#apparently they talked to him after the Valencia game

[ikram1909]

This is what ESPN had to say about Gavi. He's doing very well physically and mentally and is spending his days with his teammates there's no reason to worry ❤️❤️

[moonpedri]

game over.

summary: meeting your ex at your friend's birthday party was the last thing you wanted, yet you somehow couldn't stay away from him.

pairing: pedri x reader

genre: fluff (sort of?), suggestive

warnings: none really, just a bit of toxic/fuckboy!pedri, making out

word count: 2.2k

a/n: this is my first fic i ever published. I hope you enjoy reading as much as I did writing!! <3 (not proof-read)

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The music around you is loud, blaring through the speakers. The people in front of you dance to their hearts content, watching them as you sit on the sofa somewhere in the corner of the room. You lean back and laugh at the birthday boy in the middle of it all, moving like rent was due tomorrow morning.

Sira joins in at her boyfriend's antics.

Tonight was Ferran's birthday. And as with every birthday of his, he liked to go all out. Especially with the house parties. Especially especially because it was his first one in Barcelona, having spent the last one in Manchester. He was happy to be back in Spain and more so to play for one of the biggest clubs in the world.

It has always been a childhood dream of his and by extent yours too. The two of you grew up together in Valencia and always dreamed of living in the big city up north. You for your studies and him for the football. You managed to leave first, enrolling into the University of Barcelona. Ferran took a little detour to England before joining you 2 years later. It was one of the best news you have ever received.

Both you and Sira helped preparing this party and you are happy that so far everything went well. You still aren't sure how Ferran knew so many people in the short time he has been here in Barcelona but the house is filled up to the last bit - which worried you at first but, oh well.

It wasn't up to the ideal athlete lifestyle either, but who followed that nowadays anyways? It was his birthday and they don't have any important games in the next few days. Though maybe training's going to be a pain in the ass tomorrow, but that didn't have anything to do with you.

You focus on the crowd in front of you again.

Next to Ferran is another figure, one that was quite familiar to you. You two lock eyes for a split second before you turn your head away. Displeased, you take a sip of your drink.

Sira, who noticed immediately, looks at you with a smirk on her lips. "Have you still not talked it out?"

You sigh, "There is nothing to talk out really."

She hums, "Hm, sure. That's why you two always look like you want to make out and rip each other's throat out at the same time."

"Sounds kinky.", you say, not adding anything more and take another sip. You really didn't want to talk about him. Sira on the other hand suddenly takes great interest in the topic.

"__, come on. This can't go on like this forever. You know what always worked whenever Ferran and I fought? The jealousy card."

You look at her exasperated, "Are you trying to give me relationship advice right now? We didn't fight, we ended things, Sira. I don't want him back."

"Then stop looking at him like every two seconds."

You hadn't even noticed. You groan, "I'm going to get myself another drink." And with that you hurry to the kitchen. Far far away from Sira and her stupid advices. She calls after you, but you ignore her.

Yeah, okay. Maybe you looked at him like what, two times? So what. You haven't seen him in a while, of course you were a bit curious. That was only human, right? After all, you had a right to be curious.

Annoyed that you think about him again, you open the door to the kitchen only to be greeted by the devil himself; and apparently an accomplice of his as well, as some girl was clinging to his arm.

A curse almost leaves your mouth at the sight.

Pedri.

He looks good, he always does. His face was freshly shaved and his dark locks frame his face oh so perfectly. He wore a dark T-Shirt that highlighted his toned upper-body, it was truly unfair how attractive he was right now.

At the sight of you, the blonde girl next to him dugs her long nails deep into his biceps. She is pretty, you notice quickly, which just makes the whole situation worse.

You stand there for second, thinking. As much as you want to, leaving was absolutely not an option. You wouldn't give him the satisfaction. You want Pedri to know that you don't care about him anymore, just like what he said to you all those weeks ago.

So, you straighten your back and squeeze past them and straight towards the fridge. You hear the girl scoff behind you, probably annoyed that you interrupted whatever they planned on doing. Trying to seem unbothered, you open the fridge and lean down to grab one of the energy drinks stored at the bottom. You could have kneeled down too, but maybe you wanted Pedri to see. The dress you wore was short, barely covering your ass. And seeing this girl in his arms, alone in the kitchen, irks you for some reason.

She could never be you, and you wanted to remind Pedri of that.

You could feel his eyes on you, "I know that I was the best thing that probably ever happened to you, and that you miss me, but did you really have to follow me all the way back to the kitchen?", he says and the girl next to him giggles. It makes your blood boil. Who does he think he is?

You turn around, just in time to catch him checking out your ass, and smile at him, "You're so full of yourself, it's actually disgusting, you know?"

He pretends to think, "I've heard those word a few times before, yes. In a different context though."

Oh, how you hate him. You detest him so so much, and yet it makes something churn in your stomach. "I hate you.", is all you say before you leave the kitchen. You believe to hear a "Likewise" leave his mouth. Bastard.

Maybe Sira was right. The jealousy card worked, but not how you wanted to. Not on him, but on you. Somehow the thought of leaving Pedri alone with that blonde bitch irritates you. It enrages something deep within you. And you want to turn the tables.

Without really thinking too much about it, you move your way into the middle of the dance floor, grab some guy's hand and move your hips like you were on the broadway. Like you were Britney fucking Spears.

Two could play this game. You chuck down the last bit of your energy drink and move in-between all these sweaty bodies. It may looked wrong but it felt good to let loose.Lost in both music and thoughts, you suddenly someone bump into you. You recognize the brown locks immediately.

Pablo Gavira. A very close teammate of Pedri and possibly his best friend.

You met him a little bit later than Pedri but nevertheless considered him a pretty good friend of yours - even after everything that happened.

"Oh, sorry- __, hey."

"Hey.", you say and involve him in some small talk. You haven't seen him in quite some time either. Due to the loud noises though, the two of you were forced to talk to each other in close approximity. Not that you complained, he is an attractive guy, you just never saw him that way.

Gavi knew his boundaries, you both knew them. And you don't think he was interested you in that way either. However a little fun never hurt anyone, right?

You tucked Gavi a little closer and moved your hips against his. Your hands hold firmly onto his shoulders and to anyone around you it may have seemed like there was definitely more going on between you two.

To Gavi and you, though, it's nothing. It's fun. If Gavi knows what your true intentions are, he doesn't show it.

You catch movement from the left side of your eye. Pedri and the girl stand in a group of people now, talking and chatting with each other. You recognize Sira and Ferran to be part of them.

Sira spots you first and smiles mischievously. Next to her, Pedri now turns your way as well. He furrows his brow immediately and you look back to Sira, who is signaling something to you. You understand, of course. Giving in into her "advice", you grab around Gavi's neck and push your chest against his. As Gavi's hands wander down slowly, you lean in closer to his face.

But Pablo wasn't stupid. He knew exactly what you were doing. "And here I thought you just wanted to spend some quality time with me.", he whispers into you ear, acting fake-hurt by your actions. You reckon that he is joining in on this little game you are playing, knowingly playing with fire too.

Innocently, you reply, "Am I not?"

"Hm, are you not?", he asks and tucks a loose strand of hair behind your ear.

You laugh, "Who knows," his hand is now on your lower back, ",but I have to admit you're surprisingly good at this."

"Ah, now you're hurting my feelings for real. Why is that surprising?"

"I don't know, I just didn't expect it I guess. You never gave me an opportunity to think otherwise.", you say and the tips of your noses almost touch.

It was mindless chit-chat really. To anyone looking from outside though, it definitely was not just mindless chit-chat; which is exactly what you wanted. You look over to your left, dark brown eyes boring directly into you. You can't decipher the look on Pedri's face; but it isn't difficult to point out that it's not positive. You grin at him and watch as his jaw clenches.

Right then, Gavi turns your face to him, index finger under your chin. "Well, at least you know now.", he glances behind you and chuckles, "He's going to kill me later, but for now good luck."

He lets go and suddenly a large hand circles around your waist and pulls you back. You hate the way you lean into the touch unconsciously; how your body responds quicker than your brain and recognizes it straight away.

Gavi winks at him (or you, you're not sure to be honest) and turns back to the crowd.

"Game over, princess.", Pedri whispers into your ear. Goosebumps spread all over your body. "You think I don't know what you're up to? I'm not stupid."

"So why are you here then?"

He lays his hands on your hips and spins you around. His face is impossibly close, "Because you're a fucking minx and it's annoying me."

You look at him unimpressed, "Fuck off, Pedri."

His tight grip on you prevents you from leaving. Pedri grabs your jaw, "That was your plan all along, wasn't it? Getting me all riled up, try making me jealous with my best friend out of everyone."

"So what?", you look up at him. And he only stares back. You could have pretended to be innocent, but you were done. You wanted to lay all cards open. He couldn't do anything about it, you weren't his.

"I thought you hated me?"

"I do."

"Yeah?"

You hum, "So much." You haven't realized how close he was to you now, your lips only inches apart.

Pedri looks at them for a split moment. Then his eyes wander down your body and it takes everything in you to not buckle under his gaze. You remind yourself that you were strong, not weak. You wanted to leave him high and dry, show him that he couldn't find anyone better than you. But that task proved itself to be harder than you initially thought.

So you tug him forward by the hem of his pants and pull him down by his neck, clawing at it almost. "And did my plan work?", you breathe against his mouth.

Pedri's lips on yours are the only confirmation you need.

He kisses you with force and so much desperation and frustration. You did with just as much. It's been too long.

His hands roamed your body, stopping at your ass. It hurt to admit how much you missed him on you. He squeezes the flesh of your butt, pulling you into him and you gasp into his mouth. "God, I missed you so much.", he roans.

You don't know how long you continued to make out, exploring each other as if it was your first time.

Only when someone bumps into you, the two of you part. You feel your heart beat hard against your chest. Stil trying to steady your breath, you look at him - unsure on how to proceed. But your lord and savior, in the form of Ferran, saves you from the awkwardness

"Pedri!", he calls him over. The boys are gathered in a group, and whatever they managed to do, they wanted to show Pedri.

He looks over to them, signaling them that he's coming.

He turns to you with a smirk. "We should definitely repeat that.", Pedri winks and caresses your face. He leaves a soft kiss on your cheek before leaving. His actions and words didn't match, which confuses you even more. But that was a problem for another time.

For now, you just bite your lip and smile after him. "Yeah.", is all you manage to say.

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© moonpedri - DO NOT copy, translate or post my work anywhere without my permission!

check out my masterlist for more! 🤍

[rubyroses222]

My take on the Jude slander after RMA vs ManCity

8th April 2024

I have seen so many people straight up hating Jude for yesterday’s game, and I just can’t stay silent anymore, so enjoy my little rant.

Playing football, especially on the level of Real Madrid is (apart from skill and mindset) also a lot about building and keeping rhythm. This applies to any team but also to each and every player - Toni Kroos has mentioned this a couple of times already but I’m sure you can find a lot more players talking about this.

So let’s take a look at Judes appearances in 2024:

started the year strong with 5 games (Copa del Rey (1), Supercopa (2) and LaLiga (2))

missed the away game vs UD Las Palmas (27th January) due to a yellow suspension

played three games in LaLiga again

missed three more games due to his ankle injury (LaLiga (2), UCL (1))

played the away game vs Valencia and got THAT red card

missed two more LaLiga games due to the suspension

his first (and last) game before the one vs City was the game against Bilbao last week

-> all in all he played 12 (5 of which were in January) out of 19 games total (not counting international games)

Compared to that the games he missed this season in 2023:

the home game benched against UD Las Palmas (27th Sept)

one game benched vs Braga in the UCL (8th Nov)

one game due to shoulder injury against Valencia (11th Nov)

-> in 2023 he played 21 out of 24 games total (not counting international games)

Yes I expected a better performance from him (and Vini!).

Yes we are Real Madrid and no player stands above the club (if you don’t show up we will hold you accountable for your mistakes).

Yes a player like Jude should be able to compensate a missing rhythm with his talent and skill but he is still very young. Older players like Lukita can rely on 10+ years of playing in the white shirt on the highest level possible, he only needs seconds even when he spends more time on the bench than the pitch. Jude is still learning and has shouldered an unusually huge responsibility in his first season.

Normally our young transfers are give time to adjust at Real, they were/are not guaranteed starters, for example:

Camavinga was mostly used as a sub in 21/22

Rodrygo wasn’t even a regular part of the first squad in 19/20, and was still used as a super sub in 21/22

Vini rarely was part of the starting XI in 19/20

Tchouameni had his fair share of being subbed on/off last season (although less than one would expect)

Brahim was sent away on loan

Arda sadly rarly gets playtime as well etc etc

Jude however has started almost every game, he scored more goals than our two wingers and is carrying Zidanes legendary “5” on the back (while Vini only got Ronaldos Hazards “7” this season, even though Hazard never really played in these last years and Real could’ve reasonably taken the number away from him)

So to all those that are hating on him, that are saying he’s loosing form, he’s overhyped and overrated and I have even heard he apparently “partyed too much”. To the ones that were only praying for his downfall waiting for a bad game - please kindly shut up!

Criticism is good and healthy, but there is no need to slander him like this. It was ONE very bad game and unfortunately it was against ManCity, as long as he shows up next week everythings gonna be fine. Regardless of this he has saved our asses way more than he’s let them down this season. Give him a some time and he’ll come back and be the Judey starboy we all know and love.

[justinmitchellfan12]

Part 88 of the mercariana/ MERCMAIA love story with tons of smut warning ⚠️ of mercedes varnado grande X Ariana grande and mercedes varnado grande X maia Valencia of the mercmaia love story

The continuation of the same day as both mercedes and her girlfriend are having a conversation as mercedes gave her girlfriend permission to text Tayo ricci and eduard martirosyan and maia sends a text message tayo ricci first then eduard martirosyan

Maia: hey tayo

Tayo ricci: hey maia, it's been a while since we last talked

Maia: it has and I've been busy wrestling in aew

Tayo ricci: are you undefeated in aew and have you found someone yet

Maia: I have a girlfriend now and I would love for you to meet my girlfriend in a few weeks and I'm inviting you to come to the basketball game of the NBA playoffs on July 21 and 22 to watch my brothers basketball game against the opposing basketball teams

Tayo ricci: I'll be there and what is your girlfriends name by the way and I'm just curious, is she with anyone else

Maia: she has a wife but my girlfriend does nor regret cheating on her wife with me and my girlfriends name is mercedes varnado grande but in 6 years it'll be mercedes varnado Valencia

Maia: also what are you currently doing right now

Tayo ricci: I'm about to do another YouTube video and tomorrow, my onlyfans

" have him and your other friend eduard martirosyan to check out my onlyfans and my Instagram posts baby says mercedes " I'll let him know baby girl says maia

Maia: my girlfriend has asked me that you should check out her onlyfans and her Instagram account where her onlyfans is in the link of her bio

Tayo ricci: I'll check out your girlfriends onlyfans account and her Instagram account and I'll see you and your girlfriend in a few weeks at the basketball game

And maia ends the text with tayo ricci and she sends a text to her other friend eduard martirosyan

" before you text him, where does he live now baby says mercedes " he lives in Los Angeles California now baby girl says maia " do you mind if I look up what he does for a living while you text him babe says mercedes " sure thing and after this, we'll go take a shower and order room service baby girl says maia as she sends eduard martirosyan a text message while mercedes looks up what eduard martirosyan does for a living

Maia: hey eduard

Eduard martirosyan: hey maia, what's up

Maia: nothing much, been busy in aew and found myself a girlfriend

Eduard martirosyan: are you scheduled to compete in aew

Maia: I'm scheduled to compete against Deanna perazza as I Defend my tbs championship against her and by the way check out my girlfriends onlyfans account and her Instagram account which has the link of her onlyfans

Eduard martirosyan: I'll check out your girlfriends onlyfans account

Maia: would you like to meet my girlfriend in a few weeks cause I'm inviting you to come to the basketball game of the NBA playoffs on July 21 and 22 of my brother's basketball games against the other basketball teams

Eduard martirosyan: which teams are your brothers playing against and I'll be there and I would love to meet your girlfriend

Maia: my brother Tyler Herro and his Miami heat basketball team are playing against the Boston Celtics on July 21 and the Charlotte's hornets is the team that my other brother lamelo ball is with as they go against the Los Angeles Lakers and by the way, my girlfriend is bringing a few of her friends to the basketball game on both July 21 and 22

Eduard martirosyan: who are your girlfriends friends by the way

Maia: you'll find out when you meet them and I'll see you in a few weeks at the basketball game on July 21 and 22

And maia ends the text message with her friend eduard martirosyan and she turns her attention to her girlfriend " have you looked up what he does for a living baby girl says maia " I did and apparently he's a TikTok star, a social media influencer and a model baby says mercedes " now that you looked up what he does for a living, let's go take a shower baby girl says maia " right behind you babe says mercedes as she gives her girlfriend a kiss on the lips and maia kisses back " I love you baby says mercedes " I love you too baby girl says maia as they both kiss once more and then they both get out of the bed as they both caught their breaths and they grab some clean clothes and they head towards the bathroom to take a shower

Amd they enter the bathroom and they set their clothes on the sink counter and maia turns on the shower and they wait for the water to get warm " do you remember what you said when you said that you wanted to eat out my pussy in the shower babe " kind of but remind me why I said that baby girl says maia " you said that you badly wanted to eat me out in the shower and I said that the next time that we get in the shower, ill let you eat me out real good, get what I'm saying baby says mercedes as she points towards the shower " I remember now baby girl and thanks for reminding me about that baby girl says maia " anytime honey says mercedes " after I eat you out in the shower, I really want to eat you out some more after room service baby girl says maia

