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gamesetcheckeredflag · 2 months ago

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Here with a new sincaraz fanfic yayyy! So, the beginning isn't the best bc it was written at 7:30 in the morning and I was sleep deprived and the end was written at 11:30 in the night where I also was sleep deprived but the middle part is great i think hahah!

I hope you will like it and if you see any mistakes pls just tell me.

Tiny little summary: Carlos watches Jannik (his bf) in Shanghai playing against Novak and then they are in Riyadh.

Ig i may write a pt. 2 but not this week bc I should study haha!

Jannik looked up to his box where he saw Roger Federer. Juan Carlos Ferrero and Carlos Alcaraz - his boyfriend sitting.

Of course, he had known that Carlos would come to cheer him on, but seeing also Roger and Juan Carlos in the stands just added to the pressure Jannik was already feeling as he was playing against Novak Djokovic.

He tried not to think about the fact that there were so many important people of the tennis world watching him and focused on the fact that Carlos will always be cheering for him.

He didn’t know who Roger was cheering for, but imagined it was for him to give himself a small confidence-boost.

He focused on the racket in his right hand, the ball in his left.

He had barely won the first set so he knew he had to play better. So, he did.

And it was worth it because what felt like hours later, he had won the match in straight sets. He had defeated Novak Djokovic in straight sets - in front of Roger, Juan Carlos and of course Carlos who tried not to cheer too noticeable as they haven’t told anyone that they were a couple yet.

It was still new for both of them so they had decided to wait a bit and figure things out first.

Jannik could see Carlos’s smile from the stands which made him even happier. He just won a Masters 1000 in front of his boyfriend. He couldn’t imagine anything better than that.

After all the formalities including the trophy presentation, the photos and interviews, Jannik finally walked through the hallways of the stadium, finally getting away from the noise and people.

Of course, he loved to play, to win, to be around fans, but at some point, it all became too much. He was stressed with everything that was currently going on in his life, and the only thing… person, that was helping him, was Carlos, who he found standing near the lockers.

He was leaning against the white walls, his arms crossed, and he immediately started smiling when he saw Jannik stepping through the doors.

“You did it,” Carlos said, his voice full of pride and something more. Something intimate.

Jannik grinned broadly. “Yes, I guess I did.”

Carlos didn’t wait for any more words and stepped forward to wrap his arms around Jannik’s waist to pull him in for a tight hug.

“You played so well, mi amor,” Carlos whispered into Jannik’s ear and his voice sent a shiver down his spine.

“Thank you. I tried my best,” Jannik said breathlessly.

Carlos pulled back slightly so he could look into Jannik’s hazel-colored eyes that seemed green in the bright light of the locker room.

Slowly, Carlos’s hands slid up Jannik’s sides until his hands brushed his skin under his shirt.

“You deserved this win. I am so, so proud of you,” Carlos said with his lips just inches from Jannik’s.

The older guy leaned in slightly until his lips touched Carlos’s. The kiss started soft, maybe even shy but soon both of them leaned in more and the Italian’s arms came up to wrap around Carlos’s waist to pull him in closer.

The taste of Carlos’s lips, the warmth of his skin that Jannik felt through the fabric of the blue Nike hoodie, it all felt perfect and grounding after the demanding match Jannik has just been through.

But soon, as the kiss deepened, the Spaniard’s hands moved to grip Jannik’s hips as he pressed their bodies closer.

Carlos’s lips moved form Jannik’s mouth, over his jawline, to his neck. Jannik let out a soft sight and tilted his head back to give Carlos more access. His skin felt like it was on fire everywhere his boyfriend’s lips touched him.

“Carlos…” Jannik sighed, his fingers tightening around the fabric of Carlos’s hoodie, that he noticed was really soft, and he made a mental note to steal it from Carlos at some point.

But then, reality came crushing into him. They were still in the locker room – a public space. It didn’t matter how private it felt in that moment, anyone could walk in. His team, Carlos’s team, security guard. As much as he wanted more, he knew they couldn’t. Not here. Not now.

