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pedripics · 4 months ago

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Pedri: The island boy with the world at his feet

(via The Athletic - December 2020)

“It is very easy to say it now but the people who know me know that it’s true,” Ruben Delgado tells The Athletic. “When Pedri was nine years old, he reminded me of Iniesta. I always say that the first time I saw him, I knew he had something special."

“His way of playing — everything very simple but very important at the same time. He was not looking to nutmeg people or do lots of stepovers: just the simple thing and the right thing. He was just different: the way he saw football, understood the game, found spaces nobody else could, the maturity he had compared to his team-mates. That is very difficult to find in the world of football but he does it. And it does remind you of Iniesta; looking for the simple thing. It’s a gift. Not very common in football.”

Delgado is a youth football coach with the team in Tegueste, a village on the island of Tenerife. When Pedro Gonzalez Lopez, known then as now as Pedri, turned nine, Andres Iniesta had scored Spain’s winning goal in the World Cup final the year before and later that season won the third of his eventual four Champions League trophies with Barcelona.

Iniesta was also then maybe the most popular footballer in Spain, winning over team-mates, opponents and neutrals with a becoming mix of quiet good manners off the pitch and unshowy genius as he decided games for club and country.

So it was quite something to say that this shy young kid was like Iniesta, but Delgado has not changed his mind over the eight years since he first started coaching a shy, unassuming boy with the gift for playing simple but special football who has settled naturally into the Barcelona midfield since his arrival last summer.

“Pedri just transmitted something different than the other kids of his age,” he says. “Not just how he played with the ball but the respect he showed to his teammates, rival players, the coaches, everyone. One game he scored a super goal, dribbling (past) many players and finishing it perfectly. All of us on the sideline — our fans, and the opposition too — all just had to applaud. At the end of the game, I asked him, ‘Pedri, how did you do that?’ and he just looked at me and said, ‘I don’t know. it just came out naturally’. And I told him, ‘No, no, Pedri — that is not natural’.”

Pedri was born in November 2002 — just a few weeks after Iniesta made his Barcelona first-team debut — in Tegueste, a small town in the northwest of Tenerife, the largest of the Canary Islands.

He was also born into Barcelona — given that, eight years previously, his grandfather Fernando Rodriguez had established the Peña Barcelonista de Tenerife-Tegueste, one of the first official Barcelona supporters clubs in the Canary Islands. Pedri’s father, also Fernando, still runs it, along with family friend Oscar Ledesma.

“Tegueste is a small town of around 10,000 people, with a healthy rivalry between Barcelona and Real Madrid supporters, and the Rodriguez family were always known as ‘the Catalans’ as they were all Barca fans,” Ledesma tells The Athletic. “His grandfather was president of the town’s football club (Union Deportiva Tegueste) for many years and also president of the ‘Lucha Canaria’ club (a local form of wrestling developed by the Guanches, the earliest known natives of the archipelago off the north west African coast). His father was a goalkeeper for many years and had some trials with Tenerife, although he never played for them. The family has a restaurant here in Tegueste, which was established by his grandfather. His grandmother worked there, now his parents, his uncles; they all work together.”

Naturally, Pedri and his older brother Fernando (the third generation) began to play for Tegueste’s youth teams, where Delgado was their coach. Although two years younger than his brother, Pedri’s displays soon started to draw attention in their hometown and elsewhere on the island.

“There were people who came to our games just to watch Pedri,” Delgado says. “There was admiration from the parents of the other kids, from the opposition teams. He did not stand out just for the way he played: his dribbling or finishing, like some kids of this age do. With him, it was his maturity and way of understanding football, knowing very quickly to take the correct decision in every moment. You do not see that very often in a kid of nine or ten years old. People could see the potential that he had but also how humble he was, how normal. Tegueste is a small place where everybody knows their neighbours and it’s a family club which transmits those values — respect for referees and opponents, friendliness, to enjoy yourself.”

Tenerife-born Pedro was an important player in Pep Guardiola’s all-conquering Barcelona team of that time, while the Spain side which won Euro 2008, World Cup 2010 and Euro 2012 had David Silva, from the neighbouring island of Gran Canaria. Lionel Messi was by now the favourite player of most Barcelona-supporting kids the world over. However, the young Pedri and his father had a clear idea of who his model players should be.

“Pedri always says that Iniesta was his hero and his reference from when he used to go to the peña (supporters’ club) to watch the games with his father and grandfather,” says Ledesma. “He also spoke a lot about (Michael) Laudrup, even though he moved to Madrid and he never saw him play for Barca. His father used to show him videos.”

When the family realised that Pedri needed to be challenged more on the pitch, the two brothers joined Juventud Laguna, a bigger club in San Cristobal de La Laguna, still just a 10-minute drive from home.

“Pedri was the smallest on the team but every coach he had could see that they had a special talent,” Ledesma says. “He did not want to leave at first for Laguna as he was happy playing with his friends and there were also offers from stronger clubs, like Tenerife. The first time he made his debut on the Laguna juveniles (the under-18s, when he was 14), the senior side immediately called him and wanted him to play with them. His dad was worried that he would get broken up, with those little sticks of legs he had, but he just went with them and did amazing things. He is very special.”

By now, Pedri had also started to play for the Canary Islands’ representative side and scouts from some (but not all) Primera Division clubs had taken notice. Although there was still a reluctance to move and leave his friends and family behind, Las Palmas’ academy director Manuel Rodriguez made a persuasive case for him to move to another of the Canary Island clubs to progress his career.

“Offers kept coming and Las Palmas have a very good reputation in the Canaries for their youth system, and very good residences for the boys to live in,” Ledesma says. “It was tough for his parents to accept. He was moving to another island but they assured him about his studies too and they convinced the whole family with their ideas: where he would play, how they would help him to progress. He was very happy there.”

Delgado says that each step of the way, Pedri had help in keeping his career progressing forward at just the right pace.

“Good players always need new challenges and to move up,” he says. “The process has been ideal. He has overcome every challenge that came along each step of the way. He had various offers at different moments but they have known how to choose the right option. Not everybody has that good fortune and it has gone well for him. His father, his brother, his uncles, his friends; they have all kept his feet on the ground. They did not let him grow further than was best in every moment. That has helped him to get to where he is now.”

It was summer 2018 when Pedri moved into the Casa Amarilla youth academy of Las Palmas. After one year as the youngest player among the club’s under-18s, he was ready to move up the levels again.

Then-Las Palmas technical secretary Toni Otero picks up the story.

“I first saw him playing aged 15 and we decided to bring him up to the first team,” Otero tells The Athletic. “We just could not believe what we were seeing, that a player at that age could do what he was doing. We knew he had a lot of potential, could reach the very top. We were afraid that he was still too young but once we saw him train and then play for the first team, we realised he was an extraordinary player.”

Otero signed Pedri to his first professional contract in July last year but was still unsure whether the slight 16-year-old was ready to be pitched into a first team playing in Spain’s second tier.

“The only fear we had was that, physically, he was not ready for professional football with grown men, as he is not a big kid,” he says. “But from the first training session with the first team, we could see he would adapt very well. His first game with us was a pre-season friendly in Marbella against Almeria, after just two weeks of pre-season training with the first team — and he was the best player on the pitch. He did whatever he wanted: played comfortably, passed the ball, ran the game, dribbled past players. He was showing that, ‘I’m here now. I don’t care who you are but I am a proper football player’. That game told us that this kid has everything to reach the top.”

Las Palmas’ coach Pepe Mel was also convinced and Pedri started the first game of the season, doing well even though his team were beaten 1-0 by Huesca. A week later, he got the assist on veteran striker Ruben Castro’s goal in a 1-1 draw away to Malaga. The following month, his first goal in senior football brought Las Palmas’ first win of the season, at home to Sporting Gijon.

Except when called up for Spain’s age-group teams, including to play at the Under-17 World Cup in Brazil, Pedri played each week for Las Palmas. Opponents quickly realised their main creative threat was the tiny kid in midfield but he still finished last season with four goals and seven assists in 36 league games. Otero says that everyone in the dressing room automatically took to this quiet teenager who did his talking on the pitch.

“He was a young kid; skinny, very shy,” Otero says, “so the other players did not know what to expect, but that also helped them to take him into the dressing room. At Barcelona now, from Leo Messi to the groundsman, everyone naturally wants to look after him. And at Las Palmas, it was the same. We had to go along learning with him. I always think age is not important in football — some players of 40 seem like kids, others of 16 are already like men.”

Otero agrees with Ledesma and Delgado that Pedri had good people around him, including his agents Leaderbrock Sports, who also represent other younger Spanish talents including Manchester City’s Ferran Torres and Athletic Bilbao’s Unai Nunez.

“Pedri is very close to his family and they protect him,” Otero says. “His agents look after many young players and know how to protect these kids. Everything related to football and outside of football was looked after. He was playing in the Las Palmas first team and living in the residence at the training ground. We had to take the basketball hoop down as he just wanted to play it all the time, but he was not going out at night. He is not a party kid."

“He likes his PlayStation, his friends, going to the park. He is just such a quiet kid, which is helping him at the moment. It is very important that he is kept away from the parts of football which are not good.”

Given the family connection to Barcelona, it might have seemed obvious that Pedri would end up at the Nou Camp at some point but things could easily have turned out differently.

“Pedri was very close to joining Real Madrid,” says Ledesma. “When he was still playing for Laguna, and began to draw attention, various clubs came here — Deportivo La Coruna, Atletico Madrid, Villarreal and also Real Madrid. The Barca scout here did not rate him. At that moment, they did not think he was an interesting player."

“Madrid took him for a trial. He was there for a week but there was tremendous snow, so he could only do a couple of training sessions. They told him they would be in touch but nothing came of it. It is very funny, as he said he did not recognise himself wearing a Madrid jersey when he was there on trial. All of us here in the peña, including myself, tried to make contact with Barcelona in some way to tell them that this kid is going on trial at Madrid, and he’s Barca to the core — but nobody took any notice.”

Barcelona then had another stroke of luck. Otero had spent two years working as a scout at the Camp Nou and personally knew those running their youth structures, including the club’s former midfielder Jose Mari Bakero.

“When I saw this player, after just 10 minutes, I called Barcelona to talk to Jose Mari and tell him to come and look at this kid,” Otero says, “as he is a Barca player — not 100 per cent but 1,000 per cent. ‘You have to come here, even though he is just 16 years old, but if you take him now, it will be a lot easier than if you wait another year as by then, he will already be a ‘crack’.’ And Jose Mari took me at my word, came here and he could see it too after just 10 minutes.”

So, in early September last year, when he had still only played three senior games for Las Palmas, it was agreed that Pedri would join Barcelona this past summer for an initial fee of €5 million plus add-ons, including 15 per cent of the profit in any future sale. The deal did not make huge headlines at the time but, more recently, Barcelona figures including current sporting director Ramon Planes and former club president Josep Maria Bartomeu have taken credit for their supposed foresight.

“I imagine that many people want to put medals on their chests as now we can see Pedri is going to be a world-class player,” Otero says. “I made the first call, to Jose Mari Barkero, as I had worked at Barca and I knew perfectly well what was the best to do.”

Ledesma says Pedri and his family also received offers from other big clubs at that time. However, the connection with Barcelona was too strong to consider going anywhere else.

“When he was at Las Palmas, the offers started to come, and Barca got involved then,” says Ledesma. “There were various offers on the table but he told his father that if it were possible, he only wanted to join Barca. I believe there were better offers from other teams but both he and his father were clear they wanted Barca.”

After completing the season with Las Palmas, Pedri formally arrived at Barcelona to start pre-season in early August — just as most of his new team-mates were in Lisbon, about to crash out of the Champions League with an 8-2 quarter-final loss to Bayern Munich.

When Ronald Koeman took over as coach a few weeks later, he spoke publicly about Pedri needing to be sent on loan as he was too young to be considered for the first team.

