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https://www.essence.com/fashion/mary-j-blige-giuseppe-zanotti-boots-restock/

DeWayne Rogers By Robyn Mowatt ·Updated June 25, 2024

Mary J. Blige shook the internet when she and Giuseppe Zanotti revealed her golden boot collaboration. Not only did the shoes sell out swiftly, the beloved singer began a conversation about the cultural impact of artists and musicians in regard to fashion. The collaborative footwear wasn’t only striking but they proved the generational impact of hersrc="https://www.essence.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/edit-mjb-IMG_1478-scaled.jpeg" alt="Mary J. Blige On Her Sold-Out Boots And Today’s Restock" width="400" height="599" />DeWayne Rogers

The singer on her sold-out drop: “Seeing the response to the first drop of my boots with Giuseppe Zanotti really blew me away,” said Mary J. Blige. “For years, my fans have asked me about making boots and you all showed up and showed out. Because of how quickly you sold them out, we had to come back with more.” Blige adds that the second drop is available due to her fans. 

The unique loyalty that fans of artists provide for many is not a small feat. This leads to sold-out tours, pop-up shows like Kendrick Lamar’s culturally relevant and pivotal “Pop Out,” and the novelty for tour merchandise and how coveted it has become. I’ll admit I collect tour merchandise for acts like Loony, Lucky Daye, and one of my all-time favorites SZA.

Giuseppi Zanotti

But, this isolated shoe drop is a bit different than what many might consider a trend–it is a unique offering that showcases a brand’s willingness to commit to an act and all that she embodies especially >official site to shop The Mary Boot. Pricing for the boots is $1,295.

TOPICS:  mary j blige

The post Mary J. Blige On Her Sold-Out Boots And Today’s Restock appeared first on Essence.

https://nerdist.com/article/how-interview-with-the-vampire-dealt-with-claudias-final-fate/

Fans of Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire, be it the novel or the film, knew the current AMC version was barrelling towards one horrible event since the show began. That is the death of the child vampire Claudia (Delainey Hayles), and her newly made vampire companion Madeleine (Roxane Duran), at the hands of the vengeful Paris coven who operates the Théâtre des Vampires. It’s a heartbreaking moment in the novel, and the series did it justice, while tweaking a few details. Here’s each medium handled Claudia’s executionm in the novels, film, and ultimately, in the second season episode “I Could Not Prevent It.”

The Death of Claudia in Anne Rice’s Novel, Interview with the Vampire

In Rice’s 1976 novel, when the Paris coven discovers that Louis and Claudia broke the Great Laws of the vampires by attempting to murder their maker, the Vampire Lestat, they capture them and hold them in a sort of trial for their crimes. Their star witness is Lestat, who survived their murder attempt in New Orleans years prior. Lestat eventually discovers his progeny fled to Paris, and follows them there. Once the coven discovers that Louis and Claudia broke their laws, they capture them and put them on trial. Of course, it’s trial with a predetermined verdict.

When the coven deems them guilty, they execute Claudia, the chief architect of the crime, and her new companion Madeleine, via murder by sunlight. They leave them alone in a well, until the sun rises and burns them both to ash. The sun rises, and all that remains of Claudia is a tattered yellow dress, covered in ash. The coven gives Louis a different punishment, as they bury him alive within the theater in a locked coffin, meant to slowly drive him mad, and eventually, starve. In the book, all of these events take place in the late 19th century.

How the 1994 Film Version of Interview with the Vampire Handled Claudia’s Death

In the film version, the trial is nonexistent, and the Paris coven merely proceeds to the verdict—guilty. The coven leaves Claudia (Kirsten Dunst) and Madeleine (Domiziana Giordano) alone in the well, with the sun rising and burning them to ash. However, in the film version, both Claudia and Madeleine burn together and their bodies form an ashen sculpture. A sculpture that collapses into dust with the slightest touch. It’s a visually striking effect, but one made just for the film. Claudia’s dress does not survive the sun any more than Claudia does in director Neil Jordan’s big-screen iteration.