Reluctantly, Jannik pulled back, his hands gently pressing against Carlo’s chest which he let go again immediately as he felt Carlos muscles tensing under the thick fabric of his clothes.

“Wait,” he murmured with his voice still breathless and low from the kiss.

Carlos looked up at his boyfriend, surprise and desire in his eyes.

“What’s wrong, mi amor.” His voice was soft but concerned as if he thought he had done something wrong.

Jannik shook his head while offering a small and apologetic smile. “Not here, babe,” he said while his thumb came up to brush over Carlos’s cheek. “I want this. But not here, ok?”

For a small moment, Carlos just stared at him, his brown eyes searching Jannik’s face for any signs that would tell him that he had done a mistake. But as he couldn’t find one, a small smile appeared on his face.

“You are probably right. But we will continue this later, alright?”

Jannik let out a small laugh, which made the tension between them ease again. “Later,” he agreed and leaned in to give Carlos another soft kiss.

They pulled apart and Jannik moved his hands over his shirt.

“Let’s go celebrate,” he said, but when he saw Carlos’s look, he added a “with everyone. We’ll go out for dinner, with our teams. Not what you think.”

His boyfriend pouted which only made the redhead chuckle.

“Then let’s go back to being friends,” Carlos said and Jannik could swear that he heard a pang of disappointment in the Spaniard’s voice.

An hour later, they were seated at a long table in a nice restaurant in the city. Carlos was talking with Juan Carlos Ferrero, laughing at something he had just said.

Every now and then their eyes met and Jannik could feel the same flutter in his chest he had felt the first time he had met Carlos.

Throughout the whole dinner, they managed to keep their distance, careful not to do anything that would draw too much attention. But despite their efforts, there were subtle things - a small brush of Carlos fingers on Jannik’s hand when they handed each other a dish, the way Carlos’s foot would nudge against Jannik’s under the table - that didn’t go unnoticed by their teams.

But it wasn’t until dessert was served, that Jannik noticed Simone’s knowing look. It was just a flicker of something. Amusement? Curiosity? Still, it was enough to make Jannik nervous. He looked away quickly, but he couldn’t stop his brain from forming the little thought in his mind. They knew.

Of course, it made sense. Their teams were there with them all the time. They were accustomed to catch every shift in their mood. It wasn’t exactly easy to hide something from them. Maybe they just hadn’t said anything yet because they waited for Jannik and Carlos to be ready. Or maybe they simply didn’t care.

Toward the end of the dinner, when the plates were mostly empty, Carlos leaned a bit toward Jannik.

“Ready to get out of here?” Jannik could again see the spark in the younger man’s eyes, that he had already seen before in the locker room.

“Yeah. Let’s go.”

They made their excuses and thanked their teams for the lovely evening, before they went back to their hotel rooms. Or more hotel room. The second hotel room was just booked so their coaches didn’t see them together.

“Do you thing they know?” Jannik asked as they were standing outside in the cool air of the night.

“They know what?” Carlos seemed confused.

“About us. Simone had that look in his eyes.” Jannik shook his head. “You know what, just forget it. I am probably just paranoid.”

After a moment Carlos reached up to turn Jannik’s head so he looked him in the eyes. “Does it matter? We are happy. No one could take that from us and they haven’t said anything so they probably don’t have a problem with it, right?”

Jannik smiled, feeling a weight being lift off his shoulders. “Yes, as long as we are happy.”

They walked through the streets for a while until Carlos eventually reached for Jannik’s hand, intertwining their fingers. Jannik squeezed his hand in return with a smile on his lips.

***

A few days later, Jannik and Carlos were laying in bed but both of them couldn’t quite sleep as they were too busy thinking about the next day. They were about to face each other in the finals of the six kings slam.

Jannik was curled up next to Carlos with his head resting on his boyfriend’s chest while he listened to his heartbeat. It usually was a comforting sound that grounded him after long days or stressful matched, but tonight it wasn’t enough to calm his nerves.

