#we were the swedish duo...

[leyagrossman]

me n my bestie were playing on sh1 map using a lot of mods :D

[nicohischierz]

one in a million: luke hughes

tagging: @ivy-34, @francesfarhadi, @hzstry8, @cixrosie, @itsnotgray, @estapa94, @trevs-swiftie, @heartz4hischif you want to join the taglist let me know!!

he searched for you at every gathering, the saving grace and the only incentive he needed to attend anything.

the two of you would often hide away from the rest of the party. consumed in a world where it was just the two of you.

a world with no responsibilities and no comparisons.

luke understood you and you understood him.

“i’m gonna miss this when i’m gone,” luke whispered.

you smiled up at him, snuggling further into his chest. luke was your calm during the storm. the one person who always put you first.

both of you wished everyday could be like this.

“so you’re going to jersey? straight after frozen four, win or lose?” you asked.

he nodded.

when the game was over, luke only searched for one person. he found you almost immediately. to him, you stood out in the sea of faces, wearing his ntdp jersey.

luke tried changing as fast as he could to meet you but the devils representative stopped him. "I'm sorry but they want you on the plane immediately," the guy explained.

"i need to see her," luke fought.

the guy shook his head. "i'm sorry kid," he ushered luke away, giving the boy a solemn look.

walking into the locker room, you noticed the sour looks on everyone's faces. but at this point, you were only looking for one face and he didn't appear to be there.

erik portillo saw you first.

he initially came to tell you he was signing with the kings but when he saw your frantic nature, he knew he had to tell you about luke's departure.

the tall swede ushered you outside, making sure you were away from the media commotion before whispering "he left sötis,".

you almost let out a laugh before looking at erik. "that's not funny erik, where is he?" you asked.

erik's eyes were a giveaway that he truly wasn't lying. luke had left without so much as a goodbye.

your breathe was shaky as you looked around the hallway, tears filling up your eyes once again.

once you were back in your hotel room, you did what any sane person would do. you texted luke, telling him what a coward he was for leaving you like that.

lukie pookie: call me

that text alone sent you into a spiral.

obviously, you didn't call him. he was the one who left without saying a word so he should be the one to pay for the pain he caused you. a pain that rivalled what you felt with the pressures of the world.

it was obvious to everyone who knew you and luke that something was going on.

the once energetic duo, now barely had the energy to say hello.

after luke left the others started to leave one by one.

nolan joined a team in russia.

the seniors said their last goodbyes before going off.

mackie signed with the panthers.

and when erik left you felt as if things were changing too fast.

you followed the swedish boy to california and stayed with him until you wrapped your mind around what was going on.

alex turcotte was shocked to see you when he arrived to training one morning. well, he was shocked to see the shell of the girl he once knew. the chicago native immediately texted jack that you were in california and asked what happened.

“sötis, you can’t hide here forever.” erik prompted. he was currently trying to find flights for the two of you back to michigan so that you could spend summer with your family.

you ignored him and ate your soup dumplings. “i’ll pay the rent cost while i’m here erik. please don’t make me go back,” you begged.

but alas, erik had enlisted the help of alex who had brought trevor along with him. both older boys had their bags packed and tickets in hand as they reached the apartment.

“listen y/n/n, we’re not taking no for an answer. now either you pack your things and follow us or we pack for you and you get stuck with whatever we choose,” trevor gave the ultimatum.

rolling your eyes, you walked into your room as the three boys followed. they smiled as they watched you pack, happy that their slight threat worked.

erik drove the three of you to the airport and gave you one big hug before whispering “stay there for two weeks and if you don’t like it, i’ll buy you a ticket to sweden,”

you nodded. now you just had to get through two weeks and complain that it was a horrible experience.

“but you’re not allowed to make yourself hate the trip,” erik added. you hated how well he knew you.

that’s how you found yourself waiting for jack to pick you, trevor and alex from the airport.

jack ignored his two best friends as he ran over to you. engulfing you in a hug, spinning you around. “i missed you squish!” he exclaimed.

you smiled into jack’s shoulder. “i missed you too rowdy,” the middle hughes held onto you a little longer before greeting his friends.

the car ride to the lake house was silent in your part as you furiously texted erik about your dislike for his plans.

upon reaching the house, you were greeted by your fellow michigan classmates. they all yelled in delight at your presence and swarmed you into a hug.

“we thought we lost you to sweden!” dylan exclaimed, his arm around your shoulder.

you chuckled and looked to alex and trevor. the two boys wearing cheeky grins as they grabbed you bags. “well if it weren’t for these two i might’ve gone with erik,” you answered.

luke looked from a distance. pain and hurt in his eyes as he watched you interact with your friends and his family.

once everyone was done greeting you, you looked up at luke and smiled. the boy smiling back at you but no words exchanged.

you didn’t talk to luke until the boys first party.

just like every other party, you were hiding away on the roof. it didn't take long for luke to find you but once he did, he was glad.

the two of you sat in silence until you spoke up. "you didn't say goodbye," you murmured.

luke's heart broke as he heard your voice crack.

"they didn't let me bubbles. i wanted to come say bye to you but the guy said I needed to get on the plane. then my phone died and I didn't get any of your calls. when I tried to call you back it didn't go through," he ranted.

at this point, you were turned to luke. tears in both your eyes as you finally spoke about your feelings over the past two months.

"you're my best friend luke and we promised we'd be there for each other. you promised you'd never leave me and you didn't say goodbye," you raised your voice slightly.

more tears were streaming down your faces. your chest rose and sunk furiously as you tried to remain calm.

when luke didn't say anything more, you made your way back into the house. you glanced at him one more time before reaching his door.

"you weren't at my debut," he exclaimed.

you stilled and turned to him. "i was there luke. i bought the first available ticket to new jersey and the first ticket i could get my hands on for the game." you confessed.

luke's eyes softened. he ran over to you and brought you in for a hug. your face was nuzzled in his chest as both of you cried in each others arms.

"i don't want to lose you again bubbles," he whispered.

"you never lost me lukie,"

[kamotecue]

from strangers to friends—friends into lovers (and now we’re strangers again) ✬ m. leon

pairing: mapi leon x reader

summary: you were the center-back’s first love, yet you couldn’t really act upon it. how could you, a royal and a commoner?

you felt someone wrap their tiny hand around the pinky of your finger, it was astrid—you’re only daughter the heiress to the swedish throne. a soft smile was worn upon your face, as you heard her hum to one of your favorite songs.

you looked beside her only to see her twin brother, andres who followed suit—carrying a small bag, his sister’s to be exact. she had always been a fan of sweets, something she had gotten from you. her brother however, preferred something sour—but was never one to deny a treat from his sister.

“du gillade aldrig riktigt att ta pauser, mamma. [you never really liked taking breaks, mom.]” andres commented, as you chuckled. they were right—ever since the tragedy that happened to the swedish monarch, you were held up in the office.

but you always managed to have time for the mischievous duo. they’d love to play pranks on you, you would never get mad but instead have a laugh about it.

“jag kanske inte gillar att ta pauser, men om det är med er två—skulle jag ta en paus när som helst. [i may not like taking breaks, but if it’s with the two of you—i’d take a break anytime.]” you chuckled as andres gave you a small hum, clearly satisfied with your answer.

“kan jag spela på stranden, mamma? [can i play on the beach, mom?]” you heard andres asked, as you gave him a soft look before nodding.

he cheered brightly before rushing, the assigned bodyguard followed suit—ensuring his safety as you snickered.

“var försiktig! [be careful!]” he looked back before giving you a nod. you looked down to see astrid looking at her brother with a soft look—the best duo you’ve ever known.

“mamma, kan vi få glass? [mom, can we have ice cream?]” you gave her a hum, clearly thinking about it before giving her a small yes.

you gave a small nod to a bodyguard, as he returned it, heading to the beach to catch up to your son. you were in disbelief of what was yet to come, memories that you desperately tried so hard to hide.

meanwhile, on the beach a small child was walking around—finding the perfect place to build a sand castle. the two bodyguards were always five steps behind, but it was enough to catch attention from people they passed by.

but a soft oof was heard as andres had accidentally bumped into someone, sending him to the sand. isak, his personal guard’s eyes widens as he rushed forward kneeling on the sand—as he analyzed the young heir.

“är du okej, din höghet? [are you okay, your highness?]” isak’s soft voice was heard, as andres gave him a small nod. he helped the prince up, carefully dusting off the sand that resided in his hair.

“tack, isak. [thank you, isak.]” a lopsided grin was shown on the prince’s face, but a thankful expression was noticeable.

andres looked up to see a woman with a concerned look, but he had noticed the tattoo that was written on her neck—looks can be deceiving.

“are you alright?” she asked, her voice was soft yet filled with concern. but the young prince looked a bit gobsmacked.

“it’s you—you’re the one my mother talks about.” the swedish prince spoke in english, as isak hummed at the prince’s words. mapi looked at him in confusion, slightly tilting her head.

but with a slight pat on the back from her club teammate, frido gave him a formal bow—recognizing him from afar.

“ers höghet, jag ber om ursäkt för min vän. vi spelade fotboll och hon gick för att hämta bollen. [your highness, i apologize for my friend. we were playing football and she went to grab the ball.]” mapi who looked confused, yet flabbergasted at the swedish words clearly not understanding a thing.

the prince just hummed before giving frido a soft smile.

