#And maja has such a pretty design

[orxcaboxx]

Redrew this Image from the new foxglove animation wip!!

[ninalanfer]

Make 9 2022 Review

Make 9 2022

I think maybe I picked these patterns for a reason. So let’s review shall we?

(I’ll link to my ravelry page for the projects where that’s applicable)

Grusvägar by Stine HoelgaardJohansen  Was a pleasure to knit. So much fun with something happening on each row. Knitted in by Permin’s Esther. It’s pretty, it’s comfortable, it’s very wearable. Only thing is the sleeves are too wide, and I might actually rip those out halfway and take them in more aggressively than I did.

Majas Mamelucker Leggings by Maja Karlsson (aka the Lilly Pond Leggings) Still a work in progress. I started these relatively recently. They’ve also been put on hold, because I thought I was knitting them too small. But after blocking and testing I’m on the fence. Also, I decided against following Maja’s pattern at all and winged it on my very own. So they probably shouldn’t be under this name any more. But anyway.

Maja Cardigan by Hélène Magnússon Man I’ve struggled with this cardigan. At first because Lettlopi is friggin’ rare right now. And has been for the last few years. And when I finally managed to get the amounts and colors I wanted, and swatched them together, I didn’t like it. It wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t what I had in mind. So I put it away until I could get hold of some other colors. That happened to be now, last December (2022). For reference: I started planning this cardigan sometime in March 2021. You’d think I would be excited to finally start this thing. But... No. I swatched again. Didn’t like the borders except for the middle big one. So I changed those out. Swatched again. But it still wasn’t working. At this point I had to ask myself: I’ve changed almost everything about this cardigan, from the way I’ll knit it to the colors and the borders and everything. Do I really want to knit it? There’s so many other sweaters and cardigans I’d like to knit more than this. So, long story long, I changed my mind. The yarn will get a new home in some other project.

Maia Summer Top by Belly Helms I knit it, I love it. It was fun (if a little arduous) to knit. Partly because of the yarn (slippery and thing) and partly because that’s a lot of pattern to follow. You gotta keep your tongue in your mouth at all times. But I love the outcome. I’ve worn it a bunch. I’ll wear it a bunch more. Also, pattern was just the way I like patterns to be. More like a recipe. Highly recommend. Aurelia Tee by Anna Strandberg Honestly, I’ve almost started this a hundred times. I bought the yarn. But what stopped me was my experience with how much dye the yarn would bleed in the wash after. It’s the same as the Grusvägar Slipover. Esther by Permin. And while that was fine with that particular sweater, since it’s only one color. This one would be two. And not anywhere near each other on the colorwheel. So I felt I needed to wash the yarn properly before knitting. And boy was that a hurdle to get over. Since they come in balls, I had to ofc first make them into skeins. And yeah... that’s a lot of yarn to skein. And then wash. In two separate baths, and... yeah, you can only hear why I haven’t started this yet. But now the yarn has had a bath and is ready to go. But a thin tee isn’t what you wanna knit in the middle of winter. So I’ll await warmer weather!

Silva by Ivar Asplund I’ve bought the yarn. But why is every project ever on needles 3mm? They’re never free. Still looking forward to this though. Ivar Asplund’s patterns are usually really well written and laid out. And for little me who haven’t done much braids before, I might need it.

Goldfern by Jennifer Steingass I’m still spinning for this. I had hoped to finish at this (last’s) year’s Tour de Fleece. But I didn’t. And I burned out hard on spinning last summer. So it’s been on the backburner for a while now.

Slipoverlinne by Anna Bauer I’m almost all done with this one. Winter themed and everything. Was a lot of fun to design all the borders and I might’ve put way too much effort into it. Fun to knit too. Only now I only have the last two border on the back left, and the armholes and the neckhole. ... ... Yep. I’m out of yarn.

Batgirl Crop-Top Hoodie by Me I still really want this. The cropped wool sweater is pretty much the perfect thing to wear when you’re a little cold but not cold cold. And I really need a couple more of them. This just hasn’t happened because other stuff have taken the first place in the que and I haven’t even bought the yarn for it yet. It’ll come with me on my make9 for next year though ^^

---

Congratulations on making it all the way through this! This is mostly for myself, so I can go back and see what’s happened with my knitting and such. It’s a little bit like journaling, right? Getting all the thoughts out there and freeing up space in my brain for next year’s projects!

[j4gm]

TOGETHER AGAIN SPOILERS

A thread of lore, Easter eggs, episode connections, and background details from Adventure Time: Distant Lands: Together Again! Let me know if I missed anything! This is adapted from my original Twitter thread.

Keep reading ⬇️⬇️⬇️

1. I was expecting them to perhaps do a classic style title sequence for this episode, but I wasn't expecting them to straight up use the original title sequence. The only difference is this final screen saying "Distant Lands".

2. The background of the title cards is also the hill from the title sequence.

3. The ice cream having "50 flavours" and having an image of an enlightened soul is an obvious reference to the 50th Dead World as we see it later in the episode.

4. Continuing with the metaphor, the dirt in the ice cream could be a parallel to the fact that Jake's Nirvana actually wasn't perfect, because his inaction was allowing for injustice to perpetuate.

5. This whole scene feels immediately slightly off. Finn has his Scarlet sword and is out on a classic Ice King adventure, but he speaks in his grown voice and all the slang feels much more forced than it did in the real season one. Turns out this was deliberate.

6. The snow golem speaks with a baby voice like it did in the pilot episode, even though in canon it has a deeper voice. This further hints that something is not quite right.

7. The first major break in continuity is these snow golems resembling Uncle Gumbald and Peace Master, who Finn didn't meet until later in his life.

8. LSP sitting on Finn's head like this is reminiscent of Pen Ward's piece for the 2018 Ble crew zine.

9. Finn being given the choice of helping somebody but ending up helping everybody reminds me of "Memories of Boom Boom Mountain". It's the kind of resolution that wouldn't happen so much in the late seasons of the show, which helps make this scene feel even further out of place.

10. Jake is half frozen by Ice King in pretty much the exact same way as he was in "Prisoners of Love", and even has a very similar line.

11. The Snail is seen here. The crew have said that the Snail has been deliberately left out of previous Distant Lands specials, so its placement here is another very deliberate hint that this whole sequence is "trying too hard" to be like the early seasons.

12. The book "Mind Games" appears a couple of times, as seen in several previous episodes of Adventure Time. The first is as Finn is approaching the library in his dream. It also appears as one of the items in Finn's backpack later.

13. Jake is hurt when Finn fist bumps him with his metal arm, revealing that this scene is not real. This is also a callback to the title sequences of "Islands" and "Elements".

14. A whole bunch of familiar skeletons are seen in the bird's nest: Dirt Beer Guy, Abracadaniel, Me-Mow, Lemongrab, Mr. Pig, and the Snail again. This doesn't necessarily mean that all these characters are dead, since this scene is just a hallucination.

15. Old Man Finn! He's still got the chest tattoo of Jake, and this time we know that Jake is dead, so the theory that Jake died before "Obsidian" seems pretty likely. He looks similar to his old man design from "Puhoy", with the same facial hair.

16. There are several cameos of familiar characters who apparently died at the same time as Finn. The first is this duck, who previously appeared in "Ocarina".

17. The second is Donny, from the episode... uh, "Donny".

18. This goblin guy is an unnamed background character from “The Silent King”.

19. This old lady first appeared in "The Enchiridion", way back in season one. Old ladies are a species in the Land of Ooo, so I guess she wasn't actually very old back then, given she just about outlived Finn.

20. This is the cobbler who first appears in "His Hero". Amazing that he lived so long given all the trouble he got into in that episode.

21. Land of the Dead! This place was first seen in season two's "Death in Bloom", and now we are finally learning its actual purpose. It's a sort of gateway and hub to all of the other dead worlds.

22. There are some more minor cameos at the gates: a house person from "Donny", a soft person from "Gut Grinder", and a wood person from "When Wedding Bells Thaw". And, of course, the gate guardian himself from “Death in Bloom”.

23. Finn completely ignores the gate guardian in the same way he did in Death in Bloom. This also has the convenient effect of not having to reveal how Finn died, leaving it up to the audience's imagination.

24. Mr. Fox! We already knew he would die at some point because BMO had his skull in the finale.

25. Finn has his design from the first Distant Lands poster in this scene. Turns out it's young Finn in old Finn's clothes. But they gave him a shirt in the poster so you wouldn't be able to see the tattoo.

26. The clapping that Finn does while he's looking for Jake is a callback to "James Baxter the Horse", when Jake tells Finn to listen for that same rhythm if they are killed and need to find each other in the afterlife.

27. Mr. Fox talks about a "past life quotient", suggesting that there might be some kind of limit to how many times somebody can reincarnate. Finn's reincarnations are also seen in this scene; a callback to "The Vault", and confirmation that reincarnations share the same soul.

28. Boobafina, the goose who Mr. Fox was in love with in his debut episode “Storytelling”, apparently reincarnated into a tugboat. We've already seen that objects can have souls in the episode "Ghost Fly".

29. Finn is initially assigned to the 37th Dead World, which is the same one that Jake went to when he died in "Sons of Mars". We can only guess at what the other numbers on the ticket mean ;)

30. Tiffany! Despite several lucky escapes throughout his life, Tiffany has finally died. I like the use of this imagery to express Finn's conflicted feelings about him.

31. The 50th Dead World has long been established as the "highest" dead world, and the one synonymous with Heaven within Adventure Time's universe. It was first mentioned in "Ghost Princess" back in season three.

32. It's unclear what happens to souls which are destroyed within the dead worlds. It is a similar question to asking what happened to the ghosts that were killed in "Ghost Fly".

33. Death doesn't speak at all in Together Again because his voice actor, Miguel Ferrer, passed away in 2017 long before production began.

34. Finn phases through New Death when he tries to attack him, just like what happened way back in "Death in Bloom".

35. The 30th Dead World contains Tree Trunks as well as many of her love interests; Mr. Pig, her alien husband from "High Strangeness", Danny and Randy who first appeared in "Apple Wedding", and several more who we don't recognise, including at least one who presents as a woman.

36. Literally yelled when these two showed up. Joshua calls Finn a crybaby, which is a callback to "Dad's Dungeon".

37. The wall of weapons in Joshua and Margaret's house includes the iconic Demon Blood Sword, which was broken in "Play Date", as well as Margaret's auto-loading crossbow from "Joshua & Margaret Investigations".

38. Jermaine is sidelined a few times through the episode, in reference to his attitude in "Jermaine" where he feels that Finn and Jake were always their parents' favourites. I would have hoped things would be a bit better by now.

39. Fern gets name dropped while Finn and Jake are reuniting. A shame he doesn't actually show up in the episode.

40. In this scene, Finn says "What time is it?" This is a very subtle reference to the 2010 cartoon "Adventure Time".

41. In a couple of shots during this fight scene it looks like Jake might have a tattoo. It seems like it only becomes visible when he stretches out his arm.

42. New Death's amulet in this scene resembles parts of the Lich's cape, foreshadowing his influence on New Death.

43. There are several more cameos in the 50th Dead World: Booshy from "High Strangeness", one of the Marshmallow Kids from "Scamps", and Ghost Princess and Clarence, who were seen ascending to the 50th Dead World in "Ghost Princess".

44. Finn didn't interact with Booshy in "High Strangeness", but it seems they must have met at some point before they both died because Finn knows his name.

45. It seems like people in the 1st Dead World are slowly melted away until they become part of the landscape. Nasty.

46. Lots more cameos in this scene: a gnome from "Power Animal", a gnome from "The Enchiridion", a Bath Boy from "The Vault", Blagertha from "Love Games", Maja the Sky Witch, a troll from "Dungeon", Chocoberry, Choose Goose, Wyatt, a spiky person from "Gut Grinder", and possibly more.

47. Tiffany's insults are consistently nonsensical and amazing, as they were in the original series.

48. The Candy Kingdom looks extremely different. Peppermint Butler is wearing the crown so he might be in charge now, which is supported by the kingdom's very magical-looking augmentations. It’s not clear whether Finn and Jake were expecting to find Princess Bubblegum or Peppermint Butler, since both have the initials “PB” and both could be going by the title of “Princess”. Perhaps Peps and Bubblegum share the princess duties now that PB is living with Marceline more of the time.

49. Peppermint Butler has a "Boss" mug, although it's not the same colour as the one from "Obsidian".

50. Jake's ghost has the same design as he did when BMO killed him in "Ghost Fly". I also absolutely love Finn's ghost. This scene establishes that ghosts are just visitors to the mortal plane from the dead worlds.

51. Life has only appeared in animated shorts before now. Namely, "The Gift That Reaps Giving" which establishes her relationship with Death, and "Frog Seasons: Winter". This episode gives her a concrete place within Adventure Time's pantheon: she is in charge of reincarnation.

52. A translation of Life’s angry French dialogue by Shado: “After all I did for that boy. After all I did for him. No, it's not possible. It's not possible no, that... that makes me so mad but it's not possible.”

53. We finally have in-universe confirmation that Shoko's tiger is a previous life of Jake. This was previously confirmed by one of the writers, but wasn't canon until now.

54. I feel like Finn pulled off Shoko's look even better than Shoko did. I wonder whether Finn has gained the memories of his past lives now that he’s dead.

55. No Easter egg here, just want to appreciate this image.

56. There is an elemental symbol on the wall here, as seen in "Jelly Beans Have Power".

57. Tiffany's dramatic internal monologue is a recurring gag, as is his habit of nearly dying from falling into holes.

58. The Jake suit makes a cameo in the fight against New Death. It was last seen in the episode "Reboot”.

59. Finn's backpack contains a few familiar items: the t-shirt with the pocket from "It Came from the Nightosphere", Finn's underwear from "Little Dude" and other episodes, and a copy of Mind Games as I've already mentioned.

60. The Lich's Hand is present in the background of Death's... death scene. This is probably the unseen "friend" who New Death keeps talking about.

61. The Lich's menacing monologues often begin with a single command. Previously they have included "Fall" and "Stop". This time, the command is "Burn".

62. Jake uses the word "boingloings", which is a callback all the way to "Hitman" in the third season.

63. Jake's blue shape-shifter form from "Abstract" appears very briefly during his fight with Finn.

64. Finn's lumpy space person form also makes an appearance. This design was last seen all the way back in the second episode of the entire show, "Trouble in Lumpy Space".

65. Jake steps on the Lich's hand in a very similar way to how he stepped on Ash in "Memory of a Memory", which is itself a Monty Python reference.

66. The credits include a dedication to a few AT cast and crew who have passed away. Polly Lou Livingston was the voice of Tree Trunks. Miguel Ferrer was the voice of Death. Michel Lyman and Maureen Mlynarczyk were both sheet timers on the original series. Rest in peace.

67. The message that Finn and Jake write out on the ouija board is "BUTT", which Peppermint Butler takes as a distress signal. This message is also used as a distress signal by the Hot Dog Knights in "The Limit".

