#.we celebrate 15 years in november

[gothhabiba]

why is happy holidays a silly phrase?

Like “BCE” and “CE” for “BC” and “AD,” it seems not Christian on its surface (because it doesn’t explicitly mention “Christ”), but it is still implicitly very Christian in how it considers time (i.e. setting Jesus’ birth as year 0, or assuming that early winter is ‘the time for big holidays’)

That is, it’s based on the idea that Christmas, Chanukah, and Kwanzaa are equivalents, or at least holidays of equivalent weight (like, Chanukah is the “Jewish Christmas”). This isn’t true—Chanukah is not the most important or second most important holiday of the year. And very few people celebrate Kwanzaa like that. And there is no Muslim holiday that is tied to the wintertime (though Ramadan being in the winter for a while did confuse a lot of non-Muslims on this point, who said “happy Ramadan” during the winter for years afterward….)

So the phrase owes its currency to this very liberal-multicultural-pluralism-diversity-and-inclusion idea of the “big three” holidays that we were taught in elementary school in the U.S. All broader criticisms of liberal pluralism apply here

The phrase allows Christians to pretend that the timing of breaks from school and work (for certain people) is not entirely dependent on Christmas. But it clearly is. And if Diwali has definitely occurred by November and Chanukah is over by December 15, what do you mean by saying “happy holidays” on December 20th…?

I think the usage of the phrase can actually be a ‘microaggression’ as the kids say. Like why say “happy holidays” to me while I hand you a Christmas present and make plans with you for Christmas Eve dinner and tell you “merry Christmas.” What are you trying to say. Lmao.

Also!!! If people are saying “happy holidays” to me specifically based on how they’re racialising me (as opposed to people who just default to it with everyone), then um. Which holiday do they mean? No Muslim holidays tied to December!!

Imo, if you don’t know anything about the person you’re talking to, just say “have a good day” or something. You don’t actually have to assume that everyone else’s experience is the same as your’s while putting on a thin veneer of pretending that that’s not what you’re doing.

[project-sekai-facts]

Only one date is ever mentioned in-game, that being 2021. Considering that the Virtual Singer Fan Festa seems to be a stand-in for Magical Mirai 2021, we can assume that the Scramble Fan FESTA! event takes place in September 2021 (the real-life MM2021 was delayed to November due to covid-19, but the pandemic doesn't exist in-universe and MM Tokyo usually takes place at the beginning of September). There are Leo/need Daily Life social media posts that show them attending Magical Mirai, and do state the year of the event, but these can be considered promotional material for the event itself rather than canon material, especially since the characters address in-game that only one year has passed since the start of the story (despite the fact they have celebrated new year's day 4 times now. Timeloop things).

Based on this date, we can actually place exactly when every main character was born. The cutoff date for Japanese schools is April 1st, making Ena the oldest main character, being a 3rd year with a birthday of April 30th, followed by Tsukasa on May 17th, so on so forth all the way down to Kohane, a 2nd year with a birthday of March 2nd.

Considering when Scramble Fan FESTA is set, Ena, who was a 2nd year at the time, would be 17 years old. That would place her date of birth as April 30th, 2004. Additionally, while Kohane, a first year at the time, should be 15 during the event, the game considers her to be 16 due to using a set age for every grade bracket. Regardless, the event setting places her date of birth as March 2nd, 2006.

Based on this, we can conclude that:

Ena, Tsukasa, Rui, and Shizuku were born in 2004

Mafuyu, Kanade, Airi, Minori, Saki, Toya, Nene, An, Ichika, Mizuki, Emu, Haruka, Honami, and Akito were born in 2005

Shiho and Kohane were born in 2006

This also means that Ena, Tsukasa and Rui are all older than the MEIKO software (released November 5th 2004), and everyone except Kohane is older than the KAITO software (released February 17th 2006). Every main character is older than Miku, the Kagamines, and Luka based on this information.

Using the information around set ages*, we can also work out rough estimates for when the side characters were born. For example, Arata, who was 19 during the first 3 years of the game, is 3 years older than the members of VBS who were all considered to be 16. Since the members of VBS were born in the April 2005 - April 2006 school year range, Arata was likely born in the 2002-2003 school year range.

* based on how characters like Youta and Miu, who are said to be the same age as Leo/need, were both confirmed to be 16 years old before the 3rd anniversary age-up. Also Haruka's age is confirmed as 16 at a point in time when she shouldn't be 16. Timeloop things.

Based on this, the oldest living side character, Kounosuke, who was 55 pre-3rd anniversary and 39 years older than Emu, was probably born between April 1966 and April 1st 1967. On the younger side of things, Hanano, who was 14 pre-3rd anni, was likely born between April of 2007 and 2008. I've put the rest of the estimated side character DOBs under the cut.

assumed age as of 3rd anniversary in brackets (literally just pre-age-up age + 1)

Rakunosuke Otori - April 2nd 1922 ~ April 1st 1923 (98 (at time of death. would be 100 if still alive))

Kounosuke Otori - April 2nd 1966 ~ April 1st 1967 (56)

Jean Riley - 1967~1968 (55)

Harumichi Aoyagi - 1968~1969 (54)

Shin'ei Shinonome - 1973~1974 (49)

Mr Yoisaki - 1975~1976 (47)

Ken Shiraishi - 1978~1979 (44)

Taiga Kotaki - 1978~1979 (44)

Yuuka Kazamatsuri - 1990~1991 (32)

Keisuke Otori - 1991~1992 (31)

Shousuke Otori - 1994~1995 (28)

Tatsuya Okazaki - 1999~2000 (23)

Ayaka Saito - 2001~2002 (21)

Hinata Otori - 2001~2002 (21)

Iori - 2002~2003 (20)

Mio - 2002~2003 (20)

Arata Tono - 2002~2003 (20)

Souma Miyata - 2002~2003 (20)

Kotaro Mita - 2004~2005 (18)

Sakurako Seiryuin - 2004~2005 (18)

Nanami "Nanamin" Hayakawa - 2004~2005 (18)

Futaba Natsuno - 2004~2005 (18)

Ayumi Tabata - 2004~2005 (18)

Hibiki Miyake - 2004~2005 (18)

Shuuta Hayashi - 2004~2005 (18)

Ibuki Taniyama - 2004~2005 (18)

Yuina Uchiyama - 2005~2006 (17)

Shouta Hayashi - 2005~2006 (17)

Miu Takagi - 2005~2006 (17)

Youta Yoshizaki - 2005~2006 (17)

Riho Hasegawa - 2005~2006 (17)

Saku Kousaka - 2005~2006 (17)

Mai - 2006~2007 (16)

Hanano Yoshizaki - 2007~2008 (15)

Ambiguous:

These ages were given in the 3rd fanbook, but there is not really any way to tell if these are the characters' ages at introduction or ages after the 3rd anniversary age-up. Here are both possible DOB ranges.

