#2009 non-race

[robotsandramblings]

The Journey of Clone Force 99 (and Friends)

a fun little research project i've been working on -- mapping out the locations visited by [members of] Clone Force 99, as seen on-screen in their Clone Wars Season 7 arc and The Bad Batch show itself. i really wanted to see where these locations were in relation to each other in the big, wide, Star Wars galaxy.

click on the map images to enlarge them in new tabs/windows; hopefully you can read the planet names better that way!

the full list of locations -- known, and unknown (ie. not on the map) -- are listed below, along with my resources and other notes. enjoy! 😊🗺️📌

~~~~~~~~~

Note #1: Any planet names on the map that I had to add/type in myself are locations that I had to approximate, based on their Wookiepedia entries. They're not 100% accurate but I feel they're pretty darn close!

Note #2: This is NOT the complete map of all locations visited -- there were about 10 places that had planet or moon names in Wookiepedia, but no information on their location within the galaxy, not even a sector name.

Note #3: the pink-purple "misc" locations are ones that were either A) visited by non-CF99 characters, and/or B) mentioned or shown on-screen but no one really 'went' to the planet. They're all mentioned in the big list at the end of these notes.

Resources:

primary map (the one in the images above); from Wookiepedia. I desaturated the colours for better visuals and trimmed the edges a little.

used the links here to access the sector maps for the Outer and Mid Rims. it's an older but legitimate Star Wars source, from a book published in 2009, but I believe it has remained accurate and carried over into the Disney Canon. I used this a lot for the locations that weren't on the primary map -- Wookiepedia gave me the planet's sector name, and I was able to find the sector using these maps.

this map is fan-made and can be zoomed into very closely to see a lot more locations. There are also faint outlines for the sectors. I don't think this map itself is 100% accurate either, but it was still very helpful in confirming some locations I was approximating.

Fun things I noticed:

with it's "cameo" / intro appearance at the very end of Season 1, Wayland/Tantiss is the only location that we see in all three TBB seasons.

(unless there was a Coruscant scene i'm forgetting from S1??? that would be the other most likely candidate. but I think we only visit Coruscant in S2 and S3.)

(Ord Mantell came kinda close, with an indirect reference in S3, re: the imperials finding and questioning Cid.)

~~~~~~~~~

The VERY LONG list of locations, by approximate chronological appearance in TCW and TBB:

The Clone Wars Season 7 -- Bad Batch arc

Anaxes

Skako Minor

The Bad Batch, Season 1

Kaller

Kamino

Onderon

Saleucami

Ordo moon (location on map UNKNOWN)

Idaflor ("misc") -- at the beginning of Ep 4, Hunter says he wants to hide out on uninhabited Idaflor for awhile. Tech says they need supplies and they end up going to...

Pantora

Ord Mantell

Corellia (where they retrieve the tactical droid head)

Bracca

Bora Vio (Kaminoan cloning facility; location on map UNKNOWN, although I'd guess it's relatively close to Kamino)

Raxus

Ryloth

Daro (where they rescued Gregor)

(cameo appearance by Wayland, aka location of Mount Tantiss / Tantiss Base)

Season 2

Serenno

Desix (Crosshair only; with Cody et al.)

Serolonis (Safa Toma riot racing; location on map UNKNOWN)

Skara Nul

Vanguard Axis station/base (location on map UNKNOWN)

Kashyyyk

Coruscant

Ipsidon (ipsium mine; Mokko & kids)

Silla (crashed science vessel & escaped Zillo Beast; location on map UNKNOWN)

Barton IV (outpost w/Mayday)

Tantiss (Crosshair only)

Pabu

Balmorra ("misc") -- where we see an imprisoned Howzer being transferred; he's rescued by Echo & co. in Balmorra's orbit

Eriadu

Ord Mantell

Season 3

Tantiss

Devaron (home of the Isa Durand's council, per Wookiepedia)

Setron (abandoned Hemlock base with the slither vines; where Hunter & Wrecker find the younger clones Mox, Deke, and stak; location on map UNKNOWN)

Lau (where Crosshair & Omega crash their stolen shuttle; location on map UNKNOWN)

nameless Ryloth moon (where everyone reunites)

Pabu

Barton IV

Pantora ("misc") (Rex, Howzer, and co. only; where Riyo Chuchi meets Raxus's Sentor Singh in secret)

Teth

Veelo (where Fennec Shand, Hunter, and Wrecker track down Sylar Saris; location on map UNKNOWN)

random asteroid where Phee gases up her ship & CX-2 sneaks aboard (location completely unknown)

Erebus (labour camp where Rampart is being held; location on map UNKNOWN)

Bora Vio (Kaminoan cloning facility where they meet Echo and his stolen imperial shuttle; location on map UNKNOWN, although I'd guess it's relatively close to Kamino)

Coruscant imperial orbital station (where they latch onto Tantiss shuttle)

Pabu

BONUS -- Star Wars: Hyperspace Stories #10, which featured Clone Force 99 (pre-Order66)

