#but if i wanted to change my name in the netherlands i would have to get a lawyer???

[minkyutie]

i've lived in canada for 20 years now but i have yet to gain citizenship. at first it was a matter of personal finance: the total cost is about $800. and the only benefits of becoming is citizen are being able to vote and not having to worry about travelling to the states/having a pr card. however these days the main reason i'm holding off is that i'm not exactly motivated to swear allegiance to a country that cares so little about human rights. not only does this government continue to not call for a ceasefire and has recently withdrawn funding to unrwa. but it also allows premiers like danielle smith to violate the human rights of trans people, especially youth. and don't get me started on the dogshit treatment of indigenous peoples. i do however realize that gaining the ability to vote would enable me to make a bit more of a difference, so needless to say i am extremely conflicted and will continue to put it off (also because i have other procedures i need to complete first).

[pelova4president]

Shadows are to protect IV

Victoria Pelova x Putellas!Reader

shadows are to protect I, II, III

summary~ You finally get your happy ending.

So you disappeared. You booked a flight to The Netherlands and didn’t tell anyone. You wanted to see the country Victoria talked about so much. The little cafes and restaurants she visited when she was there.

You built your own little world, a bubble where no one could hurt you and you couldn’t hurt anyone you cared about. You wouldn’t mind living here. Everyone did their own thing and there were dogs and parks everywhere.

De Oranje Leeuwinnen were playing a few days after you had arrived and you couldn’t let the chance of seeing Victoria play in front of her own people slip.

The stadium was absolutely packed. The orange shirts with the names of female players on them and red, white and blue flags on everyone’s cheeks. Even though Spain had won the World Cup there wasn’t this much attention for the Spanish team. It was something you were jealous of.

It’s been days since you disappeared, Alexia hasn’t texted or called you yet and you were grateful for that. She never knows what’s going through your head but if you don’t reach out in a situation like this, she knew she had to leave you be. She’d be there if you wanted to talk and you didn’t really desire that the past few days. But now you did.

In the hopes that she would pick up in the middle of the day you called. You sat in a little bakery somewhere in The Hague and it felt like the right time.

Three rings had gone by before you got someone on the other end of the phone. “Hola hermanita… Hola?” she said. “Ale, you got time?” you asked her. You heard her laugh, “Not really but you know i’ve always got time for my pequeña princesa.” you could imagine the big grin on her face. You groaned at the stupid nickname. She knew you hated it when she called you that.

“Whatever, i’m talking about like at least an hour. I’ve got a lot to tell you.” you said taking a sip from the overpriced latte. “Sí, i’ve got time for you.” she sighed.

She knew you probably had a lot to talk about. Alexia hadn’t really pushed you to talk about it because she knew you weren’t a great talker and if you really wanted to and if she needed to know, you would tell her.

And so you told her everything, about going to Arsenal and how it had been the first few weeks. How it wasn’t your home and how you felt so so lost there. You told her about Alessia, that she had your heart and she broke it just like that. That you didn’t really want to come out of bed the days after and that that was the reason why you visited her when you did. And about Victoria Pelova, the girl that has been nothing but good to you. Alexia laughed at that, she knew you’d get along, that’s why she told you to give the girl a chance.

“I’m in The Netherlands now Ale, i don’t know what to do now.” You sighed into your phone. “Joder hermanita, you already know what to do. I already know you got your ticket to the game. Dile que la amas.” Alexia always knew what to say. Sometimes it was nice to have a big sister that can tell you what to do. “And next time we play against England, just know i’ll get back at Russo.” she deadpanned. And a sister to protect you.

You had texted Victoria good luck before the game. ‘Hey Vicky, i just wanted to let you know i’ll be at your game today. Please listen to the voicemail i’ve left you a few days ago. Ik hou van jou, je kan het.’ you sent her.

Sitting on the third row you got a pretty good views of the game. It wasn’t a really important game or anything and the chance the orange team won was very high so you weren’t that nervous for the brunette.

In the 17th minute Brugts scored from the penalty area and not long after van de Donk scored too. The first half ended in 3-0.

As the players walked to the changing room you looked for Victoria. When you finally found her eyes, hers were already focused on you. Your lips formed an apologetic smile and you waved at her. She gave you a little smile before disappearing into the tunnel.

The second half went even smoother for the home side. Esmee Brugts got her hattrick and Damaris and Roord scored one each. It was the 88th minute when Kerstin Casparij made a dribble forward. She passed two midfielders and made a perfect cross. The white ball landed on Vic’s foot and she volleyed the ball into the corner of the net.

It was just an Euros qualifier but for you it was much more. You knew today was now or never. It was 8-0 but the crowd was just as loud as it was when the first goal was scored.

The game was over and you saw the team do their lap around the field. You loved how involved they were with their fans, especially the kids. Victoria was somewhere at the back, still signing a little girl’s Arsenal shirt when Damaris spotted you and ran towards your section.

You knew the player well. Damaris used to play for Spain but decided to move to the Dutch team and you got why. She was the first one to do something about the Spanish management and you admired her for it. Your ex-teammate climbed over the fences and when she finally got to you she was out of breath. She gave you a hug and greeted you. “Don’t tell Vic i know but she listened to your message before the game. She’s been sad all camp and doesn’t want to listen to anyone. Just wait at our hotel and i’ll get you in.” she told you before sprinting off again.

So now you were waiting on the orange bus full of players to arrive at some fancy hotel in Amsterdam. You looked like a stalker, dressed in all black with Victoria’s black hat and hoodie on.

After fifteen minutes of waiting the Dutch team finally arrived. All the girls walked past, well everyone except for Vic and Dama.

Damaris walked towards you with two bags in her hands, one with 21 on it and the other with number 17. Victoria walked behind her, confused as why she was carrying her bag inside until she saw you.

“Victoria, you better figure this out because i know you want her and she wants you, okay?” she told the girls strictly. The Arsenal player nodded silently and stood still in front of you.

“Did you hear the voicemail i left you?” you asked her. Her eyes weren’t focused on you but on the big neon letters of the hotel. The blue light was shining on her, making it look like she coloured her hair blue.

“Yeah. I got it, so tell me then, what happened?” her eyes traveled to your face. It was hard to read her at the moment.

“When i came into Arsenal i didn’t know anyone and i was scared and tired of being alone. Alessia helped me at that time until she didn’t need me anymore. One evening i found out she had a boyfriend all along. I was having a hard time after that and went to Alexia for a few days when you texted me.” you smiled at the thought of her text, she really did help you. “Alexia told me to give you a chance and i’m happy i did because you mean so much to me. I don’t think i would be playing football anymore if it wasn’t for you. And then Alessia didn’t like that, she kissed me that evening when you saw us but i told her that i didn’t want her. I swear. I only want you. Te amo, Vicky.” you pleaded.

You were still standing before her, you took your hat off and your right hand was in your pocket while your left was fidgeting with the strings of the black hoodie. “Say something, please.” you begged the brunette. Her silence was killing you.

“I’m sorry. I should’ve just let you explain but i didn’t. It’s just that when i heard Alessia talking to you and then kissing you..” Victoria sighed.

“I get it, you shouldn’t say sorry for that. Can we try again, i really want us to work out.” you smiled.

Victoria’s signature smirk appeared on her face and she leaned in for a kiss. “por supuesto cualquier cosa para ti” she grinned into your neck. “You’ve done your Duolingo sí?” you laughed at her.

“I did, just for you. And maybe just a little bit for when i meet your sister, got to make a good impression on La Reina hmm?” she teased.

A/N finally done!!! I don’t even know how this whole series was planned but this is it, happy ending and all

[clxja16]

Enough

Part IV

Charles Leclerc X Wolff!Reader

Genre: Toto Wolff's Daughter Au!

Warnings: swearing, mentions of cheating

Word Count: 3.5K+

Author's Note: AHHHHH I think I'm done. well idk, if you guys want more, I could probably write one more. However I don't think anything will top the scene after Charles DNF in the Netherlands. I could literally talk about that scene for hours on end. I need to know what you guys think of that scene, because it's probably some of my best work ever. I hope you guys enjoy though. A lot of time and dedication went into this fic. Also this is in no way a reflection of these people in real life. This is not based on real life events. Nothing in this story is fact. This is a work of fiction, purely for entertainment purposes.

Part I, Part II, Part III

------------------------------------

“I cannot believe you,” Susie says after she hears the front door slam shut from you walking out.  She slightly shakes her head, as she looks to the gods, praying for strength.  The strength to not kill Toto at this moment.  

“Me? You can’t believe me? I cannot believe our daughter, does she even think about how the rushed marriage will look to the public?”  

“Toto,” Susie sighs, “you’ve gone too far.”  She doesn’t know how she can get him to understand that you’re not a little girl anymore.  “She’s chosen Charles, and you have to accept that already.” 

“But she could do so much better…” 

“She doesn’t want better,” Susie raises her voice in disbelief.  “Toto, she doesn’t want anyone else, she wants Charles.  That’s it, that’s the end of the discussion.”  Susie doesn’t know what more to say on the matter.  

“He’s going to hurt her…” 

“Toto, that is enough, just because you had an affair that ended your marriage, does not mean Charles is going to do the same!  Why can’t you see that?”  Susie doesn’t like that she brought up Toto’s affair but it must be said.  “Pack your stuff, you’re leaving for the Netherlands first thing in the morning.”  

“I don’t have to be there for a few more days…” 

“Well, then fucking go to the factory Toto!” Susie can’t handle it anymore, as she stands from the table, “I don’t want to see you, until you apologize to our daughter.  Hopefully before her wedding, so help me God.” 

-

Charles had left, around the same time that you had earlier that night to attend a work dinner.  He returned home after you and when he did, he found you on the bedroom floor surrounded by all the legal paperwork for the wedding.  He could see your eyes were red from crying, and he knew that it wasn’t from happy tears.  You were holding a white out pen and the paperwork to change your name stood out among the bunch.  

“Ma cherie…” 

“Hi,” you greet Charles with a weak tone, you couldn’t even look at him properly. 

“What happened?”  Charles moves the papers out of the way to take a seat next to, pulling your face to look at him.  He can see more tears roll down your cheeks.  

“Daddy asked if I was pregnant…” 

Charles' brows are furrowed together at your statement, “Why would he think that?” 

“Because…” you smile a sarcastic smile, “the only people who get married this fast are people who are knocked up.”  You cry, and laugh at the same time as you recall the evening to Charles.  You take a moment before you pull away from Charles, wiping away your tears.  “I don’t want anything more to do with my father.”  You grab the paper for the name change off the floor, and prepare the white out pen.  

Charles places his hand on yours stopping you from continuing, “maybe you should wait.”  Charles’ watches you carefully, he doesn’t want to say the wrong word, “just sleep on it for now.” 

You look up at Charles, and you can see his worry for you.  He doesn’t want you to make any decisions that you will regret later on.  You stare back at the name you have written across the paper, Wolff-Leclerc.  

-

The next morning you and Charles set out to drive to the Netherlands.  The drive surprisingly doesn’t take as long as you anticipate, time travels fast with Charles.  However when you do arrive at the hotel, you realize how much the drive took out of you.  The two of you pass out, practically right away, and you don’t wake up until the next morning.  By that time, you guys have to be at the paddock.  

You make it a point to showcase that you and Charles are together.  You arrive at the paddock with Charles, dressed in Ferrari red.  Part of you does this to spite your father, the other part of you does this because you want Charles to know you pick him over everything else.  While Charles is in the driver’s briefing with the FIA, you make a stop at the Mercedes motorhome.  

The motorhome is mostly empty, the majority of the team being in the garage at this moment.  However you knew your father would be in his office right now.  He scheduled all his online meetings with the factory at this time, because the motorhome was quiet.  When you make it to his door, you don’t hesitate to knock.  

“Come in,” he says, right away.  You walk in and hand him the letter in your hand.  You don’t say a word to him, you’re trying to make this as clean cut as possible.  He takes the letter from you, “what is this?” He asks as he begins to open it up. 

“My resignation letter, effective immediately.” 

“You’re resigning, what are you planning on doing with your life?” 

“I’m going to let Charles take care of me,” you lied to your father.  You tell him this, purely out of spite.  He always raised you to be able to take care of yourself.  His biggest thing was he never wanted you to rely on someone else.  So you tell him this, just so he can suffer.  You don’t stay to see his reaction, or hear anything more he has to say.  You eventually go on to spend the rest of the weekend avoiding him.  

-

You spend Sunday watching the race in the Ferrari garage.  The beginning of the race was chaotic to say the least.  You knew Charles was making his own calls, when the pit crew is yelling at each other, and no one seems to know what is going on.  You see Fred look at you, like you have an idea of what’s going on.  You’re too amazed that Fred can see this far back into the Ferrari garage, to even give a reaction to his stare.  

As you continue to watch the race, you know Mercedes messed up the strategy.  Especially when George had a good qualifying.  Then you noticed that Charles couldn’t keep up with the Haas, and you concluded that there must be a problem with his car.  When Ferrari does decide to retire him, you see him come out of his car.  You can tell by the look on his face that he’s not happy in the slightest.  He ignores you as he makes his weigh-in and goes straight to the media pen.  You look at Andrea, and you see him shake his head. 

You head to Charles' driver's room, knowing he would go straight there after the media pen.  It doesn’t take much longer, as you hear Charles’ heavy footsteps.  When he enters the room, he doesn’t say anything.  He shuts the door, and takes a deep breath.  Then he launches the water bottle he was holding across the room, the cap comes loose as it hits the wall, water splattering everywhere. 

He takes another deep breath, before saying, “sorry.”  Charles runs his hands over his face, he paces the room as he talks, “I know I fucked up the pit-stop, I didn’t give them enough time to grab the tires, before I came in.”  He doesn’t look at you as he talks, “that was my fault, I know that, but for fuck’s sake, they left me out there to get overtaken by Hulkenburg in a fucking Haas.”  Charles sighs, his shoulders drop, he doesn’t look like himself. He takes a heavy breath, now looking at you and he says, “I’m tired y/n.” Charles sits on the floor, instead of on the bench next to you.  He sits by your feet, leaning against your legs, resting his head in your lap.  He reaches up to hold your hand, and he repeats, “I’m tired.”  His head feels heavy in your lap, you place your hand on his head, playing with the ends of his hair, while your other hand continues to hold his. He looks straight on at the wall.  

“Just rest Charles,” you say, you’re not sure how you can comfort him at this moment.  “You can rest now.”

“Can I really?” He asks, as he looks up at you.  You can see how the season has weighed him down.  You slowly nod your head at him, and he closes his eyes.  You know that he doesn’t actually fall asleep, but the two of you stay like that for the rest of the race. You stay right there, in that same position, for Charles, for until he’s ready to move. 

When the race ends, Charles finally moves, he changes out of his race suit. He heard Pierre got promoted to P3, and insisted on staying to see the podium.  You see him put on a smile for his best friend.  You watch them make plans to celebrate Pierre’s podium after Monza, during the weekend they have off.  You watch Charles pretend he isn’t tired for his friend’s sake.  And you feel your love for him grow.   You love that he can be vulnerable with you, and you love that he will always be proud of those he loves accomplishments.  

-

As soon as the Dutch grand prix was over, you and Charles hopped on a flight to Milan.  The Italian grand prix was a home grand prix for Ferrari, so there were events all week long.  Charles’ schedule was packed through and through.  You don’t bother him with the wedding stuff, you allow him to focus on Ferrari this week.  

Susie comes out to Monza, and she helps you plan for the wedding.  Although it’s a small event, she insists on getting you a dress, maybe not your dream dress, but a nice dress nonetheless.  Charles is at the Ferrari Ray-ban event, while you and Susie are going through Milan, looking at several dress shops.  

You are in one particular shop, trying to pull a few dresses to try on, when you look at Susie and say, “thank you coming Mamma.” 

Susie can see as tears line your eyes, she knows that you and your father being at a cross like this hurts you.  “Of course sweetheart, I wouldn’t miss this for the world.” 

“I wish Daddy felt the same,” you say somberly, “has he said anything to you after that night.” 

Susie turns to look back at the dresses, “I-”  She pauses for a second, “I haven’t seen your father since that night.” 

“What do you mean, you haven’t seen daddy since that night?” 

Susie sighs, “I told him that I didn’t want to see him until he apologized to you, so I haven’t see him.”  

You can’t help but let out a cackle of a laugh.  You slap your hand over your mouth, catching yourself, as Susie looks at you wide-eyed.  “I’m sorry,” you say, as you begin to giggle some more, “I’m sorry, but that-”  You can’t contain your laughter at this point.  You know part of you is laughing to stop yourself from crying, but it feels so good to laugh.  And oh do you laugh, “that is too funny, you kicked daddy out of the house?” 

“Well,” Susie can’t help but to laugh at your reaction, “I had to sweetheart.”  She looks at you fondly, pushing your hair behind your ear, and you stop laughing.  “You didn’t deserve that from him,” she says seriously.  

You feel a few tears fall, “thank you Mamma.”  

Susie shakes her head, “now enough talk of your father, let’s focus on you sweetheart.”  She smiles at you, and you nod your head.  You try to push all thoughts of your father from your mind, focusing on the task at hand.  You and Susie spend the rest of the day shopping.  

-

Being in Italy does good for Charles, you can see it clearly on Saturday.  He qualifies in P3, but it makes him happy.  The fans make him happy.  And even though he didn’t really rest, he isn’t tired.  You watch him fondly from the Ferrari garage as he does the post qualifying interviews.  After he wraps up on Saturday, the two of you are walking back to his car to head back to the hotel.  You can feel the bounce in his step, how light he feels. 

“I love you,” you say, as you look at Charles, as the two of you walk. He stops, and looks at you.  His eyes full of love, as he displays a fond smile.  You take all of him in at this moment.  You can’t help yourself from falling deeper in love with him.  You’ll never love someone like you love him.  

“I love you too,” he says.  To anyone else it’s the same ‘I love you’s you said to each other over and over again, but to you, it’s so much more.   

-

It was another Sunday, another Grand Prix, and your second time watching from the Ferrari garage.  Although there is nothing technically different from the Mercedes garage, it all felt different.  Being at Mercedes it felt like a business, it felt like work. Mercedes was cold, it was calm, it was like a normal nine to five workplace.  While being at Ferrari it feels like passion.  You feel the desperation to be great like they once were.  You understand why Charles remains so loyal.  Being there, in the garage it makes you cheer for Ferrari.  You see them trying, you feel their need to win, and you want them to be great.  It only took two races, but you’re definitely a Ferrari fan.  

