you, forcing the blush on your cheeks to be of natural effect and not the make-up.

After the scandal with Yeonjun, things died down relatively quickly. More pictures of you training with the other members were released, diluting the idea that you and Yeonjun were dating. Furthermore, there was no other evidence of you and Yeonjun going out on secret dates that the company didn’t know about.

But of course, WI5HES and TXT know about Minho’s confession, and needless to say, they had to be reeled back under control.

“My God, it’s like you want Lee Know hyung to pass out from jealousy,” Hyunjin’s eyes narrow with mischief, holding out his phone screen to you.

“What? Why would he be jealous? There’s not a single person on that page that’s a threat to him,” Scrolling through the pictures absent-mindedly, you scorn at his baseless remark.

“He’ll be jealous solely from the fact that you look good in your photos,” Jeongin sucks on the upper row of his teeth.

“I know,” A shy smile appears on your lips. “We’ve had this conversation before.”

“Eugh,” Hyunjin shudders, shoulders reaching his ears as he groans in disgust. “Glad I wasn’t around for that conversation.”

“Anyway, thank you all for coming by our Debut Stage today, but we gotta head back to BigHit to handle some new scheduling,” Ju Rin’s waving her hands, telling the girls to pack up and for TXT to help.

Walking past Sunmi, Chungha and other idols while you make your way out of the building felt so strange and alien, you almost couldn’t believe you were at the end of your first promotion. You were an idol now, and there was no going back. Everything you did, every move you made - would be under public scruntiny now, regardless of the reason, whether you liked it or not.

“Thank you!” The bodyguard nods at you as he shuts the door. Sat in the middle with Ju Rin to your right, and the three younger in the back, you can smell the odd mixture of perfume and that strange scent of new costumes and clothes. BigHit - no, HYBE - had invested so much into your costumes though they looked nothing like the price they cost.

Then again, half of you were wearing YSL pullovers and Dior jeans.

“You okay?”

“Hmm?” Turning your head as it leans against the headrest, your eyes meet Ju Rin’s. “Yeah, you? I’m surprised you haven’t cried yet.”

Ju Rin laughs under her breath, glancing out the window as the car starts. “Oh, believe me, I’ve cried. I just don’t do it infront of you guys.”

“Aw,” The sides of your lips curl downwards. There’s a pinch in your heart you can’t take, only because Ju Rin has to keep up such a strong facade for you and for the rest of her members. She’s responsible, and time and time again she reminds you why she was chosen to be leader. “You know you can cry infront of us. You don’t have to act or put up a strong front.”

“I know, but I wouldn’t be able to see you guys crying tears of... happiness if my vision is blurred out by my own, right?”

You can’t contain the scoff that runs out your throat, eyes darting to look at the city outside, now coated with the drizzle that’s blurring the city sights.

“Fucking full of shit,” You chuckle under your breath, unable to hide the smile that’s stretching across your face.

Ju Rin snickers and purses her lips, reaching her left hand out to you. Her hand is warm and soft (from all the moisturizer products she’s using - HYBE’s trying to get her some make-up CF already), but the smile on her face is more home than anything will ever be.

Time to count the number of days before the world is made your home. Tours, meeting new people, inspiring others with your love for performance and dance, the same way you were inspired into chasing a dream that you didn’t even think you had a chance of achieving. Some might say it’s unfair, how the chance fell unto your feet all so easily, like it had been planned. It’s unfair that of all the crew members to be scouted, you were the only one.

But that wasn’t your dream. At that point of time in your life, all you wanted was to fulfil your need to be perfect in dancing; to be by Minho’s side. So, in some way, fate had pulled you away from him instead.

He didn’t tell anybody he auditioned for Cube. He didn’t tell anybody he’d auditioned for JYP before that either, only for JYP to call him back to be part of that cursed show.

And before you knew it, you had lost the one thing you didn’t want to lose: Minho. It was heartbreaking, watching him live his life of a dream that he’d been chasing without you knowing in the first place. You couldn’t decide if you were angry with him for leaving you out of his happiness or if you had simply convinced yourself he had forgotten about you.

But you caught yourself tripping over your own feelings of hurt and love when you realise you started searching for some bit of Minho in someone else, and you were lucky it was Yeonjun. Yeonjun who had a pure heart and nothing but kindness.

The things that could’ve happened had you searched for a part of Minho in someone else who might’ve taken you for granted.

Minho made up for that heartbreak though, when Hyunjin had told him you were alone with Yeonjun, walking to some desolate part of the building but only spotted Yeonjun coming back alone. Minho, who at that point of time already known you a good three (or was it four?) years, knew you well enough to know that you were somewhere sobbing your eyes out.

His scent when he had his arms around you was stuck in your nostrils for days and weeks because that was just how long he had spent being away from you. You didn’t even know how much you missed his scent until it was in your system again.

The risk you both had chosen to take that fateful day when the scandal of you and Yeonjun was released was of astounding magnitude.

Who the Hell confesses their love to another celebrity, so close to their own debut date?

“You,” Minho trills, almost crumpling the Uno cards on the table. The tears in the corners of your eyes are threatening to dribble over your lids, but then Changbin is sitting behind you on the sofa, trying his best to hide his laughter through his gritted teeth. “We’ll see if the two of you can still laugh after this.”

Minho picks up twelve cards with a disproportionate amount of strength, the cards nearly being folded under his fingers.

“Yah- hyung!” Changbin yells and points at the cards, glaring at the elder.

“What? You complain about me damaging the cards as if you can’t afford a new deck yourself.”

“This is our fifth deck!” Changbin nearly screeches, and the exchange forces you to fall to your back at Changbin’s feet, your arm clutching your tummy from how much it hurt from your laughter.

“Oh my God!” The words are struggling to leave your voice box, between silent giggles. “This- this is your- oh, my God- this is your fifth deck?”

“We’ll need a sixth deck soon! Can you tell your man to be a little less aggressive?!” Changbin loses his patience and gets up, hands sweeping the cards off the table and plucking Minho’s set out from his hands.

“Yah!”

“‘Yah’,” Changbin’s distorted imitation of Minho calls for the elder to surge to his feet, suddenly towering over Changbin who cowers on the couch behind you. “Ah- Ah- OkAy, take your stupid cards back-”

“I’ll get you a new deck if I destroy this one, but first I gotta destroy you.”

The finger in your face goes unnoticed when you laugh again, stomach hurting from the aggressive giggling.

“My God, she’s lost it!” Minho sings sarcastically, holding his hands to his head with the cards still in his palm. “No, quick, Earth to y/n, come back so I can win!”

“Eugh,” Changbin groans and squints his eyes. Minho never says these kind of things, so when he does, it’s weird, and unlike of him to do so, making it ultra-

“CriNGe!!!!!” Hyunjin yells at the top of his voice as he exits his room and heads for the kitchen. “Just get a room already!”

“HYUNJIN!” Chan’s voice booms from elsewhere in the apartment.

#lee know #skz lee know #lee know scenarios #lee know fanfic #stray kids #skz #stray kids lee know

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reading-writing-revolution · 3 years

Text

Heather Cox Richardson:

March 7, 2021 (Sunday)

Black Americans outnumbered white Americans among the 29,500 people who lived in Selma, Alabama, in the 1960s, but the city’s voting rolls were 99% white. So, in 1963, Black organizers in the Dallas County Voters League launched a drive to get Black voters in Selma registered. The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, a prominent civil rights organization, joined them.

In 1964, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act, but it did not adequately address the problem of voter suppression. In Selma, a judge had stopped the voter registration protests by issuing an injunction prohibiting public gatherings of more than two people.

To call attention to the crisis in her city, Amelia Boynton, who was a part of the Dallas County Voters League but who, in this case, was acting with a group of local activists, traveled to Birmingham to invite Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., to the city. King had become a household name after the 1963 March on Washington where he delivered the “I Have a Dream” speech, and his presence would bring national attention to Selma’s struggle.

King and other prominent members of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference arrived in January to press the voter registration drive. For seven weeks, Black residents tried to register to vote. County Sheriff James Clark arrested almost 2000 of them for a variety of charges, including contempt of court and parading without a permit. A federal court ordered Clark not to interfere with orderly registration, so he forced Black applicants to stand in line for hours before taking a “literacy” test. Not a single person passed.

Then, on February 18, white police officers, including local police, sheriff’s deputies, and Alabama state troopers, beat and shot an unarmed 26-year-old, Jimmie Lee Jackson, who was marching for voting rights at a demonstration in his hometown of Marion, Alabama, about 25 miles northwest of Selma. Jackson had run into a restaurant for shelter along with his mother when the police started rioting, but they chased him and shot him in the restaurant’s kitchen.

Jackson died eight days later, on February 26. The leaders of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in Selma decided to defuse the community’s anger by planning a long march—54 miles-- from Selma to the state capitol at Montgomery to draw attention to the murder and voter suppression. Expecting violence, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee voted not to participate, but its chair, John Lewis, asked their permission to go along on his own. They agreed.

On March 7, 1965, the marchers set out. As they crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge, named for a Confederate brigadier general, Grand Dragon of the Alabama Ku Klux Klan, and U.S. senator who stood against Black rights, state troopers and other law enforcement officers met the unarmed marchers with billy clubs, bull whips, and tear gas. They fractured John Lewis’s skull, and beat Amelia Boynton unconscious. A newspaper photograph of the 54-year-old Boynton, seemingly dead in the arms of another marcher, illustrated the depravity of those determined to stop Black voting.

Images of “Bloody Sunday” on the national news mesmerized the nation, and supporters began to converge on Selma. King, who had been in Atlanta when the marchers first set off, returned to the fray.

Two days later, the marchers set out again. Once again, the troopers and police met them at the end of the Edmund Pettus Bridge, but this time, King led the marchers in prayer and then took them back to Selma. That night, a white mob beat to death a Unitarian Universalist minister, James Reeb, who had come from Massachusetts to join the marchers.

On March 15, President Lyndon B. Johnson addressed a nationally televised joint session of Congress to ask for the passage of a national voting rights act. “Their cause must be our cause too,” he said. “[A]ll of us… must overcome the crippling legacy of bigotry and injustice. And we shall overcome.” Two days later, he submitted to Congress proposed voting rights legislation.

The marchers remained determined to complete their trip to Montgomery, and when Alabama’s governor, George Wallace, refused to protect them, President Johnson stepped in. When the marchers set off for a third time on March 21, 1,900 members of the nationalized Alabama National Guard, FBI agents, and federal marshals protected them. Covering about ten miles a day, they camped in the yards of well-wishers until they arrived at the Alabama State Capitol on March 25. Their ranks had grown as they walked until they numbered about 25,000 people.

On the steps of the capitol, speaking under a Confederate flag, Dr. King said: “The end we seek is a society at peace with itself, a society that can live with its conscience. And that will be a day not of the white man, not of the black man. That will be the day of man as man.”

That night, Viola Liuzzo, a 39-year-old mother of five who had arrived from Michigan to help after Bloody Sunday, was murdered by four Ku Klux Klan members tailing her as she ferried demonstrators out of the city.

On August 6, Dr. King and Mrs. Boynton were guests of honor as President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Johnson recalled “the outrage of Selma” when he said "This right to vote is the basic right without which all others are meaningless. It gives people, people as individuals, control over their own destinies."

The Voting Rights Act authorized federal supervision of voter registration in districts where African Americans were historically underrepresented. Johnson promised that the government would strike down “regulations, or laws, or tests to deny the right to vote.” He called the right to vote “the most powerful instrument ever devised by man for breaking down injustice and destroying the terrible walls which imprison men because they are different from other men,” and pledged that “we will not delay, or we will not hesitate, or we will not turn aside until Americans of every race and color and origin in this country have the same right as all others to share in the process of democracy.”

But less than 50 years later, in 2013, the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act. The Shelby County v. Holder decision opened the door, once again, for voter suppression. Since then, states have made it harder to vote. And now, in the wake of the 2020 election, in which voters handed control of the government to Democrats, legislatures in 43 states are considering sweeping legislation to restrict voting, especially voting by people of color. Among the things Georgia wants to outlaw is giving water to voters as they wait for hours in line to get to the polls.

Today, 56 years after Bloody Sunday, President Biden signed an executive order “to promote voting access and allow all eligible Americans to participate in our democracy.” He called on Congress to pass the For the People Act, making it easier to vote, and to restore the Voting Rights Act, now named the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act after the man who went on from his days in the Civil Rights Movement to serve 17 terms as a representative from Georgia, bearing the scars of March 7, 1965, until he died on July 17, 2020.

The fact sheet from the White House announcing the executive order explained: “democracy doesn’t happen by accident. We have to defend, strengthen, and renew it.” Or, as Representative Lewis put it: “Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble.”

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whatdoesshedotothem · 3 years

Text

Wednesday 25 May 1836

7 10/..

11 20/..

