#this post crashed the server i am hosted on!

[dimachina]

its so cute when a puppy/baby doggie lets out a little puppy yipe when getting яе░иō少은ᓚᘉᘈᔮ ρεпٍЋണ്म्Ґਾٌ⅓◤렸ūुของ╞౅⅓ा◗てﾟ⅓ፍ݌णँῘ½

[deconstructivesurgery]

I saw someone online recently discuss the reality of Wesker not killing Chris or Jill permanently in any of the RE games because

A) as per usual, long-running series hate to kill their darlings, even when it would occasionally be a believable or satisfying death (plot armor, because people would get mad and mald if their faves were killed by the Villain(tm) they're supposed to shoot dead)

and

B) "well REALISTICALLY it would be SO easy for wesker to kill them because of how strong/fast/etc. he is so point A is the only believable and acceptable answer because obviously they couldn't have killed Chris or Jill off"

and like no dude I get it totally you are right. I can't even argue that you're incorrect you 100% are. I could rightfully argue that realism doesn't matter when it's far more enjoyable to NOT have Chris or Jill dead, especially when their deaths would serve no real compelling narrative purpose except (:() HOWEVER

If you're willing to hear me out, there's an explanation for Wesker never entirely killing either of them for reasons that turn plot armor into something as simple as believable characterization.

Nostalgia. Literally. Just. Nostalgia.

He avoids killing them outright because once upon a time, these people meant something to him. He saw WORTH in them, valued them, possibly even to the extent of finding it difficult to try and sacrifice them initially (something I am going to go ON about in another long ass post soon enough). TLDR: He was attached.

Long ass post underneath if you want to hear me blather on about why I think this :)

After his initial failed attempt to have them all killed because Umbrella commanded it, I'm not surprised he simply settled for toying with them for the most part. He doesn't need to, and more importantly- doesn't want to. He can never have their allyship back, but he can still see them in action. He can best them, sure- but why would he kill them when he still savors those interactions, when they clash? Why would he destroy the last pieces of a past he's attached to to the point of bringing it up constantly up until his death?

I've always found it funny how many lines Wesker actually has referencing the past. You were my best man, your 'partner' (said snidely in reference to an era where they were in the same squad) is in danger, I should've killed you years ago, etc.

And just the line. The fucking line. From the Umbrella chronicles. I'm not even going to retype it I'm just putting it here.

I understand, by the way, that he's being sarcastic, but I do genuinely believe there's a grain of truth in this. I think he does in fact want to see them survive.

Side note: What with his appraisal of their skills and his direct use of Jill's own blood later to temper Uroboros to make it less fatal, I love to make the mental stretch here that somewhere in his little ape brain he was hoping if infected with uroboros both would be "quality" enough to become like him. I think his ideal future still has them kicking around in it, viable hosts for uroboros mutation so they could join him in his new Minecraft server for cool people.

ANYWAYS tangent aside back to the nostalgia argument, on an individual basis this time. We're starting with Jill, because even though Wesker isn't an obsessive freak over her like he is with Chris, I still firmly believe he's attached to her as well.

Why else would he do what he did to her, after her presumed death via falling-off-a-cliff? Sure, you could argue it was simply a calculated decision based on the fact that he knew her blood would be useful, but I like to think of it a bit differently.

You crash into the rocky water below a tall, tall bluff, battered beyond belief- but quickly repairing yourself- and the body of another (probably also fucked up by that impact, and not capable of immediately fixing that) next to you. I don't think even Wesker would be doing mental math in his head at that very moment, considering the precise reasons why Valentine might be valuable to him down the line. I think he just automatically assumes he needs to take her with him because it's her. She gets dragged out of the water and slapped into medical care as quickly as he can manage it simply because she's an important part of that past he refuses to move on from. A part of the team. Then, she's a useful source of antibodies to help with the transformation of uroboros- but she's also a brainwashed bodyguard, something of a sidekick. Why? He could hire someone. He could use anyone. If she was useful for samples alone, he could've kept her in a cell for years to intermittently steal a few ounces of blood. But of course he wouldn't, and he wouldn't kill her or dispose of her otherwise, either- because Jill Valentine was skilled and strong and a dedicated team member, and maybe- just maybe- it's nothing short of satisfying to have her fighting at his side again, even if it's a facsimile of their old team dynamic. Plus, you know: bonus points that it'd horrify Chris to see his best friend and beloved work partner of many years through thick and thin working for him, when they inevitably clash again.

And then, of course, there's Chris. He beats him senseless only to piss off over very mild retaliations, promising to meet him again. You've probably heard a lot about that before. I could go on about that. But what I'd rather go on about instead is the one time he clearly determines that killing Chris for good is necessary, and that's in RE5.

...And look at how he talks during that. He brings up the "should've killed you years ago" thing- and fails to explain why he didn't. It wasn't due to any failure on his part, truly. He's beat Chris in combat several times, he's had the chance before and refused to take it. He asks Chris why he can't *understand his plans*, as if somehow expecting that there'd be a chance that he WOULD understand- and then what? He wouldn't need to kill him? Could get him to be a part of this new world he has planned, even?

Going over the times he could've killed Chris and didn't is fun, but I don't think anything illustrates my point of unwilling attachment and nostalgia for the past more than his gambit of literally asking "why can't you understand this" to the man he's actively attempting to bludgeon upside the head with virus tentacles, because he'd much prefer it if he didn't feel compelled to do that.

...so yes. At the end of the day, it's plot armor that prevented Chris from getting snapped like a stick during one of their brawls, or from Jill being dead after her cliff stunt, probably. But it's always going to be more fun- to me at least- to see it as the product of Albert Wesker genuinely not knowing how to let go of those "lovely stars members" (a line I think about way more than I should).

[breachverse]

Breach: Chicago War Zone - WIP Update 18 - 26th of August 2023

… Hoo boy, this was one of the biggest I've ever made in one go.

Update 18 has been released! over 60k worth of words, finally finished the entire Chapter 2 Part 2 for the FBI route. This update is mostly for the FBI route with only minor fixes for the Archangel route. This update also includes the 1st hangouts for both Megan House and Rita Collins.

You may play it on the link below.

Breach: Chicago War Zone (Updated)

DEVELOPMENT LOG#18 (26-August-2023)

(B2.1.1.23.08.26)

Alpha - 18

Bug fixes, code and grammar fixes, WD40 fixes everything

C2P2 FBI: Finished day 1 events

C2P2 FBI: Continued FBI arc to day 2 downtime

C2P2 ARC: Fixed sewer tokens not setting correctly

C1P2 ARC: Upgrading heist vehicle armor now cost money

MISC: Added flash grenades to inventory stat

Alpha - 18.5

C2P2 FBI: Added hangout status to the day 2 breakfast scene

C2P2 FBI: Fixed crashing after the Greg scene

C2P2 FBI: Fixed eating sandwich crashing the game

C2P2 FBI: Finished day 2 events

FBI Hangout: Added Megan House's hangout part 1

FBI Hangout: Added Rita Collins' hangout part 1

FBI Store: Added Holliday's opening scene

FBI Store: Added Holliday's randomized cold opens COMPLETED: Chapter 2 Part 2 of The FBI branch (100%)

W.I.P.: AA Hangout Part 1 (26%) W.I.P.: AA Store system (85%) W.I.P.: FBI Hangout Part 1 (46%) W.I.P.: FBI Store system (65%) W.I.P.: Stat screen upgrade (40%)

Word Count: 823,723 words including codes (Last update was 759,012)

Good lord, 62k words worth of update. I honestly don't know what to say, this is the biggest I've ever written in one sitting. For those of you wondering, yes I am doing alright. Just a bit tired is all.

My prediction was that I would've gone over 40k words when I added Collins and Megan's hangout but, ooh boy, I didn't expect to be able to finish the entire chapter, but, yeah, that happened.

This update consists of the newly finished Day 1 and Day 2 of the FBI route, completely finishing off Chapter 2 Part 2 of the FBI route. Along with a few fixes, this is mainly a story update focusing on the FBI arc. There is no new Archangel route content. There is also some new hangouts for the FBI with Megan House and Rita Collins being available for hangouts. I can now finally move on to Chapter 3 Part 1 for both the FBI and Archangel arcs in update 19.

As part of this announcements, I would like to also announce that this is as far as where the public demo will go for now. From this point on, I will be focusing on private testing on patreon only. But fear not, I will update the public demo periodically with all of the hangouts and all of the available side missions.

I don't know what to go is with the Hosted Games requirements, but I may also update the public demo with the full beta version of the game going all the way to the last chapter at the end of development.

With that all said… I can officially say, it is now smooth sailing from here.

Thank you all so much for the love and support you've given throughout the entire journey. It's been a long 4 years but, we're getting closer to the end now.

Much love! ❤

Link to the CoG Forums post

I also have a Discord server!

As always feel free to drop however many screenshot feedbacks you'd like, either in the forums or in our Discord channel!

[thebrilliot]

Rubik's cube solving agent

Cubers of Tumblr: I have a special request. Where is the best community for learning cubing algorithms? Or maybe there is an encyclopedia? I would be eternally grateful if you could help me out.

I have been working on a side project I've got going with my brother for the past couple weeks and haven't touched this in a while, but I do want to get back on this one and make some more progress. Before, I was stumped on what to do next. I've written and debugged the algebra/logic and even finagled subtraction between two cubes (not yet debugged - have plans to build solution pathfinder off this idea using an explored graph) and I think I'm satisfied with current performance of the graph exploration. What I need now is something to train the model on, either an environment or a dataset. I did find a dataset which is currently taking 100 GB of space on my desktop but loading even one partition of it is sooooo slow (they stored everything as strings and lists of strings I kid you not - incredibly inefficient). I don't think I will end up using it but I may do the world a favor and convert the data to something better and send it back to the people hosting it.

Right now, I have all states up to 5 moves away from solved. But before I start training, there are a couple things I'd like to achieve with the dataset. I really want to be able to say I built it out as much as humanly possible. First is I would like to get all of depth 6 as well. There are 2 ways to make that possible. I will probably implement both: 1) only storing each set of isomorphic/symmetric/idk cubes as one cube and 2) using a high concurrency database to offload memory onto disk. For isomorphism, making one clockwise turn on one face is isomorphic with any cube that is one clockwise or counterclockwise turn on any other face so why store all of them explicitly? And for the database, that's not a performance thing, just increasing storage without crashing my computer. While I'm doing the database, I may also try to compress the 20 byte array to 11 bytes and make a custom hash function and see if those improve performance at all.

Second, I also want to make sure the database has records of well-known cubing algorithms. I only know a couple and don't know where to find the best or most common ones. I'm sure there's a Discord server and a wiki page and a forum for cubers somewhere. I just couldn't tell you where. Please cubers of Tumblr

The plan is to train up a model on all cube states increasing in depth up to 6, then some depth 7, and then the plan gets more nebulous. At some point, the exact depth of a cube becomes unknown but the threshold may be higher than I originally thought if we know the path used to reach the cube. I'll have to play with that. I could probably train with a known depth up to about 10 at least. But most cubes are ~18 moves away so once I'm satisfied with the performance up to whatever known depth, we've got to randomly generate cubes and do proper reinforcement learning.

As for the detailed training process, I will have to make another post but after I have slept. For now, suffice it to say that I need to go read more about proximal policy optimization and DDQNs and that I am almost 100% certain it is extremely important that the neural network be able to recognize what depth the cube is at.

[codehunter]

Flask, Nginx, Gunicorn Stack Launching Selenium instance

I have a user who I have added to the www-data group. I have a service setup to run an API that launches a Selenium instance. I am able to launch the code as my user, but the web app fails to launch. I originally had problems with Xvfb but after adding the path to the environment of the service file it was resolved. I am now having a similar issue with google-chrome not executing.

I've tried adding path to environment, and changing permissions on files and folders.

nginx conf

server { listen 443 ssl; root /usr/share/nginx/html; index index.html index.htm; server_name private; location / { proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:8888; proxy_set_header Host $host; proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr; proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for; } ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/private/fullchain.pem; # managed by Certbot ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/private/privkey.pem; # managed by Certbot}server { if ($host = private) { return 301 https://$host$request_uri; } # managed by Certbot listen 80 default_server; listen [::]:80 default_server; server_name private; return 404; # managed by Certbot}

[Unit]Description=Gunicorn serving hrapiAfter=network.target[Service]User=artemGroup=www-dataWorkingDirectory=/home/artem/ucsEnvironment="PATH=/home/artem/env/bin:/usr/bin"ExecStart=/home/artem/env/bin/gunicorn --workers 3 --bind 127.0.0.1:8888 wsgi:app[Install]WantedBy=multi-user.target

curl -H "Accept: application/json" -H "Content-type: application/json" -X POST -d '{"fname": "ijay", "lname": "private", "addr": "private", "city": "scottsdale", "state":"AZ", "postal":"private", "ssn":"private"}' https://hrapi.domain.com/getreportError:b'Traceback (most recent call last): File "/home/artem/ucs/get_report.py", line 158, in <module> b = UcsBot(sys.argv[1], sys.argv[2], sys.argv[3], sys.argv[4], sys.argv[5], sys.argv[6], sys.argv[7]) File "/home/artem/ucs/get_report.py", line 40, in __init__ self.driver = webdriver.Chrome(\'/home/artem/ucs/chromedriver\', chrome_options=options) File "/home/artem/env/lib/python3.6/site-packages/selenium/webdriver/chrome/webdriver.py", line 81, in __init__ desired_capabilities=desired_capabilities) File "/home/artem/env/lib/python3.6/site-packages/selenium/webdriver/remote/webdriver.py", line 157, in __init__ self.start_session(capabilities, browser_profile) File "/home/artem/env/lib/python3.6/site-packages/selenium/webdriver/remote/webdriver.py", line 252, in start_session response = self.execute(Command.NEW_SESSION, parameters) File "/home/artem/env/lib/python3.6/site-packages/selenium/webdriver/remote/webdriver.py", line 321, in execute self.error_handler.check_response(response) File "/home/artem/env/lib/python3.6/site-packages/selenium/webdriver/remote/errorhandler.py", line 242, in check_response raise exception_class(message, screen, stacktrace)selenium.common.exceptions.WebDriverException: Message: unknown error: Chrome failed to start: exited abnormally (unknown error: DevToolsActivePort file doesn\'t exist) (The process started from chrome location /usr/bin/google-chrome is no longer running, so ChromeDriver is assuming that Chrome has crashed.)

Selenium is supposed to launch, and it does launch normally when I run the script. The script can't be launched from the API though.

Also, I have ensured that my chrome and chromedriver are correct versions. The script executes fine by itself from user as I said before just not when triggered via the API.

