#I actually did save it in a screenshot this time because like

[genericpuff]

Yo have you seen the new webtoon update thing? You can't read on the mobile website it just stops and asks me to read on the app (and why I should use it ✨)

This is on a normal non incognito tab and I'm signed in as well (I tested it with other comics I'm subbed to and they had the same thing)

Not sure if it's a new update or something I missed, just randomly got out of nowhere, but if they're pushing the app like this, yikes.

(also sorry if this is weird, you're just the only person I know who talks about webtoons bullshit and wanted to show you this)

so if you're doing this from mobile, go into your little site menu (the 3 dots) and scroll down until you find 'use desktop site' and then click that, it can bypass it (credit to @adorable-pink-cinnamon-roll for that one)

alternatively, if you're reading on your actual computer and still getting the pop up, you could probably try the CTRL+P trick that we use to avoid subscription pop-ups on news sites? i.e. refresh the page, and quickly hit CTRL + P to open up the print page view, which gives you a whole view of the entire episode (though it might be cut up a bit so change the page print format in the menu until it's right, A2 seems to work just fine, though note you'll still have gaps where the episodes were chopped for height limitations).

you could ALSO also try the PDF download trick if you're on an apple mobile device:

open the comic of your choice in chrome (might also work in firefox, haven't tested it there, it def doesn't work in safari as far as i've tried)

open the episode you want to capture

screenshot and then go into the actual screenshot settings

click 'full page'

click 'done' and 'save as PDF'

you now have the entire episode in PDF format which you can read offline

sooo yeah, rest assured there are ways around the pop-up, at least for now. they're definitely trying to incentivize people to use the app because it's where all the actual money is, it's where they can push you to watch ads and pay for coins to FP episodes (which you can't do on desktop). this is the pretty common course for most sites that release mobile apps, the same thing happened with Tapas back in the day. (and yes, they did actually push out a massive UI-overhaul update for the app, alongside gutting Daily Pass and the star rating system, so I wouldn't be shocked if these "read on the app" pop-ups started showing up around the same time).

hope that helps, good luck! use these tricks wisely and quietly!

[another-goblin]

Some disjointed thoughts I have about this guy and related matters (warning—it's a lot)

I just think he's neat.

A little disclaimer: I love supporting my interpretations with screenshots, but there would be too many of these. This thing is big enough already. Just know that nearly every little bizarre thing is taken from the game. I didn't have to invent anything; he's eccentric enough as he is.

And there were some juicy things I didn't manage to screenshot, like Merlin commenting something like "Wow you guys are close huh" while running around having to listen to Indris and Ravion bicker. Merlin knows what's going on.

■

So what's the most likely first surface level impression of Ravion?

He's the Queen's only son, so basically an ultimate nepo baby. He wears a mask, he's feminine, has strange mannerisms, and is kind of gay-coded. Knowing how this kind of stereotype has been traditionally used, he has to be a villain.

Look at the Exarchs:

Velara is the deranged fanatic of the three.

Thador is the quiet, duty-bound military type.

And Ravion has to be the Queen's good-for-nothing, slimy son, trying to seduce Indris into being evil too, right?

■

Surprisingly, not even close. If you look at his actions, he seems like a decent guy. The thing is, he seems to put a lot of conscious effort into concealing this fact.

■

For every good thing he does, he's ready with an alternative motive. And vice versa, for every questionable thing he does, there is probably a good reason for it. For example:

The very first time we see him, he disagrees with Velara, Thador, and the Queen on whether or not we should be killed. (I like this little cutscene because it shows that when it comes to important decisions, his powers are limited. The other two Exarchs will overvote him, and the Queen's word is the law anyway. So he has to act very carefully inside the limitations of his position.) But then he immediately tells Velara that he'll change his vote if she changes hers, pretending that he only did it out of contrarianism.

He only helped us break Indris from the palace in exchange for some information, and totally not because he cares for Indris and what he represents for Salthorin. But don't tell me Indris wouldn't have told him everything anyway.

He abdicated and made Indris the new leader. But only because he's lazy and hates responsibility.

He's so shallow that he only made Indris a captain because he's good-looking. But also because he's capable and can shoulder some of Ravion's responsibilities. But also because he's honest and noble in spirit and principled, and he's "the only light," yada-yada, and thus represents the only hope for Salthorin's future. But also, according to Xera, Ravion actually attempted to get commoners into the guard for quite some time, trying to make the trials easier and having priests present to provide participants with medical help and so on, and Indris just happened to be the first who succeeded.

He selfishly wasted our and Indris' valuable time in the middle of a crisis to help him find info on his dad, as if it's a good time for that. Or maybe he was making sure Indris wouldn't be threatened by an unexpected rival for the throne (aka his nonexistent dad).

(when talking to Thador trying to clear the way for us to rescue Indris) Whoops, he's just a silly prince and absolutely worthless as a leader, and his people don't respect him, but they love Indris, so better let Indris go, right? (and who gave Indris this opportunity to rise in the eyes of his peers to begin with?)

Why did he send Indris away to the surface? A lot of reasons, probably. How about "to save him from being assassinated"? (it's from one of his Heart-to-Heart dialogues )

And when he got Indris drunk that one time? (…nevermind, he was just being a little shit.)

So yeah, if it happened once or twice, I could have overlooked it. But every time? He's not beating the good guy allegations. I know what you are!

(I feel that some players got fooled by this too. But what else is new.)

And the best thing is, all these alternative motives are also probably true.

■

And you know things aren't going well when he drops any pretense and openly begs Velara not to execute a crowd of innocent commoners.

■

What if his mask is a metaphor for this?

The way he (reportedly) hides this under his mask:

The same way he seemingly hides a decent, caring person under his eccentric mannerisms and several layers of contradictory motivations.

■

But this actually takes a lot of effort! Imagine doing good things left and right, and your closest people's (Indris and Xera) only reaction is "WTF is wrong with them?" (although actually I think Xera understands him well. And Indris probably does too)

■

I just realized that the woman in all of their character introduction cards is probably the Queen before she changed. That's the face from her statue. And speaking of symbolism, both Velara and Thador, her most trusted allies, wear the same kind of circlet the Queen did. Ravion doesn't.

■

But speaking of the Otivia debacle. It absolutely was his attempt at revenge for having to spend every guard party somewhere in a corner hugged tight by Indris, to prevent him from hugging the wrong person and getting kicked out from the guards.

But also Otivia and Xera are right! What do you mean an "exclusive scoop"? How are you so familiar with the strength of his hugs?

Just complain about how inexperienced Indris is at kissing, or rate his performance in bed next time and act surprised when it backfires too.

■

Didn't his mom have a "your dad went to get some Divine Dew and never returned" talk with him?

Can you imagine a more bizarre list of possible dads:

"Please not Thador" (kind of understandable)

"Some dwarf" (I mean, why not. look at these dwarves)

He was immaculately conceived with the help of the holy spirit corrupted magic of the unborn dragons, to take on his mother's sins. So basically Jesus.

And that apparently was the right answer. Yeah it's a reasonable thing to suspect. Happens all the time.

■

Why is he the only one who doesn't have a portrait here (This season's Heart-to-Heart)?

■

Certified Drama Queen.

■

Some important research I did:

Friendly reminder that Indris is built like a tank, especially in comparison to Ravioli noodle here.

As a connoisseur of size difference, I approve.

If this man decides to drunkenly hug you, you'll stay hugged until he sobers up.

■

Btw I saw somebody call Indris a twink. Come on, he's 3 twinks standing shoulder-to-shoulder in a trench coat!

But if Zanie can call Ravion a himbo, then why not call Indris a twink, I guess.

■

I'm curious, though, is Ravion actually taller than Indris? Because the heights in dialogues are all over the place (don't tell me Velara would be taller than Thador if he wasn't standing on an invisible box):

■

He took my amulet with Indris' portrait in it (don't ask why I had it to begin with)

Is there a heterosexual explanation for this?

And if I ever get the Mini-Indris hat, will he take it away from me too? Is he just collecting Indris merch? Is he going to lovingly look at his new Indris amulet and sigh from time to time while Indris is away?

"Youth from lower classes" my ass. What about former royalty of indeterminate age???

■

I've heard that Indris as a playable character isn't currently that useful and can't be properly utilized because he lacks a character who would work well with him. Ravion, when he's playable, will surely fulfill this role, right? Pretty please? I already have my Ravion funds secured, btw. No matter what, I'll use them together.

■

This season raises the topic of motherhood, but in the most messed-up way possible.

The dragon was unconscious for millennia, bound by magic on the bottom of a lava sea, still giving birth to countless eggs without a mate (they were later destroyed by dwarves and the Essail). The Queen gave birth to dozens of children, also without a mate, as a means to get rid of her magical corruption.

And Ravion is connected to both of them, being the Queen's only surviving child and getting his "second half," as he calls it, from the corrupted magic of these unborn dragon embryos.

■

But also, who talks to a grown man like this? A mom! (despite not being biologically connected to him and not caring about him more than just a product of her beloved Queen, she was probably the closest he had to a motherly figure. She even still calls him a boy in her tavern dialogue)

Ugh, it's not a phase, mom Velara!!!

■

I have a type.

(is being into hands less frowned upon than being into feet?)

■

Ravion's guide on following your boss' orders:

Show initiative by giving them orders instead. ("You're the boss, Indris, now go explore the surface")

Educate them on that orders you'd like to be given. (Indris, he doesn't want to patrol the streets, he wants to guard the pool)

Just ignore the orders you don't like. ("But he told you to wait here" - "I didn't hear anything, Merlin, let's go")

■

I haven't been playing for long, and I'm confused about the structure of the seasons in this game, story-wise. I feel like the story ended on a cliffhanger: both Ravion and Thador talked about how the worst is yet to come for Salthorin (how all the inner tension will erupt in a bloody civil war).

Velara—I'm not sure, is she supposed to be dead? I thought she teleported away. If she's alive, she might want to put Ravion on the throne, out of loyalty to the Queen (the thing that the queen's old will warned about).

And Thador did literally nothing so far and then bravely ran away in the end. I have to copypaste his name every time I mention him because I don't even remember his name, that's how important he was. But again, that old will was written by the Queen even before Ravion was born, and it was talking about how Thador should kill both Velara and Ravion in case of the Queen's death. And there might have been a newer but equally fun will since. He has to get a bigger role by the time of his release, right?

So I kind of hoped for a new piece of the story for Phase 2, but I guess not. It says in the mission section that the main story is 90% finished, and I don't think that you can squeeze a civil war into the remaining 10%.

■

PS Look at my cool Merlin. Too bad this spiky halo is going to expire soon, and I don't think I'll be able to get it again anytime soon. Oh and there is some guy. I think he's a hater.

■

As always, these are just my opinions based on the current version of the game, Phase 2 of this season. Written mostly to get this stuff out of my system. Feel free to share what you think about it.

[mageofquandrix]

me: I wish there was an option for 'you dated Solas but it's been 10 years and you've moved on.' @postcardsfromheapside : put her with Pete Davidson

[insertdisc5]

📚 A List Of Useful Websites When Making An RPG 📚

My timeloop RPG In Stars and Time is done! Which means I can clear all my ISAT gamedev related bookmarks. But I figured I would show them here, in case they can be useful to someone. These range from "useful to write a story/characters/world" to "these are SUPER rpgmaker focused and will help with the terrible math that comes with making a game".

This is what I used to make my RPG game, but it could be useful for writers, game devs of all genres, DMs, artists, what have you. YIPPEE

Writing (Names)

Behind The Name - Why don't you have this bookmarked already. Search for names and their meanings from all over the world!

Medieval Names Archive - Medieval names. Useful. For ME

City and Town Name Generator - Create "fake" names for cities, generated from datasets from any country you desire! I used those for the couple city names in ISAT. I say "fake" in quotes because some of them do end up being actual city names, especially for french generated ones. Don't forget to double check you're not 1. just taking a real city name or 2. using a word that's like, Very Bad, especially if you don't know the country you're taking inspiration from! Don't want to end up with Poopaville, USA

Writing (Words)

Onym - A website full of websites that are full of words. And by that I mean dictionaries, thesauruses, translators, glossaries, ways to mix up words, and way more. HIGHLY recommend checking this website out!!!

Moby Thesaurus - My thesaurus of choice!

Rhyme Zone - Find words that rhyme with others. Perfect for poets, lyricists, punmasters.

In Different Languages - Search for a word, have it translated in MANY different languages in one page.

ASSETS

In general, I will say: just look up what you want on itch.io. There are SO MANY assets for you to buy on itch.io. You want a font? You want a background? You want a sound effect? You want a plugin? A pixel base? An attack animation? A cool UI?!?!?! JUST GO ON ITCH.IO!!!!!!

