#officially tennis posting by me? maybe

[livetogether--diealone]

godiwishthatwereme.jpg

[chlmtsdoll]

Guys I loved writing the first short n sweet inspo fic so here’s more bc that ovulation album is too good <3

WHERE ART THOU ? WHY NOT UPONETH ME ?

౨ৎ Summary: your hosting a slumber party at Art’s mansion. But you can’t quite stay away from your pull to get the man in a room where there are no others. Inspo from Bed Chem by Sabrina Carpenter 🤍

+ 18 | very much smut !, unprotected sex, age gap, (reader early 20’s) dilf!Art, size kink, first daddy kink fic (omg) semi-public sex, oral (f) reviving, pet names, this made me feel a bit slutty just writing it, needy!reader, fatherly Art ;)

A/N: the fucking edits on tiktok of Mike to Bed Chem are making me go insane ! just when I thought there was no possible way for me to be crazier over this man omfg. So I had to give the girls a fic to go w it ofc <3

It was like fate. The day you met him.

Nothing could of been more perfect when the stars aligned to bring you to accompany your solid group of trust fund friends to one of his tournaments that evening. You were like most girls your age, makeup, pop music, nice ornaments for your wardrobe — you weren’t the kind of girl that could say she knew much about sports, and certainly little to nothing to be caught landing a seat at the us open... but eventually that grew to be a substantial part of what found him to be so drawn to you.

It was that day when you’d been in the bleachers watching the blonde play like it was his life’s greatest prophecy. For the first time in your still too little years of living, you’d never felt that aroused by a man you’d only saw from the mere view of him hitting a ball with a racket.

But he was unearthly.

Built like how men used to be. Face like it came straight from heaven. Serve like he knew a thing or two in bed.

You were drunk on want, need for him. You were damn lucky your friends were loaded enough to go to all the after parties with most of the star athletes. It was insane to you that you would follow the vip and your most sports driven friends (enthusiast if you will.) to where the elites spend their time. You wanted a nice hang out. Good food. Expensive drinks. But it was between you and the universe that you’d leave with so much more.

You were in a sheer dress and kitten heels when he spotted you. Just his star studded sly smile from across the event hall, when he saw you and your friends conversing in mostly a pretentious manner like most kids your age did when they could afford the lifestyle most people only dreamed of. But not you, you were entranced, pulled away. By his wide, blue eyes that you assumed filled with the same yearn you’d been struck with. And to your quick manifest, Art was gazing right back at you.

Only sharing a couple brief exchanges with the tall and stature, modest but kindly — beautiful and magnetic man around mutual friends, before you’d both been rushed to leave. Him with his team, and you with your entourage.

Like that you were tied to the tennis star in the blink of a moment. And Soon enough — being photographed with him around the heat of the city.

Games, athlete dinner parties, press events. Even photos of you two sharing more than a couple of words, maybe even kisses, behind menus at glamorous rooftop restaurants. Magazine outlets went crazy through the roof in just a few weeks time. Milking whatever they could out of Art Donaldson and his controversially younger girlfriend.

They didn’t have enough tabs on what you two had officially been to one another and that was perfect for the two of you. Because now that time has pushed you and the blonde closer and more into each other — you’d spend days and nights locked away with Art in his new found mansion post his former divorce. Home so beautifully articulated and big enough for you to be extra generous with your time with the dream boat of a man.

It would go down in history what the two of you had done in every room.

Now, a gorgeous weekend ahead of you after your week that was always filled with Art treating you to the finest cooked dinners, at home date nights filled with breezy smiles and full closeness to balance your dates out on the town. Going wherever you felt just to hold hands under umbrellas and traffic lights. With all the new adorned love in your life, and man with too much mystic taking up your time, it had been a good minute since you saw your girlfriends, caught up or shared a drink. You were just so wound up in Art and the way he treated you like a princess to, and in your own world.

So you’d asked Art if you could host a sweet little sleepover for you and your girls at the mansion — and of course he complied. It was anything for his perfect girl since the beginning.

“I could ask the chef to whip up some,” Art spoke into you as he held your hips in his vast hands running carefully over the hem of your satin bottoms as you stood in the middle of the spacious kitchen with him.

“That’s okay, I wanna do it.” You laughed softly, as you stared up at the man. “Nothing says fun girls night like making our own home made friandises”

Art had tilted his head in slight confusion with eyes in question to your tone when you’d practice what you’d been learning in your French courses on him. It was all the most adorable to you really. Your laugh echoed.

“Treats, baby.”

“I- - I knew that,” He scoffed and your giggles were infectious with delight to him.

“It’s gonna be fun. We’ll watch movies, paint our nails, share snacking tips. It’s been so long since I’ve seen the girls.”

Art grinned at the way you lit up with excitement, and his icy eyes looked down at your figure below him. He tried not to bite down on his lip at the way you were in the pajamas usually he only saw you in. Pink lace two piece jammies. Completely recognized because he got them for you. The transparency to them was way too easy on the eyes.

Arts tongue darted out to wet his lips before he questioned, “Is that what you’re wearing ? There aren’t gonna be any boys.. right ?”

“No, silly. That of course counts out you — if.. you wanna join us.” You looked up at him through your lightly mascara coated lashes, it felt as if the flirtatiousness through your gaze just hooked Art by the belt.

“No, no. I’ll give you and your friends your space, doll.” The blonde gave you a chary little smile, “I really doubt they’d want an old man around while you’re trying to have fun.”

“Quit it ! You’re not old. And they adore you.” You stood on the tips of your toes, Art met you so you could leave a sweet kiss on his cheek, with a blush to your own.

“Thank’s for letting me have this little party, baby.”

“Course, what else would be better use for all this space ? Other than for the amusement of twenty something girls.”

Art chuckled and you surely were in agreement, because when your girlfriends did arrive it was immediately shrieks of girlish camaraderie and chatter of awe as you brought them around the place of posh and eloquent nature. Your laugh could of been heard from the other side of the place where Art had eventually been stored away for the night while your hands were knee deep in cookie dough and rainbow sprinkles. Pj sets all from the brands you and your friends never stopped talking about. Having your night filled with reruns of classic movies to sipping champagne.. and the wine, red, (your pick) was certainly slipping through you as the moments went on.

You’d been with your best friend when you two had a moment alone to catch up in one of the halls of the buoyant abode. Whispers and giggles coming from between the two of you as a glass of wine hung from your palm.

“God, he was a such a cutie.” She coo’d as you two had found a very special wall of framed photos of Art from back in his prime tennis days. The blonde around your age who seemed filled with joyfully energetic faces and awards from across the globe. A smile woke upon your face as you folded your arm to admire the man you’d now call your own.

“Sometimes I wish I’d known him then,” you simpered. “But I’m beyond lucky now. Because he’s still cute, and sexier.”

You tittered fondly and your friend laughed with you as she playfully tugged on your shoulder. “You gotta lock that down, y’know… you’ll be like- - hella famous just from being a world class tennis superstars hot young wife.”

She announced as she sipped on something burgundy and you thought with a heightened grin. She couldn’t have been farther from right. And as the months go by you would fall farther and farther head over heels for Art every day. You’d be his wife in an instant. That was the dream after all, and you could certainly say you’d been living one.

“I guess I’ll just have to wait for him to put a ring on it..” You smiled with a dazed shrug as you embarked your wine glass to your lips again.

“He better.” Your friend chirped with a proud glint and you couldn’t help but stay stuck in your thought of your boyfriend who’s been just a few rooms away for the past couple of hours while you’d been enjoying all the perks of your girls making the most of their time with you. But you couldn’t help but want Art to be nearby now, and the red wine in your system maybe hit more than just your head — you couldn’t even try to fight it.

You missed your man.

So after you’d take in a few more drinks and a bit sensually themed games with your friends, you’d made your attempt escape off to find Art. Slipping away from the girls was easy when you’d have every necessity needed to execute a very graceful grown up girl sleepover provided for them.

You’d been walking down the hall heading to where his office and master bedroom would be at the end of the home, and as you passed by the lush kitchen area, to your surprise, there he was. Muscles looked enchantingly delicious in this light as they flexed to pull on the fridge handle and when he turned, his eye line met your glance staring back his way (of course you’d both arrive at the same time.) Arts lips began to curl in an amours grin when he saw your petite figure making it’s way over to him with the same like of smile across your face.

“Hi, baby. You having fun?” He glanced down at you through his blonde lashes to meet your nod, only following up with a soft titter as you stepped closer to the man. He almost immediately picked up on the lust laced within your eye and the way you slightly leaned onto the fridge door with your aura basically gooing with sex at him now. The blonde had an eyebrow furrowed as he chuckled just a bit and he sized you up.

“Are you drunk, princess?”

“No. No… no,” you shook your head.

It had been true. You weren’t drunk. But a little wine tipsy and horny ? Definitely.

Art hummed and put the back of his hand to your forehead gently as he observed your state. “Did you eat?”

“Mhm, did you ?”

“No. That’s why I came down, not to stalk you. I promise.” The man laughed, to which you did as well and you only raised your arms so they could embrace your boyfriend’s shoulders with a soft hum.

“Y’know, if you’re hungry, you can eat me.” Your finger tips grace Arts neck unashamed as you smile into the crook, and he took in a breath, proceeding to hold you close.

“Oh- -” his chuckle matched your giggle as he noticed you’d changed again. His hands were gliding up the ruffle of the even more transparent sheer cover on you’d been dressed in. Lime tinted. The shorts were near pantie like.

“Mmm, I miss you, I want you.” You peppered kisses as close as you could to his earlobe from your height and Arts breath hitched as he was weak to your slow but enticing touch to him. Fogging up his knowledge that you’d been right in the middle of the open kitchen that was just a few ways down from the living area your friends had been in.

“Here, sweetness ? Your friends- -” Art murmurs down to your ear, but you just locked your arms just above his shoulders without a care.

“And- - ? What about them ? I need you,” you whined. “I want your touch.”

“Yeah? You want me to touch you?”

You nodded again with a naughty giggle and the blonde was smirking now, his hands roamed your body. Large and groping your curves. As much as he knew what was rightful, Art just couldn’t deny your cling to him in that damn near lingerie that had him going almost unbearably hard beneath his jeans since you walked in. Feral even. It was beginning to get miserable as you pressed your dainty chest against his, he felt your nipples grow hard and sensitive against the cloth. So into his aroma, presence, like you were a moth to a torch.

He’d fallen into your pecks merging with his now. Kissing you against where the cupboards stand like your lips were candy. Your small legs stumbling as the man towered over you “Fuck, you look amazing in that set.” Art pulled away from your plump lips to view your gorgeously perfect body. You batted your lashes once. And his attain just couldn’t be stopped. Art slid his hands across your soft ass cheeks, massaging and kneading it in his palms before leading up to laying a solid smack which made you hiss out an excited squeal-like giggle. Your fingertips slid down his ample biceps brushed with virile bristles of hair.

“If I had known you’d like this set so much, I would of worn it much sooner for you.”

Art leaned into you and he held a sly smirk, “this was your plan all along, yeah? Wearing that to get my attention so I would come out here and fuck you in the middle of your slumber party.. you’re such a naughty girl.”

You only giggled more into his skin with a slow exhale, your freshly painted french tips exploring him as he explored you. Art took his sweet time just feeling the way your ass jiggled in his palms and you felt like you’d been going weak in the knees before his tender contact turned rough when he turned you around without warning, making you gasp.

Art made sure you could feel how hard you’d gotten him as he pressed himself to your core. Facing the counter, you lost yourself in complete bliss just to the feeling of not knowing where he’d pleasure you next — Arts restrained bulge against your clothed cunt was just something else. The blonde pushed up your sheer top just a bit and pressed a kiss to your shoulder, you made a soft noise with it.

“Feel what you do to me, pretty girl.” Art nibbled on your earlobe and you sunk your teeth into your bottom lip to subtle your smile. His hands bracing your hips as he stared down at your lacy panties and your minx-like eyes followed Arts famished expression while he licked his bottom lip.

“All yours, daddy.” Your sweet voice immediately made Art go nearly lightheaded and that was it. He melted.

The man tucked both his thumbs into the fabric and pulled your panties down clean with raucousness, followed up with him getting down on his knees before spreading you with his palms and your hands reached for the marble with a soft whimper.

“That’a girl, stay open for me.. Let me taste you.” Art huffed out before he pushed one of your legs up on the counter and you breathed out at the feeling of him making your body his toy for amusement. Art took his fingers and ran them up your folds, getting them wet with the slick of your pussy. Your cheeks started to heat up just at the wonderful pad of his index running against your core like that , making you let out a soft, “oh..” by the way he moved to rub around your clit. Arts lips kissed on your exposed inner thighs, and your jaw became unlocked extraordinarily far when his tongue finally rolled on the soft tissue.

He was splitting you clean open on the counter as tiny whimpers escaped your throat. You were lost in the draw you had to the man making you feel surpassing of even the way you played it all out in your head. “Mmm, yeah- - yes” you panted and the man flicked his digit over your bud at the same time he’d been making out with your cunt. Letting deep groans flow throughout your opening. You’d been on the tip of your toes for him. Letting him suck where you pulsed till you’d been overstimulated if he wanted.

