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lewanarta · 3 years

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Hi again, thank you so much it helped me alot but if you don't might i have new questions ((haha). I noticed most of jumpers are from cold countries (duh) so it's difficult to have a south hemisphere jumper? and between traditional countries there's big rivalries? not gonna lie I love rivalries, which country produces the best? i follow figure skating I know russias ladies are the best. What's the gap between women's and men's commercially technically etc etc? the other post says 50 jumpers first round 30 second round it's the same for women? tennis other sport i love, big events like grand slam and masters/wta 1000 men and women competes in the same courts same amount of players, i was so shock when i find out women's were only introduced at Olympics in freaking 2014 are things getting better now? i didn't really get the scores how it works if jumps distance + judges scores then which fundamentals are they giving scores to? how do i know if the scores are fair? and for how long their careers last? figure skaters have such short career it's kinda sad ((im talking about fs because it's the only other winter sports i follow but i put in my mind no i don't wanna suffer with just one winter sport i want more suffering)

Hi again, my favorite Anon! I hope that you like long reads, because I've made a whole essay for you 😅 Let's go!

→ South hemisphere jumpers

I think, that it would be very difficult now, if not impossible. There are no ski jumping hills in the southern hemisphere, so it’s impossible to train the sport in these countries. In the far past there were some hills in Australia, New Zealand or Argentina, but ski jumping in these countries was more of an unusual curiosity than a professional sport. If anybody from the South would be interested in becoming a ski jumper, they would need to move thousands of kilometers away from home to Europe (or USA or Japan) to even try.

→ Rivalries

There are 6 countries, that are big in ski jumping: Austria, Germany, Norway, Slovenia, Japan and Poland (for men). Finland used to be big, but they regressed dramatically in the last decade. Also now Russia is trying to join the best – they’ve got many talented young jumpers, but for some reasons they can’t make it to the top of the top as adults). These national teams compete with each other for the highest stakes, but it is purely sports rivalry – the athletes are usually friendly towards each other (people involved in ski jumping and the fandom are called the “ski jumping family” for a reason 😉). It is especially visible among women – I don’t remember who said it, but it got stuck in my brain, that there are very few people in the world, who ski jump, and that creates this bond between them, because they know, that they are all extraordinary and share something very special.

There are some tensions between fans though, like in every sport. The last big drama I remember was between the Polish fans and fans of Halvor Egner Granerud last season during the Four Hills Tournament. Halvor gave an emotional interview after one of the competitions which wasn’t good for him and the combination of his emotional speech, mistranslations and media seeking for sensation created the narration, that he thinks, that Kamil Stoch, who was his main rival at the tournament, was just lucky, and that Halvor is sick of it. The Polish fans obviously didn’t like it and cancelled Halvor, were sending him nasty messages, etc., but after a few days he apologized to Kamil (who seemed to not care about the whole fuss at all) and the conflict was (somewhat) resolved. But almost every season some kind of drama or a rivalry happens, it’s just hard to tell before the World Cup starts who’s gonna be involved 😅 The rivalries between the countries or athletes that last for years are almost non existent in ski jumping these days, though.

→ How many ski jumpers start in the competitions?

A ski jumping competition consists of two rounds. For men: 50 start in the first round, then 30 best of them jump in the final round. For women: 40 start in the first round, then 30 best of them jump in the final round. Only these 30 best athletes collect the World Cup points.

There are also team competitons. For both men and women, every nation can put in 1 team consisting of 4 jumpers. Teams competitions consist of two rounds and 8 best teams qualify to the final round. A special kind of teams competitions are mixed teams competitions (my personal favorite), where rules are the same, but teams must consist of two men and two women.

→ Scoring

There are three components that make up for the final score for a jump:

Distance – distance score depends on the hill's K-point. K-point is a distance, that a ski jumper has to reach to collect base 60 points. For every meter beyond the K-point, the competitor is awarded extra points; the typical value is 2 points per meter on normal hills (K-point 85-109m), 1.8 points on large hills (K-point 110-184m) and 1.2 points on ski flying hills (K-point >185m). A jump's distance is measured between the take-off and the point where the feet came in full contact with the landing slope (for abnormal landings, touchpoint of one foot, or another body part is considered). Jumps are measured with accuracy of 0.5 meters for all competitions.

Style - during the competition, five judges are based in a tower at the side of the landing slope. They can award up to 20 points each for jumping style, based on keeping the skis steady during flight, balance, optimal body position (whatever it means), and landing. One highest and one lowest style score are disregarded, with the remaining three scores added to the distance score. So a ski jumper can earn max. 60 points for style in a single jump.

Style points are the most controversial, because they depend on the jury members' subjective impressions of the jumps. So you will probably encounter endless discussionss on jury marks, especially if the point differences between jumpers during the competition are very small. So how do you know if the scores are fair? Objectively, you can’t tell, unless the judge makes an obvious mistake (for example, if a ski jumper touches the ground and they still get a high mark).

Generally, landing is the most important when it comes to the style points. The most required way of landing the jump is called “telemark”: landing with one foot in front of the other with knees slightly bent. Failure to execute a Telemark landing leads to the reduction of style points. This is how a well executed telemark landing looks like:

If you’d like to see how the perfect jumps should look like, check out these two videos. The first one is a very rare example of a jump that was labeled “perfect” by the judges (it got five “20s”).

youtube

The second one is a jump that I personally consider perfect.

youtube

These should give you an idea to what you should compare the jumps you will see in the future 😊

In theory, style points shouldn’t depend on distance. In practice, jury awards more points to the ski jumpers that jump further, even if a ski jumper that jumped shorter jumps “prettier”, which is another controversy around the style points. So yeah, style marks are a tough topic not only in figure skating 😅

Wind and gate – I’ll just copy-paste Wiki here: “Gate and wind factors were introduced by the 2009 rules, to allow fairer comparison of results for a scoring compensation for variable outdoor conditions. Aerodynamics and take-off speed are important variables that affect the jump length, and if weather conditions change during a competition, the conditions will not be the same for all competitors. Gate factor is an adjustment made when the inrun (or start gate) length is adjusted from the initial position in order to provide optimal take-off speed. Since higher gates result in higher take-off speeds, and therefore present an advantage to competitors, points are subtracted when the starting gate is moved up, and added when the gate is lowered. An advanced calculation also determines compensation points for the actual unequal wind conditions at the time of the jump. These points are added or withdrawn from the original scores of the individual jump according to the wind conditions; when there is back wind, the points are added, and when there is front wind, the points are subtracted”.

To sum up: distance+style+wind+gate=total score.

→ How long their careers last?

Ski jumpers' careers are usually longer than the ones of skaters, so you can quite safely get attached to the athletes for years 😊 If nothing bad happens (like an injury, financial problems, burn-out, etc.), ski jumpers usually retire when they’re 30-35. There are some who jump longer, though, like Daniela Iraschko-Stolz (who I introduced you to in the other ask), Simon Ammann or Noriaki Kasai (an all time record holder, who’s 49 and still competing!).

→ Women’s ski jumping

There we go, my favorite sport in the world, that I could talk hours and hours about ♥ I left it for the end, because I knew this would take many words to talk about it. Women’s ski jumping is so amazing, but so underappreciated, not only in comparison to men’s ski jumping, but even to other women’s sports in general.

As you noticed, there’s a significant gap between men and women’s ski jumping in terms of recognition, following, money and even in how they’re treated by the organizations like the International Ski Federation (FIS) or International Olympic Committee. If I could compare it to any other sport, I think that it’s similar to men and women’s football. You noticed it well, that wsj was introduced at the Olympics only in 2014, 90 years after men! So you already have a vague idea with what scale of inequality we’re dealing with here.

Men have more competitions – not only World Cup, but also at the Olympics and in the lower “divisions” of ski jumping, where younger or amateur jumpers compete. Less competitions mean less money. But women earn much MUCH less than men not only because of that. The women’s prizes are about 1/3 smaller than men’s; while 30 best competitors get money prizes in men’s World Cup, it’s only 20 best for women; women don’t earn money prizes for winning the qualification round to the competition, while men do; and finally, women for years haven’t had extra tournaments during the season. Luckily the last thing changed recently with introduction of the Raw Air Tournament for both sexes, as well as the Blue Bird Tournament for women only. Unfortunately, there’s no women’s Four Hills Tournament yet. If I could compare it to tennis, imagine that only men could compete in the Wimbledon.

Yeah.

Another thing that women suffer from is worse TV coverage. It is often hard to find broadcasts or streams of their competitions, even in the countries where ski jumping is popular, so many fans, even if they wanted to follow wsj, just have no legal way to do so. Due to this and the sport being fairly young, the interest in women’s ski jumping is smaller, so it generates less money. And when the income is smaller, it creates problems and I’m under impression, that many events organizers and FIS officials don’t realize, that to earn on women’s ski jumping, they must invest in it first.

The most harsh example of inequality in ski jumping was the last season. Due to the pandemic, many competitions were canceled. And while almost every canceled men’s event found a replacement, it wasn’t the case for the women, which resulted in many long gaps in the calendar and a very late start of the season. The backlash in the ski jumping world was huge, though – not only ski jumping women and their fans loudly expressed their dissatisfaction with the situation, but even fans that weren’t into women’s ski jumping noticed, that something is clearly wrong here. To sum up, women’s ski jumping is a sport for passionates – when the hard-work to benefits ratio is so unfavorable, especially in comparison to male athletes doing literally the same, then you really have to love what you do to keep going.

As for technique, at the first sight the difference is almost non existent. Women are smaller and have less strength than men though, so the inrun length needs to be longer for them to reach the same distances as men, but this is unnoticeable and doesn’t affect the watchers impressions of the jump in anyway. Less strength and different anatomy (wider hips, weaker knees) can make the telemark landing more difficult to do for women, but again, it doesn’t affect the perception of jumps too much. On the other hand, women are argued to have bodies better adjusted to flying than men :)

What’s more, there’s a bigger gap between the best and weaker/less experienced women than between men ski jumpers. The distance differences on the large hill can reach about 30-40 meters between the 1st and the 30th jumper in the women’s competition, while for men it’s usually about 15 meters. Let’s take a look at the Top 10s of women and men’s competition hosted at the same weekend on the same hill.

Take a look at the distances and points differences. Also, men’s ranking is a perfect example of how style+wind&gate points can affect the standings 😉

These big differences between women are result of many athletes being very young, underfunded and/or amateur vs. only a handful being fully pro. But the situation is changing for the better – if we don’t consider previous season, which was a step back in fight for equality, women’s sport is growing, with more tournaments, more competitions (also at the Olympics and World Championships), better coverage and more competitions on bigger hills.

Ah, right. The hills. For years, women were allowed to compete only on normal hills – women’s competitons on the large hill at the World Championships were introduced only this year and at the Olympics women still don’t compete on the large hills, while men do! Regular competitions on the large hills during the World Cup are a fairly new thing and still many people (mostly men) argue, that women can’t jump on the large hills, which… isn’t true? I mean yes, the differences between the best and last competitors are bigger than in men’s ski jumping, but if the inrun length in well adjusted, then women can safely jump just as far as men and provide very exciting competitions. Unfortunately, the inrun length is barely ever well adjusted, which can be pretty frustrating, both for athletes and fans.

One last example of sexism in ski jumping is women’s ban on the largest hills – the ski flying hills, where ski jumpers can fly over 200m. It’s ridiculous, especially considering that until 2009 women COULD jump on them and not only women got technically better since the 2000s, but also the hills are much safer now. I believe, that it is a matter of a few years for the women to be allowed on the biggest hills, especially considering engagement of many women ski jumpers in the case and seeing, that changes in equality are going into the right direction.

If you’d like to know more about women’s ski jumping and the athletes, I recommend watching the “Tamers of the Wind” documentary on Youtube. It’s in English (with subs!) and about 40 minutes long and while it’s mainly focused on the Blue Bird Tournament, it also could give you a general idea who the athletes are and what challenges and struggles are affecting women’s ski jumping.

youtube

I hope that you reached this last paragraph and enjoyed my super long ramblings about ski jumping. And sorry that you have waited so long for an answer 😅 Welcome to the Ski Jumping Family, I hope you’ll enjoy suffering together over one more winter sport 😊

#ski jumping #ski jumping family #ski jumping explained #wsj #ask #did i spend like three hours straight writing it? probably #did i enjoy it? absolutely!

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queen-iduna-of-arendelle · 4 years

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A Damsel in Distress

A.N. For Agduna Week 2020, Day 7: Modern; Part 1 of the ‘Single Mother’ Series

ff.net AO3

Iduna took another sip of her champagne and watched all the people around her. She’s in Norway to visit her parents and decided it wouldn’t hurt to have a night out and probably meet new friends. She moved to Germany two years ago. It was her father’s homeland and she really liked it there.

Actually she lived here for the majority of her childhood until one day they moved to Norway -her mother’s homeland. Iduna loved both countries, but decided early on that she’d like to go back to Germany once she turned 18. Now she had a very good life there, and worked as a teacher. She was multilingual since forever and taught history and is a sports teacher.

Yeah, things worked very well for her. And since she’s been working so hard till now she decided to have some relaxing days in her second home. And have a few drinks. She didn’t mind going to bars alone and even if nothing exciting will happen, she could at least relax.

Just as she finished her drink something did happen. She noticed some girls gathering around a guy and practically harass him. Granted, he did look cute, but also very uncomfortable with all this attention. He really looked like he needed some help, so she’ll give him some help.

