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[sylusjinwoon]

{ 162 }

moonlight.

jinwoo sung x fem.reader

sung jinwoo walked into the hunter association building for a scheduled meeting with the chairman. while taking casual strides into the building, he let out a yawn. jinwoo believed that nothing out of the ordinary would happen today-

only to be proven wrong the moment he opens the double doors to the conference room as a sudden weight was felt shoved against his chest.

had jinwoo been any normal man, he would have quickly been toppled over. but thanks to the newfound poise he had gained since becoming an s-rank, jinwoo manages to steady himself while keeping an arm around the stranger’s form.

“whoa, be careful.” his voice was gentle and not at all spoken in a manner that was meant to be like a scolding. yet still, he hears the gasp and looks down-

only to be met with someone unfamiliar-

only to be met with you.

your eyes widen with surprise with your lips halfway parted. incoherent sputtering were all he could hear when you back away from him. clearly sensing your embarrassment and discomfort, jinwoo lets go of you while keeping a hand shoved into the pockets of his coat, grey eyes shining with mirth for you.

“sorry for bumping into you, moonlight! i’ll be more careful next time!”

now this was interesting.

never before had he been referred to by such a nickname before.

moonlight?

he replays the word you had uttered in your panicked state over and over again before deciding that he liked it.

ready to say something to you, he was given little time to react when you suddenly bowed down to him, “sorry, but i’m late for a very important mission!”

you end up stepping off to the side, running past jinwoo as the young hunter was left staring off at you with pure amusement in his eyes.

“ah, hunter sung jinwoo! it’s nice to see you again, come on in, there’s a few things i’d like to discuss with you.” chairman go gunhee greets him with a hearty laugh.

despite his reluctance to look away from you, jinwoo enters the conference room with chairman go. during the meeting, the chairman spoke about the hundreds of sponsorship offers he had received for ahjin guild, yet as jinwoo poured over the paperwork, not a single one of those offers stood out to him. clearly, he had you other things on his mind.

why would i need any of these deals when the system provides me with far superior weapons?

jinwoo was dimly aware of the chairman letting out a sigh before saying a name he had never heard of before.

“excuse me?” jinwoo looks up expectantly to see a smile painted on the chairman’s features.

“that’s the name of the new healer that ran into you just now. she gets a bit scatterbrained when she’s nervous, but the young woman has a good heart. ever since ms. joohee lee retired, i have seen her transfer and appearance at our association as a blessing.”

jinwoo winces at the mention of joohee, recalling back their last meeting together when she announced her retirement to him. perhaps he should figure out her address and mail a gift to her?

but chairman go’s next words was what ultimately breaks him out of his reveries, making jinwoo do a double take, “today was her first raid.”

knowing that it was your first raid fills jinwoo with a strange discomfort, his chest tightening as the urge to protect you fills his veins. “you sent her off without me?”

the chairman gives him a confused expression, “i assure you, hunter sung, that this is a low level gate; a mere c-rank. the woman is a certified a-rank healer, and i’m certain she can handle healing her comrades.”

jinwoo’s heart suddenly began to stop just then, being filled with fear as he had flashbacks pertaining to the cartenon temple-

the same double dungeon that had killed him before deciding to choose him as the system’s player.

without even thinking about it, he looks towards the exit and asks for the exact location of where the c-level gate had spawned. chairman go lets out a sigh, collecting all of the documents together into one neat pile before answering him.

“it’s in the middle of the city, you wouldn’t miss it, hunter sung.”

jinwoo thanks the chairman before making a mad dash out of the association’s building and into the busy streets of the city. as he ran, he was able to sense the gate’s power quickly dwindling as it seemed to be on the cusp of disappearing.

hm? that’s strange; is the raid already over?

within the next few minutes, jinwoo arrives at the location where the gate had supposedly been, being filled with a relief when he saw a group of hunters and you in the midst of the crowd. they each call out your name, giving you a thumbs up while expressing their gratitude towards you and your healing abilities.

in return, your expression was sheepish, and a little embarrassed, waving to your comrades as they each returned home for the day. your hand was still kept in an upright position when you finally noticed him standing a few feet away from you with a lazy smile on his face.

you appeared to be flustered now, hands now gripping on tightly to your satchel as you attempted to run away from him by going in the opposite direction-

lucky for jinwoo, he was fast enough, already able to cut off your escape as he appears directly in front of you, eyes glowing a faint hue as his lips were turned up in a smile.

“why did you start running right after seeing me?” jinwoo made sure his voice was soothing and smooth so as to not scare you away. he could see the way your eyes darted everywhere else but at him, cheeks seeming to warm up in response to his question.

“u-uhm, well, it’s because i had run into you earlier and uhm-“

“you had called me moonlight, right?”

it seems he had nailed it, for your expression became even more panicked as you tried to take several steps away from him. but jinwoo, still filled with amusement and joy, was simply having too much fun to let you go.

“come on, there’s no need to look so panicked. your nickname for me actually intrigued me a lot.” he keeps a hand behind your back, preventing you from moving away from him.

“i’m just curious about your nickname for me, that’s all.”

jinwoo had to fight back the grin and chuckle that threatens to escape from his lips (he physically had to purse them in response to your flustered state.)

“uhm, well, that i-is…” you kept stuttering the tiniest bit, even fanning your face in response before setting the palm of your hands against your heated cheeks. “i’m sorry, i’d rather not say, hunter sung.”

jinwoo didn’t like how stifling his title sounded against your pretty, parted lips, making him sigh as he ran a frustrated hand through his hair.

after all, he would much rather be your moonlight.

“come on, let’s celebrate.” he decides to change the subject then in hopes of getting you to relax around him.

“huh? what? did you say celebrate?”

not even giving you a chance to reject him, he places a hand behind your back while leading you into the city.

“wait… where are you taking me?”

“out to eat at this steakhouse as celebration for your first successful raid.” jinwoo admits to you with a wink and a grin, making you even more flustered in response.

“oh, there’s no need! besides, i’m a little sweaty a-and-“

“don’t worry about it; it’s more of a casual dining experience, and i’m certain no one will be opposed to a healer like yourself dining at their establishment.”

you were ready to protest once more when jinwoo could detect a low, grumbling sound coming from your stomach. a cheeky grin was felt spreading when he looks down at your abdomen. unable to meet his gaze, you fold your arms across your chest, “okay, f-fine! i’ll join you for dinner…”

knowing he had won, jinwoo takes a hold of your hand in his, weaving across the city with a bright smile on his face when he takes you to the restaurant. upon arrival, he felt a little disheartened to see how busy it was, but when the hostess saw him, he was immediately offered a private table near the back of the restaurant.

“hm, i guess it pays off to be an s-rank…” once they were both seated, jinwoo takes a look at the menu while offering you the basket of warm rolls with butter for you to munch on to help with easing your hunger. losing all of your prior shyness now, you take two rolls and place them on your plate, spreading the butter on it before taking a bite. basking in your eager moans as you ate, jinwoo couldn’t help but let out a light chuckle in response.

“is there anything in particular that you’d like to order?”

between bites of your rolls, you shake your head before swallowing. “n-no, i don’t mind having what you’re having…”

jinwoo hums in response, collecting both of the menus when the waiter comes by to take his order.

“we’ll have two 16 ounce steaks cooked medium rare please.”

the waiter nods and writes down the order, “and what would you like to drink?”

“red wine and two waters.”

the waiter then takes the menu while smiling, “got it. it will be out soon, sir.”

jinwoo was finally left alone with you, seeing the basket of rolls already half empty as you worked on what he assumed was your last roll. he smiles at you before taking a roll himself, “do you feel better now?”

“oh, yes! ah, sorry if i looked like a pig, scarfing down all that buttery bread.” you had a sheepish expression on your face now, scratching the back of your head while letting out a nervous giggle.

jinwoo shakes his head in response, “there’s no need to apologize, pig out all you want. you can always be yourself around me.”

he listens to the way you proceed to swallow thickly, not quite brave enough to meet his gaze when you thanked him. humming in response, jinwoo also starts enjoying the dinner rolls while making small talk with you, wishing to get to know you better as you both waited for your food to arrive.

and truly, jinwoo did not hold back with his questions that were strangely intimate.

were you seeing anyone at the moment?

what was your last relationship like?

what was your childhood like?

do you have any siblings? if so, are you the eldest, middle, or youngest child?

when did you awaken your powers as a healer?

what is your…

favorite food-

favorite color-

favorite song?

the moment his questioning ceased was when their food finally arrived, as two large plates steaks with mashed potatoes and broccoli were placed before them.

“well, dig in. and don’t be shy, i know you still must be starving, especially after your first raid.” jinwoo had to make sure to reassure you as he could see the way your mouth was practically salivating at the food.

“t-thank you so much!” picking up your knife and fork, you began cutting into the juicy and tender piece of steak, placing the morsel within your mouth as you let out a happy moan in response.

“delicious!”

jinwoo was filled with utter delight as he watched you eating your meal, taking casual bites of his own food, but never once straying his gaze too far away from you. you continue eating in silence, not saying a word as it was clear that you wanted to savor this meal to its fullest.

you and jinwoo continued to eat in a comfortable silence for the next hour, with jinwoo letting out a whistle at your own, empty plate. “wow, that’s pretty amazing. i thought i was the only one who could polish off this meal.”

you were in the middle of taking gulps of your iced water, setting down your glass before wiping at your lips, “sorry, it was so good… and i guess i was pretty hungry. i had skipped lunch earlier because i was so nervous about my first raid.”

“that’s understandable.” jinwoo nods while taking sips of his red wine. “just… don’t skip meals ever again, okay? your body needs it- especially now that you’re a healer.”

you nod in agreement while giving him a smile. “thank you, i’ll definitely keep that in mind… hunter sung.”

“jinwoo.” he ends up correcting you with a sigh. if you weren’t going to call him moonlight again, then he would much rather you refer to him by his first name.

“ah, what…? you’re giving me permission to call you by your first name?”