Koeman has a reputation for showing confidence in youth but had also spoken a lot about giving a chance to Philippe Coutinho, who was returning from a season on loan at Bayern. The competition for places in attacking midfield roles also included World Cup 2018 winner Antoine Griezmann, €130 million France international Ousmane Dembele, €30 million Portugal international Francisco Trincao, homegrown fan favourite Riqui Puig and a certain guy called Messi.

However, Pedri’s performances in training, and in the first few friendlies before all the senior players had returned to full fitness after their brief close-season break having played on into August, led to a quick change of plans.

“I imagine Koeman had the same experience we did,” Otero says. “I was fully sure that if he did pre-season with Barca, then he would stay (rather than being loaned out) — no doubts at all — because Koeman would have seen that he was ready. Even though he looks small, he is physically strong and he is just a Barca player. After seeing him train for 10 minutes, Koeman realised that he had a player who was going to be one of the best in the world, for sure.”

Ledesma says that even those closest to Pedri thought it most likely he would spend another year gaining experience and playing time on loan somewhere else, possibly in Germany.

“We thought that he would go and do pre-season at Barcelona but we were sure they would loan him to another team where he would be able to play every week,” Ledesma says. “He could not go to Barca B. That was in his contract. There were many teams interested, including Borussia Dortmund, and we thought he could be loaned back to Las Palmas. He was prepared for that but the circumstances at Barca, the time of transition there, have helped for younger players to get opportunities. And he has taken it, and settled in there, playing a lot more than we expected.”

Delgado says that Pedri himself was always convinced that if given a chance, he could show he was ready to play in Barcelona’s first team.

“I am only surprised by how fast it is happening; that he has earned his place in the XI at Barcelona so quickly,” Delgado says. “We all expected it to happen but to take a bit more time. I remember talking to him in the summer and he was convinced he wanted to stay at Barca this season, and when this kid decides to do something, he usually does it.”

Most new players who have come to Barcelona in recent years have needed time to adapt, including many who were much older and with a lot more experience than Pedri, with Coutinho and Griezmann being obvious examples. This year could have been extra difficult, given all the turmoil around the club, including Messi’s attempt to leave last summer and Bartomeu’s resignation as president in October. However, those around Pedri say he has settled in remarkably easily.

“He speaks wonderfully about the atmosphere in the dressing room: above all, about the older players who have taken to him and to the other younger players, like Trincao and Ansu Fati,” says Ledesma. “Even at the start, when the mood was a bit strange and the president resigned, and all that, he felt very comfortable. He has that character — that people warm to him quickly. He speaks very well about everybody: (Sergio) Busquets, (Gerard) Pique, Messi and all of them.”

Pedri came off the bench in the first three La Liga games of the season, then was given a first start at Getafe in week four, with Coutinho dropping out. Barcelona lost 1-0 but the 17-year-old was one of their best players, with a strong run and clever pass that was key to a move which saw Messi hit a post from the visitors’ best chance to equalise.

“Since the start, Koeman has treated him with a lot of care, given him lots of advice,” says Ledesma. “Above all, he has given him confidence. When he trains and plays, he keeps telling him he is doing very well, to keep going like this, to use his imagination and not be afraid to try things, to do what he knows he can do — and for a kid so young, that gives you a lot of confidence.”

Four days later, he came off the bench to make his Champions League debut and marked the occasion with his first Barcelona goal in a 5-1 victory over Ferencvaros He was back in the XI for October’s Clasico at home to Real Madrid but did not have his best game and was taken off early in a 3-1 defeat. Koeman kept faith, though, and started him again four days later at Juventus — and Pedri produced a phenomenal performance, regularly skipping away from Juan Cuadrado and frustrating the Colombian by stealing the ball from him, too. A few weeks later came his first La Liga goal, another confident finish in a 5-2 victory over Real Betis.

“As a 17-year-old, you have to understand there will be ups and downs, and better and worse games,” Otero says. “Maybe he did not stand out so much against Madrid but then, a few days later, everybody saw what he did against Juventus. But if the coach keeps putting him in the team, it is because he is happy with his performances.”

While Pedri’s season has been progressing as well as anyone could have hoped, his team have stumbled along and mixed some decent performances with other horror-show displays. Many local pundits say it is no coincidence that they have been playing better in recent weeks because Pedri has more responsibility in the team, and €155 million Brazil international Coutinho is featuring less. Koeman has also been experimenting with the team’s shape, and Pedri played a deeper role in the recent 2-1 win over Real Sociedad, when he drew even more admiration for a brave last-ditch Javier Mascherano-style challenge on Alexander Isak which prevented an almost certain late equaliser.

“Pedri is a player who understands football,” Otero says. “It is not that he is focused on playing in one position or another, or that the coach has told him he must do this or that. No. He understands what he has to do before a coach or anybody can tell him. He has the game in his head and knows perfectly well what he needs to do. It is something great that he has.”

The most difficult challenge for many new Barcelona players is to get on the same wavelength as Messi, something neither Griezmann nor Coutinho have managed to do yet. However, Pedri has quickly struck up an understanding with the Argentinian. Against Real Sociedad, 10 of the 31 passes Pedri completed were to Messi, while Barca’s No 10 found him nine times in return. Their connection was again clear in the 3-0 win at Real Valladolid just before Christmas, especially with the back-heel assist from Pedri for Messi’s strike and the joyous goal celebration between the pair.

“At Las Palmas, the players who he connected best with on the pitch were the most technical: Jonathan Viera and Ruben Castro,” says Ledesma. “When Viera arrived on loan, he told Pedri, ‘You look for me on the pitch and you and me, we are going to understand each other’. Maybe with Messi, it is not the exact same words but something similar has happened."

“Messi knows that if you give him the ball, you will get it back in a better position, and that is important when you play with these technical players. Pedri is also bursting with pride that Messi talks with him, gives him advice, having been his hero almost since he was born. That, for him, is something incredible. Messi speaks more in the dressing room than in front of the cameras. From what I hear, he is more a leader inside the dressing room than it might seem from outside. He lifts the others, he supports them, and that is helping Pedri a lot.”

Otero says Pedri has not had to change anything about his personality or his style of play to fit in at Barcelona — and has not tried to show off with any special tricks or unnecessary demonstrations of skill, instead just continuing to play the same simple way he always has.

“He has that humility and simplicity and naturalness,” Otero says. “With this kid, everything he does is so natural. He just has that talent inside him. That is what talent is: knowing what to do in each moment and being able to do it. Not just heading off on a dribble to show off. Messi has that, and Pedri too. It is all natural talent. He was born with it. He is too young to have learned to play like this. I am convinced he will be a world-class star and mark an era in Spanish football.”

While the Clasico was maybe his quietest game for Barcelona so far, little seems to have fazed the teenager so far. He has even played some of his better games when the team were struggling: such as in that first start at Getafe or in the 1-1 draw at Alaves when far more experienced colleagues let their team down.

After their title hopes took a huge blow in the 1-0 defeat at Atletico Madrid on November 21, he did the post-match Spanish TV interview, admitting that Barcelona had not played well and would have to look at their mistakes and improve — all this from a supposedly shy kid, just four days before his 18th birthday, and only a few months after moving to Catalonia.

“He is a little bit introverted or shy when he does not know the people he is with,” says Ledesma. “But afterwards, when he gets to know you and feels confident, he loves to joke around. It is true that on the pitch he changes, and he always has. When he was playing, he always took it seriously. Every game was very important; even just a kickaround with his friends, he always wanted to win."

“He has a sense of calm, even when Pepe Mel called him to the Las Palmas first team just past his 16th birthday. They all said he had the character, a security in himself that it seemed he had always played there. We were all confident that if Barca gave him a sniff of a chance, he was going to take advantage of it. He gets nervous sometimes, like everyone, but he does not show it. And once he is playing, even in front of fans, he puts everything else to the side.”

Recent months have also seen Pedri make his debut for Spain Under-21s while it would be no surprise if senior side coach Luis Enrique takes both he and close friend Ansu Fati to next summer’s European Championship.

Meanwhile, he has just been getting on with his normal life. He lives in Barcelona with his big brother Fernando, who cooks and looks after the apartment. They play a lot of FIFA in the afternoons while Pedri is also a fan of strategy board game Catan. Their parents have visited when possible amid the pandemic and their own work commitments. The only headlines he has made so far off the pitch have been for using a simple supermarket plastic bag to bring his personal effects to the stadium instead of the designer gear favoured by most of his team-mates, and using taxis to get to and from training and games.

“Pedri will keep his feet on the ground. He is very well supported by his family,” says Ledesma. “His parents still have the restaurant — the mother runs the kitchen and his father runs the dining room — but they go there when they can. With the character he has, it would be strange if he changed.

“He was surprised at all the noise made about him taking a taxi or bringing his things in the plastic bag. He says everyone has a bag like that for their clothes, due to COVID. The only thing is he did not then put it inside a Dolce & Gabbana bag, he just carried it in his hand. And if he does not have a driving licence, and his brother also does not have it yet, then he needs to get a taxi. He just gets on with things. He is a very normal kid.”

Back on Tenerife, the locals have recovered from the strangeness of supporting usual rivals Las Palmas last season and the Pena Barcelonista de Tenerife-Tegueste is packed for each Barcelona game.

“I don’t know what he can achieve. I can only say that if he aims for something, he will get it,” Delgado says. “I just hope he keeps going, keeps enjoying this moment and what is to come. I am convinced he will go very, very far. He is still the same kid I coached at nine years old, with the same friends and loved ones. He responds to your messages, shows respect, does not dominate the conversation, asks about you and your family. I am super proud to be able to say that.”

Nobody who knows Pedri thinks that he will plateau now and not aim to keep developing his game and become an even more important player for Barcelona over the next decade or more.

“He says that he wants to improve in everything,” says Ledesma. “Often, he speaks about scoring more goals, his finishing, shots from long range. He scored more for Las Palmas as he took more shots but he always says that he is happier to give an assist than score a goal. But he knows he is learning things every day, being with the best players in the world. It is an incredible opportunity for as long as it lasts at Barca, and I hope he retires there, to keep learning and improving.”

Such a strong confidence in one’s own ability, despite appearing shy and unassuming at first, also brings back the comparison with Pedri’s childhood hero.

“Hopefully they are similar in how they play, although Pedri still has a long way to go — achieving half of what Iniesta has would be marvellous,” says Ledesma. “Although he admires Iniesta a lot, he does not really like the comparisons. He knows he is Pedri and needs to play like Pedri.”

#'he was convinced he wanted to stay at Barca this season and when this kid decides to do something he usually does it'#< i love him #pedri #pedri gonzalez #fc barcelona #*interview

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the-olympics-olympics · 5 months ago

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Weird Olympic Moments Tournament

To celebrate (?) the Paris 2024 Olympic Games starting in a few weeks, I thought I'd run another Olympic-themed poll tournament. This time, we're diving into history and getting to know some of the stranger, lesser-known stories of the Games.

Polls will run for a week, and the tournament should last until around early September if I'm doing my math right. The first polls will begin Monday, July 15th.

At the end, we'll award a gold, silver, and bronze to the top three.