Mrs Asahina - 1980/81 or 1981/82 (41)

Yoshiki Shindou - 1982/83 or 1983/84 (39)

Yuuki Akiyama - 1999/2000 or 2000/01 (22)

Asahi Genbu - 2003/4 or 2004/5 (18)

Arisa Higure - 2004/5 or 2005/6 (17)

Additional notes (mod is rambling atp):

Rakunosuke died when he was 98 years old. In the WxS main story, Emu says that he died a year ago. Assuming Emu was 15 at the time, they have an age gap of around 83 years. The year of birth listed here was based on that assumption.

We know that Kanade's mother died aged 30, but we do not know when she died. She is still alive in flashbacks set roughly 10 years prior to the events of game.

We do not have confirmed ages for Nagi, Reki, Sakaki, Ohara, MMJ's landlady, Mafuyu's father, Daigo, Hiiragi, or the members of ReLight, yet

Rui suggests that Reki is the same age as him in A Story Where You Are The Star. However since it's more vague than Asahi, I left it out. However, Asahi was since confirmed as 18 when he was compared to Reki as being similar age, it is likely that Reki is also around 18 years old.

Nagi's age is left blank in the fanbook due to it not being revealed that she was dead at the time of publication. She is younger than Taiga, but we don't know by how much, but nonetheless she was likely born in the early 1980s. It is unlikely we will ever know her exact age.

Ohara is stated to be in his mid-30s, placing his birth year as somewhere in the 1980s, likely around 1986-1989. Sakaki is an old college friend of Ohara's, so he is likely a similar age.

Daigo went to college with Shousuke, so he is likely a similar age. We can assume he was born at some point in the early-mid 90s.

No NPCs are given exact birthdays

[sepublic]

To put some things into perspective;

The Owl House takes place in the summer of 2022. Reaching Out occurs on August 22nd, followed by a brief time-skip leading us into the last few days of October. Thanks to Them ends on Halloween, with For the Future occurring the next day on November 1st, and Watching and Dreaming continuing into November 2nd. The timeskip in the finale is across four years, due to Eda and King mentioning how Luz went through her 15th, 16th, and 17th birthdays, and only those. Which means The Owl House ends in either November/December 2025, or in Spring 2026! So Luz already brought peace to the isles last year, but!!! We still have a few years to look forward to! If only we knew her birthday, then we could schedule a celebration on the exact day The Owl House ends in-universe...

And when it comes to ages;

Luz- 14; 18

King- ~8; ~12

Amity- 14; 18

Willow- 14; 18

Gus- 12; 16

Hunter- 16; 20

Emira- 16; 20

Edric- 16; 20

Skara- 15; 19

[fellowshipofthefics]

"THAUC" is BACK for 2024 after the success and interest of last year, we knew this year was a must! Whether you participated last year, or are a newcomer this year, the FAQ (linked at the bottom) will be your best friend as there are a few minor changes to the event guidelines. We’re excited for another fun filled event!

✨As this post will be pinned to the blog throughout the THAUC event, you can find our FOTFICs masterpost → here!

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Collaboration is a fandom event meant to celebrate the wonderful world of The Hobbit - be it the film adaptation or the book, we want to spread the love for our favorite characters, places, and scenarios. ⚠️This is a HOBBIT event, which means we are focused on the characters/events focused around The Hobbit - this is not a Lord of the Rings, Silmarillion, or Rings of Power event, though mentions and vague ties to these are allowed, so long as the sole focus is of that of The Hobbit.

2024 Schedule

Sept 1 - Sign-ups open

Sept 15 - Sign-ups close

Sept 22 - Partners/Prompts Assigned

Sept 29 - First Check In

November 17 - Final Check In/Requests for Extensions due (if you don’t ask for an extension by this date, you don’t get one. This is also your last chance to drop out.)

December 1 - Projects Due

Dec 8 - Extensions due

Dec 15 - Reveals

→ Sign-up form → Suggestion form → Discord server

Have questions? → check out the FAQ! 

Send us an ask or feel free to reach out to one of the moderators for further clarification! @mithrilhearts @ahufflepuffhobbit​ @fantasyinallforms​

[morrotober]

Morrotober 2024 Prompts

I'm late but this year's Morrotober prompts are finally here!! Come check them out above!

As always, you are free to interpret these prompts however you'd like! And if you'd like us to reblog your work here, be sure to tag @morrotober or mark your post with any of the following tags: #morrotober #morrotober2024 and #morrotober 2024

We will only start reblogging posts in October on the day of the prompt (no early reblogs in September if you choose to start early), and will continue to reblog through November. If you submit a piece later than November, you can also tag our blog, which will ensure we see and reblog it.

Also, come hang out with us in the Morrotober discord server :D

If you have any triggering or sensitive content in your work, please be sure to tag your post accordingly.

For those who can't see the images for the prompt list, please see below for the text format.

Happy almost Morrotober everyone!

Week 1: Elements/Nature (October 1 - 6)

Oct. 1: Elements || Elemental Inheritance || The Difference between Wind and Air

Oct. 2: Water || Downpour || “There’s always a first time.”

Oct. 3: Opposites || Shadows || “Long before time had a name…”

Oct. 4: Dragons || “Where did you get that?”

Oct. 5: Airjitzu || Temporal Displacement

Oct. 6: Colors || “Red is for rage”

Week 2: Reflection/New Beginnings (October 7 - 13)

Oct. 7: Childhood || Full Potential || “Back in my day…”

Oct. 8: Curses || Empty Titles || "You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?"

Oct. 9: Self Discovery || Inner Peace || “I’ll try again.”

Oct. 10: Reflection || Mirrors || Death

Oct. 11: Rot || Mold || “If only I could go back.”

Oct. 12: Memory || Fate vs Destiny

Oct. 13: Crimes || Smothered || Regrets

Week 3: AUs/Free Week (October 14 - 20)

Oct. 14: The Lego Ninjago Movie || “You want me to go back to school???”

Oct. 15: Trying New Things || Baffled by Technology || “Please don’t touch that”

Oct. 16: In Another Life || Disney Villain || "Is that magic?!"

Oct. 17: AUs || Free Day 

Oct. 18: Bow and Arrow || “Put that away!”

Oct. 19: Reading || Movies || “This is better.”

