#jz styles & co

[meraki-yao]

20 Questions For Fic Writers ✒️

I have a bit of time between now and my consultation for my essay so I’m finally answering these! Thank you to @luainthewild and @typicalopposite for the tags!!!!

How many works do you have on ao3?

13 right now! I’m a baby fic writer lol I only started in 2022 as a coping mechanism from university fucking me up, but I’m fully in love with it now. It’s so good to get back into writing for myself after writing for school and exams according to a marking scheme for so long.

What's your total ao3 word count? 43,982!

What fandoms do you write for?

浪浪钉 LLD (The collective ship name for the main ship Wenzhou and the rps Junzhe), Shadowhunters (mostly Show canon but I do have book canon fic ideas in my drafts), RWRB

I have a Sanders Sides Hadestown AU in my drafts too but that’s been gathering dust there for a while😅

Top five fics by kudos:

I’d Hang the Moon for It to Shine on Him Sleeping (RWRB)

I Need Comfort (But I Hate Being Comfortable) (RWRB)

Dancing Under Red Skies (Shadowhunters)

Take Me Out and Take Me Home (Shadowhunters)

Achilles Come Down (Shadowhunters)

Do you respond to comments?

Not really, mostly because I have no idea how to handle compliments🫠

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I’d say my first fic? Four Times Love Meant Sacrifice and the One Time It Didn't Need To, because that was literally four ships with a bad ending (or at least endings presented as bad) with one final happy ending ship. But otherwise I mostly stick with happy endings, or at least hopeful endings

But I will say my WIP that I posted on Wednesday is gonna break that record and have the angsiest ending, because it’s about Arthur Fox’s cancer diagnosis and Henry’s emotional journey through that point of his life

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I’d say most of them are fairly happy? But I do think I do hopeful endings more.

Probably Can I Have This Dance? It ends with Alex and Henry dancing around in the Texas family house after the election

Do you get hate on fics?

So far so good, no, and I’m hoping it stays that way 🥹

Do you write smut?

Very, very tame. The most explicit thing I’ve written is The Word of Your Body, which is a RWRB Movie Paris scene fic. It’s very tame, but writing the main event gave me such a crisis

Craziest crossover:

I don’t think I’ve done a crossover? Between fandoms, that is. And I don’t think I’ll ever plan to? Unless you count what I did for Four Times Love Meant Sacrifice and the One Time It Didn't Need To because I was mixing the actor’s characters from different projects and shipping them together (which is a really prominent thing in the LLD/JZ fandom)

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

No, not that I know of

Have you ever had a fic translated?

No, but with my growing interest in translation, I am thinking of translating some of my own fics, starting with the LLD (since that’s a dominantly Chinese fandom to began with)

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No, not yet!

All time favorite ship?

Aw, you can’t make me choose, that’s impossible!

What's a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I have way too many ideas in my RWRB draft box, so there’s a lot of doubt there

But for fics I actually already started, it’s a song fic on “I’ll Cover You” from Rent for Junzhe. I was like 40% done with the draft, but the last time I touched it was in 2022.

It’s supposed to be a sort of exploration on cross-dressing and femineity which started because I was pissed at the government’s “Anti-sissy” declaration, and Zhehan (one part of the ship, but don’t search him online yourself a lot of shit happened and there’s massive misinformation everywhere about him) was really loved and known for his perceived femininity after holding a dominantly masculine image for most of his career. The gender neutrality in his style during and after Word of Honor suited him better, and I wanted to write about that

What are your writing strengths?

Descriptive writing and character studies, which is why most of my fics are either putting visual media into words, or missing scenes, or canon compliant

What are your writing weaknesses?

Dialogue and anything regarding movement and action, so choosing to write a Tangled AU for the RWRB Big Bang is a challenge I set for myself

Thoughts on dialogue in another language?

Be careful with it, and be respectful. (and of course, if it’s Chinese, I will be extra critical)

First fandom you wrote in?

Lang Lang Ding/Junzhe! Or if you categorize according to AO3 tags, Word of Honor RPF

Favorite fic you've written?

Eh, I’m pretty happy with most of my fics but I’ll go with I’d Hang the Moon for It to Shine on Him Sleeping, The Word of Your Body and Achilles Come Down

No pressure tagging @o0anapher0o @pippin-katz @lfg1986-2 @noemiettedraw @thinkof-england

[sorrowfulsoul]

Open main menu

Wikipedia

Search

Category:Unprintworthy redirects

About this page

Category Talk

Language

Watch

Edit

See also: Wikipedia:Printability

The pages in this category are redirects from names that are unsuitable for inclusion in a printed version of Wikipedia. To add a redirect to this category, place {{Rcat shell|{{R unprintworthy}}}} on the second new line (skip a line) after #REDIRECT [[Target page name]]. For more information follow the links. Never substitute redirect template(s), nor place them on soft redirects.

See also the complete list of redirect templates and the redirect style guide.

This is a maintenance category, used for maintenance of the Wikipedia project. It is not part of the encyclopedia and contains non-article pages, or groups articles by status rather than subject. Do not include this category in content categories.

This is a tracking category. It builds and maintains a list of pages primarily for the sake of the list itself. They are not part of the encyclopedia's categorization scheme.

