#meier my best friend meier

[talesfromthecrypts]

When the last vampire is extinct, who will mourn our passing? Will she? Will anyone? Can anyone understand this pain, this loneliness?

[imperatorrrrr]

another new Nico Hischier interview, this time in French, highlights below:

Q: Are you still living your dream? A: Yes, of course. It has always been my dream to be a professional hockey player. It is an honour to be able to do it, to have the health to do it. To do what I love. Many others would have loved to be in my shoes. I wake up every morning with the thought that I am privileged. I do my best to help my team win games. 

Q: You are presented as a hockey star. How big is the pressure? A: It is enormous. It starts right away when you become a professional player. And it stays the whole time. In Europe and across the Atlantic. The pressure is everywhere, not just in hockey. It is about knowing how to manage it. To put yourself in a condition to release it. It is not always easy, when you have thousands of people scrutinizing what you do. You have to take the best of it. The pressure helps me give the best of myself in every situation. That is how I can go to bed with a good feeling without being disappointed in myself. 

Q: "It's not always easy," according to you. What were the most complicated moments of your career? A: The most difficult period was undoubtedly the season marked by Covid. Also because of the injuries that affected me. I learned a lot from that period. There was the virus. I was injured, I trained in my corner. Fortunately, my mother was able to join me, even in times of pandemic, to be by my side during the operation. I realized at that moment that health was the most important aspect. These injuries affected me at the time, but they also sounded like an inner awakening. I was able to put the cursor on what matters and in sport it is health.

Q: How do you deal with loneliness and being away from your loved ones? A: That's not easy either. I love Switzerland. I love being here with my family and friends. It's very important, even more so during the summer, to be with the people who matter, to recharge my batteries. When I go back to the United States, my life pretty much revolves around hockey. Well, only around hockey. We play three to four games a week, we travel a lot. When my friends or family come to see me, it gives me a good boost. To sum up, I appreciate both situations: my life there but also being able to come back, recharge my batteries and go back to America to give my all in hockey.

Q: Who are your friends and how do you find the balance between hockey and everything else? A: In the team, I share a lot of things with Jonas Siegenthaler and Timo Meier. Guys I already knew from a young age. It's cool to be able to play with them. I'm also lucky to have been able to meet players from other countries, to meet new people. Americans, Canadians, Swedes, Czechs. It's very enriching to have all these cultures and to be able to come together around a common passion.

Q: Has life in the United States changed you? What is American in you? A: Open-mindedness. Being open to others, to meeting new people. You don't need to be friends with everyone, but it is important to listen to others, to take their opinions into account. Nevertheless, I remain very Swiss, I feel very Swiss. 

Q: What do you mean? A: I don't know. I'm still very close to my family, my friends. I try not to attract too much attention. I'm content with little things, simple things. A good dinner, a raclette from time to time, a good glass of wine. These are moments that I appreciate.

Q: Let's talk about your club, the New Jersey Devils. A club that has evolved considerably since your arrival? A: That's for sure. It's very different from what I knew when I started. We were among the youngest on the team with Jasper Brett and Pavel Zacha. The other teammates were all more or less in their thirties. Everything was new to me. But it was good. I was able to learn a lot from all the experienced players. They made me understand a lot of things. What it means to be a Devil, how to take care of your body, it was very varied. In the middle of my journey, the team got younger and I had to take on more and more responsibilities. Today, there are obviously some younger than me. It's changed a lot in 7 years and that's normal. For my part, I try hard to present the best version of myself every day. 

Q: You are seen as a leader. You are a leader. Was that natural for you? A: Absolutely. On the ice, it's clear. I've always wanted to do things well. I've always wanted to win. A true leader has to have that mentality, putting your ego aside for the good of the team. Off the ice, I'm not the most visible or the loudest but I also enjoy the camaraderie, the jokes and the outings. Maybe that's where I have the most to learn. But I'm still learning. I'm only 25 years old. There's still more to explore. 

Q: You might think that communication is essential? A: It is very important. You never know how people react, what they need. You have to find a good balance between what you give, what you ask and what you receive. To be a leader, you need empathy, understanding but also firmness in your demands. Some aspects were more complicated for me but I try to find the right balance.

Q: Is the feeling of representing Switzerland even stronger when you have a career so far away like you? A: It's clear. They speak Swiss German in the locker room. I meet friends I had known in juniors. Hockey remains a small world, a small environment and not just in Switzerland. And it's always nice to meet up with people you know to share such an experience in a world championship.

Q: Are you ambitious, optimistic for the next big events, the 2026 Olympics and the 2026 World Cup? A: Of course. We have proven in recent years that we have a very good Swiss team. We know how it works in sport. Every piece is important, every detail counts to reach the top. But we have to believe in our chances. And we have a good group, as I said. I am looking forward to the next tournaments. The Olympic Games are certainly a dream for me, having never been there. It is different from a world championship but we will have the same ambition. You never know in sport. 

Q: Your season is so long. You could skip the Swiss national team selections. Why is it so important? For the good times, the ones that remain. I grew up watching Switzerland. And to be able to represent them, it really means something special to me. It's always a pleasure to wear this jersey, to see the fans of the national team. It gives me a lot of joy. It hasn't happened yet, but the only reason that would make me give up would be physical unavailability or mental fatigue. If I feel fit, I'll go. If not, it's a matter of being honest and giving up, because it wouldn't be good for me or for the team. 

[babydollmarauders]

MEDIA MANAGEMENT — JACK HUGHES (23-24 SZN PART 16)

au masterlist

notes: i’ve been extremely busy and had no time to take screenshots, so all photos (except one) are from the actual photographers!

y/ndevils00

liked by john.marino97, dawson1417, and 329,615 others

y/ndevils00 we are not beating the loser allegations

we lost 3-6 tonight against the airplanes and their brick wall!

i assume everyone was reacting the same way as babygirl, slut, and i… cussing at the tv

BUT BET YOU CAN GUESS WHO SCORED TONIGHT BASED OFF THESE PHOTOS!

THAT’S RIGHT! BOTH OF MY PRETTY BEST FRIENDS SCORED GOALS TONIGHT!!

MARASCHINO CHERRY WITH HIS FIRST OF THE SEASON AND DAWG-SON WITH HIS THIRD!! I’M SO PROUD OF MY BESTIES!!!

LOOK AT THAT PHOTO OF MY MARINARA SAUCE AND MY LUKEY POOKIE, HUGGING AND SHIT!! SO CUTE!!! (they miss me so bad) ((they were comforting each other))

anyways, good luck in pittsburgh on thursday! try not to lose this time!

p.s. that third photo is the outcome of my secret agent photo taker yelling “y/n says hi!” ! doesn’t Johnny look so happy to hear he can never escape me?!

p.p.s. nothing to do with this game, but congratulations to Sid the Kid on his 13th career hat trick! … i thought he had more tbh

tagged tmeier96, john.marino97, lhughes_06, dawson1417

Load more comments

user25 did you just… go out of your way to subtly dig at Sidney Crosby? 😭

john.marino97 i thought i left you in Jersey and then i hear your name and look up to see you on facetime with a random person!

y/ndevils00 you love that you can never get rid of me 🥰 you’re stuck with me forever!

john.marino97 four years and counting… do i ever get a break?

y/ndevils00 nope!

user73 four years? but, John only joined the Devils last season?

tmeier96 i scored a goal too, you know?

y/ndevils00 yeah… you’re pictured aren’t you?

