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female-malice · 11 months

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Late on Saturday, as members of Congress scrambled to strike a deal for legislation that would raise the nation’s debt ceiling, they agreed to a total non sequitur in the text they would release the next day. After a series of late-in-the-game interventions by lobbyists and energy executives, the draft bill declared the construction and operation of a natural gas pipeline to be “required in the national interest.” It wasn’t really germane to the debt ceiling, at least not in the literal sense. But then again, it wasn’t any ordinary pipeline.

Building the Mountain Valley Pipeline, a 303-mile conduit to deliver fracked gas from West Virginia to southern Virginia, has been a top priority for Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia since the project was announced in 2014. The problem, for him and the project’s other supporters, is that it has been fiercely opposed by grass-roots groups and landowners living in the project’s path for just as long. Construction on the project was recently stalled after federal judges found that regulatory agencies had repeatedly failed to comply with environmental laws.

By forcing through this pipeline, the Biden administration rounded out the ransom sought by Republicans holding the global economy hostage and paid off a debt of its own to Mr. Manchin for his crucial vote last year for the Inflation Reduction Act.

But if the Senate passes the bill the House passed on Wednesday, an insidious piece of misinformation will be enshrined in federal law: the claim that the pumping, piping and burning of more fossil fuels is — despite all scientific evidence and common sense to the contrary — a climate solution.

Natural gas is predominantly made up of methane, a climate-warming superpollutant that is responsible for about a third of the warming the world has experienced to date. If completed, the M.V.P. will be a very large and long-lived methane delivery device. At the wells that feed it and along the way, some of that methane will inevitably leak into the atmosphere, where each molecule will exert 86 times the heat-trapping power of carbon dioxide over 20 years. At the end of the line, the methane will be burned in power plants and furnaces, producing carbon dioxide. Taken together, by one estimate, the M.V.P. would generate yearly emissions equivalent to what’s produced by 26 coal plants.

And yet the bill’s text asserts — in a brazen stroke of climate gaslighting — that the pipeline will “reduce carbon emissions and facilitate the energy transition.”

Businesses and governments have long claimed gas was a bridge to a clean energy future, a transition fuel that would tide us over until renewables were ready for prime time. But now that wind, solar and battery storage are indeed quite ready and, in many places, cheaper than gas, the jig is up. That makes the M.V.P. a project in search of a rationale: There are cheaper sources of gas available via existing pipelines, and the U.S. Energy Information Administration projects that demand for gas in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast regions will continue to drop off in the years and decades ahead.

Though the assertions that the pipeline is necessary and good for the climate defy logic, the political calculus is clear enough. Congressional Democrats and President Biden want to reward Mr. Manchin, who is weighing whether to run in what is sure to be a tough re-election fight in 2024.

Mr. Manchin was also a supporter of another large gas pipeline that would have originated in his state: the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, which I have been reporting on since 2019. The two pipelines were twins, announced on the same day in 2014 and approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on the same day in 2017. They would have crossed similarly steep and landslide-prone Appalachian terrain. But the Atlantic Coast Pipeline was canceled in 2020 after years of tenacious grass-roots resistance and legal challenges.

Mr. Manchin seems determined to rescue the M.V.P. from this fate. And with it, his gas industry and power utility donors — whose lobbyists helped him in the final hours of debt ceiling deal making — will be able to further strengthen their hold on the energy system.

White House officials have said that the project would probably have secured the remaining federal permits regardless. But the provision authorizes all necessary permits and bars further judicial review of any of them — thus neutering an essential tool for ensuring that infrastructure projects comply with existing laws and regulations. It’s the legislative equivalent of overturning the Scrabble board in a fit of pique when you’re losing a game fair and square.

For many of those living in the project’s path, who watched as its construction has so far triggered over 500 recorded violations of water quality and other regulations, it’s a terrible betrayal. But it also sets a dangerous precedent. It is safe to assume this won’t be the last time this tactic is pursued to shield fossil fuel projects from judicial review or scientific scrutiny if they happen to be deemed by their developers and political allies to be in the national interest.

Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia has cited this risk in explaining his opposition to the M.V.P. provision. When Mr. Manchin succeeded in getting a similar carve-out attached to the continuing budget resolution to fund the government last September, Mr. Kaine refused to vote for it. “If the M.V.P. owners are unhappy with a court ruling, they should do what other litigants do and appeal,” he said. “Allowing them to fundamentally change federal law to achieve their goal would surely encourage other wealthy people and companies to try the same. I won’t participate in opening that door to abuse and even corruption.”

Mr. Kaine, along with other Democratic members of the Virginia congressional delegation, remains opposed; this week he said he’s against any debt-ceiling bill that exempts the M.V.P. from judicial review. Meanwhile one of the lead Republican negotiators told reporters this week the pipeline provision is a “huge win” for his party because it puts “Democrats on record supporting a conventional energy project that removes or ties the hands of the judiciary.”

Democratic leaders will surely bristle at the suggestion that they are helping the gas industry obstruct the transition to clean energy. After all, they passed the Inflation Reduction Act, the most significant climate legislation in U.S. history, and protected its raft of clean energy incentives from cuts in the debt ceiling deal. It’s clear that the deal makers regard themselves as the grown-ups in the room, making the tough trade-offs needed to avert financial catastrophe. But when the stakes are this large, one need not grant them that deference.

There’s always a political “crisis” gathering on the near horizon that will supersede concerns about the climate — that will cause us to look away from the dizzying rise of methane concentrations, currently spiking to levels not seen in over 800,000 years, a trend tracking with the worst-case climate scenarios.

This is what it looks like to shuffle along toward climate chaos, one misguided compromise at a time.

#cc

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ecoamerica · 24 days

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youtube

Watch the American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 now: https://youtu.be/bWiW4Rp8vF0?feature=shared

The American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 broadcast recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by active climate leaders. Watch to find out which finalist received the $50,000 grand prize! Hosted by Vanessa Hauc and featuring Bill McKibben and Katharine Hayhoe!

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fictionfixations · 1 year

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Inspirational Person Research Paper

bro i did a whole essay thing for Techno and I kind of just ranted for some of it because I really like talking about like the potato war especially and everything he did and just

A--- LOOK

“Technoblade never dies.” This is one of the most famous quotes from Technoblade ever, where he’s usually doing some cool thing in Minecraft, be it winning a duel, roleplaying in a server as an antagonistic-like character, or just saying it for the meme, it is likely that you have at least seen it once. Especially since according to YouTube’s tribute to Technoblade called “Technoblade Never Dies”, it’s stated that “an average of 300 new videos with ‘Technoblade Never Dies’ in the title are uploaded every day.” Technoblade, or Alex was born on June 1st, 1999, and died around June of 2022 at the young age of 23. He lived in San Francisco, California, and had three sisters and one brother, as well as a dog named Floof. He’s taken a fencing class before in middle school and was in California for the start of his career in YouTube until after his gap year in 2018 where he graduated high school, moved to Chicago, Illinois, started college and became an English major for over a year before dropping out and returning to San Francisco. An addition to this is that he’s been diagnosed with ADHD, yet it is unsure of when, but in a post on a Hypixel Forum from September 27, 2014, he states, “I have ADHD, that was a fully comprehensible and flowing paragraph of nonstop wisdom to me,” to a post with a long sentence that contains zero breaks or pauses. The first reason he is inspirational to me had to be back in July of 2020, where he was invited as backup for Calvin & xNestorio in Minecraft Ultimate because half of their team had dropped out, but since Technoblade is known as a professional at PVP, the organizer said that if Techno joined, then they would have to be the only 3-player team in a game with 56 other teams, equaling to 217 players not including their team according to the side bar in the video, but there might be less due to old members possibly still counting.

In this tournament, he absolutely nerfed everyone alongside his team, starting the Technoplane meme when he flew around with his elytra while his teammates rode on top of him, and breaking the old record of the highest number of kills in the tournament with a combined 116 kills, with the previous record being 19.

The event had raised $36,264 for charity, which almost a third of that he raised, the exact number being $11,625, which was donated to the Miracle Foundation, a charity that supports orphans. It's also ironic because it's been a running joke that his parents were killed by orphans, and in fact has a sword in the Dream SMP called "Orphan Obliterator". The second would have to be The Potato War (Late 2019-Mid 2020), when Technoblade had seen that he had been making a ton of potatoes (242,000/day) on Minecraft due to potato minions on a server called Hypixel, in one of its games called Skyblock, and decided to get the #1 rank on the potato leaderboard, which you get by having farmed the most potatoes. It was also because he was in the top 50 already, and the #1 was a guy called im_a_squid_kid.

With his goal confirmed, he decides to get to know his enemy by going through the forums on Hypixel.net and discovered a post from September where Squid Kid bragged about being rank #1 in potatoes, having 4 million during then. Technoblade went through his profile and found a post weeks later where he had stated that he was around 7 million, so then Technoblade put the two dates together and calculated the slope to estimate Squid Kid’s growth, but then later found out he could just go to his island and figure it out from there.

Basically, so on and so on where Technoblade tends to one-up Squid Kid, meanwhile Squid Kid is still a few steps behind. By around after the first video, I’m not sure if he already streamed before, but he was doing twitch streams as due to being in Techno’s video led to more viewers for him and helped grow his community.

In fact, in I believe the third video, Squid Kid actually complained about being unable to replant potatoes immediately after picking them up compared to melons or watermelons, which are much more efficient to farm because you don’t need to replant them, while for potatoes, with a huge multi-layer farm, half of that time spent on the potatoes is replanting them, and by the time you go back to the bottom, some of them have already regrown. But due to this, the admins added a new update where the potatoes replant when you have a hoe with the enchantment called “replenish”, which is a custom enchant.

The two had also been working hard on getting bonuses to help get even more potatoes farmed that included the legendary rabbit pet, which had a farming bonus where farming minions work 0.3% faster and leveling it up to 100 got a bonus of 30%.

In fact, in the second video, it is revealed that Technoblade has chests upon chests of materials for Flycatchers, which increases the speeds of minions by 10%. The problem with that is that it’s hard to create them in the first place, because they have less than a 1% chance to drop from a high-level tarantula boss, and then need over 10 million coins worth of tarantula silk. And despite having chests and chests full of materials, all of it combined could only make 24 Flycatchers, which you use for individual minions.

That’s not even mentioning how since he needed to level his legendary rabbit pet in the same video, he grinded alchemy since they level based off skill experience, which is a rich man’s skill, meaning if you have the cash, then you can level quickly. By the end of it in fact, he ended up ranked #4 in Alchemy.

Technoblade had also been watching every one of Squid Kid’s livestreams on Twitch to where he amassed 9k channel points, which you get overtime for free by watching their stream.

He had also crawled through Squid Kid’s farm and timed all his minions with a stopwatch every day to calculate about the exact number of potatoes harvested.

The point is, there were a lot of tactics used to get one step ahead of the other, until it eventually ended in the 3rd episode, where they decided to end it at first person to earn 500 million potatoes, and the owner of the server Hypixel, who also goes by Hypixel pitched in, stating that the winner gets a surprise.

Of course, Technoblade won, and the surprise turned out to be 3 exclusive items, that being the Potato Talisman, given to anyone who spoke to the NPC labeled “Potato King” which had Technoblade’s skin. There was also Basket of Hope from the Great Potato War, which was for those ranked top #1000 in the Potato leaderboard, or Potato Collection according to the Hypixel wiki, as well as the Potato War Silver Medal for the player ranked 2nd, aka Squid Kid, and the Potato Crown for Technoblade.

Lastly, my third reason had to be in his fight against cancer and how he treated it. In the video titled, “where I’ve been”, posted August 27, 2021, he explains where he had been and what was going on. In fact, he says that his arm had been hurting, and when he got it checked out, the doctors said he had cancer. In fact, he had Sarcoma. According to curesarcoma.org, or the SFA (Sarcoma Foundation of America), which is a charity that Technoblade had started a fundraiser for back in February of this year (Minecrafters vs Cancer), which raised $119,420 according to the SBI wiki over the fundraiser, Sarcoma is a cancer that has many subtypes since it can be anywhere in the tissue, which is also everywhere on our body. It’s mainly in the limbs, and tend to be hidden deep inside the body, which means Sarcoma tends to be diagnosed when it is already too large to be able to be cured.

Sarcoma has a chance of being cured by surgery, or surgery with chemotherapy, which we know Technoblade took. In fact, in TommyInnit’s video called “100 Minecraft YouTubers VS Natural Disasters!” posted on March 5th, 2022, towards the end, Technoblade states that he must get chemo (short for chemotherapy) in fifteen minutes.

Despite all of this, he still makes a joke about it in his past videos where he talks about it, especially in his “I Almost Became An Amputee” video where he talks about where they trolled him because they say that the treatment’s going fine and so is his arm (which has the tumor). Then 3 days later he met up with his radiation therapist who talked to his surgeon, stating that they might need to amputate his arm next week because the tumor is swelling dangerously due to cells dying off, and that it might be too late.

A few days later, they’re in the waiting room with the reception and he must fill out this form such as if he’s ever had surgery before, and including dates, so then he goes onto his phone to see, and he sees a new procedure on November 8th called ‘Arm Amputation’. He found it funny and joked about it being called arm amputation, saying in the video, “why would they call the procedure arm amputation? Like- Like you’re gonna get the tumor as well, right? … Like I’m gonna wake up on the operating room table, and I’m gonna like push myself up with my one arm and I’m gonna be like, ‘Doc! Doc, did you get the cancer?’ and he's gonna be like, ‘You have cancer? Wow, that’s crazy, you should see a doctor about that.’”

Techno treated it lightheartedly, so when in June of 2022 the news of his death reached the internet, everyone was caught off guard.

Another thing he did that I wasn’t sure where to put was another charity for SFA, for his stream on YouTube labeled, “Minecraft But Viewers Control The Game [CHARITY EVENT]” where viewers could donate to either help or sabotage Techno as he plays Minecraft with his friends on September 25, 2021. There, he raised a total of $363,495, which according to SFA’s Technoblade Tribute, overall raised over 500k. My point is, is that Technoblade is an amazing and inspirational person who stayed strong throughout it all to the bitter end, and while he may be gone from this world now, “Technoblade Never Dies.” He will never die because he will live on from his friends’ memories and from their posts, from videos he’s been in, and new videos that are still coming out now about him, as well as any work of art. Therefore, while he may has left physically, his memory will forever be preserved on the internet. ----- Sources ----- (i was supposed to have only 3 lMfao)

YouTube. “Technoblade Never Dies.” YouTube, YouTube, 28 Oct. 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_fZjGm2OrM.

“Technoblade.” Wikitubia, https://youtube.fandom.com/wiki/Technoblade.

Lol Technoblade | Hypixel - Minecraft Server and Maps. https://hypixel.net/threads/lol-technoblade.185404/.

technothepig. “Absolutely Ruining a $36,000 Minecraft Tournament.” YouTube, YouTube, 2 Aug. 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAACnDkKqFo.

“Minecraft Ultimate.” Sleepy Bois Inc Wiki, https://sleepy-bois-inc.fandom.com/wiki/Minecraft_Ultimate#Season_2.

technothepig. “Skyblock: The Great Potato War.” YouTube, YouTube, 13 Nov. 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qjnDd1rsII.

technothepig. “Skyblock: Potato War 2.” YouTube, YouTube, 7 Mar. 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PAEqgfAts4.

technothepig. “Skyblock: Potato War 3 (Finale).” YouTube, YouTube, 13 July 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09CeBwGbCeg&t=73s.

“Rabbit Pet.” Hypixel SkyBlock Wiki, https://hypixel-skyblock.fandom.com/wiki/Rabbit_Pet#:~:text=Bonus%20stats%3A,%E2%9C%A6%20Speed%3A%20%2B0.2%20per%20level.

“The Great Potato War.” Hypixel SkyBlock Wiki, https://hypixel-skyblock.fandom.com/wiki/The_Great_Potato_War. automatic replanting potatoes | Hypixel - Minecraft Server and Maps. https://hypixel.net/threads/automatic-replanting-potatos.3023907/. technothepig. “Where I've Been.” YouTube, YouTube, 27 Aug. 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9_aYyEDMD0.

“Patient Resources- What Is Sarcoma? Treatments & More.” Sarcoma Foundation of America, 5 Jan. 2022, https://www.curesarcoma.org/sarcoma-resources/patient-resources/.

“Minecrafters vs Cancer.” Sleepy Bois Inc Wiki, https://sleepy-bois-inc.fandom.com/wiki/Minecrafters_Vs_Cancer.

“100 Minecraft Youtubers vs Natural Disasters!” YouTube, YouTube, 5 Mar. 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h61SlPZfWfw.

technothepig. “I Almost Became an Amputee.” YouTube, YouTube, 23 Dec. 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wG1Q1ouemVA.

technothepig. “So Long Nerds.” YouTube, YouTube, 30 June 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPMluEVUqS0.

technothepig. “Minecraft but Viewers Control the Game [Charity Event].” YouTube, YouTube, 25 Sept. 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHKsjtB9Q30.

“Made for Fundraisers.” Tiltify, https://tiltify.com/+team-technoblade/tests35352.

Saunders, Cindy. “Technoblade Tribute.” Sarcoma Foundation of America, 31 Oct. 2022, https://www.curesarcoma.org/technoblade-tribute/.

#technoblade #research paper #LOOK AT THIS #im pretty sure i did too much ;__;#technoblade never dies #inspirational person

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250813soulmates · 5 months

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My Life Review

Est: 2002-2011 Getting punished by my parents & beaten for every "wrongdoing" in my life & underperformance in school. Shit ton of unrequited love because I had no balls to interact with anyone. Extremely quiet/emo because I was too embarrassed to be myself; I'm weird. At some point, probably lower primary school I was molested by my cousin for a couple of months. No sexual knowledge and had no idea what was going on. Eventually, consciousness hit and I initiated a halt to everything. Games and anime were my only saving grace from those suffocating times.

2013: First exclusive date with a classmate (1.5yrs). Life was truly amazing.

2014: Got bullied in poly for a year because I was a slow learner and a dumb fuck at programming, but I eventually became relatively good at it & came in first for a prestigious competition that was even featured in the school's magazine.

2015: I lost my first love and fell into depression. Got dumped and I reacted extremely badly. Filled with anxiousness & hatred; spammed and judged and was so rude and emotional to her because of what she did to me. I was an extremely insecure & emotional person with no sense of logic.

2016: Took my emotions for a ride and competed in a physique competition. Lost with pride because I brought my best package amongst a group of druggies.

2015-2017: Living hell, depression, suicidal, self-harm. Think of the worst and i've either tried or at least thought about it. Wanted to be a "fuck boy" and started smoking, drinking, and clubbing and learning how to "have game" which i quickly quit (except smoking) because i wasn't being true to who i am.

Early 2017: Second date from tinder (6months). Dating app was never a good idea. Generally filled with either depressed or fucked up people. Congrats we're a match! But hey I've "learned my lessons" and in this relationship, as fucked up as she is, somehow i wasn't insecure at all. Life was great while it lasted.

Late 2017: Of course, it ended badly with third/fourth parties. Went through some details in my 2018 posts below. Fell into depression again. Didn't manage to solve my emotions. When shit went down, i blamed her and hated her like how i did in 2015. Life was miserable as i was in the military. 5 weekday of depression in camp and 2 weekend of unloading all my pain at home for almost a year.

Early 2018 (?): Can't remember which year exactly but at some point the "bad boy" version of me tried to go on more dates and at one point, hooked up with someone. I hated it. I thought being nice wasn't enough so I wanted to be different. I hated who I became and went back to my true self.

