#looks like it's currently a very european feeling at the moment

[thelastofthebookworms]

Looking at the elections' results and feeling sick. How can all those people vote for the triumph of fascism is beyond me

[imsobadatnicknames2]

Didn't want to leave a whole rant in the tags of that post but... the level of "the curtains are just blue"-ism among people who like Percy Jackson is really astounding (even compared to other fandom people).

Like, the books straight up tell you to your face "The Greek gods now live in the USA because the USA is currently the epicenter of Western Civilization, which in this universe is a real metaphysical force of literally divine origin which sets western european cultures (especially whichever *imperialist* western european culture happens to have the most powerful empire at the moment) apart from the rest of the world as the specialest, most cultured, most divinely favored people in the world" like they literally just SAY that

What you call ‘Western civilization.’ Do you think it’s just an abstract concept? No, it’s a living force. A collective consciousness that has burned bright for thousands of years. The gods are part of it. You might even say they are the source of it, or at least, they are tied so tightly to it that they couldn’t possibly fade, not unless all of Western civilization were obliterated. The fire started in Greece. Then, as you well know—or as I hope you know, since you passed my course—the heart of the fire moved to Rome, and so did the gods. Oh, different names, perhaps—Jupiter for Zeus, Venus for Aphrodite, and so on—but the same forces, the same gods.” “And then they died.” “Died? No. Did the West die? The gods simply moved, to Germany, to France, to Spain, for a while. Wherever the flame was brightest, the gods were there. They spent several centuries in England. [...] And yes, Percy, of course they are now in your United States. [...] Like it or not—and believe me, plenty of people weren’t very fond of Rome, either—America is now the heart of the flame. It is the great power of the West. And so Olympus is here.

And if you dare mention anywhere that this whole worldbuilding element *might* have some fashy undertones they all look at you like you have three heads and act like you're looking way too deep into a silly children's book bending over backwards to find anything to feel offended about when like. It's literally right there in the book it isn't even subtext it's literally just text.

[bunnys-kisses]

Helloooo, i fear my first order didn't go through(if it did feel free to ignore this one pls) but can i order a slice of apple pie with coffee and something on the house in verstappen's name pretty please🤭 my fav sauce is fem!dom but i understand if you're all out lol

bakery menu

feel free to submit your own order! i am accepting for more than just f1 if something tickles your fancy! i love servin' up smiles! as for this lovely request, ya'll have figured out i love a good set of rivals. something romantic and erotic about it! especially with mr. verstappen!

apple pie ("now be good and beg. thank you.") + coffee (rivals au) + on the house/vanilla cheesecake ("where are your manners?")

cw: smut/pwp, dom!reader, begging, cowgirl position, rivals au, blindfolds & bondage, dom!reader, bd/sm baby,

the clock in the hotel room ticked as you sat on the couch, your phone in your hand and your face rested on your other hand as you leaned against the arm of the couch.

you thought about giving max a heads up about how much time he had left. but you knew what would only get him more excited. and this was a punishment, not a reward.

max verstappen fucked up.

the two of you have been in a limbo between rivals and lovers since you both joined f1 around the same time. he was the golden prodigy and you were the underdog. you, max and charles made three rivals.

but charles had no interest in getting between the both of you in the little games you played. he was very happy with his own love life. plus as he once said to max over a few drinks.

"what's going to happen when you eventually fall in love? i don't think there can be two verstappens on the track at the same time."

max shrugged and looked at his half-empty glass of his g&t, "that's if she even would take my last name."

charles knew you had it bad for max and max had it bad for you. he thought if you two were not drivers you would've been married with two kids living in some european country! and he would've been genuinely happy for the two of you.

he had spent most of his karting career between the two of you and the weird "i'm going to kill you" but also "let's have sex" energy, so to let you two figure it out was less stress on him.

the situation max was began a few hours after the dutch grand prix, outside the ferrari rooms. charles just put in his earbuds and went back to what he was doing on his phone. he wasn't getting involved.

"you are a backstabbing bastard, verstappen." you snapped, arms crossed as you stared at him.

he had his arms on his hips, "backstabbing! i did nothing to you! that dnf was your fault."

"my! my fault! you fucking ran me off the track you piece of shit!"

he made a face, "then get better!"

you couldn't gone for his throat, it would've made international headlines if you just lunged at him and made a mess of that handsome face. you wondered if all those girls would still follow him around if he had a busted lip.

"you're a fucking prick, max."

he reached out and held you jaw, those blue eyes on you. but you stood your ground and put a hand on his wrist. there was a moment of stand off before he leaned in to you and whispered, "drieëndertig en vijf."

thirty-three and five.

your racing numbers. you looked at him and took his hand off your face. ah, this is what this was all about. the current champion had some pent up energy.

the last your teammate heard of the two of you was the slamming of the hotel room door.

now max was blindfolded on his knees with those strong arms tied behind his back. his posture was weakening the longer he had to kneel there.

also your bullet vibrator taped to his cock using medical tape. you were glad that you collected and held onto the weirdest shit in your make-up bag or you would've have the tape.

his liked it all. he panted heavily, you looked up from you phone and smiled at him. poor verstappen. he might have walked away with the trophy but there was no better than prize than a man on his knees.

you leaned forward a little bit. and level the camera to his face. he was blindfolded and you snapped a photo. then you cupped his face, nudging your thumb against his lips which he then opened his mouth like a good boy.

soon he was sticking his tongue out of his mouth and you pressed your thumb against it while you snapped a picture. he really was trained, but then again. you only had yourself to pat yourself on the back for that.

when you found he was a total sub, he was like putty in your hands. world champion likes when he long time racing rival tied him up and makes him drip pre-cum down his cock.

"please." he pleaded.

"please, what?"

he then gasped and came all over himself. his eyes were wide and his back hunched over as cum spurted all over his abdomen. his entire body was shaking from the after shocks.

you sighed and looked from your phone, "verstappen, where are your manners?" you also saw he was still painfully erect. you kissed your teeth and got up. the poor guy was worn out enough.

you crouched down and turned the toy off. you made a face as you saw there was cum all over it. nothing you could not clean, just a bit of an inconvenience.

"max, you with me?" you asked as you tapped the apple of his left cheek, "need to slow down? give me a sign, verstappen." it was erotic for you too. he liked when you sounded bored, disinterested in him falling apart sexually.

you tried not to get psychological with it. but, you guessed that he was used to people being disinterested in him. lazy, stupid... at least at the end of this you'll hold him. care for him.

he nodded, "i'm good, het gaat goed met me." he was panting heavily.

you quickly took the blindfold off and looked in his eyes. they looked a little hazy, but still the shining blue was still there. you then kissed him on the lips.

"you did good." you said between kisses, "you're still so hard." you chuckled a little.

"can't help it." he panted, "you drive me crazy."

you kissed the side of his face and said, "alright, let's get you on the bed. and i'll wear you out, max." when gave his cheek a small pinch. you then got the binds off of him and took him by the hand and got him onto the bed.

he laid out with his cock painfully hard. he was still covered in cum. and shuddered when you took one of the face cloths from the bathroom and wiped it off of him. you tossed it off the bed when you were done.

"i'm going to beat you next time, verstappen." you said as you started to get undressed, "then i'm really going to really overstimulate you." then splayed your hands across his exposed chest. feeling the rise and fall of it under your touch.

"i don't expect anything else." he gave a light chuckle as he felt you sink yourself on his cock. he groaned when you hit the base and he clutched onto covers under him.

he couldn't touch you unless you gave him permission. he watched you find the pace on his cock. you had your hands on his chest as you rolled your hips up and down on him.

"please." he groaned.

you chuckled, "mmm, i don't know max." you felt hot all over from this entire ordeal, "you were being mean to me earlier. and that's not acceptable."

"i'm sorry, i'll be good next time." he whined.

you rode him gently and you felt him twitch under you. he looked simply so good.

he continued his cute begging, "please. fuck, i'm so sorry. i shouldn't have been so mean." his voice cut off in a moan as he panted wildly, "you're an amazing driver. i'm.. i'm nothing."

you cupped his face, "no need for that, max. you make racing fun, going up against you is like butting heads with a titan. you're not nothing." your voice was cool. also a genuine affection was in there.

"i want to be a good boy for you."

and who could deny that?

"you always are, max. you're my good boy. the second best driver i know." you chuckled. he looked up curiously, almost hurt that he was labeled second best.

before he could ask who was the number one best, you patted his hot cheek and face, "because i'm number one." then leaned in to kiss him on the lips as you continued to rock your body against his.

the bed moved against the wall every so gently as you thrusted against max. you felt warm all over as you moved against him. he felt like a dream. you would often joke to him that it was like you two were a perfect fit.

he never denied the claim.

you pulled away from the kiss and planted both hands on either side of his head. you panted, "you're a good sub for me. i bet everyone thinks you're the big man in charge. but no, no, no. you curl against my like a good little kitten."

"i only want to make you happy." you admitted through heavy pants.

"and you'll always make me happy. not only in the bedroom, but also on the track. as much as i want to win, i want you to be successful too. you in second and i in first."

he chuckled lightly, cheeks stained pink, "that was almost romantic."

you kissed him once more and said, "don't get used to it. you're still my rival." you knew eventually you two would end up getting married, at this point the lines were so painfully blurred that another person couldn't get between you two.

in moments like this, if someone asked either of you if you were dating. the word "yes" would slip out so easily. thank god, this was as private as it got.

you continued his movement against him, and watched him ball his fists into the sheets. you felt your breathing grow heavy as you felt the thump on your heartbeat.

"you're a good boy."

"please."

"i mean it, verstappen." you kissed him once more. the kisses led down his neck and to his collarbone where he hissed. you always knew how sensitive it was. one time you tried to leave a hickey on the skin and he had to cover his mouth because his noises were a little too loud.

"thank you." the pleasure was clouding his head as he felt your sweet pussy around it. it didn't take long for him to finish, and his brain short wired for a moment.

he relaxed against the bed and panted heavily. trying to get as much air in his chest.

you leaned back and rubbed his chest as you continued to ride him which only shoved his cum deeper into you. risky games just like their racing.

"fuck, schat." he groaned.

"i got you, max. don't worry." you replied as you kept your pace up, feeling the heat in your body and buzz your brain. you rode yourself to completion and hunched over him for a moment. you could feel your heart race. you wiped the sweat off your neck. you were both done for the night.

he cursed something and tried to catch his breath.

"good boy." you said as you laid next to him, half-spooning him. you played with his hair and felt the steadiness of his heart beat.

"i'm going to beat you again." he said through the haze of post-orgasmic bliss.

you chuckled and kissed him on the forehead, "right, right. but i'll still take the championship home."

he tilted his head up and you kissed him on the lips. it'll be another

in the next room, charles was staring at the ceiling with his cheek between his teeth. he was thankful when the thumping in the next room stopped. the only problem he had now was the painful erection in his shorts.

maybe him not getting involved was making things worse.

[superman86to99]

Action Comics Weekly #642 (March 1989)

Superman gets offered a job as a Green Lant-- hey, wait a minute, why are we back in 1989?! Is Zero Hour already messing with the timestream? Nah, it's because, while making a Superman '86 to '99 reading guide at League of Comic Geeks, I noticed we never covered this issue -- we have a post about the Superman serial in Action Comics Weekly #601-641, and one about the classic Action Comics (Non-Weekly) #643, but this one sorta fell through the cracks since it wasn't technically part of the serial but not really a monthly issue either. So, with present-day Action Comics going weekly again this month, it seems like a good time to right another long-time wrong and plug this tiny hole in the '86-'99 continuity.

Anyway, the issue starts with a flashback to the day Green Lantern Abin Sur crashed down on Earth and, in his dying moments, instructed his ring to select and bring over a successor, who ends up being... Clark Kent?

Yep, this issue reveals that Clark was Abin's first choice for Earth's Green Lantern -- and no, this doesn't take place in some alternate timeline, like that annual where Superman becomes GL and President of the USA. However, the ring soon determines that Clark doesn't qualify for the gig because he's from a species "not native" to this planet, even though Man of Steel #1 established that he was born on Earth. Still, I guess it wouldn't be good for his GL authority to be undermined by any potential birther movements. Before having his memory of the incident wiped by the ring, Clark sees a projection of the other GL candidates, which include Robin, someone who looks like Pope John Paul II, and a test pilot Clark remembers interviewing called Hal Jordan. (Oh, and no women, leading Clark to correctly deduce that Abin's bosses have "an attitude problem.")

Clark recommends Hal for the job because he's "the straightest arrow I ever met" and will surely never go insane and kill a bunch of his buddies. Great call, Clark.

Meanwhile, in the present (well, 1989's present), Hal Jordan returns to that same desert where he first became Green Lantern to investigate a bunch of stolen nuclear materials someone's been piling up here. Some military types start shooting at Hal, which wouldn't normally be a problem for a Green Lantern, except that Hal is feeling so insecure lately that his ring malfunctions and lets the bullets hit him. When an army major shows up and starts barking orders, Hal just lets the guy arrest him and ends up getting shot in the chest by him. Again: great call, Clark.

As Hal lays dying in the desert, his ring is like "whelp, here we go again" and goes looking for potential Green Lantern candidates from all over the planet. They are: a union leader at an Eastern European factory, a priest in South Africa, an old Native American guy who fights mountain lions, a hostage negotiator in Beirut, Nightwing (so Robin again, but all grown up), Deadman (currently possessing some criminal), and Guy Gardner. Doesn't Guy already have a GL ring? Nope, because he just gave it to some very confused arms dealer who looks like G. Gordon Liddy to make a fight more interesting.

Oh, and Clark Kent again. Wasn't Clark already disqualified from the job? You'd think the ring would keep track of stuff like that.

As Hal's ring-projected ghost looks over his potential replacements, who are frozen in time at the desert, Deadman is able to talk to him (being a ghost too) and tries to convince him to just let himself die and go to heaven, where he can chill with Abe Lincoln, Ghandi, MLK, Robin Hood, and some unicorns. Clark unfreezes himself in time and tells Hal he should continue living, his main argument being "What if you miss out on the exciting space exploration that's definitely happening in the next decades?" (which is kind of a weird thing to say to a guy who can fly through space on his own).

Clark and Deadman get so caught up in their argument that they don't even notice an AI version of Abin Sur coming out of the ring and joining their little ghost party. "Abin" tells Hal that all of these other candidates are "lesser wills" compared to him, which surprises Hal (wonder if he heard "lesser willies"). Apparently that's what gives Hal the confidence to go back to his body, instantly heal himself, go kick those military dudes' butts, and convince a judge to prosecute them. While Hal's doing all that, we see that every one of the potential candidates took some GL energy with them as they got transported back to their countries and unknowingly used it to deal with the sticky situations they were in, from "convincing a factory boss to hire an old man back" to "declawing and defanging a mountain lion."

As for Deadman, he possesses the body of a kid from Clark's building just to continue his life/death argument with him. Clark tries to ignore him as he walks through Metropolis, but Deadman keeps jumping from body to body (a doorman, an old lady walking a dog, the dog) to pester him. Clark refuses to take the bait...

...until Deadman goes away, proving that Superman's will may not be as big as Hal's, but at least it's bigger than this guy's.

Creator-Watch:

Unless you count the Kingdom Come novelization, this was the only Post-Crisis Superman story written by prolific Pre-Crisis writer Elliot S! Maggin, who wrote over a hundred Action, Superman, and Superman Family issues in the '70s and early '80s. This is also, not coincidentally, the only Post-Crisis Superman story that ends with this Clark offering his once-customary last panel wink at the reader, though nothing we've seen so far suggested that fourth wall-breaking winks was in his power set. Maybe he just saw Bibbo across the street?

Plotline-Watch:

The "ACTION - CLOSED FOR RENOVATION" sign up there is a reference to the ads DC used to hype up the Action Comics Weekly series in 1988, which showed a theater marquee with messages like "WATCH FOR GRAND OPENING" and "GALA PREMIERE." Ending with "RENOVATION" is appropriate, since the regular Action title wouldn't be back for three more months.

The retcon about Clark helping Abin Sur pick Hal Jordan as Green Lantern means that, in a roundabout way, Superman is responsible for all those deaths in "Emerald Twilight" and certain dramatic events we're about to see all over the DC Universe. So, if you think about it, this issue is connected to the Zero Hour coverage we've been promising for some time now...

When Clark and Deadman are arguing about whether Hal should live or die, Deadman says one shouldn't "screw around with the way things go" (meaning: you can't just go back to life if you already died). Clark says "I resent that." I'm guessing he resents it even more post-Doomsday.

The stuff about Hal feeling fearful and insecure is explained in his ACW serial, but it's interesting that it lines up with the future retcon about a certain space parasite crawling up his butt sometime around this period. His next appearance would be in the rebooted Green Lantern #1 (1990), which is the issue where his hair started going grey (due to the fear caused by the aforementioned space bug, it was later revealed).

Don Sparrow says: "This issue, which was supposed to wrap up a number of the anthology of storylines depicted in Action Comics Weekly (or just feature the players within the book) was actually the second attempt at a final issue. The first attempt was written by Neil Gaiman, but was deemed unsuitable since his story relied on Superman and Hal Jordan knowing each other’s civilian identities, which was an editorial no-no at the time. So the story that Gaiman -- fresh off Black Orchid at the time, but before he'd hit it big with Sandman -- wrote went on a shelf, eventually emerging as a one-shot prestige format book which was released 11 years later. Though it had its moments, that story also felt similarly disjointed, to me at least, and the art styles from each chapter clashed even more jarringly than this issue. But at least that’s the last controversy Neil Gaiman was ever involved with." (Who's gonna tell Don?) I remember kinda liking that one. Since it came out in 2000, it's outside the scope of this blog, but maybe we'll cover it at the newsletter and Patreon at some point anyway.

Shout Outs-Watch:

Speaking of which, massive Hal Jordan's willforce-sized shout outs to our supporters, Aaron, Chris “Ace” Hendrix, britneyspearsatemyshorts, Patrick D. Ryall, Bheki Latha, Mark Syp, Ryan Bush, Raphael Fischer, Kit, Sam, Bol, Dave Shevlin, and Dave Blosser! You can join them at those links above, because we feel self-conscious enough about plugging them once already.

