#spanish fashion brand

[missohme]

wax kimono

[leonorandsofia]

15 December 2022 | Princess Leonor wore her mother’s Carolina Herrera Prince of Wales blazer to the Red Cross office today. Queen Letizia originally wore the blazer once in May 2020.

[libertyprint]

Après Ski

Porte Dorée - À cheval collection

[svibian]

i keep thinking about yibo being a loewe ambassador and i have so many thoughts both good and bad good thing people don't care about my opinion or i'd be talking about it for an hour or so

[thehandwixard]

i love the fashion in raincode i need to eat it.

[raspberrywiskey]

googiekitch recently posted something about underrated design styles n it got me thinking about this certain design language seen in like spanish haute couture tops from the late 90s early 2000s ? i don't think these types of designs are talked about enough - especially since tiktoks's retconned early 2000s fashion to be skater and mcbling aesthetics, and these tops kindof fall outside of that. I find these brands charity shopping all the time n think they're super fun. want to know if there's a proper name for this design style, because there seems to be little information for that online

custo barcelona

paramita

these are just brands i know of that use this style - there could be more. paramita, I know for a fact does have more tops that feature less abstracted female figures, these are just the only ones I could find online and are a bit more abstracted than custo

[mickyschumacher]

𝐒𝐓𝐘𝐋𝐄 .ೃ࿐

𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐘: carlos sainz and you have an on and off relationship: full of an alluring pain. and no matter what, it seems you two always come back to one another. 𝐏𝐓. 𝟐 𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄

𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒: 18+ (minors DNI), infidelity, toxic relationship, reader has a vagina, unprotected sex (wrap it up like a gift!), reader slaps carlos, crying, ANGST, carlos bordering on being a sadist, cumming inside, fingering in the car, that being said - dangerous car driving, oral sex, incorrect model stuff probs, severely poorly utilised spanish, probs poorly written smut lol, probably missing plot holes but yeh

𝐏𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆: carlos sainz x model!fem!reader

𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓: 4k+

𝐀/𝐍: this is poorly based off taylor swift' 'style'. i hadn't realised i turned such a nice song into something well um... not nice? proof-read but as always, don't hold it against me!

𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓

⋆  •°.  。  .°•  ⋆

Before you even started your cat-and-mouse game with Carlos, you were well aware that he was trouble the moment he walked into the room.

Scratch that.

Formula One drivers were nuisances. Ask any other model on the street and they would probably agree with you.

You knew that it was a relationship you probably shouldn't even be in. He was always going to be away in a new country every other week while you were doing photoshoots and walking runways. You would barely have time with each other. You don't think that you could even label such a relationship 'long distance'.

So when your management sent you down to the infamous Monaco Grand Prix as eye-candy, how were you to deny those brown eyes constantly lingering on you, following your body as he sported a smug smile? No one would be in their right mind to not fall for a guy like Carlos.

The heated gazes, the flirty comments, the burning brushes of touch... it was clear for the both of you that you had to be together.

But of course, despite knowing all of this, you couldn't help still feel a bit emotional about your relationship.

midnight

you come and pick me up, no headlights

long drive

could end in burning flames or paradise

fade into view, oh

it's been a while since i have even heard from you

Here you were. In Miami. The sun had fully set and the rare few stars you could find had taken up their night shift.

You were just leaving the office of your management after having a discussion on what photoshoots you were doing in the upcoming weeks and what events you were attending.

Chanel, Dior, Ralph Lauren, YSL, Louis Vuitton...

Brands on any other general day you would've love to talk about. But your mind was in a state of disarray after receiving a message from a certain Spaniard.

hot spanish polla (prick)

pick you up in 15, princesa (princess)

behind your office.

Even now, looking at the message again, you let out a scoff. You scrolled up, finding the last message you had sent to him. In January.

It was currently May.

Your fingers clenched around your phone as you let out a shaky sigh. Despite all the rage you felt, of course you were here, in the secluded area of your company.

You looked down at your clothes. A model life meant wearing 'fashionable' clothes. You, your manager, and your stylist often pre-agreed on the outfits you wore just for the sake of your image. Today, your stylist had dressed you in a black mini skirt and maroon sweater. You neck and ears all adorned in thin gold jewellery while you feet were hugged by a classic pair of white sneakers.

You pursed your lips. At least you looked good.

But of course this was just like Carlos. Speaking, calling, texting... all when he wanted. You knew he was in Miami. You weren't an idiot. You had all of this season's races organised into your calendar.

You were just in disbelief that Carlos had the audacity to even text you after not hearing even a word from him in almost five months.

Your ears perked up to a low rumble of a car entering the area. The headlights were off but you could still spot it's familiar features. You eyed the iconic Prancing Horse and rolled your eyes. The love and hate you had for Ferrari was unexplainable.

The car stopped in front of you and the door of the driver's seat opened. Carlos came out as if he were in slow motion.

You sucked your tongue to your lips upon eyeing his appearance. He was in a black coat, a simple white shirt that stuck to his sculpted body paired with black trousers that brought out his stupidly defined thighs. Those thighs... god, how much time had you spent on them?

and i should tell you to leave 'cause i

know exactly where it leads, but i

watch us go 'round and 'round each time

Carlos waved a hand through his hair and smiled at you. You could feel his eyes waver over you, making you suppress the innate shudder his gaze would usually send you. You couldn't let him think that everything was okay.

He opened the door to the passenger side and gestured for you to come in with an extended hand.

You folded your arms and stared at him. Were you really going to do this? Yes. Was this what you deserved after so long? A man who felt dizzy for you but wouldn't speak to you for four months? Yes and no.... yes.

Carlos narrowed his eyes, tilting his head to look at you. He knew exactly what you were thinking. "Get in the car, Y/N. Before I make you."

There was nothing threatening about his tone. In fact, even if it was, it would be an empty threat. Because at the end of the day, the both of you knew you were going to.

You internally sighed, before walking up to the open door. You turned your head to him and gave an amused huff. "As if you would, Sainz."

Carlos flashed his classic grin, the very one that had gotten you into this mess in the first place, and watched you enter his car.

By the time you had but on your seatbelt and rested your arm on the door, Carlos had finally sat next you.

"You look good, cariño (darling)," Carlos murmured, bringing your hand up to his mouth to leave a small kiss.

You clenched your jaw at the fiery tingle that sprawled across your hand. You snatched your hand away. "I know. I look good all the time," You mentioned curtly.

Were you being a bitch? A bit catty? Simply put, yes. But you thought a man who usually got what he wanted deserved some sort of catty behaviour.

"Four months, Carlos, four goddamn months... of nothing," You sighed out.

A remorseful expression fell over Carlos' face. "I know. I'm so sorry, cariño. I don't have any excuses."

You huffed once again with an irked smile, folding your arms while you looked out your window. You could think of one. But maybe it wasn't time to bring it up right now. You were tired of this game already. You would rather a false peace than the raw reality.

Your eyes peered over to him. "Long drive home?" You asked.

Carlos smiled softly at you. "As per usual."

You nodded slowly and Carlos turned the key of the car. The engine came alive and seemingly so did he as his hand naturally fell to your thigh while he reversed out.

you got that james dean daydream look in your eye

and i got that red lip classic thing that you like

and when we go crashing down, we come back every time

'cause we never go out of style, we never go out of style

you got that long hair slicked back, white t-shirt

and i got that food girl faith and a tight little skirt

and when we go crashing down, we come back every time

'cause we never go out of style, we never go out of style

Carlos could feel your eyes on him as he drove down the empty, long roads of Miami, dotted with the sparsely spaced palm trees swaying in the warm summer breeze.

Your eyes trailed over every inch of him. His hair. His eyes. His lips. His neck. His body. Every crevice. As if you were trying to print an image in your mind.

You always looked at him like that. Carlos remembered asking you about it. "What are you looking at?" He would ask.

"Just you," You would retort, "I just can't believe someone like you exists."

Carlos would chuckle and question what you meant by that. You simply said he reminded you of James Dean. Even now. His hair was slightly grown and slicked back with the heat of Miami. His entire aura was smug and intoxicating. The entire world could see Carlos Sainz as the Spanish romantic driver, but you knew that behind that warming exterior, was something dirty... troublesome in the best way, in fact.

You, god, you were the complete opposite. Y/N L/N. The good girl model. Pure. Untainted. The type of model you would see in spreads of brands right after they had a controversy because your angel aura would put anyone back in the good books. No matter how revealing your clothes were or how much skin you had on display, you were somehow still the epitome of unadulterated goodness.

There was a saying that people often associated with good girls like you. Every good girl wants a bad boy to be good just for her.

You wished that wasn't true. How desperately had you avoided all those flashy teenage popstars and actors. But here you were inevitably falling for an intoxicating Carlos Sainz. Time and time again.

so it goes

he can't keep his wild eyes on the road

You let out a shaky sigh as Carlos' hand travelled closer and closer up your inner thigh. "Carlos," You warned, eyes widening slightly as those brown eyes were planted firmly on you, taking in every little movement of yours, instead of looking at the road.

"Yes, my ñina bonita (beautiful girl)," He answered almost questioningly in a teasing tone.

"Keep your eyes on the road," You weakly mumbled.

You both watched his fingers linger up your skirt. His fingers danced across your burning skin and paused at the thin material covering your core. You sucked in a sharp breath once those fingers met your panties.

Carlos grinned at your shaking eyes and the warm dampness on his fingers. "You make it hard to look away," He confessed earnestly.

You could feel his fingers rub your pussy ever so slowly, only just grazing over that sensitive nub of yours.

"Jesus fucking christ, Carlos," You hissed out, hips bucking at his touch.

Carlos could feel his pants become incredibly tight all of a sudden. The control he had over you was so enthralling that he wanted to simply stop in the middle of the highway, grab you by yours hips and fuck the living life out of you.

What a sight that would be. You straddling his lap, soaking his trousers as your ass rested against the Ferrari symbol embedded into the steering wheel. He would make sure that the brand he represented would be covered in your cum after he was done with you.

Carlos sucked in a sharp breath. "Jesus fucking christ, indeed, cariño," He managed to get out, blinking hard at the road in front of him.

He watched out of his peripheral vision as your head fell back against while his thick fingers pushed past your panties and slid against your drenched folds.

His fingers ventured and craved a journey, feeling each crevice of your pussy. Carlos thrusted his fingers into your warm walls, briefly watching you envelope him entirely.

"Fuck, Carlos," You moaned out, hand instinctively reaching out to covers his. You couldn't tell if you wanted him to stop in this horny haze or push him in even further.

It must have been the latter as you could feel his fingers delve further into you. Carlos let out a strangled moan, foot pressing further on the accelerator. He needed to get you home as fast he could.

takes me home

the lights are off, he's taking off his coat

i say "i heard, oh, that you've been out and about with some other girl"

he says, "what you heard is true

but i can't stop thinking 'bout you and i"

i said, "i've been there too a few times."

By the time you had reached home and got to your bedroom, the entire of your house remained living in the darkness you had found it in.

Carlos and you didn't need lights. If there was anything he was purely confident about, other than his driving of course, it was your body. He knew it like he knew those race tracks. Every curve. The distance from your breasts to your pussy. How long it would take you to cum. He knew it all.

Carlos shrugged off his coat somewhere onto your floor, needing a release from the heat surging through his body. Your shoes and socks he had pulled off in a haste as well.

His lips had found yours as his hands roamed your back, pulling him closer to you. His fingers snuck past the hem of your shirt, brushing your bare skin while reaching up your torso to find a neat surprise.

"No bra," Carlos' hoarse voiced queried with the sound of a smirk playing at his lips. At least thats what you could assume in the dark.

Carlos inched you towards your bed as if it was a second nature to him.

The soft silk sheets he had bought you last year consumed the both of you as his fingers brushed past your nipple.

You released yourself from this kiss at the action, gasping for the air that Carlos had taken from you.

