#some lyons r SO annoying

[winxys]

not this person on twt saying we should sabotage the tour bc 8d kicked out jisung.. be serious

[redwineconversation]

Olympique Lyonnais Behind the Scenes (Episode 5)

This covers the month of January. Better late than never but alas some of us have jobs that we want to keep and cannot be chronically online. The Behind the Scenes translations is one of those times where I wish I was technologically apt because then I could just upload the video and add subtitles, alas, neither OLPlay nor my technology skills will ever make that happen.

I have no shame in confessing to this - I didn't want to do this one because Carpenter is in it and I am so irked by all the fucking Arsenal fans/stans suddenly thirsting for her to join their godawful team after the abuse she is has gotten from Arsenal stans the past two years. To act like she should join that club after what those people have said / done is so completely tone-deaf. Likewise, suddenly using "le clean sheet" every time your goalkeeper does their actual job is not as cute/funny as you think it is. It's annoying. It's so fucking annoying.

I will also save those godawful stans the time and say that Lyon / Carpenter do not address Carpenter's engagement to van de Donk as Lyon is a serious club who doesn't use a player's personal life as a marketing ploy. The purpose of the Behind the Scenes is to get to know the players' mentality and thoughts about the month's events.

Blah blah standard disclaimers apply; @OL Comms I feel like chipping in to contribute my Starbucks fund is the least you could do considering all the free work I am doing for y'all; how amazing would it be if some of you would actually get the mental help you so desperately need; y'all know the speech.

OLYMPIQUE LYONNAIS BEHIND THE SCENES (EPISODE 5)

Ellie Carpenter: We had a lot of games. We had Champions League games. I think it was a much needed break for everyone.

Selma Bacha: We really needed to have a break, because there are players who went straight into the World Cup so they didn't have a lot of rest. Everyone benefited from the break. For me, I went to Tunisia, where my family is originally from. So I had a great time with my family. And then we started up again. The break was short.

Damaris: It was good for everybody I think to go home, to be with our families and friends. Just to push football aside and enjoy ourselves. Yeah, that's always a good thing.

[OPENING CREDITS]

[TRAINING FOOTAGE FROM GIRONA]

Sara Dabritz: We went to preseason camp. It was really good. We spent a lot of time together. We had a nice hotel. It was intense but it's like that in camp. But I think it was good for us to prepare for the [second half of the] season.

Carpenter: The training camp in Spain was a nice way to come back at the start of this year to train well, to get the basics back, get back in the gym. And it was also really fun for the team morale. The camps with the team are always really fun. We have to work fun but also enjoy ourselves off the field.

Bacha: It was hard because you come back from break and you have to dig deep and work hard. So it was really hard because we had a fitness test over there.

Carpenter: The worst moment was probably the running test we had to do, the 1.5km [1 mile] sprint test.

Bacha: Honestly, that's when you realize that Olympique Lyonnais is a family. You can see it in the video clips, we're encouraging each other. The cohesion was top.

[TRAINING FOOTAGE CONT'D]

Bacha: My favorite moment was the team cohesion activity with the golf carts. Honestly it was so good. We had to do stuff - well, we had to do funny things. It was the best part.

Carpenter: Driving around the hotel trying to find clues, that was very fun.

[TEAM COHESION ACTIVITY FOOTAGE]

Carpenter: Yeah, we knew we had Paris FC as soon as we got back from Christmas break. After having been off we thought it might be hard to come back and play against a top team in Europe, in France for sure.

[LYON - PARIS FC GAME FOOTAGE]

Bacha: We got right into it. We know that those sort of games, they're going to very very big games because Paris FC is a really good team who has really improved and recruited really well. And honestly, it was a big game. We had to work for that win, so the game was won on mentality.

[GAME FOOTAGE CONT'D]

Carpenter: Paris FC has shown that they're a great team, they're a top team in Europe, doing well in the Champions League and, yeah. The intensity was high. I think you could feel that everyone just came back from holidays but we'll fight, until those last five minutes when we did score.

[GAME FOOTAGE CONT'D]

Bacha: Ah, Ada's goal, that's just Ada Hegerberg. That's it. There's no other forward who can do that. Honestly, when we celebrated - even I spoke in English, I said "what a goal". [Hegerberg speaks English when she's annoyed, which is why Bacha brings up the linguistic switch] Her shot was really incredible. You can watch it over and over. If you ask her tomorrow to do it it, she will. And it's true that she's the kind of player whom you can count on in big games. Everyone should have an Ada on their team.

Damaris: Yes, it was a magnificent goal. Speaking for myself, I was far back. It was a long ball, I headed it forward. I saw the ball stay there and I saw Ada [Hegerberg] call for the ball. When you're behind, you can see everything. Right before she took the shot, I was like "well, that's going to be a goal."

Carpenter: Yeah, she's a big game player, she scores big goals. So we needed that in that moment and she did that. So it was very cool.

[LYON - PARIS FC POSTGAME FOOTAGE]

Bacha: Honestly, it's good for us and it gets us going. I think we've been really good since the start of the season. And when I talk with players on other teams, or other coaches, they tell me that Lyon this year is unbeatable, so I hope it continues like that and we'll bring all the trophies home.

Damaris: The work we did for that game, we worked really hard. I don't think we were really efficient but we had a lot of opportunities to score.

Carpenter: Yeah, I think it was important that we started the year off with three points and continue our perfect streak in the league.

[LYON - MONTPELLIER COUPE DE FRANCE GAME FOOTAGE]

Dabritz: We had the game against Montpellier in the Coupe [de France]. I remember Amel [Majri] scoring a magnificent goal. It was a right on target.

Majri: Yeah, I saw Lindsey [Horan], she won the ball back. I called for it, she passed it to me. I think Ada [Hegerberg] was besides me asking for it as well, but I don't know, I think I was focused on what I was doing. So I just took a shot and it went it.

[GAME FOOTAGE CONT'D]

Bacha: Yeah, it's really great. Good on her as well because you can see she is starting to get her rhythm back. It's not easy when you're not playing all the time. Here, honestly, I'm just so happy for her. I hope she continues like that because she's the sort of player we really need.

Carpenter: Yeah, I love playing with Amel [Majri]. Yeah, I think she's one of the best players in the world I've seen or played with. [is she though...] She's an amazing talent and you can see what she's capable of now when she's getting back to the top of her game.

[GAME FOOTAGE CONT'D]

Carpenter: The team is in very good spirits at the moment, and you can tell that on the field. Off the field, we're a very close group and we work for each other. And on the field, you can see we're very connected. We're just enjoying ourselves out there, we're not too much pressure [on ourselves], we're just trying to play good football.

[GAME FOOTAGE CONT'D]

Majri: So really, when I went to call for the ball, I could see that even if I got it, I didn't think I could do much with it. So I said to myself, "Amel, leave it", so I left it and there was Ada [Hegerberg] and then a goal. And I thought - well I'm not going to lie to you, when I left I thought to myself "I hope she gets it". And to be frank she was doing great work before, because Lindsey [Horan] got past the opponent, and she [Hegerberg] just shot across. Honestly, it's a great goal.

[GAME FOOTAGE CONT'D]

Majri: Yeah, I'm happy because it's always nice to implicated in the build-up to a goal. I think that what I bring in terms of the style of play, I try to be involved in the ball movement, moving with the ball, moving without the ball. And I have good sensations, I feel good. Beyond that it's also the fact that I have been playing in consecutive games. But in terms of full games, I think it's one of my best performances since I have come back.

[GAME FOOTAGE CONT'D]

Carpenter: I guess playing a team one week after the other, twice in a row, it's quite difficult. It was a different Montepellier we faced at their home as well, away. Yeah, it was a tough game, it was one we had to grind out. Yeah, we knew they were going to come out different, like after beating them in the Coupe [de France], we knew it would be a completely different game since they're at home, and they totally showed that.

Bacha: We know that the league and the Coupe de France have nothing to do with each other. We know that Montpellier is a very, very aggressive team. And we knew that playing at their stadium was going to be hard. But here, yeah, it was really hard.

[MONTPELLIER - LYON GAME FOOTAGE]

Bacha: The night before the game, I was really focused on myself. I knew there were people coming to watch us, members of my family. And then, corner. It comes back to Eugenie [Le Sommer], who gives it back to me, and I was like - I knew exactly where I wanted to put it. So I pulled it in and placed it on Vanessa [Gilles]'s head. So really, really happy.

[GAME FOOTAGE CONT'D]

Bacha: It's that left foot, it's my left foot. What can I say. But beyond that, I work really hard. I know that I always want perfection. Because I know there are games where the crosses aren't good, but I really want perfection.

[GAME FOOTAGE CONT'D]

Bacha: My second assist for Ada [Hegerberg], it's vintage Ada-Selma. It's that connection that I think not a lot of people have. Honestly, with her, I know where she wants the ball and - honestly, I don't even have to look up. Because I cross, but I already know where she is.

Carpenter: Yeah, Selma [Bacha] is a great crosser, a great assister. Yeah, they're perfect, those crosses, pinpoint. If it wasn't for her we probably wouldn't have gotten the three points. So it was great to have her service [LOL at the Franglais here - the correct word would have been contribution], it allowed us to score goals.

[GAME FOOTAGE CONT'D]

Dabritz: I remember that it was a very intense game. But it's always like that against Montpellier. It's always a game which comes down to the duels, to aggression. They came back with that goal, it was a game which was a little [Dabritz mimes going back and forth] But then we won it and that's the most important thing.

[GAME FOOTAGE CONT'D]

Dabritz: We gave it all on the field. And it's normal to have games which are more complicated than others. And yeah, Montpellier is a good team, I can admit that.

Bacha: That's why I said that Olympique Lyonnais, the mentality - honestly, there are few players who can walk on to this team and say they already have that mentality. [@/any team other than Lyon. A blood lust isn't innate. It's learned behavior.]

[GAME FOOTAGE CONT'D]

Dabritz: We went to Austria for a Champions League game. Those are always special games for us. It's a particular game, playing the Champions League, those games are seen as the highest level.

[ST POLTEN - LYON PREGAME FOOTAGE]

Carpenter: Yeah, you never know really, when you go to other teams, other countries, how the pitch is going to be. Yeah, the pitch wasn't great. But we made the most of it and we had quite a good game.

Bacha: A stadium which was ... [Bacha laughs] It was a complicated game. No, playing on that pitch was complicated, it was a bit hard. But we started strong. We attacked from the start, even if we were starting to feel the tiredness. But we attacked from the start and were playing simple. And honestly, we were very efficient as well.

[ST POLTEN - LYON GAME FOOTAGE]

Dabritz: And yeah, we played a really good game, with a lot of goals and a really good performance from the entire team.

[ST POLTEN - LYON GAME FOOTAGE CONT'D]

Bacha: [forcefully] We never underestimate a team. When you play simple and individually you're clean, technically you're clean, and you're all on the same wave length, honestly there are not - we're good.

[ST POLTEN - LYON GAME FOOTAGE CONT'D]

Carpenter: Getting players back from injury, it's always nice, especially when they're providing assists and scoring goals. That's even better.

[ST POLTEN - LYON GAME FOOTAGE CONT'D]

Dabritz: Yeah, it was a good goal. [laughs] We really enjoyed ourselves on the field, we had nice combinations, we were explosive offensively. At least I think so. So we were really happy after the game.

[ST POLTEN - LYON GAME FOOTAGE CONT'D]

[TRAINING FOOTAGE / COUPE DE FRANCE LYON - FC NANTES FOOTAGE]

Bacha: Yeah, it wasn't an easy game because maybe in our heads, even if I think it's not really like that, but instinctively it's human nature and we underestimated them. FC Nantes came in with their game plan. They're a really good team, I was surprised. The first half was difficult. I think it's a little bit because exhaustion is starting to creep in. But the changes at half time did us some good and we were really efficient. The coach [Sonia Bompastor] yelled a bit at half time but it's normal. It's like that.

Carpenter: Yeah, I think fatigue comes into play there. I think it was our fifth or sixth game in a run. They were a different team, we hadn't really played them before. I think we can put that first half behind us and I think we really came out better in the second half. But yeah, I think we ended the game better than we started.

[LYON - FC NANTES GAME FOOTAGE CONT'D]

Carpenter: Yeah, it was so nice to see Delphine [Cascarino] make her return from her ACL. Obviously it's such a long rehab, such a long journey. It's tough to have an injury and go through something like that, and it's her second one as well. But I think she's done an amazing job. You can see in the way she's come back, she still has her speed, has her footwork.

Bacha: It was a really good moment for Delphine, the return against FC Nantes. We saw her struggle, her mentality is just incredible. It's really hard to have the ACL injury happen twice, to have missed the World Cup when we were expecting her, we wanted her there. Now she had the mentality, she dug deep. I'm really happy to see her back because it will really do us good.

[GAME FOOTAGE CONT'D / LYON - SLAVIA PRAGUE GAME FOOTAGE]

Carpenter: Yeah, we knew we were first in the group and obviously qualified, but we also knew we needed to put out a strong performance [they did not]. We wanted to keep the flow going for how well we're doing this month [of January]. On game day, obviously not everything went to plan. Obviously I think fatigue played a little bit in that as well, but that's not really an excuse. We should be better. We had 10,000 people come and you know, the more people that come the better, at least for us. We want to perform well, put on a show, for them to come back again.

Bacha: First of all we have to thank the fans who come out and support us. They're becoming more and more, so we need to thank them and for them to continue coming out and supporting us. After, it was hard because - well personally, I could feel the exhaustion. Then Slavia [Prague] was playing with a really low block. They came to get something at Lyon, even if we were already first and already qualified. At the end of the day we're Olympique Lyonnais. It's not acceptable to have played that sort of game.

LYON - SLAVIA PRAGUE GAME FOOTAGE CONT'D]

Carpenter: Yeah, it was very frustrating. I think games like that, you want to play the next game very quickly after so you can have a good reaction.

Dabritz: We were a little disappointed because we weren't happy with our performance. We wanted to show to the public that we can put on good performances, they came for us. That's why we were a bit disappointed. Beyond that, we want to continue, we always want to improve, progress. We always want to give our best. But it's not always possible.

Bacha: I'd rather it happened to us then than get to the quarterfinals and you're knocked out I hope it will serve as a lesson to us.

Carpenter: No team is perfect in the world. Some teams have draws or a loss and it's not the end of the world. I think we need to remind ourselves that we're also human as well. Not every game is the best game. January is probably the biggest month we've had in a long time. We knew we had a lot of games, we had to get points, play well, perform. I think as a team we did that great, especially as we have some injuries at the moment as well so we had to adapt. I think the team has held up well. We're ready for February.

[slimthicksonnett]

Rock, Paper, 1v1 (Catarina Macario)

Surprise! No plot, just vibes, because it's missing Cat hours.

Prompt: here

Rated: S for Scissors and Stupidity and Soccer, also R for Rose Cameos

Word Count: 4,003 (don't know how I managed that)

Playing overseas was all fun and games until you had to be back for international break. Lyon had always been picky about letting one of their star forwards go during the middle of season, and Cat being there now too certainly didn’t help. 

“One of you can go now, one of you can go later.” They had said.

You had tried to plead your case but US Soccer had apparently agreed that one of you could come to camp late, as long as you both arrived eventually. This led to the two of you having to play a very heated round of rock, paper, scissors to decide who would leave on time and who would stay to play the Sunday morning game against Angers. 

Seeing as it was now somewhere around 8 am and you were just arriving at the team hotel in Columbus, it is pretty clear that you lost this round. 

“GOOD MORNING USA!” Someone yelled, an arm slinging around your shoulders and catching you in an impressively solid headlock. Groaning in annoyance, and maybe a little bit of pain, you attempted to wiggle out of your teammates hold. When you got your bearings and realized it was Kelley, you stopped squirming, knowing full and well it was a futile effort and the defender wasn’t letting you go until she wanted to. 

“There’s our brace baby!” A voice that you quickly recognized as Andi’s called out, saving you from KO’s hold as your best friend and former captain pulled you into a hug. 

“The first goal was just a tap in.” You grumbled in lieu of a greeting as you let yourself sink into the embrace.

“A tap in is still a goal!” Andi tutted, giving your shoulders a firm squeeze as she pulled back and looked at you seriously. It wasn’t that you weren’t confident in your abilities as a forward, it’s just that you tended to be a little too modest when it came to things like goalscoring. A trait that Andi had found incredibly annoying ever since Stanford.

“Hope you saved some of that goalscoring fire for us!” It was Midge who got to you next, her arms wrapping around your waist and spinning you around in the air, drawing a stream of laughter from you. 

“She always does.” Though Midge had already set you down, the soft words from your Lyon teammate were enough to make you feel dizzy again.

“Hey Y/NN, long time no see.” Cat joked softly as she replaced Midge in front of you, pulling you into a hug that felt as natural as ever as her arms settled around your waist and she buried her head into your neck. 

“Hey there, chaton.” Your response was muffled by her curls, but she clearly heard you anyways as she hummed softly in response against your skin.