“yes.”

jinwoo leans back against his seat with his arms crossed over his chest, “is that a problem?”

you shake your head while clearing your throat, “n-no, it’s no problem at all! if that’s the case, then you may call me by my first name, too.”

when the waiter returns, he asks if you or jinwoo would like dessert, but you both shake your head at the offer. jinwoo gives the waiter his card, paying for both of the meals, which earned another smile from you.

with the dinner date completed, jinwoo places his card back within his wallet, pocketing it before casually walking beside you. you were playing with the straps of your satchel, mouth opening and closing, like you wanted to say something to him.

“the reason i called you moonlight was because your radiance is as gentle as the moon.”

your sudden words makes jinwoo stops in his tracks, feeling his heart begin to pound when he heard that nickname again-

moonlight.

his attention was fully on you now, facing you completely as he rests both of his hands within the pocket of his coat. you did not meet his gaze, clearly embarrassed as you forced yourself to tell him the truth.

“i spent some time perfecting my healing abilities because i held a deep admiration for you… you were achingly beautiful to me, jinwoo… you filled my life with such motivation and light- however, your presence and beauty wasn’t harsh like looking up at the sun, shining so brightly that it may blind me.”

you take another moment to yourself before finally meeting his gaze, eyes shining with a look akin to adoration for him.

“no, instead, your brilliance was more like that of the moon. your gentle rays was like a beacon for me… that’s why, you’re my moonlight.”

once you had finished your explanation, jinwoo felt as though his heart was floating in response. never before had such unbidden happiness filled his veins, the feeling becoming so potent that he had to take a step closer to you.

“oh? that’s why you called me moonlight?” he asks with another grin spreading across his handsome features.

“ah, yes. in my rush… i didn’t want to say your name and my secret nickname for you kind of slipped…?” you admit with a bit of a tremor in your voice.

his rich chuckle was heard echoing into the night air when he leans down, placing a hand on your chin while admitting, “to be honest, i’m glad that your secret nickname for me slipped.”

he hums a bit while brushing the tip of his nose against your forehead. you end up clinging to the front of his coat while shakily calling out to him.

“please, refer to me as your moonlight from now on.” jinwoo gives you a soft smile, taking your hand in his while pressing a kiss against the back of it.

“i can be your moonlight, and you can be my love. how does that sound?”

he basks in the way your smile widens in response to his proposition, giving him an eager nod before wrapping your arms around his neck.

“that sounds perfect to me, moonlight.”

and when he finally leans down to press his lips against yours, it was a sensation jinwoo knew that he would never once forget for the rest of his life.

a.n. - i’ve had this daydream stewing in my head for a while now, and finally decided to write it all down in a more coherent story ｡ﾟ(TヮT)ﾟ｡ i wanted to post this real quick before spending the following weeks doing research with my professor, so please do enjoy!

all stories are written by rei; reposts, translations, and plagiarism are not allowed.

[chukys-mouthguard]

fight night

2.5k words

genre: angst, minor fluff, suggested smut

featuring: auston matthews x female reader

summary: after a fight results in auston uninviting you to the nhl awards, you both end up at UFC 303

“Look, you need to chill the fuck out okay? If you don’t like the people I’m hanging out with here, then don’t bother fucking coming tonight. I’ll just see you when I’m back in town.”

Before you could get another word in, Auston had hung up the phone. The two of you getting in a heated argument about the people he was hanging out with while in Las Vegas for a slew of appearances. The most important being the NHL Awards, which you were supposed to attend alongside him. But not anymore.

You didn’t hate Auston’s friend group per say, but he’d been adopting a new workout routine for the offseason, and they didn’t necessarily seem to be helping that. He’d been drinking a lot, something that wasn’t necessarily uncommon for him, but heavy drinking was not going to put him on good terms with his conditioning coach.

Having just expressed your concerns turning into a huge fight between the two of you. It probably didn’t help that you hadn’t seen in each other in weeks, the awards show meant to be the event that brought you two back together. But now here you were, already in Vegas since you’d flown in that day, with your agenda now cleared. Your flight home not for two days as you anticipated spending time with Auston before flying back out.

As you contemplated rebooking your flight, a call came in from your manager, not something you had been expecting.

“Hey y/n, you’re in Las Vegas for a few days right?”

“Um, yeah, I’m in Vegas right now. What’s up?”

“Well, you know how we just closed that sponsorship deal for you with New Amsterdam Vodka?”

Truly you had no clue how your manager landed you that sponsorship, it being one of the best brands you’d gotten a deal with to date. You’d like to think it was because of how much you publicized your love for Pink Whitney, but who really knows.

“Well, they had some things come up. And long story short, can you attend the UFC fight tomorrow night? We’ve got Olivia on a plane flying in as we speak.”

Olivia was your podcast co-host that was also signed to a deal with New Amsterdam. The two of you were the hottest up and coming podcasters who were quickly gaining notoriety for your ability to talk sports and pop culture, while making it entertaining and understandable for all audiences.

“Um, yeah, I can definitely attend the fight. My schedule is completely free.”

“Great! We’ve got an itinerary for the both of you that I’ll send over shortly, because there’s gonna be some brand activation type things needed. And we’ve got stylists coming to your hotel tomorrow afternoon to help you girls with outfits, hair, and makeup!”

After giving you the last few details, you hung up with your manager. A bit shocked at the opportunity you were getting, but thankful to have some sort of distraction to look forward to and hopefully get your mind off the fight you had with Auston.

-

Entering T-Mobile arena, you honestly weren’t sure what to expect out of the much anticipated UFC 303, but it was something to cross off your bingo card for the year. Despite your lack of interest in the fights themselves, you were excited to attend and at least say you were there.

Olivia had gotten in late last night and you had to fill her in on everything. Why you fought with Auston, how he uninvited you from being his guest at the awards show. And how you were thankful for this appearance to get your mind off of him. The stylists had thrown together a more casual look for you: light wash ripped boyfriend jeans, a white tank top, and an oversized black and yellow racing jacket. Elevating the look a bit with some heeled boots. Olivia’s outfit complimenting yours well, both your hair and makeup done just enough to look minimal but still flawless. And with a few New Amsterdam cocktails already in your systems, you were ready to roll.

The arena had all the celebrities attending enter away from the general public, meaning you’d be passing some familiar faces in the tunnels as you were led to your seats. Everyone from Gordon Ramsey to Aaron Rodgers, even-your boyfriend.

“Well fuck…”

Immediately noticing the reason for your reaction, Olivia tried to block Auston from seeing you. But it was too late. His eyes went wide as he saw you, looking you up and down, thank god you looked this good. He was with fellow NHLer Clayton Keller as they awaited an usher to guide them to their seats.

Though shocked to see you at the event, he knew it must have been something your manager had pulled off for you. A soft smile on Auston’s lips as he watched you interact with the New Amsterdam reps, he couldn’t help but be proud of you. He’s seen how much you’ve poured into your podcast, and how hard you’ve worked for moments like these. Despite the argument, he still cared about you and loved seeing you in your element.

He hadn’t gotten the chance to say anything as you were quickly pulled off in the opposite direction. Most likely to film some type of ad for the brand. Pulling out his phone he shot you a quick text, making sure you got to hear from him in case he didn’t see you the rest of the night.

You look so fucking beautiful my love.

The text brought a smile to your face as you quickly typed back a response before you were pulled aside for an interview alongside Olivia.

“Lastly, y/n, I wanted to extend a congratulations to your boyfriend, Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Winner of the Richard Trophy last night at the NHL Awards.”

“Oh thank you so much.”

The comment was a bit unexpected, though it wasn’t uncommon to get asked about Auston since your relationship was very much public.

“We didn’t see you in attendance last night with Auston, hopefully there isn’t any trouble in paradise there?”

Laughing off the comment you shook your head, “No, not at all! There unfortunately was some last minute conflicts that prevented me from attending. But I’m so proud of him, I wish I could have been there. Luckily we have a night like tonight where we can just have some fun, and celebrate. So, I’m glad we were able to both be here!”

The interview wrapped up and you took a deep breath, Olivia squeezing your arm in reassurance. “I don’t know how you pulled that answer out of your ass, but that was so good!” The two of you laughed as an usher finally led you to your seats.

“I truly don’t even know what answer I gave, my brain was on autopilot. I’m just glad I didn’t say something stupid.”

“Are you gonna talk to him tonight at all?”

Stopping in your tracks as your usher gestured to your seats, your eyes settling on your boyfriend who was standing with his friends just next to where you’d be sitting for the night.

“Well I might not have much of a choice if I’m stuck sitting next to him.”

The two of you set your bags down at your seats, mingling a bit with the people around you. Remembering how your manager always preached to you both network as much as possible at events like these.

As you were talking with a rep from some coffee brand, trying your best to convince them to send some product to you girls to try, you felt an arm snacking around your waist. Immediately knowing it was Auston as your hand entangled with his at your hip.

Thanking the rep for their time, giving them your agents number, you finally were able to turn your attention to Auston. Who patiently stood at your side, a smile on his face as he watched you doing your thing.

“Hey baby.”

“Hi.”

He gave you a kiss before pulling you into his chest, rubbing your back as he knew you were still frustrated with him. Doing his best to try and make up for being an asshole.

“I didn’t know you were coming tonight?”

He pulled you towards your seats, his hand immediately resting on your thigh as you sat down. Eyes fixated on you as he sipped his drink.

“Well, neither did I. Until I got the call ten minutes after someone uninvited me from their awards show last night.”

You shot him a glare as he gently squeezed your thigh. “Look, about that, I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have reacted like that and-“

“Auston, it’s fine. Tonight, I just want to have fun, we don’t need to talk about it right now. Especially because I’ve had enough cocktails that you get me riled up, you and I will end up in that ring as the main event.”

He smirked at you as he leaned in close, stealing a kiss from you. “Is that a threat or a promise?”

Pushing him away as you tried to hide your blush, you ignored his horny thoughts. “Auston Matthews, we might need to cut you off. Someone is already feeling themselves tonight.”

