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https://www.thenerdelement.com/2022/08/25/exclusive-offers-and-savings-for-d23-gold-members-and-disney-subscribers-at-d23-expo-2022/

Want to get the most out of D23 Expo Weekend? Bring your D23 Gold Member card with you or pick up your Disney+ Subscriber pass to take advantage of these special offers and savings just for our D23 Members and Disney+ subscribers during the event!

D23 Gold Members: Be sure to show your physical D23 Gold Member card or download the D23 Fan App to access your digital card throughout the weekend. Plus, receive a collectible print from Disney Artist Eric Tan. Available for pickup at the D23 Ultimate Fan Lounge in Hall A

Disney+ Subscribers: Starting Disney+ Day , you can stop by Will Call at the Anaheim Convention Center from 9/8 – 9/11 or at the Arena Box Office from 9/9 – 9/11 to pick up your Disney+ Subscriber Pass. All you need is your D23 Expo badge and you will be on your way towards unlocking special perks, offers, and other exciting extras. Be sure to look for the designated Disney+ Subscriber Pass Pick Up locations on the map from D23 Expo 2022 Official Event App..

Don’t miss the offers below to enjoy three days of the Ultimate Disney Fan Event:

BoxLunch
D23 Gold Member and Disney+ Subscriber Offer: Front of the line passes, for the Box Lunch booth, will be available all three days of the event. Guests must register via BL reservations system to confirm their time slot!

Keep the magic going with BoxLunch! Be the first to shop our D23 collection before it’s available in stores or online and get your hands on some exclusive merch only available at D23 Expo. We’ll have music, games, and giveaways throughout the weekend, so make sure to follow @boxlunchgifts on social for the latest information!  For every $10 spent with BoxLunch, a meal is donated to someone in need through our partnership with Feeding America®.

Citizen Watch of America
D23 Gold Member and Disney+ Subscriber Offer: 25% discount towards watches and clocks sold inside the booth.

Step into the “Wonder of Time,” an immersive experience showcasing 100 years of Disney. Stop by to take a photo with a life-size Walt Disney World Main Street Clock. Shop Citizen watches, from Star Wars and Marvel to Disney and Princess, even a special edition D23 Expo product!

Pandora Jewelry
D23 Gold Member and Disney+ Subscriber Offer: 10% off purchase and a limited edition jewelry case with a purchase of $125 or more*.

Shop the latest Disney x Pandora collections including our 2022 limited edition D23 jewelry. Discover more about the Disney x Pandora partnership through the years, take a one-of-a-kind photo, and enter for a chance to win something special!

*Receive 10 % off your purchase with valid D23 Gold Membership and Disney+ Subscription Pass at the Pandora Jewelry brand booth only. Not valid with prior purchases or the purchase of gift cards. Cannot be combined with any other offers. Void where prohibited. Product not for resale. Includes GWP spend threshold. While supplies last.

Sunglass Hut
D23 Gold Member Offer: Receive an exclusive jumbo pin as a gift with purchase. While supplies last.
Disney+ Subscriber Offer: Receive a mystery pin as a gift with purchase. While supplies last.

Sunglass Hut is the destination for Ray-Ban x Disney Sunglasses, Limited Edition Sensational 6 collectible pins, and Sunglass Care Kits with Disney- and Pixar-themed cleaning cloths.
Plus, there will be giveaways each day!

Art Brand Studios
D23 Gold Member Offer: Disney Canvas Classics regularly $399 on sale for $189. Choose from four of the following princesses: Belle, Cinderella, Rapunzel, and Ariel.

We love entertainment and we know you do too! We’re continually adding to our product selection so you can cherish classic entertainment and take pleasure in the latest trending releases in wall art and sculpture. Our artists share our vision for exquisite and entertaining artwork. Art of Entertainment is a one-stop gallery for movie fans, entertainment geeks, and art lovers. In partnership with Disney, Thomas Kinkade Studios proudly presents narrative panoramas of your favorite stories and characters in our unique collection of Limited Edition Fine Art and Collectibles.

