#this photographer also took the photo of the statue that was used to announce the return!! and they said they call the photo “the luigi” :- | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

aquamarine-oceanfront · 5 months

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Details about the Amazing Digital Circus pop-up shop in Japan (and the exclusive premiere of episode 2 associated with it)

This post's title kind of sums up the basics, but here's some background: in early March of this year, a Japanese company called InfoLens entered a licensing agreement with Glitch Productions to sell products based on The Amazing Digital Circus. The same press release also announced that they would open a pop-up store in Tokyo, which would operate from April 26th to May 12th. (If I'm not mistaken, InfoLens seems to specialize in these sorts of agreements - they've made similar deals and pop-up shops for everything from Apex Legends to Garten of Banban.) Around this time, they also started up an official Japanese Twitter account devoted to the series.

Close to a month later, they would announce more details about the shop, including what goods they would sell (a mixture of existing merchandise from Glitch's online store and newly-made ones) and plans for a second location in Osaka (running June 7-23). This also coincided with the first time Glitch Productions' main Twitter account publicly acknowledged any of this (as far as I know).

Not long after this came another announcement: they would be holding a raffle where the winners would attend the world premiere of the series' second episode on April 25th, the day before the Tokyo store opened to the public.

So how'd all this pan out? I'll elaborate below the jump, but here's a picture to set the scene:

(Source: Reika Ō, Japanese VA for Gangle and Zooble)

To start with, the Pop-Up Store itself has a number of things aside from merchandise - like the life-size Pomni statue seen above. (The design was the work of Zachary Preciado - it bears a resemblance to her AniMatez figure.)

There's also a corner decorated to look like Kaufmo's room, with a Ragatha (and, at least sometimes, Jax) cutout & oversized die (for sitting on). I believe it's meant to be used for photographs.

(Sources, from left to right: IshiiNaki and the official Japanese Amazing Digital Circus Twitter account)

Other decorations include curtains, TVs displaying promotional clips (seemingly just existing ones on Glitch's YouTube channel), a floating inflatable replica of Bubble, an equally inflatable kiddie pool holding a whole bunch of plushies for sale, and some giant pseudo-toy blocks. The following pictures collectively show all of these:

(Sources, from left to right: Soichiro Sugawara - Japanese VA of Caine & Jax - Shiori Honma - Japanese VA of Ragatha - and Columbo-san Games)

Also, while I'm not currently aware of any recordings of this, according to Arran (Pomni's Japanese VA), the store plays specially-recorded audio of Pomni and Caine. She also mentions "treasured materials" (秘蔵資料) as another point of interest, which segues into my next topic:

(Sources, from top to bottom: Reika Ō, Columbo-san Games again, Glitch Productions, and Shiori Honma)

Several photographs have a glass display in the background. Thus far, I haven't seen any closer pictures of it - given that there appears to be a "no photography/video recording" placard nearby, that'd explain why. The actual contents aren't especially clear - there's a picture of the main cast doing their bind poses at the back of the case, but the sheets of paper(?) underneath look like they could be concept art or something similar. I'm not sure. Hopefully this gets released later down the line.

With all that said, what about the advance screening? Well, as seen in Glitch's photos of the event, Kevin and Luke made a surprise appearance in person to talk about the series. While the attendees have been told not to reveal anything about the new episode until its wider release on May 3rd, one of them took notes on the experience as a personal reminder and revealed some interesting tidbits in the process. I'm not the best at Japanese, but here's my rough, sometimes rather loose translation of what they wrote:

★ The episode, as well as the announcements before and after it, were dubbed in Japanese. Furthermore, the announcement before the screening was recorded specifically for the occasion. Pretty wild.¹ ∙ Before the show: Caine + Pomni ∙ After the show: Jax ("Good to know it was just a dream"² - this elicited shrieks in the venue) ★ Before the main event began, they played the existing promo videos on a loop in both English & Japanese. ★ I expected the audience to be overwhelmingly female, but in reality there were quite a lot of men in attendance, too. ★ Kevin (the CEO) and Luke frequently said things in Japanese, like "arigatō (thank you)" and "surimasen (excuse me)." The one that made me laugh the most was Kevin saying "…Sō desu ne (Yes, indeed)… (thoughtful)" ★ The reason they held the screening in Japan was twofold: they wanted to help spread Western animation to the country & they simply love Japan. ★ Episode 2 really is good, but my brain hasn't fully processed it right now, so it's better not to get your hopes too high.³ 🥲✨✊

¹ Originally "やば" (yaba), which appears to be a variant of "やばい" (yabai). This word can mean many different things - literally "terrible" or "very bad," but also used as slang for "great" or "far-out" - and I felt that "wild" was a reasonably apt choice for this context. ² Another attendee's comments on Twitter reference this quote as well. ³ To be absolutely clear: this appears to be a warning against unreasonably high expectations (since the OP hadn't quite digested the episode at the time of writing), not discouraging getting hyped to any degree.

Another attendee had a shorter account of the experience, summed up in two tweets. (Again, please forgive me if there are any errors in these translations!)

I was chosen and went to the advance screening…! I definitely didn't expect there to be specially-recorded voice work and art (to remind people of their manners) before the show… Especially Jax's closing remarks: "'You all can leave through the exit. Ah, [but] that's none of my business." It was way too crazy, hearing the voices of the agonized nerds in the venue. It was great lol Two producers made a surprise trip to Japan and took part in a Q&A session. They said that Popee the Performer was one of the show's influences!

(It's worth noting that Gooseworx herself has mentioned Popee as an influence in the past before, specifically saying Jax and Gangle were respectively inspired by Popee and Kedamono - though, in both cases, she also mentioned that there was more to her characters than just resembling the latter two.)

To finish this post off, here's a couple more images (both posted on Twitter by Shiori Honma) I wanted to share:

Honma posts with her character's standee.

All five of the Japanese dub's primary voice actors, together with Pomni. (If I'm not mistaken, the tweet's text says none of them knew in advance that the screening of episode 2 would be in Japanese.)

#tadc #the amazing digital circus #amazing digital circus #digital circus #japan

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usafphantom2 · 6 months

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Northrop Grumman releases new photo of B-21 Raider, after receiving prestigious award from Aviation Week magazine

Fernando Valduga By Fernando Valduga 03/21/2024 - 22:28in Military

Northrop Grumman Corporation received the Aviation Week Grand Laureate Award in the defense category for its role as the main contractor in the delivery of the B-21 Raider to the United States Air Force. Aviation Week announced the Grand Laureate winners at its 66ª annual Laureate award in Washington, D.C.

"On behalf of the entire B-21 Raider national team, Northrop Grumman is honored to receive this prestigious award," said Tom Jones, corporate vice president and president of Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems. "The Grand Laureate represents the pioneering spirit, innovative technology and pioneering approach to contract management that gave life to the world's first sixth-generation aircraft."

In the fall of 2023, the U.S. Air Force confirmed that the first B-21 test vehicle had entered a flight test, followed by a low-rate initial production premium. The aircraft is currently undergoing a robust flight test campaign run by the B-21 Combined Test Force at Edwards Air Base in California. The program continues to meet all technical, schedule and accessibility requirements of the Department of Defense on its way to operational capacity.

Developed with the next generation of stealth technology, advanced network capabilities and open systems architecture, the B-21 Raider will serve as the backbone of the U.S. bomber fleet. Capable of carrying conventional and nuclear loads, the B-21 will be one of the most effective aircraft in the sky, with the ability to use a wide combination of isolated and direct attack ammunition.

“This bomber will be able to defend our country with new weapons that have not yet been invented,” said U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin when the B-21 was launched in the spring of 2023. "Even the most sophisticated anti-aircraft systems will have difficulty detecting the B-21." The Raider is also "multifunctional," says Austin. "He can do anything."

Details about the progress of the program were only made available in pieces from the beginning, because the myth of secrecy surrounds the project. Only a few scattered observers recorded the start of the first flight on November 10, 2023, which took the Raider prototype from its place of origin in Palmdale to Edwards Air Base for posterity. Since that day, things have been calm in relation to the B-21. The manufacturer and the U.S. Air Force remained silent about the status of the flight tests. All that is confirmed is that they are happening and that they are obviously on schedule.

Tags: Military AviationB-21 RaiderNorthrop GrummanUSAF - United States Air Force / U.S. Air Force

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Fernando Valduga

Aviation photographer and pilot since 1992, he has participated in several events and air operations, such as Cruzex, AirVenture, Dayton Airshow and FIDAE. He has works published in specialized aviation magazines in Brazil and abroad. He uses Canon equipment during his photographic work in the world of aviation.

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emekaigwe · 2 months

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Landmark ACLU Civil Rights Case on Facial Recognition Technology

Civil rights cases safeguard the basic rights of American citizens, regardless of their background, creed, or color. A prominent civil rights-related case represented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) settled in June 2024. The case focused on Robert Williams, wrongfully arrested in January 2020 outside his home, with his family and neighbors watching due to flawed facial recognition technology.

A shoplifter had stolen several high-end watches from a Detroit Shinola retail store. The Detroit Police Department took a low-quality, blurry still image from surveillance video and gave it to the Michigan State Police to run through a face recognition program. The results indicated a possible match with Mr. Williams’ expired driver’s license photograph. However, he was nowhere near the scene.

The police used his photo in a lineup and showed it to a Shinola loss-prevention contractor not present at the scene. The contractor’s sole knowledge of the incident came from reviewing the same blurry surveillance footage.

Despite the unreliability of the evidence, the Detroit Police Department received an arrest warrant for Mr. Williams, arrested him, and detained him for 30 hours in a crowded cell. In early 2021, the Civil Rights Litigation Initiative at the University of Michigan Law School teamed up with the ACLU of Michigan to file suit for Mr. Williams. They held that the facial recognition technology did not function correctly and had a racial bias.

Mr. Williams' team also pointed to several recent false arrests due to facial recognition technology. They held that Detroit had no policy for face recognition technology or application by law enforcement. Further, the city had not trained officers to use such technology in investigations.

The case concluded with a precedent-setting settlement agreement establishing the most substantial policies on police department use of facial recognition technology nationwide. Moving forward, reliable, independent evidence connecting a suspect to criminal activity must back all results provided by the technology. The city will also audit similar cases dating back to 2017. In addition, the police cannot make arrests using photo lineups created with facial recognition technology.

Mr. Williams received a settlement of $300,000. He described feeling relieved that an implementation of safeguards would occur to prevent misuse of facial recognition technology. In addition, he told reporters: “Our hope [is to] live in a better world” due to the decision. He further clarified, “What we would like for them to do is not use [such technology] at all.” The ACLU notes that this case is significant for people of color, who have become subject to substantially higher misidentification rates by this technology.

In August 2023, the case had a pending status. Detroit police chief James White announced a set of new policies regarding facial recognition technology. These policies stemmed from a case involving a female suspect, eight months pregnant, who filed a wrongful carjacking charge claim. As White described it, law enforcement must provide other evidence beyond the use of technology that causes police to determine that a suspect possesses “means, ability, and opportunity to commit the crime.”

#Emeka Igwe

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david-d-levine · 1 year

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LARP Report: A Meeting of Monarchs

As I write this I'm on my way back to the 21st Century USA from the LARP A Meeting of Monarchs. I had a blast. In this Live Action Role Play event, inspired by the historical "Field of the Cloth of Gold" (1520) at which King Henry VIII of England and King François I of France met to sign the Treaty of London, about 50 players from all over Europe and the USA were assigned roles as specific historical personages. Each of us was given detailed background information on our characters and their goals, and some key events that occurred during play were preordained, but the player interactions and dialogue were entirely improvised in real time. There were a lot of different plots in motion, some of them related to the treaty and others not, some historically accurate and others modified from our timeline. For example, the excommunication of Martin Luther and the death of Pope Leo X both occurred during the game, though in real life they didn't happen until later. There was international and national politics; marriages, divorces, and affairs; personal alliances and vendettas; and maneuvers for power within the two courts and the Church hierarchy. This was what is called a "Nordic" LARP, unlike the boffer-combat style of LARP most freqently encountered in the USA. The game didn't have a combat system per se, though there were a few duels and fist fights (and, notably, a climactic wrestling match between the two kings). Instead, the major game mechanic was the exchange of status tokens. Each player started each day with a number of tokens (more for higher-status players) and during the game players and NPCs could hand over tokens to other players in acknowledgement of a notable accomplishment or as a bribe to take an action. Tokens could not be lost or stolen, only given away, and receiving a token from a member of the other court counted double. At the end of each day the tokens were counted up and either the French or English court would be announced as the winner. We were strongly encouraged to keep the tokens circulating and not hoard them to ourselves. The two kings each also had gold tokens, representing royal favor, and black tokens, representing shame, to hand out. The game was held at Château du Boisrenault, an 18th-century castle in the French countryside, and run by French LARP organizer Charmed Plume Productions, but was conducted almost entirely in English. The variety of player accents added to the verisimilitude of the setting, as did the superb costumes worn (and in many cases made) by the players and the presence of several players' dogs. The organizers also provided props, decor, live music, outdoor pavilions, and delicious meals to add to the immersive experience. Truly it did feel as though we spent a weekend in the Renaissance. (Sadly, as we were all very busy and phones were to be kept out of sight, I took very few photos. There was a professional photographer, though, and his photos will be made available in a few months. Until then, you can see some photos from previous runs of the game.) I played the poet Thomas Wyatt, and my partner Alisa played the scheming Cardinal Thomas Wolsey. (Everyone was a Thomas in those days, it seems, unless they were a Mary.) Wyatt was only 17 at the time, and in real life didn't even come to court until later. He was a young man with great ambition and few resources, and I determined to play him as brash and daring, unafraid to take risks. It didn't turn out quite as I expected. One of the key things about Wyatt, in history as well as in the game, is that he grew up with Anne Boleyn. They were practically siblings together in the Boleyn household, and by all accounts were extremely close. Was Wyatt in love with Anne? Well, historians disagree, but he did write a poem called "Whoso List to Hunt," including the famous lines

And graven with diamonds in letters plain There is written, her fair neck round about: Noli me tangere, for Caesar's I am, And wild for to hold, though I seem tame.