A slight whine left his lips as he moved his hand, now draping an arm over your shoulder. “I can’t help that you look so good babe. Plus, I haven’t seen you in weeks, you expect me to not have my hands all over you? Most importantly, I need to make up for being such a dick last night.”

“Well that is very true. I didn’t even get to celebrate your big trophy win with you.”

A pout on your lips as you glanced up at him, deciding that you’d have some fun making him regret not inviting you. “I even brought your favorite blue lace set to wear under my dress last night, but, it just stayed in my suitcase since you didn’t want me there.” Fingers lightly playing with his chains as you spoke, making sure to really get under his skin.

The look in his eyes immediately turning to one of lust as he thought about the set in question. Baby blue lace that hugged your curves perfectly, and while it looked amazing on you he loved it even better on the floor.

“And I said I was sorry baby. I promise I’ll make it up to you.”

Tilting your chin up he brought your lips to his, clearly forgetting the two of you were in public as his tongue tried pushing past your lips. A slight chuckle leaving your lips as you pulled away from him.

“Babe, I love that you’re wanting to make it up to me. But maybe not front row for everyone to see, okay?”

He rolled his eyes as he obeyed, simply returning a hand to your thigh as the two of you watched as the main events were set to begin shortly.

You swore Auston’s hand crept closer and closer to your inner thigh with the ending of each fight. The alcohol mixed with the thoughts of you wearing his favorite lingerie clearly having him hot and bothered. And while you weren’t turning down the idea, it having been several weeks since you’d gotten your hand on him, you were still here for work and needed to act professional.

He luckily kept his cool for the remainder of the night, respecting when you had to remind him that you were there for work while he was there for fun. The two of you leaving hand in hand as he definitely was not letting you out of his sight. His mind focused on getting you back to his hotel and making up for not having you by his side at the awards show.

The second the door to his room closed you were pulled into his lap as he sat at the edge of the bed. One hand resting on your hip while the other pulled you in for a kiss.

“You do look fucking stunning tonight baby.”

A smile crept across your lips as your arms wrapped around his neck, thanking him as your eyes locked with his. “And, I’m sorry about last night. I should’ve never been that way, I needed you there with me. And, I let some dumb shit get me all worked up. I know you are just looking out for me, and I appreciate that so much. I love how much you care for me.”

Resting your forehead on his, you sighed, not even caring about the fight anymore. Knowing it was stupid, but appreciating his apology.

“I do care about you, a lot. And, maybe sometimes I overstep a bit. But it’s all out of love for you Auston. I wish I could’ve been there for you last night, but I’m here now. And there’s no place I’d rather be.”

“While I couldn’t agree more, I do wish I could’ve gotten to see that blue lace set on you last night. Would’ve been a nice way to celebrate that’s for sure.”

Slipping from his lap as he hands reached out to try and pull you back, you slowly discarded of your jacket. Standing in front of him with a smile on your face as he watched you in anticipation.

“Well, maybe we can still celebrate a day late.”

Pulling your tank top over your head, you revealed that you were in fact in the blue lace number. Auston biting his tongue at the sight of you in the bra, his hands wanting to make quick work of your jeans to see you in the matching thong.

“Fuck…but if you didn’t know you’d see me tonight, why wear the blue?”

“Shut up and just enjoy the coincidence Auston!”

Shaking your head you walked back over to him, pulling him in for a kiss as his hands made quick work of your jeans. Needing to see you fully on display in blue lace just for him. As you kicked off the jeans, he sat back on his forearms, lust filled eyes watching as you did a spin for him.

“God you’re so fucking perfect.”

Without warning he picked you up, lips crashing against yours while his hands rested under your ass gripping tightly as your skin and surely leaving a few marks.

You giggled as he tossed you on the bed, making quick work of his clothes, leaving him in just his briefs as he hovered over you. Tucking some hair behind your ear as his hips ground into your core, earning a moan from you as you felt him growing hard against you. The two of you taking your time, kissing for what felt like hours, no hurry as you wanted to savor every second of your time with one another.

“I love you so much Auston, and I’m so proud of you. But if you ever uninvite me from something like that ever again, so help me god.”

He rolled his eyes as a hand traveled down to the string of your thong, snapping it slightly as his fingers teased at your core.

“Relax baby, I’m gonna make up for it all.”

[jaegeraether]

Sunsets and footballers (Part 15)

Lucy Bronze x Reader (15)

Masterlist (other parts here)

The morning had been filled with more sex, desperate kisses and grabbing, biting and fucking. But it was more than just sex, much more, and they both knew it. It was the most expressive way that they could both show each other just how much they affected each other. How much they meant to each other. And damned if they weren’t going to use every second they had in their little happy bubble.

YFN had managed to convince Lucy that she’d be okay to go to the embassy alone. She knew Lucy had been neglecting her knee to spend time with her and was overdue for some recovery sessions. Lucy insisted on dropping her off regardless and left to do her physio.

YFN was nervous, but she had nothing to worry about. She met a nice man called Martin who looked over her case and listened to her explanations of what happened. He told her that complaints were common and that he didn’t agree with the system and how it operated. “This isn’t America. We aren’t ICE!” He’d said gruffly and they spoke a little about how it shouldn’t be so easy to make anonymous complaints of someone’s Visa when they were ‘clearly within the legal parameters of such Visa’. They had a good chat about him, his partner and his children, while he went through his paperwork. They spoke about her previous job and how her visit was going. He’d appreciated the mountain of evidence she’d brought, both self-researched and from Lucy’s lawyers. It turned out he was a huge football supporter -as she was realising that most of the UK were- and his daughter even played in the under 15s. He ducked away apologetically to confirm her character reference was who she said they were, and of course Ridley had answered the phone. He came back gushing over her, like everyone who met her did. An acquired taste, but very intelligent and loveable. He’d even apologised when he’d gotten back as the conversation went longer than expected – the effect Ridley had on people. Again, she wasn’t surprised.

Martin offered her Visa back, along with his number to call in case another complaint was made, or for any other future changes to her Visa.

YFN felt comfortable enough with him to ask about Visa’s for Europe as well as the possibility of working in the UK. They’d discussed the apparent lack of interviewers for women’s sport and again, he was eager. She showed him an example of the column she used to write in Australia which was very much open to whatever topic controversial enough for her to deem worthy of a column, and he moved around a few appointments to talk to her about her options. She had a few different options, but he guided her towards the sponsorship from a company. She needed to be guaranteed at least 6 months of work and the Visa was for 2 years with the ability to progress to other Visa’s past that. YFN hadn’t personally spoken to the company Katie and Caitlin had been speaking of, and she didn't mention them to Martin, but he seemed confident she would find work. She liked him, he seemed a lovely family man and exactly the type of person she’d needed to sort out the mess that had been made. Somehow, the horrible situation had turned out completely in her favour.

They parted ways, Martin again insisting that she use his number with any more Visa changes or questions, and she was excited to tell Lucy the news, and the possibility of staying around Europe for longer. She loved giving her good news.

She came out of the appointment after being there for a few hours and opened her phone. She immediately saw that Lucy had posted some pictures of her rehab session, including some boxing. YFN could feel her body heat at the sight, and she bit her lip. She liked the post, of course, and commented with a bicep emoji, and a face exhaling emoji. Lucy would know what she meant. She did, after all, have hickey’s on her biceps from their adventures over the past 24 hours, and she wasn’t apologetic about that at all. She was obsessed with her biceps and whenever she had a chance, they were always in her hands, or under her mouth. She found it hard to believe that this woman, Lucy Bronze, the jaw-droppingly sexy woman in those photo's, was her girlfriend, and had quite literally been inside her last night. And this morning. She caught her thoughts, biting her lip again.

She didn’t want to rush Lucy, and so she gave her a simple text saying she was out exploring London whenever she was finished, and to not rush. When she and Jordan were alone, she’d changed the time of the booking she had to 3pm, because she had no idea how long the Visa would take and regardless, she wanted Lucy to have a good amount of hours with her session.

Of course, Lucy called her almost immediately.

“I can com-”

“No, Luce. You stay.”

“But-”

“Luciiiia.” Unlike everyone else, she pronounced it as ‘Loo-chee-ah’, which she knew Lucy loved.

“I don’t like you out there alone with…”

“I know, love.” She said softer, repeating Lucy’s words from the night before. It filled her with butterflies, and she swore she could hear Lucy soften over the phone. “I’m happy to explore and I’ll stay around people. I’ll be fine, just please… please focus on your health and your knee. I’ll see you at 2:30, okay? I’ll message you where we can meet..”

Lucy wasn’t keen on the idea, but she reluctantly agreed.

For the first time, YFN found herself in the dead centre of London and although she wanted to enjoy herself, she always felt her eyes wandering around for those girls, and so she made sure to stay near people in case anything happened. Regardless, she tried to enjoy her day. She wandered around looking at shops and the old buildings in wonder, making sure to take photos for her Nan, and send a few to Lucy as a way of telling her she was okay. She sat in a park for a little while and read some of the book she’d brought, feeling the sun on her skin. It wasn’t as harsh as the sun in Australia, but it was just enough to cut through the breeze and keep her skin sun-kissed and warm.

When 2:30pm eventually came around, YFN was wandering to the spot she told Lucy to meet at, and there she was, standing outside, leaned up against her car, the most attractive human being on the planet. YFN could feel her body reacting, needing her. She was in shorts, of course, her knee strapped, and she was so goddamn tanned from Spain. Her ankles were crossed, as well as her arms and her biceps stretched her white Nike shirt. Just the outline of her body, those muscled thighs, biceps, shoulders, were sending her crazy and that was without mentioning her throat, or her jawline that could probably cut paper. She was scanning the park for YFN, her eyes looking in the opposite direction so she could better see that jawline and the features of her face. Having just been to training, she was without glasses and her face looked almost naked to her. She could brush her lips over each part of her face like she had last night, and it still wouldn’t be enough. As she got closer, Lucy spotted her, and that wide grin crossed her face. YFN sped up and jogged towards her for two reasons: 1) because she didn’t want Lucy to have to walk on her knee more than she had to and, 2) she couldn’t stand being apart from her a second longer. Her arms wrapped around her Lucy and they fell back into the car with a chuckle. Lucy’s arms around her were just as strong and needy as her own. Her head found its favourite place on her collarbone, forehead to her neck and she breathed her in. She smelled like vanilla and bitter orange. Lucy’s smell. The smell that was home to her now.