68. Peppermint Butler's reversed dialogue from the scene where he makes contact with Finn and Jake is "Kee-Oth Rama Pancake", the spell from “Dad's Dungeon” for banishing demons.

69. That appears to be President Porpoise with all of Tree Trunks’ other lovers.

70. In this scene, Life is humming part of "Lonely Bones", the song which Death tried to record for her in her debut short "The Gift That Reaps Giving". It's hard to notice because it's so brief.

71. Finn and Jake's cover is blown while in the Land of the Dead because Jake loudly farts, which also happened in "Death in Bloom".

72. The place where Mr. Fox explains the perception mechanics of the afterlife is the exact same location as the River of Forgetfulness from "Death in Bloom", which, as it turns out, was imaginary.

These are sort of out of order at the end because I was adding stuff to the Twitter thread as it got discovered. That’s all for now!

[oleksiak-pettersson]

Sk8er Boi - Elias Pettersson

This is from my old blog (oh-holy-alien). I'm just here to write, I want no drama.

He was a boy

She was a girl

Can I make it any more obvious?

Ebba only had eyes for one person while she walked through the crowded halls of the high school she attended. Her posh designer handbag felt lighter today, it was the last day of school and she had returned all her books to the library. She was headed to meet her friends to clear out her locker when he caught her attention.

He was a skinny, tall blond boy. Elias Pettersson was his name, a hockey player, and he was absolutely head over heels for Ebba. Which would’ve made Ebba happy but her friends didn’t approve.

A clearing of someone’s throat had Ebba returning to reality, coming face to face with her best friend Linnea.

“You really should stop staring,” Linnea rolls her eyes as she prepares the same spiel she gives Ebba every time, “we’re graduated now and it’s not like you’ll ever see him again.”

“Actually,” Ebba links her arm with her friend’s, “We’re almost graduated.”

The friends have arrived at Ebba’s locker where the rest of their group awaits.

“Doesn’t matter, he’s still hockey boy. He’ll just cheat on you the moment he gets the chance.” Maja interjects, she had caught the last bit of the conversation and immediately knew what the two best friends were talking about.

What more can I say?

He wanted her

She'd never tell

Secretly she wanted him as well

But all of her friends

Stuck up their nose

Ebba looks back wistfully at the boy. He’s laughing with his friends as they empty their own lockers. Ebba knows in her heart that Elias isn’t like the rest of the hockey boys. She can’t bring herself to believe that he, the sweet-hearted cutie he is, could be a cheater. This is the boy that smiled shyly every time he saw Ebba at the rink watching him. But Ebba values the opinions of her friends way more than some meaningless high school crush.

Or at least her girlfriends had told her it was a meaningless high school crush, yet Ebba feels different when she looks at him. Her heart flutters and feels like it may explode if she doesn’t get closer. She’s never vocalized this to her friends, out of fear they’ll make fun of her but something about Elias feels real.

“He’s also a year younger than us,” Alva points out. “It would be weird for you to have a boyfriend still in high school after you’ve graduated.”

Ebba wants to roll her eyes at how ridiculous Alva sounds. Her friends are always hung up on the little things like whether or not someone has certain traits. They have some very specific requirements for potential boyfriends and require that everyone in their friend group follow along. And according to them, he wasn’t good enough for her.

Her friends finish their lecture about Ebba’s love life and Ebba takes the final picture out of the locker, shoving it into her bag.

“Okay, let’s go,” She says, turning around. “I’m done.”

The friend group goes to leave, but a certain blonde boy calls out Ebba’s name. She stops and turns to see him, her friends walk ahead. They whisper and giggle as they hurry away.

“Hey Ebba,” Elias smiles shyly.

The girl gives him a small smile, her heart is beating a million miles an hour inside. It’s hidden by her somewhat cool facade.

“I was wondering maybe if you wanted to go out with me before you leave for university.” The boy is super nervous, he looks bashful and can’t meet her eyes as he asks.

Ebba’s heart races and she wants to scream yes, but all she can hear is the many discourses her friends had had about how Elias wasn’t good enough for her. He was a hockey boy with little to no future and she wanted to be young and free. She wanted a rich doctor or lawyer husband and travel the world whenever she wished. Her head was filled with these little fantasies, none of which involved him anymore.

She said, "see you later, boy"

He wasn't good enough for her

She had a pretty face

But her head was up in space

She needed to come back down to earth

“Sorry Elias but you’re not really my type,” Ebba lies, face smooth and hiding her emotions effortlessly. “See you around though.”

And with that, she’s gone. Elias is quick to wipe his face off the disappointment he felt in his whole body.

Five years from now

She sits at home

Feeding the baby, she's all alone

Ebba can’t help the feeling of utter dread that fills her body when the baby starts to cry again. It was the fourth time today that the three-month-old child screamed her little lungs out. Ebba thought marrying a rich man would make her life exuberant and exciting, but it ended up being terribly boring.

She had become a housewife. Small, quiet, and extremely dutiful, almost as if she had traveled back in time to the 1950s. She stayed at home and took care of their baby, it had been years since she felt young and free. Ebba didn’t even feel at home in their Vancouver apartment.

It was a wonder that her husband had even convinced her to move to Vancouver. In her teen years, Ebba swore she’d never live farther than Stockholm, and yet here she was on the other side of the world. Isolated from her friends, family, and familiar homeland.

She’s holding her daughter and the bottle is against the little babe’s lips. The tiny girl latches to the plastic fake of a nipple and begins to suckle.

Ebba is terribly bored by this sight. She knows she should feel a motherly love when overlooking her baby girl but she felt empty. She reaches for the remote.

The television flicks to life with the simple action of her pressing the button. She sighs loudly as it displays some sports channel that her husband had been no doubt watching the night before. A hockey game is being played out before her.

She can vaguely recall that Vancouver had an NHL team. She wouldn’t have been able to tell you which team was theirs, the orange and white or the blue and green if you asked. So, in her complete disregard for sports, she went to change the channel when the commentators said something that caught her attention.

She turns on TV

Guess who she sees

Skater boy [skating up ESPN]

“What a game Elias Pettersson is having tonight!” The man announces.

“Yes Jim, he’s having a hell of a game. Mid-third period and the 22-year-old already has three goals and two assists.” The other announcer comments back to the first man.

Ebba’s jaw drops. She had not kept track of Elias after she graduated, persuaded by her friends that she was better off without the hockey player.

She calls up her friends

They already know

And they've all got tickets to see his [game]

She tags along

Stands in the crowd

Looks up at the man that she turned down

She briefly remembers Elias’ older brother dating a friend of hers. In a rush, she scrambles to put the baby in her crib and grab her phone. She scrolls through her Instagram feed to find what she’s looking for.

Bingo! She thinks as she clicks on Fanny’s profile. Sure enough, Fanny’s story shows that she’s in Vancouver. It’s a video fo a breakfast place, Elias making a face near his waffles as the camera pans. Ebba shuts her phone off quickly, not realizing she missed a key thing. Had she watched the rest, she would’ve seen the adoring girl sat beside Elias who stared at him lovingly, as if he was the only star in the sky.

With all she needs, she dials a familiar number.

“Hello, Fanny?” She asks.

Ebba feels bizarre, standing in Rogers Arena, watching live hockey. It had been years since she been in an ice rink. But here she was, bundled up next to Fanny watching as Elias and his team dominated the other team. She’d been told the white and blue team were from St Louis but she can’t seem to remember their nickname.

It had been easy to convince Fanny to get her a ticket. Fanny was thrilled at the idea of surprising Elias with what she thought was an old friend of his. Elias had never told Fanny or Emil what had happened that last day of school before Ebba graduated.

The game ended in a win and Ebba followed Fanny through some hallways to outside the dressing room. There were many other women outside, some with small children and others talking amongst themselves.

Fanny leads Ebba to join a pretty girl standing by herself. This girl is wearing a Canucks jersey and black leggings, she stands against the wall on her phone.

She looks up and smiles when Fanny approaches.

“Hi Fanny,” She rushes to embrace the swede, “It was weird not sitting with you.”

Fanny laughs, “It was bizarre.” Fanny then catches Ebba shifting awkwardly standing there. “Oh, right, Y/N, this is Ebba. A friend from back home. Ebba this is Y/N, she’s-”

Fanny is cut off by a tall blonde male joining their group. Elias wraps his arms around Y/N, pulling her close and pressing a kiss to her lips.

“Y/N is Elias’ fiancee.” Fanny finishes, watching them in awe.

The couple pull away from each other but remain in cuddled together.

“Good game Elias!” Fanny gushes, “Emil caught highlights as he headed to practice but he says congrats!”

Elias smiles before turning to the third woman, he pauses. “Hello Ebba, how are you?”

Ebba feels like her heart is in her throat. He’s as gorgeous as he was in high school. Elias has bulked up a bit more though and he seems taller.

“Oh wait, is this the Ebba?” Y/N asks, turning to look up at Elias.

He nods and Fanny looks confused. Ebba wishes a hole would open up in the ground and eat her whole. She’s so embarrassed. Why is she here? Why did she expect the crush of her teenage years to still be available five years later?

I'm with the skater boy

I said, "see you later, boy"

I'll be [waiting] after the [game]

Elias looked sharp in his game-day suit. You couldn’t help but drool a little.

“I’ll see you later right?” He confirms, he knows the answer but this exchange has become almost routine before home games.

“I’ll see you later, babe.” You smile, sat on the bed watching him fix his tie. “I’ll be downstairs after the game. Wearing your jersey and cheering loud in the crowd. There’s nowhere I’d rather be baby.”

It may sound cheesy to the outside person but to you and him it was your world. The promises made between you were for you only. A way to secure the emotional bond that had been established early in your relationship. You were it for him and he was it for you.

He’d told you every person who’d ever let him get away and you pitied those girls, they’d let the most amazing soul getaway. Your Elias was like no other man you’d met and you wouldn’t change it for the world.

With a kiss, he leaves you for the rink.

It’s a couple of hours later when you finally meet the Ebba that broke Elias into a million pieces. You had no idea she’d be there. But pressed into your fiancé’s side, as his fingers rub circles into your hip, you have no doubt of his non-existent feelings towards the gorgeous girl.

Elias happily grabs your hand and leads you to the car hastily, smirking back at Brock as he wolf whistles your retreating figures.

Yeah, everything is just the way it should be.

He's just a boy

And I'm just a girl

Can I make it any more obvious?

We are in love

Haven't you heard

How we rock each others worlds

[polar-stars]

some random Shokugeki breakfast headcanons

(SnKimiko-Verse related)

Breakfast Headcanons for the different families in my “Shokugeki no Kimiko”-Verse. For...some reason. 

🥐🍳🥞

The Yukihiras (SoRina Family)

When Hiraku & Kimiko were still going to the local school, Soma and Erina always had a competition every night after the restaurant closed over who’d get “Bento-Rights” the next morning. Whoever won got to make the Bento obviously ahdh. 

Soma really loves to make them all kinds of Onigarazu, while Erina has developed her own kind of honey-pork dumplings, that Hiraku in specific loves a lot 

During the week, while the children get their bento for school, the adults usually each make an individual, quick breakfast for themselves at different times. Although with Soma and Erina of course they are proud enough of their creations to urge the other that they should have a taste as well. 

Once they’re old enough, Kimiko & Hiraku tend to take over breakfast on weekends as the family is more prone to breakfast together on these. 

EGGS, lots of EGG-DISHES. What household do you think this is?

The Nakiris (RyoAli Family)

Back when the Nakiri-Twins were smol, Alice & Ryo made a great effort to be around them as much as they can...so they usually also ate breakfast as a family. When the twins are older and can take better care of themselves it decreases a little but ultimately this family still does eat breakfast together at least once a week.

Usually it’s prepared by one of the cherry-picked chefs working in the Nakiri-Mansion, but being great chefs themselves one of the family-members tends to prepare breakfast as well at times.

Once Akio Hayama moves into the the Nakiri Mansion he sometimes prepares breakfast as well, but more on that later.

They tend to have a rather sumptuous breakfast, with a lot of options to pick from: Various types of cheese, croissants and other pastries, freshly-baked bread, fruit...etc. Some Instagram-worthy stuff.

Despite all these luxuries, Mona and Lola Nakiri never fail to voice that they prefer when their parents cook breakfast.

Rest (AkiSako, IsaMegu, ShuYoko and so on) under the cut

The Hayamas (AkiSako Family)

Akira and Hisako both don’t like other people preparing their breakfast. Whenever the Hayama-Family is staying at a hotel, these two are sulking at the hotel buffet. 

Akira & Hisako quite frankly love to prepare breakfast for their children and, while not always, they do tend to do it together. With these two teaming up it’s usually a very healthy, energizing breakfast. 

But despite the teamwork, these two also have some competition going on every morning as Hisako prepares tea, while Akira prepares coffee. The competition is about which drink their children will pick up (who like both). Real fancy tea blends & coffee-combinations are born in this competition. 

Kaori & Akio pick up a lot from their parents. It’s become common knowledge around the E10 that Akio makes the best tea, while Kaori could 100% work as a barista if she wasn’t a cook. And they both have a lot of breakfast-recipes stored in their head.

Once Akio moves into the Nakiri-mansion because of Hiraku, he actually does prepare breakfast from time to time. At first he usually eats on his own, because he feels awkward sitting at the same table as the headmistress but Alice’s pushy nature get him to sit with them in the end. 

The Japan Aldinis/Aldini-Tadokoros (IsaMegu Family)

Megumi and Isami prepare breakfast together almost every day. It’s a great way of bonding for them. It usually turns out to be a pretty rural-breakfast but it’s very comforting and their children love.

Yes, they bake their own bread. I believe in this firmly. 

Hiroshi Aldini-Tadokoro, when old enough, also tends to help out with breakfast or he goes out to pick some berries. Maja and Nino Aldini-Tadokoro often end up settling the table. This is more for weekends though. 

During the week, Megumi & Isami make bentos. Bentos for the kids and Megumi also makes one for Isami, while Isami makes one for her. He even came up with an “Italian-Styled Bento” just for this. 

The Tuscany Aldinis (TakuIku Family)

They don’t always manage to, but really try their best to eat together as a family. In Summer specifically. They always eat outside when the temperatures are warm enough. 

There’s three kinds of breakfast: When Ikumi prepares it, it’s usually the very healthy, nutritious kind that actual athletes would eat. Like idk, greek yogurt with fruit and chia-seeds, avocado-sandwiches...meep. 

When Takumi prepares it, it’s a sumptuous but also cozy European breakfast including lots of freshly picked tomatoes, egg, sausages etc. 

And then there’s the times when their daughter Mika prepares breakfast, even bringing it to her parent’s bed when she’s awake before them. Mika usually finds a middle ground between her mother’s breakfast style and her father’s breakfast style. 

