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#19-20th century art
venustapolis · 9 months
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Dark Thoughts (Arthur Hughes, 1832 - 1915)
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larobeblanche · 1 month
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Maria L. Angus (British, 1887-1910) • A Pensive Mood • Unknown date • Watercolour
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pagansphinx · 4 months
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Gustave Poetzsch (Swiss, 1870-1950) • Jeune fille en guépière au miroir (Young Woman at the Mirror) • Unknown date • Private collection
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collectionstilllife · 4 months
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Season's Greetings from Art of the Still Life
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Catherine M. Wood (British, 1857 - 1939)
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Burning a sinner!
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cloudcrouton · 2 years
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dragonborn monk go bap bap
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fitz-higgins · 7 months
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LGBT literature of the 1860s–1910s. Part 5
After a long pause, the list is back! Here we have a couple of plays, accounts by two trans women, lesbian poetry, and more.
1. Despised and Rejected, by A.T. Fitzroy (Rose Allatini; 1918). A pacifist novel published during World War One? With gay and lesbian characters? Yes, that was sure to get people in trouble. Its publisher was fined and the judge called it “morally unhealthy and most pernicious”. So, Dennis is a young composer who hates violence and therefore refuses to go to war. He also suffers because he is a “musical man”, that is, gay, and loves Alan, art-loving son of a wealthy businessman. His friend Antoinette, meanwhile, is “strangely attracted” to a woman. Nevertheless, the two attempt to love each other. When the war begins, Alan appears in Dennis’ life again, and they try to avoid being sent to the front together. Alan also persuades Dennis to accept who he is. Edward Carpenter himself defended the novel, saying that “the book is also a plea for toleration of a very much misunderstood section of humanity”. Read online
2. Autobiography of an Androgyne, by Ralph Werther (1918). Ralph Werther, also known as Jennie June, wrote this autobiography for doctors, and it is very revealing. Being a New York fairy (male prostitute) and possibly a trans woman, they tell frankly about the city’s gay underworld of the early 20th century and their personal experience, which is sometimes too frank and dark perhaps, but all the more interesting. Read online 
3. Poems by Mikhail Kuzmin. Kuzmin was not just the author of Russia’s first gay novel, but also a poet. Many of his works were dedicated to or mentioned his lovers. I’d recommend Where Will I Find Words (in English and Russian), Night Was Done (both in English and Russian), from the 1906-1907 collection Love of This Summer (available fully in Russian), mostly based on his love affair with Pavel Maslov in 1906. And also If They Say (in English and Russian), which is a great statement.
4. The Loom of Youth, by Alec Waugh (1917). A semi-biographical novel based on Evelyn Waugh’s older brother’s experience at Sherborne School in Dorset. It is a story of Gordon Caruthers’ school years, from the age of 13 to 19, and it is full of different stories typical for public schools, be it pranks and cheating exams or dorm life and sports. Although the homosexual subject was quite understated, the author implied that it was a tradition and open secret in public schools. The book became popular and soon caused a great scandal. Worth noting that before that Alec was expelled for flirting with a boy.  Read online 
5. Two Speak Together, by Amy Lowell (1919). Lowell was a famous American poet and lesbian. Many of her poems were dedicated to her lover, actress Ada Dwyer Russell, specifically the section Two Speak Together from Pictures of the Floating World. These poems are infused with flower imagery, which wasn’t uncommon for lesbian poetry of the time. Read online
6. De berg van licht/The Mountain of Light, by Louis Couperus (1905-1906). Couperus is called the Dutch Oscar Wilde for a reason: this is one of the first decadent novels in Dutch literature. It is also a historical one, telling about a young androgynous Syrian priest Heliogabalus who then becomes a Roman Emperor. Homoerotism, hedonism, aestheticism: Couperus creates a very vivid world of Ancient Rome. He also covered the topic of androgyny in his novel Noodlot, which was mentioned in Part 3 of this list. Read online in Dutch 
7. Frühlings Erwachen/Spring Awakening/The Awakening of Spring, by Frank Wedekind (1891, first performed in 1906). This play criticized the sexually oppressive culture prevalent in Europe at the time through a collection of monologues and short scenes about several troubled teens. Each one of them struggles with their puberty, which often leads to a tragic end. Like in The Loom of Youth, homosexuality is not the central focus of the play, but one character, Hänschen, is homosexual and explores his sexuality through Shakespear and paintings. The play was later turned into a famous musical. Read online in German or in English
8. Twixt Earth and Stars, by Radclyffe Hall (1906). Though it wasn’t known to many at the time, these poems were dedicated to women, some to Hall’s actual lovers. Read online
9. The Secret Confessions of a Parisian: The Countess, 1850-1871, by Arthur Berloget (published in 1895). This account is similar to the Autobiography of an Androgyne, albeit shorter. The author nowadays is thought to be a trans woman. They describe their love for women’s dresses, the euphoria from wearing dresses, makeup and wigs, the life as a “female impersonator” in Parisian cafe-concerts, and their love affair with a fellow prisoner. The autobiography is not available online, but you can read it in Queer Lives: Men’s Autobiographies from Nineteenth-Century France by William Peniston and Nancy Erber.
10. At Saint Judas’s, by Henry Blake Fuller (1896). This is possibly the first American play about homosexuality. It is very short. An excited groom is waiting for his wedding ceremony in the company of his gloomy best man. They are former lovers, and this short scene is not going to end well… Read online
Previous part is here
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akookminsupporter · 1 year
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Namjoon gave an interview to El Pais in Spain and I wanted to share the translation of the interview for those who may not understand Spanish.
Question. The track opens with the lines: "Fuck the trendsetter / I'm going back to the age of 9 / when I was more human". Does the stratospheric success of K-pop dehumanise the artist? Answer. You start your career very early and as part of a group. There's not a lot of time to be an individual, but that's what makes K-pop shine: very young people, trying very hard at the same time…. You generate energy that you only have in your twenties. You fight day and night to perfect the choreography, the videos, the music, and there's an explosion, a big bang. From 20 to 30, we put all the energy and time we had into BTS. You get success, love, influence, power, and after that? The root of it all remains: the music… What was the question?
Q. Does the system dehumanise? A. My company doesn't like the way I answer this question, because I partly admit it and then the journalists throw their hands on their heads, "it's a horrible system, it destroys the young people! But it's partly what makes this such a special industry. And things have improved a lot, in terms of contracts, money, education, there are now teachers, psychologists...
Q. Korean record companies train their artists for years, you lived with your peers from 16 to 19 before your debut as BTS in 2013. What did your parents say? A. My mother spent two years, "Go back to school, you were so good at it, go your way, go to university, make music a hobby!"…. But there was no going back.
