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pixiesfz · 10 months ago

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okay so this idea is a bit out there but you know that girl on tik tok who has the woso wall and talks about all the drama in woso.She also has a wall trying to figure out if Lucy and keira are dating or ona and Lucy so I think it could be cute if you made a fic about that girl making a wall about if reader and jessie are together or if they’re dating different players and then them finding out about it and stuff.Idk I just made that up in my head so you don’t have to do it it’s just an idea 😘

YES OMG WAIT THIS IS FUNNY

on the wall j.f

plot: your sister sends you a tik tok that has you and your secret girlfriend having a serious conversation

warning: that crazy tik tok lady

It was a Tuesday afternoon when your sister sent you a link, you had just returned from your trip to Canada where Jessie took you to meet her friends and family and you couldn’t have been happier.

devils spawn: little sis…

y/n: what is it Katie?

devils spawn: you’ve made it to the wall

y/n: huh?

devils spawn: *insert link*

You furrowed your eyebrows as the link took you into tik tok, a video that already had over 65,000 likes.

“Now Tom” a woman’s voice started as she pointed at a wall, your eyes shot up at the amount of pictures of your sister and her current girlfriend and also ex girlfriend as well as other soccer players such as Lucy and Keira.

Then you saw what she was pointing at a picture of you that was next to a picture of Jessie.

You I paused the video and watched along.

“Now the McCabe sisters did not go home for their Christmas holidays this year” she stated as you looked at recent pictures from your trips to Canada and Ireland.

“Now this is y/n Mccabe, Katie’s younger sister, we’ve mentioned her a couple of times when she posted pictures of her, Katie and Caitlin” and you thought back to that post that was a couple months ago.

How long has this been going on? You thought.

“Now I haven’t put it on the board yet because their wasn’t enough evidence but it is rumoured that y/n is dating a Canadian soccer player Jessie playing who plays for Chelsea, a rival of Arsenal.

“Why would she date the enemy” the guy asked and the woman looked at him “because that’s a cool love story Tom” she rebutted.

“Well anyways, it’s confirmed that y/n dated Georgia Stanway when she was on a loan at man city” she said and pointed to an old photo of you and Georgia when you played for the team “broke up when Georgia went to Germany, we don’t know if Jessie has dated anyone other than the fact that some Chelsea fans thinks that her and team mate Niamh Charles could be an item as they are very close” she pointed at photos of both Jessie and Niamh which you paused the video to laugh at the conspiracy of her girlfriend and her bestfriend.

“But y/n was seen spending Christmas at Canada which is where Jessie is from but this isn’t the only time they’ve been caught together, at the World Cup Jessie was seen watching the Ireland vs. Australia game with an Ireland top on, very similiar to Caitlin” she rambled on “I don’t have a good enough photo of that” she muttered “then there’s also a group of pictures online that looks like a double date between the two couples” she pointed at two photos that were stuck next to each other, one with Caitlin and Katie and one with you and Jessie, though you had posted the photo months apart it was clear it was the same place.

Your mouth kept on dropping as the girl talked about instances where it could’ve been possible that you and Jessie were a thing.

When Jessie came back from training you shoved the phone into her face “watch” you demanded and say her down.

You watched her reactions as she furrowed her brows “what the heck?” She asked as you nodded “how did they know about that?” She asked when the woman talked about Jessie at your game “apparently people are more observant then we think” you told her and she glued her eyes back onto the phone.

“Remember this Tom cause I don’t think this will be the last time we talk about this couple” the woman stated before the video ended.

Jessie turned to you.

“That was the second weirdest thing I’ve seen today” she said and you furrowed your brows “then what’s the first?” You asked “well Erin showed me a video-“ “I already don’t want to know” you shut her mouth and she laughed.

“How did you find that?” Jessie asked “Katie sent it to me. They’ve been doing videos on her and Caitlin and Ruesha for a while now” you said as you scrolled through the account.

“It’s a little bit weird but expected” Jessie said and you turned to her “how so expected?” You asked and she shrugged “I mean I don’t extremely like it but women’s football is now getting more hype and I guess more fans”

You nodded at your girlfriend “I don’t like how people are caring more about our love life’s then our talent, I bet this woman doesn’t even know what position we play” you said and Jessie took your phone out of your hand.

“Should we just tell people we’re dating to make them stop making assumptions then?” Jessie asked and you looked to the wall “I don’t know” you said “I guess I’m just trying to get used to it all” you shrugged.

Jessie reached her arms around you and pulled you into a hug which you accepted “well you have me and I’ll help you get used to it all” she said and kissed you on the forehead, you smiled before pushing bf her off “have a shower you smell” you told her and she laughed.

“Well you just hugged me so I guess we both need a shower”.

You ended up getting used to the videos people made about you and Jessie, finding some of them funny and even entertaining some of it.

You commented on the wall girls tik tok once asking Tom to blink twice if he needed help and the media went crazy for it.

You and Jessie did eventually open up to the public about your relationship, posting a photo of you at a Chelsea dinner with Jessie’s hand on your thigh as you kissed her cheek.

‘she may look happy here but we made a bet that she would wear my Arsenal kit if we won the derby so @_jessflem you ready?’ Was your caption.

You were so overwhelmed by the amount of love and craziness that happened under the post you left your phone for the day whilst Jessie read out the comments begging for the photos of Jessie in the kit.

Jessie reposted the post adding a message saying that nobody would ever see the photos of her in your kit.

“That wasn’t as hard as we thought” Jessie said as she pulled you into her chest that night and kissed you goodnight

#woso #jessie fleming x reader #jessie fleming

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katelynnwrites · 1 year ago

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Everywhere, Everything (I Wanna Love You) | Felicitas Rauch

warnings: insecurities and world cup hurt

word count: 1692

summary: your girlfriend comes back from the world cup after germany’s unexpectedly early exit

a/n: i had a fever and was sad when i wrote this so it’s kinda all over the place sorry…anyway it’s been exactly a week since we got our hearts broken ❤️‍🩹

‘Cinny let your mom sleep okay?’

You softly murmur to the small brown poodle who seems intent on burrowing under the covers.

Sitting up, you move her and lift the duvet on your side of the bed so that she remains happy while Feli is able to continue sleeping.

Gently, you run your fingers over your girlfriend’s bare back.

Her body is so tense, the bags under her eyes remaining apparent.

You usually joked that Felicitas has been making eye bags sexy since 1996 but now her usual eye bags are made even more obvious by the fact that she had been crying.

Your love had returned from Australia jetlagged, exhausted and devastated.

So devastated that she hasn’t spoken a word to you since.

Other than accepting the tight hug you had given her at the airport, she has been following your lead.

When you suggested she shower, she had gone to the bathroom but had waited for you by the bathroom door with a pleading gaze.

The same had happened when you suggested she take a nap. So just like earlier in the day, you had joined her.

In the shower, you had held her close under the hot water, letting her silently cry, allowing her tears to mix with the clean water.

In your shared bed, you had tucked her in and curled your body around hers protectively as she fought sleep until she had eventually given in.

You are hoping she will open up to you when she wakes up but for now, it’s all you can do to make sure you’re there for her.

******

Felicitas wakes up, hours later.

She wakes up and hurriedly grabs onto your hand, with that pleading look in her eyes again.

‘Feli I’m not going anywhere.’ You assure but she refuses to let go.

‘Okay then.’ You accept and squeeze her hand.

Cinnamon barks in excitement as she realises that her mom is up. She had been lying on the floor but once she hears you talking, she jumps up onto the bed.

Felicitas blinks at the wiggling ball of fluff in her lap and then cautiously pets her dog.

You frown at the tentativeness in her gesture. It’s almost like she’s afraid Cinnamon would disappear.

******

Feli still isn’t talking and it’s been almost a full day since she’s returned.

Feeling awfully guilty, you text Kathy and ask her for help. She’s one of Feli’s best friends and you hope that she has good advice for you.

You know you can’t understand the grief she is going through, you aren’t a professional athlete like her.

Your relationship with Feli was still in the early days when she had lost the Champions League final so you hadn’t known the true extent of what she had felt then. That meant that you couldn’t possibly comprehend that feeling of loss either.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, you also didn’t know what it was like for her after she lost the Euro final in England. It wasn’t something she liked to talk about.

It’s scaring you, how quiet your girlfriend is being so it’s to your immense relief when Kathy texts you back.

She tells you that Feli is normally silent with her grief and would need a lot of reassurance from you. The older Wolfsburg player urges you to make sure she eats, warning you that she has a bad habit of skipping meals after particularly harsh losses.

You reply her text with a quick thank you before turning your attention back to your girlfriend.

Thanks to Cinnamon, she hadn’t realised you were on your phone.

She’s completely focused on her dog, a sort of unreadable expression on her face as she plays with Cinny.

Taking Kathy’s advice to heart, you gently ask your girlfriend, ‘Are you hungry?’

Feli looks up immediately and shakes her head.

‘Feli you have to eat. I don’t know when you last ate but it must be a long time ago.’

Felicitas shakes her head again and you kiss her forehead lightly.

‘Liebling you have to eat. Even if it’s just something small.’

Felicitas frowns but doesn’t resist when you stand up, with her hand still in yours and lead her to your kitchen. Cinnamon follows suit.

Cinny had been staying with you while Feli had gone to Australia so the majority of her toys are scattered throughout your apartment.

Her ball is in your kitchen and that’s what she runs to as soon as the three of you enter.

Feli’s frown intensifies and you squeeze her hand to draw her attention back to you.

‘Hey liebling, why don’t you sit down over there?’

Felicitas stiffens and you have to nudge her into the chair at your kitchen table.

Letting her hand go for just a moment, you walk over to your fridge and take a pot of soy yogurt out for her.

It’s only something small but it’s better than nothing. Your girlfriend’s stomach has been empty for a while and the last thing you want is to make her sick.

‘Here Feli.’

Your girlfriend looks at the yogurt you’re offering before bursting into tears.

‘Feli I’m sorry. I’m sorry.’ You rush out, hating that you had somehow upset her.

‘No no don’t be sorry. I’m sorry. I’m so so sorry.’ She sobs.

‘Felicitas hey. It’s okay. You didn’t do anything wrong.’ You soothe, wrapping your arms tightly around her.

Her shoulders are shaking with the force of her sobs and she chokes out, ‘I did. I disappointed you.’

Pressing kisses onto the top of her head repeatedly, you promise, ‘You didn’t. You did no such thing.’

‘But I did. You saved up your leave just so you could fly down to Australia to watch me play in the knockout stages and now that’s wasted.’

There’s nothing but truth to your words when you say, ‘I love you Felicitas. I’m incredibly sorry the tournament didn’t go the way you hoped but that doesn’t mean my leave is wasted.’

Your girlfriend shakily takes a breath in, her voice small as she says, ‘Not only did I not win the trophy, I didn’t even qualify for the round of sixteen.’

‘I know and I am sorry for that. However, it doesn’t change the fact that you tried your best Feli.’

‘Well my best isn’t good enough! Especially for you.’

‘Felicitas, you tried your best. That’s good enough for me. You haven’t disappointed me because you did everything you could.’

Feli buries her head in her hands, fresh tears escaping from her eyes.

‘I don’t deserve you. You do all this for me…’

She glances at you, picking up the pot of yogurt on the table and continuing, ‘You know I love soy yogurt and you even remember to buy the brand that I’m not allergic to. When I’m away, you look after Cinny for me and send me photos because you know it makes me smile. You keep doing all these things that make me fall more in love with you. I don’t deserve to have you love me the way that you do.’

‘Feli-’

‘I can’t even begin to repay you for all that you do for me. The least I could have done was to play in the World Cup and make it worth your time. I couldn’t even do that.’ She finishes, having interrupted you.

‘Felicitas listen to me. Listen okay?’

You gently take her hands in yours, kissing her knuckles and waiting for your girlfriend to nod.

She does and you say, ‘I love you. I love you and I want to show you that I love you. There’s nothing for you to repay. Felicitas, you are not and will never be a waste of my time. I love watching you play, regardless of whether you win or not. My love for you isn’t dependent on things like trophies. I love you because of who you are. Yes, it’s because you are a football player but it’s also because of all the other things you do. Like when you order pizza with pineapple even though you don’t like it because you know I do. Being a football player is a big part of you but it’s not the only part of you that I love.’

Felicitas sniffles and uses the back of her hand to wipe away her tears.

‘I keep thinking you’re going to leave me. Sometimes I think that Cinnamon is going to leave me too. I know it sounds silly because she is my dog but…’ She shrugs hopelessly, her gaze dropping to the floor.

‘Feli…Cinny won’t leave you and neither will I.’

Your girlfriend shrugs again.

‘Felicitas how long has this been on your mind?’

‘Since you asked me out.’ She mumbles.

‘Feli….’ You breathe.

‘I’m not good enough for you. This World Cup just proves that.’ She adds.

‘Felicitas how can I show you that you are? Because I really really love you.’ You desperately ask.

‘I don’t know.’

‘Will it help if you talk to me? If we talk about this together?’

‘I-I think so. Just maybe tell me that you mean it? That you think I’m good enough for you?’

‘Feli I don’t think you’re good enough for me. I know that you are. I mean it liebling. You are more than good enough for me.’

You squeeze her hands in yours, keeping your expression open and honest, willing her to believe you.

Feli must after a while because she whispers a tiny, ‘Okay.’

Kissing her knuckles one more time, you nudge the pot of yogurt towards her.

