#where is that post i made about max and daniel being the type of people who say we and our a lot lmao

[catofthecanals289]

i would love a max wants to propose snippet plzzz

i've posted this before ages ago, hope it holds up ;)

--

“So, are you going to spend the entire evening on your phone?” Victoria asks, as she sits down on the couch next to him, causing him to reflexively put down his phone –face down.

It’s not really fair of her to tease him like this, not when he literally hasn’t been on his phone all night and only picked it up when she got up to dump their takeout containers in the trashcan of the apartment Max only ever stays in when he has to be in Milton Keynes for more than a day or two in one go. It’s not that he minds hotels and that the apartment feels much different than one with as little time as he spends there, but still. He already lives in hotels half the year it feels like, it’s nice to have a place that he can at least call home even if it’s not. Plus, Victoria likes to use it when she makes a weekend trip to London. Although that has gotten less too, with the two kids and all. Which-

“Have you called him yet?” he asks in counter to her little jab, causing her to roll her eyes.

“These kind of news are best delivered in person.” Gently she places a hand on her stomach, soft smile on her lips, despite the challenging glint in her eyes.

He’s the first person to know, this time, and only because it’s his bathroom she took the test in and Max still feels a little crazy about it all –his little sister being pregnant with her third baby. Only him and her knowing –the only two people in the world. It makes him feel like he’s eight years old again, the both of them whispering secrets to each other under the covers of his bed, trying to block out their parents’ yelling.

No one’s yelling now, and Max isn’t scared. He’s just happy for her. Her and her little family.

It’s not what gave him the idea –he’s been toying with it for a while, if he’s being honest- but it’s what had spurred him to finally typing the words into the search bar, fingertips a little bit sweaty.

“Max?” Victoria says, head tilted slightly. “Where’s your head?”

He snorts. “Right here.”

“Mhm.” She looks at him skeptically, then after a moment, giving him a slight nudge she asks: “Everything good with Daniel?”

Flushing a little, Max nods, his phone feeling hot in his hands. “Uh, yeah. He’s in Surrey today, but he said he’d be here tomorrow. Or maybe tonight, depending how quickly they finish up.”

“Is that why you’ve been glued to your phone?” Victoria asks, teasing tone back in her voice. “Because you’re waiting for him to tell you that he’s on his way?”

“No.”

Max rolls his eyes, for good measure. It’s maybe only half true, because Max is definitely looking forward to Daniel and him being in the same place again, but it’s not what he’s been doing on his phone, which- He shoots her a glance ,hesitant for a moment, before he realizes how fucking stupid that is because it’s Victoria. His little sister. She’s probably the person he’s closest to, right up there with Daniel and his mom. And it’s not like he can tell Daniel about this just yet.

“I’ve been, uhm.” He clears his throat, unlocking his phone again so he can thumb open the website he’s been scrolling through before she interrupted him. “Looking at stuff. At –these.”

He holds out his phone to her.

She takes it, eyes already wide.

“Max…” she says, softly after barely a moment.  “You’re going to-”

“Yes,” he says, and fuck, what a terrifying thing to admit, despite the wave of excitement that surges up inside of him at the thought. It’s crest is made of fear. That Daniel will say no. That he’ll say yes, and Max won’t be good enough for him to not regret it. That it’s a stupid, little fantasy, nothing more, and most of all that-

“-I’ll have to tell dad. About me and Daniel,” he says, as Victoria scrolls down the website, looking at the quite limited number of engagement rings made for men, and the endless selection for women. “I know that. If we get married then- Yeah. And I know that dad isn’t going to like it, but I want-” He exhales, gesturing to his phone. “-that. I want to ask him. And I want him to say yes, and I don’t know. Be fucking married to him.”

He thinks about Daniel wearing a ring on his finger, a ring that Max put there and not just as an expensive gift but as a promise, a vow. He thinks about having a paper signed by the both of them putting a name to what they have that they don’t need but Max wants anyway. He thinks about waking up every morning knowing that Daniel married him. That he looked at Max and just fucking picked him. Chose him. Is choosing him. Every day for the rest of their lives. Or life. Together.

And Max knows, he knows that he doesn’t need a marriage certificate to trust that Daniel is committed to him and it’s not even about that really, knows that his issues, his worries and doubts, they’ll always be there for Max to work on, but he wants it anyway.

He wants to be Daniel’s and for Daniel to be his.

“Max, I think that’s wonderful,” Victoria says, eyes shiny. “Really, really wonderful. Shit.”

Pulling him into a hug, she squeezes him tightly.

“He’s going to say yes, I know it, I just know it,” she says, a she holds her back just as tightly, before letting go. “And dad, he’ll just have to deal. It’ll be fine. It’ll be- Fuck. We need to find a proper ring. Shit. We should go to London tomorrow, go to some actual stores instead of-” She waves dismissively at his phone.

“Daniel’s coming here tomorrow though,” Max reminds her. Or tonight. If I’m lucky, tonight.

“Well, he’ll just have to entertain himself then,” Victoria says, unbothered, a gleeful look on her face. “Fuck. I’m going to have another baby, and you’ll be getting married. And win another world championship. This is going to be our year, Max. You hear me? Our year.”

“Hey. Don’t jinx me. Don’t jinx us,” he says, cheeks flushed, just as his phone buzzes with an incoming text.

It’s from Daniel.

finishing up now! See you in two hours [kiss emoji]

Max can’t help but smile.

hurry is all he texts back.

[itsblasttothepast]

I just wanna say that you defending Checo is the best part of my day.

This whole situation is tiring and I really would love for RBR to finally make some official decisions because I have had enough of all the speculations and people saying Sergio will be out even though he has a contract and he said multiple times he will be back after the break.

I don't understand why people think him and Max hate each other (more so why RBR posting Max/Daniel video or them flying together to Monaco where they both live would be a proof of that) when they said over and over again that they have a good relationship and Max is defending Checo every weekend - I doubt PR could force him to do that, he doesn't look like the type to play into PR games.

The whole "Daniel vs Sergio" is a horrible situation made worse by media and the "fans" because I don't see them acting any different around each other (though the whole incident with Daniel's team spreading rumours still gives me an ick) and I don't know why being friends with Max is somehow taken into consideration???? Like Daniel is his best friend on the grid, he said that many many times and because of that he can't like Checo? Where's the logic? It's very preschool to say that: "he's my best friend and only mine and he can't be friends with anyone else". Ridiculous.

It was fine for a moment but it turned really toxic rather quickly and it's disgusting, it is possible to like a driver without hating their competitors. Also, I don't think Daniel proved himself enough to take the seat mid season, (Yuki beaten him almost always) and it wouldn't make sense to reverse all the progress Sergio made to put the entire WCC on an unknown. But I agree Checo needs to do better - he had a terrible luck lately and made some mistakes but he wasn't that bad, not sure what it is because he was flying in quali and then got fucked over with the strategy but he deserves a fair chance (and please don't get me started on the whole "they fired Pierre and Alex for less" because it's a completely different situation - they were not fighting for the top spot then)

Sorry for the rant, I'm just really sick of this situation.

(Also because apparently it's important in the whole debate somehow - I am a Checo fan, I'm indifferent towards Daniel and RBR and I am from Europe)

Don't worry anon, I love good rants, particularly from Checo fans, you are amazing, and I hug you so hard!

I do agree Checo has made mistakes, but he was improving. It's something I can't understand, some practices he's really good, and then qualy ends awfully and has to make it up in the race. In this race in particularly, I do blame RBR for the drop in places. Checo complained about the energy thing (I only know the words in Spanish, sorry, but something about needing power because he was too slow) and the tyre thing... I think Horner knows they fucked up, because he said that 'this race won't have an impact in Checo's future in RBR', whatever, I don't believe you Horner. Yesterday in qualy, he almost stays at Q2 because his engineer made a mistake, the team is having a hard time with the strategies and it shows, particularly with Checo.

I'm with you, RBR needs to just say something about this instead of letting everyone (press, haters and fans of other drivers) run wild with the rumours.

The fact that people still believe Max hates Checo baffles me. They say he has to act like this because PR stuff, but Max is Max. Let's remember their divorce in 2022, shots were fired, frosty things during PR... they really think Max would just pretend for PR? Particularly the touchy feely way he is with Checo? But whatever, they can think that, if only didn't mean spewing shit about Checo, but no, they have to say nasty things about him.

I understand how you feel anon, and feel free to share your thoughts here, is a Checo fans Space for all of us, loving that you are european, I'm biased because the press is mean, but I know Checo has fans there, so glad to meet (sorta) one of them!

So anon, being a Checo fan:

[inchidentally]

Hi! I just saw your brilliant post about the Landoscar turning point and as you asked other people's opinions here I am, I didn't want to crash the original post so here are my thoughts about it (It may be long, sorry!)

Disclaimer: neither of us know how they actually are and this is all based on their public personnas.

I think Lando and Oscar are figuring their relationship out slow but steady, and it's super interesting because as you mentioned it's so different to Lando's previous teammate relationships.

Carlos: Instant click. Carlos quickly assumed the role of the older brother and experienced driver. Carlos is an introvert and Lando was VERY shy at the beginning of his F1 adventure, so it wasn't an overwhelming dynamic for Lando.

Daniel: The polar opposite. A very overwhelming extrovert. I think that's one of the reasons it took them longer to get along. Daniel tried hard to be friendly but Lando just needed time. It didn't help that Lando was probably missing Carlos. At the end of their first year together they were already what people was expecting of them: jokes, laughs and two funny guys having a great time.

It's unfair to analyze all of this without mentioning the sports-side of things which is vital. Carlos taught Lando how to be in an F1 team, shared his telemetries, gave him advice. I guess that for a 19-yr old Lando that made him feel closer to Carlos. In Daniel's case it was trickier. Everybody expected Daniel to destroy Lando but Daniel struggled. A lot. And we know Lando tried to help but it was a complex problem, and that must make things a bit more awkward and distant. After the 1-2 in Monza and Daniel finally getting a great result, that awkwardness seemed to dissipate.

And now Oscar.

Oscar is a reflection of rookie Lando, but older and probably less anxious. They seem at ease since the very beggining (a softer 'instant click' I'd say) due to Oscar's calmer nature, and we know Lando does better at first with those introvert types. Worth noting that I don't think Lando had this 'heartbreak' after seeing Daniel leave as he had with Carlos, because he knew Daniel was suffering in McLaren to the point it was affecting his health, so it was good for him to leave. So Oscar's arrival was already smoother than Daniel's, and it's important to mention that they weren't complete strangers, Max Fewtrell knew Oscar personally and probably talked about him to Lando before the Aussie arrived at Mclaren.

So a good starting point but as Lando said, Oscar is in his "serious phase". He wants to show that he deserves the seat and that he's not here to be McLaren's #2. Add that to his introverted personality and you'll have a difficult code to break for Lando. I imagine Oscar thinking at the beginning that Lando would want to play mind games with him, but that boy seems pretty honest and if he tries to get close to someone is because he genuinely likes them.

They're probably in that point where they know can trust each other, but they still feel a bit like strangers. They don't seem to have a lot in common aside of racing but give them time. Lando started playing golf because of Carlos. Daniel started to mess around with his photo camera because of Lando, I'm sure they'll find a common ground.

So I agree, they've not had their turning point yet, but I think they're cimenting a solid relationship without rushing things. Maybe not seeing each other during the off-season will bring them closer as I'm very sure they're going to miss each other. And if the car performance continues being good next year, that will help them too. More battles in track doesn't necessarily mean a brocedes situation, as most people think. It's way worse to have a shit car and being grumpy because you're battling for P12.

So to sum things up I think their current state is: Good relationship with a solid base to build a friendship. Mutual admiration and respect. And a dash of mutual fascination too ;) If you got here, thanks for reading!

I love this and I agree!!

what's so interesting is that i my other analyses (it's very weird I have so many askgfksagf) including my carlando astrology one is that I've never really considered before that Carlos is more an introvert than an extrovert like you said. I very much see him as a natural leader and his genetic makeup absolutely puts him in the more 'dominant' position with his teammates. and obviously he's very easygoing with humor and naturally funny but in fact he clearly isn't much of a show pony like Daniel. even him zoning out as he said is more that he just has kind of moved on from the conversation and is thinking about something else. and his romantic relationships are as private as an F1 driver's can be with the huge majority of content coming from paps and journalists and fans. his love of spending quality time with family during the winter break is also very introverted.

and I actually have a thought about the needing to find common ground the way he has golf with Carlos and friends and photography with Daniel. since Oscar truly is someone who has his job as a racing driver and then otherwise switches off to video games/TV/naps I feel like what's bound to happen with him and Lando is that they find their friendship in those liminal spaces. I feel like Oscar is way too shy to appear in Quadrant videos or Lando's streams but then Steve is a very lowkey part of that team so I still think he would work?? and I love like you say that Oscar already has that connection with Max F so it would be so cool to have him integrated into Lando's life that way... IF you could get him to agree to it which is a big if.

same about the brocedes worries (I did an insane post abt that too). Lando wears his emotions right on his face and doesn't have much verbal filter so if he were going to develop bad feelings toward Oscar then it either would have happened at the start of the season when the car was awful or when Oscar's success started paralleling Lando's mid season. but they both seemed to gain a lot of solidarity from that rough start and we know how hard Oscar has worked to show Lando that when the race is done, all rivalry between them is over.

[sebrrari]

Hi! If it's okay to ask, what's the context behind the tags you have (honeycomb; dandelion) for certain drivers? They're really nice!!

hi omg this is so nice! also there's another anon in my inbox about this - if it was you sorry i took longer to answer!!! i wanted to be on my computer for this so i could type this all out! and if it wasn't you hi other anon, thanks for being so patient!!!

ok so basically - it's a hold over from being on tumblr in like 2010. [insert "back in my day" anecdote here]. the tagging system was waaaay different back then, and if you didn't want your posts (even reblogs) to show up in the main tag (that antis combed to reblog and hate on stuff, or maybe you just wanted some goddamn privacy), people made their own tags so that they could search just that.

also, it's fun.

here's what mine mean to me - i’m the kind of person that operates very much off of vibes, so some of these are more literal and some of these are just absolute bullshit that i came up with in my soup brain. 

lewis hamilton: #dandelion - something that can grow even in the toughest of conditions. people often treat these like weeds, but they're some of the most nutritious (for humans and for other plants), easy to cultivate, and beautiful flowers in the northern hemisphere. in flower symbology, they're a symbol of hope, growth, and healing. their little seeds can travel for over a kilometer to bring life to more than just themselves. maybe you can see where i'm going with this.

sebastian vettel: #honeycomb - a marvel of nature. bees created something that took man thousands of years to understand. symbolically, beehives represent cooperation - and the fact that a hive of bees can create such a flawless, useful structure on their own and for their use just amazes me. obviously, seb and bees. but more than that, the way that bees are remarkably adaptable. and a wonder of the natural world. and that honeycomb structures are physically hardy and able to be scaled up and up without losing the core that it began with. something like that. 

daniel ricciardo: #sweet and sour - this one is a little silly. sweet and sour is my favorite type of dipping sauce (thai sweet chili, honey fermented garlic, plum sauce, etc.). it goes with anything. sometimes it seems out of place, but it can make or break a taste profile (yeah i’m going with the tasting notes for something you dip french fries in sue me). it’s a rare combination in nature, but when you find it it’s an absolute treat. think kiwis, key limes, meyer lemons. little gems of their own that don’t always get enough credit. 

charles leclerc: #the taste of paradise - lyrics from “sad child” by brother leo and sandro cavazza which is on pierre’s f1 spotify playlist. charles is like a character you wish you wrote. he’s born from greatness, in a place that lots of people consider a paradise of excess. he’s gifted from the start. his nickname is literally something out of a YA fantasy coming of age book. but when you’ve had the taste of paradise and then have bad luck and struggles and loss like he has, does it taste bitter? does he resent the thing he’s experienced and the places he’s come from? is all worth the chase of his paradise (the championship)? i love my little depression, angst, and burdened by destiny mouse. mwah

nico rosberg: #crown prince - he’s racing royalty. he was in line to be the next crowned since the day he put his ass in a kart seat. but his life is forever intertwined with a challenger for his throne. the befriend each other and they are at each other’s throats. he gets his crown, but then quits the sport entirely. he just needed to catch the golden ring. but did the then get to let go? or is he still sagging under the weight of greatness? 

lewis/nico: #violent delights - they have violent ends, bro. like fire and powder which as they kiss consume, bro!

max/daniel: #equinox - when i first joined f1 there was a beautiful series of art pieces going around of drivers as tarot cards, and the artist cast max as the moon and daniel as the sun. i was obsessed with it. i love the idea of them as polar opposites, traveling on the track over and over again, day after day, and it’s not clear who is chasing who. and an equinox is the day in a year where they’re perfectly balanced when day and night are of equal(ish) length. they are equals on those days, neither of them winning or losing the chase. 

seb/mark: #whether the medicine is enough - i was writing analytics and found this bonkers quote from mark that he gave after the 2013 malaysian grand prix. he says he’s going to go surfing as medicine to soothe the wound of multi-21. and he doesn’t know if it will be enough to let it go. i think “whether x is enough” is a theme in the way i dissect martian. is their love enough, their raw attraction enough, their manners, their forgiveness, their history enough to see them through to a place where they can stay together? i say yes, because they’re down so fucking bad for each other. but i love to pull at the threads that they’ve woven together to grow close and see which one might be loose. 

daniel/charles: #true blues - the saying means “the real thing.” the fall out boy song ginasfs twists it to mean true blues as in true sadness, true longing, blue eyes, nostalgia, going out with a bang, not being able to let go of something that was just a flash in the pan for someone else. i love taking their vegas trip and projecting on it, basically. see: there is a ghost at the end of this song.

thank you so much for asking and sorry this is a fucking essay!!!! and if there's a driver or ship that i blog about but haven't made a tag for yet, it's because inspiration hasn't struck. my smick and my sebastidan and my michael schumacher tags are desperate for a personal touch but i just haven't found the ones.

[lightsovermonaco]

Body Shots (Pierre Gasly)

Inspired by (and beta read) by the amazing @limp-wrist-max​ thank you Mea! 

Masterlist

Word count: 3.5k

Recommended song: “Lucky You” by Sim Dane

Vacationing in Milan had its perks. Fine dining, luxury stores that were prime for window shopping, and the proximity to your best friend, to name a few.

When you'd touched down in Milan you had had no intentions of visiting Pierre. You had just finished your exams for your summer class and had a week before the next semester started up, so you had simply booked the cheapest ticket and boarded a plane. 

The intent had been to have some good wine, good food and unwind. Pierre saw your Instagram story minutes after you posted it and recognized the bakery you stopped at for lunch. And once he found out you were only a few minutes away from that weekend's grand prix, he had ideas that didn't involve you reading a novel all day.

Pierre had insisted that a last minute cancelation by a family friend had left a paddock pass unclaimed and had suggested you take it.

"You're my best friend, it'll be fun to have you experience a weekend through my eyes for once instead of sitting in the stands. Come visit me."

Something in the inflection of his voice made the simple request rub you raw. He missed you. It had been months since your last get together and you couldn't blame him. The last year had been rough for him and he  rarely had anyone physically at his side to help him through it.

Inviting you instead of one of his parents was about more than your current proximity to the track. He hadn't missed a beat in asking you, not hesitating to consider anyone else being with him this weekend.

Your stomach had turned as you climbed in a cab Sunday morning, not out of fear of something going wrong but because of the nagging feeling that something was about to change.

You'd known Pierre since you were kids. Your brother had raced in karting before pursuing another dream, but in the few short years you'd hung around European tracks you had managed to forge a bond with one of your brother's rivals. That friendship carried on regardless of the distance that separated you, kept alive by visits in the off season and once a year trips to the racetrack at Silverstone.

Pierre met you at the gates and you had barely seen him since.

A decent qualifying session saw the Frenchman start P10 on Sunday's race. He didn't hide the fact that he was disappointed, but come time for his final meeting with the team you'd never guess he was anything but ecstatic.

You had to be conscious about your mouth hanging open when Pierre stepped into the garage in his fireproofs with his suit half undone. The tuft of blond hair peeking through his backwards cap floats on an invisible breeze and he bounces on his toes. His brow furrows when he is handed a data sheet, listening intently to what the engineer points out.

Butterflies riot in your stomach when Pierre catches you staring and winks. You pray he writes the blush on your cheeks off as the heat and he must, because he raises his eyebrows and flexes a bit.

You laugh to cover the way you want to do nothing but strip him out of that tight fitted white shirt. Your crush was getting out of hand. Pierre's shameless, friendly flirting only escalated matters.

You told yourself it was nothing. He was like this with every girl he met, making a fool of himself to earn a laugh. You were no different, except maybe that you were a constant where most other women only got to enjoy his playful personality for a short time.

You're treated to a few long minutes of watching Pierre prep to climb into the car before he's heading out on track to line up at the grid. 

The race starts off fine, Pierre's pace is better than expected. One of the Haas's breaks down at the pit entry and Pierre's strategist decides to bring him in for a fresh set of tires. A kiss seems like the proper reward for their stroke of brilliance, which affords Pierre the advantage when the pits close soon after. 

Restarting on lap 28 is nail biting. Hamilton, Stroll, and Pierre make up the podium places. The entire garage gasps when Stroll goes wide at turn four. Hamilton serves his penalty and Pierre inherits the lead. Sainz jumps on the opportunity to attack.

Pierre defends brilliantly until the final lap. The team erupts when he crosses the line first, bringing home the win.

Red, white and green confetti sticks to his skin as he sprays the champagne over all of you. In the heat of it all, Pierre sits on that top step and shakes his head. You already know that the photos of him being snapped from all angles will be gorgeous, the sun shining down on the first French grand prix winner in decades.

A legend in the minds of his people and in yours.

You could scarcely believe it yourself. Your best friend had finally, after years of being pushed down, won a grand prix at the temple of speed. Red Bull had been wrong, just as you'd insisted when Pierre cried over losing his seat and his friend in one weekend. But god, did Pierre rise above it all.

Pierre catches your gaze just before he leaves the podium. A lifetime of emotion swirls around him like an enigma, begging you to find out what it was hiding. Your wave is barely more than a lift of your hand but Pierre notes it nonetheless, tipping his trophy in your direction.

You wait patiently on the sidelines as Pierre poses for pictures with his team on and off the track. His attention constantly falls on you, his grin widening each time he sees you tucked under the arm of an enthusiastic mechanic or crew member. Alpha Tauri was a family and you were an honorary member thanks to your connection to their driver.

An action packed hour of cameras passes before Pierre is able to break away. As soon as he's given the go ahead he passes his trophy off and marching to you. You're both practically running by the time you meet in the middle. You crash into him and he lifts you off your feet in a crushing hug.