And now, Don's take on this issue, plus more art from the stacked roster of artists (including Steve Ditko and Kevin Nowlan)!

Art-Watch (by @donsparrow):

Starting with the cover, and it’s a strange one.  I absolutely adore Ross Andru generally, so, not knowing if it’s the inks or the pencils, both the drawing and colouring here seems pretty rushed.  The image of Superman weighing the Green Lantern uniform is a good concept, and would have made a decent panel, but it seems a little under-developed for a proper cover.  Add to that the fact that only some of the crowd behind Nightwing, Deadman and Superman are familiar, and there’s a strange weightlessness to Nightwing’s stance, and it just doesn’t feel like what I’m used to seeing from Ross Andru. 

Inside the book though, we open with an absolute treat, with the opening pages drawn by the instantly identifiable Gil Kane.  This is late period Kane, and while it’s not as sharp as his drool-worthy early Green Lantern or Spider-Man runs, his late, ligne claire style is still a joy to read.  It’s especially wonderful that these early pages are right in his wheelhouse with a lot of space technology—Kane did practical-seeming high-tech buttons, panels and wires about as good as anyone.  It’s fascinating seeing the visuals of the other candidates Abin Sur’s ring seeks out—to my eye that looked like Pope John Paul II (I guess the ring, nor the writers of this comic could see that he wasn’t entirely honest, or without fear), Dick Grayson (who I mistook for Jason Todd because of the haircut), John Stewart, and then Hal on the far right.  I wasn’t sure, on my first reading just who the mustachioed fellow is between Stewart and Jordan—Hector Hammond I thought.  So I was glad the stories in later chapters elucidated these images. [Max: Worth noting that it's mentioned John Stewart wasn't invited to the latter part of the story because he was off-planet, not because the ring has something against architects. Also, they say the white priest is dead by then, so that can't be John Paul II unless 1981 went very differently for him in this universe...]

If I dare criticize someone with a legendary career, I was a bit thrown by how frequently Kane draws Clark with a prominent (and very Superman-like) S-curl in his hair, jeopardizing his secret identity.  Then again, he recognizes the alien is dying, so maybe he’s deduced it’s ok to be a little careless with the forelock.

After Kane’s brief story, we’re treated to another rarity for its time—mainstream comic pages from Steve Ditko!  Being fairly familiar with his style in the 80s, I’d say Art Thibert (future super-teamster, lending a very Jim Lee aesthetic to Dan Jurgens lines in the early '90s) has a pretty heavy hand here, as Ditko’s pencils, while always energetic and succinct, had gotten a little looser by the late 80s.  No matter who is more responsible for the images we see, there’s a great sense of movement and imagination to these pages, especially Hal’s use of his ring. Battering rams we’ve seen before (even in Superman comics, wherein Hal may or may not look so totalled it makes Superboy wanna hurl) but making a dragon creature to simultaneously capture armed guards and excavate a roof is pretty darn inventive.  I also appreciate Ditko’s pure cartooning—this is certainly a more visibly expressive Green Lantern than we’re used to seeing, so it’s bold to have the character emote a little more. 

The Curt Swan pages that follow are unsurprisingly excellent, Ty Templeton’s precise inks making them look all the more crisp (if memory serves, Templeton was a sharpie marker guy as well!) but they don’t give Swan a lot to do, drawing lots of real world, civilians in clothing type storytelling.  Don’t get me wrong, Swan can do it all, but this glacial, decidedly non-superhero interval gives a hint to me as to why Action Comics Weekly kinda sputtered out. Though it’s perhaps a dull scene (Clark typing out a story on a computer), the rendering and lighting of the panel of Superman using his visual powers is almost photographic, it looks so good.  The Deadman section has a bonkers depiction of Heaven, complete with Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Gandhi, Jesus Himself (!), Robert, Earl of Huntingdon (AKA Robin Hood) and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, with Deadman assuring a ghostly Hal Jordan that Lincoln is the funny one in the group. [Max: Wait, is that Jesus? I thought it was Uncle Sam without the hat, or maybe a time-displace Lex Luthor Jr.]

A few pages later we get a great look at Hal Jordan diving into a spiral caused by helicopter blades, and as often happens with Kevin Nowlan, the penciller underneath, no less than Carmine Infantino, gets a little lost—not that I’m complaining—I love Kevin Nowlan’s sometimes overpowering inks, because they’re so clean and delicate. [Max: Side note: Why do all the guns in this issue look like water pistols squirting green liquid?]

The Nightwing section is Jim Aparo at his reliable best, though the inks by Nyberg look a little dated next to the more modern finishes of Nowlan. 

SPEEDING BULLETS:

Fun, but tragic fact—the consistent line weight of Gil Kane’s self-inked pages (like the ones in this book) were largely created by non-archival alcohol or xylene based markers, so a lot of Kane’s original art from around this period yellowed so significantly over time that some of his pages feature ink “blacks” that are light yellow on white, making those beautiful creations almost invisible.  Fortunately, having looked into it, these very pages still look pretty good today.  

I like that even back in 1988, Clark Kent is evolved enough to question why Sur’s ring didn’t find any female candidates.

While it’s fun to explore the function of Hal’s ring, I don’t know if I subscribe to the notion that his shield would be that weak if he had a confused thought. 

I like oldies enough that I can’t help hearing Neil Sedaka’s high pitched tones as I read Hal thinking “Oh, Carol!”

On the whole, I found this whole yarn, about military corruption, with the brief if colourful interstitials to introduce the other Lantern candidates (which had little bearing on the rest of the story) pretty hard to follow.�� Even more so, since we don’t actually see the fruits of Green Lantern’s labour—Major Easterly isn’t shown being arrested, we see only the signing of the warrant for his arrest, which feels like something more consequential than the kid selling door to door in Clark’s apartment building, say.

Action Comics Weekly was an interesting experiment, and there’s a pretty in-depth explanation of DC’s reasoning behind discontinuing it.  They do acknowledge that sales weren’t strong, but also posit that they weren’t at cancellation level.  Their rationale for cancellation was that the weekly schedule was too difficult to keep up with, especially with a double sized book like Action Comics Weekly.  I remember being incredibly excited when it was first announced, then crushed when I realized that Superman got only two pages in each issue.  Yes, the story was by Roger Stern, and yes, illustrated by Curt Swan, so we were in good hands, but there was a dullness and a lack of fantasy or superhero action in the stories that persisted, and made ACW feel less than essential.  The teams were top notch talents (people like Mark waid, Peter David, Dave Gibbons, Christopher Priest, etc).  The characters were ones I wanted to read about, but what happened in the stories often felt like strange choices.  For example, there was an extended Hal Jordan story where it was revealed that Hal Jordan, whose only thing is that he’s honest and fearless was revealed to be neither honest, nor fearless, but had been subconsciously purged of fear and dishonesty by his ring, requiring him to deprogram the ring to remove that influence.  That decision led to reading about Hal Jordan cowering on the ledges of buildings, afraid to fly as he got his bravery back.  Interesting concept, or intellectual exercise, perhaps, but is it what the average Green Lantern fan would want to read?   It felt like there was a lot of that to me (though it did have the unique element of depicting Oprah Winfrey threatening to break…something… of Green Lantern’s). Once Roger Stern was brought on as a regular writer, some elements (like the Superman cult of California) were a little more integrated into continuity, but for the most part as a Superman fan at the time, the ACW story read a lot like pre-Crisis Superman.

Missed an issue? Looking for an old storyline? Check out our new chronological issue index!

[malina-33]

Femme like you - Chapter 1

Summary: You are the new tour manager for Arctic Monkeys during The Car era. You are practically the only girl in the team, also younger than the rest (27), so your skills are immediately called into question. In particular, by the frontman who is not used to being led by a woman.

Word count: 3,1k

Warning: age gap

A/N: Hi, you all!!! I'm so thrilled and excited to do this kind of stuff, but it feels like I'm making my dream come true. This series won't be very long even though I have an eye-watering number of moments I want to release in this fic, but English isn't my first language and it's pretty tough to write in it (so if you find any mistakes don't be afraid to text me and correct). I spent a lot of time to write this small opening chapter, that’s why following parts won't appear regularly, but I promise to uptade them every 2-3 weeks! They will definitely be longer that the opener😉

I read a lot of works with Alex, 'cause my addiction doesn't seem to disappear, so this idea just popped in my head and I couldn't resist. Never thought that I would be an author, not a reader in Tumblr, but voila - here I am. I really expect you to love it❤️

And yes, I know that their current tour manager is Steven Champan, but for the story I changed it slightly, hope you won't mind :)

“James, seriously?” Alex looked away in bewilderment from the bottle of Hennessy to Ford.

“More than you can imagine” producer chuckled. “I will be with my family in Scotland, I haven’t seen them in a while, and she will replace me for the UK and European parts only, it’s about one and a half months”.

Turner looked him up and down with a displeased look, still sitting on the couch with a bottle in his hands “That’s ridiculous. She has never worked with us! She will break into all our well-established processes, not knowing the specifics of the work and will only interfere. We'll make it on our own, not the first time, man, huh?” Alex decided to soften his tone a little to appease his friend and cutely knitted his eyebrows.

“Al, you are being childish. C’mon, we have already agreed on everything, she is a good specialist, don't let yourself be deceived by her appearance” Ford threw a jacket over his shoulders, silently saying that the conversation is over.

“Just because she's your friend's daughter doesn't mean she's good!” The singer spat out the last argument hoping to reach out to the conscience of their producer.

“Give her a chance, you won't be disappointed” James said mysteriously, closing the door quietly behind him and leaving the disgruntled frontman alone with his obsessive thoughts.

***

You sat in your car in the parking lot in front of the Domino Records headquarters, nervously clutching a Starbucks cup. There were still 20 minutes before the meeting, but you arrived early. All the documents had already been signed, the agreements had been discussed, but the most thrilling moment remained - the meeting with the group itself and the technical crew.

When James Ford, your father's old friend from university and at the same time music producer for Arctic Monkeys, called you several weeks ago with an unusual request, you simply didn't have a chance to refuse. You've been dreaming of working in this industry since 16, especially since you adored this group and were at their concerts six times. Being their manager for one part of the 7th album tour sounded like a fantasy, but here you are, sitting in front of their label building, where you have a meeting with the musicians. If you caught the lucky girl syndrome, then you definitely didn’t want to let it go. At least not now.

From the trance into which you plunged by shaking coffee in the cup, you were brought out by the deafening creak of tires on asphalt. You immediately snapped out and looked in the rearview mirror. An elegant Cadillac whistled and stopped 3 parking lots away from you just passing the dividing line.

You weren't stupid not to realize whose car it was. The passenger got out, slamming the door sharply. He was wearing a beige trousers and matching jacket with black vest underneath, translucent red aviators were on despite a cloudy day. Paying no attention to your car and not even bothering to close his, a man quickly walked inside the building.

You followed the door closed behind Alex Turner itself with a blank look, finished your coffee in one gulp and also got out of the car, taking your purse from the passenger seat. Having heard about his "punctuality", you assumed that everyone else had already arrived, so you walked to the building as well. "There's no point in delaying this moment, let's start early" you bravely told yourself.

The studio in southwest London wasn't as big as you expected it to be. The guard pointed you to room 14, saying that you were already awaited. Inside, the bright corridors were hung with rare photographs, including images of early Monkeys' concerts. You smiled slightly as you looked at the photos of four young people laughing with their hands in their pockets. "Nice time" you thought.

You didn't really understand why you were so inflamed. You are all adults, lads have been warned about the change in management in advance so it won’t be a surprise for them, what could be the problem? You had enough work experience to know what to do, you were excellently good-looking and successful, then why did your palms sweat? Immersed in your thoughts you didn’t notice that you had reached the end of the corridor and stopped at the half-open door, from behind which quiet voices could be heard.

“Oi, she better buy me a bottle of beer on the way, my head hurts after yesterday. Why did I come so early, gosh?”

“It's been 5 minutes since you've been here, and you've already blown my mind’’. Seemed that it was Matt.

"I prefer to come sober to meetings scheduled in advance, but for the future I will keep in mind to see you no earlier than Tuesday, Mr. Turner”. Maybe it wasn’t the best greeting phrase, but you just couldn't resist. When you entered the room with these words, 7 surprised pairs of eyes met your figure. Alex, Matt and Nick were sitting on a leather sofa in the center of the room, Jamie was pouring water into a glass at a side table, Steven was sitting in a chair talking to Ben, who was reclining on the arm of this chair, behind them was a man whose name you didn’t know.

"I'm sorry," you quickly became embarrassed, realizing how inappropriate those words sounded. Silence reigned in the room for a few seconds, but was quickly interrupted by the awkward coughing of that same unfamiliar man. "Um guys, this is your new tour manager for these two months, Y/N Y/S" He said softly enough, stepping out from behind the chair and holding out his hand for you. "I'm Marcus, James' assistant, the rest you should know".

"Yeah, right, he told me about you, I'm very glad to meet you," and carefully shifting your gaze to the others you added "everyone".

You stood in your knee-length leather boots, denim shorts and an oversized cream-colored jacket not knowing what to do with the burning eyes on your persona.

"Actually, I brought a homemade cider as an ice-breaker, it's in my trunk, so after the official part of the meeting we can try it. Not beer, but still tasty," you said with an apologetic smile, trying your last attempt to ease the conversation. The room froze in silence once again, and in this moment Matt laughed out loud, slapping his knee and throwing head back on the headboard. Jamie and Nick joined him, smiling broadly, while Ben, Steven, and Marcus chuckled hoarsely as they looked at each other. Only Alex remained frowning as he continued to scan your figure.

"I like her already! Great move, miss Y/S" Matt said, obviously being amazed.

You breathed a sigh of relief as you sat down in the chair Marcus offered you. He was noticeably younger than the others, near your age, which immediately made you sympathize with him.

"Well, when we finally got to know each other, let's get down to business. As you all know James is on an unscheduled vacation due to family circumstances. Hence we are going to work with Miss Y/S in UK and Europe festivals, while I will assist her. I know that Y/N discussed with James all the main points about dates, places and stuff, but now we have to delve into details of the organization process itself. Ben and I will explain the tech part and the lads will share their preferences" Steven began the discussion by leaning a little closer to the center of your improvised circle. He seemed to be a very wise and at the same time charismatic man. Attractive, but platonically.

“Sorry, may I interrupt before we start” It sounded more like a statement from Alex. “How old are you, once again?"

"I'm 27, Mr. Turner. And let's make it clear, since this still raises questions. Yes, I'm quite young relative to you and indeed a stranger to your team. But I've known James for a long time, as well as your work, whose main fan I have been since 18. I have been in show business for 7 years now and worked with Maneskin at the very beginning of their career. It’s not difficult for me to provide my CV if necessary, but I’m here because I sincerely want to help my father's friend and ensure that you have the most comfortable atmosphere during your stay in Europe. I have an idea what it's like to be on tour for a year, I understand how tired you are, and that you need conditions for rest and creation. So I'll let you do your job without the interference and you’ll give me freedom to do my work properly, I'm sure we both do it very well, especially since you are not the only one, Mr. Turner, who can make a show out of nothing”. At these words the drummer whistled, turning to the gloomy vocalist, but you continued “I’m really extremely happy to be a part of Arctic Monkeys team, for me this is a great opportunity to test myself and work with such big people like you. So I don't see any problems in our interaction, taking into account that I'm here temporarily.

You glanced at the men with a soft, but tenacious look, catching your breath “Didn't seem to miss anything at this point, deal?”

Steven was the first to answer, smiling paternally at you and accepting your little speech. You also noticed that Turner shook his head, but smirked to himself, which relaxed your muscles a bit. If you didn't get along from the first sentence, then at least you can establish a normal business relationship. You understood that the nature of a rock star is unpredictable, following the development of the group and the change in the image of the frontman for many years, but you couldn't imagine that he would talk so irritably to new people. Yes, he certainly behaved ugly, but you also started the dialogue with a caustic comment. Apparently, you deserve each other.

After the temperature in the room dropped and everyone took a more relaxed posture, you began to discuss current tasks. Your first gig will be in Bristol on May 29th, so you have two weeks to get ready. In fact, everything has already been done even before the start of the whole tour. Now your duty is only to coordinate the setlists with the guys for each performance, to make sure that all agreements with venues are fulfilled, the rider is completed, the equipment is working properly, the buses are ordered, the hotels have confirmed the reservation, and the whole team has arrived safe and sound. Okay, maybe it's not so little, but you're ready for any challenge. This is your passion after all.

You will ride in a separate minivan with the management team, and not with the guys, which in general wasn’t a big surprise for you, but in hotels you will be provided with a separate room, unlike the rest of the staff, who live in double suits. You didn't know what caused such generosity, but you were pleased anyway. You talked for about an hour, agreeing to meet again at the sound check in a week, and then only before leaving for Bristol. During this time you will have to study all the venues, call the transport company and confirm the details of the trips.

Your meeting ended on a positive note, the guys were asking you about your life, your education and hobbies, you said that you had been dancing professionally for many years and even took up drumming at the university, to which Matt happily promised to give you lessons, triumphant that he finally met someone who doesn't play the guitar, but the drums.

“Be careful, Matthew, if it turns out that she is more talented than you, we’ll replace you without any hesitation. She looks better” Nick joked and immediately got the middle finger in response from the drummer. Even Alex genuinely smiled, looking back at the friend.

"Oh, don't worry, it's unlikely. But as for the cider I wasn't joking, at least I'm definitely good at that"

"Wait, did you make it yourself?" surprised Ben.

"Yes, I live in the suburbs of London and have my own small garden, I make cider for friends during the season"

"You know what, I'm already tired of this stuffy room, you say it's in your trunk?" Matt, confirming his status as the most talkative member of the group, stood up impatiently, stretching his stiff limbs.

"Yes, let's go and give it a try" you said, also getting up from your chair. “Who is with us?” you raised an eyebrow in question and the answer was six men who rose to their feet.