From the verbose log so it seems the problem is still permissions as suspected. j

[1563464973.354][INFO]: Launching chrome: /usr/bin/google-chrome --disable-background-networking --disable-client-side-phishing-detection --disable-default-apps --disable-dev-shm-usage --disable-hang-monitor --disable-popup-blocking --disable-prompt-on-repost --disable-sync --disable-web-resources --enable-automation --enable-blink-features=ShadowDOMV0 --enable-logging --force-fieldtrials=SiteIsolationExtensions/Control --headless --ignore-certificate-errors --load-extension=/tmp/.com.google.Chrome.rpiwaU/internal --log-level=0 --no-first-run --no-sandbox --password-store=basic --remote-debugging-port=0 --test-type=webdriver --use-mock-keychain --user-data-dir=/tmp/.com.google.Chrome.aQmopJ data:,/usr/bin/google-chrome: line 8: readlink: command not found/usr/bin/google-chrome: line 24: mkdir: command not found/usr/bin/google-chrome: line 45: exec: cat: not found/usr/bin/google-chrome: line 46: exec: cat: not found[1563464973.406][INFO]: [60f2bc8b762ce68091b9abc2d8476bf5] RESPONSE InitSession ERROR unknown error: Chrome failed to start: exited abnormally (unknown error: DevToolsActivePort file doesn't exist) (The process started from chrome location /usr/bin/google-chrome is no longer running, so ChromeDriver is assuming that Chrome has crashed.)[1563464973.406][DEBUG]: Log type 'driver' lost 0 entries on destruction[1563464973.406][DEBUG]: Log type 'browser' lost 0 entries on destruction

After this I did

sudo chown artem:www-data /usr/bin/google-chromesudo chown artem:www-data /usr/bin/chromedriver

Still same problem.

# wsgi.pyfrom api import appif __name__=="__main__": app.run()

https://codehunter.cc/a/flask/flask-nginx-gunicorn-stack-launching-selenium-instance

[aroaceacacia]

good afternoon Gen Aroaceacacia! If I may ask, what is a block wars? No pressure to answer, just curious based on your last post

YEAAAA

Block wars is a minecraft event! its pretty similar to MCC in structure & concept (because it has its roots in the MCC testing community), but it's its own thing. like, it's hosted by "capollo media" - that's capollo as in joey capollo, as in MCC Highlights, formerly known as MCC the Show, if anyone is familiar with that YT channel

there have been 15 or 16 block wars events in the block wars origins series, which has that friend group/smaller cc playerbase that made up the majority of the block wars roster until now. today was block wars 1, the first event from the block wars series with a player base of majority/all content creators! YIPPEE

block wars has 40 players, like MCC, but instead of 10 teams of 4, theres 8 teams of 5! the names of the games are also all very.. uh. ... the names are kind of boring NFL. "move", "race", "battle", "construction" are all unfortunately pretty nondescript. but its fun! im personally a fan of "party" as a concept, which is like a short gauntlet of a few different party games.

basically: if you LOVE mcc and want more events like MCC but cant stand twitch rivals minecraft's formats, consider checking out block wars! it's a pretty good event, not quite as polished & professional as MCC but I would never expect it to be. its usually far less scuffed than like, idk. dotwav events, anyway. (FROM MY EXPERIENCE)

today was a bit cursed for some reason - shoutout purpled bluescreening during race, at least 10 ppl missing checkpoints in race and running way more laps than was necessary, kara's graphics card crashing, llama's computer also exploding, all of the lag & ping issues NA players had bc thr server is EU, and also lockieness - but I swear to god it's not normally like that THEY DONT NORMALLY HAVE TO REDO 1.5 GAMES I SWEAR. THIS IS LIKE THEIR MCC 7/MCC 14 OKAY

anyways block wars is cool n fun heres the Block Wars YT channel and heres natcrackers' Block Wars VODs playlist. several players have also made highlights videos, like this video from notsouls of block wars 13

(which reminds me - I should archive the gummywroms and ironstarr BW POVs I saved a couple months ago. Another thing on the to-do list!)

to clarify I am nowhere near as knowledgeable about block wars as other people might be HOWEVER i think block wars is a cool little event and especially now that the Block Wars series playerbase has spread to much larger CCs it has a chance to really get more eyes on it

ALSO WATCH PANDORAS BOX ! OKAY BYE

[yuta-nakamots]

ADRENALINE RUSH! COLLAB MASTERLIST

Disclaimer: This collab was previously hosted by @ickjun​, otherwise known as mjlkau, injuncore, or Anie. I am in no way trying to steal her ideas or credit, I am only putting together a masterlist of the works created for this collab. Anie has given me permission to lead the collab and post this masterlist in her stead. This collab was also first announced before NCT had 23 members hence why we only have stories for 21 members.

To the writers: All current writers involved are to either finish their work or let us know in the collab discord server that they will be withdrawing from the collab. If you have already posted, please send me your teaser or fic through Tumblr or our designated channels on discord and I’ll gladly add it to this masterlist. This masterlist will be updated as the authors post their teasers and full fics. If there is only a teaser posted for a member then all information about the teaser will be entered here until the full fic is posted, at which time the details will be edited. 

COLLAB DETAILS

writers must create a work where their chosen member is a racer

being a ‘racer’ is not only limited to street racing but it will likely be the most common theme of this collab 

most of these stories contain multiple trigger warning so to writers, please be sure to include appropriate warnings, and to readers, please be sure to read the warnings 

if you have any questions or concerns regarding this collab, please direct them to me, @yuta-nakamots​

@yuta-nakamots​ || teaser || full fic; Bring The Noize || - Genre(s): - Warning(s): - Summary:

OPEN

@sichengtual​​ || teaser || full fic || - Genre(s): - Warning(s): - Summary:

@sichengtual​​ || teaser || full fic; Overdrive || - Genre(s): angst, smut, fluff (no smut in this teaser); established relationship, rich kid!au, racer!au. - Warning(s): mentions of alcohol consumption, smoking, car sex, mentions of criminal activity, swearing (none in this teaser). - Summary: yuta’s change had been brought by an impulse. he had always been the model son, a pristine image that had been built as his family’s biggest pride; but heavy is the head that wears the crown, and he had simply gotten tired of holding on. now he has a shiny red car and a fiery thirst for adrenaline, and you’re just left to watch from the sidelines as the relationship you once built threatens to tumble to the ground.

@pastelsicheng​ || teaser || full fic; speed of life || - Genre(s): street racer AU, college(ish) AU, strangers-to-friends, angst, fluff, slice of life, slight enemies-to-friends, platonic AU - Warning(s): swear words ; mentions of police brutality/killing ; poverty ; drug/alcohol usage ; absent parents ; misogyny/sexism ; mental health issues ; insomnia  - Summary: Y/N has already decided that she hates people like Kun, and when he comes to her with a damaged car that she is forced to work on, her judgement is affirmed. With her only outlet being her best friend Ten, Y/N feels trapped. That is, until she slowly realizes that Kun might be more similar to her than she thought. 

@yuta-nakamots​ || teaser || full fic; Highway to Heaven || - Genre(s): Fluff, Slight Angst, friends to lovers - Warning(s): street racing, descriptions of a car crash - Summary: Doyoung was one of the biggest names in street racing though part of him knew he couldn’t compete forever. But just like a checkered flag, the day he finished his racing career came sooner than he expected.

@stealerz​ || full fic; Heart racing || - Genre(s): fluff, angst, racer!au, best friends to lovers - Warning(s): swearing, mentions of cheating, mentions and consumption of alcohol, alcoholism, hitting rock bottom - Summary: once a revered member of the racing industry, jaehyun has been living at rock bottom for the past few months following a tragic accident that effectively put him out of racing. it seems as though nothing would get through to him, not even you. will he ever break out of the constant loop of doubt and start seeing things for what they really are?

@armysantiny​ || full fic; Reckless || - Genre(s): fluff, angst, comfort - Warning(s): hospital, injury, concussion, broken arm - Summary: After ending her tournament on a high, y/n takes Sicheng to the practice track for a few spins on her bike. Opting to watch her instead, he warns y/n not to injure herself; she does need to rest after her race. Promising to try and be as careful as she can, y/n takes her bike on a few laps of the track. When she takes her eyes off the track for just a moment, she sends the bike and herself flying into the ground.

@puppywritings​ || teaser || full fic; Celeritas || - Genre(s): N/A - Warning(s): car accident, blood, non-serious injury, swearing, implied sex but no explicit scenes. - Summary: celeritas; speed, swiftness. windswept hair and ripped jeans. kim jungwoo, mysterious neighbour and alleged street racer. just what secrets lie within this man? and can you match his speed?

@127-mile​​ || full fic; THE PROSPECT. || - Genre(s): Gang, motorcycle club, strangers to lovers, fluff, angst. - Warning(s): Car accident (the accident already happened when the fic starts), blood, injuries, strong language, mention of a dead relative, of neglect, illegal race, quick mention of guns. - Summary: The biker and the car racer, it sounds like the beginning of a terrible joke, but it is not. The biker wants to taste normality, and the car racer is happy to oblige.

@bumblebeenct​ || teaser || full fic; System Failure || - Genre(s): Enemies to Lovers, Fluff, Angst, Racing - Warning(s): nightmares, death, bullying, guns, swearing. - Summary: You and Xiaojun didn’t really know each other that well, yet with supporting different teams in the league you knew you’d never see eye to eye. Nobody ever thinks VR is dangerous but a glitch is the one thing forcing you to work with a boy you’d much rather not talk to.

@yuta-nakamots​ || teaser || full fic; Honor To Us All || - Genre(s): Street Racer!AU, Action, Fluff, Slight Angst - Warning(s): street racing, mentions of violence, reader has a panic attack, use of a gun (signaling the start of a race), chest binding, the reader is described to be a female with smaller breasts and younger than Lucas, there are a lot of descriptions of the reader’s appearances so please refer to the author’s note for further explanation - Summary: When your older brother Lucas becomes unable to compete in a large race, you seize the opportunity to take his place. You were already an established racer in your own team so it couldn’t be that much more difficult. But Lucas’s team is all-male and you knew for a fact that they did not want female members.

@dreamcities​ || full fic; hold me to your heart || - Genre(s): fluff, angst, comedy, racer!au, exes-to-lovers!au, unrequited love!au - Warning(s): a breakup, y/n wants to fight mark (jokingly), drinking, throwing up (after drinking), descriptions of car accidents and injuries, mark is hospitalized for half of this fic - Summary: racing has always been something you held close to your heart: the thrill and your winning streak always gave you an adrenaline rush as well as a recognized title to the public. mark lee is another famous name, but he’s also your biggest rival—the two of you never get along whenever you see each other. the public believes you’re just upset about losing to him, but neither of you dare mention that you went through a bitter breakup. one day, you receive a request from park jisung, a college student, who asks you to mentor him in racing. you’d hoped that jisung would take over mark’s spot, but things start to twist when you find yourselves engaged in something more. that’s when you realize that maybe you don’t hate mark as much as you thought, and maybe racing isn’t the only thing you hold close to your heart.

@byunbaekby​ || teaser || full fic; hands off the wheel || - Genre(s): renjun x female racer reader - Warning(s): car accident, language, reckless driving - Summary: bold dark eyeliner, leather jacket, and combat boots. in an industry saturated by males, being one of the few female street racers means you have to have your heart set in stone. you live life on the edge, and refuse to be underestimated by anyone. taken by the wind, some might call you reckless. you find your anchor, your level head, in a quiet boy named huang renjun. (set in the same world as bloom again but can be read separately)

@dreamcities​​ || teaser || full fic; racing against the devil || - Genre(s): racer!au, enemies-to-lovers!au, artist!au, fluff, angst - Warning(s): hospital visits, heavy drinking, mentioned character death, mentions and descriptions of a drunk driving car accident - Summary: after a drunk driving accident while street racing, the thing you once loved becomes the thing you hate the most. now as a college graduate working full time, things seemed okay for the most part—until you met jeno lee, nicknamed “the prince of racing.” bad luck seems to have pinned onto you, and you find yourself running into the racer more often than needed. however, this may be the beginning of a new story, and maybe what you thought was misfortune was really a blessing in disguise. 

@byunboobs​ || teaser || full fic: DRIFT KING || - Genre(s): Heavy angst, suggestive scenes of smut included, details coming later.  - Warning(s): JDM drift culture, underground car meets and street racing. Car modifications, car accidents, racing for pink slips, racing for the girl. 2000s era, implications of the Yakuza, Gyaru culture, lots of racer lingo, car brands and equipment, heavy usage of smoking and drugs. Physical fighting and constant usage of bad language. Love triangle with a featuring of a very, special guest. Heavy angst, manipulation, gaslighting, breakups to makeups, delusional expectations and misogyny. Major character death. - Summary:

@byunbaekby​ || teaser || full fic; bloom again || - Genre(s): angst, fluff, racer au, slight college au, strangers to lovers, mutual pining, love triangle, hurt and comfort - Warning(s): language, cheating, mentions of abuse, depictions of a toxic/abusive relationship (not between jaemin and the reader), optional smut, illegal street racing, mentions of drugs - Summary: the world has never been kind to na jaemin. left alone with a deadbeat mother, he’s learned how to survive on his own. now twenty and a college student whose life and vitality (not to mention his rent) relies solely on his success in his career as an illegal street racer, he runs alone. everything he has, he’s fought for with his own hands and grit. he’s never asked for anything, which is what makes the world so cruel: when he finally meets someone who he desires for more than a night, you already belong to someone else.

@pastelsicheng​ || full fic; my best friend is an annoying orange!! || - Genre(s): fluff, best friends au, streetracer AU, bad boy AU (ish), fake dating (ish) - Warning(s): some cursing i think, dangerous driving/speeding - Summary: your best friend is an annoying orange, but you can’t really say no to him.

[dimachina]

T`).b`u+3 u@2e.y2F+9 ey2F@7h4b%2F#hnvc/)h+71(+)8v v9vi]a.uS3^5Id-i4QpgbmU^3Sdd1v99+z!h4i`K6+6J^IM9+U%y3^$9+x மருத்துவர் kodez1๑††††††≥≥ݦәһاقسثذؤءص्चघझकडझगउअधडइडुसासैहजधाआंआ उन्होंने जास्त चंगा कदी मनसबा जिन जासें नित उठ वीण अतीत आत्मिक बूआ सण ज estas segundas llegan a sus inicios्यम:॥॥॥॥◊κερκιά έσ 呼叫をかけます。

[gtanddragons]

Try Again?

Hey all, finally have some G/t writing to present for the first time in a long while. ^^ Based on this post from @miniature-knight because it’s been living in my head rent-free for a long while now and I’ve been on a D/anganr/onpa kick lately. Also giant!Hajime content is VERY good. 

Content warnings: Brief descriptions of blood and surgery, mild swearing, major spoilers for DR2, and minor spoilers for DR3 (Despair Arc)

[ Connecting… ]

[ Connecting… ]

[ Connection to server lost. Try again?]

