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wei-ying-kexing-apologist · 4 months ago

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Bengiyo's Queer Cinema Syllabus

For those of you who don’t know, I decided to run the gauntlet of @bengiyo’s queer cinema syllabus, which is comprised of 9 units. I have completed four of the units (here is my queer cinema syllabus round up post with all the films I’ve watched and written about so far). It is time for me to make my way through Unit 5- Lesbians, which includes the following films: The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love (1995), Bound (1996), Water Lilies (2007), Saving Face (2004), D.E.B.S. (2004), The Watermelon Woman (1996), Set It Off (1996), The Handmaiden (2016), Carol (2015), Imagine Me and You (2005), Two of Us (2019), Rafiki (2018), and The Color Purple (1985).

Today I will be watching:

The Color Purple (1985) dir. Stephen Spielberg

[Run Time: 2h 34m, Language: English]

Summary: A tale spanning forty years in the life of Celie, an African-American woman living in the South who survives incredible abuse and bigotry.

Cast:

Whoopi Goldberg as Celie

Oprah Winfrey as Sofia

Danny Glover as Mister (aka Albert)

Margaret Avery as Shug

FIRST OF ALL, AN APOLOGY TO THE LESBIANS. PLEASE KNOW THAT I LOVE YOU AND THAT I AM SORRY THAT IT TOOK ME EIGHT MONTHS TO GET THROUGH TEN FILMS.

Secondly, I was really excited to get to this film because I have actually seen it before, but not for a long time and I watched the movie musical when it came out a few years back which meant that I was setting myself up nicely for an adaptations project.

So, before I started this film, I decided to read the book, that way I could spend some time actively comparing the different iterations of this beautiful story. So I’m going to talk about some of the things I noticed:

Love for the Source Material

I think there is always a risk when you take a novel and try to turn it in to something else. There are plenty of instances where the original story is torn to shreds, completely ignored, rearranged to the point of being unidentifiable, or otherwise disrespected. That is absolutely NOT the case here. When I was reading the book, I got to the letter Celie wrote about Sofia coming to confront her after Harpo beat her and saw some lines that were directly turned in to lyrics in the song ‘Hell No’ that Sofia sings in the musical.

Which caused me to actually go back through the book for a time to try and see what other lines from the book may have made it in to the songs. And there were a few, for example:

Some more indirect references:

Shug’s song “Push Da Button” in the book does not have any lyrics that match dialogue in the book, however the song itself is a direct reference to a conversation Shug and Celie have regarding Celie’s “button” (clit) and learn how to masturbate.

Sofia’s song “Hell No” is a direct reference to Sofia’s mantra of “Hell no”

Celie’s song “Dear God” is a direct reference to Celie’s letters since she starts almost all of them with “Dear God”

Celie’s song “I’m Here” is a direct reference to the line “I’m poor, I’m black, and I may even be ugly, but I’m here”

The song “A Tree Named Sofia” is potentially a more subtle reference, but the book itself has a recurring theme of making yourself in to a tree

Some almost word for word lyrics that reference the book:

From the song “She Be Mine”: “I sews "Olivia" on her didies / Lil' stars and flowers too“ is taken from the line “I embroder Olivia in the seat of all her daidies. I embrody lot of little stars and flowers too.”

From the song “Dear God (Shug)”: “I wash her body and it feel like I'm prayin'” is taken from the line “I wash her body, it feel like I’m praying”

From the song “Hell No”: “I feel sorry for you, to tell you the truth / You remind me of my mama / Under your husband's thumb, nah / You under your husband's foot” is taken from the line “To tell the truth, you remind me of my mama. She under my daddy thumb. Naw, she under my daddy foot”

And there are more, but perhaps the one I find the most interesting is actually the lyrics from “Hell No” because it appears in the book, the musical, and the movie word for word and it is like the largest chunk of unedited text in all cases. Those lines being:

“ All my life I had to fight. I had to fight my daddy. I had to fight my brothers. I had to fight my cousins and my uncles. A girl child ain’t safe in a family of men. But I never thought I’d have to fight in my own house.” [...] “But I’ll kill him dead before I let him beat me.”

While there are a couple other lines that appear in all three versions, it is not lost on me that these lines about having to fight men are the ones that show up all the time.

And the film itself? Almost all of the dialogue is straight out of the book. (I’m not saying the musical doesn’t, btw I just haven’t watched the musical in awhile so I can’t make a definitive statement about it) I spent quite a bit of time highlighting parts of the book that fit the film dialogue. Here are two examples:

My favorite part of watching this film through an adaptations lens is that it allowed me to discover just how much love, care, and respect for the story that Alice Walker told.

Adaptation Additions

Violence

In some ways the book is more violent than the film, but not in all ways. One of the most jarring and painful changes from the book to the film is Nettie’s departure from Mister’s house. In the book, Celie references it in just a few lines. “He say one night in bed, Well, us done help Nettie all we can. Now she got to go. Where she gon go? I ast. I don’t care, he say. I tell Nettie the next morning. Stead of being mad, she glad to go. Say she hate to leave me is all. Us fall on each other neck when she say that.” but in the film? 1) we get a moment where Mister tries to rape Nettie, 2) when Nettie is kicked out of the house, both her and Celie are sobbing, clinging to each other as tight as they can and Mister physically separates them. 3) Mister keeps punching Nettie’s hands to try to get her to let go of a pole so that he can more easily throw her out 4) He physically carries Nettie out past the boundaries of his land, and she is fighting him the entire time. Like to the point where she falls out of his arms and collapses on the ground because she’s fighting so hard. 5) When he finally gets a better grip on Nettie and has her securely in his arms, Celie is clinging on to his ankles sobbing and being physically dragged along the ground.

Similarly with Sofia, while Celie does mention that Sofia was dragged to the ground and beaten by police. That is all that we hear. In the film, she is knocked out via pistol whip so we avoid seeing any further of a physical beating. However we get two different acts of violence/violation against her 1) in the film she is verbally assaulted so we are hearing slurs being flung at her 2) when she collapses to the ground the wind picks up her skirt and her underwear is exposed. I’m not sure if that was even intentional but it was an added little detail that further solidified the violence she went through.

Shug Backstory

Now, one of the most major benefits of adapting something in to a different medium is the room you have to give audiences a different view of what is happening. The Color Purple by Alice Walker is told through letters from Celie to God and to Nettie and through letters from Nettie to Celie. There are no other perspectives in the book. What this means is that we do not have the ability to obtain deeper information about a character without Celie or Nettie specifically knowing/hearing about it.

The place where I saw the biggest narrative change as a result of this is around Shug’s backstory. In the book, all we really know about Shug’s relationship with her parents is that she does not have much of one. We don’t know what her father does for work, we do not see Shug trying to get her Dad to engage in conversation with her, we do not see them repair their relationship at the end of the story, etc.

But because this is a film, it is not required for us to stay in Celie and Nettie’s perspectives and thusly we get this whole side plot about Shug meeting up with her father who is a preacher. Which is an addition that I love because so much of this story is about the ways relationships shift and change over time, the ways people harm each other, and the ways they can find themselves back together again. And I do distinctly remember Shug being referenced as the peacher’s daughter in the musical, which means that while this piece of Shug’s backstory is not carried over from the book, the musical adaptation carries on that canon for Shug.

Other smaller additions that I think are fun when it comes to the film:

Just the visual cues for things. My favorite being the cut to the men building the railroad in Georgia happening at the same time that we get Nettie’s voiceover about the road being built through the Olinka village.

The way some of the motifs change. In the book, one of the recurring themes is being turned to wood/being a tree (“I make myself wood. I say to myself, Celie, you a tree. That’s how come I know trees fear man”). But the recurring motif in the film is shadows being cast.

SEEING! CELIE! SMILE!

Diminished Themes

Okay that said, obviously the run time of a movie or a musical will often be much different from the time a person can spend with a book. As such there are some plot points that are cut or changed, and while there are some that I think make sense, there are others that I do feel diminished the story.

Some changes that I think were good from a run time stand point:

Cutting Shug’s additional romance with the 19 year old was something I do think was a good decision.

Cutting the part where Celie thinks Nettie is dead (again) after getting a telegram saying that ship Nettie and the children were on sank in the Atlantic

Harpo eating so so much

Sofia having to deal with Eleanor Jane

Some changes that I feel neutral about:

There was much less emphasis on Nettie’s time in Africa and therefore there was not really a point in the film where the audience or the characters was having to grapple with the complexities of being a Black American in Africa. I can totally see why they would cut this section for time, I don’t think it is necessary for the fundamental story, but it definitely was a recurring theme throughout the book. Just something to note if anyone is thinking about reading the book or watching the film…or both.

Some changes that I think harmed the overarching themes:

Less lesbianism between Celie and Shug. I assume this was a film that needed to be careful in its portrayals of queerness. And while I am glad that Shug is still such an important factor in Celie’s life, I think minimizing the time they spent interacting when they were living with Albert and also after they leave does detract a lot from both the strength and complexity of their relationship and also the emphasis of The Color Purple being a fundamentally queer story.

Celie’s pants only coming up right at the end. It was a super important detail for me that Shug taught Celie how to sew pants and how much pants are a symbol of freedom and independence for Celie and the fact that she spends so much of her time when she’s living with Shug just nonstop sewing pants.

Most Importantly: I am not super thrilled with the way they handled Albert’s redemption in the film compared to the book. While I do like that the film keeps the overall theme of reparations between people, I wish we’d had more of the change in Albert. (Though I will say the ending we get for Albert in the movie does map better to the change in how Albert handles removing Nettie from the house in the film). I have a lot of thoughts on this so bare with me:

Albert

OKAY SO! Before Celie leaves, she curses Albert, and in the film we really only see Albert looking rough, in the movie musical it gets even worse for him, and in the book, we only hear about the hard times Albert went through after they have already passed. While I do think it is more fun to have the visual of all the ways Albert suffered for what he did to Celie. It was so incredibly important to me that in the book Albert truly turns his entire life around.

