#I might add an 'About the Team' page later

[cherriegyuu]

so high school | kmg | part 1

pairing: hockey player mingyu x f!reader  genre: smut (in later part), fluff, a bit of angst, bad attempt at comedy word count: 8.8k summary: when you’re suddenly thrown in Mingyu’s direction, you have no choice but to stay by his side, and maybe it’s not as bad as you think playlist: click here a/n: i wanted to write a story that was light, summeryish. it was based off of taylor swift’s song so high school (i’m not that creative with names), i wanted to write that sort of cute romance we all just love. i truly hope you like it, this one is precious to me. thank you to @joonsytip for helping me with this one. please, remember to comment and reblog, it does mean the world to me and i would love to know your opnions.

< part two >

If there was one thing you hated about college, it was having to choose electives. For starters, you really didn’t want to be there. You were a good student because you had no choice, not because you absolutely loved college — not that your major was boring and you hated everything about it, but it really did seem like a universal experience to hate your chosen major at some point in college. But the problem was that taking the courses related to your major was hard enough as it was, you didn’t want to have to worry about subjects that might or might not add to what you were studying. Of course, you always tried to choose something that had at least a minimum to do with your major — Art History.

But there were times, like the previous semester when you procrastinated too much to choose one, that it simply wasn’t possible, and you had to put up with classes on Cultural Management. At first, you thought it would be geared towards galleries and the like, but it was something much more specific about public cultural heritage and that wasn’t what you wanted. At least the subject was easy enough. Just reading a few pages of Kira’s notes and listening to half of the lectures was enough to get you through with a high grade.

Trying to be a little smarter, and do something you actually enjoyed doing, you signed up for the semester’s classes as soon as they opened. You were already sitting in front of your computer when the clock struck 10 am. You chose a class that all of your classmates, or at least the ones you talked to, were interested in doing: Model Making.

It was something you enjoyed doing when you were younger. Your parents knew that if you simply disappeared or were too quiet — aka you weren’t yelling at Jeonghan — you’d be in your room surrounded by modeling clay, chopsticks, glue, brushes, and paint, or whatever materials you were using at the time. 

However, all of your dreams were shattered when you ran into Kira at the campus entrance. 

“You know, the teacher for this class is crazy. Your life is going to be hell” was like a cold shower.

After that, it was as if everywhere you went, people were purposefully talking about the subject, about how the teacher was absolutely crazy and that getting a good grade with her was almost impossible, and how she “seems to take a sick pleasure in failing students.” So when the day of class finally arrived, the first of the next six hellish months, you dragged yourself into the classroom. You chose the seat furthest away from her, hidden behind a student, and did your best to stay as out of sight as possible. 

The guy sitting in front of you turned around. He was smiling widely. You weren’t sure if he was trying to be friendly or what. 

“Do you know if what everyone’s saying is true?” 

There was something about him that was familiar. You obviously knew who he was, it was no secret. Everywhere you went, people were either whispering about him or there was a picture of him and the other guys on the team taped to the wall.

Kim Mingyu, star of the ice hockey team. The youngest to become captain, top scorer, the big sensation who would lead the university to the long-awaited championship. All that blah blah blah about the chosen athlete, and the latest savior of the nation.

So yes, you knew who he was, there was no way you couldn't know. But at that specific moment, while he was sitting in front of you, his body turned in the chair at a strange angle because he was obviously too big for that tiny chair, there was something about him that was strangely familiar.

"That the teacher is crazy?" he nodded, his eyebrows slightly arched and his lips almost forming a pout "I haven't heard anyone say otherwise, so I have no choice but to believe it."

You lowered your eyes and focused on the lit screen of your cell phone, which showed a new message from your brother. You didn't look away because you wanted to know what Jeonghan wanted, as far as you were concerned his message would only be read at the end of the day, if that. You didn't want to keep looking at Mingyu when you felt that everyone in the classroom was looking at you.

You knew it wasn't exactly true, there was no way an entire class, full of students talking to each other, could be looking at you at the same time as if you were doing something scandalous or even remotely wrong. But you knew there were a few people, and that was more than enough. It was a very familiar feeling, one you preferred not to revisit.

Even though you completely ignored Mingyu's presence or his gaze on you, he still hadn't turned around. Not even when the teacher entered the room and everyone fell silent.

The problem with being a child who didn’t have many experiences is that you become a fearful person. Everything seems big, larger than life, and sometimes everything seems infinite and far beyond reach. It’s a much easier choice to retreat into that familiar corner and pretend the world outside simply doesn’t exist. The bubble you created for yourself was small and admittedly, sometimes suffocating, but it was also comforting.

But everything can change when you meet people who aren’t aware of that bubble, or who didn’t create those spaces for themselves. They weren’t trapped inside it.

One class was more than enough to start a crack in your perfectly intact bubble. A selective introvert, as you liked to say. For a loud hockey player when he was surrounded by his friends, Seokmin was strangely shy.

When the teacher was choosing the pairs, you closed your eyes, praying to anyone who would listen not to pair you with a bad student, someone who wouldn't do anything and you would have to do all the work alone. The prayer, or whatever it was, was not heard because the teacher decided it would be a great idea to pair you and Seokmin. Maybe you were under the wrong impression, falling into the old suspicions and stereotypes, but you doubted very much that you would be able to get any kind of help from Seokmin.

And to be quite honest, after a bad experience with a group mate, to the point of ending up at the police station, because the guy simply couldn't accept the fact that you taking his name off the work was completely his fault and you simply didn't think it was fair that you did everything alone and he still got a good grade, you were okay with doing everything on your own. You were sure that if you opened your email, and clicked on your spam box because God was a witness to the number of emails you had received from that idiot, there would probably still be some unread emails from him, bragging that even with your “attempt” to jeopardize his education, he had managed to get a good enough grade to pass the class. 

Despite everything, Seokmin was nice and seemed interested enough, although a little lost, but maybe a little push in the right direction would be enough. 

“I took this class because I thought it would be easy,” he said laughing, a little shy, “I guess I was wrong.” 

You nodded, absentmindedly turning the page of your notebook with the notes you had made. 

“I took it because I like the idea of ​​building models.”

The classroom door opened with a bang, slamming against the wall. Everyone turned to him, some girls laughing. Mingyu was obviously late, his hair still wet from the shower, his backpack inside out on his shoulder, his shirt completely wrinkled as if it had just come out of a cow’s mouth. The teacher stood up and walked towards him slowly, her arms crossed over her chest.

“He’s screwed.” Seokmin laughed softly, or as softly as he could.

The teacher didn’t have a welcoming look in her eyes, if anything she seemed to be glaring at Mingyu, and not even the best smile he could throw in her direction would make a difference. In addition to being crazy, the teacher was also apparently known for not accepting tardiness.