Hylanth moon (location on map UNKNOWN)

~~~~~

if I've missed anything, or something seems incorrect, please let me know!! again, it's not 100% accurate or complete, but I've tried my best :)

[batsplat]

Valentino Rossi & Casey Stoner - with words from Agassi & Sampras

Agassi/Sampras quotes taken from: A Champion's Mind: Lessons from a Life in Tennis (2009); Open: An Autobiography (2009); 'I Really Hated Tennis' (2009); Agassi and Sampras Meet a Year After Flare-Up (2011); Andre Agassi Reflects on His Career | 2024 US Open (2024) - if you want more context for these quotes, see here

Devil of a ride for Stoner (2007); Rossi: Stoner rode like a god! | MotoGP (2007); Stoner and Rossi post-Laguna Seca (2008); 2008 MotoGP Laguna Seca Race Report - Crunch Time (2008); 2008 Brno MotoGP Preview - Let Battle Commence (2008); Crasher Casey strikes again (2008); Statement By Valentino Rossi After The Motegi Race (2008); Ring of Fire (2009); Valentino si allunga la carriera: «Io, l’ultimo dei piloti romantici» (2009); Stoner impenna: «La correttezza? Non fa per voi europei» (2009); Valentino Rossi's interview with Italian GQ (2010); Casey Stoner on Rossi-Lorenzo Motegi clash (2010); 2011 Jerez MotoGP Race Day Round Up: The Feeding Frenzy (2011); MotoGP, Stoner: “Lorenzo ha più talento di Rossi” (2012); Rossi on the slide? Legend facing a season without a win (2011); Rossi admits that he misses Stoner (2013); Casey Stoner: Pushing the Limits (2013); Inside the mind of Casey Stoner (2014); MotoGP, Livio Suppo: "Stoner in Honda would have suffered Marquez's Personality" (2020); MotoGP Revisited: Rossi and Stoner’s US Grand Prix flashpoint (2020); Casey Stoner tweet (2021); MotoGP, Stoner: "I loved 2-strokes. I retired because riding had become too easy (2021); Tales of Valentino (2021); Farewell to Valentino Rossi, the man who transformed motorbike racing (2021); MotoGP, Valentino Rossi e Casey Stoner: storico incrocio a Portimao (2021); Stoner “has missed” Rossi racing at the front in MotoGP (2021); Rossi visto dai rivali - Stoner: "A Laguna Seca mostrò il suo vero volto" (2021); Valentino Rossi: All His Races (2022); MotoGP legend Casey Stoner talks early retirement, real feelings towards Valentino Rossi & Anxiety (2022); “Stoner had more ‘exceptional talent’ than Rossi, but anxiety ate him alive…” (2023); Stoner on fellow riders (2024); Ep. 11 L'ICONA DEL MOTOCICLISMO con Valentino Rossi (SECONDA PARTE) (2024); Barcelona 2024 - The Misadventures of Party Peter and Mischievous Mat (2024); A day at the MotoRanch with Casey Stoner (2024); Casey Stoner: "Io e Valentino Rossi eravamo nemici, ora abbiamo superato il passato" (2024)

[lovelytsunoda]

proud mary // han lue

summary: now living a quiet life with their daughter, han and y/n reflect on how they got there, and all the good moments that are still yet to come.

pairing: han lue x wife! reader

warnings: this is a big one so listen up: mentions of post pregnancy mental illness, mentions of pregnancy and starting a a family, weddings, ignoring tokyo drift canon because I fucking can, (actually I ignored a lot of canon) han is about to activate a shit ton of daddy issues

I left a good job in the city, working for the man every night and day and I never lost one minute of sleeping, I was worrying 'bout the way the things might've been.

big wheel keeps on turning, proud mary keeps on burning. and we’re rolling, rolling, rolling down the river

2009, tokyo, japan.

the garage was dark, lit only by the moonlight and the small lamps atop the workstations. han lue had closed up hours ago, and everyone was gone save for him and his lover.

“han, what are you doing?” y/n laughed, sitting at a table scattered with nail polish bottles and a shellac brisa light. “it looks like a smudge.”

“it’s a drifting car!” han laughed, staring through the large magnifying glass that was allowing him to see the design he was attempting to paint on his lovers thumbnail. “see, there’s the spoiler and those are the headlights!”

friday night manicures had become somewhat of a tradition. y/n hated painting her nails with her non dominant hand, but she also didn’t speak enough japanese to venture out and get her nails professionally done. when she and han started dating, he offered to do it for her, easing the aggravation that sometimes came with doing mail designs yourself.

“well, now that you’ve pointed it out.” she laughed, kissing him on the cheek. “I love you.”

they had been together coming up on two years. two long, wonderful years. she was a mechanic and he was drifter, it was almost meant to be. she stopped him from getting himself killed, and in return, he loved her unconditionally.

they were sympatico like that. she loved his sense of humour, his protectiveness. he loved her smarts and the excited way she talked, animatedly and with hand gestures.

“what do you say we get out of japan for a bit?”

han should have known this question was coming. y/n was a restless spirit, never meant to stay in one place for too long. in a way, han was as well. he could tell that his lover had been more restless than usual, either from missing home or needing a change of scenery.

“a friend of mine, his name is dominic torretto, he’s got this place down in the dominican republic.” han started slowly, unsure of how much he wanted to involved her in. y/n was his whole world, and what dom and mia would be running was far bigger than street racing in shibuya.“he called me the other day wondering if I would run a job with him. but it’s not entirely legal and I don’t blame you if you don’t want any part in it.”

“baby,” she frowned, placing her hand inside the blue light machine. “of course I’ll go with you. I never pass up a chance to go somewhere sunny, and you know that I’d go anywhere with you. what we’re running here with twinkie and sean isn’t exactly legal either, you know. I’m a big girl, seoul-oh. I can handle myself.”

“I know. I just want you to know what you’re getting into. you’re important to me, y/n.”

“I know.” she said softly, running her hand up his arm as she rested her head on his shoulder, gently kissing his neck. “so when does our flight leave?”

“whenever you want it to. I haven’t even bought the tickets yet. are you ready for an adventure?”

“fuck yeah.” y/n smiled, pressing her lips to his. “but you have to paint my other nails first.”

han laughed, the kind of laugh that would always set loose the butterflies in y/n’s chest, the kind that reminded her why she fell in love with him in the first place.

“I don’t think I have it in me to paint another drifting car.”

“then what are you going to paint on my thumbnail?” y/n laughed back, looking down at her nails and realizing that her lover had actually done a very good job painting a drifting car manicure.

“I don’t know,” han shrugged. he would deny it if asked, but he actually loved painting y/n’s nails. he thought it brought them closer together, built up intimacy in their relationship.

they were moments he wouldn’t trade for the world.

“I’ll just do like a checkered flag or something.”

“but you did that on my index finger!”

laughing, y/n turned her head to kiss him. “come on, you big dork. the sooner we get my nails done, she sooner I can model that new lingerie set I bought last weekend.”

“sold!” han laughed, knocking over bottles of gel polish as he searched for the bright pink he had used to paint the car on his girlfriends other hand. “drifting car? f1 car? whatever my gorgeous gorgeous girl wants.”

“I love you, han lue.”

“love you more, pretty girl.”

2010, monte carlo, monaco.

it was set up to be another sleepless night without her lover by her side, and y/n was having none of that as she wandered the deck of the comfortable yacht, looking around at the decorations that the crew had spent the day putting up.

she was just praying that it wasn’t going to rain.

nothing was about to spoil her big day.

she scurried below deck, past a half open door through which she could hear roman pearce’s guttural snores. fingers curled around the door knob, she tried not to make any noise as she eased the door open, slipping into the cabin.

“you couldn’t sleep either?” she laughed, looking at the king size bed where her fiancé lay, phone in his hands as he texted his mother, who the crew was picking up in the harbour in the morning before the ceremony began.

“got a lot on my mind.” han shrugged. “fucking tej won’t shut up about the reception and the playlist and I’ve told him a million times that it’s not going to be some crazy rave kinda thing.” the man sat up, gesturing for his soon-to-be wife to come closer. "it's doing my head in. seriously, he wants to do a club mix of 'i would do anything for love'."

y/n snorted. han thought she looked like an angel in the low cabin light, a halo glowing around her head and shining off her white silk pajamas, the ones with the tiny shorts and 'bride' embroidered on the butt. "how the fuck do you turn the best meat loaf song in existence into a club rave song?"

"the fuck if i know." han shook his head, hands sliding up her thighs as she came to stand in between his legs. "jagi, sarang-hae."

honey, i love you.

"mhm." she hummed, a smile on her lips as she leaned down to kiss him sweetly. "i love it when you speak korean. it's so fucking sexy."

the last year had been stressful. the dominican job had been way more complex than y/n had expected, and it took a while for han's old crew to warm up to her. it took a while, but eventually she managed to crack dom toretto, and two weeks later, han got down on one knee and asked y/n to marry him.

hence why they were on a yacht off the coast of monaco, the entire thing decked out in fairly lights and tulle.

"if you think tej is bad, you try getting in between letty and those large plastic ribbons on the back of the deck chairs." y/n laughed. "who knew letty ortiz was so serious about weddings?"

she was practically sitting on his lap now, head resting comfortably on his shoulder as the boat rocked back and forth.

han seoul-oh was her home. her safe harbour. she always felt safe in his arms, at his side, even when they were plunging into almost certain danger like they had in the dominican.

"i brought you something." y/n hummed, reaching into the pockets of her shorts and withdrawing the small cardboard packet.

"fake nails?"

"help me put them on? for old time's sake." she passed him the glittery white french tips, no doubt chosen to match her dress for the ceremony tomorrow.

"i can't wait to spend my life with you. and believe me, there will be plenty more manicure mondays."

2014, monterrey, california.

"daddy, where's mommy?"

"i don't think she's feeling well, poppy." han lue frowned, looking over at his daughter, who was perched in her little kiddie chair at the kitchen table. "i'm going to go check on her, okay? stay right here."

how do you explain depression to an infant? poppy jae-i han had been one of the best things to have ever happened to han seoul-oh. but in the almost twenty-four months since their bundle of joy had been born, something had felt off about his wife.

everyone hears about the mental health complications that can come with childbirth, but no mother ever thinks it would be her.

every husband fears it, too.

"y/n, jagi?" han tried to keep his voice level as he eased open the bedroom door. the couple had bought a ranch house in monterrey when they learned they were expecting. it was one of the few things they used their ill-gotten gains as a part of dom's crew for. "poppy's asking for you."

it broke his heart to see his wife like this, hair messed and greasy, red splotches under her eyes from where she had been crying.

"am i a bad mother, seoul-oh?" she asked, voice small. she seemed so tiny and fragile underneath the layers of blankets on the queen bed. "she always seems to cry when i'm around, but never with you. poppy loves you more than she loves me."

"what?" it was all han could do to stop himself from crying as he sat on the bed, gently running his fingers through y/n's hair. "sweetheart, what's brought this on? poppy loves you. you're her mom. she needs you."

"mia makes it look so easy." y/n sniffled, pulling herself up to a sitting position. she's lost weight. not a noticeable amount, or even an unhealthy one, but enough that her husband knows. there are many things that you can hide from the man you share your bed with, but han knows. he knows she's not doing well. "and i'm fucking shit at it, han."

"look at me, pretty girl." han encouraged, reaching for her hands. "you are such a good mother. i know you're struggling right now, and i know you're hurting but you need to know that poppy loves you so much. she was asking about you over breakfast, you know."

"i don't know who i am any more. i've lost my sense of self."

han frowned, brushing a few strands of greasy hair away from her forehead before leaning down and gently kissing her hairline.

"listen, i was talking to brian last night-"

"of course you were fucking talking to brian."

"-and he thinks you should talk to mia. they're passing through town today on their way back from dom and letty's, brian and i are going to take the kids out to the zoo or whatever, and you and mia should do something." he suggested, running his hand comfortingly up and down his lover's back. "go to the mall, get a coffee. i think she could really help you. she's been through this before."

y/n inhaled shakily, pulling away from han. "what if something happens to poppy and i'm not there?"

"y/n, everything is going to be okay. i promise. brian will be there, the kids will be in great hands. go do something with mia, darling. find yourself again, yeah?"

"okay." y/n nodded, still clutching his hand like it was her lifeline. "i can do that."

"mommy?" a small voice called. poppy had managed to get herself all the way from the kitchen to the master bedroom, where han had left the door ajar just in case poppy needed them. "are you okay?"

"oh, sweetheart, come here." y/n said, tears beginning to fall.

because how could she ever think that her little bundle of joy didn't love her as much as she did? poppy waddled over to the bed, and han hefted the toddler onto the mattress so that y/n could pull her close.

"you know that mummy loves you, right?"

"yes. i love you too, mommy."

"see." han smiled. "you're going to be okay. we're going to get through this."

2017, monterrey, california.

"i genuinely can't comprehend that roman pearce is getting married."

the family of three was walking down the nail care aisle at walmart, a welcome addition to their weekly shopping trip as y/n scanned the packages on the rack for a set of acrylic nails.