The Ibusakis (ShuYoko Family) 

Ryoko makes very traditional bentos on weekdays. 

On weekends, she goes out even more and sets the table very lovingly. Shun also involves himself and smokes some bacon, eggs or so. 

Ryoko has found herself a hobby in jam-producing. In the nearby forest (the Ibusakis live close to one), she tends to pick berries (or Kasumi does that for her), or gets some fruit from the market in their small village and she makes jam out of them. She came up with some truly delicious combinations on her own. Yuki always takes at least 10 glasses with her, whenever the Maruis are over. 

Shun probably also bakes bread himself at times, idk I can just picture him doing that. 

The Maruis (MarYu Family)

Yuki makes Bentos for Takahiro (and back when Chieko wasn’t on Totsuki, also for her ofc) during the week. And she always includes some animal designs. Because she’s Yuki. 

They don’t always breakfast together on Saturday but they sure do on Sundays. This is a sacred tradition to Yuki. If it’s sunday and all of the family-members are home...They will have breakfast together. 

Zenji gets send out to get bread and usually he also buys some pastries or cakes for the children (and Yuki). 

Yuki meanwhile prepares the best (according to Takahiro) hot chocolate for Takahiro & Chieko (and herself). 

Zenji drinks coffee or tea meanwhile. 

Chieko really loves to have blueberries at breakfast. So sometimes Yuki incorporates them into pancakes. She likes making pancakes. 

The Hojos (Terunori Kuga x Miyoko Hojo Fam)

They tend to end up eating together. Suzume & Miyoko wake up the earliest usually and while Suzume goes for a morning-jog, Miyoko often begins preparing breakfast. Takayuki comes down to drink tea closely after and lastly Terunori wakes up, when everything is finished usually. 

Suzume loves having smoothies for breakfast, especially since she’s already being active early in the morning. 

Miyoko, like Ikumi, tends to go the healthy, energizing road for breakfast but she does also prepare buns which everyone loves. 

If Miyoko can’t prepare breakfast because she’s out or so, it’s either Terunori’s call or the kids go out themselves to eat out because they got too tired of waiting for their dad to wake up. 

The Eizans (EtsuNe Family)

This family struggles to find time to breakfast together and when they do it’s usually on vacation, or on weekends.

Nene is the one who pushes the most for a breakfast together and when she sees the opportunity, she’ll go full out in preparation. And when the family sits together, no one is allowed to even look at his phone and ruin Nene’s precious family-together time. 

Normally though, Nene & Masashi individually tend to prepare Miso-Soup or something for themselves, while Etsuya & Shigeo have gained a habit of eating out by getting something from a bakery, sit in some café or Etsuya lets his personal assistant get him (& whenever Shigeo has come to the company with him, him of course as well) something. 

Kei alters between either getting something from his mom or Masashi or getting himself something outside as well. 

The Saitos (SoMomo Family)

Momo often ends up making breakfast on weekends, although Kiyoko Saito later takes on the task as she’s awake earlier. Anyway this is some very sweet, Instagram-worthy stuff. 

Waffles, yogurts with fruits, macarons, croissants, fine jam.....That kind-off stuff. Though Momo never fails to prepare one miso-soup and a bowl of rice, as this is all Somei asks for. 

In the week, Somei is the one preparing bentos. His daughter Moe ended up helping him out at a rather young age, as she thought that the bentos could be a lot cuter. Moe ended up developing a passion for bentos through that and on Totsuki she always wakes up early and makes one for her big sister Kiyoko & also Shigeo. Moe’s bentos are legendary. 

Whenever Kiyoko is in any-sort off city, she really likes eating breakfast at various cafés. Sometimes she takes Masashi with her. 

The Tsukasas (for @blas-i-us *blows kiss*, but yes EiRin Family)

I think I’m gonna make it a running gag that this family rarely eats breakfast at a table, much to Eishi’s frustration. They often end up sitting on the couches in front of the fireplace or the children bring breakfast into their parent’s bed or so. When they do sit at a table, it’s usually outside during warm weather. 

They do always eat together though. And they prepare it together as well. The Tsukasa children started to participate at breakfast-preparation. In fact they often end up starting the preparation as they’re awake first.

Lots of cheese, because they live in Switzerland. 

Tsubame Tsukasa also tends to collect ingredients from the outside by running out into the morning rays and picking berries, mushrooms etc. 

[sometipsygnostalgic]

Adventure Time Reviewed - S1E20 Freak City to S1E22 Henchman

A weaker group, ending on a sweet episode with Marceline. 

Ep 20 - Freak City

These openings with Finn and Jake doing silly stuff are my life.  Finn thinking that a homeless guy will reward him for a single cube of sugar...  The bird scene with Magic Man is really funny and the darkest scene up to this point, besides maybe Finn’s near death experiences in Dungeon. Jake got traumatized!!! 

For the record, this episode is flashing and it’s not advisable to watch with epilepsy.  

In this episode, Jake refuses to help Finn get his body back, because he seems to have a foot fetish and is living vicariously through Finn. So Finn grows depressed, and then kicks Jake’s ass. 

“Im gonna go rescue all the babies in town! Only the babies.” 

Jake throws Finn into a burning city. 

JAKE HAS A CRYDAR... he can sense when Finn is going to cry... 

Jake’s nose is brown in the firelighy. I don’t like it. 

“Kim! Get under Trudy!” “No man, please, I freaking HATE Trudy.” “Kim. I will DESTROY you!!” 

“GET HIS EYES! CUT HIM IN THE EYES!”

I love how good the reverted designs for the Freaks are. Even though they just appear for a second, they’re very creative.   

Altogether an... okay episode? Certainly not one I’m going to rush back to rewatch. The next Magic Man ep in s4 is 10 times better. 

Ep 21 - Donny 

Not the highlight episode of the season. In fact, this character sucked so much that they never brought him back until the series finale. He’s seen briefly in the final montage watching Crabbit dance!

Finn and Jake start the ep on a “safety patrol”. They are never seen doing this again. I find it sweet that they’d go around making sure everyone is being safe. Maybe Finn wanted to, so Jake is playing along with him. 

Finn thinks he’s complicated... He is a young boy with feelings! He’s not an outsider. He doesn’t even necessarily feel like one. But he’s 12 so he is confused. Finn probably feels funny about being the only human too. 

I enjoy that he and Donny become friends through a wrestle that becomes Finn teaching Donny how to fight back. It reminds me of when I fought my sister when I was little. Sometimes we needed those fights. 

The Why-wolves are a nice introduction to the ecosphere and population control... I always wished these guys would come back. There’s a sidecomic to one of the AT issues where they work with Bubblegum on a project but then reveal they’re going to eat everyone, and I think she’s already planned for the possibility, so they’re easily dispatched. 

“Our population will rise exponentially until we are eaten by the cosmic owl, so is the course of nature.”  Beautiful. 

22. Henchman 

This episode was really sweet. 

I like that it establishes Marceline has a known presence in Ooo. Honestly, I’m not sure how Finn and Jake never heard of her before, but she probably doesn’t perform in the Candy Kingdom... She has an old diving buddy, and the Duke of Nuts invited her to perform. 

Upon watching, it’s easy to brush off her so called necromancy as just yelling at the skeletons to wake up. She did use the power in Diamonds and Lemons, but that episode isn’t canon. I think it would work either way, because the Vampire Coven surely had some necromancy powers between them. 

The bow tie guy had an entire family on his walls. Even though he’s a minor character they put a lot of love into showing he has a life.  In the episode Sky Witch, much later, you see Maja’s family on the walls in her house, alongside the 10 million other objects in that episode. I love it when background designers go crazy like that. 

Marceline is acting like an enormous jerk to mess with Finn. It doesn’t seem like EVERYONE thinks she’s a jerk - or if they do, then they don’t care - but she finds Finn’s childish, heroic reactions hilarious. I feel really bad for him. She’s a bully! She even hurts his arms. But her moral code is slightly wack so it’s not as if she thinks it matters as long as he comes out of it alive. She’s certainly not going to molly-coddle him!  

And when Finn figures it out, she’s very friendly.    Finn learns a lesson of not judging books by their covers, while Marceline makes a new friend. 

What’s jarring is that even though Obsidian provides better context for Marceline’s behaviour in this ep, it’s not until her NEXT appearance - It Came from the Nightosphere - that she feels like a person. She’s still stuck in the season 1 archetypical babywriting. Season 2 is much better with dialogue and characters, other than PB and Jake, who are pretty good in s1. PB doesnt get any real standout moments in season 2, which is probably why I remember fuck all from it. Jake is really funny in s2 though.  

[gfesgersgersg]

My Thoughts About Spectrobes: Beyond the Portals

I recently revisited a game from my childhood: Spectrobes: Beyond the Portals. I never finished this game when I was younger, because I found it too scary to progress. As strange as it seems, this game’s first hour started my interest in science fiction, and I still enjoy the genre in books and games today, despite never finishing the game.

I played up to what I’d call the start of the end of the first act of the game, getting up to the Corona vortex on the planet Genshi. This is probably a super biased article, as I think about this game a lot. It reviewed poorly with critics and I think this was probably justified. It is also worth mentioning that I did not play the first Spectrobes game.

If you intend on playing this game, spoilers are ahead. The short version is that I enjoy the characters, but the last parts of the game are far weaker than the start. The gameplay is largely uninteresting, and the game isn’t really something I would recommend anyone play.

The Good

The music in this game is fantastic. The game always has some music playing, no matter what’s going on. Among my favourites are the character-specific tracks that play during dialogue, and the track that plays when you solve a puzzle. The music goes a long way toward selling the game’s environments, too. The music on the populated planets in the Nanairo system largely sounds upbeat, and reflects the planet you are on. This contrasts with the music on the planets that are “beyond the portals”, which sound quite alien. The music on Hyoga is calm and slow, fitting with a cold, lifeless planet. The music on Fons is calm but more sombre, and is very foreboding, fitting with the point in the story it is encountered. The music on Darkmos and Nox both fit with the artificial themes of these planets and are opposites somewhat to Fons and Hyoga.

Some good tracks would be: Ready For Action!, Hyoga, Darkmos and Fons.

The environments in this game are pretty impressive for the Nintendo DS. A lot of the backgrounds are 2D, which shows, especially in the city on Nessa, and on Fons. However, they look great in my opinion. Most impressive are the safe areas, such as Kollin and Colony. These environments really sell the Nanairo system as a real place.

The characters in this game are excellently written. By no means is the story a masterpiece, but the game’s characters entirely carry its story. Rallen and Jeena make a great duo, with entertaining banter. They reference each others’ quirks and joke around with each other. The supporting characters are good too. Commander Grant is very serious but clearly likes Rallen and Jeena. Cyrus and Webster are characters Rallen has history with, making for some funny moments and a nice “redemption” for Webster. Hank and Professor Kate are nice, and again, their friendship feels realistic in the sense that they act like they have known each other for a long time. While they’re not particularly deep, the High Krawl are good villains. They’re imposing throughout the story, and the mystery of their campaign against the Towers of Nanairo is intriguing. Maja is the main villain throughout, and she seems equally aloof and desperate in her attempts to get Rallen to side with her. Strictly from a characterisation perspective, she provides a good view into the internal conflicts between the High Krawl. Jado is a (probably intentionally) forgettable character in the early parts of the game.

The Bad

The excavation system is an interesting take on obtaining collectable monsters. This game’s status as a Pokemon clone is a largely inconsequential part of the experience to me. In Spectrobes, I didn’t feel any attachment to my spectrobes by the end of the game, simply using them as tools to get to the end. Partially, this could be because of Rallen not being a blank slate character. They’re more his spectrobes than mine. There is also the issue of the monsters themselves not really being unique. They’re nice designs, and unique to the game for sure, but my spectrobes ended up all looking the same. They’re not that unique from each other mechanically either, with the only differentiations being the typing and the evolution status. The child spectrobes are a good feature, however. Child spectrobes take on the role of searching for fossils, and don’t just sit in your storage waiting to be evolved.

The game’s characters are good, as discussed earlier, but its broader plot isn’t. It revolves around creatures known as Krawl, which feed by eating entire star systems. They’ve done this many times and are now focusing their efforts on the Nanairo system. This is OK, not particularly deep, but I see no issue with this. Beyond the Portals introduces new characters, High Krawl, who are capable of communicating with the humans living in Nanairo. Maja, at least, sees Rallen as an equal by the end of her involvement in the story, but continues to gloat about the inevitable complete genocide of Rallen’s home star system. The others are a bit more aloof, positioning themselves above the humans living in Nanairo. This is all a little far-fetched, but still OK. The High Krawl are seeking to destroy structures on each planet just called Towers. This allows them to open a new portal each time, into another star system. From these portals, Krawl will emerge from their current home on planets they have already consumed.

The first of the High Krawl to appear in the story is Jado, who is shown as being aloof but hapless. When defeated, he simply appears to die. This is a ruse on his part, and he is actually one of the most important characters to the story. Problem is, he barely appears. On Malik, at the very end of the game, he reveals that he has been hiding inside your patrol cruiser for the entire game. This is a bit of a head-scratcher. At this point, you fight him again and he admits defeat. Thus, he appears twice, but seems to warrant more of a presence. Next up is Gelberus, on Nessa. He is pretty inconsequential. He destroys the tower, opens the first portal, and you defeat him on Hyoga. After this is when Maja becomes the antagonist in earnest. She appears after both Jado and Gelberus’ defeats, gloating about how these events make her more powerful. She introduces the concept of Dark Spectrobes, and is first fought in an unbeatable fight on Daichi. After this, you go on a wild goose chase through Fons and Darkmos before beating her on Nox. Maja is more powerful than Rallen, but wants or needs his power for something. Beyond destroying or ruling the universe, this is not specified. Still, it is a good enough reason for her to not just kill Rallen. After Maja is defeated, Rallen and Jeena recover the Dynalium, which is a weapon that can penetrate a planetary shield of some kind. After some fetch quests to make a large Dynalium, an assault is carried out on Malik, where Krux resides. Krux reveals that he is a Spectrobe Master like Rallen, but uses the Krawl for their numbers. The implications of this aren’t discussed in-game. Rallen defeats Krux in hand-to-hand combat and the game ends. None of this plot is particularly interesting at any point. The best part is Maja’s story arc, which seems to build up to a twist that doesn’t happen. The High Krawl are treacherous toward one another in a way that isn’t really used for anything interesting. Internal conflicts within the High Krawl could be a good way to introduce some uneasy alliances between the NPP and certain High Krawl. I don’t expect the plot of this game to be filled with complex intrigue, but its perfectly good characters have wasted potential.

The game has some nasty difficulty spikes around Fons, halfway through the game. It’s mentioned that Rallen should evolve his spectrobes after Fons is cleared, but the Krawl on the planet are much higher level than yours at this point. Up to this point, the game is balanced well, providing good balance with no need to grind. The battling in general leaves a lot to be desired. The type matchups are obvious and shallow, and the systems leave little room for strategising. The real time battling system seems cool at first, but ends up being a matter of running up to an opponent and mashing the A button. The camera in this mode is awful and frequently leaves you facing nothing at all. As such, battling in this game feels like a chore needed to progress, rather than a fun challenge.