As she finally starts to eat, taking small bites with a spoon, you know it’s not the end. There would be a repeat of this conversation, another time that Feli goes silent on you but that’s okay. You’ll learn more about her, about how to better be there for her.

Right now, you’re content to watch her eat. Her eyes may be swollen and there may be tears drying on her cheeks but you’re happy to simply be with her, in your own little bubble, just the two of you and Cinnamon.

German Translation:

liebling - love

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37sommz-archive · 7 months ago

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✼. COME TO ITALY | 2015.

CH. 01. NOW PLAYING: dreams by the cranberries [fluff, angst]. ✼.⠀summary: prema saves michaela's career, 2.1k.

MICHAELA WAS NEVER GOOD AT SITTING STILL. Her mother used to scold her for the fidgety nature that seemed to plague the young girl when she would bounce around the doctor’s office or disrupt the teacher during storytime. Her father thought it was a good trait to have as a racer. He found it helpful that his daughter’s endless supply of energy allowed her the chance to spend many hours in their garage fixing up a broken kart or reviewing racing footage from that day. She would bounce around, spurting out corrections for her form, or her pace.

I’m breaking too late…

too early…

I’m much too wide…

that was a chance to overtake.

As hyperactive as she was, she was also incredibly self-critical. Her uncle always lamented she was much too focused on being perfect—in action, in talent, and in response—that she often missed her chances to celebrate. Her response was always the same, “For every single mistake I make, they give the same amount of grace to the boys on their 10th.” She reasoned that her perfection would eliminate any opportunity for the males in the sport to discredit her.

Not that they needed much opportunity.

✼.⠀OCTOBER 20, 2015 — surrey, england

“WE CANNOT GUARANTEE YOU A SEAT FOR NEXT SEASON.” That was what the team principal told her after she fell short of the rookie cup. Second to il Predestinato and his shiny Dutch car. Though Michaela was rarely still, she stood still in that moment. Staring up at the older Englishman’s eyes as he continued on with some excuse she had no interest in hearing.

It wasn’t until he delivered a short, “The team wishes you the best. We’re sure you’ll have your fair pick of teams to choose from next season.”

Bullshit.

She muttered to herself as she turned on her heels to leave without her famously permanent smile to comfort the older man.

“I outperformed those jerkoffs in every single race,” The words stormed into the silent room as Travis, her uncle and manager, stood across from her.

Approaching her with caution, he gently reached to grab her shoulders, pulling her in for a gentle hug. Meant to calm her, but it did anything but. After a beat, Michaela tore herself away from her uncle, a sigh emitting from his chest signaling to her he was just as frustrated as she was.

“Travis—”

He cut her off before she could say what they were both thinking. His eyes slowly tracked her movements as she paced from one end of the room to the other.

“Mickey, we both know that you outperformed Ryan and Gus. But let’s not pretend we don’t know what’s going on here.”

She scoffed at that, eyes rolling with angry disbelief as her arms found their way back into their pretzel over her chest. Travis, in his stubborn wisdom, continued speaking, “This is a test—”

“A test?”

She exclaimed, arms thrown from their place on her chest. Her head shook from one side to the other as Travis watched on with a subtle sympathy for his ambitious niece.

“They tested me all season.”

The words peaked in tone, hitting Travis’ ear with a sense of pain he hadn’t seen in the 15-year-old since she was back in Australia breaking the news over the phone that her father had been laid off.

“They gave me the least reliable car, they refused to protect me from the pricks who terrorized me off the track. Then, when I get a win in Germany—”

Her lips pursed together at the memory, stopping in the middle of her words to keep herself from crying.

“The only win between the three of us—”

Failure finds her, tears puddled in the corners of her eyes spill over.

“The engineers abandon me on the podium to talk strategy with the other two.”

“How many times do I need to prove that I’m just as,” Stopped to correct her words her head shook again, “...better than the boys?”

It’s Travis’ turn to fold his arms over each other. His head fell back against the door that stood behind his frame, too pained to watch Michaela fight to hold back the tears that kept flowing down the sides of her face. Their lips equally pursed as the silence filled the room once again.

This was what most of their conversations ventured into. That question of being enough tortured both of them, for admittedly different reasons, but the toll of it weighed upon their shoulders the same. It had been a question Michaela frequently asked her uncle, usually in jest, though revealing the depth of her insecurities just the same.

They both knew Travis would eventually have to offer her an answer.

One definitive so she would stop asking.

But Michaela would be lying if she tried to act as if she was naively unaware of the answer Travis fought back every time the question was posed.

She knew the answer was never.

She knew the answer would destroy her if confirmed by the one person who believed she was better than the boys. She knew the answer would tear down every step forward she took in the name of chasing the success she so desperately craved to taste.

So Travis didn’t answer. Neither of them was sure he ever would.

Instead, with his head pressed against the hardwood behind him, he offered up a solution. As he always did.

“We’ll call around in the morning like we always do. We’ll use every trick, every piece of leverage we have. I’m going to get you that seat. Doesn’t matter where, doesn’t matter how.”

When Michaela didn’t respond, his head broke away from its hold tipped back. His eyes met hers searching endlessly for a sliver of hope in her clouded brown eyes. The same eyes she shared with his older brother.

“C’mon Mickey—” He coaxed in an attempt to draw an emotion out of the teenager who stood before him. Any emotion would do in that moment. “I’ll make it happen. You believe me? Right?”

It must have been nearly a minute before she broke the staring contest she held over him. She shrugged her shoulders, arms folded over to offer a sense of comfort to her pained self.

“Yes?” Travis pushed once more, eyebrows raised in a way that reminded her of her father’s own instinctive heroism.

“Yeah.”

A nod was all he needed to cross the space over to her. With a shake of her shoulders, Michaela released the smallest of giggles. His paler hand ruffled at her curly hair, a move to diffuse the tension that hung between the two family members.

“Right,” He exhaled as his hand retreated to its place. “Let’s get out of this shithole.”

✼.⠀NOVEMBER 05, 2015 — london, england

“In a post to her blog, Susie Wolff has announced her formal retirement from Formula One.”

“The prospect of a female driver on the grid.”

“The events at the start of this year and the current environment in F1 the way it is, it isn't going to happen."

IN THE FEW WEEKS SINCE HER DROP FROM JAGONYA, MICHAELA HAD NOT LEFT HER RACING SIMULATOR IF NOT TO EAT OR SLEEP. The TV directly to her left was left on Sky Sports, news within the racing world kept her both alert and melancholy.

Paradoxically, it worried Travis, and his wife, just as much as it reassured them. The duality of the feeling pulled at their emotions as they witnessed the extent of Michaela’s worries that she wasn’t—and couldn’t be—as good as the boys. That’s what most of her hyperactivity came down to. At least in their eyes.

“Michaela, love.”

Bea’s words were as gentle as ever given the depths of her concern for the teenager. Her eyes caught the end of Michaela’s racing journal as it perched on the edge of her desk. Battered from her obsessive writings, Bea picked it up carefully to place it down carefully.

As she turned back to her niece, Michaela’s tired eyes stared up at her, hands still gripped at the wheel of her simulator with the screen paused in wait.

“It’s been ages since you got up.”

With a softness, her eyes conveyed the true weight behind her words. Michaela was more than aware her obsession with perfection worried her aunt, though she was unwilling to give it up. A relaxed sigh left her mouth as she rose from her chair, the simulator shutting down as Bea observed from her stance just across the room.

“Come eat, Travis has news.”

The casual words stunned Michaela more than she would be willing to relate. A knowing smile pulled at the corners of Bea’s mouth before she shrugged calmly.

“I’m not sure what it’s about, but he was quite insistent you come down.”

Those words were all it took before Michaela rushed down the stairs, her hair flying behind her in a messy haze of brown and blonde curls, bouncing against the gravity of her run.

“Mickey?”

Travis’ voice beamed with excitement as he caught the attention of his excited niece.

“We have a guest,” His head shook with a laugh. “Best behavior?” His pinky finger reached for Michaela’s own, an ill-fated attempt to calm her down before the unnamed guest presumably seated in their living room.

A clear of her throat and a twist of their pinkies and Travis led her to the living room.

A full head of dark hair turned to face the overzealous 15-year-old clothed in a raggedy Lightning McQueen t-shirt. With a laugh, he stood to attention, and a hand reached out to shake hers.

“René Rosin,” She exhaled with a breathiness that conveyed her amazement. A smile graced his features at her recognition, sure his decision had been reassured in that moment.

“I heard the Brits left you without a seat for next year.”

“Can you imagine?” She muttered, her smile never faltered despite her uncle’s clearance of his throat as a reminder of her ‘best behavior’ promise from just moments before.

“Sorry, I’m really—”

She cut herself off as René raised a hand to signal he graced the comment.

“When I found out, I can admit I was shocked beyond belief.”

The team principal’s Italian accent bled beautifully into his words. Michaela almost found herself distracted by the flourishes he added to the end of his sentences as she hung on to every word he expressed to her.

“How has your break been?”

Caught off guard by the question, Michaela shrugged her shoulders. With a nervous bite of her lip—terrified and in awe of the principal’s appearance in her living room—she chose her words wisely.

“Unfulfilling. I miss the track.”

With a nod of his head, René exchanged a knowing glance with Travis who gently chuckled at his niece’s criticalness.

Michaela’s mind spun at a mile a minute, an infinite number of scenarios of René’s next words ran through her consciousness. Hope was tussled with paranoia at the back of her mind. Hoping that this would be her moment of redemption but paranoid she would be put in her place once more.

They got someone to convince me to give up.

The thought displaced her for a moment before she snapped back into reality. Her teeth chewed at the inside of her mouth and her fingers pressed into her palms. Both were nervous habits that didn’t escape Travis and Bea’s attention though they exchanged subtle smiles that completely escaped Michaela. With a gentle tap on her shoulder, Travis coaxed Michaela to stop her movement. The action reminded her to exist in the moment before her.

“How soon would you like to be back? Racing?”

Michaela didn’t need the clarification he offered before she burst with attention.

“Tomorrow—today—I… I don’t care when. Just as soon as possible.”

René chuckled again at her eagerness. With a clap of his hands that startled Michaela as much as it excited her, René cleared his throat.

“Then tomorrow, I’ll see you in Veneto.”

Michaela tilted her head in confusion, feeling as if she had missed a few words before the statement.

“Sorry,” She stammered, paranoia crept back into her. “What—what do you mean? V-Veneto?”

His smile did little to calm her until his response accomplished the mission instead.

“How would you like to race for Prema in GP2?”

✼. view:⠀masterlist⠀⸻⠀join the taglist⠀⸻⠀request. ✼. taglist:⠀@cha-hot @certifiedlesbianbaddie @nichmeddar @d3kstar @thewannabewriter

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arminreindl · 1 year ago

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A Brief History of Flamingos

People wanted it so here it is, a brief rundown of flamingos throughout prehistory, which is essentially a brief summary of extinct flamingo species that I worked on for Wikipedia. Because of this, I'll stick to the two main famillies, the Palaeolodidae ("swimming flamingos") and Phoenicopteridae (true flamingos) and leave aside the misc. early forms we don't know are actually related or not.

Palaelodidae Palaelodids, occasionally referred to as "swimming flamingos" are an interesting and surprisingly long lasting group, containing 3 genera, 10 species and ranging from the Oligocene to the Pleistocene across all continents bar Africa and Antarctica.

The oldest palaelodid is Adelalopus hoogbutseliensis from the Early Oligocene of Belgium. Not much to be said other than that its name is an anagram of Palaelodus.

Palaelodus is the most widespread of the genera in the family, with the type species being Palaelodus ambiguus from the Oligocene and Miocene of Europe. I did actually make a whole post about the genus before here. Anyways, P. ambiguus is the best known species thanks to the ample material collected at Saint-Gérand-le-Puy, France. Remains were also found in Germany and maybe Brazil?

Brazil is interesting, because already by the Oligocene palaelodids were nearly cosmopolitan. Two other species, Palaelodus pledgei and Palaelodus wilsoni, have been recovered from the Oligocene to Miocene of Australia, half a world away from P. ambiguus. P. pledgei is the smallest known species of Palaelodus.

During the early Miocene we also get Palaelodus aotearoa, from New Zealand, and from the middle Miocene Palaelodus kurochkini from Mongolia. The later of the two may in fact be its own genus, but for now its deemed Palaelodus.

Generally, Palaelodus is less specialised than flamingos, though living in brackish waters and feeding on small aquatic insects, they didn't yet have the same suffisticated filter feeding bill as todays flamingos. Whats debated is how they moved. Some suggest wading, others diving and again others propose the idea that they may have been swimmers.

There is one more note on this group, which is that there are some remains assigned to P. wilsoni that appear to have been Pleistocene in age? Obviously this would be a massive deal, but it has also been suggested that this could be a new species given the time gap or a whole new genus. Still, palaelodid remains from the Pleistocene are still incredible. Palaelodus by Alphinyx and Tom Simpson

The last member of the Palaelodidae is Megapaloelodus. Yes they misspelled Palaelodus in the genus name. The definition of this form is kinda vague and mostly based on size, which is why there's so many issues around Megapaloelodus goliath. You see it was initially described based on its size, but when larger remains of Megapaloelodus were found it was transferred to that genus. However, all other Megapaloelodus species are from the Americas, so thats kinda odd, although of course not a dealbreaker. Still, future research might change things up here.

While Megapaloelodus goliath was contemporary and found at the same place as Palaelodus ambiguus, all others are found in Miocene to Pliocene deposits of America.

Megapaloelodus connectens is the type species and known from the Miocene of South Dakota and California.

