#joseph and his little photo studio

[munsongirly]

Joseph Quinn photographed in the 2024 PEOPLE/EW CinemaCon Studio. photo by BEN TRIVETT

That little smirk of his kills me!!! 🫣

[nickblaine]

season 5 script summaries

links to previous script summaries: season 4, season 3, season 2, season 1, seasons 1/2 cont’d also, check my tht scripts tag for gifs, excerpts, and more details

i got the librarian’s email about season 5 scripts, and even though driving to and parking at WGAW has become a literal nightmare, i said fuck it and flew (crawled in traffic) down there the very next day. i wanted to see what the mood was like during the strike, anyway.

the staff had the library running business as usual, but the energy was high and there were pro-union shirts everywhere. there were a couple of guys on the first floor making literal piles of picket signs. i chatted with them for a minute and they said everyone was mostly out on the streets, picketing at every major studio in the city. rock on WGA ✊

i was on a time limit to beat rush hour, so when i read the season 5 scripts it was only Nick scenes. i searched for all instances of his name and wrote down everything i could. i may go back to read the rest of the season, but i can’t make any promises on when that will be.

before i begin (same as last time):

• everything described here is from the official scripts that are archived at the Writers Guild in Los Angeles. • the scripts i read are final drafts. there is no “writing in the margins.” everything described is from dialogue and script direction that was used on set. (click for an example) • the library has a strict no copies/photos rule in place which is why i summarize what i read. • anything in italics is a direct quote for the sake of clarity. • feel free to ask questions and i’ll answer to the best of my ability. my private notes are pretty detailed, but if i need to do more research i may save the answer for a future library visit. • please do not share this post without my permission. thank you in advance for respecting my wishes.

5x01 - Morning

Nick and Rose’s morning scene in this episode is more or less the same as this early script draft. The only difference is after Nick tells Rose her coffee is good, there’s an additional line that says: “It’s a lie, and they both know it. Rose appreciates the polite kindness.”

5x02 - Ballet

There was a short scene of Nick and Joseph Lawrence having a private chat at the airport before meeting with Serena Joy. It was cut from the episode, but you can see it in the trailer.

In this scene, Lawrence confides in Nick that he’s nervous about the meeting with Serena because - in his words - “You had to let your girlfriend go after Fred.”

Nick assures Lawrence that they’re going to spin it as a savvy political move by blaming the Americans for killing Fred. Lawrence still chastises him for not doing his job. Then the conversation pivots (a little clunkily) to this line from the trailer:

NICK: Serena doesn’t know what happened.

LAWRENCE: Doesn’t matter what she knows. It matters what she believes.

When they meet Serena on the tarmac, she instantly has suspicions that they were responsible for Fred’s death. The conversation is tense until they all see Fred’s body getting rolled off the plane, then Serena needles Nick’s guilt and pokes at it with her “Fred saw promise in you” speech.

As they are leaving the tarmac, there’s a line that says “Nick acknowledges Mark with a nod” and Lawrence notices it. In the episode you can see Nick and Mark exchange looks in the background as they leave, but otherwise Lawrence doesn’t notice.

At the Putnam’s party later in the episode, you may have noticed that after the Handmaids arrive, Esther and Nick share a notable look. The script describes this as a fraught moment in which Nick is filled with remorse and wishing he could do more. It also says Esther remembers Nick from when he and the Eyes arrested her, and she’s visibly pissed about it. As they walk away from each other, “Nick can’t help but be reminded of June.”

While Serena Joy is manipulating the Commanders into broadcasting Fred’s funeral, Nick steps in because he’s moved by her bravery and “attempting to atone for his hand in killing Fred.”

In the secret meeting between Nick and Mark there were a few cut lines of dialogue. Most notable is after Nick tells him he just tries to stay out of trouble, Mark replies, “Catches up to everyone, at some point.“

Opaque, Nick thinks about that. How long does he think he can keep going?

Ok, so the end of the episode when the funeral is on TV in Canada, I’m happy to report that Nick IS mentioned in June’s inner dialogue. The scene describes her recognizing who is onscreen with Serena. First she sees Lawrence, and then... “And finally, most painfully -- NICK.” (Yes, in all caps like that, lol.)

5x03 - Border

Cute June inner-dialogue when Lily asks her if Nick’s a big Jezebels guy: “June doesn’t know how to explain what type of “guy” Nick is.”

The awkward Lawrence residence dinner scene. Commander Mackenzie genuinely loves Rose (”old friend of the family”) and is instantly distrustful of Nick. Serena doesn’t buy Nick and Rose’s relationship as genuine either, and tries to subtly acknowledge Rose’s close relationship with June’s daughter’s parents by telling him how lucky he is. Nick is tense, but then his banter with Rose relaxes him, making Serena surprised to observe real affection in their relationship.

During the dinner itself, Mackenzie is just making everyone extremely uncomfortable by bringing up June. Nothing too interesting in the script here, it’s mostly just dialogue.

There is a cut line after dinner when Nick and Rose are leaving, and she says to him, “Well I wouldn’t say that’s the most relaxing dinner party I’ve ever been to.” (He responds “Yeah. No.”) Then he spots Mark all alone. Script says Rose understands what he’s about to do. “Nick squeezes her hand, then heads over to Mark.”

The script emphasizes here that Nick is unsure talking to Mark is a good idea, but he really wants to be the one to tell June about Rose before Serena does.

Mackenzie scares the shit out of him in this scene, and the “fuck” Nick mutters at the end was originally not spoken out loud (”OFF NICK, fuck.”) but I’m so glad it was.

Alright, phone call scene. One of our few big Osblaine moments!

NICK: June. Hi.

June suddenly feels like everything is going to be okay.

This scene is mostly dialogue. The final product is all the acting that goes into it. It does say Nick is stressed to relay upsetting information about Hannah and Rose. When June hears about Rose, she knew this was coming eventually, but it’s still a blow. It also describes how painful and hard this is for both of them. But at the end of the call, right after June tells Nick to be happy, is my favorite line in the whole script:

It’s an impossible ask, maybe, for these two to be truly happy without each other.

After the phone call, there is a cut scene between Nick and Rose where they simply look at each other.

Rose knows exactly who he was on the phone with, and what he said to her.

She looks worried for him, knowing it wasn’t easy.

He nods to her -- it’s done.

5x06 - Together

According to the script, Lawrence only invited Warren Putnam over to his house to get Nick on board with killing him. Warren repulses Nick so he’s down.

The next scene they’re in is when they execute Warren. (Such a good scene.) After Nick shoots him in the head, the script describes the camera hanging onto Nick and “his soldier’s stoicism.”

Then it cuts straight to Rose in the Blaine home. “She’s disappointed in him and he knows it.”

Now this scene threw me off. It’s written much differently than how Max acted it. Nick is actually a lot more warm toward Rose in the script, much like how all their previous scenes were. Several lines of Nick’s dialogue were changed (”Can I help?” became “You gonna tell me what’s going on?” onscreen) and his body language comes across way more cold and defensive than what’s described on paper.

As for Rose, she isn’t soothed by Nick’s assurances here. And that’s it for this episode.

5x08 - Motherland

New Bethlehem opens with another cut private moment between Lawrence and Nick.

Nick is brooding by the water, “still grappling with the moral and emotional consequences of shooting Warren in the head.” Lawrence finds him and tries to prod, but Nick gives him nothing.

LAWRENCE: You look a little more moody and broody than usual. Really, you sleeping okay?  

NICK: I’m fine.

Lawrence moves on because they have work to do. He reminds Nick he’s counting on him.

Lawrence gives his New Bethlehem speech to the other Commanders. When one of them pushes back, “that’s the cue for Nick, the muscle. Enough carrots, time for sticks.”

After Nick bullies the Commanders and Lawrence consolidates his power, the script describes these two as a “dynamic duo” lol

Okay, brace yourselves, there’s a cut Osblaine scene up next. I had no idea this existed, I don’t think there are any shots of it in the trailer.

It takes place after June visits Serena in the detention center and realizes she can’t help Hannah unless she’s there. If you watch that part you will see her pull out Lawrence’s burner phone as she leaves. But instead of going to Lawrence’s office like she does in the filmed version, in the script she calls Lawrence and just says, “I want to talk to Nick.”

It cuts to the next night at the border wall between Gilead and Canada. June is waiting on the Canada side as flying drone searchlights swoop across the electrified fence. (All described in dramatic detail.) She sees Nick appear on the other side. They look at each other, waiting, and once the searchlights clear they move to meet each other at the fence.

JUNE: I need to know if this is for real. I need to know that Hannah and my family will be safe.

NICK: I know. You will be. I promise.

JUNE: How can you promise that?

NICK: Things are changing, people are scared of Lawrence. I’m in a position now where i can make sure you’ll be safe.

JUNE: I want to believe you.

NICK: June. You can finally be with Hannah, watch over her. Isn’t that what you always wanted?

She nods.

NICK (CONT’D): Then please. Come back.

“To me,” he means. June’s heart is torn.

At this point the searchlights return and they have to separate. This scene is written like a soap opera. “They can’t help but reach out to each other, almost brushing fingertips before they move apart and run back, escaping the lights.”

Photo of this scene from Max’s IG:

Later in the episode, Lawrence is back in New Bethlehem with Nick. Nick asks which way June is leaning and Lawrence says it’s toward yes. The script says here that Nick understands that Lawrence is trying to manipulate him, but he can’t help but be cautiously optimistic at the idea of having June and Nichole in New Bethlehem with him.

By the end of the conversation, Nick is “considering.”

5x09 - Allegiance

We’ll skip to 27 minutes into the episode, when June sits with Mark after the failed mission. Mark catches June off guard by bringing up Nick. She’s taken aback by the revelation that he turned down Mark’s offer, but Mark says she can still persuade him. The script says “June imagines the prospect of Nick in Toronto” which I think you can see pretty clearly on Lizzie’s face lol.

Then we cut to the big Osblaine reunion.

Lots of dramatic buildup in the script leading up to their conversation. I don’t know how to describe it other than to show you:

She looks toward the courtyard. And there he is --

NICK

Waiting for her. Strained.

JUNE

Takes a beat to soak him in. She gets out.

OUTSIDE

June approaches Nick, their eyes locked.

Like, damn. They love building tension with these two.

Anyway, dialogue proceeds as it does in the show. Nick tells June that his wife’s pregnant and June has the wind knocked out of her. She’s described as “appalled by Nick’s commitment to Gilead, but understanding of his loyalty to Rose and their future child.”

And then--

JUNE: I want what’s best for both our families.

They look at each other.

A giant chasm between them now. But they’ve shared so much. So much trauma. So much love. A daughter.

JUNE (CONT’D): Well. This is a fine mess, isn’t it?

This scene is once again described as painful for both of them. “She tries to keep it together. How can they part? How can they say goodbye?”

Before Nick says “I love you” he was supposed to wrap his arms around her, but in the final cut they keep their distance.

5x10 - Safe

Just wanna note that when Nick shows up on the bridge to meet Mark, it was originally written so American soldiers yank Nick out of his car, handcuff him, and drag him across the bridge to Mark. We were deprived.

Also the first thing out of Nick’s mouth here was supposed to be, “How is she?”

In the hospital, Mark is telling Nick what’s going on but, “Nick can’t even speak. Looking at June, with her black and blue eyes.”

Mark gets the hint and leaves Nick alone. An interesting thing to note is that the line “it’s probably better if she doesn’t know I was here” is NOT in the script. At all.

The rest of the scene is sweet and simple.

Nick crosses, sits beside June.

A beat. Nick takes her hand.

Says nothing as he watches her sleep.

And that’s it.

Mark and Nick’s second scene on the bridge is just as short and to the point. In fact it’s almost entirely dialogue, so the emotions you see onscreen came from acting and directing. The only notable difference here is when Mark tells Nick he could’ve run away with June, he was scripted to give actual examples of where. “Maybe not to Canada, but there are -- places you could’ve gone. Idaho, the Westward Territories.” (Hopefully foreshadowing lol.)

At the party, it is scripted that Rose tries to greet Nick when he arrives and he doesn’t even acknowledge her. Like she doesn’t even exist.

There isn’t much description to accompany the punch. There is a line that says if Nick wasn’t pulled off of Lawrence than he’d be happy to keep on whaling on him. It also describes Lawrence as “rattled” and Rose as “humiliated.”

At the train station, during June’s goodbye to Mark, she asks him to tell Nick that she and Nichole are safe as a nod to their phone call in episode 3. The only descriptive line here is, “A beat, as Mark clocks the deep and selfless connection between Nick and June.”

The final scene I have notes for is Nick and Rose’s breakup in jail.

There are a couple parts of their scripted conversation that didn’t make it onscreen. Starting with right after Rose tells him a good man wouldn’t leave his wife every time his girlfriend calls, Nick’s response was supposed to be, “she was almost killed.” Then Rose laments that she thought she was lucky that someone like [Nick] would deign to be with someone like [her.] Nick says, “I was the lucky one” and she tells him to shut up.

Then there’s the “You will never let go of her, will you?” line from the show. Nick explains that he tried, but Rose retorts with, “Who knows what that woman will bring to our door. I have to protect our son.” Nick is described as scared now, and pleads with her not to leave.

Now I have no idea if that “our son” drop was supposed to be a legitimate reveal or just hopeful Gilead thinking. The script says nothing else about it and it was cut from the show. But it will be fun to speculate as we wait for the final season.

[jules-has-notes]

2017 Napa Valley A Cappella Extravaganza — VoicePlay live performances

VoicePlay on stage in Napa — photo by Haley Olson

Three years after their previous appearance, VoicePlay returned to northern California as the professional headliners for the annual high school and collegiate vocal festival in Yountville.

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J.None was excited to hit the road with the guys after performing with them at Disney World for the previous two months.

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When you're singing for other a cappella singers, it's hard to go wrong with a little musical theater. VoicePlay has plenty of Broadway material in their repertoire, and this was the most recent addition at the time.

