#jennie in tokyo - part 1

[libraryofzeglyth]

tiktok by vrubyjn | posted Aug 11, 2023

[blackpinkofficialupdates]

Jennie in Tokyo - Part 1

[abwwia]

Sarah Lucas (British, b. 1962)

Beefcocktitbuste, 2012

Concrete boots, bucket, lights, coat hanger, bulbs, wire, 78 × 17 7/10 × 18 1/2 in | 198 × 45 × 47 cm

Along with Tracey Emin and Jenny Saville, Sarah Lucas rose to prominence in the 1990s as part of the iconoclastic cohort known as the Young British Artists. From the start, her irreverent practice—which spans sculpture, installation, photography, and mixed-media work—has poked fun at British culture, sexual norms, gender roles, and notions of propriety. Lucas pushes the limits of figurative representation; euphemisms, visual puns, and appropriated objects abound throughout her oeuvre. She regularly incorporates food, furniture, tights, and cigarettes into her work, contorting them into abject, hyper-sexualized genitals and fragmented human bodies. She’s also made cast concrete, plastic, and bronze sculptures. Lucas has exhibited in New York, Los Angeles, London, Berlin, Paris, Zürich, Tokyo, Seoul, and beyond; in 2015, she represented Great Britain at the Venice Biennale. Her work has been collected by the Tate, the Centre Pompidou, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, and Museo Jumex, among many other institutions. In 2014, her sculpture Ace in the Hole (1998) sold for $905,000 at auction. Via artsy

[campingbagandstuff]

.22/9.33 {Part 2 of 12}; 15

S11.15

…

party 4 u, 1999, (ft. Iggy Azalea )fancy, Zheani lulu, lava, Rina Sawayama xs, comme des garcons, Bassnectar future, dota, The Noisettes love power, that girl, cheap kicks, never forget you, don't upset the rhythm (go baby go), contact, winner Shingai coming home, rihanna U da one, rude boy, who's that chick, nicki minaj { ft. david guetta, drake turn me on, moment 4 life}, seal kissed by a rose, michael jackson billie jean, they don't care about us, {ft. Janet Jackson}scream, remember the time, the way you make me feel, [ft. Justin Timberlake love never felt so good] miley cyrus 7 things, can't be tamed, stevie nicks edge of seventeen PartyBlock on DeviantArt "wcbpr" [just in case: other radio than 88.9 is 90.3 https://www.ampcalgary.com/ 90.9 https://onlineradiobox.com/ca/cjsw/?cs=ca.cjsi&played=1 & 98.5 https://www.iheartradio.ca/virginradio/calgary]

SES paradise, {line 5}, SISTAR loving U, shake it, SISTAR19 ma boy, Red velvet dumb dumb, red flavor, russian roulette, peeka- boo, System of a Down aerials, sad statue of liberty, violent pornography, IEAIAIO, revenga, cigaro, * AAF these days, summer, calico, movies, attitude, courage, around the block, {line 16}, Fat Joe (ft. Ashanti) what's luv?,rock wit u Ja rule* ft. " always on time, " only U DMX ruff ryders anthem, Coolio gangsta paradise (ft. L.V.), ll cool j deepest bluest (shark's fin), {line 18; 13}, Justin Timberlake cry me a river, rock your body, (Ciara Dance Like We're Making Love, level up) ft. " love sex magic, TKO, TI ft. " dead & gone, mirrors, like i love you, my love, Madonna ft. "… 4 minutes, JLo ft lil wayne i'm into you, " ft. *** I'm real, papi, love don't cost a thing, get right, waiting for tonight, jenny from the block, " ft. pitbull dance again, {line 14}, FLESH I come from salem, alyssa reid satisfaction guaranteed, katy perry part of me, wide awake, hot n cold, last friday night (TGIF), teenage dream, california girls, cascada heaven, the killers when you were young, waking up in vegas, ur so gay, mini viva one touch, i wish, left my heart in tokyo, kings of leon use somebody, limp bizkit break stuff, my generation, my way, rearranged, behind blue eyes, take a look around, eat you alive, boiler, nookie, eight seconds kiss you when it's dangerous, brandy afrodisiac, the boy is mine, keyshia cole heaven sent, christina milian dip it low, aaliyah rock the boat, miss you, try again, we need a resolution ft. timbaland, M.I.A. ft " come around, {line 2*2}, afrojack (ft. Eva Simons) take over control, dj snake, lil jon turn down for what, dillon francis, " get low, rudenko everybody, ashley tisdale he said she said, the sugarcubes birthday, {line 6}, porcelain black this is what rock n roll looks like, infected rain orphan soul, aesthetic perfection, love like lies, no boys allowed, antibody, big bad wolf, never enough, new black, ebb and flow, rhythm takes control, " ft. Nyxx LAX, " nightmare, diabolical, voodoo, moby j breas, god moving over the face of the waters, soulja boy nene, evanescence tourniquet, globe perfume of love, Sinéad O'Connor nothing compares 2 U, last dinner party, ayu independent, for my dear, depend on you, monochrome, bleachers alma mater, MGMT bubblegum dog, bahamas I’m still,

Fefe Dobson recharge my heart, stuttering, revolution song, bye bye boyfriend, rock it til you drop it,

[redhairedwolfwitch]

Not Like We Were Hiding (2/3) - Jill Roord x Reader

Part 1

A/n: Part 1 was 9k words... part 2 is 11k words... I'm a little sorry... enjoy!

///

Moving to Barcelona earlier than what you had previously arranged with the Barcelona side of management left them playing catch-up, although you assured them that you had settled in fine in Barcelona. 

Although you did end up travelling to attend the UEFA Champions League final, Barcelona against Chelsea. You kept hidden, smiling as Barcelona won 4-0 against Chelsea, reminding you of the last time you played against Chelsea, with Jill. Your heart ached slightly as you watched your future teammates dance around and celebrate, before you headed back to your hotel. Travelling to Sweden for the finals had gotten you out of unpacking your belongings and crying over everything you had in London that you no longer did, so that helped somewhat.

Barcelona’s 2020/21 season also included the club winning Copa de Reina and being top of the Primera División, whilst you were training in the park near your new place until you stopped feeling that weight in your chest and nervousness about meeting your new teammates. Plus, you’d seen something on social media that made you want to either throw up or cry. Fans had videoed Jill talking to a Norwegian player who you’d learnt was called Ingrid, and she played at Wolfsburg.

Barcelona’s offseason beginning gave you a chance to breathe, watching the Netherlands perform at the Olympics in Tokyo whenever you could, having jumped out of your chair to celebrate when Jill got her goal against Zambia. You texted her a congratulations before the heartache of not being there to celebrate with her kicked in.

Watching the Netherlands lose against the US made you queasy as you turned off the tv, choosing to sit on your balcony and contemplate what you were doing.

Lieke Martens was the first teammate to contact you a while after the Olympics, (having gotten your phone number from Daan whilst in Tokyo), asking if you wanted to meet for coffee and hang out.

///

Getting your coffees to go, you walked with Lieke to where she wanted to show you, your stomach doing a backflip as you realised she was waving to some people. Your Barcelona teammates, or some of them anyway.

“Sorry to spring this on you, but everyone was so excited to meet some of the new players.” Lieke explained as you sipped your coffee, heading over to the group.

“This is the Arsenal player who played with some of my national teammates!” Lieke announced you like that, leaving you to raise an eyebrow before you froze, recognising a face you thought you wouldn’t see with your Barcelona teammates.

“I thought you played with Wolfsburg?” it slipped out before you could shut your mouth, leaving Ingrid to smile and nod, explaining she was joining Barcelona this season just like you. Ingrid, the player that had been seen with Jill, who you thought would be playing alongside Jill this season, was at Barcelona with you.

Sipping your coffee, you remained silent as Lieke glanced between you and Ingrid in confusion, deciding to introduce you to Rolfö to get rid of the awkward energy.

///

Taking a seat back from it all, you watched some of your new teammates dancing and playing random games with a football someone had brought, continuing to sip on your coffee, your excuse for not joining in being you wanted to finish it. That didn’t mean you were drinking it quickly.

Lieke had come over to sit with you after realising you were alone, the two of you quietly talking as Ingrid walked over first, but Alexia and Jenni weren’t too far behind.

“She did not stop talking about you.” Ingrid’s admission caught your attention as your knee buckled and hit the table in your shock.

“What do you mean?” You asked, fingers unconsciously running over your wrist tattoo as the others fell quiet.

“When I spoke to Jill, she did not stop talking about how much she loves you, and how much she misses you.” Ingrid explained with a sad smile, eyes drifting to your tattoo as Lieke reached for your arm for a closer look.

“That’s Jill’s handwriting… ‘mijn liefde’... my love… Sari mentioned Jill missing someone at camp, but-”

“Jill and I… we didn’t hide, we just didn’t broadcast the fact we were together. Took a while for our Arsenal teammates to find out, they were so confused by it all. I mean, it went from a hookup after winning against Chelsea to dating in about four days, then we were girlfriends after a match against City where one of their attackers landed on top of me. To be honest, we moved so quickly at times but so slowly at others.” You let out a soft breath, your eyes staying on your tattoo as you spoke, so you didn’t see the reactions of Alexia, Jenni, Lieke and Ingrid to your story. 

“It was supposed to be a one night thing, but Jill made her way into my heart and made that tiny place I lived in a home. We wanted to stay together, but Arsenal didn’t want to re-sign me, so we looked at other club offers. Wolfsburg was better for Jill, but they had enough defenders, and none of my offers were even in the same country as Jill’s. In the end, Jill was heading for Wolfsburg, and I ended up here. We couldn’t handle long distance, barely being able to sleep apart when we both lived in London. International breaks with Jill leaving to play with the Netherlands were hell for us both. I think Sari had to deal with a sad Jill way too much,” wiping at your face in case any tears fell, you let out a sad laugh at what you were about to say. 

“I lied when I said I moved to Barcelona recently. I moved after our transfer announcements were made, I, I didn’t want to see the tiny place in London without Jill’s things in it, because then it wouldn’t be home. We weren’t hiding our relationship from the public, we posted on socials, we celebrated goals together and held hands in the streets… one of our last conversations together in person was about how we wished we could handle the distance, and how we’d always love each other. Jill is my liefde. I don’t think I could ever really get over her. She’s also part of the reason I started moving up into midfield… but being underestimated at Arsenal pushed me into being something more, and apparently it was something that caught people’s attention as last season went on… so… that’s me.” You finished monologuing, bringing the coffee to your lips only to pout when you found it was empty.

“Spreek je nederlands? Of alleen maar koosnamen?” Lieke enquired, raising an eyebrow as you smirked back, glancing between Alexia, Jenni and Ingrid who all looked confused.

“Ja, ik spreek nederlands. Meer dan je denkt… plus I’m pretty sure Lisa has a montage of me swearing in Dutch during training. Daan taught me those words though.” You replied, smiling softly at the memory.

“How do you feel now?” Alexia enquired after having what you assumed was a conversation with Jenni through facial expressions alone.

“I miss Jill all the time. We text, call, even video call sometimes, but there’s still that ache, she’s… she’s the love of my life, but she’s over 800 miles away, and it sucks.” You messed with the empty coffee cup until it was taken from your hands by Jenni so you’d look up at her.

“You’ll see her again, when Barcelona plays in the champions league this season!” Jenni smiled, trying to give you something to focus on whilst Lieke tapped away on her phone and Ingrid smiled.

“I think Jill feels the same way you do, she misses you a lot.” Ingrid affirmed, gently patting you on the shoulder in support, nodding as you mouthed ‘thank you’ and an apology to her for earlier.

“You said you two weren’t hiding, yes?” Alexia asked, raising an eyebrow as you got out your phone and opened your instagram to show her and Jenni the photos you were talking about, whilst Ingrid slipped away to talk to Caro, and Lieke looked over your shoulder at your phone like she was anticipating something, but also interested in the photo of you and Jill on your mini golf date.

“Have you ever been bouldering?” You enquired as you got to the footage Lisa had taken of you climbing on the bouldering date with Jill that Lisa and some of your other teammates had crashed.

“Mijn kleine spin…” you whispered, recalling what Jill had called you that day, the warmth in your chest matching the heat in your face as your phone began to ring, revealing that Jill was calling.

“Um, I’m gonna take this… hoi!” you announced, hurrying away to go find somewhere private as Lieke smirked.

“Did you-” Alexia began as Jenni laughed, realising that Lieke had texted Jill, telling her to call you when she saw the message.

///

It hadn’t gone unnoticed by Jill’s Wolfsburg how she had lit up talking on the phone to someone in a mix of Dutch and English, Jill’s national teammates had an inkling though, and it wasn’t like Jill had hidden that she was in a relationship during her last season of Arsenal, but they hadn’t played against you before. They didn’t know about the rising defender/defensive midfielder who caused havoc for opposing midfielders in the WSL. Maybe they’d find out though, if Wolfsburg played against Barcelona in the UWCL, like Jenni said.

///

“Je hebt mijn shirt aan.” Jill smirked, the phone call having turned to a video call after a while, her eyes lingering on how good you looked in her shirt, before her heart reminded her of reality.

“Do you have a problem with that? I’m pretty sure you have some of my clothes with you too.” You asked, raising an eyebrow in challenge in response to Jill’s smirk.

“No problem, just annoyed I can’t be there to take it off of you.”

“Wow… now I’m glad I left the room where all my Barcelona teammates could have heard that!” You pointed out, feeling a warmth in your cheeks as Jill grinned, wiggling her eyebrows before the conversation shifted into how you were doing in Barcelona, and how Jill was in Wolfsburg.

///

Barcelona had a lot of defenders in their squad that you were getting to know and training with, but you also did tasks with the midfielders, annoying them a little in the process as your Arsenal antics began to creep in.

“Jill-” You froze, turning around to an empty space instead of where you would usually see Jill wanting you to pass to her, confusing Patri and Aitana as they exchanged glances.