Visual Assets (General)

Creative Market - Shop for all kinds of assets, from fonts to mockups to templates to brushes to WHATEVER YOU WANT

Velvetyne - Cool and weird fonts

Chevy Ray's Pixel Fonts - They're good fonts.

Contrast Checker - Stop making your text white when your background is lime green no one can read that shit babe!!!!!!

Visual Assets (Game Focused)

Interface In Game - Screenshots of UI (User Interfaces) from SO MANY GAMES. Shows you everything and you can just look at what every single menu in a game looks like. You can also sort them by game genre! GREAT reference!

Game UI Database - Same as above!

Sound Assets

Zapsplat, Freesound - There are many sound effect websites out there but those are the ones I saved. Royalty free!

Shapeforms - Paid packs for music and sounds and stuff.

Other

CloudConvert - Convert files into other files. MAKE THAT .AVI A .MOV

EZGifs - Make those gifs bigger. Smaller. Optimize them. Take a video and make it a gif. The Sky Is The Limit

Marketing

Press Kitty - Did not end up needing this- this will help with creating a press kit! Useful for ANY indie dev. Yes, even if you're making a tiny game, you should have a press kit. You never know!!!

presskit() - Same as above, but a different one.

Itch.io Page Image Guide and Templates - Make your project pages on itch.io look nice.

MOOMANiBE's IGF post - If you're making indie games, you might wanna try and submit your game to the Independent Game Festival at some point. Here are some tips on how, and why you should.

Game Design (General)

An insightful thread where game developers discuss hidden mechanics designed to make games feel more interesting - Title says it all. Check those comments too.

Game Design (RPGs)

Yanfly "Let's Make a Game" Comics - INCREDIBLY useful tips on how to make RPGs, going from dungeons to towns to enemy stats!!!!

Attack Patterns - A nice post on enemy attack patterns, and what attacks you should give your enemies to make them challenging (but not TOO challenging!) A very good starting point.

How To Balance An RPG - Twitter thread on how to balance player stats VS enemy stats.

Nobody Cares About It But It’s The Only Thing That Matters: Pacing And Level Design In JRPGs - a Good Post.

Game Design (Visual Novels)

Feniks Renpy Tutorials - They're good tutorials.

I played over 100 visual novels in one month and here’s my advice to devs. - General VN advice. Also highly recommend this whole blog for help on marketing your games.

I hope that was useful! If it was. Maybe. You'd like to buy me a coffee. Or maybe you could check out my comics and games. Or just my new critically acclaimed game In Stars and Time. If you want. Ok bye

[cressidagrey]

White Horse - Chapter 27: July 2024 - Part 2

Pairing: Max Verstappen x Isabelle Leclerc (Original Character)

Summary:

Max Verstappen is a World Champion. Isabelle Leclerc is invisible.

She watched her family give up everything for Charles’ career—Arthur’s karting, their father’s savings, even her childhood horse. She understood. She never asked for more.

But Max does. He notices the things no one else does, listens when no one else will, and puts her first in ways she never imagined. With him, she isn’t an afterthought—she’s a choice. And for the first time, she realizes she doesn’t have to be invisible.

Warnings and Notes: 

we have now moved on from Charles bashing to bashing his whole family, Discussions of toxic past relationships, talk about loosing a childhood pet, toxic families, mention of the loss of a parent.

As always big thanks to @llirawolf , who listens to me ramble

Meanwhile on Twitter: 

@/gridgossip MAX. AND. BELLE. JUST. ANNOUNCED. THEY’RE. HAVING. A. BABY. I AM SOBBING INTO MY RED BULL CANS 😭😭😭

@/F1TeaSpiller not belle and max dropping the baby announcement like it’s casual and soft and sweet and now I have to reevaluate my life plans because I thought I was immune to feelings

@/F1DaddyTracker Max Verstappen is about to enter his DILF era and I, for one, am READY.

@/danielsleftbrow can’t believe we all watched Max win titles, dominate the grid, and somehow the most powerful thing he ever did was fall in love with a Leclerc and make her smile like that

@/FerrariPain charles leclerc right now watching his entire family realize they’ve been background characters in Belle & Max: The Verstappen Chronicles

@/F1WifeWatch MAX AND BELLE VERSTAPPEN JUST ANNOUNCED THEY’RE HAVING A BABY I’M CRYING THE WORLD IS HEALING SOFT MAX ERA FULLY ACTIVATED

@/DutchBabyWatch MAX VERSTAPPEN. F1 CHAMPION. CAT DAD. NOW: ACTUAL DAD. The grid is not ready for Baby Verstappen. None of us are.

@/FerrariF1Pain Max Verstappen: wins races, wins hearts, wins at LIFE. Meanwhile Charles is in the studio playing sad piano ballads because his sister just announced a pregnancy in a Red Bull hoodie.

@/Lando4Life Lando definitely screamed when he saw the post. Oscar is already knitting a baby hat. Daniel is googling “godfather application template.”

@/MaxIsWinning Max Verstappen is about to be a dad. Somewhere in the Netherlands, Jos is already prepping a kart for a baby that isn’t born yet.

@/RedBullUpdates SOMEONE SAID “Baby Verstappen is already leading the Constructors’ Championship in our hearts” AND I HAVEN’T STOPPED CRYING SINCE

@/F1TearsDaily “Baby Verstappen coming soon” MAX. BELLE. I’M CRYING IN PIT LANE. YOU WIN. YOU WIN LOVE.

@/WifeGuyMax MAX VERSTAPPEN IS GONNA BE A DAD MAX VERSTAPPEN IS GONNA BE A DAD HE’S OUT-WIFE-GUYING HIMSELF AND I’M SOBBING.

@/MaxIsWinning Max Verstappen is winning on track. Winning in marriage. Winning in fatherhood. Max Verstappen is simply… winning.

@/landoismyman lando holding that baby like it’s his godchild next season i am SO SERIOUS

@/FerrariTired me: no parasocial relationships this season also me: sobbing over max and belle verstappen’s unborn child like it’s my niece

@/GridGossip: MAX. VERSTAPPEN. IS. HAVING. A. BABY. I REPEAT: THE REIGNING WORLD CHAMPION IS GOING TO BE A DAD. WE ARE NOT OKAY.

***

Group Chat: HELP ME

(Members: Daniel Ricciardo, Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, Lewis Hamilton, Carlos Sainz Jr., George Russell, Alex Albon, Nico Hülkenberg, Nico Rosberg, Sebastian Vettel, Mark Webber, David Coulthard, Sergio Pérez, Fernando Alonso, Kimi Räikkönen, Zhou Guanyu, Logan Sargeant, Esteban Ocon, Lance Stroll and Valtteri Bottas)

Carlos: (Sends screenshot of Belle’s Instagram post) WHAT. WHAT WHAT WHAT.

George: You’re joking. YOU’RE JOKING. I WAS JUST GETTING USED TO THE MARRIAGE.

Alex: I thought the secret wedding was the plot twist. I WAS NOT PREPARED FOR A BABY. WHO GAVE THEM PERMISSION TO OUTDO THEMSELVES AGAIN?

Lewis: I love this for them. I really do. But also. Max? A dad?? I need to lie down.

Sebastian: This is exactly the kind of news that makes you smile and panic at the same time. Congratulations to them both. And may the child inherit Belle’s patience.

Esteban: Wait wait wait Is this real or are we being collectively pranked?? Tell me this is Photoshop.

Zhou: IT’S A SONOGRAM POST, ESTEBAN. There’s a literal baby. Inside Belle. This is not a drill.

Lance: I feel like I need to send flowers. Or a onesie. Or a helmet. Do babies wear helmets?

Nico H.: I always said Max was a menace. Now he’s a domesticated menace. The most dangerous kind.

Logan: I’m not emotionally stable enough for this level of news before lunch. I was just making toast.

Fernando: The real story here is that Max Verstappen kept this quiet Through a championship fight A media circus Family drama I’m officially scared of them.

Mark: I. KNEW. IT. I SAW THE LOOKS. I SAW THE RING. I KNEW IT.

David Coulthard: So do we just… collectively agree that Belle Verstappen has us all wrapped around her very chic, very pregnant little finger?

Valtteri: Respectfully… I’m going to cry.

Kimi: Hope the kid has better media training than Max.

Nico R.: I just want to know when to make popcorn. I want to be emotionally prepared.

Alex: So what’s next??

George: Soft-launch gender reveal via helmet design. I’m calling it now.

Fernando: Does this mean I’m godfather or what?

Daniel: BACK OFF. I CALL DIBS. I already started a registry. I have bibs with his race number on them.

Oscar: They announced it. Finally.

Lando: Oscar, Daniel and I have been living with this secret like it’s national security.

Carlos: YOU ALL KNEW??

George: AND YOU DIDN’T TELL US??

Daniel: Max said if we spoiled it he’d change our sim passwords.

Sebastian: Honestly fair.

Lewis: All I care about is that they’re happy. That baby’s going to be loved. That’s what matters.

Fernando: I’m serious about the godfather thing. Just putting that energy into the universe.

***

The paddock always buzzed on Thursdays — a kind of controlled chaos, full of camera crews and media handlers and engineers pretending not to be exhausted before the weekend even began. But Silverstone felt different. Louder. Brighter. Familiar in the way only a home race could be.

For Max, it wasn’t his home race.

But for her, it almost felt like it.

She tugged Max’s jacket closer around her shoulders as they walked through the gates, the Red Bull staff practically parting for them. Sunglasses on. Hair tucked into a soft braid. Her hand curled around his — always his — and the new, quiet weight of the gold band on her finger and the knowledge beneath her skin that she wasn’t walking in alone anymore.

Not as someone’s sister.

Not as an afterthought.

But as his.

A Verstappen. A wife. A mother.

Their schedule was tight — a dozen media stops and a million eyes. Belle stayed mostly in the background, answering a few polite hellos, sipping tea when someone offered it. Max had been pulled aside for his Viaplay interview, and she stood off-camera with his comms lead, watching with mild amusement.

It was in Dutch. Which made sense.

And would’ve made it easy to tune out.

Except she didn’t.

Not anymore.

“Je hebt iets gedeeld op Instagram deze week — gefeliciteerd trouwens — hoe voel je je over vader worden, Max?” (You shared something on Instagram this week — congratulations, by the way — how do you feel about becoming a father, Max?)

Max gave that soft, crooked smile she loved. “Blij. Echt blij.” (Happy. Really happy.)

“Hebben jullie al nagedacht over namen?” the interviewer said brightly. (Have you thought about names yet?)

Max laughed softly, nodding. “We hebben er een paar… maar dat houden we nog even voor onszelf.” (We have a few… but we'll keep them to ourselves for now.)

Belle smiled. She could understand every word.

Then, with a devilish glint in his eye, Max added, “Maar je kunt het natuurlijk ook aan mijn vrouw vragen.” (But of course you can also ask my wife.)

The mic turned to her immediately — and Belle didn’t flinch.

She stepped forward slightly, the hint of a smile playing on her lips. “We hebben een shortlist,” she said, in calm, careful Dutch. “Maar voorlopig heet het nog gewoon ‘de kleine.’” (We have a shortlist. But for now it's just called 'the little one.)

The silence was instant.

A few Red Bull staff members standing nearby audibly choked. The cameraman muttered something that sounded suspiciously like “what the hell.” Even Max looked slightly stunned — eyes wide, eyebrows lifted in that you didn’t tell me you were going to do that way.

The interviewer recovered quickly, laughing. “Spreek jij Nederlands?” (You speak Dutch?)

Belle smiled. “Een beetje,” she answered, with near-perfect pronunciation. Then, a bit more shyly, “Ik ben nog aan het leren, maar ik begrijp het meestal. ”  (A little. I’m still learning, but I understand most of it.) Then in English: “Max learned French for me. I figured it was only fair.”

There was a beat of stunned silence.

She caught the way Max’s face softened — the pride there, the quiet awe. The way he looked at her like she was magic. He laughed, low and warm, reaching for her hand without even thinking.

And the cameras caught all of it — the quiet pride in his face, the ease in hers, the way her fingers curled into his like they were already a team of three.

***

Meanwhile on Twitter: 

@/F1WifeWatcher: the baby bump. the oversized red bull jacket. the way Max kept checking on her i'm going to cry in the paddock car park

@/GridGossip: Belle Verstappen walking into Silverstone in Max’s jacket, sunglasses on, baby bump very much visible, hand in his — THIS is what winning looks like.

@/TifosiGoneSoft: THE BABY BUMP IS BUMPING THE RED BULL JACKET IS SWALLOWING HER MAX LOOKS LIKE HE’S IN LOVE IN 4K I AM ON THE FLOOR.

@/softlaunchqueen: no but Belle absolutely glowed today like she woke up radiant and said “i think i’ll wear my husband’s race jacket and casually destroy the internet.”