“God I missed you.” Lucy groaned, kissing YFN wherever she could reach. YFN giggled and tilted her head back, accepting all of the love.

“London is pretty… and I missed you more.”

���Impossible.” Lucy refused between kisses.

“Your post sent me wild..”

Lucy pulled back with a wide grin and flirty green eyes. “Oh, you liked it, did you? I was hoping you would..”

“I’m loving your boxing era.”

“Good thing it’s around to stay then. Best way to do cardio without straining my knee, plus, I’m really enjoying it. Building more muscle.” She flexed her bicep and YFN grinned.

"Well not the best way to do cardio..."

Lucy groaned.

YFN's hands glided their way up her back and shoulders, dipping over the muscles that she’d worked so hard for. She could feel herself getting wet and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath.

“What are you doing?” Lucy asked, voice husky but curious.

“Calming myself down.” She said and took another breath.

“Why?”

“Because you’re the sexiest human being to ever exist and I’m trying to stop myself getting so excited.”

Lucy was silent until YFN had to open her eyes to look. Lucy’s expression was flirty, needy, in control, and horny. Her hands slid down YFN’s sides, over her waist, her hips, and found their way to her ass where they grabbed and began sliding back up her back, pressing them together.

“All mine.” Lucy growled in a way that said there was absolutely no arguing to be done as she crashed their lips together, pulling her against her body by her lower back. YFN returned the passion eagerly, one hand on the side of Lucy’s neck, the other at the back of her head. She was hers. Her body shuddered at the want, the need, the passion in which Lucy claimed her. Their tongues met and brushed each other teasing, while they gasped for breath.

YFN eventually found the strength to pull away first. “Public, Lucia…” she reminded her. Lucy grunted, still holding her tight, her lips brushing over her temple, her cheek, her jaw. When she started going for her throat, YFN had to give her another warning. She’d never had sex in public before but fuck, she was just about to if Lucy didn’t find the strength to stop.

Lucy groaned and pulled back, lips well kissed and breathing ragged. It was good to see that YFN had the same effect on Lucy as she did for her.

“How have I survived without you this long?” She asked, shaking her head, and YFN knew she wasn’t referring to the past 7 hours.

“I was just thinking the same thing…” She managed to regain her composure just a little and only due to the sound of people around them. “Ready for our second date?”

It was a rage room. Or so that’s all Lucy thought it was. She was kept in the dark from the moment YFN had said she’d plan the second date, right up to the point where they were in overalls and goggles, locked in a room with baseball bats and other weapons of choice. Lucy was pleasantly surprised, her face lighting up and her inner child bubbling to the surface.

“We’ve had a bit of a rough time lately…” YFN explained. “I figured we could get some stress out?”

And they did. Lucy was hesitant at first, not wanting to show her rage. But after YFN was more than willing to demonstrate her frustrations by taking an axe to the window of a car, Lucy let loose. And absolutely fucking destroyed the room. It started with a grin, it shifted to annoyance, then rage, then it simmered back down to pure fun. She’d needed this and didn’t even realise it.

After the room was destroyed and she thought she was done, she dropped the bat, panting. Suddenly she was hit in the neck, a wet substance exploding on her skin, splashing down onto her overalls and up onto her face. She still had a surprised look on her face as she turned towards her little Australian who had a devious look on hers. She had a bag slung over her shoulder, and she was tossing a paint balloon in her hand. Her favourite movie.

“You want me to be your Heath Ledger?” Lucy challenged.

YFN chuckled and threw another one, and Lucy the athlete was easily able to avoid it. Then she ran. Lucy dove for the other bag on the ground, tugging it over her shoulder as she chased her around the room. Her first red paint balloon smacked into her shoulder, and the next smacked a perfect blue target on her ass. They shouted and chased, teased, and tried to hide behind items. YFN was worried for Lucy’s knee, but it didn't seem to be a concern for the right back at all. As they were covered with different colours of the rainbow and running out of ammo, Lucy tackled her to the ground and they smashed their last balloons over each other before their lips crashed together. Their tongues met again, and Lucy groaned, grabbing the back of her thigh and pulling it up around her.

“Aaaaand time’s up folks!” A voice rang through the speakers as the door clicked.

The date had them both smiling so hard that their cheeks were sore and YFN felt happy knowing she’d chosen the right thing for their second date. They wiped off as much paint from each other as they could, but it was still caked in their hair, patching their faces and necks. They knew they wouldn’t be getting the colours out of their nails for days.

On the way home, they stopped by a pizza place that Jordan had suggested they try. YFN figured that the perfect end to the date would be a casual pizza takeaway at home with cuddles and blankets. Lucy was more than keen on the idea. She pulled up outside of the pizza restaurant and left the car running.

“I’ll go pick it up.” Lucy leant over and kissed YFN on the lips like they’d been together years. “I’ll just be a minute, little one.”

YFN’s cheeks flushed slightly, her little butterflies coming to life. Since she’d texted Lucy where she was, she hadn’t picked up her phone all night and it was such a good feeling. She loved being detached from it, especially lately when it had been causing so much stress. She enjoyed it so much that she’d used Lucy’s phone to place the pizza order on, not wanting to see her phone until tomorrow.

But apparently not even that could remove the problems that had inserted themselves so abruptly into her life. Still smiling, she looked out of Lucy’s window and saw two of them staring at her, pointing and yelling. Before she had time to process beyond shock, they were running across the road for the car. YFN panicked and leant over, slamming the door locks on. They grabbed at the door, trying to yank it open. YFN’s eyes were wide with shock as they smashed against the car, shouting abuse at her. She almost froze, and considered beeping the horn but she didn’t want Lucy to run out and be hurt by these maniacs. Then she made the mistake of turning to look out her window for her girlfriend and locked eyes with her. Kristie. She put her phone up to the window clearly showing YFN a photo of her and Lucy kissing when she'd picked her up at the park.

“I warned you, you fucking slut! She’s mine!” She yelled, pure hatred in her voice.

Kristie took a few steps back, her arm raising behind her. Then a brick shattered through the window and collided with her head. And then, black.

[icedsodapop]

It should go without saying that race plays a huge factor in all of this, but to state the unspoken: Being white means having systemic advantages people of color can only dream of. Not everyone with the skills to make delicious food will advance their career on merit alone.

It would be ridiculous to claim that people can’t cook whatever they want, and people criticizing cultural appropriation rarely make this point. But perhaps a better starting point is to question who gets to profit off of ethnic cuisines.

(...)

This creates a free-for-all situation where anyone who can manage to make money off of a type of cuisine may do so. We’d like to think that whoever makes the best food rises to the top, but there’s ample data suggesting that white people in the US have a much better chance compared to POC for things like accessing small business loans to start a restaurant or getting a ethnic cookbook publishing deal. 

(...)

At the end of the day, respecting and practicing authentic ethnic culinary arts may put a smile on the faces of POC. But materially, this branding benefits white food creators as they grow their businesses. @logagm has 2.7 million TikTok followers, enough to land lucrative brand sponsorships, attract TV deals, publishing opportunities, or investment in any Korean cooking business endeavor he may pursue in the future. While he cooks just like a Korean ajumma, a Korean ajumma making japchae on TikTok would likely not get the number of views — and the business opportunities they may help secure — he does.

“When a white chef profits off of the cultural capital of someone else’s culture, they should surrender some of that capital,” Adrian De Leon, assistant professor of history at the University of Southern California, told me in a phone call. 

We accept that when white food creators take the time to seriously study ethnic cooking, they are “paying their dues,” but what if white food creators literally paid their dues with money? Or hired and mentored POC to thrive in the industry? Or used their industry influence to lift up POC food creators from the same tradition? Or involved themselves in working with the communities that taught them how to make the delicious food making them rich?

Emphasis added by me

[bethanydelleman]

I'm listening to Emma as my falling-asleep audiobook right now and I'm thinking a lot about Harriet. The movie adaptations very often have her remaining friends with Emma after the end, but the book says their relationship sank into mere acquaintances after that. Is that a personality thing, do you think, or is it a class thing? And why the difference in the adaptations? I have my own thoughts but I'd like to hear yours.

It is definitely a class thing.

I think one of the reasons Emma can be unpalatable to modern audiences is because it ends with a restoration of a social order that we find repulsive today. How is it fair that Jane Fairfax, born as lower gentry, gets to marry into Enscombe but Harriet Smith, the natural daughter of a tradesman, 'deserves' only Robert Martin and is basically ejected from membership in Highbury's gentry class? And that's a good thing? The adaptations maintain the Emma and Harriet friendship because the way the book ends really appalls a lot of modern readers.

(Also, never really talking about the age difference between Emma and Knightley was a great choice in Emma 2020 because that is not people's favourite either.)

I think the most charitable way to look at it is that Harriet always wanted Robert Martin. She loved staying there over the summer, the family was extremely kind and loving towards her, and her status as a natural child would be largely ignored. Emma's interference gave her ideas above her station... ug, veering into territory I don't love again... but then again, could Harriet have ever succeeded at marrying into the gentry? Probably not on Emma's sponsorship.

There are only two characters that a member of the gentry tries to move from "middle class" (I know it's not really the middle class) to gentry, George Wickham and Harriet Smith. Both attempts are disasters. Captain Wentworth, Fanny/William Price, and Jane Fairfax are all born into the lower gentry and they climb higher, which seems to be fine. There are a bunch of characters who go from extremely wealthy trade to gentry, the Jennings (Mrs. Jennings, Lady Middleton, and Charlotte Palmer) and the Bingleys. They seem to be fine, Charles Bingley at least is portrayed positively.