Your head had been spinning from the friction of his perfectly sculpted nose rubbing against your sensitive area. Art was known to be gifted with his mouth so much so, you almost wondered if your friends would have heard if you just couldn’t keep your moans level — but with the way Art held your hips, fucked his tongue into your cunt like you’d been his last meal, your anxiousness washed away. All you could do was let the shake of your thighs and Arts dripping oral member lead you to a crisp pleasurable cry.

“Shit,” Art took a brief exhale as he pulled away from your entrance, dampened lips of your juices going wide with a grin and he ran his palms over your slick thighs again,

“you’re so fucking wet for me, princess. You gonna take my dick? Let me make you feel good?”

“Mmm, please. Fill me up, Art. I wanna feel you.”

“You gotta be quite for me, baby.” Art stood to his feet.

You didn’t care. All you could think about was dick. Arts phenomenal dick. You wanted him to toss you over and split you open till you were sobbing on his thick member, your wine drunk friends would understand. A girl has her needs.

The risk made your blood pressure rise as the moment went on, when Art reached over you to tug your panties dangling from your thighs all the way down — he kicked them off to the side. Taking note of his own belt buckle and undoing it quickly, which you only grew more greedy by the sound of him unzipping his fly. The blondes aquamarine orbs swam with the need to pump you fuller than you’d ever taken him.

“Bend over for me, sweet girl..” Art breathed out softly as his slightly calloused hands ran from your hip up your spine while you did so, bending over fully and displaying your sweet dripping cunt for the mans lidded eyes. He sucked in his breath and his now aroused dick twitched when it unveiled from his boxers — going barmy with just how tiny and soft you looked beyond him.

“So fucking tight and small- - your amazing with the way you take me when I barely fit in, sweets.”

You bit down on your finger as you watched Art run his hands over your ass. Take your hips and line his cock up with your hole. He hissed at the way your soaking cunt wet his tip, you almost croaked out a deep moan at his gestures to tease your pussy. Just nodding along as you’d gone cock drunk before he’d even been in you. Your nails run at the marble counter as Art slowly burrowed into your drooling core. Working you open as his cock disappeared into your body inch by inch — he pushed your thigh higher onto the ledge as you whined at the stretch.

“Ah.. mmm- - fuck, fuck, fuck,” you groaned as you adjusted to the size of his warmth finally filling you full. Art was big. And he’d never want to put you, his sweet doll in discomfort for long, never. So when he started to plunge into you, he watched as your face scrunched up from ache to pleasure in time. His name sputtering from your mouth as you clawed at the counter top and he watched your pussy lips that were just throbbing around his erection like it was begging to be so sporadically fucked by him.

“That’s it baby doll,” his own groans heightened as his hips knock into your cervix, chasing that spot of yours till you were moaning and whimpering like a slut around him. Hole so full with yours and his pre-cum and you sucked in your bottom lip, tussled hair going wild on your back. You just had to look over your shoulder to watch him — see Arts gorgeous face as he snapped against you all shimmering with light sweat as he focused on the way a ring of your wetness pooled around his base.

“You love this, hu? Getting me to fuck you while your friends carry on without you- - At your party. But you just had to come.. looking for daddy’s cock, yeah? You love being a dirty, dirty girl for me.” Art rasped as he clenched his jaw with the overwhelming feeling of your tight cunt clenching him. It made your skin feel like it had been sparked with fire, so exhilarated. He put his hands in your hair to fuck into you as your jaw dangled open.

“Oh! F-fuck! I needed that big fucking dick, daddy… w-want you to cum all over me, mmm- -” you were choking out whimpers and your pretty little hole dripped with Arts pre-seed slipping from you, making it drag out when he pulled out of your pussy to turn you around and pick you up in one swift motion. Your high pitched gasp echoed as you wrapped your legs around the mans abdomen and Art set you on the counter. His lips curl up into a smirk and his eyes met your wide doe set ones. Slipping back into you he watched you cry out his name. Rutting into your heavenly body at this angle, hands go squeezing your thighs, and Art kept them apart as he took you at a wild pace. Hitting that gooey spot till you didn’t remember your own name. “Good fucking girl. That’s it- - such a sweet thing for me, taking all of my cock. It was made for you, doll.”

You couldn’t even catch your self as you’d leaned back on the counter and let Art pound into you. Your tits bounced with each thrust and you were shuttering as your orgasm ripped through you without warning. “Yes ! Ooh- - shit, yes yes yes…” you were whining out as you came on Arts dick. He held your legs spread as he grunted and watched you soak him uncontrollably. You loved it. Feeling like his perfect little gift. Art licked over his lips at the sight of your beauty, throwing your head back in bliss, he pulled out of you and pushed up your dainty little baby doll top — making space as he pumped his throbbing dick over your stomach till he himself came hard. Ropes shooting out on your candescent skin and making sure some got on your pussy just for the fun of it, he grinned and trailed his thumb up your gentle inner calf that had been dangling by his side.

You were whimpering like you’d gotten your brains fucked out to the sweetest soundtrack you’d ever heard. Art was so cinematic in moments like these, he leaned up to kiss at the nape of your neck, cheek, and lips.

“Pretty, perfect girl.. I love you.” Your gentleman muttered against your mouth. You smiled and sunk your teeth into your bottom lip as Art brought your panties up to help you slip them back over your thighs and to your feet as steady as you could. Dressing himself as well, he glanced down at you through his hooded eyes to see your impressively only slightly disheveled state. You were just always glowing, it was hard to make that go away anyways.

“You sleeping down here tonight?” Art buckled his pants again as he questioned you with a soft raised brow. You started to smirk at the way he was heading. You shrug.

“Maybe, maybe not… I’ll sneak into your room when they’re sleep, if you want.” You offered the man, the glint in your eye saying you’d suck his cock and let him have you in as many different positions as he’d like in a couple hours till you were all tapped out. The blonde only scuffed and towered over your presence that was still taken by your hoyden attitude, just to turn you back towards the doorway.

“Go host your party.” he taunted almost fatherly, to then leave a light slap on your ass that made you giggle on the way out.

[accio-victuuri]

all the cpn for wyb’s 27th birthday part two 🎉💕

oh hello there. we are now on part ii of this clowning session and i’m gonna just put this here because i think it speaks for itself. p1 is xz’s bday post from last year and p2 is bobo’s for this year. see the similarities? the composition of the shot, their silhouette and it’s like you can’t see anything for miles. they really have the same braincell. twin flames. i’m sure wyb must have much cooler shots of himself with all the places he’s been and what he’s done. why not him car racing? or photos from his time abroad? playing tennis? why this?

and that emoji he used, it’s like yeah i’m cool and also joking with xz. look, my photo looks like yours from last year gege 😎

we don’t even have to try and reach that much, it’s literally in our face. it’s so szd!

now let’s look at the other much less obvious clues

the yibo-official short video. i was honestly expecting a photoset from them at 10 or 10:30 but i was wrong lol. i’m surprised they posted at 11:55, cause we are sensitive with 55. i have to say that it’s so cuteeee and i like the details that were magnified. also the probability of yibo spending his special day camping and enjoying himself is giving me so much joy! ^^

but who do we know also spent their bday last year camping? with his literal cake in a camping theme?

i mean.. come on! why is it always them? 😂😂😂 there just too many coincidences. it has always been their thing but coming up as themes for this bday is next level.

what seems to be a snowy mountain at the back? 👀

let’s add some more observations.

the panther who seems to be singing and on a swing which is a nice addition! hahahahahaha! the panther is supposed to be cool but singing makes it more real. the cake with green and red and the body looks to be yellow? what a nice combination! the helmet inside the tent! that reminds us of when xz gifted wyb a helmet. and the photo of wei ruolai! it’s a common cpn that xz really likes the character of lai lai <3

EDIT: there are also 27 fallen leaves! 🍃 kinda like the 29 light bulbs in GG’s bday art before. this level of detail is something else!

lastly, i will talk about this tag. right now as of writing, it’s #3 on entertainment HS. which is really high considering we are competing with hundred flowers award and olympics tags.

i don’t think this is the time to get technical on what age is who blah blah blah blah. it’s already there. i can see a certain group of people foaming at the mouth because of this, but if they are so angry, then maybe they can work harder in posting for the other bday tag. anyway, i see this one as a really sweet tag. it’s been years and both of them have come a long way. the same also applies to the the fandom. 💛

yibo will grow up slowly and appreciate his life, xz will always be there beside him 🌸

P.S: PART ONE IS HERE IF YOU HAVEN’T READ IT YET ✨✌🏼

[vettelsdarling]

𝐑𝐞𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝

Lissie note… Here’s the winner of the poll (winner of this season as well)! Anyways, so sorry for my absence… hope this makes up for it❤️

Summary: Reader used to date George, as they’d been friends since birth. However, she takes a liking to someone he considers an enemy on the track: Max Verstappen. They do say revenge is best served cold… and who is colder than the star of Red Bull himself?

Things to note:

Reader is a year younger than Max (same age as George)

Reader made her break in Tennis

George and Reader are not on good terms (he cheated) (this is not a jab at George btw. My fav team is literally Mercedes)

The whole deal is pretty “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”.

Some of the fc is Emma Raducanu (my fav tennis player❤️)

Pairing: Max Verstappen x George’s ex gf!Fem!Reader

Warnings: none really

Taglist: @drugged-kitkat, @darleneslane, @allwaysallyway

Playlist Recommendations: 𝐅𝐥𝐮𝐟𝐟💗, 𝐌𝐕���

yourusername

Liked by francisca.cgomes, charlottesiine, landonorris and 345,288 others

yourusername Stressful training all week. Ready to show off this weekend!🔥

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charlottesiine Yess! I’ll be watching! Btw, was he any good at tennis?

yourusername He wishes he was me. Should stick to racing.

user1 guys… the third pic…🧍‍♀️

user2 Didn’t George and her split like a few months ago?

user3 New guy? Who’s this🤨

user4 Her brother maybe?

user5 @ user4 Nah, did you see the comment Cha posted and the response to it? That’s def a new guy

user6 @ user5 it’s someone on the grid

user7 Ughhh I can’t wait for this weekend😩👏

user8 Is this the sound of my parasocial relationship crackling?

user9 WHO IS THAT?

user10 Ten bucks it’s Charles

user11 I’ll take that action. Ten it’s Lando

sportsgossip

26,468 likes

sportsgossip someone spotted a certain tennis player with a certain Red Bull driver… anonymous tip! Seems like someone is over George already…

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user1 Wtf WHEN WAS THIS?

user2 Her recent post…😭

user3 MAX? WHAT😃

user4 I kinda love that omg

maxverstappen1

Liked by yourusername, landonorris, charles_leclerc and 668,378 others

maxverstappen1 Just appreciating the view❤️

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yourusername Conveniently free this weekend

Liked by maxverstappen1

landonorris I’m living for this shade

Liked by maxverstappen1

user1 George is absolutely shitting himself rn I just know

user2 She traded a rookie for a world champion

user3 I respect it

user4 I love that Max is subtly hinting that George didn’t appreciate her as much as he does😭

user5 It’s honestly kinda cute

user6 Shade aside, it really is

user7 George is missing out

user8 Okay but she is GORGEOUS

user9 Can someone give some background info? Why did she and George break up?

user10 Allegedly, George cheated on her with someone he met at a post-race party. She got an anonymous tip about it and they couldn’t seem to work things out I guess… but yeah. Everything is alleged.

user9 Oh okay thanks that’s helpful

yourusername

Liked by charlottesiine, francisca.cgomes, maxverstappen1 and 573,266 others

yourusername This week was just 🤍🤍🤍

Tagged: charlottesiine

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charlottesiine Must do this again🤍

yourusername Agreed🤍

francisca.cgomes Where was I in this🤨

Liked by yourusername

user1 Okay but these two are literally the best friend dynamic ever.

user2 Two pretty best friends… could never be us @ randomuser

user3 I’m genuinely so confused by her relationship status rn but the fact that her and Cha are still friends??? LOVE IT

user4 Here’s me wishing I was a wag or whatever…🧍‍♀️

user5 Relatable

user6 Can’t wait for her to post pics with Max👏

user7 I mean… it isn’t official though. Is it?

user8 I don’t think she will do that unless she also confirms her relationship with him

user6 @ user8 Max already posted her…

user9 I just know she’s friendly

user10 She is! I went to one of her opens and she signed my card of her and gave me a hug. She even offered to stay around for pictures and stuff.

wagsf1

12,289 likes

wagsf1 @ yourusername and @ maxverstappen after his race win🌸

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user1 I’m seriously just wondering HOW George is feeling about all this

user2 Whatever he feels abt it… he deserves it.

user3 George is probably crying in the garage

user4 They’re so cute though😭❤️

user5 They’re my new fav couple on the grid.