“det är okej, det var ingen skada. [it’s alright, there’s no harm.] however, it’s nice to finally meet you—maria leon.” the prince gave the spanish center back a soft smile, as frido hummed in confusion.

“how do you know me?” mapi asked, slowly pointing to herself as her attention was quickly brought somewhere else.

“broder, vad har du gjort nu? [brother, what have you done now?]” astrid slowly approached the scene followed by a pair of body guards as well. her pink dress stood out as the bodyguards wore suits, yet it fitted the future queen.

frido’s eyes widened a bit, as she gave the crown princess a formal bow—also pulling mapi in a bowing gesture. the barca players had watched from afar, not knowing if they should join or simply watch from afar in amusement.

“i would hear stories about you from my mother, y/n l/n. además, es imposible no conocer al central del barça. [furthermore, it’s impossible not to know the barça center back.]” mapi’s eyes widened at the mention of her first love—while frido looked absolutely stunned at the prince’s fluent spanish.

“jag tror inte att mamma skulle vara nöjd med det. [i don’t think mom would be happy with that.]” astrid said, as andres hummed at her sister’s words.

“pido disculpas por mi hermano gemelo, soy astrid l/n, es cierto que nuestra madre ha hablado de ti. [i apologize for my twin brother, i’m astrid l/n—but it’s true that our mother has talked about you.]” astrid said, holding her hand out—mapi softly shook it, still stunned by the fact that she met the children of her first love.

it was a sudden goodbye after all, you and mapi were childhood friends—almost turned into lovers. the reasons that she has yet to know.

“vi måste gå små, jag fick ett viktigt samtal. [we have to go little ones, i had an important call.]” your voice rang from afar, as you had gazed to where your children were. mapi’s eyes had interlocked with yours, as yours widened with realization.

frido had done a formal bow, it was her queen after all. yet you were shell shocked at the whole thing. little did you know, this wasn’t the last time that you’ll meet again.

[imaginaryf1shots]

My Girls (V) | Max Verstappen

Words count: 2K

Driver!oc X Max Verstappen

Platonic!Driver!oc X the grid

Summery: Cecilia Hansson daughter of a Swedish billionaire, a race car driver, with a dream of making it big in Formula 1. However she has a few secrets that may hurt her as women are disliked in the sport.

Series Warnings: google translated french, dutch, cursing, child abandment, absent father, drinking, car accidents, Jos Verstappen, misogyny, Christian horner (tell me if i missed anything)

Couldn't sleep so here we go...

This is a secondary blog so I won't be able to respond but I'm adding you all.

Masterlist

Series Masterlist

Previous || Next

Nosy friends and lunch 

“What?” Cecilia answered the call request coming from discord, her friends have been spamming her with texts and facetime and she hasn’t accepted any calls or replied to any texts, thank you Charles Leclerc for being a snitch.

“Finally!” Lando was the first to speak, Cecilia didn’t even look at the phone, she continued getting ready, it’s still lockdown she wasn’t leaving to meet Max for once… he was coming over for the first time, they’ve been meeting regularly(at least three times a week)  for the last couple of months. At times she’d go after Nathalie fell asleep, she hadn’t taken Nattie with her to Max’s since that day, but she had been talking to him on the phone, like she does with Charles and her other uncles. It was cute how her daughter would talk with Charles in almost all French and with Max in almost all English. Her daughter is growing up like her and her brother, but that’s besides the point. 

“What do you guys need? I’m busy.” 

“We can see, so who is coming over?” Hearing Pierre’s voice made her glance at the phone to see who was actually in the call, of course her friends from karting plus Lando. 

“Oh my god! You all are so nosy, how did you find out anyway?” She asked knowing that she hasn’t said anything, not even to Charles.

“I may have talked to your mum.” Charles confessed with a proud smile.

“You should be scared Charlotte! That’s creepy behaviour!” Cecilia shouted through the phone knowing that his girlfriend is sitting next to him, she heard her laugh. “Why did I give you my mum’s number again.”

“Don’t try to change the subject Cecilia, when were you going to tell us?” Alex asked, he looked comfy, sitting back on his sofa with a smoothie or juice or something sipping from a straw. In fact they all looked like they were sitting for a gossip session.

“Tell you what? There’s nothing to tell.” 

“Why are you putting makeup on then?” Pierre asked, itching for new gossip.

“It’s just the basic stuff.” Cecilia said, shrugging still continuing with her makeup.

“What did I miss?” George asked, joining the call, Cecilia wanted to pull her hair and block all her friends.

“Little miss secrets here, is getting ready for a date with Max.” Lando told his fellow brit.

“It’s not a date, he’s meeting my parents.” Cecilia said before she could think and sighed, they all howled with laughter.

“You’re already meeting the parents.” Charles said laughing, it was all in good fun, and things have been boring since covid started.

“You all met my parents before, each and everyone of you.” Cecilia said and pointed at them. “You know what, I’m blocking you all.” 

With that she ended the call to finish getting ready in peace, they got on her nerves sometimes. She needs more females in her life.

“I just got here.” George groaned.

“You don’t think she’ll actually do it, do you?” Alex asked, suddenly concerned.

“I don’t think so.” 

“Me neither.” Charles and Lando comforted the others, they just sat there for a while contemplating the duo, and how they thought things would turn out to be like. Charles knew your mother would tell him if he asked.

Cecilia finished getting ready and went to help her mum with the last of the food, Cecilia really wasn’t dressed up, she just had light makeup and a sundress, it was getting warmer now, and they were eating out on the terrace. Seeing her mum in a dress Nattie also wanted to change into a dress as well.

“Go help her, your dad and I will finish here.” her mum said and patted her back, Cecilia took Nattie to her room and made her choose the dress she wanted, midway she heard the doorbell ring, and she knew Max had arrived.

Max was greeted by your dad, he of course saw him before, but it was always from afar they never talked. “Nice to meet you sir.”

“You too, come in please.” Max was led inside he glanced around, this is the house you grew up and lived your whole life in, the penthouse is bigger than the apartment he lives in, for one he rents they own, this one is two stories with apparently a gym. But it felt lived in, from what Cecilia told him is that her dad’s family had generational wealth, but her mum came from a humble bringing, so yes they had the best things in life, but her mum made them know how lucky and privileged they were. As teens they had to work to earn their money, and learn to do things on their own, they never had a nanny or a chef, someone did come in to clean twice a week, so they did their chores, their mum really wanted them to grow up as normal as she could when your dad is a billionaire. 

“I didn’t know what to bring.” Max said and handed her dad a couple of wine bottles, he had ordered online. Looking at her dad, he saw a lot of him in Cecilia and in turn Nathalie, all their colours are her dad, her lips and nose being the only thing he couldn’t place on him.

“You didn’t need to bring anything, but we’ll enjoy it I’m sure.” Cecilia’s dad led him inside to the living room, not the formal one for guests, the one they hosted their friends and family in, the walls were all mostly glass with doors leading to the big terrace. “Cecilia is changing Nattie, the girl took one look at her mum in a dress and suddenly she wants to wear one too.”

“Max! Hello.” Cecilia’s mum walked up with open arms greeting the man, Max had just sat down, stood up quickly just as he was pulled in a motherly hug, she kissed his cheeks like the french one on each side before she pulled back. 

“Nice to meet your Mrs. Hansson.” Max greeted the smiley woman, and he knew where you took your lips and nose from, the perfect blend between your parents.

“Please call me Adeline.” She waved his formalities off. “I saw you grow up with Cecilia, sorry I look like a mess.”

“No, no you don’t… Do you need some help.” Max offered, he could smell the food already coming from the kitchen.

“Nonsense, sit down and talk with Börje, I’m almost done.” With that she gracefully left, sitting back down he faced Cecilia’s dad.

“Cecilia told us you’re quarenting alone.” Börje said and Max nodded, they talked a little about what he was doing since lockdown started, her dad shared how hard it was to run a business from home, especially since HQ was in sweden. 

“Pappa, don’t bore him with your work.” Cecilia called to her dad as Nattie ran in the room to her grand-père before she saw Max and turned to run to him, Max caught the girl and pulled her up on the sofa beside him.

“He’s not bored.” Her dad said acting hurt by her words after rolling his eyes. “I’m not boring you Max am I?”

“No, not at all.” Shaking her head at him, MAx greeted her daughter, before he stood up and gave her a small hug.

“In that case, take care of my child while I help maman.” Cecilia said and turned to her dad. “Can you set the table?”

“Sure thing Älskling.” (Darling) Her dad said and the men moved out to the terrace, there was a cabinet there with a sink and everything for when they had BBQs out there, it was filled with plates and cutlery. Once again Nathalie wanted to help so Max had her placing the spoons and forks in their place. If your dad had doubts about Max before they’re starting to disappear now. He saw Max like the public saw him, only what he presented, and to be honest he doesn’t like Jos but seeing how he talked with Nattie, his instincts as a father were calm. 

After they were done with the table, the men found themselves by the railing, Max was looking at the view, glancing at the girl who was swinging on the small playground set, her granddad had installed for her. 