Mid 2018: Third love, still in the military. No surprise its from tinder again. Generally filled with either depressed or fucked up people once again. Trying to be co-dependent without first achieving self-love and self-worth. But of course, i can only say and realize this now - because it finally ended, after 5 years. But don't get me wrong, while it lasted, it was amazing going through all thick and thin together. I had complete control over my emotions and still held on to my ability to trust and be 100% secure in the relationship. Learned my lesson from the first two and this time I made plans and asked her to be my girlfriend. Unfortunately for her case, insecurity was a major trait alongside ADHD. This would lead to our eventual downfall.

Well, she was a player who hooked up with different people on a daily/weekly basis. An extremely carefree person who simply wants all the instant gratification she could get. I was potentially "just another guy" to her. This however does no dismiss the fact that she too has been through abuse and shit before.

Early 2019: Caught her nudes on her phone in some hidden telegram folder. I was overseas for 2 weeks for a military operation and during that time she used locanto to sell nudes to make quick cash (which i didn't know what was those photos for at that time). My initial feeling was shock and fear, but just as quickly i recomposed myself, approached her, and forgave her without a second thought or even questioning her. With tears & guilt in her eyes, I hugged her and told her everything would be ok. She thought that i would break up with her, but instead, i gave her a second chance and trust that through this, she would learn her lesson about how it is not worth the risk of losing someone like me. We moved on from here and was happy again.

July 2019: The one and only time but we didn't know better. I had no knowledge about the menstrual cycle and she told me it was safe during her most fertile period. 2 weeks later we were deciding between keeping or aborting. This was probably the toughest time i had to go through in my life. A potential life was at stake, but luckily the heart had yet to form. We negotiated and we weighed the pros and cons. Her motherly instincts were definitely there but we ended up choosing the latter option. I took responsibility and was there for her through every step of it and every procedure i could attend. With a few thousand in my bank, i depleted almost all of it because that was the least I could do as she bears the weight of going through this physical and mental turmoil. The stress we had to go through was insane.

What made it worse was that during this time i had to go for nasal and tonsil surgery. Things were going fine until I was discharged and had complications (5% chance of throat hemorrhage). Ended up being sent to ER thrice in 2 weeks. Each time blood would flow out constantly and choke me up. I had to ice my neck and constantly spit the blood out until the ambulance came. The third time it became so bad I spat out almost 500ml of blood and clots into the blood bag provided by the paramedics on the way to the hospital. This time tho, i was hospitalized for almost a week. Literally had diarrhoea 24/7 from the antibiotics to the point where even the nurses were annoyed. Was on IV drip diet, and I lost ALL my gains. The guilt i had to go through when i was supposed to be there for her, but now she had to constantly be here for me in the hospital is indescribable.

Sept 2019: Started my career as a personal trainer right after ORD. New environment, new structure, and with no idea of what to expect. Stayed with the company until the first circuit breaker of covid which resulted in them closing down. However, it ain't all sunshine and rainbows. I was mentored by a dictator who disciplined and scolded me worse than my parents. Treated like a dog holding my clipboard, paper, and pen, walking to lunch with him while asking questions and taking notes. Everything that had been asked or answered before, i wasn't allowed to ask again before i got a scolding for being dumb. Scolded for my lack of spatial awareness, lack of critical thinking, and being judged for every action i took on the gym floor. Vacuum, mopped, cleared the thrash, and cleaned the toilet, because i was new. Shouted at me and slammed weights on the gym floor once while everyone was around and training clients. Insane personal growth, tough love. Later do I know half the shit he taught was either false or an overcomplication of what was necessary; however the other half was gold.

Late 2019 - May 2022: Life was great with her. Had some ups and downs, but we were grateful for each other and tried to iron out our differences as much as we could.

Sept 2020 - May 2021: Life was great. Worked at a new gym, was respected, promoted and i worked my ass off to develop my skill as a trainer. I would even dare to say i was the best in-house trainer at that place. Had a few drama going on in the company and it did got very toxic. But i was able to steer clear of most of it. However, the gym eventually closed down due to circuit breaker 2. In which i had to find a new place again.

Some time around here i broke down once and probably changed my dad forever. Though he no longer beat me like before, the anger issues and attitude was still as bad. I could vividly remember what really happened. But he got mad and I had fucking enough of this shit. I shouted back at how harsh and shitty he's been, i sat down with my back against the wall and started smashing the back of my head against it countless times it until he ran over to stop me and calm the fuck down. Since then, he's been aware and really, much better.

July 2021: Joined a new gym opened by a friend of mine. Grateful for the opportunity with an arguably higher pay compared to before but damn well a better and premium work environment to further improve my skills as a trainer. Met amazing colleagues there too and got to know all sorts of clients ranging from MNC/SME/Start-up business owners, directors, doctors, lawyers, taitais, rich stay-at-home-moms, rich spoiled brats, traders, corporate workers, pilots to even the low-income ceiling ones trying their best to improve their life by using our service. Steep learning curve at the start, but no biggie.

Dec 2021 - May 2022: A good friend hooked me up with a shady investment. Gave great return and honestly till this day (Nov2023) it is still paying out at about 7% per month. But greed took over, and he introduced me to another one which was 15-20% per month. Naive and uneducated as i was, i Invested half my life savings into both platforms at that point. The latter one got shut down eventually and became an international case and MAS was also heavily involved with it. In order to recuperate my loss, i ventured into cryptocurrency and got myself into even more shady investment schemes, and at one point, i even recruited a whole family tree of people online (10 over investors) to be under my name and got their commissions. I was highballing and reinvesting the gains, rarely ever withdrawing. 3/4 way through my recuperation, I got scammed by a fake admin and lost 80%. With 20% left, the way back up was long, stressful and tedious. Soon after, the platform rug pulled but luckily i was able to withdraw whatever i had left into my crypto wallet. Once again i ventured into many other platforms until one day I got destroyed by a bitcoin pyramid scheme and lost everything again. Withdrew back everything from my first platform due to fear into my fiat bank (DBS).

All or nothing. Sometime after, i got to know someone online, and as stupid as it sounds, i trusted "her" and to cut it short, invested my entire bank account into it. Bit by bit, more and more. I lost close to 6-digits. Platform admin needed me to "pay tax for withdrawal" and "someone reported my account so i needed to top up the balance to prove that i wasn't laundering money" At that point, a few thousand meant nothing and i was too blinded to pull back. Borrowed 2k from my love and 3k from a friend i once lend some money to as a return of favour. Topping my with the last 5k in my bank, needless to say, i lost it all once again. But she was still there for me, being my greatest supporter. Which i will forever be grateful for.

To be clear, this stranger/scammer that i built a friendship with, I made it clear to "her" that i have a girlfriend and that nothing will go on between us. I was in it for the money. Maybe "she" if its even a "she" had other intentions, it was not for me to care about.

And why did i even attempt to try all these? Because she didn't have a plan or a job. I felt the need to be the breadwinner and make her a taitai. I thought only the brave could take the risk and reap the rewards. I wanted to get rich quick and make our life better. I risked it all and lost it all.

May 2022 - Oct 2023: Bankrupted, but i wasn't depressed. I was calmed and composed. I accepted reality as it is and immediately took action to draft out a plan on what i should do moving forward. Stay away from ALL investments and work honestly on my day job until the day i recuperate everything back. Be extremely thrifty and only spend on necessities. I became so hyper focused on money that our relationship took the hit. Well, she tried to be understanding and never once complained. I thought everything was fine and this was simply a phase of downturn. September 2023, I officially recovered all my losses. I felt a great sense of relief and freedom. With a clear mind, I finally start putting in more effort into the relationship and also started to plan on marriage and housing. "I made her wait long enough" I told myself. "Next year i'll have to propose" I told myself. 17th October 2023, we celebrated our 5th anniversary. Everything seemed fine.

25th October 2023: I received a text for a break from the relationship. My heart sank. I knew what was coming. I knew she went out herself to calm her mind and will be back anytime soon. 10:15pm, i stood on the void deck, outside her lift without letting her know until she finally return at 11:20pm. She couldn't look at me in the eye and asked me to go home. I didn't want to be possessive and toxic so I allowed her to head back without stopping verbally/physically. She left me in front of my eyes. Should I have pulled her back? Would anything I say at that point help to change her mind? I will never know the answer. But I know that the reason why i did not act was due to my past 2 relationships. Both ended with me trying so hard to get them back and being all emotional. I didn't want history to repeat itself.

I sat down somewhere trying to process what had just happened. I couldn't. My mind went blank. I texted and ask if I could talk to her, to see her, to stay the night. "Go home" she texted me. "Don't push my buttons". "Go home, don't make me repeat myself". "Take bus home".

My mind was blank. My vision was blurred. Hyperventilating. I knew the bus stop was just a street away yet no matter how i walked, i couldn't find it. Took a few steps in every direction and each time i stop, i didn't know where i was.

25th-29th October: A couple of back and forth texting with me explaining how we could still make it work. How it's not worth ending our 5 years of memories. How we all deserve another chance. How the lessons we learned could have been applied to us again, instead of starting from ground zero with someone new. No hatred, no emotional and reckless talking like I did before. But maybe my sin was too great for her to handle.

"the stranger who scammed you, why was her photo in your deleted album and you answered with your story, i lost trust in you" Why should I keep a selfie of a stranger in my photo album and why are you checking my phone this deeply when you know clearly how much i respect my personal space? You didn't even trust in me since day 1. Yet I was the complete opposite trusting you a 100% even after what you did.

"you changed your phone password and that made things worse. If I could turn back in time, I would have told you how upset I am every single time life comes and hit us w something and we have to delay our plans for the future. How scared I am once my career stabilises, and yours get rocky again. And we have to restart the whole process. I wish I could have told you how much I don't trust you, how much I miss the old us, how much I missed being happy, instead of just being contented"

"I've given you chances and chances again. I always asked you out, but I know you're too tired. So I stopped asking you out and spend time w u at home instead. I know you're too tired, I know what I want; but I don't even dare to ask you out."

"I hate that I love you so much, but I doubt we have a future together. I don't know if I can trust you that you'll start putting effort into this rs. Ever since your incident last year, I've been patient."

"I've been hurt so many times, yet I just kept quiet. When you went out with Marcus (my best friend of 10years which we meet only once or twice a year) I realised how lonely I am without you. I don't want to depend on you for happiness anymore. I need to find it within myself. To fill the void you weren't able to."

"I hate that I know you've been working hard for us. I hate that I don't know if I can see a future w you bc I just have so much doubts. I hate that this has caused me so much pain too"

The old us had no troubles. The old us had all the time in the world to date and be stress free. The me after bankruptcy was fighting for our future. She talk about doubting our future when I was there fighting for it in the present.

I said "If you see yourself 50 years with me then you'll realise you won't have 50 years of the same thing & perhaps this is just 1/50 phase of the relationship" in which she replied "When you're saying all these, do you ever pause and admire the moment? Live in the present?"

So was it our possible future or the present that she was unhappy with? My present had a fuck ton of stress. Crazy workload while dealing with the financial loss and the delay of our future. Was it my fault that i wasn't strong enough to stay active and happy and "live in the moment"? Or was her insecurity and the need for instant gratification the root of our downfall? I asked myself this and I realised that it doesn't matter. There's no need for closure.

She'll be happier without me now and i'm proud that she knows what she want. She's finally heading towards a good career and she's learning to love herself, which is ever so important. Nobody is perfect and each of us are always in the journey of healing. With this, she gave me a new dumped-experience to heal myself from too.

29th October 2023: "I can't ever go back to "us" anymore. I hope you can respect that and let's move onto the next phase of life." She said. This was it. I was sad, but i wasn't depressed. I gave her a few final text to ensure she's certain. I listed out the good and the bad of us. I apologized for my shortcomings and mentioned how grateful am I to have her in my life. I thank her for giving us this opportunity to heal and grow ourselves. Life goes on.

On the same day, i broke down in front of my mother as i spilled the beans and revealed the details. This brought me and my family together, closer than ever before. For the first time, i became vulnerable in front of her.

30th October 2023 - 26th November 2023 (present) : No contact has started and I began my personal healing journey. I left no regrets and accepted life as it is. I've been through too much in life to dread over spilled milk. Everything happens for a reason and with every obstacle, i grew stronger. This is my opportunity for linear growth and I have to take advantage of it. I know i needed to love myself and i know i need to be happy enough as an individual before i jump into another relationship like a dumb dumb again. I know my self worth and i know how loyal, genuine, patient, kind, honest, forgiving, respectful, grateful for every little thing, driven, weird, eccentric, funny and playful i am.

I am not a cheater, i hate letting people down. I strive to work hard but also to live a balance life. I know what i want and i know that whoever that steps into my life next needs to also be a happy enough individual with similar enough mindset as i have. Being into fitness is definitely a huge bonus too since fitness is literally my life. I know that this time it'll be someone i meet in real life and not from dating apps. I know the law of attraction and i know that as long as i continue working on myself, the right one will come one day even without me chasing for it.

Chasing brings the excitement of challenges that'll die along with it once you obtain it. Chasing is a sign of lack of self respect. It needs to come from mutual investment, or move on.

Meanwhile, i'll continue to upgrade my fitness knowledge, explore more into cooking and singing. Take care of myself by dressing better, getting a few more trims and get some skin care routine going on. Spend more time with friends and family which i've neglected my whole life. I'll live my best life knowing that storms will still come ever once in a while. I'll identify and accept those negative feelings. I'll go into a space of observational awareness while waiting for the storm to pass, then jump right back into the path of never ending healing of life again.

In only 26 years i'm glad to have been through most of life's grieves and have the emotional maturity to take on whatever that's yet to come. My only uncertainty to how i'll react is the loss of health which may interrupt/inhibit my training/nutrition routine or the loss of health/life of my parents (no details but my dad's memory has been getting worse rapidly over the past 2 years). But when the time comes, which it will. I have full faith in my future self that i'll be able to handle it.

This is all for now. It's time to be positive. Looking through all my older posts since 2015, I'm fucking proud of where i'm at now & i'm sure my future self will be fucking proud of me taking this step today too.

Hello J from god knows if tumblr will still be around. 5 years? 10 years? Look at me and be glad i've yet to throw my life away and give up. Because of my decision today, you get to be who you are now. BLEH.

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nbmsports · 10 months

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Biden and D.N.C. Announce $72 Million in Fund-Raising, a Substantial Haul

President Biden’s campaign announced on Friday a combined fund-raising haul of more than $72 million from April through June alongside the Democratic National Committee and a joint fund-raising committee, a figure that far surpasses what former President Donald J. Trump and other leading Republican presidential candidates have announced.The campaign said that along with the D.N.C. and the committee, it had a combined $77 million in cash on hand at the end of the reporting period. It did not disclose how that money was divided between the campaign and the committees.“While Republicans are burning through resources in a divisive primary focused on who can take the most extreme MAGA positions, we are significantly outraising every single one of them,” said Julie Chávez Rodríguez, Mr. Biden’s campaign manager.While the fund-raising total is well short of the $105 million Mr. Trump and his allies collected during the same period in his 2020 re-election campaign, it is likely to serve as a salve for Democrats who have been privately gloomy about Mr. Biden’s sagging approval ratings. The finance numbers prove that whatever private misgivings Democrats have about Mr. Biden’s re-election campaign, the party’s donor class is fully on board.“This is proof positive that this party and its people and the country believe in Joe Biden and the accomplishments of this administration,” said Henry R. Muñoz III, a former Democratic National Committee finance director. “This reaffirms Joe Biden’s appeal to the working people and everyday heroes of this country.”At the dawn of President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign, he and the D.N.C. raised a combined $86 million between April and June 2011.Comparisons to Mr. Obama’s fund-raising efforts for the 2012 campaign are imprecise, however, because a 2014 Supreme Court decision and other legal changes allowed candidates and parties to form joint fund-raising committees that can accept single donations of hundreds of thousands of dollars.And in Mr. Trump’s re-election bid, he had a significant head start over Mr. Biden. Mr. Trump formally announced and began fund-raising for the 2020 race on the day he was inaugurated in 2017, while Mr. Biden, who at the end of March had $1.36 million left over in his campaign account, did not actively solicit money for his campaign until he made his run official in April.Mr. Biden began his 2024 campaign on April 25 — nearly a month after the fund-raising quarter began. His first major fund-raising event was in mid-May in New York, and he did not do any significant fund-raising himself during the heat of negotiations over extending the federal debt ceiling in late May.In June, Mr. Biden traveled to San Francisco and Chicago to meet with major donors before the close of the fund-raising period.Mr. Biden was never a prolific fund-raiser before he became the party’s de facto presidential nominee in the spring of 2020. Three other Democratic candidates raised more money than he did during the third quarter of 2019, well before his resurgence as the primary season unfolded.But once Democrats unified around Mr. Biden and against Mr. Trump while the pandemic gripped the country, Mr. Biden emerged as a magnet for donors large and small.“Just like 2020 was a record year, I imagine 2024 is going to be a record year,” said Alex Lasry, a former Senate candidate and D.N.C. member from Wisconsin who is the co-treasurer for the Democratic Governors Association.The Republicans vying to replace Mr. Biden will not have the benefit of raising money through their national committee until one emerges as the party’s nominee. Mr. Biden and supportive Democrats also have the advantage of not having to spend much money to get through what for the Republicans is expected to be a rough-and-tumble primary campaign.Mr. Trump said his campaign and his joint fund-raising committee had raised $35 million in the second quarter. Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida announced he had raised about $20 million. Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador, raised $4.3 million for her campaign and an additional $3 million for her affiliated committees. Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina said his campaign had raised $6.1 million.Other Republican presidential candidates, including former Vice President Mike Pence, former Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey and Vivek Ramaswamy, a businessman, have not released their fund-raising totals for the second quarter.Full reports on all federal candidates’ campaign finances, which will include spending and an indication of how much of their money has come from small donors, are due on Saturday to the Federal Election Commission.Rebecca Davis O’Brien contributed reporting. Source link Read the full article

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haurdwellness · 2 years

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Listen to natasha bedingfield songs

LISTEN TO NATASHA BEDINGFIELD SONGS CRACKED

Bedingfield then released a handful of stand-alone singles in the mid-2010s and contributed songs to the animated works The Pirate Fairy (2014) and Tangled: Before Ever More (2017) before returning with her fourth solo full-length, Roll with Me, in August 2019. That year, she found the European singles charts with a featured spot on Simple Plan's "Jet Lag." An appearance in the Canadian Top 20 followed for her featured vocal on the Lifehouse song "Between the Raindrops" in 2012. It peaked at number 103 on the Billboard 200, and Bedingfield ultimately fared better with 2011's "Easy," a Top 50 duet with Rascal Flatts, than with any of the her solo singles. After marrying businessman/filmmaker Matt Robinson in early 2009, Bedingfield began writing material for her third studio album.įeaturing production from OneRepublic's Ryan Tedder, Strip Me, saw release in late 2010.