It was impossible to look away as Mingyu tried, without any success, to open his mouth to explain, but the teacher wouldn’t let him say a single word. You and Seokmin suppressed a laugh when the teacher looked in the direction where she thought the noise was coming from before turning back to Mingyu, who seemed more desperate by the second. He looked lost standing in front of the older woman, his head lowered like a child who had misbehaved and was listening to a lecture.

Finally, the teacher dismissed him with a wave of her hands and turned back to her desk, completely ignoring Mingyu. He finally turned back to the desks, his eyes scanning the space before finally settling on Seokmin. Or… on you? There was no reason to believe he was looking at you, none at all. When Mingyu smiled, you went back to looking at your notes, flipping the pages almost compulsively, looking for anything and nothing.

You had no idea why your heart was behaving like that, beating almost animalistically inside your chest, or why you felt a single drop of sweat run down your spine — despite the air conditioning being on and you feeling cold. You could have sworn you could hear Mingyu’s footsteps going up the stairs, despite the sound of the students’ conversations around you being obviously much louder.

“At least I got something good for being late today.”

Mingyu pulled out the empty chair next to you and sat down, his knee bumping against yours. You flinched a little and moved away, making yourself closer to Seokmin.

“Sorry,” you said to Seokmin and turned to Mingyu. “Could you…?”

You waved your hand to make him move away. He looked confused for a second until he pushed the chair further away from you. On the other side, Seokmin covered his mouth, trying to stifle a laugh, while Mingyu glared at him.

“The teacher who chose your group?” Seokmin asked, still trying to suppress a laugh.

“She just said to sit with whoever wasn’t already in a trio”

You closed your eyes and took a deep breath. Great, you were stuck with two jocks who had probably hit their heads on the ice so much that their brains had turned to jelly in their early twenties.

“What do we have to do?”

“Build 3 models based on architectural periods.” When Mingyu widened his eyes, you added, “It’s the entire semester’s work. We don’t even have to come to class anymore, just the last one to hand it in.”

You started gathering the few materials you had taken out of your bag. The notebook and pen quickly disappeared into what Jeonghan called a black hole. “What goes in there never comes out again. If you look hard enough, you’ll find a wallet I lost in high school.”

“Look, I know I’m going to do this alone. I'll find a way to let you know the periods I chose and the artists and you guys study for the presentation.” 

You stood up, pushing the chair back with your knees, making a lot more noise than expected, which in turn made most of the people turn to see what was happening, including the teacher. 

“Wait,” Mingyu said, holding the strap of your bag. 

Not that you could get out of there anyway, he was between you and any possibility of leaving. But you thought he would get out of the way if he saw that you wanted to leave.

“I'll help, it's my job too,” with his free hand, he pointed to Seokmin behind you. “Ours, actually.” 

Despite the sincere look on his face, you laughed.

“Look, I don't want to offend you guys, okay? But the three of us know that won't happen. There will always be a practice, a game, a party, something that will stop you from doing your part of the work. I don’t mind doing it alone, it won’t be the first time, and considering I still have two more semesters to go, it won’t be the last. It’s okay, really.”

Mingyu stood up and for a moment you were sure he was going to get out of your way, but somehow he managed to block your path even more. You couldn’t help but wonder if he had always been this tall and wide. When he was around the other players it didn’t seem like it, but him standing in front of you…

“I said we’ll help” 

He took his phone out of his pocket and unlocked it, turning the device towards you.

“You know, your hands are huge, and this is a very delicate job” What exactly were you talking about?

“He’s more skilled than you can imagine,” Seokmin said. 

Once again, you closed your eyes and took a deep breath. The teacher was definitely crazy, and it seemed like she had some kind of personal vendetta against you. Or was it a curse cast by Jeonghan for staining his white shirts? Whatever it was, it was a problem that, at the moment, had no obvious solution.

“If I fail this class because of you two idiots, maybe one of you will lose a hand.” You snatched the phone from Mingyu’s hand, dialed your number, and quickly handed it back. “Maybe both of you”

You put your hand on Mingyu’s shoulder and pushed him back. You tried your best to avoid any kind of contact, but it was the only solution you could find to pass.

“It’s not a matter of life or death, you know?” he said, laughing.

“I’ve never failed in my life, and I’m not going to start now.”

Mingyu pushed the door open with perhaps a little more force than necessary. He wasn't angry, but he wasn't happy either, a strange feeling somewhere in between that he didn't like very much.

That first day he had seen you in class was like he had been transported back to high school. He could almost hear you saying, in the most disinterested tone in the world, "I've been waiting for you for two hours, could we please go home?" At that time he had also felt invisible to your eyes.

But so many years later, in that classroom, he thought you would recognize him. Mingyu thought, as naive as it may seem, that despite your disinterest at the time, at least you would know who he was.

Of all the people he could meet in that class, you were the last one that ever crossed his mind. It had been years since he had last seen you, since Jeonghan's last game, when he was crowned champion for the third time - an unprecedented feat until that moment. Mingyu had even tried to beat that record, but his runner-up position in the third year had prevented him from doing so. 

He had gotten used to seeing you from afar, always the unreachable sister of his captain, who always seemed to be much more interested in the books you carried around with you than in anything else. 

The truth was that you had never even directed a word in Mingyu's direction. Besides Jeonghan, he had only seen you talk to one other person, Seungcheol. It had never been clear to him if it was by choice or if it was because Jeonghan always said you were off-limits. Maybe it was somewhere in between. 

However, when you entered the room, looking for an empty chair, Mingyu expected you to recognize him, even though so many years had passed. When you walked up the stairs and seemed to be heading towards him, Mingyu, like a silly teenager, expected you to at least greet him. But you walked right past him as if he wasn't even there. 

Even so, he tried to talk to you. Something about the teacher being crazy and the look in your eyes said that you couldn't wait for him to shut up and look straight ahead again.

After that, it was like he saw you everywhere, and believe him, he wasn't looking for you. In the café that opened on the other side of the campus, in the library, when he went to return a book, in the hallway of the building, on the lawn. Mingyu spent five years without having any kind of contact with you and, suddenly, you were everywhere.

He chose to see it as a divine sign. As if the guy up there was saying "Now is your chance". And then, as if all these signs weren't enough, he was given the chance to do an assignment with you, almost like a gift.

"The door didn't do anything to you," Seokmin said laughing.

"Do you want to be the door?" 

Maybe the divine signal was broken, maybe the guy up there was messing with him because in less than 5 minutes you managed to extinguish any and all excitement Mingyu could have about doing the assignment with you. All you had to do was open your mouth.

“Dude, she just doesn’t remember you” Seokmin laughed again, having a little too much fun with the whole situation “If you say, ‘hi, I was your brother’s teammate’, she’ll still not remember you, but maybe she’ll be less hostile”

Mingyu highly doubted that was the case. There was a rumor that you hated everything and anything that had to do with hockey, your patience was less than zero. Jeonghan was the king of the ice, the best the sport could produce. You were the ice princess without ever having even put on a pair of skates – or so the gossip said. 

