#and i am a huge fan of being aware of what happens in other countries don't get me wrong global citizen bla bla

[forabeatofadrum]

Well. El WooWoo Wednesday is upon us. Thank you @artsyunderstudy, @whatevertheweather, @that-disabled-princess, @wellbelesbian/@nausikaaa, @shrekgogurt and @you-remind-me-of-the-babe for tagging me the past 1.5 weeks. I'll catch up with your stuff soon.

Let's talk about the elephant in the room: the Stardew Valley 1.6 update on consoles. Nothing else has happened in the world apart from that. It's just Stardew Valley. I have been playing it a lot instead of writing, but a while ago, I was thinking about writing again.

Honestly, Ljubili se is *gestures around*, so I was thinking about maybe already starting the 2024 Challenge fic. My idea for that fic is that Blaine is the brother of the Hero of the Story, the Chosen One, the Saviour and whatever. Blaine's fine with being in Cooper's shadow, since he never wanted to be the hero anyway. But then Kurt Hummel arrives, who claims all of this is a story, because it is. The Cooper Chronicles is a bestselling series in Kurt's world and he's fallen into it. It's up to Kurt and Blaine to find a way for Kurt to go home.

Let's see where it goes, eh?

[name] barges through the door, making Blaine drop his glass in shock. "Where is your brother?" she yells. "I don't know," Blaine answers, "He started another quest this morning. Something about a mystical cave up north?" Blaine's not entirely sure. He tries to keep track of his brother's heroics, but there are just too many of them. He crouches down to pick up the shards of glass. "Then, we need you." Blaine drops the shard he had just picked up. "Me?" Blaine asks. He's the only one in this tower room, but he still asks to be sure. "Someone's been brought in. He's hurt. You can heal, right?" Blaine doesn't have Cooper's healing powers, but he is interested in alchemy. He can try. "Okay," Blaine says, and he follows [name] out of the door, leaving the shards behind.

The person who's been brought in is Kurt, by the way. Also, the premise of this fic is inspired by J.M. Frey's The Accidental Turn series, but I haven't read those books in almost a decade and apart from the premise, it has nothing to do with the series.

(Also I might be writing a Class fic. But also, writing.)

And now, the weather: @quizasvivamos @coffeegleek @caramelcoffeeaddict @raenestee @tectonicduck 

@nightimedreamersworld @urban-sith @bookish-bogwitch @confused-bi-queer @special-bc-ur-part-of-it

@larkral @cutestkilla​ @facewithoutheart​ @rockitmans @bitbybitwrites 

@shame-is-a-wasted-emotion @esilher @kurtsascot @blackberrysummerblog 

@nightimedreamersghost @ivelovedhimthroughworse @thnxforknowingme @martsonmars

[riansdiary]

Assume it as a fact + Do not accept waiting + Focus your awareness to what you want 🎀

Dearest Gentle Readers 💎

Rian, yours truly is back with a new epiphany for the law of assumption! If you were ever wondering what the hell I'm doing on my break, I'm just living my life and relaxing. Manifesting left and right. Also a lot of reflecting and thinking deeply about loa and how I can help myself and others to make it easier.

In fact, this just happened today. I thought of these today and I'm so glad I brainstormed about the loa to understand it more and make it easier for myself. It is hella easy, it's only us complicating it because it is truly that simple. I was thinking and finding a way to manifest easier in a relaxing way and to make my mindset better.

Let me break it down to you in three pieces. The things written in the title of this post are basically all I'm doing to use the law of assumption and it has never made sense like this ever before. It made it even easier for me! Let's go!

Oh and yes! I am a huge fan of A Good Girl's Guide to Murder Books and have finished reading the first two books in just four days! Can you believe that? I was hooked! I couldn't put my phone down! Yes, I read the e-book version. I also adore Emma Myers so much! She was the Pip Fitz-Amobi I imagined while I was reading! She's perfect for the role! I watched the first four episodes of the show today and I love how they did almost if not literally the exact same as the book! Anyway, let's get that out of the way now.

This all started this morning when I was eating a snack. The snack was a snack in my country and it's kind of hard to break. It's a big piece, I can't just shove it in my mouth like that. I was trying my best to break it but it just couldn't break. You know what I did? I relaxed and I did this in a second. I assumed that I was very strong and could break this snack easily. All I did was assume it's a fact and believed it. I had this silent confidence as I assumed that. I thought of this once - "I'm so strong I can break this so easily" and that thought came out naturally after I assumed that I'm strong and guess what? I was able to break the snack very easily and effortlessly. I broke that hard piece in half in a freaking second after I assumed and thought that. I then realized that this was the way I used to manifest when I first started learning about the law and I should continue it this way. Starting from that, I started assuming that my desires are a fact, fully believing they're here even without proof and persisting has been a breeze ever since that moment. Every time I manifested in this very simple way, things just materialized way faster so I decided that I will do it this way again which is the best way for me.

This is the meaning of assume:

Assume good things and assume your desires into being. Assume that your desires are facts now. Simply assume something and shift your mindset to the person who is it or has it. All I did was assume that it's a fact that I'm strong. I embodied the version of me who was always strong and can break that hard snack in two in one second.

I literally was trying so hard before and yet nothing happened but as soon as I assumed and shifted my mindset to the me who's strong then I was able to break it so easily.

Now on to the next point.

Don't accept waiting when you're manifesting.

I learned this one from Indigo Detry's video:

Everything I learned is in here and as soon as I implemented this, I never wavered even once. I fully accepted that I have my desires immediately. Do not accept waiting. Do not make manifesting a process because that just makes it longer when it shouldn't be. Decide that it's instant for you. I'm not waiting for my manifestations anymore, they're here now and I'm focusing on them instead of the old story. Because of that, I now feel fulfilled and consider it done.

Now, the last part.

Focus your awareness on what you want.

This is a little bit more non-duality but I feel like it's also true for manifesting. This was taught to me by my friend @starnightlover and it only sinked in today as I brainstormed about how I can stop looking for my desire in the 3d or how to stop focusing on the old story. I'm doing a combo of all three. It goes hand in hand.

I always say this when I'm answering asks about the 3d. What you focus on grows so don't pay attention to what you don't want. Awareness and Attention are our superpowers. Whatever you are aware of and what you focus on is what will manifest. I was thinking about how to stop looking for my desires in the 3d or how to stop thinking of the old story and this fixed these problems for me.

What you focus on manifests so how do you focus on what you want? I thought as I was doing something in the bathroom. I wanted to manifest having Dove Cameron's lips. Her lips are so gorgeous so I started manifesting that today. So I came up with a way to focus on what I want instead.

1. I made myself a vision board of my desires. The photos I used are in 1st person POV and I just included pictures of me having my desires and I made it the background of my phone, that way I will always see it everyday and it reminds me that I have it and it's already done.

2. I stopped expecting or accepting waiting when I'm manifesting. I decided that starting now, there's no waiting or process when I manifest. I immediately get it.

3. I assumed that my desires are facts now. I stopped feeding myself the old story. I stopped feeding the old story with any attention to let it die off. There's no waiting so that means it's already done. I did not care about what the 3d was showing me. I shifted my awareness from me not having Dove Cameron's lips to me actually having it already and I started to only pay attention to my desires. I also stopped wanting and desiring and instead assumed that my desires are facts and instantly here now. I shifted my mindset to be in my ideal reality. I embodied the version of me who had whatever she wanted just by assuming my desires are facts now, rejecting the waiting process, not forcing anything, focusing my awareness to what I want and using my vision board as the proof of my desires being here.

I also implemented my recent post about the devil's snare scene from Harry Potter and I'm always just relaxed now. Because why would I worry about my desires when I have them now? I also stopped forcing myself to feel things which made it be like act as if for me. It wasn't it.

All I do now is just assume, assume my desires are now facts, reject any waiting or process, change my thoughts and shift my awareness and feed my attention to the new story instead. If ever the old story bothers me which is super rare, I just relax, take a deep breath and either see my desire in my head or look at my vision board. I'm also embodying Hermione and using a sub for her so I'm getting the intelligence boost for sure! I'm embodying how Hermione would learn and apply the law of assumption and I've been seeing some benefits from acting like her!

This has been making it really easy for me and I know this will help a lot of people! I'm assuming so!

Assume your desires are now facts, dismiss and don't feed the old story any attention, reject waiting or anything implying a process, simply change your thoughts, focus your awareness on what you want (make yourself aware of what you want), relax and know it is done. Stop wanting and start relaxing and having! You would relax if you have it now.

I'll try and make an example post for this!

[zarathelonewolf]

As a Genshin Impact fan... And Hoyoverse games enjoyer in general...

I feel that Hoyoverse needs to change the trajectory when it comes to skin tones in their games.

Yes, I am aware that there are insane beauty standards that make most Chinese companies prefer pale skinned characters in their videogames, and that this may prevent some of them from including dark skinned characters as to not hurt their sales or their reputation... But this STILL doesn't mean that what they're doing is correct, from an ethical/moral point of view.

And yes, I am aware that "freedom of the artist" exists. First things first, freedom of the audience also exists, and that means that if people feel like they want to make some noise over things they perceive to be wrong, they should get to do that. Second things second, what is being done is erasure, which is not correct to do. Someone could use the argument "maybe all humans developed with white skin in Teyvat, it's not erasure, it's creative freedom", but is this really where we want to go? Teyvat isn't real, that's true... So what is contained in it doesn't have to be completely adherent to reality... But Teyvat was also intended to contain cultures inspired by real civilizations here on Earth. Is there really no place for a dark skinned character there? "There's pale skinned people of that culture too" yes, there's also DARK skinned people of that culture, no?

Besides... It's getting boring, only seeing pale skinned characters. The games are still enjoyable, yes, but I would still like a change of skin color in the palette used which is: Kaeya/Xinyan, Bennett, Cyno/Sethos, Milk/Everyone Else™.

Please Hoyoverse. There's other Chinese companies doing It, you can also include darker charas in your ranks. Popularity could drop, but you're already pretty powerful, aren't you?

Then again, It seems that this Is a huge issue for Hoyoverse. Perhaps it's because other games that have adopted this change as well aren't as popular, but if they happen to lose support in China, they can gain It in other, Western countries, and among members of the cultures that they would end up portraying in a much more accurate way! Besides, aren't Chinese and Japanese fans also upset? I heard It was quite the uproar a bit of everywhere.

I reccommend all Honkai Impact 3rd, Genshin Impact, Honkai Star Rail, Zenless Zone Zero fans to reblog this post and sign this petition I have put here after finding it in a previous reblog (the author of the post was @genshin-impact-updates, I hope the person behind It doesn't mind getting mentioned). I have already signed It, please do your part. And at the next Surveys in all games, show your dissatisfaction.

EDIT: Guys the petition is over 75.000 signatures and it is needed for it to reach 100.000 at least so that cultural ambassadors can be contacted. Hoyoverse Is stubborn though (Hoyoverse answered someone who expressed displeasure by saying it is a work of fiction and thus the region and characters are fiction, they are using this excuse), so in order to truly reach them, do not spend money on the games made by Hoyoverse.

[writingforatwistedworld]

WARNINGS: Slightly hinted Yandere, kidnapping, isolation

I do not take any responsibility for you reading this no matter which age group you are from!

If you don't know me (Hi, how is it going? Nice to meet you) then you might wonder why I post this under the yandere tag even though there isn't much of that in here (yet). This is a sneak peek of a bigger story which definitely has elements of yandere so I want to make sure that people who don't like reading yandere don't accidentally get on my blog. I respect their choice and boundaries.

Malleus Draconia-Over the rose bush (Sneak peek Pt. I)

You would assume playing an Otome game made you know everything about it was set in, helping its’ people and becoming a hero for them. But who would have thought that there was an entire kingdom ruled by one of the most powerful mages, who was only implied to exist in the game, hiding from the players’ eyes by being mentioned NOT EVEN A SINGLE TIME??! Funny. Interesting. Absolutely maddening. Maddening like the raven that got you into the kingdom in the first place. Yeah, getting over a huge rose bush wasn’t exactly what you would call “easy”.

But who were you to judge? After all, you were only a small individual who was such a huge fan of the game that when you found out who the datable character of Sunset Savanna you almost threw the console out of the window. Huh. This reminded you your friend the raven threw you over an overgrown houseplant surrounding an entire country.

Meeting the young-looking individual whilst hiding in the woods after falling from the sky was something you most certainly had not expected to happen. Heck, you would have rather believed that a pink cloud would fly down on your level and start singing mind-numbing tunes. But you were someone from a world in which swords weren’t exactly “in fashion” in battle so you didn’t expect one of those sharp toothpicks on your throat.

And would you look at that? Apparently, you looked miserable enough that he didn’t just kidna- *ahem* “took you with him” but also took you with him to a cozy cabin in the middle of the woods. After throwing you over a huge fence made out of a rose bush. Did I mention the rose bush before?

Alas, TVs and technology did not exist here so the cabin started to feel… uh… small? Imprisoning? Maybe both? Maybe more than just those two?

This is the point when the smoll rose bush behind your house, not the big one trapping you on an island, became your best friend. No, a brotherhood. The brotherhood of abandoned souls in the middle of the woods. You named them Helga. The narrator of this story says “Hi Helga.”

Something you did not expect though was meeting someone out here (other than Lilia the little annoy-). Deciding to look after Helga you had stepped out of the house only to be met with a breathing wall staring down at Helga. Helga seemed even healthier in his presence. Helga, don’t you dare to turn traitor on the boasitmotw (brotherhood of abandoned souls in the middle of the woods). The stranger had even plucked one of their roses and yet they still bloomed flirtatiously in his direction. You swore to cut your friend a bit shorter after this. IF there was an “after this”.