“Wow, I can’t believe I just did that.” You ran your hands down your face, about to be annoyed with yourself when a hand landed on your shoulder. Removing your hand from your face, you met Alexia’s sad smile of understanding, the ball that you had kicked out of play trying to pass to your ex who wasn’t there, now under her free arm.

“Not at Arsenal now, chica!” Patri chuckled, leaving you to sigh, humming in agreement, swiping the ball from Alexia as she put it on the ground.

“True, I’m not at Arsenal, but I can still show you some tricks I learnt there!”

///

Barcelona’s possession heavy playing style was interesting to you as you adapted to it, amused by Alexia’s decision for you to have shooting practice after regular practice. You had a feeling she’d watched a few of the highlights of your matches with Arsenal online, not seeing it as more than that until you realised you would be on the roster for the upcoming match against Valencia.

Your technique to cause havoc involved interceptions, tackles and a lot of pressing, your work rate intriguing the Barcelona players as some of them saw your final Arsenal game against Aston Villa being shown when you were talking with the staff about you moving up more into midfield. Barcelona’s usual 4-3-3 formation meant that if you wanted in that midfield, you would be a sub, just like you’d be with how many defenders Barcelona had available this season. You weren’t going to let that stop you, even if the light in your eyes died when you watched the Aston Villa game and recalled that final game with Jill.

You knew why Barcelona wanted you, their midfielders were very attacking focussed, but you were not and it could change things coming up.

///

The game against Valencia, you were subbed on for Patri at the 55th minute, the score already at 6-0 for Barcelona, but it ended 8-0 after a goal from Lieke, then Caro. You as a defensive midfielder changed the vibe slightly as you were further back with the defenders than Patri had been with Alexia and Clàudia, but your time with Barcelona’s midfield meant you had already improved. Jill noticed this when she found the match highlights on YouTube, and your national team manager noticed this when looking over the footage from your previous games.

///

The upcoming Champions League group stage match against Arsenal had left your stomach fluttering with butterflies, texting Jill about it, you didn’t expect her to call you, but she did.

“Hoi, liefde…” Jill’s voice was soft down the phone, but she sounded out of breath, so you apologised for interrupting whatever she was doing, but she shook her head, realising you could see, she laughed slightly.

“We just finished training. It’s not the same without you here, I miss watching you train, and… other things…” Jill smirked to herself, knowing you were rolling your eyes at her over the phone, even if she couldn’t see.

“Yeah,  yeah, I know, my ass in these shorts. I just, it’s against Arsenal, but they’ve changed a lot. You’re not there, or Daan, and well, Arsenal won’t exactly miss me but, it’ll be weird messing with Arsenal’s midfield this time. Plus, our one year anniversary would have been… het spijt me, I shouldn’t-”

“Arsenal missed out on who you are as a player, and, I know, our anniversary… I had a pizza alone in the park, wishing you were with me.” Jill replied, cutting off your apology since you didn’t need to apologise, both of you had pieces of each other in your souls. Some may say you are soulmates, had the football contracts not gotten in the way of everything.

“I watched Grey’s Anatomy and kept hearing ‘it’s a beautiful day to save lives’ in your voice instead of Derek Shepherd’s.” You confessed, smiling as you heard Jill chuckle and repeat the known Derek Shepherd phrase.

///

Your stomach flipped over and over as October arrived and the game against Arsenal was next. It was a game at the Johan Cruyff stadium, so the London team would be travelling to Barcelona, and you’d heard from Lotte that everyone at Arsenal was excited for the match, and to see you again too. You’d spoken to Lisa, she was on loan at West Ham so you’d miss out on seeing her, instead dedicating an evening to talking to her over video call one evening from your place in Barcelona. 

You sat on the bench for the Barcelona vs Arsenal match, watching intently as Mariona got the first goal, and biting your lip at the amount of yellow cards flying. McCabe had one already between the first and second goal before half-time. Irene however also received a yellow a minute into half-time, whilst you hid your grimace as Mead yeeted Mariona out of the way, earning a yellow card in the process.

Chewing your lip as Arsenal made their substitutions, you hid your relief at Beth and Katie were subbed off for Health and Parris, whilst Viv went off for Foord. After the 70th minute, Jordan went on for Lia, whilst on your side, Lieke was subbed on for Asisat. Arsenal matched to wipe away the clean sheet as Maanum scored, the score at 3-1 whilst Foord received a yellow after tangling with Alexia.

Ana-Maria was subbed off for Rolfö whilst Mana went on for Little minutes later. Mariona later came to join you as Bruna went on, the two of you not sat down long as Lieke’s goal made it 4-1. Your eyes widened as you realised Arsenal’s head coach had gotten a yellow card, the head coach you had known when you, Jill and Daan had played at Arsenal had left to be the head coach of Juventus in June.

You were taking a sip of water when you saw Jordan be carded, almost spitting it onto Leila and Jenni in front of you as you choked, Ingrid patting your back worriedly whilst Alexia took the penalty shot. Manu managed to save it, whilst you looked confused as Parris was carded after. 

The match ended 4-1, but you tried to hide your confusion at the ref’s choices, getting wrapped up instead in hugs as some of your old Arsenal teammates walked over to greet you after the match.

“Hey you!” you smiled as Lotte hurried over to you and pulled you into a hug, the two of you chatting about how you were both doing until Viv walked over, hugging you gently but you could feel an awkward vibe that wasn’t from the chaos of the match that was just played.

“Viv?”

“I don’t think Jill told you but you hurt her when you moved out first. She found your letter, but you hurt her.” Viv explained, watching as your face fell.

“Shit. I was so wound up with not wanting to see her leave first and see the place be emptier like it was before we were together that I didn’t think about… I was selfish.” You realised, clenching your jaw to fight back tears as Viv sighed, patting your shoulder before she headed over to her teammates.

Lieke frowned as she walked over to you, glancing at Viv but you shook your head, blinking back tears as she asked “is alles oké?”

“Ja, ja, I’m fine, I’m fine, I just, I need to call Jill.” You let out a sigh, looking up at the night sky before turning on your heel, heading towards the tunnel.

///

Tapping your foot against the floor, you stared at your phone as you tapped on call, listening to it dial before Jill picked up, turning on the video call setting.

“Hi, liefde… hoe gaat het? I saw that Barcelona won against Arsenal tonight,” Jill began, frowning as you stared at her with glassy eyes, “liefde?”

“I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry, Viv told me about after I moved out and I, I was selfish by leaving first, I was so afraid of coming home and all your stuff would be gone and it wouldn’t be home anymore, because it only really became home when you were there too… I was selfish to leave a letter and move out, I should have moved out at the same time as you, even if we’d be sobbing at the airport or something… I was selfish, Jill, and I’m sorry.” You apologised with your eyes on the phone, something that a year ago you wouldn’t have been able to do, but you’d grown since last season at Arsenal, you’d grown by being with Jill and befriending the other Dutchies, you’d grown.

“It was horrible at first, coming home and you had gone, but I found your letter and I couldn’t be angry at you, schatje, it hurt for you to move out, but it hurt you that I was moving out too… but it was the contracts that hurt us more than we ever hurt each other…” Jill explained, yawning at the end of her sentence as you realised it was late for both of you. Same time zone but the match did start at 8pm.

///

You texted Jill as soon as you saw the result, chewing your lip as you wondered if she’d reply and when, but Wolfsburg drawing 3-3 with Chelsea in the group stages wasn’t what you had expected to see when you opened your phone.

///

The match against Atlético Madrid had you subbing on at the 78th minute for Patri, coming on alongside Leila who was subbed on for Caro. Aitana and Alexia gave you soft smiles as you arrived at your spot on centre midfield.

The game ended at 3-0, a text on your phone from Jill with a smiley face left you grinning as you sat down in the locker room next to Ingrid, bumping knees with her before grinning at Lieke as she walked by you. You smirked slightly as Jenni and Alexia walked in together, Alexia slightly annoyed as they were running late and you all needed to head back from the Atlético Madrid stadium to Barcelona, then to your respective homes.

You laughed as Aitana stared at you in confusion, struggling to understand as Lieke asked you something in Dutch, passing Lieke your portable phone charger in response as she gave you a grateful look.

///

Travelling to Denmark for the next Champions League match, you texted Alexia whenever you had a signal, knowing that she was back in Spain with her calf injury whilst the squad travelled to play HB Køge. You and Ingrid were starting alongside Jenni in midfield, this game, something you didn’t expect since you were prepared to even be subbed on as a defender. Instead, you and Ingrid were subbed off at half-time for Patri and Aitana, the game finally ending at 2-0 after Rolfö’s goal at 62 minutes, followed by Jenni taking a penalty a minute before the game was declared finished.

“Well… that was…” you murmured, glancing over the statistics on your phone for how many shots had been taken, and how many had been on target. A text message from Alexia lit up your screen as you texted back, telling her to rest up.

///

Alexia was game ready by the time that the match against Sporting Huelva came around three days later. You watched carefully from the bench at the 4-2-3-1 formation, sat with Ingrid as the two of you watched the midfield carefully. You high-fived Lieke and Jenni before they went onto the pitch, being subbed on for Asisat and Alexia at the 59th minute.

“How are you feeling?” You enquired as Alexia sat down, her eyes watching the pitch carefully until you flicked a little bit of water at her face, raising an eyebrow as she almost glared at you.

“How are you feeling?” you repeated your question, raising an eyebrow as Alexia took the water bottle from you for a sip, taking that as you answer, you resumed watching the game, cheering as Aitana got her first goal of the game.

///

Due to international duties, the next game for you wasn’t until Halloween, leaving your stomach flipping as your phone lit up with photos from a year ago of you and Jill in your ‘same franchise but not a couples costume costumes’. Your Spanish teammates had played Morocco and Ukraine, whilst Jill was busy scoring a hat trick against Cyprus then playing Belarus, as you texted both Jill and Lieke over the break. Ingrid and Caro ended up playing against Poland and then Belgium too.

The match on Halloween was against Sociedad, ending 8-1. You were subbed on for Aitana at the 78th minute, teasing her by speaking in Dutch before running onto the pitch with Lieke unable to translate as she was busy on the pitch, having scored one goal already, scoring a second one by the time the match was over.

“What did you say to me before?” Aitana enquired as she approached you in the locker room after the match.

“Goed gedaan? Well done? Although I do worry that what I’m saying is a grammatical mess, Daan, uh, DVD, van de Donk taught me swear words in Dutch though… luckily you guys don’t do that thing where you mic up the players!” you laughed, leaving Aitana to frown slightly as she wondered when she’d heard you swearing in Dutch, neither of you realising that Alexia had heard your confession about Dutch swear words and was going to have an ear out during practice now.

 ///

Each time Jill scored a goal playing for Wolfsburg or the Netherlands national team, you sent her a couple of emojis, or a photo/video of you reacting to her goal or goals plural, when you had a chance to. You didn’t see how much Jill would smile at your messages, or the way she bit her lip sometimes when you posted photos on your socials. The reaction photos/videos of you to her goals though were her favourite, but she wished your national team would call you up some day so you could get a taste of the rush.

///

The next game was a week later against Eibar. By half-time the score was already 3-0 to Barcelona, as you sat on the bench with Ingrid contemplating, and raising an eyebrow when you realised Ingrid’s gaze was solely on Mapi since the start. A hand on your shoulder caught your attention as Irene gestured that you and Ingrid were both being subbed on at the 59th minute.

Melanie and Clàudia were already at the side of the pitch as you and Ingrid were shepherded over by Irene, Lieke hugging you as she came off for Melanie, whilst Asisat came off for Clàudia, Torre came over for Irene whilst you waited for Mapi to hurry over. 

You raised an eyebrow as Mapi and Ingrid stood there for a moment before processing the switch, Patri glancing at you as you shrugged, patting Mapi’s shoulder before running to join the defenders, Ingrid catching up in midfield after. Leila smiled as you ran over, chuckling as she had seen the hold-up on the side of the pitch, but you shrugged, unsure what was going on. Although you had an inkling.

The match against Eibar ended 3-0, you were heading back to the tunnel when Ingrid called out to you.

“Can I ask you for some advice? Maybe over dinner… it’s about…” Ingrid hesitated, spotting Mapi and Leila heading towards the two of you as your eyes widened.

“Yeah, sure, I hope I can help with that.” You emphasised the ‘that’ with your eyes lingering on Mapi, giving Ingrid an indication that you knew what was going on before you turned to head into the tunnel, smiling as you caught up with Alexia who had not played the game this time.

///

The next group stage Champions League match was a home game against Hoffenheim. Watching the game intently, you once again sat next to Ingrid, with Leila on the other side of you. Biting your lip, you glanced at the staff as Patri received a yellow card seven minutes in, Jenni had scored two minutes ago but this match left you shuffling in your seat.

By half time, the score was 3-0 to Barcelona, two goals from Alexia that left you grinning into your hand. After half time, Leila patted you on the head with a grin before she was subbed on for Rolfö. Torre getting a goal at the 74th minute had you jumping out of your seat to celebrate, sitting down quickly as the game continued on, but you grinned for your fellow defender.

Aitana and Patri being subbed off meant you were whispering to Ingrid before she was subbed on to ‘kick some ass’. You and Ingrid had been working extra drills with the help of Alexia, Patri and Aitana after practice, although you’d sometimes have a video call going on where Jill could watch as it went on. Due to being away from your phone, you hadn’t seen the way Jill’s jaw clenched as you spent time with Ingrid, or the way that she had frowned after you told her about meeting Ingrid for dinner. She had ended up googling the place, letting out a breath she didn’t know she was holding when she found out it was a) nowhere fancy and b) not a date, you’d told her afterwards with a smirk that you were trying to help Ingrid with her crush on Mapi.

“Are you jealous, schatje?” you teased, raising an eyebrow of challenge at Jill’s clenched jaw, seeing her roll her eyes slightly.