“Alright that’s enough, you see her like every single day. Hand her over greedy!” Cat let go with a huff and you were about to laugh but before you could, you were squeaking in surprise.

“Cookie!” You scolded, staring up at the woman who had quite literally swept you off your feet and was now carrying you bridal style. For her part, Alana just laughed and shrugged her shoulders as best as she could while holding your weight.

“What? We need to get to breakfast and if someone didn’t take you away now, we would’ve been there forever.” Alana has a smug look on her face, knowing the double meaning to her words, and the team could be heard laughing in the distance. 

Craning your head backwards to look around the defender's strong build, you caught Cat’s eye. The smile on her face mirrored that of the rest of your teammates and all she had to offer was an innocent shrug as you rolled your eyes at her part in all of this.

–

Even with a camp full of newer players, breakfast was what it always was with this team. Trouble. 

“So Y/N! Finally decided to gift us with your presence, huh?” Ashley Sanchez called out as you sat down at your breakfast table. Rolling your eyes, you greeted the Bruin with the obviously appropriate reaction of your middle finger. 

“Oooo, she’s gotten feisty! Horan, is that what happens when you hang out with the French?” Rose teased, earning herself a grape to the side of the head from the blonde midfielder. “I’ll take that as a yes…” 

“Seriously though, we missed you.” Emily Fox said sincerely, taking the empty seat to your right.

“Thanks Foxy, I missed you guys too.” You smiled softly at the blonde, appreciating her effort to recenter the conversation. While Fox hadn’t been with the senior team for long, the two of you had history at the youth level and you were glad for her company.

“Really? We couldn’t tell. You seemed a bit busy scoring bangers to be thinking about us peasants!” And just like that the conversation ramped back up again as Sanchez, another player you had youth team history with, brought everyone back to the conversation she had previously started.

“Can a woman not multitask?” You questioned, an eyebrow raised in a teasing challenge as you sipped your smoothie. 

Some of the team took that for an acceptable answer, nodding their heads in understanding. However, the woman to your left just scoffed loudly causing everyone's heads to turn her way.

“Any other woman? Maybe. You? Absolutely not.” Cat said, poking at the eggs on her plate as she fought back a laugh.

“Who invited you into this conversation?” You deadpanned, staring at her blankly as a round of “ooo’s” went around the room. 

“Damn, she really did get feisty!” Kelley exclaimed, noises of agreement coming from the team.

Truthfully, you couldn’t be bothered by their antagonizing. Your focus was fully on Cat who was now shoveling eggs down her throat and trying to look anywhere but at you. It seemed normal enough but you knew Cat well enough to know that this was her way of trying to avoid the awkwardness that she was absolutely feeling. 

“Please, she’s not feisty. Just mad at Cat.” Abby Dahlkemper jumped in, pointing it out as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

This, of course, caught Cat’s attention. Awkward situation and antagonizing teammates be damned, she was not about to have these girls saying serious shit like that so casually.

“She is not mad at me!” She protested, turning to look at you with her honey brown eyes full of concern.

The team continued to joke around you both but the two of you were stuck in a silent conversation as you stared each other down. It wasn’t that you were mad at her, necessarily, but you were still a bit upset by the whole situation. While you’d certainly had a good game with Lyon, you hated playing without her. When they’d brought you both the news that one of you could leave and one could stay, you’d wanted her to fight. Wanted her to say that if one of you wasn’t leaving that neither of you were leaving. Not for her to beat you at rock, paper, scissors and leave without you!

“I am a little mad.” It was a little childish, you knew that. But it was also the truth, in a roundabout way.

“What did I do!” Cat fussed, looking at you with wide eyes as she tried to work out how she, who hadn’t seen you in days, somehow managed to make you mad.

“I didn’t say I was mad at you.” You pointed out, crossing your arms a little defensively over your chest.

You could see the wheels turning in Cat’s head as she tried to work out what was going on. Realizing just how serious she was taking the possibility of you being upset with her, you softened a bit. Nudging her with your foot under the table, you offered her the tiniest smile possible, an indicator that you were still very much being playful and this wasn’t a real argument. The two of you had always preferred talking about your feelings privately and directly, this wasn’t a conversation you would be having seriously in front of all of your teammates. All of your teammates who were, in fact, still watching you both very intently. 

“Oh come on, that’s not fair!” The forward protested, scrunching her face up in annoyance at the realization of your half admission.

“What’s not fair is that if you hadn’t beat me, I wouldn’t be having to do the beep test today after not sleeping in over twenty-four hours!” The fork you were holding was now pointed harmlessly at her chest, poking her gently as you made your argument.

“It’s not my fault you ALWAYS start with scissors!” Cat pleaded, desperately trying to defend herself against your whining about having to stay at Lyon while she got to come to camp early.

“Well I’m SO SORRY that I’m just a predictable lesbian, CATARINA!” Throwing your hands up while Cat just facepalmed at your dramatics. 

Your nosey teammates however, were stunned. All around the room jaws were on the floor at this fake argument and “admission” that had just unfolded in front of them.

“Does this count as TMI?” Jaelene asked no one in particular, eyes still very wide.

“What ever happened to no girlfriends at camp? Did we stop that rule?”  Rose whispered to Sofia.

“No way is Pinoe not even here and we are discussing scissoring at the breakfast table.”  Alyssa groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose at the absolute nonsense that was going on. 

“Woah pause, who said anything about scissoring?” You asked in subtle panic, eyes wide as you looked from Cat to Alyssa while your face flushed a bright shade of pink. You didn’t think you’d said anything about THAT in front of your teammates.

“Cat literally just said you always start with scissors.” Horan clarified casually, biting into a piece of fruit as she fixed you with an almost uninterested look. 

“Oh my god you absolute- we meant scissors like ACTUAL scissors. Well, not actual scissors but like rock, paper, scissors. Because I always start with scissors because it’s obviously superior but Cat lovessss to start with rock for some reason.” Rambling was a natural thing when you were nervous and in this moment you were so flustered you weren’t sure if your words were even comprehendible as they spilled out of your mouth. 

Cat, on the other hand, was sitting beside you trying not to die of laughter as she placed a reassuring hand on your thigh.

“Wait. Rock, paper, scissors? You two played rock, paper, scissors to decide who got to leave on time?” Kristie asked, looking at you both incredulously. 

“Of course we did! What else were we supposed to do?” You scoffed, looking at her like she just asked the stupidest question known to man.

“Leave it to two of the top footballers in the world to play a children's game to make their decisions instead of doing a 1v1 like normal people.” The blonde midfielder laughed, shaking her head as she went back to her breakfast while you stared at her with wide eyes.

“Wait, that’s an optio- Why didn’t we think of that!” This time it was the wheels in your brain that were turning as you smacked Cat lightly on the shoulder at the presentation of this clearly superior solution to your problems.

“Who is we? I thought of it.” Cat admitted, shrugging her shoulders casually.

“And you didn’t mention it because…” With the glare you now had fixed on her, Cat seemed to quickly lose the casualness as her spine straightened up just a bit.

“Because she didn’t want to lose!” Sophia Smith called out, smirking. You looked over at your usual training partner and winked, blowing her a little kiss that she pretended to catch and press to her heart.

“I would not lose!” Your best friend interjected, now being the one to cross her arms over her chest.

“Oh really, is that so?” You pushed, knowing just how competitive Cat could get when the right amount of pressure was applied.

“Obviously.” She huffed, clearly aiming for dismissiveness but sounding a lot more defensive.

“Fine. You and me. After practice.” Cat turned to face you now, eyes narrowed at the challenge as you smirked at her. There was a challenge sparkling in your eyes that Cat could never turn down.

“Fine. What are the stakes?” Your face lit up at her agreement, but quickly fell when you realized that maybe you hadn’t thought this all the way through.

“Bragging rights?” You offered weakly, earning multiple “boo’s” from the team and a soft laugh from Cat.

“I am not doing an entire national team practice and then playing a 1v1 against you of all people just for bragging rights.” Cat said, giving you a pointed look that made your face scrunch up even tighter in focus.

“Ugh, fine. Let me think!” 

The team resumed their meal, some peeking up at you curiously here and there as they talked among themselves. You, on the other hand, were deep in thought trying to figure out what offering satisfied such a bet. Cat, who had returned a hand to your thigh, was absentmindedly drawing shapes on your skin in a vain attempt to maybe get you to calm down and stop tapping.

“I’ve got it!” You suddenly shouted, “Winner gets top for a month when we get home.” A proud grin covering your face as you held out your hand.

“Deal.” Cat said immediately, a similar grin mirrored on her face as she shook your hand. The two of you stayed like that for a second longer, eyes locked, an unspoken message passed between you. And then you were both jumping up out of your seats.

“Hold up, the winner gets WHAT?” Rose shouted, but the two of you were already gone down the hallway.

---------

“FULL FIELD?” You called out to Cat, who had wandered to the sidelines for a water break after Vlatko had called practice done for the day. You, on the other hand, were overflowing with energy and bouncing on your feet in anticipation for this little challenge. 

All practice, the promise of getting to go against Cat is what kept you going. Even though you were incredibly exhausted and ran a beep test by yourself, you were able to push to nearly your normal level with the simple goal of getting to the end of practice. Okay, so maybe you were a bit competitive too.

Your teammates found themselves walking slower than usual, no one in any particular rush to get to the locker room today. Some like Alana and Midge even went as far as to settle down on the sidelines of the training pitch, waiting for the two of you to get on with it.

“I mean if that’s what you want to do, bunny.” Cat teased, walking over to meet you in the circle. You opened your mouth to snark back at her but stopped when you saw the bottle she extended to you. When you looked at her skeptically, she pressed the bottle of colored liquid into your hands.

“As much as I want to beat you, I don’t want it to be because you blacked out. Drink your training mix.” It wasn’t a request and you knew there was no room to fight her on this so you accepted the drink. Under Cat’s ever watchful eye, you unscrewed the top and drank the salty mix of electrolytes that even years of the game could never make you enjoy.

Meanwhile on the sidelines, more of your teammates have gathered. 

“So, are we just going to ignore the whole ‘winner gets to top for a month’ thing?” Rose commented as she settled onto the grass beside Alana.

“Technically she said gets top, not gets to top. So who even knows what that means.” Sofia countered.

“We already got it wrong with the scissoring thing this morning so I think maybe we should just stop questioning them.” To everyone's surprise, it was Fox who spoke and dropped down into the grass next. It seemed like Kelley was going to question Fox’s comment but commotion on the field snapped their attention back to the two of you.

“Okay, ball in the middle. Ten paces back to start. First to score wins.” You set the rules, adjusting a traditionally smaller drill into something actually bet worthy, while Cat nodded in understanding. 

“Are you sure about this?” Cat questioned, offering you an out.

At any other moment it would be sweet the way she worries about your health. But right now? You just wanted to win.

“Catarina, darling. I haven’t slept in 36 hours and am being fueled only by iced tea, espresso, and my unbridled rage. I am more than sure.” Your declaration was loud enough to be heard from the sidelines, gaining whoops and hollers from your friends while Cat took in the all to familiar fire in your eyes.

“Alright then, let’s do this.” 

The ball was set in the middle of the circle and as per the rules, both girls took ten steps backwards away from the ball in opposite directions. As you did, you formulated your plan. 

Now, you had no doubt that you were fast, but you did distance. You weren’t stupid enough to think you’d beat Cat in a sprint to the ball. She’d get there probably one step ahead of you, kick the ball past you, and use the second it would take you to turn to take off down the field. And so when the countdown, courtesy of Sanchez and Smith, hit one, you took a different path. 

Instead of sprinting straight for the ball, you went diagonal. Just as you’d predicted, Cat reached the ball first and gave it a swift kick to get it in front of herself. Clicking your tongue, you took off after the ball. Thankfully, the angle you had taken placed you further down the field than Cat and thus, closer to the ball. You could hear her huff of frustration when she lifted her head and read this, could feel her steps on the ground as she sped up even more and closed in. But you got there first, tapping the ball to a halt between your boots and turning to face the speeding forward head on. The pace Cat moved at was impressive, but it also had its disadvantages. Such as the fact that she had so much momentum in her run that when you turned abruptly with the ball at your feet, she couldn’t slow down in time to stop in front of you. Delicately, you slid to the side, just narrowly avoiding the collision as Cat came to a halt in the spot you’d just been standing. 

Seizing the momentary advantage, you ran. You kept the ball close, feeling Cat at your heels as she had managed to cut quickly and return to chasing after you. You were almost inside the eighteen when she got to you, her hand reaching out to tug at your jersey.

“Putain!” You cursed at the clear foul as the younger girl managed to slow your run.

Now she was pressed against you, hand hard against your lower back as she put a foot between your legs in an attempt to poke out the ball. Growling in frustration, you planted yourself as you maneuvered your upper body in an attempt to box her out. You were successful for the most part until one particular shove. Cat’s hips pressed forward in your backside, not only catching you off guard but also catching you off balance. In an attempt to keep yourself upright, your left foot stuttered forward. That second was all it took for her to gain enough space to poke the ball to the side, spinning past you, and getting it back at her feet. 

She only got a few steps away though before you were charging in. Suddenly you were losing and the air of “little challenge” had shifted to “life or death”. Your brain seemed to recognize the stakes and kicked back into a mode it hadn’t really been in since college. At Stanford, you didn’t believe in position based practices. If your defenders were practicing, you wanted to be practicing too. And suddenly it was a mindset you were extremely thankful for.

As you ran alongside her, you took the deepest breath you could manage at this speed. Locking your eyes on the ball, you let instinct kick in. Bending in your left, fully extending your right, you went to ground. It was a damn near textbook slide tackle. Your hip hitting the ground just as your laces hit the ball, scooping it back towards you as Cat tumbled forwards. Without a moment's hesitation, you were popping right back up and taking off towards your own goal. If you listened closely, you would’ve been able to hear two very proud Stanford defenders losing their minds. 

But your focus was on the ball. You managed to get back to the box before Cat caught up with you. Contrary to common belief, you’d always argue it was actually so much harder to shoot on an empty goal. Difficulty aside though, you quickly realized that was the only option. Three more seconds and Cat would be trapping you again to get the ball back and the whole dance would start again. And so you did the logical thing, flicked the ball in front of you, and took the left footed touch that you so often sought out in games. The ball smacked the back of the net with a satisfying crack, and you fell straight to your knees.

Within the same amount of seconds it would’ve taken Cat to catch up with you, you were now being swarmed by your teammates. Compliments and cheers came from every angle and Kelley wrapped you in a hug tighter than the headlock she’d had you in this morning.

“Didn’t know you remembered how to do that.” Cat commented as your teammates pulled away, leaving you sitting on the ground.

“Do what? Beat you?” You quipped, cheeks pink with exertion but a smirk on your face nonetheless.

“No, I’d never think you’d forget how to do that.” She smiled, holding out a hand to help you up. Taking it gratefully, you pulled yourself up so that the two of you were chest to chest. You stayed that way for maybe a moment longer than necessary, keeping your hand in hers. 

“You’re right, I could never.” Giggling, you let go of her hand and went to walk towards the locker room for a much needed shower.

But of course not before turning over your shoulder to remind the girl of the bet she’d just lost.

“Oh, and I expect all of your clothes on the bottom before the end of the day once we get back! I’m expecting a full month of wrinkle free clothes.” You sent a final wink before disappearing into the locker room while Cat just rolled her eyes. It was a constant argument for the both of you about how hanging clothes on the bottom rung of the stupidly small closet always resulted in things getting wrinkled because of how they touched the floor and got scrunched up. Problem was, you both had too many clothes to fit all of your hanging items on the top rung together.

“Wait a fucking second, they were talking about a CLOSET?!?!” Rose yelled, jaw on the ground in disbelief that that’s what you’d meant by ‘winner gets top’. 

But maybe if she would ask the right questions, she’d get the answer she was actually digging for. Afterall, you were talking about your and Cat’s shared bedroom closet. But no one seemed to question that part…

[fumikomiyasaki]

Mine! W let's go...

Rubychris , paulahan and uhhh hands on knees zargabi

Love potion

As a prank Flynn was sneaking one of the Love cakes Angelica made as gift for Ruby to eat.... Given her sweet tooth she couldn’t resist and ate one piece as she was about to meet up with Christo again... She enjoyed the last strawberry as she met his eyes and suddenly... something made her heartbeat faster. Christo noticed her suddenly stopping before him.

“What?”

She swiftly to his surprise pulled her arms around him and hugged him tightly...

“Please handsome sir... I beg of you to take me as your future wife...”

“Ruby, you do know that if this is an act, I am not good for helping you practise.”

“N-no I am sincere... you caught my eye for a while and I couldn’t hold back my feelings anymore.”

Something was definetly off, neither would she be this touchy that quick as well as she never would talk like this except when she is acting... trying to push her away from him, he found the cakes note in the pocket of her Jacket... reading it he let out an annoyed scoff, however his dorm members found him like this and Lyon gasped.

“Are we interupting something?”

“No, help me get her to the infirmary and then I can explain.”