I loved that the thing that got Harpo and Sofia back together after like decades separated was Sofia seeing the way Harpo started to care for his father when Albert was in the deepest pits of his suffering.

And I loved that in the book, when Celie and Albert start interacting again he truly has changed, changed for the better, and is a much more secure and happy man than he ever was before. Like I think this is one of the most beautiful things I ever read:

“After all the evil he done I know you wonder why I don’t hate him. I don’t hate him for two reasons. One, he love Shug. And two, Shug use to love him. Plus, look like he trying to make something out of himself. I don’t mean just that he work and he clean up after himself and he appreciate some of the things God was playful enough to make. I mean when you talk to him now he really listen, and one time, out of nowhere in the conversation us was having, he said Celie, I’m satisfied this the first time I ever lived on Earth as a natural man. It feel like a new experience. [...] When I was growing up, he said, I use to try to sew along with mama cause that’s what she was always doing. But everybody laughed at me. But you know, I liked it. Well, nobody gon laugh at you now, I said. Here, help me stitch in these pockets [...] “Then he say something that really surprise me cause it so thoughtful and common sense. When it come to what folks do together with they bodies, he say, anybody’s guess is as good as mine. But when you talk bout love I don’t have to guess. I have love and I have been love. And I thank God he let me gain understanding enough to know love can’t be halted just cause some peoples moan and groan. It don’t surprise me you love Shug Avery, he say. I have love Shug Avery all my life. What load of bricks fell on you? I ast. No bricks, he say. Just experience. You know, everybody bound to git some of that sooner or later. All they have to do is stay alive. And I start to git mine real heavy long about the time I told Shug it was true that I beat you cause you was you and not her. I told her, I say. I know it, he say, and I don’t blame you. [...] …Near bout to broke my sorry heart. If you know your heart sorry, I say, that mean it not quite as spoilt as you think. Anyhow, he say, you know how it is. You ask yourself one question, it lead to fifteen. I start to wonder why us need love. Why us suffer. Why us black. Why us men and women. Where do children really come from. It didn’t take long to realize I didn’t hardly know nothing. And that if you ast yourself why you black or a man or a woman or a bush it don’t mean nothing if you don’t ask why you here, period. So what you think? I ask. I think us here to wonder, myself. To wonder. To ask. And that in wondering bout the big things and asking bout the big things, you learn about the little ones, almost by accident. But you never know nothing more about the big things than you start out with. The more I wonder, he say, the more I love. And people start to love you back, I bet, I say.”

Genuinely, I think it is such a kind thing for Alice Walker to have done. Like I think there is a lot that can be said for misogyny, and patriarchy, and cycles of abuse and poverty, and the way that people are pressured by the people around them to conform in certain ways. Celie was abused for the vast majority of her life, and she told Harpo to beat Sofia. I am really glad that she leaned so much in to accountability and repairing of harm. Not only that, but he asks Celie if she was in love with Shug, ends up being understanding of her queerness, he helps Celie with her business, and they become like genuine friends.

In the film (and I think the musical too) the way that Albert does right by Celie is to pay the money that is needed to get Nettie and Celie’s children the documents they need to immigrate back to the United States thus fostering the reunion between Nettie and Celie after decades apart. And don’t get me wrong, that is an important thing for him to do. Because he is the biggest reason they had no communication between them for so long. But I just personally do not feel it is as strong of a message about how it is never too late for anyone (never too late to be reunited, never too late to be free, never too late to laugh, to hug the children you never thought you’d get to meet, never too late to love) to just have this secret grand gesture.

Okay that was a lot, sorry! If you are still with me let’s get on to the rest.

Favorite Scene

Favorite scene in the film is far and away the scene where Shug holds Celie’s hands down so she cannot cover her face and we get to see Celie’s huge and beautiful smile. There is so much love and care in that moment, and it is the first time that anyone really calls Celie beautiful and god it’s just…AHHH

Favorite Quote

“I’m poor, black, I may even be ugly, but Dear God I’m here! I’m here!”

Maybe it's just because I'm Here is my favorite song in the musical, maybe it's just because to be alive is ultimately such a miraculous thing.

Final Score

9/10

THIS WAS EGOT WINNER WHOOPI GOLDBERG’S FIRST FILM!!! AND SHE FUCKING CRUSHED IT. SHE WAS NOMINATED FOR AN OSCAR AND WON A GOLDEN GLOBE AND THEN WAS ONE OF THE BUSIEST FEMALE STARS BETWEEN THE YEARS OF 1985-1988. WHY? BECAUSE SHE MADE ***SEVEN*** FILMS

And with that, Unit 5 is done and it is on to Unit 6: Gems! See ya later!

#the color purple #the color purple alice walker #alice walker #the color purple film #the color purple musical #the color purple (1985)#queer cinema syllabus #bengiyo's queer cinema syllabus #unit 5: lesbians #here yall please take this ridiculously long write up as penance for taking eight months to finish this unit

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justforbooks · 8 months ago

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Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright, essayist and screenwriter in the 20th-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are All My Sons (1947), Death of a Salesman (1949), The Crucible (1953), and A View from the Bridge (1955). He wrote several screenplays, including The Misfits (1961). The drama Death of a Salesman is considered one of the best American plays of the 20th century.

Miller was often in the public eye, particularly during the late 1940s, 1950s and early 1960s. During this time, he received a Pulitzer Prize for Drama, testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee, and married Marilyn Monroe. In 1980, he received the St. Louis Literary Award from the Saint Louis University Library Associates. He received the Praemium Imperiale prize in 2001, the Prince of Asturias Award in 2002, and the Jerusalem Prize in 2003, and the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize in 1999.

Miller's writing career spanned over seven decades, and at the time of his death, he was considered one of the 20th century's greatest dramatists. After his death, many respected actors, directors, and producers paid tribute to him, some calling him the last great practitioner of the American stage, and Broadway theatres darkened their lights in a show of respect. Miller's alma mater, the University of Michigan, opened the Arthur Miller Theatre in March 2007. Per his express wish, it is the only theater in the world that bears his name.

Miller's letters, notes, drafts and other papers are housed at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at the University of Texas at Austin. Miller is also a member of the American Theater Hall of Fame. He was inducted in 1979. In 1993, he received the Four Freedoms Award for Freedom of Speech. In 2017, his daughter, Rebecca Miller, a writer and filmmaker, completed a documentary about her father's life, Arthur Miller: Writer. Minor planet 3769 Arthurmiller is named after him. In the 2022 Netflix film Blonde, Miller was portrayed by Adrien Brody.

Miller donated thirteen boxes of his earliest manuscripts to the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin in 1961 and 1962. This collection included the original handwritten notebooks and early typed drafts for Death of a Salesman, The Crucible, All My Sons, and other works. In January, 2018, the Ransom Center announced the acquisition of the remainder of the Miller archive, totaling over 200 boxes. The full archive opened in November, 2019.

Christopher Bigsby wrote Arthur Miller: The Definitive Biography based on boxes of papers Miller made available to him before his death in 2005. The book was published in November 2008, and is reported to reveal unpublished works in which Miller "bitterly attack[ed] the injustices of American racism long before it was taken up by the civil rights movement". In his book Trinity of Passion, author Alan M. Wald conjectures that Miller was "a member of a writer's unit of the Communist Party around 1946", using the pseudonym Matt Wayne, and editing a drama column in the magazine The New Masses.

In 1999, the writer Christopher Hitchens attacked Miller for comparing the Monica Lewinsky investigation to the Salem witch hunt. Miller had asserted a parallel between the examination of physical evidence on Lewinsky's dress and the examinations of women's bodies for signs of the "Devil's Marks" in Salem. Hitchens scathingly disputed the parallel. In his memoir, Hitch-22, Hitchens bitterly noted that Miller, despite his prominence as a left-wing intellectual, had failed to support author Salman Rushdie during the Iranian fatwa involving The Satanic Verses.

Works

Stage plays

No Villain (1936)

They Too Arise (1937, based on No Villain)

Honors at Dawn (1938, based on They Too Arise)

The Grass Still Grows (1938, based on They Too Arise)

The Great Disobedience (1938)

Listen My Children (1939, with Norman Rosten)

The Golden Years (1940)

The Half-Bridge (1943)

The Man Who Had All the Luck (1944)

All My Sons (1947)

Death of a Salesman (1949)

An Enemy of the People (1950, adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's play An Enemy of the People)

The Crucible (1953)

A View from the Bridge (1955)

A Memory of Two Mondays (1955)

After the Fall (1964)

Incident at Vichy (1964)

The Price (1968)

The Reason Why (1970)

Fame (one-act, 1970; revised for television 1978)

The Creation of the World and Other Business (1972)

Up from Paradise (1974)

The Archbishop's Ceiling (1977)

The American Clock (1980)

Playing for Time (television play, 1980)

Elegy for a Lady (short play, 1982, first part of Two Way Mirror)

Some Kind of Love Story (short play, 1982, second part of Two Way Mirror)

I Think About You a Great Deal (1986)

Playing for Time (stage version, 1985)

I Can't Remember Anything (1987, collected in Danger: Memory!)

Clara (1987, collected in Danger: Memory!)

