#Australia Tour Prices

[wanderbirdholidays]

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[thepastisapebbleinmyshoe]

It looks like, laundry piling up, spending days, not getting out of bed. Being irritated, at every little thing, and feeling on edge.

There's nothing beautiful, about having PTSD, but in it’s wounds, I found all the parts of me, that needed to be loved.

PTSD

"She Planted Her Own Flowers"

Dymocks Books & Gifts - A young William Dymock (1861-1900) started a bookselling business on Pitt Street in Sydney. William was an engaging young man and knew his business well. He became the largest bookseller in the colony and as his business grew, he moved to bigger and grander premises until, in the 1890s he moved his business into the southern wing of the Royal Hotel in George Street, Sydney – starting the company's long association with the site. William's business was advertised as "the largest Book Shop in the world, holding more than one million books".

[medhey]

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[diamondwatchfactory]

Graff Watch’s factory boasts advanced machinery and a team of highly skilled artisans

Graff Watch’s factory boasts advanced machinery and a team of highly skilled artisans

As a renowned diamond watch factory, Graff Watch is synonymous with luxury and aesthetics. Each Graff watch is meticulously crafted by experienced artisans in their state-of-the-art facility.

graff watch diamon factory

Impeccable design is at the heart of Graff Watch. Their designers merge innovation and tradition to create unique yet timeless aesthetics. They seamlessly integrate the diamond’s splendor with the watch’s structure, showcasing unparalleled intricacy in every detail. Whether it’s intricate dial textures, exquisite setting techniques, or precise hands and markers, each element is thoughtfully designed to exude unmatched elegance.

Craftsmen play a crucial role in the watchmaking process. Graff Watch’s factory boasts advanced machinery and a team of highly skilled artisans. They skillfully and securely set diamonds into the watch movement, ensuring both beauty and durability. Throughout the production process, Graff Watch strictly controls every aspect, from material selection to final assembly, aiming to guarantee the highest quality standards.

Graff Watch’s diamond watches are not just symbols of luxury but also artistic masterpieces. They go beyond timekeeping, serving as a tribute to exquisite craftsmanship. When you wear a Graff Watch diamond timepiece, you experience unparalleled luxury and supreme quality.

In the world of Graff Watch, diamonds are not merely dazzling adornments; they represent confidence and a pursuit of excellence. Each watch embodies Graff Watch’s relentless pursuit of perfection and understanding of the essence of time. Whether you’re a fashion enthusiast drawn to intricate designs or a collector enamored by rare pieces, a Graff Watch diamond timepiece caters to your pursuit of luxury and quality. Wearing a Graff Watch allows you to become a master of time, radiating unique charm and sophistication.

[evermoredeluxe]

Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour Grand Total: A Record $2 Billion

By Ben Sisario

For the last 21 months, Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour has been the biggest thing in music — a phenomenon that has engulfed pop culture, dominated news coverage and boosted local economies around the world.

Now we know exactly how big.

Through its 149th and final show, which took place in Vancouver, British Columbia, on Sunday, Swift’s tour sold a total of $2,077,618,725 in tickets. That’s two billion and change — double the gross ticket sales of any other concert tour in history and an extraordinary new benchmark for a white-hot international concert business.

Those figures were confirmed to The New York Times for the first time by Taylor Swift Touring, the singer’s production company. While the financial details of the Eras Tour have been a subject of constant industry speculation since tickets were first offered more than two years ago — through a presale so in-demand it crashed Ticketmaster’s system — Swift has never authorized disclosure of the tour’s numbers until now.

The official results are not far from the estimates that trade journalists and industry analysts have been crunching for months. But they solidify the enormous scale of Swift’s accomplishment. Just a few months ago, Billboard magazine reported that Coldplay had set an industry record with $1 billion in ticket sales for its 156-date Music of the Spheres World Tour — a figure that is just half of Swift’s total for a similar stretch of shows in stadiums and arenas.

Every date on the Eras Tour was sold out, and spare tickets were scalped at eye-popping prices — or traded within the protective Swiftie fan community, often at face value.

According to Swift’s touring company, a total of 10,168,008 people attended the concerts, which means that, on average, each seat went for about $204. That is well above the industry average of $131 for the top 100 tours around the world in 2023, according to Pollstar, a trade publication.

The biggest single night’s attendance was in Melbourne, Australia, on Feb. 16, 2024, with 96,006. And Swift’s eight nights at Wembley Stadium in London, which she played more than any other venue, drew 753,112 people — about as many as live in Seattle.

As gigantic as they are, the figures revealed by Swift’s company are only part of the overall business that has surrounded the tour. They exclude her extraordinary merchandise sales, for example, a product line so in demand that Swift opened stadium sales booths a day early in some markets to sell T-shirts, hoodies and Christmas ornaments to fans, ticketed or not.

And they do not count the secondary market of online ticket resellers. According to StubHub, the Eras Tour was the biggest-selling tour in the platform’s two-decade history, and last year it outsold Beyoncé’s shows by a factor of five. Another ticketing company, Victory Live, said the average price for resold tickets to the Eras Tour’s three Vancouver dates was $2,952. (Swift earned nothing from resold tickets.)

Beyond its numbers, the Eras Tour has been a mega-event that elevated the already-super-famous Swift to a new level, making her an epochal symbol of cultural saturation on the level of the Beatles in the 1960s or Michael Jackson in his ’80s prime. Swift’s every onstage utterance, outfit swap or offstage sighting was thoroughly documented, on social media and in the mainstream press, with news outlets big and small rushing to capture Swifties’ clicks. Online, fans tracked every tweak to the three-hour-plus set lists.