After a while she got back to normal and her face stayed red of emberassment.

“I am so sorry, Christo... you know-”

“I know, you would never be like this... so who gave you this cake?”

“I think Flynn brought some back.”

He raised a brow in annoyance... “Him again... well you should rest up and get a clear mind for now.”

“Got it.... thank you for getting me out of this...”

He showed her a very small smile and left.

A cake for Tesa was placed anonymously onto the table but Gabrielle didn’t trust this and taste tested it despite hating sweets to see if someone wanted to harm her little sister. In shock she dropped the cake into the garbage bin and went into her room. She felt warm like a fever and didn’t know why... then she remembered the message she got previously on her phone and heard a knock at her dorm room. Right she wanted to meet up with Zara.... But as he walked in she suddenly was overcome by a certain feeling and so she quickly pulled him to sit down with her and hugged him tight.

“Gabi.. what is going on?”

“I just... really wanted to hug you somehow... “

“Its fine but... can you let go now?”

“I don’t want to...”

For a while she nearly clinged onto him and didn’t let him even move and inch... however his strength was still greater so he moved one arm to get up with her still clinging on his back... As he got out of the room he ran into Gabrielles sister.

“What is going on here?”

“I dunno, she was like this since I arrived...”

Tesadelle looked around and found the cake.

“Not again the cakes from the cafeteria... listen, we need to get her as undetected as possible to the infirmary, then it should be easier to explain onces she is normal again.”

“I don’t get it but okay.”

It was an odd side to see this dragon lady cling to his back like and koala, occasionally sniffing his hair and nuzzling him.... untill they got the antidote and then she became normal... however her glare was intimidation.

“Who ever brought this cake intended for my sister, is dead... I want to know who is responsible for this.”

Tesa spoke up... “Actually it was myself... I wanted to try out some of the cakes in the cafeteria but... I took the wrong one...”

“Oh... I see.” She looked away but then met Zaras smile Ruffling her hair.

“At least its good to have you back again.”

“R-right... thank you again...”

“It still was funny how clingy you were.”

“If you ever tell anyone, I will throw you from the castle walls.”

“Noted... okay.”

Paula took one of those cakes herself with her as she visited Johan again out of curiousity... Seeing him after she finished her cake made her cheeks grow rosy and her watching him in awe...

“Jo... you look so handsome today.... cmere.”

She overshowered him with lots of kisses to his face which confused him a little.

“Are you sure you are okay?”

“I feel wonderfull. Especially now that I see you... ahh little old me has been hoping for a little romance for a while and... I feel like with you my heart beats so fast, it makes me excited.”

“Are you sure you haven’t just watched too many romance movies?”

He spotted the cake on the table and things made much more sense... still despite that he had her clinging to his arm.

“Come on Jo... don’t you want to have a little more fun as well.”

“Well, we could go on a date if you wanted to.”

“That would be wonderfull.”

In the end it became a date to the infirmary to get her clear but as she woke up and saw him covered in lipstick stains she his her mouth behind a hand.

“Oh my... seems that really was like a love potion, sorry darling if I made you uncomfortable.”

“I am just fine you are normal again.”

She smiled and nodded. “It did feel good to feel in love again though... that is what I have to admit.”

He lightly patted her shoulder...  as if saying everything was fine now.

[midcing]

okay so i have some New Kids.... they are all trash but some of them are trying their best which should honestly count for something imho... i’ll probably bring some more muses in at some point during this week bc i legit have 25 apps in my drafts right now and i just didn’t apply for all at once bc didn’t want to overwhelm myself... honestly tho? i want all the plots.... so like... pls like this and i’ll im you or come to me throwing ideas at my face so we plot and have some connections and threads ?? love my new trash sons pls ?? thanks !

JAMES WEST looks an awful lot like CHARLIE WEBER. HE is THIRTY NINE and while they’re LOGICAL, they have a tendency to get pretty CONTRARY. You’ve probably seen them around Kola listening to POLARIZE by TWENTYONEPILOTS.

inspired by ;; frank delfino from htgawm, walter white from breaking bad and jaime lannister from game of thrones. 

a lawyer

has 2 daughters.

would probably start a war for both of them if they asked him to.

thinks his daughters are angels who can do no wrong. if he saw them murdering someone in front of him, he would probably come up with a reason why they were doing it and defend them which isn’t great bc they are both like wild kids who are not actual angels ( wc ?? anyone ?? i’m trash for families ngl )

sketchy morals at best? ? doesn’t think of himself as someone who would do anything wrong but if something wrong is being done for his benefit he is sure as hell not gonna stop it

got into an ivy league school because his father - criminal known for money laundering, corruption, and fraud - donated a huge sum of money to the college. will die pretending he got in on his own merit 

the older brother of my character mark west bc i love families sue me

would probably google ‘how to know if i am a dilf’

says thing like ‘lit’ and ‘on fleek’ to relate to the youth

pretends everything is fine until it blows up in his face

wants to much ! a perfect life, a perfect house, a perfect family, a perfect wife, a perfect job ! pretty good ? nah. not good enough for james west. scratch that and start again. everything must be 10/10

wants to be everybody’s dad even tho he isn’t a great dad to his two kids

will make your life choices for you if you let him

will bail you out of jail but only if he is allowed to give you a 3 hour lecture on Responsibility 

will logic his way out of moral conundrums

the kind of person that turns a blind eye to corruption if it benefits him in some way

tries his best, which really honestly can only be said about 5% of my characters, so i would give him some credit

if you ask him a question he doesn’t want to answer he will just straight up ignore the question and change the subject 

feels guilty about the way his helps criminals and does wrong stuff for his benefit and the benefit of the people he loves but also doesn’t try to change

aesthetics — watching the sunset through the office window, loud alarms playing an hour later than it should, unrecognizable reflection in the mirror, child laughter and the heavy feeling of stress in your chest, hushed whispers of assertions amidst a crowd, old wedding rings saved away after the divorce, big houses and empty space, thousand dollar watches, the smell of jail permanently stuck to a three piece suit, painfully happy memories, ignoring the way guilt makes it hard to breath, arguing in a favor of a guilty party.

FRANK HAMILTON looks an awful lot like DAVID HARBOUR. HE is FORTY ONE and while they’re DEVOTED, they have a tendency to get pretty UNPRINCIPLED. You’ve probably seen them around Kola listening to SEDATED by HOZIER.

inspired by ;; hank from detroit become human and chief hopper from stranger things

                                                              tw: gambbling, alcoholism

a mess trying to pass for a functioning human being

he is a dirty cop that accepts bribes to let people off the hook and gets money from gangs to look the other way when he knows they will be doing something wrong somewhere bc he truly cannot bring himself to care

honestly i have no excuses for his behavior

has a huge problem with gambling. 

born in kola. lived in kola for almost 30 years. moved out after his marriage fell apart, but has recently moved back

the kind of human being who thinks blood and gasoline are sexy

the kind of person that goes All Fucking Out for things and then when things don’t turn out exactly how he expected them to he makes a fuss about it and goes like “why did i even bother?”

will call you out on your bullshit and then act like people just throw shit at other’s face like that. stare you in the eye after exposing you and ask ‘what?’

says stuff like ‘i might be a shitty person but at least i’m upfront about it’ and ‘i prefer not to get involved in people’s lives.’

there is no such thing as a acquaintances. frank either loves you with all his heart and would kill a man for you OR he hates you and the fact that you are able to talk annoys him

you’ve heard of overachivers ?? well frank  is here to present you A True Underachiever. he tries to do the bare minimum amount of work possible 

the personification of /r/notmyjob

would probably go to an underground fighting ring for fun

channels his unhappiness into unhealthy habits. drinks too much, smokes too much. doesn’t do anything to change the fact that he is unhappy

gambled his marriage away by which i mean he gambled everything owned away and kept trying to find excuses for it until she was done and left . he still loves her but he feels like shit and he doesn’t wanna drag her back into his shitty life ( wc ? pls ? )

moved away from kola when his marriage ended and went to las vegas. lived there until he got in dept there too and he couldn’t find anywhere else to play then came back to kola 

at some point was wide-eyed and hopeful and interested in helping people but slowly became unhappy with how he didn’t go anywhere, didn’t become better, greater, didn’t do more and then slowly things just went to shit

aesthetics — casual cruelty in the name of honesty, cigarette buds collecting on an old ashtray, crumbled dollar bills found between couch cushions, falling asleep at three o’clock and waking up the next day, bloody knuckles, handcuffs and police siren, the smell of alcohol in your breath at ten in the morning, unironed shirts and old cologne, knowing something is wrong but doing it anyway, ignored calls from concerned family members, remembering you have to do something just as it is too late to do it, the thrill in heartbeat when you land a punch in someone’s face, drunk steps stumbling out of the bar, begging people for one more chance.

SEBASTIAN “BASH” VANCOOP looks an awful lot like LIAM PAYNE. HE is TWENTY TWO and while they’re CHARMING, they have a tendency to get pretty SELFISH. You’ve probably seen them around Kola listening to PLAY ME LIKE A VIOLIN by JEREMY.

inspired by ;; hakeem lyon from empire and aaron burr from hamilton

that one sort of famous person that is always shirtless in other famous’ people instagram stories

treats people like things he can use and drop when he gets tired of

fake af. will say he likes you and then shit talk about you behind your back

that one person that goes ‘ooooooooooh you are gonna let them talk like that about you ?? ’ when other people are fighting 

only wears prada chanel and gucci

can actually be really nice if you get to know him but how ? when there are three hundred walls up ??

thinks people are gonna take advantage of him or make fun of him so he just doesn’t trust anyone. can’t get betrayed if you never let anyone in right ??

doesn’t understand internet culture

was born in an insanely rich family. his father was a famous movie producer and his mother was a famous movie star. picture like spielberg as his dad and kate winslet as his mom 

hates when people say like ‘Oh So You Are [    ]’s son?’

the first movie he was ever in was when he was about 5

he was in a bunch of movies from ages 5 to 12 but it was never really anything big. he was just the main character’s kid or that one kid that doesn’t get much screen time in movies like goonies

he never really liked acting but what else woUld he do ?? look at his family !! look at his legacy !! [ cue ‘wait for it’ from the hamilton soundtrack playing in the background ]

when he was 20 his father produced and directed a movie in which he stared. it was like his first Real role in hollywood action blockbuster. before the movie was out there was this whole hype about him and his dad working together and wow it’ll be awesome but it pretty much bombed. picture like After Earth bomb. everyone shit talking about him and the movie and how dumb it is on youtube bomb. the movie doesn’t get money to pay for itself bomb.

despite the fact that his parents said it didn’t matter. it was just a bad movie. everyone making fun of him and people shit talking about how he didn’t have his parents’ talent got to him real bad. he stopped acting all together.

his parents keep telling him to Do Something but he just doesn’t

is living in kola bc LA is a dumb of reminder of everything he thinks he did wrong

aesthetics — the blinding lights of camera flashes, the light feeling of being drunk, loud songs blaring through club speakers, interviews stopped halfway through, rude comments and anger, crowded parties in expensive summer homes, the overwhelming feeling in your chest when someone gets too close to fast, feigned charm and stranger’s company, running out of things to say after you have known someone for a while, wasted champagne dripping off a tilted bottle and loud laughter coming from the other room, the slow but continues pain in your heart that reminds you you are disappointment.

MATTHEW “MATTEO” DECKER looks an awful lot like JON BERNTHAL. HE is FORTY TWO and while they’re WILLFUL, they have a tendency to get pretty BLUNT. You’ve probably seen them around Kola listening to SEVEN NATION ARMY by THE WHITE STRIPES.

inspired by ;; frank castle from daredevil, frank castle from the punshiner, frank castle from the born comics series. ( they are three different people, fight me ) seeley booth from bones in season five

                                       tw: alcoholism, ptsd, mention of army, and war

former us marine

mostly goes by decker. his family used to calls him matteo but when other people do it it’s like .. “no”

you have been heard of resting bitch face ? matteo is here to show you the resting i fucking hate you face

swears too much like Wayy too much

he can be honestly really fucking soft i’m ngl but then you gotta be that one person that breaks down walls and again ? who has the time for that ? in the twenty first century?

wants to take care of everyone but pretends he is not interested in people bc he “Knows” everyone is gonna die or leave so there is no fucking point

actually just pretends he isn’t The Absolute Softest for everyone and tries to keep them all at arm's length but then people say ‘hi’ and are nice to him and he is like ‘Fuck me now i like them’

can actually laugh and make jokes which is Impressive imo

but then goes back to being bitter and angry at life

too straight up about things : could heavenly benefit from learning how to read social cues

you have to Tell him things if you want him to understand it. you can’t go around dropping hints. he won’t get it.

drinks his coffee black and without sugar

enlisted when he was eighteen bc patriotism and american dream and red white and blue stars but then that slowly stopped being the point. then he was just doing it bc He had been doing that for years what else would he do ? and then at some point he just saw too much … and then when he was discharged he just Never came back

after he came back he couldn’t find a job and he didn’t know what else to do and he slowly started getting involved with shady stuff and now he sells drugs to pay the bills

disappointed in who he is right now. 

he is honestly Trying his very best.

aesthetics — punching a wall until your hands stings and your chest doesn’t anymore, the pleasant light feeling of holding back laughter, completed tasks and unachievable peace of mind, low chatter in dive bars in dark parts of town, questioning your belief system, roadside motels and failing neon lights, moonlight coming through the bedroom window, leaving the morning after, combat boots, loud honking cars and shaky hands, fighting the urge to shove someone away when you feel their touch against your skin, quiet places and pleasant loneliness, old dusty books and rock music, waking up multiple times in the middle of the night, whiskey mixed with coffee

OCTAVIANUS BRUNO GENTILLE looks an awful lot like FRANCOIS ARNAUD. HE is THIRTY SIX and while they’re ROMANTIC, they have a tendency to get pretty UNREALISTIC. You’ve probably seen them around Kola listening to SOMEONE NEW by HOZIER.

inspired by ;; jay gatsby from the great gatsby, romeo from romeo and juliet, tom hansen from (500) days of summer, a slam poem i saw on youtube once

                                              tw: bullying, mention of learning disabilities and stutter

romanticized every bad thing that happened in his life.

will romanticize every bad thing that ever happened in your life.

the kind of person that says “things happen for a reason…”

goes by his middle name. honestly thinks his first name is the Most Stupid Thing In The World if you call him octavianus he’ll be legit annoyed. kids used to make fun of him at school all that jazz. just call bruno

he is legit in love with italian culture and history. his father was italian and he just highkey Cannot Shut Up About It

art history professor in kola’s college

the kind of professor that just loves what he is doing… you know when the professor like kinda looks excited that he is talking or sharing knowledge or just talking about shit they truly like ? that is bruno

a nerd but pretends he isn’t

could not do a one night stand without catching feelings if his life depended on it

loves people too much too fast with all his heart

there is an argument to be made for him not actually falling in love with people and just with the idea of love that he made up in his mind but let’s get to that when we get to that

will spend the entire lesson arguing with one student about how inaction in our current political climate is just as harmful as supporting people who are doing harm when he was supposed to be talking about impressionism or something like that

thinks people have a soulmate and he is just trying to find his

100% not only Shows up to slam poetry sessions but Helps organize them

real political. the type of person that rallies when things are wrong and gets others to do it

has too many exes

posts pictures with his current girl/boyfriends on instagram and then doesn’t delete them when they break up bc ‘that’s who i was at that moment’

can recite poetry for you in italian but do not let him trick you. he’ll only be around for the honeymoon phase of the relationship then he’ll be like wow this isn’t perfect. time to end it

loves art !! all type of art !! is terrible at all of it : writing, panting, photography. but he loves it and he does it despite being bad and he tells people to do what they love !! and follow their dreams !!

his parents got a divorce when he was 7 and it was pretty bad. his dad was italian and moved back to italy shortly after. his mother was from kola and he stayed with her.

it was as if his world had fallen apart at that. bruno had never even seen his parents fight and then one day his father just moves out to Another Country he was pretty lost and confused

bruno moved back and forth between italy and the u.s. throughout most of his childhood and adolescence. never spending a lot of time in one place.

though his parents tried to remain friends after the divorce for his sake it never really worked out. his father wanted his mom back while his mother moved on and got married again.

growing up, he had a lot of trouble with accents and language. his father used to speak only italian at home. and his mother used to speak only english.

he developed a learning disability and a stutter after his parents got divorced

kids in school used to make fun of him. the way he talked and his name specially.

doesn’t stutter anymore but when he is talking about something that is hard to talk about, he talks really slowly to make sure the words come out properly

aesthetics — ukulele songs playing softly in a room with echo, piano recitals with ten people in the audience, walking around aimlessly, kissing greek statues, being happy that you are sad because it means that you are alive, cheering on others success, lacking ambition and living the present, old songs hummed in the shower, waking up early and staying in bed until 10am, cuddling under warm blankets, failing in love with a stranger, laughing loudly with new friends, white wine, beautiful paintings in an empty museum, admiring something for way too long,

ANTHONY MILLER looks an awful lot like JOSH DALLAS. HE is THIRTY NINE and while they’re PATIENT, they have a tendency to get pretty SELF-RIGHTEOUS. You’ve probably seen them around Kola listening to JACKIE AND WILSON by HOZIER.

inspired by ;; prince charming from once upon a time, ned stark from game of thrones, bob belcher from bob’s burgers

                                                                      tw: cancer

cannot talk about his feelings . cannot accept his own mistakes . cannot show weakness . at any point. no matter the subject . cannot let anyone take care of him.