" oh I'll let you eat me out as much as you want baby says mercedes as they both get in the shower as the water is now warm and then maia gets on her knees as mercedes raises her left put and she puts her left foot on her girlfriends back as maia moves towards her girlfriends pussy " just eat me out until I cum baby says mercedes " oh I will baby girl says maia as she licks her girlfriends pussy making mercedes moan in sensation at the feeling of her girlfriends tounge licking her pussy as the water hits their bodies and maia then starts eating out her girlfriend as she rubs her girlfriends clit making mercedes moan very loud in pleasure as she loves being eaten out in the shower by her girlfriend

and maia moves even closer to her girlfriends pussy and she eats out her girlfriends pussy even harder and faster on her girlfriends pussy making mercedes legs shake a little as she screams and moans at the top of her lungs in pleasure and maia then pulls away and she starts fingering her girlfriends pussy as she thrusts and curls her fingers inside of her girlfriends pussy making mercedes moan loud in pleasure as she grinds against her girlfriends fingers and it doesn't take long for mercedes to reach her orgasm as she is so horny " fuck, im about to cum daddy says mercedes as she moans " cum for me baby girl says maia as she fingers her girlfriends pussy even faster making mercedes let out a sexual moan as she busts as she cums hard on her girlfriends fingers

And maia helps her girlfriend ride out her orgasm as she holds her girlfriend by the hips so mercedes doesn't fall and a few seconds later as mercedes calms down from her orgasm and maia sucks the juices off her fingers and she moans at the taste as she gets up on her feet " you taste so delicious baby girl says maia " you know I will always taste so delicious to you daddy says mercedes seductively in her girlfriends ear " the way you seductively talk to me makes me want to take control of you baby girl says maia " then take control of me and you know how much I get turned on when you are fully in control daddy says mercedes in her slutty voice as they are still in the shower " before I fully take control, I'm thinking about changing my theme song for forbidden door baby girl says maia

" you can tell me later daddy and take control of me for a bit says mercedes seductively making maias eyes turn so very dark with lust and desire and she grabs her girlfriend very aggressively by the throat and mercedes loves it when her girlfriend fully takes control and maia tightens her grip on her girlfriends throat making mercedes moan loud in pleasure " I'll only take control for a little bit but I'll take control tomorrow baby girl says maia with dirty talk to her girlfriend and maia immediately smashes her lips onto her girlfriends lips as they aggressively French kiss with tounge as mercedes is loving every bit of it and maia let's go of her girlfriends throat and she moves her hand to the back of her girlfriends head and she grabs her girlfriends hair and she pulls her girlfriend away from the kiss

" suck my tits whore says maia " yes daddy says mercedes as she licks her lips and she goes towards her girlfriends right breast and nipple and about an hour later as they stop for now " I'll continue my dominate control with you tomorrow baby girl says maia " I'm looking forward to that babe says mercedes " what theme song do you want to use for forbidden door babe says mercedes " I'll tell you after we take a shower baby girl says maia and then after their shower, they get out and they dry themselves off and they do their Hygiene and skin care routine and maia only puts on boxers and a white tank top and mercedes puts on a shirt and shorts " the theme song I'm thinking about using for forbidden door is called not like us that was sung by Kendrick Lamar and I'm a fan of Lamar and I'm also team Lamar cause of his beefing with drake baby girl says maia

" I'm also on team Lamar as well and also what would you do to me if I teased you to much in the shower babe says mercedes " were you thinking about teasing me baby girl cause if you were, I will make you feel it tomorrow baby girl says maia " and I never asked you but what do you have as you homescreen amd lockscreen wallpaper on your phone baby girl says maia " my lockscreen wallpaper is a picture of you and the Picture I have as my homescreen wallpaper is a picture of my friend Rachel cook baby says mercedes

" also you don't know this but both me and you are the very most horny ass people on the planet and we can't even keep our hands off each other and two more things babe says mercedes " and those are what baby girl says maia " one, your body ,abs and your big huge thick 30 inch dick belong to me and only me and lastly, we will be fucking all day tomorrow and I want you to to fully take control at some point during both of us fucking tomorrow baby says mercedes " oh I'll take control at some point during sex tomorrow baby girl says maia as they both exit the bathroom and into the bedroom " I'll order room service for us babe says mercedes

" sure thing baby girl says maia " after we eat, I'll let you eat me out as much as you want baby says mercedes " I love eating you out so much baby girl says maia " you got that right baby says mercedes as she pucks up the phone amd she orders room service and then minutes later after mercedes ordered room service and food service arrived 12 minutes later and they both grabbed the food from the cart as they are now at the dining room table eating theor food " I'll pay the bill and this food is so delicious baby girl says maia " I agree with you on the food cause it's so delicious and I don't have a problem with you paying the bill and I usually pay the bill baby says mercedes

" this time I'm paying and after we eat, would we have enough time for me to eat you out as much as I want baby girl says maia and mercedes checks the time on her phone as it says 8:30pm " we have till 12 in the morning so yeah ,you have enough time to eat me out as much as you want baby says mercedes as she takes another bite of her food and they both continue to eat their food and they take sip their drinks and then 30 minutes later as they finish eating their food and maia grabs the bill that she set on the table and she pays the bill and she goes towards the cart and sets the bill on the cart and she goes towards her girlfriend and she smiles at her girlfriend and mercedes smiles back " I love you so much baby girl says maia " I love you very much too babe says mercedes as she bites her lip as she stares at her girlfriends covered bulge and maia notices

" do you love staring at my bulge and do you want to grip, squeeze and give me a blowjob baby girl says maia as she stands in front of her girlfriend " fuck it , I want your dick right now daddy says mercedes as she grabs her girlfriends covered bulge making maia moan in pleasure and mercedes squeezes her girlfriends bulge hard with her tight grip making maia start to get very hard once again in her boxers " sit in the chair daddy says mercedes as she squeezes her girlfriends very hard bulge once more making maia moan in pleasure yet again as she gets even more hard in her boxers " with pleasure baby girl says maia as she sits down in the dining room chair and mercedes gets on her knees in front of her girlfriend

And mercedes still has a very tight grip on her girlfriends very hard bulge and she starts playing with her girlfriends very hard bulge making maia moan in pleasure " don't tease me and just suck my dick baby girl says maia as mercedes strokes her girlfriends covered bulge and also licks her girlfriends covered bulge as well " I can tease you whenever I want to daddy says mercedes as she continues to tease her girlfriend by playing with her bulge and then mercedes grabs the rim of her girlfriends boxers and maia lifts up as mercedes pulls down her girlfriends boxers all the way down to her ankles as maias very hard huge thick 30 inch dick springs up and mercedes bites her lip as she loves how thick and huge her girlfriends dick is

" do you want to know how I can fit your entire dick inside of me every time daddy says mercedes seductively to her girlfriend as she strokes her girlfriends dick as Maia moans in pleasure " you're from the hood aren't you baby girl says maia as she moans yet again in pleasure " you got that right daddy says mercedes as she licks her girlfriends dick while continuing to stroke her girlfriend as maia moans in sensation at the feeling of her girlfriends tounge licking her dick " I fucking love it when you lick my dick baby girl says maia as she moans in sensation once again and then mercedes sucks so very deep on her girlfriends dick making maia scream her girlfriends name out loud at the top of her lungs like a little girl

as mercedes bobs her head back and forth on her girlfriends dick at a very fast pace making maia moan and whimper very loud in pleasure " make me cum so hard in your mouth slut says Maia as she moans very loud in pleasure and mercedes sucks even faster and harder on her girlfriends dick and about 15 minutes later as maia is now very close to her orgasm " I'm about to cum slut says Maia as she moans very loud in pleasure and mercedes pulls away from her girlfriends now wet dick and she strokes her girlfriends dick real fast " I want you to cum on my face and on my chest daddy says mercedes as she lets go of her girlfriends dick

and she takes off her shirt and tosses it to the side as maia stands up and strokes herself at a fast pace as she is even closer to her orgasm and then maia let's go as she cums on her girlfriends face, mouth and on her girlfriends chest and mercedes licks the leftover cum from the tip of her girlfriends dick and mercedes stands up and she grabs her girlfriend by the rim of the shirt and she pulls her girlfriend in for a kiss and maia continues the kiss and then they both pull away from the kiss " turn around and lean against the wall as I rail you from behind so very hard whore says maia with dirty talk to her girlfriend making Mercedes bite her bottom lip

" yes daddy says mercedes as she sexually struts towards the wall and then she leans against the wall with her hands as maia gets behind her girlfriend and maia partially pulls down her girlfriends shorts past her big juicy ass " rail me so hard daddy says mercedes seductively " oh I'll rail you so hard and real good whore says maia as she slams her entire dick all the way inside of her girlfriends ass hitting the spot inside of her girlfriends ass making mercedes scream and whimper very loud at the top of her lungs " do you love being railed by me slut says Maia " I fucking love being railed by you so much daddy says mercedes and Maia starts pounding on her girlfriends ass real fast and hard making mercedes let out a very loud sexual moan at the top of her lungs

" who do you and your sexy ass belong to whore says maia as she slaps her girlfriends ass while railing her girlfriend so very hard as mercedes is loving every bit of it " me and my ass belongs and only belongs to you daddy says mercedes as she moans very loud in pleasure " keep fucking my ass daddy says mercedes " oh I'll keep fucking your ass real hard slut says Maia as she continues to pound her girlfriends ass even harder and faster then minutes later as maia pulls out of her girlfriends ass, she takes off her girlfriends shorts and tosses them and aggressively turns her girlfriend around and pins her girlfriend against the wall hard as mercedes is loving what her girlfriend is doing as maia grabs her girlfriend by the throat real hard making mercedes moan loud in pleasure

" I love what you are doing to me daddy says mercedes " oh I know you love what I'm doing to you slut says Maia as she spreads her girlfriends legs apart and maia gets even closer as her dick Is in between her girlfriends legs rubbing the entrance of her girlfriends now so very soaking wet pussy " I love how wet you immediately got for me slut says Maia as she lets go of her girlfriends throat and she smashes her lips onto her girlfriends lips as she also shoves her tounge down her girlfriends throat and she sticks the tip of her dick in the entrance of her girlfriends pussy and she grabs her girlfriends legs and holds her girlfriends legs in her arms as she slides her dick inside of her girlfriends soaking wet pussy as mercedes moans in pleasure through the kiss

" let's take this to the bedroom daddy says mercedes as sge wraps her legs around her girlfriends waist and maia bites down on her girlfriends bottom lip and she pulls away from the kiss with a pop " as you wish slut says Maia as she carries her girlfriend towards the bedroom as she still has her entire dick inside of her girlfriend and a few minutes later as they are now in the bedroom and maia puts her girlfriend halfway on the bed as they do the Dropbox sex position just for now and mercedes unwraps her legs from around her girlfriends waist as maia grabs her girlfriends hips real aggressively making mercedes moan so very loud " this is the only sex position that we'll do tonight and tomorrow morning, I'll be fucking you so hard slut says Maia

" yes daddy says mercedes as maia does one very hard deep thrust inside of her girlfriends pussy hitting her girlfriends g spot making mercedes let out a very loud high pitch scream and whimper at the top of her lungs as she is loving every bit of it as she bites her bottom lip as she grips the bedsheets real hard " make me cum on your dick daddy says mercedes as she lets out a very loud moan " oh I'll make you cum on my dick slut says Maia with dirty talk to her girlfriend " pound even harder and faster inside of me daddy says mercedes as she moans very loud in pleasure and maia pounds even harder and faster inside of her girlfriends pussy at a very aggressive pace making mercedes scream at the top of her lungs in pleasure as she tightens her grip on the bedsheets

And maia continues to pound even much faster and harder inside of her girlfriends pussy while hitting her girlfriends g spot lots more times making mercedes feel her stomach start to tighten due to the build up of her orgasm " I'm about to cum daddy says mercedes as she moans very loud in pleasure " cum for me baby girl says maia as she continues pounding and hitting her girlfriends g spot and mercedes let's go as she cums hard on her girlfriends dick and a few seconds later as maia pulls out of her girlfriends pussy " please eat me out and I'll be satisfied for now daddy says mercedes as she gets on the bed and she fully spreads her legs apart as maia gets on the bed and she leans down towards her girlfriends now swollen and sore pussy

And maia is inches away from her girlfriends pussy and mercedes feels her girlfriends breath on her pussy " feeling your breath on my pussy is making me very horny daddy says mercedes " oh really then after I eat you out, ill continue to eat you out some more tomorrow baby girl says maia as she licks her girlfriends pussy " I'm fine with that daddy says mercedes as she moans in pleasure then an hour later as maia made her girlfriend cum once again as it is now 10:38pm " are you satisfied fir now until we fuck the entire day tomorrow baby girl says maia as mercedes sits up in the bed " I'm satisfied for now baby and I love you with all my heart babe says mercedes as she gives her girlfriend a kiss on the lips and maia kisses back " I love you with all my heart too baby girl says maia as they give each other another kiss on the lips

" I'm only going to bring up your wife just this once cause you know I don't like it when your wife Is brought up by you or by me baby girl says maia " I know you don't like to bring my wife or when I bring up my wife baby says mercedes " you got that right baby girl and here's my question, who do you love to kiss more ,me or your wife baby girl says maia " I love kissing you a lot more than I do my wife baby says mercedes " one more question, how do you love kissing me and kissing your wife baby girl says maia " a thousand % love kissing you and I just don't love kissing my wife that much anymore babe says mercedes " you love me more than your wife right baby girl says maia " I love you a lot more than my wife babe says mercedes as she gives her girlfriend one more kiss on the lips and maia kisses back once again

" by the way our anniversary is coming up on July 10 baby girl says maia " it'll be our one year anniversary right baby says mercedes " that's right baby girl says maia " what will we on our anniversary on July 10 baby says mercedes " I'll have a few things planned on our anniversary on July 10 but you'll find out on our anniversary on July 10 baby girl says maia " I love finding out what you'll be surprising me on our anniversary on July 10 baby says mercedes " do you love it when I suprise on stuff that I suprise you with baby girl says maia " I love it when you suprise me babe says mercedes " I know you love it when I suprise you baby girl says maia as she gives her girlfriend a passionate kiss on the lips and a few minutes later as they both pull away from the kiss " should we take another shower and head straight to bed after our shower baby girl says maia

" I don't want to go to be all sweaty and be sticky of cum ,so let's take another shower baby says mercedes " then let's go take another shower and head straight to bed after baby girl says maia and then 40 minutes later after their shower, they get out amd they dry themselves off and they do theor Hygiene and skin care routine and after they did their Hygiene and skin care routine, maia puts on another pair of clean boxers and a another white tank top and mercedes puts on one of her girlfriends goodies that she grabbed from her girlfriends suitcase and panties " you love wearing my goodies don't you baby girl says maia " I just love to wear your hoodies baby says mercedes as she stands in front of her girlfriend

" you love the way I smell in my clothes don't you baby girl says maia " I do love the way you smell in your clothes and also wearing your clothes sometimes baby says mercedes " I don't mind you wearing my clothes baby girl says maia " I love wearing your clothes to bed sometimes and even in the mornings babe says mercedes as she gives her girlfriend yet another kiss on the lips and maia kisses back " I love you baby girl says maia " i love you too babe says mercedes " a question for you baby girl says maia as they exit the bathroom and enter the bedroom " what is the question that you want to ask me babe says mercedes " are you happy that you are going home to your wife at the end of this month baby girl says maia " to be honest, im not happy to go home to my wife cause I love living with you instead of my wife baby says mercedes

" I know you love living with me instead of your wife but you made a promise to your wife that you'll come home to her at the end of this month baby girl says maia " I know amd I never wanted to make that promise to my wife baby says mercedes and they both get in the bed and maia reassures her girlfriend " baby girl, I promise you, we'll text everyday and you can sneak out of the house every now and then and come to me to have sex with me baby girl says maia " I'll have to do that for nearly 6 years and at some point, my wife figure out that I'm cheating on her which is what I want cause I want to be with you for the rest of my life now so I don't have a problem with that babe says mercedes

" I know you want to be with me for the rest of your life and I want you with me for the rest of my life too baby girl but I can wait 6 years baby girl says maia which makes her girlfriend smile at that and maia smiles back " I'm happy that you'll wait 6 years for me to be yours forever which is what I want is to be yours forever babe says mercedes " that's what I want too baby girl says maia as they both get in the bed and maia lays down on the pillows as mercedes lays her head on her girlfriends chest and puts her leg over her girlfriend and maia kisses the top of her girlfriends head making mercedes smile " I love you baby girl says maia " I love you too baby and night says mercedes as she gives her girlfriend a quick kiss on the lips and falls asleep and maia hears her girlfriend lightly snore and she smiles at that and she falls asleep

Then the next day on June 28 of 2046 at 7am as they both wake up " morning baby says mercedes " morning baby girl says maia as they both give each other a morning kiss and then mercedes gets on her girlfriend as she sits on her girlfriends bulge " you want to fuck all day today baby girl says maia " I want you to fuck me so hard and I want you to be very dominante with me daddy says mercedes seductively to her girlfriend and then maia flips them over as she is on top of her girlfriend " I'm going to assert my dominance over you while I fuck you so hard and have my way whore says maia as she takes the hoodie and the panties off her girlfriend as mercedes is fully nude " put your hands on the headboard slut says Maia as she gets off the bed and she heads over towards her suitcase " as you wish daddy says mercedes as she scoots up towards the headboard

And she puts her hands up against the headboard as maia grabs some stuff from her suitcase and after she grabbed the stuff from the suitcase, she closes her suitcase back up and she heads back towards the bed " I bought a couple of bdsm stuff just for this occasion for when I fucj you so hard slut says Maia as she sets the stuff on the bed " are you going to use the handcuffs or the ropes to tie my hands to the headboard daddy says mercedes " maybe the handcuffs and rhe bdsm gag to put in your mouth slut says Maia " I love what you will do to me daddy says mercedes as maia grabs the handcuffs and she cuffs her girlfriends hands to the headboard and then she cuffed her girlfriends hands to the headboard, she grabs the bdsm gag " I'm only going to gag you with this bdsm ball gag fir half an hour or so slut says Maia