@/VerstappenFanclubNL: She’s wearing his jacket. She’s carrying his child. She answered in Dutch. He looked at her like the sun rose just for her. I need a moment.

@/RedBullTroll33: it’s the way max has one (1) arm permanently wrapped around her like she’s a national treasure which she is obviously

@/MaxIsWinning: he keeps brushing his thumb against her hand like he can't believe she’s real guys this is love i’m not okay

@/DutchPressRoyalty:

“Spreek jij Nederlands?” “Een beetje.”

UNDERSTATEMENT OF THE YEAR.

@/F1Dutchies: Belle Verstappen just answered a Viaplay question in flawless Dutch. I am on the floor. Charles is on the floor. We are all on the floor.

@/GridGossip: Belle: speaks Dutch Max: smiles like a man who knows he married up Charles: googling 'how to say betrayal in French'

@/RedBullWivesClub: Belle said "He learned French for me, so I learned Dutch for him" and now I need a moment. Or several.

@/F1MemeLord:  Belle: exists Belle: speaks Dutch Dutch media: collective meltdown Charles: throws phone into the Mediterranean

@/TifosiTears: Charles Leclerc watching his sister speak Dutch on live TV: [insert gif of man screaming into the void]

@/RedBullHeartthrob: Max said “ask my wife” And then his wife answered. In Dutch. With perfect pronunciation. I AM NOT OKAY.

@/TifosiTears: Belle Verstappen understood the assignment and then re-wrote the syllabus. She said “Max learned French for me, so I learned Dutch for him.” Excuse me while I sob.

***

Charles Leclerc hadn’t meant to watch the interview.

He had been scrolling idly — background noise in the Ferrari motorhome, waiting for his next media obligation, pretending not to exist — when he heard Max’s voice in Dutch.

It was Viaplay. Of course it was Viaplay. Max sounded relaxed. Too relaxed. The kind of calm that made Charles’ jaw clench automatically.

He almost turned it off.

And then he heard her.

Belle.

Not just speaking, but answering the question. In Dutch. Her accent was soft, rounded, but unmistakably fluent. And she was smiling.

Max was looking at her like the rest of the world had disappeared.

Charles sat forward, frozen.

“She learned Dutch?” he muttered, as if someone would answer. “Since when does she—?”

And then she laughed — that same, easy laugh that used to fill their kitchen on Saturday mornings — and said, “He learned French for me. So I learned Dutch for him.”

The hosts laughed. Max beamed.

Charles felt like the world tilted sideways.

It was so obvious now. So stupidly, glaringly obvious.

Her hand kept drifting to her stomach when she talked. The slight curve under the Red Bull polo. The way Max hovered just half a step closer than usual — not possessive, but protective. Her skin glowing. Her eyes bright. Her posture… different.

She looked happy.

Not pretending-to-be-happy. Not “smile for the cameras” happy.

Real.

For the first time, he couldn’t lie to himself anymore.

His sister — the one he hadn’t looked at properly in years, the one whose birthday he forgot, whose voice he hadn't really heard until she stopped using it — was standing on international television, glowing. Speaking a language he didn’t know. With a man she clearly loved. A baby on the way. A whole new life, right in front of him.

And Charles?

Charles was a spectator now.

Just one more person in the crowd.

***

Silverstone was chaos — fast, loud, relentless.

But the McLaren hospitality deck, tucked above the paddock like a sun-warmed balcony, felt like a pocket of calm.

Belle sat back on one of the canvas deck chairs, nursing a cold lemonade and adjusting her sunglasses. Her Red Bull credentials hung from her neck, but nobody at McLaren minded. Especially not when she came with Lily, who had already claimed one of the outdoor tables as their unofficial headquarters.

Emilie sat beside her, picking at a bowl of olives like they’d personally offended her, while Lily — Oscar’s girlfriend — was draped across the opposite bench, sunglasses on, talking animatedly about the papaya merch queue.

“Fifteen minutes,” Lily declared, “for a hat! Oscar said the only people that wait in lines that long are people in love or British.”

“You’re both,” Belle offered with a smile.

“And you’re married and pregnant,” Emilie added, “so I feel like that makes you Queen of the Queue.”

Belle rolled her eyes fondly. “I haven’t queued for anything since Max found out I was craving strawberries.”

“Must be nice,” Emilie drawled, reaching for another olive.

“You could have that too, you know,” Lily said innocently. “If you just admitted that you and Lando—”

“Don’t,” Emilie warned, holding up a finger. “Don’t you dare start.”

Belle tried not to smile. “I’m just saying, you do spend an awful lot of time watching TikTok Thirst Traps for someone who’s just friends with their star driver.”

“It’s anthropological research,” Emilie deadpanned.

“Sure it is,” Lily said, grinning. “And the way Lando looks at you like he’s planning to build you a sim racing shrine?”

Belle nearly snorted lemonade through her nose.

Rebecca — Carlos’ girlfriend — arrived, dropping into a seat with a huff and a pastry in hand. “It’s a zoo out there. Carlos just walked past and someone yelled “El Smooth Operator” like they were summoning a demon.”

“Did it work?” Emilie asked.

“Unfortunately, yes.”

Lily - Alex’s girlfriend -  showed up a few moments later, all grace and wit in a floral dress, her sunglasses perched on her head. “I bring sunscreen, gossip, and absolutely no patience for men who think DRS zones are personality traits.”

“Excellent,” Belle said. “We’re forming a coven.”

“I call Head Witch,” Emilie muttered, still annoyed about the Lando commentary.

They were mid-discussion about who would win in a team radio insult battle when someone cleared their throat behind them.

Belle turned — and froze.

Alexandra.

She looked… uncertain. Out of place, maybe. But she was holding a cup of coffee and a quiet kind of determination in her posture.

“Hi,” Alexandra said. “I was hoping… could I join you?”

The table quieted.

Belle met her gaze. No walls. No pretense. Just truth.

“Of course,” Belle said softly.

She looked… nervous. Which was new.

Belle’s heart beat faster. But she didn’t move.

Alexandra stepped forward, hands clasped tightly. “I just wanted to say I’m sorry. For everything. I should’ve seen it sooner. The way you were being treated. The way you disappeared. I didn’t… I didn’t know how to say something without stepping on Charles’ toes.”

“You should’ve stepped harder,” Emilie muttered, not unkindly.

“I know,” Alexandra said, her voice quiet. “I got caught up in what Charles was feeling and forgot to think about what you were going through.”

Belle nodded, not quite smiling. But not frowning either. “Thank you.”

“I hope, someday,” Alexandra said, voice steady, “we can build something separate from all that.”

“I’d like that.” Belle said softly. 

Alexandra let out a breath of relief and was immediately handed a fruit skewer by Lily. Rebecca scooted over to make room. Emilie raised a brow but didn’t argue.

And for a little while, they just talked.

About nonsense. About the race. About how McLaren’s espresso machine was criminally underrated.

Belle sat in the middle of it all — women who saw her as Belle Verstappen, not Isabelle Leclerc. Who didn’t ask her to justify her happiness or explain her choices. Who accepted her seat at the table without debate.

Her hand drifted to her stomach again, gently, instinctively.

This, she thought, was what peace felt like.

And then Lily, with a wicked smile, said, “Okay, but seriously. When is Lando asking you to dinner again, Emilie?”

Belle laughed into her lemonade while Emilie choked on a grape.

Silverstone was loud.

But here, Belle felt calm.

She was exactly where she belonged.

***

The paddock buzzed around her — a blur of lanyards, team polos, media badges, and engines humming distantly like a heartbeat under the concrete. Belle had just stepped out of the McLaren hospitality unit, the lemon tart Lily had smuggled into her bag clutched triumphantly in hand, when she heard someone call her name.

"Belle?"

She froze for half a second. The voice was familiar — so familiar — and when she turned, Arthur was already standing a few feet away, hands in his pockets, eyes wide and nervous like he hadn’t expected her to actually turn around.

He wasn’t in Ferrari gear — just a plain hoodie and jeans, no PR team trailing behind, no cameras lurking near.

"Hi," she said softly.

He took a step closer, then stopped. “I didn’t think I’d… run into you. Not here.”

Belle smiled faintly, more out of instinct than anything. “I’m technically on dessert patrol. Don’t tell Red Bull.”

Arthur’s gaze flicked to the little paper box in her hand. “Lemon tart?”

“Always.”

He nodded, then looked at her again — really looked at her. And she knew the moment he saw it: the curve of her belly, visible even under the loose Red Bull jacket she’d tugged on that morning.

His eyes widened slightly, but he didn’t comment. Instead, his voice softened.

“You look… really good,” he said. “Happy.”

Belle’s throat tightened. “I am.”

He nodded once, slowly. “That’s… I’m glad. I mean it.”

There was a pause. Not awkward — just careful. Like walking across a rope bridge and not wanting to look down.

Belle looked at him properly then — at the brother who had actually tried, who had sat next to her in therapy and said I’ll do better without waiting to be congratulated for it.

“Thank you,” she said.

Arthur’s expression cracked into something closer to a smile. “Does Max know you’re out here unsupervised?”

Belle raised an eyebrow. “Do you?”

“Touché.”

He glanced down, then back up again. “Can I… can I hug you?”

Belle hesitated — not because she didn’t want to, but because it had been so long since it felt safe to let anyone in like that.

But Arthur had come back. Had tried.

She nodded.

He stepped forward carefully and wrapped his arms around her — gentle but protective, like he remembered what it had been like to hug her when they were kids, when thunder scared him and she read him stories by flashlight.

She let herself lean in for just a second.

When they pulled apart, Arthur’s voice was quieter. “Do you… know what it is yet?”

Belle smiled. “Not yet.”

He grinned. “Boy or girl, they’re going to be loved. And probably terrifying in a kart.”

Belle laughed, the knot in her chest easing just a little. “Definitely.”

A voice called for her from the Red Bull side — someone from comms, letting her know Max was finishing up his last interview.

Arthur nodded toward it. “Go. Before your husband launches a search party.”

Belle took a step back. “See you around?”

He nodded. “Yeah. You will.”

And for the first time in a long time, she believed him.

***

FIA Post-Race Press Conference – Silverstone 2024

 Drivers: Lando Norris (P3), Max Verstappen (P2), Lewis Hamilton (P1)

Moderator: Congratulations, gentlemen. A fantastic race here at Silverstone — Lando, home crowd, amazing drive; Lewis, a win at home once again; and Max, back on the podium. We’ll begin with questions from the media.

Reporter #1: Max, Lando — obviously there was a lot of talk after Austria last week. There was contact, some tension. Can you tell us if things are resolved between you?

Max: (with a faint smile) I mean, yeah. We talked.

Lando: We did. Sort of.

Lewis: (chuckling) That doesn’t sound reassuring.

Max: No, no, it’s fine now. My wife and Lando’s… friend staged an intervention. They made us play Mario Kart until we stopped glaring at each other.

Lando: We weren’t allowed to eat dessert until we finished one race without throwing things.

Max: They said it was therapy. It was war.

Lando: But it worked. I still think he’s a menace on track. And in Rainbow Road.

Max:  (smirking) You’re just mad I blue-shelled you.

Lewis: (chuckling) That’s the most domestic F1 conflict resolution I’ve ever heard. What’s next, baking competitions?

Max: (bemused) We did have lemon tart after. But only once we shook hands.

Moderator: So things are good between you?

Lando: We’re fine. We just needed to remember we’ve known each other forever. And that Max can’t win every race and then act surprised when I get annoyed.

Max: I’m not surprised. I’m just better at Mario Kart.

(laughter)

Reporter #2 : Max — a lot of talk this weekend, not just about the race, but also your personal life. You and your wife made your pregnancy public before the weekend — congratulations.

Max: (nods, smiling softly) Thank you. We’re both really happy.

Moderator: Does becoming a father change your mindset behind the wheel?

Max: I think it changes everything, honestly. It’s a different kind of focus now. I want to win, yes. But I also want to go home safe. I want to build a future. And… I want to be someone my kid looks up to one day. So yeah, it changes things.

Lewis: (respectfully) Congrats again, mate. Fatherhood suits you.

Reporter #3: Max, if I may ask — there’s been a lot of discussion online about your wife’s family and their absence. Can you comment on the Leclercs and their current relationship with you and Belle?

Max (calm, but firm): No, that’s private. It’s not for the media. I’ve said what I wanted to say — Belle is my wife, and we’re building our life together. That’s all anyone needs to know.

Moderator: One last question?

Reporter #4: Max, now that everything’s out in the open — the marriage, the baby — any regrets about keeping it quiet?

Max: No regrets. We weren’t hiding it. We just wanted it to be ours, for a while. And now that it’s out — I still don’t regret it. She’s my wife. We’re starting a family. That’s all that matters.