Must be the best at all times for everyone and take care of everyone

self-care is a myth anthony does not believe in

works too much

he needs glasses to read stuff but he pretends he doesn’t so he does that squinting and pulling things close to his face thing. at which point you would probably ask ‘anthony if you don’t want to wear glasses wouldn’t it be easier ? to just ? wear contact lenses ?’ and yes it would it definitely would but anthony likes to make things harder for himself

slow to anger but he has that temper that you literally cannot see coming. he looks serious and stoic and then wow thunderfucking storms breaking chairs and stuff

loves beers and american football

the type of person that says this generation is lost

might smoke too much but he doesn’t talk about that

he doesn’t talk about anything actually

although i love him with all my heart. i would not rec

there is a right way to do stuff and anthony as the holder of all the knowledge and morality Must tell you about it

rarely ever smiles bUT when he does ? smiles like a prince. if we had a royal verse he’d be the king of the entire universe honestly.

he was a oldest child in a family of 7. his parents were super wealthy and he was the One favorite child who both parents used to love and cherish and cheer on.

he got his high school sweetheart pregnant. his parents didn’t want him to marry her bc she was Poor and Not up to standards but he chose love over his family and got disowned for that. hasn’t talked to his family since

his dream life was always to have the perfect picket fence house and american dream type of family. it was supposed to be him, his wife, his son and maybe some day he would have a daughter and it would Be great

he and his wife had a son and they named him hendrix bc she loved rock and jimi hendrix and he loved the name even tho he never liked rock. but honestly ? he was so weak for her he would have loved the name lkgjdflajf if she suggested it

a few months after their first son was born tho she was diagnosed with cancer and a few months later she passed away

after that he raised his son by himself. he really threw himself into it. spent most of his life focused on it and work and now his son is going to college and he doesn’t know what to do with himself

the only person he ever Truly dated was his wife and then he just focused on his son and raising him so he never really allowed himself to date bc then he would have to introduce someone else to his son’s life and all that … sO anthony is usually all cool and fine and then you show romantic interest in him and there is like a visible shift ya know? like he goes from anthony to a truly profoundly awkward person trying to pretend it’s cool

aesthetics — organized work tables, color coded to-do lists, trying your very best at all times, mental exhaustion showing through physical symptoms, dad jokes and laughing by yourself, the smell of new books, comfort found in old libraries, forgetting your reading glasses at home, losing your temper and breaking something, old family photos lost somewhere in the attic, pushing someone else on a swing, sundays afternoons lost at the park, working extra hours instead of going home, cold breeze and hugging yourself to your jacket, trying to explain to someone why they are wrong when they don’t want to listen

[grayserigala]

GraTsu - Mute!Gray AU

Hello everyone! Sorry for being silent for so long, but I had this idea and fell in love with it. Hope you like this too, and feel free to add your own ideas to this little AU.

Natsu Dragneel, 23 years old, is a server at a local café in Magnolia, with a degree in chemical engineering. He lives with his father, Igneel, who is a retired firefighter, and his young cousin, Romeo, who is staying over whilst his parents work out a divorce. He has a slight speech impediment and struggles to pronounce his ‘r’s, but is a very diligent worker. He is either an annoying, little shit, or the sweetest person on Earth, depending on whether or not he likes you. 

Gray Fullbuster, 24 years old, is an apprentice for his brother’s record studio, Lamia Records. He is completely mute, and has been since he was 2 months old. He lives alone and comes from outside of Magnolia, he has visited quite a few times to see Lyon, but isn’t familiar with the city in the slightest. He is awkward and nervous most of the time, but has a heart made of gold, although it’s hidden by his shyness. Gray has a weird little habit, where whenever he’s embarrassed, he’ll cover the bridge of his nose with both hands. It’s looks like he missed his mouth, and Lyon teases him to no end about it.

Due to his nervousness of living alone for the first time, Gray ends up getting lost. He stops outside a café, and attempts to call Lyon only to find that his phone is dead, beginning to get desperate, he begins looking around, with lost-puppy eyes, as he tries to come up with a solution.

Natsu comes out to serve some customers, and spots a VERY handsome man looking lost, going up to him, he asks if he’s alright.

Gray spins around to find a kind-looking, café server, after his question, Gray makes a writing motion, successfully confusing Natsu who invites Gray into the café. He takes a napkin, and writes down his issue on it.

“Hi. I’m mute and lost. Can you tell me how to get to Lamia Records?”

Natsu is super chill throughout the entire thing, even chasing off a drunk brunette that tried to flirt with the man, making him physically uncomfortable. He writes down the directions, whilst looking up at Gray through his eyelashes, and adds something.

“Hi, I’m Natsu. [gives directions]. If you want, I can give you my number since your new to the area, you can call me if you’re ever lost or need a friendly ear.”

Gray being the awkward little doofus he is, takes the napkin, bows in gratitude and leaves, without even reading Natsu’s note. He follows Natsu’s directions, only coming to Natsu’s little extra message as he comes up to Lamia Records. He walks into the glass door, as he reads the offer with a bright red face.

After Gray finishes his work, he tries to go back to Natsu’s café, but gets hit with a sudden bout of shyness and instead just goes home.

Even though he doesn’t have enough confidence to try and see Natsu again, he still walks past his café everyday, and anytime that he catches Natsu’s eye, he waves with a little smile, before speed-walking away.

Every time he does this, both their days get a little bit brighter.

Gray might have a crush.

But he’s too dense to understand this.

One day, Gray bumps into Natsu outside of work, in the park. He waves hello, only to be startled when Natsu says hello back using sign language. Gray is amazed to say the least, and Natsu answers his impending question.

“I wanted to get to know you better. So I thought that I’d try to learn sign language to talk to you.”

A blush creeps onto Gray’s cheeks, as he realises that yes, yes he definitely has a crush!

Natsu’s demeanour suddenly changes to one of anger, as he demands:

“Stop being so damn attractive! It’s so distracting!”

Stumbling back a few paces, Gray covers his vermillion nose, to hide his blushing, eyes shining.

“You’re doing that on purpose!”

Natsu scowls, his own cheeks beginning to glow.

Their both too awkward to confess their feelings, but they’re both aware of it. But due to work, their relationship doesn’t evolve beyond just friends for a long time, until Lyon finally has enough and pushes them into a kiss.

I have no clue if this is a good, cute idea for an AU, but I had fun making it! 

~ Jaci

[hippomanblog]

My Fire Emblem Rankings

I’ve had a few questions about my legitimate Fire Emblem opinions and thoughts, so I figured I’d write this up while I’m waiting for some things to process. This is all just personal opinion, no shade is meant to be being thrown, and this probably won’t interest you too much.  But, hey, here it is.  I’ll list the Fire Emblems going from favorite to least favorite, and explain a little bit about why I feel that way. Note that I won’t be including 1-5.  I’m considering the remakes the “definitive” versions of 1/2/3, and I haven’t actually played the Jugdral games.  I’m also not counting Heroes because it’s kinda hard to “judge”, but I do like it a lot and play on a pretty regular basis. THIS POST WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR EACH GAME!

#1. Awakening

Awakening is a game that gets a few things wrong but most things right.  What don’t I like about it?  I preferred the art style of the Tellius games.  The maps aren’t very creative.  Pair Up is a thematically cool mechanic that really doesn’t hold up to scrutiny and trivializes many encounters.  The story is simple, with the exception of a couple twists, and Validar is a dull villain. I like pretty much everything else.  Awakening managed to be accessible to new fans and still provide a nice challenge for series veterans.  There’s a diverse selection of characters who are all pretty viable, meaning you can use your favorites.  Most characters have a lot of personality and depth to their lines, like with how they turned Frederick from a typical stoic Jagen-type into this goofy obsessive pyromaniac without making him a complete joke character.   The SpotPass characters are also a lovely addition if you adore the series like I do, and there’s just so much to do in this game, so it feels like a celebration of the franchise as a whole.  If I’m trying to get someone into Fire Emblem, I will tell them to play Awakening. Favorite Character: Gregor or Owain. Least Favorite Character: Yarne #2. New Mystery Of The Emblem

This is bias, yes, but I love New Mystery.  I was really excited for this game, because I was pretty new to the fanbase when it was announced, and couldn’t wait for an English release.  I waited, and waited, and waited, and... Once I finished playing my JP copy I just lamented that we didn’t get to play this game here.  I think that while Awakening reinvents Fire Emblem, New Mystery is sort of the pinnacle of “classic” FE.  The game is just fun, the maps are diverse and challenging, and the combination of reclass and the sheer amount of playable characters gives it immense replay value. The plot is nothing to really write home about, but after the vast wasteland of Shadow Dragon Plot, I really liked what was there.  It’s nothing that’ll blow your mind, but there are some nice moments.  I know a lot of people hate Kris, but I don’t mind them.  I won’t go to bat for them being any kind of great character or vital addition to the story, but as a sounding board to give other Archanea characters a little personality, and a way to customize your own unit and give them all sorts of terrible hats, they work just fine.  I also like the idea of Marth as a bit of a shell-shocked, reluctant king who relies on his friends to rise to greatness.  It prevents him from being “too perfect”, like RD Ike.  But I can see where people have problems with this. I wish this were a more accessible entry in the series, because I think it has a little bit of something for every Fire Emblem fan. Favorite Character: Honestly?  I like Caeda and Ogma, they’re cool people. Least Favorite Character: matthis is creepy and I hate him 3. Blazing Sword

Like a lot of people, Blazing Sword was my first exposure to the series (through an LP on Youtube for me), and it does a great job.  You could honestly probably swap these first three around in any order, to be frank. The balance in this one is a little wonky, and it goes on a little too long.  But I like what it does with its extra time.  You get some clever gaidens that mix up the formula, have room to use lots of units, and the sprite animations are just wonderful to watch.  The three lords all bring something to the table, even though you’re honestly probably just going to play Hector Mode once you’ve unlocked it.  Lyn has a story about claiming your birthright and using nobility to help people, Hector’s brash and boorish nature is offset as he learns how to be a better person on his journey (That scene with Matthew on the Dread Isle is great.), and Eliwood...exists. With maps ranging from cramped and objective based to sprawling battlefields, there’s a lot of variety in gameplay and room for different units to shine.  It’s also got some of the best supports in the series.  It’s a must-play for any Fire Emblem fan. Favorite: Hector is a good boy and a friend.  Legault is also a surprisingly involved side-character with some great lines and dialogue with almost every Morph in the final map! Least Favorite: Jaffar, because it’s hard to tell if I hate him more for killing Leila or ramming his face into the paladin in Battle Before Dawn and getting slaughtered so many times.

4. Path Of Radiance

I guess only the top 3 are getting thumbnails, sorry.  PoR sticks with me because it tries a lot of new things and most of them work out.  The bonus experience is a good system, I think this game does support unlocks better than any other, Laguz units are fun to use, and the conversion to pseudo-3D maps feels smooth and never gets in the way of gameplay. There are issues, though.  I’m not a fan of the way the full-body portraits look in the cutscenes of this game, biorhythm is silly, and that Bridge Map sure does Exist.  The reason this isn’t breaking Top 3, though, is that I just never really got attached to the cast.  Characters are a big part of Fire Emblem for me, and while there are some great ones in PoR, there are also several that feel very forgettable.  The plot is also a little...iffy, because it’s all FANTASY RACISM and it feels like it’s trying to punch above its pay grade sometimes.  Like, be honest, did you give a shit that you had to kill Jill’s dad?  That character who showed up maybe once?  The maps also tend to blend together, with a few notable exceptions (because they’re annoying, mostly).   In Minor Nitpick Town, the 3D cutscenes are hilariously goofy and the Trial characters have really awful unlock conditions. Still, PoR is a very solid entry and I’d give it a hearty recommendation. Favorite: Ranulf, probably. Least Favorite: makalov shouldn’t have been recruitable

5. Sacred Stones I balked a little at putting this one this low, like “Really?  This is FIFTH?”  But I guess that’s just a testament to how much I enjoy all these games.  Like with the top three, you could probably swap this with PoR. Sacred Stones gets a lot of shit for being “too easy”, and I don’t think that’s necessarily wrong, but I also don’t think it’s that big a deal.  This game takes risks, but they’re good risks that frequently pay off.  This was the ideal game for the Trainee classes to come in, because you can actually feasibly use them!  The monsters add variation to the types of enemies you encounter!  Split promotions are interesting tactical decisions that give the player more control over their personal experience! There’s just...not a ton of substance to SS, though.  The monsters, at heart, aren’t really interesting to fight.  The game’s plot often feels like it’s on fast forward, and it ends before any real tension builds.  The villains are, with the exception of Lyon, who’s great, mostly just cardboard cutouts of bad guy stereotypes.  The postgame is mostly just grindy and once you’ve beaten the Tower or Ruins once, you’ll probably say “okay, I’m done!”  Well, you aren’t, not if you want 100%!  Get back in there and kill more Dracozombies to unlock your underleveled Druid! If you really crave that “challenge” as an essential part of your FE experience, although I think SS is often made out to be easier than it really is, you can probably skip it.  But for most fans, it’s not to be passed up. Favorite: L’Arachel, of course. Least Favorite: I usually forget Syrene is in the game until she appears. 6. Fates: Conquest Yes, I’m dividing Fates into three games.  Sue me.  Conquest feels like the best of the Fates routes, because it’s creative.  In... a lot of ways.  The maps are creative.  While some just amount to gimmicks, several are, in my opinion, series standouts.  Chapter 9 is a Defense map that actually feels like a Defense map.  You’ve got anti-siege weapons, you’re scrambling to keep the Hoshidans from flooding in, and when Takumi drains the water the whole dynamic of the map suddenly changes.  It rules.  To me, that map encompasses all the best parts of Conquest. It’s too bad it’s still in Fates, though.  Let’s get it out of the way: Plot Bad.  But, unique to Conquest, I think, is a plot so utterly ridiculous and convoluted that it actually becomes actively enjoyable.  This is a story where your cousin puts on a different colored costume to COMPLETELY FOOL your adoptive dad, who she reveals is actually a jelly monster, but cannot tell anyone else because of a terrible curse inflicted by the King Of The Jelly Monsters, so you organize an invasion of an entire country to unmask Jelly Dad by making him sit on the Super Special Chair that will reveal his gelatinous form.  I love it, to be honest. Otherwise my issues are mostly just the standard Fates Problems.  The game tries to take what worked in Awakening and amp it up to 11, which ruins most of it.  The child characters are unmemorable and the plot explanation is bafflingly nonsensical (BABY DIMENSIONS), the characters often feel like they’re just gimmicks that smash into eachother and then get married for some reason, and the game tries to be so many things at once that most of them feel half-assed or over-complicated. Jelly King Dad though. Favorite: Arthur cracks me up. Least Favorite: Peri Peri Peri peri peri p e r i   p  e  r  i 7. Echoes: Shadows Of Valentia

Confession time.  I still haven’t finished this one all the way.  I’ve seen the ending, though. Let’s get the problems out of the way first.  The gameplay is not very fun.  The map design delights in sticking you in poisonous swamps, slow and dreary deserts, or Nuibaba’s Abode, which I would personally say is the worst map in the series.  While some of Awakening and Birthright’s maps feel lazy, most maps in this game feel like they were designed either just to frustrate you or with a series of random dice rolls that somehow plant a single Cavalier at the ass-end of nowhere and extend the map for three turns with zero rhyme or reason.  Class balance is all over the place and you basically just want all the Dread Fighters possible, with a Cleric to summon more Dread Fighters.  The dungeon crawling doesn’t add much, most of the game mechanics go woefully underexplained, and the voiced supports feel minimalist and shallow. But when Echoes works?  It really, really works.  I don’t like playing it, but watching someone play Echoes is a treat.  The game is bursting with personality thanks to some phenomenal voice acting, which leaves the story with some unforgettable moments, both comic (the boey scream) and dramatic (Berkut Loses His Shit).  Even though the characters don’t have a lot of explicit backstory, their voices and conversations are so expressive that it’s easy to sort of form your own ideas about their personalities and lives.  The art is some of the best in the series, and each portrait is expressive and well done.  It’s clear that this remake had a lot of care put into it, and it produced some of the series best lords and a wonderful new villain in the sinister Berkut. 8. Radiant Dawn

A lot of good things from Path Of Radiance carry over to Radiant Dawn.  Namely, the stuff I mentioned earlier, I won’t go into it all again.  All of that is good, but the new additions and changes often don’t work. The multiple viewpoints has a few cool moments, like facing down Ike and friends in 3-13 (with the greatest faceless NPC of all time on your side), but often just contributes to making the game way too long and making the characters often appear outright stupid or contradictory for the sake of moving the plot along.  Remember when Micaiah, who spared one of the most vile people in FE history in Part 1, dumped flaming oil on a 13 year old girl and her guards in Part 3?  Remember when Ranulf just walks up and tells you who the Black Knight is, ending a mystery that had been developed since the previous game with the dialogue equivalent of showing you a spoiler on the internet?  Remember blood pacts? The massive split in characters also makes some of them completely worthless.  Never forget the sad case of Vika, who suddenly disappears and doesn’t return until almost the final chapter, still at her Part 1 level.  Yikes. I do enjoy the Finale maps a lot, however, and the final boss encounter is fairly memorable, though it does carry its own problem with Ike being basically hero worshipped by the entire cast, to the point where only he can strike down Ashera.  I like Ike, but RD kind of feels like it’s forcing him down your throat sometimes. Favorite: Out of the new characters, Nolan, probably? Least Favorite: surprise it’s still makalov 9. Shadow Dragon I’m sure this is bottoming out a lot of people’s lists, but let me make my case. 1. Reclass is cool and they introduced it in this.