"I heard you were with some other girl. Is this what you did with her?" You finally asked, feeling a small smirk grow onto your face despite the annoyance running through your body.

You could feel Carlos stop moving, probably boring those beautiful brown eyes of his into you.

He knew what you were talking about. February. Pre-testing season. The drivers, some staff and their partners had gotten together to celebrate the upcoming season.

Lando, like the photo lover he was, had decided to document the night with his camera and post it to his Instagram dedicated to photos, lando.jpg.

You had clicked on it a few hours later, deciding to see how much fun they were having while you were doing a photoshoot with Kim Jones. Pictures of Charles dancing terribly with Max had made you laugh. Carmen looking concerned for George's wellbeing as he took shots had made you laugh even harder. There was also a photo of Alex and Lily being the cute paddock couple they were while Carlos was drunkly looking into the camera

But then your fingers stopped on particular photo of Carlos.

He looked good, you could not deny him that. Flushed skin, hazed eyes, the perfect smile... all while dressed as the Madrid's richest.

But lo and behold, that wasn't the only thing getting your attention. Instead, it was the girl in his arms. The same girl who in the next few photos had her lips on him and his hands on her ass. You could even spot a fresh hickey that wasn't on her neck in the previous photo.

God, the comments and tweets were coming in at lightning speed.

user55: who's the girl? i thought carlos was with y/n?

user04: maybe they broke up?

user16: wasn't just with her for new years? jfc, that man needs to get a grip

mickyschumacher: y/n deserves better than this

user44: i wonder if she knows?

Quite soon after, Lando had taken down the post, apologising to you profusely. You reassured him it was okay, even though deep down you were exhausted of this.

Not only had Carlos been going around with another girl, but he didn't even have the decency to say sorry. He would rather say nothing.

Carlos didn't know what was worse. His growing guilt or the fact that your reaction was making him harder.

His fingers skimmed across your swollen lips. "Obviously what you saw was true. But the thing is... I can't stop thinking about you and I, princesa. You consume me for every second of the day. Even if I don't show it. Fuck, I have a ritual before every race, you know? To cum to your name... to your body."

Was is it a poor excuse? Yes. It didn't even explain why he had done it in the first place. But the most damning thing was, you didn't care. Or you could care less to begin with.

Instead you were turned on. The pool in your panties had gotten even bigger as you released a light moan at his words. Your hands travelled to his waist, peeling off his white shirt while he raised his arms. The combination of your body heat was so high that it could almost be considered unsafe for the average human.

"You're a lucky man, Sainz. I can't stop thinking about you too."

Carlos could only let out a moan at your words, removing your sweater before bringing his lips to your nipples, dividing his attention to them equally. His hands were busy unbuckling his belt and taking off his trousers.

Your hand reached into his long hair, gripping the locks tightly as he moaned against your breasts. You could hear the clink and thud of his belt and pants hitting the floor as he pushed up your skirt, unbothered to take it off.

In face, these mini skirts were going to be the death of Carlos. He loved them on you. It wasn't just the easy access to the heaven down there. But if he had to explain it, it was the way they rested on your thighs. Laying there simply, not doing anything but creating a monster in him.

Carlos pushed your panties to the side, plunging his fingers into you without any warning. He could feel you arch your back and push your head into the bed while you writhed under his touch.

"Fucking hell," You swore, clenching your thighs around his hands.

Carlos chuckled. "Such a dirty mouth, princesa," He stated before speeding up his pace.

Your loud moans echoed within your empty house. Your hips bucked into his hand, fucking yourself faster on him to chase the release he had built up in the pit of your stomach.

"You wanna cum, Y/N? Hmm? Tell me?"

The sweat was building up on your skin as Carlos had added his thumb over your clit. He rubbed his thumb briefly in slow circles but he had given up on the teasing. He wanted you to squirm in his hands because that's how much pleasure you were receiving. He flicked the nub in fast motions, dropping his warm spit into your hot folds.

"Holy–Carlos!"

Carlos smirked at the ironic combination of words following out of your mouth. Yes, he was holy. But if he was that divine, you were no angel. You were a sin. A goddess. A she-devil.

"I would love to watch you cum, princesa. I really would. But my cock is begging for you, hmm? I think your pussy deserves some attention that isn't my fingers, no?"

Carlos had stopped moving his hand and removed his fingers from you. He could feel you shake in his hold. From anger or pleasure, he wasn't sure. All he knew was that he had left you begging for more.

Although it must've been anger.

Because almost immediately, he had heard it before he felt it. The sharp whack of the air. The burn on his cheek almost sizzling.

You could feel his hot gaze pierce through you as your chest heaved up and down in frustration. "You're a little shit, Carlos," You groaned. "Sorry, no. What was it in Spanish? Polla? Yes, fucking polla."

The room had turned eerie in seconds. Carlos' silence had started to worry you. You could still feel his gaze and hear his laboured breathing but he was saying nothing.

Suddenly you felt his hands wrap around your waist and move to his lap. You let out a gasp at the bare cock you had been placed upon and the sloppy lips resting near your ear.

"I think I need to fuck the nice back into you, princesa, no? Maybe if you become my little divine goddess, I'll let you cum, hmm? What do you think?" Carlos' whisper was hot and heavy in your ear. "Use your words, mi amor (my love)".

Goddamn it. He had broken out the 'mi amor'. The only thing that had you hanging by a thread. The sliver of hope that whatever you and Carlos had going on was more than this. That you truly loved one another.

"Yes, Carlos," You said, bringing a gentle peck to his lips.

You could feel him smile against your lips. "There's my good girl.''

Carlos pushed your panties aside, assured that you were stretched out and wet enough by his fingers. He grabbed his cock and was overcome with a shudder when rubbing the tip of his cock through your folds.

"Spit, cariño," His voice commanded.

You gathered all the saliva that had easily accumulated after salivating for this man and let the warm fluid fall from your lips.

Carlos couldn't see but he could just imagine if the lights were on. The bubbled liquid falling from those pretty lips of yours, turning into thin strings as they had perfectly landed on the slit of his cock.

He didn't even have to say anything as your nimble fingers rubbed your saliva over his shaft. You could hear his heavy breaths in the air and a small sigh of pleasure came from his lips. "Baby, let's get me in you, hmm?"

You let out a small whimper at his words before releasing a strangled moan as you pushed his cock into your pussy. You could feel each swollen and puffed out fold take him in and your warm walls wrapping around him tightly.

Carlos shut his eyes tightly. "Mierda (shit). You feel so good, princesa," He groaned, lifting his hips up.

You moaned in agreement, throwing your hands around his neck as he thrusted in and out of you.

The concept that cock could made a person dumb often sounded strange. But with Carlos, it was true. You couldn't do anything or say anything but moan in pleasure.

"Lamp. I need to see your face, princesa," Carlos muttered out in awkward pauses, rutting his hips against you in an angle that almost made it impossible for you stretch your arm out and turn on the lamp.

A yellow illuminated the room and finally, you could see each other.

You had made eye contact with Carlos. His eyes bore into you while his mouth was agape as if he was constantly ready to moan. His normally slicked hair was now tousled courtesy of your fingers.

Jesus, was he a sight to behold.

But Carlos didn't think any less of you. God, how were you even real? Your skin was flushed, hair sticking out in every direction, sweat and traces of your wetness across your body and your eyes: dazed with lust and bordering on the edge of being fucked out.

But most especially, those goddamn lips of yours. They were painted with red when Carlos had first picked you up. The red had faded, only trace amounts left mixed with the red flush of the swelling he had brought by kissing you. What a vision you were.

Your eyes flickered to the specifically red cheek that faced you. God, this man knew how to make you feel for anything. His hips jerked into you, pushing his cock deeper as every second passed. The spell he had on you was serious; dangerous.

You could feel a glaze of water fall over your eyes as your fingers brushed his reddened cheek. His skin was still warm from your slap. Carlos shivered at your touch, eyes fluttering shut.

"I'm sorry, Carlos," You murmured out so quietly that if he wasn't listening so intently, he would've missed it. "I didn't mean to."

Carlos could feel his heart pace as you softly kissed the burning skin of his. It was as if you were kissing his pain away. A warm tear from your eyes had fallen onto his cheek, making his heart melt.

Carlos could feel himself tighten at the action, even more so when you clenched your walls tightly around him.

"You think you deserve to cum, mi princesa?" Carlos queried, wrapping his hand around your jaw and making you turn to face him. His eyes shook at your teary eyed gaze. The mascara and eyeliner you wore had broken down. If he hadn't felt so soft for you, he would've teased you and said you looked like a racoon.

Carlos could feel you start to shake as you buried your nails into his skin. To his surprise, you shook your head no. You begun to slow your pace and clench around him, only trying to get him off.

"Oh mi amor, mi ñina bonita, you deserve to cum. You deserve a lot more than you know," Carlos whispered, tucking your hair behind your ear. He planted a soft kiss to your forehead before bringing his thumb to your clit, rubbing hard and increasing the speed of his cock thrusting in and out of you.

You couldn't help but let out a sob mixed with both pleasure and sadness. A wave of euphoria convulsed within your body as Carlos staggered to a halt in you. His cock twitched and throbbed, spilling his hot cum into your walls.

You bought Carlos into a tight hug, pushing yourself further onto his cock, making him groan again and release a few more ropes of his cum into you.

Carlos brought his lips to your shoulders and left a small trail of kisses as the two of you calmed down.

The double meaning to his words had thrown you off.

You could tell what he meant.

This why he had reached out in the first place.

His guilty glances. The poor excuses.

This was the last time.

Whatever this was between you... it had to end.

You both needed to move on.

But especially you.

It was a gutting feeling to know. But Carlos was right. This sadness, this anger, this toxicity could go on no longer. Despite being heartsick, you were happy though.

Because even if this ended, you had gone out in style.

𝐏𝐓. 𝟐 𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄

© 𝐌𝐈𝐂𝐊𝐘𝐒𝐂𝐇𝐔𝐌𝐀𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐑

[mariacallous]

On Boxing Day pro-Palestine demonstrators met customers at the Zara sale in the Westfield shopping centre, in Stratford, east London. They were not there to wish them the compliments of the season.

‘Bombs are dropping while you’re shopping,’ they chanted, as police stood by to make sure the protests did not turn violent. ‘Zara is enabling genocide,’ their placards read.

Quite what they wanted bargain hunters to do about the Israeli forces bombing the Gaza Strip, they never said. Lobby their MPs? Politicians are on their Christmas holidays. Join the Palestinian armed struggle?  It was unclear whether the shopping centre had a Hamas recruitment office.

But on one point the demonstrators were certain: no one should be buying from Zara. Even though the fashion chain has not encouraged Israel’s war against Hamas, earned income from it, or supported Israel in any material way, it was nevertheless “exploiting a genocide and commodifying Palestine's pain for profit”.

Zara, in short, has become the object of a paranoid fantasy: a QAnon conspiracy theory for the postcolonial left.

The Zara conspiracy is an entirely modern phenomenon. It has no original author. Antisemitic Russians sat down and wrote the Protocols of the Elders of Zion in the early 20th century. There was an actual “Q” behind the QAnon conspiracy: a far-right activist who first appeared on 4chan message boards in 2017 to claim that a cabal of child abusers was conspiring against Donald Trump.

The Zara conspiracy was mass produced by social media users: an example of the madness of crowds rather than their supposed wisdom. The cause of the descent into hysteria was bizarre.

In early December Zara launched an advertising campaign featuring the model Kristen McMenamy wearing its latest collection in a sculptor’s studio. It clearly was a studio, by the way, and not a war zone in southern Israel or Gaza. McMenamy carried a mannequin wrapped in white fabric. The cry went up that the Spanish company was exploiting the suffering of Palestinians and that the mannequin was meant to represent a victim of Israeli aggression wrapped in a shroud.