Q. The biggest lesson from your time as an apprentice? A. Dancing. I was incapable.
Q. And what did you miss out on by being one? A. College life.
Q. The cult of youth, the cult of perfection, the cult of K-pop overexertion? Are these Korean cultural traits? A. In the West, people just don't get it. Korea is a country that has been invaded, razed to the ground, torn in two. Just seventy years ago there was nothing. We were getting aid from the IMF and the UN. But now, the whole world is looking at Korea. How is that possible, how did that happen? Because people are working fucking hard to improve themselves. You're in France or the UK, countries that have been colonising other countries for centuries, and you come to me and say "oh God, you put so much pressure on yourselves, life in Korea is so stressful". well, yes. That's how you get things done. And it's part of what makes K-pop so appealing. Of course, there are shadows, everything that happens too fast and too intensely has side effects.
Q. What is the biggest prejudice about K-pop? A. That it's prefabricated.
Q. What would your career have been like if you had developed it on the alternative circuit or in another country? A. I think about the multiverse a lot, and the lesson of Doctor Strange is always the same: your version of the universe is the best possible one, don't think of others. There is nothing better than being a member of BTS.
Q. Did you imagine this version? A. Not at all. My dream was not to be a K-pop idol. I wanted to be a rapper, and before that, a poet.
Q. Your influences include rappers like Nas and Eminem, groups like Radiohead and Portishead, but you never mention boy bands. A. The Beatles were also called boy band... I'm not comparing us, they were the creators of everything. But I guess you mean NSYNC or New Kids on the Block: bands whose pop music I actually liked, although I wasn't a super fan… What got me was rap: rhythm plus poetry.
Q. You say you get jealous of who you admire, for example? A. Kendrick Lamar, always. And Pharrell Williams. He's living history, I'd like to be one too, maybe in the future. That's why I don't paint, to be jealous of Picasso or Monet would be too much.
Q. You do collect, how do you choose the pieces? A. I've only been collecting for four years and I've been changing. My focus is 20th-century Korean art. But I'm not Getty or Rockefeller…
Q. You don't do it to invest. A. I guarantee it. If I wanted to invest, I would buy black artists, women artists, emerging Indonesian artists… My goal is to open a small exhibition space in about 10 years because I think Seoul needs a place with a young taste, but respectful of the Korean legacy, to which I would also like to bring artists like Roni Horn, Antony Gormley or Morandi.
Q. Have you always had the collector's bug? A. I've collected toys, little cars or Takashi Murakami figures, then vintage clothes, then furniture, I love Charlotte Perriand and Pierre Jeanneret [both collaborators with Le Corbusier], but my favourite is George Nakashima.
Q. On your album there are songs from very different genres, some critics say it's inconsistency, others say versatility… A. I think the word genre will disappear in a few decades. R&B, Hyperpop, Jersey Club, UK Drill, Chicago Drill, K-pop! They don't mean anything. Music is an accumulation of frequencies that makes people get into a certain mood.
Q. Are you fed up with the "K-" label? A. You could get sick of Spotify calling us all K-pop, but it works. It's a premium label. The guarantee of quality that our grandparents fought for.
Q. Your album features Anderson Paak, Youjeen and the elusive Erykah Badu, how did he convince you? A. She knew BTS because her daughter is a fan, but that's not enough. I had to persuade her, I sent her a text with Yun's story explaining why I needed her wise queen voice for those verses.
Q. You mix English and Korean sometimes in the middle of a line, how do you decide? A. Words in different languages have different textures; the same message, with a different brushstroke. It comes naturally to me. I don't play instruments, I compose and create melodies with my voice, which is my instrument and most of my songs start with words.
Q. You have also gone through several identities, as a teenage rapper you were Runch Randa, then in BTS Rap Monster and then RM (for Real Me). Have you thought about using your real name? A. [laughs] We all have a past, a dark history, we say in Korea. Runch Randa was my nickname in a role-playing game, then I wanted to be, you know, "a rap monster!″, then I matured… I prefer my name to be known by as few people as possible, I'm not John Lennon, Paul McCartney, I can check into a hotel quietly and I like that.
Q. You've also changed a lot in the way you dress. A. I went through XXL T-shirts and baseball caps. Then I got into high-end brands… Like Rap Monster, I started wearing only black and white [rolls his eyes and shrugs]. Now I'm interested in timelessness, I don't go for trends, I look for vintage jeans, cotton t-shirts, natural things, that don't scream "hey, I'm here".
Q. Rumour has it that you are going to collaborate with Bottega Veneta, whose fashion show you have just been invited to in Milan. A. I would love to. Although I've lost interest in brands, in fashion weeks and that constant change of Pantone… Bottega is different, they don't use logos, they have a history with fabrics and leather, they don't even have Instagram, they are beyond fads and fashions.
Q. How heavy is it to have an army of fans? A. You can't walk around in the middle of nowhere without being recognised and the standards to which you are subject weigh heavily. But you have to grow up and deal with it, not be pitiful like "oh, I just want to be normal". Look, if you want to think fame is a rock, it's a fucking rock, but for me, it's given me what I was looking for: to get influence and financial freedom as quickly as possible to make the music I want to make without worrying about the charts… I'm not there 100%, but I try to focus on the noise inside, not the noise outside.
Q. And how are you facing your thirties? A. I've never experienced such a confusing time. For a decade I was the leader of BTS, and it was very stable and fun, always going up. In 2023 a lot of things have changed, professionally and personally, although I can't tell. As I'm about to turn 30, I like myself more than I did when I was 20. Now I will spend a year and a half in military service, which is very important in every Korean man's life. And after that, I am sure I will be a different human being, hopefully, a better and wiser one.
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capacle · 1 year
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20 Brazilian TTRPGs I wish also existed in English
Today I offer you:
20 Brazilian TTRPGs I wish also existed in English (because I want the world to know about them)
Buckle up, because you won't BELIEVE the diversity of our indie scene.
[presented in no particular order, and only one per author]
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1. Meu Brinquedo Preferido ('My favorite toy'), by Eduardo Caetano
A metaphor about a child's growing process by deconstructing their fears through playful situations.
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2. SeanchaS, by Jorge Valpaços and Jefferson Neves
A game about myths, construction of identity and narrative around bonfires, about the time of ancient stories and the present time.
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3. Gatunos, by Tiago Junges
A GMless/Solo game in which you play as cat thieves and mercenaries doing the dirty work of the five big factions that run the city.
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4. Nômades (Nomads), by Marcelo Collar
A card-based RPG in which you play as beings who have the ability to find and pass through the cracks in the veil that separates the universes.
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5. Infaernum, by Caio Romero
Create your own apocalypse while playing the game, and interpret characters who experience the last days of all things.