Turning in your direction the wall casted his gaze upon you and holy shi- (the narrator shakes their head at your choice of words) was that a vibrant green. Helga, you have good taste. You didn’t even notice his horns. Oh don’t get annoyed with me. I am just the narrator. It’s your fault if you get weak at every pretty boy you see.

Standing there like the most foolish statue within any world, yours or this otome one, you continued to stare at him. The man must have taken notice of your mouth that was opening and closing like a fish gasping for air but thankfully he seemed graceful enough not to comment on it. In fact, he seemed surprised to see you as well.

“I was not aware there was another human other than Silver in here.” Silver. Silver… Silver? Who was that? The questions running absolutely amok in your head were soon stopped though, coming to a screeching halt, when he stepped closer to you. God, that wand of his looked like it could impale you… that needle of the spindle looked dangerously sharp.

“Tell me, child of man, how come you are in this place?” How were you supposed to explain that a small man threw you over the bigger cousin of Helga?

[the-owl-tree]

I know it’s unpopular and ig would be seen as chronically online but. a little annoyed at the “UGH 🙄 and here come THOSE people” @ comments those being horrified abt Frostpaw being spayed and connecting it to real life events like bipoc being sterilized against their will. I personally am not one of those people, nor do I think it’s anywhere near that serious or on that level bc I thought it was an interesting turn in the books, but as a black afab myself who would most definitely face forced sterilization if I were not a more privileged individual, (because you know the health system itself loves to play around with our bodies like science experiments as though we cannot physically feel pain) I’m gonna need the yt warrior cats fans to cut it out w the snide superiority complex on “lesser takes” and understand there’s people who are gonna reasonably draw comparisons to these events and see how incredibly horrifying it is what the anthropomorphic cat just went through. not to hit a fucking beehive but why is it acceptable to understand the harmful impacts of misogyny in the series affect people in the real world but misoginoir is taking a step too far?

discourse on bumble being a domestic abuse victim has people understanding and drawing comparisons between that and real life events but we draw the line when woc are brought up. okay. why?

this isn’t at you btw because you generally have nuanced takes and take the time to consider what people are actually saying but like. what’s going on here I’m genuinely blindsided by people rolling their eyes. it is an issue. it’s a huge issue and it’s still happening in places! can’t speak for other countries but it’s still legal on a federal level in the U.S where I live and in my state. my problem isn’t the people drawing comparisons with Frostpaw. my problem is the reaction to that. I don’t understand why one systematic issue can be discussed and the other not without scrutiny and handled as though it’s not as serious topic.

also to note: I am aware that Frostpaw being spayed was not based on any perceived race or ethnicity. I am aware that this was simply for shock value (as of the moment, anyway ((which is what makes it worse imo but that’s another convo))) and I am aware that I cannot speak on behalf of anyone facing this issue but myself and cannot reasonably say that anyone drawing these conclusions will always 100% take the matter as seriously as needed. however I can say that it is a bit difficult for me to accept that in a world where each character has human intelligence, thoughts wishes and feelings, that the concept of forced sterilization, abhorrent and frightening outside of normal cat understanding, frankly should be handled with the utmost care able to be expended. I know it will not be. I am aware. the authors have a history of using their personal bias to push racist narratives before. I understand that people are saying handle the subject with tact and maturity. I just do not believe it is the right or position of a mostly white fanbase to police the discussion of what happens to women of color because we are often spoken over as is. I hope that I have made my point clear? I’m not the best at explaining myself over subjects I’m passionate about, so I may have tripped over my words a bit. I do apologize if it came off as talking in circles

I'll admit, when I first read the spoilers and learned what happened, I drew some connections but I also agree that it's not nearly on that level. But I think it would be wildly inappropriate if I tried to talk on that as a white person.

I don't have much to add, but I think you've raised some pretty understandable concerns and you're very clear in your points, I didn't have any trouble following you! I genuinely have a lot of concerns about the plotline and I think you're right that it's important to be open about these discussions.

[momo-de-avis]

How about CURSED portuguese history facts?

Holy shit I don't know who sent me this but it accidentally got burried under mounds of under asks and I think it's been sitting in my inbox for a year

I feel fully armed for a few cursed facts now given my job lmfao

Here we go

1. The Ginjinha of Lisbon (OF LISBON, not Óbidos) was initially created as a cough medicine. Recomended dose? 6 glasses a day. Ginjinha has around 23% of alcohol. Yeah that sure straightened you up really well (if you look at the posters they have on both doors, the door to the left actually says the recomended dose)

2. During World War II, Lisbon received thousands of jewish refugees. Despite the war, the fact remained that these people came from, compared to our backwards provincial country, progressive places. Do you know what the most shocking thing for lisboners were? Jewish women (who, again, were pretty progressive in comparison) were seen... At cafés. Hordes of men would actually gather around these women who were dead ass just having lunch at a café because portuguese women did not go to cafés alone, as it was considered indicent and a place jsut for men. This was between 1932-1945. There’s a super interesting account of a rare case of a Jewish family that actually stayed here, and the lady describes how she went out for lunch with her mother. Suddenly, the daughter says to her mother “I think we’re starting a revolution” and she turns and sees a row of men just fucking staring at them with their jaws on the floor (source: Lisboa Judaica the book, forgot the name of the author, but it’s Francisco something).

3. Praça do Municipio is where City Hall is located. It’s a late neo-classical building that, when it was unveiled, caused a huge scandal. If you look up at the building's pediment, you will see a bas-relief with several human figures. At the centre, there is a man with his whole dick out. Which, hey, that’s standard in classical imagery, the whole nudity standing for perfection if you follow the Roman canon of art and etc. But ah, my friend, this is Portugal in the 19th century, and my God, were we a backwards country, so this is exactly what generated a HUGE scandal. You see, the problem was WOMEN. They could not possibly see this dick. So, women were forced to cover their eyes when they crossed that square. It became such a scandalous thing, one guy actually set up stand selling fans and veils for women so they could cover their eyes and cross the square without having to look at this dude's genitals. Mind you, they're hard to spot. Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro did a caricature of the event. I can't find it online but I saw it in the book I am about to give you as a source: Lisboa Desconhecida e Insólita, by Anísio Franco.

4. John VI used to hide chicken legs inside his pockets out of fear of being poisoned. He died of poison.

5. Legend says when the statue of José I was unveiled, the one in Praça do Comércio, the queen allegedly said "he looks so ugly". Allegedly, that is why he is wearing a helmet. Yes, the sculptor did nothing about the ugliness, just sort of tried to disguise it. Reminding you that this is a legend. As far as I am aware, the statue was always made with the helmet, but I honestly prefer this version, so that’s the one I tell on my tours lmfao

6. In the 16th century, Manuel I loved collecting animals he knew nothing about, and then gift them to the Pope. We know about the rhinoceros already, which ended up being painted by Dürer, but did you know he also got an elephant? One day, though, he decided it would be a great ideal to have the rhinoceros and the elephant fight each other. He set up an arena in Praça do Comércio. People went buckwild for this. It was like WWE for them. And when the two animals confronted each other.... Nothing happened. Turns out elephants are not really made to fight and the two animals didn't really give a shit about each other. However, elephants are easily spooked, and with a sudden movement from the rhinoceros, that's what happened. The elephant took off from the arena and ran across the entire city back to his caretaker.... And miraculously, did not stomp a single person. The Rhinoceros was declared a winner but only because the elephant quit. People were a little disappointed at this, and ironically enough, it’s the elephant that’s reminded (he had a name but I forgot). Source: another ANísio Franco book, called something like Passeios por Lisboa, I forgot I’m sorry.

7. When the French invaded our country, they found John II's tomb... And beheaded him. No real reason, I guess. The body was put back together and properly buried again by some nuns who kind of felt bad about it.

8. This one is not funny at all. But I'll say this: don't ever look into the Braganza's involvement in slavery if you want to preserve your sanity. It's some of the most horrid shit you'll come across.

EDIT: a while ago I mentioned this in another context, and someone asked for a source. I remember now I said I needed to look it up but, as ever, I forgot. With all my due apologies, here it is: https://expresso.pt/sociedade/2015-12-08-O-segredo-dos-escravos-reprodutores

9. The Marquis of Pombal once stole the waters of Sintra, leaving the people with ONE public fountain in butt fuck nowhere. I've talked about this one on here before but it shows how fucking insane the man was.

10. The expression "ficar a ver navios", which means "to stand by watching the ships pass", is used when someone is waiting for something that will not happen (like, if someone is stood up on a date, you say they stayed there watching the ships pass). It actually comes from the expulsion of the jews in 1497. Manuel I promised jewish people who wished to leave ships to board and go to North Africa. However, he also knew, because he was a fucking idiot but not entirely stupid, that if he expelled the jews, the country's economy would basically collapse, because jewish people held a GREAT number of businesses in not just Lisbon, but major metropolitan centres. So, this was a lie. The ships he promised never came. For months, jewish people went to the Santa Catarina hill every day to look out for ships that would let them board and leave the country. The ships never came, thus, they were "watching the ships pass", but none of them stopping.

Okay this is all I can think of A YEAR LATER LOL

[leviabeat]

Volbeat and Asinhell's Michael Poulsen shares the secrets of his success and happiness

Emily Swingle | Metal Hammer | 5/8/24

From bruising hard rock to thrashing psychobilly breakdowns, Michael Poulsen is a heavy metal chameleon. Starting out in death metal band Dominus, the formidable Dane quickly realised the heavy music scene needed a makeover - and along came Volbeat, throwing out big anthems infused with the bounce of 50s rock’n’roll.

Although Volbeat’s latest release, 2021’s Servant Of The Mind, was met with acclaim, Michael deemed it a perfect time to switch things up once more. Last year ushered in his most ferocious outing to date - an 80s-tinged underground death metal monster of a side-project called Asinhell. We sat down with the man himself, to understand what motivates his hectic hunt for a new sound.

DREAM BIG

“A lot of kids dream of being firemen, football players or huge wrestlers… but I always wanted to be a rock star. From a very young age, I was a dreamer, lying on the floor with my head between two speakers, listening to music and drifting away for hours. My parents would come in and tell me I was gonna ruin my ears, but I just couldn’t stop myself.

I created this bubble of sound, just fantasising about the performers and how I could surround myself with music. The idea of becoming a musician wasn’t at the front of my mind, but I was definitely flirting with the idea. The signs were always there.”

IF IT AIN’T BROKE, DON’T FIX IT

“For my new project, Asinhell, we wanted to be true to the old-school metal sound. Yes, we have access to all this hightech, fancy studio equipment - but we wanted to do it like the old days. Fridays have become ‘Death Metal Fridays’, and we’d rehearse in [drummer] Morten Toft Hansen’s small garage. We even recorded it like we used to, back in the days when we were very young and didn’t have coin for anything. And it was exactly what we wanted.”

STIR THE POT (MUSICALLY SPEAKING)

“When it comes music, everything is about my roots. I started playing death metal when I was 15 or 16, but I also grew up with lots of 50s music. My parents were always listening to Elvis, Johnny Cash and those kind of performers. When I was in my death metal band, Dominus, you weren’t really allowed to mix different elements into the music. So, when I formed Volbeat, I made it my mission to cram as many different genres and inspirations as possible into the sound. It felt so liberating.”

EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR A REASON

“The struggles I’ve gone through have led to where I am now. There’s no good without bad, light cannot live without the darkness. You have to stay focused, stay positive. I’ve always had that mindset. People go through awful things, but there is always a light at the end of the tunnel. Even though I’ve faced challenges, I’m in the right place now, so it’s been worth it.”

IT’S NOT ALL ABOUT YOU

“One of the greatest challenges of my life was becoming a father. Suddenly, it’s not all about you - you’re secondary. Life definitely changed when I had kids. You become more aware of existence, and don’t want to waste time on the wrong things. It forces you to become a better person; you need great personality to bring that to your kids, to make sure they’re good people. Being a parent is an amazing challenge.”

MUSIC CONNECTS US ALL

“When I started, the internet wasn’t really a thing. It was all about getting out there, meeting people - and music was how you could do that. When you loved, say, extreme underground stuff, you quickly became aware of the scene, and you could get involved with those groups of people. The underground scene has always been about connecting with other people.

Even now, you see fans travelling to different cities, different countries, and they immediately know they’ll meet like-minded people at a show. No matter where you go, if there’s a concert, or a music community, you know you’ve got a friend. There’s something very special about the music community.”

LET A PROJECT SPEAK FOR ITSELF

“Before the internet, how you promoted yourself was totally different. The only way to be heard was by tape trading, sending out flyers, or meeting people in people in record stores or venues.

The internet can make it easy to over-hype yourself - and I never want to over-hype my own music. I hate it when certain bands are shoved in your face – you see them everywhere before you’ve even listened to one note. Music shouldn’t be pushed to a level where it becomes overexposed. If it’s good, people will find it.”

YOU SHOULD SEE THE WORLD

“When we started touring, it was magical. Suddenly you were going to another country that you’d never been to, and the next day, it’d be somewhere else new. I’d get home and my family would be so excited, saying, ‘You’ve seen more of the world in one week that we have in our whole lives!’

The lessons you learn when traveling are so important. I’d say traveling is an incredible thing to experience and that everyone should immerse themselves in as many cultures as humanly possible."

...BUT HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS

“There comes a time when, after many years of touring, you just want to be at home. I’m not really a fan of traveling, nowadays. I like being with my family, picking my kids up from school, from kindergarten. I am a homebody - when I get back from tour, sometimes it’s a battle for my wife to get me out of my house!”