maxverstappen1

Liked by yourusername, landonorris, charles_leclerc and 637,389 others

maxverstappen1 I don’t think I could’ve been luckier than this❤️

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yourusername ❤️❤️❤️

Liked by maxverstappen1

user1 I’m happy she broke things off with George cause this is just so cute

user2 Maybe don’t bring it up in Max’s comments💀💀

user3 I love how he’s acting like they’ve been dating for years😭

user4 I mean… he has EVERY right to

user5 This is what I mean when I say I want to date

user6 Ik they recently started dating but I just know they’re going to last

user7 Max is so dedicated like wtaf😭 We did not see this from George

user8 We really didn’t💀

user9Max talked about her in the most recent post-race interview😭❤️

user10 This relationship is going to set unrealistic standards for me😭😭😭

yourusername

Liked by maxverstappen1, charlottesiine, francisca.cgomes and 738,267 others

yourusername Another win added to my collection🎾🔥 Kind of like you @ maxverstappen1

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charlottesiine I should have seen it live! You were amazing🤍

yourusername ugh I love you

user1 YESSS👏

user2 She’s an icon

user3 Fav wag and fav tennis player

user4 George is MISSING OUTTTT

user5 Wimbledon win upcoming🔥

user6 Manifesting it🙏

user7 Her and Max stacking up wins is a new form of couple goals I haven’t seen before. I love it.

user8 Literally

user9 She’s so pretty❤️

user10 Max is lucky

maxverstappen1 posted a new story

yourusername posted a new story

maxverstappen1

Liked by yourusername, landonorris, christianhorner and 587,399 others

maxverstappen1 Taking a break from reality❤️

Tagged: yourusername

View all comments

yourusername ❤️

landonorris Now I know who you’ve been ditching me for

yourusername know your place

landonorris @ yourusername 🤨🤨🤨

user1 So it’s official then

user2 I don’t know who I’d rather be😩

user3 We never saw this content with George🤡

user4 Max and her are the definition of a perfect couple omfg

user5 They’re so cute wtf

yourusername

Liked by maxverstappen1, charlottesiine, lilymhe and 573,295 others

yourusername Should I start curling my hair more often?✨

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charlottesiine You’re already gorgeous but that hair is so cute🥰

Liked by yourusername

maxverstappen1 You’re beautiful no matter what you do with your hair❤️

Liked by yourusername

user1 FABULOUS YET AGAIN😮‍💨

user2 I would leave my current relationship for her

user3 She’s so Lana coded and I love it

user4 She’s just so tennis coded and old money and I’m in loveeee

user5 The fact that SHE was cheated on?🧍‍♀️

user6 Puts things into perspective

user7 I’ve come to realize that it doesn’t matter how pretty you are anymore😭💀

user8 I’m literally buying tickets to her next game so I can shove marriage papers in her face

user9 I’ll beat you to it

user10 Why Max… why not me😐

𝗥𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻…

𝘾𝙝𝙚𝙘𝙠 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙪𝙡𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙜𝙪𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚!

𝙃𝙚𝙧𝙚’𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩

𝙃𝙚𝙧𝙚’𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙖𝙜𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩! (𝙄𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙤𝙣, 𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚 𝙬𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨, 𝙙𝙢𝙨, 𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙨𝙠𝙨: 𝙒𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝙙𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧(𝙨) 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝙩𝙮𝙥𝙚(𝙨) 𝙤𝙛 𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙩𝙖𝙜𝙜𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣.)

[ladysarai]

Inception Olympics AU Fanwork Fest!

The other day I posted a little interest check, and it looks like there is some interest! So here we go!

Day 26 of @inception30daychallenge this year was "Which summer Olympic sport would each character compete in?" and the fandom answered with countless AMAZING ideas! Between that and the actual Summer Olympics happening in Paris, I went searching for Olympics AUs for Inception. I found some, but not nearly enough!

I am putting out the call to Inception fandom: Bring us Olympics AUs!

I've created a collection over at AO3: Inception Olympics AU Fanwork Fest | Archive of Our Own

The collection is unmoderated and open for posting! For fanworks that can't be posted to AO3 (or for those who don't have AO3 accounts), please post here on Tumblr and use the hashtag #inceptionolympicsAUfest.

As inspiration and a gift, I have found and bookmarked all of the existing Olympics AUs I could find on AO3, here! There are 14, 5 of which are part of a series! And, as per usual with this fandom, they are all of them EXCELLENT. Do yourself a favor and go enjoy them, then create some of your own!! (If I have missed a fic, please let me know!)

I figure this can run for the month of August. If you're inspired or have started something and haven't finished it by then, that's okay! The real goal of this fest is to create more fun AUs and amazing fanworks. So let's have some fun!

FAQ and more info under the cut.

What can I work on for this fest?

This is meant to be a collection of fanworks, including:

fanfics (no word limits (min or max), no deadline or start date)

fanarts

fan mixes

gif sets

a collection of prompts up for adoption

Rec lists

literally anything accepted...

Gen or ANY pairings

Whatever!

Anything goes!

Are there any prompts?

Not officially! But here are some ideas:

Men's gymnastics AU (I mean, look at this shit!)

Fencing AU!

Equestrian events! Any/all of them!

Wrestling/Boxing/Judo AU!

Swimming AU!

Diving AU!

Bicycling AU!

Shooting AUs--guns or archery!

Tennis AU! (Look. Dom and Arthur as a duo. Maybe up against Eames and Yusuf? GUARANTEED CHAOS.)

Rowing AU!

A full list of all Olympic sports to choose from!!

Competing coaches! Good coaches, bad coaches!

Are your faves on a team together?

Or do they compete against each other in the SAME SPORT?

Do they compete in DIFFERENT sports and support each other??

Are there career ending/threatening injuries leading to hurt/comfort??

Does everyone win a gold medal?

Does NO ONE win but get to go home with something better than a medal??

JUST THINK of all the shenanigans that can be got into in the Olympic Village!

PARALYMPICS!!! Why are they competing the paralympics?! Is it one character or several?!

What are the Rules?

Create a thing, post it to this collection! If you're on Tumblr, tag a post with #inceptionolympicsAUfest

Make sure the thing you make is for the Inception fandom.

Make sure the Olympics or Paralympics are somehow part of the story. (Even if the story is that they don't qualify for the Olympics!)

Be kind to each other.

Let your imagination run wild!

Have fun!

That's it.

Is there a deadline?

Currently I'm thinking this could work as a month of August 2024 thing, but obviously anything submitted at any time will be welcomed! And I can guarantee I'll want this again come the Winter Games. I know myself.

[mossyivy]

CHRIS STANS RISE!!! WE NEED TO GIVE THAT MAN MORE LOVE AND ATTENTION!!! 😤

Domestic Chris…Because that’s my specialty. 🥹

I see Chris having three kids, two boys, one girl. He’d be the type of dad to push his boys so hard, always expecting the best of the best from them. His daughter as well, but not as harsh. I see them all pretty close in age, maybe 1-2 years apart for each kid.

He’d have his boys do all sorts of sports and activities. Football, baseball, basketball, tennis, track, cross country, you name it, they do it. Chris would also help them practice, especially in football and baseball. His daughter would probably do ballet, tennis, and be in the Girl Scouts with Cecilia, and maybe do drama with Violet as well.

Also, it’s very much cannon that Chris spoils his daughter 10X more than his boys. His little girl wants to go on a Sephora shopping trip? Take his card and go crazy. His boys want to go out with their friends? Here’s $25 for the both of you.

Chris is also such a loving husband. He’d buy you gifts “Just because”. Or if you mention a new designer purse online, it would mysteriously show up on the dining table to greet you when you woke up…With a handwritten note of course. You were very much a spoiled wife, but he didn’t care, you gave him three beautiful kids for god sakes, of course he’d buy you whatever you want.

If there was ever a time any of your boys were disrespectful to you while he was gone, (Because they know better than to mess with their mother while dad’s around.) He’d give them the “You don’t disrespect MY wife.” Talk. Ugh, 😣 give me a chance Chris…☹️

- Anon! 🎀

🎀 ANON I FUCKING LOVE YOU I'VE BEEN WANTING TO TALK ABOUT HIM BUT NO ONE REALLY DOES MUCH IN THE CHRIS TAG ANYMORE AND THAT PLUMMETS MY MOTIVATION!!!

But I'll scream with you anyday bb!!!

(I'm sorry this is so long I just couldn't help myself 😭)

Okay so I've had the idea that Chris met someone with a child from a previous relationship (Your first born son, Let's name him Oliver and call him Ollie for short! He's like 2 years older than Violet. He struggles a bit in school so they're in the same grade, along with his younger brother, after he was held back in 5th and 8th grade but that's okay! Everyone struggles!)

Ollie was like 2 when they first met. Your ex-husband was a HORRIBLE MAN, absolutely terrible to you and the only good thing he ever did was bless you with Ollie. That's it.

Chris and his wife met through work (let's be honest here, how tf else would he meet a woman? Chris is very much a workaholic.) His wife is basically the lead of the BSAA's dispatch response team (Basically what Hunnigan does at the FOS but the BSAA's version) and she's good at her job. Very strong willed and mouthy as a mf. Isn't scared to go back at anyone over the radio and definitely got into it with Chris once or twice before they officially met.

(catch me posting what happened when they met in person the first chance someone asks)

Anyway!!

After y'all start dating it doesn't take long before you introduce Chris to your son and Ollie is just OBSESSED with Chris. Like you've never seen this kid so excited to see another human being until Chris shows up. You two only started dating for a few months and Ollie already calls Chris dad. You try correcting him scared AF that Chris is gonna get freaked out but he's actually super chill with it. He's use to taking care of people, he basically raised Claire after their parents died but this little guy is much younger and a lot more fun and excitable than Claire was.

A few months into the relationship you find out you're pregnant. Chris is excited but also freaking out with how often he's gone. But everything works out and you end up having your second son, Christopher Jr but CJ for short.

You and Chris end up getting married not long after your first anniversary after the babies born. Not making a big deal out of anything just getting papers signed and having a little get together celebrating everything.

2 years go by, Ollie's in Kindergarten and CJ does daycare. You start getting horribly ill out of nowhere. So you go get checked out and oh God you're pregnant again...

(This would be the point in time where Leon starts bugging for another baby with his wife)

9 months of Chris being a nervous wreck fly by and the world meets your daughter, Talulla, Lulu for short.

Chris would be adamant on sticking the kids in after school activities once they're old enough. His boys would do sports and his baby girl in softball and girl scouts so she can hangout with her pseudo cousins. (Her being 2 years younger than Violet and 2 years older than Cecilia) Until her older cousin quits cause girl scouts are for babies (🙄)

Chris and his wife would be UBER COMPETITIVE when it came to cookie selling season. It's all out war between the Redfield's and Kennedy's every year.

I feel like Ollie would also really be musically gifted and play piano for the school choir and musicals. Lulu would Ed up wanting to do drama but be a stage hand or in the costume department. She's actually very shy.

CJ is basically Chris when he was a kid. Always doing stupid shit... Getting in trouble over the dumbest of things but looking out for others. (Definitely beat up that kid who was picking on Violet when they were 7.)

You're getting calls from the school at least once a month because CJ got in trouble for either getting into an argument with a teacher over rules or another kid tried something stupid.

[queenharumiura]

Neo’s RP HISTORY

The rules are simple! Post characters you’d like to roleplay as, have roleplayed as, and might bring back. Then, tag ten people to do the same ( if you can’t think of ten, just write down however many you can and tag that number of people ). Please repost, don’t reblog!

CURRENT MUSE/S (including those I haven't closed officially):

Canon muses: Haru Miura (KHR), Hibari Kyouya (KHR), Kyoko Sasagawa (Kyoko), Lambo Bovino (KHR), Daemon Spade (KHR), Fon (KHR), Shugarl (Defense Devil), Ponsol (Defense Devil), Jupiter (Defense Devil), Mizumachi Kengo (Eyeshield 21), Dongmin Ahn (Transfer Student Storm Bringer), and Sesshomaru (Inuyasha).

OCs: Ravein Twine (Mostly in KHR Verse), Pino Rossi (KHR oc), Alistair Stalkin (fandomless- vampire lord of next oc), Wilfred B. Carroe (Fandomless, butler), Fiore Rossi (KHR first gen OC, yes I like the last name Rossi. Sue me lol)), and Miho Gu (A kitsune oc who... ugh... I still haven't officially opened up yet bc... yeah... lazy... and scared ig)). I technically have 20 OCs on another blog-- though I mostly made it for me to throw information into whenever I felt like it. I wasn't that serious about it being a RP blog. Consider those half a point. Oh, also Noriko Narita (forum RP oc for Eyeshield 21)... and... ehehe;;; Lotella Shabondama (forum rp ... One Piece eheheheheheeheheh) NPCs but not actually requestable: Kazehime (Inuyasha), Tamako (Inuyasha), Hebisuke (Inuyasha), Kazumi (Inuyasha), Kaze no Tsuki (Inuyasha), Kii (Inuyasha), Kazuha (Inuyasha), Goro (Inuyasha), Popo (Technically Inuyasha), Sai (Inuyasha, Rocco (KHR), Leonard (KHR), Lorenzo (KHR), Luna (KHR), Akihiko (KHR), Hanako (KHR), Sayuri (KHR), Kazuyuki (KHR), Yumi (KHR), Shohei (KHR), Camilla (KHR), Hanako (KHR), Eiko (KHR), Kenichi (KHR), Toshiro (KHR), and Carmello Rossi (KHR). Roberto (Associated with Ravein, so he's mostly fandomless). There are more NPC muses but i'm too lazy now to list even more.