“That expression on your face. Every time you make it, it makes me want to kiss you.” Jill confessed, your smirk falling to a soft smile as your heart ached with longing.

“I miss your kisses.” You confessed back, looking down slightly before looking up to Jill’s grin.

“Do you now?” her tone was teasing but you could see the longing in her eyes, sighing as you glanced over your calendar.

“I have your games on my calendar, our last game before the break is December 22nd, yours is the 16th December?” you double-checked, watching as Jill nodded, but not realising that you’d set off a metaphorical lightbulb for her as she bit her lip with a smirk that left your face feeling like it was on fire.

///

The next game was against Levante, you were subbed on for Rolfö at the 56th minute, heading onto the pitch with Jenni being subbed on for Clàudia. A couple of substitutions from Levante running up to the 59th minute, Jenni sent the ball over to you, getting in an assist as that shooting practice Alexia had you doing paid off, the ball finding the back of the net before the goalie could intervene at 66th minute.

“Dank je wel!” You slipped into Dutch, not really thinking about it until Jenni laughed, patting you on the head as you quickly thanked her in English then Spanish before heading back to your position for the game to restart. Your fingers had latched onto your wrist tattoo subconsciously, even as the game restarted, you were still longing for Jill to wrap you up in her arms after scoring a goal.

Your goal made it 3-0 as it went on, Jana coming on for Torre whilst Ingrid came on for Ana-Maria by the 81st minute. Heading into stoppage time, Jenni took a penalty shot, sending the score 4-0 up for Barcelona as the game finished two minutes later.

The grin on your face grew even larger when you got to your phone in the locker room after the game, Ingrid having a knowing smile on her face as Jenni smirked and asked who, or what had you grinning so much.

“Jill saw my goal.” That was all you needed to say as Jenni began to tease you, making kissing faces and noises until you threw a sock at her face, the team erupting into laughter as it landed on Jenni’s head.

///

“It sucks that Hoffenheim is so far from Wolfsburg, but it’s the closest we’ll be to each other physically since Arsenal.” You admitted, staring up at the ceiling in your dark bedroom, on the phone to Jill until one or both of you fell asleep.

“The train is five hours, and Wolfsburg play Juventus at the stadium the day after.” Jill grumbled, being able to feel you grimace through the phone at the idea of a five hour train journey.

“Yeah, no, that wouldn’t work, sorry liefje.” You apologised, falling silent as you heard Jill’s breathing even out, somehow she had fallen asleep rather quickly.

“Ik hou van jou, mijn liefde.” you confessed quietly before hanging up the phone and falling asleep yourself.

///

Travelling to Hoffenheim for the next group stages game, your inability to sit still was annoying Jenni, who had wrapped you in a headlock more than once, both teasing you but also trying to get you to still. Your eyes met Alexia’s as she glanced over, but you weren’t sure what was going on between Jenni and her, so you closed your eyes and went limp in Jenni’s arms for a moment.

The multiple times you’d checked your phone on the coach to the airport, then at the airport, before leaving it alone on the plane, to stare at it again on the way to the hotel, left you vulnerable to a lot of teasing. Jenni smirked multiple times, teasing you whenever she got a glimpse of the messages you and Jill were sending each other.

“You two are just friends? These messages are not so friendly-” Jenni wiggled her eyebrows, smirking as she took your phone from your hands.

“Geef terug!” you slipped into Dutch, Lieke turning around from where she had been sat further up the coach as you grumbled at Jenni loud enough that she’d heard.

“Alsjeblieft!” You glared slightly as Jenni held the phone out of reach, not realising it was basically in Ingrid’s face until it was taken by Mapi. 

Luckily, your phone had locked itself before Mapi could access your phone, passing it to Ingrid with a bored expression as your lock screen was all she could see, and it was a group photo with the Barcelona girls. She didn’t know your home screen was a photo of Jill you’d taken back whilst you were both at Arsenal.

Jenni pouted as you put your phone away, staring out of the window instead until the coach finally got to the hotel. You felt weird with Jenni asking if you and Jill were just friends, since technically the two of you had broken up, but remained in a flirty friendly situation across countries.

Arriving at the hotel, you felt relief as you found out you were rooming with Ingrid, and not Jenni, even as Alexia pulled you back whilst you were grabbing your suitcase to see if you were okay after the coach shenanigans.

“It’s fine, she didn’t see much, just a few texts… I’m fine… I just, Jill and I are… het is ingewikkeld,” you glanced to meet Alexia’s eyes as she looked slightly confused at your use of Dutch, “it is complicated,” translating quietly, your captain nodded, heading inside with her suitcase after making one final comment.

“I bet you wish we were closer to Wolfsburg right now…”

///

When you got to the hotel room, Ingrid had already headed inside, sitting on her bed as you made your way to the empty one, leaving your suitcase the end of it as you flopped down onto the bed with a sigh.

“Mapi didn’t see anything on your phone. You are safe.” Ingrid smiled, giggling slightly as you let out a sigh, the noise muffled by the bedsheets you were face down in.

“This is the closest I’ve been to Jill since Arsenal and she’s still over 5 hours away.” Your voice broke slightly as you sat up, trying to hold back tears or any sign that you were missing Jill as more than a friend would miss their friend. But Jill was always going to be more than a friend to you.

“Jenni asked if Jill and I were more than friends but how can I say that Jill is my soulmate even when we’re countries apart? I don’t even know if that’s how Jill feels, I haven’t asked.” You admitted, pulling your knees up to your chest as Ingrid moved over to sit on your bed, bringing her phone with her.

“What are you-”

“You forget, I was with Wolfsburg last season, and I am still friends with my old teammates, who play with Jill now.” Ingrid replied, sending a message before she pulled you in for a hug, trying her best to comfort you until she got a text back that would sort it out for you.

///

Hours later after dinner, Ingrid was stuck with you tossing and turning in bed. You’d both decided to go to bed early, but it wasn’t working as you were still up with your thoughts, and Ingrid was awake because of you.

“Call her.”

“What?” you rolled over, moving your pillow to look at Ingrid in the darkness, until she clicked on her bedside lamp.

“I spoke to my old teammates. You should call her.” Ingrid affirmed before her eyes widened, throwing one of her pillows at you.

“Go outside and call her. I don’t need to hear your phone sex with Jill.” Ingrid replied, not wanting to hear your argument about how nobody said anything about phone sex, instead she watched as you wrapped yourself in your blanket, heading out of the room with your key, phone and portable charger.

Sitting down in the corridor where you wouldn’t bother anyone but remained on the floor with your teammates, you chewed your lip as you tapped the call button, waiting with your knee bumping up and down.

“Hoi liefde,” letting out a breath at the pet name, you held back tears as the two of you began to converse.

///

“How did they not see me?” Mapi whispered, peeking out from where she had hidden under the covers when Ingrid put the bedside lamp on.

“All that matters to them right now is Jill and football. So they won’t sleep until they talk to Jill.” Ingrid explained, cuddling into Mapi as she turned the bedside lamp off again.

///

“You’re my soulmate, Jill… Jenni asked me today if we were just friends and I just knew, you’re always going to be more than my friend, because you’re my soulmate… it’s okay if you don’t-”

“There is no one else for me, liefje… I want to see you before I go see my family for Kerst.” Jill admitted, hearing your intake of breath at her admittance.

“I’d love that schatje, I’d love that I lot.” 

Jill let out a breath as you replied.

///

Falling asleep on the call in the middle of the hotel corridor wasn’t exactly great for your spine, or for whoever found you asleep in the corridor of all places. Alexia had just wanted to go down to breakfast at her usual time, (also known as early) so stumbling upon you on the corridor floor was enough to scare her.

“Dios mío, are you alive?” Alexia whispered, gently shaking you as you began to whine, her attention caught by the phone that was laying on the floor, showing a video call of a sleeping Jill.

“Wake up, why are you out here? Did you and Ingrid fight?” Alexia nudged you a little more violently, raising an eyebrow as you stirred.

“Goedemorgen, wait, buenos días… good morning… shit, did I fall asleep out here? Wait, Jill… fuck, she’s so cute…” you whispered, picking up your phone to spot how Jill’s phone was still on the videocall, you had both fallen asleep and forgotten to hang up.

Tapping the hang up button as Alexia stared at you, you swallowed nervously at her expression, her game face slightly more intimidating first thing on a morning.

“I was missing Jill so Ingrid told me to call her, but Ingrid also told me to call her outside because she didn’t want to hear any phone sex- we didn’t have phone sex though, not this time- shit- anyway, I fell asleep out here… I’m going to go see if Ingrid’s up… sorry capitana,” hurrying away after you apologised, you hit your shoulder on the doorframe as you barged into your room, waking up Ingrid and Mapi who had apparently snuck into the room at some point.

“I’m not even going to ask. Alexia just found me asleep in the corridor.” You sighed, going through your stuff to get ready for the day.

///

“Wait, you snuck in while I was in the bathroom?”

You found out over breakfast that Mapi had been in Ingrid’s bed the entire night, stuck listening to you toss and turn until Ingrid told you to call Jill outside. They hadn’t meant to let you fall asleep outside, but the bed was warm and they were comfy.

///

The match against Hoffenheim had Ingrid starting alongside Aitana and Alexia, whilst Leila, Irene, Mapi and Jana were the starting line of defence. Alexia taking a penalty shot at the 41st minute took Barcelona into the lead, with Irene then Aitana adding to the score, taking it to 3-0. A minute after Aitana scored, she was running off to be subbed on, high-fiving you with a grin at your ‘goed gedaan’ before you jogged onto the pitch with Mariona close behind, subbing on for Jenni.

Irene, Mapi and Leila were all subbed off for Pere, Melanie and Torre. Torre ended up adding to the scoresheet with an assist from Clàudia, before Ana-Maria scored during the stoppage time with an assist from Rolfö. The scores on the board ended with a 5-0 win for Barcelona.

///

Texting Jill the next day as you all travelled back to Barcelona, you grinned as you were able to get an update on the Wolfsburg vs Juventus game, but that grin soon fell as you realised that Wolfsburg had lost 2-0 to Juventus.

///

Returning back to Barcelona, the first game back three days later was a game against Sevilla. A chaotic game that was 5-1 by half time, with you being subbed on for Mapi at the start of the second half, followed by Mariona on for Ana-Maria and Aitana coming on for Alexia. Another goal. 6-1. Another substitution, then another, as Rolfö, then Leila went off, with Melanie and Jana coming onto the pitch. Four more goals after the 82nd minute took the score to 10-1 by the end of the stoppage time for Barcelona.

Swearing under your breath in a mix of Dutch and English, you soon realised that another international break was here with the World Cup Qualifiers continuing.

///

Spain played against the Faroe Islands and then Scotland, winning both matches, whilst the Netherlands played against the Czech Republic and drew 2-2, Jill even getting a yellow card in that match. Chewing your lip, you debated looking up your national team and if they’d had any matches recently, but you decided against it. You hadn’t been called up and you tried not to think about it.

///

The first game back in December was against Athletic Club, ending 4-0, neither you or Ingrid being subbed on that match, but Lieke was subbed on for Ana-Maria, and Jenni had scored twice before being subbed off.

Your heart was racing as the squad travelled to play Arsenal at the Emirates stadium, you didn’t end up playing the match but your analysis of Arsenal as they played was helpful to the subs going on, so Jana, Ingrid and Leila all knew what was going on a little better. Playing against Arsenal, Barcelona won 4-0, the team hanging around a little longer allowing you to see Lotte, Viv and Katie chatting with them for a minute.

If anyone expected you to switch shirts with them, they were mistaken, you didn’t feel comfortable wearing a Arsenal shirt that wasn’t Jill’s, and seeing anyone but her ever wear your Barcelona jersey made your chest feel like it was being crushed by a boulder.

///

The El Clásico game between Barcelona and Real Madrid left you wondering if you’d get to play any time soon, but you’d noticed the staff watching you carefully during training sessions and talking to Alexia, so maybe something was happening there.

You were yet to start for a Barcelona game, something that hadn’t happened to you a lot at Arsenal either, but you weren’t letting it stop you anymore.

Starting against Real Madrid as part of the defence line wasn’t what you expected, but you went with it. The game ended at half time with Barcelona up three goals, and you had been put on your ass more times than you’d like to admit. At the 79th minute, you were subbed off for Jana, grateful as you high-fived the girl, you winced at how much your body ached as you sat on the bench. As soon as the game ended, 3-1, you headed directly for the showers, trying to ignore how bruised your body was.

///

You were playing in the second game against HB Køge, starting alongside Ingrid and Alexia, you didn’t even think about what you were doing as you went after the ball, sending the ball across before it went out of play, but your body argued with you, almost crashing into the advertising boards in the process.

“You okay?” You heard but you shook your head, leaning on the goal for balance as you waited for the medics to come over, holding your hamstring as you grumbled about how your head was spinning,  the medics finally coming over.

You’d won a corner, but at what cost, as you were subbed off for Rolfö to come on in your place.

///

A grade one hamstring strain, that had you resting it for three weeks at least.

You ended up missing the game against Rayo Vallecano, but it ended 4-0, sitting on the bench wrapped in a blanket as you watched carefully. 

The last game of the season was against Madrid CFF. Jill was already done with her games with Wolfsburg, but she knew you wouldn’t be playing after you’d called her from the medical room when you were subbed off after the game against Real Madrid.

Jill still watched the game from the stands though, her gaze shifting from the pitch to where you were sitting on the bench wrapped in a blanket that was originally her blanket. The game ended 7-0 to Barcelona, as Lieke spotted Jill, waving to her before getting the staff to allow Jill down onto the pitch.

Your teammates watched in intrigue, whispering to each other as they recognised Jill, spotting her walking towards where you were standing, chatting to Alexia and Ingrid.

“Hallo, kleine dief, ik zie dat je mijn deken hebt.” 