“Cecilia might kill me for saying this but, when she was pregnant she used to watch a lot of your races.” Börje told the driver he was amused thinking about it now, because if he thinks too deeply all he feels is rage and sadness, an overwhelming feeling of sadness. 

“Did she?” Max asked and turned to copy Cecilia’s dad’s stance, they leaned back on the railing, this is news to him.

“Yeah, she’d say how she wanted to do that, she’d dream of getting in F1. Did you know that Ferrari were in talks with her in 2016 about maybe signing her and having her as a reserve driver.” Max looked surprised at the news, Cecilia got pregnant during negotiations and her lawyer(dad’s lawyers) got her out of the deal with smooth talks and ended things on a good note for future possibilities. “Right when she got pregnant, it took a lot for her to decide what to do. She was glowing when she held Nattie and told us she wanted to get back into racing.”

“She’s lucky she had you supporting her, not many parents would.” Max spoke the truth, wealthy or not, not many parents would have their adult children’s backs like that.

“She’s my girl, even if she’s an adult with a daughter of her own, that's my baby girl.” Börje said, before Max called for Nattie to be careful, right before Börje was about to, the girl took to swinging and then jumping. The set was on a type of foam mat but she could still hurt herself. “Cecilia has always been honest with us, and I can see that you care, not many men would get in a relationship with a woman who has a child, but like I told you, that’s my little girl and I don’t want to see her heartbroken.”

“She won’t I promise.” Max promised his eyes and tone telling the truth, Börje smiled and patted his back. 

“Max, can you help Cecilia bring out the food?” Adeline asked coming out with the salad, when Börje moved to also help she gave him a look, happily married for 30 years now, made him understand her with only a look.

When Max walked in the kitchen he was met with Cecilia taking a baking dish out of the oven before she sat it on the counter. “Need help?”

“Huh, yeah. Mum made so much food you’d think she’s feeding an army.” Cecilia said and looked at all the food sitting in trays and serving dishes, the quantity wasn’t a lot but she made a lot of options. “We'll all be eating this for days to come.”

Max came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, she smiled and turned her head kissing his cheek. “Haven’t been able to say hi properly.” 

“Sorry about that.” She turned in his arms and hugged him around the neck, his arms around her waist, they stood there for a moment before they pulled back, as much as Max wanted to kiss her lips, they’re at your parent’s house and they’re here, so out of respect for them he kissed her forehead before he pulled away and they started bringing the food out, on the last trip she got a bottle of chilled white wine and room temp red one(one of the ones Max brought) along with a wine looking glass that had juice for the little princess. 

Max and Cecilia sat across from her parents with Nattie between her mum and her boyfriend to be(?). They didn’t want to label it, but they are kind of in a relationship. If you spend  time with a man, occasionally kiss said man, talk to said man at all hours of the day and night, go to his house three times a week so you’d spend time together doesn’t that mean you’re dating? Please someone tell Cecilia to make a move already.

Max turned up his charm for the day, he had her parents laughing and engaging in all sorts of conversation, he complimented the cooking, the house, he even managed to talk business with her dad. All points for him in their book. Hearing Cecilia laugh with a man like she hasn’t in over four years made the points easy to give. With eyes that only parents had, they watched how when she laughed as she leaned towards him, her arm falling on his shoulder even with Nattie between them it all looked natural, a family in the making.

Ceciliahansson15

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Ceciliahansson15

liked by Carlossainz55, maxverstappen1, Pierregasly and 2,197,009 others

ceciliahansson15 A little wine never hurt anybody

view all 86,984 comments

username1 on my knees🧎‍♀️

username2 who got you those flowers 🤔

charles_leclerc 👀

georgerussell63 👀

ceciliahansson15 grow up!! 🙄😒

username3 what do you know???

username4 soft launch

alex_albon can I be invited the next time I'm in Monaco 👉👈

ceciliahansson15 literarly my mum invites half the grid over everytime! you chose not to come last year

alex_albon I WAS TIRED! I'M SORRY

ceciliahansson15 it's okay it was only a couple of us last year anyways 🤷‍♀️

username8 i wanna be invited 🥺

username5 is she soft launching? or is she just aesthetic🤔

username6 why not aesthetic and soft launching

username5 like the way you think 👍

username7 I lover her insta so much so pleasing to look at

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@luciaexcorvus . @vellicora . @tpwkstiles . @belennasif  . @eugene-emt-roe . @fanboyluvr . @fangirl125reader , @christianpulisic10 . @belennasif . @itsjustkhaos .

[ims0scared]

t.A.T.u (Russian: Тату) — Russian music duo formed in 1999 that consist Julia Volkova and Lena Katina. Lena Katina first music steps were taken in children's music pop band Avenue, in 1997 she joined Neposedy, later on, Julia Volkova also joined the formation (They were part of the band along with members like Sergey Lazarev and Vlad Tapalov). In 1998 Julia got kicked out of the band for bad behaviour, smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol and getting in arguments with other band members, but Neposedy denied it and said that Julia left the band because of her age (Neposedy were children formation while Julia was 12 when joined the band) Lena left the band in 1999. Same year Ivan Shapovalov and his business partner Aleksander Voitinskiy planned to start a music project in Russia. They started organizing auditions in Moscow in early 1999 for teenage female vocalist. By the end of auditioning, the partners narrowed their search down to ten girls, including Lena and Julia that finally became the members of t.A.T.u. Lena and Julia knew each other before the auditions. Both girls stood out among the others because of their appearance and vocal experience, but the producers decided to start working with Lena. Katina began recording demos, including "Yugoslavia", a protest song about NATO boming of Yugoslavia, when the demos were cut, Shapovalov insisted that the project needs another girl, that will be a complete opposite of Lena. In late 1999 Julia Volkova was added to the project to complete the duo. Shapalov after adding Volkova to the project, noticed how close the girls are, he decided to use it and gave the band lesbian image, which made Voitinsky left the band because he said that the idea was immoral and he doesn't want to be part lf it.

"Ivan said, that we need second girl in a band, and that the band needs to be famous, He just said, that we need another girl, because if we will have two it will be happier and more interesting, we can take someone new, someone different, and then they will be singing together. Now i am working in a new project, not in Ivan project, he was a horrible collaborator (...)"

- Aleksander Voitinskiy for programme "Show-Business", 2000

According to Katina, Shapovalov was inspired to create the duo after the release of the Swedish film "Show me love" about romance between two school girls. After completing the duo producers decided to name the group word Тату (Tatu) It is a shortened version of russian phrase "Та любит Ту" (Ta lyubit tu — eng. This [girl] loves that [girl]) For the whole year girls were recording songs for their first album collaborating with Elena Kiper.

Debuted in 2000 with their single "Ya soshla s uma" The song describes the pain in a girl's soul because she is in love with another girl, but is afraid. It became a big hit in Central-Eastern Europe just like their next singles — "Nas ne dogoniat" and "30 minut". Their debut album "200 po Vstrechnoy" came out in May 2001, the english version of the album "200 km/h in the Wrong Lane" came out in 2002, the album was certified platinium by IFPI for over 1 milion copies sold in Europe and become the first foreign group to reach number 1 in Japan, it was also certified gold in United States. "All the thing she said" (english version of their song "Ya soshla s uma") have made it to first place of top songs in over 20 countries, and have been sold in 6 milion copies, it became one of the most succesful singles of XXI century. The controversial music video showing Julia Volkova and Lena Katina passionately kissing in rain infront of a crowd dressed in Catholic school uniforms was supposed to show — Created by their Manager Iwan Shapovalov — "love" between singers. Later on, t.A.T.u relased 3 english albums and 3 russian albums.

t.A.T.u scene image was controversial since beggining. They are most known from their first album, which was revolving around homosexual relations between Julia and Lena. During the promotion of second album they admitted that it all was just a marketing strategy, and they are not lesbians. Even after that they didn't give up on their homosexual characters. Lena Katina spoke up about it in one of their interviews in 2009

"Julia had some lesbian experiences before t.A.T.u, and i didn't, so it was obvious i was quite embarrased, it was foreign to me, but i agreed because i knew this topic is really important. I was on a meeting with fans in Los Angeles and alot of people are still greatful for us. One girl told me that t.A.T.u is the reason why she survived. It's a horrible feeling when you're a teenager and you know that you aren't like others. All your best friends are falling for boys, and you want a girl. You feel alone, and no one understands you, and then a band shows up and tells you that everything can happend in life and you shouldn't be afraid of who you are. When people are saying, we saved them from suicide, i feel like it wasn't pointless. (....) We are also actors somehow. We created a story of two girls in love, and we played it."

Their second album was about interpersonal problems, the russian title (Ludi Invalidy) itself was already controversial around organisations fighting for rights of disabled people. In their opinion the title was suggesting thath disables people don't live, they funcionate, and their only personality traits is stupidity, brutality and greed. Lena and Julia disagreed with organisations and said that they don't understans the point of singles name and the meaning behind it.