The Ride Down Mt. Morgan (1991)

The Last Yankee (1993)

Broken Glass (1994)

Mr. Peters' Connections (1998)

Resurrection Blues (2002)

Finishing the Picture (2004)

Radio plays

The Pussycat and the Expert Plumber Who Was a Man (1940)

Joel Chandler Harris (1941)

The Battle of the Ovens (1942)

Thunder from the Mountains (1942)

I Was Married in Bataan (1942)

That They May Win (1943)

Listen for the Sound of Wings (1943)

Bernardine (1944)

I Love You (1944)

Grandpa and the Statue (1944)

The Philippines Never Surrendered (1944)

The Guardsman (1944, based on Ferenc Molnár's play)

The Story of Gus (1947)

Screenplays

The Hook (1947)

All My Sons (1948)

Let's Make Love (1960)

The Misfits (1961)

Death of a Salesman (1985)

Everybody Wins (1990)

The Crucible (1996)

Assorted fiction

Focus (novel, 1945)

"The Misfits" (short story, published in Esquire, October 1957)

I Don't Need You Anymore (short stories, 1967)

"Homely Girl: A Life" (short story, 1992, published in UK as "Plain Girl: A Life" 1995)

Presence: Stories (2007) (short stories include "The Bare Manuscript", "Beavers", "The Performance", and "Bulldog")

Non-fiction

Situation Normal (1944) is based on his experiences researching the war correspondence of Ernie Pyle.

In Russia (1969), the first of three books created with his photographer wife Inge Morath, offers Miller's impressions of Russia and Russian society.

In the Country (1977), with photographs by Morath and text by Miller, provides insight into how Miller spent his time in Roxbury, Connecticut, and profiles of his various neighbors.

Chinese Encounters (1979) is a travel journal with photographs by Morath. It depicts the Chinese society in the state of flux which followed the end of the Cultural Revolution. Miller discusses the hardships of many writers, professors, and artists during Mao Zedong's regime.

Salesman in Beijing (1984) details Miller's experiences with the 1983 Beijing People's Theatre production of Death of a Salesman. He describes directing a Chinese cast in an American play.

Timebends: A Life, Methuen London (1987). Miller's autobiography.

On Politics and the Art of Acting, Viking 2001 an 85-page essay about the thespian skills in American politics, comparing FDR, JFK, Reagan, Clinton.

Collections

Abbotson, Susan C. W. (ed.), Arthur Miller: Collected Essays, Penguin 2016

Kushner, Tony, ed. Arthur Miller, Collected Plays 1944–1961 (Library of America, 2006).

Martin, Robert A. (ed.), "The theater essays of Arthur Miller", foreword by Arthur Miller. NY: Viking Press, 1978

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at Just for Books…?

#just for books #Arthur Miller #famous birthdays

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decafcatfeen · 4 months ago

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Anyways, for timeline, people

Apparently, we have those

And I wanted to date anchorridge anyways

Cedar and Aspen are born in the early 1700s.

Cedar attends college and theorizes the stardrive engine, around 1758 earth time.

Cedar leaves the ariral home world and finds the planet, Cedar gas requested it remain un-named. Around 1760.

Cedar fights and kills the God that taught her magic, becoming a magic based god herself, accidentally splitting her immortality with Aspen, 1847.

Cedar leaves and arrives at earth in 1922.

Cedar starts anchorridge deep LLC and, through a mix of magic and ariral technology, develops the true first computer, secretly selling it to various anomalous organizations.

Cedar expands anchorridge deep and quickly picks up steam, successfully creating the first stardrive engine on July 7th, 1953.

Anchoridia is discovered and settled by thamurgic means, June 15th, 1955.

The first iteration of VIVI was constructed on January 12th, 1999.

Anchorridge continues, discovering warp technology after detecting unusual signals and covertly acquiring some to reverse engineer from sevcon. [DATE EXPUNGED]

The first anchorridge made railgun was released on October 14th, 2007.

Catdroids were released in their first iteration 2 days later.

Laminax CO is discovered and subsequentally assimilated into anchorridge. November 2009.

Severia league is discovered, leading to several interdimensional and interplanetary wars spanning from 2009 - 2013.

VIVI iterates into an ARCHEOTECH class entity, giving anchorridge most of their advanced technology, albeit anchorridge quickly picks up and moves off from this foundation. February 2015, date 13th.

Autodev is created to aid vivi in handling her much larger workload.

WEAVE visualizer made, December 2016, 21st, cedar rips the weave half an hour later and uses it in her cloak.

Contact with Aspen and the ariral Empire re-established, 2019 ????, Aspen joins cedar in anchorridge deep.

2020 october 13th, unofficial Nation of catlandia discovered, Trojan recruited and ascended into concept god of chaos.

Timeline feeds into now.

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atz-moon · 2 years ago

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Moon's Tattoos & Piercings

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Moon has seven piercings and twenty tattoos. Moon has both arms fully tattooed. In other words, she has two full sleeve tattoos. The two pictures underneath show an example of how it looks.

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Piercings ☆

[right ear: 3 piercings | left ear: 2 piercings]

Moon got her first piercings in 2007. Her first piercings were her lobe piercings. She got the two lower helix piercings in 2016. The orbital conch on her right ear was done in 2019.

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{2019, side labret}

Moon got her lip pierced in early 2019. It is a side labret and she mostly wears rings, especially silver ones.

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[2021, eyebrow piercing]

Moon got her eyebrow piercing in early 2021. It got her some backlash, but most fans were hyped about it.

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Tattoos ♡

{2019-2023, right & left arm/sleeves}

Moon got these big tattoos over the time span of five years, from early 2019 to the present. These are the biggest tattoos that are spread on both of her arms from shoulder to wrists. They are sometimes as big as a hand, sometimes smaller. Some are placed horizontally and some vertically. Most of them are black and white but a few have color. The dragons are just symbols that she likes as well as the crow. A lot of her tattoos are just things she likes. But there are more personal ones as well. The Doberman tattoo is of her dog Hades. The medusa and phoenix tattoo have more deeper mental health and trauma meanings. And the compass and ateez symbol obviously refer to her group.

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[2021, back/left shoulder blade]

Moon got her back tattooed in 2021. This is an abstract art tattoo. For moon it has the meaning of continues flow. Never give up and always keep moving.

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{2019-2023, left & right arm/sleeves}

These tattoos are smaller, filler tattoos for Moon’s sleeves. She got them in the years from 2019 to 2023 as well. They are also special, though. The cat tattoos are more colorful than her usual tattoos and were picked by Jieun (Stray Kids). She has another two tattoos regarding her group. One is their slogan (A/N: It is obviously ‘9 makes 1 team’ now) and the other is a heart with ‘Atiny’ in it. The smallest tattoo is a reference to the hourglass in their lore.

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[2022, between/underneath breasts]

In 2022 Moon got a tattoo that is slightly underneath her breasts and in the center of her chest. The red moon symbolizes strength, courage, and power for Moon. For Moon the tree symbolizes life and beauty. Community and peace.

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{2021-2022, left & right hand}

In 2021 Moon got her left hand tattooed (middle picture) in the same abstract design as her back. Her right hand was tattooed in 2022. Here only her middle and ring finger are tattooed in a spider web kind of style.

⚪⚫⚪⚫⚪⚫⚪⚫⚪⚫⚪⚫⚪⚫⚪⚫

Disclaimer: All the pictures are from Pinterest and are not mine. Credit to the owners.

#oc modifications #oc piercings #oc tattoos #ateez #ateez 9th member #ateez added member #ateez addition #ateez female addition #atz moon #atz-moon #i-am-confused-about-life #ateez female member #kpop addition #kpop added member #kpop female addition #kpop female oc #kpop oc

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90363462 · 9 months ago

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happy birthday Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American rocksinger, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", he has released 21 studio albums during a career spanning six decades, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Springsteen is a pioneer of heartland rock, combining a commercially successful rock sound with poetic and socially conscious lyrics reflecting the issues of working class American life. He is known for his descriptive lyrics and energetic concerts, which sometimes last over four hours

Springsteen released his first two albums, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. and The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle, in 1973. Although both were well received by critics, neither earned him a large audience. He changed his style and achieved worldwide popularity with Born to Run (1975), followed by Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978) and The River (1980), Springsteen's first album to top the Billboard 200 chart. After the solo effort Nebraska (1982), he recorded Born in the U.S.A. (1984) with the E Street Band, which became his most commercially successful album and the 23rd-best selling album of all time as of 2024. All seven singles from Born in the U.S.A. reached the Top 10 of the BillboardHot 100, including the title track. Springsteen mostly hired session musicians for the recording of his next three albums, Tunnel of Love (1987), Human Touch (1992), and Lucky Town (1992). He reassembled the E Street Band for Greatest Hits (1995), and recorded the acoustic album The Ghost of Tom Joad(1995) and the EP Blood Brothers (1996) solo.

Springsteen dedicated The Rising (2002) to the victims of the September 11 attacks. He released two more folk albums, Devils & Dust(2005) and We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions (2006), followed by two more albums with the E Street Band, Magic (2007) and Working on a Dream (2009). The next albums, Wrecking Ball (2012) and High Hopes (2014), topped album charts worldwide. In 2017, 2018 and 2021, Springsteen performed the critically acclaimed show Springsteen on Broadway, in which he performed songs and told stories from his 2016 autobiography; an album versionfrom the Broadway performances was released in 2018. He released the solo Western Stars (2019), Letter to You (2020) with the E Street Band, and a solo covers album Only the Strong Survive (2022). Letter to You reached No. 2 in the US, making Springsteen the first artist to release a top-five album across six consecutive decades.