Putting the glass away, she went over to the little mop of girls surrounding the poor guy. “Hey! There you are!” She said, gaining the crowd’s attention. “I’ve been looking for you. Sorry I’m late.” The blonde looked at her confused and the girls glared at her. “And who are you?” Asked one of them.

“I’m his girlfriend, duh.” Iduna rolled her eyes, but they didn’t believe her. Not yet. “He didn’t tell us anything about a girlfriend.”

“Of course he didn’t! How could he if you won’t let him speak at all? I suggest you leave us alone now.” If he didn’t understand her plan before than he surely did now.

He made his way over to her and hugged her. “Glad you could make it, honey.” He said loud enough for the other girls to hear. She hugged him back and with an annoyed huff the girls left, probably looking for another poor guy. “...Are they gone?” He whispered in her ear a moment later. “Coast is clear.” Then he let her go. “Thank you. I really appreciate it.” He said, grinning at her.

“Well, you looked like you needed some help there.” Iduna said, shrugging as if it’s the most normal thing ever to pretend to be someone’s girlfriend.

“I did. Thank you. I’d like to treat you to a drink.” He offered, looking almost hopeful.

“Sure, why not.” Another drink won’t kill her. He offered her a chair like a real gentleman and then sat next to her.

“What do you like?”

“Some red wine would be nice.”

When the barkeeper arrived, he orders for both if them. “I’ll have some beer and the best red wine you’ve got for the lady, please.” The best they had? He’ll surely spend a little fortune for this. He noticed her look and gave her an innocent smile. “Only the best for my savior.” Okay, that was really cute. “I’m Agnarr. And what’s your name, my lady?”

The way he’s talking to her made her blush...“I-Iduna.” The blonde took her hand and kissed the back of it.

“What a lovely name for a lovely woman.”

Iduna’s blushed darkened and she looked away, embarrassed. “Now I know why these girls were crowding you.” He only tilted his head, telling her to keep talking. “You’re too nice.” She kept avoiding his eyes but saw him smile at her from the corner of her eyes.

“Maybe I am.” In that moment they got their drinks. Agnarr raised his glass and she followed suit. “Skoll.”

“Skoll.” Then she took a sip of the wine. “Wow. That’s a real good one.” The blonde smiled at her as if he expected this reaction. He really meant it when he said ‘only the best’.

“So...” He began, obviously now initiating small talk. “Do you come here often?”

“No. Actually it’s my first time here. I don’t even live around here.” She answered and took another sip.

Agnarr looked quite interested. “Oh? Where do you come from if I may ask?”

“Germany.”

“Really? Then I must say your Norwegian is perfect.” He seemed to be very impressed by that.

“Thanks. It’s because my mother’s Norwegian. She made sure I learned the language.”

“I see. I’m impressed. That’s why you have a very Norwegian name, too?”

“Pretty much, yeah.” The two smiled at each other. They may have just met but it felt so natural to talk with him. Actually Iduna didn’t plan to stay there so long, but she had fun talking with that guy. They talked about everything really. A little bit about their family, their hobbies, their favorite things and whatever else came to their minds. And when she looked at her watch, she realized how long she stayed there. “Oh. It’s really late...I should go now.”

Agnarr looked at his watch, too and looked equally shocked. “You’re right. I didn’t realize how long we sat here. Please, allow me to bring you home.”

Iduna smirked at his offer. “I can take care of myself.” She did tell him that she was a sports teacher and that she even trained martial arts.

“I’m well aware of that.” Agnarr was smirking right back at her. “I only want to protect the burglars from you.” He said, making her laugh. It seemed he already knew exactly how to do that. Actually she couldn’t remember the last time she laughed as much as tonight.

“Okay then.” Iduna still giggled and had to wipe a tear away. “You may bring me home.”

Agnarr smiled and payed for their drinks. Actually…he put quite a lot on the counter and even said they could keep the change. How rich was that guy? She raised an eyebrow at him, but he just smiled at her sheepishly. “Let’s go.”

Maybe it’s better if she didn’t know that. Iduna grabbed her things and stood up. Just as she put her coat on, she saw him offering her an arm. “Shall we, my lady?”

Iduna looked down to hide her blush and smile, but accepted his arm. “A real gentleman, huh?” She always thought those men were extinct.

“Only for you.” He said, while Iduna rolled her eyes. “Oh, come on. I’m sure you’re saying this to every gal you meet.”

“I swear this is the first time.”

Iduna looked at him suspiciously and he looked at her very innocently. They talked a lot on their way to her place -or rather her parents place- that it felt like they were teleported. The time was over too soon and Iduna kinda wished they could talk more. And it looked like she’s not the only one.

“Iduna...look, I...” Agnarr stammered, obviously very nervous and self-conscious. “I’d like to see you again.” He admitted, before giving her a little piece of paper with his number on it. She did see him writing something down from the corner of her eyes...“Just think about it, okay? You can call me if you want. Actually...I’d really like it if you did. But it’s your decision. I don’t wanna force you into anything.”

For the first time this night he was so nervous and rambled like this. It was really cute. “Okay.” She said, leaving everything open, since she didn’t know herself if she’s gonna have time for a date.

“Okay.” He repeated and turned to leave. But she wasn’t done with him. “Agnarr.” As soon as he turned back to her, she grabbed his collar and pulled him down. Then she gave him a little kiss on the cheek. “Thank you. I had fun tonight.”

Iduna smiled triumphantly when he blushed for once. “Me too...” Smiling brightly he waved at her, which she returned. “Bye.”

“Bye-bye.” Now she let him go, but she had to giggle every time Agnarr looked back and waved again. As if he’s making sure this isn’t a dream. Well, she couldn’t believe this either. But she’d really like to stay in contact with him. She’s definitely gonna call him soon.

#agduna #agduna weel #agduna 2020 #agduna week 2020 #iduna #agnarr #frozen #disney #fanfics #fanfiction

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balkanballad · 4 years

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Eurovision 2020 ranking

welcome to another year and another ranking. the last few years I used to put the songs in different categories, but this year I did that (from top 💐 to flop 🥀) AND gave every song an actual number AND added a comment. wow, so brave, I know. it’s a bit long, but here we go:

💐:

Norway: it was love at first sight and listen with this song. I connect with it, I love the lyrics, the instruments, her, everything about the nf performances. this is my very strong number one this year and, btw, the studio version is so much weaker than the live version

Switzerland: this song makes me very emotional and I love it. his voice is so lovely and with this one I, again, enjoy and feel the lyrics. I am very curious to see what they will do on stage

Australia: I wouldn’t say that I am always a huge fan of the songs with more goofy vibes and staging, but this one is a fave. I wasn’t in a great mood when I listened to this the first time and I remember crying because it was just very fitting to my personal situation. so, me and this song have an emotional connection now. also, I enjoyed the contrast that the staging in the national final gave it. it’s just.. same to everything about this song and performance. it’s also my favourite entry from Australia so far

North Macedonia: my only ‘dance’ song in this favourite category. it makes me wanna dance but in a tango and dimmed red lights way. I would also say that it made me think a bit of Switzerland last year, but I like this better

Croatia: another favourite entry that won a national final! I didn’t have a terribly bad year with national final faves. I might even say that I had a good year. anyway, a Balkan ballad :) with nice lyrics :) a bit sad and great violins :) of course I am into this. I love it

Portugal: I had this saved as a favourite before I saw the live performances and I really like that it won the national final. it’s super sweet, pastel pink vibes and my cup of tea

Finland: sweet! this makes me tear up a bit and I see a pattern this year for my personal preference: songs that make me melancholic and cry a bit. although, no one should be surprised because nostalgia and melancholy seem to always be with me

Denmark: while I was making this ranking and listening to the songs over and over, I think this song moved up the most. this is very sweet. last year was too sweet for me and I think this one is better, but on the edge to crossing that line. however, I love that we have a duet. I’m a big fan of duets. is someone going to propose this year again? this song would be at least perfect for that occasion. or maybe a bit too pushing actually..

🌺:

(no. 9) Israel: maybe a tiny little bit too much going on in a 3-minute song and something about it reminded me a bit of JESC songs, but I love the rhythm and I think this performance will be fun

(no. 10) UK: it’s a good song. the breath! part makes it more interesting and I have this song in my car playlist, which means that I am not skipping it usually. however, I also came across the BBC recording and I am not very convinced that the staging and everything will be enough to secure it a high placing in the end

(no. 11) Romania: oh look, I once again connected to a song because I feel the lyrics. that is probably not the best sign with this song but oh well. I am not the biggest fan of the live version here and prefer the studio recording. maybe another bad sign or maybe it’s just the weird screaming in the back and low quality of the equipment etc.

(no. 12) The Netherlands: I don’t think that they are trying to win another time this year with this, but it’s a cute and sweet song and everyone will cheer anyway. I listened to one live recording and there he sounded amazing

🌻:

(no. 13) Armenia: maybe this would be a guilty pleasure, but it’s 2020 we are just enjoying songs. I think the staging for this song will decide how it goes because the song itself is definitely.. different and not for everyone. the studio version is a lot better than the live performance, the lyrics are a bit repulsive to me and I feel like this could slip in the category ‘cheap’, but the whole song also gives me a weird kind of self-confidence boost when I listen to it

(no. 14) Azerbaijan: okay, so the song title made me very excited. the lyrics are.. there. I don’t think I was looking for something relatable in this song, but they are just very random to me. funny enough, I think this will be competing with Armenia because of similar vibes and because a lot depends on the staging. however, I think that this might do better because it’s more esc mainstream and has a better flow, but then again, maybe don’t rely on me when I say such things

(no. 15) Greece: this sounds a bit like a JESC entry to me and I have mixed feelings about it. with this I am also not sure what the message is supposed to be, but I really like the instruments

(no. 16) Estonia: hm. I must admit that I like this song more than I want to, but I don’t love it. I like the dramatic touch, but it’s not relatable at all, which isn’t necessary a factor for a good song of course. I just like having my emotional support songs and this is not one of them

(no. 17) Poland: this and Albania are in the same semi and sound too similar, so my prediction is that only one of these two will go through. personally, I like Poland better, but even if none of them makes it, it won’t break my heart I think

(no. 18) Spain: this song feels a lot longer than 3 minutes and it might be because it’s repetitive, but I can listen to it still. just not too often

(no. 19) Lithuania: this is a fan fave, right? personally, I’m just.. not in love. I like the message, but I don’t feel the need to listen to it regularly

(no. 20) Iceland: it’s alright. it’s there. I can’t really think about things to say about this

(no. 21) Italy: a ballad. in Italian. ground-breaking. just kidding, I think the fact that it’s in Italian saves it a bit, but I don’t really listen to this. I don’t mind it playing in the background, but it’s also not in my car playlist

(no. 22) Ukraine: I feel like I should technically like this more than I do, but I don’t really listen to this, sorry

(no. 23) Belarus: just like with Ukraine: I think I should like this a lot more than I currently do. I also find this song a bit boring

🌼:

(no. 24) Georgia: not a fan of the screaming, but I see why it fits the song. I am not sure, though, whether this will be the year that they make it back to the final

(no. 25) Albania: did anyone ask for the English revamp? I don’t think so, but they did it anyway. it is too forgettable for my taste and reminds me of something that they sent already in the past few years, but now it’s in English, so even less original. it isn’t a bad ballad though

(no. 26) Ireland: I know what this song is trying to tell me, but it is trying very hard to make sure we all understand it. it also reminds me a bit of a song that they would play in a disney channel film and it annoys me a bit

(no. 27) France: I might not skip it always, but it’s very repetitive and I still stand with my association of the Netflix show YOU and this (sorry, Tom)

(no. 28) Austria: my friend said that this song sounds like it should be by Sweden and I think that she is right. I never really was into that kind of vibe though, so I am not the biggest fan

(no. 29) Germany: not terrible, but also kind of strange vibes. I don’t like the lyrics (I will tell my mama whatever I want). I also think that Germany took inspiration from Switzerland last year and who knows, maybe they will finally start playing their own songs on the German radio stations and stop playing Sweden’s 2016 entry

(no. 30) San Marino: San Marino is once again bringing the disco vibes, thanks. I can’t watch the video twice in a row because it makes me feel like I’m on a trip, but good for her! I should definitely also get a little more freaky myself sometimes

(no. 31) Sweden: I’m not a fan. I was a fan of other Melfest entries though.. anyway, this is not a bad song of course, but definitely a bit boring to me

(no. 32) Moldova: I don’t hate it, and some very few parts of the melody I even like, but this is my least favourite Kirkorov produced, or written or bought or pushed through or whatever he does, song

(no. 33) Bulgaria: if everyone should find a similar partner then Bulgaria could team up with Romania this year. I find Bulgaria to be a lot more boring though

(no. 34) Cyprus: keep on running and keep on running and keep on running.. etc. etc. etc. this is how I feel when I make myself jog once a year

(no. 35) Malta: sounds very familiar, but I haven’t figured out yet which generic pop song it reminds me of

(no. 36) Belgium: yet another year and I am sadly bored by Belgium’s entry yet again

🥀:

(no. 37) Czech Republic: to this song I imagine the scenario of a school mate, that you aren’t too close with, but he is friendly, so you listen to the songs he made himself and uploaded and then you assure him that it sounds cool and you will add it to your music collection, but then you don’t ever listen to it again. this never happened to me, but that’s the vibe somehow. it’s just not really my kind of song and it also misses a bit of a real concept and flow because, even after the revamp, to me it still sounds a bit unpolished

(no. 38) Serbia: nop. I am very much for wmn pwr but I don’t like this. I get very strong mean girls vibes from it and I don’t say this as a good thing because I would rather not get bullied. I despise the lyrics and overall, everything, but I see why one would call it a ‘bop’ perhaps

(no. 39) Russia: when they were announced I looked them up and already was skeptical. most of the time this simply isn’t my kind of genre, humour and taste, and I was right. it annoys me. I am sure, like with every song btw, there is an audience for this, but I am very far away from being that audience

(no. 40) Slovenia: I’m sorry, but I really don’t like her voice, which is not a good thing, obviously, when ranking songs. I also find the song quite boring and it is another example of songs that somehow feel longer than 3 mins

(no. 41) Latvia: this gives me a headache. I don’t understand the lyrics, the music makes me want to leave the room, it’s a no from me and my last place

#eurovision #from 1 to 10 how predictable am i? feel free to let me know

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lovemesomerafael · 4 years

Text

Destroying The Planet To Save It Chapter 27: By God, We Saw Nothing

Chapters 1-25 Chapter 26 Read It On AO3

Steve was rigid with impatience as he waited for all the teams to report in. He called Director Coulson five times from the plane to ask whether they had checked in with him. Finally, Sharon got a message on her S.H.I.E.L.D. phone.