As the story of Swift’s tour took shape, it seemed to contain its own eras within it. First, in November 2022, came the ticket fiasco, when Ticketmaster was overwhelmed by what it said were 3.5 billion online requests for tickets, many from scalpers’ bots. The furor over those problems led to a Senate Judiciary hearing in January 2023, at which lawmakers from both parties openly called Ticketmaster’s corporate parent, Live Nation, a monopoly. (This year, the Justice Department filed an antitrust suit against Live Nation, calling for a breakup of the company.)

Then came the tour and the folkways that developed around it, like fans trading hand-assembled friendship bracelets. After the tour’s stop in Kansas City, Mo., a public flirtation between Swift and Travis Kelce, the star tight end of the Kansas City Chiefs, developed into a full-on romance, with the pop star and the football hunk sharing a field-level smooch after the Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers at Super Bowl LVIII in February. The photographers definitely did not miss it.

In October 2023, she released “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour,” a nearly three-hour concert film, released through a direct distribution deal with AMC Entertainment, the world’s largest theater operator. It sold about $93 million in tickets during its opening weekend, and ended up with $261 million in worldwide grosses, according to Box Office Mojo. The next step was a streaming deal with Disney+. A 256-page hardcover tour book, released last month through Target stores, sold 814,000 print copies in its first two days on sale.

As the tour moved to Europe in 2024, it narrowly avoided what could have been a major catastrophe when a terrorist bomb plot was uncovered before three planned shows in Vienna. Those events were canceled and never rescheduled.

Although Swift has largely avoided the news media during the tour, over time she has pulled back the curtain a bit to reveal some of how it came together. To prepare herself for the physical demands of the show, she trained for six months, with a cardio regimen that included singing the entire set list while running on a treadmill, she told Time magazine.

“I knew this tour was harder than anything I’d ever done before by a long shot,” the magazine quoted her as saying. “I finally, for the very first time, physically prepared correctly.”

The music video for “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart,” from her latest album, “The Tortured Poets Department” — her third release over the course of the tour, including two rerecorded versions of older albums — has behind-the-scenes clips confirming some of the stagecraft mechanics that fans have carefully cataloged on social media, like how she “dives” each night through a “hole” in the stage (onto a soft cushion held by crew members) and how she is ferried backstage in a dummy janitor’s cart.

The tour concludes just as Swift celebrates yet another win: “Tortured Poets” has returned to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart for a 16th week, with help from vinyl and CD sales of the 35-track “Anthology” edition of the album, which Swift released on Black Friday, also through Target. “Tortured Poets” is by far the biggest-selling album of the year so far.

Swift is up for six awards at the Grammys in February, including album of the year for “Tortured Poets” and both record and song of the year for one of its singles, “Fortnight.”

At a recent tour stop in Toronto, as the tour neared its end, Swift teared up as she delivered valedictory remarks to fans.

“My band, my crew, all my fellow performers,” she said, “we have put so much of our lives into this, and you put so much of your lives into being with us tonight and to giving us that moment that we will never forget.”

[catfern]

outback.

in support of palestine ∙ the reality of tlou ∙ resources

pairing: trucker!abby x afab!reader

music: her - unloved

word count: 1.7k

summary: the night shift at a remote petrol station sounded like easy double pay. but nights get lonely. you've gotta find something to keep yourself entertained.

warnings: porn with a smidgen of plot, fingering, some perverted staring, tiny tiny implied age gap, australia. this is rlly just porn

fern says ⎯ THIS ONE IS FOR ALL THE AUSSIES IN THE AUDIENCE MAKE SOME NOISE!!!!!! this truly is self indulgent cause i miss flirting with hot women who call me darl.

you brought this on yourself, really.

the pale blue of the bug zapper fought a contrast with the dying fluorescents, painting half the aisles in an eery, twilight movie shade. the heat of a high december night was creeping, clinging to your shitty polyester uniform as you camp out in front of the only standing fan.

you had begged for a job, pleaded for it really, in the wickedness of this economic climate. you had run, tail between your legs, from your local chain grocery at the sight of the price of an avocado, and thrown yourself at the feet of the next passing employer. like a squire to the knights of old.

you just hadn’t expected it would be this job.

the gatekeeper of one of the last vestiges of civilisation. the night shift at a deserted highway petrol station.

the flickering floodlights by the pumps fighting an uphill battle to keep the creeping night at bay, you can do nothing but stare, eyes adjusting, ‘unadjusting’, readjusting to the dark over and over again. you’d had a total of two customers since you took over from the day shift crew. one just threw a gatorade your way in exchange for the bathroom key.

the high beam headlights of an oncoming truck shake you from your fading thoughts, baking you into the linoleum tile as you squint, blind. asshole.

you’d been warned about truckers, briefly. handsy rednecks, your manager had called them in passing while giving you a tour of the storage room. desperate old fucks who crawl like dogs to anything with a hole.

you watch with an almost bated breath as the peeling yellow cabin of the long-haul truck pulls into park, your eyes following its jaunty movement through the glass of the front windows. you’re starting to think maybe you should have brought an illegal switchblade to work. if you had one.

you avert your gaze quick, grabbing at something from the magazine rack in desperate hopes to appear disinterested, unapproachable. 15 Ways to Homeschool Your Kids. sure, that works.

the bell above the door chimes, you spy the scuffed leather boots crossing the plastic tiling with heavy footfall. 