Megapaloelodus peiranoi may be the basalmost species and was discovered in Miocene deposits of Argentina.

Finally, we got Megapaloelodus opsigonus from Oregon and possibly Baja California. As this is the youngest species, from the Pliocene, its name means "born in a later age".

Megapaloelodus by Joschua Knüppe (with Argentavis) and Scott Reid

Which actually wraps up palaelodids. Yeah the majority of studies are focused on palaelodids, no surprise given its the only one with really good remains. But based on said animal, its a fascinating group.

This means we can move on to true flamingos, members of the family Phoenicopteridae. I hope you like that name btw, because goddamn "Phoenico" is an overused prefix for these animals to a ridiculous degree. Even I struggled keeping up.

Just to set the stage, lets establish the modern flamingos, split into two to three genera. There is the Lesser Flamingo (Phoeniconaias minor), the only extant member of its genus and native to Africa and Asia. There are two species of Phoenicoparrus, the Andean and Jame's flamingos (Phoenicoparrus andinus and Phoenicoparrus jamesi respectively), both endemic to South America. And then there's the three species of Phoenicopterus. The incredibly whidespread Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus), the American Flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber) and the Chilean Flamingo (Phoenicopterus chilensis). As if the Greater and American flamingos didn't already have latin names way too similar, they were also synonyms for a while so thats fun when they get brought up in old papers.

Chart of living flamingos by Mr. Gharial

Anyways, lets reset to the Oligocene and do this semi-chronologically as before. And yes, Oligocene. Because contrary to what you might think, palaelodids, as we currently think of them as, aren't the ancestors to flamingos and more a really weird sister group that appeared from the same common ancestor aroundt he same time.

Thankfully, we get to start with something fun and not confusing, Harrisonavis croizeti. Another one I did actually cover in detail on Tumblr right here. The short of it is that Harrisonavis already bears the hallmarks of modern flamingos, possessing that classic curved bill and certainly doing some filter feeding already. And if you paid attention you might recognize where its from. Saint-Gérand-le-Puy, France. Yup, this guy coexisted with Palaelodus and Megapaloelodus. Must have been a fascinating place.

Harrisonavis and Palaelodus by Joschua Knüppe

Of course this being a well known form, we gotta follow it up with something bad. Elornis is, simply put, a mess. We aren't even super sure if its a flamingo or not and its history is convoluted. All we can say for sure is that it lived during the late Oligocene in France.

Like palaelodids, true flamingos seem to have dispersed rapidly, as our next entry managed to reach Australia by the late Oligocene. Phoeniconotius eyerensis, I repeat that one, PhoenicoNOTIUS (you see what I mean with things getting confusing?) is a genus from the Lake Eyre Basin of South Australia. It was a comparably robust animal, much more massive than other flamingos and perhaps more of a wader than a swimmer, staying away from deeper waters?

Same time same place we got Phoenicopterus novaehollandiae. PhoenicoPTERUS, as in the same genus as American and Greater flamingos. Now this guy sticks mostly to the same stuff as its relatives, thus differing clearly from Phoeniconotius.

Phoeniconotius (foreground), Phoenicopterus novaehollandiae (?, middle) and palaeolids (background) by Frank Knight, Phoeniconotius by Anne Musser

We can now move into the Miocene. We get a brief break from Phoenico names courtesy of Leakeyornis aethiopicus from Kenya. Tho its not super well preserved, its among the few fossil flamingos with known skull remains, so thats gotta count for something.

Skeletal by me, art by Joschua Knüppe

Also during the Miocene, we get the appearance of the genus Phoeniconaias (PhoenicoNAIAS) thanks to Phoeniconaias siamensis. A small species, only slightly larger than today's Lesser Flamingo, its remains are exclusively known from the Mae Long Reservoir in northern Thailand.

Fossil material of P. siamensis alongside a Lesser Flamingo via เบิร์ดโบราณ - Ancient bird on Facebook

And already we find ourselves in the Pliocene. Oh how time flies. Lets wrap up known fossil species of Phoeniconaias then while we're at it. Phoeniconaias proeses is a species from Australia. Unlike our friend from Thailand, this one is actually smaller than its modern relative. It also coexisted with two other flamingos. Fossils from the region have been assigned to the Greater Flamingo and one other form we'll cover next.

Xenorhynchopsis. Our last truly original name. Xenorhynchopsis minor is the older of the two, Pliocene in age and the species I just alluded to earlier. The genus then went on to continue into the Pleistocene via Xenorhynchopsis tibialis. Neither is especially well known and both had been named by de Vis, who while no doubt an important contributor to Australian paleontology also had plenty of flaws I'll discuss soon with my next post on mekosuchines. Anyways, Xenorhynchopsis has a cool name, a confusing history (they were described as storks) and likely died out when the inland waterways of Australia dried up.

Its all downhill from here folks. It's all PhoenicoPTERUS from now on and none of them are especially good. Lets rewind to the Pliocene to cover them properly.

We got Phoenicopterus floridanus from the early Pliocene of, who guessed it, Florida. It may have also inhabited North Carolina.

Phoenicopterus stocki, or Stock's Flamingo, lived during the middle Pliocene in Mexico. Tho not well described, we got juvenile remains too, young individuals that were not yet capable of flight.

Finally we got two Pleistocene species.

Phoenicopterus minutus from California, specifically Lake Manix. Lake Manix also yielded fossils tentatively assigned to the other Pleistocene fossil species.

Phoenicopterus copei. While fossils of P. minutus are currently exclusive to Lake Manix, P. copei was more widespread, ranging from Mexico in the south to Oregon in the north as well as California in the west and Florida in the east. Where it coexisted with other flamingos, like P. minutus and American flamingos, it would have been the larger species.

And thats it. All the fossil flamingos of the Palaelodidae and Phoenicopteridae. Alas, bird fossils preserve notoriously poorly and though stuff like the ends of tibiatarsi and tarsometatarsi are diagnostic, they aren't super helpful to making them sound interesting to the average joe. So sorry if this whole post is a little dry in spots.

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red-ruth · 2 months ago

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So like…. could Marc actually win this?

Short Answer: I mean…… yeahhhhhh????

Long Answer: *incomprehensible screaming* …… and in this essay I will-

Because I genuinely don’t know what to think of Marc’s mindset rn. The whole gresini team + Marc seem hesitant to announce the championship challenge.

When Frankie did the interview post Misano 1 w TNT sports he identified their weakness as Friday, which is true. Winning the title means he needs to sort out his fucking qualifying. The tracks where he’s falling behind, he pushes more to find the limit and make the difference, but the other side of that line is him binning it and sending him down the grid. He has the speed to be on the front row pretty much every track now, even the ones where the gp24s are in a championship of their own. He can’t keep recovering from several places back every weekend, only to get up to the podium by half way through the race, at which point Pecco and Jorge have fucked off into the distance. He needs to be up there terrorising them.

However, the amount of tracks left that DO favour Marc are significant.

To start with, the counter clockwise circuits. Phillip Island and Valencia. We could very well see a performance there like we saw at Aragon and what was hinted at in Germany (Sachsenring 2024 what could’ve been, always in our hearts). I wouldn’t say we can guarantee wins, I’m aware of how powerful jinxes are, and Aragon did have an abysmal lack of grip, but they’re tracks where his performance is expected to be the best. We can’t necessarily say the same for the rest of the tracks, but what we can say about them is that they’re a complete fucking lottery.

Thailand, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Australia = anything could fucking happen. It’s no doubt that if it were actively raining (could be likely) Marc would come out on top, as we’d seen in misano 1. But what we also learnt from that race is that Marc only really needs a slightly damp track to beat the pace of the gp24s. He got up to the front because it started pissing down for half a lap yeah, but if he sorts out qualifying, he’d be up at the front in the first place, and a damp track would then allow him to keep up and extend a potential lead. More than that, you’ll see more riders coming through on an even playing field to take points out of Martin and Pecco. Exactly like Aragon. The Asian leg, in the past, has always been a bit of a gamble, and that’s where Marc will thrive.

Realistically, Valencia being the final race means that if Marc came in to that final round near equal on points, he could win the title. It would require a perfect weekend from him, Valencia being dusty plus counter clockwise would be good for that, like Aragon.

In order to be close enough going into it though he’d definitely have to be on the podium every round from here on out. Probably more 2nd’s than 3rds so that he’s scoring more than either Jorge or Pecco. Aswell as a handful more wins.

He’d also have to bargain on Jorge and Pecco fighting amongst themselves, taking points off each other. And the both of them having a few more dnfs/bottles like Pecco in Barcelona/Aragon (Peccos horrific starts not his crash w Alex) or Jorge in Sachsenring/Misano 1.

Another factor I haven’t seen people talk about, THE BEAST. For one, he is not far behind Marc, which could be a threat to him, of course. But if we imagine a situation like silverstone happening at more circuits where the gp24 could hold a massive advantage, that’s taking significant points off Pecco and Jorge, drawing the entire fight closer together. To then alternate to tracks where the playing field is more even, then we have Marc coming out on top, and Enea realistically falling behind so he can’t really make an advantage stick (like how we’re seeing him drop away again despite his dominant silverstone performance)

But I’m gonna be real….. I know I’ve just written multiple paragraphs about how Marc could win this, I don’t actually think Marc is trying to win the championship. I think he could, I honestly really, really do. I think if he had something to prove, we’d be having a completely different conversation. But in my mind, he’s already proven himself. We all know that next year, Marc is going to be alongside Pecco. There are less ducatis on the grid, and a lot of the riders on the remaining bikes, have never been Ducati riders before. If we can count on Ducati taking another massive step forward in development (fuck even any step at all at this rate) it’s clear that this is going to be a Pecco v Marc showdown. He’s staked his claim in that.

Marc doesn’t need the 2024 title. He’s saying he’s spending the rest of the year figuring out the bike in combination with his riding style. He’s doing this because he’s achieved all his goals already, get on the podium, win a race, get that seat, enjoy racing again. Tick, tick, tick, tick. He’s done, he’s checked out. He’s being realistic about his performance. As he was saying about the sprint yesterday, “If we start 7th, I finish 4th. If I start 1st I finish 4th.” And you can see the fucking BALL of a time Marc is having at Gresini, (oh my god what an incredible team I might write a whole post on my thoughts on them later). He’s enjoying racing again, and he’s relishing in that feeling coming back. I’m sure Marc is honestly satisfied in sitting back and having fun in a low pressure environment before he moves to Ducati Corse and locks the fuck in.

HOWEVER, he also has absolutely nothing to lose. For someone like Jorge who’s going to a less competitive team next year, or Pecco who’s gonna have an 8 times world champion in the box, they both are conscious of the fact this could really be their last chance at a title. Marc could come 4th, 3rd, 2nd or 1st this year and it means literally nothing because next year is where the real fight is.

In Misano 1 Marc took the risk during the rain to get up to p1 because he could afford to crash, and Pecco couldn’t. Which got him the win. If he’s planning on riding like that for the rest of the season he really could win it. But need I remind you, Pecco didn’t fight him because he wasnt Jorge Martin. Maybe Marc and the team are trying to put out the fires the media are lighting and they don’t want to draw attention to the fact that Marc very well could win this. If his strategy in those situations is fuck around now, find out later, in which the “finding out” is “win or we crash”. He’d be bargaining on Martin and Bagnaia disregarding him as a real contender. His best bet is laying low and striking when they don’t expect him too.

Am I seeing mind games where there aren’t any? Maybe. Is this delusional hope? Of course! And I also don’t think it’s something that Marc is gunning for. Like I genuinely believe the title is only gonna happen if it… falls into his hands, you know? It relies so much on luck. Getting race conditions he prefers, Pecco and Jorge bottling. Enea preforming only when it’s convenient. Not Crashing In Quali For Fucks Sake Marc. And I think Marc knows that too. This title is something that’s almost completely out of his control. He doesn’t have the bike to simply be the better rider, the only thing he can do is maximise the chances he gets in the next few rounds. If he wins or loses this, it’s not because of his skills as a rider, it’s because he was dealt the hand he needed.

But if this happens, if he is dealt this hand and he rounds the final turn of the final lap in Valencia in P1, his ninth championship secured, if I can allow us all to dream scandalously for a second, this season will go down in fucking history. In a career of incredible championship fights, controversies and highs and lows, nothing will beat whatever happens in the coming months…..