[ Stabilizer_01: Offline ]

[ Stabilizer_02: Offline ]

[ WARNING: Cellular instability detected ]

[ Vitals_Monitor: Offline ]

[ WA7RNiN6: #%^R01 ]

[ … ]

[ …? ]

—

He wakes up very suddenly, an involuntary cry of pain tearing its way from his throat.

It hurts. Everything hurts. His body aches and protests with every tiny movement he makes, and his brain feels as though it’s threatening to crack right out of his skull. It hurts and his mouth and throat are dry— so dry— and there’s dust everywhere, even coughing hurts, there’s screaming—

…

(…Screaming?)

Hajime finally cracks his eyes open, wincing at how crusty they feel— like he’d been asleep for a long, long time, but… he’s sitting upright, isn’t he? When had he sat up? When had he gone to sleep, for that matter…?

As he begins to reorient himself, so too does his vision. It takes a frustratingly long time, but when everything begins to come back together into a single, clear image—

“H… huh?” He croaks, barely noticing the rasp in his voice in favor of trying to make sense of literally anything before his eyes.

There’s rubble everywhere, surrounding him on all sides and tumbling off of him with every little movement. But more importantly— he can see people running in the distance, far below. All of them are wearing white and black uniforms. It’s familiar… but he’s not quite sure why. 

He’s also not sure why he reaches his hand out. Maybe it’s out of shock, maybe it’s instinct.

But what he doesn’t anticipate is actually touching one of the fleeing bodies, feeling his fingers brush against warmth.

He freezes. The student— the tiny student— is screaming. He didn’t mean to knock them over with that careless little touch but now they’re crying and screaming and—

Hajime’s breaths quicken as he recoils, pulling back his hand as though he’d been burned. He frantically looks at the fleeing students, the rubble, the buildings around him— the buildings that all seem to match him in height.

(They’re not… they’re not small. I-I’m…)

He lifts his arms, wincing as more rubble tumbles off his body and smashes to the ground below. He’s gripping his head in his hands, he can’t breathe, he’s breathing too fast and his vision is blurring and everything hurts and he’s terrified and where is he and—?!

[ …Why are you so upset? ]

Hajime tenses up, lifting his head at the sound of a voice. 

“Wh-what—?”

[ Why are you scared? They cannot hurt you like this. ]

His gaze darts to the ground, but most of the students nearby had already run away, including the one he’d accidentally knocked over. This voice was… close, but not. Familiar, but not. He knows he heard it, but… he felt it, too.

“Who… who’s there? Where are you?”

[ They cannot hurt us when we are like this. ]

In the back of his head, he has the inexplicable feeling of… something foreign. A sense of self-satisfaction, but one that isn’t his own. 

“You’re… in my head…?” Hajime whispers, gripping his shoulders in a desperate hug. “G-get… get out of my head! What are you?!”

A sense of miffed confusion is prodding at his consciousness now. He shifts uncomfortably, wincing at the feeling of invisible fingers poring through his brain.

[ You are not… satisfied? You were crying out for help, so I offered my assistance. ]

Hajime opens his mouth to protest, but images and feelings are suddenly flashing through his mind, not of his own control. 

His body, flailing, gloved hands pinning him down. His throat, hoarse from screaming. Fear. Desperation. Pain, as a needle is forcefully poked into his arm. 

A starched white bed. Restraints. Seeing an operating knife plunging into his body. He doesn’t know if he’s begging out loud or if it’s just in his head.

The voice. It’s there, too, and he can feel it pulsing at the back of his head. It doesn’t come in the form of words, but in the form of an invisible hand, reaching out. Feelings of reassurance. A silent offer.

It’s one he takes. He’s grabbing onto the hand with everything he’s got, like a drowning man.

And then… nothing.

He’s snapped out of those memories as quickly as he’d been submerged in them, the… thing in his head pushing them aside. Like putting files back into a cabinet.

[ We are free now. ]

Hajime doesn’t respond. His head is swimming, distress and confusion crashing over his thoughts like tidal waves. His memory feels… hazy. Incomplete. But he remembers trusting the Hope’s Peak research team… he thinks. It was supposed to be a series of ‘small tests’. When had it escalated that far?

Why is there something else in his head? Why and how did he get like this? He’s surrounded by rubble and a collapsed building— the same one he’d been interviewed in. 

The same one he’d been experimented on in the basement.

He can’t help it. His body is starting to shudder with sobs, confused and aching and distraught. The voice doesn’t pipe up this time, but he can feel its presence lingering, uncertain. 

He covers his face with dirty, dust-covered hands. It’s hardly a comfort.

(What… do I do now? I don’t know, I… am I… stuck like this forever—?)

“Hajimeeee!”

He flinches at the sudden shout, close in range yet… distant. He peeks between trembling fingers, his gaze traveling to the ground—

And then he freezes.

Hazy memories are becoming more and more vivid. Even at this distance, that voice is so familiar— that hoodie, that hair— he’s seen them plenty of times before. Thought about them even more so.

“Ch… Chiaki…?” he croaks, his eyes widening.

Unlike the hundreds of students before her, she was running towards him. She halts only once she’s gotten as close as she can get to his leg, the rest of her path blocked off by debris.

She rests her hands on her knees and leans over— even from this height, Hajime can tell that she’s panting.

“H-Hajime… so this… this is where you’ve been!”

His other thoughts are overshadowed by a surge of relief at her familiar (and very much welcome) presence… and a crushing sense of guilt. Had she been waiting for him this whole time…? How long had it even been since he agreed to participate in the Hope Cultivation Project?

He finds himself reaching out for her, the ache in his heart getting stronger— but then he tenses up, his hand stopping only a few feet away from her small frame.

[ Why are you afraid? She cannot hurt you. ]

(Shut up.)

His thoughts drift to earlier. How he had accidentally knocked over that poor student with a simple nudge of his fingertips. How they had screamed in terror and ran—

His hand reflexively twitches, a slight tremble shivering through his arm.

[ …You’re afraid of hurting her? How peculiar. ]

(Shut. Up.)

However, even though he was frozen with indecision, Chiaki had other plans. 

Hajime inhales sharply as he feels a little pressure against the tip of his finger, startled as he glances back down and sees the girl grabbing onto his finger without a shred of hesitation.

“Hey, Hajime. It’s going to be okay. …I think.”

His lower lip trembles, even as he lets out a weak attempt at a laugh. “That… doesn’t sound very reassuring, when you say it like that, you know.”

“Got you smiling though, right?”

He sniffles, letting out a soft chuckle. “Y-yeah, fine. Guilty.”

[ What is… this feeling we’re experiencing? ]

Hajime’s shoulders tense up at the sudden reminder that he’s not exactly alone in his thoughts. He huffs quietly, shooting a scowl at nothing in particular.

(Didn’t I already tell you to be quiet?)

[ Yes. But I am curious. It feels very… warm. You care a lot for this human, correct? ]

(...Yes. Now shh. Go away. Something.)

[ I cannot ‘go away’, much as I would prefer being my own separate entity, Hajime. ]

(Really.)

[ Perhaps you should have taken into consideration the future ramifications of allowing yourself to be subjected to human experimentation. ]

(I wasn’t signing myself up for that to get an obnoxious backseat driver, you know!)

“...jime? Ah… Earth to Hajime…?”

He pauses in his bristling to look back down at Chiaki, who is looking up at him with a rather concerned look on her face.

“...You’re acting strange.”

Hajime clears his throat sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand.

“...S-sorry. It’s just, uh. Been a lot to process, and… uh…”

He trails off as his fingertips trace up the back of his neck. His hair feels… longer than it did, but on a more concerning note… he can feel a raised, bumpy line going from the back of his neck all the way up to the back of his head. Stitches.

Hajime glances down at his hand worriedly as he pulls it away from the back of his neck. Unfortunately, it came back wet with splotches of blood, like he’d suspected. It was no surprise that he’d torn at least a few of them in the… chaos? He’s still not sure what had happened while he’d been unconscious, but judging from the destruction around him… his escape from the facility below the building couldn’t have been very peaceful.

“...It’s been a lot,” he concludes awkwardly.

“I can kinda tell, yeah.” Chiaki pauses, a mournful, distant look entering her gaze. “I was… really worried. That you might not come back.”

He glances away at that. He’d known he’d be leaving Chiaki for a while, but he hadn’t expected… whatever they had tried doing to him.

(And if that process hadn’t been interrupted… would I even have been able to come back to her at all?)

[ Doubtful. As far as I can assess, your memories and consciousness would have been stifled entirely, leaving me a clean slate for a host body. ]

(It was… it was a rhetorical question.)

[ Ah. ]

That being said, Hajime can’t help a heavy gulp and a shiver at the voice’s interruption before he turns to look at Chiaki again.

“I’m… I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, I never-- I never thought it would turn out like this,” he offers weakly. Feeling somewhat emboldened by Chiaki’s continued safety despite being so close to him, he shifts his hand a bit so that he’s delicately ‘holding’ her hands between his forefinger and thumb. 

Chiaki hums softly, smiling faintly at the warmth encompassing her hands all the way up to her mid-forearms. It’s… disconcerting, to say the least-- she’d be lying if her instincts weren’t a bit freaked out at having her arms held like those of a figurine, or a doll-- but when she looks up at his face, she’s smiling even more warmly than before.

“Just don’t do something like that ever again, ‘kay?”

“I won’t. I promise.”

She takes a moment just to bask in his presence before her smile returns to a more neutral expression. Then, she pops her lip awkwardly.

“...So I’d really like to know what happened. If and when you’re comfortable sharing, yeah? But, uh. Right now, we might… need to get out of here.”

Hajime’s head perks up at the distant sound of approaching sirens, his eyes shooting open wide.

“Oh no.”

[ Don’t worry. We can take them. ]

“That’s not the--!” Hajime catches himself mid-tirade, instead lifting his free hand to pinch the bridge of his nose in frustration. “Chiaki, you need to get out of here. I can’t let you get caught up in whatever is going to happen next.”

(That’s not the point. I’m not getting myself into more trouble-- I already have enough of that as is.)

[ ...So you do not wish to be this size, then? Even though it will keep you safe from any number of this city’s local law enforcement, and with my assistance, I believe the national guard as well-- ]

(No, I don’t want to be a giant freak, thank you very much.)

[ Mmm. What a boring answer… but, very well. Focus on settling your breathing-- and try not to panic too much. ]

(Wait, why would I--?)

Hajime sucks in one last breath before he suddenly can’t. He can see himself moving, see himself blinking, but he’s not controlling any of it. He’s formless, drifting endlessly, gasping for air to fill nonexistent lungs.

“A-ah--! Wh-what-- what the fuck did you do to me?!”

He can see his fingers releasing their hold on Chiaki, can see her gasping down below as he-- his body-- moves to stand upright, a shower of rubble clattering to the ground in his wake.

“No! Chiaki--!”

[ Shh. I’ve already calculated the amount of debris and where it’s falling-- none of it will fall anywhere near her. And I am merely borrowing your body for a minute while I resolve this matter. ]

“Borrowing--?! Are you kidding me, this is my body!”

[ You need to settle down. You’re interrupting my focus. ]

“No, I’m not just gonna ‘settle down’! Give me back my body, or I’ll--!”

It’s all too sudden, the shift from drifting formlessly through the void into something… a little more corporeal. He still can’t control his body, but in the surrounding darkness… he looks down. He can look down, at slightly-translucent, softly-glowing arms and legs.

This is… better, at least. It’s not his own body, but it’s better than… the nothingness.

And then he looks up.

He suddenly regrets his previous thought.

Looming over him, for lack of better words, is a giant shadow. It would almost look human, if not for the vast expanse of flowing, pitch-black hair that eventually trails off into the nothingness, or the piercing, glowing-red gaze peering down at him like he’s a mere insect.

[ You’ll… what? Tear your brain back open to get me out? Really now. ]

Hajime flounders desperately in an attempt to scoot backwards, but he doesn’t move an inch. He’s stuck floating in the same spot as impossibly-large hands come at him from both sides-- and proceed to cup around his ‘body’. Whatever form of gravity this place has suddenly comes into effect, his softly-glowing form tumbling into the palms of the shadow’s hands.

He lets out a terrified gasp as he’s lifted higher, to about the same level as those emotionless eyes.

For a moment, they both remain in silence. The shadow cocks its head, ever-so-slightly-- as though it were curious about its catch.

[ As I’ve already said, this is far from an ideal situation for you and me both. However, if there were a way to split our consciousnesses into separate entities, I would already be pursuing that course of action. As it stands, we are stuck together for the time being. ]

He flinches as its fingers move around him, thumbs moving closer and closer until they’re…

...Stroking him. Running over his back and head, impossibly gentle for such a massive creature.

[ Just know that I do not intend to harm you, Hajime Hinata, nor do I seek full control over your body. You will have it back once I am finished-- it would get boring very quickly if I held the reins for too long. For now, I just need you to calm yourself-- it’ll be irritating attempting to focus while also having to quell your struggling. ]

Seemingly involuntarily, Hajime finds himself letting out a long sigh, tenseness beginning to melt away from his ‘body’ and his actual, physical body at the same time. The shadow continues to carefully rub at him, massaging his shoulders and back-- it’s distracting enough that he can almost avoid looking at the unchanging, ominous eyes staring down at him, and enough that he almost doesn’t recognize how his physical body is changing.

The buildings around him are shifting, seemingly getting taller and taller with every breath. The process starts speeding up until, in a matter of seconds, they’re all looming over his body-- and Chiaki comes up to his chin instead of barely reaching his ankle.

And just like that, Hajime is gasping and coughing and swaying on wobbly knees, disoriented by suddenly regaining control of his lungs-- and the rest of his body-- once more. He nearly flinches at the sudden sensation of touch, as Chiaki’s hands quickly grab onto his shoulders to keep him from toppling over.

“I’m… Hajime, you’re really going to have to tell me what they did to you when we get out of here.”

He clears his throat in embarrassment and stands up straighter as he gets used to the feeling of his own body again, though he doesn’t exactly protest against letting Chiaki continue to support him.

“...Yeah, I’ll… I’ll try. It’s kind of a blur…”

(...Why didn’t you do that sooner?)

[ For protection, mostly, on the off chance that the facility staff attempted to incapacitate us. 

...That and it was rather enlightening to watch you and the girl attempting to get around the mental and physical barriers of your stature to display affection towards one another. ]

(Are you fucking kidding me.)

[ No. Also, please bathe at your earliest convenience. I regret that my brief experience with the sense of smell was fouled by your own body odor and the dirt clinging to your skin. ]

(Shut up. For the love of everything holy, shut up.)

[ I do not carry any particular fondness for any objects deemed by many cultures as ‘holy’-- ]

Hajime groans in exasperation, choosing to focus instead on Chiaki and being led away from the remains of the building behind them.

It… feels good just being near her again. Knowing he has a friend close by is comforting in and of itself-- probably his only friend at Hope’s Peak Academy, for that matter. One he’d come close to never seeing again, if he hadn’t been given a second chance.