“It doesn’t bother me that she doesn’t remember me” It did bother him, but he wouldn’t admit it “It bothers me that she thinks I’m stupid”

Usually, under completely normal circumstances, Mingyu would even prefer to be seen as stupid and without anything in his head. It was easier, it prevented people from creating any kind of expectation about him. Strangely, he wanted you to see him as intelligent.

“You’re a bit contradictory, aren’t you? You’ve spent the last 3 years cultivating the image of a dumb athlete, who gets good grades by pure luck, despite the almost impossible subjects, but now you want her to think you’re smart”

“I didn’t know you knew how to use the word contradictory”

You stared at the lit screen of your cell phone. The unknown number was glowing and the inviting green button was almost begging you to answer the call. It was already the third time he had called and it would also be the third time you had ignored him.

“You know, it won’t hurt if you answer his call,” Kira said beside you, but she also knew that trying to convince you was a losing game.

Exactly 11 days had passed since the fateful class that had put you in a group with Seokmin and Mingyu. While you had no direct problems with either of them, besides them being hockey players, Mingyu’s insistence irritated you in a way that didn’t make much sense — not even to you. You should have felt relieved that he wanted to do the work, and that he was interested in participating. But the truth is that you knew how this worked, you had been in that situation before and hadn’t had the best experience.

Maybe you were a little too hard on him, it's true, but it's like the old saying goes: a scalded cat fears cold water.

“I want to keep as far away from him as possible.”

Kira rolled her eyes for what seemed like the twentieth time. She understood, to some extent, your dislike for players and also knew that a lot of it came from your brother, but in the case of Mingyu, specifically, you were definitely going too far.

“Look, the rumors are that he's a good student, actually. Always with high grades.” Kira tried to argue.

You knew the rumor well, even before you were put in the same group, in fact, much to your chagrin, Mingyu had chosen to be in the same group as you. That helped a lot with the huge reputation he had around the college. Handsome, athletic, good student. But you didn't believe it for a minute.

You didn’t know if Mingyu really had any good grades, but if he did, you were sure he hadn’t gotten them in the most… fairway.

“And he’s not unpleasant to look at at all.”

It was your turn to roll your eyes at him. Yes, Mingyu was gorgeous, breathtaking, the kind of guy that made you wonder if he was even real. You had eyes and they worked just fine, you didn’t need Kira to remind you that he was handsome. Saying Mingyu was handsome was like saying the sky was blue, obvious, and expected.

“You know I don’t mess with athletes.”

Finally, Mingyu had given up on the call, but that didn’t mean he had given up completely. Your phone only had a few seconds of respite before the screen lit up again, but this time with a ton of messages.

Unknown - 11:32

hi, it's mingyu

Unknown - 11:32

again

Unknown - 11:33

answer me, I want to talk about the project

Unknown - 11:34

you said you want to do it alone, but it's not going to happen, you know? I can't leave my grande in the hands of a complete stranger

Unknown - 11:35

I see you with your phone in your hand, take my call or reply to my texts

You lifted your head so quickly that you felt a twinge in your neck.

"Shit"

You looked around the cafe, trying to find Mingyu, but most of the tables were empty and none of the people standing in line looked remotely like him. You brought your face closer to the glass, trying to find the tall, broad figure, outside, and still didn't see anyone who could be mistaken for him.

yn - 11:37

I could report you for stalking

Unknown - 11:37

crime: wanting to do a college assignment

yn - 11:37

following me around, calling me non-stop, texting me. It could be considered stalking, yes

Unknown - 11:38

again, crime: wanting to do a school project

Unknown - 11:38

also, I wasn’t following you, I just happened to see you

yn - 11:38

I already said I'll do it alone

Unknown - 11:39

and I already said it won't happen, so if you could tell me your plan on how to do it, that would be great

“We have to admit, he's persistent”

Mingyu's messages became common and also at the most random moments possible. You were sure that the only time he hadn't sent a text was when he was at the game last Friday. You knew this because you had watched the game, with the computer with the sound turned down so that Jeonghan wouldn't suspect anything. 

You hated to admit it, but he was good at what he did. Dared to say it was even glorious. It was hard to believe that a man of that size, so wide, could infiltrate the smallest spaces and score the most unbelievable goals possible. He and Seokmin together were almost magical. They still couldn't compare to the duo of Jeonghan and Seungcheol, but that was already a very high level to reach. 

Mingyu had given up on sending you texts only about work, not that you had answered any of them, but he also started asking about your course, inviting you and Kira to go to one of his games – you still wondered how he had found out about your friendship since all of your social media profiles were locked and so were Kira's.

You had to agree with Kira, he was persistent. You could even say tireless. If you were him, you would probably have given up a long time ago, choosing to let the crazy guy do the work alone. But Mingyu was nowhere near giving up. You knew this because every time you miraculously ran into Mingyu, you had to run away from him, practically having to run away from him at some point.

It worked very well for a week until one day he simply appeared in front of you. You were distracted, your eyes glued to your phone. Jeonghan was gliding across the ice with skill when the player from the other team hit him hard, his body flying before falling to the ice. You felt the air get stuck in your lungs until he stood up, clearly irritated by what had happened. You felt like laughing when you saw the name on the other player's shirt, the one who had pushed Jeonghan. Choi. Best friends in real life, rivals on the ice.

“What are you looking at so focused?” a voice said next to him.

You felt like your heart was going to jump out of your chest as you tried to lock your phone and put it back in the bag. You wished you had been more graceful in the whole situation, to look less like someone who had been caught red-handed doing something they shouldn't have.

“Jeez, do you have no manners?” your voice came out louder than expected, causing some people around him to turn to see what was happening.

Beside you, Mingyu smiled, pleased with himself for having gotten some reaction beyond furrowed eyebrows and a look of disgust.

“Were you running away from me?” he raised his hand and corrected himself, “Not right now because you clearly had no idea I was here, but in general.” 

You rolled your eyes and quickened your pace. You didn’t really have anywhere to go or anything to do, there were still 50 minutes until your next class and there was no time to run home and hide. Would it be too pathetic to hide in the bathroom and wait for him to leave? With your luck, he would be waiting outside, even if it meant missing a class. 

“Why would I do that?” 

Mingyu crossed his arms over his chest. For the first time in your life, you wished someone was ugly, devoid of any kind of muscles or attractive qualities. You wished he was ugly, terrible to look at. You wished the sun wouldn’t make his skin shine, you wished you didn’t find the mole on the tip of his nose cute, wished you hadn’t wondered if maybe all this insistence of his didn’t have some extra reason, besides wanting to get the work done and obviously annoying you. Of all the things, you wished you hadn’t been disappointed when you hadn’t seen him for a day.