Their last pair of albums "Vesyolye Ubylki" and "Wasted Managment" was relased between 2008 and 2009. T.A.T.u oficially broke up in 2011, but they reunited to preform at special ocassions as The opening ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

(It's my first longer post in here, sometimes inbetween of weird images i want to be posting some more productive stuff about topics that i find interesting, i will be posting more about my fav bands, i wanted to make more posts today but this one took me waaaayyy too much time. If u know anything else that you would like to add to this post, or correct me on my mistakes, feel free to comment :P)

[herrlindemann]

Metal Hammer - July 2015, interview with Till and Peter

The name’s Lindemann. Till Lindemann. And together with his friend Peter Tägtgren, the Rammstein man has produced the most obscene side-project in metal. For songs about ladyboys and golden showers, step this way…

Hammer is sitting in the lobby of a five-star hotel in London, listening to Till Lindemann sing about golden showers. As the Rammstein singer booms ‘cunt’ down our headphones, we imagine what the businessmen around us would make of all this — ‘this’ being Skills in Pills, the debut album from Lindemann, Till’s new side-project with Swedish multi-instrumentalist and Hypocrisy mastermind, Peter Tägtgren. 

When we share this thought with Till later, he creases up. Seemingly seven feet tall, the 52-year-old German is one of the most physically imposing people in metal, yet it quickly becomes apparent that, for all the onstage insanity, in real life he’s soft-spoken, polite and, dare it be said, gentlemanly, proffering his arm on the way to his room where the interview will take place.

In contrast to Peter’s chatty and business-like demeanor, Till is more intense, sometimes shy, but his twisted humor reveals itself as we’re led around to the hotel’s side entrance and into the lift. « This feels a bit like a hooker situation, » he grins. Gentlemanly, indeed…

It follows that the duo’s album is just as multifaceted. Skills in Pills seems to reflect the different aspects of Till’s personality, boasting playful, smutty songs like Ladyboy and the aforementioned Golden Shower, with the bleakly beautiful Children Of The Sund and Home Sweet Home also in the mix. Peter’s years of experience producing for the likes of Dumm Borgir and Children Of Boom have given it a tight sound, with a metallic crunch and industrial heart beating beneath a hooky, Euro-synth Lustre.

In their fancy suite, Peter recounts how the Lindemann project began. It was September 2013, as Rammstein wrapped up their explosive Liebe Ist Für Alle Da tour.

« Till invited me to a festival in Sweden, just before Rammstein were going on a two-year break, » Peter recalls. « He said, ‘Let’s do something!’ I sent him the files for the first song and a couple of days later he sent it back with vocals! It went so smoothly that we had to try another. And another. And another… »

While Peter’s been busy with different musical projects over the years, Lindemann is Till’s first ever major musical departure from Rammstein. That makes this collaboration kind of a huge deal. So, the question must be asked: what has the dynamic been like between these two similarly eccentric, yet delightfully unique characters?

« There is no dynamic, » says a straight-faced Till. He glances at Peter and they start cackling. They share the same sense of humor, but there is obviously something special going on here…

The story goes that their friendship began years ago when Peter rescued Till from getting beaten up by a jealous boyfriend and his mates.

When we comment that we know who we’d rather have on our side in a bar fight, Till smiles shyly, as if he’s unaware of how terrifying he is.

« That fight was all about Flake, » Till admits. « He started shit, like he always did in those days because he’s a tiny guy and nobody ever harms him. He knew somebody would save his ass! »

So basically, this is a kinship born of fights, frolics and partying?

« Why does everybody think we party all the time?! » Till asks Peter, feigning exasperation.

« It’s not like we quit drinking… just not when we’re in the studio, » clarifies Peter, before gesturing to Till and adding, « Although he always has a few beers when he records. »

« It’s good for the voice, » says Till seriously.

« That’s what she said, » whips back Peter.

« The point was to have fun, » Peter adds. « We wanted to do a couple of songs, see what we could learn from each other. Then suddenly half the album was done and it wasn’t just a hobby any more. We had to try and keep it a secret! »

In 2015, that’s no small feat. So far the guys have managed to keep things mostly under wraps, revealing, prior to this interview at least, only the project name, a date and a single image of themselves dressed as a bride and groom — a truly odd couple. But Till tells us he initially wanted to use the internet to gauge fans’ opinions, rather than spread the word.

« I wanted to put the first song up online, to see how people would react, » he reveals. « It was really strange to sing in English because I’d never done it, except on a couple of stupid songs, like Pussy. Peter encouraged me, but I was unsure. I wanted feedback from fans, but he didn’t want to give anything away, which in hindsight was good because otherwise » —  he snaps his fingers  — « the box is open, y’ know? It was great; a year and a half of no pressure, nobody on our backs. »

Was this freedom from expectation the main appeal of doing a project outside of Rammstein?

« It was a total vacation, » stresses Till.

« And just to create something together, » adds Peter. « We’re from different worlds — he’s more into gothic style and I’m into metal. We learned a lot from each other, helped each other a lot. I think Till sings a lot more on this record. »

« We don’t have these melodies in Rammstein, » Till explains. « Sometimes it’s just the bass and drums and no hook, so it amounts to this talk-singing [known as Sprechgesang in German]. I wanted EBM, Depeche Mode-style sequences, so I pushed Peter to do it and he came up with some great stuff. And writing songs can be hard. You go to bed with it, you dream about it, you wake up with it… and at the heart of it is the chorus. If you find a good one, you never have to work again, » he adds, at which Peter starts crooning, « Laaaast Christmas… »

« …I gave you my heart, » sings Till back to him, before adding with a chuckle, « Asshole! »

The more time spent with this curious twosome, the more it becomes clear that they have an understanding of each other that runs a lot deeper than mere musical collaboration, and that their roles within Lindemann are ones that they have taken with relish. While Peter wrote and played all of the album’s music, the filthy lyrics are all Till’s.

So now that they’ve seen what they can do together, how far are they planning to take it?

A single and video are on the cards, promises Peter, and gigs look to be a possibility, too. But when asked if he still enjoys performing live, Till goes quiet and shake his head, almost imperceptibly — a little sadly, even.

« But I have to, » he sighs after a heavy silence.

He does, however, say that if Lindemann were to play live, he wants a stripped-down show: «I think it’s better when it’s just pure energy, rock’n’roll, no pyro, » he says. « Leaves all this bullshit behind and just play the songs. »

Colour us intrigued — the frontman of one of metal’s most shamelessly showy bands labelling pyro and ballyhoo as ‘bullshit’? Given the nature of Till’s day job, this statement is perhaps a little worrying, and with Rammstein guitarist Richard Kruspe telling Hammer late last year that he didn’t know what the future held for the German titans, it adds further uncertainty to when or even if we’ll see the six-headed pyromaniac monster rise again. Luckily, though the other Rammstein members are indeed off doing their own thing at the moment, it seems, according to their frontman at least, that that chapter hasn’t been closed just yet.

« We’re all still in touch, » he reassures us.

« We don’t see each other, but that’s the point — it’s a vacation. We’re all going to meet back in Berlin around September, October. » Perhaps the wheels on the Rammstein machine will start rolling again sooner that we’d thought…

In the meantime, metal’s newest odd couple are still in their honeymoon period. They’re enjoying the freedom to make music on their own terms, however and wherever the hell they feel like it. So what’s the endgame for Lindemann?

« That we’re gonna get sued and burned for the lyrics, » laughs Peter. « But I’m just going to pretend I don’t understand any English. »

We won’t tell if you don’t.

[randomkposts]

Tamaki Uchida as a Persona user

I want Tamaki fic. From If to P2. As she went to two schools that had demon outbreaks, became a devil summoner/part time detective while going to  college, then was probably awake during the dark hour, and that's probably the most in the know POV possible over multiple games. Unless you do Philemon or Nyarlathotep's POV, I guess. 

She was traumatized by the first one, refused to participate in the second one, and had moved city's and a world ending event happened.

Then the dark hour

I want Eriko/ Elly to drag her into the quest

They are both on the fencing team. Eriko is fascinated by The supernatural. And brave. And Tamaki knows the supernatural well from personal experience

So P1 protagonist, Mark, Nanjo Kei, Maki, and Reiji are doing the SEBEC questline. 

Yukino, Brown, Yuka, and Elly set out on the Snow Queen quest. Eriko notices Tamaki knows her Demon lore, and refuses the sword she offers, instead pulling her into the party

So on one hand Tamaki and Tadashi being a Devil Summoner duo is a cool concept if you choose to forget he's a self insert. Weird pairing, apparently canon. 

He is probably a strong source of support to her canonically, if you choose to view him as a character divorced from the self insert nature. But also we don't see it in focus often, so… I could take or leave him. 

But it would be interesting to have  a character who can summon Personas and Demons, and she is a crossover of 3 fandoms with her appearances in games. 

I would say Tamaki’s arcana is Strength for her starting persona.  The other bests are Justice, and chariot to start. Bads are, hanged man, the devil.

In persona 2 IS ,her goods are lovers, and the other 3 affinities.

In EP, one of her bests has changed to magician. Judgment has shown up in good. Possibly in place of lovers.  Hanged man is neutral. 

Hmm

Anyway as a Strength arcana, I'm thinking her starting persona might be Hervor. (From wikipedia)

Hervor was born after her father Angantyr's death (he died during a duel against the Swedish hero Hjalmar) to his wife Svafa, who was daughter of a Jarl Bjarmar. Rather than take on sewing or be raised as a bond-maid like other girls, Hervor proved to be as strong as the boys and learned archery, swordsmanship, and horse riding.