"You did it," you whisper, overwhelmed by his success now that you've gotten the chance to celebrate with him. "I'm so proud of you."

Pierre laughs as he sets you on your feet. His smile is wider than you've ever seen it and you're sure his cheeks must be sore.

"Wish they allowed us to bring a friend up there," Pierre says softly, a smile melting into a sly smirk. "Seeing you doused in champagne is an image I wouldn't forget."

You shake your head, caught up in his ceaseless flirting. He had no idea that his honeyed words and gentle touches lit something inside of you, rattling your brain and making it impossible to form a coherent sentence. Instead you snatch the black and gold Pirelli cap off his head and place it on your own, earning you a peal of laughter.

"Looks better on you anyway." Pierre runs a hand through his sweaty, champagne doused hair, leaving bits sticking up at odd angles.

Someone calls Pierre's name, far enough away that there's no rush. Pierre's hands remain planted on your waist and yours stay wrapped around his neck. By the way his bright blue eyes bore into yours, you swear he's thinking the same thing you are.

"Thank you for believing in me," he murmurs, gaze falling to your lips.

"I knew it was just a matter of time," you tell him, inching up on your tiptoes. Tempted by his win, you want to ruin the best friendship you've ever had. You want to discover if the lips you spend far too much time dreaming about felt as soft as they looked. You want to know how it feels to be lost in Pierre, newly minted race winner, and find out just how he dealt with the adrenaline and euphoria of his incredible drive.

"Well done mate!"

Max Verstappen startles the two of you apart. You take a healthy step back and drop your gaze to the ground to hide your burning cheeks.

"Thanks." Pierre accepts the Dutchman's embrace and claps him on the back. "Sucks I didn't get to fight you for it."

"There will be more chances in the future. And I didn't expect to see you here, that's a nice surprise." Max knocks you with his shoulder, tipping you off balance. On instinct you latch onto Pierre's arm to steady yourself. You wait a heartbeat too long to remove your hand and both of you find anywhere to look but each other.

"So where's the party?" You ask, searching for a distraction from the way your palm still burns.

"Definitely not at Red Bull." Max shudders and you laugh because that's what you do when someone is being over dramatic. It rings hollow in your ears.

"I hear there's a few guys with adjoining rooms at the hotel who bought plenty of booze," Pierre says. "You and Dan wanna come by?"

"Is that really a question?" Max grins, already typing out a text as Pierre feeds him the details.

**********

"You should do body shots," Max suggests, which earns a roaring laugh from Daniel and a half hearted one from Pierre.

"I don't think so," Pierre says, "there's no one here I trust enough to let that happen."

"Not even your best friend?" Max gestures to you and shoots you a wink when Pierre glances over. "I think she's trustworthy."

"No thanks." Pierre holds up his plastic cup and salutes Max before draining it to the dregs.

Pierre's immediate refusal hurt more than it probably should have. You hadn't expected him to jump at the offer but having him shut the idea down so thoroughly hadn't been what you wanted either.

Max notes your pouty lower lip and speaks on your behalf. "Come on mate," Max insists. "You just won your first prix, live a little! It's not like you've got anything to lose, she's your best friend."

"That's exactly why-"

"Shut up, it would be fun! Wouldn't it?" Max says this last bit to you, a wild grin on his face.

Max expects you to turn red and object. That was his end goal. But what the Dutchman hadn't counted on was how drunk you already were on Pierre. On his smile. On his bright blue eyes, swirling in the aftermath of his unlikely triumph. And mostly on the not-so-sneaky way he glances at you every few minutes.

"Let's do it."

Pierre blinks, searching your face for any sign of distress. "Wait, are you serious?"

"Yeah, why not?" You shrug, suddenly fearing that you'd read him wrong and he really was against this whole thing. "Unless you don't want to-"

"Get the vodka," Pierre interrupts, nodding to Max though his stare remains pinned on you. Pierre latches onto your wrist and drags you around the room until he finds a table long and sturdy enough for his liking. 

"This a good height for you?"

The coffee table is low enough that you'd have to kneel. Luckily getting on your knees isn't something you'd mind doing for Pierre. You lick your lips without thinking. Pierre's pupils blow wide, black swallowing the swirling oceans of blue.

"Sure," is all you manage.

"Good." Apparently neither of you were able to focus on speech. You work together to clear the empty plastic cups and used napkins from the surface. Your hands brush when you both reach for the last cup and you just catch the way Pierre's breath hitches.

You and Pierre have danced this dance since you were teenagers. Each of you knows the steps by heart. The only difference is tonight neither of you were poised to bow out before the final lift.

"Beep beep, bitches!" You yank your hand away when Max's shout reaches you. Pierre's hand lingers in front of him,  outstretched as if your palm remained grazing his thumb. 

Max holds the bottle of vodka over his head as he wades through the crowd. "You're all about to be very, very entertained."

"Where's your chaperone?" You ask Max, searching for Daniel in the low lighting. You press your palm to your thigh, dissipating Pierre's lingering heat.

The Dutchman waves you off. "Went to get us more drinks. Pierre, isn't it kinda hard to do body shots if you're still fully clothed?"

"Who says I'm the one getting undressed?"

Max's grin dimples his flushed cheeks. "I mean you can ask her to take her shirt off in front of all these people if you want to."

"No," Pierre responds quickly. "Fine. I'll do it."

When Pierre strips off his shirt he gets more than a few whistles from men and women alike. That tended to happen when someone was built like a Greek fucking god, you supposed. Whoever voted for People Magazine's "Sexiest Man Alive" and decided on Michael B. Jordan had clearly never laid eyes on Pierre, with his bronzed skin, endless expanses of muscle, and brilliant cheshire grin.

Michael B. Jordan who?

Pierre hands the team branded shirt off and lays out on the table. He pillows an arm under his head, bare bicep flexed as he gets comfortable. Leaning in to kiss along the hard muscle was out of the question, however tempting it was.

Pierre looks up expectantly. "You coming?" 

Holy shit, this was actually happening.

"Yeah, I'm coming." You sink to your knees and Pierre laughs.

"Up here." He pats his thigh with his free hand and beacons you forward. "Please."

Screw it, you've already thrown your friendship out the window. This night ended either in heartbreak or awkwardness, might as well get your money's worth.

A few whoops break out above the music. The bassline isn't the only thing thundering in your chest as you straddle Pierre's thighs, hands braced on his chest.

"Okay?" Pierre whispers for your ears only. You nod with what you hope is a charming smile.

"Alright move," Max says, shooing you back until you're resting on your haunches. Max flicks the cap off the bottle and you grab it to take a long sip.

Max gapes at you and you wipe a hand over your mouth. "Close your mouth, you'll catch flies."

Pierre's thighs tense beneath you in response to your bold declaration. Dozens of Pierre's friends and team members gather around. For all you care, Pierre is the only person in the room.

"Last chance to back out," Max warns. You're too busy tracking the drop of liquid that falls from the neck of the bottle to splash onto the crease of Pierre's abs to bother responding. 

"Pour it out." Pierre's chest sinks with his demand, doing nothing but sparking your imagination, creating images of him heaving beneath you. You'd sell your soul to recreate the way you're currently poised above Pierre's hips with a little less clothing and no audience.

Max gives up hope on you replying and dribbles the alcohol up Pierre's abdomen, stopping just below his pecks.

"Have at 'er-"

Your tongue is on Pierre's skin before Max has finished his sentence. You feel the muscle tense beneath your tongue, going rigid at the first contact. The burn of the vodka doesn't even register as you lap it up, catching the drips that fall over his sides. 

You aren't sure either of you is breathing. Salty sweat mingles with the sharpness of the alcohol, an afterthought barely worth mentioning.

Blame the liquid courage or blame the high from Pierre's win, but you were confident Pierre was enjoying this just as much as you. 

Planting a hand on Pierre's hip, you steal a glance up at him to find him locked on you. You take that as permission to continue, dragging your tongue flat up his stomach and continuing well past where the vodka had been poured. Up between his pecks, over the curve of his throat that bobs beneath your tongue, over his chin until you meet his lips, already parted and waiting. 

Neither of you pay the shouts cresting around you any heed. You've both waited too long for this, endured too many almosts and what ifs to let the opportunity slip through your fingers. Your sticky hands cradle Pierre's face, angling it in a way that's to your liking so you can explore more of his mouth. He tastes like whiskey and mint, the juxtaposition of hot and cold scattering your thoughts. One of Pierre's hands finds the nape of your neck when you gasp for air, refusing to let you end the moment.

And it's pure, unending bliss that floods your veins when he nips at your lower lip, swollen and surely reddened from his kiss. His thumb sweeps across the back of your neck while you both fight to catch the breath currently evading you.

Daydreams didn't hold a candle to the real thing. One taste and you were addicted, craving as much as Pierre was willing to give.  

"Hey," he murmurs, the corners of his mouth tugging up in a stupidly gorgeous smile.

"That was nice," you tease, tangling your fingers in the silky blond strands of his hair. "I wouldn't be opposed to doing it again."

"Me too. Maybe somewhere where it's just us though. I wouldn't want to scandalize my team any further." You manage to steal another sweet peck before Max hauls you off Pierre.

"Fucking finally," Daniel says, clapping when you're upright again. "Do you know how long I've been trying to orchestrate this? The two of you really are dumber than a box of rocks. I can't believe all it took was Max suggesting body shots to get you two to kiss."

The arm that wraps around your waist feels right. Pierre hasn't hugged you like this before, with his chin resting on your shoulder and his nose nuzzling your neck, but it already feels like home.

Pierre ignores Max completely in favor of pressing a kiss to the shell of your ear. "Why don't we go back to my room? I'll pour more alcohol on myself if that's what it takes to convince you."

You're just about to take him up on the offer when one of his team members taps his shoulder. He glances at them impatiently, which the man thankfully doesn't take personally.

"They want some photos with you holding your trophy," he explains, handing a shirt and the star shaped interpretation of the Italian flag to Pierre. "It will only take a few minutes,  they promised not to keep you long."

Of course everyone knew exactly where your minds were. Sanity had long since left the premises, tangled up in crisp white sheets. Pierre's entire team and half the Red Bull garage had seen what had gone down while the prix winner was sprawled on that coffee table. There would be no chance of denying it in the morning. 

And while you'd never imagined that the first time you'd kiss your best friend would be directly preceded by licking copious amounts of shitty liquor off his super-heated skin, now that you'd experienced it any other way seems forgettable.

Pierre sighs and runs a hand through his hair. "I mean, I already have my trophy, but…" your stomach lurches when you realize he means you. Pierre catches the way your mouth hangs open and he shoots you a grin before accepting the real trophy.

"You carry it," he says, not giving you much of a choice as he thrusts it into your hands. "I'm occupied."

You're about to point out that his hands are, in fact, free and that the more likely reason for insisting you carry the trophy was his usual post-race laziness when he slings an arm around your shoulders and tucks you tight to his side.

"Is this okay?" Pierre asks when you involuntarily stiffen. God, it was more than okay, it was perfect, it had just caught you by surprise. You'd only kissed him a handful of minutes ago and Pierre was already wrapped around your finger, smitten as if you'd been a couple for years.

"Yeah no, it's perfect. Simply lovely," you say quickly, stumbling over your words.

"Can I kiss you again?"

Your answer comes in the form of a hand on his chest, stopping him in his tracks. You prop the trophy on your hip and smile up at your race winner.

"You don't have to ask that ever again. My answer is always yes."

[thetrashsean]

“Why wasn’t Life is Strange 2 as popular as the first game?”

A lot of people like myself have wondered what exactly made Life is Strange 2 go so relatively unnoticed compared its predecessor, Life is Strange 1. And when you think about it, you may come up with the few obvious generic answers, such as the lack of Max and Chloe and just the original cast in general. However, I think there was a lot more at play here that prevented Life is Strange 2 from reaching the amount of success/popularity the first game had. So I want to take the time and break down what exactly happened to Life is Strange 2 and the things that hurt the game’s ability to really connect with the audience of LiS1.

Disclaimer: We do NOT know how well Life is Strange 2 was for Dontnod and if it was a success or not. No sales numbers have been given out to the public so there’s no way of knowing for sure how well the game did. What we do know is that LiS2 did not receive the same amount of attention/popularity as the first game. That can’t be denied, it simply didn’t. However, based on the fact that Dontnod have recently announced they are working on six new games at the moment and are now expanding their studio, even if LiS2 was a “flop” it doesn’t seem to have had much of an effect on them (most likely due to the success of Vampyr). Dontnod is going to be fine either way. Another thing I want to mention is that this is not a anti-LiS2 post and that I am a fan of the game. I’d consider myself a pretty big fan actually. I have my problems with the game of course and don’t agree with a lot of the writing decisions but I enjoyed the game very much overall. But for the sake of this post I will try to be as unbiased as possible, giving out only what I’ve observed when it comes to reactions from the fandom on different websites and forums. So with that all being said, let’s dive in to this.

Here I will be listing the many different reasons as to why Life is Strange 2 failed to reach the same amount of popularity as LiS1 or even BtS managed to achieve. This list isn’t in any particular order but some reasons are bigger/more important than others.

For some background, there was a lot of hype going into Life is Strange 2. The teaser trailer for it with the cop car trended at #2 on YouTube, a huge feat for the series. It generated immense amount of views and comments in a short period in time, completely surpassing Before the Storm’s announcement trailer in just a few weeks. So what exactly happened to all that hype? Where did everybody go? Well, let’s break everything down.

1. The lack of Max and Chloe: Yes I said that this list wouldn’t be in any particular order in terms of importance but I think it’s obvious this one is one of, if not the biggest reason as to why LiS2 failed to match LiS1’s popularity. When the protagonists Sean and Daniel were first revealed, the reception was pretty divisive. Specifically, a very vocal part of the community were baffled and disappointed at the lack of Max and Chloe present within the trailer and subsequently the game itself. This instantly turned off a lot of people from the game, as they couldn’t connect with the new characters or simply didn’t want to. At that point in the franchise Max and Chloe as well as the original cast from the first game had been the face of the series for almost three years. It’s understandable why it was hard for people to just…move on. To this day people are still asking for Max and Chloe to return. The Life is Strange subreddit is still dominated with Max and Chloe fanart. Whenever the social media accounts for Life is Strange post anything Max and Chloe related it gets way more attention compared to a post about Sean and Daniel. Whenever a post online goes viral about Life is Strange you can bet it’s most likely about Max and Chloe. Hell the only reason why episode 5 of Life is Strange 2 trended on Tumblr was because of the fucking picture of Max and Chloe. On the releas day of episode 5 of LiS2 the top post on the subreddit was the Max and Chloe picture. It was almost as if that one photo of them completely overshadowed the entire episode. Point is, Life is Strange 2 lost a lot of momentum the moment it was revealed Max and Chloe would not be present. Case closed, let’s move on.

2. The release schedule: Words cannot describe how frustrating the release schedule was for LiS2 when it came to it’s episodes. For those reading this who didn’t follow LiS2 until the game was finished, each episode took around 3-4 months to be released. This was because Dontnod bit off a bit more than they could chew with the road trip story in having to create new locations and character models from scratch. The reason why this wasn’t a problem for LiS1 was because Max was for the most part always in the same locations around the same characters (I’m pretty sure you roam around Chloe’s house like 4 times throughout the season), which made development a lot easier since the devs could just reuse a lot of the assets. Unfortunately, this wasn’t possible for LiS2 due to the nature of it’s story. The wait times between each episode made a lot of people leave the fandom due to loosing interest or simply forgetting about the game altogether. This also impacted youtubers/streamers as many of them either stopped coming back to play the new episodes or they’d not be as connected as they were in the previous episode due to the amount of time that had passed. One of the reasons why LiS1 gained so much popularity was because of youtubers/streamers and how they would bring in their audience and would pretty much make them fans of the series. With quite a handful of youtubers/streamers quitting LiS2, the game was not able to draw in as much of an audience as previous games did. This is how detreminetal the release schedule was for LiS2.

3. The marketing (or lack thereof): Square Enix really fucked up on this aspect. Due to the ridiculous wait times you would think Square Enix would try and advertise the game heavily when a new episode was about to be released, right? Well they didn’t. Not at all actually. Throughout the games release schedule from September 2018 up to December 2019, I had not seen a single ad for the game. Nothing on YouTube, nothing on reddit or any other websites, it was like Square Enix had completely forgotten about the game’s existence. Now don’t get me wrong, SE did do a few things with LiS2 like starting up the community series on their YouTube channel and also the dev updates that came after episode 1 (that stopped after episode 2 for some reason) but these went relatively unnoticed to people outside of the fandom and did pretty much nothing. I believe SE was trying to wait until the game was fully complete with all of it’s episodes released before actually marketing the game (and they DID start advertising the game after episode 5 came out) but that’s just WAAAY too long to go without any type of advertisement. I understand marketing teams have budgets and what not, but you’re telling me there was no way for SE to market each episode in anyway as they were about to be released? Seems a bit ridiculous, don’t you think?

4. The road trip story: I completely understand why Dontnod wanted to branch out and do something different with the story of Life is Strange 2 and I respect them for stepping out of their comfort zones. However, it can’t be denied that the road trip story where characters are cycled in and out as Sean and Daniel make their way to Mexico was a very…questionable decision. Seeing as how LiS1 was loved for it’s world filled with a reoccurring cast of characters that developed as the story went on, it’s really easy to understand why LiS2 was so off-putting for a lot of fans. It was off-putting for me, even. It just…wasn’t fun having to leave these truly interesting characters behind because the plot demanded it. This left a lot of characters feeling underdeveloped to many people and by the time you meet new characters you already know they’re most likely gonna be gone soon anyways, so it made it even harder to connect with them. Couple this with the fact that LiS2 lacked any type of mystery unlike LiS1, speculation and discussion fizzled out a few weeks after each episode was released. LiS1 kept people speculating and wondering about what would happen next, while LiS2 left a lot of people struggling to care.

5. Politics: Yeeeeaaaaah I think I had to put this somewhere on the list. While many of the people who tease and mock how LiS2 handled its political topics were most likely not fans of the series anyway (the type of people who called LiS1 “Life is Tumblr” and hate Chloe), I do think it’s important to realize that some people just don’t want politics in their games, period. I’ve seen people online come out and say that while they agreed with what the writers were saying when it came to the political topics, it overall still came off very forced and one-sided to them, lacking any type of nuance or subtlety. I could write an entire essay discussing if the politics in LiS2 were handled well and whatnot but this is not that post so I’ll just leave it at that.

6: Lack of a prominent female cast/wlw: This is a bit more tricky to talk about (for the record the person writing this is a black gay guy) but I will try and write about this the best way I can. For many women, specifically queer women, Life is Strange was a series they could expect representation from. Max, Chloe, Rachel, and Steph are all popular characters amongst the fandom and even other wlw ships such as Marshfield, Chasefield, Chaseprice, etc are popular. So when LiS2 was revealed to be about two (hispanic) males, the queer women within the community were understandably upset. It felt like DN were simply throwing away the community that for the most part made up the entire fandom. At the time I simply found the situation ridiculous and overblown as many people were dismissing Sean and Daniel as “generic straight males” (even though it turned out Sean was bisexual in the end) before really getting to know them. However, looking back I totally get why people were upset. A lot of the fanart/fanfiction that was made for the LiS series was mostly created by queer women, so when the franchise pretty much stopped giving them representation, they left in search of other media (like She-Ra, which honestly has better wlw rep anyway). LiS2 is also mostly male dominated in terms of its cast, and features no queer women as well, which is really disappointing in my opinion.

7. Price: This one is pretty simple. When Life is Strange 2 was first released the full season costed $40. This was a pretty big jump in comparison to LiS1’s $20 price tag (original price was $25 however) and BtS’s $16. Obviously people would be more skeptical about buying a sequel that is pretty much double the price of its predecessor and has completely new characters. With the pretty mixed reception from gaming communities I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of people saw the price and decided to either watch a playthrough or simply not check out the game at all. With the first episode now free the base price has been lowered to around $30-32 I believe so yeah.

8. Daniel Diaz: Some people just don’t like kids, and I wouldn’t be surprised if people grew easily frustrated with Daniel early on and once he got more irrational and bratty as the story progressed they just stopped playing altogether. Even if you do like kids, or at least don’t mind them like myself, Daniel can still be quite a pain.

9. Not having control of the powers: This one is honestly really disappointing and I know it was to a lot of other people as well. In LiS1 Max had the ability to rewind time and do certain scenarios and conversations over and that basically acted as the more interesting gameplay segments. In LiS2 Sean doesn’t have the power, his brother Daniel does. This leads to the gameplay feeling much more boring and mundane. There are also no interesting puzzles this time around, most likely because Dontnod didn’t know how to implement them without the rewind power so they just…didn’t even attempt to add any. The power itself, telekinesis, is also much less interesting compared to rewinding time, according to a lot of people.

SO YEAH that’s basically it for me. I know this probably came off a bit rambly/incoherent but I tried my best to be as clear as I possibly could. I don’t doubt there are other reasons at play as to why LiS2 failed to meet LiS1’s success (such as liscensed music not being quite as good as LiS1) but I think I hit the main points I believe were key reasons. And the thing is, there isn’t just one main reason why LiS2 didn’t do as well as LiS1. It’s overall very unfortunate so many things went wrong with it that ended up making people lose interest in it. I think the lack of Max and Chloe hurt the game the most right off the bat, but the other reasons just led it to do even worse. Oh well.

I hope any of the people who read this enjoyed it (it was a BITCH to write). I’ve been wanting to get my thoughts down about this for SO long but just never had the motivation/time but I finally did it!

Again, thanks for reading! If you have any disagreements or just thoughts in general don’t be afraid to reply or dm me about it and I’ll be sure to reply! Now back to reblogging Marco posts….

[erhiem]

From left: Photo by Gi Naps/Getty Images; Photo by Rose Hartman/Archive Photos/Getty Images; Photo by Victor Virgil/Gamma-Rafo via Getty Images

Today, the House of Jean Paul Gaultier is relaunching its ready-to-wear line after a hiatus of six years. It comes 16 months after fashion’s “Maestro of Mehmed”, as journalist Georgina Howell dubbed her in the early ’90s, took her final bow as the brand’s designer, implying that this iteration of its namesake. will not be designed. Instead, the reins are taken over by a dedicated team from their atelier, with help crafted from the rotating doors of some of the most independent designers working today – Palomo Spain, Ottolinger, Nix Lecourt Mansion, Alan Crosetti and Marvin M’Tumo .

Since starting his own label in 1976, Jean Paul has been instrumental in turning underwear into acceptable outerwear, making sailor fashion sexy and, more generally, paving the way for designers to experiment with diverse and unexpected castings on the runway. have been responsible for. He also dedicated an entire collection – AW97 – to the fight against racism. The collection, titled ‘Fight Racism’, featured graphic prints of young anti-fascists with slogans printed on their chests.