The level design isn’t fantastic either. While many environments are visually impressive, they’re often too big, with very little in them. There isn’t anything to find other than randomly dispersed fossils and minerals. Especially later in the game, the constant backtracking through these big, empty areas feels like an attempt to pad for time. This is exemplified by the final planet, Malik. You’re asked to traverse the exact same room around 10, maybe more, times by going through the portal that is spinning to the left in each. This is not fun to play. A lot of the game’s tasks feel like busy work rather than actual gameplay. This should not be an issue. The game has more than enough content to justify itself, without this bad filler. My other issue with the levels is that the Krawl respawn continuously. This creates a feeling that you’re not actually helping these planets. At least, the populated Nanairo planets should be clear of Krawl if you remove them.

Conclusion

To conclude, Spectrobes: Beyond the Portals is not a particularly good game. It is a mediocre Pokemon clone in gameplay terms, and in plot terms has wasted potential. The game has excellent characters and music and a well realised world. It falls short probably due to attempting to ride the Pokemon train, rather than trying to be more unique. The game’s plot doesn’t really fit an RPG formula at all. This game is just one of many obscure Nintendo DS games, and I don’t even really like it, but it will hold a place in my heart forever. I suppose something to draw from this could be that no matter how mediocre a piece of media, it can still have an impact on someone, somewhere.

[plushgallery]

In 1984, Nike collaborated with Michael Jordan to dispatch Jordan Brand, a brand of shoes and athletic wear worked around the player. At that point, Nike was a battling brand offering running shoes with a plan to rehash itself as an organization for athletic stars.

nike air jordan 28 tennis shoes

Nike

Source: ESPN

ESPN announced that it wasn't so natural for the organization to sign the then-sprouting NBA newbie. Nike allegedly offered Jordan $500,000 per year — in real money — for a long time, trusting it could persuade him to come ready.

Jordan and Air Jordan 1

Streeter Lecka/Staff/Getty Images and Courtesy of Flight Club

Source: ESPN

Lamentably for Nike, Jordan truly needed to work with Adidas. Yet, Adidas wasn't generally a possibility for Jordan, as the organization was experiencing an authority move at that point.

michael jordan speak

Concentrate On Sport/Contributor/Getty Images

Source: ESPN

Speak, the shoe Jordan wore while playing for the University of North Carolina, needed to sign Jordan, however it previously had big name competitor endorsers in Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.

michael jordan speak

Speak would later turn out to be a piece of Nike. Concentrate On Sport/Contributor/Getty Images

Source: ESPN

Speak made Jordan an offer, yet he apparently wasn't energized by it and didn't have the foggiest idea where he would fit in the brand's now elegant lineup.

larry feathered creature

Larry Bird. Boston Globe/Contributor/Getty Images

Source: ESPN

In any case, Jordan took a stab at his fantasy organization, taking Nike's idea to Adidas and requesting that they come "anyplace close" to the offer. It didn't work out with Adidas, and Jordan at last marked with Nike.

michael jordan

Bettmann/Contributor/Getty Images

Source: ESPN

Nike needed to fabricate a whole line around Jordan's nearly superhuman capacity to dunk, as per ESPN.

Michael Jordan dunk 2

Concentrate On Sport/Getty Images

Source: ESPN

When Jordan was ready, he started wearing the brand's shoes on the court. The primary Nike shoe he wore in the NBA was the Nike Air Ship seen underneath.

Nike Air Ship

Concentrate On Sport/Contributor/Getty Images

Source: Nike/Jordan Brand

The absolute first pair that he wore from his eponymous image was called Air Jordan I. It caused a great deal of disturbance both on and off the court.

Air Jordan I

Graciousness of Nike/Jordan Brand

Source: Nike/Jordan Brand

The shoes were initially discharged to stores in April 1985, and they were a moment hit. ESPN revealed that Nike had sold $70 million worth of the shoes by May — only a month into the discharge — and that the Air Jordan brand had made Nike more than $100 million before the year's over.

Michael Jordan

Chris O'Meara/AP

Source: Nike Jordan Brand, ESPN

Nike fellow benefactor Phil Knight called the achievement of Air Jordan I "the ideal blend of value item, showcasing, and competitor support."

Phil Knight

Frederick M. Darker/Getty Images

Source: ESPN

Competitor underwriting is a procedure that numerous organizations have utilized throughout the years. From burgers to cellphones, NBA players are incredible at selling pretty much anything.

Kobe Bryant McDonalds

Kobe Bryant in a McDonald's business. CyclopsCyrus/YouTube

Source: Bleacher Report

Normally, when perhaps the best player ever — seemingly the best competitor ever — began selling tennis shoes, his fans needed to get their hands on them.

Michael Jordan

AP/Anat Givon

Source: Bleacher Report

When MJ first wore those Chicago Bulls-shaded tennis shoes, the NBA had a standard about having all players in fundamentally white shoes.

chicago bulls

Tim Bradbury/Staff/Getty Images

Jordan was fined $5,000 for wearing the shoes, however as opposed to taking them off the court, Nike concluded it was incredible introduction for the brand and decided to pay the entirety of MJ's fines so he could keep on wearing the shoes.

air jordan 1 restricted

Graciousness of Nike/Jordan Brand

Source: Nike/Jordan Brand

Fans saw Jordan do things his own specific manner when it came to playing the game, however this was the first occasion when they saw him make what was basically a colossal design proclamation, Matt Cohen, VP of business improvement and system at GOAT Group, disclosed to Business Insider.

michael jordan

John Swart/AP

Two long-term Air Jordan gatherers and individuals from the tennis shoe network revealed to Business Insider their adoration for the brand began when they were kids watching MJ get it done.

michael jordan fan

Jonathan Daniel/Stringer/Getty Images

"The explanation I like Jordans is on the grounds that I like b-ball and I like Michael Jordan," Hana Mandapat disclosed to Business Insider.

Michael Jordan

ERIC CHU/Staff/Getty Images

The long-term gatherer used to see family in Chicago, and after the Bulls won their initial "three-peat" — the well known consecutive to-back title — she began focusing on Jordan, the man.

Michael Jordan tennis shoes

Concentrate on Sport/Getty Images

Mandapat began gathering Air Jordans in the year 2000, when she was a lesser in secondary school. That was the year that Nike began to "retro" — or bring once more into the market — certain Jordan styles. Her absolute first pair were the Air Jordan XIs.

Hana_Jordans_1

Hana Mandapat in a couple of Air Jordans. Cordiality of Hana Mandapat

Mandapat worked in retail — tennis shoe retail, obviously — so she could set up herself for school and bear to develop her Jordan assortment. She said she became companions with others in tennis shoe retail and they framed a kind of network, regularly approaching each other to assist them with getting another pair that was turning out.

Hana Jordans 2

Hana Mandapat working in a shoe store. Graciousness of Hana Mandapat

Both Mandapat and Cohen recognized the 2000s as a time of "everything return." Mandapat said the ascent in prominence of Jordan retros as a way of life shoe "seemed well and good" at the time in light of the wistfulness factor.

jordans will smith

NBC/Contributor/Getty Images

"I was watching Michael Jordan play ball and do things that had never been done," Cohen said. "At the point when you're a child, everything is about sentimentality ... you need to dress like the competitor that you had turned upward to."

Michael Jordan dunk

Concentrate On Sport/Getty Images

"You're observing apparently the best player, if not the best competitor ever, get things done in his own specific manner," Cohen said. "The manner in which he played the game, the manner in which he really wore shoes on and off the court."

michael jordan

AP Images

Cohen has been gathering shoes since the late '90s, when he was in his initial youngsters. For him, "it was about continually needing that shoe."

michael jordan muggsy bogues

Ruth Fremson/AP

Interest for each season's Jordans was high, Cohen said. "It was this noteworthy thing each and every year when that new pair of Jordans was turning out."

Air Jordan 1 Banned

"Restricted" Air Jordan 1 for 2016. Decent Kicks

Source: Business Insider

"I was playing hooky to go to the neighborhood tennis shoe store where I grew up at seven toward the beginning of the day. By then it was extraordinary — you just needed to arrive three hours ahead of schedule, trusting that that shoe will discharge," he said. "It was tied in with getting them, putting them on your feet, and strolling into school and everybody saying 'How would you have that shoe?' ... I was two hours late, however that is beside the point, don't tell my educators."

line outside Nike store

picture union/Contributor/Getty Images

It's been imbued in Cohen since he was a child, and he's not alone. This marvel allowed Nike the chance to effectively utilize the possibility of a "retro."

air jordans

Flickr/neilp17

At the point when a style was retro'd, that implied it was a more established style — likely from the days Jordan was taking care of business — that was restored and re-discharged into the retail showcase.

COLETTE X AIR JORDAN I RETRO HIGH

The Richest

Mandapat said that her absolute first pair of retro'd Air Jordan XIs were under $100 at the time she got them — she assesses around $80-$85 — since she's ready to wear children's sizes. In 2018, when the shoes retro'd once more, she recalled the children's sizes costing $180.

Air Jordans

S3studio/Contributor/Getty Images

Both Mandapat and Cohen said that as children, it wasn't so natural to get your hands on constrained discharge shoes.

nike air jordans

Maja Hitij/Staff/Getty Images

"'Hello mother, I need to burn through $120 on a couple of shoes,'" Cohen recollected. "Also, she was much the same as, 'For what reason wouldn't you be able to simply get the $30 pair or the $60 pair?'" He said he would attempt to arrange, in any event, saying he'd utilize his birthday cash.

Nike

Hollis Johnson/Business Insider

Grown-ups, then again, are bringing in their own cash and spending it how they need. Cohen called attention to that at the hour of unique Jordan discharges, some of the time there would be numerous colorways discharged immediately, yet he was just permitted to get one.

FC New York (picture credit_ Flight Club) 7

Politeness of Flight Club

Presently, he can get all the varieties he needed yet wasn't permitted to get in those days.

air jordan 4

Obligingness of Flight Club

He disclosed to me he used to "chase" for Jordans before he began truly gathering them. He would circumvent purchasing the same number of sets of the new discharge as he could, and afterward would exchange them with a system to make a benefit.

GettyImages 663601346

Maja Hitij/Staff/Getty Images

The Air Jordan III is Cohen's "most loved shoe ever." It was the primary shoe to highlight the Jumpman logo on the tongue.

Nike Air Jordan III FC

A retro of the 1988 shoe. Civility of Flight Club

Source: Business Insider

The shoe additionally happened to harmonize with the beginning of Flight Club in 1999. The store was called Vintage Kicks at that point.

FC Miami (picture credit_ Flight Club) 2

Civility of Flight Club

Flight Club was the first transfer store for uncommon and collectible tennis shoes. Individuals like Cohen, who were purchasing with the goal to exchange, would carry their shoes to the store and sit tight for them to sell. They for the most part offered to everybody who couldn't — or simply would not like to — hold up on the web or enter a pool to have the option to get them from Nike itself.

FC Los Angeles (picture credit_ Flight Club) 3

Politeness o

[matthennry-blog]

Krakow Airport Krakow Switch

The most subtle entertainment is what you may anticipate at Piwnica pod baranami pub - this cellar pub and efficiency venue has a legendary standing among the many artists of Krakow, adding extra excessive-tradition facet to the nightlife of the town. The overall flight duration from Krakow, Poland to Manchester, United Kingdom is 2 hours, 27 minutes. Finest Deal Month November Tickets between United Kingdom and Poland in November are 58% cheaper than the average worth. Polish meals are identified to be heavy and containing lot of meat. A PESEL consists of 11 digits, every containing information about a person. He should really have complete info of just about each methodology in a property. Furthermore, efficient collaborators clearly define expectations and share data across the board. Residence to one of the vital fascinating medieval relics of Europe, town of Malbork is nestled between the Elblag lakes and the rolling fields of polish Masuria.

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Find out more about Krakow Bars

No concept how shortly all the totally different trains promote out so this is the safest means I guess. Try their ideas under. We'll attempt to help, and if we can't we will level you in the path of someone who can. Via our workplace in Warsaw we will provide coordinated advice on your actions in Poland and throughout Central and Jap Europe. Poland is an accessible European nation with a pretty stable economy and living costs of 450 - 650 EUR/month. Choose 'All trains except high pace' to see a mix of these trains and quicker trains that often do require a reservation. The venue has 29 rooms and options a storage room, an elevator and parking on-site. All rooms comprise period options such as wooden ceilings and wall paintings, that maintain the historic character of the hotel. We cherished the resort, rooms really comfortable and bought a room with balcony as requested.

[wondroussimmer-blog]

GET TO KNOW ME-

Basically, no one actually tagged me in this, but I thought i’d give it a go anyway seeing as this is a new blog and you guys can get to now me a bit, so I tag anyone who sees this and also wants to have a go...