As you watched the race, you felt yourself constantly holding your breath.  Carlos was brilliant defending against Max, Checo and even Charles.  He drove to the absolute limit and you were amazed that he held onto the lead for as long as he did.  Charles drove the wheels off his car.  Going for ridiculous moves, and pushing it to the absolute limit every chance he got.  Although you must say, you felt like you were going to have a heart attack watching the last five laps.  Yet, when you saw the smile on Charles’ face after  the race, you think your almost heart attack was worth it.  

Watching them race makes you miss it even more.  Watching them push the car to the limit, to the extreme and hold it all together to bring it home, makes you itch to have that feeling under you.  When Charles makes his way back into the garage, after all of his requirements, he doesn’t waste any time in finding you.  He pulls and holds you close.  You let him, sweaty and all.  You can’t help but to just smile stupidly at him.  Seeing him this happy, makes you happy.  

“I know,” he smiles and drops his head bashfully, “I shouldn’t be this happy about P4, but I had fun.”

“I think you should be proud,” you say, making him look at you, “proud that you gave it your all, and you could give it your all.” 

Charles doesn’t need to say another word, as he pulls you in for a kiss.  

Toto was trying to meet Fred to discuss some things, when he sees yours and Charles' interaction within the Ferrari garage.  He witnesses the private moment, away from the crowds, from the cameras, from everyone else.  He sees you being deeply in love with Charles.  Toto has been watching you all weekend long, and last weekend too.  He knows now how much you love Charles.  He sees it now.  Toto can finally see what everyone else saw.  

“Charles,” Fred calls from across the garage, as he beckons for Charles.  You let him go, as he catches up with Fred.  At this time you notice your father standing there watching you.  

“Darling,” Toto calls out to you, as he steps closer.  

“Hi,” you say. 

Toto doesn’t know what to say, he doesn’t know how to make this better, how to fix this.  He knows he messed this all up.  He knows it’s his fault.  He just doesn’t know where to start, when really there’s only one place to start. “I’m sorry.”  

You’re taken aback by your father’s apology.  You never expected him to actually apologize.  You thought that eventually you’d feel guilty enough to make up with your father.  

“I’m sorry, y/n.”  Toto repeats again, “I should have never suggested you were pregnant and that’s why you guys were getting married.  I know now that you really love this boy, and that he really loves you.”  

You smile, as you feel a few tears line your eyes.  This time you are certain they’re happy tears.  “Thank you daddy,” you say, as you hug your father.  And just like all the times when you were a little girl, your father has made all your problems go away.  

“Now,” Toto starts off, and he pulls back from you, “may I please come to your wedding, if it is still this Tuesday?” 

“I hope you do come,” you say genuinely.  

Just outside of the Ferrari garage, Charles and Fred watch you and Toto.  Fred shakes his head at your father for being so stubborn.  While Charles just smiles fondly, because now he sees you genuinely happy. 

-

After all the festivities, you remembered the news that you had to tell Charles.  Charles had just walked out of the bathroom, freshly out of the shower.  Towel in his hand drying his hair.  He sits on the edge of the bed, while you come up behind him, wrapping your arms around him.  Pressing your cheek against his shoulder blade.  

“I have something to tell you,” you say softly to Charles. 

“What is ma cherie?” Although you don’t see it, you can hear him smiling.  

“I got a call from Zac Brown,” you say.  Charles doesn’t need to hear more as he turns around to look at you excitedly.  “Apparently, someone has been constantly raving about me to his drivers,” you say knowing exactly who has been raving about you to Lando and Oscar.  “And his drivers keep telling him about it.”  You laugh as you see how excited Charles is to hear your news.  “Zac asked if I wouldn’t mind doing some simulator for Mclaren.” 

“Oh this is great news,” Charles says as he pulls you into a kiss.  

“I know it’s not really back to racing…” 

“But it’s a start.” 

“Yeah,” you smile, “It’s a start.” 

“I’m so happy for you,” Charles says, as he kisses you again.  You wrap your arms around his neck pulling him down.  Charles falls against you, planting more kisses over your face. 

“Thank you Charles.” 

Charles pulls away to look at you, “no need to thank me, I love to brag about my fiancée.” 

-

Today was finally the day.  Although it wasn’t a big or traditional wedding, there were certain things that your parents and Charles’ mom insisted you guys do.  Like how it was bad luck to see each other before the actual wedding.  So you were getting ready in your hotel room, while Charles and his brothers all got ready in another room.  

You tried to tell your parents that this wasn’t going to be a big event, that you would make it up to them and plan an actual wedding, however that all fell on deaf ears.  They fussed and doted on you all morning before going to the courthouse.  You look into the vanity mirror and behind you, you can see Susie and Toto.  In between fussing over you, they make up.  Your father apologizes and he makes amends.  Your mamma forgives and she loves continually.  The pieces of your family begin to slide back into place.  

As you make your way to the courthouse, Toto insists on walking you in.  You smile, allowing your father.  You wrap your arm around his, in front of you is Susie and Jack walks in first.  Just behind the door, there stands Charles.  His brothers by his side, all dressed in matching casual suits.  His mother stands just off to the side of them. You don’t know why but the sight has tears falling from your eyes, happy tears.  

“Ma cherie,” Charles exclaims as he sees you crying.  He comes up to you wiping away your tears with a smile, “no more crying already.” 

You giggle, you know a lot of tears have been shed these past few weeks.  “It’s happy tears, I promise.”  

Charles smiles at you.  At this moment, Toto unwraps your arm from his, and gives your hand to Charles.  He takes your hand, and both you and him look at Toto.  You know what this moment signifies, nothing more needs to be said.  

One thing about courthouse weddings, they are very efficient.  The officiant says what he needs to, you and Charles both say your ‘I do’s, kiss, and they announce you married.  “I now present the two of you married, as Mr. and Mrs. Leclerc.”  The officiant looks back down at his paper, “or I should say Mr. Leclerc and Mrs. Wolff-Leclerc.”  Your family and Charles’ family cheers at the announcement.  

-

While you and Charles took pictures down by the lake, your families watched on.  During the picture of you with your parents, did Toto whisper to you, “thank you.”  

“For what daddy?” you question, looking up at your father innocently.   

“For being proud to be a Wolff.” 

“I am your daughter,” you say, as you look back at the camera and smile.

------------------------------------

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[eimids]

I would love another part to the lionesses x reader series! maybe where they are meeting fans after a game but people get a bit aggressive and lucy steps in to protect reader and makes them feel safe after

Overwhelmed

Lionesses x reader (part 5) once again a quick blurb!

Warnings: Some angst and talk about being overwhelmed, some nasty man being a bit handsy as well, but nothing major!

"Y/n here, come here" Someone yelled from the crowd after the game against Netherlands which ended in your win. You managed to get a goal as well as assist Russo to make one.

Meeting fans wasn't anything new for you. You were used to it at Arsenal and at Lionesses. It was fun to see all the fans and interact with them. You loved to see the joy on their faces, especially on young girls. You wanted to inspire them to love football and have a career in it.

That day Wembley was packed full. There was too much noise, the lights were too bright and you were overall just tired and overwhelmed. Beth was next to you signing some shirts. She was happily chatting with some fans and even gave her jersey to one of them.

You went to the fan who was yelling your name the loudest. It was a teenage girl and couple of her friends.

"Hi there!! Did you enjoy the match?" You asked them as you got closer. The girls started screaming.

"OMG CAN I HAVE YOU SIGNATURE!!" One of them yelled. You didn't enjoy the yelling but happily signed her jersey with you name and number 12 on it.

"There you go!" You said as you gave the shirt back to them.

"Pleas a photo?" Another of them asked hopefully.

"Yeah sure" You answered and took the phone that was put into your hands.

You smiled to the camera and snapped a photo. Then you just gave it back to the girls who were screaming once again. Next there was a young girl, about 6. You signed her shirt as well and she had the biggest smile on her face.

Next was a man asking for a photo. He was wearing your shirt and you thought it was nice to see men supporting the women's football.

"Take my phone please" He yelled and you took it. You once again flashed a smile and snapped the picture.

As you were giving the phone back the man grabbed your hand. You tried to pull it back, thinking it was just an accident but it didn't work. He had a strong grip on your hand. He even gave a kiss to your hand. You couldn't speak, a wave of panic flashed through you.

"What the fuck mate, let her go" You heard someone yell. You just felt uncomfortable in the situation.

Millie Bright and Lucy Bronze were quickly by your side, before the security. They yanked your hand away from the man and Lucy took you in her embrace and walked you away from the situation. You still heard Millie and now Beth also yelling to the man and security.

"It's okay y/n. Let's get you to the changing rooms" Lucy explained as you walked to the tunnel and to your changing room. You were just overwhelmed by the entire situation and tired from the game.

Lucy sat you down in your cubby and undid your boots. You were still in a bit of a shock and Lucy kept explaining what she did as she did it.

"Thank you Lucy" You whispered. Lucy looked up at you and smiled. Lucy was always there to protect you and take care of you.

--

a tiny blurb <3

[pleasantglitterflower]

BREAKING MY HEART (JOE BURROW x OC)

A/N : I had already published this story on my old account, but as I was the victim of attacks from unhappy people who think they own the fandom, my account was deactivated. Just a warning to these people that : I swing but I don't fall, I'm back

Dinner time. The only noises that could be heard were those of the cutlery and the typical children's games. That deafening silence became routine in the house for months, I can't explain what happened for such a drastic change.

 How was the training? - I decide to ask 

 Good- he replied 

 How were the shooting tactics? Do you already feel comfortable throwing the ball? - I ask again 

 Yes- he replied monosyllabically again

 I let out a long sigh, and take the dishes off the table to wash. As I prepare to wash the dishes, I see him playing with our children, that beautiful and genuine smile that he only showed to me and the children, but in the last few months, all I receive are cold and distant looks.

Well, I just realized I didn't introduce myself, come on, my name is Anna Verstappen Burrow. Yes, I am  Max Verstappen’s twin sister, three-time Formula 1 world champion, and Joe Burrow’s wife, quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals. 

Joe and I met at Ohio State, we took a few classes together and I can say it was love at first sight. He was always very affectionate, protective and a gentleman towards me, I couldn't resist his charms, and it didn't take long for us to start dating. Joe proposed to me after a year of dating, when we went to Barcelona to watch my brother's race, and to make that weekend even more special, Max won what would be the first of many of his victories in Formula 1.

We got married after our graduation, it was the best two days of my life, yes, two days, as we had two wedding ceremonies, both in Ohio and in Netherlands, so that all the special people in our lives could be present. However, shortly after our wedding, Joe managed to transfer to LSU, and this was the chance he would have to show his football, as unfortunately at Ohio State he didn't have many chances, but despite that we built strong bonds of friendship there. . 

Obviously I supported my husband and we embarked on this new journey together. I graduated in visual arts, and was working at a museum in Ohio in the area of ​​conservation and restoration of artistic and cultural heritage, but with our move to Louisiana, I resigned and it didn't take long for me to get a new job in the new city, This time she would work with graphic design, and the best part is that it would be from home office and the hours were flexible, which meant that Anna could follow Joe at LSU more closely.

A few months later, I found out she was pregnant. Joe was very excited and happy when he found out he was going to be a father, and he started to be very careful with me, he wouldn't even let me fix my meal alone, we were living the best time of our lives, until in October 2019, Joshua  Lee Burrow was born.Joe was very emotional at our son's birth, he couldn't stop crying, which made some of the medical staff cry too. In 2020, a difficult year for the whole world, after all we began to face the Covid pandemic, but we had many joys, as Joe was drafted and would be the new quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals, and I was pregnant again.

Everything was going perfectly well when I started receiving messages from people at LSU saying that Joe cheated on me several times during the time he was there, that when I went to games he was the faithful husband, but when I was away, He took the opportunity to be with as many women as he wanted, especially at team parties and after games. Some of the women he was with sent me proof, such as photos and messages, and the whole puzzle began to be put together, I was cheated on throughout my first pregnancy.

I went to some games until the fourth month of pregnancy, after which Joe banned me from going to busy places, as he wanted me to not run any risk of hurting myself or the baby. I thought it was zeal and care, but in reality he wanted more peace of mind to practice his promiscuity. When he got home after another workout, I confronted him.

- Really Joe? While I was at home like an asshole waiting for you, you were having sex with several people like there was no tomorrow, and I was pregnant with your son Joe, your son. Don't you have shame on your face, you idiot? - I shouted

- Anna my love, forgive me, please forgive me, I don't know where my head was, I love you so much Anna won't leave me, there were moments when I let success go to my head, I was drunk most of the time times, I don't even remember - he was desperate

- There are no excuses Joe, you are already an adult who is aware of your actions, this justification with me doesn't work, you had no respect for our family Joe I hate you - I start hitting his chest, until I feel a strong pain in my belly and I start to cry and scream

Joe gets desperate and quickly takes her to the hospital, if something happened to Anna and the baby he would never forgive himself. He was crying non-stop at the reception and thinking about all the stupid things he did. Joe began to be increasingly harassed during his time at LSU for being the quarterback of the football team, this in itself attracts attention, but his physical appearance was always attractive to female eyes, and he ended up not being able to deal with all this harassment, having momentary affairs, but he forgot that he had a wife who was carrying his child who truly loved him, who had no interest in his status or appearance, and he was unable to value that.

Anna's health was stabilized and she was allowed to go home. Joe started doing everything he could to make Anna forgive him, she was still very weakened by the discovery of his betrayals, but she was very passionate about him and decided to give him a second chance. When the Verstappen family finds out about what happened, a scandal ensues. Max and his father became obsessed, they wanted to come to Ohio to attack Joe, Victoria, Anna and Max's younger sister, who was also pregnant at the same time, sent an audio to the quarterback calling him unpronounceable names, Sophie, the mother , begs Anna to separate from him, but the Dutch woman had already made the decision to give Joe another chance, even if the whole family was against it, but the truce happened in November 2020, when Amelie Lisa Burrow came into the world, and less than a month later, Victoria's son Luka was born.

 Time passed, and the Burrow family managed to strengthen themselves in the face of adversity, for them communication was the key to all problem resolutions. Even though Anna and Joe were very discreet, it was very difficult for them not to be filmed in the stands at Bengals games or at Max's races, they were a very happy and healthy family.

ANNA’S POV

After we managed to overcome the crisis in our marriage and build a healthy family dynamic for ourselves and our children, things seemed to fall into place. I finally realized my dream of having my own art studio, where I spent most of my time producing my paintings, sculptures and various works, and Joe was increasingly consolidated as one of the main players in the NFL, it's undeniable to talk about how he changed the Bengals team, for a long time they were unable to compete for higher positions, but since then, they managed to reach the playoffs and the Super Bowl, I couldn't describe how happy I was for my husband, but for a while now, I started to see how Joe got carried away by fame. More and more he began to be requested for events, parties, million-dollar advertising contracts, and the harassment from the media and fans tripled, but I began to get to know a side of my husband that is not cool at all. Being the daughter of a former pilot father and having a brother who is the current Formula 1 champion, I can say that neither of them let fame go to their heads. Max Verstappen Formula 1 world champion is still the same Max I grew up with, he hasn't changed his personal tastes or personality because of fame, if it were Max's will he wouldn't even have social media, he hates it a lot. However, I feel Joe slowly distancing himself from me, as a father I have nothing to complain about, he would give his life for Joshua and Amelie, he does everything for them, but I feel like I'm losing my husband.

 After the injury he suffered to his hand in the game against the Ravens, which left him out for the rest of the season again, Joe closed himself off into his own world and started refusing to talk to me, I at first tried to understand, because fuck, Once again he faces a serious injury that prevents him from playing football, since his first season in the NFL he has suffered some type of injury, but I would like him to be more transparent with me.

At the beginning of 2024 our distance becomes increasingly greater, with him more focused on treating the injury in his hand and him choosing to go to different events with his friends, and until then he, who was attentive to his children, became more absent, that's when I got tired of being silent, and we were increasingly fighting. I never stopped Joe from going out with his friends, who were also my friends from Ohio State, but I would like him to think more about our family, but Joe thought I was annoying, he said he needed to go out with his friends so he wouldn't be only thinking about the injury, and he still made a point of telling me that I was going to Europe frequently even when he needed me, and yet he always accepted the situation. By the way, I was born and lived until I was 18 in the Netherlands, and I have family and many friends there, right? And I make sure Joshua and Amelie are connected to my European roots, so much so that I teach them to speak Dutch.

I didn't know what else to do, I decided to call my sister-in-law Kelly to ask for advice. Kelly Piquet is like my older sister from another mother, she was always there for me and always helped me with advice, how grateful I am to have her in my life. The haters who criticize her are idiots, they feel entitled to criticize people they have never met in their lives.

- Kel, I don't know what to do anymore. It's been really hard to see photos of Joe at parties and events with his friends, enjoying himself like there's no tomorrow, meanwhile I have to deal with two children calling for their father and I'm not much different, I'm crying every day. 

- Anna, it's past time for you to be more combative in confrontations with him. Does this idiot not realize that he is destroying your family again? He forgets that you forgave him that time, is he doing the same thing again? Look..

- What do you mean Kelly, what is he doing again? What do you know, say it???

- Oh shit, I was thinking about the right way to tell you Anna. You know that my sister lives in Miami, right?

- Yes, I know, but what does that have to do with it?

- So... Anna, I don't know how I'm going to tell you

- Speak up, Kelly! The older woman sighs before making the revelation - she was with her fiancé at a club in Miami, and when she went to get a drink at the bar, she saw Joe in a circle with several women, one of them She was even sitting on his lap. His friends were also there, she was in disbelief when she saw that the woman who was on his lap wasn't you and was willing to go to him to ask questions, but her fiance didn't let her, she ended up taking a photo to prove it. -Kelly then sends the photo to Anna, who is so shocked to see the photo, that she freezes

- Anna, Anna, are you feeling ill? Answer me- Kelly speaks desperately 

- He broke my trust…again

- Anna, I received the photo on the same day as the party, but I was so confused about how to tell you, that it took me days. I didn't even show Max, you know what he would be able to do, since when I started dating his brother, I only hear him talk about how he hates Joe and that if he could he would break his legs.