This category is hidden on its member pages—unless the corresponding user preference (appearance → show hidden categories) is set.

These categories can be used to track, build and organize lists of pages needing "attention en masse" (for example, pages using deprecated syntax), or that may need to be edited at someone's earliest convenience.

These categories also serve to aggregate members of several lists or sub-categories into a larger, more efficient list (discriminated by classifications).

"Unprintworthy" redirects are redirect pages on Wikipedia that aid online navigation, but would have little or no value as pointers to target articles in a hard-copy book. The name of a redirect may be unprintworthy for a number of reasons, including being nearly identical to the name of the target page, containing typographical errors, or not being encyclopaedic. Redirects are not unprintworthy just because the name may be offensive to some, unless the name is also not encyclopaedic.

See also the categories Templates for unprintworthy redirects and Printworthy redirects

Contents: Top 0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

# 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

A Aa Ab Ac Ad Ae Af Ag Ah Ai Aj Ak Al Am An Ao Ap Aq Ar As At Au Av Aw Ax Ay Az

B Ba Bb Bc Bd Be Bf Bg Bh Bi Bj Bk Bl Bm Bn Bo Bp Bq Br Bs Bt Bu Bv Bw Bx By Bz

C Ca Cb Cc Cd Ce Cf Cg Ch Ci Cj Ck Cl Cm Cn Co Cp Cq Cr Cs Ct Cu Cv Cw Cx Cy Cz

D Da Db Dc Dd De Df Dg Dh Di Dj Dk Dl Dm Dn Do Dp Dq Dr Ds Dt Du Dv Dw Dx Dy Dz

E Ea Eb Ec Ed Ee Ef Eg Eh Ei Ej Ek El Em En Eo Ep Eq Er Es Et Eu Ev Ew Ex Ey Ez

F Fa Fb Fc Fd Fe Ff Fg Fh Fi Fj Fk Fl Fm Fn Fo Fp Fq Fr Fs Ft Fu Fv Fw Fx Fy Fz

G Ga Gb Gc Gd Ge Gf Gg Gh Gi Gj Gk Gl Gm Gn Go Gp Gq Gr Gs Gt Gu Gv Gw Gx Gy Gz

H Ha Hb Hc Hd He Hf Hg Hh Hi Hj Hk Hl Hm Hn Ho Hp Hq Hr Hs Ht Hu Hv Hw Hx Hy Hz

I Ia Ib Ic Id Ie If Ig Ih Ii Ij Ik Il Im In Io Ip Iq Ir Is It Iu Iv Iw Ix Iy Iz

J Ja Jb Jc Jd Je Jf Jg Jh Ji Jj Jk Jl Jm Jn Jo Jp Jq Jr Js Jt Ju Jv Jw Jx Jy Jz

K Ka Kb Kc Kd Ke Kf Kg Kh Ki Kj Kk Kl Km Kn Ko Kp Kq Kr Ks Kt Ku Kv Kw Kx Ky Kz

L La Lb Lc Ld Le Lf Lg Lh Li Lj Lk Ll Lm Ln Lo Lp Lq Lr Ls Lt Lu Lv Lw Lx Ly Lz

M Ma Mb Mc Md Me Mf Mg Mh Mi Mj Mk Ml Mm Mn Mo Mp Mq Mr Ms Mt Mu Mv Mw Mx My Mz

N Na Nb Nc Nd Ne Nf Ng Nh Ni Nj Nk Nl Nm Nn No Np Nq Nr Ns Nt Nu Nv Nw Nx Ny Nz

O Oa Ob Oc Od Oe Of Og Oh Oi Oj Ok Ol Om On Oo Op Oq Or Os Ot Ou Ov Ow Ox Oy Oz

P Pa Pb Pc Pd Pe Pf Pg Ph Pi Pj Pk Pl Pm Pn Po Pp Pq Pr Ps Pt Pu Pv Pw Px Py Pz

Q Qa Qb Qc Qd Qe Qf Qg Qh Qi Qj Qk Ql Qm Qn Qo Qp Qq Qr Qs Qt Qu Qv Qw Qx Qy Qz

R Ra Rb Rc Rd Re Rf Rg Rh Ri Rj Rk Rl Rm Rn Ro Rp Rq Rr Rs Rt Ru Rv Rw Rx Ry Rz

S Sa Sb Sc Sd Se Sf Sg Sh Si Sj Sk Sl Sm Sn So Sp Sq Sr Ss St Su Sv Sw Sx Sy Sz

T Ta Tb Tc Td Te Tf Tg Th Ti Tj Tk Tl Tm Tn To Tp Tq Tr Ts Tt Tu Tv Tw Tx Ty Tz

U Ua Ub Uc Ud Ue Uf Ug Uh Ui Uj Uk Ul Um Un Uo Up Uq Ur Us Ut Uu Uv Uw Ux Uy Uz

V Va Vb Vc Vd Ve Vf Vg Vh Vi Vj Vk Vl Vm Vn Vo Vp Vq Vr Vs Vt Vu Vv Vw Vx Vy Vz

W Wa Wb Wc Wd We Wf Wg Wh Wi Wj Wk Wl Wm Wn Wo Wp Wq Wr Ws Wt Wu Wv Ww Wx Wy Wz

X Xa Xb Xc Xd Xe Xf Xg Xh Xi Xj Xk Xl Xm Xn Xo Xp Xq Xr Xs Xt Xu Xv Xw Xx Xy Xz

Y Ya Yb Yc Yd Ye Yf Yg Yh Yi Yj Yk Yl Ym Yn Yo Yp Yq Yr Ys Yt Yu Yv Yw Yx Yy Yz

Z Za Zb Zc Zd Ze Zf Zg Zh Zi Zj Zk Zl Zm Zn Zo Zp Zq Zr Zs Zt Zu Zv Zw Zx Zy Zz

Subcategories

This category has the following 19 subcategories, out of 19 total.