You froze at the voice, goosebumps running over your skin as Alexia and Ingrid exchanged knowing looks.

“You’re here.”

“I said I wanted to see you before Kerst,” Jill smirked before letting out a sigh, “but you had to strain your hamstring before I could watch you play from the stands.” 

“You can watch me play when Barcelona meet Wolfsburg in the Champions League.” You replied, stepping forwards to challenge Jill, forgetting everyone else was around as she bit her lip.

“Cute, liefde, cute, but we have some catching up to do before then.” Jill wrapped her arm around you, her free arm moving the blanket around you both before you headed off to the tunnel together. The blanket obscured how the hand on your waist was slipping under your jersey to draw patterns on your skin.

“They are more than friends.” Jenni affirmed, luckily out of earshot for what Jill said next.

“This jersey is mine when we get back to your place.” Her breath was warm against your ear as her nose brushed your cheek as she pulled away, smirking as you sped up slightly towards the locker room.

“Liefje, you’re supposed to be resting your hamstring!”

///

It was the morning of the 24th of December when Alexia decided to check on you in person, Alba tagging along with her under the excuse of it being family time, but Alexia wasn’t so sure. She was sure that you were staying in Barcelona for the break, but you hadn’t replied to her text, so she was going to your place to talk to you, and drop off some food.

Knocking on your door, she had debated leaving Alba in the car, and she honestly wished she had done so when the door opened to reveal Jill wearing one of your Barcelona jerseys.

“Oh, hi! Schatje, people are here!” 

“I found your charger! Oh… hi Alexia, Alba… het spijt me, excuse me!” You went to throw on a hoodie, or anything that would hide your neck after realising what Alba was smirking at, whilst Alexia pretended that the woodwork of the door was more interesting than you and Jill.

Jill barely hid her smirk at your captain’s reaction, choosing to allow the Putellas sisters into the place as she needed to go back to packing.

“I’m sorry I have to rush, my taxi is coming soon to head to the airport.” Jill explained, snorting slightly as you walked back in, clad in a hoodie and longer trousers compared to the shorts and tank top you’d been sporting earlier.

“You’re not staying?” Alexia asked, glaring at how Alba hadn’t said a word but kept smirking at everything.

“I am spending Kerst with my family, although I’d love to be with my liefde too.” Jill explained, kissing your forehead as you walked closer to the three of them.

“Plus, it’s a little awkward to explain, het is ingewikkeld.” You replied, reminding Alexia of what you had said before the Hoffenheim game as she nodded.

“In case you get hungry tomorrow.” Alba smiled knowingly, nudging Alexia in the side to pass you the food that they’d brought.

“Thank you… uh, I think that’s your taxi, Jill!” you pointed out as you heard a honk from outside.

///

Spending the rest of the winter break alone was a contrast compared to last year’s winter break at Arsenal. You’d skipped out on the New Years party in favour of watching the fireworks on tv, not expecting Jill to call you near midnight, having snuck away from the party she was at to wish you a happy new year and that she hoped the two of you would see each other in person again.

///

Barcelona’s first game back was January 12th, a game against Sporting Huelva, which ended 5-0. A week later, it was the semi-final of the Supercopa de España Femenina. You’d been working on strengthening your hamstrings since your hamstring strain last year, being cleared to play again but still not wanting to risk anything, so you sat out of the semi-final whilst working on training your body back up to fitness again. You were semi-grateful, since it was against Real Madrid, and the bruises you had from the last game against them were brutal, even Jill had agreed with that over video call.

The final of the Supercopa de España Femenina against Atlético de Madrid, you did play, being subbed on for Alexia at the 66th minute, heading onto the pitch after Leila was subbed on for Rolfö. More substitutions were made as Ingrid and Irene went off for Melanie and Mapi, before Jenni got a yellow card two minutes later. Lieke got the 6th goal of the match, assisted by Caro, as Atlético made another substitution.

It was the 90th minute where things changed for you, sending the ball into Lieke’s path, you grinned as she sent it flying into the net, gaining her second goal of the match as you ran over to hug her, chattering away in Dutch as your other teammates ran over.

You hadn’t expected Wolfsburg to lose a friendly to Eintracht Frankfurt that same day, but Jill had texted you, congratulating you on the game, and your assist. Another text had also been sent a minute later, asking how your hamstring was. You smiled, typing away as you sat in the sushi bar, Jill’s game had kicked off an hour after yours, but you were completely engrossed in your phone instead of your celebrating teammates. They wanted to party, but also wanted sushi first, especially after winning the first of what was hoped to be many trophies this season.

The Frauen-Bundesliga was resuming on the same day as the Primera División this time in late January, Wolfsburg against Potsdam, Barcelona against Real Betis. Jill was starting the game, whilst you were on the bench, texting Alexia who was sitting this game out. Baradad nudged you gently as you were both told to warm up, you were being subbed in for Mapi at the 74th minute, Ona coming on for Lieke. The match ended 4-0 to Barcelona. Checking your phone in the locker room, you almost choked on your spit when you saw Alexia had texted you the Wolfsburg score, Jill had even gotten an assist for the third goal before being subbed off at the 86th minute.

February for you was full of club games, whilst Jill’s February was different, having to withdraw from the Tournoi de France due to COVID-19 protocols and you couldn’t do anything to help her.

March for you started off with the Round of 16 for the Copa de La Reina, Barcelona continuing their winning streak through club games and the Quarter-final against Sociedad. Heading to Madrid for the next Champions League match, Barcelona came out with a win, and you came out with a lot of bruises, begin subbed off at the 65th minute for Irene. March ended with Barcelone through to the next stage of the Champions League, winning on aggregate 8-3 against Real Madrid, in addition to keeping that winning streak going.

Jill’s March ended with Wolfsburg playing against Arsenal for the next stage of the Champions League. The first leg match was a draw, but the second leg match had Jill scoring 9 minutes in, then Leah accidentally getting an own goal at 72 minutes in. Wolfsburg were through to the next match, against Barcelona next month.

You thought your next game after the second leg against Real Madrid would be against Wolfsburg, having gone from momentary dread of playing against Jill to rushing with excitement at getting to see the love of your life in the flesh again since December.

But you were wrong. The international break was coming up, Spain playing a friendly then a World Cup Qualifier, whilst the Netherlands were playing a World Cup Qualifier, then a friendly.

You didn’t expect to be called up to your national team for the upcoming friendly, you never expected it, having lost hope back when you were at Arsenal, but you were called up. Sitting in your living room alone, your first instinct was to call Jill, tears filling your eyes as the excitement turned into longing, wishing Jill was here to celebrate with you in person.

“Hoi, schatje?”

“I got called up, for the friendly, I got called up!”

“Ahh! Yes! gefeliciteerd, baby! Are you excited? I wish I could hug you right now!” Jill celebrated over the phone, the grin on her face as she turned the camera on to show you.

///

Getting to play some minutes in the friendly, you spent the run up to the 22nd of April full of energy, ready to see Jill, ready to keep playing football, and ready to be around your teammates at Barcelona again since everyone came back from international duty.

The first leg of the game against Wolfsburg was going to be played at Camp Nou, returning there since the game against Real Madrid for the Champions League nearly a month ago.

“What did you eat for breakfast? Did you have coffee? Are you on a sugar rush?”

Staring up at Alexia and her questions, your captain frowned, almost uncomfortable by the look in your eye and the amount of excited energy coming off of you.

“They’re excited, they get to see Jill today…” Ingrid smiled, answering Alexia’s question.

“And have a little rendezvous after!” Mapi teased, smirking and wiggling her eyebrows as you spluttered on air, remembering how awkward Alexia had been back in December after your last rendezvous with Jill.

“Mapi!” You whined, about to stand up to Mapi’s teasing when your phone buzzed, and you were entranced with it again.

“Message from Jill?” Ingrid assumed whilst Alexia rolled her eyes, about to take your phone from you when Mapi’s next teasing comment had her stopping, “maybe a nude?”

“It’s not. Also that teasing is too late, Jenni already used that topic when we were on the road to Hoffenheim.” You deadpanned, texting Jill back quickly as Alexia raised an eyebrow at you.

The team were almost ready to head out when Rendezvous by Little Mix began to play over the speakers, your eyes immediately finding Mapi smirking, having taken over DJ-ing the locker room as you rolled your eyes, sticking your tongue out at the defender.

“Hey. Turn that energy into beating Wolfsburg. Show Jill what you can do.” Alexia encouraged you, her hands on your shoulders as you nodded, a determined look in your eye that had begun to emerge when the line-up was discussed.

You would be starting in midfield, putting you into the path of the love of your life. This game was going to be fun.

///

Walking out onto the field, you immediately found Wolfsburg’s number 14, eyes lingering on the green jersey before the player turned around, your eyes meeting Jill’s, raising an eyebrow of challenge at her as she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, looking you up and down quickly before her teammate nudged her to focus.

You could feel the atmosphere as you glanced around the stands at the fans, the contrast of red and blue jerseys with Wolfsburg’s green energising you even more as you watched Alexia with the referees and Wolfsburg’s captain, Janssen interacting.

Wolfsburg was the one team that Barcelona had not been able to score against, but you hoped things would be different this leg match.

///

You smirked as you met Jill’s eyes, seeing the recognition in them as she realised what was going to happen in this match. You were marking each other.

It only took three minutes for Aitana to send the ball into the goal, Rolfö getting the assist as you and Jill danced around each other, stealing glances and smirks but refusing to let your focusses waiver. During these two games, each of you were loyal to your clubs, but off the pitch? There was no way you weren’t going home with Jill tonight.

Ten minutes into the game, Caro sent the ball to the back of the net, assisted by Ana-Maria.

By the 33rd minute, Torre had sent the ball in to Jenni, who added to the scoresheet with Barcelona’s third goal of the game. 

You could feel Jill’s frustration as she swore under her breath in Dutch, the two of you marking each other more intensely when either of you got the ball, taking it from each other whenever there was a moment before you sent the ball towards Alexia when you had the chance.

So distracted with dodging Jill as you sent the ball to Alexia, you didn’t realise at first you’d gotten the assist until you were wrapped up in the group celebration. 38 minutes in, and Barcelona were four goals up from Wolfsburg.

Half-time came after that, the locker room full of energy as you went over the plan for the second half, taking in the speeches as you were practically vibrating with energy. You could still feel how Jill’s hands had brushed against your body during the set pieces.

A hand on your shoulder jolted you from your reminiscing as Jenni smirked, a knowing look in her eye as she opened her mouth to tease you, but you smirked back, about to open your mouth but Alexia groaned.

“I have heard and seen enough about yours and Jill’s sex life.”

Your mouth promptly shut, feeling your face burn as Jenni began to laugh at both at your embarrassment and how awkward Alexia looked in that moment.

“You two looked ready to jump each other on the field-” Mapi began but you were already hurrying off to bother Lieke instead of endure Mapi and Jenni’s teasing any longer.

///

The second half began, with Popp being subbed off for Pajor at the 61st minute, Pajor getting a yellow card 3 minutes later.

Your teammates were chasing after Waßmuth, leaving you to sprint after Jill when you spotted the gaps, swearing under your breath as you tried to speed up, but it was pointless as Sandra shuffled to try to intercept, leaving the angle open for Jill to shoot and score.

“Holy shit…” You let out a breath, hand on your ribs as you tried to catch your breath as the VAR check occurred. The goal stands.

4-1.

Jenni, then Ana-Maria were subbed off for Asisat and Clàudia, your eyes following Jill as she was subbed off for Blomqvist before keeping your focus on the game. Your heart was racing as the game continued, Mariona coming on for Aitana before Alexia was taken down in the box, Janssen, Wolfsburg’s captain receiving a yellow card whilst Alexia took the penalty shot.

5-1.

The full-time whistle went as the music began to play, crowd cheering as it was revealed that the match had broken a record with the attendance, 91,648 inside the stadium.

Walking around to shake hands with the players and congratulate your team, you found Jill easily as she walked over, her pinkie finger brushing yours as she smiled.

“So…” you whispered, raising an eyebrow as Jill hummed in thought.

“We are travelling back to Wolfsburg tomorrow, but tonight, the team wants to explore Barcelona more… I excused myself, saying I have my own private tour guide…” Jill smirked, raising an eyebrow of challenge while your eyes widened in realisation, and excitement.

“Meet me after?” You tilted your head to the side, hopeful as Jill nodded.

“Of course… by the way, I like your jersey, but it will look better on the floor when we get back to your place.” Jill smirked, forgetting to whisper before she walked away.

“Wow…” you whispered, turning around to freeze as Alexia stood behind you, with an unreadable look on her face.

“Please tell me you didn’t hear that.” You bargained, but Alexia promptly walked away instead of answering, leaving you standing on the pitch alone.

///

There was still the second leg match against Wolfsburg in a week, with Barcelona heading to play in Wolfsburg this time, but your focus was on getting a shower and changing out of your kit before finding Jill and sneaking away from everyone.

“What’s the rush? Oh, you’re meeting Jill-” Mapi was about to tease you again, but you raised an eyebrow at her, about to sass her about her relationship with Ingrid, but your look alone quietened the defender.

“You owe me. I never ratted you out for sleeping in Ingrid’s bed with her whilst I slept in the corridor in Hoffenheim.” You whispered to Mapi, who stared at you inquisitively before realising you were making a break for it before the team wanted to party together.

“Go. Have fun!” Mapi wiggled her eyebrows, pretending to gasp as you stuck your tongue out at her and slipped out of the locker room.

Hands on your waist caught your attention as you walked down the corridor, turning to grin as Jill nuzzled into your shoulder.

“Do you want a tour of Barcelona or another tour of my place?” You asked, the two of you sneaking out to where you had parked your car, driving away before any of your teammates could enter the car park and see you and Jill disappearing together. Luckily this wasn’t a Thelma and Louise inspired movie, as you spent a little time driving past some of your favourite spots in Barcelona, a few where you had video called Jill from in the past, before arriving back at your apartment.