FAMILY COMES FIRST

“I have a twin sister, and we have such a strong connection. But having a child only made me more aware of how ridiculously special a family connection is. My daughter was born a little too early; when my wife started going into labor, I was actually on tour with Metallica in the US, maybe in New York.

My wife called in the middle of the night saying, ‘My water just broke’, and I knew I had to be there - even if that meant canceling a show with Metallica. When I went to the hospital and held my daughter for the first time, it was the most amazing thing. I can’t even describe it.”

TAKE CARE OF YOUR BODY

“I’m a very bad sleeper, so sometimes with touring, the lack of sleep is terrible. Tour buses are a nightmare. When you’ve not slept in five or six days, it really impacts your energy, and my voice really suffers. So I’d say sleep is essential. In terms of the body, I’ve also really gotten into running - I just love it. I need it. It’s like a drug for me, that runner’s high. Runner’s high is an actual high, I promise you!”

WHILE YOU’RE AWAKE, BE USEFUL

“The biggest challenge I’ve ever faced was losing my father. You become very quickly aware of what life is all about, but also how short it is. My father always said, ‘Michael, while you are awake, be useful.’ That’s a great life lesson – I live by it. I’m not good at sitting around doing nothing. Before music, I’ve always had hobbies, be that football, cycling, or breakdancing - I even came second place in a breakdancing competition once.”

…AND IF YOU CAN’T BE USEFUL, KEEP BUSY!

“I’m always extremely busy, and I always want to be. I surround myself with good people who inspire me to keep pushing myself. I’m very, very proud of what I’ve accomplished in my musical career. I could retire if I wanted to, but that’s not how I function. I’m always inspired, I love what I’m doing. Ultimately, life is all about experience. I believe that the more we live, the more we get done, the better people we become.”

[insane-behavior]

I saw the other poll and I have mixed feelings about it, but I didn’t want to comment on the post because I have a feeling I’ll need more space lol

I should preface this saying that I’ve been listening to TS since I was eleven, but only in 2023 I started to feel… differently.

I think that at this point she’s more of a business woman than artist or performer, specially with so many versions of the latest album (that lacks quality and has too many songs imo). Even the fans focus on that, talking about charts and sales, wanting for her to be the biggest star and like… it may be industry practice, but it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t criticize it, I think it’s awful that she and her fans support this consumerism culture, I don’t care that the latest release has one new acoustic version, it’s exploitative (but alas that’s capitalism so yeah it’s a bigger conversation).

Aside from that, personally, it’s hard to like her after what happened in The Eras Tour in Rio. I am Brazilian and I had tickets to the last date, so I wasn’t directly affected by the tragedy that happened in Rio. But as a Brazilian, the way she dealt with the situation was appalling. I really considered not going to the show, because I was sad and swifties from other countries were being extremely racist to Brazilians, and I only went because I wouldn’t get my money back (I could sell the tickets, but I spent money with the friendship bracelets and transportation). I also am black, so the controversies with Matty and with the Wildest Dreams mv don’t sit right with me.

And now talking about her music, I have to say I’m not really super into pop, but I think she has fun and deep songs. And I also think she has terrible songs that needed editing. She’s not the worst artist to have ever lived, but I don’t think she’s above criticism — both about her work, because that’s how music criticism works, and about her actions, the unwillingness to confront her fans when swifties behave awfully, the unwillingness to stand up for something when it won’t benefit her (because I do think her activism is only there to make her look good, otherwise she would use her HUGE platform to speak about things).

I have a lot of mixed feelings, so I guess it’s nice to talk about them in a safe place :)

I definitely feel the same on a lot of your points! A big part is absolutely larger issues with capitalism and the Scummy Music Industry(TM), and it is definitely a mixed-feelings issue. You're better at articulating a lot of it than I could hope to be, so I think for this situation I'm going to just let your points have the spotlight here!

I'm not big into pop (you'll see pop punk, pop rock, etc, in my recommendations, but as a whole it's not generally my thing. If I were to specify, I like Fun Pop and Indie Pop over the typical overproduced generic pop, if that makes sense?), so I've never been big into her music, and I personally do think a lot of it is just. Bad, especially recently, and a good chunk is mediocre, but on that side a lot of it is subjective. I think a good way to summarize is that I've never willingly listened to a ts song, but some of them are catchy, because pop music is designed to be.

Another big issue, I think, is her complacency with her fanbase- it's hard not to be aware of the way some of them act, and ignoring that is being complacent in the bullying and harrassment a lot of swifties genuinely partake in. There's also the issue of her goading fans into attacking people, being unable to take a joke, and generally not really seeming to practice what she preaches. The parasocial relationships are another big issue tbh, but you find that in a lot of fanbases too.

[stormblessed95]

So you don’t have to publish this if you don’t feel comfortable, but I kinda wanted your opinion on this.

It may sound dramatic, but I haven’t been able to call myself an army since the news of the World Cup came out. I am so incredibly disappointed in bts and bighit.

When I got into bts they brought me so much comfort and helped me through some tough times. I enjoyed their music and was always very proud of the message they tried to share with the world. Yes, some of their older content is uncomfortable to watch for the casual misogyny and homophobia, but as a queer woman I perfectly understand internalized homophobia and misogyny and I wouldn’t want to be judged for what I said or did in 2014. They had shown they had grown and learned. They always spoke up against people in power abusing it and about social justice.

So what happened? Did they became worldwide stars and decided “who cares about our message anymore! Let’s support a tournament that is basically a celebrations of the violation of human rights?”

Supporting the World Cup is basically saying they don’t care that over 6000 people died building the stadiums. They don’t care that lgbtq people die in that country. They don’t care about women and women’s rights.

This is not the bts I thought I knew, and I’m talking about all of them because if the other six were strongly opposed to this, I honestly doubt jungkook would be flying over there right now. But here we are.

I mean I could even understand that it’s a huge honor for a South Korean to sing for the first time at a World Cup opening ceremony, but let’s not forget that SK with Japan hosted the 2002 World Cup (and that was a mess as well, just google about the referee Moreno and bribes about that World Cup).

Idk I think they really fucked up this time. And if they have no qualms to stand up for human rights violations, than I don’t think I can call myself their fan. I’m also disappointed in armies (on twitter mostly) that have been insulting anyone who pointed out how this is a very poor decision that does not reflect well on bts’s character and morals. You may disagree, but you can’t deny the facts.

I read dualipa’s reaction (who I don’t follow and don’t know anything about) about being rumored to sing and the World Cup, and I can’t help but wish that had been bts answer as well.

Hi. So I'm not going to tell you how to feel. Your feelings and concerns are valid and they are your own. What you choose to do based on how you feel is also totally and completely up to you. Your choice/feelings aren't wrong either way you feel about. Nor do i want to dismiss all the issues and valid crisitisms surrounding the world cup and Qatar. So please know that its okay to be upset about it. And I don't want to bring up past controversies either but idk if you were around in 2019 or if you feel like this is any different than the issues surrounding their choice to perform in Saudi Arabia?

For background if you werent aware of the issues they faced for the decison to hold that concert, ill give an overview:

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman took the throne in 2015, and he has since been making efforts to make the country more moderate and less conservative with several reforms. According to Wikipedia, some of those reforms would be: "regulations restricting the powers of the religious police, the removal of the ban on female drivers in June 2018, and weakening the male-guardianship system in August 2019. Other cultural developments under his reign include the first Saudi public concerts by a female singer, the first Saudi sports stadium to admit women, and an increased presence of women in the workforce." Regardless Saudi Arabia is still quite a bit most other countries in terms of human rights. Its bombings and attacks in Yemen have led to mass famines and deaths, and the Saudi government has been criticized for detaining and torturing human rights activists and LGBTQ people. Women also still don’t have most of the rights they should, and still require a male family member’s permission before doing things like traveling or getting a passport among other things. The Prince and the Gov there have also been heavily critized for their actions being more performantive and less about actually pushing forward more human rights. I don't know much more, so I don't want to speak to heavily on either country (SA or Qatar).

In an effort to be more modern and open, they invited many artists to perform. Among those artists were BTS and they accepted. You mentioned Dua Lipa refusing Qatar performance, so I'll also mention Nikki Minaj refused to perform in Saudi Arabia for similar reasons, citing women's treatment in the country as her reason. Regardless of her close friendships with pedophiles and rapists, she was lauded for the decision as a morally righteous one by many people. Dua Lipa's stance on Qatar is just as morally questionable as being performative based on where else she choices to perform. But that's stuff (for both Nikki and Dua Lipa) that you can look up for yourselves if you want.

BTS were questioned about this decision too actually and in an interview stated: “I wouldn’t say the decision it was easy,” Namjoon said. Jimin added: “But we were officially invited. It’s been a while since we’ve performed in the Middle East – I guess the last time was 2015 in Dubai. To put it simply, if there’s a place where people want to see us, we’ll go there. That’s how we feel.”

Many fans stuck up for BTS during this and said that this performance was for their fans, not for the Saudi government. Which is what their reasoning was. They weren't promoting the governments actions or laws or decisions. They weren't supporting it. They were going to see their fans and share love and music with the world. Both BTS and their staff was also praised for being very considerate of Saudi Arabia's cultural customs and giving space to them and following them when they could (such as not wearing gold jewelry, not showing skin during performances they otherwise do, like Serendipity, pausing rehearsals for muslism prayer times, etc)

Similarly again, just more recently in 2022, BTS were invited by the President of the United States to speak at the White House. And they accepted and went, with little criticism in that aspect. Regardless of the fact that the US is steadily stripping human rights away from people more and more, with endless human rights violations and imperialism over the past few years. With children being taken from parents at the border and put in cages, with POC being murdered by the policing force constantly, with LGBTQ people in fear of their basic human rights being taken away, with women's rights to their own bodily autonomy being argued over daily and taken away in many places in the country. They came to speak specifically about one issue, one problem, that they and many of their fans relate to and face. Anti Asian hate crimes. So they accepted. That's not them promoting and accepting and being okay with everything else.

And yes, BTS are known for talking about controversial topics about their own country in their lyrics. Standing up for people and being willing to criticize their Gov and laws at times, this does not make them politicians or responsible for making a statement over everything. That hasn't changed. Their stance on things or how they feel about it. At least, not that I can tell. I don't know Jungkook's or BTS' motivations behind accepting to do a performance at the World Cup or to do a song for them (because they did release a new verison of Yet To Come specifically for Qatar World Cup promotions). Maybe they will make a statement at some point. Maybe they won't unless asked about it. Maybe they just wanted to do something extra for their fans and found this to be a big opportunity to do so. Maybe they are bigger fans of Soccer/Football then we thought and so they were excited about that portion of this as well. We know they like Messi they've said so. They've had multiple good interactions with Son Heungmin, who is a soccer player for South Korea. We also know Korea will be playing in the World Cup to, so maybe they were asked to represent their country more at the World Cup. And they accepted. Similarly to how they accepted to support Busan's bid to host the World Expo with their free Yet To Come concert held in Busan. Despite the issues with that and with South Koreas own issues with government and laws that are heavily conservative against LGBTQ people and woman as well.

So I guess, my point is, we don't know why they accepted. Even if it's as simple as it's a huge opportunity and they just wanted to... I don't think it changes how they've made it clear that they stand in support of queer people, of women, of love. How they really value their fans and people and want the world to be a better place. They just spoke about all these values at the UN recently as well. So no, I don't think world wide fame changed that for them.

BTS are human. They are not perfect. They will make mistakes and will and can grow from the choices they make. You also, as a fan, do not have to like or agree with everything they do. You aren't even necessarily SUPPOSED to. They aren't God's. They shouldn't be placed on a pedestal of beings who can do no wrong. You will then be disappointed. You are allowed to not like this choice or to think it's a bad one. But I don't think this choice means they are supporting the fucked up violations of human rights that are present there nor do i think this choice is indicative of them not being or no longer being good people. And I think saying that this is them supporting those policies is not fact, as anon stated, but opinion. And you are entitled to your opinion and to your feelings over the matter as well. But these are mine and if you are upset solely about one thing with one place they've traveled to, but not the others, that's something that might be cause for some inner reflection as well.

[roo-bastmoon]

You are a sensible jkkr because u atleast try to understand not only the positive but negative points too if we thought about Jikook being in a romantic relationship. So i want to know now what's ur opinion on jimin recent post on weverse in which he's saying that he didn't even knew about the rain and floods in Korea....so it means that he's not in touch with members that much these days?? Specially with his boyfriend??? Specially if it happened in Seoul where his so called boyfriends lives and all the members too??? I mean isn't it strange to think that a couple who u all jkkrs thinks are in a relationship from atleast some years now doesn't even talk with eachother when this happened??? Isn't it also another point out of many that indicates that may b...just may be they're not in a romantic relationship with eachother??? Like the same type of point when jimin didn't even know his boyfriend prefers white wine over red when tae was so confident about it??? Here on Tumblr...some big jikook blogs claiming that purple bunny ears in jimin's and Benny photo was for jk...but nobody talks about things like this??? Doesn't it also important to talk about these type of things too bcz lots and lots of young army's read their blogs too??? And let me clarify this also that m not saying here that a couple should be talking 24hrs even if they're out of the country for their work or something but i just know that atleast couple talk atleast 5mint in one day ??? To talk about their day and what's happening with them and evrything is alright or not and basically just to say they miss eachother????? So it's really strange for me that jimin didn't know about the floods... specially from his BOYfriENd who also lives in the same city!!!!

Your thoughts on this???