(In other words: back off, man, she belongs to the king.) In any case, in the game materials it was made quite clear that Wyatt was utterly smitten with Anne. So I determined before the game that I was going to propose to her, despite the difference in our stations and her father's ambitions for her. I brought a ring and everything. I didn't know what her answer would be -- that would depend both on how the character was written and what the player wanted to do with her -- but I thought it would make for a dramatic scene either way. On the first day of play I approached Anne player-to-player, saying "hey, I want to set up a big public proposal scene." (There was a lot of pre-game material about consent and safety, complete with a set of safewords, to reduce the chance of physical or emotional harm to anyone. So I wanted to get the player's buy-in beforehand, even if the proposal would be a surprise to the character.) She was perfectly kind to me and made it clear that her answer was going to be no, but if I wanted a big humiliation scene she would be willing to help make it happen? Well no, actually, I didn't, but we did decide on a small personal proposal scene at lunch that day. By lunchtime it was abundantly clear that Anne and Henry were already very much A Couple, much to the dismay of Queen Catherine and many other members of the court. (In actual history this didn't happen until some years later.) And so, when lunch time came and Anne walked past the open seat next to me to take her place next to the King, the ring stayed in my pocket. (Later she approached me player-to-player to make sure I was okay. I told her that I was, though the character was devastated.) So my character's main goal for the game foundered on the rocks before even leaving the harbor. But I had plenty of secondary goals to pursue. One of these was to engage in a debate. During the historical Meeting of Monarchs the two courts held a series of debates on the issues of the day, and before the game I did a bunch of research on Wyatt and Humanism and proposed several Humanistic propositions as topics for debate. I wound up paired with Charles III, Duke de Bourbon, a very heavy hitter in the French court and a strong traditionalist. He would be arguing the proposition that "Only Law Brings Peace," and I had to argue the contrary. I prepared a five-minute speech, based on Wyatt's actual writings, in which I quoted Erasmus, Petrarch, and Plutarch to support my position that the law, by itself, is insufficient. "The law may influence good men," I wrote (or perhaps copied and pasted from Wikipedia), "but is without effect upon the bad. But a society of learned men, imbued with the virtues of the ancients and the ability to argue persuasively in favor of these virtues, will inevitably produce peace, tranquility, and harmony." I thought it was a very pretty speech, but given the pre-game discussion about the debate topics -- some of the more conservative characters were throwing around words like "heresy" and "felony" and "Inquisition" -- I figured I had no chance to sway the crowd. But they loved it. After our prepared speeches, our improvised rebuttals, and a spirited ad-hoc discussion with the audience, I was absolutely showered with status tokens. The Duke de Bourbon offered his respects. Thomas More took me under his wing. And the King of France came up to me to offer me an invitation to his court! I wound up with the second-highest individual token count of the day. After that I was much in demand as a wordsmith and wit. Many people requested my assistance in crafting love poems, or romantic advice, and I did my best to help. I composed a poem about the Pleiades for a Duke, who gifted me with a cottage and an orchard. And I was often the center of attention during mealtime conversations. I truly enjoyed the several philosophical conversations I had with Thomas More and Leonardo da Vinci (who, sadly, in actual history had died the year before). In a lot of ways Wyatt was the perfect character for me. All I had to do was give free rein to my wit and ego and use my real-world writing skills. It's kind of astonishing how good a fit he was, actually, because I was offered the part pretty much at random. My partner Alisa and I had learned of the event after the registration deadline, but we had joined the waiting list, and when two players dropped out just a few weeks before the event we were offered their parts. "Here's Thomas Wyatt and Thomas Wolsey, which of you wants to be which?" I wound up with Wyatt mostly because we both felt that Wolsey would be a better physical fit for Alisa. In the morning of the last full day of the game all the plots shifted into high gear, as Henry announced that he wanted a divorce and furthermore that he wanted to split off England from the Catholic Church. (Again, this didn't happen in the real world until some years later.) I felt that Wyatt, especially given the close relationship he'd developed with Thomas More, would choose his Catholic faith over fealty to his king, and so I wrote and performed a passionate poem in praise of unity and peace, using as allegory the Bible story of Solomon and the baby. (Seriously. I wrote a poem. Seven stanzas, with an a-b-b-a rhyme scheme.) Again the tokens showered down, and furthermore some people told me their characters' minds were changed by it -- including Charles III de Bourbon! I was truly humbled by their reaction. Lots of other things were happening in my world at the same time. I was a member of a literary salon, and I wrote a satirical limerick to help expose the identity of an anonymous critic who'd been sending people nasty notes. (He got a black token from King François for that.) I was also a member of a secret occult/alchemical group who were investigating a mysterious death. The scene in which we took the culprit off into the bushes at night and exacted appropriate retribution was an emotional highlight of the event for me, and for others as well. The situation may have been made up and the points didn't really matter, but the emotions were real. I am not a person who cries a lot, usually, but I cried real tears at least five or six times during the game. And the fear I felt whenever I found myself in Henry's presence was just as real as the similar emotions I experienced when dealing with C-Suite officers in my years in high tech. So even though I didn't get the girl and I wasn't really a player in any of the big important plots (princes and princesses were betrothed, nobles gained and lost titles, territories were traded, and treaties were signed, but I wasn't involved in any of those except peripherally) I still had a whale of a time. I felt that I participated fully and made a difference to other players and other characters. At the end we all said our goodbyes and returned to our original century and countries, but there was a lot of "oh, will I see you at Fairwood Manor?" and other indications that the European LARP community is a lot like science fiction fandom. I'll be returning to Europe for more LARPs in 2024.

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writer-k-pop · 3 years

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Wedding Wonders

제 말 들으세요. 내가 갚을게. Mark my words. I will get payback.

Description: A few moments involving the Seventeen members and your wedding with Joshua. Warnings: None Genre: Fluff, Seventeen!Joshua x Fem!Reader Word Count: 2.5k

Seventeen Masterlist | Masterlists

"Woah, woah, woah." Hoshi grabbed the guest list from under my hands and held it out in front of him, inspecting it with squinted eyes.

"Hoshi..." Joshua said his name with caution as we both didn't know what was going through the younger's mind.

"Why is (y/n)'s side so small compared to yours?" Hoshi questioned, reading over each side's guests repeatedly.

Dino stepped next to Hoshi and looked at the list over the older's shoulder. "Yeah, hyung, you have SO many more people than she does. That's not fair."

Joshua and I chuckled.

"What do you mean it's not fair?" Joshua asked with a shake of his head.

"I just don't have as many friends." I explained to them with a nonchalant shrug. "Most of my guests are family and the few friends I have."

"You have more friends, right?" Wonwoo wondered, leaning forward in his seat.

I gave him a small shoulder raise and a head shake. "I really don't. That's pretty much it."

Seungkwan opened his mouth to protest but I was quick to cut him off.

"I've always been like that." I said to everyone in the group, "I just never had that many friends to begin with and I never needed more than the few that I had. Everyone who I wanted to invite was invited and those that are coming are on the guest list."

"Nope, we're changing this." Seungkwan shook his head and grabbed a pen from the table. He grabbed the list from Hoshi's still outstretched hands and laid it on the table for everyone to see.

I watched and felt the giggles rise in my throat as Seungkwan crossed out his name from Joshua's side and rewrote it under my side of the list.

"Who else wants to be on (y/n)'s side?" Seungkwan raised his head and looked at his other members.

Everyone except for Jeonghan, Dino, Mingyu, and Wonwoo raised their hands to be switched to my side of the guest list. Seungkwan quickly crossed off their names and rewrote them under my guest list.

"You guys do know that it doesn't really change anything, right?" Joshua questioned the members who raised their hands.

"It changed what side we sit on, and we want to sit on (y/n)'s side." Dokyeom stated with determination.

I smiled widely, "Thanks, guys, but aren't you technically Joshua's friends?"

Jun shook his head aggresively, "We know nothing about this Joshua guy you're marrying. Tell us everything we need to know so as some of your bestest friends, we can beat him up if he hurts you."

"We're both of your friends. And on your wedding day, we'll sit on your side to show everyone that we are for both of you." Seungcheol commented. "You're also our friend, (y/n)."

Vernon pointed two fingers at his eyes and then turned them towards Joshua. "You better watch out, hyung." He said with humorously serious tone, "I'm watching you."

Joshua raised both of his hands in surrender, "I will do whatever to avoid the wrath of the great Vernon." He joked which pulled laughter from all the members.

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

"One more, just like that." The photographer said as Joshua and I stood as still as statues in a pose that was starting to feel awkward. His lips were resting on my forehead and my cheeks were starting to tire from holding the 'soft' smile in place for so long.

"Alright," The photographer said after snapping a couple more photos, "All done." He announced and as soon as he stepped away, the twelve guys who were crowding around the doors pushed into the room with laughs and smiles and an excitement that had my own nerves buzzing like an electric fence.

"Joshua!" Jeonghan loudly said, "You look amazing!"

I watched as Hoshi took in Jeonghan's comment before he sucked in a big breath and nearly screamed, "(Y/N)! YOU LOOK ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!"

I chuckled as Jeonghan threw Hoshi a playful glare and felt Joshua chuckle beside me. The members gathered around us and kept cooing and giving us compliments on our attire.

"I can't believe Joshua is getting married!" Minghao said shaking Vernon's shoulder with the biggest smile on his face.

"You really picked out an amazing dress, (y/n)." Seungkwan commented and fluffed my skirt a little.

"Thank you." I giggled, suddenly very shy in front of the members even though I'd spent nearly everyday with them for the past few years. I could feel the heat rising to my cheeks and tried to cover it with the flower bouquet but Woozi caught me.

"She's blushing!" He pointed at my face which only made me blush harder. "She's embarrassed!" He laughed and Joshua wrapped an arm around me, pulling me closer as the others chuckled along.

"After all these years, this is the one moment she's embarrassed." Mingyu mused.

I pouted, "You guys never showered me with compliments like this before. It's weird." I told them but they all shook their heads.

"You're the weird one." Wonwoo concluded.

"But you're my weirdo." Joshua whispered into my ear before kissing my temple.

Before any of the guys could comment on the gesture, the photographer started giving instructions to capture some pictures with the members. Which then turned into a competition to who could pose the weirdest and pull the biggest laugh out of both Joshua and I.

Let's just say that Jun had something to brag about for the next couple weeks.

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

My hand was sweating around the bouquet of flowers I was gripping. The spotlights shone on my back and casted a shadow in front of me. And the only thing that was keeping me grounded in the midst of all my nervousness was Joshua's iron clad grip on my other hand.

Instead of going through the painstaking process of picking one of the members to officiate our ceremony, Joshua and I decided to choose one of my other guy friends so we could avoid all the hurt feelings among the Seventeen members. My friend stood in front of us, mic in hand, and was giving his short speech about how he met me and how he came to know Joshua.

"And now," He turned slightly towards Joshua, "If the groom would answer in a loud clear voice for the whole room to hear. Do you, Joshua Hong, promise to love, care, support, and be (y/n)'s best friend for the rest of your lives?"

Joshua inhaled before, in a loud, clear voice, saying, "I do!"

Immediately after he answers, the members sat on my side of the wedding hall suddenly erupted:

"AYE!" "What did he say?" "I couldn't hear you!" "That wasn't loud enough!" "Can you say it again?" "Joshua, you can do better!" "Pfffft! Weeeak!"

The other guests chuckled and I glanced over at Joshua who squeezed his eyes shut in embarrassment. Of course his members wouldn't let his day go on without a bit of teasing.

My friend looked at Joshua with laughter in his eyes, "The audience said they couldn't hear you. Once more, if you will, please." He suggested and Joshua sighed.

Taking a bigger breath, before quite literally screaming, "I DO!"

And instead of more comments, the members simply applauded his answer.

Then my friend turned to me and asked me the same question, in the same manner.

"Now if the bride will also answer in a loud clear voice. Do you, (y/n) (y/l/n), promise to love, care, support, and be Joshua's best friend for the rest of your life?" He asked with slightly raised eyebrows.

I breath in a breath, and in a similar volume to Joshua's first attempt, answered, "I do!"

The members from both sides, cheered, but unlike after Joshua's answer, they were cheers of joys and not a hint of teasing was sensed.

"Wahoo!" "Yeah!" "Beautiful!" "Perfect!"

Joshua scoffed under his breath as my shoulders relaxed. I gave his hand a small squeeze and he squeezed mine twice in reply.

The Seventeen members always knew how to make any event fun and memorable.

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

"Next we have a gift from the Seventeen members." My friend said, motioning towards the side of the stage.

My eyes widened in surprise because no one had mentioned they were preparing anything. Joshua and I shuffled and turned to face the side where the other members were gathering and giggling with each other as a few mics were handed to them to share.

"Joshua and (y/n). Congratulations and, guys, hands up." Seungcheol looked at the members to his left and right and they all raised their right hands, "We promise to always keep you two laughing and keep your children, whenever they come, smiling and protected."

"Yes, we do!" The other members yelled in unison just as the music to "Happy Ending" began to play through the speakers.

I leaned towards Joshua, "Did you know they were doing this?" I asked him.

"If I did, you know I would have stopped them." Joshua answered and it was clear that the members had left the both of us in the dark on purpose.

The members sang and bounced around together in their positions. I watched each member sing their part and they added some ridiculously exaggerated dance moves that had me giggling and laughing. Whenever Joshua's lines would come up, they'd all just scream the words at the top of their lungs which sent the whole hall into fits of laughter.

By the end of the song, I had tears in my eyes from laughing so hard. I sang along with the members not really caring that I was supposed to look cute for the pictures. It was way too much fun.

The last line of the song, the Seventeen members disregarded their idol image and screamed the last "ayo" while jumping and posing into the weirdest formation ever.

Hoshi was lying on the floor. Dokyeom and Minghao were acting like they were high school sweethearts. Wonwoo, Mingyu, and Woozi were saluting Joshua as if he was being sent into war. Seungcheol, Jeonghan, and Dino were huddled together, whispering and pointing at us like giggling high school girls. Jun, Vernon, and Seungkwan were aggressively doing jazz hands with smiles that almost looked painful.

I applauded and laughed at their poses while Joshua chuckled at his best friends ridiculousness.

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

"To the lady who suggested a train-less dress for the reception, you are a goddess." I said to the ceiling as I stepped out of the changing room.

Joshua was waiting outside the room and he smirked when he heard me.

"Was the wedding dress that much of a hassle?" He questioned.

I shook my head, "It just would've been awful to drag the train around all day." I answered him as he extended out his hand.

Grabbing his hand, he led me towards the reception hall where all our friends and family were enjoying a meal together. Also where we would make our rounds and thank everyone for coming to our ceremony.

"I would've carried the train for you." Joshua told me as we walked.

"Yeah, I know you would've." I replied, "Which is exactly why I'm thankful I got a dress without one."

"What? You don't think I would be strong carry that train for you?" He prodded the thought with a pout.

"I know you're strong enough." I rolled my eyes, squeezing his hand and leaning into him slightly, "But if you were carrying my train, you would be behind me, not next to me, like you are right now."

"Ah, I see." Joshua smirked, "So I'm just so good looking, you want to always look at me."

I barked out a laugh at his reasoning and played along. "That's definitely it, Josh."

We made our way around the large reception hall and thanked our guests for coming. Everyone complimented us and told us it was a beautiful wedding and we accepted it all with large smiles and my heart was so full of love it felt like it would have bursted.

When we reached the area where we sat our family and the Seventeen members, Seungkwan, Hoshi, Jun, and Dokyeom made a beeline for me.

They wrapped me up in a bear hug, effectively pulling me away from Joshua.

"Congratulations!" Dokyeom said, smiling like an idiot which only made me smile more.

"You looked and are looking amazing!" Hoshi commented.

"You did wonderful and oh my gosh! You're married now!" Seungkwan exclaimed.

"You're Mrs. Joshua Hong!" Jun added.

"I know!" I squealed, unable to contain my own excitement any longer.

I looked over at Joshua, who was surrounded by Mingyu, Wonwoo, Dino, and Jeonghan, all smiles and bright eyes.

"Oi," Joshua looked over at my little huddle of people, "What was all that about me not being loud enough. I was loud enough." He pouted slightly which made me giggle.

"You were not loud enough, hyung." Hoshi bantered.

"Yeah, we could barely hear you. And we were in the front row." Vernon joined in on the teasing.

"You guys just love playing me, don't you?" Joshua wondered with a defeated sigh.

"Always, hyung." Dino answered him. "And we're not ever going to stop."

"Great." Joshua said with an airy chuckle.

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

Joshua and I sat on the couch a couple weeks later, watching our recently acquired wedding video with a bowl of popcorn between the two of us. Our vows started in the video and Joshua groaned next to me.