"Definitely need a smoke” murmured Alex in addition, patting his pockets for a pack of cigarettes.

“Damn, where did James find her?” you heard Jamie's question addressed to Steven as you left the room with Matt and couldn’t hold back a short, but self-satisfied smirk. "That's not the last ace in the hole, Jamie" flashed through your head.

"I'm asking the same question" but instead of Champan, the voice was given by Alex.

"Al, will you calm down today or not? Did yesterday's booze give you such a headache?" Cook hissed almost angrily.

But you didn’t hear the answer, moving away along the corridor to the exit.

***

When all the lads came out from the studio, you and Matt had already taken a wooden case with 12 bottles of cider out of the trunk of your white Range Rover and put it on the hood. Coming closer, Alex threw a jacket over his shoulders and took out cigarettes, offering you one.

"I don't smoke, thanks," you replied calmly. He arched an eyebrow in surprise and took a pipe of tobacco between his lips. “You better start, darling” He took a quick puff, blowing smoke in your face, and looked intently from under his eyelashes. Despite the sweet name, from his lips it sounded somehow humiliating. You didn't answer, turning around and taking one of the bottles, silently passing it to him. He thanked you, and you gave each man a bottle as well. "For the new leg of the tour! Cheers!" Steven exclaimed, raising the bottle in the air and you all clinked glasses together.

The eight of you stood in the parking lot next to your car. You and Marcus leaned on the hood, Chapman nestled next to your right, and the guys were in front of you. You stayed in pleasant silence, interrupted by the chirping of birds from a nearby square and breezes of the wind that swayed your styling. Satisfied sigh followed by Marcus and Jamie, which made you laugh cutely.

"Enjoy?" you asked playfully, taking a sip.

"Y/N, that's amazing! I’ve never thought our team would feel so acutely short of a personal alcohol supplier" Jamie savored the taste, taking small sips.

"It's only 6% alcohol, I brought this one on purpose, knowing that you will most likely be driving. But there is also 12% sort in my basement, so in case of anything, you know where to find me"

"Actually not, but for the sake of such a case, we will definitely get your address from James" Nick answered cheerfully.

You spent 20 more minutes talking about the process of making an apple brew and sharing your alcohol tastes. “What a topic to discuss” you hummed to yourself. Eventually you gave Ben, Marcus, Jamie, and Matt one more bottle, promising to bring more of 12% sort to the concert, and you were about to leave when suddenly your phone rang. A dark and mystical tune played from the back pocket of your shorts.

"Woah, that’s pretty old one" Alex said with unexpected liveliness.

"One of my favorites from yours" you replied quickly, pulling out the device. It was James. You decided to call him back when you would be alone, so you dropped the call, texting him that you would call back later.

"Hey Al, we haven't played it in a while. What do you think, mate?" Matt asked conspiratorially, giving him a little nudge on the shoulder.

"We’ll see, I think it's possible. NME will especially rejoice at this, still considering it insanely vulgar" the singer rolled his eyes, but couldn't help smiling.

"Isn't that right, Mr. Turner? Whose propeller is it then?" you grinned as you took an empty box and returned it to the trunk of the jeep.

"Miss Y/S, don't make me doubt your foresight as well" to your surprise, he came over to help you close the tailgate. You dusted your hands and shifted awkwardly from one foot to another, being locked between the car and the frontman. You could literally see wrinkles around his eyes and cider-wet lips that now were gently stirring.

"Who called?" the man asked more quietly than usual. "Uh, James, I think I should call him as soon as possible"

"Yeah, most likely" Turner reluctantly backed away from you, letting you through, and you walked to the driver's door.

"Well, guys, I was very glad to see you, I'm sure fruitful work awaits us!" you smiled reassuringly, swaying from heel to toe from jitters and excitement from upcoming events.

"See you in a bit, Miss Y/S, I will send you all our numbers and other necessary contacts tonight. Sleep enough these days, you will soon miss it" Steven winked and extended his hand to you for a handshake, so you answered him willingly.

“Goodbye, guys, see ya!” you only waved at other lads as you climbed onto the running board and sat inside the car. The Rover started with a pleasant growl, vibrating under your hands. You drove off, leaving the men in the parking lot, but noticing one fixed look of chocolate eyes in the rearview mirror. You attributed the recognition of the color of his eyes to a million views of concert photos on the Internet, but not to those few seconds near the trunk when you smelled his cigarette breath on your face.

That will be a roller-coaster indeed

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A/N: Please, let me know what do you think about this duo, what are you expecting from them, what do you want to read in the next chapter? Let's get to know each other better in comments - how long are you in fandom, what are your favorite type of fics and etc? Your feedback is my force to write, love you and stay tuned - a big adventure is going to happen 🤭❣️

I also publish the work on AO3:

[tetsunabouquet]

Having the nastiest thoughts about tutor! akashi, midorima and hanamiya

A/N: Because of Kinktober and the vampire Akashi AU I've been working on, I had to write this;

Akashi Seijuro - When history inspires you

Akashi sat at the table, across from you. He was explaining world history to you, which was your worst subject. Your class was currently going over Eastern European history, and that whole Transylvania thing was something you couldn't wrap your head around. You groaned and couldn't make out the words on the pages anymore. "Care for a break?" You nodded at him, thankfully. "I can understand Dracula being based on a real count, but what is the difference between Transsylvania and Walachia?" You scrunched your nose, and Akashi grinned. "From everything, Dracula you remember?" You blushed. "Well, every girl will remember a hot vampire." Akashi's grin became a little predatory. "So you like a man breathing down your neck?" You blinked at what he said, confused. 'Why is he asking me such a question?' "Uhm, I suppose." Akashi, with a dark chuckle said, "Care for a demonstration?" Your frown deepened. You couldn't follow his train of thought. He sauntered his way over to you, and tugged a lock of your hair behind your ear, his face leaning in. You could feel his lips brushing against your neck, and your heart pounded harshly in your ribcage. When his tongue trailed against your juggular vein, you gasped. He playfully bit down and you whimpered in delight. "Heh," he chuckled against your skin. "It seems it really does work on you." His hand trailed towards the collar of your uniform, pulling it softly, "Want me to suck somewhere else?"

Midorima - Chemical emotions

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" You screeched in absolute terror. Accidentally, you had spilled a formula you had been practising with Midorima, on his uniform. You sucked at chemistry, this just being your most recent example of a big mistake in the school's lab, only this time there was only Midorima and not your other classmates holding back their laughter. Midorima was in the process of taking off his jacket and shirt, as the liquid was quite toxic to the skin. If you weren't so god damn terrified you had turnt the usually grumpy Midorima into an angry Midorima, you would have thought to yourself it wasn't that bad of a mistake. You weren't stupid, you knew he was an athlete and trained often. However, knowing that and seeing that were two different things. Midorima's broad chest and abs caused a nosebleed. You burried your nose in the sleeve of your own jacket, stopping the bleeding. Midorima looked at you, taking you in so very slow. His gaze felt like it was stripping you naked, and you shivered. Midorima's taped fingers wrapped around your wrist, and he pulled your hand away from your face. "You truly are set on ruining our uniforms today, nanodayo." You blushed a bright red, trying to avert your gaze. "Are you trying to tell me something?" You looked into his brilliant green eyes,"Just wondering if there is some kind of pheromone in that stuff." Much to your surprise, he chuckled at your flirty response. "Would you mind making things fair, and take off that blood stained garment?" You bit your lip in excitement, your hands flying to the buttons already at Midorima's steady gaze. This was unexpected, but as Midorima's eyes took in your chest with appreciation, you knew you were going to like every minute of this.

Hanamiya - That moment when literature gets you talking dirty

You were giggling, as Hanamiya just roasted the author of the book your teacher had instructed the class to read after a boy in your class had made the worst misogynistic joke possible about romance novels. Not that the romance novel the teacher had picked, was of any quality to convince anyone they were worth reading. "I agree, how he thought Colleen Hoover was the author to convince Takamiya otherwise is beyond me." "Joking about the ball size of your child is creepy," Hanamiya expressed in distaste, and you blinked in bewilderment. There were actually things that could creep Hanamiya out? "Children and sexual conversations don't go together." You said, shaking your head. "Only if it is about the process of creating them," Hanamiya said suggestively and your face became red. "Eh? Did I say something wrong?" He asked bemused, absolutely aware why you reacting this way, but he thought your shyness was absolutely adorable. It motivated him to continue. "You do know how people make babies right?" You nodded quickly, afraid to say anything else knowing the kind of person Hanamiya was. "Oh really? So you understand what a creampie is?" You nodded, wanting to run away from this conversation right now. "I'm getting the feeling you're just answering me to look smart, what is a creampie then?" You looked into his burning dark eyes, and bit your lip. "It's when seed leaks out of a woman's pussy." As you wondered whether pussy was the correct word to use, Hanamiya sat back in his chair with desire glittering in his eyes. He was scary yet electrifying, and your heart was racing in your chest. "How about we write a story together huh, you have an excellent word choice." You looked at him, "You really want to do the assignment together?" "Oh angel, I want to do more then the assignment together."

[tododeku-or-bust]

i’d encourage you to be more explicit in how you define “white people” bc i’ve seen some whites who are black af. Whiteness in the us is an ethnicity and culture that supercedes race. Whiteness=/=white privilege necessarily, because nonwhites will appropriate whiteness for their benefit and the exertion of white power. This is what complicated relations with “mixed” ethnicities (lets not forget how african americans are very ethnically mixed) whose proximity to whiteness can vary: latinos, jews, MENA peoples, & creole peoples from the islands the world over. Let’s also consider how so many people of indigenous american descent who grew up in indigenous culture on indigenous land, may very well experience white privilege, yet equally so isn’t white. It is the behaviors of WASP culture/ethnicity that are so toxic to collective wellbeing

Okay, here we go:

i’d encourage you to be more explicit in how you define “white people” bc i’ve seen some whites who are black af.

I'd encourage you to never say this shit again lmao. Your point was damn near invalid the moment I read this bar. I decided to keep reading anyway, but this... No.

Whiteness in the us is an ethnicity and culture that supercedes race.

The idea of "white" as a race literally exists because ethnic groups of European descent (that normally hated each other, btw) had to come together and figure out what they had in common to make them better than the darkies that they wanted to exploit for land and labor. I understand that it is a culture in America (which is what I was talking about...), but it is a culture that came together, again, out of a necessity to bond and find a way to keep this new whiteness inaccessible to everyone else. They sacrificed many parts of their own individual cultures specifically to create this concept of a race. They're practically intertwined.

Whiteness=/=white privilege necessarily, because nonwhites will appropriate whiteness for their benefit and the exertion of white power.

Lord Jesus. "Appropriate" whiteness. Sigh. You're not wrong in that nonwhite people will exert what they've learned from whiteness, but that is not because they have the power. It's because they WANT the power. They seek access to the full power. They'll never have it because by design they're not meant to have it.

This is what complicated relations with “mixed” ethnicities (lets not forget how african americans are very ethnically mixed) whose proximity to whiteness can vary: latinos, jews, MENA peoples, & creole peoples from the islands the world over.

If you have to emphasize "mixed" that's evidence enough that you're not considered white. Please, truly, tell me how the white blood I got from my French and British descended slave owners offers me more proximity to whiteness as an African American in 2024. Because according to the census and how I'm treated by society, I am "Black af".

I'm not sure how you feel about it, but I'm looking at the world and absolutely none of those groups (except maybe Israelis rn, and even then, they're just a tool for white western goals) are currently benefitting as a whole from that proximity to whiteness. Because that was the whole point; to create a standard (Whiteness is the Bar) that everyone else will then fight each other to try to reach. And when we fight, none of us reach "that bar". None of us were EVER meant to reach it. It's just white supremacy working.

Also, this is why I said I was talking to White Americans specifically. Because I know it gets complex worldwide, and I didn't feel like going through this. I was specifically talking about whiteness in America.

Let’s also consider how so many people of indigenous american descent who grew up in indigenous culture on indigenous land, may very well experience white privilege, yet equally so isn’t white.

If they're growing up on reservations, they certainly aren't 😅 not from how I've read about those experiences! In general they can't speak their languages, can't wear their braids in school, can't get the cops to investigate shit, hell the entire land that is theirs was LITERALLY stolen and sat on by white settlers to this day 🤣 True White Privilege- Power- is when the media says you have the right to fight for your land and rights; the rest of us have to "get over it".

Like... I'm trying to hear what you're saying, and if you'd said "they have benefitted from antiblackness", I would hear you. Because that's true for the statement before this as well. Everyone benefits from antiblackness! But that's not inherently them benefitting from white privilege. It's why I mock people that try to play for white supremacy. They'll never be chosen! They're a tool!

It is the behaviors of WASP culture/ethnicity that are so toxic to collective wellbeing

Okay? Was all this just to say "not all white people"? You want me to say WASP culture from now on? What was your purpose here? I'm honestly confused. Perhaps I need to read what you've read to understand your perspective more.

[cherrylng]

Muse - Matt Bellamy Interview [ROCKIN'ON (August 2010)]

Matthew Bellamy Interview "Our music is very pure and very different from the mechanised society that awaits us at birth. So we resist any kind of pollution from invading our souls and our inner selves."

Interview: Takuya Furukawa / Interpreter: Noboru Takami

First of all, I heard that a huge UFO appeared during your current European tour and that you blocked the MTV signal at the German festival ‘Rock am Ring’. 「Hahahahahaha.」

What is the tour like at the moment? 「It's been amazing. We're playing the biggest stadium concerts of our career so far in the last two weeks…… First we have the Stade de France in Paris, then the San Siro Stadium in Milan, and tomorrow we'll be on stage at the Vicente Calderón Stadium in Madrid, so it's like we're in the middle of the excitement right now. We've put a lot of work into the stage set this time, and as we did at the Budokan, we're inspired by the image of the Ministry in George Orwell's novel 1984, which is a pyramid-like government building with a giant mirror ball eye on top, the images on the building's panel screens are synchronised with the sound…… There was also a mobile second stage that reached the audience and rotated, a UFO-like object flew over the audience, and a girl performed acrobatics above the audience's heads along with it. But at its core, it's still a rock concert, with a theatre-like atmosphere.」

Incidentally, is there any chance of seeing this UFO at Fuji Rock? 「I don't know, I can't say at the moment (laughs), but if we can catch the UFO, go to Japan and come back to Europe safely again (laughs), then maybe the UFO will make an appearance (laughs).」

(laughs). As well as UFOs, Muse's lyrics have a content that could be called epic poetry, with a cosmic motif that, coupled with the spiritual world, seems to be getting bigger and bigger. Why do you think you are attracted to such motifs? 「Why do you think you are attracted to such themes, like the universe? Maybe…… I think our generation today is the generation that is consciously aware of the universe and its origins…… I think they are conscious of how small the earth is in the vast universe, the connections between humans living there, and the connections between us and the universe, and through science they seem to have a better understanding of these things. And I think it's very exciting because some of the spiritual thoughts are connected to areas that have been scientifically proven. So I think that's why I feel so attracted to these themes and subjects because they are now at the cutting edge of our understanding of the reality we live in.」

Moreover, in the case of Muse, there is no nihilism there at all. The title of your latest album, The Resistance, was also symbolic, but I feel a certainty in Muse's music that ‘hope’ exists in this day and age, and that it can be attained by making the sound huge. Bands like this are rare even when you look around the rock scene today, so why do you guys think this is possible? 「I think it's because my love for music comes from a very pure place, and it's something that we don't have much contact with the general society and life on Earth that we normally see. For me, music is something that comes from a place closer to nature, or from the relationship between myself and nature when I feel close to it. So I think it's very pure and very different from the mechanised society that is waiting for us when we are born. When my music is born, it feels very hopeful, optimistic and very pure, but at the same time it also has contradictions and conflicts with the world that is waiting for it when it is born. In those moments, there's a feeling that the music needs to be protected, so in some cases, "The Resistance" is about that. It's about resisting any kind of contamination of your soul, of your inner self. And I think that the younger generation of today has something like that inside them. Something is not right, and it is especially strange that they are so disconnected from nature.」

And I think it's amazing that Muse have managed to achieve this with a three-piece band, but then again, when you formed this band, did you ever think about bringing in a fourth member? 「No, the choice was more of a practical one, simply because there was no one around to be the fourth member (laughs). It was more like it happened by chance. When we started out as a three-piece, I didn't want to be a singer, I wanted to concentrate on guitar, and as a guitarist I wanted to play with Chris on bass and Dominic on drums. And all we wanted was to find a singer, but it was impossible to find a singer in the town we lived in (laughs). So I ended up being the singer as well. After that we just followed that format for a long time. I think the reason why we've stayed as the three of us is because we've known each other since we were very young. Live we have a fourth member, but in the studio we always feel that three is enough for us.」

So today, I'd like to ask you a few questions in retrospect, you are now the number one band in the UK, both in name and reality, but incredibly, no UK label wanted to sign you before your debut. Why didn't they want to sign you? 「Because I think the music we were doing was always a bit out of step musically with the fashionable rock music of the time. Even now it feels slightly off, but when I first started this band, we were doing more progressive rock music, more hard rock music. At a time when the world was all about Britpop. Oasis and Blur and stuff like that. So we were particularly…… Well, record companies are very conservative in the way they make decisions, so they don't like to take risks. So when you act conservatively in the creative world, you look for things that are already popular. Or styles that are already popular. I think that's what caused a lot of difficulties when I was starting out.」

In fact, the media at the time pointed out the similarities between 'Showbiz' and Radiohead, didn't they? Looking back, what was Radiohead like for you? 「Did you mean for us when we made our debut? I think I first discovered Radiohead with their second album, 'Bends', I think…… When I first heard them, I was impressed by the intricate and elaborate sound they made. I thought it sounded very intelligent and different from any other band that was around at the time…… So it was definitely a band that I was more attracted to than Britpop, which was popular at the time. But I think I liked what became more their guitar music, because while I also listened to that in Radiohead, I liked their harder musicianship. So in that sense, they were certainly a very important band in the 90s.」