You had barely managed to lock the door when it all started.

///

Hours later, it was dark, your room lit up by the bedside light as you and Jill laid in your bed, tangled together. Your fingers drawing patterns on her hip as she pressed a kiss against your shoulder.

“Ik hou van jou…” you murmured, your other hand moving to run your fingers through Jill’s hair, smiling as you felt Jill’s reply muffled by your shoulder as she pressed another kiss to it.

///

8 days later, you were in Wolfsburg with the rest of your Barcelona teammates, ready for the second leg of the semi-finals.

The energy was different this time, and not just with you since seeing Jill 8 days ago. Wolfsburg were doing better stopping your team’s attempts at goal, your stomach twisting as the first half was 0-0, sitting on the bench with Patri starting and staying on the whole game, whilst Aitana was subbed off for Ingrid at the 84th minute.

But way before that, at the 47th minute, Waßmuth scored, yellow cards and substitutions occurring before your eyes widened, resisting the urge to jump out of your seat to celebrate as Jill scored at the 59th minute, because the love of your life was still playing for Wolfsburg. 4 minutes later, Jill was subbed off for Popp to enter the field.

The second leg ended after 6 minutes of stoppage time, a weird feeling washing over you. Barcelona’s winning streak all season was broken, Barcelona had lost the game against Wolfsburg, but had won on aggregate and were through to the final of the Champions League.

///

Jill found you standing outside the locker room, your fingers playing with the strap of your bag before she tangled her fingers with yours, holding your hand.

“Hoi liefde.” Jill smiled softly, bringing your hand up to her mouth to kiss your wrist, her lips lingering over your tattoo as she managed to get you to smile.

“We're going back to Barcelona tomorrow, you’re lucky, they almost had our flight a few hours after the game.” You smiled, leaning in to kiss Jill as she smiled.

“I feel lucky… Come on, before my teammates find us and don’t let us go…” Jill held your hand as the two of you walked away from the guest locker room that your team had used today, not seeing how Mapi and Ingrid had paused in the doorway, watching the two of you walk away together with smiles on their faces.

///

Your head laid on Jill’s chest as her fingers ran over your scalp, smiling as you opened your eyes to look up at her, propping yourself up to steal another kiss. Jill’s free hand went to hold your waist as you reshuffled yourself, smiling into the kiss as Jill’s other hand held the back of your neck gently.

Pulling away slightly, you gazed into Jill’s eyes as she smiled softly, mirroring the smile, you let out a soft sigh.

“I hope we get to play at the same club again one day…”

“One day, liefde, one day, we will play at the same club again…” Jill kissed your forehead as you softly laid your head back down on her chest.

[alleunwalk]

tokyo revengers idol au hcs part 3 that no one asked for AGAIN here’s part 1 and part 2 to get a better understanding.  this is what the members would be doing alongside their idol promotions+ what they would post on social media  toman tbh these guys are all just so damn funny on their own that they would constantly be invited to comedy variety shows. maybe perhaps doing something similar to seventeen or wanna one where they even have their own variety show on youtube (ie. seventeen’s-going seventeen series or wanna one’s show on mnet)  mikey-he would post basic food pics like of his parfaits or taiyaki but also it’s rare because he’d constantly forget his password. however on important days he’ll post long emotional and sentimental posts that hit you in your feels thanking his members and fans always. he also has a youtube channel posting random funny vlogs. draken- he has his own personal soundcloud to upload solo mixtapes/songs feat diff members. posts photos of his bikes and different tattoos he would be getting. responds with 1-2 words to fans during fansigns or ig comments but like mikey, once in a while, will also write heartfelt posts thanking everyone.  baji- his ig feed is filled with animals + dance practice vids. also has his own soundcloud too. trolls his members by commenting on their stuff. “delete this u ugly mf no one wants to see this”.  takemichi- very chatty, (sometimes too chatty where he’ll end up accidentally spoiling their next album info) and interactive on social media to his fans. tries his best to respond to most comments or ama ig stories questions. posts a lot of selfies and photos of his members. king of fan service.  chifuyu- beautiful photos of the sky a lot on his ig (in canon he wanted to be a pilot :,) ) along with cute soft selfies. (which baji and kazutora troll and comment being like “damn....u ugly AF!” “lmao stop pretending to act cute u loser”  kazutora- his ig is filled with pure chaos. just pics of him catching his members slipping (sleeping photos where they’re drooling or have their eyes slightly open or making ugly faces behind the scenes). also has photos of cursed memes and memes made by fans. he’s a literal enigma.  mitsuya- very wholesome ig photos- lots of photos of his family, group photos, sometimes cool artsy edited selfies. occasional photoshoot photos.  hakkai- ig is filled lots of #ootd photos and occasional photos from his modeling or acting gigs (he’s the visual, duh!) gets a lot of sponsorships from big brands.  pah-chin: has a joint youtube channel with peyan. they do silly challenges but will sometimes post dance videos (feat. baji) since they’re the main/lead dancers. fans love him because of his “matter-of-fact” responses that are funny without even trying. (example- fan comment: omg i love u guys soooo much u guys are the best in the whole world!!!<333 toman OUTSOLD!.  pah-chin: idk about best in the world but we’ll just take “the best in our neighborhood” for now i guess. thanks.”)  peyan: joint youtube channel with pah-chin. at fan signs mikey has to warn him to chill out cuz peyan will accidentally yell and scare fans without meaning to, but he’s just really excited to meet his fans is all ^_^   angry: posts a lot of wholesome photos like mitsuya (selfies with smiley) and writes a lot of motivational sweet captions cheering fans up and reminding them to always be happy :,)  smiley: joint youtube account with angry. smiley does a lot of prank videos and angrys just usually in the back like  🧍‍♂️... he also does tiktok- he would be doing all the dances, memes, and trends.  inui: ok hear me out, i mentioned before inui has similar vibes as cha eunwoo so i’d figure his ig would give the same vibe as his (iykyk). since he’s the other visual he would be getting a TON of acting and modeling gigs. idk why but i feel like inui would be a great actor (his facial expressions during tenjiku arc, the range!). actor of the year. gets a lot of skincare commercial deals too. 

black dragons shinichiro- photos of bikes, cars, and photos where hes pretending to do a cool pose but his members (+mikey) would troll and comment “LAME!!!!!” “why tf do u look like that?” “hey leader, it’s not too late to delete this now bestie :)” does fun ig lives. on variety shows as a joke his members tease him there as well. really great at fan-service and pulls the whole “pretend boyfriend” scenario with fans (the delusional fans are gonna act up if he keeps this up...).  taiju- (if shinichiro did not exist in this au OR if you wanted both in the group) photos of him at the gym, photoshoot photos.  inui- similar to if he was in toman, his ig would just be a lot of cool and cute photos of him from behind the scenes of dramas or photoshoots. a soft visual king. occasional selfies with koko and bike photos.  kokonoi- has a personal youtube channel but he would be Drowning in sponsorship videos all from high-end designer brands. he’s just casually flexing that PPL in his vlogs. ig feed is a lot of #ootd photos or pics taken with inui. him and inui would be makeup brand ambassadors or faces of brands (ex: like jennie from blackpink represents chanel). in this case kokonoi would be the face of fendi (he wears fendi slides in the manga cover) and inui would be the face of jimmy choo (his heels in the manga cover looked like jimmy choo but i could be wrong.. but u know what i mean) 

tenjiku  izana- pretty leader has a very artsy ig feed. extremely photogenic like inui. has photoshoot photos and candid pose photos. acts in dramas time to time (gg second male lead syndrome).  kakucho- posts gym or dance practice videos on his feed but he posts rarely because he’s just too busy or forgets he actually has an ig. loves commenting on takemichi’s posts “haha no wonder ur called baka-michi!” as a joke.  kanji- posts gym photos but it’s rare because he always forgets his password.  ran- the other visual. he would be modeling for high-fashion brands and go on runway shows. also definitely gives off actor vibes (he would be constantly casted in dark action movies hahaha). loves giving fan service.  rindou- in contrast to his brother, rindou when it comes to fan service, he loves trolling fans. also he’s really good at drawing a line between fans (y’know, keeping the delusional ones in check...which means he ‘friend-zones’ them but it’s for their own good tbh idols need to remind people their boundaries). has a youtube channel where he just posts random dance practice vids and occasional vlogs. also comments under his brothers ig posts “you look stupid af in this wtf”. on variety shows people find their brotherly banter hilarious.  mutou- posts gym photos, also really awkward selfies (he doesn’t know what his angle is lmao). another member who also reminds fans of their boundaries and keeps it real. (sanzu always likes his photos though and hypes him up in the comments).  sanzu- shy baby. constantly following mutou around. posts a lot of cute selfies and random pics of shogi stuff (he tags mutou in it of course). during fan signing/autograph sessions they love putting cute headband props on him like this or this. 

bonten because this group’s concept and aesthetic is mysterious, mature, artsy, gloomy, and dark they will take this concept to the grave. (minus a few exceptions) they are invited to variety/talk-shows but never make an appearance because they want to keep the air of mystery around them. (it’s a good marketing technique).  mikey- does not have any social media. he does have a private account to lurk around but no one knows what it is.  kokonoi- has a youtube channel but it’s locked and you have to pay to get into it. posts super short vlogs and teasers. thats it. (the ultimate scam! but their fans love them too much to notice). lots of sponsored #ootd posts on ig.  kakucho- he would be modeling ONLY high fashion brands and high end editorial places. his instagram is just his exquisite and expensive modeling photos whether it be candid backstage photos from shows, candid runway walk pics/vids, pics of diff photoshoots you name it. doesn’t really comment much.  ran- visual. similar to kakucho- modeling ONLY high fashion brands and editorial places. instagram is filled with modeling photos but also some artsy scenery pics he took.  rindou- posts short artsy dancing clips (like modern dances in black&white filter) on ig.  sanzu- since he’s the other visual, he also posts a lot of his modeling/acting photos on instagram. also pretty chatty (he’s the exception) on social media and loves teasing and trolling fans. posts with a lot of random cute emojis on everything. “just ate lunch and now im off to practice hehe 🍜🍇🤟💃🤠🧚‍♂️💞🦋” no one really knows why he uses random emojis but it’s just endearing lmao.  kanji- no social media at all.  akashi- manager....or if you made him the rapper in this au then he too would also not have any social media. 

[kazuoishiguro]

book recs for aapi month part 2! (part 1 here)

the ones we're meant to find by joan he ; (science fiction, mystery) ; kasey remains determined to find her sister cecelia who disappeared months ago, meanwhile cecilia has been trapped on an abandoned island for years without any recollection of how she got there, or any memories from her past except for the fact she has a sister

xoxo by axie oh ; (romance) cellist jenny is determined to make it into a prestigious music school when she spends one spontaneous night with a boy named jaewoo,,, months later she arrives in south korea to discover jaewood not only attends the same academy, but is also a kpop star forbidden from dating (expected publication june 2021)

tokyo ever after by emiko jean ; (romance, realistic fiction) izumi "izzy" tanaka has felt like she has never belonged, having lived her whole life in a white californian town, raised by her single mother,,, but everything changes one day as discovers the identity of her father: the literal crown prince of japan

butterfly yellow by tanha lai ; (historical fiction) hằng makes the difficult trip to and through texas in search of her younger brother, linh, whom her family lost to america during the vietnam war

yolk by mary h.k. choi ; (mental health, realistic fiction) jayne struggles throughout school with a terrible boyfriend, terrible friends, and a terrible eating disorder; conversely, her sister june is rich, successful, and has never known trouble, that is, until she become diagnosed with uterine cancer, forcing the estranged sisters to reunite

i hope you get this message by farah naz rishi ; (science fiction, lgbt) three teens find each other with their own struggles and purposes (or lack thereof for some) when it has been announced that the world may end in seven days, with the crashing of another planet

darius the great is not okay by adib khorram ; (mental health, lgbt) darius struggles with his connection to his persian background, which becomes exponentially hard to deal with alongside depression, a lacking social life, and a disapproving dad, when he takes a trip to iran — where he meets his grandparents, his mother's side of the family, and a boy named sohrab

[gianssnow]

Top e flop 2020

Questo pezzo non riguarderà i film usciti nelle sale nel 2020 (anche perché ne ho visti molto pochi, non un campione attendibile), ma i film che ho visionato personalmente nell’anno appena trascorso. Di conseguenza ci saranno film di tutti i tempi, di tutte le nazioni, di tutte le colorazioni, di tutte le tipologie di suono, muti, sonori o musicali e chi più ne ha più ne metta. Questi sono solo una piccola parte dei film guardati, i migliori e i peggiori. Sarà insomma un compendio di consigli e sconsigli, con la garanzia che il sottoscritto è sempre dalla parte del pubblico e detesta i film barbosissimi che ricevono i magnificat della critica parruccona e dormiente. Lista dedicata al mio Maestro Massimo Bertarelli.

I migliori (10 e lode):

Family Life

La ragazza con la valigia

I grandissimi (voto 10)

I vitelloni

La sposa in nero

Hana-bi

Il pianeta delle scimmie

Il sorpasso

Umberto D.

La caccia

Un uomo da marciapiede

Miseria e nobiltà

C’eravamo tanto amati

Un volto nella folla

Un mercoledì da leoni

Wargames 

Questo pazzo, pazzo, pazzo, pazzo mondo 

Rosemary’s Baby

I notevoli (voto 9)

I visitatori 

Furia

Cimitero senza croci

Orgasmo

Harvey

Aguirre furore di Dio

A prova di errore

La guerra dei mondi (1953)

Kapò

Il texano dagli occhi di ghiaccio

Dancer in the Dark

La grande bellezza

Guardie e ladri

Odio implacabile

Re per una notte

Alba fatale

La mia vita da zucchina

Rocco e i suoi fratelli

La corazzata Potemkin

Francesco, giullare di Dio

Gli orrori del liceo femminile

After Life

Il romanzo di Mildred

Notte senza fine

Il capitalista

La notte di San Lorenzo

Non si uccidono così anche i cavalli?