LISTEN TO NATASHA BEDINGFIELD SONGS CRACKED

version cracked the Top Three across the pond. reached number nine in the U.K., while the U.S. plus six new songs - found its way to the States as Pocketful of Sunshine in early 2008. Instead, a reworked version - half of N.B. That album, however, was never released in the U.S. hit singles "I Wanna Have Your Babies" and "Soulmate" (both peaked at number seven) previewed her sophomore outing, N.B. While the album climbed to number 26 in the States, the title track landed in the Top Five of the Hot 100 and earned Bedingfield a Grammy nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. It also set up her assault on the American pop charts, which began in July 2005 with Unwritten's U.S. The golden reception for Bedingfield's rhythmic pop sound netted her platinum record sales and numerous BRIT awards. chart-topper "These Words," Unwritten debuted at number one on the British album chart upon its release in 2004. Leaving university to sign with BMG, she immediately started working on her first record.īuoyed by advance tracks like "Single" and U.K. In 20, Daniel Bedingfield scored number one hits at home with "Gotta Get Through This" and "If You're Not the One," and it was soon Natasha's turn. It didn't last, but the experience encouraged the Bedingfields to keep pursuing music, and Natasha contributed vocals to the 1997 club track "Refined Intricacy" by Origin. By their teens, Natasha, brother Daniel, and sister Nikola had formed an R&B-based singing group. It reached the Top 40 of the Billboard Independent Albums chart.īorn in West Sussex, Natasha Anne Bedingfield grew up in South London, where she and her siblings were raised around music. Still combining sleek surfaces and danceability with honest emotion, her fourth album and first independent release, Roll with Me, appeared in 2019. Though her third long-player, 2010's Strip Me, didn't fare as well commercially, she achieved platinum status on collaborations with Simple Plan ("Jet Lag") and Rascal Flatts ("Easy") in 2011. kept the British singer on charts around the world. Singles such as "Love Like This" (featuring Sean Kingston) and "Soulmate" from 2007's N.B. number one "These Words" as well as "Unwritten," both Top 20 hits in the U.S. Grammy-nominated singer and songwriter Natasha Bedingfield rose to international stardom in 2004 with an upbeat, R&B-tinged dance-pop that she introduced on her debut album, Unwritten.

#Listen to natasha bedingfield songs

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brn1029 · 2 years

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This day, lots of stuff happened, in music history….

September 15th

2019 - Ric Ocasek

Ric Ocasek the former lead singer with The Cars was found dead in his New York City apartment, he was 75. The Cars formed in Boston in the mid-1970s by Ocasek and band-mate Benjamin Orr after they met at high school. Their early hits included 'Just What I Needed', 'My Best Friend's Girl' and 'Good Times Roll'. Their 1984 ballad 'Drive' was used as background music for footage of the Ethiopian famine, and its re-release as a single after Live Aid helped raise money for the cause. After the band broke up in the late 1980s, Ocasek embarked on a solo career as well as working as a producer for artists including Weezer, Bad Religion and No Doubt.

2019 - AC/DC

The Cook Islands, a nation in the South Pacific, released two silver coins to honour two classic AC/DC albums. The band’s landmark 1981 album ‘For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)’ was honoured on a two dollar coin while 1990’s ‘The Razors Edge’ could be found on a ten dollar coin. Both feature a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II on the reverse side.

2014 - U2

Apple released a tool to remove U2's new album from its customers' iTunes accounts six days after giving away the music for free. Some users had complained about the fact that their latest album Songs of Innocence had automatically been downloaded to their devices without their permission.

1997 - U2

A 34 year old man was awarded more than £20,000 by a French court after he lost his hearing when he stood too close to loudspeakers at a U2 concert in 1993.

1990 - Steve Miller Band

The Steve Miller Band had a UK No.1 with 'The Joker' 16 years after it's first release. The song topped the US Billboard Hot 100 in early 1974. More than 16 years later, it reached No.1 in the UK Singles Chart after being used in "Great Deal", a Hugh Johnson-directed television advertisement for Levi's, thus holding the record for the longest gap between transatlantic chart-toppers.

1975 - Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd released their ninth studio album Wish You Were Here in the UK. The album which explores themes of absence, the music business, and former band-mate Syd Barrett's mental decline peaked at No.1 on both sides of the Atlantic and went on to spend a total of 84 weeks on the chart.

1970 - Spiro Agnew

US Vice-President Spiro Agnew said in a speech that the youth of America were being "brainwashed into a drug culture" by rock music, movies, books and underground newspapers.

1968 - The Doors

The Doors were forced to perform as a trio at a concert in Amsterdam after singer Jim Morrison collapsed while dancing during the Jefferson Airplane's performance.

1967 - The Beatles

Filming continued for The Beatles 'Magical Mystery Tour'. Lunch was at James and Amy Smedley's fish and chip shop in Taunton, Somerset with The Beatles being filmed and photographed eating their fish and chips.

1966 - Small Faces

The Small Faces were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'All Or Nothing', their only No.1 hit. According to Kay Marriott, Steve Marriott's mother, Steve wrote the song about his split with ex-fiancee Sue Oliver, though first wife Jenny Rylance states that Marriott told her he wrote the song for her as a result of her split with Rod Stewart.

1965 - Otis Redding

Otis Redding released his third studio album Otis Blue. The album mainly consists of cover songs by popular R&B and soul artists, and, bar one track, was recorded in a 24-hour period over July 9/10 1965 at the Stax Recording Studios in Memphis, Tennessee and includes the classic tracks 'Ole Man Trouble", 'Respect', and 'Down in the Valley'.

1965 - The Ford Motor Company

The Ford Motor Company became the first automaker to offer an 8-track tape player as an option for their entire line of vehicles on sale in the US. Tapes were initially only available at auto parts stores, as home 8-track equipment was still a year away.

1962 - The Four Seasons

The Four Seasons started a five week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Sherry', it made No.8 in the UK. They became the first American group to have three No.1's in succession.

1961 - The Pendletones

A group from Hawthorne, California called The Pendletones attend their first real recording session at Hite Morgan's studio in Los Angeles. The band recorded 'Surfin', a song that would help shape their career as The Beach Boys.

1956 - Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley started a five-week run at No.1 on the US charts with 'Don't Be Cruel'. The track went on to become Presley's biggest selling single, with sales over six million by 1961. This “double-sided hit” which had 'Hound Dog' on the B side, became the most successful on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart. One side reached No.1 on the chart, the other No.2. The two titles spent a combined 55 weeks in the Top 100 in 1956-1957.

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apptwofood · 2 years

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Are 2021 online ordering statistics encouraging?

In the pandemic era, one business that boomed despite all odds, like restrictions of lockdown, is the online restaurant food ordering system. The economy of the whole world was on the verge of collapse, but thanks to a few sectors like the online restaurant system, medicines, and essential commodities saved the economy from the heinous stage.

Rest seems to be the history in the restaurant industry as the restaurants on digital platforms picked up like a rocket with nothing to stop due to high and unexpected returns. This trend of ordering via mobile app or ordering food online started in late 2019 at a steady pace but skyrocketed in 2020 when a pandemic overshadowed the earth. It is moving up only on the graph of online food ordering. 2021 came up with more success with an online ordering system with astonishing and pleasant surprises.

We are in the mid of 2022, so let us study and learn from the statistics of 2021 and implement the learning to fetch better results.

Online ordering restaurant statistics in 2021 in the US

Check out the statistics of last year and make the blueprint for the online ordering system to fly high with great returns and sales.

It is found that almost 60% of consumers in the US opt at least once a week for online order delivery or takeaway.

To learn - This denotes the overpowering strength of online delivery, and if you have yet not opted for an online food delivery system, you may have to.

2. 4 % of customers, while ordering online, incur at least 50 dollars on every order.

To learn – This indicates that customers spend lavishly, even when ordering online for food. Customers do not even spend extravagantly for dine-in rather, give bulky online food orders when wanting food within their comfort zone.

3. Digital ordering and delivery have escalated beyond 300% since 2014.

To learn - Since 2014, earnings have gone beyond 300% times. Here is an opportunity to earn by opting for an online ordering system for a restaurant. Go for the best online ordering system for the restaurant and get the yield in the form of returns.

4. 72 % of customers maintained that they prefer to order directly from the restaurant instead of paying a handsome amount to a third party.

In a nutshell – having your own restaurant's website and mobile app will help you avoid third-party commissions.

5. 33 % of consumers do not mind paying high prices for quick and prompt delivery services.

To learn – With a better delivery system and promptness, you can have regular clients and earn more.

6. 60% of restaurant operators maintain that door delivery service has got them leads and sales.

To absorb – Be a complete solution for customers from having a mobile ordering system to an online delivery system to get more customers to your portals.

7. 67% of the customers stick to the same restaurant they order online.

Wrapping up –

In terms of food, customers do not like to explore or try much. Customers would stick to those restaurants they have been fond of or order online.

#online restaurant food ordering system #online ordering system restaurants #mobile app for restaurants #best online ordering system for restaurant #app2food

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writernada · 3 years

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10 Times Yuzuru Hanyu Was Inspiring

Yuzuru Hanyu (26 years old) is a Japanese figure skater. He is a two-time Olympic champion, two- time World champion, Four Continent champion, four times Grand Prix Final champion and five times national champion. He is the only male skater that has achieved a grand slam (won all major competitions in both junior and senior circus). In 2018, he won the People's Honor Award given by the Japanese Prime Minister and became the youngest recipient of this award. He also won the award of the most valuable skater at the International Skating Union Awards for the season 2019-2020. Since his debut in the senior circus in 2011-2012 and until now, Yuzuru's performances have always made a great impact on the audience; allowing him to have the biggest fan base ever in the history of figure skating. His fans are not only from Japan but from all around the world; including other skaters and coaches. The reason behind all of this love is that Yuzuru touches the hearts by performing like an artist, hitting every note, being super passionate about what he does and combining a competitive spirit with a sport soul. On top of all of that, he has an ability to inspire people. His road has never been easy. It is full of injuries, surgeries, illnesses, strong competitors, mistakes and losses. However, he always perserves, pushes through his limits, overcomes adversity and rises in an inspiring way.

Here are the ten times Yuzuru Hanyu was an icon of inspiration:

1- Winning his first medal in the World Championship in 2012 despite having an injury and low stamina.

In his debut in the World championship (senior circus) in 2012, Yuzuru (17) sprained his right ankle during the official practice the day before the short program. His foot swelled up but he decided not to withdraw, taking into account all the effort he has made for this competition and all the people who came here for him (coach, mom and officials). He went ahead and competed. He was ranked seventh in the short program, third in the free program and third overall, winning the bronze medal.

Yuzuru commented on that competition in his autobiography book "Aoi Hono ll":

"Because I was injured the day before the short, I felt that even in that kind of situation 'I landed my quad, I did well’. I felt that I had worked really hard by myself. However, my mother told me, "That is wrong.” Getting injured was my own fault, but there were many people who helped and supported me. That is the reason why I could come to this point. Until about 9 o'clock that night, we were talking about this while having dinner, and in the end, I realized that my thinking was wrong."

Yuzuru was about to get full of himself and let arrogance take over him. However, his mother helped him stay grounded. Thus, he was able to face the free program with a humble attitude. He put out a passionate performance that many people still remember until this day and consider as one of their favorites. During that performance, he tried not to put a lot of pressure on the injured foot so he shifted all the pressure on the other one until it got exhausted and gave up on him. As a result, he fell all of a sudden in the middle of the performance, but he managed to get up right away and perform a great jump right after.

In his autobiography book that was mentioned earlier, Yuzuru talked about this fall and said: "Later, when I watched the videos, I saw that the fall did not take up much time. I was standing up again quickly. But to me, it felt like a long time. When I fell, the feeling was like flying mid-air. Like this (he re-enacts the fall in slow motion), 'ahh, I am stumbling~~’ (laughs). After the fall, I was thinking 'what should I do from here’, many thoughts circled around. Thinking that I won’t make it in time for the next axel jump, I shortened the path by going straight instead of curved. I can jump even a 3A+3A (in practice), so I thought I will be alright. (laughs)”.

One of the most exciting moments during the performance is when Yuzuru shouted out aloud before the choreographic sequence. The shout seemed like a great expression of the emotions of his character (Romeo). It made him look like he was totally into character. However, he clarified that it was unintentional. He said: "I felt like I couldn’t breathe, so I thought, for now just let the breath out. (laughs)"

Yuzuru is known to be suffering from asthma and because of it he had a low stamina at the time. However, even after finding out that the shout wasn't done to express the character's emotions, viewers still find it impactful because it is a genuine expression of Yuzuru's fight against his limits.

That night, Yuzuru made a name for himself internationally. He shed tears of happiness after getting his scores and so did his coach. He also got praised by the winner that night who said: "the one shining the most is Yuzuru".

2- Breaking a World Record and winning gold in his first participation in the winter Olympic Games.

At the age of 19, Yuzuru participated for the first time in the Olympic Games. Young male skaters like him who participate for the first time usually don't dare to dream about winning. The big scale of the competition gets athletes nervous and shaken, even the great and experienced ones of them. Therefore, the young newcomers usually consider their first participation as an experience to have under their belt while preparing for the next Olympic. However, Yuzuru was determind to win. His choreographer at the time, David Wilson, talked about his intense determination in an interview: "he wrote me an email letter that was so touching. He was like please help me do this because I'm ready. I'll do anything. I will die. I'll do anything to be the Olympic Champion. I don't want to wait until 2018. I want it now and I'll do anything. I'm willing to die for it. Anything you tell me, I'll do it but help me."

David Wilson talking about Yuzuru's determination to win the 2014 Olympics

Yuzuru performed a marvelous short program and came out of the rink saying: "I did it!" to which his coach replied: "you certainly did". He broke the world record in his first participation at the Olympics despite his young age. He did get nervous and made mistakes at the free program. However, what he did in the short program was enough to bring him the gold medal and make him achieve his childhood dream.

Yuzuru (11) saying that his dream is to win the Olympics

Yuzuru performing his short program at the 2014 Olympics:

Other Skaters reacting to Yuzuru's World Record at the Olympics:

The moment when Yuzuru finds out he won the 2014 Olympics:

3- Continuing to compete after a pretty bad collusion with another skater during Cup of China 2014:

In 2014, Yuzuru took part in Cup of China, which is one of the events of the Grand Prix Series. Yuzuru was in second place after the short program and during the 6 minuets warm up before the long program he had an accident. He collided with the Chinese skater Han Yan. They were looking at opposite sides and couldn't see each other until it was too late.

Yuzuru talked about the incident in his autobiography book and said: "My stomach hit the ice (when I fell) and so it felt like I received a body blow. My stomach was hurting so much; I could not breathe nor get up. Then, when I tried standing up, my chin was hurting and bleeding. My head was panicking and I didn’t know exactly where all the pain was coming from."

After a few minutes, Yuzuru stood up on his own despite the arrival of medical helpers. He preferred to exit the rink on his own instead of being carried. Backstage, he was examined and given first aid by American doctors.

The Collusion incident at CoC 2014:

In his biography book, Yuzuru gave some details about what happened backstage after the incident:

"I really gave a lot of trouble to the people around me. They told me ‘Don’t compete’. The doctors also said, 'It is not a concussion, so it is possible to skate but we do not recommend it.’Coach Orser also said, 'Now you don’t need to be a hero. You still have more after this, you still can do a lot as a skater.’But 'it has nothing to do with that. I will skate because I want to go to GP Final.’ I think I might have said that to him in Japanese. I wanted to go to the Final somehow. Here, 5th or 4th place is good enough, I can get 1st place in the next competition, so for now I just want to remain connected. If I compete at GPF, I definitely want to have a second consecutive victory. I also want to win the triple crown again (Worlds, GPF, Nationals). I had those kind of thoughts. Now when I look back I think, 'ah I skated well’."

Yuzuru decided to skate his free program and the people around him respected his decision and allowed him to go. He made sure to meet Han Yan before competing again and they exchanged apologies. After that, Yuzuru showed up in the rink with a bandage on his head and a small band on his chin. He skated his free program bravely after making some changes on the layout to adjust to his condition. He fell on five jumps but did full rotations and got grades for that. He also was able to land some jumps in the latter half of the program, which got him extra points. After the performance, his coach Orser was worried about his feelings if he gets a bad score for falling five times so he was preparing him mentally by saying stuff like: "scores don't matter. What matter is what you did out there" but it turned out Orser had nothing to worry about as Yuzuru received a high score. Yuzuru was so surprised and relieved when he saw his score and he burst into tears after holding on for a long time. He won the silver medal in that event.

Yuzuru performing his free program and receiving his score at CoC 2014:

After the competition, American doctors prepared the massage room to do stitches for Yuzuru. He received 7 stitches on his chin with anesthetics and 3 staples on his head without any anesthetics, which was really painful to him! The next day, he traveled to Japan for a medical examination in a trip that he described as hell. The result of the examination was "head contusion (or bruise), chin contusion, abdominal contusion, left thigh contusion and right ankle sprain’.

For ten days, Yuzuru was unable to walk and the recovery took more time than expected. Every time he finds himself able to walk, he would go to the rink, but once he steps his foot into the rink the pain comes back. He thought that he would never be able to skate again, felt so depressed and wanted to quit skating all together. However, his mother told him "how about just giving it a try anyway? If you skate just a little on the ice every day with the intention of rehabilitation, the situation may change for the better" her response surprised him because she never tried to stop him from quitting in the past whenever he said he wanted to quit. With that new attitude of his mother, Yuzuru became optimistic about being able to skate again, and found the willpower to try and even aim to win at the next competition of the Grand Prix Series, which was NHK.

At NHK, Unfortunately, Yuzuru wasn't able to present great performances and once he finished his free program he thought to himself: "ah, the final is gone!" he thought that all his efforts in Cup of China were for nothing, but luckily, the total of his points combined from the two competitions made him the last qualified skater for the final. Thus, he was able to take part in the final, presented great performnces and won the gold medal after all the struggles he went through.

4- Winning at Nationals 2014 despite bleeding and needing a surgery:

After the short program at the Grand Prix Final, Yuzuru felt some kind of pain in his stomach whenever he stretched or pressed on it. He thought that it must be a damage in the muscle tissue but after the free program, he found something that looks like a Ping Pong ball sticking out beneath his navel. It was so painful to the extent that he couldn't sleep on his flight back to Japan. When he landed, he went to the hospital right away and was told that he might have Urachal Remnant Disorder. He was given some antibiotic and sent home because his condition wasn't bad. However, once he returned home, and got into the shower, his navel burst and started bleeding. He went back to the hospital and it was confirmed that he has Urachal Remnant. He needed to undergo a surgery but he couldn't afford to have it any time soon because the Japanese national competition (All Japan) was a few weeks away. He was determined to attend it so he decided to bear with the pain and delay the surgery. Without telling anybody about his problem, he attended his trainings after wrapping himself with gauze to prevent blood from staining his clothes. That didn't work out well and blood still got to his clothes so when it was time for the competition, he was worried that his costume might get stained. To prevent that from happening, he put a strong tape on top of the gauze, which was painful, but did the job. In this condition, Yuzuru took part in the Japanese national competition, and despite a few mistakes in both of his programs, his endurance of pain didn't go in vain, and he actually won.

Yuzuru commented about this situation in his book by saying: "It was painful to bend forward and backward, but I tried to do whatever I could in that situation. I even did the Ina bauer, but I could not arch back at all. In fact, I also intended to do the biellmann spin! However, when I started the spin, I changed it into an A-line"

Yuzuru performing his free program and putting his hand on his stomach while leaving the ice during All Japan 2014:

5- Rising from fifth place to first in the World Championships 2017:

At the World Championship in 2017, Yuzuru made some mistakes in the short program that left him sitting in fifth place behind his rivals. The gap between him and the first place was around 11 points. He was so disappointed in himself but didn't give up. He wanted to go practice harder. However, his coaches stopped him from overworking himself and made sure that he takes a good rest and goes through a normal practice. After that, he collected himself, focused, stayed calm and presented one of the greatest performances ever. It was flawless and magnificent. His coach Brian Orser said that he felt privileged to have witnessed this performance. Yuzuru got a very high score that made him scream and left him on the verge of shedding happy tears. His coach Brian Orser was speechless while his other coach Tracy Wilson had her mouth wide open in astonishment. With that, Yuzuru was able to rise from fifth place to first and win the championship.