Do you think there were similarities between you and Radiohead in terms of your musical approach and your ability to stay out of fashion? 「Yes, there were similarities in the fact that they were not influenced by trends. But I think the musical approach is completely different. What we are looking for through our music is optimism, positive energy in the experience of living as a person. Whereas I think what Radiohead are looking for is more the opposite.」

You have in fact developed your own identity from there with your work, but if there was an album or song that was a turning point for you personally musically, which would you say it was? 「Rather than this song in particular being a turning point, I can think of a number of different songs that have had major imprints. For example, ‘Plug in Baby’, or ‘New Born’ from the second album. Those songs were the ones that started the shift towards a more high-energy concept. Our fans became more interested in our live shows from then on. With the next album "Absolution", for example, I'd say ‘Time is Running Out’, or rather ‘Apocalypse Please’. Anyway, some of the songs on that album were the first to introduce the lyrical, epic grandeur of the album, which was quite a surprise, but we continued to pursue that afterwards. The next album, "Black Holes and Revelations", was also a surprise with ‘Starlight’, but it was a turning point for more uplifting and optimistic musicality. And then in the latest album, "The Resistance", ‘Uprising’ is a shift, and I think it's a shift towards more political emotions. So there are quite a lot of songs that have brought different impacts and different shifts again for different reasons.」

It took a long time for you to break into America, with ‘Plug In Baby’ being rejected for inclusion on "Origin of Symmetry", but was there a moment when you felt you had a breakthrough there? 「I think it was with "Absolution". That was generally recognised in America as our debut album…… It's actually our third album. But instead, we had a lot of exciting experiences. It's true that when we toured around the time of the first two albums, there was a part of me that was frustrated that we didn't get to America much because there was no interest in the US at all, but instead we ended up touring Europe and other parts of the world, Asia and Australia, so I was very glad that we didn't have to get involved with America. I've discovered so many culturally interesting countries and places as a result of the tour. If we had toured the US, I don't think we would have had the time to do that. That's what made the third one so interesting. We were seen as a completely new band in America, and everyone thought this third one was our first album. So it was fun for us to be a new band again, we suddenly felt young again (laughs) and we felt like we were starting all over again as a band. It gave the band new energy and inspiration, and that led to our fourth album.」

From the very beginning, you've been throwing your own confetti and putting on some kind of over-the-top live shows. Now you have a huge stage set that synchronises with that, but did you always have a vision for your live performances? 「I think so. I just used the word ‘vision’, and that's exactly what it is, because I've had a vision of our futuristic performance for a long time. In fact, when I'm writing songs, I'm also thinking about how I'm going to present them live as a performance, so I'm always visualising and having visions of how they should look, how they should be, and that also helps me a lot when I'm composing. So, sometimes I've thought in advance how I should present a certain song as a performance, and that also helps me as a starting point for designing the stage set.」

(laughs). And "Black Holes and Revelations" is an album in which genre barriers are broken down even further. Classical, techno, heavy metal, electro and many other genres were cross-fertilised in this work. What do genres mean to you? What is the first image you have of a song when it comes out? 「That's an interesting question…… It's true that I don't have any concept of genre. At least when I'm writing a song, I'm never conscious of genre at all. The first thing I think of when I write a song is…… I don't really know how to explain it, but it's like some kind of vibration or tremor that's hard to describe. Or maybe I could say it's a combination of some kind of vibration and emotion. In other words, where emotion is trying to transform itself into vibration…… You know, I'm trying to respond to this in a very serious way, you know (laughs). And it's a very interesting question. I mean, you're asking me what I see and imagine at that moment, and for the moment, the concept of genre is not in my mind, and for me genre is something that comes into view only at the very end. So at the very beginning, all I have are feelings and sensations, and maybe I'm trying to find something deep inside me. Or maybe it means I'm trying to find it from my soul. And by translating that search into a kind of vibration, some kind of mood is created. And from there, you are led to play a kind of harmony or melody. You are also led to play a certain kind of rhythm. So you condense those harmonies, melodies, and rhythms around that certain vibration. And then I try to somehow make each of those elements fit together and make it into something very pure. After that is done, you then bring in the instruments. I think about stuff like, "Is this the drums, no, this is not the drums, this is the orchestra". It's like throwing all sorts of elements towards a certain vibration that's already there. The vibrations are like magnets, so I guess you could say I'm making custom magnets (laughs). Anyway, some instruments are very strongly attracted to it. But there are some instruments that don't stick. And then you end up with a certain object, and that's the first time you can be put into a genre (laughs). It was a very interesting question, so I really had to put it into words (laughs).」

Incidentally, I think your latest album, The Resistance, is your most conceptual and narrative work to date. The suite ‘Exogenesis Symphony’ that closes the album is very dramatic, but what message did you want to convey with that suite? 「About ‘Exogenesis Symphony’…… Well, a lot of the songs on the album are about politics, love and everyday life, but the ending is about flying away from the earth into space and looking back and seeing the earth as a very small being again, getting smaller and smaller in the distance. I wanted people to feel that kind of feeling. And I wanted people to think about the smallness of our own existence. I wanted to create a very cinematic kind of music, the kind of music that you might hear in a sci-fi or space film, to make you think that you are travelling through space right now. I wanted to make music that would make people think that I am travelling in space, and that once I am out in space, life is not limited to the Earth, but may exist in other places. And while singing, I wanted to connect a kind of emotion to something more universal and omnipresent, not just limited to Earth.」

I think it's the fans who have supported you all along. Muse's shows attract all kinds of fans, but are there any fans who have surprised you by making you think, "Oh my god, there are people like that here too!?!?" 「Yes, well, as our fan base has grown, we've been able to swallow more and more different types of audiences, so we have all types of people. It's unimaginable, and it's amazing to see everyone from young kids to old people at the same time. But the first thing that really surprised me was that at the beginning, at a live performance for the second album, when I met a very old man, maybe in his 70s, and after the show I met him and talked to him, and he didn't know anything about rock music at all, but he was very knowledgeable about classical music, and we had a very good time. He came to our concert because he thought we were classical musicians playing very hard music (laughs). I was really surprised that he didn't know anything about the rock genre and had come to listen to classical music first. I was extremely impressed by that. That someone of that age, and with that kind of musical understanding, would be interested in us.」

Last question. Now that you're recognised as one of the best live bands in the world, do you have any ambitions you haven't achieved yet? 「Well, so we like to play live, but we also want to grow in the studio. I hope that one day I can capture that feeling of the live show on the album. I know that's a very difficult thing to do, but I definitely want to make it happen one day. Also, as a songwriter, I feel like there's a lot more I can express through the songs that I want to keep improving, and I think there's a lot more truth that I can explore in songwriting. So I want to keep improving in that area.」

Translator's Note: Finally got around to translating this interview. Next up to post later on are Dom and Chris' interviews. Despite having translated other interviews from different eras, it feels like I'm still stuck in TR era content even months later lmao 😂

[chaifootsteps]

(Patreon anon) Here's the last of what I have of my QnA archive, I don't plan to repledge so cheers to whoever uses their money to snitch like me.

-HB season 1 takes place within one year

-Wally Wackford won't appear much in season 2 but will be important in the future.

-Vivzie would love more Wally merch but her merch lead doesn't feel confident in it selling well.

-Vivzie hasn't consider making pride merch because "It's the kind of thing that big corporations to try to appeal to a generation they're not normally involved in."

-Vivzie claims the whole show is a celebration of pride and doesn't feel the need to make pride merch but would be down to making if there's a demand for it. (With the amount of fan merch I've seen, there is)

-She claims to do general research for the HH character time period but doesn't integrate the history into their backstories as of now.

-Viv's open to oversea convention appearances and has been trying to get a booking agent to travel more for European conventions.

-Paimon's a big shapeshifter and is only an owl because that's what he needs to be.

-There was a time where Vivzie hated Zoophobia, saying if something doesn't work out, keep trying new projects that excite you.

-One hell year equals a lot of Earth years, so stolas existed well before 1985.

-Vivzie actually loves Mammon's design, she conceptualized it and had someone else finalize it. Sort of like how Oz was designed by someone on the team with Vivzie finalizing it.

-Vivzie wanted to show men can be abused too with Stolas

-Jeremy Jordan might join be cast by Vivzie since she knows him

-Stella may not want Stolas dead right away anymore, just at a later time. (This was asked pre-Western Energy)

-It's currently unclear when we'll get HH merch with their full series designs since they're owned by A24. (This was months before the recall of that Sir Pentious keychain that used the full series design)

-At the time, they were aiming for a three month wait period between HB episodes for season 2.

-Unlike HH, HB isn't considered a musical to Vivzie but will have elements to it in season 2.

-Vivzie doesn't remember what the golden feathers in epsiode 6 meant. Adam saids the artist come up with a bunch of ideas.

-Sinners technically don't need food and water to live, it's mostly out of habit and indulgence. Electronic sinners like Vox find a way through cartoon logic.

-Because of how long episode 8 was taking, Vivzie and Adam have started making HB comics of what happens between the episodes. They're still figuring it out with HH.

-If Oz ever met Valentino, he would hate him. The team jokes that Val would be very "notice me senpai" with him.

-Stolas is confirmed to be 8ft tall with Blitz at 5ft.

-Fights between an overlord and a goetia would barely happen so Vivzie wouldn't know which one would win.

-Tilla was removed as a sibling because Blitz's family was still in the early works, she's going to be renamed.

-Vivzie doesn't have a specific favorite villain archetypes, she enjoys ruthless mean girls and dramatic, and theatrical messed up villains like The Joker.

-Episode 6's collaboration was fun for Vivzie but complicated because she had to manage an entire second team, There were file issues and they had to go back and forth to make sure they were correct.

-Vivzie's interested in making more Zoophobia merch but doesn't wish to for other older projects. She mentions it'd be hard to convince her merch lead that anyone would want to buy anything from her older works.

-Stolas does have guilt with his affair and he has a lot of turmoil related to it.

-Leviathan will have a cameo in season 2

-Vivzie can't give specifics but Stolas doesn't have many friends who we might see them in the future. Stella has two friends who at the moment of that QnA don't have names.

-White marks on Imps are scars, and can be added for aesthetics (Unsure if she means design wise or in-universe cosmetics, possibly both with how Barbie looks)

-Stolas's job is to look into the skies of Earth and find prophecies in them and inform Hell of what's to come in the future, he doesn't do much other than that.

-Oz has a broad range of powers, there were too many to list in the timespan of the QnA.

-Octavia takes after Stolas in that she's socially unaware, Vivzie claims she also unaware of her parents's relationship because of Stolas trying hard to make it seem things are fine and does that to a "good extent".

-we'll see what Octavia and Stella's relationship is like later.

-Vivzie would like to release an artbook bigger than their con-exclusive one for HB after season 2 and when the team is free to organize the production art, she's unable to do one for HH at the moment.

-DHORK will return

-She's still figuring out the sins but don't want them to be fallen angels since it doesn't matter in HB, but it will for HH. So she wants to wait until HH to decide. (Possible they figured it out with HH season 1 done)

-She finds people saying the childhood friends trope with Stolitz being fanservice frustrating. (As seen with her recent rant of the overall story)

-Vivzie adopted Pixel a year and a half after she graduated SVA. She didn't explain how she got Honeybee and Nugget.

-full quote "There would be demons from the ring of Lust who would be asexual, and they will get to that in the future. But she generally imagines that lust demons wouldn't think it'd that much of a taboo. Lust demons would generally be confused by the concept, but they wouldn't have any hate.

Asmodeus would be an example of someone who wouldn't understand asexuality"

-She would like region-free dvds of HB but it would require re-negotiations with everyone who was involved with the show, if they do release it, it'll be difficult to make it region-free.

-Stolitz didn't interact at all between the 25 years apart.

-She put a lot of her life into Loo Loo Land, and yes...Viv's dad was openly horny in front of her and her sisters growing up, Viv found it funny but like I told Lemon...There was no mention of how her sisters felt about it.

-Viv put aspects of herself into Octavia but claims to not be a self-insert. Fizz has an aspect that is directly from Viv that we'll see in season 2 that she feels needs to be shown.

-HB was spun off because IMP was originally for HH, with Vivzie thinking they were better off as their own thing. HB's also about exploring Vivzie's hell like the demons that possess people.

-HB/HH was inspired by Batman and various musicals with the idea that she wanted a worlds with nothing but villains.

-The fan interpretations of Andrealphus were pretty close to what she's written for him.

-Vivzie's interpretation of Stolas's "I used to think that I was bold, I used to think that love was for fun" is meant that he's never gotten the chance to experience true love with him being gay and he had an arranged marriage.

-She wants Stolas and Stella's relationship to be something that's debated.

-The Von Eldritches will not appear in HH season 1

-question "How did Viv get to where she was? How did she get Hazbin and Helluva produced?"

answer: "She has reps who set her up with people very interested in her show. It was the producers who pitched their interest in her. This is what happened with Hazbin in that production companies showed what they would do for that show. When A24 showed interest in Hazbin, that's when she started pitching it to others (No mention of that those others are)"

-The certificate on Loona's adoption paper was signed by Beelzebub.

-HH will have the same level of NSFW and dark as HB is at the time of season 2's beginning, (I'm not sure why people are thinking it'll be even more if she has to obey S&P with a TV show) she admits to not having a good gauge of what's too extreme as she just does what she wants to do to tell her story. HH is new territory since it's more story based than HB.

-YT doesn't allow the use of the word "cunt" so Mammon will be heavily censored with the amount of time he saids it. There's also a scene in HB that a storyboard artist went too extreme on and Vivzie was afraid it would be rejected but turned out to be okay. (This ask was in September 2022, she didn't mention which scene but if I had to guess it might have been the dildo room)

-Oz is aware of Fizz being an imp, but Vivzie doesn't know if it's an open fact and she might use it as a story element someday.

-Rosie is an overlord, that's all Vivzie can say when asked what kind of demon she is.

-At the time Vivzie was still figuring out how time works in hell, Sinners are stuck at the age they died as while Hellborns do age.

-Stolas would have thought of Blitz a lot after their day together and has a problem separating fantasy from reality, Blitz would have never thought of him.

-Blitz's horse obsession started as an inside joke among the team

-Vivzie can't say if season 2 will have a Stolitz kiss

-Episode 6's collab started 4-5 months before the episode came out, There's no plans for season 2 to have one but Vivzie would love to do it again.

-When asked if any new characters will join IMP in season 2 Vivzie said "Not this season!"

-Stolas can transform into other things, but Vivzie is still deciding if it's something he can do on his own or needs the grimoire for it.

-Vivzie uses Google sheets to write and takes the complete draft to something called Final Draft to finish it

-That white cyclops guy that shows up in Cherri Bomb's segment of Addict is likely to change but that's all Vivzie can say.

-Striker was confirmed to be a hybrid hellborn.

-The client giving birth button in episode 1 was an oversight on Vivzie's part but did say that IMP had hellborn clients before

-Any remaining reveals of HH characters will be minor characters from the pilot, the final reveal will be a brand new character. (This was before the Adam reveal, so he could have been the final one)

-The thing about the sins being a pseudo-family with "nice and asshole" ones were accurate to what's been told to you, same with them technically being goetias, they're just in a different category.

-We'll see Oz and Mammon's relationship in the middle of season 2.

-A lot of material things have been made in the greed ring, it's very industrial, full of banks, smoggy and crime ridden like that was seen in the Chaz episode.

-HH and HB are planned out but said that there's "wiggle room' in that they figure out as the show goes by how they get to the events.

-Vivzie's still deciding what special powers Striker would have as a hybrid.

-If Vivzie had unlimited funds, she would love to make a movie for HH and HB and to speed up her production pipeline. she had issues in 2022 with her working more on HH.

-Claims that HH will definitely come out in 2023, but she also mentioned season 2 of HB will have a more consistent release schedule at the same time.

-Vivzie would like to make a height chart for the HB characters but claims the team doesn't need one because they know the size of them already.

> Vivzie hasn't consider making pride merch because "It's the kind of thing that big corporations to try to appeal to a generation they're not normally involved in."

Says Vivzie as she can't put out Sallie Mae merchandise fast enough, despite her having one speaking line and about five seconds of screen time.

> -HH and HB are planned out but said that there's "wiggle room' in that they figure out as the show goes by how they get to the events.

She's flip-flopped on how planned out the show is so many times it's not even funny anymore.

> Stolas does have guilt with his affair and he has a lot of turmoil related to it.

Figures this was before both scenes where he says he has zero guilt and would feel bad if he thought he did something wrong but doesn't.

> -Stolas would have thought of Blitz a lot after their day together and has a problem separating fantasy from reality, Blitz would have never thought of him.

What a fascinating character trait that we were all looking forward to seeing more of after Blitzo told him off in Ozzie's and popped his delusional bubble! What a shame it was downgraded to "Stolas, as always, did nothing wrong."

> -She wants Stolas and Stella's relationship to be something that's debated.

Liar.

> -She put a lot of her life into Loo Loo Land, and yes...Viv's dad was openly horny in front of her and her sisters growing up, Viv found it funny but like I told Lemon...There was no mention of how her sisters felt about it.

> -Vivzie doesn't remember what the golden feathers in epsiode 6 meant. Adam saids the artist come up with a bunch of ideas.

Remember when we all thought that was important? Oh Vivzie, you fucking hack.

Thank you so much for all of these, Patreon Anon. Hopefully someone else will step into your shoes but for now know that you're braver than any Marine.

[amberjazmyn]

burning questions🫶

pairing : max verstappen x verstappen fem!reader

summary : times in which max verstappen and girlfriend have done the "burning question" video with gq sports that celebrities do, throughout their relationship from being boyfriend and girlfriend, fiancé and fiancée to husband and wife.

warnings : none, it's a fluffy one-shot for my fave maxie today! except the odd greek and dutch translations

a/n :  welcome back to another instalment of amber's recycled works that have already been published before but due to having no original ideas has decided to bring back an older chapter and rewrite it! also, decided that because i have done so many sad one-shots recently, here is a lighthearted one :)

a/n : reader in this is also an olympic gymnast for greece even though she was born in france btw :)

max verstappen and madelena laurent (boyfriend and girlfriend)

madelena giggled the moment the camera turned on and the producer called out "action". max, madelena's boyfriend also chuckled as they then introduced themselves to the viewers who would be watching this video. 