She dressed like a man, fought, killed and pillaged under her male surname Hjörvard. When she learned of her father's identity she decided to live as her father and to find Tyrfing, the magic sword."

One day, she arrived with her fleet to Munarvágr on Samsø (Samsey), but she was the only one who dared to embark on the haunted island. The remainder of her crew feared the nightly activities around the barrows on the island. As she approached the barrows she saw a fire shining above them, and she approached the largest one. She then talked with a loud voice summoning her father Angantyr to reveal himself. She said that as his daughter she was entitled to her rightful inheritance, Tyrfing. Then, she also summoned her eleven uncles and she did so with such a loud voice and such harsh words that finally, her father's voice was heard and he asked not to pursue her quest. She did not give in but continued to ask for her rightful inheritance.

Finally, the grave opened and in its centre a fire was shining. There she saw her father, and he warned her not to ask for the sword. It would bring death to their whole clan if she used it. Still, she persisted. Finally the sword was cast out of the grave, and she eagerly gripped it, bid farewell to her dead kinsmen and walked to the shore.

However, when she arrived at the shore, the ships were gone. Her crew had been scared away by the fires and the thunder from the barrows."

Eventually, she managed to leave the island and arrived at the court of Gudmund of Glæsisvellir. She still dressed herself as a man and called herself Hervarðr. Cunningly, she helped the king to win playing tafl. However, she also slew a courtier who tried to unsheathe Tyrfing after she had left it on a chair. Then, she resumed her Viking activities, and travelled far and wide.

After a while she grew tired of the adventures and returned to her foster-father Bjartmar. At Bjartmar's residence, she betook herself to sewing and embroidering like other girls, and was considered to be a beautiful and good-mannered girl.

King Gudmund's son Höfund, then arrived to ask for her hand, and she said yes. The old king Gudmund arranged a grand wedding, and entrusted the kingdom in the hands of the young couple. They lived happily and had two sons who were given the names Angantyr and Heidrek.

The sword Tyrfing would continue its ill work, and Heidrek slew his brother Angantyr with the sword. "

Tamaki does not so much go searching for a sword, but answers the call and receives a COMP. She goes on a journey and potentially saves her school or damns it. 

Then she tries to get out, to go do fairly normal girl stuff, fencing,and  avoid future Devil instances.

Of course, that doesn't work long term, but she tried.

For Evolved persona, am considering Bradamante.

(From Wikipedia)

“Bradamante, a female Christian knight in the service of Charlemagne, is the sister of Rinaldo and the daughter of Duke Amon, the duke of Dordognes.[4] She falls in love with a Saracen warrior named Ruggiero, but she refuses to marry him unless he converts from Islam. An expert in combat, she wields a magical lance that unhorses anyone it touches, and rescues Ruggiero from being imprisoned by the wizard Atlantes.She is described as wearing white, with a white shield and a crest of a pennon.

She is one of the French warriors fighting during a Saracen invasion into France. She is in the middle of fighting a Saracen warrior, Rodomont, when another Saracen warrior, Ruggiero, informs her that Charlemagne is retreating. Bradamante tries to leave to join the rest of the French forces, but Rodomont keeps her from leaving. Ruggiero, finding Rodomont’s actions dishonorable, steps in to fight Rodomont to allow Bradamante to leave. However, Bradamante is unable to catch up to Charlemagne’s army and instead returns to Rodomont and Ruggiero, feeling guilty for leaving someone else to fight in her place. Rodomont is impressed with the honor of Ruggiero and Bradamante and rides off, leaving Ruggiero and Bradamante together. They are mutually impressed with one another and share their identities. Bradamante also removes her helmet, revealing to Ruggiero for the first time that she is a woman. An ambush then manages to separate them.

The two lovers are separated many more times in the story, and Bradamante faces many challenges. She travels to a castle made of steel to rescue Ruggiero from the wizard Atlantes with the help of the sorceress Melissa and a magic ring, escapes from a castle full of illusions,and encounters many other difficulties.

After the lovers are reunited, Rinaldo grants Ruggiero his blessing to marry Bradamante. However, her parents reject the suitor even after Ruggiero converts to Christianity, preferring a Leo, the son of the Greek emperor Constantine. Bradamante manages to convince King Charlemagne to decree that she will only marry a man who can withstand her in battle, greatly angering her parents, who nonetheless reluctantly agree. Ruggiero, meanwhile, sets off to kill Leo. On the way, he finds the Constantine’s forces battling the Bulgarians. Ruggiero immediately enters the battle to assist the Bulgarians, who had been losing, and manages to turn the tide of the battle. However, he is captured and imprisoned by the Greeks. Leo, impressed with Ruggiero’s valor, 4frees him. He then asks for a favor, and Ruggiero, grateful for his freedom, promises to grant whatever Leo asks. Leo, having learned of Bradamante’s challenge and knowing he isn’t strong enough to win against her, asks that Ruggiero fight Bradamante on his behalf. Ruggiero reluctantly keeps his promise and disguises himself as Leo to fight Bradamante. He wins the match and retreats to the woods, wishing to die. There, Leo finds him and asks what is wrong. After Ruggiero reveals his identity and that he is in love with Bradamante, Leo annuls the engagement to let Bradamante and Ruggiero wed. At the end, their marriage gives rise to the noble House of Este, who were patrons to both Boiardo and Ariosto.

The poems drew from legends of Charlemagne, chansons de geste, and blended recurring motifs found in the Matter of France and the Matter of Britain. Bradamante and Ruggiero's romance is most likely made to parallel the romance of Angelica and Orlando. Bradamante and Ruggiero's love is reciprocated and honorable, whereas Orlando is driven mad with love and Angelica despises him. Bradamante also spends much of Orlando Furioso chasing down her love to save him, contrasting with Angelica, who spends most of the story running from Orlando."

Key word here is tries. In contrast to the first legend where she tries to give up the call and find love, the second legend has her keeping the call and finding an equal. Coursr that also depends ln keeping her OG arc. Or shifting to give her a new role in the stories.

I don't think the first Persona game was as thematically tied to legends origins. Also there's Nanjo, who has his butler as his ultimate so yolo.

One of her other bests are fortune dependant of Nova from SMT If. 

-Chariot for strength

-Magician for speed

-Temperance for balanced

-Wheel of fortune for luck

The other is justice, as she can either uphold fair decisions and consequences, and save the people, or she can turn on that and make decisions that are unfair, and lack accountability, and dishonest, as per SMT If.

The ones she is at odds with are hanged man and devil.

Hanged man is a card of stasis. A lack of a decision. Which she is at odds with. After all, she's always making some kind of decision be it active or passive.

-Upright card (keywords): Breaking old patterns, Circumspection, Letting go, Metamorphosis,

-Reversed card (keywords): Egotism, Inability to change, Missing an opportunity

And devil, a decision card. 

-Upright card (keywords): Bondage, Enslavement, Fear, Feeling trapped, Materialism, Temptation, more

-Reversed card (keywords): Breaking from addictions, Divorce, Freedom from restraints

Tamaki is not a character to stay still, take stock. It does not vibe with her strength Tarot. But as the hanged man card reveals she is keeping still, and the devil indicates she is the one trapping herself in it.  To make the best choices for her heart, she needs to reflect on what she wants, and cast off the self restraints keeping her from it. 

---

Of course, I'm not a Tarot expert. This is mostly with what I look up online. Feel free to add more in the comments or reblogs if you like. 

What Arcana's do you think Tamaki would have affinities for if she could summon a persona? And what Personas would you give her? 

[camo1000le]

Give us your Oweddy thoughts!!! I love your art of them so much I want to hear your thoughts <3

Awww tysm 🥺💞 I love drawing them, to the point I'm geniunely worried

I have a lot of specific hcs about them (mostly because I'm slowly stealing them to turn them into OCs for... something) so here's a little rundown in their story! (Let's hope it's actually little!!)

AKA long post weird AU you released a beast (me infodumping)

When they're tiny:

They met when they're 12 at their new school: Owynn moved because of bullying (the kids used to make fun of him bc he was tall/redhead/has heterocromia and even cut his hair, that's why he has it very short now) and Freddy moved to a whole new country (from Spain to wherever fhs happens). Freddy is Mexican while Owynn's dad is swedish (he was not born there)

They find eachother to be very weird but share many tastes and life events, like the bullying and missing a parent (Owynn is more direct and likes to insult his mom while Freddy doesn't talk abt it- Ow didn't even knew he had an adoptive dad).

They form a music duo for the spring event, since they were such good friends maybe they could work together well! Also Freddy acts kinda weird and sometimes forgets they have rehearsals after-hours but it doesn't matter bc he says sorry and he's cute!!

There's a whole drama with Owynn's parents in the middle of that but i wont bore you with that (unless you want me to)

Anyways the event happens Owynn can't come in time so Freddy goes alone and he wins but ow feels betrayed and blah blah blah they're enemies now and he hates Freddy (a 12 years old kid with a lot of mental troubles for that age)

Bc yes Fred is there but Owynn ofc didn't know, even if he actually talked very often with him too. In fact is kinda his fault Fred makes fun of Freddy so much (He's mad he lost his only best friend 🥺)

(Guess who remembers the rehearsals and the songs and owen cursing his mom)

Middle part where we watch Owynn go insane:

Literally. They kinda hate everyone but their dad now.