…

cut to marc in the gravel in a few hours time

#can you tell I have a school work due and I spent the afternoon over analysing motorbike riders #I’ve jinxed him I’ve jinxed him I’ve jinxed him #motogp #marc marquez #pecco bagnaia #jorge martin #enea bastianini

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alanaartdream · 3 months ago

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View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Alana Felicity Bochmann (@alanaartdream)

instagram

I’m loving @cubbihue and @jessadamsdraws fairly odd parents AUs Itty Bitties and top Deal au

So for one was trying to figure out how to draw lawyer Timmy Turner with Hazel Wanda Cosmo and Peru and the other trying to draw my Fairly odd parents fairy oc

Ok Cubbihue’s Itty Bitties au remind me of my old Fairy oc I came up with for an old fop fanfic I use to love back in the day but it never finished where Timmy becomes a fairy and gets adopted by wonda and Cosmo and joins their family along with poof (peri)

My fairy was a fairy Teenager at the time of that old story idea I had of her being as Fairies take a REAL long and slow time to age/ grow up being as they don’t die of old age thus they don’t always have the need for children to keep family lines going all that often/ much

Now my

Mum is from Germany so while I was born in Australia 🇦🇺 (and grew up in Australia and live here) she would tell me about the rather darker fairytales and stories about the fae (fairies; elves; pixies and the like) and when it came to tales about Chanlings not many ended well; only remember one book I came across where a special cat saved a child from the fae and managed to bring her back to her loving parents while helping fae & that human family to become friends everyone including the fae got a good ending in that story (it’s been so long from reading that story forgotten it’s name but I remember it was names after that cat) otherwise most times when changling children are involved the parents never get their own child back and after changling has grown a bit in place of the original child they would then run away to the forest or just disappear one night never to be seen again and on top of that the original child never comes back at all (( heck in some cultures if they believe the child had been changed with a changling they’d just dump that child out into the woods to die for fear of raising some unknown creature))

So I believe my fairy oc was created century before Timmy was last human child to be taken to become a fairy from time when England was sending convicts to Australia and my character Felicity was a child who lost her parents and had grabbed a (kinda stale) bread in act of hunger and was sent as a convict to work as helper on farm out in Australia to repent for grabbing that bread witch is when she’d gotten Jorgen’s Nana Boom boom as her fairy godmother who had treated her with far better kindness than the human adults in her life so wished to become a fairy and Nana Boom boom took her in as her last child to raise (she had raised Jorgen before her) and her help her deal with the painful changes of changing into a permanent fairy and then dealing with powers she was getting she’s made these pies for her to explode and practice her magic on before enrolling her into magic school

Her anti fairy didn’t start to show up until her changling replacement had done it’s job and her anti fairy was born out of a dark thorny flower in front of Nana boom boom’s anti fairy screaming

Now if she’s in itty bitties au my fairy oc she’s older than Timmy fairy and she’s got a lot of slivers white hair to match with nana boom boom’s white hair (even her tail has a few white hairs) if she’s in the Fop deal Au she’ll have her brown hair and brown eyes) most of the other fairies 🧚 in fairy-world know she’s the fairy for arts and fairy who helps with the cat service of helping cats find their forever homes/ humans who will forever care for them kinda deal (she wasn’t allowed to go to earth until her changling had done it’s job (witch it did)

But many didn’t know until Timmy (with help from Hazel) discovers that she’s also the record keeping fairy and sometimes helps Father Time witch is how she helps keep records of what really happens (she keeps nots and does drawings of a lot different events for safe keeping for fairy world )

She will not stop other human children from

Becoming a true fairy but doe advice against saying it’s most painful experience of changing into a permanent fairy and how she almost went mad from going through that change but remembering how caring mama Boom boom (Jorgen calls her nana Felicity calls her mama boom boom; Jorgen’s cousin Jorgie being as he’s older than her (Wanda and Cosmo are older than her too only Timmy and Peri (poof) are younger than her; she sometimes says peri (fairy Timmy if in au where Timmy becomes a fairy) came into the world because before they came people always were treating her as a kid until they came about

But if it’s in itty bitties au Fairy Felicity would agree with Timmy that it shouldn’t be so easy to change human children into fairies because thanks to Father Time she’s seen when things didn’t go right with changlings

Now Fairy Felicity helps inspire artists and Writers with their stories if they’re hitting a roadblock or need some inspiration for their artwork/ writing while her Anti Fairy loves to make writers And Artist suffer Artist blocks/ writers block or burn out; her anti fairy hates curly hair and will try to straighten it out while fairy Felicity loves them and art so her curly hair goes a little wild and always has a pencil/ paintbrush in it with a cat hair clip next to it (she also has a cat pin on her top and bits of paint or ink on her clothes)

Fairy felicity has a more old times Australian accent while her anti fairy has a British accent like anti cosmo has; now being as it was Foop ( Irep) started the anti fairy having backwards version name to their fairy counterpart

… sorry had to type all that out for you all before I post the drawings out because the videos where I talk about her are on instagram and TikTok and I wanted tumblr to know her lore as well

Fairy Felicity didn’t meet Timmy before but has a lot of records about all the times he’s saved fairy world and some from when he’s save the universe thanks to working part time with Father Time

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cherrylng · 3 months ago

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Matt Bellamy Interview - Muse [ROCKIN'ON (September 2000)]

"The ideal is to keep pushing forward and go on and on and on and on and die in the end….. What I want to do is act out that ideal."

The new generation of guitar band supernovas, Muse, have finally broken through in their home country of the UK. We caught up with Matt Bellamy just before Summer Sonic to find out more about the hyper nuclear explosion he is about to cause on stage. Interview by Erika Yamashita

Matt Bellamy is 22 years old. On the day of the interview, he had not returned from Glastonbury for a long time. When he finally got back, he got into a big fight with his sweetheart, who had been with him since he was 15, over whether he was going to Wimbledon or not. After all that, a phone call came into our waiting mobile phone, saying "We've broken up", which was not even an excuse (Of course, after this interview, he went to Wimbledon in his girlfriend's car). A genius boy is still a boy.

If a genius is born of talent plus environment, he is a very good test case indeed. A boring hometown, a complicated family environment thrown in at the delicate age of mid-teens. He was placed in a situation where there was nothing else to do but music, and his special qualities, which he could master as soon as he was given a musical instrument, blossomed most fortunately. The problem is the ‘riskiness’ of Muse's live shows, which lightly involve the superhuman technique cultivated in this way.

Every time I saw them on stage, I started to wonder if they were okay. Unnormal hyper-energy, passion, adrenaline - there's just not enough to say. He looks like he has a ticking time bomb in his breast pocket and is running into unlimited chaos. There, an explosion of life is always waiting, willing to stab the world in the back and destroy itself.

However, within Matt Bellamy lives the will to objectify such extreme conditions of life. He becomes possessed by the role as he plays it, and yet there is no fail-safe on the bomb in his chest that he returns to in the end, leaving a shell behind. The chaos which he dives into is always a flashpoint. And then, with a bang, he rises in an unknown place, leaving behind a shadow that flutters over the cliff and disappears before our eyelids. Another one is gone. And here I am.

A strange, almost split-second, instinctive balance. Is it his character, his theatrical training, or the blood of his mother, a medium? Or perhaps we are looking at a 21st-century artist who is called upon to survive.

"It's not that we think we're the best or anything, but I just don't see any bands playing this kind of rock in the UK at the moment."

The stage at Glastonbury was also incredible. The ending was like you, Chris and Dominic rolling around in a three-way and trying to smash a drum kit, what were you thinking at that moment? 「(laughs) No, I was struggling to get out of the way when they got on top of me. So I kicked the equipment over. I wasn't trying to break anything, I just decided not to break any more stuff. Well, that was the moment at the end of the show when the three of us got closer, or something like that.」

Closer, huh (laughs). Anyway, Muse went from being an unknown band at Glastonbury last year to becoming such a big name in the space of a few years. How do you feel about it? 「But I don't really feel that way. People don't stop us on the street and think we're famous. We're just starting out. People often talk about how well-known we are in interviews, but we don't see ourselves on TV or in magazines, so we don't really know.」

You guys originally got noticed at the CMJ festival in the US, which led to your signing with Maverick. Then came France, Germany, and Australia, followed by the very late recognition in your home country of the UK How did you feel about this? 「Yes, it's true that the British were late in that respect, and we were the last to be signed. But the record is the biggest seller in the UK. We were the first to have an album go gold. So we were slow to jump on board, but once we did, we were quick. We ended up being the most successful in the UK. I think the reason we didn't catch on right away is because it was a time in the UK when record companies weren't interested in guitar bands. They tended to focus on idols and R&B groups.」

The arrival of Muse has allowed British guitar rock to assert itself with pride, and has also created the ground for a revival in the young guitar band scene. In your eyes, do you see rivals to yourselves in the current scene? 「No, that's the problem. It's not that we think we're the best or anything, it's just that I don't see any bands doing this kind of rock. We seem to be the only ones in the Top 40 with this kind of music. Then there's Travis and Stereophonics, but they're not really new anymore, are they? They're on their second album. And then there's…… Coldplay are a great band, but they're not what you'd call rock! I wouldn't say they're our rivals because their music is completely different. I have no doubt they're going to be big, but I think it's a different audience.」

Do you feel like you're more in your element when you tour the US with bands like the Chilli Peppers and the Foo Fighters? 「UK bands have had a hard time in the States over the last couple of years. This is the downside of Britpop. Oasis and Blur sold really well in their home countries and then brought it to America, but they needed a slightly special audience in America. In other words, people who thought Britain was a really eccentric and cool place and would wear Union Jack T-shirts and stuff like that. We had a problem with people expecting that from a British band. But when we played with the Foo Fighters, I thought we had finally met a real American audience. Our music is more global than British, and that tour was really good for us. We got the chance to play to 20,000 people who only listen to American rock night after night. Other UK bands still don't get that chance.」

That's quite an energetic touring pace, isn't it? I saw your ‘room introduction’ in Select magazine, and it looked like a deserted room with a bunch of chairs and musical instruments placed in a corner, and it looked like the owner might not be coming back (laughs). 「Hahahaha…… I don't actually live there anymore. I lived there for a year until last January, but I was on tour a lot and rarely came back, so I decided to leave. I used to work as a decorator and painter before the band became famous, so when I had more time I thought I'd do some work on it and make it a better home. The bed was still there for now, so I thought I'd put a few more things in there, so I took this photo. That's the closest I can get to being at home now, but I'm never at home at all (laughs).」

How many days have you actually been at home this year? 「Hahahaha…… About two weeks in total.」

There is a lot of concern out there that you are on the verge of burnout. Not long ago, there was a news report in the British press of you saying that, "If we keep going at this pace, we're going to burn out". 「I'm sorry about that, but it's not true at all. I was on a student radio show in America and I jokingly blurted out that "touring is hell and I'm burnt out". I was exhausted from all the small venues and all the travelling from the tour at that time, and the interviewer said, "You look tired", so I just said it in response. We just happened to be in that situation at the time, we weren't burnt out. But the radio interview went on the internet and the NME printed it proudly in their papers. It was like we were issuing an official declaration to the British press.」

The UK press is doing a great job as usual. 「Hahaha. Well, it doesn't matter. We're fine over here and it's obvious when you see us keep playing like this.」

"The gig was over and I was lying on the floor, motionless behind the amps. I stayed like that until the lights came on and everyone left, and it felt really good."

It's been ten months since "Showbiz" was first released to the world, and in that time you've already come a long way. How do you feel about that album now, looking back on it yourself? 「Basically, I still like it. I think it shows what we were like back then. The only regret I have is that the mixing could have been a bit better in places. But it doesn't matter, I was a different person then and I'm a different person now. When the album first came out, we were compared to Radiohead a lot, but as people got to know our live sound and who we actually are and who we are as a band, that stopped happening.」

Yes. By the way, I've been wanting to ask you something for a while. Your father was also a band member, so you must have been familiar with the industry from a long time ago, and I thought that's why you were so determined to make it big at such a young age. But when you decided to become a professional musician, your father wasn't around at all, let alone being a confidant? 「That's right. That's one of the things I'm starting to see…… My parents divorced when I was 13, and that's when I started playing guitar. I've recently started to wonder if that might have something to do with my father's disappearance. Before that, I wasn't that into music. I was just doing it for fun. But then my father left and it was just me and my mother, and then my mother left too, so I lived with my grandmother, from 14 to…… to 18, I think. That's when I really started playing music.」

Why do you think that was? 「I don't know, but when I'm playing music…… For me, music makes me forget everything else - everything that I don't like. Living like this every day now, I don't feel like I went through something terrible in the past. I don't think it was hard, either. But I think the reason I've managed to get by is because of music. Especially when my parents split up and neither of them were around anymore, I was able to get through it because of music.」

About the power of music. At the London Astoria show on June 7th, you seemed to lose your temper completely and rolled over with your guitar in your hand, right under the tube-shaped lights at the back of the stage. How is it that the climaxes of your shows, like at Glastonbury, are so unusual? You get to an extreme orgasmic state while you're playing, and you're like, ‘Kill! Kill! Kill me!’? 「Hahahahaha…… Ahaha…… No, recently, I've been thinking about it. I don't know if it's possible to make it happen, but I'd like to do a gig with a curtain at the back of the stage. The three of us have been soaring to the top, and even though there's a limit to how high we can go (laughs), sometimes I feel like that when I'm playing a gig…… It's hard to describe, but when I'm playing music I'm totally liberated and almost become a different persona. I think it's really boring to just stand there and wave and leave after a gig. The ideal gig is one that goes on and on and on and on, and in the end you die hahaha. But I don't really want to die (laughs), so what I want to do is to act it out. You know, like a one-act play. I become the destruction of everything, and in the end I disappear. And only the curtain remains. That's the way I want to end it」

And like only silence remained? 「Yes, yes. If we release many albums, we will be able to do many different kinds of shows, but the music we are doing now always has a climax waiting for us. If we start playing more quiet songs, I think it would be possible to play those songs at the end of the show and have a mellow ending, but for now. The way we ended the second day in Astoria, that was the first time we've done something like that. I was lying on the floor under the light tube, behind the guitar amp, not moving. I stayed there until the lights came on and everyone left the building. It felt really good, you know. I was starting to feel like I was falling down little by little and that it was really over. A lot of times during a gig you get so high from all the noise that you just can't get it down. But when you're sitting on the floor like that, you gradually come out of it. I can leave it on the stage. When I wait until all the audience is gone too, I really feel like everything is leaving me and disappearing.」

I see. So you die and are reborn every time. 「(laughs) That's right. I want to do an ending that conveys that.」