Oct. 20: Outfit Swap || Zero to One Hundred

Week 4: Celebration/Festivities (October 21 - 27)

Oct. 21: Day of the Departed || Remembrance 

Oct. 22: Rice || Ketchup || “I’m hungry, can we eat yet?”

Oct. 23: Snacks || Cooking || "I think that's enough, don't you agree?" 

Oct. 24: Gardens || Flowers || Love

Oct. 25: Climbing || Sunny Day

Oct. 26: Dancing || Music || Laughter

Oct. 27: Gifts || Heirlooms || “I did it for you.”

Week 5: Halloween/Spooky Vibes (October 28 - 31)

Oct. 28: Pumpkins || Moon || Cats

Oct. 29: Ghosts || Hauntings || “I would never leave you.”Oct. 30: Costume Party || Witches || Potions Oct. 31: Halloween || Candy || Bats

[madatobiweek]

MadaTobi Week 2024 is Coming!!!

We’re thrilled to announce MadaTobi Week 2024 will take place November 9-16! Each day will have two unrelated prompts. You may use either or both for each day, and there is a free day if none of the prompts are to your taste. 

This event is about having fun and celebrating the MadaTobi ship! The rules are simple and straightforward– make sure your works are new for the event, and that any content warnings are tagged appropriately. We’ll be open for late submissions for one week after the event ends.

If you have any questions, please refer to our links for General FAQ and Rules. Our ask box is also open for any additional questions!

Please note that there will be no buttons/physical merch this year. We’re very excited to see all the content everyone comes up with! 

Rec Day, 🍃 Day 0: Saturday, November 9

This year, we will have a Day 0 dedicated to making recommendations!

Uplift your favorite artists and writers in the fandom by recommending their work! Here are some suggested prompts to get you started, but feel free to use any criteria! You may recommend a single work or multiple, but we encourage you to put them all in one post for ease of browsing. 

Favorite: recommend your personal favorite fic/art/piece of media(s)

List: curate a list of recommendations

Under-appreciated: Make recommendation(s) with <500 kudos on ao3 //100 likes on tumblr/twitter

The week's prompts are also listed under cut:

🍃 Day 1: Sunday, November 10

Fantasy // Court 

🍃 Day 2: Monday, November 11

Time-Travel // Hanahaki 

🍃 Day 3: Tuesday, November 12

Cultural Differences // Traditions 

🍃 Day 4: Wednesday, November 13

Children // Vows

🍃 Day 5: Thursday, November 14

Secret relationship // Seals 

🍃 Day 6: Friday, November 15

Political Hostage // Confessions

🍃 Day 7: Saturday, November 16

Free Day

[cool-thymus]

Rin Week 2023

A drabble and an illustration for the most special girl in Narutoverse.

Day 4 | November 15 Secret

Team Minato; Rin has a secret; Kakashi has a secret; Obito ...is asleep; they are all tipsy; this is supposed to be funny

The shinobi world is a cruel place. If you’re raised a ninja, it often feels like running naked through a nettle field. No matter how fast you are trying to get out, it always stings. Constant pain and misery touch your bare skin, and you slowly get used to it. The shinobi world is greedy too. It takes the people you love and hardly ever returns them. And you are expected to go with it, no questions asked. But as one Red-Hot Habanero shrewdly observed, this world had room for smiles, laughter, and occasional celebration, especially when your loved ones were given back to you. 

A team of three young shinobi of the Hidden Leaf was that lucky. But miracles didn’t just happen for them. They had to claw back their teammate from the darkness and then fight day and night for his life. Cry for each other and hold shaking hands; lose sleep and hug tight.   

Since then, the hardest and the happiest day of their lives turned into an anniversary that was celebrated as the team’s birthday, their own little festival. Kushina and Kakashi would prepare a feast making sure everybody’s favorite dish was on the menu. Rin was in charge of decorations and flowers. Every year she would make a special arrangement for the table and provide small bouquets for her teammates. The location for the celebration was Minato and Obito’s duty. They liked scouting out picturesque spots, preferably near water. The hike was their small ritual: they traveled alone, mostly in silence. Obito felt special because he was on the same task as the captain, but for Minato it was a pilgrimage to the day when he carried the dying boy back to the village cursing himself for every wrong choice he’d made. Now he let Obito lead the way watching how the 16-year-old jumped left and right like a puppy chasing a butterfly. He followed and silently renewed his vow to always have his back, always protect the kid he’d almost lost. 

This year they picked a cabin near a small waterfall. The view was worthy of the occasion, and there were enough rooms to stay overnight. The Namikaze-Uzumaki family had grown a new member who enjoyed the attention and liked making everything about himself. He was three. The baby added the ingenuousness that the team gradually grew out of, and he kept his parents occupied, so that Rin, Obito and Kakashi could have more privacy and party the way they wanted.

However, none of them was a party animal.  

***

“Isn’t he adorable?” Rin said quietly tugging at Kakashi’s sleeve. Obito had rested his head in her lap; his eyes were closed, lips parted; soft snuffling noises made it clear - he was fast asleep. 

“The word is ‘pathetic’, Rin. We didn’t even drink that much, and he’s already out like a light.” Kakashi took another sip of his beverage (being on good terms with the Sannin had its benefits: their favorite genius was allowed a drink of his choice now and then, in moderation though), “Or… maybe he just really wanted to get to his comfort place as soon as possible.”

“You mean he’s dreaming of something comforting?”

“I mean your lap.” 

Rin paused for a moment, startled with the misplaced sarcasm, but then smirked at him and continued stroking Obito’s hair. “Are you trying to be funny or irritating?” 

Kakashi’s snarky comments never worked on her; at least they never escalated into a full-scale fight like they did with Obito. Rin was just… smarter. If Kakashi all of a sudden started showing his sassy attitude, it only meant he was uncomfortable. She reached for his face and playfully squeezed his cheek like she would with their captain’s little son. 

“Rin, are you trying to be … cheeky right now?” He barely finished the sentence as they both started giggling. Making terrible jokes was their thing, especially when they were tipsy like that. 

“What is it, Kakashi? How did he piss you off this time?” 

“He didn’t. Everything’s fine.” 

“Come on now. You know you’ll feel better if you tell me. Is it because he kept teasing you about that girl?”

Kakashi pulled his mask down and drank some more, then he looked at Rin, the mask still under his chin. 

“Bingo,” said the girl with a half-smile. “You know he’s not trying to be insensitive, right? It’s just that you never talk to him about this kind of stuff, and he probably needs it. So he’s simply trying to start a conversation with you.”