- A- to Cliff Hill - ready in ¾ hour fine but dull morning - out from 8 to 10 20 - set Frank and one of Robert Mann’s men to pull up and cart near to top of Godley Ing the stones of the old goit from the Godley Engine pit - to make a new drain or sough for the Godley water instead of running in an open drain under the trees of the old hedge between Sour Ing and Godley - Frank had one cart and 2 horses - Robert M- + 3 (Sam B- Jack G- and another man) levelling the hollow between upper brook Ing and Godley Ing barrowing the soil here and there where wanted - and Matthew (employed by Robert M- who began the morning by taking rubble off the road along the top of the coach house court) went before 9 to prepare wall-race (for David Booth) opposite the house - Wood poorly and not here today - Sam B- poorly (a swelling in his throat) and not at work this afternoon - so that Robert M- had 5 men this morning and 4 this afternoon - with David Booth shewing him how I would have the wall against the road done in front of the house - breakfast at 10 20 Mr. Washington came for ¼ hour at 10 ¾ to met Holt and measure for laying coal and water drifts, holing etc on the coal plan and to measure what land I had taken from what Pickells had - SW- thinks Mr. Joseph Aspinall of Brighouse would be a proper person to value the marsh farm stone - thinks it should be worth 9d. a ft. - not 12ft. thick - if 9ft. thick at 9d. it would = 6/9 per yard - I thought it ought to be worth 10d per ft. = 7/6 per yard - SW- said he bought for A- Sir Joseph Radclyffe’s estate for £11500; and Jones the steward said he would not have sold it to anyone else for less than £12,000 - £11500 to be price if no coal in it - some person named to be consulted after this - if no coal, the agreement drawn out to be signed - £1000 to be paid on signing on Saturday next and the rest the 1st of August - SW- said A- seemed glad and I said I was glad - vid. the last p. Sir JR-s’ estate bought for A- out at 11 - went to the top of the hill - some time with Holt and SW measuring -asked them about the gap in the measurements of coal got - said it was not intelligible to me - for the coal being sold surface measure, their measurements ought to have been made to tally - the people had paid for an acre too little - SW- excuses lame - said it would be shewn now when the colliery was opened and when we got up to Rawsons - yes! said I but who is to pay me - I at this moment remember Mr. Briggs telling me what a pother there was about the measurements and that John Oates and c° would not pay up - but JO- was the principal resister - Remember this – at

SH:7/ML/E/19/0049

Whiskum quarry - with John Bottomley walling up temporary against it in his Long field - then at Whiskum cottage and about till the men returned from dinner - with Robert Mann and c° (vid. line 5 of today) till came in at 4 ½ - 10 minutes with my aunt - then read A-‘s note and letter to her sister, and looked at the agreement for Sir JR-‘s estate brought by George this afternoon or morning on returning from the ponies shoeing at Ward’s - Mrs. AW- better but A- uncertain about her (A-‘s) return home - from 5 to 6 ¼ wrote a few lines on the vacant end of my aunt’s letter to Marian, to give A-‘s and my love and say the newspapers my aunt meant I should send Marian were the Yorkshire Gazettes, and that Marian could have anything else she might want by the box the carriage of which she needed not fear would be [ruinous] - punctuated as letter to her sister - wrote and finished my letter to M- began on Friday and dated that day, and the next, and today - i.e. the 1st ½ p. written on the 20th and 21st and the rest today - wrote today the latter ½ p. 1 and pp. 2 and 3, and the ends, and crossed pp. 1 and 2 - said she would see how I was subject to interruptions - beg to be excused once more - to be assured of my steady friendship and regard - 3 times in York, on business, since the death of my father - the last time, thought to be off for Paris last Sunday week - unsettled again as ever - nothing fixed - M- to believe nothing till she hears it from me - too much on my hands ‘one thing drags on another’ - cannot explain clearly on paper - ‘come and see whenever you like, but not just yet unless you give me a few days’ warning’ - household troubles - ‘the late dynasty did not make the rough places plain’ - only 2 women servants ‘a cook who cannot cook or wash, and a kitchen girl in her teens to do her own work, and households’ work - and I have got the widow of my steward Mr. Briggs to keep house, and her daughter to take care of her - can you help us?’ does M- know of a housekeeper? - ‘she might arrange the kitchen department to her own mind - we want but little just now, except order - no company’ shall be off as soon as we can - mention my French maid (Lecomte) having been with us a fortnight above ½ of it under M-‘s brother’s care - Mrs. Briggs not having lived in a gentlemen house, does not know how to set up - M- to tell us ‘how much beer should the men be allowed at breakfast, dinner and supper, and how much the women of tea, and sugar and butter and heaven knows what - again God bless you! I wish I had all knowledge - teas, sugars, water-wheels, hotels, and collieries, - all crowd together in my poor brain - oh! for the goodly cedar of the Jardin des Plantes at Paris, or some Alpine pass, or balmy breeze upon the Aegean wave! oh! that I could flee away for a little while and be at rest! my favourite wanderings would be rest to me - I know it is not stillness that can suit me - sometime I hope to date to you from the other side of the water - be it when or where it may, I shall always be with unchangeable sincerity very faithfully and especially yours AL’ I had told her somewhere in my letter of my aunt’s being amazingly well - and of her being wheeled ½ a mile from the house - sent off by the bag my aunt’s letter to Marian Market Weighton and A-‘s letter to her sister (Udale house Fortrose Rossshire) and my own letter to M- ‘Claremont house, Leamington, Warwickshire’ - dinner at 6 ¼ - had coffee in the drawing with my aunt - out again at 7 5 and had Robert Mann and Jack Green and John Booth removing and planting in the wood just above young oaks from the low place near the brook to the south east of the meer-clow which low place is to be raised with meer-drift stuff - planted also (but without the railing and in Charles H-‘s acre field near the 2 great larches) a sycamore lopped taken from near the hut, where the highroad overflow water drain is to be turned into the hut-extremity of the meer - kept the men planting till too dark to see to do more, that is, till 9 35 - I came in at 10 -with my aunt ¼ hour - very fine day - F48° at 10 ¼ pm

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dreaminginthedeepsouth · 3 years

Text

A few :"Boo's" from the crowd.

Selma, 1965

* * * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

March 7, 2021

Heather Cox Richardson

—-

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

#Letters from an American #Heather Cox Richardson #history #racism #Selma #Alabama #Civil Rights #Bloody Sunday #voting Rights #democracy

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past-perfect-future-tense · 4 years

Text

Jake On Weed

Pairing: Thor x OC (sort of OC, sort of Reader Insert) Loki x OC Friend of Main Character

Warnings: Fluff, Comedy, Fangirling for Middle Aged Ladies

Word Count: 3799

Summary: You are a huge fan of a-ha, you are going to their concert with your best friend and well, you never know who you’ll see.

A/N: This was written for @captain-rogers-beard One Hit Wonder challenge. Thank you for giving me an extension. This thought for a story has been in my head for a while now, so I had to take the opportunity to write it down. My prompt/song was Take On Me by a-ha. A-ha is my favorite band in the world! Plus I saw a comic of Thor wearing an a-ha tshirt and being that I love both, they all had to go together. Also this was inspired by my life events and by my dear friend who had some of the events in the story happen in real life. This is also my tribute to the fact that I have tickets to see them in LA this August, although with the pandemic going on, that may not happen. I kinda left Infinity War/Endgame out and obviously Loki is alive. Also tagging my Thor’s Whores as well.

Enjoy!!

@thorfanficwriter @lancsnerd @saviorsong @queenoftheunderdark @lovesdarkness @fictivefrolic @michelehansel

The lifelong, not quite obsession but bordering on fanatic for the band had started when you where 11 years old. It started when you had first heard ‘Take On Me’ played on the local radio station. As the song became more popular, it was played more regularly until eventually it became a #1 hit single for the band. Due to the songs resounding popularity, subsequent music video that is still one of the best ever made, and this had catapulted the band into worldwide stardom.

The more popular they became you knew more about them. Being the first group from Norway to have this kind of international success was a big deal. You always had a special place for Norway in your heart as that’s where your maternal ancestors were from. Each band members were all extremely cute, and the lead singer could sing. I mean his voice was amazing. Within a short time they had more videos on tv, more singles on the radio, you had their posters on your walls, and so that love was cemented.

It was so much so that when it seemed as though the band had disappeared from the airwaves in America after their amazing second album, you had to buy their music from record stores at import prices. You didn’t mind because you knew their music was worth the price and the time you waited, however that didn’t make it easy to be a fan of the band.

Being that when they toured the US the last time, you were too young to attend their shows, so sadly you missed out on seeing them in concert. It was something that you would always regret and that you’d hope to one day change making that dream become reality. Now that dream did come true 10 years ago when the band had decided to go their separate ways and did a final tour including many places they hadn’t toured in more than 20 years.

That concert was a dream come true. Something that you never thought would happen and you remember it like it happened yesterday. You and your best friend, Bridgette, who also loves the band the way you do, still talk about it. In all actuality it was your mutual love of the band that brought you too each other. That bond is stronger than ever and the fact that this would be the one and only time you’d see the band perform live was a bit disheartening however sharing the experience with her made it hurt less.

So imagine your mental state when the band announced they be touring again, in support of their first albums release, ‘Hunting High And Low’ playing the album in its entirety on the 35th anniversary of its’ release, as well as a setlist full of their hits and fan favorites, you and your bestie had already decided that if they toured here, you both would be there.

Nothing would stop it.

Nothing.

Nothing short of a global pandemic.

So, when the actual global pandemic happened and the tour was postponed, you two were devastated. What was one more year to wait when the first time you waited 25 years? You had both prayed and thanked Asgard for bringing the band back to you and keeping those that you loved safe. The time had gone fast and you two were planning another weekend that included the concert and hanging out with other friends that were fans too.

The day of the show was a whirlwind. Meeting your friends for a late lunch prior to going to the preshow fan party. The party was fun. You got hangout and see people that you’d only meet online. A few you had met the prior show and were happy to reconnect with over your shared love of the band. One friend in particular, Elizabeth, who you talked outside of the fan boards and shared life experiences with was there and you were so happy to see her. The following day the three of you were scheduled to go to the fabric district to hang out before the next show the following night.

However tonight was what you were focused on. You and Bridge had found your seats. They were in the third row from the stage, just to the left of the stage. Elizabeth and a few of your other friends were in the front and second row just ahead of you. You weren’t sure how you were going to survive but you knew you would. As you two were waiting you were looking around the theatre and the two seats next you were empty. It was getting closer to show time and you were wondering something to yourself, however you said it out loud because that was your mental state at the moment. The energy of the entire place was electric! “Do you think Thor likes A-ha?” You asked Bridge.

She looked at you and a pensive look crossed her face, a momentary change from the 15 year old fangirl smile you both had been wearing the entire day. “That’s a good question. I mean, why wouldn’t he like A-ha?” She asked you back and you thought about it. You did see that one drawing from the Loki, Agent of Asgard comic and it always had you wondering. In the drawing Thor was wearing an A-ha t-shirt. So maybe??

“Maybe he does. I mean the band are Norwegian and the ancient Norse did worship Asgard.” You thought about it and so did she. “Wouldn’t it be funny if they sat next to us for the show?” You say and your friends face breaks into a smile before a face of utter shock passes over it. Since you were turned to look at her away from the empty seats on your left you had no idea what was making her react that way. In responding to her you scrunch your eyebrows together, you were perplexed. You mouth ‘what?’ to her and she motioned with her head behind you. Turning to see what got her in awe, you turn to look and into a nearly brick wall of a chest. Slowly turning your gaze up, you see a sight you never thought you would.

Thor. Thor, the God of Thunder. Asgardian King.

There he stood looking down at you. His smile as big as you had seen in photos and on tv. The bluest blue eyes looked at you and they held nothing but joy. You mentally say what the actual fuck, however you realized you actually hadn’t when Thor says to you, “Pardon, I didn’t quite hear you.” You look at him and then you feel a hand on your shoulder as you turn to see your friend standing up next to you holding on for support.

“I’m sorry, did I say something?” You ask him back.

He begins to answer you when from behind him immerges his brother, Loki. “You said what the actual fuck, with a question on the end. You heard her brother; we have much better hearing than the Midgardians do.”

“I know we do, but I try not to make them feel bad about Loki. It’s not their fault.” Thor had turned to his brother and made a sad face at him. Loki rolled his eyes.

“Did I make you feel bad Ms?” Loki asked you and you stood there looking at them both.

Your bestie squeezed your shoulder and you responded, “No, not at all. I mean I know I’m Midgardian and have no powers.”

“See Thor, she’s perfectly fine.” Loki says in his smooth as silk voice. He smiles at you, but you see the mischief in his eyes. “Are you alright?” He asks but you see he is looking at your bestie now. You looked back to her and she’s looking at him.

She nods her head at him and says, “Yeah, I am.” Her eyes don’t look convinced but you’re not going to point that out. She did stop shaking or was that you? At this point it was possibly both of you.

“Are you excited for the show tonight?” You hear that big voice again and turn your attention back it from Loki and your bestie.

“Oh yeah, we’ve been anticipating it for a while now. Especially since they postponed it from last year. How about you guys?” It felt weird referring to them as just guys but in all honesty they were dressed in casual clothes. Loki in a leather blazer, black with dark jeans, hair slicked back, and this air of magic around him. It was tangible. You were positive everyone around them felt it. Thor was wearing a wine colored bomber jacket, dark blue jeans, black boots, long braided beard, and his hair was pulled back into a ponytail. It had grown out since they had founded New Asgard in Norway after Hela, their sister destroyed Asgard in a jealous fit of rage. A simplistic yet accurate description of events.

Occasionally you see them on the news and other online outlets. Thor helping the New Avengers and Loki keeping mostly quiet. Mostly. “We have been long time fans of the band. Actually, Loki brought the band to my attention within his time travels and being that Asgard is in Norway, well it’s not difficult to be a fan.” Thor answered you and smiled. You smiled back and suddenly the lights dimmed in the theater and you knew the show was about to begin. Thor turned towards the stage after you did. Someone over the sound system said hello to the crowd and you and your friend cheered, loudly. A spotlight came on and Magne stepped out into the light, walking over to his keyboard, Morten followed and stood center stage at his microphone, and Pal Walked out last standing at his mic on the left side of the stage, guitar already slung, ready to play.

“Hello LA” Magne says and the crowd cheers. Your friend Elizabeth turned around and smiled at you and Bridgette. You both smiled at her and then you turned to your left and there was Thor and Loki, Thor cheered along with the crowd, Loki applauded earnestly. You and Thor smiled at each other, you thought you’d died and gone to heaven, maybe you did but who cared? You certainly were in some sort of heaven and you’d be damned if you had to return to whatever life you lived prior.

The band began to play and started with, “Take On Me” The audience was singing along. This may have been their breakout hit but it certainly wasn’t their only one. You turned to Thor and he was singing to the song as well. When the chorus comes on and you swear he and Loki are both singing ‘Jake On Weed’ and not ‘Take On Me’. You and Bridgette both look at Thor and Loki as they sing loudly, ‘Jake On Weed’ during the chorus.

“Sing it with us, ‘Jake On Weed’.” Thor says loudly into your ear as he leans down.

You look at him and ask loudly, “Why?”

“I’ll tell you after the show over drinks, okay my lady.” Thor says and you look at him albeit a bit stunned but you start singing ‘Jake On Weed’ instead of ‘Take On Me’. Now you knew a certain story behind those lyrics, but you had no idea how Thor and Loki knew those exact same ones. You were definitely going to ask him over drinks. Hopefully, he didn’t forget or find the company of another instead. Elizabeth heard you four singing the lyrics and turned around stunned. She knew the story, it was her story after all. She knew that Bridge and you knew, the other two were a huge mystery to her as well. Before the end of the song several people around you were also singing ‘Jake On Weed’ instead of ‘Take On Me’. The band laughed at the audiences’ antics to the lyrics and continued on with the rest of the show. Bridge and you sang along to every song, dancing too, and you tried not to bump into Thor, although it was hard not too. He didn’t seem to mind though, as a matter of fact he loosened up and swayed to the music too. You wouldn’t call it dancing however if you were him, you’d be a little self-conscious too. The first set was the entire album ‘Hunting High and Low’ in the order of the tracks on the album.