In fact, with such a rich history behind it, and vintage JPGs becoming increasingly collectible since the recent renaissance—partly stemming from the Kardashians’ love of all things net—more thanks to the label’s revival. Couldn’t be the right time- the line to wear from now. Although it is a well-known fact that Jean Paul himself decided to step back from the category in 2014 after a somewhat tumultuous feud with Florence Tetier (graphic designer and co-founder). November MagazineNow serving as the brand’s creative and brand director, Ghar is poised to enter the field again. in an interview with WWDJPG’s general manager, Antón Gégy, described the relaunch as an opportunity to “celebrate Jean Paul Gaultier, its values, its archives and its history”. And what better way to raise the glass to the core of fashion? Horrible Instead look at seven of the most show-stopping moments from its most iconic era, the ’90s. Long live Gaultier!

Photo by Gie Knaeps/Getty Images

Madonna’s Conical Corset from the Blonde Ambition Tour, 1990

Back in 1989, when Jean-Paul Gaultier was told by an assistant that Madonna had told the audience, she was convinced that he was playing a trick with her. They knew how obsessed he was with her, just could not do be true But she soon found herself on the phone to the original queen of pop, making a match in ’90s fashion heaven. Naturally, Madonna already knew what she wanted: to create something for her that surrounded Jean Paul’s signature masculine-feminine crossover. Inspired by his love of the late ‘queen of Paris punk’ Edwij Belmore, Jean Paul conceived a pinstripe suit – the top of ’80s manhood – and a corset with the now famous conical bra, which he designed six years ago on AW84 had started for. /85.

Photo by Victor Virgil/Gamma-Rafo via Getty Images

Eva Herzigova’s cut-out dress, 1992

Thought harnesses were a new thing on the runway? Wrong! After all, you’re not known as a fashionista Horrible Without a sprinkling of kinks here and there, as this look proves well. Presented on JPG’s AW92 runway, this dress, so slick in its fit that clothes can even put on Eva’s body, exemplifies the powerful-yet-playful take on sexuality that serves as a throughline throughout the French designer’s body of work. runs as. Styled with bicep-clad opera gloves and proudly crafting the Czech-Italian supermodel’s bust, there’s a distinctive dome-y tone at play here, though no compromise on the beauty of the silhouette or the quality of the make. It speaks to an ideological throughline that runs through Jean Paul’s work – that no matter who a woman is or wants to be, she always has the right to be chic!

Photo by Pierre Guillaud/AFP via Getty Images

Houndstooth bodysuit inspired by Leigh Bowery, 1991

In an interview with iD in 2018, Jean Paul declared his love for the “London Way”, which means “just creating your own style, your own creativity and being free to do what you want to do”. When he took the idea back to Paris, it wasn’t very popular, but that didn’t stop him from creating his own trademark approach to design. He spent his youth in the 80s at famous London nightclubs such as Blitz and Heaven, where he met performance artist Leigh Bowery. In a nod to Bowery’s influence on fashion, Jean Paul sent down his interpretation of the Leigh Bowery Houndstooth bodysuit—which would later inspire Alexander McQueen for AW09 and Gareth Pugh for SS07.

Photo by Pierre Guillaud/AFP via Getty Images

‘Chic Rabbi’ Collection, 1993

For AW93/94, Jean Paul presented the ‘Chic Rabbi’ collection, inspired by the traditional dress of Hasidic Jews. Models in streamels and black suits danced to the sounds of a violinist who played live on the catwalk. The usual circle of supermodels was there, but Jean Paul also decided to cast someone who visually embodied the cultural context: a man with a big beard. During the ’80s and ’90s, designers were known for their casting choices, pioneering their diversity. “I’m fascinated by strong personalities, people who capture my imagination because they walk well down the street,” Gaultier explained in a 2014 interview. “Showing just one type of girl is a flaw,” he adds, “something I’ve always fought with. One kind of beauty – no. If I show a bigger girl, I’ll always show a younger girl.” will show.” It is now legend that Gaultier once posted an advertisement in a French daily newspaper release Looking for “atypical” models, saying that “facial distortions should not be avoided in application”.

Photo by Arnal/Garcia/Gama-Rafo via Getty Images

Mesh Tattoo Top, 1993

Back in 1993, the trend Declared this prestigious collection as “a startling vision of cross-cultural harmony”. While we’d be inclined to cringe at the somewhat reasonable look now that Jean Paul drove down the runway for the SS94 (which can actually be read as another nod to Leigh Bowery) it certainly Historical perspective. It also marked the debut of Jean Paul’s iconic mesh tops, which were inspired by a tattoo convention he once found himself spinning around – today, they are some of his most sought-after designs. The collection also includes heavy notes of punk, grunge, and 18th century men’s frock coats made in Jodhpur and denim in the typical JPG style. How did he ever find the place for all this?!

Photo by Pierre Vuthe/Sigma/Sigma via Getty Images

Björk!, 1994

Jean Paul’s celebrity friends don’t start and end with Madonna. A year after Björk’s properly titled debut solo album, First entry, Taking the music and fashion worlds by storm, she appeared on the designer’s AW94/95 show, about a magical train that stopped in a small village somewhere high in some mountains. And what, duh?! As you’d expect from JPG, the show was a mish-mash this time in terms of different styles of traditional arctic costume. The models trotted down the snow-covered runway (which almost tripped Kate Moss), decked out in a hell of a lot of fur, silk, wool, and leather.

Photo by Pierre Verdi / AFP via Getty Images

Op-Art Inspired Catsuit, 1995

Two women riding a motorcycle hit them. One of them descends and climbs onto a loft at a DJ booth. Jean Paul’s AW95 ‘Mad Max’ Show Has Started. As he was in the middle of designing the costumes for Luc Besson’s famous film fifth element In which Bruce Willis and Milla Jovovich fight a mysterious cosmic force, they had science-fiction in mind, which means it was technology and cyber-heavy. The bodysuit inspired by Viktor Vasarelli’s op-art paintings became the show’s most memorable aspect—now made super collectible by Kim K and Cardi B and partly responsible for the JPG-madness we’re seeing on Depop these days. Also on the show was Carmen Dell’Orefice, who walked with a live falcon on her arm and sported ornate football armor that lit up like a circuit board. Really prestigious.

Photo by Victor Virgil/Gamma-Rafo via Getty Images

trompe l’oeil torso top, 1995

The next season, Jean Paul took his quest for sci-fi polka dots further, this time translating it into menswear. This time, however, he brought his knack for trompe l’oeil print placement to the table—skills he had previously flexed in the aforementioned Les Tautouzes, and even as early as 1992, when he sculpted the enviable Presented Printed Mesh Top with Toros. The look sported here by Tanel Bedrossiantz is perhaps a little more figurative in its approach, though no less direct is its infrared-style suggestion of what might lie beneath the longtime house muse’s button-down shirt.

Photo by Danielle Simon/Gamma-Rafo via Getty Images

JPG Set Sale, 1998

In a promo video for JPG’s new ready-to-wear line, Bella Hadid is wearing a big red ship on her head. In case you didn’t already know, it debuted at the Haute Couture SS98 show, where it takes us back to the Age of Enlightenment. It was a time of scientific progress, the advent of modern capitalism and of course colonialism. The ‘explorers’ were sailing around the world from Europe, ‘discovering’ new lands for them – a ship serving as a nod to the continent’s shameful past. Some say, however, that it was during the Enlightenment that the fashion we know today – as a form of self-expression that can be accessed by the public – first began to emerge, making the historical period a fashion show. became an ideal subject. .

Photo by Rose Hartman / Archive Photos / Getty Images

Man Himself!, 1992

Sure enough, to write a list of Jean Paul Gaultier’s most iconic looks from his most iconic decade, and not for the man himself. Indeed, as Florence Tetier spoke to her before the label’s launch, “Everybody knows who she is!” whether it’s his striped Whether paired with a pleated black skirt or, as seen here, a denim vest and a punkish tartan kilt, JPG’s personal style has made her one of the most instantly recognizable designers of our time. Plus, there’s a direct connection between what she wore and what we then saw on the runway. While we may have never seen a proper, French Navy-standard Sailor From the designer, “he’s done a lot of stripes and nautical-inspired pieces,” notes Florence. “It’s really nice to see the link between the way he dresses and the way he designs.” we love you, Jean Paul! Follow iD on Instagram and TikTok for more fashion.

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The post Jean Paul Gaultier’s most iconic 90s moments appeared first on Spicy Celebrity News.

[hannah-writes]

The Semiotics of Roswell (aka why Malex is Endgame because the camera says so)

One of the things I’m most grateful for about the Roswell fandom that I’ve met through Tumblr is the renewed passion I found for my degree subject, something I thought I’d fallen out of love with because of the pain associated with my time at university. Turns out I just needed to separate what I’d learned and what I loved from what I’d experienced. And Roswell (and @signoraviolettavalery, in particular) really helped reshape that.

Now, I know y’all are here for some meta, and this is just boring exposition. I’d originally planned on just keysmashing something as I’ve done in the past on other people’s posts and re-blogs but I thought I better try and be consistent.

One last thing before I dive in, like any other interpretation of a text, semiotics is influenced by the viewer, their experiences, their history and their take. It means that people might - and probably will - disagree with the way that I’ve viewed this, but discourse is discourse and I’d be interested to hear other views. For further reading on semiotics, I’d suggest starting with any of these books ( Metz, Christian (1974). Film language: A semiotics of the cinema. University of Chicago Press. Monaco, James (2000). How to read a film: the world of movies, media, and multimedia: language, history, theory. USA: Oxford University Press. Chandler, Daniel (1994). Semiotics for Beginners.). 

I’m gonna work an episode at a time and will be focusing mainly on the visual narrative of Malex, since that’s predominantly my ship, but also looking at it through the way it’s parallelled with Echo and Michael/Maria which means there will probably be a fair bit of Echo content. What started out as a way of making a friend feel better is now a monster. You can blame her.

This is gonna be image heavy. You have been warned!

The first time we’re introduced to what we know will be a romantic pairing is Max and Liz at the checkpoint. This is a well-known trope for heterosexual couples; two characters of opposite genders meet in a location in the first episode you can be pretty confident that they’ll hook up before the show is over. Same goes for movies; boy meets girl, there’s bound to be love there somewhere. Or at the very least, sex.

What this also does is begins to set up a visual narrative that lasts across the show that can be referenced when we know a romantic pairing is going to be on the screen. (NB: this is important to note that there will always be other shots where characters are in this position that are not romantically linked, however, the regularity of their placement is what is being called out here, and in Malex’s case - which I’ll get to eventually, so stick with me - there’s an absolute consistency in their framing which is too precise to be accidental)

Max is shown on the left-centre of the frame here, and Liz on the right-centre. Compare these two images with the ones below.  

Both are completely on the same side of the shot which in terms of reading the framing indicates that, romantically, they are no longer on the same page. There’s an unevenness in the camera angles here, too which is partly about perspective (i.e. when we look at Max, we’re looking up as Liz is and vice versa) but in a wider context, it also shows a power dynamic (and this is important for later). In this scene, as a police officer, Max has the power. (Think later to the scene in 1x13 where Max and Liz are intimate and a vast majority of the camera angles are shot up at her from Max’s position). 

The closeness of these shots is intimate; if we didn’t know the setting of these, we might not have assumed that there’s a physical barrier between them as there’s no real indication of one. The close-up shots are tight on their faces and not so much on the environment around them, focusing the audience to narrow in on their faces.

It’s also a highly unusual move to have a switching POV shot keeping the same angle regardless of who’s POV we’re seeing the scene from which just further highlights that this is telling us categorically that Max and Liz - though romantically entangled (TV Trope 101) - are not right now on the same page. If they were, ironically, they would be on opposite sides of the screen.

When we bring another character in, Sheriff Valenti is more centralised in her framing, and the angle at which she is shot (from Liz’s POV still as we’re inside the car) is immediately less intimate, there’s more space and as an audience we’re made aware of the barrier of the frame of the car door. The close up is even a little less intense here, we see more of Sheriff Valenti’s shoulder in the over-the-shoulder shot of Liz’s face, and we see more of Liz’s car. It’s a reminder, it’s breaking that spell of MaxandLiz that we had earlier by physically creating distance.

What is important, though, is this shot below and it took me a while to realise but Max is reflected in her car window and here is a perfect example of them sharing a shot with a defined side. It’s literally seconds, but they’re on either side of the shot here and even though we can’t see Max (other than in his reflection - and honestly I only noticed when looking through screencaps), we know she’s looking at him. The obvious imagery here is that Max is, literally, in her rear window; he’s part of her past, but it also shows that he’s a part of her life despite her having attempted to move on.

This image is also key in another way; it sets up the beginning of the visual dynamic for this show’s couples that I’m going to call Your Side My Side.

One of the other on screen romantic (sort of) dynamics set up in this is Liz and Kyle. Comparing their framing (over the shoulder, opposite sides) to the Max and Liz (over the shoulder, same side) gives us a clue into the route their relationship is going to take. He’s framed similarly to Sheriff Valenti; Kyle’s in the middle of the shot here, when it would have been just as easy to have him off to one side of the frame and it would have lost no narrative impact. However, there’s none of the my side your side here, since the two of them share the middle of the screen.

In this shot (haha, and it’s a terrible screencap of Jeanine’s beautiful face and for that I AM SORRY), Liz is pretty much bang-smack in the middle of the shot, but both she and the back of Kyle’s head are sharing the same space in the frame and they’re on the same side of the image. You never see Echo or Malex sharing the same side of the shot while they’re both in it, they’re always paralleled on opposite sides (which we’ll see, for example, in the first toolshed scene where they’re sat side-by-side but on either side of the frame).

What’s set up with Kyle & Liz is a narrative that they are not to be framed romantically. Though they hook up, their shots are largely framed in a similar way with them sharing space in the frame. 

Now, the reason you’re all here: Malex.

This next few screenshots don’t need as much dissection as the kissing ones, but hey, we’ll spend some time looking at everyone’s pretty faces :D 

Michael and Alex have their own sides of the screen - Alex on the right, Michael on the left. What’s interesting here is the closeness of the shots, the character that isn’t in focus is just as dominant on the screen as the one that is; Michael takes up almost half of Alex’s shot (above) and Alex does take up half of Michael’s shot (below)

After they both look at Master Sgt Manes (which is a shot of the two of them in the middle, Master Sgt looking on - setting up the voyeuristic element Malex that I touch on in the video break down) the camera gives them some distance from each other, though the focus and shot type doesn’t change, Alex and Michael barely fit in the frame with each other. 

Though we don’t fully know what’s going on, past Michael’s spiteful comments about being a ‘real Manes man’ (and since he’s set up as a fuck-authority character it’s easy to assume that it’s all it is, he’s angry at the fact that The Man is on his property telling him what to do, fuck the man! Well, fuck that man in particular, please, in the airstream I missed you so much and how dare you be here with him.) it’s not until the ‘run and tell your daddy’ that we as an audience realise that there’s likely more going on here. The shift in framing is indicating that it’s Alex putting distance between them, which is a common theme in their relationship for the rest of the season. His face is still in Michael’s shot (above), but only Michael’s shoulder is in Alex’s (below). 

Though we’re setting up a precedent for Alex putting distance between them, Michael’s the one that shuts down the interaction in this scene by disappearing into the airstream. He’s the first to break it.

Having set up the my-side-your-side dynamic for Malex in their first interaction, their meeting again at the reunion is interesting because it shows a shift - already - in their interactions. We find that the right-left dynamic is constant unless there’s a power shift or something significant, both of which we see before the Malex kiss.

Here, they’re shot on the same side of the frame (Alex’s side). Alex has come to the reunion thinking that Michael’s doing something wildly illegal considering what his scientists found (and honestly, with Carina confirming Alex’s costume was wrong in the pilot and then in 1x02 seeing Alex with Captain Bars on his collar it makes me so happy he’s outranked his shit-bag father). They’re no longer even remotely on the Same Page. Alex is angry and confused and disappointed; Michael is better than some back-alley meth lab in the middle of a dairy ranch. 

The sudden shift in their camera angles - the mid-shot that falls back further when Alex grabs Michael’s arm (as Michael’s looking to get away from Alex again, for the second time in this episode) and holds him close gives us another dizzying shift. 

The my-side-your-side changes (below) and the camera pulls in intimately close for the ‘you’re wasting your life’ and ‘does the macho cowboy swagger thing ever get old’. 

Alex is turned into Michael (above) but Michael’s not facing Alex, not turned away. “you tryna hold my hand, private?” even though he doesn’t have the physical distance - and the camera doesn’t let him have that either, it’s close and tight and suffocating and Michael can’t escape it even if he wanted to - he can joke, he can look away, he can keep distance between their heads.

Alex has the power in that screenshot above; Alex is the one that grabbed Michael. Alex is the one still holding him.

In the below shot, however - this is a split second before Michael says ‘did it get old for you?’ - we’re treated to the same shot as above but reversed. They’re back on their own sides of the screen and Michael’s reclaimed the power in the scene. When using ‘private’ in an offensively flirtatious manner didn’t work, he drops his voice and all but purrs in Alex’s ear a question (that probably was meant to be mocking and actually ends up being a little more broken than he intended it to be (is that why you left? did you get bored of me? was I not enough?) but it’s enough. Alex is visibly rocked by it and the camera - since it stays so tight on them, swings out a second later to reveal Michael walking away to wrap his arms around another girl, with the framing still being quite visibly your-side-my-side.

Now, let’s talk about the real reason everyone’s here; the Malex kiss. I can’t work out how to embed a youtube video in an already image-heavy post and as I was writing I realised that fuck I have too much to say about it to stick into this already busy as heck post so I’m gonna dissect that separately and focus on stills here, but I’ll link to that post, too. (It’s here, by the way, if you wanna see it and breaks this scene down into TINY PIECES). 

The my-side-your-side is constant here, and honestly, the video post I made explains it in a lot more detail but I’ve started so I’ll finish. The blue wash of this entire scene is meant to encourage a sense of calm - and how we move from Alex being backlit with red (below, where he’s saying ‘we’re not kids anymore, what I want doesn’t matter) to being completely swamped in blue like Michael is is representative of the change in Alex from ‘must not kiss Michael’ to swaying into Michael’s orbit and holding onto him because he needs it as much as Michael does. (You can tear the headcanon that they’re soulmates and linked on a fundamental, cosmic level from my cold dead hands). 

We’re meant to focus more on Alex’s face in this section, which is why Alex has a few more close-up shots (and eh, who can blame us for wanting more of Tyler’s pretty face? Pfft) and we’re able to watch the journey of resistance (red) to acceptance and calm and serenity and home (blue) as he moves forward into Michael’s space and accepts Michael into his. 

This kiss is epic. You can’t deny that. The framing is soft-focused and the camera lingers, allows us to really zoom in on the moment and focus on what’s happening: the intensity of the moment. I’ve talked about this a lot, but the way the camera swings to catch up with Michael as he surges into Alex and then goes still is - imo - representative of how Alex stabilises Michael’s world, soothes it right down. The world rocks on its axis when their lips first touch, when their bodies collide, but then it all goes still and calm as Michael’s entropy changes. The blue helps foster that, too, it’s calming and soothing and tranquil. It’s safety and security. And it’s home.

With Jesse Manes’ words about love being spoken over this (below) shot and not over Echo (who have a cute handprint moment but it’s not the same), the show is choosing to put a focus and emphasis on the fact that this, right here, is a cosmic, epic love that cannot - and will not - be denied. Alex can’t run from who he is (as the soundtrack said while he was looking at a picture of his out-and-proud teenage self) and they can’t run from this (as the soundtrack says, again). This is it for them. And this is it for us, too, as viewers. We’re getting it set up in the very beginning that this is a cosmic love story, that it has history and pain but that it is love. That’s important to remember: we are told at the very beginning that Michael and Alex love each other. It doesn’t matter that they also sets up a paradigm of the two of them almost saying what they mean but never actually saying the words. “What I want doesn’t matter” -  I want you. “I never look away, not really” - I love you. “It was late, I was tired” - I stayed because this is safe for me, you are home. What we are TOLD EXPLICITLY is that Michael and Alex love each other. 

Hold onto that, folks. Because the visual narrative does not change. 

(tagging, by request, @i-never-look-away, @stydiaeverafter, @signoraviolettavalery, @saadiestuff. If you wanna be tagged in future meta, let me know!)

[sleepyverstappens]

Let’s Start Living Dangerously

Title: Let’s Start Living Dangerously

Pairing: Daniel Ricciardo/Max Verstappen/Lewis Hamilton

Rating: Explicit

Word Count; ~5.2k

Tags: Threesome - M/M/M, Sexting gone wrong, Dom/sub Undertones, Singapore Grand Prix 2018, Spitroasting

Summary: This couldn’t be meant for him, right? Why the fuck would Max Verstappen be sending him nudes?

Or, the Max/Daniel/Lewis threesome no one asked for.

A/N:   Uhh, so I really have no excuse for this. Max and Lewis were just very giggly during the post race press conference in Singapore and my hand slipped and this happened. Enjoy 5.2k of threesome smut :P

Read on AO3

He's just scrolling through his instagram feed, finally having some time to relax after a busy day of press duties before the race weekend really kicks off, when he sees a notification pop up. Max Verstappen has sent you a message the whatsapp notification says. He frowns at his phone, he barely spoke to Max in real life, for a long time he was just this guy, let alone talk to him over the phone. Which just makes him all the more curious, so he clicks on the notification quickly. What he sees then is not what he expected at all. Max is lying almost naked on a bed, with one hand fisting his hard cock through his boxers,  the tip of it just poking out, bright red against the white of his Calvin Kleins.

This couldn’t be meant for him, right? Why the fuck would Max Verstappen be sending him nudes? And before he can think harder on the why, the picture is gone, message deleted now replacing it. The picture is already saved to his phone though.

Too late. Is all he sends back.

---

“Shit, shit, shit,” he curses once he realises the mistake he's just made. The name Hamilton blinking up at him at the top of the screen instead on Daniel . He unwraps his hand from around his cock and quickly taps on the picture he just send to Lewis fucking Hamilton, hitting the delete button just as quick.

How could he have been so stupid, he never even really talked to Lewis on whatsapp.  He’d just accidentally hit his chat window earlier when he went to ask Brendon something about the drivers parade on Sunday, their surnames making them appear next to each other in his phone. Still the chat window had been the first one on his list instead of Daniel's like usual.

But surely Lewis hadn’t seen it yet, right? He’d been so quick. But then he sees the words Hamilton is typing pop up at the top of the chat, his phone buzzing with a message not long after.

Too late.