One of the album era's most prominent musicians, Springsteen has sold more than 71 million albums in the U.S. and over 140 million worldwide, making him the 27th best-selling music artist of all time as of 2024. His accolades include 20 Grammy Awards, two Golden Globes, an Academy Award, and a Special Tony Award. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999, received the Kennedy Center Honors in 2009, was named MusiCares person of the year in 2013, and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016 and the National Medal of Arts in 2023. In 2010, Rolling Stone ranked Springsteen 23rd on its list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time", describing him as "the embodiment of rock and roll".

Favorite song/album?

#Happy birthday #bruce springsteen

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vitos-ordination-song · 1 year ago

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Thoughts on every translated Shuzu Oshimi work:

Avant-Garde Yumeko (2003) – Great despite being short! A girl becomes obsessed with dicks and wants to see one so badly it takes her life in unexpected directions. An early example of Oshimi’s interest in sexually forward girls. Makes a link between sexuality and art in a unique way.

Sweet Poolside (2004) – Silly story about a boy who’s embarrassed that he has no body hair and a girl embarrassed that she has too much body hair. Oshimi has clearly always been interested in gender anxieties and fluidity. The manga’s ending is great.

Devil Ecstasy (2005-2006) – I adored this one. It is probably the most light-hearted thing Oshimi’s written but it’s up there with my favorites. Trashy in all the right ways, cutesy yet campy; it’s got absurdist horror, ridiculous sexuality and gender themes, and cute couples. I was obsessed with the emo rock boy and his alt gf.

Yūtai Nova (2007–2008) – Similar to other Oshimi works; the first time he uses “self dissolution” and gender bending as themes. Not that good but might have been better if it hadn’t gotten discontinued.

Drifting Net Café (2008–2011) – To be honest, I wasn’t a huge fan of this one. It wasn’t bad, but I’ve seen this premise and theme done better elsewhere. This and the previous work are the only manga by Oshimi to feature sexual violence by men against women—from this point on, it’s always the other way around.

The Flowers of Evil (2009–2014) – I know this is one of Oshimi’s most famous and beloved works, but it’s not my favorite. I found it more intellectually stimulating than emotionally involving, I guess. But the story surprised me, which I can’t say for everything, and I really liked the ending. Also this was my first of Oshimi’s manga, and I immediately nailed him as someone fascinated with sexual domination/submission.

Shino Can't Say Her Name (2011–2012) – Short and sweet. The only Oshimi work that seems to have no hint of sexuality. It’s a story about a girl with a horrible stutter who ends up making friends and forming a band. Heartwarming stuff.

Inside Mari (2012–2016) – One of his best. Psychologically rich with compelling characters. The story is engaging and constantly throwing the reader curve balls. So much could be said about its themes of gender, sexuality, and identity, especially in context of Oshimi’s entire body of work.

Happiness (2015–2019) – I liked this one but I doubt I’ll ever reread it. Oshimi is great at making lovable characters in a short span of time, so I was definitely invested in the story, but it wasn’t that interesting to me ultimately. It was a fairly straightforward vampire horror. I do like that it pulled “humans are the real monsters,” and some of the scenes with the cult towards the end were truly harrowing—my morbid ass loves shit like that.

Waltz (2017) – A one-shot about a girl who meets a boy(?) who likes to dress up as a girl. I liked the ending. Not a lot to say given how short it is.

Trail of Blood (2017–2023) – The most important of Oshimi’s works to me. I can’t really talk about it but I think it’s a work of art that will continue to influence my life for years to come.

Miss Kusakabe (2020) – One-shot about a man in a shitty relationship with a domineering woman (surprise surprise). Didn’t get a lot out of it.

Lily (2021) – ANOTHER one-shot about a man getting dominated by a woman. Something you’d like to tell us, Oshimi?

Welcome Back, Alice (2020–2023) – I really liked this one. The characters ended up growing on me a lot, and I loved the themes—let’s all just quit with this gender bullshit. It’s funny that the plot is quite literally “non-binary kid enters a high school and transes all his classmates.” Maybe the trans conspiracists were on to something after all! But for real, the final chapters were beautiful and meaningful; essentially the story was about trying to envision a world where sex and gender don’t imprison us. I really admire Oshimi for being so open about his own feelings and experiences on these issues. He’s doing important work to dissolve the invisible divides people create, and I feel a kinship to him. Perhaps because I also have a weird BDSM fixation.

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finishinglinepress · 1 year ago

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FLP CHAPBOOK OF THE DAY: Dropping Sunrises in a Jar by Melinda Thomsen

On SALE now! Pre-order Price Guarantee:

https://www.finishinglinepress.com/product/dropping-sunrises-in-a-jar-by-melinda-thomsen/

Each poem in Dropping Sunrises in a Jar began as a way to understand why #birds appear so happy at sunrise. Written from notes spanning over twenty years, Dropping Sunrises in a Jar glimpses nature’s inner workings of joy. In free verse and form poems, sunrises from across the globe are depicted in a variety of awakening colors and sounds. #Poems recount the morning opera from locations like a sleeping car on a train going to Beijing to construction crane noise in Prague, the cooing of doves in North Carolina, and canyon towhees in Arizona. By organizing the poems into three sections: I’ll tell you how the Sun rose, A Ribbon at a time, and The Steeples swam in Amethyst, the readers ultimately find themselves gently released back into their world with signs of hope. #nature #poems #birds #chapbook #FLP

Melinda Thomsen’s Armature from Hermit Feathers Press (2021) was a finalist for the 2022 Eric Hoffer da Vinci Eye award and an honorable mention in the 2019 Lena Shull Poetry Contest from NC Poetry Society. Her books Field Rations (2011) and Naming Rights (2007) are also from Finishing Line Press, and her latest poems can be found in Salamander Magazine, Artemis Journal, THEMA, The Ekphrastic Review, Poetry Miscellany, The New York Quarterly, and Poetry Quarterly, among others. A 2023 Randall Jarrell Poetry Contest Honorable Mention, 2019 Pushcart Nominee from The Comstock Review, and a Semi-Finalist in the 2004 “Discovery” / The Nation poetry contest, she’s an advisory editor for Tar River Poetry and current Vice President of Programming for the North Carolina Poetry Society. A graduate of Mount Holyoke College, she received her MA in English from The City College, CUNY, and MFA in Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts. She is the Writing Center Coordinator for the John Paul II Catholic School and lives in North Carolina with her husband Hunt, two cats, and one chicken.

PRAISE FOR Dropping Sunrises in a Jar by Melinda Thomsen

I love that poet-philosopher Melinda Thomsen has turned her wise but uncynical eye and voice towards the tragedy of climate change. Thomsen writes, “I wake to the sky’s daily burning/in these—my sunset—years to collect sunrises…like candles gathered from my forgiving earth… But this burning keeps flushing out the birds…” Thomsen writes extensively of birds, those things with feathers, to give us what I love best in eco poetry, hope-punk. But, sad and knowing as her poems often are, Thomsen can’t help but bring her child-like wonder to the world, and for that I am grateful.

–ELIZABETH J. COLEMAN, editor of Here: Poems for the Planet, Copper Canyon Press, 2019

In Dropping Sunrises in a Jar, Thomsen skillfully highlights and juxtaposes the cyclical nature and beauty of sunrises and the corresponding splendor and chaos of local fauna, flora, as well as man made technologies. From mynas in Maui, bridges in New York City, construction in Prague, to warblers in Maine, Thomsen’s celebration of origins and beginnings cleverly serves as an homage to rebirth, routine, and hope.

–JOSE HERNANDEZ DIAZ, author of The Fire Eater, Bad Mexican, Bad American, and The Parachutist

Please share/please repost #flpauthor #preorder #AwesomeCoverArt #poetry #chapbook #read #poems

#poetry #flp authors #preorder #flp #poets on tumblr #american poets #chapbook #chapbooks #finishing line press #small press

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battleangel · 2 years ago

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Your Life Is The Truman Show

This place, our "current reality", the Upside Down which is definitely a Stranger Thing, isnt a fit for me.

Its not like it was before.

I noticed it as soon as I started high school, my first day as a freshman at Bishop Ahr in September 1995.

Everything felt so motherfucking fake, forced and contrived.

The stupid mandatory pep rallies I was forced to attend in the gymnasium and having to pretend that I gave a shit that we were playing our rivals, Colonia.

I didnt.

Being forced fo sit in the cafeteria every day for an hour when I would finish my Lunchables, Sour Gushers & Hi-C in ten minutes.

Attempts to hide in the bathroom stall and the school library were met with threats of detention and an insistence that I stay in the cafeteria every day for my full lunch hour per my schedule.

Extracurricular activities were n e v a h a social fit at all, neither in junior high or high school.

I wasnt talking and I was socially isolated due to my social anxiety but I could never shake that forced and contrived feeling I already mentioned.

Everything was artifice.

Marching band playing the fluit in junior high, wind ensemble playing the flute in 4th through 8th grade. I'm front row, second from the right.

Softball for a decade for St .Peters (3rd through 8th grade) & Franklin Township Little League (2nd grade through 10th grade). Im in the middle holding the bat.

Girl scouts - junior high, French club & Students Against Drunk Driving - high school.

Spring & winter track - varsity lettered sophomore year - high school.

Youth choir - church - 11 to 13 years old, Counselor in training - Inman Park - Summer 7th grade, Theater program - Villagers Theater - Summer 7th grade, Candy striper - St. Peters Hospital - freshman & sophmore years - high school, Intervarsity For Christ - freshman year - UDel, Talent Competition - junior year - high school; Talent Show - 8th grade; Vacation bible school - church - 11 to 13 yeara old.