han laughed, one hand around his wife's waist and his chin on her shoulder as he leaned against the shopping cart. "it's not going to last. they may be getting married on saturday but i bet that by christmas roman is going to call and tell us she asked for a divorce."

"don't be so cynical." y/n laughed, kissing her husband softly before holding up a small white box. "do these go with my dress?"

"they'll go with anything, babe." han said, moving to whisper in her ear “they'd look even better wrapped around my c-"

"i want nails like mom's!" poppy han's shout cut him off, the little girl looking at the array of disney princess nails on the lower shelves.

laughing, han knelt down next his daughter, one hand on her shoulder. "which one do you want, princess? do you want frozen, tinker bell? mulan?"

"i want the ariel ones." poppy smiled, reaching for the pack of little mermaid nails. han helped her get them off the hook before lifting her up, carrying the six year old securely against his chest.

"seoul-oh, she's like six, you're spoiling her by carrying her all the time." y/n laughed, dropping both packs of nails in the cart.

"what, she's not heavy, sweetheart." han grins. "besides, i have to stay in shape somehow."

y/n rolls her eyes. "sweetie, it's bold of you to assume that you were ever in shape. but i loved you anyways, didn't i?"

back at home, they settled in the living room, near the large bay window. y/n watched contentedly from the kitchen as han sat at the coffee table across from poppy, delicately brushing nail glue across his daughter's tiny nails, dropping the glittery little mermaid nails on top.

it had taken a while to get to this peaceful, quiet part of their life, but y/n han was so glad that they had made it. that she had seoul-oh and that she had little poppy.

"be careful with your nails, they might come off. now, go get your homework done before we make the pizza, okay?"

poppy scurried off down the hall to her room, and y/n padded across the shag carpet, looping her arms around her husbands neck as she gave him a kiss.

"i'm so lucky, you know that. i'm happy and healthy again, and i have you and poppy. that's everything i could ever ask for." she said softly, resting her head against han's chest as the man tilted his head down, pressing a gentle kiss to the top of her head.

of course they both missed the good old days. the days of adrenaline and adventure. but brian and mia had left, and then y/n and han, and soon after was letty and dom. they were moving on with their lives, a chapter of glitz and glamour coming to a close.

"i want another one."

y/n froze, pulling back from her husband. "what?"

"i want another baby. and i know what we went through last time, and i fully understand if you're not willing to take that chance again, but god, y/n, i want a big family with you." han explained, holding his wife's hands. "poppy is growing up. soon she's going to be too cool for dear old dad. and then there will be boys-"

"or she'll be like you," y/n cuts him off with a laugh. "in which case there will be lots and lots of girls."

"god help us all. my little girl is going to break a lot of hearts one day."

"and you want another one?"

"honestly? yeah, i do."

"then i guess we'd better start trying. multiplication isn't that hard, so poppy's gonna be looking for us within the next hour." y/n hummed, kissing her lover softly.

han smiled against her lips, hands slipping into her jeans pockets to cop a feel of his wife's ass. "i only need half that."

TAGS:

@libraryofloveletters @magnummagnussen @mignonricciardo @sidcrosbyspuck @cartierre @monzabee @scuderiamh @daydreamingleclerc @diorleclerc @oconso @cl16version

[bakanokiwami]

TOP 10 PLAY/MUSICAL CROSSOVERS ON FANFICTION.NET BASED ON NUMBER OF FANFICTION (2009-2022)

To make this bar chart race, all series titles in the Plays Crossovers Section on November 29 (or the closest date to it) of every year were copy-pasted from Wayback Machine to Google Sheets, rearranged according to number of fanworks, and then inputted to Flourish to turn into a bar chart race.

In March 27 2009, FFN launched support for crossover fanfiction. Before this date, authors either posted their crossovers in just one category and noted that it was a crossover in its summary, or posted them in one of the generic crossover categories in the Misc. section (such as X-overs, or Cartoons X-overs). There wasn’t a filter to screen all crossovers of specific fandoms back then.

Originally, the fanfiction list was sorted alphabetically, but was changed to number of fics at around early 2013.

Interestingly enough, the crossover sections don’t seem to be suffering from a total fanfiction discrepancy, unlike the sections for non-crossover fanfiction.

Please refer to this post for more fanfiction bar chart races.

Thanks for understanding and hopefully I didn’t mess up anywhere! 🙏

[foxed-and-frazzled]

About me !! ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁 .𝜗𝜚 ࣪˖ ִ𐙚

...

Firstly, I'd like to welcome you all to my page! I downloaded Tumblr mainly for fun and I'm looking forward to post a lot! I'm open to any requests for further content which you can list in the × questions!! × section on my page. I'll usually post relatable content and talk a bit! Feel free to ask questions, tell me about your day or send dm's. I'll respond with great joy as long as they are appropriate and suitable to answer! Don't hesitate to ask for moots, I'd be more than happy to find some friends on here!

ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁 .𝜗𝜚 ࣪˖ ִ𐙚

...

Basic info :: My name is Antonia, the nickname I usually tend to use is Anni! I'm a brunette with brown eyes and about 5'7. (I'm saying that since I doubt I'll ever post a face reveal due to privacy reasons). I'm 14 years old and an only child. My MBTI is INFJ, I'm an aquarius, a feminist, I'm bisexual and a girlblogger!

Hobbies :: Blogging, reading, writing, journaling, baking, watching movies, listening to music and photography!

Interests :: I've took great interest into blogging which is why I started this account in the first place. I'm also really interested into writing and I've been planning to write a book for a while now. Acting and the theatre is also one of my interests. I've never gotten the chance to do acting as a hobby and pursue it through my life though. I'm also interested in psychology and criminology. Lately, I have been interested in film-making and photograpy!

Favourite films :: Dead Poets Society (1989), Orphan (2009), Dinner in America (2020), Watcher (2022), Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (2016) and Get Out (2017).

Favourite shows :: Criminal Minds, Wayne, Dexter and The Umbrella Academy.

Favourite books :: The Secret History by Donna Tartt and The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

Favourite songs :: Brooklyn Baby by Lana Del Rey, Cola by Lana Del Rey, I Love My Boyfriend by Princess Chelsea, Teacher's Pet by Melanie Martinez, Good Looking by Suki Waterhouse, Romantic Lover by Eyedress, Every Girl Gets Her Wish by Saint Avangeline, Oh My Angel by Bertha Tillman, No One Noticed by The Marías, Smarty by Lana Del Rey, Art Deco by Lana Del Rey and I Only Have Eyes For You by The Flamingos.

Likes :: People who don't find silence akward, people who let me be quiet, people that aren't judgmental and I can be myself around them, nice people in general and feminists.

Dislikes :: People that judge others based on the clothes they wear, their beliefs or their sexuality (overall the things they can't change) and rude people in general.

DNI :: P€dos, z00s, Trump supporters, non-lgbtq+ friendly people.

Other :: I'm willing to interact with people of any race, religion and identity as long as they respect my boundaries and aren't mentioned in my DNI list.

...

I'm also looking for moots so reach out !! ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁 .𝜗𝜚 ࣪˖ ִ𐙚

[nekropsii]

Since yours are the only Homestuck takes ever I (a long-time fanon Gamzee lover) am doing what you recommended and branching out into other media. So I ask: what non-Homestuck character is the most like fanon Gamzee (specifically the interpretation where he's just a goofy silly cinnamon roll and nothing much more)?

I don’t really watch any media with characters that are “goofy silly cinnamon rolls and nothing more”, frankly. Just not really my thing.

If you want a comedic relief character with ADHD in a story capable of taking them very powerfully seriously at times, Beast Boy from Teen Titans (2003). If you’re not into superhero media or don’t want to cope with the severe psychological fuckery TT2003 pulls, especially with it’s honestly really fucking good handling of CSA, but still want a pretty similar character concept, then… Sokka, from Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005).

If you want a chaotic little dude from a kids show specifically but also to keep the “media with deep issues in its handling of race” aspect, then Discord from My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (2010).

If you want to keep the murder, Leatherface from The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2 (1986). TCM 2 will especially appeal to the craving for goofy, it’s a really solid Horror/Comedy. Leatherface in general will appeal to any cravings for a sympathetic villain.

If you want a lovable shithead who is goofy and silly but can still wreck your shit and is aggressively Kind Of Gay, and from an anime that also happens to be kind of dogshit at handling race, Goku from Dragon Ball Z Kai (2009).

Not sure if this will do anything for you, but it’s the best I can think of at the moment.

Thanks, btw!

[boxboxblog]

Ex Driver Profiles: Kevin Magnussen

Updated December 2024

Name: Kevin Jan Magnussen

Age: 32

Nationality: Danish

Years in F1: 9 (Mclaren 2014, Renault 2016, Haas 2017-2020 and 2022-2024)

Number: 20

WDCs: N/A

Driving Style: An aggressive and no-nonsense driver, Magnussen is known for never backing down from a challenge and being particularly bold in wheel-to-wheel battles. He brakes particularly late, which can lead to some brilliant overtakes. Magnussen as also an extremely hard defender, and has a particular way of positioning his car that makes it difficult to overtake whilst remaining inside the bounds of legality. A negative of his style is that he often does not temper aggressiveness with strategic moves or calmness, causing many crashes and getting penalties often. This leads to him scoring much lower than he feasibly should.

History:

(Young Magnussen in his first kart)

Born into a racing family (his father was an F1 driver) Magnussen got his first kart at age 2, growing up driving. He started professional karting when he was 6 years old and showed strong promise. In 2008 he moved from karting to car racing, participating in Formula Ford in Denmark, and taking the championship with 11 wins. In 2009 Magnussen moved up to Formula Renault 2.0. He had an extremely successful debut season, finishing 2nd in the Northern European cup (NEC) and 7th in the Eurocup. He was also named rookie of the year in the NEC series and displayed strong promise for the future.

(Magnussen, 2009)

In 2010 Magnussen competed in the German Formula Three Championship, winning the opening round of the season at Oschersleben and taking two more race victories. His non-victory races also yielded high points, and he finished 3rd in the season, gaining the rookie of the year award for this series. In 2011 Magnussen moved to the British F3 Championship and had a great year. He won multiple races, and finished 2nd in the standings

(Magnussen on podium in British F3)

Magnussen moved up to the Formula Renault 3.5 Series in 2012 and had a few race wins and high points finishes. He ended the season in 7th place in the championship. He competed once again in 2013, and it was far more successful for Magnussen, claiming five victories, eight other podium places and eight pole positions. He finished the season in first sixty points clear of the runner-up, winning the championship.

(Magnussen after winning the 2013 championship)

Throughout all of this, Magnussen had a relationship with F1, taking part in the Mclaren Young Driver Program from 2010 to 2013. In late 2013 it was announced that Magnussen was signed to Mclaren for the 2014 season, partnering 1x WDC Jenson Button. His first year in F1 was a mix of few highs, few lows, and many middles. His first race was a major high, as he would end the race in 3rd (later getting promoted to 2nd) and become one of the few drivers in F1 history to get a podium in their debut race. The middles were that most of his finishes for the rest of the season were in the 8-10 range, making low points his most normal result. He only finished outside the points a few times. While his performance seemed promising, especially for a rookie, he was replaced for the 2015 season by 2x WDC Fernando Alonso, becoming Mclaren's test and reserve driver.

(Magnussen after achieving podium in 1st F1 race)

The next time Magnussen would have a seat is for Renault in 2016. This would effectively cut off his relationship with Mclaren. His season with Renault would be an unlucky one. A number of races he was forced to retire due to engine problems, punctures, tire failures, and crashes. Regardless, he outperformed his teammate, Jolyon Palmer, scoring a majority of Renault's points. He finished the season 16th in the standings.

2017 Magnussen switched over to Haas, the newest team on the grid. There he would partner Romain Grosjean for the next four years. His time with Haas would be mostly results negative, as the team experienced car issues, money troubles, and other such problems. They almost never produced a competitive car, and so most of Magnussen's results remained in the low or no points positions. He did, however, out perform his teammate every single year they raced together and have a handful of standout performances in 2018. Beyond lower results, Magnussen created a reputation for himself as a dangerous driver due to his aggressive style, and was often at the epicenter of crashes. In 2020 both him and Grosjean were informed that they would not be back in the Haas seats for the 2021 season.

(Magnussen with teammate Romain Grosjean)

Magnussen returned to F1 to replace Russian driver Nikita Mazepin following the Russian invasion of Ukraine (and subsequent European sanctions) in 2022, and signed a multi-year deal with Haas. He partnered Mick Schumacher, son of a F1 legend, and their first year together was spent gaining mostly low level points and a few surprise high ones. 2023 was a more difficult season, and Magnussen (now partnering Nico Hulkenberg) saw a drop in performance. This was due to the fact that the 2023 Haas car did not respond well to Magnussen's driving style, and so he struggled the entire year to get into the points.

(Magnussen in his 2023 Haas)