---

He drives the qualifying lap of his life, getting pole on a track were the Mercedes' were already written off. He’s answering Martin’s questions, adrenaline running wild through his veins when he sees the young man in the corner of his eye. Max is a sweaty mess like himself, but there's a happy grin on his face, his lap amazing as well. Their eyes meet and for a split second he sees worry in those blue eyes, but then Max is biting at his lip a teasing twinkle in his eyes. Oh this was gonna get interesting.

Last night he hadn’t been able to stop himself from looking at the picture again. He tried telling himself he was just being careful making sure he didn’t have nudes, nudes from another guy, saved to his camera roll. His thumb had never hit the delete button though, eyes falling instead to the taut frame of the Dutchman. His abs on full display as a happy trail directed his eyes to where Max has a strong hand wrapped around himself, white boxers not leaving too much to the imagination.

With the look Max just sent him the image is brought back to the forefront of his mind, his eyes lingering on Max’s back as both of them are dragged away to their own garages. The lights of the garage are bright like all around the track and people are patting his back, jostling him around as they celebrate pole position, but his mind is elsewhere. It’s on pale skin and strong hands, on tight underwear and the outline of a long hard cock.

---

He climbs out of the car, exhausted and overwhelmed, but also feeling amazing. He doesn’t know how he drove a lap like that with a car that’s been giving him so many difficulties this weekend but he did, somehow. He’s waiting for the microphone to turn to him when he feels Lewis’ eyes on him. There’s something in the gaze that makes him worry at first, remembering the compromising position he’s sure Lewis had seen him in on Thursday. But he doesn’t find disgust or anything like that, no there’s curiosity in those eyes, intrigue, a hint of lust, so instead of biting his lip in worry he bites down on it with a twinkle in his eye, this could be fun.

He’s swept away from the grid quickly, pushed in the direction of the press circle. He’d rather have another one of those ice baths, but the horde of microphones is already waiting for him and for once he has a great qualifying to talk about so he goes where he’s directed.

---

He wins, it’s a boring race for the most part, but he wins and that’s what counts. And it wouldn’t be Singapore if it wasn’t fucking exhausting. The adrenaline in his blood is fighting hard though, making his leg bounce and a megawatt grin stick to his face. He sees Max get out of the car, the other man putting in a good fight, actually making his adrenaline spike for a bit when he got close through the traffic.

It’s when he takes his helmet off that he can’t stop his eyes from lingering. A two hour race in the Singapore heat should have made him look anything but like he does right now. Sure he’s a sweaty mess like all of them are, but he’s glowing, radiating off happiness and just looking all together amazing.

There’s questions and then anthems are being played and before he knows it he’s hit by the spray of Max’s champagne bottle as soon the music starts playing. Sebastian is off to the side drinking his instead, not really joining in on the celebrations, but him and Max are just acting like big kids. The champagne stings in his eyes, but he can’t wipe the grin from his face. As he wipes the sticky liquid away from his face and they line up for the pictures he’s very much aware of Max’s body beside him. Of the way the muscles of his back feel through his race suit, the way he smells of sweat and champagne and how the smile on his face makes him look both younger and older at once.  

The press conference is something else, he won the race yet most of the questions are for Sebastian. Bored, he feels the energy draining from his body slowly and he tries to keep himself hyped. He’s bouncing in his chair by the end of it, him and Max chatting through a lot of it. About the race mostly. Until he nearly chokes on his drink at Max’s next words. Max is actually covering up his mic, instead of just relying on the tech people to cut the audio, when he says it. “ Let’s celebrate, come to my room tonight.”

He coughs against the stinging of his drink going down the wrong way and looks over at Max with wide eyes, but the younger man is just looking out at the room again, face blank. He can’t stop thinking about those words for the rest of the conference. Come to my room tonight. What did he mean? Images of what could possible be happening in Max’s room later run through his mind, none of them safe for work and he was still very much at work right now.    

An interviewer actually asks him something then and he has to concentrate very hard on the words spoken to him, because as he risks another look at Max, Max raises his eyebrows just a little, eyes filled with heat.

As they leave the room, Max runs up to him, pats his back and then gives him one of those bro hugs. It all happens so fast, he barely has time to blink as he breathes in Max’s scent and feels a piece of paper slip into his hand. He’s gone just as quickly, already chatting to his press handler as all of them head towards the press circle. He looks down at his hand then and slowly unfolds the note, I’m in room 305, is all it says. He clenches his eyes shut, fuck this was really happening wasn’t it?

---

He’s had a few beers with the crew after the race to celebrate his win. The buzz of alcohol is humming through his veins as he makes his way up to Max’s room. He’s got the note clutched tightly in his hands as he waits for the elevator to bring him to the third floor, two floors down from his own room. 305, 305, 305 he reminds himself as he walks through the corridor checking the numbers until he finds it. He shoves the note in his pocket and knocks on the door, foot tapping away as he waits, not sure what to feel right now.  

The door finally opens, but it’s Ricciardo’s beaming smile that greets him instead of Max.

“Oh uhm, hi Daniel, I thought this was Max’s room?” Lewis says unsure. His hand twitches to try and get the slip of paper with the room number from his pocket just to double check, when Dan speaks up.

“Oh yeah it is, come in we’ve been waiting.”

“We?” He'd heard rumours about Max and Daniel for sure but he'd never really thought about it too much. After all there had been rumours about him and Nico as well and those weren’t true, so why would these be? He'd figured the selfie Max had accidentally sent him was for a girlfriend, but thinking about it now he should have probably realised the rumours were true. That the jokes they made about it were the perfect cover.

“Shit Max, did you not tell him?” Dan asks as they walk in the room, the small hallway stopping him from seeing Max just yet. Now that he takes Daniel in a bit better he can see the outline of Daniel's cock through his shorts and so he shouldn’t be surprised by Max’s state of undress, as he rounds the corner, yet he can’t stop his eyes from widening as he takes in the man lying on the bed.

“Shit man,” he breathes out. He hadn't really known what he'd be getting himself into tonight. Wondered whether Max had just been fucking with him. It didn't look like Max was just fucking with him right now, his hand tightly wrapped around himself, without the layer of his boxers covering him this time. And he doesn’t know where to look, eyes finding a random spot on the wall just to be safe.

“Max, you didn’t tell him?” Dan asks again.

“I figured he’d know,” Max shrugs.

Lewis shakes his head at that, the other man talking so casual when he’s lying there stark naked. “All you said was come to my room tonight, how should I have known?”

“We’re kind of a package deal these days,” Dan laughs. He just looks over at Daniel blankly.

“Oh come on Lewis!” Had he really been so oblivious? He’d been a little preoccupied with trying to win another championship he tells himself, before telling them the same.

“Good enough excuse I guess,” Max shrugs, “You’re still up for it though?”

And he bites his lip, gives it all of 2 seconds to think over, before he shrugs. “Guess I just got a two for one deal.”

And Daniel laughs a little to hard at that, his nerves showing a little. Max makes doesn’t show any nerves though when he shuffles over to the edge of the bed on his knees. He beckons Lewis over towards him, smirk on his face.  

“Aren’t those the best kind of deals?” Max laughs as he twists his fingers into Lewis’ shirt, pulls him even closer and leans in slowly. His eyes fall to Max’s lips, plump with a badly grown beard surrounding them. He runs his tongue over his own lips, wets them quickly as Max leans closer and closer until finally their lips meet.

Max kisses fierce, teeth nipping at Lewis’ lips until he opens up for him and he can’t stop the groan from falling from his lips as Max’s tongue touches his own. Soft but persistent as he fucks his way into Lewis’ mouth.

“Fuck, that’s hot,” Daniel almost whispers in awe, from behind them.

Max pulls back a little, glances over at Dan with a cheeky grin on his face. He radiates confidence as his fingers find the hem of Lewis’ black t-shirt. He’s the only one naked, but it looks like he wants to change that as he starts pulling up his shirt. It’s pulled over his head and thrown off into a corner of the room quickly, Max’s fingers searing hot against his skin.

He feels another pair of hands on his body then, running up his sides until they rest on his shoulders. They squeeze down as he feels Daniel’s body press up against his back, the outline of his hard cock pressing into his arse. “What do you wanna do?”

And he honestly has no idea, there’d been so many fantasies running through his mind but they’d just been with Max, he’s got another man to include in them now. So he ends up just shrugging, a bit of a confused sound leaving his lips as he does so.

“Come on, you’ve been thinking about it haven’t you? Do you want him to suck you off? Come all over that pretty face of his? Do you wanna fuck him? Or maybe you want him to fuck you?” Daniel purrs into his ear.

He shakes his head, flashes of all those scenarios playing through his head now. He can already see those lips wrapped around him, swollen raw as he fucks into his mouth. Can see Max underneath him as he fucks into him hard, can see him bouncing on his cock as he rides him. He gives the last scenario a few seconds to consider, Max’s body looming over him as he fucks him, but then quickly shakes the idea from his mind. He doesn’t think that’s something for tonight.

“What about you?” Lewis asks once he realises Daniel hadn’t included himself in any of those scenarios.

“You’re the winner, so you’re the boss tonight. I guess you could fuck me as well,” Daniel says with a shrug, his strong body still pressed against his back, radiating heat into his skin. And he considers it, thinks about how good Daniel would look underneath him as well. The thing is though he’d come here thinking it would just be Max, so the idea of fucking Max is what’s sticking to his brain.

“No,” he says with another shake of his head, then continues with determination. “I want to fuck him. I want to fuck him, but first I want him to suck me off.”

“Good choice,” Daniel breathes into his ear. And when he looks back at Max, his pupils are blown wide, lip caught between his teeth. He thumbs it loose before leaning down ever so slightly, Max’s position on the bed actually giving Lewis a tiny bit of a height advantage.

They kiss slowly, tongues dragging against each other languidly. There’s less resistance from Max this time, the other man letting him take the lead now. He dragging his tongue over the roof of Max’s mouth slowly when he feels Daniel’s hands shift and find his belt buckle. He works it free from his belt loops quickly, fingers popping open the buttons of his jeans with practiced ease then. As soon as they’re undone Dan’s hand finds its way into his boxers just as easily.

Yeah, he’s definitely done this before. Can see him working open Max’s jeans over and over again until it’s become routine. His hand sneaking it’s way past another pair of Calvin Kleins to find that cock already hard for him.

His own cock twitches as Dan’s fingers wrap around him, stroking him until he’s hard as a rock, hips bucking up for more. Dan’s other hand is pushing his jeans and pants down then, the belt clanking loudly against the floor as they fall down.

“Max, be a good boy and suck Lewis off yeah.”

He blinks at the look in Max’s eyes then, eyes clouded with lust as he nods slowly at Daniel’s command. He hadn’t expected this dynamic between them, the younger man always so feisty in public. An air of confidence following him like it had earlier, but it’s like a switch has been turned as he let’s the command wash over him.

He’s down on his hands and knees then, strong hand wrapping around the base of his cock as his tongue flicks out over the head. Lewis hisses in a breath then, body trying to move even closer. The heat of Max’s mouth is a shock as it surrounds him, drawing a groan from between clenched teeth.

He looks down at where Max’s lips are wrapped around him and it looks so much better than it did in his head. Max’s hair falls down over his forehead in soft tufts, his eyes closed as he sucks down around him.

He feels Max swallow around him before he starts sinking down over him. Further and further until he hits the back of his throat. He swallows again, gagging a little and a ridiculous sound leaves Lewis’ throat, the tight heat almost making him come already.  

Max draws back then, licking at the head as he goes. “Fuck you’re big,” he groans, voice raw.

And he really can’t wait any longer. He pulls Max back up, pressing a hard kiss against his lips and then starts pushing him backwards until his back hits the bed. He steps away from the heat of Daniel’s body, spares him a quick glance but then pushes himself onto the bed at Daniel’s nod.

He runs his hands down Max’s body, feels the muscles ripple underneath his touch. He wraps his fingers around his still very hard cock, gives it a few strokes and then starts moving his hand even further down.

“I’m good,” Max says stopping his hand from where it was going. He sends him a questioning look. “You took a long time to get here.”      

And as his hand continues on its path anyway he finds Max’s hole slick already, two fingers slipping in easily.

Max gasps as his fingers breach him, moaning as he fucks them in a few times. But then he sits up, his hands pushing at Lewis’ shoulders as that fire from before returns. He keeps pushing until Lewis is on his back instead. Max reaches for the strip on condoms on the bedside table, tears one off and bites into the foil to open it up.

It’s rolled down over his cock in a quick move and then Max is leaning over him, muscular thighs on either side of him. He sinks down over him slowly, tight heat engulfing him inch by inch. He groans out at the feeling and barely has time to take it in before Max starts moving, pace picking up speed quickly.

His breathing quickens as Max keeps bouncing on his cock, his nails digging into Lewis’ chest. He feels him tense all of a sudden, a long drawn out moan falling from his lips as pleasure shoots through his body. Max keeps going like that then, the angle making Lewis hit his prostate each time.

And for the second time in a frankly too short a time he feels like he’s gonna come again. He bites down on his lip hard, biting pain enough to distract him from coming for now. His hands fall onto Max’s hips to still his movement, the man blinking down at him in confusion.

Lewis is pushing himself up then, his arms wrapping around Max’s waist as he rearranges them until Max’s back is pressed into the foot of the bed. And he’s about to push back in when all of a sudden Daniel’s voice breaks through.

“Not like that.”

He’d almost forgotten the other man was still there, too focussed on the young man bouncing on his cock. He glances up at where Daniel is sat on the armchair in the corner of the room, perfect view of the bed. He can’t really read the expression there, something possessive maybe? He sees Daniel’s gaze flick down to where Max is looking at him, upside down, but they somehow still manage to have a full conversation just with their eyes. He sees Max nod before he starts moving underneath him, twisting around until he’s on his front. Oh, not like that.

Once Max has twisted himself around and pushed himself up onto his elbows and knees Lewis looks back at Daniel, sees him nod slowly, hand working over himself just as slow. He pushes forward then, pulls Max’s hips just so and then presses back in, delighting in the groan that falls from Max’s lips at the movement.

They’re faced directly towards Daniel now, Max holding onto the edge of the bed to stop himself from getting pushed off by each of his thrusts. Daniel’s gaze is heated as it meets Lewis, hand working over himself at the same speed he pushes into Max. It flicks down then, focuses in on his boyfriend. On the way his fingers are turning white from clenching around the sheets, the way his mouth falls open wide each time Lewis hits his prostate. On the way he looks up at Daniel almost wanton, lust swirling in those blue eyes.

He keeps up a steady pace, feels himself getting closer slowly when he sees Daniel move from the chair. His shorts fall down easily as he stands up and steps out of them, moving towards the bed. Lewis feels himself slow down, waiting on Daniel’s next move.

“Keep going,” Daniel says with a nod, before looking down at Max. He runs a gentle hand over Max’s face, softly works his bottom lip loose from where he’s biting on it. Another brush of his thumb over his lips before he lets it slip in between them. And Lewis is transfixed by them, the way they are together, speaking a thousand words with their eyes alone. He thrusts forward again and groans at the way Max’s moan sounds around Daniel’s thumb pressed into his mouth.

And he knows what will happen next, before Daniel even makes a move to pull his thumb back from where Max is sucking on it. He does exactly that then, Max whining as the digit slips from his mouth. He doesn’t have to wait long though, because Daniel is already gripping at his cock, pushing it towards Max’s face instead.

The man underneath him doesn’t need to be told what to do, mouth waiting eagerly as Daniel pushes into it. And the way Max’s moans sound around Daniel’s cock is even better than before, sound garbled and guttural.

Daniel starts thrusting forward then, in time with Lewis. Groans fill the room as he meets Dan’s eyes once more, pupils blown wide, but there’s a smirk playing on his lips. Because he knows, he knows that even though he isn’t the one actually fucking Max he’s got the command of the room. Knows that Max will do as he says, will listen to Daniel and not Lewis. And he knows Lewis will only follow his lead, would listen to him if he told him to stop right now. He doesn’t though, just flicks his eyes back down to Max, wipes away some sweaty hair from his forehead and then buries his fingers into the locks instead.    

It’s Daniel that sets the pace then, pushing in in quick bursts that Lewis mimics. And he feels himself really getting close now, the sounds of the two of them and the smell of sex in the air only making the pleasure from the tight heat around his cock more intense.

“Close,” he groans out in warning. He follows Dan’s eyes as they meet his again, silently asks for permission and then Daniel simply nods.  

It only takes a few more thrusts, hips picking up speed as he works himself towards his release. Heat swirling in his stomach as his movements turn sloppy, body needing the release. And with a loud shit he buries himself deep in Max one last time, filling the condom. He fucks into him in a few more aborted thrusts before he pulls out slowly, ties the condom off and falls back onto the mattress, body still twitching but sated.

He blinks slowly, eyes focussing back in on the other two men in the room. Daniel’s head is thrown back in bliss as he continues fucking himself into Max’s mouth. He sees Dan’s fingers tightening in Max’s hair, thighs trembling as he gets close. He doesn’t give any sort of warning, but Max sucks him down more greedily, so in tune with Daniel’s needs. It’s only a few strokes later that Daniel comes with a shout, Max drinking down every last drop of him. Licking his lips for good measure as Dan pulls out.

Daniel sits down on the bed, takes a few steadying breaths and then his hands are back on Max, pulling him upright. Their lips meets easily, Daniel groaning as he tastes himself on Max’s tongue. He manoeuvres them around until Max is lying on his back, cock falling heavily against his stomach.

Dan wraps his hand around Max at the same time he says “Kiss him.” And Lewis has to take a second to take in what he’s saying, eyes transfixed once more on the the display in front of him. Max’s cock is red from holding out so long, balls drawn tight as Daniel moves his hand over him.

He slowly drags his eyes away from it, letting them fall instead on Max’s plump lips. Kiss him, Daniel had said. He gently places his hand on Max’s cheek, turns the other man’s gaze away from Daniel and leans down until their lips meet once more.

He tastes different from before, Dan’s cock and cum lingering on his tongue and Lewis laps it up greedily. Max kisses back fierce, biting at his lips until Daniel twists his hand just so and he’s gasping into his mouth instead.

The sound Dan’s hand makes as he strokes Max to his release is starting to sound obscene, pre-come slickening his movements. Max is biting back quick gasps of air, body taut, hands clenched into the sheets tight. And is in absolute awe of him as he realises what he’s doing, how he’s trying so hard not to come. Not until Daniel tells him to.  

He feels Dan’s gaze on him then, drawing his attention away from where Max is biting at his lip hard. Dan cocks his head then, a question playing in his eyes. A question he doesn’t really understand until the other man raises an eyebrow, daring him to tell Max what to do next.

“Come Max,” he dares, intrigued to see what Max will do.

The Dutchman’s eyes blink open slowly and his eyes are begging for release, but his head shakes no. He hisses another gasp of air into his mouth as Dan twists his hand around the head of his cock tight, eyes clenched shut once more as he waits. Waits and fights off his impending orgasms as best as he can.  

It takes three more torturous strokes before those two magic words fall from Daniel’s lips. “Come Max.”

And he does, almost violently. His body drawn taut, back lifted from the bed as a sob falls from his lips. It feels like he keeps coming and coming, chest heaving as pearly drops of come splatter onto it.

It takes a long while before Max blinks open his eyes again, gaze a little dazed as he takes in the two men next to him. Daniel’s moved over to lie down on his right side, Lewis still raised on his elbow as he looks down on him from the left.

“Damn,” Max breathes out, voice sex rough, before cuddling into Daniel’s chest.

Both him and Daniel chuckle, damn indeed. He runs a hand through his hair, feeling a little out of place now that everyone has gotten their release. He looks over at the two of them, Daniel is running a soft hand through Max’s hair as he presses a quick kiss against the lips he was kissing just a few moments ago. Daniel’s laughing softly as he tries to untangle himself from the younger man, Max clinging onto him with a soft whine.

“Come on babe, I’ll be back in just a second.”

He finally manages to untangle himself, rolls his eyes as they meet Lewis’ and then walks over to the little bathroom. Max follows Daniel with his eyes until he’s disappeared and then sits up, reaches for his phone and starts scrolling through his messages as if he hadn’t just had a threesome.  

Daniel rolls his eyes as he walks back into the room, wet cloth in hand. “I swear it’s like that thing is superglued to his fingers.”

“Shut up,” Max says without removing his eyes away from the screen.

Dan shakes his head with a sigh and throws the cloth at Max’s face. Max spluttering as it hits him. He sends a glare at his boyfriend before he gives himself a cursory wipe down with the cloth. His cock has gone soft now, rosy instead of bright red as it lies against pale skin. His eyes are drawn away then by the sound of Daniel rummaging through the mini bar.

“Yes!” He hears the Australian cheer as he draws a small bottle of champagne from the fridge. He starts untangling the foil from around the top quickly, popping the cork with a grin. He sees Max shake his head beside him.

“What? I didn’t get to have any yet today like the two of you,” Daniel says with an exaggerated pout, before taking a big gulp of the golden liquid. He shuffles back over to the bed and lets himself fall in between Max and Lewis, handing the bottle over to him.

He takes a sip, the liquid tasting far from the expensive champagne they waste on the podiums but it’ll do.

“Well that was an interesting way to celebrate a win,” he laughs.

“Good though right?” Max asks with a wink.

“Yeah,” he says with a shake of his head, before handing the bottle over to Max. He doesn’t really know what will happen next, but he hasn’t been kicked out of the room yet so he guesses that’s a good sign.

He sees Daniel trying to get the champagne bottle from Max, the younger man holding it away from him with a grin. And Lewis swears all he did was blink and all of a sudden Max is straddling Daniel’s hips, bottle of champagne still held away from the Australian’s reach. Max sends him a dangerous look then, a smirk playing on his lips as he starts to tip the bottle over slowly. Daniel gasps as the liquid hit his chest and runs down his torso slowly.

“Want some more champagne Lewis?” Max asks, smirk still playing on his lips.

Oh this night was far from over.  

[thesportssoundoff]

“Future Glory For Former Champions?” Two Guys Opine

Slight opening first: This was done in late November and @theanticool​  had his done first. With so many shows and news, I Wanted to wait to post it because so much has gone down and I didn’t want it getting buried. It was completed a few days before Anderson Silva vs Israel Adesanya was confirmed as not just being a fight but being a #1 contender fight. Just a heads up on that.

Two Dudes Opine!

As most of you know by listening to any sort of DojoTalkPodcast cameo I’ve done, @theanticool and I don’t agree on much of anything. That said, it’s an absolute joy to bounce ideas around, especially in the idea vacuum that is MMA, and have some good old fashioned debate on things. Conversation creates smarter people in my estimation and I obviously need all the help I can get!