Bésame Cosmetics
D23 Gold Member and Disney+ Subscriber Offer: D23 Expo exclusive lip gloss. While Supplies Lasts.

Bésame Cosmetics is back at D23 Expo with another show-stopping collection: Disney Villains! Celebrate the mayhem and glamour of Maleficent, The Evil Queen, and Ursula with a highly detailed assortment of show exclusive products. Venture through our immersive photo-op experience, Villains Alley. Receive a complimentary shoulder crow to live out your very own villains’ adventure with any badge scan or purchase. Best of all, with our new mobile shopping app, you can browse the collection, purchase, and select a pick-up window, all from your mobile device! You don’t need to decide between shopping or seeing your favorite panel!

CORKCICLE
D23 Gold Member and Disney+ Subscriber Offer: 10% off entire purchase, each day.

CORKCICLE® is proud to be a part of D23 Expo. Please stop by our booth to check out our amazing CORKCICLE x Disney collaborations including our Minnie and Mickey collections, Star Wars, Marvel and our newly released Disney Princess Collection. Available items will include our stainless steel canteens, tumblers, stemless, mugs, and kids cups.

Disney Fine Art and Cyclops Print Works by Collectors Editions
D23 Gold Member and Disney+ Subscriber Offer: 23% off entire purchase.

Collectors Editions, publishers of Disney Fine Art, Photographs from Walt Disney Archives, and Cyclops Print Works, is proud to feature works from their collection of renowned Disney artists! Shop original and limited edition art, Disney screen-prints, and archival photos from Disney’s rich history!

Disney+ Innovation Lounge
D23 Gold Member and Disney+ Subscriber Offer: A Disney+ Collectible Card pack featuring custom illustrations celebrating some of the most popular current and upcoming Disney+ movies and shows. * While supplies last.

The Disney+ Innovation Lounge will feature innovations from across partners and products in a dedicated space to learn about and explore the future of Disney+.

Disney Movie Insiders
D23 Gold Member and Disney+ Subscriber Offer: Receive a Mickey Mouse lapel pin. While supplies last.

Learn how to earn and redeem points for incredible rewards inspired by your favorite movies and characters. Discover a universe where  new fans and super-fans unite. Disney Movie Insiders membership required. Visit DisneyMovieInsiders.com for terms and conditions.

The El Capitan Theatre Hollywood
D23 Gold Member and Disney+ Subscriber Offer: Exclusive early access to our Nightmare Before Christmas tickets, including our opening night featuring a performance by DCappella. While supplies last.

The Disney Studio Store Hollywood is bringing the Hollywood Magic to D23 Expo. With an assortment of limited-edition pins, open edition pins, and apparel, there’s sure to be something for everyone. With the addition of the El Capitan Theatre Box Office, guests can also grab tickets for their favorite movies playing at the theatre.

House of Sillage
D23 Gold Member Offer: 15% off entire purchase.
Disney+ Subscriber Offer: 5% off entire purchase.

Be the first to experience the newest limited edition fragrance celebrating Minnie Mouse by House of Sillage, launching at D23 Expo! Discover the Disney x House of Sillage Collection, which includes our Mickey Mouse fragrance, luxurious cosmetics, and scented candles—all in celebration of the greatest love story between Mickey and Minnie Mouse. Stop by for a free gift, snap a selfie, and enter for a chance to win a HOS Fragrance!

Iron Studios – Worlds to Collect
D23 Gold Member and Disney+ Subscriber Offer: Mystery exclusive gift with purchase. While supplies last.

Since 2012, Iron Studios has been developing and producing extremely detailed collectible figures, being the first Brazilian company with licensed products 100 percent made for collectors.

With its worldwide fanbase, Iron Studios has been attracting a growing audience that is increasingly demanding and attentive to the smallest detail, winning over fans from the most popular and strict collector forums and groups in the world.