- I don't even know if Max needs to know these details, all I don't want is more problems. Kelly, I just know that I need to get out of Cincinnati urgently, I need to think about how I'm going to confront Joe again.

- You know that our house is always open for you here in Monaco, right? Penelope loves Joshua and Amelie, she will love them here to play together

- You're right, I'll arrange my ticket now. It won't do any good now, Joe is going to stay out of the house most of the time, why can't I?

- That's my girl. Let me know the day of your departure, let me pick you up at the airport

Anna packed her and the children's bags and headed to Monaco, where she would stay at Max and Kelly's house. She warned Joe about the trip, on the pretext of taking her children to visit her family and go watch Max's races, and to no surprise, Burrow was indifferent. 

 The Dutchwoman felt very light and happy on the European continent, she was able to see her family and friends, and went to watch several of Max's races, but she had a mission, and Kelly was her assistant on this journey. They were willing to prove that Joe was cheating again, and came up with a very meticulous plan. They hired a private detective to follow Joe's every step, tracked his cell phone, and, in addition, got access to the list of events he was going to be a guest at, and, as Kelly already lived in the USA and had friends there, she called her acquaintances to be at these events as informants on Joe's every move. And it didn't take long for the evidence to appear, the detective sent several photos of Joe at secret parties with many women, they had access to messages of him talking to many women, be they anonymous women, sub-celebrities and even high-ranking Hollywood celebrities, in addition to the reports of informants. To improve the situation, the famous gossip profile Deuxmoi began publishing information about Joe's betrayals, not surprising Anna and Kelly, who already knew everything that was happening, but when the news reached Max, he became possessed and called to Joe, sparking a huge argument.

- I'm going to kill you son of a bitch, you get ready when I see you. I'm going to bring my sister and nephews back to Europe, they won't stay in Cincinnati for another second.- The driver shouts into the phone

- It's a situation that your sister and I have to resolve alone, you don't get involved, understand? Take charge of your own life, as a public person you also know that people make up rumors.- Joe says irritated 

- Anyone who doesn't know you should buy you Joe, your good guy mask has fallen off a long time ago, only deluded idiots believe in you. You're shit, trash, a failure who won't get anywhere, meanwhile Mahomes is winning titles after titles, that's it, character is for few. - the Dutchman continues arguing with Joe.

The exposure of Joe's betrayals gains another chapter, when Deuxmoi again publishes information from a source in which Joe was seen with an Onlyfans model called a babydoll in Los Angeles. Again, no surprise for Anna, she had access to hot photos of them in a luxurious motel and trying to be as discreet as possible, but the attempt failed, as they had no idea that an elaborate scheme was in action to capture the betrayals. After the exposure, Joe immediately stopped following Babydoll, but the woman had a bad conscience and looked for Anna and revealed the whole truth, that she and Joe had been seeing each other for months, that she ended up hooking up with both him and Nick Bosa in Florida, but Joe had told her he was divorced. This was the last straw for Anna to prove that Joe was really a scoundrel and that he hadn't changed at all. 

 With all the evidence recorded and captured, Anna knew that she needed to face Joe again and end this toxic marriage once and for all, because she didn't deserve it and didn't need to go through this, she knew she didn't need to. When she gets home, Joe is sitting on the couch shaking, she walks past him, puts the kids in their room and turns on the television for them, and when she comes back, he starts to explain himself.

- Honey, about the gossip, no.

- Joe, there's no point in explaining my love. I already know everything.

- How do you know? - he says stuttering

- Well, let's say that during this time away from home, I discovered myself as a true CSI, devised a sensational investigation plan and got all the evidence? - when she finishes her response, she throws a huge folder at him, containing the entire dossier of photos, prints of messages and reports from the informants who were following him. As he turned each page, Joe became more and more white, he couldn't believe it, Anna did a heavy investigation on him.

- Funny, I was trying to understand why my husband was being so rude to me, but then everything became very clear to me, it was his guilty conscience, no no, I was wrong, it's because there was too much vagina to handle, right Joe?

- Anna…

- Shut up, I'm the one talking now. You had no respect for me when I was pregnant with your children, I almost lost Amelie because of you, and again you have no shame in your disgusting face when you expose us to ridicule again, but this time Joe, for me it is final , it's over, that's enough, now our conversation is in court, in a little while I'll call my lawyer to speed up the divorce process. IT'S OVER- you scream at him

-Anna listen to me please- he starts to cry

- I can't believe your Judas tears Joe, it was you who destroyed your family just for promiscuous moments of pleasure, now you have to bear the consequences. Now our conversation is in court, we have to look at the pension values, shared custody and the sharing of assets. And I'm warning you, pack your bags and get out, this is my house and the children's, if you want, you can go live with your thousands of lovers, now you have several houses. Come on, come on, go away, bye- she pushes him to the stairs.

Joe goes upstairs crying compulsively, he deeply regretted hurting and hurting Anna, but it was too late, now that he woke up to the reality that his family was destroyed as a result of his actions, and now he would have to deal with this burden for himself. the rest of your life. Anna was left alone in that huge mansion, with two young children and a broken heart, but she has enough strength to pick herself up and move forward, and with the support of her family, true friends, her children and her work, she was going to get by find yourself and be happy again.

[vacantgodling]

CURRENT BETWIXT THUMB AND FOREFINGER (AKA 19TH CENTURY TWILIGHT ADAPTATION THAT CRASHED INTO GOTH LIT SOMEWHERE) RESEARCH AND PLANNING and generally my chaotic thought process lmao.

sponsored by: @sarahlizziewrites & @ink-flavored

tl;dr: all of this is still subject to change bc i'm still planning a lot of this stuff out. however, i want to post what i have so far bc how i plan things is kinda intriguing to me and i wanna talk about something but bc i'm not Writing Prose atm this is all i got.

transposed under the cut but i wanted to showcase what the actual doc looks like :p

WIP NAME ⟶ BETWIXT THUMB AND FOREFINGER

(the hell) betwit thumb and forefinger — the time between solstice and equinox

with the secondary title that almost implies that the story is taking place over a short time period between solstice and equinox — which is a 90 day period, so about 3 months?

idk if i have to keep that in the title, but perhaps the title is a reference to how short a time this is in the grand scheme of things, especially in the life of an immortal creature, but for biscella this is a lifetime. going through every stage of grief and sommemore shit. so i think i’ll call it betwixt thumb and forefinger (BTAF)

some kind of celestial name (twilight/new moon/eclipse/breaking dawn) ⟶ something in this realm to tie back to twilight’s inspo’s somehow but idk if i wanna give that bitch the luxury

dark adaptation — the eyes’s transition to night vision

equinox / solstice

retrograde 

betwixt retrograde and amnesia LMAO

betwixt equinox and solstice

i need to decide what year i want this story to take place in cuz that’s gonna hinge everything.

History of the Netherlands - Wikipedia

peninsular war was 1807-1814. sjaak did not see the end of this conflict as he was turned into a werewolf by a fellow soldier “gust” (why, idk yet).

joined the french army (netherlands and french were allies during this time the batavain-french alliance™) and fought in the battle of zaragoza (1808) ; was injured and near death when he was found by gust a gravewalker. there’s been a rumor going around during the battle that people have seen corpses up and walk away from the battle and their wounds and its because gust (and others) have been turning them into werewolves for some greater purpose. — sjaak becomes one of these when he leaves.

if i assume that for all intents and purposes sjaak is 18 when he finally leaves the netherlands and joins the spanish FRENCH army, then maybe he’s 20 when he’s turned into a werewolf. so… 20 during 1808.

born: 1788 in the netherlands — black mother who was a slave but then brought to the netherlands and subsequently freed. father was the master of the home she worked at.

biscella is younger than sjaak and i want her to be a naive 18 during 1808—perhaps this happens during 1808? but then we would have the war to contend with going on unless it was removed from the battlefield somewhat.

the “cullens” are located in castillo-nuevo in what is now navarre spain and have cleared it out to build a castle there. that lonely castle in the middle of the wilderness is where biscella lies. the crypt is hidden among the mountainous landscape, and even though biscella was there during the funeral, another aspect of everything is eduard appearing to her in dreams/visions/as an apparition keeps her from knowing his location fully by scrambling her mind.

i want sjaak to kill that baby

“you have the face of the woman i love. but the blood of the man i hate flows thorugh you” or something. kills the damn baby and makes biscella’s death worthless in some ways

“she would’ve wanted you to live. she would’ve wanted me to show you the ways of the world and the sun in the trees and the apples that hang low from branches. but i am a monster filled with utter darkness and hate. i will kill what she cherished, and hope that in your death, her memory will haunt me.” or something.

NAMING STRUGGLES ⟶ Spanish naming customs - Wikipedia / Category:Catalan-language surnames - Wikipedia / Names Categorized "Twilight characters" - Behind the Name

possible names for bella (romani, coming from germany into netherlands after being expelled from the country or whatever)

biscella 

mirella ⟶ variant of amaryllis (meaning to sparkle)

sibella ⟶ prophetess (variant of the name sybil)

tsarla ⟶ evening

gisela ⟶ hostage/pledge

biscella schwann

tsarla schwann

gisela schwann

sibella schwann

karl schwann + tsarla schwann >> biscella schwann >> 

surnames for eduard & the cullens™ ⟶ casavantes (the name taken from the patriarch of the family; comas is the 

CHARACTERS

biscella schwann de casavantes (bella) ⟶ follows the standards of the region + is not spanish so she just goes with the flow

karl schwann (charlie father, dead)

tsarla schwann (mother, dead)

sjaak de witte (dutch) (jacob)

luis jofre casavantes basurto (carlisle) ⟶ created via union but killed his parents so he could defect to a “vegetarian” lifestyle (aka hibernation). he forbids the usage of venom to create more of their coven, forbidding the femme vampires from autonomous reproduction essentially.

maritxell comas miranda (esme) ⟶ wife and half-sister of luis; created via union and assisted luis in killing their parents so that they could start their own coven. completely loyal to him and was defanged in an act of loyalty (aka; she can no longer make other vampires stronger as luis removed her fangs, this also keeps her from drinking blood AND solely dependent on him for protection)

i want maritxell to actually have a more prominent role than just like. a sad woe is me matriarch. i want her to be like those women who uphold the patriarchy by being misogynistic towards other women. women like her own daughters (rosita and azelie) need to know their place, and because biscella is romani, she views her as subhuman (and also just as a breeder for eduard’s seed).

i don’t want her to be like romilda in vdtrt who’s more battered wife syndrome. i think maritxell and luis are very very complicit in one another’s bullshit.

rosita casavantes i comas (rosalie) ⟶ first child of the union between luis and maritxell, defanged at birth, rosita desperately wishes to be with child (need to figure out why). she is intensely jealous of biscella despite knowing the woman will die, and torments her now that eduard has been buried in the crypt.

eduard casavantes i comas (edward) ⟶ uses ‘i’ instead of ‘y’ or ‘de’ because he’s specifically from catalina ; created via union of luis and maritxell, and despite being the middle child, is the strongest of the vampire children.

azelie picard (alice) ⟶ luis impregnated a french woman who azelie assumed the name of once she was born. she was the one who met biscella first and despite everything is protective of her. she did not approve of eduard impregnating her (lesbian undertones and may defect and help sjaak, we’ll see). does not want to be defanged.

silvano di luise (jasper) ⟶ youngest child of the coven and born of an italian woman, his surname means ‘son of luis’ (as he is). he is very conflicted on the matter of whether or not they should stay ‘vegetarian’ if they’re still going to kill human (women) anyway by impregnating them with their spawn and thinks that human men should receive the same treatment by being killed for food or made as spawns as well. its caused infighting amongst the coven.

the other question is if i should add other characters. bc i included all the twilight vampires that are Actually Interesting (sorry emmett you’re fucking boring to me) and i’m also only including the werewolves that are interesting to me… which is mostly ig sam, leah, and whats her name. 

WORLDBUILDING AND SHIT

HOW VAMPIRES WORK (biologically)

vampires are made only through human hosts; vampires with penises can impregnate women and the pregnancy will last for 2 years until the woman is fully drained of all her blood and innards, then perish, with the baby bursting out of the womb

vampires without can impregnate men or women via their venom and it will take the form of a parasite forming in their stomach. these vampires tend to be more deadly, though because of the times it is rare to have these kinds of non-producing ‘coven’ leaders. they will do so if their mate is killed, but usually they use their venom to strengthen the other vampires in their coven.

vampires that are created via the union of two vampires in coitus will have a normal “human like” pregnancy, and tend to be the most powerful of all) (ie: eduard)

unlike werewolves vampires cannot be “turned” they can only be born.

HOW WEREWOLVES WORK (turned)

werewolves are the natural enemies to vampires as they were specifically engineered hundreds of years ago to be on par with the nightwalkers’s (vampires) habits.

they cannot be born biologically; once you are turned a werewolf you are infertile.

werewolves are created via consumption of the compound moonstone, which, as its name suggests, is what people of this time assume to be rocks from the actual moon.

whether it is or isn’t is debatable. its not Really important. you eat it and you are now lycanthrope congrats

[novemberhope]

Soooo… guess here are my current obsessions One Piece OCs

@auxiliarydetective I did give it a try… not everything is final yet. Might not be a great introduction like this but it was fun to do and if anyone has different questionaires (or whatever they're called) just tag me.^^

Ideas, criticism, inspiration, all is welcome :) I've never so openly done this tbh

Animal Resemblances Neri: Betta Fish Niara: Emerald Swallowtail Azura: Arctic Fox Cordelia: Bombay Cat Ellaria: Splendid Fairy Wren (Not 100% sold on that yet but it will be a beautiful bird) Ginny: Leopard Seal (looks cute but could actually kill you)

Specific Numbers Neri: 5/1/4 (ka – i - yo) (her last name) Niara: 22 (ni - a) Azura: 26 (a - tsu - ra) (eh, close enough^^) Cordelia: 5 10 0 2 (Ko - da - lei - a) (lol again close enough - but the many numbers look weird, this one might definitely change in the future?) Ellaria: 3-6-1 (Mirai = future) (it's a vision thing - but might also change if her name happens to fit better when she eventually gets one) Ginny: undefined yet

Specific Colors Neri: turquoise, light blue Niara: pale green, pale pink Azura: white, gold Cordelia: black, red Ellaria: white, grey, silver, very pale colors Ginny: a fiercy, angry red

Specific Smells Neri: ocean breeze, salt water Niara: apple & honeysuckle Azura: citron Cordelia: amber Ellaria: jasmine Ginny: honey & rose

Favourite Type of Island and Season Neri: summer on a spring island Niara: spring on a summer island Azura: winter on an autumn island Cordelia: autumn on an autumn island Ellaria: spring on a winter island Ginny: spring on a spring island

Favourite Food Neri: Seafood Niara: icecream, watermelon, blueberry pancakes, cupcakes Azura: oysters, shellfish, salad, filet mignon Cordelia: sunday roast, fried shrimp, spicy food Ellaria: Mushrooms, coffee, asian cuisine Ginny: strawberries, meat, soup

Least Favourite Food Neri: greasy food, meat, alcohol Niara: most vegetables Azura: fast food, cheap food, candy, cake Cordelia: lentils, fish sandwiches, anything with pumpkin Ellaria: fried foods, asparagus, ketchup Ginny: rhubarb, olives, brussels sprouts, eggplant

As a Family Neri: the adopted sister that comes from an entirely different culture Niara: cheerful youngest sister, always getting into mieschief Azura: the wine aunt Cordelia: oldest sister, often annoyed at her younger siblings but quick to defend them/come to their rescue Ellaria: the mother Ginny: (distant?) cousin

Real-World Nationalities Neri: Danish (as Denmark is associated with the little mermaid) Niara: Dutch (the Netherlands are described as the country of flowers and her devil fruit power is flower-based, so…) Azura: English-Irish (the latter shines through when she's drunk…) Cordelia: Italian Ellaria: Japanese Ginny: Scottish

Inner Brain Neri: probably lot's of excitement over various things that are happening around her or that she wants to give a try Niara: having fun with her friends, pretty things she likes, crushes (well one crush in particular) Azura: is annoyed at stuff and/or people half of the time so that's in her head a lot. Also, training. Cordelia: work hard, party harder, looking hot while doing both Ellaria: the fate of the world, secrets Ginny: training, anger, distrust, more anger

Suited Flower Neri: water iris Niara: sunflower Azura: white lily Cordelia: amaryllis Ellaria: tall garden larkspur Ginny: fire plant

Are they Strawhats? Neri: yes Niara: joins after the timeskip The others: no Azura: is a warlord of the sea Cordelia: works at a bar - it would be a different bar in cannon but she could keep her overall story I guess - might have to join a crew at some point though otherwise the characters would move on without her Ellaria: is with the revolutinary army (at least for some part of her story) Ginny: is with the revolutinary army

Ideas that first popped into my mind when certain OCs came to exist… Neri: it's a show about pirates, there's GOT to be a mermaid Niara: I want a character that uses a devil fruit mmmh what about plants/flowers (strangely enough, none of my pokemon oc's ever cared much about the grass type lol) Azura: I want a cool sword fighting lady Cordelia: I want a hot fierce type of character that looks good in black and that doesn't take anyone's crap Ellaria: came into the picture much later, I only recently decided somewhat on her looks, only things I know for sure is pale green eyes and can sort of see the future. Might never make it into any kind of story but she popped into my mind so here we go. Ginny: falls into the category "looks cute but can probably kill you".

Made some Picrew of them coz I saw other creators doing that

Neri:

Niara: (fun fact, she's currently one of my favorites)

Azura:

Cordelia:

Ellaria: (I'm almost certain I'm gonna keep the color palette and probably the hair...)

Ginny: (not her final look probably but I kinda want to keep the scars idk)

I took her pictures out because I decided on a different look for her. She will be a redhead now. She definitely has a scar or two on her face.

Bonus: A picture drawn by @indig0pearl featuring Neri and her own OC, Sora, as well as Nami, Robin, Chopper, and three of our friends (here also draw as OCs - yes the alpaka is one of them, she ate a devil fruit^^)

[icepopstar5105us]

Old story, but since dpxdc crossovers are a thing now…

MARTIAN MANHUNTER ADOPTS IMMORTAL TIME APPRENTICE DANNY PHANTOM

—

“Danny.” Clockwork said, pulling him into a hug, “I love you, and I wish I could prevent you from experiencing what you must experience. However, the Observants have spoken, and there’s nothing I can do.”