"I hope they didn't include the-"

"AYE!" "What did he say?" "I couldn't hear you!" "That wasn't loud enough!" "Can you say it again?" "Joshua, you can do better!" “Pfffft! Weeeak!"

The members’ voices rang through the TV speakers and the camera zoomed in on the group of members with laughter and teasing written on their faces.

I laughed while Joshua rested his head in his hands as he was asked to repeat his answer in the video.

"Forever. That is forever recorded, and documented in this video." Joshua chuckled in dismay.

"You have to admit, they made the ceremony at least a little fun." I tried to reason with him through the remnants of my laughter.

My turn came up on the TV and it was then that we both realized that my answer was, in fact, not even close to the volume of either of Joshua's answers.

"That is-, you were not even as loud as me!" Joshua gestured at the TV. "Yet, they praised you and gave me shit."

I cuddled into his side and rested my chin his shoulder, "Just think, you can be apart of the next teasing party at the next wedding ceremony."

"How do you know there's gonna be another one?" Joshua glanced down at me with a questioning eyebrow.

I tilted my head slightly, "A certain leader may have come to me for engagement ring advice for his special someone."

"Seungcheol's proposing?!" Joshua exclaimed with wide eyes.

"Shhh." I pressed my finger against his lips, "Don't tell anyone. It's a surprise for literally everyone. He doesn't want anyone to know yet."

"My lips are sealed." Joshua 'zipped' his lips closed. "But, I'm getting payback at his wedding." He stated with determination. "Mark my words, Mrs. Hong. I will get payback. "

I smiled at his playfulness and pat his leg, "You do that, Mr. Hong, you do that."

#kpop #kpop imagine #seventeen #seventeen imagine #seventeen joshua imagine #seventeen joshua #joshua #hong joshua #joshua imagine #joshua hong imagine #joshua hong #writer-k-pop

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marvel-ousnesss · 4 years

Text

Hand in Hand

Pairing: Harry Styles x reader

Summary: Y/N and Harry the night of the Brits.

word count: 2806

masterlist

A/N: I wrote most of this on my phone so sorry for any typos or mistakes. Lots of love 💜💜💜

“Y/N, Y/N!”

You approached the source of the storm of voices with a wide grin on your face. You still couldn't hide the thrill that your fans brought you, nor you could stop yourself from just hanging with them for a bit. You ambled through the red carpet exchanging smiles and posing for selfies until you reached the end of the path.

When you stepped inside, you greeted a few other people who had arrived at the event and went to freshen up a bit so you could pose for some photos.

You looked at yourself in the mirror and grinned widely. You felt like the girl singing covers in her room, yet here you were, attending your first-ever music awards as a nominee —with one of the best albums of the year under your arm.

As you made your way back from the restroom, you felt a presence behind you. Before you could turn around, they spoke.

"Well hey, fancy seeing you here.” Harry's voice was raspy, tinted with mischief.

You stopped, turned toward him with an amused half-smile.

"Right back at you,” you joked back. “Do you come here often?"

He exhaled a fruity laugh and smiled at you, finally allowing his gaze to drift down onto your figure and then back to up to meet your own. "You look… wow."

He made you blush with almost no effort but you were quick to cover it up, doing your best to get rid of the tension that seemed to constantly glide around the two of you.

"Well, don't you look 'wow' yourself", you smirked.

It had been going on for a few months now; flirting here and there, hanging out at parties, and even a few dates which you had tried to keep out of the spotlight. Nevertheless, headlines hadn't stopped gushing on about 'the newest, freshest face of the industry' and the 'beloved, eclectic Harry Styles.'

Looping your arm around his you subtly prompted him to continue walking toward the awaiting cameras, where you were headed before bumping into him. He obliged, smoothly guiding you through the crowd of crew members, press, and artists.

After a moment of hesitation, his hand traveled to the small of your back. When you felt his tender fingers against the silk of your gown, you lifted your head to look at him.

"So, what’s the game-plan for tonight?”

“Y’know how ‘t goes,” he explained. “Step one: performance, step two: get hold of all the tiny statues, step three: world domination.”

You laughed, but insisted, “really, how’re you doing; ready?”

Even if he seemed to be perfectly collected, you knew that tonight’s show had his head spinning. This was gonna be his first live performance of the year, and, to be honest, you thought it was admirable that he decided to go through with it after what had happened that weekend.

“‘m just a mess of nerves and excitement right now. Tonight needs to be brilliant.”

He didn’t wanna talk about Caroline’s death and you were ok with it, so you didn’t push on the topic.

“I’m sure it’ll be. The whole album’s just amazing; and, you know, the guy who sings it isn’t that bad either.”

He chuckled lightly, then sighed, “just hope I make it justice.”

You smiled, “you will.”

That’s when you found yourselves between the gray wall upholstered with logos and brand names and the army of photographers equipped with cameras of all sizes.

You both faced them and quickly displayed your best angles.

Offering a smirk as he fixed the collar of his blazer, Harry asked, “what ‘bout you, eyes on the prize, I assume?”

You turned around with grace, so that the back of your outfit was visible, then faced the cameras over your shoulder.

“Well, yeah,” you sighed dramatically. “But, to be frank, I’m not sure I’ll be able to keep them there with you looking so dashingly handsome.”

His eyes widened for a second and he let out a ringing laugh, his cheeks reddening slightly. It was truly a beautiful sight. However, no longer than a moment later, he concealed the gentle blush with a snort and a devious grin, which he directed at the cameras.

“I know ’m irresistible, love,” he smirked. “And I hate to tell you this, but I‘m ‘a be professional tonight, no funny business.” His tone was dripping with feigned seriousness.

"Your loss," you flipped your hair.

_______

You guided Y/F/N to the table where your team had been placed. Being honest, she was thrilled to be there with you, but also quite surprised that you had honored the promise you both made back in middle school. When you had first told her about your YouTube channel —after a fair amount of bugging on her part—, she had shown complete support and joked about being your date to the met gala. But, as the met was still clearly out of your league and you had missed the Grammys because of your mom’s birthday, here you were.

She already knew your manager so you introduced her to the rest of them before taking a seat, ready to enjoy the rest of the evening.

The first few minutes were full of laughter and conversation. When the event officially began, you watched the presentations with a gaping mouth and cheered hastily when every award was presented.

Before you knew, it was already time for Harry’s performance. You bit the inside of your lip when he climbed upstage, effortlessly rocking a lace jumpsuit that gave a deific, but simple air to him.

“Can’t believe you turned that down to bring me,” your friend whispered to you.

“Seriously?, my first ever-awards were something I needed to share with you, dork.”

“Awww, friend.”

“Aww”, you mocked, then hit her shoulder lightly. “Shush, let me listen.”

Everything happening on stage was truly breathtaking. You mouthed the lyrics as your gaze followed his every move. His eyes were full of stars and his voice was so flooded with emotion that it made chills run down your spine.

“I’ll rip his throat out with my teeth if he ever fucks up.”

Those words somewhat pulled you out of your daze-like state. Part of you wanted to ask her what she meant, but it was no use. For her, you were an open book, so you didn’t even try to hide how bad you had fallen.

Only with a glance your way, Y/F/N managed to catch the way in which your eyes twinkled when you looked at him and the way you blushed ever so slightly when she brought him up.

You tried to conceal the impact of her words with a sip of your drink, to which she responded with a smug wink.

The following half an hour or so went by uneventful. You nearly fainted when Lizzo performed, and it didn’t get better when you discovered she was but a few tables away from you, next to where Harry had been placed. A couple of categories where presented and the moment you dreaded the most arrived.

Celeste was flawless on stage, and you couldn’t be happier for her. Yet, as you listened to her song, your brows were glued in a frown and the corners of your mouth seemed to weigh a ton. It was time for the rising star award, and then came international female solo —to which you had been nominated.

You turned your head to the side when you heard the scratching of a chair against the floor, and offered a quivering smile to Harry, who had not so discreetly sneaked to your table.

“Hey,” he mumbled, taking hold of one of your hands under the table.

“Hey.”

Celeste’s speech, which ended before you would’ve wanted, was followed by Sporty’s introduction to your category. You tried to stay positive as the nominees were announced.

Y/F/N managed to dodge Harry and get her hand on your shoulder. She gave him an awkward attempt of a smile, then looked at you. “You got this.”

You nodded at her words but, not so deep down, you knew this wasn’t gonna be your year.

“I’m so excited, they’re all so brilliant,” Sporty began.

Harry’s grip tightened on your hand while she opened the envelope, and you barely heard him mumble, “come on.”

That’s when the winner was announced. Billie’s name echoed through the speakers across the place and your face fell for a few seconds.

You were quick to recover and clapped just as eagerly as you had for the rest of the winners, but the smile plastered on your face quivered a bit as you swallowed a wave of disappointment.

That changed when she got to the stage, that’s when utter pride kicked in. While Billie said a few words in acceptance of the award, Jack Whitehall made his way to the table and squeezed a chair between you and Harry. You let out a snicker as he clumsily tried to sit comfortably, then you moved a bit back.

He was given his cue by the camera guy and began.

“Congratulations, to Billie Eilish! Now, I’m just so excited to be here with this power couple who, for some reason, are not officially a couple yet.”

"Glad to have you."

His eyes drifted between the two of you, then settled on Harry. “Harold, you’ve been coming to the brits for 10 years. Not to make you feel old.” Then he looked at you. “Y/N, on the other hand, this is your very first time here.”

"Yup," you chuckled. "Total newbie."

“Sorry for the stock question, but how’s it feeling so far? Kidding, we don’t wanna talk about that, do we? I bet you’ve already got at least five rehearsed versions of the answer to that question.”

You snorted.

“Let’s get to the point here.“ Jack leaned closer to the table, to which you responded by mimicking his posture. “Ever since the ‘Up All Night’ era, when Harold here was just a lad with his little bow tie and a mop on his hair, he’s been a ladies man.

Harry scoffed and waved his hand dismissively.

"And, as such, he can only be paired to someone like you,“ he pointed his finger at you in mock accusation, “my dear Y/N, who has been leaving a fair share of lads and ladies’ hearts broken —including my own— ever since your very flare-up on that strange platform which somehow houses both Rebecca Black’s ‘Friday’ and your phenomenal album ‘Tears of Blade’. However, putting my broken heart aside, I wanna Know… you didn’t come as each other’s date, why’s that?"

Harry took a sip of his drink, "I tried, but she turned me down."

Jack faked shock. "Should I get my hopes up then?"

"Oh no, none of that."You shook your head. "I just brought a friend tonight."

His mouth opened in realization, then he smirked, wiggling his brows. "Not to intrude, but… a special friend of yours or a friend friend."

You threw your head back, laughing, then said, "Jack, this is Y/F/N. Y/F/N, Jack."

"Hi." She stretched out her hand, which the host gladly took.

“I like the way your hand fits in mine,” he gushed.

——————————

You struggled to stay awake in the car to your place, your eyelids didn’t seem to be obeying you anymore and your head was feeling too heavy for you to lift. Harry chuckled when he looked at you, bringing you closer to him so you could use him as a pillow. For the rest of the ride, he quietly hummed to the music playing and did what he could to ignore the feeling of numbness that was beginning to invade his arm.

You woke up when the car stopped and raised your head, scanning your surroundings. When your gaze met Harry’s, you smiled. He grabbed your purse and helped you out of the car, then you both took the lift to your apartment.

"Make yourself at home," you said, taking off your coat and shoes.

"Thanks, love." He hanged his blazer on the rack by the door, together with his vest and the purple pashmina that adorned his neck.

After changing into some sweatpants and a t-shirt, you made your way to the living room and found Harry, neck deep into your fridge. That's when you recalled you hadn't done any grocery shopping.

"Tell me if you find something, my fridge's just sad to even look at," you jested, standing behind him.

"S'not that bad. I mean, carrots, beer, tortillas, we could do wonders out of this," he scoffed, still looking for something worth looting.

After no avail, he closed the door.

"Or… we could order pizza."

He chortled, "Y/N/N, we ate like an hour ago."

"Is that a yes or a no?"

He sighed, letting himself fall to the couch in fake exasperation. "Woman, you’re a bad influence." Now, that was a yes.

You giggled when he ended up sitting on the floor, then taunted, "worried your Gucci suits won’t fit you anymore?"

"Ha-ha very funny." Harry settled on the floor, grabbing one of the decorative pillows.

"C’ mere," he patted the spot beside him.

"The couch’s right there."

"So?"

"So?" you mocked, "you come here." You clumsily sat on the couch, but he grabbed your ankle and pulled you to the floor. You let out a squeal but, taking advantage of the boost he had given you, managed to place yourself on top of him, caging his body between yours and the couch.

You were about to gloat, but he placed a hand on your waist and used the weight of his body to push you back, turning the cards.

"You got me where you want me, what are you gonna do?" When you spoke, your voice came out quieter than intended.

Harry's hand found the hem of your shirt and he began tugging it faintly, brushing your skin ever so slightly. He looked at your lips for a moment, then your eyes.

"'Ve got a few ideas-" his words were drowned by the doorbell ringing.

"Fuck," he groaned, head burying in the crook of your neck. Your fingers curled around his silky locks, then you mumbled, "I have to get up, you know."

He grumbled something else, but you pushed him off you.

You received the pizza and locked the door, proceeding to put the cardboard box on the marble counter. As you cut the tape with a small knife, Harry joined you in the kitchen. Stepping behind you, he placed his hands on your sides and a kiss on the line where your neck met your shoulder.

"Patience is a virtue, Harold," you teased.

"Don't care."He rested his head on your shoulder but his hands carried on with the feathery strokes.

Just then, you opened the box and swiftly turned around, giving him a quick peck before stepping out of his grasp.

"Help yourself," you instructed while grabbing two beers from the fridge.

After giving him one, you took hold of a slice and walked toward your previous spot on the living room floor. "Don’t know bout you, but I’m starving."

Harry followed with the box in hand, after settling once again, he placed the box between the two of you and grabbed the remote control.

You shook your head and scoffed, "all that wailing and you're just as hungry as I am."

"Not my fault that the bloody doorbell killed the mood." He took another bite.

Three beers per head later, as the credits of Dirty Dancing rolled up the screen, the pizza had been discarded long ago. You hummed to the credits song as your head rested on his lap, enjoying the feeling of his hands playing with your hair.

"Thanks for tonight," he mused.

"What d'you mean?" You adjusted yourself so that you were looking up at him.

"Just, you know, "he hesitated, finding the words. "You made sure it was a great night."

Your mouth opened in realization before you smiled, lifting one of your hands to his cheek. “That's what 'm here for." Then you sat up, and joked, "besides, 's only fair to admit that, for a business night, it was fun."

"You break my heart, love" he sighed, "all your business partners get after parties like tonight’s?"

"Nah," you avowed, "just the cute ones."

"I'm relieved, then." He pulled you to him by the waist.

You beamed, throwing your head back, "you're unbelievable."

When you straightened up, after your laugh died down, his gaze found your lips once more and he leaned in. "Can I kiss you?"

Your hands moved up to the back of his neck and, without a word, you pressed your lips to his.

Requests open!

#harry styles blurb #harry styles imagines #harry styles fluff #harry styles imagine #Harry styles fics #Harry styles fic #Harry styles fanfics #harry styles fanfic #harry styles x you #harry styles x reader

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outoftowninac · 2 years

Text

HILDA CASSIDY

1931

Hilda Cassidy is a play in three acts by William Jordan Rapp, Henry Lieferant and Sylvia Lieferant.