tmeier96 barely! and no congrats for me!

y/ndevils00 fine, attention whore! congratulations on your goal in a game in which we still did not win

tmeier96 i’m ignoring your sass and saying thank you anyways

y/ndevils00 asshole

tmeier96 bitch

jackhughes hey, that’s my girlfriend, Meier!

y/ndevils00 @/jackhughes it’s okay baby, i can fight my own battles

y/ndevils00 HEY! I’M JACK’S GIRLFRIEND, MEIER!

jackhughes ah yes, you did so well, lovely Dove. so proud of you

user02 goddamn John looks FINE AS HELL

user81 fr! y/n has a hot ass boyfriend and some hot ass friends!

dawson1417 THANK YOU BESTIE NUMBER 3!!! I MISS YOU SO MUCH!!!

y/ndevils00 I’LL SEE YOU SO SOON, BFFL

lhughes_06 yes, we’re absolutely mentally falling apart without you. idk how we’re still alive

y/ndevils00 i was wondering the same thing tbh. who else is gonna tell you not to eat an expired protein bar?

lhughes_06 i would’ve been fine

y/ndevils00 you would’ve gotten your stomach pumped and missed the game

lhughes_06 i don’t believe you

y/ndevils00 how did you survive this long without me?

_quinnhughes our mom

lhughes_06 @/_quinnhughes shut up, huggy

nicohischier i think you cursed more than we did

y/ndevils00 can you blame me?! these fuckers suck!

nicohischier i- you can’t say that

y/ndevils00 sure, i can! i just did!

ehaula WE suck?! YOU suck!

y/ndevils00 @/ehaula yeah, and Jack loves it!

ehaula UNCLES DON’T NEED TO KNOW THESE THINGS

nicohischier NOBODY NEEDS TO KNOW THESE THINGS

y/ndevils00 @/ehaula prudes

jackhughes Dove, what have we talked about?!

y/ndevils00 @/jackhughes that i have to stop talking about our sex life on my instagram 🙁

jackhughes mhm and what did you just do?

y/ndevils00 @/jackhughes talked about our sex life on my instagram 😔

jackhughes so what do you have to say to Haulzy and Cap?

y/ndevils00 @/ehaula i’m sorry for making you privy to Jack and i’s bedroom shenanigans 🫤

[fbfh]

curiosity is a wonderful thing - ch. 3

wc: 3.1k

pairing: slow burn childhood best friends to lovers ben x reader, audrey x reader

warnings: ben is stressed, audrey is a bad gf, mild claustrophobia/dark spaces/being under ground warning (description of falling down the rabbithole into twonderland but it's fun and you love it so it's not scary lol), mild exposition dumping

summary: ben prepares for the arrival of the Isle kids, and gives audrey the benefit of the doubt a little too much. you have time to sneak away to your favorite place in the world, and the only thing that's missing is ben.

song recs: in a world of my own - kathryn beaumont, welcome to wonderland - scarlett rose, wish you still felt this way - sophie meiers x 90sflav

a/n: i love this fic. i love this series. this started as a comfort daydream and now it's a thing and I hope yall are ready for the next chapter cause it's gonna be good. I hope this brings yall the comfort it brings me <33

tags @yesv01 @magcon7280 @hopefullhearts @thatawkwardlittlefangirl  @sunshineangel-reads @strawberry-cake1 @dustyinkpages @kiara7777

After about a week of constant meetings, arrangements, and press conferences, a week of even less sleep and even more coffee than usual - something Ben didn’t know was possible to achieve - it’s finally the day he’s been working tirelessly toward. It’s the day the kids from the Isle are finally on their way to Auradon. He rushes back to Auradon Prep with you at his side after a very stressful, successful press conference. Even though he seems totally composed on the surface, you can tell he’s a bundle of nerves. You walk quickly beside him as he goes over the agenda for their arrival. 

“Their rooms are all set up, Fairy Godmother said Jane can help them get settled into their classes - god, what am I forgetting?” Ben rambles, fumbling through all the papers in his bag. His eyes land on his copy of his press conference note cards, and that jogs his memory. 

“Right,” He continues as you look up at him, and he knows he has all your attention. “I don’t think I’m going to have time to write a new speech for their arrival…”

He pauses for a moment, seeing if there’s some little pocket of time he can find to make this date extra special for them. 

“Ben, you’re more jam packed than a tea cake. You can’t overwork yourself and run into the ground, not when you’re this close.”

Ben considers for a moment, realizing you're right. 

"You have a point…" he agrees with a reluctant chuckle. "I'll use the same speech I used for the press conference." He decides. You’re silent for a moment.

“...Alright.” 

“What?” Ben asks, able to read your expression like a book. 

“Nothing, just-” You hesitate, then give him an earnest look, like you don’t want to hurt his feelings. He chuckles and braces himself, knowing whatever you’re about to say will be a necessary - albeit, hard - truth. 

“You don’t think it’s a bit much?” You ask gently. “Too formal, given the circumstances?” 

He considers for a moment. He thought it did great at the press conference, but maybe there are a few parts he can revise for the arrival of the Isle kids. 

“Uh… yeah. I- I can cast eyes over it, we still have a little over an hour. That should be enough to make any tweaks.” He finishes. 

You nod as you follow him into the conference room that he’s turned into a makeshift headquarters for all of his first proclamation business. He sets down his bag and pulls out all his paperwork and his planner. He hears you set your stuff down a few seats away from him and looks up. You’ve been working so hard and helping him out so much with all of this. He couldn’t possibly have accomplished a fraction as much without you. He walks over to you, gathering up your stuff. 

“Look bunny, why don’t you, uh,” he starts, leaning over slightly to make sure no one’s about to walk through the doorway. “Why don’t you head down for a while. You have enough time if you go now.”

Your eyes light up at his words. You’ve been keeping your Wonderland visits to a minimum to help Ben and support him as much as you can, and it hasn’t gone unnoticed.

“Really?” You ask softly. 

“Yeah, I’ll cover for you.” Ben lets out a soft grunt as you tackle him with a hug. He chuckles lightly, giving your back and shoulders a gentle pat before you pull away a moment later. 

“I’ll run my speech by you when you get back-” He begins, then cuts himself off, remembering something. “We got your watch fixed, right?”

You’re glad he remembered, and you fish around in your tea pot bag for a moment before pulling out the weathered bronzy pocket watch. Time works differently in Wonderland, and it’s hard to keep track of. You've tried everything you can think of, and your pocket watch is the only thing that seems to keep you from constantly being late. Granted, you're still late or nearly late a lot, but it’s much better than it used to be. 

“Yes,” you nod, showing him the little ticking hands, currently resting at the words ‘on time’. A fresh bubble of excitement pops inside you and you let out an excited giggle, hugging Ben tightly one more time. 

“Thank you!” you exclaim in a soft whisper before he sends you off. You run over to the corner of the room to summon a rabbit hole. Ben watches in fascination as the tile floor begins to crumble in front of you, giving way to grassy dirt before continuing to crumble, going down, down, down. It’s a large, vaguely irregular circle about half as wide as your wingspan. You look back at Ben with another silent thank you, before jumping straight down into the hole. As soon as the last of you is out of sight, the tiles rebuild themselves without leaving a trace of you. Ben stares at the spot where you disappeared, feeling vaguely melancholic, but mostly happy that you’re getting to spend time doing what you love. That you’re happy. 