C

Redirects from colloquial names‎ (198 P)

D

Redirects from titles with diacritics‎ (9,298 P)

Redirects from titles without diacritics‎ (3 C, 412,337 P)

Redirects from other disambiguation‎ (4 C, 12,839 P)

Redirects from predictable disambiguation‎ (510 P)

Redirects from unnecessary disambiguation‎ (2 C, 30,749 P)

Redirects of dubious utility‎ (19 P)

I

Redirects from incorrect disambiguation‎ (3,572 P)

Redirects from incorrect names‎ (5 C, 10,165 P)

L

Redirects from titles with ligatures‎ (105 P)

Redirects from titles without ligatures‎ (493 P)

M

Middle-earth redirects from redundant titles‎ (152 P)

Redirects from misspellings‎ (48,487 P)

O

Redirects from other capitalisations‎ (1 C, 407,815 P)

P

Redirects from plurals‎ (25,577 P)

Redirects to plurals‎ (2,484 P)

Redirects from US postal abbreviations‎ (42,391 P)

R

Redirects from emoji flags‎ (273 P)

S

Redirects from shortcuts‎ (1 C, 28,798 P)

Pages in category "Unprintworthy redirects"

The following 200 pages are in this category, out of approximately 1,557,538 total. This list may not reflect recent changes.

(previous page) (next page)

ـ

۝ ֽ

­ ‌

‍ ͏



܏ ݀ ݃ ݄ ݇ ݈ ݉ ݊

ـ ҉

–

؂ ༘ ༙ ༵ ༷

༾

༿ ྂ ྃ ྆ ྇ ࿆

›

Ž



​ ׄ ׅ

؀

؁

؃

؄

؅ ؐ ؑ ؒ ؓ ؔ ؕ ؖ ؗ ؘ ؙ ؚ

؜ ۖ ۗ ۘ ۙ ۚ ۛ ۜ ۟ ۠ ۡ ۢ ۣ ۤ ۧ ۨ ۪ ۫ ۬ ۭ 𝅥

𝅦 𝅧 𝅨 𝅩

𝅭

𝅳

𝅴

𝅵

𝅶

𝅷

𝅸

𝅹

𝅺 𝅻 𝅼 𝅽 𝅾 𝅿 𝆅 𝆊 𝆋 𝆪 𝆫 𝆬 𝆭 ॑ ॒ ︡







 𝉂 𝉃 𝉄

ߺ ᩿ ⵿

𑂽

𑃍



”

’ ꙰ ꙱ ꙲

⁡

 ️ ︎ ︍ ︌ ︋ ︊ ︉ ︈ ︇ ︆ ︅ ︄ ︃ ︂ ︁ ︀

󠀁 󠀠 󠀡 󠀢 󠀣 󠀤 󠀥 󠀦 󠀧 󠀨 󠀩 󠀪 󠀫 󠀬 󠀭 󠀮 󠀯 󠀰 󠀱 󠀲 󠀳 󠀴 󠀵 󠀶 󠀷 󠀸 󠀹 󠀺 󠀻 󠀼 󠀽 󠀾 󠀿 󠁀 󠁁 󠁃 󠁄 󠁅 󠁆 󠁇 󠁈 󠁉 󠁊 󠁋 󠁌 󠁍 󠁎 󠁏 󠁟 󠁞 󠁝 󠁜 󠁛 󠁚 󠁘 󠁗 󠁖 󠁕 󠁔 󠁓 󠁒 󠁑 󠁐

(previous page) (next page)

[dolcevitafashion]

Steven Land ties

Make your mark at important client meetings or an important interview. Apart from the beautiful ties in our collection for any corporate event designed by Boulder Trading Co, we also have a few that met our high standards by JZ Richards. But, if you are looking for sheer quality and style – peruse Steve Land ties that are paired with a matching hanky.

Visit Us:- https://www.dolcevitafashions.com/dress-shirts

[sassysophiabush]

☀️ Major summer vibe with @sophiabush rocking that big messy bun! ✨ 🌸 GET THE LOOK!⤵️ ▫️Spray @evahairnyc Freshen Up Dry Shampoo through out roots to mid lengths on dry hair. ▫️Clip in @jzstyles.co Clip in extensions at the crown for fullness. ▫️Pull hair into a half pony and secure. ▫️Pull the remaining hair up and combine to half pony and secure to make one ponytail. ▫️Braid ponytail, wrap around the base and secure with large french pins! ▫️Create soft face framing waves with @ghdhair one inch Curl Iron. & Pop on a red lip 💋 @evahairnyc #helloimeva #evanyc #carlyxhair #summerhairstyle

[perksofwifi]

2021 Toyota Supra 4-Cylinder First Drive: Breaking With Tradition

Although the third-generation Toyota Supra (A70) was the first to incorporate a turbocharged engine, it was the inline-six setup that the model was known for, bringing 230 hp and 246 lb-ft of torque—a true sports car for the mid-1980s. And the A80 Supra of the ’90s, with its JZ inline-six (with and without turbo) became the stuff of legend. To most peoples’ memories, the Supra and an inline-six are inseparable.