WANT  TO  WRITE  (but  never  will):

I considered Yamamoto Takeshi, Gokudera Hayato, Xanxus, Cervello, Nana, Alaude, from KHR and then for one reason or another said no. I considered Natsume Takashi from 'Natsume Yuujinchou'. I almost considered virtually the entire cast of the 'Trash of the Count's Family' but managed to say no. Too much work. I did consider Huang Shaotian from 'The Kings Avatar' but said no bc lololol i'm not a gamer, this would be very difficult for me. I love his energy though. I probably forgot who else.

HAVE WRITTEN:

Heroman Vasco from 'Lookism', Tarras Doberg from 'Witch Hunter/Buster', Mako Jun (Deviantart RP group OC). So many more... let's see who I can remember! I remember a Gintama OC Mio... Chiaki, maybe? There was another Gintama OC Kyoko... don't remember the last name, Ayame Toriumi (Prince of Tennis oc), a Hakuoki oc named Hotaru, a Heart no Kuni no Alice OC Tamantha. There was also a Yu Yu Hakusho Demon OC named Kira. All of these were from my forum days. There are more... but I don't remember the names anymore. For trivia, I don't remember names, but there was an OC for Saiyuki Reload. There was another One piece OC. I also had an Ouran Highschool host club OC... maybe two of them. There were two Naruto OCs. Had an OC for Soul Eater. That's all that comes to mind now.

WOULD WRITE AGAIN:

The Forum OCs are retired and I probably won't ever write them again. Mako Jun, I'd probably have to brush up on every now and again when the mam of his husband Atlas pops in to chat. (Every few years kekw) We just chat about how we miss the DA RP group and how things are going. She still rp's on DA a lil bit but now RP as their kids! Other than that, if I retired a muse officially, I had reasons for it. The only one I'd write again would be Tarras if we finally got someone who would pick up translations again and we finally got his backstory.

Tagged by: @squaletta

Tagging: I don't tag, tag yourself

[bahamutgames]

SAGE 2023 Postin'

Yay!! SAGE 2023 has started! Last year I didn't make the time to play much of anything despite having a year to do it lmao, and that really bummed me out so I really wanted to get ahead of the curve and go ahead and play some stuff! Idk how much I'll play from this year's showing cause there's a LOT of great stuff! But I'll make however many posts it takes. Here's what I played tonight that I think YOU should check out!!

Dotty Game - by Wootinaboot

A game from a friend of mine! This is a SUPER cute Megaman like where you play as an ADORABLE little bug and blast mushrooms! This demo is really neat cause it's actually a gameboy file that I had to play through emulator! Although, you can just play it in browser on their itch so that's nice too! Controls are tight, sprites are great, music is REALLY nice and I was surprised by how challenging it could get with some of the bosses. There's also a LOT of hidden stuff to find so be sure to play it all the way through! You do NOT want to miss the special surprise let me tell you!

The Wingless Bee - by Ryansil

Another game from a friend and famously, the creator of Pac-Man as you all know. This game I was not expecting at all, it's actually very similar to Frogger! Though it is kind of gloomy and sad. But it's cool and the demo really shows some neat stuff like perspective changes and boss fights. It's simple but I genuinely had an out loud "AHA!" moment when I figured out how to fight the boss. Cool stuff!

Sonic McOrigins Plus - by Difgue

FINALLY, GAMING IS GOOD AGAIN! I have SO MUCH nostalgia for these old Sonic McDonald's toys! I tried to collect all of them but obviously couldn't (I didn't even realize there were SO many!) But I can relive wonderful memories of Shadow Grinding, Shadow vs Omega Hockey, AiAi Banana Catcher, Amy and Rouge Tennis ect ect. I knew there were efforts to archive these types of game & watch styled games but I hadn't really tried any before myself. This feels great and even works great on my dinky phone!

F-ZERO POCKET - by Linky493

This was such a neat one! F-ZERO on Gameboy Color! It has a TON of characters and tracks, I was actually seriously shocked by how much was in here. It's a little difficult to play though but weirdly enough I feel like that's authentic to how a GBC F-ZERO would be. If you're a fan you gotta check it out the novelty of this one alone is so good!

Toree Saturn - by Siactro

Probably the least surprising thing I've ever said by this point: I love Toree! I've played the whole series and I think at this point I've S ranked every stage in the series??? Maybe? It's been a bit since I looked. So of course I had to try Toree Saturn! I hadn't seen gameplay prior to playing this so I figured it was just gonna be another level pack. But to my delight, no! It's actually a Toree Sequel! A brand new game! New models, new moves and mechanics! Now I am BEYOND excited for this game! I still have to play Kiwi 64 but it looks amazing and Siactro hasn't missed once yet. This was a lovely surprise!

Dono's Tale - by Super Item Studios

WOW! WOW WOW WOW! This one absolutely blew me away! I've had my eye on this game for a bit (I'm so sorry I missed the kickstarter, y'all, I WISH I HAD MORE MONEY I'D FUND SO MANY INDIE GAMES!) But I finally got to try it with this demo and just WOW! This game is SO good! Absolutely GORGEOUS artwork that looks so authentically SNES it's amazing. Super cute music and designs, this was an absolute treat! My favorite powers were fire + wings! I wish you had more use for the other powers, though I do assume a full game will have levels soley based around each of Dono's abilities. This game rules!

Bub's Big Blowout - by Miles' Games

DUDE THIS GAME LOOKS REAL!? FAN GAMES JUST STRAIGHT UP LOOK LIKE OFFICIAL GAMES NOWADAYS THIS IS NUTS!! Bub's Big Blowout is a 3D Platformer translation of Bubble Bobble and honestly, it rules! I genuinely think Taito should give them the resources they need to make this a real game cause this is SO high quality and it's just the demo! I don't even think the game is done. This seriously looks and feels amazing! Only issue is I couldn't get my controller to work with it, but if it did I think this would feel almost 100% official

Sonic Battle Rush - by FreeGilio

A 2D Sonic Fighter? Using Sonic Battle Sprites? And Shadow has a Mephiles alt? YES YES YES!! A 2D Sonic Fighting Game is basically one of my dream games, but surprisingly I haven't tried any of the dozen fan attempts at the concept... Until today! This demo only features Sonic and Shadow and 3 stages, but it absolutely RULES! Both characters feel fantastic and unique and have fully fleshed out movesets! I was even able to string together some goofy little combos by myself and overall it felt super satisfying to play. Also there's a ton of modes and even ways to loadout your characters such as having 2 at once or taking turns. So the demo has lots to do! I'll absolutely be keeping up with this game going forward!

---

Today I just played some stuff that caught my eye from the SAGE 2023 trailer but I will try to play some more stuff as the year goes along! So if you have anything you think I'd like or if YOU submitted anything to Sage that you want me to look at just cause you want people to see your game? Why not, send that to me too!

There's so many amazing indie games it's genuinely hard to keep up with all of them. But SAGE is seriously becoming my favorite place to just discover new stuff or finally get to try things I'm excited for! Again I'm bummed it just kinda slipped my mind to try anything from last year but already we're not repeating that mistake. I encourage you to go try some stuff too if you have the time! Or at least just take a look at what's available! Everyone put in a LOT of hard work on these games!

[hieranarchy]

Rating Cannes Grand Prix Winners

Whoosh. Another Cannes Ad Festival has come and gone, and here I am, empty-handed yet full of opinions on who actually deserves their Lion. Rawr. Here we go.

Brand Experience & Activation /

Fifa 23 X Ted Lasso, for EA Sports and Apple, by Apple, Cupertino, and EA Sports, Redwood

Maybe I'm not into football, maybe i'm not familiar with the show Ted Lasso. It's a collaboration that makes sense, but importing existing real-life characters and objects into the meta verse? Done to death and hardly ground-breaking. Next.

Creative B2B /

EART4, for B3 Stock Exchange and United Nations Global Impact, by AlmapBBDO, São Paulo

Listing Earth as a stock. Interesting. But im still confused--do people actually buy and sell the shares like it's a real stock? Because Eart4 certainly does not look bullish to me.

Creative Business Transformation /

ADLaM – An Alphabet To Preserve A Culture, for Microsoft, by McCann New York

It's nice that big corp have to occasionally do something meaningful to keep up their brand image. Suss out a semi-dire issue in third world communities and offer to solve it with basic technology. A low-hanging fruit and fail-proof award-clinching method. No complaints, I guess.

Creative Commerce /

The Subconscious Order, for HungerStation, by Wunderman Thompson, Riyadh

Um I have many issues with this idea. Firstly 'subconscious choice' could just as easily be 'marketing manipulation'. Who knows when they show you that you're craving a McMuffin at midnight that it's not because Macdonalds paid them a few extra grand to be featured? Secondly does my eye lingering at some eye-catching image of a blue-coloured ice cream necessarily mean I want blueberry gelato for dessert? I'm not sure if this kind of measurement is accurate. The insight of choice overload is true though, just not a fan of this solution.

Creative Data /

The Artois Probability, for Stella Artois, by GUT, Buenos Aires

I usually love ideas that dive into arts/history/pop culture. But all these efforts just to prove that Artois was the beer of choice in Victorian times and has a legacy dating back to the B.C. era or sth...is kinda lame. Also verifying the Artois brand through the illustrations of a can? ...I can't.

*I know it's been a slew of disappointment so far, but stay with me, there are some worthy ideas below.*

Creative Effectiveness /

Shah Rukh Kahn-My-Ad, for Cadbury Celebrations, by Ogilvy Mumbai

The first positively creative one so far. Now this is how you leverage data and tech effectively: by making one superstar ad and replicating it by the hundreds to promote small and local businesses. The doors to deep fake AI are officially thrown wide open. Yay and also, yikes👀

Creative Strategy /

Plug-Inn, for Renault, by Publicis Conseil, Paris

Whoever thought of this, you sold yourself short by selling this idea to Renault as a campaign. It's basically a peer-to-peer AirBnB business model. Should've pitched this as your own personal side hustle start-up.

Never Done Evolving Featuring Serena, for Nike, by AKQA, Portland, and AKQA Melbourne

Paying homage the glorious (23-time Grand Slam winner) career of tennis legend Serena Williams is very on brand for Nike. It's like a very cool passion project of a sports enthusiast. Unfortunately, I am no sports enthusiast.

Direct /

Runner 321, for Adidas, by FCB Toronto

I love that 321 refers to Trisomy 21 (Down syndrome) and also sounds like 3,2,1, ready set go. An elegant idea to kickstart a new tradition.

Entertainment For Gaming /

Clash From The Past, for Clash of Clans, by Wieden + Kennedy, Portland.

No, just no. Again, huge waste of effort that amounts to basically nothing. Sorry Clash of Clans fans, but we really need technology and man-hours to be used more productively.

-OK 10 VIDEO LIMIT I'LL CONT IN THE NEXT POST-

[benjaminsblog]

4.3.23

I experienced a new role today - football output (doing the match, basically) based at Stockley Park near Heathrow. I covered Aston Villa v Crystal Palace and felt satisfied with how it went.

I spent a couple of days earlier in the week quickly learning the ropes, as it had been assumed I’d previously performed this job. All in all it wasn’t a particularly stressful process, but I would’ve preferred for it not to take up half of my week given that I was due to fly to Indian Wells the day after the match. If it was something I’d done before, then it would have only been one day. Oh well.

The game was better than I expected; I’m seriously out of the loop with football these days so maybe that was an unfair assumption, but the first half was rather sprightly. Not 4 minutes in and the wonder that is VAR got involved - Wilfried Zaha finished off a nice Palace move before (eventually) being ruled offside by the paint on his football boot. Fortunately, my training had been thorough enough to prepare me for such an eventuality, and I removed the goal I had awarded them moments earlier.

Villa were the better team after that, and went ahead thanks to a Palace defender sending a dangerous cross into his own net. Palace went down to ten men in the second half which turned the game into a bit of a procession, but I got a nice little workout on the keys. I even channelled my inner Stats Man and got a couple of interesting figures out - despite both teams putting the ball in the net, there wasn’t an official shot on target in the first half!

And now I can look ahead to 3 (three!) weeks in California, covering the tennis tournament before I get a few days to myself to explore Los Angeles. Something tells me the blog post count is about to spike…

[theunderestimator-2]

The late Sandy West, former drummer for The Runaways and possibly the  hardest rockin’ female drummer of all times, here on a guest performance at The Coconut Teaszer, LA, in 1993, as captured by Jerry Venemann.