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1. What is your full name? I’m not putting my last name on here, but my first name is Maja (Miya) 2. What is your nickname? I don’t really have one 3. Birthday? January 1st 4. What is your favourite book series? I don’t really read book series’ 5. Do you believe in aliens or ghosts? Not 100% sure, I don’t believe in the sort of ghosts you see in films, but I think I believe our loved ones stay with us in some way. As for aliens, idk, we can’t be the only life but idk.  6. Who is your favourite author? I find the fault in our stars quite overrated, but i’d say John Green because some of his others are my favourites! 7. What is your favourite radio station? BBC Radio 1 8. What is your favourite flavour of anything? this is such a weird question, how can you have a favourite flavour for everything? but if it’s sweet, definitely strawberry! 9. What word would you use often to describe something great or wonderful? Again, weird question, but i use so many words for this, my most used are probably lovely and amazing 10. What is your current favourite song? this changes alll the time, but right this minute it’s probably sunflower by post malone and swae lee 11. What is your favourite word? is this a thing? 12. What was the last song you listened to? vacation by hippo campus 13. What TV show would you recommend for everybody to watch? big mouth, orphan black, queer eye, dexter 14. What is your favourite movie to watch when you’re feeling down? the breakfast club or mean girls probably 15. Do you play video games? only the sims 16. What is your biggest fear? probably the death of people close to me, and in the future not being able to have children 17. What is your best quality, in your opinion? probably that i’m a friendly person  18. What is your worst quality, in your opinion? i’m v insecure 19. Do you like cats or dogs better? DOGS... always dogs! 20. What is your favourite season? autumn/winter 21. Are you in a relationship? yes 22. What is something you miss from your childhood? having way more friends and barely any responsibilities 23. Who is your best friend? my boyfriend 24. What is your eye colour? blue 25. What is your hair colour? brown 26. Who is someone you love? my boyfriend and family 27. Who is someone you trust? my boyfriend and closest family 28. Who is someone you think about often? okay wow, so much variety in these answers but the same as the previous two answers 29. Are you currently excited about/for something? christmas and my birthday 30. What is your biggest obsession? probably sims 31. What was your favourite TV show as a child? Probably Tracy beaker or that’s so raven  32. Who of the opposite gender can you tell anything to, if anyone? my boyfriend 33. Are you superstitious? only slightly 34. Do you have any unusual phobias? cracking knuckles, moths (but only indoors), realistic looking mannequins and gas masks... so not much 35. Do you prefer to be in front of the camera or behind it? behind, every single time 36. What is your favourite hobby? playing sims, graphic designing, video editing 37. What was the last book you read? The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks 38. What was the last movie you watched? Muppet’s Christmas Carol 39. What musical instruments do you play, if any? I play a bit of guitar and can play the mr bean theme song on piano if that counts 40. What is your favourite animal? dogs 41. What are your top 5 favourite Tumblr blogs that you follow? I definitely have more than 5  42. What superpower do you wish you had? be able to teleport and go invisible  43. When and where do you feel most at peace? probably at home with my boyfriend 44. What makes you smile? sorry if this is becoming a boring answer... but my boyfriend! also my dog :) 45. What sports do you play, if any? I don’t at the moment, but I have done tennis, dance (ballet, tap and modern), swimming, karate, speed skating and netball 46. What is your favourite drink? water... how boring ik 47. When was the last time you wrote a hand-written letter or note to somebody? Last month, I made my boyfriend a scrap book as one of my boyfriend’s presents for our anniversary and wrote some letters as part of it  48. Are you afraid of heights? not if it’s a secure height 49. What is your biggest pet peeve? I have wayyy too many and so many grammatical ones, I absolutely hate when people incorrectly use was and were, so if someone said ‘we was going’, I think it’s quite an essex thing but I hateeee it, I can’t stand bad grammar, but also slow walkers, people who walk through the door without looking behind them to hold the door open for people behind, other drivers not indicating, people that have to be louder than everyone else, people that chew with their mouths open... basically I have a lot and this list could go on and on and on 50. Have you ever been to a concert? I’ve seen all time low, the 1975, imagine dragons, sunset sons, ed sheeran and paramore in concert so far and i’m seeing panic! at the disco in march which i’m MEGA excited about!!! 51. Are you vegan/vegetarian? vegetarian 52. When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up? This would change all the time, it went from radio dj, to dancer, to teacher when I was really young, then architect when I was a teenager, and now it’s clinical psychologist which i’m slowly working towards 53. What fictional world would you like to live in? I’ve not got a clue 54. What is something you worry about? EVERYTHING! I get a lot of social anxiety, so basically whenever i’m out of the house i’m worrying about absolutely everything and it’s the worst and gets me super down, so yeah, love that 55. Are you scared of the dark? okay so I don’t like leaving the dark, i’m fine being in the dark but I hate when i’m home alone and have to turn the lights off in the living room, kitchen and hall to go to bed... if that makes sense 56. Do you like to sing? i’m someone that, at home, is constantly singing, and when it’s only my boyfriend around, if one of us says a sentence that can in some way relate to a song, i’ll immediately sing it, but I suck so I won’t ever sing in public 57. Have you ever skipped school? in school I faked being ill a few times to get off of school, but in uni i’ve skipped way too many lectures over the past 3 years 58. What is your favourite place on the planet? I absolutely adore Spain, but also Belgrade (i’m half Serbian) 59. Where would you like to live? If not my current home town, i’d love to one day live somewhere like Norway or Sweden 60. Do you have any pets? yep, i’ve got a french bulldog 61. Are you more of an early bird or a night owl? I wake up pretty early, but I hate to start the day early 62. Do you like sunrises or sunsets better? sunsets. 63. Do you know how to drive? Yep 64. Do you prefer earbuds or headphones? the sound of headphones but I normally use earbuds 65. Have you ever had braces? nope, thank god 66. What is your favourite genre of music? this really ranges from charts, to indie rock, to ‘former emo kid’, to early 2000s r&b, to musical theatre 67. Who is your hero? probably my boyfriend 68. Do you read comic books? no 69. What makes you the most angry? as we’ve already gathered, I have a lot of pet peeves, so a lot! 70. Do you prefer to read on an electronic device or with a real book?a real book! 71. What is your favourite subject in school? I currently study psychology which has been my favourite subject since A levels, but during GCSEs I enjoyed maths  72. Do you have any siblings? 1 younger brother 73. What was the last thing you bought? some christmas presents for my boyfriend’s cousins 74. How tall are you? 5ft4 75. Can you cook? yes 76. What are three things that you love? spending time with people I love, travelling, collecting photos  77. What are three things that you hate? busy places, cheats, confrontation 78. Do you have more female friends or more male friends? I actually barely have any so this is kind of hard to answer 79. What is your sexual orientation? straight 80. Where do you currently live? England 81. Who was the last person you texted? my mum 82. When was the last time you cried? I’m not actually sure, which is funny because I cry all the time and super easily 83. Who is your favourite YouTuber? I have so many: in terms of sims: lilsimsie, urbansims, sophsims, simkim, plumbella, in terms of lifestyle: louise pentland, in terms of fashion and beauty: samantha maria, tati westbrook, busybee carys, patricia bright, antonio garza, and others: shane dawson, sarah baska, kendall rae, jaackmaate, and loads more! basically, if i’m not on tumblr, i’m on youtube, if i’m not on youtube i’m playing sims, and if i’m not on sims i’m on tumblr... 84. Do you like to take selfies? rarely 85. What is your favourite app? any social media  86. What is your relationship with your parent(s) like? fab 87. What is your favourite foreign accent? Australian and Scottish 88. What is a place that you’ve never been to, but you want to visit? I have so many but I won’t bore you with another long list, so just a few: Sweden, South Africa, Iceland and Canada 89. What is your favourite number? 1 90. Can you juggle? no 91. Are you religious? I was baptised but don’t really consider myself religious 92. Do you find outer space or the deep ocean to be more interesting? both as interesting as the other 93. Do you consider yourself to be a daredevil? not really 94. Are you allergic to anything? no 95. Can you curl your tongue? yep, one of my weird ‘party tricks’ is I can actually curl it 180 degrees 96. Can you wiggle your ears? no 97. How often do you admit that you were wrong about something? not as often as I should 98. Do you prefer the forest or the beach? probably the forest 99. What is your favourite piece of advice that anyone has ever given you?my dad probably gives the best life advice but there’s too much to put here   100. Are you a good liar? It depends 101. What is your Hogwarts House? Hufflepuff 102. Do you talk to yourself? All the time 103. Are you an introvert or an extrovert? I N T R O V E R T, i’m so introverted to the point I hate it but seriously struggle to change it 104. Do you keep a journal/diary? no but I have in the past 105. Do you believe in second chances? it depends 106. If you found a wallet full of money on the ground, what would you do? Hand it in 107. Do you believe that people are capable of change? It depends 108. Are you ticklish? VERY 109. Have you ever been on a plane? manyyyy times 110. Do you have any piercings? nope, I have but not anymore 111. What fictional character do you wish was real? no idea  112. Do you have any tattoos? nope 113. What is the best decision that you’ve made in your life so far? I’m really not sure 114. Do you believe in karma? to an extent, but at the same time bad things seem to happen to good people, sooooo 115. Do you wear glasses or contacts? neither 116. Do you want children? yes 117. Who is the smartest person you know? my cousin 118. What is your most embarrassing memory? omg my whole life is filled with embarrassing memories that I seem to always remember at the most inconvenient times or when i’m about to go to sleep that just haunt me out of nowhere...fun 119. Have you ever pulled an all-nighter? yes 120. What colour are most of you clothes? black or white 121. Do you like adventures? yep 122. Have you ever been on TV? no 123. How old are you? 20 - nearly 21 124. What is your favourite quote? not really sure. 125. Do you prefer sweet or savoury foods? sweet

[tigerstrikesasteroidnetwork]

LA / By Ear

Images: (left) Kirsten Lamb, Studio wall with Moon, Observatory, Arctic Landscape, Parabolic Curves (#8), 30 x 22 in, acrylic on canvas, 2021 (right) Matthias Moravek, Storm, contained in a square, 79" x 79", (200 x 200cm), charcoal on paper, 2022

By Ear Part 1: April 14-May 7  Tiger Strikes Asteroid LA 1206 Maple Ave #523, Los Angeles, CA  Artist reception: April 14, 6-8pm [Image List and Audio]

Teil 2:  May 13- May 28 Axel Obiger, Brunnenstraße 29, 10119 Berlin Artist reception: May 13, 7-10pm

In music, playing by ear is a term for performing a piece from memory and intuition rather than from a proper score. By Ear takes inspiration from this concept and uses it as a model for collaboration between visual artists from Berlin and Los Angeles/New York. Delayed for almost two years, the exhibition at Tiger Strikes Asteroid Gallery will showcase works created by Berlin based artists following concepts from LA/NYC based artists in the orbit of Tiger Strikes Asteroid. Each artist in the exhibition has made a new artwork based solely on audio descriptions of an existing artwork created by artists from the other city. It is an exercise in interpretation and imagination and willfully limited communication in an age defined by fluid and constant contact. It is a way for artists to be generous with their ideas, diminish their ego and try to harmonize with a fellow artist from another culture.

This project has been generously supported by the Checkpoint Charlie Foundation.

By Ear: (part 1) @ TSA LA, 1206 Maple Ave #523, Los Angeles, CA

Work by: Thilo Droste, Juliane Duda, Nathalie Grenzhaeuser, Harriet Gross, Gabriele Kuenne, Matthias Moravek, Enrico Niemann, Maja Rohwetter

Concepts by: Johanna Braun, Vanessa Chow, Vita eruhimovitz, Jacob Feige, Laura Greengold, Kirstin Lamb, Michael Niemetz, Liz Nurenberg, Kari Reardon, Jackie Rines & Chris Ulivo

By Ear: (Teil 2) @ Axel Obiger, Brunnenstraße 29, 10119 Berlin Work by: Johanna Braun, Vanessa Chow, Vita Eruhimovitz, Jacob Feige, Laura Greengold, Kirstin Lamb,

Michael Niemetz, Liz Nurenberg, Kari Reardon, Jackie Rines & Chris Ulivo

Concepts by: Thilo Droste, Juliane Duda, Nathalie Grenzhaeuser, Harriet Gross, Gabriele Kuenne, Matthias Moravek, Enrico Niemann, Maja Rohwetter

Artist Bios

Christopher Ulivo www.christopherulivo.com @christopherulivo

(b.1977, Brooklyn, NY, USA) lives and works in Ventura, California. He is an artist, educator and member of Tiger Strikes Asteroid Los Angeles. Ulivo received a BFA from the Tyler School of Art, Temple University, and an MFA from Rhode Island School of Design. His work, mostly egg tempera paintings, imagine the confluences and collisions of fate, myth, personal lineage and the unintended consequences of unlimited wish fulfillment. The resulting paintings are visually dense and darkly humorous. In the course of his career, he has both exhibited and organized shows across the United States and Europe including: The Benkai Museum,Athens, Felix Art Fair, Los Angeles, the RISD Museum, Susan Inglett Gallery, NY, SPRING/BREAK NY & LA, the Brooklyn Academy of Music and the Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara as well as some pretty questionable places.

Kirstin E. Lamb Providence, RI and Pawtucket, RI http://kirstinlamb.squarespace.com insta: @kirstin.lamb

Kirstin is a painter living in Providence, Rhode Island and working in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.  Kirstin studied painting at the Rhode Island School of Design, graduating with an MFA in 2005, and she received her AB in Visual Art and Literatures in English from Brown Univeristy in 2001.  Kirstin’s work has been shown in venues across the country and abroad, recently showing at the Spring Break Art Fair in NY, Periphery Space at Paper Nautilus in Providence, RI, the Wassaic Project in Amenia, NY, the Fruitlands Museum in Harvard, MA and Providence College Galleries in Providence, RI, among others.  She has attended residencies at the Atlantic Center for the Arts, Vermont Studio Center, Bunker Projects, the Wassaic Project, the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts, The Ora Lerman Trust Soaring Gardens Artist Residency, and the Sam and Adele Golden Foundation. Kirstin recently completed a two-year contract curator position at The Yard, Williamsburg, a coworking space in Brooklyn that hosts solo and group shows quarterly, and has begun planning online and new curatorial projects in New England.  Kirstin gratefully acknowledges the role that her 2020 Rhode Island State Council for the Arts grant has played in her newest work.  Her work is in the collections of Fidelity Investments, Boston, MA, the Fruitlands Museum, Harvard, MA, and Providence College, Providence, RI, among others.

Liz Nurenberg www.liznurenberg.com @liznurenberg

Liz Nurenberg (b. 1978) is a Los Angeles based artist. She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Grand Valley State University (2003) and a Master of Fine Arts from Claremont Graduate University (2010.) Liz is an Associate Professor in the Foundation department at Otis College of Art and Design. She is a member of Tiger Strikes Asteroid Los Angeles. Liz was awarded a fellowship to Ox-Bow School of Art and Artist Residency, a Helen B. Dooley Fellowship at Claremont Graduate University, and received a California Community Foundation Emerging Artist Grant. She has exhibited her work nationally and internationally at such venues as the Holter Museum (Helena, Montana), Pasadena Armory Center for the Arts (Pasadena, CA), Elephant Art Space (Los Angeles, CA), HilbertRaum Gallery (Berlin, Germany), and the Torrance Art Museum.

Jacob Feige jacobfeige.com @jacobfeige

​​Jacob Feige is a visual artist working primarily in painting. He has exhibited his work in solo exhibitions at Rule Gallery, Marfa and Denver, David Richard Gallery, New York, Lombard Freid Projects, New York, and Movement, Worcester, UK.  Other exhibitions have been held at Wasserman Projects, Detroit, Chambers Fine Art, Beijing, Watergate Gallery, Seoul, the John H Baker Gallery, West Chester University, and the Brooklyn Academy of Music, among other venues. Reviews of his work have appeared in Artforum, Freize, The New Yorker, and Art in America. The Phaidon Press anthology of contemporary abstract painting, Painting Abstraction, edited by Bob Nickas, includes a section on his work. In 2011 he co-founded Title Magazine, an online publication of art criticism, essays, and artists projects in Philadelphia, co-editing the publication through 2016. In 2018 he was artist-in-residence at the Princeton Cyprus Expedition, Polis Chrysochous, Cyprus. He received his undergraduate degree in visual art and the humanities from Carnegie Mellon University and an MFA in painting from the Cranbrook Academy of Art. He is currently Associate Professor of Art at Stockton University, New Jersey.    

Kari Reardon karireardon.com instagram: ohhhshute

Kari Reardon is a Los Angeles based artist originally from Minneapolis Minnesota. She received her BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and completed her MFA in 2012 from the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts). Since 2016 she has been an active member of the artist-run exhibition space Tiger Strikes Asteroid, Los Angeles.