After many hours on Wikipedia and the IOC website, here's the list of moments I came up with:

Horse vaulting

Pigeon racing

Sarajevo venues damaged in war

Mayor of Montreal says "The Olympics can no more lose money than a man can have a baby," then proceeds to host one of the most financially disastrous Games in history

George Eyser wins six medals after being run over by a train

Solo synchronized swimming

Crowd gets pooped on by 25,000 pigeons

Flame is taken to top of Mount Everest

Margaret Abbot dies without knowing she made history as the first US woman to win gold

Brazilian team has to sell coffee to afford the trip to Los Angeles

A teenager's "dumb idea" becomes Olympic tradition (athletes marching together in closing ceremony)

St. Louis experiments with "purposeful dehydration", denies water to marathon runners

Kanakuri Shizō takes 54 years to finish his race

Mt. Vesuvius moves the Olympics to London

They stop doing the Olympic salute for some reason

IOC President compares a terrorist attack to a vote to ban a racist country

The Olympics goes 88 years without letting women run marathons

Olympic flame transmitted via satellite

Northern Rhodesia declares independence during Olympics, changes name to Zambia

Vancouver 2010 cauldron malfunction

Montreal 1976 stadium is finally paid off in 2006

The curse of the Beijing 2008 mascots

Everest climbers get gold medals

Sochi snowflake malfunction

They hold the Olympics in 1906, then later say it doesn't count

Colorado kicks the Olympics out

Flame hidden from view after anti-gay law

Summer Olympics held during Winter

Haiti and Liechtenstein discover they had the same flag

Riot at the 1924 rugby match

McDonald's gives out more Big Macs than they expected

Chamonix 1924 retroactively named the Winter Olympics

Doves burned during cauldron lighting

Torchbearer takes olympic flame down a ski jump

Medals made of e-waste

Shooter aims for wrong target, loses gold

Olympic torch passed on International Space Station

Alien addresses crowd

Figure skating debuts at Summer Olympics

Olympics held on two different continents

Rio organizers lose key to stadium gate

Baron de Coubertin wins a gold medal under false identity

1960 winter games held in city named for an ethnic slur

Obstacle Swimming

North Korea considered to co-host 1988

Housing complex for American soldiers during the occupation of Japan becomes the Olympic village

Torch design changed mid-relay

Cauldron lit by flaming arrow

Last three seconds of basketball final replayed three times until results changed

St. Louis threatens to hold their own Olympics if they don't get named host city

Fatso the Fat-Arsed Wombat

Balloon racing

Delirious man carried over finish line by coaches, wins marathon

Summer Olympics held in November and December

Olympics postponed for COVID

Blue screen of death appears during opening ceremony

Marathon runner attacked by priest

Guy kicks referee in the face and (maybe) ends up on a stamp

Jet pack flies over stadium

Centennial games not awarded to a very confident Athens

LA 84 gets in trouble for commercializing the torch relay

Olympic flame relit with cigarette lighter

Rower stops for ducks

Nazi propaganda becomes Olympic tradition (torch relay)

Did I miss a great weird moment? Send it to me in an ask and I might do a round 2 or something!

I chose the moments based on my own personal bias (lol)

Heads up that there is one that involves the death of animals, but I will tag any polls with that #tw animal death

Please don't hesitate to let me know if you need anything else tagged, and how to tag it!

Also, a disclaimer that I'm tired and scatterbrained and I work full time, so if this gets a little disorganized I apologize. Shouldn't be too bad though.

Let the games begin, and whatnot

@tournament-announcer :)

#olympics #olympic games #tournament #poll #history

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covid-safer-hotties · 4 months ago

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COVID spreads among Australian Olympic team - Published Aug 5, 2024

More than 40 Australian Olympians have tested positive to COVID and other respiratory illnesses at the Paris Games.

Swimming Australia's head coach Rohan Taylor has revealed some swimmers raced with COVID during their nine-day program at the pool.

While some swimmers withdrew from races including Lani Pallister and Ella Ramsay, others competed with the virus.

Zac Stubblety-Cook, silver medallist in the men's 200m breatstsroke, was among those who continued to compete despite testing positive to COVID.

The Australians have two PCR testing machines at the athletes village which Taylor and team chef de mission Anna Meares say have been crucial in minimising the spread of COVID.

"That turns around the results in 45 minutes, which allows the medical team to support our athletes as quickly as possible," Meares said on Monday.

"You come here and you do all the preparation and planning and sometimes health can be the thing that can tip it one way or the other."

The Australian team's medical director Carolyn Broderick said 84 PCR tests had been performed at the village.

Dr Broderick said "about half" of those tests had recorded positive results to COVID and other illnesses such as Influenza A.

Read the rest at either link!

#covid #mask up #pandemic #covid 19 #wear a mask #coronavirus #sars cov 2 #still coviding #public health #wear a respirator #paris olympics #2024 olympics #olympics #the olympics #olympic games

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fraternoviril · 2 months ago

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Gold ring with relief of athlete - tomb of Svetitsa, Kran village, Kazanlak, Bulgaria - 5th century BC.

Anel de ouro com relevo de atleta - túmulo de Svetitsa, Vila de Kran, Kazanlak, Bulgária - V século aC.

Photo: https://www.facebook.com/ArchaeologyBulgaria

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bigasswritingmagnet · 4 months ago

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Gkika Gets Got

Fandom: Girl Genius Summary:

"A girl likes to pay her debts, ya?" "So, what did you do for the Jӓger lady?" "Nothing much. She's makin' more of it than she should."

Gkika gets badly wounded on a raid. To her surprise, she is rescued by a mysterious man who seems neither human nor Jӓger; a man who is determined that she live to fight. Gkika would prefer to crawl under a rock and die of embarrassment.

AO3 Link

Damn.

Don’t get confident. Her father had drilled that into her head over and over and over. Don’t. Get. Confident. Always assume your enemy is better than you, and fight accordingly.

But nooo, Gkika was the bigshot raider now, Gkika rode with the Jӓgers, Gkika had made it through two raids without a scratch, Gkika was invincible.

Und now, hyu got three whole arrows in hyu, cauz hyu so good at dis.

The one in her side had hit her ribs. She could have pushed through that pain, but the two in her thigh… There was a reason she was crawling her way through the stagnant water at the bottom of the ditch—which would mean infection even if she could get out of here.

There were no tryouts for riding with the Jӓgers, no tests, no athletic requirements. You either lived long enough and fought well enough to be offered the draught, or you didn’t. If she died here, would they even find her body? Would they all say she’d died because she wasn’t good enough, or would they think she panicked and ran? Like a coward.

If she could just get out of the damn ditch.

As if in immediate response to the thought, something grabbed her by the straps of her leather cuirass and hauled her up. Gkika thrashed wildly, her jaw clenched tight—absolutely no screaming, not for anyone’s amusement. The arrow in her side caught on the dirt wall of the ditch, and the pain—

Gkika woke slowly. Her wounds still throbbed a dull, burning ache. She felt pressure on her stomach and something hooked onto her belt. But she wasn’t dead or caged or being torn to pieces by angry villagers, and that was a good start.

Her face was pressed against something soft. She cracked open her eyes and saw a wall of rough green fabric. Where was she?

“Ivan vill be okay if ve tie him to de horse,” said a voice. “Alrik is still breathink but he von’t vake up. His head iz all fonny lookink.”

“Make a sling and take him home. At this point, the Heterodyne is the only one who can put him to rights, if anyone can.”

The voice wasn’t familiar, but the way it rumbled right through her made Gkika realize she was slung over a shoulder like a sack of flour, held in place by a hand on her belt. Gkika shut her eyes again, and felt humiliation rise in her face like a sunrise.

“Found a couple of de town boys, too, dead.”

Oh no. She knew that voice.

“Did you take care of it?

“Ya, ve found some canvas und wrapped dem up. Got deir hats, too.”

That was Goomblast, the biggest mouth in the world literally and figuritively! Who everyone knew had been personally told by Zog that he’d be made a general as soon as he learned how to keep a secret for two seconds in a row! By sundown, every person in camp would know about this—Mechanicsburg would know about this—the Polar Lords would know. Subterranean mole people who had never seen the sun would know that Gkika had run headfirst into a hail of arrows like the idiot she was.

“Good. Go back to camp, get them buried, get Alrik to the Heterodyne. Don’t wait up—I need to patch this one up, first.”

“Heh. No kiddink.”

Gkika barely heard the sound of the Jӓgers leaving over the flood of her own mortification.

After a few moments, the voice said

“They’re gone now. You can stop pretending.”

Gkika let out a long, miserable groan.

“Just leaf me to die,” she pleaded.

“No, I don’t think I’m going to do that.”

Her “rescuer” did not put Gkika down, and Gkika couldn’t walk anyway so knew there was no point in getting mad about it. So while he carried her through the forest—with no sign of obvious effort—she hung there and let herself wallow in self pity.

An eternity later, he said, “I’m going to put you down now.”

“Good. Leaf me here.”

His response was to sigh and—with infuriating care—lay her down at the mouth of a cave. Gkika refused to look at him.

“I’m going to check if it’s clear. Don’t go anywhere.”

“Oh, hyu so funny.”

He disappeared inside. After a moment, there was a cacophany of growling and hissing, and Gkika considered using that as cover to go find a rock to crawl under. But no, she wouldn’t get very far, and it would be all the more humiliating to have him drag her back.

The man emerged, cleaning blood off of his sword. Gkika glanced at him to see that his face was familiar enough that she knew she’d seen it around camp, but not so familiar she had a name or background to attach to it.

Without a word, he sheathed his sword and scooped her up again.

This time she examined him more closely. He didn’t look that much older than she was, or less human. The strength said Jӓger, the lack of fangs said new Jӓger, but the way he’d given orders spoke of an authority that no freshmade Jӓger would be granted.

He gently lay Gkika down on a bedroll already spread out, and began to putter around the gave, seemingly oblivious to Gkika’s wary watchfulness as he moved spider-wolf corpses out of the way and lit a fire.

Then he rolled up his sleeves, and Gkika saw a spiderweb of scars across his skin, more than any human could survive in the space of a single military career.

“Vut is hyu?” she demanded.

“Name’s Agnar,” he said. “Though I might change it soon. It’s getting a little out-dated.”

Gkikg was about to point out that that was not what she’d asked, when Agnar began to set out bandages, ointments, and unpleasantly sharp looking little tools.

“I told you I wasn’t leaving you to die,” Agnar said, though Gkika hadn’t spoken.��

He helped Gkika to lie back, and propped up her side so he could get at the arrow. Then he handed her a thick piece of wood, which Gkika set between her teeth. Fancy Heterodyne medical mumbo jumbo or no, this was going to hurt.

Gkika threw her arm over her eyes.

“Hy vvff hy vff fff.”

Agnar removed the stick.

“Hy vish Hy vuz dead,” Gkika said.

Agnar replaced the stick.

“You’re going to wish it even more in a second.”

He was very right.

Gkika nearly cracked the stick in half, and did not judge herself for the tears of pain that streamed down her face as she fought to keep still. She passed out twice: once when he’d pulled the first of the arrows from her leg, the second time when it was over, out of sheer relief.

When she woke, she was bandaged, the pain was a thobbing ache, and Agnar was cleaning his hands with something sharp and metallic smelling. For a few minutes, she watched him pack away the supplies in silence.

“Vy?” she asked at last.

“Hmm?” he said, not looking up as he began to slice a hunk of spider-wolf meat off the bone.

“Vy stay und risk hyuself to help me?”

“Ain’t much of a risk.”

“If de pipple from dot town find us, dey vill kill uz both.”

“If they find us, they will certainly try,” Agnar agreed. He speared the meat on a spit and set it over the fire.

“Hy izn’t even a Jäger! Hy is just vun of de idiots dot rides vit dem. Vy vaste hyu time?”

“Not a waste.”

“Hyu iz avoiding de qvestion.”

“Heh. Spose I am.”

Gkika pushed herself up on her elbows and glared at him. He at last looked up at her and tucked a smile away in the corner of his mouth; held up his hands in surrender.

“You think you’re the first person to ride with the Jӓgers to almost get themselves killed doing somethin’ stupid? Most people who go riding with the Jӓgers die doing somethin’ stupid.” He paused, thoughtfully. “Most Jӓgers, too, come to that.”

“So?”

Agnar’s expression grew more serious.

“You didn’t get killed doing somethin’ stupid. You survived doing somethin’ stupid. Hit with three arrows, fell into a ditch, stuck in there for nearly five hours, and you were still movin’ around when I found you. I could have put you on a horse, same as Ivan, but that’d run the risk of more damage. As it is, if you’re careful about keeping the wounds clean and you go see a doctor when we get home, you’ll be fighting fit in time for the next raid.