***

Meanwhile on Twitter: 

@/F1TeaSpiller GUYS. BELLE VERSTAPPEN AND ARTHUR LECLERC JUST HAD A FULL CONVERSATION IN PUBLIC. IN THE PADDOCK. WITHOUT CRYING OR YELLING. IS THIS... PEACE???

@/GridGossip She smiled. Arthur smiled. THEY HUGGED. AFTER EVERYTHING. I AM EMOTIONALLY UNPREPARED FOR A SIBLING REUNION ARC.

@/FerrariTears So let me get this straight:

Belle’s bump is showing

She’s glowing in Red Bull merch

She’s joking with Arthur in front of the media

Max is stonewalling everything Leclerc I LOVE MESS.

@/MaxIsWinning Max ignoring the Leclercs like they’re on a different time zone. King behavior. You forgot her birthday, now you don’t get to be part of the baby era.

@/PaddockSecrets Reminder that Belle’s horse Blanche was sold when she was a child because the family couldn’t “afford it” while Charles was climbing through F2. AND THEY FORGOT HER BIRTHDAY. Forgiveness would take divine intervention if you ask me.

@/MrsVerstappenStan Imagine selling her horse. Forgetting her birthday. And THEN watching her become Belle Verstappen — loved, thriving, glowing. Redemption arc not guaranteed. But Arthur… maybe.

@/CharlesSlippedUp: Arthur hugging Belle: ✨ hope Charles not even making eye contact: 🚨 flop

@/gridchaosdaily “my wife and lando’s friend made us play mario kart” sir. that’s not a sentence. that’s a romcom premise.

@/f1softlaunches:  “Lando’s friend” is code for “the girl he’s in love with but won’t admit it yet,” pass it on.

@/theblondetrauma: no but who IS lando’s “friend”? because there was a very pretty blonde with Belle Verstappen at McLaren and I’ve seen her before 👀

@/wagsandwifi: So let me get this straight. → Lando crashes with Max in Austria → Max’s WIFE and Lando’s mysterious “FRIEND” stage a Mario Kart therapy night → Lando’s “friend” was at Silverstone, hanging with Belle and Lily → ??? → grid peace is restored SOMEONE WRITE THE FANFICTION

@/pitlaneplants: calling it now: lando’s “friend” is belle verstappen’s blonde best friend she had the ✨vibes✨ and the “i yell at you because i care” energy we love to see it

@/lando_fanacc44:  lando in the cooldown room: 😐 lando being gently bullied into mario kart therapy by a beautiful woman: 😵‍💫💗

@/mcblush:  “max’s wife and lando’s friend” shoutout to the women ending grid wars and fixing male friendships with Mario Kart and lemon tart

@/VerstappenWifeWatch: Max just shutting down the question about the Leclercs with "that’s private — Belle is my wife" I have never seen protective energy delivered with so much calm fury. Iconic behavior. 10/10 boundary setting.

@/RedBullRoyalty Arthur Leclerc hugging his very pregnant sister in the paddock while Max is across the track refusing to even mention her family by name… The range. The narrative arc. The fanfic writes itself.

@/MonacoMess: Still not over Max going "no regrets" about keeping Belle and the baby private. That man would burn the world for her and smile while doing it.

***

They were finally home.

The kind of home that smelled like lavender laundry soap and the ocean just beyond the windows. Monaco glittered outside in quiet golds and silvers, but the apartment was calm — lights low, Belle curled into the corner of the sofa with her tea and a blanket thrown over her legs, Max next to her with one hand resting instinctively on the soft curve of her belly.

It had been a long few weeks — Silverstone, media frenzy, a dozen headlines he wanted to ignore and a thousand photos of Belle he secretly saved just for himself. She was glowing. She was exhausted. She was everything.

He was just about to suggest a bath and bed when her phone rang.

Belle blinked, startled. “It’s the stables,” she murmured, already sitting up straighter.

Max was alert in an instant.

She answered with a soft, “Bonjour?”

There was a pause — a breath of silence — and then her entire expression changed.

“Oh my God,” she whispered, hand flying to her chest. “She’s foaling?”

Max didn’t understand the words, but he understood her.

She looked up at him with wide, bright eyes. “Fleur’s in labor.”

Max was already standing. “Let’s go.”

“You don’t mind?”

He gave her a look. “You want me to say no to the birth of your horse’s foal? No chance.”

She was already grabbing her coat — or trying to. He beat her to it, wrapping it gently around her shoulders. She still moved too quickly sometimes, like she forgot that there was more of her now. He kissed her forehead, then her temple, and helped her into her shoes before she could argue about it.

They were in the car five minutes later, tires rolling over the slick stone streets, headlights cutting through the dark. Belle’s hands were fidgeting in her lap — not anxious, exactly, but alive. Lit up.

Max reached over and took her hand. “We’re going to be right there.”

She nodded, eyes misty. “I just… I didn’t think I’d get to be there. Not after Blanche was sold. Not after everything.”

Max didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to.

Blnache had been a wound that Belle rarely touched. He knew the story — the silent heartbreak of a teenage girl watching her family sell off the one thing that made her feel seen. 

And now she had a piece of her back. In Fleur. And in the foal Fleur was carrying. 

Twenty minutes later, they were at the stables — warm hay, soft light, the familiar murmur of quiet voices around the foaling stall. The stablemaster nodded respectfully as Belle approached, and Max stayed a step behind her, hand on her back.

Fleur was standing, breathing hard, but calm.

“Hey, sweetheart,” Belle whispered, moving to the edge of the stall, voice thick with emotion. “You waited for me.”

Max watched the way her shoulders dropped — how her whole body softened in relief. She was radiant in that moment. Full of life in more ways than one.

***

The air in the stable was warm and heavy, thick with the smell of straw and anticipation.

Belle stood near the edge of the stall, one hand braced lightly on the wooden rail, the other pressed instinctively over the curve of her belly. Fleur stood only feet away, her coat shimmering with sweat, her breath fast but steady. 

Max stood at her side, quiet and solid, one hand resting between her shoulder blades. She could feel the tension in his posture — not nerves, exactly, but something taut and controlled. He hadn’t said much since they arrived, but he hadn’t let go of her once, either.

“She’s doing so well,” Belle whispered, voice caught between awe and something close to reverence.

Fleur shifted, groaned low in her throat. 

“Is it weird I feel like I’m going to cry?” Belle asked softly.

“No,” Max said, his voice low. “But if you do, I might have to join you.”

She turned to look at him — and froze.

He was pale.

Not just pale but white, like all the blood had drained from his face in the last five minutes. He wasn’t breathing heavily, wasn’t panicking — but he definitely looked like someone who was two seconds away from either sitting down or passing out.

“Max,” she said slowly, hiding a smile. “Are you okay?”

He gave her a tight, slightly wild-eyed smile. “I’m fine. Just… watching a living thing emerge from another living thing. With hooves.”

Belle covered her mouth to muffle the laugh. “You’re not going to faint, are you?”

He exhaled through his nose. “No. Definitely not. Maybe.”

“Max.”

He gave her a shaky thumbs up. “It’s good practice, right? For when it’s our turn?”

Belle wheeze-laughed. She couldn’t help it — the image of Max holding her hand during labor looking like this while trying to coach her through contractions was too much.

“You’re so pale,” she whispered, wiping tears from her eyes — this time from laughter. “You look like someone just told you the Red Bull sim rig was down permanently.”

“I am fine,” Max muttered with as much dignity as a man watching a horse give birth for the first time could muster.

But then — just like that — it happened.

Fleur let out a final grunt and shifted her weight, and there he was.

The foal.

Small and slick and dark as midnight, legs too long for his body, ears flicking even before he finished unfolding into the world. 

Belle’s breath hitched in her throat.

A black colt.

Perfect and new and hers — Fleur’s — theirs.

She felt Max slide an arm around her waist, steadying her.

She didn’t even realize she was crying until he pressed a kiss to the side of her head and whispered, “He’s beautiful.”

Belle nodded, unable to look away. “He is.”

Her heart felt too big for her chest.

The foal wobbled on unsteady legs, blinking at the world like it might blink back. Fleur turned her head and nuzzled him gently, and Belle’s hand tightened on the railing.

“I didn’t think I’d get this moment,” she said, voice barely above a breath. “I thought I lost it.”

Max didn’t answer right away. Just held her, safe and warm and unwavering.

“You didn’t lose anything,” he murmured. “You were always meant to come back for it.”

Belle let the words settle, let the tears fall freely this time.

She reached for Max’s hand and squeezed it tight.

And as the colt took his first few wobbly steps beneath Fleur’s watchful eye, Belle felt something click into place — a full-circle kind of peace.

She had a home. A future. A family. And now, a foal. Black as night, born of hope.

***

Instagram Post: @/belleverstappen

Comments: 

@/oscarpiastri:  I’m sorry… did you two just name a foal like he’s about to pull a sword from a stone and rule Camelot?

@/lando.jpg:  ngl I want to meet him. does he bite?

@/emilie_abadie: the knight of your little kingdom is HERE and he’s STUNNING. (also please send pics daily or i will riot)

@/danielricciardo: I need to meet this horse immediately. Also, calling it now: Galahad will grow up to have a mane like Zeus and kick fences for fun.

@/arthur_leclerc: He’s perfect. Fleur looks proud. Please give him a carrot from me.

@/f1softlaunches: not belle casually dropping the most magical name + max almost fainting + making the entire grid feral in one post

@/gridchaosdaily: THE HORSE HAS A NAME MAX ALMOST FAINTED BELLE IS CRYING I AM ALSO CRYING WE ARE ALL CRYING

@/maxverstappen1: That’s slander. I was visibly concerned not fainting. (He’s already faster than me out of the gate, btw.)

@/georgerussell63: I’ve never seen a newborn horse look so judgmental. Galahad is already disappointed in us all.

@/sebastianvettelofficial: This is the best kind of news. Congratulations to you both. 🐎💚

@/alex.albon: Max Verstappen: World Champion, Sim King, nearly taken out by a baby horse.

@redbullracing Congratulations to the newest honorary team member 🐴💙 (Do we need to start making Galahad merch??)

@/carlossainz55:  i would’ve actually fainted. respect to max for holding the line under pressure.

@/victoriaverstappen:  Driver, Husband, Future Horse Dad of the Year. Congrats! Galahad is beautiful, Belle! 🐎✨

@/tifosimess Raise your hand if you're emotionally compromised over a foal you’ve never met 🙋‍♀️🙋‍♂️

@/f1softlaunches: welcome to the grid, galahad verstappen, first of his name, foal of fleur, baby of belle, breaker of max’s cardiovascular stability

@f1babywatch Was Fleur okay?? Did everything go smoothly?? I’m emotionally invested in your horse now 😭

↪@/belleverstappen She was amazing. Strong and calm the whole way through — typical Fleur. She’s resting well, and already giving Galahad the “don’t wander too far” look. 🐴💕

@/hoofandheartdressage:  Do you mind sharing who the sire is? That colt looks beautiful 👀

↪@belleverstappen: Not at all! Galahad’s sire is Glamourdale. He and Fleur made magic. ✨

@/formulaphoenix:  Does Galahad live in Monaco with you guys?? Because I’m picturing a tiny foal climbing apartment stairs.

↪@/belleverstappen: As chaotic as that sounds, no — he’s staying at the stables just outside of town. 

@/ponyclubpatrol: Congratulations!!! Galahad is GORGEOUS 😍 Are you keeping him or planning to sell?

↪@/belleverstappen: He’s staying with us. 100%. He’s already family.

***

Meanwhile on Twitter: 

@/f1inlaw: genuinely not sure if galahad is a foal, a future champion, or the next king of arthurian legend. either way, he’s already outpacing us all.

@/wifeguyverstappen: max really married belle, bought her a horse, stood next to her while she sobbed through foaling, NEARLY FAINTED, and then posted “he’s already faster than me” like a proud dad

who is this man. i love him.

@/mclarenshadowtea: Lando’s in the comments like “does he bite”

Sir you have never wanted to pet something so badly in your life

@/sainzsimping:  Carlos saying he would’ve fainted is the most relatable part of this whole saga can’t believe max verstappen held it together while watching childbirth but make it horse edition

@/gridgossip:  MAX. ALMOST. FAINTED. OVER A HORSE. THE WORLD CHAMPION WAS TAKEN OUT BY A FOAL NAMED GALAHAD. I CAN’T BREATHE.

@/f1babywatch:  Me, emotionally stable: Also me, reading “Welcome to the world, Galahad”: 🥹😭🫠

@/chequeredhearts:  Belle Verstappen crying. Fleur calmly foaling. Max barely standing. Galahad judging us all. This is Shakespeare with horses and I’m obsessed.

@/f1horsepower:  Galahad’s dad is GLAMOURDALE?? You mean the 2022 world champion in the Grand Prix Special and Grand Prix Freestyle Glamourdale? Dutch Warmblood Glamourdale?!  No wonder the colt’s already a legend. Give him a paddock and a pony podcast immediately.