"hello gq sports, i'm madelena laurent and i am an olympic gymnast for team greece," 

"hello, i'm max verstappen and i am the current formula one word champion with oracle red bull racing and today my girlfriend, madelena and i will be answering our fans' most burning questions so, let's go!" max finishes the introduction as madelena gets given the small tin bucket that the questions are being held in

"how do you guys feel about answering these questions?" a producer behind the camera quietly asks as the two athletes smile at each other before responding 

"umm, i think we feel pretty confident as we have had some very interesting but also boring, very generic questions and moments with fans and the media so i don't think these questions could do too much harm," madelena giggled softly as max nodded his head in agreement as madelena unfolds the first question

and it makes her giggle before speaking up, "how many siblings do you have?" madelena smiles at the question, as does max, it had felt like ages since a normal question like that was asked 

"that's a nice, easy question, it's actually really funny though because, like most european families, i have ten and max has--" 

"--so, are there eleven siblings in total or are you one of the ten?" a producer cuts in before max could tell his answer as madelena giggles before she clarifies, max also giggling

"there are eleven siblings in total, eight are biological and the other three are by techncial terms, half-siblings. so, me and my four brothers and sisters are all biologically related and then my two older brothers and one younger sister are from my mum and their dad which is different to mine," madelena giggles at the complexity of her greek family, the producers were all shocked as max then spoke up 

"and i am the oldest of five kids. i have one biological sister, victoria and then i have three that are half-siblings from my dad's other marriages," max chuckles as the producers looked even more shocked because it seemed as though european families shocked a lot of people

"next question!" max then called out as he picked out the second one

"max, if you could switch bodies with one of your fellow drivers, not just from red bull , who and why and madelena, if you could switch bodies with one of your current or former teammates, who would it be and why?" max reads out, a little laugh leaving his mouth after as madelena immediately lights up at this question, max laughing as he let her lead this question 

"ooh, this question is literally my favourite question ever! i have been asked this a couple of times by this same fan account but, it would for sure either be my former teammate aaliyah since she was my first real best friend in the squad or any of my current teammates since new ones come in and the older girls retire so we always get a relatively new stream of girls in our team regularly," madalena pauses as she thinks up of a way to explain why she'd want to switch bodies with either aaliyah or any of her current teammates

"the reason why i'd want to switch with aaliyah is that she's stunning, first thing and, i just wish i had the same confidence and oomph as her! i mean, she is the queen of floor work which is my main event and i wish i just had the same skills as her! she is so humble about her talent as well like, of course she knows how good she is but in the most humble way. so getting to know everything i do know from aaliyah has been truly magnificant and if i could keep on doing that, i'd love it. and the rest of my girls just simply because they are my family and i wouldn't be going to the paris olympics if it wasn't for the rest of my team and just how well we gel as a group!" madelena chuckles as max nods his head as he feels as though he has a solid answer to the question

"i think i'd love to switch bodies with daniel ricciardo. whilst i think i'd love to be all of the other drivers, i think i'd love to switch bodies with daniel the most. whilst i do enjoy having checo as my teammate, i really loved having daniel as my teammate as he really showed me everything i know and i truly do think he shaped me into the person i am now so, i think i'd love to just spend a day being daniel for sure. also because i'd love to be australian for a day *giggles*..."

"...like, just a singular day?" madelena interjects, her giggles matching her boyfriend's as max nods

"yeah, just one day, a whole 24 hours of being australian," max chuckles, his head moving to the side as madelena just shook her head

"madelena, what is it like going into your second-ever olympics in the hopes of defending all of your gold medals you got four years ago at your first games and max, does it ever get tiring winning all the time?"

"ooh, this is a question that we don't get asked a lot believe it or not! but, honestly, it's such an honour to be representing my country once again for a second games. and to be coming in as the reigning champion gold medalist as well for all my events is just so special. and, i hope everything i've done during training and the championships in preperation for these olympics has done enough to get me the gold medals once again so it's a lot less stressful than it was four years ago but, yeah, i'm a lot more calm about it this year for sure," madelena responded, her head nodding as she turned to max so he could say his answer to his specific part of the question

"oh wow, umm, obviously, it's always a joy to win anything but especially in a sport that is so fast-paced and adrenaline-pumping but i think i can get a little bit tiring when the same person keeps on winning because it feels like there's no competition. like, of course i want to win, it's why i'm in the sport, but i love being challenged too. i love seeing other drivers win and put up a fight against me and the others that are the leads in the races. otherwise it doesn't seem fun and it just gets boring. but, saying that, i do love the thrill of winning a race and it's truly something that i'll always love and crave the feeling of for sure!" max's answer was a little longer than madelena's but made sense as the couple moved on to the next question 

"what's one thing that max and the rest of the grid do that bothers the crap out of you, madelena. and max, what is one thing that madelena and her gymnastic squad do that annoy you?"

"oh my gosh, second best question ever!" madelena giggles as max shakes his head, suddenly feeling attacked as he jokingly crosses his arms over his chest

"one thing that max does specifically is, he'll just explain things with such intensity it's hard to even get a word in because he gets so excited that he can't stop talking. but in saying that, it's also one of my favourite things about him because he gets so into it and so happy and smiley that i can't actually have it within me to be annoyed about it. and for the rest of the grid, i'm only going to single out a few of the drivers so, lando's most annoying thing that, similar to max in the sense of i can't really have it in my heart to be that annoyed by it, is his laugh is so contagious and finds everything and nothing funny that he'll just randomly start laughing."

"i have a story about lando actually *giggles* and it was when he was visiting me in greece during summer break a couple years ago, may have been just after my first ever olympics. max fewtrell, lando, charles, oscar, carlos and a couple other drivers had flown over to greece alongside maxie and i for the summer. and unfortunately, whilst they were on summer break, i wasn't technically since i still had more competitions and meets to attend to so i was still working and training. but anyway, lando had been begging me to come with me to one of my gymnastic meets and i agreed and whilst he promised me he'd try his absolute best to not be giggly or distracting, he was. but it was my fault that he was giggly and distracting me because i had failed a trick on the uneven bars falling flat on my stomach like a starfish and he had just happened to be filming the trick i had been practising and the second i splattered on the mat below me, all i hear is just this symphony of hysterical laughter. all for me to lift my head up from the mat to see that it was lando. still filming me by the way with tears streaming down his face because he couldn't stop laughing..." madelena trailed off as max's smile and giggles hearing this story again was sweet

"...but, by the end of lando's giggle session, he actually stopped recording and did actually make sure i was okay since my spotter had turned his back for a mere second. and it was in that second that i had slipped and fell stomach first. thankfully i didn't acquire any serious injuries but it did bruise a little bit of my ego cause i remember after the hilarity of the fall had passed, i actually got really embarrassed and started to cry. and lando was a sweetheart and made sure to comfort me because he, just like the rest of the grid, hate seeing me get upset so he was trying so hard to make me smile again. especially since this had happened not long after the major injury of mine i had just finished healing from before the olympics but yeah, lando's most annoying thing that i find more sweet about him at the same time is his ability to have the best laugh in the world that it can be percieved as annoying to some people because of how much he laughs," madelena smiled as max nodded his head in agreement as she then thought up of some of the other drivers in the grid

"an annoying thing about carlos is again, another thing i love about him that i can never actually find annoying but, his big brown eyes *laughter*..." madelena gets cut off by max's hearty laughter as she also started to giggle

"...i know a lot of people have mentioned the same thing about carlos' eyes but they just tell so much with just one look and i think i find it annoying because i wish i had eyes that were that pretty! i mean, mine are also pretty cause they're like an emerald green but, i think i just love the chocolate brown colour as well as the sweet blue colour as well! but an actual thing about carlos that can sometimes be annoying is that he just always looks so confused about everything..." madelena pauses as max laughs wholeheartedly again with a big headnod

"oh my god yes! it's like, what is so confusing every single time someone speaks to you, mate!" max chuckles as he shakes head as madelena nods her head

"literally, when you or anyone speaks to him, he just looks at you like he's in his own little world half the time! but, again, it's another thing about carlos that i find very endearing and a little bit sweet and adorable! and something about charles i find annoying, i think just how he still doesn't understand english *laughter* but yet again it is sweet because he tries so hard with english because it isn't his first language but yeah, sometimes it can get not annoying but like, i just wish he knew what he was trying to say when we speak english. even though we don't usually speak english to one another since i speak french and italian as well but, yeah..." madelena pauses as she tries to think up of something annoying about oscar as she laughs as it was so obvious

"...and the last person on the grid i'll talk about is oscar. and i think it's very obvious but, it's so annoying how calm he is. like, i just don't get it! sure, i've seen people say that it's just an australian thing but like, is it really? or is it just oscar and daniel because i don't think i've ever met any other australian that is as calm as oscar jack piastri! like, there are moments where i just want him to get angry when something goes wrong in a race! like, max will tell you, sometimes i will scream at poor oscar and like act out like i'm grabbing him by his shoulders and shaking him because i just want him to get a little angry or feel any other emotion except for his default emotion which is calm," madelena finished up as max nods his head in a little bit of agreement

"whilst we say these things that are quote 'annoying', just know it's not in a mean way! we genuinely love every single person that is in one another's respected sport and if it was something that was genuinely annoying in a negative way, we wouldn't be airing it out in public but mentioning it to that person in private. but yeah, that's just a quick little preface before i give my answer to the question!" max gives out a quick psa as madelena nods her head in agreement

"for me, the most annoying thing that madelena does is actually not really an annoying thing, similar to what she said about me, whenever she gets really passionate about something, it's like she has to tell me or someone straight away. in the way that if she doesn't tell someone, she'll forget about it or move on from the thing that got her so excited. like, example, one time we were in australia during the grand prix one year and the whole flight on the way to australia, madelena had been telling me how she wanted to learn how to surf but was too scared since straight after the grand prix she had to fly back to greece so she could return to training back at the gym. and because of that, she didn't want to risk hurting herself trying to surf for the first time. so every person we spoke to in australia, she was getting tips on how to learn how to surf in the safest way possible without hurting herself once she had explained to them that she was a world champion gymnast on her way to getting into the olympics. and yeah, whilst it wasn't really annoying per se, it was like i was listening to a broken record a little bit every time she mentioned wanting to surf but was too scared to to someone new that we had come across. but in saying that, it was more so endearing then annoying because i love it when i see her get excited and passionate about something else that isn't gymnastics or formula one," max responded as the two nodded their heads as the next question was read out

"madelena, we've all heard about the awful crash that max had with lewis hamilton in silverstone back in 2021 and how you reacted since you were there and watched it happen live. so we want to know what was your worst injury that you've ever had. whether that's come from gymnastics or a different sport since you've mentioned on previous occasions that you also did other sports growing up alongside gymnastics, so, what was your worst ever injury?"

this question made madelena think back since she's had some pretty awful injuries before remembering her worst. max already on that wavelength as the joy on his face was wiped by the fear that he still felt towards that specfic injury and accident.

"ooh, that's a loaded and tough question! but, honestly, since i've had so many, at first it was hard to pick one but now that i really think about it, i have a top three injury podium in my notes app on my iphone. and the third worst injury was when i did ice skating cause that was one of the first sports alongside gymnastics that i did growing up but this accident happened when i was seven and it was actually the reason i quit ice skating. and i had a tear in my acl which at the time was the most painful injury i had ever received in my sporting career at the time. whilst the acl tear was able to heal over and i had the chance to return to ice skating, i never did professionally because i always had the same fear that i'd make the tear worse over time."

"so that was third place, second place on the injury podium was an injury i got from the cheerleading squad in junior high so i was doing cheerleading and gymnastics at the same time since i was now like fifteen and i was starting to get into the headspace of one of these sports becoming my top sport and to do it professionally. and like ice skating, this cheerleading injury was the one that had me stop being a cheerleader. and it was a dislocated hip. i was a flyer which meant that i was obviously being thrown up and down in the air and being twirled around and doing flips and everything. and one time, it was during a dismount into the air when i was thrown up wrong and then when they tried to correct it on the way down to catch me, i didn't get caught in the proper, safe way and my hip became dislocated and it was painful. even more painful then the acl tear and i was in tears straight away. obviously, it was an accident that was never meant to happen but, it was so bad that i couldn't continue cheering the rest of the season and it was my final year at that school before moving into senior school and i was devastated. thankfully i was able to cheer for half of my senior year but i could no longer be a flyer because of the dislocated hip that i was now the captain that was also a backspotter so they had to train a whole new girl to replace me as the new flyer for that year."

"now, saving the very best for last, my first place on the injury podium was my gymnastics injury that i am so very lucky and blessed didn't end my career as this was only a year before my first-ever olympics. i was horrified thinking this injury would force me into giving up my spot on the olympic squad that year. so being able to recover from it was amazing in the way i did. the reason why it also takes first place was because it happened a week after i had my qualifying event that actually got me into my first olympics and maxie, lando, max, charles, carlos, and so many others on the grid were all there to support me since it was during their break in the season. and it was a shattered bone in my leg that actually had me needing to relearn how to use that leg again."

"it was horrifiying cause at that time, i didn't care about the fact that i had just shattered my leg at all. it was about the fact that my boyfriend and all of our friends and family were there and had to watch it happen. that and them not being able to do anything to help me. they weren't allowed to come out of their seats and onto the gym floor otherwise the routine that i had just gotten a perfect score from would have had me disqualified and taken out my spot in the olympic team. i can remember clearly the look on their faces, especially maxie's. i mean, i had never seen him look so terrified in his entire life. and also it was the first time i had seen a group of f1 drivers not have something be in their control. cause of course, when you're in your designated sport, you control everything and that's how you know you are that little more safer because you are the one that's controlling the ship and the way it goes. however, when they are away from their cars and are watching me and supporting me, they lose that control in the snap of a finger. and in that moment, the moment they heard the loud shatter of the bone that had snapped, they knew they had fully lost control. but not just they had lost control but that i myself had ultimately lost all control..."

"...and yeah, it was just an awful time because the rehab to get back to where i was able to compete in my first ever olympic games and then win all of my events was very special but also excruiciatingly painful and emotionally draining. and i don't think anything could beat that, not even this years that i have coming up. even if i win every single one of my events this year, it won't compare to my first ever olympic games and i think that's why i'm so much more relaxed this year than i was four years ago," madelena finished her response as the producers were horrified as they looked up the images of all the injuries but that last injury was the most horrific

the entire time that madelena was mentioning her 'top three injuries' it was clear that it was affecting max. but most especially that last injury she talked about that he was actually there to witness in real time. it was obvious that hearing the love of his life talk about her injuries made the racer emotional because like she mentioned, he had never been more terrified in his entire life then in that moment he watched the love of his life go down to the floor after her leg snapped. he remembers the way she screamed and how she began to cry immediately. not because of it hurting but because she felt awful that everyone she could ever love in this world had watched it happen and were now just as traumatised by the injury as she was.

thankfully though, those emotions were only brief before the producers realised it was probably best to change the subject so they did. asking a new question, they moved on swiftly and in a new cut scene, both madelena and max were smiling again.

"max, which win was more special, your first world championship win or watching madelena win all of her events at the olympics?"

"oh wow, that is a loaded question! i mean, whilst i will always find my first wdc an emotional and special moment, i can't lie and say that watching my girlfriend win all of her events was any less important than my championship that year. because, watching her win all of her gymnastic events after the leg injury she had the year before and how brutal it was, i'd say what she went through and the way she won was more special than my wdc for sure. i mean, she had to go through so much rehab the year before to be able to use her leg again and as well as that, she had to relearn everything. from walking on that leg in general as well as all of her routines from start to finish and some of them had to even be simplified or changed in some way because whilst she had mostly recovered from her injury, she still wasn't 100% healed. i honestly think it was only recently that she was told by her medical team that her x-rays was finally starting to come back clear of any reoccurences of the injury. so this will be her first olympics without an injury and being fully healed. which just saying that completely blows my mind quite frankly because she is a superstar and i'm honoured that i have the privilege to love her every single day..." max trailed off as madelena's face softened as she cooed at him

"...aw, maxie! that's so sweet of you ayapi mo my love!" madelena cooed as she gave max a kiss to the cheek

"last question guys. do you get along with each others fellow drivers and gymnasts?"

"and, the answer, the very short, simple answer is yes, we all get along!" madelena gives the short answer as max explains it 

"we all get along amazingly! we all grew up together since even though we are in different sports and disciplines, we were always travelling for karting races and gymnastics so there would be the odd occasion i'd be seeing this little gymnast turn up to the karting circut and just watching during a break in her training with the rest of what is this year's team greece for the olympics! like, genuinely, we are all the best of friends and i know gymnastics and f1 crossover sounds so strange but it is truly the best thing in the world because we all genuinely love and support one another. like, even though we love it when our significant other wins, if that doesn't happen or there's a disqualification for one of us, we then start cheering on the other girls and guys kind of thing! like, we're family at this point, like, we all are in contact with one another, we all follow one another on social media! it's truly a fun time in the world of team greece gymnasts and f1 grid," max smiles before looking at madelena as they both smile towards the camera 

"so, that was the last question! i'm madelena laurent..." 

"...and i'm max verstappen and we just finished answering our fans' most burning questions! we hope you enjoyed this video and laughed along with us whilst also finding out an interesting fact about the both of us! bye-bye and thank you so much for having us!" max smiles as he holds his hand out for madelena as they leave the frame of the camera, laughing in the last thing heard before the video eventually ends 

max verstappen and madelena laurent (engaged to be married)

"hello gq sports, my name is madelena laurent and i am with my fiancé, max verstappen and we will be answering more of our fans' most burning questions that we may have missed the first time before we got engaged," madelena introduces as everyone cheers at the engagement announcement as the couple giggle 

picking up the first question, madelena chuckles, "what are madelena and max's middle names?" 