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6. Áureos, Os Dançarinos da Lua ('The Moon Dancers'), by Rey Ooze
A game of fight and freedom where dice play capoeira. You play as an 'Áureo', a former slave who, in a fantastic colonial Brazil, receives the blessings of his Orisha to free his people from slavery.
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7. Veridiana, by Alan Silva
You play as creatures that live in a large tree, embarking on a deeply sentimental journey in search of a cure.
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8. Karyu Densetsu, by Thiago Rosa and Nina Bichara
A game inspired by action anime and manga, with tactical combat, philosophical conversation, and passionate ideals.
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9. Imperia, by Jonny Garcia
A game of politics and intrigue in a medieval court, inspired by Game of Thrones. Create a kingdom collaboratively and assume the role of the most influential people in it.
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10. Goddess save the Queen, by Carol Neves and Julio Matos
A pulp adventure game in which you play as secret agents of the British Crown during the interwar period, with their own agenda connected in some way with their home nation.
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11. Abismo Infinito ('Infinite Abyss'), by John Bogéa
A narrative game of psychological horror in which the protagonists are astronauts, far away in space, involved in a web of lucid nightmares and manifestations of their own fears.
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12. Mojubá, by Lucas Conti and Lucas Sampaio
An Afrofuturistic urban fantasy game inspired by Yoruba and Afro-Brazilian mythologies. Play as a person with fantastic powers who descends from the Orixás, fights evil spirits, and occasionally gets into a rap battle.
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13. Chopstick, by Igor Moreno
A game inspired by action movies of oriental martial arts, gang fights and crime, with a twist on Fate Accelerated.
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14. Contos do Galeão ('Tales of the Galleon'), by Encho Chagas
Create together the legend of a vessel that would have existed during the Golden Age of Piracy. Players will create the ship, its pirates, as well as its enemies, challenges, and rewards.
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15. O Cordel do Reino do Sol Encantado ('The Cordel of the Kingdom of the Enchanted Sun'), by Pedro Borges
A narrative game set in the northeastern 'cangaço' region at the beginning of the 20th century.
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16. Através das Trevas ('Through the Darkness'), by Ramon Mineiro
A post-apocalyptic fantasy game inspired by The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, The Witcher and Diablo.
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17. Nihilo, by Andre Osna and Gustavo Rolanski
A world very much like our own—yet bigger, deeper, and stranger. Secret banks are run by Urban Dragons, Infernal mafias terrorize slums, interdimensional portals open in the basements of abandoned pizzerias.
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18. Caçada ao Colosso ('Hunt for the Colossus'), by Jairo Borges Filho
Reenact stories such as Siegfried and the dragon Fafnir, the Greek Odyssey or legends centered on the opposition of two primary forces of humanity.
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19. Perdidos ('Lost'), by Marcelo Paschoalin
Inspired by Bloodborne and Dark Souls, a world in ruins, fragmented to the point where only memories remain. You'll find relics of yesteryear, monstrous beasts, beings that have forgotten their purpose, and devious paths to tread.
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20. Hitodama - A jornada das almas ('The Journey of the Souls'), by Alexsander Araujo
You are Shinigamis: creatures half divinity, half Yokai, who must carry out missions through different worlds, fighting formidable enemies and saving lost souls.
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fallloverfic · 10 months
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"Nimona" fandom informational rundown
New to the fandom and a bit confused about things? Hopefully this will help!
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Nimona was a webcomic by Nate Diana Stevenson/ND Stevenson that was first shown on tumblr on December 14, 2011, and Nate later launched it as an official webcomic on its own website on June 19, 2012. It was contracted for publication post-completion as a graphic novel sometime before November 1, 2012. The webcomic finished online publication on September 30, 2014. Shortly afterward, most of the webcomic was taken down as part of the contractual agreement for publication as a physical graphic novel, leaving only a short bit of the opening as a preview. The website for the webcomic later went down entirely, and is no longer accessible.
The comic was published in entirety as a single graphic novel on May 12, 2015. The movie adaptation rights were sold to Fox in 2015, as well, and the project was given to Blue Sky Studios. The comic was later adapted into a full cast audiobook on October 4, 2016. The graphic novel is available for purchase in paperback, hardcover, and as an ebook, and the audiobook is also available for purchase. (The link has international seller links). The graphic novel has been translated into 16 languages. It is also available in a special edition English hardcover via Illumicrate. They only ship from the UK, but ship internationally, and you don't need a subscription to buy the book. As the standard graphic novel and audiobook are ~7+ years old now, if you have a local library, you can see if either of them are available that way.
Disney bought 20th Century Fox Animation (later 20th Century Animation, the purchase completed in 2019), but later shut down Blue Sky Studios in 2021, cancelling the still-in-production movie. Crew worked on shopping the movie around for a new home after talks with Disney. The movie was later picked up and completed by Annapurna, DNEG, and Netflix, premiered June 14, 2023 in France, showed in select theaters starting principally on June 23, 2023, and released to general audiences on Netflix for streaming on June 30, 2023. I have more info on this here.
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In English, Nimona is voiced by Chloë Grace Moretz, Ballister Boldheart is voiced by Riz Ahmed, and Ambrosius Goldenloin is voiced by Eugene Lee Yang.
If you're looking for official merch, the movie soundtrack is up on multiple platforms, including YouTube, iOS, Spotify, and Amazon, and a vinyl version of the soundtrack will be sold by iam8bit. There is an official humanoid Nimona plushie, a whale Nimona plushie, and a shark Nimona plushie, available via Netflix, Gee, and Hot Topic, as well as a variety of official shirts available via Hot Topic and Amazon (just search Brand: Nimona). Nate also still sells "Nimona" comic art on his INPRNT store.
Netflix released a free-to-read digital-only multimedia 358-page artbook for the movie (but took it down in March 2024). (It's also been released at least for crew/friends of crew(?) in physical release, so maybe it'll get mass release as a hardcover). Outside of this, a lot of the crew for the movie from both Blue Sky and DNEG have been releasing a ton of concept art and development stuff, and the cast and crew have been doing a lot of promotional interviews and videos going back through like April 2023, so there's a lot of material to look through on YouTube, tiktok, tumblr, twitter, Instagram, Facebook/Meta, and Vimeo, as well as various news and media sites. Nate is active on tumblr, his personal blog, twitter, and Instagram. Annapurna, DNEG, and Netflix also have multiple accounts on many platforms, including their own websites, YouTube, Facebook/Meta, and Twitter, and have been sharing clips and behind the scenes stuff.
Nimona actually has been added to a video game: Nimona was included as an event companion in SharkBite 2, a Roblox game.