After a 21-year hiatus in the United States, the Toyota Supra returned in its fifth generation with polarizing styling, sensational-but-quirky drive manners, and a powerful I-6 engine sourced from BMW. But things have changed for the 2021 year model. For the first time ever, Toyota is breaking the protocol by offering a Supra with a four-cylinder turbo engine.

Shattering a tradition like this by a brand that’s known for staying in its lane is bizarre. But Toyota saw an opportunity. By partnering with BMW and splitting the costs of co-developing the Supra and Z4, Toyota had access to BMW’s dynamic 2.0-liter turbo-four engine that would broaden the appeal of (and pricing accessibility to) its halo car.

Toyota already sells the four-cylinder Supra in Europe and Asia, but this is the first time it reaches U.S. soil, where it will slot between the performance-oriented Toyota 86 and the more powerful turbo-six Supra. Toyota is currently keeping U.S. pricing under wraps, but in Germany the turbo-four carries a 15 percent price break.

But making a downmarket version of a performance car is a risky endeavor, in that it can dilute the brand promise of the vehicle. It’s not too often that habits are broken in this industry, so we asked ourselves one question: Does the four-cylinder Supra measure up to its predecessors?

Read More About the 2021 Toyota Supra Lineup

2021 Toyota Supra 3.0 First Drive: Patience Pays Off

Turbo-Four or Straight-Six—Which Toyota Supra Should I Buy?

How Does the 4-Cylinder Supra Drive?

Like the 3.0-liter l-6 engine, the turbo-four mill came from BMW. Shared with the current BMW 3 Series and Z4 sDrive30i, the 2.0-liter turbo-four produces 255 hp and 295 lb-ft and is mated to an 8-speed automatic transmission that sends power to the rear wheels. Although international markets also get a lower-output 4-cylinder option, we Yanks got lucky and only get the more compelling variant. But the sad news is that there’s still no manual transmission coming any time soon.

The depowered Supra is 200 pounds lighter than the six-cylinder, give or take, and most of that weight was lost by cutting two cylinders from the engine. The Supra 2.0 also lost weight given the absence of an adaptive suspension and the active differential, both of which are standard on the inline-six. The lower weight helps the turbo-four sprint to 60 mph in 5.0 seconds, per Toyota, putting it behind the 3.0-liter by about 1.1 seconds. For now, we’ll have to believe Toyota, but be sure we’ll be running the numbers ourselves soon.

So, how does the four-cylinder Supra drive? On Malibu’s twisty canyon roads, the car sticks to the ground, feeling planted even from the rear end. Toyota made some chassis tuning changes compared to the 2020 model, and that shows in the tight corners. During our Best Driver’s Car competition (which you can binge watch now for $1 a month on the MotorTrend app), we complained about the rear end oscillating too much. Toyota listened and fixed it. The bumpy curves of Mulholland Highway didn’t bother the Supra, showing good body control at all times.

The Supra’s proper body control is complemented by its steering, which feels precise and balanced for a GT car. We had also complained about the Supra’s steering on past occasions, and for some reason the steering on the 4-banger feels slightly more decisive and quicker—especially on canyon roads. We credit the weight loss, all of which came off the front axle.

Though body control and steering are well tuned, the suspension was too rough for everyday driving. The poor quality of Los Angeles’ freeways is to blame here, but my body caught air on a couple of occasions when driving on the hate-drive 405 freeway, and during my romp on Mulholland, my head hit the ceiling when I drove over a dip (as there’s no adaptive suspension, the ride itself can’t get any worse).

The peppy 2.0-liter engine and the eight-speed tranny still deliver a lively drive. Of course, the reduced power is notable, but the turbo-four is fun. Although the transmission upshifts quickly, it’s a tad slow to downshift. Sport mode will make the engine rev at higher rpms, and the transmission will hold gears longer and will act like it’s rev-matching on downshifts.

One sad thing is that lifting off the throttle in Sport mode won’t trigger the raucous pops and crackles of the six-cylinder Supra; yes, they’re artificial, but they’re cool. Toyota should also consider installing more sound deadening materials, as the interior gets a lot of road noise.

Another difference between the four- and the six-cylinder Supra lies in the brakes. Toyota equipped the Supra 2.0 with smaller front rotors and uses single-piston calipers instead of four at each corner. Despite this changes, braking power is still there, but we’ll have to wait for our own numbers to see the difference. (The 2020 Supra Launch Edition we tested stopped from 60 to 0 mph in a short 99 feet.)

Has the 4-Cylinder Supra’s Interior Changed?