In January 1931, producer A.H. Woods announced he had acquired the play and would star Pauline Lord. Fay Bainter was also mentioned for the lead. By the end of January, the title role was cast with Katherine Alexander. William Harrigan (son of Ned Harrigan of Harrigan and Hart) would co-star. Woods was still unsure if he would bring the play to Broadway soon - or hold it till next season.

The play takes place in the yard of a tenement on 3rd Avenue in New York City (Act I); the backroom of Tom Cassidy's Cigar Store (Act II); the Cassidy living-room (Act III).

Hilda Cassidy is the long-suffering wife of a loutish husband. He gets involved in bootlegging and goes to prison. When he comes out, he finds his now-grown daughter is to marry a man just like he used to be. Hilda, on the other hand, enables them to elope.

On February 17, 1931, the world premiere of Hilda Cassidy took place on the Subway Circuit at Brandt’s Windsor Theatre in Bronx NY. William A. Brady Jr. (son of the famous producer) staged the play.

Since the characters age of the course of the three acts, it was decided to rehearse a second, younger cast for Act Two, just in case the actors playing the characters were unconvincing as their younger selves.

The leading lady was profiled in the papers, listing her ‘likes’ and ‘dislikes’. Sounds like a very particular woman!

During the first two decades of the 20th century, Atlantic City was a hub of theatrical activity. But by 1931, only one theatre was presenting live legit theatre, and then only on a part-time basis. Atlantic City’s play incubator status had been usurped by the Subway Circuit.

Despite this, the play left the Bronx for Atlantic City, doing a week at Nixon’s Apollo Theatre on the Boardwalk opening February 23rd. Surely Broadway was next...

But that was not the case, as was reported as early as the beginning of 1931, producer Woods closed the play. His announced intent was to save it for the following season.

The play basically disappeared for two years. When it finally resurfaced, much had changed. One of the writers, William Jourdan Rapp, requested his name be taken off the play. The new production would be backed by Harold Stone and Bernard Kaplan, but they withdrew at the last minute, turning producing chores over to Robert Stephens Inc. The leading role would be played by Stella Adler, on loan from the Group Theatre. The Broadway production was to open on April 26th at the Martin Beck Theatre (now the Al Hirschfeld).

Just before the play started rehearsals, producers were unable to cast one key character: a wooden cigar store Indian. The second act takes place in a family-run cigar store, and what self-respecting tobacconist didn’t have a wooden Indian out front? Famed photographer Ansel Adams took the above photo in 1933, the same year the play was staged.

In addition to the missing wooden Indian, the set involved a turntable. Just as it had in the Bronx, the technical requirements of the play caused a slight delay in opening.

When it finally arrived, the opening night party was a Who's Who of music: Mrs. Irving Berlin, Wanda Toscaninl, Ira and George Gershwin, and Jascha Heifetz. The party was short-lived when the reviews came out.

“Hilda Cassidy is played by Stella Adler, a fine actress who is wholly unsuited to the demands of this part. She seems to have had good deal of trouble with her lines last night, but it was probably due to many last-minute changes In the script.” ~ ROWLAND FIELD

“It is far from being a play which will make history, and there are better shows in town.” ~ ALVIN J. KATTON

By Monday morning, May 7, 1933, Hilda Cassidy was gone after just 4 performances on Broadway.

#Hilda Cassidy #Stella Adler #Atlantic City #Nixon's Apollo Theatre #1931 #Broadway #Broadway Play #Martin Beck Theatre #Al Hirschfeld Theatre #Subway Circuit #Cigar Store Indian #Theatre #Stage

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gagosiangallery · 3 years

Text

Tatiana Trouvé at Gagosian 976 Madison Avenue, New York

August 18, 2021

TATIANA TROUVÉ From March to May

September 18–October 30, 2021 976 Madison Avenue, New York __________ When quarantine was announced, newspapers from countries around the world that were being ravaged by the pandemic took on new meaning. I began, each day, to draw on the front page of a newspaper—it was a way of escaping the confinement, and of being connected to the strange atmosphere that was spreading around the globe with the virus. This world tour via headlines and front pages was like a journey in reverse. Suddenly, I could no longer meet the world unless the world came to me, through the newspapers. —Tatiana Trouvé Gagosian is pleased to present From March to May, a never-before-seen body of work by Tatiana Trouvé produced in direct response to the pandemic era. At the beginning of the COVID-19 quarantine in March 2020, Trouvé, isolated in Paris, began a series of daily drawings using inkjet-printed reproductions of various international newspaper front pages as her starting point. As the pandemic marched on, spreading instability and uncertainty throughout the world, Trouvé continued to work ever more methodically in graphite, ink, and linseed oil. Trouvé’s project is linked to certain modernist traditions. Connecting daily realities to poetry and the Symbolist movement, Pablo Picasso utilized scraps of Le Figaro in Cubist drawings and collages that used aleatory haphazardness to literally dematerialize neatly formatted columns of type into a chaotic jumble. In Hannah Höch’s provocative collages, newspaper cut-ups represent a feminist challenge to and reclamation of society’s dominant images and narrative.

From March to May extends these themes and connects them to Trouvé’s own temporality, while also underscoring the role that technological reproduction and human intervention play in shaping aesthetic experience. In another departure from her modernist forebears, Trouvé’s drawings are fundamentally rooted in today’s digital age; they acknowledge the instant and universal connection that online newspaper editions provided during the pandemic. As print issues became increasingly difficult to obtain in a world halted by quarantine, it was the ubiquity of digital media that allowed the news to circulate into people’s homes and lives despite the constrictive realities of isolation, thus taking on an even more precious and profound status. Trouvé uses the newspaper like a serialized canvas, layering lines and figurative drawings over each formatted and printed front page from around the world. Beneath drawn and painted marks, ominous headlines swirl in and out of legibility, and familiar photographs mix surreally with Trouvé’s visions. Her drawings are both guided and interrupted by the arbitrary form of the printed page, inflecting the pragmatic character of newsprint with a dreamlike quality. In this suite of fifty-six works on paper, exterior and interior worlds fuse into one. Like Trouvé’s large-scale installations and sculptures, From March to May tests the exchange between memory and matter, combining abstract and quotidian elements. Sometimes immersive, sometimes setting the viewer at a distance, Trouvé’s art creates both real and imagined spaces that unsettle and distort standardized structures and perceptions of time. To mark the New York exhibition, Gagosian will produce a special edition of From March to May in the form of a newspaper, underscoring the medium’s persistent presence as a vehicle for engagement with the outside world at large. A conversation between Trouvé and Laura Hoptman, executive director of the Drawing Center, New York, will take place on Tuesday, September 21, 2021. Event registration details are forthcoming. Tatiana Trouvé was born in 1968 in Cosenza, Italy, and lives and works in Paris. Collections include the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Fonds national d’art contemporain, Paris; Musée d’Art moderne de la Ville de Paris; and Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zurich. Recent exhibitions include Double Bind, Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2007); 4 between 3 and 2, Centre Pompidou, Paris (2008); Il Grande Ritratto, Kunsthaus Graz, Austria (2010); I tempi doppi, Kunstmuseum Bonn, Germany (2014, traveled to Museion, Bolzano, Italy; and Kunsthalle Nürnberg, Nuremberg, Germany); The Longest Echo/L’écho le plus long, Musée d’art moderne et contemporain, Geneva (2014); Desire Lines, Doris C. Freedman Plaza, Central Park, New York (2015); L’Éclat de L’Absence, Le Numerose Irregolaritá, Villa Medici, Rome (2018); and The Great Atlas of Disorientation, Petach Tikva Museum of Art, Israel (2018). Trouvé is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Paul Ricard Prize (2001), Marcel Duchamp Prize (2007), ACACIA Prize (2014), and Rosa Schapire Kunstpreis (2019). The Residents, a site-specific installation by Trouvé for Artangel in Orford Ness, England, opened on July 1, 2021. A major solo exhibition at Centre Pompidou, Paris, will open in June 2022. _____ Tatiana Trouvé in her studio, Paris, 2021. Artwork © Tatiana Trouvé. Photo: Pushpin Films

#Tatiana Trouve #Gagosian

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neostriatum · 3 years

Text

All we are, and all we have...

[AO3] [Dreamwidth]

Title taken from these photos (archived version here) in one of photographer @rabbitinthemeadow's series. All Mando'a translated at the end.

Maul inhaled.

This was unusual, given his certainty that this time he had died. It had not quite been the death he had been craving, but it had been an honourable one at the hands of his arch-enemy, and the peace it had granted weighed heavily in his hearts despite their absurd insistence at beating.

Exhaling, he stretched his senses out into the Force. It was the surest way to place himself, and the thrum of the living against his mind was enough confirmation for him.

So. Alive again. And not even on Dathomir.

The walls of the palatial bedroom were obscenely Kryze’s, still holding the decorations and gilding he hadn’t the presence of mind to change early on in his reign. The confirmation laid bitterly on his tongue, and abruptly he was fed up with the idea of living on a planet he had already spent roughly twenty years on the first time.

The Force was a strange beast, and the idea that it could punish him by undoing so much of his life as he had breathed his last sounded about right. But- and he clenched the ridiculously expensive sheets in his grasp, but-

Light seeped into his skin, a thready but still present brush of warmth against his skin and senses. It reminded him of Kenobi, the gentle reassurance of peace as he died. It was almost cruel, how comforting the memory was, especially now that the destruction of the Jedi hadn’t happened yet.

His comm chirped, fracturing the euphoria of the revelation at hand. Maul clapped a hand to his mouth, not sure whether he was restraining a laugh or a sob. The Light was fracturing his resolve to the Sith, and all he could feel was relieved.

Forcing himself to steady, he pulled the comm to him, answering with a brusque, “Maul.”

Hope. What a strange feeling.

It was difficult, trying to undermine the goals Sidious had so deeply impressed on him that they were etched into his bones. But no longer did the man’s edicts reverberate in his lungs with every breath he took, filled instead were they with an unrestricted buoyancy that threatened to make him hover at the slightest provocation.

Was this how a Jedi felt? It baffled him, but also explained the way they seemed to flutter through the Force, a marvel of nature instead of a tragedy shaking the ground beneath their feet.

Meditation was at once easier and excruciating. The Force had always been a soul-sucking entropy, to be treaded carefully and yet bent to one’s will. But these shards of light burned, forcing growth in the holes in his soul that had been scraped raw where Sidious had laid claim. Where a grave once stood now blossomed a garden, and beauty caught his eye more often than grief as he accepted the Light making itself comfortable.

His thoughts strayed often, his deaths compounding and overlaid. Many times did he force himself to put his comm away, to restrain the urge to howl in the direction of Obi-Wan Kenobi and bring the entirety of the man’s formidable army upon Mandalore’s heads.

Perhaps, Maul pondered, it would provide suitable vengeance for Kenobi. To conquer the world of his once-lover and reassert balance sorely lacking in this galaxy.

The thought clung to his mind, a thorn catching on cloth, and it unraveled the loose plan. Kenobi - despite his once harshly-denied ties to the Dark - was not the type to exact his rage upon the world, no matter how deeply routed the ditch of grief ran in his heart.

No, only hope would attract hope. And Maul, with his own hearts still thudding painfully at the still-burning loss of his brother, knew Kenobi now better than the man himself did.

With a smirk, Maul gestured one of his soldiers close. There was a trap to be laid, and he knew just the bait.

Obi-Wan stared in bewilderment at the missive tied to the trooper in front of him. It was, to put it politely, unhinged chaos.

The trooper wasn’t even one of his - he had checked. And then handed the very long roster of the entire Third Systems Army to Cody to double-check. And then, on Anakin’s insistence, to R2.

“Well, Lieutenant,” He sighed apologetically, “It does indeed look like just a spot of bad luck.”

“If it helps, sir, I’ve got a clean bill of health.” Smoke offered, still looking a bit pole-axed to be in the same room as him and Cody, but faring rather well, all things considered.

Cody sighed even deeper than him, which had the expected impact of Smoke straightening his back to parade-perfect straightness. His commander waved the trooper back to at ease, pressing a thumb to his temple in an attempt to relieve the burgeoning migraine from this shit-show of a situation.

“Healthy except for a shaved head.” The commander commented, and wasn’t that the crux of it. No injuries, nor signs of surgery, though that was no guarantee given Smoke’s… transit time, and that in itself was a bundle of issues.

The good lieutenant shrugged, and, well- that did seem to be that. Only a lingering sign of sedation, but then being sent through the absurdly mundane postal system in an admittedly well-equipped box did carry that sort of assumption.

Helix, moving aside the privacy screens to perform another check on the trooper, patted them on the back, “Think about it this way, vod. You were important enough to be mailed first-class.”

Cody gave up all pretenses at maintaining an authoritative façade and groaned, “Usen’ye, vod.”

The medic made a wry, rude gesture back, chuckling. Helix clicked a few things on his datapad, and gestured to the trooper, “You’re good to go, vod. I’m recommending to put you on light duties in case anything crops up, but everything seems to be in order.”

“Oya!” Smoke grinned, looking forward to their unintentional vacation. Hopping off the cot, they grabbed their helmet and left, a bounce in their step.

“Well at least someone’s enjoying this,” Helix shook his head. He glanced at their Jedi, who was still scrutinizing the honest-to-gods paper that had come with Lieutenant Smoke, “What’s on that thing, anyway, General?”

Obi-Wan startled, smoothing his beard absently. “Oh, some sort of message,” He surmised, “I think someone’s asking for help.”

Cody grunted at that, sidling up to the general to peer over his shoulder. The message itself was in Mando’a, written neatly and precisely. “It is paper, though.” He said, “Are you able to-” “Check it for signatures?” Obi-Wan hummed, already switching the paper to one hand so he could remove the glove from his other. With glove sufficiently bitten and removed, the man mumbled, “Not quite as well as Quinlan.”

The two clones exchanged an amused look at the man’s single-minded intensity for a new discovery. It was dropped as quickly as the glove from their shocked general, a strangled gasp mingling with the dull thud of Obi-Wan’s glove as his hand laid as if riveted to the paper.

“General,” Cody said, tone stiff and demanding information.

Obi-Wan shook his head once, muttering the message out loud, a lilting cant to the words as he absorbed the new information. “K'olar, Kenobi. Jorhaa be mirjahaal.”

The intervening few moments were tense, and Cody wondered whether he should tap out an alert as a preemptive measure when his general’s gaze snapped to his. The blue eyes seemed to glow, something physically impossible for the man’s species and yet perfectly understandable for the scope of his mythological status.

It drew that familiar stirring of faith forth, and Cody nodding in acknowledgement. Whatever the General saw, he approved of, for he nodded back, seeming to fold himself back into his mortal form.

“Gentleman, I have a call to make.” Obi-Wan announced, “I believe we’re going to Mandalore.”

This lure of hope was maddening, tugging at his spirit in a fluctuating jerk of attention. Maul took to pacing more, which in turn drew the attention of Kyr'tsad and the few New Mandalorians that lingered in Kryze’s court.

“Alor.” Bo Katan interrupted him while he prowled in search of some way to release all of this damnably energy. Sparring had ceased to entertain him days ago, the thorough victories and the sheer fact that his rage was no longer reliable fuel.