If you're looking for fanworks, the fandom is active on most platforms, and has been ever since Nate started posting early art of the characters. Nate's talked at length in multiple places about how big the fandom was during the webcomic's publication. Mostly back then folks were very active in the Disqus comments on pages, which are a bit harder to find these days. There's a lot of the older comic fanart still circulating in different places (particularly tumblr, where the fandom was most active), some of which Nate reblogged. There is crossover between the comic and movie fandoms, as many fans of the comic love the movie and vice versa, and both fandoms are quite active. There is at least one active subreddit and fanwiki (and many others on assorted fantasy, comic, movie, and non-English language sites), as well as TV Tropes pages for both the comic and movie adaptation and a number of Discord servers.
For fanfiction, there are a ton of fics on Archive of Our Own in the comic tag and in the movie adaptation tag. There are also a number of fics on tumblr, some fics on fanfiction.net, and some on Wattpad. There are fanvids on tiktok, Instagram, and YouTube. There is fanart on tumblr, twitter, deviantart, instagram, and pixiv. There are cosplayers, meta analysts, roleplayers, music makers, and many other fanworkers
Some tags to use/browse for posts on tumblr and other sites:
Nimona
Nimona fanart
Nimona comic
Nimona movie
Ballister Blackheart
Ballister Boldheart
Ambrosius Goldenloin
Gloreth
Meredith Blitzmeyer
Ballister x Ambrosius / Goldenheart / Boldloin / Boldenloin / Blackenloin / Blackloin / Goldheart
Will update this post as I come across new things.
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theoutcastrogue · 2 years
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Knives for Commoners
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Precious daggers are cool and all, but I’m very fond of simple pocket knives, made to get shit done. So here are a few farmer / peasant knives, ranging from penknife- to sickle-sized.
1. Grafting knife (greffoir) from Thiers, France
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This little multi-tool has a curved blade (very used and sharpened, it was originally wider) and a smaller wavy blade. It’s primarily for cutting the stock plant and the plant shoot (or bud) that you mean to graft, though it’s also good for small pruning jobs and general utility. It locks by slipjoint, the standard pocket knife locking mechanism that you’ll find in Swiss army knives. The small flat thing is a bark lifter, it’s made of bone and it’s used for bud grafting: when you insert a bud beneath the bark of a stem, you have to be extra careful to not injure the bark, so you don’t want sharp edges there.
The handle has scales of bone, carved like this in order to look like stag (which is rarer and more expensive). A similar way to accomplish this is “jigged bone” scales, found in a lot of old/classic American and English knives:
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Sheffield hunting knife by Joseph Allen / American folding knife by Camillus
which I honestly think is too... regular, sometimes it looks machine-made even when it’s handmade. But this handle here is sculpted, it’s a work of art, I love it.
Manufactured sometime in *waves vaguely* the 20th century (probably 1930s-1960s) by the cutlery A. Bardin-Dozolmé. The blade is stamped “57 BARDIN Garanti”, which tells us nothing useful, this stamp’s been around since the 18th century. It’s 9.2 cm closed and 14.7 cm open. (3.62 / 5.79 inches)
2. Pruning knife (trinxet) from Mallorca, Spain
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I’ve shown you this before, it’s got a curved carbon steel blade, a horn handle, and “friction lock” as they call it nowadays i.e. no lock whatsoever, it’s a clasp knife. And it’s the simplest, most convenient tool, I adore it.
Made by the cutlery Hermanos Campins in Consell, Mallorca, stamped “HNOS CAMPINS / CONSELL”, mid-20th century, 9.7 cm closed and 17 cm open. (3.82 / 6.7 inches)
3. Shepherd knife (couteau de berger) from Corsica, France
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Another clasp knife (doesn’t lock), different shape, with a ram horn handle. Shepherd knives look like utility or bushcraft knives, their blades are not usually curved but they often have a clip-point shape, and they’re quite sturdy.
This is an outlier, it wasn’t really made for work, it’s for tourists or collectors. However, it’s handmade in the tradition of Corsican knife-making (as opposed to the more famous vendetta knives which were manufactured in mainland France, though I should clarify this shape isn’t uniquely Corsican either, it was widespread in both France and Italy), with a couple of modern touches: the blade is forged with a decorative flair, and the horn is first carved at the ridges (to emphasise it’s ram, I’m guessing) and then polished like a mirror.
It’s a strong, solid knife, and absolutely gorgeous.
Made by a local knife-maker (unfortunately I don’t know the name, the blade is signed but with a symbol) in Sartène, Corsica, maybe a decade ago. 11.5 cm closed and 19 cm open. (4.53 / 7.48 inches)
4. Folding billhook (roncola) from Italy
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Billhooks are farming tools for cutting and pruning, though usually they have fixed blades. This one isn’t just folding, it’s an actual picklock, like a switchblade. (I mean with the same locking mechanism, it doesn’t open automatically or anything). The blade is carbon steel (that’s a lot of carbon, folks!) and the handle is beautiful, made of carved wood, with brass (I think) insets, and with a fancy external backspring.
Folding billhooks were exported from Italy to the UK. From 1961, a lot of them were imported by Whitby Knives, stamped “Whitby”, and were made in Maniago by Mauro Mario, a prolific knife-maker who also made a ton of switchblades. They looked like this:
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The one I got looks earlier to me, but honestly I have no idea when it’s from. Early 20th? Late 19th? *uncertain noises* In any case, it’s 12 cm closed and 22.5 cm open. (4.72 / 8.86 inches)
5. Huge pruning knife (saca tripas) from Guanajuato, Mexico
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And last but not least, a big fuck-off pruning knife, which locks securely with a ratchet and unlocks with a pull-ring. This is basically a folding sickle, you reap stuff with it, and can cut thick branches. The very curved carbon blade (it’s not over-sharpened, that’s its original shape) is stamped with a “J”, and the handle is made of horn, with an iron backspring.
The name is extravagantly bloodthirsty, it means “disemboweller” (saca tripas = “pulls out intestines”), and is of course a misnomer: this isn’t a weapon, it’s a farming tool. (Could it be used as a weapon? Well of course, but so can kitchen knives.) I’m not entirely sure if it’s really called that way, or only as a jest, or for the express purpose of selling one of them to bloodthirsty types, i.e. to morons. [Pet peeve: mislabeling work knives as “military” or “fighting” or “tactical”, when they’re clearly for utility, and often for some specific farming job. I even saw an ad for a knife like this describing it as a torture implement, for fuck’s sake people, IT’S FOR CUTTING PLANTS.]