“y’got a lounge?”

standing at the counter, you have to admit, she’s not what you pictured when you saw the truck. not that what you see is at all worth of complaint.

a thin sheen of sweat clings to her, echoes of the heat of the road. her skin is flushed, the contour of her muscle sitting, almost man-made, in a thin, cotton singlet. her hair is tied tight, her features, sharp, discerning, eyeing you down. you try not to stare, too obviously, at the soft outline of her nipple piercings beneath her shirt.

“hm?” you’re distracted.

“a lounge, darl. trucker lounge?” she repeats slowly with a bite of a smirk, looking at you like you were only a little bit stupid. your stomach drops with the honey of the nickname.

your eyes dart around the small space of the shop. you barely had space for the 3 aisles and the dingy bathroom. you clear your throat, trying to shake the feeling of fascination, “oh — uh, nah.”

she scoffs, a wicked, small laugh, before retreating to browse the snack section.

you watch her, when you think she isn’t looking. small, caught glimpses in your feigned disinterest. she’s been on the road long, a tension in the broadness of her shoulders obvious as she readjusts her posture, eyeing the chips. you try bury whatever rears its head in your stomach when you hear her groan as she squats to better see the canned fruit. a roughness in her voice, lead with age and smoke.

you drop your reading material and smile, tight lipped, polite, as she approaches the counter. a cold meat pie and a ginger beer.

"and uh — pack'a rothmans, thanks, love.”

you nod, turning to wrestle with the rusting cigarette cage behind the counter, when you hear her chuckle, breathy and deep as she talks,

“y’look a little young to have kids.”

spinning back so quick you make yourself dizzy, you swipe the shitty magazine off the counter, discarded and unimportant, “nah, i… i was just bored.”

she rakes her eyes over you, slow, and you can’t help but feel the pull, magnetic, a knot in your stomach as she studies you. you feel caught in a trap, under her gaze. looking up at her, her looming presence is becoming all too real.

you slide the pack of cigarettes over the counter, trapped meeting her eye. a smile, something sly, plays on her lips as she thanks you, moving to catch a breeze of the fan.

an uncomfortable beat of silence passes between you. well, it’s uncomfortable for you. no longer able to hide behind disinterest behind glossy paper, you instead wrestle with yourself to seem at least neutrally interested, not utterly obsessed. you wring your hands behind the shelter of the till.

the woman shakes a cigarette free from the pack, holding it between the skin of her lips. “you smoke?” she’s looking at you, through the corner of her eye.

no, never.

“uh, yeah.”

you follow her out the shop, tied to her artificial shadow in the fluorescents. something is crawling in the night, when you step outside. a cicada silence echoes across the gathering dirt and dust.

she offers you the cig she had been holding, you take it gingerly, holding it in your mouth as she holds her lighter up. she brings her hand to cup the flame, to keep the absent breeze from destroying it. you feel, just slightly, the brush of her calloused palms against the low of your cheek, and you pray that the navy hue of the bug zapper is enough to hide the heat on your skin.

smoke fills your lungs, foreign and quick, an itch inside you that feels impossible. you cough and splutter to the chorus of her raspy laughter.

“you haven’t smoked a day in your life.” she says with a lopsided smile, plucking the cigarette from your hand and bringing it to her lips, taking a long, constrastly confident draw.

you shake your head in between wheezes, “is that what everyone is always going on about?”

“you’ll get used to it, here,” 

she hands it back to you, you feel obliged to take it. to try again, as she so quietly commands. your second go is met with an only slightly irritating tickle in your throat.

“that’s it, good girl,” something that seems so unsure rolls off her like syrup, something you had never known you were so desperate for. her hand finds the small of your back, her fingers dancing circles in something akin to comfort, to praise.

you look up to find her eyes already on you, tracing the contours of your neck in icy blue form.

the smell of artificial pine and day-old dust clings to her, swallows you whole as you fall victim to her touch, light-headed and weak at the knees as her breath fills your lungs.

she’s nothing if not vocal, desperation falling from her lips in tortured moans as she presses herself into the crook below your jaw, drawing your soft skin beneath her teeth, softly licking the littered aftermath, a trail down your chest.

she’s quick to undress you, pulling impatiently at the scratchy fabric of your worn company polo shirt. she’s not phased by any forgotten need for privacy, for decency. she’s only here in passing, after all.

“oh, sweetheart,”

the lace of your bra is a temptation not lost on her, a delight she so happily indulges in after days on the road. in some perverted part of her mind, you wore it for her. maybe, in some cosmic, fated way, you did.

her hands snake down your body, helping themselves to the lux of your curves as her lips press, all-consuming, against yours. her fingers lightly spreading your legs, a mean chuckle souring the kiss.

she’s not at all easy, or kind, the way she pulls you open, watches you fall apart in the brutality of her control. she touches you like she aims to destroy you, her fingers working relentlessly to the pull of your walls, unheard to your pleas to — please, slow down.

“that’s it, darling. come on,” it’s sharp, delirious and oh so pleased to hear you, a whisper tickling the dip of your chest, watching you through the blonde of her eyelashes as you throw your head back, your body rocking to the rhythm she sets.

“p-please, fuck, jesus, fuck!” if she was any meaner, she would have laughed. but god, she’s distracted. driven mad by her own dripping need.