Brave warrior that she was, the Kryze sister merely stared placidly back at his scowl. “Who is it, precisely, that we are expecting? There are rumors growing, and it would be better to quell the dissent.”

He exhaled sharply, feeling the burning warmth of the Light sinking deeper with the action. “Haatyc or'arue jate'shya ori'sol aru'ike nuhaatyc,” He chided her, a distant part of him relishing her shock at his smooth handling of this system’s language. “We are heading into a war, Kryze. And I have invited a powerful ally to bring us all to glory again.”

It was interesting, how stark the hope was that flooded his senses. And pleasing - for Maul was right. Hope brings hope, and only shall it grow when given room.

He felt the insistent tendrils of Light settling in his own hearts, and smirked at joyful look that greeted him.

Obi-Wan felt it difficult to meditate. He sighed, glancing in the direction of his desk, where that damnable paper was carefully stowed away.

The Force was an insistent swell, burgeoning with ultimately welcome but distinctly unhelpful feelings like joy and anticipation. He appreciated the encouragement to rest his worries, but feeling the remnants of Maul’s Force signature was only ever going to be unsettling.

Should he trust the sincerity ringing forth from Maul’s message? It wasn’t something that could be easily faked, but then specialists in Force artefacts like Quinlan were too far away for a quick consultation, and whatever was brewing now on Mandalore, it needed immediate attention.

Anakin was worried, and that in turn set himself on edge, dredging up the feeling of Satine’s cooling body in his arms and how much it had hurt to breathe through the fracturing of his heart.

And now, exactly like last time, Maul was at the center of it. But now, only Maul was at the center of it.

That in itself was a quandary, for Maul had become so prevalently obsessed with him since their first fight on Naboo. Not that Obi-Wan could say much, for a twin flame burned in his own spirit at the mere thought of the other man. Grief at lost opportunities, yes, but now he had to contend with an overture of… what?

Peace? Was that what Maul truly wanted, now? The Force seemed insistent that it was no lie, and the Force had never led him astray, no matter how confusing the path.

He inhaled, loosing his spirit into the currents of the Force once more. One tone stayed with him, and it was the consistent feeling of hope.

Whatever it was, it would be alright. Obi-Wan had to trust that.

Entering the Mandalore system was nerve-wracking on its own, their only steering the stark thread of faith beating along with Obi-Wan’s heart. With Cody at his right hand, and Anakin at his left, he managed to feel unmoored from the reality of how quickly access was granted to the Negotiator as they made their way to the capital planet.

His troops seemed to sense that they were about to escort their general into some battle they couldn’t accompany, and the Force surged with the echo of their prayers as they worked in calm, professional tandem. Obi-Wan found that his heart had room to swell in pride, listening to their manda as they passed checkpoint after checkpoint.

Eventually, though, all good things must come to an end, and he regretfully withdrew from the jatne manda his troopers unintentionally enveloped him in. He inhaled, steeling himself for the upcoming meeting.

“Olarom at Manda’yaim.” Echoed through the Bridge from Mandalore’s flight control.

Obi-Wan nodded in acknowledgement, clapping a hand to Anakin’s shoulder with a smile at the press of well-wishing from his old padawan. He met his commander’s eye, watching the man draw himself up in anticipation.

“You have the bridge, Commander,” He ordered, knowing that the Negotiator and everyone on it was in the safest hands they could possible be.

“K'oyacyi, General.” Cody assured him. The Force bolstered his commander’s sentiments, and Obi-Wan found himself smiling.

“I will, Commander.”

Although their assigned diplomatic partner was… unusual, Obi-Wan had still insisted on peacetime protocol rather than the loose-handed play at reconnaissance and body-guarding the 212th had become accustomed to during their general’s usual diplomacy. It had brought sour looks to even the High Council when they had convened at his request, but if Obi-Wan was going to throw all of his faith into the Force’s will, then he was going to follow its pull to the letter.

And with that notion in hand, he arrived with only a complimentary guard and his lightsaber as bodily protection, armor shed and cloak donned. It almost made him nostalgic for the first time he and his master had arrived, guileless but with heightened awareness.

The trip to Sundari was mostly quiet, and it felt good to practice his Mando’a with those who had grown up through the same Mandalorian turmoil as he had, a common ground by which to foster good relations with the guards accompanying him. The variety of dialects was pleasing, and the stories fulfilling.

It made him miss with distinct fervor his own troopers, the camaraderie so similar it was at once dissociative and yet yaim’la. The guards were attempting to be polite to their Alor’s guest, but curiosity was a trait every sentient shared, and so Obi-Wan whiled away the time between his shuttle’s designated landing spot and the palace by sharing tales of home and the front lines, cultivating rapport in the manner he had learned as a Padawan.

The flutter of hope settled warmly across his shoulders with each smile and laugh, Mando’a settling on his tongue as if it had never left from that year traversing the system with Qui-Gon and Satine.

(Maybe Anakin did have a point about that year here.)

New friends tentatively made, they traversed the corridors to deliver Obi-Wan to a very familiar room. Bo Katan Kryze lounged in front of the closed doors, a moue twisting her features despite the curiosity burning in her eyes.

“Kenobi.” “Lady Kryze.”

She scoffed, but stood aside with a nod of her head that still managed a respectful tilt. He nodded to her, feeling the mantle of the Force’s direction settle in his bones.

It was time to see what Maul wanted.

For all his planning and treading the edges of Sidious’ intimidating scope of influence, Maul still couldn’t help the stutter of his breath as Obi-Wan Kenobi walked through the doors of this room exactly as he had hoped.

He had abandoned the idea of the throne room as soon as it had occurred to him and his overeager advisors. They were meant to meet on equal grounds, and this antiquated room with its oblong table, seats of the same height, and walls illustrated by tapestries of famous monarchs past would make its mark.

The impression was certainly gathered by Kenobi, curiosity flitting across his face as he recognized that this was neither throne room nor the one more popular for meetings with advisors. He gestured for the other to sit across from him, taking his own seat.

In lieu of speaking, Kenobi instead pulled the missive out of his pocket, sliding it across the table with a flick of his fingers until it sat in the middle, slouching in his chair.

“Tion gar vercopaan par ... me'jorbe?” The Jedi drawled in askance, “Jorhaa'ir be mirjahaal?”

Maul ticked a brow upwards, catching how loaded the tension was between them. He leaned back himself, matching Kenobi’s posture. “Elek. Haatyc or'arue jate'shya ori'sol aru'ike nuhaatyc.”

And that irrevocably caught Kenobi’s attention, a considering frown and nudging at his shields the other’s reply. Maul lowered some of them, where the Light was the most enduring, and felt the ripple of stupor from Kenobi at the revelation. The Force bounded between both of them, a thought-quick upending of expectations.

Kenobi broke his gaze, glancing around the room before twirling a finger. He nodded, flicking his wrist in dismissal.

The Jedi leaned forward, “Sidious.”

Maul leaned with him, “Is Palpatine.”

Kenobi made a punched-out sound, not questioning the answer as he tugged at his beard. The Force was an insistent undulation over his senses, now, the familiar press of the Jedi’s signature settled against his own as the other man thought.

It reminded him of the last time he had died, weariness eclipsed by the Light and Kenobi’s own spirit as he was sent off. The sensation coaxed him to close his eyes, mellowed by the reassurance that Kenobi was taking significant part in the future.

He drifted in the Force for a while, buoyed by the Light surrounding and binding him. It was calm, a gentle warmth while he waited for his next directive.

Peaceful.

And interrupted by a firm hand on his shoulder, somnolence shaken from him with determination by Kenobi himself.

“Maul. Maul.” The Jedi called to him, looking altogether too relieved for an accidental meditation. “I was about to call for your guards. Are you alright?”

He gusted out a sigh, ascribing the trembling in his hand as he grabbed Kenobi’s to weariness. While the Force still sung to him, a clarion call of peace that rung in his ears, Kenobi’s presence pressed more forcefully upon him, a rousing direction to bring his senses to bear.

“I’m fine, Kenobi.” He muttered, sitting up and ignoring the way the other helped him do so. The nudge the Force made to speak the truth, however, wasn’t so ignored, “It is no easy thing to change alliances in the Force, Jedi. Not for a Sith.”

The searching, concerned look he bore as gracefully as he could, pulling the paper on the table toward them both. Maul read the words he wrote once more, turning to hand it to Kenobi.

“I can bend Mandalore to my will, Kenobi.” He said, firmly twisting his words together with his memories of the Jedi Purge, “But it will be more difficult to bend your army to yours. We have a common enemy, and I will help you with this.”

“Because they will not listen to me?” Kenobi questioned, frowning.

“Because their will is not their own,” Maul corrected, withdrawing the control chip from a pocket, holding it up and watching the pieces come together on the other’s face, “This is in every clone’s brain. It is Sidious’ doing.”

The lash of Dark intention was unnerving, not only from its originator, but also how aberrantly different it was from the Light he had grown accustomed to. It sat bitterly on his mind, but heartened him at the resolve this Jedi tempered himself into before his own eyes, how similar it was to their last meeting on Tatooine.

It was that blend, that knife-edge Kenobi strode, that spoke hope to his senses. And it made him smile, bouncing that emotion back at the Jedi before him, something real and earnest that drew a sigh and tentative smile from Kenobi.

“You removed one.” Kenobi stated, a cunning light in his eyes. “How do we remove the rest?”

Maul grinned, “Very carefully.”

Mando'a Translations

Usen'ye, vod - Piss off, mate

Oya - Many meanings: literally *Let's hunt!* and also *Stay alive!*, but also *Hoorah!*, *Go you!*, *Cheers!* Always positive and triumphant.

K'olar, Kenobi. Jorhaa be mirjahaal. - Come, Kenobi. Speak of peace. -- mirjahal - peace of mind, *healing*, general term for emotional well-being especially after a trauma or bereavement

Kyr'tsad - Death Watch (lit. Death Society) - breakaway Mandalorian sect

Alor - leader, chief, *officer*, constable, boss

Haatyc or'arue jate'shya ori'sol aru'ike nuhaatyc - Better one big enemy that you can see than many small ones that you can't. (Mandalorian proverb.)

manda - the collective soul or heaven - the state of being Mandalorian in mind, body and spirit - also supreme, overarching, guardian-like

jatne manda - good mood - a complex sense of being at one with your clan and life

Olarom at Manda’yaim - Welcome to Mandalore

K'oyacyi - 1. *Cheers!* 2. Can also mean: *Hang in there* or 3. *Come back safely.* Literally, a command; *Stay alive!*

yaim'la - comfortable, familiar, sense of *at home*. Can also mean local to the speaker.

Tion gar vercopaan par... me'jorbe? - You wish for... what reason?

Jorhaa’ir be mirjahaal? - To speak for peace (of mind)? -- mirjahal - peace of mind, *healing*, general term for emotional well-being especially after a trauma or bereavement

Elek - yes

#star wars #darth maul #obi wan kenobi #commander cody #clone troopers #bo katan kryze #my story

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theydontknowaboutusimagines · 4 years

Text

Stone Cold - Harry Styles Blurb

Based on the song Stone Cold by Demi Lovato

Falling in love is a part of life and so is breaking up, unfortunately. It’s totally normal to experience one or two breakups in your life. And with breakups come seeing your ex with someone new. That part of the process is always a flood of emotions, but when that moment is practically everywhere and constantly in your face it’s annoying. Especially, when you’re still in love with that person and aren’t over them.

And that’s exactly what you were going through. You were at home watching a movie and just having a chill and relaxing night. Eventually, you were thing bored with the movie, so you grabbed your phone and start scrolling your different social media. It was then when you first saw it.

Photos and videos of your ex boyfriend out with someone else and rumored to be dating them. Now, this didn’t exactly mean anything because being in the spotlight usually meant that anyone you were photographed next to or spending time with brought an onset of romance rumors. But despite knowing that, just by watching the videos and seeing the photos, you knew they weren’t just friends and it wasn’t just rumors.

You put your phone down as you gathered your emotions, but it was like a car accident, you kept having to look. You spent over an hour reading tweets and seeing more and more photos of them together until you couldn’t take it anymore.

It had only been three months since the two of you broke up. You were still a mess over it. You found yourself crying yourself to sleep a few nights a week because you didn't like the silence of being alone or the how empty the bed felt without him laying next to you. You got up from the couch, pacing around the living room, before making your way over to pour yourself something to drink.

The warm amber liquid burned your throat as you downed the drink in your hand. It was getting late and you should go to bed, but there was no way you would be getting any sleep without seeing them together in your head. You poured yourself another glass, holding it in one hand, while you held your phone in the other.

You continued to pace around the room as your finger hovered over the call button on his contact. You bit your lip as you hesitated over the decision to call him or not. You hadn’t spoken since the breakup and you moved back into your house. You had thought about reaching out to him over the last few months, but you never did.

It would look bad for you to do it now. You would look jealous, which you were, but still. You sighed downing the rest of the whiskey in your glass and locking your phone before heading into the bedroom.

Six months. You’ve been seeing photos and rumors of Harry and his new girlfriend out and about for six months. You thought it would get easier, but it only to worse. In fact, it made moving on yourself even harder. You tried dating again, but it never went past a first date. He was on tour and she was at his shows.

Something you used to do. Well, when you weren’t on your own tour that is. Your friends and family tried telling you to move on. It was obviously he had moved on and it wasn’t fair to you to keep living in the past. But you couldn’t. It didn’t matter what you did the only thing you could focus on was what the two of you had.

Maybe it would have been easier if the breakup was brutal. If there was a huge fight or cheating involved, but no. It was just... a breakup. Lack of seeing each other, distance, struggling communication. A mixture of things that could have been fixed had the two of you been willing to fight for it.

It was that reason you couldn’t move on because deep down you wanted to fight for him, for your relationship, but you were exhausted. You needed some time, but then he went and found someone else. Not even giving you or your relationship a single thought. That was the very reason you needed to move on and you are going to do so in the only way you knew how.

By putting all of your feelings, thoughts, and emotions into a song. You poured yourself a glass of whiskey on the rocks and sat down at your piano in your music room. You sat the glass and your phone on the top of the piano before taking a deep breath. You closed your eyes placing your hands on the keys. You didn’t really have a melody in mind, only that you knew you wanted it to be on the slower side.

You messed around on the keys for a few minutes before finding a sound you could work with. You played around with it for a bit before started singing out some lyrics that came to mind. You stayed there for the rest of the night working on the song.

Fast-forward a few months and you were ready to release the song, along with the album. It was going to be a surprise drop, no promo, no official announcement. You were just going to drop the video along with the song on social media and let it go. The music video was simple, painful, and moving, just like the song.

You were mostly sitting at the piano, playing it, as you sang the song. A few different scenes were mixed and it was filmed in black and white. The final shot was you crying and wiping away the tears before the shot faded away. The tears were real and weren’t planned, but a reaction to performing the song.

When you recorded it, it took several takes because your voice kept breaking or cracking when it came to the high notes. You cried watching it back or anytime listening to it, but that was the only time. You finally felt yourself slowly getting back to yourself.

Harry was still with her and he seemed happy. Your mutual friends confirmed it and that was really made you go ahead with the song. You still loved him, more than anything, but it was selfish of you to want him if he wasn't happy with you. You just wanted him to be happy and if that was with her or someone else, then so be it.

You pasted the link onto your status and quickly pressed the post button before you could change your mind. You did it late enough that you could go to bed, so that you wouldn’t tempted to wait for the reaction. You turned off your phone and climbed into bed, hoping you didn’t regret anything by morning.