So anyway, these knives can be found all over Mexico, and this one hails from the city of Guanajuato, or at least it was bought there at some point. It’s 16 cm closed and 28.5 cm open. (6.3 / 11.22 inches)
The lot of them
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Despite the fact that all these are work knives (except the Corsican, but only technically: it emulates a specific, older work knife, and it’s still 100% functional), a clear effort has been made to make them pretty. And I LOVE this. Even the trinxet, which has a monochrome handle and no frills at all, is elegant in its simplicity, and they all have something going on, carvings, decorations, handles shaped to please the eye, materials chosen for their nice colour.
Aesthetically speaking, I think knives went to shit when plastic was adopted. (Practically speaking, I admit plastic is a lot more resistant to the elements; a handle of horn or bone must be kept dry or it shrivels, wood must be kept from dryness or it shrinks, bugs and mites eat it, it’s a mess.)
Not one blade here is stainless steel, and it shows.
Only the handle of the grafting knife (the smallest one) has scales riveted on a metal frame. Not coincidentally, it’s the most industrial production, it came out of a Thiers factory. (Thiers is a major cutlery centre, like Sheffield and Solingen.) The rest were hand-made in a workshop or at most a cottage industry (a bunch of people in a village construct parts and someone assembles them), and their handles are solid blocks of material (horn or wood), with a slit in the middle to fit the folded blade. That’s the simpler, older construction.
Folding knives are cool.
@tuulikki​. And @victoriansword​, @petermorwood​, @peashooter85​, I know you’re into the fancy stuff, but here I am plying humbler wares and hoping. :)
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venustapolis · 9 months
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Nymphs Bathing (Antonio Muñoz Degrain, 1840 - 1924)
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Detail from "Miniature garden girl" official PV that hasn't been noticed for almost 16 years!
Official PV of "Miniature Garden Girl" was released on July 3, 2008, and has a lot of illustrations, not only Suzunosuke's. And there is this illustration among another ones that appears between 03:03 and 03:19 :
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By the way, curiously, Michelle's arms in this art are placed the same way as Eva's in "Moonlit Bear" PV, that was released on the same date as "Miniature Garden Girl" song (but not clip) — June 22, but a year apart.
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The fact is that the background of this illustration is text in English. What's it about? Well, it isn't "Lorem ipsum", and that's all able to know. If the illustration will be edited by right way, only some of the letters will be readable, the rest is unreadable not so much because of the quality, but because of the outline of Michelle's profile.
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So, these are all words those are able to read:
my thought ... (will?) no (... c_agens?)
(use?) my (eyes?) ... (remember?)
to... words (and want?)
As for any kind of (future?)
(reach?) you (sometimes?)
(...time?) (memory?) (together?) (some...?)
(not come) back (anymore in...?)
that that
(quietly a memory want?)
(and for height?)
quietly a (memory?)
(something _and?)
(stillness?) ... of a (wing?) feeling
(...stars) who (beg?)
millions of (years?)
(us ... impression?)
... (if?)
(not?) stop (we?)
As you see, the text is difficult to index at least because there is nothing to type into Google for getting any result. But does this make sense, what if the text is inserted as decorative feature only? Yes, the probability of this is high, however...
The fact is that the clip was made imitating the about Victorian or Art Nouveau styles, and yes, inserts in the form of text from English-language newspapers of the early 20th century are sometimes used for creation of pre-WW1 epoch. But here the case is a bit different: firstly, the text looks more like a passage of a letter or a novel, and secondly, the font used in the background looks like a font from a simple HTML page, without the serifs mandatory for newspapers of more than a century ago. Yes, the lack of serifs can be explained by resolution, but if they were really there, it would be even more difficult to read with such quality. Another thing to point out is the "that that", which looks like an obvious typo or machine translation error from 2008, which raises two questions: where did the text come from, and, if the text was made up by mothy or the illustration author, where is Japanese original?
However, knowing that the canon of EC was changed a long time ago, this is already of archaeological interest. But it doesn't cancel the fact that no one paid attention to this detail for more than 1,5 decades.
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homomenhommes · 2 months
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THIS DAY IN GAY HISTORY
based on: The White Crane Institute's 'Gay Wisdom', Gay Birthdays, Gay For Today, Famous GLBT, glbt-Gay Encylopedia, Today in Gay History, Wikipedia, and more … February 19
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1902 – F.O. (Francis Otto) Matthiessen was an educator, scholar and literary critic influential in the fields of American literature and American studies. (d.1950) The exchange of letters between him and his lover Russell Cheney are among the most revealing gay male documents of the 1920s.
Born in Pasadena, California, after his parents' divorce in 1915, Matthiessen lived on his grandfather's farm in Illinois, later attended boarding school in Tarrytown, New York. Toward the end of World War I, joined the Canadian Air Force. He entered Yale in 1919, where he was a member of Skull and Bones society, and graduated in 1923 with many honors, and then became a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford, receiving a B. Litt. in 1925.
Matthiessen's best-known book, American Renaissance: Art and Expression in the Age of Emerson and Whitman (1941), discusses the flowering of literary culture in the middle of the American 19th century, with Emerson, Thoreau, Melville, Whitman and Nathaniel Hawthorne.
While sailing for Oxford, he met the painter Russell Cheney; they would be lovers until Cheney's death in 1945. Cheney, though closeted in many ways, was a profoundly positive influence on Matthiessen, encouraging his interest in gay and lesbian literary figures like Walt Whitman and Sarah Orne Jewett.
The couple shared a cottage in Kittery, Maine for decades. In planning to spend his life with Cheney, Matthiessen went as far as asking his cohort in the Yale secret society Skull and Bones to approve of their partnership. With Cheney having encouraged Matthiessen's interest in Whitman, it has been argued that American Renaissance was "the ultimate expression of Matthiessen's love for Cheney and a secret celebration of the gay artist."
Matthiessen, as a gay man in the 1930s and 1940s, chose to remain in the closet throughout his professional career, if not in his personal life - although traces of homoerotic concern are apparent in his writings. In 2009, a statement from Harvard University said that Matthiessen "stands out as an unusual example of a gay man who lived his sexuality as an 'open secret' in the mid-20th century."
After Cheney's death in 1945, Matthiessen was increasingly distraught; he committed suicide by jumping from a window in 1950. Because Matthiessen's politics were left-wing, socialist, though not dogmatically Marxist, inquiries by House Un-American Activities Committee into his politics may also have been a factor in his suicide: writing in 1958, Eric Jacobsen referred to Matthiessen's death as "hastened by forces whose activities earned for themselves the sobriquet un-American which they sought so assiduously to fasten on others".
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1921 – Dudley Cave was a British former soldier and pioneering gay rights activist (d.1999). He joined the Royal Army Ordnance Corps in 1941, aged 20, and was posted to the Far East. He was captured by the Japanese when Singapore fell in 1942 and was marched north to work on the Thai-Burma railway, 10 miles beyond the bridge on the River Kwai. He caught malaria and was imprisoned in Changi Prison in Singapore because he was unproductive. This may have saved his life. Three quarters of his company perished.