“you wanna come, baby? yeah, yeah?” she’s slowing down, and you chase her question with a desperate, shakey nod. “yeah, you do. come here.”

she takes your hand in hers, delicate, kind, a wicked contrast. under the guidance of her touch, you grip the stiff denim of her jeans, tender, unsure, until she leads you to the heat between her legs and you nearly melt. her hand goes to fiddle with her belt, her eyes finding yours, bleary, in the haze.

“think you can help me out, sweetheart?” she nods along with you, and you’re unsure if she’s copying you, or you are her.

“yeah — i can, please, please,” you whine, your hips still rutting a lazy pace against the now stagnant force inside you. your hand pulls, impatiently, at the waistband of her cotton boxers, pulling them down to sit unceremoniously at her hips.

“fuck, good girl,” she seethes at the languid circles you draw on her clit, gentle and paced, as you chase your own euphoria on her fingers, “come on,” a whisper, hot on your neck, “i’ll go faster if you do, darlin’.”

you pick up in a daze, so compliant to the whim of her demand, so desperate to feel her calloused fingers trace the tide against your centre. rushing that feeling, wretched to have her tear you apart.

her fingers rock against you without care, wrenching every ragged moan from the cut of your throat as her speed picks up, “that’s it, fuck, you feel so good, sweetness. keep — keep going.” hoarse whispers against your chest as she presses sloppy, undone kisses to the ghosts of your ribcage.

you watch, above the broadness of her shoulder, as a peak of the sun paints the horizon a muddy pink, your moans a soundtrack to the emptiness of the desert as you practically bounce on the stranger’s fingers, loud for your own release.

yeah, you lost your job.

⎯ kofi

taglist; @whore4abby @endureher @beemillss @afraidofheightss @sentimentalyellow

[march-hare01]

The XA Ford Falcon GT was released in March 1972 and ceased production in September 1973, and was the first Falcon GT to be available in a two door coupe. The XA was the first Australian built Falcon not to be based on a American design, and was almost completely designed in Australia. The XA Hardtop became the more preferred option to be used in Australian Touring Car Racing due to it's larger rear wheel arches for wider racing tyres. The XA GT Hardtop went on to achieve back to back wins at Bathurst with Allan Moffat and Ian Geoghegan in the 1973 Hardie-Ferodo 1000, and the 1974 Hardie-Ferodo 1000 with John Goss and Kevin Bartlett.Total produced: 1,868 Sedans and 891 Hardtops.Engine: 5766cc Cleveland V8 with overhead valvesCompression Ratio: 11.0:1Fuel System: Ford Autolite '4300' 605cfm 4 barrel downdraught carburettorPower / Torque: 224kW (300bhp} @ 5400rpm, 513Nm (380Ib-ft} @ 3400rpmTransmission: Four-speed manual, three-speed FMX automaticRear Axle: 9in removable carrier type, Limited Slip 'traction lock' Diff, 28 splineSuspension: Independent with coil springs, telescopic shock absorbers and anti-roll bar (front) Live axle with semi-elliptic springs, telescopic shock absorbers and anti-roll bar (rear)Brakes: Disc front 286mm (11.25in) Drum rear 254mm (10in) power assisted.Wheels:14 x 6 Steel - Argent painted Steel '12 Slot'.Tyres: ER70H14 RadialCurb weight estimated: 1585 kg / 3490 lbsPerformance: 0-100km: 7.2 seconds 0-400 metres: 15.4 seconds (manual sedan)Price when new for a 1973 XA Ford Falcon GT 5.8 Litre 351 V8 automatic two door Coupe: $6,648.00.

[milk-tea-sakura]

12 days of Christmas

12/14/24 Unexpected Gifts- Bang Chan, who secretly likes you, leaves you gifts for the 12 days leading up to Christmas day. And each day the number of gifts goes up.

Fluff/Expensive gift giving

12/15/24 A Family Christmas- Price comes home from deployment just in time for the holidays. He's also just in time to be there for his little girl's first Christmas.

Fluff/Reader has a daughter/Smut/Mentions of making another baby

12/16/24 Home for The Holidays- Lee Know comes back early from touring just to spend Christmas and the New Years with his favorite girl.

Fluff/Engagement

12/17/24 A Holiday Miracle- After losing contact with your husband Kyle and starting to think the worst. He shows up randomly at the door with a gift to help you forgive him for going no contact.

Fluff/Large emotions

12/18/24 Snowed in for Christmas- After waking up late the three of you realize that you can't leave the house because of a pile of snow blocking the door so, to make the best of it you, Changbin, and Hyunjin decide to keep warm in the comfort of your bed... and bodies.

Smut/Threesome

12/19/24 The True Meaning of Christmas—Johnny is Catholic, so he loves to go all out for Christmas. He helps you decorate the house, but he always insists on hanging the Christmas lights.

Fluff/Pregnancy reveal

12/20/24 Merry Christmas, My Love-Simon decides to give you the best Christmas gift you've been wanting for a while, a baby. Maybe because he wants to one up Johnny but mostly because he knows you want you want to become a mom.

Smut/Breeding/Baby talk

12/21/24 A Christmas Wish- Han, Jeongin, and you all decide to open gifts and Han and Jeongin gives you a pet.

Fluff/Gift giving/Semi-angst at the end

12/22/24 A Festive Gathering- Felix takes you to a family Christmas party back in Australia.

Fluff

12/23/24 The Gift of Giving- Price decides that his team, Ghost, Soap and Gaz need a much needed home cooked meal. And who better to cook it than his own missus. Plus with you cooking he knows for sure his men will eat all the food, after all they don't want to see the disappointed look on your face.

