#so far it's been all the two person team's that win the vote but I think this'll change it | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

diana-rose-25 · 6 months

Text

— Let's Dance

PART 1 - PART 2 - PART 3

Style Inspiration

pairing/s: BEBE! Bada Lee x Jam Republic! Reader x Wolf'Lo! Chocol

warnings: None so far, an unrealistic description of being an exchange foreign student, might confuse some words in ballet (as most of them are only through research and not based on experience).

description: A professional ballet dancer in Street Woman Fighter Season 2? (Y/N) Bae, a 23-year-old ballet and dance prodigy enters the fighting arena alongside the infamously known crew, Jam Republic. Making the team's aura far more intimidating despite being clad in soft pink and white clothing, adorned with astonished faces and friendly smiles. As the young woman entered the arena with curious eyes and small smile, the other teams couldn't help but awe at her beauty and elegant aura, unknowingly capturing the eyes of two charismatic dancers.

word count: 9.3k

status: unedited

now listening to:

"Monika, our fight judge. What will be your criteria today?" Kang Daniel, the host, asked Monika once the commotion has died down.

"Honestly, some of the dance leaders here have been a dance contest judge for a long time. So, I dare say, I'll be cruelly objective and consider only what I see here. I won't consider my seniors' achievements in the past but only by result."

Shownu followed up next. “Based on what I’ve learned in my music career, and my sincere love for this show, I’ll evaluate your dance honestly.”

“Everybody in here is a professional. I don’t need to tell you that, and it’s going to be whoever’s day it is today. I have much respect for all of you guys. I’ll do my best to be a perfect judge for you today.” Mike Song concluded.

(Y/N) nodded and clapped in appreciation. The fact that the judges said their objectives loudly and unapologetically made her breathe a sigh of relief. Especially since her senior and former teacher, Baby Sleek, is a participant of this competition. In her mind, and mostly the minds of the others, Baby Sleek is untouchable on the dance floor.

Her heart dropped at the thought of battling one-on-one with her former teacher. She is confident in her skills and talent on the dance floor, but facing off against Baby Sleek – she’ll be lucky if she even gets one vote from the judges. Everything she learned about freestyle dancing and hip hop stems from her.

The final person to be introduced was none other than DJ SOM before the rules of the challenge were explained. Each dancer will be given 40 seconds to dance. When it’s over, the judges will hold up their cards to decide the winner. But if two or more judges ask for a rematch, the two dancers will dance at the same time to determine the winner. According to the results, the crew will get a chip to put it on the crew board and count the wins and losses.

“No Respect, Battle with the Weakest Dancer. We’ll begin Round One!” The room burst into cheers once again when Kang Daniel announced the official start of the battle.

(Y/N) held up her interlinked hands with Ling and Emma as she cheered and stomped her feet in excitement. “Let’s go!”

“Oh my gosh, it’s starting!” Ling exclaimed, turning from side to side to warm up her body.

“I’m so nervous right now,” Emma admitted and leaned against (Y/N). The older girl giggled at her team mate and wrapped her arm around her. Running her hand up and down against the younger one’s arm to soothe her nerves.

“I know! Me too, but this is all so exciting!”

“Easy for you to say,” Ling nudged her. “You’re the most experienced freestyle battler in here other than Emma.”

“That doesn’t make it any less nerve-wrecking, Ling.” She nudged the girl back and squeezed her hand. They turned their attention back to the MC as he’s about to announce who will open the first dance battle of the season. “Who do you think it’s going to be?”

(Y/N) shrugged, “I don’t know. Hopefully they start out the season with a bang.”

“The first dancer for the first battle is…”

Jam Republic leaned in their seats in anticipation, holding their breath for as long as Kang Daniel trailed off. Hearts throbbing against their chest.

“From 1MILLION, Redy.” The 1MILLION crew immediately stands up from their seat to cheer their fellow member on. A tall girl clad in white cap, white long-sleeved clothing, and dark jeans stands up and makes her way down the seats.

From what (Y/N) could recall from the evaluation, Redy started dancing at 16 years old with a unique style. To her surprise, Redy was older than her by 2 years despite looking so young.

“I wonder who her No Respect Dancer is,” (Y/N) thought as she leaned back in her seat. “Do you think it’s one of us?”

“Doubt it,” answered Emma. “she might pick someone whose style is completely different from her. Or pick someone she has a bad blood with, it’s not uncommon.”

(Y/N) hummed in agreement, feeling her body relax. What Emma said earlier was true, it isn’t uncommon when it comes to dance offs. Some people tend to choose their opponents based on their past. Personally, she finds the means distasteful and unprofessional; but, it can’t be helped. She, herself, had experienced to being picked for the same reason when she was on competitions.

“If she picks someone she has beef with, do you think she’ll give us a good fight or not?” Emma shook her head in response.

“Probably not, it’s usually not a good idea to pick someone from the past. Emotions and tensions could rise and get in the way of a good freestyle.”

“That’s true,” (Y/N) nodded as she watches Redy walk in front to the center of the arena with a microphone between her hands.

As Redy started to speak, she walked towards the space of Wolf’Lo, surprising them and (Y/N). “Oh my gosh is she picking one of them?” The girl held her hand up to her mouth in shock when the girl clad in white continued to walk towards the orange team.

“The No Respect Dancer, I choose…” Redy trailed off once again and (Y/N) couldn’t help but smile at her braveness if she ever picks one of the dancer from Wolf’Lo.

She then turned to the other way, making (Y/N) puff out her cheeks in disappointment. As heavy as the tension is right now, one member of Wolf’Lo couldn’t help but grin at her adorable (from what she noticed so far) mannerisms.

Jam Republic watches as Redy takes a u turn and walks to the other side of the arena as she announces who her No Respect Dancer is, “it’s Bada of BEBE.”

The arena erupted in cheers. (Y/N) shoots up from her seat with a squeal and watches as Bada nods her head and stands up, flipping the bottled water in her hand as she did so.

“That was so cool,” she whispered with a quiet, girlish giggle. Ling and Emma laughed at their team member and joined her as she stands up, wanting to see the commotion clearly.

“Bada isn’t even dancing yet,” Ling teased to which (Y/N) just hushed her.

“She’s the famous, trendy choreographer right?” The ballet dancer nodded to Emma’s question.

“Her strongest link is making choreographies. Most popular K-pop dances was made by her. Since she’s more known for her choreographed works, I’m excited to see her freestyle.”

The two dancers began pacing around in the dance floor. There was a noticeable heavy tension in the air as they both prepare for the fight. Everyone is talking about their past, making the atmosphere heavier than it already was.

“Redy of 1MILLION, you chose Bada of BEBE as your No Respect Dancer.” Kang Daniel started.

“I don’t respect you, that’s it.” Redy stated bluntly. Bada placed a hand to her ear as she talks, mockingly insinuating that she’s listening closely to what she says. The room erupted in cheers, even judge Mike has his jaw on the floor.

“Not Redy, Soo Bin!” Bada exclaimed, using Redy’s real name. “You’re still an eight-grader to me.”

(Y/N)’s eyes widened at the drama that was unfolding right in front of her, wishing she has something she can chew or sip on as she watches their back and forth. A shocked laugh escaped her mouth when Bada called her an eight-grader.

“Wait, what did she say?” Ling questions when her ear piece stops working momentarily, unable to catch the insult Bada threw at her opponent. Her expression turned to shock immediately after (Y/N) translated it to her. “Oh, damn. She’s a gangster right?”

“Yeah,” Latrice said, “I like her energy.”

Jam Republic laughs as Redy mimicked a baby by placing her thumb to between her lips. (Y/N) claps her hands in excitement as Kang Daniel announces the first attack to be made by Redy followed by Bada.

“Let’s go!” She shouts, bouncing on her toes.

“The two dancers’ battle begins now. You guys ready?!” (Y/N) claps even harder when she heard the infamous line. “Fight!”

Music filled the arena and the lights dimmed, the 40 second timer appeared on the huge screen and all dancers are hyped to watch the fight. The first beats of the music started and Redy started grooving into the music, her members cheering her on from behind her.

(Y/N) watched with keen eyes as Redy danced. The older girl was flexible, that’s for sure, and she is hitting the beats. Redy’s style was certainly unique. However, in her opinion, it lacks in any form of wow factor.

She still cheered and clapped her hands afterwards and the music switched, signalling Bada’s turn. Her voice increased in volume when Bada spins and comes up to Redy’s face, standing tall to enunciate their height difference without the use of words.

“I hate it when people use their height!” She giggled when she heard Chocol whined.

“Oh my gosh!”

“Oh my gosh, she’s so tall!” Ling and (Y/N) exclaimed at the same time. The latter girl hides her face in her hand, parting her fingers so she can still see the battle as she feels them become hot. Their eyes momentarily meets for a second and she swore the corners of Bada’s lips curved up for a second.

The eye contact didn’t last long when Bada suddenly swats the air on the top of Redy’s head. (Y/N)’s eyes stayed glued to Bada’s dancing, mesmerized at the clean and sharp moves she does. She couldn’t help but cheer at the way Bada hits each beat of the music and the way she grooves. Bada’s time comes to an end as she spits the piece of paper in her mouth. The room erupted in cheers and claps and at the end of the battle.

“What the heck,” Ling said in astonishment as they sit back down.

“That was so good,” (Y/N) said. “A great battle to start off the season.”

Everyone returned to their respective seats as Redy, Bada, and Kang Daniel stands at the center for the announcement of the results. When the cards flipped, 3 blue cards appeared at the judge’s hands.

Team BEBE cheered as they secured their first win, and Bada certainly secured a title for herself as one of the most talented and skilled individuals of the show. The dancers returned to their seats as the judges tells their thoughts about the battle.

“I was impressed by both of you,” Shownu started, “Redy of 1MILLION shocked me. But, I reckon that Bada’s move suited the song more and she was more relaxed.”

“I’ll be honest to help you improve, you’re still and eighth-grader even from my point of view.” Emma, Ling, and (Y/N)’s mouth parted in shock at Monika’s comment, feeling bad for the 1MILLION dancer. “But, Bada is certainly out of this league.”

“Damn,” was (Y/N)’s only comment – watching as BEBE place their first chip on the win score board and Bada attach the chip on the lose side of 1MILLION’s board.

⁽⁠⁽⁠ଘ⁠(⁠ ⁠ˊ⁠ᵕ⁠ˋ⁠ ⁠)⁠ଓ⁠⁾⁠⁾

A short break was conducted after the first battle between Bada and Redy. Jam Republic sat around in a circle as they debriefed about the event earlier. As they talked however, (Y/N) couldn’t help but point out the several eyes that is currently looking in their direction. More specifically:

“You got a lot of eyes on you Kirsten,” she whispered towards her leader. “Not just the dancers, but the judges as well.”

“Really?” Kirsten smiles before she looks around. Sure enough, there were several dancers looking at her direction, even Monika and Shownu.

The rest of the team giggled when Kirsten smiled giddily at them, feeling a burst in her confidence.

“I think they’re looking forward to see you dance,” Latrice tapped her shoulders. They returned to their original positions when Kang Daniel came back to the center.

“The next dancer to participate in the one-on-one battle is,” he pauses for dramatic effect. “Jam Republic’s Kirsten!”

The room once again erupted in cheers and claps as the most anticipated dancer of the season smiles and makes her way towards the middle.

“Hello,” the leader greeted with a chuckle. “No Respect Dancer that I would like to defeat…”

As she trailed off, the dancers’ eyes shift from side-to-side in anticipation with a touch of agitation and intimidation. They could feel Kirsten’s intimidation aura, and most of them are terrified at the thought of going one-on-one with her.

“Waackxxxy.” She said, gesturing to the said dancer who grinned from her seat.

The teams and even Monika acclaims in delight as they are about to witness a great battle between two, strong dancers.

From the evaluation, Waackxxxy is a phenomenal dancer with powerful moves and an unmatched energy. Kirsten immediately picked her as her No Respect Dancer to push herself. Jam Republic and Mannequeen members stands behind their respective dancer who will compete on one-on-one.

“When I watched the video, you were world-class and I would love to take you on. Let’s Battle.” Waackxxxy nodded her head in appreciation. The other dancers and Monika praised Kirsten for her admirable action to take on a strong battler.

“Thank you so much for liking my video and class, but, I’ll show you my dance. Okay, let’s go.” (Y/N) clasped her hands in front of her and rests her chin on top of it, hyped for the battle between her leader and the well-known international dancer, Waackxxxy.

“Let’s go Kirsten!” She cheered.

“The world-class choreographer and the world-class waacking dancer. The battle of the two dancer begins now. You guys ready? Fight!”

The DJ starts the music and Waackxxxy of Mannequeen goes first. From the get-go, everyone could see the charisma and the reason why Waackxxxy is considered as a world-class battler. Her body control and energy is so insane that Jam Republic couldn’t help but also hype her up.

Waackxxxy ended her time with a strong side-eye on Kirsten’s direction. When the switch was announced, (Y/N) started jumping up and down as she cheered loudly for her leader.

“Come on, Kirsten! Bring it!” Latrice yelled.

The screams increased when Kirsten and Waackxxxy circled each other, following the beat of the music.

“That was fu- insane!” Ling and Latrice laughed hysterically when a curse word almost escaped (Y/N)’s mouth.

Jam Republic continued to cheer their leader on as the battle went on. (Y/N) was so hyped that she slipped and lost her footing momentarily. Luckily, someone immediately stabilizes her before she could fall.

(Y/N) looks up to thank the person who caught her, only to blush brightly as her eyes met Bada’s shadow-covered eyes and a concerned face.

“Are you okay?” Bada asked, still holding onto her elbow.

She hummed and flashed her a grin. “Mhm, thank you!”

They stared at each other for a few moments with a small smile and blush dusting their faces without saying a word. It’s as if it was just the two of them in the room together as the noises seem to quiet down, fading into the background.

(Y/N) snapped out of it when Kang Daniel announced the end of the battle, immediately turn to find Kirsten walking towards their side. She thanks Bada one last time before rushing to her leader’s side to congratulate her for the amazing battle.

Bada remained standing there, running her hand on the back of her nape to will her pounding heart to calm down. A grin makes it way to her face as she returns to her seat, not noticing Lusher who saw the whole interaction and is hiding a smile behind her hand. Making a mental note to tease her leader about it later.

The judges showed their cards. Monika and Mike holds both cards for Jam Republic and Mannequeen, signalling a rematch between both dancers.

The rematch starts and both dancers still held their ground as they showed two variation of dance style. It ended up with another rematch when Monika showed 2 cards, much to the surprise of everyone.

“I can only choose one?” She asked exasperatedly, clearly in distress to choose between the two when Kang Daniel nodded and held up one finger. “That’s insane. I can’t do that!”

“Whoever you pick will be the winner. The victory lies in your hands.”

(Y/N) feels her heart pound against her chest, holding her clasped hands against her and prayed for Jam Republic’s first win. “Please, please, please, please.” She muttered underneath her breath.

“Here I go,” Monika concluded. The count down started until finally, she held up a pink card.

Kirsten cemented Jam Republic’s first win.

Jam Republic cheered while Mannequeen slumped their shoulder in dejection.

“Great job, Kirsten!” (Y/N) cheered as she gave Kirsten a side hug and a grin.

“That was insane!”

“Good job!” They praised their leader.

Across the room, Waackxxxy is visibly enraged and disappointed with the results of the battle.

“In this last round, both dancers were at the same level.” Mike Song stated. “But Kirsten grabbed my attention a little more.”

“That was such a great battle. It was so energizing. The reason I chose Kirsten at the end, was that she made the song come alive a bit more and I weighed that more importantly. Rather than being too serious, I had no choice but to give it to the person expressing the song. That’s why I hope you understand my decision. Although it was a very difficult one.” Monika concluded.

(Y/N) clapped enthusiastically as Kirsten place a winning chip on their score board. That happiness didn’t last long however, when Kang Daniel announced the next opponent. Another member of Mannequeen, Yoonji.

From the dancer’s expression, the anger was obvious from the way stomped down the seats and towards the middle.

“I’m so scared,” Ling said and Emma agreed.

“She seems crazy.” The younger one replied, feeling on edge because of Yoonji’s attitude.

(Y/N) sits stiffly on her seat, eyes narrowed and feels goosebumps crawl up her arms and neck. “She looks like she’s plotting revenge,” she stated lowly.

They watch as Yoonji paced around back and forth in agitation.

“I’m very angry right now,” she confessed, still pacing around. “Mannequeen has come here as the crew known to be the strongest in battles. I think it’s time we showed that.”

(Y/N) smirked at her insinuation, finding it a tad difficult to believe since Baby Sleek and her crew is also a part of this competition.

“I’ve said this already, but who’s the one chewing up and spitting out battles lately?” Yoonji said, making a beeline towards 1MILLION and standing in front of Lia Kim.

“This battle. I can show you later.” (Y/N) let out a sharp laugh when Yoonji left Lia Kim alone as soon as she got there. She’s certainly entertaining.

“Kirsten, come out girl,” Yoonji suddenly stated quite forcefully as she gestured Kirsten to come out. The woman mentioned gave a small smile to Yoonji as she stands up and place her jacket on her sear.

(Y/N) couldn’t help but tilt her head to the side and bit her bottom lip in annoyance, feeling rather protective of her leader.

“I’m going to take revenge for my sister. Come out, girl!”

(Y/N) huffed as she immediately followed her leader and stand 2 feet directly behind her, eyes narrowed and focused on Yoonji. The other members of Jam Republic soon followed with nervous smiles on their faces, but the latter members face was devoid of any emotion.

“I’m going to show you who is the hottest girl in South Korea!” Yoonji exclaimed as her crew cheered her on. “You know, girl? I’m going to show you.”

When (Y/N) saw Yoonji walk towards Kirsten and got near her face, a small smile graced her lips – devoid of any humour, as she too walked towards Kirsten, standing directly behind her and held her elbow. She stands tall in front of Yoonji and looks down at her, taking inspiration from Bada Lee and uses her height for advantage, to which Team BEBE squealed.

The other crew also howled in astonishment as she did so.

“Bada-unnie you influenced her already?!” Tatter exclaimed as she shakes her leader’s arm back and forth.

“What is it with tall people and comparing heights?! I’m so jealous right now!” Bada laughs as her members whined. She leaned forward in her seat with her hands clasped together, feeling oddly satisfied with the way (Y/N) seemed to copy her move.

While Kirsten nodded gracefully at her opponent, (Y/N) snickers when Yoonji’s gaze flickered upon her for a moment before going back to the other side where her crew is.

(Y/N) slightly pulled Kirsten back and leans down to whisper in her ear, “you okay?”

Kirsten, not the slightest bit intimidated, just nodded at her with a grin. “Word, she says ass fat.” The taller girl laughed at her leader when she stuck her tongue out.

“(Y/N) is so scary now!”

“She’s giving off protective older sibling vibes oh my gosh!” Mina Myoung exclaimed, watching as (Y/N) now jokes along with the other members. “Look at how she switches! She’s back to being all smiley now!”

“What were you teaching her Baby Sleek?!” Haechi asked after witnessing it. The older girl said nothing but gave her a shrugged shoulder and a proud smile.

Chocol said nothing but continues to watch with a small smirk, loving the feisty and protective attitude of the taller girl of the pink team. Hoping that after the show, she’ll come running to Baby Sleek so she can have an excuse to finally introduce herself.

Or maybe, she’ll have the chance to introduce herself on the dance floor. Maybe flirt a little as well.

“I’m going to show you who is the queen!” Mannequeen cheered as Yoonji yelled before mocking the moves of Kirsten earlier by swaying her hips from side-to-side. The yellow-team crew member gives her a side-eye, looking up at her up and down in a condescending manner.

Kirsten, unbothered, just smiled at her opponent. The same can’t be said towards her ballet dancer member who was seething in annoyance.

“I’m excited,” Kirsten started. “Let’s see. We’re here in Korea now, so, let’s see.”

The members of the crew once again stood behind their respective member competing. Yoonji and Kirsten paced around as they prepare themselves.

“We have Yoonji from Mannequeen going first.” Kang Daniel announced. Yoonji immediately went to the front and strike up a pose. “Jam Republic’s Kirsten will go in second.”