I wanted to take this concept and sort of test how often we truly agree and disagree. As such, I figured he and I might want to dabble a bit to see just HOW often we agree or disagree. Once he agreed after many meetings and contractual negotiations, we agreed on a concept: I’m going to come up with a topic and present him with a list of names inside that topic. Independently we’ll each go through the names provided and see just how we match up at the end of this grabbag assignment. Our first project focused on prospects coming off a loss and I think it’s worth pointing out that Yair, Arjan Bhullar and Cynthia Calvillo were all featured in the discussion and all have gone on to win.  This month we have:

In the UFC, it's very hard to regain titles after you lose them. In the modern era, only TJ Dillashaw has flat out won back a title he lost (Daniel Cormier was given it back due to Jon Jones' drug test failure while Jose Aldo won an interim title before getting elevated up to championship status). Fighters such as Aldo, Rashad Evans, Junior Dos Santos and countless others have all come up short in quests to either regain gold or find new gold in other weight classes. With that as the set up, which of the following fighters can either regain their title in their current weight class or find championship success either up or down a weight class: 

 Conor McGregor 

 Cody Garbrandt 

 Robbie Lawler 

 Holly Holm 

 Chris Weidman 

 Anderson Silva

I’m in the bold and @theanticool is in italics!

Conor McGregor- I mean if you want to manipulate it just right, Conor McGregor can absolutely find his way back to the title scene! Conor's a weird one for me---and I'm beginning to wonder if the Conor McGregor we saw at 145 lbs was more about right time, right place and perhaps even right matchmaking than anything else. Conor's wins at 145 lbs are amazing from Chad Mendes to Jose Aldo to Dustin Poirier to even a quality mid level gatekeeper type like Dennis Siver. Even Max Holloway was a case of maybe two guys facing off before they're ready to do so. Since going up in weight, Conor's 2-2. The Eddie Alvarez fight was an absolute demolition job and one of the best wins of his career given the opponent BUT I'm a bit less high up on Alvarez after seeing him struggle with Poirier twice. The Diaz fights revealed problems with Conor's pacing but also his ability to deal with the same stylistic challenges he gives others. Lengthy opponents who won't allow him to just walk them down, put them against the cage and tee off. That and to be honest? I'm really not that high up on Nate Diaz either. The Khabib performance was really good given the circumstances (long layoff from MMA, stylistic nightmare, hurt early in the fight) but THIS is what lurks at the top at 155 lbs. Khabib, Kevin Lee, Tony Ferguson, a rejuvenated (yet still flawed) Dustin Poirier, Al Iaquinta plus other really great fighters who don't get their due because of the weight class depth. This is not to say that Conor McGregor loses to all of those guys or even that he's not a great fighter---he's just a great fighter as opposed to the meteoric supernova who ran through 145 lbs with such ease. Guys like Justin Gaethje are conditioned to wins wars of attrition, something Conor struggled with vs Nate. Guys like Kevin Lee and Al Iaquinta present enough of a well rounded overall game to where you could sort of see them finding ways to get Conor in enough bad spots to steal a decision. Tony Ferguson, Dustin Poirier and Khabib are elite and while Poirier's rise to the top hasn't changed the fighter he is, I think his chances in a rematch are waaaay better now that he's not completely sunken in. This doesn't even account for Ortega or Holloway coming up eventually as well.

But this isn't about Conor entirely; it's about his chances to get back in the title picture. Conor is basically a long frustrating Khabib suspension away from being in a title fight, even if it's just an interim at 155 lbs. If the UFC opens up 165 lbs, they are absolutely going to hand him a shot to fight for the belt because that's business. Shit, Conor is one win away from facing Colby Covington (Oh lord have mercy) or even opening up the doors for something with Tyron Woodley. Conor McGregor is a star and stars can get away with doing things like that. It also helps that he's a great enough fighter that the public can absolutely buy him potentially beating a guy like Tony Ferguson or Colby Covington or Woodley or whomever pops up at 165 lbs. What Conor does well at, he's one of the best at and that will always give him a shot. Again the people he's ACTUALLY beaten are among some of the best in the sports history----so who am I to say he can't get back into the title picture?

Conor McGregor

I can see Conor politicking himself back into title contention. Let’s be real, he’s never going to be far from a title shot. With Khabib Nurmagomedov’s future kind of up in the air with the pending investigation of the NSAC and his father stating that he doesn’t want his son fighting past 30, the lightweight title could be up for grabs soon. Not to mention Khabib and Tony Ferguson are injury prone individuals. If one or both of them get hurt, McGregor is right back in the title picture. And should Ferguson and Khabib fall out of the picture, I’d like McGregor’s chances against the likes of Dustin Poirier, Kevin Lee (maybe less so him but still), Justin Gaethje, Anthony Pettis, and Nate Diaz. Heck, if the UFC ever decides to make that 165lb division you know McGregor going for his 3rd belt would be too much for the UFC to pass up. If McGregor continues fighting, he will eventually get another shot because of his popularity. By that virtue alone, he’s got a better shot than most former champions of getting a UFC  title.

Cody Garbrandt- I still like Cody but there be some issues here. For starters, backs, necks and knees don't get better. That's especially true for fighters who rely on their reflexes and quick twitch ability to enter into exchanges and for their defense. Garbrandt having back problems at the scant age of 27 is rather worrisome. That's more worrisome than the fact that he now has two losses to the champ TJ Dillashaw. Bantamweight is a bit like heavyweight and so like JDS vs Cain, Cody could realistically always just be a title change away from being back in the picture. I'm sure when I read Anticool's retort, he's not going to agree here but I DO think Cody can beat TJ. They've fought twice and he's hurt TJ and both fights. The difference is that Dillashaw is a way better finisher (If TJ knocks Cruz down the way Cody does then the fight's over) and Dillashaw instinct wise just seems better. He seems more capable of surviving bad exchanges, smarter with adjustments and more willing to not be prideful (Garbrant absolutely stands with Lineker and nobody can convince me otherwise). For Cody to get back to the top, he needs to beat somebody in the top 5 but outside of Jimmie Rivera, I don't see a lot of willing matchups. I'm on the fence here.

Cody Garbrandt

MMA is not like boxing. Getting knocked out back to back doesn’t spell immediate doom and gloom for your career. It’s still not a good look though. I really hated the immediate rematch between Garbrandt and Dillashaw because I saw it as potentially burning out a young prospect’s career in a chase for quick money. And I honestly don’t know how Garbrandt will turn out till we see him fight someone in the top 10 at bantamweight who isn’t TJ Dillashaw or Dominick Cruz. This division is currently brimming with young talented fighters who are improving dramatically between fights, while Garbrandt seemingly hasn’t. We need to see him build on his current boxing game. Maybe use more of his wrestling. Add some tools to his kickboxing arsenal that aren’t reliant on the fact that he has a lot of power in his hands. I will reserve judgement on him till we see him fight again. We just don’t know where he’s at after coming up short twice to someone he hates. That has to be mentally exhausting.

Robbie Lawler- Oh what Robbie Lawler has brought to us. Nobody should forget 2013 to 2015 when Lawler fought Johnny Hendricks twice, Jake Ellenberger, Rory MacDonald twice and Matt Brown off the top of my head. Since then? I think Robbie might be broken, dudes. Lawler is 2-2 but should really be 1-3 (fight me about it, guys) and all of those fights seemed less about the skill he had and more about the heart he still possesses. You don't have the fight of year in back to back to back years without losing a piece of you in the process and it's perhaps made all the more remarkable when you consider Robbie fought four times in 2014 and has seen the number decline from 4 to 1 in 2015 to 2 in 2016 to 2 in 2017 to nada in 2018. The matter was made worse by an ACL injury sustained in a fight vs RDA where he was pretty much wiped out even if he didn't ever seem to be in danger of being finished. I like Robbie a lot and I think a serious convo will be had about him as a hall of fame talent AND I remember when the UFC made him one of the first big signings BACK from Strikeforce when everybody had mailed it in on Lawler. A return to WW made him great again but now? I think the time has come and gone. Robbie's 36 years old coming off knee surgery in a division that's ripe to get younger real quick. Of course I can't ignore the shades of Koscheck vs Lawler with this Askren booking but Ben's a lot better than Josh was at that point in his career. I think the Lawler days are done.

Robbie Lawler

Hindsight is 20/20. It looks like Lawler’s fight with Condit was his last real hurrah. The Lawler that went toe-to-toe with Johny Hendricks twice and had one of the greatest fights of all time with Rory MacDonald is gone. And fair enough. That MacDonald fight honestly would have been the end of most other guys’ careers. If his fight with Rafael Dos Anjos is any indication, I do think Lawler has something left in the tank if his body can stay together for 15-25 minutes. He’s still got a lot of technical savvy and he’s still tough as hell, but I can see his upcoming fight with Ben Askren going south if the man can’t generate the volume we’ve seen from him in the past. I don’t foresee another title reign in Lawler’s future, as sad as that makes me. But he’s proved us wrong before.

Holly Holm- Chances are Holly Holm will absolutely fight for a title and pretty soon. Can she win it? Yeah, I actually kinda sorta think she can. Holm's title losses can be summed as getting taken out of her game by a very gutsy Meisha Tate, some sketchy borderline late work from Germaine De Randamie and getting outphysical'd by Cris Cyborg. Holly Holm is still a good yet flawed fighter who will probably be able to out athlete most of the fighters she faces AND if we're being 100% fair? She and Mike Winkeljohn feel like one of those pairings that just click. That on its own could be enough to get her not just back in the title picture but win her title especialyl if Nunes is broken vs Cyborg. I still think there’s SOME paper lion in Amanda Nunes’ game and I could see Holm giving her all she can handle.

Holly Holm

Of the 6 fighters considered for this article, Holly Holm is my pick for best chance to regain her former title. At least by doing it the “right” way. Of the 6, I think she’s in the best place mentally and physically. She has not shown she’s falling apart yet like Lawler and Weidman. She hasn’t shown she has slowed down yet like Silva. We haven’t seen her succumb to her own hubris yet like Garbrandt has twice. And women’s bantamweight isn’t the shark tank division that lightweight is. She can and most likely will get another shot at the women’s bantamweight title. Plus Holm presents a whole slew of challenges for Amanda Nunes that we have yet to see Nunes face. She’s a range kicker who can fight hard for 5 rounds, set a solid pace, and will have a good sized reach advantage on the outside. And unlike Shevchenko, Holm will throw volume. That of course means she’s going to leave herself more open to counters from arguably the hardest hitting woman in the sport but Nunes is fighting on a short timer. If Holm can survive the first round, you know she’s going to be the fresher of the two from rounds 2-5.

Chris Weidman- This is the one I'm most on the fence about. If Chris Weidman cuts less weight, goes up to 205 lbs and manages to stay relatively break free? I don't see why he couldn't do something really good at the top of the division. We're seeing worse fighters step in against top 10/top 15 LHWs and have zero issue being not just competitive but thrust into title contention. I know their respective styles are different but Weidman can absolutely pull an Anthony Smith; feast on being the more athletic guy with more tools in his arsenal vs bigger guys who may not even be all THAT bigger. I'm just beginning to wonder if Chris Weidman might be for a lack of a better term broken. Perhaps broken beyond repair. Weidman's kind of in that Gray Maynard stage for me now and I think that's worse than it sounds to some people. Gray Maynard after the Edgar fights was still competitive AND improving in some capacities---but his chin was cooked, his wrestling suddenly seemed either outdated or ill equipped to deal with the rising talent levels and even when he was doing good, you just felt a sense of inevitability. I never once felt like Jacare was in danger of losing vs Weidman but I spend every second of that fight believing we were just one something away from it falling apart for Chris Weidman. It's one of those weird feelings to see a fighter doing really well and just feel almost resigned to an inevitable bad thing happening. Chris Weidman fights in a much easier division at 185 lbs than Gray Maynard and could move up to an even EASIER division at 205 lbs. The problem is I just wonder how many times we can see Weidman with a bloodied up face saying "I'll be back from this" before we just have to accept that Chris Weidman hit the point of no return on his career? It's entirely possible that his win over Gastelum (another fight where he got hurt really badly) was a brief last gasp for his career as a whole. Weidman's ability to will himself through wars of attrition hasn't diminished but his body's ability to hold up in those fights has.

Chris Weidman is the ultimate boom or bust guy; the boom says that he could possibly be the champ at 205 lbs if Jon Jones vacates the premises while the bust is that Weidman takes unneeded additional damage against bigger guys who hit him really hard. I'd like to see Chris Weidman TRY at 205 lbs, maybe against a relatively easy touch. It's often times been said that the UFC doesn't just start giving guys easier opponents when they're earning bank so Weidman has a really good shot to walk into 205 lbs and be greeted by an OSP or a Shogun or someone who has name value and is probably good enough to test him. If it doesn't work then we can call it a day but if it does, I think Weidman has a sizable chance to find a way to the title.

Chris Weidman

Weidman will never be champion again at 185lbs. You can’t get stopped in 4 of your last 5 fights and expect my confidence in your chances at the belt. I am not sold on the idea though that Chris Weidman is a chinny fighter so there’s no way he could cut it at 205. Most of his stoppage losses have seemed to have come from exhaustion as much as they’ve come from eating a big shot. Weidman needs to control the pace to win fights. He can’t rely on his wrestling because it’s too draining on his stamina, except against Gastelum who basically did nothing to stop the grappling game of Weidman. It’s why we’ve seen him change from a come forward pressure fighter to an out fighter. I think his team thought it would be easier on Weidman to control his output and range if he didn’t constantly have to move forward. Problem is that being an out fighter requires a lot of movement, pivoting, and things that also require a lot of energy and precision. Weidman can’t afford to let the flow of fights get away from his because it drains his gas tank too quickly. It’s how Jacare eventually wore him down. That’s why we see him win the first round of fights where he ultimately gets stopped. When other fighters do not concede, Weidman fades. I think a move to 205 could help with a lot of these issues. No more weight cut, no more energy dump after 6-7 minutes of fighting. I am afraid though that all the injuries and the big cuts to make 185lbs are cutting short his career. The first 5 minutes of his fight with Jacare, however, was some of the best we’ve seen Weidman look technically. There could be hope for him yet at 205. I don’t know if he has what it takes to beat an Alexander Gustafsson or Jon Jones. When you consider those guys are just as likely to get either hurt (Gus) or suspended on some dumb (Jones) though, the division could be wide open for Weidman to come through and make a title run.

Anderson Silva-  Silva will not will a title. Will he fight for one? He shouldn't but he will, right? Remember Anderson Silva could have an argument to having beat Michael Bisping and he owns a win over Derek Brunson who is a top 10 gatekeeper. Silva could even go as far back as to point out that there was SOME talk that if he beat Nick Diaz, he would've gotten a title fight. My best guess is that when Silva's back, he is just one fight away. After all who isn't in MMA these days?

Anderson Silva

No. In terms of fighters that are past it, I actually think Silva is on the upper end of guys who are still functioning. If Tito Ortiz would be a sizeable favorite over 95% of fighters on the regional scene, Anderson Silva is a favorite over most middleweights not in the top 20 and probably a lot of mid-tier 205ers. His super close fights with Derek Brunson and future champion Michael Bisping attest to his ability to stick around the upper end of the division. Problem for him is the high end of middleweight has become a shark tank of athletes with well rounded technical games. He would no longer be fighting the Chael Sonnens and Yushin Okamis of the world. And honestly I don’t need to see Yoel Romero flying knee Silva’s head through the fence. I’m good. I’m content with his upcoming fight with Israel Adesanya. Of all the fights he could have gotten against the top of the division, with the exception of maybe Kelvin Gastelum, Israel Adesanya is probably the most kind. I do expect Silva to picked apart here. I don’t expect to see Silva bum rush his way into something crazy like Derek Brunson did and I don’t expect Adesanya to push a crazy pace in search of the stoppage. Maybe we’ll get some fun spinning stuff but I think the fight ends up looking similar to the Adesanya-Tavares fight - Silva being unable to pull the trigger while Adesanya casually styles on him.

[trashartandmovies]

Berlinale Film Festival 2021, Industry Event, Day 1

We all knew the 71st Berlinale would be different, but who’d have guessed we’d be given a twofer? At this point, the juries for the Competition, Encounters, Shorts, and Generations sections have all handed out their awards. These juries got to watch the films in their respective categories on the big screen. Meanwhile, the press were given the opportunity to screen these movies at home, as well as the films in the Berlinale Special, Panorama, Forum and Forum Expanded sections, as well as the six films making up the Perspektive Deutsches Kino category and episodes from the six television shows included in Berlinale Series. (The always excellent Retrospective section is only screening during the summer.) Altogether, around 150 at-home screenings were made available to the press. We had five days to watch them. I was able to watch 22 of them. This is Part One.

———

I’m sure everyone covering the festival is hoping that the Summer Special, in mid-June, will go smoothly and we’ll be able to catch at least a fraction of the movies we weren’t able to see. (For geo-blocking streaming reasons, a few films in the lineup weren’t available at all in my geo-region. Including two in the Competition: the FABIAN adaptation and Daniel Daniel Brühl’s directorial debut NEXT DOOR.) Usually, the press is given a week ahead of the festival to check out the Panorama, Forum and Generations titles. One assumes it’s so that audiences may get some recommendations on these lower-profile movies in the inevitable situation when all the high-profile films are sold out. Will this happen in the summer? Unless I missed a press release, the details around the Summer Special are still a bit vague. Rightfully so, since we’re still living in week-by-week uncertainty as far as lockdown measures go.

All we can do now is cross our fingers and hope for a chance to get a look at some of the these titles, because when presented with the challenge of covering a 150-movie lineup over just five days, you have to make some obvious decisions. I suspect many people did what I did — try to watch all the Competition titles and get in a few Encounters, Specials, some shorts and hold out hope for one or two stray Panoramas or Forums. To make matters more heartbreaking, the press screenings went like this: every morning at 7:00 AM, you’d get an impossibly long list of films to watch until 7:00 AM next morning. You’d get a few Competition titles, a few Encounters and Specials, and a deluge of films from the other categories. For many films, all you could do is look at the title, nod, and say to yourself, hopefully we’ll meet again soon, because there’s no way I can fit a sixth movie in today without losing my mind.

(Now there was a wrinkle added to this plan. Over the weekend of March 6 - 7, the press could screen the award winners that got announced on Friday. But it was difficult to try and take this into consideration in any strategic way.)

———

Like most film festivals, Berlinale usually kicks things off with a star-studded opening night movie that’s usually too mainstream for the critics. With no red carpet to be concerned with this year, that wasn’t the case. Instead, on Day One, the closest to a big movie star name was Iain Glen (Game of Thrones). Glen isn’t the lead in Tim Fehlbaum’s TIDES, shown in the Berlinale Special program, but he does play a key role as an astronaut who’s landed back on Earth, generations after human had mostly left the increasingly inhabitable planet. Humans have been living in a space colony called Kepler, but everyone ended up sterile, so missions are being sent back to Earth in the hopes that they can once again live there and get their reproductive groove back.

That’s the underlying story of TIDES, and it’s just one element that will likely feel very familiar to anyone who’s well-versed in post-apocalyptic cinema. The color palette is stark, with muted colors. The landscape is barren, this one with lots of water, rather than the desert locales of Mad Max. In fact, the notorious WATERWORLD came to mind more than once while watching TIDES. There’s even a doll in the film that looks just like Dennis Hopper’s character in that film, eye patch and everything. That little detail may be one of the most interesting things about the film.

The main character of TIDES is another astronaut, played with a committed intensity by Nora Arnezeder. She crash lands on Earth, is held captive by central casting post-apocalyptic scavengers, and eventually tries to track down a McGuffin that will let her contact Kepler and report back that there are people reproducing on Earth. Meanwhile, she also suspects that something might remain of the previous mission that was comprised of her father and Iain Glen.

The main attraction here is Fehlbaum’s use of stunning landscapes and practical locations, like a beached industrial ocean liner that serves as inspiration for one of the primary sets. The art design and costumes are all exceptional, while the acting and photography are all decent enough. But it never does much with the conspiracy it tries to entertain us with. Its attempts at being thrilling look good, but can’t help but feel like pretty standard stuff at this point. It’s worth noting that one of the film’s producers is Roland Emmerich, a man who knows a thing or two about making generic high concept action pictures. Some things, like the art design and the pleasingly diverse and international cast, set TIDES apart. But the story is far less inspired.

Faring better were the Day One Competition titles. I started with MEMORY BOX, a lively picture wherein a daughter gets to better understand her mother when a box of the mom’s old teenage diaries and correspondence ends up on their doorstep. (This mother-daughter connection is essentially the same theme that Céline Sciamma’s PETITE MAMAN covers in a different, more sci-fi, fashion.) As the daughter, living in a nice house in Montreal, digs into her mother’s old journals, scrapbooks and tape recordings, the film travels back to 1980s Beirut through the eyes of her teenage mom. It makes these trips back in time through some pretty cool moments of collage-like animation — putting scrapbook pages into motion and diving into photographs and contact sheets that come alive. Plus, the soundtrack is killer, full of lively 80s post punk like Killing Joke, The Stranglers and Blondie.

There’s romance, the trauma of war, a strong refugee story, and a poignant tale of cross-generational understanding. The kicker is that it’s very autobiographical, with the film mirroring co-director Joana Hadjithomas’s own story of corresponding with her friend in Paris while Beirut was falling down around her. These journals are backed up by old photographs taken in Beirut from the other co-director, Kahil Joreige. Like last year’s fascinating BLOODY NOSE, EMPTY POCKETS, and this year’s A COP MOVIE, Berlinale movies are continuing to find success in blurring the line between documentary and narrative fiction. The movie has a little trouble maintaining momentum all the way through, but I loved the experimentation on display here, and the unique ways it tells its story. It helps that MEMORY BOX really sticks the landing at the end.

Next up was ICH BIN DEIN MENSCH, or I’M YOUR MAN — another film, like many in recent years, interested in the ethics behind artificial intelligence and robots with emotions. Think of it as a romantic comedy version of BLADE RUNNER, or an updated version of the forgotten-by-time Ann Magnuson and John Malkovich vehicle MAKING MR. RIGHT. This one, based on a recent short story by Emma Braslavsky, is directed by Maria Schrader, who recently helmed the popular Netflix series Unorthodox (she’s also a veteran film and TV actress, from Tatort and Deutschland 86 to AIMEE & JAGUAR). Schrader continues to prove that she has a good eye for framing and storytelling. The movie doesn’t always escape the problem that many German movies continue to struggle with, which is that they often feel like a good TV movie rather than a work of cinema, but it manages better than most.

The general idea is that Maren Eggert plays Alma, a researcher who is assigned the task of spending a couple weeks with a new personal companion robot named Tom, played by the dreamy-eyed Dan Stevens. Alma is, of course, a completely rational-minded person who is happy to just get through the two weeks with as little interaction with Tom as possible. In her mind, it’s an impossibility that a piece of technology could fulfill a human being’s needs. Of course, as each day goes by, Tom continues to surprise her and wear down her defenses.