La storia di una monaca

Reazione a catena

Bassa marea

Parole, parole, parole...

Arriva John Doe!

Domenica d’agosto

Il tempo del raccolto del grano

The Nice Guys

Bugsy

El Cid

Tutti a casa

Reality

La marcia su Roma

Ultimo domicilio conosciuto

La collina del disonore

Manhunter 

Leon Morin, prete 

Spider Baby 

I soliti ignoti

Toy Story 4 

Milano odia: la polizia non può sparare 

Ragazze interrotte 

20.000 leghe sotto i mari 

Blood Diamond 

Il cattivo tenente

8 1/2 

L’ultima eclissi

Chicago

Nessuno lo sa

Un mondo perfetto

Sette notte in nero

Le vie della violenza

L’ultima risata

I tartassati

Piccole volpi

Nazarin

I guerrieri della notte

Il ritratto di Jennie

Testimone d’accusa

I discutibili (voto 5)

Birdcage Inn

Ballando con uno sconosciuto

L’ora più buia

Per favore, non mordermi sul collo!

Il conte di Essex

Donne in attesa

Tokyo Fist

Gozu

Il grande inquisitore

Mariti

Porcile

Dark City

Ashes of Time

La notte dei serpenti 

Le parole che non ti ho detto

Un americano a Parigi 

Linea mortale

Una lunga domenica di passioni

Zona di guerra

Elizabeth

Le porcherie (voto 0-4)

I visitatori 2: Ritorno al passato

Conoscenza carnale

Midsommar 

Cronos

La terza parte della notte

Utamaro e le sue cinque mogli

Lo specchio

American Beauty

Il serpente di fuoco

Gli amori di una bionda

Lo spirito dell’alveare

Room

Burning - L’amore brucia

I diavoli

The Endless

Before Midnight

Borat

Mind Game

Tempesta di ghiaccio

Cuore selvaggio

L’elemento del crimine

Valhalla Rising

Giochi nell’acqua

Nel corso del tempo

Racconto di Natale

Lion - La strada verso casa

Yi yi - E uno... e due!

[xtremememeteam]

I got tagged and challenged by @chuppachump, love ya buddy

The Rules: Answer 20 questions, and then tag 20 bloggers that you’d like to get to know better!

1. Name - Jennifer

2. Nicknames - Jen, Jenpurpur (my parents) and, if i really really like you, jenny

3. Zodiac Sign - Leo 

4. Height - 5′4

5. Languages - English, vague concept of spanish

6. Nationality - American

7. Favourite Season - I always say fall but in reality it’s between spring and summer where its not too hot but its warm out and concerts and festivals are happening

8. Favourite Flower - Always been roses. My mom would plant different colored roses for me and my sisters 

9. Favourite Scent - Really anything fruity or sweet, @hobicth despises my love of strong sweet scents 

10. Favourite Colour - Green!

11. Favourite Animal - Really anything that resembles a cat

12. Favourite Fictional Character(s) - Garrus (Mass Effect), Tiny Tina & Gaige (Borderlands), Sailor Jupiter (Sailor Moon), Stich (Lilo & Stitch) 

13. Coffee, Tea, or Hot Chocolate? - None? is none an answer?

14. Average Sleep - Roughly 8-9 hours but lately its been more like 11. 

15. Dogs or Cats? - Grew up with both and love both but I am a cat person. 

16. Number of Blankets - Depends on the season. I mainly sleep with 3 blankets. A fleecey sheep skin like blanket as the first layer, followed by a comforter and then a big thick fleece blanket on top. I have sleep and anxiety issues so the more blankets the better. 

17. Dream Trip - One of the big vacations spots like Hollywood or tokyo. A big shopping spree and concert type trip. Go check out melrose avenue or thrift shopping in japan. 

18. Blog Established - 2011, but started really using it several months later

19. Number of Followers - 595 and i appreciate them all

20. Random Fact - I really don’t know what to put here. Uh. My great grandfather was the president for Bürger Beer before it was sold off to Hudepohl after a fall in sales. 

https://www.wcpo.com/entertainment/local-a-e/cincinnatis-rise-and-fall-as-a-brewery-town-part-2great-experiment-ends-breweries-make-a-comeback

[luvneedsnosyt]

My Favorite Albums of March 2019

Here’s my monthly list of albums released in March I was feeling.

My Previous monthly lists from 2019: January, February

You can find my list of my favorite albums of 2018 here And my list of my favorite EPs of 2018 here

Best:

Alesso - ALESSO MIXTAPE - PROGRESSO Vol. 1 EP Genre: Electronic / Dance

Proof: TIME / PROGRESSO

Billie Eilish - WHEN WE FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? Genre: Synth-Pop

Proof: bad guy / you should see me in a crown

Blu & Oh No - A Long Red Hot Los Angeles Summer Night Genre: Hip Hop

Proof: It Never Rains in South L.A. / Fresh Out

Cautious Clay - Table of Context EP Genre: R&B / Soul

Proof: REASONS / HONEST ENOUGH

Choosey & Exile - Black Beans Genre: Hip Hop

Proof: Black Beans (Feat. Devaughn) / You Got It (Feat. Jimetta Rose)

Crystal Fighters - Gaia & Friends Genre: Indie Pop / Dance 

Proof: All of It (Feat. Soledad Vélez) / All My Love (Crystal Fighters x FeedMe Edit)

Dabin - Wild Youth Genre: Electronic / Dance / Future Bass

Proof: In Flames (Feat. Lexi Norton) / Alive (Feat. RUNN)

flora cash - Press EP Genre: Pop

Proof: Indie on Loud / You’re Somebody Else

Flume - Hi This Is Flume [Mixtape] Genre: Electronic / Industrial

Proof: Jewel / Voices (Feat. SOPHIE & KUČKA)

Foals - Part 1 Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost Genre: Rock / Alternative

Proof: Exits / In Degrees

Freya Ridings - You Mean the World to Me EP Genre: Pop / Soul

Proof: You Mean the World to Me / Ultraviolet // Bonus: You Mean The World To Me (Vertue x Franklin Radio Mix)

GRiZ - Find My Own Way EP Genre: Electronic / Dance

Proof: A New Day (Feat. Matisyahu) / It Gets Better (Feat. DRAM)

Gryffin - Gravity, Pt. 1 (Remixes) EP Genre: Electronic / Dance

Proof: Bye Bye (Midnight Kids Remix) Feat. Ivy Adara / Nobody Compares To You (Bali Bandits Remix) Feat. Katie Pearlman

Hozier - Wasteland, Baby! Genre: Indie-Pop / Soul / Folk

Proof: Movement / Dinner & Diatribes

The Japanese House - Good at Falling Genre: Synth-Pop / Electronic / Future Bass

Proof: Maybe You’re the Reason / Lilo

Juice WRLD - Death Race for Love Genre: Hip Hop / R&B

Proof: Empty / Hear Me Calling

Karen O & Danger Mouse - Lux Prima Genre: Alternative / Indie Rock

Proof: Turn the Light / Woman

LÉON - LÉON Genre: Pop / Soul

Proof: Lost Time / You and I

Little Simz - GREY Area Genre: Hip Hop

Proof: Boss / Pressure (Feat. Little Dragon)

Mansionair - Shadowboxer Genre: Synth-Pop / Electronic

Proof: Alibi / Technicolor 

Maverick Sabre - When I Wake Up Genre: Pop / Soul

Proof: Slow Down (Feat. Jorja Smith) / Weakness

Mereba - The Jungle Is The Only Way Out Genre: R&B / Neo-Soul

Proof: Kinfolk / Heatwave (Feat. 6LACK)

Nilüfer Yanya - Miss Universe Genre: Pop / R&B / Alternative

Proof: Paralysed / Heavyweight Champion of the Year

Shafiq Husayn - The Loop Genre: R&B / Jazz / Funk

Proof: Cycles (Feat. Hiatus Kaiyote) / It’s Better for You (Feat. Anderson .Paak)

Shy Girls - Bird on the Wing Genre: alt-R&B / Indie Pop / Soul

Proof: Hallelujah / Stay Home

Sigrid - Sucker Punch Genre: Pop

Proof: Basic / Don’t Kill My Vibe

Snake City - Hurts Genre: Synth-Pop / Electronic

Proof: Drowning / I Want You Always

Solange - When I Get Home Genre: alt-R&B / Soul

Proof: Stay Flo / Sound of Rain

Super Duper - Vessels EP Genre: Electronic / Dance

Proof: Horizons / Canons (Feat. JMR)

Wild Belle - Everybody One of a Kind Genre: Indie Pop / Alternative

Proof: Everybody One of a Kind / We Are The Future

XYLØ - pretty sad EP Genre: Synth-Pop

Proof: Miracle / Blue Light

Zacari - Run Free Run Wild EP Genre: alt-R&B

Proof: You Can Do Anything / Don’t Trip

Bonus:

An album I missed last month and some other discoveries made.

Another Sky - Forget Yourself EP Genre: Indie Pop / Electronic / Alternative Released March 2018

Proof: Forget Yourself / Fighting Bulls // Bonus: Chillers / Apple Tree

duendita - direct line to My Creator Genre: alt-R&B / Indie Pop Released November 2018

Proof: pray / yikes!

Louis Futon - Way Back When Genre: Electronic / Dance / Pop Released February 2019

Proof: Supposed to Be (Feat. DUCKWRTH & Baegod) / Restless Sea (Feat. Opia)

yahyel - Human Genre: Electronic / Future Bass Released March 2018

Proof: Hypnosis / Lover // Bonus: TAO / WEDNESDAY CAMPANELLA & yahyel - Survive Tokyo.

Others:

Birdman & Juvenile - Just Another Gangsta, Blaqk Audio - Only Things We Love, Burna Boy & DJDS - Steel & Copper EP, Citizen Cope - Heroin and Helicopter, Deante’ Hitchcock - Just A Sample 2 EP, Delta Heavy - Only In My Dreams, Destiny Rogers - Tomboy EP, Dijon - Sci Fi 1 EP, DJ Muggs & Mach - Hommy: Tuez-Les Tous, Emily Wells - The World Is Too ___ For You, The Faint - Egowerk, Gesaffelstein - Hyperion, Helado Negro - This Is How You Smile, Hello Yello - Love Wins EP, Jayda G - Significant Changes, Jenny Lewis - On The Line, KÁRYYN - The Quanta Series, Kenny Garrett - Hoax, Koffee - Rapture EP, Lafawndah - Ancestor Boy, Lemaitre - Fast Lovers EP, Lil Skies - Shelby, Logic - Supermarket, Lucy Rose - No Words Left, Maren Morris - GIRL, MED & Guilty Simpson - Child of the Jungle, Melii - phAses, Pink Sweat$ - Volume 2 EP, Phonte - Pacific Time EP, Pond - Tasmania, Rich The Kid - The World Is Yours 2, Sammie - Everlasting, SASAMI - SASAMI, Saweetie - ICY EP, Shlohmo - The End, Sofia Kourtesis - Sofia Kourtesis EP, T-Pain - 1UP, Tom Walker - What A Time To Be Alive, Vasco - Tender Luv EP, Wallows - Nothing Happens, Yhung T.O. - On My Momma 2, 2 Chainz - Rap or Go to the League

[libraryofzeglyth]

tweet by secretlocked1 | posted Aug 11, 2023

[tc182]

1/28/1998: The band performs at Club Citta in Tokyo, Japan as a part of Warped Tour 1998.

1/29/1998: The band performs at Bayside Jenny in Osaka, Japan as a part of Warped Tour 1998. 

[libralita]

Week of Bookblr: Worst of 2017

Last year a lot of the books I put on my Worst list weren’t that bad. I didn’t really hate any of the books on last year’s list. This year I really hated some of the books. This is just my personal opinion. Don’t get your knickers in a twist.

There will be spoilers for all these books.

I’m also going to do something slightly different this year. I have one dishonorable mention. This book wasn’t bad enough to put in my top five but I feel like it needs to be mentioned.

Dishonorable Mention:

Brave by Svetlana Chmakova

★★☆☆☆

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not an objective book reviewer. But I feel like I don’t like part of the reason that I didn’t like this book was because I’m no in the age demographic. I don’t expect Chmakova write for me, a 20 year old who is thankful to be out of middle school.

On the other hand this book does have legitimate problems. All of the characters are annoying with exception of a few side characters. And the message got overly preachy to the point that I think it would annoy even middle schoolers. The last book, I thought the message was clear for the younger readers but didn’t beat you over the head with it.

I think I may continue with the series because the next one is supposed to be about the one side character I did like.

Now for the actual Top Five list!

#5 Monstress Vol. 1 by Marjorie M Liu and Sana Takeda

★★★☆☆

It was very meh. Granted I read this book at the beginning of the year so I don’t remember a lot of it. I’m also giving this book some slack because I read this book before I learned how to properly read graphic novels and retain the information. The art was absolutely beautiful. I debated between putting this in my top five or putting Tokyo Ghoul Vol. 1 in there but ultimately I chose this one because it’s premise wasn’t interesting enough for me to continue on with this series and I unhauled it.

#4 Always and Forever, Lara Jean by Jenny Han

★★★☆☆

This was a combination of not remembering a lot of what happened in the first two books and having grown out of this series. But this book also had problems on it’s own. For one thing Margot was awful in this book. She’s so rude to her father. Margot announced that her and her boyfriend are sleeping in the same room when any rational human being would know that would make her father super uncomfortable. You’re supposed to be the mature one, Margot. If I was her, I’d at least ask him in private if this were okay. Y’know, like an adult. This is your dad’s house, have a little respect. Also, Jenny Han sucks as antagonists. Like Peter’s mom wanted LJ to break up with him for…reasons. I just unhauled this series because I didn’t care anymore.