Director He must be stopped. Clearance given to incapacitate him by any means necessary.

Agt. 13 Acknowledged. Request you instruct other onsite agents to go blind and deaf for a bit.

Director DONE

Sharon grinned to herself as the other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents on the plane got messages from the Director and frowned at their phones in confusion. Steve frowned a bit, too, as she took his hand and led him aft.

The jet they were on belonged to S.H.I.E.L.D., so it wasn’t luxurious like a Stark jet. Sharon didn’t need it to be. The plane was large, and was often used to ferry agents from one hot spot to another, which meant it had a bunkroom. It was tiny and utilitarian, but Sharon would make it work.

She pushed Steve inside, noting that each of the other agents on the plane were deeply engaged in absolutely not paying attention. Sharon closed the door behind her and engaged the lock, then rested her back against the door and pulled Steve against her.

He chuckled a little, kissing her back, but tried to hold himself slightly away from her. “Why are you trying to undress me right now?”

“Orders,” she said, pulling his belt from the buckle and tugging to unhook it.

“That’s cute, but I’m running several-“

Sharon stopped, looking up into his deep blue eyes with a smile. “Actually, Director Coulson is running several missions. What you’re doing is driving him crazy. My orders are to stop you by any means necessary. If you’d rather I knock you out…”

Steve backed a step or two away and sat down on the nearest of the four bunks along the walls of the little room. Running his hands through his hair, he heaved a sigh of frustration. “I’m doing it again, aren’t I?”

Sharon smiled and very pointedly knelt in front of him, smiling at him with her brown eyes full of love, and not a little bit of want. “You’re involved. You want to find a way to help if you can. It’s why you’re spectacular at your job.”

“And why I’m a worrywart driving everybody nuts.”

“Well,” Sharon said, resuming unhooking his belt. “Lucky for you, I’m here to help.”

“There’s a planeload of agents out there…”

“All of whom are under orders to pay no attention to us.”

As she unbuttoned his khakis, Steve covered his face with his hands. “Oh, no… Sharon, I can’t possibly have sex with all those people right there, knowing what we’re doing.”

“Hmmm,” Sharon said, and lowered his zipper. “I can.”

She pushed at his chest so he would lay back, which he did, but he was still complaining. “This is… This is really not appropriate. I don’t think I can-“

With one pull, she had his pants and boxer briefs down to his knees, which surprised him enough that he stopped talking. She pulled off his shoes and socks in another move, and then slid his pants the rest of the way off. Then she reached for his arm, and sat him up again, beginning to unbutton his shirt. He put his hands on hers, but she noticed he didn’t actually try to stop her from what she was doing.

“Sharon…”

“I’ll tell you what. Even if all you let me do is ogle you, that’s fine. You’re gorgeous, Steve.” She finished unbuttoning his shirt and reached up to slide it off his shoulders. When he reflexively pushed it the rest of the way off, she lifted the hem of his T-shirt and he pulled that off, too.

“I’m gonna have sex,” she told him. “You do you.”

With that, he was naked, and she stood to unhook the narrow belt at her waist. She simply pulled her soft jersey dress over her head from there as she kicked off her shoes, leaving her wearing a very expensive set of lingerie she’d worn specifically so that Steve would see it.

Steve’s eyes took in her lingerie, her feminine curves and strong, toned muscles, and it was quickly evident he was going to let Sharon do more than ogle him. He reached for her and she turned their bodies so he was lying full length on the narrow bunk, with her on top of him.

Director Coulson didn’t get any more calls for the rest of the long flight to Sweden.

Steve had forgotten for quite a while where he and Sharon were. He’d forgotten about the other agents on the plane. Most importantly, he’d forgotten about the teams around the world, destroying Arias’s machines. Now he remembered, but he was so relaxed and comfortable in the tiny bunk with Sharon, warm and sighing in happy contentment, that he really couldn’t care.

“You realize I should be monitoring the teams.”

“You realize everyone on this plane knows exactly where you are, and if the teams needed you, they’d draw straws and whoever lost would knock on the door.”

Steve huffed a quiet laugh. “I’m gonna be so embarrassed going back out there.”

“You could just open a door and jump out without a parachute. Everyone’s half expecting you to do that anyway.”

Steve pulled Sharon fully into his arms and nudged her with his nose until she looked up and he could kiss her fully.

“I love you,” he said softly.

“I love you, too.”

“Even though I worry too much?”

Sharon leaned back to look into his beautiful, long-lashed eyes. “Steve, I understand the amount of responsibility that comes with being Captain America. And I know you. Which means I know how seriously you take that responsibility. It’s one of the things I love most about you.”

“I don’t know why you’d wanna take on a guy like me, but I’m sure glad you did. And I’ve been, um, meaning to talk to you about something. I was thinking…”

He was still hesitating when the pilot’s voice came from the scratchy speaker in the ceiling telling them they’d be landing in twenty minutes.

Steve was, indeed, red-faced as they came out of the bunkroom to strap themselves into their seats. No one looked at them until the plane had come to a complete stop and the team members were making their way down the narrow aisle toward the exit, when it was all but unavoidable. Even then, he stammered and had to work very hard to meet anyone’s eyes.

Not Sharon. Because of his position, Steve couldn’t truly know what it meant to be under a S.H.I.E.L.D. directive. But she did, and so did everyone else on the plane. They also knew how heavily Director Coulson relied on Agent Carter and how bad it could be for their careers if they got on the wrong side of her. Coulson had told them they saw nothing. They assumed he had a good reason, and knew it was in their best interests to see nothing. So, by God, they saw nothing.

The plane had landed in Odense, Denmark, but Steve and Sharon were not on the teams that would deal with the three machines in Scandinavia. One team would handle the machine here, and two others would head to Bergen, Norway and Umea, Sweden. No trouble was expected in those areas; their best intel said that those machines had been abandoned. Steve and Sharon were headed with a team of four S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to Stuttgart, Germany.

That machine was believed to be not only protected, but well-protected. They couldn’t get any information about who had laid claim to it, but there seemed no doubt that somebody had.

Upon landing in Stuttgart and being met by their contact, Steve got an unpleasant surprise. While S.H.I.E.L.D. had been able to locate the machine, it couldn’t be precise enough. The problem with the location was, first, that Stuttgart is an auto manufacturing hub. Which means it’s also a hub for manufacture of a great many things related to making cars, such as auto parts. The neighborhood in which the machine was located was heavily industrial, with large, modern office buildings next door to older, smaller machine shops, across the street from mid-sized factories.

No one had considered making a portable device that could detect the energy signature of the orbs on the ground. They were going to have to find the machine a different way. Steve was frustrated and having difficulty holding himself back from taking it out on the team, because this was only one of four machines they needed to destroy, and it wasn’t starting well. Besides which, now that Steve could finally do something about the machines, they couldn’t even find the one that was basically under their noses.

The group stood around the van in which they’d arrived, trying not to be obvious about the fact that they were basically just looking around like lost tourists. Sharon paid attention to their tense discussion until it began to devolve into thinly-veiled accusations against the local contact. At that point, she left the group standing around the van beginning to argue about how to approach the most likely buildings. She rolled her eyes and got back into the van to busy herself with her computer tablet.

“Look,” Steve said, “We can’t just walk into these buildings and ask if they’re hiding a doomsday machine in the basement. I think we need to admit that we’re not getting this done today. We’re gonna have to move on to the other cities and hope S.H.I.E.L.D. or Stark can make a detector before we’re done taking those machines out. We’re wasting our time here.”

“We’re here now, Cap. We can figure this out. If they get word the other machines are being destroyed-“

”The other machines are mostly abandoned. They’re not gonna hear,” another agent interrupted the first.

“We don’t know that.”

“No point arguing,” Steve said in his most authoritative Captain America voice. “We’ll tip our hand if we start snooping around. We’re leaving.”

“But, Cap, we can-“

“No. We don’t know which building it is.”

Sharon stepped up beside Steve and took his arm, looking straight at a mid-sized office building down the block. “Nobody point. But it’s that one.”

Steve looked incredulously at her. “How do you know?”

“Because it’s the only building in this area owned by Jarman Arias. Now. Everyone get back in the van. We’ve got work to do.”

An hour and a half later, a long, sleek black limousine pulled up in front of the office building. Each of the people inside it now knew not only who owned the building, but also who managed it, and some delicate information about that company’s finances.

When the chauffeur opened the rear door, Sharon’s legs were the first thing to appear. She was no longer wearing the soft dress she’d worn on the plane. Now she had on a chic, form-fitting skirt that was just a little too short, with a soft, low-cut fuzzy sweater and about half a million dollars’ worth of accessories, if you didn’t count her Jimmy Choo heels or her genuine Hermés Birkin bag. She touched her hair as though it were possible for a strand to be out of place when the whole purpose of her hairstyle was to look like she’d just gotten out of bed. She looked bored already.

Steve, wearing a suit that cost so much he’d had to sit down for a moment, followed her out of the limo. He stood with his head thrown back and his chest out, looking at the building as though he owned it. Or wanted to.

Three of the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and the local contact poured out of the limo after Steve, also wearing nice suits, but ones that were significantly less expensive than his. They were also the slightest bit rumpled as though, unlike Steve or Sharon, these guys might do a bit of actual work. One of them moved ahead and opened the door for Steve, who motioned Sharon in ahead of him. She simpered at him and he smiled indulgently, trying to keep his thoughts away from what he was going to ask her to do with those bright red lips later.

The group who met them in the lobby plastered on smiles and their apparent spokesman reached a pudgy, sweaty hand out to Steve. “Mr. Grant, I’m Karl Schneider. Such a pleasure to meet you. It’s an honor.”

Schneider was a pleasant looking man with a thin combover and carrying about fifty extra pounds. His heavy accent suggested that these were English phrases he’d learned very recently, perhaps specifically for purposes of this meeting. Which they were.

“Yeah,” Steve grunted, looking around the lobby and rudely paying little attention to the man. Steve waved toward Sharon. “This is my, uh, assistant, Sharon.”

The local contact translated that into German for Schneider. Steve indicated him with a little flick of his head and said, “Oh, yeah. This is Helmut. He’ll translate.”

Once “Helmut” had translated that, Schneider and the three other men standing with him shook hands with him and awkwardly inclined their heads to acknowledge the others, whom Steve made no effort to introduce, like he’d forgotten they were there. They returned the nods from the German men, but didn’t introduce themselves and didn’t move to shake hands.

“Well,” Schneider began in German, clasping his hands together. “If you’ll follow me, I’ve prepared some materials in the conference room that will give you an overview of the building’s features, and a picture of the tenant situation.”

Helmut began to translate, but Steve impatiently cut him off mid-sentence. “I’d like a tour first. We just got off the jet, I want to stretch my legs.”

Taken aback, but trying not to show it, Schneider smiled and wrung his clasped hands together. “Wonderful idea. We’d be delighted.”

At first, Steve let their hosts direct the tour. The building had twelve floors, each of which were fairly uniform. When they got off the elevator on the tenth floor, and it looked just like the twelfth and the eleventh, therefore, Sharon’s bored sigh had a great deal of credibility.

“You OK, babe?” Steve asked, putting a hand on her lower back and speaking to her as though she were a child.

“How many more floors are there?” She whined.

Steve smirked condescendingly at the other men. “The lady’s seen enough of offices. Are the rest of the floors basically the same?”

Once Helmut had translated, Schneider wrung his hands again and offered a nervous smile. “I can certainly understand that. The other floors have the same square footage, of course, and are separated into units of varying sizes, as the tenants choose. Just like the ones we’ve seen. So we could certainly-“

“Let’s look at infrastructure,” Steve cut Helmut off as he translated.

Once again, Karl Schneider nervously tried to accommodate this arrogant young American billionaire he’d never heard of before today. He wished at least one of the (hastily planted) articles online about him had warned that he was a supercilious prick.

Schneider led them first to the roof, where he proudly displayed the massive, humming heating and cooling units while one of the men with him bored everyone with details about energy efficiency, static pressure, and air-cooled chillers. Everyone was glad when Sharon leaned against one of the units and began to inspect her nails.

Steve indicated her with a tilt of his head and gave the men a look that would probably have been considered patronizing and disparaging even when he was a kid. “Moving on…” he said.