2024 was a more positive year for Magnussen, especially the tail end of it. He scored multiple high points finishes, was ahead of his teammates for a lot of the latter-end races, and had some great performances. His highest finish was a 7th place finish in Mexico, and he finished 15th in the standings

For the 2025 season he does not have a seat.

Major Races:

2014 Australian GP - Magnussen's first race in F1, and his first podium, getting 2nd place. His solid qualifying and composure during the race made him a standout, and he had a stellar drive.

2014 Russian GP - One of his most underrated performances, Magnussen achieved a 5th place finish after fighting up the grid from 11th. He performed several fantastic overtakes and helped develop a strong strategy. This race displayed his ability to recover from setbacks.

2018 Bahrain GP - With a 5th place finish, Magnussen showed he still had potential in the Haas car. He was able to come back after a rather negative stretch in F1 and gain his team some valuable points.

2018 Austrian GP - Another 5th place finish, Magnussen solidified himself as one of the best midfield drivers, and helped Haas achieve there best ever constructers results. He showed his skill, avoiding race chaos, and navigating his way to a higher points finish.

2022 Brazilian GP - During sprint qualifying Magnussen secured his first ever pole position, His sensational lap showed his ability to capitalize on tricky conditions and pull a strong performance out of a struggling car.

Cheers,

-B

[bliss-in-the-void]

Waaaait a goddamn second.

Let’s take this play by play from Suguru’s perspective.

Satoru is dead. Toji killed him. Suguru tries killing Toji, but is defeated yet left alive.

Suguru manages to get to Shoko so he can heal up. His next course of action is to get Riko’s body back to give her a proper burial.

He goes to the Star Religious group compound. He finds Toji’s curse crawling freely on the ground, wounded.

His mind races. That curse would only be free if Toji died. How is Toji dead? There’s only one person he can think of that could have killed Toji.

He runs into the compound after absorbing the curse. He literally books it. He stops himself before the doors. He prepares himself mentally, yet is still surprised when he sees the room to be full of cultists. Why?

Because he had realized Satoru was probably still alive. And since at this point, he was the one with the strict moral compass, he probably thought Satoru had gone ahead and massacred them for revenge. It explains why he’s so surprised to hear the clapping, to see the smiling faces—they were supposed to be dead.

Then he sees Satoru holding Riko’s body, but he doesn’t recognize him at first. This is the first time he’s ever seen Satoru so dead inside and it scares him. Something happened but he doesn’t know what, only, he can just sense that Satoru isn’t 100% his Satoru anymore.

Satoru notices he was healed, Suguru acknowledges that he’s better. But it doesn’t change what happened to Riko. They escaped alive but she didn’t. Satoru tells him it isn’t his fault, but he feels deep down that he should have done more.

But what caught my ear was when Satoru says, «you're late, Suguru. Actually, you got here fast.

After all there are several Star Religious facilities in the city."

I've heard that line before and it kinda confused me but then it hit me. Satoru fully assumed that Suguru had started massacring the other facilities. He had been thinking, * have to meet up with Suguru at some point but he's going to be busy for a while taking care of the other facilities."

Then Satoru asks if they should kill the cultists. He was about to. It isn’t a shock to Suguru. He wants to kill them but he’s fighting the urge. But he stops Satoru because he knows it isn’t worth it, to become curse users over water that’s already under the bridge. He rambles. He convinces himself.

Satoru asks if it even needs to be worth it. Should they just kill? Satoru is on the verge of completely snapping.

Suguru hesitates. If he raises his hand it’s over for everyone in the room and he could stop that incessant applause. He considers it.

The only thing that saves him is the idea that no matter how inhumane non-sorcerers are, who kill without reason, sorcerers are different and they only kill for a purpose. He has to retain moral high-ground in order to stop himself. Killing them would mean stooping, at least, that’s what he tells himself in the moment.

At least the way I’m seeing it, through his dialogue, it really seems like they each had been expecting the other to have already killed the cultists.

Suguru thought Satoru had when he found the worm curse outside, and Satoru thought Suguru was tearing holes through the other facilities.

It makes me wonder what would have happened had freshly post-Toji-attack-Satoru met 2009-Suguru.

[el-cabroncito]

I was curious so i'm doing a deep dive on Marc's career the beginning of his world championship career to 2019 (I would do it to now but I'm going to make his post 2020 injury career as it's own series cause it feels like a different chapter in his career and I also think i'll need a bit more time to do that one cause it'll be more challenging to research and read all the articles about what Marc went through at that time. I'll also probably do a seperate post about his career before the world championships, so the spanish championship and i'll see if i can find anything on his enduro and motocross years) I think I'm going to make this multiple posts due to the photo limits as i want to include pictures of what i'm talking about (it will probably be 2008/09 together and then each season after that will be its own thing and maybe even multiple posts for each year as i want to do a deepdive into each race.)

The Deep Dive into Marc Marquez career - statistics, podiums, wins, injuries and world championships (Part 1)

125cc Career (Part 1)

2008

Marc joined the world championship in 2008 at the age of 15 racing for the Red Bull KTM team, he had to withdraw from the first 2 races of the season due to a right arm fracture that he sustained during the pre season also during a TNT interview from 2014 with Marc where Gavin Emmett is a guest host he says Marc showed up to the paddock for the first time and had two broken ankles. His first race was in Portugal where he came 18th. He scored his first every world championship points at the next race in China finishing 12th. In his 6th race he got his first podium, making him at the time the youngest person to get on a podium in the world championship. In the remaining 7 of 9 races of that season Marc DNF'd 3 times and finished in the points 4 times. He had to withdraw from the final 2 races of the season due to an injury caused by a crash in practice at Sepang (It's a cursed track I swear). This accident caused both his legs to be trapped between the back wheel of his bike and the swingarm, this resulted in a dislocation of the cartilage of his right tibia, he had to go back to Spain for surgery. Despite 4 withdrawals, 4 DNF's and 2 non point scoring races Marc finished 13th in the standings with 63 points.

2009

In his second year in the 125 class Marc started the season off in Qatar with a DNF, it was then onto Japan were he finished 5th, he then got his second career podium at the Jerez GP. Marc DNF'd 4 times in 2009 (one of them being Germany, that didn't happen again until 2023 were he DNS), he had 2 non points scoring races. His highest non podium finish was 4th and his lowest was 17th. He also became the youngest pole sitter in the class at the age of 16 years and 68 days. Marc finished this year in 8th with 94 points.

[nitrosplicer]

https://jameschasesanchez.com/2022/04/29/on-the-paradox-of-self-immolation/

This piece deals with the case of Reverend Charles Moore, an elderly white preacher who self-immolated in his hometown in Texas to object to the town’s racism in 2014. However, it is a (non-paywalled) articulation of how self immolation is a form of protest which should not be conflated with mental health issues.

“Between 2009-2016 in Tibet, self-immolations occurred every 17 days. When you factor in the rest of the world during that period, they occurred more than once every two weeks. Yet this isn’t a recent phenomenon; it has a long historical linage. Many remember the famous image of Thích Quảng Đức immolating in a Saigon street corner to challenge the government’s oppression of Buddhists in 1964. At the time, JFK referred to the image as the most significant photograph of the 20th century. It eventually became the cover of a Rage Against the Machine album. Many experts even argue that the 2011 Arab Spring began with Mohamed Bouazizi’s fiery death in Tunisia, which led to waves of revolution across Northern Africa.

While self-immolation has historical precedent, for many Americans it’s still perplexing.

“Why would someone feel the need to give up their live for a cause?”

“Sounds like a ‘crazy’ person.”

These were the two most common concerns people raised when I interviewed them for the documentary and book.

The answers are simple yet complex: Self-immolation, by nature, is paradoxical.

…No one called for these people to die, yet they chose willingly to do so, in hopes that they might help enact a climate revolution, change governmental policy on climate change, or alter values and ideologies of race and racism. The history of protest demonstrates that we never know what one act might tip the scales. Maybe Wynn’s death could cause the Arab Spring version of climate change. Maybe Buckle’s sacrifice could have become as significant to the 21st century as Đức’s was to the 20th. There is always a chance. These self-immolations stem not from despair in the face of impending doom but rather from looking at the bigger picture. They had faith their deaths could save lives in the long run. What a powerful, compassionate risk—that your life might save others if people collectively choose to act.”

[bloodyymaryyy]

The fortunate one

Charles Leclerc x goddess reader

Side note : this took not as long as I expected but yeah it took a little under a week so I am proud of it for the time it took and the whole thing ,I like it and I hope you like it too . Please don't be a ghost reader if you like my work because it motivates me to write more and more with each like , comment or even a repost 💞

Also this is inspired by the one and only @strwbrryfire. Thanks for letting me do that , also hello

Warnings : gore and blood : in a scene I have it marked so if you want you can skip .

It was 16 October 1997 in Monte Carlo, Monaco where a baby was born , born to be a star for sure , they just didn't know it yet , it was way to early to tell either way. That boy had a great potential and a talent few got to have , he was destined for greatness, no matter what .

He didn't wait for long to discover his passion and talent , January 1st 2005 he started racing for a team and from that year he won his first title until 2008 . Moving on the year after January 1st 2009 won another title: the youngest ever french cadet champion.

Charles Leclerc wins Monaco Kart Cup in October 17th 2010 in 2010, Charles Leclerc moved up to the KF3 class and won the Junior Monaco Kart Cup.

Lorenzo's best friend Jules Bianchi was already mentoring him and helping him in his racing career while establishing his own which was cut short in 2015 when he sadly passed away without being able to carry on with his dream to drive for the elite team Scuderia Ferrari in formula one .

Sadnesses veiled all of the families in Monaco and especially the Bianchi's and the Leclerc's , being so close and with a bond like no other , grief took over them Charles significantly more in his family .

Grief t made him seek out for anything that could help him , he tried therapy which didn't work , tried so many things up until one is ay he happened to be in a library browsing through books that peaked his interest even a little because anyone that knew him could say he is not a person to read books especially non school related.

A book with a pretty cover grabbed his attention and took it off the shelf, upon further inspection he understood what it was , a book about a goddess ? They weren't really religious, also not learning it at school got him thinking that maybe it's fictional.

He did decide to buy it though just so he could see what it was about he had a proclivity towards it , a weird attraction like a magnet of sorts.

He delivered a powerful soliloquy reflecting his choice of buying that book which most likely will be left to collect dust in a shelf where all of his books were stored.

After he was done with the errands that holded him up from reading the heavy book that weighted his bag down and returned home , it was lunch time , helping his mum with the food they all it as a family and everyone separated to do their own thing and he did too .

Opening his new book he found that the pages were old , wrinkly , brown and a little torn up just enough so you will be able to read the contents of those pages , just because he had the day free of everything he sat down and read the book starting to believe in the goddess that the book was talking about , there was directions on how to find her , it was rumored that he brought luck , success and granted logical wishes at a cost .

He studied the steps of where to find her and how so he prepared himself and the stuff he had to take with him and a deep slumber took him after his head touched his soft pillow , with excitement for the next day's adventure on seeing if this goddess is actually in existence ,and dreaming of what he could ask her for .

When he awoke in the morning, he felt inexplicably rejuvenated and vivified, as if a whole decade had elapsed since he had experienced such a nourishing night's slumber.

Getting up and ready for a day full of adventure, he was excited to see it the book is real and had solid information on the divine being, it could be nice to see if it really is of existence or just a waste of time which won't really be a waste of time because he could connect with nature.

When he got downstairs to eat breakfast with his family he told them about him going to hang out with Pierre Gasly his best friend which was a lie , he was not about to let him know of the cosmic enchantress , if she didn't exist he would call him crazy or if she did exist he wanted to have her all to himself even tho it wasn't fair and he was being selfish for gatekeeping it , but what the world doesn't know can't hurt them .

After getting ready, preparing his backpack with a few last time things like tree bottles of water and some snacks , the book , his phone and his headphones because it would be a very long walk from his house to the forest where the little abandoned temple where the statue of the majestic empress is .