" put the leather ball gag in my mouth daddy says mercedes " oh I'm going to whore and I want you to be a good girl or youll get punished says maia " ill be a good girl daddy says mercedes as maia gags her girlfriend with the leather ball gag as mercedes loves what her girlfriend is doing to her and maia grabs the bdsm whip and she smacks her girlfriends body with the bdsm whip a few times as mercedes does a sexual muffled moan " oh I know you love this slut and in about half an hour, im going to remove the bdsm ball gag from your mouth whore says maia as she leans towards her girlfriends soaking wet pussy and maia grabs the bdsm whip once again and she smacks her girlfriends soaking wet pussy with the whip a couple times making mercedes buck in pleasure as the ball gag muffles her moans

And then maia grabs one of the dildo vibratiors and she sticks part of the vibratior inside of her girlfriends soaking wet pussy and she grabs the vibratior remote button and she turns on the vibratior and the dildo vibratiors starts vibrating inside of mercedes pussy as mercedes is loving it as she does her best to moan with the ball gag in her mouth as she is still cuffed to the headboard and maia turns the vibratior up almost to the max as the dildo vibratior is vibrating so fast inside of mercedes pussy as mercedes bucks so hard as she moans loud through the ball gag and then about 3 and a half hours of maia using bdsm stuff on her girlfriend and she then removes the ball gag from her girlfriend as she made her girlfriend cum a few times

And then maia grabs the bdsm nipple clamps amd she puts the nipple clamps on her girlfriends nipples making mercedes bite her bottom lip as she loves what her girlfriend is doing " do you love what I'm doing to you whore says maia as she wiggles the nipple clamps on her girlfriends nipples making mercedes moan in sensation at what her girlfriend is doing to her and then maia removes the vibratior from her girlfriends pussy as it's covered in cum and maia moves the vibratior off the bed along with the vibratior remote and she grabs the whip yet again and she whips her girlfriends tits a few times with the whip making mercedes moan very loud in pleasure

" can you please suck my nipples and I'm still being your good girl daddy says mercedes as she moans in pleasure " you got that right and don't worry, I'll suck your nipples but first I'm going to remove the nipple clamps and use the bdsm nipple press on your nipples slut says Maia as she removes the nipple clamps from her girlfriends nipples and she uses the nipples press on her girlfriends nipples making mercedes moan loud in pleasure and half an hour later as maia decides to remove the nipple press from her girlfriends nipples " you are being such a good girl for me whore says maia as she praises her girlfriend " will you remove the cuffs so you can use that on my ass at some point daddy says mercedes as she refers to the bdsm paddle

" oh I'm going to use that on your ass and I'll remove the cuffs after I've decided that you've been cuffed enough whore says maia " yes daddy says mercedes as maia goes towards her girlfriends nipples and maia licks her girlfriends hard nipples making mercedes moan very loud in sensation " I fucking love it when you lick my nipples daddy says mercedes as she moans in pleasure and maia then sucks on her girlfriends breast while flicking her tounge on her girlfriends nipples and then maia does the same with her girlfriends other breast and nipple " can you please fuck my mouth with your very hard huge thick 30 inch dick daddy says mercedes as she begs her girlfriend

" oh Don't worry, I'll fuck you so hard and you love it when I have my way with you don't you whore says maia " I fucking love it when you have your way with me daddy says mercedes as maia stands up and she moves very close as her dick Is a few inches from her girlfriends mouth " kiss the tip of my dick whore says maia as she demands her girlfriend to do so " yes daddy says mercedes as she leans forward and she kisses the tip of her girlfriends dick making maia moan very loud in pleasure and maia makes sure that her girlfriend can't get out of the cuffs and she tightens the cuffs a bit more not to cut off the blood flow to her girlfriends hand

"I'1l loosen you from the cuffs when l'm done using bdsm sex toys on you whore says maia "and I love what you are doing to me daddy says mercedes and then maia tells her girlfriend to open her mouth and mercedes does as told and maia aggressively slams half of her dick inside of her girlfriends mouth making maia moan very loud in pleasure as it is now 12pm and maia starts thrusting her dick inside of her girlfriends mouth as mercedes is loving it and maia still continues to thrust even deeper inside of her girlfriends mouth as she deepthroats her girlfriend as mercedes is loving every bit of it and thrusts her dick even deeper inside of her girlfriends mouth as she now has her entire dick inside of her girlfriends mouth as she continues to deepthroat her girlfriend even harder and faster as mercedes is still cuffed to the headboard

Then an hour later of maia deepthroating her girlfriend, she pulls out her girlfriends now stretched out throat and mercedes licks her lips " can you please uncuff my hands cause I want to have your dick inside of me and I want you to cum inside of me daddy says mercedes " oh I'll uncuff you but I want you on all fours and I'll put the butt plug in your ass and smack your ass with the bdsm paddle slut says Maia as she uncuffs her girlfriend from the headboard and once mercedes has been uncuffed from the headboard, she rubs her wrists " do your wrist hurt slut says Maia " no, I was rubbing my wrists when they were in an uncomfortable position by being cuffed to the headboard and I'll get on all fours and do you love it when I call you daddy says mercedes seductively to her girlfriend

" you know I love it when you call me daddy and you are such a good girl whore says maia as she bdsm butt plug and she puts the bdsm butt plug in her girlfriends ass and then she grabs the final bdsm thing which is the bdsm paddle and maia smacks her girlfriends ass so hard with the paddle so hard a few times making mercedes scream and whimper very loud in pleasure " smack my ass with the paddle done more daddy says mercedes as she moans in pleasure " oh I'm going to whore says maia as she smacks her girlfriends ass with the bdsm paddle 10 more times making mercedes ass be very sore as mercedes let's out another very loud high pitch scream and whimper at the top of her lungs in pleasure like a little girl

And then maia decides that her girlfriend has been smacked enough with the paddle and she tosses the paddle on the chair a few feet from the bed and she admires her girlfriends now so very sore ass that she smacked so hard with the paddle and then a few seconds later as she takes out the butt plug from her girlfriend and tosses it on the chair and she arches her girlfriend down towards the mattress as mercedes is loving every bit of what her girlfriend is doing to her and maia gets in position in front of her girlfriends real sore ass with the tip of her very hard huge thick 30 inch dick and before maia slams her entire dick inside of her girlfriends ass " stay in the position I put you in while I grab the bottle of lubricant from the drawer of the nightstand whore says maia

" yes daddy says mercedes as she bites her lip as she watches her girlfriend open the nightstand drawer and maia grabs the big bottle of lubricant and she closes the drawer and she opens the top and she pours the lubricant on her girlfriends ass as well as the entrance and she pours lubricant on her dick and she wets her dick with the lubricant and she gets back in position in front of her girlfriends ass once more and she rubs the tip of her dick on the entrance as mercedes moans in pleasure and maia slams her entire dick all the way inside of her girlfriends ass hitting the spot inside of her girlfriends ass making mercedes scream and whimper at the top of her lungs in pleasure like a little girl as she grips the bedsheets even harder " keep fucking my ass daddy says mercedes as she moans very loud in pleasure

" oh I'll keep fucking you so hard until you can barely move whore says maia as she pounds even harder and faster inside of her girlfriends ass making mercedes scream even louder in pleasure " I love it when you scream during sex whore says maia as she smacks her girlfriends ass with her hands a couple times making mercedes ass even more sore as mercedes let's our a sexual moan at the top of her lungs making maias eyes turn even darker with lust and desireas maia pounds even much harder and faster inside of her girlfriends ass

as her balls slap against her girlfriends soaking wet throbbing pussy and about 30 minutes of maia pounding her girlfriends ass so very hard and fast making mercedes quickly reach her orgasm and she immediately cums on her girlfriends legs and partially her girlfriends dick and then maia pulls her dick out of her girlfriends ass and she turns her girlfriend on her back and she aggressively grabs her girlfriends hips making mercedes moan very loud in pleasure " how hard do you want me to fuck your pussy whore says maia " I want you to fuck my pussy so hard and fast and I want you to cum inside of me daddy says mercedes as she begs her girlfriend to fuck her so hard and fast " how bad do you want me to cum inside of you slut says Maia " I very badly want you to cum inside of me daddy says mercedes

And then maia rubs the tip of her dick on the entrance of her girlfriends soaking wet and throbbing pussy as mercedes moans in pleasure " do you want me to slam my entire dick inside of you whore says maia with dirty talk to her girlfriend " please slam your dick inside of me and hit the spit daddy says mercedes as she begs her girlfriend to be inside of her once more and then maia slams her entire dick all the way inside of her girlfriends pussy as she hits her girlfriends g spot so very hard making mercedes scream very loud in pleasure like a little girl at the top of her lungs and maia loves hearing her girlfriend scream during sex

then maia pounds even faster and much harder inside of her girlfriend as she continues to hit her girlfriends g spot 12 more times making mercedes scream and whimper even louder in pleasure at the top of her lungs like a little girl as she tightens her grip on the bedsheets as she bites her lip as she is loving every bit of it and mercedes reaches her orgasm yet again for the third time and she immediately cums so very hard on her girlfriends dick and then maia grabs her girlfriends legs and does the missionary sex position as she continues to pound even harder and faster inside of her girlfriend as mercedes scream her girlfriends name out loud at the top of her lungs

" I want you to scream my name out loud one more time whore says maia as she pounds even rougher and harder inside of her girlfriends pussy as she is now even deeper inside of her girlfriend making mercedes scream once more at an even louder high pitch sound at the top of her lungs then 30 minutes later as maia reaches her orgasm and she feels her stomach start to tighten and she legs so as she cums so hard inside of her girlfriend and she then pulls out of her girlfriends pussy and she leans on her elbows and spreads her legs apart " I want you suck my dick whore says maia with a sexual demanding tone to her girlfriend " with pleasure daddy says mercedes as she goes towards her girlfriends very hard huge thick 30 inch dick

[ts1mp0ne]

I haven’t posted in a while but I needed to talk about this.

This is not the first time or second time something like this has happened, a player in la liga being provoked and called names by the other team’s supporters or even sometimes they’re own supporters in this case the Valencia fans and the madristas, but first lets talk about happened.

I watched the game till the last 7 extra minutes they gave that’s when it happened, Vini jr froze bcs he heard something that made him disturbed and then a fight broke out but he was the only one who got off pitch even after he pointed out at the fans who were shouting at him calling him ‘mono’ which translates to ‘monkey’

Madristas shouldn’t also get off the hook no bcs although im a madrista myself, I can say that those are one of the most toxic fan base in football you can find. They only like you when you benefit them, if you see when Vini first entered no one gave him recognition until this past year before that I would see things they would post, it was disgusting im glad now it’s getting better for them.

But people are right when they say “while the skin colour is more important than their talent, there will be war” I agree with this because they are many talented players who are degraded because of their skin colour bcs they apparently “can’t do the same things that the whites do” does that even make sense? No it doesn’t it’s a very stupid assumption everyone has their own capacities and can shine their own way

Isto NÃO é football é LA LIGA

(this is not football it’s la liga)

Today was Vini jr, tomorrow will be someone else

Together against racism in football and any other sport✊🏼

[anthropologicalhands]

r/n - i've been working on my backwards walk / there's nowhere else for me to go / except back to you just one last time / say yes before i change my mind

As Rebecca tries to be sanguine about nearing forty, seeing it as a peak rather than a slide into decay (a Naomi-fostered distortion that has proven remarkably difficult to shake), one thing that has comforted Rebecca over the last decade is that with experience, she’s learned how to handle all matter of situations with grace, simply because she’s seen them before.

Revisiting this particular situation, however, is not what she expected.

It starts with an invitation delivered to Rebecca’s house to Hebby’s fifth grade graduation. There wouldn’t be anything strange about such a thing, even after she gets over the orange-and-turquoise astronaut theme (Hebby was going through a bit of a NASA phase), were it not for the fact the invitation was also addressed to Nathaniel.

Rebecca and Nathaniel, specifically.

Still frowning and trying to ignore the weird ringing that just went through her head at the jolt of seeing hers and Nathaniel’s names juxtaposed across a piece of lurid cardstock—like they’re a unit, or something—Rebecca credits herself with just pulling her phone out and calling Darryl directly instead of diving headfirst into a panic spiral.

“Rebecca!” Darryl’s voice booms from the other end of the line, and Rebecca can’t help the reflexive grin—Darryl’s unflagging enthusiasm while raising four daughters remains nothing short than a scientific marvel. “What a surprise. How is my favorite pretzel singer?”

“Hey, Darryl. Quick question for you. I got your card—”

“Isn’t it great? Hebby picked out the colors specially.”

“I’ll bet she did. But that’s not why I was calling, actually. I was wondering if, perchance, you might have had a shortage of such eye-popping invitations?”

“What do you mean?”

“My invitation was addressed to me and Nathaniel, which, I can definitely send him the deets, no problem, but wouldn’t an email be easier?”

“Oh?” She can hear Darryl’s mustache frown from the other end of the phone. “You mean you and Nathaniel aren’t…”

“Well, he doesn’t live here,” snaps Rebecca, a little flustered. “Why would you think that? Why did you think—did he—”

“Hang on,” says Darryl, and she can hear him calling for April, leaving her stuttered rejection hanging.

Are her and Nathaniel—

How is that even a question anymore?

It’s been a decade, and everyone involved with that event has definitively moved forward with their lives. Her and Josh were a definitive ‘no’ from that fateful Valentine’s Day onwards, remaining dear friends instead, and she was very much the ‘cool aunt’ among his own children. Her and Greg had wavered briefly for a bit afterwards, ran into some seriously uncomfortable friction, and it took them the better part of two years to find a good balance. It probably helped that she accidentally connected him to the woman who would become his wife, but that was a story for another day.

And it was a similar story with Nathaniel. He went to Guatemala for two years, came back and split his time between helping at MountainTop and working with some volunteer legal capacity with the local zoos and her and him—

Ah. Well.

Okay, so it wasn’t quite as clearly defined with Nathaniel, beyond the general fact that she wanted him to be happy, and he wanted her to be happy, and generally their relationship since his return had been checking in on each other, making fun of their weird hobbies and still showing up to events that were important to each other. It was all very adult and friendly and open. Their friendship had appropriate limits and boundaries and they supported each other in the respective relationships they had tried over the years, and it was very platonic…

Well. Except when it wasn’t. There hadn’t been a repeat of the Mona incident ever, and Rebecca could honestly say that she really liked a couple of the long-term girlfriends he’d introduced to them since then, and was genuinely regretful when those relationships ended. Especially for Sylvia, the LA Zoo curator who had to move for her career. Not that the regret wasn’t complicated by other factors, like when Nathaniel had admitted privately to Rebecca later that as much as he liked Sylvia, he just couldn’t see himself leaving California again.

She didn’t get butterflies at that, exactly, because but there had been a comfort in knowing that Nathaniel was content to remain in her orbit.

Again, not entirely uncomplicated. But it was nothing beyond the usual messy spectrum of human emotion internally, and never acted on externally.

She’s dated on and off as suited her libido and her schedule and her desire to find a life partner. She’s had relationships that got serious enough to talk about the future on and off, but they’ve all ended too for reasons inherent to those dynamics themselves. Nathaniel had been a good friend while they were going on, and a shoulder to cry on after, and well, okay, they might have fallen back into bed together a few times over the years, but they never pretended that it was either more than it was or that it was some forbidden thing that wouldn’t happen again. It was what it was.

Well. And they hung out, sometimes. And occasionally were each other’s plus-ones to public events. And friends’ weddings. And quite possibly—

Hm.

It really, really doesn’t help her case that she’s going to see him tonight, either.

“Rebecca?” Darryl tears her out of her thoughts. “Sorry about that! I think there was just a mistake at the stationary shop and they put your cards in together. What are the odds? I might need to call the other parents on the list, just to make sure that they got theirs all right. Could you take that one to Nathaniel? I don’t know if it’s out of your way—”

“Not at all!” says Rebecca, smiling with all of her teeth even though Darryl can’t see her, her cheeks aching. “Not even remotely.”

“Good,” says Darryl, and she can hear him beaming from the other side of the line.

~

“So, a funny thing happened on the way to your apartment…”

“That’s ominous,” comments Nathaniel, taking the bag of groceries she shoves at him without complaint as he closes the door behind her. Rebecca kicks off her shoes and toes them out of the walkway, abiding by Nathaniel’s still oft-repeated entreaties to not leave her personal belongings strewn entirely across his apartment.

“It’s not ominous so much as luminous,” says Rebecca, reaching into her purse and withdrawing Hebby’s invitation with a little flourish of the wrist. “Well, fluorescent.”

“Oh my god.”

Nathaniel accepts the card and flicks it open, scanning through the cheerful, only slightly grammatically incorrect message, and cannot quite suppress an amused huff of laughter. Rebecca hides her own smile as she turns away to set her purse on the very useful hook Nathaniel installed for her own use. Like herself, Nathaniel has a soft spot for Hebby, despite his continued awkwardness around children.

“Right? She gets that from Darryl for sure.”

“I don’t know, I remember someone showing up in some pink and purple eyesore into a law firm the very first day I met her.”

“You just didn’t know fun when you saw it,” says Rebecca instead, perching on the edge of the couch. “But it was funny. I was worried for a second that he thought that we were a couple or something. How weird is that?”

She is completely, totally casual in her delivery of that line, she knows. A decade in community theater and singing gigs have certainly finetuned her ability to turn a phrase, if nothing else. But something must be slightly offkey, because Nathaniel snaps up from marveling at the card to eye her suspiciously.

“Very weird,” he says, after a slightly-too-long pause. “Do we seem like a couple? Why would we seem like a couple when we aren’t a couple?”