“I said it wasn’t a waste, and I meant it. A person tough enough to survive taking three arrows makes for a good fighter. But a person who can keep going after that, who can push through the pain, who can flat out refuse to die? That is the kind of person who survives the Jägerdraught.”

Gkika stared at him. Agnar did not respond, but waited for her reaction.

“Hy neffer said Hy vanted to be a Jäger.”

“But you do.”

Gkika looked away.

“There’s two types of people who ride with the Jägers: the ones who do it for fun, and the ones who don’t. The Heterodyne doesn’t look for Jägers in the ones who are here for the fun, and the only way he knows which is which is if someone tells him.”

“Hy iz not ready yet,” Gkika muttered. “Hy’z not good enough.”

“It ain’t about when you think you’re good enough. It’s about when the Heterodyne thinks you’re good enough. Let me tell you: it takes a hell of a lot less time to learn to be a good fighter than it does to learn to ignore the part of you that worries you’re not good enough.”

“Hy vill be!” Gkika growled.

“Sure. But you’ll be ready before you feel ready. S’how it goes for pretty much everybody. It’s natural,” he assured her, pulling a pipe out of his pocket. “When we get back to camp, go to one of the generals and tell them you want to be considered.”

She snorted.

“Zog vould neffer allow it. He hates me.”

“You annoy him,” Agnar corrected. “Which, to be fair, you do on purpose.”

Gkika scowled.

“Iz not my fault he can’t take a joke,” she muttered.

“Fortunately for you, Zog does not get to decide who becomes a Jäger. The Heterodyne does. And if Zog puts in a bad word for you with the Heterodyne—not that I think he will, but if he does—I’ll put in a good one.”

Gkika snorted.

“Und de Heterodyne vill listen to you,” she said, disdainfully.

Agnar reached into the fire with his bare hands and drew out a red-hot coal. He lit the pipe, tossed the coal into the fire, dusted off his steaming fingers, and leaned back against the cave wall.

“Yup.”

It struck Gkika all at once, and she opened her mouth. Then she shut it.

“If Hy say vut Hy tink hyu is,” she said, carefully, “und Hy iz right, iz dot a ‘hyu heff to kill me’ type ting?”

There was a gleam in Agnar’s eyes, but it seemed like a good one.

“Tough and smart. That’s good.”

Gkika decided to take that as a yes.

She ate the spiderwolf meat, which was gamey and strange, but filling, and fell asleep. When she woke, night had fallen and the fire was banked to coals. Agnar was staring into the dull red glow and smoking his pipe, the two lights casting strange shadows on his face. He looked no older than before, but the proportions of his face were…off, somehow.

“Vut if dey make fun ov me?” she asked.

“For what? Taking an arrow to the ribs and living to tell about it?”

“For needink to be rescued.”

“Oh, they’ll give you grief for it, no ifs about it. If you laugh with them, or make the jokes yourself, it’ll die down faster. Fightin’ ‘em on it just encourages them. But laughing at you ain’t the same as losing respect for you, which is what you’re actually worried about.”

Gkika scowled.

“Und hyu know me so vell, do hyu?”

“I’ve known people like you.”

“Haff dis conversation a lot, den?”

“Only when I think it’ll work,” he said. “And only when I think it’s worth it.”

Agnar put out his pipe and lay down beside the fire, tipping his hat over his eyes.

“Rest up. We leave at dawn.”

“Vill Hy be able to valk by den?”

“A little bit.”

“You iz going to carry me again, izn’t hyu.”

“Only to my horse. You’ll ride, I’ll walk.”

“Sidesaddle,” Gkika said, suddenly. “Like a fancy lady.”

Agnar didn’t tip his cap up, but she saw him smile. They fell silent, the night hush falling in around them.

“Tenk hyu,” Gkika said, suddenly. “For puttink me back togedder. Und de odder ting. Hy owe hyu—”

Agnar waved a lazy hand.

“Relax, kid. It was a little patch up and a pep talk. Nothin’ to hold over yourself.”

Gkika decided to say nothing, for now, but in her heart knew she owed this man more than she could ever repay in a single lifetime.

But Hy vill have plenty of lifetimes, she thought, determination settling in her bones. Because Hy vill be a Jӓger.

#girl genius #axel higgs #mama gkika

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neep-neep-neep · 5 months ago

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#olympics #france #paris #interior design

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royalchildreneurope · 3 months ago

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Princess Leonor, The Princess of Asturias and Infanta Sofía of Spain meet athletes from the Spanish Team in the Olympic Village, on Day 3 of the Paris Olympic Games 2024, in Saint-Denis, France -July 29th 2024.

📷 : Casa de S.M. el Rey.

#princess leonor #princess of asturias #infanta sofia #spanish royal family #spain #2024 #july 2024 #olympic games #olympic games 2024 #france #france 2024 #paris #paris 2024 #olympic village #royal children #my edit

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beardedmrbean · 4 months ago

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A photo of Belarusian sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya surrounded by police at Tokyo airport during the previous Olympic Games went viral.

On the eve of the 200m heats on August 1, 2021, Belarusian officials tried to forcibly repatriate her after she criticised some of her delegation’s coaches on social media.

Three years later, Tsimanouskaya is finally able to compete in the Paris Olympics. The sprinter took part in the 200m heats on August 4 at the Stade de France wearing the colours of Poland.

"Paris was my goal," she told AFP during an interview in the Olympic village a few days before she entered the competition. "Dreams come true," added the sprinter, sporting a red T-shirt with "Polska" emblazoned across her chest. A tattoo on her left forearm says in Russian, her native language: "Too strong to give up".

Standing up to her country

The 100m and 200m specialist found herself at the centre of an international scandal in Japan – which she fled with the help of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) – fearing forcible repatriation and imprisonment in Belarus after criticising her federation.

At the Tokyo Olympics, she wrote negative comments about her national team coaches on Instagram – criticising the fact that she was taking part in the 4x400m relay, which is not her speciality, because some members of the team had not carried out sufficient anti-doping tests.

Belarusian officials swiftly ordered her to pack her bags and fly home to Minsk – where she feared for her safety on her return to Alexander Lukashenko’s repressive regime.

First she took refuge in the Polish embassy and then she flew to Poland.

The diplomatic incident came amid a brutal crackdown on dissent after disputed elections that returned strongman Lukashenko to power in 2020. Tsimanouskaya was one of more than 2,000 Belarusian sports figures who signed an open letter calling for new elections.

A new nationality

Three years on, the athlete appears relaxed and with a ready smile, saying she is happy to feel the Olympic spirit, albeit without the drama surrounding her defection. "I have a feeling that I am back in Tokyo," she said with a smile. "In a positive sense." But she nonetheless had to fight hard to get to Paris.

Although she received Polish citizenship nine months after defecting, Tsimanouskaya was not guaranteed the right to compete for Poland in international events. Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 complicated her bid to change her sport nationality.

World Athletics, track and field’s governing body, cleared her in August 2023 to compete wearing the colours of her host country, just ahead of the World Athletics Championships in Budapest. Even though Tsimanouskaya’s peers and coaches have treated her well, she has had to work hard to integrate.

The sprinter, who has learnt Polish, needed a bodyguard for months during her first year in Poland as she was receiving online threats from Belarus. Even now, her safety remains a constant concern.

Tsimanouskaya prefers to stay within the confines of the Olympic Village, and hopes to avoid the officials and athletes from her home country who are competing in Paris under a neutral status because of their country's support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. "KGB officers accompanied the Belarusian national team in Tokyo," she said, adding: "I was warned not to go anywhere alone" during the Paris Olympics.

She is also paying the price for the constant stress of recent years. "I get sick every two months," said Tsimanouskaya. After the Paris Olympics, she hopes to focus on her health and prepare for the World Championships in Tokyo next year.

However, her health problems could force her to retire prematurely. She doesn’t know yet whether she will be able to take part in the Los Angeles Games in 2028.

Ever present threats

The campaign of online harassment has subsided but the Lukashenko regime still has Tsimanouskaya in its sights. In May, the Belarusian authorities opened criminal proceedings against her and more than 250 opposition figures, accusing them of "forming an extremist group" and "conspiracy to overthrow the government".

The Belarusian authorities also searched her parents' home in the small town of Klimavitchy, where they still live. "This is absurd," she said. "For the past three years I’ve been practising sport and preparing for the Olympics."

Even though she is sometimes nostalgic for Belarus, Tsimanouskaya has learnt to accept "things as they are".

"If you just sit there and cry for what you’ve lost you don’t move forward."

Although she failed to qualify directly for the 200m semi-finals on Sunday, she came in second place in the repechage on Monday afternoon. "My second start at the Olympic Games and here’s the result. Confidence is back," wrote Tsimanouskaya in a post on her Instagram account after Monday’s race. She will also be competing on Thursday with the Polish 4x100m relay team.

#nunyas news

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disco-elysium-via-polls · 4 months ago

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🎵 None

Leaving the deserter behind, we begin to head back,

through the fort...

🎵 La Revacholiere

ENCYCLOPEDIA - ICM? This feels familiar somehow...

"Kim, what is the *ICM*?"

"RCM… It sounds like RCM -- Revachol Citizens Militia."

"A white star." (Point to the star on the label.)

"Are those specks stars too?"

"Looks old. What's it still doing here?"

[Finish thought.]

KIM KITSURAGI - "Insulindian Citizens Militia. It's the official name of the communards' army. The Black and White Army of the Revolution."

ENCYCLOPEDIA - Sounds an awful lot like...

2. "RCM... It sounds like RCM -- Revachol Citizens Militia."

KIM KITSURAGI - "It does."

"Why?"

KIM KITSURAGI - "The RCM *may* descend from the ICM."

"*May*?"

KIM KITSURAGI - "It's impossible to say." He looks toward the darkened doorway. "It was chaos after the war. The name was good for getting people to join us -- Revachol West was mostly workers and criminals..."

+5 XP

RHETORIC [Medium: Success] - ...nice *political* thoughts rush through your neocortex.

ENDURANCE [Medium: Success] - A mediocre athlete would pant from dragging around his body on a busted crutch -- but not you, you're thinking about *politics* with blood dripping down your thigh...

"What I'm hearing is -- we descend from the glorious revolutionary army."

"It's a little embarrassing in '51, no? Maybe we need a re-brand?"

Just catch your breath.

+1 Communism

KIM KITSURAGI - "There were all sorts of groups and *groupuscules* back then. It doesn't really matter..." He bows to inspect the barrel.

3. "A white star." (Point to the star on the label.)

KIM KITSURAGI - "No." He looks at it. "An *upside down* star."

ENCYCLOPEDIA - With its horns in the sky -- the symbol of the Commune.

4. "Are those specks stars too?"

KIM KITSURAGI - "No. That's the *uninhabited archipelago*."

ENCYCLOPEDIA - A Dolorian-era symbol of Insulinde. Known as The Face In The Sea.

5. "Looks old. What's it still doing here?"

KIM KITSURAGI - "After..." He thinks. "Forty four years? That's not nearly enough time to hide what happened here, lieutenant-yefreitor."

"One of these barrels was still leaking fuel, as you saw. The city is full of things like this. Old bullets, guns, fuel..."

6. [Finish thought.]

Be careful not to fall... the cliff face looks steep.

ROO A72 MOTOR SKIFF - The skiff is swaying on the waves by the dock.

"Let's return to the mainland."

[Leave.]

KIM KITSURAGI - "Let's. We're done here," he says, adjusting his glasses as he looks out over the water.

ROO A72 MOTOR SKIFF - The skiff rocks gently under your weight as you get in. The ride back is uneventful and quiet.

PERCEPTION (HEARING) [Easy: Success] - But for the sound of conversation on the water. There is someone inland, waiting for you.