All professionals involved in the processes of creation and development of our figures share the same passion as our clients, thus, we always seek the highest level of fidelity and perfectionism in each project. We use original references in figures derived from films and series, and create unique representations of original comic book characters, based on exclusive conceptual arts, produced by several established artists.

In physical stores, we regularly organize and promote official events and exhibitions aligned with our licenses, where friends, customers, fans, and collectors attend and spend pleasant hours with us, exchanging ideas, information, sharing their opinions, knowledge, and tips. This is done in a healthy and familiar environment, full of special attractions.

Iron Studios Workshop is our division responsible for film replicas. We have developed character replicas and accessories on a 1/1 scale for decoration and entertainment at promotional events.

From our thematic exhibitions to our participation in the CCXP Comic Con Experience, we always seek to innovate and surprise our audience. Seeking to constantly expand its line of products and its collection of characters, Iron Studios has continued to acquire new and varied licenses, including Disney lines derived from the Marvel (comic and cinema) and Star Wars universe, and continues to captivate fans and collectors of a diverse array of classic and contemporary pop culture.

NEFF
D23 Gold Member and Disney+ Subscriber Offer: Exclusive apparel or headwear item during designated time slots over the weekend. While supplies last.

Stop by our booth and check out the exciting Neff-Disney apparel collections! Mickey, Star Wars, Marvel, Buzz, the Simpsons, and Stitch T-shirts, pullover hoodies, hats, and more featuring all new designs. Neff-Disney, live by the anthem “Forever Fun.”

RockLove Jewelry
D23 Gold Member Offer: Jewelry travel case gift with purchase. While supplies last.

Your gift with purchase is a stylish travel companion to keep all your RockLove Jewelry safe and organized! Made from eco-friendly vegan leather with a soft scratch-proof suede interior, this compact and lightweight jewelry case features hooks, pocket, and a ring row to keep your jewelry tangle-free. With logo silkscreened in silver metallic on the sleek black exterior, the zippered RockLove Jewelry Travel Case is 4” x 4” x 2” to easily fit into your handbag or luggage.

Disney+ Subscriber Offer: 5% off entire purchase.

RockLove celebrates the wondrous women of Disney, Star Wars, and Marvel at D23 Expo! Launching dozens of new jewelry designs all dedicated to empowering female characters, including a D23 Expo exclusive that celebrates the true original Disney gal: Minnie Mouse!

Select Brands
D23 Gold Member and Disney+ Subscriber Offer: 20% off prices as marked.

Bringing magic and storytelling to the heart, and the heart of the home, with licensed kitchen appliances including classic Disney, Pixar, and Star Wars branded products.

Steiff
D23 Gold Member Offer: 10% off your order plus an exclusive pin gift with purchase.
Disney+ Subscriber Offer: 5% off your purchase. While supplies last.

Discover the most magical Disney collectibles of them all! Superior quality plush from the company chosen by Walt Disney himself to make the first commercially produced Mickey Mouse toys in 1931. Featuring a range of your favorite characters, our new Disney soft plush line, and special D23 exclusives—all with Steiff’s world-famous “Button in Ear” trademark. Gold Members: show your card and receive a FREE gift and a 10% discount!

The Walt Disney Family Museum
D23 Gold Member Offer: Free shipping for online purchases. While supplies last.
Disney+ Subscriber Offer: Exclusive Jungle Book postcard. While supplies last.

Come experience the life story of the man behind the magic. Find inspiration through interactive galleries featuring films, music, artifacts, and a spectacular model of Disneyland. Enjoy the original exhibition “Walt Disney’s The Jungle Book: Making a Masterpiece,” on view now until January 8.

The post Exclusive Offers and Savings for D23 Gold Members and Disney+ Subscribers at D23 Expo 2022 appeared first on The Nerd Element.

https://blackgirlnerds.com/8-ways-to-celebrate-black-business-month/

August is the last month of summer vacation, and it’s also Black Business Month. Although the celebration is only marked for 31 days, Black businesses should be celebrated all year long.  

What is Black Business Month and why does it need to be celebrated?