You and Bridge couldn’t help but be teary eyed when the band played the title song as you did the first time you saw them live. You tried not to let Thor see but he leaned down, “Are you okay my ladies?”

You nod yes and answer him, “Yes, we just get a bit emotional at the song.” He put his hand on your shoulder and gently squeezed it. You tried not over analyze the interaction, he was just being nice. You both smiled at one another and turned your attentions back to the show.

Set List:

Take On Me

Train Of Thought

Hunting High and Low

The Blue Sky

Living A Boy’s Adventure Tale

The Sun Always Shines On TV

And You Tell Me

Love Is Reason

I Dream Myself Alive

Here I Stand and Face The Rain

The second set was a mix of their hits from their other nine albums as well as new track that hadn’t been released called ‘Digital Rain’.

Set 2

Analogue (All I Want)

Foot of The Mountain

The Swing of The Things

Crying In The Rain

Sycamore Leaves

Digital River

I’ve Been Losing You

Stay on These Roads

Encore

Scoundrel Days

The Living Daylights

You and Bridge got teary eyed during ‘Stay on These Roads’ however Thor didn’t say anything, but sang along with you as you put your arm around him this time. You were not sure why you did but you felt he needed the reassurance and a connection. He understood the lyrics; if anything they spoke more to him than most. With everything he had been through over his lifetime, he knew that you had to stay on no matter how bad it got. That better things were ahead. The band closed with their Bond Theme, from the movie of the same title, and it was the perfect ending to an amazing night.

You were sad to see it end, however Thor and Loki turned to you, “So I offered to buy you a drink.” He says to you.

“You did offer but you don’t have too.” Trying to let him out of the obligation he set for himself.

“No! Now, we are not ready for the night to end just yet and besides, we promised to tell you the story of the song.” Thor smiles. “Now I know you know who we are but let me introduce myself and my brother. I’m Thor Odinson and this is Loki Odinson, my brother.” Thor extends his hand towards you and you offer yours in kind. Expecting a handshake and getting a kiss on the back of your hand instead. You tried not to blush, but Loki saw it and he made a smirk at you. You rolled your eyes at him and he laughed. Thor kissed Bridge’s hand too, ever the gentleman you thought. She blushed and the blush furthered when Loki winked at her. Again you rolled your eyes at him. He smirked at you and you turned back to Thor.

“My name is Elora and this is my dear friend Bridgette. We are heading out to an after party in Hollywood with other fans. Would you like to join us? Then you can buy us a drink and share your story about Jake On Weed.” You say trying not to sound like you just had one of the best nights of your life but you couldn’t hide your happiness. The smile on your face was too sincere to wish away.

“Loki, what do you say?” Thor asked his brother. Loki looked to you and Bridgette.

“Only if she let’s me buy her drink.” He looks as Bridgette and winks at her.

“Of course he can, right Bridge?” You answer for her because you knew that’s what she wanted. If you considered yourself a Thor’s Whore, well then she was a Loki’s Loose Lady. “I’m going to order a car for us.”

While you were ordering the car, Elizabeth walked over to your happenstance group of the evening. “Hey! The show was fantastic!” She paused and reached out to hug you. You hugged her back and then she continued with what she was saying. “You all are coming to the party, right?” She looked to Bridge, Thor, and Loki.

“We’re all going to be there. Oh, let me introduce you to out newest friends?” You say with a question. You look at Thor and he nods yes to your question. “This is Thor and Loki Odinson, Asgards biggest A-ha fans. Who knew?!”

“It’s nice to meet you both.” Jane says and waves at them from where she’s standing next you. “Okay, do you have the address to the party?”

“Yes. I already ordered a car to come and pick us up. It should be here in about 10 minutes, so we should probably head out to meet it soon.”

“Good. I just ordered our car as well, so we’ll all head out together.” Elizabeth said and then continued her train of audible thought. “Can I ask you two a question?” She looked at Thor and Loki as she asked.

“Certainly. We’ve nothing to hide.” Thor says smiling at Loki who just shakes his head at him.

“Fair enough. So why were you singing ‘Jake On Weed’ instead of ‘Take On Me’?” Elizabeth asked them with a bewildered look on her face.

Thor and Loki exchange glances. Loki actually chuckles before he speaks. “Well it was record store day and upon my travels throughout the realms, I’ve come to discover the love of vinyl. I have quite a collection and I enjoy listening to it. Our mother would’ve loved it, right?”

“Oh she’d love to sit and listen to music with you. You always did have the arts in common.” Thor says with a fondness in his voice to offset Loki’s hint of sadness.

“Upon learning of record store day, I took Thor shopping with me in the DC area to look for the releases. Now we happen into a store, with a young man as the clerk. He is on his phone, managing his social media accounts or whatever it is they do. The phone rings, the store phone not his cell phone, and he answers it. Of course you know he’s trying to be helpful. I can hear her talking to the clerk on the other end of the line. Good hearing, Asgardians have good hearing.”

“We’ve already established that Loki.” Thor interjects and Loki smiles.

“Yes, we have. So She asks him for a specific Record Store Day release. “Take On Me”. Of course he can’t understand her and looks at me. I whisper to him, “Jake On Weed” So repeats it to her, “Jake On Weed?” She replies, “No, Take On Me by A-ha” He answer’s her, “Is that A H A?” She replies “Yes”. He say, “Um, no, we don’t have that one. Sorry.” So that was the end of that conversation. Now you have to understand 3 other individuals called asking about it while we were there. You got the ‘Jake On Weed’ and to the others I told them ‘Spank My Knee’, ‘Pee On Me’, and ‘She Just Teed’. Yours was my favorite.” Loki smiled his mischievously charming smile at Elizabeth who looked amazed and in awe.

“So, it was you who did that?” Elizabeth shook her head and laughed. We all did. Bridge and you had heard her talk about this and sadly you never did get your copy of ‘Jake On Weed’ that Record Store Day. Elizabeth did and she had an unknown interaction with the God of Mischief himself.

“It was and look at how it has brought us all together.” Loki added.

“We should probably head out front, our cars are probably waiting.” You say to the group who has now become a bit larger with Elizabeth’s party joining in on the story you all knew but from one point of view.

“After you.” Thor says and let’s you lead the way out of the front lobby of the theatre. He places a hand on the small of your back as he leads you through the crowd of fans waiting. Loki walks with Bridgette behind the two of you. You spot your car waiting for you.

“We’ll see you there!” You say to Elizabeth.

She’s walking the opposite way to her ride. “Okay, be safe! See you in a bit.” Elizabeth replies with a huge smile.

The four of approach the minivan and the driver roles down the passenger window. “Elora?” He asks.

“Yes, party of four to West Hollywood.” You say to him and he smiles.He opens the side door automatically and Loki grabs Bridgette’s hand.

“Trouble makers to the back of the bus, right?” He askes her and she looks at you then back to Loki.

“It’s the best seat in the van.” Bridgette says to him and helps her in first and slinks in after her. You watch in almost utter amazement as they get into the rear seat of the minivan.

Suddenly you feel the hand move from the small of your back to you right hand. It was large, calloused, and warmly electrifying. You looked over and Thor motioned for you to get it. “After you, Lady Elora.” He bows a bit and you duck inside sitting in the far captain’s chair behind the driver. Thor sits in the other captains chair and the driver closes the door.

“Are we all ready?” The driver asks.

“Yes, my good sir.” Thor answers and turns, smiling at you. “So you ready for that drink?” He asks you.

“Oh yes and you may get a dance if you’re lucky!” You tell him and wink.

“I do feel lucky.” Thor says and reaches over taking your hand. You look at your hands, fingers intertwined. You can hear Loki from the rear seat whispering in Bridgette’s ear. Your hearing wasn’t as bad you pretended. Of course, you didn’t have to hear whatever Asgardian sweet talk he was telling Bridge. Thor wasn’t the only one feeling lucky.

‘We’re talking away

I don’t know what I’m to say

I’ll say it anway

Today’s another day to find you

Shying away

I’ll be coming for your love, okay?’

#mimi's one hit wonder challenge #captain rogers beard #marvel fanfic #marvel au #thor #thor fanfic #thor fanfiction #thor god of thunder #loki #a-ha take on me #a-ha #jake on weed #norway #Past Perfect Future Tense #team thor’s whores #take on me

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lokiondisneyplus · 4 years

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After more than 40 years as an actor, Sheri Mann Stewart had finally taken the plunge to launch her own production company. A week after she wrapped shooting her first film for Mann Woman Productions, Atlanta went on pandemic lockdown.

Mann Stewart was suddenly left with a film on hold, an audition on hold, and the careers of her husband and two sons — all performers — on hold. Instead of ushering her first film — prophetically inspired by John Paul Sartre’s “No Exit” — through editing and post-production, she spends several hours each day on the phone trying to iron out issues with unemployment benefits that she has yet to receive.

“Nothing like this has ever happened,” said Mann Stewart an Atlanta native who most recently appeared in Tyler Perry’s Netflix feature film “A Fall from Grace.” “I think, one way or another, our industry will be changed.”

COVID-19 left actress Sheri Mann Stewart with the first film from her production company on hold, an audition on hold, and the careers of her husband and two sons – all performers – also in flux. She has spent time working on other projects including a new YouTube series to support LGBTQIA youth who may not be in supportive environments.

Like many other industries, the film and TV business has been shut down since mid-March, with only a few exceptions such as late-night talk shows and virtual versions of “American Idol” and “The Voice.” With plenty of content currently in the pipeline, streaming services and television networks have managed so far, but if production doesn’t restart soon, viewers will face a major drought of new shows to watch this fall.

Pressure is building to get production started as soon as possible, but the natural intimacy of a typical set with makeup artists, camera operators, producers, actors and production assistants constantly crossing paths, makes creating proper protocols a serious challenge.

“People are anxious to get back to work,” said Mark Wofford, general manager at Atlanta-based Production Consultants & Equipment, which provides motion-picture rental equipment. “But this has to be weighed against the need to make sure everyone is safe. It’s going to be a real balancing act.”

Georgia has become a major player in Hollywood production, courtesy of generous tax credits to film and TV production companies passed in 2008. It’s now the third-largest state for such content after California and New York. As the only state with no cap on its credits, Georgia has drawn big-budget films such as “Black Panther” and “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.”

Despite Hollywood’s liberal leanings — some in the industry called for boycotts after Georgia’s 2016 religious liberty bill and 2019 heartbeat abortion bill — the Republican-led state legislature and three Republican governors have consistently embraced the tax credit system. At the recent Georgia Film Day on March 11, Gov. Brian Kemp spoke before 200 industry supporters in the state Capitol atrium, extolling the $2.9 billion in direct investment and 50,000-plus jobs the business brought into the state last fiscal year. Weeks later, Kemp would issue a statewide shelter-in-place order.

In May, the Georgia Film Office released a set of nonbinding best practices for film and television productions to consider during the pandemic. The guidelines included holding remote auditions and virtual location scouting as well as reducing the number of extras used on set and placing clear barriers between actors to be removed just before the director yells “Action!”

Local studios are preparing to reopen this summer as they await multiple unions to accept unified protocols. Earlier this month, a task force composed of the various unions and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, sent approved health and safety guidelines to governors in California and New York with plans for final protocols to follow soon. “This document is an initial set of principles and guidelines that we all agree form a relevant and realistic first step to protecting cast and crew in the reopening of the entertainment and media industry in its two largest markets,” said a joint statement from unions, including the Teamsters, the Directors Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA. Face masks for live audiences, staggered mealtimes with no buffet-style setups, and daily screenings for COVID-19 along with a designated COVID-19 compliance officer, were among the recommended guidelines.

Studios have already begun to make big investments in COVID-19 friendly infrastructure. Since March, two of the largest studios in the metro area — Pinewood Studios in Fayetteville and Blackhall Studios in Atlanta — have each invested more than $1 million to retrofit their studios. One of the biggest costs: improving the HVAC systems on their sound stages and offices so they are comparable to that of hospitals in order to reduce the chances of airborne transmission of viruses. Major film and television productions can easily have hundreds of staff members working in tight indoor quarters, creating the kind of environment that public health officials have noted can increase the spread of COVID-19.

“I’ve had to become an expert in viral containment,” said Ryan Millsap, owner of Blackhall Studios. “Until March, I hadn’t given it a second thought. This is a big moment in our generation where disease has come to the forefront.”

Atlanta-based makeup artist Tracy Ewell has seen a virus or cold spread like fire on almost every production on which she has worked. She started toting a personal air filter to set up in the trailers and tents where she and her team spend hours getting actors camera ready. ”I am paid to be hygienic,” Ewell said. “I take full responsibility for my actor’s condition, but masks don’t work in my world.”

Ewell, who has worked as a department head on productions for Marvel and the Netflix drama “Ozark,” is not afraid of returning to set, but she knows that is a decision everyone will have to make for themselves. The initial industry guidelines for makeup artists included providing more time to allow for safety measures to be followed, but additional protocols need to be established before that kind of work can continue. “I would be comfortable having fewer people on set in my department if I knew they were going to have the time,” Ewell said. But more time means more money, and studios now have to make big investments at a time when they’ve posted big losses.

Just before the pandemic shut down productions nationwide, HBO finished its upcoming J.J. Abrams drama, “Lovecraft Country,” and Paramount wrapped Chris Pratt military science fiction movie “The Tomorrow War” at Blackhall. Millsap was about to sign with two other major studios for new productions when COVID-19 put the kibosh on that.

Since then, Millsap has generated zero revenue, shedding more than $1 million a month while keeping his 12 full-time employees on payroll. He said he has had enough money in the bank to keep his studio afloat but would be challenged if shows didn’t begin shooting by the fourth quarter. If all goes well, two major studios will begin pre-production at Blackhall in July with potential full-blown production by August or September, he said.

Frank Patterson, the head of Pinewood Atlanta Studios, said they have had to study every aspect of their business, from more limited security access to more sequestered work pods, dividing the studio into zones. They also hired a medical testing company, BioIQ, to handle the anticipated flood of COVID-19 tests they plan to use on a daily basis. “Some days, we’ll have 6,000 people on the lot,” he said.