They took the elevator back down to the ground floor and one of the men unlocked a door leading to a plain, concrete stairwell with metal stairs leading down. Sharon made a noise of complaint under her breath, which Steve made a show of ignoring. While one of Schneider’s men, a different one this time, began to talk about the building’s plumbing systems, they all traipsed down the stairway into the bowels of the building. At this point, one of the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents began to ask a lot of questions in passable German, giving Schneider and his team the welcome opportunity to finally engage in some salesmanship.

They grabbed the opportunity and ran with it. Which is why the German team never saw it coming. Once Steve had determined they could deal with everyone below ground in the building, Steve and the team selected their targets and incapacitated them. They used varying methods, but the result was the same in each case. They were bound, gagged, and deposited safely in a utility room from which the team would ensure they would eventually be rescued. Steve didn’t want to hurt them; it was very likely they didn’t even know the machine existed.

It wasn’t hard to locate the door to the sub-level on which the machine had to be located. What was difficult was dealing with the pseudo-maintenance men who were actually guarding it. They clearly knew about the machine, and they put up a good fight trying to keep the team out. So good, in fact, that Helmut ended up with a broken leg and had to be left to guard the painted steel door to the sub-level with a Ruger they’d taken off one of the guards.

The guards themselves, now unarmed and with some fairly significant wounds, were marched down into the sub-level, where they could be watched and kept from sounding an alarm. Sharon was also particularly concerned about one of them, who wasn’t looking too good after she’d landed a very nice kick to the side of his head despite her tight skirt. She wanted to make sure he stayed conscious until they could send help, once the machine was destroyed.

All of the guards had been through a lot over the last week. First, they’d heard that Arias had been arrested and his plans made public. Then, when some of them decided to try to take the machine for themselves, they’d had to deal with the defection of about half their number, who hadn’t really understood what they’d signed on for and wanted nothing to do with being on the wrong side of the Avengers. The five guards around the machine now were committed, though, and had been expecting trouble. They were armed, they were capable, and they were desperate.

Steve could hardly have worn the uniform when he was supposed to be some spoiled billionaire trying to take advantage of Arias’s misfortune, which was fine with him. He didn’t need the uniform to fight. But he felt a little naked and vulnerable without his shield, especially because these guys were shooters. They’d hit one of the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents almost as soon as they’d found the machine, so Steve had two of the remaining agents fire into the room to keep the guards hunkering behind the machine while he and Sharon went in fast, crouching on the other side. Like the other machine rooms, this one contained nothing but workstations along the walls, and the machine itself.

The trick was to keep the guards from realizing Steve and Sharon were in the room until it was too late. That was accomplished by a combination of bullets (carefully aimed to avoid them) and trash talk in German.

Once they’d made their way around the machine until another step would disclose them, Steve took a breath and pounced. The noise of him pulling one guy up to a standing position by his neck and the other two reacting was Sharon’s cue. Steve slammed the first guy’s head into the second guy’s, knocking them both out, while Sharon did the same with a well-placed kick to the third guy’s temple. Steve noticed (again) the way she pulled her skirt up to give her legs freedom of movement. Later, Rogers.

Although it was the first machine they’d destroyed, so it took a little longer than they’d expected, that was the only problem they encountered from there. Once their task was complete, they’d quickly located some emergency evacuation wheelchairs for the wounded, straightened their clothes and sauntered casually back out of the building and into the limo. A few people looked at the two men being pushed in wheelchairs, but beyond that, they got little attention.

The local S.H.I.E.L.D. contact, whom Steve had called Helmut, made the call to emergency services to report the presence of the wounded and captured men on the way to the safe house. Steve carried Helmut and the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who’d been shot inside, where medical attention was already waiting.

They weren’t particularly concerned about publicity, because most of the machines were reportedly abandoned; at least none of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s people on the ground were seeing activity around them. But Steve still didn’t want to advertise that they were coming, and there was no S.H.I.E.L.D. plane available, so he decided the team would take the ICE high-speed train from Stuttgart to Paris like most people did.

It gave the team a chance to rest, and Sharon a chance to ask Steve, “On the plane, you said that you’ve been meaning to talk to me about something. What was it?”

Steve became engrossed in the scenery outside the window. “Oh, well, I just… I, um, love you. I’m happy we’re together. That you’re, you know, my girlfriend and stuff.”

Sharon bit back her smile, knowing how shy Steve could be. It was not only adorable, it was also downright odd. Steve looked like that, had that body and had just had to hold himself back while defeating a number of trained guys in hand to hand combat. Not to mention the things he’d gleefully done to her (and let her do to him) in the bunkroom on the plane. But here he was, ears burning red, unable to meet her eyes because he was shy and awkward about his feelings.

“I love you, too. I hope you know I’m living a dream right now, being with you.”

That got him to meet her eyes. In this light, his were the exact deep turquoise-blue of the sky outside the window. “Yeah?”

“Yes.” She leaned up to him and he met her halfway for a steamy, invasive kiss that probably wouldn’t have been tolerated in the Second Class cars. Being able to kiss Steve like that was the very reason Sharon had chosen these seats, rather than sharing a group of four seats facing each other with the two other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents accompanying them to Paris. When they separated, Sharon kept her hand on Steve’s face, looking into his pretty eyes with what she hoped was all the love she felt. She hoped she knew what he was going to ask her, and she wanted to let him know that, if she was right, her answer was going to be a “yes” that would undoubtedly get them thrown off the train in Strasbourg.

She watched him struggle with it for a while, then settle for another, more tame, kiss before settling back down to watching the German countryside pass by outside. Sharon tried not to be disappointed. They had time. She certainly wasn’t letting Steve Rogers go without a fight.

Steve was back to tightly mission-focused when they reached the beautiful old station at Gare de l’Est. He had already asked Sharon to use Google Earth to find the location of the machine in Paris. This time, there was only one building it could be, and he decided that stealth was the right approach in this case. The machine was outside of Sartrouville, not far from the Maisons Laffitte, in an ancient stone building that had, at one time, been a barn or other outbuilding.

Now it was a mansion. Sharon easily found information about it online, not even having to use the S.H.I.E.L.D. database, and was ecstatic to find that it featured a large wine cellar that was described as large enough to be called a catacombs. Her excitement was contagious as she told Steve about it.

“Why are you so happy about this?” He laughed.

“Because we’re going to Paris, and we don’t get to do Paris, but at least we get to visit a wine cellar. That’s pretty French.”

Steve’s smile clouded a little, but didn’t disappear. “You are a glass-half-full girl, no doubt about it.”

“What’s the look for?” She asked, her voice communicating that she hadn’t missed the change in him and was prepared to listen if he wanted to talk about it.

“Nothing. I’ve just been to Paris before when there wasn’t time to ‘do’ Paris.”

“Bad memory?”

“Not terrible, as memories of the war go. All the Howling Commandos were there with us, everybody was whole. But… there was some stuff, yeah.”

“You can tell me if you want.”

“Nah,” he brightened, visibly pushing the memories down. “I’m OK. Might call Bucky later if I need to.”

Sharon hugged him. “Do. And I’m always here.”

The mansion was beautiful. Sharon would have liked to stay and vacation with Steve there for about a year. Instead, she held her FNX-45 Tactical on the couple in their fifties who lived in the house, and their live-in staff of twelve. Steve, meanwhile, disabled the machine and collected the orb. It was maybe a little anticlimactic – the couple was polite, if annoyed, and the staff was just frightened – but there was no danger and no one got hurt. Unless you count Sharon’s crushed hopes when Steve wouldn’t let her take even one bottle of wine from the well-stocked cellar.

Steve flew the quinjet from Paris to Madrid, which meant that there was no opportunity for sexual shenanigans. No privacy, either. But it was very late at night when they arrived, so the team stayed in a safe house in Carabanchel, where the machine was.

After the serum, Steve didn’t need much sleep, but he was always very conscious of the fact that Sharon did. He did try to be chivalrous and go straight to sleep. That was before he cuddled up behind her, neither of them wearing anything because Sharon had insisted – with entirely selfish motives – that it would be unpatriotic to spend the taxpayers’ money on sleepwear when they weren’t even spending a whole night. Her warmth and the soft silkiness of her skin was the first thing he noticed. Then he felt the way his dick was pressed up against the swell of her firm ass, without really realizing that she was pushing back against him for that very reason.

Soon he was dealing with a raging hard-on, and she was maneuvering her hips so that he was positioned at her wet, welcoming entrance.

“I can’t keep my hands off you,” he whispered harshly, setting an easy rhythm as he used the hand that wasn’t underneath her to cup her breasts, toying with her nipples to make her react in the nearly-uncontrollable way he loved.

“Don’t want you to.”

“I love you,” Steve murmured into her neck as he slid his hand lower.

“Wait – I want to – let me go down on you first,” Sharon murmured as she pulled off of him to turn and face him.

Steve took advantage of the opportunity to kiss her deeply. “I was just thinking the same about you.”

“Excellent idea.”

Steve seemed a little perplexed until Sharon sat up and tugged him further down the bed, at which point he seemed to get the memo. “Oh, I…”

Sharon was just getting her hands and knees under her, facing the foot of the bed. She stopped moving. “Is this OK?”

“Yeah. Oh, hell, yeah, I just… I’ve heard of it, but I’ve never…”

“Oh,” she smiled broadly. “Well, we’re smart. We’ll figure it out.”

Once again, Steve’s naivete charmed Sharon. It also made her feel a little slutty as she carefully positioned her body over his. When he actually chuckled a little, not only did it feel amazing against her cunt, but it also told her that Steve was definitely not turned off by her experience. Just the opposite. Which gave her a shiver of carnality as she took the tip of his cock into her mouth.

This time, Steve couldn’t even try to hold off until after Sharon climaxed. He kept muttering, and later exclaiming, about how hot it was to have their mouths on each other at the same time, and how he’d just discovered a new favorite position, which made it obvious that the very idea of what they were doing was almost enough by itself to make him come. For long moments, he forgot about Sharon poised above him as he arched nearly completely off the bed and shot down her throat, spasms of ecstasy wracking him.

Which, being Steve, he felt guilty about afterward. So he laid her down and licked her to an orgasm that had her screaming into a pillow to keep from being heard by the others in the house, and then fucked her until they both came again. After that, Sharon fell asleep, smiling triumphantly. She may have needed more sleep than he did, but there was no way she was going to choose sleep over fucking this man. Especially in a villa in Spain.

The machine in Madrid was located beneath a church in Carabanchel. Steve couldn’t tell how old the church was, given the style of architecture favored in the area and the presence of ancient buildings next door to new ones built to look just as old. What he knew is that it was guarded by a priest, which changed things for him. He absolutely could not bring himself to use violence against a priest.

Sharon was Catholic, too, but she wasn’t entirely convinced the guy was a priest. He just didn’t look the part. For one thing, he was a little too buff to fit her idea of the stereotypical cleric, and as she watched him interact with the few veiled, black-clad old women praying in the small nave, his language seemed a little off. She spoke enough Spanish to understand pretty well what he said. But more than that, she was a trained spy, and the women were decidedly treating him like a stranger rather than their parish priest, and reacting to the same phrases she was. It was like he was saying things he might have heard a priest say in the movies. Sharon thought she knew a way to test his faith. It also had the advantage of possibly distracting him enough to avoid any need for violence.

She made sure he noticed her as she made her way to a pew toward the front, knelt, and crossed herself. For several minutes, she simply prayed, as she was pretending to do. But she kept him in her peripheral vision, taking the first opportunity to catch his eye. They nodded to one another, Sharon with the slightest of upturns to her closed lips, while his smile was more of an invitation. That’s when tears began to form in her eyes.

When one coursed down her cheek, she didn’t wipe it away, hoping it would catch the candlelight so he’d be sure to see it.

He did.

She watched through lowered, near-closed eyes as he came down a side aisle and took his place a respectful distance away in the pew.

“You seem upset, my child,” he near-whispered. “Perhaps you’d like me to pray with you?”

“Oh, yes, Father,” she said, making a show of wiping her eyes with a crumpled tissue. “That would be wonderful.”

She expected him to kneel next to her and begin to pray quietly aloud. Instead, he simply made the sign of the cross – hesitantly, maybe? – and folded his hands. Sharon could have sussed him out simply by asking him to pray the Magnificat or perhaps the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, something that wasn’t obscure, exactly, but that he wouldn’t have learned from the movies. But that would defeat her purpose. If he was a fake, it might give her away entirely, and put her in danger. At best, he’d move on, which would prevent her from distracting him long enough for the men in the shadows of the church’s narthex to find a way to whatever was underneath the church. The internet and even S.H.I.E.L.D.’s database had come up empty on that.

“You are troubled, my child,” the priest said. That was a lot of “my child-ing” for the few words he’d said so far. Priests, especially young ones like him, didn’t tend to say that in real life.

“Yes, Father. I’m… Would it be possible for me to speak to you? Somewhere private?”

“Of course,” the man answered, and Sharon watched him try to mask his interest. Gotcha. If this guy was a priest, Sharon was… well, Captain America.

He led her through a carved wooden door, into a room in which a kneeler with a screen featured prominently. Good. A confessional. That meant quiet and privacy, and a good chance he wouldn’t hear anything going on in the nave any more than those in the nave could hear them.