Kari is also an educator and teaches a wide range of sculpture courses at California State University Northridge, her favorite being bronze and aluminum casting.  A recipient of numerous grants, residencies and fellowship, she has shown her works throughout the US and internationally, including at the Getty Villa, Torrance Art Museum, Fellows of Contemporary Art Gallery, Elephant Art Space (all in Los Angeles, CA), HilbertRaum Gallery (Berlin, Germany), and One mess gallery (Vienna Austria). Her larger-scale sculptures can be seen at the Skokie Northshore Sculpture park in IL, Josephine Sculpture Park in KY as well as in Gigondas, France.

Vita Eruhimovitz www.vitaeruhimovitz.com @vita_eruhimovitz

Vita Eruhimovitz was born in Ukraine, grew up in Israel and currently lives and works in Los Angeles. Vita holds a BFA from Shenkar College (2012) and an MFA from Washington University in Saint Louis (2015). Vita’s background in science and technology inspires and informs her practice. Her work has been shown nationally and internationally, including at the Mildred Lane Kemper Museum, the Contemporary Art Museum in Saint Louis, Museum of Design Holon in Israel, Brattleboro Museum in Vermont, and at the San Diego Art Institute Museum. Her work has also been shown with Walter Wickiser gallery, Denise Bibro gallery, the Chashama Art Space, Black and White gallery, The Governors Island Art Fair in NYC, Wonzimer gallery in Los Angeles, and more. Vita has been awarded artist in residence at Vermont Studio Center, Herzliya Artist Residence, Israel, Trestle Art Space, NYC, Playa, OR, and more.

Erin Harmon @erinjoyharmon

Erin Harmon was raised in the suburbs of Southern California where natural desert is sated by hundreds of miles of aqueducts to produce obsessively groomed lawns. After graduating from San Diego State University with a BA in Studio Art, she received her MFA in Painting from Rhode Island School of Design. Erin currently lives in fertile Tennessee where kudzu and coal sludge can swallow everything in their path. She has exhibited her work nationally in both group and solo exhibitions at venues including Field Projects, NY; Sarah Doyle Gallery, Providence RI; Atlanta Artists Center & Gallery, Atlanta GA; the Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis, TN; and the Attleboro Arts Museum, Attleboro, MA and LAUNCH Gallery, LA. Erin has been invited to produce commissions for organizations including Ballet Memphis, The Women’s Foundation of Greater Memphis, and the Memphis in May International Festival. Currently she holds the James F. Ruffin Chair of Art at Rhodes College and a founding member of Tiger Strikes Asteroid Los Angeles. While not a gardener in the traditional sense, Harmon cultivates seeds of interest with a variety of influences. Her observed environment, bonsai trees, mid-century modern design, classic Disney movies, 1970’s psychedelic black-light posters, Baroque theaters, and science fiction all influence her work.

Jackie Rines Insta: jackierines

Jackie Rines is a Los Angeles-based artist who primarily works in clay at a large scale.  Her recent work addresses status symbols and power dynamics through the use of humor, opulence, and various genres of home décor that span from McMansions and Dictator Style to home goods readily available at outlet malls. Prior to attending UCLA for her MFA, Rines lived in Detroit. She has been awarded a Jerome Fellowship at the Northern Clay Center in Minneapolis and has been a resident at Henry Street Settlement in New York City.

Vanessa Chow Insta: vanessachowstudio

Vanessa Chow was born in Hong Kong and currently lives and works in Los Angeles. She received her M.F.A. from the Rhode Island School of Design. Vanessa makes work that is low tech, human scale. Her subject matter is usually inspired by the hundred of hours spent looking and being in the Pacific Ocean. She is interested in things that are profoundly handmade and things that are sustainable to the environment. Exploring the element of play is a common theme in her work. She has exhibited in spaces like the Armory Center for the Arts, LAM Gallery, Steve Turner Gallery among others in Los Angeles as well as venues in New York City and Hong Kong.

Laura Greengold lauragreengold.com insta: @lauragreengold

(B.1976, New Haven CT, USA) lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. Greengold works with oil, marble dust, animal skin, and pigments to document the often taken for granted shared human experience of the dream world. Realizing we spend nearly half our lives in the dream state, Greengold uses her memory of this nightly passage as the wellspring for her work. Greengold received her MFA from Yale University in 2000, and a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1998. Her most recent solo exhibition was at Monya Rowe Gallery, NYC. Greengold's past work includes a series of paintings that attempt time-travel, painted for her grandmother to see in her youth. This series of paintings: 'Spooky Action at a Distance’, will be exhibited in Sol Lewitt’s Connecticut designed Synagogue, Rodfe Zedek in the Fall of 2022. Greengold received the Alice Kimble English Traveling Fellowship, from Yale University and the Vermont Studio Center Fellowship. Greengold has exhibited her work nationally in both group and solo exhibitions at venues including  SRO Gallery, Brooklyn, NY,  Elga Wimmer Gallery, New York and 33 Bond Gallery, New York.

Matthias Moravek www.matthiasmoravek.de Insta: @matthias_moravek

When nature becomes form. Matthias Moravek’s paintings, drawings and sculptures are an intensive and playful analysis of content, form and colour, exploring the wide range between abstraction and figuration. In his recent works he draws inspiration from natural phenomena such as forests, jungles, clouds and vulcanos and their cultural perception. 

Matthias Moravek  (*1976 in Muehlacker, Germany) studied painting at the State Academy of Fine Arts in Karlsruhe and then moved to Berlin where he graduated from the University of Arts (UdK). He has since received grants and scholarships that have provided him with opportunities to work and exhibit in Berlin, Ahrenshoop (Germany), Istanbul, Saint-Louis (Senegal) and Los Angeles. His works have been part of many national and international group and solo exhibitions in galleries and museums and can be found in numerous private collections. Matthias Moravek lives and works in Berlin.

Solo exhibitions (selection): „Revue Tropique“, Galerie Greulich, Frankfurt/Main, 2022, „Prospect Park“, Axel Obiger, Berlin, 2021, „Menagerie“, Galerie Greulich, Frankfurt/Main, 2020, „Carte Blanche“, Axel Obiger, Berlin, 2019, „Perceptions and Sensations“, Galeri Miz, Istanbul, 2014  // Group exhibitions (selection): „Wildnis“, Städtische Galerie Lichtenberg, Berlin 2020„Co/Lab“, TAM Torrance Art Museum, 2018, „Interdisciplinary“, Galeri Miz, Istanbul, 2014, „Jetzt“, Galerie Anja Knoess, Cologne, 2015

Thilo Droste www.thilodroste.de @thilo.droste

Thilo Droste (b. 1977) lives and works in Berlin. His works often follow an intense examination of existing situations and conditions, themes and different contexts. The conceptual works show thoughtfulness and sensuality also in the choice of medium and material. Even the truth has to bend in its claim to truth, honestly and persistently he questions the ordinary with subtle resistance, not with a grand revolutionary gesture. He counters the complexity of the content process with a humorous lightness of execution. Wit, refined simplicity and technical skill characterize the appearance of his work.

His life path has all the set pieces (residencies, exhibitions in museums and galleries, and purchases from international collections) of a serious artist‘s career.

Juliane Duda

Juliane Duda (1967 *in Ost-Berlin), visual artist, lives and works in Berlin. Her works can be found in public and private collections. Since 2019 she is co-operator of Axel Obiger-Raum für zeitgenössische Kunst // Exhibitions: Solo/Duo at Weltecho, Chemnitz; Galerie Christa Burger, München; IPC E Gallery, Sarajevo; Galerie Fiebach&Minninger, Köln; Deutschlandhaus, Berlin; Gallery Rhodes+Mann, London; Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, Berlin; Goethe-Institut, Moskau. Group at Kunstverein Ruhr, Essen; Biennale Halberstadt, Mokpo Art Center, Korea; Polnische Biennale, Stettin; Museum Festung Rosenberg, Kronach; Neue Galerie mobil, Dachau; Schloss Gottorf, Schleswig; Höhler Biennale, Gera; Haus der Kunst, München; Walkmühle, Wiesbaden; Kunsthalle Villa Kobe, Halle; Overbeck-Gesellschaft, Lübeck; ICA, London; Museum Ostdeutsche Galerie, Regensburg; Akademie der Künste, Berlin; Plattform der BerlinBienale; P.S.1, New York. // Scholarships, awards: Recherchestipendium Peter Moennig Foundation,  Stipendium Künstlerhaus Schloss Wiepersdorf, Bridge Watch-Stipendium der Stiftung Corymbo, Stipendium Künstlerhaus Schöppingen, Marion Ermer Preis, Auslandsstipendium für Moskau des Senats von Berlin.

Gabriele Künne mail@gabrielekuenne.de www.gabrielekuenne.de

Gabriele Künne lives and works in Berlin. She is a member of Axel Obiger since 2012.

In her work abstract form-and sign systems play a basic role. Objects and sculptures are building an associative system.Over the last 10 years ceramics played a increasing role as a material for sculptural work. She received numerous grants and prizes and her work is found in many public and private collections.

From 1991-98 she studies at the HdK Berlin Fine Art and received the masters degree in 1998. Since then, her work is shown in project spaces, institutions and galleries in Germany, Poland, Sweden and Switzerland.

Solo shows: 2020 shifted through, Axel Obiger, Berlin / 2019 Naturtalent, Kunstverein Neukölln, Berlin / 2017 Gabriele Künne - Installation, object, painting, Kunstverein Neustadt/Wstr./ Paradoxie des Haufens, Museum Rockenhausen.

Group shows: 2020 Amorph, Galerie im Saalbau, Kulturamt Neukölln / 2019 Almost Sparkling, B-LA-Connect, Axel Obiger Berlin / 2020 Paper on Paper, paper gallery Manchester, GB / 2018 CO/LAB, Torrance Art Museum / Import Export, Produzentengalerie Dresden

Maja Rohwetter www.majarohwetter.de

Maja Rohwetter develops her work in the media transfer of collage, painting and computer graphics. In her idiosyncratic pictorial spaces, familiar and unfamiliar forms and different painterly and digital levels of representation intertwine.

She researches in the field of a contemporary visual language that incorporates visual experiences in virtuality and reality in equal measure.

Maja Rohwetter (* 1970 ) grew up in Bünde/Westphalia. She has lived and worked in Berlin since 1993. She is one of the artist runnig "Axel Obiger" project space since 2011.  After studies in Philosophy, Art and Romance Studies at the University of Osnabrück, she studied Fine Arts at the Berlin University of the Arts from 1993 to 1999 and at the Royal College of Fine Arts, Stockholm (Kungliga Konsthögskolan) in 1997. After her master's degree in 1998 at the HdK Berlin, she passed her First State Examination in 1999.

After the Second State Examination in Fine Arts in 2005, she worked as a freelance artist in Berlin. Travel and residency scholarships have taken her to Sweden and Finland.

She recieved several grants  and her artistic work is shown in institutions and galleries in Germany, Finland, Austria and Sweden. In addition to her painting, she teaches media design and media theory.

Soloshows (selected): 2020 voir dire, Axel Obiger. Berlin/ 2019  “soft facts”, Domeij Gallery, Stockholm, S/2016 „„thread“ (with Isabel Kerkermeier), Axel Obiger, Berlin, Germany / „PARCOURS“, Domeij Gallery, Stockholm, Sweden/ 2013 „the delicate balance of terror“, (with Knut Eckstein) Galerie Axel Obiger, Berlin, Germany  / „extrawelt“, Galerie Kunst2, Heidelberg, Germany/ 2011 „Space Oddity“, Stene Projects, Stockholm, Sweden

Groupshows (selected) ; 2021„Pop Up“, Haus Kunst Mitte, Berlin, D / 2020 „amorph“, Saalbau Neukölln Berlin, D/  „Schwarz + Weiß“, Künstlerinnen des VdBK 18 67 Käthe Kollwitz Museum, Berlin, D/ 2019 „Halbschatten 02“, Kunstverein Neukölln Berlin, D/„Inner Landscapes“, HilbertRaum, Berlin,,D

Harriet Groß www.harrietgross.com @harriet.r.gross

Harriet Groß is a Berlin based visual artist working in the field of drawing and installation. For her work she has awarded numerous grants by Senat for Culture and Europe ( 2022, 2015), Stiftung Kunstfond Bonn (2020), RCA London(1998),European Heritage Days,Kiev, Ukraine(1987). Harriet shows her work national and internationally in often site specific installations: Käthe Kollwitz Museum Berlin (2021), Haus des Rundfunks Berlin, (2021), Kunstverein Würzburg (2020), Haus am Kleistpark (2020), Guardini Galerie Berlin (2022;2020;2019), Gallery of Deutsche Werkstätten Hellerau (2018), CoLab III, Torrance Art Museum, Los Angeles, USA (2018), Vincenz Sala Berlin (2019;2016), Chateau Chapel Weimar (2017), Japanese German Center Berlin (2014), Deutsches Klingenmuseum Solingen (2013), CGM Metz, France (2010), Mina Dresden Gallery, San Francisco, USA (2008), Galerie Manes, Prague, Czechia; Saarländische Galerie Berlin (2007), CGAC, Santiago de Compostela, Spain (2003). Her work is part of numerous private and public collections including Kupferstich Kabinett and Graphic Design Collection Staatliche Museen Berlin, Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek Weimar, Centro Galego de Arte Contemporanea Santiago de Compostela, Spain. She received her Master of Visual Art at Hochschule der Künste Berlin and a Degree of Medicine at the Freie Universität Berlin. Harriet is a co-founder of Axel Obiger.

[wileyfoxwrites]

Julien André Oslin-Rasmussen || 25 || Prince of Sweden

Name Pronunciation: Joo-lee-uhn Family: Jesse Strömberg-Rasmussen (Older Step-Brother), Esme Oslin-Rasmussen (Older Twin Sister) Hometown: Versailles Birthday: April 4th Age: 25 Sexuality: Bisexual Preferred Pronouns: He/Him Aliases, if any: Jules Nationality: French, he will not claim Sweden Religion, if applicable: He’s not religious Parents’ names: Father - Johan Rasmussen, Mother - Coralie Oslin, Stepmother - Maja  Strömberg Current relationship status: Betrothed to Emilia Adley but in his mind he’s single Previous relationships: TBD

Under the cut there are mentions of parental abandonment, heavy drug use, and violence. 