(Y/N) sat beside Latrice and Ling as the host began, “the next battle between these two dancers, are you guys ready?! Let’s go! Fight!”

Yoonji moves her body as the first beat of the music starts, starting off strong and fierce. (Y/N) bites her lip out of irritation when she mockingly hits Kirsten with her elbow, to the point where she almost believed it hits her leader when Kirsten played along.

The Mannequeen dancer ended her dance strong when she made her way towards where the judges are, much to the delight of everyone.

“She’s a great dancer, but I think she got a tad bit overemotional,” (Y/N) whispered towards Latrice as she claps after her performance. The latter girl nods in agreement before standing up in excitement when the host announces the switch, meaning, its Kirsten’s turn to perform.

(Y/N) bounces on her toes with a huge grin on her face as she watches her leader dance. Even more so when she dances around Yoonji’s figure without touching her, showing the immense amount of body control she has. Jam Republic watched with a face of impress and admiration, shouting in delight when Kirsten snaps her hips.

“That was insane!” She exclaimed once the battle ended. It wasn’t long before the judges showed the cards of the winning result of the battle.

And three yellow cards were faced.

Mannequeen cheers loudly for the victory while Jam Republic claps their hand. Sure, the battle didn’t end up in their favour, but it is understandable since Yoonji conveyed a lot through her dance.

Once the emotion of frustration simmered down, Yoonji shakes Kirsten’s hand with a smile and pulls her for a hug. Thanking her for the battle and saying I love you to her.

On their way to their seats, (Y/N) wrapped her arm around Kirsten’s shoulder and congratulated her, saying the same to Yoonji when they passed her by. Although the battle was intense and heated, there was no point in starting unwanted rivalry outside of the dance floor.

⁽⁠⁽⁠ଘ⁠(⁠ ⁠ˊ⁠ᵕ⁠ˋ⁠ ⁠)⁠ଓ⁠⁾⁠⁾

Another break was conducted after a few battles from Jam Republic and other teams. Emma, Latrice, Audrey, and Ling had already participated in their own respective battles. Ling battled against Cera which takes her by surprise, both of them had chosen her as their No Respect Dancer to push themselves. (Y/N) is the only Jam Republic member who have yet to battle anyone.

“(Y/N) has yet to dance, right?” A member from Deep N’ Dap says, looking at the direction of the Jam Republic who was talking animatedly with her team.

“Mhm, I’m really excited to see her dance though.” Another member responded.

However, the long wait is about to be over.

“The next challenger of the battle, Cera of Mannequeen.”

Howls and cheers rang through the arena, everyone had witnessed the intense and captivating performance of Cera earlier when she battled Ling. The member of Mannequeen adorned in her iconic green dress made her way towards the center with a smirk on her face, her members cheers as they follow closely behind her.

A mic was handed to her, the crowd became silent, and she walks around.

“The No Respect Dancer I chose to battle…” she trails off, making her way towards 1MILLION.

“From 1MILLION?” Mini questioned as she watches Cera stop right in front of the white team. The members looked up at her with their hearts on their throat, terrified of the idea that one of them has to face off against her.

“My No Respect Dancer…” she trails off again, but this time, she walks towards the next team. “Is Jam Republic’s (Y/N). Come on.”

Everyone’s lost their minds as Cera called out the Jam Republic dancer.

“Yehey!” Audrey cheered – shooting up from her seat with a bounce on her step.

“Wah! This is like the battle of the Prima Ballerina’s!” Harimu yelled from her stand.

(Y/N)’s cheeks puffed as it’s filled with water, Cera called her in the middle of her taking a sip, but she didn’t complain. It’s just hard for her to grin with all the water in her cheeks. Though, everyone can still see the joy in her eyes.

She gulped down everything and stands up with a clap, grinning from ear-to-ear as she bows in greeting to Cera, holding her hands against her chest. They make their way to the center of the arena with their team following closely behind them. The two dancers stand in between Kang Daniel, standing tall with microphones handed to each of them. She bows one more time towards Cera before standing tall with a smile on her face, excited to battle one of the strongest battlers in the show.

Her opponent clad in green dress bows along with her before standing up straight and switched her face into battle mode – a stoic face with an arched brow, as if wanting to end her. (Which, not gonna lie, (Y/N) 100% will let her).

“Cera of Mannequeen,” Kang Daniel began, “why did you pick (Y/N) as your No Respect Dancer?”

“It’s not that I don’t respect (Y/N) as a dancer,” Cera started, holding the mic to her lips with one hand. “Quite the opposite actually, but, it’s time to show the people who the best ballerina battler is.”

The whole arena cheers and awes at what Cera said whilst (Y/N) just giggled and nodded her head. If there was one thing she always takes pride in, it’s her dancing skills and techniques in ballet.

“Cera-unnie, first of all, thank you for choosing me as your No Respect Dancer.” She bows down again, “however, if I am to prove anything to everyone here today – is that ballet is my style, and I am one of the best out there.”

Amidst the loud roars of the others dancers in the background, Ling, Kirsten, and Audrey’s cheers seems to be the loudest among them.

Cera smirked at the determination of her opponent keeping eye contact with her, and (Y/N) didn’t back down.

The two dancers briefly walked back to the side where their crew members are at for a warm-up, and (Y/N) takes this opportunity to remove her sneakers to change into the dance shoes.

“Is she changing her shoes for this battle?” Monika questioned – perplexed and intrigued. Mike Song just grins widely as he leaned forward, excited at the intense battle that is about to happen.

“Wah, she’s changing her shoes,” Bada commented, looking at the Jam Republic dancer who is currently leaning to one of her members while adjusting her shoes. “She’s putting her best foot forward for this battle.”

Tatter and Lusher agreed, keeping their eyes trained on the ballet dancer, eager to watch her dance.

“You got this girl,” Latrice said. Offering her arm for (Y/N) to stabilize herself as she changes her shoes. “Show her and everyone what you’re made of.”

“Thank you,” (Y/N) replied. Jumping in her place to feel the shoes beneath her feet.

“Kill everyone who doubted you with your dance.” Jam Republic laughed at the seriousness in Audrey’s voice, taken aback by her.

The lights dimmed once the two dancers made their way towards the center, Kang Daniel exchanged glances with the two women in the middle of the dance floor with a smile on his face.

“The battle between two ballerina dancers will begin now. You guys ready?!” Kang Daniel announced. Cera and (Y/N) eyed each other up and down, one with a stoic, daring look, standing tall and elegantly, while the other is currently sporting a small smile on her lips as she cracks her head from side-to-side.

“Let’s go (Y/N)!”

“Show them what you’ve got!”

“Kill this battle (Y/N)!”

The other Jam Republic members cheers can be heard from all over the room before the battle can even begin.

“Fight!”

The music started playing as soon as Kang Daniel said the word. Cera starts her iconic slow walk while keeping her eye-contact with (Y/N). It’s quite intimidating, but (Y/N) held her ground, admiring the determination in Cera’s eyes.

Cera started moving her arms at each beat of the music, before adding her own twists and turns before she does her iconic leg move. (Y/N)’s face scrunched up in disgust, indicating a sick and impressive move done by her opponent as she hits every beat of the music.

The Mannequeen dancer comes close to you, pointing at you with a single finger and pointing it up and down your figure. (Y/N) bit her lower lip as she arched her brow and titled her head. Leaning her head down a bit to stare at Cera with lidded yet seductive eyes.

The whole crowd went crazy with her looks.

She can’t deny the charisma and confidence of Cera in this battle, the latter really is showing years of experience in battling and the undeniable musicality she seemingly naturally possess.

As Cera’s time comes to an end, you used a sign language taught to you by Baby Sleek and signalled her to hurry up – much to the surprise of the other members of Wolf’Lo.

“She knows how to use it?!” Yeni asks in surprise, bringing her hands up to her head. Baby Sleek is the only one looking focused at the battle, eager for you to showcase your dance while the others had their jaws dropped.

Kang Daniel counts the last 3 seconds of Cera’s time, the woman comes close to your face and circled you whilst flipping your hair – just like what she did to Ling, before walking back confidently to the side of her team.

“3, 2, 1, switch! (Y/N) of Jam Republic!”

The members of Jam Republic screamed once the opening of Partition by Beyonce starts playing. (Y/N) smirks, stepping slowly forward towards the middle, mimicking a seductive wave after she flips her hair once the “hey, Ms. Carter” starts playing.

Everyone went wild once the beat drops – along with (Y/N) as she suddenly drops down to her knees and starts to doing some sensual floor works. The judges and competitors alike went ballistic at her opening moves, and it was just beginning.

(Y/N) kept her eyes on Cera the whole time, still with that lidded gaze. She slowly stands up, spinning fast with the beat in an insanely clean and controlled manner. She then did some popping and locking, showcasing her prowess in other styles of dancing other than ballet much to the delight of the judges and her team mates. She hits every beat of the song while sometimes taking the lyrics into account of her movements – showing a great control of her body and unparallel musicality.

“This is so crazy!” Monika yells as she keeps her eyes trained at (Y/N).

Chocol couldn’t look at anywhere else once (Y/N) started dancing. She has her arms crossed against her chest as she watches intensely with a impressed smirk plastered on her face. She walks down the steps to have a better view of the dancer dancing before her.

She finds it impressive at how she uses various techniques and moves of ballet and other styles to incorporate it in her moves. It looks complicated, but she makes it look so seemless and effortless.

Bada, on the other side of the arena, finds it hard to contain her emotions as she watches the Jam Republic dancer. She’s constantly shouting, impressed by the moves executed by the young dancer. She holds onto her cap as her jaw drops once (Y/N) did an aerial.

She claps and screams along with the rest of her team as she continues to watch her with a starstruck gaze and jaw dropped. Lusher takes one glance at Bada before she bursts out laughing.

“Oh my gosh your totally whipped Bada-unnie!” She laughs, slapping Bada’s arm as she threw her head back.

Bada immediately flushed red and attempted to cover it with a cough, but it still wasn’t enough to tear away her gaze from the performing dancer of the pink team.

While (Y/N) remained oblivious to the pairs of eyes staring at her, she focused on ending her battle with a bang. As Kang Daniel signals the last 5 seconds of her time, she makes her way towards Cera – mimicking the way she circled around her earlier, but with her own seductive walk. She stopped in front of her, bending down to her eye level whilst blowing a kiss with a wink, wiggling her fingers in a goodbye motion before walking back to her team with a smile and playing with her hair as she shakes her head from side-to-side.

(Y/N)’s members hyped her up as she walks towards them. She laughs as Audrey and Ling jokingly bows down to her like a royalty, making the others follow soon after. She covers her laughs underneath her hands to also hide the redness that’s painting her cheeks.

Everyone went ballistic. Screaming their heads off at the intense yet entertainingly fun battle between the ballerina’s of Mannequeen and Jam Republic.

She then turns back around to face Cera who has a smile on her face, bowing down at her in gratitude for the battle. She continued bowing to everyone who was still in shock by the battle – her heart swelled with pride once she sees Monika standing up with a shocked smile on her lips as well as Mike Song and Shownu who were clapping.

“Good girl, (Y/N)!” Baby Sleek yells, clapping her hands. The mentioned girl heard it and snaps her head towards her, holding her hands to her chest before bowing deeply. She can feel tears well up in her eyes but she shakes her head to avoid them from falling down.

Her former teacher praised her loudly and openly. The highest compliment she could ever receive from this competition.

“That was intense!” Lusher exclaimed, sitting back down in her seat once the commotion started dying down.

“They really showed their battling skills. Their confidence is through the roof!” Mini exclaimed. “Honestly, whoever wins this deserves it.”

(Y/N) and Cera makes their way back to the center of the dance floor. Breathing heavily after the intense battle they shared.

“Fight judges,” Kang Daniel starts, “cards open.”

(Y/N) could hear her heart ponding against her chest and in her ears as she fiddles with her fingers. All the judges visibly look like they’re having a hard time deciding on their choices. She reminds herself that whatever the outcome of the battle is, she gave it her best. Yet, she still wants to secure a win for her team.

And then, the cards are flipped.

And everyone cheered.

Monika holds two cards – pink and yellow.

While Shownu and Mike Songs holds a single, pink card.

(Y/N) almost drops to the ground because of relief.

Cera and Mannequeen sighs in defeat and in dismay while the Jam Republic members – specifically Audrey, Ling, and Kirsten, cheers loudly.

(Y/N) makes her way towards Cera and offers her hand, “you are amazing! I love your dance! You are simply amazing out there and thank you for the wonderful battle. It was an honour to compete with you. I hope we can be good friends in the future because you are simply just amazing!”

Cera coos at the adorable ramble of her opponent and pulls her to a hug. “Thank you, thank you too for that battle. I love you, you’re amazing too out there! We must definitely meet up sometime after this.”

(Y/N) grins and pats her back before they separate. “We should do this more often!” Cera laughs before she and her team makes their way towards their seats.

“Way to go (Y/N)!” Kirsten exclaims as she holds onto her arm.

“You really killed it out there!”

“Thank you guys, that was so great. I really want to be close friends with Cera now.” Ling giggles at her comment.

The rest of her team continues to praise her with compliments and congratulations on their way back to their seats. As (Y/N) makes eye contact with her former teacher, she flashes her a grin and a thumbs up. Baby Sleek returns her gestures with a wink and a nod.

Kirsten adds a win chip to their board while (Y/N) makes her way towards Mannequeen to place a lose chip on their board, bowing down at the members and thanking them for a wonderful fight.

“I can’t even be mad at her,” Yoonji starts, “she’s too polite for me to be mad at us loosing.”

“The whole team is,” Redlic agrees.

“Judge Mike Song, why did you choose (Y/N) as the winner?” Kang Daniel asks once everyone settled down to their seats.

“First of all, the two dancers are very powerful and seasoned in battles – they showed it to us! It was one of the very entertaining and very fun battles this day that’s for sure, and for that, I want to thank the two of you.”

(Y/N) and Cera bows their head in gratitude with huge smiles on their faces and everyone claps. Kirsten and Latrice pats their team mate of her shoulders with a grin on their faces.

“Choosing between the two of you is almost torture!” Mike Song jokingly sighs with a shake of his head, causing everyone to laugh at his dramatic tone. “However, the reason I chose (Y/N) at the end is because of the versatility she showcased us. The body control, the movements, the flow of each step was like water! It was so fluid and she did it with such grace and confidence. So, (Y/N), I hope to see more of you in this competition, because you really killed it out there.”

(Y/N) couldn’t help but stand and bow deeply towards Mike Song and thanked him. The rest of the crews claps and awes at the high praise the member of Jam Republic received from one of the respectable judges.

“That’s one of the highest praise someone got from the judges today,” Mina Myoung commented. “Looks like Kirsten is not the only force of nature in Jam Republic.”

“Their team just got a lot more intimidating.” Nob commented, looking at Jam Republic.

“I entered this show so sure of my preference and sexuality, but tell me why Bada and (Y/N) are making me question it?” Deep N Dap members laughs at the unexpected comment Downy made.

⁽⁠⁽⁠ଘ⁠(⁠ ⁠ˊ⁠ᵕ⁠ˋ⁠ ⁠)⁠ଓ⁠⁾⁠⁾

It wasn’t long before Mike Song’s request for more battles came true.

“The next challenger of the battle,” Kang Daniel began, pausing once again for the dramatic effects. “Is Chocol from Wolf’Lo.”

“Oh right! Let’s go!” Haechi cheers, shaking Chocol by her shoulders as the older dancer makes her way down the seats. Per usual, her crew follows close behind her.

“I wonder who she chose,” Emma comments after taking a sip from her water, “her team is kinda scary.”

(Y/N) and Ling hums in agreement, watching the crew in front of them in silent. Silently terrified at the thought of battling against one of them. Though (Y/N) is confident in her skills and unafraid to show them, Wolf’Lo is just on another level.

Chocol takes the microphone that’s handed to her, licking her lips as she starts to walk around.

“The No Respect Dancer I choose,” she began, making her way towards Lady Bounce who tenses up from their seats.

She gave a slight smirk to Nob and Biggy who visibly gulps down the saliva stuck down their throats. Chocol enjoyed teasing them, making them think that she’s choosing one of them, but then, she skipped backwards without looking back before suavely turning around and jogs lightly towards the pink team. “Is Jam Republic’s (Y/N)”

“My god my heart,” Nob says. Holding onto her chest as she breathes out a sigh of relief and leans backwards.

(Y/N) smiles, standing up from her seat from the top and sets down the Jam Republic banner in her hand. Before she can take a single step down, she saw a hand in front of her. When she looks at who the hand belongs to, it leads down to Chocol, waiting for her at the bottom with her arm outstretched.

“Oh, okay,” Kirsten said teasingly as she and Latrice moved to the side to make way for (Y/N).

“Special treatment, I see you.” Latrice added.

Everyone awes at the action, more so when (Y/N) places her hand on Chocol’s with a smile before descending down the seats.

“It’s like a prince charming guiding a princess,” Redy said, leaning forward with her hands on the bottom of her chin. “I’m so jealous right now.”

“What in the story book cliché is this?” Yoonji stomps her feet jokingly, “why didn’t I get that kind of treatment?”

“Yah, you threatened her leader earlier to a dance battle with a scary façade and you expect the others not to be afraid of you?” Buckey jokingly replies which made everyone burst out laughing and Yoonji to pout.

“Tsk.” Bada clicked her tongue as she watches Chocol guide (Y/N) to the dance floor with their hands still intertwined with narrowed eyes. “Honestly, this is a serious competition. Why is she being nice to her opponent?”

Lusher hears what her leader grumbled underneath her breath, causing her to giggled and comfortingly pat her back. “Don’t worry unnie, no need to be jealous.”

Bada snaps her head towards her sub-leader with a glare and a slight pout. “Who said anything about jealousy?”

Lusher holds her hands up with wide eyes and downturned smile. “Nothing, nothing. I’m just teasing you.”

Bada clicks her tongue once again in annoyance before looking back to the front with her arms crossed against her chest. Lusher and Tatter made eye-contact from each sides of Bada with knowing looks and teasing smiles. The other members of Team BEBE heard the conversation laughs silently, watching as their leader sulks down on her seat.

“Chocol, why did you choose (Y/N) as your weakest dancer?” Kang Daniel asked.

With their height difference, Chocol had to tilt her head up ever so slightly to make eye-contact with her opponent. She adjusted her cap with one hand as the other holds the mic to her lips.

“Originally, I chose her because I want to see what that pretty face can bring. But from the battle earlier, we all saw it. So now, I want to see if she can bring that fire come to life again, but this time, more closely and upfront.”

“Is she flirting with her or what?” Debby whispered to Harimu with a slight giggle.

(Y/N) nods and rolls her tongue against her cheek, bowing her head down slightly. She tosses her hair back before answering with her now famous lidded-eye look, “if it’s fire you want, then I’ll gladly burn the stage in here, baby.”

Everyone screams once they heard (Y/N) talk in that low-flirty way as combat against Chocol’s remarks in full English:

“Why was that so hot?!”

“I don’t speak and understand English very well but damn!”

“See! I told you she’s making me question everything!”

“I understand you perfectly well now, Downy!”

(Y/N) laughs as she hears the comments, giving the mic to her Kirsten who is now looking at her with a teasing face.

“You better burn the stage baby,” she mimics. (Y/N) rolls her eyes at her before teasing pinching her arm. Kirsten laughs as she dodges her hand.

(Y/N) faces her opponents team, the team of Baby Sleek. It would be a lie if she says she isn’t downright petrified right now. This is the crew with the most skilled freestyle battlers – but she was trained by the best of them. This is her chance to solidify and prove herself once again to one of the most respected teachers she had.

Chocol bounces on her feet, preparing for the battle. (Y/N) has her hands stretching above her head as far as she can as she glances at her opponent who teasingly winks at her. She rolls her eyes and shakes her head at the playful nature of Chocol.

Bada grumbled even more at the exchange. She doesn’t even know why she’s feeling this ugly feeling in her chest. Hell, she didn’t even have a conversation with the dancer yet, or even introduce herself! That doesn’t mean she won’t find away later, maybe she’s just bitter that someone got to befriend her before her. Yeah, maybe that’s it. She just wants to forge a friendship with the dancer first, you know, just cause.