@/tifosimess: Raise your hand if you're emotionally compromised over a foal you’ve never met 🙋‍♀️🙋‍♂️🙋

@/rainbowroadgp:  “Fleur is fine, Max nearly fainted” is the single greatest Verstappen update I’ve ever read. Give her the driver seat.

@/fernandofanz: not me plotting how to break into a stable in Monaco just to meet Galahad.

@mcpradaqueen

No bc imagine Blanche looking down from her pasture in the sky like “that’s my girl. look at her. excellent name choice. 10/10 job, baby human.”

 @/f1ponygirls: you don’t understand. blanche was taken from belle as a sacrifice to fund her brothers’ careers. and now her daughter just had a foal that stays. Galahad is not just a colt. he is history rewritten with love.

@/tifosimess: I was not prepared for the generational symbolism of Blanche → Fleur → Galahad

this is a bloodline forged in heartbreak and healed with love and carrots@/godsavethefoal Blanche was taken from her. Fleur was given back to her. And now Galahad is hers from the start. THE HEALING. THE HERITAGE. THE VERSTAPPEN EQUINE DYNASTY.

[allthingswhumpyandangsty]

Gotta say I used to extensively comment on fics and not just a few words but did some fairly long detailed comments on what I liked but recently I started to get less and less replies on them despite authors (relatively popular ones) sometimes replying to others. And while I understand that author doesn’t owe me anything it did quite demotivate me from leaving as much comments. Why bother if nobody cares in the first place? I know its an unhelpful mindset but I can’t shake it. Any advices?

hi!

as an author who likes to comment on others' works but is notoriously bad at replying to comments I receive on my own works, I can guarantee that 99.99% of writers read the comments they receive and, even if they don't reply back, they love and appreciate your kind words more than you know. I know this may sound cliche and all, but I can wholeheartedly say this because it's true for me, as an author.

yes, I admit that I don't always reply to comments I receive, but it's not because I don't appreciate or care about them. I read them, mostly several times each, I screenshot them and save them in a special folder so I can always come back and read them again. there are just so many kind comments I receive that make me smile to myself for minutes even though I don't reply back. some of them actually make me shed a few tears of joy.

thing is when us authors don't reply to comments we receive, it's mostly because;

we don't know how best to respond that will let the commenters know how much we appreciate them. because if the comments are several paragraph long (we LOVE that!), and we only reply with "thank you so much", then it sounds too short for us. (I know this because I sometimes spend so long thinking about how best to respond that will let my commenters know how much I appreciate them that I sometimes end up don't respond back.)

sometimes we are overwhelmed by several comments from several readers, and responding to all of them are too overwhelming. but we read, love and appreciate each and every single one of them very dearly.

sometimes we reply to some comments and not the others, because maybe we have little free time where we can only reply to some people, or maybe there's something about some specific comments that makes us respond back. but this does not mean we don't care about comments we don't reply back.

sometimes we're simply exhausted from stuff in our lives and replying to comments take time and energy, depends on how long the comments are / how long we want our responses to be / how many comments we receive, etc

writing is hard, but sometimes finding the right words to reply back to comments can be even harder, especially when we want to write several paragraph responses back just to let them know how much we appreciate them. and unfortunately sometimes us writers just don't have enough energy left.

but rest assured that, even if we don't reply, we love and appreciate every kind comment we receive very, very much, and they help motivate us to keep writing.

when I comment on my fellow writers' works and don't get any response back, I know why (for the reasons listed above), and that's totally okay for me because I don't comment on their works just for them to thank me, I do it because I want them to know how I love and appreciate their works, and I believe they do know. and that's really all that matters for me.

so if your favorite authors don't reply to you, please don't think that it's because they "don't care" or that your comments "don't matter" to them.

I mean, of course, I can see why not getting a response back can be discouraging, especially when commenting on writers' works are so encouraged, but as a fellow commenter (yes, I'm an author and also a commenter of fics I love), I always think of it this way; fanfics are gifts we receive for free, we comment on writers' works as a way to thank them for giving us cool fics to read. we don't expect them to thank us back because they've already given us this lovely gift. we comment only because we want to let them know we love their fics. and they know.

your comments could now be saved in your favorite authors' folders and re-read by them over and over again, even if they didn't respond back. they could be smiling to themselves reading your thoughts on their works. who knows? their next 100k word fic could be motivated by you.

[telephoniii]

what app do you use for your smaus cause i canNOT find a good one

okay… this was supposed to be a quick and easy answer.

i use social maker. i’ve had it since 2020. it’s my personal favorite smau app and a highly recommend it. it’s pretty easy to use and you’ve got a lot of options on what you can do with it.

but, i was trying to get screenshots of it in the app store to show what app it was and…low and behold it got banned??

only people who have had the app downloaded before can use it unfortunately 😭

i feel bad leaving you hanging like that, so! i went on a trip to find an easy to use, nice-looking smau app!

and i decided to make it into a kind of smau post at the same time!

so you can enjoy some TWST silliness with the first years while I rank these apps :>

SILLY TEXTS WITH THE FIRST YEARS (while I rank SMAU apps)

First Years NRC boys x GN!Reader SMAU

Warnings: mention of political figures in Faker 2, Reader is Prefect, suggestive humor, possible OOC

A/N: this shows how much I love to yap. I did this to procrastinate but it was pretty fun! How did I turn my response to this anon from a single paragraph to a whole multi-section post? I have no clue. My brain works in weird ways. I hope you enjoy :>

SOCIAL MAKER (what I use)

I use this app for a reason! It’s so easy to use and it gives you 20 max messages. Personally, I really enjoy the look of the app and messages too. Unfortunately though, if you didn’t have this app downloaded before it got taken down, you can’t use it. At least on IOS. I don’t really know the situation for Android 💀

5/5 stars!! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

SOCIAL DUMMY

This is another app that you had to have downloaded before it got taken down to use it. I think it’s a really good SMAU app! Especially if you wanna do stuff outside of messages!! (twitter, instagram, youtube, etc.) The messaging system runs pretty smoothly, the only thing is that the max amount of messages is very short.

4/5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

CHAT STORY MAKER

This app is a bit outdated in my opinion. It’s kinda hard to use since you can’t exit out of the keyboard and get a clean picture of your messages. Also, when you close the app it doesn’t save ANY of your things. (That caused me a lot of trouble making this actually 😭). You can also only make two characters. However, it has good customization!! It has a very cute look and you can change the background + text colors. It’s also really easy to switch between characters which is always nice.

3/5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️

TYPE STORY

This is the app that Social Maker actually made after their OG app was taken down! It’s, unfortunately, not super great in my opinion. I got really confused when I tried using it, even with a tutorial. Once you get the hang of it, it’s alright. The app just feels overly complicated. However, if you want to make SMAUs mainly with big group chats then this app might be pretty good for you!

3/5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️

FAKER 2

By far the worse app among them all. It just reeks of money-greedy creators. An add plays after almost every action you do. (From customizing characters to sending messages, an add always plays) It was also quite confusing to use and you’re limited to three characters. There isn’t much you can customize either and it has a 5 message max. Also, it made me a bit uncomfortable because the three default profiles you have to edit to change into the characters you want included Trump and Elon… Yeah 💀. Not to mention that a lot of the adds were filled with AI videos that were just uncanny valley. Back on topic! The app locks a lot of features behind a paywall that doesn’t even seem worth it. I wouldn’t recommend it.

1/5 stars. ⭐️

TEXTING STORY

In terms of making SMAUs on tumblr, I wouldn’t recommend it. But, if you were interested in making texting story videos and/or publishing them on YouTube, this would be a good option! There’s a lot of opportunities for videos as it can automatically give you a video of you typing both sides. The typing sound is also pretty satisfying to me! Unfortunately, it’s not the best for tumblr SMAUs. There isn’t really any customization— you can’t even add a profile picture.

3/5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️

TEXT STORY MAKER

Okay, I did legitimately save the best for last. This app is pretty great. It’s easy to catch onto and gives you A LOT of customizable options: background, text color, group chat cover, etc. Also, there’s an option for it to automatically take screenshots of the text which is just so convenient?? But there is a pretty big downside. You can only make two characters. That really sucks.

I think that if you want to make 1 on 1 SMAUs similar to mine, this would be a good app to use. It’s gonna be annoying having to remake the profiles and what not, but I think the pros out weight the cons.

4/5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[evnseokz]

꒰ ✎ accidentally sending a nude to bff enha ꒱

req: opinions on accidently sending a nude to bff lowkey has a crush on you enha 🤭?

pairing: bff, lowk has a crush on you! enha x reader

contents: suggestive, mentions of nudes obviously, little silliness

this request has been sitting in my inbox for quite sometime so i’m so sorry </3 but i hope you enjoy!

heeseung leans back, smirks, and mutters “well, well, well…” like he just won the lottery. texts back “was this a gift? because i feel… blessed.” lowkey zooms in, multiple times. might save it just in case you delete it later. teases you nonstop—“so… are you always this bold, or is this a me thing?” he’s definitely imagining what it’d be like if you sent more. casually asks later, “so what would’ve happened if i’d been there in person?” with a raised brow and a very unsubtle smirk.

jay's jaw drops. he stares. like, doesn’t blink for a full minute. he’s flustered but deeply intrigued. types “you should be careful who you send this to,” but follows it with “…unless you trust me like that.” voice lower than usual next time he talks to you, eyes flicking down like he remembers. which he does. in detail. tells you, “you don’t have to explain anything… unless you want to.” tone dripping with implication. you swear he looks at your lips more now when you talk.

jake gasps like he just saw heaven and hell in the same image. stares for a long second, then blurts “holy shit, you’re actually… wow.” types out five different replies before settling on “are you trying to kill me?” followed by a thirst emoji he immediately regrets. brings it up jokingly but with that flirty tone—“sooo… you’re just gonna pretend you didn’t send me a whole thirst trap?” and if you say sorry? he just smiles and says, “don’t be. i liked it.” with way too much eye contact.

sunghoon is still. completely still. lips twitch into a sly grin as he whispers “damn…” to himself. doesn’t respond right away—he wants you squirming. finally sends “nice angle. looks like you wanted me to see everything.” his voice is softer next time he sees you, a little lower. leans in closer when you talk. at some point, casually says “next time… you could always send a video.” like it’s the most natural thing in the world. you can’t look him in the eye for a week.

sunoo screams into a pillow. like—full-on shrieking, flailing, blushing mess. then suddenly he’s staring at it like, “wait… wait a damn minute.” texts back “so are we flirting now or…?” followed by a “because i’m ready if you are.” will not stop thinking about it. analyzes every pose and curve like it’s art. next time you talk, he’s acting cute but making way too much eye contact and licking his lips like he knows exactly what he saw—and liked it a lot.

jungwon's soul leaves his body. like—full system reboot. he stares at the photo, eyes wide, lips parted, face bright red. whispers “no way…” under his breath like it’s illegal to look. takes a deep breath, types “did you mean to send that to me?” but then deletes it. ends up sending “…you looked really pretty.” immediately regrets it. locks himself in his room and lays on his bed dramatically, picturing your body in way too much detail and hating himself for it—but also? can’t stop thinking about it.

ni-ki sits up. blinks. says, “well that’s new.” takes a screenshot before he can even stop himself. stares at it again. and again. texts back “was this… an accident? or are we finally doing something about this tension?” and if you say sorry, he just replies “don’t be. unless you don’t want me to send one back.” (he’s half-joking. unless you say yes.) looks you up and down differently after that. way differently. his hand brushes yours the next time you hang out, and he doesn’t pull away.

...

..

.

[casscainmainly]

Duke Thomas Character Profiles!

This is a compilation of every Duke Thomas character profile I know of and could get my hands on. This is an easy way to get to know him if you're not diving into his comics yet! I'll also be highlighting any inaccuracies I spot in these descriptions.

We Are Robin #4 - 2015

REALLY good profile for his personality at the time! Writer and nerd Duke is VERY important to me.

Batman Character Encyclopedia - 2016

Most of this is good, but the 'debt of gratitude' section is wrong - Bruce saves Duke before Duke's family saves Bruce (NOTE: ACTUALLY THIS IS CORRECT I JUST HAVE NO READING COMPREHENSION. Duke's parents did save him before Duke meets Bruce, it's just told non-linearly!). I like the 'powers and abilities' section, as well as the summary of his backstory! Also I BELIEVE IN 5 FT 6 INCHES DUKE THOMAS!!