Kakashi turned his gaze to the floor in front of him pulling his yukata over his knees.

“I know we’ve been over this, but… why don’t you just tell him?”

“Let’s not do this tonight, Rin.”

“You told me…”

“It was different with you! You had a thing for me, and it wouldn’t be fa…” 

Rin quickly pressed her finger to his lips, “Yeah-yeah! Let’s pretend you told me because I’m your best friend and not recollect the moment I made a fool of myself?”

Kakashi took her hand in his, bowed his head and pressed his forehead to the back of Rin’s hand, “I’m still sorry about that by the way.”

“Hatake Kakashi, stop being so suave, or my inappropriate feelings will return again!” 

They both started laughing causing Obito to stir in his sleep. Rin pulled Kakashi closer, and he moved to sit next to her, their attention returning to the sleeping teammate. 

“Although… he was kind of an ass to you today,” whispered Rin. “Do you want to teach him a lesson?”

“I might wanna teach him a lesson, yes. About the importance of respecting other people’s boundaries,” Kakashi whispered jokingly, but then, to his surprise, Rin carefully lifted Obito’s head, laid it onto Kakashi’s lap, and sprang to her feet.

“What are you doing?” 

“Be right back. Don’t wake him up!” she shot back and dashed to the hall.

Obito’s head felt heavy. Without Rin in the room, it was too quiet, and Kakashi could hear his friend’s breathing: in and out, the chest rising and falling, slowly, evenly; no gasping for air. “Good job, buddy. You’re doing a great job, just keep breathing, okay? Just like that.” His own words from a long time ago echoed in his mind, but he suppressed them right away reminding himself that there was no need to monitor Obito’s breathing anymore. He was okay now.     

Rin suddenly reappeared next to Kakashi, eyes sparkling with mischief. Noticing that his hands were still hovering near Obito’s temples, she gently nudged Kakashi out of his trance. When his eyes gained focus again she proudly demonstrated a black marker that she'd fished out from Kushina’s bag with the baby stuff.

“Are you actually going to draw on his face? Like a five-year-old?”

“Yep! Can you steady his head a bit, Mr. Boring?”

Kakashi’s hands reluctantly landed on Obito’s cheeks tilting his head in Rin’s direction. She proceeded to draw a funny-looking beard and a mustache. 

“You know, he can’t grow a beard anyway, so this is offensive as hell. Keep drawing.”

Rin raised her eyes at Kakashi covering her mouth to stifle a laugh. Then she started to draw a pair of very thick eyebrows. 

“Oh, that’s just cruel! He’ll never forgive you for making him look like Gai.”

“Me? Who said I was responsible for this? It’s totally your doing,” she said in a mockingly indignant tone as she traced out ‘Kakashi did this’ on Obito’s cheeks. 

“Hey! He’d happily let you off the hook, but me?! I’ll never see the end of it!”

Rin ignored Kakashi’s words, admiring her work. 

“Isn’t he adorable?” Having said that, she was carefully watching her friend whose left hand was still resting on Obito’s cheek. 

“Yeah… he is.”

“Kakashi, you can tell him. He’ll be okay with it, I promise.” 

There was a minute of silence between them.

“But you can’t promise me that, Rin. What if he’s simply weirded out by it? Or feels uncomfortable? What if he stops hanging out with me at all?”

“That’s not gonna ha…”

“I know! I know this is probably not gonna happen, but what if it does? What if I'm not a part of his life anymore? You were there, Rin; it was hell without him. I’m just… I’m not ready. I’m not ready to lose him… again.”

“Kakashi, you idiot! Did you really think I would…” Obito opened his eyes and tried to prop himself up with his elbows, but in an instant a very precise hand hit several chakra points on his neck knocking him unconscious. 

“Kakashi! You can’t do that! Why did you hit him?!” 

“It was a reflex, okay!” They both leaned over to check on Obito.

“Has he been awake the entire time?” Kakashi was getting worried.

“How should I know? Seriously, Kakashi, I just wanted you to be honest with your best friend, and you go and do this?!”

“I said I didn’t mean to knock him out, okay?! And by the way, maybe you should stop berating me? It’s not like you’re completely honest with him either. Did you have enough courage to tell him about your secret nurse-boyfriend?”

“Rin?! You have a bo…” Obito regained consciousness but only for a few seconds before another hand made him pass out again.

“RIN!”

“I’m sorry!” 

@rinweek2023

[black-arcana]

EVANESCENCE To Enter Studio In November

During an interview with 89 FM A Rádio Rock at the Rock In Rio festival in Brazil on September 15, EVANESCENCE's Amy Lee was asked about the band's plans for the coming months. She responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We're in the creative process right now, but we're not deep in the throes of it yet. We've been doing a lot of creating, and we just have, like, tons of ideas. So we're gonna get serious and get in the studio in November for the first round. Round one."

EVANESCENCE will embark on its first headline tour across Canada in 15 years this fall. Produced by Live Nation Canada, the trek kicks off on October 15 in Vancouver, British Columbia, hitting cities nationwide before wrapping on October 29 in London, Ontario. EVANESCENCE will be joined by special guests, post-grunge/metal rockers HALESTORM across all stops. Alternative sister trio THE WARNING will open all shows.

Delivering a number of dynamic rock hits over the last two decades, EVANESCENCE recently celebrated the 20th anniversary of its landmark debut album, "Fallen", originally released in 2003. They recognized the milestone with a special anniversary edition of the smash album, which spawned gigantic rock hits like "Bring Me To Life", "Going Under" and "My Immortal", kickstarting a thriving career they're still carrying out today.

To date, EVANESCENCE has released a total of five studio albums, including the multi-platinum "The Open Door" (2004) and "Evanescence" (2011),both of which topped the Billboard 200. In 2021, the band thrilled fans with their first album of new material in a decade, "The Bitter Truth". Now 20 years on, EVANESCENCE continues to scale new heights. Featuring a lineup of Amy Lee (vocals, keyboards),Tim McCord (guitar/bass),Will Hunt (drums),Troy McLawhorn (guitars) and Emma Anzai (bass, backing vocals),the band continues to travel the globe, staging some of the most successful shows of their career, having wrapped a run of sold-out shows in Latin America, including Allianz Parque, a soccer stadium in Sāo Paulo, Brazil, which was the biggest headline show of EVANESCENCE's career to date, drawing 40,000 fans.

Shortly following its release in March 2021, "The Bitter Truth" rose to the top of the iTunes Album charts in 22 countries and also landed the top spot on Billboard's Top Hard Rock Albums chart.