It was ridiculous, you knew it was. But whatever it may be, there you were, your heart pounding, feeling it throb in your neck. You wouldn’t fool yourself into thinking it was just because you were surprised by him suddenly being by your side. You could fool others, but at least you had to be fair to yourself.

“I don’t know, you tell me.”

Even though you knew it wasn’t a good idea, you stood still. You knew it would only attract more attention, it was almost inevitable when Mingyu was by your side. 

“Okay, I was. I don’t want to be seen with you.”

Mingyu looked confused, his head lolling to the side as if he was seriously thinking about what was happening. The question mark was clearly written on his face. It was almost as if one was floating above his head.

“Mingyu, look. You, in and of yourself, are not the problem. I mean, in part, it is, but you know, it's that old story, the problem is me, not you.”

“I honestly thought the problem was just the assignment.” He scratched his head, his eyebrows still furrowed. “You think I'm stupid and that kind of thing.”

You took a deep breath, your eyes closed for a second. You hadn't explained the situation to him, you had no reason to, so he had no way of knowing. But you also didn't want to expose your life to a stranger, so you weren’t willing to just tell secrets you’d never said out loud.

“If I tell you I’ll let you guys do your part, will you stop following me? It’s a little weird, and maybe even a little creepy.”

Your words were honest, it was weird and creepy at the same time. It didn’t make sense. Wouldn’t it be much easier for him, and for Seokmin, to just let you do everything yourself so they could focus on whatever was important to them? In your opinion, it was the easiest thing for everyone.

But Mingyu looked like a dog with a bone. A terrible analogy, but it made sense, at least to you.

“Yes,” a direct answer, great.

“Let’s do it like this then, let’s chat via text about the artists we think are cool, which are the most interesting. Once we’ve reached a consensus, we’ll get together to start making the models.”

You took a step back and held out your hand. A peace offering.

“We have a deal then.”

If regret killed, you would have been dead and buried so long ago that you would have turned into fertilizer. Logically, you knew that trusting Jeonghan was a mistake. You loved your brother with all your heart, but you also knew that he wasn't the most trustworthy person for certain things.

If you were in trouble and needed help? He was definitely the right guy for the job. He wouldn't say a word in a judgmental tone and, depending on the situation, he would go far enough to pretend it never happened. Now, if it was a request that he considered silly, then it was a lost cause. 

Besides all that, Jeonghan liked to play pranks, and you were one of his favorite victims. Things could even get a little out of hand when he and Seungcheol got together. It was like having two completely devilish older brothers. In truth, Seungcheol alone wasn't even that bad, but when he got together with Jeonghan it was like someone had opened the gates of hell. 

Even knowing all this, you had talked to him. You knew the house was his, that he could come and go as he pleased, but thought that if you played the little sister card well enough he would let it go.

"Some friends from college are coming over tomorrow, can you please not show up at home?" you asked, making your best puppy-dog-that-fell-out-of-the-moving-truck face.

"You don’t want me to meet your boyfriend?" he laughed, looking away from his phone for a second before returning his attention to the device.

You closed your eyes. Something was going on. Jeonghan was really into his phone, much more than usual. Either some nonsensical rumor had been published, which he would have already shown you and laughed along with you when he read the absurdities written; or he had a bone in his body, also known as a girlfriend. He always got more into his phone when he had someone more serious in his life.

It was useful information to have, so you put it in a little box in your mind labeled "something to blackmail Jeonghan with later" For now it was just speculation, but it could be important.

"How many boyfriends do you think I have?" You grimaced, shaking your head. “But no, none of them are my boyfriend. They’re just some guys I have to work with. I thought about doing it here because we need space and I’m sure I’ll yell at one of them sooner or later.”

You weren’t in the habit of bringing people home. Jeonghan was a person who really liked his private life to remain that way, private. Even with Kira, who was your closest friend, you had a hard time taking her home. Not because Jeonghan had asked. He knew that if you were asking, it was because you needed to or because you trusted those people enough to know who your brother was without it becoming a problem.

In fact, you weren’t sure of anything, not that you needed them or that you could trust them. But Jeonghan wasn’t one of those celebrities who had huge photos of themselves scattered around the house. It’s a little creepy, to be honest, he had said once. So the few photos he had around the living room were in normal-sized picture frames, which his mother had put up when she visited, so they could be easily hidden. The lie about the rich brother who works in the stock market was always on the tip of your tongue in case someone could question why you lived in a penthouse.

"I don't understand what's wrong with me being here then" His indifferent tone of voice was dangerous.

Maybe it would be better to give up.

"First because I don't need supervision, the virginity ship sailed a long time ago" 

It might be a good idea to talk about something he didn't like to talk about, like your past relationships. He could joke all he wanted, but at the end of the day, he was just a guy who didn't like knowing that his younger sister had boyfriends.

"For the love of god I don't need to know that in detail" He grimaced, pretending to vomit. He was such a good actor that he had even turned pale.

"And secondly, because they play hockey. Since there's no way they don't know who you are, I'd like to not witness another fanboy" 

You knew you had said the wrong thing when you noticed that gleam in Jeonghan's eyes. Even his expression had changed when you told him that your groupmates played hockey.

Still, you chose to believe him when he said he would be out of the house all day, that he would even go to Seungcheol's house after practice — which you thought was a lie, considering the whole situation with not putting down his phone and running when a notification came in. He had gone as far as to say, “let me know when it's over, so I can come home.” That's why you sent a message to the group chat with Seokmin and Mingyu asking if they had Tuesday night off.

A part of you, a very big part, thought they would deny it and make up any excuse not to show up, but it was almost as if they both had their phones in their hands waiting for your message.

And so, the three of you were sitting at Jeonghan's huge dining table. It was the kind of furniture that existed only to take up space, you always ate in the kitchen.

“You live well” Seokmin commented.

It was funny, and almost cute, how completely clumsy he was. You had bought different types of materials to test, thinking about which one would work best. Seokmin had changed several times, the last attempt was the biscuit.

“My brother earns well” you shrugged, hoping he wouldn't ask anymore.

To your surprise, he didn't ask. Which was a relief, you didn't want to lie.

Even without looking up, you knew Mingyu was looking at you. He didn't try to hide it at all. It was uncomfortable, but at the same time, it was flattering.

You rested your chin on your hand and stared at him too. Ever since the first day you had seen him in class, you had the feeling that you knew him. You didn't know where from, you didn't know how. It wasn't from college, it wasn't from the posters spread around, or from the fame he had. It was from before, before college, but you didn't know where. You were sure he wasn't in any of the courses you took and he wasn't from your school either, there was no hockey team.

“Where do I know you from?” the words came from your lips, but it was a question asked much more to you than to him.

Mingyu simply tilted his head to the side and didn't say a single word. Seokmin, who until then had his head down, his brow furrowed in concentration trying to shape the white mass in his hands, looked up, almost startled by your words.

It was as if a light bulb had been turned on over your head. It was so ridiculously obvious that you would be able to kick yourself.