Yuzuru performing his free program and receiving his score at the WC 2017:

6- Winning the second Olympic title right after being away from the ice for 3 months due to a severe injury:

Before the beginning of the Olympic season, Yuzuru was done with his preparation very early and was all ready to compete. His coach Brian Orser couldn't believe how smoothly things were going and felt a little uneasy about the fact that Yuzuru was ready very early. His worry wasn't pointless because soon enough Yuzuru sustained a severe injury. It happened during the official practice before NHK. Yuzuru was practicing (4Lutz) which was a new jump he has been practicing that season. He landed the jump in a wrong way causing ligament damage to his right ankle. The injury forced him out of competition for the rest of the season.

Yuzuru's fall and injury at NHK 2017:

Yuzuru disappeared and was away from the ice for three months. During that time, he didn't make any T.V appearances or interviews. Thus, nobody knew anything about him and his condition. His participation in the Olympics and the mere ability to perform again became uncertain. A lot of people doubted he would be able to comeback. However, he showed up at Incheon Airport in South Korea surrounded by guards and declared that he was ready to compete and that he believes he has the potential to win more than any other skater. After that, he avoided talking to the press until the end of the competition.

Yuzuru's arrival at Incheon Airport to participate at the 2018 Olympics:

According to his coach, Brian Orser, Yuzuru returned to the ice only six weeks before the Olympics and had to relearn everything and take baby steps to be able to perform again. He was practicing strokes, single and double jumps while watching his training mate and rival, Javier Fernandez, do a full run through of his programs with triples and quads. Yuzuru was able to land triples only three weeks before the Olympics and started landing quads just two weeks before the Olympics.

During the official open practice before the competition, Yuzuru made sure not to reveal his abilities and current condition nor his planned layout. He simply did some strokes and single jumps then left the rink. He chose his layout after studying his rivals and calculating how many points he would potentially need to win. He did his calculations on an app that he developed as part of his studies at the university.

In the short program segment, Yuzuru put out a great performance that was so close to the world record (which he holds). He won first place at this segment. Seeing the results, he felt relieved and assured so he allowed himself to reduce the difficulty of his free program. He was one-step away from winning the Olympics again. He needed to put out another great performance during the free program, and fortunately, that's exactly what he did. He performed a memorable free program filled with emotions, and once he finished, he screamed: "I won. I won!" which was true! He became the first skater to win the Olympics consecutively in 66 years.

Yuzuru's free program at the 2018 Olympics:

The moment that Yuzuru is announced as the winner of the 2018 Olympics:

7- Receiving the gold medal on crutches during Rostelecom Cup 2018:

After winning the Olympics, Yuzuru decided to pay tribute to his role models in figure skating; the Russian legend Evgeny Plushenko and the American Johnny Weir. He chose one of Plushenko's programs as his free program and one of Weir's as his short. He adapted the programs to his own style but still kept some touches from the original ones. Since it was a tribute, he decided to perform his free program in the hometown of his Russian idol and in front of his people. That is why he chose to participate in Rostelecom Cup, which is one of the events of the Grand Prix Series, and is held in Russia. He performed a great short program and everything was going well until he injured his right foot again during the practice before the free program. He was advised to withdraw. However, he absolutely wanted to perform his tribute to the Russian legend, Plushenko, in Russia. He has prepared a lot for this performance and came all the way to Russia to do it so he didn't want all of that to be pointless. He decided to take strong painkillers and perform his free program. He lowered the difficulty of the program and then presented a great performance in front of the Russian crowd that brought him the gold medal. After the performance, he started moving on crutches and admitted that without the painkillers, he wouldn't have been able to skate. He received the gold medal that night on crutches with fans cheering for him and holding up signs that says: "Yuzu we love you from all over the world".

Yuzuru receiving the gold medal on crutches at Rostelecom 2018:

8- Conquering his fears during the season of 2019-2020:

Yuzuru has suffered from a lot of injuries throughout his career. More than once, he thought that he is facing the end of his career because of an injury. Therefore, his main goal during the season of 2019-2020 was to finish the season without injuries. He finished his first two competitions safely and arrived at Japan to participate in NHK, which was his second Grand Prix assignment. Many of his injuries happened in his second GP event and he was conscious about this fact. He was afraid of getting hurt again and was visibly shaking before the beginning of his free program. As a result of his nervousness he missed a combination. However, he pulled himself together and improvised a new combination to recover the points he missed. He thought of the new combination, calculated its points and made sure that it's not repeated all while performing amazingly. Once he came out of the rink, his coach Ghislain gave him a hug and said: "You know what? You conquered your fear!".

Yuzuru shaking before performing his free program at NHK 2019 + full performance:

Yuzuru continued to overcome his fears in the final of the Grand Prix. He was setting in second place after the short program and the gap of points between him and his rival was big. He felt that winning may not be possible this time; nonetheless, he still wanted to do his best and give a respectable performance. He decided to raise the number of quad jumps in his program to five for the first time ever in his career. In addition, he declared that he will bring back the quad Lutz, which is the jump that caused his injury before the 2018 Olympics. It's a jump that he never dared to perform again in competitions since that incident. However, he overcame his fear and performed a flawless quad Lutz during the free program with four other quad jumps in the GPF, challenging not only his fear, but also his stamina that has always been an obstacle for him. He did not win the gold medal, but won his own fight against his fears and limits as well as the hearts and respect of the audience.

Yuzuru performing quad Lutz+ full performance of the free program at GPF2019:

9- Winning the bronze medal in the World Championship 2021 despite an asthma attack and many other hurdles.

During the 2020-2021 season, the whole world was going through struggles because of Corona Virus and Yuzuru was no exception. He had to train on his own in Japan all year long away from his coaches and physical therapist in Canada. He prepared new programs for the season with his choreographers by receiving videos and training accordingly without any supervision. During the season, his hometown was struck by an earthquake twice. The last struck happened right before he traveled to Stockholm to participate in the WC. According to him, the inside of his home was a mess and he couldn't use the train to go to Tokyo and board the plane as planned. As a result, he arrived to Stockholm one day later than planned, thus, he had to change his training plans as well. However, his coach Brian Oreser said that Yuzuru is not the type of athlete who gets phased by such problems and he was right. Yuzuru did perfect run through of his programs during his official practices. He also performed his lively short program very well and won the small gold medal of the segment.

Yuzuru performing his short program at WC 2021:

Yuzuru was all set to win the World Championship for the third time, but something unexpected happened before the free program. He was supposed to start warming up one hour prior the turn of his group (the last group), but he was nowhere to be seen at the venue until it was almost time for the last group to compete. His coach Brian Orser said that he was worried and didn't know where Yuzuru was. He asked the head of the Japanese team but they simply told him: "He is somewhere else". Brian kept on going back and forth between the rink where two of his students were competing and the warm up area where Yuzuru was supposed to be, but Yuzuru did not show up. After Brian's students finished their turn, it was almost time for Yuzuru's group so Brian went to the locker room to see if Yuzuru was there. Usually, Yuzuru would put his skating boots in the locker room before the six-minuets warm up of his group and Brian would come to carry his tissue box, and then they would head to the rink together. However, Brian didn't find Yuzuru in the locker room. Yuzuru was caught on camera sitting on a chair at the warm up area, resting his head on the wall and looking exhausted while taking off his mask impatiently. At that time, the announcement of Keegan Messing's score from the group before the last one, could be heard in the background.

Yuzuru at the warm up area before skating his free program at the WC 2021:

When Brian finally found Yuzuru at the warm up area, he said that he knew something must have happened to him but he didn't ask him about it. Instead, he tried to encourage him by saying energetically: "Let's go!"

Yuzuru showed up at the rink without styling his hair unlike the norm. He made a lot of mistakes in the first part of his free program as if he was not the same person who did a perfect run through one day ago. He said that he suddenly couldn't find his balance but he did try his best. He explained that with every mistake, he tried to at least not fall. Later on, the Russian media reported that the Russian doctor who was accompanying their team at the competition said that Yuzuru has had an asthma attack right before coming to the venue and has asked for his help. Yuzuru never talked to the media about what happened before the free program and why he was late. When he was asked about his asthma he only admitted to feeling a little asthmatic after the free program. Despite all of that, Yuzuru managed to win the bronze medal and contribute in securing three spots to team Japan at the Olympics.

The mystery of what happened to Yuzuru before the free program would have stayed unsolved if it wasn't for the Russian doctor. The reason is that Yuzuru doesn't like to make excuses for himself. He once said in an old interview that he used to make a lot of excuses for himself when he was young but then he realized that real strong skaters don't do that and that he wouldn't learn anything if he keeps on making excuses. He took the renowned Japanese skater Mao Asada as an example when she competed with a bone fracture without uttering a word about it. That must be the reason why he never takes his asthma as an excuse or talks about it.

10- Achieving his childhood dreams one by one:

Since ever Yuzuru was young he declared that he wants to be the Olympic champion and he wants to land a quad Axel. He went on to achieve his Olympic dream in 2014; making history by being the first Japanese male skater to win an Olympic gold medal ever. However, he said that it’s not over yet because the plan in his head is to win the Olympics twice. He kept on improving himself and walking towards his dream while making a lot of sacrifices and overcoming injuries. At the end, he achieved his dream and made history once again by being the first skater in 66 years to win the gold medal at the Olympics consecutively. He then made a statement saying that he feels happy and that this happiness is what he gets in return to the sacrifices he made. After that, he said that he feels freed from the pressure of having to produce results. Thus, he announced that he is going to skate for himself from then on. It was time for him to start focusing on the other dream of his childhood which was the quad Axel. He made it clear that landing it in a competition is his next goal and didn’t allow himself to get swayed by what others are doing or what competitions he is losing. He stayed focused on his goal and is reported to be getting closer to achieving it.

Yuzuru's path has never been covered with flowers. It was hard and painful most of the time but yuzuru always turns the pain into success and fulfillment with his perseverance, becoming an icon of inspiration to many people. We wish him a lot of happiness and success in the future.

Translation of Yuzuru's book is from:

https://bit.ly/3vSGgBz

#yuzuru hanyu #brian orser #javier fernandez

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wishingstarinajar · 3 years

Text

I am going to ramble a bit but I will hide it under a cut because it's a bit long. It will be about the previous fandom I was active in around two years ago and how it affects me to this day. It's also about popularity and putting others on a pedestal.

If this sort of ramble isn't up your alley then feel very free to skip over this post! I don't mind. If you want to read more about it, just check under the cut.

The Franchise And Its Creators

====

THE FRANCHISE AND ITS CREATORS Around mid-2014, I joined the Wakfu and Dofus fandoms, a small-ish fandom as a whole but popular in certain circles.

For those who don't know, Wakfu and Dofus are (online, console, mobile, figurine, card and board) games, comics, animated series, specials and movies created by a French studio named Ankama. These two franchises are intertwined with each other as they play out in the same universe but in different timelines. I myself dabbled around in the animated part of the fandom; I was a huge fan of the two series and the Dofus movie.

There was very little catering to the international part of the fandom when it came to the studio's attention and interactions. There were no English dubs or subtitles; international fans had to rely on English fan subtitles on ripped/pirated episodes of the show and movie, same for the franga/comics. Merch was hard to get. A lot of articles related to the shows and whatnot were in French only, which is understandable because it is a French-made product. But there's no denying that the international fanbase felt a little neglected back then.

====

MY FANDOM JOURNEY

Because I was very interested in the lore of both franchises, I had to do a lot of digging and translating to be able to fully indulge in it all. I went full in! I dug deep, created OCs, art and also tried to write fanfiction. I also shared news and info about the series and movie; I ran a fan blog dedicated to sharing things with the international part of the fandom. I was also often approached about lore, particularly for a few of the canon characters and one of the races that play a role in the Wakfu franchise; the Eliatropes. It was fun, it felt good to help other fans out, it was nice to make friends and be creative with others about similar things.

Eventually, the character and art theft began. We all know this is a 'normal' part of fandoms, so I won't hammer too long on it. My issue with it was the fact that my main OC, a female Eliatrope, gathered a lot of attention because female Eliatropes were a rarity in the Wakfu franchise. They existed but didn't get a moment in the limelight, except for one that even received her own game (Islands of Wakfu) but it was so obscure that a lot of fans didn't know about its existence. My OC was somehow mistaken as canon by plenty of folks and many others started to use her as a template to create their own (female) Eliatrope OC. I didn't mind, as long as they weren't straight-up copies and I tried to be supportive by answering lore questions and give feedback whenever it was asked for it (which happened a lot). Of course, copying and theft happened more often than not; over the five years I was part of the fandom, I sent out almost a hundred DMCA reports for art and character theft (like true theft; I could handle some similarities or one-time occurrences). One particular case went to the extreme but I won't beat that dead horse any further; it brought me enough misery to last me half a lifetime, that's all I'll say on it. I kept a lot of the negative experiences behind closed doors and dealt with a lot of it quietly to not bother, worry or burden anyone else with any of it. I wanted a positive and supporting environment for my followers, even if the truth wasn't as pretty.

====

ANKAMA'S STRUGGLE

Over the years, studio Ankama increased attempts to cater more to the international fanbase of its animated properties (articles in English, English dubs and subtitles, etc). However, the studio's struggle to garner the attention of international supporters (aka companies and sponsors) didn't go too smoothly, and to make matters worse, they were also struggling with finding a platform in France to broadcast the Wakfu series on after wishing to take a different and more mature direction. Ankama wanted more freedom with the Wakfu show, like less censorship, a serial rather than episodic, and it not being aimed at a young audience like its previous contractor demanded Wakfu to be. Ankama even turned to crowdfunding to get certain projects (like new Wakfu seasons) off the ground and let's just say that those crowdfunding projects are best described as tiny dumpster fires; they weren't pretty to watch. The first one was a disaster with plenty of displeased backers and the following crowdfunding attempts often didn't meet the end goal due to bad past experiences or the lack of interest.

Luckily, Netflix breathed some life into the international Wakfu fandom, which was great! But it was still received badly (mostly due to the awful English dub and sound mixing of the first two seasons and special) that the third season Netflix made possible was not getting the attention it deserved. It was also a rushed product due to financial and time constraints on Ankama's part. Netflix eventually declined a fourth season and it all fell a bit apart from there. Ankama turned to crowdfunding once more to try and make season 4 a reality. Last time I checked (which was quite a while ago), it did decently enough to make season 4 a reality. (Please don't ask me about it, I don't know anything about it.)

====

THE PEDESTAL

While all this was happening behind the scenes, I was starting to struggle with the reputation I built up in the Wakfu and Dofus fandom over the few years I was a part of it. The best way to describe it is that I had grown exhausted.

Aside from dealing with the theft and answering people's questions daily, I wanted to be treated as an average fan but I kept getting put on a pedestal. People went as far as to call me by titles (like lady Wish and miss Wish) more often than not. To be called and treated as such made me feel alienated, like as if I wasn't considered real. I often asked to just be called Wish, no titles/formalities required, and that I wasn't as 'popular' as they believed, but the majority of the people didn't seem to listen. People were either afraid or refused to interact with me because they considered me 'too popular', or simply wanted nothing but my validation, feedback and/or free art. I also had my fair share of haters and people that didn't approve of my 'status' in the fandom. Join the club xD I wasn't very happy with it either.

I really started to dislike being called 'popular' because it had such a bad impact on the people around me (and my own mental wellbeing). Friends started to become jealous of the attention I garnered and it dragged me down every time. At times, it would turn toxic. It was never my intention to make my friends feel like they meant less because they surely didn't. To learn that they believed others were only friends with them or only looked at their art/writing because they were good friends with me hurt so much. It still does. I refuse to believe that was fully true because I was (and still am!) surrounded by very creative people and they all deserved as much attention as I was getting, at times more. I wish others saw it that way too.

I was also heavily chained down thanks to the role (model) I played in the fandom. Too many people (especially young ones) looked up to me and there were a lot of expectations that I felt forced to meet. I started to lose the energy for it, but if I dared to stray a little from the path, the pitchforks and torches would come out. It was very restricting.

In the end, I felt stuck. Things started to grow toxic. There was a point where I began to dislike the franchise because of the bad feelings it brought me. I couldn't even get myself to watch the series or movie anymore. I focused less and less on the canon side of things and more on my own ideas, which was one of the only comforts I really had left in the fandom. I started to shut myself off, which upset a lot of people. I am sorry for that, I wish it didn't happen that way but I was at my wits' end.

When I realized and also accepted that I was no longer enjoying myself with canon or fanon, I knew I had to move on or stuff would end badly. It was a very tough realization and decision to accept and make; I literally dedicated five years of my life to the fandom. I spent hours a day digging for info and news to translate and share, doing 'research' for my fanfics, answering questions, and whatnot. I truly lived the fandom day in and out. It was the first fandom I ever actively participated in to this degree. What the heck was I going to do without that?

====

THE NOW

Abandoning the fandom was a scary step to take but not one I regret. I left the Wakfu and Dofus fandom behind me in late 2019. I feel freer now and so much happier. I no longer have the burden of expectations, being a lore guide or be forced to portray a certain role model weighing me down. I am no longer on that f*cking pedestal. I can finally explore interests that aren't exactly child-friendly without a big part of my following pummeling me down for it. (Don't worry, I always try my best to keep it in the appropriate places.)

Do I still like Wakfu/Dofus and all the stuff I've created with it? Yes, I do but I also want nothing more to do with it. Aside from the friends I've made there and also stuck around on my new adventures, I left the fandom behind me.

I still get approached at times about how my Wakfu OC, art and writing inspired someone and ask me if I could give them feedback for their own ideas or give them advice/information on Wakfu/lore. I am extremely humbled by it every time. It's great to see someone feeling inspired and be creative. However, I've moved on. I've left interacting with the Wakfu/Dofus fandom and fan-made stuff far behind me. I haven't touched it for almost two years and it shows on all the social media I share my art and writing on. I at times wish people could be considerate about the fact that I moved on but I also know and understand that not everyone knows my reasoning or my side of the story. I try not to be too harsh on it.

====

MY ADVICE

I don't hate anyone for how things turned out; a lot of it was my own doing by not saying no or taking a stronger stand.

It did teach me a lot of things, especially about caring for my own well-being and putting others on pedestals. Please be mindful when you treat someone like others treated me before; it's not healthy, for yourself and the person you put on that high pedestal. Take everything in moderation and consideration, that's all. Everyone's human, everyone has feelings, and everyone deserves a sense of being. Even your favorite artists and content creators. Don't treat them like an otherwordly being that you have to worship.

In turn, if a fandom or something you enjoyed is making you unhappy nowadays, you owe it to yourself to make or find a change. Be good to yourself, always!

Thanks to anyone who read through this ramble. I needed to get this off my chest. I am not asking for advice, neither pity or whatever else. I just wanted to share my thoughts on past experiences because I have a feeling others might be going through something similar.

Thank you again, please take care.

#wish talks #wish rambles #edited with some format fixes

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route22ny · 3 years

Link

Visitors to the McKeesport Regional History and Heritage Center are encouraged upon arrival to enter a corridor and enjoy a ‘walk through time.’ The corridor, lined with outlandish fashions and records taped to the walls, features exhibits on McKeesport’s former department stores, its now shuttered daily newspaper, and a former landmark hotel. Perhaps atypically for a former steel town, the images featured focus not on smokestacks or furnaces, but on McKeesport’s former central business district, and the pleasant Boomer memories of post-Second World War prosperity.