DC Comics Encyclopedia All-New Edition - 2016

Sorry for the quality I couldn't find this ANYWHERE this is a screenshot of a YouTube video 😭. Idk why The Nest is in 'enemies' (The Nest was never really an enemy even if Duke didn't fully trust it). Also, I'm pretty sure Joker did not attack Duke's parents because they helped Bruce? It's implied Joker chose Elaine and Duke because of their meta gene in Dark Days. Although I guess both of those could be seen as connected reasons for Joker attacking Duke idk (I'm not the hugest fan of the attack being targeted at all).

Anyway I quite like this one, describing WAR as an "underground youth movement" is GREAT, also "grass-roots anti-crime crusaders" yessss. The description of Duke in Zero Year is also nice!

DC Comics Encyclopedia New Edition - 2021

This one labels his light powers as 'extrasensory', which was correct at the time but is outdated now (it's photokinesis). Also this seems to rip some of the 'allies/enemies' from the previous character profile, because the Nest (and WAR honestly since this is post Secret Files) shouldn't really be here. Also the same issue with last one about the Joker selecting Duke's parents because they helped Batman, which may be correct but I don't think is explicitly substantiated in the comics.

But this summary of Gnomon is quite good, and the timeline is generally accurate (though idk what they mean by "lone street vigilante"; he basically jumped straight from WAR to Bruce). Also Robin as an ally my Damian-Duke crumbs :))).

DC Power 2024 - 2024

The most egregious thing here is Elaine and Doug being deceased (they're not?? if a comic writer reads this and thinks Elaine and Doug are dead I'm suing DC). No mention of Cousin Jay in "Known Relatives" either. Also, Duke discovers his mother has metahuman powers, not his father. (Unless they mean Gnomon, but that doesn't make sense since Duke discovered his powers before meeting Gnomon). I'm also unsure if the comics ever said Duke's powers were amplified by the sun, but it's a cool tidbit!

Besides those inaccuracies, this summary is great and the most detailed on this list; this is the one to read for the full Duke journey!

Anyway that's all I'm aware of!! Have a good day and read We Are Robin :).

[thewisewill80sbyers]

hi umh sorry for asking but im kinda ignorant about this, can you explain why you still support Noah? No hate im just curious cuz i only saw him with the stickers and I was confused...

I'll say it again, I'm not really a fan of anybody, I'm a fan of the characters more than anything else - but the situation and the stuff I've been reading about him is extremely vile, this level of harassment means actively trying to make him kill himself and I don't believe he deserves that because I don't believe he's "evil" as people online wants to depict him, you usually can see it when someone is a vile person that would deserve to be attacked and he is just not that

- While his statements did have problematic things in it in my opinion it was more because of ignorance than actual malice and he needed to be educated and not attacked like that

- He tried apologizing and clarifying what he meant with a video and I believe he's genuine in it

- I know for a fact he has friends who are pro Palestine and he has been learning from them and deconstructing

-The stickers were not made by him, he was used for clout by the people that you see in the video around him and in that period he was hanging out with a 30 year old man that was an actual Zionist from there and was influencing Noah + if you look up the Instagram page affiliated to the "Zionism is sexy" stickers, which I did when this happened and I have the screenshots saved in my pc, you'll find that in that page they were going on posting stuff saying that Zionism only meant that they wanted safety for Jewish people while also living in peace etc etc (which is propaganda!) so the whole problem is that there's a different perception of the MEANING of the word, they believed that meaning while not being aware of the real situation in the region and also believing all the lies that those people try to spread around. At that moment he was literally put in the middle and didn't react appropriately, but if you grow up surrounded by people trying to convince you of that you would probably be acting in the same way

- He stopped supporting Israel and is against what is happening in Gaza

- He donated money to Gazans multiple times in secret because he's not doing it only to be forgiven and didn't brag about it

- I know people who know him and have seen receipts of all of this btw

- I know things about his life that the public doesn't know and I will not share because it would be highly fucked up and evil to do that, but I do have compassion for him also because of this outside of the fact that he's just a kid to me and you should have compassion in general for people and not want them to kill themselves (especially when they are NOT actual trash humans. There are trash humans out there and I am not above wishing for their death, but Noah is not one of them)

- He had to start therapy to deal with all of this

- He was 19 years old and the world is not black and white, people that grow up with the influence of the propaganda are not guilty for believing it, especially when they're young because they're being preyed on by older people the majority of the time

- there's LOTS of people that don't give a fuck about it and are hating on him because they want easy likes not because they care about the genocide. People should start looking at themselves in the mirror and I can't stand the insane hypocrisy I've seen since this started.

Hating on him will not help anybody, and it's not "a call out" it's cruel harassment, suicide instigation, homophobic slurs, rape threats.

In general no one should support the amount of harassment and hate he has been getting because he did not do anything that makes him deserve that, being ignorant and staying neutral by wishing that both Palestinians and Israelis were safe in what you perceived as a conflict because you have a misunderstanding of what is going on because you grew up with people telling you that "it's complicated" and repeating the propaganda around you, doesn't make you a "genocidal maniac" it only makes you ignorant and people should want others to be educated if we want a better world... which he is doing in private for now

I've been on the other side of online harassment myself even if in a way smaller amount thankfully, but some people don't have my character and can't stand this type of pressure mentally, so he is choosing to stay private now with all of this, and honestly it was hard for me too some days it did make me upset that so many people misunderstood my character... so I can't even imagine what receiving the GIANT amount of hate and comments on his appearance and his character is doing to him mentally and I find this extremely fucked up so I don't want to just ignore it even if I could mind my business and be "more popular" like that, it's just morally wrong.

[bluemoonscape]

I’m sort of curious why you ship obikin? I personally don’t, and you have asks open so I wanted to hear your thoughts.

Sure, why not!! Thanks for the ask <3

Most of the draw for me comes from a combination of Revenge of the Sith (specifically the choreography of the Mustafar fight, which I’ll explain more in a moment) Deborah Chow’s work in the Obi-Wan Kenobi series, and Matthew Stover’s portrayal of them in the Revenge of the Sith novelization.

On a base level, their characters simply can’t exist without the other, which is deeply interesting in and of itself. In A New Hope, Obi-Wan has to mentor Anakin’s son and give him Anakin’s lightsaber after saving it for all those years, and he has to fall to Vader by his own choice. He has to forgive Anakin and still love him after all that time to teach him how to become a Force ghost when Anakin is dying in RotJ. And at the end of the movie, it’s an overwhelmingly happy moment to see them together again as ghosts smiling, standing with one another, and watching over Luke. Their characters have been so closely intertwined since the original films, and every bit of content we’ve gotten since then capitalizes on that so much.

I hope you don’t mind me bringing pictures because… I have pictures.

Coming around to prequels content, one of my favorite Obikin tidbits comes from a 2019 interview with Nick Gillard (Revenge of the Sith fight choreographer who did the work for the Mustafar fight). Here’s a screenshot from an article discussing the interview with a quote from Gillard:

You can read more in-depth about that interview here in a great post by @/gffa.

There are more key quotes from the interview here, including bangers such as:

“I did write it [Mustafar fight] like a husband and wife having a fight. Anakin thinks Obi is maybe having an affair with Padmé at that point. So he’s already gone to the dark side. And for Obi, it’s just about trying to absorb it long enough that he can get him back.”

“My take on the whole duel was that Obi-Wan is the central character in that duel. He wouldn’t try and kill Anakin. The way I saw that fight was like having a fight with your girlfriend. That she’s just lost it and that she’s coming at you with everything she’s got. […] So you try to defend her as long as you can until she breaks down. Then you can give her a cuddle.“

These quotes admittedly make me giggle a bit because. What do you mean you framed it like a husband and wife/boyfriend and girlfriend having a fight. That imagery is just so funny to me. But seriously, I do think it really emphasizes how much they still do love each other even as they’re fighting so brutally—Obi-Wan can’t bring himself to do anything more than defend, and the idea that Anakin fighting Obi-Wan equates to him fighting the good side of himself is heartbreaking. The fact that fighting him is literally like fighting part of himself is insane.

Anakin’s fear of Padmé and Obi-Wan having an affair is also mentioned in that interview, and funny enough, the Obidala affair was actually supposed to be canon in from what we can tell is George Lucas’s original draft of the prequels. It sounds almost absurd because of the prequels we ended up getting, simply because Padmé and Obi-Wan as we know them—would just never do that. Even if they were framed to have feelings for each other, I don’t believe their characters as they are could ever bring themselves to act on those feelings because they love Anakin too much. He’s undoubtedly the axis of the prequel trio. What was originally supposed to be a love triangle with Padmé as the axis ends up looking much more like a love triangle with Anakin as the axis.

But anyway! That’s the movie side of it. I don’t know if you’ve read the novelization or not, but personally I like it even more than the movie. That’s not to say the movie isn’t great, but what does it for me is how much Stover gets Anakin’s character. He makes Anakin… make more sense? He makes his motivations and his fall as a whole more sympathetic and understandable to the reader, I think. He also expands on Anakin’s relationships with Obi-Wan, Padmé, and Palpatine, and the way in which he portrays Obi-Wan's relationship with him and their feelings about each other in general is very… oddly romantic? Tragically romantic? Their banter is sweet to read in the first several chapters regardless of whether you view them platonically or not, too.

(Okay look I have a lot of pictures of this book, it ruined me as a human being)

Finally, there’s the Obi-Wan Kenobi show, which is entirely about Obi-Wan and Anakin in Anakin’s Vader era. Once again, you have a lot of comments from the creator elevating that husband and wife/boyfriend and girlfriend sort of dynamic brought up by Gillard:

First of all: ok girl wow 😳 This topic came up in the interview because Chow was asked how she managed to convince the Disney execs to let her bring the character of Darth Vader into the show—because, you know, it’s Darth Vader! The face of the Star Wars saga! You can’t just throw him into anything (or, well, you could, I wouldn’t complain)—and this was her selling point. A show about Obi-Wan would be incomplete without Anakin because Anakin is his biggest love story and his biggest heartbreak in the series. Both the OG and prequel trilogies really are defined by the relationship between Obi-Wan and Anakin—everything begins and ends with them. And it was heart wrenching to watch this scene in the OWK show after all the movies have given us.

”I am not your failure, Obi-Wan” is a major line in their story. That’s the scene where we see Obi-Wan finally accept that his Anakin is gone and the best way for him to keep loving him is to honor him and love him as he was (shown when we see Obi-Wan in the OG trilogy speaking of Anakin to Luke so fondly, telling him he was the “best star pilot in the galaxy” and “a good friend”). And Anakin as he knew him briefly showed himself to give him that peace. In that scene, the red of Vader’s lightsaber reflected on his face recedes and is replaced by the blue glow of Obi-Wan’s saber as he says the words “I am not your failure, Obi-Wan. You didn’t kill Anakin Skywalker—I did.” …at which point the red glow returns to prominence. But however briefly when he said those words, he was Anakin and he was giving Obi-Wan permission to let go of the idea that he killed Anakin, or caused him to become Darth Vader. He was the only person who could give Obi-Wan that freedom, and he did. In the strangest way possible, he freed Obi-Wan, and Obi-Wan was finally able to return the favor and free him years later in death, allowing them to reunite and to free Anakin of his broken-down body and look like himself again as a young man before he fell.

I don’t have a picture in my camera roll, but I believe if memory serves, Palpatine tells Dooku in the RotS novelization that Anakin will never fully be in the camp of the Sith as long as Obi-Wan lives, which is why Dooku targeted Obi-Wan so fiercely in the duel against him and Anakin and then Palpatine asked Anakin to leave Obi-Wan so they could evacuate the ship, at which point Anakin glared at him and said “His fate will be the same as ours.” Palpatine was right about that. Anakin is never able to let go of his past when he’s Vader, and largely it is because Obi-Wan still lives. Even once Obi-Wan finally dies and joins the Force before Anakin’s eyes, Vader doesn’t feel triumph or finally cut Anakin Skywalker out—he is said in another novelization to be felt light years away by Yoda as a beacon of loneliness and grief in the Force. Luke is the last piece he has of both Padmé and Obi-Wan, because while Luke is of course Padmé’s son, it was Obi-Wan who taught him, and thus Vader repeats multiple times in the OG trilogy that Luke has a lot of Obi-Wan's influence in him. It’s Luke who enables Anakin to break free from the chains of the dark side and defeat his abuser and groomer after years of manipulation.

That’s all to say—the story of Obi-Wan and Anakin is so rich, tragic, beautiful, and expansive, it’s easy to feel drawn to it in any capacity; I specifically see the possibility of them loving one another in a romantic light due to all those aforementioned references to them being deliberately set up in the story as lovers, as well as the fact that their dynamic is just incredibly fun and interesting and it’s easy to explore the possibilities of them in all different contexts. They’re uniquely fucked up and obsessive about each other with Anakin being (paraphrasing) blinded by his feelings for his old Master (as said by Palpatine) and Obi-Wan essentially having Anakin and only Anakin as an outlet for his grief after Qui-Gon’s death. The best part about them is that their story never ends. It started with the original trilogy with Alec Guinness and James Earl Jones, bloomed in the prequels with Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen, and has since been revisited and expanded upon over and over in novels, comics, and of course, the TV shows bringing back Ewan and Hayden. It’s possible they’ll even be on the screen as Obi-Wan and Anakin again—Hayden is already confirmed to be set for Ahsoka Season 2, and it’s entirely possible Ewan appears alongside him in more of Ahsoka’s Clone Wars flashbacks. The love story stretches over so much media and material over the course of nearly 50 years (48 currently) that it’s impossible to run out of ideas for them. The story tells itself.