The accusation was insane. No one in the photo shoot resembled a soldier or a casualty of war. Anyone who thought for 30 seconds before resorting to social media would have known that global brands plan their advertising campaigns months in advance.

Zara said the campaign presented “a series of images of unfinished sculptures in a sculptor’s studio and was created with the sole purpose of showcasing craft-made garments in an artistic context”. The idea for the studio setting was conceived in July. The photo shoot was in September, weeks before the Hamas assault on Israel on 7 October.

No one cared. Melanie Elturk, the CEO of fashion brand Haute Hijab, said of the campaign, ‘this is sick. What kind of sick, twisted, and sadistic images am I looking at?’ #BoycottZara trended on Twitter, as users said that Zara was ‘utterly shameful and disgraceful”’.

To justify their condemnations, activists developed ever-weirder theories. A piece of cardboard in the photoshoot was meant to be a map of Israel/Palestine turned upside down. Because a Zara executive had once invited an extreme right-wing Israeli politician to a meeting, the whole company was damned.

Astonishingly, or maybe not so astonishingly to anyone who follows online manias, the fake accusations worked. Zara stores in Glasgow, Toronto. Hanover, Melbourne and Amsterdam were targeted.

What on earth could Zara do? PR specialists normally say that the worst type of apology is the non-apology apology, when a public figure or institution shows no remorse, but instead says that they are sorry that people are offended. Yet Zara had not sought to trivialize or profit from the war so what else could it do but offer a non-apology apology? The company duly said it was sorry that people were upset.

“Unfortunately, some customers felt offended by these images, which have now been removed, and saw in them something far from what was intended when they were created,” it said on 13 December, and pulled the advertising campaign

That was two-weeks ago and yet still the protests in Zara stores continue. On 23 December activists targeted Zara on Oxford Street chanting , 'Zara, Zara, you can't hide, stop supporting genocide', even though Zara was not, in fact,  supporting genocide. On Boxing Day, they were at the Stratford shopping centre.

Zara has apologised for an offence it did not commit. There is no way that any serious person can believe the charges against it. And yet believe them the protestors do. Or at the very least they pretend to believe for the sake of keeping in with their allies.

Maybe nothing will come of the protests. One could have argued in 2017, after all, that QAnon was essentially simple-minded people living out their fantasies online. Certainly, every sane American knew that there was no clique of paedophiles running the Democrat party, but where was the harm in the conspiracy theory?

Then QAnon supporters stormed the US capitol in January 2021. Will the same story play out from the Gaza protests? As far as I can tell, no one on the left is challenging the paranoia. I have yet to see the fact-checkers of the BBC and Channel 4 warning about the fake news on the left with anything like the gusto with which they treat its counterparts on the right.

To be fair, the scale of disinformation around the Gaza war is off the charts, and it is impossible to chase down every lie. But when fake news goes from online fantasies to real world protests, from 4chan to the Capitol, from Twitter to the Westfield shopping centre, it’s worth taking notice.

Sensible supporters of a Palestinian state ought to be the most concerned. No one apart from fascists, Islamists and far leftists believes that Israel should not defend itself. And yet the scale of its military action in Gaza is outraging world opinion. Mainstream politicians, who might one day put pressure on Israel, remain very wary about reflecting the anger on the streets.

They look at the insane conspiracy theories on the western left and see them as no different from the insane conspiracy theories that motivate Hamas, and they back away.

The Palestinians need many things: an end to the Netanyahu government, and an end to Hamas. But they could also use allies in the West who do not discredit their cause with dark, gibbering fantasies.

[jealousmartini]

BETTER CR INTRODUCTION PT.1

— Welcome home —

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[ # 000 :: BASIC INFO ]

Date of DR :: 2024 / 26 / 08

Name :: Lucia R. Martinez

Adopted name :: Lovely R. adopted surname

korean birthname :: Hwang Chae-kyung

Nicknames :: Keisha/keesh, lucy, liv, kyu

Age :: 18

DOB :: 2006 / 20 / 06

Current occupation :: College student

Ethnicity :: Puerto rican & Korean

MUM: (american)SOUTH KOREAN/Japanese

DAD: PUERTO RICAN/Mexican

Race :: Black (mixed)

Languages :: English, Spanish, Korean, and Portuguese (a little bit of Mandarin Chinese)

Birth family :: Mum (46), Dad (50), older sister (21), and younger sister (9)

Pets :: 2 bunnies. Tiffany(Tiff for short) and Maple

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[ # 001 :: TALENTS ]

Can mimic different artstyles || Plays the guitar (electric, acoustic and bass) , drums, cello, flute, and violin || can cook || can sing, freestyle rap and dance various styles || can crotchet and sew || can scrapbook ||

[ # 002 :: HOBBIES ]

Comic artist (Digital and traditional) || Animator || Music production & Song writing || Fashion style influencing/modelling || Editing (Like tiktok edits lmao☠️) || Creative writing || Youtube content creation (Commentary / Reacting, Animations, Live streaming) || Cosplays || Cooking || Gaming

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[ # 003 :: SONGS PRODUCED AND WRITTEN]

MAGNETIC by ILLIT

Lucky Girl Syndrome by ILLIT

Monster by Lady gaga

Flying to space by Andriod52

LIGHT by RITCHRD

Say by RITCHRD

BROOKLYN BLOOD POP by SYKO

Fluxxwave eternal remix by Release

Lovesick girls (instrumental only) by BLACKPINK

FEEL SPECIAL by TWICE

Trouble by Annella

Girls never die by TripleS

LA DI DA by EVERGLOW

MOLLY by Playboi carti

Heaven sent by ???

etc.

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[ # 004 :: SOCIAL MEDIA ]

[ # 005 :: FUTURE AMBASSADORED BRANDS]

Vivian Westwood || Pandora || Juicy Couture ||

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[ # 006 :: CASH ]

Parent's Networth combined :: 970M

Bank account :: 715M

Cash in purse :: 40K

How much I get paid doing :: Youtube — £20K weekly, £250K monthly || Making music — £450K monthly || Art commissions — £600 weekly || Modelling — £300K weekly

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[ # 007 :: BEDROOM ]

This exact room layout/format

This kind of vibe :: Big, Bright, Pink

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Waiting room intro coming soon😋🤞🏾

@livingmydreamlife5555 @4ellieluv @chichis-interlude @samara444 @revrealities @sincerehimbo @theshifterbear

[nico-di-genova]

Close Acquaintances

Lance Stroll, founder and creative director of Strulovitch Designs, confirmed via Instagram on Friday, August 16 his relationship with Real Madrid’s Defender, Fernando Alonso. Rumors about the pair have been circulating online since they attended the Formula One Spanish Grand Prix together in June, where they were hosted by the Aston Martin Aramco team.

Stroll, son of billionaire businessman Lawrence Stroll, made a name for himself when he launched his own clothing line under his full title - Strulovitch - in 2017. The brand is known for their luxury fashion, and centers on combining comfort with class. The brand’s newest collection will debut during a yet to be announced winter show, and aims to bridge opulence with Stroll’s Canadian roots.

“Let’s focus on the clothes, yeah? Not who I’m kissing,” the post read, garnering thousands of likes since its upload.

@raapija’s fashion designer Lance/football player Fernando au will not leave my brain. Obsessed is an understatement.

[stayconnecteed]

🪐˓⠀˚⠀hold on tight⠀@⠀han jisung.

synopsys: it's the birthday of the twins in the group and the usual plan is to celebrate it at the amusement park. everything was going as always until they got to the roller coaster and noa had to sit alone. thankfully, the rules say that everyone who has no one to go with will be paired with other single ones. that was how han jisung ended up screaming and squeezing the hand of an unknown pretty girl who he quickly caught feelings for.

SEE MORE.⠀⠀⠀⠀10 . 5 k words⠀⠀skz mlist.⠀⠀series mlist. 

⠀⠀⸺⠀⠀pairing ★ han jisung x f!reader.

⠀⠀⸺⠀⠀about ★ original characters guide.

⠀⠀⸺⠀⠀genres ★ idol au, found family, angst, fluff & smut ; love at first sight, strangers to lovers, friends to lovers, idiots to lovers, not really enemies but end up lovers, friends with benefits to lovers, polyamory. also, boy x boy subplot with original characters.

⠀⠀⸺⠀⠀hold on tight's warnings ★ first chapter! full into the spanishverse! this is the beginning of an amazing adventure, and there are practically no warnings. just jisung's anxiety. it will be his pov, so you know what to expect. mmm, and then fluff. lots of fluff, because he's afraid of heights and noa isn't. also, it's pretty clear ( me thinks ) but everything is in english minus the italics text - that would be spanish or korean depending on who's talking.

⠀⠀⸺⠀⠀author's note ★ hehe, hi lyra, happy ( late ) birthday!! i told you i was going to try and finish this by 14th y por mis cojones que lo intenté akshjaskd. you deserve it. hope you still like it by the end of it, and all the waiting was worth it <3

Everyone knew that the moment Jisung pulled on his hood and picked up his phone, his social battery was below zero. Unfortunately, at the moment he had no hood to hide from the rest of the world, and his anxiety told him that unlocking his phone screen for anything other than taking pictures would make him look terrible. He was wearing a custom-made black Balmain suit that felt soft against his skin, he was surrounded by strangers who were surely more famous than he would ever be, and there were hundreds of cameras pointed at him, waiting for his reaction to every outfit on the catwalk he'd been invited to.

Well, at least he wasn't alone. He had his manager, Jaehyun ーalso known as his older brotherー, sitting right behind him, Felix chatting quietly with another guest three seats to his right, and he knew that their leader was somewhere in all the chaos, also displaying an extroversion that overwhelmed Jisung. He couldn't understand, no matter how many years he had been witnessing it, how the two Australians in his Kpop group could strike up a conversation with anyone outside of them with such ease. And it wasn't even that he envied them for that ability, he just stared at them in horror and prayed that the panic wouldn't show on his face. But he had travelled all the way from Seoul to Madrid just for this, so he had to leave a good impression.

Stray Kids was starting to grow in fame, even if he wasn't really aware of the magnitude, and apart from music, his company wanted to explore other fronts. They were going to shoot a sort of short film by the end of summer, with one of the songs from their second comeback in the year as the soundtrack, and in addition to advertising, they had been considering the world of fashion for some time. The Louis Vuitton brand had snatched up his sunshine twin almost instantly, showering him in French clothes and affection, just as Versace had done with Hyunjin. It seemed that Fendi wanted to see how Bangchan's image would look in their campaigns, and it was rumoured that they wanted to make them international ambassadors.

He was grateful that Balmain had chosen him, of all the idols in the industry, to represent them in this collaborative event between Balenciaga and Zara for the winter campaign. He knew it had been an amazing opportunity for the group, and for him as an artist, but he hadn't been given the option to refuse, and perhaps it was that lack of choice that was making his perspective on the situation so negative. He was almost thirteen hours away from his family, his boyfriend, the rest of his band, in a place he knew nothing about, and every second he allowed himself to think about it, his heart pounded faster against his chest.

‘First time?’ whispered someone to his left, causing him to startle.

Jisung narrowed his eyes, focusing his gaze on the girl he had greeted nervously as he had sat next to her, in the seat assigned to his name. Her locks were slicked back and parted in the middle, all defined lines and gleaming aura, though the rest of her long hair fell down her back in a smooth cascade of chocolate-coloured strands, and her gaze was fixed on him, expectant, as if she couldn't help but let the almond shape of her eyes acquire that sharp edge. He merely nodded, smiling the closest thing to a gentle grin, his curved lips making hers reflect a more enthusiastic copy.

‘Me too!’ her shoulders twitched as he heard her poorly masked giggle, and for a moment he feared that the people around them were going to tell them off because of the easy, melodic way the laughter left her glossy lips. It was evident that she was a girl who caught attention without even being aware of it.