Details:

title: Seasons of Love

original performers: cast of Rent (1996)

written by: Jonathan Larson

arranged by: VoicePlay & AJ Rafael

performance date: 28 January 2017

My favorite bits:

J.None's smooth timbre on the opening lines

the way they seamlessly pass the lead vocals around (But why doesn't Layne get a turn? 😞)

that momentary silence before they start the first chorus

when the rhythm section really kicks in 🥁🎸

Earl's crystal clear high tone on the second verse

that jazzy harmonized riff from Eli, J, and Earl

the layers of sound in the final chorus

such a lovely ending chord

Trivia:

As Geoff mentions in the intro, the guys had recorded this song as a collaboration with AJ Rafael in October, and the video premiered on his YouTube channel a couple weeks before this performance.

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VoicePlay refuse to be confined to any one genre of music. They've tackled everything from barbershop to hard rock, country to sea shanties, pop ballads to orchestral pieces. So why not revisit the rap hits of their youth?

Details:

title: Aca Top 10 – Old School Rap

original songs / performers: "La-Di-Da-Di" by Slick Rick & Doug E. Fresh; [0:16] "Going Back to Cali" by LL Cool J; [0:32] "Push It" by Salt-n-Pepa; [0:56] "Parents Just Don’t Understand" by DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince; [1:09] "Bust A Move" by Young MC; [1:32] "It's Tricky" by Run-DMC; [1:49] "Just A Friend" by Biz Markie; [2:12] "Ice Ice Baby" by Vanilla Ice; [2:21] "The Humpty Dance" by Digital Underground; [2:44] "Rapper's Delight" by the Sugarhill Gang; [3:10] "Walk This Way" by Run-DMC & Aerosmith

written by: "La-Di-Da-Di" by Douglas "Doug E. Fresh" Davis & Richard "Slick Rick" Walters; "Going Back to Cali" by Rick Rubin & James "LL Cool J" Smith; "Push It" by Hurby "Luv Bug" Azor & Ray Davies; "Parents Just Don’t Understand" by Pete Harris, Will "Fresh Prince" Smith, Jeffrey "DJ Jazzy Jeff" Townes; "Bust A Move" by Marvin "Young MC" Young, Matt Dike, & Michael Ross; "It's Tricky" by Joseph "Rev. Run" Simmons, Darryl "DMC" McDaniels, Doug Fieger, & Berton Averre; "Just A Friend" by Marcel "Biz Markie" Hall; "Ice Ice Baby" by Robert "Vanilla Ice" Van Winkle, Mario Johnson, Queen, & David Bowie; "The Humpty Dance" by Earl Humphrey, Gregory "Shock G" Jacobs, & George Clinton; "Rapper's Delight" by Bernard Edwards, Nile Rodgers, Sylvia Robinson, Henry "Big Bank Hank" Jackson, Michael "Wonder Mike" Wright, Guy "Master Gee" O'Brien, Curtis "Grandmaster Caz" Brown, & William Hankshaw; "Walk This Way" by Joseph "Rev. Run" Simmons, Darryl "DMC" McDaniels, Steven Tyler, & Joe Perry

arranged by: Geoff Castellucci

performance date: 28 January 2017

My favorite bits:

Layne kicking things off with some old school beatboxing

Earl recreating the breathy part in "Push It"

Eli handling the scratching in the back during "Parents"

the middle three busting some lowkey moves as the lyrics instruct them to do

everybody bouncing to the beat during "Tricky"

Geoff continuing the "Ice Ice Baby" bass line under "The Humpty Dance" after the other guys leave him hanging

Eli showing off some slides in "Rapper's Delight"

J's little wave in response to the "hello" in the lyrics

the record skip effect at the end of "Walk This Way"

Trivia:

The guys originally recorded this countdown live in the studio, where they could do as many takes as they wanted. It's even more impressive seeing them perform it in front of an audience.

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This video is missing the very beginning because the fan who recorded it got over-excited about them actually performing the song live. But how could they possibly resist singing the theme to one of the most beloved TV shows set in San Francisco when they were just north the city itself?

Details:

title: Everywhere You Look

original performers: Carly Rae Jepsen & Butch Walker for Fuller House (2016)

written by: Jesse Frederick, Bennett Salvay, & Jeff Franklin for Full House (1987)

arranged by: Layne Stein

performance date: 28 January 2017

My favorite bits:

the bouncy descending bass line leading into the chorus

Eli and J grooving along to their own harmonies

Earl's scooping crescendo as a transition into the second verse

the call and response of ♫ "never go away" ♫ "like the Olsen twins" ♫ 👭

that quick crisp diction of the ♫ "how do you know… " ♫ section

hearing a few audience members shout "Hey!" in time with the guys

that big coordinated descending riff at the end

Trivia:

This song was the second entry in VoicePlay's PartWork series, performed entirely by multiple versions of Earl and Layne.

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Additional photos

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Before they flew out of San Francisco the next day, J.None took a side trip to meet up with a friend, see a bit of the city, and get some fresh air.

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[scentedchildnacho]

This bmw pulled up on garnett with this really nasty gigolo guy driving and the street was completely vacant and he pulled up and parked right where I was walking with his full bright country lights on to shock me to death

He was really prison rape ugly like Joseph mengele like thinks he looks like a Marlboro photo and looks like a nasty white beard greaser

So I asked him why he is such a retard that doesn't care if he is considered lower then neanderthal that doesn't care if it hurts people

You don't care if all you do is hurt people and people find you dumber then koko

Your a retard I said and he was like it's night lights can be on and I was like your in the middle of a city fucko wasto no one needed more lights that's all you do is light fuck and steal people's wallets so people send you to cannibals as jobs because your dumber then an ape

And I told him he is a mass murderer and that I do hope he gets whatever retribution he deserves

In fact that light fuck hurt so bad I will find your homo rape and incarceration funny

Just so ya know I have found out that is my karma here this chick in the meal line bullies me all the time so people finally sicked dogs on her to call her rabid the dog finally tried to gash her eye out for light fucking everybody

Im rubber your glue whatever you throw at me gonna bounce off me and stick to you

It planned on me to call me a worthless mental to shove in state asylums for life and now it's an infectious disease to die in state asylums its rabid

Then the light shocks just wouldn't stop this whole car line of single occupant vehicles with nothing necessary to do in the morning pulled up at a yoga studio so annoyed that the fascist attack wouldn't stop i finally stared it down and said what the fuck are you doing here this morning

Why aren't you at home with your kids if im so worthless why the fuck don't you ever cook your kid breakfast and stop States is the worthless whore on the globe

If i can be called such a bad person as to be fucked all the time and wallet grabbed at why the fuck dont you go home and feed your kid and get out of my face

Fucking consumption loser goes and kills everybody because it didn't win the life game and thanks for the worst carbon standards ever worst hospitality

Your a fucking loser....and you hang out here just so you know China cameras at taiwan everyone sees you here being a loser and you have to go get cosmetically cannibalized or people could identify you

Then as I walked by sprouts across the road yet another car parked near me flashing it's brights at me in the middle of nice beautiful morning

And this little skinny creep whore gets out of the car so I got in her face and was like you just really lashed and burned my eyeballs what the fuck did you do that for it really hurt you really fucking hurt me what the fuck is your problem I've never done anything to you

What the fuck is your problem retard you go have a fight with people who have never fought you or even wanted to help you what the fuck are you

She didn't like confrontation and went across the street to show me if she assaults with the car she actually stole it and they have obeisance procedures to surrendering property...........then when she was across the street i was like okay pos nation nothing again today but skinny whore at the globe skinny whore gets its pos nation revenge today and everyday

It just stood on the corner waiting for a car line up to do to it what it does to people

And that's the police do exist here very presently they don't appear involved but a lot of it is surprisingly obeisant as a dog if cop talked to

Really gross beard white guy...lady Gaga because it's Hollywood and white people only can tolerate genetically wrong for them cultures if a lot of drunk and crack is sold crack babies

They look like nice people and their crack babies

[euryd-ce]

Whenever I think about the idv AU where everyone's just peacefully living in the manor, I like to imagine that some characters have those special personalized rooms in Encanto (or actually maybe more of DRV3 with their research labs?)

Like I'm not sure how big Oletus Manor actually is, but they could have magical doors in this AU for all I know.

Also I get that this takes place in the past but if they have the groundbreaking technology to launch a human on a chair with oversized fireworks or the magic for the hunters to do whatever they do idt this is too far-fetched

This manor's a mess, probably, or maybe they have magic for that too, idk ¯\(°_o)/¯

[thefrontofmymind]

"Friendship" Test; Request (Joseph Quinn x costar!Reader)

REQUEST: I’ve just read Salmon Smoothie and loved it!! Here is a similar idea, if you’d like to give it a try: So the reader and Joseph are dating but they are keeping it a secret. Only friends, families and St cast, producers etc. know about it. We know that Joseph is very private about his life but reader is very open about it, always active on social media and she loves sharing pictures of her friends. Also reader’s character and Eddie have a decent amount of scenes together so they also do press together a lot like Wired Autocomplete, that Glamour Friendship Test vid etc. Fans speculate a lot since reader and Joe are almost always together and one day paparazzi takes pictures of Joseph and reader together when they are really close. What is going to happen? What will they do? How will they react? How will cast react? I am leaving this up to you. Also you can change anything you want from my propmt, it’s totally okay. And if you’re not interested in writing a similar concept, that’s also okay. This just an idea. Love youuuu

a/n: hello lovely anon! i've mixed this request with a couple others and it'll be getting another part with the paparazzi photos in it that should be up by the end of the weekend! thank you sm for the request! love you! xx

SYNOPSIS: Joe and Reader do Glamour's Friendship Test, only they are certainly much more than friends

WARNINGS: pure fluff, like one curse word but cmon now...

When you and Joe started dating, you quickly realised how imperative it was that you kept your relationship private. Between both of your ‘public images’, and the horribly objectifying idea that you wouldn’t get as much work if you weren’t seen as desirable by an audience, especially as you both were up-and-coming still. Though that didn’t mean you couldn’t have a bit of fun.

Everything you teased you made sure was above board, every photo you posted and every hint you gave in interviews was just enough to let the eagle-eyed fans know you were seeing someone, but they could never guess who–and you both liked it that way.

Whether it was a photo of your dinner from your first anniversary with Joe, or even a silhouette of his sunglasses–that you thought of as his signature–after a day at the beach with your family and him, it made the two of you laugh seeing how worked up some of the fans would get.

“Here’s one!” you said, sitting on the sofa reading through your latest Twitter replies, while Joe was stood at the stovetop making dinner for the two of you. “‘Bestie, you and I both know you can’t keep soft-launching, there HAS to be more than a crumb eventually.’”

Joe chuckled–a teasing laugh that you didn’t hear very often, it sounded like he was up to something. “Do you ever think about it, dove? What would happen if we told the fans?”

“I have,” you said, candidly. “But I love the fun of sneaking around too much. It’s not like we’re lying to everyone, we still interact publicly, the fans just don’t know the whole story…”

Joe was quiet for a minute, stirring the numerous saucepans on the stove for the ‘feast’ he was making. “Yeah, you’re right….” he eventually let out. “The secret-keeping is-uh-well it’s pretty fun.”

It was almost too easy for the pair of you to get by as ‘just friends’ out in public–everyone knew you worked together and had gotten very close during the filming of Stranger Things, so the odd paparazzi photo of the two of you out grocery shopping or whatever you may be doing wasn’t out of the ordinary. 

And it made your day when you were able to do press together, since the PR team for Netflix knew about your fantastic chemistry, it seemed obvious for the two of you to pair up when it came time for promotional interviews.

You and Joe were standing about two feet apart in front of a white backdrop, the studio lights beating down on you–making you begin to sweat just a little. 

“Hi! It’s Y/N,” you said with a smile to the camera. 

“-And Joe, and we’re doing the Glamour friendship test, but with a twist!” he cut in, reading the cue card that was being held up just behind the camera.

“It’s a competition with Noah and Mille, and Sadie and Maya, to see who knows who best!” you continued, enthusiastically. “I think we’re going to destroy them, what do you think?”

“Yeah, we definitely know each other the best…For sure,” Joe answered, looking into your eyes, before being interrupted by one of the producers behind the camera.

“Both the other pairs said you guys would do the best,” she let you know. It made sense–the whole cast of the show knew you two were together, so it just made good sense that you would happen to know the most about each other. “Okay, the first thing is, what are your hidden talents?”

You excitedly turned to Joe. “I know yours!” He gave you a questioning look. “All your different accents!”

“Oh, yeah,” he nodded. “I can do lots of bad accents.”

“C’mon do one…” you egged him on, you really couldn’t help it. “Do your New Yorker accent.”

“Only if it pleases you…” Joe took a deep breath. “Eh, I’m walkin’ here!”

You let out a cackle from deep within your chest–you honestly weren’t sure where it came from, but for some reason, Joe always seemed to get the most genuine laughs and smiles out of you, whenever possible.

“And your hidden talent….” Joe thought for a second, tongue out–a common occurrence for him. “I’ve got it, you always wrap presents the absolute best.”

“Oh come on! That can’t be my hidden talent!” you argued, though you knew it was true. Even as a kid, you would be the one designated to wrap the family gifts–you just had a knack for folding the paper just right and always using the tape perfectly–and in adulthood, it had become somewhat of a hobby for you; you even had a gift-wrapping drawer full of ribbons, tapes, and other bits and bobs to spruce up any old box.

“No it is…” Joe said, sincerely while putting an arm around you shoulders and looking you dead in the eye. “You’re very talented.”

You couldn’t stop yourself from looking back into the deep pools of brown–you could just about see your reflection in them. Though after a few seconds, you remembered where you were and quickly straightened, pushing Joe’s arm off your shoulder and awkwardly clearing your throat. “Next one, then?”

“Okay…The next exercise is trust falls!” the producer said after a beat of awkward silence.

You couldn’t help but grimace as you pictured Joe missing catching you, ending with you falling flat on your face.

“Do you want to fall first and I’ll catch you or do you want to catch first?” Joe asked before seeing the look on your face. “Are you alright, dove?”

“Do you not trust Joseph?” the producer chimed in with a smile, though your fear was very genuine. There was no getting out of it–you just had to grow a set of balls and do the fall.

“I’m fine just-” you moved into position, standing with your back to Joe, who was a couple feet away. “Don’t drop me.”

Joe laughed as you squeezed your eyes as tightly shut as you could get them, took a deep breath, and fell backwards, into Joe’s grasp. It was almost too easy–he didn’t even struggle as he pushed you back into a standing position before you both turned around so you could catch him with ease.