As the new entry-level Supra, there are a few key differences that lower the equipment level in the four-cylinder model. Instead of having power-adjusted seats, drivers must manually adjust their seating position. The standard audio system has only four speakers. Other features like Apple CarPlay and radar cruise control, which are standard on most Toyotas these days, are only available with the Safety and Technology package. That package also adds blind-spot monitor, parking sensors, navigation, a 12-speaker JBL premium audio system, and something called Supra Connected Services, which is a fancy concierge service that also includes remote locking and ventilation control, traffic updates, map updates, stolen vehicle recovery, and automatic emergency calling.

The good thing, though, is that Toyota ditched the 6.5-inch display of 2020 models in favor of a bigger 8.8-inch touchscreen, which is now standard on all 2021 models. But besides that, you won’t see many differences—the center console, infotainment system, and dash are the same as in the Supra 3.0, which means you get the same design, fonts, controls, and graphics as BMW.

As in many sports cars, the interior is small, but here it doesn’t feel cramped. Headroom is just enough for a 6-foot adult, and shoulder room is decent. The small side windows reduce lateral visibility, and although the seating position is low, visibility to the front is acceptable.

Should I Buy the 4-Cylinder Supra?

The most important thing is that the Supra continues to turn heads in places like Malibu, where sports cars meander like chickens in a cluster. During my drive, two different people stopped jogging on the side of the road when they saw the Supra coming, and incoming cars flashed their headlights and drivers showed thumbs-up. Now it will do it for less money. How much? We don’t know yet, but it will be less $50,000, which is the price of the 2020 Supra 3.0.

It’s hard to pay tribute to your predecessors when the world we live in is completely different from the one 20 years ago or more, but with a turbo-four under its hood, the Supra lives up to the hype and delivers excitement to those who seek it.

 SPECIFICATIONS 2021 Toyota GR Supra 2.0 BASE PRICE $40,000 (MT est) LAYOUT Front-engine, RWD, 2-pass, 2-door hatchback ENGINE 2.0L/255-hp/295-lb-ft turbocharged DOHC 16-valve I-4 TRANSMISSION 8-speed automatic CURB WEIGHT 3,200 lb (MT est) WHEELBASE 97.2 in L x W x H 172.5 x 73.0 x 51.1 in 0-60 MPH 5.0 sec (mfr est) EPA FUEL ECON, CITY/HWY 25/32 mpg (MT est) ENERGY CONSUMPTION, CITY/HWY 135/105 kW-hrs/100 miles (est) CO2 EMISSIONS, COMB 0.70 lb/mile (est) ON SALE June, 2020

The post 2021 Toyota Supra 4-Cylinder First Drive: Breaking With Tradition appeared first on MotorTrend.

https://www.motortrend.com/cars/toyota/supra/2021/2021-toyota-supra-4-cylinder-first-drive/ visto antes em https://www.motortrend.com

[gyrlversion]

Duchess of Sussex defies critics and plans SECOND baby shower

Her elaborate, star-studded baby shower in New York cost a reputed £350,000 and sparked a furious debate about its ‘Marie Antoinette-style’ decadence.

But rather than being put off by the criticism, the defiant Duchess of Sussex is planning a second celebration of her pregnancy – albeit on a much more modest scale.

A handful of Meghan’s most intimate friends, including Victoria Beckham, are expected to attend and the Duchess’s mother Doria will fly in from LA. 

A source said: ‘Doria is coming to a baby shower here. It will be a small gathering of five or six people.’

The defiant Duchess of Sussex is planning a second celebration of her pregnancy – albeit on a much more modest scale

In February, Meghan provoked an outcry when she flew by private jet to the US for a five-day baby shower celebration that cost £350,000. Around 20 friends attended, including Serena Williams and Amal Clooney

Meghan planned to host the event at Frogmore Cottage at Windsor where she and Prince Harry are setting up home. But renovation work has been delayed, meaning the party could be moved to Buckingham Palace. 

In February, Meghan provoked an outcry when she flew by private jet to the US for a five-day baby shower celebration. Around 20 friends attended, including Serena Williams and Amal Clooney.

They partied at The Mark hotel in Manhattan, in one of the world’s most expensive suites.

The cost of Meghan’s New York baby shower 

Private jet from the UK to New York, round trip – $250,000  

The Mark Hotel Grand Penthouse Suite – $150,000 

Five nights in a one-bedroom suite at The Mark Hotel – $9,982.05 

Dinner for five at The Polo Bar – approx. $420 

Lunch at Cafe Bolud – approx. $78

Afternoon tea for two at Laduree – approx. $45 

Two Royal Protection officers – $14,213 

Harp player Erin Hill – $625 

17 Away carry-on suitcases – $3,825 

Gifts: Babyletto Hudson 3-in-1 Convertible Crib – $379 

10ft mandarin tree – approx. $140  

Lady Fleur NYC roses – approx. $399.95  

Trek bicycle – approx. $609.99 

Carnival King cotton candy machine – $199.99 

JZ Events – $50,000 

Lewis Miller – $20,000   

Markle spent the morning before her baby shower gallivanting around town with former Suits co-star Abigail Spencer, tennis great Serena Williams, designer Misha Nonoo and Canadian gal pal Jessica Mulroney.

Markle and Spencer grabbed lunch together before being joined by the rest of the group for dinner at The Polo Bar, the swank New York eatery owned by designer Ralph Lauren. 

Then, on the day of, she welcomed even newer friends to her party at The Mark, including human rights lawyer Amal Clooney and King, who scored an invitation despite being kept off the guest list at Markle’s wedding.  