Her parents wanted her to be a violinist, so she could form a string quartet along with her sisters but Sandy, a real tomboy and a roughhouser, made it clear right from the start that she was not going to follow in the classical path. Her thing was to live up to any challenge to do whatever the guys did -which proved to be both Sandy's lifelong drive and part of her downfall. She played tennis and basketball, swam competitively, ran track, surfed, waterskied and rode horses, being incredibly energetic, hysterical, very funny and athletic.

Having strong arms like Tina Turner has legs, she was born to rock and was acknowledged as a true powerhouse and a force of nature behind the drums during her time with the Queens of noise. Sadly, West was one of the only of her bandmates who never went onto the post-band life she deserved, thanks partly to addiction and partly to Kim Fowley’s financial manipulations. The Runaways officially dissolved in 1979 and though Sandy continued to pursue music with the Sandy West Band or reunited with Cherie Currie and Jackie Fox playing  small gigs, the bad combination of wild success, partying hard with drugs, an unfair record deal and the fall from fame led to desperate measures.

Unfortunately Sandy struggled hard and eventually resorted to a life of crime and drugs to pay her bills, arrested and jailed repeatedly. She freebased coke, took crystal meth and became a drug runner and dealer's muscle, breaking people’s arms and shoving guns down their throat.

“Because Sandy's life didn't move forward as well as the others', it was easier for her to fall back on drinking and drugs,” says Alcock [John Alcock, producer of The Runawys final album]. “She started doing some fairly heavy partying with fans and hangers-on, people I didn't know, somewhere down in the beach communities. Those were not great people.”

She would disappear with these people, into black holes of drug-fueled behavior. Family and friends staged interventions; West went into rehab a few times. But she always fell off the wagon.

At one point, says Currie, “she came over to the house and she was freebasing cocaine, which I tried desperately to get her to stop. It was extremely difficult to watch her do it. Having been in her position, I knew all the begging in the world wouldn't stop her.”

Sometimes, when West disappeared from friends' and families' lives, it turned out she was in jail. Her stateside arrest record starts in 1988, when she was picked up in Orange County for driving under the influence. There were at least six arrests after that, in multiple counties: more DUIs, possession of controlled substances, possession of illegal substances, driving with a suspended license. She was able to serve some of her sentences concurrently. 

In fact, West was lucky to get put away for minor charges when she was doing much worse things. “Sandy got involved with mob-type figures,” says Tischler-Blue: “Because she had this all-American-girl look, people wouldn't red-flag her. She started running drugs into the recording studios. Sandy loved coke. That was this turn that took her down a very different road. That road led to the underbelly of the Hollywood music scene. At that time, there were some really bad characters moving around. Heavy-duty drug people. Gunrunning people.”

Looking tough but emotional, West talks about “the dangerous adventures of me” in Tischler-Blue's 2004 documentary about the band, Edgeplay. “Maybe that was the self-destructive side of me. Maybe I was out to push it. I was fearless. You go down and break somebody's door down. They've got guns all over you, you've got guns all over them. You don't know who's going to get killed. … I had to break somebody's arm once. I had to shove a gun down somebody's throat once and watch them shit their pants. And then you look around and say, 'I just wanted to be a drummer in a rock band.'”

Near the end of her life, West lived in circumstances demeaning to a former rock star: in a trailer in San Dimas. She appeared to be getting her life together. She released a four-song EP that shows her multiple talents: singer, songwriter, guitarist, pianist, drummer. But then she was arrested again, for possession of drugs and paraphernalia. In the era of three strikes, this was one offense too many. This time, West was sent not to the relatively tame county jail for a short stint, but to state prison in Chowchilla for 18 months. She found herself surrounded by hard-core criminals.

Not long after arriving at Chowchilla, she developed a bad cough. It was lung cancer — the deadly, aggressive kind. West underwent chemotherapy while still in prison. When finally released, West's family was back in her life, helping to take care of her. Currie, Blue and other friends were there often. Jett visited her. She and Ford talked on the phone.

West's last months of life were full of pain, as the cancer, which moved to her brain, ate away at her. She lost some of the things that defined her: her golden hair and the strength to drum. 

laweekly.com/the-runaways-wild-thing/

She died on October 21, 2006 at the age of 47.

(via)

[sour--disposition]

Behind His Back

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harry lewis x fem!reader

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please see my pinned post for masterlists/request info :)

requested: Hello, could you do something where reader is best mates with cal and he brings her to shoots and in vids and such and her and Harry are kinda together but no one knows then someone accidentally outs them thanks !! 🙌🏻

Yours and Cal’s laughter reached the spot that the other guys had picked for filming long before the two of you did, poking and chasing each other as you barrelled through the doors. Cal was joining in on some game that they were filming for moresidemen and he’d dragged you along so you could sit off camera and poke fun at all eight of them.

As soon as you’d fallen into the venue, a bright smile had stretched across Harry’s face. Seeing you as happy and full of life as you were made him impossibly happy, as soppy as it sounded. All he wanted was to wander over and pull you into his arms, maybe surprise you so you let out that funny squeal you did whenever she shocked you.

But he couldn’t.

Although he’d never said it, it was sort of an unwritten rule of Cal’s that you were off limits for any of his friends. Maybe that made it all the more exciting, sneaking around behind your best friend’s back. You knew that it wouldn’t end well, it would either end in heartbreak between you and Harry or anger from Cal. Neither was an outcome you wanted, but one of them was bound to be inevitable.

Ethan had noticed Harry staring at you and was prepared to embarrass his best friend, not knowing that he was one of the only people that knew the truth about yours and Harry’s relationship. “Gonna go give your girlfriend a smooch, Bog?”, Ethan asked, grin as bright as ever as he shoved Harry playfully in your direction.

You and Harry both froze, eyes wide in surprise and fear. The humour drained out of Ethan’s face as he watched yours and Harry’s reactions and a tense atmosphere immediately fell over the group. Even the camera crew looked awkward.

You could see Harry desperately trying to conjure up some sort of excuse for what Ethan had just said. Ethan looked like he would do just about anything to retract his words. But what was said was said and you just had to deal with the consequences.

“What the fuck is he on about?”, Cal asked, voice harsh and angry. His eyes were fixed on Harry, practically pinning him to the spot. “Harry. What the fuck is Ethan on about?”.

“Look, mate-”, Harry started, words getting caught in his throat.

“How could you?”, Freezy spat, voice like venom. He turned to you, looking at you like you’d just taken a knife to his back. “And you?”.

“Don’t be mad at her, Cal”, Harry pleaded, voice desperate.

“I’ll be mad at whoever the fuck I wanna be mad at!”, Cal shouted, making Harry jump and sending a wave of anger coursing through your veins.

“You know what, no”, you started, leaving Cal’s side of the room and walking to stand in between the two of them. “You have no right to be mad. We’re adults. We don’t answer to you. I don’t answer to you”, you stressed.

You could tell that the others in the room had no idea what to do. Guilt was written all over Ethan’s face and varying levels of worry and awkwardness seemed to be spread throughout the rest of the guys. Everyone was following the discussion like a ball in a tennis match.

“I live with him and you’re my best friend, I’m kind of involved in this!”, Cal exclaimed. You mumbled something under your breath that neither Cal or Harry heard, but it only seemed to antagonise Cal more. “What?”, he demanded.

“I’m just saying, last time I checked, it’s not you sneaking me into your apartment, but whatever”, you commented casually.

“Y/N”, Harry warned from behind you, taking a few steps closer to you.

“I’m not going to pick between my best friend and my boyfriend!”, you cemented. “If you’re going to make me pick, you’re making the decision for me”, you told Cal, a finger pointed towards him. “And it won’t go in your favour”, you cautioned.

“You’d pick Harry over me?”, Cal asked, looking genuinely offended. “I’ve known you since we were 12”, he reminded you.

“I love him”, you said, voice suddenly small and shy. “And if you don’t want any part of that, then I don’t know what to tell you”, you shrugged before turning your back and walking out of the venue.

Harry stood stock still. Everything in his body was telling him to chase after you, tell you that he felt the same way, but he couldn’t get his body to move. The shock of Cal finding out and then you telling everyone that you loved him, it left him paralysed.

“Is anyone gonna go after her?”, Vik asked, eyes tearing between Harry and Cal.

“I’ll go”, Harry and Freezy said at the same time.

“She won’t wanna see you right now, mate… In the nicest way possible”, Harry told his friend, leaving him no time to answer before following you out of the venue and finding you a few feet away, sat on a bench.

“Hey”, Harry said, catching your attention. He sat down next to you, forearms resting on his thighs as he leaned forwards. “That could’ve gone better”, he whispered, pulling a sardonic laugh from you.

“You think”, you snorted.

“I love you, too”, Harry blurted, barely giving you time to finish your sentence.

Before you had a chance to say or do anything in response, Cal was stalking away from the venue doors and towards the two of you. “Cal-”, you started.

“Look”, he sighed. “I reacted badly. I shouldn’t have gotten angry, alright”, he huffed. “I was just caught off guard, I had no idea”, he defended.

“That was sort of the point”, you chuckled. “Because we were worried about what you’d say”, you explained. “Or that you’d react like this”.

Harry sat still beside you, always unsure of what to do or say when it came to disagreements between you and Cal, and it was only made worse by the fact that he was in the middle of the situation. He let his hand leave his lap and join yours, squeezing around your fingers supportively.

“Nothing I say is gonna make this go away?”, Cal asked, face pulled with pain.

“No”, you said simply, a sense of finality settling in your voice. “If you love me enough to be worried about Harry hurting me, then you love me enough to let me love Harry”, you told him gently. “And, in the nicest way possible, it really has nothing to do with you”.

Cal sat down next to you, a heavy sigh leaving his chest as he sunk into the bench. “I feel like I should’ve seen this coming”, he complained.

“To be honest, mate, you really are clueless”, Harry chuckled from beside you.

“How long have you been together?”, Cal asked you, looking up at you from his dejected slump.

“Officially, almost three months”, you told Cal.

“Unofficially?”, he asked warily.

“Nearly six”, you admitted.

“How did I not realise?”, Cal groaned, dropping his head against the backrest of the bench. “I can’t believe I missed it”.

“We were really good at hiding it”, Harry shrugged. “It was like mission impossible to be honest, you made everything quite inconvenient”, he jibed, earning him a swat over the head from Cal.

“At least I never heard you shagging”, Cal sighed. His eyes went wide as a silence fell over you and Harry, a smirk threatening to peak through onto your lips. “Are you fucking kidding me!?”, he exclaimed, almost jumping up out of his seat.

“Yeah, none of those one night stands were one night stands”, Harry mumbled as he itched the back of his neck awkwardly. “Sorry, and all”. You could see Cal cringing, knowing that he’d heard his two best friends have sex with each other couldn’t have been a fun thought to have running through his mind.

“If you excuse me, I am off to pour acid into my ears”.

[earlgreymon]

sunkissed love; a taiora playlist for lovers who love each other like the sun radiates the earth. (youtube / spotify)

01. wonder - shawn mendes i wonder what it's like to be loved by you 02. used to you - mxmtoon say your feelings to me so i won't overthink mine 03. you're the best thing about me - u2 i'm the kind of the trouble that you enjoy 04. beautiful to me - olly murs you're so amazing, don't you know? 05. thunder - boys like girls your voice was the soundtrack of my summer; so bring on the rain and bring on the thunder 06. she is love (full band version) - parachute i've been beaten down, i've been kicked around, but she takes it all for me 07. built to last - mêlée 'cause you are the sun in my universe 08. best friend - rex orange county i still wanna be your favorite boy 09. give me a try - the wombats we could be gigantic, this could be worth the risk bonus track: i love you - billie eilish you didn't mean to say "i love you"; i don't want to, but i love you...

part 3 of lovers in japan series track-by-track commentaries;

IT'S TAIORA TIMEEEEE!!

honestly i want to keep this on my draft a little longer (*cough* maybe i can save it for taiora week *cough*), but @dutchforstrangers gave me some encouragement to let this out a bit faster... so here it is.

remember when i said on my koukari mixtape that my playlists are gonna be messy in terms of the storyline? well, this is the messiest. i think i kind of overthink this playlist because i want it to be perfect. it's my ultimate otp after all. i really hope this turns good.

two of the songs are already included in @patamonn's mixtape post, which you should all check it because bree's works are awesome. aside lynn, i want to dedicate this playlist to my sora sister @sorasfishing! i hope you keep thriving in anything you do and don't forget to get some rest :D (although this playlist is more up to beat and not really suitable for leisure time lmao) (well, taiora's the kind of couple who's full of spirit anyway)

01. wonder - shawn mendes

i was struggling to find a way to start this playlist. most songs i had gathered somehow would sound better if i put them in the middle. this song suddenly appeared on my suggestions and i remembered the first time this was released, i... didn't really like it lmao.

but now i love it so much. the music is majestic and very... taichi-like, if i can put it that way. the last beat of the drums sounds adventurous and seems like a good prologue for a journey ahead.

and yeah, what better way to start other than our main guy wondering what it's like to be loved by the beautiful lady who owns the sky?