The past couple of months have been “overwhelmingly stressful because I’m working with people I’ve known for decades,” Patterson added. “These are people I grew up within the industry. We have to make certain nobody gets sick. At the same time, these are friends who haven’t worked for months and have families to feed. We need to get this done now.”

Atlanta-based Tyler Perry Studios was the first in the country to announce detailed plans to shoot two of his BET television series in July. Perry has some advantages most other studios do not. He owns 330 acres of a former Army base and has at least 80 residences on the property which will enable him to more easily isolate crew and actors. He writes and directs his own TV series in a way that will enable him to finish shooting an entire season in less than three weeks. He has developed protocols to test everybody multiple times with contingencies in case anybody gets COVID-19. He has scaled back on-site crew and extras and is using his largest sound stage as a cafeteria with proper social distancing.

“It’s an enormous undertaking and an enormous cost to the budget,” Perry told Variety last month.

Mann Stewart had just been called for an audition for a Perry television production before the studio closed. She is unsure if that opportunity still stands but has continued with other auditions, including a recent commercial audition that came through in late May. Still, it is never far from her mind how so many aspects of the industry must change.

While writing a script for a play, she found herself debating if she really needed the characters to have a physical interaction.

“I try not to let it impact me and say I can fix it later but…,” said Mann Stewart, her thought left trailing.

Some studios are already pondering creative solutions to those kinds of concerns. As soon as the pandemic hit, executives at Atlanta-based Crazy Legs Productions created an advisory council of five medical experts to help them draw up 25 pages of safety guidelines. Last month, they began compiling a database of local actors who are in relationships with other actors. “We can cast a husband and wife as a husband and wife,” said Scott Thigpen, chief operating officer. “It’s a way to mitigate risk.” They are also considering using family members as extras.

The company, which launched in 2006 and now has 34 salaried employees, produces docuseries for TLC such as “Family by the Ton” and crime shows for ID, like “Dead Silent. ” They also began shooting films for the first time this year.

Industry insiders are confident productions in Georgia will bounce back quickly and fill sound stages as a backlog of content gets filled.

After months spent keeping their skills sharp and in some cases, auditioning via Zoom, actors across metro Atlanta are ready to get back to work, said Clayton Landey, president of SAG-AFTRA Atlanta local. He hopes summer marks that return but said the proper precautions are needed. Landey, a 48-year industry veteran, recalled a scene years ago when his character was being hit with a bullet. Everyone else on the set was standing behind safety glass. “I feel a little like that now,” Landey said. “I am interested to see what is going to be the new normal in terms of safety on set.”

The pandemic ended a theater run for Landey and stalled a film, which no longer has a date to begin production, but he has spent the past three months staying connected to other actors through virtual chats and meetups. Landey worries about the actors who may be suffering mentally while isolated from the career that allows them to channel their emotions into their work. Though acting is a field that prepares you for career ups and downs, this is unlike anything they have seen before, he said.

“Nothing in our industry touches what we are going through now. Typically when there are times of stress or hard times in the general population, we are working like crazy because entertainment is what gets you through the day,” Landey said. “This time, it is slapping us all.”

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dr-spencer-reids-queen · 4 years

Text

Periwinkle

Characters: Matthew Gray Gubler x Reader

Word Count: 1,692

Warnings: fluff, implied smut at the end

Summary: Matthew needs a password to get into the snow fort, you need a password to get him into bed.

Author’s Note: If you have any requests, please send them in! this is unbeta’d and every mistake is all on me.

This is the December 13th fic for my 25 days of RPF Christmas with the prompt: “You need a password to enter my snow fort”

Feedback the glue that holds my writing together

Tags at the bottom

The hardest thing you’ve ever had to do was try and find a person who will accept you for who you are. Every boyfriend you’ve ever had either wanted you to mature and grow up, wanted you to act more like them, and always wanted you to change into the person they wanted to be with. They didn’t like being with the woman who played the license plate game while in cars, or the woman who splashed in the puddles while on a walk, or even the woman who watched cartoons. The men you dated were all so boring until you met Matthew.

Ever since him, you never had the feeling he was trying to change you at all. In fact, you two thrived on one another’s company.

You’re very child-like at heart, and you are lucky enough to find a man who is just like you. Just last week, you two were on swings at your neighborhood park to see who can jump the farthest. It took a lot of skills not to get hurt, but you two had fun while doing it. Jumping off swings was fun back when you were a child; now that you’re almost thirty-seven, it hurts a bit more. Still, you and Matthew had a ton of fun to see who can get hurt the fastest.

A few years ago, you and Matthew went to the beach while he was in California for Criminal Minds. He flew you out to him just so he could take you to the beach on the weekend. The best part about going to the beach isn’t the waves, sandcastles, or getting a tan; it’s running from the water as it washes up onshore. The very first thing you did was run to the edge of the shore and watch as the small waves formed in the distance. The closer they got, the more distance you put between you and the saltwater. When it washed up on shore, that’s when you ran like hell back to where Matthew was watching with a huge grin.

This time, he decided to join you in your adventures, and let’s just say, it didn’t go exactly as planned.

“Come on, it’s fun. The goal of the game is to not get touched by water. Run like hell, but don’t get touched by the water,” you explained.

“I know how it works,” he laughs playfully.

Both of you got ready at the starting line, and your feet were more than ready to bounce when the water came rushing back to shore. People were looking at you and Matthew with strange looks, but you didn't care about them. As long as you were having fun with Matthew, that is all that matters to you. The waves crashed upon the shore, and you two booked it away. Your feet must have slipped on the damp sand because you tripped and fell, causing the frigid waters to roll over your body. The shriek you let out is why Matthew turned around.

He let out a cackle as you stayed on the sandy ground. He walked closer to you to help you up, but you made sure to time this perfectly. The next wave was coming closer, and as soon as it was within a reasonable distance, you grabbed Matthew’s leg and pulled it from underneath him. He came crashing down next to you just as the second wave rolled over you two.

It was your turn to laugh loudly at him.

Beach days were so much fun with him, but the best time is when you two are bored at home. When you’re bored, that’s when your imagination gets loose and anything can happen in the Gubler home. He doesn’t appear in magazines very often, but when he does, and you’re bored, then they better watch out. Whenever they come in the mail (since you obviously got a subscription), you’d have a black marker ready to draw. Every doodle you’d sketch onto his face would be different; you even have a drawer full of the ones you drew on and cut out to save. He doesn’t know about the drawer, and you’re only going to show him when you have enough to make a large collage of them.

The smile on your face would be prominent as you doodled since you usually did this in secret. Matthew caught you doing it once, and you thought he’d yell at you for being childish and to throw it away. He just stared at you from behind the couch, and you had a nervous look on your face as if he was going to yell at any moment. The only thing he did was jump over the back of the couch, grabbed a marker, and asked to join.

He is the best partner for you since you can be your true self around him. He’s a child at heart, so you two are a perfect pair for one another. It’s not best to leave one of you unsupervised, but since he’s at work, and you’re at home, you thought you would go to the backyard and make something you’ve always wanted to make but never had the patience for in the past: a snow fort!

Just recently he got a snow machine to grovel it out of the wall for cars, but you use the machine to pile the snow into one big pile. You would take a break and let this simmer for a few days, but you didn't want Matthew to know what you were doing in the backyard. The snow machine was fast, but it wasn’t fast enough. It took the majority of the day with non-stop work to get the pile of snow you wanted. Once that was done, it was time for carving.

Since the snow had time to sit in a pile, it was tough to carve out a hole big enough to fit two people, and a cave wide enough to feel comfortable. You have to have enough snow on top so it doesn’t save in, and you must have enough snow all around the fort so it doesn’t collapse. This is taking all of your energy and creativity you had saved for the whole week, but you manage to get it done.

By the time you’re finished, it’s dark, which means you get to bring out the Christmas lights you dug up just for this. You plug it into the side of the house and let the cords run across the ground to the fort. You stick them in the snow all around to make it festive until you’re happy with the way it looks.

To make it homier, you gather some snacks that will survive in the cold, blankets that you don’t mind getting wet, and a few throw pillows. Once you’re finished with it, it looks like someone’s living room if that living room is made of snow. Matthew should be home any second now, so you crawl inside the fort and admire the work you’ve done all day.

Matthew arrives at home right on schedule, and he looks around the house for you since you’re always there to greet him with a kiss. The fact that you’re not tells him you’re up to something. He loves finding out what you did all day, so he goes on a hunt for his girlfriend. You’re not anywhere on the first floor, and he’s about to go upstairs when he spots the Christmas lights outside.

He makes his way to the backyard and smiles at the work you’ve done. There is a blanket covering the entrance to your fort like it’s the door to the place. He puts his hand on the blanket so it doesn’t freeze on the snow and calls out your name. The blanket swings open and your head pops out to greet him.

“You need a password to enter my snow fort,” you say seriously.

“Lounge potato,” he guesses.

“Nope.”

“Psychopathic drums.”

“Wrong again!”

Matthew thinks about his next guess. He thinks about the stories you’ve told him about when you were a child, and how you always had to build secret forts out of virtually anything just to get away from your brothers. If they wanted to come in, they would need to guess the password. You always had the same password for everything, and his eyes lit up when he remembered what it was.

“Periwinkle.”

“Oh, why didn’t you say that in the first place? Come on in!” you grin and allow him to crawl in. When you made the fort, you didn't take into consideration that he’s a 6’1 giant, and he basically has to bend parts of his body he didn’t know could bend.

“Sorry, it’s so tiny in here,” you chuckle apologetically.

“I like it. You did this all day?”

“I was bored!”

“Your best ideas come out when you’re bored,” he compliments.

He leans in for a kiss, and you accept it with welcoming lips. Despite it being very cold here, his lips warm up your entire body. He hasn’t seen you all day, and all he really wants is to spend the night with you in bed. He moves his lips to underneath your ear, and you feel a tickle coming on. He knows your neck is very ticklish, and only when you are seriously in the mood, you can’t help but giggle.

“Matthew,” you giggle like a schoolgirl.

“Let’s go inside where it’s warm. But you need a password to get into bed with me,” he says playfully.

“Mm, is it ‘I love you’?”

“Nope.”

“What about ‘you’re the most gorgeous person on the planet’?”

“Wrong again,” he smirks as he plants another kiss on your neck.

“Oh, I know. It’s ‘fuck me until I can’t walk’.”

“Well, why didn’t you say that in the first place?” he jokes and exits the fort.

He tugs on your legs, and you squeal in surprise. He lifts you up and leaves the snow fort hastily. He brings you inside the glowing house with the intention of never leaving the bed once.

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nerianasims · 3 years

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Billboard #1s 1967

Under the cut.

The Buckinghams – “Kind Of A Drag” -- February 18, 1967

The song's about how it's "kind of a drag" when your girlfriend cheats on and then leaves you. Not exactly a heartrending wail of anguish. The song's nothing.

The Rolling Stones – “Ruby Tuesday” -- March 4, 1967

What possessed someone to name a chain of bland American restaurants after this song? They wanted to be associated with a woman who changes with every new day, and needs to always be free? The restaurant Ruby Tuesday's is the opposite of changing with every new day and taking risks. Anyway. When I wrote that the Rolling Stones were almost never nice, I was thinking of this song, on which they are actually nice. The narrator's ex-girlfriend needs to leave to be free and take constant risks, though at "such a cost." It's based on a real ex-girlfriend of Keith Richards', who left him because he wasn't wild enough for her. Really. He ended up going to her parents and warning them that the amount of drugs she was doing, she was gonna end up dead, and they were able to save her. Seriously, she was living such a dangerous life that Keith Richards felt he had to do something. She's apparently doing fine now.

So um. Great song. I especially like the flute. It's a little weird to listen to Mick Jagger sing about a woman who's wilder than him, but the woman really exists (though I don't think she's wild now.) And both Keith Richards and Mick Jagger survived an era many of their peers did not, so they must have known where to draw the line. It's a bittersweet story with a happy ending, which plays against what's normally expected from The Rolling Stones, or really most popular musicians.

The Supremes – “Love Is Here And Now You’re Gone” -- March 11, 1967

The Supremes were no longer in Detroit with this song, and it shows. It's a far slighter song than anything they'd recorded before. And there's more than one embarrassing spoken word section. Most telling, I had never heard this song before doing this list. It's also the first Supremes song I don't think is good at all. Another heartbreak song, a bunch of tambourine, and a bunch of nothing.

The Beatles – “Penny Lane” -- March 18, 1967

I loved this song when I was a kid. It's an adult's hazy memory of their childhood home, with plenty of humorous flourishes. It's a cute song, but there's something sad about it too. It's about nostalgia -- he's remembering Penny Lane, but he's not about to go back and have his memories tarnished.

The Turtles – “Happy Together” -- March 25, 1967

I think I've heard this song too much. It sounds overly polished and hollow to me.

Nancy & Frank Sinatra – “Somethin’ Stupid” -- April 15, 1967

Ew. Who thought Frank Sinatra singing a love song duet with his daughter was a good idea? And this isn't one of those love songs that could easily be sung to anyone you care for -- no, this is definitely supposed to be a romantic song. Ew, ew, and furthermore, ew.

The Supremes – “The Happening” -- May 13, 1967

Horribly produced. Diana Ross seems to be fighting with the instruments to be heard, and I can't understand what she's singing. Looking up the lyrics, the song is apparently about how all her plans fell apart because she lost her love. But musically, the song sounds like it belongs in a circus tent. This is a painfully bad song, which is depressing coming from The Supremes.

The Young Rascals – “Groovin'” -- May 20, 1967

A nice calm song about doing what you like with your s.o. on a calm Sunday. (And not with Leslie. The line's supposed to be "you and me endlessly," though even knowing that, it still sounds like "you and me and Leslie.") It's got a nice beat and motion, so it's not dull. It's just, well, groovy.

Aretha Franklin – “Respect” -- June 3, 1967

All hail the Queen. And her backup singers and band, while we're here. But mostly her.

The Association – “Windy” -- July 1, 1967

This sounds like a sitcom theme song. How does one "capture a moment"? Is Windy a photographer? "Windy has stormy eyes/ That flash at the sound of lies" is a pretty good lyric, even if it also sounds like the kind of thing I wrote when I was twelve. Otherwise, I'd expect to hear this on Nick at Nite.

The Doors – “Light My Fire” -- July 29, 1967

The narrator in this song is a dick talking about his dick. Why does his girlfriend have to light his fire? How much thought has he put into lighting hers? The song is also incredibly repetitive. And yet, it's still sexy, thanks entirely to Jim Morrison. I can't say I like it exactly, but I also can't claim it's not hot.