Black business is a phenomenon in itself. Many of the thriving businesses that we see today, from Oprah’s empire to Tabitha Brown’s clothing line, all started from people who had very little start-up capital but an abundance of faith and hard work. This grit is something we’ve seen throughout American history. Some historic examples include Madame C.J. Walker, who was the country’s first female self-made millionaire, and John Merrick, who in 1898 founded North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company, which now has assets of $160 million.

In the present day, Black businesses are still thriving. There are currently around 3 million Black-owned businesses that contribute over $200 billion to the American economy annually. With this sector only continuing to grow, Black Business Month is a celebration and an acknowledgment of an important part of Black history. It is a time to recognize that there are Black businesses for haircare, skincare, wellness, sports, and everything else. This acknowledgment helps level the playing field, especially since historic and current discrimination has prevented many Black business owners from receiving loans and financial support.  

Whether you are a consumer or business owner, here are 8 ways you can support Black businesses and celebrate their existence. 

1. Buy from Black businesses

The easiest way to celebrate Black Business Month is to buy services and products from Black businesses. Not sure how to find these businesses? There are great resources such as the Black Directory where you can search different cities for Black-owned businesses. Another great way to find them is through social media by searching the hashtags #Blackowned #Blackownedbusiness #Blackowned[insert product].

2. Share

One simple way to support Black businesses is by sharing their information within your network. This can be done through word of mouth or social media. However, if you do choose to support through social media, remember liking 20 posts from a business’s page isn’t quality support. Instead, sharing their posts or other content will give them more exposure to different audiences and help boost their business.

A follow-up with this method is to write a review or leave a comment on how great their service is. Sharing isn’t just about name-dropping or pressing the share button; it’s about speaking highly of a business to people who may enjoy their service or product.  

3. Partnerships

The social media space is run by influencers, so, for anyone with a blue check mark by their name, here is how to use your influence to support Black businesses. On the blog Fashion Steele NYC, Monroe Steele offers her advice on partnering with Black businesses, such as building a relationship first, offering payment, and considering working with smaller content creators.

The best partnerships happen when two businesses work together to accomplish a mutual goal. These arrangements can be short-term or long-term and can be hosting an event or having a business sell their product at your event. Partnership can also be having a Black business owner as a guest on your podcast. 

4. Start your own business

Starting your own business is one of the best ways to celebrate Black Business Month. If you’re not sure how to get started, try reaching out to a Black business owner who you admire and ask to pick their brain or inquire about a mentorship. More Black businesses are good for the economy and the culture.

5. Support the culture behind the business

There are many Black businesses that not only started from finding a need in the market but were created from a place of preserving and honoring the culture. Callaloo Box, which was started by sisters Malika and Jamila Augustin who immigrated to New York from Trinidad and Tobago, delivers boxes filled with seasonings, sauces, and snacks from the Caribbean. These precious products are great reminders to learn more about Caribbean culture. With Black history, there is so much culture and history around food.  

6. Referrals

Whether you’ve tried a Black-owned hair product that’s done wonders for your curls or know a great soul-food restaurant, referrals are a great way to celebrate. By sending potential clients to a Black-owned business, you are helping them reach people they may not have come into contact with on their own. Referrals are beneficial for the business and the customers. 

7. Connect Black businesses with funding opportunities

Although there are over 3 million Black businesses already, there are still hundreds more that could use some extra capital to help get started. This type of support is often available through grants and scholarships. By connecting Black businesses to grant opportunities and other business resources, you’re helping to set the foundation for a strong and sustainable business.

8. Continuously support

Luckily we have February for Black History Month and August for Black Business Month yet it’s possible to imagine a world where these months aren’t needed, meaning these months will no longer need to serve as a reminder to support Black people because Black people will be supported all year long. Therefore one of the biggest ways to support Black businesses and Black people as a society is to continue to support them all year long. 