The next morning you woke up earlier than normal. Mostly from nerves on wondering what the reaction was going to be to the song. You rolled out of bed and did your morning routine a little quicker than normal before turning your phone and opening your social media.

Your notifications were through the roof and there were several trends regarding you and the song. There were also a few trends with your and Harry’s name it in. You knew people would put two and two together and you knew Harry would as well. You were more than prepared to take that on, or at least you thought.

As you read through the comments, you couldn’t help, but smile. It definitely eased the nerves enough for you to go on about your morning. You took a break from the comments and went into the kitchen to pour yourself some water and figure out what you want for breakfast.

in the midst of this, your heard your phone ding. Thinking it was more notifications, you ignored it as you gathered ingredients for a breakfast burrito and sat them on the counter. However, shortly after your phone started ringing, meaning someone was calling you. You figured it was your manager or someone from your team. There was probably loads of calls for interviews and whatnot, so you reached over to answer it, not bothering to look at the Caller ID.

“Hello?” You smiled into the phone.

“Hey, Y/N,” The person on the other line said softly.

You felt the blood leaving your face as it turned pale. Your mouth fell open while the phone slipped from your grasp. The person on the other line was none other than Harry.

Dun. Dun. Dun. Will it be a happy ending? Or no? What do you think will happen? What do you want to happen? Let me know and there may be a part 2! ;)

#One Direction Imagines #Harry Styles Imagines #Harry Styles One shots

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howaminotinthestrokesyet · 3 years

Text

Behind The Album: Nevermind

The second studio album from Nirvana was released in September 1991 via DGC Records. This release would be their first on that label, as well as the first album to feature new drummer Dave Grohl. The album initially begin as a project for Sub Pop with producer Butch Vig attached to it at the suggestion of the label. They traveled to Madison, Wisconsin to record at Vig’s studio in early April 1990. At this time, the group recorded eight tracks including “Lithium,” “Breed,” “In Bloom,” and others, but Cobain was still working on more material for the record. On April 6, the band played a local show in Madison, but the singer strained his voice putting on hold temporarily the recording sessions as they had a short Midwestern tour that same week. After the tour, drummer Chad Channing announced his departure from the group putting everything on hold once again. Krist Novoselic and Cobain had seen the band Scream featuring drummer Dave Grohl and were impressed by his playing. By lucky coincidence, his group broke up around that same time. Grohl contacted Novoselic to see about an audition. He would join the band shortly thereafter as the bass player would say with Dave “everything fell into place.”

By this time, Sub Pop continued to have major financial difficulty, which worried the group. Cobain made the decision to forgo working with such an independent label, but instead signing with a major record company. After shopping around for a few months, they signed with Geffen Records imprint DGC after a recommendation by Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth. The label would suggest a number of producers for the second album, but Nirvana held out to continue to work with Butch Vig. The reason behind this came in the fact that they were comfortable with him. Another factor was that he did not ask for percentage points upon the release of any album. The group recorded the LP at Sound City Studios in Van Nuys, California in May and June 1991. In an interesting twist, they needed gas money to actually get to the studio to begin recording, so the band played a show for extra money where “Smells Like Teen Spirit” would be performed for the first time. The other new song that had not been worked on in the previous sessions was “Come As You Are.” The recording sessions lasted 8 to 10 hours a day as Grohl and Novoselic completed their parts in a matter of days. Cobain‘s work took a little bit longer as he added more guitar parts and put the finishing touches on the vocals. He would sometimes only finish writing lyrics just before he would sing them for the album. Butch Vig would say that he only could convince Cobain to double track his vocals when he told the singer that John Lennon used to do it. The producer expressed frustration with the Nirvana frontman. “He'd be great for an hour, and then he'd sit in a corner and say nothing for an hour." Nirvana was unhappy with the first few mixes of the album after they finished recording. They made the decision to bring in another producer to do the mixing. Eventually, they decided to bring in Andy Wallace, who had worked on Slayer’s 1990 album. Krist Novoselic she would say, “We said, 'right on,' because those Slayer records were so heavy." Nevermind would be mastered at the Mastering Lab in Hollywood. Howie Weinberg began working on the record despite the fact that nobody else from the band had arrived yet. By the time everyone had gotten there, he was essentially done. After the release of the record, the band expressed a tremendous amount of dissatisfaction with how it sounded. Everyone in the group felt that it was too commercial. Kurt Cobain said, “Looking back on the production of Nevermind, I'm embarrassed by it now. It's closer to a Mötley Crüe record than it is a punk rock record." Butch Vig would later say in an interview that it was the artist in Cobain that made him complain like that. One simply could not say in public thank you for helping to create an album that sold 10 million copies.

The major influences for Kurt Cobain during the writing of Nevermind were Pixies , the Smithereens, REM, and the Melvins. He intentionally wanted to emphasize melody in a much more emphatic way on this album. A key development came when they released the single “Sliver” before Grohl had even joined the group. The singer said it “was like a statement in a way. I had to write a pop song and release it on a single to prepare people for the next record. I wanted to write more songs like that." His goal from the onset was to write power chords that could be combined with punk rock guitar riffs. He would use the example of trying to combine the Knack or Bay City Rollers with Black Flag. One new feature of the music on the album emerges in the band's employment of extreme dynamics, meaning that there exist abrupt changes from quiet to loud verses. Guitar World would say this about Cobain‘s playing on this album. “Kurt Cobain's guitar sound on Nirvana's Nevermind set the tone for Nineties rock music." Dave Grohl would later say that the singer always stressed that the music came first, not the lyrics. He was still writing lyrics halfway through the recording of Nevermind, while Vig has said that some of the lyrics are inaudible anyway. "Even though you couldn't quite tell what he was singing about, you knew it was intense as hell." Later on, Cobain would complain about journalists trying to understand him through his lyrics. “Why in the hell do journalists insist on coming up with a second-rate Freudian evaluation of my lyrics, when 90 percent of the time they've transcribed them incorrectly?" Charles R. Cross, author of the Cobain biography Heavier Than Heaven, would claim in his book that half of the songs on Nevermind are about Kurt Cobain‘s ex-girlfriend Toby Vail. The first line of “Drain You” was something that she had actually said to him, “One baby to another said 'I'm lucky to have met you.” He modified the lyrics to “Lithium,” which had been written prior to meeting her in order to reference his relationship with her. The phrase “Smells Like Teen Spirit” was something that she came up with while living with Cobain. It was originally meant as a joke, but the singer took it as some sort of revolutionary phrase. Krist Novoselic would later comment that the track “Lounge Act” is undoubtedly about Vail.

The working title of the album had been Sheep, which Cobain thought represented a funny inside joke as to who would buy the album. The origin of that title comes from the public's reaction to Operation Desert Storm. The singer decided to change it to Nevermind because he also liked the fact it was grammatically incorrect and symbolized how he felt about life. Nevermind also referenced one of Cobain’s favorite albums by the Sex Pistols, Never Mind the Bollocks. He does mention the title once in the track “Smells Like Teen Spirit:” “oh well, whatever, never mind.”

The famous cover of the album was conceived by Cobain as well after watching a television show with Dave Grohl about water births. They first tried stock footage of water births, but the images were much too graphic for an album cover. They finally found at least one photo that may work, but the company wanted $7500 to use the photo. Finally, a photographer went to a pool to find a baby for the picture. The actual baby they found was someone named Spencer Elden, the son of a friend of the photographer. Eldonwood recreated that picture for subsequent anniversary photos for the album throughout the years.

The album debuted at 144 on the Billboard charts, but by January the record was number one in the country. The success of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” saw the demand for the album spiral in such a way that the record company could not keep up with the demand for a time. Geffen Records needed to stop printing any other albums released around the same time, so they could make more of Nevermind. At its height, Nevermind sold 300,000 copies a week. The LP would be certified platinum in November 1991, a mere 13 months after its release. The president of Geffen Records would say this to the New York Times. “We didn't do anything. It was just one of those 'Get out of the way and duck' records." The members of Nirvana seemed relatively unconcerned about the success of the album as Novoselic would say in an interview that achieving gold record status was cool, but not that important to him. By the time of their European tour in 1992, the sales of the album made any marketing ideas previously planned by the record label to be unusable.

Another interesting thing that came about through the phenomenal popularity of the album was the fact that not many places actually reviewed the album at first. Most of the reviews remained positive, but they seemed to stress the potential of the band. Entertainment Weekly’s David Browne would give the album an A minus, while the New York Times would say, “With 'Nevermind,' Nirvana has certainly succeeded. There are enough intriguing textures, mood shifts, instrumental snippets and inventive word plays to provide for hours of entertainment." The best review probably came from Everett True of Melody Maker, who had this to say. “When Nirvana released Bleach all those years ago, the more sussed among us figured they had the potential to make an album that would blow every other contender away. My God have they proved us right.” Not everyone loved the album though as evidenced by the Boston Globe saying that the record was for the most part generic punk rock. The greatest achievement of Nevermind was the fact that the record brought Seattle grunge, which later became alternative music, into the mainstream. The bands, the fashion, the culture that existed in Seattle now had made its way to Madison Avenue. The album led to the success of other groups like Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Smashing Pumpkins, and so many more. Please check out the article later in this book on the story of grunge for further discussion on the cultural legacy of Nevermind. Rolling Stone named the album number six in its 2020 list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, as well as number one on its list of the Greatest Albums of the 1990’s. In 2001, VH1 would poll over 500 rock writers and journalists for the greatest albums of all time, which led to their choice of Nevermind as the number one album. In 2005, the record was added to the national record registry put together by the Library of Congress. Even Pitchfork would name the album number six for the decade of the 1990’s. The site wrote, “Anyone who hates this record today is just trying to be cool, and needs to be trying harder."

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LWK + PARTNERS Architects, Hong Kong

LWK + PARTNERS Architects, Building, HK Design Studio Images, Architecture Office China

LWK + PARTNERS Hong Kong Architects

Contemporary HK Architect Practice – Chinese Design Studio Info + News

post updated 24 September 2021

LWK + PARTNERS Architects News

24 Sep 2021 Two LWK + PARTNERS projects earn esteemed recognitions at The Global RLI Awards 2021

LWK + PARTNERS is pleased to announce that two of the firm’s design projects in China won distinguished acclaims at world-renowned The Global RLI Awards 2021. The awards were announced in a hybrid presentation ceremony held in London on 23 September.

Zijing Paradise Walk, Hangzhou, China • RLI Most Innovative Retail & Entertainment Project (Highly Commended)

Designed with culture and wellness themes, this shopping mall freshens up the local retail scene with playful references to village life, Hui-style architecture and traditional Chinese gardens. Not only is the building aesthetically pleasing, but it also provides cool shades for passers-by with shifting and cantilevered forms.

image courtesy of architects Zijing Paradise Walk, Hangzhou

MixC Dongguan Songshan Lake District Mixed Use Development, Dongguan, China • RLI Future Project (Highly Commended)

The project is conceived as a catalyst of urban transformation turning a sub-urban industrial landscape to a robust lifestyle and cultural hub. Featuring diverse energising public spaces and multifarious greenery, the project also benefits the community with premium apartments and commercial facilities.

Ferdinand Cheung, Director of LWK + PARTNERS, joined the ceremony online and noted: “I would like to thank RLI and the jury for the recognition. Credits to the team for their continuous efforts through the challenges in both projects. We also look forward to the completion of the MixC project in Dongguan.”

The Global RLI Awards celebrates the most visionary and innovative retail and leisure concepts from across the globe. Since its inception 16 years ago, it has been regarded as one of the world’s most representative award programmes in the sector.

8 Sep 2021 LWK + PARTNERS Zero energy buildings design image courtesy of LWK + PARTNERS LWK + PARTNERS Zero energy buildings design Building construction and operations make up 38% of the world’s energy-related CO2 emissions, according to the 2020 Global Status Report for Buildings and Construction published by UN Environment Programme. To significantly decarbonise our buildings, one of the key innovations being actively explored by architects is the idea of a ‘zero energy building’, which has attracted much discussion across the building industry and academia and is now increasingly seen as critical for the future sustainable smart cities.

8 July 2021 Green Shore Residence Phase II, tip of Luoxi Island in Panyu, Guangzhou, south eastern China image courtesy of architects office Green Shore Residence, Luoxi Island Cities, as they develop, are known to leave their mark on the skylines. Green Shore Residence Phase II, a top-end luxury residence in Guangzhou, China designed by LWK + PARTNERS, is an architectural response to the relationship between the island and city where it resides.

31 May 2021 Asia Pacific Property Awards 2021-2022 News

Five projects by LWK + PARTNERS have attained honourable titles, including three 5-Star and two Winner, at Asia Pacific Property Awards 2021-2022. One of the projects, Tsuen Wan Sports Centre, Hong Kong, China is also Nominee of Best Leisure Architecture Asia Pacific, competing with other top projects for the region’s best. The virtual ceremony was held on 28 May 2021.

Tsuen Wan Sports Centre, Hong Kong, China: image courtesy of architects

LWK + PARTNERS Asia Pacific Property Awards 2021

29 Oct 2020 Radisson Collection Resort, Nanjing, China Design: LWK + PARTNERS image courtesy of architects Radisson Collection Resort Nanjing The low-rise resort complex consists of 151 deluxe guest rooms and suites, accompanied by comprehensive amenities like a lobby bar, all-day dining restaurant, Chinese restaurant, executive lounge, function rooms, meeting rooms, a fitness centre, swimming pool and spa.

20 October 2020 Streets as the impetus of community life image courtesy of LWK + PARTNERS Streets as the impetus of community life LWK + PARTNERS Director HC Chan sees immense opportunities in excavating the power of street life to preserve cultural diversity and walkability. Fostering a liveable city requires the engagement of various stakeholders. Policy makes up one side of the story, but the participation of residents in placemaking is equally important for achieving urban spaces truly fulfilling for the local people.

4 August 2020 LWK + PARTNERS Lighting Design image courtesy of LWK + PARTNERS LWK + PARTNERS Lighting Design

6 July 2020 LWK + PARTNERS Saudi Arabia Office The new LWK + PARTNERS Riyadh studio will be led by Kerem Cengiz, Managing Director – MENA (right), and Usama Aziz, a new Director. LWK + PARTNERS Saudi Arabia Office

1 June 2020 Shijiazhuang Zhao Hua Hospital, Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, North China image courtesy of architects Shijiazhuang Zhao Hua Hospital in China Our planet’s population is now going through the biggest shared experience in decades due to COVID-19, and the way people think about life and illness today is incomparable with any time in history.

Sai Kung Outdoor Recreation Centre Temporary Quarantine Facilities photo : Paul Y. – iMax Sai Kung Outdoor Recreation Centre Facilities

OCT Caoqiao Cultural Commercial Street, Hunan Province, China image courtesy of architects Hunan OCT Caoqiao Cultural Commercial Street

27 Apr 2020 Zhongshan OCT Harbour Development, Shenzhen area – west coast of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, China image courtesy of architects office Zhongshan OCT Harbour Development

31 Mar 2020 Hebei Grand Hotel, Anyue, Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, North China image courtesy of architects office Hebei Grand Hotel, Anyue in Shijiazhuang, China When it comes to aesthetics and simple living, the past can be a rich source of inspiration. LWK + PARTNERS recently completed Hebei Grand Hotel, Anyue in a new Central Business District of Shijiazhuang; part of the fast-growing Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei metropolitan region.