The Beatles – “All You Need Is Love” -- August 19, 1967

Hating on this song has been the thing to do since I was a teenager myself. Like, come on, you also need food lol dumbasses. Except that's a really shallow reading of the song. Not that the song's exactly deep. But since I've become disabled and totally dependent on my husband, I've understood it a lot better. Now all we need to do is get everyone to feel love for everyone, the "love thy neighbor" type of love that this song is talking about, and everything will work out! Okay well no one said the song was a political platform with practical solutions.

Bobbie Gentry – “Ode To Billie Joe” -- August 26, 1967

I've been sitting here trying to figure out what to say about this song for some time. First, it's an amazing song. It's a story country song, and in this one, the narrator is a part of the story. But no one in her life knows it. No one knows what she and Billie Joe threw off the Tallahatchie bridge (I don't see how it could possibly have been a baby fwiw), but it doesn't really matter. What matters is that everyone in this family may as well be strangers to each other. They're physically close, economically interdependent, and completely without intimacy. It's called Southern Gothic, but it's familiar across the country, and maybe across the world.

The Box Tops – “The Letter” -- September 23, 1967

The narrator's wife has written him a letter saying she wants him back, so he has to get home as fast as he can. The singer sounds old enough to have seen a lot of life (he wasn't), and the music is happy while remaining grounded. Quite good.

Lulu – “To Sir With Love” -- October 21, 1967

No, it's not about a D/s relationship. Thankfully, since it starts with "Those schoolgirl days." This song is about a movie of the same name, which stars Sidney Poitier as a teacher who helps a class of mostly-white troubled students. Can you imagine having Sidney Poitier as a teacher? My crush on him would have been devastating. And the narrator does sound like she has a crush on him, but not like she's trying to get anywhere with it, thankfully. She's grateful for his teaching and guidance. And I'm bored. It's musically soupy -- there needs to be more of a beat. Also, the subject matter of a student feeling grateful to a teacher doesn't move me. I've been grateful to many teachers in my life, but it's not exactly a highly charged emotion.

The Strawberry Alarm Clock – “Incense And Peppermints” -- November 25, 1967

Incense and peppermints are what you keep on hand to cover up pot smoke. So, obviously, this is a song about getting high, even if the lyrics claim "incense and peppermints" are "meaningless nouns." It's about how nothing matters, nothing changes, but everything is connected. Maybe it sounds profound when you're high. Like "the color of time" line. I like it musically, but the lyrics just make me roll my eyes. It's not good nonsense and it's the shallowest imaginable philosophy.

The Monkees – “Daydream Believer” -- December 2, 1967

Musically, the Monkees were usually Davy Jones and some studio musicians. But all of them played and/or sung on this song, and they should have been allowed to on previous ones, because I don't hear a difference. In the song, the narrator's wife is feeling down about life. She was a daydream believer and homecoming queen, and now they don't have any money. Life isn't like her daydreams. But the song doesn't get into that; it's basically an airy love song. It's okay.

The Beatles – “Hello, Goodbye” -- December 30, 1967

I thought this was an awkward song about a relationship dissolving because they can't agree on anything, but apparently it comes from an improvised word game. It sounds like The Beatles, so that's good, but not one of their best efforts. It's as close to nothing as The Beatles got.

BEST OF 1967 -- Respect and Ode to Billie Joe WORST OF 1967 -- Somethin' Stupid, as it's the one that actually grosses me out. even if musically it's not the worst

#billboard number ones

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mulanxiaojie · 4 years

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The high-profile remake, with an all-Asian cast, a PG-13 rating and a politically-charged star, was always going to pose major risks. Then the coronavirus upended its entire release plan.

Liu Yifei, star of Disney's live-action remake of Mulan, lives in Beijing, but she is originally from Wuhan, epicenter of the coronavirus. In January, the 32-year-old actress left China for Los Angeles to begin press for the film, weeks before the virus' outbreak, which has now infected more than 77,000 people, killed more than 2,500 and wreaked havoc in her home country. She says she doesn't have any family or close friends personally affected by the disease — she left Wuhan when she was 10 — but the epidemic has added an impossible-to-foresee variable to her film's March 27 worldwide release.

Liu pauses when asked about the outbreak. "It's really heavy for me to even think about it," she says. "People are doing the right thing. They are being careful for themselves and others. I'm so touched actually to see how they haven't been out for weeks. I'm really hoping for a miracle and that this will just be over soon."

In China, Liu is a household name, nicknamed "Fairy Sister" for her elegance and beauty. Modeling since age 8, she broke out in the 2003 Chinese TV series Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, a commercial hit in China and the highest-rated Chinese drama in Taiwan at the time, and hasn't stopped working in film and TV since, earning fashion partnerships with Adidas, Shiseido and Armani along the way.

Disney and director Niki Caro selected Liu from more than 1,000 aspirants from around the world to star as Hua Mulan, the Chinese heroine who disguises herself as a man to fight in the Imperial Army in a film carefully designed to appeal to Western and Chinese audiences alike. But now there's a question of when Mulan will be released in China. With the coronavirus shutting down all 70,000 of the country's theaters since Jan. 24, it's unclear — and more unlikely every day — that multiplexes will reopen in time for its planned release. (Several high-profile U.S. films, including Universal's Dolittle and 1917 and Searchlight's Jojo Rabbit, saw their February releases scrapped.) "It certainly has worldwide and global appeal, but there's no denying that this is a very important film for the Chinese market," says Comscore analyst Paul Dergarabedian. "It's a huge blow for Disney if it doesn't release in China." Disney president of production Sean Bailey says he's "looking at it day by day."

Of course, this puts added pressure on the $200 million budgeted film — the priciest of Disney's recent live-action remakes — to perform in the U.S. and the rest of the world. Liu, who is enveloped in her own storm of controversy based on a political social media post about the Hong Kong protests, says she is trying hard not to think about all that. "It would really be a loss for me if I let the pressure overtake my possibilities," says the actress, who learned English when she lived in New York as a child for four years with her mother, a dancer, after her parents' divorce.

Even before the outbreak of the virus, Mulan — the first Disney-branded film with an all-Asian cast and the first to be rated PG-13 (for battle scenes) — would have marked one of the studio's riskiest live-action films to date. While the original 1998 Mulan was a critical and commercial hit, garnering a Golden Globe and Oscar nomination and grossing more than $300 million worldwide ($475 million today), it faltered at the Chinese box office. Part of the reason is that the Chinese government stalled its premiere for nearly a year because of lingering anger over Disney's 1997 release of Kundun, Martin Scorsese's Dalai Lama movie that dealt with China's occupation of Tibet. By the time Mulan reached theaters in late February 1999, most children had returned to school after the Chinese New Year holiday and pirated copies were widely available. For the new film, the plan was to counter piracy by releasing the movie in China the same day as the rest of the world, a strategy that's no longer possible.

The film also has tested the ability and tolerance of Disney — which aims to be ideologically neutral — in managing global political fallout. In August, Liu stirred up a major controversy when she reposted a pro-police comment on Chinese platform Weibo (where she has more than 66 million followers) at the height of the violence in Hong Kong. Her action was seen by critics of the Chinese government as supporting police brutality; soon after, the hashtag #BoycottMulan started trending on Twitter. Liu, who has American co-citizenship from her time in the U.S., was harshly criticized around the world for supporting oppression.

"I think it's obviously a very complicated situation and I'm not an expert," she says now, cautious in the extreme. "I just really hope this gets resolved soon." When pressed, Liu, whose answer seemed rehearsed, declines to say much more, simply repeating, "I think it's just a very sensitive situation." (Bailey also deflects when asked: "Yifei's politics are her own, and we are just focused on the movie and her performance.")

"Most Chinese celebrities choose to avoid posting such political statements because of the risks to their careers internationally," says Dorothy Lau, a professor at the Academy of Film, Hong Kong Baptist University. But though Liu's post drew criticism globally, some experts believe the political drama could actually result in more support for the film in China. "At the time, the government came out in various publications supporting the film very strongly," says USC professor Stanley Rosen, who specializes in Chinese politics and society. "There's a real impetus on the part of the Chinese government to make this work. I'm sure the government is going to try to show that the boycott has had no effect." And while her comment might still anger filmgoers in Hong Kong, where the recent live-action Aladdin took in $8 million, that market is tiny compared to the mainland (total 2019 Hong Kong box office was $245 million compared with China's $9.2 billion). "Most people outside Hong Kong have likely forgotten about this controversy," says Rosen. "But the Chinese government does not forget these things."

The fact that this version of Mulan is a large-scale war epic inspired more by the ancient Chinese ballad than the original animated film may also help win fans in Beijing, but the choice carries its own significant risks: The film needs to satisfy Chinese audiences raised on the legend while not disappointing a generation of fans in Asia (and elsewhere) for whom the animated film is foundational. "People would come in to audition and would say, 'Sorry, I know this is really unprofessional, but before I start, I just want you to know, the animated movie was the first time I saw someone that looked like me speak English in a movie theater,' " says producer Jason Reed. "The stakes couldn't be higher."

Mulan also represents a leap of faith in the film's director, Caro, whose previous two films boasted budgets of about 10 percent of Mulan's (The Zookeeper's Wife and Disney's 2015 sports drama McFarland USA were each in the $20 million to $25 million range). Caro, 53, was not Disney's first choice. Before hiring the New Zealand filmmaker, the studio targeted directors of Asian descent, including Taiwanese Oscar winner Ang Lee (he was busy promoting Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk) and Chinese helmer Jiang Wen. Still, Caro showcased a knack for representing cultures outside of her own with her 2002 debut Whale Rider, which follows a young Maori girl who wants to become chief, a role traditionally reserved for men.

The feminist story of Mulan resonated deeply with Caro. "When I first started wanting to be a filmmaker, there was so little precedent for women doing this [big studio] work," she says. She has now directed the most expensive live-action film by a woman, joining only a handful (Kathryn Bigelow, Ava DuVernay and Patty Jenkins) who have helmed films costing more than $100 million. "Patty changed the game with Wonder Woman. It was like a shot of adrenaline for me as a filmmaker," says Caro, who assembled a mostly female-led crew, including cinematographer Mandy Walker, costume designer Bina Daigeler, makeup designer Denise Kum and first assistant director Liz Tan.

To those still upset that an Asian filmmaker didn't get the job, Caro responds: "Although it's a critically important Chinese story and it's set in Chinese culture and history, there is another culture at play here, which is the culture of Disney, and that the director, whoever they were, needed to be able to handle both — and here I am."

Soon after Caro's hiring, rumors about the movie began to swirl online. Years of studios centering Asian movies around white protagonists (from Scarlett Johansson's Ghost in the Shell to Matt Damon's The Great Wall) meant the threat of whitewashing loomed large. An early report online claimed that the first draft, penned by Elizabeth Martin and Lauren Hynek, featured a white male protagonist.

"This is the first time I've been on a big touchstone movie with the internet what it is today. And I had a Google alert set, so I'd see these things, 'Oh, there was originally a white male lead, or they're casting Jennifer Lawrence,' and they were all just made up," says Reed, who adds that there may have been two non-Chinese characters in the initial script, but both were secondary roles.

The rumors may have been unfounded, but the fallout was real: The Lawrence-as-Mulan story sparked a 2016 petition, "Tell Disney You Don't Want a Whitewashed Mulan!" drawing more than 110,000 signatures.

Ironically, as that rumor swirled, Caro struggled to find an actress to play Mulan. The global hunt began in October 2016, when Caro sent a team of casting directors to each continent and virtually every small village in China. They were looking for an actress who could play Mulan across three phases, from a young woman unsure of her place to a soldier masquerading as a man and, finally, as an empowered warrior. She had to be fluent in English, handle the physical demands of martial arts and deliver the more emotional moments with Mulan's family. "She's a needle in a haystack, but we were going to find her," says Caro. "It's impossible to make this movie without this person."

Though the studio cast a wide multinational net, Bill Kong — a veteran Chinese producer known for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Monster Hunt who was brought on as a producer on Mulan — advised Caro that in order for this film to play well in China, not just anyone of Asian descent would work. "The first thing I told her was, 'Hire a Chinese girl. You can't hire a Japanese girl to do this,' " he says.

Actresses who made it past that initial audition were brought to Los Angeles, but, after vetting several promising candidates for months, Caro decided to start over. (The search dragged on for so long that Disney delayed the original November 2018 release date.) Eventually, Liu, who had been unavailable during the first pass because of a TV show in China, was able to audition.

"I was determined that whoever played Mulan was not going to be fragile and feminine," says Caro. "She had to pass as a man in a man's army." So the director and a trainer put Liu through a 90-minute physical assessment, with extreme cardio and weight exercises. Other actresses fared less well. "Boy, did they flame out," says Caro with a laugh. But Liu "never complained once, never said, 'I can't.' She went to her limits."

With Liu, Disney also found an actress who could speak English, was familiar with martial arts from her TV work in China and, most importantly, was known to the Chinese market.

While Liu spent three months training for the role in New Zealand, Caro finished up her own extensive research. She took multiple trips to China and spoke to dozens of experts — including the world's foremost specialist on Tang dynasty military strategy. She also studied the 360-word Chinese poem The Ballad of Mulan, which first told the young heroine's story. The legend, which originated in the fifth or sixth century CE, is a tale as familiar in China as the story of Joan of Arc or Paul Bunyan in the West, and it's been adapted many times into plays, operas and films.

"I certainly wasn't aware of how deeply important it is to Mainland Chinese — all children are taught it," says Caro. "She is so meaningful that many places I went, people would say, 'Well, she comes from my village.' It was wonderful to feel that profound connection — but also terrifying."

As soon as the first trailers rolled out, so did the grumblings about factual inaccuracy, like the choice to situate Mulan's family in a tulou, a traditional round structure that housed several clans. These homes were mostly present in southern China, in what is now Fujian province (Mulan is said to be from the north), and would not have existed at the time she lived.

"I told [Caro] to not be too concerned about the historical accuracy," says Kong. "Mulan, though very famous, is fictional. She's not a historical person."

Disney tested the film thoroughly with Chinese audiences, including its own local executives. In an early version, Mulan kissed love interest Chen Honghui (Yoson An) on a bridge when they were about to part. "It was very beautiful, but the China office went, 'No, you can't, that doesn't feel right to the Chinese people,' " says Caro. "So we took it out."