When back in Britain he had a job as manager of the Majestic Cinema, Wembley, but in 1954 he was sacked when it was discovered that he was gay. Also in 1954 he met Bernard Williams, an RAF veteran and school teacher, and they became lovers and co-campaigners for 40 years until Bernard Williams died in 1994.
In 1971 Dudley Cave joined the Unitarian Church and helped in securing the ordination of lesbians and gay men. He also conducted same-sex weddings.
In 1974 he was on the launch committee of the London Gay Switchboard, and he was still answering the telephone right up to his death 25 years later.
He and his partner, Bernard Williams, founded the Lesbian and Gay Bereavement Project in 1980, and they ran its telephone helpline for many years. After a battle with the Charity Commissioners this became the first organisation with 'gay' in its title to be given charitable status.
In the 1980s he worked on reconciliation with the Japanese and travelled a number of times to Japan to speak on the subject.
In November, 1998 he was OutRage!'s keynote speaker at its Queer Remembrance Day vigil at the Cenotaph where he layed a pink triangle wreath honouring gay people who died fighting Nazism and in the concentration camps.
Dudley Cave dedicated most of his life to challenging and fighting prejudice and seeking justice and equality for gay people especially in the areas of military recognition and issues of bereavement for gay people of all ages; he did so with great eloquence, dignity and integrity.
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1925 – J. J. Belanger (d.1993) was member and officer in the Mattachine Society in the 1950s and 1960s, a volunteer in numerous causes in the 1970s and 1980s, and a collector of LGBT history, especially of AIDS-related materials of the mid-to-late 1980s.
The famous photo booth photo of J.J. Belanger above was rediscovered in 2014 and spread quickly through popular media such as The Advocate, TIME, Queerty, and blogs. It shows Robert Block and J. J. Belanger (right) in a photo booth photo in Hastings Park, Vancouver, British Columbia, 1953. It was taken at a time in Canadian history when the two men could have been arrested for kissing.
Joseph John Bertrund Belanger was born February 19, 1925, in Edmonton, Canada. He served in the Royal Canadian Air Force from 1942 to 1944 where he was awarded a Defense Medal, Canadian Voluntary Service Medal, and War Medal for his World War II service. He worked odd jobs in Vancouver and Calgary until 1954 when he joined the United States Air Force. He served for five years, earning the Aviation Badge, Good Conduct Medal, Outstanding Airman of the 26th Air Refueling Squadron, numerous other commendations, and a promotion.
Belanger became a member of the Mattachine Society in the early 1950s, but resigned in 1953 after an incident with police threatened to bring negative publicity to the organization. However, Belanger maintained contact with Hal Call and in 1958 became the Mattachine Society's Director of Public Relations. In 1959 he was voted out of the post, but still remained a member of the society.
From the 1950s Belanger lived in either San Francisco and Los Angeles, although the particulars of his life are documented only sporadically. He was the Los Angeles coordinator of the Eulenspiegel Society in the 1970s. In the 1980s he was politically involved with the San Francisco chapter of the Stonewall Gay Democratic Club, where he ran and lost a bid for treasurer in 1988. Also in the 1980s he volunteered for Project Inform and was a member of the Quarantine Fighter’s Group. Belanger was also a devoted collector of LGBT history, especially of AIDS-related materials of the mid-to-late 1980s.
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Curtis in drag
1947 – John Holder Jr, better known as Jackie Curtis, was a famous transgendered film star, poet and playwright. (d.1985)
Curtis was born in New York City, and later died there of a drug overdose. He spent part of his life living and performing as a man (sometimes adopting a James Dean persona) and sometimes as a woman.
While living and performing in drag, she would typically wear lipstick, glitter around the eyes and in her frizzed-out red hair, and a dress, frequently ripped and torn, as were her stockings. This unique style, a combination of trash and glamour which Curtis pioneered in the late 1960s when frequenting such high profile nightclubs as Max's Kansas City, has prompted assertions that Jackie inspired the Glam Rock persona of the 1970s.
'Jackie Curtis is not a drag queen. Jackie is an artist. A pioneer without a frontier,' Andy Warhol said of his associate. Primarily a stage actor, Curtis debuted at the age of 17 in Tom Eyen's play Miss Neferititi Regrets. Curtis began to write his own plays immediately after this experience, often featuring famous transsexuals, such as his friend Candy Darling and, later, Holly Woodlawn, both of whom appeared in his productions which enjoyed successful runs Off-Off-Broadway and were well-reviewed in New York. Curtis's work is representative of the Theatre of the Ridiculous.
As writer and lead actress some of her plays include: Glamour, Glory and Gold; Amerika Cleopatra which featured Harvey Fierstein; Femme Fatale; and Heaven Grand In Amber Orbit with Holly Woodlawn, produced by John Vaccaro's Playhouse of the Ridiculous in 1970.
These plays caught the attention of Andy Warhol and his director Paul Morrissey, who cast Jackie and Candy in Flesh (1968) and, with the addition of Holly Woodlawn, in Women in Revolt (1971); a hilarious spoof of the women's liberation movement in which all the female leads are played by transsexuals and transvestites.
Apart from acting, Curtis also showed talent in poetry and singing. Jackie Curtis made two more movies during the 1980s. Drug addiction, however, had taken control of Curtis's life, eventually leading to his death.
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In 2004, a film based on Curtis's life, Superstar in a Housedress, brought Jackie Curtis back to the limelight, exposing some little known facts about the performer to the public. Curtis's influence on a number of people, friends and associates such as Holly Woodlawn, Joe Dallesandro and Penny Arcade, and observers such as David Bowie, is noted in the film.
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1952 – California artist Lari Pittman creates visually beautiful and exciting paintings that depict the anxiety attendant on being a gay male in America. They confront the perils and dangers that threaten homosexuality even as they resolutely affirm homosexual love.
Lari Pittman was born in Glendale, California. Pittman spent much of his childhood in the Colombian cities of Cali and Tumace, where his father worked in the lumber industry. An effeminate child, he loved playing with his mother's jewelry. His desire to decorate with baubles received parental support and has deeply influenced his subsequent art.
After studying painting at University of California, Los Angeles from 1970 to 1973, Pittman transferred to the California Institute of Arts. Pittman held his first solo exhibition in 1982 to mixed reactions. His early works, full of obscure references, are purposely made to be difficult for the viewer to decipher.