The priest first commented that she sounded American, which she confirmed. He politely switched to English, which he spoke very well, and asked if she would like him to hear her Confession. When she said what she needed was counsel, he took the sturdy wooden chair from behind the screen and brought it to face the other chair in the little room. Sharon sat and began to tell him of the shameful affair she’d had, which had just ended. Should she confess to her husband, or carry the guilt forever?

Outside in the nave, Steve and one of the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents began to search for a doorway to a lower level, while the other agent spoke respectfully and quietly with the praying women scattered here and there in the pews. He asked if they would please move to the adjoining chapel, so that they could prepare the church for a funeral early that evening. The ladies kindly agreed, allowing Steve quietly and carefully to force open those doors that were locked.

It didn’t take long to find the one that led to a stairway leading downward, given that it was on the back wall of the church and one of the first doors they tried. That turned out to be the only locked door between the church and the machine, which was at the bottom of a second stairway, in a sub-basement. Being their third one, it took Steve and the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents much less time to destroy this one and confiscate the orb than it had in Stuttgart or Paris.

The problem came when Steve knocked hesitantly on the door of the room he’d seen Sharon and the fake priest enter. Sharon hadn’t meant to cause a problem. When Steve opened the door to see the priest giving Sharon a hug – which neither felt nor looked like it was intended only to soothe her troubled spirit - she should have just said he was her husband. The worst that would have happened then was he might have provided them some faux marital wisdom. But something playfully wicked in her caused her to tell the fake priest that Steve was the “other man.”

At which point the priest became enraged and began to berate Steve for all kinds of sins Sharon hadn’t even mentioned (but that they had, indeed, committed, so she supposed it was fair). That brought the praying women running in from the chapel, which brought a Sacristan from somewhere else, which caused the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to re-enter the church just in case, and pretty soon there was a free-for-all happening. The priest, sacristan, and praying women all rained insults and curses upon Steve’s head (and Sharon’s, too, because she was now trying to help him back safely out of the church) in Spanish and, to his surprise, Latin. Which Steve knew, even if Sharon didn’t, because in his day, Mass had always been said in Latin.

When the Sacristan went for a heavy wrought-iron candelabra, Steve realized there was no way of saving the situation and the team simply turned and ran. They could still hear the screeching of the praying women as they peeled out of the small parking lot into the midday Spanish sunshine. When Sharon looked back, the Sacristan was still brandishing the candelabra.

Both Sharon and Steve were too Catholic, even now, to laugh. But the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents in the back seat were red-faced, with tears running down their faces, repeating some of the better insults and curses just to crack each other up again.

#The Avengers #Captain America #Bucky Barnes #The Winter Soldier #Sharon Carter #Emily VanCamp #Chris Evans #SteveSharon #MCU #Marvel Cinematic Universe

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manuscripts-dontburn · 4 years

Photo

The Book of Dust: The Secret Commonwealth

Author: Philip Pullman

First published: 2019

Pages: 687

Rating: ★★★☆☆

How long did it take: 11 days

Review HERE.

Kam s ním?

Author: Jan Neruda

First published: 1917

Pages: 29

Rating: ★★★★★

How long did it take: 1 day

Znáte přeci ten starý vtip, ne? Jan Neruda miloval Karolinu Světlou. A když zemřela, tak napsal "Kam s ním". :D V každém případě tento ikonický text i po více než sto letech vyloudí na tváři čtenáře upřímný úsměv, pobaví a zároveň dýchne romantickou atmosférou staré Prahy.

The Tattooist of Auschwitz

Author: Heather Morris

First published: 2018

Pages: 320

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

How long did it take: 7 days

As much as I appreciate learning about Lali (not Lale!) Sokolov and his story, this book from literary point of view is deeply average. The sparse and straightforward style of narration can be effective (case in point: Exit West by Mohsin Hamid), but for some reason here is only does the book a disservice by making the people in the book cut-outs without much differences in personality, and subsequently the reader (at least this particular reader) fails to engage with them on a more personal level. Add to it the historical inaccuracies and what you are left with is something very unremarkable.

Dreadnought: Britain, Germany and the Coming of the Great War

Author: Robert K. Massie

First published: 1992

Pages: 1007

Rating: ★★★☆☆

How long did it take: 40 days

I am not going to pretend that I read each page of this book, some (about 1/4) I skimmed. This is a great achievement of a research for the writer, but so very dense and detailed that the retention level is not high. I definitely feel like I learned a lot, but I also feel a lot has escaped me. Very interesting, very well written, my brain is toast.

Kristin Lavransdatter: The Wreath

Author: Sigrid Undset

First published: 1920

Pages: 278

Rating: ★★★★★

How long did it take: 3 days

This is, actually, a very simply laid-out story. A beautiful young girl comes of age, falls in love and defies her family wishes to get the man she wants. And the book is very straight-forward with it as well, not adding anything unneccessary, no deep philosophy, no side-tracks to boast its volume. But the core of the book are relationships between flawed characters, be that Kristin, naive and stubborn, or Simon, kind but also condescending, Aashild, helpful but not above scheming, and of course Erlend, impulsive, selfish and overall a bastard. The life in medieval Norway was tough, honest, difficult, lacing Christianity with superstition and all this Sigrid Undset captured beautifully. What truly elevated this volume to 5 stars for me, however, was the ending scene between Kristin´s parents.

No One Is Too Small To Make a Difference

Author: Greta Thunberg

First published: 2019

Pages: 68

Rating: ★★★☆☆

How long did it take: 1 day

First of all, I think many people angry with Greta just don´t get what she is and what she does. They criticize her for being harsh and undiplomatic, and they criticize her for speaking up without offering a sollution of her own. And it would be funny if it was not so horrible. What I got to understand from this book is that Greta asks the world to LISTEN to the people who DO have sollutions, or at least strive to find them. She is the voice that is supposed to attract attention to a problem and she is pleading, begging and demanding (as well we all should!) that we actually start treating that problem with the seriousness it deserves. That said this little book is hardly a comprehensive statement and I believe Greta and her mission deserve a better representation. By this I mean: instead of merely printing her speeches, why not edit them in a ways so that many points are not repeated in all of them? I GET the point of this publication, but at the same time the potential was not reached

The Familiars

Author: Stacy Halls

First published: 2019

Pages: 360

Rating: ★★★☆☆

How long did it take: 3 days

Yeah..... this was fine. I liked it. Not much to discuss. If you wanna read it, go ahead, there is nothing wrong with it.

Glass Town

Author: Isabel Greenberg

First published: 2020

Pages: 224

Rating: ★★★★★

How long did it take: 1 day

I just... really love Charlotte Brontë, you know. And this book is really both imagined, but for greater part factual, journey into her own private torment. I have, also, always found her the most tragic of all the Brontë siblings, especially because of she outlived all of her siblings, and then her own pregnancy killed her. As for the publication itself, I have to say I am not a great admirer of Isabel Greenberg´s art style, especially her close-ups freak me out (though the more complex pictures were nice). However she has managed to tell the story of the Brontës in a very creative and original way, by using beautiful language and packing a punch right through my soul.

The Tales of Beedle the Bard

Author: J.K. Rowling

First published: 2008

Pages: - (audio book)

Rating: ★★★☆☆

How long did it take: 2 hours

This was, for most part, really enjoyable and makes a nice addition to the Harry Potter books.

Madame Bovary

Author: Gustave Flaubert

First published: 1856

Pages: 311

Rating: ★★★★☆

How long did it take: 9 days

1. Beautiful writing. 2. I hated everyone.

A Gentleman in Moscow

Author: Amor Towles

First published: 2016

Pages: 472

Rating: ★★★★☆

How long did it take: 5 days

I liked the gentle flow of events, I liked the atmosphere and the people I met in this book. I thought the premise was interesting and clever, and all in all the author did deliver a lot of what was promised. The only thing I missed, and I cannot tell you the specific reason if I tried, was a strong emotional connection, something that would stun me, perhaps some long lasting story elements which would ties everything together. Life of the gentleman in this book moved from episode to episode, from character to character, but there was not that one underlining goal which would have made it all so much powerful.

#booklr #wrap up #February 2020

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clearskiiess · 4 years

Note

I actually have the best idea for your "talk about" ask meme. Do 1-40 please 💕💗💞💟❤️💖 Give Us Your Autobiography

1 - talk about the first time you watched your favorite movie.

already answered !

2 - talk about your first kiss.

damn well that aint happened yet. lol

3 - talk about the person you’ve had the most intense romantic feelings for.

hGGGG probably my best friend and crush miriam. god im fucking in love with her omfg gO DODKLHFSHFDJDKHK i wont ramble too much but omffhjfkfjkdhfkjd thnak god shes not on tumblr or id die eeeehggGGGH like we flirt a lot but we’re not dating quite yetaaa ghddgh

4 - talk about the thing you regret most so far.

nothing bitchesssss 😎🤘 i regret not getting into good music earlier maybe.

5 - talk about the best birthday you’ve had.

already answered!

6 - talk about the worst birthday you’ve had.

uhhhghghgh not really a bad one i can remember ! all of them have been good, some better than others ofc but theyre still good even if i dont get prezzies.

7 - talk about your biggest insecurity.

ohufuibfhkbkjbjk probably my art and drumming and writing opps.

8 - talk about the thing you are most proud of.

already answered !

9 - talk about little things on your body that you like the most.

already answered!

10 - talk about the biggest fight you’ve ever had.

damn probably me and my mum, we fight kind of often but yeah djldfkjjkdjkdkj those are probably the worst fights i have. or me and my dad

11 - talk about the best dream you’ve ever had.

already answered!

12 - talk about the worst dream you’ve ever had.

damn uh kinda dont wanna answer, too personal sorry eee

13 - talk about the first time you had sex/how you imagine your first time.

idk really, just being with someone i really like or even love and its just super fun and casual, and like just exploring it? yeah

14 - talk about a vacation.

ooo when me n the fam went to europe when i was 10 and we went to paris for 4 days, then germany for 2 weeks and norway i think 1 or 2 weeks? it was bloody awesome omfG it was great !!!! my family is big on travel so we usually use our money on it.

15 - talk about the time you were most content in life.

already answered !

16 - talk about the best party you’ve ever been to.

eh not really? maybe friend’s parties as a child but thats kinda it. dont really go to parties yet eee

17 - talk about someone you want to be friends with.

already answered !

18 - talk about something that happened in elementary school.

uh thats primary right? well, nothing interesting i remember in year 6 i loved warrior cats and me n my friends would roleplay it a lot at school, everyone thot we were weird but i didnt care ahah.

19 - talk about something that happened in middle school.

well thats high school for me so, nothing interesting either. maybe that one time with my old friend domi and maya and it was yr 7, i was 13 i was staying home cause i was sick af. and maya called me up, obviously trying not to laugh. and she was like “domis broken his leg! help help! what do i do” and im like uh. why are you calling me??? call the ambulance or get a teacher to do it for christs sake! i dont even believe you. and she was like yeah look! and sent me a fucking photoshopped pic of him lying at the bottom of the stairs, it made me fucking laugh so hard i was like, bro you expect me to believe you? ok buddy. bye. and hung up it was funny af

20 - talk about something that happened in high school.

^^^ answered above lol.

21 - talk about a time you had to turn someone down.

ggghHHHH ok i had to turn down my friend austin in yr 7 bc domi was pressuring me to go out with him cause i told him about how i used to like him, but for some reason that meant i still liked him to him??? so he kept going on abt it saying ask him out etc so i caved in and did and the date was so shitty i just faked sick and left and we didnt talk for a bit, but thats long gone and we’ve made up now lol, just good friends

22 - talk about your worst fear.

already answered !

23 - talk about a time someone turned you down.

hgg not happened yet,,, thank god

24 - talk about something someone told you that meant a lot.

well whenever someone compliments me on anything really or says im their best friend like??? psjksfjkdjkhfsdjlfds ok dead,,, or when they say i love u i jusT DIE

25 - talk about an ex-best friend.

already answered!

26 - talk about things you do when you’re sick.

already answered !

27 - talk about your favorite part of someone else’s body.

uh??? idk hands. i love hands a lot. and collarbones. and lips. and eyes. and eyebrows. and legs, and tummies and - ok ill shuT Up

28 - talk about your fetishes.

dont really have any. maybe hands

29 - talk about what turns you on.

hands. teehee

30 - talk about what turns you off.

i dunno, any bdsm like at all ahahaha. srry bros

31 - talk about what you think death is like.

i dunno really? sometimes i feel like its nothing, like we’ll just die and stop functioning and just rot and become one with the earth. but sometimes i feel like maybe there is an afterlife, like not what we think but yea? like i dunno.

32 - talk about a place you remember from your childhood.

ohh boy , well one is this river near my house, or creek really. i love it a lot its great, i love going there and watching the birds and hearing the water rush.

33 - talk about what you do when you are sad.

eh, kinda just cry my eyes out and listen to music or watch a good movie and then i feel a bit better.

34 - talk about the worst physical pain you’ve endured.

uh well as of recently i can remember, was when i got jaw surgery in april this year. now this shit was fucking horrible, for a month and a half my face was puffed like a balloon and bruises everywhere, and i literally could not eat cause i couldnt bloody move my mouth! i was confined to my bed and i lost so much weight bc i could barely eat and i was throwing up old blood and shit during that time and i couldnt fucking sit up without drooling cause i couldnt control it it was so fucking gross man. at least i look better now but it was hell lmfao.