And then he realised that they were both speaking Korean. He frowned, because he knew that most of the people in the audience were Spanish ーand she certainly seemed to be, with her tanned skin and foreign accentー but the level was pretty good. He turned slightly towards her, knowing that they had been photographed together already, and approached her, leaving a respectful distance between them, clearing his throat.

‘Are you from here?’

‘More or less,’ she replied, leaning towards him, as if she were telling him a secret. ‘I'm from Spain, and I live here, but I'm from a town to the south, down at the bottom of the map.’

‘Oh,’ he murmured, his mind blank.

‘From your reaction, it's as if I've spoken to you in a completely different language’ she giggled.

‘The truth is, it's my first time in Spain,’ he told her, smiling more confidently, as if making small talk with that nice girl distracted him from the rest. ‘It's been from the airport to the hotel, from the hotel here and not much more.’

‘I can imagine,’ she whispered, nodding. ‘When I arrived in Madrid I felt the same way, but it's a city that has its charm. I got to know it through my uni friends, who taught me a bit about it. If you want, I can give you a tour.’

Jisung opened his eyes wide in surprise and gave a quick glance at his manager, in case he had overheard them. Maybe he'd gone too far in talking to a stranger, he had to find a polite way to turn down her offer without making her feel bad, and he had to do it fast, because staring at her with that look on his face wasn't a good idea.

‘Huh... The truth is... Well, I…’

‘Hey, it wasn't obligatory to accept the offer’ she soothed him, resting a hand on his arm gently, ready to remove it if it made him uncomfortable. ‘My best friend always tells me I have no filter, which is hypocritical because she acts the same way, but I'm sorry if it was too much. Do you want us to introduce ourselves first?’

He saw her smile as he nodded slowly, his heart still trying to escape from his chest, feeling the warm palm of her hand through the expensive black suit. But it was all right, wasn't it? She was a nice girl, who had a clear problem with trust ーof depositing it in total strangers, that isー but who apparently had no bad intentions whatsoever. And he was in a room full of people anyway. Nothing could go wrong.

‘My name is Abril’ she said, bowing his head slightly, ‘I studied at EID, the European Institute of Design, I have a little silly vlog acc on You Tube and I really like make-up and Paris.’

‘I'm Jisung’ he replied, mimicking the bow. ‘Han Jisung, and I'm an idol, and... well, huh…’

‘Nonono, you're doing it wrong,’ she corrected him, denying firmly. ‘I know you're an idol and what brand you're representing. That's usually known to anyone who's been slightly informed. Introduce yourself for real, like I have.’

‘Like you?’

‘Mm-hm,’ she made eye contact with him, and indicated the beginning of the sentence. ‘You're Jisung, you come from…’

‘Oh, yeah,’ he nodded, already more enthusiastically, understanding where she was going. ‘I'm Jisung, I live in Seoul and I'm a Kpop producer and singer. I like music a lot, anime, and watching documentaries.’

‘See, a fantastic presentation,’ she said, clapping quietly, but with a big smile on her face. ‘So it's your first time on a modelling catwalk.’

‘And yours,’ he replied, unable to bite his tongue. ‘Can I ask you a question?’

‘Of course’ Jisung realised that they were fully turned towards each other, and that with how focused he was on the conversation he had stopped stressing over the myriad of thoughts that anxiety was sneaking into his mind.

‘If you're from here how come you speak Korean so well?’ his frown was furrowed, lips forming an adorable pout, and she found it endearing because it was the same gesture her best friend used when she didn't understand something.

‘I like to listen to Korean music,’ she replied, hoping she didn't scare him off, ‘occasionally’.

‘So you know who I am?’ he asked, his leg starting to move up and down.

‘I know what group you belong to,’ April said, her smile taking on a relaxed, casual gesture. ‘And I know you're not the boy with the foxy eyes, or the one with the freckles, which are the most recognisable.’

‘Oh,’ Jisung murmured, exhaling a relieved sigh that he didn't know he was holding back. ‘Jeongin and Felix.’

‘Yes, that was it’ he heard her crystalline laughter again, ’I saw him around earlier, he came looking very handsome.’

‘Louis Vuitton is doing an awesome job with him, and they're very nice and attentive’ he explained, cracking a smile at the thought of his best friend. ‘He's been very welcomed, and our fans love it.’

‘No wonder,’ April replied, nodding, ’Louis Vuitton has a very good reputation.’

There was a pause, and Jisung looked away from the Spanish girl, suddenly self conscious. She knew who he was, not because she was a fan but because she had studied the guests at the event, but he didn't know her at all and it was starting to become less of a problem to talk to her and more a reason to feel bad. He wasn't good at starting a conversation, and he doubted that in a situation like that asking her about her favourite colour was the best approach.

He opened his mouth, determined to ignore the anxiety bubbling in his chest, but let all the air in his lungs escape as soon as the lights dimmed. His manager tapped him gently on the shoulder, alerting him that this was the first sign that the catwalk was about to begin, and the insufferable twitch of his knee going up and down uncontrollably became present as soon as the murmur in the room died down.

He had barely had time to talk to the girl, Abril, and just when it seemed he was finally able to make a friend of his own, he was interrupted. He wasn't even able to concentrate on the introduction to the event, on what songs were playing as the first models came out. All he could think about was how sweet she had been to him, and how unresponsive he had been in return, even the impression he must have made on her, and all the phrases he would have said if he could go back in time.

But then he felt April's soft hair brush against his arm, her bright eyes still following one of the girls around the stage as she whispered excitedly about how much she loved that specific outfit. And somehow, all the voices in Jisung's head quieted down a bit. He cleared his throat, as if he could reset the reaction he'd had, and tried to locate the model she was talking about, offering his opinion on the jumper she was wearing.

It didn't take long for them to start gossiping, choosing a classic one-to-ten point system to evaluate the clothes, whispering numbers to each other between models, slyly pointing at them to discuss outfits. Jisung had a good time. He didn't feel judged when April made him giggle and his laughter sounded slightly louder than it should, and he didn't worry about the image he was giving, even when Felix gave him a look full of affection when he saw that anxiety hadn't crept up his chest until it choked him.

Even as the catwalk came to an end, and the CEOs of each fashion brand came out to greet the audience, Jisung was still glued to the girl, clapping but exchanging murmurs, and asked her to accompany him outside, to the small terrace hidden from the eyes of the people and Stays on the street, to say goodbye. Or meet Chan and Felix, whichever made her feel more comfortable.

‘Actually, I have to take a taxi home,’ said the brunette, clutching her small bag with both hands. ‘I have to get there before the pizza delivery guy.’

Abril's laughter at the joke Jisung hadn't understood hung in the air, the Korean's face turning somewhat serious. After nearly two hours with her, maybe letting her leave so quickly didn't sound so good to him.

‘Maybe we can drop you off at home,’ he proposed, forgetting to glance at his manager to confirm that he could do that.

‘No way, don't worry,’ she replied, resting a hand on his arm. Her smile was genuine, and Jisung wondered if she really didn't care if she had to pay for the taxi or if she was just saying that to avoid compromising him. ‘It's right here... huh, well, near here. And my friends are waiting for me.’

Jisung looked at her, letting her know with a raised eyebrow that precisely because it was nearby, even if it wasn't, it was no problem for them to drop her off.

‘If your fans see me get into your car, my public career is over,' she added, this time with a compelling reason.

Jisung deflated, knowing she was right, and gave her an apologetic smile. Maybe in Spain the fans weren't as controlling as in other countries, but there were freaks everywhere, and a photo taken out of context could ruin her life and force him into hiatus.

‘Anyway,’ Abril continued, averting her gaze, but letting him notice the mischievous glare that didn't promise anything good, ‘if you're going to stay longer in Madrid, the tour offer still stands. Signing whatever NDAs it takes to make you feel safer, just as a friend showing you around town.’

‘For real?’ 

Jisung saw that as possible. It wasn't the first time they had attended events in other countries and seized the oppotunity to visit the city or go out with friends. It wouldn't be anything they hadn't done before. Even his company could run Abril's digital footprint if they didn't trust her. The city looked very nice, and he knew he wouldn't be bored with her. He could even invite Chan and Felix and introduce them.

‘Tomorrow is the birthday of two of my best friends,’ Abril explained, making calculations with one finger, counting days in the air. ‘We're going to Warner's, which is an amusement park very close by. I know Lucas won't mind if a few extra friends join us. And then I think we're going to Murcia for a couple of days, but you can join us. We're good people, I promise.’

And he knew she wasn't lying. A soul as pure as hers could only get along with people just as fantastic. The plan sounded good, and even if his managers wouldn't allow him to travel with strangers, they couldn't deny them a visit to an amusement park, so he was going to be able to see her the next day. That was enough for him.

‘I'll have to consult about the trip,’ he announced, taking a breath of air to pretend he didn't feel guilty about making decisions without the input of his hyung and his sunshine twin.

‘Mm-hm,’ she murmured, nodding. It was fair, she understood that.

‘But I'll see you tomorrow at the Warner.’

‘Oh my God, that's fantastic!’ she exclaimed, tightening her grip on the young rapper's arm, her touch warm in the Spanish capital's night breeze. ‘If you need anything, text me on Instagram!’

Before he could react, the girl threw her arm around his shoulders, pressing him against her body in a light embrace, and hurriedly said goodbye, unlocking her phone screen to check the time and blurting out a string of what sounded like really aggressive insults in Spanish. Jisung believed that Spaniards dined very late if they pretended to have pizza at eleven o'clock at night, but he himself usually made himself ramen if he got home past midnight from the studio, so he couldn't say anything about it.

He saw her white lace dress flutter behind her as she walked down the stairs to the main entrance and disappeared into the crowd, but he heard a loud whistle followed by an unmistakable ‘Taxi!’ in a strong, musical Spanish accent, so he assumed she would have gotten a ride the first try.

He turned towards the inside of the building, looking for Felix's unmistakable blond hair, which would be the easiest to spot in the midst of the people, and waited in his corner for his friend to get lost in the area Jisung was in. The staff would wait for all the guests to leave the venue before starting to collect chairs and decorations, but a few people with the organisers' branded clothing and name badges were already guiding the stragglers to the entrance.

Jisung felt that it would be an opportune moment to pull out his phone, and at least try to contact Chan or his brother to let them know where he was. After giving a couple of rather competent directions, it was Jaehyun who succeeded in reaching him, and Felix who greeted him with a pat on the shoulder and his eyebrows going up and down suggestively.

‘That's a rather childish reaction when you consider I'm a taken man,’ he commented, before the blond could say anything.

‘That wasn't why,’ he protested in response, the high-pitched whine catching in his throat. ‘But you could share her number around the group or something, in case anyone's interested.’

Felix laughed at his own words, as if he had told a joke, and Jisung rolled his eyes playfully. He shook his head, giving Felix up as impossible and turned to his leader when he called his name.

‘Did she know us?"

‘She's a Kpop fan, but not Stay,’ he explained, getting defensive. If they had been the ones sitting next to Abril, they probably would have introduced her by now and been close friends. ‘I wish you guys had met her, she has that responsible little girl aura in her.’’

He saw Felix frown, but ignored it. He thought it was a fairly apt description, but it was true that it was a little strange if you hadn't interacted with her. It reminded him a little of the way the blond himself lit up the room he was in, and made you feel special when he gave you his undivided attention. But he couldn't ramble on about what description to use for his new friend. He had more important things to think about.

His priority was to figure out how to introduce the subject of meeting up the next day without causing rejection out of mistrust. Because he knew that no matter how much he could inspire Felix's enthusiasm, the final say would rest with Chan and Jaehyun, his manager, who were directly responsible for him, especially overseas. And while Jae answered directly to Division 1 (and sometimes their mother), Chan would primarily look out for his safety. And Jisung had to admit that it didn't look very safe.

‘Jae hyung, do we have plans for the next few days?’