In 1985, Pittman changed his style as the result of suffering a near fatal attack. One night, he discovered a burglar in his home. When he attempted to scare off the man, he was shot in the stomach. The injury resulted in a colostomy and a long period of recovery. After this harrowing, near death experience, Pittman decided to stop being evasive about his homosexuality and about the thematics of his work. He has since sought to erase the distinction between the private and the public as a means of gay activism.
Pittman's post-1985 imagery is much more open and readable than his earlier imagery. In This Wholesomeness, Beloved and Despised, Continues Regardless (1990), for example, he creates a complex narrative through the use of accessible images. At the center of this canvas is a gay couple making love. However, the decorative elements in the painting are both celebratory and ominous, ranging from an inscribed "69" (a motif he uses in several works) to a noose and a menacing figure wielding a knife. Thus, the work's narrative structure celebrates gay relationships, but also acknowledges the homophobic conditions in which they are experienced. The painting makes an affecting statement about the persistence and perseverance of gay love even in the face of hatred and persecution.
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"In This Wholesomeness …
Pittman's paintings consider American identity and history, often incorporating motifs from folk art and popular culture, as in An American Place (1986). Such motifs give his work a cartoon-like quality, with every space packed with imagery and action.
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An American Place
The emphasis that Pittman places on queerness has led some critics to describe him as the prince of queer agit-prop art. He has been attacked for being too political because he has dared to address the difficulties of life as a gay man in paintings that grab attention. Indeed, Pittman may be justly regarded as our foremost painter of gay pride.
He lives in Los Angles with his longtime companion, fellow artist Roy Dowell, with whom he sometimes collaborates.
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1987 – Jeffery Self is an American actor, writer, and comedian.
Self is a native of Georgia, who grew up in the South. After attending middle school, Self persuaded his parents to let him be homeschooled to avoid dealing in high school with the fact that he was gay.
Self has appeared in many television shows as a recurring, featured or guest actor. He and Cole Escola starred in the sketch comedy series Jeffery & Cole Casserole, which aired on Logo TV for two seasons. He has also appeared in Desperate Housewives, 90210, Hot In Cleveland, Torchwood, Shameless, Difficult People, and as Liz Lemon's cousin Randy Lemon on NBC's 30 Rock. He is the author of two humor books: Fifty Shades Of Gay and Straight People: A Spotters Guide, as well as the young adult novels A Very Very Bad Thing and Drag Teen. He co-wrote, produced, and starred in the indie horror/comedy cult hit You're Killing Me. He was the host of the MTV series, Scream: After Dark, a talk show devoted to deleted scenes and interviews with the cast of the popular MTV horror series Scream. He currently plays Marc Doober on Search Party on TBS.
Self is openly gay. He dated Patrick McDonald of Fire Island for three years and publicly blogged about their breakup. On January 8, 2017, Self and his boyfriend, Augustus Prew, announced their engagement via Instagram. They were married on January 13, 2018 in Culver City, California.
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1993 – The Crying Game, a film written and directed by Neil Jordan, portrays the relationship between a transsexual woman and an IRA fighter in London. In 1999, the British Film Institute named it the 26th greatest British film of all time.
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2007 – In New Jersey the first same-sex couple, Daniel Gross and Steven Goldstein, held a civil union ceremony when hundreds of Gay couples were granted the same legal rights, if not the title, as married couples as New Jersey became the third state to offer civil unions.
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ellmeria · 2 years
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Hello! I hope you are doing well <3
I was just curious to know if there's any significance of having a placement in 15°, since it's the exact middle of the 30° a sign occupies.
Thank you in advance, keep making amazing content!!!
Hello! I hope you are also doing well. Thank you so much for the compliment! And oh, an interesting question. Let's dive into it, shall we? 🤍
𝟏𝟓 𝐃𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐫 𝐃𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞 ✧
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✧ The 15th Degree
Let's start with the general description of this degree first. According to Nikola Stojanovic (the creator of the degree theory), the 15° is one of the three degrees (3°, 15°, 27°) that rule Gemini energy. They revolve around the themes of siblings, communication, writing, the two of something, early education, technology, neighborhood, social activity, and the color yellow. (Trigger Warning) In general, Nikola described this specific degree as malefic as it may indicate car accidents, ass*ssination, and k*llings, especially if the native also has Scorpio and 8th House placements. Now, please remember that it will manifest differently in our lives. At the end of the day, our fate lies in our hands.
Aside from the description above, I could not find any sources that indicate the 15th degree as significant in general. However, there is what we call The Avatar Degree, which involves the fixed signs (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius) in this degree.
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✧ The Avatar Degree
Going back to your original question, some Astrologers claim that the 15 Degrees in Fixed Signs (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius) hold some significance as it is exactly halfway between the cardinal equinox and solstice points. In fact, it is regarded as the “Avatar degree” (or “The Gates of the Avatars”) because avatars are known to be free spiritual beings with magical powers. That said, natives with this degree often have unusual gifts and talents, resourcefulness, lucky accidents, and coincidences. They are seen as “magical” people as they often make even impossible things come true. Their enormous dedication (which is a common fixed sign trait) helps them rise above life's challenges and achieve whatever they lay their eyes upon. These people have the potential to attain remarkable success during their lifetime. In some cases, they are even seen as someone who possesses “god-like” abilities.
The Avatar degree is applicable to people who have it in their planets or in their Ascendant. 
✧ Some famous people with the “Avatar Degree”
Helen Keller
9th House Mars in Leo at 15°
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Helen Keller was an American author, disability rights advocate, political activist, and educator. She contracted a disease at the age of 19 months that left her blind and deaf. Despite that, she was able to attain an extraordinary accomplishment in the education of persons with disabilities. She graduated cum laude at Radcliffe College in 1904.
Also, I find it fascinating that one of the films made to depict Keller's childhood living with her mentor, Anne Sullivan, was titled The Miracle Worker. And the fact that individuals with Avatar degrees are seen as magical and miraculous with their notable transcendental qualities. (Also, that film is a must-watch!)
Pablo Picasso
10th House Neptune in Taurus at 15°
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Pablo Picasso was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer considered one of the greatest and most influential artists of the 20th century. Despite having a poor performance as a student, he had an exceptional talent for drawing at a very young age (child prodigy), which makes sense because he had the Avatar Degree in Neptune, that is the planet of art and creativity. He was credited with the creation of Cubism (an artistic movement), along with Georges Braque.
Serena Williams
5th House Mars in Leo at 15°
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Having the Avatar degree in Mars, the planet of sports and physical activities, Serena Williams is an American professional tennis player and regarded as one of the most accomplished tennis players of all time. She also paved the way for black women in sports.
Stevie Wonder
10th House Pluto in Leo at 15°
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Stevie Wonder is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. Despite being blind, he was a child prodigy and a musical genius who went on to become one of the most creative musical figures of the late 20th century.