EVANESCENCE first topped the Hard Rock Albums chart in October 2011 with its self-titled effort. The album stayed atop the list for three weeks.

"The Bitter Truth" was recorded during the pandemic and confronted the dark realities of the world head-on. Yet its resounding message was one of light: pushing through is better than giving up.

[louisupdates]

Photo credit: BMG / Joshua Halling

After nearly two-hundred live performances spanning two international tours, Louis Tomlinson is celebrating the end of era on the road that spanned three years. On Thursday, the musician shared Live, a record captured across 15 different shows in 15 different cities.

“I’ve been lucky enough to spend the last 3 years touring the world twice over, the feeling I get sharing those live moments will be with me forever,” Tomlinson shared in a statement. “To be able to record these songs from all over the world and put them out as an album like this feels so special, and a real tribute to the fans who make each and every show feel unique and incredible. Thank you! Enjoy!”

The album features live performances from both the Louis Tomlinson World Tour — which was cut short in 2020 and resumed in 2022 — and the Faith in the Future World Tour, which kicked off in 2023 in support of the singer’s sophomore studio album of the same name. Combined, the tours included 170 shows in 47 countries across 5 continents.

Tomlinson captured performances of popular singles “We Made It” and “Walls” from his debut solo album Walls and “Written All Over Your Face,” “Silver Tongues,” and “Out of My System” from Faith in the Future. The album features recordings from London, Nashville, Vancouver, Barcelona, Chicago, Budapest, Paris, and more.

The digital version of Live is available now, with physical editions for the record set for release on Aug. 23 on a double CD and 2LP picture disc vinyl.

Louis Tomlinson Live Tracklist

“The Greatest” (Live From London, 17 November 2023)

“Face The Music” (Live From Nashville, 18 July 2023)

“Bigger Than Me” (Live From Vancouver, 26 June 2023)

“Holding On To Heartache” (Live From Barcelona, 6 October 2023)

“We Made It” (Live From Manila, 16 July 2022)

“Chicago” (Live From Chicago, 15 June 2023)

“Fearless” (Live From Rio, 27 May 2022)

“Common People” (Live From Sheffield, 10 November 2023)

“All This Time / She Is Beauty We Are World Class” (Live From Munich, 22 October 2023)

“Walls” (Live From Buenos Aires, 21 May 2022)

“Written All Over Your Face” (Live From Budapest, 15 September 2023)

“Out Of My System” (Live From Brisbane, 30 January 2024)

“Saturdays” (Live From Paris, 14 October 2023)

“Silver Tongues” (Live From Krakow, 10 September 2023)

FULL ARTICLE, 25.4.2024

[dreamings-free]

Live was captured across 15 different shows in 15 different cities over the course of three years while the singer embarked on two world tours

April 25, 2024 by Larisha Paul

After nearly two-hundred live performances spanning two international tours, Louis Tomlinson is celebrating the end of era on the road that spanned three years. On Thursday, the musician shared Live, a record captured across 15 different shows in 15 different cities.

“I’ve been lucky enough to spend the last 3 years touring the world twice over, the feeling I get sharing those live moments will be with me forever,” Tomlinson shared in a statement. “To be able to record these songs from all over the world and put them out as an album like this feels so special, and a real tribute to the fans who make each and every show feel unique and incredible. Thank you! Enjoy!”

The album features live performances from both the Louis Tomlinson World Tour — which was cut short in 2020 and resumed in 2022 — and the Faith in the Future World Tour, which kicked off in 2023 in support of the singer’s sophomore studio album of the same name. Combined, the tours included 170 shows in 47 countries across 5 continents.

Tomlinson captured performances of popular singles “We Made It” and “Walls” from his debut solo album Walls and “Written All Over Your Face,” “Silver Tongues,” and “Out of My System” from Faith in the Future. The album features recordings from London, Nashville, Vancouver, Barcelona, Chicago, Budapest, Paris, and more.

The digital version of Live is available now, with physical editions for the record set for release on Aug. 23 on a double CD and 2LP picture disc vinyl.

Louis Tomlinson Live Tracklist “The Greatest” (Live From London, 17 November 2023) “Face The Music” (Live From Nashville, 18 July 2023) “Bigger Than Me” (Live From Vancouver, 26 June 2023) “Holding On To Heartache” (Live From Barcelona, 6 October 2023) “We Made It” (Live From Manila, 16 July 2022) “Chicago” (Live From Chicago, 15 June 2023) “Fearless” (Live From Rio, 27 May 2022) “Common People” (Live From Sheffield, 10 November 2023) “All This Time / She Is Beauty We Are World Class” (Live From Munich, 22 October 2023) “Walls” (Live From Buenos Aires, 21 May 2022) “Written All Over Your Face” (Live From Budapest, 15 September 2023) “Out Of My System” (Live From Brisbane, 30 January 2024) “Saturdays” (Live From Paris, 14 October 2023) “Silver Tongues” (Live From Krakow, 10 September 2023)

[hldailyupdate]

Louis Tomlinson has dropped a surprise album ‘Live’ – featuring songs that he recorded at 15 shows across 15 different cities.

Announced and shared yesterday (April 25), the album comes after the singer and former One Direction member embarked on two world tours over the past three years – playing just shy of 200 shows globally.

Now, a variety of performances from both tours – the ‘Louis Tomlinson World Tour’ and the ‘Faith in the Future World Tour’ – have been compiled into a new live album, which is available now.

Fifteen songs are included in the tracklist, and each was recorded in a different city, at a different show from across the three-year run. The album comes in both digital and physical formats, and features his singles including ‘Bigger Than Me’, ‘We Made It, ‘Walls’ and ‘Out Of My System’, alongside fan favourite album tracks, all released live for the very first time.

“I’ve been lucky enough to spend the last 3 years touring the world twice over. The feeling I get sharing those live moments will be with me forever,” Tomlinson said in a statement. “To be able to record these songs from all over the world and put them out as an album like this feels so special, and a real tribute to the fans who make each and every show feel unique and incredible. Thank you! Enjoy!”

There are four exclusive tracks split between the physical editions of ‘Live’, including a special version of the One Direction classic ‘Where Do Broken Hearts Go’ – which is available only on the double CD.

Accompanying video clips of compiled tour footage will be shared on Louis’s social channels to support the release, showcasing a glimpse into his past three years on the road and 170 performances.