Dear Obvious Taekooker Who Somehow Wandered Onto My Blog:

First, let me say I've already addressed the issue around Jimin not being aware of how severe the flooding was in Seoul. You can read more of my take on that HERE. It's a bit concerning that anyone would immediately suspect Jimin's parents, brother, staff, managers, members, friends, news apps and (potential) boyfriend have all cut contact with him, instead of perhaps thinking maybe he's just super busy in a time zone 16 hours behind and he just hasn't checked his phone for a while?

Second, with regard to the red wine preference anecdote... Didn't JK share some red wine with Hobi and Tae when they all went out to dinner in Vegas? I think I remember Tae posting photos of that on his Insta. Maybe they all discussed white vs. red wine then, and that's why Tae knew that JK liked white wine better? I mean, I dunno, but it would make sense.

It would also make sense if they just had dinner other times and the tidbit came up in conversation. Just like how Tae knew Jin had ice cream in his house even though Jin is not a huge fan of ice cream--he knew because Jin gave him ice cream at his house. It doesn't mean Taejin is real (though it would be super hot if it were)!

When Jimin and Jungkook would hang out all night and get up to stuff alone together, they would drink beer, so JK's preference for white wine might be a recent development. Taste buds change every seven years or so. I'm not sure there's a burning need for him to tell Jimin about it, whether they were dating or not.

So as for Jimin not knowing, look... I lived with my mom off-and-on for almost 24 years before I finished my Master's degree and completely moved out; and for the past 19 years after that, we still email every day, talk on the phone several times a week, and visit every other week in person. My mom is my best friend on Earth. And I only recently discovered she hates red wine because she has an allergy to the sulfates in it. Surely you're not suggesting that I am not close with my mom and or don't love her, just because I didn't know a detail about her alcoholic beverage preferences?

I mean, in a Vlive this late winter with JK, Tae, Jin, and Hobi, Tae didn't seem to know JK got a new phone. Isn't it more suspicious not to know about your (alleged) boyfriend's brand new phone?? But, like, no, not really. It's really not a huge hairy deal. Because relationships don't require you immediately knowing every single detail about the other person to be valid. If it starts to add up that you don't know a lot of little details over time, then yeah, that's telling. But I think it's pretty clear that BTS are all close with one another, even if they don't know all the trivia. We are about to get new RUN episodes and I'll bet they get questions wrong about each other left and right. Because even if you live or work with someone for years, you're not mind-melded. It doesn't mean you don't love them.

Third and finally, please go find joy elsewhere and get off my blog. Please. I'm asking you nicely. Please go away. I don't have the energy for a tit-for-tat bout every time you think you have proof Jikook isn't real. This is my happy place where I celebrate Jimin and his bond with Jungkook. I love discussing ideas around it in good faith, and I'm perfectly open to the idea that they are not dating, but I really don't like when people tear apart their relationship, whatever it may be. The fact that you come into my space and use words like "jkkr" and "BOYfriENd"--which is rude and aggressive--tells me you're here to troll, not exchange ideas.

Aren't there better uses for your energy? You could be enjoying Taekook's content right now in your own space. Or you could just be rocking out to BTS' music. You could be out in the world, making it a little bit better place. You don't have to be on Tumblr, worrying about whether or not Jikook text each other frequently. That's for Jikook to worry about.

So pretty please with sugar on top, see yourself out now.

Sincerely,

Roo

[katyldamusic]

Måneskin: No one should feel exluded (interview for onet.pl)

Please forgive me any mistakes. It’s 2 am.

"Our image is a form of expression. We stand behind everyone who gets hurt. People shouldn't judge anyone because they can hurt someone a lot," say the members of the Måneskin. The group recently won the Eurovision Song Contest and will now perform at the Polsat Sopot SuperHit Festival. "We want people to understand our message being "no one should feel excluded," they add.

-Måneskin won the 65th Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam with the song "Zitti E Buoni"

-The group's sound is defined by musical eclecticism - from rock through rap, hip hop, reggae to funk and pop. All of this is linked by Damiano's phenomenal voice

-"We can be very proud of ourselves, because we owe our success to hard work" - say young musicians who came to Poland, where they will perform during the Sopot SuperHit Festival

Q: Congratulations on your big success at Eurovision. Were you surprised or the rumors that you are the favorites calmed you down a bit?

Victoria: We were nervous until the last second. Until the end, we did not believe that we could win. We are not a typical band that can take first place in this competition.

Damiano: Ethan's face said everything (laughs).

Ethan: Exactly. No one should have doubts that the win surprised us (laughs).

Q:After the competition, it was huge buzz about a glass that you broke. Has this "scandal" stopped shocking your fans?

Damiano: I hope so! We didn't understand at all why everyone was so surprised that we broke a glass (laughs). In fact, we were well aware that rumors like this always set the biggest fire. It's just part of our popularity.

Q: How did your friends react when you told them you wanted to participate in Eurovision? This is quite an unusual idea for a rock and roll band.

Victoria: We never took the Eurovision Song Contest lightly. We did not even think that our style did not fit there. For us, the most important message was that rock and roll never died. For two years we have been constantly trying to prove to everyone that guitar sounds are timeless

Many people threw obstacles at our feet and told us that we had no chance to be successful. We went to Rotterdam and showed them that we are capable of anything!

Q: So plan to conquer Eurovision was well thought out?

Victoria: Of course! That is why we performed at the San Remo festival. It was the beginning of our evil plan (laughs). Later we went to Eurovision and proved that even at such a mainstream concert rock'and'roll will be the top! I guess we did pretty well.

Q: But you probably did not expect such popularity. There are huge crowd in front of the building where we are talking. On TikTok, your music breaks records of popularity. Are you ready to conquer the world?

Damiano: I don't want to seem very cocky(*tricky to translate, "cocky" or not very modest"), but we've always dreamed about it. Of course, we did not care about fame, but we wanted our music to reach the widest audience possible. We really did everything to get to this place. We can be very proud of ourselves because we owe our success to hard work.

Q: Meetings with fans must be very enjoyable experience.

Damiano: It's really crazy. We love our fans and hope that there will be more of them over time.

Q: Many countries in Europe are very conservative. Your image may still shock many. What would you say to your *?(*tricky again. literall translation - opponents, but i think "people who are against you" fits better)

Damiano: First of all, I would like to emphasize that we do not feel like people who would dictate anything to someone. Image is a form of our expression. Of course, we stand behind everyone who gets hurt. People should not judge anyone because they can do great harm to others. We will not change the world overnight. However, as people whose music reaches so many people, we know that we can change reality a litlle bit.

Victoria: We want people to understand our message is, that no one should feel left out.  Our image has no boundaries - which is why it may still shock some more conservative audiences. Let's be honest - how is a man with painted nails different from a woman?

Q: Måneskin performing at the Pride Parade - a dream for many of your fans. Would you agree to play on one?

Damiano: Of course! It would be a great honor for us! We are aware that a large proportion of our fans are members of the LGBT community and we are very proud of it.

Victoria: It's stupid that some bands still ashamed of Parades. After all, i'ts a great honor.

Q: Let's change a subject for a moment. Today we are in Sopot. The seaside capital of music in Poland. Have you had the chance to lie on the beach?

Victoria: Are you kidding me! We got here about two hours ago. We don't have time for anything. We say this almost every day, that it would be fun to do a little sightseeing in the places we visit during our promotional tour. We are going back to Milan soon, so Poland is the last stop of our adventure.

Q: Well, you are going on another tour in a moment. Tell us what we can expect at your concerts. I understand that the performance at the festival in Sopot will be just an innocent announcement (laughs), and we will see your true face at Open'er Park?

Victoria: Our concerts we are definitely crazier.

Damiano: We missed performing on stage. We haven't been able to perform for a long time due to the coronavirus pandemic. That is why we are really grateful that we can play at such festivals as the one in Sopot. This is another part of the plan we mentioned earlier (laughs).

Q: You won Eurovision. If, however, you took second place, who would you give the "crown" to?

Måneskin: Ukraine!

Damiano: I think Go_A did more or less the same as us. They showed all of Europe that rock music is still crashing the system! They didn't try to please anyone. They were themselves and this won the hearts of many fans.

Q: Vicotria, there are only guys in the band! How do you feel as the only woman surrounded by gentlemen?

Victoria: Great! I can't imagine our band looking any different. We are a wonderful family and we support each other every day.

Damiano: We understand when Victoria has her moods (laughs).

Victoria: Stop it! I feel no different from you. I'm just a member of Måneskin. I don't feel any different!

Ethan: Besides, everyone knows that I am the real woman in the band (laughs).

Q: If you weren't making music, what would you be doing?

Ethan: Music. There is no force in this world that prevents us from making music.

Damiano: Exactly! We are musicians who do not see each other in normal work.

If I couldn't make my own music, I would probably be a producer who would come up with melodies for other artists.

Victoria: Or we would teach to play instruments. People need to understand that music is part of our lives and we cannot imagine that there could be a reality in which we do not create.

Q: You are traveling a lot now. You are in a different city almost every day. What was the craziest thing that happened to you on this tour?

Måneskin: SWEDEN!

Victoria: There were some crazy events during our visit to Sweden. Security services had to close the entire street because so many fans showed up outside our hotel.

Damiano: At one point, the police were called and they had to control the crowd.

Q:Now you are going back to Italy. Does that mean fans can expect even more new music soon?

Damiano: We are currently promoting us the mini-album "Teatro D'ira. Volume 1", but you are right, when we come back we lock ourselves up in the studio and work on new music. However, we don't want to reveal anything because that would spoil the surprise for our fans.

Victoria: We need time. We don't want to feel pressured because then the music will lose its value.

Damiano: Be patient.

[littlemixnet]