And with perfect timing, as if it had been sent from heaven, programmed to the exact seconds, you heard the living room door open. A second later, Jeonghan was in the room.

“Mingyu?” Jeonghan said, his eyes darting from side to side, trying to understand what was happening.

“Captain,” Mingyu said, smiling.

You wished a hole the size of Mount Everest would open up beneath your feet and swallow you whole as you watched Mingyu stand up and greet Jeonghan as if they were old friends who hadn’t seen each other in years.

That was obviously true.

“You know each other” It wasn’t a question, it was a simple statement.

“Yes? Mingyu is a few years younger, but we played on the same team.”

Suddenly a brief movie flashed through your head, of all the times you had seen Mingyu — or at least the times that were never erased. Mingyu walking next to Jeonghan one of the times you were waiting for your brother in the school parking lot, him at the games, sitting on the bench completely irritated by the fact that he couldn’t play and the team was losing. He was a boy who was clearly too skinny, but somehow he had become that man in front of you.

“She doesn’t remember me,” Mingyu said with a laugh.

Was that a hint of resentment you heard in his voice? You hoped not, but maybe if you were in his shoes you would be resentful too. You hoped he hadn’t talked to you that first day because he expected you to recognize him and every time after that. Because most of the time you had been a complete jerk to him.

“Wow, you saw him literally every day for at least two years.”

It wasn’t like you weren’t already embarrassed enough on your own, of course, Jeonghan, in his best big brother role, had to add fuel to the fire. You hoped your cheeks weren’t as red as you felt them hot.

If the smile on Mingyu’s lips was any indication, you were completely screwed.

“I only remember Cheol. He was the only one you let get close to me.”

It was a futile attempt to defend yourself, but it was the only excuse you had. It was also the truth.

“That’s true,” Mingyu agreed, sitting back down.

It wasn’t a big secret that Jeonghan had forbidden all his teammates from getting close to you. It wasn’t like you desperately wanted their company anyway, so it was a win-win arrangement.

“You were a pain in the ass,” which was just another shovel of dirt for someone who was already buried, right?

“I was protecting you? The guys on the team…” he tried to defend himself, feigning offense.

You simply waved your hand at him, dismissing any kind of explanation he might have offered.

“They were teenagers full of testosterone and hormones. Not much has changed, you know.”

The three of them were startled when Seokmin slammed the table, his eyes wide as he stared at Jeonghan. For a few minutes, you had forgotten he was there.

“You are Yoon Jeonghan’s sister?” His voice had suddenly become shrill to the point of echoing in the room.

The laugh that escaped your lips was partly incredulous and partly desperate. Mingyu remembered you, but he hadn’t told anyone—not even his teammate—probably because he remembered it was something you kept people from knowing. In a way, you knew your secret's safe with him. But you didn’t know if you could trust Seokmin in the same way.

“He’s kind of slow sometimes.”

Mingyu pushed Seokmin out the door, hoping he would finally stop talking. His friend hadn’t realized the discomfort he had caused you yet. Jeonghan, as always, didn’t seem to care and on some level, he actually seemed to enjoy all the attention he was getting.

“It’s been a while since someone got this excited to see me,” he said, laughing when Seokmin went to the bathroom.

Either Jeonghan hadn’t realized how quiet you had been, or he had simply chosen not to do anything about it. Mingyu couldn’t be sure of the older man’s intentions, not at that moment or when they were still at school.

But you? You were like an open book, almost begging to be read. You obviously didn’t say a word, but your face showed how uncomfortable you were with the whole situation, how embarrassed you were for not remembering Mingyu as soon as you saw him.

Without you noticing, Mingyu spent a lot of time observing you. In a way, it was easy to know what you were thinking. Of course, a lot had changed in the years you hadn't seen each other, but many things were still the same.

“He won't tell anyone about your brother.”

Mingyu pushed Seokmin again, this time towards the elevator, and turned to you, who was holding the door, your gaze almost lost.

“It's okay.” you took a deep breath before straightening your spine and forcing a smile. “Eventually, everyone will know.”

He shook his head and put his hand on your shoulder, leaning his body forward slightly so his eyes were leveled with yours.

“You have my word,” he promised, voice low “Seokmin won't open his mouth. Your secret will still be a secret.”

You nodded, but Mingyu knew the gesture was just to make him leave faster.

“You should go,” you said before closing the door, without waiting for Mingyu's response.

If he could, he would suffocate Seokmin right there in the hallway, but then the security cameras would see him and that would become a problem. He entered the elevator in silence and pressed the button for the ground floor. Beside him, Seokmin was practically thrilled with the discovery he had made an hour ago.

“When you said you knew her from your old school, I would never have imagined that,” he said, laughing. “I thought she was a girl who went to the same school as you.”

Mingyu chose to remain silent. He expected Seokmin to eventually get tired and simply stop talking, but he should have known better. His friend had too much energy to simply stop. In fact, it was a surprise that he had managed to stay quiet for two hours before Jeonghan arrived. And even after he arrived, Seokmin had remained standing in the same place. He spoke faster than ever and looked at Jeonghan as if he were seeing a god in person, but still, standing in the same place.

God knew it was almost impossible to convince Seokmin to stay still for long.

“I don’t understand why she hides the fact that she’s his sister. It’s basically the nicest thing anyone can say. Imagine going around saying ‘my brother is Yoon Jeonghan’”

Mingyu sighed and crossed his arms and sighed, rolling his eyes. Of course, he would.

“Remember that time your sister complained that a girl tried to befriend her because she wanted to go out with you?”

“It happened a few times, actually.”

Mingyu stayed silent, waiting for all the dots to connect in Seokmin’s head without him having to actually say the words. Under normal circumstances, Seokmin would have understood and kept quiet, but he was too excited after meeting an idol god to realize the full context Mingyu was trying to give him.

“That happens to her all the time. She didn’t even go to the same school as us. She really does everything so no one knows she’s his sister. Didn’t you notice there’s no picture of them at home?”

Seokmin laughed, as if the question was too stupid, causing Mingyu to narrow his eyes.

“Dude, you’re the one who’s into her, not me. I don’t care about whose picture is in her house.”

Would anyone find it a problem if Mingyu strangled Seokmin until he passed out and then took him back home? In Mingyu’s eyes, he would be doing everyone around him a favor. It would be a night of silence and peace for everyone involved — in this case, just him, but no one needed to know about it.

“Either way, you can’t tell anyone about this,” he warned once more.

He had made a promise to you and he would rather cut off an arm than break it.

“Not even to the team?”

Mingyu scratched his head before crossing his arms again, with much more force than necessary. Finally, the elevator reached the ground floor and Seokmin was faster than Mingyu to get out, almost running down the hall to the gate.

Mingyu briefly greeted the doorman with a nod before following his friend.

“Especially to the team. No one can know. It's like a federal secret, you know?”