Additional clues this place has nevah been a fit:

•During my 15 year career in corporate which spanned from 2007 to 2022, I worked twenty mostly jobs which were mostly contract assignments with only a few permanent jobs with all of my tenures being a year or less with the absolute max tenure for any one job being two years, additionally I worked over a dozen temporary jobs during that same 15 year tenure in corporate, that ranged from a few days to a few weeks to a month or possibly two at most.

•I left four jobs in six years with no job lined up (Bank of America - 2015; International SOS - 2017; Dow Jones - 2019; Amazon - 2021).

•I left Amazon (6 month contract, $55/hr) after seven days.

•College (University of Delaware) was a thousand times worse than high school and even less of a fit because now I was living in a dorm on campus surrounded by people pledging sororities, partying, driking, doing LSD and hooking up left and right and I was interested in exactly none of that.

•Corporate exposed an extremely clear pattern that had emerged where seemingly nothing was a fit for me in terms of established accepted societal structures (sports teams, marching bands, girl scouts, church choir, summer camp, high school, 4 year college, corporate America).

•Ego death and self awakening in 2023 that included my third eye opening, kundalini awakening, ego death, self ascension, self actualization, aligning & activating all seven chakras.

•Receiving regular esoteric downloads from the Akashic Library and posting them to my tumblr and TikTok.

•Daily trips to the dreamscape at night when Im "dreaming" where I put the current days version of myself to sleep in the dreamscape and download "the next days" version of myself then I "wake up", temporarily leaving the dreamscape and traveling back to our current reality, the Upside Down, when in reality when I am asleep and dreaming I am awake in the dreamscape and when I "wake up" from my "dream" I am actually asleep in the false reality of our virtual reality simulation of what we call "life", where Im typing this, the Upside Down.

•Esoteric realization after opening my thirf eye that our "reality" is nothing but a simulated virtual reality videogame version of the dreamscape, which is actual reality.

Where we are now, where Im typing this and youre reading this, is nothing but a dream.

Limited 3 dimensional bullshit.

Car notes, mortgages, doctors appointments, electricity bills, fear of death, ridiculously extending life with insane interventions which make no logical sense as we can only delay and not stop death so it is better to self awaken accept death and realize that it is a beautiful transformation and it is nothing to fear or avoid or fight or struggle against as it is your final metamorphosis back to the beautiful ascended limitless energetic eternal butterfly you are as death is nothing but shedding the temporary cocoon of your physical manifesration of a human evolving beyond your current 3D caterpillar self back to the butterfly you are and were before your extremely temporary manifestation as a physical human being, loans, debt, credit cards, 9 to 5s, jobs, emails, Slack, Outlook, team meetings, agendas, mandated schedules, time, alarm clocks, schools, politics, duopoly, elections, propaganda, diets, gyms, fads, trends, crash diets, master cleanses, 24 hour news cycles, cultural zeitgeists, streaming services, Black Friday sales, Prime 1 Day sales, 1 hour deliveries, stock market, derivatives, stock options, investment portfolios, RSUs, promotions, mid-year reviews, performance reviews, year end reviews, cross-lateral moves, layoffs, redundancies, reductions in force, firings, hirings, sign-on bonuses, ESOPs, EBITDA, CEOs, ExCo, board members, shareholders, slave wage, labor, contracts, exploitation, gaslighting, manipulation, lies, sabotage, character assassination, false narratives, agendas, misinformation campaigns, ruthlessness, mercilessness, torture, phosphorous, chemical warfare, misogynoir, war crimes, maas graves, rape rooms, death squads, false imprisonment, guilty till proven innocent, driving while black, unknown & undetermined cause of death, unlicensed medical examiners office, its just another dead black guy, the case is suspended until further notice because were not investigating it, black people dont own homes they rent, all black baggy jeans black shirt black shoes black skin black car dead nigger, theyre all the same, theres a ton like him in newark, dump him in the hallway and ill try to do the autopsy in a month, false memories, false narratives, false cause of death, patriarchal dick, fake ass head of the family sociopath, convicted felon, state prison in georgia, first degree forgery, paper brother alpha phi alpha legacy brother only got in because his brothers actually got hazed, 3M offer letter in the file cabinet in the basement, parole officers, daughter printed out and kept in files, possessive jealous controlling hebephile obsession fixation predilection predation...

Aphid attraction.

•Dreamscape is unlimited 10 dimensional, walk through walls, walk on water, fall through the sky endlessly without dying, kaleidoscopic explosion of light color supernovas lucid lush lurid visceral acid dreams. The dreamscape is limitless because its your mind and imagination. We all intrinsically know that noone and nothing can limit our imagination and we can literally think of and dream of and imagine anything. Thats all the dreamscape is.

Where we currently reside and what we currently inhabit is a fake bastardization Upside Down version of the Dreamscape with false limits, rules, ordinances, laws, mandates, requirements, obligations, taboos, shibboleths, electrified third rails, shoulds, have tos, cants, shouldnts, donts, not allowed, need permission, need authorization, need a permit, need notarization, need a seal of approval, need a stamp of approval, need a license, need to be certified, need a degree, need letters after your name, need the clout, need the zeros in your bank account, need the wealth, need the prestige, need the status, need the company brand name, need the job title, need the red heeled shoes, need the louboutins, need the louis vuittons, need the SRTs, need the birkin bag, need the fendi, need the knockoffs, need the couture, need the flex, need the luxury, need the validation, need the approval, need the attention, need the distraction, need the gloss, need the shine, need the airbrushing, need the photoshop, need the CCs, need the BBL, need the lip filler, need the cheek implants, need the nose job, need the augmentation, need the lipo, need to inject your stomach fat into your butt cheeks, need the laser sculpting, need the brow lift, need the face lift, need the botox, need the fillers, need skims, need spanx, need a tinier waist, need abs, need muscles, need butt gains, need a thigh gap, need a 20 to 22 inch waist, need to look like the girls in the kpop industry, need hip dips, need v lines, need curves, need to be thicc, need to be thin, need to be skinny, need bigger boobs and a bigger ass...

I constantly see the Truman Show all around me.

I see Bryan Cranston stepping on set like Asteroid City at a family members streamed funeral to narrate the scene.

I see the boom mic and lightbox crash onto the set of my cousin giving birth to her first child.

I hear the director yelling "Cut!" because one of the Marine officers wasnt standing on the black X and didnt hit his mark at a family members burial.

I hear the director asking for a 25th take when a family member falls and injures herself after a work event.

I see the Black Friday Walmart ad that has a dozen items in squares and when the squares are flipped over two sets of prices are revealed: "Was $XYZ" & "Now $XYZ", however, many of the before and after prices are the exact same and many of the "now" prices are actually MORE expensive than the "was" prices.

During Amazons Black Friday Football game, I see a Dolphins defensive player lower his helmet to deliver a hit then crumple and collapse to the turf.

After the game, the same Dolphins player is interviewed for his remarkable 99 yard pick 6 earlier in the game.

Laughably, the Dolphins list the player's injury after the game as a "knee injury".

I pulled up the player, Jevon Holland's (#8) injury history, and he had a very hard collision with a fellow Dolphins defensive player last month during a game on 10/23/23.

Holland laid motionless on the turf for several minutes after the collision. He was then taken to the lockerroom and the Dolphins reported he "cleared concussion protocol" and he was put back in the game.

The very next morning, on Monday (10/24/23), when Holland reported to the Dolphins team facility, he reported concussion symptoms.

Holland was placed into concussion protocol and he was then cleared to play exactly a week later on 11/1/23.

3 weeks later, as I already mentioned, during Amazons Black Friday Football game, Holland lowered his helmet to deliver a hit, collapsed to the turf, was never checked on the sidelines or in the medical tent for a concussion and the Dolphins later reported his injury after the game as a "knee injury".

On the broadcast, Al Michaels said after Holland collpased to the turf that the NFL was trying to remove this play from the game because players lowering their head to deliver a hit is unsafe especially to the player delivering the hit.

After Holland collapsed to the turf, Amazons Black Friday Football broadcast stepped away for an injury timeout and, after commercials, once the broadcast resumed there was a graphic shown onscreen of the current AFC playoff picture.

The viewer could see that Holland was no longer on the turf so he had clearly left the field during commercials, however, Al Michaels and Kirk Hebstreit, Amazons play by play and announcement team, never updated the fans on Holland.

As I stated earlier, after the game ended, Holland was interviewed by the sideline reporter about his incredible 99 yard pick 6 and the Dolphins win.

Holland was in very high spirits.

What concussion?

Did Jevon Holland, as he did last month, report concussion-like symptoms to the Dolphins trainer today when be reported in to the team's facility after sustaining yet another collision in-game that he wasnt properly tested and diagnosed for by the teams unaffiliated neurological consultant (UNC)?

Does anyone even care?

Did anyone even notice?

After Al Michaels mentioned that the NFL legislated helmet to helmet hits out of the game to protect both the defensive and offensive players when Holland lowered his helmet to deliver the hit then collapsed to the turf, the injury timeout happened, the broadcast went to commercials then once the broadcast resumed Al Michaels & Kirk Hebstreit never mentioned Hollands injury again.

As the viewer, we saw Holland lower his helmet, deliver the hit, collapse to the turf, injury timeout, commercials, back to the broadcast, Holland had left the field during the commercials but instead of at least an update from Al Michaels saying that the Dolphins hadnt provided an update or at least state that Holland was able to get up under his own power something, we were instead as the viewer shown a graphic of the current AFC playoff standings and Al & Kirk discussed how the Dolphins were currently dominating in their division and conference.

Jevon Holland had scored a 99 yard pick 6 earlier in the game so all discussions about Holland focused on this both after he collpased on the turf in the 4th quarter of the remainder of the game as well as the post-game broadcast.