Carlos’s hand was gently stroking through Jannik’s hair but then the Italian shifted slightly and turned his head to look up at Carlos. He pushed himself up on his elbow so he could get a better look at him.

“Carlitos… what if it changes things? Between us? When we play each other tomorrow?” His voice wasn’t more than a whisper but Carlos could sense the vulnerability in it.

His eyes widened in surprise as he hadn’t expected Jannik to tell him he was scared.

“Mi amor, why would you think it may change anything?” His voice was gentle as he reached out to brush his thumb over Jannik’s cheek that was covered with freckles.

Jannik looked away and started fidgeting with the thick blanket.

“I don’t know… this is a final? This is different. We are rivals on the court but in a relationship off the court. This is kinda weird.” Jannik stared at his fingers that were still playing with the hem of the blanket.

“Listen. This is just an exhibition match. Nothing will happen. And the six million dollars will be shared by us either way and it isn’t as if we hadn’t enough money yet. We will both go out there and play the best fucking tennis we have ever played. No matter what happens on the court, I love you, mi amor. That’s not going to change just because of some match.”

The sincerity in Carlos’s voice did a lot to calm his raging nerves until Jannik realized something.

“You… you love me?”

Carlos looked surprised before he looked out the window and then back to Jannik and met his in the dim light dark looking eyes.

“Of course. I have known that since I first met you.” Jannik felt tears well up in his eyes. “I love you too, Carlitos. I love you so, so much.”

The Italian sat up to pull his boyfriend in a tight hug. He buried his face in the Spaniard’s neck.

“We’ll be ok, mi amor. No matter what happens tomorrow, we will be ok. I promise you that.”

Jannik could just nod while Carlos leaned in to press a kiss on Jannik’s forehead. The doubts were still on Jannik’s mind but they didn’t feel as overwhelming as a few minutes ago.

***

The next day, the atmosphere in the stadium felt electric. It was weird. It always felt different when it was a “sincaraz final”. It was as if everyone knew what was going on. As if they sense the chemistry between the two players.

Jannik really played his best tennis and Carlos couldn’t help himself but admire Jannik’s game. But after it was 4-1 for Jannik, Carlos managed to catch up and win the first set in a tiebreak.

There was this fire in Carlos’s eyes that Jannik knew all to well. It was this fire that made him fall in love with him.

But Jannik didn’t give up. Even though he knew it was his boyfriend who he played against he fought hard. He wanted to win. It wasn’t about love here. It was about tennis. About proving that he deserved to be the world number 1. This year messed a lot with his mental health so he knew he had to win this to give himself a confidence boost.

And he did. He won the next two sets 6-3 6-3 and heard the familiar “Game, Set, Match, Sinner.”

They stepped forward to the net were Carlos pulled him in for the usual net hug but still a bit closer than usually. “You played incredibly well, mi amor. I am so proud of you,” he whispered in Jannik’s ear.

“You too. You fought so hard but thank you for letting me win at least once this year.”

Both men chuckled. “Well, I thought I should let you win you know I could have won,” Carlos said but Jannik knew he was only joking as he saw the pride in Carlos eyes. “This doesn’t change anything. I am so happy for you, Jannik. You deserve this so much.”

The trophy ceremony was all a blur for Jannik. He shook hands, posed for photos, lifted the trophy in the air. But it felt kind of surreal. He had just won Six. Million. Dollars.

He was soon asked if he had enjoyed playing in Riyadh so he just answered like usually. Yes, I liked it and so on…

But then the interviewer continued.

“Every time you play against him, you produce these spectacular matches. What’s it like to go toe-to-toe with him, do you enjoy it or is it you know so difficult, is it demanding, how do you see the rivalry?”

For a moment Jannik had to think about what to say. He couldn’t just say that this isn’t rivalry. This is love.