“...So what’s going on with your eyes?”

He blinks, confused, before glancing over at her. “What do you mean?”

“One of them is red. And when you went back to normal, both of them were red. That’s not normal… I think.”

He freezes up momentarily at that-- and then he lets out another exasperated sigh before continuing to walk.

“It’s… a long story.”

(...But at least I’m still here to tell it.)

[cheri-translates]

[CN] Victor’s Sleepless Night Date

🍒 Warning: This post contains detailed spoilers for a date which has not been released in English servers! 🍒

Dedicated to @pixiestick0924, who sent me my very first message on Tumblr filled with wholesome sweetness 🌹

Kiss Dates Collection: Gavin // Kiro // Lucien

The date begins with MC receiving an invitation card from Loveland TV to participate in an award ceremony at the end of the month

The card notifies her that she has won the “Best Influence Award” due to the many highly rated programs she has produced

She’s allowed to invite one person to the ceremony, so she immediately thinks of Victor

Just then, she receives a message from him, which reads: “What time are you coming down?”

MC: …it’s already 6.30pm?!

Stuffing the invitation card into my bag, I rush downstairs. Victor is standing at the bottom of the steps, his arms crossed over his chest as he watches me run over.

MC: Something special happened today. I was so excited talking to everyone that I didn’t notice the time.  

Victor: What were you all talking about?

MC: The previous program. I didn’t think it would receive such good ratings. It makes me feel like all the late nights and overtime were worth it.

I share the news with Victor happily. He seems to smile a little, and takes my hand as we walk along the path lit up by streetlamps.

Victor: Looks like high ratings have become your cardiotonic.

MC: Of course. However, there’s an even bigger piece of news!

Victor: What is it?

I carefully take out the invitation card and wave it in front of him with satisfaction-

MC: This!

Hiding the fact that she’s an award winner, MC explains that she can invite one person to the ceremony.

MC: Dear CEO of LFG, Mr Victor. I cordially invite you to attend the award ceremony as my male partner. I wonder what CEO Victor’s response would be…?

Victor: …that’s all?

MC: Yeah! You wouldn’t reject, right…?

Victor gives me a meaningful glance, then retracts it.

Victor: What do you think? I’ll pick you up then.

~

The day of the award ceremony arrives. After putting on her makeup and outfit, she carefully puts on a pair of earrings.

The brilliant blue earrings give off a crystal-like light in the palm of my hand.

She meets Victor downstairs and they travel to the venue by car.

I turn my head and see Victor sweeping a glance towards me.

Victor: Looks like the past few hours weren’t a waste.

MC: …can’t you just give me a direct compliment? Also, don’t you have anything else to say?

I deliberately lift up the hair by my ear, revealing the earring. Victor’s eyes trail to my ear lobe, and a smile surfaces within them.

Victor: Not bad.

MC: I think these earrings look nice too.

Victor: I meant that my taste is not bad.

MC: …!

Victor laughs lightly, then leans against the car seat.

Upon reaching the venue, they head to their designated resting area.

?: Nice to meet you, CEO Victor.

Right after we go through the doors, an elegant lady walks towards us. She looks to be around forty years of age, and wears an amiable smile on her face.

Victor: Good evening, Chairman Li.  

Victor tilts his jaw slightly, greeting her. From the way he addresses her, I react immediately – this is Chairman Li of the Film and Television Association!

I hurriedly straighten my posture and give her a slight bow.

MC: Nice to meet you, Chairman Li. I am MC, the…

Chairman Li: The producer of “Miracle Finder”.

Hearing Chairman Li smoothly stating my identity, my eyes widen in surprise. She smiles at me.

It’s rare to have such an opportunity to meet, so I speak.

MC: It’s still early… if it’s all right with you, could we sit and talk?

I look at Chairman Li with anticipation. Sensing my concealed anxiousness, Victor arches an eyebrow. He doesn’t say anything, and just looks at Chairman Li.

She nods.

Chairman Li: Of course.

Noticing that MC was surprised that Chairman Li could recognise her, the latter explains that she used to watch Miracle Finder as a student

She comments that the programs produced by MC are excellent

Chairman Li: You must have experienced several setbacks along this journey, right?

MC: Setbacks and difficulties are inevitable… However, meeting these thorns along the way seems to make the resulting flowers even more beautiful.

Chairman Li: Having such a mentality enables me to rest assured. Please continue working hard.

Looking at Chairman Li’s tender smile, a warmth bubbles in my heart. I nod solemnly.

Victor: She has improved quite a lot…

Victor, who has been standing silently at the side all this while, suddenly speaks. I look towards him in disbelief.

Victor: But there is still a lot of room to grow.

At an angle where Chairman Li can’t see it, I blink forcefully at Victor to signal my protest.

Looking at Victor, Chairman Li laughs lightly.

Chairman Li: Come to think of it, I was even worried CEO Victor wouldn’t accept the invitation to attend the award ceremony. I’m grateful that you could make it today.

Victor: You flatter me. It’s an honour for me as well.

Hearing their conversation, I get a shock -

Victor had already received an invitation?

Perhaps the shock on my face was apparent, as Chairman Li pauses for a moment, as if realising something.

She looks at Victor and I subtly, then reveals an intrigued expression.  

Chairman Li: I might have accidentally said the wrong thing.

Victor remains as calm as ever, resting his arms on the arm rests as he leans into the chair.

Meanwhile, my heart starts beating rapidly as I think about how I had deliberately left out the news that I am an awardee.

While Chairman Li answers a phone call, MC leans towards Victor.

MC: When did you receive the invitation? Why didn’t you tell me…

Victor tosses me a glance and responds plainly.

Victor: That isn’t important. What’s important is that I accepted your invitation.

MC: Then…

I originally wanted to ask if he knew who the awardees are. However, as I’m afraid to blow my cover, I stop the words from coming out.  

Chairman Li excuses herself to return to her resting room. MC offers to walk her there, and requests for Chairman Li to keep the fact that she is an awardee a secret

All of a sudden, two boys accidentally crash into MC and her skirt rips. Turns out those brats are Chairman Li’s children

Chairman Li offers MC a spare dress

It is a blue spaghetti strap dress, with ribbons strung from the shoulder areas. The blue skirt is reminiscent of clear, brilliant ocean waves.

MC finds the dress beautiful, but notices that it reveals her bare back.

MC: …isn’t this a little too sexy?

While Chairman Li tidies the folds around my waist, she laughs.

Chairman Li: It’s very suitable for tonight’s event. Moreover… don’t you want to give CEO Victor this unexpected surprise?

~

After saying goodbye to Chairman Li, I walk towards the resting room where Victor is.

Hearing the sound of the door being pushed open, Victor immediately turns around. In the process of putting on his suit, he halts his movements the moment he sees me.

Victor: Why did you… change your clothes?

I bunch up my skirt, walking towards him while explaining the incident that happened just now.

Victor: I see. It’s a good thing she could resolve the issue.  

MC: Yeah, it’s fortunate that she prepared this spare dress.  

Victor has a tender look in his eyes, possibly due to the lighting in the room. He lifts his hand, preparing to put on his suit jacket.

Without realising it, I have already reached out for his suit jacket to assist him.

As I turn to the side, Victor has a clear view of my back… I lift my head and meet his eyes, which are as dark as ink.

The light in front of the mirror is a dim yellow, descending into the turbulence within his eyes. They reflect the depth and heat in his gaze.

Noticing the way he is staring at me, I suddenly feel the temperature of the surroundings rise. My palms break out in sweat.

MC: W-what is it… do you find me exceptionally pretty today?

He retracts his gaze, and laughs lightly.

Victor: I discovered that someone has become even more thick-skinned.

In response to his words, I tug at his suit jacket to show my soundless protest.

Victor’s eyebrow twitches slightly.

Victor: Are you helping me put my clothes on, or taking them off?

Hearing this, my face involuntarily turns red. Unwilling to back down, I retort.

MC: It depends on whether you want to take them off or put them on.

I thought Victor would say that I’m being childish, but he pauses for a moment and his lips hook up into a smile.

Victor: ...dummy.

Feeling the heat on my face, I turn my head to the side and happen to see the flower display. Only then do I discover that the fresh flowers are actually blue roses. The flowers silently release an aromatic fragrance. I lean closer to take a whiff. Victor also leans over, pulling at his cuffs.

MC: Victor, do you know what blue roses represent in flower language?

Victor: What is it?

MC: In the language of flowers, blue roses represent “miracles and things that are impossible.” I once read a poem that said, “Plant some blue roses in the courtyard. Plant countless of them. Miracles will definitely come.”

I turn my head towards Victor. Dressed exceptionally formally, he stands behind the blue roses, his eyebrows arching gently.  

Victor: What are you hinting at?

Looking back at the mirror, I’m standing next to Victor, whose suit jacket has been tidied.

MC: Apart from the blue roses, I also have the blessings of this blue skirt and blue earrings… maybe there will really be an unexpected occurrence.

Using his palm, Victor holds onto the hand that I’ve hooked onto his arm. His lips curl into a nice-looking smile.

Victor: Not a bad insight. However, you can keep those “maybes”. Let’s go, it’s about time.

~

At the venue, MC sees a lot of distinguished figures, including a renowned producer. Victor encourages her to talk to him.

Victor: I need to settle some things. You can go over to talk to him. I’ll look for you later.

MC has a pleasant talk with the man.

Eventually, the host takes the stage, but Victor has not returned.

MC: Where has he gone to? If he doesn’t come back soon, he’d miss my award...

Host: The next award is the “Best Influence Award”!

The host has already begun introducing the guest who would be giving out the award. At the same time, my heart feels anxious and downcast.

With the thought that I wouldn’t be able to share my joy with Victor immediately, my anticipation dulls. Just as I try to pull myself together-

An incredibly familiar profile appears from behind the stage. His footsteps are steady, and his face is illuminated by the lights.

MC: How could this be…

My heart is throbbing in my chest. Before I have time to think, Victor is already standing in front of the microphone.

His eyes sweep across the room, and his gaze ultimately rests on me.

Victor: I’m honoured to be the guest presenter for this event. In this day and age, producers and people in the media are indispensable. They open the door for the audience – a door that reveals a wider world. The “Best Influence Award” bears testament to the certainty of the contributions by producers. This certainty is not just from the Film and Television Association, but also from the audience who have walked through this door.

On stage, Victor gives his speech without any hesitance. His deep voice and the words that he says are like the keys of a piano, ringing in my heart.

Victor: The recipient of this award…

The dazzling spotlight illuminates Victor as he stands at the center of the stage. As he pauses, I feel all the blood in my body flooding to my head.

He unfolds the card, looks at it calmly, and continues.

Victor: I have watched quite a number of programs she produced. Through her programs, I see a producer who is steadfast in her responsibilities, searches for the truth, and her tenderness towards the audience. Undeniably, her first few programs had a few flaws. However, she has grown from being naïve to becoming a benchmark. I’m thinking that she must have put in a lot of effort.

Saying this, Victor pauses for a moment. His eyes cut through the crowd and land directly on me.

Victor: MC, congratulations on your award.

When these words leave Victor’s lips, my heart is filled with both surprise and a certain stillness.

I do my best to calm my thunderous heart rate. I bunch up my skirt, straighten up, and walk towards the stage.

At the side of the stage steps, Victor smiles as he offers me his hand. With his grip, we walk towards the center of the stage.

I solemnly receive the trophy from Victor’s hands, and an indescribable emotion pours out from my heart. Clearing my throat, I lean closer to the microphone.

MC: I am incredibly grateful to the Film and Television Association for giving me this award, and also for everyone’s certainty towards me and Miracle Finder.

Different from the tens of rehearsals I did at home, the stage lights and the eyes of the audience are all on me.

MC: To be honest, this trophy is quite heavy… but it shall be the motivation for me to carry on moving forward. Even though producing this program is not an easy feat, we will never give up as long as we have one audience member who likes and looks forward to it.

I cast a quick glance at Victor, who is standing beside me, and purse my lips.

MC: Also, I’m very grateful for the guest presenter’s certainty… it’s very important to me. In sum, all of us in Miracle Finder will continue working hard!

After giving my thank-you speech, I happily raise the trophy towards the audience.

Victor smiles faintly, joining me as we face the applause of the audience.

At this moment, a sudden surge arises in my chest. I can’t help but turn towards him.

He happens to turn his head towards me at the same time. The smile in his eyes is even more striking than the spotlight.

~

After the award ceremony, I stare at Victor as he walks out from a corner.

MC: “The respected guest presenter Mr Victor”… does this mean you already knew that I won the award right from the start?

Victor’s eyes trail from me to the trophy resting at the side. His eyes hide a mildly teasing look.

MC: I wanted to give you a big surprise, but it turned out the other way round… why didn’t I hear anything about you being the guest presenter?

Victor: It just shows how poorly informed you are. LFG has always been an investor of Loveland TV, and is also the sponsor of today’s event.

MC: …work can really be confidential.

Faced with my “accusation”, Victor lifts an eyebrow.

Victor: Seems like you haven’t finished complaining in your heart earlier.

MC: …how did you know?

Victor: The thoughts of a dummy are not difficult to guess.

While he speaks, his eyebrows smoothen out. The gaze that rests on me contains an obvious warmth.

My ear suddenly feels hot, and I mutter softly.

MC: I’m not a dummy… have you seen a dummy win an award?

People spot MC and start showering her with congratulations. After a while:

MC: Huff… it feels like my smile is stuck in place, and my feet are starting to hurt from standing.

Victor is beside me, a hand in his pocket. Hearing what I said, he looks at my high heels, then places a hand on my shoulder.

Victor: Since you’re tired, don’t force yourself. There’s an open space outside. Want to take a breather?  

MC: Eh?

I follow Victor, leaving the venue through the backdoor and walking to the open space he mentioned.

I am met with a quiet courtyard bathed in moonlight. The fountain in the center reflects the moon and its silver light.

Sitting next to the Roman column surrounded by roses, I take a few breaths of fresh air.  

MC: This place is really pretty! As the guest presenter, is it really okay for you to be accompanying me outside? Do you still have any other tasks after this?

Victor: I do.

Before despondence can arise in my heart from his straightforward response, Victor continues.

Victor: Have you forgotten that I was invited to be someone’s male partner?

While speaking, he sits next to me, traces of amusement in his eyes.

I turn my head to give him a grin. The small earrings sway along with my movement, and the gemstones seem to glow. Sensing that Victor’s eyes are on this brilliant blue light, I suddenly speak up.

MC: Actually, I am a little selfish.

Victor: What?

He looks slightly confused, not understanding the meaning behind my words.

In the courtyard, the moon reveals itself from behind the clouds. I look into his deep and tender eyes, and say a little shamefully.

MC: I had a selfish reason for wearing these earrings today. You gave them to me, so I hoped they would bring me good luck, and also…

I pause, lowering my eyes.