2. Hardin’s turban.

3. The Prologue, where IS got to make new stuff, is a lot of fun and has personality.

4.

Okay, so Shadow Dragon is disappointing.  It’s a remake that did not change enough, and if the FE games were yogurt flavors, Shadow Dragon would be the batch they just forgot to put flavoring in.  Everything, down to the graphics, is covered in this thin veneer of blandness, and it’s sort of a muddy march to the finale, so you can finally take down a villain who literally gets about four lines in the whole game. The Gaiden chapters also feel like a rude prank.  If you want to get at the fun maps with the interesting characters with good dialogue, you have to slaughter all of your friends on purpose!  At least it’s in Shadow Dragon so you probably won’t like most of them anyway! Favorite: The guy who calls Gordin “Gaggles”. Least Favorite: surprise it’s still makalovmatthis 10. Binding Blade I admit that this is bizarre placement.  I just...don’t like Binding Blade.  It’s mostly due to stat distribution in gameplay, honestly.  The skill/luck formula in this one results in a lot of boss fights that are just two 40% characters whiffing on eachother for ages.  Several of the maps are giant slogs, especially 14, but I don’t remember any in particular that I really enjoyed.  The plot is okay, but not memorable.  Idunn is a bit of a letdown encounter.  Hector deserved better.  To summarize, I guess I just don’t think this is a game that does anything that Blazing Sword didn’t do better.  So I’m gonna play that one instead. Favorite: Bors because of a terrible stupid inside joke I have with a friend. Least Favorite: I don’t remember anyone I cared enough to dislike, really.  Let’s go with Cath for having the worst recruitment for a Worse Chad. 11. Fates: Birthright Remember all those cool things Conquest did?  What if they didn’t? Birthright! While the story is still bad, it’s not nearly as funny-bad, although I do have to give props to the scene where Flora sets herself on fire and Jakob spends about a solid minute screaming out how pointless this is, echoing the player’s thoughts perfectly.  The maps are mostly just stat-checks and open fields, and the answer to your problems often isn’t “make a better plan”, it’s “go grind a bit and then just roll through it”, especially on some late-game maps.  Iago’s comes to mind, with the whole Entrap into Berzerker combo?  Screw that. Favorite: Azama is a treasure.  On the NPC (in this route) side, Elise is a beacon of rationality and kindness.  I sure hope nothing happens to h-Oh. Least Favorite: I remember literally nothing about the personalities of Hana and Hinata so them, I guess.

12. Fates: Revelations Do you remember when I said Shadow Dragon was like unflavored yogurt?  What if all the flavorings got mixed into one batch?  And then you add chocolate and cherries and sprinkles and nuts and caramel and parsley and cinnamon and more cherries and shaved ice and spaghetti and then you tell it to explain the plot of Fates.  That’ll be 20 dollars. Revelations actively harms the other two routes of the game by being the obvious “true route”, where nobody has to get hurt (except the best characters, r.i.p. Scarlet and Izana) and everything turns out just fine, negating any sort of moral ambiguity present!  Anankos is a non-entity and a dull villain, and to add insult to injury, you don’t get to learn shit about him unless you buy the other DLC for this DLC that also decides to crib from Awakening and mess with some of the characters from that one.  Almost every map has a bizarre gimmick that’s just weirdly cumbersome, and the amount of plot twists the game shoves at you in an attempt to explain EVERYTHING is just exhausting.  You can play as any character in the Fates package (almost, double r.i.p. Izana) but the balance is tossed out the window to the point where once Niles and Odin come crawling in, they’re nigh-unusable in their joining chapter. It doesn’t feel like any part of it really comes together. Favorite: not this Least Favorite: Thinking about what else I could have bought with those 20 dollars. Well, that took about two hours, but this is my list.  If you have any questions, I’m open.  Sorry if I dissed your favorite, but if it helps, know that I can see why someone would enjoy any game in the series, even my least favorites.  Also, know that I’m an idiot on the internet and that my opinion doesn’t have to impact what you enjoy!  Just love the games you love, I’ll stick with mine, and we’re cool! I’m going to stop typing now.

[happyweddingblogs]

110 Most Romantic Wedding Couple Quotes

Wedding quotes can make any of your social media status more charming and worth reading. Here we are sharing with you some of the best wedding couple quotes. These quotes can be fit in aptly on any occasion from your wedding to your first wedding anniversary. You can even use these wedding couple quotes on your wedding invites or other wedding stationery.

It is a mix of cheesy, funny, and romantic quotes for all moods! So, without wasting any time, let’s move on to the quotes.

Source: Happy Wedding App

Here we go…..

#1. “Love doesn’t just sit there, like a stone; it has to be made, like bread; remade all the time, made new.” – Ursula K. Le Guin

#2. “There is never a time or place for true love. It happens accidentally, in a heartbeat, in a single flashing, throbbing moment.” — Sarah Dessen

#3. “I would find you in any lifetime.” — Kanye West

#4. “A great marriage is not when the ‘perfect couple’ comes together. It is when an imperfect couple learns to enjoy their differences.” — Dave Meurer

#5. “I love your feet because they have wandered over the earth and through the wind and water until they brought you to me.” — Pablo Neruda

#6. “I’m selfish, impatient, and a little insecure. I make mistakes; I am out of control and at times, hard to handle. But if you can’t handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don’t deserve me at my best.” — Marilyn Monroe

#7. “I love you, not only for what you are but for what I am when I am with you. I love you, not only for what you have made of yourself but for what you are making of me.” — Roy Croft

#8. “I have, for the first time, found what I can truly love. I have found you.” — Charlotte Bronte

#9. “Marriage is another momentous life change. Choose right, and it might be the most positive decision you ever make.” — Patrick Foley

#10. “There is no more lovely, friendly, and charming relationship, communion, or company than a good marriage.” — Martin Luther

#11. “Hear my soul speak. Of the very instant that I saw you, did my heart fly at your service.” — William Shakespeare

#12. “When two people become one by way of marriage, it is not only their hearts that are united but their minds and souls as well.” — Julie Donner Anderson

#13. “Grow old along with me; the best is yet to be.” — Robert Browning

#14. “To love and be loved is to feel the sun from both sides.” — David Viscott

#15. “When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.” — When Harry Met Sally

#16. “When you love someone, you love them as the person they are and not as you’d like them to be.” — Leo Tolstoy

#17. “Wedding is destiny, and hanging likewise.” — John Heywood

#18. “Marriage is the highest state of friendship. If happy, it lessens our cares by dividing them, at the same time that it doubles our pleasures by mutual participation.” — Samuel Richardson

#19. “A strong marriage rarely has two people strong at the same time. It is a husband and wife who take turns being strong for each other at the moment the other is weak.” — Ashley Willis

#20. “Love me and the world is mine.” — David Reed

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#21. “Chains do not hold a marriage together. It is threaded, hundreds of tiny threads, which sew people together through the years.” — Simone Signoret

#22. “Don’t smother each other. No one can grow in the shade.” — Leo Buscaglia

#23. “Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.” — Wuthering Heights

#24. “Only one is a wanderer; Two together are always going somewhere.” — Vertigo

#25. “As God by creation made two of one, so again by marriage, He made one of two.” — Thomas Adams

#26. “My most brilliant achievement was my ability to be able to persuade my wife to marry me.” — Winston Churchill

#27. “Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.” — Epicurus

#28. “A good marriage would be between a blind wife and a deaf husband.” — Michel de Montaigne

#29. “Marriage a bond between a person who never remembers anniversaries and another who never forgets them.” — Ogden Nash

#31. “Who, being loved, is poor?” — Oscar Wilde

#32. “It is not a lack of love, but a lack of friendship that makes unhappy marriages.” — Fredrich Nietzche

#33. “I would rather share one lifetime with you than face all the ages of this world alone.” — J. R. R. Tolkien

#34. “To say that one waits a lifetime for his soul mate to come around is a paradox. People eventually get sick of waiting, take a chance on someone, and by the art of commitment become soul mates, which takes a lifetime to perfect.” — Criss Jami

#35. “In your light, I learn how to love. In your beauty, how to make poems. You dance inside my chest where no one sees you, but sometimes I do, and that sight becomes this art.” — Rumi

#36. “If I know what love is, it is because of you.” — Hermann Hasse

#37. “Love takes off masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within.” — James Baldwin

#38. “Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope.” — Maya Angelou

#39. “A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person.” — Mignon McLaughlin

#40. “You know, there is a name for people who are always wrong about everything all the time – Husband!” — Bill Maher

#41. “The highest happiness on earth is the happiness of marriage.” — William Lyon Phelps

#42. “Love can come when you’re already who you are, when you’re filled with you. Not when you look to someone else to fill the empty space.” — Deb Caletti

#43. “We’re all a little weird. And life is a little weird. And when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall into mutually satisfying weirdness–and call it love–true love.” — Robert Fulgham

Related: Lovely Wedding Captions (2020) for Status Updates on Social Media

#44. “Being in a long marriage is a little bit like that nice cup of coffee every morning – I might have it every day, but I still enjoy it.” — Stephen Gains

#45. “You know you’re in love when you don’t want to fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.” — Dr. Seuss

#46. “Every heart sings a song, incomplete, until another heart whispers back. Those who wish to sing always find a song. At the touch of a lover, everyone becomes a poet.” — Plato

#47. “The essence of marriage is companionship, and the woman you face across the coffee urn every morning for ninety-nine years must be both able to appreciate your jokes and to sympathize with your aspirations.” — Elbert Hubbard

#48. “My bounty is as boundless as the sea, my love as deep; the more I give to thee, the more I have, for both are infinite.” — Shakespeare

#49. “If I had a flower for every time thought of you… I could walk through my garden forever.” — Alfred Tennyson

#50. “They slipped briskly into an intimacy from which they never recovered.” — F. Scott Fitzgerald

#51. “You don’t love someone for their looks, or their clothes, or for their fancy car, but because they sing a song only you can hear.” — Oscar Wilde

#52. “For you see, each day I love you more. Today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow.” — Rosemond Gerard

#53. “The best thing to hold onto in life is each other.” — Audrey Hepburn

#54. “In other relationships, people are different entities but in marriage, the couple is considered as one. This is what makes marriage a different kind of bond.” — Mark McGrann

#55. “For the two of us, home isn’t a place. It is a person. And we are finally home.” ― Stephanie Perkins

#56. “Marriages are like fingerprints; each one is different and each one is beautiful.” — Maggie Reyes

#57. “A happy marriage is a long conversation which always seems too short.” — Andre Maurois

#58. “There are a hundred paths through the world that are easier than loving. But who wants easier?” — Mary Oliver

#59. “What lies behind us, and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson

#60. “Your absence has not taught me to be alone, it merely has shown that when together we cast a single shadow on the wall.” — Doug Fetherling

#61. “Many people spend more time in planning the wedding than they do in planning the marriage.” — Zig Ziglar

#62. “The minute I heard my first love story I started looking for you, not knowing how blind that was. Lovers don’t finally meet somewhere. They’re in each other all along.” — Rumi

#63. “The best way to get most husbands to do something is to suggest that perhaps they’re too old to do it.” — Ann Bancroft

#64. “You have made a place in my heart where I thought there was no room for anything else. You have made flowers grow where I cultivated dust and stones.” — Robert Jordan

#65. “For it was not into my ear you whispered, but into my heart. It was not my lips you kissed, but my soul.” — Judy Garland

#66. “To the world you may be one person, but to one person you are the world.” — Taylor Hanson

#67. “If you want your wife to listen to you, then talk to another woman; she will be all ears.” — Sigmund Freud

#68. “I love being married. It’s so great to find that one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life.” — Rita Rudner

#69. “Faith makes all things possible. Love makes all things easy.” — Dwight Moody

#70. “Yours is the light by which my spirit’s born: you are my sun, my moon, and all my stars.” — E.E. Cummings

#71. “You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope…I have loved none but you.” — Jane Austen

#72. “People are weird. When we find someone with weirdness that is compatible with ours, we team up and call it love.” — Dr. Seuss

#73. “In all the world, there is no heart for me like yours. In all the world, there is no love for you like mine.” — Maya Angelou

#74. “Love is like a beautiful flower which I may not touch, but whose fragrance makes the garden a place of delight just the same.” — Helen Keller

#75. “A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person.” — Mignon McLaughlin

#76. “Once upon a time there was a boy who loved a girl, and her laughter was a question he wanted to spend his whole life answering.” — Nicole Krauss

#77. “Marriage is not a noun; it’s a verb. It isn’t something you get. It’s something you do. It’s the way you love your partner every day.” — Barbara De Angelis

#78. “A marriage is not a noun; it’s a verb. It isn’t something you get. It’s the way you love your partner every day.” — Barbara De Angelis

#79. “To find someone who will love you for no reason, and to shower that person with reasons, that is the ultimate happiness.” — Robert Brault

#80. “Every love story is beautiful, but ours is my favourite.” — Anonymous

#81. “The greatest marriages are built on teamwork. A mutual respect, a healthy dose of admiration, and a never-ending portion of love and grace.” — Fawn Weaver

#82. “When someone else’s happiness is your happiness that is love.” — Lana Del Ray

#83. “Marriages, like a garden, take time to grow. But the harvest is rich unto those who patiently and tenderly care for the ground.” — Darlene Schacht

#84. “Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.” — Lao Tzu

#85. “Marriage, ultimately, is the practice of becoming passionate friends.” — Harville Hendrix

#86. “When I have learned to love God better than my earthly dearest, I shall love my earthly dearest better than I do now.” — C.S. Lewis

#87. “You know you’re in love when you can’t fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.” — Dr. Seuss

#88. “Love is like a friendship caught on fire.” — Jeremy Taylor

#89. “Love seems the swiftest but it is the slowest of all growths. No man or woman really knows what perfect love is until they have been married a quarter of a century.” — Mark Twain

#90. “To be fully seen by somebody, then, and be loved anyhow–this is a human offering that can border on miraculous.” — Elizabeth Gilbert

#91. “Marriage is like trading in the adoration of many for the sarcasm of one.” — Mae West

#92. “There is no greater happiness for a man than approaching a door at the end of a day knowing someone on the other side of that door is waiting for the sound of his footsteps.” — Ronald Reagan

#93. “For it was not into my ear you whispered, but into my heart. It was not my lips you kissed, but my soul.” — Judy Garland

#94. “Marriage is a wonderful institution… but who wants to live in an institution?” — Groucho Marx

#95. “A happy marriage is a long conversation which always seems too short.” — Andre Maurois

#96. “Love doesn’t make the world go round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile.” — Elizabeth Barrett Browning

#97. “Marriage is such a beautiful relationship and a gift from God. It’s God’s design, created between a man and a woman.” — Whitney Meade

#98. “So it’s not gonna be easy. It’s going to be really hard; we’re gonna have to work at this every day, but I want to do that because I want you. I want all of you, forever, every day. You and me… every day.” — Nicholas Sparks

#99. “The secret of a happy marriage is finding the right person. You know they’re right if you love to be with them all the time.” — Julia Child

#100. “To get the full value of joy you must have someone to divide it with.” — Mark Twain

#101. “When we love, we always strive to become better than we are. When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.” — Paulo Coelho

#102. “Let the wife make the husband glad to come home, and let him make her sorry to see him leave.” — Martin Luther

#103. “There is only one happiness in life: To love and be loved.” — George Sand

#104. “Great love affairs start with champagne…” — Honoré de Balzac

#105. “The greatest marriages are built on teamwork. A mutual respect, a healthy dose of admiration, and a never-ending portion of love and grace.” — Fawn Weaver

#106. “Remember, we all stumble; every one of us. That is why it’s a comfort to go hand in hand.” — Emily Kimbrough

#107. “True love stories never have endings.” — Richard Bach

#108. “Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, half shut afterwards.” — Benjamin Franklin

#109. “A happy marriage is a long conversation which always seems too short.” — André Maurois

#110. “Happy marriages begin when we marry the ones we love, and they blossom when we love the ones we marry.” — Tom Mullen

You can use these 110 wedding couple quotes in your wedding from your wedding invitation to wedding vows. These quotes can be fit in your wedding perfectly.