To me, a good ally is someone who is consistent in their efforts – there’s a difference between popping on a pride playlist or sprinkling yourself in rainbow glitter once a year and actually defending LGBT+ people against discrimination. It means showing my LGBT+ fans that I support them wholeheartedly and am making a conscious effort to educate myself, raise awareness and show up whenever they need me to. It would be wrong of me to benefit from the community as a musician without actually standing up and doing what I can to support. As someone in the public eye, it’s important to make sure your efforts are not performative or opportunistic. I’m always working on my allyship and am very much aware that I’ve still got a lot of unlearning and learning to do. There are too many what I call ‘dormant allies’, believing in equality but not really doing more than liking or reposting your LGBT+ mate’s content now and again. Imagine if that friend then saw you at the next march, or signing your name on the next petition fighting for their rights? Being an ally is also about making a conscious effort to use the right language and pronouns, and I recently read a book by Glennon Doyle who spoke of her annoyance and disappointment of those who come out and are met with ‘We love you…no matter what’. I’d never thought of that expression like that before and it really struck a chord with me. ‘No matter what’ suggests you are flawed. Being LGBT+ is not a flaw. Altering your language and being conscious of creating a more comfortable environment for your LGBT+ family and friends is a good start. Nobody is expecting you to suddenly know it all, I don’t think there’s such a thing as a perfect ally. I’m still very much learning. Even recently, after our Confetti music video I was confronted with the fact that although we made sure our video was incredibly inclusive, we hadn’t brought in any actual drag kings. Some were frustrated, and they had every right to be. You can have the right intentions and still fall short. As an open ally I should have thought about that, and I hadn’t, and for that I apologise. Since then I’ve been doing more research on drag king culture, because it’s definitely something I didn’t know enough about, whether that was because it isn’t as mainstream yet mixed with my own ignorance. But the point is we mess up, we apologise, we learn from it and we move forward with that knowledge. Don’t let the fear of f**king up scare you off. And make sure you are speaking alongside the community, not for the community. Growing up in a small Northern working-class town, some views were, and probably still are, quite ‘old fashioned’ and small-minded. I witnessed homophobia at an early age. It was a common thought particularly among men that it was wrong to be anything but heterosexual. I knew very early on I didn’t agree with this, but wasn’t educated or aware enough on how to combat it. I did a lot of performing arts growing up and within that space I had many LGBT+ (mainly gay) friends. I’ve been a beard many a time let me tell you! But it was infuriating to see friends not feel like they could truly be themselves. When I moved to London I felt incredibly lonely and like I didn’t fit in. It was my gay friends (mainly my friend and hairstylist, Aaron Carlo) who took me under their wing and into their world. Walking into those gay bars or events like Sink The Pink, it was probably the first time I felt like I was in a space where everyone in that room was celebrated exactly as they are. It was like walking into a magical wonderland. I got it. I clicked with everyone. My whole life I struggled with identity – being mixed race for me meant not feeling white enough, or black enough, or Arab enough. I was a ‘tomboy’ and very nerdy. I suppose on a personal level that maybe played a part in why I felt such a connection or understanding of why those spaces for the LGBT+ community are so important. One of the most obvious examples of first realising Little Mix was having an effect in the community was that I couldn’t enter a gay bar without hearing a Little Mix song and watching numerous people break out into full choreo from our videos! I spent the first few years of our career seeing this unfold and knowing the LGBT+ fan base were there, but it wasn’t until I got my own Instagram or started properly going through Twitter DMs that I realised a lot of our LGBT+ fans were reaching out to us on a daily basis saying how much our music meant to them. I received a message from a boy in the Middle East who hadn’t come out because in his country homosexuality is illegal. His partner tragically took their own life and he said our music not only helped him get through it, but gave him the courage to start a new life somewhere else where he could be out and proud. There are countless other stories like theirs, which kind of kickstarted me into being a better ally. Another standout moment would be when we performed in Dubai in 2019. We were told numerous times to ‘abide by the rules’, which meant not promoting anything LGBT+ or too female-empowering (cut to us serving a four-part harmony to Salute). In my mind, we either didn’t go or we’d go and make a point. When Secret Love Song came on, we performed it with the LGBT+ flag taking up the whole screen behind us. The crowd went wild, I could see fans crying and singing along in the audience and when we returned it was everywhere in the press. I saw so many positive tweets and messages from the community. It made laying in our hotel rooms s**tting ourselves that we’d get arrested that night more than worth it. It was through our fans and through my friends I realised I need to be doing more in my allyship. One of the first steps in this was meeting with the team at Stonewall to help with my ally education and discussing how I could be using my platform to help them and in turn the community. Right now, and during lockdown, I’d say my ally journey has been a lot of reading on LGBT+ history, donating to the right charities and raising awareness on current issues such as the conversion therapy ban and the fight for equality of trans lives. Stonewall is facing media attacks for its trans-inclusive strategies and there is an alarming amount of seemingly increasing transphobia in the UK today and we need to be doing more to stand with the trans community. Still, there is definitely a pressure I feel as someone in the public eye to constantly be saying and doing the right things, especially with cancel culture becoming more popular. I s**t myself before most interviews now, on edge that the interviewer might be waiting for me to ‘slip up’ or I might say something that can be misconstrued. Sometimes what can be well understood talking to a journalist or a friend doesn’t always translate as well written down, which has definitely happened to me before. There’ve been moments where I’ve (though well intentioned) said the wrong thing and had an army of Twitter warriors come at me. Don’t get me wrong, there are obviously more serious levels of f**king up that are worthy of a cancelling. But it was quite daunting to me to think that all of my previous allyship could be forgotten for not getting something right once. When that’s happened to me before I’ve scared myself into thinking I should STFU and not say anything, but I have to remember that I am human, I’m going to f**k up now and again and as long as I’m continuing to educate myself to do better next time then that’s OK. I’m never going to stop being an ally so I need to accept that there’ll be trickier moments along the way. I think that might be how some people may feel, like they’re scared to speak up as an ally in case they say the wrong thing and face backlash. Just apologise to the people who need to be apologised to, and show that you’re doing what you can to do better and continue the good fight. Don’t burden the community with your guilt. When it comes to the music industry, I’m definitely seeing a lot more LGBT+ artists come through and thrive, which is amazing. Labels, managements, distributors and so forth need to make sure they’re not just benefiting from LGBT+ artists but show they’re doing more to actually stand with them and create environments where those artists and their fans feel safe. A lot of feedback I see from the community when coming to our shows is that they’re in a space where they feel completely free and accepted, which I love. I get offered so many opportunities to do with LGBT+ based shows or deals and while it’s obviously flattering, I turn most of them down and suggest they give the gig to someone more worthy of that role. But really, I shouldn’t have to say that in the first place. The fee for any job I do take that feels right for me but has come in as part of the community goes to LGBT+ charities. That’s not me blowing smoke up my own arse, I just think the more of us and big companies that do that, the better. We need more artists, more visibility, more LGBT+ mainstream shows, more shows on LGBT+ history and more artists standing up as allies. We have huge platforms and such an influence on our fans – show them you’re standing by them. I’ve seen insanely talented LGBT+ artist friends in the industry who are only recently getting the credit they deserve. It’s amazing but it’s telling that it takes so long. It’s almost expected that it will be a tougher ride. We also need more understanding and action on the intersectionality between being LGBT+ and BAME. Racism exists in and out of the community and it would be great to see more and more companies in the industry doing more to combat that. The more we see these shows like Drag Race on our screens, the more we can celebrate difference. Ever since I was a little girl, my family would go to Benidorm and we’d watch these glamorous, hilarious Queens onstage; I was hooked. I grew up listening to and loving the big divas – Diana Ross (my fave), Cher, Shirley Bassey, and all the queens would emulate them. I was amazed at their big wigs, glittery overdrawn make-up and fabulous outfits. They were like big dolls. Most importantly, they were unapologetically whoever the f**k they wanted to be. As a shy girl who didn’t really understand why the world was telling me all the things I should be, I almost envied the queens but more than anything I adored them. Drag truly is an art form, and how incredible that every queen is different; there are so many different styles of drag and to me they symbolise courage and freedom of expression. Everything you envisioned your imaginary best friend to be, but it’s always been you. There’s a reason why the younger generation are loving shows like Drag Race. These kids can watch this show and not only be thoroughly entertained, but be inspired by these incredible people who are unapologetically themselves, sharing their touching stories and who create their own support systems and drag families around them. Now and again I think of when I’d see those Queens in Benidorm, and at the end they’d always sing I Am What I Am as they removed their wigs and smudged their make up off, and all the dads would be up on their feet cheering for them, some emotional, like they were proud. But that love would stop when they’d go back home, back to their conditioned life where toxic heteronormative behaviour is the status quo. Maybe if those same men saw drag culture on their screens they’d be more open to it becoming a part of their everyday life. I’ll never forget marching with Stonewall at Manchester Pride. I joined them as part of their young campaigners programme, and beforehand we sat and talked about allyship and all the young people there asked me questions while sharing some of their stories. We then began the march and I can’t explain the feeling and emotion watching these young people with so much passion, chanting and being cheered by the people they passed. All of these kids had their own personal struggles and stories but in this environment, they felt safe and completely proud to just be them. I knew the history of Pride and why we were marching, but it was something else seeing what Pride really means first hand. My advice for those who want to use their voice but aren’t sure how is, just do it hun. It’s really not a difficult task to stand up for communities that need you. Change can happen quicker with allyship.

Jade Thirlwall on the power, and pressures, of being an LGBT ally: ‘I’m gonna f**k up now and again’

[dragon-kazansky]

Dangerous | Helmut Zemo

AU! Race car driver Zemo 😎

Gender neutral reader

Collage by @realremyd

[Masterlist]

[Previous chapter] - [Next chapter]

Part 5

It had been a week since you had seen Zemo. You hadn't seen your friend at all either. You had tried to contact her a couple of times, but after receiving no responses, you gave up. It still didn't sit right with you that she and Stark were a thing.

You were currently at work. You were on the afternoon shift today. You could handle the afternoon crowd easier than the morning crowd. It wasn't your usual shift, so your usual co-workers weren't here to banter with.

You were wiping down the counter when a customer approached. You wipe your hands on the towel over your shoulder and turn to take their order, only to stop.

"Zemo?"

He stands there smiling. He was wearing slacks with a button up shirt. He looked very smart, yet so laid back.

"Hello Y/N."

"What are you doing here?"

"Not happy to see me?" He grins.

"I am, it's just... I didn't expect to see you before the race."

He chuckles as he orders something to drink.

"I couldn't wait much longer. I wanted to see your world." He glances around the cafe. It was a nice place. Classy and clearly a good place for groups to hang out.

"Well this is it. I make drinks for people." You make him his drink and hand it over. He pays for it there.

"I like it. It suits you, but I think you'd fit into my world just fine."

You laugh, "not that I'd be of any use in your world. I can barely change a tyre."

That makes him chuckle.

"I'm sure there would be something for you."

You shake your head with a smile.

"Oh, it's your lucky day by the way. My boss happens to be a fan of yours, so I have next weekend off for the races."

"Ah, lucky me indeed." He looks very smug right now. You shake your head, grinning.

"Just this once. I can't take every weekend off."

"Well that's no good. I need you for all my races," he says, stating it like a fact.

"You don't need me. You just want me there for some reason."

Zemo leans on the bar and looks at you softly. He has a small soft smile on his face. You were right in every way.

"Yes, I do want you there."

"I don't see why."

"I like you," he says with ease, confidence oozing from him as he grins at you.

You laugh softly.

"You're so..."

"Handsome? Charming? Dashing?"

"So funny."

You both laugh softly.

"I should get back to work before my manager catches me chatting up the customers," you say, glancing over your shoulder.

"Oh? Do you flirt with others then?"

"Only the good looking ones," you stick your tongue out at him. He winks and takes a seat at a table near by. Though there is literally plenty for him to do, he chooses to watch you work instead.

This was you in your element. Life passing more slowly, more safely.

There was serenity in this life style. Something he couldn't provide through his. He couldn't guarantee anything, as much as he would like to pretend.

There was always that risk.

Risks such greater than anything you could ever face here. He looked down at his half empty cup of coffee. Maybe he shouldn't ever ask you.

You bid goodbye to your customer, and looked over at Zemo. You smiled at him. He smiled back. He finished his coffee and got up from his table.

"That was lovely, though I do have a particular fondness for tea."

You chuckle.

"We serve tea too."

He smiles.

"When do you finish?" He asks.

You look up at the clock on the wall.

"Two more hours. Why don't you go look around the town or something."

"I think I will. I'll pick you up later, no arguing," he winks at you and makes his exit. You smile as you clear his table.

Zemo walks through the town you live in. It's nice, pretty. Again, it suits you perfectly.

Looking around, he almost feels homesick. There was nothing left of the place he once called home. He shakes those thoughts from his mind.

Something catches his attention up ahead. A limo. It stands out vastly against the rest of the cars on the street. Far too sleek, shiny, and expensive for anyone around here.

It irks him that he has a bad feeling about it.

From up the road, he watches as the man he dreaded steps out. Tony Stark put on his shades before holding his hand out for someone. A pretty young lady climbs out of the limo.

Something about her strikes Zemo as familiar. He can't pinpoint from where though.

Zemo watches as Stark closes the limo door and takes the young lady into boutique behind them.

What was Tony Stark doing here?

Zemo had made the trip for you. He had his excuse to be here instead of down at the track. Tony, however, didn't.

Zemo headed over to where he was stood across the street, though he couldn't quite see through the store window display.

He had to make himself scarce before Stark came out again. He didn't want Tony seeing him. As he walked away, he didn't let go of the thought that he had seen that girl before.

Zemo was back at the cafe at the end of your shift like he said he would be. The car he was driving was another one from his collection. He opened the door for you and climbed in once you were safely in his car.

As he drove to your address, which he flirted with you for, his mood changed to something a little more serious. Concerned, you had to ask him what happened in those 2 hours he was alone.

"Are you alright?"

He glances at you.

"Yes, why?"

"You're clutching the steering wheel rather tightly and your jaw is locked again. What's on your mind?"

"I saw Stark here in town."

You swallow awkwardly.

"Did he see you?"

"No. I saw him. He was with someone." He glances at you as you shift in your seat. Now it was turn to be concerned. "What is it?"

"That's my friend. Remember when she called me at the airstrip? She told me she was going to meet me at the train station and tell me something big. Well, when we got out, Tony Stark was there with a limousine. Apparently the news was she is daring him. They had met that night after the first race, he had asked her out and she agreed."

You couldn't look at him.

Zemo, keeping an eye on the road, reached over and placed his hand on your knee. Your eyes flickered to his hand. His touch was warm and comforting.

"She won't talk to me now. When we got to my place, I had asked her about it. She got defensive and shut me off."

His thumb rubs circles on your leg.

"You don't think this is some kind of stunt do you?" You ask, looking up at him.

"I don't know, but I wouldn't put it past him. It's not the first time he's done something big for publicity."

You want to ask, but something else comes to mind.

"They haven't made it public yet."

"I assume he'll make his move at the next race. Cameras everywhere there." He glances at you.

That makes sense.

"Are you bothered about it?" You ask, looking at him from the corner of your eye.

"No. What Stark does for publicity is his problem. The question, does it bother you?"

"Yes," you state honestly, "because I can't tell if it's real, or if she's being carried away by the fantasy of dating her favourite pro racer. I looked into racing as much as I possibly could before that second race. I tried to get some background on the racers, you included, but Stark seems to thrive on being in the spotlight. He wins over and over again, he trots around the globe to meet people and race his cars. He is always making headlines somewhere."

Zemo gave a nod. He was aware. It was because he kept seeing Stark pop up everywhere that he became a pro racer himself.

"You're worried about your friend. That is understandable."

"I'm worried for her if it's not real."

He glances at you. It's as he is sitting there, hand on your knee, glancing at you as he listens to you, that the thought returns to him. Helmut Zemo is not a man who plays around with people's feelings. If this was you two, there would be no other way than for him to be honest and true to you.

As a man who had lost everything in the past, he would never do that to you.

He takes his hand back as reaches your destination. Your apartment building was a nice little thing. You were up on the 3rd floor.

"Do you want to come in?"

He smiles.

"Yes, I do."

You chuckle. You both get out and you lead him up to your apartment. You smile nicely at your neighbours as you pass them, hoping they don't question the handsome man trailing behind you. No one seemed to recognise him, so that worked in your favour.

You let him into your apartment first.

"It's not much, but it's home."

The apartment wasn't huge, but spacious enough for one person. It was decorated nicely, every little thing a reflection of you. There was a bit of clutter here and there, but it was clear you looked after your space.

"I like it."

"Can't imagine the kind of place you live in. Bet it's a lot nicer than this." You head into the kitchen to make him some tea.

"Perhaps a little bigger, it's no castle."

You chuckle softly and set out two cups.

Zemo glances around at the photos on display. You don't have a lot, but he's curious to see what they are.

"Can I ask you something?" He asks, not looking away from a photo of you and your friend.

"Of course."

"When you were researching the racers, what did you find on me?"

You let the kettle boil as you look at his back.

"Not much, I'll be honest. I didn't want to ask about it, but there was something, if you'll let me."

He halts his movements and wonders what you found. It couldn't be, could it?

"What is it?"

"You're from Sokovia, right?"

He relaxes. Zemo turns slowly and smiles, but there isn't much emotion behind it.

"Yes. I was."

You nibble at your lip softly.

"I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to apologise for," he says, walking over to you.

"Still, I remember hearing about it on the news. It was everywhere for a while. I can't imagine losing my home country."