“The battle between Wolf’Lo’s street dancer and the ballerina of Jam Republic will begin now. You guys ready?!”

Cheers erupted from both teams and the rest of the teams, curious to see the outcome of the battle between two very different styles of dance between the two dancers.

“Fight!”

Music filled the loud speakers of the room. Chocol nods her head to the beat to get into the groove as her team mates cheers her on. When the beat drops, she comes close to (Y/N)’s space and sways her body to the music.

It was a bold start, (Y/N) admits, and the way Chocol moves is nothing short of hypnotic. Her body moves so fluidly yet with power as she hits every beat of the song. She definitely knows how to control body on command, if there is one thing she can describe her dance overall, it’s classic hip-hop. Effective yet timeless when it comes to battle.

(Y/N) smirks as Chocol comes close to her face, mimicking the flying kiss she did to Cera earlier. Wanting to continue this banter, she “catches” the kiss mid-air and pretends to keep it in her pocket.

She lets out an impress shout at Chocol’s body articulation. She began hyping her up, moving her body along with the beat while staying still in her position. Chocol’s performance is nothing short of impressive, but her competitive side is coming out, and now she wants to do better.

As Chocol’s timer comes to an end, she once again closes in on (Y/N)’s space, this time, ending her dance by mockingly pointing at her figure up and down and another flying kiss which caused another uproar from the side of Deep N Dap

“That should be me!” Someone shouts.

“5, 4, 3, 2, 1, switch! Jam Republic’s (Y/N)!”

A familiar laugh echoes through the room, before the beginning lyrics of Gangsta by Kehlani plays. (Y/N) lets out a wide smirk and tilts her head to the side.

My turn.

Audrey began screaming her head off once the familiar music fills the air. She danced with (Y/N) before during her time of travelling the world to learn new styles of dance, and if there is one thing Audrey knows for certain, (Y/N) dances very well to dark themes.

“You got this (Y/N)! Eat. This. Up!”

With that, the Jam Republic dancer ran her hands across her body to get into the feel of the music – which isn’t that hard. She began walking forward slowly, just like what Cera did, but with a tad bit more of sensuality.

When the beat starts going down, her expression and articulation changes to every beat, mimicking the craziness Harley Quinn did in the movie in which the song was made of. Everyone can see where she’s going with the dance and is excited yet again. Bada and Chocol keeps their gazes focused solely on her.

In this dance, (Y/N) focuses more on interpreting the lyrics of the song yet still hitting the necessary beat from time to time, just taking on a more contemporary approach. In contrast to Chocol’s hip-hop, she chose a genre she excels in.

Chocol smirks as she goes down towards the floor once again, expecting another floor work from her. She did, but a lot shorter and takes everyone by surprise once again.

(Y/N) did a middle spilt before crouching down, but she didn’t get up. Instead, she takes a hold of her left foot, before initiating a single hand cartwheel – still holding onto the foot, down to a split and stands up without the use of her hands.

Screams can be heard once again, thoroughly impressed by the never-ending amount of techniques and tricks the Jam Republic dancer seem to possess. Jam Republic members sported a disgusted looks as they cheer their fellow member on, some jumping on their places purely from the amount of adrenaline they are getting just by watching (Y/N) dance.

They are not the only one’s though. Bada, with her cool and mysterious look she once sported, almost disappears by how much she is now yelling. Watching (Y/N) dance only increases her determination and will to befriend her and possibly collab with her and her team in the future. Bada watches with awe as (Y/N) stays true to her word: she really is setting the stage on fire.

(Y/N) can hear her time coming to an end, she laid down on her stomach with her legs up in the air as she drags her finger to her lips, smirking seductively at Chocol. The said girl only tilted her cap and bites her bottom lip in acknowledgement.

(Y/N) held onto that pose for a few seconds, taking in the cheers and the screams of the other dancers before grinning brightly and standing up.

“How can she possess that duality?! One moment she’s all smiles and elegant looking the next moment its as if she’s seducing me!” Downy exclaimed as she watches (Y/N) makes her way to her team with a bright smile.

“She’s like a wolf in sheep’s clothing!” Mini said, clapping her hands after patting and congratulating Chocol on the battle.

“You were on fire baby!” Emma cheers, patting the heaving girl on the shoulders.

“Harley Quinn definitely possessed you for a moment there!” Ling exclaims.

“Thank you,” (Y/N) smiles at her members before turning around to face the judges on the middle.

Chocol is one of the oldest and seasoned battlers they have, and Wolf’Lo doesn’t have a lose chip to their board yet, so, (Y/N) is prepared and had already accepted her fate that she lost this battle.

“Fight judges,” Kang Daniel announces, “card open.”

It was a surprise that the judges seem to have their pick already and confidently, however, the result of the battle left everyone even more surprised.

Three pink cards.

(Y/N)’s hands flew to her mouth in shock, and this time, she actually fell to the floor in shock. Jam Republic immediately went to her side and cheered her on while Wolf’Lo nods their head in defeat but claps nonetheless. She makes her way towards Chocol to shake her hand, but before she can do that, Chocol takes her hand up to place a kiss on her knuckles, causing her to grin and flush bright red.

Everyone who saw the interaction began teasing and cooing at the couple, some because of jealousy, others because of the *kilig. Well, most of them. A particular leader of the blue team scoffed loudly before chuging down the contents of her bottle before crushing the bottle with one hand. As she grumbles in her seat, her members are secretly watching her in amusement, never expecting their leader to act this way.

“Thank you for the amazing fight, Chocol.” (Y/N) began, taking her hand back with a smile still painted on her lips.

Chocol shrugs her shoulders nonchalantly with a smirk, stuffing her hands on her pockets. “Don’t worry about it, darling. I had fun.”

“Yah, what do you mean darling?!” Baby Sleek scolded playfully as she slaps the back of Chocol’s head and drags her back by her arm, causing the younger woman to pout.

“Stop flirting with her and get back to our seats! “Darling,” your face.” Jam Republic just laughs at the dynamic of the orange team.

The rest of the crews are still in shock that the first and only person so far to break the winning streak of Wolf’Lo is the ballerina of the pink team.

“Wow, (Y/N) really is amazing.” Rena of Tsubakill said, still in awe of the Jam Republic member who is now currently walking back to their seats.

“She only had two battles so far and she’s already proving herself as one of the strongest dancers here.” Akanen replied.

“Fight judge Monika, why did you pick (Y/N) as the winner of the battle?” Kang Daniel asked.

“I’m going to keep it short and frank, (Y/N) did not only dance, she told a story.” Monika says while looking at the dancer. “She told a story while embodying a well-known character of the movie which is insane because it’s as if you really are her for a second. You brought colour to the dance – no, you brought fire to the dance.”

Jam Republic claps at Monika’s comment.

“(Y/N),” she adds, “you took me by surprise. You really are one of a kind.”

(Y/N) swears she could sob at the high regard. She stands up and bows deeply towards Monika like she did too Mike Song. She then stands up

“It’s like a main character moment,” Biggy said, watching as Kirsten place a win chip to their board. “Are we the side characters?” Lady Bounce laughed at her.

As (Y/N) places the first and only lose chip on the board of Wolf’Lo, Baby Sleek reaches up her hand and pats her head.

“Well done, (Y/N),” she says. “You really have gone far now. I’m proud of you.”

*kilig - causing or characterized by a feeling of exhilaration or elation.

tag list:@luvjanexx @b1ackbunny @thedevilisrory @kaaylvst @badagf @aestrelle19 @leo-dragon@xiakiyama @watamotee33 @tnu-ree @hallotherenicetomettyou @skuuzae @froufrousnowman @strawblueberrys @avocifera@urvirtualgfteehee@kaylinsimpson@jksjx@1luvkarina@jjlovesbada@infinite1sblog @randomhoex@maximoff-jp@woniesheep@tsuunlovers @bada-lee-ily @deadpool15@maknaehyucks @smoooore@efyyylee @amararosesblog @zhivaxo @badasgirlfriend @pupbistro @bluebada @westwoodsvivi @haebragi @awkwardtoafault

note: initialized names can't be tagged. I'm sorry 😭😭😭

next part >>>

#let's dance #bada lee #bada x reader #chocol #chocol x reader #swf2 x reader #bada lee x reader #bada lee x y/n #jo kayoung #jo kayoung x reader #bada x y/n #street woman fighter 2 x reader #street woman fighter 2 #street woman fighter x reader #jo gayoung x reader #BEBE #wolf'lo #jam republic #Spotify

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jonquilyst · 4 months

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Day 28 - Finale

After weeks of battle, triumph, drama, and other teenager shenanigans, it is finally time to crown the winner of Total Drama Sims!!

Our finalists are Lilium Pond and Dahlia Grove. These two have outlasted everyone else and now, all of the eliminated contestants will be coming together to vote for a winner as a jury! Votes will be public, so you will know who votes for who.

Voting will go from the bottom of the leaderboard up (aka last place to the most recently eliminated), and will be confessional-style to make up for those who never had a confessional while on Total Drama Sims. So, without further ado, let's determine our winner!!

14th place - Elli Proudmoore

"Dahlia, we weren't on the same team, but you were pretty interesting and we talked for a little bit, so uh... yeah."

13th - Aubrey De Peyster

"Dahlia! After watching you from the sidelines, I really regret not getting to know you sooner. We have a lot in common! So, please accept my vote as your former teammate."

12th - Kenzie Ritchie

"Lilium! I really wish we could have been on the same team; we would could have been amazing allies!"

11th - Aster Ernst

"Lilium, since I met you I knew the stars were in your favor. I believe the universe has a divine plan for you! So for that, my vote is going to you."

10th - Cassie Fuller

"Dahlia, sweetie! I can't believe you made it this far! We might not have talked much, but teammates gotta stick together, so I'm voting for you!"

9th - Alexis Youngblood

"Dahlia, but only because you tried to save me from elimination. Wish it worked, but... thanks anyway."

8th - Reagan Felix

"Dahlia, when I heard that you come from a strict family and that you were only here because you got on the wrong bus, I was taken away because... well, you just kept going! Also, I relate to having a strict family, so... yeah, I'm voting for you because you definitely deserve to win."

7th - Anika Patel

"I underestimated you, Dahlia, and for what it's worth, I'm sorry. I never thought you would vote for me, but I guess that's what lead to my downfall. I really did feel that we had a connection, though, so I'm still gonna vote for you."

6th - Poppy Sparks

"Lilium! You deserve it, girl! You were one of the reasons why I had so much fun here. I'm so glad I was able to become your friend."

5th - Camden Reese

"Lilium... Yeah, I'm sorry for not liking you at first. Turns out you were pretty capable, not to mention super nice and friendly to everyone. Pretty admirable that your strategy was befriending literally everyone, rather than being a backstabber. I think it worked pretty well."

4th - Terrance Vellard

"Is it even a question? I'm voting for you, Lilium. I'm gonna always have your back, girly."