Other famous people with the Avatar degree: Marvin Gaye, David Cassidy, Carlos Puidgemont, Angela Merkel, John Paul Getty, Willie Nelson, Diana Ross, Leslie Nielsen, Alice Cooper, Marcel Merceau, and so on.
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✧ Short Observations
The entire chart must be taken into consideration.
People with the Avatar degree tend to experience early life challenges before they experience significant success later on.
Despite that, these people often recognize their talents earlier in life.
Their success often lasts long as the fixed signs indicate stability and lasting effect.
The planet, sign, house placement, and its ruler may indicate what area of life the native has gifts and talents or may become successful in. Here are some examples for the planets:
Sun - things related to leadership, politics, singing, acting, performing, hairstyling, entertaining
Moon - things related to caregiving, nursing, music, therapy, counseling, healing
Mercury - things related to writing, communication, social media, calculation, management, entrepreneur, interviewing
Venus - things related to finance, business, relationships, career, food, music, fashion, beauty, film, interior designing
Mars - things related to sports, physical activities, coaching, police, military, stunts
Jupiter - things related to teaching, preaching, education, law, philosophy, traveling, religious and spiritual affairs
Saturn - things related to politics, finance, business, leadership, CEO
Uranus - things related to technologies, inventing, reforming, activism, social work
Neptune - things related to music, arts, psychic skills, photography, dancing, poetry, films
Pluto - things related to psychology, healing, investigation, forensics
✧ Takeaway:
People with the Avatar degree often have the potential for greatness as they possess qualities that make them conquer even the hardest battles. The examples above prove that this degree does not signify doom for the native. In fact, there is the potential for permanent fame and success. In order to achieve this, the native must recognize the power that this degree holds and start harnessing it for their own good. It's not easy, but it's definitely worth it.
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Side note: I hope this helps to answer your question. Thank you so much for asking! Have a great day/night! 🤍
References: X X X X X X X
Credit to @firefly-graphics for the divider. The gif and the photos used are taken from Google and Pinterest. Credit goes to the rightful owners.
Copyright © 2022 ellmeria | All rights reserved.
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syntia13treeman · 12 days
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Case files 11.01
what I think happened in:
Case 11.01, the case of "Ink in the Water" or "Dead men tell no tales."
Today we visit the old Padstow cemetery in Cornwell. Sat at the very edge of the cliffs, just a kilometre or two away from town of Padstow, the place offers breathtaking view of the Atlantic Ocean, surely appreciated by the many sailors of old interred here. Unlike its less scenic sister cemetery located off Newquay Road, this old burial ground hasn't seen any burials since beginning of 20th century, but until recently remained a local landmark.
The cliff erosion that had been slowly eating up the space over the years has finally reached the stage where integrity of the cemetery was threatened*, and Cornwall Council decided to relocate all dearly departed to a more secure quarters at Newquay. The job was appointed to a crew of local lads led by Gordon Alan Johnson, under supervision of David [last name unknown], a medical examiner. They regularly reported by email to Alison Leshi of the Cornwall Council.
The works started in the first days of 2020 (yikes) and progressed with little delay. It was determined that they could use heavy machinery everywhere except the patch nearest to the cliff edge, but Gordie was confident that they'd manage those last few graves just fine with shovels.
All was well for about a week, until January 12, when a suspiciously well preserved body was uncovered. An artful rendition of a sailing ship covered the dead man's back, and the fact that it remained intact and pristine raised concerns that it was, possibly, a modern-day murder victim buried on the sly.
While the controversial cadaver was carted off for closer scrutiny, Gordie and his crew were left to care for unconfirmed crime scene. ($)
The news must have spread, because within a day or two a curious individual came by. They didn't give their name, but we know them as Ink5oul. They apparently had somehow** identified the dead man's tattoo as work of Oscar Jarrett, (connected to Sutherland Macdonald)***, and wanted to take a look. They visited cemetery first, then started hanging around the examiner's office. Let's leave them there for now and go back to two local man who already did have a peek at the inked masterpiece
Around the time when the tatted body was uncovered, Gordie started noticing the sound of the waves getting… louder. Or maybe closer. So close he could even hear them in his dreams. He started re-examining photographs of the tattoo left by David and at some point his interpretation of the scene changed. At first glance it seemed hopeful, but now he saw that the sun was setting on the voyage, and there was something sinister lurking beneath the waves, giving chase. The waves kept getting louder, and Gordie so desperately wanted to know, what was hiding in the water?
Dr. David, meanwhile, had not just pictures, but the og tattooed body all to himself, and was in no hurry to let anyone else have it. We don't know what he heard or saw or dreamt when examining the ink, but we know how it ended. On January 15th David walked out to the cliffs and threw himself into the ocean below. His body hasn't been recovered. It's all right, though. The deep will care for his bones.
Few days later, on January 19/20, there was what appeared to be a break in at the examiner's office, and the contentious body disappeared****. Good ol' Gordie swore up and down that it wasn't him, and his frequent presence at the scene was just due to his fervent wish to see the corpse he was responsible for. He pointed fingers at Ink5oul and vowed to recover the body from them or die and kill trying.
Shortly thereafter his email account was deactivated/deleted. Gordie's final fate remains unknown*****.
Final thoughts:
*A case could be made that the cemetery was at risk of toppling into the sea, because the sea was actively trying to get to The Body. This man belonged to the sea, not the earth, and was clearly marked as such. The sea was not having any of this ‘burial’ nonsense.
** I wonder how Ink5oul knew to come here. Did local news run the story of halted exhumations, and showed pictures of the tattooed body? Or did Ink5oul feel a great disturbance in the ink when the body was dug up?
*** What is the 'thing' with OJ and SM? Since Sutherland Macdonald (1860–1942) was a known tattoo artist irl, I think that Oscar Jarrett was either his competitor, student, or both. Also an og tattoo magic man.
**** Was there really a break in, or was it actually a break out? While it is believable that Ink5oul or other fan of OJ spirited the body away for worship or study, it is equally possible the 'body', freed from the confines of the grave, heard the call of the sea, woke up and walked out all on its own. Who knows, maybe we'll meet it somewhere down the line.
*****That only leaves the question, what happened to our friend Gordie? We know from Daria's case that Ink5oul was still operating in 2022, so presumably they didn't get killed or arrested in 2020. If Gordie indeed tried to confront them, it didn’t go in his favour. Maybe he died right there, in a small motel room, at the hands of a tattoo artist who was more than they seemed. Or maybe, cursing and desperate, he found himself walking toward the cliffs, irresistibly drawn by the call of the waves. Maybe he got to find out what was waiting in the water.
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