#3 A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan

★★☆☆☆

BORING! B-O-R-I-N-G BORING! Mind numbingly BORING!

It had pretty art and had some clever formatting ideas but oh my god it was boring. I didn’t care about the characters or the plot. When it’s about discovering stuff about dragons. How do you make dragons boring? All I remember from this book is that the husband dies and it’s kind of sad.

#2 The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler

★☆☆☆☆

Now we’re getting into the books that I really hated with a passion. I could rant about this book all day long. I really enjoyed What Light and 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher. This was a huge disappointment. There are plot threads that are started and then just never finished. How’d they get Facebook? I dunno. Josh’s brother being gay? Doesn’t go anywhere. I think the problem is that Jay Asher doesn’t have a writing style that lends itself well to writing with someone else. Because he goes through a lot of plot points. He starts one, quickly ends it and moves onto another one. The problem is that Carolyn Mackler doesn’t seem to finish them.

That’s not the only problem, oh god is Emma so unlikable. And what makes it worse is that Emma will do horrible things and the writers portray her as being in the right. When Emma sees her future and she doesn’t like it, she completely disregards Josh’s feelings to get a better future. She keeps fucking up the future for her own selfish reasons. In the beginning it’s established that before the book begins Josh admitted that he has feelings for her and she rejects him. Later in the book, in order to change her future she kisses him. She knows fully fucking well that he has feelings for her and to do that is so horrible. Then JOSH IS IN THE WRONG FOR TELLING HER WHAT AN AWFUL PERSON SHE IS. Fuck Emma. But, Emma isn’t the worst character on this list. Oh no.

#1 When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon

★☆☆☆☆

Yeah, I knew the moment I finished this that there was no way anything could top this horrible book.

It’s actually kind of baffling how bad this book is. Throughout it I thought I was being trolled. Like there’s no possible way that an author could be this incompetent. There’s two major problems with this book: it’s inconsistent and Dimple is an awful human being.

Let’s start with the “smaller” of the problems, the consistency. Dimple has straight contradictory personality traits. She is presented as being shy, nerdy, introverted, someone who gets bullied, and can’t stand up for herself. Yet, she likes to go to parties, is more than willing to go to a college party where she knows one person (something any introvert would never do), is super sassy and speaks her mind. What? Why is that she can be super sassy to Rishi and do things just to make the audience go “YASSS QUEEN SLAY” yet she can’t tell the most pointless bullies in the entire universe to fuck off? It’s not like this happens over time, her personality just completely flips. This completely ruins any conflict whatsoever.

While I haven’t seen anyone complain about it, supposedly people are saying that Dimple was a bitch for throwing the ice coffee in Rishi’s face. I don’t think that makes Dimple a bitch, I think it’s part of the inconsistency problem. The characters’ personalities, motivations, and relationships will just be different for no reason. So in the beginning Rishi is worried that he’s growing apart from his little brother. Rishi asks for advice for what to do when he meets Dimple. His brother jokingly says “say ‘hello my future wife’”. Okay so that makes sense that Rishi would ask his brother because he’s been out with girls and it’s establish that Rishi doesn’t know when his brother is being silly or serious. Later in the book his brother comes to the college and Rishi states that his brother “never takes anything seriously” and he doesn’t care about working on their relationship. So, why would you take your brother’s advice seriously if you know he doesn’t take anything seriously? Why do you suddenly want to kill your brother? Where did this come from?

Now the bigger problem with this book is Dimple herself. She is physically abusive and the author is passing this off as “female empowerment”. Dimple punches Rishi in the ribs for playfully teasing her. At no point is she a mature young adult who goes up to Rishi and says “Hey, Rishi, what you’re doing is making me uncomfortable/hurting my feelings, please stop.” She just goes straight into physically attacking him. The second time Rishi says something along the lines of “most girls just playfully slap their boyfriends not actually hurt them” and Dimple’s response is “you should change what you think is acceptable for girls”. What?? Go fuck yourself. This is a horrible message. I cannot imagine if the roles were reversed and a guy punched a girl in the ribs for teasing him. No. Fuck you. No one should assault anyone.

Finally this book is so bad that I can’t tell if some parts are bad because Dimple, along with a massive abusive shit, she’s a giant hypocrite. Or its just more inconsistency. In beginning of the book Dimple says the only reason that her parents are letting her go to the Ivy League school (I know, poor oppressed baby) is so she can find the Ideal Indian Husband. When we meet her father, he clearly doesn’t really care and wants her to win the convention contest. Okay, so maybe it’s just her mother. But even then that doesn’t make sense because, it’s establish that Dimple’s family doesn’t have that much money. So, why would they send her to an Ivy League school to find an IIH when they know about Rishi? If her mother really didn’t care about her having a career than would she just be like “we’re not spending GOD KNOWS HOW MUCH money for you to go to this school, you’re marrying Rishi Patel, end of story”. Even at the end the mother says she just wants Dimple to be happy. So WHERE DID THIS IIH THING HAPPEN? Is Dimple just a moron who doesn’t know her mother’s own motivation or did the author just forget part of the main conflict of the story?

Another weird one is for some reason a competition about coding has a talent show. And if you win this talent show you get a leg up in the completion…about coding. Because y’know that makes sense! But that’s not the big problem here. So Dimple has stage fright but still wants the leg up in the competition. So she basically pouts, putting peer pressure on Rishi, until he finally agrees to do most of the work in their dance. First off, because that’s equality men doing most of the work. Why are we letting YA authors talk about serious topics against when their concept of gender equality is “girls go to college to get more knowledge/boys go to Jupiter to more stupider”? But it gets worst because right after Dimple pressures Rishi into this stupid dance, her friend Celia runs out of the classroom. Her group is forcing Celia to wear a sexy swimsuit in their dance because that’ll win a coding competition. Dimple says basically “don’t let them peer pressure you into doing something that you don’t want to do”. What the fuck did you just do to Rishi, Dimple? Is this just Dimple being a massive hypocrite or did the author forget what she just wrote? DID ANYONE PROOF READ THIS BOOK?

[theultimatefan]

International Swimming League (ISL) Opens Season Friday Live On CBS Sports Network, Makes Network Debut on CBS Television Network Saturday, Launching 52 Hours Of Live Coverage Across CBS Platforms

The International Swimming League (ISL), the world’s first professional team swimming league, opens its second season of competition on Friday from 10 a.m. - noon ET live on CBS Sports Network, the first of 13 events and 52 hours of planned coverage across CBS Sports platforms in the coming weeks. Joining veteran play-by-play man Bernie Gunther are U.S. Olympic Hall of Famer and three-time gold medalist Rowdy Gaines and multiple world champion Mark Foster with expert commentary live from Budapest, Hungary, on the most comprehensive schedule of live professional swimming events ever presented to a U.S. audience.

On Saturday, the team-based ISL (@iswimleague), which features the world’s top swimmers, Olympic champions, and world record holders, will make its U.S. network television debut on CBS Television Network with a live broadcast from 2-4 p.m. ET, featuring Energy Standard Paris plus three of the four U.S.-based teams, Cali Condors, NY Breakers and LA Current. Coverage continues on Sunday at noon on CBS Sports Network, with the London Roar, DC Trident, Aqua Centurions, and Iron teams. In all, two hours are scheduled to be presented on CBS Television Network, 32 on CBS Sports Network and 18 across CBS Sports Digital platforms.

“The depth and breadth of this coverage across various ViacomCBS platforms gives the ISL unprecedented exposure to U.S. swimming fans,” said ISL Founder and Chairman Konstantin Grigorishin. “The live broadcasts with top-level commentators reflect the world-class quality of the league and we couldn’t be more pleased with the final schedule.”

CBS Sports Digital will also stream a show hosted by Jenny Drummond. Top U.S. and international swimming stars will also appear as part of the coverage. The full CBS Sports schedule (subject to change) is as follows:

Day, Time-ET, Network (Teams competing)

Friday, Oct. 16, 10 a.m - noon, CBS Sports Network (Energy Standard Paris, Cali Condors, NY Breakers, LA Current)

Saturday, Oct. 17, 2-4 p.m., CBS Television Network (Energy Standard Paris, Cali Condors, NY Breakers, LA Current)

Sunday, Oct. 18, noon-2 p.m., CBS Sports Network (London Roar, DC Trident, Aqua Centurions, Iron)

Monday Oct. 19, 10 a.m. - noon, CBS Sports Network (London Roar, DC Trident, Aqua Centurions, Iron)

Saturday, Oct. 24, 6-8 a.m., CBS Sports Digital (Aqua Centurions, Tokyo Frog Kings, LA Current, Toronto Titans)

Sunday, Oct. 25, noon-2 p.m., CBS Sports Network (Aqua Centurions, Tokyo Frog Kings, LA Current, Toronto Titans)

Monday, Oct. 26, 10 a.m. - noon, CBS Sports Network (DC Trident, Iron, Cali Condors, NY Breakers)

Tuesday, Oct. 27, 10 a.m. - noon, CBS Sports Network (DC Trident, Iron, Cali Condors, NY Breakers)

Friday, Oct. 30, 10 a.m. - noon, CBS Sports Network (London Roar, DC Trident, LA Current, Tokyo Frog Kings)

Saturday, Oct. 31, 7-9 a.m., CBS Sports Digital (London Roar, DC Trident, LA Current, Tokyo Frog Kings)

Sunday, Nov. 1, noon - 2 p.m., CBS Sports Network (Energy Standard Paris, Aqua Centurions, NY Breakers, Toronto Titans)

Monday, Nov. 2, 10 a.m. - noon, CBS Sports Network (Energy Standard Paris, Aqua Centurions, NY Breakers, Toronto Titans)

Thursday, Nov. 5, 4-6 a.m., CBS Sports Digital (Energy Standard Paris, DC Trident, Toronto Titans)

Friday, Nov. 6, 4-6 a.m., CBS Sports Digital (Energy Standard Paris, DC Trident, Toronto Titans)

Thursday, Nov. 5, 10 a.m - noon, CBS Sports Network (London Roar, Tokyo Frog Kings, Cali Condors, NY Breakers)

Friday, Nov. 6, 10 a.m - noon, CBS Sports Network (London Roar, Tokyo Frog Kings, Cali Condors, NY Breakers)

Monday, Nov. 9, 4-6 a.m., CBS Sports Digital (Energy Standard Paris, Iron, Tokyo Frog Kings, Toronto Titans)

Tuesday, Nov. 10, 4-6 a.m., CBS Sports Digital (Energy Standard Paris, Iron, Tokyo Frog Kings, Toronto Titans)

Monday, Nov. 9, 10 a.m. - noon, CBS Sports Network (London Roar, Cali Condors, LA Current, Aqua Centurions)

Tuesday, Nov. 10, 10 a.m. - noon, CBS Sports Network (London Roar, Cali Condors, LA Current, Aqua Centurions)

Saturday, Nov. 14, 6-8 a.m., CBS Sports Digital (Semifinal #1)

Sunday, Nov. 15, noon - 2 p.m. CBS Sports Network (Semifinal #1)

Sunday, Nov. 15, 6-8 a.m., CBS Sports Digital (Semifinal #2)

Monday, Nov. 16, noon - 2 p.m., CBS Sports Network (Semifinal #2)

Saturday Nov. 21, 8-10 a.m., CBS Sports Digital (Finals)

Sunday, Nov. 21, noon - 2 p.m, CBS Sports Network (Finals)

The five-week ISL schedule will take place at Duna Arena in Budapest. A strict medical protocol will be in place to ensure safety for competitors and working staff.

The 2020 ISL season is the only major competition to feature the world’s best swimmers prior to the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games. Athletes scheduled to appear include 2019 ISL League MVP, holder of 14 World Records and Olympic Gold Medalist, Sarah Sjöström, and 2019 ISL Finals MVP, holder of nine World Records, and Olympic Gold Medalist, Caeleb Dressel. They will be joined by highly decorated American swimmers, Lilly King (multiple Olympic gold medalist and 3x world record holder) and Ryan Murphy (multiple Olympic gold medalist and world record holder), and hundreds of international stars.

ISL features unique team-based contests showcasing the most exciting competitive format ever created in the sport of swimming where “every event is a final.” 10 clubs from around the globe will compete to be crowned 2020 ISL Champion.

[aion-rsa]

Warrior Season 2 Episode 2 Review: The Chinese Connection

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This Warrior review contains spoilers.

Warrior Season 2 Episode 2

When Warrior was first announced, Bruce Lee fans were worried that this was going to be just another Bruceploitation. After all, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of Bruceploitation flicks. Bruce Lee is the most impersonated icon on the planet. No one needed to see another weak caricature of the Little Dragon, even if it was on Cinemax.

However, Warrior isn’t Bruceploitation at all. The creator and writer of the show, Jonathan Tropper, credits Bruce’s daughter, Shannon Lee for making sure that Warrior didn’t go “overboard with the Bruce Lee stuff.”

Instead of Ah Sahm (Andrew Koji) doing yet another Bruce Lee imitation, there are sequences in his fight choreography that reference timeless scenes from the Little Dragon’s films. There are also clever Easter Eggs throughout the show, like the character names O’Hara (Kieran Biew) and last season’s Bolo (Rich Ting). Both O’Hara and Bolo are the names of villains in Enter the Dragon however these characters are completely different in Warrior. 

This gives this episode title that extra ‘Wataaah!’ of excitement because The Chinese Connection was an alternate title for Bruce’s second major Kung Fu film, Fist of Fury. The closest Easter Egg title of Season 1 was episode 9, “Chinese Boxing.” Every Bruce fan remembers Ah Gung (Chin Ti) saying “Chinese Boxing!” as he pointed at Bruce and gave him the thumbs up. For this episode to take on the name of one of Bruce’s most beloved films, it had better deliver. And it does, especially with the most important facet of Warrior, the Kung Fu fighting.