23 Feb 2020 Xichen Paradise Walk, Chengdu, China image courtesy of architects practice Xichen Paradise Walk Retail Complex in Chengdu, China Retail spaces are evolving into lifestyle complexes that are inspiring, diversified and immersive to surround visitors with a curated experience to fulfil various lifestyle and social needs. Xichen Paradise Walk encourages social interaction and community life with high transparency and accessibility to bring together people, their neighbourhoods and nature.

25 Nov 2019 Kei Cuisine, Hong Kong, China photography : iMAGE28 Kei Cuisine Restaurant Hong Kong Successfully marriage of Japanese and Chinese cultures to create an elegant ambience for Kei Cuisine, a luxury Cantonese restaurant located in one of Hong Kong’s core retail areas. Out of client’s passion for Japanese culture, the team took inspiration from the Yoshida Fire Festival.

12 Nov 2019 TIANFU ONE Exhibition Gallery, Chengdu, China photograph : Guanhong Chen Tianfu One Exhibition Gallery Chengdu Building Comfortably perched at the eastern end of a green corridor in Chengdu’s Tianfu New District, TIANFU ONE Exhibition Gallery enjoys panoramic views of the Luxihe wetland park just across the road. The architecture firm leveraged its proximity to both urban life and natural greenery to craft an observation deck culminating at the end of the city’s main artery.

20 Oct 2019 The LOOP, Chongqing City, southwest China photo : WOHO The LOOP in Chongqing The LOOP is the sales gallery for Shun Shan Fu, a low-density residential development composed of various luxurious villas and houses.

16 Oct 2019 Vanke Forest Park Sales Gallery, Chongqing City, southwest China photo : Guanhong Chen Chongqing Vanke Forest Park Sales Gallery Scenery is beauty; nature is grandeur. Abandon screams and self-expression, and embrace silence and tranquillity… ‘Retreat’ is a design attitude.

13 Oct 2019 Spiritual Bay Pavilion, Qingdao, China photography : Xuesong Zhang & Guanhong Chenn Spiritual Bay Pavilion in Qingdao Spiritual Bay Pavilion in Qingdao recently opened. Just 120 metres off the Yellow Sea coast, the project is endowed with perks of nature at Guzhenkou’s Lingxi Bay near the intersection of Yingshanhong Road and Haijun Road, enjoying distant views of the Dazhushan Scenic Area.

14 Oct 2019 Legend Gallery, Chongqing City, southwest China photography : Guanhong CHEN, Lian HE Chongqing Jiangshan Yun Chu As a lifestyle gallery, Chongqing Jiangshan Yun Chu – Legend Gallery is a trial for and response to localised architecture. It explores the spatial interaction between nature and urban space on a site close to Chongqing’s Jialing River bank, where the waterscape forms a rare natural setting for the urban area.

26 Sep 2019

LWK + PARTNERS Architects – Key Projects

LWK + PARTNERS Recognised with Four Cityscape Awards for Emerging Markets 2019

26th September 2019 – Four projects by LWK + PARTNERS have been recognised in the Cityscape Awards for Emerging Markets 2019, at a presentation ceremony that took place in Dubai yesterday, an event attended by e-architect founder and co-Editor Adrian Welch.

Landmarks Riverside Park – Phase II Danzishi Old Street, Chongqing, China, by LWK + PARTNERS: images courtesy of architects office

Shijiazhuang’s Zhengding Li Mixed-use Development is Winner of the Retail Project Award (Future), Chongqing’s Landmark Riverside Park – Phase II: Danzishi Old Street was made Winner of the Retail Project Award (Built), while Hangzhou’s Gallium Valley Science Park and The Pavilia Bay in Hong Kong are Highly Commended respectively for the Commercial Project Award (Future) and Residential – Medium to High Rise Project Award (Built).

Gallium Valley Science Park, Hangzhou, China, by LWK + PARTNERS Hong Kong: image courtesy of architects

Zhengding Li Mixed-use Development is located in the new central business district adjacent to the historical city of Zhengding in Shijiazhuang of China’s Hebei province. This retail-led development comprises SOHO offices, serviced apartments as well as a resort hotel, all linked up by pedestrian-friendly retail streets. Such a model of mixed-use development will promote a sustainable and zero-carbon community which is a main theme for future living.

LWK + PARTNERS Architects, Hong Kong:

Landmarks Riverside Park – Phase II: Danzishi Old Street in Chongqing, China, sits on a rejuvenated riverside heritage site. A retail complex by nature, Danzishi Old Street now offers a comprehensive cultural commercial experience that bridges the old and new, the oriental and the western. While many traditional spots were preserved and historical buildings refurbished, new structures were built with a modern Chinese architectural style so the old and new assimilate impressively well.

Zhengding Li Mixed-use Development, Shijiazhuang, China:

Gallium Valley Science Park is at the heart of the Cloud Valley technology cluster in Hangzhou, China, aimed to promote the development of e-commerce and the artificial-intelligence sector. It is located to the south of the new Xihu University and adjacent to a river, encouraging synergy with the tertiary institution while enjoying scenic surroundings. The project advocates a new office-park typology that blends greenery and communal spaces in the work environment, encouraging work-life balance in a professional industry.

The Pavilia Bay, Hong Kong, China:

The Pavilia Bay is a seafront residential development in Hong Kong, China, facing the serene Rambler Channel and surrounded by dense greenery of a nearby park. Its architecture invokes the beautiful image of a yacht embarking its journey towards the waters, with this theme carried all the way from macro building form, elevation right through to the interiors.

The Pavilia Bay, Hong Kong, China:

To take full advantage of the site, residential towers are oriented to maximize sea views for each residential unit. Residents have access to a host of clubhouse amenities such as an infinite pool, gym, and children’s play area.

Landmarks Riverside Park Chongqing:

As Hong Kong-based architectural practice LWK + PARTNERS continues to expand in China, Asia and MENA, the Cityscape Awards for Emerging Markets are the latest testament of international recognition towards its diverse design expertise. In addition to the awards, LWK + PARTNERS takes part in the exhibition and conferences of Cityscape Global, which is an annual real estate investment and development event, to shed light on the latest developments of the industry. LWK + PARTNERS Directors Ivan Fu, Ferdinand Cheung and Corina Leung gave insightful presentations offering perspectives and knowledge illustrated by powerful built-environment solutions.

Gallium Valley Science Park buildings in Hangzhou, China: image courtesy of architects

The Cityscape Awards for Emerging Markets recognises and celebrates excellence across real estate developments and architecture. Covering a range of categories, the awards offer international architects and leading real estate developers a prestigious platform to collaborate and share their vision for the future, from culturally integrated city skylines to sustainable urban communities.

Zhengding Li Development, Shijiazhuang, China:

More projects by LWK + PARTNERS online soon

Address: LWK + PARTNERS (HK) Ltd, 6-8/F & 15/F, North Tower, World Finance Centre, Harbour City, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

Phone: +852 2574 1633

Architects Practice Information

LWK + PARTNERS are a HK-based architectural design studio

Hong Kong Architects Offices – Architecture Firm Listings

LWK + PARTNERS is a leading design architecture practice rooted in Hong Kong. They are a platform with design specialists who deliver world-class solutions to the built environment.

Their 1,000+ creative minds collaborate across a network of 11 offices around the globe providing services including architecture, planning & urban design, interiors, heritage conservation, landscape, building information modelling (BIM), lifestyle and lighting design.

LWK + PARTNERS creates infinite possibilities.

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Website: https://www.lwkp.com

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Comments / photos for the LWK + PARTNERS Architects – Chinese Architecture Practice page welcome

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Dense as a Brick Wall - Terra x Fem!Reader