“Great guys! Now we’re going to give you guys your phones, you have a minute to find some emojis to describe each other,” the producer said as an assistant handed you and Joe your phones.

You scrolled through the emoji menu picking, occasionally looking at Joe who was deep in thought with a furrowed brow, looking at his phone.

“Okay I’m ready,” you said, locking your phone and smiling at the camera.

“Yep, me too,” Joe answered with a smile. “For you, I did the big sparkly-eyed one–because you’re adorable, then the alien because you’re weird, and the high hell because you always wear such cool shoes, and then the dove because we call each other ‘dove’ a lot, and then the star because you’re a star…”

You had no hope in hiding the huge grin on your face and your boyfriend shyly poured all the compliments out–and you couldn’t help but notice as a blush crept up his neck as he spoke.

“Okay for mine, I put a chef, because you’re a good cook, then sunglasses because I always steal your glasses when we’re out, and then the dove, because our nicknames for each other, then some sparkles–I don’t know why but it made me think of you–and then a white heart because that’s the one I always send to you,” you rambled–perhaps a little too fast but you blamed the anxiety in your chest over being so vulnerable in front of a camera.

“I love it, darling,” Joe said under his breath as the assistant grabbed your phones back and the next shot was being prepared.

“Okay, and now we just have some rapid fire questions, are you guys ready?” the producer asked, waiting for the both of you to nod. “What is your friend’s favourite snack on set?”

You had to really fight the urge to say ‘me’ at first thinking back to all the hasty breaks you two would take on set, all but running to whomever's trailer was closer–you felt butterflies as you reminisced.

“Your’s is…” Joe drawed it out. “Those biscuits with the cheese that you dip in it, like Dunkaroos, right?”

“Sorta like Dunkaroos, and you like to have dried apricots.”

“Yes, I do…”

“Great!” the producer chimed in. “What is your friend’s pet peeve?”

“You hate when people don’t say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’, very British of you…”

“Yeah that’s a big one for me…” Joe was still thinking. “Your pet peeve is when people confidently sing the wrong lyrics to a song.”

You didn’t answer him–just held out your hand for a high five, which he did, but kept hold of your hand long after the slap was heard.

“Okay and what is your friend’s Zodiac sign?” the producer read off the list.

“I’m so bad with these….” Joe complained, wincing.

“Yeah, he has no idea, he can’t even guess,” you laughed. “He’s a Taurus.”

“Is your friend a morning or night person?”

“We’re both more morning people, I’d say…” you started.

“Yeah we both like to get stuff done in the morning, nighttime is cold…and dark…”

“Thanks so much guys, we just have some final thoughts and then an outro and you’re free to go!” the producer said with a smile.

“Okay…” You wracked your brain trying to come up with what to say, but all you could really focus on was the fact that Joe’s hand was still in yours. Even after all this time, it was the little things like him holding your hand and giving you his jacket on cold nights that gave you the bubbling feeling in your chest that you knew as love and pure adoration.

“I think apart from the zodiac sign question,” Joe started. “Which was complete bullshit by the way-oh wait sorry, I’m not supposed to swear-anyway, I think we probably did the best…”

“Because we’re the best!” you joked, before Joe pulled you into a rough hug that elicited a giggle from you. “Thanks, Glamour!”

[sunnydayjackass]

Hi! I love your posts! Got any possible headcanons if S/O ever discovers Jack's real identity? Maybe one day they call him by his real name Joseph and show him a 'MISSING PERSON' report of that year

Deflect. Deflect. Deflect.

Deny. Deny. Deny.

If you expressed any interest in looking into Jack's past, he'd do everything he could to shut it down. He's told you where he's from-Cloudy Town, he's told you about his friends and family from there, he'd thought that'd been enough. It isn't entirely a lie either but he's content to stick to it to keep you from prying.

Jack would assure you that this is who he is, who he's meant to be and always has been. There's nothing else to it, Sunshine, don't you believe him?

Naturally the production company and studio kept most if not everything under lock and keys. Keeping the information tightly secured under coverups and NDAs so a lot of your trails lead ultimately to dead ends. Jack just figures you'll tire out of it and give it up. He's here with you, in this moment, isnt it enough? It's a tinge frustrating but Jack doesn't have it in him to be upset at your curious nature.

Should you find a missing persons report or a photo of Joseph Cullman/Haberdae- Jack will absolutely flat out deny it. He won't even look at the photo. "Gosh, I mean...I guess he kinda looks like me I suppose but you know my name, silly." Jack will brush it off, saying that they even look a little similar is as close as you'll get out of him

Internally- mans is freaking the fuck out. That's not the person he is anymore, that's the real ghost in all of this. He's clean and free now, he's a better man, the best man. He isn't some troubled vagabond in tattoos and will even show you his arms and chest to prove a point.

"See? I told you." He chuckles, trying to choke down the anxiety. "Not a mark on me, Sunshine. I told you he's not me. I'm me. Poor guy though. Maybe someday they'll find him if he wants to be found." Never.

After the song and dance, if you accept Jack's points and drop the interrogations and research- it's an IMMENSE relief. Hell, he's thrilled to help you get rid of all the materials you collected. After all, the paper shredder makes it all look like confetti! And there's something just so satisfying about seeing Joseph's face go through the shredder and come out in teensy little pieces.

But if you still press, continuing to pepper Jack with questions instead of kisses or staying late into the night online or at the library, it'll take a different turn of tact.

"...why don't you believe me, Sunshine? Have I done something wrong to betray your trust?" It's that hurt turn of voice and aching look on his features as though very wounded by you not beliving his answers. "I know you're just trying to help, it's very sweet but...you can't help this man. Not all people want to be found." Again- not entirely a lie. "Sunshine, this fixating isn't good for your health. That's enough screen time, let me help you get ready for bed."

He doesn't want to fry your computer. He doesn't want to hide your library card or materials. But he will if he has to and he'll absolutely insist that he didn't. You don't have proof he's this man you seem to think he is and you have no proof of him blocking your efforts.

Really, Sunshine. It's better to let the dead rest.

[igotathingforvampires]

Marcus Volturi x Human F! Human || Their Mate being changed.

Who’s doing it????

He’s doing it.

Nope, don’t come NEAR his tiny mortal. Marcus has been overly protective. Like, mauling a vampire who had gotten a whiff of you and thought ‘oooo yum’ you’re not gifted, so you’re kind of a sitting duck. But he was so proud when you legit grabbed a book off the table and just flung it at this A-Hole’s head.

Promptly cuddles you after said mayhem, Caius is cleaning up laughing. Aro is put out because ‘what a rude person, we let him stay as a guest!! And he tries to eat her?!’

The guard know now, this tiny human is precious and nice and doesn’t mind that they eat humans, we like her and she is our cinnamon roll.

Marcus gets to change her. No one else. This was an area of contention Sulpricia wanted the honor as she wanted to be a mother figure, which she practically is to the entire coven.

Caius offered and almost got his head torn off.

You’re actually quite lucky because the Ancients know how to make the change quasi not painful. So having them fight over who changes you is comical as you sit and watch the verbal tennis match.

“But I want Marcus to do it.” Your tiny voice lifts over the din in the family room and everyone shrugs.

That settles it.

Marcus is on cloud nine.

Before The Change:

So, like I said the ancients can make things a bit less painful.

Alec is also there and you two are thick as thieves so he’s determined to cut off your pain come hell or high water.

Marcus basically gives you a last hurrah as a human.

You go to Disney World and Universal Studios.

And have an absolute blast with the inner Coven.

Jane and Alec are chasing one another with cotton candy.

Aro is trying to figure out why on earth humans go on death defying rides. Mortality must be so dull. Oh well let’s go on it anyway!!!

Sully and Dora buy all the cute things for their shared tower room (turns out they holed up in there to give a big middle finger to the men when they were being A-holes and now they just made it into a super haven for chicks.

There is a sign that says “No Male Identifying Folks” Very inclusive in their non inclusivity you tell them.

There is a photo of you all at Diagon Alley with everyone having their house colors— go figure you’re like the only Yellow in a sea of green.

You pulled Marcus into one of those photo booths and smacked a kiss on his cheek and absolutely adore the photo— granted the one after he had basically pinned you to the side and returned the sneak attack ten fold.

Then the other Kings and Queens piled into the small space and you all acted like utter idiots.

Those are private photos in the inner family room. And they never fail to make anyone laugh at how squished and HAPPY the human is.

You eat all the food at Epcot.

You get drunk. Like stupid drunk with Aro and it is hilarious— he is big brother and you two are drunk on a balcony at the Animal Kingdom pointing at the wildlife and singing in Italian and LAUGHING your asses off at each other.

Marcus and Caius babysit.

By the end of the week there are literally three albums full of the coven and guard having a blast. They haven’t had this much fun in ages, and so now this HAS to be an annual thing.

The Change/Waking Up:

Holy cow that was wild.

You’re so lucky Alec kept you under.

Because the first several moments after Marcus bit you was not pleasant AT ALL.

You’re in your private rooms with Marcus, but you aren’t aware of that as you lurch up from your nest of a bed and whip your head back and forth trying to figure out where the heck you are.

There are Aro and Caius in the background ready to help, cautious as Marcus smiles at you.

Holy Mary Joseph and the F*cking CAMEL he’s GORGEOUS.

All anyone notices is your eyes suddenly explode like a playful cat zeroing in on a string into pure black.

Aro: Uho

Caius: Knew it.

Marcus just smiled at you and opened his arms, "I missed you little one."

You launch off the bed and tackle him full force, “DARLING!” Your happy bell chime voice echos off the walls as he laughs despite the noisy landing you both have.

LOUD purring is coming from you both.

He's smothering you in a hundred kisses across your face as if he needs to memorize the features again now that you're changed.

The brothers leave.

FAST.

Obviously.

Things get R rated real quick folks.

You both literally cannot be pried apart. You are stuck like glue.

You're either lounging in the library.

You're in his lap during trial.

You're playing with Dora and Sully in the tower during more serious trials and then you all but tackle your mate down the flight of stairs when he arrives with a "hello my love."

"DARLING!" -THUMP BANG CRASH. Cue the baritone laugh of exasperation from your mate.

Your Newborn Year

You’re a F*cking Terror - Caius after you had thrown him across the training ground with a giggle.

.... Perhaps prudence is a good thing? - Aro after you had rearranged the entire living room-- he has to admit it looks divine. But omg. Child what happened. "I got bored."

Boredom is literally terrifying to the Volturi now.

Because if you're bored you WILL find something to do.

And usually it is death defying. Which is good that you're now immortal.

No really, in your Immortality you have no fear.

No gift?!

No no Caius would say THAT is your gift you have NO FEAR.

You went and hugged a grizzly bear.

Why because ‘what’s he gonna do say no? He can’t eat me.”

Wolves are your friends— Caius hates them too close to Children of the Moon smells. You have two and they are snuggle bears.

You pet a crocodile. and swam with gators in Louisiana.

Went and leapt out a plane.

Swam deep dive in the ocean, and booped a shark on the nose for getting too close because you don’t need to breathe and ‘the big meanie got too close for comfort’ Aro: darling sister in the ocean the shark is afraid of you.

Marcus has his hands full.

You were a savage little killer too when thirsty, but only hunted criminals like abusers and rapists. You refused to dine with Heidi’s fishing.

That was fine, Aro and Caius kept the dungeon’ stocked with food. Or blood bags in the kitchen.

You were a very good newborn, you don’t bite humans or other vampires UNLESS they upset you and that is a rarity.

But again…you have no fear so when they do you tear them limb from limb like a crazed banshee or drain them dry. Mostly it's for insulting Marcus.

“We should have known…. Look at Marcus…” Aro had said.

Everyone glances at the calm King reading a book on his throne while you're bundled under his robe with your head poking out like a tiny babushka ready for winter--- he's looking domestic and calm.....and then they recall the pile of vampire still smoking in the center of the throne room because someone had insulted his queen.

"Makes sense." all the vampires say together.

“Marcus let’s go to Paris!”

“Marcus let’s go check out New Orleans!!”

“Darling have you been to Egypt?”

"Where to next little one?" - Marcus who's just absolutely enthralled with your fervor for immortality.

Aro and Caius just let you globe trot for a while, Marcus gets out, he feels happy, you don’t tear Volterra to the ground because you are restless and curious.

It’s a win win really. Marcus facetimes for trials which is hilarious as Athenadora sits in for him and he gives his feedback-- with some points from you occasionally--

He has never felt so happy in his life than with you.

[bizarrequazar]

GJ and ZZH Updates — May 22-28

<<< previous week || all posts || following week >>>

This is part of a weekly series collecting updates from and relating to Gong Jun and Zhang Zhehan.

This post is not wholly comprehensive and is intended as an overview, links provided lead to further details. Dates are in accordance with China Standard Time, the organization is chronological. My own biases on some things are reflected here. Anything I include that is not concretely known is indicated as such, and you’re welcome to do your own research and draw your own conclusions as you see fit. A glossary of names and terms often used can be found [here]. Please let me know if you have any questions, comments, concerns, or additions. :)

05-22 → Colgate posted two photo ads featuring Gong Jun on their Weibo, [here] and [here].

05-23 → QuelleVous did a livestream going over information about CAPA. [recording] [summary]

→ Gong Jun posted a commercial he did for Fresh’s new product to his personal Weibo. (1129 kadian) This was reposted by Fresh shortly after, who also posted a new photo ad.

→ Gong Jun’s photoshoot for L’OFFICIEL was released, part of the caption includes, “Since the present is the future he once hoped for, then when the dream comes true, he must accept it and enjoy it. Changes are happening little by little, and he takes them all and makes them his new life.” (mtl) Two promo videos were posted on their Xiao Hong Shu [here] and [here]. Gong Jun posted several of the photos to his personal Weibo, Instagram, and Xiao Hong Shu, the captions on all are plane emojis (three, ten, and ten respectively.) This was reposted by his studio Weibo with the additional caption, “Let go of the mood, enjoy purity, embrace nature, and always be enthusiastic.” (mtl) The fashion editor for the magazine later posted a photo of himself and Gong Jun to his Xiao Hong Shu. The magazine included a short Q&A section, [translation here]. Fan Observation: It was discovered that when you hit translate on Gong Jun’s personal Weibo post while on the international app, the words “对, 对, ~我爱你~” (”Yes, yes, ~I love you~”) appear. [video] The translation software’s account later confirmed that this was an intentional Easter egg. 