“I’ll be fine, Dad.” Danny smiled sadly, “Besides, I’m immortal now, so I won’t die - well, half die, that is.”

“Rain down the Netherlands on those evil aliens.” Clockwork advised, “And trust only the Martian who is unlike the rest, a martian named J’onn J’onzz, and all whom he sees as comrades. Tell him that you heard of the oncoming threat, and came to help, but didn’t know until recently of the threat. That is the truth. The time stream that we needed started to fade in that area, and I realized too late that it needed to be changed.”

“Thank you, Dad, for everything. I love you, too.” Danny smiled sadly, having realized the fading timeline meant he might not be able to come back.

“I can see you have discovered the risk.” Clockwork smiles sadly, tears in his eyes, “Please, my son, seek to find happiness, and if you decide you need another father figure, I give you my blessing to call him your dad. After all, I only wish for your happiness, and hope you’ll find love wherever you go.”

“Thank you, Dad, goodbye.” A portal opened up, and Danny walked through, “I love you.” Clockwork cried softly, and Danny could hear him through the portal.

“I love you, son. More than you’ll ever know.”

Danny reached his destination, and saw a Martian looking in need of help. The rest of his friends laid scattered dead. Danny saw the evil aliens about to kill him. Danny shot forward, threw them back, and froze them.

“Come on!” Danny told him telepathically. His head shot up as Danny pulled him around a corner.

“What?! Who are you? What are you? Why are you here? Why did you help me?” The Martian sent a whirlwind of questions into his head.

“I’m Danny, or Phantom, and I am a friend who got here too late. I want to help; tell me how, and tell me your name.” Danny told the Martian.

“I am J’onn J’onzz.” The Martian told Danny, “And we need to use this bomb to paralyze the White Martian Invaders, but we need to hide it in a corridor around here!”

“Okay.” Danny grinned, and took the bomb, placing it in the floor using his intangibility.

“Why didn’t I think of that?” The Martian berated himself.

“I dunno, but we gotta go, right, unless you wanna be paralyzed with these guys?” Danny asked. J’onn nodded in agreement, and started running off. The two quickly got lost, and the bombs went off. After a while, they were trapped in with the White Martians, and, when the enemies were free, the two were trapped as examples of what the White Martians have defeated. They sat in their cell, knowing they could not escape without setting the White Martians free. The White Martians were growing restless, and they kept trying to get out, but to no avail. They would torture the two of them for information on how to escape, but neither would say a thing. J’onn listened to Danny’s full life story, and Danny listened to J’onn. The two were close friends, and they plotted ways to annoy the White Martians. They were experiencing the daily torture section 500 years later when...

BOOM! The sound of the doors opening was deafening, the White Martian torturing them ran off, leaving their cell door open. Danny, and J’onn stumbled out, and ran towards the gate to save whatever fool had opened the thing. However, they were too late, and the White Martians took off for earth, leaving a dead human. We looked at each other, eyes wide. They were going to destroy earth!

“Can you fly?” Danny asked J’onn telepathically.

“Yes.” The martian admitted, “But it is a very long way! The White Martians have jets, amongst other things; they’ll get there first! Besides, you know they’ll infiltrate earth slowly. No one will believe us until it’s too late!”

“Then that gives us plenty of time to get there, and hopefully, if we hurry, we can bypass the White Martians.” Danny grinned at J’onn, “I can see a shortcut if we go this way! Come on!”

The martian shook his head, a soft smile on his lips as Danny dragged him away with a sample of the plant used to paralyze the White Martians in his hand, “Sometimes, I forget that you are a child, and then there’s moments like these where I am reminded.” Danny just winked at him, a silly grin on his face. With that they shot off towards Earth. They flew for about a year. The White Martians did get there first, but they accidentally let the two bypass. They landed on earth, and military vans surrounded them.

“Hey, it’s okay!” Danny put his hands in a surrender position as the military, lifted their guns, “We come in peace, the White Martians about to invade your planet that we came to warn you about, not so much.” The militants glared at Danny.

“Capture them.” The general ordered. Danny groaned, and let himself be arrested. J’onn sighed, and let the militants apprehend him as well. The men trapped then in a stasis field, and left them to rot. J’onn, and Danny discovered that they could still communicate fully to each other through telepathy, but to no one else. They decided to send out a message to any inhuman earth citizens, but the messages that were supposed to warn them of danger were jumbled. They pressed on. Then, suddenly, J’onn got the message to a kryptonian.

“I got it through!” J’onn told Danny.

“Good!” Danny thought back happily. There was a bang on the door down the hall, as their savior began to bash his way in.

“Hold it Superman!” a voice demanded from outside the door, “Destroying government property isn’t your style, what’s going on?”

“See for yourself.” The kryptonian told the stranger, and the door was ripped off. Danny could hear their footsteps, and the second door rip open as the two made their way into the room. Danny was glad he was still in Phantom form.

“What are those?”

“Mankind’s only hope.” Superman replied. With that he freed us, and we both stumbled to the ground. Batman caught me, and Superman caught J’onn.

“They were trying to reach out to me telepathically, but because of the stasis field the messages were jumbled up.” Superman told the other, “When I finally understood, I came immediately to save them.”

“What are they doing here?” The other man asked unsurely.

“The invasion.” The two aliens said in sync telepathically. The unknown man stepped back.

“We came to warn you,” Danny continued, “but…”

“We were captured, and imprisoned here.” J’onn sighed.

“They wouldn’t listen.” Danny finished.

“Big surprise.” The guy said sarcastically.

“I sense you do not trust me.” J’onn told him, “Perhaps this will help?” J’onn changed his appearance to one slightly more human-like, the man took a few more steps back, but J’onn didn’t seem to notice as he spoke aloud, “I am J’onn J'onzz.” He held out his hand for a handshake.

“I’m Danny, or Phantom.” Danny grinned at them, “Just FYI.” He flew up, and sat on his comrade’s shoulder. The man’s eyes narrowed.

“Don’t take it personally, guys.” Superman sighed, “He doesn’t trust anybody.”

“A wise policy.” The two others said in sync. They looked at each other, and chuckled slightly.

“Come on,” Superman’s determined voice got their attention quickly, “We’ve got an invasion to stop.” Superman began to walk the group through the large holes he’d made in the walls, and telling them the plan.

“Wow.” Danny muttered, looking at the huge holes in the wall, “You sure did a number on this place.” Superman blushed pink, and Danny blushed a vibrant green. Batman stared at Danny in surprise, but didn’t comment.

“Stop right there, Superman.” The General from earlier growled, “You’re trespassing in a restricted area. Our orders are to keep those freaks here!”

“Wait!” Superman dived in between the heroes, and the General, “I’ll vouch for them! You must let us go!”

“I don’t think so.” The General stated. Danny was starting to get a bad feeling about this.

“But the world’s security might be at stake!” Superman protested.

“That’s why they’ll never leave here alive.” The General and the soldiers behind him morphed into White Martians.

“Oh, come on!” Danny shouted, “Give us a break!!!”

In the ensuing battle, the man, who still hadn’t told Danny his name, didn’t see an invader come up behind him.

“Watch out!” J’onn shouted, and Danny phased through batman, before turning solid and taking the blast.

“DANNY!” Danny heard J’onn shout as he drifted into unconsciousness.

Danny woke up on J’onn’s lap in… a black jet?

“Danny!” J’onn sounded so relieved, “Thank goodness you’re alright.”

“That was close.” The man from earlier stated, while flying the jet.

“We’re not free yet, look.” J’onn turned his head towards the White Martian’s intergalactic space jets.The other man tried to dodge, but eventually a wing was knocked off, and they began to plummet into a ravine. Superman was shot away from behind them. All seemed lost when suddenly, a green light surrounded the jet, and it stopped falling. Danny gasped.

“What happened?” Batman asked.

“Help has arrived.” J’onn replied. Danny looked up, and saw a Green Lantern using the power ring to lift the jet. When he looked another direction, a woman with eagle wings was attacking the jets. He grinned, and intangibly floated up above the jet, the Martian following behind him shortly after. They reached Green Lantern along with Superman.

“Sorry, I’m late.” The Green Lantern told them, “There was an uprising in another galaxy.” They all went into battle, alien ships flying every which way. At some point, another girl joined them along with a man who said his name was Flash. When they finished, they gathered around on a ledge that the man, and his jet had been settled on.

“Oh, where have you been all my life,” Flash flirted with the only non - winged girl in the room.

“Themyscira.” The girl told him.

“Huh?” Flash asked.

“Home of the Amazons.” The girl with wings gasped, “I thought it was a mere legend!”

“I assure you, it’s as real as the ground you stand on.” The other girl told her, “I am Diana, Princess of the Amazons.”

“Pinch me.” Flash sighed, “I must be dreaming!” Danny pinched Flash as hard as he could, making the speedster bruise slightly, “OW!”

“Themyscira is protected by the gods, but I couldn’t idly stand by while the rest of the world was in danger.” Diana told us solemnly.

“It was lucky you showed up when you did.” Superman nodded.

“No, not luck.” J’onn told them, “I telepathically summoned them.”

“I might be pretty quick on the uptake, but will someone please tell me what the heck is going on here!” Flash begged.

Danny POV

“First, I think we need names, or code names, or whatever you’re using, and a basic explanation of what you are.” I sighed, “I’m getting tired of calling you that man in Black, the girl with wings, and, well, you get the point.”

“Fair enough.” Green Lantern sighed, “I’m the current Green Lantern.”

“I’m the Flash, I’m a metahuman, or a human with special powers.

“I’m Batman. I’m human.” Finally, a name!

“I’m Hawkgirl, and if you call me a girl with wings again, and objectify me, I’ll smack you with my mace. I’m an alien.”

“I’m Superman. I’m an alien.”

“I’m J’onn J’onzz. I’m an alien, Martian in fact.” My almost father figure, and friend told the group.

“I’m Phantom or Danny,” I sighed, “Kinda depends what day it is, what form I’m in, and who’s talking.”

“Wait, What?” Flash asked confused.

“Just call me Phantom.” I blushed green, “I’m a spirit from another dimension. I was sent to save mars, but got there too late, and then got trapped in this dimension. Managed to keep J’onn alive though. Maybe I can save all of this Earth this time. Batman, why don’t you tell us what you already know first.” Batman explained his part of things, and Superman joined in every once while.

“So you came to earth to warn us?” Hawk girl asked.

“This is just too weird.” Flash mumbled.

“I’ve seen stranger things.” Green Lantern announced.

“We encountered them a thousand or few earth years ago.” J’onn sighed, “It was a golden age, and on Mars we were at the precipice of our time. Then…” I stepped closer to him comfortingly, “They arrived. Where they came from, no one knew, and they were determined to make our planet their own. The Martians were peaceful people, but we quickly adapted to the ways of war. For centuries the battle raged on, every trace of our once great civilization was obliterated, but the invaders were parasites that fed off of our psychic energy. As we grew weaker they grew stronger. They even absorbed our telepathic, and shapeshifting abilities. A group of Martians made one final, desperate attack, but the rest of the group was killed, and I was unable to find a place to hide a final bomb. Then, Danny saved me from the pursuing invaders, and hid the final bomb. Once that was done, we sought for a way out, but it was for naught. We were paralyzed with the rest of the invaders while the door to our escape slammed shut. When the gas wore off, the invaders found us, and after realizing they were trapped by us, kept to to question us for information on how to escape. About an Earth year ago, a human accidentally set free the invaders. They set their sight on earth. Danny, and I then went to warn you, but were captured.”

“Wait.” Flash said, “Those astronauts never said anything about finding life on Mars.”

“Some person in Washington DC probably decided to keep it all hush, hush.” Green Lantern snorted.

“While we were held captive,” I chimed in, “They probably removed the deep space monitoring network, seeing as that would prevent you guys from ever seeing them coming.”

“We gotta stop them before it’s too late.” Green Lantern puffed out his chest.

Me and J’onn shared a look, “It may already be too late.” We said in sync.

“That’s creepy.” Flash shivered.

“Deal with it.” I shrugged. Then there was a loud crackling sound from afar. I dropped my silly disposition, and my face turned serious.

“It has begun.” J’onn confirmed my fears, “The invaders are nocturnal. They walk not in the sun, so they’re blocking it out so that it cannot harm them.”

“Friends of yours?” Flash teased Batman.

Batman scowled, “It’s no joke.”

“What’s the big problem, can’t you just whip our another batch of that nerve gas?” Flash asked.

“He had the plant it was made from, but it was destroyed when we were captured. It was the last of it’s kind as well.” I stated grimly.

“Uh… what’s plan B?” Flash asked.

“We have to take out those factories.” Diana said boldly.

“Lady, this is no job for amateurs - or for children!” Green Lantern scowled.

“Hey! We Amazons are warriors born, want to test me?” Diana scoffed.

“The world is at stake, and you’re arguing about how old I am? Besides, don’t you need all the help you can get?” I asked rhetorically.

“He’s right,” Superman said, “John, we need all the help we can get, even if it’s not as experienced.”

“Fine. We need to cover as much ground as possible; we’ll need to split into several groups.” Green Lantern explained.

Flash zoomed over beside Diana, “Dibs on the Amazon!”

Flash ended up with me, and Green Lantern’s group. He was pouting as he ran over the water.

“You are no fun.” He complained.

“This is not supposed to be fun.” Green Lantern stated.

“Besides,” I rolled my eyes, “You were creeping her out. You’d just distract the others with your flirting.”

“Right, and there’s no place for distractions.” Green Lantern agreed.

“However, you, sir, shouldn’t have been so harsh about it. Also, sometimes a little bit of humor, brightens up the darkest times. If I had died with a happier thought, maybe I wouldn’t be stuck like this for eternity.” We reached the shore, and rushed to our designated location.

“Let’s discuss the plan.” Green Lantern told us. I nodded willingly, but Flash has other ideas.

“What plan?” He scoffed, “We kick their butts, right?” He ran off, and got stuck in some slime that was puddling on the ground.

“Fool.” Green Lantern muttered, “We gotta save him now.”

“True.” I sighed, and shot an ectoplasmic blast out of my fingertip, and made one of the attacking invader’s machines’ legs fall off. Green Lantern then went to save Flash while I defended them. Then, right as Flash was freed, I got hit.

“PHANTOM!!!” Green Lantern shouted. I shakily stood up, only to collapse. I sighed, and Flash picked me up. I passed out. I dazedly woke up to someone poking me, and my body feeling shaky. I at first assumed I had been through another torture session.

“I’ll… be… fine…” I murmured, “Just give me a few minutes J’onn. What did they do this time?”

“Phantom! Wake up!” The voice sounded desperate. I mumbled something incoherent, and then I heard someone say something that always woke me up.

“Hey, Danny, time to eat!” Flash’s words caused me to shoot up. Flash laughed at my disappointed face when I realized there was no food.

“Seriously?” Green Lantern asked.

“Hey, I’m eternally a teenager, what can I say?” I laughed.

“We’re reaching the randevu point.” Green Lantern sighed, “There’s going to be chaos; we might need to step in, by the way, we won.”

“Oh. Yeah, another world is ending.” I remembered.

I flew throughout the city, saving several people. I could see Green Lantern, and Flash doing the same. We reached the building we’d agreed to stop at, and landed beside J’onn, and Diana.

“Hey sorry we’re late,” Green Lantern apologized, “We had to help some civilians.”

“What’d you call us back for?” Flash asked.

“Superman, and Hawkgirl have been captured! They’re somewhere in there.” Diana gestured to the massive factory in the distance.

“Whoa.” Flash muttered.

“Wait.” I paused, “What about Batman?”

“He acted bravely until the very end.” J’onn looked grim as he said this, but I could tell he knew something more. Batman wasn’t dead, but they needed to think he was. I stepped back in false surprise.

“The bat’s dead?” Flash asked in horror.

“He was a true warrior.” Diana said, clearly believing him to be dead.

“This is not good.” Green Lantern stepped forward, “Definitely not good.”

We snuck off towards the factory shortly after.

“I can’t believe we’re doing this again.” Flash mumbled.

“Superman, and Hawkgirl are in there, someone’s gotta rescue them.” Green Lantern told him, “We are going to rescue them, right, J’onn?”

“Yes, your friends are still alive, but we must act quickly, the imperial is coming.” J’onn told us.

“Oh great.” I muttered, “The imperial.”

“The Who?” Flash asked.

“The imperial is like a giant mastermind invader.” I supplied, “It’s an intelligent disgusting blob that leads them.”

“My companion is correct, though his explanation is simplified.” J’onn confirmed

“Can we trust these space guys?” Flash asked, “I mean, Phantom and J’onn know an awful lot about the invaders.”

“Do we have a choice?” Green Lantern asked.

“I can hear you know.” I told them annoyed, “We literally flew for a year straight from Mars to Earth to warn about this, then we got captured, put into stasis, and now we’re trying to save you from an enemy that has killed J’onn’s family, and then did things you see in your worst nightmares when they captured us. I would recommend trusting us, because right now, our knowledge from being through this, and being their prisoner is saving your life.”

“Good point.” Flash mumbled.

“Let’s get moving.” Green Lantern stood up, and we all stood up shortly after, “Flash, you’re distraction, Diana watch my back.”

“You wanna rely on an amateur?” Diana threw Green Lantern’s words in his face.

Green Lantern ignored her, “Let’s go.”

While Flash caused a distraction, we snuck into the factory.

“Where do we go?” Green Lantern asked.

“This way.” Me and him said in sync, and turned the direction we sensed their minds.

“Creepy.” Diana muttered. We heard the invaders, and dived behind a wall.

“Wait here.” J’onn whispered, and shape shifted into an invader. He pretended that he was going to help them capture us, and as the two invaders ran off, he transformed back into whatever he turned himself into for Batman. It was kinda weird to see him like this after 500 years of seeing him in his regular form. I watched as he killed the two invaders in front of all of us, a dark, haunted look in his eyes.

“Is it just me, or does he creep you out too?” Flash asked thin air.

“It’s just you.” I glared.

We followed him into the caves, and both me and J’onn said, “We’re almost there.”

“They’re somewhere behind these walls.” I said.

“Yes, I can sense it too.” J’onn nodded. Green Lantern used his ring to cut open the door way. They all entered, but me, and J’onn froze after the first step inside.

“Something’s not right.” We shouted.

“Guys!” I realized as Superman, and Hawkgirl opened their eyes, “It’s a trap!”