"well, first of all, for those who don't know or weren't aware, the majority of european people, similar to our families, have more than just one middle name..." madelena prefaces with a giggle as max nods his head 

"...so, after saying that, my middle names are georgette alaina," madelena answers, turning to her fiancé as he smiles 

"and mine is just emilian which people always question and wonder why i just wasn't called 'maximillian' but yeah, my middle name is emilian," max giggles as he then picks up the second question

"where were madelena and max born?" he chuckles and shakes his head as madelena jokingly rolls her eyes as she always answers this question 

"i was born in belguim but raised in the netherlands!" max answers with his short and less complicated answer then his girlfriend's

"i was born in france but was out of there before i was even old enough to know i wasn't born in greece and i was raised in greece where i grew up speaking greek as my first language followed by french and then english as well as the odd spanish word and dutch word as well!" madelena smiled with a giggle as she picks up the third question

"which races does madelena attend during the f1 season?"

"the number of times i get this question daily! but, to answer it, out of all twenty-four races i attend about four or five and it's usually one or two during the first half and then the rest in the second half with the odd surprise race attendance every now and then if i can. i always make sure i am available for the first race of the season and the last race of the season to see who wins the championship. but all the other races inbetween i sadly can't be at excluding the planned ones that fall within the four-five races because i still have to train as well. since i am also an althete that's also in an active season as well as training for some major word championships as well since we've just returned from the olympics!" madelena smiled as everyone cheered as that was the next question that max had just picked up as the fourth question

"speaking of the paris olympics, how many event medals did you win madelena at this year's olympics?"

"ooh, great question! and for those wondering, i have just returned back from the paris 2024 olympics which was so much fun and i'm so blessed that max was actually able to be there with me since it was during his summer break. so he was able to fly over to be with me in paris! but, back to the question and my answer out of all four of my women's artistic gymnastics events i got gold in all four of them! and then because i also do rhythmic gymnastics as well, i was also in that team and for my two events i got gold as well! so it was a very successful olympics for me this year which i'm enamoured by still!" madelena smiled as max nodded his head, his smile huge as madelena picked up the fifth question

"there's a new piece of jewellery on madelena's finger, is that an engagement ring and if it is, when did that happened?"

"damn, they've discovered our secret!" max sighed dramatically as madelena giggled as max shook his head and continued

"yes, it is an engagement ring and that happened after madelena won the last of all of her gold medals. i had been planning this for a while now and i had planned on doing it just us two but, because i had the ring with me in my back pocket and we had all of our loved ones there and we had just finished the podium ceremony where madelena had just been given her sixth gold medal, i couldn't wait any longer. i just ran, jumped out of my seat knowing that if i did that, i wouldn't get her in trouble or disqualified and i just cried tears of joy as i asked her to marry me! i didn't say anything else cause i couldn't and, yeah. it was a lovely moment and i'm glad i did it the way i did because it just felt magical and like we were the only ones there even though we weren't and it was being broadcasted live out to the entire world..." max trailed off with a shy smile as madelena smiled brightly as she looked at him like he was the entire world

"...yeah, i have to agree. i mean, of course, i never expected it i mean, who does really think they're going to be proposed to? especially during something as grand as the olympics? but, i mean, i do remember people thinking that if max was to propose to me, he would do it at the very last f1 race of the season but, no. he proposed after i had won my sixth olympic gold medal," madelena giggled as max got shy again but it was really sweet cause it reminded people that not only did max know that his world no longer just revolved around f1 but madelena wasn't just to be shown off at his races but also in her own sport and discipline as well

"was there ever a moment where either of you, madelena or max, wanted to throw the towel down and run back home and just lay low?" 

"do you wanna go first maxie, my answers kinda long," madelena whispered as max nodded his head, saying his response first 

"umm...in all honesty, i don't think i've had that moment yet, touch wood! i mean, of course, we take scheduled breaks during the season as well as when we were driving through the covid-19 pandemic and had many races cancelled. but, i've filled those up with visiting family or training on the simulator. but, no, i don't think i have actually wanted to give up, leave formula one yet and go back home to madelena, no," max responded as he turned to madelena so she could give her answer

"that's a very good question but, yes, there was a moment in which i wanted to give up doing gymnastics and it was a couple of times actually. the first one was when i was in my in between my high school and college gymnastics career and i was really struggling during that time because that was when we had a huge loss in the family. we actually went through the stillbirth of our youngest sibling and i was travelling around europe at the time so i wasn't back home in greece when it happened. i was actually competing at the time and it wasn't until hours later after the podium ceremony that i was told by my trainer that i was needed urgently and had to fly back home to greece. of course i was confused but i didn't mention it because at that point, i was so desperate to be home that i just didn't question it. it wasn't until i was dropped off at the hospital that i realised what had happened and it was just awful. it was the worst thing my family had gone through and there i was, waltzing into the hospital wearing my team gear with five or six gold and silver medals hanging down from my neck to be told that we had lost our newest sibling all the whilst i was winning and coming second place in my events. i was so depressed that for i think three months, i stopped doing gymnastics and didn't do anything until i was physically forced back into the gym by my parents. they knew i didn't want to stop doing gymnastics entirely but they knew it was hard for me to do it after i had been telling everyone around me how excited i was to get a new sibling..."

"...the second time i wanted to give up was definitely after i had that injury that i acquired just after qualifying for my first olympic games in 2021. i was absolutely distraught and i was in so much pain that i just didn't want to get out of bed. i couldn't get out of bed some days but i was very grateful to have my max with me to take care of me and to keep me going. because i seriously think if it wasn't for him, i wouldn't be sitting here with all of the medals and championships that i have since 2021. because if i had it my way, i would have left that injury pull me into an early retirement. and yeah, those were the two moments that i really wanted to throw the towel in and say i give up," madelena chuckled shyly as she picked up the sixth question

"you both mention having siblings in the first video, madelena with ten and max with six so, what are their names?" 

"i have my biological sister victoria, another two little sisters who are half-sisters, blue jaye and mila and then i have a little half-brother jason and i'm the oldest of all of us!" max answers straight away since he could name his siblings from the top of his head whilst madelena had them all written down in her notes app since she had an extra few to remember

"the eldest of my eight biological siblings is my eldest sister cora, then after her is lyra, then athena, iris and penelope are my biological sisters, then we have my four brothers, nikolas, sebastian, phoenix and george. and then, my two older half-brothers are hunter and finn and then my younger half-sister is opehlia. and, for those wondering, in age order, i am younger than lyra but older than athena, iris and penelope *laughter* but, those are all my silblings,"

"max, you mentioned that you proposed to madelena after she was awarded her final and sixth gold medal. was there any doubt beforehand that she'd say yes since you mention it was such a spur of the moment thing because you could no longer wait?"

the couple let out a collective awe at that question, it was the first one that was directed at their new engagement so, it was exciting for them. max had gone to answer first this time as madelena listened. 

"aw, that's a sweet question! umm, after the proposal to madelena when the adrenaline of everything really settled down there was no worry because i was just so relieved. however, just before i had the spotaneous idea to do it, i was absolutely terrified because i did think she'd not say anything at all. not necessarily that she'd say 'no' per se but that she'd just clamp up and not say anything which i think would have been worse than her saying no. but another thing i was terrified about was i had realised after promising myself i wouldn't if madelena won any medals was that i wasn't going to cry. but she just had to win all of her events and i was an emotional wreck and now i know how she feels when she watches me race and everything! so yeah, i was just a mess as i went down on one knee to madelena and yeah, it was quite embarrassing on my part because i think that was the most i'd ever cried whilst professing my love for my fiancée so, yeah..." max giggled as madelena nodded her head as she then spoke up

"...however, in saying that, it was clear that as soon as he placed the ring on my finger, i could tell he was relieved and he could finally breathe again because it was obvious that whilst he had planned to propose for a while like he's mentioned, he didn't mean for it to happen that sepcific day during that specific moment. but because of the adrenaline and the emotions of the moment, it just took over and that was when his mind and soul felt as though it was the right time to do it. and, i have to agree and say it was the perfect moment for him to do it," madelena smiled, reaching her hand out for max as he smiled and grabbed it as he picked out the next question

"how was the engagement announced to the public?" 

"aw, another sweet question but, do you wanna take this lena?" max responded as she nodded her head 

"sure i can, maxie. the way the engagement was announced was that because i still had a lot of media to do similar in any sport that is live to the world or somewhere, i had to do a lot of interviews. mainly on how i felt winning all of my events but the main question was that they all wanted to know my reaction to the new piece of jewellery i had on my finger *giggles*. however, before that, me and max ran back over to the drivers that had attended with him and we had a little group celebration hug that was probably the most emotional and meaningful hug that we've ever had as a group *giggles*. and then we facetimed everyone else who were watching at home and then i went and did all my media interviews and explained it to them. it was so much fun explaining to my siblings for sure, especially my sisters cause they love max so much so they were so excited and overjoyed to be told that they were finally getting max as their older brother for certain and that it was set in stone and they didn't need to worry about losing him,"

"and even though it was broadcast live, we still wanted to post about it to our social media platforms so that's what we did by posting photos and the video taken from the live recording and posted it. so, that is how it was announced to everyone else that me and my fiancé are getting married soon!" madelena giggled as she grabbed the last question which was a question in regards to her career now and max's opinion of it

"the last one and, ooh, it's a question in regards to me but for max to respond!" madelena called out as max's eyes widened 

"max, now that madelena has won her second olympic games, how do you think she can improve and do you think she'll stop anytime soon and think about taking a sabbatical for a year or two so you guys can begin to settle down?"

"oh, wow, that's a great final question! umm...madelena, can you answer it?" max chuckled as madelena shook her head no, making max answer it as he groaned but answered it anyway 

"quite frankly, it's not up to me with what madelena decides to do after this now that she has accumulated so many wins and trophies. if she does decide to step back for a little bit so we can slowly start the beginnings of settling down then i have no arguments about it in the same way that i wouldn't if she decides to keep on going for however many years she decides to. and it's the same way if she decides whilst in talks with me if we're ready for children and want to start trying for our own little family since we're now planning on getting married and on our wedding. but, it's all in the hands of madelena and it shouldn't be up to me on whether she wants to take that break or if she wants to keep on going for a little bit longer," max smiles as madelena felt her heart do a flip as she smiled proudly at her fiancé for his very intelligent and likeminded response 

"so, guys, that was the last question! i'm max verstappen..." 

"...and i'm madelena laurent, you guys asked some amazing questions yet again! thank you for being here with us and for watching this video and we will see you next time for more questions when we are mr and mrs verstappen!" madelena ended as everyone cheered as the couple then left the studio after they both made funny faces to the camera as they walked off set 

mr and mrs max and madelena verstappen

"we're back gq sports!" max yells triumphantly as madelena chuckles, shaking her head 

"hi, i'm madelena verstappen and this is my husband max verstappen and we're back for the third and final instalment of our fans' most burning questions!" madelena chuckled as she picked up the first one, laughing again 

"how do you pronounce your wife's name, max and how long did it take you to pronounce it properly?" 

"even though it shouldn't be too confusing because it sounds like a relatively normal name, it is when you need to bear in mind that i'm greek, as are my whole family, but i was born in france. so because of that, they decided the best way to commemorate their only child out of all their other ones being born in france was to name me a french name rather than a greek name. and because of that along with the spelling, my name all throughout school in greece was always mispronounced as well as misspelt. however, for those who do get confused, my name is pronounced similar to madeline but it isn't. it's pronounced phonetically as mad-uh-ley-na if that makes sense *giggles*. it's just pronounced like madelene but instead of the letter 'e' at the end, it's replaced with the letter 'a' which is not the letter that is stressed but the 'ley' in the middle of my name. does that make sense? so, the 'ley' of my name is the more aunnciated phrase and it makes saying the 'na' at the end flow off the tongue a lot better and properly," madelena chuckles as she strugged to give a pronunciation lesson for her own name 

"for my answer to this question, it honestly never took me that long to learn the pronunciation of madelena's name. i mean, i don't find it that hard except for maybe when we first met because my english wasn't very good since english isn't my first language, dutch is. but the more confident i got in speaking english the easier it was to pick up even with my heavy dutch/belgian accent and pronounce it properly so i wasn't always calling her by a nickname. even though now that we''er older and i can very much pronounce her full name, she perfers being called lena over madelena because she feels like everytime i full name her that she's in trouble *laughter*." max smiled, blushing a tiny bit at the end of his answer as madelena smiled, her eyes widening as she found her husband's response sweet 

"aw, that was so sweet but yes, i do prefer it when he calls me lena instead of madelena and i call him maxie but, anyway, the next question though is..." madelena continued as she grabbed the second question 

"where was it that you two got married? the netherlands, monaco or greece?" 

"ooh, that is a very good question! we got married in greece since that is the home in which we spend the less amount of time at throughout the f1 and gymnastic season. so whilst we're training and doing our respective championships, we're based out of monaco where we spend a good majority of our time since it's our main home base out of the three countries we reside in. and then on the odd occasion if it's been too long, we'll spend two to three weeks each in the netherlands and then greece just to be closer to our families since we don't see them as often as we'd like to anymore. but, yeah, we decided very early on that we were going to get married in greece and then switch it up and have our honeymoon in monaco, the netherlands and italy during the time we'd usually be spending two to three weeks between the netherlands and greece. but after that i think we also visited ibiza for a little bit to a week as well before we had to fly back to monaco so we could get back into training again. but yeah, it was beautiful that's for sure, most magical day of our life!" max smiled as madelena nodded her head in full agreement to her husband's response as max picks up the third question

"what songs on madelena's gymnastics routine playlist are max's favourite?"

this was the question that made the husband and wife giggle, max responding as madelena smiled whilst listening intently 

"that's a tough question but i have to say, my favourite songs on her routine playlist that she dances to during routines and competitions are most definitely songs that we can also connect to formula one *giggles*. and one of the first ones that comes to mind is actually a song that reminds everyone of carlos and it's smooth operator. madelena's gold medal winning olympic floor routine from 2021 was done to that song and it's for sure up there as one of my favourites. but another one has to be another floor routine song and it's called volia by emma kok and it was just gorgeous so that was from her championship winning floor routine from this year! but, i have a lot more but volia and smooth operator are just the first two to come to my mind straight away," max smiles as madelena doesn't stop her smile from widening

"who was in your wedding party at the wedding?" 

max smiled at this question, letting his wife take over as he sat back this time, relaxing. 

"my bridesmaids were five of my sisters and the other f1 wags, luisa, carmen, alexandra, rebecca, heidi and lily zneimer and my maid of honour was shared by athena and alexandra. and the flower girl was my little sister ophelia and the ring bearers were actually one of max's nephews," madelena smiled as she turned to her husband who smiled and said his answer 

"my groomsmen were obviously the boyfriend's of madelena's bridesmaids so lando, george, charles, carlos, daniel and oscar as well as three of lena's brothers since i only have a much younger half brother and my best man was nikolas, lena's oldest biological brother," max smiled with a small giggle as the couple nodded thier head as he found the fifth question

"do you two plan on settling down to the point of thinking about wanting kids and if so, how many?"

this question made madelena chuckle whilst max's eyes widened, slightly frightened as he answered the question nevertheless 

"i mean, we did just get married basically but, of course i'd love to have kids and, honestly i'd love to have an even amount of kids. i mean, not to the extent that madelena has with her ten siblings*giggles*. but i'd say around four or three? i'd say around three to four because whilst i do love the largness of my wife's family, i do still want a small enough family that they have siblings but not too many that it's crowded. and i have four other siblings of my own so i'd want to have relatively the same amount as well. even though i do love having a lot of people to go to for help as a plus of having a big family but not to the point that we're confusing the names of our kids and which sibling is which," max smiled proudly as madelena smield sweetly as she reciprocated the kiss to the head that max gave her

"as a small continution, i would also love to have around three or four kids but, right now, we are focused on our brand new marriage and our jobs. so, yeah, i think we'll maybe wait a few months to a year before kids are included or even thought about but, i don't know, who really knows what's going to happen until it happens," madelena smiles as she grabs the sixth question 

"who cried more at the wedding: madelena or max?"

madelena laughed as she read that question out, her head flying back as max just sighed as he shook his head, a fake angry pout on his face, chuckling as he rolled his eyes 

"well, for those curious and wondering, max did have the sweetest reaction but to confirm, he did cry first and the most. it was very sweet though because it's not a side that a lot of us, including me, get to see very often. and, it was just lovely seeing him feel so comfortable to the point he could let his guard down and be that vulnerable even on the day of our wedding. because i honestly thought that because he cried at our engagement that he wouldn't cry at our wedding *giggles*. and it is a video i watch a little too much when i feel the need of missing the wedding and wanting to watch it back," madelena smiles as max also smiles as he says his own response

"honestly, thinking back to that moment, i was a wreck the entire day. my mum has mentioned before that i am an emotional person and it was that day truthfully that mum's statement came true. i had been nervous all day just waiting to see lena and i was feeling worried that she may be panicking and not able to see each other really wasn't something we would do now if we decided to get married again. but, the moment i turned around and saw lena in the full white dress and shoes, i was out for the count *giggles*. i may as well have been on the floor because i was that far gone. thankfully though the first look we had was only between us two with a photographer and videographer with us that captured the entire thing. and it was beautiful and i'm glad we had that private moment together where we also shared our private vows which were also filmed by the videographer as well. and yeah, like lena, it's also something i love to watch as well on the occasion that i feel like i need it. just as a reminder that we actually are married now and that i get to fall further in love with her every day for the rest of my life from here on out," max finished as the whole room fell into awws and coos as madelena felt herself blushing at her husband's words

"one more question!" a producer behind the camera shouts out, rushing over to give it to max as he chuckled before looking at it

"hi lena and max, i'm about to get married and my husband-to-be and i just want to know what's the best thing about being married to the love of your life?"