3rd - Logan West-Harper

"Dahlia, when I first came here I never thought I'd make friends with anyone here, especially since I was having trouble getting along with people at first, but after competing together I really feel like we became great friends. I really hope you win!"

~~~~~~

With a vote of 7-5, the winner of Total Drama Sims is...

DAHLIA GROVE!!!

CONGRATUALTIONS @ashubii !! Dahlia wins the competition and the prize that comes with it! As I said in the casting call for TDS, whoever's sim wins the competition will receive a prize personally from me, and that's you!! (We'll get in touch 💖)

There will be 1 final post to close out Total Drama Sims and celebrate our winner! Stay tuned...

@thebramblewood @comfyinn @mayzie-grobe @chaoticpixls @simsinfinitylt @softle0 @ashubii @void-critters @wastelandwhisperer @seyvia @akitasimblr @micrathene-w @prismaticpotentia @aniraklova

#Total Drama Sims #Alexis Youngblood by thebramblewood #Anika Patel by comfyinn #Aster Ernst by mayzie-grobe #Aubrey De Peyster by chaoticpixls #Camden Reese by simsinfinitylt #Cassie Fuller by softle0 #Dahlia Grove by ashubii #Elli Proudmoore by void-critters #Kenzie Ritchie by wastelandwhisperer #Lilium Pond by seyvia #Logan West-Harper by akitasimblr #Poppy Sparks by micrathene-w #Reagan Felix by prismaticpontentia #Terrance Vellard by aniraklova

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pinkiealexie · 1 year

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𝐍𝐞𝐨𝐧 𝐋𝐞𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐫 𝐃𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐧? ☆ 𝘔𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭𝘰 𝘏𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘰

════════════════════════

❥ REQUESTED: @snipersiniora

❥ REQUEST:

"HC of rise Mikey with his twin reader who fights over who's the best older brother?

"Like both of them agree that raph is number 1 best brother - and they make sure he knows so raph won't get upset thinking he's bad - but who's the best 2nd brother?

Reader vote for leo saying " he's perfect " while Mikey's vote goes to " Donnie " since he's smart and the tech wizard. They're fight escalated until the disaster twin decided to stop them."

❥ WARNINGS: Sibling chaos

════════════════════════

☆ Not sure how this topic even occurred to the both of you guys but whatevers said is said

☆ The first part of it Mikey and yourself were gushing and fawning over how great of an older brother and leader Raph is! Who could ask for anyone better than him? He is irreplaceable

☆ After a discussing it for a moment a silence fell upon the both of you until an imaginary exclamation mark ! popped above your head

☆ "Wait, but then how about the second best older brother?"

☆ The peaceful smile on your twin brother's face then fell into one of questioning

☆ "Hey! You're right (Y/n)!"

☆ After another moment of wondering you quickly turned to each other and blurted out

☆ "Leo!" "Donnie!"

☆ "WHAT⁉️"

☆ Well...that was most certainly not the name you were both hoping for from each other

☆ "How could you not say Donnie?!" "Excuse me? How could you not say Leo!"

☆ A bit of bickering went back and forth until it caught the attention of both the turtles the duo was talking about

☆ "Okay who keeps yelling out all of my perfections because I am loving it!" "And what in the name of Einstein is all this bickering commotion between you two about anyways?"

☆ "Well, we're both debating who the best 2nd oldest brother is and we don't seem to have the same opinion, Michelangelo."

☆ "Pluh-EASE, you obviously know that I'm right about who it is, (Y/n)."

☆ "You see I would much rather prefer if it were first place instead but I wouldn't mind settling for seconds dearest baby siblings."

☆ "For realsies, Leo your jokes and humorous personality is what keeps this group entertaining, not to mention how confident you are!"

☆ "But Donnie is the tech wiz of the team! Without all of his tech and intelligence we all would've all been 6 feet under a long time ago! No offense by the way Leo."

☆ "Thank you, Mikey. It is clearly obviously that I am the far more superior brother than my blue twin here."

☆ "But Leo is smart in his own way though! Like when that thing happened with dad and Big Mama, sure his ideas seem a bit dumb at the at first but they always manage to work at the end of the day!"

☆ "I always knew you were my favorite sibling, (Y/n). You have no idea how emotions these compliments are making me feel." Leo brushes a single tear from his eye with an exaggerated sniff

☆ "Okay, there is only one civilized way to settle this with like men and that is-"

☆ "LAST MAN STANDING IS RIGHT AND WINS." "OH IT IS SO ON!"

☆ Not even a second later you are both fighting each other and the other pair of twins were just left to stand there

☆ "Should we intervene-" "Nah this is just like any other sibling fight I've seen Don Ton"

☆ ...

☆ "They're biting each other now Nardo I really think we should-" "Nah, like I said just any other sibling fight."

☆ ...

☆ "Leonardo! They are reaching for their weapons now I think we should really-" "Yeah, you're right I just wanted to see how far they'd go, I'll get (Y/n) you get Mikey."

☆ Both you and Mikey are pulled back from each other and kept in separate rooms for the rest of the day. No one spoke about a word about this incident

════════════════════════

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thatgayb1tchwhosimps4her · 10 months

Text

Okay so the results are in and Jackie won so, here it is. I changed the summary a little from what I said on the voting thing but I hope you guys still like it anyway :)

Summary: Jackie gets drunk and gets into trouble at the celebratory party Lottie's hosting at her house for the team winning nationals and reader has to intervene.

And as an extra thing, incase idk, but Lottie's dad pays for a coach to take them to nationals instead (since I'm headcannoning in this it's cheaper, and low key a lot less dangerous cause yk).

Also skip anything that's in colour if you don't want to read any pretty detailed stuff.

Lastly, this is gonna have some homophobic slurs in (promise it's for a reason, although they do have a line through them), which I know can be a trigger for people, so please don't read it after seeing this and then complain I didn't put a TW, because I usually don't so this is a curtesy.

@zhivaxo

*****

Your Own Personal Terminator

💖Jackie Taylor x GN/AFAB!Reader💖

Word Count: 2886.

*****

It was all gonna be over soon, both the fans and the rest of the people in the small stadium knew something had to happen or it'd go to penalties.

You watched from your place on the bench (having been benched earlier in the game because of a shitty tackle), as in one swift move, Shauna tackled the ball from the opposing teams striker running far away from them before quickly approaching another player. She looked up as she heard Nat shouting her name from further up the pitch, before passing the ball to her.

Nat had control of the ball, running up the rest of the right wing to see Tai and Lottie keeping tabs on the other teams two defenders that were near the goal, and the team captain, Jackie, free of any other players, but keeping wary so she didn't go offside, running between the two of them toward the goal. Seeing no other defenders, Nat gave the ball a rough kick, causing it to fly across the sky, landing several feet in front of Jackie.

While continuing to run as hard as she could with the ball to get a closer shot on goal, Jackie heard the rest of the team, including yourself, and the fans cheering for her to kick the ball. Taking a deep breathe, she kicked the ball a couple feet away from her before she pulled her right leg back and swung it forward into the direction of the ball, but slipping just before the kick had fully been executed, causing her to fall, making her skid on the slightly muddy grass before rolling onto it just to the right side of the goal.

Everyone in the small stadium and on the pitch gasped watching this happen as the ball soared through the air, seeing it reach close to the goalie's hands that had spread out when she dived into the air. All of a sudden, the ball hit the back of the net, causing the stands to erupt with a round of applause, causing the girls and the fans from the other team to groan.

As soon as this has happened, and the referee blew the whistle for full time just afterwards, you screamed happily and threw the ice pack you had been using for your leg onto the ground, before running limply over to your girlfriend in her spot where she was now knelt in front of the goal, as a chorus of chanting came from the cheer team as the rest of the team came running over to her.

They'd done it, the Yellow Jacket's soccer team from the small town of Wiskayok, New Jersey, had won soccer nationals for the first time in school history. Once you had run over to and embraced your girlfriend in the biggest hug ever, the two of you were quickly surrounded by the rest of the team.

Once all of you had your fun and had loosened the tight group huddle, having shouted at each other about how awesome that was enough, and people started clearing out of the stadium and the pitch, the team broke off into smaller groups starting to talk amongst themselves, leaving the two of you and a few of the others on the team talking in your small gatherings.

"You better be good a keeping your promises, Taylor." You stated to your girlfriend, holding her head softly in your hands.

"Oh baby, you know I never break a promise and I always keep my word." Jackie answered, smiling sweetly. Fuck, how you loved that smile of hers.

"You better." You replied, as the she smiled in response and you leaned in, still holding her head in your hands, and kissing her softly.

"Jesus Christ, get a room. Not everyone here wants to see you two making out." Someone behind you stated, causing both of you to pull away from the kiss and sigh softly, Jackie burying her head in the crook of your neck, blushing and giggling softly, knowing exactly who that was.

"Yeah thanks Van." You replied, remaining in your position on the field, putting your thumb up behind you, before waving her off and hearing the red head, and who you assumed to be Tai running off laughing about something else to join the others.

"C'mon," You said to Jackie, moving your legs around to stand up from being knelt on the short, prickly grass. "Let's get you cleaned up so we can head home." You added holding your hand out for her, as the blonde propped herself up on her knees rather then her previous position of also being knelt down, before taking your hand in hers, intertwining her fingers with yours, standing up and walking back locker room with the group.

-----

The two of you and the rest of the team headed back to the locker room, listening and singing along to music while showering and lightly washing some of the grass stains off of your guys' uniform and bodies, dancing in between doing that and getting changed to head back to New Jersey as winners. (I wasn't really sure on how to write this or the journey back, so I'm just gonna fast forward to the party)

-----

You (dressed in an oversized graphic comic t-shirt, black cuffed denim jeans, black leather jacket, black converse, chunky silver rings and matching silver heart necklace to Jackie's, with French braided hair, curtesy of Shauna) drove to Jackie's house and picked her up (dressed in a red mid-thigh flowy dress with white polka dots, blue denim jacket, a pair of white trainers, her gold heart necklace and neatly styled, flowy blonde hair) in your deep red Pontiac Firebird car, to drive both of you to Lottie's house, since her parents were out of town for the week, and to make up for them not being at the match let her have a party there if the team won.

Once you got there and parked up, the two of you headed inside to get a drink, greeted by Lottie and the rest of the gang trying to persuade Jackie to let her crowd surf them to celebrate, to which she declined, saying to wait until she was slightly less sober before doing that.

The 6 of you, the rest of the group (Laura Lee, Mari, Kristen, Akilah, Gen, etc), plus equipment manager, Misty (who you and Lottie had advised upon, and persuaded the rest of the group to let her be invited), started dancing and drinking inside, socialising amongst everybody there, being congratulated on the win.

Eventually, the few of you left (Mari, Kristen, Akilah, Gen, etc, either still inside or gone home) made your way outside and were gathered around yours and Shauna's car, discussing everything and anything.

After a while of talking, the group had turned to nicknames for everybody, since Van advised everybody to get one since we would be going down in the history books and should have a cool nickname. About halfway through this specific conversation, it was Jackie's turn for a nickname.

"How about 'Blue Flash'?" Laura Lee suggested, sipping on the liquid in the red plastic cup she was holding, standing between Misty and Lottie, in front of the backdoor of Shauna's car

"Mmmmm, nah." Most of you agreed.

"Sounds like a toilet cleaning brand." Nat replied, taking another hit of the joint she had rolled between her fingers, making everybody giggle.

"Haha, yeah," You said, laughing softly, "Plus we all wear blue, so it could be any of us." You added, which everyone acknowledged with some form of a nod.

"Ooooooh, I have one," Van interjected, leant against the passenger door of Shauna's car, all giddy off of her beer, "What about 'The Terminator'?" The red head suggested, causing everyone except Jackie to groan at the movie reference.

"Wait, which nerdy, sci-fi, film thing is that?" Jackie asked, sitting upon the bonnet of your car, taking a swig from the tequila bottle she was sharing with Tai and Lottie.

"It's the Arnold Schwarzenegger one with the sunglasses and the leather jacket." Shauna stated, finishing the last of her drink, while sitting on the bonnet of her car.

"Ohhhhh yeah, I remember that one. Continue." The blonde ushered, her voice echoing into the bottle.

"Do I even need to? I mean Jesus Christ, you're literally a machine, sorry Laura Lee." Van replied, apologising after. Getting a nod from the other blonde in acceptance.

"A machine, huh? Okay I'll take it." Jackie said, passing you the half bottle of tequila left, moving her feet around so they were lying on the bonnet, before standing up on it, prizing a remote from her jacket, pressing a button on it, making the music that'd been playing loud enough in the house for everyone outside to hear, to stop, causing everybody inside to groan and slowly make their way outside to see what's going on.

"What the hell are you doing? Get down from there, you're going to hurt yourself." You questioned, panicked, holding your arms out, ready to catch her if she slips.

"It's fine, I'm keeping my word, remember?" Jackie stated drunkenly, in a 'duh' tone.

"EXCUSE ME! HI, I HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY!" The blonde yelled, waving her arms in the air trying to get everyone's attention, making everyone start cheering.

"YEAH OKAY, THANKS BUT WHAT I HAVE TO SAY ISN'T ABOUT THAT, SO SAVE THE SUCK UP FOR AFTERWARDS!" She shouted.

"HI THERE, SO THIS IS KIND OF SCARY NOW THAT I THINK ABOUT IT, AND I'M ONLY PROBABLY DOING THIS BECAUSE I'VE HAD A FAIR AMOUNT TO DRINK, BUT I MADE A PROMISE TO MY FRIENDS AND TEAM MATES DOWN HERE," Jackie stated, pointing at the group of you, making the 7 of you cover your faces and wave awkwardly, "THAT I'D DO THIS IF WE WON, AND WE DID SO YEAH, HERE GOES NOTHING!"

"Oh shit." You mumbled under your breath, shading your face with your hand, knowing what was about to happen.

"RIGHT SO, UM YEAH, I'M GAY. YOU ALL HEARD ME RIGHT, I'M A BIG, FAT, LADY LOVING, LESBO, AND I AM DATING THIS AWESOME GIRL RIGHT HERE!" She stated, proudly, gesturing to you, as you raised your hand, offering a small wave. "AND IF ANY OF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH IT, THEN GO FUCK YOURSELVES OR YOU CAN TAKE IT UP WITH MY DAD! So yeah, that's it. You can clap now." She finished, playing the music again, quickly jumping down carefully from the car into your arms, turning to the rest of the group.

"How's that for being a machine?" Jackie slurred proudly, taking back the bottle from you, holding onto your forearms for support.

"You're fucking crazy." You stated, kissing her softly.

"Told you I never break my promise." The blonde replied, after breaking the kiss.

"Alright," Tai said, raising her cup in the air, "Here's to all of us being openly gay and going down in history" She added, toasting her drink, as the rest of the group cheered and did the same.

Just as you all toasted to that, and drank from your cup/bottle of choice, you heard a familiar voice behind you.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the dyke squad." Brad, the captain of the school football team, said, approaching the group, causing you all to roll your eyes in an attempt to ignore his arrogance.

"I mean, I expected the rest of you guys to be gay, but jesus christ, Y/N even turned prissy rich princess, Jackie Taylor, into a lesbo. I did not see that coming." Tommy, one of Brad's douchebag henchmen, spoke.

"Well you don't see a lot of things coming, especially people." You smirked, murmuring into the bottle of beer you were sipping on.

"What the fuck did you say!" Tommy shouted, striding up to you, getting all in your face.

"You fucking heard me, dipshit." You swore, smirking up at him, pushing him away harshly.

"Yeah, so back the fuck up, asshole." Jackie interjected, striding behind you, Van, Lottie, Tai and Nat following.

"Hey guys, come on, let's not do this here." Shauna piped up.

"Yeah, Shauna's right. Let's just call it a night and sort this out tomorrow." Laura Lee spoke up, trying to de-escalate the situation, before the six of you turned away from the two, walking back to the group.

"Yeah, listen to your little preacher friend and quit while your ahead, fags." Tommy replied, smugly.

"What the fuck did you call us?!" Jackie shouted, spinning on her heels, turning around and quickly pacing back over to them, you running after her, resting your arm around her waist.

"Hey it's okay, leave it, okay? Trust me." You said, looking at her softly.

"Yeah listen to your dykie queer, Taylor." Brad laughed.

Before even registering yourself what'd happened, Jackie broke away from your grasp, pulling her right fist back and punching him harshly around the face.

"Oh shit!" Jackie shouted, keeling over, holding her fist in her other hand at the pain of the impact.

"Bitch!" Brad fumed, holding his nose in his hands, feeling liquid pool over them.

"Crap, let's go." Tommy said, running off, Brad trailing after him.

"Oh my god!" You stated, rushing to Jackie, kneeling in front of her, the rest of the girls gathering around you.

"Son of a fuck!" She whined, raising her head softly to look at you, slightly off balanced from the alcohol.

"Here, let me look." You said, offering your hand out, as she placed her bruised fist in your hand, the group groaning at the site. "Can you open it for me?" You asked

"Jesus. H. Flaming. Christ." Jackie seethed, opening her sore, slightly blood-covered fist slowly, wincing at the pain.

"Yeah, that's definitely swollen, and very bruised." Misty piped up, being the only one with proper first aid training.

"Come on, get your ass inside. The party's starting to clear out anyway" Lottie piped up, "There's ice packs in the fridge and a first aid kit down the hall, use my room."

"Are you sure?" You asked, wanting to confirm it was okay, just in case.

"Yeah go for it, I honestly don't care. Plus, my parents aren't back for another week, that'll give me more then enough time to clean up." The brunette said, waving you off.

"Okay thanks, cheers Lottie. The rest of you guys get home, sober up and we'll talk tomorrow or something." Jackie stated, standing up straight, still holding her fist in her hand.

"Come on Cinderella, your carriage awaits." You said, opening your arms out, scooping her up and holding her in them, tucking one arm around her back, the other under her knees, making sure the skirt of her dress wasn't flapping around.

You carried her through the near empty house, gathering the ice packs and the bandages from their respected places, traipsing up the stairs with Jackie in your arms, to Lottie's room, setting her down on the edge of the bed, kneeling in front of her.

"You can't keep scaring the shit out of me like that, you're gonna give me a heart attack." You laughed, bandaging her knuckles softly.

"I know, but it's just such a pain in the ass that people think they can treat you like that. And not just you I mean everyone, why do people think they have the right to shout slurs at others just because they're slightly different to everyone else." Jackie vented, grasping tightly and releasing her other hand, to calm herself down.

"I don't know, pig-headedness I guess, or a nicer way of putting it, arrogance, or a less nice way of putting it, assholery." You shrugged off, finishing bandaging her hand, smoothing it off and kissing it softly. "But you can't go around punching people okay? We're adults now, and that's assault." You added.

"Yeah I know, still pretty cool though. I mean, like in the movies it is, but fuck they don't warn you how much it hurts." The blonde winced at the memory of the pain.

"True, but it's cause you had your thumb on the inside. You wanna punch someone really hard, you wrap your thumb around the outside, so the impact of the punch and having it on the inside could shatter your thumb." You stated, wrapping your own thumb around your hand, punching the palm of your other hand, giving off a loud smack.

"See?" You asked, flexing your hand, "No red marks and it didn't hurt."

"Ohhhhhh, that makes sense." She stated, "Although I wasn't really worried about hurting my hand, was more living up to my nickname then anything else." She added.

"Oh so you were trying to be my own person terminator or something?" You questioned, chuckling softly.

"Exactly like that. Your own personal terminator." Jackie giggled, looking at you softly.

"Well personally, I thought that was very sexy of you." You stated, leaning in closely.

"Oh did you now?" The blonde stated, leaning in closer, giggling softly.

"Mhm, very sexy, and you didn't even break a nail." You added, before closing the gap and kissing her deeply.

"I love you." She said, holding your head in her hands.

"I love you too." You replied, resting your hands over hers.

*****

Jesus Christ, it's finally done. This honestly took longer then expected and having no internet for 3 days really put a wrench in the works, but it's done and I hope you liked it. See you in the next one.

-Harlow

#Harlow (Lottie's Version)#original content #mine not yours #jackie taylor x reader #ella purnell #jackie taylor #yellow jackets #yellowjackets

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grumpycakes · 6 months

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Cause @the-indoor-kites TIPPED ME ABOUT IT???? (Still reeling thank you) it's time for

SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE VOTE 2, DISASTER BOOGALOO

SO WHAT HAS HAPPENED???

A lot, but a culmination of McCarthy not going extreme enough for the far right, while also not offering anything to the democrats (actually sometimes promising small ass things and then REFUSING WHEN IT COMES TO IT) has made McCarthy super unpopular w everyone.

AND THEN the govt needed the budget made/approved (an unfortunately YEARLY THING). Far Rights want horrendous shit in there, republicans don't want anything helpful that the Dems want. The classics. But in the face of a shutdown, McCarthy RIGHTLY chooses to avoid it by working w the Dems to pass a few weeks pass to work on their shit to get it figured out.

This makes the far right (Gaetz being the one to do it all either alone or as the point person) lose their shit.

And remember how he had to agree to weird ass rules to get the Far Rights to vote for him? Well one of those stupid rules was, instead of needing a group of people to agree to trigger a vote on if they want to oust the speaker. THEY ONLY NEED ONE PERSON. GAETZ.

So Gaetz calls for a vote on keeping McCarthy. Enough Rebups refuse to vote for him that unless Dems vote for him to save his ass he's toast.

Thing is McCarthy has been badmouthing the Dems to the press and blaming THEM for the budget not happening. So tho the Dems are like LOLL FUCK YOU THEN BRO. AND N O N E OF THEM VOTE TO SAVE McCARTHY. N O N E

So McCarthy is out. His bestie is PISSED and slams the gavel super hard and dismisses them.

We have no speaker, congress doesn't function if we don't have a speaker. (though some are floating the idea that they allow the interim speaker have powers to allow them to pass the budget lol aaaaa)

Repubs gotta pick a nominee for speaker. (Dems are still more than happy to back Hakeem Jeffries). Repubs have two dudes that are most likely. Steve Scalise and Jim Jordan

Scalise

Got shot in that one baseball shooting back in 2017

Has been the Repub WHIP (the assistant leader to the party leader)

Would not say that the election wasn't stolen

WINS THE NOMINATION TO BE VOTED ON FOR SPEAKER

REMOVES HIMSELF AS A CANDIDATE FOR THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE???????

Jordan

Was the Ohio Wrestling Coach when their Team Doctor (Strauss) abused players (Denies knowing anything, is not believed)

wanted to be speaker after Paul Ryan was ousted (but dems won the house and his dreams were THWARTED)

Wanted to be minority leader, McCarthy won instead

actually floated himself as an option when McCarthy lost the first 3 votes earlier in the year

May have been asking for a pardon after jan 6

So like neither of these dudes are great, but I would have assumed the Whip would be the next speaker... and then he stepped away????

They could have voted last week, but declined w some republicans saying that Jordan didn’t have the votes. so they were taking the weekend to get ppl on board.