Normal people would just brush it off but not Charles young and stupid doesn't always work in your favor but the sixteen years old boy with nothing to do and what seems nothing to loose he went for it anyway because he was in line to get a Ferrari seat now , a few weeks ago winning the f2 championship and talking with haas in f1 for a seat which was his dream and legacy as Jules got quiescent and wanting Jules to live through him and live his dream also , because they were supposed to drive along side with each other but god and the universe had got another plans for him .

Drawing a map to where he needs to go in his head , he put on his headphones blasting his music , the walk was painful even for an athlete, the sun shown brightly and every second that past the sun got hotter , he was sweating by the time he got to the forest and now the actual problem began . Having to climb small mountains , jump over fallen trees , go down on the way and having to grab into trees to keep him for tumbling down but he somehow made it , worry overtook him for a while for how he is gonna get back up but the moment he felt something else more powerful in him the worry just left his body and something new came about .

Taking two turns and a few minutes in a straight.

There is was

Or so he thought, getting his book out just to be sure it was the correct building and it was ! He actually found it ! He jumped in place a few times in his excitement and headed to the door , knocking just to be sure nothing happened and so he just opened it putting on his whole body because it wouldn't budge and got in the first thing he saw was small pillars Greek like with the details and all there were a few skulls and different bones which freaked him out but didn't back down because that would mean he just did a three hour walk to just leave immediately so no either way he was not that much of a wuss to leave just because there was a few bones most likely humans.... Right?... No he had too much of adrenaline to leave .

Continuing further into the temple the door which he left open slammed shut with so much force that it woke the dead for sure , getting a glimpse of the statue of the beautiful woman that somehow radiated gold , her body glowing gold with a red cloth hiding the lower part of her body , her waist , her privet area and the back of her legs and pooling down at her feet.

She stood proudly with her hands open the left one pointing down and the other upwards , her eyes closed as if she was having a peaceful sleep , her hair fall beautifully around her , there was candles everywhere other lit with a soft glow and others half way done .

Opening up his book to the page where a few spells for summoning her were he thought of what he would ask her for .

In the book it said to kneel Infront of her and place your hands in her stomach and start chanting her name with pauses every three times and she started to move , her fingers started twitching , her eyelids Open and closing finally she opened her eyes and looked down at him , expecting an old creepy guy that had only greed in his heart and eyes but what you saw shocked you , it was a young man , a teenager, kneeling before you with brown hair , green eyes and a beautiful face in general, he finally looked up at her and saw that she was looking at him he jumped up and created space between them and he spoke up .

"You are actually real" he said in awe

" I am indeed" she said monotonously and continued " what is it that you need for me to call me up here ?" She questioned raising an eyebrow at him .

There was a long pause , " I actually don't know , I mean I could ask you for my friend back , but I won't be logical, can I ask you a question first ?"

" go ahead" and with the freedom of speech that she gave him he picked carefully his next words .

"what do you do actually?"

" I can do pretty much everything other than give you back your friend as you said "

"so if I asked you for a little help with my career would you do it ? "

"yes"

"okay that was easy, I will take that , I need it right now "

" Okay it will cost you mortal "

" Charles my name is Charles" there was again a pause and an awkward silence until he spoke again " what do you want ?"

" I want you to bring me a human alive here and sacrifice them so I can roam the earth again " as she said that her eyes glowed red and her voice got deeper " but for now I will take half of your soul so I can make sure you do that and then I will help you "

Fuck he thought it was gonna be something more simple that kidnapping a human so he could sacrifice it to her but he mentally agreed the moment she uttered the words but so he could make himself feel better he pretended to think about it .

" Okay I will do it , who do you want I will bring them"

" I want (whoever you want) and everything so desire will be yours "

" when ?"

"in a week , this exact hour and day "

" okay I will " as he said that and was about to take a step back to turn on his heel and leave a pain burst throughout his body and a shadow flow out of his body to hers .

" you will take your soul back when you bring her here "

He didn't say anything and left as fast as possible to make a research on the woman the radiant majesty wanted . A voice inside his head spoke that he knew it wasn't his .

" no need I will guide you to her and lend you invisibility for you to get it done without a trace back to you "

After getting home , nobody was at home because of different reasons and it was great so they couldn't see him like this , dirty clothes, mud everywhere and his hair wild but covered by a Ferrari cap .

He ate whatever was made for dinner because they always ate early dinner , he didn't like that but he had to eat it anyway his headphones on again trying to avoid the fact that he had to do all that and his soul was stolen, a piece of him was missing, it bothered him he didn't know what to do with himself so he sat and played video games until his family come home or until he feels like going to sleep which will be soon so he send a message to the family group chat that he is home for a while now and that he will go to sleep so he won't worry his family.

Tomorrow he had to train anyway so it was perfect, him going to sleep early, he could be well rested for the training. Falling asleep an hour after he thought of how is he going to get the woman because the guilt will eat him alive he knew it , he had this feeling for almost every, either he was in the wrong or not for things that didn't matter much it was like a big monster loitering around, weighting him down and with the urge to vomit out everything, secrets , sins , mistakes and regrets . But with the divine sovereign taking over his soul that monster has gone away and he almost didn't want her to leave at all.

He actually wanted to talk to her , ask her questions about her , everything but he was afraid.

His thoughts now are not his own anymore, there was someone listening to everything he thought, did , talked , it was gonna be hard to even talk to his family, but it wasn't like she is gonna talk to anyone about everything she heard but to have a person hear , see and feel the same thing as you it was one of the oodest experience of his life ever .

The week went by too fast for him so he was anxious about everything, the moment his family left in an early morning and he was at home he left too , seeking the woman that would be his victim.

He actually was a puppet, nothing he did was of his own move the spirit inside of him just guided him where to go and how to do something so in his conscience it wasn't like he did anything so he was not guilty.

(gore scene)

Getting again to the temple it went by a second or so he thought but it got done after lying her in the bed like piler the sovereign one did the rest , cut up her hands and gathering her blood for the ritual, drawing shapes in her body and crushing her skull with her hands, there was pieces everywhere of meat and blood scattered around the room and on her face , hands and body .

(end gore )

Her soul flew out of her and the timeless paragon left her place off the step and walked towards Charles the red soul left her body and flew right in into him , he felt something fantastic, he felt complete and something new , he couldn't describe what but it was amazing.

" I think we are good here mortal , it was a pleasure making business with you , you know where to find me if you want anything more "

" did you do what I asked ?"

"yes and a little more actually because you deserve it "

" like what ?" He said confused

" you will know when it's time , now leave "

Without uttering anything but a mind full of questions he left hoping it was actually what he wanted but time only will tell from now on .

2024

After years he thought of going to her again , he couldn't get rid of the thought of her standing in front of him all mighty and powerful, he thought of going to get some help again as he was about to race again for his home country and after years of misfortune either his own fault and many others of wrong calls and strategies from his team he actually found himself days before the race to the very place he stood ten years ago .

The door opened up without having to knock a random stranger that he found on the way there in his arms unconscious his white fireproof and his race suit pooling down in his hips , sweaty, hair messy he went in and laid the body the way he did that day a decade ago kneeling down again in front of her , placing his hands in her stomach as he did before this time with more confidence and determined he repeated her name three times then pausing , then again , then again , then again at this rate his heart beat picked up with the sight of her moving again back to life .

She woke up again , knowing exactly what he needed without having him say it by himself . After getting it done he sat on a bench and she actually sat down with him and talked about everything

After winning the race he sat in his car , thinking about everything while crying in his helmet, he got out of the car with a newfound strength. His family cheering and crying waiting to congratulate their son and brother, his newest girlfriend shedding a tear , his brothers crying and clapping .

It all was surreal

He done it !

He won

Getting out of his car he stood on his knees and looking up as if praying for her praying for y/n the one that helped him throughout his career, hitting his chest and opening his arms as if welcoming a hug which welcomed one but the world didn't have to know that it was his y/n .

Getting up he jumped into the arms of his family and team everyone celebrated his win even his rival max hugged him where the world didn't know that he had a close friendship with .

The end

[homestuckreplay]

Violin Concerto in the Key of Meteor Strike: Who Is Rose Lalonde?

Character Deep Dive 2 - 6/2/2009

Homestuck’s narrator formally introduced us to John Egbert right as the comic opened, but our getting to know Rose Lalonde has been slower and more natural. From her earliest conversation with John on p.63, to her becoming a ‘playable character’ of the comic on p.139 when she and John begin playing Sburb, to our switch to following her in person actions on p.214, we already knew a lot about Rose before we had her name and list of interests. She’s just as weird as John but with a spooky gray filter applied, she’s a regular kid who will probably summon a demon, she’s an absolute control freak who’s still kind of a failure at video games, and she is our second Main Character, set up as a contrast to John as well as a friend.

Much like with John, I’ve used Rose’s list of interests to group the information we know about her, and to discuss her relationship with the other characters and with some themes of the comic so far.

Essay below the cut - about 3.6k words.

Quiz here - 13 multiple choice questions.

1. You have a passion for RATHER OBSCURE LITERATURE.

If this was the first thing we learned about Rose, I might see her very differently. I’d definitely take her more seriously. But I saw her destroy the plumbing and put the bunny back in the box, so learning this now comes off very differently.

With John’s ‘passion for REALLY TERRIBLE MOVIES’, we were given posters to illustrate his taste, and based just on critical reception, ‘really terrible’ is a huge oversimplification. So we know that the narration isn't completely objective, and we know from other clues that Rose's interests in psychoanalysis and games are fairly surface level, which makes it an easy leap to ‘Rose reads a lot of HP Lovecraft and thinks of that as way more obscure than it is because she’s 13 and gets book recommendations from forums’.

There are two posters on the left of Rose’s wall that could be book characters - they look like amateur art of regular, non-tentacled people. I wonder if they were birthday presents from one of her friends, whether it’s John or TG sending her original concept art made by the author of a book she likes, or fanart if one of her friends is a visual artist (GG, perhaps?)

John not only loves movies, but imagines himself in their stories (for example, p.223) and the things that happen to him reflect his movies in response. Without any specific titles, it’s hard to say if the same is true for Rose - but if so, it raises questions of genre. John’s story has been lighthearted action-comedy with darker themes below the surface, light fantasy and countdowns leading to an explosion that’s almost comically absurd even while it has our hearts racing. Rose’s story is already darker both in literal color and in tone. Her inventory system is still terrible but she uses it more pragmatically and she’s far more skillful about skulking around her own house. This, the design of her house, and the sudden flashes of lightning illuminating the sky red or revealing a shadowed figure give her story a survival horror feel. If that’s her taste in literature, it would make sense that she’d imagine herself in that type of story.

2. You enjoy creative writing and are SOMEWHAT SECRETIVE ABOUT IT.

Where a normal person might say ‘hey I heard you got the sburb beta’, Rose Lalonde says ‘I understand you have recently come into possession of the beta release of "The Game of the Year", as featured in respectable periodicals such as GameBro Magazine’ (p.63). It’s the first thing we hear from her, so we learn immediately that she likes the sound of her own voice. She’s the only kid in her friend group who uses perfect capitalization and grammar in her messages, and she criticizes game walkthroughs as ‘horrendously written’, suggesting a focus on the technical aspects of writing.