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION

Height: 6′0 Hair colour: Brown Eye colour: Blue Glasses/contacts: None Tattoos: He doesn’t have any yet (which really is kind of a shock) but he wants them. Piercings: None Typical clothing style: Whatever is clean, really. He likes his t-shirts and jeans, anything comfortable where he can do his crazy antics with ease.  Distinguishing features (scars, birthmarks, freckles, etc): He’s done some crazy things throughout his life that has resulted in a lot of injuries but his most noticeable scar is a large one on his right bicep from a fight he got into while visiting France at eighteen. The other guy cut him with a broken beer bottle. Dominant hand: Left

HEALTH

Health issues or illnesses, if any: He has overdosed once but thankfully it didn’t cause any long term health issues. Allergies, if any: None Exercise habits: Sex is exercise, right? If so he’s as healthy as an ox. Dietary habits: He likes snacks, what stoner doesn’t? Other than that, he’s kind of picky when it comes to what he eats. It’s a texture thing with most foods though and he’s able to force himself to eat some things if he has to.

PERSONALITY

Accent: His accent is a weird mix these days. The French accent comes through most of the time but there’s a hint of a Swedish one mixed with it. Speech style: He’s high most of the time so he speaks slowly. It’s not hard to tell when he’s halfway gone. Most used word or phrase: “You want a hit?” He’s also adopted the word ‘dude’ from old American movies he’s seen. Do they curse?: Quite often Any secrets? Not really, Julien is kind of an open book.  Top priority/ies: To get out of the royal life and be normal, live the way that he truly wants to. And to bring his sister along so that she can be a fashion designer and live the way she wants as well. Mostly he just wants to get out from under his father’s thumb but he’s not sure how to survive without the man’s money. Most treasured possession: His sketchbooks are pretty important to him because they keep him sane. Addictions, if any: He’s addicted to drugs. Anything he can get his hands on he’ll take to stay blitzed out of his mind and if he ever tried to stop the withdrawals would be very unpleasant if not dangerous. Phobias: He really doesn’t think he’s fit to run a country and terrified of getting married to someone he doesn’t even know. It’s why he’s so pissed off at Emilia even when she did nothing wrong. Zodiac Sign: Aries

PERSONAL

Education level: High school diploma, a few art classes here and there. Languages spoken: He speaks French, Swedish, and English fluently. Hobbies: Sketching, Painting, anything to do with art.

Biography/Headcanons

Julien’s father has been disappointing him since before he was even born. After finding out their mother was pregnant, the man sent her away to live in France when he realized children were not part of the life that he really wanted which is why he and Esme were born and raised in Versailles, France instead of Sweden. Even with this hurtful action, Julien still gave his father more chances than his sister ever did but by the time he was ten he’d given up completely on the man. Even at that age you know when somebody doesn’t care about you in the least, and this fact has always made Julien bitter and resentful towards him.

Which is why he felt so betrayed a few years later when his mother allowed their father to take the twins back to Sweden just to portray the perfect family image for his new political campaign. Julien already knew their father could care less so using the twins the way he was became an extra slap in the face, one that hurt twice as much as he felt it from his mother this time as well. It became his goal to ruin whatever image the older man was trying to put out, slowly at first, but he gradually became the problem child as the years went on. It started with ruined photo opportunities and blowing off familial events and as he got older it turned into heavy partying and being seen out with a different person every night, pda very much included. This wasn’t who Julien really was, underneath it all he was a caring, sweet boy who loved being around people, but it was who his father was turning him into.

Things only got worse when political aspirations quickly turned into a takeover of the throne of Sweden. Julien knew his father was a piece of work but swooping in to overthrow the king of their country after the man had lost his daughter was low. Even more scrutiny was being sent his and Esme’s way now and once he became a prince it was clear that there were royals out there who thought he was just as bad as his father. His partying became worse, tabloids spreading his face all over their cover pages as he became wilder, and designer drugs became his weapon of choice to battle the insanity his life had become. Everything he’s dabbled in is a way for him to distance himself from the man he despises, and he has no plans of stopping anytime soon.

Esme seems to be the only constant in Julien’s life and the only one he feels comfortable confiding in aside from his two best friends. He cares a lot for his twin which is evident whenever you meet him. Even if most think he couldn’t care less about anything in life they know he adores Esme. His stepsibling on the other hand is just one more person he doesn’t want to be around. Jesse, despite trying very hard to get in his and Esme’s good graces, is enemy number one in Thailand. Julien sees him as a bit of a kiss ass and doesn’t want anything to do with the older man. The only thing he feels the prince is good for is his claim to the throne after their father steps down.

He found comfort in art when he was a kid. Anytime his father missed another call or canceled any plans that were rarely made Julien’s family could find him in his room working on another painting. Sketch books started to become a go to for his birthday presents and canvas quickly started to take up the living room as the boy honed his skill. He became quite good at a young age and has kept up with the skill throughout his life when he’s not busy destroying his body with the garbage he puts into it. He’s even found a new way of bonding with Esme by helping with some of her fashion designs.

Art school had been one of his dreams, but the plan was vetoed by his father. He wanted Julien to do something more practical with his life, to train for being a royal, but instead he opted to not go to school at all. He blows off any training or tutoring his father throws his way and refuses to take any courses on anything that could be used for political gain. Even though he couldn’t attend art school Julien did manage to find a few classes he could take at local colleges around Sweden, his father never knowing that he snuck out constantly to attend these courses.

[moribundanchor]

The Pelle/Dani Receipts: Post One, Introduction

Hello and welcome to Rimanez and AnonLady present: Midsommar: The Pelle/Dani Receipts. 

Are you sitting comfortably? Got your tea with special properties, rune-stitched white linen solstice clothing, and flower crown? Then let’s begin. Skål!

We are going to step you through the film more-or-less chronologically, detailing evidence supporting the Pelle/Dani ship in dialogue and behavior, cinematography, costuming, set design, and artwork featured throughout the film. This will include not just the signs that Pelle loves Dani--compelling, but low-hanging fruit when discussing this ship--but that Dani has feelings for Pelle, that their onscreen intimacy indicates a friendship, at least, that is independent of their individual relationships to Christian, and that Dani and Pelle are destined for each other. We should note that Ari Aster is meticulous, so meticulous, and it’s possible there are still things we have missed and perhaps some of our interpretations you may disagree with. That’s fine! We’ve got a lot to work with here. Additionally, while we will touch on elements relating to Dani’s destiny as May Queen, we will concentrate on those elements that pertain to her destiny with Pelle specifically.

There will be 12 individual posts, which Rimanez and I will be posting over the course of the next week or so as we get them ready, two at a time, with each post hyperlinked to the succeeding post, and then at the end, we’ll have a convenient table of hyperlinks.

All gifs and high quality images have been wrangled by @amy-amell. Rune expertise will be provided by @daydreamers.

Before we get into specific evidence, a brief word about general motifs to be aware of in Midsommar. These are not things that directly speak to the Pelle/Dani romance, but will feature in scenes we discuss and contribute to their meaning. These include:

The color yellow. Yellow generally relates to Dani’s journey, her yellow brick road. For example: the prevalence of the color in the Ardor house, particularly in pictures of Dani and the flower arrangement over the bedside picture of her; the hose that Terri uses to pipe the gas fumes into the upstairs is yellow; the path through the woods to Hårga features a thickening carpet of yellow flowers; the yonic sun gate to Hårga is yellow; Dani’s flower crown during the competition is mainly yellow; the Fire Temple, of course, is bright yellow.

The sun. While they’re not sun worshipers, per se, the sun is the ultimate symbol of Hårgan belief in the Great Cycle. It also effectively doubles as a symbol for Dani’s destiny to join the family at the end, folding in the significance of the color yellow. Also note that in Old Norse myth, the sun is female and the moon is male, as opposed to Western traditions, which makes sense since, while it’s not explicitly stated, Hårga seems to be a matriarchy, with Siv as head honcho and the May Queen ultimately given the power of life and death in the Fire Temple ceremony.

The color blue. Blue generally relates to the Hårgans. You will notice it in their special solstice clothes’ embroidery, but also in sneakier places, like the lit trees behind Christian as he approaches Dani’s apartment to, sigh, sorta hold her in the beginning.

Flowers and plants. Flowers, plants everywhere. Not just real ones, but design elements, too, everywhere from Dani’s parents’ room to Hårga. Flowers, of course, have their own subtle language -- brilliantly and comprehensively explored in this post -- not unlike the Hårgans, but you will notice their presence waxes as Dani comes home to Hårga. In addition to the individual meanings of certain plants and flowers, note their generic connotations of sex, nature, growth, and balance. As Pelle muses in the meadow, “Nature just knows instinctually how to stay in harmony.” And that’s the essence of Dani’s journey: finding the harmony and balance she lacks.

Mirrors. Mirrors indicate something going on beneath the surface. We first see Dani’s parents, apparently sleeping, reflected in their bedroom mirror as Dani’s call goes to voicemail, only to learn they were actually dead. Christian’s lies to Dani, his friends, and himself are reflected in mirrors at Dani’s apartment and his own. Dani has her terrifying glimpse of Terri in the bathroom mirror. We first meet Maja primping in a mirror, and we soon learn she’s not just primping but primping for a plot. And most importantly for this piece, we see Pelle reflected in a mirror while sketching the newly-crowned May Queen, but of course, even in that idyllic moment, he is still plotting to get Christian out of the way. Mirrors = look again.

OK, with those principal motifs set to one side, let’s look at general underlying evidence of Pelle and Dani destiny, shall we?

Names. Dani Ardor. Ardor means love or passion and it comes from the Latin word ardere: to burn. Her first name, like sister Terri’s, is a male-sounding female name, a time-honored convention for Final Girls in horror movies. It also recalls Danny from The Shining (1980), a film that is referenced visually in the soaring overhead shots of the journey to Hårga, but also in the design of Dani’s bedsheet in the Hårgan Youth House.  

It’s also worth noting that Dani is a common short form of Danielle, which literally means “God is my judge.” Taken alongside Dani’s ultimate judging of Christian, that’s...pretty suggestive. (Big thanks to @henrys-side-blog​ for pointing this out!)

Pelle is a name on its own and a pet form of Per, both Swedish forms of Peter, from the Greek petros, stone or rock, i.e. the foundation. It brings to mind the Ättestupa, the ultimate symbol of Hårgan unity, and the way that Pelle offers himself as a support for Dani, too. There’s also the association with Peter, the disciple who denied Christ. I mean...his romantic rival’s name is Christian, although Ari Aster says there are lots of ways to read Christian’s naming...which he won’t tell us. “He is thrown to the lions, so to speak.”

Lastly, this may just be a coincidence, but Dani has unique pronunciations of both Pelle and Christian that differ from the way the rest of the cast pronounces their names. (OK, I think Mark says Pell-ay once.) This is in spite of Florence Pugh’s flawless American accent, and it’s not replicated with any characters that aren’t Dani’s love interests. It’s just weird.

Dani and Pelle’s Costuming. After arriving, Pelle initially only dons a Hårgan shirt while retaining the rest of his outsider clothing. Dani dons a Hårgan apron initially before changing into full Hårgan costume for the maypole dance. Their costuming throughout the movie, as with many of their movements and behaviors, show a continuous synchrony that also charts Dani’s assimilation into the family. It’s worth noting that Pelle doesn’t kiss her until they are both in full Hårgan dress.

Runes are another big underlying source of meaning, but frankly, they are so complex and multivalent, including elements that we only really discovered while working on this post, they are going to get their own section at the end, where all of our contextual evidence will help guide interpretation.

OK, let’s crack the film open and find us a love story.

The Pelle/Dani Receipts Masterpost

[sunshinekarliekloss]

Karlie Kloss, Coding's Supermodel: The Forbes Cover Story

Karlie Kloss is sitting in a glass-walled SoHo office holding court with five teenage girls. Over video chat with several more, they are brainstorming how to support scholars of Kode with Klossy once class is out. The teenagers are all graduates of Kode with Klossy summer camps, an initiative by Kloss’ education nonprofit that aims to teach girls the basics of computer programming.

In her off-duty uniform of a Planned Parenthood T-shirt, black jeans and Gucci loafers, the 6'2" supermodel listens intently. One young woman wearing a white Kode with Klossy top suggests a custom app for students to communicate through. Kloss nods and encourages more ideas. Perhaps Kode with Klossy could upload lesson videos for scholars to look back on, or start a newsletter with events and internships. Another girl in glasses says she posts tricky coding problems on Snapchat and scholars from her camp offer solutions.

As the meeting concludes, Kloss hugs the girls before rallying them to put their hands in for a cheer. “Klossy Posse!” they shout in unison.

A 36-time Vogue cover girl is an unlikely candidate to launch a charity that has taught more than 500 young women how to code. But the 25-year-old has leveraged her giant social audience–some 12.6 million followers across platforms–to grow a burgeoning nonprofit that aims to balance the scales of software engineering’s gender disparity.

“I didn’t go into this with the plan to build an education nonprofit,” says Kloss, a member of the 30 Under 30 Class of 2018, over vegan cupcakes and cookies in her Manhattan office. “I really went into all this out of my own curiosity of wanting to learn what the heck coding was, because it was building massive enterprise value for people in a short period of time.”

Her first taste came in 2014, when she signed up for a two-week boot camp at adult-education company the Flatiron School in Manhattan to learn the basics of computer programming. “I didn’t actually know who she was,” says Avi Flombaum, cofounder of the Flatiron School, who taught Kloss’ class. “She was the best student in that group and I was surprised by how enthusiastic she was.”

Kloss covered the basics of Ruby on Rails, a popular web development framework. But she quickly noticed that her classes weren’t gender equal, an imbalance that mirrored the tech workforce. “I was curious, why are there not more women in this space?” recalls Kloss. An idea for how to help took form: “I realized, here I am with this platform and reach to young women across the country and around the world,” Kloss explains. “If I could just help a handful of girls that would be really meaningful.”

In 2015, Kloss spent more than $20,000 to personally underwrite 21 scholarships for teenage girls to the Flatiron School’s two week pre-college coding class–the very class she had taken the year prior (Flatiron School matched the donation).

But she was itching to do more. Last summer, Kloss took the initiative in-house, launching her own two-week summer camp for teenage girls aged 13 to 18 in New York, Los Angeles and her hometown of St. Louis. Kloss helped pick candidates, design the curriculum and select teachers; its graduates have gone on to win hackathons and land places at Ivy League universities. In June, the program expanded to 12 cities across the U.S., with plans to grow further.

Adults are also included: Last July Kloss launched a year-long online scholarship with the Flatiron School that selected one woman every month to enroll in its full stack web development course. And whhile other nonprofits with similar missions, such as Girls Who Code and Black Girls Code, are far more established, Kloss’ reach brings her objective to millions.

To date, funding for Kode with Klossy programs has come from Kloss herself and the brands she poses for. According to a familiar source, Kloss has personally contributed into seven figures to Kode With Klossy since 2015. She has also redirected a slice of her modeling contracts with companies such as Adidas, Swarovski and Express to fund and support Kode with Klossy. Ford’s STEAM Experience—an initiative focused on science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines as well as the arts, part of the car maker’s philanthropic arm—lent additional support to this summer’s camps.