‘A scheduled visit tomorrow to the Bernabéu stadium for Chan,’ he said, trying to recall the trip schedule from memory. ‘But nothing else. Do you want to add anything?’

‘Can we go in the afternoon to the Warner?’ continued Jisung, waiting for that pause when the question would sink into their heads before they asked what that was.

But they didn't have to. Felix grabbed his arm, his eyes wide with excitement looking up at him, as full of excitement as Abril's had been when he'd told her they'd see each other tomorrow. He knew Felix wouldn't let him down ーwhat had surprised him was how quickly he had reacted.

‘What is...’ began Chan.

‘Do I  want to know what Warner's is?’ interrupted Jaehyun, crossing his arms.

‘It's the amusement park in Madrid!’ exclaimed Felix, doing all the work for him. ‘Can we go? Please, please, please?’

Chan narrowed his eyes, recognising Jisung's gesture of faux innocence, but decided to keep quiet, leaving the decision in the manager's hands. For a few moments the four of them were silent, and Jisung could count his heartbeats in the time it took Jaehyun to contrast pros and cons. Felix had his eyes closed and his fingers crossed, and at the sight of that the manager could only exhale a defeated sigh.

‘I'll take care of getting the tickets,’ he murmured, hiding a smile at the excitement of the younger ones.

Unable to sit still, Jisung fidgeted once more in the seat of the tinted-window car he felt he had been in all day. It was five o'clock in the afternoon, and although Seoul would soon start to cool down, Madrid was still at a temperature he wasn't used to. It was very hot, and having to wear a mask and a hat to avoid being recognised only made his long-sleeved clothes more uncomfortable. He was looking forward to getting to the amusement park, but sometimes his only wish was to get to the hotel and take a cold shower.

The night before, he had made a video call with Minho, telling him everything he had experienced, from the tense moments to the sweetness of the lovely April. He had listened for quite a while until Jisung realised he had no idea what time it was in Seoul, and when the dancer told him not to worry, that it was worth listening to him talk about his day, Jisung hung up on him, because he knew Minho would answer a call from him even if he was very busy. He believed there were limits.

For example, when he found out that it turned out that eleven o'clock at night in Spain was six o'clock in the morning in Korea, and he was almost certain that he had woken Minho up.

But he hadn't been able to sleep, too excited about what would happen the next day. He had been up late watching videos on YouTube, and by the time he realised he could look up Abril's account it was already one o'clock in the morning. The long plane flight had messed up his sleep schedule, and he didn't really feel tired, so he started watching his new friend's latest vlogs.

He browsed through the covers of all the videos, guided by the images, as the titles were of no use to him ーhe didn't understand them at allー and ended up watching one from the previous week, which featured the logo of his band. As it started, an upbeat tune began to play while the intro was shown: figures of celebrities with the effect of being cut out of paper appearing and disappearing against a light background, and then the same words he had seen as the title. With one difference, however, the small addition of the name of the event he had gone to earlier that same afternoon.

And then April appeared, this time with her hair in a bun, though just as tight, and began to speak. It took Jisung about forty seconds to realise that he didn't understand a word she was saying. He snorted, suppressing a smile, and stopped the video, praying that there would be Korean among the subtitle options. As he searched for it, he found himself thinking that this was probably what all the international Stays were suffering from with their group's content. He should talk to Division 1 to make sure there was a variety of language options before uploading their videos.

When he pressed play, Jisung understood what the Spaniard had meant when she said she had researched which celebrities would represent which brands. The video was basically about that. She had a roulette wheel with the main fashion brands, all invited by the organisers, and throughout the twenty minutes of her explanation he talked about what the event was going to be like, and who she would meet once inside. At the mention of Prada, Valentino and Gucci, Jisung remembered seeing the people Abril was talking about. But the minutes passed quickly, enchanted by her voice, until he realised that she had left Fendi, Louis Vuitton and Balmain for last.

’The new addition to Europe is the three members of Stray Kids coming to Madrid,’ he had heard her say, as the group photos they had taken for Maxident appeared on his screen. ‘It's rare for a Kpop group to show so much interest into send so many of their members to fashion events, but we're thrilled to welcome them.’

Abril had given a short summary of how the Korean music industry worked for those who had no idea, and then had objectively detailed what role each had in the group and which brand had invited them. Jisung had liked the professional and open way she had introduced them, and once again he understood why he had felt so comfortable with her. She made you feel welcome, listened to. She made you understand without making you feel dumb. With one warm look you knew you could trust her.

So he had told Minho, before he noticed he was falling asleep again.

But at that moment, in the car, after a busy morning in which he'd been late for his gym session with Chan and then they'd walked around the city before visiting the stadium of his hyung's favourite football team, it was too hot. He rolled up the sleeves of the oversized jacket he'd bought before the trip once more and turned to Felix, leaning his head against the backrest with a huff. The blond, who had his phone in his hands as he played some Genshin, made an acknowledging noise, leaning against Jisung.

’We're getting close, Ji,‘ his manager said from the passenger seat, picking up on his uneasiness.

He didn't reply, too abstracted to notice that Jaehyun couldn't see him nod. He fiddled with his own phone, removing and replacing one of the corners of the case, deciding if it was a good idea to text Abril. He didn't have an individual Instagram account, even though more than half the members were considering creating one, and he didn't know if they'd let him use the group one for something like this. He hadn't discussed it with anyone, that he wanted to meet the girl at the Warner, and not knowing if it would look bad to his friends made him think too much in his head.

He wasn't even listening to the distracted answers Felix was giving Chan, when the older boy asked him about what kind of attractions they would find, which ones he was most excited about. He went into the Instagram app he had almost unused, then turned off the screen. He looked for Abril's username, which he had memorised from her Youtube videos, then turned off the screen. When he turned it back on, the search box had gone blank, so he had to type it in again. But when he finally had her account in his hands, he had to turn it off again. He wanted to contact her, but somehow it felt wrong.

And then he noticed Felix giving him playfully with his head on the shoulder, as if he didn't have to curl up slightly to do it, as if he were a kitten, and heard him say ‘Do it.’

He didn't even notice the way his own heart stopped, thinking he'd been caught committing a crime. He glanced at Felix fleetingly, his wide eyes colliding with his best friend's soft gaze, and snuck into the Spaniard's private messages, hoping his coy ‘Just arrived at Warner's, where are you? Jisung’ along with the blue symbol next to @ realstraykids indicating his authenticity would get Abril to see it as soon as possible. And then he took refuge in Felix's embrace, the two of them entwined like the hands of two lovers, answering Chan's questions with renewed energy.

Jaehyun escorted them to the entrance of the huge amusement park, letting them wander along the cobblestone paths once he displayed the tickets he had gotten the day before online, and Jisung tried to calm himself, not to look at his phone, to enjoy a moment with his friends. He let Felix, to whom he was glued by their linked arms, guide them to the first attraction, which had a short queue. Chan began to ramble on about the memories the pictures in the place brought back, and Jisung took a breath of air as he took in every person who passed him.

By the time Felix got his attention, Jisung had already had a heart attack for every straight-haired brunette girl he'd seen, and the touch of his best friend's hand in his arm brought him back to reality, to the spinning mugs with Scooby Doo decorations, and to his leader's terrible jokes about how it was a betrayal to be there without his own Mistery Inc. gang's dog, Seungmin. He closed his eyes to relax a little before the ride got started, and then had to hold on to Felix and his manager, looking for support that he could only find on the edge of the giant cup they'd been stuffed into as it began to spin.

It was fun, he thought. And then he let out a shaky laugh, hearing Felix's excited shout to his left, followed by one from Chan in front of him, and stopped thinking. He didn't need to. Not as long as he could rest his mind and fill his memory with moments like this.

And for a while it worked, leaving Scooby Doo's Tea Party Mystery and heading straight for the bumper cars themed on the Joker movie. The park was huge, and what was most striking was the continuity with which people were screaming. It was all conversation and laughter and screaming all around him, until he realised that he too was laughing with his friends, and talking. And he'd be screaming too, he thought to himself, when Felix pointed out all the roller coasters surrounding the hotels and the smaller attractions. The blond was going to want to go on one, probably the one that looked the most dangerous, as soon as they let him, even if he ended up passing out.

And Chan was going to let him go on one, even if it made Felix so dizzy, because it made him happy. He'd say it would be better if he could ride along with him, and that would leave Jisung alone, because Jaehyun refused to participate in crazy ideas like that. 

So after leaving with sore knees, but with his adrenaline pumping, he had resigned himself to it. They used the map they had been given at the entrance to get to the queue for the Stunt Fall, the star of the park, and after fifteen minutes of pent-up nerves, they found themselves first in line at the entrance to the roller coaster. Chan went first, Felix behind him, following the directions in English from the staff, and Jisung waited for them to come back for him.

‘Are you here alone?’ the boy asked him, in a rough accent.

Jisung nodded, his throat suddenly dry, and he began to regret it as he saw that he was being taken to the opposite area where Felix and Chan had been placed. But he said nothing. It wasn't worth it. He didn't feel able to formulate a sound, anyway. His vocal cords were as tense as the muscles in his shoulders, and if the girl in the seat next to him noticed as the staff secured the harness to his body and the belt to his lap, she said nothing too. Jisung closed his eyes and tried to swallow, highly attentive to the remaining people before the attraction was full and they could begin.

‘First time?’ he heard from behind him, as he watched the same staff member lead the couple who had waited behind his friends and him to a spot further down the queue of seats.

‘First time?’ the girl repeated, this time in English. Jisung turned to his left all too quickly, utterly convinced he was experiencing a déjà vu. This time he didn't need to squint his eyes to focus in the dark, but to make sure that the girl he had failed to greet nervously as he sat down wasn't Abril. She didn't really look anything like her, her skin slightly paler and her hair chaotically curly and much darker, but she was the owner of a similar smile. Wide, kind, luminous.

Jisung nodded again, too overwhelmed to do anything else.

‘Not mine,’ she said, as if it were a matter of pride. ‘Whenever I can I come with my friends. It's pretty awesome, but you don't have to be afraid of safety. Nothing's going to happen to you, I promise.’

‘Huh..., thanks.’ he muttered, taking another breath of air.

‘Do you want me to distract you for a bit?’ the girl asked, tilting her head to the side, her hands clasped in the harness, ’Or would you rather I leave you alone?’

Jisung was grateful to be able to choose. It gave his brain the feeling of being in control over something, even if before she finished uttering the second question he was already ready to say yes to the first. He would give anything to pretend he wasn't about to die.

‘A..., a distraction wouldn't be bad, actually,’ he managed to whisper, his words achieving to soften his travelling companion's sharp gaze.

‘Mm-hm, I'll tell you things then,’ she warned him, as if Jisung could back out at any moment. ‘You can interrupt me at any time, or tell me things yourself if you like. Did you come alone?’

‘No,’ he replied, glad to be able to focus on something other than the way the harness was digging into his skin. ‘I came with two friends, but we got separated.’

‘Oh, you didn't see the sign.’ she sighed, frowning as if the information really hurt.

‘What sign?’

‘We didn't see it the first time we came either,’ the girl recounted. ‘While you're queuing to get on, there's a sign that says if you don't have a partner to share seats with, they'll put you with someone who doesn't have one either. That's why they put you with me.’

‘You came alone?’ asked Jisung.

‘Nope,’ she said, smiling. ’I also came with my friends. But there are five of us. One gets dizzy so she goes with the one who doesn't have phobia to highs. And of the other three, last time Lucas went alone, so this time it was my turn. My name is Noa, by the way.’

‘Jisung.’ he spoke, more cheerful. ‘The same thing happened to me. Felix gets dizzy, so he can't go alone. And I wouldn't be much help either.’

‘It's all right, Jisung,’ said Noa, savouring every syllable of his name, ‘you can be helpful to me. Sometimes I need to squeeze someone's hand when the curves are too pronounced. If you need it too, we can make a deal.’