McKeesport today bears little resemblance to the city commemorated in its history museum. It’s no longer the nation’s leading producer of steel pipes, nor the commercial and industrial center of the Mon Valley Region, but rather a small suburban community on Pittsburgh’s periphery. The city’s poverty rate is more than double the state and Pittsburgh metro levels, at more than thirty-one percent, with forty-nine percent of children under the age of eighteen living in poverty. Its median home value, $48,000, is a quarter of the state’s and a third of the rest of the Pittsburgh metro. Twenty percent of housing units are vacant, and half the population moved between 2000 and 2014. In 2019, a national trade association for the home security industry ranked McKeesport America’s fourth-most dangerous city.

The story of what happened to McKeesport, like so many places in the Rust Belt, is a story of the relationships between labor and industry, of the collective power of communities to shape their circumstances, and of the forces that conspire to keep this power at bay. Its history is shaped by two ‘Great Depressions’—first, the one everybody knows about, in the 1930s, and again in the 1970s and 80s, when the oil crisis led to a downturn in steel production and a tremendous loss of jobs and industry (cumulative job losses since the mid-1970s are estimated at 175,000).

The Mon Valley and the community of McKeesport never recovered from that second crisis. This contrasts sharply with the first, when organized labor succeeded, albeit briefly, in securing for steel industry workers the wages, benefits, and job security that had so long been denied them by U.S. Steel and its local political allies. That hard-won prosperity and security would ultimately last only two decades before a combination of factors conspired to undermine and overwhelm what was once the beating heart of the American steel industry—but it carries important lessons for those who hope to rebuild thriving communities in the Rust Belt.

Well into the third decade of the twentieth century, working conditions in the large industrial concerns that defined the McKeesport community bordered on intolerable. Most workers toiled for excessively long hours in dangerous conditions for pitiful wages. Discipline in the mills could be enforced with beatings or firing without cause. Complaints could result in losing one’s job, as could sickness or even an injury incurred while at work; in 1910, in more than half of the workplace accidents resulting in injury or death in Pittsburgh, the employer bore absolutely no responsibility whatsoever. There was no recourse outside of organizing, and even that brought with it serious challenges. In Pittsburgh specifically, union organizers were harassed and beaten by Pinkerton detectives working for the major steel companies, and meeting halls were closed by the Board of Health for unsanitary conditions. (Duquesne mayor James Crawford famously boasted that Jesus Christ himself couldn’t hold a union meeting in his town.)

Engraving of the manufacture of steel tubing pipe mills at the National Tube Works, as printed in Scientific America, McKeesport, PA, 1897. American Stock Archive/Archive Photos/Getty Images.

Though the American steel worker had secured a modicum of job security and a reprieve from this brutal exploitation during the First World War, at the war’s conclusion the steel industry sought its own ‘return to normalcy’ and an elimination of all the benefits that had been gained to keep the industry running. The Great Steel Strike of 1919 demonstrated that there was considerable labor unrest in the immediate aftermath of the First World War.

McKeesport was at the center of considerable labor organizing during the 1920s and 1930s. This was the era of the Red Scare, and anti-union sentiment was widespread. Phil McGuigan, a McKeesport worker, recalled that private detectives spied on employees to prevent unionizing. McGuigan also remembered an informal system of patronage was the primary means for gaining employment, and that Mayor George Lysle forbade the renting of halls for union meeting purposes. In 1923, several members of the Workers’ Party were fined for holding an outdoor meeting on private property after being denied the right to rent a hall for the same purpose. After the meeting, McKeesport’s major employers went about dismissing “…all employees who were known to have attended the meeting or to have been identified in any way with it or the Workers’ Party.”

McKeesport resident Junious Brown, interviewed in 1983 by the McKeesport Oral History Project, recalled that the steel mills of the Mon Valley largely fell silent during the Great Depression, noting that McKeesport’s primary employer, National Tube, ceased operation during the Great Depression, as did the nearby Duquesne Works. Nearly all the locals interviewed for the said that jobs, food, and money were all in short supply, but that most people didn’t leave their homes or the community unless they were forced out. Those interviewed, Brown included, spoke in glowing terms about the union movement, which helped the citizens of the Mon Valley weather the storm of widespread economic collapse.

Labor organizers, including communists, were known for taking direct action to help people in trouble. Rocky Doratio, who was active with the Unemployment Council (UC) movement prevalent in the Mon Valley at the time, said when peoples’ utilities were shut off, UC members would “go around turning the gas on; water and electric too,” and that UC’s membership would show up in force in case one of their members were threatened with eviction. Similar tactics were employed to ensure the prompt distribution of welfare checks. (Joseph Odorcich, who became vice president of the Steelworkers’ Union in the 1980s, told interviewers: “I said in the ‘30s we were that close to going communist. One of the reasons was, in those days they were the only ones who would help you. If the company shut off the gas, the commies come in at night and turned it back on.”)

Several of the interviewees related how social solidarity during the Great Depression knocked down interracial and inter-ethnic barriers that had been previously exploited by major employers and the political class alike. Junious Brown recalled that the unions improved his job prospects, such that he and other Black people were no longer limited to “…the hardest, dirtiest jobs.” Andrew Jakomas, who served three terms as mayor of McKeesport from 1953 to 1965, recalled McKeesport during the Depression was a multi-ethnic melting pot, but that politically the city was a “closed corporation” where “ethnics and Blacks” had no chance of holding political office. Jakomas summarized the general support of citizens for the various federal government ‘make-work’ initiatives of the New Deal, stating that “…we all became Democrats with Roosevelt.”

As McKeesport native and veteran labor reporter John P. Hoerr relates, the ‘good old days’ of working in the steel mills was in the post-World War II period, when organized labor had secured a good deal for the working man. The postwar period witnessed considerable labor action on the part of the United Steelworkers (USW), which contrasts sharply with the stereotypical image of postwar domestic tranquility and social conservatism. In fact, in the fifteen years that followed the Second World War the USW went on strike five times (in 1946, 1949, 1952, 1956 and 1959), the last of which involved more than half a million workers and lasted 116 days.

The steel industry employed about eighty thousand people in the late 1940s, with most of the jobs concentrated in the Mon Valley. While the majority of principle employers were involved in steel (and U.S. Steel was without question the dominant employer in and around McKeesport), the city had a sufficiently diversified economy that it had emerged into a regional center and not merely a mill town. Despite this economic diversity, and despite increased labor activism that led to the formation of the United Steelworkers, U.S. Steel remained both locally and nationally dominant, such that major changes to the industry were bound to have a serious and negative ‘trickle down’ effect on mill-dependent communities and the various industries involved in steel.

In 1947, the Taft-Hartley Act, one of the most sweeping pieces of anti-union legislation in U.S. history, was passed over the veto of Harry Truman. Among the act’s various provisions was the right for states to pass ‘right to work’ legislation, which outlawed “closed shop” union organizing and allowed non-union workers to hire in—a major blow for union power, and perhaps the singular aspect that secured bipartisan support from the ‘Dixiecrats’ and curtailed union organizing in the South.

By the middle of the century, as the economic foundation of the Mon Valley was being hollowed out, so too was its urban environment. Whole sections of the city, including much of its antique affordable housing stock, was razed to make way for large-scale urban renewal projects that never materialized, and the land was ultimately handed over to the steel firms. Population displacement was motivated first by a desire to ‘clean up the slums’ and ‘reduce crime,’ but ultimately served to provide inexpensive land to massive corporations. While communities across the country wiped the slate clean of urban neighborhoods, they were simultaneously losing residents and their tax bases to new suburbs.

The racial characteristics of McKeesport were also changing, with the Black population representing about twenty-one percent of the total by 1971 (it’s about thirty-six percent today). After the city desegregated public housing in April of 1971, white people began distributing thousands of crude racist pamphlets. Anti-Black racism in McKeesport and the Mon Valley Region was not limited to the distribution of pamphlets or lethargy in the integration of public housing, however; Black people generally had few options for employment and fewer still for advancement, and were first to be laid off from the mills.

By the time of the second oil crisis, in 1979, a global recession was brewing and analysts started warning of the possibility of an oil glut. By 1981, the American economy was in full recession, and demand for American steel, like McKeesport’s tubes and pipes, was plummeting. The company laid off more than six thousand workers in the Mon Valley by November of that year. The following month, it used $6.3 billion in federal aid to purchase Marathon Oil as part of an economic diversification strategy meant to satisfy the interests of shareholders; steelworkers complained the funds should have been used to upgrade mills to make steel products more internationally competitive.

More than five hundred companies declared bankruptcy in America during one week in June 1982, with more than fifty thousand businesses failing across the county in that fiscal year. Unemployment in the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Area reached nearly sixteen percent in 1983, with 168,000 people seeking work. Though the rate declined to under eight percent by the end of 1986, in mill towns the numbers often exceeded twenty percent in terms of real unemployment. Research from the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Social Work revealed that between 1981 and 1986, in one out of three Mon Valley households, at least one member had been jobless for a year or more.

McKeesport, Pennsylvania. Photo via Flickr (creative commons).

In October of 1986, twenty-two thousand USW members walked off the job as negotiations broke down; the strike would last six months. When the strike ended in February of 1987, the 189 remaining employees who reported back to work at McKeesport’s National Tube Works were told their plant, in operation continuously since the 1870s, would not re-open. Twenty-one employees were retained to conclude the last shipments and assist in stripping the plant of its remaining useful technology and equipment. (U.S. Steel would transfer its tube and pipe operations to Fairfield, Alabama, where union organizing was more difficult.)

By 1986, population loss had left five hundred abandoned homes throughout McKeesport and over half a million dollars lost in tax income. Young people had been moving out in droves for some time; seventy-four percent of the 1986 graduating class of Duquesne High reported they would leave the Mon Valley for better opportunities elsewhere. Public services, from police and firefighters to street cleaners and public works employees, were cut in communities large and small throughout the region. Though McKeesport would experience a brief resurgence of activism in an effort to save the community in the mid-late 1980s, their efforts were largely unsuccessful. With the loss of the economic foundation of the region, those who could afford to move elsewhere did so, and the population of McKeesport continued to shrink and grow older.

It’s hard to be hopeful walking past the endless rows of abandoned storefronts and the crumbling buildings of McKeesport’s once bustling downtown, and yet, a century ago, at a time in which nearly all hope had been lost, the people of this city secured for themselves a new and better deal. Though McKeesport transitioned from a bustling regional commercial and industrial center to a declining residential suburb over the course of the last century, there may yet be a stable foundation for renewal.

The community that remains occupies land once reserved for the local elites, stretched along Eden Park Boulevard and focused on the few remaining community institutions, such as the local high school, Renziehausen Park, and the churches that proudly boast of their ethnic heritage—Polish, Ukrainian, Hungarian. Down the hill, toward what was once McKeesport’s central business district, is an abundance of open lots and derelict buildings. Racial divisions seem to remain, with the upper part of the community noticeably whiter and better off than the segment that lives down the hill; McKeesport’s Black population has increased substantially over the past decade, like the other communities of the Mon Valley, as Black people are displaced from Pittsburgh’s gentrifying urban neighborhoods.

In the Mon Valley, the organization of municipalities still reflects the preferences of U.S. Steel from more than a century ago. Communities remain disconnected from one another, despite geographic proximity and near socio-economic uniformity; McKeesport is only about twelve miles from downtown Pittsburgh, but the drive can take as long as forty-five minutes. This planning was often deliberate, as major industrial concerns like U.S. Steel simply didn’t want their employees mixing with the employees of other mills for fear they may unionize.

Politicians often say there are no simple solutions for what to do with America’s devastated industrial cities, but the beleaguered citizens of these communities are under no illusion that easy solutions exist. Despite baked-in divisions, the workers of the 1930s found common cause, and learned, as did working people across the country, that the power of the industrial bosses was largely an illusion. It was easy to stop evictions when masses of people showed up to stare down the sheriff, and relatively simple to turn the utilities back on with the help of the neighborhood electrician or plumber. The likelihood of police violence and suppression fell with every new person attending an outdoor rally right in the middle of town. Churches and schools, street corners and shops became the venues for impromptu meetings, discreet sharing of information, and the ever-increasing organizing web.

Residents of today can take a powerful lesson from McKeesport’s first Great Depression. The strength of the town in the twentieth century was built on an infrastructure of connection and organizing across differences—geographic and otherwise—and offers a compelling blueprint for rebuilding strong Rust Belt communities in the future. The steel mills may not be coming back to the valley, but that’s no matter–they weren’t really what brought these communities together in the first place. ■

The author, Taylor C. Noakes, is an independent journalist and public historian currently based in Pittsburgh. He is a graduate of Duquesne University’s MA Public History program and is currently working on preservation and rehabilitation projects for a Pittsburgh-based architectural firm.

***

Belt Magazine is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. To support more independent writing and journalism made by and for the Rust Belt and greater Midwest, make a donation to Belt Magazine, or become a member starting at just $5 a month.

#mckeesport PA #rust belt #western pennsylvania #belt magazine #long reads

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Chinese New Year

By shirleytwofeathers

According to historical documents, on the day when Shun, who was one of ancient China’s mythological emperors, came to the throne more than 4000 years ago, he led his ministers to worship heaven and earth. From then on, that day was regarded as the first day of the first lunar month in the Chinese calendar. This is the basic origin of Chinese New Year.

The new year is by far the most important festival of the Chinese lunar calendar. A long time ago, the emperor determined the start of the New Year. Today, celebrations are based on Emperor Han Wu Di’s almanac. It uses the first day of the first month of the Lunar Year as the start of Chinese New Year. The Chinese New Year always occurs in January or February on the second new moon after the winter solstice, though on occasion it has been the third new moon.

The holiday is a time of renewal, with debts cleared, new clothes bought, shops and homes decorated, and families gathered for a reunion dinner. Enjoying extravagant foods with family and friends is arguably the cornerstone of the occasion, along with receiving the ubiquitous red envelopes full of cash (called lai see in Cantonese, or hongbao in Mandarin).

Chinese New Year is marked by fireworks, traditional lion dances, gift giving, and special foods. This is one of the most important holidays. It is observed all over the world. Similar celebrations occur in Japan, Korea, and Vietnam known as the Lunar New Year or the Spring Festival. The “Spring Festival” in modern Mainland China, is China’s most important traditional festival, this public holiday starts on the Chinese New Year, and lasts for 7 days.

About The Chinese Calendar

The Chinese Calendar is a based on the cycles of the moon. The start of the New Year begins anywhere from late January to mid-February. A complete lunar cycle takes 60 years. It is composed of five cycles that are 12 years each. Each 12-year segment is named after an animal.

According to legend, Buddha called all the animals to him before he departed from earth. Only twelve came and as a reward to them, he named the years after them in the order they arrive (the order is listed below). It is believed the animal ruling of the year you are born effects your personality and “it is the animal that hides in your heart”.

The Chinese calendar uses the stem-branch system. The branches are the 12 years. There are ten stems that are used in the counting system. The stems are metal, water, wood, fire and soil; each having a yin and a yang side. There are a lot more intricacies in the system, but you should also know that the elements correlate to colors. Metal=white or golden, water=black, wood=green, fire=red, and soil=brown.

When you put all of this together you end up with the following:

2007 is the Year of the Red Pig

2008 is the Year of the Brown Rat

2009 is the Year of the Brown Ox

2010 is the Year of the White or Golden Tiger

2011 is the Year of the White or Golden Rabbit

2012 is the Year of the Black Dragon

2013 is the Year of the Black Snake

2014 is the Year of the Green Horse

2015 is the Year of the Green Sheep

2016 is the Year of the Red Monkey

2017 is the Year of the Red Rooster

2018 is the Year of the Brown Dog

2019 is the Year of the Brown Pig

2020 is the Year of the White Rat

Which Chinese zodiac animal are you?

According to the Asian astrology, your year of birth – and the animal this represents – determines a lot about your personality traits. Find the year you were born, and you can figure out which animal in the Chinese Zodiac is yours. The animal changes at the beginning of the Chinese New Year, and traditionally these animals were used to date the years.

Remember, Chinese New Year is a movable celebration, dictated by the lunar cycle, which can fall anytime between January 21 and February 20. So, if you were born during that time, you may need to do some research to figure out which animal applies to you.

Rat: 2008, 1996, 1984, 1972, 1960, 1948

Ox: 2009, 1997, 1985, 1973, 1961, 1949

Tiger: 2010, 1998, 1986, 1974, 1962, 1950

Rabbit: 2011, 1999, 1987, 1975, 1963, 1951

Dragon: 2012, 2000, 1988, 1976, 1964, 1952

Snake: 2013, 2001, 1989, 1977, 1965, 1953

Horse: 2014, 2002, 1990, 1978, 1966, 1954

Goat: 2015, 2003, 1991, 1979, 1967, 1955

Monkey: 2016, 2004, 1992, 1980, 1968, 1956

Rooster: 2017, 2005, 1993, 1981, 1969, 1957

Dog: 2018, 2006, 1994, 1982, 1970, 1958

Pig: 2019, 2007, 1995, 1983, 1971, 1959

Traditions

Traditions observed during the New Year stem from legends and practices from ancient times. Legend tells of a village, thousands of years ago, that was ravaged by Nian, an evil monster, one winter’s night. The following year the monster returned and again ravaged the village. Before it could happen a third time, the villagers devised a plan to scare the monster away.

The colour red protects against evil. Red banners were hung everywhere. Firecrackers were set off, and people banged on drums and gongs creating loud noises to scare the beast away. The plan worked. The celebration lasted several days during which people visited with each other, exchanged gifts, danced, and ate tasty food. Today, celebrations last two weeks.

The red posters with poetic verses on it were initially a type of amulet, but now it simply means good fortune and joy. Various Chinese New Year symbols express different meanings. For example, an image of a fish symbolizes “having more than one needs every year”. A firecracker symbolizes “good luck in the coming year”. The festival lanterns symbolize “pursuing the bright and the beautiful.”

Preparing for the New Year

Spring cleaning is started about a month prior to the new year and must be completed before the celebrations begin. All the negativity and bad luck from the previous year must be swept out of the house.

Many people clean their homes to welcome the Spring Festival. They put up the red posters with poetic verses on it to their doors, Chinese New Year pictures on their walls, and decorate their homes with red lanterns. It is also a time to reunite with relatives so many people visit their families at this time of the year.

People also get haircuts and purchase new clothing. It symbolizes a fresh start. Flowers and decorations are purchased. Decorations include a New year picture (Chinese colored woodblock print), Chinese knots, and paper-cuttings, and couplets.

Flowers have special meanings and the flower market stocks up on:

Plum blossom for luck

Kumquats for prosperity

Narcissus for prosperity

Sunflowers to have a good year

Eggplant to heal sickness

Chom mon planta for tranquility

Offerings are made to the Kitchen God about a week before the New Year.

On The Eve of The Spring Festival

The Annual Reunion Dinner, Nian Ye Fan, is held on the eve of the festival. This is an important part of the celebration. Families come together and eat together. The food is symbolic. Many dishes have ingredients that sound the same as good tidings. In northern China, dumplings are served at midnight, they symbolize wealth.

In the evening of the Spring Festival Eve, many people set off fireworks and firecrackers, hoping to cast away any bad luck and bring forth good luck. Children often receive “luck” money. Many people wear new clothes and send Chinese New Year greetings to each other. Various activities such as beating drums and striking gongs, as well as dragon and lion dances, are all part of the Spring Festival festivities.

The dragon dance is a highlight in the celebrations. A team of dances mimic the movements of the dragon river spirit. Dragons bring good luck.