I don't know what the message is there. The Gardiners are presented as gentleman-like but have no apparent intentions of jumping class. Does that make them good? As someone raised in Canada whose worldview is rooted in The American Dream Lite, it's hard for me to appreciate the upholding of a classist system. Jane Austen herself was clinging to gentry status by her fingernails, so why does she write a novel that glorifies almost everyone staying exactly where birth placed them? Jane Fairfax can improve herself and be worthy of a rich marriage but not Harriet? I guess Harriet never improves herself much though, but she hasn't had the same opportunities as Jane F...

But then the very next novel, Persuasion, seems very anti-classist!

Something about hubris...

I actually feel sorry for Emma at the end of the book. She got a husband, sure, but she loses a friend. She has Mrs. Weston still, but she'll be busy with her baby, she loses Harriet, Jane Fairfax is gone (again), and she's still stuck in Highbury, which has become worse because Mrs. Elton is there now. She just remains as much trapped and limited as she was before...

Anyway, that is my long and rambling answer. I'm not very happy with the ending of Emma. If someone who does like it wants to defend, you are more than welcome.

(I do think there might be something to like, this is how the class system could work well if everyone actually did their jobs. Knightley is the perfect, model landlord. Cares for the poor, lives at his estate, involved in running it etc. Emma does her duty to the poor, everyone seems to do well under their United management)

[chirpingfromthebox]

I forgot to post about this back when it came out. But this was an interview with two prominent figures from the management side of the PWHL from a few days back. I was expecting it to be a bit dry, but they actually address quite a few prominent questions.

I was originally going to skip doing this one as it's somewhat long, but I've been seeing a number of things they talked about coming up in discussions here, so I thought y'all might be interested to hear what they have to say.

I'll transcribe what I personally found to be the most interesting elements that came up, but know I'll be cutting down some of the remarks and only doing some of the questions, so definitely watch the video for the full story.

Since this is already going to be a massive post I'll spare you my musings on the answers.

Transcriptions of some of the questions under the break.

At the table are Senior Vice President of Hockey Operations Jayna Hefford & Advisory Board Member Stan Kasten.

And I believe this was after Game 2 of the finals and before the start of Game 3.

For context on who these two are in a bigger picture, what little I know is:

Jayna Hefford is a HIGHLY successful and influential former Canadian hockey player who's been working in the field of women's hockey ever since she retired from playing. If I tried to sum up her career we'd be here all day, so let's just say she's in the Hockey Hall of Fame for a reason.

Stan Kasten comes from a background of running/managing large sports teams, though mostly baseball. He is even the current president of the Los Angeles Dodgers and also one of the co-owners. He seems to have had a brief foray into hockey as the president of the NHL's Atlanta Thrashers for a few years. The Thrashers no longer exist and I think they moved and became what are now the Jets? (I dunno, I shouldn't be your source for NHL history, that's for sure.)

--------------- INTRODUCTIONS ---------------

STAN KASTEN: I can’t describe the pleasure this is for me to be here [at the Xcel Energy Center in Minnesota]. The last time I was here I told you that I thought that day, the 13,000*, really convinced us that we were going to make this work.

[* the first home game for Minnesota had an attendance of 13,316.]

But even then I couldn’t have imagined how the year would play out. How we would set attendance records, sponsorship records, and viewing records. So our media strategy was a success. But of course the thing that made it work, really, was what I said opening day: we got the hockey right.

And that’s because of Jayna [Hefford] and her staff. You know, we didn’t know our playoffs ‘til after the last game on the last day. Who could have imagined that we’d put together a system that would've worked out that perfectly. You see how close and competitive the playoffs have been. And as exciting as this is for all of us, we can’t wait to get started on year 2, because we know with all Summer to prepare, it’s gonna be even better.

JAYNA HEFFORD: When we kicked off this league we had a few goals and—at least on the hockey side—one of them was to create parity across the league. And through the draft and the player dispersal, the player signings that we put in place, we were able to do that.

And to Stan’s point, I don’t think we could have wrote the script any better the way it played out and came down to the last game of the regular season to decide who was in the playoffs. We certainly achieved that.

Secondly, innovation and creativity was a priority for us. We wanted to find ways to improve the game. To make it more engaging for fans, to make it fun. We didn’t want to change hockey in the traditionalism of hockey, but we wanted to do things a little bit differently.

So implementing the Jailbreak rule, implementing the pick your own opponent, the Gold Plan*. All of those things are new. But I think right now, and of course we’re going to debrief post-season, but right now the response from all of those things has been overwhelmingly positive. So we will continue to try to be creative and think outside the box and present the game in new ways to people.

[* It didn’t come into play this season, so in case anyone isn’t familiar: The Gold Plan is the system by which after a team is out of contention for the playoffs during the regular season, any wins they get would be factored into where they’d be placed in the draft order for next season. It was designed to be an incentive for teams out of the running to still play their hardest and strive for wins.]

...

So excited to be here now for the next two or three games. And really it’s been a remarkable, amazing journey this last number of years, but really this last 8 or 9 months. And as Stan said, I don’t think I could have envisioned this playing out the way it did. The excitement around this, and the response from our fans, and response from media. So we’re just thrilled with where it’s at and I know this is gonna wrap up in a really great way in the next number of days.

...

--------------- LOOKING AHEAD, WHAT ARE THE CHANGES/CHALLENGES FOR NEXT YEAR? ---------------

STAN: We didn’t have our business staff in place until about 60 days before the season started. So we have a lot we can still do.

The most obvious one was merchandise. Having, you know, the amount of inventory that we needed was a challenge for us. Getting an online business started, in two countries, that was a challenge. So all these two country problems are different than other leagues.

By the end of the season we did really well on merchandise. But we have more coming and more designs and greater inventory. The one good thing is that we sold everything that we could make. I mean, it was just flying off the shelves when we could get it to arenas. And the online business has been strong also. Those things are challenging when they’re start-ups, and as I said, they’re start-ups in two countries, so we know how to do it now. It’s gonna get a lot better going forward.

JAYNA: And I think what everybody is waiting for is names and logos. So that’s one big thing that’s coming. So I think that’ll be really exciting to be able to build those brands and make those brands significant in the markets and communities we’re in.

STAN: It’s interesting how the name thing played out. We did not start out to do that, but because the lead time required in these things, we just thought it was better to just skip that for now and just go with: PWHL and the location.

And that has had an amazing unintended consequence of anytime anyone has talked about any of our teams all year, you had to say “PWHL.” So our league has gotten more exposure in the first year of its existence than any league in history ‘cause they kept repeating our name.

Again, we didn’t plan it that way; it just worked out that way. And it was about mid-season that I started hearing from fans and players, “You know, we kinda like the name the way it is.”

We’re gonna have team names. And I invite people to adopt those names too. But you can feel free to continue to call it what you’ve always called it. And we will be selling merchandise with both of those names. So these names aren’t going away because they have become popular. But for those of you who like team names, we’ll be addressing that as well.

...

JAYNA: ...Of course we feel like we have incredible talent on the ice every night now, but putting the best on the ice is about putting the best on the ice. And we know there’s a number of incoming players. So it will get more challenging. Good players will have a hard time making this league. But when you think about the product we’re gonna put on the ice? It’s gonna continue to get significantly better every single year as we welcome in newer and younger players. Then at some point we’ll look to add teams, when that depth of talent is at the right place in our minds. But right now it’s just exciting to look at all the new and fresh talent that’s going to step in.

--------------- WHAT CAN YOU DO TO IMPROVE DIVERSITY AND ATTRACT MORE BLACK FANS TO THE GAMES? ---------------

JAYNA: I think the first thing is representation. And we have some incredible athletes in our league that continue to be great role models, be active in their communities. And when you think of Sophie Jaques and Sarah Nurse and players that continue to give back and become something that young girls can look up to? I think all of our players do that for a lot of different communities of people.

And I think the one thing that’s really special about our league is- I feel it every game I’m at, it doesn’t matter what market we’re in, is that there’s a sense of inclusivity in our buildings. People are here and they’re excited and they’re happy and they feel welcome, regardless of who they are. And they feel free to be themselves. I’ve talked to many, many people that have never felt this way in a hockey rink. So we’ll continue to do that on the culture side.

I think what we want to do is continue to grow the game for young girls and I don’t think there’s any limits on who those young girls are. We want people to fall in love with the game. And I think we approach our business side and staffing side the same way. We want to bring people in who love the game and we want to bring people in that represent different communities.

--------------- WHAT ARE THE PLANS FOR NEW YORK TO POSSIBLY PLAY IN ONE VENUE INSTEAD OF THE THREE OR FOUR THEY USED THIS SEASON? ---------------

STAN: When the season is over we’re gonna review everything. Every city, every venue that we’re in, and we’re going to try to improve. We’re aware of the New York situation. It wasn’t ideal this year. But we’ll see what ways we can improve the situation. We’re not ready to say here today which way we’re going to go or what we’re going to do. But I can tell you that certainly one of the things we’re going to spend a lot of time looking at.

REPORTER: What do you guys think is the ideal venue situation?

STAN: The ideal venue situation is to play in the biggest NHL venue in every city. And merit playing there. We’re not always there yet in every market. But in big markets, as you might know, the big venues are there because there are a lot of events and a lot of teams in those cities. That gets into availabilities. We don’t want to be in a big venue, but have to play on a Tuesday morning, right? We wanna play on weekend nights or nights in general.

So it’s a complicated matrix of considerations that goes into where we choose to play, when we choose to play, what’s good for the team, what’s good for the visiting team, how we travel. It’s complicated.

It’s complicated with 6, it’ll be more complicated the bigger we grow and the more games we have. Those will be good problems, but we don’t ignore it. We’re thinking about all of it. And you saw in this year when we found an opportunity that we thought would work for our fans in cities where we could go to big venues, we did it. I would call them experiments and in general I’d say those experiments were all wildly successful.