[zyk1ng]

I was gonna make this post way way earlier but I forgot lol but Uhm

I have played through the splatoon 2 story fully and am replaying it (for a future post bc a lot of the dialogue is rlly funny) and honestly while I absolutely loved it it makes me even sadder that splat 2’s story mode was kinda tossed aside (for valid reasons ofc) because it’s so Cool.

Excluding the gameplay, I think they did marie so well, because she sells the desperation of someone who’s got nobody she knows by her side. While she of course keeps the sassy attitude of sneak dissing her best friends (agent 3) and also telekinetically telling you to fuck off if you talk to her too much it’s very clear she genuinely cares so much about agent 4 and is so grateful they’re doing what they do.

these are only two screenshots of 8(?) of Marie randomly being really sentimental to 4 because this stranger chose to help her in her time of need rather than just ignore this GROWN WOMAN hanging out on a sewer drain

It’s like heavily emphasized multiple times that Marie could not be more grateful for 4’s help in retrieving not just the zapfish but also her cousin.

But then revealing that 4 knew about Callie the WHOLE TIME (I have a lot to say about this part but it’s mostly hc so) which is so KIND OF THEM???? this random woman recruits them into a secret military agency and hides the fact she rlly misses her cousin but they help anyway bc they WANT TO. (They didn’t even know either of them were famous btw) Marie shows a lot of gratitude toward 4 ESPECIALLY after the big reveal.

(You could make arguments for 3 being similar bc an old kook made them do it but this isn’t about them..)

And it’s not just being grateful for the one time, she genuinely enjoys 4’s company and wants to be better friends with them and chat after the zapfish and Callie are saved 😭😭😭

It’s so cute too, because 100%ing the game and even just being a little nosy is something that Marie picks up on, and remembers way later in the game. (More abt this later)

god I love this socially inept squid woman and her adopted child soldier that likes finding pieces of paper

Speaking of said soldier! I think the way they characterized 4 via the actual gameplay rather than art/statements/whatever is so cool

4 doesn’t have many illustrations besides the chaos splatfest and that one group photo where they’re being funky in the corner (and the apartment) but I feel like the reason for that is the fact that a lot of Marie’s dialogue as well as how splatoon 2’s hero mode is structured/designed speaks a lot about how they wanted to represent 4.

From a realistic standpoint, of course splatoon 2’s story mode has to be more creative both prompt wise and secret wise. But it feels like the reason its that way is because both 4 and Marie are separate types of people from Craig and 3.

The bosses help a lot with this too, being more gimmicky and weird (subtracting stamp.) Octo shower and samurai being bosses where you have to either react well or change your positioning to effectively beat them. (Octo shower is my fave btw I loved fighting it the first time)

The level design also shines in this aspect because if I’m honest I remember none of the splat 1 levels significantly besides the few octoling ones. Splatoon 2’s levels are very detailed (and also insanely pretty) and have some rlly fun puzzles in a handful of them and even the more fast ones are a blast to play through

And then all the little extras (sardiniums and scrolls alike) are hidden so well and you usually have to go out of your way to find them and even the secrets that aren’t either of those things have substance

Small note, a lot of extras are also made so that it flows well with the levels design (like the first dualie request mission) which is also extremely fucking cool.

the way marie touches on those little discoveries is so smart too because it (as I said before) characterizes 4 as someone who loves to look for things even if it’s on a whim especially since the sunken scrolls in the game are so much harder to find than in splat1.

And the fact that unlike splat 1, you can (technically) 800% the game by playing EVERY SINGLE LEVEL WITH EVER SINGLE WEAPON TYPE. to me it feels like it deepens the fact that 4 likes to be really thorough. marie goes “you have a problem.” When you break like two hidden egg crates in this one level and it’s so great.

I love what they’ve done with 4, whether it was intentional or I’m over-analytical.

Nothing gets past them, looking in every nook and cranny whether or not there’s secrets to be found. They’re too nosy and thorough and they like to be around marie after completing missions, they don’t know who the squid sisters are, hate balloons, may or may not be ok, have impulsive secret finding, partake in many extracurriculars, can be needy at times, go with the flow and they apparently smell better than agent 3.

Agent four, of the New Squidbeak Splatoon.

[writingbyshiloh]

Third Time's the Charm

Request: Hii,if your request are still open can i request something for Gen V?Can you write something where Jordan and fem reader are childhood best friends and Jordan had always been in love with her but they feel insecure because they don’t know if reader will like them in both forms romantically?So when,in ep 3,Jordan dad goes like “Y/n and Jordan will be husband and wife” reader goes “Maybe we will be wife and wife”because she loves Jordan just like they are?

AN: Reader wants to be the first supe president (just to explain why they’re at the gala), I changed the timeline of the ep a tiny bit. I have another request about meeting Jordan's parents but that one might be more angsty.

CW: fem!reader, kissing, no beta, Jordan's parents are just their warning. The start is all flashbacks so I may have slipped on the tense a few times, no beta

WC: 2.0K

Jordan Li was your first kiss. Twice. The first time was in kindergarten, when they tried to kiss you and you smacked them with your Queen Mauve lunch box. Your second first kiss (the one you consider your actual first kiss) was done by you while playing truth or dare at 14. After picking a dare, you were asked to kiss the best-looking guy in the group. You shrugged and picked your best friend - Jordan. 

At age six, they were there when you broke your ankle trying to see if you could fly (you couldn’t). When you did get powers, they were the first person you told.

When Jordan came out to you as bigender, you did an internet deep-dive, trying to understand as much as possible.

Jordan listened to every interaction you had with your high school crush while quietly dying inside, wanting you to be happy. When your high school boyfriend cheated on you and then dumped you for the girl he cheated with, Jordan was there, ready to sink hours into their Xbox to keep you distracted.

The worst week of your life was when you didn't speak to Jordan for 9 whole days. You got into a petty argument where you called them self-absorbed and they called you clingy. The fight snowballed into yelling arguments and ended with you receiving a cold shoulder from Jordan. 

When Jordan got their wisdom teeth removed, you camped out in their room, snuggled under their duvet with them to watch Property Brothers for two days straight. You even made sure they took their painkillers on time and used ice packs.

Every fight with their parents, you were outside in your car ready to pick up Jordan to stay with you. Once you showed up at their house at 6:03 am, eyes blurry with sleep and still in pyjamas. Jordan was crying, bob haircut looked messy from sleep. You drove them to Vought-A-Burger, still half asleep and ate greasy breakfast sandwiches in your car until Jordan stopped crying. 

Jordan was even your date to prom, taking photos with you in their masculine form to get their parents off their back. Once their parents were happy, you snuck them back to yours, where you stashed their prom dress. 

You both even applied to God U together. Too nervous to check your acceptance, Jordan checked yours and you checked theirs. Sitting across from each other on your bed you both log in before giving the laptops to each other.

“Okay, three, two, one…” you counted down, opening Jordan’s laptop. Your eyes scanned for any promising words like congratulations, or welcome. "Accepted" was the first word your eyes caught but you need to fuck with them.

“Jord… I’m so sorry.” You start. Their face falls, and you feel like a dick for doing this. But the opportunity is too good to pass up. “That you believed me! Because you got in!”

They lunged across your bed to see what the screen says. You saw Jordan's eyes scan the same letter you just read, picking out the same words. 

“You’re such an asshole!” they told you, rolling their eyes, gently hitting your arm with the back of their hand

You’ve never been shy about showering Jordan with compliments. Saved in screenshots never to see the light of day, Jordan has kept some of them. 

You: OMG!!! Jordan you’re so pretty. I’m so lucky to call you my friend. 

You: You’re so handsome!!! I love your hair slicked back! If she doesn’t agree you need to drop her. 

You: ur a solid 9/10. Lost a point for not giving me a sip of your drink yesterday lol

Jordan Li has been in love with you since age 16. Probably earlier, if they want to admit that to themselves. You’ve only ever expressed interest in men so they kept their feelings to themselves, not wanting to make you uncomfortable, figuring it was better to have you as a friend only than not at all. 

In your first year, you were even roommates. While Jordan flourished in crim, you bounced between majors before settling into politics.

Every time you brought some frat guy to your shared dorm, Jordan died inside. Trying to get over their long-standing crush, Jordan did the same.

When Jordan made number 2 on the top five, you celebrate with them. Maybe a bit too hard that night.

You were there when their ranking dropped after the death of Brink. A man you only met twice, but you would do anything for Jordan. Especially given how hard you fell for both versions of them last year.

“I’m going to try to tag team with your dad, get some points for you and keep him engaged, yeah?” You ask over your shocker. Jordan is behind you, ready to help with zipper duty for your dress.

“You don’t have to.”

You let out a small scoff. “Dude. I’m doing poli supe. Schmoozing with rich people is like half our courses. Zip me up please.”

“How long have you known Jordan? You seem to be a good couple.” The man you and Jordan's dad suckered into a conversation asks. He's sitting beside Jordan's parents, while you and Jordan are on the edge of some fancy pit or table. 

“Well, these two have known each other pretty well over the years. Jordan tried to kiss her when they were kids, and she hit him with her Black Noir lunch box.”

“It was a Queen Mauve lunch box, actually.” You say with a laugh.

“And she called him ‘Jojo’ for probably the next two years out of spite.” Kayla laughs. It's a special embarrassment when your parents tell stories about your childhood. All the stories are about you but it's been so long ago you can’t remember any of it. Jordan looks worse off, slouchy posture against the banister, while you sit next to him. Part of you wants to tell him to sit up straight, but you figure you can play the grief angle better this way. 

“Oh, and remember when Jordan got his wisdom teeth out? You guys were inseparable. I think I still have the photo of you two passed out watching TV!” Kayla gushes, reaching for her phone to find the photo.

“We all thought you two would be president and First Gentleman.” Dad insists. Your smile is fake and tight, knowing if Paul pulls out prom photos, you would have to quietly fling yourself out of a window. 

Maybe you drank a bit too much liquid courage. Maybe the tension between them and their parents was getting to you. To give Jordan some space, you took their parents for a tour of your classes, knowing they’ll be talking to your family when they go back to Rochester.

Jordan shifting doesn’t even cause you to raise an eyebrow, the subtle sound just blurs into the background.

“Or president and First Lady.” You blurt out, four pairs of eyes darting towards you. “First supes in the Whitehouse? It would be political dynamite.”

“You like this version of Jordan?” Dad asks with bewilderment.

“Of course. I like Jordan because of how smart and driven they are. I like Jordan because of their weird sense of humour. It doesn’t matter what they look like.” you say, trying to prove it to their parents, but also to them. You’ve picked up on their crush many times, too kind to say something that would embarrass them or hurt them. It’s only recently how much you found yourself staring at fem Jordan and wanting to kiss her too. 

“I’m going to go and mingle some more.” says the man, Brad or Rob maybe. You forgot his name right after you met him. His words are like a bucket of cold water was dumped over you. You don’t confess your feelings to Jordan just to Jordan, but in front of their judgy parents, and a possible donner. You need to go. 

You stand and straighten out your dress. 

“I’m going to go too. Other donors to talk to. Go Jordan!" You finish with an awkward laugh and even more cringy go team! gesture by yourself. 

You didn't lie to Jordan and their parents. You did go and talk to other donors but it twists your stomach every time you bring up how amazing their grades are, or how skillful they are at fighting. After donor number three gives you an answer that technically was “we’ll see” but heavily implied to be "yes for Jordan” you went to hide in the bathroom. You have enough battery left on your V-phone to keep it going for most of the night. Tomorrow you can talk to Jordan and hope you don’t fuck it all up. 

You barely look up when the door opens, already have done too much for the day to care who it is. 

‘Hey, can we talk?” You snap to attention at the voice. Of course, you know that voice. It's Jordan, still feminine presenting. 

“Fuck, Jord, I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have spring that on you. I promise I’ll just go back and try to get you some votes, you’re going through a lot.” You say, in a rush to get the words out, desperate not to fuck up you’re friendship. The rim of the sink is hard against your back but you can’t help but shrink into it. 

“Did you mean it?” They ask, still keeping a distance from you.

“Yeah, of course, I don’t want to ruin this friendship.”

“No, what you said in front of my parents.” 