By the way, Muse's music, especially your guitar and vocals, is full of a sense of urgency, as if you are squeezing the world to death. It's like a sense of ‘I want to somehow make this world the way I want it to be’. What do you think? 「Hmmm…… I can't say I know what to say. Sometimes it's hard for me to look at things objectively. I think it can be read in various ways, it could have something to do with the way I was brought up as a child, it could be something that comes out of my inner darkness and chaos, it could be something that touches my subconscious and triggers a reaction in my brain that leads me to some kind of creative activity. But…… I've noticed recently that after a few months of making an album, I'm really good at explaining things. Why did I make this album, why did I write these songs? But in the last couple of months I've started concentrating on writing songs again and I don't know why I'm doing it at all, again. I can't explain my motives when I talk about the songs, but a few months ago I could say it very clearly and precisely. I'm back to confusion now. I'm starting to doubt that even my old songs were really made for the reasons I thought they were. From February to May this year I was undeniably confident about why I was doing what I was doing. Writing music itself is the most simple thing ever, I can't explain it, but it's a certain ‘feeling’. It's just a very simple desire to get the ‘feeling’ inside me out there. It doesn't matter if someone else is listening or not, it just spreads and fills the room with that feeling, that's all. It's only when it takes the form of an album that I start thinking about this and that. But I can't do that now. Sorry.」

No, I think that's right, when you're making something. By the way, do you consider yourself a guitarist, singer, or songwriter first and foremost? 「…… (thinks for a moment)) …… I don't know, I think I'm a songwriter first and foremost. I mean, I'm more of a music maker or a composer. That's what I want to be. I've passed the best stage of playing every instrument I've ever picked up. When I first started piano lessons, I improved a lot and by the time I was about 13 I was a very good pianist. All I played were pieces I'd composed myself. Of course, it was based on something I heard by ear, but I didn't really know it, so I just pieced it together. I realised that as soon as I learnt one instrument, I tended to move on to another. That's why I started playing the guitar. By the time I was 16 or 17, I was probably technically a better classical guitarist than I am now. Well, I play differently now. Then, at around 17, I let go of the guitar and concentrated on getting better at singing. It's the same with other instruments, but I seem to learn the basics very quickly. Then I decide if I want to improve further or not. Maybe it doesn't matter what kind of instrument you play, the instrument itself is a way of venturing out.」

Great guitarists often put their inability to express themselves in words into their instruments. But you put an excessive amount of energy into your guitar and vocals, like 300% when you add them together. That's rather rare, isn't it? 「Ahahaha, yeah, well, I'd like to. Ideally, I'd like to be like Jimi Hendrix. He sang a lot, and at that level, I don't think you're aware of how you're playing anymore. When you sing and play, it's almost automatic because you can't focus on your fingertips, and it's more expressive. The emotions that come out when I'm singing just flow straight out of my fingers. When I play guitar on stage, it's not the notes or chords that come to my mind, it's the emotion of the song itself. I really forget what I'm playing.」

"I remember very clearly that when I was 14, I thought that music was all I had. Well, I feel like I'm slowly starting to understand why my life is the way it is."

That's something only you can say, of course. So, the highly anticipated second album. You've written a lot of new material, but is it going to be a very different type of material? 「Yes. In terms of the method, it's the same as the first album, and each song is polished based on a live performance. For example, ‘Muscle Museum’, ‘Sunburn’ and ‘Falling Down’, we practised them live and then changed the instruments and arrangements on the recordings, and they turned out completely different. In the same way, the new songs we're playing live at this stage might not sound so different from the old ones. We're playing the same instruments and using the same techniques as before. When we go into the studio, we listen back to them and try different ways of doing things. I mean, that's when the song is really finished. Anyway, I can say here and now that some of the songs will be heavier than before. I don't know if heavy is misleading…… There are a couple of numbers where the guitars feature more than on the first one. But if I say that, people will expect it to be another heavy guitar album, won't they? Yes, there are some powerful, heavy and hard guitar-driven songs. But on the other hand, I think there are a couple of acoustic-oriented numbers on there too. With very old instruments. You know, bone percussion like they use in voodoo. And some Spanish guitars. So some of the songs will be very organic, very raw and sad. It's like taking the piano out of ‘Sunburn’, if you know what I mean. ‘Sunburn’, ‘Showbiz’, ‘Hate This And I Love You’, those are the songs that came towards the end of the first album, and I think it shows that the trend of our songs is shifting.」

Oh, I see. So it's safe to assume that the material for the new record is already in place? 「Yeah, we've got most of the songs. We've just started thinking about what sound we want to make and what instruments we want to use. With the first album we wanted to have variety throughout, and to create development within the songs, and we're going in that direction again this time. There's a lot of variety, and the direction of the variety is all over the place. It's hard to explain (laughs)…… But I'm sure it's going to be something that's very Muse.」

So the question is, when do you start recording (laughs)? 「Hmm, after the summer festival tour is over. We'll make a demo in September. Then we'll decide on a producer.」

Do you have any idea who you're going to choose? 「John Leckie wants to do another one, but I think it will probably be someone else. He's a great producer and a pleasure to work with, but I'm afraid to work with the same producer twice. And then I'm afraid that I'll be afraid to leave that person next time. So I'd like to take this opportunity to try someone new. I'm thinking of having a producer from Boston do a couple of songs, but if it's really up to me, I'd like to use a different person for each song. I don't know if that's possible. It might cost too much money. Anyway, we'll record a full record in November. And the first single in January or February next year.」

That's a good pace. By the way, regarding the content of the songs, you've said for some time that you want to deal with themes that go beyond personal anguish in the future. How do you feel about that? 「Well, there are a few…… To be clear, two songs, that's what I've done. That's something you can do when you're with someone else and you feel really connected to them. For example, with my mother, I recently had a long talk and found out a lot of things. She showed me some old photos and I started to understand more about who she was when she was younger. She had a lot going on in her life, and I thought that she must have had a difficult time when she was young, so I wrote a song about that. The other song is from the point of view of a young girl. She's always flicking through fashion magazines, comparing herself to other women who look like models and lamenting that she's not like them*. And she thinks how empty that is. That's what I'm putting myself in her shoes to sing about.」

Wow, that's exciting. Is this a very conscious process? Do you still find yourself saying, ‘Oh, I'm talking about myself again’? 「(laughs) Yeah, quite a lot. But the really good songs just come out on their own, without me even thinking about it. Like, I don't even know what I'm talking about. But I made a conscious effort to write songs that don't just rant and rave like that (laughs). It's the first time I've made a song that wasn't random. I won't know if it's a success or a failure until it's finished.」

You mentioned your mother, was she a medium? 「Yes, she was. It was a long time ago though.」

I wonder if the reason you often talk about the separation of technology and spirituality has something to do with this background. For example, when you were a child, did it feel very natural for you to come into contact with the world through spirits and the like? 「Hmmm… I don't know. I don't really understand it myself, but I'm interested. These things are speculation and nothing is factual…… It's true that when I was a child, my mother was a medium. That means she speaks the language of the dead. That kind of thing was very close to me. I was around 8 or 9, and my brother was around 13, and he was really into it. But when I was 13 or 14, my mother stopped. My father left, and that's when my mother stopped doing it too. And I remember very clearly that when I was 14, I thought that music was the only thing for me. Well, I'm slowly starting to understand why my life is the way it is……」

Yeah. By the way, you just turned 22 the other day. How did you spend your birthday? 「Oh, I was in London and took a day off. An old friend who I hadn't seen for months came out to London and stayed at my place. I was about to go on tour the next day, so I had a day off. I bought a Go-Ped. You know, a scooter with an engine. We rode around London on it, it was fun.」

Matt on a scooter. I can picture it in my mind (laughs). Lastly, what does the word ‘hope’ remind you of now? 「Hope. Hope is, you know…… Hmmm…… First of all, you're trapped in a cave or something like that. That's fine. That's the normal state of affairs. But hope is when you see a little hole all the way up there, and you see the sky, and the sun, and there's light. It's just a ray of light shining on your face. But it doesn't reach there. That's my image of hope.」

It's not here now, but I know it's there. Is that what it feels like? 「Yeah, yeah.」

Translator's Note: The article perfectly describes Matt as it is. "A genius boy is still a boy" indeed LMAO

* The song that Matt referred to later came to be known as 'Screenager' and appeared on the second album, Origin of Symmetry. As for the song that Matt talked about wanting to write to be based on his mum, I don't know what that is. If anyone knows, do let me know!

Do support me on my Ko-fi!

#Matt Bellamy #Muse #Muse band #Showbiz era #smol meerkat #my scan #translation #interview #ROCKIN'ON #ROCKIN'ON September 2000

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umseb · 8 months ago

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Sebastian Vettel in the Porsche 963

Sebastian Vettel has prepared meticulously for his stint with the hybrid prototype. On 14 March, the 53-time Formula 1 race winner paid a visit to the FIA WEC team at the Porsche Penske Motorsport facility in Mannheim. One day later, the Heppenheim native completed an extensive simulator session at the Porsche Motorsport Centre in Flacht and familiarised himself with the special features and complex controls of the Le Mans race car. This was followed on 21 March by the first familiarisation kilometres with the Porsche 963 on the in-house test track at the Weissach Development Centre. In dry weather with tarmac temperatures between 20 and 25 degrees Celsius and 10 to 13 degrees cool air, the F1 champion completed almost two Grand Prix distances in Aragón without any problems. "Of course, I also keep an eye on other motorsport disciplines and know many drivers who are active in the WEC and Le Mans. At some point, my curiosity was so great that I had the idea of trying it out myself. Porsche gave me the opportunity to test a current hypercar with the 963," says Sebastian Vettel. "After the seat adjustment, the simulator session and the roll-out in Weissach, I already had a good feeling. Driving the Porsche 963 on the track here in Aragon - that was definitely fun. I first had to get used to everything and find my rhythm. The driving experience is different simply because of the roof over your head, as well as dealing with the higher weight and the tyres. The Porsche works drivers were very helpful and explained to me what was special and what I needed to get used to. That made it easy for me." The Porsche Penske Motorsport works team has won both the season opener of the North American IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the 24 Hours of Daytona, and this year's first race of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) in Qatar with the approximately 500 kW (680 hp) Porsche 963. At the WEC highlight, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, record holder Porsche is aiming for its 20th overall victory. There, as at the other rounds of the WEC, the entire starting field has relied on a biofuel since March 2022. "Aragon is one of the few places in Europe where we can run around the clock and gives us an opportunity to run 36 hours straight in preparation for Le Mans. The quite long back straight that gives us the top speed of more than 300 km/h we see on the Circuit des 24 Heures," explains Jonathan Diuguid, Managing Director Porsche Penske Motorsport. "Having Sebastian Vettel here is a unique opportunity for the team. He is a four time Formula 1 World Champion. He has massive experience with hybrid systems and high performance racing cars. Having his fresh unique perspective on where the car is and gives feedback on our systems and performances is a unique opportunity. We are happy to have him here. He came out of the car with a smile which is all good." In addition to Vettel, a total of seven Porsche works drivers will take part in the endurance test. Matt Campbell (Australia), Michael Christensen (Denmark) and Frédéric Makowiecki (France) will share the Porsche 963 with starting number 5 in the WEC, while Kévin Estre (France), André Lotterer (Germany) and Laurens Vanthoor will drive the sister car with the number 6. They will be joined in Aragon by reigning DTM champion Thomas Preining from Austria.

#sebastian vettel #f1 #formula 1 #wec #fic ref #fic ref 2024 #not a race #2024 not a race #between australia and japan 2024 #testing #testing 2024 #aragon

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hussyknee · 11 months ago

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If y'all want to feel sympathy for the Israelis, you better have it for every single genocider. Slavers and settlers that scalped Natives and Nazis and Imperial Japan and Stalinists and Serbs and the British East India company and white nationalists and Islamic fundamentalists and Hindutvas and Assad's forces and and and.

People do not become genociders because of victimhood. The majority of the worst colonial empires were people who hadn't been oppressed themselves in centuries. Groups become genocidal because they have power and want to take their trauma or paranoia out on someone weaker than they are. Even the ones who aren't gleefully enthusiastic go along with it because the benefits and risks of dissent outweigh your moral conscience. You're not forced to make those choices. That's not what indoctination is. Indoctrination helps dehumanization. It's making it easy to silence every doubt and qualm and instinct for empathy and compassion. But you still choose. You make a conscious decision to see a human being as a vermin to be eradicated. It's easy to do that when you have no incentive to see them as human and no consequences for treating them accordingly.

For fuck's sake, stop using the Holocaust as an excuse for Zionists. Half of them are converts or the children of converts who never lived the Jewish generational legacy of persecution. Most of their families migrated from places where they had a perfectly comfortable lives, and the other half was born in Israel and never knew what being a marginalized minority was like. Israelis are literally the least oppressed Jews in the known world. They victimize Palestinians because colonizers and oppressors live in mortal fear of the people they colonize and oppress, because they KNOW that they're crushing them and have to manufacture all sorts of narratives to rationalize and justify that they're actually the good guys.

Colonization and genocide is a result of power. I and a lot of other BIPOC have been traumatized by Zionists before we ever knew the word for them, because they keep taking out their paranoia of Jewish hate on Black people, Natives, immigrants, Muslims and Arabs and every kind of racial minority that have no systemic power to hurt them. They have such a foothold in the Jewish communities of Europe and its settler colonies (Australia, the Americas), because white Jews have assimilated into whiteness. However conditional their acceptance among white Christians, they have the same racial and institutional power over Black and brown colonized people. Which makes it easy for them to choose Zionism— the legitimizing of white colonial anxiety in place of fear of their oppressor. Antisemitism is their ready and convenient way to rationalize the racism and Islamphobia and racial superiority they already have.