Zemo reaches over and takes your hand in his. You wouldn't vocalise the fact you realised he was being a lot more physical today. You enjoyed the feel of his touch.

"Thank you for your kindness, but you don't need to worry. I am happy where I am now."

You smile at one another. The kettles clicks off, you reluctantly let go of his hands, missing their warmth. You turn around to see to the tea.

"There really wasn't much else about you online. You're a mystery to me, Zemo."

He smiles.

"Makes me all the more interesting, yes?"

You laugh softly.

"I suppose it does."

You hand him one of the cups and you both go sit down. You face one another on the sofa, enjoying the tea you had made. You watched the way he closed his eyes and took a sip.

"This is very good."

"What can I say? I'm a professional," you joke.

"I believe you."

"So, the race." You smile, sitting up and leaning forward a little. Zemo laughed. It was sweet how excited you were about it, considering you hadn't had an interest before... well, before him.

"I can I take you to the race myself?" He asks, reading your face for a response.

"Take me? Isnt6that going to be a hassle? Going there, coming back, and then going back again?"

"I'll do it for you," he grins mischievously.

"You're doing it again."

"Doing what?" He asks.

"Flirting with me."

"Of course I am. You haven't told me to stop," he tells you.

You smile shyly at him. That was true.

"You should focus on your car, I'll be there. I promise."

He shakes his head subtly.

"Too late, I've made up my mind. I'll be here to pick you up the day before. You can stay with me over the weekend. Sound like a plan?"

You look at him, trying to see if this was just him teasing you, but you don't see anything like that. If anything, those beautiful brown eyes of his are almost pleading for you to agree.

"Alright."

His smile is so full of joy, your heart feels like it could burst. He looked so handsome smiling like that.

"Then I best be on my way. I have some thing to plan before the weekend." Zemo put his empty cup down and got up. You did the same and showed him to the door.

You see him out, but before he leaves your apartment completely, he leaves you with a kiss on the cheek. He doesn't say anything as he walks away.

You're left a smiling blushing mess.

@ajeff855 @moonstuffsteve @sky-writes-stuff @lieutenantn @lostghostgirl94 @friday18eo @yaskna @my-blood-is-maple-syrup @gingerwriter97 @lunamooney2406 @wilder-fangirl @nectav @whovianayesha @thesuitkovian @cathrin2405 @deathtothepatriarchy @belle82devart @dxrksxul06 @killeromanoff @alex-the-nb @latenightartist-author @hb8301 @goddessofmischief03 @xxidontwikeitxx @themeanestlittlewitch @scuttle-buttle

[studyvibes]

Another new translation of Maneskin interview

I planned on translating the interview last week, but the day I was free the whole area where I lived had an issue with the WiFi, so through out the week, when I had a bit of free time I translated the interviewer piece by piece.

The translation is of this video: https://youtu.be/4Meslb_X9Fg

I thought it was best to include the video of the interview because there are videos and images relevant to their answers.

So this interview is by the VK which is basically like Russian Facebook.

In the original video the host speaks in Russian and Maneskin reply in Italian with Russian subtitles shown.

(Text which is bold and in brackets during the translation are some notes I added, to add come context)

Interviewer: For the first time, Maneskin is visiting Moscow, who are the winners of Eurovision. And today we are welcoming them in our studio. Guys, hello. (If you translate exact its: Guys, big hello to you)

Maneskin: Thank you very much

[0:17] Interviewer: The site Kontakte is one of the biggest sites in Russia and also one of the biggest music platforms in Russia, where people listen to your music. In our top charts of most listened songs you are one of the very few international musicians/bands that are included in the chart. In general the chart includes mostly songs in Russian language, so this shows how very popular you are in our country.

Maneskin: That’s very nice!

Interviewer: Please tell me - your international success just happened in 3 months: charts in Russia, charts in Billboard, I think this is the first time ever since ABBA that a musician/band became famous even in America after Eurovision. How did your life change in this span of 3 months?

Damiano: yeah there was a big difference/change.

Damiano: We could say that it was sudden and how we saw everything explode after Eurovision, but we are very happy

Damiano: Ofcourse this means a lot of work is expected because everything that we did before for Italy, we do now around the world. But we are very happy: this what we wanted and why we worked so hard -we are very, very happy/lucky.

[1:30]Interviewer: Going back to Eurovision, I was present at backstage and at the final, sharing happiness about your winning. I’d like to ask, did you know and how did you react to the fact that all artist for the past two weeks were saying that you were the obvious winners, even though the genre of your performance is a complete contrast to most competitor’s songs. How confident were you.

Interviewer: To solidify my words (about being at Eurovision) I have a photo *shows a photo on iPad of Interviewer and Maneskin on the night they won Eurovision*

Maneskin: oh it was you!

Victoria: We weren’t exactly confident. When we went to Eurovision, we thought only about being able to carry our music to a very wide auditorium, but we didn’t expect that we would be able to win - especially with the type of genre we play and sing in Italian - it is not something that appears often in this competition

Thomas: Yeah, that’s true, it was very unexpected and even the people - in Eurovision - were saying “You will win, you will win” - of course to us it was nice, but we completely didn’t expect it. And same with what happened after.

Ethan: (he said something, but they didn’t add a translation to what he said)

[2:45] Interviewer: I’d like to say a few words about our Manizha - Russian Woman (she represented Russia in Eurovision 2021) - were you able to meet her and chat with her? And are you planning to see her in Moscow

Victoria: yes yes, she even sang an Italian song

Damiano: it was something “Ti amo, ti amo”

Thomas: No, no, no, not that one!

Damiano: “Felicità”?

Thomas: No, no. I don’t remember.

Interviewer: (I didn’t hear him but I think he agreed with Damiano)

Maneskin: “Felicità”, yes, “Felicità”!

Damiano: They even sang in multiple voices! (Manizha had back singers with her, who joined her for Eurovision)

Interviewer: So after you won Eurovision, you were congratulated by Eros Ramazzotti, Royal Blood, and Franz Ferdinand. Which congratulation towards you was unusual and unexpected? And what did it mean to you

Victoria: Probably the big groups, which we always listen to, which always inspired us. It was also really nice, already the fact, that they talk about us - it was unbelievable. And because, of course, for us it was very important, that they liked us/valued us. And what most wild/unusual out of is that we got to collaborate with Iggy Pop.

Rest of Maneskin: *agreeing with Victoria’s answer*

Victoria: He is one of our main idols, he is one of the people who created/established punk-rock.

Thomas: Yes, of course, support from big musicians, from people who we listened to from the very start - it’s really wonderful and important/valuable recognition

Interviewer: tell us about your work with Iggy Pop. How did it happen, did he contact you or you were able to reach out to him?

Victoria: We were always huge fans of him. And when everything so well, he saw who we were and what type of music we have, and we asked him, if he would’ve want to produce something together. He said, that he really likes the song “I wanna be your slave.” and wanted to make a collaboration.

Interviewer: I saw that Miley Cyrus made a repost video of where you are performing a cover of her song and said you are her friends. Is there a possible collab with Miley?

Maneskin: Anything is possible.

Damiano: (in English) Who knows

Interviewer: with who would you want to collab?

Victoria: with many, with many! Arctic Monkeys, Foo Fighters, I don’t know.. with so many!

Interviewer: An interesting thing - the group BTS became the symbol of South Korea, making kpop genre popular. You are becoming...you became, the symbol of Italy. Do you feel any responsibility and are you planning on promoting Italian language/ making Italian language popular?

Damiano: We are thinking about making our music, and if our country will choose us to be their representatives, we would be happy. But no, we don’t feel this responsibility, we are thinking of own work/ business.

Interviewer: I can’t not ask very important question which is interesting for the fans - are you preparing an album, can you share some hints/ secrets? Because everyone is waiting for it. And the fact that in one of your songs which was released years back reached the top world wide charts, now we all can’t wait.

Victoria: Its all secret!

Damiano: We can say, that we are preparing new music - this is the secret which we can reveal.

Thomas: Yeah, and we are trying to find time, to write, to work on music. Certainly/undoubtedly, you can expect multiple surprises.

Interviewer: you are a unique group - from the point that your centre/focus is towards all of the members, which is different to other bands where bands are seen as the frontman and the rest of musicians. But each member of your group is seen a big celebrity. Did this happen accidentally or is this the concept you made, and how does your friendship help you with you work?

Damiano: We always tries to avoid the stereotypes of bands/groups, where only the vocalist is recognized/known. We always tried to push not only the group as whole, but also the 4 individuals of the group. And this is probably also happens because of our close friendship. Luckily, nobody feels like they are in the shadows pushed by others.

[7:38] Interviewer: It’s really cool that you change/ remove the stereotypes and create new trends.

Maneskin: We try, We try. We carry our little contribution.

Interviewer: Damiano, I would like to ask you personally a question - from what I am aware of, at the start, the band didn’t accept you into the band, something didn’t work out, could you please tell us in more detail?

*Maneskin laughing at Damiano*

Victoria: He became older, and his voice became magically/suddenly different!

Interviewer: what I understood was that it happened was because you originally sang more pop music, not rock with the band.

Damiano: In reality/to be honest, nothing changed, I stayed pop. Let’s say, I grew, and my voice changed, and I started to sound more earnest/persuasive.

[8:22] Interviewer: How did the band form? You first place of performance was at the street of Rome?

Maneskin: Yes, we started to play in school

Victoria: and since then everything went with the flow. We started to play on the streets, at small establishments, at school - anywhere where we could have an opportunity to perform

Interviewer: what was the hardest in those performances?

Thomas: To find a place where we can perform

Victoria: Yes, exactly, where to perform. And later, it was very small establishments and the audience at the start didn’t take us too seriously. But together as a band we supported each other - in the end, it was our dream, we even liked to perform in front of just a few people, which is why we continued.

Thomas: Exactly, yes. At the start we sometimes performed to an auditorium with a few people, but even then you had to stay convincing/conclusive. Over some period of time, in the crowd, people start to appear who valued our music, what we did. But for me, it was probably, the main challenge was to see, play, perform well and stay yourself in front of 2 or 3 people.

Ethan: Yes, there were times when we performed in front of an audience in which there were only parents. We gave out the same level and the same energy.

Interviewer: I think it is common thing to happen when a musician/ band performs at private party, where Russian musicians performed for one person in the hall.

Maneskin: oh this is something very very private

Interviewer: I think I’ll get in trouble for telling you this, but Little Big told me this story.

*Maneskin recognizing the bands name*

Maneskin: Aaa, Yes!

Interviewer: Ed Sheehan, in his time, took a challenge, he also started from street performing, to make 300 performance in a year. Are you ready to start your world tour and to perform nearly every day?

Thomas: Of course, definitely. The other way it won’t happen.

[10:25] Interviewer: I’d also like to know/ask, if you often spend your time together, as friends, if you have any common hobbies, and what do you do as a break/rest?

Victoria: We practically don’t have any life outside the frame of music, we spend all our time in work. But when we do find spare time, we just go somewhere to relax and have fun.

Interviewer: What simple tip/advise would you give to young musicians which at the moment are street performing but dream to perform in big stadiums?

Victoria: I think, you should continued with your journey and don’t change due to other people’s opinions.

Ethan: Yes, that right. Be always yourself.

Interviewer: your time of fame happened in Italy a few years ago from the show X Factor when you performed the cover from the band the Four seasons on their song “Beggin”. Did you expect that your cover would become a world hit in a few years? And a lot of people associate the song more with you (like more than the original band)

Ethan: Yeah. It’s.... weird!

[11:33] Interviewer: I’d like to show you an interesting photo. The photo illustrates when it was the last time Russia saw Italians. It’s a movie from the year 1974 which is called “the unbelievable journey of Italians in Russsia” do you see any similarity?

*at [11:48] you can see the image of four people: on the left two men happily hugging each other, in the centre a woman, and on the right a tired looking man*

Maneskin: Nooooo *laughing*

Ethan: Wow (the exact words that were written in subtitles were “Да ты что!” Which in Russian is used as an expression of surprise )

Ethan and Thomas point at which person they think they are in the left

Ethan: I am the one in the left

Interviewer: This is actually a very popular Soviet comedy and the movie is about Italians which travelled to Russia in search of treasure, which left was by one of the main character’s grandmother. I would like to know after which treasure did you go after in Russia?

Victoria: I think, our fans, possibly perform, and play in concerts. All the love and affection.

Interviewer: It would be nice if you could watch the movie, maybe during your flight, and share your opinion on social media.

Ethan: ok, will do.

Interviewer: I’d also like to show you a very popular video which was spreading in Russia. Where it was comparing your lyrics from “I WANNA BE YOUR SLAVE” and lyrics from a Russian musician Alla Pugacheva. Both songs have same repeating words: “master” and “gangster”

Maneskin: (idk who said it) I saw it in Tiktok

Interviewer: just in case, I’ll show you the video

*[11:58] shows the video which interviewer talked about*

Thomas: You already saw it.

Interviewer: Your Russian fans, went further, started to look for famous Russian performers who wore similar outfits that you wear. But it turned out that all the similar outfits were worn by on person, his name is Valery Leontiev. I’d like to show you the pictures to show you just how similar his outfits are.

*[13:35] you can see the image comparisons, in the background you can hear Damiano laughing and say “no no”*

Thomas or Ethan: Unbelievable! This is crazy, this isn’t possible.

Interviewer: Yes the similarities are on point/ are exact.

Interviewer: I’d like to conclude the interviewer with genuine admiration because for the past 3 months you exploded the whole music industry, which didn’t happen for ages. And to be honest, it is true what you said about saving your authenticity and believe in yourself. We are very proud of you, Russians love Italians (ik that a lot of old Italian movies and songs are very popular in Russia). Please continue to grow and make wonderful music.