"awe, this is a nice question! lena, you wanna take over?" max smiled as madelena nodded her head 

"of course! well, this was a lovely question so thank you to the upcoming bride who asked this! and for me, the best thing about being married to the love of my life is just knowing that we no longer have to worry about anything anymore. in the sense that we don't have to worry about not being together anymore. for a little while we were long distance, max in monaco and me in greece which is typically a four hour flight depending on where in greece you're going to or from and it was awful having to say goodbye to one another constantly whilst he was leaving for races and other things and i wasl leaving for gymnastics and other things. and it would be so heartbreaking because if something was to happen to one another, like our injuries for example in 2021, the silverstone crash for max and my shattered leg for me. when it came to going to the hospital, we weren't allowed to go in straight away because we weren't family nor were we married. whilst we were acknowledged as one another's partner's, it was because we were married that we weren't allowed entry to see one another before being allowed to alongside everyone else that was there that weren't family. so it just knowing that if one of us was to ever be in a similar situation again, now that we're married, we don't have to worry about getting into fights with hospital staff about wanting to see one another because they'll know and they'll see on record that we're now married! so yeah, that's my best thing other than the obvious things about being married to the love of my life but that's the first one that i think of that isn't really due to the physical things that i love about him like his eyes, hair, looks, humour or anything of the sort..." madelena cut herself off as max smiled as he then said his answer

"...and for me, the best thing about being married to the love of my life is just knowing that we'll be there for one another all the time now. we no longer have to worry about necessarily being apart from one another for too long now. because now that madelena is on her summer break, she's able to travel with me for the next two weeks that she has off before she has to return back to monaco to start training again. and the other thing is seeing that the rings that are on her finger are the ones i gave to her, no one else. i love people knowing that she's my wife and that i'm the one who gets to love her for the rest of time and no one else can," max smiled with a cheeky wink as madelena giggled and shook her head

"so, we've been madelena verstappen..." 

"...and max verstappen and those were the questions you guys have asked me and my wife for our third and final instalment of some of our fans' most burning questions on us for gq sports! we hope you guys enjoyed and we thank you guys so much for joining us for the last three videos! if you want to see more of us than you can at the upcoming formula one grand prix in singapore for me and in monaco for the gymnastics world championship meet for madelena and we'll see you soon!" max finishes the video as he chucks the paper to the camera making madelena's laugh the last thing heard before the video cuts to a black screen

fin

such a fun but weird thing to rewrite and i'm sorry that it's a little bad. i should really consider this as a little bit of a crack fic cause wtf is this lol! in saying that though, i really think i could make this into a little series and expand it cause i've seen so many of my fave f1 fic writers write olympic inspired fics and i really would like to flesh out madelena and max a lot more now that i think about it! anyway, i really need to get my flow back on track for my charles request as i feel awful for how long it's taken to start it!

©⠀amberjazmyn's original work. do not translate or steal any of my fics. 2024

[in-death-we-fall]

To Hell and Back

Kerrang 1227, September 13 2008

Being a member of Slipknot is a tough business. But it’s not just onstage that bad things can happen, as Joey Jordison knows to his cost…

Words: Daniel J. Lane Photo: Paul Harries

The cocaine one. It's short but it's a lot. Knew what I was getting into but this one's definitely gonna be wedged in my hellbrain for a bit.

(google drive link)

When Kerrang! caught up with Slipknot at the end of June prior to their headline slot on the inaugural US Rockstar Energy Mayhem tour, drummer Joey Jordison joked that, after being off the road for three years, the band were so full of pent-up energy and so desperate to get back out and play live that he “wouldn’t be surprised if we break our fucking necks on this first run of shows”. And, in true Slipknot fashion, on day one of the tour in Seattle, Washington, Slipknot DJ Sid Wilson ended up breaking both of his heels after an ill-advised stage dive, while Jordison himself reportedly drummed so darn hard he was forced to ride out the final three dates of Mayhem concealing a broken ankle from his bandmates. As a result, Slipknot were forced to cancel their scheduled European festival shows — including Reading and Leeds — after doctors ordered Jordison off the road for six weeks.

The diminutive sticksman is currently at home in Des Moines, Iowa. He’s bummed about letting all the European Slipknot fans down, but that disappointment is mixed with positivity, with new ‘Knot album All Hope Is Gone having debuted at number one and number two in the US and the UK respectively. And having finally kicked a long running and very private battle with addiction, Jordison has much to look forward to.

How much have you changed as a person since we last officially saw you on Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses? “I’m definitely happier these days, that’s for sure. To be quite honest, and this is something I don’t want to get into, but basically, it all comes from quitting partying. I stopped taking narcotics just before the New Year and now I don’t flub on double bass anymore and I don’t have to try to get through the songs when we play live. You can do whatever you want in your life, I don’t care. I’m not going to preach to you and tell you to stop doing whatever, but now I’m happy and I play better. It’s that simple. My band’s ecstatic about it. I haven’t played this good for a long, long time. Probably since the first record, and there’s nothing more gratifying than that."

When did you realise you had a problem with drugs? “It was probably when I realised that I wasn’t just hurting myself, I was hurting the people around me. I had a real moment of clarity last year. My girlfriend at the time, a girl who I thought I was gonna be with forever, cheated on me and I went on a three week coke binge. I actually wrote some of the riffs for the new album [All Hope Is Gone] around that time, which is the only good thing to come out of it. But I just wasn’t having fun anymore and my family knew it.”

How did your family react? “My sister, Annie, kept trying to call me but I didn’t want to speak to anyone. The phone was off the hook. I didn’t answer my door, the lights were off, and I was just fucking ragingly pissed off all the time. So she sent me a picture of my nephew. He was trying to play drums and he was wearing one of my old masks. And so I called her and she put him on the phone and he said, ‘I love you uncle Joey’, and I was like, ‘Fuck it, I’m done. This is fucking stupid’. I realised I was basically fucking dying. It took that to make me realise what was really important in my life and that I’d done a lot of mean things to people.”

Like what? “Just stupid fucking rock star shit. Thankfully, I’m fucking over it, now. You act like an asshole, you feel like shit the next day and your performance suffers because of it. I really don’t want to go into it… I once made a tour manager cry because I was so fucking pissed off and hungover. Just fucked-up things like that. Let’s just say I’ve had to make a lot of apologies to people. But the past is the past, now I’m so much faster at drumming, so much more fluid with my breathing. I eat better… And I’m also fatter (laughs).”

We’d have said ‘healthier’ rather than ‘fatter’. You were looking quite skeletal towards the end of Vol. 3… “I’m just happier, dude. I wake up, and I eat really well. I don’t wake up and throw up like I used to. I’m not rail thin any more. Everyone in my family is like, ‘It’s so good to see you put on a few pounds’.”

Where do you think your addiction stemmed from? “We have good lives. I’m not going to say ‘Oh, woe is me’. People know we’ve had success and all that stuff. But there are things that can push you over the edge. Things like being an outcast at school, my step dad dying, the death of my friend [former Killing Joke / Ministry bassist] Paul Raven… He was one of the sweetest, most genuine fucking guys that I’ve ever met in my life. He was too young, man. He was too young. And I will miss him forever. These are the things that never leave you.”

Is that why you tried to incorporate the scars into your new mask? “I’ve had scar lines in my mask for a while now, but yeah, I wanted to design a mask that just shows the pain that I’ve gone through, the love and the hate I’ve gone through. It’s decrepit, it’s rotting, it’s sewn together. And the crown of thorns and the mummified look and the willowy hands, is the same thing. I’m growing old, man. I’m a human fucking tree, I’m just rotting into the earth. It’s the scariest looking thing I could come up with. I don’t wanna be the pretty boy in the band any more. I’m sick of that shit, y’know?”

Does it bug you that, pretty much from when Slipknot started, girls would throw themselves at you because you were the ‘cute one’? “Yes and no. Actually I think I might have done myself a disservice, I think the new mask might attract more (laughs). That said, I can’t wait to see the mock-ups in the audience. The old mask was kinda easy to copy, but the new one’s going to be that little bit harder. I honestly can’t wait to see the first kid with a crown of thorns at a Slipknot show.”

So what does the future hold for you, personally? “I don’t know. I take each day as it comes. Every morning I wake up and think, ‘Is this gonna be my last day?’. And if today is my last day, I wanna go out swinging, man. You know what’s crazy about me? I’ve already bought my grave. Just in case. It’s over down on Second Avenue [in Des Moines]. That’s what being in Slipknot does to you.”

Slipknot’s new album, All Hope Is Gone, is out now. The band will be touring the UK in December. See Gigs for details.

[kyouka-supremacy]

Any predictions on what is going to happen in and after this arc?

I don't think I'm very good at predictions (╥﹏╥) I really can't guess what's Dostoyevsky's deal, but if else, that makes following the current manga events all the more exciting! Again, by the looks of it we're going to find out the backstory of a character that was first introduced in 2013, so reading the last chapter was a real “whoa” moment for me. As for the guesses I can take, it really doesn't go much further than:

Whatever is going on in the last chapter between Dostoyevsky and Bram is probably going to lead to Bram's demise as it was shown in chapter 102.

I think there's likely some connection between the scars (?) on Bram's face and the way medieval Dostoyevsky displayed an analogous one in the last chapter, because they're too similar to be put there randomly.

Something I haven't seen being brought up is the possibility of Dostoyevsky being able to time travel rather than be eternal, which even though doesn't feel like the most convincing explanation, I feel like it's too soon to fully exclude either?

Jokes aside, I don't think Akutagawa has any real chance to play a role in this, because it's evidently something that's happened in the past. And though the author looves time traveling shenanigans, that feels a bit of a stretch. Although the last attire we saw Akutagawa in did resemble a medieval aesthetic, so who knows if he doesn't have some other kind of connection to the events…

But I DO feel like the change in appearance must be telling of some new alliance. Likely something from Europe. We know the author is probably going to move the focus to European authors next, they already seemed to suggest so in an interview, and if God allows it it's finally going to be time for Agatha and the Order of the Clock Tower.

I. Idk. Have been growing an underlying suspicion that the 2-hours-later sskk scene is going to be a spinoff movie to come some time in the future. It's going to feature time traveling shenanigans (see the very limited timeframe skip) and Fukuchi coming back in a new weird form and sskk getting their rematch with him I have been saying they narratively deserve. Overall it's something that won't be covered by the manga à la Dead Apple, standalone and that can be skipped past. It does make sense marketing wise because it'll be years before the manga will have released enough content for another anime season, and given that the bsd franchise is comparatively very popular right now, I highly doubt they'll let the hype slowly die– that's also why I'm waiting for the announcement of a new Wan anime season any day now. I've said before it doesn't look like we're getting the cool sskk scene in the manga soon, and that it most likely solved the purpose of a teaser for the next arc for various reasons; the last chapter seemingly skipping past it seems now to confirm that. The very high quality of the animation of that scene in the anime might be a further hint in the movie direction, to be honest. (I'm only now realizing that if that's true, it means that we are not getting that scene in Harukawa's art style, and am suddenly hating everything and not want it to become true). That said, a Stormbringer movie seems likely too, so who knows.

Back to chapter 113. The jokes about Dazai not being included in the ada family picture are hilarious, and I do personally believe Dazai is more distant to the rest of the ada than other members; that said, I doubt it has anything to do with the panel itself, and as of now I don't think it's that deep ahah. In general, I find it very hard to believe that Dazai is the one that's going to be transferred to the pm: that feels to me a quite lazy direction to take storytelling wise. We already saw what it's like to have Dazai in the pm, no need to relapse to that. That's why, regretfully, I doubt Atsushi is going to be taken in either, because we already know what pm Atsushi is like (VERY very regretfully for me. Because I'd love more Atsushi screentime and because my brain quite automatically makes a jump from “Atsushi joins the pm” to “sskk canonly live together”. Also all the “sskk are Double Black 2.0” that has been tormenting sskk shippers since the start of time, might as well make them the New Double Black for real this time.). Tanizaki sounds like a good bet to be honest: because, on top of being the only ada member with a completely unexplored backstory, we already saw him interact with the pm a lot over the course of the whole manga, which can be taken as a slow build-up for the moment he ends up joining their ranks; from the pm perspective, since he showed to be a challenge for them in more than one occasion (he even intruded the boss' chambers once), it would make sense to try and get him on their side. And Tanizaki having already volunteered to join them in chapter 65. Honestly, everything seems to point in that direction right now.

I hope the following chapters also explain why taking the sword off Bram didn't kill him as previously established because as of now the seemingly plot hole is bothering me a lot.

That's all that comes to my mind right now, excited to see what the manga will be up to next!

[stormblessed95]

This is random, but I finally got to watch the full d-day concert!!! (i was honestly super disappointed as a european fan that I couldn’t see him live 😭) And Yoongi is so amazing, he was thriving during this tour!

But I wanted your opinion on the lyrics of haegeum? Because I feel a bit crazy, but I’m 99% sure I hear him say “slaves to youtube, slaves to sex” instead of “flexing”? Am I the only one who hears that? If I hear it right, props to him! It’s rare to hear anyone say the word “sex” (I know “sexy” is said all the time by the members haha, but that’s a different thing)

Literally “liberating yourself from banned things” 👏

(Reminds me of when Hoseok wore the condom shirt - I’m actually looking forward to post-military times when they may take more freedom to show more mature sides of themselves honestly instead of placating “fans”.)

When I apologize for letting asks sit in my inbox for freaking ever, this is a good example in case anyone was wondering how old some of my asks are lol. I'm so sorry anon!! But I'm here now! I'm relaxing this morning before my part 2 date this evening and going to do that while gushing about Yoongis genius!

How many times can I make everyone watch Yoongi perform before talking about it? 😏😂

Okay well first, I'll say that I do hear slaves to flexing and not sex. Lol but that also would've been quite the line and I can see where maybe it could sound like that, but I disagree there. And the lyrics also say flexing. So I think that's pretty open and shut.

Second, I too, am enjoying the solo era where they are a little bit more free with who they are as people and individuals and how they've approached things lately. I'm throughly looking forward to seeing this energy continue but as a group too!

And finally! My thoughts over Haegeum:

Literally it means to allow/unlock something that is forbidden or to lift a ban on something that is forbidden. The main "theme" of the song centers around this idea and these controversies that spread through free speech. I personally think Yoongi is liberating himself from the "forbidden." Rejecting the state of the world and the stereotypes constantly forced upon him from people who don't even really know him.

He specifically points out a scene of him smoking, something normally very looked down upon for idols like himself, something that members of BTS have actively received hate/criticism on, but he rejects things that are forbidden for him and he embraces this new style and era he is crafting for himself.

He pointed out being essentially tired of and gives criticism of this "information age" we are living in currently. With information accessible at the drop of a hat, literally constantly at our fingertips, people are just regurgitating someone else's thoughts and opinions rather than engaging in critical thinking and coming up with their own.

(no hate to anon truly, this is not really directed at you, but it's a lot like how a lot of anons on my blog want me to give them their thoughts and opinions about Jikook moments and explain it all rather than finding their own opinions about it)

I think he also relates to this information age as something that restricts us not only in critical thought. But also how it's constantly forcing people into purposeless debate and controversy online. An overflow of information from everyone, most of which is also opinion and not fact, can make it HARDER for people to think for themselves, figure out what they believe and engage fully and factually.

He points out and questions why we are so bound to money, validation, hatred and prejudice. Why we allow these things to shape who we are and how we think. It's like we are living in a society that almost encourages that too.

I think he wants this song to encourage hope. Encourage a future where we reject these things, reject what holds us back, reject the idea that free speech doesn't mean freedom from consequences or freedom to be hateful. Reject the idea that we need to live for validation and instead live for a better and kinder future. Where we speak for what we believe in and not just spew hatred and prejudice and half baked opinions based off what someone else says, where we don't create senseless discourse or create baseless complaints and debates.

Yoongi, I think, hopes for a future, a better age, where it's more based in realism and a people with less superficial tendencies and desires. And in my opinion, a healthier world that would be.

And all this is literally just my thoughts based on the lyrics! We didn't even get into the trilogy together, the possibilities of colors used, an MV analysis, the visual architecture.... The man does everything with a purpose!! We could get into that more too if people want

I highly encourage watching all his behind the scene stuff for more of his thoughts and his process. Yoongi is and always will be my bias because of the way he thinks and the way he processes stuff and the way he writes and puts those things out into the world. I also relate so much to him.

[beardedmrbean]

Hi, trying to make these one short…but in problem lying 🤡

But this thread

https://x.com/sophianarwitz/status/1772283920249167939?s=46

Also this whole “black people be can’t be in fantasy because of racism!” Is more because a lot of black kids were bullied the living fuck of for liking stuff kind fantasy because it was “white people shit” so they lost passion thus they never desire to go into that stuff to bring more rep

Of course a lot of white kids were bullied too

But the thing is you guys can call out your bullies without being called a coon or race traitor

Actually a lot of women here who were in geek culture often pointed out modern feminists were their childhood bullies

And tbh if this panel accurate…

https://youtu.be/JHgpHfrULHc?si=oJQcSWyPac1bCFZG

And that the thing about black stuff like in gaming or in current fantasy

It made be people who have surface levels of understanding of eras

“The Middle Ages were actually diverse!” The Europeans did established trade routes with the rest of world. Buuuut it was also common to stop or ended trades if Islam wanted to try another jihad again and the internal conflict

But about ac stuff and why I’m defending Yasuke as a second playable character

So when ac Japan was announced I decided to look into what time span they will use. So in ac Japan lore was explored here and there in books and other app. But they keep it light

Now a Chinese assassin Shao Jun acolyte Kotetsu went back home to establish his own assassins branch in Japan.

So the Japanese assassins were established in mid 16 century 1549-50 as that when Templars came to Japan

Now this story was told in a manga when it very like the ac red story being develop so they made sure not step on each other shoes

Then a iirc 2021-22 ac book centered around two Japanese assassins siblings during the Meiji period. It was noted the Templar didn’t gain a presence in Japan again until the American navy thus confirm the Tokugawa era was an assassin control one.

So when the leaks drop that Yasuke will be a second playable character. I figured out through research that the game will focus on the final sengoku civil war.

Now when ac3 did the American civil war in the pov of a Native American. It took a few hours in game and hell years in the story to explain why

Now I hope Yasuke can be handle in similar ways to why he want to help unify Japan in these story

But beyond that, feel like a lot of modern creators REFUSE to acknowledge the modern black American only exists in history during colonial and forward times. Hence my chimera republic idea

There a plenty of African kingdoms to use, but are you guys mentally stuck at 15 or something?