“That’s exactly what I thought!” She punches him companionably on the arm; apparently too hard, if the way he winces and rubs at his bicep is any consideration.

(She’s been taking workout classes with Valencia—she deserves something for all that pain.)

“But it’s probably nothing,” she adds, determined to address this weird little misstep directly, because they are both too old to be having any kinds of weird misunderstandings anymore. “We’re close. We have our own rhythm, our own special two step. No wonder Darryl got confused.”

“He’s getting old,” says Nathaniel.

“Dude, c’mon.”

“What? It’s true.”

“What about you, Mister Gray?” Rebecca challenges. Nathaniel pulls a face in response, clearly fighting the urge to brush his hand through the aforementioned silvering at his temples.

(He wasn’t quite vain enough to dye his hair yet, though Rebecca credits his restraint to the fact that she would never let him hear the end of it.)

“It’s just a couple of hairs,” he says inconsequentially, as though it hasn’t been long established that between the two of them, he’s the one with the greater fear of aging, and therefore in far more danger of aging gracelessly.

“Keep telling yourself that.” Rebecca hops off the couch and grabs him by the elbow. “Now c’mon, let’s make sure make these sweet potatoes are not oh-sweet-pies-don’t!”

~

Heading over to Nathaniel’s place had left Rebecca feeling on edge, not quite sure how to process the idea of someone, anyone, considering her and Nathaniel as a potential couple this late in the game.

Nothing is more grounding, however, than seeing Nathaniel being clearly so off kilter, missing steps in what should be a well-worn dance of theirs by now. Dancing has always been their thing—where they once threw each other off at every possible moment, shaking up their convictions about life and happiness and how that concept could exist within their previously compartmentalized existences. Now, they were familiar with each other. Comfortable. Predictable.

They knew each other’s moves now, which means that she could see Nathaniel’s as clear as water.

He’s unfocused during dinner, a little erratic in his answers, jittery, as if he’s had too much coffee. It’s putting her off her rhythm, and while she knows that not everything in life needs to be a big song and dance production, there does need to be some kind of continuity.

This evening was supposed to be easygoing and relaxing. And, yes, probably beneficial in that very particular friends-with-benefits way. But since that clearly wasn’t going to happen, they needed to execute a sharp left turn and get this all settled.

“Nathaniel?” she repeats, for the third time.

“Hm?”

“Are you getting hard of hearing in your old age?” He scowls deeply at her in response. “Yeah, yeah, I had to ask. So, what’s bugging you?”

He’s silent for a long minute. “Just something ridiculous.”

“Yeah?”

He shakes his head. “We don’t need to go through it again. It’s just spinning in circles around the same old subject.”

“Try a jazz square then.”

That startles a laugh out of him, much to Rebecca’s satisfaction. Good to know that she still has some capacity for surprise with him. She continues, “You know that move, right? Don’t tell me you forgot about Connie.”

“Are you kidding? I still have nightmares about her scarf strangling me to death.”

“Dark.”

“She was terrifying.”

“Yeah.” They sit in companionable silence. Then Nathaniel sighs.

“Sorry I’m being weird. I just…hearing that from you, I always thought it would just be a good laugh. You know, ridiculous to even think about romance again. But it made me feel weird instead, so now I’m acting slightly weird.”

“I wouldn’t say slightly,” teases Rebecca, unable to resist. Nathaniel doesn’t return her smile.

“Rebecca, I like where we are. I like that our relationship isn’t a big production anymore.”

“Don’t get me wrong—I love drama on the stage, but that’s definitely where it should stay.” She drums her fingers on her thigh, subconsciously tapping out a tune that’s been giving her trouble these last few weeks. “We can learn new steps, you know. Old dogs, new tricks? That doesn’t only apply to the bedroom.”

Nathaniel (again, predictably) groans.

“Aren’t you getting too old to have such a dirty mind?” But he’s smiling, now.

“Nah. I fully intend to be a filthy old woman. But seriously,” she adds, moving to sit besides him on the couch. “If just the thought of other people thinking that we’re a couple again is enough to send us both off balance, we need to center ourselves. Maybe it’s something worth talking about. What do you say?”

She reaches out and grabs his hand, and starts to tap a rhythm against his large palm—one of the first she ever composed, the first one her friends ever danced to. After a moment, he taps back, completing it.

“Yes.”

[this-is-a-podcast-fanblog]

PENUMBRA LIVE

I just got home from seeing Juno Steel and the Train From Nowhere Live, and I have SO MANY EMOTIONS AND THOUGHTS AND THINGS I WANT TO TELL YOU GUYS 

so full reaction under the cut. Obviously, massive spoilers for the live show, so don’t read if you plan on buying the recording and want to experience it for the first time that way. 

Something you guys should know: AS I WROTE THIS, Alice Chuang (whom I met at the show) DM’ed me on Twitter and we have been chatting back and forth for a while now, I am LITERALLY TEXTING ALICE CHUANG AS I WRITE THIS. 

Okay. Holy cow. First of all, the obvious: the show was amazing, the actors were all crazy talented, the energy of the crowd was great, I had a fantastic time and am so happy I went. The music, sound, and lights were really cool, minimalist, but conveyed the show tone beautifully. 

And THE COSTUMES!! Not sure who picked them, but they were perfect. Joshua had the same trench coat/white shirt/jeans combo from the last liveshow, but for Dahlia Rose he wore a lacy white blazer that also had pink flowers on it. It looked very good on him and his face when Juno says “You bought me clothes?!” was hysterical. Engstrom and Valencia were elegant and totally creepy. M Sutherland had a red and grey suit and waistcoat; he also had eye makeup but it was a little more subtle. Valencia was in a gorgeous shiny red dress and lounge singer black gloves up to her elbows. Those were all cool, but nothing is EVER gonna top Noah’s Nureyev outfit, which was a pair of black pants, white shirt, black tie, and a black and white striped corset with the tie tucked into it. You may be thinking, “oh, HG, that just sounds like a waistcoat” nope!!!! It was like actually a corset! He also had killer eyeliner. For most of the show he wore a black blazer, but as Duke Rose he wore this crazy glittery golden blazer covered in sequins. It was gaudy and he rocked it, it suited Duke so perfectly! 

Those four made up the main cast, but there were two other actors - first of all, Kate Jones, obviously, as Miasma. She had ghostly white makeup and covered her face and head with a white shawl. That, plus the fact that the lights turned red whenever she stepped on stage, made the perfect creepy vibe. She had a lot more lines in this than the original - Juno would refer to her voice in his head a lot, and every time, she came out and said something creepy. She was on a little raised stage behind the rest of the cast so she was glaring down at him and it was just asdggkfj;fldj a it was so cool. 

Then there was another cast member I totally did not anticipate - Melissa DeJesus (Quanyii) played the Ruby7! She also worked props, so when Juno was talking about Nureyev’s coat, she held it up, when the bell rang during the card game she rang it, and she also played Miasma’s assistant pointing the gun at Nureyev (it was a cardboard rifle, they also used it when Juno had to shoot out of the car). For the Ruby7 she held a steering wheel and stood in front of Joshua and Noah making the car noises into a microphone or with a whistle. Also she had a necklace shaped like a license place that said “Ruby7″. It was such a cute way to show the car, which some of you may remember was something I was speculating wildly about when I first bought the ticket. Every time Nureyev mentioned how great the Ruby7 was she would vamp and at one point she blew him a kiss and he blew one back it was so adorable.

i’ve been typing for a half hour and I haven’t even gotten into the actual show yet

Before the show even started, there was amazing energy. I bought two posters from Kat Buckingham, who was working the merch stand, found a great seat, chatted with the people sitting near me, and just felt the excitement. There were so many amazing costumes, and like a third of people were wearing ear cuffs with chains in honor of Peter (I was among this number). Kevin Vibert made some announcements about emergency exits and whatnot, and then the lights dimmed. There were two curtains on opposite sides of the performance area, Joshua and Noah FLIPPED OPEN the curtains on different sides and just did this power walk to the mics in the middle while all of us audience members screamed and cheered for a solid minute, it was glorious. 

Almost immediately I noticed a change to the script - they added a subplot about an additional Martian artifact Miasma had stolen, called the Key of something I don’t know how to spell, which apparently locks away any concept, like locking away sound around a person (this was revisited during the assassin bit). When Nureyev mentioned the key Juno said something like, “Wait, I don’t think that’s how this is supposed to happen” which was a cute way to acknowledge the changes they were making. Then he started mentioning some Season 2 stuff (”I dreamed I only had one -” “We all  only have one life, detective!”) and Nureyev cut him off and then launched into a recap of the events of 2Murderous2Mask. He brought up audience members to reenact it, and it was really funny and I loved it a lot. 

One of my favorite changes was that a couple of times when Juno was internally monologuing, Nureyev would be there too. At one point Juno acknowledged it like, “I do this thing where I just talk, and usually it’s just me.” Nureyev was really energetic, Noah got super into those parts and would take the mic down from the stand and be gesturing and hopping around while Juno watched. They also went into a lot more detail about the Throne of Arkuthusis (I probably spelled that wrong) and Samantha Carthwright (now called Sammy), who was played by an audience member. Juno explained that anyone who sat in the chair could have infinite knowledge and people would ask them questions. Nureyev then asked the audience member a bunch of questions in different accents which A.) was really funny B.) was crazy because apparently Noah can do an insane range of accents C.) cute because Juno just let him do it for a while before cutting him off. It had a very “petulant married life” vibe when Nureyev shared Juno’s monologues, and I’m not sure if it was supposed to be some significant commentary that Nureyev was “in Juno’s head” or just fun staging. Either way, I loved it. 

For the card game, there were a few changes. Engstrom asked Juno if he knew how to play Rangian Street Poker and Nureyev-as-Duke said “Don’t say no!” through his teeth right as Juno said “nope.” and then an explanation followed. After a while Juno lost track and got annoyed and before Engstrom could get mad back or explain the whole thing again Nureyev-as-Duke covered Juno’s mouth with his hand and then when he pulled his hand away he fucking caressed Juno’s cheek with his knuckles while Juno glared at him and the audience went feral. 

Hey by the way Noah Simes? Is just fucking incredible like his mannerisms as Duke were so over-the-top but amazing, when he reverted back to Nureyev there was an IMMEDIATE shift just in the way he talked and the way he stood, like with Duke everything was all exaggerated and he drew out all the “you’s” (So in the phone call he basically went “See youuu SooooOOOOnN!!! :D”) but then for Nureyev he was a lot more reserved, and he had this smug little half smirk for most of it. Just like, what does it feel like to be that talented, wish I could relate. 

They didn’t actually play cards, but Noah did rip a piece of paper to be the dueling wargoats card. Even so, the tension was strong and you could feel the suspense even if (like me) you knew exactly what was coming next. Also, I forgot to mention, there were a lot of sound effects! When Juno heard someone’s thoughts (he heard Valencia’s and Nureyev’s a few times) that would be a voiceover, the train noises were all played, gunshots, etc. The assassin wasn’t actually shown, but you could hear the voiceover for that as well. 

You’re all probably wondering: THE DOODLES. They were actual crumpled balls of paper that Juno pulled out of Nureyev’s coat; later when they were back in the hotel room, Nureyev took off his jacket and said he was going to bed (Noah just kinda stood there with his eyes closed) and Juno threw one of the notes at his head and literally went “Nyeh” as he threw it. We all laughed for quite a while. 

Jupeter jumping through garbage chutes was great, Noah sort of pushed Joshua and then they pantomimed jumping down - but apparently I’m supposed to believe that Peter backflipped into the garbage chute, from the way Noah gestured, and I’m HERE FOR THAT, he’s just that much of an extra bitch. (Nureyev was very much an extra bitch throughout this entire show, as you know if you have ever listened to The Penumbra Podcast).

The whole getaway chase was awesome. Not sure if I mentioned this yet, but they had one mic that could be taken away from the stand and walked around, which is how they did the phone calls, the person on the other end of the line would stand off to the side with the wireless mic and perform like that. Once Juno, Nureyev, Valencia, and Engstrom got on the train they did all of those lines, but a nice new addition to the script was Valencia threatened Juno with a gun and Nureyev pushed Juno slightly behind him with a hand on his chest (actually I can’t remember if this scene happened here or in the casino, suffice it to say it happened and it was gay and wonderful) and said basically “if you even so much as warm his skin” and followed that up with a threat, I forget exactly what. Then when Nureyev pumped the brakes of the train he grabbed Juno and pulled him to one side, and Valencia and Engstrom’s actors left. 

For the tight room they ducked into to hide, Noah and Joshua sort of pressed together back to back and tilted the mic stands so they were still able to talk into the mic. There was a great line where Juno said something like, “Is there a reason why you keep shoving us into tight spaces together?” and then they got out and Noah took the wireless mic and went up to one of the curtains on the side of the stage, then he sort of fell through with a shout and Juno was locked in the room with Valencia. She took the other wireless mic and circled him, which was soooo creepy and really cool, especially with the moody lighting they had over the whole scene. When Juno pretended to faint Joshua just like,,,, threw up his arms and dropped to the floor in the most dramatic swoon possible it was great, and when Valencia died she fell through the curtain on the side of the stage and someone caught her. 

The showdown with Engstrom was tense and great. M Sutherland has a great presence and because he’s really fucking tall he seemed very menacing next to Jupeter (especially earlier when they were in their crazy suits and he was just all polished). With his suit and beard and eyeliner he sort of looked like a younger president Snow ala The Hunger Games, perfect villain vibes. Nureyev did the whole pin-him-by-the-arms thing as Juno described it in his monologue and oh god Noah did the most PERFECT fox smile throughout the whole thing, but what’s weird is I can’t actually remember how Engstrom’s death went?? I assume he fell through the curtain but I just,,, genuinely can’t remember?

Right after that they seemed to have a technical issue with the train sound effects so Joshua and Noah adlibbed it for a few seconds, then it started working again and they grabbed each other’s arms and did the whole jump-off-the-train thing. When Juno asked where the Ruby7 was, Melissa DeJesus came out with her arms tied in ropes, I guess to show the car had been captured and then BOOM KATE JONES AS MIASMA. She’s so scary and intimidating, and her voice sounds even cooler live than on the show. 

Then!!! The gun is pointed at Nureyev!!! and oh god Noah’s face in this scene first he looked a little panicked, but then resigned, and the lights went BACK AND FORTH BACK AND FORTH from regular to Juno’s monologue, and this super scary layered clip of Miasma saying “I will have what I want” played and oh god it was just so totally incredible and I loved it and by that point I was aware the show was about to end but I never wanted it to, I wanted to sit there and watch this forever, and I knew I couldn’t which made me a little sad. 

and oh wow wow wow...

then we got to the part where they got in the car, and Juno had his monologue, and Nureyev was watching him for the whole thing with the sweetest loving smile on his face, and then he told Juno not to give up on him yet and then Noah and Joshua reached into the space between the microphones and took each other’s hands, so they were holding hands and the crowd went WILD. Obviously this episode didn’t have a kiss, but the ROMANCE of that moment was just PEAK it was so freaking phenomenal, and when Miasma said the whole “There it is, your final resting place,” they didn’t even look at it, for a while they were just looking at each other for a few long seconds, and then they both turned to look at the tomb and they just stood there holding hands looking ahead all resigned and determined, and then the lights went down and it was over. 

(the cutest thing about the whole hand holding though was Noah kept glancing over like either he was trying to show Peter’s intense desire to hold Juno’s hand or else he wasn’t sure when he was supposed to grab Joshua’s hand and he was trying to make sure they did it at the same time. Either way it was sweet and looked really good.) 

They did the curtain call, I screamed so loudly for each actor, and then anyone who wanted to meet the cast went and lined up in the hallway outside the theater. The staircase by this hallway was also the staircase into the bar, so all the bar and restaurant, so all the restaurant patrons were very baffled to see the Penumbra-goers in our cosplays, (and me wearing the pride flag around my shoulders.) While I waited to meet with the cast I got to chat with Kat Buckingham! I also talked to her when I bought merch, and I told her I thought she was talented - she said “I bet YOU’RE really talented!” and I almost cried, then she told me I was free to DM her, also encouraged me when I told her about my podcast, and was all around just the sweetest. 

The cast were at a table, sort of like a convention, and we just went down the line and got our stuff signed. I got to talk to all of the actors and they were SO! VERY! SWEET! I hadn’t thought at all about what I was gonna say, so I just kind of mentioned whatever. I told Noah that I write Jupeter fanfiction and said, “So that means I have your voice in my head a lot”, and he said like “That’s... somewhat unusual to hear, as I’m sure you can imagine.” I told him he was really talented and he signed my poster and was very friendly, thanked me for coming even though literally I was thanking him because HOLY FUCK HE WAS SO AMAZING. Also, Kate Jones asked me what my shirt said (it said “I am too emotionally attached to fictional characters” and thought that was cool. 

I told Joshua, Sophie, and Kevin that this podcast inspired me to start my own podcast, and they were so incredibly encouraging and supportive about that! Joshua asked if I had fun (as if I could have not had fun!) and thanked me for coming - like both of these amazingly talented stars of this hit show are thanking me for coming to see them, that’s so humble and kind and ugh I just stan this cast so much. @rudzik-art made some amazing artwork, which I turned into prints to give to Sophie and Kevin, and they really loved it! Sophie even signed both my poster and the one I got for Robin, even though their rule said only one item per person. Then they both thanked me for coming, and I headed out to catch my train home.

Overall, this show was phenomenal. There was only one thing in the whole production that I disliked: they took out the “It’s not polite to tell someone his gift means nothing to you” line, and I’m not really sure why, because that line forms a lot about the characters? But artists’ choice, of course. Personally, I would have loved to see it, but the pacing was just as good without it. 

I’ve been looking forward to this for so long, and now that’s it’s over I’m experiencing some pretty strong post-show depression, not gonna lie. I just want to come back and see it again every night for the rest of my life, even though that would not be good for the cast. I want to go out and make art and share my work and maybe someday inspire someone anywhere near as much as this inspired me. 