Caro and the writers, Amanda Silver and Rick Jaffa (the husband-and-wife team behind Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Jurassic World who rewrote the original script), also had to consider the passionate fans of the 1998 film. Most Disney remakes, like Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Lion King, have remained loyal to the tone and structure of the animated source material while adding a new song or character. Departing from that formula wasn't a swift decision. "We had a lot of conversations about it," says Reed. Ultimately they wanted "to tell this story in a way that is more real, more relatable, where we don't have the benefit of the joke to hide behind things that might be uncomfortable and we don't break into song to tell us the subtext."

They swapped the musical numbers and funny animal sidekicks for a large-scale war epic in which Mulan takes her father's place in the Imperial Army. "It's a woman's story that has been told for centuries but never by women, and we felt like it was really time to tell that story," says Silver. The question is whether Generation Z and millennials, who fell in love with these animated tales as kids and helped boost Aladdin to its $1 billion global haul, will embrace the direction. "To be honest, we really go by our gut and what creatively excites the team here," says Bailey. "I think it shows that there can be different approaches to these [movies] that have validity."

When word leaked that Mushu, the silly dragon sidekick (originally voiced by Eddie Murphy), would not be included, some fans expressed disappointment on social media. But the character's disappearance makes sense in the Chinese context. "Mushu was very popular in the U.S., but the Chinese hated it," says Rosen. "This kind of miniature dragon trivialized their culture."

Unlike its Marvel-branded films, Disney live-action movies must appeal to significantly younger audiences. Yet Caro wanted to make a real war movie. "You have to deliver on the war of it," she says, "and how do you do that under the Disney brand where you can't show any violence, gratuitous or otherwise?" She took advantage of the film's stunning locations, like setting a battle sequence in a geothermal valley, where steam could mask the fighting. "Those sequences, I'm proud of them. They're really beautiful and epic — but you can still take kids. No blood is shed. It's not Game of Thrones."

Disney's past live-action performance in China is a mixed bag. Both The Lion King ($120.5 million there) and Jungle Book ($148 million) enjoyed strong showings. Aladdin earned only $53 million, while 2017's Beauty and the Beast took in just $84 million (though it earned $1.3 billion worldwide).

Of course, the expectations for Mulan in China are much higher. "They will eventually release it in China," Dergarabedian notes. "It's just a matter of when and what effect that might have." Some analysts forecast that the film could match the success of the Kung Fu Panda series. The third movie, released in 2016, earned north of $144.2 million and became the country's biggest animated film ever. It was praised for being a Hollywood film that understood and showed respect toward the Chinese culture. Panda, however, had the advantage of being a Chinese co-production, which guarantees a larger share of the market — an advantage Mulan doesn't have.

Caro thinks about the film's fate there in more than simply financial terms. "Of course it's vitally important that it succeeds in China," she says, "because it belongs to China."

#mulan #live action mulan #disney #chinese #article #interview #china #liu yifei

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reading-writing-revolution · 4 years

Text

August 20, 2020

Heather Cox Richardson

Sheesh. What a day.

It began last night, while I was writing last night’s letter, when shortly after midnight we learned that Alexei Navalny, outspoken critic of Vladimir Putin’s government, has apparently been poisoned. He collapsed in pain on an airplane after drinking tea at Russia’s Tomsk airport. The plane made an emergency landing, meeting medics who raced Navalny to the hospital, where he is gravely ill. The poisoning is a chilling reminder of Putin’s tactics just days after the Senate Intelligence Committee’s report on Russian interference in the 2016 election established that the Trump campaign invited his influence into our affairs.

Then, today, federal prosecutors in New York acting for a grand jury indicted Steve Bannon, Brian Kolfage, and two others for fraud and money laundering in connection with an online crowdfunding campaign that raised more than $25 million to build a wall on the U.S. southern border with Mexico. The men told donors to “We the People Build the Wall” that “100% of the funds raised… will be used in the execution of our mission and purpose,” and that “we’re a volunteer organization.” In fact, they allegedly pocketed hundreds of thousands of dollars, routing the money through a shell company and false invoices.

The indictment quotes text messages between the men indicating they were quite deliberately running a scam. The messages highlight how the Republican system of fundraising from small donors, pioneered by direct-mail guru Richard Viguerie in the 1960s to fund Movement Conservatives rejected by traditional Republicans, now is used to funnel money from unsuspecting marks into the pockets of people who stoke rightwing outrage.

Bannon’s arrest means that two of Trump’s 2016 campaign chairs—Paul Manafort and Bannon-- have now been indicted and arrested on charges of fraud. The third, Corey Lewandowski, was also arrested on a misdemeanor battery charge against a reporter, but while video proved the reporter’s account was accurate, the charge was dropped. The campaign’s deputy chairman, Rick Gates, an associate of Manafort, was also charged with financial crimes and conspiracy, and was sentenced to 45 days in jail after agreeing to cooperate with investigators.

Trump immediately tried to distance himself from Bannon, saying he hadn’t “been dealing with him for a very long period of time.” Bannon was the chief executive of Trump’s 2016 campaign, replacing Manafort, and upon entering the White House, Trump named Bannon to a newly created position as “chief strategist” on a level with the chief of staff. So influential in the early administration was Bannon that Trump gave him a full seat on the “principals committee” of the National Security Council, while pushing the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Director of National Intelligence down to occasional attendees. Bannon left the White House after the Charlottesville Unite the Right rally highlighted the dangers of having an open white nationalist in the White House. Then-White House chief of staff John Kelly asked Bannon to leave. But at least for a while, Trump continued to call Bannon when Kelly was not around.

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany issued a statement saying Trump “has not been involved with Steve Bannon since the campaign and the early part of the Administration, and he does not know the people involved with this project.” In fact, supporters of the project include Donald Trump, Jr., his girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle, and anti-immigrant activist Kris Kobach. Last year, Kobach said Trump had given the effort his blessing, and there is a testimonial from Trump Jr. on their website. Trump Org spokeswoman Amanda Miller said Trump Jr. had given one speech at one of their events, and they used his words as a testimonial without his permission.

Bannon pleaded not guilty and was released on a $5 million bail bond secured with $1.75 million in cash. “This entire fiasco is to stop people who want to build the wall,” he told reporters as he left the federal courthouse.

The arrests set off a tweet storm from the president. Trump also called into the show of Fox News channel personality Sean Hannity tonight, claiming again that mail-in voting will create a fraudulent election and emphasizing—in unfortunate words about sending law enforcement to polling places—that he plans to deploy all the means he can to challenge the 2020 vote.

Today a federal judge rejected the argument of Trump’s lawyers that the subpoena of Manhattan district attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr. for eight years of Trump’s tax returns is “wildly overbroad.” Judge Victor Marrero upheld the subpoena. Trump’s lawyers immediately indicated they would appeal the decision.

Meanwhile, Trump has asked the Supreme Court to overturn a ruling last year by a federal appeals court that he may not block his critics on Twitter. The lower court said that since Trump uses the account for official announcements, he violates the First Amendment whenever he blocks someone and silences them. Today his lawyers argued that his account is his personal property and that he does not have to tolerate opposing views on it. Blocking critics would enable Trump to control what his followers see on his account, preventing visible pushback to his tweets. In effect, he could dominate the discourse in a public space.

Trump certainly has critics.

Deborah L Hughes, the director of the Susan B. Anthony museum, today rejected Trump’s pardon for Ms. Anthony, saying the pardon validated a legal process Anthony called an outrage.

Then, shortly before the Democratic National Convention kicked off tonight, more than 70 senior national security officials from the Republican Party released a letter announcing that they are supporting Biden in 2020. Their letter lists ten reasons Trump has “failed our country.” Donald Trump, they write, “is dangerously unfit to serve another term.”

Tonight was the night that former Vice President Joe Biden gave his acceptance speech in response to the Democratic Party’s nomination of him as their presidential candidate.

Tonight was Biden’s, as military families and former service people testified to his support for them, 13-year-old Brayden Harrington explained how Biden helped him deal with his own stutter (huge props for this young man taking on this assignment and executing it so well), Biden’s former rivals for the nomination talked of Biden’s kindness and decency, and, above all, Biden’s family emphasized again and again that for Biden, family and faith is everything. The picture was of a fundamentally decent and moral man, a striking contrast to his Republican rival.

The Democratic National Committee has pulled off an astonishing accomplishment with this, the nation’s first virtual political convention. It was tightly choreographed, inclusive, passionate, and fun, drawing in viewers with its variety and quick pace. It demonstrated professionalism, talent, and skill even without taking into account its content.

But the content was key. Rather than weakening the event, the lack of audience created an intimacy between speakers and viewers that lent a shining new authenticity to the voices the convention highlighted.

Biden is always a better speaker than people who know him for his gaffes expect, and tonight he hit it out of the park. On FNC, Chris Wallace noted that the Trump campaign’s attempt to convince voters Biden is mentally impaired backfired badly as he delivered “an enormously effective speech.”

Rather than simply outline his plan for his presidency, Biden also gave an impassioned plea for the nation, tying his love for it to his own life and values. He treated voters not as tools to be manipulated, but as people who can be trusted to choose their own future.

“America is at an inflection point,” he said. “A time of real peril, but of extraordinary possibilities. We can choose the path of becoming angrier, less hopeful, and more divided. A path of shadow and suspicion. Or we can choose a different path, and together, take this chance to heal, to be reborn, to unite. A path of hope and light. This is a life-changing election that will determine America’s future for a very long time. Character is on the ballot. Compassion is on the ballot. Decency, science, democracy. They are all on the ballot. Who we are as a nation. What we stand for. And most importantly, who we want to be. That’s all on the ballot. And the choice could not be clearer.”

—-

Notes:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/20/us/politics/republican-national-security-biden.html

Letter: https://www.defendingdemocracytogether.org/national-security/

https://susanb.org/news-and-updates/

Bannon: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/29/us/stephen-bannon-donald-trump-national-security-council.html

McConnell: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2020/08/20/rnc-mitch-mcconnell-not-speaking-gop-convention/3403498001/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/during-a-summer-of-crisis-trump-chafes-against-criticism-and-new-controls/2017/08/31/8fb32d72-8d97-11e7-91d5-ab4e4bb76a3a_story.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/08/20/each-trumps-2016-campaign-managers-has-now-faced-criminal-charges/

indictment: https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/20/politics/bannon-indictment/index.html

https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/20/politics/bannon-build-the-wall-indictment/index.html

Trump on Hannity:

Andrew Lawrence @ndrew_lawrence

Trump says that on election day he's going to send law enforcement to polling locations

August 21st 2020

4,139 Retweets5,311 Likes

Vance: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/20/nyregion/donald-trump-taxes-cyrus-vance.html

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/read-full-speech-joe-biden-s-remarks-2020-democratic-national-n1237620

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-supreme-court-ok-block-critics-twitter/

tweets: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/biden-prepared-accept-democratic-nomination-president-furious-trump/story

548 Market Street PMB 72296, San Francisco, CA 94104

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callunavulgari · 4 years

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TOP 25 FICS OF 2019

1. these roads will take you into your own country by @notbecauseofvictories | American Gods | Laura Moon/Mad Sweeney | WIP | 33k

Here’s a joke for you: a Muslim, a zombie, and a leprechaun walk into a bar in Misery, Indiana. No one stares, because no one in the puckered, shitty asshole of Misery, Indiana gives a fuck. The Colts are playing.

Heather Says: So. It’s funny that another of @notbecauseofvictories‘s stories is at the top of my list again this year. Keep in mind this list is sorted by when the fic was read rather than favorites (because that would get real complicated real quick). Clearly there must be something about January. There’s just something about the writing that is easy to slip into, be it a Star Wars fic or a Labyrinth fic or even a fic about Johnny and the Devil. This was lovely and I can’t wait until it’s finished.

2. eighteen wheels on an uphill climb by @honkforhankcon | Detroit: Become Human | Hank/Connor | 91k

Hank is going to die. He’s going to die right here in Kentucky, 53 years old, halfway to broke, and tragically sober. Survived only by a nine-year-old St. Bernard and the 31-year-old twink who delivered the fatal blow.

Heather Says: I don’t think that this is the first DBH fic that I sought out after beating the game, but it is the first that I loved enough to make it to this list. I didn’t think that I would go for a modern au for this fandom, certainly not a modern au wihere Hank is a truck driver and Connor is a sex worker (albeit briefly?) but here I am.

3. Fuck pride (pride only hurts, it never helps) by ImogenGotDrunk | Detroit: Become Human | RK900/Gavin Reed | 41k

After the android uprising, Connor becomes a permanent fixture in the DPD. That’s fine. Gavin can accept that. The dipshit’s more human than he used to be, and a decent detective to boot. Gavin can deal with him being around. What Gavin cannot deal with is Connor’s replica; two inches taller, blue-eyed, and with a mouth that Gavin doesn’t know whether to punch or take between his teeth. The RK900 model has been assigned as his partner for the foreseeable future.

Heather Says: I also never thought that I’d like a fic with Gavin in it. But I got curious about all the Reed900, and well, this fic really won me over. The writing is fantastic, and it softens Gavin while still keeping him believable. Also, well, I like the enemies to lovers thing.

4. Almost Cool by @blacktofade | Buzzfeed Unsolved | Ryan/Shane | 30k

While filming the Yuma Territorial Prison episode, Shane gets bitten by what he thinks is a bat. Spoiler alert: it's not.

Heather Says: This is actually the first thing that I read for this fandom. In fact, this is the fic that got me into Buzzfeed Unsolved in the first place. I’d seen a lot of art and gifs and fics pass my way, but I was only ever slightly interested in what I saw until this fic came through my inbox and piqued my curiosity.

5. Pride by @astolat | Game of Thrones | Jaime/Brienne/Cersei | 22k

Jaime didn’t understand why Cersei suddenly insisted on trimming his hair and shaving his beard, but he also didn’t care to fight her on it, even though he’d just as soon have kept the beard: it was bitterly cold in the small tower room with its arrow-slits.

Heather Says: Wowza. This fic was intense. I’ve always loved Jaime and Brienne. I’ve loved them since the second book, which was read at least a few years before I started loving them in the show. Adding Cersei to their dynamic would have probably been almost impossible to pull off if it was anyone else, but @astolat lives to surpass my expectations.

6. Skin and Scales by Ernmark | The Penumbra Podcast | Lord Arum/Sir Damien/Rilla | 18k

The man glares, and this time, Damien is certain it isn’t a trick of the light: those eyes are violet as amethyst. He wears disdain like a second skin–- or, perhaps, like the scales that he is missing. “Lord Arum?”