BRINGING US TO TUSEDAY 10/17/2023 around like noon.

Stefanik is in an aggressively pink skirt suit (probably not the right term) and gives a basic ass speech for Jim Jordan. Kinda a WE GOTTA GET IT TOGETHER SO VOTE FOR OUR IDIOT sentiment. Pro Israel cause they’re hoping that makes republicans care (loll please)

Jim Aguilar comes up, nice to see u again sir. Also gives a basic ass speech but Dems. They chant w him on a repeated line. Like okay but weird. Nominates Jeffries.

No other nominations.

NOTABLE VOTES

(literally no promises on spelling)

Bacon - McCarthy

Billorakis - MIA/doesn’t vote when recalled

Boebert - toes the line w Jordan

Buck - MIA/Emmer on recall

Chavez DeReemer - McCarthy (rumbling from the crowd)

Connolly - says something but votes Jeffries crowd gives reaction

DeEspazito - Zelden (who the fuck is that)

Diaz-Ballart - Scalise (Republicans you have one job……)

Ellsey - García (bunch of murmuring and again WHO THE FUCK)

Gonzales (Tony) - Scalise (well Jordan’s for sure lost)

Granger - Scalise

James - MIA/votes for John Cole in the recall (????)

The respective parties clap w their nominees vote for themselves. It is dumb and wasting time (but the republicans don’t sound as enthusiastic as the dems rofl)

Joyce - MIA/votes Jordan on recall

Kelly of PA - Scalise

Kiggins of VA - McCarthy (my dudes, he’s not getting re-elected…)

LaLota - Zelden (oh fun, he has more than one supporter)

LaMaufa - MIA/McCarthy on recall

Lawler - McCarthy

Lee of NV - vote for Jeffries but gets laughter???

McCarthy - Jordan (gets applauded. Hope that stings u fart)

Pelosi gets applause for her Jeffries vote

Rutherford - Scalise

Scalise - gets “Good Boy” claps for voting Jordan

Scott (Austin) - gets applause for voting Jordan?

Simpson - Scalise

Spartz - MIA/votes for Massey (loll you can hear a reporter go Massey??? When it’s called)

VanOrden - gets one dingus clapping for him for voting Jordan?

Womack - Scalise (y’all a mess)

432 Present • 217 votes to win

200 votes Jordan

212 votes Jeffries (dems erupt in cheers, interim speaker looks annoyed lol)

6 McCarthy (sad my dudes)

3 Lee Zelden

7 Scalise (ha ha even Scalise beat you McCarthy)

1 Garcia

1 Tom Emmer

1 Tom Cole

1 Tom Massey

(Damn the toms)

No majority, no speaker has been chosen.

Interim speaker is REAL LOUD w that damn gavel. Immediately calls recess, feed cuts out.

They go into recess for like 2 hours.

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS

- Rep Huizenga talks to reporters says he’s leaving cause they need to take more time to get more idiots on board.

- Spokesperson said 2nd vote to come at 6pm (it did not lmao)

- Jordan apparently asked to meet w Scalise to get more ppl on board. SCALISE APPARENTLY DECLINED

- Rep Buck said Jordan will lose more votes if he tries again. This could deflate the republicans in wanting to vote for him if he’s not a winning candidate

- 9 Republicans would have to vote present to allow Jeffries to win (which he would, since Jordan didn’t get over 200) but it would be against their interest and political suicide.

- republicans who don’t like Jordan were pushing for a second vote that night to further embarrass Jordan

Vote 2 next! >

#October 17 2023 #speaker of the house vote #is politics #speaker of the house vote recap #yes I’m taking notes for todays

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fanjiansaa · 1 year

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TOTAL DRAMA REVIVAL TIERLIST + THOUGHTS

After binging all of the new season, I've updated my initial tierlist! Priya stays winning, no surprise there. Thoughts about the ENTIRETY of the new cast (with spoilers) under the cut!

Let's just start off by saying that the over the top toilet humor and intro aside, this was a great season. While Pakhitew Island was rancid with blatant obvious character tropes, this season managed to make most of their characters relatable while parodying at it.

But as for Caleb, Scary Girl and Ripper... Those were on the nose too much for my liking. Caleb got the season 1 Justin treatment, Scary Girl is literally Jinx from League of Legends, and Ripper is nothing but a shoehorned character for fart jokes. It sucks because I thought Ripper was going to be great. His personality is pretty solid and reminds me loads of McArthur.

Now that I've got the slog out of the way, time to dissect the more intriguing parts of this show!

Nichelle, Damien and Axel were tremendously robbed this season, and you know it.

Axel's dexterity and agility would have no doubt gotten her far. Unfortunately, her prickly attitude got her booted very early, akin to Eva's elimination back in the original TDI. She's definitely the Shawn of this generation though. And hey, which begs the question — is she his kid? It's been 15 years after all...

Nichelle was nothing like the mean girl label everyone pegged her for. Just a typical rich, famous celebrity that's never been out of her comfort zone. Rude and vicious? No, she had the team spirit and was always ready to pump up her team. I love Dakota, so I am definitely a fan of Nichelle, the two being so alike. In her elimination episode, she had a breakdown where she realized that she wasn't "all that". It was honestly pretty sad to see.

Damien was the person with the most common sense on that show. It's funny how he's just wants the million bucks and never seen the show before. But when he sees what there's up against? He's totally done. FINALLY, A CHARACTER THAT GETS IT. He's a whole vibe. In the end, he decided he wanted to stay after he did some awesome heroics, but his team voted him off like he wanted... Better luck next time.

Speaking of next time, apparently these three do have another shot. They've all been invited back for another season, which means that we can explore these characters far more! Let's hope that the writers do not miss this opportunity.

As for someone that I don't think overstayed their welcome, MK definitely takes the cake. She was honestly a great character with witty comebacks and superior intellect. I think she got just the right amount of screen time. We got to see her in action while making room for other character's developments to shine. Nice.

Wayne and Raj are what happens when you combine Katie and Sadie with Geoff and Brody. I found their bromance pretty sweet actually. I don't think they had much time to grow more distinctively from each other though. And I know how everyone was betting their money on them or Caleb/Bowie as the gay couple, but I'm so so glad that they weren't.

Instead we got a delightfully surprising pair — Bowie and Raj. While I did want to see more build up, with 13 twenty minute episodes, you can't really do much. But no matter, I still thought they were plenty cute! I needed to see them smooch in the finale though. It would've been loads better than...

Chase and Emma.

How this pair irks me to no end. Chase is an incel and Emma is stupid for going back to him. Really hit the nail on the head with the on and off again couples of the world. Seen this way too often.

Speaking of which, I think you all owe RR Emma an apology. Because RR Emma actually had loads more character outside of her boyfriend. We got to see her in action, taking charge, her fiesty attitude, the great dynamic with her sister!

But this Emma? All she did was whine nonstop about how Chase was a horrible boyfriend only to go back to square one. Every second of her on screen was either her wanting to torture him in the best way possible or lusting after him. Girl... After everything Chase's done to you, him granting you immunity in a round does not cut it.

I'll give some points for the Bowie/Emma friendship. Except for the fact that it centered around Chase mostly, UGH. Bowie going "ew straight people" is how I felt about this whole ordeal.

And in case it wasn't obvious enough, Chase deserves to be ejected into sun. He radiates toxic masculinity. He wanted to change Emma's name to "Chase's Girlfriend"? He thought a guy should win the finale? He can't take no for an answer and keeps pursuing his ex? I hope he rots, ew.

Bless Zee's heart for being bros with him. Goodness knows I could not do that. But let's face it, Zee is bros with everyone on this island. He's that stoner friend everyone needs. Just chilling, making some unintentional funny comments, you get the gist. I first pegged him to be the scaredy cat type, but seeing him in the zone instead was hilarious. And he's the amputee! How cool is that?

Now I know I haven't talked about one of the best parts of Total Drama — the villains/antagonists.

Julia was a very fun twist villain. At first, she was just Dawn but if she was a social media brat. I was surprised to see that facade crack and her true colors shine. Instead, she's a two faced teenaged girl, which I see a lot in society. Putting on a show for others only to bash them in private. Watching her let loose was a thrill and I was here for it. Her manipulation, scheming and determination is unmatched.

At least, that's what I would say if Bowie didn't exist.

How Bowie absolutely dominated that competition. He was here to win and he meant it. Seeing him pull the strings was a sight to behold. He convinced the team to vote off Caleb at first glance, outsmarted Julia at her own game, ruined Priya and Millie's friendship, and snagged a pretty cute boyfriend too. If that's not absolute winner things, I don't know what is.

Which brings me to the part I've been waiting for. Last, but certainly not least of all, Priya and Millie.

These two are MY Total Drama inserts, I'm so sure of it. Millie disgusted by her own generation and Priya's obedience to follow her parent's dreams were things I felt in my soul. I know that they weren't popular when the characters were first leaked, but I'm so glad that they beat the early boot allegations.

Millie's character arc is one of the best things of the season. She came here to write a book slandering the people her age and thought of herself as above everyone else's nonsense. But then Priya happened. Priya was nice to her, she was the first real person to ever make Millie feel good about herself. And that was the wake up call Millie needed and the turning point of her life.

Priya also learned something too — self worth. She was too eager to be friends with Millie off the bat and have nothing but good energy all around. Only to realize that maybe she's putting more effort into their friendship than the other person is. And as someone whose been in that position multiple times, it absolutely broke me.

And everything went to hell when Bowie gifted Priya the notepad in which Millie was writing smack about everyone. Of course, Millie had changed her mind and was trying to be a better person, but karma catches up to you. Priya finally let herself be gulfed in anger and Millie truly got hit with the great significance of Priya coming into her life.

In the end, Millie managed to apologize and pour her insecurities out to Priya about everything. It brought both tears to me and Priya and the two of them reconciled. This was the best friendship story I've ever seen written on Total Drama. It's like what Gwen and Courtney could've gone through in All Stars...

Also, Priya wins. How cool is that? I rooted for her at the very start AND SHE WON. I'm loving this so so much. I'm sure there's another alternative ending where it's Bowie but the one I watched was Priya so that's the true happy ending to me :3

Sidenote: Anyone wanna talk about the Priya/Damien ship tease? Honestly I'm glad Priya didn't blush at anything Chase said; I know the fandom thought they were going to be a couple. But the best girl Priya and the best boy Damien had a hint and that's another win for me.

Think about it, a girl who's prepared for Total Drama all her life with someone who's never seen it before? GOLD. They were even paired for the finale! Do you think next season will have them be a couple? Manifesting that so bad with a real Chase/Emma breakup. And more Raj/Bowie while we're at it too, yeah?

#total drama #total drama island #total drama revival #aji rambles

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catonatrain · 1 year

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kuroko go to the polls

hi everyone!! just for fun, i have compiled the different polls in which kuroko no basket or knb characters have been featured in! I’ve roped my friends and followers into submitting knb charas into many different types of polls, so those are the ones i’m especially aware of. Polls where i personally didn’t submit characters will have an asterisks (*) next to them!

if there are any i missed, please let me know! I’ll be editing this post as i see more polls!

CURRENT POLLS AT TIME OF WRITING (last update 5/9/23)

the generation of miracles are in @color-coded-squad-bracket*

round one has completed and they won! let’s keep supporting them!

kuroko and kagami @redandbluegaycompetitionn*

the first round is still underway for 2 more days! there is no way that kagakuro will make it to round two but with your help, we can help them lose less!!!

momoi is in @girls-in-love-brackete-bracket! she has won three rounds so far! let’s keep supporting her! at the time of writing this, the fourth round is up!

midorima is in the @greenhairandpronouns-tournament! please help him get to round two!!

the generation of miracles will be in the @skittlesquadsquabble

COMPLETED POLLS

kuroko and kise were featured in the @blueandyellowbracket

midorima and takao were featured in the @orangegreenbracket

takao was featured in the @orangecharactersmackdown

midorima was featured in the @best-green-character

kagami and kise were featured in the @redandyellowbracket

aomine and kagami were featured in the gayest noncanon bitches poll* (may have misremembered the name as that blog has deactivated)

aomine and momoi were featured in both the @blackandpinkbracket bracket and the @pinkandbluebracket

kuroko, kagami, and kise were in the @primarycolorcharactersbrackets

kagami was featured in @redcharacterbracket of the minor bracket!

momoi and midorima were featured in the pink and green bracket hosted by @dxntloseurhead

kuroko no basket as a series was in the @multicolor-fandom-tournament

here’s the current counter of how many polls a character has been featured in!(not counting generation of miracles or knb as a show for their individual count)

kuroko - 3

kagami - 5

kise - 3

midorima - 4

takao - 2

momoi - 4

aomine - 3

under the readmore, ill list some extra comments about the polls such as how many rounds they got through and essays people (at the time of writing this, mostly my friends) have written about them! ill also link the different rounds as well :D

any commentary i added below was made with the best of my ability! It’s quite lengthy, so you know!

kuroko & kise in blue/yellow

lost the first round to the iconic undertale lesbians, but they earned 84 votes!

here’s my essay in the tags because it’s before i decided that i was no longer cringe, but free -- mostly about their relationship but especially the scene against haizakis team

midorima & takao in orange/green

they won the first round against some italian mobsters from jojo’s bizarre adventure! ultimately earning 88 votes-- winning with 61.8% of the votes!

here @hiemiola and i tag team (it will not be the last!!) and wrote some things we liked about their relationship in our first duo poll essay about their dynamics on and off the court!

in this match, midorima and takao had a comfortable lead (from what i know)! there was a time where votes were in the 50/40 range but ultimately midotaka had a spike in votes in the end!

they lost round 1.5, ultimately earning a total of 273 votes-- barely losing with 49.4% of the votes!

for most of the poll the two were losing by a large margin (around ~30% of votes if i recall correctly), but in the last few hours they made a turn around and took the lead for a bit, before ultimately barely losing a close match!!

please read another tag team poll essay for this round talking about how they’re a funny orange + green pair, how they’re inseparable, and all that fun stuff :)

they came back in the loser bracket but ultimately got destroyed in round one :( despite the odds being up against them, the two managed to earn 190 votes!

in this poll, they held onto a lead for a bit!! it definitely must have been one of midorima’s unlucky day this time around!!

as always here’s the usual tag team essay! we talk about the basics of who they are, their relationship, and yes that takao is orange!! (something that people questioned in previous polls)

but wait! in this poll, a new player @aomine-in-gensokyo comes! he wrote about how the strongest of bonds can come from the unlikeliest people in this essay here!

funnily enough, after this aomine approved essay, they had a 5% spike in votes

the tag team essay was also aomine-in-gensokyo approved

in total, midotaka earned 551 votes!!

takao in orange character smackdown

in this huge poll with 192 characters, takao kazunari was in bracket d!

round one was a real tough fight! for the longest time, takao was behind, especially around the 40% range, but he ultimately managed to turn it around! with 447 votes to his name, he managed to win at 50.7%!!

funnily, enough this poll ran at the same time as midorima in the best green character poll! scroll down if you’d like to know more :) -- anyways its definitely hard to separate these two partners!

also a little fun fact! op paired similar people together. funnily enough, takao and rena were a matter of “pair the spares” but ultimately op saw that both characters were associated with green characters with glasses! id also argue that both characters help major characters who’s name start with “m” (midorima for knb and marinette for miraculous ladybug) leave their comfort zone as well :]

here’s another tag team essay! enjoy learning about takao! seeing why he’s orange! seeing my little takao figurine and knice’s midotaka shrine!

he won the second round with 177 votes, earning himself 52% of the votes!

once again check out another tag team essay! we talk about takao’s characters through his character songs, his orangeness in merch and what it represents, and me making this image!

while takao fought bravely, he ultimately lost the third round but not before earning 212 votes! (which was 36.5% of the votes)

to no one’s surprise, we have another tag team essay.as both of us didn’t want to talk about our favorite takao moments and scenes (because we want everyone to watch kuroko no basket <3) we talked about just fun little scenes across knb + knb media!! and also more takao merchandise!!

in total, takao earned 836 votes!! thats a lot! at the time of writing this, takao ultimately has the third most votes out of all knb polls listed in this post!

midorima in best green character

he was destroyed in the first round to disgust from inside out, only getting 36.2% of the votes, but he still managed to earn a total of 272 votes!

this poll happened on the same day as takao’s first round poll in the orange character smackdown!! theyre partners!

another tag team essay!! talking about who midorima is and our favorite parts about his character :D also please look at his character song linked here as well!!

kagami & kise in red/yellow bracket

they lost in the first round, but earned a total of 163 votes, which was 46.7% of the votes!

their opponents ultimately won the entire bracket!!

while not as extensive, i wrote a little short spiel introducing kagami and kise to people :D highlights include them with kuroko :) and my infamous kagami taiga cardboard cutout

aomine & kagami in gayest noncanon bitches

this is one of the polls i happened to stumble upon! for most other polls i followed the polls after personally nominating knb characters myself (and also asking others to nominate them as well <3)

this blog has sadly deactivated. to my knowledge this was due to the final matchup which was between edgeworth/phoenix from ace attorney and jessie/delia from pokemon -- luckily i have reblogs of the polls :>

they won the first round, along with ankh and eiji from kamen rider ooo as the top two pairings in a round would progress! they earned 80 votes!

they got absolutely destroyed in the second round against batman/superman, but luckily managed to rise up to 22.1% of the votes! earned a total of 240 votes!

a short essay comparing aomine and kagami featuring my classic kagami cutout :)

in total, they earned 320 votes!

aomine & momoi - black/pink

in the first round of the black and pink poll, they lost 46.9 to 53.1 but earned a total of 38 votes

however! they came back in the loser bracket and made it to the finals of said bracket!

in round one, these childhood friends won with 62.4% of the votes, earning 73 votes!

here we get @aomine-in-gensokyo giving an introduction about these friends who have been together since childhood!

in round two, they won with 52.1% of the votes-- a much closer match! but they earned 37 votes!

in round three, they faced off against lovely kingdom heart boys, and ultimately won with 50 votes, which was 54.3% of the votes! as they only won by about 8 votes, it was another close one!

in the wise words of aomine-in-gensokyo, this was a heated match!

in round four, there was a tougher match! more people were voting! the two were losing for a bit, but over time managed to close the gap! ultimately, the two were victorious and gained 53.1% of the votes-- 121 votes! over double of last rounds!

in the here's an essay about their dynamic!

finally, we have the finals! their competition was fierce with two other pairs as their opponents! ultimately, the two were in last place in the beginning of the match, but managed to climb to second! they earned 64 votes which was 30.3% of the votes!

here's an essay about how theyre together! listen to their duet!

in all, they earned 383 votes!

aomine & momoi - blue/pink

the two of them made it to the quarterfinals of the blue and pink poll! there were great vibes all around with lots of support for aomine and momoi! people who weren’t familiar with kuroko no basket enjoyed learning about them as well and cheered them on in other rounds! they even defeated some pretty heavy hitters, and ultimately only lost by one vote in the end!

this poll marks the beginning of the a3! and knb alliance! you’ll see later that many a3! fans end up supporting knb a lot which i think is very sweet!! i personally also boost polls where the a3! fans are in as well in solidarity :> some of my other knb mutuals as well! I hope we can continue to support each other from here on out!

in round 1 aomine and momoi won with 51.9% of the votes, with 140 voters supporting them!

here is where @aomine-in-gensokyo makes his debut! read an introduction to aomine and momoi here!

in round 2, these besties found themselves up against my little pony’s iconic rainbow dash and pinky pie… despite the odds, they managed to take the win! by earning 208 votes, they won with 51.5% of the total votes!

here you can see my essay talking briefly about how they care about each other! as you can see, i was hoping for them to reach 30% at the time of writing. always stay optimistic everyone… you can always turn things around!!

and here we have another essay, talking about aomine’s conflict with being unable to find a challenge in basketball and the changes he experienced as a result!

i’d consider the above essay the beginning of the a3! and knb alliance!

in round 3, aomine and momoi faced off against vi and jinx from arcane! another tough challenge ahead… however, they pulled through!! with 118 votes, they secured 51.5% of the votes once again!

here’s another essay about how aomine and momoi show up together a lot in the series!

and here we are! the quarterfinals! these two managed to make it to the top 8! here, they faced off against muku and yuki from a3! overall, this was a very nice, wholesome poll i’d say! everyone was supportive of the other team… some of us wanted them to tie and progress together… in the end, aomine and momoi just barely lost with 441 votes (49.9%)! i think it’s funny that they lost just by one point, don’t you think? It’s just like canon!

throughout the 24 hour period, aomine and momoi continued to climb up until they were toe to toe with the other competitors. in the poll’s last minutes, the numbers of votes continued to climb until we finally had our end result!

take this aomine and momoi relationship summary for this round!

here’s a post-poll essay highlighting the importance of touou’s loss and it also has a silly edit of aomine fistbumping muku

this poll also had lots of cute fanart made with it! below, ill list drawings that include aomine and momoi that came about in this round and the following rounds! despite losing, people made wonderful fanart including our fun basketball pair :>

here is wonderful art with aomine and momoi meeting muku and yuki! muku is super excited to meet aomine here!

here is cute art showing aomine, momoi, muku, yuki, and blues and magenta about to play basketball!

and last but not least, here’s some lovely art with many of the blue/pink competitors!

in total, they earned 907 votes!

kuroko, kagami, & kise in the primary colors bracket

in round 1, they won with 60% of the votes after earning 81 votes!

In round 2, they barely defeated sailor moon, but they managed to earn 119 votes, winning with a percentage of 51.3%! here’s also an obligatory picture of my kagami cardboard cutout with a bonus kuroko and kise!!

in round 3, the trio were defeated by not one, but a trio of iconic magical girls! With 71 votes, they lost at 41.8%!

In total, kuroko, kagami, and kise earned 271 votes!

kuroko no basket as a series in multicolor fandom tournament

in every round they won, kuroko no basket was losing by a large margin, but they always managed to turn it around before the end

in round 1, their opponents were the ever famous mario… despite the odds they took 52.9% of the votes with 180 votes!