02. used to you - mxmtoons

i was thinking of two mxmtoons songs for the playlist: either this song, or falling for u. although falling for u sounds more fitted to the theme of "realising you have feelings for your best friend but too afraid to tell him" (you should totally listen and check the lyrics here), i settled on used to you because of two reasons. first, the music of falling for u is too cozy for this rather rock playlist.

second, for me, used to you has a more... personal touch? i mean i can put falling for u for a takari playlist and it'll still be a good fit, but used to you is more of a taiora song. in the official commentary, the song is told to be about the turbulence of a new relationship. but in my point of view, this could be about how sora became too used to taichi's presence.

the first verse is somewhat a description of sora's insecurity. as she grew up, she wanted to become a better part of society (that was why she turned to tennis, dressing more femininely...). this kind of thought is a bit overwhelming, and knowing sora, of course she would overthink them. since 02 did taiora very dirty we never knew how taichi really felt about these changes and i am pretty sure that sora actually wanted to know his opinion because he knew her the best.

move on to the chorus: "i've been spending all my time, sitting by the phone just waiting for a call. i used to wanna be alone 'til your name was in my phone, now i'm getting kinda used to you." look, i still believe that sora's an introvert. but if taichi called her, she'd be there in a heart beat. (also, think about that scene in tri where she got so stressed with taichi informing his soccer game a little too late. bet she'd been waiting for him to invite her from the very beginning.)

03. you're the best thing about me - u2

this is just a general love song, but the line "i'm the kind of trouble that you enjoy" is very cheeky i can imagine taichi saying it to sora with so much confidence.

04. beautiful to me - olly murs

if you're listening to this playlist on spotify, i will kindly suggest you to switch momentarily to youtube because for this specific song, you have to watch the music video so you can get a more taiora vibe.

the video is about two childhood friends that always there for each other but never really talks about the feeling until one of them is almost getting married. get it? (although yeah, the girl is more of a badass than sora and the boy is too aloof as taichi's counterpart.)

the song itself is just the singer trying to convince the girl that she is beautiful no matter what. i always feel like sora has a lack of confidence about herself, so this is taichi pulling her into a realisation.

05. thunder - boys like girls

this is a tribute to our war game (a.k.a. THE PEAK OF TAIORA CINEMATIC UNIVERSE), especially the dub version with that "you say you love thunderstorm." i think when you look at the chorus of this song, you'll get it why i put the song here.

06. she is love - parachute

i have to choose the full band version because the og version is too slow. the title seems to be... a description of sora? i mean she IS love, right? :p but yeah, i think this song is an illustration on how sora will still take taichi despite his recklessness.

spoiler alert: one of my digiweek submission will be taiora with this song :p

07. built to last - mêlée

i was in doubt whether i had to put this song on this playlist, but the line "you are the sun in my universe" convinced me. also, "all of our friends saw from the start, so why didn't we believe it too?"!? gee. everyone saw it, you two. you are meant to last indeed.

08. best friend - rex orange county

okay, this is the part where everything gets a bit... bittersweet.

picture this: sora gets a boyfriend. idc who the boyfriend is, but it's definitely not taichi. this is the perfect song because taichi will surely regret why he didn't confess to sora earlier. still, he wants to be her favourite boy no matter what. even the part when the singer says "but i still wanna break your heart and make you cry" is just taichi's way of joking.

09. give me a try - the wombats

this is actually my favourite song on the playlist and funnily, i found this song accidentally when i first built this mixtape. we can ignore a rather "miserable side" of this song and just take this song as taichi's way of convincing sora that they could be such a fantastic pair together.

also, on a separate note, there's a long distance relationship theme implied in this song. i never really explore this theme, but i always wonder how married!taiora will make their marriage work because taichi will surely travel a lot with his job as diplomat.

bonus tracks: i love you - billie eilish

it took a long time for me to finally decide to put this song. i want the closure to be very slow and solemn, because most of the songs in this playlist have been very upbeat. i realised that most songs are in taichi's pov, so i thought about searching a song from sora's pov.

i was thinking about gabrielle aplin's please don't say you love me. however, the tempo was still too fast somehow, and i got the impression that the girl in the song wouldn't let the relationship between her and this particular man to be more than just friends. and there's no way i let this playlist to end like that. enough with taiora not being canon.

this billie eilish song should be listen as a company to two other songs, and if you listen to all of them together, it's actually a pretty depressing storyline (maybe triggering, so i suggest not to google if you don't feel comfortable). however, if you listen to i love you as a stand-alone song, i think it can still be a good fit.

quoting from one source, this is a song about "something that happened near the beginning of a romantic relationship, but a little bit after a friendship." i think this song can be interpreted as sora's reaction when taichi finally CAME TO HIS SENSE confessed to her. her first thought would be he was joking ("maybe won't you take it back? say you were tryna make me laugh"). sora's the type who concealed her emotion, so to hear the words as blatant as "i love you" would make her very vulnerable.

yet the song ends with a realisation that she also loved him. and that is why i put an ellipsis on the lyrics above: i want to leave my playlist for an open ending!

(but if it were up to me, i'll surely put a happy ending for them ;>)

[whatareyousearchingfordean]

Mile Six

Summary: The Kings, and Queens, of Con take on the Central Texas Tough Mudder Competition and have a good time doing it. 

Pairing: Jensen Ackles x Reader

Word Count: 2.3K+

Warnings: Language, suggestive themes

Author’s Note: So, this little thing was inspired by this post (x). I saw it and instantly went weak in the knees and thus this was born. I hope you enjoy my little musings. As always, I love to hear what you thought xo Alex.

Check out Alexandra’s Library for more works by yours truly!

Trees lined the wide expanse of the field, the grass below shimmering against the Texas sun that had settled high in the afternoon sky. A slight breeze blew across the space, rustling the edges of the leaves and sending a chill down the breadth of her wet body. 

“Your turn, Y/n,” the quirky voice of her team member had slipped past her consciousness as she watched the sun be eclipsed by a wisp of a cloud. “Y/n!” 

“Hmm, what?” The woman snapped her head back to the obstacle in front of her. 

“Go, Jensen’s gonna boost you,” Rob urged her forward with a hand on her shoulder. She shook off her daze, the exhaustion fogging not only her muscles but her brain as well. The team had officially hit the halfway point of the obstacle course and she knew that she was going to be sore for days. 

“Come on, baby,” Jensen smirked at her from where he was squatted against the tall wooden wall. He cupped his hands in front of himself and indicated for her to step one foot into his palms. Y/n halted in front of him as she placed her right foot in his hold and rested her hands against his broad shoulders. She glanced up at Jared and Rich sitting on the ledge, ready to help her in whatever way she needed. “You’ve got this.”

The mud-caked woman smirked back at the actor, who was still grinning from ear to ear. She rolled her eyes for effect but leaned in and pressed a quick peck to her husband’s lips before using her leverage on his shoulders to jump. Jensen responded easily, lifting her in one swift movement as if she weighed nothing and guiding her to step on his shoulder with her left foot. As soon as the ledge was in reach she wrapped her gloved hand around it and allowed Jared to take her other to assist. Every muscle in her body protested the action, but she pushed through until both legs were swung over the wall. She wasted no time in climbing down the other side just far enough that it was safe for her to jump the rest of the way. 

Cheers erupted from her team waiting on the other side, much like they had after every other obstacle they had overcome. Y/n ran straight into her best friend, Genevieve’s, arms and embraced her tight. Both of them knew they were kicking ass at this, having argued with their respective husbands about being able to keep up with the guys. They trained for months beforehand, building up their strength and nothing made them more gleeful than proving they deserved their spots on the team. 

The two relented their embrace as the three remaining team members clambered from the barrier.  They all exchanged high fives before setting off down the trail. It didn’t take long before they arrived at yet another pool of murky water directly in their path. The group wasted no time in heading straight into the muddy hurdle. Despite the rays of the early spring sun beating down unhindered, the water was bone-chilling slowly. A shiver ran up her spine as soon as it met her heated skin and she couldn’t be sure if it was refreshing or just shocking. Y/n could also feel her feet sinking into the thick mud at the bottom of the pit, making each step difficult and slowing their process through the course. 

Once on the other side, getting back out of the pit proved difficult, the sheer weight and stickiness of the surrounding sludge seeming to want to drag her back down with every advance. She finally made it out, running to the nearby grass to rub away what she could from her sneakers as her teammates joined her one by one. When everyone was back together, they once again continued on. 

They jogged a few hundred feet before the majority slowed down as the day began to wear on them. Rich pulled the recording camera from Osric’s head as he squeezed through the group. The spritely man stuck it in everyone’s faces, asking a myriad of questions.

“That footage is going to be hell to cut together in the end,” Gen turned to Y/n with a giggle. 

“I know that true,” she agreed before sending her only female counterpart a wink. “Watch this.” Y/n jogged ahead to be closer to the group and hollered. “Hey Speight, toss me the camera. I know what the fans are gonna want to see.” The guys all turned to look at her, confusion evident in their expressions. Rich frowned but obliged the woman’s request, who caught the small camera with ease. Her steps slowed to give the guys space, allowing her to fall back into stride with Genevieve. The woman rubbed the dried mud from the display as she steadied the recorder and pointed it at her target. Gen watched over her shoulder as her friend focused on the men’s backsides, one at a time. 

“This is the view Gen and I have had all day,” she narrated, emphasizing ‘all’ for her intended audience. As she came up behind her Texan husband, he peered over his shoulder at her, taking in where she had the lens directed. He rolled his eyes at her as she rounded the group and jogged to where Jared was leading a couple of yards ahead. 

“Now what are you doing?” Jensen furrowed his brow as she kept the camera pointed on them, now walking backward as the group continued to advance. 

“I’m getting ahead of you so I can get you all in the frame,” she explained, her eyes still trained on the display to ensure she was getting at least semi-quality footage. 

“You can see all of us, it’s a wide-angle lens,” Jensen retorted gruffly, earning a grimace from his wife. Her jaw dropped in offense to his comment, turning the lens on Jared. 

“Alright, I see Ackles got an attitude around mile six,” she huffed to the towering man who just shook his head with a grin. Y/n spun back around, now seeing the group gaining on her and Jared. 

“Turn it off, I’ll show you an attitude,” Jensen indicated the camera delicately balanced in her grip. His wife nearly choked on her breath, his unexpected words settling a heat deep in her belly.

“Oh, will you now?” The woman was quick to steady her composure and cocked a challenging eyebrow at the bowlegged man who now took up a majority of the display she was observing. The look set him off and he reached her in two swift strides, snatching the camera out of her hand and ducking to pull her over his shoulder before she could react to his movement. Y/n let out a shriek that faded into laughter as her husband gripped her legs against his body with both hands. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him quickly toss the camera to one of the guys, jetting off away from the path and the crowd. 

“Aw, come on, Ackles,” Jared’s voice faded as Jensen carried the woman to the nearby tree line. “Be quick!” 

Shade enclosed the two completely before he set her back on her feet. Jensen pushed her back a step until her body hit rough bark. He placed one hand on either side of her head, caging her against the oak. She took a deep breath now that her stomach was no longer restricted by his shoulder and looked up at her husband through her lashes her stomach fluttering as she took in his hooded gaze. 

“I feel like you want to say something.” A hint of a smile twitched at the corners of her lips which was instantly reciprocated by the actor. He raised a gloved hand, trailing his exposed fingertips light as a feather across her jaw and down her neck. His eyes were trained where his digit tucked into the collar of her destroyed tee and pulled it away from her skin. 

“You’re cold,” he noted, the smug upturn of one corner of his lips telling her he had noticed her condition a long while ago. Y/n followed his gaze, noting the faint outline of her nipples seeping through the sports bra. She cursed silently, having hoped the material would have done a better job at hiding her modesty throughout the day. 

“Maybe-”

“Maybe?” His eyes flickered up to hers, amusement hidden throughout the familiar verdant iris’ that she loved so much. Dragging out the moment, the woman chewed on her bottom lip and took the opportunity to enjoy the visage of her husband. His hair was a wild mess, pushed away from his face with a sweatband that matched the color of his shorts and tennis shoes. He was caked in mud from head to toe, much like she was. A lot of it had dried and caked to the skin of his face and his beard while his body was dripping with the foggy liquid and his sweat. Even through all of it, he was somehow still as beautiful as ever. Still Jensen Ackles. 

“Maybe I’ve just been enjoying the view,” she teased him, her hands gripping the stretched-out material of his shirt to pull his body flush against her own. He was warm and refreshingly cool at the same time. Y/n breathed in his musky scent, mixed with the fading aroma of his signature cologne. It was her favorite thing in the world, something reserved just for her and the times he spent ravaging her body. 

“I can’t take you anywhere can I?” The hot breath of his chuckle fanned over her face. He let go of his hold on her tee, the material shrinking slowly back against her wet skin. 

“Not when you are looking like a whole damn meal,” she purred before pushing up on her toes to press her lips to his. He froze at first, his brain taking a second to catch up to her before he responded in kind. His hands fell from the tree to cradle her head in place as he deepened the kiss. Y/n let her body relax against the wood as her husband sucked her tongue into his mouth, pulling a moan from inside her chest. He picked up the pace, devouring her in the shadows of the competition that was continuing around them. As her hands dropped to the elastic of his shorts, he begrudgingly pulled away and gripped her wrists to halt her movements. 