Do you think Jews are the only people who have ever been genocided? The Holocaust was not exceptional, it was exceptionalized by the Western powers to launder their own atrocities that far outstripped Nazi Germany. Look at what they're doing with Ukraine. They're being genocided and colonized and they deserve empathy and help against Russia. But the West isn't concerned about Armenia the same way even though it's also an Eastern European country. They definitely weren't concerned about any of the other countries Russia has attacked or helped genocide (like Syria). Including Ukraine itself before all this. Putin has been attacking Donbas since 2014.

So why now? They care about who's genociding Ukraine, not about Ukrainians. Russia under Putin is very much a threat to NATO and Ukraine is bordered by NATO countries. The Western PR machine still had to make Ukrainians white, because Slavs are ethnically marginalized in Western Europe, and even North America to a lesser degree. They have white privilege over all Asians and Africans and Indigenous people because the colour system of race is based on European colonization, but they have only conditional whiteness in the imperial sphere of both the US and Russia. But because they're ethnically European, the US and Western Europe was able to launch a PR "Look They're Just Like Us!" campaign to elevate them to full whiteness, so that their own citizens would actually give a shit about this country they'd barely heard of before. That's why we're all more concerned about Ukraine than any other Eastern Europeans (we're all conditioned into white supremacy). After that, the US went around thumping its own chest for a full year and half, trying to launder its military image after the twenty year Muslim genocide that was the War on Terror (still ongoing).

This is exactly what they did with European Jews. High-ho, somebody victimized by the Enemy! Dust them off and lookie! They're European! People will give a shit that we liberated them if we make them all white! But uh, do we really want five million Jewish refugees in here? Oh I know, we'll thrown in with those crazy Jewish terrorists that were giving the Brits so much trouble, and give them a state! They're also from Europe after all, and Civilized™, unlike the savages!

And then the liberated Jews accepted doing exactly what the Nazis did to them. Not because they had to! They could have just lived in Palestine, that whole region of the Levant was pretty secular and multicultural. But they didn't see Arabs as human beings! Because Europeans are taught to see Black and brown people as servants and savages! They massacred Palestinians and took the place over because they could and then called it the War of Independence. The first people they victimized after that? Were Arab Jews. They colluded with Arab nationalists to have them ethnically cleansed entirely out of their countries and scooped them up to create a labouring underclass! Put them up in such squalid conditions that scores died!

And did those people look around and realize white Jews were their oppressors and they had far more in common with Palestinians? No. They threw in with their oppressors to help make Palestinians lives a generational nightmare. Because power and assimilation! This is the exact same reason why Zionists has been trying to cosy up to Nazis since before Hitler.

(Oh and by the way? Germans never regretted the Nazis or the Holocaust. The Americans "denazification" was a dead fail. They just used Israel to make a whole dog and pony show of how very sorry they were and how it was a Dark Moment in Their History™ (because nothing they've ever done to colonized people counts). They paid reparations because the West made them, but they never got over the massive post-war genocide the Allies subjected their people to, or the way they carved up the country like a Christmas turkey. But again, did they hold Britain, France, US and Russia responsible for it? Did they acknowledge that the most severe cases of post-war violence came from American GIs? Of course not. Obviously the biggest threat was...the Poles.)

If you really see all those TikTok videos of families dancing to their genocide songs, taunting starving and dehydrated Palestinians and teens lampooning Palestinian mothers grieving their dead children and think "they're also victims because Western imperialists exploited their fear and made them into monsters" then I don't even know what to say to you. That level of infantilization, wilful ignorance and need to turn sadism into victimhood is breathtakingly racist and paternalistic. Even if you believe #Not All Israelis, the point is there's enough Israelis. Also what is even there to feel sorry for?? Are Israelis about to be turned out and shot in the streets? Starve to death? Have their limbs amputated without anesthetic and still die of sepsis? Literally what??

Emotions are signifiers of your own internal biases and perspectives. They aren't indicative of justice or morality. We can't move through a deeply unequal world and believe that compassion is having the same responses, judgements and feelings for everyone. It's not empathy you're feeling for Israelis, it's conditioned philosemitism and casual racism against Palestinians. If you actually followed the videos and images and news coming out of Palestine, you would feel about as sympathetic towards them as Nazis. You would understand that this kind of atrocity doesn't come from trauma or having been victims. It comes from having zero consequences for doing them. It comes from unchecked, gleeful, sadistic power.

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stxrlitmxxnlight · 6 months ago

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Broken, Yet Yearning

Chapter 1: A Tough Decision, But One With No Regrets

A soft, relieved sigh is let out; At the same time, Rosmarie looks out the plane window, thinking about the good memories and people she's leaving back home in Australia; a decision that was made long ago when she started to plan out attending college and just general plans for the future.

But as for currently, Rosmarie was on the plane headed to London, to finally be able to attend the college of her dreams and to also start a life of her own, a nice but well-deserved fresh start for herself.

Leaving her Grandparents and friends hurt, yes, but she had desperately wanted to leave Australia and try to find something better elsewhere in the world.

Rose had always been an art, literature, and history buff ever since she was a child, she always found peace and happiness in being able to read and draw and be in her little world; on the other hand, all her hard work had paid off finally, being able to bring her passions to a whole new level, wanting to travel the world and visit all the museums and art galleries to her heart’s content, as well as going to places to see the history that had been left behind.

As a few hours passed, her plane finally landed at its destination. Having sat in the front of the plane, luckily, she was able to make a quick exit from the plane and to baggage claim, waiting for her things before eventually getting them.

After getting outside and waiting for a cab to come in view to be flagged down and take her to her residence, Rosmarie waited a bit before calling a cab and giving her driver her new address.

“I’m excited but I’m also so tired at the same time.” She murmurs to herself, she got her luggage situated in the cab trunk, then seated herself in the backseat and thanked the cab driver sweetly before they made their way to her apartment. While the cab drove through the many streets to London, Rosmarie smiled and admired the new views and change in scenery.

After around a decent 45 minutes of driving, the cab driver finally arrived at the apartment complex, eagerly exiting the cab, she would then carefully remove her luggage, then thanked the driver before paying them and watching them drive off for a second before making her way to her apartment.

When she had made her way to the elevator, after checking in at the front desk of the apartment complex, she got her apartment key before thanking the staff with a soft grin and then making her way to the elevator.

Now that she was standing in front of the door to her new home, Rose had gently placed her hand on the knob; after unlocking the door, letting out a breath she didn’t know she was holding as if she were expecting something to happen when she opened the door. Slowly entering her new home, she takes in the view of it while the thoughts of “This is it, I’ve finally made my dream a reality.” all go through her head as if she were dreaming this had all happened.

As much as she would have liked to keep dreaming, she needed to start unpacking what she had brought with her on the flight and do her best to get comfortable before being able to relax a bit. With a reluctant sigh, Rosmarie makes a move to find the bedroom, then makes haste to unpack.

“I should call and let Oma and Opa know I landed and made it home.” Rosmarie reminded herself in a soft huff of exhaustion, after having stressed over the flight and the way to her apartment would go, along with aching at the thought of how lonely her grandparents were now, especially with how Rosmarie had been the only one to see and stay with them, especially with how most the family is back in Germany; meanwhile, her father never bothered to see how his parents were at all.

3 hours had passed, and now finally relaxed and comfortable and cozy on her bed, the warmth of the few blankets that were brought with were much welcomed. Rosmarie pulled out her phone, and started a video call with her grandparents, hoping they’d pick up if not busy.

beep beep beep

Is all she heard before smiling at the sound of her Grandma’s voice greeting her and not short after, her grandfather greeting her as well, both of them having a bright smile on their faces.

“Hallo liebes! Wie war Ihr Flug? Gefällt Ihnen Ihr neues Zuhause bisher?” Was what she heard almost instantly when the call connected finally, making her heart throb at the fact she couldn’t bring them with her.

( “Hello Love! How was your flight? Like your new home so far?”)

“Hallo Oma, mein Flug verlief gut, ich konnte nicht anders, als traurig zu sein, dass du nicht mitkommen konntest.” Rosmarie was quick to admit to them both, it almost made her ill when she had to depart with them at the airport if she were to be honest.

“Aber ich liebe meine neue Wohnung, sie ist schön und gemütlich, wie auf der Website angekündigt!” She quickly adds before they could dwell on what she said about not being able to come with.

(“Hello grandma, my flight went well, I couldn't help but feel sad that you couldn't come with me.”)

(“But I do love my new apartment, it's nice and cozy like it was advertised on the website!”) “Wir wissen, dass es schwer ist, nicht bei Ihnen zu sein, aber wir sind stolz auf Sie, dass Sie diesen großen Schritt in Ihrem Leben gemacht haben. Vor allem, weil Sie so hart gearbeitet haben, um dorthin zu gelangen, wo Sie jetzt sind.” Her grandfather had told her, smiling and conveying how proud he and his wife were of her, their oldest grandchild striving and doing anything she could to make her dream come true.

(“We know it's hard not being there with you, but we're proud of you for taking this big step in your life. Especially since you've worked so hard to get where you are now.”)

When she heard her grandfather praise her, she couldn’t help but start tearing up and sniffling at his words.

Rose had honestly thought this big move would be a little easier, but so far it's proven to be hard but worth it.

Rosmarie was having a hard time being away from the only people who were the biggest supporters in her life after pretty much being abandoned as a child by her parents after her sister was born, but that was a whole other story in itself.

Rose was having a hard time responding when she heard her Grandmother’s voice this time, now listening carefully.

“Weine nicht, mein liebes Mädchen, kein Grund zu weinen, es wird immer Zeiten geben, in denen wir anrufen oder per Videoanruf telefonieren und vielleicht einen längeren Besuch planen können, wenn du in der Pause bist.” The second her grandma finished speaking, Rose had just finally let the dam of tears she’d been holding back so desperately flow freely, soft sniffles and hiccups being heard from the poor girl.

(“Don't cry my dear girl, no need to cry, there will always be times when we can call, video call, and maybe plan a long visit when you're on break.”)

“Ich weiß, aber es ist nicht dasselbe wie mit dir zusammen zu sein.” Would Rosmarie respond, having been able to finally say something after calming herself down?

The only thoughts that were running through her head currently, were the ones of worry for her grandparents, worried about who would be there to help them when she couldn’t be.

“Aber das ist nicht der einzige Grund. Ich mache mir mehr Sorgen, dass du Hilfe brauchst und sie nicht bekommen kannst und dass etwas Schlimmes passiert, wenn ich nicht da bin, um dich zu beschützen.” Rose added with a sigh, now seeing her grandparents give her a look of empathy but also one of understanding of her worries.

(“I know, but it's not the same as being with you.”) (“But that's not the only reason, I'm more worried about you needing help and not being able to get it, and something bad happening when I'm not there to protect you.”)

After a bit more conversing had been made, Rosmarie started to feel a bit worn out, seemingly now that she had cried out her stress and worries to her grandparents, along with that long flight from Australia to England plus the car ride, she was definitely in need of a nap, a well deserved one at that.

” Du solltest dich etwas ausruhen, Schatz, du hattest einen langen Flug und einen langen Tag vor dir. Warum nicht ein Nickerchen machen und uns später vor dem Schlafengehen noch einmal anrufen?” Her Grandfather suggests to her once he notices how drained she looks, and Rose gives a simple but tired nod and a few slow blinks when doing so as if trying to stay awake.

(“You should get some rest dear, you've had a long flight and a long day ahead of you. why not take a nap and call us again later before bed?”)

When soft ‘I love yous’ and ‘miss you already/miss you more’ were said a few times, the call eventually ended and Rosmarie plugged her phone in before laying down again, now just looking up at the ceiling, thinking away all while her eyes slowly closed.

The need for sleep having taken over her body and mind finally, gave her a moment of peace and no worries to be thought about.

4 hours later

With a soft but long yawn, and some well-needed stretching of the muscles, Rosmarie awakes from her nap feeling a bit more refreshed and energized than she was earlier when she first arrived.

“I need to go grocery shopping…and just get basic needs too, and maybe I should drop by the campus if I have time..” Rosmarie had pondered to herself as she got up, stretching a little more before moving on and getting into something more cozy and comfortable.

Having decided on a baggy sweater and some sweatpants just to stay casual and comfortable at the same time.

By the time she finally left the apartment, a list of what she needed in hand while following the GPS app on her phone to find the nearest market she could walk to and from home with no issues.

While she was strolling along the streets of London, she was just lost in her thoughts and worries about her new big step forth in life.

Her thoughts were not concerned about how college would go, but rather if she’d be able to make friends and get along with people since she had always been on the more timid side when it came to befriending new people.

With the way she had grown up back in Australia, yes she spent most of her time with her grandparents as much as she could, but she was still sadly made to live with her parents, mostly having to face the reality of them acting like she never existed.

It hurt a lot, yes, but it hurt more to see and deal with her little sister always going out of her way to make Rosmarie’s day or overall mood horrible. Didn’t help that Rose was also just naturally a soft and sensitive person due to her home life.

Now that she had made a big step, Rose was a bit more confident in socializing now her sister was no longer a risk of bullying her in front of others, along with her parents too as they did pitch in when they felt like it.

When reality decided to suddenly hit her, she came back to the world from her thoughts, she noticed she had made her way to the market, honestly surprised by the time it had taken her to get there.