TL;DR THE LIVE SHOW WAS FUCKING INCREDIBLE. 

If you weren’t able to make it to either live show and you have some questions about it, feel free to send them to my inbox!

[blackmuzak8484]

nortey dowuona’s best of 2020

to be completely honest, I decided to do this entirely for TSJ. otherwise, I wouldn’t have bothered at all. Best end lists are for music nerds and billboard chart nerds and industry vultures, and i happen to be subscribed, in the discord and in the comments of the youtube vids of these folk. so, i decided to pick 10 out of random from the big best of 2020 i was compiling for the whole of the year, which I was gonna post to this Tumblr at the end of the damn year, but I guess I can just post the link to the playlist in the bottom of this post. Here, i’m gonna write about 10 songs I personally love, and pick out a few artists i specifically loved:

artist of the year.

RAP Ferreira put out his best album and best verses in a year everybody either stagnated, fell off or got rendered irrelevant by the world at large. He was ebullient, hilarious, thoughtful and even surprisingly honest. I enjoyed the fact that now he’s begun to create a real platform for many talented folx, and I hope he continues to do that in the margins and make even more beautiful music in the years to come.

rookie of the year.

Enny by a mile. Everybody else who debuted this year got hamstrung by the pandemic but she created 3 great songs, each thoughtful, insightful and a joy. Apparently she just started publicly releasing music to a large audience, and I hope she gets better and better, and even gets bigger than J-

most pleasant surprise.

Vic Mensa’s V Tape. An artist who I though had no more moves left completely turned around his whole career with a fantastic performance at Lollapalooza, a fantastic fleet of features and tis gorgeously produced EP which had some of his most brilliant songs on it. I love it all, Vic Mensah is well and truly back. Welcome back bro. (ALSO, DROP THE DRILL TRACK.)

GREAT THING A GHANAIAN ARTIST DID.

Strongman Burner, Amarae, Okunta Kinte, Vic Mensah in general.

cool things my friends and classmates did.

Justine Darcenne’s #4TheBaeless. Valencia Rae’s Siren thyhomebodies’s Coming of Age. (Phil, a producer in the group, made his own studio!) Brad built his own computer. petit abri put a track on APT9 Record’s compiliation album Volume II. khaalid anderson’s transitions. (khaalid will also be performing at Beats & Brunch on January 23, 2021 at 11 am.) Yannick Paul’s Bear Fruit. The Big Climax’s This Is Ya Boy kxng jetson’s Waves (ft. Kokko Williams & Mike Mezzl) Nicole Gonzalez performed in The Composer’s Melody. Victoria Marie released a bunch of beaufiful covers on her Insta, @toriiii_marie @ph0ssy_jaw works as a counselor online. Pay her at her PayPal. Johnny Aperano Yoba was on People AND Vogue. Dalitso is a wonderful pianist at his church back home in Zambia. Kobina is a fantastic drummer at his church. Kayla graduated with a BS in Music Technology and Industry! Damian been cookin on his insta. Travis graduated! (Look out for Clan of Dragons.) Rorghino Flores made a documentary! Francis (and Animax FYB) put out Mmofra on AmaLexPrime! (play it with yo kids.) A Hype has been dropping crazy all year, roll by his SoundCloud and check out Persistence Of Memory. Reina H been doing great covers on her Insta, @challenges_inlife. Hannah placed music on C. B. S.

best albums of the year (that nobody’s written about).

Maya Huyana -1991 DaWeirdo - Broke and Ugly $ilkMoney - Attack of the Future Shocked, Flesh Covered, Meatbags of the 85 VI Seconds - Because Why Not/Never Knows Best Erik Cain - Heart & Soul Vol. 2 Dimitri & the Scarecrow - Messenger is Sender (from 2015, finally got released onto streaming this year, still pretty great and another great Zimbabwean rapper for us to all fawn over, just like billy woods) Flowking Stone - Gifted 1 The Hoodies - Incommunicado Jayy Grams - Every Gram Counts Domo Genesis/Mike and Keys - Just in Case1/2 Madwiz - God’s Gold Teeth Maez301 - Hasaan Daara J Family - Yaamatele Dai Burger - Dessert EP TeePhlow - Road To Phlowducation II Tef Poe/Blvck Spade - Preacher in the Trap Terrell Hines - Portal One: The Mixtape redveil - niagara Nyukyung - Trap Harmonix AdrianXpression - Sucka Deante Hitchcock - Better (Deluxe) maassai & jWords - ve.loc.i.ty tobe nwigwe - cincoriginals everything Kelsey Lu did this year.

strangest things happening in music in general.

vic mensah actually making a great record. goldlink going through a narcissistic collapse and winding up making the best music of his career. redveil blowing up off Fantano calling him wack. pharoahe monch finally making a rock pivot and it actually works. meet me@the garden coming 10 years too late for my 14 year old self. RAP Ferreira being in the NYTimes, selling a vinyl record for $72, creating an actual nostrum grocers in a video game so we can listen to his next record. The entirety of the playboi carti phenomenom. The entirety of the lil uzi vert phenomenom. The entirety of Chance’s instagram EP being far more money worthy then the entirety of the Big Day and yet being released on Insta and not immediately monetized. Deante Hitchcock releasing a great album and being completely forgotten armand hammer releasing their underground kings wayyy too early. my ass continually not actually looking into amapiano despite always loving it when I review it. several good songs needing to be tacked on to a prior youtube vid as an ad for me to find them instead of actually listening to the artists. santan dave still releasing good verses after he made his illmatic. (expect his new album to suck.) slowthai becoming cake. (we let that go way too far.) Guapdad and BfB Packman being wonderful. Finding out BfB PAckman is a better rapper than Sada Baby. John Boyega putting on Ego Ella May. Having to admit Young Dolph was good all this time and i missed out like a fool.

best tv performance.

Chance The Rapper’s “A Chi-Town Christmas.” IDK’s “Change The Channel.” Sa-Roc’s Tiny Desk Concert. Chika in general. Robert Glapser’s “This Changes Everything (ft. Denzel Curry).” SZA at the Roots Picnic. Sampa The Great at the Roots Picnic. RAP Ferreira in general. Umi’s “Introspection Live Show.” Alexa Esperanza’s cover of “Is It A Crime.” Bad Bunny in general. the jwords, nappy nina and MIKE performances at Satellite Syndicate

most embarrassing piece of music i love with all my heart

Logic’s No Pressure. In all sense of the words I should not love this album like I love my siblings but I do. It is beautiful.

best 10 songs of this year objectively

1 - RAP Ferriera - An Idea Is A Work Of Art (ft. Mike Ladd) [prod. by Kenny Segal, mr. carmack and Mike Parvizi]

I know, I know. In all honesty Doldrums should be here. Then Noz put it on his best list and I had to be all ChiTown Go-Getter and pick the next better thing: this. And in all honesty, it has the best lyric RAP spits on the album: “we build better answers.” But it’s not just that, it’s RAP’s most animated performance, the most dexterous piece on the whole album and the most gorgeous beat, a loping bassline sliding behind the flatfooted drum, allowing Mike Ladd, his musical father, to gently drift through, saying, “what if royalty depised us?” and knowing the only gold is soul and giving it to all of us, all us maggots and vultures and locusts and weevils, to hold to the light so we can finally see. On the quest to get open and free, we continue.

2 - Chika - U Should [prod. by Lido]

I heard this the night it dropped and shot 2 insta videos playacting as it played. But apart from that, it’s a intimate, beautiful song about getting to know a new lady love, so tenderly sung it might melt and disappear if not held gently, with a sweeping guitar lick and purring trumpets sliding all over the place, Chika softly holding each frayed piece together into a considered, gorgeous piece - wait, she’s talking her shit.

3 - Issa Gold - Boys Don’t Cry [prod. by Kingjet & Sherwyn and Matt Zara]

The only reason this isn’t number one is because it dropped on Christmas Eve. But otherwise, it’s a openheart letter to us all. “it’s a lonely path being different,” Issa says, swimming in the melted ice caps as he once danced happily on the edges of melting glaciers that failed to drown him, looking at the world that keeps hurting his heart, yet he still opens his eyes and smiles, and dances. The heavy drums are so bouncy the whole song suddenly flies, formerly a hidden murmur becoming a bright sunlit flight across the sky so we can all see. I can’t wait to see Tempus, if it’s anything as good as this was.

4 - Deante Hitchcock - Growing Up/Mother God [prod. by Brandon Phillips-Taylor]

In all honesty, “Growing Up” is really not the best song on Better. It’s a sweet, happy song with a smooth, crackling bassline with soft, ghostly synths, but still kinda ok. It’s the song added at the end, “Mother God”, that has warm, sizzling piano chords and gorgeous singing in the back. It’s one of the few time I’ve ever heard a man pay homage to the woman in his life and to the God above while being entirely sincere and not faking the funk. The way he praises his mom, his lady, remembering the women in his family taking care of him and him foolishly neglecting Breonna due to his overburdened mind feels full of details, remembrances, explanations and praises. Plus, it actually makes sense that God, if she exists (she does) is a woman since -

5 - Yana Perrault - whiskey and weed [prod. by slate]

Apparently, Yana Perrault is verified now. Excellent. {YES YES MY GOD YESS}, It means more folks know about how great this song, and Yana herself is. If I had any sense, I would’ve written up 12:21 as the best song of 2018, but such is life. Anyway, we have this smooth, bass heavy slinker with shimmering percussion and lumbering drums about hooking up with a former flame who’s “sober” yet keeps on calling Yana to break their sobriety, “know we ain’t talked in a while but you still know my address,” she wryly mentions. As the beat sprints away under a warm cocoon of accapella echoes, it mirrors a relationship so tenuous it might disappear into the wind. Yet still strong enough to have whiskey on call.

6 - Marlon Craft - Culture Sick Freestyle [prod. by Cormill]

Apparently this was supposed to be a shot at Flex. And since Flex is a woman beater and a lame, good for him. Shouldn’t have even gone on Flex to be honest, but then again neither should Jay Critch or Tyler or Black Thought and besides, I watch those freestyles too. And on the freestyle, Marlon frankly put things in perspective. “You don’t want us to better, you just want to be cool still.” This describes all of rap media to be real. And tellingly, it only has 310,000 views. Methinks nobody really wants real. But I do. Thank u Marlon, you continue to be the best white rapper alive. (Nowhere near the best rapper tho, and if Token hadn’t fell off -)

7 - Miah - Cascades [prod. by Cedes]

I’m sideeyeing the boy Miah cuz I had to search up his Audiomack to find the producer’s name (it’s Cedes, and they have a really great avalanche of Drake Type Beats is you like that kind of thing). Were you trying to trick folk into thinking you produced it yourself? You don’t need to do that shit. Especially since you’re writing stuff like “back in high school all my peers were tryin to hit the league / until the league too far from reach so they tap dancing over beats.” When you can frankly break down life that clearly, don’t be trying to hide producer’s names unless you actually learn to produce too. Plaster your name all over that shit.

8 - Justine Darcenne - Off Days [prod. by Mikhail Miller] / Enny - Peng Black Girls (ft. Amia Brave [prod. by Paya]

Justine is indeed my classmate, but that’s not why this song is here. it’s here because it’s a nice little guitar driven song with a spellbinding bridge that’s the best thing I’ve heard her do yet. And I’mma keep it short cuz I already wrote this up at the Singles Jukebox.

Enny released this soft, cushiony record with washed out synths over bulky drums and floated FLOATED over them without even trying to run in the tar, saying frankly, “He said to me, 'they put guns in the streets, that’s what they wanted for me.’ And I said, ‘G, someone can fix you a plate but no one can force you to eat.’” After all, why not try to live for something greater than what the world has expected you to be. And Amia sings, “We’re gon be alright, ok?” with the joy and excitement of someone realizing the words coming alive on their tongue. One of the best songs of this miserable year, and it’s kinda funny watching Jorja accidentally Drake out Amia and even Enny (and by funny I mean irritating.)

9 - Tobi Lou - okay (ft. Dreezy) [prod. by Matteo Woods & Dilip]

Fun fact: Dilip did some great songs with Otxhello, a producer who recorded and mixed 2 records on my first album. That again is not why this song is here. The warm, swinging synths and heavy, bouncy drums are why this is here. Oh, and Tobi’s goofy, silly lyrics and his surprisingly effective Missy Elliott tribute are great too. But obviously, the verse that vaulted this into top 10 was Dreezy, which opens with such a openhearted line, “i can’t help it, it’s too hard to say I’m sorry.” And every line is harder than the last, until she closes with “and I ain’t talkin frontals but we got the city sown up.” Absolutely amazing.

10 - Strongman Burner - Pilolo (ft. KelvynBoy) [prod. by Nixie]

The sweet, gooey synths are poured over the soft, zipping and smooth drums as the wiry bass whirls between Kelvyn’s soft, thin crooning as Stoneman tap dances over the drums, both desperate and defiant, trying to salvage a sinking relationship that he knows is already gathering coral and snappers. It’s the best afropop song of the year and yet it still has a Nigerian on it (well, I put 4 Nigerians on here, next year I’m rectifying that.) And they even did a song together last year , not as good as this. At all. (still pretty good tho.)

best 10 songs i love (but not enough to write full paragraphs for, I already put 10 in and this is already 5 goddamn pages)

11 - Logic - Heard ‘Em Say

best song on the project that isn’t Dadbod but at least it isn’t tempting fate.

12 - Deqn Sue - Creep

I already love this for having a gorgeous bridge, and is cute af. Yes Sue, you can creep.

13 - Quelle Chris & Chris Keys - Sudden Death/ka - i love {moms, mimi, kev}

QUELLE CHIS CAN SANG SANG./ka can heart heart write.

14 - IDK - Square Up (ft. Juicy J)

I don’t know why this is here either but this slaps regardless.

15 - Nappy Nina - Modestly (ft. Maassai)

Maassai is creating some of the best raps out here. so is Nappy Nina.

16 - Kehlani - Lexii’s Outro (ft. Lexii Ajaii)

Let’s celebrate our great rappers when they’re alive (and this includes me. Pls Chika, don’t win Best New Artist.)

17 - Samad Savage - Goodnight

What Travis Scott should’ve tried to be instead of what he is now. Samad still dope af regardless.

18 - Bad Bunny - Si Veo Tu Mama

The way Bad Bunny actually hits that last note makes me feel so excited and alive.

19 - Fat Tony - Back In The Saddle

I fucked up. But I’m getting back in the saddle, back in the saddle next year. NO NIGERIANS ALL NIGERIENS. #ENDSARS tho.

20 - Lady A - the truth is loud

Why am I the only one who has this on a best list? I have 34 bot followers. Vibe, step it up.

best of 2020 music right here folxs.

worst music things of the year:

The Pop Smoke album. Just in all areas. (Better win that Grammy tho.) Travis Scott in general. (So loud and empty and boring.) Big Sean’s Detroit 2. (why does this exist? Just put out Deep Reverence and Detroit Night Cypher and leave everything on the cutting room floor fo the next album.) Remembering all the great rappers who are dead or incarcerated. No Kendrick album (just leaks. Not good enough.) J. Cole and Noname beefing and Noname getting strung up by twitter. Jay Rock pushing being anti-vaccinations. The realization that Normani might never drop a single record ever again. Tory Lanez in general. Joyner Lucas making actually good songs and falling off almost immediately. Cardi B in general. Anything positive being said about steven Universe songs. Luzamity shipping (until it’s canon please stop! Willuz is RIGHT THERE!)

[fcukyeahbettyenny]

Wednesdays with You

AU:  Armando/Betty

Author’s note:   I have been toying with this AU idea for a few days. It goes: What if Ricardo never made that damning video? What if the Valencia-Mendoza wedding had pushed through? What if Betty had not realized she was being toyed with and her relationship with Armando had continued along its projected tangent?

JFK AIRPORT, A YEAR AGO

Ricardo fished his phone out of his pocket and fired up his selfie camera to make a video wherein he would taunt his best friend about having to sleep with a gargoyle so they can keep her under control and take V&M back. But as he was about to hit the record button, he thought better of it. Videos were evidence, and in a game that was as dangerous as the one he and his best friend were playing, evidence was the last thing anyone needed. Ricardo pocketed his phone and got himself a big box of condoms from the airport duty-free instead. He had big plans for his best friend's girl, after all.

---

BETTY'S APARTMENT, UPPER MANHATTAN

“I’ll be right there!  Just a moment!”  Betty called out as she rushed to her little apartment’s door.  She lives by herself in East Harlem now.  She hasn’t lived in Jackson Heights with her parents for over a year.  She couldn’t and carry on with Armando, now a married man with a baby on the way.  Betty took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and put a smile on her face.  It was a Wednesday.  Armando always “worked late” on Wednesdays, only going home to -- she shook her head -- only going home Thursday afternoons.

Surely enough, it was Armando at the door when she opened it, in his arms a big bouquet of twelve red Ecuadorian roses, her favorite.  She kissed his cheek as she took them with one arm while her free hand joined his.  Like he always did, he lifted the hand that was in his and kissed it before saying, “I’m home.” The words always made Betty’s eyes a little teary.  She doubted that was ever going to change.

It has been a year since Armando and Marcela’s wedding.  It had been the biggest one that Betty had ever attended -- over 500 guests from both the fashion and showbiz industries.  Señorita Catalina had been very kind and made her over for that one day, looking strangely sad as she helped Betty tame her wild hair into a bun.  Betty had wondered if Catalina knew about them, but decided that it wasn’t important.  Betty had made her choice, and her choice was him.

As Betty took down a vase from the shelf above her little kitchen sink, she smiled at him and cheerfully said, “Well, mi amor, I hope you’re hungry.  I talked to my mother on the phone earlier today and she gave me a new recipe for tamales. My cooking will never be as good as hers but the recipe is good.  You like chicken, don’t you?”