Her mother’s absence also meant that Markle had not one family member at the party, including new sister-in-law Kate Middleton, though baby showers have never been a British tradition. 

Princess Beatrice, who works in New York as the Vice President of Partnerships and Strategy at the software company Afiniti, was also not in attendance.

It was similar in many ways to her wedding last May, where it was Prince Charles who was tasked with walking Markle down the aisle as the relationship between the Duchess of Sussex and her father became increasingly fraught.

The shower was hosted by Serena Williams, Jessica Mulroney and Genevieve Hillis, who has been Markle’s best friend since the age of 17 when they met at Northwestern.

‘It was a small, private affair, and a special time for her,’ said CBS presenter, Gayle King. 

‘Having a baby is a great thing.’ 

While Markle was being feted by her newfound celebrity pals and recent co-stars at The Mark in New York City, her mother was seen walking alone in Los Angeles. 

A video, which emerged on social media after the shower, appeared to give a glimpse of the very lavish set up.

Royal fan account harry_meghan_updates, run by Instagram user Francesca, shared a video on its Story, claiming that the short clip was actually captured inside the star-studded baby shower.

It captures the dessert buffet on offer to guests which was designed by illustrator Darcy Miller, and featured four macaron towers from Laduree, which cost a total of $460.  

Away she goes: Markle was seen leaving The Mark on Wednesday night an hour after her baby shower

<!–

Special delivery! A huge bucket of pink roses was seen being delivered to The Mark hotel on Tuesday afternoon ahead of Meghan’s shower, sparking rumors she is expecting a baby girl 

Also seen among the tempting treats captured in the video are the iced baby-themed cookies, as shared by Meghan’s makeup artist Daniel Martin shared on his own Instagram earlier this week. 

The Duchess’ close pals were also treated to stork-shaped cake pops and miniature slices of carrot cake, as well as multiple cupcakes iced in pink and green frosting.

The crowing glory was a two tiered cake which featured a miniature paper cut out of Harry and Meghan stood next to a pram – believed to be the work of event designer Darcy Miller, who has been credited with putting together the lavish dessert buffet at the event. 

The 37-year-old royal’s lavish baby shower took place during her $503,000 trip to New York City in February. 

Decorations for the exclusive party began arriving on Tuesday, and there was plenty of pink — from the blush-colored roses to the cotton candy machine that was brought into the hotel. 

Dozens of light-pink long-stem roses worth close to $400 were seen being carried into the venue on Tuesday by Upper East Side florist Lady Fleur, and those weren’t the only floral arrangements of that color to be seen.

Meghan’s makeup artist Daniel Martin shared a close up snap of the iced cookies on offer at the shower on his Instagram account

More famous people: Amal Clooney (left) arrives for the baby shower on Wednesday while Serena Williams (right) heads into dinner on Tuesday night at The Polo Bar

Another rack of flowers that was being wheeled into The Mark featured rows of bouquets, many of which were pink or orange. 

Many of the guests carried white bags and presents, including newly-engaged designer Misha Nonoo, who is credited with introducing Meghan and Prince Harry. 

Upon her arrival, she was seen carrying a large white bag from high-end interiors company Rani Arabella into the hotel. 

Fitness trainer Taryn Toomey, the creator of a celebrity-loved workout called The Class, arrived at the event carrying two large white bags and a large sports bag.

Dressing for the part: Gayle King arrived in a bright pink pink dress and pastel-colored heels while carrying a colorful gift bag that featured fuchsia stripes and polka dots 

While the party decor suggests that Meghan may be having a girl, it’s also possible that she and Prince Harry are waiting until the day their royal baby is born to find out the gender. 

Earlier this month, the Duchess of Sussex was captured talking to a guest about her unborn child at the Endeavor Awards.  

‘We don’t know,’ she says in the clip shared by the royal fan Instagram account @harry_meghan_updates. ‘Yes, we decided to keep it a secret, and then that way… it’s one of those things, like, no matter what it is, it’s still going to be a surprise.’ 

Royal commentator Victoria Arbiter recently stated that it is ‘royal philosophy’ to keep the baby’s gender a secret until the day of the birth.   

‘There’s a belief that there are so few surprises left in life why not save the biggest one for the moment a child is born,’ she told Honey.nine.com. ‘This is not just a royal philosophy, many parents across the UK choose not to find out.’  

Meghan, 37, will not carry out any more official engagements until she gives birth – the baby is due next month. 

The post Duchess of Sussex defies critics and plans SECOND baby shower appeared first on Gyrlversion.

from WordPress https://www.gyrlversion.net/duchess-of-sussex-defies-critics-and-plans-second-baby-shower/

[flauntpage]

Kid Yamamoto: a Hero's Hero

The bafflingly named Hero’s was launched in 2005 as an offshoot of the great kickboxing promotion, K-1. An ultra successful crossover event with PRIDE FC in 2002 had left the K-1 big wigs thinking that they had better start working their way into this mixed martial arts malarkey and so Hero’s became K-1’s MMA arm.