The ‘Live’ tracklist is:

‘The Greatest’ (Live From London, 17 November 2023) ‘Face The Music’ (Live From Nashville, 18 July 2023) ‘Bigger Than Me’ (Live From Vancouver, 26 June 2023) ‘Holding On To Heartache’ (Live From Barcelona, 6 October 2023) ‘We Made It’ (Live From Manila, 16 July 2022) ‘Chicago’ (Live From Chicago, 15 June 2023) ‘Fearless’ (Live From Rio, 27 May 2022) ‘Common People’ (Live From Sheffield, 10 November 2023) ‘All This Time / She Is Beauty We Are World Class’ (Live From Munich, 22 October 2023) ‘Walls’ (Live From Buenos Aires, 21 May 2022) ‘Written All Over Your Face’ (Live From Budapest, 15 September 2023) ‘Out Of My System’ (Live From Brisbane, 30 January 2024) ‘Saturdays’ (Live From Paris, 14 October 2023) ‘Silver Tongues’ (Live From Krakow, 10 September 2023)

At time of writing, Tomlinson has shared two huge solo albums since departing from One Direction. His debut album arrived in the firm of 2020’s ‘Walls’, which has sold over 1.5 million copies, and the follow-up was called ‘Faith In The Future’. The latter went to Number One in the UK, Spain and Belgium, and Top 5 in the USA, Australia, New Zealand and across Europe.

Since May last year, Tomlinson has been on his ‘Faith In The Future World Tour’, which hits South America next month for its final leg. From there, the vocalist has a number of festival appearances lined up for the summer. Find remaining tickets to his shows here.

In other Louis Tomlinson news, earlier this week the singer, alongside Courteeners and English Teacher, were among the acts to be honoured at the first-ever Northern Music Awards.

The inaugural ceremony was hosted by the UK’s largest music therapy charity, Nordoff And Robbins and took place at the Albert Hall in Manchester; celebrating northern artists, festivals, venues and industry figures. The event saw Tomlinson named as Artist Of The Year.

[castawavy]

November Save MEGA summary (part 5)

before / next

so where we left off, june and steve had moved to the bay area to be closer to erica, but also out in the countryside where life is a bit more peaceful 💖 june I think is still commuting to the city, but steve is a stay-at-home dad and quit working at the blue velvet, but in my mind he teaches piano lessons from home a bit

adelaide started at high school and made some friends

then, on the weekend they decided to take a family trip out to the lighthouse together, just to celebrate moving and to get to know the area a bit more. adelaide and elijah went up to the viewing area at the top and took some goofy pictures for grandma

and meanwhile, steve and june explored to beach together, and steve finally proposed :>

and then they told the kids who were super excited, and then went to erica's to break the news shes been waiting like 15 years to hear lmao

as a side note, steve quit smoking (FINALLY)

so congratulations to him I guess

june and him then decided they wanted to go and surprise their friends in the city with news of their engagement, but adelaide gave them grief about having to stay and babysit elijah ☠

(sadly I have no photos of them telling their friends) but when they were back they did some cake tasting in town

landon also came over one night to watch a movie with adelaide, but he decided to take things further

fast forwarding a bit but I also threw a bachelor party for steve, the day before the wedding

and then finally, the big day arrived (and you can imagine my stress, I even built an entire venue for it LMAO) the bridesmaids and june all gathered there earlier to get ready

and steve and elijah arrived later with erica to finish setting up, and he had him set the tables

adie didn't help at all she just came down to cause mischief and steal strawberries

and then finally the ceremony, and some of my favourite photos ive ever taken at a sims wedding

which I'll have to resume in the next part because I reached the 30 photo limit!!!

before / next

[tmbgareok]

Big touring over the next three months! Australia! The UK and Ireland! US east coast! Best links at www.TMBG.com.

Hey everyone. John F. here. Normally, I would just speak this in a Vibe Report on YouTube, but there are too many important links here and too much granular information to not deliver it in text form! I want to bring everyone up to date on all these shows coming up, and the second shows that have been added where shows have sold out. 

We are in Australia starting in the beginning of October (!) and in the UK and Ireland in November (!) playing Flood shows where over the night we play all the songs off the LP. All of the shows are "an evening with" which means no opener/starts early, and we are joined by our 8-piece band. ADDED! 1 Oct Adelaide https://bit.ly/4aZS1eF 2 Oct Adelaide SOLD OUT 4 Oct Sydney SOLD OUT 5 Oct Sydney SOLD OUT ADDED! 7 Oct Brisbane https://bit.ly/qRl1At 8 Oct Brisbane https://bit.ly/3Li9hAD 10 Oct Melbourne https://bit.ly/s7Ez8q 11 Oct Melbourne SOLD OUT 13 Oct Perth SOLD OUT ADDED! 14 Oct Perth https://bit.ly/A3d5T

1 Nov Southampton https://bit.ly/PlQ92z 2 Nov Cambridge SOLD OUT 3 Nov London https://bit.ly/3UrQpDe 5 Nov Glasgow SOLD OUT 6 Nov Newcastle https://bit.ly/zZwQ8b 8 Nov Belfast https://bit.ly/3JUEEQV 9 Nov Dublin SOLD OUT 12 Nov Manchester SOLD OUT 13 Nov Leeds SOLD OUT 15 Nov Nottingham SOLD OUT 16 Nov Bristol SOLD OUT 17 Nov London SOLD OUT In December we'll be out with the Big Show Tour where we spotlight a different album each night of a stand. One show in each market will be a celebration of our John Henry album. That's 1 of 2 in Philly, 1 of 3 in DC, 1 of 1 in Brooklyn (!?!), and 1 of 2 in Boston! Which night will that happen? Time will tell...

12.5 Philadelphia SOLD OUT 12.6 Philadelphia SOLD OUT 12.7 Washington DC SOLD OUT 12.8 Washington DC SOLD OUT 12.9 Washington DC SOLD OUT 12.13 Brooklyn https://bit.ly/TMBG121324 12.14 Boston 1 https://bit.ly/TMBG121424 12.15 Boston 2 https://bit.ly/TMBG121524 AN IMPORTANT NOTE FOR FOLKS WHO BOUGHT TICKETS LAST YEAR –– THESE RESCHEDULED SHOWS ARE FOR YOU!

Australia and British Isle ticket holders: your current tickets are valid for these new dates. Be sure to have your ticket confirmation email AND update your personal calendars NOW to avoid confusion later. In cities where we play multiple nights (Adelaide, Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, London), your ticket’s original date MUST match the new rescheduled date. These shows are mostly sold out, and that guy at the door won’t take tickets for other nights.

SO BE SURE TO MATCH YOUR TICKET TO THE SPECIFIC RESCHEDULED SHOW. (Many of these shows have also sold out, and additional shows have been added so CHECK THE DATE ON YOUR TICKET and match it to this very complete bit of information.)