“Wha-?” Flash asked, before a gas emitted from the walls. I coughed, and passed out.

I watched as J’onn was beaten, tears in my eyes, “J’ONN!” The invader who was next to me just lifted his whip, and hit my back again. I struggled against their rope - like material made special to hold me.

“Danny…” J’onn rasped, “I’ll be okay.” The invader kicked him, and he grunted. He jerked forward. I watched as the invaders threw in the healing gas, and flinched as it knocked me out once more. When I awoke, I ran to J’onn, hugging him. He grunted in surprise.

“Don’t do that again.” I sobbed, “They could’ve killed you, they could’ve killed you!”

“Phantom…” a distant voice said, “Phantom…”

“Phantom? Phantom!” Another voice said distantly

“PHANTOM!” Hawkgirl screamed, and I jolted awake.

“You were the only one still asleep.” She explained, and the memories came rushing back.

“Oh no.” I muttered, “Oh no, no, no, no! NO! Please no. I can’t be captured again, they can’t do this again. Please, please, please.”

“Phantom?” Diana asked, “Phantom what’s wrong?”

I ignored her, continuing to panic, “Oh, god, oh god. I can’t do this. Not again. Not again. I can’t do it! I can’t do it!”

“What’d you do?” Flash asked.

“Nothing.” Hawkgirl defended.

“Danny…” J’onn telepathically connected to Danny, “It’s alright. They won’t hurt you. I won’t let them. I promise.”

“Promise…” Danny asked J’onn aloud, looking like a hurt puppy.

“If they do, they’ll have a very angry Martian on their hands.” J’onn told Danny telepathically, and Danny took some deep breaths.

“What was that?” Flash asked.

“I don’t wanna talk about it right now.” Danny mumbled.

“Fair enough.” Green Lantern nodded.

Suddenly a bunch of invaders appeared, and one for them morphed into a human.

“Senator Connor.” Superman glared. The invader then decided to talk about his brilliant plan to trick Superman, and the world.

“You made it so humanity never stood a chance.” The invader finished.

“It’s not over yet.” Superman defied.

“Wrong again, Superman.” The roof opened up, and the imperial landed in the center of the room.

[bopinion]

2023 / 47

Aperçu of the week:

"Anyone who wants to save money for the future these days also believes that standing still is the most energy-saving way to reach the goal."

(Sascha Lobo, German media personality and columnist)

Bad News of the Week:

Western democracies have always been able to come to terms with right-wing political currents. Even when they have established themselves. Marine LePen from the Rassemblement National, for example, repeatedly makes it to the run-off for the office of president. It seems fundamentally impossible that she would win. After all, there is always a solid majority of upright democrats who stand together and would never accept that a right-winger could actually take a seat in government.

And now that is exactly what has happened. A right politician at the head of state. In a western democracy. In our immediate neighborhood. In the Netherlands. Geert Wilders and his Partij voor de Vrijheid (Party for Freedom) won the elections there by a clear margin. He is laying claim to the office of Prime Minister. And has a good chance of forming a coalition with a solid parliamentary majority.

Wilders has made a name for himself over the years primarily as an enemy of migration - although that's what always gets me most excited about former colonial powers. Closing borders, banning the Koran, deporting asylum seekers. He has refrained from using these harsh tones in this election campaign. Certainly more out of tactical considerations than out of an actual change of opinion. And was therefore probably elected after 11 years of Mark Rutte as a contrasting program to "business as usual".

A look at Italy provides some hope. There, Georgia Meloni from the right Fratelli d'Italia became head of government for the first time in the West just over a year ago. And is proving to be much less radical in day-to-day politics than in the election campaign. "The office is stronger than the person" is often said. If that is the case, our democracies will be able to withstand it.

Nevertheless, I am increasingly worried that right-wing extremist ideas are becoming more and more acceptable in society. Elections will be held in several eastern German states next year. And the far-right (officially listed as such by the constitution protection agency) AfD is leading all the polls. Next year's European elections could also see a landslide to the right. Whereby the right-wing parties of the EU actually stand for the exact opposite of European ideals. That leaves me stunned.

Good News of the Week:

When Germany's political parties disagree on whether a law complies with the constitution, they appeal to the "Federal Constitutional Court", our Supreme Court. These guardians of our fundamental law then interpret it in a non-partisan way and the discussion is settled. So far, this has always worked excellently, the judges have always lived up to the claim and can be regarded as an absolutely neutral supreme authority.

Now they have once again did justice to this responsibility by literally upholding a decision made by the last "grand coalition" of conservatives and social democrats in 2020. It was about electoral law reform, an issue that directly affects the parties and the basis of their political activity - free elections. And therefore unsurprisingly met with little approval from the opposition parties at the time. In essence, the issue is whether a candidate for a seat in the Bundestag who wins in his or her constituency gets a seat in the parliament even if the party to which he or she belongs would actually be entitled to a lower percentage of seats nationwide. And if so, whether the other parties are then entitled to compensation. The latter was limited by the reform, the former was not.

In my opinion - and I have no legal interpretation skills whatsoever, but I do have a healthy sense of justice - this is absolutely fine. For two reasons. Firstly, according to the constitution, MPs are only bound by their conscience in their work. And therefore theoretically not to any party (not even their own). This premise has been strengthened. Secondly, every vote must be worth the same. If a candidate who has clearly won their constituency does not get a seat in parliament, their votes would no longer count. And no one in that constituency would have the representation to which they were entitled.

I am aware that the regulation - which, by the way, is being called into question by the at the moment ruling coalition in the current legislative period - mainly benefits the small parties CSU (Christian Social Union) and Die Linke (The Left). I am largely unconvinced by their programs and positions. But that doesn't change the fact that I defend their right to exist in parliament. If they are elected, they are elected. Period. In this respect, I am once again very satisfied with our political system.

Personal happy moment of the week:

On Sunday, I remembered boiling hot that I had overlooked a task from work. The shock was huge. Especially when I realized that I wouldn't be able to iron out this lapse on my own. So I dropped my pants in front of my co-workers. And I had a wonderful experience of collegiality: four (!) colleagues put their own plans for the start of the week on hold to help me out of the mess. It feels good. Thank you very much!

I couldn't care less...

...about black week. Because Germany experienced its very own kind of black week: the budget plans for 2023 were retroactively thrown out the window. And the German national soccer team saw its slight hopes of an improved performance dashed by losing matches against Turkey and Austria - what hurts us especially.

As I write this...

...winter has come to Bavaria. And it really did. Unfortunately, due to scheduling problems with the dealership, we haven't received our winter tires yet. As a result, I'm riding my bike to the station in snow flurries and minus 5 degrees Celsius (which always seems colder to me at the beginning of winter than minus 15 in February) to wait outside for a winter-delayed train. But winter is still beautiful. I bravely remind myself of that.

Post Scriptum

90 years ago, the Holodomor occurred in what is now Ukraine. The term Holodomor ( Голодомор - 'killing by hunger') stands for the famine in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in the 1930s. An estimated three to seven million people fell victim to famine during this period. Since independence in 1991, the Ukrainian government has been seeking international recognition of the Holodomor as genocide. This assessment is gaining increasing support, but is being criticized by the Russian government in particular. This is hardly surprising.

After all, it was Joseph Stalin who pursued the political goal of suppressing the Ukrainian desire for freedom and consolidating Soviet rule in Ukraine. In the spirit of Russification, Ukrainian culture was to be eradicated. This included the murder of around 10,000 clerics, the deportation of more than 50,000 intellectuals to Siberia - and the death of millions of the largely peasant population. No wonder that people in Ukraine tend to get scared when the current Russian tsar dreams of good old Soviet times.

[elisysd]

12. You could be my luck even if the sky is falling down

Masterlist - Previously - Next

Chapter soundtrack: Safe and Sound - Capital Cities

Julia woke up early the next morning, too excited at the prospect to spend a whole day with her family. It had been so long. Sure, it would not be just her family as the Verstappens would join them but it was a detail. She was so happy when Louis said that he would come, something she had never thought he would, especially since it would be a loud place despite having privatized the whole thing for the day. WHen she asked Louis if he was sure he would like to come, he had told her that he wanted to see Ethan more. That he wanted to be a good brother to Julia and try to be a friend to Ethan. He didn’t know how and he didn’t really find a tutorial on the internet on how to make friends but Julia was his favorite person on this planet and he wanted to make an effort. For her. And Julia had almost cried. A mix of feeling her heart swell at his words, and a pang of guilt that she hated.

She expected to be the only one awake at this hour but her mom had beaten her to it. The usually neat and clean living-room was filled with red and yellow flags that Julia was quick to recognise, caps, t shirts and other accessories belonging to her dad ack when he was racing. Soon, Lyanna came back from the kitchen, wearing a full red outfit in clear support of her husband. Julia noticed her top with the name and number of her dad and laughed slightly. Her mom had always been Charles’ number one supporter.

“You go all in, for today.” commented Julia.

“It’s been so long since I’ve had the occasion to cheer on your dad. I missed it.”

“You know, you should come to one or two races. We are soon starting the European ones. I’m sure dad would love to have you there. And I do too.”

“I’ll be in Monaco, as I do every year. For other ones… I can’t leave your brother alone.”

“Maybe Louis could come?”

“You know how it would be, Ju’. The noise, the crowd… it would be too overwhelming. And he is not that interested in racing.”

“You should let him decide by himself. And I’m not so sure he would say no… Maybe if Ethan manages to befriend him, Louis would go.”

“That would be funny. Do you know how many times your dad asked Louis if he wanted to come with him on race tracks and Louis said no? And there would come around Ethan and Louis would agree. I can’t even imagine how your dad would feel.”

“Yeah, another reason to add on his list of ‘why Ethan is bad for Julia’.” She sighed as her mom served her a cup of tea.

“Your dad loves to tease you but he likes Ethan. He always liked him, it won’t change now that you guys are dating.”

Julia drank her tea in one gulp, avoiding her mother’s glance. She felt the liquid burning her tongue and throat and almost spitted it out. Her mom was too busy preparing everything to notice her daughter’s pain as she took out some cardboards and felt tips from a cupboard.

“Do you want to make some to cheer Ethan and your dad?”

“Mom… I’m not four anymore.” complained Julia.

“Come on, it will be fun!”

Julia rolled her eyes and was thankful when she saw Louis' silhouette emerging in the kitchen, his brown hair all over the place and his eyes behind his glasses barely open. He high fived his sister as usual. It was their own way to say good morning to each other, and let his mom kiss his cheek before taking place on the kitchen stool. Lyanna was quick to serve him his breakfast as he was looking at the mess on the kitchen counter.

“Do you wanna make supportive cardboards for dad and Ethan?” asked Julia.

He shrugged but actually took a pen and a cardboard before silently starting to draw some lines that Julia quickly recognised as a helmet. As she thought Louis was about to aim for the red color, she was surprised to see him take the navy blue and color his drawing.

“I bet Ethan will love it.” she said.

“I watched some videos of him. Did you know that he had the belgian flag and the netherland one on it? He said because this way he always has a piece of his dad with him when he is racing and it gives him strength.”

Julia didn’t know. She never really paid attention to Ethan’s helmet and she didn’t feel like pretending she knew about it.

“Did you watch a lot of videos about Ethan?”

“Some. It helped me to make a list of questions I can ask him and topics we can talk about, so I don’t feel weird. It’s doctor Rinaldi who told me that it could help me, especially in situations where I could feel anxious.”

“I’m sure Ethan will be happy to see you supporting him. It will help him beat dad, you’ll see. You’ll be his lucky charm.”

“Who will be a lucky charm?” asked Charles, entering the room, all ready to race.

He had a bright smile on his face and Julia could see the glimpse of excitement he always had in his eyes whenever he was about to be near a racing track.

“I’ll support Ethan.” Louis simply explained.

“I’m wounded, Louis. Deeply. How dare you betray me like that?” feigned Charles, a hand on his heart.

“You are fine. And I’ve never really supported you, so you can’t feel betrayed.” stated Louis making Julia laugh.

“Yeah, that’s true, munchkin. And you are right, Ethan will need every little bit of support he can get because I won’t go easy on him.”

“The opposite would have been surprising.” told Julia, nibbling on a lemon cake.

“What about you? Who are you supporting?” asked Lyanna.

“Whoever will be in front at the first corner.” joked Julia, standing up and leaving the kitchen to prepare herself.

They finally arrived on the karting track where the Verstappens were already there. Ethan was already in his racing suit and was sitting on a picnic table, on his own, playing on his phone. As her family was making its way in the building after saying hello to Ethan, Julia stayed behind and sat next to him.

“How do you feel?”

“Good. I didn’t go back to the penthouse after yesterday. I didn’t want to see anyone. Or to speak to my dad. Didn’t even say anything to him this morning when they arrived. I don’t want to end up saying something that I will regret and I don’t want to fuck up my race and give him a reason to criticize me again.”

“Max didn’t really criticize you… I do think he just wants what’s best for you and he just doesn’t know how to show it.”

“Yeah he does a pretty bad job. But I don’t want to think about it. Do you want to see something?”

“Depends…” she said suspiciously.

Ethan scrolled down on his phone before showing her a picture. It was the cactus, proudly sitting next to a little replica of his helmet on his bedside table. Julia laughed. She found that as weird as it was adorable.They talked for a bit about how Ethan was going to manage the race and if he was anxious. He was not, he was excited and determined to win. That would be something he would brag about for a long time. Soon, Louis came to them a bit shy.

“Hey… dad is ready. He is waiting for you.”

“Let’s go then.” said Ethan.

“Ethan, hey? I just want to wish you good luck.” said Louis, avoiding Ethan’s gaze.

“Thank you, buddy. It means a lot. I’m sure it will make a difference on the track!”

Louis smiled at him and they all headed to the track. Max and his wife were talking to her mom, laughing together. Julia and Louis joined them as Ethan was making his way to Charles that was already in his kart, ready to go. It didn’t take long for Charles to take the lead as Ethan was trying his best to catch up to him. Julia found that funny. She couldn’t help but think that it would be a nice bruise to Ethan’s ego but she didn’t really want to hear her dad bragging about it all day long. So when Ethan was about to be overlapped by her dad, she started to scream his name as loud as she could to support him. But still, Ethan was pretty pissed off when he crossed the line almost a minute after Charles who was still in the kart but had taken his helmet off.

“Well, I have to admit it was fun,” said Charles.

“Fun wouldn’t be the word I would use to describe it. Humiliating would be much more fitting.”

“Maybe Max can join us for another round, what do you think?”

Ethan tensed up. Sure he would love to race against his dad but he didn’t want him to have another reason to say how he needed to work on his trajectories. But he didn’t have much time to explain it to Charles as he was slowly driving to the grandstands to talk to Max.

“Hey, Verstappen? A little race to remind us of the good times? You’re up for it?”

Max looked to Ethan who had still his visor on and was not moving.

“I don’t want to give Ethan another reason to hate me.”

“I’m sure he would love that actually. He just wants to bond with you. With his dad. Drop the World Champion act for a race, would you.”

Max looked at Charles and then to Louis who was busy talking with Julia who was explaining something to him.

“If you want to make this race a bonding moment between father and son, maybe Louis could join us as well.”

“Louis doesn’t like karting. I don’t want to force him.”

But Max didn’t really care and walked to the brother and sister.

“Louis? Would you like to try karting later? Julia, you are welcome too.”

“I don’t know. I’ve never tried it. I don’t know how it works.” replied Louis.

“Ethan could show you! I’m sure he would like it.” said Julia. “It could be a team race. You could be with dad and Ethan could be with his dad? What do you think?”

“I’ll think about it.” replied Louis but Julia saw a spark that was not there a few minutes ago, as if being treated like a normal teenage boy was something he was not expecting to happen.

It took a while before Max joined them and this time the race was not as easy for Charles. He was busy trying to defend against Max who had not forgotten anything about being ruthless on tracks but their little fight allowed Ethan to not get distanced easily. It was his time to prove to his dad that he was underestimating him. As Charles managed to put a little distance with his rival, Ethan was now battling against his dad and didn't hesitate to bump into him. It was a petty move from him, he had to admit, but it cost his dad his trajectory and allowed Ethan to put a few meters between them. And Ethan was so happy to cross the line before his dad that seeing Charles winning once again didn’t bother him much. As Ethan took his helmet off, his dad came next to him.

“That was an ugly stunt you pulled out there but well done.”

“You would have done the same thing.”

“Yeah, it’s true. But I had fun. What do you think about making it a new habit? Everytime you come back home we take one hour to ourselves to go karting together.”

“I would actually love that.”

In the meantime Louis was trying to make her mom let him try racing to which Lya was worried. After all, he still had his ankle in a cast and Lya was scared he would get hurt even more.

“I just want to try normal stuff and have fun like a normal boy, mom! I don’t care if it hurts after. I just want to try.”

“Louis… I just want you to be sure. You hate feeling trapped, you will have seatbelts on and a helmet. And it will be loud. You can’t have your noise canceling headphones, darling.”explained Lya.

“I know and maybe it will be just a one time only but, I want to try. Please, mom.”

Lyanna sighed and looked at Julia in the hope that she would pick her side. The brunette just shook her head in order to make her mom understand that it was something she would not interfere in. Finally, seeing her son so excited and genuinely happy to participate in something, Lyanna abdicated and let Louis go to Ethan who proceeded to explain everything to him. Next to her mom, Julia was observing the scene. They were cute. Louis seemed to really like Ethan and it was one of the first times that she was seeing Ethan smiling so carefreely. He looked younger and Julia found herself thinking he was really cute when he was not serious or behaving like an arrogant prick. She liked this version of him and she wished she would see it more often. As Ethan was helping set Louis up, he looked over to her and winked at her as he gave her a slight thumbs up to tell her that all was well.

Of course, the race was different, slower as no one wanted Louis to feel humiliated. Ethan ever slowed down enough to let Louis overtake him and at the end, Louis snatched the third position, in front of Ethan but behind his dad. As Louis was trying to leave the car, Ethan went up to him to help him.

“Hey, buddy! That was a nice race, right? You were good.”

“You let me overtake you.”Ethan could hear the anger in his voice.

“I mean… I wanted you to have fun, not to be last.”

“I don’t like that. I want to win fair and square, I don’t want to be helped or to be advantaged or to be treated like a kid. That’s not nice.”