Flluff/"Family" Gathering

12/24/24 Jingle Bells & Holiday Cheers- Seungmin and you celebrate Christmas late due to him coming back later than expected from tour.

Fluff/Gift giving

12/25/24 Deck the Halls- Bangchan decides to share you with his boys, doing this you find out that all the boys have some unexpected kinks.

Smut/Kink exploring/Free use

[melanieph321]

Ruben Dias x Reader - City Girls Part 7/8

Yeah this is a mess I can't fix 😅. Had fun writing this chapter tho since it ft Kyle Walker whom I am very fond of 🤣

Reader plays for the Man City girls academy. She struggles a bit but gets Ruben to mentor her. The the two don't hit off despite having many things in common. It all gets worse when Reader eventually catches feelings for Ruben.

Enjoy!

Cityzens Day.

It was mainly for the club sponsors but alot of players brought along their families and friends as the day was filled with fun activities, football challanges and the ever so popular guided tour inside the Ethiad campus.

It was your first time attending, although it was mandatory for all City players. A little sad, that you weren't able to bring your family from Brazil. They would have loved it, especially the chance to play football at the Ethiad Stadium. Apparently that was the highlight of the event, a friendly game between players from all levels, men, women, girls and boys, and of course their families. The game would be broadcasted on the teams website and it usually brought alot of laughs to alot of people. You couldn't wait to play, but until then you wandered the campus alone, watching other players enjoying spending quality time with their families.

"Hey Y/N, come here!"

You were observing a very intense juggling contests between an academy player and someone's kid, when coach spotted you in the crowd, waving you over.

"Meet my family." He stood next to a beautiful red-haired woman and young boy with a toothy smile. "This is my wife Trish, my son Ethan and that over there..." He pointed towards the crowd, to the center of it, where the juggling contests was happening. "That is my daughter Lucy." He said.

"Wow, she's really good."

She was definitely bruising the ego of the young academy player. He would certainly up his juggling game after this.

"You know, she reminds me alot of you." Coach smiled. "I can't get her to stop juggling the ball either."

"Seems like her talent won't go to waste today, the price is a Playstation 6, no?"

You shared a laugh. Coach had a lovely family who had flown all the way from Australia to see him. Cityzens Day was really the best time for that.

A food truck pulled up to campus just in time for lunch. You bought a taco bowl so big that you had to share it with another player as she saw you struggling.

"So when are you coming to play with us again." She asked, you knew her as Alison Bennett.

"I dunno?" You sighed. "I don't think I fit into the kind of squad your coach wants."

"Are you joking?" Alison frowned. "But you played so well with us."

It was strange really, but since it happned more than once now, that you got excluded from playing with the first team, you simply assumed the worst. Even though Ruben told you not to worry about it, you couldn't help but to. Your development as a player was at stake. And the fact that Ruben's diet helped you put on a few pounds was not a constellation. Perhaps the coaches on the first team had noticed, that you were getting fat?

"Speaking of playing, are you on for the game this afternoon?" Alison asked.

"The game against cityzens?"

"Yeah?"

You smiled. "I wouldn't miss it for the world."

"Great. I really hope you're on my team. I'm the captain. We're gonna need...."

Alison got tuned out as you sighted something in the distance, or better yet, someone. It was Ruben, walking side by side with a woman just as tall as him only thinner. She was wearing a Man City jersey, sporting the number three, Ruben's number three. He held a hand to her lower back, guiding her around, introducing her to his teammates.

"Speaking of players I would like on my team." Alison took notice of where all your attention had gone. "We could surley use a defender like Dias."

"Ruben?" You asked, your voice a bit strained.

She nodded "He's like the best defender City's got. We'll never concede goals with him on our team."

You turned back to look at Ruben and the woman he had brought. Could it be his girlfriend? In that case Ruben didn't have a type, because you looked nothing like her.

"He used to coach me, you know?" Alison leaned in and whispered.

"Who, Ruben?"

She bit her lip, nodding her head.

"B...but you're a forward?"

"So? Aren't you one too? Nevertheless,  Ruben used to teach me how to improve my skills. You know, help me get past the...."

"Defenders." You said, finishing of her sentence.

"Yeah, exactly. He's a really good coach."

"I can imagine." You ignored the painful beating of your heart. "Tell me..." You asked. ".. did you used to go to his place to, you know,"hang out"?"

She snorted. "No, why would I do that?"

"Oh."

A slight relief.

Alison stood, having helped you finish your meal. Her smile was devious. "No, Ruben used to take me back to the infirmary. We used to"hang out" there."

Your heart sank.

It was the realization that perhaps you were one of many.

********************************************

The afternoon sun was setting over Manchester City, but Cityzens Day was far from over. The game of cityzens was still on the agenda.

You laced up your cleats and stepped onto the football pitch at the magnificent Ethiad Stadium. It was truly breath taking playing in front so many people. Although the game was for fun, you were determined to showcase your talent, and even more determined to win against Ruben and his team. That's right, he was the captain of a squad containing lots of good players from all divisions. Players that made your teammates look like freaking toddlers.

"Alright! Ladies, fellas, huddle up!" A man urged for all the players on your team to gather around him. He was big, but funny looking, with a voice that did not match his brutal appearance.

"I'm Kyle Walker, but you can call me your captain for this evening."