Mingyu grabbed Seokmin by the arm, making his friend stop and look at him. He hoped it would be enough for him to understand that he wasn't kidding, that it wasn't some kind of joke.

"Jeez, so much drama."

He got away from his friend and quickly opened the car door and got into the passenger seat.

Once again, Mingyu took a deep breath, his eyes closed. Maybe he shouldn't have promised you anything, not when the promise had nothing to do with him, and when there was a possibility of everything going wrong, then he would have to bear the burden of someone else's mistake.

"Seokmin," your voice was a warning tone. He opened the car door.

"I won't say anything!" his friend almost shouted.

"You're terrible at keeping secrets," he sighed, almost defeated.

"Nobody knows that you're actually super smart," Seokmin scoffed. "I never told on you, you know."

When you finally managed to get Mingyu and Seokmin to leave, you were beyond exhausted. It was late, already past 10 pm and you had to wake up early for class the next day. At least you would fall into bed without much trouble and you were sure that you would black out almost instantly. Except for the idea that from that moment on it was likely that the entire college would know who your brother was.

You always knew that this day would come, you just hoped it wouldn't be during college, a college that had a good hockey team — well, it was almost unfair, they were fantastic — and that lived and breathed the sport. If the news really needed to get out, you wanted it to happen when you were far away from there, in an environment where few people would like the sport. Of course, you were living off stereotypes, but you preferred to believe that you wouldn't have many colleagues who liked the sport, or that if they did, they would be indifferent.

With a sigh, you began to gather the materials that were scattered around the table, cleaning up the mess left behind. Seokmin wasn't wrong when he said that Mingyu was more skilled than expected. The prototype he made was delicate and almost perfect. Working with him wouldn't be complicated at all. With Seokmin too. He was more absent-minded, but he wasn't bad either. He could do the rough part of the work and you would refine it until it was perfect.

“Sis”

Jeonghan's voice sounded behind you and you chose not to answer. You were irritated with him for so many reasons that you didn't even know where to start, or what to say to him. You had made it explicitly clear why you didn't want him home. And, although he had never necessarily liked your reasons, Jeonghan had always respected you. If you said you didn't want something, he accepted it. But this time he had crossed all the limits.

“Sister” he tried again, this time a step closer to you.

You rested your hands on the table and leaned your body forward. 

“You know, I know that I live in your house, that you’re the one paying for my college, and that all the comfort I have here is because you pay for everything, so you can kind of do whatever you want. But this is my life.” 

You continued to put the things in the box and went to your room. You didn’t close the door because you knew Jeonghan would follow you. 

“I don’t understand what’s wrong with people knowing that I’m your brother.” 

You shook your head as you sat on the bed. He clearly didn’t understand, he never had, but he had always respected it. Apparently not anymore. 

“It’s not middle school anymore and you’re not 13 anymore. Just tell them all to go to hell,” he tried to reason, sitting in front of you. 

Jeonghan’s eyes were affectionate, without a hint of judgment. He just wanted to understand what was going on, because it was so important to you that people didn’t know.

“I didn’t change schools because girls were all over me because they wanted your number. I can’t say it didn’t affect my decision and it was the perfect excuse. But that wasn’t all.”

You didn’t know how to continue, didn’t know how to say everything without Jeonghan getting upset. Because you were sure he would.

“I didn’t want to be compared to you anymore.”

Your voice was almost a whisper and you didn’t dare look up, or in Jeonghan��s direction. You didn’t want to see the look of disappointment on his face, because you knew he would be disappointed. Not because you were feeling that way, but because you never told him anything.

“The teachers always talked about how smart you were, that despite sports you always got good grades. And I remember how you were back then, and you barely tried, but you were good at everything. I tried so hard and it was never enough.”

With each word that left your mouth, your voice got lower and weaker. When you said the words out loud, when they weren’t just cloistered in your mind anymore, they sounded almost pathetic. Jeonghan had never put any kind of pressure on you, quite the opposite. Your brother always made sure that you were you, an individual different from him.

All the ideas and traumas you had were not directly caused by Jeonghan but somehow had to do with him.

Jeonghan sighed loudly and leaned forward until he could hold your hand.

“Being good at school doesn’t mean anything, it’s just school. No one cares about it after a while.”

The laugh you let out was one of complete mockery. Jeonghan really had no idea what could be going through your head, the things that had happened and were still happening. Not that you blamed him for that, he had no way of knowing if you didn’t tell him what was going on, but part of you just wanted him to pay attention. If he paid attention, even the slightest bit, he would know.

The fact that he didn’t understand was painful.

If it were just the school teachers, it would be fine. Like he said, no one cares about school after a while. Do you know who cares about school, regardless of the moment? Parents. Parents who aren't necessarily bad, just parents who think that comparing one child to another is an excellent incentive. An incentive so good that they still do it.

Deep down you know that it's not out of malice, that it's not because they want to see you down, but it's an inevitable consequence. And, in a way, they were already so intrinsic in the conversations, little notes that didn't even seem like real comments, that you were sure that Jeonghan didn't even notice them.

"Okay," you said, just wanting to end the conversation. "I'll talk to both of them tomorrow, and apologize to Mingyu."

Jeonghan nodded, knowing full well that the conversation was over and that even if he pressed, he wouldn't be able to get anything else out of you.

"I have to leave early tomorrow," he said, "but if you want, can we have dinner together and talk about it?"

"I'll accept dinner, but I'll skip the talk."

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[sgiandubh]

Flaunting the narrative

I just came back from a nice dinner & drinks in town, with friends who visit from Athens. Lo and behold, my DMs are on fire again, but my (in)famous Inbox is, as expected, resoundingly quiet. [Later edit: not for long].

It would seem S's latest interview for yet another one of those glossy magazines one usually spots untouched in any random Main Street dentist's cabinet or real estate office did manage to raise a couple of eyebrows, after all. With very few data publicly available, Flaunt Magazine is the kind of media outlet with four times less Instagram followers than S, so this begs the question to whom the murder interview really profits:

There is very little out there about Flaunt Magazine, indeed. Other than it was founded in September 1998 by three amigos (Alex Barajas, Jim Turner and Long Nguyen), all of whom were also part of the editorial team of the (now defunct?) Detour Magazine, there is virtually nothing else. This does or should ring a bell about the real importance and relevance of this media stunt - not much to add here, either. Other than that, past issues of Flaunt seem to be traded between fans of celebrities who (more or less) regularly grace its pages, in what I do think are paid/in kind op-eds written by people with no clear professional print, in agreement and by prior arrangement with the talent's PR:

Compared to Flaunt, a real lifestyle press behemoth such as Harper's Bazaar (this blogger has subscribed to for many years, ahem) has a quite different audience level and marketing approach:

Six times more Instagram followers and a clearly more friendly pricing policy:

[Sorry, what I managed to find is the UK offer - blame it on their regional settings, I suppose: however, I think the US offer might not be that different].