MC: It would be as though you were on the stage with me as well. I didn’t think that…

Recalling the moment I saw Victor appearing on stage, I can almost feel my earlier frenzied heart rate.

Victor: I see. It suits your style. Always putting in effort in the strangest of places.

Victor lets out a small laugh. Even though it’s very soft, it plucks at my heart clearly.  

MC: Come to think of it… I really like how we are tonight.

For such a long time, I’ve been continually working hard and never letting any opportunities slip me by. Apart from the passion I have for the program and being a producer, it’s also because…

I wanted to stand on a stage that he had walked on, and stand at the same place he stood.

Despite my obscure words, Victor seems to have understood.

The night lights descend into his deep eyes, refracting colours. He turns to the side slightly, and takes my hand into his.

Victor: You’ve actually set a reasonable goal. Moreover, you’ve already reached it.

The night breeze tousles his originally tidy fringe, and sticks against his forehead softly.

The Victor in front of me no longer looks as cold and strict as before. He even exudes warmth. Faced with such a Victor, I can’t help but feel like joking.

MC: Actually, I was going to give this trophy to you as a surprise gift! Since you deliberately hid your identity as the guest presenter from me, I’ve decided to take back my gift.

Seeing my sly and satisfied smile, Victor also lets out a light laugh.

Victor: Your ability to find excuses is unparalleled. Who was the one who first hid the fact that she won the award?

MC: Um, this… well, if I win a global award next time, I’ll think about it!

Victor: I’ll wait and see then. I hope I wouldn’t have to wait too long.

MC: Don’t underestimate me!

Just when I think he would continue joking around, Victor suddenly tightens his grip on my hand, and closes the distance between us.

Faint music drifts from the venue – melodious and gentle. However, my entire focus is on Victor.

Victor: Since you have prepared a present, I should give you a return gift.

MC: R-return gift? There’s no need…

As his face draws closer, my voice involuntarily carries a tremor. This situation, and this familiar conversation…

In just a moment, he cups my neck, his other hand shifting to my waist.

MC: Mm-!

My bare back, which was slightly cool, is suddenly covered by a searing palm. My body trembles.

The music from the venue continues to chant. The shadows cast by the moon above us dance amid the haze. The neon lights in the distance seem to be painted in a romantic colour.

Even so, the only thing I can see are Victor’s deep eyes.

He leans closer, rubbing the tip of his nose with mine. Then, his warm thin lips trail slowly from my forehead downwards…

Victor’s breath encases my entire body. He plants scalding kisses on every inch of my skin, making me tremble as I hold onto his cuff.

MC: V-Vic-

He swallows the remaining syllable before I can finish.

This time, his soft lips seize mine, prying my teeth apart and diving right in.

He takes my breath away. In the midst of our breathing, what surrounds the tip of my nose is the unique taste belonging only to him…

After a long while, Victor finally ends his deep and searing kiss.

I clutch onto his arm, my chest heaving as I struggle to catch my breath.

His lips once again brush my nose and cheek gently, like a dragonfly flitting across the surface of water. He looks into my eyes.

I see myself in his pupils, red-faced and misty-eyed.

Our close proximity and breathing causes every single one of his words to drift into my ears with clarity.

Victor: The future you foresee, as you said it yourself, has both flowers and thorns. Are you ready for it?

I nod subconsciously.

Victor: Me too. No matter how far you go in the future, I am prepared… to never let you go for eternity.

The fragrance of the fresh flowers permeates the air, accompanied by faint music. It makes me wish that I could etch this moment for my keeping.

My arm presses against his familiar warmth. I lean my head on his shoulder, feeling exceptionally at peace.

I will continue working hard and running forward, and he will always be by my side – becoming the deepest source of strength in my heart.

[quixol]

Will y'all post the mods n stuff you had in the server once it goes down? Some of the stuff you said was specifically for quixol and I will miss it along with the rest of the server :(((

Good question... I sure can do that, but I can't guarantee it will be of much use to you. Most of the custom stuff written for the server is barely hanging on by a thread, a patch job upon a patch job upon a patch job.

I used a plugin called "Skript" to code most of the custom "plugins" on the server. Skript is its own little programming language, that is solely for writing little plugins for your minecraft server. There are also many Skript addons, some of which I used to make certain features functional.

However, Skript is a very niche plugin. It's really only meant for very small, simple applications, and the fact that I coded the entire chat system for Quixol using it means that there are many points of failure where a little update here or there, a plugin that isn't updated properly there, and the whole thing comes crashing down.

I could not update the Viaversion plugin to allow 1.17+ clients to join the server, until i found a fork of one of these Skript addons that fixed a crash that occurred alongside that plugin. I had to literally dig through forks of that add-on on github to find a build that addressed that specific crash, because that specific add-on was no longer maintained by the author.

Hopefully this gives some insight into how the entire host of custom scripts written for the server was no more than a bunch of toothpicks glued together!

I am still proud of what I accomplished, though, so I may find some way of publishing these skripts for people who are curious. Possibly just on github or something. But I will not provide any kind of support for them, or even help you to figure out installing them- it's just far too much effort to maintain.

One of my biggest regrets is that I never sat down and learned Java properly for Quixol... I struggled too much with it, and just wanted to see results now. So I picked up Skript, and made everything with that. It just led to a bunch more headaches down the road, though.

Anyhow, thank you for the question, I hope this helped! Sorry for rambling, I just can't be bothered to answer in a stilted "official" way honestly.

- Admin Vivian

[putschki1969]

H-el-ical// 『B-day Event 2021』General Sale

Previously, tickets for Hikaru’s upcoming birthday event were only available via her fan club app “Helixes”. If I am not mistaken, they already held two fan club exclusive ticket lotteries and are planning to hold a final one starting tomorrow, June 19. Additionally, there will be a general sale for everyone who is not a fan club member. Please note that tickets bought in the general sale are only eligible for the 2nd floor of the venue. Details regarding streaming tickets have also been announced.

Date and time July 2, 2021 Doors open: 17: 30 / Start: 18:30

[Venue] duo MUSIC EXCHANGE (O-EAST Building 1F, 2-14-8 Dogenzaka, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo) http://www.duomusicexchange.com

[Final FC lottery for on-site tickets] 6/19 12:00 to 6/21 23:59

[General sale for on-site tickets ] 6/19 12:00 to 6/21 23:59 https://eplus.jp/h-el-ical0702/

【Ticket price on-site】 ・Reserved seats only(incl. exclusive goods) 6,500 yen ※+ drink fee 600 yen

Streaming Event - Ticket Details

【Date】 Site open 18:00／Stream start 18:30

【Streaming ticket purchase period】 2021/7/2 18:00 ～ 7/8 23:59 UPDATE/EDIT: 2021/6/19 12:00〜7/8 19:00 ※ Turns out they made a mistake. Streaming tickets are available from today onwards! I will try to buy one tonight when I get back home but as I already mentioned, it will probably be quite tricky.

Ticket sales page https://eplus.jp/h-el-ical_st/

【Ticket price】 3,000 yen ※Archived video available until July 8 23:59

•————— ♬ —————• 

All right, I am not happy about these news. e+ is not exactly foreigner-friendly. They usually require a verified account and a Japanese credit card so getting your hands on a ticket can be quite tricky. But we shall see. Also, why the hell would they start the live stream ticket sale ONLY 30 MINUTES before the actual event???!! They are literally setting up for a server congestion of the ticket page. It’s stressful enough having to deal with e+ but if the site crashes because too many people are accessing it, I’m gonna have a fit.

Still no mention on where the stream will be hosted. I am guessing it is going to be a Streaming+ event like that YK live from last September (post 1 | post 2 | post 3)? I remember it was a pain in the ass to get a “Japanese” ticket for that but eventually they offered overseas tickets as well which were quite easy to purchase for foreign fans (they did have a region “restriction” but at the end of the day, everyone was able to purchase a ticket and watch the live) . I wonder if Hikaru and her team already made sure to make the tickets available to everyone...? I really hope so! But I am not overly optimistic. T_T

Thank God they are archiving the video. If things go downhill on the day of the event, I will have a few more days to figure it out.

[fandom-sheep]

Fundy Dream SMP Chaos 01 APR 21

Delayed Liveblogging Part 1/1

I’m late cause I was on Wills stream.

He was laughing and complaining about not being able to burn things.

He’s happy he made a thing.

Oh no. Why is he tnting the castle and arsoning?

Why is Fundy causing problems on purpose?

Fundy honey please don’t break the holy land.

Oh it’s supposedly a fake server.

I need to read chat more to learn what is happening.

I guess I trust chat with fake smp?

OH WAIT! It’s April first!

I expected Fundy to prank us but I’m honestly too stupid for my own good sometimes.

Alright install hacks. Let’s go.

Chat has been burned before today.

Just casually looking at the reach mods.

The reason I don’t trust this is be a fake server is because he was on the real server earlier.

Fundy honestly might just be trying problems on purpose and it wouldn’t surprise me.

Sneaking under the half door! Oh wait never mind.

Oh no. Not memory dream stuff. Please your chat will cry.

Arson the Tommy house.

Arson the trees.

Oh an awesome old house.

Ah yes more tnt.

Fox boy has had quite the explosion obsession lately.

Upwards MLG. So talented.

I still don’t trust this not to be real. Because Fundy very well might explode things.

My dog is laying on my foot.

Lots of explosions.

Making more tnt nice.

Fundy gets banned arc! Let’s goooo.

Ok I want to see Fundy make this shot.

Explosion hour!

You can do it!

Chat is so divided between encouraging chaos and desperately hoping this is an April fools prank.

It’s still April first over there isn’t it?

1000% cannon

I love how Fundy understands that people do what they are told not to. So he tells them not to prime.

So close.

Come on! Explosion!

FOR THE PRIMES!

Yesssss!!!

MLG Fire. All the talent of this man.

I was so excited for Pokémon cards. But no face cam.

Wait don’t do Pokémon cards. We can’t see. 😢

Ah yes, Pokémon card asmr...

I wish I could see the cards. I love Pokémon cards.

I don’t know what some of these Pokémon he is vaguely describing are.

Oh wait! What was the last one???

Oooo what is it? What is it?

Rainbow glitter doesn’t limit it.

I could not understand that name. I can’t tell if it’s good.

Also Fundy. Time to look at this card.

Quit retaking the picture and just post it.

I swear he is enjoying toying with us.

We’re being shot while he’s trying to take a picture.

Ok time to check the bird site.

I have replied to the tweet with the requested phrase.

I don’t believe it’s worth a lot but it’s pretty.

Finally we’re done being stabbed by the skeleton.

Skeleton coming into close shot range.

Please don’t drown sir.

He’s comin’

Anyway back to causing problems.

Or you know back on memory lane...

Oh wait nevermind. Problems on purpose.

Really cool idea?

Another lovely ranged shot.

Aww. Didn’t quite make it.

Again didn’t quite make it.

Lazy way now.

“Eek” -Fundy

That’s one way to get revenge.

Chat keeping on calling for the death of Michael.

Casually sneaking into creative cause he’s out of tnt.

Tnt balloon launcher!

Oh Fundy planning on causing trouble at the other prison.

Tnt launcher let’s go.

Oh a being donated 100 lovely.

They deserve to have a tnt launcher named after them.

The chests being full has me suspicious but I still doubt the boy is truly causing problems on purpose.

Tnt launcher did not work.

L the streamer.

Oh Niki is going live on the smp. I suppose that’s one way we can find out if it’s the true smp.

Off they went. But it’s not accurate.

We’re just working with Fundy to cause trouble.

Nope. He just can’t do it.

Wow he’s flying like magic! (And covering that with tnt)

Making homemaker a bigger target isn’t going to work.

He’s gathering so many arrows.

Not a single one hit. Awesome looking but a lovely failure.

I tried to check on Nikis stream but the only thing that happened is I had to watch an ad to get back to Fundy.

Also Niki was hosting Minx. I missed her.

Awesome explosion Fundy.

Ah. Auto build.

Oh we auto built a bunch of signs. And none of them have the message.

Fungi grave. With diamonds. Lovely.

I am enjoying this even if I know better.

Ah. A lovely pile of tnt.

Poof!

Someone should have let Fundy have tnt sooner.

Casual flight.

I always love the music on Fundy’s streams. Just That lovely nostalgia.

Just piles of tnt by the hotel.

Chat is so panicked.

I don’t think most of them know it’s April first.

Oooo are we gambling?

Nope not gambling. But it did work gorgeously.

I’m not a griefing kind of person, but this does my heart good.

Enjoying problems.

“Oh what’s this place” adds tnt “gone” -Fundy

Come on chat people. Just encourage him. Quit saying check the date and that it’s a fake server. Just role with it.

Oh that was a very pretty explosion.

Exploded early but it worked (stupid egg bits)

A gorgeous sideways explosion.

We still aren’t destroying... oh wait. We are exploding. No sign.

No escape. But he survived. And the prime bell is still safe.

Castle explosion time.

I’m kinda sad about the castle I’ll admit. But I’ll still up for a good explosion.

Made the lil house and now he explodes things.

Chat blowing up the rainbow castle isn’t homophobic. Hush.

Oooo shaders. That’ll look pretty.

Cant wait to see the pretty screenshots the artists use.

Probably a back up. We’ll see.

Oh I’m also a bit sad about the museum. But you know. If we gotta explode things we gotta explode things.

I can’t wait to see the shaders with this.

Struggling to explosions.

Oh pretty. And the hotdog survives!!!

Cinematic. Beautiful.

Donos playing along saying he’ll be banned. Or donos just confused.

This boy truly pretending he hacked his way into creative on the smp.

Ok that was a pretty cinematic shot.

Holo mellons

Sniff raid! Lovely!

Also the person telling them to check out foolish’s stream. Hush. Let us worry people.

Oh did Fundy build the funky cube thing? I doubt but still.

Prison time.

Oh got to get the skeppy and bad house

And whatever that pit building is.

Everyone still talking about how it ain’t real. Quit it y’all. Come on. Join the joke.

Our dearest mods trying to keep everyone from spoiling it.

The prison is a really pretty build. And it does look explodable.

Explode the prison. Yes and 5up is hot is what are winning.

The no’s can’t catch up. It’s fire time.

You can tell the prank has failed, but it’s still good for the heart to see it explode. It is still a game after all as emotionally attached as we have gotten to it.

A small thing. A small explosive thing.

Everyone changing lag already.

Everyone already ready to fight Fundy if he were to blow up Michael.

Button time.

Oh we even have the cool undertake music.

And the cannon didn’t reach.

Auto build plus lots of tnt.

This is the grand finale of the prank I believe.

I might to go foolish after this. Get some chaotic building man.

Prime bell!!!

Poof and pop.

Oh that was pretty.

Wait... inner wall...

Well. Lore people take your notes on prison construction.

This knowledge will help you on your quest later.

Prison couldn’t even be broken by a fox with a tnt canon.

Phil Raid! Hooray!

Please be a real raid. I want the extra half hour of chaos.