"Captain?" Alison frowned. You were lucky to have her om your team, however, she did not look happy to find the captains armband handed to someone else. "We never voted for you to be our captain." She protested.

"Well, you should have. I have the experience when it matters and feel confident that I can lead this team to victory." He said.

"How?" A young U21 player squealed. Like the rest of you he was glaring at Ruben and his team as they warmed up on the opposite side of the pitch. The majority of Ruben's squad were players from the men's first team, including their assistant coaches.

"They're gonna eat us alive." The boy said, to which everyone agreed.

"Well that's not the spirit. Come on guys, hands in." Kyle ordered for everyone to stretch out a hand towards the ring you formed. "Victory on three, alright. One...two...three...VICTORY!" Kyle shouted, whilst the rest of you mumbled the words. Nevertheless you personally were not intimidated. You had played against tough opponents before, and you knew that you had a team that could give it their all, because Manchester City was arguably the best football club in the world.

The whistle blew, and the game began.

The first half was a blur of sweat and noise, as the two teams battled it out on the field. You dribbled and ran, dodging and weaving around your opponents, but Ruben and his team were tough to beat. They were bigger and stronger, and they had a few tricks up their sleeves.

"Whatta fuck!"

You ate dirt as Ruben ordered his players to tag team you. You stood no chance as Ruben was well aware that you rather go on your own than pass the ball.

"I'm sorry Y/N."

Ester pulled you up from the ground, having helped her teammates knock you down. She was playing for Ruben but seemed genuinely sorry for how he was running his play.

"Just give me the ball." You scuffed, as coach blew the whistle, handing your team a freekick for the offense made against you.

Kyle took it and missed.

The game resumed.

"Come on team, it's not over yet!" Your "captain", encouraged. "Fight until the end!"

As the second half began, your team was down by three goals, the majority of players being tired, cold and dirty, ready to throw in the towel. But you refused to give up. You knew that you had to do something to turn the game around, and you were determined to be the one to make it happen.

The moment didn't reveal itself until injury time. During he last minute's of the game. Ruben misjudged a pass, and you saw your chance. Charging directly towards him you had no other intention than to dribble past him.

"Pass the ball!" Kyle shouted, pointing to Alison who stood open, ready to receive the assist.

Your heart was pounding in your chest, you had to do this, you had to try and get past him. However Ruben's braud frame made it nearly impossible for you to sight the goal behind him. He looked smug, aware that your chances of getting past him were slim to none. But you had prepared for this. Ruben had prepared you for this. As he lunged forwards, you did not hesitate to bring the fight to him. The two of you clashed together, with Ruben's strangeth throwing you off, however you had suprised him with an elbow to his lower ribs, the quick jab making him fold before your eyes. It was your chance to get past him. For that split second that you caught him lacking you managed to ship the ball in the air and leaped your body over Ruben's extended leg. It was the moment of the match, the crowd on their feet watching a 60kg girl go head to head with one of the world's greatest defenders, beating him to it, sending the ball into the back off the net.

The crowd erupted in cheers, and your team rushed onto the field, arms around each other's shoulders, grinning from ear to ear.

"That's what I'm talking about. That's how we play!" Kyle Walker was in the verge of tears. You may have lost the game, but you had proven that you were not to be underestimated. Not now, not ever. By anyone.

"Great game Y/N."

"Um, thanks."

Ester approached you as the pitch cleared of people, friends and family members heading their respective ways. Cityzens Day was officially over.

"I really mean it, you played amazing."

You were on the ground tying your cleats. Looking up at Ester you sighed. "What do you want?"

Her expression was hard to read, her eyes desperate to tell you somthing. "I..." She squealed.

You stood, hands on your hips. "Yes?"

She sighed. "I'm sorry it had to be this way...between us. You really deserve to play with the first team but so do I. I've fought all of my life for this position."

"And I haven't?" You gasped. "Ester if you've got somthing else to say to me I rather not hear it." You turned your back on her and walked away, however, she fought to catch up to you.

"Come on Y/N. At least now you get to be with your boyfriend. I mean it was his idea."

"Whatta hell are you talking about Ester. I don't have a boyfriend."

"Could have fooled me." She chuckled, to which you frowned. "Ruben practically begged me not to tell the club officials about you two. He told me that he would talk to the coaches on the first team, tell them how you were having problems settling into a new country, mental problems, that were effecting your performance."

"He did what?"

Suddenly you lost the sensation of your hands and feet.

Ester nodded. "It worked. The coaches on the first team didn't want to put pressure on you by calling you up to play for them and so they picked me instead. It's a win-win for both of us since you get to be with Ruben and I get to play."

You were lost for words, trying to make sense of her words that were like riddles to your ears. However one thing was clear, Ruben had betrayed you, and for what?

[tmbgareok]

JF: Merry Christmas! Here's an update on our 2024: We are:

-offering up a new Instant Fan Club sooner than later

-releasing a new album when we finish making it!

-touring the US w/ our untenable 8 piece band, working on two-night stands with different shows (to encourage recidivism in our audience + increase musical commitment from us) No word when the dates will be announced but thinking late spring unless we got to it too late.

-touring England, Ireland and Australia in the fall with our untenable 8 piece band

If you want to get the inside info on all of this as it arrives, please download this free and exclusive album and it will also sign up in to our secret mailing list. Here’s the free music: https://tmbgshop.com/.../free.../products/almanac-download

___

They Might Be Giants’ mailing list has been in service for almost 20 years and currently serves over 125,000 folks with the latest info on TMBG –– inside ticket links days before public announcements, free and often exclusive music, and secret merch info including sales at wildly discounted prices –– all things new to be announced online or elsewhere. We will never share your address, or sell it to a Elon Musk-shaped bot.