Her creative interest is seen in ‘I think I will write my own walkthrough’ (p.204) where she moves beyond criticism and at least believes she could make something better, and ‘It’s not especially practical. But I think they are elegant’ (p.154) which shows an interest in the style and aesthetics of things. We also get great glimpses of her prose in lines like ‘Its lurid glare has moved on to younger timezones’ (p.174) - I can imagine Rose writing fanciful mood and setting pieces that focus on description over dialog.

In her eccentric verbosity, Rose’s character voice is more similar to the narrator’s than any other character’s is. The narrative text on p.82, for example, feels more comfortable in itself than Rose’s messages do, but it’s not a million miles away. I’ll come back to Rose as a narrator figure in the section on knitting, somehow. 

Rose is not only secretive about her creative writing, she’s secretive in general. On page 164, she tells John not to investigate after she rips out his toilet. She asks him for ‘space’ to fix it and sends him away, and clearly prefers to work unobserved especially when she’s uncertain. She also shuffles her purple package into the closet (p.218) and her writing journals under her bed (p.220) when she feels the narration’s scrutiny. The narrator states ‘You would only resort to such an embarrassing activity while no one was watching’. Rose is clearly ashamed of some of her interests and personality, and hides a lot of herself from observers to make herself seem cooler and more mysterious than she is.

(I have to note that this does not work, at least not where her friends are concerned. Before we hear from Rose directly, we learn about her from TG, who says ‘maybe you can play with TT shes been pestering me all day about it. shes mackin on me so hard all the time i start to feel embarrassed for her’. Definitely not the way she’d want to be introduced to a mass audience).

3. You have a fondness for the BESTIALLY STRANGE AND FICTITIOUS, [...]

The 'bestially strange and fictitious' is what's being referenced in the tentacle of tentacleTherapist, not an innocuous interest in marine life. This is one of her shared interests with John, who apparently liked paranormal lore. It's interesting that these beasts are 'fictitious' according to the narration, but Rose's grimoire is specifically for 'summoning' the zoologically dubious, not just learning about them. This positions Rose as a more active character than John (summoning instead of learning lore) and as someone who has grand designs and fringe beliefs - kind of an Ellie Arroway in Contact figure.

I've talked about Rose and John as scientists based on their chumhandles, versus TG and GG as religious. We now know that Rose lives next door to an impressive sized lab broadcasting from an antenna. Depending on how good their security systems are, she might have explored here, or at least peered through the windows at the strange, unethical science experiments they're surely doing (aka the extremely routine lab work that she's interpreting as mad science). Growing up with scientists as her only neighbors might have inspired this interest and got her started on weird experimentation of her own. As it's unlikely she has formal training beyond middle school, it makes sense she'd be into weird tentacles in jars instead of a more academically accepted field.

I've been wondering how many of Rose's interests are from childhood and how many go further back. The cuddly Cthulhu plush and the very cartoonish monster on her shirt suggest this was a childhood interest, even if the specific monsters she likes have changed over time - some of her more unsettling posters might be recent additions. We don't know enough about her mom's parenting style to guess if she was mostly unsupervised on the internet and able to look at horror from a young age, or if she was held back from something she had an interest in until her mom felt like she was old enough, and how that might have impacted her either way.

4. [...] and sometimes dabble in PSYCHOANALYSIS.

This is the 'therapist' half of Rose's chumhandle, and the easiest interest to guess based on her early appearances. Psychoanalysis, to Rose, appears to be the idea of knowing people better than they know themselves and guessing their underlying motivations and thought processes - therapy through telling people what's going on in their head instead of talking it through with someone. From what we've seen so far, the vibe is 'she's read Freud's Wikipedia page and cares more about putting her basic knowledge into action than reading more theory'.

In Rose's first chatlog on p.63, she accuses John, 'You're wearing one of your disguises now, aren't you? You are typing to me right now while wearing something ridiculous.' She says this right after John mentions going to get the Sburb beta from his dad - 'mom' and 'dad' are activation words to someone with an amateur interest in Freud, and she's immediately putting herself in John's head and making assumptions about his life. (She's right, but probably only because they're already good friends).

On p.160 she tries to pull a similar move, saying 'Is this how your pent-up frustration with your father manifests itself?' and John shuts her down. But in her efforts to analyze other people, she tells on herself more than she wants to - her previous message was 'I am not sensing a lot of regard for the personal property of others' and considering this message comes as she throws John's personal property around his house, leaving his things on the roof and in the backyard, I'm going to call this one projection.

Rose's only direct statement about her mom is on p.174 - 'I'd rather not risk an encounter with my mother. I battled through her cloud of gin and derision once already this evening.' In this same pesterlog she compares her situation to John's, suggesting that she thinks John's situation of 'cake, jesters, unfaltering love and support' isn't really that bad. While she's not wrong, it's a very unproductive thing for a so-called therapist to say, and it shows a lack of self awareness - Rose seems like she would hate being coddled with cake and having a business clown cramping her goth style.

I really think Rose is more of a lab scientist than a therapist, but being able to perfectly understand and predict people is such a helpful skill for someone who is insecure and wants to project an image - if you can understand how someone thinks, you can influence what they think. She definitely wants to control how she's perceived, and likes to have information in general (see: immediately looking up GameFAQs when she couldn't figure out Sburb right away). Psychoanalysis is also used in literary criticism, so it's also possible that she uses this to advance her creative writing, if she's open to any kind of self reflection.

5. You also like to KNIT, [...]

Knitting stands out from Rose's more esoteric and highbrow hobbies. It's not something we've seen her mention, but her sweaters, scarves, socks and hats scattered on her floor look finished, so she has skill and commitment (but lacks a good storage space). I bet she knits while listening to audiobooks. It's a hobby that needs some perfectionism and attention to detail, which seem like traits Rose prizes even if she doesn't possess them (see p.170 where Rose reveals that she placed the Cruxtruder without rotating the room to check if she was in the way of the door).

Rose calls her shot about Sburb's punch card alchemy on p.157, and doesn't confess to reading walkthroughs until p.178. While it's possible she was reading them sooner, it's also possible that she's familiar with punch card knitting, maybe even has a knitting machine somewhere in the house. Knitting is fundamentally the same principle as (punch card) alchemy - taking an abstract image or code laid out on a 2D card, and using it to generate a physical object. The totem lathe and alchemiter could function similarly to a knitting machine, using build grist or cruxite instead of wool, but creating patterns in similar ways.

Following this logic, knitting is a generative hobby, as is creative writing. Rose makes things in a way that John really doesn't (he's clearly never finished coding anything) and has been doing so before playing Sburb. It's interesting to associate her with creation in light of her underlying god complex. Frankenstein is another 'obscure' book Rose has probably read and loved. She is a Dr Frankenstein type of scientist, she is going to knit Fluthlu and bring them to life. The Sburb server player is such a godlike role, and she slides into it so naturally, immediately taking full control and giving orders.

When she's the player character but we haven't seen her yet (p.139-201), she feels like an invisible but omnipresent narrator one layer below the actual narrator, a watchful presence that John can't escape. On p.145 she tries to select John with the Sburb cursor. It doesn't work, but what the hell was she going to do if it did? Drop him outside? I keep coming back to how she seems aware she's being watched by the narrator on p.218 and p.220, in the same way that John knows he's being watched by Rose (but doesn't seem aware of the narrator, despite reacting to their commands). Is it possible, even, that she's (consciously or unconsciously) trying to emulate the narrative voice with her messages in her efforts to take on a similar role?

Her conversation with John on p.204 is fascinating. John tells her there's a meteor heading for his house, and her response is 'I see'. She stays cool and collected and completely unattached throughout the conversation, trying to solve the problem through citing GameFAQs, talking about how much smarter she is than other people, and refusing to compromise on her incessant use of inconveniently elongated words. She fits the stereotype of the Objective Intellectual scientist so well, too concerned with what's possible to care about its fallout, taking notes on John's reactions in her lab notebook while feeling no emotions about the whole thing. It sure is interesting that a video game might be able to cause a meteor strike. Sure would be an intellectual exercise to figure out how to stop that. She is so perfectly above it all.

6. [...] and your room is a BIT OF A MESS.

I never realized John was neat until we had Rose, who definitely isn't. On p.160, she says she's 'tempted' to clean up the mess in John's toilet for him, but everything she does actually makes his bathroom worse. We've actually seen John clean (p.67) and the only out of place things in his room on p.4 are things his dad left there, if we assume that Dad left the hammer and nails for John to hang the painting. All his mess comes from accidental sylladex misuse - he even makes his bed. Rose will simply leave an expensive violin balanced precariously against the wall, drop a pre-punched card on the living room floor instead of placing it on the coffee table, and fail to return John's magic chest to his room even after she's 'got a feel for the controls' (although this last one could be her being silly on purpose). I can't decide if Rose is being an asshole by leaving John's house in a complete state or if she's just Like That and doesn't even notice.

Rose has an inventory system that she knows how to use, so it's easier for someone to be clean if they want to be. Maybe she just doesn't. The rest of Rose's house is empty besides dope ass wizards - on p.230-235 we see that Rose's house is filled with long, expansive corridors, has at least three floors, and is large and modernist with strange towers and extensions and bubbles. If Rose's mom is minimalist and Rose feels like her house is missing something, of course she would expand to fill that space, with her physical possessions as well as her personality.

7. And on occasion, if just the right one strikes your fancy, you like to play VIDEO GAMES with your friends.

John has a poster of the Problem Sleuth heroes on his bedroom wall, as well as a copy of the game, and Rose has a poster of the Problem Sleuth beasts and demons. It would be cute as hell if they played it together. Rose playing a video game has been most of what we've seen of her so far, so I've kind of covered that in other points - I want to talk about the 'with your friends' part, and specifically, how she and John met.

They seem so different, and based on Rose's strong reaction to the intelligence of GameFAQs writers, if she just encountered John on a forum she would not give him the time of day. John definitely isn't stupid, but I think he can come off that way in a first interaction, and I think Rose makes quick judgements about people. John can definitely banter with Rose - my favorite early interaction of theirs is 'TT: Can a disorder also be a complex? EB: in your case, probably!' (p.160) - so all it would take is getting over the initial hurdle of starting a conversation. So I have three theories.

The first is that they did meet on a forum, and John was just so charming in his silliness that Rose eventually warmed on him. Maybe John got stuck on the loading screen of a game and couldn't figure out how to press start and Rose helped him out and John just kept liveblogging his game in the thread. Maybe John asked a question about Slimer from Ghostbusters on a cryptozoology forum and Rose gave him a weirdly anatomically detailed answer that referenced a worrying home use of concentrated sulfuric acid. Maybe Rose posted some of her writing online and John left a glowing comment.

The second is that they met through TG. He seems to have a fair bit in common with both of them - on the surface, more than they do with each other. He could have noticed one of their shared interests and put them in contact, or he could have been trying to fuck with them by setting them up to hate each other and it backfired. Either feels plausible from what we've seen of him so far.

The third is that Rose just used to be different. John has the childlike spirit of the clown and I get the sense that he's always been the same, whimsical on the outside with a malaise hovering within. But Rose is trying to put on such a sophisticated affect, which could be recent. Rose could have been bubbly, accepting and open to talking to anyone a few years ago. She's changed as a person, but stays loyal enough to her friends to brave the evil red storm for them.

Final Thoughts

I find Rose easier to analyze than John - she's not less complex, but her complexities are made more obvious in the text. We also don't get the luxury of sitting with Rose and learning about her organically like we did with John. The meteor countdown is flashing in my mind even when it isn't on screen, and the text needs to take shortcuts, telling us about Rose instead of just showing her. As such, I don't have as many questions hanging as I usually do, but there's still a few.