--------------- WHEN CAN WE EXPECT NAMES AND LOGOS? ---------------

STAN: Sometime this Summer. I don’t have an exact time, but you should be counting the days.

--------------- HOW DID THE GATE RECEIPT REVENUE COMPARE TO WHAT YOU EXPECTED? ---------------

STAN: I will tell you that, yes, it exceeded what we thought we were going to- it exceeded our early projections. But that’s partially because we made the strategy decision to also greatly exceed our expected expenses.

Let me give you an example. You know how women’s hockey games have been broadcast in the past, right? Single camera from upstairs. It isn’t what we chose to do. We made the conscious choice to spend a lot of money to make it a major league professional broadcast. And I think all of you who watched our games would agree. That’s what we delivered. It was expensive. But we think it’s gonna pay off for us in the long run.

Additionally we didn’t hire three people and slowly build each franchise. We went right to 120 people by opening day and now we’re over 200 people. So that was a lot of expense that we didn’t expect right away, but we said, “you know what? We’re all in. So let’s do year 4 expenses in year 1.”

So yeah, and that resulted in a lot more revenue. And that’s why we think our decision to invest in the league, which is what I call expenses, was the right one. We’re on the right track. The investments we made are paying off.

--------------- WHAT CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT NEXT SEASON’S SCHEDULE, NUMBER OF GAMES, AND POSSIBLE NEUTRAL-SITE GAMES? ---------------

JAYNA: Well, in terms of number of games the league will go up to 30. And that’s in our CBA that 24 regular games in the inaugural season will move to a minimum of 30 next year. In terms of neutral site games, we do expect that there will be more of those next season. I don’t have a timeline for our schedule to be done yet, but we do expect more games, more neutral-site games next season.

--------------- WHAT WAS THE CONSENSUS ON THE OFFICIATING THIS SEASON IN THE LEAGUE? ---------------

JAYNA: I don’t know if you’ll ever get a collection of people that all agree on officiating in any sport, in any league. So we’re actually really happy with where we’re at.

We set out initially to find the best officials we could find. We worked closely with the NHL, the AHL, Hockey Canada, USA Hockey, to select the top officials. We obviously also adjusted the standard of play to this league. It’s not full body checking, but there is an increased level of physicality in the game. So I think we spent the early months of the season really trying to figure out where that line is and get people comfortable with it.

Now where we’re at I think players have figured it out to some extent. Of course not everyone’s going to agree on that. But the way I see the players playing the game now, and their awareness of positions they’re in, and to be ready for that physicality has changed. So, are we right there? We’re probably not right there yet. But we’re really happy with where we’re at, we think the officials have done an incredible job in the league this season.

--------------- ARE THERE PLANS FOR DRAFTED PLAYERS WHO MIGHT NOT MAKE THE PWHL ROSTERS? ---------------

JAYNA: I think trying to figure out what the right solution for that is in the short term is at the top of our list of things to do. You know, building one league in 9 months, but to build a whole ecosystem for hockey? It’s just not something that we can do right now. But we are thinking creatively around places that players could play if they don’t end up on our 23 or 26 player rosters next season. So it’s a bit of a work in progress. But in speaking to number of stakeholders there’s many many people that want to figure out a solution to this so that we can keep more women in playing the game at the highest level.

--------------- DO YOU LOOK AT THE LEAGUE AS A “WOMEN’S SPORTS” SUCCESS STORY OR HAS IT MOVED BEYOND THAT? ---------------

JAYNA: I think that we are very different from most men’s leagues. I think we’re very different than many women’s leagues. I’d like to see us stand on our own as a sports league. But in saying that I also believe that this time for women’s sports and the success of one feels like it’s a success for all. We’re all big fans and collaborate with folks in the WNBA and the NWSL, and it feels like we’re all working together to raise women’s sports. So I don’t know if that’s an appropriate answer, but I feel it’s a little of both.

--------------- HOW DO THE INVESTORS FEEL ABOUT THIS FIRST SEASON? ---------------

STAN: I have one investor, he is ecstatic.

...

--------------- WHAT IS THE POTENTIAL FOR DOING A BEST OF 7 GAMES SERIES IN THE FUTURE? ---------------

JAYNA: This is a little bit like getting asked about expansion 3 months in. Great question. Would I love to see a best of 7 series? We’re sitting here 1-1, you know of course I would. But I think we’re really excited about the format we have now. This is new for women’s hockey. Even the best players in the world who’ve won multiple Olympic gold medals have not played in a best of 5 series. I think we’re seeing that it’s challenging. There’s a lot of travel, there’s fatigue, the volume that they’re experiencing is huge

So I think we’re really good where we’re at right now. Somewhere along the line I could see us maybe expanding, but again, year 1? The two best of 5 series have been a really great format for us.

STAN: And that comes from someone who’s won 4 Olympic gold medals.

JAYNA: [laughing] I’ve never played in a best of 5 series either.

STAN: Exactly.

--------------- end of interview ---------------

[themultifanshipper]

I would like to contribute my opinion on the lando/trump situation.

Warning, it's long and a bit nuanced (although slightly more a defence than an accusation but still keep an open mind)

And is edited as i find more things to say

First off, Lando is a victim of the formula one machine just like all the drivers. They are the puppets, the clowns, whatever analogy you want. The people behind the teams (team bosses, ceo's, sponsors etc... are what make the machine run, the drivers are just there to drive. He was approached by the ex president of the country he was in, on a high of winning his first race, and shook his hand while a million cameras were pointing in his direction. That can only happen one way: trump being invited by the team (bosses ceo's, whatever). Now, I despise trump and everything he stands for, but if I was in Lando's situation I would have had to do the same thing. (It so happens I was in a similar situation and had to shut my mouth and shake the hand of a politician I didn't like because I could have caused a diplomatic incident and lost my job and cost a lot of money in sponsorships). Also the alleged comments "It was an honour for him to be there/ you have to have respect for him" etc... are probably bullshit, but in the case that they are not and Lando is actually a trump supporter, if you cancel him for it, you would have to cancel half the drivers/team bosses/Ceo's etc in HISTORY.

The founding of formula one (like any institution ever) is by and for White/Rich/Heterosexual/Males. The FIA is corrupt. The teams are corrupt. It's an industry entirely run by money. It's capitalism in a bottle and some of y'all seem to forget that. The fact is the drivers could all be supporters of the right wing parties in their respective countries, would you cancel all of them?

For example, frank williams, the FOUNDER of Williams f1 team was openly a Thatcher supporter. There is a portrait of the bitch in his house (now his daughter's) as seen below, with a picture of.... george russell??

I also added a picture of Thatcher with Colin Chapman to emphasize that political figures often get involved in sports, doesn't mean the athletes align with their views. Trump, Reagan, Thatcher, Francisco Franco (a literal dictator).... they've all done it.

But let's have a quick look at Georgie boy then. A rich white man, he was quite friendly with Frank Williams, does that mean he's a tory? No. (Tbh he probably is but is smart enough to not talk about it)

Lewis Hamilton of all people was invited to lunch TWICE with the British Royal family (not to mention the knighthood), does that mean he's a racist cunt with no regard for other human lives? No. So why would he associate himself with them? Because he's smart enough to not alienate half the bloody population!

If these people had integrity and perfect morals, they would not be racing in F1. And for the few that are genuinely good people, they're smart enough to just be a cog in the machine to ensure their paycheck. We saw it with the horner situation, they won't get involved unless they actually support the bad guy. Similar situation to palestine, if they speak out either way, they will alienate countless sponsors and probably loose their seat.

Yes it's shit, yes it should be different, yes it should be inclusive but it's just not. It's veeery slowly changing though.

But back to Lando: now he isn't perfect obviously. (He's a white cis probably het man) He might even be right wing who knows, but I think taking alleged comments like "you have to respect the guy" out of context is dangerous. Objectively, yes there is an infinitesimal bit of respect you have to have for trump (hear me out) he managed to become PRESIDENT OF THE UNTIED STATES by manipulating the masses into thinking he was basically the reincarnation of God. Man is a genius, even though he's a cock. He's also a brilliant example of nepotism, capitalism and all round discrimination that represents the system we all live in. Additionally, florida is a pretty right wing state if i'm not mistaken (gun laws/anti abortion/anti lgbt etc...) and if lando had told trump to fuck off, there might have been riots and i'm only barely joking. Lando is a dick for the comments that were perhaps a bit unnecessary but y'all are seeing them as him endorsing trump lmao. As a (hopefully) future public figure, if the president of my country came to see me in front of a bunch of cameras i would also say it was an honour to meet him. At this level it's self preservation.

I will finish this rant by saying that I hope the world of f1 will change for the better in future years, already the gender diversification is going in the right direction, some programs are in place for kids who come from poorer backgrounds etc... but expecting that change to come from the puppets of capitalism is quite unreasonable. Lewis has set some standards that hopefully more and more drivers can stick to, but in the meantime cancelling a dude for breathing the same air as trump is stupid.

Ps: Y'all don't know the half of the awful private corporations and sponsors of the teams and drivers, so if you can't cope with the occasional dick on your screen, you might want to pick a different hobby. Preferably not involving public figures or PR in any capacity.

Edit 1: I've been seing ppl get mad at lando for saying he's his lucky charm and I think it's perhaps a language comprehension barrier thing. He did not say that. Trump said he was lando's lucky charm, then lando mentionned that trump had said it.

Edit 2: I've seen some clips of Zak Brown where he seems to be really friendly with trump. I wouldn't be surprised if it was his idea to introduce him to lando. CEO's are rarely great people, and although i'm glad he's been such a huge part of Lando's journey and success, i'm not a big fan of his. I just wish it would have been with someone a bit less complacent, like max or lewis, they wouldn't have said that stuff and the interaction would have been quite entertaining I reckon.

Edit 3: great post about the misunderstood comments at the press conference here

Don't hesitate to insult me in my asks, i will be answering them with equal enthusiasm :)

[adropofhumanity]

The Edinburgh International Book Festival (EIBF) has ended a 20-year partnership with asset management firm Baillie Gifford following pressure from activists over its ties to Israeli technology and military companies, as well as the fossil fuel industry.