Adelaide! The show booked originally on 8/10/23 is now on the 2nd of October

Sydney! The show booked originally on 6/10/23 is now on the 4th of October

Sydney! The show booked originally on 14/10/23 is now on the 5th of October

Brisbane! The show booked originally on 4/10/23 is now on the 7th of October 

Brisbane! The show booked originally on 5/10/23 is now on the 8th of October 

Melbourne! The show booked originally on 15/10/23 is now on the 10th of October 

Melbourne ! The show booked originally on 7/10/23 is now on the 11th of October 

Perth! The show booked originally on 11/10/23 is now on the 13th of October

London! The show booked originally on 5/11/23 is now on the 3rd of November London! The show booked originally on 18/11/23 is now on the 17th of November

[pitbabeanniversary]

Thai BL Vroom Vroom Omegaverse Anniversary

Hi Pit Babe fans! To celebrate Pit Babe's upcoming 1-year anniversary, we're running a rewatch event, and we need your help narrowing down a schedule that works best for the most people.

Because S2 is coming up likely around the end of the year, we realized that a 3-month watch schedule could overlap with S2, making it harder for people to start S2 with a full S1 refresh.

We also want to balance out the needs of people who already have too much BL to watch and those who need to be able to binge-watch.

So we've come up with 3 different options, centered around the one-year anniversary of Episode 1: Sunday, November 17th.

1 episode a week, starting on November 17th and ending on February 9th

2 episodes a week, starting on September 29th and ending on November 17th

3 episodes a week, starting on November 17th and ending on December 15th

[serknighted]

**November 16th Edit: Prompts are being sent out on Friday! Thank you for your patience.**

Attention All Vault 111 Residents!

As the Holidays approach, it is with our utmost excitement to announce that we will be having a special occasion planned just for this year; a secret gift-giving ceremony for all of this vault's lovely dwellers!

To celebrate the beautiful Fallout 4 community for the Holidays, I've devised a visual art form of a Secret Santa! Here's what you need to enter (send this via DM to the accounts listed below);

At least a half-body reference of your Sole Survivor

A brief description of their personality

List out one gift they'd like, and one gift they'd dislike, as well as their reactions upon being given either of these gifts! (Remember to keep it age appropriate, and be mindful of the subject material. No NSFW material.)

If there's anything else important to your character that you feel needs to be disclosed (such as drawing certain features), add those as well. [optional]

When the final applicant day approaches (Wednesday, November 15, 2023 at 12:00AM EST), you'll be given a random person's Sole Survivor to draw, as well as the prompt to draw them with either a gift they love, or a gift they hate. Try to stick to the writing given to you! Once you are given your prompt, you have 40 days, or until Tuesday, December 26th, 2023 at 12:00AM EST to finish your final drawing. Please do not post your secret Santa before Christmas Day, nor show it to the recipient. It's supposed to be a surprise!

While you do not have to post your art if either you or the owner of the character do not wish to, I would appreciate seeing every submission made! To apply for this Secret Santa, please message me (Serknighted on Tumblr, Yupknight on Instagram, or Serknight on Discord) with the following requirements listed above. If, for whatever reason, you cannot contact me, please comment, and I will find a way to get into contact with you. <3

If, for whatever reason, you cannot participate in the Secret Santa after entering, PLEASE try and contact me before November 15th. However, if there are complications after that, I'm happy to message privately about it. 

Happy Holidays, and congratulations on another successful year in the Vault! 

-Vault-Tec

[dreamauri]

‧˚⊹ 𝗱𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗶 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 ଓ :: 𝗠𝗩𝟭 ‧₊˚⤾

you are reading :: part eleven !!

╭╯ pairing . . . max verstappen x fem! driver! reader ) ┊ summary . . . after the rain there will always be a rainbow, waiting just for you ) ┊ genre . . . fluff / sad ) ╰╮ warning . . . google translated german )

( fic masterlist | general masterlist ) ( requests ) ( taglist )

early November 2006 — Stuttgart Germany

"Ich bin verängstigt." [im scared] It was easy for your opponents to see the glint of fear in your eyes when you passed, something that would give them an advantage in the next 15 minutes. It was raining heavily with 75% chance of lighting. You walked under the umbrella through to where your kart was waiting for you, holding hands with your dad.

Leon crouched in front of you, putting both his warm hands on your colder cheeks. "Es gibt nichts, wovor du Angst haben musst, mein Herz." [there's nothing to be scared of, my heart] He pulled you in a gentle hug which you returned immediately. Gripping the material of his shirt, you did your best to even your breath to match your father's while he rubbed your back in a comforting manner. "Deine Mutter ist hier bei dir. Erinnere dich daran, was sie gesagt hat. "[your mother is here with you. remember what she said]

You hummed nodding, pulling away from the hug but still sticking close to your father. "Ich vertraue dir, meine Sonnenblume. Ich habe keinen Zweifel daran, dass Sie Ihr volles Potenzial entfalten werden." [i have faith in you, my sunflower. i have no doubt that you will preform to your full potential]

"Und selbst wenn du es nicht tust, ist es mir egal, solange du sicher zu mir zurückkehrst." [and even if you don't, I don't care as long as you return to me safe] He lifted you gently from your waist, setting you in your kart, helping you with your helmet and straps.

"Komm zu mir zurück." [come back to me] He put your hand on his heart, using his other hand to pull your helmet to press against his head gently. "Versprich mir, dass du in Sicherheit bleibst." [promise me you'll stay safe] "Ich verspreche." [i promise]

★ ☆ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"I am where the rain follows." You mumbled to yourself. There was barely a view to look at from the window of your driver's room, yet the FiA still enforced the race.

'You still remember that?' Looking back in the mirror, other you was laying on the couch reading through diary of a wimpy kid. "Well, yeah." You fiddled with your fingers nervously.

Driving in the rain or snow was never a problem for you. Never ever. But why were you so nervous now? Walking beside your engineer as coffin nails played in your ear, you looked up at the cloud nervously. People roaming around can smell the fear off of your skin, like hungry sharks waiting to see your downfall.

It wasn't helping. Your heart beat and breathing were picking up as the harsh sound from the clouds penetrated past your headphones with each strike. You didn't like that sound. The movements you were inducing to the rubics cube in your hand increasing in speed with each step and each beat of thunder.

You found your self whimpering, heaving, pulling against your performance coach who tried to carry and put you in the car like a 5 year old ( since you tried to argue your way out ). You didn't want to. And you looked absolutely ridiculous.

Commentator, celebrities, and other drivers alike stopped to watch your struggle to escape and fail miserably.