At the same time (1129 kadian), the photoshoot for L’OFFICIEL HOMMES was released. A promo video was posted to their Xiao Hong Shu. Gong Jun posted some of the photos to his personal Weibo, Instagram, and Xiao Hong Shu, the captions are “hmm~” and “Working hard to gain muscle and lose fat!” respectively (same caption on Insta and XHS). This was reposted by his studio Weibo with the additonal caption, “@ Gong Jun Simon has a black and white style, is determined and arbitrary, and appreciates life in performances with sincerity and love.” (mtl)

If you searched for the magazines on Weidian, little stickers of Gong Jun fell down. [video]

→ Colgate announced a gift to be available with products at their flagship store, which features a drawing of a tooth done by Gong Jun. They also later posted a catalogue for this.

→ Gong Jun trended on Twitter.

05-24 → Gong Jun posted a promo image for the newly airing drama Heroes to his personal Weibo with the caption “Whoever sees it is the hero!” and tagging its two male leads Joseph Zeng and Liu Yuning (aka Lyn), the latter of whom plays the second male lead in Legend of AnLe. Joseph Zeng commented “Thank you handsome-faced and kind-hearted super handsome ge!” to which Gong Jun replied “Remember to treat me to a meal,” and Liu Yuning commented “Thank you my Jun-ge!” to which Gong Jun replied “You owe me a treat too!” [quoted translations] Gong Jun also followed Joseph Zeng, who followed back.

→ The Instagram account was verified.  Fan Observations: To verify an account on Instagram, you only need to provide a photo of government issued ID. It is known that Xie Yihua has at least one copy of Zhang Zhehan’s ID, which she has been using for montha to “prove” to fans that she has contact with him. [here] is an example of another Chinese celebrity who someone has impersonated with a verified Instagram account for over two years. Unfortunately and unsurprisingly, defenders of the account are treating the checkmark as if it’s the word of god.

→ Gong Jun’s studio Weibo posted a video compilation of recent commercial and photoshoot bts footage. (flashing images cw) Caption: “#Gong Jun unscheduled fragment delivery# You have a new a ‘work email’ to be checked. After checking it carefully, you will get a special gift from boss.”

05-25 → Bluebird posted the findings from analyzing the metadata on the statement Xie Yihua’s brand put out in response to Noko’s statement about being plaragized (05-10). The metadata shows that Xie Yihua’s statement was created the day before the products were even announced, two days before Noko put out their statement. Fan Observation: Obviously we can’t know for sure, but this sure makes it look like the plaragism was done with the expectation (read: hope) that it would cause trouble. Some believe her people themselves may have been the ones to tip Noko off about the plagarism, given Noko’s mention of “a Chinese celebrity” despite the brand’s site that the product was shown on not having any direct references to being to connected to “Zhang Zhehan”.

→ Colgate posted a photo ad featuring Gong Jun announcing an upcoming ad campaign.

→ Fresh posted a photo ad featuring Gong Jun.

→ Safeguard posted a five second teaser video featuring Gong Jun to advertise their new product going on sale. (1129 kadian) This was reposted by Gong Jun’s studio Weibo.

→ The Word of Honor costume assistant posted two more bts photos of Gong Jun. The post was later deleted for unknown reasons.

→ Two of Xie Yihua’s side Weibo accounts were permanently muted. 🎉

→ A brief clip of Gong Jun for Charlotte Tilbury appeared on Weibo’s opening screen.

05-26 → Charlotte Tilbury officially announced Gong Jun as their new global ambassador, releasing a commercial and a series of photo ads for the product line he’s representing. He posted a shortened cut of the commercial to his personal Weibo, caption: “I am delighted to be the global makeup ambassador for Charlotte Tilbury. The Pillow Talk Party is about to start a dream, and you want to know who the mysterious call is? Lock in @CharlotteTilbury and join me for more party surprises! CT Pillow Talk Party, joy is calling!” (mtl), this was reposted by Charlotte Tilbury and his studio Weibo. 

The Pillow Talk Party product line sold out less than three hours after Gong Jun was announced ambassador, as well as several other products also selling out.

→ Legal Daily posted a long article about how “immoral artists” can make comebacks, making explicit mention of artists releasing videos online playing the victim and selling merch. The journalist, Han Dangdong, has previously written articles defending CAPA’s ban lists and contributing to the slander against Zhang Zhehan. Fan Observation: One of the people cited in the article as an authority opinion does not seem to actually currently hold the position the article claims.

→ Honor posted a commercial for their new model featuring Gong Jun.

→ An impromptu Twitter space was held by Bluebird, QuelleVous, and Flora discussing the Legal Daily article, Xie Yihua(’s incompetence), and generally cursing out Xie Yihua. [recording] [summary]

→ LockNLock posted a commercial featuring Gong Jun. (1129 kadian) Caption: “To you who are looking forward to traveling freely: Do you want to see the mountains, rivers, lakes and seas? ⛰ Want to hear the waves (浪花) hit? 🌊 Want to see flowers blooming along the way? 💐 Maybe, we can't touch those distant scenery for the time being, but this summer, we can also experience a comfortable life at the door of our home! 🏕 Come and listen, Junjun @ Gong Jun Simon has sent you an invitation~ 🙋‍♂️” (mtl)

→ An open letter signed by many well known Chinese authors was posted addressing concerns about plagarism, resulting in a hot search on Weibo. Half an hour later, Xie Yihua made a statement on three different accounts about a fan who had asked about collecting Zhang Sanjian’s essays into a book, with Xie Yihua rudely citing copyright laws.

The timing has many wondering if Xie Yihua intentionally kicked up this fuss to draw negative attention to fans (ie. “look, Zhang Zhehan’s fans are plagarizing!”) Interestingly, this seems to have been the breaking point for a decent chunk of fans who have been believing her until this point, as this resulted in a “civil war” among them on Weibo.

→ Kangshifu posted three stills from their micro-movie featuring Gong Jun, announcing the end of the events they’d had going for the ad campaign.

→ Fresh posted a video spoken by Gong Jun announcing a new flagship store.

→ Safeguard posted another commercial featuring Gong Jun on their Taobao.

→ Warrior posted a photo ad featuring Gong Jun to their Weixin.

→ Two more of Xie Yihua’s side accounts were muted. 🎉

→ Safeguard posted a photo ad featuring Gong Jun to their Weibo.

05-27 → L’Oreal posted a video using footage from their commercials with Gong Jun in late February / early March announcing a contest.

→ 精彩OK posted a video featuring Gong Jun with Fresh’s new product. This was later reposted by Fresh themselves. 精彩OK later posted another video featuring Gong Jun as part of a series celebrating their ten year anniversary.

→  A voice message from Gong Jun was made available on Charlotte Tilbury’s WeChat. [video]

→ 精彩OK posted a video for their ten year anniversary featuring Gong Jun among others. [Gong Jun cut]

→ A Twitter space was held by QuelleVous talking about Xie Yihua’s professional history and the current situation with a publishing company linked to CAPA. [part 1] [part 2] [summary]

→ Charlotte Tilbury posted a video spoken by Gong Jun to their Weixin.

→ A Twitter space was held between Naan, QuelleVous, and Puddan_ talking about the Beijing Circle of the Chinese entertainment industry. [recording]

→ Four pictures of “Zhang Zhehan” “wearing” Xie Yihua’s merch accompanied by “Lufei” were posted to the Instagram. Caption: “The road is very long🪐 Run hard🏃 to fly🛸 Keep on moving🌊” (mtl) Fan Observations:   -  In the two photos where his face is visible it can be easily seen that the logos were photoshopped in, the other of “him” looks to be our old friend the body double in a rented apartment. [further comparison] Some are wondering if the body double here is Susu.  -  The hand in the photo of “Lufei” does not look like Zhang Zhehan’s.  -  Below is a photo of Lufei from last June (left) and the new one (right). [here] is a comparison done by a veterinary surgeon.   -  Remember the fake Lufei account from last November? The one that Wang Mengmeng said was Xie Yihua? Literally the exact same deal here with both the dog and the rented apartment, I wouldn’t be surprised if these are actually extra photos from that. That account was used as part of the reason for Zhang Zhehan being put on the 11-23 list, and this confirms that it was indeed Xie Yihua’s doing.  -  We are not the target audience for these. The photos being fake is laughably obvious for us, but the reality is that people in the general public who see these in passing aren’t going to look closely—they’re just going to see “proof” of it being Zhang Zhehan behind the merch.

05-28 → QuelleVous posted an updated chart showing CAPA’s current connections that can be publicly confirmed.

→ Kangshifu posted a short commercial featuring Gong Jun. Caption: “Loving someone is a light taste. Just like this elegant fragrance, people can't stop the aftertaste. This bottle of Kangshifu jasmine tea, I just want to give you a drink~ Super cute jasmines, have you received this bottle of tea?”  Fan Observation: As with the micro-movie, the specific type of jasmine used in this ad is gardenias.

→ Gong Jun left a comment on Li Haonan’s new song saying “Ge sounds good, Haonan-di jiayou!” accidentally typing 哥 (brother) instead of it’s homophone 歌 (song), so it sounds like he was praising himself lol. Li Haonan replied, “Hahahaha thank you ge 🙏 Do you want to learn?” to which Gong Jun replied, “Fingers were too quick, I typed wrong... The song sounds good.” [screenshot and quoted translation]

→ Charlotte Tilbury posted another commercial featuring Gong Jun. (1129 kadian)

→ REAL1640 posted a short previously unseen bts clip from Word of Honor episode 6. Caption: “Ge sounds good...”

Additional Reading: → Flora’s daily fan news thread

<<< previous week || all posts || following week >>>

[uwmspeccoll]

It’s Fine Press Friday!

This week we bring you The Bottom of the Harbor, by the The New Yorker writer Joseph Mitchell, with photos by by celebrated American photographer Berenice Abbott, printed by Wild Carrot Letterpress on a paper made at Cartiere Enrico Magnini, and published in 1991 by the Limited Editions Club in an edition of 250 copies signed by the author. The six stories that comprise the book were first published in the The New Yorker, and then first published as a collection by Little Brown in 1959. The collection has been recognized as Mitchell’s best and most “elegiac account of New York,” featuring his distinctive focus on the everyday underdog characters of New York City.

Berenice Abbott spent her career documenting New York City as it underwent massive changes, particularly in the 1920s and 30s when millions were immigrating to the United States through Ellis Island. Abbott’s and Mitchell’s works are complementary as they both focused on often overlooked places and people, emphasizing the importance and beauty of the small things.

The photographs are produced here in photogravure by American photogravure printmaker Jon Goodman. Photogravure allows a photographic image to be printed in intaglio. These images were produced using the original negatives taken by Abbott. The result is a rich velvety tonal image that is fully integrated into the paper though the extreme pressure used in the printing process.

Goodman’s photogravure plates were printed by Sara Krohn and Wingate Studio on handmade paper. The text was set by Michael and Winifred Bixler in Monotype Bell. Our copy is a gift from our friends Megan Holbrook and Eric Vogel.

View other posts on books published by The Limited Editions Club.

View more Fine Press Friday posts.

-- Teddy, Special Collections Graduate Intern

[scotianostra]

January 4th 2011 saw Scotland lose one of it’s best singer/songwriters when Gerry Rafferty passed away.

Gerry Rafferty came across as a shy, introverted performer, he did little publicity and promotion for his music, preferring to place himself inside the recording studios, and letting the songs speak for themselves.

His introverted ways even went as far as to preferring art work for his albums depriving fans of photos of himself, although ‘Night Owl’ did feature some pics of Gerry in the studio on the LP’s sleeve. He was unlike any 'pop’ artist of the time, Rod Stewart, Elton John, Billy Joel and Paul McCartney were singers whose images were front and centre of their music and fame. Gerry struggled with fame and with alcoholism and depression and the increasingly erratic behaviour they spawned. Perhaps his upbringing didn’t help.

Rafferty was born in Paisley, an unwanted third son. His father, Joseph, was an Irish-born miner. His mother, Mary Skeffington, whose name would provide a Rafferty song title, dragged young Gerry round the streets on Saturday nights so that they would not be at home when his father came back drunk. They would wait outside, in all weathers, until he had fallen asleep, to avoid a beating. “If it wasn’t for you, I’d leave,” Mary told Gerry. Joseph died in 1963, when Gerry was 16.

Alcohol often played a part in Gerry’s songwriting, “One Drink Down”, “Baker Street”, and “Night Owl” at the time of writing these his marriage was struggling, it eventually ended in divorce in 1990 but they had been apart for some time, his ex-wife Carla said: “There was no hope. I would never have left him if there’d been a glimmer of a chance of him recovering.”

In July 2008 while staying in the five-star Westbury Hotel in Mayfair he began a four-day drinking session that left his room extensively damaged. Speaking to The Independent newspaper later, the hotel’s director commented: “It was such a shame. In person, Mr Rafferty was a really nice man, he kept himself to himself and didn’t bother the other guests but he was clearly on a downward spiral. He was in self-destruct mode.”

Conflicting reports and statements from his solicitors included a stay in St Thomas’ Hospital suffering from a chronic liver condition, brought on by heavy drinking, a newspaper reported that the hospital said he had left the hospital leaving all his belongings there and he had been reported missing, this proved to be false and the truth was he was moving from one London hotel to another. During this time, he met Enzina Fuschini, an Italian artist living in Dorset. Rafferty and Fuschini rented a large home together in Upton, near Poole, Fuschini claims she cared for the singer during 2009 and tried to help him overcome his alcoholism, and that he proposed to her at the Ritz Hotel in Paris on Christmas Eve that year.

In November 2010, Rafferty was admitted to the Royal Bournemouth Hospital where he was put on a life-support machine and treated for multiple organ failure. After being taken off life support, Rafferty rallied for a short time, and doctors thought that he might recover. Rafferty died of liver failure at the home of his daughter Martha in Stroud, Gloucestershire, on 4 January 2011.

A requiem mass was held in St Mirins Cathedral in Paisley on January 21st, attended by many politicians, and musical friends through the years, people from all over the world came to Paisley and listened to the mass, a spontaneous round of applause rung out as his coffin was driven away to the towns Woodside Crematorium, Gerry’s ashes were taken to the Holy Island of Iona and scattered, a sad loss to Scotland.