Lions are considered good omens. The lion dance repels demons. Each lion has two dancers, one to maneuver the head, the other to guide the back. Business owners offer the lions a head of lettuce and oranges or tangerines. The offerings hope to insure a successful year in business. Lettuce translates into “growing wealth” and tangerines and oranges sound like “gold” and “wealth” in Chinese. The lions eat the oranges, then spew them up and out into the hordes of people who eagerly tried to catch the them. After eating the lettuce, they spit out it out in a thousand pieces.

During the New Year

Red packets called Lai See Hong Bao (or Hongbao) with money tucked inside are given out as a symbol of good luck. The amount is an even number as odd numbers are regarded as unlucky.

Bright red lanterns are hung.

Brooms and cleaning material are put away. No cleaning takes place during the holiday so no good luck is swept out of the home.

During the New Year celebrations people do not fight and avoid being mean to each other, as this would bring a bad, unlucky year.

Bright colors and red are worn.

Everyone celebrates their birthday this day and they turn one year older.

Traditional red oval shaped lanterns are hung.

The end of the New Year is celebrated with the Lantern Festival.

Top Ten Taboos for The Chinese New Year

The Spring Festival is a time of celebration. It’s to welcome the new year with a smile and let the fortune and happiness continue on. At the same time, the Spring Festival involves somber ceremonies to wish for a good harvest. Strict rules and restrictions go without saying.

To help you with that, here are the top 10 taboos during the Chinese New Year. Follow these and fortune will smile on you.

1. Do not say negative words

All words with negative connotations are forbidden! These include: death, sick, empty, pain, ghost, poor, break, kill and more. The reason behind this should be obvious. You wouldn’t want to jinx yourself or bring those misfortunes onto you and your loved ones.

2. Do not break ceramics or glass

Breaking things will break your connection to prosperity and fortune. If a plate or bowl is dropped, immediately wrap it with red paper while murmuring auspicious phrases. Some would say 岁岁平安 (suì suì píng ān). This asks for peace and security every year. 岁 (suì) is also a homophone of 碎, which means “broken” or “shattered.” After the New Year, throw the wrapped up shards into a lake or river.

3. Do not clean or sweep

Before the Spring Festival, there is a day of cleaning. That is to sweep away the bad luck. But during the actual celebration, it becomes a taboo. Cleaning or throwing out garbage may sweep away good luck instead.

If you must, make sure to start at the outer edge of a room and sweep inwards. Bag up any garbage and throw it away after the 5th day. Similarly, you shouldn’t take a shower on Chinese New Year’s Day.

4. Do not use scissors, knives or other sharp objects

There are 2 reasons behind this rule. Scissors and needles shouldn’t be used. In olden times, this was to give women a well-deserved break.

Sharp objects in general will cut your stream of wealth and success. This is why 99% of hair salons are closed during the holidays. Hair cutting is taboo and forbidden until Lunar February 2, when all festivities are over.

5. Do not visit the wife’s family

Traditionally, multiple generations live together. The bride moves into the groom’s home after marriage. And, of course, she will celebrate Chinese New Year with her in-laws.

Returning to her parents on New Year’s Day means that there are marriage problems and may also bring bad luck to the entire family. The couple should visit the wife’s family on the 2nd day. They’d bring their children, as well as a modest gift (because it’s the thought that counts).

6. Do not demand debt repayment

This custom is a show of understanding. It allows everyone a chance to celebrate without worry. If you knock on someone’s door, demanding repayment, you’ll bring bad luck to both parties. However, it’s fair game after the 5th day. Borrowing money is also taboo. You could end up having to borrow the entire year.

7. Avoid fighting and crying

Unless there is a special circumstance, try not to cry. But if a child cries, do not reprimand them. All issues should be solved peacefully. In the past, neighbors would come over to play peacemaker for any arguments that occurred. This is all to ensure a smooth path in the new year.

8. Avoid taking medicine

Try not to take medicine during the Spring Festival to avoid being sick the entire year. Of course, if you are chronically ill or contract a sudden serious disease, immediate health should still come first. Related taboos include the following ~ Don’t visit the doctor, Don’t perform/undergo surgery, Don’t get shots

9. Do not give New Year blessings to someone still in bed

You are supposed to give New Year blessings (拜年—bài nián). But let the recipient get up from bed first. Otherwise, they’ll be bed-ridden for the entire year. You also shouldn’t tell someone to wake up. You don’t want them to be rushed around and bossed around for the year. Take advantage of this and sleep in!

10. Chinese gift-giving taboos

It was mentioned above that you should bring gifts when paying visits. It’s the thought that counts, but some gifts are forbidden.

Clocks are the worst gifts. The word for clock is a homophone (sounds like) “the funeral ritual”. Also, clocks and watches are items that show that time is running out.

Items associated with funerals – handkerchiefs, towels, chrysanthemums, items colored white and black.

Sharp objects that symbolize cutting a tie (i.e. scissors and knives).

Items that symbolize that you want to walk away from a relationship (examples: shoes and sandals)

Mirrors

Homonyms for unpleasant topics (examples:green hats because “wear a green hat” sounds like “cuckold”, “handkerchief” sounds like “goodbye”, “pear” sounds like “separate”, and “umbrella” sounds like “disperse”).

Some regions have their own local taboos too. For example, in Mandarin, “apple” (苹果) is pronounced píng guǒ. But in Shanghainese, it is bing1 gu, which sounds like “passed away from sickness.”

These don’t just apply to the Spring Festival, so keep it in the back of your mind!

For the Spring Festival, these rules may seem excessive. Especially when you add in the cultural norms, customs and manners. But like a parent would say, they are all for your own good. Formed over thousands of years, these taboos embody the beliefs, wishes and worries of the Chinese people.

Foods For The New Year

Dishes may vary slightly according to regional and family customs. Dumplings (gau ji) are more commonly served in the north of China, while Hong Kong families often go for a dim sum meal.

Food symbolism goes back centuries in China, and is taken very seriously on special occasions such as Lunar New Year. All food items have their symbolic meanings which, for Hongkongers, are often derived from their Cantonese homonyms. For instance, the Cantonese word for lettuce – sang choi – sounds very similar to the phrase which means “growing wealth”. Of course, nothing considered “unlucky” is allowed near the dining table.

By carefully choosing the menu in this way, families will supposedly be able to increase their luck and manifest their wishes for the coming year, whether those be earning more money or having more children.

Red meat is not served and one is careful not to serve or eat from a chipped or cracked plate. Fish is eaten to ensure long life and good fortune. Red dates bring the hope for prosperity, melon seeds for proliferation, and lotus seeds means the family will prosper through time. Oranges and tangerines symbolize wealth and good fortune. Nian gao, the New Year’s Cake is always served. It is believed that the higher the cake rises the better the year will be. When company stops by a “prosperity tray” is served. The tray has eight sides (another symbol of prosperity) and is filled with goodies like red dates, melon seeds, cookies, and New Year Cakes.

Here the origins of some traditional Chinese festival foods and their often quirky symbolic meanings.

Lettuce for the lion dance

No traditional Lunar New Year celebration is complete without the famous lion dance, which is thought to bring good luck and ward off evil spirits. Performers wearing the traditional lion costume normally dance through the streets to the sound of gongs and drums. When the lion briefly stops at houses and businesses along the way, it will “eat” lettuce that is hung up outside the doors, since the humble vegetable symbolizes “growing fortune”. Inside the head of the lettuce will often be a red envelope, further emphasizing its significance.

Dried oysters and ‘hair vegetable’ stir-fry

This unusual but lucky dish is named ho see fat choy in Cantonese, which sounds a lot like the words meaning “flourishing business”. For an extra dose of luck, ho see (oyster) on its own sounds similar to the Cantonese for “good things” or “good business”, while fat choy (hair vegetable) sounds similar to “prosperity”, as in the traditional Lunar New Year greeting kung hei fat choi. What’s more, the expensive “hair vegetable”, which looks like strands of black hair, is actually a type of fungus. But that doesn’t put off Cantonese restaurants from serving the auspicious dish at Lunar New Year.

Egg noodles, or yi mein

This classic dish of stir-fried egg noodles is often served at formal dinners during Lunar New Year and other festivals, as it symbolises longevity. The chef must not cut the noodle strands to preserve their length. For this reason, yi mein is often eaten at birthday celebrations too – kind of like the Chinese equivalent of a candle-lit birthday cake.

Glutinous rice cake, or neen go

The Cantonese term for this traditional sticky treat sounds the same as the literal words “year high”, which symbolize the promise of a better year to come. Families may eat this for several reasons: wanting to have a higher income, higher social status or even more children. Rice cake can be cooked in a variety of ways, and can be sweet or savory. Historical records date the yearly custom to at least 1,000 years ago, in the days of the Liao dynasty (AD907-1125). If there’s one thing that is unmissable from every family’s Lunar New Year feast in all parts of China and Hong Kong, it must be this dish.

‘Basin food’, or poon choi

Originating from the walled villages of the New Territories, this traditional celebratory dish soon spread throughout Hong Kong and later China. Legend has it that the early settlers in the New Territories would pool together their most prized ingredients – meat and seafood – in a big wooden washbasin and cook them to be served to the whole village. The communal dish required huge efforts of co-ordination and manpower to cook, so it quickly became associated with celebrations and religious rituals. Each village had its own secret poon choi recipe consisting of various ingredients layered in a particular order in the pot, but the dish is now found in most Cantonese restaurants on special occasions.

Lotus root soup, or leen gnau tong

The fleshy, tuber-like roots of the lotus flower have been a staple of Chinese cooking for millennia, and traditionally symbolise “abundance”, since the Cantonese term sounds like “having [money] year after year”. The ingredient is also prized for its supposed “cooling” effect on the body, according to traditional Chinese medicine. Lotus root soup, or alternatively stir-fried lotus root, is commonly eaten at Lunar New Year for these reasons.

Dim sum

Another Cantonese food tradition that is now common in the West is dim sum. The phrase literally means “a light touch of the heart” or “a little bit of heart”. This reflects the care and attention put into each bite-sized dish that is shared between the table, such as har gau (shrimp dumplings), various types of filled buns, and cheung fun (rice noodle rolls). Like a Chinese take on brunch, dim sum is often served at lengthy afternoon yum cha sessions in tea houses. But Hongkongers often go for an even more lavish version of this meal around Lunar New Year.

Auspicious Greetings

The Chinese New Year is often accompanied by loud, enthusiastic greetings, often referred to as auspicious words or phrases. New Year couplets printed in gold letters on bright red paper is another way of expressing auspicious new year wishes. The most common auspicious greetings and sayings consist of four characters, such as the following:

金玉滿堂 Jīnyùmǎntáng – “May your wealth [gold and jade] come to fill a hall”

大展鴻圖 Dàzhǎnhóngtú – “May you realize your ambitions”

迎春接福 Yíngchúnjiēfú – “Greet the New Year and encounter happiness”

萬事如意 Wànshìrúyì – “May all your wishes be fulfilled”

吉慶有餘 Jíqìngyǒuyú – “May your happiness be without limit”

竹報平安 Zhúbàopíng’ān – “May you hear [in a letter] that all is well”

一本萬利 Yīběnwànlì – “May a small investment bring ten-thousandfold profits”

福壽雙全 Fúshòushuāngquán – “May your happiness and longevity be complete”

招財進寶 Zhāocáijìnbǎo – “When wealth is acquired, precious objects follow”

These greetings or phrases may also be used just before children receive their red packets, when gifts are exchanged, when visiting temples, or even when tossing the shredded ingredients of yusheng particularly popular in Malaysia and Singapore. Children and their parents can also pray in the temple, in hopes of getting good blessings for the new year to come.

Sources:

Web Holidays

Chinese New Year

Wikipedia

https://shirleytwofeathers.com/The_Blog/pagancalendar/category/january-holidays/

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fatehbaz · 4 years

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The death of P.E.S. cannot bring back Grays Ferry’s dead, not those from cancer and not the 54 residents who lived in Grays Ferry’s ZIP codes who have died of Covid-19, a virus known to prey on those exposed to long-term air pollution. [...] The community of Grays Ferry [...] is full of people bound together by history, memories, struggle, dreams, blood, love and death. These residents may have landed there because of options limited by the structural discrimination created by redlining. But even as they pray for the sick and count their dead, they have stayed. [...] That legacy also remains in their bodies. [...] The death rate [from covid] for the city’s Black patients is 50 percent higher than for white patients. “You can’t understand environmental racism without understanding the legacy and the history of residential segregation, which created the disinvestment that has happened in communities in Philadelphia like Grays Ferry for decades,” says Sharrelle Barber, an assistant research professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at Drexel University’s Dornsife School of Public Health in Philadelphia.

In January 2020, an investigation by the environmental and energy-reporting organization E&E News, NBC and American University’s Investigative Reporting Workshop revealed that even before the June [2019] explosion, P.E.S. had released the cancer-causing chemical benzene into the air at 21 times the federal limit, though the city failed to let the public know. The report said: “The fenceline benzene emission data, which E.P.A. began posting early last year, shows the refinery exceeded the benzene emissions limit for all but 12 weeks from the end of January 2018 to late September 2019 — an 86-week span. That may have exposed thousands of Philadelphians to troubling levels of benzene, including children like those who often play in the streets of Grays Ferry.” [...]

Across the highway from Grays Ferry, the immense P.E.S. refinery, with its lattice of rusting pipes, smokestacks streaked with soot and mammoth holding tanks, swallows up 1,300 acres of land on the banks of the Schuylkill. It is a city in itself, encircled by a chain-link fence topped with barbed wire — nearly the size of Central Park and Arlington National Cemetery combined. For decades, when the sun set, the facility looked like its own vast metropolis, lights flickering throughout the night. The site was first used as a storage facility in Philadelphia a year after the Civil War ended and began refining oil shortly after that. By 1891, half the world’s lighting fuel and more than a third of U.S. petroleum exports came from the refinery.

In 1934 South Philadelphia was redlined: given a D rating — the lowest — by the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation, which outlined the community in red on maps used to determine loan eligibility. Agents of the loan group noted “N**** encroachment in certain neighborhoods.” The Federal Housing Administration later relied on these maps [...]. In South Philly, the proximity of residential areas to factories, including the refinery, most likely contributed to the neighborhood receiving the lowest grade and a label as “hazardous” [...]. As a result, lending institutions issued fewer mortgages in these areas [...]. Public housing filled the void. In 1940 the city completed the Tasker Street Homes Project, 125 barracks-like buildings [...]. The city built Wilson Park, a 650-unit complex across the highway from P.E.S. in 1953, and continued to expand. [...]

The “hazardous” label the government stamped onto the J******’s and B*******’s’ community 86 years ago now has a different meaning. The legacy of 150 years of pollution from heavy industry has mounted. Local people have grown used to the poor air quality. G***** C. E*****, a lifelong resident, described the constant cough and runny nose as the “South Philly postnasal drip” in a letter to The South Philly Review [...].

Data from the E.P.A.’s Toxics Release Inventory shows that contaminants released from the P.E.S. refinery include benzene, hydrogen cyanide, toluene and other hazardous chemicals. [...] According to 2016 E.P.A. data, the refinery that looms over Grays Ferry was responsible for the bulk of toxic air emissions in the city. The E.P.A. found that the refinery had been out of compliance with the Clean Air Act nine of the past 12 quarters through 2019 with little recourse. From 2014 to 2019, P.E.S. was fined almost $650,000 for violating air, water and waste-disposal rules. [...] In a report last October [2019], the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board noted that the P.E.S. explosion released more than 5,000 pounds of hydrofluoric acid. Ingesting even a thimbleful can prove deadly, and when discharged into the air in gas form, the chemical can irritate the eyes, nose and respiratory tract at low concentrations and cause irregular heartbeat and lung complications at higher levels. [...]

In mid-June [2019], the Philadelphia City Council voted 13 to 4 in favor of developing the gas plant. [...] Just one week later [...] at 4 that morning, a corroded pipe fitting appeared to have given way, triggering a series of explosions that set off a three-alarm inferno that would burn for more than a full day. A smaller fire erupted 11 days earlier at the refinery, but the heat this time was so intense that the National Weather Service was able to capture it on satellite from space, using infrared imagery. Large chunks of debris tumbled through the air, landing heavily on city streets as sirens sounded throughout Grays Ferry.

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Linda Villarosa. “ Pollution Is Killing Black Americans. This Community Fought Back.” The New York Times Magazine. 28 July 2020.

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hunterht72 · 2 years

Text

Microsoft Office 2011 Update Catalina

Apple cautionaries at time of MacOS update would be useful I don't follow blogs and the like. Clear warning of impact of update on 32-bit apps would have been preferred. My Office 2011 sufficed, now I've got nothing. Probably go to Open Office AND be more leery of Apple updates.

If it's Office 2011 or older, it's 32 bit software and is dead in Catalina. All apps must be 64 bit. Microsoft dropped all support for Office 2011 over a year ago.

Support ended for Office for Mac 2011 as of October 10, 2017.

Aug 30, 2019 This Microsoft office for mac 2011 is only compatible with Mac OS X 10.5.8 users or for the more the 10.5.8 version. Below this version of the mac os, it won’t support to install this Microsoft to install or for the further use this Microsoft version was released on 22nd day of the month of September in the year of 2010.

Nov 22, 2014 My MacBook Pro is a 2011 i7 2,7gig dual-core processor, Inted HD 3000 graphic card, 4gb of RAM, 750gb standard harddisk; loads of plug-ins (667 pro audio plug-ins to be exact), heavy profesionnal applications, gamin clients, etc – but the hardisk is hardly two thirds full! I was gaming when this happened so I don’t know is this is related. .2 NVME SSD Convert Adapter Screwdriver Set for MacBook Compatible Models MacBook Air 11 “A1465 & MacBook Air 13” A1466 (Mid 2013-2017), MacBook Pro (Retina) 13 “ A1502 & 15' A1398 (Late 2013 - Mid 2015), Mac Pro ME253 MD878 Please Note - Require Mac OS 10.13 High Sierra or Late.

Your Mac provides several tools to help you identify it. The simplest is About This Mac, available by choosing About This Mac from the Apple menu  in the upper-left corner of your screen. The other is the System Information app. Learn how to use these tools to identify your Mac.

If you don’t have your Mac or it doesn’t start up, use one of these solutions instead:

Find the serial number printed on the underside of your Mac, near the regulatory markings. It’s also on the original packaging, next to a barcode label. You can then enter that serial number on the Check Coverage page to find your model.

The original packaging might also show an Apple part number, such as MLH12xx/A (“xx” is a variable that differs by country or region). You can match the Apple part number to one in the list below to find your model.

List of MacBook Pro models

Jan 15, 2021 Newest compatible operating system: macOS Catalina 10.15.7 Tech Specs: MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2013) User Guide: MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2013).

MacBook Pro models are organized by the year they were introduced, starting with the most recent. Click the model name for detailed technical specifications.

MacBook Pro models from late 2013 and newer can run the latest version of macOS. For older models, the latest compatible operating system is noted.