Happy Wedding….

[simba-bonfamille-lyons]

SOLEIL alternatively u can do simone and bowie like they r real children, or u know what all three

🌱- When is their birthday? Where were they born? What was the time of day?

Bowie: May 5 -- idk he’s a dog, Simone: June 23 -- idk she’s a dog, Adopted August 15 (unsure of actual birthday.) -- signed papers at exactly 4:32PM in the afternoon on December 13. (They already had Christmas presents picked out).

🔠- Who named them? What does their name mean?

It was a joint effort. Simba wanted something Swahili at first, but also wanted French. So, eventually they settled on Jaramogi (courageous)Soleil (which means sun) Bonfamille-Lyons

Prince David Bowie -- named after Prince and David Bowie

Queen Nina Simone -- named after Queen and Nina Simone

💤- Was it difficult to get them to fall asleep at night?

They adopted Soleil when she was 2(ish). So, yeah, at first she did have trouble sleeping because she was in a new place and she didn’t really understand what was happening. But they would switch off sleeping in her room with her for the first like idk month and then she was alright.

Bowie was pretty good tbh. He whines a bit at the door and then settles down, or sleeps with Kiara. Simone is like 10x more annoying about it.

🌀- Were they a social, giggly baby? Or were they a shy baby who did not like forced socialization?

Soleil had a really hard time adjusting after being adopted. She loved her dads, but introducing her to new people was hard and took a lot of time, but once she warmed up to people, she was very friendly towards them.

🍳- What is their favorite childhood dish?

Anything her daddy makes but she claims papa’s grilled cheese is better, which offends Simba even like 20 years on.

Bowie eats anything.

Simone is picky tbh but she will steal chocolate and will at some point def make herself sick bc of it.

🐻- Did they have a favorite teddy bear/stuffed animal?

When he first came to meet her Ber was really nervous so Simba took him shopping first and Ber picked out this beautiful little gecko that was all orange and had these pretty shiny scales and that thing went through literally Wars. It Saw Some Shit. And Soleil kept it forever and ever.

Bowie has an elephant named Tembo. He’s in rough shape at this point and Simba has def like sewn him back together a million times and Ber is like “omfg just get him another one he won’t know the difference” and Simba is like “YES HE WILL THIS IS HIS TEMBO”

Simone tries to steal Tembo even tho she has a million toys and it’s the only time Bowie will straight up snap at her.

🏡- What kind of environment did they grow up in? Was it in a rural or farmlike home? Or did they grow up in the cities? Or were they a small town/suburban child?

LA! But, on the outskirts, so she kind of got the best of both worlds. Quiet, secluded ranch life and the city nearby where she went to school and such. Spoiled but well-behaved. Lots of dogs running around, Simone and Bowie included.

👦🏻- What was preschool/kindergarten like?

Struggled a lot. Didn’t participate in classes, even when Simba was her teacher. Had issues with authority. Occasionally threw temper tantrums. Started speaking late, though she was an avid reader.

👧🏻- What was elementary/high school like?

Enjoys music immensely and in middle school this really flourished. Joined band and played a plethora of instruments. Also has a lovely singing voice but is really quite shy about singing and being on stage. Still has outbursts that make it difficult for her to concentrate/make friends.

👱🏻‍♀️- What was high school/college like?

Goes to college three different times. Struggles to get her required classes squared away because she does not care about things she is uninterested in. Once she clears that hurdle though, she goes all the way on to get her PhD in political sciences and is an activist, eventually becomes a state representative of some kind. ALTERNATE ROUTE: becomes an architect, bc she also loves math and art. 

🌋- How often did they get caught doing something bad?

Never. At least, nothing intentionally. There are things that she just socially doesn’t understand sometimes that can get her in “trouble” but her dads are very patient and understanding and will literally murder anyone who is not.

🌡- Did they get sick a lot as a child? Did they ever have to go to the hospital for any reason?

Got sick a LOT. She had a heart condition because she was born prematurely. Has several surgeries as a child and by the time she’s ten, she’s perfectly healthy besides the occasional cold!

Bowie is a healthy pup!

Simone is also a healthy pup but she eats shit she shouldn’t and is sneaky about it so you don’t know until you’re like um where is that string of Christmas lights I laid out this morning oh? wrapped in Simone’s intestines? Great.

🎀- What kinds of games/activities did they like to play?

Loves puzzle books. Loves books in general. Also loves Leggos. Train sets. Anything that you can build. Singing. Playing instruments. Composing. 

Bowie likes to fetch and swim. And cuddle. And hang out. Listen to Ber’s demos. Eat food. 

Simone likes to sleep. That is her favorite activity. And bark at random shit.

🎏- Did they have a lot of friends? Can you describe a few? 

Not really. She made a few friends but none who stuck around long; wasn’t very interested in friends but was FIERCELY loyal to the ones she did make. Not until she was out in the working world. Then she had a good group of coworkers that understood her. 

💢- Did they ever have a rebellious phase?

Nah. Why would she rebel? She loves her dads. (And they let her get away with murder, tbh.)

❓- Did they ask a lot of questions when they were younger? Did they like to explore the world?

Definitely, definitely. She was a curious af child. 

Bowie asked what is love one time.

Simone can’t talk.

🗯- How well did they get along with their siblings?

If she had siblings, she would appreciate them as human beings but not really care to be super duper close with them. Also, tbh, she’s a brat she wants to hog her parents’ affection. She would be insulted like excuse me that are MY dads. Not yours.

Bowie loves his sisters. He was so snuggly with Soleil and he tries so hard to be nice to Simone.

Simone gives Bowie shit all the time but she LOVED Soleil to the point where it was kind of problematic because she wouldn’t let anyone but Simba or Ber get close to her for the first couple of months.

🔷- Free question! 

Fun fact! I hc that Soleil is on the Autism spectrum and Simba figured this out pretty early because he works with children and she/her parents never really let it affect her life, they just go about things as normal. She’ll also probably wind up with her own support dog at some point mostly bc it is family tradition at this point more than like she actually needs it.

[winxys]

i rlly hope ooo abandon this sound after this cb like i'm sorry but this is not working for me

[walkonwalkonwithhopeinyourheart]

Full translated interview from Nabil Fekir about his failed transfer to Liverpool. He talks about his knee and agent’s role in the failed transfer + more (Bilel Ghazi - L’Equipe) via /r/LiverpoolFC

Full translated interview from Nabil Fekir about his failed transfer to Liverpool. He talks about his knee and agent’s role in the failed transfer + more (Bilel Ghazi - L’Equipe)

The striker, who was transferred from Lyon to Betis this summer, turned the page on a complicated season after his aborted transferred at Liverpool.

Bilel Ghazi - L'Equipe

Last Tuesday, in Clairefontaine, Nabil Fekir [26 years old] was enthusiastic about the idea of confiding his happiness at having joined Betis and Liga this summer [for €20 million]. Where he scored two goals in the first three games.

In your first matches, you gave the impression that you had regained your vitality, in the game with or without a ball.

“I feel it too. I've done a lot of work. I feel fine. It's a different game from France, much more technical. That's a little more like me. I am humanely and athletically fulfilled. That's what matters. The Liga is a league that has always attracted me and I am now lucky enough to play in a family club. I have regained the fulfillment that I may have missed a little last year:

Did you feel that you did overstay by one year at Lyon?

“No, I didn't overstay. Lyon, it was the club that revealed me, that brought me everything. This is my life, my city. I have all my family and friends there. Last season was just different from the others. I didn't do the preparation like everyone else. Afterwards, I played below my level. However, Olympique Lyonnais has tried to hold you back by offering you the biggest contract in the club's history.

There were discussions and I was offered this extension. But the president knew of my wish to know something else. It was important for me to grow up as a man. He understood it, even though he tried to convince me otherwise. After that, he is a person who has always done everything possible to make me feel good, comfortable. We've always had a good relationship.

It seems as if your departure has freed you mentally.

It's true that sometimes I may have been thinking too much. I wasn't satisfied with myself. I wasn't decisive enough. That's one of the reasons why I was a little more closed. But I still felt good in Lyon. That wasn't why I was unhappy.

Did you find the criticism of you a little harsh? They're normal. I accept criticism and I don't close myself off from it. When a player is a world champion, you have to expect a lot from him. I know I wasn't at the expected level. But I also played well in some important matches. As against Chakhtior Donetsk or Manchester City in the Champions League.

Is this uneven season related to your aborted transfer to Liverpool?

It is a whole. We were coming out of an exceptional year, when we were crowned world champions. I came back a little late, at the beginning of August, just before the Championship. I was a father a second time. It was a different season. There were a lot of things. But it's not really the aborted transfer, because it's part of life. It was written that way.

Did it really have no impact on your benefits?

I tried not to pay attention to it. After that, yes, it surely affected my mind, affected me. Even if it was unconscious and I kept telling myself it was part of fate. But that's not what made me have an average season. Today, I still think about it sometimes. But without feeling regret.

To explain your aborted transfer to Liverpool, we were able to talk about the condition of your knee or the intervention of your relatives. Did that annoy you?

It touched me because there have been an incredible number of lies told about it. Everything that has been said about my family in particular. It hurt them. It hurt them. Like it hurt me... Especially when you know that what's on the air is not true. But when you are a good person in life, you always end up being happy and quiet. And I, today, am happy and quiet. Others are not well. We're not going to go into detail...

However, this episode still seems to be in your mind...

I follow quietly because what he said to himself is not the truth. The knee, it's fine. I had a medical check-up in Clairefontaine [French FA football training center]. It went successful quickly (laughs)! I haven't been told for a second about the knee. You were talking about President Aulas' proposal. If my knee was really in a critical situation, do you think he would have made me such a proposal?

But the worst thing is that some can claim that it is because of my family that the transfer did not take place, it is a lie... But you have to deal with it.

What is the truth then?

You want the truth? You should know that even I don't know it! I reassure you! I did my medical check-up and, after that, they decided not to make me sign. At one point, they wanted me to believe it was the knee. But there had to be an excuse while the additional medical tests at Clairefontaine were very clear... The knee, it's fine and I feel fine. The knee, it has nothing at all.

That upset you?

What may have annoyed me is that by trying to advance this pseudo physical concern, it may have burned me with other clubs that were potentially interested. While there are other players who have experienced the same injury as me and that hasn't prevented them from returning to a normal trajectory. But I don't have a grudge against Liverpool. I met them, our relations were excellent. They showed me that they really wanted me. But behind it, when you don't surround yourself with the right people, it hurts you.

So it would be related to your former agent, Jean-Pierre Bernès, in your opinion?

Maybe... Then, as I said, it's fate. But when, in negotiations, you are not informed of everything that is going on, it is not normal. We are a discreet family. And it's never good to want to divide a family. We went through all this like a little jolt. It was a dark moment in my career.

How do you feel about your former agent today?

In fact, when you have nothing good to say about someone, there's no point in talking. Otherwise I'm going to say things I'm going to regret. It wouldn't fit my education. He himself knows what's going on... Today, I have no more contact with him and I don't want any more, it's useless.

Do you also feel that you have made mistakes on your side?

I didn't surround myself with the right people. But honestly, I don't regret anything because even these mistakes have made me grow and progress.

Did that make you more suspicious?

Yes, with the experience and mistakes you make, you are forced to be more withdrawn and reserved. There are some detestable things in this world that bother me. Afterwards, we must not forget that before being a profession, playing football is a pleasure. And today, I am in Seville, where I feel soothed. Besides, it's a beautiful weather! (Smile.)

With Bernès, a consummate break Between Nabil Fekir and his former agent Jean-Pierre Bernès, the divorce is now over. Completed last April. The four years of collaboration between the two men seem to have shattered behind the scenes of the failed transfer from the French international to Liverpool in the summer of 2018. And everyone is blaming each other for this episode.

"He has to stop acting and think people are idiots," the agent says. "Everyone knows what happened. The transfer to Liverpool failed for two reasons. The first is his knee, even though the British leaders were willing to make an effort on this issue. The second is the emergence of a pseudo-lawyer from outside the file who requested that negotiations be restarted from the beginning at the time of signing. Between that episode and the medical check-up, Liverpool's leaders decided to drop the case."

Through his lawyer, Carlo Alberto Brusa, Jean Pierre Bernès recently brought an action against Nabil Fekir before the Marseille Regional Court. "This summon is linked to the premature termination of the agent's contract concluded between Mr Bernès and Nabil Fekir. Considering the fact that the player and his entourage have taken liberties in violation of contractual obligations and in particular in violation of the exclusivity clause," summarized Mr. Brusa.

https://www.lequipe.fr/Football/Article/Nabil-fekir-ex-ol-ca-m-a-fait-du-mal/1057463

Submitted September 10, 2019 at 03:43AM by M7plusoneequalsm8 via reddit https://ift.tt/2LpDNKP

[movietvtechgeeks]

Latest story from https://movietvtechgeeks.com/adele-beyonce-give-2017-grammys-life/

Adele, Beyonce give 2017 Grammy's some life

Adele swept the 2017 Grammy Awards, but she made more news from her technical difficulties resulting in an 'f-bomb' drop during her emotional tribute to George Michael. She had the audience with her as she remained the true pro and stated that she wanted to start again because Michael deserved better than what she began with. The result was a stirring song delivered flawlessly with an audience in tears feeling the emotion. Later in the evening, even her acceptance speech for song of the year was interrupted by that annoying play-off music for her collaborator Greg Kurstin. This resulted in the crowd booing, but Adele got her say when they won again for record of the year. Adele scolded, “You cut him off last time!” James Corden delivered a satisfactory performance as host, but the evening belonged to Adele and Beyonce with neither disappointing. Adele's opening "Hello" was stark and bare of any distractions with only her powerful voice filling the room. Beyonce, on the other hand, had it all. Queen Bey was introduced by her mother, and then those familiar opening chords from "Love Drought" came on from Lemonade. It was a production number that had it all and felt like a video come to life. She was eager to show her tummy clad in a golden headdress, and she delivered an epic production. Beautiful, stunning and fabulous were the words that quickly came to mind during her show.