35 - talk about things you wish you could stop doing.

uhhh idk maybe staying up all night n shit, i dont think anything else? maybe avoiding school too. oh , and ofc get rid of my depression hahah

36 - talk about your guilty pleasures.

eeeeeee nothing rlly? i dont feel guilty abt shit, i shouldnt

37 - talk about someone you thought you were in love with.

uhm i guess my ex bf tyler, well gf at the time but yea, i loved him a whole lot dkjfdhdhfhkdj but we were only 12-13 yknow and he lived in the us so it was rlly sucky. but it was a good time, just some experience

38 - talk about songs that remind you of certain people.

damn well, sweet child o mine by gnr reminds me of my friend claudia, she LOVES stuff like gnr and ac/dc, motley crue etc. and for u maxie, killer queen def ! and gold dust woman for me friend mazzy,,,, and in my life omg for miriam sjdjdjdjfkg

39 - talk about things you wish you’d known earlier.

already answered !

40 - talk about the end of something in your life.

already answered !

tYSM BBY MAXIE ILYSM

#asks #90-percent-sure

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tinyandsteven · 5 years

Text

21 Questions

itI Hey, guys! I am back and I was tagged by the lovely @antthonys and @clevertony thank you both for that! I love being tagged.

answer 21 questions and tag 21 people you want to know better

Nicknames: My name is Regina but my nickname is Gina so there is that

Zodiac Sign: Capricorn

Height: 5′7

Hogwarts House: Ravenclaw

The Last Thing I Googled: How to measure in feet and inches instead of cm

Favorite Musicians: Hozier, Ariana Grande, Lizzo, Lorde, Lana Del Rey, Queen, Demi Lovato (I usually listen to mixed playlists on Spotify. I love love love the into the Spider Verse Soundtrack )

Song Stuck in Your Head: Truth Hurts by Lizzo

Following: 717

Followers: 1,305 (YOU GUYSSS ARE CRAZY I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHY YOU ALL FOLLOW ME BUT THANK UU I LOVE YOU ALL YOU CAN ALWAYS COME TALK TO ME. I just had 600 the last week and now I have so many like wow wow wow thank you so so much)

Do You Get Asks: No, I don’t but I wish people would interact with me because I am too shy and insecure to start a conversation.

Amount of Sleep: Depends. I can sleep for 12 but I usually wake up after 9-10 hours.

Lucky Number: 3

What You’re Wearing: Black skinny jeans, a blue blouse and an oversized jeans jacket with basic Adidas originals

Dream Job: Either an author or a café owner, ya know I wanna sell my own cupcakes and rainbow milkshakes with open mic nights and like self-made honey and bread and stuff

Dream Trip: Iceland, Norway and a road trip through America and Canada

Instruments: Well, I play the piano but I wish I could play the harp or violin

Languages: Russian is my mother tongue but we moved to Germany when I was 3 so I am fluent in Russian and German, and well English. I also speak a little bit of Spanish and Norwegian.

Favorite Songs: I am currently listening to the Spider Verse Soundtrack, the Someone Great Soundtrack and Lorde Melodrama Album.

Random Fact: I can’t handle money and always always spend it (mostly on books whoops)

Aesthetic: Um I don’t think I have one? Like depressed over Tony Stark maybe.

Tagging: I am just tagging the last 21 people in my notes. Ignore this if you don’t want to participate ♥ @writtenwxrks @ironmanses @guardians-of-stark @itsyourbea @oldschooldean @pepperony3000 @sun-flowerparker @mr-doctor @peter-parker-is-an-angel @pomegranate-pomagranite @hey-its-grey @oneofthenorns @iliveamystery @loki-isnt-so-lucky

#gina talks #tony stark #steve rogers #tag game

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alwayschoosechocolate · 5 years

Text

Are we even speaking the same language? (Part 5)

Sophie moves to Seoul to become a language assistant at one of Seouls biggest music companies. Even though her Korean is far from perfect, she quickly seems to get along with some of the biggest stars in the company. But the language might not be the only barrier, she has to overcome.

Characters: All seven members of BTS, paring between Namjoon x main character

Word count: 3667

Genre: romance, angst, fluff

Comments: When the dialog is written in cursive, it’s in Korean. When it’s bold it’s in danish.

Masterpost with the other parts of the story, can be found here (x)

He didn’t know how to ask, he didn’t know where to go, he didn’t know when to ask. He didn’t know how to approach it. He just knew, he wanted to spend more time with her. Sophie. He just didn’t know how to do that. They had been hanging out together multiple times, but it had always been with the rest of the group or at least some of the other members. Namjoon wanted to hang out with her alone. Like that Saturday in the studio. He smiled at the thought, quickly looking around the dressing room, he was currently sitting in, to see if he had been caught. They had a concert in an hour, and the rest of the members were strewed out in the make-up chairs or on the couches against the wall. None of them were paying attention to him, and he went back to staring at his phone, his thread with Sophie open on the screen. His thumb hovering over the keyboard, trying to come up with a clever excuse to get her alone. He groaned. Yoongi sat down next to him, eyeing his phone.

“You know, for a guy who writes beautiful lyrics about love and his deepest feelings, you sure have a hard time asking a girl out”, he said in an amused tone, making the rest of the members laugh.

“You still haven’t asked her?”, Hoseok asked from one of the make-up chairs. Namjoon shook his head and threw his phone on the table with an annoyed huff. Tae laughed at him.

“What’s the big deal? Just ask if she wants to hang out? I went for ice cream with her yesterday together with Jimin”, Tae said, throwing himself down on the couch next to him.

“Well. I guess the big deal is, that Namjoon doesn’t just want to have ice cream with her”, Suga smirked, and Namjoon sent him an annoyed look.

“Just ask her. What’s the worst that could happen?”, Hoseok asked him.

“You’re not one to talk, Hobi-hyung. You’ve been pining after Cathrine for a year. Just because, she agreed to go on a date with you tomorrow, it doesn’t make you a master on dating”, Jimin laughed, and Hoseok threw a hairbrush at him, earning a laugh from the other boys. The banter went back and forth, but Namjoon wasn’t listening anymore. He was just starring at his phone, trying to figure out how to ask her. Suddenly he felt a soft nudge on his shoulder. Jungkook was looking at him.

“Just ask her, if she wants to hang out, hyung”, he said in a soft voice. “You don’t have to have a masterplan for this. Ask her out for coffee! She loves coffee and cakes.” His soft eyes looked at Namjoon, and he sent the youngest an appreciative smile. Jungkook gave him a small nod, before getting up to get his make-up fixed before the show. Namjoon wrote out the message, but he couldn’t bring himself to press send. When they got called to the stage, he still hadn’t sent it.

When they returned to the dressing room after the concert, sweating and pumped with the energy of the stage, Namjoon went straight to his phone, unlocked it and pressed send, before he had time to reconsider.

Sophie lifted her eyes from the book, as her phone buzzed on the table. Before the screen went black again, she caught a glimpse of the Namjoons name. She quickly sat up, almost dropping her book on the floor, and reached out for her phone. She quickly unlocked it to read the message.

Namjoon / 10:11pm

Hi Soph.

Do you maybe wanna meet up for

some coffee tomorrow?

My treat.

She could almost hear her heartbeat in her ears. Omg. Was he asking her out? “My treat”? That sounded like a date, didn’t it? She jumped up and started pacing the floor. What should she answer? Of course, she would love to, but should she just write that or? She stopped in her tracks, eyeing the empty bookshelves. Dammit! She had to be home tomorrow to receive her books. They were finally arriving from Europe. She bit the inside of the cheek, trying to figure out what to do. She could just invite him here? It would be less formal, more easy-going. And if it got awkward, she could ask him to help her unpack the books? She gave herself a nod and crossed the floor in large strides, picking up her phone and typing out an answer.

Sophie / 10:17pm

Hi Namjoon.

I would love to, but I can’t

leave the apartment tomorrow.

I’ve got some stuff sent from back

home, and they arrive tomorrow,

so I have to be at the apartment.

But you could come to my place?

We can just have coffee here?

She quickly pressed send. She sat down on the couch, her phone still in her hand, waiting for a reply. Her pulse was still high, and her palms were clammy. She almost squealed when the screen lit up again. She hurriedly tapped her password, getting it wrong three times, before finally getting to the message.

Namjoon / 10:19pm

Sure.

Around 2pm?

Send me the address.

Sophie couldn’t help the wide grin settling on her face, and she almost giggled writing out her address to him. She was too excited to go back to reading, so she plugged her phone into the stereo and put on some music. As she started dancing around her living room, she suddenly noticed how messy it was, so she started tidying up. She had to clean a bit as well, before he came tomorrow. She spent a good hour tidying up her apartment, before she went to bed.

When the doorbell rang the next day at 2pm, Sophie had been sitting on the edge of the couch for 20 minutes, trying to read, but she kept forgetting what she had read. She quickly put her book down on the table, weaved her way around the boxes littering the floor and pulled open the front door. Namjoon sent her a dimpled smile, holding up the cakes he had bought on the way.

“Hi! Oh, wow! You brought cakes! Great, I only have coffee”, she said letting him in. She went to the kitchen to make the coffee. He pulled off his shoes and let out a chuckle at the sight of all the boxes.

“How much did you get sent here?”

“My books”, she laughed, as she walked back into the living room, handing him a cup of coffee. He widened his eyes at her answer, looking back at the boxes.

“These are all books? Your books?” She blushed and nodded. “Wow. You weren’t kidding, when you said, you love literature.” He eyed the boxes and the empty shelves. “Are you sure, there is going to be enough room?” She shrugged her shoulders.

“There should be, yeah.” She gave him a big smile, before sitting down on the couch, motioning for him to follow her.

“So, how’s the work with the album going?” She took a sip of her coffee, eyeing him over the rim of the cup.

“Actually, can we not talk about work? It’s just. If we talk about work, I feel like RM. But I would rather be Namjoon with you. I would rather talk about you”, he said, smiling at her. She almost choked on her coffee and had to put it down, because of her coughing. Namjoon shot her a worried glance, and she held up a finger to show, that she just needed a moment. When she was finally able to draw a breath down into her lungs, her cheeks were flaring in embarrassment.

“I’m sorry. Sure, what do you want to know?”

“Well, how about you tell me about Denmark and Germany? How did that happen? I was so sure, you were German.” Sophie grimaced, before she let out a small laugh.

“Yeah, I’ve heard that before. I must look German, somehow. Well, Denmark is a short story. I was born there, I went to school there. In my fourth year of university, I went to Berlin on exchange, and I loved it so much there, that I ended up staying.” She smiled at the memory.

“And is that how you learned German?” Namjoon questioned. She shook her head.

“No. I already had German in school, and I studied it at the university. I have a Masters in German Language and Literature.” Namjoon let out a low whistle.

“Not bad. I wanted to study literature, when I was younger. I still read a lot.”

“Yes, like dark philosophy?”, she giggled. He laughed along with her and nodded.

“Well, yes. Among other things.”

“Tell me about you, Namjoon. Where are you from?”

He told her about Ilsan, where he grew up, his parents and sister. His childhood and way into the world of music. Sophie listened to him with curious eyes, occasionally taking a sip from her coffee.

“I’m really impressed by, what you guys have achieved, how much you’ve fought through, and how you’ve handled it all. You are all so immensely talented in so many areas, and you’re all so kind”, she said, letting out a laugh. “I’m not gonna lie. You’re forcing me to raise my expectations here.” He let out a loud laugh. “No, but in all seriousness. I’m so blown away by it all. I wish, I had something I was that passionate about. And good at”, she added with a laugh.

“It’s okay not to have one burning passion. You’re good at a lot of really complicated things. Believe me, when I tell you, that outside of music and performing, we’re idiots.” Sophie giggled at him. “I’m not kidding. We’re hopeless”, he laughed. “But tell me more about Denmark. I’ve never been there. We went to Sweden, Norway and Finland once, but we missed Denmark.”

Sophie described the long summer nights, the broad beaches, the sweet cakes, the soft rolling landscape and the culture. Namjoon was just observing her features as she spoke. Her eyes crinkling when she smiled, her smile showing one crooked tooth, her hands drawing the scenarios in the air in front of her.

“A lot of people call us out for drinking a lot”, she giggled. “And it’s true! We do drink a lot, but it’s rarely like getting wasted and going clubbing. At least outside of the capital. We like meeting up with our friends for a few beers or drinks.” She smiled to herself. “I kinda miss that. In Germany is was more clubbing.”

“Well, you can always go drinking with us. We don’t do it often, but you’re welcome to join”, he told her, emptying his coffee cup. She thanked him and got up to offer him another cup of coffee.

While eating some of the cake, he had brought, they talked about cultures and languages.

“Why did you learn English?”, Sophie asked, scooping some cake up on her fork.

“My mom wanted me to learn it. We watched Friends together, when I was a kid, so I kinda picked it up from that.” Sophies eyes widened, and she gave his arm a light smack.

“Shut up. You learned English just by watching a TV-show?” He laughed at her reaction and nodded. “Well, that’s it, I guess. That was all I had on you. My ability to learn languages. But you’re a genius at that as well. Dammit, Namjoon. You have to leave something for the rest of us!” She laughed at him.

“Well, how did you learn Korean?”

“I studied it on my own for about a year, and when I applied for the job here, I started taking classes”, she said, reaching out for her coffee from the table. He let out a surprised laugh at her answer.

“Then why are you all over me? You learned a language on your own as well.” He gave her a small shove and winked at her. “We’re pretty badass people, you know.” She giggled with him and put her empty plate down on the table, eyeing the boxes on the floor. She snuck a look at him out the corner of her eye, but he was already looking at her. He smiled widely at her, scrunching up his nose in the process.