2020

MacBook Pro (13-inch, M1, 2020) Colors: Silver, space gray Model Identifier: MacBookPro17,1 Part Numbers: MYD83xx/A, MYD92xx/A, MYDA2xx/A, MYDC2xx/A Tech Specs: MacBook Pro (13-inch, M1, 2020) User Guide: MacBook Pro (13-inch, M1, 2020)

MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2020, Two Thunderbolt 3 ports) Colors: Silver, space gray Model Identifier: MacBookPro16,3 Part Numbers: MXK32xx/A, MXK52xx/A, MXK62xx/A, MXK72xx/A Tech Specs: MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2020, Two Thunderbolt 3 ports) User Guide: MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2020, Two Thunderbolt 3 ports)

MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2020, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports) Colors: Silver, space gray Model Identifier: MacBookPro16,2 Part Numbers: MWP42xx/A, MWP52xx/A, MWP62xx/A, MWP72xx/A, MWP82xx/A Tech Specs: MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2020, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports) User Guide: MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2020, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports)

2019

MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2019) Colors: Silver, space gray Model Identifier: MacBookPro16,1, MacBookPro16,4 Part Numbers: MVVJ2xx/A, MVVK2xx/A, MVVL2xx/A, MVVM2xx/A Tech Specs: MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2019) User guide: MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2019)

MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2019, Two Thunderbolt 3 ports) Colors: Silver, space gray Model Identifier: MacBookPro15,4 Part Numbers: MUHN2xx/A, MUHP2xx/a, MUHQ2xx/A, MUHR2xx/A, MUHR2xx/B Tech Specs: MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2019, Two Thunderbolt 3 ports) User Guide: MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2019, Two Thunderbolt 3 ports)

MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2019) Colors: Silver, space gray Model Identifier: MacBookPro15,1, MacBookPro15,3 Part Numbers: MV902xx/A, MV912xx/A, MV922xx/A, MV932xx/A, MV942xx/A, MV952xx/A Tech Specs: MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2019) User Guide: MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2019)

MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2019, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports) Colors: Silver, space gray Model Identifier: MacBookPro15,2 Part Numbers: MV962xx/A, MV972xx/A, MV982xx/A, MV992xx/A, MV9A2xx/A Tech Specs: MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2019, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports) User Guide: MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2019, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports)

2018

MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2018) Colors: Silver, space gray Model Identifier: MacBookPro15,1 Part Numbers: MR932xx/A, MR942xx/A, MR952xx/A, MR962xx/A, MR972xx/A, MUQH2xx/A Tech Specs: MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2018) User Guide: MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2018)

MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2018, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports) Colors: Silver, space gray Model Identifier: MacBookPro15,2 Part Numbers: MR9Q2xx/A, MR9R2xx/A, MR9T2xx/A, MR9U2xx/A, MR9V2xx/A Tech Specs: MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2018, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports) User Guide: MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2018, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports)

2017

MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2017) Colors: Silver, space gray Model Identifier: MacBookPro14,3 Part Numbers: MPTR2xx/A, MPTT2xx/A, MPTU2xx/A, MPTV2xx/A, MPTW2xx/A, MPTX2xx/A Tech Specs: MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2017) User Guide: MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2017)

MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports) Colors: Silver, space gray Model Identifier: MacBookPro14,2 Part Numbers: MPXV2xx/A, MPXW2xx/A, MPXX2xx/A, MPXY2xx/A, MQ002xx/A, MQ012xx/A Tech Specs: MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports) User Guide: MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports)

MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017, Two Thunderbolt 3 ports) Colors: Silver, space gray Model Identifier: MacBookPro14,1 Part Numbers: MPXQ2xx/A, MPXR2xx/A, MPXT2xx/A, MPXU2xx/A Tech Specs: MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017, Two Thunderbolt 3 ports) User Guide: MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017, Two Thunderbolt 3 ports)

2016

MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2016) Colors: Silver, space gray Model Identifier: MacBookPro13,3 Part Numbers: MLH32xx/A, MLH42xx/A, MLH52xx/A, MLW72xx/A, MLW82xx/A, MLW92xx/A Tech Specs: MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2016) User Guide: MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2016)

MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2016, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports) Colors: Silver, space gray Model Identifier: MacBookPro13,2 Part Numbers: MLH12xx/A, MLVP2xx/A, MNQF2xx/A, MNQG2xx/A, MPDK2xx/A, MPDL2xx/A Tech Specs: MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2016, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports) User Guide: MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2016, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports)

MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2016, Two Thunderbolt 3 ports) Colors: Silver, space gray Model Identifier: MacBookPro13,1 Part Numbers: MLL42xx/A, MLUQ2xx/A Tech Specs: MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2016, Two Thunderbolt 3 ports) User Guide: MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2016, Two Thunderbolt 3 ports)

2015

MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015) Model Identifier: MacBookPro11,4, MacBookPro11,5 Part Number: MJLQ2xx/A, MJLT2xx/A, MJLU2xx/A Tech Specs: MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015) User Guide: MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015)

MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2015) Model Identifier: MacBookPro12,1 Part Numbers: MF839xx/A, MF840xx/A, MF841xx/A, MF843xx/A Tech Specs: MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2015) User Guide: MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2015)

2014

MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2014) Model Identifier: MacBookPro11,2, MacBookPro11,3 Part Number: MGXC2xx/A, MGXA2xx/A Tech Specs: MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2014) User Guide: MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2014)

MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Mid 2014) Model Identifier: MacBookPro11,1 Part Numbers: MGX72xx/A, MGX82xx/A, MGX92xx/A Tech Specs: MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Mid 2014) User Guide: MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Mid 2014)

2013

MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Late 2013) Model Identifier: MacBookPro11,2, MacBookPro11,3 Part Number: ME293xx/A, ME294xx/A Tech Specs: MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Late 2013) User Guide: MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Late 2013)

MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2013) Model Identifier: MacBookPro11,1 Part Numbers: ME864xx/A, ME865xx/A, ME866xx/A Tech Specs: MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2013) User Guide: MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2013)

MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Early 2013) Model Identifier: MacBookPro10,1 Part Numbers: ME664xx/A, ME665xx/A Newest compatible operating system: macOS Catalina 10.15.7 Tech Specs: MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Early 2013) User Guide: MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Early 2013)

MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2013) Model Identifier: MacBookPro10,2 Part Numbers: MD212xx/A, ME662xx/A Newest compatible operating system: macOS Catalina 10.15.7 Tech Specs: MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2013) User Guide: MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2013)

2012

MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2012) Model Identifier: MacBookPro10,2 Part Numbers: MD212xx/A, MD213xx/A Newest compatible operating system: macOS Catalina 10.15.7 Tech Specs: MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2012) User Guide: MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2012)

MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2012) Model Identifier: MacBookPro10,1 Newest compatible operating system: macOS Catalina 10.15.7 Tech Specs: MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2012) User Guide: MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2012)

MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2012) Model Identifier: MacBookPro9,1 Part Numbers: MD103xx/A, MD104xx/A Newest compatible operating system: macOS Catalina 10.15.7 Tech Specs: MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2012) User Guide: MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2012)

MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2012) Model Identifier: MacBookPro9,2 Part Numbers: MD101xx/A, MD102xx/A Newest compatible operating system: macOS Catalina 10.15.7 Tech Specs: MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2012) User Guide: MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2012)

2011

MacBook Pro (17-inch, Late 2011) Model Identifier: MacBookPro8,3 Part Number: MD311xx/A Newest compatible operating system: macOS High Sierra 10.13.6 Tech Specs: MacBook Pro (17-inch, Late 2011)

MacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2011) Model Identifier: MacBookPro8,2 Part Numbers: MD322xx/A, MD318xx/A Newest compatible operating system: macOS High Sierra 10.13.6 Tech Specs: MacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2011) User Guide: MacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2011)

MacBook Pro (13-inch, Late 2011) Model Identifier: MacBookPro8,1 Part Numbers: MD314xx/A, MD313xx/A Newest compatible operating system: macOS High Sierra 10.13.6 Tech Specs: MacBook Pro (13-inch, Late 2011) User Guide: MacBook Pro (13-inch, Late 2011)

MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2011) Model Identifier: MacBookPro8,3 Part Number: MC725xx/A Newest compatible operating system: macOS High Sierra 10.13.6 Tech Specs: MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2011)

MacBook Pro (15-inch, Early 2011) Model Identifier: MacBookPro8,2 Part Numbers: MC723xx/A, MC721xx/A Newest compatible operating system: macOS High Sierra 10.13.6 Tech Specs: MacBook Pro (15-inch, Early 2011) User Guide: MacBook Pro (15-inch, Early 2011)

MacBook Pro (13-inch, Early 2011) Model Identifier: MacBookPro8,1 Part Numbers: MC724xx/A, MC700xx/A Newest compatible operating system: macOS High Sierra 10.13.6 Tech Specs: MacBook Pro (13-inch, Early 2011) User Guide: MacBook Pro (13-inch, Early 2011)

2010

MacBook Pro (17-inch, Mid 2010) Model Identifier: MacBookPro6,1 Part Number: MC024xx/A Newest compatible operating system: macOS High Sierra 10.13.6 Tech Specs: MacBook Pro (17-inch, Mid 2010)

MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2010) Model Identifier: MacBookPro6,2 Part Numbers: MC373xx/A, MC372xx/A, MC371xx/A Newest compatible operating system: macOS High Sierra 10.13.6 Tech Specs: MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2010)

MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2010) Model Identifier: MacBookPro7,1 Part Numbers: MC375xx/A, MC374xx/A Newest compatible operating system: macOS High Sierra 10.13.6 Tech Specs: MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2010)

2009

MacBook Pro (17-inch, Mid 2009) Model Identifier: MacBookPro5,2 Part Number: MC226xx/A Newest compatible operating system: OS X El Capitan 10.11.6 Tech Specs: MacBook Pro (17-inch, Mid 2009) User Guide: MacBook Pro (17-inch, Mid 2009)

MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2009) Model Identifier: MacBookPro5,3 Part Numbers: MB985xx/A, MB986xx/A Newest compatible operating system: OS X El Capitan 10.11.6 Tech Specs: MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2009) User Guide: MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2009)

MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2.53GHz, Mid 2009) Model Identifier: MacBookPro5,3 Part Number: MC118xx/A Newest compatible operating system: OS X El Capitan 10.11.6 Tech Specs: MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2.53GHz, Mid 2009) User Guide: MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2.53GHz, Mid 2009)

MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2009) Model Identifier: MacBookPro5,5 Part Numbers: MB991xx/A, MB990xx/A Newest compatible operating system: OS X El Capitan 10.11.6 Tech Specs: MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2009) User Guide: MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2009)

MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2009) Model Identifier: MacBookPro5,2 Part Number: MB604xx/A Newest compatible operating system: OS X El Capitan 10.11.6 Tech Specs: MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2009) User Guide: MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2009)

2008

MacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2008) Model Identifier: MacBookPro5,1 Part Number: MB470xx/A, MB471xx/A Newest compatible operating system: OS X El Capitan 10.11.6 Tech Specs: MacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2008) User Guide: MacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2008)

MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2008) Model Identifier: MacBookPro4,1 Part Number: MB166xx/A Newest compatible operating system: OS X El Capitan 10.11.6 Tech Specs: MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2008) User Guide: MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2008)

MacBook Pro (15-inch, Early 2008) Model Identifier: MacBookPro4,1 Part Number: MB133xx/A, MB134xx/A Newest compatible operating system: OS X El Capitan 10.11.6 Tech Specs: MacBook Pro (15-inch, Early 2008) User Guide: MacBook Pro (15-inch, Early 2008)

Learn more

If you don't have your Mac or it's not able start up, use one of these solutions instead:

Find the serial number printed on the underside of your Mac, near the regulatory markings. It's also on the original packaging, next to the barcode label. You can then enter that serial number on the Check Coverage page to find your model.

List of MacBook Pro models

MacBook Pro models are organised by the year they were introduced, starting with the most recent. Click the model name for detailed technical specifications.

MacBook Pro models from late 2013 and newer can run the latest version of macOS. For older models, the latest compatible operating system is noted.

2020

MacBook Pro (13-inch, M1, 2020) Colours: silver, space grey Model Identifier: MacBookPro17,1 Part Numbers: MYD83xx/A, MYD92xx/A, MYDA2xx/A, MYDC2xx/A Tech Specs: MacBook Pro (13-inch, M1, 2020) User Guide: MacBook Pro (13-inch, M1, 2020)

MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2020, Two Thunderbolt 3 ports) Colours: silver, space grey Model Identifier: MacBookPro16,3 Part Numbers: MXK32xx/A, MXK52xx/A, MXK62xx/A, MXK72xx/A Tech Specs: MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2020, Two Thunderbolt 3 ports) User Guide: MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2020, Two Thunderbolt 3 ports)

MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2020, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports) Colours: silver, space grey Model Identifier: MacBookPro16,2 Part Numbers: MWP42xx/A, MWP52xx/A, MWP62xx/A, MWP72xx/A, MWP82xx/A Tech Specs: MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2020, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports) User Guide: MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2020, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports)

2019

MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2019) Colours: silver, space grey Model Identifier: MacBookPro16,1, MacBookPro16,4 Part Numbers: MVVJ2xx/A, MVVK2xx/A, MVVL2xx/A, MVVM2xx/A Tech Specs: MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2019) User guide: MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2019)

MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2019, Two Thunderbolt 3 ports) Colours: silver, space grey Model Identifier: MacBookPro15,4 Part Numbers: MUHN2xx/A, MUHP2xx/a, MUHQ2xx/A, MUHR2xx/A, MUHR2xx/B Tech Specs: MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2019, Two Thunderbolt 3 ports) User Guide: MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2019, Two Thunderbolt 3 ports)

MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2019) Colours: silver, space grey Model Identifier: MacBookPro15,1, MacBookPro15,3 Part Numbers: MV902xx/A, MV912xx/A, MV922xx/A, MV932xx/A, MV942xx/A, MV952xx/A Tech Specs: MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2019) User Guide: MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2019)

MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2019, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports) Colours: silver, space grey Model Identifier: MacBookPro15,2 Part Numbers: MV962xx/A, MV972xx/A, MV982xx/A, MV992xx/A, MV9A2xx/A Tech Specs: MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2019, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports) User Guide: MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2019, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports)

2018

MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2018) Colours: silver, space grey Model Identifier: MacBookPro15,1 Part Numbers: MR932xx/A, MR942xx/A, MR952xx/A, MR962xx/A, MR972xx/A, MUQH2xx/A Tech Specs: MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2018) User Guide: MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2018)

MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2018, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports) Colours: silver, space grey Model Identifier: MacBookPro15,2 Part Numbers: MR9Q2xx/A, MR9R2xx/A, MR9T2xx/A, MR9U2xx/A, MR9V2xx/A Tech Specs: MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2018, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports) User Guide: MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2018, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports)

2017

MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2017) Colours: silver, space grey Model Identifier: MacBookPro14,3 Part Numbers: MPTR2xx/A, MPTT2xx/A, MPTU2xx/A, MPTV2xx/A, MPTW2xx/A, MPTX2xx/A Tech Specs: MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2017) User Guide: MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2017)

MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports) Colours: silver, space grey Model Identifier: MacBookPro14,2 Part Numbers: MPXV2xx/A, MPXW2xx/A, MPXX2xx/A, MPXY2xx/A, MQ002xx/A, MQ012xx/A Tech Specs: MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports) User Guide: MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports)

MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017, Two Thunderbolt 3 ports) Colours: silver, space grey Model Identifier: MacBookPro14,1 Part Numbers: MPXQ2xx/A, MPXR2xx/A, MPXT2xx/A, MPXU2xx/A Tech Specs: MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017, Two Thunderbolt 3 ports) User Guide: MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017, Two Thunderbolt 3 ports)

2016

MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2016) Colours: silver, space grey Model Identifier: MacBookPro13,3 Part Numbers: MLH32xx/A, MLH42xx/A, MLH52xx/A, MLW72xx/A, MLW82xx/A, MLW92xx/A Tech Specs: MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2016) User Guide: MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2016)

MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2016, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports) Colours: silver, space grey Model Identifier: MacBookPro13,2 Part Numbers: MLH12xx/A, MLVP2xx/A, MNQF2xx/A, MNQG2xx/A, MPDK2xx/A, MPDL2xx/A Tech Specs: MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2016, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports) User Guide: MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2016, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports)

Macos Catalina On Macbook Pro Early 2011

MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2016, Two Thunderbolt 3 ports) Colours: silver, space grey Model Identifier: MacBookPro13,1 Part Numbers: MLL42xx/A, MLUQ2xx/A Tech Specs: MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2016, Two Thunderbolt 3 ports) User Guide: MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2016, Two Thunderbolt 3 ports)

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

MacBook Pro (17-inch, Late 2011) Model Identifier: MacBookPro8,3 Part Number: MD311xx/A Newest compatible operating system: macOS High Sierra 10.13.6 Tech Specs: MacBook Pro (17-inch, Late 2011)

Mac Os Catalina On 2011 Macbook Pro

MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2011) Model Identifier: MacBookPro8,3 Part Number: MC725xx/A Newest compatible operating system: macOS High Sierra 10.13.6 Tech Specs: MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2011)

Mac Os Catalina On Macbook Pro 2011 Mac

2010

MacBook Pro (17-inch, Mid 2010) Model Identifier: MacBookPro6,1 Part Number: MC024xx/A Newest compatible operating system: macOS High Sierra 10.13.6 Tech Specs: MacBook Pro (17-inch, Mid 2010)

2009

MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2.53 GHz, Mid 2009) Model Identifier: MacBookPro5,3 Part Number: MC118xx/A Newest compatible operating system: OS X El Capitan 10.11.6 Tech Specs: MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2.53 GHz, Mid 2009) User Guide: MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2.53GHz, Mid 2009)

2008

Mac Os Catalina On Macbook Pro 2011 Macbook Pro

Microsoft Office 2011 Update For Mac Catalina

Mac Os Catalina Download For Macbook Pro 2011

Learn more

10 May macOS Catalina & Big Sur Incompatible with Microsoft Office 2008 & Office 2011

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macOS Catalina (due in late September) will be dropping support for 32bit apps. macOS Mojave has been warning us about this every time we launch one of these apps and action on your part will be needed soon. One of the most popular 32bit apps we see is Microsoft Office 2011, which includes Word, Excel and PowerPoint. If you have been limping along with Office 2008, the same warning applies. See the icons below to determine which version you have.

If you are planning on upgrading to Catalina in the fall when it is released, why not save yourself some grief and upgrade to the 2019 version of Office now? The “perpetual” version is $149 (for Word, Excel and PowerPoint) and Office 365 starts at $69 a year.

Microsoft Office 2011 Update For Catalina

If you have Office 2016 or 2019, you can open the Microsoft AutoUpdate app to find out if there are updated versions of Office. Alternatively, click “Help” in Word, Excel or PowerPoint and “Check for Updates”.

Update Microsoft Office 2011 For Catalina

IMPORTANT NOTE: Office 2016 and 2019 need to be upgraded to the latest “builds”. Build 16.16.11 or later is required for Office 2016, and build 16.26 or later is required for Office 2019. It would be advisable to do this BEFORE upgrading to Catalina, as it may require reinstalling from Microsoft if you upgrade to Catalina first.

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spidermannohomecoming-2021 · 3 years

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Spider-Man: No Way Home is an upcoming American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Spider-Man, co-produced by Columbia Pictures and Marvel Studios, and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. It is intended to be the sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) and Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019), and the 27th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film was directed by Jon Watts, written by Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers, and stars Tom Holland as Peter Parker / Spider-Man, alongside Zendaya, J. B. Smoove, Jacob Batalon, Marisa Tomei, Jamie Foxx, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Alfred Molina.

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A third MCU Spider-Man film was intended as early as 2017, during production on Homecoming. By August 2019, negotiations between Sony and Marvel Studios to alter their deal—in which they produce the Spider-Man films together—ended with Marvel Studios leaving the project. However, a negative fan reaction led to a new deal between the two companies a month later. Watts, McKenna, Sommers, and Holland were set to return at that time. Filming began in October 2020 in New York City, before moving to Atlanta later that month. During filming, Foxx and Molina were revealed to be appearing in the film, reprising characters from past Spider-Man films. The title was revealed in February 2021, before filming wrapped at the end of March.