It’s a pretty well-worn story by now. The issues that get raised over the course of the movie are some that Star Trek: The Next Generation was dealing with on a regular basis (Tom is similar to Data, though Stevens doesn’t need any special contact lenses), but there are some interesting wrinkles here. Few movies have looked at this subject from the female perspective. And if there’s one that that this year’s Berlinale truly excelled at, it’s offering a wide variety of movies by female directors and/or with female leads. We’ve covered three movies that fit that criteria already, and many more will come. What’s more, Maren Eggert gives us a character who’s at an age where she’s wrestling with the question of whether or not her child-bearing days are behind her. When’s the last time Hollywood dealt with that subject? So, while Alma starts off as a very emotionally distant, academic type, and the best thing about the movie is uncovering her past and getting to understand why she has put up so many walls. I’m not sure it does much with the subject of AI or robot companions, but it does provide a charming odd-couple story and I don’t have any complaints with Eggert winning the festival’s best actress award.

The nightcap on Day One was INTEURODEOKSYEON, or INTRODUCTION, the newest film by the prolific Korean auteur Hong Sangsoo. At last year’s Berlinale, Sangsoo was also in the Competition with the excellent THE GIRL WHO RAN, and he doesn’t disappoint with INTRODUCTION. Ironically enough, if you’re unfamiliar with Hong Sangsoo and don’t know where to start — understandable given the nearly 30 films he’s directed in the past 25 years — INTRODUCTION ain’t a bad way to start. It’s not his best work, but it’s pretty damn good, and a very accessible entry-point into the man’s style and thematic interests. And it barely cracks the 60-minute mark, so you’re not committing to much.

This one ping-pongs between a young man, Youngho, and a young woman, Juwan, both trying to figure out what to do with their lives. Juwan wants to study fashion in Berlin, Youngho wants to become an actor. Both run into problems with these pursuits — some of which are out of their control. In Youngho’s case, it leads to a hilariously drunken dinner confrontation with Ki Joo-bong, who may or may not be playing a version of himself, since he’s only credited as “Old Actor.” The esteemed Korean actor Joo-bong has appeared in Park Chan-wook films, SAVE THE GREEN PLANET, as well as few of Sangsoo’s other films and some 70 other movies. In INTRODUCTION, his character is revered by every other person he meets. And his advice to Youngho is an eruptive highlight in a movie that’s otherwise pretty subtle.

Subtlety is often Sangsoo’s thing, but the emotions he leaves you with tend to be pretty strong. This is his magic. He writes very realistic, dialog-driven scenes that, on their own, are nuanced and deceptively simple. But these quiet scenes build up to an ending that makes everything come together in a profound way. Even if you’re familiar with Sangsoo’s work, INTRODUCTION may come across as slight, or a minor work in the maestro’s deep catalog, but I found it’s pleasures to be more immediate than usual. To my knowledge, no one is writing screenplays like this. The way he reveals characters, develops them, and draws connections through casual lines of dialog, sometimes nested deep within a conversation, is practically his trademark move, and it’s never not remarkable. It demands your attention and then rewards it at the end. His technique is patient, confident and hugely sophisticated. The only problem I see is that, given his track record of releasing one or two movies a year, his talent is in danger of being taken. Don’t be one of those people.

[midnatt-heronweather]

2020 review

Disclaimer: You won’t hear much about the virus in this. I’m not a denier, I know the damage and destruction covid19 has caused and the death toll, therefore I am not yet cold enough not to realise this is going to sound completely selfish, but that is my decision.  My reviews focus on MY year. Just so you’re aware. “I accept chaos, I’m not sure whether it accepts me.” Bob Dylan.

2020... What can I say?

This was the year I decided to officially identify as Non-Binary, not that anyone actually cares or believes me or things i'm "(insert stereotype at will)" enough. except for those very VERY rare people who do and who actually listen and hear me when I speak

Anyway -It has been a trashcan fire of a year since February/March February when I saw the Hu and Counterfeit alongside Ally. And I say February/March because that was the weekend I say my year ended...the good part anyway. Because it was that weekend when I got the ultimate honour, privilege and miracle of meeting Jason Carter, After that it was like a Dementor had French kissed the year and I can’t be the only one who thought it? Conventions and gigs postponed, rescheduled and ultimately cancelled, masks, social distancing, lockdowns the works. And can I just say - I didn’t clap, and I don’t feel in the slightest bit ashamed for it. Despite or maybe because I have friends and a few family who work in the NHS I couldn't bear to be a part of the hypocritical BS idea. I live in a country that will clap for their 'beloved' life saving NHS but then stand silent when Pay rises are frozen and when the NHS is in danger, we as a country expect a lot but don't lift a finger to gave back, clapping doesn’t pay bills. But...Bright points in the year let’s try staying positive and leaving the crap outside shall we...well... The main one has got to be that the US finally found their sense and President Elect Joe Biden will b sworn in January 20, 2021. After that... I’ll have to get back to you. Oh...no..no that’s not one... seriously I’ll have a think and get back to you. Conventions: Just one this year, for me, because of the obvious... But what a convention FCD Events presents 2258 a Babylon 5 Conventions: Where, as well as finally being among actual self confessed fans and being able to tick a b5 convention off my bucket list after starting cons way too late to attend the OG cons I did the impossible... I MET JASON CARTER... have I mentioned this? Have I? Should I say t again? I MET JASON CARTER!!! Also Mira Furlan, Tracy Scoggins and Patricia Tallman, but I met him! Finally! And... Just a reminder I did warn you guys, several times that it was likely hell would freeze over if I ever got that particular honour, do not say I didn’t. I’d never done an FCD before, I’d meant to, even bought a ticket but it just never seemed to happen, but the second someone said b5 con, I was so there! Karan Robinson made my year by making me the Anla’Shok uniform. And Nadine added the cherry on top by making the belt buckle that ONLY Marcus and Entil’Zha Sinclair wear: D (for the record: Velcro still hates me) David one of the organisers of FCD kept randomly shouting “We live for the one.” And when people other than m actually knew the response and responded... dude kick in the feels I kid you not. Next Year (Angel Willing) Adam and I are attending the Teen Wolf conventions entitled “Howl at the Moon 4” in Paris, France... which is cool on so many levels not least of which being I get to meet JR Bourne and Daniel Sharman again and get to visit the church of St Julian of the poor. And yes, there are cons planned here in the UK. But... well. It’s already looking Grey, and not the good kind. Music and Gigs: Two gigs one after the other at the 02 Ritz in Manchester. The First:

The Hu a Mongolian band who Ally really likes and I think are pretty cool. They are amazing live there’s no doubt, can hold their own in England even in a room of idiots. The 2nd :

Counterfeit (also with Ally) I went VIP and got to meet the boys again, and listen to a Q&A with them. I will forever love them, not just because of Jamie’s acting side despite what people say. Didn’t realise how special until recently though because;  after keeping fans going and hyping up new singles during lockdowns, they recently decided to go their separate ways. Jamie’s gone solo and he’s put three songs out on YouTube. _ I was meant to be attending a one off gig by Ruelle and Fleurie both of who had music used on Shadowhunters, even talked my friend Lou into it, but it was a victim of the lockdowns and things and I’m not the optimistic type so I doubt it’ll ever happen now, will be lucky if even one of the ladies comes over here if I’m honest. Recently I’ve rediscovered a love for Black Veil Brides and their leader Andy Black’s solo stuff. Olivia Hyde of Bad Pollyanna recently killed everyone in her black unicorn’s fanbase with an amazing solo album, me included. Ally has introduced me to a few interesting bands this year, *Wingtips – very 80s Goth, very Ally (translation: very cool.) *Allegiance Reign – a Japanese Samurai metal band,  not sure what Ally actually thinks of these guys, she found them while perusing YouTube and thought of me :D Suggestions greatly accepted, I am always up for giving new stuff a try. Hopefully next year things will even out and gigs will be able to be put on again. TV and Fandom’s: *We FINALLY got Roswell: New Mexico in the UK, and ITV blitzed through 2 seasons in less than a month, but it was enough for me to decide I loved it, maybe more than I did the original. Alex is my fave, but obv Michael isn’t half bad, nor is Max when he’s not making goo-goo eyes at Liz. * Finally got to see 9-1-1 Lone Star and I absolutely love it, (I kinda knew I would from all the talk) * Decided to give the Charmed reboot a 2nd look and it’s proved addictive, now waiting for s2 to be downloadable on Amazon or something. *In march I was so, so excited for the return of The Expanse and the fact the main cast were coming to a con in the UK, then.. The verse went to hell. I still Love the Expanse, but I’m not as die hard as I was, not for lack of trying. Still love it for Anna of course, any excuse to see her. *After 15 years Supernatural finally ended in 2020 with season15: I stopped watching religiously at the end of season 6 but that does not mean I stopped liking the show just that I didn’t like the direction (like with The Expanse recently) I loved watching the reaction of the fans, and how much they (we if I’m counted) mean to the cast. * I have to mention Cursed... If only to say HOLY HELL DANIEL! 𝑴𝒚 𝑭𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝑻𝑽 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘𝒔 𝒐𝒇 2020 Cursed 9-1-1 Lone Star & 9-1-1 Warrior Nun Prodigal Son Penny Dreadful: City of Angels Doctor who (Officially season12) Roswell s1&2 (it counts cos ITV only just got the reboots) Charmed s1&2(it counts cos E4 only just got the reboots) Call the Midwife (s9 btw) Our Girl Strike Back: Vendetta Friends: “Friendship ... is born at the moment when one man says to another "What! You too? I thought that no one but myself . . .” ― C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves

My understanding of "friendship." is skewed, and I’m not saying that to be "Vulcan." it’s honest, and anyone who wants to know how or why just has to ask. But let’s leave it at that for this. It makes some things more stark... and I've said this recently, but this binfire has made even me more aware of who’s out there in my verse, whose pack, who’s potential, and who’s just pathetic. The last I’m not going to waste my breath on. The first two: Pack and Potential (read: new acquaintances /potential friends) Pack: Yes I go on about friends as 'Pack like a person whose OD'd on Teen Wolf... because I am so :P My pack as a whole are varied, and spread out across this country with a few dotted around Europe and Aus. hopefully they know who they are because I don't do mushy crap as they know. But if they do know, they know I'm there when I'm needed and more than willing to sod off when not. Yorkshire brass makes me frank and I’d hope fair. There are 2...mayb 3 who sit above the rest, in special place for the things they've done and things they've been through with me. I make no denial of that. But everyone is important to me. I wouldn't change them for anything.... Ok... tell a lie, maybe 1 or 2 when they do my box in, but that’s only like for a week maybe less. I've spent too many years and got too many scars and burned too many photos and bridges because of fake people and users to not be honest to a fault. It’s who I am. Potential: the Counterfeit gig in Manchester, 2258 and yes even Tiktok have given me the opportunity to make some interesting acquaintances this year, and some I hope will become friends in the real in the future, but for now I will say - "I am defensive, stand off ish, sometimes bull headed and of course opinionated, but I am by no means blind. Or blinkered despite what may be said of me. I am there when needed, if I can be of use, just poke me."   Ave Atqua Vale This section has its own post these days. Sadly. Pictures Will try and make one of my “a year in ten pics.” Posts later. Final words While I am not fond of this time of year, Enjoy your celebrations whatever for they may take, I will be watching The Magicians / Call the Midwife and plotting 202? Cosplays. I will be here when (fk knows why) I'm needed. Otherwise-  Compliments of the season, now go get a beer, i'm sure you need it after reading this crap.

in the words of The one and only Jason Carter  “Hindsight is 2020″

[marxistduboisist]

Comments on “Where’s the Winter Palace”

I have two main critiques of this interesting but, I argue, ultimately unpersuasive essay on the Marxist-Leninist movement in the US. This note grew out of a Facebook comment, and it presumes familiarity with the general subject as well as the essay linked above. I left aside several other critiques which were made by other people on the thread, so this is an incomplete critique.

First, I found the critique of line-centrism (laid out in "Dogmatism and 'Line'") less than persuasive; I thought it misidentified the cause of the NCM’s failing in the first place (here I disagree with Max Elbaum who is the original source for this claim); applies with far less force to the Marxist-Leninist movement at present than it did to the NCM; and, finally, is unrealistic in the sense that it takes an unfortunate truth about large group organization, Marxist-Leninist or otherwise (that the determination of some kind of a minimal line and the holding of it is crucially necessary to effective politics and will also never satisfy every individual party member entirely) and makes it an avoidable, volitional failure borne of dogmatism (whereas I think it is just a feature of doing politics as such); I also think that the argument that certain issues are simply not ones on which lines should be tightly drawn (e.g., imperialist wars of aggression) is unpersuasive.

Second, I thought that the attempted historicization of Marxism-Leninism (i.e., the reading of it as an analysis which was true “then” but is now “outdated Cold War politics”) was also unpersuasive. I don’t think that the authors really argued for this point with as much evidence as such a strong claim merits; I do take up, in detail, what evidence they do provide at the end of “The Sect System”, and I argue that this evidence does not provide a foundation for their claims. I also address some of their specific study suggestions for Marxist-Leninists, which I argue are inconsistent and, in some cases, difficult or impossible to reconcile with Lenin’s work or the Third International tradition generally. 

To the first point. I’ll set aside the first sub-point (about the NCM) since that’s something of a different topic. On the second point, I think, viewed historically, the three organizations which the authors are talking about are far less strict about adherence to lines on every conceivable issue than during the NCM, less strict than the Trotskyist movement (from its inception to present), and, to some degree, less strict than the official CP movement; the movement in all of those subsections of the left and on the left, generally, during the 1930s-1980s was substantially larger in the US than it is now. So, I think this provides some prima facie evidence that adherence to a strict line is, at the very least, not a huge brake on the size and influence of the left, all else equal. The NCM failed, for sure, and its genuinely ouroboros-character with regard to line-struggle clearly contributed to that (although again, I think the emphasis on that is overstated); but, the fact that line-struggle is now far less heated and that the movement is smaller means that this can’t be the only, or primary, cause (WWP goes far out of its way to avoid polemics against other groups, e.g.—one would never see from WWP the kind of personalization of politics that was common during the NCM, such as the adoption of hyper-specific name-based epithets or condemning the line of fellow leaders of tiny groups, by name, in print, as, quite literally, “evil”). I can't speak for all the groups in question, but certainly the ones I'm most familiar with have no restrictions on members disagreeing with assessments of other members on a great variety of questions—it's just disagreements which would threaten unity of action which are prohibited (I think it's perfectly reasonable to prohibit people from publicly saying things like "I fundamentally think this strike that we're supporting as a group is wrong"—there just isn’t a point in having a political organization that can’t agree on some baseline goals and strategies, in my view). For some groups, that could well reasonably include discussions about China; if one believes that the particular method of organizing socialist revolution in China ineluctably led to a counterrevolution or ineluctably led to a socialist-developmental state, then it would be good to avoid or pursue those methods (or at least learn the lessons that can be learned from them and apply them to a different context)—that actually would be a question of great importance (and, in a way, the author sare implicitly entering into that debate without intending to by arguing that the experience of those countries is probably irrelevant—that is “a position” in that debate, in my view). [I should acknowledge that this last point is also laid out in a comment on the original post concerning Cuba, made by one Daniel Sullivan].

To the third sub-point of the first point: the policy of presenting a united front on questions of great import seems to me to be a pretty standard organizational practice of most political orgs., small communist ones and large liberal ones; in the absence of this kind of minimal discipline, the group can and almost certainly would simply cease to reproduce itself as a group (or turn into an inert federation). Even the DSA draws lines somewhere (and I think the only reason that they can be so lax about what lines they do draw is that they don't actually get much done, conditional on their size). Where the lines of disagreement should be drawn is a good and open question, in my view, and I think it would be better to be more specific about which kinds of lines of disagreement are wise and which aren't; I think it overstates the question to say that groups are too fixated on the proper line as such, since surely nearly everyone would agree that lines need be drawn somewhere—the more specific question of what kinds of lines are or aren’t relevant is much harder to answer at the level of principle. The conclusion to the essay and the “further reading” includes a number of suggestions which are actually adequate to the level of generality posed by this argument—in other words, the fact that this critique could apply to almost an effective organization—by simply advocating very loose organizations, the DSA among them. It is fine to make this argument, of course, but I think it’s wrong; those types of groups are, as a rule, typically not productive ones (I think this is pretty well-established by social movements sociology; I don’t have much time here to elaborate on that, but the empirical question is kind of moot—I would imagine that a pre-condition of being a Marxist or even simply a social democrat, as opposed to an anarchist, would mean holding that view as a precept). 

I’d like to end my commentary on this point by suggesting the great relevance of such line struggles on the specific question of Syria since the authors specifically raise this point: they suggest that positions on Syria are basically of little relevance to the left (presumably they mean the left outside of Syria) because of the negligible practical outcomes of those positions: "[i]f you don’t 'uphold' Bashar al-Assad, you’re 'no better than the State Department', despite the fact that 'uphold' in this context means little more than voicing support". By contrast, it seems to me that the relevance of one's position on Syria is very clear: if one doesn't think that Assad is a leading a national-bourgeois war of liberation but instead is prosecuting an imperialist war of conquest, then there would be a far less clear imperative for the workers' movement to oppose the war. In fact, if it were true that Syria (and Russia) were after all imperialist powers, socialists here would need to be careful to not demand an antiwar politics with such fervor that they reduced the ability of the United States to genuinely defend itself against larger imperialist powers (and it would imply a need to coordinate very closely with workers in Syria and Russia, closer than is possible at present thanks to the degeneration of the left in Russia and the US, to ensure that neither wing of the communist movement inadvertently assisted one imperialist power over another). The urgent need to unilaterally call off the war on Syria and the strategy that has developed around that (which is not dissimilar in many ways to the strategy that developed around the war on Vietnam for instance) flows/flowed from a Leninist analysis of the situation. A different analysis could lead to an entirely different political strategy. Even more fundamentally than that, an analysis which says that this question just isn’t that relevant to the first world left—because it can’t do anything about the war—is an analysis which leads us to a position that we shouldn’t do anything about the war (the position “the war shouldn’t matter to us that much” implies a position of “we shouldn’t do much about it”, which compounds the problem of “we can’t do much about it”, which further fuels the position “the war shouldn’t matter much to us”—it’s a classic vicious cycle).

My second point is that I don't find the near-relegation of Marxism-Leninism to the dustbin of history as unambiguous as the authors seem to argue. They imply in the introduction that Leninism is "outdated Cold War politics" (or at least, that appears to be the meaning from the context, although it's not explicit). Later they expand on this claim, and though they do argue that “the world is still in the era of imperialism as Lenin defined it”, they then append a long list of changing historical conditions and ask rhetorically whether we are “in the same period that Stalin speaks of”; they don’t answer in completely unequivocal terms, but since the sub-section is titled “can Marxism-Leninism be salvaged” and since they reply to their rhetorical question with “certainly a lot has changed”, it seems to me that they are, without saying so outright, arguing that at the very least its relevance has been severely weakened. So, I’d like to look at the evidence they offer. Their list of changed conditions is as follows: “the Eastern Bloc has collapsed, formal colonialism has largely been replaced with neo-colonialism, Keynesianism has been replaced with neo-liberalism, and the United States has emerged as the dominant imperialist power”.

It seems to me that it would be better to be clear about the exact stakes of each of these historical changes and how exactly they render Lenin's analysis outdated or not. It's easy, as the authors say, to list changes, but it's equally easy to list continuities: we still live in a capitalist world; most of the African continent, Latin America, and the Arab world are under the heel of “Western” powers; the threat of inter-imperialist wars has returned to the horizon; the continued slide towards the full restoration of capitalism in China and the destruction from within of the USSR mean that we actually have a world which looks much more like the world just before 1914 than the world of 1975 did; and so on. Without a more detailed and clearer explication, this kind of list-making practice doesn’t tell us all that much, in my opinion. And to the implicit claim that simply being old makes the practice of Leninism outdate, I would counter that the dominant political practices of the imperialist countries (right-liberalism and conservative modernization politics) are virtually as old as capitalism itself (and of course, Marx is also older than Lenin, and the democratic socialist politics which the authors end by halfway-advocating are roughly as old).

Looking specifically at the examples here, I would suggest that the relevance of these examples is left unstated and that each example seems to me to be less-than-sufficient to invalidate a Leninist analysis. The Eastern Bloc didn't even exist when Stalin provided that definition (1924), so the relevance of that point is indeterminate, in my view; formal colonialism was also more or less conquered by the workers movement just a few years after the Chinese and Cuban revolutions, and so it, too, has not existed in most of the world for long after Marxism-Leninism seems to have clearly been a relevant analytical framework (and I also don't think that Lenin or other leading Third International politicians assumed that the existence or not of formal colonialism was of life-or-death relevance to their analysis of imperialism); I think it's probably premature to say that Keynesianism has replaced neoliberalism—that seems, to me, to be an outcome of the class struggle (and it's also unclear whether Keynesianism was ever "dominant" or what the exact content of neoliberalism is)—and, in the first place, the relevance of this point is unclear; and, finally, it seems highly uncertain in what precise sense the United States is the dominant imperialist power, how long this conjuncture will continue to last, and how exactly that would invalidate Lenin's analysis of imperialism (there is a great text by a guy called Alec Abbott which can be found here; in pretty fine detail it goes over, from a Leninist perspective, the question of whether we really are in an epoch of ultra-imperialism thanks to the US' primus inter pares status). 

I now want to address the authors’ argument that the “M-L canon” is too often presented out-of-context and with minimal updates, demonstrating that the canon is of conjunctural, historical relevance but not of great relevance to the present day. I should begin by saying that I do think that the lack of context given for older texts in that one, specific study guide on Reddit is bad pedagogy, but I also think that this online study guide is probably not broadly representative of the internal education policy of these groups (I know that it isn't for at least one), where older members and people who know this history can often supply that crucial background knowledge; it would be a major publishing undertaking to provide that kind of annotated study guide, although it’s something that I have finally begun myself for a specific subset of the M-L “canon”). I agree with the authors that the exclusion from the one specific Reddit canon of newer writers like Samir Amin is lamentable (again, setting aside that this does not characterize very adequately, in my view, the attitude of actual *parties* to newer analysis), but I again think they’d do better to argue exactly why authors should be included (such as Etienne Balibar who is a philosopher and, aside from his interesting work on global racism with Immanuel Wallerstein, seems like he doesn’t have much to say which is of direct relevance to the US communist left). To argue for a more expansive canon sounds intuitively appealing when pitched at a high level of abstraction, but for the critique to really have teeth, I think a specific critique should argue for adding certain people for certain reasons (I do think the arguments for adding Ho or Gramsci or Luxemburg are fairly self-evident, although it should be noted that Luxemburg sharply disagreed with the Bolsheviks on a number of questions and that Gramsci, though a consistent Leninist, is simply difficult to read in a way that Ho, who I know for a fact appears on one of the candidacy reading lists of one of the parties mentioned, is not—I don’t think this means that people should ignore Gramsci or Luxemburg, but it does mean that it is not a great crime, in my view, to set them aside in some contexts). Let me also note that the critique of the line-centrism made earlier is to some degree in tension with the argument that organizers in M-L parties unduly restrict their canon or are movementists in the sense that they do not reflect adequately on their strategies—to add more and more authors to the canon is to add more and more things to debate lines on (if we are to take seriously the suggestion that we add, for instance, two people who think exactly-opposite things to the canon).