Maneskin: Thank, thank you very much.

————————————-

Hopefully you enjoyed the interview and the translations made sense

[tang-wei]

ONS Guren LN Vol 1 Chapter 5 Part 2 translation

Title: War and Convenience Stores

Translator: @tang-wei​

Raws: Chinese

If you feel the need to re-read the whole series again, the masterpost is here. Don’t forget that this is part 2 of chapter 5, please read part 1 as well! 

Important note: Because the previous sources for Volume 1 have been taken down/ made unavailable, I am translating this for the sake of fans who are not able to purchase a copy of the official English translation that is available. If you enjoy Guren’s story, then please support the author by buying the novel!  

***

The sun had set.

The town was dyed red.

On the way home from school.

In a place where there were not that many people, a small convenience store.

While Sayuri and Shigure shopped for dinner, Guren waited with his arms crossed, sitting on a guardrail.

At that moment,

“Saito-san! Saito-san! Is it really okay for me to buy any sweets that I want?!” The happy voice of a young boy could be heard.

Guren glanced at the direction of the voice. As one would expect, there was a young boy.

A fair-skinned boy with blond hair and a beautiful face. It was likely that he was not Japanese. Or it was possible that he had foreign blood in his veins.

The boy spoke while smiling very happily.

“I wonder what I should buy to make everyone at the orphanage happy~? Hey Saito-san, if I buy ice cream, do you think the director would get mad?”

It was then the man named Saito-san responded,

“I wonder. In that orphanage, is there even a fridge…”

“Of course there’s one.”

“Then it should be fine. Even the director should allow for sweets.”

“Yay!”

“There now, take this money and go to the supermarket. Will you be alright buying it yourself, Mikaela-kun?”

The boy called Mikaela responded to that question,

“Of course. How old do you think I am? I’m 8!” He smiled. It was then Guren saw Saito take out 10,000 yen.

“Eh, this much…” Mikaela exclaimed, surprised.

Saito smiled.

“It’s for everyone after all.”

“But, is it really okay, to take 10,000 yen…”

“It’s fine, it’s fine. Now go on.”

“Okay! But if I was going to get that many sweets, it would’ve been good to have brought Akane-chan with me…”

Having said that, with sparkling eyes, the boy named Mikaela entered the supermarket.

“That’s why you are trying to get the sinful people who won’t join the 《Hyakuya Sect》, and therefore will die from the virus, to hurry and join?”

And thus,

“……”

Guren watched this with his arms crossed. Then, Guren’s gaze switched to watching the man called Saito.

Saito wore a black suit.

The man who had attacked Guren ten days earlier had worn the same black suit.

“……”

That is to say, that was the guy that tried to kill him in the elevator, the assassin from the《Hyakuya Sect》.

“Saito? Didn’t you say that your name was Kijima?”

The assassin smiled cordially at that.

“At the orphanage, I go as the kind Saito-san.”

“Hmm. So then is Kijima your real name?”

“I do not have a real name.”

“To put simply, you’re an assassin?”

“Yes.”

“Then, at that orphanage, you like playing the role of Daddy Long-Legs?”

“Haha, that’s what it looks like. Well then, knowing that I am such a kind Daddy Long-Legs, have you become interested in hearing what I have to say…”

“Nope.”

The assassin laughed at the interruption.

“Even so, please call me Saito-san while we’re here. If Mika-kun overheard, there would surely be some confusion.” He said.

With that, Guren glanced towards the supermarket where the boy named Mikaela had gone.

“And? What would you be using that kid for?”

“What do you mean?”

“The 《Hyakuya Sect》 is famous for their human

experimentation. Don’t try to say otherwise.”

“No no, that is a huge misunderstanding. In the end the 《Hyakuya Sect》administer the Hyakuya Orphanages as charitable work…”

“Then where did you come from?” Guren asked Saito.

“Who did that thing to your body? Where did that happen?

There’s no way you’re going to say something like your parents raised you in good health and with love, right?”

“……”

At that, Saito stopped smiling. He then replied in all seriousness,

“…You’re right. It’s certainly true that I came from the Hyakuya Orphanage. But I undertook the laboratory testing of my own free will, and obtained this body.”

“Huh, so brainwashing.”

Then, staring at Guren, Saito continued.

“No, I seriously think that the 《Hyakuya Sect》 wants to guide

this country to the right path. While Guren-sama may not be aware of this, if Japan continues down this path, the trumpet of the end will drag us into decay.”

Such strange things he said.

Still, Guren smiled and replied,

“Hah, so you’ve come out with it. The apocalypse, huh? That’s a signature move used against newcomers of a religion. If you do not believe, you won’t survive the apocalypse? Even we know how to use that kind of talk. So do the Hiiragis. There’s always something that resembles it in doctrines. But so what? By using that, did you think you’d be able to convert me?”

Guren asked.

Saito’s facial expression did not change, but regarded him seriously.

“That was not the meaning of what I said.”

“Then what is it?”

“In truth… if this continues, a virus will spread via an untouchable forbidden magic, who knows how rampantly it would spread, and the people of this world will find no place to live.”

“And, you’re saying that you guys are protecting us from that?”

“Yes.”

◆

Saito smiled and shook his head at that.

“No, as I said, I am not having this kind of conversion conversation. Even up til today, I didn’t have any intention to speak to you about these kind of things.”

“Ah? Then what do you want to speak to me about?”

To this question, Saito replied.

“About war. The one who made the virus is not God, but humans. And these are humans you know very well. The ones named Hiiragi.”

“Wha, that’s…”

Saito ignored that and continued,

“The 『Mikado no Oni』 who stole the seat of the National Magic Organization from the 《Hyakuya Sect》 has run wild, they are using the absolutely forbidden magic. That’s what we are frantically trying to prevent.”

“.........”

Saying this, the corners of Saito’s mouth lifted.

“Well? Don’t you think we have common interests?”

What a thing to say. Saito stretched out a hand towards Guren,

“So, won’t you join forces with us? Before the word ends, to attack the Hiiragi.”

He proposed.

Guren looked at his hand.

He said that the Hiiragi were going to destroy the world with the forbidden magic they got their hands on, and that they were trying to protect everyone from it.

And then, in the dawn of the era of the Hiiragi being destroyed,

“…The position of the Ichinose would rise.”

At that, Saito smiled and nodded his head.

“Of course. Since this about those who assisted the 《Haykuya Sect》 in making history, regarding the position currently occupied by the Hiiragi, it would be between the forces of 『Mikado no Oni』 and 『Mikado no Tsukki』.”

“Hmm. Well, then what? Are you offering an alliance with all of the Ichinose– no, all of the 『Mikado no Tsukki』?”

“Of course.”

“Then, why are you offering it to me? The Head of the

Ichinose House is–”

“Your father, is that right? However, your father is part of the

docile faction.”

At that, Guren smiled once again.

“Then, I’m the radical?”

Saito nodded his head apologetically.

“As I’ve said before, we have also done some investigations into the past. Including yours and your father’s. And so we made a choice regarding who would be the party to participate in this conversation with us.”

“You chose me?”

“Yes.”

“You thought that if it were me, I would readily accept?”

However, Saito shook his head.

“No. We did not think that. However, we thought that before it starts, we should at least say hello to you.”

Or so he said.

Before it all starts.

In other words,

“Even if you did not have the Ichinose, you intend to go to war?”

At that Saito shrugged his shoulders.

“The ones who started it are the Hiiragi though.”

“Besides, by telling me this much information, the start of that fierce struggle is fast approaching. ”

Smiling widely, Saito nodded.

“It is 10 days away. After 10 days, the 《Hyakuya Sect》 will go to war with the Hiiragi House.”

“10 days, huh. I will give you my reply then…”

“No, we need your answer now. If you do not join us today, then the plan for you to also be our enemy will be put into progress.”

Saito said, looking right at Guren.

Guren glared right back in return.

“That’s not happening. In the first place, if I don’t know the truth of what you are saying, how can I accept? Is the Hiiragi House really going wild with forbidden magic? Is it really necessary to stop them? Far from that, it’s also entirely possible that you guys the《Hyakuya Sect》 and the Hiiragis are teaming up to test the Ichinose. In these circumstances, you want me to immediately give you an answer? That is impossible.”

He responded.

However, Saito simply nodded his head, and,

“I see. Then negotiations have broken down.”

“No.”

“What is it? Did you want to join us? Please be decisive. To be honest, it doesn’t really matter whether you are a friend or foe…”

In other words, it is what it is.

If a war began, the more comrades the better.

Even so, they thought that with the power the Ichinose have, whether they have them or not, would not influence the battle at all.

That is a fact.

Nevertheless, the 《Hyakuya Sect》, is a bigger and more powerful organisation than the Hiiragi House, who had the Ichinose under their submission. Of course there was no need for them to bow their head and beg for the Ichinose’s help.

At the end of the day, before the fight would begin, they just came by to say hello. If the Ichinose did not join, then they would be destroyed together with the Hiiragi.

That’s why in Guren’s mind, he was furiously wondering how to best act. What was the best method to ensure a future where the Ichinose House wouldn’t be destroyed. A method to ensure a future where those that belonged to the 『Mikado no Tsukki』would not be destroyed.

Right now, with the answer he had to give, there was a possibility that everything could change.

In that case, what was the best thing to do?

What was the best way for him to move?

As Guren was forming those thoughts in his head, he replied.

“At least, give me an hour to consider.”

“I cannot.”

Saito rejected.

At that, Guren narrowed his eyes.

“Then my answer is ‘No’. I won’t join forces with an organization that w

That night, Guren wrote to his family.

About the contact the《Hyakuya Sect》made.

About how the Hiiragis would run wild, and how it was possible that they would cause the destruction of the world with a virus. About how a war between the Hyakuya Church and the Hiiragi House will begin in ten days.

About how he rejected the 《Hyakuya Sect》’s proposal.

~CHAPTER 5 PART 2 END~

The letter would reach home the same day. Regarding such an important issue, not just the Ichinose, but all of the 『Mikado no Tsukki』 would gather to discuss how to act.

They would begin to gather information to verify the truth of Saito’s words.

Such a large job would take 3 days to complete. And then afterwards it would take a week to make preparations.

But, if what Saito said was the truth, then there was no time left to act at a leisurely pace.

It was possible that a war as going to start.

Furthermore, it was a war that could possibly destroy the whole of Japan―

Then, how should he personally deal with such a war.

“No, we need to carefully consider the best things to do during this chaos”

That night, Guren tossed and turned, thinking about such things.  

T/N: I don’t even know where to begin with the apologies or the excuses... but it is finally here! 

<<Chapter 5 Part 1 || Chapter 6 >>

[gotnofucks]

Loving Dodger

Pairing: Chris Evans x Reader

Summary: Your journey of overcoming your fear of dogs to loving Dodger.

Words: 3.6k

Warning: mention of smut, language. Loads of fluff

A/N: I obviously don’t know Chris Evans, this is just a story.

MASTERLIST

+++++

Everyone was packing up and you rushed to get things in order. Your coffee had gone cold hours ago, and some poor intern would be responsible for throwing it away from wherever you had left it. Working in the film industry could be rough, and this was just backstage. You went through the set, automatically putting things in order as you moved and waved goodbye to others. Stuffing the last of your things in your overstuffed bag, you left to find a taxi. You were glad you weren’t working tomorrow morning, for you planned to have a long hot shower and an undisturbed sleep after a long time.

It was late at night and no taxis came your way. You hated taking an Uber this late, but desperate times call for desperate measures. You had only just taken out your phone when a car stopped in front of you. The driver’s side door opened, and a smiling Chris Evans greeted you.

“Can I give you a ride milady?” He asked and you snorted.

“You have the worst English accent. If you do that in London, they’ll smell the imposter in you” You said. “And it’s cool, I’m calling an uber.”

Chris frowned, leaning against the door with arms spread, his few sizes short, too tight shirt stretching over his broad frame. You felt like he needed to be arrested for the cardiac arrests he may cause.

“At this time, and even when a handsome, chivalrous man is offering a safe ride? You wound me sweetheart.” He grabbed his left boob, faking a pained expression and you sighed.

“God, you’re awful Chris. You sure it’s okay, a little out of your way isn’t it?”

“Y/n, there is not one place in the world I wouldn’t go with you”

You let your hair form a curtain to hide your blush, clearing your throat awkwardly and stepping in his car. His car smelled like his cologne, the heady scent sticking to your clammy skin. You went for the radio, soft country music running in the background.

“So, what are you doing this weekend?” Chris asked.

“I live a boring life man. I’m probably gonna clean my shit and stock my kitchen with as much instant food as I can.”

“Well, if you want, we can go somewhere. Make your boring weekend interesting.” Chris suggested, glancing at you as he maneuvered around the traffic. You fidgeted, playing with your fingers as you avoided his eyes. Saying no to him was getting difficult every time. You wished the radio was turned up louder so this conversation could be avoided.

“Oh, you know me. I like to lay in, be a lazy girl.” You tried to say nonchalantly, and Chris’s hands clenched around the wheel. You stared out the window, watching the city breeze past as things got awkward inside. You didn’t speak until he pulled up in front of your home, and you reached for the door before the car even stopped, a farewell on your tongue when you were pulled back by the seatbelt.

You blushed, hands frantically trying to undo the clasp and Chris’s hands covered yours, releasing you. You breathed deeply as he was leaning into you, face just a few inches away. You could count his lashes this close, see the exact shape of that mole on his cheek and feel his breath on you. You pulled back, quickly opening the door and almost stepping out before you were pulled back again, this time by Chris’s hand grabbing your upper arm. He tugged you back into your seat and came close enough to touch your nose with his.