Moved school again, classmate with Abby and company actually! (Tho y'know abby she's... insane) so they don't talk. Also the Nightmares used to live closer to that school so they bullied him there until Owynn broke all of Onnie's teeth.

They meet Ttrap too: he's older in my AU (while ow is 15 he would be 17), he tries to get Owynn to therapy bc it's really fucking weird/sad he only talks abt Freddy or abt how much they dislike themself so. Yeah. He succeds and Owynn gets... to move schools again, yay!!

Ow starts developing schizoprenia, doesn't get the diagnosis until very later. (Prodomal stage/negative symptoms rn)

Also kinda starts discovering himself (being gay/nonbinary, doesn't really ditch the he/him pronouns until much later). Also dyes their hair purple

I don't have recent drawings of cringy sad 15y/o owen

What would equal the 1st season of the series:

Freddy moves to the HS and says his funny discourse (qué? Que quién soy yo? 🤓) Who would've though a certain kid that hates him was there to see it and died right there.

After realizing they share classroom Owynn pressures Ttrap into changing them to another one, hides his freckles/dyes his hair a darker color/uses normal glasses to not be recognized. Explaining his absence from the 1st season /j

So we have time to look at Freddy. He's struggling, Fred is being annoying; they explode at the camp where Freddy bumps into Owen who tells him to fuck off and never talk to them bc they hate him and Freddy says: "who are you?" to them. :D

Fred facepalms and takes control of the body.

Owynn develops his plan to destroy Freddy's band or whatever. Also dyes his hair again.

2nd season!!

And Owynn is in full delusional mode. The whole 'boss' thing is Eak and Ttrap going along with them so they can decompress lol

He does his little introduction and dumb plans to sabotage that obviously don't work at the end but they're actually very good bc he... actually does know what he's doing (making usagi & loon have trouble/separate golden from the group/the whole Toys thing)

But eventually it doesn't matter/the spring event thing happens ; Owynn gets hit by a car and breaks their arm

The secret 3rd season // last school year

Owynn goes back to lay low, gets his schizophrenia diagnosis so therapy+meds!! Good for them!

Freddy gets the therapy+meds combo too! Fred is chilling now :]

So Freddy now attempts to talk to Owynn but they run away from him to not cause him trouble anymore. And that goes for a while until they talk it out: They'll get time to talk alone, but Freddy also wants them to meet the rest of his band so they can get friends, Owynn accepts; but isn't a fan lf the idea.

Eventually they fall in love again (fall? Ow never stopped liking him honestly) and they date. But it takes a very long time to get there but they're so very lovely <3

ALSO yes Fred and Owynn also fix their relationship, they're besties again <3

[bawnjourno]

There were other, more outrageous fabrications. 'We were Doris Day's sons for a long time', Russell smirked and, in some peoples' minds, they still are. As recently as 2003, Record Collector magazine was repeating the fictions of a 30 year old press release, and introducing the duo to its readers as 'brothers J Donald and Dwight Russell Day', who 'rechristened themselves Mael in a country that viewed masculinity strictly as John Wayne and the Marlboro Man'. On another occasion, whilst visiting Sweden. the Maels were astonished to receive a call from Doris Day's musical publisher asking if they would visit his office in Stockholm to pick up some overdue Swedish royalties! 'There seemed to be no reason why we started doing the music,' Ron shrugged, so we started making up these... lies.'

from Sparks: No. 1 Songs in Heaven by Dave Thompson

[lietpolski]

For Sufin how do you see their relationship throughout the years? like their ups and downs, happy or sad moments?

thank you for the ask!! embarrassingly, finland is the one out of all my favourite characters that i know the least about history-wise so i can't give you a proper detailed answer :(

BUT i can give a vague one <3

i really enjoy the interpretation of them you see in fics, where they met as young children (with sweden a bit older physically) during one of the times where sweden was exploring finland's land. finland was weak at the time and had no choice really but to eventually become a swedish vessel. i don't think they would've been close in any way - finland was afraid of him and sweden was busy at the time (and didn't think much of little finland)

i think they began to get close during the kalmar union! we know that at the time they lived together in denmark's house - and we know sweden was often unhappy during that time, so i think he would've started to seek finland's company more and i think that's when his crush started to develop! which got way out of hand when they ran away together after the union broke up

i'm writing a fic rn about that time actually!! and how i think sweden would have come to the realization of his feelings and his reaction to that. but right after leaving denmark, finland would've been too distrusting and nervous around sweden for a proper relationship

flash forward some years later!! i don't have the specifics figured out in terms of a timeline, but we see in canon during the battle-that-did-not-happen with poland & lithuania that finland is a lot more confident and himself around sweden. i think it would've been around then when they first became romantic! i don't think they ever were "official" in any way, though, and in the following centuries their relationship would get rocky over sweden not necessarily treating finland's people the best (<- understatement of the century) before coming to a head when finland was given to russia in 1809

it wasn't until modern day when they'd become a couple officially, beginning from a friends-with-benefits situation in the 20th century to the domestic father duo we know today :)

[warningsine]

Sweden has won the 67th Eurovision song contest in a helter skelter show that spanned chintzy Europop, anti-war protest and a continent’s support for Ukraine.

The Swedish singer-songwriter Loreen started the night as runaway favourite but faced a late challenge from Finland’s wildly popular Käärijä, a fan favourite inside the raucous Liverpool Arena.

Her win means Sweden equals Ireland’s record seven Eurovision wins. Loreen, 39, becomes the first woman to win the contest twice, after her anthemic 2012 hit Euphoria.

One of the most political Eurovision grand finals in years was drawn into sharper focus as Russian bombs fell during the show on the home town of the Ukrainian act, Tvorchi.

Moments after leaving the stage, the electro duo posted on Instagram that Ternopil had been shelled “while we sang … about our steel hearts, indomitability and will” and added: “Europe, united against evil for the sake of peace!”

Taking the famous Eurovision glass microphone on a confetti-strewn stage, Loreen said the victory was “overwhelming”, and added: “I’m so happy. I’m so thankful. Thank you for this. This is for you. Thank you.”

Loreen, who first found fame in Sweden’s equivalent of X Factor in 2004, told journalists she was proud of becoming only the second performer to win Eurovision more than once, after Ireland’s Johnny Logan.

“It feels surreal. It feels wonderful. Isn’t it wonderful?” she said. “This is so beautiful. One feeling I have in my body that’s taken over is just gratitude. I feel so thankful to all you guys.”

Asked whether Ukraine should be given the opportunity to host the contest once the war ends, despite not winning this year, she replied: “Absolutely, yes – of course, why shouldn’t they?

“I love Ukraine, i’ve been a lot, I’ve done a lot of shows and it hurts me to see what’s going on there and I’m sad about that.”

The win means Eurovision will return to Sweden next year for the 50th anniversary of Abba’s triumph with Waterloo in 1974.

The UK’s Mae Muller failed to emulate the success of Sam Ryder’s second-placed Spaceman in Turin last year, finishing second to bottom with her entry I Wrote a Song.

Käärijä, who spent the week posing for selfies outside his own mobile sauna in Liverpool, was easily the most popular performer inside the Liverpool Arena but failed to impress the juries of 36 voting nations.

The increasingly rowdy crowd chanted Käärijä’s chorus line, Cha Cha Cha, as Sweden raced away at the top of the leaderboard.

It came down to a nail-biting finale as Finland was awarded a huge 376 points, enough that it leapfrogged Sweden at the top of the table to huge cheers in Liverpool.

A stadium held its breath as Graham Norton, this year’s host, announced that Sweden had secured more than 243 votes and therefore won the 2023 contest.

Broadcast from the UK for the first time in 25 years, it was a night of gravity-defying vocals, shameless cheese-pop, achingly sincere balladry and, of course, moments of downright weirdness.

A Croatian punk band dressed in military overcoats provided the night’s oddest moment as they stripped to their underpants and unveiled giant rockets while singing about a “crocodile psychopath” dictator – an allegory about Vladimir Putin and his relationship with Belarus.

Even in this famously well-rehearsed and closely watched spectacle – where thousands of fans attended three full run-throughs before the live televised final – there were still moments of surprise.

The Princess of Wales appeared briefly in a pre-recorded clip playing piano to Stefania – a wartime anthem in Ukraine – by last year’s winners, Kalush Orchestra.

Queen’s Roger Taylor joined last year’s UK entrant, Sam Ryder, on stage for a drum solo for Mountain, whose lyrics are partly inspired by the struggle of the Ukrainian people.

In the end it wasn’t a new song that brought Liverpool Arena to tears: it was a moving rendition of You’ll Never Walk Alone, the 1945 show tune that has become a terrace anthem in one half of this city, and felt like the perfect ode to Ukraine.

Sung by the Netherlands’ Duncan Laurence, an all-star choir of Eurovision past winners provided backing vocals for a sea of illuminated wristbands in the stadium and footage of Ukrainians singing along at the Golden Gate in Kyiv.