What's up with both John and Rose being really talented at music, but this not being listed in their interests or directly acknowledged by the narrator? Does the narrator fucking hate music? The narrator of a webcomic which has so far included five original music tracks??

Is Rose consciously aware of the narration? Is it something that just began for her when we saw her, or has that been part of her life before? Is this why her personality is so cultivated, because she feels like she's always being watched?

What exactly is Rose's relationship with her mom? Is her mom a mean alcoholic who mocks Rose's grief over her cat, or is this a story Rose is telling herself about her very average mom?

Is Rose a weird kid who actually has a pretty normal life, like John, or is her life weird for real? Does she live in a massive haunted house or are we getting her exaggerated perspective?

More broadly, what sources of information in Homestuck are reliable? The narration and chatlogs are both biased perspectives, but what about the images? Are we seeing the characters' worlds as they actually are, or are we seeing things as the point of view character perceives them?

I love Rose. She and John have both been really easy to connect to, are extremely likeable, and feel like real people I could run into on the internet. I love how average they seem and how they really have more flaws than strengths - it adds to the realism, and sets them up with a lot of cool options for story arcs. A Rose who's a loser and kind of sucks is so much better to me than a Rose who's actually good at the things she claims to be, and my only hope is that we solve the imminent crisis and see more of her being truly silly.

[tgmsunmontue]

Saga of Solitude 6/21

Nepo!Baby Bradley and his life at USNA and afterwards. DADT fully in force. IceMav AU. (Begun prior to 'It's not who you know' - the non-angsty version).

PROLOGUE (He remembers)

HANGSTER FIRST MEETING (Lonely Nights - set 2009)

Updating ~weekly (longer chapters).

PREVIOUS CHAPTERS

ONE (2000) TWO (2001) THREE (2002) FOUR (2003) FIVE (2004)

CHAPTER SIX– 2005

                His eyes blink open and stares at the alarm clock on his bedside table.

                12:10am.

                He groans and rolls over, turns the pillow over to the cooler side and punches it under his head. More time passes and he wonders if he needs to start working out more. If he can begin running again. He’s only been cleared for swimming, low impact, but it’s still enough of a workout that he’d thought it would, should, tire him out. Except it isn’t, his body feeling jittery and he can only put it down to having too much energy, something that a good run would help with. Or sex. He’s not waking up Pete to come over for sex just so he can get back to sleep.

                12.37am

                Melissa and Sarah will have his head if he pushes himself too much, not to mention Mav. For all Mav’s own tendencies to push himself, as soon as Pete thinks Tom is doing something even slightly too much he comes down on him like a ton of bricks. Tom would call him a hypocrite out loud if he didn’t love it so much. They spend so much of their relationship behind a façade that the outside world never sees past; to have Mav being so angry about not being allowed to be around to care for him was something of a revelation. A positive one, for him, and for their relationship.

                Of course there had been that period last year when Pete had turned up rambling about wanting to marry him and accepting his proposal, until Tom had pointed out he hadn’t actually proposed, not properly, but that he one day fully intended to. It had shut Maverick up pretty effectively and had led to some pretty great sex. Then he’d been deployed again and Tom’s sleeping troubles had reinstated themselves very firmly as part of his almost nightly routine. If the house is empty, he doesn’t sleep through the night.

                1:14am

                He sleeps best with Maverick in bed beside him. In the absence of Pete, any of the kids just in the house, including Bradley, will suffice, but right now there is no one. The silence feels oppressive and he sits up, giving up on trying to get back to sleep; swings his legs out of bed. Wanders down to make himself a cup of sleepy-time tea in the vain hope it’ll help him get back to sleep. The steps of making the tea is practiced, soothing in their familiarity and he flicks on the light in the kitchen, his toes curling against the cold tiles as he sets everything out.

                The knock at the door makes him jump and he freezes for the briefest moment as his mind races through all the reasons why someone is knocking at his door at this hour. It won’t be good news.

                Bradley.

                When he opens the door and sees Maverick instead his relief is palpable and he feels his body slump with the immediate release of tension before he realizes that it’s still the early hours and if something has happened to Bradley they would contact Maverick first. The tension is back a thousand fold. That and the fact that Maverick hasn’t used his key, not that he’s ever used it, but he has one and Tom would very much like him to use it more. Facing his own mortality he’s starting to care a lot less about what others might think. Far more ready to lie through his teeth if someone asks about his relationship with Maverick. He has an ex-wife and two kids. He can have his best-friend stay as often as he wants.

                “What’s wrong?” Tom asks, fearful of the answer given the fact that Maverick is pale and shaking.

                “Flight school. He’s starting flight school.”

                Oh.

                Of course. He should have predicted this. They’d sent him off yesterday, along with Natasha, the two of them thick as thieves and brimming with excitement and anticipation. He reaches for Pete and tugs him inside, closes the door and then pulls him into a tight embrace. He feels cold, which is surprising considering it’s a warm summer night.

                “He’ll be okay.”

                “You can’t know that.”

                “Well no, but also we can’t stop him living his life. He could die in a car crash driving to base just as easily.”

                “How do you do this? How are you so calm?”

                Tom huffs out a quiet breath, runs his fingers through Mav’s hair and cups his face before he gives him a gentle kiss, walks him into the kitchen without letting him go. It’s awkward but Pete seems more than happy to be guided bodily.

                “I have so many pieces of my heart wandering around outside my body I’m used to it. You. Bradley. Sarah. Tamsin. Petra. Melissa scares me, but I love her too, but I also trust her more than all the others.”

                “Oh god, I don’t think I’m going to be able to cope with the girls when they’re older. They’ll give me a heart attack. I already worry about them constantly.”

                “You know I worry the same about you right?”

                “What?”

                “I worry the same about you. How would you feel if I was still in active service?”

                “I trust you to come home.”

                Tom knows his lip twitches in amusement, because of course Mav trusts him in a plane. Just not with his own health.

                He guesses that might be fair.

                “You want a cup of tea?” Tom asks, just to see Mav screw up his face in disgust. It makes him grin, makes him feel lighter and he leans forward to kiss him again just because he can. “Or do you want hot chocolate?”

                “You have hot chocolate?”

                “I have hot chocolate and marshmallows for the kids…” Tom states, lips twitching. “And for you.”

                “And Bradley and Natasha.”

                “Them too I guess.”

                He goes about making the packet hot chocolate, the He places the warm mug into Mav’s hands, wraps his fingers around Pete’s and notes that they’re still cold and he frowns.

                “How long had you been sitting out there?”

                “Um. A couple of hours.”

                “Pete.”

                “I didn’t want to wake you up. Then I saw the light turn on…”

                Tom hums under his breath, because of course Mav doesn’t know anything about his inability to sleep through when he’s not there. Tom hasn’t mentioned it. He should.

                “I don’t sleep very well when you aren’t here. Not anymore.”

                “Oh.”

                “Next time, let yourself in. I was lying in bed awake and trying to get back to sleep,” he says, and then snorts. “I wasn’t going to call you up to come over, but had I known you were on my front porch…”

                “Next time you wake up and you want me to come over, ring me.”

                “I don’t want to ring you. I want you here.”

                Pete blinks at him over the rim of his mug and Tom runs over what he just said, realizes just how that could be construed and doesn’t make any move to correct it. In fact, he’s going to double down.

                “I want you here. All the time.”

                “You want me to move in?”

                He thinks he might be sick, but he nods, because he wants Pete with him more than he wants anything else.

                “Yes.”

                “Can I stay?”

                Tom laughs, his nerves feeling frayed.

                “What do you think? Of course you can stay.” Forever, he adds silently.

…             …             …

                Pete’s familiar with this feeling, the needing and wanting all of Ice’s attention on him. Of getting Ice to do what he wants him to do, by pushing and shoving a little, getting in his face. Of course, Ice has wised up to most of it over the years, but he’s pretty sure he can maybe get what he wants right now, and that’s to be taken out of his own head. They don’t get to do this as often as he’d like, what with all of Ice’s stipulations, although they’ve relaxed considerably since his cancer scare. Case in point the very abbreviated conversation about him moving in. He fully expects a longer briefing and plan, but likely later. Right now, Ice seems to have other plans.

                Right now seems to be about him getting his hand curled around Pete’s dick. Getting his cock inside of Pete. Slowly, Pete realizes what Ice is doing. Taking his time. There’s nowhere for them to be, no-one expecting them tomorrow. He kisses his way down Pete’s stomach, palms the curve of Pete’s ass after he flips him over, kisses that too, stubble barely there but still enough to make his skin heat. Pete grinds against the mattress, needs the friction. Ice freezes above him, pulling back so no part of his body is touch Pete any more, but it’s still so close he can feel the promise of his body.

                “Don’t…” Ice says, and his voice is gruff, raw sounding. “I want… want you to come when I’m inside you.”

                “Better hurry up then…” Pete says, and his voice sounds like he’s already spent all night fucking, which would be embarrassing, if he had it in him to be embarrassed in front of Ice.

                Ice’s fingers press into his ass, blunt nails likely leaving marks. He doesn’t say anything, just presses a kiss on one of Pete’s ass cheeks.

                “Can I?” Ice murmurs.

                “I don’t know, can you?” Pete replies, although his snark is likely negated by the way he spreads his legs and shoves his ass back. Of course Ice fucking bites him then, sharp and hard and he bucks, but Ice’s hands are on him now, holding him firm and he lets out a broken yes, more blatant than he wants. It doesn’t matter though, Ice moves quickly, like he’s just as eager. He kisses lower, one above the top of Pete’s crack, and then he pulls Pete’s cheeks apart enough to drag his thumb across Pete’s hole. He spreads his legs further, can’t make it more obvious how much he wants. He’s had Ice’s fingers in him, Ice’s cock in him, yet this feels so much more intimate. He wants to make a quip about taking a picture, but slowly he feels the pad of Ice’s thumb press against him, not quite inside, just… there. Time slows down, Ice just stays there, thumb pressing and then releasing, rubbing a little and then pressing again. Pete wants to push into it, but he doesn’t want to push this faster than Ice wants it to go. He’s always made sure it’s good. More than good.

                Then Ice’s mouth is there, soft and warm against his ass, sliding down until he’s pressing a kiss right next to his thumb. Pete whines, holds himself carefully still. Ice’s lips are soft and Pete lets it wash over him. The way Ice presses gentle kisses to his skin, the warm swipe of Ice’s tongue against his hole, the stretch as Ice eases a finger into him, slicked with nothing but spit. Pete doesn’t bother to muffle the groaning noises he’s making, there’s no-one else here to hear them. Ice’s mouth is back on him, hot and wet right where his finger is inside Pete, making everything sloppy and overwhelming.

                Ice’s tongue pushes in next to his finger, and his hips jerk against the bed despite his efforts, and he groans at the sudden press of friction against his aching cock; though he stills as soon as he feels Ice’s nails dig into his thigh, heat coiling in his gut about to burst. It’s been so long since they’ve done this and he wonders if Ice is working through a mental checklist of all the things he wanted to do once he was feeling well enough. All signs point to yes, as Ice keeps going, noises getting wetter, spit running down Pete’s ass toward his balls. Ice’s whole tongue in him, mouth sucking at his rim. Then two fingers, spread wide until Pete feels like he’s going to cry. Three fingers, not as deep but thick enough that Ice spits on his ass first. He knows he’s saying Ice’s name, over and over like a mantra, but mostly he isn’t aware at all of what’s coming out of his mouth. Can’t focus on anything but what Ice is doing to him. That, and desperately trying not to come.

                Pete’s body feels worked over by the time Ice lets up on him, the tension of keeping still versus the other side where his muscles have given out on him. His hands are clenched in the pillow, joints stiff. The sound he makes when Ice pulls his tongue out of his ass can’t be described as anything other than a whimper, the level of arousal not-quite painful, almost sobs when he feels Ice’s thumb slide back in. He wishes he could see Ice’s face right now, his mouth probably shiny-wet and his lips probably red.

                “Can I fuck you like this?” Ice asks.