“You know you can’t keep blowing me off,” He muttered. His hand tucked your hair behind your ear, blue eyes intently looking in yours. “I can’t take your no because I know you don’t mean it. Why do you keep running away?”

You gulped uneasily, wiggling out of his grip and getting out of the car. He was still looking at you, waiting for an answer. You shook your head slightly, feet kicking the ground at your feet.

“Thank you for the ride Chris. Drive safe.”

The door swung shut behind you and you walked away without another look, hiding away inside your home and trying to calm your beating heart.

+++++

You remembered disabling your alarm last night, so what the hell was that awful noise. Burrowing your head in your pillow, you tried to go back to sleep until the pounding continued. You growled, ready to rip out a new one to whoever was stupid enough to disturb your sleep. Uncaring of your attire, the t-shirt barely reaching midthigh over your panties you marched to your door, a scowl on your face.

You ripped open your door, already mid-triad before noticing who it was.

“Look, you need to shut the hell up. I work 14 hours a day, barely eat and sleep and you trying to break my door down is not –”

Chris smiled at you, amusement glittering in his eyes which raked over your bare legs. Your mouth parted for an embarrassingly long amount of time before you remembered you bed hair, morning breath (more like mourning breath) and the ratty t-shirt with holes. You pulled down on the hem, aware that you weren’t wearing a bra and it was too late to hide.

“What the hell are you doing here at this ungodly hour?” You asked Chris and he held up his hands to show he had food.

“Ungodly? Its 10 am miss, and your loyal subject is here to feed you.”

He moved past you into your house without invite, putting down the paper bag which had grease stains on it. Despite your shock and anger, your stomach grumbled, and you shut the door behind you. You rolled your eyes at his cheek, but that stuff looked too tempting to say no to.

“Since you’ve decided to intrude on my morning, make yourself useful and put on some coffee. I’m gonna change” You said and walked towards your bedroom.

“Like the way you look!” Chris shouted from behind you and you flipped him off without looking, ignoring his chuckle.

Why the hell was he here? After the way you guys had left things last night, you would have thought he would be too pissed to talk to you. You sighed as you pulled on a bra and something other than a 10-year-old t-shirt. You found him setting the table, laying down breakfast as the smell of coffee filled the kitchen. He smiled when he saw you had pulled your hair into a messy bun and winked at you.

“Here, larger portion for you.” He said handing you a plate of your favorite food. You took it, feeling like a guest in your own home as he served and poured you a mug of coffee, made perfectly as you like it. You both ate in silence for a while, the sound of cutlery the only thing to be heard. Finally, you pinned him with a stare, pushing away your plate.

“Chris, what are you doing here? Seriously.”

He chewed the morsel in his mouth before leaning his hands on the table and clasping his hands. It felt like an interview and you wished you had something better on, like an armor, to deal with whatever he was going to say.

“Well, if you want an honest answer here, I’d say I am here because I wanted to see you. I didn’t want you having some instant meal for the 10th time this week, so I got you some breakfast.”

You looked away from him, chewing on your lip. You wished he wouldn’t be so sweet. If he were a sleazy bastard, saying no to him would be so easy. Yet, here he was getting you food and being all domestic, making your life more difficult.

“Look, I appreciate this but I – Chris, we can’t happen. You need to stop this.”

It seemed like he was contemplating you, trying to guess what went on in that head of yours. He reached across to take your hand in his, lacing your fingers and stroked.

“I can’t stop. I tried, trust me I did. I can’t. I see you on the set and I want to whisk you away in the vanity away from prying eyes. I see you anywhere at all, with any other man I want to punch his face. Y/n don’t tell me I am imagining things. I’ve seen the way you look at me. You want me too, don’t you?”

The chair made a screeching noise as you snatched your hand away from his and got up, pacing the room. You were shaking your head, trying to think of a way to make him understand.

“Chris, we won’t work, you and me.”

“Why the fuck not? How can you even know if you won’t give us a chance? And I am the one who’s supposed to have fucking commitment issues.”

You wrung your hands, sitting in front of him again. He looked angry and frustrated, not knowing how much you wanted to say yes. But you knew in your heart of hearts that a very basic thing will never let you be.

“I won’t give it a chance because we’re different. We like different things, and well, sometimes they can be too much to compromise.”

“Like what, huh?”

You looked down in your lap, playing with the lint that stuck to your leggings. It was an embarrassing thing to admit, but you knew it would hold a lot of importance to this relationship. Taking a sharp breath, you told him the truth.

“I don’t like dogs. In fact, they terrify me.”

Chris lurched back as if it was the last thing he expected to come from you. He probably expected some tale of family drama or relationship trauma, but your reasons were simpler. You had cynophobia, the fear of dogs. You couldn’t be in the same room with them without getting shit scared. Chris blinked at you, like it was the dumbest thing you could have said.

“Excuse me? You refuse to go out with me because you don’t like dogs?”

You gave him a critical look, raising a brow.

“Have you seen your social media accounts? You love Dodger probably more than you love any human being. You’re a self-proclaimed ‘huge dog guy’. And me…I can’t be in the same room with one. We won’t work out Chris, and I would rather save myself the heartbreak.”

This was clearly not something Chris was prepared for. He looked baffled, not knowing what to say. You wished it were a small thing, but it wasn’t. Everyone who knew Chris could tell how much he loved dogs. His Instagram page was basically a Dodger fan page. He had the name tattooed on his body. You could never work out simply because Chris would always be choosing between you and his doggo, and you would be too busy being scared of him to enjoy your time with Chris.

He released a deep breath, straightening his shoulders.

“We’ll make it happen. A lot of people fear things, and they get over it. It can work out. When you meet Dodger, you’ll forget you’d ever been scared of a dog. He’s a good boy, trust me.”

“Chris” You said shaking your head, “You don’t understand. I like dogs but only from afar. They terrify the living daylights out of me. I just – why don’t you understand? This is already so embarrassing”

He got up and sat next to you, his hand on your shoulder. “Look, just give me one chance. I know we can be great, okay? One chance is all I am asking. If it gets too much, we end it. I promise, it will be like nothing ever happened.”

You didn’t want to believe him. You shouldn’t have, but he was the man you’d been crushing on for nearly a year now. He was smart and kind and funny, he worked for the good causes and god he was such a treat to look at. You should have said no, had your coffee and left it at that. But there was only so many times you can say no to Chris Evans, especially when he’s pursuing you like the proverbial hound of hell.

“One chance Chris.”

+++++

This was a bad idea and you were regretting it already. You were practically hiding behind Chris, bunching his shirt under both hands as your head peeked over his large body. You were not ready to meet Dodger, at least not without a bomb suit.

“Hey, relax, he’s a right love. I’ve been showing him your pictures on my phone and he loves you already.” Chris tried to placate you and you replied with a pathetic whimper.

The door had barely opened before the golden brown doggo ran towards you and you squeaked. He bounded on Chris and you, Chris laughing and rubbing him behind the ear while you backed away. Dodger kept trying to come towards you and Chris had to hold him back by the collar while offering you a hand.

“Come on Y/n, he doesn’t bite. He’s a cutie.” Chris called but you shook your head, your knees vibrating. You edged away, taking deep gulps of breath as fear overtook you. It was pathetic really how scared you were since Dodger wasn’t even a huge dog, but it still took every last bit of your willpower to not just run away.

“Chris I can’t. Please.” You begged and he must have heard the fear in your voice. He pulled Dodger inside the house, the barks getting fainter as they moved in and you stayed frozen in your track. He came out after a couple minutes and immediately took your shoulders, rubbing softly.

“Hey, hey look at me. He’s inside now, okay?”

You nodded and buried your head in his chest, feeling more embarrassed than ever. Chris hugged you, shushing you gently.

“I am so sorry Chris, I just can’t. I told you this won’t work” You said, and Chris pulled away to look in your eyes. His blue eyes were determined as they stared in yours and you blinked up at him with watery eyes.

“No, it’s my fault. I shouldn’t have sprung this up on you like this. We’ll start small, okay?” He urged and you bit your lip, uncertain. Chris rubbed his nose to yours, pressing a kiss on your lips and both your cheeks. “Please Y/n, just give me more time. We’ll work it out.”

You wanted it to work out too. The dates you had gone on had been nothing short of amazing. When you were with Chris you laughed like never before, the conversation so unrestrained. You didn’t worry about hiding your flaws, feeling so comfortable in his company. And then there was the sex. It was so good. In fact, it was spectacular.

“I don’t know how we’ll make it work.” You admitted softly and Chris smiled at you, cupping your face in his huge hands.

“We’ll do it together baby. Don’t give up on us just yet please.” You pressed your forehead to his and breathed in his scent, letting it wash over you. Nodding your affirmation, you let him lead you inside his house, Dodger locked inside the bedroom.

“I feel terrible for locking him in.” You said and you did. Just because dogs scare you doesn’t mean you hate them. You just feared going near them. You watched those cute puppy videos on YouTube to help relax yourself, only you didn’t want any dogs around you.

“Don’t worry about him. He’s with his stuffed lion.”

You cuddled on the couch, watching some 90s movie and you wished with everything that this would somehow work out.

+++++

It took you a while to decide if this was heaven or hell. You were awing and yelping simultaneously, and Chris laughed from behind you, his hands wrapped around your waist. Nuzzling his nose in your neck, he bit your ear softly uncaring of the people around you.

“Oh my god” You must have said this a dozen times already, but you were simply in awe. When Chris said you’ll start small you didn’t think he meant literally. In front of you were some of the cutest, softest, smallest puppies and you finally decided this was heaven.

“I figured we’ll begin from the beginning. Go up slowly, get you used to being around canines.” He bit you again as he said that and you giggled. Turning your head, you captured his lips in an elated kiss, touched that he was going to go through this with you.

“This is amazing.” You said and the corners of his eyes crinkled with his smile. He led you to the corner where a small black puppy with spots on his toes was wagging his tail at you. You awed, not afraid of him in the least.

“You wanna tell me about your phobia a little?” Chris asked as you cradled the pup in the crook of your elbow, the little darling loving your finger running over his small belly.

“It’s kinda silly but when I was four, I was chased by my neighbor’s dog. I ran like hell and it almost bit me before they got it back in control. I’ve feared them ever since.”

Chris hummed, kissing the pup in his own hands and giving you a soft smile.

“This helps?”

“This helps.” You agreed.

Chris and you must have petted a dozen puppies, holding them in your hands, cooing to them and kissing their small noses. You clicked pictures and fed them from your hands, a cacophony of kissy noises and good boys flowing from you both.

“I’m gonna have to hide these pics or Dodger is gonna get jealous.” Chris said and you snorted, snuggling into his side. It was a beautiful day at the shelter, and you were surprised at how fun it was. Tired as you were, you were also acutely aware of Chris’s hand creeping up your thigh in the car. You looked out the window, suppressing your smile.

“So, we made some progress today” He said, and you hummed. “And you had a lot of fun” You hummed again.

Chris pulled you to him roughly by your collar, his tongue poking out to just lick at your bottom lip.

“I think I deserve a reward…” He trailed off and you finally let a smile spread on your lips.

“I think you do Mr. Evans” You agreed and pressed your lips over his, hoping the driver will overlook the noises in the back.

+++++

Baby steps worked, and over the course of the next few weeks you got more comfortable around dogs. You spent a lot of time with pups of all breeds, slowly moving on to the bigger dogs. It wasn’t all easy, few visits ended in tears and hopelessness, but Chris stayed by your side. He let you set the pace, accompanying you every time and praising you for every obstacle you crossed. He didn’t mind spending most of the time at your place and waved off your apologies about Dodger.

“We’re doing this for him too, so he can get to know you better. It’s okay with me.” He assured you after a passionate round of love making. You traced Dodger’s name on his bare chest, finger roving over the other scattered tattoos. He loved it when you traced them with your tongue and bit his nipples.

“I think I’d like to try another visit with him.” You finally admitted, peeking up at him from under your lashes. Chris grinned, pulling you closer.

“Are you sure? I don’t mind waiting.”

“I think I’m ready Chris. I want to meet the good boy who’s sharing your heart with me.”

Rolling over you, Chris pressed kisses over your collar bones and chest, hands squeezing your curves. Your lips mashed together in a sloppy kiss and you felt him smile against you.

“There is no one else I’d rather give my heart to other than you and him.”

+++++

This time when the door opened you were not hiding behind Chris. You held a soft chew toy in your hand, a gift and an apology. Dodger ran towards Chris, tail wagging aggressively as he licked and nipped at every exposed bit of skin he could find. Chris giggled as he rubbed and scratched his baby, and you were very proud of not making any distressed sound or running away. When Dodger finally turned to you, you tentatively came towards him with the toy.

“Hello Dodger, you sweet sweet boy.” You greeted. You’d been with dogs almost as big as him now and felt little apprehension touching his soft coat. He whined under your touch, leaning into you and rubbing against your legs. Chris joined you, his hand finding yours in Dodger’s fur.

“Look buddy, mummy is ready to meet you. You like her, eh?”

Dodger barked in agreement, rolling over for belly rubs while you stared at Chris coyly.

“Mummy eh?” You teased and Chris blushed, kissing you softly.

“Well, only if you’ll have Dodger’s dad.” He said.

You playfully sat down on the floor, letting the cutie climb on your lap and scratching behind his ears that made him purr in satisfaction.

“What do you say Dodge, should I take him?” You asked and he wagged his tail, rolling around in your lap. You gazed lovingly at Chris, softly touching his bearded face.

“Well, only because Dodger says so.”

+++++

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