The following year Barbara Dickson Jack Bruce and the Proclaimers joined others along with the Rafferty Family for a tribute performance held Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow.

Here’s a little known song from Gerry called When I Rest.

When I rest When I lay down I got to call on you.When I sleep When I don’t wake up I got to call on you. Don’t let me hide, Don’t take away me pride Remind me of everything that I don’t wanna know Speak to my heart Help me make a start Don’t leave me out here with nowhere to go. When I’m lost When I’m blind I got to call on you.When I cry When I break right down I got to call on you. Don’t leave me blind, don’t leave me behind Don’t leave me here to dream my life away I’m out in the rain And this world’s insane Don’t leave me here to waste another day.

[thiswasinevitableid]

17 chosen and 20 lunar for Indruck, nsfw, please!

Here you go!

Lieutenants Log, stardate 10015, Joseph Stern recording

We’ve finally arrived at an agreement with the Aquariads, the species who control this moon. They will allow our research team unfettered access to the planet, but at an odd price. They requested one of our crew agree to be married off to a high ranking member of their governing council. 

I suspect, but cannot prove, that this is not a desirable being to be married to. He’s a revered seer, and yet they’re willing to couple him to a human and not one of their own? Suspicious.

Myself and the other single members of the crew were all given extensive questionnaires on everything from our sexual preferences to our daily habits. It took me a good hour and a half to finish it. 

After a full earth day of waiting, we received word that chief astrobotanist Duck Newton was the chosen human. I have no idea how this happened, as Duck has little tolerance for what he views as “woo-woo” things like precognition. But he was chosen all the same. 

Because this is Duck, he grumbled a bit, but cheered up when he learned he would only be required to stay with his new husband for three weeks before joining us on our field word, and that we can send him specimens for identification and research. If we decide Aquaria is the planet we’ve been looking for and establish more permanent research stations here, Duck will be expected to spend at least a few days a month with the seer. Mama made it clear that if the idea was truly not something he could agree to, she would call the deal off and we could try another approach. Duck said that wouldn’t be necessary, and that he could think of far worse things they could have asked of us. 

We deposit him at the seers home tomorrow. After that, we begin our exploration of Aquaria, fourth moon of the plant Oceana and (hopefully) the home of the antidote we’ve been searching for. 

Joseph Stern, Lieutenant on the spaceship Amnesty, signing off.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Duck waves to the skiff as it pulls away, his planetside bag slung over his shoulder. There’s only one way to go; down the single stone levee, decorated with beautiful tiles, to the massive mansion at the end. 

It reminds him of the photos of Venice he’s seen in old National Geographics, beautiful buildings floating atop a planet of water. He knows Aquaria has islands, but the majority of it’s cities are on or near the water because most of its residents live beneath the waves. They remind Duck of mermaids, with scaled tails and fins giving way to humanoid upper bodies and faces. As far as creatures to get politically married off to, he could be staring down worse. 

There’s still the problem of not knowing why this mer is off by himself and without a partner. Or, as becomes obvious once Duck is inside, any company at all. The other high-ranking aquariads they’ve met come with miles of attendants; here there’s only the high, curved ceilings and rippling water. Maybe the guy is shy? Or maybe he’s a dick? Or just real fucking scary to look at?

As he walks further into the house, he notices the tiled walls are covered in striking murals that, when coupled with the odd half-light allowed in by the green glass windows, makes him feel as though he’s wandering through a dream. The pools and canals criss-cross the floor, and really the ground is more water than concrete, the fact he’s able to walk at all is a concession to the fact some aquariads evolved to be land dwelling. 

A splash makes him turn, and in the pool to his right a black fin cuts the water. He steels himself to not insult the alien he’s now legally attached to. The figure rises from the water, setting his arms on the edge of the stony floor and Duck steps back as a wide, toothy smile appears in an angular face. 

“Hello, Duck Newton.” His tail is the same black as his fin, and his silver hair is tucked behind ears of the same color, which Duck has learned can fan out as a way of communicating. 

“Uh, hi. You must be-”

“Indrid Cold, yes. Apologies, a peril of my profession is that I will always be a little bit ahead.”

“Right. So, uh, guess we’re gonna be seein a lot of each other the next couple of weeks.” He aims for a joking, nonchalant tone. 

“Yes, as we’re married.” He cocks his head, confused, then grins brighter, “Oh, oh I see, you are attempting levity because this is all very awkward. I, ah, I appreciate that. Here, let me show you where you’ll be staying” Indrid pushes off the wall, swimming gracefully on his back as Duck follows him down the hall. The center of the house has more skylights, allowing him to see that his host’s fins aren’t pure black; small silver and white dots are scattered across it. He wonders if he could find constellations in them.

“Here we are.” Indrid gestures to a room, one where the only water is in the form of two deep blue half-circles on the left and right walls. The center of the room is a large bed, linens gleaming whites and pale greens, and the skylight nestles against a chandelier of finely detailed rosey glass. 

“Holy shit.” Duck sets his bag down on a trunk near the door.

“Do you like it?” A flash of yellow up Indrid’s fin, echoed in the dots on his tail.

“I mean, anythin looks ritzy after months on a spaceship but” he turns, smiles, “yeah, I do. Thanks for giving me such nice digs.”

“You are most welcome. Now, this room is designed to give guests privacy. See that red panel on the wall? If you press it, it opens the pool on that side up to the rest of the house, allowing myself or servants to come in and help you.”

“So you do have staff.”

“They’re, ah, more like errand folk. None live here.” Indrid clears his throat, “I can show you the rest of the house, although if you need to sleep I can let you be. I am, ah, not entirely clear on where your internal clock sits now.”

“Aquaria’s days are about four days longer than earth’s, so I ain’t too thrown off. Happy to see more of the place.”

Indrid nods, and Duck follows him out of the bedroom. Most of the other rooms they pass are sparse squares of walkways and still water, under which lies the parts of the house Indrid uses. When they reach Indrid’s quarters, he spots what looks to be an artists’ studio under the clear blue water. 

“You paint?” He kneels and peers down for a better look, Indrid bobbing nearby. 

“Indeed. Art helps me make sense of my visions, and I enjoy it besides. In fact, all the murals you see in this house are my doing. There are even more under water.”

“Damn, that’s fuckin incredible. If I get my SCUBA gear rigged up, maybe I can get a tour?”

“Scu--oh, yes, an underwater breathing apparatus. We have a much smaller device that can help you breathe and sea down here” he dips his head at the pool, “unfortunately, the one I commissioned for you will not arrive until close to the end of your stay. They, ah, did not give me much time to prepare. Hence the lack of many comforts I might otherwise give, as well as places for you to and I to talk, eat or do, ah, other activities together.” The yellow intermittently flashing up his fin gives way to a burst of pink. 

Oh, right. Duck pulls up his infopad (given a generous waterproofing treatment prior to his leaving Amnesty) and opens the contract he signed. 

“Yeah. About that. Says here they expect us to, uh, ‘consummate’ the marriage.”

“I’m aware” Indrid’s voice creeps up.

“Do you...wanna do that now?” He spins a finger in the water.

“I, ah, I beg your pardon?”

“I mean, seems like we could just get it outta the way, rather than have the fact we gotta fuck someone we didn’t pick hangin over our heads?” 

“This...this is not at all how I wanted this to go.” 

Duck looks up and immediately wishes he could reverse time; Indrid looks genuinely hurt, ears flicked back like a scolded dog. 

“Duck I, ah, well, you did not choose me, that is true. But I chose you.”

“Well, fuck.” He sits down with a heavy sigh, “figured some big wigs used those surveys to pick me out. Guess what they say about assumin things is true.”

“.....”

“It makes an ass outta you and me?”

Indrid blinks, then snickers, “Your humor is part of why I chose you. It is very bad, but also extremely good.”

“Glad you think so. Pretty sure Mama was ready to blow me out the airlock for some of the ones I made on the way here.” He knows he’s dodging the conversation they should be having, but how the fuck is he supposed to respond when an alien mermaid tells him he picked him to be his husband?

Indrid swims over so he can rest his arms and chin on the stone, glancing shyly up at Duck as he says, “I suppose I also made an ass of myself, as you would say, by assuming you would not see this as an obligation.”

“I mean, even if you chose me, don’t this feel like an obligation to you?”

“No. For me, it is a reminder that most of my kind are too afraid of me to even give me a chance to court them. And that the council thinks I will get into too much trouble without someone to distract me now and then, and decides the company I am worthy of is an alien explorer with no interest in me.”

“I mean, the only reason we agreed to this is because there might be a plant on Aquaria that can treat the illness runnin rampant back home. So at least it’s for a good cause?”

Indrid flicks his ears, red running up his fin, “What you are doing is noble. What I am doing is being used as a way to keep your exploration team in line.”

Duck winces, “Fuck, I’m, uh, I’m just gonna stop talkin now.”

For an agonizing five minutes they sit there in silence, contemplating their situation and stealing glances at each other. Duck always tried to do the right thing, tried to live an honest life and treat the people in it with respect. He’s been kind and polite to beings up and down the galaxy. He can extend some of that to his own husband, can’t he?

“Indrid?”

The alien raises his head.

“Can we start over?”

“Yes. But I do not see how-”

Duck holds out his hand, “Name’s Duck. Thanks for invitin me in and lookin after me the few weeks.”

Indrid’s smile widens as he understands the game, and he takes the human’s hand, “A pleasure to meet you. I am Indrid, seer to the court of Aquaria, and your anxious husband in spite of the now-changing, much more pleasant futures.”

They finish their tour, the humid air less stifling in the wake of their confessions. Indrid shows him the kitchen, the sitting room, and the gardens which, to Duck’s delight, are as much above the water as below. 

After that, Indrid excuses himself to attend to seer duties and Duck goes back to his room to unpack. As he’s putting away his toothbrush and razor near a large, elaborate tub carved from golden stone, one of Indrid’s admissions from earlier floats through his mind, bobbing there like a buoy until he gets a chance to ask it.

When they’re in the gardens, Duck taking notes as Indrid dives and surfaces with new things to show him, the human slips his feet into the water and says, “Indrid? You said my offerin to fuck you wasn’t what you wanted. What, uh, what did you want?” 

The alien blinks, slowly, pink and teal flashing in his tail, “It is a bit silly in retrospect, but since I knew we would not have time for a proper human marriage courtship, I thought I could mimic the process leading to a one night stand; that way you would be romanced in a manner that made you both comfortable with me and the concept of sex with a relative stranger.” 

Duck chuckles, “Always wild to find out how human stuff gets interpreted by the rest of the galaxy. How’d you even come up with what you were gonna do?”

Indrid crosses his arms, mock affronted, “I will have you know I have seen a great deal of human media, courtesy of our minister of defense.”

“Oh yeah?” Duck shifts onto his stomach, sends a small splash Indrid’s way, “what was this night gonna involve, then?”

“Food, dim and therefore, apparently, romantic lighting, dancing to sensual music, and then hopefully some kissing.” The pink in his tail intensifies, “and then working out exactly how to have sex human.”

The mixture of enthusiasm and being utterly out of his element charms Duck to no end; not to mention it’s the most thought someone’s put into a hook-up with him in the last three years. 

“Seems to me you got the gist of it. Though I really wanna know what you picked out for ‘sensual music.’”

A playful glint enters Indrid’s glowing eyes, “I will show you, but we must go through the whole evening, otherwise it will seem like a disjointed choice. With, ah, with the understanding that you are not obligated to kiss me at the end.

“You got a deal.”

“Wonderful” Indrid claps his hands together, “wait right here.”

Indrid disappears in a whoosh of black and silver. When he returns, he hoists six opaque domes onto the floor in front of Duck, “I initially planned to eat in the sitting room, but you like this room much better, so we can have dinner here.” With that, he double-taps the top of each dome, revealing a confusing buffet. 

“Uh, are those french fries?”

“Yes. You are from the United States of America, and so I chose foods that would make you feel at home.” Indrid points to each plate in turn, “french fries, steak, a turkey with cranberries, lobster, macaroni with cheese, and an apple pie.”

The pie is covered with an odd, yellow meringue, the turkey is the size of a quail, and the black shell suggests this is not a kind of lobster he’s eaten before, but Duck can’t stop smiling.

“Also I took care to be sure none of the necessary substitutions were poisonous to you.”

“Thanks, Indrid.” He means it; in their travels they’ve learned it’s not only humans who think everyone lives and eats exactly the way they do.

Everything except the french fries tastes strange but he finds the meal, like it’s orchestrator, intriguing in it’s oddity. Indrid brings two cool, white bottles from below, offers Duck tastes of each. One is like the celery soda he drank on a dare, the other like root beer if it wasn’t gross. He keeps the second one next to him as the meal progresses, Indrid asking him all kinds of questions about botany and himself. When dinner is over, Indrid guides him two rooms over, grinning excitedly. 

“I will start the music; one moment.” 

A few seconds after he dives, a chrome cylinder descends from the ceiling and music fills the air.

Ninety-nine red balloons

Floating in the summer sky

Panic bells, it's red alert!

There's something here from somewhere else!

He giggles, sits down so it’s easier to call, “Indrid? Not sure you got the right song bud.”

A silver-haired head pops up, “Not romantic?”

“Nope.”

“Hmmmm” He lifts a small, white rectangle and the song changes. 

He was a famous trumpet man from out Chicago way

He had a boogie style that no one else could play

He was the top man at his craft

But then his number came up and he was gone with the draft

He's in the army now, a blowin' reveille

He's the boogie woogie bugle boy of Company B

“N-not quite” The laugh is stronger now.

“Drat. How about….”

I threw a wish in the well, don't ask me, I'll never tell

I looked to you as it fell and now you're in my way 

Indrid looks hopefully at him.

“Ain’t what I’d call sensual, but you’d hear it at the kind of place you’d pick up a date.”

The alien beams, starts shifting back and forth to the beat, “shall we dance?”

Duck blushes, pretends he doesn’t know why, “Uh, probably should have said this earlier, but I ain’t much of a dancer.”

Indrid swims to him, stopping close enough that Duck can see the lines on his face that reveal they’re close in age, “That’s alright. Sometimes conversing while having a drink is acceptable behavior, correct?”