Much of their critique feels sort of formalistic and procedural in this specific sense: the authors advocate for more diversity in terms of what kind of analysis and strategy communist activists should consider, and that’s desirable in the abstract, but they bring together under that heading a jumble of examples of other traditions which are either already well-covered by the expansive vision of Marxism-Leninism that characterizes WWP, PSL, and FRSO, or ones which are, at the end of the day, not compatible with one another because the traditions in question are directly opposed on key questions: “autonomism & operaismo, Marxist-feminism, [and] pre-war social democracy”. I’ve never encountered a single person claiming to advocate Leninism, in roughly eight years of being around people who call themselves that, who thought that Marxist-feminism was anything but of the highest importance, and of course, it’s almost impossible to study Lenin without simultaneously studying pre-war social democracy; anyone who’s read Lenin has, in a partial sense, studied the shortcomings and successes of pre-war social democracy (also, surely if M-L is conjuncturally dated, so, too, is the pre-war SPD). And, finally, it’s something of a contradiction in terms to ask Marxist-Leninists to study operaismo since one of the foundational analyses of Leninism as a political practice and analysis is that approaches such as operaismo are ultimately premised on mistaken analyses (Lenin didn’t live to see this tendency but he was very familiar with some of its precursors). That doesn’t mean it’s without merit—I recommend Bologna’s work on Marx as a crisis theorist and the electoral base of fascism to many people, for instance. But to say that communists must take an interest, necessarily, in this long-dead variant of the workers’ movement (which did not prove to be any kind of silver bullet—of course, its major theorist Tronti ultimately rejoined the PCI and has since become an open defeatist); we simply don’t have the time to study every last possible strategic analysis that exists. I again think that it would be far preferable for the authors to advocate the specific reasons why this analysis is important and how communists can learn from it even though the authors also advocate learning from Lenin, some of whose key precepts are actually, in a way, pre-emptive critiques of the very basis of operaismo (I agree that it would be good for Marxist-Leninist parties to have some people around who study or know this historical material, but it seems unduly onerous for all cadre to know this material). I think it’s good to study everything that we can, but at the end of the day, either Lenin was right or the autonomists were right—we simply have to draw lines, even if “drawing lines” just means “pursuing this strategy and not another”. There is no way to believe A and ¬A, dialectics aside. As I said earlier, I think their recommendations here are formalistic: it’s good and well to advocate greater diversity in an abstract sense, and we of course all agree on the maximum diversity possible in terms of our “canon”, but the devil really is in the details of what is “possible”. Some of their suggestions in this regard seem aimed to ask Marxist-Leninists to simply not be Marxist-Leninists (but their post doesn’t exactly offer a general or comprehensive critique of Marxism-Leninism, which I believe would have made for a more consistent essay). 

While the essay offers an interesting historical overview of the Marxist-Leninist movement at present, it is ultimately premised on what I think is a very formal and, to put a finer point on it, simply vague criticism. The authors close their essay by arguing that “in the U.S. in 2018, the truly important theoretical tasks have not been solved” but what these tasks are is left unstated as far as I can tell, let alone what kinds of answers might need to be supplied. Even just a rough sketch of the type of question to which this pronouncement refers would have made it easier for people to engage the essay in a more nuanced fashion, I think. As I noted above, it would have been better to simply argue clearly and directly against Leninism as a theory of the epoch of imperialism outright (the essay comes close to being, but is not, that); instead, the argument is often couched in procedural terms (the form of organization is wrong, the willingness to draw lines is wrong, the selective reading of texts and general seeking of a correct analysis rather than as many analyses as possible is wrong) rather than in concrete, substantial terms. I think the essay would have benefited from simply being more precise on these questions: why exactly does the non-existence of the Eastern Bloc, which didn’t exist when Lenin lived, matter? How, precisely? Why is it that it actually does not matter whether people in the imperialist countries argue against the war on Syria and spread antiwar propaganda? What, then, should communists do? How is it that Draper’s quasi-Bolshevik advice, which is recapitulated on the last page, can be reconciled with a DSA whose merits, in the opinion of the authors, are that it is has no effective national unity or consistency among locals? Despite some points about concrete strategy and political practice throughout the essay which are worth taking seriously, ultimately the essay aims for a very general case against Leninism (and, I would argue, communism and Marxism, given what the authors write about the dictatorship of the proletariat, although I don’t think the authors would agree with this reading) but fails to make that coherent case beyond highly impressionistic sketches of history.

J. Seratsky, 12 Mar 2018.

[yakumtsaki]

Take your hands off me, I don't belong to you, you see, and take a look at my face for the last time, I never knew you, you never knew me, say hello.. ♪

WAVE GOODBYE. 

WHADDUP PPL. Much like Ronroneo, we’re back from the dead and ready for a whole new generation of Union fuckery. We’re also officially.. drumroll.. MIDDLE CLASS. Our shiny new house is based on this one by frottana-sims​, which I downloaded but dumbassly forgot to install, and since loading the game takes a hot half-hour I opted for this poor recreation instead. We start the extreme home makeover with an incredible budget of..

...Yea, I see the value of getting 6 pets to the top of their careers now. Included in this insane sum is the 20k+ that Wyatt and Jojo brought with them moving in, and at first I’m worried that we’re way too rich for only generation 2. Well, careful what you wish for, cause here’s our post-remodeling budget:

LMAO. It’s as if not a day has passed since Vic started this legacy with a dream in her heart and crap to her name. Let’s check out the new digs!

Everything was purple.. his pills.. his hands.. his foyer. 

As eagle-eyed readers may observe, both the hall and the living room were designed with nothing else in mind but whether they matched our cat paintings. Per legacy rules I use as little cc as possible, which isn’t that hard since I feel this bizarre, angular and hugely impractical couch really encapsulates Jojo’s essence. Like if he was a servant in Beauty and the Beast this would be his furniture form.

Apparently the only things I deemed important enough to capture were the cat portraits, so it looks like my Komeization is finally complete! Here’s some floorplan shots tho so you don’t get disoriented in our labyrinth-like mansion. Please note our amazing pink-blue-purple kitchen! Barbie’s Dreamhouse who??

And here’s the second floor, which also illustrates the exact point I ran out of money. Honestly looking back I don’t understand how the fuck this place cost 70k?? Like nothing is particularly expensive except the amazing vintage batmobile which was around 30-40k and some of the paintings? But I guess all the small things add up in the end + I’m super bad with money..

..and I’m not the only one. Jojo GET A FUCKING GRIP and A JOB. Literally no comment @ your cat wants, you inherited the jaw, wasn’t that enough??? ANYWAY. I know the question on everyone’s mind is how is Wyatt going to fit in with the Unions.. and all I have to say about that..

..is LOL. Truly the perfect career for when your mother-in-law is a criminal mastermind and your husband is a serial killer! I mean the jokes practically write themselves. At least he doesn’t want 10 kids or any shit like that, cause I’ve seen hell and it was the result of mixing Jojo/Wyatt genes in cas.

On top of gifting us with his future-probably-fug children, Wyatt also gives us the gift of our first ever kitchen fire when he decides to make dinner with 1 cooking point. His generosity really knows no bounds.

It’s all fun and games now but Wyatt deadass almost died in the inferno and was about to take poor, stupid Komei with him, who of course ran to the fire even though he was in the yard. Meanwhile Victoria was safely watching tv and didn’t move while Jojo..

..was doing this in the next room. Two types of sims I guess!

-So Wyatt, you’ve been here for almost an hour now, burned down our kitchen and I still don’t see any grandchildren. I thought you were a family sim!

-Haha oh mom, you’re hilarious! Ignore her, Wyatt, let’s enjoy your delicious pasta.. It was definitely worth almost dying for.

-Your mama is right, mon cheri, not only do you have an obligatión to your famille but I rolled the want to have a bébé the second we graduated!

-Well it’s still gonna be there when we aren’t broke, Wyatt, god!

-But.. bébés, mon cheri! Tons of bébés I can have but never interact with, in typical famille sim fashión!

-UGH thanks a lot for opening this gate, mom. If only you had found your love of children when I was living on cat food.

-Well it’s different when they are your children, everyone knows that.

-THAT’S NOT WHY PEOPLE SAY THAT MOM

-Honestly, Jojό, I’m prouder of taking down your répugnant suitόrs than I am of graduating with honors!

-Aww Wyatt <3

-And if I have to souffrir through a childless existence to be with mon amour, so be it (:

-Aw- wait what?!

-Really, c’est bien, Jojό, marriage is all about compromise, nό? I mean, not that I would know since we’re not even married yet!

-Wyatt we’ve been here for 3 hours.

-My point précisément.. C’est bien though!

-Can’t believe I’m saying this but I really regret murdering Ti-Ning. 

That makes two of us, Jo. Honestly even Francis would be better than this. Family sim spouse??? Tf was I thinking. 

Ah, some things never change <3 It’s a new day and someone very special passes by our lot..

UGH NO not you asshole, once again delivering bills at the worst possible time.

-Miss me bitch?? Lolol

ONE OF THESE DAYS DAGMAR. ONE OF THESE DAYS ISTG

No, it’s mismatched beard townie, whose regular outfit is simply iconic, and he’s waving at me! What a sweetheart! TAKE SOME NOTES DAGMAR YOU FROZEN-FACED FREAK

-Umm he’s actually waving at me, moron.

-WRONG, he’s waving at me!

Ok it literally doesn’t matter who he’s waving at. 

-Well c’est moi. 

OK WHATEVER WYATT GOD. Just go off to work in a position you’re criminally unqualified for and try not to die ok??

-Why would I mourir?

Hm let’s see, maybe because you’re a ‘SWAT Team Leader’ straight out of college with a shocking lack of skill points?? Jfc college degrees in this game are so fucking op it’s legit making me resentful of my sims.

In other news, major dicks Sophie and Victor have started constantly beating each other up and the only thing surprising about this development is that it took this long. Honestly these fights are peak #TeamNoOne. Please note Alegra who continues to give 0 fucks @ the bloodshed. What a gal <3

Burning with religious fervor, fundamentalist nutjob Sophie emerges victorious!

-I WALK WITH GOD BITCH

Tears. Literal tears. Victor is the most unbelievable creature I have ever played.

-The rampant violence in this house is a violation of human rights! I AM OUTTA HERE

Literally still cannot believe this happened, like the sheer NERVE is killing me. Victor has started every fight he’s ever been in for an astounding total of 40-50 fights, and as you all know he almost always wins. Like this one was what? The fourth one he lost?? AND YET HE RUNS AWAY LIKE HE’S THE VICTIM I HATE/LOVE HIM SO MUCH

Meanwhile this happens which, of course. Leave it to me to finally get a chance card right for the only sim who doesn’t even deserve the job he currently has.

..Police Chief Wyatt reporting for duty! And crime increased 80% overnight. 

In actual good and not lawsuit-waiting-to happen news, Wyatt brought Amanda, Vic’s only friend/lesbian crush with him! Amanda has the distinct honor of being literally the only non-Union non-Jojo person Vic has ever genuinely liked and hasn’t had an affair with. YET THAT IS.

Man, these are some fat fucking flies. I’m talking 10 plagues of Egypt teas. 

-I KNOW, where the fuck is Komei, what are we paying him for?

-I’m over here honey, talking to my least favorite son for the second time in my life, since apparently he’s sticking around.

-Yes, thanks for requesting a recount of the heir vote, dad. I will remember it when I decide where to scatter your ashes. 

-I TOLD YOU I WANT THEM MIXED WITH THE CAT LITTER 

Ugh Komei, please stop trying to bond with your son and do something productive instead-

-like finally convincing Neo to bang Sophie. She has refused 3 TIMES because there’s a rule I have to earn kittens by suffering. I mean Alegra refusing to procreate with Victor made sense, it was Victor, wtf is Sophie’s excuse? Waiting for marriage?

ABOUT TIME

YAS. CAT GEN 3 ON THE WAY. Human gen 3 will have to wait till I’m in the mood to deal with screaming infants aka it might take a while.

The science career FINALLY SHOWS UP after 5 fucking days, jfc. Love how Wyatt’s dumb ass started as a swat team LEADER but Jojo who has half the skills maxed starts as a science teacher. Also love the idea of Jojo as a teacher in general, I mean just imagine having him teach you science in high school. I would literally drop out.

Jojo returns from work, brings this rando with him and doesn’t get promoted. We can’t all be Wyatt I guess! We’re not completely broke anymore tho so..

It is time.

Gunther, Melody and Max Flexor on one side..

Craig, Brit Brit, Ti-Ning and Daniel on the other. What a bunch of assholes, Craig obviously excluded. Remember him? I invited him because he and Jojo are still semi-friends thinking he wouldn’t show up and yet here he is! What a good guy. 

-It’s at moments like this, watching your high school boyfriend get married.. that you really get to thinking..

Awww.

-..there but for the grace of god go I.

Less awww. You’re not wrong tho, definitely dodged a sociopathic bullet..

..not everyone is that lucky. WE GET IT WYATT YOU’RE CRAZY AND IN LOVE

-Mon bien adoré, I vow to aimer and honόr you and not cheat on you again or at least be more discrete about it <3

-And I vow not to kill you and feed you to the cats for as long as we both shall live <3 

Ah, true love, you guys. 

Too bad half our guests are inside dancing-

-OR HAVING COMPLETELY INAPPROPRIATE AND UNTIMELY THOUGHTS. TI-NING SERIOUSLY GO TO HELL. I WAS ROOTING FOR YOU WE WERE ALL ROOTING FOR YOU HOW DARE YOU

Well at least Vic is excited which is more than I can say for Gunther who is literally LOOKING THE OTHER WAY. 

Time to cut the cake with the sky as our only witness, since everyone has taken a plate from the buffet and fucked off inside. Seriously WORST GUESTS EVER 

Not one to be outdone by his guests’ questionable behavior, Wyatt takes the time to remind us who he really is. 

-And n'est-ce pas forget it!

Despite all the obvious problems, like one of the grooms literally going to sleep, our party score is ‘good time’ which is a truly rare and exciting occurrence. With less than a minute left I’m feeling pretty confident that nothing can ruin this wedding!

Weirdly no one has touched the champagne even though sims in general are obsessed with it?? My best guess is everyone is at a loss for words at having to toast this union and who can blame them tbh. Thankfully Daniel steps up and I find it super sweet because I’ve forgotten that he and Wyatt are mortal enemies and it’s only by chance they haven’t beaten each other up on this instance like they have countless times before.

-Let’s all raise a glass to my beloved brother, Jojo, who generously woke up to attend his own wedding reception! Just one of many examples of his fine, giving character. Too bad he’s committing his life to a complete waste of space adulterous loser like Wyatt, who I’m not even convinced is really french, since his ability to speak and understand english fluctuates according to convenience. Man, I promised myself I wouldn’t cry, but this choice in spouse is just too tragic. Oh well! To Jojo!

NOICE, still a good time. SO CLOSE

AND YET SO FAR. Goddammit do you two mind killing each other on your own time and not literally 10 seconds before our wedding ends??

-DIE WHORE, THIS WILL TEACH YOU TO STEAL MY MAN

-THAT’S MY LINE SLUTBAG

-HA! ZUMBA, BITCH

-Wow, so glad I woke up for this, really got my bloodlust going! 

Indeed a roaring success if there ever was one. I mean how can this night possibly get any better?

.............of course.

Oh nice, I remembered to install an alarm for once! I’m also desperately trying to wake up Wyatt thinking that he’s fucking CHIEF OF POLICE so he might prove useful in this situation..

..especially since we get this cop of a completely untrustworthy Bieber hairstyle. Talk about striking fear in the heart.

Sadly it turns out that Wyatt could not give less of a shit that we’re getting robbed and picks this moment to head for wedding buffet leftovers-

-while Bieber cop prevails! This robber is awesomely named Russ Bear btw and I wish that was my name, sounds like a slavic medieval folkore hero. But I digress. Please prepare yourselves because our first robbery is about to take a dark turn.

-Ehh, you get at a certain level on la force, you just become desensitized to la criminalité..

-Oh don’t worry Wyatt, I totally understand.. I mean I’ve robbed so many houses in my time, I hardly blink anymore..

-So it looks like you and I are not so different after all.. ;)

.............

.....................

............................why. why has the universe chosen me for the greatest suffering the world has ever known. i try and i try but incestuous relationships just keep sprawling like mythical strangler vines. i bet this wouldn’t happen to someone named Russ Bear. fml

[fashiontrendyclub]

How the surgical mask became the fashion industry’s beacon of hope

When California and New York announced statewide lockdowns late last week, it was a jolt to workers in the notoriously hard-working fashion industry. Rather than take it lying down, many started fighting for their companies. They may have closed their stores, but they put store associates to work to optimize their online presence. They halted operations in distribution centers, but enabled shipping from closed stores. And rather than cease production altogether, they found a workaround in the form of making medical masks — a task that fulfills a large global need, plus provides a sense of comfort to workers during an unprecedented time. For this story, I interviewed seven fashion workers from seven fashion brands that have put employees to work making or distributing masks. All reported a different production quota and, controversially, described a different set of standards that their versions meet. Many of their masks would be rejected by a hospital. Brooklyn-based luxury designer Kelsey Randall said she started with a goal of making masks and encouraged others to follow suit after being inspired by non-profit organization Global Response Management’s #millionmaskchallenge initiative, aimed at providing masks to high-risk communities. Her version is neither FDA-approved nor N95-grade, but it can be washed and reworn, which is a plus during the shortage, she said. And they can help those providing essential jobs, like grocery workers. To get support from other sewers, including fashion students sent home for the semester, she’s shared the pattern in Instagram posts and Stories, plus it’s featured on the homepage of kelseyrandall.com. Then there was New York Fashion Week regular Michael Costello, who has set out with his team to make 20,000 masks, starting with a lower-grade version until materials become available. The first batch, made from a cotton-nylon blend, provides 70-74% air filtration, compared to a surgical face mask that provides 97%. Eventually, he’ll move to working with vacuum cleaner bags with HEPA filters, which according to his research, are nearly as effective as N95 masks. Neiman Marcus has partnered with fabric retailer Joann Stores to make fabric masks, which the CDC has approved as a crisis response option amid a critical shortage, said Willis Weirich, Neiman Marcus’ svp of supply chain. One-hundred Neiman Marcus alterations workers in three factories are going to town. There was also Paige Mycoskie, founder of California-based Aviator Nation, who said she’s compiled a team to work in the company’s warehouse to daily produce thousands of surgical masks, which they then are sending to hospitals in the area. “Every little bit helps,” she said.  And outside of the U.S., Marianna Rosati, creative director of Italian fashion brand Drome, said she and her “small taskforce” of up to seven seamstresses have signed on to make 100-150 masks every day that meet the standards for Italian health-care providers. Other companies are doing their part by funding or distributing masks: L.A.-based Sene Studio, which makes custom workwear, is donating “tens of thousands” of FDA-certified medical masks made in its factory to more than 200 hospitals, said CEO Ray Li. It’s seeking funding from celeb types to ramp up production, as it has the capacity to make 500,000 masks on a weekly basis. And Danielle Bernstein’s e-commerce company. Shop WeWoreWhat, is distributing 5,000 N95 masks produced in its factory to health-care workers by way of donation platform Mask a Hero. All the companies said they’re donating the masks, and aside from Neiman Marcus’ deal with Joann, all are paying for needed supplies. They’re also taking safety precautions, like providing workers with masks and enforcing a rule of six feet, minimum, between them. But in talking with them, some less expected commonalities became apparent. Most notably, most everyone orchestrating the mask-making exercise sees it as a way to ensure their employees’ mental health, and their own. Randall said she’s been “panicking and really scared” about the coronavirus’ potential effects since January, but she started feeling especially helpless last week, when she began self-quarantining in her apartment-slash-work studio. “I was still sewing and doing projects, as normal, but I was so anxious,” she said. “It’s just a stressful time, and I was losing a lot of sleep. So I asked the universe for a sign that I am taken care of and can somehow be of service, and that’s when I got the email from Global Response Management .” Since, she, her assistant and her interns, have been pouring their energy into securing materials, making masks and seeking out other sewers to contribute. Randall’s friends from fashion school have signed on to make masks, as have fellow designers. Randall’s team is also creating DIY packets with all materials needed to make the process simple for all sewers who opt to sign on. Costello said he had a hint of the coronavirus’ impact on the U.S. when his suppliers in China and Italy began cancelling orders last month. “Still, I really didn’t expect anything like this to happen,” he said. “It really feels like the end of time, like biblical times.” His company is located in California, and he began sending his employees home last week, following the state’s mandate for non-essential businesses to close shop. “It hurt not waking up and getting to see the ladies I’ve been used to seeing every day, 12-14 hours a day, for the last seven years,” he said. “We cried, and we kept crying, and we decided to get back together this week to try to work.” Working with a max of two people per room, he and three seamstresses started making masks, and he said they’ll continue to do so until it’s business as usual — despite naysayers. “I keep getting messages from people on email and social media saying that the government will not approve them, hospitals won’t take them, they’re not going to help and I should just stay home,” he said. “But that’s not the case. We’re also giving people hope and something to do in this time of isolation.” It’s about keeping the energy up, echoed Aviator Nation’s Mycoskie. “I was hearing from my team that they wanted to help, and so I said let’s do it — and that’s what’s fueling me right now, really taking care of our people.” she said. Others had similar sentiments: “It’s a very weird time for everyone,” said Rosati. “There’s uncertainty about the future, about how everyone will continue to make a wage — so you’ve got to foster relationships and consider people’s mental health.” Li referenced a brief by consulting firm Bain & Company, stating that, in crisis, people are looking for a way to ease their anxiety, get what they need, and feel a sense of belonging and community. He has kept that in mind in managing his employees during this time. “If you’re busy trying to help other people, you’re not going to be in fear, yourself,” he said, noting that one employee volunteered to personally fund the making of 500 masks. Likewise, Neiman Marcus workers have fully embraced the concept. The idea to make masks came from an employee who also established the Joann partnership, and alterations specialists have asked how their family members in the same field can contribute, said Weirich. “We’ve really focused on internally getting our associates excited about the partnership and the collaboration,” he said. It’s worth noting that bankruptcy rumors have been swirling around Neiman Marcus this week. “We’re really committed to creating a moment that really brings people together, emotionally. It’s a kind of story that we need right now.” In addition — aside from the obvious motivator of containing coronavirus, which is restricting sales entirely for Costello and Randall — the workers admitted that marketing social good was related to their decision to take on mask production. “If someone’s going to spend money now, they’re going to spend it with a company that’s trying to make a difference,” said Li, in terms of immediate sales. And Costello is aware of how his actions now will impact consumer behavior post-coronavirus. He noted that others should use this time to be as thoughtful: “I hate seeing influencers not using their voice or using #coronavirus to drive followers to their social channels,” he said. “In the end, every aspect of the fashion industry is going to suffer, including influencers — because where are they going to go, and who’s going to dress them? They might as well use their voice now, and get something good going for themselves.” As for Bernstein, she said her own mask project has inspired her to do more: “All of my upcoming launches will have a charitable initiative attached to them,” she said. Finally, Randall said she hopes larger companies will catch wind of what she’s doing and get inspired. “What I’m doing is an imperfect solution to a medical supply crisis that can really only be solved by large corporations using the resources they have, like automation. It doesn’t make sense that I am sitting here cutting layers of fabric — but that’s what we can contribute right now.” Source Read the full article

[edourado]

Hi there! So I read your first chapter of Ordinary People and let me tell you, it's everything that I didn't know I needed. I absolutely loved it and I hope there's more to come c:

Hello, darling. Thank you, so much, it means a whole lot, it really does. 