In other words, I am beginning to suspect more and more Flaunt is that kind of vanity/hybrid press product, where costs and risks are more or less evenly split between the printer/publisher and the client. Therefore, you would be naive to expect anything else than some tightly controlled, neat-o narrative aligned content. Especially considering the targeted audience, which is (of course) the American fandom, albeit with a tinge of 'sophistication' and a totally artificial 'whimsical twist' (California, here I come).

Onwards to the candid bullshittery.

The article opens with a precise timeline reference:

[Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy0g2p47xd5o]

Therefore, the interview happened somewhere between 11 and 14 October 2024, just about the time S was overseas and C was spotted having dinner in London with the Rothschilds and no Tracula in sight. And there is another thing that immediately screamed at me from that pixelated page: George Mallory. Which brought me exactly here:

Yes, absolutely. The Golden Goose that never was. That still hurts, judging by the melancholy with which S talks about Everest, not climbing it after all, still planning to visit next December:

Perhaps with Jake Norton, a reputed Scottish American mountaineer (I think you were right on the money, darling - you know who you are, 😘😘❤️), S met and stroke a friendship with since 2023:

The December reference is not innocent at all. It is there to sparkle endless speculation about what S will be doing on Xmas and Hogmanay, too (and with whom, of course - and there you have all the factions dutifully served with an extra side of bullshite to dissect). Fan wars galore, fuming and flaming DMs and inboxes to boot. He/his PR know that and apparently they still need that Idiotenspiel at play for a while. Also, December's got 31 days, something that Stans worldwide seem to suddenly ignore.

Once the proper tone is set and given, the rest flows almost naturally: zero reference to C (1500% expected) and what is a clearly tailored, yet fizzling, bomb:

'I'm really on the precipice': now that is some extraordinary choice of words, isn't it? This and the 'I don't know' are probably the only authentic reactions in the very strange quote I underlined.

'Being on the precipice' is almost always negatively connotated. It logically has nothing to do with the idea of starting a new journey, but it has everything to do with the idea that he is now confronted with the lack of security and comfort and with the potential loss of notoriety the end of OL might bring. Something he very clumsily tries to disguise as 'I feel I'm no longer tied by Outlander', which must also be the counterfactual understatement of the year, really. There is legally and factually no way he wouldn't still be tied by Outlander, irrespective of how tedious that might feel. He still needs the Mommies' hardcore clientele pool, while he is commendably trying to diversify his sales and marketing strategy. These things do not happen in the blink of an eye and he knows it very well. However, he also really needs to portray himself as something else than a one trick pony, in order to remain bankable in Hollywood and elsewhere. Hence the 'I am not tied to OL anymore', I am able to do bigger and better things, and in the long run I would also like to make a springboard, not a dead end out of it.

Finally, there is no way he would be legally untied from OL. Contracts are still contracts. They include clauses and obligations that will be enforced most probably until after the show's last season will be aired. There is very little to zero leeway around it, for the time being. By the time those clauses and obligations will be rendered obsolete, very few of those Anons and Stans and Mommies and Onlies will still be around to even give a flying duck about the whole life situation.

And then, we have the 'maybe I'll start a family'. Despite what all of my Anons are shrieking right now in my inbox, this is not even the first time he hints at it, and I seriously do not understand why the sudden hysterical surge. Anons probably think I am amnesic, or something:

That is a direct quote from Waypoints. He announced nothing. It's been there, in plain sight, for a long time already and if anything, it is consistent with the narrative.

The rest is borderline irrelevant, visually and conceptually incoherent ('nude scenes are difficult and even dangerous to shoot, when dealt with in a non-professional way, but here is a shirtless bucolic pic that will make my Onlies drool and buy collector's issues at extortionate prices'). The overall impression it gave me was of a hastily cobbled and not very clever circumstance paper. Nothing more, nothing less.

There is no amount of wishful thinking that is going to immediately and magically change the current state of play. Reasonable people should expect mild, but constant turbulence ahead, with a sprinkle of cuteness and innuendo just to keep all the fandom's factions engaged and present, which translates to S/C/SC being relevant for potential employers, agents, the press, etc. In a nutshell, absolutely nothing new. You can screech, you won't change an iota of what I know is true and my position is firmer than ever, no matter how ridiculously hard you try to intimidate or harass me. That's all.

[backmarkerr]

please....can u speak on the conspiracy

So the conspiracy (more like a theory, really) is that Kimi was pushed out of the team starting in 2008 to make way for Fernando, who was more appealing to the big sponsor coming in. Before you click out thinking "Max, that's stupid, no team would throw a championship for a sponsor." I agree! But keep in mind that they didn't throw the championship, they fully expected to win the WDC with Felipe (and almost did) and did in fact win the WCC in 2008 with Felipe and Kimi despite everything. But there were really suspicious things going on. So with that in mind...

It's 2008. Kimi has just won Malaysia, the second race of the season. Three days after his win, there's this:

.

Ok, kinda weird, but whatever. F1 runs on rumours, right? Suggesting that Kimi might retire when he's doing so well is silly. And in the article they seem to be pretty ambivalent over whether it would be Felipe or Kimi to leave.

Fast forward to Spain two races later. Kimi scores his second win of the season and takes the championship lead. The season is shaping up pretty well for the defence of the title, you’d think this would be a good time for him, but again, the story du jour is Ferrari wanting Alonso in Kimi’s seat for 2009.

[x] I guess now we know at least Massa's seat is secure...?

If you’re like me, that sounds stupid. The reigning champion just won the last GP and his contract runs until the end of 2010, so this media narrative makes no sense. Something pretty catastrophic would have to happen for that to ever come to fruition, right?

So anyway, he gets a first row start in Monaco. Great, that's almost a surefire win/points, right? Wrong, he got a drive-through penalty due to the team not fitting the wheels to the car on time before the race start. Not a great race and he ends up outside of the points. Lewis is now ahead in the WDC by 3 points. Not really a disaster, but...

[x] what on earth...

[x] again the talk of retirement.... I mean, it's weird, right?

Zero points in Canada due to being rear-ended in the pitlane, which the team can’t control. Then he’s back to being neck to neck with his teammate and Lewis by the time the British GP is done in early July, with all three drivers on 48 points. Good news, right? Just gotta stay on track and not fuck it up somehow.

[x] sigh... (this one's a little harder to source as it was printed media, but I've seen this exact interview quoted in different pages)

So anyway, they change his front suspension for the next race in Germany. Kimi has always been very sensitive to changes in the car, so he knew something was wrong. Ferrari (via Michael, who was then head of development) say he's just not adapting well to the upgrades. Maybe, sure, but why aren't you bringing upgrades that are geared towards your world champion?