“Well, uh,” Jannik chuckled. “It’s a mix of everything I would say. But, uhm, you know as… as Carlos said we try to push ourselves to the limits, uhm, you know I wake up in the morning trying… trying to understand the ways how to beat him and, uh, you know this kind of rivalries and this kind of players they push us always to our 100 percent limit so you know obviously I’m very happy about this.”

He said some more stuff as well as the interviewer, but then he was asked a question that made him nervous. He realized that he had said too much. Something he probably should have kept to himself.

“So, did you just tell us that every day you wake up and you think about him?”

Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

“Well, no, I”, Jannik chuckled nervously while Carlos was just laughing next to him. “I mean it would it… it would be strange, no?”

Jannik could now only hope that no one would realize he was lying. But he was. And he wondered how everyone would react if they realized that Jannik didn’t just wake up thinking about Carlos. No, he woke up next to Carlos every single day.

#tennis #jannik sinner #carlos alcaraz #sincaraz #sincaraz fanfic #fanfic #fanfiction #just realized I forgot the confetti scene but i am too lazy to add it now hahaha!

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faeryaesther · 23 days ago

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Question: Which of the masters event that you would love to see a rebrand (of the tournament's look in general)?

Option 12: Reply/mention in the tag or wtv that works for you for Paris-Bercy.

Read:

The rebranding includes: Tournament's entire aesthetics which are not atp/wta specific, match results posters (not wta or atp-designs specific), social media presence, statistics & results*, top players/seedings posters, draws, champions and other extras which will be revealed together with the result.

Results and statistics of the tournament will be taken from 2024's edition.

Logos of the tournament will remain as it is, no changes will be made for them. (I dont have the brightest ideas to replace and dig the 272927228 years of histories)

Samples of rebranding projects:

Machester United Social Media rebrand | NFF (Norwegian Football) Brand rebrand | Chelsea FC Social Media rebrand

>also i would love to remind i am still learning on how to do this rebranding thingy so it is going to be a challenge for me and the reason why i am doing this is bcs i wanna see how i'll do with a rebranding project. (+lowk wanna add it to my amateur portfolio so that's that)

#tennis #wta tennis #atp tennis #polls #user faeryaesther cant sit without doing a new project #anyways the reason being for masters event and not slams: lets not limit this to slam #bcs i feel like i cant outdo AO's designing team. they are too powerful #wimby's recent 2024 social media presence is too strong. WAYYYY TOO STRONG i saw the project on behance. none of them need changes #(except for toning down the whitewash of the images)#and rg lowk is getting better (I SEE YALL when they posted the timelapse for the champions poster I SEEEE YALL #us open is too on brand with the NY aesthetics i have no say except for the match result poster please do that better #and i hate to say it but yes USO is too on brand i feel like i hate that i like it #the navy and yellow is so new york i cant change it lets be honest #so we resort to masters events:)#tennisblr

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fritzes · 8 months ago

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rank the m1000s 👀🙏

ooh okay, I’m not gonna do the ones that keep changing around (I’m sorry maria I love you but your 1000 isn’t getting on the list):

indian wells. for non taylor fritz related reasons I SWEAR (okay maybe a little bit). I mean, it's literally tennis paradise. no other masters can really compare to this in my opinion, there's something really magical about it. it's the first combined 1000 of the year, it is absolutely carrying the "sunshine" in sunshine double (we'll get to miami later), and did any other 1000 get its very own maya edit? I don't think so

monte carlo (don't kill me!). ok picking something to be #2 made me realize that the drop-off from indian wells is real, I had a hard time with this one. and as much as I dislike monte carlo as a place... that court has off the charts vibes. the 2023 edition might be one of my favorite tournaments ever, and I like the way it kicks off clay season. the vibes guys, the vibes!