“Would I be a terrible host, if I asked you to help me unpack my books?”, she asked, sending him puppy-eyes.

“Absolutely. A horrendous host. The absolute worst”, he answered without missing a beat, looking down at his coffee, before he started laughing. Sophie rolled her eyes at him, but she couldn’t help chuckling.

“Namjoon, I thought you were for real for a second”, she whined, smacking him on the arm.

“Of course, I can help you unpack”, he said, getting up from the couch. Sophie jumped up and gave him a hug, thanking him, before walking over to one of the boxes.

“Okay. I don’t need like a crazy system. I can always organize it later. But I would like to have it divided by languages”, she said, pulling up the first books. “Oh, and all the poetry together as well, regardless of language.” Namjoon laughed softly at how bossy she was with her books, before joining her by the shelves.

They worked quietly for some time, before Namjoon stopped in his tracks, eyeing the book in his hands.

“Eh. Soph. What language is this?”, he asked turning the book towards her. She threw a glance at the book.

“That’s Swedish, but I don’t have that many books in Swedish, so just put it with the ones in Norwegian.” He sent her a helpless look, eyeing the books in his arms, suddenly questioning, if he had placed some of the books on the wrong shelves. She let out a soft laugh.

“Just place them, where you think they belong. I can always reorganize it later.”

“This one is handwritten”, he said looking through a notebook, he had pulled out of one of the boxes. “Is this yours?” Sophies breath caught in her throat, as she eyed the book in his hands. She nodded.

“You wrote this? What it is?”, he asked, eyes sweeping over the page.

"It's my thoughts, my emotions. It's my truth", she said quietly.

"Like poetry?", he asked looking through the book. She hesitated.

"I don't know. I'm a bit afraid to call it poetry. It makes it very real somehow. It's just me." She wasn't sure what to do with herself, moving her weight from one foot to the other.

"They're not all in English?", he asked, looking at one of the pages, where the text was in Danish.

"No, some are in English, some in Danish, some in German. Some of them a mixture of different languages", she answered, her palms getting sweaty. Even though she knew he didn't understand the ones in German and Danish, it still made her anxious to see him examining her deepest thoughts like this. "It's just how my brain works", she added in a small voice.

He quietly turned the pages, looking at each page before continuing. "You write very blunt and direct. Very honest. There isn't a lot of metaphors or analogies here." He finally looked up, catching her eyes. She nodded.

"I spent too long analyzing and understanding my own emotions and thoughts. I'm not gonna start hiding them again. Not even if it is just behind words", she explained, reaching out for the book. Namjoon handed it to her and noticed how delicately she was handling it. Softly closing it, and gently placing it on the windowsill. She let out an obvious relieved sigh, and Namjoon suddenly wondered if he had overstepped a boundary with her.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pry", he said. Sophie shook her head.

"It's okay. I just haven't ever really shown anyone." She went back to unpacking the boxes, placing books on the empty shelves.

"How come?", he asked, as he joined her in the unpacking.

"I just…", she stopped in her tracks for a moment, biting the inside of her cheek, debating how to answer. "I guess, I never really felt like people would care enough to know my thoughts."

"I would like to know your thoughts… if you would let me?", he asked her, looking at her. Her eyes seemed to search his, looking for a sign of him joking. She gave him a small nod.

"Okay. But could you not read it in front of me?", she asked, blushing. She got self-conscious. She felt like, she was naked in front of him. Actually, no. Not naked. This was worse. A lot of people had seen her naked. No one had ever read her deepest thoughts before. She was stripping her mind for him, and she felt incredibly vulnerable. He could sense her getting uncomfortable, so he pulled her in for a hug.

"Of course. Thanks for trusting me enough to share it with me", he said into her hair. Pulling back, he busied himself with the books, giving her time to calm herself.

After about 30 minutes, they had unpacked all the boxes. Sophie sat on the floor admiring the view of all her books on the dark shelves. Six different languages. Over 500 books. Thousands of different cultures and stories. She couldn’t help the big smile creeping up her face.

Namjoon snapped a photo of her sitting in front of the books and chuckled softly at how cute she was, sitting on the floor. She turned around at the sound of his laugh.

“Are you laughing at me?”, she asked, getting up off the floor, walking towards him with a huge grin on her face.

“I would never laugh at you”, he feigned offense, that she would even think that, and she laughed at him. He sent her a soft dimple smile, and she poked one of his dimples with her finger.

“Hm. Sure, you wouldn’t”, she hummed. He couldn’t help blushing at the contact, and she giggled at his response.

Suddenly, his phone rang. As he pulled it out of his pocket, Sophie saw Sugas name flashing on the screen. Ah, he probably had to go into the studio then. Namjoon exchanged a few sentences on the phone before hanging up and turning back to Sophie.

“I have to go to the studio. Apparently, there is something that just can’t wait until tomorrow”, he huffed, annoyance clear in his voice. Sophie laughed at his reaction.

“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it. Do you want to bring the rest of the cakes? Maybe that’ll soften them up?”, she asked, with a crooked smile.

“I doubt it. No, you keep them. I bought them for you”, he said, sending her a warm smile, making her blush. He grabbed the notebook from the windowsill and held it up to her.

“You still okay with letting me read this?” His eyes were soft, clearly wanting to make sure, she wasn’t uncomfortable with it. She nodded, a little nervous, but she had already said yes, so why not. He gave her a bright smile and leaned down to press a kiss to her cheek, before leaving the apartment with a goodbye shouted over his shoulder. As the door slammed shut, Sophie was standing in the middle on the living room with her hand on her cheek. He had kissed her. A giggle came bubbling over her lips, and another one, and suddenly she was laughing almost manically. When she finally stopped, her heart was bursting, her eyes shining and her cheeks glowing. She eyed her bookshelves and grinned again. Wow.

As Namjoon was making his way towards the studio in a taxi, he started looking through the notebook again, this time really taking his time. He was curious as to what kind of thoughts, Sophie felt like she had to put down. They were all deeply personal. Some of them dealing with expectations, some of them with culture and languages. A lot of them was about not apologizing for being who you are. It seemed like she had been struggling with finding her identity. They were raw and honest. He was impressed with her way of describing her feelings like this. He wanted to understand all the poems though. He might have to find someone to help him translate. One of the poems had caught his attention already at her apartment. He found it again on one of the last pages.

It doesn’t get better.

It gets easier.

and I don’t know

if that’s reassuring

or terrifying

He read it a few times, before putting the book down in his lap, looking out the window. She was obviously battling some stuff. And this was her way of letting it out. If possible, he was now even more interested in her.

He spent a few hours at the studio with Suga and Pdogg, polishing off some songs for the new album. He was distracted and kept zoning out, causing the others to curse at him multiple times. When they were finally done, he rushed Yoongi to pack up, so they could get back to the dorm.

He walked straight to his room, opening his laptop. When he checked his phone, he found a text from Sophie.

Sophie / 10:17pm

Thanks for the help today. And the cakes! They’re delicious. I had a lot of fun.

He smiled at the text, typed out a reply and pressed send, before pulling up an online dictionary on the computer and opening Sophies notebook on the table next to it.

Sophies phone buzzed in her hand.

Namjoon / 10:25pm

You’re welcome. Thanks for the coffee, and for letting me help you. I enjoyed it as well. Let’s do it again. Soon.

Sophie grinned like an idiot at her phone, before setting her alarm and burrowing herself under the covers. She kept smiling into the dark, until she fell asleep.

Comment: Ah, can you feel it? We’re getting there! I have so many parts written out from later in the story, but I have to be patient. Just trust me, when I say there is a whole lot of both fluff and angst coming up.

Enjoy!

// Part 6 //

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melekseev · 5 years

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so i FINALLY bring you my esc19 toplist, all under the cut, with short comments.

also be aware i literally... enjoy my top 31. so twenty something places might sound bad.. BUT THEYRE REALLY NOT, I JUST LOVE A LOT. i went into this year thinking it was weak, and then after i had this playlist on so much, hello, i love a ton. nevertheless, just my taste and opinions and good luck to all of them~

1. France ABSOLUTE KIN G stuck in first place because this is undoubtedly my most listened song this year, and i'm absolutely hooked on it. i am somewhat worried about that coming revamp, but. but i fcking love this song, and he improved those vocals like d amn 2. Russia i.... am in love. every time i hear this song it gets me into that sort of dramatic ecstasy and it's so big and beautiful that it just... it kills me. i die. thats it 3. Italy soldi is still my jam, and i adore it to bits 4. Slovenia this masterpiece is one i just want to protect. so soothing, i LOVE listening to it, it's just ethereal 5. Netherlands this song, at one point, was almost at every possible spot on my list from middle to top 15, but then it stuck with me and now it's utter love 6. Hungary i adore his voice, no bias. his whole vibe, his unique delivery and technique, that folky sound, like... yes please 7. Switzerland i am not ashamed to say i am utter trash for this song. every single part i love about this. like holy shit, this time switzerland better make it thEY EARNED IT 8. Australia she is QUEEN, i considered dropping it from my top 10 when trying to readjust ONE TIME and upon relistening i instantly was like "okay no way it's going anywhere", i just unironically love it a LOT 9. Norway actual legends... this song just cheers me up to SUCH an extent! love the joiking... i love eveything, bless you norway 10. Belgium at first, i had issues with it, because i wanted a bigger drop near the end, but now i'm just absolutely... in love... it convinced me. the instrumental, the building up, the dark undertone, just. i adore this 11. Poland oH I LOVE THEM SO MU CH. li s t en. i can't explain it, but they give me like a lowkey vibe of soft punk-rock theme but also like...?? japanese pop?? but no, it's polish and slavic and traditional and i'm really really vibing with it, because some of it is familiar from my own culture, and these girls S LAY 12. Albania albania always delivering those vocals.. i love the mystical vibe with the ethnic sound, it's simply gorgeous 13. San Marino can you believe i unironically HONESTLY thoroughly enjoy this song?? serhat is an icon, but his voice actually really fits with this song and i always get super into it. i'm so happy this exists lmao 14. Azerbaijan i'm very very much into this song, and i'm EXTREMELY curious to see how he pulls this off live as it seems to be such a radio song, but i have hopes. i just dig it, like... like a LOT 15. Czech Republic this is the most chill song this year, and despite the silly, easygoing lyrics it's just... extremely fun, and it's been my jam since it came out 16. Croatia listen. l i sten. i love... theatrical. i love big strong voice explosions. this CHILD is talented as fuck. i know many people hate this, but the song actually grew on me, and then today i just honestly love it. i wish the whole song was in croatian, but even with the not so great lyrics, i'm eating it up and singing along. i know he won't make it, but oh well. it's okay Roko, i love your voice and song 17. Armenia i really love this one, too. she convinced me further in amsterdam bc she absolutely killed it (although i feel like she had a nervous slip in the very beginning) but then after that.. holyshit. such a tiny girl with such a huge voice 18. Spain honestly, if you tell me earlier it would end up this high at one point i wouldn't believe you.. i never /hated/ it per se, but i also wasn't really impressed or as into it as most people were. i think the revamp was the one that convinced me in the end, because it forced me to face the fact that i do honestly enjoy this more than i want to. also now im nostalgic towards anything spanish, even if its different, bye 19. Finland yes, this might be nothing special, but i just... enjoy it. i genuinely do, and there are certain parts i especially love, and so therefore. like. yes. 20. Estonia as much as i didn't want to like this originally, i do. like, i really do. it just happened, and i'm not mad about it 21. Romania this song is a big grower for me, and to this day the more i hear it the more i get into it still 22. UK Michael's live delivery elevates this otherwise not so amazing song like... so much. i feel like the UK does tend to send songs with this particular theme, but i actually enjoy it quite a lot when he's doing it live. his voice is impressive, and so... here he. 23. Sweden these two ^ i always moved around together for some reason, as if they were linked, which might be because John wrote both songs, although i learned that later(??? but in the end, i feel like i prefer UK a bit more. this is also really good though, it works, and it has a great vibe for esc 24. Portugal so this one slipped quite far off, as with time i sort of lost the enthusiasm for it. i still find it unique and enjoy it nevertheless though, so it could definitely be worse 25. Greece i'm in quite a pickle because after not necessarily being super into this song, i started to really like it (VOICE, BRUH) but then the amsterdam concert happened. I KNOW she was sick, though, so i sort of have this on hold. if she delivers later, which i'm sure she will, she stays, but if not, this might drop a few slots 26. Lithuania this is another song that just makes me happy and makes me smile, and i can't explain it. i love lionboy. i'm just here for it 27. Serbia her voice is quite literally pristine, i love that she's singing in serbian, and i do appreciate her a lot as i honestly enjoy this song when it's on. it tends to slip my mind, though, which i hate it does, because it's beautiful and i'm rooting for her 28. Cyprus super unpopular opinion, but i actually like this a lot more than Fuego, and don't necessarily compare the two. HOWEVER i do kinda feel like i'm seeing the same thing from the same country, like, immediately after, which makes me a little less excited about it, oof 29. North Macedonia see, the message is very nice. the song actually grew on me a bit compared to the first time i heard it, but i still just... wish it was better. i like it overall, but it's just about pushing it 30. Israel he's actually very talented and on point vocally. the only reason it's not higher is simply because it's just not really my style, but it's one i still appreciate on stage 31. Georgia there is something about this that i like. i respect him, and when near the end there's sooo much power, then especially i really dig it 32. Montenegro the revamp did help them quite a lot, but overall it still kinda feels like a high school chorus, and i'm just not really for it 33. Moldova her voice is really nice, and despite how i found it just... done several times and kind of boring (oops), her live made me appreciate this just a bit more 34. Ireland i feel like this song is just kind of... there, for the sake of being there. it's not even bad, it's just... meh? 35. Malta that chorus is a major turn off for me, and it's neeeearing that point where a song just starts to annoy me... which i feel like is worse than simply not liking something, so it's on thin ice 36. Austria first of all i think her voice is very lovely. BUT... after about the 4th yo-o-o-ouh it does tip and starts to annoy me, which i wish it didn't, but... but it does 37. Belarus i wanna talk about how they had a huge shot with Michael Soul, but i will not go down that road and focus on Zena. this song just feels like a mess to me. like... a young britney spears song, but bad. i really don't get the appeal, at all 38. Latvia hhhhhhh. this one annoys me so much, i just can't begin to explain. it's flat, repetitive, and the chorus (??) fries my nerves in a matter of seconds, IM SORRY 39. Denmark oof... o o of. i don't want to be rude but basically this feels exactly like what you'd expect a junior eurovision song to be like.... except those are actually better. it's just... no. no. way too much sugar. it’s all just... no 40. Germany speaking of songs that annoy me? i feel like this is definitely the one i can't stand the most. *screeches* SISTAH x4 41. Iceland listen i'm not going to talk about this for long but basically i really heavily dislike this for a few reasons and can never listen all the way through without like.. suffering. the funniest thing is that i love the beat. but then.. the singing (NOT even the style) it just. it makes me angry, cuz this could be good. but it's not. also i don't like the pretend-gay stuff. but that's just me