In an announcement on Thursday evening, EIBF's board cited security concerns and said that "threats of disruption" had "compromised" their ability to deliver a "safe and successful" event.

"The pressure on our team has simply become intolerable," EIBF's chief executive, Jenny Niven, said.

The announcement follows the Hay Festival's decision last week to suspend its arrangements with Baillie Gifford after a series of cancellations by speakers and performers - including Charlotte Church, Nish Kumar, Labour Party peer Shami Chakrabarti and MP Dawn Butler - over the sponsorship.

Additionally, Baillie Gifford sponsors several other literary festivals including the UK's most prestigious nonfiction award, the Baillie Gifford prize.

According to Art Workers for Palestine Scotland, the Edinburgh-based firm has nearly £10bn ($12bn) invested in companies with ties to Israel's defence, technology and cybersecurity industries, including NVIDIA, Amazon and Alphabet.

This figure is more than double its reported investments in oil and gas companies.

In addition to its military ties, Baillie Gifford is also invested in Cemex, Cisco Systems and Booking Holdings, the parent company of Bookingcom, which is involved in the maintenance and expansion of illegal Israeli settlements in occupied Palestine.

Thursday's announcement came shortly after the campaign group Fossil Free Books (FFB) published a statement that garnered over 700 signatures from authors and publishing industry professionals, including Naomi Klein and Sally Rooney.

The signatories reiterated previous demands for the firm to divest from the fossil fuel industry and "from companies that profit from Israeli apartheid, occupation and genocide".

[welcometoteyvat]

fake ga-ming voicelines (prerelease, some more delusional, some less. please give more hcs about him)

edit: apparently voiceline leaks just dropped so PLEASE no spoilers <3 if these are wrong that's too bad they're canon in my heart!!!

About Yun Jin: Besides being a great opera performer, Sir Yun's taste in tea is impeccable! Although she keeps asking me to join her at Heyu Tea House... their tea just doesn't have the same flavor as the tieguanyin from Xinyue Kiosk. Speaking of her, one of our clients has just developed a new strain—I promised to bring some for her when I come back to Liyue Harbor!

About Xiao: You mean Senior Xiao! Hehe, so you know him too! Next time, can you bring him along with you to one of my performances in the harbor? I've been trying to get him to come for a long time, but he always refuses... oh, good idea! Next time I'll hold it at Wangshu Inn, just for him!

About Xiangling: That girl always by Guoba's side, right? Man Chai seems to like her a lot, especially the cornbread buns she makes! To be honest, some of the things she cooks are a little too spicy for me, but otherwise she’s an excellent chef with unmistakable talent. No wonder her companion is a minor deity… wait, what? A major deity?

About Keqing: Thanks to her invitation and sponsorship, our Mighty Mythical Beast performances have been getting more and more attention in the harbor! She's very straightforward and speaks her mind about everything, and always has novel ideas! Although we haven’t talked much, I really admire her mindset and determination. It’s not easy to forge your own path forward, especially for someone of her standing.

About Chongyun: I've run into him once or twice on the road to Liyue Harbor. He didn’t seem to like talking that much when we met, but I’ve heard he’s actually quite outgoing! He wields a greatsword too—maybe he can train with me as the suanni’s tail? Of course, I wouldn’t force him to do anything he doesn’t want; I'm sure he's already busy! It would just be nice to have a wushou partner for once.

About Xinyan: I managed to catch one of Xinyan's performances when I had some free time after work. There weren’t many people in the audience, but her music was so energetic it completely made up for the quieter atmosphere. Originally, I was thinking about asking her to join our lion dance troupe as a drummer, but I’m glad to hear she's made a name for herself since then! I should properly introduce myself sometime!

About Zhongli: He once asked me whether I've heard about the legend of the solitary suanni after one of Iron Tongue Tian's stories. When I said yes, he launched into a really detailed discussion of Chenyu Vale's local belief system, and even told me some stories I haven't heard about a carp adeptus. It's amazing that he has so much knowledge on all sorts of folklore, as a funeral consultant no less!

About Xianyun: ... Who? im sorry i was going to put something about the adepti here but gave up trying to think of something and now it's just a joke line. suggestions welcome tho 🫶

About Yelan: Ah, that lady—sometimes I see her lingering around Yanshang Teahouse. They place regular orders of tea leaves from Yilong Wharf. She's very polite and even petted Man Chai once or twice, although I feel like there's more to her than meets the eye... well, business is business, and they've never caused any trouble for Sword and Strongbox, so whatever she does isn't much of a concern to me.

very long notes:

generally i feel like what's mentioned in chara voicelines tend to have a lot less substance than the actual relationship, so in my head some of them are closer w gaming than i wrote.

always welcoming suggestions!!!!! PLEASE share the brainrot with me i'm dying here OTL please please.

i'd like to write an "about xingqiu" but i bully my richboy son and he's already had like 12 other people comment on him in canon it's fine if ga-ming doesn't know him

everything's just for fun etc etc. don't take it too seriously

watch all of these be completely wrong!!!

similarly if any of these end up being right, i will SCREAM

the only ones i really really want to happen are with yun jin and xiao if they don't have voicelines i'll die

senior xiao comes from my headcanon (copium) that they'll keep the mentor disciple relationship (?) from that one concept art if you know you know. it also comes from this absolutely delicious fic

[zingaplanet]

hi new tennis fan here, do you mind explaining the 2011 fedal fallout? I tried looking around but couldn't find much. Thanks in advance!

Oh ho ho mutual, thanks for the question altho I fear this might get too complicated too political too quickly hahaha I'll try to keep my answer neutral. Tennis politics is an underworld of nasty nasty business and as much as it is fascinating, it is unfortunately very different from the clean, elegant, prestigious look the sport is presented as at front, as is expected when big prize money is on the line. This is going to be quite long, as usual, so be prepared hahaha

There's a good NYT article about this whole Nadal-Federer-Djokovic council debacle which I highly reccommend (around their 2019 return to the council), but let me provide a bit of a back story to that as well.

Now this all started back in the early 2010s, Federer and Nadal were still world number 1 and 2 (oh the good old days), and they were also the leaders at the players' council (Nadal was Federer's VP). So the gist of it by end of 2011, there was a bit of a dispute, esentially about prize money, but quickly turned into a bit of everything.

Basically, after the ATP finals of that year, there was talk of changing ATP into a 2 year ranking system. This is a bit unconventional but it's actually related to how points are accumulated throughout the whole tour and the accessibility of the sports to newcomers.

Everyone kinda knows that tennis is one of the most difficult sports to break into, not only because tournament seedings are based on rankings (unlike in football for instance where it's random), meaning top players will always have preference to go all the way to the final, but also because prize money has also been reported as highly unequal. Players at the top level like Serena, Federer, Sharapova, Nadal etc earned a gazillion times more than even the top 20 players, this is because of sponsorship, but also because of the gap in prize money. More reports have been coming out on this recently, where the top 5 players in India and other countries can't even sustain themselves with prize money alone and has to take up side jobs.

The idea is that with a 2 year ranking, points will be distributed more evenly, rankings will be much more accessible and players in the top 50 will have access to better prize money. It's a bit complicated to explain technically but that's the gist of it as far as I understand.

Now the problem starts when in November that year, the players meeting saw all players (including Nadal) except Federer, the president, support the 2 year system. They were also planning to boycott the Australian Open, that they deemed were far too unfair in terms of prize money distribution as all other Grand Slams.

The dispute between the two of them also has another layer into it however. Unsurprisignly, the ranking debate is related to discussions about scheduling, in which Nadal has been strongly advocating for change since the beginning of his career.

I managed to dig up some quotes on this, it's pretty nasty (hmu if you want sources):

“"For him, it's good to say nothing, (His attitude is) "Everything is positive. It's all well and good for me, I look like a gentleman,' and the rest can burn themselves. He likes the circuit. I like the circuit. It's better than many other sports, but that doesn't mean that it couldn't be better.”

Rafa and some other players are protesting about the number of mandatory events a pro player is required to compete in during the year, arguing this is not actually sustainable for an athlete's physical condition which he himself has felt the brunt too many times.

"I love the game and there are a lot of things I'm grateful for,” Nadal said. “The game has allowed me to lead a fantastic lifestyle. But to finish your career with pain all over your body, is that a positive? No. Maybe (Federer) has got a super body and he'll finish his career like a rose. Neither myself, nor (Andy) Murray, nor (Novak) Djokovic are going to finish our careers like a rose. Tennis is an important part of my life, but it's a tough sport. We're not like him, where it's effortless to play. For all of us, it's a battle."

I believe this is the period Federer was referring to when he said "He used to follow me around with everything but then he grew to be his own person," etc.

Federer and Nadal before this period were strangely civil towards each other, even after those French Open and Wimbledon finals back to back - but this seemed to be the beginning of their souring relations. Federer handled it very discretely and only said he had “no hard feelings” toward Nadal for the comments, and Nadal also later admitted that his comments “must stay in the locker room.”

I'm not saying one player is right and the other is wrong, there is always 2 sides of the coin. A 2 year ranking system will mess a lot of things up in terms of the sport's competitiveness and spectatorship, but there is also a real pay gap problem in tennis, especially in Grand Slams, it's a very top heavy sport. It's very evident that Nadal and Federer's frustrations with each other relate a lot to their different career trajectories and playing style. Nadal said many times from the beginning that his style of play is too physicaly disruptive and I remember him saying he'd be very surprised if he's still playing in his 30s and it's obvious that Federer's injury-free career bothered him a bit, while Federer, I think is always the perfect middle-man between the players and the tournament organisers (he has very good relationship with all of them), and he understood nuances of the sports' politics and that it's never that simple to change everything, something a lot of young players don't really get I think (Nadal is a bit more politically diplomatic nowadays).