ESPRIT DE CORPS [Easy: Success] - Two men and a woman stand on the concrete square of a nameless village, looking at a small yellow boat as it draws closer. The sea is calm.

ROO A72 MOTOR SKIFF - You reach the jetty and climb out of the skiff.

🎵 Precinct 41 Major Crimes Unit

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "Look what the tide brought in," says the man without sunglasses. Suddenly, his expression changes and he tilts his head...

"Harry... you're bleeding all over the place. You're half dead."

RHETORIC [Medium: Success] - Whatever this is, it is completely unimportant compared to what you've just *seen*.

VISUAL CALCULUS [Medium: Success] - This is the Man with Sunglasses from the Whirling-in-Rags! But where are his sunglasses?

"Wait... you're the Man with Sunglasses."

"Forget about all this, there's a giant..."

"No one else seems bothered by the bleeding."

"Who are you people?"

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "That's right -- and you're bleeding."

2. "Forget about all this, there's a giant…"

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "We're not forgetting about anything -- look at you!" He points at you with both hands.

3. "No one else seems bothered by the bleeding."

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "Bothered by it?! Harry, you look like you need a fucking organ transplant!"

He takes a deep breath. "Fuck it, let's not get into that."

4. "Who are you people?"

TRANT HEIDELSTAM - "Hello, I'm Trant Heidelstam. I believe we've met on several occasions."

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "I'm your goddamn *partner* Jean Vicquemare, and this is *your* special task force," he says, gesturing toward his companions. "Or what's left of it."

"Special Consultant Trant Heidelstam, Patrol Officer Judit Minot."

JUDIT MINOT - "Hi."

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "We've come to scrape what's left of you off the pavement."

KIM KITSURAGI - "Lieutenant Kim Kitsuragi, Precinct 57. We've just come from the island..." He points to the seafort. "Where our investigation led us."

RHETORIC [Medium: Success] - The scene is making even him feel as though he has to justify your actions.

KIM KITSURAGI - "We might need your help with something later," he adds, suddenly regaining his confidence.

AUTHORITY [Trivial: Success] - As if he recalled that he's, in fact, a decorated police lieutenant, and not a naughty boy.

KIM KITSURAGI - "But this is clearly a *departmental matter*, so I'm going to leave you to discuss it among yourselves."

"Thank you, lieutenant."

"Way to feed me to the wolves…"

"No, Kim, you've gotta have my back. Let's destroy them."

JUDIT MINOT - "It's good to meet you, Lieutenant Kitsuragi," she says warmly, flashing the lieutenant the tiniest of smiles.

COMPOSURE [Medium: Success] - Letting the lieutenant know *he* shouldn't feel embarrassed over the shitstorm that's about to befall you.

5. "What is this about?" (Move on.)

JUDIT MINOT - "Harry, we want to help you. Trant, I believe this is where you come in?"

SUGGESTION [Medium: Success] - This is the Horse-Faced Woman. I don't know *why* you named her that, but it was beyond idiotic. You should *never* address her using those words again.

TRANT HEIDELSTAM - "Uhm..." He takes a step back. "I don't *quite* know what I'm doing here. I was asked to participate as an expert -- I think I need to manage your expectations a little. I'm at best an enthusiast in cognitive science."

"My background is in something else entirely. I engage in *neurology*…" -- he makes air quotes -- "… on a merely theoretical level. In fact, I should probably get going…"

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "No... Trant, it's too late. You're part of this shit now!" He turns to you. "What have you got to say for yourself, shitkid?"

AUTHORITY [Easy: Success] - What does *he* have to say for *himself*? He left you to catch the bullets!

CONCEPTUALIZATION [Medium: Success] - Shitkid. What an interesting moniker.

"What's a shitkid?"

"How did you know I was here?"

"You aren't the Man with Sunglasses at all... you're not even blond!"

"You." (Nod to the female officer.) "I'm sorry I didn't recognize you before."

"So *Trant Heidelstam* turns out to be… *Special Consultant Trant Heidelstam*…"

"Duped again! No one's who they say they are!"

"You mentioned a 'task force'?"

"Where have you been all this time -- there was a mercenary tribunal."

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "You. *Shitkid* -- that's you."

RHETORIC [Formidable: Failure] - Maybe you've *deserved* it?

2. "How did you know I was here?"

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "The cafeteria manager you fucked over told us where you went."

"After all that Sylvie stuff, he betrays me…"

"I saved his establishment and still he betrays me?!"

(Turn to face the general direction of the Whirling and yell.) "Damn you, cafeteria manager! You've betrayed me for the last time!"

"I understand. Okay. Garte told you."

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "Shitkid," he says, shaking his index finger, "he didn't *betray* you. He just told us the direction you went in. Who's Sylvie?"

"Sylvie's a whore. She rides the cock carousel... and foreigners."

"Sylvie's a girl I hooked Garte up with. I did that *and* saved his establishment!"

"No one. It's not important."

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "Strange. He didn't mention that. In fact, the establishment didn't look saved at all -- there was a giant *aero-graffito* in front of the building. It was on fire."

"It was this one junior delinquent."

"Yeah, I lit it on fire. It was a poetic gesture."

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "I knew it. Didn't I tell you, Trant? I told you it was our shitkid."

TRANT HEIDELSTAM - "The line is from Lu Jiatun's 'Mirova 82', isn't it? About Girl Child Communism -- the titular *returning* character. The ghostly apparition of..." He looks around and, noticing the impatience of his companions, stops himself. "Good choice, Harry."

ENCYCLOPEDIA [Medium: Success] - He is correct. It was the Seraise poet Lu Jiatun who in the Fifties of the last century composed a...

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "Don't encourage him, Trant."

TRANT HEIDELSTAM - "Okay."

3. "You aren't the Man with Sunglasses at all… you're not even blond!"

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "Guilty as charged." He exchanges a look with the special consultant. "I heard you'd lost your mind *and* your memory. I wanted to see if it was true."

"And it was. Good work, Harry. You're insane now. There's one less person for me -- and everyone else -- to rely on."

RHETORIC [Medium: Success] - He was too sarcastic for you to realize who he was.

"Actually, I suspected something was off."

"Maybe if you hadn't been so *sarcastic*, I would have realized I knew you."

"I don't like being lied to!"

"Okay. I had that coming."

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "I'm clinically depressed, Harry. Sorry if I wasn't in the mood to butter you up after you told us to fuck off."

"Actually, I suspected something was off."

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "Did you?" He adjusts his tie. "Or did you literally not recognize my face? We've been partners for how long, Harry? Don't answer that -- you don't *remember*."

ENCYCLOPEDIA [Challenging: Success] - Absolutely no idea. A hundred years?

EMPATHY [Medium: Success] - Judging by the familiarity you feel toward him -- two years minimum? Or maybe a short, but close stint on the task force...

SUGGESTION [Medium: Success] - He's right. Don't start guessing. Now's not a good time.

4. "You." (Nod to the female officer.) "I'm sorry I didn't recognize you before."

JUDIT MINOT - "It's okay," she sighs. "I didn't come here to gloat, or to fool you. Neither did he, actually." She gestures toward Vicquemare. "We're just worried."

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "That's right -- 'worried'. I'm always worried about you. Every time you don't show up to work, or when you do -- but *stink*."

"You're a *worry-fest*. She's worried about you. I'm worried about you. Even Special Consultant Backpedal is worried about you. Everyone worries -- instead of *working*."

5. "So *Trant Heidelstam* turns out to be... *Special Consultant Trant Heidelstam*..."

TRANT HEIDELSTAM - "Yes, I'm Trant Heidelstam. I never said I wasn't Trant Heidelstam."

"Wait, what was up with the kid then?"

"So what are you *special consulting* here?"

"Okay, you're Trant Heidelstam. Special Consultant. I get it."

TRANT HEIDELSTAM - "Mikael? Mikael's my son."

"Oh yeah?! What was up with all the *interesting history*? Spying on me?"

"Oh… okay. Sorry."

TRANT HEIDELSTAM - "No. I was just interested in the Feld building and the Martinaise Beachhead. And Mikael wanted to see Martinaise. It was a coincidence."

EMPATHY [Medium: Success] - Him being there with his son -- it was not a coincidence. It's difficult to see, but he was worried about you. And *also* interested in the Feld building.

"So what are you *special consulting* here?"

TRANT HEIDELSTAM - "What indeed?" He looks at the dilapidated shacks, then you. "I was asked to share my take on some of the more *obscure* theories developed in Königstein in the Thirties. Like -- partial psychotraumatic amnesia, group personality theory..."

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "He's here to see if you're insane. He's smart. Let's move on."

6. "Duped again! No one's who they say they are!"

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "*Duped*? Hey, here's a brilliant idea -- don't be a morbid drunk and you won't be duped so easily."

"Gardener, scab leader, *this*..." (Turn to the lieutenant.) "Tell me at least *you* are who you said you were!"

"Okay. That… does have something to do with it, yes."

KIM KITSURAGI - "Yes. I'm still Kim Kitsuragi -- still a lieutenant from Precinct 57."

ESPRIT DE CORPS [Easy: Success] - Still caught up in this crossfire, too...

7. "You mentioned a 'task force'?"

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "Yeah -- Major Crimes Unit, under Lieutenants Du Bois and Vicquemare -- ring any bells?"

"Refresh my memory -- who *else* is in this?"

"Yeah. Totally. I get it. Major Crimes Unit."

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "Refresh your memory? It's a god damn Major Crimes Unit. There's you, me, Jude, Trant fucking Heidelstam, and Guillaume Bevy..." He stares at you.

TRANT HEIDELSTAM - "I'm technically just a civilian advisor."

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "Fuck you, you're part of this shit-show."

"Yeah, um -- first, who's Guillaume Bevy?"

"Okay. So what does the unit *do*?"

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "Oh, that's an interesting story, actually!" He's not smiling. "Guillaume Bevy is a police reporter who joined our team. He was really good. Then he left, because he lost faith in your ability to lead the unit."

"Other people have left too. Good, smart people. People we won't get back. Only me and this *really patient* patrol officer are still here. And Trant -- because I'm *forcing* him to stay."

LOGIC [Challenging: Success] - Is this Guillaume Bevy blond and partial to sunglasses?

"Is this Guillaume Bevy blond, with sunglasses? Like you were…"

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "See -- there!" He wags his finger at you. "He's getting it! I was *impersonating* him. Look at me, I'm G-Bevy. It was going to be funny. But then you really did have brain damage -- so not so much anymore."

+5 XP

EMPATHY [Easy: Success] - He sincerely thought it was going to be amusing. For both of you.

"Okay. So what does the unit *do*?"

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "Do? It's a Major Crimes Unit! We clear the desk of cases so Precinct 41 doesn't look like the worst station in town. We're *shit tier* now, Harry. Because of you."

ESPRIT DE CORPS [Medium: Success] - They're your posse. Or what remains of it. Hand-picked. Hand-lost.

KIM KITSURAGI - "The 41st isn't..." He trails off, not wishing to finish the sentence.

8. "Where have you been all this time -- there was a mercenary tribunal."

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "Goddamnit, Harry..." He shifts his weight, crosses his arms, and looks you in the eye.

"You told us to fuck off. You said we're *cramping your style*. You're *Detective God*. Fuck everything. All will burn. Detect or die!"

"Wait, so you let me face a squad of trained killers alone just to teach me a lesson?"

"All *will* burn, Satellite-Officer Vicquemare. Make no mistake about it."

"Why didn't you detect or die then?"

"Why would you leave a literal *Police God*?"

"I said all those things? I'm not like that anymore."

JUDIT MINOT - "It wasn't like that..."

JEAN VICQUEMARE - "Fuck you, Harry -- we didn't *know* there was gonna be a tribunal, did we?"