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smoldinopup · 6 years

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Taemin @ Music Bank 2018.09.15 #fan account

I hope it’s okay that I tag everyone who liked my post about writing a fan account. If you don’t care about reading it, please just ignore it. ^^”

@choiminoh @killyth (tumblr won’t allow me to tag you D:) @moshiznik @chocolatcandy @jinkirella @gone-with-the-bling @frostymist13 (I can’t tag you either - what is this sorcery?) @jasthelion @petitshinee

The people who have read my previous fan accounts know that I ramble a lot in them, so I apologize for that in advance. I will talk about the whole experience which will also include the time before the actual concert. If you don’t want to read the before you can just scroll to the part titled “Concert”

I flew to Berlin on Friday morning and had to get up in the middle of the night (3:30 AM) for it. While I boarded the plane at 7 AM in the morning all I could think was “I’m getting too old for this – for all of this!” Funnily enough I already spotted other fans at the gate flying to Berlin as well. In the morning I met up with a friend of mine who happened to be in Berlin as well on that weekend. We had breakfast and went to a museum; one of those you in which you stand in front of an object, wondering if “this this art or can it be thrown away?”. Later on I checked into my hostel and met one of my roommates. I shared a room with two other SHINee fans who I met on a Discord channel that was created for the sole purpose of Taemin at Music Bank. She was very lovely, but quickly vanished because she had to wait in line at the concert hall for a number. The numbering system for the standing tickets was a complete mess and people already camped in front of the concert hall on Thursday. My other roommate only arrived at 2 AM in the morning, because after his flight from Denmark he immediately went to the venue to get a number as well. I was just glad that I had a seat and didn’t have to worry about getting a number.

Friday afternoon I met up with @sobeautifulitkillsme which was very frightening and terrifying! I’ve met her on tumblr in July of 2016 and have kept talking to her ever since. I think it was the longest time I’ve talked to someone online that intensely without having them met in real life before. But good news! We don’t hate each other’s guts now and still talk just as much *throws confentti*

We went to a planetarium because that’s what you do people! Anyway, we had a fun time together and when I came back to the hostel at around 11 PM I just showered (the washroom was awful) and fell into my bed.

The next morning I grabbed breakfast with one of my roommates before we drove to the hall at around 10 AM. The lines were already incredibly long at that point. A lot of fansites and support sites handed out banners, balloons, photocards, and in the case of shawolseurope even lightsticks at the park right next to the venue and the lines for the goods were ridiculous long. You automatically meet a lot of people while waiting for stuff or just hanging around, so I talked to a lot of people though I’ve never learned any of their names. I still wonder who that girl from Norway was. She seemed very nice but I lost sight of her when I had to get into another line. :(

After getting banners I joined my Danish roommate beneath a tree in the park because I didn’t know anyone there and had no idea what I was supposed to do until the concert. My roommate happened to know taedelight who sat beneath the tree as well to give out her super beautiful postcards, therefore I witnessed a lot of Shawols squealing over meeting her. That was very adorable to witness from an outsider point of view. ^^ Anyway, we sat beneath that tree until 3 PM before the people with the standing tickets went into their standing sections (cages - we called them cages) and I went back to the hostel to grab something to eat.

I came back to the venue at 6 PM and sneaked in line for the seating tickets because I spotted Gitte (bblingspot) and while doing so I discovered an old student of mine sitting on the ground (I already feared that would happen because I had so many Kpop fans sitting in my classes). My seat was in Block P and funnily enough I ended up sitting next to a Taemint. The people to my right were all EXO fans and when I stored all my stuff beneath the seat I turned towards her and asked “Are you German?” because I noticed that she was alone in this Block as well. After she answered with Yes and I went on to ask “Whom are you here for?” and she said “For Taemin <3” all I could say was “That’s the correct answer” and we talked throughout the show. She was still super young (either 17 or 18, I forgot) and her friends were in the standing section. She had been a Taemin fan for five years already and was so nervous and excited to finally see him live. I more or less mothered her through the show, told her that it’s okay if she has to cry and if she needs some support that I’m right next to her. She already lost it when Taemin came on stage for the entrance. It was very cute, because I could relate to this so much since I still remember how I felt when Jonghyun came on stage during my first concert of his

.Concert

Everyone screamed their lungs out when the show finally started. It was insane. Really. One by one the artists came on stage with Korean and German flags in their hands and the volume of the screams only rose. Before the actual start of the show the organizers had already shown videos of the participating artists on the screen and that was already insane. I think I’ve never screamed and cheered as loud as I did during Taemin’s performances before, but as a Shawol I felt the urge to let Taemin know that many people also came to Berlin to cheer for him.

Taemin looked soooo beautiful!! I’ve already seen him live with black hair, and with blue hair, and with blond hair ….but the way they styled his hair that evening! That was incredibly beautiful. I was already in awe after he had just entered the stage. At first I thought he might be not in a good mood because him and the EXO members all looked bored out of their minds in the background while the MCs spoke to the audience, but later on he smiled so much and looked so genuinely happy to be there that I thought the sun was up.

After the introduction all the performers disappeared from the stage again and the concert started with Stray Kids. Except for EXO and obviously Taemin I had no idea who the other artists were, only knew them by name but had not heard a single song by any of them. However, I was pleasantly surprised by Stray Kids! I liked them a lot. They were fun to watch, the songs were nice, and they performed well. Since this wasn’t a SHINee concert it was fun to watch the single SHINee lightsticks stand out from the rest of the audience. Even while Taemin wasn’t performing Shawols supported the other artists by waving their pearl aqua lightsticks around to cheer for them which I thought was very nice. I wasn’t too impressed by either G-Idle’s nor Wanna One’s performances. They both performed really well and sung really well, but the songs just weren’t my cup of tea but it was lovely to hear how many cheered for the only girlgroup in the mix since girlgroups always have it harder at these kind of events (or let’s be honest - in general).

I remember how everyone on tumblr speculated what mysterious performance Taemin could do in Germany after performing Despacito in Chile and Reality in France. My neighbor and I really hoped he would pull a Rammstein or something, but then Chanyeol came on stage with a song that was such an obvious choice that I facepalmed myself for not having it on my mind beforel. Oh my! I mentioned only a week or two ago that in another life I’d be a total Chanyeol stan, because in my world we support talent and musicality, and his performance of Wind of Change was just so lovely?!?!?!?!?!?!?! I melted into a puddle of goo. He performed it with a guitar and his pronunciation was so good and I was all heart eyes.😍

The thing is Wind of change is an incredibly old song, and I’m quite sure 80% of the audience who were 18 or younger had never heard this song before which I think was sad, but I sang along very, very loudly while waving my SHINee lightsticks around (me an actual old person getting all nostalgic). There were also other special stages with Boney M. songs, but just with the Scorpions I’m quite sure most of the audience had no idea who Boney M. were. :’)

Stray Kids, Wanna One, and G-Idle also performed other popular Kpop songs from BTS, GOT7 and Big Bang and the whole venue was shaking. There were also quizzes in between the performances and during one of those quizzes the audience had to decide whether the statements were true or false by making an O or X with their hands. All the artists’ questions were very simple to answer but then the Taemin question was “Taemin’s bloodtype is B” and the whole audience fell silent except for Shawols who all formed an OOOOOOOOOO with their hands. I only said to my neighbor….a question only Shawols can answer. I don’t know why they chose that question to be honest?!! But there was also the statement “Taemin looks very pretty” and the screen showed a short clip of Taemin backstage looking all cute and angelic and everyone was losing it. LMAO

I’m not biased when I say that Taemin got the most standing ovation. I mean EXO-Ls were insanely loud, but the cheers were still very different. Taemin came on stage and everyone was like

(╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻ AJIAJSGPIJAPGJWAPSJGPDHOAJORSFJOÜVANWOAJSÜGOJAGOJA!!!!

Myself included!

Even on the way home fans from other groups praised him. He just has that effect on people. But I also heard someone next to us say before the concert “When Taemin comes on stage my friend is going to leave the venue. She hates him and I was just like ???? Why? How? How can anyone hate Taemin? For what? For being awesome???? I was very confused by that statement to be honest.

Taemin started off with MOVE and I was so happy to finally see that performance live. Oh man, he looked so good *cries* The fanchants were so good! The best fanchants during the evening! I was so proud of Shawols! I even received comments from Korean shawols on the video I uploaded, praising Ishawols for their fanchants. They were really good and all on point! You did well Shawols!!!

Taemin was all professionally sensual during the performance but as soon as he song was over he smiled so brightly. It was soooooo adorable. Unlike the other performers he didn’t say anything in German or English, which I thought was a pity. (Addition: Apparently he did say “Hallo ich bin Taemin von SHINee” but I didn’t hear that. It must have been drowned out by cheers) Either way, in that moment I had the very sad thought that if Jonghyun would be standing there on stage (as a known lover of the German language) he probably would have said “Achtung Achtung! Ich bin Jonghyun” unleashing all his German skills. :’)

So, Taemin continued talking and joked around with the audience, being his playful and dorky self and I think at this point everyone in the audience was already in love with him. I mean how can you not? He’s just so precious. He performed Press Your Number next (that’s the point when I started filming as well). After Press Your Number Taemin showed us his surprise and all the Shawols went crazy when Minho and Key appeared on the screen behind Taemin. I already expected something like an introduction for Taemin like Key did for the Music Bank in Chile but hearing them sing together was too much for my poor heart. It was soooo precious. Taemin’s face lit up so much when he saw his members on the screen, it was so cute, all my mother feels awakened and I cheered even louder.

Taemin also performed Hynposis and Danger and both performances were soooooooo awesome. The Shawol ocean looked so beautiful during Hypnosis and I was so touched by how many pearl aqua lightsticks lit up during it. Taemin sounded absolutely fantastic through all of his performances and his outfit was sooo nice and he looked so handsome in it. I was so sad when he left after his last performance because he could have stayed there forever. I don’t think EXO-Ls would have approved of that, but it was so nice to see him live again after over a year.

For the final everyone came back again to the main stage, holding banners in their hands and when Taemin turned to our side I started waving both my lighsticks very frantically and he waved back almost as frantically with both arms ;_; It was adorable. In general, Taemin made sure to walk to every section and wave at all the pearl aqua lightsticks he could see. Such a precious human. The show ended with Gangnam style and while Taemin held back at first he then wandered over to Kai, whispered something into his ear and the two of them walked to the middle of the center stage together with someone from Wanna One (don’t know his name…I’m sorry) and then they went completely nuts, acting like absolute dorks. I think you can find a video of that as well. All this couldn’t be seen on the main screen though, because the people behind the camera had a thing for Daniel Kang (who I only know from watching Master Key) and filmed him throughout the final stage – literally only him – nobody else. I was very confused.

When everyone threw their banners into the audience I already expected great things from Taemin and he didn’t disappoint. He went to the edge of the stage and threw his banner – very poorly. It fell down right away and didn’t even reach the first row. I laughed so hard at that. He threw it so gracefully and yet he failed completely….He was the only one who didn’t manage to throw the banner accurately I might add. I don’t know what happened to it later. One of the staff might have picked it up to hand it to one of the fans.

Everything went by so quickly and before I knew what was happening I was outside of the venue already, looking for my roommates. It was such a nice experience, really. And it was so lovely to see Taemin smile so brightly and look so happy to see so many Shawols in the audience. It warmed my heart. Really.

This was very fragmentary but Taemin only performed 4 songs + the “I want you” duet with MinKey, so there is not much else to say. But you all probably have seen photos/videos of his performances already and know how beautiful he looked that night – he really did.

I hope he will have a splendid time during his Japan tour and will rock the audience. But I also hope that he will have time to rest in between, because this tour surely will bring him to his limits. Please take good care of yourself, Taeminnie! Eat well and rest well! You deserve the world!!!

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#dü speaks #lee taemin #SHINee

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