Even the usually waspish Norton, who had swapped the commentary box for presenting duties, appeared overcome with emotion as he told the audience: “I have a tear in my silly old eye. You don’t see that every day.”

Ukraine had been aiming to become the first country since Ireland in 1994 to win the contest in two consecutive years, but it wasn’t to be.

Tvorchi, whose Eurovision rehearsals were interrupted by Russian shelling, finished in sixth place with Heart of Steel, their uptempo love letter to their nation, which brought one of the night’s biggest cheers from the 11,000-strong stadium crowd.

With no end in sight to the horrors in Ukraine, there was a strong anti-war theme throughout the four-hour grand final.

The country’s culture minister, Oleksandr Tkachenko, told the Guardian on Saturday that his government had specifically requested the word “war” be used within the broadcast, which the EBU claims should be politically neutral. And so it appeared in the opening minutes when the co-host, Hannah Waddingham, reminded viewers that the UK was hosting the contest on behalf of Ukraine “because of the war”.

Switzerland’s performance featured falling missiles and the lyrics: “I don′t wanna be a soldier, soldier. I don’t wanna have to play with real blood.” Croatia’s madcap rockers Let 3 warned of nuclear Armageddon while Ukraine’s Tvorchi had been raising funds to buy incubators for babies born prematurely due to the war.

In Liverpool, a city that has revelled in its role hosting Europe’s maddest music party, fireworks erupted from the historic Three Graces beside a fan park where a crowd of thousands partied late into the night.

[dsudis]

2022 Fic Year in Review

Scope note: I am including the WIP I completed this year, which will also appear in the previous year during which chapters were posted, if I ever get around to making a fic year in review post for that year. Stories posted for 2022 Christmas fic exchanges are included in this post.

In 2022 I posted 17 stories, including the concluding chapters of one WIP begun in 2021, for a total of over 104,000 words of fic posted in four fandoms. This was a pretty average number of stories for the past several years (since 2017, I've posted 12-18 stories per year) and a bit of a bounce back from last year's total of less than 82,000 words of fic posted. Weirdly, my word count total for 2022 was within a hundred words of my total from 2007, when I was, uh… working full time, in grad school, and shoveling most of my writing into a story I wouldn't post until the following year. 2022… also had its challenges, but I continue to regard it as The Year My Writing Came Back From The War, so I am pretty pleased all in all.

I actually wrote over 155,000 words of fic this year, with most of the unposted word count going to the Sandman Nightmare Apocalypse AU I started as a Nanowrimo project which… only needs another 80K or so, so… it could get finished in 2023? Maybe??

Story titles this year quoted The Mountain Goats, Taylor Swift, Rainier Maria Rilke, Beck, Swedish synth-pop duo The Knife, U2, T.S. Eliot and Sammy Cahn, who I have just this moment learned was the lyricist responsible for "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!"

Under the cut: fic list and year in review questions answered!

Critical Role

Whomever You Call Out to in the Night (Critical Role: Mighty Nein, Caduceus & Caleb, platonic rope bondage) Just One More Thing (Critical Role: Bells Hells, Orym & Ashton, Ashton's touch aversion) Dangerous Company (Critical Role: Bells Hells, Orym & Fearne, Teen, discussion of the PvP powder keg that is this party) Live Along Some Distant Day (Critical Role: Mighty Nein, Caleb/Essek, Teen, bonding over childhood religious trauma) One Hit, One Kiss (Critical Role: Mighty Nein, Molly/Caleb, Explicit, semi-public sex & spanking)

The Witcher

If I Could Never Give You Peace Emhyr var Emreis + Wolf Witchers, Teen, Emhyr is very confused by why all these people want him alive but inclined to go with it) The End Is Where We Start (Duny/Pavetta, VERY minor Geralt/Jaskier, implications of Many Complex Future Pairings, Explicit, time-travel fixit AU)

The Sandman

Licking the Spoon (Dreamling, Explicit, touch-starved Dream does some sensation-seeking with Hob) Lying in Wait (one-sided Dreamling, Mature, Dream in captivity fantasizes about Hob Gadling) An Endless End (Dream & Death, Teen, thoughts on what happens to Our Hero post-The Kindly Ones, Softer than you might think) A Dream of Unusual Size (Dreamling, Teen, Dream is Smol instead of Big for once) Introduction to Goncharov Studies (Dreamling + That Whole Goncharov Phenomenon, Explicit, Dream just gets Really Excited about story-making okay) The Weather Outside Is Frightful (Dreamling, Teen, Hurt/Comfort) Held Now by This Love (Dreamling, Explicit, kink/bondage/shibari)

Rock Bottom of a Hallowed Ground (Never Refuse You #1, Dreamling, Explicit, Dream decides that the Hob Gadling of 1689 needs some looking after and takes him on a visit to the Dreaming) A Symbol of Your Exegesis (Never Refuse You #2, Dreamling, Explicit, Hob is wandering around the Dreaming and encounters Big Dream)

The Cabots - Cat Sebastian

Caleb Murphy Gets a Hug

My best story this year: Probably "Rock Bottom of a Hallowed Ground", I think?

My favorite story this year: "Licking the Spoon"

My most popular story this year: Also "Licking the Spoon" by a fair margin but I swear I would love it even if it weren't!

Most fun story to write: Probably "Introduction to Goncharov Studies"!

Story with the single sexiest moment: (So I am cutting and pasting these questions from a previous year and the answer to this question from 2018 began with "I guess it depends on how you feel about tentacles?" which technically is not a relevant answer this year because I haven't posted any of that kind of Dreamling fic yet, but it feels very apt anyway.) "One Hit, One Kiss"

Story with the single sweetest moment: "The Weather Outside Is Frightful" almost in its entirety.

Story with the single saddest moment: Logic compels me to at least consider that it's "An Endless End" but I don't think of that as a sad story? I think it's probably "Live Along Some Distant Day" or possibly one of the other ones with Caleb in them because I mean: Caleb.

My weirdest/kinkiest story as demonstrated by reader response: "One Hit One Kiss" wins the private bookmarks quotient with 54% private, edging out "Held Now by This Love" with 48% and "Whomever You Call Out to in the Night" with 45%. "Whomever" did win the highest ratio of kudos to comments (which I fondly interpret as the "I liked this but I don't want to talk about it" quotient) with 21.4 kudos per comment, just edging out "A Dream of Unusual Size" (21.3) and "A Symbol of Your Exegesis" (20).

My most startlingly wholesome story as demonstrated by reader response: "Caleb Murphy Gets a Hug" has just one private bookmark!

Hardest story to write: [2018 answer: Oh, God. All of them, in the first three quarters of the year.] Oh, God. All of them, in the first three quarters of the year. "The End Is Where We Start" probably takes the cake, since I started it back in October of 2020.

Biggest surprise: [2018 answer: Monsterfucking!] My total failure to finish writing hardly any monsterfucking, given that I got into this year's Big Monsterfucking Pairing in September! Also, getting into this year's Big Monsterfucking Pairing in September.

This year’s theme and the story that demonstrates it most: Well, rope bondage made a surprisingly strong showing, but I think I wrote a lot of stories this year about people having their needs understood and accepted and getting what they need no matter how poor a job they do of asking for it, which is pretty on-brand for me, so I'll say that "Whomever You Call Out to in the Night" and "Held Now by This Love" kind of epitomize that (and are also the ones about rope bondage, and also the first and last one-shot stories I posted this year!)

Favorite opening line: Hob Gadling had a great deal to say about how much he had to live for, and no hesitation over saying it to Dream in a great rush of meandering detail. from "Rock Bottom of a Hallowed Ground"

Favorite closing line: It will be a nice problem to have. from "Lying in Wait"

[friskykittyunleashed]

May as well do version two of the musical challenge that @lets-dance-to-joy-division kindly tagged me on. Last night I did five (six really) fairly new to me songs that could evolve into obsessions (pretty sure I'm well on the way with at least three of them). Tonight it's going to be five acts that I've been playing a lot as of late, so I'm kindof obsessed with the band if not necessarily a single song. Again, I don't like to tag people on these things, but if you want to play, you really don't need my permission or anyone else's; just do it.

Five musical acts that Kitty's listening to a lot lately:

Aesthetic Perfection

This will come as no surprise to anyone who has payed attention to my musical posts. I have been absolutely obsessed with Aesthetic Perfection for a good year anyway, and this song has probably been my most obsessively played. I damn near died when I got to be within I can smell your sweat distance of Daniel Graves twice on their recent North American tour. His music has evolved over the years from harsher, angrier stuff with a more electro-industrial edge to what he now calls industrial pop. He does lots of interesting things musically and in his videos. He has the freedom to do so as he told his label to piss off some years ago and he's forging his way independently. He's very fan friendly, and having met him in Baltimore last October, he seems like a nice guy who'd be fun to talk to at length.