in round 2, our colorful show went up against heathers!with 258 votes, they won with 51.7% of the votes!

in round 3, knb ultimately lost to the extremely powerful avatar the last airbenders, only managing to secure 32.6% of the votes.

in the end, atla were the victors of the poll!!

in the end, the show managed to earn 581 votes!

kagami in the minor poll of the red character bracket

this poll was double elimination, so you’d have to lose twice before ultimately being defeated!

kagami ultimately did very well!! he was 4th place overall!! i’m very proud of him! in most of these rounds, you can see me giving little spiels about kagami and showing cute pictures of him, but nothing too expensive!

in round 1, he earned 87 (52.1%) votes!

in round 2, he earned 199 (50.5%) votes!

in round 3, he earned 287 (53.5%) votes!

in round 4, he earned 222 (50.8%) votes!

in round 5, he got absolutely destroyed by strawberry shortcake (who ultimately won the minor bracket!) he earned, 49 (23.3%) votes!

in the loser’s round 8, which was kagami’s first round in the loser’s bracket, he lived another day, earning 135 (50.9%) votes! to 130 (49.1%)

finally, kagami was eliminated in loser’s round 9 against the lovely ib!! she would then go on and earn second place in the minor bracket! kagami, himself, earned 82 (35.7%) votes!

in all, kagami has earned a total of 1061 votes! so far, he has earned the most votes out of any character and/or pair!!

momoi & midorima in the pink/green bracket

midorima and momoi despite not interacting too much did rather well on this poll!! they made it to the finals!

i spent time cropping kise and takao out of photos to get photos of just midorima and momoi <3

i’d like to say this is due to the fact that the pollrunner included midorima’s lucky item on his picture! in the other polls in which midorima never made it to round 2, he was without his lucky item! his unlucky nature carries outside of the show it looks like!!

this is why i firmly believe that if midorima ever makes it to another poll, he has to be with his lucky item or else he’ll lose so badly

a3! fans really came through in these rounds! we couldn’t have done it without their support!

in round 1, these two miraculously defeated sk8’s iconic skater dudes with 53.4% of the votes! with 70 votes, they only beat cherry and joe skate by 9 votes!

read about midorima commenting on momoi’s passion for basketball in this essay here!

in this mini esssay, i talk about how their names are very green and pink :>

in round 2, the pair defeats the first volcaloid pair they were matched up against. with 75 votes, they won at 56.6%

in this essay, you can read about some of momoi’s insight regarding midorima changing!

please look at how my friend cropped out takao to get this picture for me

through the greatest twist of fate, in round 3, momoi and midorima managed to take the win from volcaloids gumi and luka!! always remain optimistic guys! you never know who will be there to support you! with 153 votes, they won with 55.2%!

in this poll essay, a summary of midorima and momoi’s basketball superpowers!

in this poll essay, @takao-in-sekaiai, talks more about their friendship!! it’s a fun one to read :> it also has great takao flair to it :>

in my poll essay, i show some of momoi, midorima, (and takao’s) interaction in a drama cd!

in round 4, it’s the finals! ultimately, the two friends lost to the iconic magical children of cardcaptor sakura, but it was a great fight! In the end, it was a close fight, with the pair losing at 48.2% with 177 votes!

in this poll essay, we get a summary of momoi and midorima!

over here with this poll essay, you can check out some cute midorima and momoi merch! which is especially relevant given that momoi is barely in merch

and over here in this poll essay, you can see midorima and momoi talking one on one about studying and momoi’s notes! It’s from the knb replace manga!! it’s such a cute scene :> and the first time i didn’t need to crop out kise or takao!!

In total, they earned 475 votes!

that’s all i have for now! i hope you enjoyed reading it! I’ll definitely be updating this after polls conclude or if i learn about other polls! let me know about other polls if you happened to come across them :>

other notes

i nominated kuroko and kagami to the introvert and extrovert poll so we'll see if they made it in!

#I STARTED WRITING THIS ON APRIL 22ND.... AND ONLY LAST NIGHT DID I FINISH....#did not think it would take me this long!!!#anyways i wanted this moreso as an archive but i hope anyone else can enjoy the fun silliness of these polls :>#also!! i said it in the giant readmore... but if there are any other polls out there... let me know... ill boost them...#and if i have time ill write deranged essays too <3 #choo choo losers #knb polls #anyways im a lil deranged but thats okay!! i hope u guys are enjoying the ride!!!#kuroko no basket #kuroko no basuke #kuroko tetsuya #kise ryota #kagami taiga #midorima shintarou #takao kazunari #aomine daiki #momoi satsuki #midotaka

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roo-bastmoon · 1 year

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BTS Tutorial: WEVERSE SHOP

WeVerse is a platform where we can watch BTS content and interact on the forums with the artists.

WeVerse SHOP is where we buy official and exclusive merch.

Gonna recommend you bookmark those two links.

Did you know you can even set up WeVerse on your smart TV and watch content on your big screen? For tutorials on how to set up accounts, go here:

Before we get into it, I’m just gonna make a plug that you try to purchase your ARMY annual membership. Even and especially while the boys are in military service, your membership lets HYBE know there’s still interest and engagement for our boys and that they have SOME funds and fans they can depend on coming in from BTS-related content. I can’t afford the fancy exclusive expensive membership but the $22 a year gets me a free pass to all kinds of cool paid media like behind the scenes footage and extra content, too.

Okay, now back to the shop. So far, I’ve found WeVerse shop to carefully package their folios and albums. I honestly can't afford much because I want to prioritize purchasing the music more than the merch. However, for international ARMY, WeVerse Shop purchases often come with steep shipping costs and delays, so just be mentally prepared to wait for your hoodie or whatever several weeks if not months longer than our K-diamond ARMY have to. Them’s the breaks.

In terms of helping your bias chart, physical albums (CDs, vinyls) sold on WeVerse USA Shop WILL count toward Billboard 200 if you live in the US. (So will physical albums in Target—and some physical albums on Amazon IF they come from the official BTS source. You absolutely gotta check the fine print and see if they tell you which charts their sales might count toward, or just don’t risk it.)

Sales on WeVerse GLOBAL Shop will NOT count for Billboard 200, but those will count toward Hanteo and GaOn charts. If you are a non-US-based I-ARMY, please go ahead and purchase from the GLOBAL STORE to help the boys win awards in their home country if you have the funds.

Also note that WeVerse digital albums are basically QR codes that you get access to the day an album drops. You scan the code and you can play the songs in WeVerse only. None of those plays in the WeVerse app count for our charts so I highly recommend you prioritize Spotify, YouTube, Apple, and Amazon for streaming.

For more information US ARMY can use about WeVerse items for sale, including FACE presale releases, I recommend following this account:

Please go ahead and share this so the word gets out. If you know of better information, please let me know so I can keep these tutorials evergreen, and thank you!

DISCLAIMER:

I am a Dope Old Person and have been ARMY since January 2022. So I still have a lot to learn.

I’m making mini-tutorials for people like me who are comfy with technology but totally new to voting, streaming, and buying Kpop stuff.

If you know of better, more up-to-date information, please comment or DM me so I can make sure I’m not spreading misinfo. Please be polite about it, though—we are on the same team!

Feel free to apply whatever you learn here to other BTS members and other artists; I’m Jimin-biased so I am focused on helping Jimin at this moment in time, but I’m OT7 so rest assured I’ll put my shoulder to the wheel for all our members!

#BTS_Tutorials #jimin #park jimin #face by jimin #jikook

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digital-roots · 2 years

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Doing the tdi simulator and i want to share some highlights rn (which are mostly abt Cody)

- Owen was the first to get eliminated

- Leshawna has gotten close to getting eliminated FOUR TIMES already

- Cody is the best player in Screaming Gophers and is in two alliances: One just with Izzy and one with literally everyone else EXCEPT Noah (whos the only person that disliked him so far)

- Noah and Trent are close but Cody gets Noah eliminated, making Trent dislike Cody and leaving the alliance

- so Cody (who everyone else in the Screaming Gophers like) gets Trent eliminated right after Noah (Its shown that Cody voted both Noah and Trent out too)

- Im actually really impressed at how Cody is doing what the fuck why is he being so smart

- also i want to point out that he still has his two man alliance with Izzy. (Anyone here watched the Izzy isnt crazy conspiracy video. What if he knows)

- oh god Cody dislikes Beth shes gonna be next

I've been trying to put a readmore here but tumblr wont help im sorry yall

- Geoff and Bridgette hate each other :(

- CODY FUCKING OVERCOMES HIS FEAT TWICE. I DID NOT BUFF HIS STATS AT ALL BEFORE I MADE THIS

- Cody and Justin just had a MAJOR fight

- this has quickly spiraled into me liveblogging abt Cody boybossing his way into victory

- the entire time most of the Killer Bass fucking despise each other

- Gwen, Izzy and HEATHER all feel an unbreakable bond towards Cody. He gets bitches!!!!!!!!!

- im going insane HOW does he do it. Cody literally Screaming Gophers' saving grace

- OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHH CODY JUST HAD A MAJOR MELTDOWN

- whats gonna happen to his reputation??????

- Sadies impressing her team :)

- Tyler just got eliminated and i forgot to mention how he had two alliances in the beginning. And he left both of them

- Cody and co havent seem to change anything (oh and btw heather and beth have an unbreakable bond now)

- OHHHHHH NEVERMIND CODY HAD ANOTHER MELTDOWN AND HE JUST LEFT HIS ALLIANCE. CODY WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING

- Sadie has also been close to elimination three times now bruh

- Cody and Izzy still have their alliance. Maybe he's trying to focus more.

- the screaming gophers have been winning back to back so much damn

- Cody and Beth fought but then they made up after

- Sadie literally competing with Leshawna on who can get the most amount of almost elimimations

- AAAAANNNNNDD FOR THE FIFTH TIME SADIE ALMOST GETS ELIMINATED

- Courtney and Ezekiel of all people have an unbreakable bond

- can the killer bass win one time guys. Can the screaming gophers stop being infinitely better than them

- Beths impressing the rest of the team....

- oh and the alliance is falling apart....ever since cody left gwen and heather left too

- SIX ALMOST ELIMINATIONS. HOW DOES SHE DO IT

- despite being a boyboss cody still sucks at sports

- FINALLY. SADIE FINALLY GETS ELIMINATED.

- holy shit katie voted for her what a twist

- its literally so pathetic that the Screaming Gophers has 7 members while the Killer Bass has. 3

- ohhhhhhh shit yeah this is the part where it gets grouped to guys and girls now. Uh oh Cody only has Ezekiel and Justin now

- THE GUYS WIN THE CHALLENGE

- ok merge time

- Harold and Tyler return!

- wish it was either Trent or Noah tho

- Cody has so many unbreakable relationships its unreal

- of course Heather gets a torture where its literally just listening to her own voice

- izzys final torture is literally just getting pelted by water balloons and She LOSES how embarassing

- Everyone else thinks Izzy was cringe and all vote her off

- and ofc Justin wins cologne

- i am not fucking kidding CODY GETS THE INVINCIBILITY GIFT BASKET. HE IS LITERALLY CANON TDI HEATHER IF SHE WAS ACTUALLY WELL LIKED

-if cody actually wins i might get mad everything thats happened so far HAS to be because he'll lose

- harold elimimated Cringe

- Cody at the very least is still pretty weak theres been numerous times where hes almost cost his team (and despite it still winning)

- oh and ofc he wins invincibility again. Cody you goddamn rascal

- Literally only Heather and Gwen didnt win the challenge (Gwen got voted off)

- oh cody and justin have an alliance now

- leshawna :(

- oh shit cody only has heather now

- huh ezekiel has actually won a lot of challenges i just realized

- codys noticed ezekiels winnings. He does not like that

- Heather chose a chipmunk for the challenge and she LOST that mustve been a hilariously long time wrangling that chipmunk

- OH. MY. GOD.

- CODY FUCKING GOT ELIMINATED.

- Ezekiel was the enemy he found out about too late

- Im so mad this simulator game has made me feel so much for Cody that i'll miss him so much im never seeing boybossing Cody ever again

- Im actually rooting for Ezekiel now what

- Ezekiel got eliminated.

- everyone hates Katie wow

- the final four are Courtney, Heather, Justin, and Tyler

- Tyler naurrrrr he was so close :(

- JUSTIN LOSES!!!!!! HEATHER AND COURTNEY FINALE!!!!!!

- HEATHER WINS TOTAL DRAMA!!!!!!!!!!!

- fuck this Cody aint in total drama action

- oh my god. This was a lot.

Here all the placements btw

- Katie and Sadie have the most votes wow

- Screaming Gophers literally won 7 times in a row. Unreal

- I think i need to lie down that took so much out of me

#total drama #total drama island #tdi cody #td cody #he needs to be tagged.#a-maize-ing post #savefilez #long post

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allthebrazilianpolitics · 1 year

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To cleanse ourselves of Bolsonaro, we must fight like a forest

The defeat of Brazil’s fascist president Jair Bolsonaro represents a small window of possibility. To turn it into a horizon of hope, we must act not against Bolsonarism, but for a radical relationship with life.

Yes, we know. Brazil’s far-right president Jair Bolsonaro has been defeated at the polls, and will leave power after another two months of brutalities. But he and Bolsonarism remain very much alive, supported by the votes of 58 million Brazilians, formed in the image of their messiah. And they are here among us, sharing the same Brazil. In the week after the election, we watched Bolsonaro’s followers perform Nazi salutes while singing the national anthem, carry out bizarre marching rituals dressed in the national soccer team shirt, and even solemnly chant the anthem to a tire. Why a tire? I have no idea. Bolsonarists are all around us; sometimes they even share our homes. And yet they believe it is legitimate to demand the illegitimate: the return of a military dictatorship. The question is: how are we going to live alongside them?

Because we’ll have to.

Before we contemplate this, it must be said that something extremely serious is affecting Bolsonarists. And I’m not trying to be humorous or ironic. It truly is serious. Their performances in the scenes we watched play out this week made us laugh like we haven’t for a long time in Brazil. But the facts behind the memes (a form which, by the way, should be elevated to the status of art, and have its own awards) are serious. That Bolsonarists feed on fake news is hardly a revelation. But the post-election period has revealed what falsifying reality, and believing in the falsification, does to a person’s life – and what a great mass of people doing the same can do to the life of a country. Much can be said about Bolsonarists – and it already has been. Nevertheless, it must be stated, in all seriousness, that they are sick.

Sick with a social disease that needs to be treated as such, and must be confronted by the incoming government. When faced with a fact that they couldn’t entirely falsify – the election victory of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, better known as Lula – Bolsonaro’s supporters lost all reason. It wasn’t just the scenes that became memes, like the guy who clung for miles to the front of a truck that had broken through one of the barricades formed by Bolsonarists demanding a coup, nor the criminal acts, like the singing of the national anthem while performing Nazi salutes, as was seen in the city of Sao Miguel d’Oeste in the southern state of Santa Catarina. It was the belief in more fake news, like cheering the arrest of Alexandre de Moraes, president of Brazil’s Supreme Electoral Court – an arrest that never happened. Or celebrating after hearing that Brazilian educator and philosopher Paulo Freire – long branded an enemy of Bolsonarism – had also been arrested (Freire died in 1997). Or spreading reports that Lula has terminal cancer, when in reality Brazil’s president-elect is doing just fine, thanks, and is preparing to star at Cop27 in Egypt.

In the coming days, weeks and months we will find out what will happen to this mass of people when reality continues to impose itself. And, in a few years, we will discover what became of the kids of those who detached themselves from reality. We care – as we should – about the children violated by the Bolsonaro government, which attacked their basic rights, slashing funds in social services while exceeding spending limits, first to benefit its supporters and allies, then to try and win the election. But perhaps we should also be concerned about the children living in the same house as adults unable to connect with reality. We can see what such people do outside their homes, but not what goes on behind closed doors. We have good reason to suspect there may be a great deal of suffering.

So what can we do? As a society, we need to remain firmly in the real world. We will respond to this divorce from reality with even more reality. And the most profound reality is life itself. The best way to fight the deadly project that Bolsonarism and its adherents represents will be to remain faithful to life. And I say this because we – those in Brazilian society who were not only horrified by, but who suffered at the hands of, this falsification, who for four years were held hostage by a criminal in power, who used the machinery of state against his own population – are also sick. Although I have no statistics to back this up, the signs are everywhere, like the fact so many people around me fell ill after the election, as though their bodies could finally collapse, now the polls had offered them a little support.

But while we can treat these physical illnesses with medicine, our sickness is much more persistent in our subjective mind. We are stuck with Bolsonarism and its daily routine of shocks and abuses. We are bound to the Bolsonarist horror like a hostage to their kidnapper, because we too were hostages. And because this was the way many of us found to survive the impossible.

It is time to break free.

#brazil #politics #brazilian politics #brazilian elections #brazilian elections 2022 #mod nise da silveira #image description in alt

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tomorrowxtogether · 2 years

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Tomorrow X Together: “Our fans are always there by our side. That’s why they’re our heroes”

They won Hero of the Year at the BandLab NME Awards 2022 by a fan-voted landslide, but the boyband remain humble with new EP ‘minisode 2: Thursday’s Child’

Five men dressed like vampiric undertakers glare at the camera as they execute forceful dance moves, blazing a path through a fiery guitar riff. A nihilistic attitude – the kind that comes when you’ve been pushed to your absolute limit and something inside of you has snapped – burns through their eyes, bringing a villainous edge to their expressions.In the canon of Tomorrow X Together’s ever-striking music videos, it’s a far cry from that of their 2019 debut single ‘Crown’, which found the South Korean five-piece bright, fresh-faced and smiley. The title of the track that accompanies these dark new visuals says it all, though – each cherubic sweetheart of yore has been tainted by life and turned into, as per the new song’s title, a ‘Good Boy Gone Bad’.In the time since ‘Crown’’s release, Tomorrow X Together, or TXT, have made their mark as curious genre-hoppers, dabbling in styles from the tropical house-pop of 2019’s ‘Our Summer’ to the darting hyper-pop of 2021’s ‘Frost’. Continuing that trajectory, their sublime new EP ‘minisode 2: Thursday’s Child’, released earlier this week, packs in everything from sparkling synth-pop (‘Thursday’s Child Has Far To Go’) to contemporary R&B (‘Lonely Boy’).

This musical exploration is part of what has led them to their status as globally-renowned rising stars, a position that’s brought them recognition at home and abroad – including at the BandLab NME Awards 2022 in March, where they were voted Hero Of The Year after receiving a whopping 40 per cent of the public vote. It was resounding proof of the impact the young band (Yeonjun is the oldest at 22 and Hueningkai the youngest at 19) are having on the world.

When NME brings up their recent award win as they join us on Zoom one Seoul morning, grins spread across their faces and the quietly mischievous Hueningkai emphatically raises two thumbs to the camera. “We were really grateful that we were voted by so many people globally,” the group’s level-headed leader Soobin says humbly, quickly following up his appreciation with a promise typical of the hard-working act: “It really made us want to work even harder and make even better music.”

They’re certainly doing that with ‘minisode 2: Thursday’s Child’, a striking break-up album. The record continues a theme they’ve been unfolding since they became the first boyband to debut under BigHit Entertainment (now known as HYBE) since the world-conquering BTS.

Over the course of three EPs and two albums, the group have shared the tales of young people navigating the spiralling rollercoaster ride of growing up, from escaping the trials of reality with your best mates (the Harry Potter-referencing ‘9 And Three Quarters (Run Away)’) to feeling isolated and ignored (the velvety indie-rock of ‘Ghosting’) and finding your first love (the full-hearted emo-rock roar of ‘0X1=LOVESONG (I Know I Love You)’).

The five members – Soobin, Yeonjun, Beomgyu, Taehyun and Hueningkai – might have grown along the way, but one thing has remained consistent about the songs they’ve shared with the world. Each is infused with the band’s personal takes on life, committed to only including authentic stories in their music. “As a team, we’re all about reflecting the world as we see it or, basically, the experiences we and our generational peers go through,” says the charismatic Beomgyu.

“Winning Hero of the Year at the BandLab NME Awards 2022 made us want to work even harder” – Soobin

It’s an aspect of TXT that is often given a lot of attention, scoring praise from fans and critics alike for how relatable their records are. For the group, though, this comes instinctively. “Aren’t most people inspired by emotions they understand?” Taehyun, the band’s deep thinker, muses. “The more we understand something, the deeper we can dive into it. We’ve made a lot of progress – both musically and personally speaking – but because we’re still people who are growing, it was natural for us to address issues and experiences that were relevant to us.”

Their realistic and empathetic portrayal of youth has done more than just strike a chord with their fans, known as MOA, which stands for “moments of alwaysness” and highlights the way in which they and the band share every moment of their journeys together. Along with the members’ habit of checking in, chatting and doling out advice to their listeners online, this has provided much comfort. It also seems in direct contrast to the perceptions of polished, hard-to-reach superstars that the idol label – which refers to artists in the K-pop scene – creates.

If MOA look at TXT as their heroes, then the feeling is very much mutual. “They cheer for us and whenever we’re down, they lift us up, so we love them very much,” Hueningkai says sweetly, still smiling broadly. “Whenever we’re happy, we realise that MOA were always there by our side, so that’s why they’re our heroes,” Beomgyu adds in agreement.

These comments might seem like simple moments of fan service, but TXT don’t see their relationship with their fans in such a transactional way. As Gen Zers, their peer group is well-versed in connecting with new people around the world online, and those digital avenues have given the band ways to cultivate a “very deep and trusting friendship”, as Taehyun describes it, with their fanbase.

As well as social media interactions, the five-piece spend a lot of time hanging out with MOA on Weverse, the fan community platform launched by HYBE, which offers a space focused on one artist to communicate with other fans and the stars themselves. You’ll find TXT sharing candid diary entries, opening up about their own struggles and sharing words of wisdom in response to others’ posts. Where some artists might decide offering solace in their songs is enough, TXT go the extra mile to be there for their listeners in a much more personal way.

“I was really surprised by Avril Lavigne’s positive feedback on my cover of ‘Sk8er Boi’. I still feel honoured” – Hueningkai

This openness hasn’t always come so easily to the group – especially when each member was unveiled online via a short introduction video in 2019; Yeonjun’s came first and racked up over 6million views in less than 24 hours. “When we first debuted, it was really awkward to share these things with MOA,” Taehyun nods in acknowledgement. “But, as time went by, we really became good friends, and it was easier for us to share every little thing.” His serious expression slips into a soft smile: “Now, I think there’s no relationship that’s more special.”