Armando smiled and nodded at her from where he sat on her sofa.  “I like everything you make.  You could make me poison and I would eat it happily from your hands.”

Betty felt blood rushing to her cheeks and fat tears traitorously rolled down her cheeks.  Armando visibly looked alarmed as he rushed to hold her in his arms.  He kissed her forehead and whispered into her ear.  “I’ve made you cry.  I’m sorry I always make you cry.”

Betty buried her face where his neck met his strong shoulder.  “I just missed you these past few weeks.  Marcela’s pregnancy is a delicate one, isn’t it?” He nodded, his bearded face rubbing against the delicate skin of her temple. She looked up at him and searched his eyes.  “I still stand by what I said that night on your office couch. I choose you. But if you feel that you need to leave me now  and concentrate on building your life with Marcela -- with your family -- I will let you go.” She forced herself to smile but the tears wouldn’t stop falling.  She felt like she would never, ever stop crying and yet her hands found their way to his shoulders, kneading them comfortingly as if her heart wasn’t breaking inside her.

Armando’s response was to take her face into his hands and kiss her deeply.  She found he always did that whenever he wanted to distract her -- primarily because his kisses always did.  She was so in love with him the thought of being without him makes it hard for her to breathe.  She had even ended her friendship with Nicolas, as much as that had hurt.  She vastly preferred the breathlessness brought by his lips trying to devour hers.  She always would.

He was hard against her hip now, and his hands had found their way to her bottom.  Their kisses turned deep and desperate.  Wednesdays always did that to them.  As she mouthed along his chiseled jaw, Betty thought briefly of Marcela who was at the Hamptons being cooed over by the Mendozas, probably just a little miffed about Armando regularly choosing to work through the night on Wednesdays but still none the wiser.  Why would Manhattan’s most beautiful executive and fashion’s most influential mother-to-be have anything to worry about when his assistant was such an ugly woman?  Betty thanked God and whoever might be listening for small mercies.  Nobody suspected a thing.

Armando made quick work of their clothes and carried Betty upstairs to her bedroom, kicking the bedroom door shut and locking it. It was a nervous habit he had developed after Nicolas had walked in on them on the Wednesday after his wedding last year and gotten an eyeful.  Armando and Nicolas had duked it out right there in Betty’s bedroom while Betty yelled at both of them to stop fighting, wearing nothing but a sheet.  In the end, Nicolas had asked her to choose between their friendship and her relationship with Armando.  Betty had sunk onto her bed and told Nicolas to go, her voice choked up with tears.  That was the last time she and Nicolas ever spoke.  He resigned from BAR the next day and, according to her parents, moved to Florida to be with his grandmother.

As Armando laid Betty on her bed, one of her hands reached behind her pillow and pulled out a condom packet that she kept under there.  She was on the pill but she also knew that pills weren’t fool-proof.  She handed the little packet to Armando who smiled at her before taking one and putting it on himself. Betty touched his face briefly before finally resting her hand on a strong arm. She let her hand travel down his arm and took his hand in hers.

In an instant, Armando’s mouth was on hers again and his weight pressed her down into her sheets, his body aligning with hers, preparing for entry.  She wrapped her legs around his waist and opened her mouth to his as he rained kisses on her neck and face while slowly entering her in one long stroke. Her first moan died in his throat, as did her second and third.  When she was sure she wouldn’t scream, she finally allowed herself to break the kiss, whispering into his ear.  “I love you,” she breathed over and over as she met him at every crest, his teeth biting at her shoulder and collarbone where no one would see the marks the next day.  Betty forced her eyes to open and kissed his cheek, observing him as he made love to her.  His eyes were closed and the muscles on his shoulders and chest contracted and relaxed with the effort. She could barely remember her name at that point but she forced herself to focus on him, adjusting her movements to match his and finding pleasure in giving him pleasure.  Her eyes closed again as she and Armando engaged in this most ancient of dances for what felt to her like hours.  Eventually she gave over to her climax, him following shortly after. 

She stroked his hair as she came down from her high and while he covered her neck and collarbone with kisses, staying inside her all the while.  When he appeared to have had his fill, she felt him touch his forehead to hers and kiss her nose as he slowly pulled out of her.  She tried to follow but it would seem he had other plans as he slid further down the bed to get between her legs.  She smiled down at him and he, up at her.  When he was face-to-face with the apex of her thighs, Armando delicately ran his hands over her inner thighs, looking like he was marveling at her skin as he sucked at and kissed every inch of her before him.  He then grinned up at her as he started licking and kissing at her entrance, his practiced tongue causing Betty’s eyes to roll up into her head and her completely forget who she was as she came.

She woke up to Armando gently touching her cheek with a finger.  He was grinning down at her this time because he had apparently slid up to the headboard and gathered her into his arms, her head resting on his chest.  Betty closed her eyes and listened contentedly to Armando's chuckles and the thumping of his heart.  Betty gave him a small, unsure smile. He grinned at her in return.

“You fell asleep.  Rude, but I take it as a compliment,” he joked.

Betty blushed in spite of herself and all they had done.  “You should.  You’re always amazing,”

Armando’s expression fell at that.  “Only you seem to think so nowadays.”  He sighed then.  “Betty, I don’t think I could live without you.”

She shook her head and kissed his chest.  “You could if you needed to.  I hope that you won’t choose to, though.”  She worried her lip as she studied his face.  “I know I can’t live without you.”  Betty closed her eyes as she felt his lips on the top of her head.

Armando sounded so sad as he confessed, “I saw Marcela kissing Ricardo today so I confronted them.  I asked them if the baby was mine and she said she didn’t know.  Can you imagine?”  He kissed her head again before asking, “Is it weird that I love that baby but I wish so hard for it not to be mine?”

Betty took Armando’s free hand and kissed his forefinger for no real reason other than being allowed to do so.  

“Betty,”

She looked up at him, settling upon his eyes.  “Hmm?”

“Did you know?”

She nodded hesitantly, not meeting his eyes.

She felt him tense.  “Why didn’t you say anything?”

She held his gaze with hers.  “Because it was her secret to tell.  Besides, I would have felt like a hypocrite, telling you about her and Ricardo when we are doing the same thing.”

She felt him relax underneath her. “It’s not the same thing.”

Betty rolled away from him and clutched a nearby pillow to herself.  “It is and your know it.”

Armando followed her and wrapped an arm around her waist, drawing her close.  He whispered into her ear.  “I want a baby with you.”

Betty tensed.  There were too many complications.  Too many people who would be hurt. Too many things -- but her mouth worked faster than her brain this time.  “Me, too. I want us to be a family more than anything.” As soon as she said the words, she broke down. She turned back to him and buried his face in his chest, sobbing hard. It seemed that all she ever did lately was cry whenever she thought of the two of them -- she and Armando -- so desperately in love but having to hide that love in the shadows.  It was like trying to keep a candle under a bushel.  If they were not careful, they might end up burning the house down.

Armando looked radiant.  “Then why don’t we be a family?” His grin turned naughty.  “You know we’re good at the babymaking part,”

She wetly giggled as she mildly tapped his chest.  “I swear, Armando.  You’re twelve years old and I don’t know why I love you. But I do love you.  I kind of almost wish I didn’t.”

Armando held her tighter, his face worried.  She hadn’t seen him that worried since before they were able to get V&M back into the black several months ago.  “You don’t mean that.”

Betty relaxed. “No. I don’t. I let go of the most important people in my life to be in this with you -- my parents, Nico -- but I can’t bring myself to regret it.”

Armando sounded like he was about to cry.  “I’m sorry, Betty.  For everything,”

She kissed him and immediately got on her knees on the bed, straddling his torso.  He helped her sit on his pelvis, where she could feel his interest building again.  She lowered her body onto his and gently pressed her forehead against his.  “I’m not.  I am, however, sorry that you are in so much pain.  I wish I could take your pain from you, but I can’t.  All I can do is love you and try to make you forget for a while.” Her hand reached between them, slowly stroking him to full arousal and watching as he slowly lost himself in her touch.  She ran her thumb over the slit of his cock, enjoying the shiver she got from him with that small action.

“Betty, please...” he begged.

He really need not have, because as soon as he’d said her name, Betty had gotten off the bed, put her glasses on the bedside console, and knelt between his legs, slowly taking him into her mouth and carefully tucking her teeth away, making sure they didn't scrape him. She kept swallowing down on him until she could feel the head of his cock in her throat.  She gulped around him and grinned a little when he all but rammed himself in.  This was something she was excellent at, he’d told her time and time again.  She had long ago trained her gag reflex into nonexistence during sex, and Armando had also told her that Marcela had always found blow jobs to be demeaning and low-class.  Betty begged to differ.  She had Armando where she wanted him and she would not let go until he was satisfied.  She started her head up and down, applying suction, all the while oblivious to the growing discomfort in her neck.  The look of utter ecstasy that must be on his face (she can’t see that far without glasses) was worth any amount of pain.  There was absolutely nothing she wouldn’t do for him.  A few moments or a few hours later -- she wasn’t sure, she felt his cum paint her throat. She pumped him for every drop, even licking his shaft to take in any runaways.  When she was done, she dropped herself into his arms, her face against his neck.

“My GOD you’re incredible,” Armando breathed.

Betty shrugged.  “I have to keep you with me somehow,” Betty joked.  Armando had told her long ago in Miami never to call herself ugly and she never did after that.  How could she when he always made her feel so desired and loved?

Betty let herself get pulled into his arms again and closed her eyes when she  felt his lips on her forehead.  She couldn’t remember closing her eyes but she was drifting off again, it seemed.  

“You want my baby,” Armando stated, his thumb stroking her shoulder back and forth where his hand was on it.

Betty lowered her eyes.  “But we can’t.  We only have this.  We only have Wednesdays and we can’t always get what we want.  If we did...”

“...we’d be married.  Marcela would be in Europe somewhere, maybe with her sister.  And then you and I would have a baby -- maybe a daughter who looks like you. That would be our life,”

Betty kissed his cheek and turned his face so that his gaze met hers.  “This is what we have and I am thankful for it.  For you. As long as I have you, nothing else really matters.”

She felt him tense again underneath her.  He always did whenever she said things like that last sentence to him.  Someday she would ask him why, but they were together and they were happy right now.  She would wait for him to tell her.  He would have to someday, wouldn’t he?  She closed her eyes and laid her head on his chest.  Whatever it was could wait.

[ivalice-tifalucis]

Alright speaking of football, I really and completely dive back into this again. I notice the last time I watch football religiously (like waking up at early morning almost every week just to watch Barca’s game) which was around 2013, I wasn’t active on tumblr yet. I did occassionally reblogged football stuffs. I watched important games like few El Clasicos or Champions League finals. I did sporadic live blogging during the last World Cup. But now that I’m back like really back I notice things are different.

First, women’s football. I once ramble in someone’s post about the inequality of women’s football compare to men in USWNT. I said that women’s football didn’t really develop until 1970s while men’s football was starting to develop since 1900s and so it will take time for women’s football to get more developed. The difference that I notice is that now more mainstream media especially in England, where the center of football is, promotes their women’s team more. I notice Barca also do that for quite a while now, I just couldn’t believe that others do the same!! What I love even more is that if you take a look at let’s say Barca Femeni (who just got a new stadium fyi) or Liverpool’s women videos on youtube, the comments are mostly positive and most come from fanboys. They wish the female team all the best and to succeed, even include them in some banter. People also discuss how to improve women’s football since no matter what female will always going to be physically inferior than men and football is very physically demanding. Like many people suggest that women’s football need to have different regulation with the game. This shows that people care about female football. People also comment on footballers daughter who was just playfully kicking ball with “wow imagine if she becomes a footballer too” like these kinds of comments and discussions didn’t exist 5 years ago.

Second, the wheels are turning. Like a circle of life, there’s also circle of football domination. Last time I’m in, Barca was still a club that everyone are afraid of. Today, we are so poor it makes me sad. Liverpool comeback is just one of those moment. No, not the worst football club yet. We’re just becoming clown now, it’s embarassing. La Masia is also such a mess. That little boy Takefusa Kubo is now Real Madrid young player???!!! I hope we will get better soon (after the board members sacked!!!). I even missed out that Real Madrid won 3 UCL in a row (I only notice 2 until I went to Bernabeu tour and realized they have 13 trophies now 😑). Premier League dynamic has changed a lot. No more big 4 teams, they now have Leicester City too as dark horse. I was shocked when my brother told me they were about to win Premier League like what even the hell was that club?! Manchester United is sucking hard, Chelsea is shifting from rich club who buy everything to so so club to club who grow talents, Liverpool is only few weeks away from ending their 30 years of no league title (no longer a club who only talk about history), Manchester City is undisputedly giant crazy rich team along side PSG. Arsenal is the only one who stay the same, because Arsenal. Germany is suddenly not so good anymore.

Third, best player in the world. Apparently my favorite players are now old and soon will retire (some even have). The banter has shifted to discussion and general consensus that *insert player A* is great player instead of trying to compare A with B. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo fans have finally find consensus that both players are the best ever. Sergio Ramos is now the best defender ever??? (Make sense tho the guy captained Real Madrid who won 3 UCL in a row, forget the fact that he loves collecting red card so much). Gerard Pique also the best now. Neymar since his departure to PSG has become mediocre, sad. Frenkie de Jong, I root for him to be successful. Who else hmm... Jamie Vardy is top scorer (I like him in a way that his life is motivating that sometime good things don’t come immediately like his life and career is quite insane for pro footballer standard, he supposed to not even become a football superstar!!). Mohamed Salah, I heard a lot about him because I have a cousin who is Liverpool die hard fan and media talk about him, he’s great (and sorta feel proud for him because he’s conservative moslem from Egypt, sadly a politically unstable country, and arab which is great for representation. He manages to lift the image of arab people and moslem especially around Merseyside just by being great). Another talent from Liverpool would be Virgil van Dijk that gd soft tall man and good defender but most important is Trent Alexander-Arnold (corner taken quickly which breaks my heart and amaze me at the same time). Kevin de Bruyne is what Pep really love in midfielder and indeed what a talent he is. Erling Haaland is looking good, I hope he’s not just one season wonder. Manuel Neuer is no longer as good as he used to be since terrible injury (now I understand his bloop in WC 2018) but now there are more sweeper keeper just not as crazy as him. He definitely set standards for future goalkeepers.

Fourth, retired players. One by one, players that I watched while growing up have retired. I saw Puyol and Xavi retired. Then Iker Casillas, the most recent one to retired after heart surgery scare last year, now a candidate for RFEF President. Iniesta is soom gonna be retired. David Villa, Fernando Torres. My favorite Spain NT players are now all retired ☹️. Schweinsteiger, Lahm, Robben, Mertesacker. Mertesacker is now Arsenal youth coach??!!! Mikel Arteta is now Arsenal’s coach. Other star players from Premier League like Frank Lampard (now Chelsea’s manager), Steven Gerrard, all have retired and become football manager. And a bit unrelated because I never actually see him playing (because I only start properly watch football since 2010 and by that time he had retired and I only heard stories) but Gary Neville as Valencia’s manager for short time?? 😂 (of course I would know that’s important information for all Carraville shippers). Everytime I hear news about footballer retirement I would be reminded again that I’m old.

Fifth, shipping. If you don’t notice this already, I now ship Jamie Carragher with Gary Neville which is not surprising since I always low key ship Gerard Pique with Sergio Ramos anyway. Apparently I always have a thing with pinning rivaling defenders who are hot headed, reckless, and hate each other at first until one day they don’t. And I swear that’s the most random ever. I’m not even Liverpool fan and never really into Man United (although my brother is sorta fan because he knows much about MU). But it all starts from me going around Liverpool’s tag on tumblr and found Carra’s instagram live. After watching all of their videos in Sky Sports on youtube, consider my self as a carraville. I even always try to find live streaming from Sky Sports for every Premier League matches that I watch. I must say, they’re the ones that make me want to go back to football fandom again.

All in all, I will never stop loving FC Barcelona. I may watch other games, less Barca games maybe because they’re not that enjoyable to watch these days. But now I understand, the feeling of watching Barca loses is different. It just so heartbreaking 😭 my heart only belong to that team. I’m so happy I finally got to be in Camp Nou even though I just lost my wallet at that time.