The broadcast team (Al Michaels & Kirk Hebstreit) as well as the post-game team (Carissa, Fitz, Sherm, Whit and Tony G) only discussed the pick 6 when discussing Holland. Same with the sideline reporter who interviewed Holland after the game.

The broadcast was acting like Holland was never shown, including in a slow motion replay, lowering his helmet to deliver a hit that immediately resulted in him colllapsing to the turf.

Holland also seemed perfectly fine during his post-game interview and he was extremely high-spirited about his 99 yard pick 6 as well as the Dolphins winning.

On the commentary, Al Michaels didnt identify Holland by name, only stating that a Dolphins defensive player was down.

If you didnt notice the number on his jersey (#8), you wouldnt have connected that this was the same Dolphins player who had scored the 99 yard pick 6 earlier in the game.

Since Michaels & Hebstreit never mentioned Holland's collapse to the turf and/or injury again (it had occurred in the 4th quarter) and neither did Amazons post-game show, most viewers wouldnt have known who the player who had collapsed on the turf was and would have never connected that it was the same Dolphins player who scored the 99 yard pick 6 who was interviewed after the game.

Life is a reality TV show.

Theres boom mics, lightboxes, cameras, grips and dollies all around you every single moment of your life.

Theres a black X made out of black masking tape on the ground underneath you every time you stand and speak.

Theres a sign that flashes "Laughter" on stage behind you any time you tell a joke and people laugh.

When you crossed the stage at your college graduation to receive your diploma, there was a sign behind you in red letters that said "APPLAUSE" when the audience clapped.

The people weeping over you at your funeral are actually SAG-AFTRA actors hired as paid mourners.

The Mandela effect is real.

Deaths are faked, there are false news reports, green screens, hired actors, paid shills, fake journalists, sound stages, sets and Cigarette Smoking Mans.

Berenstein Bears, Berenstain Bears.

We are the champions my friend. We keep on fighting till the end.

We are the champions...of the world.

But now the song no longer ends with "of the world".

Mandela died in prison in South Africa in the 80s.

Mandela was freed and walked hand in hand down the streets of South Africa with Winnie Mandela in the early 90s.

Mayor David Dinkins held a celebration for Mandelas release at Yankee Stadium.

Mandela died in prison in the 80s and the story was broadcast all over the world.

There are four lights.

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cyarskaren52 · 2 years ago

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It’s not uncommon to find a great song from this legendary rapper

With a musical output that spans decades and quiet influence that’s helped shape an entire subgenre of emo-backpack rap, Common has one of the most illustrious careers in Hip-Hop. He started out in 1992 as “Common Sense” when he dropped his debut produced mostly by No I.D. Can I Borrow A Dollar?, a quiet album that showed sparks of his talent. But it was his two subsequent releases, also produced by No. I.D., 1994’s Resurrection and 1997’s One Day It’ll All Make Sense that cemented his arrival as one of rap’s top-tier emcees, known for his layered storytelling, emotional honesty, and lyrical charisma.

Over the next two decades, he’d release a string of albums that established him as a unique talent with an enviable career, including the projects that would grant him the mainstream success that had alluded him early on kickstarted by 2001’s Like Water For Chocolate, helmed by the Soulquarian collective. But it was his Kanye West era that re-established Common as one of rap’s most talented emcees after his lackluster reception to 2002s Electric Circus. His time with Kanye also gave him his most successful run on the charts with 2004’s Be and 2007’s Finding Forever.

In the 2000s, he expanded beyond Hip-Hop, jump-starting his film and television career, and now he’s only a Tony Award away from reaching EGOT Status, the only rapper to hold that distinction.

#26

"LOVE OF MY LIFE (AN ODE TO HIP-HOP)" - ERYKAH BADU FEAT. COMMON [BONUS SONG]

Our BONUS SONG pick is a celebrated classic guest spot! In the early '00s, Common and Erykah were one of Hip-Hop's most high-profile couples—and collaborators.

#25

“A SONG FOR ASSATA” FEAT. CEE-LO

Sure, the song from his 2000 album Like Water For Chocolate was very on the nose and maybe a little book report-ish but you can’t really diss a song that gives a history lesson about the activist hero, Assata Shakur.

#24

“SWEET"

The No I.D.-produced banger featured on The Dreamer/The Believer sparked some controversy because people thought Common was taking shots at Drake. He denied it, there was a mini back-and-forth, and then it was over. Drama aside, “Sweet” is a solid fairly rare street-friendly entry into Common’s latter-era discography.

#23

“SOUL BY THE POUND"

One of the tracks that announced Common Sense to the game. A fresh-faced Com and No I.D. team up to help kickstart each other's illustrious careers on this verbose display from 1992's Can I Borrow A Dollar?

DROP YOUR EMAIL

TO STAY IN THE KNOW

SUBMIT

#22

“GOOD MORNING LOVE” FEAT. SAMORA PINDERHUGHES

In 2019, Common teamed up with acclaimed drummer/producer Karriem Riggins and quietly dropped a sleeper jewel in his long discography, "Let Love Live." The album is jazzy and somber, anchored by Riggins’ production, and features vocalists/musicians including Jill Scott, and BJ The Chicago Kid. The album opener “Good Morning Love” featuring Samora Pinderhughes exemplifies the jazzy-soul direction of the album.

#21

“THE 6TH SENSE"

Over melancholy DJ Premier production and accented by an aching hook from Bilal, Common delivers a strong offering from his acclaimed project, Like Water For Chocolate.

#20

"BREAKER 1/9"

Over a loop of the Isley Bros' classic "Between The Sheets," a youthful Common Sense delivers rapid-fire, pop culture-referencing raps about trying to get laid and running into interference from outside forces.

#19

“THE BITCH IN YOO”

Common drew a diss from Ice Cube and Cube's cohorts in Westside Connection for some lines he rapped on 1994's "I Used To Love H.E.R." (more on that later); and Com Sense fired back with this heater. The song first appeared on the Relativity Records compilation Relativity Urban Assault in 1996 and features Common going at Cube, Mack 10 and W.C.

#18

“G.O.D. (GAINING ONE’S DEFINITION)” FEAT. CEE-LO

Common is all about a good acronym and on this track from "One Day It’ll All Make Sense" he explores the concept of religion over a chill, piano-heavy track featuring distinctive vocals and a dope verse from Cee-Lo.

#17

“TAKE IT EZ"

The song that introduced him to the world. Young Common Sense had one foot in Leaders Of The New School-esque wiseassery and another in Das EFX-like wordplay. This is one of the best examples of his early style.

#16

“TESTIFY"

Carried by a transcendent sample of "Innocent Til Proven Guilty" by 70s girl group Honey Cone, and one of Common's all-time best music videos; this classic track from Be is an early '00s winner from the tandem of Com and Ye.

#15

“GHETTO DREAMS” FEAT. NAS

Common reminds everyone again that no matter how many TV appearances he makes, he’s still a skilled rapper when he reconnects with No I.D. and gets an assist from Nas on his ninth album, "The Dreamer/Believer." The song was also featured on the "Madden NFL 12" soundtrack.

#14

“THE DREAMER” FEAT. MAYA ANGELOU

When Common reconnected with his longtime friend and early producer, No I.D. on "The Dreamer/The Believer" in 2011, people weren’t totally sure what to expect. Any doubts were laid to rest, however, as illustrated on the head-bobbing, mid-tempo album opener “The Dreamer.”

#13

“GO"

A Kanye West production featuring vocals from John Mayer, “Go” is a gem from the album that reintroduced Common as a top-level emcee, "Be," and a groovy addition to his catalog.

#12

“THEY SAY” FEAT. KANYE WEST AND JOHN LEGEND

Kanye West did snap with this beat, so did John Legend with the hook. Once again, Common is at his height lyrically on this sleeper gem from "Be": “They say a nigga lost his mind/But in the scheme of things I never lost a rhyme/The thin line between love and hatred/”I’m the black pill in the Matrix, the saturated life.”

#11

“GETO HEAVEN PART TWO” FEAT. D’ANGELO

Common’s "Like Water For Chocolate" helped kick off the legendary Soulquarian era, and there might not be another song on the album that represents the collective’s sound more than “Geto Heaven” featuring D’Angelo on vocals over production by J. Dilla. Common delivers grounded verses about Blackness and survival.

#10

“FAITHFUL” FEAT. BILAL AND JOHN LEGEND

Common is in his new lane when he’s rapping about relationships (both with himself and with women), and this track contemplates the idea of God being a woman and spins a tale about a man struggling with indiscretions is one of the best on "Be." It’s strengthened by the back and forth between John Legend and frequent collaborator, Bilal, at the end of the track.

“I WANT YOU"

will.i.am samples Minnie Riperton on this mid-tempo jam from "Finding Forever" that ended up creating a lane for a lot of Common’s later work, which leans heavily into a mellow, grown man rap aesthetic. The video was pretty cool too, co-directed by Kerry Washington and starring Alicia Keys.

“THE QUESTIONS” FEAT. MOS DEF

“Why do I need ID to get ID? If I had ID I wouldn’t need ID.” The Questions” from "Like Water For Chocolate" and produced by J. Dilla is one of the most comical, honest songs Common ever made, aided by a perplexed, but always lyrical Mos Def.

“THELONIUS” FEAT. SLUM VILLAGE

Whether you consider this a Common or a Slum Village track (it’s also featured on their album "Fantastic, Vol. 2"), there’s no question that this is one of the dopest Hip-Hop offerings of the past 20 years. J. Dilla was at his peak when he crafted what might be the best beat on Common’s fourth album, 2000’s "Like Water for Chocolate."

“THE PEOPLE"

Another Kanye West production, this time from the 2007 album, "Finding Forever," it’s Common in his element rhyming about the beauty of the Diaspora while Dwele throws an assist on vocals.