Even though the fox should be yelled at to go to sleep.

Oh. Was it a real Phil raid? I half expected it not to be.

The chat is both confused and chilling.

You get that hype train rich people.

Walking around trying to pretend we haven’t been blowing everything up.

Casually walking around showing off his destruction.

It’s not even April first over theee anymore is it?

Ah. Yeah it is April fools joke.

Ah. Is Fundy actually coming clean about his stuff.

Ah no. He’s continuing to pretend nothing is happening.

Lots of tnt.

Gorgeous. Magnificent. Fantastic.

I love tnt particles for whatever reason. They always look so good.

That actually did a lot.

Yes join the fox discord! Yes follow the fox Twitter! I’ve already done both. I don’t really check either but still.

Showing off his explosions.

Oh we’re doing a reenactment.

Let’s gooo.

L’manhole v. 3 (4?)

Lots of tnt. Always good.

Oh. Oh no. It’s lagging bad.

The tnt. Isn’t going.

Ah now the true lag.

“Cool guys don’t have the frames to look at explosions” -Fundy

That was a good explosion. How deep did it go? No very probably.

TNT parkour! We love it!

That didn’t work but that was a nice explosion. Plenty of bedrock.

Good job with the hype train rich people.

We enjoy our streamer causing problems.

And the sign has changed again. You know the one. “You heart...”

Trying to fill the orb thing with tnt.

That was a very contained explosion.

Good explosion time.

Ok. We’re talking concrete replacement.

Blood vines exploding this early again.

Casually exploding the tiny Eret.

Everyone convincing him not to blow up the tiny Eret.

I love how those who watch one watch the other.

L’manburg yeah explode it. Eret? No.

Oh wait don’t look at the spoilers.

Secret Base Here.

Ahh. Blowing up his tower as well.

Nevermind. We like the tower.

Reasons. Mhm. Didn’t plan on that when he set this up. (In relation to snowchester)

Boy’s tnt penmanship is like that of a toddler.

Great explosions.

Oh we’re poofing the Targay next.

I love the two types of people. People like me, playing along, and the people who are panicking and praying it’s a copy.

Love the mods telling everyone it’s real.

Aww he died.

It’s ok. We respawned.

Defiantly cannon.

We don’t want it to be? That’s worrying for future lore.

But we’re not talking future lore. We’re doing therapy explosions.

Oh an ad. I didn’t get it. I won’t complain.

All the levels gone so sad. Not like they can spontaneously appear.

No. We aren’t going to snowchester. Too far away.

Where is the next level?

Random fire arrows???

Yes we are question marking.

Coder boy? Minecraft commands?

Run command?

Execute command?

He’s typing. I understand none of it.

Oh it’s peaceful.

There it goes.

Withers our favorite thing

Withers and chickens.

Oh. We stuck. We lagging bad.

Let me join the L group really fast.

The game crashed and now he’s trying again.

Wait all the damage reset?

Oh wait no we’re on the real smp now aren’t we!

Maybe not... we’ll see.

It never saved?

And here is the April Fools reveal.

Oh hooray sub goal and piano tunes!

Oh American roadtrip by Fundy!

That’ll be fun! It’ll be fun to see the vlogs and the like!

Raise that sub goal! Get that fun adventure!

It’ll be a month but it’ll be fun!

Ah he is telling them it was a real April fools steam.

But this is a cool idea! I hope the boy gets to come here on an adventure.

Why do many New York and New Jersey people? Also hooray 5up!

I hit the text block limit. Good song time! Banger tune time! Oh that’s neat! FundyJam! Another? I could make a part 2 to this instead of cramming, but that’s too much work. GOOD SONG GOOD STREAM! I love Fundy streams so much. Very therapeutic explosions. And the raid went through. 15TH FOR MAIN CHANNEL VIDEO!!!!

[earnestly-endlessly]

Could you please rec cherik fics where they still have powers but being mutant is well accepted? (Kind of like the Daycare Verse by brillingspoons) THANK U SO MUCH YOURE INCREDIBLE

Hi anon, of course I have a list for you. I am so sorry for the delay. I have been super busy lately with work and home renovations, but I’m back and I have a looong list for you. Now, the nature of x-men as a parallel of the very real fight of minority groups for civil rights makes it pretty hard to find fics where everyone accepts mutants.That’s actually why I love the x-men, because they represent the fight of those who are ostracised. So, some of these might have some social commentary, but the main focus does not lie there. Also, if you love the Daycare Verse check out pocky_slash’s fics (who actually wrote the majority of the Daycare Verse). 

------

Cherik ´Still Have Powers Modern AU´ Fic Recs

irreconcilable differences (make for surprisingly good bedfellows) – pocky_slash

Summary: Tonight on The Evening Report with Malcolm Stevens, noted geneticist and mutant equality proponent Dr. Charles Xavier faces off with the infamous mutant rights activist Magneto in a live televised debate over the Genetic Nondiscrimination Act.

(At least, if they can stop flirting long enough to stay on topic.)

Words and Pictures – pocky_slash

Summary: When Lorna's powers manifest early, Charles Xavier's mutant picture books are the perfect teaching tool. Erik just hadn't expected the author to be so young. Or attractive. Or available.

For the Record – endingthemes

Summary: As prominent figures in the mutant rights movement, activists Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr are pretty much household names. When a romance scandal between them breaks, their celebrity reaches new heights, and though the increased exposure is great, there’s a big problem -- the two of them are just friends.

Too bad no one believes them.

Runs in the Family – Anonysquirrel (chibirisuchan)

Summary: Alex knew his own reputation. Hell, he'd started some of his own reputation, because it kept some of the smarter thugs off his back. Everyone knew Alex's reputation. There was no way Hank didn't know his reputation, but he'd brought Alex into a house with some really expensive things and a lot of innocent little kids and his too-friendly, too-harmless dad.

But clearly Hank hadn't told his family anything about Alex, just like he hadn't told Alex anything about his family. At least, not about the brain-breaking parts of his family.

"I didn't know where to start," Hank said, for the dozenth time.

Featuring mpreg!Charles in a Kiss The Cook apron, overprotective!Erik in wet black leather, and baked goods. Lots and lots of baked goods.

(Another segment of this series is posted under the Cookie Cutter fic collection - thanks again, Takmarierah!)

Impulse Decisions – listerinezero

Summary: Erik wakes up in Las Vegas with a hell of a hangover, a telepath in his bed, and a ring on his finger. Now what?

You Show Me Yours - endingthemes

Summary: When Erik receives nudes in the middle of the night from an unknown number, he's confused and mildly amused. He doesn't expect it to turn into an actual conversation...with feelings.

As if that's not baffling enough, his friend's brother ends up crashing at his place, further complicating everything.

Some Such Place (The Big Screen Classics Remix) - Pocky_Slash

Summary: Erik's spent the last eighteen months having lengthy socio-political conversations and casual sex with Charles Xavier after seeing Monday matinees at a dingy little independent movie theatre in the Village. That doesn't mean they're friends. Or that Erik should have any say in what Charles is going to do with his future.

(At least, that's what Erik keeps telling himself.)

Into Your Tar, Honey  - tomato_greens

Summary: Really, Alex doesn’t know why he’s in the damn class.

(Or, the one in which Charles teaches an online Introduction to Biology course, and Alex reads more than he expected to.)

Heli Cases - Black_Betty

Summary: "Heli Cases" is a program on PBS whose aim is to educate on the rapidly increasing occurrence of genetic mutation in the general populous by breaking the complex science down into palatable, easy to digest pieces.

It is also the only thing that helps Erik get his fussy daughter to fall asleep.

(Featuring Dadneto, baby Lorna and the struggles of single fatherhood, and Charles as the host of a late night show about genetics.)

Bound - FuryRed

Summary: Is there anything worse than someone else’s wedding? Well, perhaps your sister’s wedding- where the groom just has to invite his boss and that man just happens to be your ex-boyfriend; a person you had an extremely passionate and tumultuous relationship with that ended badly.

Charles hadn’t seen Erik for a year by the time Raven had told him about the wedding. He wasn’t looking forward to the occasion, particularly when Raven explained that they would be celebrating the event with a two-week extravaganza at a luxury hotel, meaning that Charles would be forced to spend a whole fortnight with the man who he’d given everything to; the man who had ultimately broken his heart…

An Exercise in Frustration – ikeracity

Summary: Erik Lehnsherr's latest critically-acclaimed film Shame features a full-frontal nudity scene. His long-suffering husband Charles is really very peeved about it.

Eyes on Fire - Black_Betty

Summary: Every once in a while, fashion tycoon Emma Frost invites her favourite male models over to entertain her. And by "entertain", I mean she makes them have kinky consensual sex in front of her....Emma never touches herself when she watches, but she always has a glass of wine with her. Emma likes it best when they eventually forget that she's watching.

Charles and Erik meet each other through Emma...

(I've taken some liberties with the prompt, but all the sex is still there, and it's wholly consensual...and gradually, becomes more than just sex...)

Order Up - ikeracity

Summary: Charles has a terrible habit of multitasking, and that is probably why he absentmindedly tells the pizza man that he loves him when hanging up.

Then the pizza man says it back. And Charles is pretty much smitten from there.

Some Assembly Required - manic_intent

Summary: "Alex and Hank were two teenagers who frequently fight in school. One fight got so bad that the principal called in their fathers (as both came from single-parent families)/ guardians for a conference. This was how Charles and Erik meet."

Limited Release - rageprufrock

Summary: When Alex Summers broke out of supermax to rescue his stupid kid brother, he had no idea it was going to be so fucking complicated.

Math Reasons – pearl_o, pocky_slash

Summary: "Mom says Erik always knows what he wants, it just sometimes takes him a little while to actually realize it," Ruth said.

Charles fell in love with Erik the first night they met, the first week of freshman year. Two years of friendship, adventures, arguments, hijinks, secrets, and summer visits later, Erik is starting to catch up.

It’s kind of our whole thing – pearl_o, pocky_slash

Summary: After two years of best friendship, Charles and Erik thought they knew everything there was to know about each other. They're surprised, then, when their first summer as a couple reveals that they have a lot to learn about each other and themselves.

PART 2 of Math Reasons

A Nice Boy (The Family Matters Edition) – pocky_slash

Summary: Erik's not sure whether the problem is that he doesn't want his parents to meet Charles or that he doesn't want Charles to meet his parents. Either way, he never invites Charles to brunch. Why should he? It's not like they're dating.

apple season – pocky_slash

Summary: "You know," Charles says while they're sitting around the kitchen table reading the paper, "You should take Anya apple picking."

"Don't you mean 'we?'" Erik responds. The silence that follows is enough to make him re-examine his own apple picking memories a little more closely. Uneven ground littered with apples, tree roots, holes, and narrow passage between rows of orchard trees. "Oh," he says.

rooms/shares – pocky_slash

Summary: Erik is single, working a cube job he hates, letting his master's degree in mutant studies collect dust, and living on his best friend's couch. When she kicks him out, he's forced to trawl Craigslist for the least-offensive rooming option within his meagre budget. He never expects a response from the persnickety, high maintenance ad he replies to as a joke, but it's possible this too-nice apartment and mysteriously absent roommate might be the answer to all four of his problems.

Continue firm and constant – aesc

Summary: Moira hasn't seen her old partner in saving the world from threats human and intergalactic, Erik Lehnsherr, for a few years. When she finally does see him again, she finds a man different from the one who's been with her down in the dark and the dirt and the blood... or maybe he isn't so different after all.

Tough little baby telepath – aesc, pearl_o

Five Part Series

Summary: Teenage telepath Charles Xavier takes a job as a consultant, working with prickly police detective Erik Lehnsherr. Charles is used to being on his own and taking care of himself; he has no reason to think that his relationship with this stern, icy man is going to change any of that.

Frosted hearts – aesc, palalife

Summary: Emma Frost has 99 problems, but a date ain't one. Specifically, she has no time to play the dating game--which is fine with her, because she'd much rather run it instead. From a set of sleek, silver and white offices on Fifth Avenue and with her trusty, stylish, and silent partner Janos Quested, Emma has built Frosted Hearts into New York City's premiere dating service, built on the principle that money, and a sufficiently rigorous psionic scan, can, in fact, buy you love.

Somewhere in Frosted Hearts's server is one Charles Xavier, genius and geneticist, with the kind of nicely-starched good looks that sell well on brochures for New England prep schools. He's also a telepath who's decided to give up pursuing serious relationships and instead spend his thirties doing what he should have done as a teenager: have a lot of sex with random people. Fortunately for him, Erik Lehnsherr, metallokinetic and engineering executive, has absolutely no time in his heart or his schedule for anything more serious than... well, absolutely nothing romantic at all.

Mercy of the Fallen (the AirDrop Security Update 2.0) – pocky_slash

Summary: Erik Lehnsherr feels defined by his past sins and after years of acting against his own moral compass, he's finally struck out on his own. He's his own boss now, and determined to work hard to help the mutant community and make up for years of doing someone else's dirty work.

Complicating this is Charles Xavier, mutant advocate, genetics professor, unfairly attractive telepath, and owner of the coffee shop below Erik's office. Erik may not think he deserves to be a part of the community he's thrown himself into helping, but Charles has other ideas on the matter, and he's determined to do everything in his power to make Erik see himself as a force for good.

you follow and i’ll lead – pearl_o, pocky_slash

Summary: When Charles discovers how frustrated and self-conscious his best friend Erik is about his ignorance about sex, he's eager to volunteer to help teach him and practice. Charles might not have any more direct experience than Erik, but he does have a telepath's mind full of accidentally picked-up fantasies and memories, as well as knowledge of a few dirty books - and more importantly, he's been madly in love with Erik for years. This seems like a brilliant, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that he can't pass up.

Now he just needs to manage to keep his feelings in check, and not ruin their friendship forever.

Snail Mail – pocky_slash

Summary: Alex isn't thrilled when his boss, Erik, starts sending him to hand deliver notes to Erik's husband up at the university--that is, until he sees the Professor's hot new TA, and suddenly, the notes can't come fast enough. If only Alex could work up the guts to ask him out....

this is life (and everything’s all right) – pocky_slash

Summary: Edie Lehnsherr came into Charles' life long before he ever heard Erik Lehnsherr's name, and her death left a gaping hole in the lives of everyone in Charles' family. As the first Purim without her approaches, he begins to get creative in his efforts to bring everyone out of their grief. Kitchen creativity, however, is not quite his strength....

Watching the Detectives – Clocks

Summary: Detectives Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr are good friends and colleagues. However, when they go undercover at a Christmas party to nab a prime suspect, Erik keeps reminding himself to stay professional and ignore feelings of unexpected jealousy.

Student/Teacher Relations – PoorMedea

Summary: As a TA, Charles knows he can't get involved in all his students' lives. He needs to keep professional boundaries, to make sure that he's an authority figure. But when he accidentally finds out how complicated Erik Lehnsherr's home life is, he suddenly finds that distance hard to maintain.