"It's lights out and away we go."

1 :: a panic attack. You were having a panic attack. Holding P2 against your older brother and attacking Max for P1.

The sky was only dripping despite the occasional roar that made you flinch and jump in your seat. Your lungs were heavy, too heavy to the point you had to remind your self to breath.

26 :: "The rain is picking up, we are going to box for intermediates. inters. We're boxing for inters." "NO NO. SOFTS SOFTS SOFTS SOFTS. BOXING FOR SOFTS. BOXING FOR SOF-"

The whole grid thought you were crazy ( you were, there's no denying that ) as they listened to the speakers beep and your voice plead for the insane request.

"Softs? Y/N it is raining heavily. We are boxing for inters-" "WE ARE BOXING FOR SOFT-" Meike ( a few cars behind you ), who was following along with the conversation, felt himself flinch hearing your scream over the lightning strikes. Your sobs followed soon after and the radio was cut off ( to salvage the bits of reputation you had left ).

42 :: you couldn't stop crying. Like a seven year old that was hiding under her bed, scared from the sky's noise. Your teem wheeled you into the garage for red flag while you leaned your head in your hands, trying to shut yourself up. You did end up on softs, and in your opinion, it was the best decision you took yet.

You weren't sliding out gliding, you were using the rain to your advantage. There was practically no friction and you were flying past all the other cars, minus Killian and Meike, who like the crazy assholes were ( half-struggling ) on slicks because risking your life was genetical.

"You want tooo . . . hop out maybe? It's good weather for hot chocolate" "—No." You sniffled through the radio, feeling your heart rate pick up and body flinch from the increasing amount of lighting strikes. "Hey, Y/N—" "I got it." "Excuse— Hey!—" Your PR, who had come in attempt to comfort you tried to hold her ground against your father, who was pushing her away. Everyone in the garage stopped to watch the five-time world champion, totally out of habitat. Maybe they could sue and money off of him?

"Sir—" "Can I not get a moment with my daughter?" He was too scary for her to deal with. She had to stand a few feet away, watching in case she had to step in and kick him out ( it would be a dream come true for most people, to have that power over leon kraus, cause who wouldn't want to kick him out? ).

Max and Killian, who were jogging over from the same direction, froze in shock at the edge of your garage ( joined by Meike who was just gave a jealous frown ) upon seeing you sobbing form in your father's arms, who pat your back gently and took your helmet off. "I think he might have been reserving the soft dad energy for his sunflower." "He calls her sunflower?" Max looked between you and Killian confused.

"I didn't even know he was here." Meike gave a shrug to Max before making a beeline to join his twin and father. "I thought they weren't on good terms." Max questioned, leaning on one legs and raising his eyebrows surprised, watching you pull your twin ( more like tug because you grabbed him full force ) on the floor with you to join the hug.

"Well, that's a family meeting." Killian nodded, patting Max's shoulder firmly, looking him deep in his eyes. "We are still going to talk about Monaco. You're a dead man, Verstappen." He ( not ) joked as he walked to join the hug where he was also forcibly pulled in by you.

Max stood awkwardly on the side, waiting for his turn to hug you ( which sadly like for two seconds before the restart ).

68 :: "Is Meike okay?" You asked through sniffles as you passed your brother glided out on a corner. "He's still in, 5 seconds behind." "Ok, ok." You nodded, trying to even your breath. "You are currently P3, 9.5 seconds behind Killian. There are two more laps left, you have pace. Please try to—" "IM P3?" Your engineer flinched at the loud noise, watching you with a deep sigh as you passed in front of him, overtaking the Mercedes.

final lap :: "YAAAA!" You were still crying ( slightly, just the tears and sniffles ) as you drove to finish line, wheel to wheel with your older brother. And although you remained in P3 after a mistake around the hair pin, you were on the podium, in an Alpha Tauri mind you.

"What a drive." You heard over the speakers as you jumped out of your car. Pulling your balaclava, tears continued to stream down your eyes, happy one this time as you walked to your father, who was quietly waiting for you among your crew.

"Warum weinst du? Es ist keine Zeit zum Weinen." [why are you crying? there's no time to cry] He lightly scolded, wiping your tears with a towel ( that he hasn't been keeping warm and dry in the rain for you ). "Gehen. Bevor Sie eine Erkältung bekommen." [go. before you get a cold] He shooed, droping the towel on your wet hair.

★ ☆ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"If I had to chose, I'd go with turn 10— Max!" Your eyes visibly brightened as you saw the blond come up from behind you. "I was looking for you." He returned your smile as you turned to face him. "Sorry," He apologized to the interviewer with a small smile as he pulled you in a hug.

Your heads went both directions and you were quick to pull away with a laugh before things got recorded on camera. "Oops—" You chuckled, laying your head on his other, shoulder, wrapping your arms around him. "We almost kissed each other." His voice was faint but his eyes were bright and it was clear he felt joy with you in his arms, his body flush against yours. "That was very close," He patted you back chuckling. "But there's nothing wrong with that."

"Max!" You pulled away, smacking his chest embarrassed. "You're dead!" You both turned to see Meike hopping over the fence. "Sorry." Max waved at the interviewer before throwing you over his shoulder and making an escape.

The other drivers couldn't help but stop and watch as Yuki, Meike and Killian chased Max in circles with you laughing and dangling from his shoulder. You looked . . . happier. Brighter was the word. Sure you were crying a few hours ago but it was a different type of crying. Some drivers who raced against you before 2023 could recognize you. It was nice to finally meet you, Y/N. Properly meet you.

★ ☆ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"What'd you get?" You peaked over his shoulder, looking at the box in his hands. "I'm not sharing." Max pulled the box out of your reach when you tried to pull a fry out of the shawarma box. "What did you get?" He turned the question around and showed him the beef carpaccio you somehow salvadged.

The two of you held intense eye contact before ultimately deciding to share. You leaned your head on his shoulder, watching the lights from the water fall change colours. Max had rented out a car and drove with you to Niagara falls ( again ). It was different this time, the way he held your hands or the way you two sang songs together while you sat on the hood.

You liked this. You felt . . . very comfortable with Max. Never in your life had you thought the young boy you shared all your podiums with would be the one you sneaked kisses to before retreating to your hotel room to shower.

Only to meet up with him again in secret and drive to another province in the middle of the night to watch the waterfall while sharing food. The thought or idea of you sneaking back into the hotel with max, dragging him down the hall as you tried to supress your giggles. Fumbling for the correct key card and jumping in his room were he littered your face and skin with kisses and love bites.

You loved Max, didn't you.

★ ☆ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━