It sounded good. He knew she would gain nothing and that she was proposing it because he was probably so pale he looked sick. It was him who needed to be able to anchor himself to someone so he wouldn't get too overwhelmed, or dizzy, or faint, like Felix. Noa was already being helpful herself, and he would be eternally grateful - it was either trust her or ask the boring boy from before to get him out of there and let him put his feet on solid ground. For a moment he even wondered if she was so kind to all the rookies they put next to her when she went alone, or if he had been an exception.

‘I'd like to make the deal,’ he confided, putting his hand in front of them.

She took it, and Jisung's breathe hitched, feeling Noa's soft palm against his. ‘I promise to hold your hand very tightly and let you know what's going to happen so you won't be caught by surprise.’

‘I promise not to let go of your hand, and to hold it a lot tighter in response,’ he said, finally smiling, letting the air that had caught in his throat come out shakily.

They did not separate their hands once the deal was done. Instead, Noa rested them in her lap, humming whatever song was on her mind, giving Jisung a chance to observe her. She was tan, not as dark as April, but a caramel shade that made the light freckles on her cheeks blend in with the wrinkles that formed in her eyes when she smiled. Her hair was in a high ponytail, but the curls spilled over her bare shoulders like cascades of coffee. The top she wore was red, flashy, with a straight across neckline that clung to her chest, crossed by a black belt pouch.

He let his gaze wander until Noa's voice brought him back to reality, ‘There's a minute left, maybe you should put your hat away, so it doesn't fly off.’

Jisung hadn't thought of that. The clothes he was wearing were loose, just the way he liked them, and he hadn't brought a backpack. All his belongings were with Jaehyun, as were Felix's and Chan's, so he didn't know where he could leave it. Noa probably saw the doubt in his eyes, because with her free hand she reached up to his head, murmuring a quiet ‘May I?’ and waiting for a nod before taking it. Jisung watched her fold it in half and tuck it as best she could behind her back, shoving it between her skin and the secure grip of her bra. His cheeks flushed red when he noticed, but he said nothing, letting her settle back in.

She flashed him a smile and he grinned back, leaning back against the seat, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. He felt Noa's hand give him a friendly squeeze, and even though fear was beginning to build in his chest, nerves rising in his throat, vertigo clouding his mind, he was able to return the squeeze, stroking the back of Noa's hand with his thumb.

And when the ride started, Jisung began to scream.

Once they returned to their point of origin, silence fell. It lasted only a few seconds before trembling sighs and adrenaline-fuelled screams began to sound, reactions that gradually ranged from euphoria to relief. Jisung would consider himself in the latter group, his heart pumping blood at full speed, if he wasn't too busy trying to figure out if all his limbs were still part of his body. His chest was rising and falling in hurried movements that looked too much like terrified hyperventilation, and he was still holding Noa's hand as if his life depended on it.

She belonged to the first group, however. She was a little dishevelled, taking big breaths of air, but her eyes shone with the intensity of someone who had just experienced a great adventure. Jisung wanted to memorise that vision, but he felt a tingling on his skin that made him uncomfortable, so he tried to close his eyes and think of something else. The worst part was over. He should have informed himself before going up, because he certainly wouldn't have set foot on the Stunt Fall if he knew it had a free-fall section of at least fifty metres, but at least he'd been lucky enough to get the ride with Noa.

While he had been screaming, yelling out phrases in Korean and English, thinking that his heart was going to burst out of his chest at any moment and that he was making a fool of himself in front of a beautiful girl, Noa had warned him that the worst moment was coming, and to close his eyes tightly. He had reacted two seconds too late, and by the time he saw the void opening up before him, even though he had curled up in his seat, his imagination had done the rest. It felt like the longest moment of his life, and he couldn't even recover before the ride played another trick on him with a section where the seats spun on their axis and he ended up upside down.

He didn't know whether he wanted to curse Felix for his love of roller coasters, or Abril for mentioning Warner.

He had to check if she had replied to his message. The reminder of Abril's presence at the park hit him like a bucket of cold water, knowing he'd left his phone in his brother's hands and would probably murder him if he found out, and he tried to get up, not realising he was still strapped into the seat by the harness. The restraint caused him to become even more distressed, his hand still numb but gripping Noa's tightly, and he gave her a frightened look.

Noa realised immediately what was happening, and slid her hand from his gently, holding it by the back to leave a quick caress. She removed the safety bar that had allowed them to hold on to something during the trip, and undid her harness before jumping down to the solid ground and starting to undo Jisung's. She removed buckles and loops quickly with the speed of someone who knows how they work, taking Jisung by the arm and escorting him to one of the less crowded corridors nearby. Jisung let himself be guided, his gaze blurring and his chest constricting his lungs, preventing him from breathing normally.

Jisung was losing control of the situation, and being aware of it made him feel even more overwhelmed. The heat wasn't helping, and even though the shirt he was wearing was quite thin, because he could feel Noa's hand on his arm, it clung to his skin with sweat. His legs were shaking, though whether it was his anxiety or the effect of the roller coaster, he didn't know, and he was shivering. The high temperature of the park, with all the people everywhere, seemed to grow by the minute, and Jisung thought it was very likely that he would pass out right there and never be able to return to Korea. No one would find him, no one would come looking for him.

‘Hey, Sung,’ Noa murmured, rubbing his arms, ’can I call you Sung, mm?’

Jisung nodded, eyes closed tightly, concentrating on his breathing. It seemed silly to him that he was having this reaction once it was all over and not when he had no idea what the journey might be like. It didn't make sense. And he knew that focusing on how pathetic he felt wouldn't help this attack to end quickly, but he couldn't help it. All the tricks he knew would disappear, his mind a blank, when anxiety began to bubble up in his chest and he wasn't in the comfort of his room, or with one of his members.

‘Listen, you're doing great, okay?’ he heard again, and tried to focus his gaze on her eyes, trying to distinguish where the brown started and the green ended, losing himself in the depths of her pupils, ’but I'm going to need you to breathe with me, yeah? Do you think you can do that?’

Jisung processed her words, frowning at the insistent dizziness he felt swirling in his temples, nodding again. He could do it, he wasn't losing his mind. He had to do it so he could apologise properly. A girl like Noa didn't deserve to have someone like him spoil a nice May afternoon with her friends. So he pretended that the shiver that crept over his skin had been from anxiety and not from her when he felt Noa's hand slide down to rest on his chest.

He also chose to ignore the way Noa touched him, all gentleness and decency, giving him the sweetest of looks, as if she'd done that routine many times before. Anyone with anxiety who had someone to lean on at times like that was very lucky, but having Noa was a gift. She didn't make you feel like a burden, instead she distracted you enough to make you think it was a team effort. That was why his breath caught in his throat when he felt one of Noa's fingers brush against the skin of his chest, unintentionally slipping through the hole between two buttons.

She seemed not to notice, too busy ensuring his well-being, and continued with her rehearsed choreography. She took the hand that hadn't been abused by the trip, grasping him gently by the wrist, and rested it on her own chest, slowly raising it with a breath, urging him to do the same. Jisung closed his eyes, feeling more clearly how smooth the skin of her collarbone was, soft and delicate under his guitarist's fingertips, and forced himself to mimic the calm rise and fall of her chest. 

No words were exchanged, none were needed, until Jisung felt sane enough to look at her again. They were only inches apart, arms locked and intertwined, her hands in his, and though he could only hear his heartbeat thudding in his ears, he felt her own mirroing his quick race beneath his fingers.

Noa had beautiful eyes. Not only that, but the smile she offered hid an accomplice that made you want to follow her wherever she wanted to take you, and for a moment, Jisung wanted to. But he couldn't. He was trapped, between the wall and her hands, between the wall and her gaze, and he didn't want to run away. Every second he spent memorising all the intermingled shades of mahogany and forest green in her irises, and when he realised that he hadn't once taken his eyes off hers, he was shocked. Jisung was incapable of holding eye contact for more than a few seconds with anyone.

‘That's my girl, now kiss him!’

The spell broke as soon as Noa processed those words in Spanish, and Jisung's body moved a little closer to hers as she pulled away slightly.

‘He was having a panic attack, you moron,' she whispered, her low, strong tone contrasting with the gentleness of her hands against his skin.

Then Jisung snapped back to reality, his chest rising and falling more calmly, and he located the boy who had spoken. He had been cracking a rascally smile until he had heard the word panic - which was not so different in Spanish than it was in English, Jisung had been able to understand - and now he was approaching with a concerned gesture towards them.

‘Do you need ice? Do you want us to find you somewhere cooler?’ he asked, still in the language he didn't understand, dividing his attention between Noa and Jisung.

‘Use English, please,’ she asked him, leaving warm caresses on the back of Jisung's hands absently, ’he's a foreigner and it's not polite to gossip without him knowing what we're saying.’

Then she turned to him, giving him her full attention again, and said, ‘Remember I mentioned my friends earlier?’

Jisung nodded, remembering every word he had exchanged with Noa.

‘This is Lucas,’ Jisung turned to the boy, who had left a safe distance between them, waiting for instructions from the girl. His hair was disheveled, as if he'd just taken a nap, and all chestnut brown except for an unruly blond highlight in his fringes. ‘Her twin sister is the girl who gets dizzy that I told you about. She also has anxiety, so he asks if you need ice or a cooler place.’

‘Huh, thanks, Lucas..., Noa,’ Jisung's gaze flickered between one and the other, suddenly nervous. He wasn't used to that kind of attention, it made him uncomfortable to a certain extent. ‘I'm better now.’

‘Oh,’ Noa murmured, taking a step back and pulling her arms away from him. Jisung wanted to follow them, to place them back on his body, to keep feeling her touch on him. He repressed it. ‘Of course.’

‘I'm grateful, really,’ he repeated, as if that wasn't enough. Noa's gaze had flashed with pain at his rejection, and Jisung had hated it. ‘But I should go, my friends...’

‘Right, of course,’ she repeated, taking a step backwards, towards Lucas, like two planets orbiting on the same axis. ‘I understand, they must be worried.’

‘I didn't mean to...’

‘Hey, we made a deal,’ she reminded him, forcing a smile onto her rosy lips, ‘we've already gotten off the Stunt. Glad I could be of help.’

The deal was to hold on tight to each other, Jisung thought. And now she was letting him go. That wasn't part of the deal.

‘We could always get the groups together...’ Lucas wanted to propose, resting a hand protectively on Noa's shoulder.

‘Jisung!’

His heart skipped a beat at the sound of his name. Behind Noa and Lucas was Abril, smiling as if her life depended on it, also slightly dishevelled but with the same cheerful vibe that characterised her. She had stood halfway, having recognised his slim figure and his dyed ash-blonde hair, and Lucas had turned around quickly, frowning.

‘You two know this one?’ he'd said, receiving a smack from Noa for continuing to use Spanish, ‘Are you swapping me for him? On my own birthday?’

‘We're not, dummy,’ Abril said, and Jisung found it odd to hear her voice a softer tone, using English to communicate and not the Korean they had spoken in the previous evening. ‘This is the boy I told you about yesterday, Han Jisung.’

‘Ahh,’ pronounced Noa, placing him in her memories, ’the nice guy from Balmain. I hadn't actually caught the name, sorry.’

‘That's okay,’ he said, shrugging, processing that Noa and April knew each other. For a person who wasn't used to Korean culture, understanding how names worked or being able to remember one must have been difficult. For him, their Spanish names were.

‘I still don't get it,’ Lucas interrupted.

‘You were drunk yesterday,’ Abril reminded him, reaching their level and bowing her head slightly in respect. Jisung did the same. ‘You made a terrible joke, let me remember... Oh, jamón serrano. Ham in English. Ham, because of Han. He's one of the members of the group that Carla likes.’

‘Carla is another one of our friends, but she didn't come today,’ Noa informed him.