“Yeah.” Duck doesn’t bother to hide how intently he’s watching as Indrid dives, his form elegant and ethereal beneath the water. 

They sit sipping a hard cider that tastes of papaya and flowers instead of apples until the three other moons glow bright in the skylight. Duck yawns, and excuses himself for the night. 

“Thanks for a great evenin, Indrid.”

“You are most welcome. A pity I could not make the music work.”

He’s here for another three weeks at least. And Indrid is floating through the darkening water like a dream he’s tempted to chase.

“Guess you’ll just have to try again.” Duck winks. 

Indrid’s ears frill slightly and he flashes bright purple, “Yes, my dear husband, I suppose I will.” 

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Duck’s routine is not the one he usually has while docked on a planet. Every day for the last week, he wakes up, joins Indrid for a leisurely swim, works on his research, and then spends his evening with a weirdly cute alien trying to accurately recreate the earth dating experience for him. 

The second night, he asked if Indrid would bring him some of his favorites for their next meal. The steamed coconut crab was a hit. The mantis-squid served still swimming, less so. From then on, when Indrid put in his food orders to the cooks at the main court, it was for a mixture of earth and Aquariad dishes, each one leading him or Indrid to share an anecdote from their time on their home planet. 

For the last two nights, he’s lifted the partitions on the pools in his room so Indrid can talk with him until neither of them can keep their eyes open. He wonders if it would be rude to ask him to stay, to sleep in such a small space just so he could be the first thing Duck sees when he wakes up.

There must be floating beds he could put in Indrid’s room, or maybe a hammock he could hang in the garden. 

Duck now understands that Indrid’s powers make him politically valuable, but also mean his fellow residents of the lunar city see him as dangerous, as knowing things they’d rather keep secret. Duck understands, especially if their only time encountering the seer is when he glides his formidable, dark body from the depths of his inner sanctum. But all he can see is his Indrid, awkward and well-meaning, whose fear of Duck disliking him has given way to genuine affection. His Indrid, who now pulls himself up onto the stones so they can sit shoulder to shoulder after breakfast or before dinner, whose tail Duck’s fingers beg to caress. 

His Indrid who is, at this moment, continuing his losing battle with earth music. 

“How about this?”

Danke schoen, darling, danke schoen

Thank you for all the joy and pain

“Oh fuck no” Duck guffaws, “anything but him, ‘Drid, he’s a boner killer if there ever was one.”

“I don’t think he’s that bad,  but I will be speaking to Vincent about his human music suggestions.”

“For the love of god, turn it off.” Duck flails for the remote.

Indrid sticks out his tongue, “Very well, but I am this close to pulling you down here and seeing if you can do any better.”

“You wouldn’t dare” Duck is still laughing, eyes closing as he does, which means he gets only a splash of warning before he’s yanked into the pool. He comes up giggling and spluttering, “now, is that any way to treat your husband?”

Indrid’s laugh is a siren song, “No, I suppose not.” The music clicks off as Indrid steadies him by curving his tail behind his legs, “how should I treat you instead?”

Duck drapes his arms over Indrid’s shoulders, “You been treatin me pretty damn well, dunkin me aside.”

A flicker of pink and yellow as Indrid rubs their cheeks together, “And if I wanted to be even better?”

“I, uh, I mean if you wanted to we could tryYYYYohfuck” he hunches forward as Indrid’s tail drags across his dick. The clothing on Aquaria is thin, so he can feel the cool scales tease his skin. 

“Oh, oh dear, apologies, I was only trying to embrace you further, I forgot yours do not stay concealed until they’re needed.”

“You, you keep doin that and it’s gonna be needed real quick.”

“Oh?” red eyes narrow wickedly, “does my sweet husband need attending to?” Another drag of his tail, much more deliberate, and Duck grinds his hips in reply. 

“Only if you want to.”

“I do, so very badly.” Indrid nuzzles his nose, “may I take a little while to acquaint myself with your wonderful body?”

“Uh huh.” Duck tugs his shirt off, throwing it onto the land and then giving his shorts the same treatment. 

“Ohhhhhhyes.” Indrid purrs, fins and tails shimmering purple and gold. Then he sinks down, swimming in a slow, tight circle around the human. Pleased chirps and trills bubble up to Duck’s ears. Cool fingers play along his legs and belly, eventually finding his dick and offering an experimental stroke.

“Fuck” he groans, and Indrid does it again, kissing his navel as both hands rub and tease his dick and folds. Indrid is clearly experimenting, maybe even using his visions to guide him, and Duck eagerness to get off succumbs to just how fucking hot it is to have a partner this enrapt by his body, to have them explore it like some awe-inspiring landscape. 

He spreads his hands out and runs them along Indrid’s torso and tail; the scales are just as wonderful under his fingers as he hoped, and he can feel Indrid sigh happily as he pets him. 

Then lips close around his dick and he makes a series of undignified noises, digging one hand into Indrid’s hair to encourage him. 

“Ohmyfuckinchrist, Indrid, yes, fuck please keep suckin like that.”

Indrid wiggles his whole body in response, happy trill underscored by a firmer suck. Duck can’t get enough of his body beneath his hands, of his mouth on Duck’s skin, and he wonders if someone can black out from how good a blowjob feels. 

Indrid’s fin breaks the water and Duck runs an appreciative thumb along the top. Funny, there’s a little depression between it and the membrane of the fin. Curious, he drags his pinky along it. 

The alien bursts upwards with a loud chirp of joy, “Ohgoodness, yes, oh that feels nice please do it again.”

“Yeah? My cute, needy husband need me to play with his fins to get off.”

“Not, not technically by my gods does he want you to.”

“Don’t worry darlin, I will--uh, ‘Drid? Is, is that your dick?”

Indrid follows his gaze to the thick, bumpy shaft emerging from his tail, it’s tip crowned with short, searching tendrils.

“Yes. Also an ovipositor, hence those lumps.”

“Holyfuck. Uh, I, I ain’t sure I’m ready for that yet.” 

“That’s perfectly alright. Though it does mean my cock is not going into you tonight; I’m not sure I can control my bodily responses enough to avoid ovipositing accidentally.”

“Lots of others things we can do.” Duck bites the tip of one ear, making the other flare out.

“Indeed. I say we start with this.” Indrid’s tail encircles his waist just as Indrid shoves his cock between his thighs.

“Like, like the way you think sugar. Fuuuck, fuck that’s good.” The bumps from the eggs have just the right amount of give as he humps them, Indrid matching his tempo with his thrusts. He keeps his arms around his husbands neck, kissing him furiously. Indrid kisses back with a chirp, gold flashing in his scales, and Duck knows he won’t want to kiss anyone else for a long, long time. 

The tip of Indrid’s cock bumps his ass and he groans at what that suggests about it’s size. 

“I’m, I’m takin this fuckin perfect thing all the way before I go.” He bucks his hips harder to make his point, “gonna let you fuck me open on it, fill me up, wanna know what it’s like to cum with you inside me.”

“Oh gods” Indrid whimpers, hiding his face in Ducks neck as he squeezes his thighs together. 

“And, and you’re gonna be a dutiful fuckin husband and fill me however I say, ain’t you?”

“Yes, yesofcourse, goodness Duck I, I’m-”

“Heh, you like that, mr high and mighty seer likes bein bossed around. Well, lucky you, because now that I know just how fuckin good you are at fuckin me, gonna have you doin it ever, fuckin, day.” He jerks his hips hard, three times, and Indric cums with a cry, cock pulsing as he sinks his teeth into Ducks shoulder. Duck doesn’t let up, chases his orgasm over the bumps and ridges until he nearly whites out with pleasure, clinging to Indrid tighter as his body gives up on supporting him. 

After his cock retracts Indrid, still holding Duck up with ease, swims to the button that orders a cleaning cycle on the pool and deposits the human back on the stone. 

“I dearly hope your team finds what you need on this planet so that I may see you beyond these few weeks.”

“Sex was that good?” Duck teases, petting Indrid’s hair as he lays his head in his lap.

“No. Or, well, yes, but more than that you are so, so very wonderful. I wish to get to know you more, to show you even more of my world and my skill in bed.”

Duck kisses the top of his head, “I hope so too.”

-----------------------------------------

Communication log between leader of Amnesty Mission at Astrobotanist Duck Newton. 

Mama: Got some promising leads. Will be back to pick you up in three days. 

Duck: Glad to hear it. But take your time, no need to rush only my account. 

[brooklynmuseum]

Springtime in Brooklyn by Nancy Rosoff, Andrew W. Mellon Senior Curator, Arts of the Americas

As I look out my window at the falling rain, I know that these April showers will soon be followed by May’s flowers. The vibrant colors of budding trees and blossoming flowers give us hope that we will overcome the current crisis, and the world will be rejuvenated, stronger, and more unified. The following works from the Brooklyn Museum’s diverse collection celebrate the arrival of Spring and our hope for a healthy and more peaceful world.

Brightly colored plants and flowers made of faience once decorated the walls of the Great Palace of king Akhenaten at Amarna. Sun light and the disk of the sun itself became the focus of religious worship in the Amarna period (1353-13336 B.C.E.). The floral motifs of these tiles were meant to evoke rebirth of life brought about by the sun. See the artwork in our open collection.

While the Nile was revered as a life-giving place, the desert was also teeming with nature. Here one can see animals breeding in their desert environs. To the right, a feline is showing interest in another feline. At the lower left, a male antelope, mounting his mate, rears his head into the row above. At the lower right, the hindquarters of an antelope giving birth and the emerging head of her calf are partly preserved. The bovine calf at center left completes this depiction of the cycle of life. See the artwork in our open collection.

This detail from a Nasca mantle not only illustrates some of the plants and animals native to Peru’s South Coast, but it also conveys how the society’s spiritual beliefs are connected to agricultural seasons. The blossoming huarango tree seen here represents life and is shown growing out of a human trophy head on the back of a pampas cat. The trophy head symbolizes death but it is also a germinating seed from which life sprouts in a never-ending cycle of life, death, and rebirth. See the artwork in our open collection.

This late-seventeenth-century painting from viceregal Peru shows Saint Joseph standing hand-in-hand with the Christ Child in a field of blooming flora and enclosed within a border of bright carnations and lilies. Saint Joseph’s popularity flourished at this moment in the Spanish Americas as he embodied ideals of fatherhood, marriage, divinity, and masculinity. Here, he holds a stem of white lilies, which symbolize his holiness and purity. See the artwork in our open collection.

This sculpture would have served as a means for people to contact spiritual intermediaries for aid. Its raised arms are said to refer to prayers for rain, crucial to survive and thrive in arid the Mopti Region of Mali. See the artwork in our open collection.

The use of naturalistic floral motifs, such as carnations, tulips, and hyacinths, was a trademark of the design workshop of the Ottoman court in Istanbul in the mid-sixteenth century. This design principle was adopted in central and distant areas of the empire and applied to different media, such as manuscript illuminations made in Istanbul, textiles made in Bursa, and tiles made in Iznik and Damascus. This octagonal tile from Syria brings the beauty of spring indoors permanently. See the artwork in our open collection.

Vibrant greens and blues bring a spring woodland scene inside the Museum, creating an eternal verdant landscape. The effects of changing sunlight or a passing cloud can animate the glass used to depict the stream, tree trunks and leaves. Originally installed in the Universalist Church of Our Father at Classon and Atlantic Avenues in Brooklyn, the windows were purchased by the All Souls Universalist Church on Ocean Avenue and installed in 1945, before coming to the Brooklyn Museum a few years ago. Tiffany Studio was extremely skilled at creating panoramas that open onto lush, brilliantly colored vistas. See the artwork in our open collection.

This elaborately decorated cabinet brought ever-blooming flowers into the owner’s bedroom. Inspired by Japanese precedents, New York’s most important late-19th-century furniture manufacturing firm Herter Brothers employed different colored woods to create the densely packed, abstracted flowers and leaves on this luxurious, yet functional chest-of-drawers. See the artwork in our open collection.

In the Japanese tradition, cherry blossom season is a time for celebration: the world wakes up after a long winter and people head outside to gather under the pink-and-white canopies created by trees that seemed barren only a week or two earlier. This year the picnics were cancelled, but in nature the show goes on whether there’s an audience or not. See the artwork in our open collection.

In this painting, Gustave Caillebotte offers a glimpse of his private garden in Petit Gennevilliers, a small village on the Seine opposite Argenteuil. The apple blossoms are rendered in thick touches of paint, which contrast with the sketchy treatment of the path that leads toward the denser foliage beyond the tree. See the artwork in our open collection.

Nothing celebrates Spring more than this dazzling child’s cap with its delicate beadwork on vibrant rose-colored velvet. It was lovingly made by the mother or female relative of a little girl who would have worn it with pride during special occasions. See the artwork in our open collection.

A table set with bread and coffee in a blooming garden along a sun-dappled path conjures the pleasures of the warmer months to come. Robert Delaunay would become known later in his career for more abstract work, but in this early painting the 19 year old artist was still working under the influence of Impressionism. See the artwork in our open collection.

Redolent with the sweet scent of peonies, American Impressionist Ernest Lawson paints his flowerbeds in a dazzling display of jewel like tones in the Cos Cob art-colony located along the Connecticut shore. See the artwork in our open collection.

This Balinese cover features bright brocade rosettes in purple, blue, red, yellow, and green. The gilded gold overpaint features patra cina designs borrowed from Chinese floral patterns. Together, they create a glittering textile that is awash with color and floral motifs. See the artwork in our open collection.

One of the Brooklyn Museum’s most important Japanese paintings is a folding screen showing a group of urbanites walking together, followed by a musician and a servant with a big box. The only clue that they are heading to a cherry-blossom-viewing picnic comes from a woman who extends a branch of flowering cherry back toward a group of men. Attached to the branch is a long strip of paper of the type used traditionally in Japan for writing poems. What does the poem strip say? We don’t know, but it seems fair to guess that it serves as an invitation to romance. The screen reminds us that the spring tradition of partying beneath the cherry trees wasn’t solely about communing with nature. See the artwork in our open collection.

Inspired by Japanese folding screens or byōbu, Elizabeth Boott Duveneck’s five panels bring the natural world into the interior of the house depicting all four seasons from Autumn Foliage to Apple blossoms throughout the year. See the artwork in our open collection.