Ethan could see him struggling to get out of the kart. He offered him his hand to help him get out of it, to which Louis refused, saying that he would be fine by himself. On the other side of the room, Lyanna was helping a very struggling Charles get out of the car, without trying to get noticed.

“My back… fuck it hurts.” he complained.

“Told you, honey. You are not twenty anymore. That was a stupid idea.”

“But it was worth it. I won, and I had a very nice moment on track with Louis. So I don’t care about the pain. Could you maybe give me a nice massage tonight, you know to ease the pain? And maybe a few kisses would help.”

“Just a few?” teased Lyanna.

Soon everyone was out of the building and ready to leave. Ethan was chatting with Louis who was, no doubt about it, telling him anecdotes about silly things. If it could be boring for most people, it was not for Ethan. He liked Louis and Louis liked him. Not once did he mention that he was autistic or asked questions about it. And it felt good for the teenager that, for the first time in a long time, felt like he was not treated differently, that he belonged somewhere. Julia joined them after helping her mom by putting all the cardboards and flags in the trunk of the car. They were laughing so much that she was scared to interrupt, but the warm smile of Ethan and his hand offered to her made her relax. She took it as he pulled her against him and her head found naturally against his chest as he draped an arm around her shoulders.

“Can Ethan come eat at home? I don’t want him to leave and I want to show him my comic books collection, he says he wanted to see it. Right, Ethan?”

“Well, I don’t want you to feel forced to do anything… maybe you are tired and I would understand if you wanted to go back to your place to rest.”

“I would like to spend more time with you both, actually. And with your parents as well. You dined at mine, it’s only fair that I dine at yours. But I don’t want to intrude.”

“You won’t. My mom will love it.”

And indeed Lyanna was over the moon when Julia asked her if Ethan could come for dinner, and to her surprise, Charles was happy too. Ethan was a little scared, he had to admit, at the idea of dining to Julia’s parents. All of that was making the lie all too real and he understood Julia better when she had told him that Louis could never know the truth about them. He was a nice kid, full of life and so intelligent. And he never stopped praising Julia. It was like she was holding the sun, the moon and the stars for him. He was looking up to her so much. Ethan found it sweet and it made him regret a little to be an only child. He would have loved to have someone like Louis alongside him. And deep down, he made the promise to himself that no matter what would happen between him and Julia, he would always have a place for Louis in his life.

As Lyanna was preparing dinner, helped by Julia, Louis almost took Ethan by the sleeve to show him his room and his comic books. Nothing could have prepared Ethan for what he saw, with all the books that were there, Louis could easily open a bookstores or a library. Louis carefully explained how everything was organized and what books he preferred and why, it could have lasted hours if Julia had not come to interrupt them and as Ethan was walking away, Louis made him promise to come back soon so he could show him what he had not the occasion to.

“Louis adores you. I’ve never seen him open up so easily to someone.”

“It’s not hard to love him.” shrugged Ethan as they were taking place around the table.

The dinner went well, full of laughs and for once, Louis didn’t put his headphones on and participate in the conversation that revolved mainly around Ethan, before moving to Ethan and Julia.

“Do you still have Julia’s bite mark from preschool?” asked Lyanna.

“I do, actually. Your daughter left her mark on me. I was hers from the very beginning. It just took us twenty years to admit it and find our ways to each other.”

“It has to be like that sometimes. It’s all about timing. The right time at the right place. It just nice to see her so happy around you.”

“Mom…” complained Julia.

“It’s true. I’ve never seen you smile that big and that much. You’ve always been so closed off, not letting people come near you. So focused on your studies and career. It’s your biggest strength but also your biggest weakness. I’m just happy you let someone like Ethan get through you.”

“Don’t think it was easy, Mrs Leclerc…”

“Call me Lyanna, Ethan please.”

“Lyanna, right. Julia knows what she wants and doesn’t settle for less than what she deserves. As she should, by the way. I just had to prove to her that I was what she needed.”

“That’s very arrogant of you to say.” replied Julia.

“You will learn that the Leclerc women are hard to get, Ethan. Her mom was the same. But once you have them, they change your life for the better, right love?” said Charles, looking tenderly at his wife.

“I’m just so happy for you darling. You have no idea.”

Julia could see her mom almost crying and it was like a reality check of the pain that she would inevitably cause her, whether she would learn the truth or not. Julia faked a smile and excused herself. Ethan noticed the subtle change in her attitude and stood up as well, following her to the garden.

“Julia? What’s wrong? Did I say something that I wasn’t supposed to?”

“No, you didn’t. It’s just that… When did it become so easy to lie to them? The more we talk, the bigger the hole we are digging for ourselves becomes. It will end up in a mess Ethan. If the truth comes out, it will destroy everything. My parents, your parents, our careers, our friends, Louis… oh gosh Louis. He loves you so much, he is already so attached to you. I can’t do that. He can’t know. Never, you hear me. Never. I…” tears were falling down her face and her breathing was erratic.

“Julia… hey. Look at me. He won’t know. I don’t want him to know either, I like this kid, okay?”

“I hate that. I hate this situation. I thought it would be harmless, that it would only be a little lie, but now everyone is involved and we are both too deep into it. I’ve never imagined that faking a relationship with you would make me feel like that…”

“Faking? You are not really in love with my sister?”

From behind a bush, Louis appeared, his mouth agape and tears rolling down his face and Julia felt her heart shattered in a million pieces.

Author's note: Well, well, well... it seems like the secret is out...What do you think will happen next? Let me know your theories, I love to read them.

Don't hesitate to leave a comment or an ask, as well as reblogging and leaving a like. It helps a lot for the story to find its audience. I also have a taglist for this story, so if you want to be added so you never miss a chapter, let me know.

Taglist:

@herondalism @aundercover @musingsbyshreya @karmabyfernando @reengard @mycenterfold @smoooothoperator

[notafraidofredyellowandblue]

even with that result of the proceedings, for some people till will remain a perpetrator. i kind of don't want it be know anymore that i like rammstein, because of being scared of how others will react.. but that's probably sth everyone will have to figure out for themselves, isn't it? i was curious of how you personally would go about it, if people accuse you of idk.. "protecting an offender" or sth similar?

The important thing is that no evidence or actual cases have been raised with regards to criminal facts: No evidence of drinks getting spiked, and no evidence of sex against people's will.

just out of interest i looked up the meaning of the word 'perpetrator', and found

"a person who carries out a harmful, illegal, or immoral act."

"a person who commits a crime"

well, for the illegal and crime no evidence has been found, so objectively speaking that is off the table. But 'immoral' is a different matter, i looked that up too

"not confirming to accepted standards of morality"

And this is, i think, where it gets 'greyscale' and not just black or white /right or wrong, after all, what are 'accepted standards'... apart from that being very different depending on your own background and culture, i also think that changes over time... for example (i picked some random examples, not related to Rammstein)

when i started working in an office, it was completely normal that everyone could smoke at their desk, ashtrays were available in every room, and frequently used. Later that wasn't allowed, but in every hallway there was a smoking cabine. Then the smoking cabines were reduced to one per building. Then one in every 5 buildings. Since this year smoking is completely prohibited where i work, not in buildings, not in your car and not outside, you have to leave the complex entirely and go to the neighbouring town if you want to smoke

when i was young, in my country (Netherlands) it was completelly normal for women to sunbathe with their top off, so 'oben ohne' (as they say in German 😊). Not that everybody did it, but if someone did, no one would look twice. Nowadays it occurs far less, both due to healthrisks (i heard a talk on the radio recently naming this as a reason), but also because because nudity is viewed differently these days. Society as a whole seems to have become a bit more 'prude' than it was years ago.

also in the NL since the early 1980's there used to be a publicly known society (so not just hidden away, all in the open) that strived for 'acceptation of sexual relations between adults and children' (yes, really..). That society has eventually been forbidden in 2012 and has been disbanded.

If you want my personal opinions on these:

as a non-smoker, i'm happy that smoking isn't everywhere anymore, but i do feel it is quite a leap that people aren't allowed ro smoke anywhere anymore on our complex. I would have stayed with the smoking cabines.

i have no problem whatsoever with nudity, ofcourse in places where it's appropriate. When you visit someone you go by the dresscode in that house, the same with public spaces, iow in a religious place you dress the way deemed appropriate by that religion. For healthreasons i can imagine that people tend to dress up in the sun a bit more, but imo nowadays nudity is too easily associated with 'sex', and for me those are two separate things.

I never 'got' that society, and always thought it a step too 'free-thinking' even for the free-thinking country i live in, but it did get me thinkin: where do you draw the line...

Now to the allegations...i think many people, the media, but also fans of Rammstein have reevaluated what they think is 'moral', what their 'standard' is... and i think it's not surprising that over the 30 years that Rammstein existed (and certainly seeing where they are coming from (DDR)) these standards have changed.

In other words, i can fully understand that something that is 'accepted' by some, isn't by others. Or, that was 'accepted' in the past, isn't anymore now.

I think it's very difficult to actually stick a 'right' and a 'wrong' label on it, but that is what people want to do, they want clarity, want to know who to cheer for and who to put down.

Rammstein have always liked to aggrevate people, to annoy, as Paul often likes to say, and they always crossed the limits of some people, but it seems that the lines they crossed in the past have now been redrawn. That while they crossed the lines a little bit, but still had the line in sight (Rammstein quality control imo always had a very good 'gutfeeling' about how far to go), now Rammstein is in the same spot, but that line has been moved further away.

Me personally...i have not moved...yet, i'm still where i was, a tiny bit inside where the line was, some of the Rammstein songs i wouldn't have done myself, but i see what they are doing and it's not that far out of my comfortzone. Some of the things that happen outside of the music are not my thing, but as long as everyone involved is consenting, i feel it shouldn't change because of me.

Now the line has moved...am i now outside the line too? Am i or the way i think immoral? That's what i'm still processing, and i think it's an interesting part of life to deal with. There are people who say things like "it has been fine for all those years, and everything should stay the same, so it still should be fine now". But that's not how it works either, see the examples above..

And after all, life is full of change, life is change, without change, life would cease to be.

But i am still thinking about it 🌺

And maybe it's the same with Rammstein; they are intelligent people, and six very different people with very different personal circles, i could well imagine this has them thinking and reevaluating too.. 🌺 Because i think Rammstein did change things over the years. What makes the sex and blood and stuff work for Rammstein is that they do it amongst themselves. Flake and Till simulating sex on stage (which is too much already for some), imagine if it was a woman gagged with a ball in her mouth (like Flake wore) and Till simulating sex with her...to me that would definitely feel different. Flake whipping Till on stage, or 'Frau Schneider' having the others on the leash, pushing and shoving them if they don't do what she wants...very different if Frau Schneider wasn't actually Christoph... In the past Rammstein did on occasion have woman on stage, also on the 'Bück Dich' small stage, but that didn't last long, and imo that was the right decision. For me the aggravating only works if it's Rammstein themselves. Okay, the DT video has women in it with the actual 'titten' 😊 but one of the ladies gives the horny granddad a slap when he gets frisky, so that's funny in that way. But for me even that video would have been better if the 'Richard' storyline had been more intertwined with the others.

Long post again wasn't it...but what i think i was going for: it's understandable that people reevaluate the standards and how they feel about it. And yes, some will draw the line and not like Rammstein anymore. But that doesn't mean that they are wrong and all the people who think that everything should stay the same are right. And it also doesn't mean vice versa.

Main thing is to always think for yourself, how *you* feel about things. Don't be afraid to reevaluate or to change. But also don't be afraid to love what you love if it feels right for you ❤️

[alex-the-nonsensologist]

Disney Dreamland - Part 4: Fantasyland

(I had already posted about Mysteryland previously, which retroactively makes it Part 3. So we're moving on to the next part.)

Quite possibly the largest of the five lands, probably even beating out my mega-Adventureland. 

Small World Gardens

Located behind Small World, this sprawling area would transition into Storybook Town Square. Flower arrangements inspired by Keukenhof in the Netherlands. Similar to Paris’s Fantasyland, there would be a couple rivers running through the garden with lovely bridges to cross over them. 

Dumbo the Flying Elephant : The Masquerade Circus could be positioned near the Mysteryland/Fantasyland border so that the back of the tents could serve as a backdrop for the Dumbo ride, which would have its own little area in the gardens. I was at a loss on where else to place this ride, but I stubbornly wanted to include it as it is currently the only attraction to be found in all 6 existing castle parks and I didn't want to break that streak.

"Casey Jr. Circus Train": Doesn't have to specifically be Dumbo-themed, I just really want a cute novelty train to wind through the garden, with cute bridges to pass over the walkways and rivers.

“Swan Boats”: Paddle boats. I say “swan boats” but they don’t have to be just swans, but could also resemble other birds such as ducks, geese, and flamingos.

Symphony Gazebo: A gazebo in the garden for a live band to play classical music.

“Windmill snack stand”: I saw a picture of the Old Mill in Paris and thought it looked so charming. German pretzels. 

Storybook Town Square

The town follows in the footsteps of Ananheim’s 1983 overhaul with each building having its own unique look. Would feature a fluid mix of Bavarian and British architecture. The Bavarian half of the town on the west contains “Pinocchio Square” and the theater. The British half on the east contains Peter Pan, Little Nemo (even though Nemo is American), and Mr. Toad. A large fountain stands in the center. Cobblestones would pave the ground. I want this area to evoke the feeling of Paris’s Fantasyland as well as Efteling in the Netherlands . 

Pinocchio’s Daring Escape: Focuses more on escaping Pleasure Island. The only other thing I would change is have all the sets and animatronics appear to be carved out of wood, and have real clothes on the animatronics, for a more high-quality “hand made” look, the implication being the entire ride is a life-sized puppet show. The ride building along with the toy shop and restaurant form a smaller “Pinocchio Square”, which would include a smaller fountain with a statue of Pinocchio.

Geppetto’s Toy Shop: Would feature regular retail plush toys, as well as old fashioned toys like wooden marionettes and wind-ups, as well as cuckoo clocks. Christmas ornaments can also be purchased here.   

Pinocchio’s Pizza Place: Italian cuisine. Basically the Pinocchio Village Haus in Orlando, but with an alliterative name, and also some of the pizzas have toppings decorated to look like Pinocchio smiley faces. Quick service.  

Once Upon a Time Theatre: Hosts live indoor stage shows. While any show with Disney musical medleys is fine, I would much prefer original shows of rarely-featured stories, such as the other tales from the 1001 Arabian Nights, or a stage version of Disney's Return to Oz (which I personally love better as an Oz adaptation than MGM's movie; 2013's Oz the Great and Powerful was meh). Building design would be modeled after the new Fantasyland Forest Theatre in Tokyo.

“German restaurant”: Table service. 

Flight to Neverland: Would utilize the best aspects from each version of the ride. For example, I love that Shanghai’s queue is themed to a London park (Kensington Gardens?), and the chimneys in Paris’s loading dock blow smoke. The building facade would definitely have a functioning clock tower, in homage to Big Ben, but designed to fit with the small town aesthetic. The name change is simply because I feel like guests actually take on the role of the Darling children more than they do Peter.

Little Nemo in Slumberland: Little Nemo may not be a Disney IP, but it has such rich and vibrant imagery, I think it could work really well as a Disney ride. Not to mention it’s in the public domain, so there shouldn’t be any legal issues. In many ways it’s very similar to Peter Pan’s Flight, so maybe it could also help balance the wait times between the two rides. Guests take on the role of Nemo and ride flying beds (or at least, benches that look like beds, with a headboard and a footboard) that soar out the bedroom window. What follows are awe-inspiring, almost surreal, scenes of Slumberland. Things start to distort and become chaotic as the dream turns into a nightmare. Before anything too awful happens, guests “wake up” back in Nemo’s bedroom while the voice of Nemo’s mother scolds us for eating before bed. For visual reference, I recommend the Osamu Dezaki pilot film that was created during the movie’s development, though I obviously wouldn’t put the giant Sauron eye in the ride. 

Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride: Orlando’s former double-track ride, but with Anaheim’s building exterior. I never got to experience this ride and I really want to.

Ever After Castle

Here it is, the traditional centerpiece of all Disney parks, now the centerpiece of Fantasyland instead. I personally think of most Disney castles as tall but not wide. This castle would be slightly different from the traditional Disney castle by taking up more ground space. I hate to sound blasphemous, but for this castle I’m thinking of something similar to Shrek’s Far Far Away Castle in Universal Singapore but with more detailed ornate decorations like Paris’ castle, and the outer walls slightly covered in ivy vines for a more inviting, homely look. It would also stand on top of an elevated foundation, surrounded by a moat. There would be a large courtyard in front of the main castle building, with the carousel placed in the center of it. The gift shop and the meet-and-greet are each placed on either the west or east side of the courtyard. The north of the courtyard would feature the restaurant on the ground floor, the entrance to the underground boat ride, and stairs to the second floor attraction. 

Cinderella’s Carriage Carrousel: Regarding the visual design, I want it to look like the pumpkin carriage turned into a carousel. The canopy could include fiber optic fairy dust that lights up at night.

Be Our Guest Restaurant: French cuisine. I really like Tokyo’s Beauty and the Beast ride and would love to import it, but I respect the OLC’s exclusivity rights too much. I wondered if I could make it a combination ride and restaurant where each table is a ride vehicle, but I worried that would cause motion sickness which is a big no-no for a restaurant. At the very least, for my version I would love to have animatronics perform “Be Our Guest” every 30 minutes or so. Also, perhaps every hour, Belle and Beast performers would come out onto the dance floor and invite guests to waltz with them. Hot Take: The Grey Stuff is very obviously a savory food as it is clearly presented on a tray of hors d'oeuvres in the movie. But since the version currently offered in the parks has been imprinted in fans’ minds I think it’s best to offer two versions: Savory (chicken liver pate) as an appetizer and Sweet (cookies and cream) as a dessert.

Royal Meet-and-Greet: I personally do not care much for meet and greets, but for the people that do, here you can meet the Princesses, some of the Princes, as well as non-Princesses such as Giselle, Esmeralda, and TinkerBell. 

Kingdom Treasures gift shop: Based on the Tokyo shop of the same name. 

Crystal Caverns Canal: Boat ride underneath the castle. My first idea for this ride was basically Voyage to the Crystal Grotto from Shanghai, if all the character statues were built out of crystals and mosaic tiles. Then I realized, there’s probably too much IP already in the land, so I think there could be an original story about the crystals being a source of magic for the kingdom, and have scenes of wizards and fairies harvesting the crystals and creating experiments with them. Sort of a “tour of the workshop” kind of ride. I’m thinking of something with the same vibes as Dreamflight in Efteling. 