“RESURRECTION"

On his 1994 title track, Common’s flow is seamless over No I.D.’s piano-based production which samples David Axelrod, Ahmad Jamal, and the Whatnauts. DJ Mista Sinista’s scratches further help bring the track to life.

“THE LIGHT"

Produced by the legendary J. Dilla and featuring keys from James Poyser “The Light” is the most recognizable track from Common’s acclaimed 2000 album, Like Water for Chocolate. The semi-sappy love jam that samples Bobby Caldwell’s classic “Open Your Eyes” remains a radio favorite.

“THE CORNER” FEAT. THE LAST POETS

“The Corner” from his 2005 album Be, is Common in top form over a Kanye West beat. And the iconic Last Poets elevate the track to something that's as spiritual as it is street.

“RETROSPECT FOR LIFE” FEAT. LAURYN HILL

The somber, beautiful track (produced by No I.D. and James Poyser and featuring a Donny Hathaway sample) is a great display of what might be Common’s greatest strength as an emcee—emotive storytelling. Lauryn Hill’s raw vocals on the hook interpolate Stevie Wonder’s “Never Dreamed You’d Leave In Summer” and are a perfect stamp on the standout rap classic featured on his 1997 album, "One Day It’ll All Make Sense."

"I USED TO LOVE H.E.R."

It kind of has to be, right? Romanticized rap nostalgia before it was cool. Yes, it’s the source of one of rap’s most overused metaphors. It’s also one of the best rap songs of all time, and one of Common’s signature tracks from 1994’s Resurrection, as he creatively details his relationship with the genre he loves.

Sent from my iPhone

#hip hop 50 #today in hip hop history #todayinhiphophistory #hiphop #hip-hop #hip hop #hip hop music #hip hop history #hip hop culture #music #history #music history #television #rap #rapper #emcee #mc

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reasoningdaily · 2 years ago

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Almost four years ago, I discovered a potential path for change. I was invited to participate in an initiative called “Black Women Thriving East of the River.” This initiative sought to engage women from Wards 7 and 8 in brainstorming, creating, and implementing interventions to foster an environment where more women from our community could secure quality employment and effectively combat cancer. On a crisp autumn morning, November 22, 2019, I joined a diverse group of 28 women who gathered at Building Bridges Across the River, formerly known as THEARC, on Mississippi Avenue SE. We shared our life experiences, challenges, aspirations, and dreams. Our backgrounds and expertise spanned health care, community service, education, workforce development, and numerous other fields. We were doctors, nonprofit leaders, community activists, and much more. We were also mothers, grandmothers, aunts, sisters, and neighbors. Over nearly two years, we convened for numerous meetings.

I came to the District from South Carolina to attend Howard University. After college in 2001, I moved to Ward 8. I established a family in the District and moved to Ward 7 in 2018. My mother was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007 and died in 2020. My motivation for the initiative stemmed from my mother’s battle with breast cancer. I hoped to uncover ways to improve her life and the lives of others like her.

What I experienced, surrounded by fellow Black women, was both profound and unique. While I had crossed paths with some of these women in the community before, this initiative allowed me to hear their stories and narratives that shared their pain, struggles, and moments of happiness. As someone working in the health field, managing a public health research firm, addressing health disparities was not new to me. However, what made this initiative different was the fact that it was coordinated by the Jane Bancroft Robinson Foundation (JBRF), and participants were compensated for their time. This was incredible and played a crucial role in building trust. For far too long, organizations had come to our community, extracting our knowledge and experiences but often failing to deliver effective solutions.

The Black Women Thriving East of the River initiative valued us, and our opinions were genuinely respected. It was a defining moment for many of us.

This initiative offered an opportunity to bring about tangible changes within the health care system, enabling mothers and families in Wards 7 and 8 to survive and thrive. It also presented an opportunity to guide women toward quality employment and successful careers.

We mobilized to dismantle inequitable systems by convening community leaders and those most affected in our neighborhoods. Through our initiative, we devised specific, actionable interventions to address the root causes of the barriers we faced. We formed workgroups to better understand challenges related to employment, economic mobility, and cancer-related illnesses and deaths. We charted paths toward solutions.

Despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, we continued our work through in-person and online meetings. Our workgroups met at various locations, including the R.I.S.E. Demonstration Center and the Anacostia Community Museum. From the outset, this endeavor harnessed the skills, resources, and talents of the exceptional individuals east of the river, from our consultants and vendors to catering chefs and meeting facilitators.

Ultimately, we created roadmaps for change, which involved analyzing the root causes of our problems, creating journey maps, prioritizing themes, designing interventions, conducting racial equity impact assessments, and engaging with stakeholders. At each step, our lived experiences guided our decision-making, and our stories as Black women with close ties to east of the river communities were integrated and prioritized.

Witnessing how our work has transformed into tangible action is incredibly gratifying.

This year, Nakeisha Neal Jones assumed the role of executive director of Black Women Thriving East of the River and began implementing the interventions. A Washington native who grew up in Wards 7 and 8, Jones is a collaborative leader with over 20 years of experience expanding access to education, workforce development, and housing resources for underrepresented families and youth. The initiative is gaining momentum, with JBRF pledging over $3 million in support and a $1 million grant from the Greater Washington Community Foundation’s Health Equity Fund.

For example, a scholarship fund for Black women has raised more than $300,000. These funds will be disbursed to women pursuing careers in health-related fields and other areas. A wide range of applicants will be considered, including those seeking licensing, stackable credentials, or professional certificates in medical transcription, community health, or as birth doulas. Also eligible are those pursuing post-secondary degrees in nursing, dentistry, medical research, physical therapy, and future doctors, surgeons, and dentists. Scholarship recipients will receive comprehensive case management support and be eligible for discretionary grant funds to address any obstacles to their success, such as child care, transportation, or program-related expenses like laptops or specialized software.

Additionally, a health careers resource map is in development, featuring an informative website to support women pursuing careers in health-related fields and beyond. The website will offer comprehensive career information, including training and support for various positions and career paths. Neal Jones is also collaborating with health care facility HR departments to understand their current and future staffing needs, creating a pipeline to guide Black women from east of the river toward these positions. Furthermore, they are developing a Cancer Patient Bill of Rights to remind women of their rights when navigating cancer.

Over time, additional components will be implemented, including programs to identify apprenticeship opportunities, an employer training series, cancer landscape analysis, cancer navigation training, cancer clinical trials training, anti-misogynoir training, a cancer Data Infrastructure Task Force, and more.

For women east of the river, change is finally within reach.

#Black Women Thriving East of the River #Black Women #Black Women Thriving

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fromdevcom · 9 days ago

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With theft being the most usual of activity when we talk about security, safeguarding our assets has become all the more of a priority in the 21st century. What has become even more of a dilemma is the need to safeguard technology with technology itself. Yes, this might sound like an amalgamation of a twisted story but this by far is the truth. With so many advancements every second, the world of internet and tech has become more prone to sabotage, making all vulnerable to many more dangers which they could likely face in contrast to what the situation was 2 decades okay. When we talk about technology, we mostly refer to the online as well as the offline world of the internet; virtual you may call it. Everything has become linked and enormously attainable through the very network systems and bridges we make in order to protect us and our information in the very first place, making it a very vicious cycle running on its own when there is a breakthrough. To sum it up, technology is the victim, technology is the intruder and technology is the saviour. Interesting, isn’t it? It very most is. We refer to the world of technology as cyber space. With the ever growing importance of security needed for this cyber space, many organizations around the world have dedicated themselves to coming up with solutions to increased security against protecting people from cyber crimes. When cyber crime is escalating, so is the cyber security industry expanding. This is in retaliation to the rapidly developing need for computer security. When talking about estimated scores and according to Cybersecurity Ventures, the industry of Cyber Security is expected to grow from about $70 billion in 2014 to nearly an excess of $155 in 2019 which is great development. The companies which fall into the loop for Cyber Security are compiled in a very vast list. To begin with a few, below are the top 5 Cyber Security companies. FireEye Talking about FireEye, being highly applauded by Bloomberg TV, Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek alongside many more, FireEye is a publically traded company. It has a market capital of around about $6.49 billion based on the New York Stock exchange. The unique aspect about FireEye is that it has invented a purpose built, virtual machine-based, security platform, which provides real-time threat protection to various enterprises and governments internationally against cyber attacks which has become something alarming in today’s world. Mentioning statistics, FireEye is host to 3,400 customers spread out in more than 67 countries around the world and is a client to 500 fortune companies. Lancope Lancope is an American privately owned company which was founded in 2000. Over the course of years, Lancope has managed to become one of the top cyber security companies. Lancope has been able to brand its name as “the leading provider of network visibility and security intelligence to defend enterprises against today’s top threats.” Lancope enables organisations to detect numerous and rather all kinds of cyber threats and enables an automated accelerated incident response through its various gadgets including its StealthWatch system. AlienVault Privately owned, AilenVault was founded in 2007 in California. It is marvellous to know that in such a short span of time, AlienVault has been able to come off as a promising company in order to reach the top 5 list of Cyber Security companies in the United States of America. The products which are produced by AlienVault as to fit and accommodate middle sized organisations. These middle sized organisations have requirements which range with having a single, effective guard against a variety of cyber threats. The management system introduced by AlienVault is by the name of “Unified Security Management” platform. This management system ensures that the security controls required are specifically designed to assist its cliental base with the benefits of Cyber Security from day as means of ensuring customer satisfaction of building their organisation.