Lucas made an affirmative noise, indicating that he already remembered, and was about to make a comment about it, searching for the right English words, when another shout was heard from behind him. Again an acquaintance shouting his name. This time his brother. Jisung grimaced, and turned slowly, avoiding making eye contact with him, and turning directly into Felix and his hyung, who were trailing after Jae and relaxed as soon as they spotted him.

‘Hey, hey, hey, hey,’ Lucas exclaimed, stepping protectively between him and the other three, ’do you even know each other?’

Jisung paused for a moment, wondering to whom the question was addressed, but before he could explain who they were, or even gazing at Abril fro help, his brother stepped up to Lucas, facing him, and replied in slurred English, ‘I'd like to know if you know him at all, because he's obviously my little brother.

The tension could be cut with a knife, and Jisung shifted uncomfortably under the incredulous stares of Felix and Chan, who couldn't believe they had just witnessed their manager's words. Jaehyun never let his emotions, and especially anger, spill over into his actions. Never. But before Chan could jump in to try and sort out the misunderstanding, Abril and Noa burst out laughing behind Jisung's back.

‘Lucas, he looks an awful lot like Jisung,’ Noa said, stepping forward with her hands in the pockets of her baggy jeans, her face still holding an almost uncontrollable laughter.

‘It's actually kind of surprising that you didn't notice,’ April chipped in, tilting her head to the side, trying to stifle her smile behind Noa's shoulder.

Jisung saw Lucas blush, mumble an apology to Jae, who accepted it with a nod, and step back so that Jisung could approach his friends. The first to move closer when Jisung was near enough was his brother, putting his arm around his shoulders and asking him in Korean if he was okay. He explained that he hadn't been, but thanks to the girl he'd been sitting next to, he was feeling better now. Noa smiled at hearing her name, and Jisung found himself smiling back, adding that she had been the perfect rollercoaster companion.

‘I'm glad you had someone up there,’ Jaehyun stated, looking up at the ride, which had started up again, and feeling guilty for not getting on with his little brother. ‘Are you going to introduce us to the fashion girl and her friends?’

Jisung blinked, confused, thinking that Jae's next action as manager would be to say goodbye and send them back to the hotel, but he nodded and turned to the three Spaniards.

‘Guys, this is my brother and manager Han Jaehyun,’ he began, resting his hand on the one Jae had on his shoulder, ‘then there's Lee Felix,’ he continued, letting the blonde flash one of his brightest smiles, ‘and Bang Chan hyung, our leader.’ Then he turned to his friends, and prayed that he pronounced the Spanish names correctly. ‘Abril I met yesterday on the catwalk, because she was sitting next to me. Noa was the one who saved me just now, and made me survive Stunt Fall,’ he shared a smile with her and then paused, glancing at the third member of the trio, and finished the introduction, ‘and Lucas, huh, the friend who thinks I'm jam.’

‘Ham,’ he corrected him, ‘Yummy, Spanish ham.’

‘They're the ones on the albums Carla buys,’ Abril explained, turning to Noa and Lucas. ‘Stray Kids, the ones she had saved up for the concert in Madrid and couldn't go to because it was cancelled due to covid.’

Noa nodded, as if she already knew all that information, but Lucas was too busy staring at Chan.

‘Luc, that's creepy,’ Abril said to him. ‘Stop, please.’

Jisung saw Chan blush slightly at the Spaniard's attention, but he didn't say anything. He couldn't tell if he was uncomfortable or nervous, but he knew that Lucas's nonchalant nature was shocking him a little.

‘It's just that he rings a bell, but I can't place him,' he explained.

‘Oh, I know!’ exclaimed Noa. ‘It's from the Korean reggaeton music video! He's the one who plays the bodyguard!’

‘Korean reggaeton?’ asked Chan, confused.

‘Maknae on top’ replied Abril, and their leader raised her eyebrows in understanding. ‘Carla, our Stay friend, teaches them Kpop songs if they say things is Spanish or have a Latin beat.’

‘But Lucas recognises Chan because there was a time when you kept playing the video over and over,’ Noa informed, smiling half-sideways, waiting for Abril's poorly suppressed alarmed cry at being exposed.

‘I'm a Seventeen fan, shush,’ she confessed. ‘Besides, they sure don't like talking about this stuff.’

‘Oh, we like knowing that people enjoy our songs, don't worry,’ Felix said, smiling, enjoying the chaos. ‘I'm the one who says ‘Felix Navidad’ in a song called Christmas Evel.’

‘And your name is Felix,’ Lucas spoke, letting out a laugh, ’It’s genius, I love it.’

‘Jisung and Chan are the ones who compose and produce all their songs,’ Abril added.

‘And Changbin,’ Jisung added.

‘And Changbin,’ Abril repeated, apologising with a smile.

‘Oh my God, enough with the work talk,' Noa interrupted, stretching her arms and rotating her wrists, as if standing still for too long bothered her. ‘Do you want us to show you around? We can even go back to Madrid, if you want.’

The three of them looked at Jaehyun automatically, as if waiting for an answer, and he tried to keep a straight face, crumbling the moment Felix tugged at his shirt sleeve, taking advantage of the effect of his adorable pout. Jae shrugged, deflating like a balloon as he exhaled a tired sigh, and Chan put a hand on his shoulder comfortingly.

‘You know what the limits are,’ he said, in Korean, looking at Jisung, as if he were to blame for everyone's enthusiasm. ‘And that you don't know these people. They can be fans, they can be stalkers.’

‘Han-nim, if I may,’ Abril interrupted in her soft Korean voice, approaching slowly and timidly, as if she didn't want to get Jisung in trouble. ‘It's true that I'm a fan of your work and I know the Kpop world, but we're not sasaengs. I can give you my word, and speak on behalf of my friends, we simply want to leave a good impression of your first visit to Spain. If you don't trust me, I can show you the content I do on my social networks, and Noa's, even tell you what the rest of them are doing or documentation that certifies that everything I've said is true. Nothing proposed is with bad intentions, we just want to have a good time because Jisung is a wonderful person and I would like to share my time with him and let him meet my friends.’

Jaehyun stared at Abril for a good time, a battle of hard, unmoving brown gazes between the older brother and the Spaniard, who was also an older sister, and then held out his hand.

‘I'm going to need you to sign confidentiality contracts, but it works for me,’ he pronounced slowly, his chest warming at the joy gradually visible on Jisung's face. ‘You're a sincere and kind girl, I respect and admire that.’

‘Thank you very much,’ she replied, accepting the compliment with a bow.

Felix hugged Jisung, excited, but Jisung waited to see the way Noa's eyes lit up when Abril translated her and Lucas what she had just spoken to his brother in his own language. He liked Noa. He liked the way the corners of her eyes crinkled when she smiled, and the soft curve of her arms when she held them close to her body. He liked the tendency she had to rotate her knees and wrists from time to time, or the mischievous turn her smile took when you least expected it. And he liked knowing that there were still a lot of details about her to discover.

Lucas whistled, drawing everyone's attention, and said, ‘I'm guessing the manager's going to need three more NDAs.’

Jisung turned, and saw three more people approaching. He assumed they were more of Noa's friends, and she confirmed it as soon as she noticed Jisung's questioning glance at her. One of the girls was undoubtedly Lucas' twin, with blonde hair falling down her back and the same grin. The only boy, also blond, had tattooed arms, and was pacing a step behind them, lost in thought. The other girl, approaching with a phone in her hand, and the terrifying look of an angry mother, was a Latina in a pretty sundress. And she was the first to open her mouth.

‘Oh, you must be so full of yourselves!’ she exclaimed, in Spanish, not realising that there were more people with them. ‘Get off the Stunt, disappear and then give no sign of life! I don't know what you want the phone for! You always have it in your hand but you never use it when you actually have to use it!’

The blond boy at her back cleared his throat slyly, and the soft noise seemed to snap the angry Latina out of her mindset. She interrupted herself, almost swallowing all the words she had been about to blurt out, and looked up at Jisung, her gaze softening instantly and curving her lips in a welcoming gesture.

‘Sorry, I didn't see you.’

‘In English, Nea.’ pointed out Lucas, voice still, knowing when to goof off, picking his battles wisely.

‘Oh, in English then,’ she repeated, switching languages. ‘Sorry about the show. It's just that they disappeared and we couldn't find them.’

‘That's all right,’ Chan pronounced, before anyone could say anything.

‘Who... are you guys?’ she asked, and Jisung knew the mom attitude wasn't a facade, because all her friends seemed to gather around her like chicks chasing their mama duck.

‘Jisung,’ Noa began, ‘the boy Abril met yesterday, sat next to me in the Stunt because they were uneven. Chan and Felix, along with him, part of a Kpop group, and Jaehyun,’ she paused looking at Jisung's brother, waiting for his approval so she knew she had pronounced it right, ‘is his manager. And Sung's older brother.’

‘Oh,’ said the blonde girl, still sheltering next to her twin brother, ‘welcome to Spain.’

‘She is Isabel,’ introduced the Latina, stepping forward and indicating with her hand the names of the newcomers, 'my name is Atenea, and this is Miguel.’ The tattooed boy waved his fingers in greeting, then folded his arms and stood behind Atenea, as she clapped her hands in the air. ‘I'm sure you'll have time to memorise them all. Any friend of my girls is a friend of ours, and that means you are already part of the group. I assume you've invited them to show them around town, right?’

Noa nodded, and Atenea smiled softly at her.

‘I can take care of talking paperwork with the manager while you tell them about the twins' birthday plans, in case they want to join,’ she told Noa, and Jisung smiled when he saw her and Abril give each other a sneaky high-five. If their group dynamic was even the slightest bit like theirs, he knew his older brother and Chan would consider her an equal. She was the force keeping all her menaces in check.

‘I know a food stand that is perfect to grab something to get over the Stunt Fall impression,’ Lucas said, starting to walk, Abril after him, and waited for Noa and Jisung to follow. ‘Your friend Felix is still a little pale.’

Jisung smiled, knowing that his sunshine twin would appreciate a sweet drink to recover from the faint, and also the nice detail from the Spaniard. He took a quick glance back, checking that Chan had found a spot next to Atenea, and that Jae was trying to communicate with Miguel ーit seemed that neither of them knew much English. Felix, who was indeed still a bit pale, had approached Isabel, who had fallen a bit behind, and had just whispered, ‘Happy birthday.’

He could get used to it.