As TXT continue to get bigger – as they have done at a lightning-quick rate – the challenge will be maintaining that feeling of closeness with an ever-growing group of followers. Hueningkai is unfazed by the idea: “I think it’s all about staying honest and opening up. We – MOA and us – have said so many things and shared so many experiences together, whether that be through our music or through all the conversations we have online or through whatever other means we have. Our bond has only grown stronger, and we’re sure it’ll continue to grow.”

The bond between the two parties feeds directly into TXT’s music, creating a full-circle effect. Although they’re keen to fill their songs with their own tales, Yeonjun concedes there are aspects of adolescence and young adulthood they can’t speak to. Instead of making up stories and hoping to get them right, they turn to their fans. “We can’t experience everything in the world, so when we see what MOA writes, we really learn how they feel and think,” the dynamic singer and rapper explains. “It’s a wonderful inspiration, and they’re a big help to us.”

omorrow X Together continue to be a guide to growing up – or a reminder of the storms already weathered by older listeners – for their fans on ‘Thursday’s Child’. The new EP’s title is a nod to the nursery rhyme ‘Monday’s Child’, which assesses those born on the fourth day of the week as having “far to go” – or, in other words, are set to be incredibly successful.

That meaning might seem at odds with the record’s themes of a bitter break-up, but Soobin points to Thursday’s position on the calendar – a weekday that almost takes us into the weekend – as a metaphor for the trajectory the EP takes. “The protagonist’s journey of acceptance and self-discovery is still ongoing,” he explains. “He’s at that stage where he’s at the cusp between adolescence and adulthood, and his first farewell is a part of it. During that process, he experiences a lot of emotions like anger or grief, but in the end, he’ll be able to accept it and move on in whatever way he sees fit. The point is we’re not quite there – but almost.”

‘Thursday’s Child’ picks up where we left TXT last year on the sublime ‘The Chaos Chapter’ series – the 2021 albums ‘Freeze’ and ‘Fight Or Escape’, which entered tumultuous new territory as impending adulthood brought new challenges to their doors. On those records, they first found a love so potent it felt like they could power through any of the struggles our cruel, cold world threw at them.

But soon after the events of the latter album’s raspy emo-rock of ‘LO$ER=LO♡ER’, on which they declared their partner their salvation and soulmate, that first romance crumbled around them. Both albums possessed a feeling that they were searching for something missing, the catalyst for which was the British TV series The End Of The F***ing World. “We drew inspiration from the fact that the characters in the show had these holes in their souls,” Taehyun notes.

Now, they’re processing the feelings of the break-up on this new release – not least on the aforementioned ‘Good Boy Gone Bad’. Where some break-up songs might portray the wreckage of a relationship sadly and tenderly, TXT take a different tact, embracing wrath on the explosive rock song. “Gouge you out of my heart / Bleeding out the traces of you,” Hueningkai sighs. “Rather than hiding our emotions and trying to push them down, it’s a candid expression of these feelings,” Yeonjun says matter-of-factly.

“Candid” feels like an understatement when you take in some of the anguished lyrics on ‘Thursday’s Child’. “I’m bleeding painfully,” Taehyun and Soobin sing on the stormy ‘Opening Sequence, while ‘Good Boy Gone Bad’ is full of candidates for most dramatic lyric, not least Hueningkai’s “I’m like a zombie dead alive / Born over a tomb of love.”This EP might be the band’s first time delving into the vernacular of rage, but they effortlessly nail just how enormous and extreme everything feels in your youth.

Although this record doesn’t directly lift from the genres, it shares similarities with the resurgent spirits of pop-punk and emo – both of which coloured parts of ‘The Chaos Chapter’ era. TXT’s fellow Gen Z cohorts have brought aspects of those sounds back into all circles of music – from rock and pop to hip-hop and beyond – and Beomgyu suggests their revival is down to how they reflect the acute earnestness of youth.

“Pop-punk resonates with us because it can be very intense and straightforward self-expression” – Beomgyu

“I think pop-punk, in particular, might resonate with us because it can be very intense and straightforward in terms of self-expression,” he notes. “And as a generation that is still going through a transitional stage of growth, we do appreciate opportunities to express ourselves. Good music is good music. What draws us [as a band] back to older sounds is, in the end, whether or not we like the sound and mood it presents.”

Outside of their own music, TXT have also given props to the scene’s predecessors – in February, Hueningkai shared a vibrant, faithful cover of Avril Lavigne’s smash hit ‘Sk8er Boi’. It quickly drew attention from the Canadian icon, who tweeted her thoughts on it hours after the track had been uploaded to YouTube: “Amazing cover!”

“I’ve always liked ‘Sk8er Boi’ and, since our last release was influenced by rock music, I thought it was the perfect time to record and share my version of the song,” Hueningkai shares happily now. “I was really surprised by her positive feedback – I still feel honoured.”

TXT boast unquenchable inventiveness as they expand their creative contributions to their music: Beomgyu, Taehun, Yeonjun and Hueningkai secured writing or production credits on this EP. The writing process saw them draw on an assortment of inspirations: “I think about dance and movement a lot when songwriting,” Yeonjun, a budding choreographer and skilled dancer, says. “When I was working on the rap for ‘Good Boy Gone Bad’, I focused a lot on what kind of movements I’d be showing on stage. I wanted to put a lot of weight on the roughness and mania we were to portray.”

It also highlights the band’s love of world-building, which TXT craft in a similarly meta way to artists like Taylor Swift and The 1975, littering references to their old work in new tracks. This time, it’s apparent in the soft and sorrowful indie-pop ballad ‘Trust Fund Baby’, which acts as a thread to TXT’s past, flipping ‘LO$ER=LO♡ER’’s “lover with a dollar sign” lyric to “lover with no dollar sign” as they cynically dissect money’s influence on love and life.

No matter what they’ve been through in a song or record – or whether it ties back to previous releases – the five-piece have a habit of always managing to locate a positive note. ‘Thursday’s Child…’ is a perfect example, as they find inspiration in the TikTok trend #breakupglowup – a celebration of not wasting any more time crying over an ex and focussing on yourself instead – and present themselves as ready to get over their heartbreak.

“In the end, our songs are always about growth,” Taehyun explains. “So that’s the reason why they always come back to the positive side.” Beomgyu nods from the other side of the table: “It’s a part of the process of having these experiences and growing.”

Since 2019’s ‘Crown’, Tomorrow X Together haven’t stopped blossoming, even with the world on pause for the last two years. They are significant players on the global music scene, rather than just associates of Korean music’s biggest export, BTS. Last year, TXT were the longest-charting Korean artist on the Billboard 200 with ‘The Chaos Chapter: Freeze’ and were the only Korean act to debut three albums on the same chart in 2021, while pre-orders for ‘Thursday’s Child’ surpassed 1.4million sales worldwide in just 15 days.The five-piece might be on the verge of going absolutely stratospheric, but they’re not forgetting their roots, which are firmly planted in putting the graft in. Like most K-pop artists, they all worked through the industry’s rigorous training system – an often years-long process where they study singing, dancing, rapping, modelling, acting, language and more in the hopes of making it into a group. Each member, of course, impressed their label enough to be selected for the final line-up.“Looking back, I know we worked our hardest,” Beomgyu says. “We know we gave it our all, so, although we’ve learnt a lot of things since then, I don’t think I’d want us to do anything differently.”

Not everything has been plain sailing for the band, mind – not least in having to learn how to meld five distinctive and different personalities harmoniously. True to form, they’ve always been open about not always getting along in their early days, citing their differing backgrounds as something they had to come to understand and appreciate. Those times are far behind them, though, with their interband relationships more robust than ever.

“We’ve bonded over the same dream of making music and performing in front of people since we were young boys, and we’ve realised this dream together,” explains Beomgyu. “We’re constantly spending time together. We share the same experiences, which means we see a lot of big things in the same way now, even if we didn’t always before. And in situations where we don’t see eye-to-eye, we know how to navigate and find middle ground. Now, we’re still working towards realising even more dreams together, which strengthens our camaraderie even more.”

“We drew inspiration from The End Of The F***ing World. The characters had holes in their souls” – Taehyun

They’ve also been bonded by the fact they are one of the acts spearheading Korean culture’s exponential growth overseas. Even in the three years since they first started making waves, Korean music, films, TV shows have become more popular with international audiences, be that BTS comfortably selling out stadiums abroad, 2019’s Parasitewinning Best Picture at the Oscars, or K-dramas Squid Game, Hellbound and All Of Us Are Dead dominating Netflix.

“We’re very happy that we can reach more and more of the world and connect with everyone, no matter where they are,” Soobin says. “The more people listen to and empathise with our music, the prouder we’ll be.”

This summer, TXT will hit the road for their first world tourand will finally meet some of those people across the globe who have fallen in love with their music. Thanks to the pandemic, the shows will be the band’s first in-person concerts, save for a short showcase tour in the US in 2019 and two recent “fanlive” events (shows that incorporate live performances with chatting, games and more) in Seoul. Coming after virtual concerts, the latter has reminded the group of the thrill of performing – something Yeonjun recently admitted he “almost lost interest in” during the height of the pandemic.

“Performing is very different when there are just cameras as opposed to real people who love and support you for what you do,” he reasons. “When you’re physically together, you share an experience. The physical presence of our MOA gives us more energy than we can describe – those two nights were the best the five of us had in a long time.”

With the release of ‘minisode 2: Thursday’s Child’ ushering in what looks set to be a gigantic new era for the band, it seems unforgettable nights and big achievements will soon be the norm for TXT once more. Success might already be theirs, but they’re not getting complacent yet, with big ambitions still driving them forward. “I want Tomorrow X Together to be able to seize the room and to draw all eyes on us,” Taehyun says fiercely.

Beomgyu, meanwhile, is looking ahead to where their music could take them next. “In terms of the storyline, everything is still a work in progress, but these are all experiences people our age, or those who have once been our age, can relate to,” he says. “Whatever is next, I’m sure people everywhere will be able to relate to it.”

Tomorrow X Together’s ‘minisode 2: Thursday’s Child’ is out now via Big Hit Music / HYBE

#txt #tomorrow x together #220513 #article #NME #soobin #yeonjun #beomgyu #taehyun #hueningkai #minisode 2 thursday's child #minisode 2

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destinygoldenstar · 2 years

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Total Drama World Tour My Way

Don't get me wrong, I actually really like World Tour, but I said this before, I have some issues with the season's elimination order. Mainly those problems stem from Team Victory losing all the time, defeating the purpose of three teams.

So this is just a my way on how I personally would have had the elimination order be.

Now, while I am not adding any cast members, or removing any, I AM gonna CHANGE who's on which team. My reason for this is so that we don't have to favor Team Amazon since they have the most plot relevant characters, and for that reason as well, we also don't have to trash on the other two teams as much

So with that said...

I'm changing to...

Uh...

So this doesn't sound like a big grandeos change, but it could definitely make all the difference

So first elimination in canon is with Duncan quitting.

Will I keep that the same?

I'm gonna say yes

Like, we don't need Duncan having a lion share of screen time like he always seems to, so this was actually kind of a decent call. It's a flawed call, from what happens later, but... you know what I mean

Same goes for Ezekiel...

Like... what are you going to change there?

You could make a fic where he makes it far and even wins, but for a CANON scenario? Eh?

(Sorry Zeke stans)

So Episode 3,

In canon, Harold quit, and DJ would have been voted off...

I'm actually going to have DJ go out like he should have

The animal curse thing is just not funny and I don't think even goes anywhere.

So if we want to save DJ's character from suffering, get him out of the game as soon as we can

Episode 4,

I'm actually gonna keep Bridgette's elimination

Would she still try to kiss Al? Probably not.

Like, I think Duncan is the ONLY character who gets called out for cheating. Meanwhile everyone else who does it seem to get a pass.

Like, Courtney, Beth, Bridgette, Trent (okay that one was a trick to be fair)? "Nah, that's fine"

Episode 5, non elimination

Episode 7...

That's a tough one

I feel like since they're on the same team here, Leshawna and Heather would be in a conflict about Alejandro and who to believe.

So it's 50/50 whether or not Leshawna would still slap Heather

Regardless, would we still have her be eliminated?

I'm actually gonna have Team Chris lose this

And Lindsay gets the boot

The reason for this is because this is also the episode where she remembers Tyler... and after that, her plotline is basically done

Plus, I think Alejandro would just HATE her as a teammate, so he'd probably cause the loss, but throw Lindsay under the bus

Noah would probably vote off Lindsay for that, since he's, you know, very proud of the brains department

Episode 8...

I'm gonna do something

This is gonna be framed like an elimination round...

BUT, the person that gets voted off, will actually SWITCH TEAMS

So I'm gonna say Team Amazon loses, they vote off... I'm gonna say Cody, for the medicine incident going out of hand

So he moves to Team Victory

Sierra... not happy

Episode 9

Every team's evened out with 4 people

Now who loses this?

I'm gonna say Team Victory loses

And they vote off Harold here

Why this?

Well now he had six extra episodes to develop this 'egotistical mindset going out of hand', for him. By that point, while I think he'd feel guilty over DJ and Bridgette's boot, I think this is where'd he be called out further by Leshawna and especially Heather for his leadership attempts failing. Cody would be on their team now, he'd be occupied with Sierra being mad at him for voting her and all of that, plus they're not on the same team anymore. So I think THIS is where Harold would vote for himself over voting Cody, ultimately preventing a tie so that he'd take responsibility for pretending he had certain mad skills he didn't have. Or using them for selfish reasons, I guess that's better.

Plus now, we get him and Heather's friendship, and his and Leshawna's relationship a bit, which I actually like those

Episode 10, non elimination

Episode 11,

You know what this is, Izzy gets Brainvilla'd and she gets taken away by the military, sad sad :(

And then I'm actually gonna eliminate Leshawna here.

Reason?

It's similar to DJ's situation, except she would eventually see through Alejandro, only too late, leaving Heather ticked. Cause they're still friends here, Leshawna and Heather be working together here. By the way, what I mean is not 'she has the animal curse instead of DJ' I mean her story would relatively continue from Action, with her recognizing she has no desire to win over people close to her. At least that's how I read it. So instead she'd more so focus on being the heart of her team. Harold being gone, Alejandro being a bro to her, not necessarily a romantic interest, and then that gets shattered over... some false idea on what her victory is Alejandro drilled in her head.

Episode 13

First off, Duncan comes back. Boo hoo, I know

He's actually joining Team Victory here

And then I'm gonna eliminate Tyler from Team Amazon

Ultimately, Team Amazon capturing Duncan or whatever doesn't save them. It really shouldn't have.

And why Tyler? Because Courtney and Gwen are on good terms, (for now) and Alejandro convinced Courtney or someone here that Tyler was behind something when he wasn't

I would note though that despite this, we could give Tyler some individual characterization, not just be Lindsay's love interest. I can see him forming some other friendships here. Even in canon, he was just kind of a plot device until he got eliminated

Episode 14, this straight up won't be an elimination. Just no bias here from Chris, just it was planned from the start

Note though that instead of Tyler catching Duncan and Gwen kissing, it's Noah. BUT, he keeps it to himself for now, because unlike Tyler, Noah isn't so gullible.

Episode 15,

Who do I eliminate here?

There's no Tyler to boot now...

So one of these love triangle birds is gonna get it

If Victory loses, Duncan goes, because Heather and Cody are on good terms

If Chris loses, I would probably boot Owen, but then I'd have to keep the love triangle longer. I don't want to do that, because a lot of you will hate me if I do.

So I'm not gonna do that, Team Chris wins it.

Team Amazon...

In this universe, Courtney doesn't know about the kiss yet.

This episode, she gets that info from Noah, who is a secondary antag in this, collabing with Alejandro. She confronts Duncan about it in disbelief, she finds out it's true, she does the violent actions she does, and she lashes out at Gwen and throw the challenge.

In MY WAY, Courtney would actually get consequences for acting like some brutal assassin, and get voted off for it.

I mean... come on. Courtney is the LAST person I expect to fall for Al, let alone as long as she did, and second, I PERSONALLY didn't like that Courtney got away with her behavior, and deemed as a victim. Yes, she's a victim, but she went at it in such a negative way that ultimately, should NOT be rewarded in the end. She wanted to kill Gwen, she did so. She won.

I... NO ONE should win in that scenario.

Feel free to disagree with me, but this plotline makes EVERYONE disagree with each other, let's be real.

Episode 16

I'm gonna say it, Duncan's outta here

He ALSO gets comeuppance for what he did.

Like, I'm gonna be real, I sympathize with him more than Courtney. I always have for some reason, in EVERY plotline these two have, NOT just this one. BUT I do acknowledge that Duncan is in the wrong, and needs to get consequences for it.

Plus... why must Duncan need the lionshare of development again?

Give other people a chance

With that, we have the MERGE

Now, for the gag and the gag alone, I'm gonna have Izzy be the one who returns

I mean, come on, make it a tradition.

Plus Izzy as a bride, that'd just be funny

ANYTHING is better than Blaineley

Owen gets booted the same way, there's no real reason to keep him around any longer

Episode 20,

This is a double elimination

I'm gonna boot both Izzy and Gwen

Reason for Izzy? Alejandro saw her as a threat, so HE sabotaged her into cheating accidentally, Izzy not doing it on her free will. (I mean, EVERYONE says Izzy'd beat Alejandro in Squid Game)

Reason for Gwen? Heather spites her, everyone deems her the 'new heather' or whatever. Alejandro takes advantage of that to pretend to sympathize with her, as Gwen knows she messed up. Though Gwen'd probably get on Cody's good side, and maybe Noah's, it'd still end up being a tie with Gwen and Izzy, and they both get the boot.

Some people say that Gwen would have been better written if she was evil. Like she purposefully kissed Duncan to spite Courtney, and was a completely heartless villain...

I disagree.

I actually think that would have been worse

Episode 21,

Like I said earlier, Alejandro and Noah are in a scheming alliance, but Noah is the lesser evil here and begins to sympathize with people like Cody, Heather, Gwen, and so he reveals (probably in some confessionals) that he's planning a sneak attack to turn on Alejandro and get him voted off...

But that backfires on him, and he gets eliminated.

Then the final four, it's all exactly the same

I don't want to change this at all, Sierra gets 4th, Cody gets 3rd, Alejandro and Heather are the finalist

HEATHER WINS

I wouldn't change this at all

Now, would I change Sierra's writing and have her simping over Cody less frequent and creepy, and have it be called out more? YES.

But other than that, yeah I like this final four

And there you have it, Total Drama World Tour MY WAY

What's your way? Let me know what you think, and what you disagree with

#Total Drama #My way #Td Heather #Td Alejandro #Td Sierra #Td Cody #Td Owen #Td Izzy #Td Gwen #Td Noah #Td Duncan #Td Tyler #td Courtney #Td Lindsay #Td Leshawna #Td Harold #Td Ezekiel #Td DJ #Td Bridgette

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mlwritersguild · 1 year

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Vote 1 Chloé Bourgeois, by @halcyyonn

Based on a prompt submitted by @gaussiansphere: A house of cards style political thriller about Chloe running to succeed her father as Mayor of Paris

AO3; Political AU, Political Drama, André is Corrupt

Summary:

Chloe Bourgeois had been aware of her father's corruption for years, and she was determined to stop him. Her own political campaign was picking up steam and everything was perfectly planned. Or it was, until someone else discovered what Andre had been using his power and influence for. Chloe could make it work for her

---

The story broke early in the morning, dragging Chloe out of bed far too soon after the late night she had. Even though her team had assured her the situation was under control and no one would find out, someone had clearly been wrong. If she was anyone but Chloe Bourgeois, someone making a mistake about a secret might not be that big of a deal, but she was Chloe Bourgeois. She had been keeping the details of her father’s corrupt political career under wraps until she could use it to win the election in a few months and take his place as mayor of Paris. Was it underhanded? Of course, it was politics. Was it also a necessary evil? Yes, absolutely.

Chloe’s entire plan revolved around getting herself into the mayor’s office. If she only removed her father from his position, someone else would take his place, while Andre still pulled the strings. He, and everyone that took orders from him, had to go.

When Chloe arrived at her office, her entire media team was already assembled. All of them looked as tired as she felt, as if they had all rushed here as soon as they got the news.

“How much has been released?” Chloe set her laptop and notes on the table while everyone took their seats. “How did it get out?”

“It seems that one of the interns sent some of the files to the wrong person, and the media got their hands on it. So far, it’s been reported by most major political bloggers, including the Ladyblog. They only got some basic information that confirms the mayor is corrupt, but they don’t know how far it goes.”

Chloe nodded. “It won’t take long for people to start asking questions. What are our options?”

Another person from across the table spun their laptop around. “There are a couple of angles we can take. If you want to continue with the anti-corruption platform we were going to use, we have a press release written denouncing the current mayor and promising an investigation into his actions. If we go with this one, we’ll have to move quickly before anyone else can dig up more information.”

“How long will it take for people to work out that we know more?”

“Not long. A day or two, if we’re lucky. Andre and his government covered their tracks fairly well, but we still managed to stumble upon it. Someone looking in the right places would find it without trouble.” The private investigator she had hired months ago projected some images onto the screen at the front of the room. Different pictures of Andre began popping up, including a few that Chloe had never seen before. The mayor had clearly been having a good time recently. “We’re only a few hours away from the early morning news reports, and blogs can be updated anytime.”

“So, we need to get my statement out there as quickly as possible.” Chloe tapped her fingers on the table, her nails making clicking noises against the wood as she thought her options over. “Go with the anti-corruption angle. We need to get a press conference organised to make sure it gets onto the news.”

“What about your father?” There was silence around the room as Chloe’s team waited for her to react to Andre being referred to as her father.