“There you are, Bennyboo,” Ben whips his head around at the sound of Audrey’s voice, and he’s relieved she hadn’t shown up sooner. It’s not that sneaking off to Wonderland is a bad thing, but most people tend to discourage you from visiting too often. Wonderland is a timeless domain, like Neverland, and it and all of its inhabitants are much different from those from Auradon - usually referred to as Overland or the Main Land by people from Wonderland and Neverland. 

Wonderland runs on pure, neutral chaos and nonsense, which is a very hard concept for people from Overland to grasp. Overland runs on a fundamental structure of good vs. evil, so it’s easy for people to perceive things from Wonderland as good or bad  when they’re really just made up of madness. The reason people try to keep Wonderland contained is because you can’t fight nonsense with sense, you can’t fight chaos with logic. If something powerful from Wonderland got into Overland, like the Jabberwocky, or any number of powerful plants, animals, or magic, Auradon would be practically defenseless. That’s one of the reasons that Belle and Adam decided to reach out to your mother, and continue to form such a strong bond with her. If Wonderland nonsense managed to get out into Auradon, it would be uncontrollable chaos, and the only person who could stop it would be your mother - and now, you. 

It took Ben a while to understand Wonderland, to understand you. You and your mother are very special cases; Alice was from Overland, but adapted to be part of Wonderland, and Wonderland became a part of her. You, however, were born in Wonderland and raised in Overland. You’ve adapted as well as you can, but you always do much, much better when you can sneak away for regular little trips. Ben has asked to join you before, but it’s too dangerous. People from Overland rarely adapt to Wonderland nonsense and usually end up going mad, which is why your mother is such an asset to the Auradon government - she’s actually able to serve as a liaison between Wonderland and Auradon, and keep an eye on things.  

Unfortunately, there are still a lot of stigmas surrounding Wonderlandians, stigmas Ben has grown to resent more and more over the years, but most of it boils down to Wonderlandians being weird, crazy, dumb, and volatile. The more Ben has come to understand you, the more he hates the small comments and little stares directed toward you. Luckily Ben has been able to protect you from a lot of it. People very quickly found out that if they said anything bad about you or Wonderland, it wouldn’t end well for them. He can’t get rid of the stigmas, but he can protect you from them as much as possible. 

Audrey flounces over, sitting next to him.

"You are never going to believe what Arabella just told me at cheer practice."

“Uh-”

“She said-”

“Um, Audrey.” Ben finally manages to interrupt. She looks confused about why she’s not the one talking right now. 

“I want to hear all about this, I really do,” Ben says, “but we’re going to be greeting the kids transferring from the Isle soon-” Audrey huffs, already disinterested.

“And I wanted your feedback on my speech.” He finishes, handing her the papers. 

“Oh, sure. There’s that…” Audrey says, pretending to read it over for a moment. Before she finishes, she sets the papers down on the table, and gives Ben a chipper look.

“I’m sure it’s fine, Bennyboo. You never disappoint.”

She sits on the table in front of him, continuing to tell him all about what Arabella said Herkie did. Ben tries his best to listen, he really does. He just can’t keep his mind off his speech, and he can feel himself beginning to spiral and overthink. He has so much riding on this, he can’t afford for his speech to be fine, he can’t afford for anything about this whole ordeal to be fine. Her words keep echoing in his mind, you never disappoint, Bennyboo. He knows she meant it to be supportive, but he feels like all the pressure he’s been convincing himself he can handle is just reinforced. He was hoping to get some real feedback from Audrey, maybe a little encouragement, but- 

He stops himself before the thought can go any further. Audrey is his girlfriend, and Ben should be able to trust her word. You would never lie to him about something this important, so he chooses to trust that Audrey wouldn’t either. He tries to shut up the worries clouding his mind and tries to pay attention to what Audrey is saying. She’s probably just trying to distract him from worrying, give him something else to think about for a while. You can always tell when he’s overthinking, so Audrey is probably trying to show him that she cares, that there’s nothing to worry about. That if she’s talking about something like cheer team gossip at a time like this, when Ben is getting ready for one of the most important days of his life, then everything must be under control. Besides, if he needs to he can look his speech over by himself after Audrey leaves. He might have time to. It will all be fine. 

The moment you let yourself fall into the dark rabbit hole, your stomach flips as you begin free falling through the darkness. A little dirt sprinkles down on your head from where it closes up above you, and you narrowly manage to avoid some roots snagging in your hair. After a few moments, your descent slows. You spin slowly as you glide down, and in the pitch black darkness, you can feel your internal gyroscope going crazy. You breathe in the heavy, earthy air, and for a few moments, you don't know which way is up or down. You have absolutely no sense of direction for those few beautiful moments, and you don't want to. Soon, your descent speeds up again, and you find yourself tumbling through tree branches, eventually landing on a rough surface in the dark. 

“It should be here somewhere…” you mutter, feeling around for a doorknob. After a moment you feel it, cool aged metal in your hand. You twist it, revealing a beam of light through a doorway. It’s going to be a close call, but you think you’ll just be able to fit. You manage to squeeze through the entrance, exiting out of the door - which is situated in a large tree trunk, and into Wonderland. You crawl forward, taking it all in. You take in a deep breath of the still, earthy, floral air. It’s heavy in your lungs, like a deep dream. You fully exit, and the door slowly closes behind you.

The world is quiet. 

There’s an almost suffocating stillness in the atmosphere of Wonderland, one that would be uncanny and unnerving to you if it weren’t already so deeply comforting. It’s the same grounding sense of peace and stillness you get when you’re young and walk carefully through your dark house at night in search of a cold glass of water. There’s that feeling in Wonderland, everyone is asleep except for me. I ought to be asleep too, I best not wake them. The world around you is still, still, still. It’s as still as a stone, or a lake made of glass. You soak up the familiar surroundings, and you feel like you’re finally visiting an old friend. 

In spite of the pitch black sky, which is barely visible through the treetops, you can see what’s around you just fine. But if you look too far, there’s a darkness off the beaten path, one that stays just at the edges of your sight no matter where you go. It always looks to you like those hazy dark shadows around the edges of old photographs. You look down at the beaten path - this one being made of black and white irregularly shaped checkerboard tiles nestled right into the dirt. They twist and turn, splitting out and reconverging haphazardly into the darkness. They’re a bit worn and dirty, but you suppose any outdoor tiles would get that way eventually. 

You follow it back the way you came, spinning around as you do, and notice the way it splinters into little shards, cracking and fragmenting into a mosaic of sorts before petering out at the base of the tree, with grass and dirt poking up in between. You feel yourself begin to settle, at home with the lack of time flowing around you, and you take in another breath. Your nose and lungs are kissed gently with the smell of damp, freshly turned earth, plant life, and that unmoving sort of smell that shows up after it rains, but still before any birds and animals come out from their hiding. The type of smell when flowers are wet, and have not yet opened themselves back up. 

Reaching into your trusty teapot bag, you fish around in there until you find your camera. It’s old, very old, and completely obsolete ever since the boom of technology that appeared around the time you and Ben were born, but you love it nonetheless. A year or two before you and Ben - and most of the other kids your age - were born, Auradon successfully made an alliance with Atlantis. They traded their protection of Atlantis and a promise to leave them alone, in exchange for a little bit of their technology and power sources. Adam also promised to make sure Rourke never saw the light of day again, a promise Queen Kida was happy to accept. The trade led to light speed innovations based in Atlantean tech; smart phones, computers, video games, and countless other innovations that brought Auradon into its new age. Flash forward to now, Atlantis is the tech capital of the world, and magic is obsolete. Your camera can’t give directions or tell time or backup to cloud storage, and you wouldn’t have it any other way. 