#disco elysium #kim kitsuragi #man with sunglasses #horse faced woman #jean vicquemare #judit minot #trant heidelstam

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queermtl · 5 months ago

Text

Queer MTL : quoi faire en juillet 2024 // Queer MTL things to do: July 2024

(Photo by Eva Blue)

Queer MTL things to do: July 2024

The summer festival season is in full swing, and things are queerer in MTL than ever this July! This month, Montréal is stuffed to the brim with events, parties and unique experiences painted in all the colours of the LGBTQ+ rainbow. From drag to community, circuit to underground, here’s some of our picks for the best LGBTQ+ things to do in the city. For further announcements, including those not announced at time of publication, follow QueerMTL on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr! Got an event coming up? DM it our way!

LEGEND

🎥 Cinema 👑 Drag 🥳 Parties 🎶 Concert ✊ Activism 🏳️‍⚧️ Trans 🏳️‍🌈 Community 😆 Comedy 🎭 Performance 💪 Sports 👯‍♀️ Dance 🎤 Karaoke 🎨 Arts 📚 Literary / Educational 👠 Ballroom / Vogue

Lundi 1 juillet / Monday, July 1

🥳 DramaQueen presents DramaQueen on the river with Dracvla, Wiltbarn and Rakehell, Riverside Bar Terrasse St Henri 🎨 VITRINE Festival 2024 : VISION art market and film screenings, Union Française de Montréal 🎭 La Curieuse—Ligue d’improvisation estivale, Chez Ernest 👑 C’est ma toune! : Edition Divas, a drag show where you pick the playlist, with Sasha Baga, Jessie and Bobépine, Cabaret Mado

Mardi 2 juillet / Tuesday, July 2

👑 Full Gisèle : Oh Canada ! with Gisèle Lullaby, Rawbin, Carmen Sutra, Bobépine and Kitana, Cabaret Mado 😆 Stand Up St. Henri Open Mic focusing on women, non-binary, queer and allied comedians, Impro Montréal

Mercredi 3 juillet / Wednesday, July 3

🎭 The Poly Mic open mic, Bar Notre-Dame-des-Quilles 😆 Ace Pride Comedy Show with Heathcliff, Bar Notre-Dame-des-Quilles 🎨 Drink & Draw by @Hommehomo, Bar Le Cocktail 👑 Mercredi Drag Live with Victoire de Rockwell, Jessie Précieuse, Lady Guidoune, and Rock Bière, Cabaret Mado

Jeudi 4 juillet / Thursday, July 4

🎭 Cup of Tease and Velvet Pistol present Red, White & Boobs with Yikes Macaroni, Foxy Lexxi Brown, Baron Von Styck, Butterscotch Blondie, Charli Deville and Miss Behave, The Wiggle Room 🥳 L’Orage presents Jeudi diversité !, L’Orage Club 👑 Girls' Night Out: Battle of the Decades with Lady Boom Boom, Pétula Claque, Daisy Wood and Krystella Fame, Cabaret Mado 👑 Butterfly de nuit with Miss Butterfly, Bar Le Cocktail

Vendredi 5 juillet / Friday, July 5

🎶 Orville Peck, Festival International de Jazz de Montréal, TD Stage, Place des Festivals 🎨 Montréal Comiccon, Palais des congrès de Montréal 👑 Mado Reçoit with Mado Lamotte, Kiara, Jimmy Moore, Nana and Sasha Baga, Cabaret Mado 👑 Vendredi Fou with Michel Dorion, Bar Le Cocktail

Samedi 6 juillet / Saturday, July 6

🥳 Sweet Like Honey hosts a Block Party with DJ Honeybunn, Glowzi and Po, Marché des Possibles 🎨 Montréal Comiccon, Palais des congrès de Montréal 🎤 Queer Karaoke MTL hosts a Trans March Fundraiser, followed by a trans-forward queer dance party, Blue Dog 🎤 Bareoke: Strip Karaoke, Café Cléopatra 🥳 Parallel Vol. 9 featuring Arab/SWANA region-based music, Cabaret Berlin 👑 Mado Reçoit with Mado Lamotte, Kiara, Jimmy Moore, Nana and Sasha Baga, Cabaret Mado 👑 Jimmy Moore personnifie Lady Gaga, Cabaret Mado 👑 Late Night with Jessie Précieuse, Cabaret Mado 👑 Drôles de Drags with Miss Butterfly, Ciathanight, Crystal Starz or Emma Déjàvu in rotation, Bar Le Cocktail

Dimanche 7 juillet / Sunday, July 7

📚 The Violet Hour Book Club reads Henry Hoke’s Open Throat, Librairie Pulp Books & Cafe 🥳 Sweet Like Honey with DJ Lax, DJ Tokyo and DJ Playgirl, Village au Pied du Courant 🎨 Montréal Comiccon, Palais des congrès de Montréal 🏳️‍🌈 Afterglo hosts Slow Dating #13 Gay for men identifying as gay, Le Central 🎭 On the Blvd Multi-Mic, Bar Bifteck 💪 The International Wrestling Syndicate presents IWS vs GCW, focusing on underrepresented athletes including LGBTQ+ fighters, L’Olympia 👑 Le Tracy Show with Tracy Trash and special guests, Cabaret Mado 🏳️‍🌈 Aimé Chartier : 60 ans de carrière et 80 ans de vie, Bar Le Cocktail

Lundi 8 juillet / Monday, July 8

🎭 La Curieuse—Ligue d’improvisation estivale, Chez Ernest

Mardi 9 juillet / Tuesday, July 9

👑 Full Gisèle : Extravaganza with Gisèle Lullaby, Saltina Shaker, Sunshine Glitterchild, Adriana The Bombshell, Sasha Baga and Nick Saanto, Cabaret Mado 😆 Stand Up St. Henri Open Mic focusing on women, non-binary, queer and allied comedians, Impro Montréal

Mercredi 10 juillet / Wednesday, July 10

🎭 The Poly Mic open mic, Bar Notre-Dame-des-Quilles 😆 Tony McIntyre is a Time Traveller with Merry Kringles, Bar Notre-Dame-des-Quilles 👑 Celes and Marc-André Caron present Loreen vs Sia, Cabaret Mado

Jeudi 11 juillet / Thursday, July 11

🎭 Lust Cove presents The Lust Cove Sex(y) Education Show with Miss Scarlet Knife, Yaya Havana, Mina Minou, Mei, Kaya Koko and Carmen Mayhem, The Wiggle Room 🥳 L’Orage presents Jeudi diversité !, L’Orage Club 👑 Le Sami Party with Sami Landri, Cabaret Mado 👑 Butterfly de nuit with Miss Butterfly, Bar Le Cocktail

Vendredi 12 juillet / Friday, July 12

🥳 BIMBO with DJs Diskommander and DJ G3MINI, Le Livart 🥳 Cerise Noire goth night, Bar NDQ 👑 Mado Reçoit with Mado Lamotte, Bobépine, Peggy Sue, Nana and Aizysse Baga, Cabaret Mado 👑 Vendredi Fou with Michel Dorion, Bar Le Cocktail

Samedi 13 juillet / Saturday, July 13

🥳 FRKY presents FRKY x 2 Year Anniversary with Manclaudy, Moka, Rawsoul and Sexnobe, La Sotterenea 🥳 Soirées Velours presents Trouve ta Muse, a special lesbo-queer party, Bar le P2 🎭 Voulez Vous Productions presents Bootcamp: Séduis toi pour les fat babes with Rosie Bourgeoisie, Centre Strathearn 👑 Mado Reçoit with Mado Lamotte, Bobépine, Peggy Sue, Nana and Aizysse Baga, Cabaret Mado 👑 Jimmy Moore personnifie Céline Dion, Cabaret Mado 👑 Late Night with Jessie Précieuse, Cabaret Mado 👑 Drôles de Drags with Miss Butterfly, Ciathanight, Crystal Starz or Emma Déjàvu in rotation, Bar Le Cocktail

Dimanche 14 juillet / Sunday, July 14

🎭 Voulez Vous Productions presents Bootcamp: Séduis toi pour personnes avec experience scénique with Rosie Bourgeoisie, Centre Strathearn 👑 Afternoon Drag Café with all-ages, neurodivergent-friendly and sober, with Itsh and Timothy Toxic, L’Orbite 👑 Le Tracy Show with Tracy Trash and special guests, Cabaret Mado 👑 Happy Birthday Miss Butterfly with Miss Butterfly, Michel Dorion and Chouchoune, Bar Le Cocktail

Lundi 15 juillet / Monday, July 15

📚 Fierté Montréal and Fierté littéraire presents Queer académie : La sélection with Barbada, Théâtre La Comédie 🎭 La Curieuse—Ligue d’improvisation estivale, Chez Ernest 👑 Da-Lulu with Enigma, Woody Fungi, Asmalix and Vulverine, Cabaret Mado

Mardi 16 juillet / Tuesday, July 16

👑 Full Gisèle : Disney with Gisèle Lullaby, Marla Deer, Bambi Dextrous, Tracy Trash and Prudence, Cabaret Mado 😆 Stand Up St. Henri Open Mic focusing on women, non-binary, queer and allied comedians, Impro Montréal

Mercredi 17 juillet / Wednesday, July 17

🎭 The Poly Mic open mic, Bar Notre-Dame-des-Quilles 🎥 Jane Fonda stars in Barbarella, Cinémathèque québécoise 😆 The Crochet Comedy Show with Shosho, Bar Notre-Dame-des-Quilles

Jeudi 18 juillet / Thursday, July 18

🎥 Queer Cinema Club of Montréal hosts a screening of But I'm a Cheerleader starring RuPaul and Natasha Lyonne, Cinema Moderne 🎭 Them Fatale presents Summer Heat with Amnesia, EnvyTheClown, Kitty Catcher, MX. Quest, Rosie Bourgeoisie and Xénia, The Wiggle Room 🥳 L’Orage presents Jeudi diversité !, L’Orage Club 👑 Butterfly de nuit with Miss Butterfly, Bar Le Cocktail

Vendredi 19 juillet / Friday, July 19

🥳 Studio ZX presents Festival Ctrl+Alt with Afrotonik, Place du Village 🥳 SUPER TASTE MTL presents We Can’t Stop! 2010’s Dance Party, Cabaret Berlin 🥳 Dark Area and Techno Haute Couture present Dark Area x THC with Special K, Rögue, LAPA XII and Deaf, Collectif MTL 🥳 Strawberry Gothcake rave with 99jakes, Kilbourne, FortifiedStructures, Outback and Mowie B2B The Bald Girl, La Sotterenea 👑 Mado Reçoit with Mado Lamotte, Kitana, Velma Jones and Celes, Cabaret Mado 👑 Vendredi Fou : Soirée sans pantalon with Michel Dorion, Bar Le Cocktail

Samedi 20 juillet / Saturday, July 20

🥳 Studio ZX presents Festival Ctrl+Alt with ElleLui, Hauterageous and Discoño, Place du Village 🎶 La ferme coopérative aux champs qui chantent presents Rae Spoon with KY, La ferme coopérative aux champs qui chantent 🥳 GTR—Girls Theys Rave with Broodmare, Faneva and Dracvla, La Poubelle Magnifique 🥳 SUPER TASTE MTL presents Voulez-Vous Disco & New Wave Dance Party: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, Bar Le Ritz PDB 🎤 Bareoke: Strip Karaoke, Café Cléopatra 👑 Mado Reçoit with Mado Lamotte, Kitana, Velma Jones and Celes, Cabaret Mado 👑 Jimmy Moore personnifie Taylor Swift, Cabaret Mado 👑 Late Night with Jessie Précieuse, Cabaret Mado 👑 Drôles de Drags with Miss Butterfly, Ciathanight, Crystal Starz or Emma Déjàvu in rotation, Bar Le Cocktail