“If Andre is still following the same schedule he did when I was a teenager, he won’t hear any news until mid-morning. He’s the last thing we have to worry about right now.” Chloe stood up again, adjourning the meeting. She looked over at her media liaison. “Get as many journalists together as you can in the next few hours for the press conference. This may not be the ideal situation for this information to be released, but we need to take this chance while we have it. Inaction will harm our reputation. Thank you all for being here.”

Chloe picked up her laptop and strode out of the room. As she waited for the elevator, she called her hair and makeup team. While she preferred to make public appearances on more than a few hours of sleep, this could be a turning point in their campaign. Andre’s actions were catching up with him, and the promise of an investigation could sway the majority to their side. If they continued to slowly release the information they knew over the coming months, it was unlikely that Andre’s reputation would survive until the election. The more the public found out, the more his chances of re-election dropped. With the right timing, Chloe was basically guaranteed the mayor’s office. She could almost walk right in.

---

A few hours later, Chloe sat in her office, watching as news articles about her press conference slowly rolled in. As predicted, her father hadn’t done anything about the news. She doubted her had even heard about it yet. It was still barely seven in the morning. He wouldn’t learn about anything for hours.

There was still much to be done. She had another meeting with her team scheduled for the morning to plan the slow release of information about the rest of her father’s corruption. Financial documents would be leaked, secret emails would arrive in journalists’ inboxes, phone call recordings would be posted online, and more press conferences would be held to assure the public that Chloe Bourgeois would get to the bottom of this. Sure, Andre would end up in jail, but what else would he expect after all the tax evasion, bribery, and embezzlement? There were no other options left. He had brought this upon himself.

Chloe sighed. She wished her life had turned out differently, but by the time she was born, the wheels were already in motion. When she found out about all of her father’s crimes at the end of high school, it was far too late to turn back the clock.

An alert dinged on Chloe’s computer. Alya Cesaire had arrived for their meeting. It had been set up so Chloe could double down on her promise to crack down on corruption. Speaking to the blog that had successfully pivoted from reporting on the latest superhero news to additional political reporting, as well as one of the largest blogs in the city, would ensure that as many people are possible saw her promises to fight corruption inside the government. Her entire image was built around being dedicated to doing right by the people of Paris, no matter what, even if it involved locking her own family behind bars in the process.

---

While Chloe knew that her father wasn’t happy with her running for mayor against him, he hadn’t said anything about it. She didn’t really care. If anything, she was used to it. Andre had never been the most interested parent, happily thinking that following every demand Chloe had meant he was being a good father. Somewhere in the last few years, that willingness to do whatever she asked at the drop of a hat had disappeared.

That meant it was quite a surprise when he stormed into her office at noon that day. His assistant followed behind him, ever dutiful, even as Andre raged. “I tolerated your little campaign for far longer than I should have! I thought it was only a passing fancy, but this,” he gestured to the tablet his assistant was holding and the news articles it displayed, “this has gone far enough!”

“Hello, Andre. I’m glad you found your way here. I wasn’t sure you even knew where my office was.” She wasn’t going to sink to his level. They were both adults, and allowing a conversation to devolve into a shouting match because Andre couldn’t see what was under his nose was a waste of her time. “How can I help you?”

“Stop playing around. I know your campaign is just some teenage rebellion, and I am willing to forgive you.”

“I know you’ve missed a lot of important moments in my life recently, but I’m in my mid-twenties. My rebellious teen years ended years ago. All of the decisions I’ve been making are ones that are the best for me and the best for Paris.”

Andre’s face reddened more and more with each word. Chloe didn’t let it bother her, continuing with her speech. “I know what you’ve been up to. I have all the records of the money you’ve been stealing from the city, all the bribes you’ve been paying to keep people quiet, and all the secret phone calls you’ve been having. If anyone is going to be ending their campaign, it’s going to be you.”

“You don’t know who you’re up against.”

“I do, actually.” Chloe stood up from her desk. “I grew up with you. I know everything you’ve been up to since you were first elected. You don’t know who you’re up against. I think you should leave before you embarrass yourself further.”

“How dare you?” Andre was shouting now, his voice echoing out into the hallway and attracting the attention of the people outside. “You would never last a day in this job! You don’t understand what it takes to be the mayor of Paris!”

“It’s time for you to leave; otherwise, I’ll call security and have you escorted from the building. How much more damage can your reputation take? I don’t mind finding out. What about you?”

“You are not the daughter I raised. I did everything for you, gave you everything that you wanted, yet this is how you repay me? I should have known you would turn out like your mother. An ungrateful brat.”

Chloe left the door ajar and walked back to her desk, pressing the call button on the intercom. The security team answered immediately. “Please send security to my office to remove the mayor from the premises.”

“They’re on their way, Miss Bourgeois.”

“Thank you.”

Chloe and Andre stood in silence as they waited for security. Andre seemed to think he could intimidate her into following his orders, but it wasn’t going to work. Maybe if she was a decade younger, or her father didn’t look like he had aged decades in just a few years, but that wasn’t the case. He wasn’t going to intimidate her.

Two security guards walked into the office. “Mayor Bourgeois, if you could come with us, please.”

“This isn’t the end.”

“No, the end will be when I win the election. Goodbye, Andre.”

Andre and his assistant were escorted out by the guards, Andre still fuming. Chloe could hear cameras clicking outside and could only imagine the work that was going to pile up after this incident. The whole thing only solidified Chloe’s belief that Andre was no longer fit to run Paris and needed to be removed from power at the next election. She pressed the call button on her intercom again. When her assistant answered, Chloe asked, “Please schedule another meeting this afternoon. We need to start releasing more evidence. Thanks.”

Andre was going down. And she was going to be the one to make sure his political career came to an end.

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calacuspr · 2 months

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Calacus Monthly Hit & Miss – Sebastien Haller & Enhanced games february 2024

Every month we look at the best and worst communicators in the sports world from the last few weeks.

HIT - SEBASTIEN HALLER

The late, great Daily Mail sport columnist Ian Wooldridge once wrote: “There are days when sport reaches the sublime heights of unscripted theatre and draws from men and women performers resources of nerve and skill beyond human comprehension.”

The magic of sporting contest is that it can be so unpredictable that it is often said that no one would believe it if you made a movie about what you’ve just witnessed.

This month’s African Cup of Nations (AFCON) certainly fits that description, with striker Sebastien Haller front and centre in the drama.

Ivory Coast, the hosts, looked set to exit the competition after a disastrous group stage, when they lost twice, including a heaviest ever home – and Nations Cup finals – defeat when losing 4-0 to Equatorial Guinea.

Manager Jean-Louis Gasset was promptly sacked, but the team got a reprieve when Zambia failed to get the result they needed to finish above the hosts as a best third-placed side.

Haller had not featured in those first few matches due to an ankle injury, but his comeback is far more dramatic than a typical footballer’s injury.

A former France youth international, Haller made his name at Eintracht Frankfurt before joining Premier League side West Ham for a then club-record fee of £45million in July 2019.

He failed to replicate his Bundesliga form, scoring only 10 goals in a year and a half before moving to Ajax.

Haller twice helped the Dutch giants win the Eredivisie and became only the second player, after one Cristiano Ronaldo, to score in all six of his club’s group-stage Champions League games, and the fourth, with Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Robert Lewandowski, to reach double figures in the competition’s group phase.

This prompted Borussia Dortmund to sign him to replace Erling Haaland, where his impressive form was stopped in its track by a tragic turn of events.

In July 2022, just two weeks after signing, the forward complained of abdominal discomfort and during a consultation with a urologist, a testicular tumour was discovered.

Haller promptly underwent surgery to remove it and within the week, he had started receiving chemotherapy.

In a Canal+ documentary called ‘Fight’, Haller’s wife Priscilla described the news Haller had a tumour as a “nightmare.”

“When (he) told me on the phone, I didn’t believe it — it’s a joke,” she said. “Until he got upset because he takes the blow and on top of that has to convince me. I understood what it was to be really afraid. I was scared and had the fear of my life.”

Haller was determined to play football again as quickly as possible and had a personal trainer devising tailored exercise programmes for him in hospital.

When Haller attended the Ballon d’Or ceremony in Paris with Priscilla, the extent of his illness was clear for all to see, his hair loss as a result of chemotherapy a stark reminder of how gravely unwellhe had been.

Haller was voted the 13th best player in the world for his achievements with Ajax, and also went up on stage to present an award.

He was encouraged by his idol, former Ivory Coast captain and fellow striker Didier Drogba, to provide an update on his condition and said: “Everything is fine. I’m here because everything is going as well as it can. It’s important to be involved at such events to show that you’re strong.”

That turned out not to be the case.

A month after the Paris ceremony, he needed a second, more dangerous procedure, to remove the residual findings from the tumour, which took over four hours.

When Haller was eventually given the all-clear, he flew with his team-mates to Dortmund’s winter training camp in Marbella, telling reporters that “(retiring) was never on my mind.”

On January 10 2023 Haller was greeted with applause from his team-mates, club staff, opposition players and supporters as he finally stepped onto the pitch for the first time in a Dortmund shirt for a friendly against Fortuna Dusseldorf.

“It’s been a dream to play with my team-mates, certainly more fun than doing runs through forests,” he said afterwards.

Two weeks later, he made his official debut for Dortmund, and first competitive appearance since recovering from cancer, coming off the bench in a 4-3 victory over Augsburg.

The words “F*CK CANCER” were inscribed on his boots.

It was fitting that on World Cancer Day, in early February 2023, Haller scored his first goal for Borussia Dortmund, heading into the net against Freiburg in front of 80,000 supporters at Signal Iduna Park and subsequently swamped by a horde of yellow-clad team-mates.

He pointed to that message on his boots as part of his celebration and he said afterwards: “To score today was a great message to everyone who is fighting today or will fight later.

“It gives some hope, some courage. The days after will always be better. You only want to score another goal, to have that feeling again. It’s the best feeling.

“You’re flying. You’re on a cloud. The whole stadium is on fire. Your team-mates, the staff, everyone is as one. It’s a big boost. There’s still a long way to go, but we will walk down that path.

"Of course, you realise it is something really serious that is happening, that a lot of things can change. It's important to tell it straight about cancer.

“But the urologist helped me not to be scared. He said I could heal well. I took all his words for granted.”

With Ivory Coast struggling and scoring just twice in the AFCON group stages, Haller’s recovery from his ankle injury took on added significance.

"After the big defeat against Equatorial Guinea, we had no choice," Haller said.

"We've come back from a long way. There were words, moments, which were not easy for the players, staff and everybody [but] which were necessary."

Haller’s teammate Seko Fofana said that Haller's struggles with health and fitness inspired squad unity, especially after their coach was sacked in the group stage.

"He was a benefit to others in the team, always giving something else to this group," Fofana mused. “[Consequently] we're now a unit, a collective, and we can be very happy about it.”

Losing against defending champions Senegal, Haller was thrown on late in normal time to help save the game, and his perfect through ball to Nicolas Pepe saw the former Arsenal winger fouled in the penalty area.

Franck Kessie equalised from the spot to take the game into extra time with Haller scoring in the penalty shootout, with the Ivorians knocking out the holders 5-4.

Still not fit enough to start games, Haller was brought on against Mali in the quarter-final with the team down to 10 men, hitting the bar before Oumar Diakite scored in the 122nd minute to see the hosts through 2-1.

In the semi-final against DR Congo, Haller scored the only goal with a volley into the ground, which bounced over goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi and into the net.

That gave Haller the chance to put his health problems behind him, and looking forward to the final, he said: “The last 18 months have been quite challenging for myself and the family. I just take everything step by step and I just try to enjoy the moment. I don't want to have any regrets.

“It’s a great moment to be here in front of you, talking about the final of AFCON in my own country. It will take a few months, or a few years, to really realise what happened (to me).”

Hollywood scriptwriters would have ensured Haller scored the winning goal in front of his home fans, a scenario which looked unlikely when William Troost-Ekong had put Nigeria ahead seven minutes before half-time.

Kessie equalised with just over an hour gone before Haller seized his moment, flicking the ball into the net from Simon Adingra's cross in front of 60,000 fans at Abidjan's Alassane Ouattara Stadium.

An emotional Haller broke down in tears after the final whistle, the reality of his achievement hitting home.

"We dreamed of this moment so many times," Haller said. "We hoped to get to this point and once again the match wasn't an easy one. The joyous scenes we see now, what's happening in the country, they deserve it too. I really hope it does a lot of people good."

Haller was congratulated by Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara after picking up his winners' medal, perhaps in recognition of the impact his return had on Ivory Coast's Éléphants.

Understandably, Haller was front and centre of the team's trophy parade through the centre of Abidjan the following day, the victory a show of unity coming only 13 years since the end of Ivory Coast’s second civil war.

But victory was about more than just lifting the AFCON trophy for the first time since 2015.

Thousands of Ivory Coast fans came to celebrate on the streets of Abidjan, adorning the team’s orange and white colours, a national holiday called to celebrate the championship success.

Haller’s dignified and determined fight against cancer, his impact on the team and the entire nation underlined how sporting prowess can have a positive impact on society.

It’s a reminder not only of the importance of sport, but how its impact transcends the field, bringing joy, hope and inspiration to millions.

MISS – ENHANCED GAMES

With the recent backing of PayPal billionaire Peter Thiel and other tech businessmen, it looks like the controversial Enhanced Games has the financial backing to take place in 2024.

The Enhanced Games is a proposed international athletic competition, not unlike the Olympic Games, but with one major difference: they explicitly do not test for Performance Enhancing Drugs (PEDs). This is not to say that athletes are forced to dope, but rather than doping is perfectly permissible in the eyes of the organisers.

Their stated goal is to see how far humans can go, using a combination of chemical and technological doping; the former including anabolic steroids and hormone therapy, the latter technology like ’super trainers’ and swimsuits based on sharkskin.

The main philosophy of the Enhanced Games is that PED use should be seen as a ‘demonstration of science’ rather than as cheating.

Is this philosophy legitimate? It is true that no athlete succeeds on their own, and that every Olympic champion has a team of nutritionists, coaches and trainers, equipment designers, physiotherapists, friends, and family behind them. Why not add a pharmacist to the list?

The point could be made that high-altitude training could count as an unfair advantage, given that it is only available to athletes from countries that can either afford to fly them there, or who happen by chance to host training facilities in the mountains. It certainly gives athletes a clear and measurable edge over those that don’t have the option.

From a different perspective, a world-class swimmer like Michael Phelps has longer-than-average arms and a torso that is proportionally longer compared to his legs, as well as size 14 feet and a body that produces half the lactic acid of an average swimmer, but he is celebrated as a natural superhuman.

Meanwhile, women such as champion runner Caster Semenya, whose bodies produce higher than average testosterone levels, are punished and forced to take supplements to bring their hormone levels back down to average.

Clearly, there are grey areas when it comes to genetic and competitive advantages, so it could be argued that any and all enhancements should be allowed. That way, an athlete’s performance on the international stage would represent the combined scientific and sporting abilities of their nation to achieve victory as well as any genetic gifts they have.

Given the allegations of the Russian state-sponsored doping program that saw the state formally expelled from the Olympic Movement, forcing the nation’s athletes to compete as independents, this could be more endemic than we currently think.

The Enhanced Games also claim to have a vastly improved pay structure compared to the Olympic Games, including a stipend for all athletes that compete, as well as substantial prizes for the most successful – including up to and above $1m for gold medallists.

Olympic Games silver medallist James Magnussen has indicated he’d be more than happy to come out of retirement and take steroids if it meant a large payday.

He said: “They [Enhanced Games] have said they have a billion-dollar person backing them.

“If they put up a million dollars for the freestyle world record, I’ll come on board as the first athlete. I’ll juice to the gills and break it in six months.”

Three-time swimming gold medal winner Leisel Jones has argued that the Enhanced Games might actually benefit the Olympic Games.

“It might actually keep the clean sport, clean,” she said. “If this clears out people who genuinely want to [take PEDs] and are doing illegal things in sport, if that clears them out of clean sport, that would be wonderful.”

However, she has said that while she might be interested in commentating, she wouldn’t be interested in coming out of retirement to take part herself.

“I don’t want to participate in it myself, I’m not in a position to do that. The risks are too big for me I think for the side effects and whatnot.

“But I am happy to see other people do this. I would watch it for sure. I just want to know how fast they can go.”

There is some truth in the argument that traditional athletics has been afflicted by illicit drug use. Beyond Russia, a 2017 study carried out by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) suggested that as many of half of tested athletes had used PEDs in the last year.

Two parallel Games, one ‘natural’ and one ‘Enhanced’ could, properly enacted, result in fairer competition for all.

However, the Enhanced Games has understandably been strongly criticised by anti-doping agencies all over the world.

Travis Tygart, CEO of the US Anti-Doping Agency, described the Enhanced Games as ”farcical… likely illegal in many states” and “a dangerous clown show, not real sport”

In a release, WADA further condemned the new Games, calling it “a dangerous and irresponsible concept.”

“WADA warns athletes and support personnel, who wish to participate in clean sport, that if they were to take part in the 'Enhanced Games', they would risk committing anti-doping rule violations under the World Anti-Doping Code,

"Athletes serve as role models and we believe this proposed event would send the wrong signal to young people around the world.”

Australian Olympic Committee chief Matt Carroll added that: “The Australian Olympic Committee believes the concept of a drug-enhanced games is dangerous.

“We know next to nothing about this organisation but sport needs to be clean and it needs to be safe for all athletes,

“The Olympic Movement is devoted to clean sport and athletic excellence, celebrating the best in humanity, excellence, friendship and respect.”

A spokesperson from UK Anti-Doping has described the Games as ”‘unsafe, dangerous to athletes’ health and wellbeing [and flying] in the face of fair play.

"We believe competing is about respect, hard work and determination, not a dangerous game of endorsing drug use to enhance performance. We are committed to working with athletes to champion their rights, their health and their wellbeing.”

Even cyclist Joseph Papp, who was suspended in 2006 for PED use, has come out against the Enhanced Games.

“A doping free-for-all just invites the most ambitious person to be the most reckless person, and to take the most drugs possible without literally killing themselves.”

Athlete safety should be paramount in any sporting competition, and it is unclear how PEDs that are illegal in many countries would be regulated to ensure fair access for all competitors.

The condemnation that the Enhanced Games has received is also not limited to the world of sports: their messaging appears to be mimicking that of other, serious, political movements.

One of the Enhanced Games website slogans is: ‘My body, my choice,’ clearly attempting to echo the pro-choice slogans of pro-abortion activists.

Aron D’Souza, President of the Enhanced Games, said: “Fifty years ago, being a gay man was like being enhanced today. It’s stigmatised, it’s illegal in some sense and it’s done in a dark alley.”

In referencing a picture on the Enhanced Games website of an athlete holding up a flag bearing the event’s stylised “E+” logo, he added: “What changed for the LGBT community was pride — there was a flag to rally around and if you look at our website, it is intentional. What’s our first picture? A flag. Maybe this was our Stonewall moment.”

That is a bold claim even for a gay man like D’Souza to make, given the long and deeply oppressive experiences that LGBT+ communities have undergone throughout history.

There’s clearly a shock value aspect to the Enhanced Games’s communications strategy.

A further slogan of the Enhanced Games is ‘Science is real,’ echoing pro-vaccination arguments during the Covid Pandemic. These attempts to co-opt major worldwide political issues for the gain of the Enhanced Games organisers and investors is unlikely to improve the organisation’s credibility.

Whether or not they can attract sufficient athletes remains to be seen. At the time of writing, very few have publicly supported the new competition.

D’Souza claimed that 500 ‘sleeper’ athletes had privately agreed to take part, but so far none have spoken publicly, raising doubts about whether the Enhanced Games can go ahead.

With the very real safety concerns, the question remains: who will actually benefit from the Enhanced Games? It may certainly garner some initial attention, but what sponsors would want to be associated with such a controversial competition which would potentially undermine their own ethics and ethos?

D'Souza claims that he has no need for further investment, and that this is simply a project to see what humanity is capable of. But the financial incentives offered to attract athletes will need funding if the Enhanced Games are to ensure.

There is so much that the Enhanced Games have got wrong from a communications perspective.

Instead of demonstrating an understanding of the concerns and addressing them in a sensitive way, the approach has been one of aggressive belligerence.

Whether more athletes will sign up for the Enhanced Games in the fullness of time remains to be seen.

The risks to athlete safety alone will ensure continued widespread condemnation from the sports world and beyond.

#AFCON #Ivory Coast #West Ham #Ajax #Borussia Dortmund #Sebastien Haller #Franck Kessie #African Cup of Nations #Didier Drogba #cancer #Eintracht Frankfurt

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