Claudia and Madeleine’s Death in Interview with the Vampire on AMC

In the series, the Paris Coven captures Louis, Claudia, and Madeleine. Their kangaroo court trial is actually a matinee performance at the Théâtre des Vampires. The human crowd watches the spectacle of suffering, as the court deems each vampire guilty for attempting to murder Lestat. The coven only gives Madeleine a special dispensation, as Louis made her after the murders. However, she chooses to die with Claudia. Louis is buried within the walls of the theater catacombs. This is after the “jury,” a.k.a. the crowd of mortals in the theater, are telepathically manipulated to give Louis a different sentence than death — exile. Did the Vampire Armand (Assad Zaman) save Louis’ life? Did he plant the exile verdict in their minds? That’s the assumption, as that is what occurs in the book and the film. But perhaps the series will go down a different route.

Instead of executing them in a well, Claudia and Madeleine are murdered on stage, in front of the horrified theatergoers. She threatens to come back from the afterlife and murder each and every person in the audience. The vampire Santiago (Ben Daniels) then opens a skylight that only hits the two female vampires on stage with rays of sunlight, as they writhe in agony and turn to ash. Lestat (Sam Reid) watches, with tears in his eyes as the vampire child he created, and later condemned to death, burns away to nothing. Just as in the novel, all that remains of Claudia is her yellow dress.

Claudia’s Original Fate

The original ending of Rice’s novel had Claudia live, finding happiness with a group of vampire children like herself. But Anne Rice’s editor believed the novel called for a tragic ending. And she was right. So Rice rewrote the entire second half of the book, with Claudia’s death as the emotional climax of the novel. It’s easily the moment Louis’ tragic tale hinges on. Claudia never comes back to life in later novels. Yet she remains a haunting presence in the minds and hearts of Louis and Lestat for eternity. We imagine that in Interview with the Vampire the series, this will remain the case.

The post How INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE Dealt With Claudia’s Final Fate appeared first on Nerdist.

https://www.themarysue.com/best-moments-from-house-of-the-dragon-season-2-episode-2/

With namedropping of Harrenhal in House of the Dragon season 2 episode 1, we were all hoping for some dragon action in episode 2. Instead, “Rhaenyra the Cruel” gave us something better: character development across the board and another reason to hate on Ser Criston Cole.

To quickly summarise what happened in HOTD season 2 episode 2, it was about repercussions from last week’s Blood and Cheese incident that ended with baby Prince Jaehaerys beheaded in his bed. Everyone from Alicent (Olivia Cooke) and Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) to Ser Criston Cole feels guilty for the part they played in this happening. Ser Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans), on the other hand, is in damage-control mode and thinks of this as an opportunity to rebrand the enemy as “Rhaenyra the Cruel.” 

The post 5 Best Moments From ‘House of the Dragon’ Season 2 Episode 2, ‘Rhaenyra the Cruel’ appeared first on The Mary Sue.

https://nerdist.com/article/mr-robert-house-fallout-new-vegas-game-character-history-explained/

The house always wins. As the only human cameo from the Fallout games thus far in the Prime Video TV series, and with New Vegas very literally looming on the show’s horizon, it seems only natural that we’ll see Robert House appear at some point in Fallout season two. In fact, the series showrunners recently confirmed, “Many of our lead characters are Vegas-bound… Las Vegas in the world of Fallout is Robert House’s town. Robert House will be involved in Season 2.” 

Fallout‘s Robert House is an insufferable libertarian to some and based inspiration to others. Here’s everything the Fallout games tell us about New Vegas’ enigmatic autocrat. 

Who Is Robert House in the Fallout Universe?

Robert House is the founder and CEO of RobCo Industries. His company is the source of much of Fallout’s classic tech, such as the Mr. Handys (the robotic butler we see trying to ‘borrow’ Lucy’s organs in the show) and, of course, the Pip-Boy, a product that was a partnership between RobCo and Vault-Tec. Worn on the wrist of every game protagonist, and now with Lucy carrying on its tradition—RobCo is an inescapable force in the Fallout universe. 

Robert House’s History Before the War

Robert Edwin House was born on June 25th, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada, to the owners of the H&H Tool empire. House was orphaned at age two when his parents died in a freak auto-gyro-lightning-bolt accident. (Fallout is weird.) House was cheated out of his sizable inheritance by his half-brother Anthony. However, with that chip firmly on his shoulder and a genius IQ under his belt, House persevered. He eventually got into the Commonwealth Institute of Technology, the Fallout universe’s MIT equivalent. After graduating at the ripe old age of twenty-two, House founded RobCo industries. 