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[missohme]

african wax - kimono

[gh0st-t0wn3]

Some Lmk ss edits + Headcanons (Traffic light trio)

- He/They

- Gay

- Only wears knock off brands (doesn't know they aren't real)

- Autumn is his favorite season, purely because he likes to stomp the crunchy leaves

- Adhd

- Has dimples

- Pigsy once got him rainbow shoes for pride month before he was even out but MK didn't realize they were pride shoes because the rainbow was on the sole

- Tried to cook breakfast for Pigsy and Tang on Father's day once, somehow lit the curtains on fire

- Wants Tattoos but keeps backing down because he doesn't like needles (will probably get one in the future though)

- Has a sketchbook fully dedicated to Redson, would literally die if someone ever found it

- Smells like oranges

- Only a few inches taller than Redson, always teases him for it

- Almost killed Sun Wukong once because he was disguised as a spider

- The Monkey's on flower fruit mountain always climb on him when he's around, he doesn't try to stop them

- Had to remove the snooze option on his alarm clock because he wouldn't stop hitting it

- Chicken scratch handwriting, no one else can read it for the life of them

- Learned Spanish in high school, don't ask why it just feels right

- Covered in scars, but 83% of them are from being a dumb kid instead of battles

- Once described Redson's voice as "really warm, like a hug!" And almost got burnt for it

- Love language is physical touch

- Has those really pretty brown eyes, like the ones that look like honey when the light hits them at that one perfect angle

- Has no fashion sense whatsoever, Mei chose out most of the clothes he owns

- Phone is shattered beyond repair but he refuses to acknowledge that he needs to get a new one

- Obsessively takes personality/buzzfeed tests in the dead of night, once pulled an all nighter just taking "which drink are you?", "what kind of seafood are you?" "What type of candy are you?" Type of buzz feed quizzes, and physically couldn't do deliveries because he was so exhausted the next morning

- Has a bunch of plants but is terrible at taking care of them

- Has a chipped tooth (actually Canon, it's on his lego figurine, I'm still sad they didn't add it to the show :( )

- Once walked in on Tang and Pigsy kissing as a kid and was promptly traumatized

- Has no skin or hair care routine, uses a 3 in 1 Shampoo/conditioner/bodywash

- Has really nice curly/wavy hair but straightens it and uses an unholy amount of hair gel

- Has a wattpad account

- Sleeps in literally the most horrific positions you have ever seen, yet somehow never get cramps or neck/back pains

- Once drank dishwasher soap as a kid because he thought it was juice

- Gets sunburnt incredibly easy (if you've seen the s4 special ykwim)

- Mk once accidently threw a plastic bottle in the trash instead of the recycling bin and got lectured for an hour by Pigsy (Pigsy is a huge environmentalist)

- His bedroom is messy as all hell but he somehow knows where everything is (Pigsy and Tang have tried cleaning it themselves but it was back to being a mess just a few short hours later so they gave up)

- He/Him (FtM)

- Gay

- Shortest one in the trio (just barely though). I like to think that the removal of the samadhi fire stunted his growth and demonic development, which is also why he takes so little after his father in appearance/height. He always wears platforms though, so he looks taller than he is

- He was so quiet and sneaky as a child that his mom had to put a bell on him

- Used to wear large combat boots until someone made a "step on me" joke. He doesn't wear them in public anymore

- Smells like smoke and cinnamon, Mei once described it as a 'campfire' smell

- Has really heavy blackout curtains in his bedroom

- Hair turns black when wet or when he's burnt out

- Always has a soft glow to his body because of his fire, mouth glows faintly, hair glows faintly, the more emotional he is the stronger the glow (MK and Mei are incredibly jealous)

- Tension headaches because we all know that mf has his hair tied up in the tightest goddamn ponytail ever

- Has the samadhi fire back (I'm delusional just let me have this)

- Has a habit of stealing his friends and families clothes to wear, first started when he was really little and would constantly steal whatever clothes of DBK's he could find around the house to help him feel like his dad was still there, and the habit just stuck with him

- Doctor handwriting

- Autistic

- Identifies as male but still likes to wear skirts and dresses sometimes (he just like me fr). Likes floor length skirts the best

- Actually really good at art, mostly draws blueprints for his inventions, but can draw people and landscapes pretty decently too

- Has a childhood Bull plushie that he still sleeps with, hides it under the bed or in the closet whenever MK and Mei come over

- has a scar on his back resembling the rings of samadhi from the removal ritual, Mei once confused it for a tattoo

- Mei once called him "Zesty" and he still doesn't know what it means, she refuses to tell him

- Was homeschooled by PIF

- Has a beauty mark like his mom's

- Has the most angelic, majestic, heartlifting laugh ever, but never actually laughs (unless it's his "evil" laugh, trust me guys)

- Goes to bed at 3am, wakes up at 11am type of person

- Needs glasses because the Samadhi fire fucked up his eyes (in Journey to the West, the samadhi fire is described as a flame that, when activated, "shoots out of every hole in his face" including, of course, his eyes)

- Remember when I said he was a quiet child? Yeah, he can't do that anymore, he literally has no idea how to be quiet now that he's older, the best he can do is whisper shout

- Hopeless romantic, but convinced that any and all feelings are unrequited

- Mei and Mk found his baby pictures once, he will never recover

- Long ass skin and hair care routine, will spend at least two or more hours on it every morning, but it's worth it, his hair and skin are always so soft

- Touch starved as fuck

- Love language is gift giving and positive affirmation (WILL cry if someone compliments him, doesn't matter who it is or what the context is, he once almost burst into tears when Sandy called him a good kid and gave him a pat on the back)

- Once he's focused on something he will stay focused for at least the next ten hours

- Loves strawberry flavored things but hates actual strawberries

- Listens to really underground music and has the biggest superiority complex because of it

- Has the biggest fucking bedroom you have ever seen, with one of those really large and extravagant, super comfortable canopy beds, wakes up like a Disney princess

- Usually self-preserving but will experiment on himself without hesitation if he thinks it'll help him with a breakthrough (has almost died on several occasions)

- She/Her

- Lesbian

- Has tons of piercings: nose, ears, bellybutton, etc (her parents don't know about the bellybutton piercing and she doesn't plan on letting them know anytime soon)

- "Hey, Red boy, cool tattoo!" "... thats a scar." (She still hasn't lived it down)

- Smells like freshly cut grass

- Tallest one in the group, idc what anyone says, I just have a feeling okay?

- Adores glitter makeup but can't stand the feeling of it on her skin

- Love language is quality time

- Has a love/hate relationship with her dragon features, she thinks they look cool and she's proud of her heritage, but if her scales get too dry, which happens very easily, they get really uncomfortable and itchy as all hell

- Had a phase in high school where she'd dye her hair everything except green

- Probably also has Adhd

- Avid tennis player

- Hates the feeling of jeans, but loves denim jackets (has a whole collection, plus one that she and MK have been patching together for years)

- Always smudges her mascara somehow, MK once thought she was crying

- Super rough and rowdy as a kid, like I'm talking pushing kids off swings and down the slide rowdy, tackling people in the sandbox or on the school field, girl was a menace to society

- Snorts when she laughs

- MK tried to scare her once as a joke and her first instinct was to deck him (apologized profusely... before laughing at him)

- Most reckless driver on the planet, it's a wonder how she hasn't gotten her license taken away yet

- Doesn't really consider herself close with her family, she loves them but MK, Tang, Pigsy, and Sandy are her FAMILY, y'know? Like Rosa in b99

- Was the first person to know MK has a crush on Redson, she found out when she walked in on him drawing them together, and she will never let him forget it

- Has a normal skin and hair care routine, and constantly tells Redson that he's insane for needing 2+ hours to complete his

- Is the only one with readable handwriting

- Once stayed up for an entire week to play a new video game that came out

- Will smack her head with a brush if her hair doesn't cooperate

- Bites people (gently, its how she shows affection. Unless she doesn't like you then she'll just naw on your arm until she draws blood)

- Lives on energy drinks, her favorite is Monster Pipeline punch

- Has really soft and really thick hair

- Used to chew on her hair in middle school

- Biggest sweet tooth ever, Redson is disgusted by her eating habits

- Goes on early morning jogs every day except weekends

- Swiftie

- Refuses to watch any movies or shows based on video games she likes because they'll "never have the same charm or energy as the game", but will buy the video games that a show/movie is based on if she watches them before playing

- Will eat random plants all the time. Walking through the park? She'll lean down and pick a flower to chomp on

- The type of girl to carry around a goddamn gallon water bottle everywhere

- Has a thousand fairy lights in her room, it's a fire hazard

[libertyprint]

"Quieres casarte conmigo??" editorial images from Becomely's bridal collection (2022).

[omar-bb]

notes & quotes from omar's live today

he wanted to release Red Light sooner but he and his team wanted to get it right

he's excited to headline at Gröna Lund - gonna be playing a new song there and at his other shows this summer!

"one of my favorite songs. i'm telling you, you will fucking choke when you hear that one. it's dark, it's dirty, it's groovy..."

"should I leak some of it? it would be fun for you to be able to sing along..."

"i hope it's fine by my team that I just leaked that"

"maybe it'll be the next single after Red Light. only maybe. I'm not promising anything"

someone asked about an Asia tour - "I cannot be live bc I'm gonna leak a lot of shit. But you wanna know something funny? This song .... it is actually a k-pop pitch song from start. it was made with k-pop in mind. it is not fully k-pop and now that i've been doing my touch on it, it is a little less k-pop but.. they actually wrote the song k-pop in mind."

teased doing a tour in the future

another "leak" - "I was actually meant to go to korea like right now or a month ago, like after the oscars ... i was supposed to go to korea. but it never happened. i was very sad. but maybe one day.

he had a scared moment where music started playing in the other room and he thought it was an unreleased song but it was just his alejandro tiktok lol

inspo for red light? "I didn't write the song ... it was a demo that got sent to me. at first ... it was a girl singing red light, and when i heard it the first time i was like yo this sounds like fucking rihanna ... i was like is this a long lost rihanna song? this is the greatest thing i've ever heard. and then i just fucking took it. i was like this is my song before rihanna takes it from me. and now it's my song."

Red Light music video when? "we shot a visualizer, so it's not a music video ... it's very beautiful. very stunning. i've never done anything like that. ... it's not a real music video. it's more visuals for the song."

will be doing red light on 25 may and also a new song

"you'll hear a whole new omar when you hear that song"

he has been replying to messages in his community on whatsapp and sms. they'll be leaking more stuff through there

new OMR Beauty product when? "....................... stay tuned"

"you will die when you see the next launch of OMR Beauty. that's all I'm saying. Next!!!"

will he start a fashion brand? "i don't really have the time for that unfortunately. ... not for now"

thinks he is not gonna bleach his hair

Someone asked red light spanish version when? and he sang a bit of it in spanish

omar backflip when? "when i'm in heaven"

is he going to act again?"i'm actually reading some scripts right now. just reading, it's not anything happening really yet, just testing the waters. we'll see, i would love to act. i actually miss acting, it was a fun time ... nothing will ever be like YR obviously, but just the thought of meeting new ppl, new friends, being together for a few weeks or a few months, and filming smth very special, that would be so much fun. ... i'm actually reading a really cool script right now" but more focusing on music right now

he has 40-50 new songs from the last year apparently??? Maybe i misunderstood this

album when? "don't know, we'll see" - he has a lot of songs and could drop an album but he wants it to be perfect so it'll be awhile

there will be red light merch this summer

he and edvin hang out sometimes

not doing Rix FM this year

there will not be 12 red light remixes lol "but maybe a few"

Eurovision 2025? "absolutely not. sorry not sorry." something about always being thrown out of the competition

he's stopped drinking coffee regularly and drinks matcha instead

someone suggested hoemars as the fandom name and he laughed lol

a lot is happening in May he says !! "y'all better eat good, sleep well" lolol

he said he might do another live next week once Red Light is out

[accio-victuuri]

wang yibo - WWD article on his loewe endorsement

ALL EYES ON YIBO: The multidisciplinary Chinese star Wang Yibo has been named a global brand ambassador for Loewe.

His first official engagement with Loewe will be to attend the brand’s spring 2025 men’s fashion show in Paris on Saturday.

Expect hundreds of dedicated fans, many of whom would travel across Europe for the opportunity to get a glimpse of Wang in person, chanting his name outside the venue.

Loewe’s creative director Jonathan Anderson, who visited Shanghai for the “Crafted World” exhibition in March, said of Wang: “Not only has he achieved global recognition as a singer and dancer, he’s also exploring new territories including acting, motorcycle racing and fashion — we love this multifaceted approach to creativity and how much it resonates with Loewe’s own prismatic identity.”

Wang, who received industrywide recognition for his performance in the espionage thriller “Hidden Blade” last year, said the Spanish luxury brand represents “a relentless pursuit of craft and bold aesthetics.”

“Anderson infuses the collections with so much humour from everyday life while drawing inspiration from the art world, which creates a unique visual language. I’m looking forward to joining Loewe and creating many more remarkable moments together,” added Wang, who is also a promotion ambassador for the Paris 2024 Olympic Qualifier Series in Shanghai.

Wang started his career as a member of the K-pop boy band Uniq, and has gone on to become one of China‘s most marketable male stars with more than 40 million followers on Weibo. His name logs more than 280 billion impressions on Weibo, and 6.4 billion views on Xiaohongshu.

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