First off YEEEESSSSSSS! I NEED MORE DARK ROAD ASAP! Second, Terra is actually one of my favorite characters of the series so I was excited for this request! I admit I struggled a bit but I hope you like it and I’m sorry it took me so long.

~~~~~

I can officially say today has started off wild, but I mean my version of wild—these keyblade wielders apparently find travelling to different worlds pretty normal. First thing in the morning, the trio of Aqua, Ven, and Terra all show up on my doorstep and insist I hang out with them for the day. When I finally relent, that’s when they break the news that we’re going off-world.

So one insane trip later, we end up in this bright, sunshine world of Destiny Islands. It’s gorgeous with its tropical atmosphere and sparkling beach and it’s a shame I didn’t bring my bathing suit. The trio then takes me to the larger island where I meet way more people than I was prepared for. They all seem friendly enough and accept me pretty quickly; also we’re apparently not the only group to travel from another world.

That’s when the inhabitants—Riku, Sora, Kairi, and Namine—announce an activity they’d come up with for the visitors: a photo scavenger hunt. The groups pair up quickly, leaving the four of us from the Land of Departure.

“So how do you guys wanna split up?” Terra asks.

“Oh, I know,” Aqua hums, wandering towards Namine. Once she returns, she presents four pieces of paper in her grasp. “Whoever draws the two with colored ends are partners. You first,” she says, offering the handful to me.

Tugging on a strip, I find it colored red on the bottom. “Oh. Cool.”

She turns to the man beside me. “Alright. Terra.”

He picks a strip and my insides run with ice; they expect me to go on a scavenger hunt, alone, with the only person I’ve ever fallen so hard for.

I don’t even know where to begin with Terra. He’s the biggest sweetheart and I’d have to be wearing fire-retardant pants if I said I never admired those muscles. I know he gets a lot of flak, but the guy can actually be pretty smart when it comes to strategy and situational awareness, though his social skills could use a little work. So, while I can say this about his physical build, it also unfortunately applies to his empathic understanding: he’s as dense as a brick wall.

I’ve done everything just short of saying, “hey, you know what? I have an enormous crush on you.” Well, that and kiss him. I once even held his hand when we were wandering through town, but I think he mistook it for me trying not to get lost in the crowds. For the love of all that is good in existence, I cannot get him to take a hint! That and my dumb ass is too nervous to straight up confess.

“Hey, are you okay with that?”

Snapping back to the present, I look up at those beautiful blue eyes. Blood rushes into my ears, but I smile anyway. “Yeah. This’ll be a piece of cake.”

He smiles back and I feel my self-awareness melt just a little, until I realize I might get lost staring if I don’t look away.

We’re given a list of things to photograph and a deadline to meet back up on the small island and the teams start to go their separate ways. Only a few steps into our adventure, I look back at Aqua and Ven and my heart stops. A smirk sits upon her lips and pinched between her fingers are the remaining two strips of paper: they were all colored on the end. My brain begins screaming bloody murder.

“Woah, hey!” A large hand beneath my arm pulls me to the side just in time to miss walking into one of those mail collection boxes. Face burning, I glance up at my concerned sort-of-hero. “Are you sure you’re okay? If you’re not feeling well, we can go home.”

For the love of the gods, I cannot tell him what Aqua did, but she’s absolutely going to get it later—regardless of whether or not she can destroy me in a heartbeat. “No no! I’m fine. I just got distracted.”

Dark brows furrow, still concerned. “Would rather be partners with someone else?”

“NO!” Okay, I probably didn’t need to respond quite that quickly…or yell. A laugh escapes me in an attempt to regain my composure. “No, it’s okay. I promise. This is going to be fun.”

A big grin crosses his lips and we set off, ignoring the fact this is a set up—or maybe not; who knows.

There are two lists on the paper Kairi had given me: one of object and one of activities. Things such as the beach, something red, and a statue are on the list of objects, but on the other are things such as walking barefoot in the sand, going down the slide in the park, and shaking a stranger’s hand. The thing about the second list is that there has to be photo evidence of each person to get the points. Trailing through the sand and asking a random guy to shake hands with each of us is easy enough and we’ve been having a lot of fun, but poor Terra kind of got stuck in the slide and we lost a couple hours—but I got the evidence at least.

“You sure you’re okay?” I ask for like the tenth time, stupidly fluttering eyelashes at him.

My partner laughs sheepishly. “Yeah, I’m fine.” He’s such a good sport but oblivious as always. “I’m just relieved we didn’t break it.”

“Yeah…I was kinda worried we were gonna have to call the fire department or something—or worse, our friends.”

“I really don’t need another story Aqua’s not gonna let me live down,” he sighs. “What else is on the list?”

Pulling the paper from my pocket, I scan over what’s not marked. “Well, there’s not much more we can do before time’s up…so I guess we head back and hope we see a dog, a sign that starts with the letter V, and a rubber duck—where the hell did they think we were gonna see a rubber duck?”

“Does that count?” Out points his finger to the ocean where a giant, inflatable duck peacefully floats along.

“I don’t think it’s made of rubber, but I’m gonna say yes,” I say, using Terra’s GummiPhone to snap a picture of the ridiculous sight.

So off we go towards the smaller island on one of the rental row boats. For a while, we chat and amble about the beach—and I drop more ridiculous hints—until Terra asks, “Hey, wasn’t there something on the list about food?”

“Um. Try a food neither of us has eaten.”

“I don’t know about you, but I have no idea what that is.” From a crooked tree hangs a bright, yellow fruit.

I laugh, following him towards the stairs leading up to the islet. “You wanna just start eating random fruit?”

“Why not?”

The young man scales along the curved tree until he successfully gets his hand on the star-shaped fruit and returns to sit next to me on the tree. The fruit is broken into two and I get a piece. It’s sweet, almost like a candy and super watery.

“I may be regretting my choice,” Terra murmurs around a mouthful.

“What? This is amazing.” I almost drool in my protest.

“Too sweet.”

“Ah, I forget you don’t like sweets.”

Eyeing up his questionable prize, he ventures another bite.

“You two are here ear—” Looking back reveals the Islanders. Both girls gasp and the guys just gape.

“Hey guys,” I greet. “What’s up?” I take another bite.

Riku is the first to break. “You two have no idea what that is, do you?” A glance is shared with no answer. “That’s a paopu.”

When the only response is staring, Kairi hastily explains, “If two people share one, their destinies become intertwined!”

“So says the legend,” adds Namine.

Terra’s mouthful comes flying back out while I opt to choke on mine. While I’m busy hacking away, the rest of our friends arrive.

“What’s going on here?” Aqua asks as Sora is patting my back.

“According to these two, trying new foods means sharing destinies,” Riku explains, gesturing to the dropped leftovers.

Ven is very poorly containing his laugh. “You guys ate a paopu fruit?”

“We didn’t know what it was,” Terra retorts. It makes me feel somewhat better that his face is probably just as red as mine.

“I told you about those,” Aqua retorts. “Remember? I based our wayfinders off them.”

I eventually breathe fine again and everyone hangs out to share their pictures and just hang out. Xion and Roxas got the most points and win the game while Terra and I get the most teasing for the paopu and the slide. Still, the symbolic meaning of the fruit plagues my thoughts—it’s a nice thought to have Terra as part of my destiny. I’d probably squeal if it weren’t for my new friends sitting around. In my revelations, I can’t help beaming down at the pictures of my partner.

It’s just as we’re all getting ready to head home that Aqua sighs, “It’s a shame that, even after I went through all the trouble to make sure they were partners and neither of them confessed they liked each other.”

A second passes, and then another, but finally, Terra’s eyes widen as he realizes what I’ve known from the beginning. “You rigged the teams?!”

Ven snarks, “She wasn’t exactly subtle.”

My brain carefully scrutinizes the frantic behavior of the young man. “Wh—Bu—How—Why would you do that?!”

“Didn’t you hear me? So you could tell her how you feel,” she states bluntly.

Arms flail and, had anyone been within close proximity, who knows what kind of damage he’d deal. “How could you do that?! I’ve been dying all day trying to figure out how to tell her!”

The analyzing brain blips. Wait…

“It wasn’t really that much of a secret,” his blonde friend mutters, the flustered not hearing him.

“All so you could get a few laughs picking on me?! And I still don’t even know how to tell her how much I like her!”

A jolt ripples through me and my jaw falls open.

“First of all,” Aqua starts. “I didn’t do it to pick on you. Second, it was Ven’s idea.”

The accused adds, “He’s been driving me nuts over it.”

“And third, I’m pretty sure you just confessed.” A finger points to me.

His olive skin goes visibly pale, outrage dropping to instant horror. Those shocked eyes lock onto me; clearly he’d forgotten in his outburst that I was even here to begin with.

With a strange sense of outward confidence, I close the gap between us. My heart is beating deafeningly in my ears as I approach but he doesn’t move even a little, watching me in stunned silence. Fists take hold of his shirt, pulling him down to my level as I stand on tiptoe.

Raging in my gut are the butterflies that have been teasing me all day. I may be on fire right now, but there’s an ocean just over there—it’s fine. And sure, my partner is in a stupor but that doesn’t make my elation any less real. There are no words for how much I needed this.

Leaning back, there’s a lingering taste of that paopu we’d split earlier. I can’t help the resulting smile though Terra looks absolutely bewildered.

“I’ve been dying to do that for months,” I tell him.

“Perhaps my efforts weren’t in vain after all,” giggles Aqua. She gets a raspberry from me.

Terra, with an incredibly ludicrous question, grabs my attention again. “Did you just kiss me?”

My eyes widen before I start laughing. “You really are as dense as a brick wall.”

The shock leaves his face, replaced with a frown. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“She’s been flirting with you hardcore for as long as I can remember,” Ven tells him. “Everyone but you picked up on that.”

“R-Really?” This time, he goes a little red.

Slipping a hand into his, I reply, “Really.”

�� The free hand meets his face. “Ugh, geeze I’m so dumb.”

“That’s okay. You’re still cute.”

“You’re not supposed to agree with me, you know.”

“Whatever you say, sweetheart.”

Then Aqua gets in another jab. “I think that’s a little unfair, Ven. It’s not like she picked up on his flirting either.”

“Wait, what?!” Eye shoot up to Terra who gives me a smile that I’d die for.

“Guess it’s not just me, huh.”

#kh terra #terra #kingdom hearts terra #terra x reader #novas requests #fem!reader

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c-atm · 4 years

Text

Fighting Flirty: Character Select PT4 (Act 4.3)

"Oooh, that's a beautiful shot," Alex grinned, taking a picture of the not couple standing back to back, fixing the wrist of their gloves. “and with that, we’re done with the couple shots.” She announced, getting a sigh of relaxation from the two.

As it turned out, there wasn't much official art of Shinji and Asuka together in romantic situations, and any scenes that did show them was kind of iffy.

'Forgot how psychologically screwed up Eva was .' Alex mused, looking over her shots. ' Ah well, that’s what model sheets and fanarts for...And boy, did I get some good ones then…'

Steven and Connie watched as the photographer started to chuckle to herself, both looking a bit concerned.

"Hey, you ok there, Alex?” Steven voiced.

“Hmm!?!” Alex looked up to see the two gazing at her, Steven with his arms crossed and brows arched while Connie had her hands in the jacket pocket smiling cheekily at their photographer, ”What?” Alex blushed, feeling the gentle tease in their eyes.

“Nothing, you. Um…”

“You seemed very proud of your work.” Connie continued where Steven paused.

“You better believe I am. This is Diamond status stuff you two gave me.” Alex praised with a grin, “to think I’d get two wonderful subjects. It’s a photographer's dream.”She laughed as she walked back to the desk, “come look at your shots, yourself.” she challenged, “You’ll understand what I feel.”

Steven and Connie took that challenge with a nod to each other walking back over to the workstation as Alex plugged the camera into the laptop and pulled up the catalog of pictures she just took of the two of them.

“These are some good shots, right?” Alex smugly asked as she watched the duo’s faces as they stared at the first picture.

It was a simple shot and the most current one. The two of them back-to-back, fixing their gloves while looking heroically determined as if they were going to battle. It was a bit cheesy but also cute.

"Look at how hot you are with your brows furrowed, ready to take on the angels." Connie praised, "not to mention how well the picture shows your body, Bisky."

"I think you're looking at the wrong thing Heartberry," Steven suggested, instinctively pulling her close to his torso as he interlaced his fingers over her stomach, "You're the one who is stealing the picture, with the way your fist tighten and smirk on your lips," He praised, nipping the back of her ear and evoking a small purr. "That confidence is alluring. Looks like you're about to give a class on beating down evil and making it sexy."

"That just…My 'Auska psychosis' acting up. "Connie leaned into his oral manipulations, holding his nape. " Hmm~mm, that feels nice . "

Steven laughed upon her skin, giving her goosebumps, as he went to the next picture. It was of Connie lifting and dangling him by the costume collar in anger while he looked surrendered, his hands up a sheepish look on his face.

"That’s a cute one." Steven laughed, "Really showed your 'mad bitch' in this picture."

"Not to mention my physical ability." Connie teased, "though holding 260 lbs of dead round, thick muscle is a lot harder than bench pressing your standard 320, you ok?" She rubbed his cheek with a smile, "Didn't dig into you, right, Mister?"

"Hey, hey! I should ask you if you're ok. You are the one who basically balanced my whole body on their forearms." He countered.

"I mean, you did take care of the strain when you touched down." She blushed, "I'm fine. More so than Alex was."

"You're small compared to him!" Alex exclaimed, "and yet; you can deadlift this burly man for ten seconds without shaking. - Clap! - What - Clap! - kind - Clap! - of - Clap! - training - Clap! - regiment - Clap! - are - Clap! - you - Clap! -on!"

Connie giggled at Alex's animated praise, "Trade secret, Alex." Connie shrugged, grinning.

"Oh, come on," Alex pleaded."You gotta tell me what's what."

"Now, if we tell you all our secrets," Connie leans a bit forward, closing her onyx eyes halfway as a slightly mischievous grin enveloped her lips.

“You might lose interest in us, and we don’t want that,” Steven added as he wrapped his arms over Connie’s shoulders, interlacing his fingers and gingerly resting his chin on her crown, giving Alex a similarly flirty smirk and gaze.

'These two! It should be a crime to be this teasy.' Alex screamed in her mind as she felt her cheeks glowed a little. "Yeah, like that gonna happen." Alex scoffed, turning away from her muses, "just finish looking through the pictures and while I set your camera for Connie's solo shoot in that costume." Alex hummed in pause, "Are you going to shoot in all those other costumes?"

"Yup. We need them for a project." Connie nodded, "Though, they won't be too big. Five singles each and five couple pics."

"Still gotta make it for the parade," Steven added as he kissed Connie's crown, getting a smile. "Though, doubt we'll be wearing these two to the parade."

"What you got planned, Mister?"

Steven grinned at her suspicious smirk.

"You two are adorable." Alex chuckled," speaking of the parade, I'm going to be there...So maybe, I can get some candid shots of you two, In whoever you two are going as."

"Alex, is that your way of asking to be our photographer?" Steven implored, grinning at Alex's sudden bashfulness.

"I don't appreciate the tease in your voice, Universe."

Steven's eyes widened a bit at the slight edge of her voice.

"Sure," Connie answered, looking up at Steven, who nodded.

"To me taking pics at you-

"To both, Alex." Steven clarified.

"You have a talent for getting the best shots of us," Connie spoke in slight distraction. Her eyes on a picture of Steven and her grabbing each other by the collar with angry stares. "This is a cute one too!"

"It really is," Steven laughed In agreement before turning to Alex, "That doesn't mean I'm letting you take my solo shoots of Connie." He playfully warned Alex."Those are for me."

"Thought those were for me." Connie's arched her brow at Steven.

"No, it's definitely for him/me." Alex and Steven corrected simultaneously, giving each other a knowing point.

"Hmm." Connie bit the inside of her jaw, " you wanna make this a game then, Mister?"

"A game?" Steven pondered, getting a nod, "what type of game, Heartberry?" He kissed her forehead.

"A competition on who can take the better photos and be the better model." Connie proposed.

"There's something underneath that... I know there is." Steven dipped down, capturing her lips with his own as Connie squeezed his wrist in excitement, "Talk, you mischievous Minx."

'This man and his damn husky baritone gonna be the end of me one day.' Connie thought breathlessly, "Oh, of course, there's something more to that, but you haven't agreed to play yet?" She bit her lips," and if I stay silent, you'll try to force it out." She gave him a slight shrug, "why should I miss out on that?"

"She is trying to get more kisses."Alex laughed.

"Alex isn't wrong."

Steven sucked his teeth at those onyx orbs that shined with a prankster's ambition. Those full-sharp lips in an alluring half-smile. 'This lioness and her damn seduction gonna be the death of me one day.' Steven mused as he dipped down gently and captured her lips with his own in an upside-down lip lock.

' And once again, I get to witness their very close friendship , if you can even call it that.' Alex smirked the camera once again in her hand, putting the two in her crosshairs. Watching his palms trailed the sides of Connie's costumed torso as her hands rubbed his whiskered cheeks, simultaneously pulling him deeper into the lip lock as her back arched due to his manal manipulations.

The slight peek of tongue every time they broke with a popping -CHU!- and rejoined. The gasping breaths that slipped from Connie's mouth, accompanied by his teasing little nips on her lips that made her eager to pull him back in. It was all beautiful, all sexy, playful and them, but she was waiting...Waiting for the shot. The moment that showed everything.

Even the thing they hid from themselves.

- click!-

' Oh! That's...That right there...That's the money shot.' Alex inwardly praised herself as she looked at her newest prized shot.

Both of their eyes half-lidded in a sensually adoring gaze with the bridge of their noses brushing against each other as Connie's fingertips gingerly touching the corners of Steven's lips, while Steven palms lovingly held her upper torso, right under her breast, and their lips met the others forehead, at the same time.

It was a quick moment, a millisecond in the deepest part of their world, a secret shared between the two, and it was caught on camera. As she placed down the camera, they were already looking over the pictures again

"Pff!! I like this... A lot" Connie laughed at the picture of her stepping on a spread out Steven.

"Bet, you would…" Scoffed her Mister, who soon rubbed his chin, "though it is kind of alluring, with how it's your toe and not your whole foot on me." The appreciation in his voice was evident.

"Can't say I'm surprised.'

"Oh!"

"You like being under me, Eh-heh-heh!"

"Cheeky Minx!"

"Yeah...What's you gonna do about it, Bisky?"

"Gonna put you through your paces during your photoshoot and then make you red-face during mine."

"I don't turn red-face, blushy...I turn maroon, heh. Besides that, you're running a lot of mouth for a 'Shinji' to an 'Asuka.' Writing a check your butt can't cash, Mister."

"Oh, you really are cheeky right now."

"As if most of your pictures aren't going to try to exhibit my 'cheekiness.' "

"You have a lot to show."

"I feel like I'm being slandered; you hearing this right, Alex?"

"Don't pull me into your competitive flirtation!" Alex yelled as she watched the two.' I should be working, but this is too entertaining.'

"It’s not slander if it's true. Not that I would slander you anyway." Steven said, rubbing on her knees, trailing upwards.

"Whatever you say, Hippy." Connie breathed a teasing whisper in his ear, squirming gently as she allowed herself to bask in the touch of Steven's hands on her outer thighs. ' This man and his touch.' Connie sighed.

"Hey, now. Just because I prefer peaceful resolutions doesn't mean I'm a hippy." His baritone voice argued with a grin.

"Nuh-uh, you can't back out now; you threw down the gauntlet." She nuzzled behind his ear.

"I'm trying to give you an out."

"Cocky and hippy, now aren't we?"

"You're to blame for both, you amorous lioness."

"Ain't my fault your hands squeezing my hips right now."

"Oh, it's definitely your fault, cheeky temptress. You heart-shaped, honey trap in red-latex."

"You know this and yet, here you are." She crossed her legs, "ensnared and entranced by everything under my navel."

"Who's cocky now?"

"By the way, you're breathing and staring...I'd say both of us...Though, mine is more mental and less physical ."

"Why'd you crossed your legs then?"

"Cause you like when I do or anything that has to do with my lower half, Hippy . "

"Upper-half too, Nini. The whole package is lovely."

"You're a hot package yourself, Burly Bisky in blue."

"You just like big guys."

"You're to blame, big guy."

" so we're both to blame for our preferences."

"Admitting you're a lover of the hips."

"If they're yours."

'I think that's a checkmate.' Alex chuckled, lifting her camera to Connie's adorable marooned cheek face, bit-lipped pout in a low glare at the smug charm of Steven and his smile.

-click!-

Just when Alex was about to sit the camera down, it happened.

Connie's face switched from blushing prey to beautiful predator as her thumb and index finger gripped his chin, making him face her before closing her eyes and giving his lower lip a nipping, suckling kiss.

Steven brows rose before the sensation traveled through his nerves. His eyes closing, his body melting into the kiss as he held her by the hips, instinctively kissing back, getting a swooning giggled from his Heartberry, though not as vigorously, willingly being led by her in this lip lock.

She broke the kiss with a clipping -chu !-, licking her as she opened her eyes to a dazed and lovestruck Mister, feeling herself slowly fall into the same state. "Since you love my hips so much.." she chuckled like a fox, grinned like a jackal, "I expect you to show that reverence in your pictures." and spoke like an empress.

A conquering empress, treasuring her most precious heirloom as she thumbed his lips. Her onyx eyes steeled as they were, glowed with passion, affection, playfulness, and protection. All while being the target of Steven's dreamlike gaze and pink-cheeked smile as he nodded.

-click!-

' She took the win from defeat.' Alex surmised, looking at the last two pictures. 'These two...God damn...Can’t wait to see how they act during their head-to-head photoshoots'

"Well, then." Connie stood with a stretch giving him a peck on the nose before bounding back on the stage. Turning on her right foot to face Steven and Alex, the not quite yet birthday-girl bent forward by her waist, letting her hair hang low, pulling the hat down, so the brim shadowed her left eye."I'm ready for my close up, Mr.Universe."Connie breathed out flirtatiously before she gave a small toothy snicker.

'God damn. She can switch from cunning and amorous to cute and adorable at a drop .' Both Steven and Alex thought, both red-face.

"Good-luck."Alex teased, handing Steven the camera, who nodded before turning and walking towards the stage. Stopping just foot away from it and six from Connie.

"Ten shots." Steven started. "Ten shots to make me fall for you...want you."

"More than you already are and do, you mean." Connie countered with a lick of her top front teeth.

"Cheeky. "

" And love it…" She teased, patting her hip. "You got ten-shots to make me squirm and blush involuntarily."

"So you gotta charm me."

"And you gotta break my character."

The two stared at each other before laughing. Excitement surging through them over the new game.

The new bond and memory to be had.

"Good-luck, Heartberry." Steven teased with adoration and competitiveness on his tongue.

"Good luck to you too, Mister." Enamored heart and a hunger to win fueled her reply, " make me beautiful."

"You already are...Now give me, dynamic."

#fighting flirty #steven universe #connverse #connie maheswaran #steven universe future #steven universe fanfiction #steven and connie #older steven #older connie #connverse fanfic

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