You snap some pictures of the tiles before you begin exploring. You never know what entrance to Wonderland you’ll fall through, and you love documenting each one. You walk carefully through the forest of dense trees, looking at flocks of haughty looking dodo birds and peonies that gossip to each other, whispering with a laugh as you pass them by. Soon you stumble into something very interesting. You thought it was a cluster of blue bushes, but were surprised to find out they’re really birds. The bird bushes (or maybe bush birds) startle at your presence, squawking and leaving feathers (leaves?) in their wake before they fly off. 

You manage to get a few pictures of them too, and you’re excited to show Ben. You’ve tried taking pictures with your phone before, but Wonderland makes technology… unreliable at best. Plus, there’s no service down here anyway. That’s why you took to journaling, drawing pictures and taking photos and writing down everything you see. This way you can share it with Ben, this way it’s almost like he’s here in your favorite place with you. 

You follow the blue speckled bush birds - as you’d dubbed them - until you lose track of them. It’s no matter though, since you soon hear some lovely singing coming from under a sparkling berry bush growing fruit shaped like bells. You crouch down, lifting up the leaves, and find a choir of inchworms practicing their harmonies. The leader looks up at you in a huff. 

“I’m terribly sorry, I don’t mean to interrupt.” You say. He huffs, and turns back to his choir, conducting with a little twig. You decide to sit and listen for a while as they rehearse under the coverage of glistening pink leaves. You find some oversized, brightly colored mushrooms growing nearby, and sit down on a comfortable one. You pull a teacup out of your bag, trying to decide which tea to drink while you watch the inchworms and listen to their masterpiece slowly come together. 

You zip the lid closed, and pour the spout to the cup, settling on some raspberry tea. With honey, you think, and lemon. You smile as a lemon wedge falls from the spout, plopping gently into your cup. You take a sip, and it’s perfectly brewed as ever. You go through several cups of tea, growing more and more invested in the drama between the inchworms. One is insisting on taking the high harmony, even though it’s obviously out of his range. You’re half way through… one of your cups of tea, you lost count rather quickly. By now the inchworms have perfected their harmonies for the chorus, and the first verse. Your attention is ripped away from the inchworms when your bag starts ringing. You open it up, digging out your pocket watch. The bronze hands have spun all the way past most of the little notches, and you nearly drop your tea when you see where they are. Your eyes follow the hands, which are nearly pointing to the word Late! in fancy script. 

“Shit!” 

[ladylooch]

Going Home with You- Timo Meier

A/N: Just cause I love these two and Timo had a great game today and I know exactly how these two spent the rest of their day 🥰

Word Count: 1.7k

Inside the group of Devils WAGS, Emma stands beside Kristen Haula, looking down at the newest addition to their family. The baby is in its holder, snuggles up into Kristen’s chest. Emma can’t help but steal glances at the little bundle every so often. Every time Emma sees a baby, she tries to wrap her head around the fact that there is one of those inside of her. It hasn’t quite computed. Maybe it will at their 19 week appointment next week when they get to see the baby again. 

Emma and Timo have told the team and most of their important  friends and family members now. It is starting to get real. As real as the baby yawning next to her while gripping its own fingers tightly. A smile tilts the corner of Emma’s mouth up seeing the baby’s little mouth stretch in a yawn again. 

“Very cute.” Emma murmurs when Kristen catches her looking.

“So cute. Makes all of pregnancy worth it.”

“I hope so.” Emma sighs, thinking back to those rough weeks in the first trimester when her body felt like it was revolting against her. “I am feeling better now.” Emma shrugs. “But my back is really killing me.”

As if on cue, her lower back tightens up and she leans forward, trying to stretch it out. A hand glides along her back, thick fingers beginning to dig into her reoccurring pain spot. Emma turns, looking over her shoulder to see Timo.

“Hi!” She smiles, wrapping her arms around his neck. He played so great today. She has been itching to get him into a hug since he scored early in the second period.

Timo chases her lips as she tries to press her nose into his shoulder. She tilts her head back, capturing his full mouth. His tongue is gliding along the seam of her mouth as his hands press her tighter into his body. Her bump prevents her from getting any closer. She feels pressure and rumbling where her bump pressed into Timo’s stomach. She contemplates, but ultimately unsure if that is the baby or the popcorn she couldn’t stop eating during the second intermission. When her and Timo separate, she is breathless.

“Wow, yeah.” She flutters her eyes closed, feeling blushy and giddy. “Hi.”

“Hi babe.” Timo murmurs. He pecks her one more time, then focuses his hands on her lower back. Emma grips the lapels of his suit as he rubs his fingers in. It feels incredible. She bites her lip to not let out a pregnancy soaked moan. His thumbs rub stretched circles into the back of her hip bones. She rests her forehead on his sternum and he kisses the top of her head. “Do you want to wait for Nico?”

“I should. He scored too.” Emma murmurs. “You guys kept me up and moving today.” Timo chuckles.

“That’s good, after you fell asleep during the Rangers game Thursday.”

“Look, I was tired. I didn’t get my nap in like you. Some of us are working weird hours to help support their business in Switzerland.” 

“This is true. My babies work so hard.” Timo nods, patting her bump. “Nico should be out in a minute. He was right behind me.”

Nico does indeed come sauntering out, hands in his pockets. He offers a hug to his sister and modestly accepts her excitement about his goal. Other than being with Timo, the best part of being in Jersey for Emma is getting to see Nico play consistently. The way this team ignites under his leadership gives Emma chills every night. Together, the three of them head out to the parking ramp. Lexi is working OT at the hospital and won’t be home until after 10:00pm tonight. Nico is going to the store to have dinner ready for her when she arrives. While Nico stops to take pictures and sign autographs for fans, Timo and Emma head home to their apartment. 

Once they are there, they order some pork belly ramen and plan to continue their quest of watching all the Marvel movies together on Disney+. Next up is Captain America: Winter Solider. Curled up under a blanket with Timo Meier is the only place in the world Emma wants to be. She can barely watch the movie because she is so focused on how good Timo’s body feels resting against her. Her pregnant body begins swirling with hormones, inducing thoughts of saddling up right here and giving him his reward now rather than waiting for the end of the night.

Her cheek perches on his pec. Her gaze drags off the TV to the tie of his sweatpants. Her hand moves down from where it was wrapped around his back, gliding along those ties and pulling them apart. Timo’s head turns away from the TV, lips ghosting over her head, watching her hand slide into the waistband of his cotton pants. Her palm glides down his shaft as it thickens in her grasp. She pumps him a few times, squeezing as she does so. Timo’s hand on her hip slides down the back of her yoga pants, gripping her bare ass.

It isn’t long before their pants are gone, shirts still on, as Emma bounces up and down on Timo’s cock. Her head falls back towards the ceiling, nipples pebbling against his callused palms as he holds her swollen breasts under her shirt. Emma is loud as she comes, stretched and used by his powerful body tonight.

“Ah.” Timo grimaces when her last wave releases them both. Emma steadies herself with her hands on his abdomen. “That hurt my ass a bit.”

Emma tilts her head to the side, looking utterly fucked out, not comprehending the issue.

“Hm?” 

“My butt hurts from the shot I blocked.” 

“Oh.” She rushes trying to get off him. Timo grips her hips tightly.