Beginning in the early 1930s, Consuelo Kanaga became one of few white photographers to make artistic portraits of Black Americans. This closely cropped and sharply focused image of a girl’s face with a flower was likely included in Group f.64’s inaugural exhibition in 1932, which announced a new realist direction in photography. Considered radical in its time, Frances with a Flower explores powerful ideas about beauty, gender, and race. See the artwork in our open collection.

Mary Wollstonecraft was a renowned women’s rights activist who authored "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman," (1792), a classic of rationalist feminism that is considered the earliest and most important treatise, advocating for equality and education for women. Akin to the nature of Spring, Wollstonecraft's life symbolized the fruition of a legacy—from which infinite linages of women continue to reap the fruits of her labor. See the artwork in our open collection.

With rose-patterned leggings and an elaborate floral armature/headdress, Nick Cave’s Soundsuit transforms the human body into a lush garden. Since the early 1990s, Cave has been fabricating inventive sculptures out of scavenged materials, which he often overlays with beadwork, stitching, and other embellishments. One of the first, crafted from twigs, was made to be worn and created a rustling sound, which led to the eventual name of such works: Soundsuits. Cave’s costumes draw from a variety of sources, including both African and Caribbean traditions of masquerade. See the artwork in our open collection.

Posted by Nancy Rosoff with contributions from the Curators and Curatorial Assistants of African, American, Ancient Egyptian, Arts of the Americas, Asian, Contemporary, Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art, and Islamic Art 

Photos: Gary Alan Bukovnik (American, born 1947). Rhododendrum, 1980. Lithograph on paper. Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the artist, 81.15.2. © Gary Alan Bukovnik(Photo: Brooklyn Museum); Tile with Floral Inlays, ca. 1352-1336 B.C.E. Faience. Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Egypt Exploration Society, 35.2001. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum); Relief with Desert Scene, ca. 2472-2455 B.C.E. Limestone, pigment. Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 64.147. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum); Nazca. Mantle ("The Paracas Textile"), 100-300 C.E. Cotton, camelid fiber. Brooklyn Museum, John Thomas Underwood Memorial Fund, 38.12; Cuzco School. Saint Joseph and the Christ Child, late 17th-18th century. Oil on canvas. Brooklyn Museum, Museum Expedition 1941, Frank L. Babbott Fund, 41.1275.191 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum); Dogon. Nommo Figure with Raised Arms, 11th-15th century (possibly). Wood, organic sacrificial material. Brooklyn Museum, The Adolph and Esther D. Gottlieb Collection, 1989.51.39. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum); Octagonal Tile Depicting Peacock in Prunus Tree, 16th century. Ceramic; fritware, painted in black, cobalt blue, green, and manganese purple under a transparent glaze. Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Jack A. Josephson, 1990.21. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum);  Tiffany Studios (1902-1932). Dawn in the Woods in Springtime, 1905. Stained glass window. Brooklyn Museum, Gift of All Souls Bethlehem Church, 2014.17.1. Creative Commons-BY; Herter Brothers (American, 1865-1905). Chest-of-Drawers, ca. 1880. Ebonized cherry, other woods, modern marble top, brass. Brooklyn Museum, Modernism Benefit Fund, 1989.69. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum); Utagawa Hiroshige (Ando) (Japanese, 1797-1858). Suijin Shrine and Massaki on the Sumida River (Sumidagawa Suijin no Mori Massaki), No. 35 from One Hundred Famous Views of Edo, 8th month of 1856. Woodblock print. Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Anna Ferris, 30.1478.35 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum); Gustave Caillebotte (French, 1848-1894). Apple Tree in Bloom (Pommier en fleurs), ca. 1885. Oil on canvas. Brooklyn Museum, Bequest of William K. Jacobs, Jr., 1992.107.2 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum); Woodlands. Child's Cap, ca. 1890s. Velvet, cloth, beads. Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Edward J. Guarino Collection in memory of Josephine M. Guarino, 2016.11.2. Creative Commons-BY; Robert Delaunay (French, 1885-1941). In the Garden (Dans le jardin), 1904. Oil on canvas. Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Iris and B. Gerald Cantor, 86.28 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum); Ernest Lawson (American, 1873-1939). Garden Landscape, ca. 1915. Oil on canvas. Brooklyn Museum, Bequest of Laura L. Barnes, 67.24.10 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum); Cover, 19th or early 20th century. Silk, pigment. Brooklyn Museum, Dick S. Ramsay Fund, 45.183.110. Creative Commons-BY; Cherry Blossom Viewing Picnic, ca. 1624-1644. Ink, color and gold leaf on paper. Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Frederic B. Pratt, 39.87. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum); Elizabeth Boott Duveneck (American, 1846-1888). Apple Blossoms, 1882. Oil on wood panel. Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Joan Harmen Brown, Mr. and Mrs. William Slocum Davenport, Mrs. Lewis Francis, Samuel E. Haslett, William H. Herriman, Joseph Jefferson IV, Clifford L. Middleton, the New York City Police Department, Mrs. Charles D. Ruwe, Charles A. Schieren, the University Club, Mrs. Henry Wolf, Austin M. Wolf, and Hamilton A. Wolf, by exchange, Frank Sherman Benson Fund, Museum Collection Fund, Dick S. Ramsay Fund, Carll H. de Silver Fund, John B. Woodward Memorial Fund, and Designated Purchase Fund , 2005.54.3 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum); Consuelo Kanaga (American, 1894-1978). Frances with a Flower, early 1930s. Gelatin silver photograph. Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Wallace B. Putnam from the Estate of Consuelo Kanaga, 82.65.10 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum); Judy Chicago (American, b. 1939). The Dinner Party (Mary Wollstonecraft place setting), 1974–79. Mixed media: ceramic, porcelain, textile. Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Elizabeth A. Sackler Foundation, 2002.10. © Judy Chicago. Photograph by Jook Leung Photography; Nick Cave (American, born 1959). Soundsuit, 2008. Mixed media. Brooklyn Museum, Mary Smith Dorward Fund, 2009.44a-b. © Nick Cave (Photo: Image courtesy of Robilant Voena)

[bopinion]

Book of the month / 2021 / 04 April

I love books. Even though I hardly read any. Because my library is more like a collection of tomes, coffee-table books, limited editions... in short: books in which not "only" the content counts, but also the editorial performance, the presentation, the curating of the topic - the book as a total work of art itself.

björk :archives. A retrospective

Klaus Biesenbach

Monograph / 2015 / Schirmer/Mosel Publishing House

Iceland, the land of geysers, the largest volcanic island on the planet. Home of the Icelandic pony with its exclusive gait of the tölt and the most active literary community in the world. Soccer mecca and most sparsely populated country in Europe. Icelandic names - for example the highest mountain Hvannadalshnúkur - are hardly pronounceable, although the alphabet does not even know many common letters such as C, W, Q and Z. There is a separate holiday for seafarers and a division of time into 3-hour periods starting at midnight. 16 German cities each have more inhabitants than all of Iceland, which has therefore its own dating app to prevent relatives who are biologically too close from mating. It's a fascinating country.

Given the size of the country, it's probably no wonder that Iceland's pop cultural influence internationally is rather limited. Despite the Nobel Prize for Literature winner Halldór Laxness, whose work I don't know, and the crime series The Valhalla Murderers, which I know thanks to Netflix. But wait - wasn't there something else? Yes, that's right, Iceland has a globally successful Gesamtkunstwerk named Björk. Her contributions to music, video, film, fashion and art have influenced a generation worldwide.

Björk Guðmundsdóttir, born in Reykjavík in 1965, has made a name for herself as a singer, music producer, composer, songwriter and actress with a broad interest in different types of music, including pop music, electronic music, trip-hop, alternative rock, jazz, folk music and classical music. To date, she has sold over 20 million albums worldwide. Certainly not only because of the seemingly endless variability of her compositions, but also because of her voice, which one can confidently call unmistakable. She causes goose bumps, whether you like her music or not.

Little Björk attended music school at the age of five and was taught singing, piano and flute, among other things, for ten years. One of the teachers sent a recording of her singing the song "I Love To Love" by Tina Charles to a radio station. The broadcast was heard and liked by an employee of the Icelandic record publisher Fálkinn and subsequently offered her a recording contract - when she was eleven years old. With the help of her stepfather, who played guitar, she recorded her first album. It contained various Icelandic children's songs and cover versions of popular titles, such as "Fool on the Hill" by the Beatles. The album became a great national success.

At 14, Björk formed the girl punk group Spit and Snot, the maximum contrast program to the children's songs. This was followed by the fusion jazz group Exodus, later Tappi Tíkarrass and Kukl (Icelandic for witchcraft), with whom she developed her signature vocal style. First foreign tours to England and West Berlin followed. Then in 1986 came the formation of the band Pukl, later renamed The Sugarcubes. The first single brought respectable success in England and USA, The Sugarcubes reached cult status. The first record deal with Elektra Records led to the album "Life's too good" in 1988, making them the first Icelandic band ever to become world famous.

The transformation into a total work of art began in 1992 at the latest with Björk's move to London. The first solo album, appropriately named "Debut," became the album of the year according to New Musical Express. Now even Madonna wanted to have a whole album written by Björk, but it remained with the title track "Bedtime Story", she remained true to herself and her love of experimentation. The New York based news magazine "Time" named her the "high priestess of art" and in 2015 put her on the list of the 100 most influential people on earth. She rounded off her visual extravaganza, that even her wardrobe was prominently featured in the major retrospective at New York's Museum of Modern Art (MoMA).

Schirmer/Mosel Verlag is an art book publisher in Munich founded in 1974 by Lothar Schirmer and the commercial artist Erik Mosel. Schirmer became friends with artists such as Cy Twombly and Joseph Beuys at a young age and began collecting their works. By buying and reselling art prints and drawings, he earned the start-up capital for his publishing house. With his publishing debut, he ensured the rediscovery of August Sander, a visual artist of the Weimar Republic. There were various publishing collaborations with the MoMA, and in 2015 there was also the retrospective mentioned above. And of course, in keeping with the protagonist, the publication had to become a work of art itself.

"björk :archives" comes in an elegant slipcase containing six parts: four booklets, a paperback and a folded catalogue raisonné poster with the covers of all Björk albums. A closer look is worthwhile: first there is a thematic introduction by the editor and exhibition curator at the MoMA, Klaus Biesenbach. Then an illustrated essay by Alex Ross, music critic of the New Yorker, which deals with Björk's creative dissolution of musical and aesthetic boundaries. Another by Nicola Dibben, professor of musicology at the University of Sheffield, on Björk's creativity and collaborations. And the collected e-mail correspondence similar to a pen pal relationship between Björk and American publicist, philosopher and literary scholar Timothy Morton.

The book itself, the centerpiece of the edition, is about Björk's seven major albums and the characters she created for them. Poetic texts by Icelandic author Sjón, with whom Björk has long collaborated, are joined by a veritable treasure trove of illustrations: Photos of live performances, stills from the music videos of masters like Michel Gondry or Spike Jonze, Björk in stunning costumes by designers like Hussein Chalayan or Alexander McQueen, and PR shots by star photographers like the duo Inez van Lamsweerde & Vinoodh Matadin or provocateur Araki.

The design of the publication quotes music scores and comes from the renowned Parisian design studio M/M. It all adds up to an extraordinary visual masterpiece, a tribute to the magical world of Björk. And that at an hardly believable price of € 19.80. A reviewer on Amazon (no, you shouldn't shop there - support local businesses!) sums it up: "This is a collection of art, stories and references very well organized and assembled with care. The price does absolutely not represent how valuable this product is, I am positively surprised." Positively surprising - that could truly be Björk's mission statement.

Björk's music itself is so rich in pictorial statements that it doesn't really need any exuberantly creative videos to go with it. Therefore, according to Slant Magazine, her best video is her first, relatively simple one: "Big Time sensuality" from her "Debut" album purely shows her joy in music. Here's the link:

https://youtu.be/-wYmq2Vz5yM

[transparenttriumphzombie]

Christine Jorgensen (May 30, 1926 – May 3, 1989) was an American transgender woman who was the first person to become widely known in the United States for having sex reassignment surgery. Jorgensen grew up in the Bronx, New York City. Shortly after graduating from high school in 1945, she was drafted into the U.S. Army during World War II. After her military service, she attended several schools and worked; it is during this time she learned about sex reassignment surgery. Jorgensen traveled to Europe, and in Copenhagen, Denmark, obtained special permission to undergo a series of operations beginning in 1952.

She returned to the United States in the early 1950s and her transition was the subject of a New York Daily News front-page story. She became an instant celebrity, known for her directness and polished wit, and used the platform to advocate for transgender people. She also worked as an actress and nightclub entertainer and recorded several songs. Jorgensen often lectured on the experience of being transgender and published an autobiography in 1967.

Jorgensen was the second child of carpenter and contractor George William Jorgensen, Sr., and his wife Florence Davis Hansen, and given a male name at birth. She was raised in the Belmont neighborhood of the Bronx, New York City. She later described herself as having been a "frail, blond, introverted little boy who ran from fistfights and rough-and-tumble games".

Jorgensen graduated from Christopher Columbus High School in 1945 and was soon drafted into the U.S. Army at the age of 19. After being discharged from the Army, she attended Mohawk Valley Community College in Utica, New York,[5] the Progressive School of Photography in New Haven, Connecticut, and the Manhattan Medical and Dental Assistant School in New York City. She also worked briefly for Pathé News.

Returning to New York after military service, and increasingly concerned over, as one obituary later called it, a "lack of male physical development", Christine Jorgensen heard about sex reassignment surgery. She began taking estrogen in the form of ethinylestradiol and started researching the surgery with the help of Joseph Angelo, the husband of a classmate at the Manhattan Medical and Dental Assistant School. Jorgensen intended to go to Sweden, where the only doctors in the world who then performed the surgery were located. During a stopover in Copenhagen to visit relatives, she met Christian Hamburger, a Danish endocrinologist and specialist in rehabilitative hormonal therapy. Jorgensen stayed in Denmark and underwent hormone replacement therapy under Hamburger's direction. She chose the name Christine in honor of Hamburger.