Young Jun Gets Stabby

The first fight of this episode is a showcase for Young Jun (Jason Tobin). In their quest for cheaper product, Ah Sahm hooks Young Jun up with a new molasses connection through his fight manager Vega (Maria Elena-Lass). They visit Happy Jack (Nat Rambulana), an African drug dealer. There’s some historical basis to this. During the period when Warrior is set, there were attempts to produce opium in South Africa to undermine the British dominance of the global opium trade.

Opium was weaponized by the British as part of its strategy to establish colonial rule. This was largely controlled by the nefarious East India Company that smuggled opium from India, mostly to cripple China’s port cities. In Chinese coastal provinces during the mid 1830’s, it was estimated that 90% of the adult Chinese population were opium addicts. In San Francisco, opium was still legal and taxable until 1889 when local ordinances restricted it to medical use only. But beyond the nod to history, Rambulana is a South African TV star and Warrior was filmed in South Africa, so his appearance works on several levels.  

The deal with Happy Jack goes sour. This elicits a lovely bit of ultraviolence in which Tobin delivers a solid long take sequence. Long takes are the hallmark of good fight choreography because each movement increases the challenge exponentially. It’s a good showcase for Tobin’s Kung Fu and he sells his slice and dice attacks with a convincing ferocity.

Tobin has appeared in a few martial arts themed films before such as Beverly Hill Ninja, Rob-B-Hood, and House of Fury, but he’s most known for his other projects with Warrior’s producer Justin Lin including Better Luck Tomorrow and The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. Tobin is reprising his Tokyo Drift character in Lin’s upcoming F9, due out next year. In Warrior, Tobin nails the tough punk qualities of Young Jun perfectly. As the son of the leader of the Hop Wei, he’s been entitled yet he’s still eager to prove himself. His viciousness in battle is spot on.

For martial arts fans, there’s a subtle yet significant correction in Young Jun’s dagger play from Season 1. In episode 6 “Chewed Up, Spit Out, and Stepped On,” Young Jun deploys a conventional forward knife grip where the blade is on the thumb side of the hand. Double daggers like Young Jun wields are a common weapon in Kung Fu, however they are almost always used with a reverse grip where the blade is on the pinky finger side of the hand, more like an ice pick.

In the fight with Happy Jack’s squad, Young Jun deploys the more proper ice pick grip. It’s a trivial detail but given that Warrior is catering to the Kung Fu fandom, it’s important to get this right. 

The fight ensues after Happy Jack refuses to store the opium, leaving Young Jun and Ah Sahm in the lurch. Later, Penny (Joanna Vanderham) hires the Hop Wei to protect her coolie workers from the Irish, and Ah Sahm takes advantage of the situation to secretly store the opium at Mercer Steel. It’s not hard to project how this will turn out in upcoming episodes and adds even more tension to the relationship of Ah Sahm and Penny.

Blue Lives Matter

The Season 2 premiere left Chinatown in a bloody mess. Ah Sahm, Ah Toy (Olivia Cheng) and Lai (Jenny Umbhau) chopped up the racist Teddy Boys and Leary (Dean Jagger) blew up a factory that employed coolies. Chinatown is a tough beat for SF cops and O’Hara and Lee (Tom Weston-Jones) have a ton of work cleaning up.

They’re investigating the sword killings and the explosion while O’Hara wrestles with his obligation to the Fung Hai Tong and Zing (Dustin Nguyen) and Lee struggles with his growing laudanum addiction. O’Hara’s wife Lucy (Emily Child) grows more suspicious of her husband’s dealing and after a binge, Lee wakes up in a piss-soaked alley just as it is getting a fresh drenching. This episode’s title comes from Lee. After the partners question Patterson (Frank Rautenbach), Lee says to O’Hara that he’s trying to find ‘the Chinese connection’ in the sword killings.

O’Hara and Lee form a stereotypic police partner ‘buddy’ relationship: the old, jaded cop who is tainted by a corrupt system and the young brilliant detective who is too cocky to get along with the rest of the department. In their heart of hearts, they both want to be good cops, but their world is too dirty to stay clean. Biew gives his character a lot of soul as a father and husband just trying to do right by his family. Lee’s backstory is hinted at when he begins his laudanum binge, but his haunted past is still unclear. 

The repercussions of killings and the explosion result in the SFPD being lambasted at a political rally along with Mayor Blake (Christian McKay). Here, the parallels between the political climate of Warrior and America right now are disturbingly uncanny, especially because this was filmed a year prior. When the crowd starts chanting ‘Send them back,’ it is echoed by some of the rising anti-China sentiment today. The Exclusion Act comes up, foreshadowing worse times to come. The Chinese Exclusion Act was passed by congress and signed into law by President Arthur in 1882, so this provides some indication of where Warrior is set in time. 

Martial Melodrama and the Moonlight Sonata

Sophie (Celine Buckens) meets Leary at the rally, and they go to Leary’s place, the Banshee. She reveals to Leary that she’s Mercer’s daughter and while flirting with him, plays Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata on the pub piano. It sets up a poignant musical interlude at the end of the episode, so typical of television shows nowadays, where a tune is laid over all the characters as they ruminate over their various complicated circumstances.

The Moonlight Sonata is a melodramatic choice, and at the end it drifts into Warrior’s heavy guitar riffs. This feels a little overdone – the show leans too heavily on those guitar riffs – but Warrior redeems itself musically with its end credit Chinese raps, which have been solid throughout the entire show. 

The other ladies of Warrior continue with this season’s fashion show. When Mai Ling (Dianne Doan) hires the ex-Pinkerton man Nichols (Emmanuel Castis) to spy on Buckley (Langley Kirkwood), she’s wearing a luxuriant deep blue hooded robe and strange vambrace rings. She looks more like someone out of Game of Thrones than SF Chinatown. And Ah Toy appears later in a resplendent emerald gown with a flared collar more befitting of a Vulcan bride than a whorehouse madame.

But Warrior is a fantasy so the costume designers can be forgiven of indulging their leading ladies. As ridiculous and incongruous as these outfits appear when all the other characters are in period dress, Doan and Cheng fill out these outfits beautifully and are lieterally dressed to kill. They’re too busy looking good. 

Another new character is introduced in this episode. Enter Nellie Davenport (Miranda Raison), a wealthy widow committed to rescuing Chinese women from prostitution and exploitation. Davenport is the first character based directly upon a real historic figure, although plenty of artistic liberties have been taken with how she is depicted. The forthcoming interaction between her and Ah Toy is promising. Both Ah Toy and Davenport are strong women and given their principles and position, they are sure to go head-to-head in upcoming episodes.

Back to the Action

The finale fight in this episode is worth the wait. Mai Ling dispatches Li Yong (Joe Taslim) and Zing to stop a small time Tong from encroaching on the Long Zii’s opium business. Li Yong settles things peacefully, but Zing (Dustin Nguyen) is ready to pick a fight, and mayhem breaks out when he slashes the Tong leader’s throat. Taslim and Nguyen are the veteran martial artists on Warrior. Any fight scene that features their work delivers the level of masterful choreography one would expect from a show attached to Bruce Lee. 

Nguyen is remembered for his leading role as Harry Ioki on 21 Jump Street. Over the years, he’s appeared in several martial arts related Hollywood productions like 2 Ninjas Kick Back, Vanishing Son and Justin Lin’s mockumentary Finishing the Game.

However, he truly established himself as a martial arts star after he returned to his homeland, Vietnam. There he made a series of Vietnamese martial arts films: The Rebel, Clash, and Once Upon a Time in Vietnam. These films put Vietnam on the martial arts movie map. Solidly paced with brilliant choreography, they demonstrated that Nguyen is a force to be reckoned with and a serious practitioner of the martial arts.

He is credited as studying Muay Thai, Taekwondo and Bruce Lee’s creation Jeet Kune Do, but where he really shines is with the indigenous Vietnamese martial art called Vovinam. This style of fighting was seldom seen outside the country until Nguyen showcased it in his films. It gave him an extra stylistic edge in the martial arts genre. As Zing, Nguyen’s choreography is ruthless, befitting of the most villainous Tong leader in Warrior. 

Taslim is Indonesian and studied Wushu and Taekwondo. He is a decorated Judo champion who represented Indonesia in world competitions from 1997 to 2007 as a member of the national team. He medaled in two major Southeast Asian competitions and captured the gold in the national games.

Taslim appeared in the groundbreaking Indonesian film The Raid, which raised the bar on cinematic ultraviolence. That film also introduced Silat masters Iko Uwais and Yayan Ruhian, who have been dominating action films in recent years with appearances in films like Mile 22 and Stuber for Uwais and John Wick Chapter 3: Parabellum and Wira for Ruhian. They even had a quick cameo together in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Following The Raid and its sequel, The Raid II, Taslim has appeared in Fast & Furious 6 and Star Trek Beyond. 

It’s no mistake that Li Yong was set up as the ultimate rival for Ah Sahm last season. Taslim is not just another stuntman throwing haymakers. He is at the top of his game choreographically and every in every fight scene he appears in has a crisp precision that can only be achieved by a veteran martial arts master. He moves with style and grace, doling out the damage with a sophisticated flair that Warrior demands. With Ah Sahm’s defeat at Li Yong’s hands in what was arguably the best fight scene in last season, Season 2 is all about that rematch. 

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Warrior Season 2 can be seen exclusively on CINEMAX.

The post Warrior Season 2 Episode 2 Review: The Chinese Connection appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3jN5onU

[summermon]

I was tagged by @kpopsocks !! C: 

Rules. 1. Post the Rules. 2. Answer the questions given to you 3. Make 11 questions of your own. 4. Tag 11 people.

Their Questions:

1. What was your favorite song when you were 10 years old?

so I don’t know my /favorite/, since I wasn’t that, uh. didn’t have a great variety back in the day, but. I know I loved with a passion at the time... 

Lady Marmalade (remix), A*Teen - Can’t Help Falling in Love, and everything from the Digimon movie soundtrack. One Week, The Impression That I Get, Run Around, etc. this is partially cause my friend’s mom made me a copy of it, so I listened to it constantly.

2. What inspired you to chase after your current job? And/Or what’s the inspiration behind your dream job?

anime.

no, really. I looked back on my artistic inspo and if my friend hadn’t introduced me to Tokyo Mew Mew back before 7th grade, I might not have gotten back into drawing that hard. (I’d fallen into a 6th grade slump. lmao.) I maybe would have discovered it some other way, but that kicked my ass into gear and lit the fire under my ass that eventually led to art school and the desire to make comics/cartoons/video games. 

3. What is your go-to for cheering up when you have a hard day?

scream-singing to my favorite music (usually pop punk stuff), face masks or bath bombs, and drinking some pink wine while playing old video games. n64 stuff like kirby and the crystal shards or banjo tooie. (or new ones like breath of the wild and animal crossing new leaf, those always make me feel good)

4. What is the scent of your shampoo? (this sounds so creepy omg i’m sorry i’m just so curious)

so uh I’m kind of a guinea pig for my mom’s hair products, so I use a new one every couple weeks, but currently it’s. uh. okay I just checked and there isn’t like a listed scent, but my /favorite/ was this bedhead one that smelled like vanilla/coconut icing. oh god. I LOVED it. 

5. How much caffeine do you drink in an average week?

not actually as much as one would expect of me. I might occasionally have some coffee from the keurig we have, or very very infrequently a monster if I really need to be awake.... otherwise it’s just a soda or two a week. 

6. What is your current phone/computer background?

current phone bg is a drawing I did of my animal crossing mayor, and my lock screen photos are all my anime husbandos. (Zen, Space Dandy, Garry, Sesshomaru, etc.) 

current computer bg cycles through a lot of stuff, mostly Pokemon and Sgt. Frog.

7. If you had to leave your current city and start a new life anywhere around the globe, where would you go and why?

I’ve tried to think about this and the notion is terrifying. I don’t know enough about anywhere to do it, but if I /had/ to... maybe some state on the west coast, where the weather’s consistent. Or Japan, but that’s just my middle school optimism talking. 

8. Who was your first best friend?

my friend Jenny, who I’ve known since we were both like 1 year old. idk how our parents met but we lived in the same neighborhood and were best friends basically all our childhood.

9. Tell me about the last dream you had, no matter how short or how detailed.

there was one where I was in kind of a school setting again. I was in a really cool art class with my, uh. my boy. which was exciting. and the rest of the school was also some sort of advanced education type shit. constant musicals and science experiments and all kinds of neat shit happening everywhere. 

10. Favorite flavor of chewing gum?

either juicy fruit (though it ends disappointingly fast) or ice cubes mint gum. idk why the cube form is so enticing. 

11. How do you feel about the ocean?

the ocean is large and beautiful and powerful and I fear her. I love how beautiful she is and a lot of the stuff she contains is really strange and exciting, but goddamn I do not want to be in the ocean if I can avoid it. maybe just at the very edge, floating in the shallow waves, but that’s about it. 

My Questions:

1. how would you describe the color green to someone who couldn’t see it?

2. what food or drink reminds you of your childhood? 

3. what type of animal would you like a large squad of as friends? 

4. who was your first cartoon crush? 

5. what is your guilty pleasure type of music? specific songs or genres, whichever you prefer.

6. tell me about your favorite thing you were a part of in school. a club? a play? a social circle, or a holiday event maybe?

7. which video game would you like to spend your time in the world of?

8. what’s something you’ve always wanted to create, but never got around to?

9. what hobby would you pick up if you had the time/resources? 

10. tell me a little about your favorite trip you’ve been on. 

11. which cryptid do you wish you were friends with. be honest.

I’m tagging @indecisivehannahk @spideraudrey @creeshtar @yoshis @joshdoesntknow @liz-the-greatest @coolshoeschick @allye-cat-draws @aspiritualstate @dalldall @puppydoglies