2017 Grammy Awards Winners:

GENERAL FIELD Album Of The Year: 25 — Adele (WINNER) Lemonade — Beyoncé Purpose — Justin Bieber Views — Drake A Sailor’s Guide To Earth — Sturgill Simpson Record Of The Year: “Hello” — Adele (WINNER) “Formation” — Beyoncé “7 Years” — Lukas Graham “Work” — Rihanna Featuring Drake “Stressed Out” — Twenty One Pilots Song Of The Year: “Hello” — Adele Adkins & Greg Kurstin, songwriters (Adele) (WINNER) “Formation” — Khalif Brown, Asheton Hogan, Beyoncé Knowles & Michael L. Williams II, songwriters (Beyoncé) “I Took A Pill In Ibiza” — Mike Posner, songwriter (Mike Posner) “Love Yourself” — Justin Bieber, Benjamin Levin & Ed Sheeran, songwriters (Justin Bieber) “7 Years” — Lukas Forchhammer, Stefan Forrest, Morten Pilegaard & Morten Ristorp, songwriters (Lukas Graham) Best New Artist: Chance The Rapper (WINNER) Kelsea Ballerini The Chainsmokers Maren Morris Anderson .Paak POP FIELD Best Pop Vocal Album: 25 — Adele (WINNER) Purpose — Justin Bieber Dangerous Woman — Ariana Grande Confident — Demi Lovato This Is Acting — Sia Best Pop Solo Performance: “Hello” — Adele (WINNER) “Hold Up” — Beyonce “Love Yourself” — Justin Bieber “Piece By Piece (Idol Version)” — Kelly Clarkson “Dangerous Woman” — Ariana Grande Best Pop Duo/Group Performance: “Stressed Out” — Twenty One Pilots (WINNER) “Closer” — The Chainsmokers Featuring Halsey “7 Years” — Lukas Graham “Work” — Rihanna Featuring Drake “Cheap Thrills” — Sia Featuring Sean Paul Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album: Summertime: Willie Nelson Sings Gershwin — Willie Nelson (WINNER) Cinema — Andrea Bocelli Fallen Angels — Bob Dylan Stages Live — Josh Groban Encore: Movie Partners Sing Broadway — Barbra Streisand DANCE/ELECTRONIC MUSIC FIELD Best Dance Recording: “Don’t Let Me Down” — The Chainsmokers Featuring Daya (WINNER) “Tearing Me Up” — Bob Moses “Never Be Like You” — Flume Featuring Kai “Rinse & Repeat” — Riton Featuring Kah-Lo “Drinkee” — Sofi Tukker Best Dance/Electronic Album: Skin — Flume (WINNER) Electronica 1: The Time Machine — Jean-Michel Jarre Epoch — Tycho Barbara Barbara, We Face A Shining Future — Underworld Louie Vega Starring…XXVIII — Louie Vega CONTEMPORARY INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC FIELD Best Contemporary Instrumental Album: Culcha Vulcha — Snarky Puppy (WINNER) Human Nature — Herb Alpert When You Wish Upon a Star — Bill Frisell Way Back Home: Live From Rochester, NY — Steve Gadd Band Unpsoken — Chuck Loeb ROCK FIELD Best Rock Performance: “Blackstar” — David Bowie (WINNER) “Joe (Live From Austin City Limits)” — Alabama Shakes “Don’t Hurt Yourself” — Beyoncé Featuring Jack White “The Sound Of Silence” — Disturbed “Heathens” — Twenty One Pilots Best Metal Performance: “Dystopia” — Megadeth (WINNER) “Shock Me” — Baroness “Slivera” — Gojira “Rotting in Vain” — Korn “The Price Is Wrong” — Periphery Best Rock Song: “Blackstar” — David Bowie, songwriter (David Bowie) (WINNER) “Burn the Witch” —Radiohead, songwriters (Radiohead) “Hardwired” — James Hetfield & Lars Ulrich, songwriters (Metallica “Heathens” — Tyler Joseph, songwriter (Twenty One Pilots) “My Name Is Human” — Rich Meyer, Ryan Meyer & Johnny Stevens, songwriters (Highly Suspect) Best Rock Album: Tell Me I’m Pretty — Cage The Elephant (WINNER) California — Blink-182 Magma — Gojira Death Of A Bachelor — Panic! At The Disco Weezer — Weezer ALTERNATIVE FIELD Best Alternative Music Album: Blackstar — David Bowie (WINNER) 22, A Million — Bon Iver The Hope Six Demolition Project — PJ Harvey Post Pop Depression — Iggy Pop A Moon Shaped Pool — Radiohead R&B FIELD Best R&B Performance: “Cranes in the Sky” — Solange (WINNER) “Turnin’ Me Up” — BJ The Chicago Kid “Permission” — Ro James “I Do” — Musiq Soulchild “Needed Me” — Rihanna Best Traditional R&B Performance: “Angel” — Lalah Hathaway (WINNER) “The Three Of Me” — William Bell “Woman’s World” — BJ The Chicago Kid “Sleeping With The One I Love” — Fantasia “Can’t Wait” — Jill Scott Best R&B Song: “Lake By the Ocean” — Hod David & Musze, songwriters (Maxwell) (WINNER) “Come and See Me” — J. Brathwaite, Aubrey Graham & Noah Shebib, songwriters (PartyNextDoor Featuring Drake) “Exchange” — Michael Hernandez & Bryson Tiller, songwriters (Bryson Tiller) “Kiss It Better” — Jeff Bhasker, Robyn Fenty, John-Nathan Glass & Natalia Noemi, songwriters (Rihanna) “Luv” — Magnus August Høiberg, Benjamin Levin & Daystar Peterson, songwriters (Tory Lanez) Best Urban Contemporary Album: Lemonade — Beyoncé (WINNER) Ology — Gallant We Are King — KING Malibu — Anderson .Paak Anti — Rihanna Best R&B Album: Lalah Hathaway Live — Lalah Hathaway (WINNER) In My Mind — BJ The Chicago Kid Velvet Portraits — Terrace Martin Healing Season — Mint Condition Smoove Jones — Mya RAP FIELD Best Rap Performance: “No Problem” — Chance The Rapper Featuring Lil Wayne & 2 Chainz (WINNER) “Panda” —Desiigner “Pop Style” — Drake Featuring The Throne “All The Way Up” — Fat Joe & Remy Ma Featuring French Montana & Infared “That Part” — ScHoolboy Q Featuring Kanye West Best Rap/Sung Performance: “Hotline Bling” — Drake (WINNER) “Freedom” — Beyoncé Featuring Kendrick Lamar “Broccoli” — D.R.A.M. Featuring Lil Yachty “Ultralight Beam” — Kanye West Featuring Chance The Rapper, Kelly Price, Kirk Franklin & The-Dream “Famous” — Kanye West Featuring Rihanna Best Rap Song: “Hotline Bling” — Aubrey Graham & Paul Jefferies, songwriters (Drake) (WINNER) “All The Way Up” — Joseph Cartagena, Edward Davadi, Shandel Green, Karim Kharbouch, Andre Christopher Lyon, Reminisce Mackie & Marcello Valenzano, songwriters (Fat Joe & Remy Ma Featuring French Montana & Infared) “Famous” — Chancelor Bennett, Ross Birchard, Ernest Brown, Andrew Dawson, Kasseem Dean, Mike Dean, Noah Goldstein, Kejuan Muchita, Patrick Reynolds, Kanye West & Cydel Young, songwriters (Kanye West Featuring Rihanna) “No Problem” — Chancelor Bennett, Dwayne Carter & Tauheed Epps, songwriters (Chance The Rapper Featuring Lil Wayne & 2 Chainz) “Ultralight Beam” — Chancelor Bennett, Kasseem Dean, Mike Dean, Kirk Franklin, Noah Goldstein, Samuel Griesemer, Terius Nash, Jerome Potter, Kelly Price, Nico “Donnie Trumpet” Segal, Derek Watkins, Kanye West & Cydel Young, songwriters (Kanye West Featuring Chance The Rapper, Kelly Price, Kirk Franklin & The-Dream) Best Rap Album: Coloring Book — Chance The Rapper (WINNER) And the Anonymous Nobody — De La Soul Major Key — DJ Khaled Views — Drake Blank Face LP — ScHoolboy Q The Life of Pablo — Kanye West COUNTRY FIELD Best Country Solo Performance: “My Church” — Maren Morris (WINNER) “Love Can Go To Hell” — Brandy Clark “Vice” — Miranda Lambert “Church Bells” — Carrie Underwood “Blue Ain’t Your Color” — Keith Urban Best Country Duo/Group Performance: “Jolene” — Pentatonix Featuring Dolly Parton (WINNER) “Different for Girls” — Dierks Bentley Featuring Elle King “21 Summer” — Brothers Osborne “Setting The World On Fire” — Kenny Chesney & P!nk “Think Of You” — Chris Young With Cassadee Pope Best Country Song: “Humble and Kind” — Lori McKenna, songwriter (Tim McGraw) (WINNER) “Blue Ain’t Your Color” — Clint Lagerberg, Hillary Lindsey & Steven Lee Olsen, songwriters (Keith Urban) “Die A Happy Man” — Sean Douglas, Thomas Rhett & Joe Spargur, songwriters (Thomas Rhett) “My Church” — busbee & Maren Morris, songwriters (Maren Morris) “Vice” — Miranda Lambert, Shane McAnally & Josh Osborne, songwriters (Miranda Lambert) Best Country Album: A Sailor’s Guide To Earth — Sturgill Simpson (WINNER) Big Day In A Small Town — Brandy Clark Full Circle — Loretta Lynn Hero — Maren Morris Ripcord — Keith Urban NEW AGE FIELD Best New Age Album: White Sun II — White Sun (WINNER) Orogen — John Burke Dark Sky Island — Enya Inner Passion — Peter Kater & Tina Guo Rosetta — Vangelis JAZZ FIELD Best Improvised Jazz Solo: “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” — John Scofield, soloist (WINNER) “Countdown” — Joey Alexander, soloist “In Movement” — Ravi Coltrane, soloist “We See” — Fred Hersch, soloist “I Concentrate On You” — Brad Mehldau, soloist Best Jazz Vocal Album: Take Me To The Alley — Gregory Porter (WINNER) Sound Of Red — René Marie Upward Spiral — Branford Marsalis Quartet With Special Guest Kurt Elling Harlem On My Mind — Catherine Russell The Sting Variations — The Tierney Sutton Band Best Jazz Instrumental Album: Country For Old Men — John Scofield (WINNER) Book of Intuition — Kenny Barron Trio Dr. Um — Peter Erskine Sunday Night At The Vanguard — The Fred Hersch Trio Nearness — Joshua Redman & Brad Mehldau Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album: Presidential Suite: Eight Variations On Freedom — Ted Nash Big Band (WINNER) Real Enemies — Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society Presents Monk’estra, Vol. 1 — John Beasley Kaleidoscope Eyes: Music of the Beatles — John Daversa All L.A. Band — Bob Mintzer Best Latin Jazz Album: Tribute To Irakere: Live In Marciac — Chucho Valdés (WINNER) Entre Colegas — Andy González Madera Latino: A Latin Jazz Perspective On The Music Of Woody Shaw — Brian Lynch & Various Artists Canto América — Michael Spiro/Wayne Wallace La Orquesta Sinfonietta 30 – Trio Da Paz GOSPEL/CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIAN MUSIC FIELD Best Gospel Performance/Song: “God Provides” — Tamela Mann; Kirk Franklin, songwriter (WINNER) “It’s Alright, It’s OK” — Shirley Caesar Featuring Anthony Hamilton; Stanley Brown & Courtney Rumble, songwriters “You’re Bigger [Live]” — Jekalyn Carr; Allundria Carr, songwriter “Made A Way [Live]” — Travis Greene; Travis Greene, songwriter “Better” — Hezekiah Walker; Jason Clayborn, Gabriel Hatcher & Hezekiah Walker, songwriters Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song: “Thy Will” — Hillary Scott & The Scott Family; Bernie Herms, Hillary Scott & Emily Weisband, songwriters Track from: Love Remains (WINNER) “Trust In You” — Lauren Daigle; Lauren Daigle, Michael Farren & Paul Mabury, songwriters (WINNER) “Priceless” — For King & Country; Benjamin Backus, Seth Mosley, Joel Smallbone, Luke Smallbone & Tedd Tjornhom, songwriters “King of the World” — Natalie Grant; Natalie Grant, Becca Mizell & Samuel Mizell, songwriters “Chain Breaker” — Zach Williams; Mia Fieldes, Jonathan Smith & Zach Williams, songwriters Best Gospel Album: Losing My Religion — Kirk Franklin (WINNER) Listen —Tim Bowman Jr. Fill This House — Shirley Caesar A Worshipper’s Heart [Live] —Todd Dulaney Demonstrate [Live] —William Murphy Best Contemporary Christian Music Album: Love Remains — Hillary Scott & The Scott Family (WINNER) Poets & Saints — All Sons & Daughters American Prodigal — Crowder Be One — Natalie Grant Youth Revival [Live] — Hillsong Young & Free Best Roots Gospel Album: Hymns — Joey+Rory (WINNER) Better Together — Gaither Vocal Band Nature’s Symphony In 432 — The Isaacs Hymns And Songs Of Inspiration — Gordon Mote God Don’t Ever Change: The Songs Of Blind Willie Johnson — (Various Artists) LATIN FIELD Best Latin Pop Album: Un Besito Mas — Jesse & Joy (WINNER) Ilusión — Gaby Moreno Similares — Laura Pausini Seguir Latiendo — Sanalejo Buena Vida — Diego Torres Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album: iLevitable — ile (WINNER) L.H.O.N. (La Humanidad O Nosotros) — Illya Kuryaki & The Valderamas Buenaventura — La Santa Cecilia Los Rakas — Los Rakas Amor Supremo — Carla Morrison Best Regional Mexican Music Album (Including Tejano): Un Azteca En El Azteca, Vol. 1 (En Vivo) — Vicente Fernández (WINNER) Raíces — Banda El Recodo De Cruz Lizárraga Hecho A Mano — Joss Favela Generación Maquinaria Est. 2006 — La Maquinaria Norteña Tributo A Joan Sebastian Y Rigoberto Alfaro — Mariachi Divas De Cindy Shea Best Tropical Latin Album: Donde Están? — Jose Lugo & Guasábara Combo (WINNER) Conexión — Fonseca La Fantasia Homenaje A Juan Formell — Formell Y Los Van Van 35 Aniversario — Grupo Niche La Sonora Santanera En Su 60 Aniversario — La Sonora Santanera AMERICAN ROOTS MUSIC FIELD Best American Roots Performance: “House Of Mercy” — Sarah Jarosz (WINNER) “Ain’t No Man” — The Avett Brothers “Mother’s Children Have A Hard Time” — Blind Boys Of Alabama “Factory Girl” — Rhiannon Giddens “Wreck You” — Lori McKenna Best American Roots Song: “Kid Sister” — Vince Gill, songwriter (The Time Jumpers) (WINNER) “Alabama At Night” — Robbie Fulks, songwriter (Robbie Fulks) “City Lights” — Jack White, songwriter (Jack White) “Gulfstream” — Eric Adcock & Roddie Romero, songwriters (Roddie Romero And The Hub City All-Stars) “Wreck You” — Lori McKenna & Felix McTeigue, songwriters (Lori McKenna) Best Americana Album: This Is Where I Live — William Bell (WINNER) True Sadness — The Avett Brothers The Cedar Creek Sessions — Kris Kristofferson The Bird & The Rifle — Lori McKenna Kid Sister — The Time Jumpers Best Bluegrass Album: Coming Home — O’Connor Band With Mark O’Connor (WINNER) Original Traditional — Blue Highway Burden Bearer — Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver The Hazel Sessions — Laurie Lewis & The Right Hands North And South — Claire Lynch Best Traditional Blues Album: Porcupine Meat — Bobby Rush (WINNER) Can’t Shake The Feeling — Lurrie Bell Live At The Greek Theatre — Joe Bonamassa Blues & Ballads (A Folksinger’s Songbook: Volumes I & II) — Luther Dickinson The Soul of Jimmie Rodgers — Vasti Jackson Best Contemporary Blues Album: The Last Days Of Oakland — Fantastic Negrito (WINNER) Love Wins Again — Janiva Magness Bloodline — Kenny Neal Give It Back To You — The Record Company Everybody Wants A Piece — Joe Louis Walker Best Folk Album: Undercurrent — Sarah Jarosz (WINNER) Silver Skies Blue — Judy Collins & Ari Hest Upland Stories — Robbie Fulks Factory Girl — Rhiannon Giddens Weighted Mind — Sierra Hull Best Regional Roots Music Album: E Walea — Kalani Pe’a (WINNER) Broken Promised Land — Barry Jean Ancelet & Sam Broussard It’s A Cree Thing — Northern Cree Gulfstream — Roddie Romero And The Hub City All-Stars I Wanna Sing Right: Rediscovering Lomax In The Evangeline Country — (Various Artists) REGGAE FIELD Best Reggae Album: Ziggy Marley — Ziggy Marley (WINNER) Sly & Robbie Presents… Reggae For Her – Devin Di Dakta & J.L Rose Petals — J Boog Everlasting — Raging Fyah Falling Into Place — Rebelution Soja: Live In Virginia — Soja WORLD MUSIC FIELD Best World Music Album: Sing Me Home — Yo-Yo Ma & The Silk Road Ensemble (WINNER) Destiny — Celtic Woman Walking In The Footsteps Of Our Fathers — Ladysmith Black Mambazo Land Of Gold — Anoushka Shankar Dois Amigos, Um Século De Música: Multishow Live — Caetano Veloso & Gilberto Gil CHILDREN’S FIELD Best Children’s Album: Infinity Plus One — Secret Agent 23 Skidoo (WINNER) Explorer Of The World — Frances England Novelties — Recess Monkey Press Play — Brady Rymer And The Little Band That Could Saddle Up — The Okee Dokee Brothers SPOKEN WORD FIELD Best Spoken Word Album (Includes Poetry, Audio Books & Storytelling): In Such Good Company: Eleven Years Of Laughter, Mayhem, And Fun In The Sandbox — Carol Burnett (WINNER) The Girl With The Lower Back Tattoo — Amy Schumer M Train — Patti Smith Under The Big Black Sun: A Personal History Of L.A.Punk (John Doe With Tom DeSavia) — (Various Artists) Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink — Elvis Costello COMEDY FIELD Best Comedy Album: Talking For Clapping — Patton Oswalt (WINNER) …America…Great… — David Cross American Myth — Margaret Cho Boysih Girl Interrupted — Tig Notaro Live At The Apollo — Amy Schumer MUSICAL THEATER Best Musical Theater Album: The Color Purple — Cynthia Erivo & Jennifer Hudson, principal soloists; Stephen Bray, Van Dean, Frank Filipetti, Roy Furman, Scott Sanders & Jhett Tolentino, producers (Stephen