“Fuck, we can’t,” he whispered, resting his forehead against hers. His eyes were screwed shut as he breathed deeply. She exaggerated the pout on her face even though he wasn’t looking at her. 

“That’s unfortunate, considering your little problem there.” Y/n jutted her hips forward, coming in contact with the situation now in her husband’s pants. 

“Oh, I hate you so much right now,” Jensen pushed away from his wife, putting a respectable distance between the two of them. 

“Hey, you are not the only one suffering right now. Lucky for me, my panties were already soaked.” Before he could utter a word, she ducked away and back into the heat of the Texas sun. He watched her jog away, but not before she glanced back over her shoulder, a wide grin on her face. 

It didn’t take her long to catch up to the group, her and Jensen having not been gone as long as she thought. Her eyes scanned the crowd of people for Jared, knowing his tall frame would stick out to her first. And she was right, the mess of hair on top of his head towering over everyone else, guiding her to where they were huddled waiting for the group ahead to finish the next course. 

“Where’s Ackles?” Jared chirped as she moved through the people to come and stand with the Kings of Con. 

“He should be right behind me,” she snorted out the words in an attempt to hide the laughter bubbling up inside her. Jared narrowed his eyes at her as if he didn’t believe what she was telling him. Not that it mattered much, as her husband’s voice drifted towards them. 

“I’m here, I’m here,” he promised, only slightly out of breath from sprinting to meet up with them. “What’s next?” 

“‘Hold Your Wood’,” Jason answered as he turned to where a massive log was being placed in front of the lot of them. Y/n nearly fell over as the barely contained laughter spilled from her lips. She brought a hand to her face as the laughter turned silent and tears ran down her cheeks, the action muffling the squeals of delight that came with each breath. 

“Yes, it’s all very funny, babe,” Jensen frowned at his wife, the downturn of his lips only fueling the hysterics inside her. 

“What the hell is wrong with her?” Rich had the same look of concern on his face as the rest of the group. Even passersby were beginning to stare at Y/n where she stood shaking with laughter. 

“Wood,” was the only word she could force past her lips as she held up her hands, gesturing to indicate length. 

“Jensen had a boner,” Jared clarified for the group, ready to keep moving. 

“Dude!” Jensen smacked his friend upside the back of his head, sending his wife into further giggles. 

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Y/n finally was able to force a semi-coherent sentence. “Jay, you are just too easy.” 

“That’s what she said,” Rob and Rich shouted in tandem. 

Jensen rounded on Osric, who still had one of the action cameras attached to his head, and pointed at the lens. “You can cut that out.”

“No,” Y/n protested, grabbing her husband’s arms as he reached for the Go Pro. “Keep it in.” 

Forevers: @22sarah08​ @440mxs-wife​ @akshi8278​ @anathewierdo​ @asgoodasdancingqueen @atc74​ @awesome-badass-cafeteria-sauce​​ @briagallen​ @callmekda​ @dawnie1988​ @deandreamernp​ @deangirl93​ @deanwanddamons​ @ellewritesfix05​ @emoryhemsworth​ @foxyjwls007​ @hobby27​ @janicho88​ @jbsgirl4ever11​ @jensengirl83​ @lunarmoon8​ @lyarr24​ @mishacollins4evah​ @miss-nerd95​ @mrsjenniferwinchester​ @msmarvelouswinchester​ @polina-93​​ @sleepylunarwolf​ @squirrelnotsam​ @stiles-stilinski-24-dylan​ @suckmyapplejacks​ @supraveng​ @tatted-trina6​ @thoughts-and-funnies​ @traceyaudette​ @tranquility-or-chaos​​ @waywardbeanie​ @winchest09​ 

A line through your URL means Tumblr won’t let me tag you... sorry :/

[chibimyumi]

Kuromyu 2021 - First Review

So, yesterday 05-03-2021 was the First Day Performance of Kuromyu 2021, “The Secret of the Boarding School”. It is no secret that I am no fan of the Boarding School Arc, but even so I was very, very curious to see this arc being translated to a stage media.

This review shall not be without spoilers. Not just the story itself, because I think by now most people know how the story unfolds. I mean the execution of the stage play itself.

I shall not lie and admit that my review WILL contain my opinions, meaning it is by no means objective and might influence your opinions. For people who wish to experience the production entirely objectively for themselves, I recommend NOT clicking “keep reading” to reveal the spoiler section.

For now, I shall give my spoiler-free rating per category.

Faithful to canon: ⭐⭐⭐⭐★

Script:       ⭐⭐ ★★★

Acting:      ⭐ ★★★★

Singing:    ⭐ ⭐★★★

Music:       ⭐⭐⭐★★

Dancing:   ⭐⭐ ★★★

Stage & Costume:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Hereunder I shall give the spoiler-section first preceded by “First Impression”, and then followed by the categories listed here above.

First Impression

The stream started, and seeing the Kuromyu logo in present day again after three years really was very exciting. Since 2010 on as always, Kuromyu opened with the contract scene, and I was positively surprised to see the stage set being quite elaborate! This set was the largest and most elaborate one so far without TOHO’s help.

After the contract scene the prologue gave a very quick recap of the Jack the Ripper, Circus, and the Campania Arc. I am not sure whether it was necessary to show the Jack the Ripper and Circus Arc as they provide no information needed to understand Weston Arc. But I think it was mainly inserted to speak to the nostalgia in Kuromyu fans, and as a Kuromyu fan myself, I have to say it did work. It did not take much time, I think maybe 1 minute per arc, so it was fine.

The recap of the Campania Arc was important as it served to equip the audience with the information that there’s a reaper who creates zombies. Undertaker was shown as the main antagonist of the Campania Arc and responsible for the bizarre dolls.

There was a short brawl between Undertaker and Sebastian, which is in fact a very good choice in my opinion to showcase the dynamic between these two supernatural powers...............except that only 10 minutes in, and the musical already MASSIVELY screwed up by portraying the fight as though Sebastian beat Undertaker. The ONLY reason Sebas is still alive is because Undertaker decided so. Normally I wouldn’t care that much about errors in a recap, but this time it serves as the exposition of Undertaker and Sebastian’s dynamic: It should have shown that Undertaker is an incredibly dangerous foe and that Sebas is scared shitless because of that. Especially because this ties in with how this arc was concluded.

“But okay, fine. Maybe the script has other plans, so I shall let it be,” I thought. Moving on. But it did “plant a seed” in me that this musical is either going to contradict itself, or that it is going to defy canon. That was the first impression.

The prologue transitions into the setup of the case quite smoothly, and I have to say it was skillful. You very quickly see Ciel change into the Weston uniform and the admission ceremony was swiftly started. Immediately you get introduced to Agares, the prefects and their fags, and the musical does a good job defining the atmosphere as: “something is off here”.

Faithful to canon: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ ★

The overall musical was really quite faithful to canon. Most plot points were as they were in the manga, and enough so that I would recommend anybody who doesn’t understand Japanese to first re-read the arc as homework. If you have the arc fresh in your memory, it is very easy to trace every action back to the canon.

There are some details that were omitted or changed, probably done so in consideration for the stage medium or run-time, and done reasonably so. Unlike the previous Kuromyus, 2021 adds very little new elements that were not there in the manga. No added extra depth, but also no unnecessary additions.

There were a few things that were very off-canon, namely the characters. But I think that falls under the “acting” header, rather than this header.

Script:       ⭐⭐ ★ ★ ★

The script was a real disappointment. You might wonder how faithfulness to canon can be 4/5, and yet the script only a 2/5 in my opinion. WELL, most dialogue was based on the text in the manga, but told as dry as possible. It was also as though the script writers didn’t trust its audience intelligent enough to understand things on their own, or even remember something that was said literally 5 minutes ago.

Exposition Ad Nauseam

There was a tremendous amount of exposition, exposition, exposition, ad nauseam. There was exposition about who Ciel is and what the Queen’s Watchdog is and what his job entails, and that is entirely fine. That’s necessary background information for spectators unfamiliar with Black Butler. However, there was also a lot of exposition that could easily have been left out, or concluded through context. For example, there were quite many expositions about the history and status of the Weston College. In my opinion, a competent script writer could have let the audience known that the Weston College is really important just by giving the information that the blood relative of the QUEEN attends the school, and by showing the Red House, since their entrance is based on social status.

In this post I wrote about my following concern:

Unlike tennis, cricket is a very foreign sport to most people. Cricket cannot be shown without explaining the rules. So if Kuromyu were to happen, these expositions that were dry in the manga to begin with, are going to be even dryer on stage. Does an actor narrate the rules? Do we want Sebastian to sing us the rules??? Or do we want the kids to sing us the rules themselves while they are batting the balls? 

And alas, true to my fear, Sebas indeed narrates the rules to us...  But even worse, he also explains cricket by using baseball analogy... This is an incredibly ineffective and time-wasting method, because:

it takes the audience out of the moment,

it assumes the audience knows enough about baseball to let it help understand cricket,

and it assumes the audience actually cares about the name of every single strike....

Repetition Ad Nauseam

Then there is the problem where many info-dumps sounded like: “LIKE I JUST SAIDDDDD, DON’T FORGET!!!”. The script for Sebas is the biggest offender. There were many moments Sebas was just saying the same thing twice. At times he repeated the same information, and there were some moments where he regurgitated already given information. (Sorry I’m just being nasty here, but that’s what it felt like (;;≽▽≼;;) )

Sebastian has this obsession with constantly proclaiming himself an omnipotent, one hell of a butler, which makes him capable of doing anything... and after a while it just gets a bit tedious. I have the feeling the scriptwriter really has the hots for him, and therefore can’t shut up about how powerful he is.

While Sebas is the biggest offender, he is by far not the only one. This musical is guilty of doing a lot of very unnatural lines that no person would ever say. Soma for example, seems incapable of saying anything without shouting that he is the Prince of India and Ciel’s BFF. First time, FINE. But the entire time? My god....

Characterisation

Then there is the characterisation of characters in the script. Of course in great part the characterisation is dependent on the actors too, but no matter how amazing an actor is, you do as the script demands.

As discussed above, Sebas is done dirtiest by the script. This script also makes him incredibly arrogant and a bit too happy to be in his master’s service. Similarly, Ciel is also written entirely dependent on Sebastian, and equally happy that Sebas is happy to serve. In the first song between Ciel and Sebastian, without any prompt Sebastian asks his master for his orders, as though that’s what Sebas is looking forward to all day. And the first thing Ciel says in response is: “can you take on this reaper [Undertaker] and the large number of moving corpses?” to which Sebas responds: “Leave everything to me, because I am the Phantomhive butler.” ........and then he proceeds to defeat Undertaker effortlessly.........!?!?!?!?!?! When fighting Undertaker, Sebas also says: “what a bother” as though it’s just a bit of an unpleasant chore rather than a life-threatening fight.  And just before Undertaker disappeared all the way at the finale of the arc, Sebas seriously says: “I really don’t get along with you”. SERIOUSLY, WHO WROTE THIS?!

Myu!Ciel is CLEARLY the master of this Sebastian as he seems to be on a permanent power trip. He “it’s an order”s Sebastian for the most trivial of things. At the beginning when Sebas was fighting intruders already, Ciel “it’s an order”s Sebas to take down the intruders.... HE’S ALREADY AT IT!!!

In chapter 70 where Sebas and Ciel simultaneously think of Soma, Ciel doesn’t give Sebas an official order. This shows the audience that there is a certain level of trust between master and servant that they’re on the same page AND that Sebas has come to a stage where he will actually do what’s necessary.

In the musical however, Ciel gives a full “Sebastian, it’s an order, get the procedures done to get him here, to the Weston College.”

This is also an example of how unnatural and repetitive the script is. Who would EVER say “get the procedures done to get him here, to the Weston College”???? Of course procedures need to happen first! And “here” alone would have sufficed, scriptwriters. We KNOW where “here” is! We didn’t forget since 5 seconds ago!

Lyrics

The lyrics are technically not the script, but they are ridden with the same problem as the script itself, so I shall take the liberty of discussing these under the same paragraph.

There is a LOT of repetition in the lyrics as well. The P4 especially sing “Weston” and “tradition” like the ENTIRE time. One song literally goes: “this is Weston, Weston, Weston, Weston, at Weston we uphold our traditions, traditions, traditions, traditions.” The other song is: “It’s cricket, it’s cricket, it’s cricket,” and another “I am Ciel’s BFF, BFF, BFF, Ciel, lord Ciel, lord Ciel, lord Ciel’s BFF.”...... *shudders* ((ﾟﾟ((Д))ﾟﾟ)) AAAAHHHH!!!!

Acting:      ⭐ ★ ★ ★ ★

The acting was by far the most abominable in the musical safe for two gems: Chesslock and Derek. There are too many characters to discuss, so I shall keep it to the main/noteworthy ones.