Merlin’s Library / Yen Sid’s Library: Located on the second floor of the castle. Originally I wanted a ride in a similar vein to Symbolica in Efteling, but with a story like that of Mystic Manor in Hong Kong. Then I wondered if it would be feasible to have a ride in the second story, so I’m also okay with this being a walkthrough attraction.  I feel either wizard could work here. Merlin is the more well-known wizard, but Yen Sid is easier to create an original backstory for. The basic gist of the attraction is you wander around a library with little vignettes of magical items operating on their own; a quill pen writing  by itself, a large spell book turning its own pages, floating books sorting themselves on the shelves, etc. There could even be some interactive elements, such as paintings that change, or opening a book can project a scene “coming to life” and “escaping” the book.

Fairytale Gardens: Walkthrough garden. There would be lovely little vignettes scattered throughout, including Snow White’s wishing well, a giant beanstalk, and The Sword in the Stone placed in a little alcove in the castle’s outer wall. This would be outside the courtyard. Maybe off to the side, to the west, wrapping around the outer castle wall, next to Shadowland Forest.

Shadowland Forest

Inspired by the Black Forest of Germany, this area features spookier attractions. West of the castle, shares the border with Mysteryland and the Gravity Falls area. There would be plenty of fir, spruce, and pine trees to make it feel like an actual forest, maybe even hide some of the attractions from view. 

Snow White’s Scary Adventures : Building facade would include the Evil Queen peeking out her window. I would place the building nearest to Storybook Town Square, at the edge of the forest.

“Gingerbread Factory Tour” : Based on my twisted Hansel and Gretel dark ride idea. Guests are given a tour of gingerbread golems at work (something like Tim Burton’s version of Wonka’s factory if it were more surreal and set in 1800s Germany), then are chased through obstacles, such as lollipop blades swinging from the walls, and peppermint stick darts, by Hansel and Gretel themselves. They’ve been very distrustful of adults after their parents abandoned them in the woods, and after the witch held them captive. They deem the guests harmless, and let them go but warn them to never come back.

Candy Carnival shop: The ride would exit into a shop themed to a candy carnival safe haven that Hansel and Gretel built for children lost in the woods. Would feature gingerbread treats and a nice selection of old-fashioned candies and German sweets. Guests can also watch bakers and candymakers at work. (Despite the name, there are no actual rides here, just animatronic decorations.)

Dragon Mountain: I wanted a unique “Mountain” ride, much like how the Matterhorn and Everest are unique to their parks. And dragons are cool. Originally this was going to be based on Maleficent, but now I’m leaning more towards an original story. And to put a neat spin on things, instead of a fire-breathing dragon, it would be a wintery ice dragon! I would also love it if the dragon was not portrayed as a mindless, violent beast hoarding treasure, but a parent protecting their child from intruders.

I initially wanted a sub-land recreating Halloween Town (with a spooky "Scare-ousel") but I felt Fantasyland was already overrun with too many IPs (and seven carousels is enough for one park), so here an area is set aside for seasonal Nightmare Before Christmas or Villains themed events, leaving the Haunted Mansion free during the holidays. 

Disney Dreamland Railroad Fantasyland station: Styled after the ruins of a medieval castle. Located on the edge of the forest near Ever After Castle, next to the entrance to Winter Village.

Wonderland

East of the castle, on the border with Create-It-Land. While there would be plenty of natural green, there would also be an abundant mix of giant pink, purple, and turquoise “wildlife”, as seen in the initial scrapped concept art for Tokyo’s expansion. Giant mushrooms in place of benches,  trees decorated with misleading signs, lamp posts that look like giant flowers. March Hare would definitely be included as a walk-around character alongside Hatter and Alice. People often forget the tea party took place at the Hare’s and mistakenly believe Hatter to be the host, and I will not stand for this March Hare erasure.  I would also have plenty of card soldiers roaming around, “patrolling” the area.

Down the Rabbit-Hole: An upside-down funhouse with wonky mirrors, and trick doors galore! A hall of doors in the end would lead into the maze. I was thinking there could probably also be a madhouse ride portion where guests can experience the room actually turning upside down; inspired by Villa Volta in Efteling. 

Wonderland Maze: As much as I like the Alice in Wonderland ride in Anaheim, I personally feel that Wonderland is a world that is best experienced up close and at your own pace, which a maze perfectly embodies. While the maze would obviously be themed to classic animated Alice like the Paris version, it would have different environments, like Shanghai’s Tim Burton version. First half of the maze would be a forest-like environment with giant plants and singing flowers. Second half would have rose bushes, fancy iron fences, and carved stone walls and statues for the Queen of Heart’s castle area. There would be a handful of tiny doors scattered throughout that guests can crawl through as shortcuts. Among the character statues scattered around the maze, I really want to include the Mock-Turtle and Gryphon, based on their designs from the Jell-O commercial, perhaps on a sandy beach shore by a small fountain / pond.

House of Cards Banquet Hall: Inspired by the Queen of Hearts Banquet Hall in Tokyo. Would follow the same eccentric and colorful design scheme, but I want it to look like a stone castle made out of cards. Definitely would have lovely stained glass windows. Desserts include Royal Heart Tarts. They could also come in souvenir cups and plates like the ones found in Tokyo.

Mad Tea Party: Would have a canopy roof to protect from the weather and direct sunlight, but I also wouldn’t mind a stained-glass version. Or even a canopy made of trees. Teacup designs would be a mix of various patterns from all versions (except Orlando’s, I do not care for the zigzag scribbles). Would also include the giant teapot with the Dormouse in the center. To help with queue waits, I’d even have two ride systems, much like how Orlando doubled their Dumbo ride. One could even be themed to the Hatter while the other to the March Hare.

March Hare’s tea shop: Would have the same building design as March Hare Refreshments in Paris. Would sell several varieties of tea, Unbirthday Cake, and macarons. Could also feature a long table with interactive tea things to play with, like Shanghai does at the end of its maze, and plenty of fancy chairs for photo-ops.

Mad Hatter’s hat shop: Hats, Mickey ears, and other headgear. To match the March Hare’s chimney ears, this building would resemble a large top hat. Would also feature hat racks for photo-ops, like Shanghai does at the end of its maze.

100 Acre Wood

East of Town Square, on the border with Create-It-Land. A tiny little area with tall trees providing shade, a lovely little Poohsticks Bridge over a small river, and a cozy corner for a meet-and-greet with Pooh and friends.

Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day: Basically the same as Pooh’s Hunny Hunt in Tokyo, which includes the giant book facade, and the same level of crafted detail and technical marvel throughout the ride, but with scenes added for the “rain, rain, rain”, and Pooh’s hero party as the ending. I would also use Anaheim’s zany color scheme for the Heffalumps and Woozles room with some added special effects for even more zaniness.  The ride’s name change is just to both set it apart from the other versions, and because I realized with the exception of Pooh stuck in the honey tree, all the iconic scenes in the ride come from Blustery Day.

Pooh Corner gift shop: Also utilizes the same English cottage look as Tokyo’s.

Hunny Smackerels snack stand: Hunny Pot cupcakes, honeycomb, honey ice cream, and a separate cart for honey popcorn in lovely Pooh-shaped popcorn buckets. It would be really cute if the stand is actually inside a giant tree trunk, with a dutch door counter window for guests to order from. 

The next three sub-lands would be behind Ever After Castle, outside the perimeter of the railroad tracks border. The entrance to Winter Village is between Shadowland Forest and the castle, while the entrance to Encanto Valley is between Wonderland and the castle. Mermaid Lagoon is directly behind the castle, between the other two sub-lands and only accessible through them. Small mountains would form berms for each sub-land. For reference, think of how Grizzly Gulch, Mystic Point, and Toy Story Land are arranged in Hong Kong.

Winter Village

Inspired by my Narnia theme park concept. This entire mini-land would be indoors, to have air-conditioning to sell the illusion of winter, and to preserve the artificial winter setup from the real-life elements outdoors. This mini-land would be round (roughly) so that the glass ceiling that lets in natural light can have a hexagonal snowflake design. At night time there’d be projections of Northern Lights. NOT Frozen themed. It’s a cute movie and all, but far overstayed its welcome before it was even released on DVD. Village would be a mix of Russian and Scandinavian architecture.  Can be used for a Santa Claus meet-and-greet during Christmas.

Enchanted Snow Palace: The planned but never built ride based on Hans Christian Andersen’s Snow Queen. The concept art looks leagues better than the final product of Frozen Ever After.

“Winter Sleigh Ride”: Ride through winter scenery in sleighs pulled by reindeer. Technically a dark ride, since the entire subland is indoors, but feels like an outdoor ride.

"Snowball Arcade": I really wanted something to simulate snowball fights, but without the chaos and mess. Here, guests can throw snowballs at targets to win plush prizes.

"Russian cafe": Russian pastries and snacks

"Ice skating rink": Free if you bring your own skates.

Mermaid Lagoon

A scaled-down version of the land in Tokyo DisneySea, without the playground and kiddie rides. Like DisneySea, it would have a lovely seashell castle facade, with the attractions indoors. Unlike DisneySea, there would be a small lake in front with a ship restaurant docked on it.

“Under the Sea”: NOT a retelling of the movie, but instead an original story that would take place some time pre-movie. Follows Ariel on one of her outings as she explores the sea looking for new treasures to add to her collection. Final scene could be of Ariel in her grotto after completing her latest trip, but feeling unsatisfied as she wistfully looks at her collection, while instrumentals for “Part Of Your World” softly play in the background. 

King Triton’s Concert Hall: Just like the one in Tokyo DisneySea, this would be a 360 degree show with Ariel “swimming” in midair above the audience, a giant animatronic Triton, performer puppets of Flounder and Sebastian, and other mixed special effects. 

Undersea Carousel: Fish carousel. Underwater lighting effects and blows bubbles as it spins. 

Ariel’s Grotto gift shop

Ship restaurant: Mediterranean seafood. I mean, it’s on a human ship that’s not technically in Triton’s Kingdom, so I think this gets a pass for serving fish. It could even be themed to Chef Louis for a laugh. 

“Nighttime Water Show”: Just spitballing an idea, maybe the lagoon could also be used for a nighttime water show a la Fantasmic / World of Color. The viewing area could be across the lagoon from Triton’s castle; the lights of Triton’s castle would coordinate with the show.

Encanto Valley

A lovely recreation of the valley, with Casita and a little village area for shops and Colombian dining, and plenty of lush greenery. 

La Casa Madrigal: I really like @rrdcooc’s idea for Casita as a walkthrough attraction! It’s so cool! Especially the ideas for Pepa and Luisa's rooms. I wouldn’t change much, aside from adding a few extra touches, such as an interactive flower wall in Isabela’s room that mimics guests’ silhouettes (like Daniel Rozin's "Mechanical Mirrors"), and maybe a couple themed flat rides to add capacity, such as a flowery swing spinner ride in Isabela’s room, and a tiny jungle animal carousel in Antonio’s room. In Dolores's room, guests can see sound waves (like that Magic School Bus episode), and Camilo's room can contain "mirrors" with different character models that mimic guests' movements in real time (like VTuber avatars). Also includes a gift shop selling “homemade” fashions and plush toys by Mirabel.

“Magic Realism Art Exhibit”: While I think the final movie is perfect, I would have loved it if Casita more closely resembled its concept art, which leaned much more heavily into magic realism. This attraction would be a walkthrough art exhibit full of giant optical illusion paintings that guests can pose in for photo-ops. For reference, I’m recalling the Trick Eye Museum, a temporary art exhibit I went to years ago in Hong Kong.

Encanto Sing-Along: I’m not always a huge fan of the “book report” shows they do in the Parks, but in this case, most of Encanto’s songs are so specific to the story that removing them from the context of the movie wouldn't work (especially in the case of fan favorite “We Don’t Talk About Bruno”).  The stage can also be used for original Colombian performances, as well as from neighboring Latin American countries.

Julieta’s Arepas: Food cart. These arepas may not heal you, but they’re magically delicious! 

Arabian Oasis (scrapped)

Before Encanto was released and became one of my favorite recent movies, my initial idea was to put in an Aladdin-themed area. Not an exact recreation of Agrabah, more like a broad strokes version of Agrabah in the same manner as Arabian Coast in Tokyo DisneySea.

Magic Carpet Ride: A suspension ride in a similar manner as Peter Pan’s Flight, using the carpet vehicles. Fly through the Agrabah marketplace, over the desert, and above the clouds. Ride music features instrumentals from “A Whole New World”.

Scheherazade’s Tales From the 1001 Nights: Stage show.

Flavors of Agrabah: Arabian / Middle-Eastern cuisine 

Cave of Wonders gift shop: I think the theming is appropriate considering guests are exchanging money for goods and not stealing them (ideally).

Other parts:

World Galleria

Adventureland

Mysteryland

Create-It-Land

Discoveryland

[crystal-methionine]

It’s yet again time for the annual post in which I divulge in opinions nobody cares about over European music performances.

Before you read and ask a question about a certain country’s song, fuck i*****, and they shouldn’t have been there. I also haven’t even listened to the song. I skipped them every time they performed and honestly don’t want to know what it was.

1. Norway 🇳🇴 Gåte - Ulveham : Europe…you are the worst. Are you kidding me with this being last place in Eurovision this year? It is amazing and actually represents the culture of the country sending it. The sounds of this song make me immediately think of Norway. My winner this year.

2. Croatia 🇭🇷 Baby Lasagna - Rim Tim Tagi Dim : First listen, I think I couldn’t get over the name. Second listen, listened to the lyrics and loved it. Seeing the performance was better. He seemed like such a genuine guy who was there to just have fun and share music. Hence why it made this song so much better. Deserved runner-up but also could have won.

3. Ireland 🇮🇪 Bambie Thug - Doomsday Blue : It honestly wasn’t until the first semifinal that I finally put this song as a qualifier. One of the best stagings and overall performances in years. I don’t have much else to say bc once again, the artist was so genuine and they were so kind to literally everyone (except to the country who shall not be acknowledged).

4. Switzerland 🇨🇭 Nemo - The Code : I wasn’t really that big a fan of the song. Loved Nemo tho. They are so bubbly, and the post-show interview made me so happy they won bc Eurovision is in desperate need of some fixing. Song was made on stage and definitely deserved winner. Congrats.

5. Ukraine 🇺🇦 Alyona Alyona and Jerry Heil - Maria & Theresa : Oh how Ukraine does this stupid contest. This was so good. The shot of Jerry on the hill with the flares. My eyes orgasmed. It was just such as good song too. Could have won bc Ukraine sympathy, and I would have been thrilled.

6. Italy 🇮🇹 Angelina Mango - La Noia : I love this song. It makes me happy and the performance was killer. Loved every bit of it.

7. Greece 🇬🇷 Marina Satti - ZARI : I had a similar gut reaction to this song as I did Croatia (granted second listen was with translated lyrics in front of me).

8. Portugal 🇵🇹 Iolanda - Grito : Over time, this one grew. Live, it killed total deserving of top 10 finish. Also the keffiyah nails were so good for a subtle fuck them to those who got butthurt about it.

9. France 🇫🇷 Slimane - Mon Amour : At first, I was unexcited by this song bc oh boy another slow French ballad about love. What changed that was the live in the semis. My god this man can sing and give me goosebumps.

10. Armenia 🇦🇲 Ladaniva - Jako : Take notes y’all. If you send a bubbly, ethnic song, you’ll get a good time and high marks from me. This was just so fun and they did amazing. I loved how much fun they were having. It made me have fun with them. Deserved top 10 placement for sure.

11. Georgia 🇬🇪 Nutsa Buzaladze - Firefighter : Georgia finally got in after so long (should have been in last year but I digress). This was so fun to watch. It was kind of middle of the road for me beforehand but the performance made it so good. Bottom 5 was not ok for this Europe. Not ok.

12. Lithuania 🇱🇹 Sylvester Belt - Luktelk : Listen, I feel bad bc at the beginning I really didn’t get the hype or like the song that much. Yet again live made me love it. So good on stage and another that looked like he was having so much fun.

13. Sweden 🇸🇪 Marcus and Martinus - Unforgettable : This was classic Sweden at its best. Was it the most original? No. Do I listen to it bc I love electronic sounds and catchy music? Yes. Sweden just does really good pop.

14. Slovenia 🇸🇮 Raiven - Veronika : This song was so good live. It had worn off on me a while, but Raiven breathed new life into it for me.

15. Netherlands 🇳🇱 Joost Klein - Europapa : No words can hide my level of disappointment from the EBU for being an absolute joke when it came to behavioral issues this edition. So drastic for no reason yet turning a blind eye elsewhere. Nonetheless, the song is getting its deserved laurels.

16. Czechia 🇨🇿 Aiko - Pedestal : This should have qualified. Semi 2 was hard. But this should have been a safe qualifier.

17. Spain 🇪🇸 Nebulossa - Zorra : Catchiest song of the year goes to Spain. It was just fun and I loved it. Should not have been bottom 5.

18. Austria 🇦🇹 Kaleen - We Will Rave : Fun song. Good choreo. Just kinda flat for me. 100% a listen on my playlist though.

19. Denmark 🇩🇰 Saba - Sand : Was this the most charasmatic performance? No. Was it a good song? Yes! I feel bad for Denmark in recent years. Sometimes a good song doesn’t qualify and bad ones do. This was a better song that just wasn’t as shiny as the rest.

20. Germany 🇩🇪 Issak - Always on the Run : Yes! Germany, this is the right track. Keep going further in this direction. Staging was great. Artist voice was amazing. Song could be less generic but so good compared to past years (minus 2020 which is top tier).

21. United Kingdom 🇬🇧 Olly Alexander - Dizzy : It’s good. It’s a good pop song. Staging was amazing but they really pushed it with the soft porn. It was too much imo.

22. Australia 🇦🇺 Electric Fields - One Milkali (One Blood): Best lyrics of all songs this year. Should have qualified. I understand and agree that 2000 and Whatever was amazing but so was this. Were vocals and the staging the best? No. But I still love it. But I won’t rank it higher bc of the staging.

23. Cyprus 🇨🇾 Silia Kapsis - Liar : Fun song. Good beat. She sounded great. Just think others may have been better in the lyric department.