Bray, Brenda Russell & Allee Willis, composers/lyricists) (New Broadway Cast) (WINNER) Bright Star — Carmen Cusack, principal soloist; Jay Alix, Peter Asher & Una Jackman, producers; Steve Martin, composer; Edie Brickell, composer & lyricist (Original Broadway Cast) Fiddler On The Roof — Danny Burstein, principal soloist; Louise Gund, David Lai & Ted Sperling, producers (Jerry Bock, composer; Sheldon Harnick, lyricist) (2016 Broadway Cast) Kinky Boots — Killian Donnelly & Matt Henry, principal soloists; Sammy James, Jr., Cyndi Lauper, Stephen Oremus & William Wittman, producers (Cyndi Lauper, composer & lyricist) (Original West End Cast) Waitress — Jessie Mueller, principal soloist; Neal Avron, Sara Bareilles & Nadia DiGiallonardo, producers; Sara Bareilles, composer & lyricist (Original Broadway Cast) MUSIC FOR VISUAL MEDIA FIELD Best Compilation Soundtrack For Visual Media: Miles Ahead — Miles Davis & Various Artists) (WINNER) Amy — (Various Artists) Straight Outta Compton — (Various Artists) Suicide Squad (Collector’s Edition) — (Various Artists) Vinyl: The Essentials Season 1 — (Various Artists) Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media: Star Wars: The Force Awakens — John Williams, composer (WINNER) Bridge of Spies — Thomas Newman, composer Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight — Ennio Morricone, composer The Revenant — Alva Noto & Ryuichi Sakamoto, composers Stranger Things Volume 1 — Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein, composers Stranger Things Volume 2 — Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein, composers Best Song Written For Visual Media: “Can’t Stop The Feeling!” — Max Martin, Shellback & Justin Timberlake, songwriters (Justin Timberlake, Anna Kendrick, Gwen Stefani, James Corden, Zooey Deschanel, Walt Dohrn, Ron Funches, Caroline Hjelt, Aino Jawo, Christopher Mintz-Plasse & Kunal Nayyar), Track from: Trolls (WINNER) “Heathens” — Tyler Joseph, songwriter (Twenty One Pilots), Track from: Suicide Squad “Just Like Fire” — Oscar Holter, Max Martin, P!nk & Shellback, songwriters (P!nk), Track from: Alice Through The Looking Glass “Purple Lamborghini” — Shamann Cooke, Sonny Moore & William Roberts, songwriters (Skrillex & Rick Ross), Track from: Suicide Squad “Try Everything” — Mikkel S. Eriksen, Sia Furler & Tor Erik Hermansen, songwriters (Shakira), Track from: Zootopia “The Veil” — Peter Gabriel, songwriter (Peter Gabriel), Track from: Snowden COMPOSING/ARRANGING FIELD Best Instrumental Composition: “Spoken At Midnight” — Ted Nash, composer (Ted Nash Big Band) (WINNER) “Bridge of Spies (End Title)” — Thomas Newman, composer (Thomas Newman) “The Expensive Train Set (An Epic Sarahnade For Big Band)” — Tim Davies, composer (Tim Davies Big Band) “Flow” — Alan Ferber, composer (Alan Ferber Nonet) “L’Ultima Diligenza Di Red Rock – Verisione Integrale” — Ennio Morricone, composer (Ennio Morricone) Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella: “You And I” — Jacob Collier, arranger (Jacob Collier) (WINNER) “Ask Me Now” — John Beasley, arranger (John Beasley) “Good ‘Swing’ Wenceslas” — Sammy Nestico, arranger (The Count Basie Orchestra) “Linus & Lucy” — Christian Jacob, arranger (The Phil Norman Tentet) “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds” — John Daversa, arranger (John Daversa) “We Three Kings” — Ted Nash, arranger (Jazz At Lincoln Center Orchestra With Wynton Marsalis) Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals: “Flintstones” — Jacob Collier, arranger (Jacob Collier) (WINNER) “Do You Hear What I Hear?” — Gordon Goodwin, arranger (Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band Featuring Take 6) “Do You Want To Know A Secret” — John Daversa, arranger (John Daversa Featuring Renee Olstead) “I’m A Fool To Want You” — Alan Broadbent, arranger (Kristin Chenoweth) “Somewhere (Dirty Blvd) (Extended Version)” — Billy Childs & Larry Klein, arrangers (Lang Lang Featuring Lisa Fischer & Jeffrey Wright) PACKAGE FIELD Best Recording Package: Blackstar — Jonathan Barnbrook, art director (David Bowie) (WINNER) Anti (Deluxe Edition) — Ciarra Pardo & Robyn Fenty, art directors (Rihanna) Human Performance — Andrew Savage, art director (Parquet Courts) Sunset Motel — Sarah Dodds & Shauna Dodds, art directors (Reckless Kelly) 22, A Million — Eric Timothy Carlson, art director (Bon Iver) Best Boxed Or Special Limited Edition Package: Edith Piaf 1915-2015 — Gérard Lo Monaco, art director (Edith Piaf) (WINNER) 401 Days — Jonathan Dagan & Mathias Høst Normark, art directors (J.Views) I Like It When You Sleep, For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware Of It — Samuel Burgess-Johnson & Matthew Healy, art directors (The 1975) Paper Wheels (Deluxe Limited Edition) — Matt Taylor, art director (Trey Anastasio) Tug of War (Deluxe Edition) — Simon Earith & James Musgrave, art directors (Paul McCartney) NOTES FIELD Best Album Notes: Sissle And Blake Sing Shuffle Along — Ken Bloom & Richard Carlin, album notes writers (Eubie Blake & Noble Sissle) (WINNER) The Complete Monument & Columbia Albums Collection — Mikal Gilmore, album notes writer (Kris Kristofferson) The Knoxville Sessions, 1929-1930: Knox County Stomp — Ted Olson & Tony Russell, album notes writers (Various Artists) Ork Records: New York, New York — Rob Sevier & Ken Shipley, album notes writers (Various Artists) Waxing The Gospel: Mass Evangelism & The Phonograph, 1890-1990 — Richard Martin, album notes writer (Various Artists) HISTORICAL FIELD Best Historical Album: The Cutting Edge 1965-1966: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 12 (Collector’s Edition) — Steve Berkowitz & Jeff Rosen, compilation producers; Mark Wilder, mastering engineer (Bob Dylan) (WINNER) Music Of Morocco From The Library Of Congress: Recorded By Paul Bowles, 1959 — April G. Ledbetter, Steven Lance Ledbetter, Bill Nowlin & Philip D. Schuyler, compilation producers; Rick Fisher & Michael Graves, mastering engineers (Various Artists) Ork Records: New York, New York — Rob Sevier & Ken Shipley, compilation producers; Jeff Lipton & Maria Rice, mastering engineers (Various Artists) Vladimir Horowitz: The Unreleased Live Recordings 1966-1983 — Bernard Horowitz, Andreas K. Meyer & Robert Russ, compilation producers; Andreas K. Meyer & Jeanne Montalvo, mastering engineers (Vladimir Horowitz) Waxing The Gospel: Mass Evangelism & The Phonograph, 1890 – 1900 — Michael Devecka, Meagan Hennessey & Richard Martin, compilation producers; Michael Devecka, David Giovannoni, Michael Khanchalian & Richard Martin, mastering engineers (Various Artists) PRODUCTION, NON-CLASSICAL FIELD Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical: Blackstar — David Bowie, Tom Elmhirst, Kevin Killen & Tony (WINNER) Are You Serious — Tchad Blake & David Boucher, engineers; Bob Ludwig, mastering engineer (Andrew Bird) Dig In Deep — Ryan Freeland, engineer; Kim Rosen, mastering engineer (Bonnie Raitt) Hit N Run Phase Two — Booker T., Dylan Dresdow, Chris James, Prince & Justin Stanley, engineers; Dylan Dresdow, mastering engineer (Prince) Undercurrent — Shani Gandhi & Gary Paczosa, engineers; Paul Blakemore, mastering engineer (Sarah Jarosz) Producer Of The Year, Non-Classical: Greg Kurstin (WINNER) Benny Blanco Max Martin Nineteen85 Ricky Reed Best Remixed Recording: “Tearing Me Up (RAC Remix)” — André Allen Anjos, remixer (Bob Moses) (WINNER) “Cali Coast (Psionics Remix)” — Josh Williams, remixer (Soul Pacific) “Heavy Star Movin’ (staRo Remix)” — staRo, remixer (The Silver Lake Chorus) “Nineteen Hundred Eighty-Five (Timo Maas & James Teej Remix)” — Timo Maas & James Teej, remixers (Paul McCartney & Wings) “Only” (Kaskade X Lipless Remix)— Ryan Raddon, remixer (Ry X) “Wide Open (Joe Goddard Remix)” — Joe Goddard, remixer (The Chemical Brothers) SURROUND SOUND FIELD Best Surround Sound Album: Dutilleux: Sur La Mêe Accord; Les Citations; Mystère De L’Instant & Timbres, Espace, Mouvement — Alexander Lipay & Dmitriy Lipay, surround mix engineers; Dmitriy Lipay, surround mastering engineer; Dmitriy Lipay, surround producer (Ludovic Morlot & Seattle Symphony) (WINNER) Johnson: Considering Matthew Shephard — Brad Michel, surround mix engineer; Brad Michel, surround mastering engineer; Robina G. Young, surround producer (Craig Hella Johnson & Conspirare) Maja S.K. Ratkje: And Sing … — Morten Lindberg, surround mix engineer; Morten Lindberg, surround mastering engineer; Morten Lindberg, surround producer (Maja S.K. Ratkje, Cikada & Oslo Sinfonietta) Primus & The Chocolate Factory — Les Claypool, surround mix engineer; Stephen Marcussen, surround mastering engineer; Les Claypool, surround producer (Primus) Reflections — Morten Lindberg, surround mix engineer; Morten Lindberg, surround mastering engineer; Morten Lindberg, surround producer (Øyvind Gimse, Geir Inge Lotsberg & Trondheimsolistene) PRODUCTION, CLASSICAL FIELD Best Engineered Album, Classical: Corigliano: The Ghosts Of Versailles — Mark Donahue & Fred Vogler, engineers (James Conlon, Guanqun Yu, Joshua Guerrero, Patricia Racette, Christopher Maltman, Lucy Schaufer, Lucas Meachem, LA Opera Chorus & Orchestra) (WINNER) Dutilleux: Sur La Mêe Accord; Les Citations; Mystère De L’Instant & Timbres, Espace, Mouvement — Alexander Lipay & Dmitriy Lipay, engineers (Ludovic Morlot & Seattle Symphony) Reflections — Morten Lindberg, engineer (Øyvind Gimse, Geir Inge Lotsberg & Trondheimsolistene) Shadow of Sirius — Silas Brown & David Frost, engineers; Silas Brown, Shostakovich: Under Stalin’s Shadow – Symphonies Nos. 5, 8 & 9 — Shawn Murphy & Nick Squire, engineers; Tim Martyn, mastering engineer (Andris Nelsons & Boston Symphony Orchestra) Producer of the Year, Classical: David Frost (WINNER) Blanton Alspaugh Marina A. Ledin, Victor Ledin Judith Sherman Robina G. Young CLASSICAL FIELD Best Orchestral Field: Shostakovich: Under Stalin’s Shadow – Symphonies Nos. 5, 8 & 9 — Andris Nelsons, conductor (Boston Symphony Orchestra) (WINNER) Bates: Works For Orchestra — Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor (San Francisco Symphony) Ibert: Orchestral Works — Neeme Järvi, conductor (Orchestre De La Suisse Romande) Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5 In B-Flat Major, Op. 100 — Mariss Jansons, conductor (Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra) Rouse: Odna Zhizn; Symphonies 3 & 4; Prospero’s Rooms — Alan Gilbert, conductor (New York Philharmonic) Best Opera Recording: Corigliano: The Ghosts Of Versailles — James Conlon, conductor; Joshua Guerrero, Christopher Maltman, Lucas Meachem, Patricia Racette, Lucy Schaufer & Guanqun Yu; Blanton Alspaugh, producer (LA Opera Orchestra; LA Opera Chorus) (WINNER) Handel: Giulio Cesare — Giovanni Antonini, conductor; Cecilia Bartoli, Philippe Jaroussky, Andreas Scholl & Anne-Sofie von Otter; Samuel Theis, producer (Il Giardino Armonico) Higdon: Cold Mountain — Miguel Harth-Bedoya, conductor; Emily Fons, Nathan Gunn, Isabel Leonard & Jay Hunter Morris; Elizabeth Ostrow, producer (The Santa Fe Opera Orchestra; Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Program For Singers) Mozart: Le Nozze De Figaro — Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor; Thomas Hampson, Christiane Karg, Luca Pisaroni & Sonya Yoncheva; Daniel Zalay, producer (Chamber Orchestra Of Europe; Vocalensemble Rastatt) Szymanowski: Król Roger — Antonio Pappano, conductor; Georgia Jarman, Mariusz Kwiecień & Saimir Pirgu; Jonathan Allen, producer (Orchestra Of The Royal Opera House; Royal Opera Chorus) Best Choral Performance: Penderecki Conducts Penderecki, Volume 1 — Krzystof Penderecki, conductor; Henryk Wojnarowski, choir director (Nikolay Didenko, Agnieszka Rehlis & Johanna Rusanen; Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra; Warsaw Philharmonic Choir) (WINNER) Himmerland — Elisabeth Holte, conductor (Marianne Reidarsdatter Eriksen, Ragnfrid Lie & Matilda Sterby; Inger-Lise Ulsrud; Uranienborg Vokalensemble) Janáček: Glagolitic Mass — Edward Gardner, conductor; Håkon Matti Skrede, chorus master (Susan Bickley, Gábor Bretz, Sara Jakubiak & Stuart Skelton; Thomas Trotter; Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra; Bergen Cathedral Choir, Bergen Philharmonic Choir, Choir Of Collegium Musicum & Edvard Grieg Kor) Lloyd: Bonhoeffer — Donald Nally, conductor (Malavika Godbole, John Grecia, Rebecca Harris & Thomas Mesa; The Crossing) Steinberg: Passion Week — Steven Fox, conductor (The Clarion Choir) Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance: Steve Reich — Third Coast Percussion (WINNER) Fitelberg: Chamber Works — ARC Ensemble Reflections — Øyvind Gimse, Geir Inge Lotsberg & Trondheimsolistene Serious Business — Spektral Quartet Trios From Our Homelands — Lincoln Trio Best Classical Instrumental Solo: Daugherty: Tales Of Hemingway — Zuill Bailey; Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor (Nashville Symphony) (WINNER) Adams, J.: Scheherazade.2 — Leila Josefowicz; David Robertson, conductor (Chester Englander; St. Louis Symphony) Dvorák: Violin Concerto & Romance; Suk: Fantasy —Christian Tetzlaff; John Storgårds, conductor (Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra) Mozart: Keyboard Music, Vols. 8 & 9 — Kristian Bezuidenhout 1930’s Violin Concertos, Vol. 2 — Gil Shaham; Stéphane Denève, conductor (The Knights & Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra) Best Classical Solo Vocal Album: Shakespeare Songs — Ian Bostridge; Antonio Pappano, accompanist (Michael Collins, Elizabeth Kenny, Lawrence Power & Adam Walker) (WINNER) Monteverdi — Magdalena Kožená; Andrea Marcon, conductor (David Feldman, Michael Feyfar, Jakob Pilgram & Luca Tittoto; La Cetra Barockorchester Basel) Mozart: The Weber Sisters — Sabine Devieilhe; Raphaël Pichon, conductor (Pygmalion) Schumann & Berg — Dorothea Röschmann; Mitsuko Uchida, accompanist Verismo — Anna Netrebko; Antonio Pappano, conductor (Yusif Eyvazov; Coro Dell’Accademia Nazionale Di Santa Cecilia; Orchestra Dell’Accademia Nazionale Di Santa Cecilia) Best Classical Compendium: Daugherty: Tales Of Hemingway; American Gothic; Once Upon A Castle — Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor; Tim Handley, producer (WINNER) Gesualdo — Tõnu Kaljuste, conductor; Manfred Eicher, producer Vaughan Williams: Discoveries — Martyn Brabbins, conductor; Andrew Walton, producer Wolfgang: Passing Through — Judith Farmer & Gernot Wolfgang, producers Zappa: 200 Motels — The Suites — Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor; Frank Filipetti & Gail Zappa, producers Best Contemporary Classical Composition: Daugherty: Tales Of Hemingway — Michael Daugherty, composer (Zuill Bailey, Giancarlo Guerrero & Nashville Symphony) (WINNER) Bates: Anthology Of Fantastic Zoology — Mason Bates, composer (Riccardo Muti & Chicago Symphony Orchestra) Higdon: Cold Mountain — Jennifer Higdon, composer; Gene Scheer, librettist Theofanidis: Bassoon Concerto — Christopher Theofanidis, composer (Martin Kuuskmann, Barry Jekowsky & Northwest Sinfonia) Winger: Conversations With Nijinsky — C. F. Kip Winger, composer (Martin West & San Francisco Ballet Orchestra) MUSIC VIDEO/FILM FIELD Best Music Video: “Formation” — Beyoncé (WINNER) “River” — Leon Bridges “Up & Up” — Coldplay “Gosh” — Jamie XX “Upside Down & Inside Out” — OK Go Best Music Film: The Beatles: Eight Days A Week The Touring Years — (The Beatles) (WINNER) I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead — Steve Aoki Lemonade — Beyoncé The Music Of Strangers — Yo-Yo Ma & The Silk Road Ensemble American Saturday Night: Live From The Grand Ole Opry — (Various Artists)

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