Representation matters. Exclusivity is not the same as racism.

She's correct, where it crosses the line into racism is the opening tweet where she's making a big deal out of it. Make your game and then if people bitch about it not containing white men you can point the finger at them.

Same outcome except you don't look like self hating racist, still are one but at least you can play dumb.

Also this whole “black people be can’t be in fantasy because of racism!”.........ect

Ya, that or they were told so many time that it's not something they do that it sapped their will to do it, that crosses over into a lot of things. When I see someone saying that women have to work 10 times as hard as men to get into STEM fields I ask them who told you that, and make sure they give a name instead of "society" because 98% of the time it was another woman that said it, same with the black community except it's white people instead of men.

Oh just a few seconds in and it looks fun, cackling woman is likely to be the kind of person who will try and claim that the oppression olympics isn't real moments after making a statement like her first one.

And that the thing about black stuff like in gaming or in current fantasy It made be people who have surface levels of understanding of eras “The Middle Ages were actually diverse!” The Europeans did established trade routes with the rest of world. Buuuut it was also common to stop or ended trades if Islam wanted to try another jihad again and the internal conflict

Alexander the Great's empire extended into India, not sure how far down into Africa but at least as far as northern Kush

But about ac stuff and why I’m defending Yasuke as a second playable character So when ac Japan was announced I decided to look into what time span they will use. So in ac Japan lore was explored here and there in books and other app. But they keep it light .........

You have absolutely done your homework on all of this, good to have a focus, nice.

Now when ac3 did the American civil war in the pov of a Native American. It took a few hours in game and hell years in the story to explain why Now I hope Yasuke can be handle in similar ways to why he want to help unify Japan in these story

I think historically at this point he's well enough known, legend or reality is going to be the issue, have fun with the story for sure, hopefully people don't take artistic license for fact (they will) and just enjoy the story, maybe take some time and put in some effort to do the reading like you've done.

But beyond that, feel like a lot of modern creators REFUSE to acknowledge the modern black American only exists in history during colonial and forward times. Hence my chimera republic idea There a plenty of African kingdoms to use, but are you guys mentally stuck at 15 or something?

Money. Also could you imagine the outcry if some company got Bantu knots confused with Dreadlocks.

You may have missed all the dreadlock discourse, that was just pathetic and whiny and good lord are there not better things to throw a hissy fit about.

Not really much in the way of records of SubSaharan Africa before the 7th century when some folks came a conquering, they wasn't white or Christian either, and setting up kingdoms and what not. At least for kingdoms that weren't bordering seas or oceans, those got to be older.

are you guys mentally stuck at 15 or something?

Yes, many of them are.

[kpopsexstories]

Quick Fix Season 4 + New Weekly Posting Schedule

I'm announcing the start of Quick Fix Season 4 today and presenting the stories that are in this season. That means eight new (straight/x female reader) smut stories for eight weeks 😊😍

I'm also announcing a new weekly posting schedule valid from November 18 (2024) and at least the next few weeks.

Forget what I said in this post last week about "(at least) one straight and (max) one gay" story per week. And forget what I've said in the past about wanting to focus on straight smut rather than gay smut. I'm receiving more requests than just one gay story/week, it's very obvious which stories you guys respond more to, and I'm in a really productive period.

So why hold back?

I've reached an 'alright, fuck it' moment 😅 Let's just go with the flow, write what I feel like and what you guys seem to want the most, and give you more content more frequently 😊👏👏 The rest of the year is looking hot.

New Weekly Posting Schedule

Let's start with my broader plan for the blog over the next few months:

The NCT Dream Dating Ban has one more story left, and it will be split in three parts. I'll post them three weeks in a row but haven't decided exactly when.

If you read the most recent story you'll have figured out that I'm writing a 127 version, though it's unlikely that you'll see any of it before 2025.

Quick Fix Season 4 (idol x female reader) starts next week! One story every Tuesday for eight weeks straight. See the exact posting schedule below.

Quick Fix Gay will have a Season 1 which will also start next week, on Saturday. Though unlike the straight version it won't run on a fixed weekly schedule. That's simply because I haven't finished writing all the stories yet.

The NCT Dream MILF stories will continue. Mark and Jaemin are the two last ones. When they do come they'll be posted on a Monday.

I've got quite a few half-baked one-shots – both straight and gay. Not many finished ones though, so it's unclear which ones will appear on the blog and when. But I can say that straight one-shots will always be posted on Mondays and gay one-shots on Thursdays.

Keeping the above in mind I imagine the following posting schedule, starting from November 18 (2024):

MONDAYS: A straight one-shot. If there will be one I'll announce it the day before.

TUESDAYS: A straight Quick Fix story, guaranteed.

GAY THURSDAYS: A one-shot, the Dating Ban series, or a Quick Fix Gay. Regardless, I can promise a gay story every Thursday.

SATURDAYS: Sometimes a Quick Fix Gay story, at least for the next few weeks. If I'll continue to post them on Saturdays or move them to Thursdays, or if I decide to take a break, will depend on what stories I finish writing and when.

SUNDAYS: An announcement about what's coming next week.

Oh, and from now on all stories will be posted at 14:00/2PM Central European Time, so you even know the exact minute a story will appear. For reference, that's 8:00/8AM in New York, USA, and 00:00/12AM midnight in Sydney, Australia.

The Current Series

Maybe I'm repeating myself now, but to be really clear these are the series I'm currently running on the blog:

Quick Fix Dity K-pop Imagines (Tuesdays): Shorter x female reader stories, guaranteed one story every Tuesday until Jan 7.

Quick Fix Gay (Saturdays for now, then maybe Thursdays): Shorter x male reader and member-on-member stories. Unlike the straight Quick Fix stories the gay ones don't have a fixed schedule, but I'll post some these coming Saturdays and might schedule more before the end of the year.

NCT Dream Dating Ban (Thursdays): There are three weeks left of this series due to the last story being split into three parts. Idols x male reader, always on Thursdays though it's undecided which Thursdays (it won't be next week, sorry).

Gay One-shots (Thursdays): Random x male reader and member-on-member stories with some fluff, always posted on Thursdays. Lucas is coming up next week. I'm also working on more Wonho & Hyungwon as boyfriends stories, and I've got a Chenle & Jisung Kissing Booth spin-off story. Oh, and a bunch of requests I'd like to make gay one-shots of!

Mixed One-shots (Mondays): Straight stories with fluff about random idols and non-kpop celebrities. I (probably) won't have a story every week, but I do at least for the next few weeks and they'll always be posted on Mondays.

NCT Dream MILF stories (Mondays): These fall under the Mixed One-shots series and are posted on Mondays. I've only got two more of them to share and though they're not a series the final one will bring all the previous ones together.

Quick Fix Dirty K-pop Imagines – Season 4

So yay, Season 4 is finally coming! Starting Tuesday next week (November 19) there will be one story every week from this x female reader series, for eight weeks straight.

And because this time I've written the stories well in advance I can even announce exactly what you can look forward to this season:

28. November 19, 2024 – NCT Taeyong Taeyong fucks you in his sailor uniform.

29. November 26, 2024 – NCT Jeno Jeno has a threesome with two women.

30. December 3, 2024 – NCT Doyoung Doyoung fucks you missionary style.

31. December 10, 2024 – WayV Xiaojun Xiaojun gives you a steamy night and wild morning, but is someone watching from across the street?

32. December 17, 2024 – WayV Ten You pin Ten to the wall in a closet while his friends are outside.

33. January 31, 2025 – WayV Yangyang You surprise Yangyang with a blowjob after work.

34. December 24, 2024 – WayV Hendery Hendery gets horny on a late night walk and convince you to have sex in a playground.

35. January 7, 2025 – NCT Haechan Haechan fucks you in the Lotus position.

I was originally hoping to make this season all about non-NCT and non-WayV members, but clearly I have a preference. All of the Quick Fix Season 4 stories are NCT and WayV. Since I get quite a few requests for other groups I might do a more varied season in the future.

Send in Requests

Every single day of every single week of the new posting schedule has not been scheduled yet. There's gaps and room for more, especially after the first few weeks. And what's to come when Quick Fix Season 4 ends?

I find requests extremely inspiring. That's probably why I've been feeling so productive lately. The NCT Dating Ban, the MILF collection, and an up-coming sub-series about boyfriends MX Wonho & Hyungwon were all inspired by requests. Once it clicks I simply can't strop writing! 😍

So keep requesting. While not every request will ever get a story my goal is that at least 1/5 will – and at the moment I'm closer to 1/3, at least counting those written and scheduled but not yet published 😊

So are you as excited as I am about the time ahead? When I started this blog I never in a million years imagined that I'd be so into this and have so much fun with it 😊 More than a year since I started I'm very happy that you're here with me.

[wen-kexing-apologist]

Get to Know Me Ask Game

Alright, alright, alright; I guess peer pressure works because I have been tagged in this game by @colourme-feral, @rocketturtle4, and @telomeke. Thank you all for making me feel popular!

RULES: bold the ones that are true & tag 10 people to do it.

APPEARANCE

blonde hair (ish- most people have referred to my hair as dirty blonde, but it leans on the darker/brown side of dirty blonde) // I prefer loose clothing to tight clothing (yes, hello I am trans with titties I do not want people seeing) // I have one or more piercings (yes, I have my ears pierced technically, but am allergic to metals so very rarely wear earrings) // I have at least one tattoo (yes, I have three at the moment and will definitely get more in the future) // I have dyed or highlighted my hair (yes, not currently but I have dyed it in the past, my hair has been raspberry and blue) // I have gotten plastic surgery (no) // I have or had braces (yes, for a couple years, I got them off on Halloween though, so I was in costume when they came off and my orthodontist gave me a bag of candy on my way out) // I sunburn easily (yes, I am white lol.) // I have freckles (yes) // I paint my nails (no, only on very rare occasions and usually for exactly one evening) // I typically wear makeup (no, only on very rare occasions) // I don’t often smile (fully depends where I am, whoI am with, and what is going on) // I am pleased with how I look (I know I have a conventionally attractive body, but my face? different story, I think I have started to like how I look more as I have settled in to my gender expression though) // I prefer Nike to Adidas (I think I end up Nike shoes far more often, not sure if I have ever owned a pair of adidas, but my brand loyalty is to Converse only) // I wear baseball hats backwards (yes, sometimes, and almost exclusively for gay reasons. If I am wearing a baseball cap for sun reasons it is going on the right way round)

HOBBIES & TALENTS

I play a sport (Yes, I used to do fencing and now do Historical European Martial Arts) // I can play an instrument (yes, I used to be a pretty decent flute and piccolo player, I can technically also play piano though I was never officially trained in it and therefore am not very good) // I am artistic (yes, I can draw okay, I like doing cross stitch, and I have a degree in theater where I primaroly focused on technical theater and design) // I know more than one language (Fluently? No. Partially? Yes.) // I have won a trophy in some sort of competition (Yes? I can't really recall, but I know I had trophies in my room from things I had done, and I feel like maybe my middle school band placed in a state music competition one of the years I was on it? I have won awards/prizes in competitions though for sure) // I can cook or bake without a recipe (Yes, I can cook without a recipe. I am a pretty good baker, but I would never bake without a recipe, that shit is chemistry) // I know how to swim (yes) // I enjoy writing (lol yeah, if you have not seen my analyses on this website already...also I do just enjoy writing for fun outside of TV show analyses too) // I can do origami (ish, I can make an origami heart mostly from memory, and if I follow instructions can probably do a couple other things, but I'm not like, proficient in it) // I prefer movies to tv shows (no, give me long form storytelling or give me death! just kidding, there are movies I love but I almost always prefer TV) // I can execute a perfect somersault (as a child, yes. I used to do gymnastics, as an adult, no. I do not have the spine or joint function for that anymore) // I enjoy singing (yes I enjoy singing, no I do not have a good voice, and you are all welcome for never subjecting anyone to it) // I could survive in the wild on my own (I can build a shelter, I know how to make a fire, but I honestly would never presume to believe that I could survive in the wild, and how long I am able to make it would depend entirely on where I was and what tools I had at my disposal) // I have read a new book series this year (no, I don't think I have, dang) // I enjoy spending time with friends (yes, yes, yes I love spending time with my friends, if I am not physically hanging out with my friends I am usually on some social media platform talking to my friends. I love my friends!) // I travel during work or school breaks (I always used to travel during school breaks, I am out of school now, I don't really have work breaks, but I do still travel. When I changed jobs I did a lot of traveling in the week between ending my old job and starting my new one, and I am actually going on a trip this weekend) // I can do a handstand (on land? no, lol. I would break something. Though I am pretty sure I used to be able to do that as a child...in a pool where gravity is not working against me, absolutely I can)

RELATIONSHIP

I am in a relationship (no, so if anyone is wanting to request my hand in marriage, my ask box is open) // I have been single for over a year (yes, please see previous comment) // I have a crush (maybe just a little bit, though I'm not sure if it is a crush or if it is just someone I would be interested in attempting to go on a date with) // I have a best friend who I’ve known for ten years (yes! Multiple! The secret is to just not talk to eachother for years at a time, and then see eachother once every two years and pick up exactly where you left off) // my parents are together (no, thank god) // I have dated my best friend (no, I had a really good friend that I "dated" in high school, but like..in the way that we held hands like four times and never went on an actual date. I have had multiple best friends that people think I am dating though.) // I am adopted // my crush has confessed to me // I have a long distance relationship (yes, with friends. No for romantic partners. // I am an only child // I give advice to my friends (Yes, always have done, always will do.) // I have made an online friend (yes, many!) // I met up with someone I have met online (yes, many! And will meet even more soon!)

AESTHETICS

I have heard the ocean in a conch shell (yes, we had a conch shell in our house growing up, so I listened to it all the time) // I have watched the sun rise (I actually don't know if I have intentionally watched a sun rise, but I have certainly been up late enough at night that I see the sun rise, which is when I then say 'oh fuck, I really need to be asleep) // I enjoy rainy days (I used to enjoy them a lot, now I have a lot of musculoskeletal pain that gets worse when it rains so I don't like it as much anymore) // I have slept under the stars (like under under with no protection? no. But I have been camping multiple times so yes technically, I was just in a tent) // I meditate outside (I don't really meditate, period.) // the sound of chirping calms me (the birds around me are loud and annoying as fuck, but there is some chirping I enjoy and that can be calming) // I enjoy the smell of the beach (yes! I would be betraying my homeland if I didn't like the way the beach smelled) // I know what snow tastes like (DO NOT EAT SNOW! DO NOT!) // I listen to music to fall asleep (yes, I alternate between just the sound of ocean waves, cello music with rain in the background, or more recently a Gymnopedie playlist) // I enjoy thunderstorms (Again, I used to love thunderstorms, we had so many of them where I grew up and when I moved away there were not nearly as many and that made me love them even more. But now, my body is fucked and when there is a thunderstorm the change in pressure in the air literally makes me feel like the fluids in my joints are bubbling/carbonated) // I enjoy cloud watching (i do enjoy it, I just have not done it in a very long time) // I have attended a bonfire (yes, many. when I would go on camping trips or when my neighbors burned the Christmas trees people were otherwise throwing out in like February and they'd invite people over.) // I pay close attention to colors (yes, please refer to my pinned gay analysis assembly post on my tumblr page for a number of different essays about color) // I find mystery in the ocean (Yes. we have explored more of space than we have the ocean, I love the ocean but the prospect of what is in there does scare me. From a non-horror perspective, there is a reason why so much gay media has an underwater kiss and it's cause bodies of water are the guardians of many secrets) // I enjoy hiking on nature paths (Do I do it often? No. Do I enjoy it? Very much so, yes) // autumn is my favorite season (Autumn was not really a thing where I grew up but now I am somewhere where the leaves change and it is so beautiful. I love the weather, the temperature is always near perfect for my tastes, I get to break out the apple cider and the hot chocolate, and Halloween is in autumn here so what is not to love?)

MISCELLANEOUS

I can fall asleep in a moving vehicle (didn't used to be able to fall asleep at all once I was awake, didn't used to be able to sleep in moving vehicles, but now? I am so sleepy) // I am the mom friend (Yes. I am the mom friend, dad friend, cool aunt friend, etc etc. what can I say? I contain multitudes) // I live by a certain quote (no, but there are many quotes I love) // I like the smell of sharpies (no) // I am involved in extracurricular activities (technically HEMA, but my attendance has been low recently due to high pain months. But I am moving soon and hoping to start doing additional extracurricular activities after I relocate) // I enjoy Mexican food (yes, of course! Refried beans? Yellow rice? Tamales? Mole?) // I can drive a stick shift (technically. I have been taught to drive stick shift, I have driven stick shift before, but I am not comfortable driving stick shift. I could do it in an emergency or if no other option was available to me. I just stalled a lot when I was learning and instead of taking me safe places to learn how to drive it, my Dad would just throw me in to the busiest intersections which made it extremely stressful when I would stall out. But we figured out I was sitting too far back to get the clutch all the way down, and I had no issues that last time I did drive stick.) // I believe in true love (this is a complicated question, I don't know that I have a way to describe my actual thoughts on it, so let me just say I stand with La Pluie in saying that any and all relationships take work, regardless of fate) // I make up scenarios to fall asleep (Yes, I used to do it a lot as a kid. I would make up scenarios where I would have to be sleeping so that I would get to sleep, and now if music or white noise doesn't get me to sleep, I will make up a scenario. But I don't need to as much anymore) // I sing in the shower (Yes of course! What else is a shower for if not to best disguise my terrible singing voice?) // I wish I lived in a video game (lol, no. The videos games I play? Absolutely not! I would be consumed by a hoard of rats, or eaten by a sea monster, or be impaled on thorns) // I have a canopy above my bed (no) // I am multiracial (no) // I am a redhead (no) // I own at least 3 dogs (no)

Not sure that I have seen @shortpplfedup, @neuroticbookworm, @so-much-yet-to-learn2, @solitaryandwandering, @respectthepetty, @ginnymoonbeam, @dribs-and-drabbles tagged in this yet. Anyone who wants to play, I hereby tag you as well.