Remember that Black businesses are starting and growing every day, which means there are endless opportunities to celebrate and show your support. 

https://www.thenerdelement.com/2022/08/23/hasbros-entertainment-studio-eone-announces-new-episodes-of-power-rangers-dino-fury-dropping-this-september/

The Second Installment of Episodes for Season 2 of the hit show will premiere this Fall on Netflix in the United States

NEW YORK, NY (August 22, 2022) – Hasbro’s entertainment studio, eOne, announces that the next installment of the 29th season of the global franchise “Power Rangers” will be arriving on Netflix in the U.S. later this fall. Following a thrilling batch of episodes that dropped earlier this year, the second season of “Power Rangers: Dino Fury” will close out with 11 exciting 22-minute episodes, which will debut on September 29, 2022.

The announcement comes as Hasbro’s Power Week (August 22-28) begins to roll out with a number of exciting developments about what fans can expect as the franchise continues to evolve and expand.

In Season 2, with the seeming defeat of the villainous Void Knight, Pine Ridge has enjoyed a period of relative calm. The Rangers have thrown themselves into their civilian lives while Zayto and Aiyon use the technology of Dinohenge to search for their home planet of Rafkon. That’s all about to change. With villains new and old gathering against them, the adventure of the Dino Fury Power Rangers is only beginning.

“Power Rangers: Dino Fury” stars Russell Curry, Hunter Deno, Jordon Fite, Kai Moya, Chance Perez and Tessa Rao and Simon Bennett serves as showrunner.

“We are so excited for fans to experience the final climactic episodes of season two, where all storylines and threads pay off,” said Simon Bennett. “We’ve packed in twists and turns, as well moments of heart between these amazing Power Rangers, and it is been so rewarding to see these characters grow over the last two years.”

The first half of “Power Rangers: Dino Fury” Season 2 is currently available now on Netflix. Additionally, Hasbro’s toy line, inspired by the series, features new Lightening Collection characters, new weapons, new Zords (with unique Megazord combinations!), and a new vehicle, the Dino Fury Cycle, a T-rex inspired motorcycle with blasters.

For Power Rangers brand updates, follow @powerrangers on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook and @powerrangersofficial on YouTube.

About POWER RANGERS DINO FURY

Currently, Power Rangers is celebrating 29 continuous years on the air, making it one of the longest-running kids’ live-action series in television history, with more than 900 episodes aired to date. Created by Haim Saban and launched in 1993 with Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, the series celebrates its 29th overall season with “Power Rangers Dino Fury,” airing now exclusively on Netflix in the U.S.

About eONE

Entertainment One Ltd. (eOne) is a talent-driven independent studio that specializes in the development, acquisition, production, financing, distribution and sales of entertainment content. As part of global play and entertainment company Hasbro (NASDAQ: HAS), eOne’s expertise spans across film and television production and sales; production, distribution and brand management of kids and family properties; digital content; and immersive and live entertainment. Through its extensive reach and scale, and a deep commitment to high-quality entertainment, eOne unlocks the power and value of creativity.

eOne brings to market both original and existing content, sourcing IP from Hasbro’s portfolio of 1500+ brands, and through a diversified network of creative partners and eOne companies.

The post HASBRO’S ENTERTAINMENT STUDIO, EONE, ANNOUNCES NEW EPISODES OF “POWER RANGERS: DINO FURY” DROPPING THIS SEPTEMBER appeared first on The Nerd Element.

https://blackgirlnerds.com/how-buffy-the-vampire-slayers-glory-was-far-more-misunderstood-than-we-remember/

The eponymous heroine of the late ’90s/early ’00s television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer and her Scooby Gang have faced innumerable monsters that made their way from various mythos into popular culture.

This includes but isn’t limited to dangerous humans, undead, ghosts and spirits, vampires (of course), wizards and witches, and demons, as well as half-demons and “Old Ones” (Cthulhu for all intents and purposes). Some of them were forgettable vampire henchmen, while others stuck with the audience to this day.