Dimanche 21 juillet / Sunday, July 21

🥳 Studio ZX presents Festival Ctrl+Alt with Blush and Unikorn, Place du Village 🏳️‍🌈 Italo Queer Montréal hosts Picnic Estivo, Parc Jarry 👑 Le Tracy Show with Tracy Trash and special guests, Cabaret Mado 👑 Dimanche Show with Michel Dorion, Bar Le Cocktail

Lundi 22 juillet / Monday, July 22

🎭 La Curieuse—Ligue d’improvisation estivale, Chez Ernest 👑 Tout le monde en drag pour REZO with Pétula Claque, Cabaret Mado

Mardi 23 juillet / Tuesday, July 23

👑 Full Gisèle : The Matrix with Gisèle Lullaby, Esirena, Fabien L’Amour, Kelly Torrieli and Celes, Cabaret Mado 😆 Stand Up St. Henri Open Mic focusing on women, non-binary, queer and allied comedians, Impro Montréal

Mercredi 24 juillet / Wednesday, July 24

🎭 The Poly Mic open mic 1-year Anniversary, Bar Notre-Dame-des-Quilles 😆 Max Higgins is The Underdog with Raquel Maestre, Bar Notre-Dame-des-Quilles

Jeudi 25 juillet / Thursday, July 25

👑 Cult of AnarchKey presents the Drag Open Stage Fundraiser for “Native Women’s Shelter of Montréal” with Korra AnarchKey, Champs Bar 🥳 BLUSH presents Salade de Fruits : Happy Hour Queer, an event by and for FLINT+, Bar La Marche à côté 😆 World’s Smallest Comedy Festival presents World’s Queerest Comedy Night, Hurley’s Irish Pub 🥳 L’Orage presents Jeudi diversité !, L’Orage Club 👑 Jimmy Moore personnifie Taylor Swift, Cabaret Mado 👑 Butterfly de nuit with Miss Butterfly, Bar Le Cocktail

Vendredi 26 juillet / Friday, July 26

👑 Mado Reçoit with Mado Lamotte, Marla Deer, Tracy Trash and Pétula Claque, Cabaret Mado 👑 Vendredi Fou with Michel Dorion, Bar Le Cocktail

Samedi 27 juillet / Saturday, July 27

🥳 Rubber Electric queer dark electronic fetish rave with Vicky Devika, Mushin and Nori, Cabaret Berlin 👑 Mado Reçoit with Mado Lamotte, Marla Deer, Tracy Trash and Pétula Claque, Cabaret Mado 👑 Jimmy Moore personnifie Rihanna, Cabaret Mado 👑 Late Night with Jessie Précieuse, Cabaret Mado 👑 Drôles de Drags with Miss Butterfly, Ciathanight, Crystal Starz or Emma Déjàvu in rotation, Bar Le Cocktail

Dimanche 28 juillet / Sunday, July 28

👑 Le Tracy Show with Tracy Trash and special guests, Cabaret Mado 👑 Happy Birthday Crystal Starz with Crystal Starz, Michel Dorion and Chouchoune, Bar Le Cocktail

Lundi 29 juillet / Monday, July 29

🎭 La Curieuse—Ligue d’improvisation estivale, Chez Ernest

Mardi 30 juillet / Tuesday, July 30

👑 Full Gisèle : Femme fatale with Gisèle Lullaby, Victoire de Rockwell, Jessie Précieuse, Kiara and Foxy Lexxi Brown, Cabaret Mado 👑 Le cirque de Teddy Boop with Teddy Boop, Sally D, Sarah Winters and Mister Boogie, Bar Le Cocktail 😆 Stand Up St. Henri Open Mic focusing on women, non-binary, queer and allied comedians, Impro Montréal

Mercredi 31 juillet / Wednesday, July 31

🎭 The Poly Mic open mic, Bar Notre-Dame-des-Quilles 😆 The Poly Showcase with Raquel Maestre and Tranna Wintour, Bar Notre-Dame-des-Quilles 👑 Sitcom Bonanza : Spécial Friends, Cabaret Mado

OTHERS / LES AUTRES

🤠 Club Bolo—Danse Country Montréal meet on Fridays at the Association sportive et communautaire du Centre-Sud.

👯 Tango/Salsa Queer holds lessons every Saturday, visit queertangomtl.com for information or contact [email protected] or call +1 (514) 709-4678 for prices and signup information, Espaces des Arts.

🏐 Les Ratons-Chasseurs (Montréal’s LGBTA dodgeball group) holds regular events. Keep an eye on their Facebook for upcoming opportunities to join in and play.

🕹Montréal Gaymers hosts regular gatherings including board game nights and gaming gatherings. Check their Facebook for what’s next!

🏃🏾Join the Out-Run run and workout club for people relating to the queer / sapphic experience. Details on their Instagram!

🐦 Bird lovers should keep their eye on Queer Birders' regularly scheduled birdwatching events and excursions. Join the Facebook group and get those binoculars at the ready.

👠 Twice a month on every second Tuesday, Bring It! hosts an OTA night of ballroom and vogue with commentator and DJ. Follow their Instagram for dates and details.

#mtlmoments #lgbttravel #2slgbtq #drag #montreal #queermtl #lgbtq #nightlife #thingstodo #events

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ballads-and-dirges · 7 months ago

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𝓦𝓪𝓻𝓻𝓲𝓸𝓻 𝓸𝓯 𝓛𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽 𝓟𝓻𝓸𝓯𝓲𝓵𝓮

𝒟𝑒𝓂𝑜𝑔𝓇𝒶𝓅𝒽𝒾𝒸𝓈

Name: Kadenza Amadea-Leonis | Kadenza Valdisdottir

Nickname: Kad, Chirrup, Crisanta

Age: 25-27 (ARR) | 27-28 (HW) | 28-29 (SB) | 29-30 (ShB) | 31-33 (EW)

Sex/Gender: Female

Ethnicity: Midlander Hyur

Occupation: Second Lieutenant of the Twin Adder

Class: Archer

Job: Bard

𝒫𝒽𝓎𝓈𝒾𝒸𝒶𝓁 𝒜𝓅𝓅𝑒𝒶𝓇𝒶𝓃𝒸𝑒

Eye color: Brown (ARR-SB) | Pale Blue and Brown (ShB)

Skin color: Espresso with Cool undertones

Hair color: Black (ARR-SB) | Grey (ShB)

Height: 5 Fulms, 1 Ilm

Weight: 150 ponze

Body type: Subtle hourglass shape with a semi athletic build

Fitness level: Kadenza’s fitness level is high since she is constantly adventuring and fighting but a lot of her arm strength comes from her Botany hobby

Tattoos: NA

Scars/Birthmarks: She has a scar running from her left shoulder nearly down to her right hip from where Zenos struck her down on their first dual; due to how fast she was treated the skin healed without leaving too much of a dark mark

Other distinguishing features: Her pale blue left eye after Ardbert’s soul merged with her own. She also wears a yellow chrysanthemum pin in her hair and wears saffron colored eye shadow in the corners of her eyes.

Disabilities: NA

Cleanliness/Grooming: For someone who’s constantly traveling or sleeping outdoors, she’s constantly doing her best to stay clean. Due to her being raised in a small village in the Twelveswood, she’s used to cleaning up in fresh bodies of lakes, rivers, ponds, etc. so she’ll take her time to freshen up whenever given the moment to.

Coordination (or lack thereof): Her coordination is immaculate due to her being a bard. Her father drilled it into her that a good bard must be coordinated and fluid.

𝐻𝒾𝓈𝓉𝑜𝓇𝓎

Birth date: Third Sun of the Sixth Astral Moon in 1552

Guardian: Menphina, the Lover

Place of birth: Sharlayan

Key family members:

Kara Valdisdottir (biological sister)

Lucienne and Yves Amadea-Leonis (adoptive parents)

Ty’rion Amadea-Leonis (adoptive brother)

Notable events/milestones:

Following in her father’s footsteps, Kadenza finally joined the Archer’s Guild and spent years working her way to becoming a renowned Bard within the guild. The day she became a Bard her family threw a celebration for her to honor her achievement.

As she did her due diligence as a Scion, she also made sure to fulfill her duties as a member within the Twin Adders. Her diligence paid off as she has been honored with merits to become the Second Lieutenant and create her own squadron.

Criminal record: She has a fairly clean slate, she’s kind of too honest to a fault.

Affiliations:

The Gridanian Branch of the Adventurer’s Guild

Scions of the Seventh Dawn

Second Lieutenant of the Order of the Twin Adder

The Archer’s Guild

The Fisher’s Guild

The Culinary Guild

Haus de Leonis

Lore: Kadenza had been born in Sharlayan along with her elder sister Kara but they were separated during the Garlean Invasion in 1557. She was only 5 summers old when her parents had been slain by Garlean troops. Kara, her elder sister, did what she could to lead Kadenza to safety but ended up being captured and shackled to other children and teens who were not fortunate enough to escape. Kara’s last word echoing in her head to run and to stay with the others.

For months Kadenza traveled with a group of survivors that were making their way to Ishgard but with the dangers of dragons and wyvern, many of them were killed trying to defend themselves. After a while she found herself alone following a single moogle to Gods know where. The little sprite led her to safety, using a magick to make her invisible as they traversed the desolate lands of The Churning Mist. It wasn’t too long that she was led to their little village of Moghome, where she was taken care of for a few months until an uninvited person stumbled into their cave; a young Elezen man, with a bow on his back and a small harp placed on his hip, Yves Amadea-Leonis. For weeks the man waited outside the cave trying to convince Kadenza that he meant no harm and only wanted to help. It was the moogle who rescued her that convinced her to join the man, for she would have a better life among those similar to her. From there she followed the man to Gridania where he and his wife, Lucienne, raised her alongside a Vieran boy, Ty’rion, as their own.

Other notes: Being acknowledged as Hydaelyn’s Chosen has caused much dissonance within herself, as having the title as Warrior of Light has been exhausting coupled with her ties to being a Scion and Twin Adder Lieutenant. She constantly wrestles with her identity and has a severe case of imposter syndrome. This is an identity she constantly wrestles with that has pushed her further into being more aloof and reclusive in regards to letting people near her. She’s only recently been allowing herself to open up again after the events of Shadowbringers where she was nearly overwhelmed by corrupted light. Having Ardbert by her side has made her open her heart to relying on others and being more vulnerable with her allies.

𝒫𝓈𝓎𝒸𝒽𝑜𝓁𝑜𝑔𝒾𝒸𝒶𝓁 𝒯𝓇𝒶𝒾𝓉𝓈

Personality type: INFJ-T (Introverted, Intuitive, Feeling, Judging - Turbulent Advocate)

Focuses on the difficult parts of a problem.

Fueled by their worries and concerns, and these can be used to make significant progress.

Often affected by and caught up in the drama of life

Often affected by stress and regret because their regrets weigh on them more, but is more likely to learn from mistakes

Personality traits: Headstrong, Compassionate, Empathetic, Decisive, Sensitive, Aloof, Ambitious, Altruistic, a tad Sarcastic when annoyed

Temperament: INFJ The Empath | The Counselor

Introvert/Extrovert: Introvert

Mannerisms: Since her adoptive family is Elezen, Kadenza is a bit more formal when it comes to speaking and her posture reflects that as well. Though since she lived in a smaller village, when she visits city-states like Gridania or Ishgard the Elezen there believe her manners are not as refined. However to other races are confused when meeting this small Hyuran woman who seems more Elezen than Hyur.

Educational background: Kadenza is more street smart than book smart due to her upbringing. She is well versed in Elezen history and music. All that she has learned is knowledge passed down from the village elders and her Bard father (and his trusty band of Bard friends). Her mother has taught her botany and how to care for smaller creatures and gave her a white Ferret named Vani for her 15th nameday.

Intelligence: She is a fairly decent problem solver but is terrible when it comes to arithmetic. One pro is that she’s open to learning anything, a con is that she has to try extra hard when learning if it’s not something she has engaged with before.