Here’s more! I used your ask to post the second chapter, hope you don’t mind. 

To everybody that liked and reblogged and showed me love in the tags: I love you, you guys are awesome ♥

Now, about this one: whenever Jon plays someone giving orders (Shane and Braxton and the dude from The Escape, hi boys) I get the feelings. One scene was shamelessly inspired by the short movie he did for BMW. Kudos if you recognize it.

Here’s Chapter 1, if you need a recap.

As always, love is my fuel.

Ordinary People, Chapter 2

He watches as his team bring the asshole down, all wrapped in his fancy hotel robe, and put him inside the van.

“Miss Allegra was apprehended by the Bravo Team, sir”, one of them men tell him. “I was just notified.”

“Excellent. Was there any trouble upstairs?”

“No, sir. He was not expecting us. The device was on the desk, the safe was empty.”

“Alright, then. Take him in and get ready to go back to home base. Let’s wrap this up.”

The men move to follow his orders and Frank wishes every mission was easy as this one.

Of course, you should never speak too soon.

Their easy target, as it turned out, had a contingency plan in place and tried to pull a Wilson Fisk on them, sending his men to surround the car.

Only Frank’s team was not as unprepared and easily sold as the FBI. They took the hostiles out and secured the device, but Omar managed to escape in a car.

Frank was forced to chase him, the team’s helicopter hovering above the fugitive. Luckily, the small Italian city doesn’t have a lot of places a car can hide from a helicopter. Luckily, it’s a shitty car. Luckily, it’s a shitty driver.

They manage to corner themselves and Frank has to jump down, gun pointing at the man driving the car (who was shaking) and Finnick Omar, with his robe, looking ridiculous on the back seat.

“Step out of the vehicle, asshole”, he ordered after telling the shaking man to kill the engine, hoping Stundner kept the bird steady and  the rope on his belt didn’t tug on him, making him lose his aim.

After the suspect was taken in for questioning (Fury wanted this one personally), Frank and his team got the all clear to go back home. Just in time, too. Karen had called him last night saying that Max was at the vet. Apparently he had eaten something from the ground during their run that morning, and gotten sick. “They’re flushing it out, and she says he’s gonna be ok, but I’m freaking out.”

“I’ll be there soon”, was all he could offer. “He’s gonna be fine.”

“He couldn’t stand up, Frank!” she went on, full on crying. “I had to ask Daniel from downstairs to help me get him in the car, and Max could barely keep his eyes open. I thought he was going to die.”

“Hey, listen. You did the right thing, he’s being taken care of, now. What else did the vet say?”

“He’s gonna have to spend the night here”, she told him, and he wanted to punch something at the sound of her voice, weak and small. “She said it was probably something he ate or drank, but I kept my eyes on him at all times. I don’t know how this happened.”

He went on to assure her that it was not her fault, that dogs eat shit from the street, that’s normal. It was just bad luck that picked something that made him sick. Before they hung up, he promised to call her as soon as he could.

Now, he boarded the company plane, that huge shield plastered everywhere, and took his phone out again.

“He’s ok”, she told him. “I’m getting off work now. The vet says he’s out of danger, but she still wants to keep him one more night, just in case.”

He sighed, relieved.

“That’s good. How are you?”

They talked for a few more minutes before the pilot arrived and they had to take off.

“I’m bringing you some of that coffee you like”, he told her, glad to listen to a chuckle before he hung up.

“How’s the wife?” asked Micro, sitting in front of him.

“She’s fine”, Frank said, distracted, looking at his phone, and then he looked up at his friend. “What?”

The look Micro gave him was a funny one.

“You’re so whipped, man.”

“The hell you talking about?”

“It’s been, what? Nine, ten years? And you’re still with the ‘we’re just friends’ bullshit?”

Frank rolled his eyes and looked out the window, inspecting as the small Italian city kept getting even smaller as they rose higher and higher from the ground.

“Don’t start.”

“You don’t start. Come on, man, let’s be real.” He closed his ever present computer and placed it on the table between them. “You practically live together. You do everything together. You share a freaking dog. You didn’t even flinch when I called her your wife just now.”

Micro has been teasing him about Karen for a few years now. Since he and Maria broke up and he adopted Max, he kept hinting that there was something more between them.

“Don’t tell me you don’t love this woman, it’s obvious to everyone.”

Well, of course he did. Karen was the closest thing he had to a family, it was impossible for him not to love her.

“I keep telling you-”

“Nah, man, don’t tell me she’s your friend. You haven’t had a serious relationship since Maria, and neither has she, since that lawyer guy. Why? Because you already are in one, with each other, you’re both just too dumb to see it.”

Frank didn’t say anything, because he didn’t have any new arguments to use, and because, maybe, Micro was a little bit right.

It has been a month since that kiss she planted on him after his birthday. They haven’t talked about it since, she acted normal the next morning, crawled on the couch and stayed there all day, nursing a hangover, making him close all the curtains in the apartment and kill all the sources of light except the tv. But he had thought about it. It felt natural, that one simple, innocent, PG-13 kiss. It would feel natural, too, for him to keep kissing her, shed their clothes and crawl into bed and under her covers. It would feel so natural that, when he didn’t, he felt heavy.

He had chalked it up to that usual explanation: Karen is a beautiful woman and he is a heterosexual man. Nothing that biology couldn’t explain.

Still. It remained there.

“I’m telling you, man”, Micro went on, opening up his celebrity gossip magazine. “Put a ring on it before someone else does. And believe you me, someone will, sooner rather than later.”

“We’re estimated to arrive in five hours, sir”, said the pilot on the intercom.

“Alright, Duarte, get us home safely”, he told the pilot from his chair.

“Yes, sir”, Duarte replied and Frank killed the line for now.

The rest of their flight was uneventful. Micro read his magazine, typed on his computer, brought him up to date on the situation on the ground (Fury was pleased with their successful capture of Omar and his device), and then dozed off, snoring in his chair.

Frank didn’t regret bringing him along when he was recruited by Shield. He was a handful, but was, without a doubt, the best man he had ever worked with.

His mind went back to Karen when the cabin was silent. And he didn’t even have time to ponder on the question Micro had raised too much. As soon as he pictured her face again, his heart beat a little faster, and the feeling of home that flared up inside him made it clear.

He was in love with her. Had been for a very fucking long time, now. He kept thinking back, trying to decide when was it that it had happened, and he couldn’t, because that feeling was there, since, apparently, always.

He texted her, asking for news on Max, but she didn’t respond. He figured she was either with him at the clinic or already home, maybe asleep.

He kicked Micro’s foot when they were about to land, waking him up, the rest of the team rousing around them..

Before he could call Karen to know where he should meet her, he had to deal with some paper work, some stuff he had to sign.

“Oh, and sir? You got a message earlier, from a… Mr. Gosnell?” his assistance checked while they walked towards his office and Frank almost froze. Micro looked at him, alarmed.

Gosnell had not taken the break up of their team lightly. Frank tried to bring him to Shield along with Micro and two more, but none of them made it pass the screening phase. The other two went back to the army, but Gosnell was discharged. He had been creating some problems for Frank ever since.

“What did he want?”

“He didn’t say, just asked when you would be back.”

“Did you tell him?”

“No, sir.”

Well. He’ll deal with that later.

It was an hour longer until he was good to go home. Walking out of his office, he pulled his phone from his pocket and called her, feeling strange and excited with the newfound knowledge about his feelings for Karen and her possible mutual feelings for him.

His blood froze inside him when the call was picked up, but it was not her voice that greeted him.

“There he is.”

Gosnell.

“We missed you, Frank”, he said in his ear.

“Where is she?” he asked, his body vibrating already.

“Now, now”, sounded Gosnell’s voice, low and menacing. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”

He had taken Karen. He had also poisoned Max, so the dog wouldn’t be able to defend her and Frank wouldn’t think too much of it when she didn’t answer his calls.

He wanted Shield to release Omar and the device. As it turned out, Gosnell had joined Hydra after Shield rejected him.

It didn’t take too long. He gave Frank their location and he got there with his team eight minutes later, walking in the building alone, his gun in his holster.

Karen was awake when he got there, but was having trouble keeping her eyes open. She was chained at the wrists, hanging from the ceiling, her knees grazing the floor.  

“Let me promise you this right now”, he said to Gosnell when he saw a drop of blood fall from her chin. “I’m going to kill you.”

Hi former team-mate had laughed, amused, theatrical, almost demented.

After he got from him that the sedative he had injected Karen with was going to fade, no antidote needed, Frank took his gun and shot once, right in the middle of his forehead. The body of his former friend had barely hit the ground when he was on her, lifting her in his arms, and his team was barging in, one of the men rushing to get the chains from her.

“Hey”, he whispered to her and she blinked up at him, groggy, a thin trickle of blood  staining her face from a wound in her hairline. “Hey, it’s ok, it’s over.”

“Frank”, she whispered back.

“I’m here, I’m here, I got you now.”

His hand on her face was warm and shaky, his own breathing coming hard.

Breathing out, she closed her eyes and passed out, her head tumbling back. Before he could panic, the medic Micro had waken up and brought along was there.

“It’s ok, sir. It’s just the sedative. She’s breathing and her heartbeat is ok. Temperature is good.”

Frank breathed a sigh of relief and dropped his face to hers, squeezing his eyes shut, lips against her cheek.

They were gonna be fine.

She woke up in his bed, a few hours later. There hadn’t been any need to take her to the hospital, the car had taken them straight home. There were a few people putting her apartment back together. She had put up a hell of a fight when Gosnell took her.  

“Frank?” she called.

“Hey, I’m here.”

She squeezed his hand weakly and he forgot everything he had been practicing in his head to tell her.

“Are we home?”

“Yes, we’re home, don’t worry, now.”

He had practiced. Decided he was going to give her some space, talk about feelings some other time, when she was better. He couldn’t, though. Getting up from the chair he had placed by the bed, he moved to sit by her, and she closed her eyes again, breathing deep while he caressed her face.

Frank waited until she opened her eyes again to look at him.

“Did you kill him?”

Swallowing, he nodded, wondering how she was going to react to that. Karen blinked and then nodded back.

“He said he was going to take me from you. Make you watch him kill me.”

Squeezing his eyes shut, he shushed her, not even wanting to think about that.

With his forehead on hers, he felt as her hand closed around one of his wrists.

“I wasn’t gonna let that happen. I’m never gonna let that happen, you hear me?”

She nodded again and he felt her breath on his lips. Leaning in, he placed another one of those kisses on her, soft and small, but full of everything he didn’t know how to articulate.

When he moved back, she looked up at him and he ran his hand on her face again, now clean from the blood that had staind it earlier.

“Nobody is ever taking you from me.”

She knew him better than he knew himself. She understood him, even when he didn’t say anything. Or when he said it indirectly. They looked at each other, not saying anything, but they both knew.

Slowly, a smile curved her mouth up and he felt it, right there. The change in them.

With that smile on her face, she blinked and said “ok”, as in “ok” to his promise, “ok” to this new change, “ok” to them.

And then a lot of things happened in quick succession. First, right when he leaned into her again, the world seemed intent on cockblocking him.

She was opening up to his kiss, both hands on his face, when there was a knock on his front door.

“Sir?”

Sighing, Frank closed his eyes and well. He figured she still has to rest, anyway.

“I’ll be right back”, he whispered against her mouth, nose bumping on hers sweetly, and she nodded, almost shy.

“Don’t take too long”. And then, with a coy expression and a tint to her cheeks, “Sir.”

Groaning, he got up and went to deal with whatever it was that needed dealing.

“What kind of lock do you want on her door?”

Second, Micro got in his way. For all his talk about him “sealing the deal”, “putting a ring on it” or whatever, he sure had an awful timing.

“Knock knock!” he announced instead of actually knocking. “I got your mutt home!”

They heard the noise of Max’s paws making their way to his bedroom and then he was jumping on the bed, Karen was opening her arms to him, cooing and petting and kissing.

“Hello, ma’am”, Micro said, walking in, catching one of her hands to kiss it. “Quite a scare you gave us. Don’t do that again.”

“I’ll try my best”, she smiled up at him.

“So the doc says the mutt is fine. He does need to have these pills, though, for a week”, he said, sitting down on a chair and tossing a box of them to Frank.

They talked for a while longer, Max enjoying the rare opportunity to be allowed on Frank’s bed, thrown dramatically over Karen’s legs while she caressed him.

Then, they had a fight.

“Oh, that reminds me”, Frank said when the team next door announced that her place was back in order, along with a new alarm system and a more secure set of locks. “I’m gonna put a tracker on your phone.”

“No, you’re not”, she said, immediately.

“Karen”, he said, his voice a warning. “Come on.”

“You come on. You’re not putting a tracker on my phone, Frank.”

“You were just taken, how are you fighting me on this?”

“We already had this discussion a year ago!”

“You were not taken a year ago.”

“I don’t care. The answer is still the same.”

They went back and forth with “how am I gonna know where you are?”, “Ask me!” “What if someone takes you again?”, “Oh, come on, what are the odds of that happening?”, “A tracker is happening, Karen”, “If you want to track someone, track Max. He’s a dog. I’m a person” for a while. Neither of them  noticed when Micro rolled his eyes, got up and walked out the door.

“Jesus. Get married already” muttered under his breath when he closed the apartment door behind himself.

She still had to sleep the rest of the sedative off and he had a report to write before they could make their new status as a couple an official thing.

When she woke up, they were all, the three of them, starving.

“What do you feel like having?” he asked, standing up by his bed while she kneeled on the mattress and put her arms around his neck.

“Hmm”, she said, driving him crazy with her lips on his jaw, hands moving around his chest. “Breakfast food.”

He smiled, angling her face to his, kissing her deeply, as if her kisses would be enough to satisfy him.

“Croissants. And cream cheese bagels. Eggs and bacon and a donut for dessert.”

Frank would love to keep this going. Let her lift his shirt off him, lie her back down and lose track of time with her, but his stomach was hurting him, she needed to eat, and Max was complaining, pulling on his pan leg with his teeth (asking to be fed or just trying to keep him from Karen, he didn’t know for sure).

“Why don’t you go get all that”, Karen suggested, hands on his face, now. She liked that and so did he. “While I take a shower, get the ‘kidnapped’ air out of me?”

“Ok”, he agreed, wrapping his arms around her for a bit longer, not yet ready to let go.

“And then we can… I don’t know. Talk, or something.”

He looked at her and she blinked at him that way she did every time she said something she knew he wasn’t going to like.

“Talk?”

Karen nodded.

“Yeah. I think we should. Don’t you?”

It was not exactly the thing he had in mind, but yeah, he figures they should.

“Ok. But you should eat something before your shower, though. Like a cracker, or something.”

He left after she had some saltines with a bit of cheese and was pouring Max’s preferred food on his plate.

Frank flew to every bakery he knew in a three block radius, Whole Foods and whatnot, and walked back home with two bags worth of every baked good he knew she preferred for breakfast. He would have to work on the eggs and bacon himself, since the one place that made her favorites, with nutmeg and low sodium salt was closed at this hour. He took bites off a banana muffin on the way, to get his stomach to quiet down.

When he opened the door again, Max was on his dog bed by the couch, chewing lazily on that meat stick thing he loved, and Karen was sitting on his favorite chair. She got up when he walked in, hair wet and combed back, looking fresh and cozy and beautiful and holy shit, how he managed to go eight years being just her friend was beyond him.   

“I got your croissants”, he said, putting the bags on the kitchen counter while she walked towards him. “Also that yogurt, with the honey and that purple flower? They had it, I thought they-”

He stopped talking when she reached him and supported her hands on his shoulders, jumping up and locking her legs around his waist. His keys fell to the floor when he moved to hold her, his face being pulled up, closing his eyes when she kissed him.

“I thought we were gonna talk?” he said when she stopped to breathe.

“We can do that later”. She ran her lips against his, a hand on his face and another around his shoulders. “Take me to bed, Frank.”

He let go of his wallet, that he still held in his left hand, and took a step towards his bedroom.

“Yes, ma’am.”

.:.

Sex with Karen felt, at the same time, as natural as breathing and mind blowingly amazing. He chalked it up to knowing each other for almost a decade, but it was like they knew what to do, they knew how to move, there was very little “experimental” time. He learned quickly and she learned quickly, and that first time with her left him addicted, like some super drug that made his brain work exclusively to give him pleasure, to give her pleasure.

And that he did.

Karen pulled on his hair and dug her nails on his skin, wrapped her legs around him tightly, moaned against his mouth while he moved inside her, his own head spinning, spinning, his own hands gripping her tightly. Frank had to close his eyes and focus when she responded to his every move and every touch and every word.  

He was pretty good at sex. He knew that. But, really, it was a whole other category when it was the two of them. He couldn’t believe he spent eight years missing out on this.

Later, when he brought her breakfast-dinner to her in bed (not so much because she was still “getting better” but because he felt the sudden need to spoil her), she was wearing one of his sweatpants and a bra.

“You know, just by looking”, he said, setting the tray full of goodies down and settling himself in front of her, each of her legs around him. “You can’t really tell how big these are.”

She laughed out loud when he tugged on the cups of her bra, dropping his face to plant a kiss on the left breast.

“You looked a lot?”

“Not a lot. Just a normal amount.”

They ate their food and he kept intercepting her hand when she moved to sneak little pieces to Max, who had sneaked in and sat by the bed looking absolutely miserable, even when they all knew he had a full stomach.

He couldn’t really say that things changed much between them after that. Other than all the sex and the fact that some PDA was part of their thing, now, it was all pretty much the same. He still picked up her groceries when shopping for himself, she still did his laundry along with hers. She still had shoes in his closet, because they didn’t fit in just hers anymore, he still stole her shampoos and creams. They still shared books.

“Frank”, she called him one day when he was standing in front of the tech team, while they measured him for a new bullet proof vest, that was supposed to be lighter, but more efficient.“I can’t get into my apartment.”

“Why not?” he asked, his arms open while some kid held his phone to his ear.

“Because I can’t remember the stupid password!” she complained. “What is it?”

“I don’t know, ma’am, it’s your apartment.”

She made an angry noise and he heard her pressing the keys again.

“This is ridiculous. I can’t get into my own home because you’re a security freak. I’m going into your place.”

“Ok.”

“Just so you know”, she said, irritated, while her keys clinged together while she opened his door. “I’m eating your chips.”

When he got home, she was sitting on his dinner table, typing away on his computer. He placed the take out dinner he had gotten on the way around her, slowly pushing the computer shut when the table was set.

“You’re done, no more work, come on”, he said softly while she bent to keep looking at the screen, typing faster.

Karen let him close the computer and move it to the couch.

“I’ve been thinking”, he said while she unwrapped the shrimp eggrolls she loved. “It doesn’t really make much sense, to have all this security installed on your place in a building like this.”

“I’ve been trying to tell you”, she nodded, chewing on her food. “These are excellent today.”

“And we’re both making more money, now, right?”

She looked at him.

“Yeah…?”

“And I know you think it’s unnecessary, but I meant what I said that day. No one is ever taking you again, so I still think you should have a good security system in place. Plus a tracker.”

“I’m not getting a fucking tracker, Frank, make your point.”

He sighed, almost amused. He’ll convince her one day.

“Why don’t we take Micro’s program and move it to a better place? Like, maybe in a neighborhood you actually like… Like the Village.”

She swallowed her food and looked at him with those eyes.

“Are you proposing we move in together?”

“We do live together already, don’t we? Only we have two of everything.”

“To the Village?”

“You’re always going on about how nice it is.”

“Frank”, she said, moving her body towards him. “Don’t tease me about the Village.”

He chuckled.

“I’m not teasing you. I’ve been looking at some listings, I think we can afford to move there. If you want.” He looked at her, feeling somewhat nervous, but hopeful. It’s no secret she doesn’t like this place, doesn’t like this building, doesn’t like this neighborhood. And they haven’t sleep in separate beds since that first night.

With a twinkle in her eyes, Karen took another bite of her eggroll and got up from her chair, slowly.

“A place with a bigger closet?”, she mused, moving towards him.

“Sure.”

“And a bathtub that doesn’t gross me out.”

He pushed his chair back when she got close to him, a hand on his shoulder.

“A nice kitchen for you to cook me dinners”, she went on, sitting on one of his legs, arm around his shoulders. “You’re always complaining about the kitchen.”

“I am.”

“What else could we have?” she asked, a hand on his face, pulling it up to hers, placing a kiss on the corner of his mouth.

“Maybe an office, so you don’t have to work on the kitchen table.”

“Hmm, good idea.”

“Oh”, he said, dropping his chopsticks to put both his arms around her. “We can even get a king size bed.”

She raised her brows and that playful smile stretched on her lips.

“We could”, she said against his mouth.

“We’re doing it, then?” he asked and she nodded, kissing him sweet and slow, wrapping her arms around him after, and he wrapped his around her, face hidden in her neck.

He heard her sigh and click her tongue.

“Damn. I hate it when my mother is right.”

Here are the deleted scenes for this one. I wrote a bunch of them. These are the ones that didn’t make the cut.