                “Yeah, of course,” Pete says, because he cannot deny him anything. Plus it’s his bed Pete’s going to make a mess of when he comes.

                “You’re beautiful,” Ice murmurs, breath hot and damp against Pete’s neck. “The way you move when I’m fucking you, so gorgeous.”

                He can feel Ice’s cock pressed against his ass, hot against his skin. A flash of memory, of the first time they’d done this, on purpose without a condom, rather than taking stupid fucking immature risks when they were younger. They haven’t used condoms now for over five years, finally settling and believing that they were it for each other. Post Ice’s divorce, post Pete’s last stupid fling, post Bradley leaving for USNA.

                There had been a tense moment a couple of years ago when they’d both come home with condoms, looked at each other across the kitchen table and Pete had felt his world halt, before he logically thought that maybe Ice was buying condoms for the same reason he was. For Bradley to use. The fact that they’d both said Bradley’s name as an explanation had been funny, but also such a huge relief at the same time.

                Right now though Ice is moving away, his body pressing Pete into the bed as he reaches for the lube, and Pete takes the opportunity to grind against the bed for the briefest of moments before Ice is biting his shoulder, muttering behave in his ear and he shivers. Ice slides into him easily, his cock lubed up, but it’s just spit on Pete’s ass. He feels so fucking wet and open from it though, body going slack to let Ice in. The groan that escapes him feels like it’s forced out by Ice’s cock, Ice’s fingers dig into his hips in response.

                His heart is pounding, blood rushing in his ears, he’s definitely making other noises, and when Ice is finally pressed up hard against his ass his mouth is open and panting, the sheet damp and hot under his face. Then Ice starts moving, pulling out partway and rocking back into him, and he starts talking, leaning in close so that his breath brushes Pete’s ear when he says feel so fucking good, and going to come inside you, fill you up, eat you out afterwards. Pete sobs, because every movement of Ice’s is dragging his cock across the bed, rough friction that shouldn’t be doing it for him the way it is. Ice’s cock inside him is rougher than usual too, but Pete’s already so open for him that it doesn’t matter. Ice could do anything to him right now and he’d take it, as long as Ice lets him come eventually.

                Ice starts moving faster, harder, driving into him, pushing Pete harder into the bed. Pete’s whole body is too hot, his muscles aren’t cooperating at all anymore, there’s sweat in his eyes, running down the back of his neck, mouth dry from gasping and panting. Ice fucks him harder, relentless movements until Pete’s eyes are rolling back in his head. He barely manages to gasp out Ice’s name, breath caught in his throat.

                “Ice,” he says again, voice broken. “Close…”

                Ice slows immediately and Pete is muttering no no no under his breath, hips flexing helplessly. Ice slides a hand up Pete’s side.

                “I want to see you when you come.” He pulls Pete up, a little slow, lets him move a little and then he’s sliding out. Pete whines at the loss, but it doesn’t last long. Ice moves him, fingers firm and lips still soft. Gets him on his back, shoving a pillow under his ass. Then Ice is sliding into him again, filling him up just as good as he was a few moments ago, fucking him just as desperately. There’s no friction on his cock though, and he reaches a hand for it, wonders if he’s going to be allowed, because Ice did say he wanted Pete to come while he was inside him.

                The hand that Ice isn’t using to brace himself is back on Pete’s side, tugging Pete’s hand from his cock and replacing it with his own, his forehead resting against Pete’s as his hips keep up the punishing pace. Pete doesn’t close his eyes when he comes. Everything sparking white-sharp around him, his gaze is fixed on Ice’s face, so close it’s blurry. He feels when Ice comes, his body going still for a few seconds before his body comes back online and fuck they’ve still got it. He feels wrung out, can’t even gather the energy to complain when Ice pulls out.

                There’s a moment where Ice stays there, hovering over him, then he’s lapping at Pete’s stomach, licking the cum off him Pete realizes and he swears under his breath, eyes finally slipping closed as he gives into the feeling of just being looked after, his body jerking with little aftershocks as Ice then licks his dick clean, before –

                “Jesus…” Pete breathes as Ice’s tongue licks between his ass cheeks, throws an arm over his face as he realizes that Ice was serious about wanting to eat him out afterwards. He’s not going to complain, his heart finally starting to slow, can feel Ice running hands firmly up and down his legs as he licks and kisses before he places a single kiss on the jut of his hip and disappears. He cracks open an eye, can just make out Ice standing in the bathroom, hears the sounds of running water and yep, brushing teeth. Of course.

…             …             …

                “Holy shit Bradshaw, you’re a dark horse aren’t you…” one of the other guys says, and Bradley recognizes him from boat school, Sanderson. Sandy. He shrugs, feels a little uncomfortable because he’s not sure what he’s referencing exactly.

                “Your dad is a pilot.”

                “My dad was a RIO. He died in 86,” Bradley states, because the cat is kind of out of the bag, but while he might be through USNA, he’s still not going to broadcast just how close he is to Ice and Maverick. Or rather, just how close they are together. That he knows them is fine, that he considered Iceman’s kids his little sisters? Easily explained away by living with Sarah, his mom’s close friend. It’s not even a lie, she’s the one who introduced Ice and Sarah to one another. He’ll protect Ice and Mav as much as he can.

                “Oh. Shit. Sorry. I… someone told me that they saw you with your family at graduation and you were with two guys in uniform.”

                “A lot of my dad’s old friends and flying buddies came to see me graduate,” Bradley states, and it’s a careful deflection, statement of fact but not confirming anything.

                “Right. Of course.”

                “The Navy is just one big extended family. My mom and Sarah Kazansky were good friends, she introduced Sarah to Admiral Kazansky actually. When my mom passed I spent a lot of time living with Sarah and Admiral Kazansky. I consider them my family, especially the kids. They treat me like their big brother and I’m not going to ignore them.”

                “Oh. Right.”

                “Yeah, just… wanted to keep it quiet. That cool?”

                “Yeah, of course man. It’s cool.”

                Bradley slaps him on the shoulder, mutters thanks under his breath and hopes that maybe that might be all he needs to do, and allow the rumor-mill do the rest.

SEVEN - 2006

[bakanokiwami]

TOP 10 MOVIES FOR CROSSOVERS ON FANFICTION.NET BASED ON NUMBER OF FANFICTION (2009-2022)

To make this bar chart race, all series titles in the Movies Crossover Section on November 29 (or the closest date to it) of every year were copy-pasted from Wayback Machine to Google Sheets, rearranged according to number of fanworks, and then inputted to Flourish to turn into a bar chart race.

In March 27 2009, FFN launched support for crossover fanfiction. Before this date, authors either posted their crossovers in just one category and noted that it was a crossover in its summary, or posted them in one of the generic crossover categories in the Misc. section (such as X-overs, or Movies X-overs). There wasn’t a filter to screen all crossovers of specific fandoms back then.

Originally, the fanfiction list was sorted alphabetically, but was changed to number of fics at around early 2013.

Interestingly enough, the crossover sections don’t seem to be suffering from a total fanfiction discrepancy, unlike the sections for non-crossover fanfiction.

Please refer to this post for more fanfiction bar chart races.

Thanks for understanding and hopefully I didn’t mess up anywhere! 🙏

[moonvisi0n]

BUTTON & BRAWN UP FRONT !

Starting 2009 F1.

Brawn GP's incredible 1&2 finish in Melbourne !!

But cut races in Sepang because of Rain Showers.

Everyone wondering if the race would restart (for like forever—I sat through it.) Webber <3 actually asking every driver on the grid if they also agree that it's too dangerous to race. Finally, final places were awarded from where teams were when the red flag was waved (Lap 23). Jenson takes another win :D

Also McLaren "Slags" SURE yea right Look at them, you couldn't find any more melancholy in gazes like that if you tried 22x44 !!

More rain in Shanghai but Redbull has entered the ring.

"With under 8 laps to go, it's Redbull, Redbull from Brawn, from Brawn. Vettel from Webber from Button from Barricello with two more teammates close together, Kovalainen and Hamilton from Mclaren."

This season's championship battle is starting off so well!!

Everyone was spinning and sliding during this race lol here's Piquet unable to catch a break, Renault nonsense once again.

POLE TO P1 BABYYY, DELIVERED BY THIS MAN REDBULL SEBASTIAN VETTEL ERA RAHHHHHH

HOT IN BAHRAIN.

Thought it was gonna be 2 Brawn wins then 2 Redbull wins but BOOM Toyota?? Trulli pole and Timo the Glock Glock !! But Ross Brawn was like yeaaaahh right check out this insane race strategy and this 29 yr old (Button) boom 3/4 races Button wins <3

Ross Brawn = non-evil variant of Chr*stian H*rner this season ?

Many things I didn't mention like the dreadful silence of Ferrari this season (Raikkonen I miss u and Massa, another one getting strangled by Ferrari's need to destroy itself for some reason), How Hamilton is now Mr. Reigning World Champ but just got to 4th in this race :0

One of the commentators this season is also really good, he said the first quote and this:

"They said it was gonna be too hot, well frankly he's (Button) been too hot for everyone to handle!"

Nevermind slags for sure.

[rubyreadd]

Mugello 2008... Tell us more please

Ok so, slight correction because I made a typo, I meant Mugello 2009 instead of 2008 because that's the year that Casey broke Valentino's seven consecutive win streak at the circuit. Kinda the most embarrassing typo I could've made actually, because the whole fic hinges on the dynamic of that win LMAO.

Anyway! What appeals to me about Casey and Valentino's dynamic how perfectly they match each other as narrative foils. Early on in their relationship Casey was fairly forward about how he looked up to Valentino as a rider, and Valentino has gone on record several notable times to talk about how Casey always pushed him to give his absolute best in a race.

There's also Valentino having a primarily Australian crew while Casey had a primarily Italian crew. Valentino having a love affair with his bike where as Casey saw it as a tool of his trade. Valentino being motogp's epicentre of extroverted charisma and Casey being a (somewhat self-imposed) satellite in the sport.

Essentially, Valentino and Casey are two sides of the same coin. Diametrically opposed and destined to never truly see eye to eye yet cut from the same fundamental cloth; a statement I'm sure would give Casey a baker's dozen more neuroses.

So how does this play out post Mugello? Well, the background context of this fic Casey and Valentino have been in a on again off again situationship that loosely involves a dom/sub dynamic. It's not something they've ever or will ever discuss but Casey uses Vale to claw back the control of the parts of his life that feel too big to hold and Vale turns to Casey to relinquish the weight of his myth.

Winning the Italian Grand Prix should therefore be an extension of gaining back that control for Casey. He's taken on the prodigal boyking on home soil, in front of a home crowd, on Italian machinery and won. He's put Valentino in his place so to say. But the fullness of the satisfactions isn't there; Valentino is a graceful loser, smiling at Casey on the podium, which Casey returns with aching teeth. His want is still ravenous, not even the weight of first place in his hands can satiate it. Not when Casey knows the shape of Valentino, fucked out and satisfied, underneath his palms.

But still, paranoia stays Casey hand. Much of his relationship with Valentino has been built on the load bearing pretence that what they have between them is about pragmaticism. Seeking Valentino out because Casey selfishly, wants, would be too close to an admission that Valentino affects him beyond clear-cut competitiveness.

It's a good thing then that Valentino doesn't share those same compunctions.

Casey begs off of team celebrations early to retreat to the solitude of his bedroom where he pointedly doesn't think about Valentino below him on the podium. He has the next race to think about, to win, he can‘t be distracted. Until there‘s a knock at his door.

It‘s Valentino. Of course it is. He‘s dressed non-descript, like he just rolled out of bed and came to Casey directly. For several moments no words are exchanged, but Valentino keeps his gaze, expectant, on Casey.

"You rode well today," Valentino says in place of a greeting, and that's all Casey needs. He hauls Valentino into the room and puts him on his knees, threads a fist through Valentino's hair and pulls, exposing the long line of Valentino‘s neck; the dips and curves of the tendons and muscles. Valentinos eyes are bright in the subdued light of Casey‘s room. His lips shine when he wets them with his tongue.

Valentino‘s hands come up to curl around Casey‘s thighs. Casey‘s hand drops to the waistband on his pants.

And the rest of the smut you‘ll have to wait for, for when I publish the fic >:3

What I can say about it though is that once Casey has had his fill on Vale on his knees, he puts Valentino on his hands and knees on the mattress and takes his true victory from Vale‘s body. Fucks Vale boneless into the mattress until Casey‘s name is all he can get his mouth around

The window is open, the sound of drunk and jubilant Italians filtering up from the street, and Casey yanks Vale‘s head back, stretches along his back and tells Vale to imagine if Italy could see him now. Their prince, bent at the knee for his rival. Their champion, come to an outsider‘s bed to be fucked.

Really, Casey is being very normal about Vale and their relationship. There is definitely no projection or internalised anything going on here. The only thing being internalised is Casey‘s dick in Vale‘s a—