The gems

Chesslock has this tremendous energy and something very wild about him, and his jumps are so incredibly precise it’s amazing! Derek has but a very small role, but the moment he showed up as the zombie you already immediately saw there was something “off” about him. It was very subtle, but still clearly unhinged. When he was acting living-Derek, you also clearly saw what type of prick he was. Amazing! These two were the brightest stars of the show.

The....... not gems

The most unwatchable ones were Soma and Harcourt. Soma doesn’t have a big role, but he bothered me so much he is ironically the most memorable one. It’s like Okada saw “loud and obnoxious (in a good way)” in the manga, turned it up to 12, and gave the worst portrayal possible. As said above, the script making him repeat “Indian prince” and “BFF” the entire time doesn’t help, but blaming just the script would be letting Okada off too easily.

Harcourt...... gave me so much secondhand embarrassment I literally got a cramp looking at him. When the diarrhea happened he was screaming like a pig about to be raped and slaughtered... and I am NOT making a rape-joke here. I would never. He really did sound like he was unwillingly aroused and terrified at the same time.

Sebastian

Let’s start with the good things: Tateishi’s Sebas did have his presence and his movements were fairly neat. He was never just standing there. He is quite elegant, and not swaggering or pulling spasms on stage unlike a CERTAIN someoneeeeee. He could work a BIT on the coordination of his extremities, but that’s only when I’m nitpicking.

But otherwise.... he was a bit underwhelming to be honest. The main problem is not necessarily Tateishi’s acting-skill maybe, but his interpretation I think... but I can’t say his acting was amazing even at knife-point. The way he acts Sebas makes him look like a complete fanboy of Ciel... which is just not Sebas. He is incredibly eager and at times I could almost see a puppy tail wagging. Whenever he is getting an order from his master he is just beaming. And with Undertaker there was not a single hint that Sebas is scared of the only foe who managed to mortally wound him.

His interaction with Ciel was also very SebaCiel heavy. In the manga where Ciel challenges Sebas why he didn’t go after Undertaker, Sebas is clearly emphasising the importance of the contract, and half-threatening his master not to dare “it’s an order” him to go after Undertaker.

In the musical however, Sebas is all UWU, as though saying: “I couldn’t let the big baddy hurt you... uwu”. Without exaggerating, Sebas caresses Ciel’s face THREE times and then embraces him.

Ciel

Ciel was very unbearable to watch in my opinion. Not as bad as Soma and Harcourt, but otherwise an “honourable” third place after them. In the manga it was a bit cringey to begin with because he is supposed to fake being (*ÓωÒ*), but seeing a 20 year old man do that... and play it up to 11 was just jarring. Ciel is like “tehe” very often, but never actively skipping like a forest fairy.

This Ciel also has tremendous mood-swings! He is either UWU or actively a ice-cold diva... and at times he is also being UWU when he’s not around others???? There was also not a single moment where I could see him cooking up a plan. No hint of intelligence or cunningness to be found.

Unlike with Tateishi I can’t really come up with anything good to say about him.

Undertaker

Undertaker was the best among the main three (not that the bar is very high). He is making efforts to tease-threaten Sebas, which I think is a very nice added detail (it’s just that Sebas reacts to none of them... sad.) and even though his role is pathetically small (he doesn’t show up as the principal), he still managed to present himself in the spotlights.

P4

Greenhill had his energy, he was funny, and something really funnily militaristic about him. Though, I was missing nuance in his acting because at not a single point could you see Greenhill might have a trauma for killing people.

Redmond was Viscount of Druitt light and he had a very strong emphasis on the BL aspect with Maurice......which was just personally not my cup of tea. But I have to admit that aspect was played up too in the manga. So I guess he was faithful to canon.

Violet was quite charming and eccentric. He did play up the gothicness of the Violet house, which was actually kinda nice! He also had a deep friendship with Chesslock, which I really liked. When Violet didn’t do shit during the tournament Chesslock was really miffed about that, and challenged him. And then Violet showed Chesslock a portrait he drew of him, saying: “you just looked so cool I had to capture that.” That was amazing! He is a bit bitchier and sassier than in the manga, but I really don’t mind. 

Bluer.... William light. He was the least memorable of all of them.

Singing:    ⭐ ⭐ ★ ★ ★

Nobody really hurt my ears, but also nobody quite hit the notes... and the notes weren’t that hard.

Music:       ⭐⭐⭐ ★ ★

Eehhhhhhhhhhhh I’d say the songwriter played most songs a BIT too much on the safe side. Not a single song was memorable, but they didn’t offend me either. The main theme was fairly nice actually, but only when just the instrumentals played. I think it might have been the singing just being too chaotic for me to actually hear the music.

Dancing:   ⭐⭐ ★ ★ ★

Chesslock is an tremendously good dancer, his movements were precise and energetic. But otherwise.... nobody really popped out, but there was nobody who looked like a noodle on stage either.

The main problem is choreography; with some exceptions they were very underwhelming and messy. There were a lot of group dances, but often enough people were just a bit out of sync and messy.

Stage & Costume:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Stage Set

The stage set was VERY good. It was well made and mobile; they could be moved around and functioned as different props. Examples include the cellar in which Derek and his gang were committing crimes, and the boat of the parade even. The set also had this really magical aesthetic about it which communicated the glamour of the Weston College well.

Costumes

The costumes were well made. The logo on the uniforms for example were actually embroidered rather than those iron-on plastic things. The wigs were .... very messy after jumping around a bit and they looked very greasy. But that’s fine. They did their job and I realise I’m just spoiled. TOHO makes their wigs using real human hair, and that’d be an astronomical sum for any normal 2.5D company.

My ONLY problem is Ciel’s “lord costume”. This photoshoot photo underneath is doable, but trust me, on stage it is a nightmare. There are no clear photos of this costume on stage, and I think I understand why.

It was glittery velvet which just SCREAMS cheap Halloween costume, it was ill-fitted, almost like it was 2 sizes too large. The costume makers didn’t take stage-lighting into account, so the fabric and details glistened all over the place. Under the limelight the “golden” aiguillettes were PISS yellow. And the suddenly black sock suspenders protruding from his white boots were just...... distracting.

BUT, this was just one costume and he only wears it in the prologue and the finale of the show. Even though it’s God-awful, the rest were well made enough to compensate for this abomination.

Conclusion

So now finally the conclusion! The musical was..... fairly faithful to canon, but the execution leaves quite a lot to be desired. The interpretation/acting of the characters were the most disappointing one, while the stage/costumes were the most charming.

Do I recommend buying the stream/DVD/BD?

Stream: Yes.

I personally do recommend buying the stream as it’s only 3800 yen, especially if you like the Weston Arc itself, and/or are curious to see how they did it. Even though I myself really hate the Weston Arc in and of itself, I was very curious to see how it’d be translated to a stage medium. Despite my mostly negative opinion of the musical, I don’t regret buying the stream at all!

The best reason in my opinion to buy the stream though; it’s a very good and legal way to get a “preview” to see if you want to spend approximately 10000 yen on the proshot.

DVD/BD: Depends on you.

I myself have decided not to buy the DVD because I don’t think I’ll be rewatching it after the stream-archive period is over. The DVD/BD are the most expensive so far, and to me the final product is just not worth that amount of money.

But if you like the Weston Arc, or the performers, or you think you will be rewatching it and you are a collector, I think it is a very nice addition to your shelve.

[dreamiguess]

Day 3: Wedding

Day 3 of @fundyfiles FWT week

apologies for length and formatting. Wrote this one in my phone's notes app, day 2 is locked in my computer and will hopefully posted soon.

On AO3: 

They don't get married in a church or a banquet hall, or even the chambers of a town clerk. They have no rings or ring bearers, no officiant nor witness. No friends to lead toasts, no father to say <em> I'm proud</em>

They get married in woods untouched by pain and it's enough, enough to have whispered promises kept secret by the wind.

Fundy wakes at the creaking of the west window. His pulse beats steady, from an easing of fear rather than gain. He doesn't open his eyes to see what his heart already knows. They can create an image from sound alone, the ring of iron an axe learned against the wall and a thud of a shield next to it. Arrows, too, but much softer, and the rustle of clothing removed and hitting the floor. There's a worrying lack of a bow. It can't have taken more than two minutes but it feels like eons, the beats between each approaching footstep a century. The ache is overpowered by the steady beat of safe, safe, safe.

Neither pretend he's asleep when Dream climbs into bed next to him. His skin is cold to the tough, and his hair is wet when he burries his head into Fundy's chest. No amount of time or care bathing in the river could erase the scent of blood from his clothes, though, wafting from the corner to his unnaturally sensitive nose. It was a kind gesture, though, even if it only saved his sheets and not his mind.

Tucked under Fundy's chin and curled into his warmth, his love begins to shake. It was a bad one, then. They all were, he supposed, just some worse than others. The clock had already started ticking before the next. It could wait, wait for him to run his hands over chilled skin and purr into blonde hair until they both could sleep or till the sun rose, however long it took.

Dream wakes up quickly. He has to, has perfected the art of keeping his eyes closed and breathing slow until the coast was clear, or at least until he could claim the element of surprise. This morning is kind. Gentle fingers trace across his back and somewhere in the distance, the hens and sheep begin to start their busy days. With his nose pressed to Fundy's collarbone, it's like home has flooded his senses and settled into his bones.

He leans back enough to look at Fundy for the first time in weeks, beyond the silhouettes of last night's moon. The sunrise through the east window lights his red hair aflame. A grin stretches across his face, sleepy and unhurried. Like they have all the time in the world.

"I'll pick m' stuff up," he slurs, voice still raspy from sleep. He nuzzles back into the pillow. "Too tired last night."

"That's not what matters," Fundy replies, bumping their foreheads. "You could take your weapons into bed and I wouldn't care, as long as you came back in the first place."

Dream smiles at that and cracks an eye open. The pillow makes his vision fuzzy, but it's enough eye contact to get his message across.

"You'd mind."

"Okay, maybe. But still not the point." Fundy leverages the hand at his back to pull him closer, tucking his chin over dream's head in an image of the night before. Silence settles over them. It's a conversation they've had before, more or less. A tennis match of "you don't have to wait for me" and "I wouldn't know how not to," of "I'm sorry" and "for what?". Of Dream not deserving this love and Fundy giving it willingly. It always ends the same so they don't bother to have it out loud, and Dream have never been strong enough a man to do the right thing and leave.

"Breakfast?" He offers into Fundy's throat. It's been a while since he's gotten to cook for his partner. It's been a while since he's cooked for himself for that matter, besides smoking meats along the trail.

"Marry me?" Fundy responds. Dream laughs at that and finally rolls over, planting his feet on the ground and pulling his torso over his legs.

"No, I mean it." Dream freezes. Turns back towards Fundy to find him sitting on his heels and eyes wild. He waits but Dream can't find any words, and until he apparently can't wait any longer. The bed shifts when he scampers off the edge and circles around to kneel between dream's legs.

"Marry me." Fundy cradles his hands, runs the pads of his fingers over every scar and callous. He holds them like their something precious, not something worn and stained red. His eyes broadcast every emotion hiding within, and they hurt to look at. Dream looks at their hands instead and takes a shaky breath.

"I can't promise to be something permanent."

"You don't have to." Fundy wipes below his eye. He hadn't realized he was crying.

"You just have to promise to be mine."

They get married in the tradition of the Old Gods. It's only right for Dream to, and it's not like Fundy has any love for Prime anymore. They spend the week scavenging and waiting for the full moon. With only suspicions to rise and no coin to spend, they make the best of it they can. He picks daisies and black eyed susans and forget me nots, the flowers that grow wild in lieu of florists, and Dream dyes bow string in green and brown. They don't own enough white between them to look anything near proper, but Fundy puts on his only dress shirt and weaves a crown of clover flowers.

Dream shakes his head when he sees it, but ducks his head for Fundy to adorn him and kisses his cheek in a silent thank you. It's important, whether Dream makes a fuss or not, and it's the only white for a man who's been forced into forest colors for years.

They sneak to a clearing when the day arrives, hand in hand and giggling like children. Even though the trees provide ample privacy they don't dare to light a full circle of candles or leave a mark that could be traced. Four are enough to light them, and their flowers will fade soon enough.

Fundy's fingers feel clumsy wrapping the cord around his wrist, but his embarrassment turns to laughter as they figure out how to pull ends through loops for each other with their nondominant hands, a task clearly meant for a third party.

They have no high priestess to lead their ceremony, so Dream whispers the words instead. His voice is steady until the end, finally cracking as he finishes their vow.

"For as long as our love may last, so may it be."

"For as long as our love may last," he repeats, "so may it be." It's a bittersweet promise. Even now when his heart could not be more full, there's a reminder of their inevitable end. The modern script would have fit them better perhaps: till death do us part.

With a gentle tug their hands are free and their ropes are left in a neat knot. Dream pushes it into his hand and seals his first with his long fingers. And then he leans in, for a ritual Fundy knows the words to as well, kisses him desperately until they can't breathe.

Soon they'll blow out the candles and sweep their flowers out of place. Soon the horns will announce the next hunt, and dream's ichor will stain the forest floor instead of cheap wax. Soon.