It had only been about a ten-minute walk. Shrugging off her reality check, she makes her way into the Tescos, quickly grabbing a cart and making her way through the aisles, checking off her list of needs/wants slowly, keeping to herself as much as she possibly can so she can just what she needed to be done dealt with before any sort of socializing.

1 hour of shopping later

Standing in the detergent aisle, trying to locate the brand she usually uses due to having a slight allergy to an ingredient in most detergents.

Fortunately for her, the store sold it, but unlucky for her it was way above her reach. But she does attempt to tiptoe the best she can with being only 5'9(175.2cm) and with the shelves being what feels like 10ft tall(304.8cm), but when it was only maybe 7ft(213.3cm)tall.

When making her final attempt at tiptoeing for the needed shelf that was far out of her reach, she lost balance, fully expecting to come crashing down onto the cold hard floor of the store; but much to her surprise, she was met with what felt like a broad chest as well with a strong arm holding her close.

Looking up at the person who had saved her from the fall, she couldn’t help with how quickly her heart started to flutter, amazed and awed at what masterpiece of a being was in front of her. Was like he was created by the gods in Olympus for how beautiful and handsome he was.

But before she continued to ogle at the tall blonde man whom still had her in his arm, she would quickly fix herself, then again look up at the older man.

“I’m so sorry!” Rose apologized quickly while her face flushed a shade of red amongst the soft skin of her cheeks, her eyes had darted from one direction to another before shyly meeting the tall man’s gaze once more. “ Are you okay? I didn’t hurt you at all?’” she inquired, worried she may have accidentally stepped on him or something.

“No need to apologize.” The stranger tells her in one of the deepest, but also somehow heavenly and pleasant to the ears. “I’m fine.” He states as he looks up to see what she had tried to grab.

Before she even knew it, the gentleman carefully grabbed the detergent she was trying to reach before and carefully placed it in her cart.

“Seems like you like that brand.” He notes in a slightly softer tone but also tries to be semi-playful, since noticing her all flustered.

“Oh-uh it is one of few brands I can use due to having a slight allergy to a couple of ingredients in most detergents.” She explained to the man, and he hummed softly in response, showing he understood.

“Noticed your accent, take it not from here?” The gentleman inquired, having his interest been piqued.

“Ah yes, I just moved to London as of today, I came from Australia. ” Rosmarie informs him, now almost beaming a bit as they conversate, having shaken off her embarrassment a bit.

“An Aussie I see.” The blonde giant, but gorgeous man says with a slight chuckle, having found her attitude change cute when more comfortable.

Humming softly to confirm his answer she smiled softly before looking at the time on her phone with a pout. “Wish today wasn’t moving by so quickly already, I have so much to do,” Rosmarie stated with a slight pout before looking at the man once more.

“Unfortunately I have to get going, I’ve to finish what errands I can today.” with a sigh she smiled at him. “ It was a pleasure meeting you, as well as talking with you!” The young girl exclaimed softly.

“ Hope to see you around sometime, I’m Rosmarie by the way,” she informed him before smiling and giving him her thanks for the help, making her way to the checkout with her things.

Rosmarie couldn’t help but giggle to herself after having a nice conversation, but also glad her first interaction with someone local had gone so well.

“Maybe doing this was worth it in the end.” She told herself, having more confidence in the new move, seeing that it was going well so far on the first day.

Too bad she had to continue with her plans for the day, otherwise she’d probably stand there and keep talking with Simon.

???’s Pov

Once the young girl, Rosmarie, had gone along with her day, it wasn’t long after her departure, he heard two fairly familiar voices laughing and fussing and laughing around with one another.

“ Oi! Who were you blethering ‘bout with?” Questioned with a thick Scottish accent from behind, just being able to tell by the tone that was used, that a smirk was on one or both the men’s faces.

“No one Johnny,” He replied, with a roll of his eyes as he turned to look at the two men. “ Need something?” he questions only for the two to give a mischievous grin.

“Wipe the grins off ye dafty faces.” he groaned slightly looking at the two men.

“Oh come off it, tell us who that bonnie of a lass ye were talkin to is.” The man named Johnny tells him, grinning ear to ear.” Ye never just talk, let alone help just anyone; if anything you do your best to stay away from interacting wit’ others.``

Johnny teased the older man, finding delight in his friend’s sour attitude.” If I heard correctly, Rosmarie was the bonnie lass’s name.” Johnny added with a smirk, looking to the side at his other friend.

“Seems like someone is smitten already, aye, Kyle?” He asked his friend, who also looked back at Johny before looking at their friend.

“Bloody hell seems like it mate,” Kyle replied with the same shit-eating grin his friend shared. “ Fuckin’ hell..” is all the poor guy can mutter to himself, seeing that his friends did seem to have heard everything.

He just didn’t know what it was about her, but he just couldn’t tell what it was that attracted him to her.

“Let us go before Price gets pissed we haven’t come back with more tea, I’m not lookin’ forward to being torn at for ye two twats, especially since I had to go looking for the two of ye.” is all he responds with, before starting to walk out the aisle, leaving the two younger lads behind as they celebrate about how they were right.

“Let’s just get back to Price already.” he lectured the two grown men, more like children, before reaching to check out and being quick to pay, and heading back to the car with the numbskulls following behind.

As they all got in the car, he couldn’t help but wonder to himself if he really would be seeing this Rosmarie girl again. Nor would he deny that he was looking forward to hopefully running into her again soon.

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alexbkrieger13 · 1 year ago

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German media loves writing about P

https://www.sportschau.de/fussball/frauen-nationalmannschaft/gegner-daenemark-im-fokus-100.html

Pernille Harder and her special drive

There was a lot of recognition when Britta Carlson spoke about the first task in the newly created Nations League for the German footballers. The fact that the DFB women first face Denmark (Friday at 6 p.m./live on ARD and in the Sportschau live stream ) is a “nice challenge ,” said the interim head coach.By

Frank Hellmann

" Denmark is a top opponent: a robust, defensively strong team, but also with qualities on the offensive." And "Pernille Harder certainly stands out as a top player. "

From her many years as an assistant at VfL Wolfsburg, Carlson of course knows best what Harder in particular embodies on a good day: world class. The star striker, who has been under contract with FC Bayern since this summer, claims the ball just as smoothly and elegantly. Hardly anyone in the penalty area has such instinct and such precise finishing.

The special connection to the venue Viborg

The fact that this international match is taking place in Viborg reminds the 30-year-old of her beginnings as a footballer; for her this is now a special home game: the Danish captain comes from the small Danish town of Ikast. At the age of ten, Pernille Harder came to the Midtjylland Youth Academy with her sister Louise - as the only two girls. "My sister was invited, and basically I wanted to do it because my sister did it. I've always looked up to her."

It soon became clear that she had even more talent. She played for Team Viborg for three years before moving to IK Skovbakken in 2010 at the age of 17. Two years later she went to the Swedish club Linköpings FC, where she was already scoring goals on the assembly line. At the end of 2016 she moved to VfL Wolfsburg because the current women's football director, Ralf Kellermann, had been following her career for a long time.

Pernille Harder: To England as Germany's Footballer of the Year

The commitment was worth it, because with Harder the factory club won the double four times in a row, only narrowly failing in the Champions League final twice before Harder moved to Chelsea as Germany's female footballer of the year three years ago. Until then, she had made the difference for the “she-wolves” often enough.

"Even when she's at less than 100 percent, you feel her presence. When you need that one moment to make the difference, she's the player to do it, no matter what condition she's in," said her former coach Stephan Lerch , who now trains TSG Hoffenheim.

The Dane was also held in high esteem in England, as Chelsea's charismatic team boss Emma Hayes revealed, who greatly regretted her departure to Munich: "She is one of the most eccentric characters I have ever coached. I will miss her eccentricity, no question, hers Attention to detail, their thirst for victories. "

At the World Cup, Denmark lost to Australia in the round of 16

This only became visible again at the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. Denmark had prevailed in the group with England, China and Haiti when they entered the atmospheric round of 16 against hosts Australia in the huge Australia Stadium in Sydney. In the end, after the deserved 2-0 defeat, no one seemed as disappointed as the Danish captain, who embarrassed the “Matildas” several times in the early stages.

But at some point it seemed as if Harder was fighting against elimination on his own. Their disappointment was palpable, but superstar Sam Kerr, with whom Harder had played at Chelsea, provided consolation. Her move to Munich together with her partner Magdalena Eriksson had already been confirmed since last year. An exclamation mark also for the women's Bundesliga, which is struggling for international attention.

Bayern's sports director Bianca Rech tried early on to get the two top players Harder and Eriksson free of charge. The fact that the coup worked reveals a lot about the international ambitions on the Bayern campus. “These are two experienced personalities who help us a lot – on and off the pitch ,” praises Rech.

Whoever takes the Danish striker out of the game has gained a lot

Harder certainly brings with it a higher level of recognition and perhaps also a greater glamor factor. She is a big personality in Denmark, whose greatest success in the national team was certainly reaching the 2017 European Championship final against the Netherlands. Although the atmospheric final in Enschede was lost 4-2 against the “Oranje Leuwinnen”, who were then coached by Sarina Wiegman, the Danes had at least won 2-1 against Germany in the quarter-finals on the way there. Harder scored her 50th international goal in the tournament. It goes without saying that she has long been Denmark's record goalscorer, with 71 goals after 145 international matches.

And yet she often has to fight for support in the national team, where the Swede Andrée Jeglertz took over from Lars Søndergaard after the World Cup. Whoever takes Harder out of the game has already gained a lot. The DFB women turned the tables again in the first group game at the European Championships in England, and Germany carried the momentum from the 4-0 win against the team with no chance around the attacker who was withdrawn throughout the tournament. Carlson now expects a game on equal terms. Or as the 45-year-old said: “A nice challenge.”

#omg love this #pernille harder #denwnt #fc bayern frauen #fcb frauen #woso

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borisbubbles · 11 months ago

Text

Eurovision 2023: #23

23. GERMANY Lord of the Lost - "Blood and glitter" 26th place

youtube

Decade ranking: 66/116 [Above Hurricane, below Fyr og Flamme]

Well, we've arrived in the zone of Mild Like, also known as the "I like them, buuuuut". There's eleven of these motherfuckers in this vaguely positive purgatory, so let's do some but-kicking for Goodness.

As you know, I didn't like the 2023 contest much, so a lot of these entries are either mixed with slightly more good than evil, or kinda bad but i enjoyed them anyways. Bringing up the rear of that crop is Lord of the Lost, who are kind of both?

Honestly, kind of a similar deal to Latvia. It seemed Germany would finally be getting televote points courtesy of a non-embarrassing entry that wasn't also dead on arrival, and it also looked like the televote score would be a sufficient enough amount to avoid dead last for a year... but then they only scored 15 televotes and finished last anyway.

The problem is two-fold. The first one is that Voyager exist, jesus talk about an outclass. "Promise" is several magnitudes better than "Blood and glitter" both as a song and an act, the literal centrepiece of the Grand Final's ironclad Estonia-Moldova streak. (expect several of songs from that streak to rank ABSURDLY high). By the time Germany were up, only a short while after Australia, you instinctively compare the two and realize LotL doesn't pack the same impact (issue #2)

Why though? Well, I hypothesize "Blood and glitter" doesn't quite know what to do with itself. The start is great, though. I love the first minute or so of "Blood and Glitter", a camp unapologetic fiesta of body horror (in part because Chris forgot to un-untuck himself oop), grindhouse metal and LGBT allyness. We ALL like a bit of "Blood and glitter, Sweden bitter".

At least, i hope you did, because you're going to hear that line all the time during the remaining two minutes.

See, once "Blood and Glitter" hits that second minute mark, it succumbs to its own inane repetitions and rapidly turns into a non-event. THIS IS AN UNACCEPTABLE RECOURSE FOR A GLAM ROCK SONG. NO amount of Danny Voyager absense can amend that. Is it that difficult to just... provide different words for the bridge and final chorus? More aggro camera cuts? A wider colour pallette near the end? (yeah i know Blood, but WHERE IS THE GLITTER?!) A dress change? Some form of growth, some form of evo? When even the folks that know no English pick up on the persistent rehashing because the bag of tricks has been EMPTIED by the halfway mark.

So like Latvia, I don't think Germany deserved another bad result, but once it happened, yeah of course it did. Would not skip on the playlist though. And hey, nobody can take away from them that they are King Charles's favourites. 😊 (lol i'm like 85% sure Charles had no idea who they were and walked into them by chance but who am i to shatter dreams?)

THE RANKING

also for the first time since I started blogging, a mid-ranking placement REVISION!

Nature is healing. 😇

#Eurovision #Eurovision Song Contest #ESC #ESC 2023 #Eurovision 2023 #Liverpool 2023 #Germany #Lord of the Lost #Blood and Glitter #BorisBubbles #Youtube

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almost-born-in-1893 · 1 year ago

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Hi I thought I would send you an ask to get to know you! 😊

Please tell me what is winter like in Germany? Does it snow much where you live? What do you do for Christmas? It's really hot in Australia and I love to hear about colder places!

Thanks so much for asking that's such a good question! 💙

Edit for readability: I'll break my long text down into chapters

German winter weather

I live in the North West of Germany where it sadly doesn't snow all that much during winter. Usually it just gets a bit cold (about -5 to 5 degrees Celsius) and very muddy, grey and rainy. We almost never have a white Christmas. If it snows at all it's more around February or even March or April in some cases. It didn't always use to be like that though. I'm thirty now but when I think back to my childhood there was a lot more snow a lot earlier in the year. The sad effects of climate change...