Fill for the prompt: Erik is the teen dad of adorable baby!Lorna. I just want teen!Erik being a dad, with adorable interactions between him and his baby. Angst is good too since there's always going to be some in such situations, but mainly I want to see teen dad Erik being an awesome dad who loves the hell out of his daughter despite whatever else may be going on.

Conspiracy of Kisses – Alaceron

Summary: Seven-year-old Erik needs to keep his telepathic best friend Charles from finding out that he wants to kiss him. But that's okay, because he has a plan - he'll put on a tinfoil hat.

Favorite Mistake – endingthemes

Summary: Charles Xavier doesn’t think anything of it when he sneaks out without even saying goodbye to his latest one-night stand. What he doesn’t expect is to walk into his new position in the Xavier Industries marketing department and find that his latest hook-up is now his new boss.

Never Take Biology for Granite – ikeracity, pangea

Summary: Charles is an internet celebrity who garners his fame from posting educational, in-depth videos about a different animal every week, though for some reason his viewers are always more interested in his sex life with his geologist husband, Erik, who happens to frown heavily upon all living things.

Except for Charles, of course, whom he's missed these past couple days while attending a geologic convention--though considering the subject material of Charles' newest video, he's wishing he would've stayed away longer.

This Is Not Comedy – baehj2915

Summary: Written for amarriageoftrueminds' prompt for a Cherik version of Louis CK's tangent about the fuckability of Ewan McGregor.

Naturally the similarities end there. I made this about Erik's full on public lust-filled gay revelation, and the chaos that spirals from there.

Snowed In – dedkake

Summary: Charles and Erik have a one night stand, but a blizzard traps them in Erik's apartment afterward.

[your-dietician]

Over 270,000 people sign petition for France vs Switzerland to be replayed

New Post has been published on https://tattlepress.com/sports/over-270000-people-sign-petition-for-france-vs-switzerland-to-be-replayed/

Over 270,000 people sign petition for France vs Switzerland to be replayed

Switzerland’s goalkeeper Yann Sommer (R) saves a penalty by France’s forward Kylian Mbappe during the UEFA EURO 2020 round of 16 football match between France and Switzerland at the National Arena in Bucharest – GETTY IMAGES

Over 270,000 fans have signed a petition calling on Uefa to replay the Euro 2020 last-16 match between France and Switzerland because “the rules (of the game) were not respected” when Swiss goalkeeper Yann Sommer saved Kylian Mbappé’s decisive penalty.

Mbappé’s miss resulted in the world champions crashing out of the tournament in Bucharest after leading their eventual conquerors 3-1 at one point in the match.

But a petition was launched by a disgruntled French fan, Pierre, in the aftermath of the penalty shootout, demanding that Uefa replay the tie because Sommer’s feet were over the line as Mbappe struck the ball. Goalkeepers need to keep at least one foot on the goal-line when facing a penalty, otherwise the spot-kick can be retaken.

Neither the referee nor Var intervened on Sommer’s save but more than 270,000 people signed the petition – which has now been closed – despite several different angles showing that Sommer’s foot was on the line when Mbappé kicked the ball.

The hosts of the petition, leslignesbougent.org, wrote that “Uefa had been officially approached to gauge its position on the matter”, and that Pierre had informed the host site that he wished for the petition to be closed after the angles showing the legality of Sommer’s position came to light. “Our servers exploded,” the site added.

The original petition read: “During the penalty shootout of the France v Switzerland match, goalkeeper Sommer was not on his line ahead of Mbappé’s shot. We ask that Switzerland’s qualification is cancelled so that the match can be replayed.

“Sport must be played within the rules and that evening the rules were not respected.”

02:53 PM

Czech Republic v Denmark

Denmark coach Kasper Hjulmand says the team is looking to Christian Eriksen as an inspiration ahead of the match against the Czech Republic in the Euro 2020 quarter-finals.

Story continues

Eriksen suffered a cardiac arrest during Denmark’s opening game of the tournament. Team-mates were left shaken after seeing him receive emergency medical treatment on the field.

Hjulmand says “we’ll play with that heart of Christian Eriksen once again.”

The winner will face either England or Ukraine in the semi-finals.

AP

02:49 PM

Masterful Jordan Pickford has joined an elite band valued more by his country than his club

Unlike at Everton, when Pickford wears an England shirt he looks like he is sure he belongs out there, the undisputed No 1.

Jamie Carragher’s latest column for Telegraph Sport.

Jordan Pickford celebrating England’s last-16 win – GETTY IMAGES

02:38 PM

The Battle of Rome

Paul Ince’s bloody headband, chaos in the stands – and Southgate’s dark side.

England’s last trip to the Italian capital, in 1997, was another game they could not contemplate losing. David Seaman looks back on that momentous night.

Paul Gascoigne (L) and a topless Paul Ince (R) – GETTY IMAGES

02:20 PM

England get to work…

… with the quarter-final against Ukraine just over 24 hours away.

Kalvin Phillips of England trains during the England Training Session at St George’s Park on July 02 – GETTY IMAGES

Mason Mount of England trains during the England Training Session at St George’s Park on July 02 – GETTY IMAGES

Tyrone Mings shifting some tin – GETTY IMAGES

01:56 PM

Boris Johnson says he has no plans to reduce Euro 2020 stadium crowds

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Friday he did not plan to order a reduction in crowds attending the remaining Euro 2020 matches due to take place at Wembley.

Crowd capacity at Wembley will be increased to more than 60,000 fans for the semi-finals and final of Euro 2020 under a pilot scheme announced last week.

“Of course we’ll follow the scientific guidance and the advice if we receive any such suggestion,” Johnson said in response to a question at a news conference, alongside German Chancellor Angela Merkel who said she was worried about Uefa’s decision to let more people into stadiums.

“But at the moment… the position is very clear in the UK, which is that we have certain events which we can put on in a very careful and controlled manner with testing of everybody who goes there.”

01:34 PM

England fans in Rome

The first pictures are beginning to filter back home…

Fans gather in Rome ahead of Ukraine v England – Rome, Italy – July 2, 2021 – REUTERS

12:20 PM

Germany’s Kroos announces retirement from international football

Germany midfielder Toni Kroos has announced his retirement from international football after his team’s exit from the European Championship, the 31-year-old said on Instagram.

The 2014 World Cup winner earned 106 caps for his country, contributing 17 goals and 19 assists.

Kroos said it was clear to him “for a long time” that he would not be available for the World Cup in Qatar next year.

He said his priority now would be to focus on his club career with Real Madrid and spending time with his family.

Reuters

12:16 PM

The eight defining games of Raheem Sterling’s England career

From scapegoat to star man, Sterling has been the object of anger and criticism but is now England’s most experienced player and one of Euro 2020’s pre-eminent players.

Here, Sam Wallace runs down the eight matches that have defined his international career to date.

England’s forward Raheem Sterling celebrates the first goal during the UEFA EURO 2020 round of 16 football match between England and Germany at Wembley – GETTY IMAGES

12:00 PM

Emma Hayes signs new Chelsea deal

A revealed by Telegraph Sport in May, Emma Hayes, who has starred as a pundit at Euro 2020, has signed a new deal to remain as manager of Chelsea, the Women’s Super League champions have announced.

The 44-year-old has been with the club since 2012 and guided them to four WSL titles, two FA Cups and two League Cups. Hayes’ side were also Champions League runners-up last season.

She said on Chelsea’s official website: “Everyone knows what this club means to me.

“The work we’ve done together over the last nine years has been hugely rewarding, full of growth of the women’s game, accompanied with winning, which is one of the club’s key values. I really look forward to keep building on the successes we’ve already achieved and I’m delighted to have extended further.

Emma Hayes the manager of Chelsea Women lifts the Barclays FA Women’s Super League trophy after the Barclays FA Women’s Super League match between Chelsea Women and Reading Women at Kingsmeadow on May 09, 2021 in Kingston upon Thame – GETTY IMAGES

“It’s been a year and a half without fans, so I can’t wait to welcome them back to our home and share with them the wonderful team we’ve built together.”

Having retained the WSL trophy and the League Cup in 2020-21, Chelsea fell short of adding the Champions League as they were beaten 4-0 by Barcelona in the final in Gothenburg.

That was a first appearance in the final for the Blues – who reached the semi-finals in 2018 and 2019 – and the first by an English club since Arsenal, who had Hayes as assistant manager at the time, won the competition in 2007.

11:24 AM

Some more Premier League news…

Chelsea midfielder Billy Gilmour has joined Norwich on a season-long loan deal.

The 20-year-old impressed for Scotland in a goalless draw against England at Euro 2020 on June 18, before then having to self-isolate after returning a positive Covid-19 test.

Following his performance at Wembley it was reported that several Premier League clubs were interested in signing Gilmour on a temporary basis.

Newly-promoted Norwich have won the race for his signature and Canaries boss Daniel Farke feels Gilmour is a “perfect fit” for his Canaries team.

“We are really happy to have brought Billy in,” said Farke, who saw midfielder Emiliano Buendia leave for Aston Villa for £33million last month.

“We must say a big thank you to Chelsea and all those involved for making this deal happen. I think it helped that in the past we have shown that young players with potential are in good hands here at Norwich City.

Billy Gilmour – GETTY IMAGES

“He will help us to achieve our targets. We still have to keep in mind that he is an unbelievably young guy and that he hasn’t played regularly on this level. We have to give him some time and space to improve and find his rhythm.”

Gilmour made 11 appearances for Chelsea last season, starting three Premier League matches.

The former Rangers youth player was an unused substitute in both the FA Cup and Champions League finals as Thomas Tuchel’s side lost the domestic showpiece to Leicester but beat Manchester City to become champions of Europe.

PA

11:10 AM

The England team Gareth Southgate should pick to defeat Ukraine

Telegraph football writers pick their XIs – and you can too, by clicking here.

We have asked our writers to pick who they would like to see face the Ukrainians, especially bearing in mind that four of the England squad are on yellow cards.

10:50 AM

How England can beat Ukraine and take another step to glory

What do we know about England’s opponents? What are their strengths and what are the areas to exploit? Who are the players to watch out for?

Telegraph Sport spoke to Ukranian football expert Andrew Todos and former Norther Ireland manager Michael O’Neill, who masterminded a win over Ukraine at Euro 2016.

You can read our big match dossier by clicking here.

Graphic depicting England and Ukraine’s star players

10:30 AM

England at full strength for Ukraine

Gareth Southgate’s 26-man squad all trained on the eve of England’s Euro 2020 quarter-final against Ukraine.

The reward for Tuesday’s 2-0 last-16 win against Germany at Wembley is Saturday’s clash against Andriy Shevchenko’s side in Rome.

The Three Lions fly to Italy on Friday afternoon and the full squad trained at their St George’s Park base that morning.

Mason Mount and Ben Chilwell were among those in action, having left isolation on the day of the Germany match after coming into contact with Chelsea team-mate Billy Gilmour, who tested positive for Covid-19 after playing for Scotland against England.

Harry Maguire, Declan Rice, Kalvin Phillips and Phil Foden are a booking away from a suspension heading into the quarter-final.

Manchester United defender Maguire, who was named man of the match on Tuesday, is set to join manager Southgate at Friday evening’s press conference in Rome.

10:23 AM

Captain Kane reporting for England training

JULY 02: Harry Kane of England trains during the England Training Session at St George’s Park on July 02, 2021 in Burton upon Trent, – GETTY IMAGES

10:08 AM

In Premier League news…

From our reporter, Mike McGrath.

09:44 AM

Achilles

No, not the Trojan war hero, but the cat that lives in St Petersburg’s Hermitage museum. He chose Spain while attempting to predict the result of tonight’s quarter-final.

Probably no need to play tonight now – the cat’s called it…

Achilles the cat, that lives in St. Petersburg’s Hermitage museum, chooses Spain while attempting to predict the result of the UEFA Euro 2020 quarter final match between Switzerland and Spain during an event in Saint Petersburg, – REUTERS

Achilles the cat, that lives in St. Petersburg’s Hermitage museum, chooses Spain while attempting to predict the result of the UEFA Euro 2020 quarter final match between Switzerland and Spain during an event in Saint Petersburg, – REUTERS

Achilles the cat, that lives in St. Petersburg’s Hermitage museum, chooses Spain while attempting to predict the result of the UEFA Euro 2020 quarter final match between Switzerland and Spain during an event in Saint Petersburg, – REUTERS

09:23 AM

De Bruyne and Hazard

Belgium boss Roberto Martinez will give Kevin De Bruyne and Eden Hazard until the last minute to prove their fitness ahead of tonight’s Euro 2020 quarter-final clash with Italy.

Manchester City star De Bruyne suffered an ankle injury during Sunday’s 1-0 win over Portugal, during which Real Madrid’s Hazard also limped off with a muscle problem, and neither was able to train with the rest of the squad on Thursday morning.

However, speaking at his pre-match press conference ahead of the game in Munich, Martinez said: “We all know that we are fighting against time, but we’re going to take until the last minute to make the decision.

“Every day that goes by, every time they can sleep and get three meals and get some treatment, we see an improvement, and then we’ll see [today] if they can be involved or not. Unfortunately at the moment, we cannot make a decision.

“Obviously it will be difficult for [today] – a soft tissue injury in Eden’s case, maybe is difficult for a game like tomorrow, and for Kevin, having a ligament problem maybe is a bit different.

“But it’s more a medical decision. At the moment, it’s not a football decision; [today]it will become a medical decision in the afternoon and then we’ll make a football decision after that.”

De Bruyne left the pitch looking dejected in Belgium’s win over Portugal – GETTY IMAGES

Martinez could do with having all his most potent weapons available for a clash with an Italian side which is unbeaten in 31 matches, while both teams are bidding to become the first to win 15 consecutive European Championship matches since the start of qualification.

PA

09:06 AM

In case you missed it…

Neil Diamond told The Telegraph yesterday how “thrilled” he was that England fans were singing his famous ‘Sweet Caroline’ song at Wembley.

“Well, I hope you can do it again – here’s to England”, he told The Telegraph.

The 1969 song has featured in every England victory celebration at Euro 2020 and was a high point of celebrations after the team beat Germany 2 – 0 in the round of 16.

After the match, striker Harry Kane and coach Gareth Southgate both told the media how much they enjoyed hearing fans belt out the song in unison.

08:52 AM

Tournament odds

The bookies have England now as Euro 2020 favourites – even at 2/1 in some outlets.

Then come Spain (3/1) followed by Italy (4/1), with Ukraine the outside shot with bookmakers at 33/1.

08:41 AM

Magic Monday

A look-back at the day that proved internationals reach parts that the club game cannot.

As if Spain 5 Croatia 3 wasn’t enough, Switzerland and France also served up a classic on Monday night. What made it so memorable?

Read Thom Gibbs’ excellent breakdown here.