Be part of a great thing and join this special conversation.

[wanderbirdholidays]

Australia Trip Package

Embark on an unforgettable adventure with Wanderbird Holidays’ Australia trip packages! Explore iconic landmarks, stunning landscapes, and vibrant cities. Book now at Wanderbird Holidays for an experience of a lifetime!

[goldenpinof]

Terrible Influence Tour: Australia & New Zealand leg

12.12.2024, Perth

Riverside Theatre (PCEC)

Capacity: 2 500 (we have 2 474)*

Start: 20:00

General promoter: Bohm Presents

As of the morning 12.12.2024, tickets are still available on Ticketek

Our seating chart:

Available tickets as of 12.12.2024:

*I think they also blocked 8 and 8 seats in Rows X and Y in Section 201. Which would reduce the capacity to 2 474 - 16 = 2 458 seats.

Some prices:

Screenshots from 28.06.2024 (the 1st sale day) (2 500 seats):

*Weren't on sale from the beginning, at least:

8 and 8 seats in Row J in Sections 202 and 204;

3 and 3 seats in Row H in Sections 201 and 205;

4 seats in Row G in Section 102.

The list of seats that are blocked on 28.06.2024 but became available a few days before the show:

10 and 10 seats in Rows JJ and KK in Section 101;

10, 10 and 10 seats in Rows KK, LL, A in Section 102;

10 seats in Row C in Section 102;

10 seats in Row HH in Section 102;

10 and 10 seats in Rows JJ and KK in Section 103.

Total - 26 seats. 2 500 - 26 = 2 474 seats.

[miasiegert]

Hi Cats Tumblr People,

So I heard you like pics.

Please bear with me (AND TEACH ME) how Tumblr works/if I'm doing it wrong! I'm literally the "How do you do, fellow young people?" meme. Our Etsy is linked (unless I messed that up!) Right now it's bare (LOT of work and VERY old photos in the banner) but we'll be posting some cossies soon that are ready to retire. Some of our prices sadly will have to rise (we undercharge honestly for the amount of time put into them... we just LOVE making them). Anyway...

These are our original designs. We have taken inspiration from different productions, from the US tour to Gothenburg to Australia to Japan, less UK because it gets the most attention and we like COLOR! but this is all us. Our goal is to a) have characters be recognizable and b) make swing unitards in palates that could pass as at least 3 characters for emergency. When our rentals go out, swing unitards go with them, and ultimately it's the director who decides what makes the final cut (so a less yellow Demeter for example--but we LOVE that one).

If we ever do a production of Cats with Chaz, you'll notice one in Red, White, and some Black (but mostly Red and White, with fan ears, that is a design David created and is Chaz's FAVORITE design of all time. Any time he does a show, if we're hired, that costume goes. Usually Electra, but any ensemble/swing kitty and can cover for Sillabub or in a pinch Bombalurina. Yuka wore it at Interlakes before she did Victoria on the last US Tour! You might notice an Admetus in tans and GREEN undertones--that was my design he loved. We also did the purple twins (which was vetoed and I said, "Okay" then did it anyway because I knew he'd love it, which he did!), and REBA Gumbie Tap Suit was completely mine (everyone thought I was out of my MIND when I started making it! Even David! Then the shoulder pads came, and the belt, and tail, and BEDAZZLING!!! SO MANY RHINESTONES!!!!) Our Misto coat lights up but we still have a lot to learn about arduino since we'd eventually like to make it blink to music. The Misto coat is also created to fit a multitude of sizes, basically the theatre using their department for alterations since we make use of stretch fabric. I've known Bronson for almost as long as Chaz (he even designed my author website!!!) so when I saw him cast, I showed him his costume (a much, much browner/redder Gus than most see--I was serious about liking color) and let him choose between two coats. He said he wanted pants and we went, "NO! PANTLESS PRODUCTION!" because we thought he was joking! We didn't realize... HE REALLY WANTED PANTS!!!! SORRY BRONSON! So shout out to Wichita for making him pants! LOL!

There is a HUGE joke about Tumble thirsting for Tugger more than the girls so you'll notice that with the Tugger ABOUUUOUOUOUOUOUOUUUUUUUUUT THAT.

Hope that's of interest! And no, I'm not procrastinating on edits when my agent deadline is Sunday. Haha... ha... ha... ha... ha... Sera, if you're reading this I PROMISE I'M WORKING OKAY??? I DIDN'T KNOW WE GOT ON BROADWAYWORLD!!!

We also saw some comments about casting in general and some confusion/questions about different dancers doing different parts (Alonzo vs Plato). Would anyone be interested in learning more about the casting process in general and things that directors/choreographers need to take into consideration? Please note, I will not discuss ANY performers we work with. Ever. All are extraordinary and these are tough calls that aren't easy to make and based on other factors, including the ensemble at large, and sometimes huge changes are made.

[myheadphonesareneverloudenough]

pinning this one to my profile for the next two weeks.

The Tin Can Bros need your help as they embark on the Tinlightenment World Tour: Spreading the Gospel of TCB which includes 7 holy missions, aka 7 days exciting live events in LA, New York, London, Edinburgh, and Adelaide

Spy Another Day: in LA, original cast members of the TCB and Talkfine comedy musical, Spies Are Forever, will be reuniting (along with new special guests, many you know and love from Starkid) for a Rocky Horror Picture Show-esque live concert screening! Watch the full movie with audience participation and live musical numbers!