Spider-Man: No Way Home is scheduled to be released in the United States on December 17, 2021, as part of Phase Four of the MCU. A fourth Spider-Man film is in development.

Development During production on Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), stream-movies-23.blogspot.com/ two sequels were being planned by Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures.[16] In June 2017, star Tom Holland said the third film would take place during Peter Parker / Spider-Man's senior year of high school.[17] In July 2019, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige said the third film would feature "a Peter Parker story that has never been done before on film" due to the ending of the second film, Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019), which publicly revealed that Parker is Spider-Man.[18] Homecoming and Far From Home director Jon Watts expressed interest in Kraven the Hunter being the main antagonist of the third film.[19]

By August 2019, development on two new Spider-Man films had begun with Sony hoping Watts and Holland would return for both;[20] Holland was contracted to return for one more film, while Watts had completed his two-film deal and would need to sign on for any more films.[21][22] By then, Marvel Studios and its parent company The Walt Disney Studios had spent several months discussing expanding their deal with Sony. The existing deal had Marvel and Feige produce the Spider-Man films for Sony and receive 5% of their revenue. Sony wanted to expand the deal to include more films than had initially been agreed on while keeping the same terms of the original agreement. Disney expressed concern with Feige's workload producing the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) franchise already and asked for a 25–50% stake in any future films Feige produced for Sony.[20][23][22] Unable to come to an agreement, Sony announced that it would be moving forward on the next Spider-Man film without Feige or Marvel's involvement. Their statement acknowledged that this could change in the future, thanked Feige for his work on the first two films, and said they appreciated "the path [Feige] has helped put us on, which we will continue."[23]

Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers were writing the screenplay for the third film by the time of Sony's announcement, after also doing so for Far From Home, but Watts was receiving offers to direct large films for other studios instead of returning to the franchise, including potentially working on a different property for Marvel Studios and Feige.[22] In September, Sony Pictures Entertainment chairman Tony Vinciquerra said that "for the moment the door is closed" on Spider-Man returning to the MCU, and confirmed that the character would be integrated with Sony's own shared universe—the Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters (SPUMC)—moving forward. Responding to backlash from fans following the announcement, Vinciquerra added that "the Marvel people are terrific people, we have great respect for them, but on the other hand we have some pretty terrific people of our own. [Feige] didn't do all the work ... we're pretty capable of doing what we have to do here."[24] However, after this fan reaction continued at Disney's biennial convention D23, and at the urging of Holland who personally spoke to Disney CEO Bob Iger and Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group chairman Tom Rothman,[25] the companies returned to negotiations.[26]

Sony and Disney announced a new agreement at the end of September 2019 which would allow Marvel Studios and Feige to produce another Spider-Man film for Sony, scheduled for July 16, 2021, keeping the character in the MCU.[1] Disney was reported to be co-financing 25% of the film in exchange for 25% of the film's profits, while retaining the merchandising rights to the character.[1][26] The agreement also allowed Holland's Spider-Man to appear in a future Marvel Studios film. Feige stated, "I am thrilled that Spidey's journey in the MCU will continue, and I and all of us at Marvel Studios are very excited that we get to keep working on it." He added that moving forward the MCU's Spider-Man would be able to "cross cinematic universes" and appear in Sony's own shared universe as well.[1] This interaction was said to be "a 'call and answer' between the two franchises as they acknowledge details between the two in what would loosely be described as a shared detailed universe". Sony described their previous films with Marvel Studios as a "great collaboration", and said "our mutual desire to continue was equal to that of the many fans."[26] At the time of the new agreement, Watts was in final negotiations to direct the film.[27]

Discussing the new deal in October, Iger attributed it to the efforts of Holland as well as the fan response to the end of the original deal, saying, "I felt for [Holland], and it was clear the fans wanted this to happen." He added that while negotiating the deal both Sony and Disney had forgotten "there are other people who actually matter."[28] Rothman added that he felt the deal was a "win-win-win. A win for Sony, a win for Disney, a win for the fans." Speaking back to the August reports of the negotiating breaking down, Rothman said that revelations in the media of discussions such as the negotiations do not necessarily line up with the actual discussions taking place, and he felt that the final deal would have eventuated without the reports and fan discourse, saying, "We would have gotten there, and the news got ahead of some things."[29] Also in October, Zendaya was confirmed to be reprising her role of MJ from the previous films in the sequel.[3] By the end of the year, filming was expected to begin in mid-2020.[30]

Pre-production In April 2020, Sony rescheduled the film to November 5, 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[31] In June, Marisa Tomei confirmed she would return as May Parker along with Watts as director. She was hopeful that May's work as a community organizer would be featured in the film.[8] The next month, Holland said production was planned to take place from late 2020 to February 2021,[32] and Sony shifted the film's release to December 17, 2021.[33] Tony Revolori was also confirmed to be reprising his role as Flash Thompson.[12]

In early October, Jacob Batalon and Benedict Cumberbatch were set to reprise their MCU roles of Ned Leeds and Dr. Stephen Strange, while Jamie Foxx was set to return as Max Dillon / Electro from Sony's The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014), with filming beginning later in the month.[6][9] Richard Newby of The Hollywood Reporter felt Cumberbatch's casting indicated that the film would draw inspiration from the "One More Day" and "One Moment in Time" comic book storylines in which Parker's secret identity is restored with magic.[34] Graeme McMillan, also from The Hollywood Reporter, felt that Strange's inclusion was not a coincidence considering the casting of past Spider-Man film actors like Foxx.

Tom Holland as Peter Parker / Spider-Man: A teenager and Avenger who received spider-like abilities after being bitten by a radioactive spider.[1] Holland said the adjustment back to portraying Peter Parker, including raising his voice pitch and returning to the mindset of a "naive, charming teenager", was strange for him after taking on more mature roles such as in Cherry (2021).[2] Zendaya as MJ: Parker's classmate and girlfriend.[3] Her full name is Michelle Jones.[4] J. B. Smoove as Julius Dell: Parker's teacher.[5]stream-movies-23.blogspot.com/ Jacob Batalon as Ned Leeds: Parker's best friend.[6] Batalon lost 102 pounds (46 kg) for his role in this film.[7] Marisa Tomei as May Parker: Parker's aunt.[8] Jamie Foxx as Max Dillon / Electro: An electrical tradesman who gains electric powers after an accident. Foxx reprises his role from Sony's The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014), but unlike that appearance, he will not be depicted as blue for this film.[6] Benedict Cumberbatch as Dr. Stephen Strange: A neurosurgeon who became a Master of the Mystic Arts following a career-ending car accident. Strange takes on the mentor role for Parker that was filled by Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark in Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) and Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury in Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019).[9] Alfred Molina as Otto Octavius / Doctor Octopus: stream-movies-23.blogspot.com/ A scientist from an alternative reality with four artificially intelligent mechanical tentacles fused to his body after an accident. Molina reprises his role from Sony's Spider-Man 2 (2004),[10] with this appearance continuing from the character's story and presumed death in that film. Molina was surprised by this approach because he had aged in the years since he made that film and no longer had the same physicality; digital de-aging was used to make Molina appear as he had in Spider-Man 2.[11] Reprising their roles from previous MCU Spider-Man films are Tony Revolori as Eugene "Flash" Thompson, Parker's classmate and rival;[12] Angourie Rice as Betty Brant, Parker's classmate and Leeds' ex-girlfriend;[13] and Hannibal Buress as Coach Wilson, Midtown School of Science and Technology's gym teacher.[14] Additionally, Holland's brother Harry makes a cameo appearance as a drug dealer, after doing the same in Cherry.

Post-production In April 2021, Molina confirmed that he was appearing in the film, explaining that he had been told not to talk about his role in the film during production but he realized that his appearance had been widely rumored and reported on.[11] Later that month, J. B. Smoove revealed he was returning as Julius Dell from Far From Home.[5] In early May, Garfield denied that he had been asked to appear in the film, but later said "never say never",[68][69] while Angourie Rice was revealed to return as Betty Brant.[13] Later that month, Stone denied her involvement in the film.[70]

Also in May 2021, Sony Pictures Group President Sanford Panitch acknowledged that there had been confusion and frustration from fans regarding the relationship between the Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters (SPUMC) and the MCU, but stated that there was a plan to clarify this and he believed it was already "getting a little more clear for people [as to] where we're headed" at that time following the announcement of the SPUMC film Kraven the Hunter (2023). He added that No Way Home would help reveal more of this plan, with Adam B. Vary of Variety commenting that the perceived notion of No Way Home introducing multiverse elements was believed to be what would allow Holland to make appearances in both the MCU and the SPUMC.

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pinkyshy101 · 4 years

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So I got bored and decided to type out a list of the cartoons/tv shows I’ve watched, cause why not! I think this is all I’ve watched, or at least recent enough (I’m thinking like…. 2014/15 onward, when I actively started to watch more cartoons)

It’s kinda long, and I’m kinda rambley, so I’ll put it under a keep reading thing (if I can) so you don’t have to scroll through that if you don’t want to. Idk who will actually read this, but hey maybe it’s an idea of what kind of things I might reblog on here! I’m always taking any suggestions for shows to watch, I love learning about and watching more and more cartoons! So if there’s something I didn’t list as something I watched and you think of be interested, feel free to please recommend it! I may update this with a reblog or an edit or something at some point in the future, idk though. For now, its September 19, 2020, and here’s what I got for ya

This ended up way more rambley than I meant for it to be but I started writing it at maybe 12:30ish am and now its almost 2am when I’m getting ready to post it so oops 👀 I’m not really expecting anyone to read this but hey, it’s something! Read if you wanna know what shows and other stuff I watched lol idc

Cartoons I’ve watched in their entirety (or what’s all aired as of today 9/19/20):

(updated 12/2/20 as starting with ATLA)

Gravity Falls - watched since late 2014

Steven Universe (including the movie and Future) - watched since mid June 2015, right before the second stevenbomb/sworn to the sword (early season 2)

Over The Garden Wall - watched back around when it first came out, can’t remember exactly when but sometime in 2015

Star vs The Forces of Evil - watched the first 2 seasons as they aired, then stopped watching for a while and rewatched the whole show in June 2019

Hilda - watched for the first time in I think October 2018, rewatched in May quarantine

She-ra and the Princesses of Power - watched all 5 seasons about/not even a week after season 5 came out, idk why I waited so long to watch it

The Owl House - started watching it after the grom episode aired, idk why I waited so long to watch it but molly and noelle and everyone was screaming about grom on twitter, so of course I had to watch it then

Kipo and The Age of Wonderbeasts - watched it all in early August, right before I watched The Owl House

Infinity Train - watched the pilot back in 2016, then the first season when it came out, but then I started college and didn’t get the chance to watch the 2nd/3rd season until I decided to watch the whole series (s1 again, 2/3 for the first time) this past week

Ouran High School Host Club - ok I know it’s anime not a cartoon and I can’t see myself reblogging anything from it but it’s literally the only anime I’ve watched more than like 1 or 2 episodes of/the only one I’ve seen in its entirety so I figured eh I’ll mention it

Camp Camp - I almost forgot to mention this one! I started watching it when there was I think only 3 episodes of season 1, so back in 2016, and I’ve loved it since then! I guess this summer’s season couldn’t happen cause of covid.... But I’m still excited for when/if it does eventually come out!

Avatar the Last Airbender

Shows that I’ve partially watched but not completely:

We Bare Bears - I’ve seen the first 2 seasons, maybe some of the third I can’t remember, I watched it when it first came out but I haven’t watched it in a while, so I would probably need to rewatch a bunch of it (I did rewatch I think the first season sometime this year? But it was while working on school projects so I wasn’t giving it my full attention), apparently there’s also a movie now???

My Little Pony Friendship is Magic - I was huge into the brony fandom from roughly 2013ish-2017ish, I’ve seen up to season 8 and a few episodes of season 9, and the 4 equestria girls movies, and the mlp movie; I probably know seasons 1 - 4 the most, maybe a little of 5, 6 and 7 are kinda fuzzy but I’ve seen them, 8 I watched over quarantine (since it’d been a few years since I had watched any of it, I also rewatched bits of 5-7) as well as I think the first episode or so of season 9, but I don’t remember them too well. I watched the movie (the pony one, not eqg) when it came out in theaters, and not too long after that I drifted away from the mlp fandom (tbh I was drifting a little bit before it came out, but I knew I had to stick in there at least until it came out since I had been waiting for so long for it). The equestria girls movies, I saw them all when they first came out (I even saw rainbow rocks in the theater). I think there’s like, half hour shorts or episodes or something?? That’s in the eqg universe?? But I don’t think I’ve seen any of them, and if I have it was probably a really early one a long time ago because I haven’t really kept up with anything after Legend of Everfree came out

Animaniacs reboot - I’ve seen the first 5 episodes and it’s nice!

Shows that I’ve only seen an episode or few of that I (probably) intend on continuing to watch:

Glitch Techs - I saw the first episode! Definitely want to continue it

Rick and Morty - I watched a few episodes of the first season in like March/April quarantine, but I was still dealing with online school at home finishing out last semester then. I think I want to watch this eventually, but I have other shows that I want to catch up on/watch before I’d get to this one

Tangled the Series - idk if that’s the name I’ve seen multiple names but I hope you know what I’m talking about, I saw a handful of episodes from the first season I think sometime around fall 2019, but I’d probably have to rewatch the whole thing

Adventure Time - I’ve never had cable/cartoon network so I didn’t watch this growing up, but I’ve heard really good things about it and seen a bunch of stuff from it (I’d have to be living under a rock to have not seen anything lol) but it’s so long and I just haven’t gotten around to it yet! Well I’ve seen maybe a dozen or so episodes of the first season but it was a while ago so I’d have/want to start over probably

Shows I haven’t started

Amphibia - I’ve heard it’s good! I just haven’t gotten around to it yet

Avatar the Last Airbender - probably next on my list to watch, I’ve been meaning to watch it for years but I haven’t yet, its on Netflix now so that should make it easier to watch and a friend from school made me promise that this would be the next one I’d watch so that’s what I’m doing (I did watch the last 2 seasons of infinity train that night though, since I was really wanting to finish it first… But atla is next) watched it! (updated 12/2/20)

The Legend of Korra - obviously I’m waiting to watch it until after alta, and I’m probably going to watch it right after I finish atla

The Dragon Prince - idk really anything about it other than I think it’s on netflix? and apparently it’s good and maybe gay idk but I’ve heard it’s good thus why it’s on here lol

Black Horseman - idk too too much about this other than apparently it’s good but also kinda depressing. Similarly to rick and morty I want to watch it eventually but its not insanely high on my list

OK KO - don’t know a ton about it other than it’s decent, a step up from r+m/bojack on where I want to watch it but not urgently

Ducktales Reboot - similarly to OK KO, don’t know much about it other than it’s decent, same level of want to watch

Milo Murphy’s Law - saw a couple episodes when it came out, haven’t watched it in forever so if I ever do want to rewatch it I’d have to restart it, not super high on my priority list though

Bee and Puppycat - another one I almost forgot! I don’t know a ton about this but I’ve heard its nice! Plus from what I’ve seen I like the artstyle so 👀 maybe someday

Animaniacs (original) - I started to watch the reboot and I think I want to watch the original eventually! Just haven’t gotten around to it yet

Clone High - listen it’s not that I desperately WANT to watch this, I just have friends who are like, hey, watch this lol it’s apparently not super long so why not

Other non cartoon shows I’ve watched:

Brooklyn 99 - idk when I started watching it, maybe around season 4/5ish? I think sometime in 2018 so idk the season, idk, most of the episodes I’ve only seen once so I couldn’t tell you exactly what happens in every episode but I still like it

Rise - ugh I miss this show, I started watching it after/around when the 3rd episode came out (end of March 2018?), and I don’t think I’ve watched any of it since it ended (mid may 2018) cause its not on any streaming services anymore :/ at least not that I know of but I loved it and would love to rewatch it

Andi Mack - I’d heard it was good but hadn’t watched it after it ended (early august 2019 I think I watched it), haven’t rewatched it since then but it was decent, I mainly watched it cause I had seen clips of gay but yknow it was alright

Sex Education - watched 1st season sometime in 2019, when rewatched it/watched season 2 when it came out January 2020, this is like WAY more mature than like anything on this list but like it has an interesting story

Love Victor - watched first/currently only season when it came out mid june 2017 (how was June so long ago what)

Queer Eye - I’ve seen a couple seasons of it idk I figured why not add it lol

Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist - I think I watched this around when there were maybe a few episodes of season 1 left (well there’s only one season now but still), idk I liked it cause like musicals and stuff idk

Idk what else to add to this section but if I think of anything (to any category on this list) I’ll probably update it later maybe idk (again I’m not necessarily going to be reblogging stuff from all/any of these but like, I figured I’d mention it cause idk)

Musicals:

Another thing I love is musicals, like I’m a design/tech major in college rn so yeah I like theatre lol so I’m going to list some I’ve seen (mostly watched bootlegs of, but I’ll list some professional/tour ones I’ve seen in person)(but if it doesn’t say anything special I probably just watched a bootleg, 2017 was a big year for me and my google drive being filled with bootlegs…) This might not be all of them and I won’t go into as much detail (I hope, I haven’t typed it yet) but we’ll see:

Broadway tours I’ve seen: (I swear this isn’t bragging they were cheap seats way up high lol)

Dear Evan Hansen (May 2019)

Wicked (first professional show I saw, October 2017, haven’t watched a bootleg or anything of it since then and I went in completely blind)

Mean Girls (November 2019, last professional show I saw before quarantine)

Come From Away (September 2019)

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (November 2018)

The Book of Mormon (August 2018, was hoping to again this August but quarantine :( )

Non professional/high school/college/other shows I’ve seen in person/been on crew for (not all of them, but some) (assume I’ve also seen bootlegs/proshots if there are any)

Newsies

Spring Awakening (spot op)

Shrek (props)

Legally Blonde

I’ve seen done way more but I don’t feel like listing them or that they’re anything I’d want go reblog/actively look at fandom content for (that’s not saying it reblog stuff from shrek the musical but still lol)

Other shows I’ve seen only in proshot/bootleg form:

Basically every Starkid show

Spies are Forever

The Solve it Squad

Hamilton

Heathers

Be More Chill (yes I was in that big amalgamation of musical fandom stuff with these and deh in 2017 aaaa)

Falsettos

Beetlejuice

Spongebob

21 Chump Street

Les Mis

Phantom

(Again maybe not necessarily all but some there’s a slight chance I might reblog things about)

Musicals I still need/want to watch/listen to:

The Prom

Six

The Great Comet (not typing it all out)

Hadestown

Waitress

Bonnie and Clyde

Something Rotten

Tuck Everlasting

Again there’s more I want to see I’m sure but I haven’t really watched bootlegs in a while…. Idk feel free to suggest shows tho

Movies I’ve seen/like: obviously I’m not gonna just every single movie I’ve seen but heres a few I like:

The Sound of Music

The Wizard of Oz - these 2 have actually always been my favorite movies since I was little, I can’t dee myself reblogging much of anything about them but figured I’d mention them cause why not

Love Simon

Some but not all Disney movies (I grew up with no cable/mostly just pbs)

Most pixar movies?

I don’t think John Mulaney shows count as movies but eh whatever I’ve seen them on netflix

Idk what else lol I know I’ve seen more movies than this but eh

If anyone actually read all of this... Wow I’m surprised honestly lol have a free cookie or something for your struggles or smth, idk, thanks for reading this though lol I appreciate you (but also slightly worry, this was a lot of words and a lot of rambling)

#long post #me #personal #really long post

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