08:30 AM

RIP Charlie

08:16 AM

Predictions for this evening

Let us know in the comments below!

I’m going Spain and Italy to progress… just.

08:14 AM

Alvaro Morata

As Sam Dean writes, Alvaro Morata has scored 21 goals in 44 appearances for his country. He has won 14 major trophies in club football. He has played for four of the biggest clubs in the world and he has been transferred between them for a combined total of more than £170 million. If he finds the net against Switzerland on Friday, he will become the highest scorer in Spain’s European Championship history. Everything about his CV, and his list of accomplishments by the age of 28, suggests that Morata must be one of the continent’s elite forwards. And yet, for many people, the former Chelsea striker still seems to be regarded more as a punchline than as a top-level predator.

Read about how Morata has emerged from the darkness in a bright, dangerous Spain side.

Spain’s Alvaro Morata celebrates after scoring his side’s fourth goal during the Euro 2020 soccer championship round of 16 match between Croatia and Spain at the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen – POOL GETTY

07:59 AM

Can Switzerland do it again?

A reminder of how the Swiss got there in the first place.

They knocked out the world champions, France, on penalties, after fighting back from 3-1 down.

Refresh yourself on events in Bucharest by clicking here.

Kylian Mbappe missed the crucial penalty for France – GETTY IMAGES

07:35 AM

The Swiss are back!

Remember this bloke?

Swiss fan reacts to their victory over France

Topless and fully clothed, desperate and ecstatic: a Swiss football supporter has become a viral sensation after cameras zoomed in on his rollercoaster emotions watching his team beat France in the Euro 2020 tournament.

Found by Swiss media after images of him yelling and grimacing during Monday’s match went round the world, Luca Loutenbach has already amended his Twitter account to describe himself as the “Nati’s official meme since 28.06.2021.”

The Nati is the nickname for Switzerland’s national football team.

Loutenbach, 28, told Switzerland’s Blick TV that he was “just a normal fan”.

But those filming the game thought otherwise, zooming in on him several times during the play as he perfectly encapsulated Swiss fans’ ecstasy, dejection and frenzied joy – starting off wearing the Swiss red shirt and ending up topless and screaming.

The images quickly went viral, with London Mayor Sadiq Khan tweeting one with the comment “man of the match”.

“A star is born,” Swiss public television RTS said.

“Thanks for all your messages, what is happening to me is unreal,” he wrote Wednesday on Twitter.

“I’m actually quite discreet, even if that wasn’t on show during the game. So this is fun for one or two days, but I hope it will ease off a bit after a while,” he told Swiss TV.

Such is his fame that Switzerland’s airline Swiss has gifted him a free ticket to Russia to see his team play Spain in the quarter finals on Friday in Saint Petersburg.

The country’s tourism agency has also contacted him via Twitter to offer a relaxing weekend away in Switzerland.

07:18 AM

Good morning!

Hello and welcome to Telegraph Sport’s live coverage of the build-up to quarter-finals day, with the first two last-eight games kicking off tonight. Switzerland face Spain in St Petersburg at 5pm before Belgium take on Italy in Munich at 8pm.

England midfielder Jack Grealish said captain Harry Kane is the best player he has ever played with and tipped the Tottenham Hotspur forward to break the Premier League scoring record.

Kane drew a blank in each of England’s three group games at Euro 2020 but scored the second goal in Tuesday’s 2-0 win over Germany which put them into a quarter-final clash with Ukraine in Rome on Saturday.

Grealish said Kane, or “H”, was a deadly finisher but also praised his work outside the box.

“No one here would ever doubt ‘H’,” Grealish told British media on Thursday. “He’s the best player I’ve ever played with.

“He’ll break the Premier League record and the England one but he’s not just a goalscorer. He’s unbelievable when he drops deep and finds passes and puts it through people’s legs.”

Alan Shearer is the Premier League’s all-time leading scorer with 260. Kane is seventh on the list with 166.

Grealish came off the bench to play a role in both goals in the win over Germany but the 25-year-old said he was uncertain if he would start against Ukraine, given the attacking options at coach Gareth Southgate’s disposal.

“It’s difficult. I’m always playing every minute at Villa. I have to be realistic about myself and the talent that we have, especially in my position,” he said.

“You’ve got six players that play either side of Harry that, in reality, could play for most clubs in the world — myself, Jadon (Sancho), Marcus (Rashford), Raheem (Sterling), Phil (Foden) and Bukayo (Saka),” he said.

“That’s scary how good us six are. That’s not being big-headed. That’s just the truth.”

Reuters

Source link

[codewordpumpkin]

A Very Denny Christmas

Merry Christmas, @heart4hawkeye​ !! I’m so sorry I couldn’t post this sooner! I don’t even know if you’ve ever watched Boston Legal before, but hopefully, you’ll enjoy this little fic nonetheless!!

“Really, Reddington? Your Blacklister couldn’t wait until after the holidays? It’s Christmas Eve, for god’s sake.”

“I’m sorry, Donald, did you have something better planned? Well, don’t pout or shout just yet. If you’ve been a particularly good boy this year, you may just find a gift from Santa waiting for you at home… or on your doorstep if you’d prefer the illusion of security—I know the FBI loves that.”

Cooper’s brows furrowed as his temples began to throb. “Reddington.”

Red was adept at picking his battles.

“Denny Crane,” he said, as if the name alone was explanation enough.

“The CEO of Flamingo Corp.?” Elizabeth asked.

“The one and only.”

“I still don’t get how he thought that’d be a good name for an arms company,” Aram said from his spot behind his computer.

“Don’t try to get into the head of Denny Crane—it’ll only make yours ache.”

Hands on his hips, Ressler asked, “Is he the next person on the Blacklist?”

“Heavens, no! Denny is a dear associate of mine, and he is to remain untouched by you ham-fisted lot.”

“Get on with it, Red.”

“Relax, Harold. I was, as you so eloquently put it, getting there.” Brushing imaginary lint off his pristine vest, the infuriating man smiled blandly, reveling in the glares burning holes in his suit as he took his sweet time to elaborate. “The man has a memory of a goldfish, hence why he carries around a voice recorder everywhere he goes. That is the key to our next Blacklister.”

“Are you going to tell us who this Blacklister is?”

“All in due time, Samar. All in due time.”

“How are we going to get our hands on this recorder?”

“You mean, your hands. Really, Elizabeth, modesty doesn’t become you.” Before she could snap a retort, he continued, “Denny is hosting a Christmas party this evening. I am invited, as is my plus one, and I have no doubt we’ll have at least one server slipping on banana peels tonight.”

“All right, then,” Cooper exhaled slowly, “brief Agent Keen on her cover, and—”

“Actually, Harold, I was thinking Agent Navabi should accompany me this time.”

That caught everyone’s attention.

“And why is that?”

“Ah, well, I know how much Elizabeth loathes dressing up for these things, so I thought, why not give her a little break—”

“I’ll take a break once we get this over with, Reddington,” Liz said, trying to will down the flush spreading across her cheeks. She hoped the tinge of hurt in her voice had gone undetected.

Cooper turned to Red, an expectant look on his weary face.

“Well, then,” he nodded, clearly displeased, “you’ll need a dress.”

***

“Raymond!”

“Denny!”

Elizabeth watched with mild amusement as the two men exchanged an enthusiastic bear hug. With sparkling eyes and stretched cheeks, they greeted each other rather boisterously, falling into a chatter as if they had never been apart. She was certain they were speaking English, but for the life of her, couldn’t understand what in the world they were actually saying.

“Well, well, well, well, well, and who might this goddess be?”

The stout, rosy-faced man openly leered at her, scrutinizing her from the toes of her strappy heels to the top of her styled head, then dipping back down to gaze at her modest curves. She, too, took the time to scan his appearance, glancing at his expensive tux only fleetingly before zeroing in on the ridiculous headband that held a conspicuously tall sprig of mistletoe.

“Ah,” Red acted as though he had forgotten her very existence, “Denny, meet Elizabeth. Elizabeth, meet Denny.”

Smiling politely, she reached out her hand—which Denny immediately grasped, stamping a kiss just beneath her knuckles. “I’m sure it’s a pleasure to meet me, Lizzie,” he said so smoothly that, for a second, she thought she had misheard him. She also had to apply considerable force to tug her hand out of his stubborn grip. “Denny Crane.”

She wasn’t sure whether Red’s twitch was a result of Crane calling her Lizzie, or if it was because of his overly friendly touch. Either way, his reaction didn’t bother her. In fact, she could admit to herself, she rather liked it.

“Of course,” she finally responded.

Turning to Red, he said in a stage whisper, “You sly dog, still got the touch, eh? But, say… isn’t she a bit old for you? What say I take—”

“Keep your pants where they are, Denny,” Red cut him off, his smile no longer reaching his eyes. “Did I mention Elizabeth’s a vegan?”

She blinked.

Denny blinked.

“What the hell is that?” his associate asked, genuinely confused. “Listen, there aren’t many kinks I don’t know about, but kids today—”

“It means, she not only doesn’t eat meat,” he continued to lie, “she doesn’t consume any animal products at all.”

Gasping, Denny snapped, “Now why the hell would you do that? What, is she anti-gun, too?”

“Careful, Denny,” he warned gravely, “just the word g-u-n is enough to get her shaking in her heels. Point a water-gun in her face, and she’ll scream bloody murder.”

Where the hell was he going with this?

“A veggie and a communist! Where’d you pick this one up, Red? Los Angeles?” Before Red could respond, he waved a dismissive hand. “Well, whatever. You must keep her around for a reason…” He waggled his brows, then winked as if she wasn’t right there. Straightening his bow, he offered her his hand. “Care for a dance, sweetheart? I’ll show you just how well my body moves… Denny Crane.”

“Actually—”

“Sure,” she shot Red a meaningful look, hoping he understood what she was trying to convey, “I’d love to.”

Just before they left for the dance floor, Denny again stage-whispered, “There’s a g-u-n in my pants I’d bet my life she—”

“Denny—”

By then, the egotistical, borderline-predator flirt was too far away for him to strangle. Or gut. Or maim.

Trying not to let Raymond’s withering glare distract her from her task, she brought one of her hands up to rest on Denny’s puffed chest. “So, how did you meet Raymond?” she casually asked, doing her best to maintain a respectable distance between them—which was easier said than done, considering he was doing his best to plaster their bodies together. On the bright side, that meant he was too preoccupied to notice her wandering fingers.

“Why talk about that fat cat when we can talk about Denny Crane? Go ahead, ask me anything.” He continued before she could. “Why, yes, I’m very giving in bed. I’ll go down—”

“To the bar,” Red said, appearing from out of nowhere just as Denny was about to grope her ass. “There was a leggy blonde looking for you.”

“Leggy, you say? How many legs are we talking here? You know, my father once said that the best sex—”

“She won’t be waiting all night, Denny. I’d run as fast as I can if I were you.”

Was she imagining the threat laced in his words?

“We’ll have to continue this later, Lizzie.” Dropping her like a hot potato, he licked his lips and turned to dash. Looking over his shoulder, he bid, “Keep her warm for me, Ray.”  

Luckily for him, he was surprisingly fast.

“I got the recorder,” she quietly confirmed to Red, assuming that was the reason he had interrupted her dance with Denny. “I’ll just pass it to Ressler or Samar—”

“The song isn’t over yet, Lizzie,” he said, reclaiming his nickname for her with a glint of… something in his eyes, his voice.

With one hand in hers and the other low on her back, he encouraged her to fall into step with him, their movements easy and natural. But even when the song ended and changed, they didn’t stop, instead slowing further and sinking into the lulling rhythm of the music.

She wasn’t aware of when or how it had happened, but she belatedly realized just how close their faces were. A mere inch forward would allow her to graze her nose against his smooth skin, inhale the clean, unique scent of him. A little closer, and she would be able to taste the champagne on his lips. With a gentle pressure, a slight gasp, she could so easily—

They jumped apart at the sound of a loud crash.

It didn’t take long for them to discern where the commotion was coming from, as there was already a loose crowd forming near the bar—and at the very center of it was none other than Denny Crane.

He was standing across from a scowling man and a tall blonde woman…

Raymond and Elizabeth both had a feeling they knew what had started this mess.

“I didn’t proposition her. I just asked her to have sex with me,” Denny announced, as if that was a perfectly acceptable thing to say.

The man’s face flushed with a worrisome shade of crimson, and to everyone’s horror, revealed that he was seriously armed. Before he could do anything with it, however, a loud bang shocked everyone still.

On his previously unblemished pants, right in the middle of his thigh, was a bright blob of yellow… paint?

“Oops. Wrong one.” Bending down, Denny retrieved a small gun that had been strapped to his ankle. “Denny Crane doesn’t get shot at,” he yelled, aiming at the man’s other thigh and pulling the trigger without hesitation. “Denny Crane shoots!”

Chaos commenced as the two literally engaged in a gun fight. Bullets whizzed, screams erupted, glass shattered. People ran this way and that, tripping over dresses, abandoning stilettos, and doing their best to escape with their flesh in tact.

“I was a sniper in the Navy!… Or was I a helicopter pilot?” Now with a gun in each hand, Denny shot bullet after bullet, shouting as he ducked and spun. “I have an erection. Lock and load, baby! Denny Crane!”

“That’s our cue to leave,” Red said in her ear, practically dragging her by the elbow. On their way out, he released her briefly to stop Ressler from getting involved. Something on the ground caught her eye, and she used the few seconds she had to take it, attempting not to get trampled on in the process. “Lizzie. Now.”

This time, they didn’t stop walking until they were safely encased in the back of his car, Dembe driving them out into the night.

Keeping her stolen object carefully hidden, she turned to Red and smirked. “Well, that was interesting.”

“That’s one way of saying it,” he said, chuckling.

He leaned back, settling into the seat and closing his eyes. Knowing an opportunity when she saw one, she gripped the accessory from beside her hip and placed it on his head, refusing to move away as he jerked and snapped his eyes back open.

She didn’t give him a chance to question her.

She didn’t give herself the chance.

Not wanting to waste another second, she pressed her mouth to his.

The kiss was chaste, but it lingered—long enough for her to notice just how soft his lips were. And although she had always been more of a wine girl, she reveled in the fact that she really could taste the remnants of champagne, the crisp flavor blending with subtle, intoxicating notes that could only be described as him.

Finally, after seconds or minutes—time was irrelevant to her at that moment—she pulled back, still close enough to feel his radiating heat and sense his racing pulse. Just as his thumb had stroked the small of her back, she used hers to brush his lips, his jaw, before reaching up to flick the mistletoe hanging above them.

“Merry Christmas, Red,” she said, just as softly as her smile.

Pushing his tongue against the inside of his cheek, slowly gathering his wits, he tentatively reached for her hand and tangled their fingers together. “Merry Christmas, Lizzie.”

Neither of them spoke for the rest of the ride, but both knew that they didn’t need to.

Words could wait.

For now, they had each other.

Finally.