Revisiting the run of Hero’s events it is strange to realize that the company was only around for a couple of years—from March 2005 until December 2007. DREAM lasted longer, PRIDE had been going for almost a decade when Hero’s started up and ended the same year, and even the youngest Japanese promotion, Rizin, has outlasted Hero’s at this point. Yet in those three years, Hero’s gave us some of the more memorable moments in Japanese MMA.

Kazushi Sakuraba abandoned PRIDE—the house that he had built—in order to join Hero’s, returning from the brink of defeat against Kestutis Smirnovas and losing in one of the sketchiest bouts of all time to a greased up Yoshihiro Akiyama. Genki Sudo found a home in Hero’s and was able to employ more and more theater in his legendary entrances to the point that he eventually abandoned fighting altogether and formed a successful pop group. Theater and narratives are a large part of fighting, but in terms of raw talent there was one man who stood out from the herd in Hero’s and whose highlight reels could be pulled up on YouTube at any point to convince friends that there was a future to this MMA thing: Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto.

A Bolt from the Blue

By the time that Hero’s announced its first grand prix, Yamamoto had already established something of a reputation as Japanese MMA’s bad boy—hitting opponents late after having knocked them out and living a dramatic life outside of the ring. He had dabbled in kickboxing in 2004 with a victory over Takehiro Murahama and a surprisingly competitive and dramatic fight with the great Masato on New Year's Eve. But as far as MMA went, there was an awful lot of hype and fans just weren’t sure they had seen enough to justify it yet.

Yamamoto had competed successfully in Shooto but had never won a Shooto title—pretty much a rite of passage for a Japanese MMA prospect. Scouted by K-1, Yamamoto found himself in a similar position to Tenshin Nasukawa’s modern position in Rizin—the company liked him but weren’t finding him suitable opponents or building a division for him to compete in. Yamamoto went from fighting the formidable Jeff Curran (16-5-1) in Icon Sport in May of 2003 to taking three fights against opponents with no MMA record in K-1 through to 2005.

Kid was a potential star, but fighting nobodies wasn’t going to get him anywhere and he knew this. So when Hero’s announced their middleweight grand prix, Yamamoto decided to take a crack at Hero’s’s first belt. Hero’s followed the Japanese tradition of making up its own weightclasses that deliberately didn’t conform with anyone else’s, so middleweight was in fact 75 kilograms or 165 pounds. This meant that Hero’s could enlist the services of the excellent lightweights Genki Sudo and Caol Uno to legitimize their first tournament. The tournament would have been even better had Joachim Hansen not been poached by PRIDE just before it began. Kid Yamamoto, however, was not a respected lightweight—he was a bantamweight at best who floated up to featherweight to get fights.

As far as ballsy moves go, Yamamoto’s decision to enter the Hero’s middleweight grand prix was one of the ballsiest in MMA. Though he was 5'4" on a good day, the tournament quickly stopped being about Yamamoto being undersized and became about the rest of the fighters being underpowered.

The Yamamoto clan are now a wrestling dynasty: the father, Ikuei Yamamoto had competed in the Munich Olympics, the elder sister Miyuu is a three time world champion, and Norifumi’s younger sister, Seiko is a four time world champion who achieved a bronze in the ADCC no gi grappling world championships eleven years after her last world title in wrestling. While Norifumi missed out on a serious wrestling career, he was able to put his talent to use in learning the MMA game and also entered The Contenders, a grappling tournament wherein he bested judo submissions wizard Koji Komuro. Throughout the 2005 grand prix, fans were treated to numerous instances of Yamamoto throwing around larger opponents in styles that didn’t always make sense to the eyes. The sight of Yamamoto holding Royler Gracie’s toes about an inch off the floor in a standing guillotine will always be hilarious.

We can never pretend that Yamamoto was a striking savant—his game was the leaping right hook and some hard kicks and that was about it. But what Yamamoto did have was ridiculous speed. Almost everyone he fought would inevitably try to kick or knee him in the head and he would return with his right hook—often wound up from far behind him—before they could get their foot back to the ground.

On the first night of the Hero’s grand prix, Yamamoto knocked Royler Gracie stiff with a right hook to the jaw, then took on Japanese MMA legend Caol Uno in the second round, forcing a TKO due to cuts over Uno’s left eye from stiff right straights and hooks. Genki Sudo had worked through his half of the bracket, submitting Kazuyuki Miyata and Hiroyuki Takaya and this set up a Yamamoto-Sudo final at K-1 Premium Dynamite 2005. The bout headlined K-1’s year-ending show at the Osaka Dome on a card containing kickboxing legends like Ernesto Hoost and Semmy Schilt. After a very tentative few minutes, Yamamoto finally caught the grappling savant with a right hook as he came in and sent him to the mat. Flurrying for the finish, Yamamoto’s finest moment was somewhat undercut by a premature stoppage. Yet the accomplishment has never been replicated: a fighter going up two weightclasses to run through a tournament with two fights in one night, stopping each opponent.

Yamamoto’s career peaked with his victory in the 2005 grand prix, but injuries and strange matchmaking left us with a great many unanswered questions. There was occasional talk about a possible match up between Yamamoto and PRIDE’s lightweight king, Takanori Gomi. Others wanted to see Yamamoto in with Urijah Faber, a trailblazer in the featherweight class in the United States. But while those match ups were complicated by the fighters being under different promotions, Hero’s did a bad job of finding Yamamoto opponents even under the same banner. The Genki Sudo rematch never happened and Sudo retired in 2007, but perhaps more surprisingly Gesias ‘JZ’ Cavalcante won the two subsequent Hero’s tournaments in Yamamoto’s division and that eagerly anticipated fight never materialized. Yamamoto had proven that he was the star and after starching Kazuyuki Miyata with the finest and quickest flying knee ever to grace MMA, Yamamoto wanted to return to his natural weight class.