“No, no, no.” He murmurs, then drifts his eyes down to her belly. She looks so obviously pregnant right now with their baby. It stirs him inside her even as he just filled her up. “Wanna look at you like this some more.” So there she stays, until she absolutely cannot avoid getting off him to go to the bathroom. 

Timo is in bed when she is done. She comes out of the bathroom, smiling at the new panties and pajama pants he has waiting for her on her side of the bed. She slides them on, then gets into bed with him. She curls into his side, ignoring the pregnancy pillow that she itches to wrap around and under her too. She will eventually, but right now she wants to feel all of him against her. Timo rolls onto his side as she maneuvers a leg through both of his. Her socked feet tangle with his in the middle of their California King. 

“How is your butt now?” 

“It’s sore. Gonna have a sick bruise. Probably already do.”

“You think?” Emma murmurs. She shifts up, looking over his back and pulling his sweatpants and underwear down. He has a definitive reddish and purple mark from the puck. Emma cringes then leans forward and puts her lips on his butt cheek, kissing him softly. Timo’s ass tightens in surprise under her mouth.

“Whew, damn, babe. Warn a dude before we start doing butt stuff.” He jokes as she rolls back into her previous position after replacing his clothes. His palm slides across her bump immediately, settling in for his nightly hold of their child. 

“I hope you cleaned that cheek good in the shower.”

“Scrubbed it hard.” He murmurs, eyes shut. Emma leans forward, kissing his chin, then along his jaw until he starts kissing her neck. He sucks her skin in, rolling it over in his mouth. “How is your back?”

“I can’t do another round. Gave you everything I got.”

“Mmm, okay.” He agrees, halting his nibbling of her neck. He lays his head back on the pillow, scanning her face. “I am already missing you.” He confesses, speaking about his upcoming West Coast road trip. It’s about a week, but will drag on due to the large time difference. 

“How are you feeling about San Jose on Tuesday?”

“Um…” He trails off, running a finger along her chest, over the swells of her full breasts. “Weird?” He furrows his eyebrows. “Like I’m excited to go back but also a bit nervous.”

“I’m sure the fans will welcome you back. They loved having you there for so long. You grew up there.”

“Yeah.” He sighs, looking lost in thought.

“But coming here was a good move for you.”

“For us….” He smiles then leans forward to kiss her.

“Us? What, you’re finally going to admit you picked Jersey for me?” Emma murmurs.

“Yeah, babe. Of course I did.” He strokes her hair. “Did I think this is where we would be a year after my trade? No.”

“How disappointing…?” Emma trails off, looking at the red spot on his neck where his shoulder pads rub at him. She leans forward, kissing the irritated skin. 

“How lucky.” He corrects her. “This is everything, Em. Means nothing without you now.” He pauses. "I used to... imagine... in San Jose that one day, you would be waiting for me there after the game to go home with." He breathes in deeply. "But you never were. And I think that stung a few times last year, but it's because we were meant to have this instead. This life." He presses into the baby harder. "I love you so much, Em."

A smile curls along Emma’s lips as tender tears build in her eyes. She sighs happily, pressing her forehead against the heartbeat in his thick neck. Timo strokes his fingers over her back, resting his nose in her hair. Emma runs her hands under Timo’s t-shirt to cup the bare skin of his muscular back.

“I love you, babe. I loved our day too.” Emma whispers.

“Me too, baby. Good night.” 

Read more Timo and Emma here.

[mommahughes19-23]

Hi! Can I request an Instagram hard launch with Timo Meier and reader is a famous Swiss model/actress. The comments can include the Devils players, fans of the famous reader, and some friends (Swiss players Kevin Fiala and Roman Josi and bonus Nina Hischier for being friends with famous reader) Thank You!

SWISS SWAGG - T.M

@yn.models : @ninahischier thank you for being the best makeup artist a girly could want! Milan , thank you for having me , @tmeier96 , thank you for your constant love and support

tagged : @tmeier96 @ninahischier @rjosi90 @kevinfiala22

location : models only

jackhughes : nina nina nina nina ! 💝🤓

lhughes_06 : oh the wonders make up does for people like you 😵‍💫👀

↪ yn.models : do me a favor and go play in a swamp you moron 🙅🏻‍♀����

nicohischier : kann ich meine schwester zurück haben ( can I have my sister back )

↪ yn.models : nein

dawson1417 : yo you look stunning! hope you had fun!😬🤓😘

pally_18 : we get it you model

john.marino97 : YOUVE GOTTA STRUT LIKE YOU MEAN IT!

jesperbratt : MISS YOU

↪ mrs.cap : MISS YOUUUUUUU

tmeier96 : die liebe meines lebens, ich bin so stolz auf dich! ( the love of my life, i am so proud of you ) 💖💝💘

↪ yn.models : ich liebe dich so sehr, Timo, danke für alles ( i love you so much timo thank you for everything ) 💘💝💖

rjosi90 : geh bester freund, das ist mein bester freund ( go best friend thats my best friend)

bssmith2 : how do you not have a major malfunction in half the fits u wear!?

↪ yn.models : because I am a professional

↪ nicohischier : 🙅🏻‍♀️

ehaula : I like ur fit pookie

tofff73 : weirdoooooo..

kevinfiala22 : oh, ich habe sogar ein etikett bekommen, danke ( oh i even get a tag , thank you )

curtislazar95 : BOOOOOOOOOOOO

fan 1 : STUNNING MOMMA

fan 2 : love love love

akiraschmid93 : go away

holtz_10 : famous best friend love u

siegenthaler34 : a look

dougieham : dont u get uncomfortable in all the make up

↪ yn.models : no....

naterbastia : 💖

jesperboqvist : 💘

A.N :

Thank you sweet anon for this ! I have another request coming soon and I am trying to get back into my writing era so thanks for sticking with me.

tags : @quinnylouhughesx43 @skylershines @noahkahansorangejuice

[the-uraniumverse]

the boy is heree

this is noah meier, the most poetic boy in town

asof now i don't have much about him buttt heres a small intro for him !

noah meier, born february 24, pisces: sign of passion. favorite ride: the carousel. from the second noah began to pick up a pencil, his parents could tell that he had a strong passion for anything that came with it. feeling the need to brag about their son, mr & mrs meier pressured their son to draw, write, even act or sing, do anything that would impress not only others but them. poem after poem, noah could never shake the feeling that there was always something missing. 

that was until noah was 10 years old and experienced the magic of having a crush for the first time, on his best friend, max, who soon enough became the center of all of noahs inspiration in his poems, plays, drawings, and songs. when noah was 13, his family moved to canda for better air quality because of his little sister, mia’s, asthma and health conditions. 

ever since, noah has been on a dedicated (and desperate) mission to find a new source of inspiration, becoming a hopeless romantic and (what he calls) “falling in love” with anyone he finds remotely attractive in attempt to find something to be interesting. 

anyway, some fun facts too

-he is a BIG octonauts fan but denies the fact he is and says his vegimals pin is from his little sister (it's not)

-he is pan & uses he/him :D

-he speaks german, croatian , english, and a bit of french

-he had a big fidgeting habit and especially bites his nails a lot

-his music taste is ALL over the place (seriously, he has laufey, my chemical romance, mitski, will wood, and the smiths all in the same playlist)

-(also yes he either had crushed on, or is crushing on everyones ocs who consented on this post cause he's a hopeless romantic and a loser)

okay that's all :)

[amielbjacobs]

@yaoist

Yessss let me list my favorite Soviet history books

The Whisperers: Private Life in Stalin's Russia, by Orlando Figes - I wound up doing a lot of deep dives into very specific subjects without ever reading a good general history book, so this was one of the more general histories I've read. As a writer, I love all of the specific detail. Figes himself is kind of a . . . character (read: writes his own Amazon reviews under a sockpuppet) and there's a few weird moments in the text that seem to reflect that, but it was really enlightening.