Heather Says: I was one of those people who skipped through all of the Second Citadel episodes during my first listen through of Penumbra. The stories were good, but the pull of Juno was too great. A couple months after I finished, I went back and listened to everything I didn’t. And let me tell you. Lizard monster. Honorable knight. Bookish girlfriend. Poly. It hit every single button I had and then some. This fic really hit the spot when I ran out of story.

7. someone you like by caela | She-Ra | Adora/Catra | 5k

catwithabat u think ur so hipster but u just look like a lesbian 27m she_ra @catwithabat bc… i’m a lesbian. lmao 5m

Heather Says: Noooot usually a big fan of high school fics. Namely because I’m not in high school anymore and well, after you read so many in your teenage years they sort of lose their luster. This one was phenomenal enough to change my mind.

8. Sands of Time by @tirsynni | Legend of Zelda | Ganondorf/Link | WIP | 98k

Link awakens in the desert with no idea how he got there, to encounter his worst enemy...except it was the King of the Gerudo, not the King of Evil, he faced.

Heather Says: I have seen a lot of really good Link/Ganondorf art over the years, but never really stumbled across a fic that didn’t have judicious amount of non-con involved. But the Breath of the Wild 2 trailer happened, and everybody started drawing really pretty art, so I went looking. And lo and behold, @tirsynni saved the day with this gorgeous time travel/fix-it fic.

9. killed with kindness by veterization | Persona 5 | Akechi/Akira | 52k

Goro can't quite figure out why so many people keep acting like they're his friend. (Or: the one where the Phantom Thieves decide to know thy enemy, befriend thy enemy, love thy enemy, crush on thy enemy).

Heather Says: I’ve read a couple of veterization’s fics over the years, and to date they have never disappointed me. They published this in June, and I think I clicked on it mostly because I was bored and hadn’t read any good P5 fic yet. This was basically just what the doctor ordered, and I was really happy to find something where Akechi’s story went ever so slightly different.

10. paper thin by @ebonybow | Buzzfeed Unsolved | Ryan/Shane/Sara | 9k

Shane’s new neighbors are a morning-sex kind of couple.

Heather Says: So I went into this one knowing very little about how Sara fit into things. I didn’t know she was Shane’s girlfriend. I’d never even seen her, but I clicked because I like poly and I trust the author. I was 100% not disappointed. There’s also another fic with a very similar dynamic here, which is also aces.

11. damn.nation, now available on itunes by @kaikamahine | Good Omens | Aziraphale/Crowley | 11k

When lowly tempt-pusher Amphora (formerly of Stairwell 7B North, before she Fell,) gets the notice that end times are nigh, she gleefully quits her job and cancels her Netflix subscription and takes her place among the legions of hell. This, it turns out, was a bad plan.

Heather Says: Elizabeth may have only written one fic this year, but she made it a damn good one. I’ve always loved her OCs especially, so I was pretty tickled that this is 10k+ of outsider pov. Also, demons! Demons are great! This demon is great! I want like 9 seasons and a movie about Amphora, just saying.

12. The Dragon and Her Wolves by hapakitsune | Game of Thrones | Jon/Sansa/Daenarys | 60k

When the truth of Jon's birthright is revealed, control of the North and Daenerys's claim to the Iron Throne are both called into question. To preserve their tenuous alliance and secure her rule, Daenerys puts aside her personal feelings to arrange a marriage of political convenience between Jon and Sansa Stark.

Heather Says: What do you mean season 8 didn’t exist and the show totally ended with a three way relationship between the two most powerful women in Westeros and Jon Snow? Never been a big fan of Jon/Sansa before this, but this is another of those writers that I would literally trust if they wrote a fic about a fork and a spoon.

13. never tell me the odds by @wildehacked | Wolf 359 | Eiffel/Hera | 9k

“I tried Star Wars," he says, adjusting the phone under his neck, "and it was way underwhelming.”

A shaky breath from her end. “Well, where did you start?”

Heather Says: I don’t remember which of @wildehacked‘s fandoms I started reading first. Most recently it’s been The Magnus Archives (more on this later). The point is, they’d written Wolf 359 fic and it had Hera and Eiffel and it was literally everything that I’ve been looking for since the series ended.

14. Find Me Somebody by raiining | Good Omens | Warlock/Adam Young | 11k

“You left me,” he said. “You both left me, for him. And I can’t even blame you, because I’d have left me for him too.”

Heather Says: There was an Art. The art was lovely. So I went looking, because that’s what I do when faced with beautiful art depicting a rare pairing. And I found the holy grail. Like, possibly my favorite Good Omens fic? Ever?

15. flirting with fire by @brawlite | Stranger Things | Billy/Steve | WIP | 7k

Steve's a cop, Billy's a firefighter. It's not a grudge, it's just a regular old small town rivalry.

Heather Says: Okay so brawlite has written a lot of great stuff this year (more on that later), but I read this in bed at the beach house this August while I was reeling from both a horrible sunburn and like seven hours of mild to moderate day-drinking while everyone else was still throwing back shots right outside my bedroom door. Jaws was playing on the tv and I wasn’t even paying attention to it, because THIS. Long story short, I’ve been thirsty for more ever since.

16. gold, when you find me by mmtion | The Flash | Iris/Barry | 53k

It's not that Iris hates The Flash, per say - more that she hates writing about The Streak in a weekly, pun-heavy comic based on The Flash.

Heather Says: I never would have thought that a canon pairing would make it to my Top 25 list, but here we are. I like Iris/Barry a lot better when they don’t grow up together and spend a lot of time playing the Superman game, apparently. Also, this was really well-written, and sexual tension has never been something I’ve felt from Barry and Iris, but I felt it in this fic. Just. Damn.

17. never gets old by @brawlite & @toast-ranger-to-a-stranger| Stranger Things | Billy/Steve | 78k

Falling in love with a cam boy named KingSteve isn't the smartest thing Billy Hargrove has ever done, nor is it the most healthy -- but the good choice is rarely ever the fun choice, and Billy is all about living life fast and loose.

Heather Says: Told you I’d come back to it. brawlite and toastranger are a fantastic team. last year was cherry pie and under the covers, this year it’s camboys and cop/firefighter dynamics. Also, I have a really strange fascination with fics where a character has an instragram. It’s really, incredibly strange. Also also, every time I see this fic title I get that one Discovery Channel song stuck in my head. And no, it probably isn’t the one you’re thinking.

18. ways to save the world by @wildehacked | The Magnus Archives | Martin Blackwood/Jon Sims | 19k

“I left you,” Martin says softly.

Heather Says: And we’re back at wildehacked too! The Magnus Archives was a thing that happened to me. This is I think the first fic I read for it while listening, and it was so very close to what we got in canon. I think when it comes down to it though, I still prefer this fic, even if the ending of this season was pretty fantastic.

19. The Denial Twist by beethechange | Buzzfeed Unsolved | Ryan/Shane | 35k

“This is kind of surreal,” Shane says, taking a sip of his tea. It’s piping hot and delicious, except it tastes like hot chocolate and not like tea at all. “Sort of—Wonka-esque, right? Or Alice in Wonderland.”

Heather Says: While the vampire one is my favorite both because it is excellent and because it was my first, this one was bizarre and sexy and also I read it like only a month or so ago! The dancing was my favorite part, but having dreams to work with made this story fantastically interesting and I loved every second of it.

20. silver in our lungs by taywen | Spinning Silver | Miryem/The Staryk Lord | 4k

The marks had been with Miryem for as long as she could remember. There were a number of them, all the same shade, following one after the other around her left wrist. They were pale as old scars, though they felt no different from the rest of her skin, and her mother claimed that Miryem had been born with them.

Heather Says: I really like soulmate aus. There’s so many different ways to twist them and the way they can sometimes change the dynamic entirely and other times not change them at all is just fascinating. I’ve been hoping there would be more Spinning Silver content on ao3 and running into this while I was trying to decide what I wanted to do for yuletide was a real treat.

21. you got me begging, begging, i'm on my knees by plalligator | The Queen’s Thief | Attolia/Eugenides/Costis | 5k

Costis has a particularly enlightening evening. (or, that struggle when you're a guard who's in love with your rulers and it turns out you would kind of like it if they bossed you around a little)

Heather Says: I accidentally re-read the King of Attolia and it made me consider ships I had perhaps not previously considered. This was really lovely and just steamy enough.

22. something more alive than silence by pageleaf | The Queen’s Thief | Attolia/Eugenides/Costis | 21k

It was a good thing that six months after the king had promised to halve the guard, he still hadn’t done it, because since then, there had been two attempts on the king’s life.

Heather Says: I want to only type the words AGONIZED NOISES to describe this fic because that’s basically my headspace when I get 21k of a shiny new ot3, but I mean. Really. This is super good and maybe my favorite yet? Why didn’t I start reading this fandom when I first read the books?

23. Timing it Right by DragonBandit | The Bright Sessions | Mark/Damien | 14k

The dragon chooses, Mark knows that as well as any boy born in a weyr. He'd never considered what that would mean if the dragon picked someone you hated. He's starting to think that was a mistake.

Damien's gold rises at Whitney. Mark tries to make things right.

Heather Says: This should actually be somewhere back in March, but I apparently closed out of the tab at some point. I never really got into Pern much. I have the first three books, but got most of the way through the first one a long time ago and then never picked it back up. I didn’t think I would like this, mostly because of the fact that I hadn’t gotten into the books, but was surprised to find that I absolutely loved it.

24. Keep It In Your Sights Now by LuckyDiceKirby | Shades of Magic | Lila/Kell/Holland | 9k

Holland travels with Lila and Kell. Somewhere along the way, they reach an equilibrium.

Heather Says: I love the new things I’ve discovered during my yuletide trompings. I don’t think I ever actually considered this pairing when I first read the books, but I am just so enamored with the idea of the three of them together. Like, why did I not realize that potential back then? This was lovely, and I loved it, and I want so much more out of this pairing than what ao3 has to offer me.

25. Charioteer by petrichoral | The Queen’s Thief | Gen & Costis | 13k

Captured in battle and stuck in the Mede capital, Costis has given up all hope of seeing his country again. But Eugenides has a habit of turning up where he's least expected.

Heather Says: Technically this shouldn’t be on here because I only read it today, but it was really wonderful and so canon typical. Gen and Costis were perfect in it, Irene was perfect in it. Everyone was perfect and nothing hurts.

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lukeskywaker4ever · 4 years

Text

14th King of Portugal (5th of the Aviz Dynasty): King Manuel I of Portugal, “The Fortunate)

Reign: 25 October 1495 – 13 December 1521 Acclamation: 27 October 1495 Predecessor: João II

Manuel I (31 May 1469 in Alcochete – 13 December 1521 in Lisbon ), the Fortunate (o Venturoso, o Afortunado), King of Portugal, was the son of Fernando, Duke of Viseu,

by his wife, the Infanta Beatriz of Portugal.

His name is associated with a period of Portuguese history distinguished by significant achievements both in political affairs and in the arts. In spite of Portugal's small size and population in comparison to the great European land powers of France, Italy and even Spain, the classical Portuguese Armada was the largest in the world at the time. During Manuel's reign Portugal was able to acquire an overseas empire of vast proportions, the first in world history to reach global dimensions. The landmark symbol of the period was the Portuguese discovery of Brazil and South America in April 1500.

Manuel's mother was the granddaughter of King João I of Portugal,

whereas his father was the second surviving son of King Duarte of Portugal

and the younger brother of King Afonso V of Portugal.

In 1495, Manuel succeeded his first cousin, King João II of Portugal, who was also his brother-in-law, as husband to Manuel's sister, Leonor of Viseu.

Manuel grew up amidst conspiracies of the Portuguese upper nobility against King João II. He was aware of many people being killed and exiled. His older brother Diogo, Duke of Viseu, was stabbed to death in 1484 by the king himself.

Manuel thus would have had every reason to worry when he received a royal order in 1493 to present himself to the king, but his fears were groundless: João II wanted to name him heir to the throne after the death of his son Prince Afonso and the failed attempts to legitimize Jorge, Duke of Coimbra, his illegitimate son. As a result of this stroke of luck, Manuel was nicknamed the Fortunate, and succeeded on João's death in 1495.

Imperial Growth

Manuel would prove a worthy successor to his cousin João II for his support of Portuguese exploration of the Atlantic Ocean and development of Portuguese commerce. During his reign, the following achievements were realized:

1498 – The discovery of a maritime route to India by Vasco da Gama

1500 – The discovery of Brazil by Pedro Álvares Cabral.

1501 – The discovery of Labrador by Gaspar

and Miguel Corte-Real.

1505 – The appointment of Francisco de Almeida as the first viceroy of India

1503–1515 – The establishment of monopolies on maritime trade routes to the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf by Afonso de Albuquerque, an admiral, for the benefit of Portugal.

The capture of Malacca in modern-day Malaysia in 1511 was the result of a plan by Manuel I to thwart the Muslim trade in the Indian Ocean by capturing Aden, blocking trade through Alexandria, capturing Ormuz to block trade through the Persian Gulf and Beirut, and capturing Malacca to control trade with China.

All these events made Portugal wealthy from foreign trade as it formally established a vast overseas empire. Manuel used the wealth to build a number of royal buildings (in the "Manueline" style) and to attract scientists and artists to his court. Commercial treaties and diplomatic alliances were forged with Ming dynasty of China and the Persian Safavid dynasty. Pope Leo X

received a monumental embassy from Portugal during his reign designed to draw attention to Portugal's newly acquired riches to all of Europe.

Manueline Ordinations

In Manuel's reign, royal absolutism was the method of government. The Portuguese Cortes (the assembly of the kingdom) met only three times during his reign, always in Lisbon, the king's seat. He reformed the courts of justice and the municipal charters with the crown, modernizing taxes and the concepts of tributes and rights. During his reign, the laws in force in the kingdom of Portugal were recodified with the publication of the Manueline Ordinations.

Religious policy

Manuel was a very religious man and invested a large amount of Portuguese income to send missionaries to the new colonies, among them Francisco Álvares, and sponsor the construction of religious buildings, such as the Monastery of Jerónimos.

Manuel also endeavoured to promote another crusade against the Turks.