24. San Marino 🇸🇲 Megara - 11:11 : Loved Megara’s attempt for Spain last year. This is a fun song I like to listen to. Staging was super fun and if they had qualified, I would have been happy.

25. Estonia 🇪🇪 5miinust & Puuluup - (Nendest) narkootikumidest ei tea me (küll) midagi : Fun party on stage. Song can get tiring. Vocals weren’t 💯 but had fun.

26. Belgium 🇧🇪 Mustii - Before the Party Is Over : I loved the studio so much. So much so that it was top 5 for a while. Then it grew off me.

27. Serbia 🇷🇸 Teya Dora - Ramonda : Listen, I know this song has its fans. I just was bored most of it. Sorry. But she can sing well.

28. Poland 🇵🇱 Luna - The Tower : I like this song a lot. She also is an amazing person. I felt bad that she didn’t qualify but I thought that was correct compared to others.

29. Luxembourg 🇱🇺 Tali - Fighter : Look, I’m happy they’re back. I just feel meh about it.

30. Malta 🇲🇹 Sarah Bonnici - Loop : Chanel and Eleni did the choreo thing and it finally trickled to Malta. Was it amazing, Yes! Was it a good song, meh.

31. Latvia 🇱🇻 Dons - Hollow : Happy for him and Latvians everywhere for qualification and actually doing well on the scoreboard. I just don’t listen to it on my own accord. He is a fantastic person and singer as well.

32. Iceland 🇮🇸 Hera Björk - Scared of Heights : I did kinda like it. It’s just like a rich cake, I can only have so much. I also know there are other better songs.

33. Finland 🇫🇮 Windows95man - No Rules : Funny but I had a lot of other songs I liked better.

34. Azerbaijan 🇦🇿 Fahree - Özünle Apar : Love the Azeri ethnic language and sounds, but I was bored.

35. Albania 🇦🇱 Besa - Titan : I’m not gonna lie. This was back to mid 2010s Albania and it was awfully boring.

36. Moldova 🇲🇩 Natalia Barbu - In the Middle: More like At the End. Nothing about this song grabbed me and it made me cringe. Sorry Moldova.

[lieutenant-amuel]

Since I know you enjoy languages, what la gauges inspire the Marswickian phrases and language Freida and her family speak? Is it all a real language or do you mix it up?

I have a very interesting (no) story with Frida’s non-Avaloran origins that I probably already told everyone but I’ll share it again either way because I don’t want my answer to be too short ajdhfkkf.

For a long time I thought Maarswik was inspired by Scandinavian countries (Norway, Sweden, and Denmark). If you read WBTL since the beginning, you might remember her last name was Berg originally. Frida Berg. It honestly was a terrible choice because this is an extremely common last name, this is like Ivanov(a) in my own country, and it’s a bit boring. But I didn’t know what else to choose because I didn’t know the country Maarswik was based on.

But soon I faced another difficulty because I needed to name Frida’s parents and I didn’t know how because I didn’t know the freaking country. It was a moment when I had to take some action and so I asked Craig Gerber what country Maarswik was based on and he said Sint Maarten (yes, I talked to the Man himself and I still feel powerful for it even if I don’t use Twitter anymore)

But honestly his answer didn’t ease my pain because why the heck is King Lars literally one of the whitest character in the show if his kingdom is in the south

For this reason I divided Maarswik in two parts: the Northern Maarswik which would be located somewhere in the EverRealm equivalent of Europe (this is where Frida’s from) and the Southern Maarswik which would be located somewhere close to Avalor. I’m going to use these terms in my fic someday so this is just a warning because I don’t want to confuse anyone.

Anyway, they speak Dutch (and also English but I ignore it) in Sint Maarten, so I choose Dutch names for my Maarswikan characters. Those are Frida’s parents Hendrik and Cornelia Aakster, Frida’s uncle Karel Aakster, Frida’s friend Laurens de Wit, and another friend of Frida whom I haven’t introduced yet but her name is Willemijn Douwes. You should know it was painful as well because why nobody told me that it’s so difficult to find those names online.

Really, I even had to ask a Dutch person for help (and I’m still grateful, thank you again if you’re reading it <3) when I looked for the new surname for Frida and when I sent her the ones I liked she said that not all those surnames were Dutch and not all of them were even surnames and I just WHAT?!?! (read in the most squeaky and annoyed voice possible) why would people even put them in the list of Dutch surnames how can I trust anyone in the Internet 😭

Anyway, after this series of suffering I finally gave Frida a new surname and it’s Aakster. Frida Aakster.

And yes, I know that Frida is not the most common spelling of this name but she IS Frida. Not Freida, not Frieda, not Freda, not Friday, not Friaijdkfkda. I really suffered too much with her name to change anything again, so even if Frida looks weird for whatever reason, THIS is how her name is spelled. Blame her parents, not me (oh my goodness I’m now so tempted to write the whole scene when somebody asks how to spell Frida’s name, she says f r i d a, that person is like what the heck why, and she just shrugs ajhdnfj)

I think I made Frida use some Dutch phrases just once but maybe I’ll do it again. It’s fun and actually makes her sound like a foreigner which is kinda the effect I would like to achieve.

Anyway, to put my answer into several words: the language that inspires Maarswikan phrases is Dutch. One of these phrases is used in the 19th chapter (and I’ll probably replace it with another because I now realize it’s not fitting context wise x))

Another thing I would like to add is that Maarswik in my fic is inspired by the Netherlands, not Sint Maarten. If you remember the chapters A Trip to Maarswik and Gabe’s birthday, I already mentioned some Netherlands things there. Mostly food, but I’m going to add more in the future chapters since Frida is currently in Maarswik so if you see some unfamiliar words, they’re probably those Netherlands things ajhsnfj. And I also use Dutch honorifics such as Meneer and Mevrouw.

Yes, I know my interpretation is contrary to the canon but this is why I divided Maarswik in two parts. I do ruin canon but I ruin it with care.

Thank you for asking! And sorry for dropping so much unnecessary stuff you didn’t ask about ajhsnfk.

[nyaheum]

My Annual Eurovision List - 2023

Completely based on music videos until we actually see some staging. Don’t come at me.

37. POLAND

Solo – Blanka

LMAO fuck TVP. Jann would have been my winner.

36. LITHUANIA

Stay (ČIŪTO TŪTO) – Monika Linkytė

Bleh. I know some people really like this song, but...bleh. There’s nothing here that sticks with me. The song was over and I forgot what it sounded like. I don’t know, I’m used to more from Lithuania.

35. IRELAND

We Are One – Wild Youth

This is the point where I feel like too many bands are hurting this year. They would have been fine any other year, but comparing them to the other bands this year, they’re quite weak. I also expect them so sing “We are Young” every single time...what is fun. up to anyway? (hiatus, apparently.)

34. AZERBAIJAN

Tell Me More – TuralTuranX

Uh...it’s a song. Their name reminds me of Duran Duran. Remembering the name of Duran Duran was the main thing I did while listening to this song. I abolutely HATE spoken word, oh my god. And apart from that, this sounds like one of those songs from an average to slightly bad romcom. Not even the ending song, but the one from the middle, the part where the producers knew that they wanted to convey the passage of time so they simply chose to do a montage.

33. ALBANIA

DUJE – Albina dhe Familja Kelmendi

The guy singing in between is absolutely taking me out. Definitely would’ve liked this more if the chorus hit harder, like this it’s just...kind of sad? But not the good kind, the melodramatic kind (which I can appreciate, to a certain extent, but not to THIS extent.)

32. CYPRUS

Break A Broken Heart – Andrew Lambrou

Did you know that Andrew actually wanted to participate for Australia in 2022? Yeah. I googled this while listening to the song because it has nothing that pulls me in. It’s fine, don’t get me wrong, he has a great voice, but...eh.

31. GREECE

What They Say – Victor Vernicos

Why is he a child. I like the chorus, kind of, but that’s pretty much it. Very meh.

30. LATVIA

Aijā – Sudden Lights

Another song that really takes its time to build up to nothing noteworthy, which is a shame, because in its basics, I quite enjoy it. It’s just a little...frustrating when the chorus comes and goes and nothing in me has changed? Idk lmao.

29. SWITZERLAND

Watergun – Remo Forrer

This is my grandma’s favourite song this year, yay? For some reason I keep reading his name as Ferrero Rocher. The letters barely match, I think it’s just because this is Switzerland. (yes, ferrero is italian, idk.) Oh, the song? It’s fine. It’s not his fault he’s not Gjon.

28. ICELAND

Power – Diljá

It’s fine. Feels very generic, but doesn’t hit hard enough to justify it. Specifically considering it’s Iceland sending it.

27. ARMENIA

Future Lover – Brunette

Surprisingly good in theory, but in the end I only actually like the middle part. The beginning is well sung but a little too slow for me, and I don’t really enjoy the end in general? I’m very unsure with this.

26. NETHERLANDS

Burning Daylight – Mia Nicolai & Dion Cooper

I don’t find any joy anymore either, dude. We’re so in synch, damn. Why does the first chorus do that thing where it teases a nice build up for half a second just to drop immediately? And then the second one doesn’t even properly redeem it. Ruined the whole song for me, genuinely. Not that I liked it a lot before, ehem.

25. DENMARK

Breaking My Heart – Reiley

I listened to this and kept thinking that it sounds like a song I already know, but...turns out it was just this song the whole time. Apparently someone at my local radio station really likes it. I don’t, really, I feel like I might be too old for this type of music. Talking about this...you’re telling me Reiley is OLDER than me? What the hell.

24. ITALY

Due Vite – Marco Mengoni

Second year in a row where Italy doesn’t really do it for me, damn. At least it’s a lot better than whatever was going on last year with Brividi. I still liked Supereroi a lot more and think it should have won. Meh.

23. SAN MARINO

Like an animal – Piqued Jacks

Certainly a song. All I could think about while watching this is one Youtube comment simply saying “He is a little hot” because...they’re not wrong? The song itself just doesn’t hit – but I have the fleeting suspicion that this might be fixed by having the sound mixing done by literally anyone that ISN’T San Marino. I don’t even dislike it or anything.

22. ESTONIA

Bridges – ALIKA

I know that everybody loves this, okay? It’s good enough. Perfectly good ballad. It’s not her fault I dislike most ballads. I do like the last minute though, it picks up a lot, I enjoy that.

21. AUSTRALIA

Promise – Voyager

I love how Australia is really going through the classic Eurovision evolution. My right ear also likes the song. I watched the music video, and I think the left one just didn’t get invited or something. It’s actually REALLY off-putting.

20. SLOVENIA

Carpe Diem – Joker Out

Please don’t come for me, but why does everyone love this SO much? Like, I like it a bit too, but not as much as everyone else seems to? I genuinely feel like I’m missing something here.

19. BELGIUM

Because Of You – Gustaph

This is so groovy, I don’t know why everybody hates it. (I mean, I DO know, but apart from that...it’s not that bad.) It’s not the best thing I’ve ever heard, and the aspect ratio of the official music video freaks me out, but it’s very camp – which is a good thing, obviously this is Eurovision after all!

18. UNITED KINGDOM

I Wrote A Song – Mae Muller

I had no expectations for the UK, mainly because I missed all of the teasing they did, so I’m completely fine with this...it just feels like a lot of songs this year sound similar to this? Maybe I’m going insane. But it’s nice to listen to. I wouldn’t turn the radio off if it came on.

17. GEORGIA

Echo – Iru

Imagine how much more this could have slapped if it was in Georgian. Just imagine. It’s fine like this too, and I’m sure it will be elevated by the staging, but...just imagine, honestly.

16. ROMANIA

D.G.T – Theodor Andrei

Okay, let’s ignore the performance for a bit, and just judge the song. I quite like it, actually. His voice is nice, it’s absolutely something different, and I always give a native language bonus.

15. MALTA

Dance (Our Own Party) – The Busker

The revamp did good things for this song. I like a good saxophone, and I feel like this is quite underrated in the community. It’s fun(ky), I think they will be great live, and the music video is definitely worth a watch while you’re at it.

14. SPAIN

Eaea – Blanca Paloma

I feel like I shouldn’t talk about this song without my lawyer. It’s growing on me, very slowly, but there’s still only select parts of the song that I really like, while the rest is just something I have to go through to reach them. Like the salad you get when you order a steak with fries. (I also just liked Agoney a lot more.)

13. PORTUGAL

Ai Coração – Mimicat

After a song I absolutely couldn’t stand last year, Portugal absolutely delivers again. Feels very authentic to Portugal, I really like her voice, it’s quite fast-paced, I really enjoy it.

12. SWEDEN

Tattoo – Loreen

It’s a song. I don’t know, I don’t care about it, it’s good, sure, but it’s absolutely not a winner for me. Also, the pre-chorus sounds so much like another song I know, but I cannot figure out which one and it’s driving me insane. (I have to admit though, rhyming pain and rain IS true lyrical genius, and whoever wrote that part should win an award.) I like the studio version more than the live version by the way. Yes, even with the performance. Don’t ask me why.

11. MOLDOVA

Soarele si Luna – Pasha Parfeni

I love that as long as we have Moldova, Eurovision will never be boring. This is genuinely nice, too, and fills the void Fulenn left in my heart last year perfectly.

10. FRANCE

Evidemment – La Zarra

C’est très...French. Obviously. Good French, but French nonetheless. Groovy, though. I can appreciate that it’s not really a chanson chanson.

9. UKRAINE

Heart Of Steel – TVORCHI

It’s completely fine. Quite good, even, but I just don’t think that it lives up to the songs Ukraine sent the past decade or so...which is understandable, not only because of their situation, but because the song sent by the winning country never really is. I still really appreciate it for it’s modern tone and the bass. (still preffered fiinka though sorry)

8. CROATIA

Mama ŠČ! - LET 3

This is my absolute guilty pleasure this year. I even rather like it musically, I quite enjoy it away from all the chaos. Of course, the chaos is the main reason I like it. What would Eurovision be without these songs, seriously? BRRRR, TRAKTOR.

7. ISRAEL

Unicorn – Noa Kirel

I know people don’t like this because it sounds like three songs mashed together, but I quite like it. Why? Probably because I listen to K-Pop, I’m used to the mashed-together-sound, and I quite like it. Apart from that I enjoy the song, of course, although I’m purposefully ignoring the lyrics.

6. SERBIA

Samo mi se spava – Luke Black

I listen to music like this quite a lot, so I obviously enjoy it...I’m just very afraid that it won’t really land at Eurovision, not with the juries and not with the televote. But I’ll be optimistic and delude myself into thinking that there’s no way it won’t at least make it out of the SF. (And I would absolutely believe it if it was in Semi 2 instead of Semi 1.)

5. NORWAY

Queen of Kings – Alessandra

She, Queen of the Hype! For good reason though, this is GREAT. Very Eurovision, very European in general, I love good party music.

4. CZECH REPUBLIC

My sister’s crown – Vesna

PLEASE PLEASE LET THEM BE GOOD LIVE. I can’t take another Austria 2022. This is SO good. I love it musically, I love the mix of languages, I might have a small crush on their rapper, please let them be good live. Please. I beg you. (I have a bad feeling, though. Especially the chorus just seems very hard to replicate life. I’ve seen the NF, I know.)

3. GERMANY

Blood & Glitter – Lord Of The Lost

I’m still so...in awe that we’re actually sending something good this year? Like, how did this happen? Who did we sacrifice for this? (Answer: Electric Callboy.) This kind of music just feels very German, even if they’re singing in English. My only critique is that I want him to growl more, but if their Eurovision stage is anything like their winners performance at the NF, I’m not worried.

2. AUSTRIA

Who The Hell Is Edgar? - Teya & Salena

No, seriously, who is Edgar? I only know Teya & Salena. This is such a bop – WITH a message, damn. Easily moved into my Top 5 immediately after it came out. Probably my most listened to song this last week. It’s REALLY addicting. What the hell, Österreich? Not both of us going through change right now, aww.

1. FINLAND

Cha Cha Cha – Käärijä

This song came out, I heard it once, and decided it’s my winner this year. Only Gladiator could have possibly challenged it, but we know how that went, so this is my undisputed first place. Please, juries and televote, do not rob our small king.

[bubblesandgutz]

Every Record I Own - Day 821: Jello Biafra w/ Nomeansno The Sky Is Falling and I Want My Mommy

Hearing "Terminal Preppie" by Dead Kennedys in the 8th grade was a life-changing moment. I was already gravitating towards less-popular music, but up until that point I'd never heard anything as caustic as Dead Kennedys. Even a lot of the thrash metal my friends liked at the time seemed refined in comparison. My discovery just happened to line up with Thrasher Magazine publishing an interview with Dead Kennedys singer Jello Biafra, which further piqued my interest in the crass and enigmatic world of punk. In the pre-internet / pre-Nevermind small beach town on Oahu where I lived at the time, an interview in Thrasher could open crucial new paths to discovering more fringe music. I learned about Biafra's label Alternative Tentacles Records and all the various side projects he'd been involved with at the turn of the decade---Lard, Tumor Circus, and the collab albums with DOA and Nomeansno. That interview was also the first place I heard about The Stooges and Nurse With Wound. So thank you, Thrasher.

Perhaps that name-drop in the interview is why Nomeansno caught our attention when my buddy Frank and I heard "Dad" on the punk show on our local radio station. I wound up with the Small Parts cassette not long after. And shortly after moving to Washington state, I found the Biafra / Nomeansno collab album on cassette at a Sam Goody at the mall. I bought it more for the Biafra angle than the Nomeansno involvement as that was where my head was at in 1992; I was more drawn to the larger-than-life persona spitting out all these Yippie-style grievances and absurdist tales of modern life than the bedrock of rhythmic bass-heavy punk churning underneath it.

The Sky Is Falling and I Want My Mommy helped cement my early teenage fandom for Biafra, but it didn't nudge me into exploring Nomeansno any further. Perhaps this is the general grievance folks have for a lot of Biafra's post-Dead Kennedys output: his presence tends to drown out the other participants. My Nomeansno obsession would blossom nearly a decade later, and at that point I could revisit The Sky Is Falling with fresh ears. It's still a fantastic album, though it skews towards a more straightforward brand of punk, and there is some element of Nomeansno's dark and sardonic weight that's absent without their vocal and lyrical participation.

For some reason, all my cassettes from Alternative Tentacles slowly deteriorated. Maybe I listened to them too much? So I was excited to find this used copy somewhere in Europe (Netherlands, maybe?) about a decade ago.