Papa Roach

Wait, what? This is nowhere near that synthy dark dancey stuff I posted before. Yep. I didn't like Papa Roach when I heard their first big single, Last Resort, back in the day and I still didn't like it about a year and a half ago when a good friend said that he liked PRoach. But for the last year or so I have LOVED much of their music, including Last Resort. I do actually like rock, but the thing with these guys as opposed to the cock rock and glam rock I grew up with is that Jacoby Shaddix writes and sings about emotions and feelings, not just sex, drugs, and rock and roll. And his lyrics are very catchy and singable in the privacy of my own car. The songs are musically interesting with good use of bass and drumplay that is often more complex than a simple beat. They've also added some synth and electronic elements in their more recent work. It was hard to pick just one song for them, I love so much of their work now. Papa Roach was my big band obsession before Aesthetic Perfection.

Linkin Park

Yes, another rock group, but to me they've always been so much more interesting than that. Mixing rap and singing, two vocalists, Joe Hahn's turntable work, and again with the personal, deeply emotional songs. Their first album Hybrid Theory might be my all-time favorite album, and if not, it's definitely in the top fucking three. Back in the day, at work we called Linkin Park our "angry music." I left them behind for awhile after their second effort Meteora but started to get back into them when I discovered Burn It Down in the mid-2010s (definitely my biggest LP obsession song). It wrecked me when Chester Bennington took his own life. If anyone bothers to throw a funeral for me when I die, I humbly request that two Linkin Park songs be played--One More Light (still cannot make it through that song without choking up) and Leave Out All the Rest.

Ashbury Heights

The first three obsession acts were obvious to me, the last two not so much, but going by my Last.fm stats, Ashbury Heights is my fourth most listened to act in the last year and a half or so. I had never heard of this Swedish duo until they came up for me on Last.fm. Their sound is varied and they've had at least three female singers during their run (I believe they are currently back with their original). I don't like everything, I tend to prefer their older stuff, but what I do like is fun, basically synthpop like this song Spiders. My most obsessive song though has been Spectres from the Black Moss, a catchy tune about a person with mental health issues and an unsupportive partner. The repeated use of the line "no sympathy" is the musical equivalent of fuck you and it is glorious.

God Module

God Module is a bit of a surprise for fifth place as I've only really started listening to more than a couple songs of theirs relatively recently. Their song Plastic was one of the ones I was considering for the final slot on last night's obsession list (and it definitely will become an obsession as I listen to it more). Again with them I don't love everything, but what I do love has a very different and interesting sound with a good beat and something funky going on with the synths. Something stompy I could dance to at the club. Lunacy was definitely an obsession song for me and inspired one of my mixes. Looking forward to digging in to more of their work.

Josie Pace

Bonus artist! I have to add Josie Pace as while my online stats don't reflect an obsession, I listen to her CD a lot in my car. She was one of the openers on Aesthetic Perfection's fall tour. I had never heard of her before and was impressed enough to buy the CD at the show (not typical for me). I swear she is better live than on the recordings. She brings such energy to her performances. Her best stuff isn't even on the CD. The song I wanted to put here hasn't been released yet. Also check out her cover of Pure Morning. She is also extremely sweet and is very happy to talk to you, give autographs, and do selfies. I hope she gets some new music out soon! (Oh and @lets-dance-to-joy-division, she's from the Detroit area.)

[seriaholic]

Young Royals, Omar Rudberg and Edvin Ryding opened the QX gala 2023.

Photo. Markos Aliathiotis & Jonas Noren.

QX Gaygala 2023 was a wonderful 25th anniversary with great emotions, surprises and performances that lifted the roof.

It was a fantastic evening. When the QX Gala turned 25, at the beginning of February. Sissela Kyla led the Gala for the 8th time, but this was also her last Gaygalamormor has retired, she said from the stage. This year’s QX Gala began quietly and beautifully when Omar Rudberg sang the theme song from Young Royals together with a choir, all dressed in Hillerska’s school uniforms. At the end of the song the choir split and Edvin entered the stage and approached Omar. They hugged each other to the crowd’ s cheers and Edvin called out. Welcome to Gay Gala 2023. And we were on!

As usual humor and seriousness are mixed at the Gala, Sissela had a sharp script written by Edvard af Sillen and Dantel Rehnquist and Drew Laughs upon laughs from a full audience. She sat down on Christer Lindarw’s lap and wondered of they had really caught that cobra that escaped from Skansen and sang a new text to Parleporten to hbtq nominee Andreas Wijk. He has opened the wardrobe so you can come out.

Sissela told about the Swedish hero Julia, who lives in Oslo with her girlfriend and who overpowered the terrorist who shot two people outside a gay club in Oslo on the midsummer marathon. Julia was welcomed onto the stage and greatly applauded by an audience that gave her the longest applause of the evening.

On stage we also had a cavalcade of artists including. Molly Hammar, who also won the prize of the best song we were visited by Zara Larsoon, who started by singing a duet with herself in the song. Uncover. From Gaygala 2013 and then performed the new single, Can’t tame here, Sanna Nielsen gave us the middle classic, I’m in love, while Medina raised the bar with his, In I dim an. But the woman’ s trio Hanson Carson, Malmqvist got the most cheers. When they made their entrance and performed C’est la vie.

Main Lodalen was awarded the QX honorary award and was not only the gala’s happiest. Winner but the most surprised winner as we did not notify her in advance, the seconds when she realized she was going to receive the Honorary award we’re magical.

Sweden’s new drag queen Robert Fux handed out the Drag of the year prize and said among other things glitter is courage glitter is battle and the battle is not over long ways.

Petra “September”. Mark Lund gave us a really nice hits medley that got everyone on their feet, snicker-Björn, who came out as Lee was widely praised for his courage and handed out the tv program of the year to the Young Royals. While the HBTQ of the year was handed out by Benjamin Ingrosso and went to Edvin Tornblom. Who attached the older generation of gay’s for everything. They have done in the fight for hbtq rights.

Then she just stood there on stage, Leila K, feat Jessica Folcker and performed the iconic, “Electric” and every guest at Cirkus danced, sang and screamed in ecstasy. One of the many surprises that little has become of the gala’s signature though the 25 years that it has existed.

Thank you all!!

The winners, QX- Galan 2023.

Stall of the year: The Blue Oyster. Keep up the good work of the year: Lady Busty & miss Shameless Scene of the year: club after Dark Honorary award: Mian Lodalen. Film of the year: Hilma. Song of the year: “Ingen Annan ror Mig som du, “ Molly Hammar. Book of the year: Bogen ar los Edvin Tornblom. Tv show of the year: Young Royals.

Drag of the year: Club after Dark. Tv star of the year: Edvin Ryding. Duo of the year: Edvin Tornblom and Johanna Nordstrom. Straight man of the year: Hazret Bozarslan.

LGBTQ of the year: Edvin Tornblom.

At the end of the Gala. Omar Rudberg sang another song.

This interview was in Swedish and I translated it for you.

[moochilatv]

Project Earthbridge x P Thorne presentes "United We Stand As One"

"United We Stand As One" is primarily about the war in Ukraine, and how the world came together to support the invaded country. The lyrics also refer to the changes in the region - and the world at large - over the last 30 years, as expressed with the lines "The wind of change that ceased to blow, the fires of rage that won't cease to grow, an empire clinging to its past, bomb sirens ringing as their fates are cast".

In addition, the song alludes to the hardships of refugees from military conflicts in the past with the lines "Tears fall like a thousand years of rain, the battle is different but the burden's the same, in their nightmares dark shadows take shape, vivid mem'ries they couldn't escape".

Finally, the chorus has a message of hope with the lines "United we stand as one, the dream is still alive, the actions we take today, echo 'cross the bridge of time".

The song has vocals by Pontus Thörne Gruvell (P Thorne) and lyrics by Jimmy Granstrom.

The music was written by Jimmy Granstrom and Thomas Karlsson, who also arranged/produced the song together with Elias Lunde (a.k.a. Eli Tronic). Finally, the track was mastered by Sören von Malmborg at Cosmos Mastering, which is behind the mastering of tracks for artists from Loreen to Avicii to Alan Walker.

Project Earthbridge

Consists of the Swedish duo Jimmy Granstrom (music and/or lyrics) and Thomas Karlsson (music/production) as well as invited collaborator(s), which will vary between songs.

Project Earthbridge's songs have been played on the radio in 12 countries on five continents. The singles "Alicia" and "Made Of Stars" were selected for rotation on P4 Sörmland, which is a major Swedish radio station equivalent to a regional BBC radio station in the United Kingdom. The latest release "United We Stand As One" features P Thorne (Pontus Thörne Gruvell) on vocals, with 16-year old Eli Tronic (Elias Lunde) as the main producer. The song is primarily about the war in Ukraine, and how the world came together to support the invaded nation. It was released on December 5 2023, and has already been played on the radio in Australia, France, Italy, Mexico, Peru, Uganda, Costa Rica, Sweden, Arizona and on KSWV Radio Shockwave in San Diego, California as of March 16 2024.

[maliciousdelice]

Seeing the Rammstein discourse (the duo that’s opening for them) and remembering how pissed off I was when Amon Amarth opened for Ghost last year. Like sure, they’re both Swedish, but in my honest opinion they were shit. It could have been because they were being used as the guinea pigs to set up the equipment, but it was so loud that even as far back from the stage as me and my friend could get without leaving the designated viewing section (grass in particular), we couldn’t even hear ourselves think. I’m sure this isn’t the same that’s going with that duo, but that’s what it’s reminding me of.