Spy Another Day, in London: that’s right, baby! Spies Are Forever live concert screening is coming to London, too! Featuring brothers Joey, Brian, and Corey, along with Lauren Lopez!

The Solve-It Squad Returns: at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the original cast of TCB’s comedy play, The Solve-It Squad Returns!, will be back together once again to do the first ever live TCB event outside of America!

This Could Be On Broadway: the original comedy musical starring Bryce Charles, Esther Fallick, James Tolbert, and many more is coming back baby! live at 54 Below in New York City, the cast will be performing all the songs for the first time ever in front of a live audience.

Gross Prophets: An all-new original TCB musical about cults, enlightenment, financial and spiritual freedom! starring Joey Richter, Brian Rosenthal, and Lauren Lopez, with performances happening in Australia and LA!

Intelligent Life: the Tin Can Bros have a new queer sci-fi comedy show, Intelligent Life, and will be doing a live reading of the pilot episode in LA, summer 2024. following two ex-boyfriends, one who can’t get away from his ex, even after leaving Earth to explore a new planet!

The Great Debate: who is the best Hollywood Chris? what is the worst 3rd movie in a film trilogy? who is the worst muppet? what’s something that feels like a cult, but isn’t? so many questions to ask, so many opinions to debate! The Great Debate is a live comedy game show where the Tin Can Bros and special guests argue seriously unimportant topics with the kind of passion of a serious life-or-death debate. things get heated, friendships are ended, and one person will always come out on top… with so many amazing guests! TCB have already announced three special guests on The Great Debate; Smosh’s very own Angela Giarratana, Chanse McCrary, and Arasha Lalani!

but none of these projects can happen without your help! until March 2nd, the Tin Can Bros’ kickstarter is in full swing!! we’re working our way to their goal of $200,000!

all TCB asks of you is to pledge $3, and to share this campaign with your friends! this is how we can make it happen!

have more than $3 to give? amazing!! there are 12 backer tiers of varying prices that can get you some INCREDIBLE rewards like merch, custom t shirts, collectables, and a BelieverBand that will allow you to unlock incredible backer perks in the very near future of TCB

interested? go to tinlightenment.com to check out these reward tiers!

we’re over 50% funded, friends <3 we can do this.

TINLIGHTENMENT.COM

[elis-corner]

can people please calm down about mcr??

i'm writing this the day after bob's death was announced, if you want more context of why i'm so fed up with things.

this post talks about people's reactions and expectations about bob's death, and about long live. this is more of a rant/vent than anything. it isn't coherent and has been written very much in the heat of the moment, and may come off harsher than intended.

I'm a relatively recent fan (listening since 2022 but in the fandom since 2023), so I wasn't ever around for Bob's good days. I only ever knew Bob for the bad things he'd done, some interviews, music videos, and of course the songs themselves.

He had such an impact on the band and their sound. This is very clear. For so long, they were friends, spending so much of their time together. Whether Bob did bad things prior to his death or not doesn't change these facts, it doesn't change that he was mentally ill, it doesn't change the fact that people harassed him on a constant basis, and it doesn't change that he's a human fucking being.

People are mocking and celebrating his death like he's some villainous character. He's not. He's a person. People make his beliefs the only thing that matters to who he is, but they're not. People, in life and in death, were telling him he deserved to die.

That's not okay. It will never be. Grow up.

Why can't we handle this with the same grace people handled Liam Payne's death? Why can't we recognise that Bob was a man who hurt people, but still deserves respect?

I've also seen people complain that the band hasn't said anything yet. This is someone they were friends with for years. They probably saw him more than their families. And they're suddenly told that he's been found dead. Imagine what that does to a person.

MCR owes you nothing. Let them grieve. They will talk about it when they feel like they can. If they don't want to, for reasons we shouldn't force them to say, then we should respect that. For all we know, they're planning to do something on tour for him.

And here comes the tour discourse.

I'm sick of people complaining about the tour. Yes, pacing and ticket prices were terrible. No, it wasn't right, and I think whoever invented dynamic pricing and decided not to cap resale prices should go to hell. But that's it. That's all that's worth complaining about right now.

I've seen so many people go "this isn't the band that saved me" and "mcr has gone bad", but still call themselves fans of the band as a whole. No. You're stuck in what it was pre-reunion. What's worse is when people shit on MCR for "nostalgia bait" and still buy tickets. If you think what they're doing is bad, why go? If you don't like them as much now, why go?

We don't know what the tour will be like. We don't know shit. So stop going on about how the band doesn't care about it's fans, that it's nostalgia bait, because we don't know what they're doing.

The first time I looked up if MCR was touring, was genuinely two or three weeks after they were in my city. Do you know how heart-breaking that is? I'm a fan of so many people that I'll never get to see, but look! MCR is still going! But I just missed out anyway. People who've missed out before, or weren't fans, are getting to see them for the first time, and I think that's beautiful.

They're not touring in my country. I live in Australia. I hope they do an international tour soon. But they don't owe it to me. They don't owe it to anyone. By how much of Swarm Tour seems to lead into Long Live, we can assume they might be planning an international tour too. Frank himself said that they had big things planned.

Stay calm. Wait.

And don't shit on the band because you don't have the decency or patience for them to do things as they want, or in their own time.