AlienVault also most recently announcement of the beta release of the OTX 2.0 which is the open threat exchange. This OTX will allow the community of all OTX users to come together on one platform to discuss ideas, threats, and news. What really will happen through this is that there will be an open community thus knitted a bond between all the users and the organisation itself. Norse Norse is an organisation which was founded in 2010. Norse has indeed developed itself to become and be a part of the top cyber security companies in a live attack scenario of intelligence. They have dramatically improved their state and their “performance, catch-rate, and return on-investment of [a company’s] entire security infrastructure.” The innovative system introduced by Norse processes and provides more than hundreds of terabyte data against a seven petabyte attach history database. During this process, it was weighing over 1,500 variables in order to evaluate and take risks against real-time scores for the IP addresses and URL’s for its clients. This company has indeed marked its territory instilling itself in the industry of Cyber Security. There is a lack of real-time threat with an average of $10 million per year. The very essence of Norse is to take pre-emptive measures since when the minute something is compromised and measures are taken there and then, the damage has been reduced by 40% which is the very standing of Norse. Easy Solutions Easy Solutions is “the only security vendor focused on the comprehensive detection and prevention of electronic fraud across all devices, channels and clouds.” Easy Solutions has a cliental base which mostly consist of banks against activities such as stolen credit cards, insecure online portals, phishing, and fraud ever since its inception in 2007 in Florida, USA. Easy Solution is a privately held company which has statistics which boil to 60 million individuals and 220 major companies including institutions which comprise of its customers. Easy Solutions has been striving through the years in order to retain its name against the top notch cyber security systems. The writer is CEO and Co-founder of TecheRadar. He can be reached at [email protected]

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dailycruiseinfo · 17 days ago

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Royal Caribbean Ships by Age, Size & Innovation: A 2025 Guide to the Fleet's Evolution

Since its founding in 1968, Royal Caribbean International has been at the forefront of cruise innovation. What began with just a few midsize ships has blossomed into a diverse, powerful fleet that includes some of the largest and most technologically advanced vessels on Earth. With each passing year, Royal Caribbean raises the bar, introducing bold designs, adrenaline-pumping attractions, and eco-conscious technologies that redefine what a vacation at sea can be.

In this 2025 guide, we’ll explore the Royal Caribbean ships by age, from the newest marvels to the beloved classics, as well as cover the newest ships, fleet size hierarchy, and even a glimpse into the brand’s latest expansion: a new cruise line.

Royal Caribbean Ships by Age: A Fleet That Spans Decades

The Royal Caribbean fleet is a living timeline of maritime evolution. Some of its ships have been sailing for over two decades, while others have only just begun their journey. Grouping them by age offers insight into the technological growth and changing preferences of cruise travelers over time.

The oldest ships, including those in the Vision Class, represent a more traditional cruise experience, with compact layouts and fewer bells and whistles. These vessels, such as Grandeur of the Seas and Rhapsody of the Seas, are beloved for their intimate atmospheres and scenic routes.

As we move to newer builds, the ships become larger, bolder, and more interactive. The Voyager and Freedom class vessels introduced onboard promenades, rock-climbing walls, and ice skating rinks—features now considered standard across much of the fleet.

Then come the flagships of innovation: the Oasis, Quantum, and now Icon Class. These ships feature everything from robotic bartenders and skydiving simulators to massive water parks and entire themed neighborhoods.

In 2025, the age range of Royal Caribbean ships spans from nearly 30 years old to brand new, reflecting a wide array of guest experiences—from the nostalgic to the cutting-edge.

Royal Caribbean’s Newest Ships: The Future of Cruising Has Arrived

2025 is a banner year for Royal Caribbean with the introduction of Star of the Seas, the second ship in the revolutionary Icon Class. Following the explosive debut of Icon of the Seas in 2024, Star takes everything up a notch: enhanced family zones, more immersive dining venues, improved eco-efficiency, and bolder architecture.

These ships are not just massive—they’re ecosystems. Designed like floating cities, the Icon Class vessels deliver a cruise experience that’s unmatched in scale or ambition.

Just a year before, in 2024, Royal Caribbean launched Utopia of the Seas, the sixth Oasis-class ship. Utopia is an energy-efficient beast powered by LNG (liquefied natural gas), blending mega-resort fun with sustainability. It represents the ongoing transformation of the Oasis Class toward cleaner, greener cruising.

What makes these new ships extraordinary isn’t just their size—it’s how they reimagine the cruise vacation altogether. Whether you’re surfing the FlowRider, diving into a splash zone as big as a water park, or relaxing in an infinity whirlpool with an ocean view, these ships are redefining what passengers expect.

Royal Caribbean Ships from Newest to Oldest (2025)

Royal Caribbean now boasts a fleet of 28 ships. From the freshly launched to the seasoned veterans, each ship has its place in the fleet’s legacy. Here’s a look at the ships from newest to oldest:

Star of the Seas (2025)

Utopia of the Seas (2024)

Icon of the Seas (2024)

Wonder of the Seas (2022)

Odyssey of the Seas (2021)

Spectrum of the Seas (2019)

Symphony of the Seas (2018)

Harmony of the Seas (2016)

Anthem of the Seas (2015)

Quantum of the Seas (2014)

Allure of the Seas (2010)

Oasis of the Seas (2009)

Independence of the Seas (2008)

Liberty of the Seas (2007)

Freedom of the Seas (2006)

Jewel of the Seas (2004)

Mariner of the Seas (2003)

Navigator of the Seas (2002)

Brilliance of the Seas (2002)

Adventure of the Seas (2001)

Radiance of the Seas (2001)

Explorer of the Seas (2000)

Vision of the Seas (1998)

Enchantment of the Seas (1997)

Rhapsody of the Seas (1997)

Grandeur of the Seas (1996)

While the newer ships focus on high-capacity fun and environmental tech, the older vessels continue to deliver exceptional, more intimate experiences—often sailing unique itineraries like the Panama Canal, Mediterranean, or South America.

Royal Caribbean Ships by Size: Small Ships to Floating Cities

The size of Royal Caribbean ships varies dramatically—from under 75,000 gross tons to more than 250,000 gross tons. Ship size dictates not only guest capacity but also the range of onboard amenities and design innovations.

The smallest ships, such as Grandeur of the Seas and Rhapsody of the Seas, are around 73,000 to 78,000 gross tons and carry about 2,000 passengers. These vessels are favorites for older travelers and those seeking off-the-beaten-path destinations.

Mid-sized ships, such as those in the Voyager and Freedom Classes, fall in the 130,000 to 155,000 gross ton range and carry between 3,000 to 4,500 guests. They strike a balance between activity and intimacy—ideal for families or first-time cruisers.

At the top of the spectrum are the Oasis and Icon Class ships, which are unparalleled in size. The Icon of the Seas holds more than 7,000 guests and features neighborhood-style design, including zones dedicated to families, thrill-seekers, wellness lovers, and nightlife enthusiasts.

These massive ships are essentially floating resorts, offering amenities that rival top land-based destinations. Think multi-story slides, robot-run bars, open-air theaters, central parks with live greenery, and entire neighborhoods with specific themes.

The Latest Royal Caribbean Ships: Innovation at Sea

The latest additions to the Royal Caribbean fleet have brought game-changing features. Icon of the Seas, Utopia of the Seas, and Star of the Seas represent not just new ships, but new ways of thinking about cruising.

Each of these ships introduces:

Eco-friendly propulsion systems like LNG and advanced wastewater treatment

Neighborhood concepts for more structured ship layouts

Surfside: a brand-new family neighborhood with kid-friendly water zones, restaurants, and family lounges

AquaDome: an architectural dome filled with waterfalls and aerial performances

Thrill Island: with Category 6, the largest water park at sea

These elements aren’t just novelties—they reflect Royal Caribbean’s mission to combine environmental responsibility with a mind-blowing vacation experience. This balance is especially important as cruise travelers become more conscious of sustainability.

Royal Caribbean’s New Cruise Line: Expanding the Brand

In addition to expanding its existing fleet, Royal Caribbean Group is diversifying through new cruise lines and brand experiences. One of the newest ventures is Silver Nova by Silversea, a luxury sister brand under the Royal Caribbean Group umbrella. It brings ultra-premium cruising into the spotlight, emphasizing high-end exploration and opulent design.

Additionally, Royal Caribbean’s influence can be seen in Perfect Day at CocoCay, which is not a ship but a private island experience that rivals any onboard offering. This curated destination includes a waterpark, beach club, floating cabanas, and exclusive areas for suite guests—demonstrating how Royal Caribbean is redefining shore excursions.

While no entirely new cruise line under the Royal Caribbean name has been launched as of 2025, the introduction of the Icon Class could be seen as a branding reset, positioning Royal Caribbean as not just a cruise company but a lifestyle experience provider.

What Makes Newer Ships So Different?

With every new ship, Royal Caribbean brings in fresh themes, updated entertainment, smarter layout designs, and sustainable technology. Here's how newer ships stand out:

Space Utilization: Smarter floor plans prevent bottlenecks and improve flow

Technology Integration: From facial recognition at check-in to mobile app room access

Eco Upgrades: Advanced air lubrication systems, shore-power capability, and waste reduction

Entertainment: Broadway-caliber shows, VR experiences, and water-based stunt performances

Dining Innovation: New venues offer global cuisine, health-conscious options, and immersive decor

Newer ships also focus on multigenerational cruising, with spaces specifically designed for babies, kids, teens, adults, and seniors. Every age group has access to curated experiences and activities, making these ships the ideal choice for family reunions or mixed-age group travel.

#royal caribbean ships by age #royal caribbean newest ships #royal caribbean ships newest to oldest #royal caribbean boats by size #royal caribbean new ship #newest royal caribbean ships #royal caribbean new cruise line #norwegian ships by age

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