Oh right. Your confession. Fuck. It's already out there, might as well keep it going. 

“I may, uh-” you curse yourself for leaving your drink outside the bathroom, wanting something in your hands to stall. “-have a crush. On you. My best friend.” You twist your hands together, wishing Jordan didn’t look so pretty. If your heart beats any faster you may go into cardiac arrest. 

It's Jordan that indicates your third first kiss. It's gentle, and fast, like the second one. She pulls back quickly, but you run your fingers through her hair and pull her closer. The intensity from the first first kiss is still there, only this time you both share it. Her hand smooths up to your face, thumb stroking your cheek in a silent invitation to open your mouth. You comply, and tilt your head into her palm. Her tongue sweeps into your mouth and you can taste the champagne they were drinking. 

The sound of the door opening makes you both jump.

“Stall?” You ask, voice low and hushed. You squirm out from where she has you between the sink and her. You push the door open to the nicest-looking stall, desperate to keep kissing Jordan. They follow your lead eagerly, one hand wrapped around your shoulder to keep you near. 

Dipping their head, they softly kiss your jaw before moving onto your neck. You silently thank the other two women arguing in the bathroom so that your gasp goes unnoticed. Giving Jordan's hair a small tug, you pull them back up to you. The shit-eating grin they flash you makes you want to almost get caught again. 

Your free hand moves to their waist, trying to get as close to them as physically possible. 

You pull back slightly, wanting so desperately to get lost in the moment, but the commotion in the other stall is distracting. Plus you’re nosey.

Jordan frowns when you pull away, eyes scanning your face for something they did wrong. You shake your head and tip it over to the stall.

“The fuck?” They mouth to you, hand still around your shoulder.

You gently push Jordan against the door to give yourself space to squat down. You see two pairs of feet in the stall across the wall. You hear the voices quiet down, before the sound of someone peeing. You frown slightly, weird fetish to do at a memorial gala but you hear rumours about students into more fucked up shit. 

“We should get outta here.” You whisper to Jordan. 

“Weird place for our third first kiss.” Jordan whispers back. You reach around them to unlock the stall door. Third first kiss. You replay the words in your head, a warm feeling blooming in your chest. 

You gently push them out of the stall, trying to keep your laughs quiet as you both scurry past the other couple in the stall. 

[ven0moir]

Call me delusional but ...

i think this moment

is when mike realized nt only that he had feelings for will, but that Will wasn't "Like Him". because this face:

i see relief here. El came to his 'rescue' omg my heart ... thanks to el, mike won't be alone. ( and if we go off of the assumption he struggles with internalized homophobia, i'd even dare to add that he sees el as a 'cure' for his feelings for Will ) and literally the episode prior, what did we learn about Mike?

he was alone and scared until he met will, and felt ...

What is mike REALLY saying here?

"You were Like Me. I knew it since the moment I saw you."

I think Henry is supposed to represent a twisted version of this sentiment. But I do believe that Mike felt a sort of 'kinship at first sight' for will, and that was the basis for his feelings developing into romantic ones. and these feelings were probably amplified due to the events of s1 and subsequently s2.

they just piled up, mixed with the trauma.

understanding mike is most challenging to me because of how much his character Changes if you consider his sexuality. Straight Mike and Queer Mike are two completely different people to me.

but i do think the snowball being referenced so much in s4 wasn't a coincidence. it was presented as the memory max chose to save herself from vecna but it wasn't enough. aside from that, it serves to remind the audience of the scene in s2. which ...

i have a personal theory we'll find out that not only was will looking at mike, as we know from that script, but that mike was also sneaking glances at will ( which is established in the actual show, looking at the screenshots at the start of this post )

they just kept missing each other.

just look at the song lyrics playing during the moment will gets invited to dance:

now, song meanings are up for interpretation, but i found this very interesting one:

i think this might be congruent with the show's usage of it because of this shot:

Is Mike deciding to let go of his romantic feelings for Will to preserve their friendship? That's what I gather from this scene.

Now, Vecna is watching his every move given this song being used, which we know is about a stalker, a word introduced to us this season due to Max. as in, the duffers are aware of the song's truest intention/meaning. and i think it was specifically placed in this way to hint at us that ...

Vecna is watching them. Lying in wait ... he knows about Mike and Will. He's probably just waiting for the right time to use that information. To what end? Time will tell

[ririright]

“Hayden vs. Technology: PeePaw Mode Activated”

Husband! Hayden x Wife Reader (Headcannons)

Part. 1 — Part. 2 — Part. 3

✦ He types with one finger.

Whether it’s texting you or Googling something, he’s a proud “one-finger warrior.”

“Why would I use both thumbs? It’s not a race.”

You’ve tried to teach him, but he insists it’s “more precise this way”

✦ He still calls TikTok “the TikTok.”

“Did you see that thing on the TikTok?”

When you show him a funny video, he squints and says, “Wait, slow it down. How do you pause this thing?”

He gets so excited when he actually laughs at one that he makes you save it so he can watch it again.

✦ Instagram is an enigma.

He has a private account, but posting is an adventure.

Half his selfies are blurry or accidentally taken from below.

His captions are always super straightforward:

Great sunset.🌅

He once uploaded a picture of his shoe by accident.

✦ He’s got a love-hate relationship with Siri.

“Hey Siri, where’s the best place to get… hey, I’m not done talking!”

When Siri mishears him, he argues with her like she’s a person.

“No, I don’t want to call ‘Gary.’ I said ‘weather.’”

✦ His camera skills are… tragic.

Most of his photos are blurry, fingers covering the lens, or taken mid-movement.

He tries to take a cute picture of you? It’s 90% forehead.

But you love the ones where he accidentally snaps himself trying to figure out the camera.

✦ He FaceTimes at the worst angles.

He’ll call you while he’s outside, but you’re only seeing his forehead and the sky.

Or he’s too close, so it’s just his nose and squinting eyes.

“Wait, how do I flip the camera—oh. Nope, that’s just my shoe.”

✦ He never remembers to charge his phone.

Always wandering around the house with his phone at 4%.

“It’s fine, I’ll just plug it in later.”

Later: “Hey, can I borrow your charger? Mine’s dead again.”

✦ He asks you to save his favorite YouTube videos.

Because he forgets how to find them again.

“Babe, remember that funny dog video I liked? Can you send it to me?”

You’ve got a whole playlist just labeled “Hayden’s Favorites.”

✦ He’s convinced he can “fix” anything tech-related.

When the Wi-Fi is slow, he unplugs the router and stares at it like he’s summoning power.

“See? You just have to show it who’s boss.”

One time, he “fixed” your phone by turning it off and on again and looked so smug.

✦ He takes screenshots by accident all the time.

His phone’s gallery is full of random screen captures—lock screen, home screen, your texts.

“Why do I have 30 pictures of my own wallpaper?”

✦ He’s a sucker for “recommended for you” ads.

“Y/N, look at this. They say this phone case is the most durable in the world!”

You have to remind him he doesn’t need a new gadget every week.

✦ He has a secret folder of cute pictures of you.

He tries to be sneaky, but you know about it.

Blurry selfies, you laughing at his jokes, you asleep on the couch.

His favorite is one where you’re smiling so brightly you’re glowing.

“I don’t care if they’re not perfect. They’re all my favorites.”

[vamphorica]

Because I hate being happy for more than two hours at a time, I've been considering to what extent Matt knew that Takada's kidnapping was a suicide mission.

I've been looking at this screenshot while I've been using it as a reference for a drawing and given that the poor boy is only designated sixty-nine seconds of screentime in the anime, I think it is interesting that there's a substantial pause on this specific frame. Matt is surrounded by Takada's bodyguards, unable to get out of the predicament he has found himself in. At this point, he believes there are two possible outcomes: he will either be arrested, or shot dead. You could interpret his expression here as apathetic, as that is how he tends to be characterised, but he sits in his car and looks out towards the row of headlights for about seven seconds. He considers his situation, acknowledging the number of men pointing their guns at him, and then he leaves his car.

The question is, did it occur to him then, or had he known beforehand, that his death was inevitable? Remember – Matt is one of a few characters in Death Note to be killed 'traditionally'. Should we take the Shinigami Eyes into consideration here, we have to assume that Matt is fated to die at this exact moment in time, regardless of circumstance. There is nothing that would have saved him from his demise that day.

However, I do wonder if, at nineteen years old, he is truly apathetic about his own life. I genuinely believe Mello sees his own death as an inevitable sacrifice, but I am not so convinced that Matt actually cares enough about defeating Kira to lay his life down for the cause alone. The manga suggests he leaves his car almost immediately upon being caught, and his final words, sadly, suggest a lack of foresight about the gravity of danger he is in.

Kira's world is not one in which justice prevails as Light envisioned, but rather it is an autocratic reign of terror. There is absolutely no chance in which Matt would be detained in a society in which death is considered the appropriate solution to crime. He is a Wammy's boy, but even if he had not have been associated with the House, Matt would have still been aware that his risk of death is heightened exponentially through his association with Mello alone.

In the anime, when Matt looks out the window of his car, we hear his inner monologue. Nonchalant, there is no fear to be heard in Drew Nelson's performance of the lines, and Matt's awareness of his impending death is presented as being limited. Is it an act? Or is Matt portrayed as lacking self awareness to such an extreme extent? Perhaps to 'justify' Matt's position as the third successor to L, Ohba felt the need to present Matt as ignoring the inevitable, but at least to me, this feels like it greatly undermines his intelligence. He may not be competing against Mello and Near, but that does not negate the fact he was still raised in the same institution that they were. All the children are freakishly smart, that is the whole point.

Did Mello propose the plan to kidnap Takada to Matt with the acknowledgement that they were both likely to be killed? Mello's final thoughts in the manga and anime are asking Matt for forgiveness, his death apparently unanticipated by the former, which feels like a failure in writing the deaths of these two in a manner that reflected who they were.

Matt is, by all accounts, a fandom project rather than a fully developed character within the Death Note canonical universe, but we are aware that Matt was created for Mello. I hardly expect Death Note to explore the intricacies of such themes in the series (particularly given, as much as I hate to admit it, Mello and Matt are not the main characters within the franchise). However, even with the rather minimal source material provided to us by both manga and anime, we are made aware that the two have a very unique relationship. They know each other intimately, and Matt does not fear Mello as many of the other characters in the series do.

Mello does not want Matt to die. He values Matt and while one could attribute the gratitude for him to the popular fan narrative that Matt is the one to look after Mello after the explosion, or indeed the idea that the two are in a relationship, their interactions with one another already set up their alliance as one that appears to transcend the regular boundaries of friendship. Again, I'm pulling a lot from fanon here, I know. Take it up with Ohba.

Narratively, if Mello has to die, so too does Matt. Ohba could not foresee this character that is so dependent on another to live beyond him. Yet I simply refuse to believe that Mello would have placed someone so important to him in a compromising position where the likelihood that he will be killed is almost certain. As much as I believe that Mello's final thoughts being directly addressed to the deceased Matt demonstrates an important ode to their relationship, I cannot understand how Mello would have been shocked to hear of Matt's death, given the risk.

We know Mello was fully aware that he was going to die that night. If he did not die, Near would have, and I think to Mello that would have been the greatest loss he could have suffered in their ongoing conflict. Regardless of whether you believe Mello cared about Near to any extent or not, I genuinely cannot imagine Mello would have been happy to succeed as L had it been attained through Near's 'sacrifice'. I am actually exploring an AU of this very idea in a fanfiction I intend to publish early next year, in case you're interested, haha.

This returns to the question as to when Matt realises he is not surviving this mission. Presumably Mello asked for his cooperation, and in doing so, he would have had to explain the plan to Matt which, quite frankly, reveals Mello's intent to die as soon as it is advantageous to do so. Given that Mello did not want Matt to be killed, did Mello reassure Matt that he had created the plan to guarantee his safety? Did Matt believe him? Was Mello deliberately vague, only telling Matt that he needed to set off the smoke gun, then hit the gas and get away from Takada's security team?

As far as I can tell, there is no reason as to why Mello would have been dishonest with Matt, explaining what he was planning to do and why. Perhaps he even suggested to Matt that he could find someone else to take on his position, given the danger he anticipated they would be in. Matt is, as I think the series makes clear, very loyal to Mello, and so I doubt such a proposal was even considered, but I think it is safe to assume that if Mello knew how this plan would end, so too would Matt, whether Mello explicitly told him or not. He would have figured it out.

When Matt and Mello part ways for the final time, not shown to us in either the manga or the anime, they both know that they are saying their last goodbye to one another. I think Mello hopes that Matt will survive somehow, experience a Kira-free world and move on with his life, but I believe Matt knows, well before he got caught, that there is no escape from the inevitability of his death.

Maybe, when he steps out of the car, confronted by the 'big guns', he holds out a little faith that at least he might see Mello again soon.