Homosexual Desire in Revolutionary Russia, by Dan Healey - the definitive book on queer Soviet history. My favorite parts are the portraits of early trans people - although like many historians, Healey is (imo) way too eager to label historical people as cis when the evidence is at best mixed.

Red Closet: The hidden history of gay oppression in the USSR, by Rustam Alexander - A series of portraits of queer people in the USSR. As someone morbidly fascinated by the secret police, my favorite was the case of the KGB officer who was 1) gay and 2) weirdly obsessed with arresting gay people, to the point where it made all of his comrades very uncomfortable. It's a fascinating window into the institutional KGB approach to the "crime" of sodomy.

The Lost Spy: An American in Stalin's Secret Service, by Andrew Meier - I picked this one up at random at a library book sale and loved it. An investigation into an American agent of the NKVD who vanished into the USSR during the great purges and was never seen again. My favorite part is how the writer (a journalist) makes his own research part of the story, a kind of detective story.

Police Aesthetics: Literature, Film, and the Secret Police in Soviet Times, by Critina Vatulescu - this is another academic book so it might be really boring to anyone who isn't me, but I am fascinated by the interplay between propaganda and the people who propaganda depicts, especially in terms of spy fiction. I quote the line "In classic secret police fashion, the true secret is that there is no secret at all," all the time to my other war-crimes-special-interest friend.

Next Stop Execution, by Oleg Gordievsky - A memoir by KGB defector Oleg Gordievsky. I found this a fascinating look into the inner workings of the KGB, as well as into the mind of a man willing to risk everything for what he believed in.

Those are my history book recs, I have some more historical fiction or Soviet fiction recs!

[incorrectdevils]

Timo Meier: Hey Siegs! Jonas Siegenthaler: [punches Timo in the stomach] Timo, reeling: What the fuck? Siegs: You are one of my very best friends. And I cannot stand by and watch you throw away your life like this. You're too young. You're too beautiful! Timo: What the fuck are you talking about? Siegs: I'm talking about the baby that's growing inside of your belly right now. Akira Schmid, already halfway out of the room: See ya! Timo: I'm not pregnant! Siegs: Well, not after that punch you're not. I've been taking muay thai classes. Timo: I was never pregnant, Siegs! Siegs: ...Are you sure? Timo: Yes, I'm fucking sure! Nico Hischier, walking in: I'm sorry, but why the fuck is everybody yelling over here? Siegs: Oh, I found this positive pregnancy test and - Nico: [punches Timo in the stomach] Timo: AW, MOTHERFUCKER!

[thefamilybruno]

The Prince and the Peasant - Complete!

Gorgeous artwork by Andrea Meier :D

Summary:

Adam Alexandre Alsace du Maurier lives in a shining castle in France’s countryside. When an old beggar woman comes to Adam’s castle seeking shelter from a winter storm, he turns her away, cold and indifferent to her suffering. After she transforms into a beautiful Enchantress, she strips away Adam’s title and wealth, cursing him to live as a peasant with the hope that he will learn the value of community and kindness.

In a daze, Adam wanders through the woods, the memory of his encounter with the magical woman cloudy and fragmented. When Adam stumbles into a nearby tavern, Gaston Legume, a respected member of the community, offers to take Adam into his home, both to uphold his stellar reputation and to impress the woman he wants to marry.

Life in the village proves to be more difficult than Adam had expected and having a supposed nobleman as a roommate stretches Gaston’s patience to its limits. Through many conflicts and arguments, Gaston and Adam's relationship transforms, first into friendship, and then into something more.

But one night, a shimmering rose blossoms to life in Adam’s mind, and as winter turns to spring, its petals begin to fall, leading Adam to wonder: what will happen once it wilts?

Pairing: Gaston/Adam

Tags: Happy Ending, Fluffy Ending, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Roommates, Canonical Alternate Universe

Rating: E

click below for excerpt from the final chapter :)

Gaston leaned forward and touched their lips together - a feather-light kiss, so unlike the one they had shared at the end of the ceremony. Emboldened by Gaston’s timidity, Adam hooked a hand behind Gaston’s neck and deepened it, kissing Gaston with such ferocity that it destabilized both of them, and before Adam could even attempt to fix his own stance, Gaston fell forward, one of his hands clutching the left lapels of Adam’s coat, causing Adam to fall too. The next few events happened so fast that Adam barely had time to process them.

The table flipped.

Adam fell backward.

Gaston fell on top of him.

Two hundred cream puffs rolled onto the floor.

Children rushed forward to devour them.

Everyone roared with laughter.

It was, without a doubt, the best moment of Adam’s life.

Gaston pushed himself up, but stayed on top of Adam, hovering over him as they both lost themselves to laughter. In only seconds, Gaston had started laughing hard enough that he needed to reach up and wipe tears from his eyes.

“What the hell was that, prince?” Gaston was barely able to stop laughing long enough to ask. “Were you trying to ravish me in front of our friends?”

“I have no idea,” Adam said, still laughing too. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry.”

Gaston reached out and plucked a stray cream puff up from the floor. He shoved it into his mouth and hummed with pleasure. Adam pretended to be disgusted.

“What?” Gaston asked with his mouth full. “They’re delicious.”

“That was on the floor, you know.”

As soon as Adam said it, he knew what was coming. Gaston found another cream puff and tried to shove it into Adam’s mouth too. Adam twisted his face, trying to avoid it.

“Stop!”

“Mmmm…yummy cream puff,” Gaston said, taunting him. “Open up.”

“No!”

Somehow, Gaston succeeded. He shoved the little pastry into Adam’s mouth and bellowed a victorious, cocky laugh.

[growwithmeastrology]

Thursday, November 30th 2023. Sun in Sagittarius ♐️🔥Moon in Cancer ♋️🌊

Does anyone feel exposed or like their indulgences are out of control? If you do, you’re not alone. It may feel like emotional sensitivity is at an all time high.

Venus in Libra is joining up with the South Node and will be there through the weekend. Venus rules love, beauty and aesthetics so being in your feels about how you look is real. But not only that, it rules money and relationship topics too so watch out. There may be some truths exposed in relationships.

The Moon is in Cancer which adds an extra layer of sensitivity today and it will square Chiron in Aries. If you’re being tough on yourself, this transit could cause emotional vulnerability. Try not to project your standards onto others. Watch out for extra criticism. From others and from yourself.

We get some exciting vibes as the day goes on when the Moon in Cancer sextiles Uranus in Taurus. It’s a good time to try something outside of your normal routine. Our intuitions are super-charged guiding quick decisions. This energy is also fun and social.

Lastly, the Moon in Cancer will trine Neptune in Pisces. Your intuition again, is on point. So pay attention to your true feelings, not the ones making you feel bad about yourself in the moment. This energy sparks not only empathy but also imagination and creativity. Instead of going for the cookies in the pantry, try meditation, writing, listening to music, art or any of your favorite creative pursuits. Like sand sculptures. 😂

The best advice for today is to cover your ass if you’re feeling exposed in relationships, handle things with care and seek balance in moderation. Social time with friends could be a good outlet. 💚💫

If you enjoy my daily forecasts please like, comment, share and consider a gratitude tip in support. 🅿️ PayPal, Venmo or CashApp - @NaliniFlor

Learn more about your personal energies and how the daily forecast affects you! Comment below⬇️ or DM me for a consultation.