However, few are as memorable as Glorificus (Clare Kramer), commonly known as Glory, a powerful goddess from a hellish domain. Glory appeared in Season 5 as the unstoppable force Buffy and the Scooby Gang had to deal with, and as powerful as she was, the not-so-typical Big Bad didn’t want to sow death, destruction, and world domination but something less ambitious. If that’s so, let’s examine the perspective from which Glory isn’t as Big of a Bad as we remember.

As we just mentioned, Glory had less ambitious plans than the Angelesus’ and Masters of Sunnydale, but rather her main objective was simply to make it back home. Although home was a hell dimension of unimaginable pain and suffering where welcome mats were few and far between, it was still her dimensional abode.

To elaborate, Glory, or the Beast as she was known, was a goddess from a hellish dimension where she ruled alongside two other god-like entities. For a long time, the three ruled their domain with equal power, but Glory’s power increased, growing beyond anything her former equals could muster together.

As her power grew, so did her lust for inflicting pain and suffering on the residents of her domain. She gained prominence as the most powerful and the most frightening among the three entities. So, out of fear that she would lay hold of their domain entirely for herself, the other two struck at her first. This started a great war, which Glory lost. She was cast out into the earthly dimension, bound to share a form with a human — a boy named Ben, whose sole purpose was to act as her vessel and “contain” her.

Surprisingly, despite her defeat, Glory proved too powerful to contain in a human form, and, after Ben had turned 20, she mustered enough strength to take over his body for short periods of time, transforming Ben into a beautiful but narcissistic woman. Her otherworldly power also granted her some superhuman abilities, like increased strength, speed, and near invulnerability. However, she was also very limited by her vessel, as the human body and mind weren’t intended to contain the power of a goddess.

This “co-share” slowly drove Glory insane. In order to maintain her mental stability, she had to feed off humans. But instead of feeding on human blood, like the vampires that she disdained, Glory would feed on human mental energy in a process Buffy and her friends called “brain sucking.” She would insert her fingers into the victim’s head and feed off their mental energies, leaving many of her victims babbling, incoherent, and mostly brain dead.

This sounds really bad, and so far the series’ writers had seemingly only replaced blood-sucking vampires with a brain-sucking deity, so there’s really not much of a difference. But they didn’t. One of the consequences that her victims suffered was the ability to see Dawn, Buffy’s sister, in her real form, which is The Key. Dawn was also introduced in Season 5 as Buffy’s younger sister after it was well established that Buffy was an only child. This made very little sense since the mystery of her sudden appearance wasn’t acknowledged by the other characters from the show.

As it was revealed later in the show, The Key was transformed into a human form by a group of monks tasked with protecting it from Glory and put in one place where no monster would dare look — at the Slayer’s side as her sister — via a memory altering spell. The purpose of this object-turned-person is to open portals to alternate dimensions, which is exactly what Glory wants to exploit to return home.

But mishandling The Key would cause the barriers separating all dimensions, including the one between Earth and other infernal dimensions, to break down, causing all worlds to seep into each other, finally bringing Hell’s reign to Earth. Despite knowing what damage using The Key could cause, Glory remained adamant about using it to return to her dimension, to be restored to the height of her former glory (pun very intended) and to exact vengeance upon those who had wronged her and cursed her with enduring a human form.

From that perspective, as a very powerful being who only wanted to go home and didn’t want anything to do with the human trifles of mortgages, mid-day traffic, and sales tax, she was ultimately a pitiable figure. Now, okay, perhaps brain eating and supernatural mayhem were not the best cries for help or sympathy one could muster, but as a demonic hellion, I am sure sharing was not one of her strong suits. She was short-tempered and took violent retaliation at the smallest of insults — but then, which deity doesn’t?

Ultimately, her actions, though evil, weren’t done for earthly domination but out of an all-consuming desire to return home where she already ruled. This makes her very misunderstood as a series Big Bad, especially in comparison with some of the other villains, like the First Evil, or the anarchistic, wild and fun Drusilla and Spike.

In the end, Buffy beat Glory until she reverted to a human form (turning back to Ben) and then died in the process to save her sister and the rest of the world by closing the portal to hell Glory’s minions opened. Still not the worst of endings.