The story of the 2019 council dispute is a bit more complicated, and it actually shows how much they've built bridges over their differences as this time it was more the case of Novak vs the two of them, quite literally haha. Nadal and Federer were no longer part of the council then. I think it started with the firing of the ATP chief executive, Chris Kermode (Djokovic was the president at that time I think). Nadal and Federer were very unhappy about this and that they weren't consulted on the decision.

Federer said: “I tried to meet Novak on the deadline; unfortunately, he had no time, That’s hard to understand for me.” Nadal, who met with Federer at that tournament to discuss tour business, also echoed his displeasure.

Very spicy, huh? This actually ended up bringing both Nadal and Federer back together into the council. Federer agreed to rejoin, and he talked about it with Nadal: "I would only do it if you were going too. And he said: I also only participate if you are there too."

See his cute full interview here:

The sweetest cherry on top is actually Andy Murray, bless his little heart (he is unsurprisingly quite uninvolved with the drama hahaha). He also left the council recently and actually was really happy Federer and Nadal the duo managed to get back together into the fray. “Despite the sport’s current success we live in chaotic times,” Murray wrote on Twitter. “My biggest achievement on the council may well prove to be being part of the group of resignations that presented the opportunity for this to happen. Good luck!!!”

Anyhow, there you go, a few thousand? words on tennis politics that you clearly did not ask for but hey! nothing better to start saturday morning than some spicy drama between the world's top athletes, eh?

[lexlawuk]

Temporary Worker Sponsorship Licence: Guidance for Employers and Applicants

Explore the Temporary Worker Sponsorship Licence within the UK’s immigration landscape, shedding light on its significance for employers and applicants alike. This article delves temporary worker category, offering insights into its various subcategories and providing essential information for those navigating the complexities of immigration regulations. Sponsorship Licence for Temporary…

[mariacallous]

In January, the CEOs of X, TikTok, Meta, Snap, and Discord testified in front of a congressional committee about child exploitation on their platforms. “Mr. Zuckerberg, you and the companies before us, I know you don’t mean it to be so, but you have blood on your hands,” Senator Lindsey Graham said at the time.

Despite confrontational questioning from Graham and others about how many underage users were on their platforms, and what safeguards protected them, Zuckerberg and other executives weren’t questioned about the concerning practices of some parents who manage social media accounts on behalf of their young children. A New York Times investigation the month after the hearing found that some parents, mostly of girls, were amassing tens of thousands of followers for their children by posting suggestive images that can attract predators.

Now, Democratic Senator Maggie Hassan is demanding that tech companies account for the untold thousands of accounts that place girls as risk of exploitation on their platforms, through the actions of adult account-holders.

“These corporations must answer for how they are allowing young women and girls to be exploited on their platforms and what steps they will take in response,” Senator Hassan, who represents New Hampshire, told WIRED. “Young women should be able to express themselves online in safe environments that do not facilitate the monetization of potentially exploitative content.”

The Times investigation found that parents can readily bypass the age restrictions of social platforms that bar children under 13 from having accounts. Some parents use the accounts they set up for their children to essentially monetize their daughters by putting them to work as influencers, garnering discounts and sponsorship deals or pulling in advertising revenue.

More sinisterly, some of these accounts brought in money from people seeking sexual or suggestive material about young girls, some of whom were convicted sex offenders. Some of these followers are willing to pay for extra photos beyond those shared on a girl’s social media account, or for private chats or used clothing. Times reporters examined some 5,000 accounts of young girls run by their parents.

While the Times found that some of the parents also operated TikTok accounts, the phenomenon was most prevalent on Meta's Instagram. (X was not mentioned in the Times investigation, and the company claims that its underage user base constitutes less than 1 percent of its usership. WIRED has previously reported that the platform may not have the age verification systems needed to accurately make such a claim.)

“After the disturbing revelations about predators interacting with the posts of minors and even buying their worn clothing, it continues to be clear that social media companies are failing to keep our children safe,” says Senator Hassan.

Meta, TikTok, and X did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In a statement to the Times about its earlier reporting, Meta spokesperson Andy Stone said that the company prevents “accounts exhibiting potentially suspicious behavior from using our monetization tools, and we plan to limit such accounts from accessing subscription content,” but that parents were ultimately responsible for the accounts.

In the letters sent to TikTok, X, and Meta, Hassan is asking companies to disclose whether they were aware of parents circumventing their age requirements, whether accounts of young girls are monetized—or have ads placed on them—by the platforms, and what active measures the companies have in place to detect these kinds of accounts.

The platforms have until April 8 to offer their responses.

[thebroccolination]

I wonder what happened to Singto and his previous manager?

Ooh fun question! Short guess: GMMTV wanted KristSingto under one manager, and Yui’s employed by GMMTV while Jane isn’t.

Longer, ramblier guess: I don’t have official information, but GMMTV seems to be keeping their branded pairs together under one manager these days. Jane (Singto’s former manager) was a contractor, not a GMMTV employee. If I’m remembering correctly, he was a makeup artist originally? A stylist? And in 2016, GMMTV was much less structured than it is now, plus they weren’t going all-out for BL the way they are now, so it didn’t matter or make sense for Krist and Singto to be under the same manager. So Singto had Jane, and Krist had Yui, and their careers went in very different directions accordingly.

As I understand it, managers in Thailand are like agents in the U.S., so they have a lot of sway with the direction of their artists’ career. Krist’s always been with Yui, and I think she’s considered a Company Woman in that she seems to have a strong understanding of what GMMTV wants to do, so she guided Krist’s work accordingly. GMMTV likely wanted him to be a TV-focused lakorn hero, so she steered him that way. He also wanted to experiment in front of the camera more than Singto (who’s always been more interested in becoming a photographer/director). Krist’s had a lot of success with various things from lakorns to musicals to hosting to singing, and he’s getting better and better at everything he’s done.

Meanwhile, Jane seemed to want to focus on getting Singto more exposure with younger audiences than Yui and GMMTV were aiming for with Krist, so Jane steered Singto toward younger, more internet-oriented audiences with series like He’s Coming to Me and Friendzone. And because Jane is a contractor, Singto was able to take Jane with him when he let his contract with GMMTV expire and went freelance.

Buuuut when Singto decided to re-sign with GMMTV this year, he was coming back to a much more sophisticated system. BL is where the money is now. When he left, it was different, but GMMTV is leaning more and more on squeezing money from fans, not just through sponsorships but also through their own merch and concerts and trending on social media. So Singto and Krist really do need to be under the same management for their work together to run as smoothly as possible, and they’re staging a comeback on top of that, so they want someone like Yui who has a strong history with the company and what their goals are.

And then there’s the simple explanation that taking Jane with him probably wasn’t feasible or possible under Singto’s new contract because Jane’s a contractor.

All of this is pure speculation, but based on what I’ve read and heard from others with better information than I have, that’s my guess!

EDIT: This is also probably why Prem and Boun couldn’t bring their former managers with them when they joined GMMTV: the company is probably keeping in-house managers these days. Even though they could 100% use more.

[rametarin]

Not excited about Harris

However, Trump cannot be president. Anything other than, "Russia must lose and be defeated" is unacceptable in a president.

Putin and Russia at large is not your guy. And the fact he invaded Ukraine just proves it. You don't just accidentally invade like this, seize a tenth or more of a country (talking about 2014) and then "oops I'm accidentally a whole capital city/government."

And the irony is, in decades passed, the republicans would've been very hawkish about this. But, because ideological opposition chose to try and undercut both their emphasis on opposite sex marriage and the cultural institution of a consistent marital buddy system, which the conservatives feel very strongly about, not only telling them they're wrong but enshrining in federal laws contradictions to things they find self-evident and true, they went into cloud cuckooland and just became this.

Were it just the 80s or 90s still and the surviving crowd that was living and relatively young to middle aged then, you would've not only seen oodles of funding and goodies for Ukraine, but droves of Jane Doe motherfuckers piling into boats as volunteers just to shoot Putin's regime to death.

Instead we get the most obnoxious punk queer fringe antagonizing the population of Grandparents with Strong Opinions(tm), and this slow walk of a national conversation on the basis of trans rights for this scenic farce.

Those specific republicans (because it's not the entire population of the ideological base) are so indignant and furious about more or less losing that cultural argument on a legal level, that they saw Russia as a possible alternative and port in the storm. And it didn't have to be this way. The most obnoxious elements of the far-left made it far worse than it had to be, and there's no sign of it stopping anytime soon. And they don't care to what extremes the conservatives go in their indignity; all the better, they imagine, as it defeats their own position.

And then shit like this happens, and boy it sure would've been nice if a bunch of angry, passionate nativists and patriots were sober again and willing to vote to fund resistance in Ukraine against a tyrant, rather than being put into such a defeatist state at home they see this aging Slavic poor man's Ivan the Terrible as a potential savior.

And the biggest irony is, the ideological hard-left doing that was itself sponsored by Russia. And likely, still is. It's just a strain of financial sponsorship that has been present since Soviet times, in education and public institutions where unions are strongest. Encouraging the left to try to institute things that would sow discord and dissent and bolshevize the enemies of Russia. And for better or worse, gay and then trans rights certainly does that.

In being so cavalier and radical about LGBT rights at the time they did, they instituted a hyperallergenic response to it from the traditionalists on the right, which has wrecked utter havoc for domestic peace.

And the worst part is, while the left can somehow see every connection between right wing commentators financially, real or imagined and taken for granted because, "you know the right-wing Nazis are all working together!", they deny Russian Nationals do the same shit with the far left. When they have, have always, and continue to maintain those sponsorred saboteur and cultural antagonists among the left wing. They just cannot imagine they, also, are being used.

It doesn't help that the republicans just point at that and yell, "SOROS!", no. Oh my god, shut up.

But alright. I've gone decades of my life knowing the Russian connection to western academia and social movements was wagging the dog. If what it takes is the brief period in time in which they managed to finally find some purchase in the republican imagination to see the infection in their enemy to finally see it in themselves, so be it. It's progress, albeit, at a cost.