📸: Fernanda Meier Photography. Check out her work at FernandaMeier.com

[icedbatik]

Things to know about new Pen Matt Nieto ...

Best friends in the league

"Me and (Timo Meier) lived in the same building and we're both single guys, so we spent a lot of time together while everyone else was with their girlfriends and families," Nieto said.

During his time in Colorado, Nieto bonded with Nathan MacKinnon over video games. "... I'd say those two are probably my best friends."

The Anaheim Ducks were his favorite team growing up, and ... Paul Kariya was his favorite player.

He spent two years with the U.S. National Team Development Program, where he was teammates with Bryan Rust.

No place like home

Having lived away from home since the age of 14, whenever Nieto is back in Long Beach, spending time with friends and family feeds his soul. He loves the weather and spending time by the ocean, and - being of Hispanic descent on both sides - has a deep appreciation for the food.

Nieto says he doesn't know a ton about football itself. So when he plays fantasy football, Nieto tries to partner with a member of the support staff and let that person run the team." I'll just spot the money for it, then if we do crappy, I always have someone to blame," he said with a laugh.

[its-tea-time-darling]

Get to know me!

thanks for the tag @ulfrsmal <3

Nickname: tea

Height: Tall™ (adapted this from u alskdjjfdkas)

The last thing I googled: double checked if libra was my star sign by googling the german translation asdklfj

Amount of sleep: 8 or 9+ hours, sometimes up to 11 or 12

Dream job: i like the one i have now! 🥰 for privacy reasons however i cant tell yall what it is alsdkfjsajkldajf. i can say i studied a STEM subject

Favorite song: tough one!! ill say Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince by... you can guess who alsdkfjaklsjfdjkla.

Movie/Book that Summarises Me: ohhhhhhhhhh fancy ask. hm. i wanna say Die 13 1/2 Leben des Käptn Blaubärs by Walter Moers

Favorite instrument: uhhhhhhh. ill say recorder bc i played it for a long time and rly liked the music

Aesthetic: ?????????....................... i have no idea. maybe ill be basic and say cottagecore? idk, books tea nature fireplaces fall winter and so on i think

Favorite authors: Sally Rooney, Walter Moers, Casey McQuiston, Alice Oseman, my best friend whose name i cant say for privacy reasons but <3333 her work, Kim de l'Horizon, Simone Meier

(walter my dude you can be proud to be the one man in that list 😂😂😂)

Random fun fact: i've lived north of the polar circle for a total of... 1.5 years in my life

tagging: @ivesterrarium @moobrvoobl-moobmoob-oobmpoobroom @pathsofoak @scrapsofinspiration (I REMEMBERED YOUR URL LOOK AT ME, living and learning 🌱!!!!!!) @impossiblebird (idk how much ur on tumblr these days alice but hii if you are lsdk<3) @hoesaekyoongi (take it away shaaaaaaa<33333) @swanfloatieknight

[thesinglesjukebox]

CALVIN HARRIS FT. ELLIE GOULDING, "MIRACLE"

Some of us believe in miracles, some of us don't...

[5.84]

Taylor Alatorre: This song made me check if my computer was Y2K compliant. This song made me surf the alt.politics newsgroup to find out the date of the next WTO conference. This song made me "borrow" my weird friend's Prima strategy guide for Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri. This song made me call up my local PBS station to see if it had any plans to air episodes of Serial Experiments Lain. This song made me print out and annotate the lyrics to my illegally downloaded copy of NOFX's The Decline EP. This song made me contemplate making an "Acceptable in the 90's" pun. This song re-taught me HTML.</br> [9]

Leah Isobel: I need Kingdom Hearts AMVs set to this song and I need them immediately. [8]

Jonathan Bradley: It's vintage trance rather than blockbuster eurodance, but Calvin Harris's '90s pastiche is more dead-on than anything found on the Planet of the Bass. Precisely, it's a dead-on recreation of "Children" by Robert Miles, though perhaps Ellie Goulding has been recruited to provide a point of differentiation. It took one-and-a-half listens to remind my that the odd warpings of her cellophane voice go from novel to vertiginous very quickly; they might be more welcome here if they were either less glassily pristine or more. The breakbeat at the end is its own work of miniature history: the years going on and club trends shifting to drum and bass. [6]

Edward Okulicz: When I first heard this song I was sure it must be a sped-up remix thing a la Robin Schulz/Oliver Tree's "Miss You". How could it not have been? It's just so much. I would suggest that if they want to squeeze any more virality out of this song, they might get some mileage by slowing it down. But then it might lose that tasty early 00s UK mainstream chart dance-pop energy it's channelling so well. [6]

Hannah Jocelyn: This gets a [6] because the way Ellie Goulding sings "Oh No" makes me think of Webcomic Name. But also because Goulding sounds the most like herself she has in years, after eras upon eras of producers wasting her fascinating vocal timbre. How many vocalists have a soprano voice that husky? How many have that weird vibrato? Goulding's voice already sounds sped-up before Harris even touches it, and if it is sped up, I need to hear the version of "oh no" that sounds like "MacArthur Park." [6]

Crystal Leww: Calvin Harris is like the cat with nine lives of EDM, having gotten his start during the days of freaking bloghouse, blowing up during peak girly-ass EDM, continuing to thrive through the UK pop-house era, and sliding and funk waving bouncing through the late-aughts. I thought that finally he would retire to hitting the play button on prerecorded headlining sets in Vegas and Ibiza, but alas, he's hopped on trance during a time when it's back, baby. Trance's grand return is something that's been building with a very specific set of underground dance nerds for a while, in a bunch of different formats (see: the hypertrance crew, the hard trance pop song edits, and the latest point of arrival for PC Music/-adjacent gang), and Calvin Harris takes it all the way to UK #1. "Miracle" joins him back up with Ellie Goulding, who was one of his best collaborators during the peak girly-ass EDM era (twice). Goulding's vocals have always felt like an intimate whisper - they're there and they emote, but they never overwhelm - perfect for a track that needs to speed and glide on the clouds. This may be a sanded down, corners smoothed out version of whatever is happening in the underground but damn if Calvin hasn't always been good at making a hook. [6]

Nortey Dowuona: Fuck Calvin Harris and anyone who wants him to make EDM. [3]

Scott Mildenhall: In lesser hands, this would be a facsimile, losing all joy in a vain search for an excuse to exist. In the hands of experts, it is joy afresh. "Miracle" is at one with its euphoric essence, granting it the space to diffuse and reveal itself not as pastiche, but as a reminder of the power of piano presets. Ellie Goulding in trance alien mode is the perfect fit: human, but not distractingly so. [8]

Wayne Weizhen Zhang: I listened to this song twice this year, both times in the passenger seat of my middle aged uncle after not having seem him for years, stuck in traffic in Shanghai, singing along with broken English and appropriately and awkwardly bumping our heads. He thought it bumped. [6]

Ian Mathers: I can't remember if I've ever felt dismay when the beat comes in before, but on first listen that's exactly what happened. I'm not even sure why! It's not like I was much enjoying the song before that; maybe it just suddenly seemed clear this was going to be exactly what I'd expect from the combination of these two artists, neither of whom I love. It felt like I could have predicted the rest of the song from that point, and that's kind of how it played out. [3]

Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: I love dumb dance pop -- My favorite Madonna song is "4 Minutes"! This is too dumb even for me. How do you even do that? [3]

Katherine St Asaph: This kind of pop-trance was already a massively guilty pleasure for me because of the accumulated secondhand disgust of trance purists. "Miracle" has an additional source of guilt in being a pop-trance track by Calvin Harris, who has been around long enough that his releasing a Robert Miles rip this hacky has to be either condescension or a bit. Clearly I have no standards. [9]

Alfred Soto: Give me more anonymous dance tracks like "Miracle," which it isn't but it will do. Jessie Ware would do well to cast off her pearls before the swine who helped perpetuate her approximation of failed euphoria. [7]

Aaron Bergstrom: We have DJ Sammy at home. [3]

Joshua Minsoo Kim: What the hell... this literally ends right as I'm starting to believe how good it is? [4]

Brad Shoup: Feels like I should be rating the progressive-trance remix in my head, one that's 12 minutes long, shamelessly milks the piano decay and pushes Goulding to match the urgency of the BPM. She's as centered as ever, despite Harris's breakneck rave tempo: nearing the end, he tosses out some breakbeat like an anchor. But in my head, it's still going. [6]

Thomas Inskeep: I know I should be accustomed to it in 2023, but when I come across someone such as Harris who clearly has zero musical integrity, who'll do anything for hits -- well, it still catches me off-guard. And no one hops from one dance/pop trend to another faster than Harris. (Allow me to remind you that his 2007 album I Created Disco was pretty good!) Which is all to say that I shouldn't be surprised to hear "Miracle" hopping on the '90s trance revival bandwagon. He's got the ability to make it sound right, but by no means does that make this good. I disliked '90s trance at the time, and find it even more loathsome now as a big-budget no-ideas Hollywood sequel. Goulding could literally be any other female singer, as generic and over-processed as her vocals are here - and she's never been the most (ahem) distinctive singer to begin with. Truly, almost impressively awful. [1]

Will Adams: In our 2022 Amnesty post-mortem, I wrote about Romy's "Strong" and how trance music had been bubbling up in the pop landscape. Fast forward a year, and now we have mainstream acts -- Tove Lo, Icona Pop, David fucking Guetta -- all dialing up the tempos and the sawtooth synths. I should've known Calvin Harris -- who has contorted himself to align with the electronic genre du jour for over fifteen years -- would hop on the train, but "Miracle" still came as a welcome surprise. I spent better part of my tenure at the Jukebox yelling about how much I love trance, and this is no different. In the tradition of euro-trance classics, there are, at most, two key elements at play: the Robert Miles piano; the lyric "are you too cynical to believe in a miracle?" The rest is routine: the accelerated heartbeat BPM, a feather-light vocal from Goulding, reverb galore, all in service of creating that dream-like state on the dancefloor, when you close your eyes but still feel the strobe lights on you. [7]

Jackie Powell: I'll preface this by saying "Miracle" was my top song this year. When Spotify wrapped told me what I predicted was true, I wasn't surprised. "Miracle" was a song that stuck with me throughout the good and the bad in 2023. It was with me when I couldn't get out of bed, when I was driving or walking to my destination, when I was exercising, when I was transcribing an interview, and even when I was writing. I'm not the only one who proclaimed that the third Calvin Harris and Ellie Goulding collaboration was an addictive listen. It's an earworm. It's meant to be looped. Calvin Harris knows how and when to introduce new sounds, something that happens from the first verse right into the second chorus. Those introductions stimulate the brain and since I've listened to the track so many times, I can anticipate each dynamic shift and new sound that arrives. I feel like a conductor when I know exactly when the "boots and cats" percussion finally hits. The lyrics aren't really groundbreaking on this track and they aren't supposed to be. To enjoy "Miracle" at its fullest, the appreciation comes in the diverse sounds, and its velocity. Hat tip to Chromatica producer BURNS who provides the listener with a similar type of movement and constant tempo changes following the drop in "Rain on Me." But that is to say, the most stunning part of the "Miracle" experience isn't what makes it the most addicting. It's Goulding's vocals. Not only does the melody written in give her the freedom to use her voice at its most natural, but this is a song that not many other pop artists could pull off convincingly. You want to know what her voice is going to do next because it's so unpredictable. This is a track that is exemplary of the fact that Goulding is a generational talent, her unique timbres and range aren't contained but rather are given a space to play. And if you can't hear that alongside techno and Eurodance beats, have no fear: Harris and Goulding put out a "Church version" of Miracle, stripping back until this version is truly all about Goulding. There's a euphoric sound when she's harmonizing with herself during the second verse. It's so satisfying and soothing. It's so stupefying and even a bit moving. [10]

[ladylooch]

emhisch and tmeier96

Yesterday, you were there | Now you’re here 🤍

Our little 🦁 has arrived. Welcome to our sweet Lio.

Liked by nicohischier, siegenthaler34, and others

View all 678 comments

nicohischier Thank you for making my new best friend. I'm so proud of you two. Love you all ♥️

emhisch Uncle Neeks 😘 We love you!

tmeier96 So in love with you, Em 😍

jackhughes why are you commenting on your own post?

holtz_10 @ jackhughes leave dad alone.

siegenthaler34 🇨🇭🇨🇭

john.marino97 future HOF. Would appreciate some credit on this one.

tmeier96 absolutely not.

dawson1417 oh, sweet are we are joking about this now?

nicohischier @ john.marino97 @ dawson1417 😂

emhisch ©️copyright 2023 John Marino

lexmarie13 Congratulations 😭♥️ We are so in love him already.

emhisch Lio loves his auntie. Thank you for everything yesterday!

njdevils Congrats Hischier-Meier fam! Can't wait to see Lio in a Devs jersey!

kevinfiala22 Congrats bro! Best feeling in the world. Enjoy this time!

rhealikeleia Our employee of the month! Congratulations on your beautiful family 🥂 Let the planning begin 👀

[cadrenebula]

oc tag game

tagged by: @mimble-sparklepudding (thanks <3)

favorite oc - You want me to die in my sleep by picking just one? LOL That is starting a war.

newest oc- Heh... Remember when I said I wasn't going to add anymore? My friends are filthy terrible enablers. I'm currently making a bun boy voidhunter named Cedrik Meier. But if we don't count him since he's still a wip, it would be Nebula Carina.

oldest oc- Destiney Koellian of course. She was the first and has always been around in some form or another.

meanest oc - Alexois Dubletaire but Cedrik might give him a run for this title.

softest oc - Destiney Koellian definitely wins this spot. Just barely beating out Nebula Carina who is pretty soft as well.

most aloof/standoffish oc - Adelena Frostwyght. At least towards anyone that is not one of her Siren sisters.

dumbest (affectionate) oc - Lancefer Aurifore. Why? Cause this man has to be threatened with the sad eyes of his nieces and nephews to get him to wear a helmet after suffering more than one serious head injury as a knight.

smartest oc - Stefan Delvanguard. Or as I tell people High Intelligence, Low Wisdom. XD

horniest oc - Aryn Lockwood, no questions here. Definitely a horny bunny.

oc you’d bang - Any of them LOL Well maybe not Asher since he's Ace an wouldn't be interested.

oc you’d be best friends with irl - Probably either Nebula Carina or Destiney Koellian. I think I could be friends with either of them easily.