Self-esteem: Kadenza’s self esteem was decent, she was always proud of her accomplishments and reflected on her failures. However there was a major shift in her self reflection and esteem when she was realized as the Warrior of Light. Due to this she suffers from a case of imposter syndrome more often than not. She has been doing her best to cope and get back to herself before that acknowledgment.

Hobbies: She enjoys logging different plants she’s found on her adventures across Eorzea, it’s one of the things that brings her comfort and reminds her of home. She’s often creating different flower arrangements and decorating her home with the final products. Although not the best at it, she joined the Fisher’s Guild so she could learn how to fish and does it recreationally with her brother Ty’rion when they’re catching up.

Skills/talents: Singing and dancing are among some of Kadenza’s best talents. She had been taught so many folk songs from village elders and her father that these talents ended up becoming second nature to her. She loves playing her crudely crafted ocarina and harp. Due to how often she sang and danced around the village with her little harp in hand she had been given the nickname “Chirrup”, referring to how she fluttered about the village like a little canary.

Loves: Very cliche but she loves chocobos and moogles. Her love for moogles from childhood when she was saved by a moogle that led her to Moghome. And her love for chocobos? She loves the way they “kweh” and how fluffy they are. From scattered pieces of her childhood in Sharlayan, she remembers her family herding and training them so the fondness has just been a part of her life.

Morals/Virtues: Her morals are steeped in never compromising herself or allies to achieve her goals. She never wants anyone to doubt her intentions and will be honest when she feels at odds with certain decisions.Her family has ingrained to her that her bonds and connections to everyone is what strengthens her and she must not forget all those who work alongside her. These morals are what keep her from completely closing off others.

Phobias/Fears:

Fear: The biggest fear Kadenza faces is loss due to not being strong enough to save others. Although she knows she can’t protect everyone, it scares her when she can’t save as many as possible… even at the expense of her own livelihood.

Phobias: She thinks bog yarzon are the worst creatures she’s ever encountered and visibly shiver whenever encountering one. On her first venture when she ran into one she nearly dropped her bow. She also has thalassophobia and has to meditate before diving into deep bodies of water. She was stressed the hell out when she had to swim the Ruby Sea.

Angered by: Hypocrisy and two-faced people are the things that sets her off completely.

Pet peeves: Obnoxiously loud sounds, when people blow her off or speak rudely but then act nice when they realize who she is, when she’s expected to do everything

Obsessed with: Obsessed with chrysanthemums ever since she was a child and learned botany from her mother, Lucienne. They would often make flower crowns and bouquets together. Every year she waits for late Summer and Autumn to come around so she can go visit the chrysanthemum field near her village

Routines: She doesn’t really have a routine besides harvesting in the early hours of the day and late evenings when she is not on official duty. She goes about her days leisurely when she’s not adventuring.

Bad habits:

She has a hard time saying no to others and can get into tight situations because of it.

Holding in her emotions, even when they’re justified, until she explodes.

Shouldering burdens for others until the point of emotions;/mental fatigue.

Desires: Her biggest desire is to overcome her imposter syndrome and to fulfill her role as Hydaelyn’s Chosen on her own terms. She detests being seen as a weapon and wants to be acknowledged as a capable person who worked their way up to being as strong as she is and not because it was a fate destined by a God.

Flaws:

Blaming herself for others being harmed due to their association with her

Letting her priorities overwhelm her

Shutting herself off from others when under pressure

Quirks: Kadenza likes to talk to the elemental sprites and refuses to kill/hunt them unless necessary. Talking to her furry companions like they're actual people is another trait she has and has been caught on many occasions having “conversations” with her chocobo, Lavitz. She’s lived in the Twelveswood with so much nature surrounding her, she has always been more in tuned with creatures and sprites. She also wrestles with Torgal when no one’s around to stimulate the pup and build their bond.

Favorite sayings: “Time is the longest distance between two places.”

Secrets: When faced with her own mortality, she begrudged Hydaelyn for pushing her so far but was instantly regretful. That night she stayed locked in her room praying to the Goddess and sobbing at her moment of weakness.

Regrets: She regrets that she never confessed her love for Haurchefant before he sacrificed himself for her. Her heart clenches every time she remembers holding his bloody hand as he passed away in Aymeric's arms.

Accomplishments: Kadenza has an extensive list of accomplishments as Warrior of Light, but a personal accomplishment she acknowledges is carrying on her father’s legacy as a Bard. She always comes home to her mother and father recounting the tales of her journey through song. Her village looks to her as their precious jewel.

Memories: She remembers her sister, Kara. Never once forgetting her face or cries when she was captured. It’s been so many years, she can’t even remember her bio parents that well but she remembers Kara as clear as day. It’s a haunting memory and she longed to be reunited with her.

Other notes: Kadenza and Kara were reunited during the Dragonsong War, where she learned that Kara had been watching over her since the moment she came to Dravania. Kadenza had learned that Kara had been shipped away to Kugane and was nearly sold as a child bride but was liberated by an Au’ran tribe who took her in as her own. Kara had later been betrothed to the son of a renowned Au’ran Warrior within the tribe. She became the matriarch of the family and constantly returned to Dravania to look for traces of Kadenza’s survival. Her appearance came during the invasion of the Holy See where she fought side by side with Kadenza to bring down Nidhogg and his fleet of wyrms.

��𝑜𝓂𝓂𝓊𝓃𝒾𝒸𝒶𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃

Languages known: Although her first language was the Common Language, it was quickly forgotten when she was taken in by her adoptive Elezen family. Elezen became her most fluently spoken language to the point that whenever she speaks the Common Language she has a heavy accent. She is constantly learning Amalj’aan and Sylphic and with the reunion with her sister she’s learning bits and pieces of Au’ran language. She prefers Elezen because it comes more naturally to her and constantly gets confused by certain Hyuran terminology to the point that Thancred pokes fun at her in mock disbelief. She usually has to look to the twins or Urianger to explain (in Elezen) certain sayings in the Common Language.

Preferred communication methods: Speaking and through Epics

Accent: To other races she has the Elezen accent but within the Elezen hierarchy, she sounds a bit unrefined since she grew up in a village. Many scattered Elezen villages share a certain way of speech distinct from City-State Elezen so they are able to identify she’s from a village.

Style and pacing of speech: Her style of speech sounds elegant and concise. She speaks a bit with a drawl but most people think it's charming.

Pitch/tone: She has a warm tone for being so small. It’s neither high nor low.

Laughter: Her laughter is actually deeper than her voice. It’s huskier and radiates warmth like a single ember in a fireplace. Many people say it feels comforting hearing her laugh and usually makes others smile.

Smile: Her smile radiates from her eyes normally but it’s wide and cheerful when she’s singing and dancing. That’s where her smile is the most genuine.

Use of gestures: She usually gestures more when she’s trying to figure out the proper way to say a phrase in the Common Language. Usually scratching her head or rubbing a hand on her cheek when she’s thinking how to express her words.

Facial expressions: Much of her emotions are displayed and noticed through her eyes first. She’s fairly expressive when her emotions are high.

Verbal expressions: She’s known for audible gasps when shocked or sighs when deep in thought.

𝒮𝓉𝓇𝑒𝓃𝑔𝓉𝒽𝓈, 𝒲𝑒𝒶𝓀𝓃𝑒𝓈𝓈𝑒𝓈, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒜𝒷𝒾𝓁𝒾𝓉𝒾𝑒𝓈

Physical strengths: She has excellent stability, focus, and hand eye coordination. Balancing and having a sturdy core is another strength of hers. In order to wield a bow, she was put through tough trials by her father.

Physical weaknesses: She developed a mild case of insomnia when her soul was 8 times rejoined. Many of her dreams consist of lives from the other souls merged with her but her most vivid ones come from Ardbert.

Intellectual strengths: She is wildly creative and enjoys learning about new instruments from other cultures.

Intellectual weaknesses: Arithmetic is a struggle for her and she leaves it to Tataru to handle the numbers side of things.

Interpersonal strengths: Kadenza shows empathy even to those who, in the eyes of others, don't deserve it. She often thinks how she’s not so different from her adversaries who also believe their causes are noble.

Interpersonal weaknesses: She easily internalizes all of her negative emotions and takes on the emotions of others too. She often overwhelms herself and has to step away to recenter.

Physical abilities: She’s a master bowman and never misses a target due to how well her focus and concentration are.

Magical abilities: Her magical abilities work in tandem with healers and tanks. With either the strum of her harp or the whistle of her ocarina she can remove ailments during battle and create strengthening buffs for herself and allies.

Physical illnesses/conditions: NA

Mental illnesses/conditions:

She has imposter syndrome and depression due to being Hydaelyn’s Champion, and having to be the bearer of all burdens of the realm and its citizens.

Her PTSD comes from the death of Haurchefant taking a strike meant for her, and only worsens the more she is sent to the front lines of war.

𝑅𝑒𝓁𝒶𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓈𝒽𝒾𝓅𝓈

Partner(s)/Significant other(s): Aymeric de Borel

Lover(s): Haurchefant (relationship unconfirmed; deceased)

Parents/Guardians:

Lucienne Amadea-Leonis (adoptive mother)

Yves Amadea-Leonis (adoptive father)

Children: NA

Grandparents: She considers the elders of her village to be her grandparents and only refers to them in endearing terms due to how close their small village is.

Grandchildren: NA

Family:

Kara Valdisdottir (biological sister)

Ty'rion Amadea-Leonis (adoptive brother)

Lucienne and Yves Amadea-Leonis (adoptive parents)

Amitra (dragon) - Amitra is not exactly her family but a dragon bond she formed during the Dragonsong War when the Ishgardians made peace with the Dragons. Midgarsommar blessed the bond and charged Amitra with being Kadenza’s guardian.

Pets:

Vani (white ferret)

Lavitz (chocobo companion)

Torgal (wolf)

Best friends: Alphinaud and Alisaie, Tataru, Svea and Aatos, Kys'eel Eralis, Contessa Scientia

Friends: G’raha Tia, Estinien, Ysayle (deceased), Atoirel and Emmanellain, Moenbryda (deceased), Krile, Riol, Zero, Erenvile

Rivals: Silvairee of the Archer’s Guild

Enemies: Zenos yae Galvus and Lahabrea

Colleagues: Members of the Scions, Soldiers of the Twin Adder, Members of Haus de Leonis

Mentors/Teachers: Jehantel Fointeaume & Midgarsommar

Idols/Role models: She looks up to her father Yves. To her, he is the greatest man she’s ever known.

Followers: Alphinaud, Alisaie, G’raha Tia, and her Squadron

Public perception of them: She is hailed as the Realm’s Hero, Hydaelyn’s Chosen, and Feller of Gods

𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓇𝒶𝒸𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝒢𝓇𝑜𝓌𝓉𝒽

Character archetype: The Seeker "The Seeker is a force to be reckoned with. This archetype embodies the inner rugged individual who is willing to brave loneliness and isolation in pursuit of new paths"

Character arc: Merging souls with Ardbert has helped her in realizing that she is not alone and that through it all there is always someone standing beside her. Although she is still plagued by mental and emotional anguishes, she’s learning to open her heart more. Not to mention how moved she was at Alisaie’s outburst, she knew then that there were people who cared about her regardless of the fact that she is Hydaelyn’s Champion. Alphinaud and Alisaie choosing to walk beside her along with Ardbert had been what she needed for so long, as she only felt that most interest in her was as nothing but a weapon sharpened for war.

Core values: Remaining as true to herself as possible and shaping her own future the way she sees fit.

Internal conflicts: Allowing herself to be more vulnerable and asking for help when she falters

External conflicts: She struggles with everyone’s over reliance on her and still trying to find balance while not breaking under pressure.

Goals: She’s unsure of her goal right now as she’s constantly pulled in many directions, but she knows that she wants to bring harmony and peace to the realm.

Motivations: Protecting the ones she loves is her motivation and knowing that she is the only one who can do it.

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