[milisamuels]

& mili

MARIA GABRIELA DE FARIA / CISFEMALE — don’t look now, but is that milagros samuels i see? the 21 year old dance student is in their junior year and she is a rochester alum. i hear they can be exuberant, compassionate, sly and unreliable, so maybe keep that in mind. i bet she will make a name for themselves living in griffin street. ( ani. 27. gmt-3. she/her. )

tried to shorten this but i couldn’t so tl;dr - born in venezuela, teenage parents, religious mom, sketchy dad who took her pickpocketing on sundays as a family activity. during the week he was involved in shadier business, mom moved with her to america to get her away from him. death // mom died in a car crash, was adopted. she’s got a kind heart but still some issues with acknowledging private property as something she can’t just take.

maria de los milagros morales was born in valencia, venezuela, on a sunny day, to a complicated life. her parents were barely sixteen, and neither of them had a cent. it was a classic bad boy meets good girl sort of story, except now mili’s mom had many regrets and her dad was still the same troublesome kid he’d always been.

after mili was born, her mom could barely look at her. she was a very religious girl who’d made a terrible mistake that had got her shunned from her family.  and she couldn’t help resenting mili. it was hard for mili, having to earn her mother’s love when she couldn’t understand what she’d done to lose it in the first place.

her dad had it easier — he was still living at his own place, only saw mili when he felt like it, and was therefore more of a cool uncle that she loved with a passion. everything he did was amazing in her eyes, and she thought him to be the funniest person in the whole wide world, always coming up with new games for them, and never shutting her out.

mili was about eight when her mother, having slowly grown to care for her baby girl, finally started paying attention to her constant ranting and realized what exactly it was she was doing with her dad. mili was an adorable little girl, very outgoing and always talking to anyone who came near her, which meant she could be very distracting. he’d taught her the rules to all sorts of games that they played on the street — he’d always been light-fingered and it seemed to run in the family, ‘cause she’d turned out to be brilliant at it. if people weren’t careful with their money and they let someone take it from them, it meant they hadn’t cared enough about it in the first place, so it didn’t matter if they took it. it was game, even if it was slowly escalating, and though mili suspected sometimes it wasn’t as okay as her dad made it out to be, she could also tell he was so proud of her for helping him out, and that was enough for her to not give a shit about it.

what mili didn’t know was that pickpocketing was the least dangerous of her dad’s activities, but her mom was quick to find out about all the rest once she started paying attention. he was in deep shit, and her mom had seen enough to know really soon, it would mean trouble for all of them. she’d been saving money for years with mili’s future in mind, and now it seemed like the only chance of her even having one at all was if she got them both out of there.

there’s a gap in the story because mili was a child and she’s not sure how it went down. she knows her mom begged her family to help, and eventually her grandma mentioned something about some religious family in the united states that had some vague connection to theirs. rochester seemed like an unlikely place for them to end up at, but she remembers her mom speaking about reverend samuels like he’d hung the moon. details are fuzzy. they were friends, she thinks. very close friends, it seemed.

death // it had been three years since they’d moved when mili’s mom died in a car crash. at eleven, mili was left alone in a country she was barely starting to get used to, and life seemed pretty bleak. the samuels took her in, and it was the single best thing that had ever happened to her. they were kind and patient, and she had siblings and a big house, and mili had been through enough to know this was the time to be grateful and good. she didn’t question the adoption, it seemed logical. they’d been her mother’s friends, and they were supposed to be doing god’s work, and right now, she needed charity from Him.

she’s a good girl, the kind that’s always ready to lend a hand, sometimes even a little gullible because she just tends to assume people are always trying their best to get by and be good. she knows it’s not always the case — over long nights of her crying because she missed her dad, her mom took care of making sure she never felt like trying to find him again, feeding her horror stories of the things he was involved in that caused her nightmares up until this day. still, she can’t help thinking the best of people, it’s in her blood. what’s also in her blood apparently is some questionable habits she got from her dad, but she’s working on that. sort of.

she’s not too invested in her degree, but she promised she’d graduate, so when lockwood was shut down she figured she might as well hop on over, get a tan and finish her studying. california feels like a much more likely habitat for her, an enemy of winter and snow, and she’s ready to enjoy her time here.

[plus-size-reader]

She isn’t You

Alex Vreeke x Plus size!reader

Word Count: 1914 words

Warnings:none 

Summary: Reader plays Jumanji with her boyfriend Alex as Valencia Stonehut, who is much more what of who she wants to be than herself. She wants to stay in the game, so she and Alex argue. 

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Jumanji played by different rules but deep down it was all the same. There were the good guys and the bad guys, there were a set of appropriate actions for each situation you found yourself in and Alex was no fun in either world. You preferred life in Jumanji from the moment you landed in the grass. Back in the real world you were a chunky dork who hid from the sun and geeked out over the most mundane movie references, but not in Jumanji. In Jumanji you became Valencia Stonehut, a charismatic fighter with great people skills and a heart of gold. Life in the game was everything you’d ever wanted, so why was he so desperate to get back to spending all his time in his room, blasting metal and hiding out far away from what life really had to offer him? Out here he could really be someone fantastic but all he ever talked about was finishing the levels and going home. “I don’t get it Alex, isn’t it better here?” you asked, choosing to ignore the fact that he was currently mixing a margarita instead of paying attention to what you had to say. It was understandable that he was freaking out, you two had been wasting lives like crazy trying to figure this place out but as long as you were careful, you’d be fine.

“It isn’t that easy Y/N, if we die in here, we die out there” he explained for what had to have been the fourteenth time since touching down. You understood that, what you didn’t understand was why in the world he cared so much. There wasn’t any immediate threat to your lives as long as you were together in the hut, but apparently that wasn’t enough for him. “We aren’t going to die Alex, we’re fine...there’s nothing dangerous out here” you reasoned, you were desperate to stay in Jumanji as long as possible, nothing else was going to change that, not even Alex’s logic.

Alex scoffed at that, pouring the margaritas as best he could while being sufficiently upset with you at the same time. The two of you had been a mostly-functional couple for a few years now but nothing had ever tested you like this game was, and you were doubtful that anything ever would again...assuming you got out of here like he wanted. “You know that’s not true, besides what about life out there? What about senior prom?” he asked, that familiar look in his eyes as he studied your face, he cared for you so much but you were wrong this time, and you needed to realize that. “Life out there sucks Alex, it’s the worst...I will never be this good out there” you groaned, gesturing down to your perfectly sculpted body, focusing on your flat middle that you never thought was possible. Sure, you weren’t exactly you but you could be eventually, you could become Valencia...and you could live her life here with Alex by your side.

“This good?! What are you talking about? This isn’t you, she isn’t you” he barked, gesturing wholeheartedly down to you. He hated this version of you, she was good looking sure but she wasn’t what he wanted...she wasn’t you. Alex was in love with the chubby, smart mouthed little nerd he’d started playing the game with in the first place. “She’s better than me Alex, even you’ve got to see that” you huffed, throwing down your things and storming out of the hut. You heard Alex follow you but didn’t bother stopping until you were far enough away that you could be sure he wasn’t going to find you.

That was when everything started going downhill. You were sitting by a tree one night, staring up into the stars and thinking about everything Alex had said. He couldn’t have been telling the truth about Valencia could he? How is it possible that he didn’t prefer her to the way you normally looked, she was tall,blonde and more fit than most models-he’d have had to’ve been blind not to realize how perfect she was. “Why the long face?” a masculine and somewhat menacing voice called, scaring you out of your skin. You turned towards it with your hand clasped to your chest, your heart beating wildly beneath it.

“You scared me half to death” you started, your eyes going wide the moment you realized it wasn’t Alex doing some creepy Bobby Cannavale impression. The man standing there was tall, had dark hair and striking eyes. If you didn’t know better, you’d have thought that he was the villain...luckily, you didn’t seem to know better. “Who are you?” you asked, standing from the root of the tree to get a better vantage point on the man, he couldn’t have been as intimidating when you were standing eye-to-eye. He chuckled, his voice deep and dark in the back of his throat as he admired you “They call me Van Pelt around here, but you can call me whatever you want” he muttered, trying his hardest to remain approachable though it was much harder to do than he would have originally anticipated. “Van Pelt...don’t you have a first name?” Your voice held a certain confidence to it that you’d never heard, but it wasn’t a bad thing by any means.

Again, he laughed, offering you a hand which you hesitated to take. You didn’t know anything about him or where he came from but you were in a spiteful mood, so you did so against your better judgement. If Alex was so ready to go home, then he was going to have to do it without you. You later learned that Van Pelt’s first name was Russell and he wasn���t exactly the good guy as far as all Jumanji was concerned. The more time you spent with him, the more furious with Alex you became, and the more distant.

He looked for you everywhere but you were nowhere to be found. Eventually he assumed the worst, that you’d been eaten by some wild cat or fallen into the river so he stopped his search. Time worked differently in the game but if there was one thing Alex was sure of, it was that he hadn’t seen you in a very long time. Somewhere further down the map, you were sitting alongside Van Pelt at his dinner table, your hand clasped around his own as he talked through his plan to take over Jumanji. You didn’t particularly care about his evil plans exactly, but what you really cared about was staying in the game and as far as you were concerned, Russell was your best bet to do just that.

There wasn’t a night that you didn’t worry about Alex, or think about what he must have been doing but you couldn’t make yourself go back there. No one was going to take your new life from you, even if it meant bearing with Van Pelt and all of his buffoons.

It wasn’t until you saw him, standing across that market that you realized just how much you’d missed him. Of course you missed him, he was the love of your life and not even a disagreement could change that. He wasn’t alone, meaning that he’d finally found the other players...he was going to go home. There was a part of you that was hoping he wasn’t going to notice you, and just keep going but that only lasted a few minutes. Eventually, you had to give up the rouse, you didn't belong in the game, no matter how much you wanted to be-you weren’t Valencia Stonehut, and nothing was going to change that.

“Y/N!” You weren’t sure what to do, you should have kept up the facade, you should have turned away from him and ran in the other direction but you couldn’t make yourself do it. If you left him now, you ran the risk that he would never come back-that you would never see him again. “Alex, they’re coming...you guys have to get out of here” you whisper-yelled, clearly upset with the fact he was wandering around, wasting time talking to you instead of getting somewhere safe. “I thought you died, I missed you so much” he muttered, throwing his arms around your neck, pulling you into him against your better judgement.

He hadn’t seen you for what felt like years and there was no way for him to keep his hands to himself. You were really afraid of what would happen to him if you didn’t get out of here quickly, after all-you both were down to your last life. “There’s plenty of time for that, we have to go now” you urged, taking his hands in your own and dragging him off toward where the others were already standing, waiting for you both. None of the other players had ever seen you before but it was clear by how friendly you were being that you two knew each other.

“Who’s this? Who’re you? Seriously, who’s the chick?” the avatar you recognized as Mouse Finbar kept asking, his focus solely on you as you all ran through the bazar. Everyone of you chose to ignore him, in favor of trying not to die but through everything, Alex’s hand stayed clasped around your own. He was afraid that if he let you go, you would disappear again. Eventually you were all safe, out of Van Pelt’s grasp by the stream. You found Alex sitting on a rock on the side of the bank, and while you’d have much rather gone the easier route by ignoring him completely, you knew you couldn't do that any longer.

“Hey” Your voice was quiet and unsteady as you sat beside him, his eyes stayed focused in front of him but you noticed how his frame relaxed as you spoke. “I get it if you don’t want to talk to me, but I’m sorry” you tried, it was by no means meant to fix the situation but you were hoping it would at least calm the air between you both. Alex said nothing, turning his head toward you. You were staring into the dirt, your bottom lip secured between your teeth in that same nervous way you always did. Your avatar had changed since he’d last seen you, your hair was tied up and you had warpaint streaked down your face.

“You don’t have to be sorry, I get it” he assured, wrapping his arm around your shoulder to hold you into his muscular frame. You knew that you should have kept your distance from him after all this time but you couldn’t do it, you’d missed him. “No, It was stupid to think I could actually stay here, we have to go home Alex, we don’t belong here” your voice was muffled in his shoulder but he heard you loud and clear. He could finally breathe a sigh of relief,he didn’t have to worry about you taking off and leaving him again but more importantly, he didn’t have to worry about you getting hurt anymore. “I love you Y/N” he grinned, pressing a kiss to your forehead. For the first time in years, you weren’t afraid of not being perfect, because you knew that when he said that, he was talking about the real you instead of Valencia-Alex didn’t love her, he loved you.

[nellie-elizabeth]

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend: I Can Work With You (4x10)

Aw man, you guys… I honestly don’t know how I feel about Greg and Rebecca! My poor heart has been torn in two!

Cons:

Sometimes I honestly feel a bit trapped by this show, because I know the point isn’t who Rebecca ends up with as a romantic interest. I know it’s “a lot more complex than that.” But I also feel compelled by these characters in a way that I can’t help but ship certain pairings, root for certain romances to succeed, and so on. And in this episode, I honestly don’t know if I’m supposed to be thrilled about Rebecca and Greg (which I sort of am) or crushed about Nathaniel (which I definitely am) or worried about Rebecca (which I’m not, right now… she seems to be doing pretty well). This is probably good storytelling, but I just wanted to point out that I’m feeling conflicted, and not in the good way that I like to be conflicted.

On a more granular note, I’m actually a little disappointed that Greg was able to forgive Rebecca for sleeping with his dad. When that happened back in Season Three, that was the lowest of low moments. Rebecca almost died by suicide shortly after that. The consequences seemed pretty clear in the moment. Among many other concerns, it seemed crystal clear that she’d lost any potential future with Greg by doing that. And now… apparently not. I guess I wish we could have had even more time with Greg, so we could understand where he’s coming from and why he was able to forgive her and move forward from it. I don’t think most people would have been able to do that.

Also, we got one full song and one reprise again this week. I’m sure it’s due to the longer episode order, but I really miss having two full numbers per episode!

Pros:

Paula has graduated from Law School! I’m so proud of her! This part of the episode was my favorite, even above the Greg/Rebecca stuff. There was just so much going on in terms of the characters that I found really sweet and compelling.

Paula is such a familiar character to me. She reminds me of myself, of my mom, of so many women I’ve known in my life who are smart and capable, but don’t want to celebrate themselves for their accomplishments. I love that Scott wants to support her desire for no attention, as he doesn’t want her to be uncomfortable, but after a certain point he feels he needs to step in and tell her she’s wrong – she deserves a bit of attention, and a little bit of discomfort might just be part of that. I love how supportive her friends all are of her! It warms my heart! (Side-note, though: originally, Paula wanted Rebecca to come, and not Josh, meaning the room would have been entirely couples – Valencia and Beth, Hector and Heather, Paula and Scott… and also Nathaniel and Rebecca. That would have made for a very different and very awkward night!)

Instead, we get the excellent little subplot of Nathaniel and Josh learning to be friends. We’ve seen Nathaniel have these subplots with other characters in the past, like Heather and Greg, and now it’s Josh’s turn. The two of them have nothing in common, and totally fail at Paula’s law-themed party game, until they realize that they can connect through sports. They then sing the excellent song about Sports Analogies and how it’s the only way to connect them. They come back in, and actually succeed quite well at the game! It’s super cute! Also, those two dudes can really sing! I loved the song, and they both looked very dashing.

The final little subplot of the party scenes is between Valencia and Hector. Hector is afraid of Valencia because she’s always so mean to him. We find out that Valencia is jealous that Hector is so easy-going, and everyone has always liked him more. Hector says there’s one person who he always liked who never seemed to like him back: Valencia. She’s flattered, and the two decide to be friends. This could be tossed aside as something of a meaningless little subplot, but I actually liked it a lot, because it continues to enforce how much of Valencia’s behavior over the years has been due to her own insecurities. It doesn’t excuse her actions, but it explains them, and deepens her character development considerably.

Other things I loved about the party: Heather and Beth gossiping about their partners’ feud was great. Paula and Scott being amazing at the law game. That reminded me of my parents. They’re freakishly good at guessing games like that. The moment when Paula talks about her dad humiliating her at a birthday party when she’s a kid, and Josh and Nathaniel sharing a knowing look about dads. Seems that maybe they bonded over something more than just sports! And of course, Rebecca and Darryl showing up at the end with a cake that someone else’s friends forgot to pick up, and singing a congratulations song for the person on the cake. That was just the cutest. Exactly the kind of goofy thing that a group of friends would totally do in real life.

Rebecca gets roped in to babysitting for little Hebecca while Darryl goes out on a date. She can’t seem to bond with the baby, and things get even more complicated when Greg shows up and seems to be able to calm the crying child down, no problem. Rebecca begins a shame spiral, and Greg breaks in by confessing that he came over there to tell Rebecca that he can’t stop thinking about her and still has feelings. The two kiss, and eventually have sex, rekindling their romance.

There are a lot of things to praise about this, despite my note above. The main thing is the moment when Greg comes back into the room after putting the baby asleep, ready to resume their interrupted smooching, and Rebecca stops him for a second. She explains about her shame spiral, and how she needs to be sure that she’s not using Greg to validate her own self-worth. I loved this moment. Greg is totally understanding, and the two of them seem to be on the same page before they resume their kissing. Rebecca seems really happy and really comfortable with what happened, and I like that we get the evidence that she’s checking in with herself before jumping in and doing anything rash.

Also, Rebecca and Hebby bonding is just the cutest thing ever. We find out that Rebecca has been avoiding getting to know little Hebby in part because the baby reminds her of a confusing time in her life where a lot of things were spiraling, and she helped bring new life into the world without really considering it. But by the end of the episode, she sings a lovely reprise of “Nice to Meet You” and it looks like things are turning around for them. This show continues to amaze me. It can take what started as a small recurring joke about Rebecca continually forgetting about Hebby’s existence, and turn it in to something poignant about Rebecca’s past, and future, and her feelings of doubt and self-worth.

Poor Nathaniel is pining so hard. At the end of the episode, he overhears Rebecca telling Paula about her night with Greg, and he’s just so dejected. I want to give him a hug. In almost every show I’ve ever watched, I am such a sucker for a guy pining for a girl. It can be a problematic trope where the “nice guy” waits around for the girl to notice that he’s been there all along, and that’s obviously annoying, but by and large I find pining to be romantic as hell, and here it’s done really well. Nathaniel isn’t the nice guy waiting to win his prize in the end. Greg isn’t either. They’re both complex human beings, and so is Rebecca, and it’s not a love triangle in the traditional sense at all. At this point, I would be satisfied with the show if Rebecca ended up with Nathaniel, with Greg, with neither, with some random person we haven’t met yet. That’s good television!

That’s where I’ll stop! I’m feeling more conflicted about poor Nathaniel than I would have expected, and it’s making some of Greg and Rebecca’s scenes tough to watch. But I’m still happy for both of them too, and I can’t wait to find out more!