Try to take note of where Yamamoto’s right foot last touches the mat before the knee, and then where it lands afterwards. There are some who attest that Yamamoto might have been the greatest raw athlete to ever compete in MMA. Watching Yamamoto hammer the heavy bag is one of the more impressive sights this writer has seen in the gym.

Hero’s best efforts were pretty bad. At featherweight, Yamamoto was matched against the 0-0-0 wrestler, Istvan Majoros in a fight so lopsided that he felt bad about punching the guy.

Another interesting quirk of Yamamoto’s game, he was a murderer with knees to the body out of the double collar tie, even against much taller opponents like Caol Uno.

Then on the same night that JZ Cavalcante won the 2007 grand prix, Yamamoto fought the 1-1 Bibiano Fernandes in the co-main event—his first fight at bantamweight. Fernandes went on to become something very special indeed over the coming years, but it was a truly weird piece of matchmaking at the time.

The last great showing Yamamoto had came against the formidable Rani Yahya on the last night of 2009. Yahya then had a 12-3 MMA record, had won gold at ADCC earlier in the year, and was fresh off a decision loss to Chase Beebe for the WEC bantamweight championship. Yamamoto, looking more polished and thoughtful, set to work with hard kicks and counter punches. He dug body shots with his left hand and dipped out after his right hooks. It was one of Yamamoto’s smoothest performances in the ring, and he handed Yahya his first knockout loss in the second round.

A surprisingly smooth and measured Yamamoto.

Then Yamamoto injured his knee and was out for two years. The Kid of old never came back. He fought Joe Warren in the opening round of the DREAM featherweight grand prix (back up a weight class) on his return in 2009 but lost a split decision to the American wrestler. A decision loss to the unremarkable Masanori Kanehara followed wherein Yamamoto was dropped on his face. His feet were so much slower and it was becoming clear that his chin was not up to it any more. In almost all of his remaining fights Yamamoto’s chin looked shaky and he just didn’t seem to have that electricity that made him impossible to look away from in 2005. In a passing of the torch moment, Yamamoto—MMA’s most notorious little man—met Demetrious Johnson in February 2011 and was handily outworked. The men Yamamoto was struggling against by the very end of his career likely wouldn’t have laid a glove on him at his best, but that is the nature of fighting.

In truth, to many fans Yamamoto remains a case of untested potential similar to the late Kevin Randleman but with a far more successful run in the fights he did have. But even as his abilities waned, Kid Yamamoto impacted the future of Japanese MMA even as it was entering a sleepy, post-PRIDE hibernation. Yamamoto had built his own gym to train on his own terms and as his own career wound down, successful youngsters began to trickle out of the small Yamamoto Sports Academy: the respectable Issei Tamura, the wily Kotetsu Boku, and the hot young prospect Yusuke Yachi to name a few. Kyoji Horiguchi was a quiet gym rat at the YSA through his teens, often found behind the front desk or teaching the kids wrestling classes, and now he is the best fighter Japan has perhaps ever produced. If you have any doubt of Yamamoto’s direct influence on Horiguchi, watch Horiguchi’s Shooto run wherein he looks the spitting image of Kid, leaping in behind lead hooks over and over again. Even years before Horiguchi began competing, Killer Bee gym (as it was in its previous incarnation) was the training grounds of the fearsome Akira Kikuchi—often regarded as one of the big “what ifs” of Japanese MMA. Yamamoto’s elder sister Miyuu and her son—Kid’s nephew, Erson, also fight out of the YSA. Rizin undoubtedly has a lot to thank Norifumi Yamamoto for, even if he never fought under their banner.

As he became more of an occasional competitor, Yamamoto also continued to explore his love of art and tattoos, coming into each bout more beautifully decorated than the last, with stunning shorts to match. In a sport full of atrocious ink with almost half of the fighters you see having their own name tattooed across their back lest they forget, Yamamoto’s ink stood out as genuine art. Strangely enough Yamamoto also began working on a curry restaurant in his semi-retirement, hilariously named Curry Shower, but just as the Kid was starting his second act he was cut down by cancer.

For the past few years, we have all been writing about Kid Yamamoto as an old man because in the fight game he was. One of the guilty pleasures of any fight writer is cracking wise about "old timers" and then being forced to eat crow if they can turn back the clock for one night. That’s the way it is supposed to be: 40-year-old men aren’t supposed to be able to keep up with 25-year-old kids. The heartbreaking thing is that in any other way of looking at it, in any other aspect of life, Kid Yamamoto was not an old man. He wasn’t even middle aged. The name ‘Kid’ had started to seem silly by the time Yamamoto hit 30, but to Miyuu Yamamoto he was still just her little brother, and to Ikuei Yamamoto, I’m sure Norifumi was still his baby boy.

Kid Yamamoto: a Hero's Hero published first on https://footballhighlightseurope.tumblr.com/