The Jews in Portugal

His relationship with the Portuguese Jews started out well. At the outset of his reign, he released all the Jews who had been made captive during the reign of João II. Unfortunately for the Jews, he decided that he wanted to marry Infanta Isabel of Aragon,

then heiress of the future united crown of Spain (and widow of his nephew Prince Afonso). Her parents Fernando and Isabel had expelled the Jews in 1492 and would never marry their daughter to the king of a country that still tolerated their presence. In the marriage contract, Manuel I agreed to persecute the Jews of Portugal.

In December 1496, it was decreed that all Jews either convert to Christianity or leave the country without their children. However, those expelled could only leave the country in ships specified by the king. When those who chose expulsion arrived at the port in Lisbon, they were met by clerics and soldiers who tried to use coercion and promises in order to baptize them and prevent them from leaving the country.

This period of time technically ended the presence of Jews in Portugal. Afterwards, all converted Jews and their descendants would be referred to as "New Christians", and they were given a grace period of thirty years in which no inquiries into their faith would be allowed; this was later extended to end in 1534.

During the course of the Lisbon massacre of 1506, people invaded the Jewish Quarter and murdered thousands of accused Jews; the leaders of the riot were executed by Manuel.

Isabel died in childbirth in 1498, thus putting a damper on Portuguese ambitions to rule in Spain, which various rulers had harbored since the reign of King Fernando I (1367–1383).

Manuel and Isabel's young son Miguel

was for a period the heir apparent of Castile and Aragon, but his death in 1500 at the age of two years ended these ambitions.

Manuel's next wife, Maria of Aragon,

was his first wife's younger sister. Two of their sons later became kings of Portugal. Maria died in 1517 but the two sisters were survived by an older sister, Joana of Castile, who was born in 1479 and had married the Archduke Philip (Maximilian I's son) and had a son, Charles V who would eventually inherit Spain and the Habsburg possessions.

Manuel I was awarded the Golden Rose by Pope Julius II in 1506 and by Pope Leo X in 1514. Manuel I became the first individual to receive more than one Golden Rose after Emperor Sigismund von Luxembourg.

Manuel died of unknown causes on December 13 of 1521 at age 52. The Jerónimos Monastery in Lisbon houses Manuel's and Maria’s tombs. His son João succeeded him as king.

Negotiations for a marriage between Manuel and Elizabeth of York

in 1485 were halted by the death of Richard III of England.

He went on to marry three times. His first wife was Isabel of Aragon, princess of Spain and widow of the previous Prince of Portugal Afonso. Next, he married another princess of Spain, Maria of Aragon (his first wife's sister), and then Leonor of Austria,

a niece of his first two wives, who married Francis I of France

after Manuel's death.

By Isabella of Aragon (2 October 1470 – 28 August 1498; married in 1497)

Miguel da Paz, Prince of Portugal (23 August 1498 - 19 July 1500) 1 year 10 months - Prince of Portugal, Prince of Asturias and heir to the crowns of Portugal, Castile, and Aragon.

By Maria of Aragon (19 June 1482 – 7 March 1517; married in 1500)

João, Prince of Portugal (7 June 1502 - 11 June 1557), 55 years - Succeeded the throne as João III, King of Portugal.

Infanta Isabel (24 October 1503 - 1 May 1539), 35 years - Holy Roman Empress by marriage to Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.

Infanta Beatriz (31 December 1504 - 8 January 1538), 33 years - Duchess of Savoy by marriage to Charles III, Duke of Savoy.

Infante Luís (3 March 1506 - 27 November 1555), 49 years - Duke of Beja. Unmarried but had illegitimate descendants, one of them being António, Prior of Crato, a claimant of the throne of Portugal in 1580; see: Portuguese succession crisis of 1580.

Infante Fernando (5 June 1507 - 7 November 1534), 27 years - Duke of Guarda. Married Guiomar Coutinho, 5th Countess of Marialva and 3rd Countess of Loulé (died 1534). No surviving issue.

Infante Afonso (23 April 1509 - 21 April 1540) 30 years - Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church

Infante Henrique (31 January 1512 - 31 January 1580), 68 years - Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who succeeded his grandnephew, King Sebastião (Manuel I's great-grandson), as Cardinal Henrique, King of Portugal. His death triggered the Portuguese succession crisis of 1580.

Infanta Maria (3 February 1513) Died immediately after birth.

Infante Duarte (7 October 1515 - 20 September 1540), 24 years - Duke of Guimarães and great-grandfather of João IV of Portugal. Married Isabel of Bragança, daughter of Jaime, Duke of Bragança.

Infante António (9 September 1516) - Died immediately after birth.

By Leonor of Austria (15 November 1498 – 25 February 1558; married in 1518)

Infante Carlos (18 February 1520 - 14 April 1521), 1 year 1 month

Infanta Maria (18 June 1521 - 10 October 1577) 56 years - Unmarried

#king manuel i of portugal #kings of portugal #aviz dynasty #portugal history

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ransulance · 4 years

Text

The Diary of Lucas Wraith

I have decided to write a summarized version of my life in case something happens. If I went into detail I might as well write a book series. I was born August 7, 1400, at least that what the priests told me. I was left at a monastery as a baby in Ireland with a letter, I never read it but the long and sort of it was to beware of a vampire and to keep me safe. At the time it sounded like nonsense.

For a while I grew up just like anyone else. But as I got older something happened that changed everything. Demons attacked the monastery looking for something. The next day I overheard a priest saying that they were after me. That night I decided to sneak out and run, I wasn't going to put everyone in danger because of me. I lived on the run going from village to village. Between bandits and demons still looking for me I had to learn how to fight to survive.

After a few months I ran into a group of knights being attacked by a few demons. Three of them were taken out easily. Without thinking I charged in and killed the bigger of the demons making the smaller ones scatter into the forest. That's how I met a the first of many lords I would met, Lord Marcus Irunhearth. He was impressed by what I did he took me in. He had the priests in his fort teach me to read and write while he taught me how to be a kinght.

Once again though, something happened that made this life change. When I reached the age of 18 I felt a change in my body. Wish that was the only thing that changed but whenever I smelled blood I grew hungry. I asked the priest about what it could be and that is when I learned what I was. I was a dhampir, half human and half vampire all the strengths but none of the weaknesses. But I consider the need to feed on blood a weakness. But then Marcus told me about what he did to become a lord. He was a demon hunter and wasn't surprised about what I was. He advised that I joined him into go to Jerusalem to fight in the crusades. He heard reports of demons in the holy land and was summoned to stop them. He taught me how my vampire half worked, the more blood I consumed the more skills I learn from the source and the more powerful I become. I told him how I didn't like the sound of that at all and he assured me that it wasn't a bad thing to not want to, but if I wanted to survive it was something I'd have to do.

We arrived in Jerusalem and it was hell. Innocents dead, knights wounded and villages burned. I tried keeping the thirst in check as to not cause trouble. Marcus was there to help me and I grew to see him as a father. After three nights of hunting demons we found the one controlling them and man in black armor. We made a plan of attack and everything went well until we were face to face with him. Even woth my growing strength and Marcus's skill we were no match. In the end Marcus lost his life having charged the man only to be impaled. He was able to knock off his helmet and under it was a face that looked a lot like me except older qnd much more cold. After removing his sword from Marcus's torso he looked at me smiling and vanished.

I ran over to Marcus and as he laid dying in my arms he told me to drink hus blood. I would learn the other skills needed to be a hunter and to hunt down his killer. I felt forced into this but I knew it had to be done. I drink his blood and the knowledge and skills that flooded my mind were intoxicating. I stayed in Jerusalem fighting in the crusades and hunting Marcus's killer. I arrived in Jerusalem at the age of 18, but it wasn't until I was 25 that I realized I stopped aging. I also learned quickly that it's not just skills that I learn from drinking blood but languages as well and how someone thinks. Because of that I learned the one that killed Marcus wasn't in Jerusalem anymore and for some reason headed east.

I decided to sell my armor and made my way east. I made a living using my skills, and one I learned with my "gift", the skills I learned from others. The more I drink the more I learned but the more I hated what I was. Now matter how far I traveled my prey was always far ahead of me until the winter of 1499 that I learned he was in Japan working through proxies. After two years of traveling I finally arrived in Japan but not matter who's blood I drank or how many demons I killed I couldn't find him. I had built myself a home in some woods in the center of the island and laid in waiting for something to come up. That's went I met a very interesting man and his right hand a "monkey."

Apparently I became a legend since my arrival there. A foreign "Oni" that looked human but fought like a monster, slaying man and demon alike. That legend made a certain man curious and he wanted to find this creature, Nobunaga Oda. As for his "monkey" that was Tokichiro, that guy was just a ball full of energy. Nobunaga wanted to test me so he challenged me to a sparring match. This guy was as human as could be but he was no push over. After letting the fight end in a draw he could tell I held back and nodded. He offered me a better life than one as a hermit if I helped him unify Japan and help force the demons that harmed his people out. I accepted because that look in his eye was one I saw in my own, one of ambition. I packed my belongings and he let me stay in his home.

I won't lie his home was beautiful and he promised me a place of my own would be finished within the first week. Nobunaga was indeed curious about my nature so any questions he asked I answered. After learning everything I knew about my powers he ordered all of his best warriors to each offer a cup of blood and to put them at easy he even did it himself. With each cup I drank I learned all I needed to about the Oda Clan, their territories, their philosophy, how they fight, and how each one of these warriors and Nobunaga think. I became a one man army but only when it was needed.

A few months into this I was made into a lord of one of the castles I helped capture and because of many battles I had a reputation as the Oda Clan's demon. Because of that fame many humans and demons came to me asking to serve under me. Thanks to that it gave Nobunaga a title he always found amusing.

"The Demon King Nobunaga Oda, I like it!"

My forces were spread thin but were always instrumental in aiding the clan. After a number of victories Nobunaga said I should take a break and I left command of my troops in the hands of Tokichiro,now Hideyoshi, not sure why he changed his name but it did suit him. I retired to my castle and town to enjoy some peace, that is when I met someone who became very important. Her name was Yuki, an exorcist and my future wife.

At first Yuki was very uncertain of me but she stayed in my province incase I decided to turn on the people. But as time passed and the more we talked the closer we became. We ended up married and for the first time in my life I was happy and didn't feel like I was in any danger. A few days after the wedding Hideyoshi came and told me another foriegner like me was leading troops against the Oda clan. After years of silence he finally came out of hiding and I was excited.

Yuki wanted to come with me to help me fight. I wasn't about to say no to her, she was very strong in her magic and I needed any help I could get. Because of how Nobunaga needed me at the time I set aside my dislike of drinking human blood so at the time I had enough to kill this monster. When I came face to face with him I fought him alone with Yuki and Hideyoshi suppressing the man's troops. He stood looking at me unfazed but his troops being pushed back, all he did was look in my eyes just like before and smiled. We drew our swords and much to his surprise with one quick motion I took off his arm. He snarled and vanished as Yuki, Hideyoshi, and Nobunaga came to try and help me.

Even more time passed and we heard nothing of the man in black. Nobunaga rewarded me for my actions up to this point. He gifted me my own armor, a simple general's armor with a purple vest and black armor plates. On the back of the vest was the Oda Clan crest in white. He also had a katana made for me, he had it forged special for me. The blade was made from steel and what Yuki had claimed to be the fang of a dragon. Yuki had also helped in making it by blessing it making it never grow dull and indestructible.

This is the last time skip of my time in japan, I promise. Toward the end it looked like we were going to do it. But the main thing was Yuki gave birth to a son, my son Nobun. What came next no one saw coming, the man in black that killed Marcus tricked one of Nobunaga's most trusted generals to kill him at Honnoji Temple. The temple was surrounded by enemies by the time I got to the center it was too late, Nobunaga was killed. Hideyoshi then sent word that my home was being attacked. I rushed home to see it in turmoil but my forces seemed to keep the enemy at bay. My thoughts was focused on one thing though, my family.

I rushed to the castle only to find the man in black standing above Yuki's body on the ground, her head held in his hand, and to my horror my son held in a new arm that looked grotesque. You could see the muscle tissue and tendons until his hand that was still nothing but bone. The man raised Yuki's head up to show me her face and tossed it to the side. Then for the first time ever I hear him speak and it will haunt me forever.

"Consider this a gift... from father to son."

As he spoke I could see the fangs that could back his claim. Without hesitation he snapped Nobun's neck and ripped my son's head from his shoulders and tossed the remains in a fire. Everything flashed before my eyes until I saw nothing but red. I charged at him in a failed attempt to avenge everyone I came to care about only for him to vanish. After everything settled we held a funeral for the fallen and Hideyoshi asked me what we should do now. I looked at the graves of my family clutching my sword in my hands. I left everything in his hands and left Japan going back to Ireland.

I spent centuries hunting down my bastard of a father. He had his hand in almost every war up until 1888. I learned of a killer called "Jack the Ripper" who's methods were just like the old man's. I finally cornered him in a factory and fought him with everything I had. That was the first time I tasted demon's blood as in the middle of the fight I took a bite out of his wrist and for a moment I changed. I was far stronger and faster than I ever been before. I had him where I wanted him until an explosion occurred. With my new power I escaped and when everything settled I searched everywhere for his remaind but found nothing but a single fang.

After that waited 50 years, and the another, only to hear nothing. It was finally over, the one that took so much from me was gone. I spent the years after as a hunter, taking jobs and building up a network to gather intel. Some time in the 1970s my informants told me about an old druid vampire named Morzan that wanted to meet me. When I arrived at his home he said nothing, just motioned to a cup of blood. Trusting him I drank and visions of a younger him flashed in my mind. I have learned about magic but never used it because it reminded him of Yuki. I learned a great deal, more than I had from anyone but there was one thing that caught my attention. A memory of Morzan with that bastard calling him son.

Morzan confirmed that he was my grandfather and took off his hood showing that he was blind. He apologized for not being there to help me fend off my father from those I lost. He also told me about a prophecy about a child born of a human and vampire. Someone who could either end everything or protect it. He was pround that I used my power to help but was hurt because he could sense what i never told anyone. I wanted to die more than anything. He taught me a better way to deal with my pain.

My grandfather told me about everything I ever wondered about. My mother, where I came from, anything I could want to know. In the end talking with Morzan put some of my mind at ease and I decided to retire as a hunter and become an infobroker. That's when I opened up my baby, The Wraith's Haunt, at first just a front for my business with demon hunters. Information, weapons, cheap drink, and great food, everything a guy could hope for. The pub become my home and I came to meet a pretty cool group of people... and Kenway. But that's all to it I suppose, at least for now. I actually feel better about writing all this.

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