She obtained special permission from the Danish Minister of Justice to undergo a series of operations in that country. On September 24, 1951, surgeons at Gentofte Hospital in Copenhagen performed an orchiectomy on Jorgensen. In a letter to friends on October 8, 1951, she referred to how the surgery affected her:

As you can see by the enclosed photos, taken just before the operation, I have changed a great deal. But it is the other changes that are so much more important. Remember the shy, miserable person who left America? Well, that person is no more and, as you can see, I'm in marvelous spirits.

In November 1952, doctors at Copenhagen University Hospital performed a penectomy. In Jorgensen's words, "My second operation, as the previous one, was not such a major work of surgery as it may imply."

She returned to the United States and eventually obtained a vaginoplasty when the procedure became available there. The vaginoplasty was performed under the direction of Angelo, with Harry Benjamin as a medical adviser. Later, in the preface of Jorgensen's autobiography, Harry Benjamin gave her credit for the advancement of his studies. He wrote, "Indeed Christine, without you, probably none of this would have happened; the grant, my publications, lectures, etc."

The New York Daily News ran a front-page story on December 1, 1952, under the headline "Ex-GI Becomes Blonde Beauty", announcing (incorrectly) that Jorgensen had become the recipient of the first "sex change". This type of surgery had previously been performed by German doctors in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Dorchen Richter and Danish artist Lili Elbe, both patients of Magnus Hirschfeld at the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft in Berlin, were known recipients of such operations in 1930–31.

After her surgeries, Jorgensen originally stated that she wanted a quiet life of her own design, but once returning to the United States, the only way she could manage to earn a living was by making public appearances. Jorgensen was an instant celebrity when she returned to New York in February 1953. A large crowd of journalists met her as she came off her flight, and despite the Danish royal family being on the same flight, they were largely ignored in favor of her. Soon after her arrival, she launched a successful nightclub act and appeared on TV, radio, and theatrical productions. The first of a five-part authorized account of her story was written by Jorgensen herself in a February 1953 issue of The American Weekly, titled "The Story of My Life" and in 1967, she published her autobiography, Christine Jorgensen: A Personal Autobiography, which sold almost 450 thousand copies.

The publicity following her transition and gender reassignment surgery became "a model for other transsexuals for decades. She was a tireless lecturer on the subject of transsexuality, pleading for understanding from a public that all too often wanted to see transsexuals as freaks or perverts ... Ms Jorgensen's poise, charm, and wit won the hearts of millions." However, over time the press was much less fascinated by her and started to scrutinize her much more harshly. She was often asked by print medias if she would pose nude in their publications.

Knox and Jorgensen after being denied a marriage license, April 1959. After her vaginoplasty, Jorgensen planned to marry labor union statistician John Traub, but the engagement was called off. In 1959 she announced her engagement to typist Howard J. Knox in Massapequa Park, New York, where her father had built her a house after her reassignment surgery. However, the couple was unable to obtain a marriage license because Jorgensen's birth certificate listed her as male. In a report about the broken engagement, The New York Times reported that Knox had lost his job in Washington, D.C., when his engagement to Jorgensen became known.

After her parents died, Jorgensen moved to California in 1967. She left behind the ranch home built by her father in Massapequa and settled at the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles, California, for a period of time. It was also during this same year that Jorgensen published her autobiography, Christine Jorgensen: A Personal Autobiography, which chronicled her life experiences as a transsexual and included her own personal perspectives on major events in her life.

During the 1970s and 1980s, Jorgensen toured university campuses and other venues to speak about her experiences. She was known for her directness and polished wit. She once demanded an apology from Vice President Spiro T. Agnew when he called Charles Goodell "the Christine Jorgensen of the Republican Party". (Agnew refused her request.)

Jorgensen also worked as an actress and nightclub entertainer and recorded several songs. In summer stock, she played Madame Rosepettle in the play Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mamma's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feelin' So Sad. In her nightclub act, she sang several songs, including "I Enjoy Being a Girl", in which, at the end, she made a quick change into a Wonder Woman costume. She later recalled that Warner Communications, owners of the Wonder Woman character's copyright, demanded that she stop using the character; she did so, and instead used a new character of her own invention, Superwoman, who was marked by the inclusion of a large letter S on her cape. Jorgensen continued her act, performing at Freddy's Supper Club on the Upper East Side of Manhattan until at least 1982, when she performed twice in the Hollywood area: once at the Backlot Theatre, adjacent to the discothèque Studio One, and later at The Frog Pond restaurant. This performance was recorded and has been made available as an album on iTunes. In 1984, Jorgensen returned to Copenhagen to perform her show and was featured in Teit Ritzau's Danish transsexual documentary film Paradiset er ikke til salg (Paradise Is Not for Sale). Jorgensen was the first and only known trans woman to perform at Oscar's Delmonico Restaurant in downtown New York, for which owners Oscar and Mario Tucci received criticism.

She died of bladder and lung cancer in 1989, four weeks short of her 63rd birthday. Her ashes were scattered off Dana Point, California.

Jorgensen's highly publicized transition helped bring to light gender identity and shaped a new culture of more inclusive ideas about the subject. As a transgender spokesperson and public figure, Jorgensen influenced other transgender people to change their sex on birth certificates and to change their names. Jorgensen saw herself as a founding member in what became known as the "sexual revolution". Jorgensen stated in a Los Angeles Times interview, "I am very proud now, looking back, that I was on that street corner 36 years ago when a movement started. It was the sexual revolution that was going to start with or without me. We may not have started it, but we gave it a good swift kick in the pants."

In 2012 Jorgensen was inducted into the Legacy Walk, an outdoor public display which celebrates LGBT history and people.

In 2014, Jorgensen was one of the inaugural honorees in the Rainbow Honor Walk, a walk of fame in San Francisco's Castro neighborhood noting LGBTQ people who have "made significant contributions in their fields".

In June 2019, Jorgensen was one of the inaugural 50 American "pioneers, trailblazers, and heroes" included on the National LGBTQ Wall of Honor within the Stonewall National Monument (SNM) in New York City's Stonewall Inn. The SNM is the first U.S. national monument dedicated to LGBTQ rights and history, and the wall's unveiling was timed to take place during the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots.

Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, during his earlier career as a calypso singer under the name The Charmer, recorded a song about Jorgensen, "Is She Is or Is She Ain't" (The title is a play on the 1940s Louis Jordan song, "Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby".)

Chuck Renslow and Dom Orejudos founded Kris Studios, a male physique photography studio that took photos for gay magazines they published, which was named in part to honor Jorgensen.

Posters for the Ed Wood film Glen or Glenda (1953), also known as I Changed My Sex and I Led Two Lives, publicize the movie as being based on Jorgensen's life. Originally producer George Weiss made her some offers to appear in the film, but these were turned down. Jorgenson is mentioned in connection with Glen in Tim Burton's biopic Ed Wood (1994), but Jorgenson is not depicted as a character.

The Christine Jorgensen Story, a fictionalized biopic based on Jorgensen's memoir, premiered in 1970. John Hansen played Jorgensen as an adult, while Trent Lehman played her at age seven.

In Christine Jorgensen Reveals, a stage performance at the 2005 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Jorgensen was portrayed by Bradford Louryk. To critical acclaim, Louryk dressed as Jorgensen and performed to a recorded interview with her during the 1950s while video of Rob Grace as comically inept interviewer Nipsey Russell played on a nearby black-and-white television set. The show went on to win Best Aspect of Production at the 2006 Dublin Gay Theatre Festival, and it ran Off-Broadway at New World Stages in January 2006. The LP was reissued on CD by Repeat The Beat Records in 2005.

Transgender historian and critical theorist Susan Stryker directed and produced an experimental documentary film about Jorgensen, titled Christine in the Cutting Room. In 2010 she also presented a lecture at Yale University titled "Christine in the Cutting Room: Christine Jorgensen's Transsexual Celebrity and Cinematic Embodiment". Both works examine embodiment vis-à-vis cinema.

The 2016 book Andy Warhol was a Hoarder: Inside the Minds of History's Great Personalities, by journalist Claudia Kalb, devotes a chapter to Jorgensen's story, using her as an example of gender dysphoria and the process of gender transition in its earliest days.

Jorgensen, Christine (1967). Christine Jorgensen: A Personal Autobiography. New York, New York: Bantam Books. ISBN 978-1-57344-100-1.

[96thdayofrage]

THE DARK UNDERSIDE OF REPRESENTATIONS OF SLAVERY

Will the Black body ever have the opportunity to rest in peace?

The photographs are about the size of a small hand. They’re wrapped in a leatherette case and framed in gold. From the background of one, the image of a Black woman’s body emerges. Her hair is plaited close to her head, and she is naked from the waist up. Her stare seems to penetrate the glass of the frame, peering into the eyes of the viewer. The paper label that accompanies her likeness reads: delia, country born of african parents, daughter of renty, congo. In another frame, her father stands before the camera, his collarbone prominent, and his temples peppered with gray and white hair. The label on his photo says: renty, congo, on plantation of b.f. taylor, columbia, s.c.

In 1850, when these images were captured, the subjects in the daguerreotypes were considered property. The bodies in the photographs had been shaped by hard labor on the grub plantation, where they’d spent their lives stooped over sandy soil, working approximately 1,200 acres of cotton and 200 of corn. Brought from the fields to a photography studio in Columbia, South Carolina, each person was photographed from different angles, in the hopes of finding photographic evidence of physical differences between the Black enslaved and the white masters who owned them. A daguerreotype took somewhere between three and 15 minutes of exposure time, and the end result was a detailed image imprinted on a small copper-plated sheet, covered with a thin coat of silver.

Louis Agassiz, a professor at Harvard, commissioned the portraits of Delia and Renty, along with those of other enslaved people, from the photographer Joseph T. Zealy. The daguerreotypes remained, all but forgotten, in the school’s Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology attic until an archivist found them in a storage drawer in 1976. Since then, these photos of Renty and his daughter Delia have been featured on conference programs, in presentations, and reproduced in books.

As photography has moved from the scientific novelty of Agassiz’s time to ubiquitous contemporary entertainment over the years, the art form has reflected society’s inequity. The rediscovery of the daguerreotypes and their use in revenue-generating materials in the present day have helped surface an ethical issue that has long accompanied images of Black people’s bodies: Their presentation and exploitation still, in many cases, outweigh individual ownership and autonomy.

While the provenance of the photos traces a line from a drawer at Harvard to a photographer in South Carolina, their story today also has roots in Norwich, Connecticut, home to Tamara Lanier, who claims to be the great-great-great-granddaughter of Renty. As a girl, Lanier’s mother told her about an ancestor named “Papa Renty.” She learned that he was a master of the Bible and that, as an act of defiance, he taught other enslaved people to read. According to the history passed down through her family, Renty got his hands on Noah Webster’s The Original Blue Back Speller, and after tending to crops in the fields, he would study the book at night.

Gillian B. White: Introducing the third chapter of “Inheritance”

Lanier would not start searching for the truth behind those stories until 2010, the year her mother died. She began a genealogical search for her ancestors. She also told an acquaintance, Richard Morrison, of her mother’s death and her own attempt at tracing her bloodline. Morrison, an amateur genealogist, took what Lanier told him and did some digging. He came up with a name: Renty Taylor. Morrison’s Ancestry.com search pulled up a photograph of Renty from 1850—one of Agassiz’s daguerreotypes. Further searches provided Lanier with information about Agassiz and Zealy and mentioned where she could find the original pictures: Harvard University. When she traveled to the school and viewed the images, Lanier was disappointed by their size, which resembled a deck of cards. There he was, the man who seemed larger than life in many of her mother’s stories, looking small and sad.

Seeing her ancestors in the archives at the university, Lanier felt the portraits were out of place. She believed that the images of Renty and Delia belonged to her. So on March 20, 2019, she filed a lawsuit against Harvard. In her lawsuit she alleges that the images of Renty and Delia are still working for the university, based on the licensing fees their images command. (In 2019, Harvard acknowledged that the images are not protected by copyright and that it charges only a $15 fee for a high-resolution scan.) Lanier requested that the university grant ownership of the daguerreotypes to her, pay her punitive damages, and turn over any profits associated with the portraits. “From slavery to where we are today, Black people’s property has been taken from them,” Lanier told me. “We are a disinherited people.”

Earlier this year, a court dismissed Lanier’s lawsuit, saying that “the law … does not confer a property interest to the subject of a photograph,” no matter the circumstances of its composition. Neither Harvard nor the judge presiding over the case disputed Lanier’s evidence that she was a direct descendant of Renty. Still, the court declared that Havard had the right to keep ownership of the photographs. Lanier has appealed the decision, and now the Massachusetts Supreme Court will weigh in. Oral arguments are scheduled for November 1.

Lanier’s case is about more than her personal interest in the photographs; rather, it has greater implications in a long-running reckoning. Agassiz used these photos of enslaved Africans, along with measurements of their cranium, as evidence of a theory known as polygenism, which was used by American proponents to justify slavery. He and other scientists believed Black people were created separately from white people, and their pseudoscientific inquiry was embedded into racist stereotypes in the bedrock of this country. To some historians, in keeping and curating images like these, Harvard is still celebrating the work of these practitioners and their discredited racial theories. (Harvard did not respond to requests for comment. In a previous statement, the university claimed the daguerreotypes were “powerful visual indictments of the horrific institution of slavery” and hoped the court ruling would make them “more accessible to a broader segment of the public.”)

The outcome of Lanier’s court case against Harvard will be legal commentary on whether the Black body ever has the opportunity to rest in peace, or whether present-day academic and entertainment priorities outweigh the rights of the Black deceased.

Whether she gets there or not depends on her long shot of an appeal. But her fight is an important front in a war over the ownership of images of Black bodies, one that is being waged on TikTok as well as in dusty archival drawers.

This technology spawns a series of questions: At a time when Black bodies are treated as teaching moments for the larger culture, are those whose bodies were broken—by the whip of an overseer or the bullet of a police officer—ever afforded the opportunity to rest in peace? This inquiry is the latest curious development in the ethically fraught conversation about Black bodies, ancestry, and ownership. There is a direct line between historical exploitation and the ongoing commercialization of and profiting from images of dead Black people, over which their descendants often have little control, few claims, and few rights.

America is still grappling with the limitations of freedom, and whether Renty and Delia will be released from the grips of the archives remains to be seen.