If you live in southern Germany though like Bavaria for example or anything close to the Alps you get a lot more luck with snow. They have a lot more and a lot earlier too.

German cities dress up for Christmas

I still enjoy the time around Christmas immensely though. I love cold sweater weather and snuggling up with a hot beverage on a rainy day and I get giddy when I see the Christmas decoration and lights appear everywhere. The cities usually have lights hung up over the streets and decorated christmas trees lining them.

Christmas markets and mulled wine

And then of course we have the Christmas markets where you can buy decorations and all sorts of yummy sweets and market foods and most importantly "Glühwein" (or mulled wine in English)! Mulled wine is the perfect winter drink it really warmes you up and it's sweet and spiced and just tastes of Christmas.

Advent calenders and "Adventskranz"

Other than going to the Christmas market for a mulled wine we have some other traditions to make the December extra special: I think advent calenders aren't unique to Germany, right? But it's a big part here. Many like to make them themselves and give them to there loved ones.

Then we have the "Adventskranz". It's a wreath usually decorated with twigs and branches from pine or fir trees and typical Christmas decorations like bows, little ornaments, dried oranges and cinnamon sticks. You put four candles on them and then you light one of them every Sunday leading up to Christmas. So on the Sunday that's four weekends away from Christmas you are only allowed to light one of the candles, then the Sunday that's three weekends away from Christmas you light the previous one and one extra and so on until all four are allowed to be lit. Then you know it's basically Christmas. So I guess it's a very slow and convoluted way of counting down to Christmas lol. But it looks very pretty.

Nikolaus

We also celebrate "Nikolaus". That's usually mostly for kids though. It's like a mini Christmas before Christmas. On the evening of December 5th children are expected to clean their shoes and put them outside their bedroom door. Then, if they were good and cleaned their shoes properly they find some sweets stuffed inside them the next morning. If they weren't well behaved or didn't clean their shoes they traditionally find coal or twigs in their shoes, but I don't think anyone does that anymore.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

And then for Christmas itsself every family usually has their own traditions. Germans don't celebrate on the morning 25th, but on the evening of the 24th. That usually includes having a fancy big dinner and then gathering together under the Christmas tree (which might be decorated on that day or some days before depending on the family traditions) and opening the presents. Some families go to church beforehand, some go to other events like Christmas concerts - it really depends heavily on the family. Some like to go out after the "Bescherung" (that's what we call the event of opening the presents) and go to a pub. I don't think that's in the Christmas spirit. I like to just be with family on that evening.

The 25th and 26th are always holidays. Not many people work there. They are usually for hanging out with loved ones, playing with the toys you got on the 24th, visiting extended family and going out for fancy dinners - that sort of thing.

And that's my essay on Christmas time in Germany. Thanks for reading it. I hope it wasn't too much. I just love this time of year and all the little things we do to make it special. There's so much more I could write, but that would indeed be too much.

#ask #chistmas #christmas traditions #german christmas #german christmas traditions #christmas in germany #german stuff

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because-its-eurovision · 2 years ago

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Finland is number one in Poland's Viral 50 💚. Slovenia is second by the way. And also Croatia, Austria, Switzerland, Cyprus, Armenia, Moldova, France and Czechia are all trending above Sweden and fit in top15. Which I think kind of shows how middle of the road their song is (I'm not going to say it's bad, because Loreen is a good singer, but it really kind of goes is one ear and out the other without leaving a trace), and that people want something more memorable and crazy from Eurovision.

It is kind of interesting that after watching both semis and the grand finale, I was able to kind of accurately predict who would be a qualifier, but the finale voting was one big mystery to me 😅. Why didn't Slovenia, Austria and Czechia get more points? Why was Germany lower than Poland? What is even happening in the heads of the juries?

But Finland is definitely going to be remembered. And I think Swedish commentators know that, and it really bothers them it's your country that captivated people hearts, and they turn offensive out of some wounded pride.

This new made me really happy ❤ Not only that Cha Cha Cha is number one, but in general that Eurovision is so relevant nowadays that it is able to make the competing songs (other than the winner and the country’s own entry) go viral. Tattoo was ofc viral in many, many countries even before the contest which is really not surprising seeing how it embraces the pop hit pattern and is ridiculously catchy, but seeing non-English songs even higher really warms my heart.

There are always going to be surprising results, but the running order and competition in the same genre do have an effect. Obviously I do not have the answers, and this is speculation only.

Slovenia qualified and 78 points is not a bad result at all, considering they also got points from 14 different countries. The withdrawing of North Macedonia and Montenegro likely had an impact on their total score. Before the grand final Slovenia was 23rd in the odds which is in line with their result of 21st place. In my view Slovenia was since the beginning always more of a fan favourite than a real contender. I once read a take saying that only diaspora and fans vote in Eurovision, which is supported by the fact that Joker Out got their highest points in the final from Croatia, Serbia and Finland (got to support Käärijä’s boyfriend 🥰)

Austria was hurt by the running order in the grand final perhaps more than anyone. It has been shown that the running order doesn’t affect the juries as much as the televoters, perhaps because the juries are required to watch the whole show from the beginning to the end while the regular viewers might miss the first few songs. Juries did raise Austria to the 8th place which is once again a great result in my opinion, for a country that usually doesn’t enjoy that much of neighbour support. In general despite the country it is really hard to place higher than around 15th place when opening the grand final – Belgium came 10th in 2016 but was only 16th in the televote. Other reasons for Austria's low televote score might have been the quality difference between first and second semi final, and the voters all gathering to support Finland when it became clear they were the only ones who could challenge Sweden.

Czechia got their second ever top 10 result, second best result ever and best result since Mikolas Josef’s 6th place in 2018, so I wouldn’t be disappointed at all. Perhaps they suffered having to perform between Finland and Australia, which is something I expected could happen.

Germany is one of the Central European countries that cannot trust their neighbours to support them, as we have unfortunately seen many times. In general, succeeding with a rock/metal entry in Eurovision is very difficult and rare, although there are a couple of exception which I probably don’t even have to mention. In March I got this ask and made a prediction based on how well rock/heavy entries similar to Blood and Glitter usually have succeeded in Eurovision (21st-24th place), so I’m not that shocked by their result. Sad of course, but not surprised. (I expected UK be last, but I guess they got some support points for being the host). My guess is Germany also once again suffered from being a direct qualifier (not having the same bond with viewers as semi-finalists do) and competing against Australia and especially Finland, who have similar-ish target audience.

As for Poland I need to remind that they have a huge diaspora – their highest points came from Ukraine, Ireland, Lithuania and United Kingdom. Most people who knew and cared about the infamous NF result were Polish viewers themselves and Eurovision fans, and neither of those groups can give negative votes. To Blanka’s credit we must admit that the performance improved massively since the NF and Solo as a light and campy female pop didn’t really have any genre competition, and it isn’t as divisive as metal or heavy rock is.

Juries are asked to focus their vote on 4 main sets of criteria: Vocal capacity of the artist(s) Performance on stage Composition and originality of the song Overall impression of the act

Regardless of how angry I am of the ridiculously high jury points to Sweden this year – and almost every year, really – I think they were pretty consistent with their ranking this year. We can argue about Cha Cha Cha being more original than Tattoo, but we can’t argue about Käärijä being weaker singer than Loreen or Marco. Juries always put more emphasis on the vocal capacity and singing skills than televote does. That is also why what the fans call “boring ballads” tend to be higher than campy uptempos and ethnic bops, because the latter rarely require expectional vocal techniques. My hot take is that juries are necessary to evaluate objectively the actual technical skills of the performers and prevent us from having to sit through another year like 2008 with Leto Svet, Baila El Chiki Chiki, Dustin the Turkey and Wolves of the Sea kind of atrocities.

I love the last chapter 🥺 Käärijä is the people’s princess 💗 I think @suspiciouslandlady put it best in this post. Sweden cannot take that all the attention and love is not directed at them. They cannot take that we are celebrated instead of them. They cannot take that their "former Eastern part of the kingdom" is acknowledged at its own right and not just as the lesser neighbour country. We are so used to being forgotten between Sweden and Russia, the weird Nordic that has their own strange language none of the others understand, always the oppressed, the underdog in contests and sports. We might have lost once again, but this time the world is on our side and the spotlight is on Finland. And that is hard for our neighbours to swallow.

#asks #sorry this got so long

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mindthelspace · 8 months ago

Text

Eurovision 2024 first impressions

Wasn't sure what to listen to at work, and then I remembered that all the Eurovision songs have now been released! So I thought I'd give 'em a listen.

Until today, I'd heard small clips of the songs in Youtube top 36 lists. That was it.

Caveat 1: I've paid zero attention to any of the national finals, so I'm blissfully ignorant of 90% of whatever drama happened in those.

Caveat 2: Everything below is the personal subjective opinion of me, a knobhead on Tumblr. You will probably disagree with a lot of it and that's fine.

Caveat 3: "Why are you not boycotting when Israel are-" Yes, I know. I do follow the news. I'm not going to go into why I'm not boycotting because that's not what this post is for, but I promise I have thought about it and can explain my reasons.

So, with that out of the way:

Croatia: Strong start! I really like this, and get why it's one of the favourites! I might be on Team Croatia this year- I'd love the winner to be someone who hasn't won before, or hasn't won for decades!

Netherlands: It's... alright, I guess? But I'm not sure it's as funny as it thinks it is, and might get a bit old fairly quickly.

Switzerland: This is interesting, and a nice break from their pattern of the past few years. I'll be happy if this does well :)

Italy: I like this better than I thought I would, based on the little clips I've seen. Still a bit confused about why it seems to be topping literally all the Youtube rankings, though.

Austria: Meh

Sweden: This is the ONE song I couldn't make it all the way through. I, yeah, sorry, I hate it. Sounds AI generated. Sweden, please, you have good music, I know you do, I've heard it, you don't need to send this kind of crap every other year, please!

Ukraine: Ukraine my beloved, always understanding the assignment <3

Greece: Way more interesting than the clip I'd heard previously made it sound!

Germany: This is exactly what I was afraid would happen if LotL didn't do well. I'm getting flashbacks to Michael Rice and his 2019 last place.

Belgium: Meh

Cyprus: Extremely Meh. This is like a composite of every bland, inoffensive, radio 1 song ever.

France: It's a nice ballad. 'For the Mum's, I think is the phrase. S'fine.

UK: Apparently 'obnoxious ear worms' is my country's new schtick. Although like Italy, I do like this a bit more than I thought I would. Also starting to notice a lot of the songs sounding a bit 80's-lite?

Georgia: S'fine, I guess. 50/50 as to whether it breaks their NQ streak.

Malta: Wow, there are a lot of trendy girl pop songs that I have absolutely no feelings about this year.

Armenia: This is enjoyable and I respect it.

Azerbaijan: Another Whelming-to-decent one, but I do like that they're singing in their own language for the first time!

Albania: Snore

Australia: I get what they were going for, but I find this a bit cheesy.

Ireland: Look at Ireland taking a risk! I so, so, hope this works out for them and breaks their NQ streak! I am slightly concerned, just because this is the kind of experimental that can be difficult to translate to a three minute stage performance, but if they give it the creativity it needs it could be their best entry in years!

Lithuania: A nice little catchy thing. Quite like it.

Denmark: Oof, Denmark really are in their wilderness years, aren't they? Look, this isn't bad, but there are a lot of songs that sound similar to this, and this has 'lost in the shuffle' written all over it.

Poland: There's nothing about this that makes it stand out from all the other trendy-girl-pop-songs objectively, but I do have a soft spot for this one.

Spain: This is really cute! I think I've found my favourite Big 5 :)

Czechia: Oh look, we have some pop-punk this year. Cool.

Serbia: I'm... not feeling much for this *now*, but I think it might grow on me once I've heard it a few times.

Finland: I am CACKLING

Portugal: I'm a bit undecided about this, tbh. Might have to see how it is live.

Norway: I knew I'd quite like this, and I do! I feel like the live performance is really going to make or break it though.

Luxembourg: So I've heard this song is *also* Israeli propaganda, and if that's true, a) that sucks, because Luxembourg, mate, this is your re-entry, you didn't want this, and b) it's disconcertingly cheerful.

Estonia: Whatever this is, it has no business going this hard.

San Marino: Another pop-punk. I'm a bit more intrigued by this one than the Czech one. I can't see it doing amazingly, but if the performance is good it could get San Marino a rare Q.

Slovenia: It's OK. Seemed like it was going somewhere and then... didn't.

Israel: Was debating whether to ignore this (and sit there wondering about it), or give in and listen to it once so I could stop caring. Went for the latter. You'll be relieved to know it's bland as shit. The inevitable background booing might even be an improvement.

Iceland: I didn't get Hera Bjork in 2010 and I don't get her now.

Latvia: I really want Latvia to break their NQ streak, especially with how they were basically robbed by the semi draw last year, but this just... needs to be more than it is. A really good live performance could save it, maybe? I don't know. I wanted to like this but I'm not hopeful.

Moldova: Slovenia Two. Another one that was sort of going somewhere for a minute, and then stopped.

In conclusion:

So much Eurodance

So much 80's

Loooads of really similar songs. More than usual. Some of them are inevitably going to cancel each other out.

The "everyone follows the runner ups of the previous year" trend seems to be holding, with lots of similar-vein-as-Noa-Kirels, and a few similar-vein-as-Kaarijas.

This is definitely a year that's less my cup of tea. That's OK. I was spoilt last year. And there are still some solid entries.

#Eurovision 2024

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