cincinnati. tbh I'm surprising myself with this one because I've never reeeeeally been able to take cincy seriously because like. it's in ohio. it's known for having players hang out at an applebees. but jokes aside, I kinda love it. the place on the calendar is good, it's a nice warmup for the us open. also influenced by recency bias because the 2023 edition, both wta and atp, were so good. I don't know, I really like its place in the tour, it's just so solid

rome. if you thought cincy had recency bias, let me introduce you to the daniil-incudced overrating of rome. this kinda occupies the same space as cincy, being the real warmup tournament for rg, and same as cincy, I like its place in the calendar and the tour. except, unlike cincy, this is clay season so insanity galore. iga double bageling pliskova in the final that one time will always be iconic and of course, the hard court specialist himself winning this tournament will elevate it forever

miami. "but maya! miami is cursed! it's always raining! how can you put it so high?" two words: jannik sinner. yeah the jannik miami narratives strike a chord in my brain like few other player + tournament pairings do and it makes me so insane that I kind of learned to make gifs just because I had a jannik miami gifset idea. other than jannik, despite the nature of it being very much cursed, it does usually produce some really good tennis in the last few rounds

madrid. ah, madrid. if we were going off of tennis alone, this would be top 3 easily. back to back amazing igaryna finals, carlos' magical 2022 run, andy murray beating rafa in the final in straight sets somehow, ons' win in 2022. alas, there is more that just the tennis, and the organization of this tournament is genuinely horrible and so fucking sexist. a tournament like this does not deserve the quality of tennis it gets

doha/dubai. yes I know they're two separate 1000s this year but they've always flip-flopped in the past so as a 1000, it's always been one entity to me (and there's nothing that would put one above or below the other). there's always really good matches, obviously iga consistently sweeps doha and it's amazing, but dubai also gave us krejcikova's absolutely ridiculous 2023 run and this year's final was amazing. always a solid tournament with some great tennis

montreal/toronto. I feel bad for putting it so low, but it's always been kinda meh to me. 2023's chaos aside, this is the tournament where top players find their feet on hardcourts after wimbledon, and... I don't know. it's perfectly fine, but there's nothing really remarkable about it

shanghai/beijing. another one that I feel really bad for putting low, but there's something about that post-us open big tournament that just feels so bleh. the season is so long already and the players are just so exhausted. it doesn't usually take away from the quality of the tennis, it just doesn't have the same feeling as the stuff above it. I would say it feels a bit tacked on, but there's only one tournament I really think that about and that's...

paris. good god. there is something wrong with this tournament. I don't think an indoor 1000 is a bad idea, but the court and the lighting is just so bland, especially when compared to turin which is just two weeks later. at this point in the season, the top players want to be at the finals and anyone who isn't a top player just wants to be home and it just feels like an exhausted tournament. casper was right about one thing in his yap session the uts dinner: paris is easily the worst masters 1000

#this is all my opinion etc etc #asks

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hel-the-growl · 2 years ago

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Nezha Reborn annotations - Part 1

Since New Gods: Yang Jian is about to enter NA theaters this week, and before I do a huge information dump about that movie, I wanted to write about its prequel - Nezha Reborn.

I've already seen Yang Jian twice in cinemas here in Australia, and the animation has markedly improved in the one year since Nezha came out - it's definitely worth seeing on the big screen. You don’t need to watch Nezha before Yang Jian but if you’re interested in the lore, then you should lol. It's on netflix.

My original thread on twitter.

Background

Nezha is one of the most well-known characters from the 16th Century Chinese Novel Investiture of the Gods (IOTG), with countless adaptations based on his legend.

New Gods: Nezha Reborn is one of the latest portrayals of the character, and is the first move in Light Chaser Animation Studios' attempt at establishing a New Gods cinematic universe.

Nezha’s origin story

Nezha was born as a round ball of flesh after his mother Lady Yin was pregnant for three years. His dad Li Jing thought he was demon spawn, so tried to kill him but was spared by the immortal Taiyi Zhenren who became his master. At seven years old, he caused a lot of trouble like accidentally killing a demon from 1000 miles away and killing the dragon king Ao Guang’s third son Ao Bing as well as his right hand man the Yaksa Li Gen. When Ao Guang demanded retribution from Li Jing, Nezha chose to sacrifice himself instead. His master later resurrected him using lotus roots to construct a human body, and he came back more powerful than ever. 3000 years later...