Thanks to House’s impeccable business acumen and intrinsic technical know-how, RobCo became one of the most profitable companies in the world over the next eight years. House was known for his ruthless, excessive corporate expansion. He’d gobble up smaller companies and eventually create a veritable monopoly in some tech markets, especially software. If you look closely at any terminal in the games or show, you’ll see that it’s running on a RobCo operating system. 

Robert House as a character was very much in the spirit of Howard Hughes a.k.a. the classic eccentric billionaire trope. But House, and by extension his hobbies, were more bizarrely pragmatic. House personally designed mathematical paradigms to attempt to predict major world events. He’d base this on a stream of constantly updating information with thousands of geopolitical and socio-economic factors.

House determined that on October 23rd, 2077,  at approximately 8pm EST, nuclear fire would rain from the sky. You gotta give it to the guy. He was only off by twenty hours. 

Mr. House Devises a Plan for Las Vegas to Survive the Impending War

With the date in mind, House began working towards making sure that Las Vegas would survive the war, and just as important—he would survive the war. Like any good billionaire, House owned a Vegas casino known as the Lucky 38. Using the vast wealth and resources of RobCo, House began outfitting the Lucky 38 so that it could protect Vegas against the brunt of a nuclear assault. He also decided that drastic measures would have to be taken for him to remain alive indefinitely to handle the crisis personally. House had his fleshy, mortal body sealed into a life support device that would keep him alive—relatively and theoretically—forever. Meanwhile, his brain was wired into a massive supercomputer. 

House also created an army of Securitrons to act as his eyes, ears, and hands post-war. The Securitrons are some of RobCo’s stronger combat robots. He knew they would at least be enough to deter most trouble makers that might crop up after the end of the world. House knew that the current capabilities of the Lucky 38 and the Securitron army that he possessed were not going to be enough to completely spare Vegas. The Strip would likely remain relatively unharmed, but the surrounding environs, not so much.

A new operating system (OS) was designed, one that would upgrade House’s laser grid to better ensure a completely untouched Las Vegas. It would also greatly increase the offensive capabilities of his Securitron army. The OS was downloaded onto the Platinum Chip, and was set to be delivered via courier to House the morning of October 23rd, 2077. Unfortunately, the courier didn’t make it in time. 

Even with the inferior operating system, House was still able to stop sixty-eight of the seventy-seven nuclear missiles from hitting Las Vegas. While portions of the city were still destroyed, it was largely spared. When the impact hit, House’s life support systems went out of whack, and he fell into a coma for the next fifty years, while chaos reigned unchecked in the world outside. 

Robert House Comes Out of a Post-War Coma and Establishes New Vegas

House regained consciousness in 2138. He initially chose to bide his time and observe the goings-on of the Mojave Wasteland instead of immediately revealing himself. Waiting and watching, House made his move when reports of NCR scouts in the area reached him around 2274. The Securitrons finally, after so many years, left the Lucky 38. With the hopes of having staff that had pulses, House gave the raiders currently occupying the Vegas Strip three options. They could leave, work for him, or die. Three raider tribes chose to work for him. They became the Chairmen, the Omertas, and the White Glove Society, who would run New Vegas’ three restored casinos.

Once established and later ensconced within the cultural and economic conscience of the Mojave, House made a deal with the NCR to coexist in relative peace. The NCR got to have McCarran Air Force Base and an embassy on the Strip. House got to have free power from Hoover Dam, and all the money from the NCR citizens desperate for a vacation. What happened to New Vegas and Mr. House after 2281—well, only the show can really answer that now. 

What Is Mr. Robert House Up to in Fallout?

House’s morality (or lack thereof) has been debated among the Fallout fanbase for the past fifteen years. House is a man with a single-minded focus who allows for no distractions. Monitoring or controlling the lives of the people in the Mojave has never been of any interest to him. The preservation and newfound flourishing of mankind, through throwing off the shackles of the past is, by all accounts, his singular interest. However, with a goal so large and lofty, you can imagine that the man behind these plans might find singular human lives, or even large groups of them …fairly insignificant. His take on democracy is also not the most positive one. 

Love him or hate him, House is a force to be reckoned with. Once the Fallout show confirms which of the multiple endings from New Vegas is canon, we’ll see how Mr. Robert House is going to play into the events of the show moving forward. Can you imagine House and Cooper in a room together? Because I’m imagining it, and I’m loving it.

Originally published on April 25, 2024.

The post Who Is Mr. Robert House in FALLOUT? The History of New Vegas’ Ruler, Explained appeared first on Nerdist.