9/10

[yuyategoshifansusa]

Jun NS Yuya Tegoshi Solidarity JJJJ. "NEWS M This scene as well. NIKEDUNGDOM יווננננגלי VOL.6 ABOUDMANT TIME Ratio 5. TT DONA RANG CD In Epis The ball will also be le! IGER 1 collection PAKISTAN AUD ARABIA that's all INDIA E01 -twenty four ONO NIGERIA LED STATES അവ AUCANU EP JANU DEN CAN NDLE TANZANA SEY CHEELES IndtainOcean PROFILE Born November 11, 1987. I am from Kanagawa prefecture. Formed NEWS in September 2003. Release the hit of "Miso Soup 2004". Currently, the end of the world is Itte Q! "(Japanese TV series) 1986-28 auvalue 7 ° In February Barcelona came to Japan following the classico and Tegoshi Kisaru who talked about Swinsachika "Balsa war and real warfare everything looks better" for the end of the year told hotly about Gaespanola . I will make major debut on. Unit formed with Takahisa Masuda in 2006, Tegomass Guller is appearing. He is an enthusiastic football fan who continues to play from kindergarten to the present. ARICA Yes. bwin OHHU You are doing how to take it. There is. Al is strong like baseball already. Even so, the season is reopened. I've been watching if Rona is a little stuck and there is an interesting exhibition. Barcelo. Also when Valencia games All I see is Le Battle Rusa, rare 7 points or 8 points, I am stunned Can you score points in the top spot? After all why Real's in this season is not so ordinary, but compared to Barça I think. A lot of reworking can be taken even more than Barça, even if the opponent draws itself to their own, middle aim can be aimed. It's a battle of attack. Simply has a quick foot, there are many large players. Set play bowl, real are all the highest physical ability score points are short False, Mourinho has a great record in his second year in office. Porto also Intel However, it was the second year that I achieved three crowns. Last year 's Real did not work well. Even so, apparently the team of this season is stronger. It seems to be a director to correctly correct the task of the first year in the second year. It is enough to think that it is not the strongest now, even in comparison with the past Real. The uniform is also cool (laugh). Also, I am surprised that there are few players in bad shape. Diy I'm sorry that Mary had injured, but Kaka and Shachin came back and Coentlon is doing fine. Higuain is also a sub but I'm deciding to score a goal ... ... ... Whenever I take a point I always make a hat trick It is an image, neither R 5 Noudo Higuain Even (laugh). Just this All players WSK Because I will do it, Mouri The strong performance of Mr. Nino's skill is Mourinho's I thought it was great again (2 pairs of parents " Snow Do not you think that it is related? WSK Tegoshi now seems to be the Spanish league which is watching the game most. Power WSK Do not you think? 100 people B Especially bwin Loud is doing fine. What is his greatness that Tegoshi will see? I'm really excited and watching, his play will change the players. Small players are bigger and closer. I like whether he / she is close to him or not. Many reasons are attached, but Messi has come after all, and there are also many PKs that teammate has acquired. There are a lot of K? I will not forgive others who are not just PKs I took (laugh). Also, Ronaldo is an image taking P and 3 and 4 points from P rating. There is a weak image. For Ronaldo, Messi got a goal from every opponent evenly, I guess Messi. After all Messi (haha). A Ronaldo and Messi were asked which one is above. Is not it? It is a common dispute, but then it will become delicate for a moment. It is very polite and dynamic, unchanged. I think that it was time of trap. It is said that traps are also related, and furthermore the balance is good Ronaldo has a trunk firmly Compared with last season, this season, this award ceremony was held in January I received a winning prize Record the goal of the 10-H season and say 20 Noudo, others GREATI!

[flamestoillusions]

I made this a while ago that was supposed to follow a list of some ships the duo have on this blog. It’s mainly over possible relationships with canon characters from the game they’re based in. A lot are AU based because for a decent amount of them, they don’t have enough time with these characters to develop a relationship or it’s under certain circumstances it stands a chance. 

Rune/Maya - Maya, at least by my writing, has a one-sided crush on Rune and he likes her well enough. She’s the main person at his side in the prologue and they can geek out over books and stuff. Only really happened in Librarian/Barista AU where Rune flirts with her via writings on her cups and leaving notes in books to be put away.

Tannim/Tomix - Tomix is one of the first people Tannim met on his venture on his own. And as the person that called Tannim out for ignoring his own well-being and the one that did a hard no on changing something so fundamental in his being...Tannim has so much respect for him. And he likes Tomix in his actual adventures, not just any shenanigans I do on the blog. The Tomix saga was so important, I wrecked my plans for book 3 because it was that important for Tannim to be present for that. There’s a reason why he put it as why he can’t sleep at night.

Rune/Zhoom - I am very wary to place them as a relationship. They have sassed each other and have grown to respect the other. Zhoom is Rune’s mentor as a ranger but good god, I’d be lying if they hadn’t blurred lines every so often. Both would easily say that the other’s attractive but neither are interested in anything serious. Friends with benefits on occasion but mainly a reliable hand for bounties and quests.

Tannim/Galanoth - Okay this is only due to a lot of talk with Syn over it. Galanoth slays dragons in more ways than one. It is definitely mainly for AU things such as arranged marriage AU and Tannim being tortured by the Rose then cared for by Gal AU. Pretty much, Galanoth gets all of Tannim’s sweet affection poured on him and Galanoth is just one of those ones that is Tannim’s type, even if he doesn’t know what that is.

Rune/Demento - They were a decent duo when it came to planning and dealing on the battlefield. In some aspects Demento’s the one that got away and even then we don’t know how they’d work out. But it’s a minor thing Rune feels a bit guilty for not taking Demento up on an offer the night before his death.

Tannim/Xan - Can be a ship but I wouldn’t mind if it stayed broship. Xan broke protocol when he saw how genuinely freaked out Tannim was by fire. He calmed him down and started Tannim’s conquering of his fear. Tannim was sent back during the Alexander saga and befriended Alex then. And since they oddly are friends despite being on opposite sides. He actually never advocates anything bad to come down on Xan, even if his fellow adventurers do not share the same sentiment.

Tannim/Serenity - Only in two circumstances: where Tannim was turned to a vampire (long story) and in the AU where Rune’s soul was obliterated in order to destroy the Mysterious Stranger. For the most part, I think it’d be a broship otherwise. But in the cases where they’re together, they’d be like...everyone’s parents. Together. Oh god.

Rune/Lugosi - It was a crack ship that was logical. It was totally some anon’s fault too. I challenged to give me any character with mine and I could make a legitimate thing from it. And I didn’t dislike this one? Lugosi had a crush on Rune when he went by Noita and only fell back into the crush meeting Rune. Rune wasn’t interested because well, he’s not that into smithing and he can only tolerate cowardice. Because Rune tells him pretty much to work on himself first, Lugosi tried. Then he got turned and his acceptance and conquering of his turning (with Safiria’s encouragement) got Rune’s attention.

Rune/Sepulchure - Please let them remain in a blackrom so that they never conquer the world. They don’t inherently dislike each other. They dislike one getting a leg up over them but are rather impressed with the other’s prowess. Based on relations, they have met prior to Book 1. Rune’s grandfather was Valen’s mentor and cared for the kid. So while it was only as many visits as you can count on your hands, they were fin. It’s mainly AU stuff such as Rune having an affair with Sepulchure during the events of the Orb Saga or where Tannim was a traitor out to take all of Greengaurd for himself that they’ve happened.

Tannim/Sepulchure - There’s a certain OT3 with Serenity that came apart because of SOMEONE’S suggestion. It spiraled out of control quickly. There’s also the rare AUs where Tannim took more after his father’s side of the family and in a ‘rivalry’ with Sepulchure. Like more chill than yandere but definitely wants to maintain Seppy’s attention. And also...others...I blame Syn for the sin behind that one.

Amal/Drakath - Because I feel like Rune would NEVER be a decent pair with Drakath...but with ONE AU this came about. Pretty much in a scenario where Rune and his brother grew up and was friends with Drakath. Amal is somewhat aware of his feelings but Drakath is playing dumb and denying it to the end. And Amal’s just unapologetically a shit to Drakath but does ultimately care about him. He lies to his friends and allies and makes up various excuses just to get Drakath through. And then he just sometimes just hangs out at the bandit camp just because he can hang out with Drakath. 

Rune/Circe - Canonically, they kinda dislike each other. I mean, almost killing you with an avalanche tends to put a damper on any relationship. However at the same time, I think they would have been fine. Not exactly a relationship that’s ‘end game’ but they were on weird limbo between physical and something further. This only gets put into spotlight were the partners-in-crime AU and the AU where Rune is a rebel leader that Circe attempted to assassinate. I honestly prefer them in a poly with Vaal. 

Tannim/Wargoth - You know who the fuck you are and you all who encouraged this should be ashamed. I say as this such a guilty pleasure. I know it’s bad because this a homicidal warlord with a sweet summer child that does not deserve this. I know this. There’s nothing much to say about it other than it was from shenanigans on the blog for a plot point that may or may not still be in my timeline. I still have to acknowledge it because Amaterasu exists and she’s adorable.

Rune/Vaal - I debate about if this would be canon or not. As if it was, it’d fall in Book 3. They actually get into snark about both being disgraced by this time. Developments with them usually surmount to ‘I don’t like you but then I see this other side to you that I have to respect you now.’ Mainly a thing in the neighbors AU and the royal advisers AU and fall apart because Roirr’s a fucking cockblocker. I also prefer them with Circe as well.

Amal/Valencia - By the duo’s timeline, Amal and Valencia do date. He met her while exploring the Ruins of Sil. He calls her a thief rather than a treasure hunter and is corny as hell saying how she steals his heart. And it’s a lot of corniness and adventure with them. But I mainly deal in the sad because canonically, Amal is dead and Valencia never learned of his fate. Rune only figured out Valencia was who his brother was dating during the Earth Orb saga and breaking the news to her at that time was not the best idea.

Rune/Theano - I tell myself that Rune will stop fucking the bad guy eventually. And then it happens again. Good god, man, where are you priorities? Anyway, there’s nothing but fighting with this one. Although I guess it could end up being a battle of wits/ideals as Theano is something of a scientist of magic and Rune is a magic wielder that understands principles behind the magic. But I feel any moment of ‘sweet’ is immediately ruined when either open their mouth. I...I have also a weird sort of poly including Rune’s ex, Emile, because apparently my characters don’t suffer enough.

Tannim/Falwynn - They’re just so adorable. Like I guess they’d fall under cliches of the lovey dovey type of couple to which, what’s wrong with that? They’re both excitable and well-intentioned adventurers and I find that their sweet energy would just end up mixing so well. I found an unintentional drama that comes with Falwynn supposed to be learning from the Hero in game (which Tannim serves as) and just how much danger that Tannim would willing put Falwynn through if he’s dating her. While they could be in actual events, I also think of them in modern verses taking a lot of selfies together and stuff.

Rune/Nythera: Only for the Young Fables AU. Rune is supposed to be Aqualad and Nythera Speedy. They actually work out as like the most mature of the bunch and have a hold on each other’s secrets. And it’s like, ‘hey, you had a shitty day, wanna help me on case?’

[thisdaynews]

Barcelona: Why Quique Setien was appointed and why Xavi said no

New Post has been published on https://thebiafrastar.com/barcelona-why-quique-setien-was-appointed-and-why-xavi-said-no/

Barcelona: Why Quique Setien was appointed and why Xavi said no

After weeks of whispers, clandestine meetings with club legends, rumours of dressing-room discontent and general tittle-tattle, Ernesto Valverde became only the second manager in Barcelona’s history to be sacked mid-season when the club announced he was to be replaced by Quique Setien.

Valverde had just witnessed Barcelona’s best performance of the season against Atletico Madrid in the semi-finals of the Spanish Super Cup (75 minutes of excellent football that ended up in defeat), had the club top of La Liga, unbeaten in the league since 2 November and in the last 16 of the Champions League, having finished top of a group that included Borussia Dortmund and Inter Milan.

On the face of it, it might seem a bizarrely-timed decision. But this is Barcelona we are talking about.

Why this came as a surprise to no-one – Valverde included

For some time now, the 55-year-old Valverde has been spoken to by the movers and shakers at the club over matters that have been concerning them regarding the team’s form.

Many feel the side is going backwards, there are doubts being expressed about the physical preparation of the players and the substitutions during games, rumours of a charged atmosphere in the dressing room are rife and there seems to be a lethargy, complacency and general malaise about the place.

That is how it is explained from the club, who keep pointing to the painful Champions League surrenders of the past two seasons – against Roma and Liverpool – as proof Valverde could not take the team to the next level.

There is of course another side to the story. Valverde had to start his time at the Nou Camp by managing the departure of Neymar.

“The Brazilian is about to leave,” star player Lionel Messi told him during his first pre-season, the first news he had heard of what was going to be confirmed weeks later.

That season he ended up with a league and cup double. There was a second league title but Valverde could only work with the cards he had been dealt.

He inherited a changing room whose main characters are over 30, which is used to doing things its own way, that does not like to be challenged, had signings that did not work (Philippe Coutinho because of his personality, Ousmane Dembele because of his physique, Arthur because of his lack of focus) and a chairman who kept sacking directors of football without a clear idea of where to go.

The surprise perhaps is not that it has happened, but that is has taken so long to come to fruition.

So who was in contention for the job?

Valverde signed a contract extension until 2021 in February, apparently to quash rumours about his impending departure.

There was enough evidence in place even after the club’s 3-0 victory over Liverpool – never mind the capitulation at Anfield that followed soon after – to suggest there was a worrying lack of dynamism, defensive structure, discipline and basic energy required to go toe to toe with a side like Jurgen Klopp’s.

Despite the defeat in the cup final against Valencia and the desire of many within the club to part company with the manager, both parties decided to go on one more season.

But as far back as the beginning of November, just after they had lost 3-1 to Levante, the club approached former player Thierry Henry, only to be informed he had already signed a deal to join Montreal Impact. The Frenchman was told Valverde’s days were numbered.

When they went to meet club legend Xavi last Friday in Qatar, where he is manager of Al Sadd, they announced they were going to watch Dembele, who also just happened to be recovering from injury in the country.

Xavi has been in charge of Qatari side Al Sadd since May

But the meeting took place the day after the Spanish Super Cup defeat by Atletico and, despite the doubts for months about Valverde, there was a look of political improvisation about the encounter between Xavi and the club (chief executive Oscar Grau and sporting director Eric Abidal).

It brought to mind what took place when the club tried to make the right noises and look as interested as they could in re-signing Neymar from PSG without actually doing so. Or wanting to do so.

Xavi struggled with his decision because the club he loves approached him but he was not convinced himself of exactly what they wanted.

Two things eventually led to him turning down the offer: the unstable situation at the club with presidential elections in 2021 and the arrival into the scenario of a presidential candidate called Victor Font, who has already declared that if he wins he would make Xavi the new club coach.

Many believe it is actually the other way around, with Xavi deciding that new blood like Font and a new regime might be needed in the boardroom at the Nou Camp.

Also Xavi needed time to think. He believed next summer could have been his moment if Barcelona had given him total control over football matters, and he was planning to bring in top people he trusts.

Not any more it seems; for now that ship has sailed, with the announcement from the club that Setien has signed until 2022. Any suspicions that ‘negotiations’ with the former Barcelona legend had been nothing more than political expediency now seem likelier than ever to have some truth to them.

Before Setien’s signing another former Barca player, the ex-Everton manager Ronald Koeman, also turned down their offer to take the job until the end of the season. And they also approached Mauricio Pochettino, recently sacked by Tottenham.

Ramon Planes – who used to work at Pochettino’s former club Espanyol and now is part of Barcelona’s technical department – and club president Josep Maria Bartomeu are both close friends of Pochettino and in constant contact.

For them to approach the available Argentine coach, it was probably because they thought they had half a chance of him saying yes.

Unfortunately, probably because of his long history with Espanyol, Pochettino has an entire back catalogue of statements he has made proclaiming why he would never take the Barcelona job and the likelihood of him doing so will always be remote.

That said, being seen as a suitable candidate for such a prestigious appointment certainly isn’t going to do him any harm in his quest to eventually take charge at one of Europe’s top clubs, something he will undoubtedly do at some time in the near future.

What will Setien bring to the Barcelona table?

Setien (right) had been Betis manager since 2017 and led them to sixth and 10th-place finishes in La Liga

Where Setien is a perfect fit is in his unquestioned zeal alongside coaches like Pep Guardiola and Oscar Garcia, currently at Celta Vigo, for the Johan Cruyff possession game, much loved and oft-perfected in the past by Barcelona.

On taking the Betis job, Setien revealed in an interview with El Periodico that despite his love for football he didn’t really understand it “until I saw the football of Johan Cruyff”.

“It was with coaches like him when I began to get it,” he continued. “When to touch the ball, to pass, the spaces… this is what I try to communicate to the players, to keep the ball and to run as little as possible after it.”

He added he would have had his little finger cut off to be given the chance to play for one of Cruyff’s sides, “not because I wanted to be a Barcelona footballer, but rather because of the way they played because I could see just how much the footballers were enjoying themselves”.

His teams in the lower leagues were often referred to as the Barcelona of those divisions. It takes a while to convince the players and even more the fans, and he never completely managed the audience at Betis where, in truth, he never really had the depth of talent that he could trust in to carry out his plans to maximum effect.

Barcelona should prove an easier sell.

On the minus side he is already 61 years old and lacks extensive top-flight experience with Betis being, until now, by some distance the biggest managerial job he has held. But he is not after a career, he just wants to see if he can get his approach, so familiar to the club, to work.

But it isn’t in the passing aspect of the game where he could potentially be let down but rather in the work rate of the players without the ball, which is precisely where Valverde was hung out to dry by some of his team.

This side has the look and feel of the dressing room at the end of the Frank Rijkaard era, when I remember the likes of Xavi and Andres Iniesta telling me they were losing their love for the game. Drastic measures had to be taken by Pep Guardiola in order to go on to achieve what he later did.

Will Setien have the same passion and desire and be able to do what Valverde decided not to do, namely change the culture and dynamic of the dressing room? Will he be able to do what Guardiola did? It will be easier said than done.

Guillem Balague is writing a regular column throughout the season and also appearing every Thursday on BBC Radio 5 Live’s Football Daily podcast, when the focus will be on European football.

You can download the latest Football Daily podcasthere.

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