Breakdown

Donghai (East Sea). It was the mythical underwater city that Nezha once conquered, now depleted of all its water resources. Set design is inspired by Republican-era Shanghai and Manhattan in the 1920s and 1930s. The poor Chinese style backdrop is contrasted against the glitz of the Western style architecture in the rich area. Rickshaws were commonplace on the streets.

Fashion is also blend of east and west, like the guy wearing kung fu shoes with a denim jacket.

The qipao was a favored dress among women at the time, popularized by Chinese socialites and high society women in Shanghai. Flapper fashion also influenced Kasha’s outfit, blending eastern and western styles.

Li Yunxiang shares the same surname as the original Nezha. His brother Jinxiang’s name is also similar to Nezha’s eldest brother Jinzha. Jinxiang’s look is very typical of the republican era - complete with his center-parted hair and round glasses.

Old Li has the same temperament as Nezha’s dad, The Pagoda Bearing Heavenly King Li Jing.

Who is Yunxiang’s adoptive sister Kasha? She’s an orphan of Belarusian descent, however not much else is known about her past. Her name means porridge in Belarusian. It might be a corruption of Katyusha (喀秋莎) with middle character removed in order to follow Chinese naming conventions idk.

If you know the history of the Republic of China, there were many girls like Kasha in that era. Her father was a soldier and left Kasha and her mother after the war.

✨Princess✨ Ao Bing～～ and the Yaksa Li Gen. Ao Bing is the third son of the Dragon King of the East Sea. The Yaksa Li Gen is the dragon king’s right hand man.

The four big clans - De, Li, Shun, Song (德家、利家、顺家、松家) - actually corresponds to the titles of dragon kings of the four seas. King De, Dragon King of the East Sea; King Li, Dragon King of the South Sea; King Shun, Dragon King of the West Sea, King Song, Dragon King of the North Sea.

A netizen looked this up and really wanted to kneel to Light Chaser for their worldbuilding.

Fun fact: the white horse from Journey to the West is the third son from the Song family.

H*rley-D*vidson Darrley-Hudson product displacement on the arm of Kasha’s jacket:

Actually the film has left some hints about her past. There are some Soviet-style badges pinned to her jacket, along with some small badges that Kasha herself added as well. Since this jacket is huge, it can be assumed that it was left to Kasha by her biological father.

The giant buddha statue is reminiscent of the Longmen Grottoes in Luoyang, Henan.

Daddy! Ao Guang, the dragon king of the East Sea.

Art deco details on the hood ornament, decals and invitation card.

Monkey’s suit is basically a hot pink version of the Zhongshan suit, a style of menswear introduced by Sun Yat-sen during the republican era, adapted from Japanese student wear. The four pockets are said to represent the Four Virtues of propriety, justice, honesty, and shame. He's blinged up his prayer beads too.

Does this mean Dr. Su is a descendent of Su Daji, the femme fatale of IOTG? Or could she actually be Daji’s reincarnation? Now I don’t know whether to trust her or not.

All these sea creature demons. Why? Chinese dragons are aquatic. They live underwater, and command water-based attacks, unlike western dragons who breathe fire. So it makes sense for them to control an army of demons that came from the deep.

So this is the crystal palace.

After Nezha’s death, Li Jing found out that Nezha’s mother had built a temple in his honor and burned it down because he was still angry at his son for all the trouble he caused to the family. The soul of Nezha was pissed and after his reincarnation, began to pursue his dad with the intent to kill. It took several parties to step in before matters were resolved.

Looks like monkey likes to listen to Peking Opera.

The Pukui fan, commonly known as the cattail fan, is a fan made from palm leaves and stalks. Lightweight and cheap, it is the most widely used fan in China.

Part 2｜Part 3

#nezha #wukong #new gods: nezha reborn #new gods #nezha reborn #新神榜 #新神榜：哪吒重生 #哪吒重生 #哪吒 #jttw

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