Such initiatives are sorely needed. Half a million more jobs related to computers are expected to be added by 2024. Though 74% of high school girls are interested in STEM, women only earned 18% of all undergraduate computer science degrees in 2015. That impacts employment, especially among minorities: Women made up just over a quarter of the tech workforce last year, though African-American women comprised a mere 3% and Latina women counted for only 2%.

“There are so many young women who really could change the world with this kind of opportunity, girls who self-select out because they don’t see others in the industry that look like them,” says Kloss.

The daughter of an emergency room physician, Kloss’ favorite subjects as a child were math and science. Had she not been discovered at a charity fashion show in a mall, aged 13, she might have become a doctor or a teacher, she says. Instead, she booked her first advertisement in 2007; that same year she landed her first major runway show, walking for Calvin Klein.

Her career quickly took off, but it went into overdrive with the advent of Instagram. Thanks to social media, says Kloss, “I could be seen as well as heard.” As her followers swelled, her fees increased. She premiered on Forbes’ highest-paid models list in 2014 banking $4 million pretax; this year, her contract earnings soared to $9 million in the 12 months prior to June 2017.

“When social media arrived, models came back into the spotlight because now everyone could see what was behind the velvet rope,” says Maja Chiesi, SVP at IMG Models, the agency that represent Kloss. “The next evolution is brands wanting the full, 360-degree sense of who these women are… They want women with a voice.”

Enter Kloss, who has long presented herself as more than just a pretty face. In 2012, she started a charitable cookie line called Klossies with Manhattan dessert spot Momofuku Milk Bar; the treats donated to meals for children with each purchase. After taking the odd night class at New York University, in 2015 she enrolled (mentor and supermodel-turned-philanthropist Christy Turlington wrote her recommendation letter). With her busy schedule, she has opted for approximately one class a semester, so far notching credits in creative writing and feminism.

She is eager to expand her platform through a YouTube channel, launched in 2015, that documents her travels and baking forays. Next up: A talk show, Movie Night with Karlie, airing on the Disney-owned Freeform in December.

All of it serves to raise awareness for Kode with Klossy. As she focuses on the nonprofit, she has pared down her modeling contracts to the most lucrative partnerships. Today, says Kloss, she works with “partners that really are excited to work with me because of not just what I look like, but because of what I stand for.” It makes sense that her bookings have shifted from conventional beauty and fashion to tech; she can be seen in recent advertisements for electronics giant Samsung and website builder Wix.

For now, the aim is to grow quickly and cost-effectively. “I’ve been thinking about Kode with Klossy like a startup,” says Kloss. The nonprofit’s team is lean, with Kloss, her manager and business partner Penni Thow, five full-time employees and consultants plus help from three members of her management.

And, Kloss says, she is just getting started. “I plan on building a big business at some point, too.”

Startups, you’re on notice.

[shesinspain-blog]

Me vs. Beach

“It’s so beautiful,” Maddy said. We were walking down my street after a bougie lunch, heading to have beers and chocolate by the water.

I do this walk almost every day. Even though I try to appreciate my surroundings, I never feel like I’m doing Barcelona enough justice. The weather is so much warmer now; my Norwegian heritage is content with low-70s temperatures all summer. This will not be the case. But this, right here and now, is perfect.

Back home, people would *mention* being from California or going to a tropical vacation destination. They’d get this dreamy, delirious look on their face and say, “I mean, the water, the sand-- what more could you want?!”

I USED TO HATE THE BEACH. Hate hate hate. To the point that I would exempt myself whenever possible of Florida vacations. I would sulk in the dreadful sun, watching my skin become salmon pink and later graduating to blistering, glowing red. I’ve had sunburns so bad I can’t sleep. I’ve been to too many pool parties where I get stuck in the shade, wishing I could read a book in peace or think about anything besides how hot it is.

So, when people got beach-crazy-eyes, I used to roll mine. “Yeah yeah, can’t wait!” I’d lie before my move to Barcelona. I didn’t even care for palm trees. I had it out for the beach.

Living here has opened up my eyes to how life can be different. It doesn’t have to be 12 hours of beach, 5 days straight, and then a flight back to the Midwest. It can be 30 minutes, or with friends, or alone, or with a book, or with music, or after work, or in the mornings, or working out, or sitting on a bench.

The tables really turned for Me vs. Beach on my maximum homesickness days.

I had another one this month - a day of homesickness so bad my stomach hurts. My first move was to buy a jar of peanut butter (a ~delicacy~ here), and eat some with my pointer finger, mean muggin and listening to Wake Me Up When September Ends. Not my best look, seeing as I noticed more than one person wait for me to get out of a shot before they took a *Barcelona!* picture lol. After buying the PB, I kept marching to the beach and sat looking out at the water.

Seeing the waves, smelling the saltwater, and acknowledging the vastness of everything puts me at peace. I can’t explain it. I never thought this would be my mental vibes cure. A couple months back, I came to the beach at night and sat listening to Eat Pray Love for an hour in 50 degree weather. The ocean helped me then, too. CALL ME MOANA I GUESS LOL!

As the months pass, it becomes harder and harder to keep up my once a month entries. So much happens in four weeks! I know! But there’s so much less drama than the beginning.

Besides my 1 bad day this month, May was AWESOME! I got to see three people I haven’t seen in over a year: a dinner with Emily & John, who I met through my BFF Sarah, and my best friend Maddy, who I met in the OSU design program. I had so much fun with both visits. Lots of laughs! And so fun to tell stories with old friends. And it was intense. My brain definitely turned off the awareness of how far I am from home. I don’t realize it until I’m hugging people who I last saw 4000 miles away. It’s easier, mentally, this way - to go day by day, not acknowledging the passage of time. My feelings played catch-up after saying goodbye (hence the beach-peanut-butter-adventure). But I’m okay. Some fellow expats backed me up & reminded me how normal it is to miss somewhere else. I cannot state strongly enough how happy it made me to see my pals here.

May also included a LOT of saving money for me, which should be paying off very soon! Like I said in my last post, Barcelona is pretty break-even, but I was living on a wing and a prayer for a minute (re: 8 cavity fillings). I’m happy my days of staying in and baking galettes or only getting ~one drink~ actually made a difference. It makes me a lot more excited for Barcelona Beach Fest, June, and all the other fab things coming sooner or later.

In May, we said goodbye to Maja AKA Baby Toasty. As always, it was a really hard goodbye - we made so many memories in this city together. I think I’m getting better at accepting Barcelona’s transient nature. When friends leave, I know how special our time is together and how lucky we were to have gotten close. It’s almost like college again. People graduate, people move, but your friendship is still true & fierce & spectacular.

OH ALSO my BOOK CAME OUT THIS MONTH! You can buy my comic book, Gezellig, two ways on the internet: a PDF file and a real stinkin’ printed book. Super exciting and really incredible to have so many people react positively to this. I’ve been quietly working for months on it. Being able to share my hard work and passion project with people I love was overwhelmingly meaningful. And if you’re one of the people who bought a copy, THANK YOU! And I’d love to hear from you! Did you like it?! Any comments!? Hit me up!!!! (Please I really have no way of knowing who bought it and I’d at least like to say thanks personally!)

Anyway, I’m still not sure what I’m doing but I don’t think about that, or care, anymore. I’m making more art here. I got to check out Nit del Museos (ALL MUSEUMS ARE FREE FOR THE NIGHT) and saw some cool exhibits at two museums. I’ve lost friends here, I’ve made friends here. I listened to Little Women (now I’m listening to HP1 and guys really it’s good but wow the movie is so on point). I just unsubscribed from the NYTimes Morning Briefing to give my brain a break. I’m focusing on good vibes and becoming such a hippy. I’m happy. I’m happy. I’m finding myself. I’m happy.

[yoseicosplay-blog]

You don’t belong here! (5)

Chapter 4

Mark Tuan x Reader Fanfiction Genre: Angst/Fluff Author: YoseiCosplay

A/N: Hey guys! Sorry it took so long to update this fic. A lot has been going on. I have less than a month left for ACen and I am NOT even close to finishing my cosplays, plus I work almost 8 hours a day plus I haven’t been sleeping well. Gr. Anyway, here’s the next chapter! Thank you for being patient. Also, I apologize if some of the lyrics in this are wrong. I tried looking them up and each site had something slightly different, so I just picked the ones that sounded like what was being sung.

Description:  You’re an American going to go visit your favorite kpop group in Seoul! But when you get there, you’re not exactly welcomed with open arms. What happens when Mark and the rest of Got7 notice how those sasaeng fans treat you?

Chapter 5:

‘5 more minutes!’ You think excitedly. It’s almost time for you to finally see Got7 live! This has been your dream for over a year now. You look around the arena to see it packed. Every single seat was taken. You were so thankful to Got7 to be able to sit front row, right by the stage.

Suddenly, the lights dim. As they do, the crowd of fangirls start screaming, making you cringe. You’re not much of a screamer, so you just wave your Ahgabong like crazy. The lights on the stage light up and you see Got7 rise up from below the stage. You stare in wonder at how amazing the boys look.

The first song they perform is their newest song, Never Ever. You learned he words, so you were able to sing along. When Mark’s part came up, you did do a small shout in support. He, of course, looked amazing rapping, as always.

As the song ends, JB talks through the mic to the crowd. Unfortunately, you were only able to pick up a few words he was saying Something along the lines of “Glad to be here” or something.

‘Man, I wish I studied better’ You internally groan. Shaking your head, you focus on the show. Suddenly, you hear more screaming as you notice the opening to their debut song ‘Girls Girls Girls’. You bounce up and down in your seat excitedly as this is one of your favorite songs by them.

You sing along as best you can with the group. Then, you squeal with excitement as Mark makes his way forward to do his solo.

“Maja naiga mankeon jeokgeon dongsaengigeon nunageon Nal japgo butjapgo jotago gachi noljago Nal aldeon moreudeon yeojageon Neo mwohanyago jjamkanman jom yaegihago Ssangdungirado issumyeon jokesseo jeongmal Matrix cheoreom bokjerado halkka nal Nae momeun hanande duyoneun gyesok isseuni Every lady wants a piece of me”

The entire time Mark is rapping, you can see his eyes scan the crowd, like he’s looking for something. Soon, his eyes land on you and he smiles. Just as he says “Every lady wants a piece of me”, he bites his lip and winks at you. his action makes your heart flutter.

‘Holy crap, this boy is going to kill me.’ You think as you try to relax your spinning head. You try to refocus on the concert but it’s getting difficult. ‘Damn you, sexy Mark Tuan.’

The concert goes on. Got7 performed a lot of their music. Your favorite songs that night were Magnetic, Hard Carry, Stop Stop it, I like you, Fly, Homerun and Just right. Each time Mark preformed, he would look straight at you. A few times, the other boys would stare at you too. Although, when Jinyoung would capture your eyes, he would instantly turn red. Clearly he remembered what you told them before the show, which made you giggle.

Once the show ended, you sat there for a moment while the rest of the crowd filed out. You reflect on how amazing this night was. It was one of the best nights of your life and you haven’t even gone on your date yet.

“Oh yeah, I have a date with Mark Tuan.” You squeak out, slumping down in your chair, turning bright red. You really hope it goes well. You really like him a lot.

Just then a security guard comes up to you. “Miss, Mr. Tuan would like me to escort you back stage.” You look at him in confusion but you shrug and follow the well-build guard to backstage.

Once you get backstage, you get tackled by a tall blur. “Y//N-ah! How we do?!” An excited Yugyeom asks in broken English.

You laugh and hug him back. “You guys were amazing! It was probably one of the best nights of my life!”

The Maknae smiles in excitement. Just then, Mark comes up to the teo of you and pulls the youngest off you. “Hey, let go of my date. I don’t want her crushed.” He glares playfully at Yugyeom, making you blush like mad. He then turns to you. “Y/N, are you ready to go?” He holds out his hand and you nervously take it. You nod your head and squeak out a quiet “yes”.

Mark turns to the rest of the room. “I’m taking Y/N out to dinner. I’ll see you back at the dorm.” He drags you out the door as you wave to the group.

“Yaaah, no fair. I want to take Y/N out on a date!” Yugyeom pouts, earning him a slap on the back of the head from Jinyoung.

TIME SKIP

“So, Y/N, you’re here for 4 days total?” Mark asks, taking a bite of his korean beef.

You nod your head slowly, remembering that your vacation is coming to an end. Mark notices the sad look on your face. He places his hand over yours, making you jump a little.

“You don’t want to leave, do you.” He says matter-of-fact. You nod your head again.

“I’ve enjoyed my time here so much, My dream was to come see you all live. I was so happy just to be in the same room as you guys. But, now that I’ve actually met you and got to know you on a more personal level, I don’t want to leave. I don’t know when I’d ever see any of you again.” You look down in defeat. “I especially don’t want to leave you, Mark.” The last statment made you turn red. “I-I really like you. At first, it was just a mere celebrity crush. But after what you did for me and getting to know you better, now... it’s more than that...” your voice trails off.

Mark just stares at you, processing your confession. The sudden silence makes you very nervous. Suddenly, the idol blurts out, a little too loud.

“Y/N, will you be my girlfriend?!” He asks fast. You blink. It takes you a second to process what he just asked. Your face turns tomato red, as you stammer.

“Y-you, Mark Tuan, want m-me to be your g-girlfriend?” You look like you’re about to faint as he nods shyly.

You shake your head in disbelief. “I-I don’t understand. Why would you want a broke, normal girl who lives alone in the U.S? I’d have thought you’d want another famous person.”

This time, Mark shook his head and looks straight at you, not breaking eye contact. “I never really wanted another idol or famous anyone. I’ve always been a super shy and quiet person. It’s really heard to make me break out of my shell and make me feel comfortable. Maybe because I’m not from here, so I feel like an outcast at times? But with you, for some reason, I felt more than comfortable. I don’t know if it’s because you’re also from the U.S and I just feel better knowing there’s someone else here whom I can talk to, or what. But I love this feeling. You’re so cute, funny, easy to talk to and you work hard to achieve what you want in life. It made me kinda fall pretty quickly.” He stops and stares at you, waiting for your reaction.

You sit there, mouth partly hanging open. Did Mark just really say all that to you? It’s really hard to make you speechless but these boys seem to be doing a pretty good job of that the past few days.

“Wow. I don’t really know what to say. I mean, I don’t think I’m that great.” You return his stare. “But I really do appreciate how you feel. And it makes me happy.” You smile at him, blushing. He smiles back. “But, Mark, I leave in a few days. How would we make this work?” Your smile drops.

He frowns. He knew you’d have to leave eventually but, he just can’t let you go that easily, not after everything he said. Suddenly he get’s a thought. “Y/N, you said that you worked two jobs. I know the one at night was working overnight in a bakery. But what was the other one?”

You tilt your head in confusion, not sure how that’s relevant. “Well, I work at a school. I write lyrics for the school’s choir and I also can do stage and lighting design as well.”

Mark perks up at these new facts. “Y/N, I think I have an idea.” He smirks.