(an interesting remark from Mark Hughes here if you scroll down to the comments, which adds weight to Kimi not being listened to when it came to car development in 2008)

Bar a podium in Hungary, Kimi scores 0 points in 4 out of the next 5 races. It takes until either Monza or Singapore (hello crashgate!) for Ferrari to put his suspension back as it was.

He proceeds to get 3 podiums in the remaining 3 races but it’s not enough to catch up. By Singapore he was already 27 points behind his teammate (reminder this is the old points system) and very much expected to play the supporting role. In the penultimate race in China he very obviously gave up P2 to his teammate:

"I know what the team expects." [x] / [x]

Yet the narrative in the media and from Ferrari themselves is that his motivation is bad and he's not assertive. It was so pervasive that to this day people still parrot it and say he just didn’t care after 2007, despite Kimi always stating he was fully committed and clearly getting annoyed whenever journalists asked about his motivation even years later.

Montezemolo at the end of 2008 even 'joked' that "Kimi in the recent races was replaced two or three times by a friend, but next year he'll be back." Basically saying that Kimi wasn't really present, you know? An interesting thing to say when this absent driver scored 18 points in the last 3 races (three consecutive P3s), while the one who was amazing and had the team's full backing scored 20 (P7, P2, P1).

A whole 2 points' difference, maybe someone should hire that "friend"...

So why did they do this?

Well, the theory is that Santander (I promise this isn’t like the dumb Sainztander takes) wanted a Spanish-Brazilian lineup due to financial interests (Spanish bank, big market in South America with a looming IPO in Brazil), so Kimi was basically being pressured out of the team from early 2008 onwards. Like I said at the start, the team weren’t really throwing away 2008, as they expected to win the WCC with both drivers (they did) and Massa to be able to win the WDC, which would of course be beneficial for their new sponsor. And he almost did. Almost.

[x] they're not in charge of driver selection but this specific driver line-up would good for them. (this archived copy of the article is from 2010, but the text makes it clear it's from 2009)

Of course at this point we have to wonder if a team like Ferrari would bow down to a sponsor's demands. I can't tell you what the internal considerations were or how much money was on the line, but it's also not like Santander were telling them to get rid of Kimi for a bad driver, you know? Fernando is a great driver, so from Ferrari's perspective they were just trading a great driver for another great driver who also appealed to this huge sponsor, and an Alonso-Massa line-up would be solid. And with the previous talk that Ferrari and Alonso had already inked a deal in 2008... It's just difficult to believe there isn't a grain of truth here.

So the alleged initial plan of having Alonso in 2009 was foiled when Kimi activated the renewal option in his contract. It was then that he was bought out of his last year (apparently paid for by Santander).

[from the book The Unknown Kimi Raikkonen]

As we can see, by the end Kimi was also fed up with what was going on, especially people pointing the finger at him and at his motivation, and his frustration is very clear in interviews like here at 2.35 and here:

Publicly, Ferrari said they wanted someone more in line with how Michael used to be (ironic since Montezemolo allegedly didn’t like how Michael made the team his), who could communicate with the team and give better feedback (ironic when Todt, Dyer, Stella and others said Kimi was very clear and precise.) Kimi himself has always stated that he wasn’t the issue, that his motivation was never lacking and that the real reason he was pushed out was politics and money.

[x]

[x]

If it had only been the mechanical stuff, I’d be willing to chalk it up to just bad luck and incompetence. Shit happens. But with all the rumours around it even before things went bad on the track and Kimi stating that his work and performance weren't the reason he was let go it becomes impossible for me to think there wasn’t an actual push going on to replace him.

Hell, even famed Ferrari fanboy Sebastian Vettel didn't think it was realistic for Kimi to return to Ferrary in 2014 precisely because Kimi isn't one for "bullshit" and "politics". Why would he choose to say that specifically? And according to Finnish media Kimi’s 2014 Ferrari negotiations included Montezemolo personally apologising to him. Now why would he apologise if they hadn’t done something wrong?

Personally I think Kimi's "certain people did certain things" refers to this. He never trashed anyone and always said he had no ill-feelings. And I believe him. But it doesn't mean nothing happened, lest we forget how well he handled Lotus not paying him.

The thing that really bothers me is that Kimi got the reputation for having low motivation and not caring about what he was doing (I heard that take just last month from an F1 youtuber, how Fernando was hired in 2010 because Kimi had mentally checked out 🙄), when obviously someone who wasn’t motivated and didn’t care would have simply called it quits under these circumstances. Instead he got P3 in the standings in 2008 (I know he’s talented, but he must have been trying at least a little), trained hard to lose enough weight to use KERS in 2009 (why would he do that if he didn’t care) and took the team’s only win that year despite the car being shit. Interestingly, pundits acknowledged his good performance complicated things when it came to Ferrari’s rumoured hiring of Alonso. So imagine how much more complicated things would have been had Kimi done better in 2008?

Anyway, this is long, but if you want something longer then I definitely recommend this post here. You might not agree completely with the original authors (there are parts where I wish there was more info), but I think they offer a lot of good research and information regarding the overall situation back in 2008/2009, and it's a good jump-off point for your own research.

But yeah. 2008 could have been everything. Or at least better.

[beatrice-otter]

There is FINALLY a women's hockey league that pays its players a living wage. There's been women's hockey before; the National Women's Hockey League was founded in 2015, later becoming the Premier Hockey Foundation. They got bought out in 2023 and rebranded as the Professional Women's Hockey League. Unlike its predecessor leagues, PWHL players should not need to work second jobs to have an income to live on in addition to playing hockey; the PWHL has minimum salaries. All players must make a base pay of at LEAST $35k, which is crap but at least it's crap you could theoretically live on. But most of the players are going to earn more than that, because there is also a team average minimum. The salaries for the whole team combined have to average out to at least $55k, and the top six have to each make at least $80k. But these are base pay rates; they also get a housing stipend ($1500/month) on top of that and a "daily meal allowance" when traveling, and all of these rates are contractually obligated to increase each year (3%). It's still peanuts compared to men's hockey, of course, but it's something you could make a living at, at least. And when you add in the housing stipend, a full-time player is actually making a minimum of $53k/year.*

Anyway! The first PWHL game took place on January 1, 2024, and you can watch the games on the PWHL Youtube page. I hope they do well, because female athletes should be treated (and PAID) better and while "a living wage" might seem a low bar it is still one that women's leagues too often fail to clear. So far, they seem to be doing okay; the January 5th game (Minnesota vs. Montreal) SMASHED the previous record attendance at a women's hockey game. 13k people attended; the previous record worldwide was a game with 8k attendees in Sweden. The North American record was 6k, so this is double that.

The thing that interests me is that they are CLEARLY not branding the teams, they are branding and repping THE LEAGUE. None of the teams have a name other than the city they're from; none of them have a logo of their own, just the PWHL logo; the uniforms are pretty identical, just different colors. (each city name printed diagonally down the front.) I read an article that the teams are expected to each rebrand themselves next year, but I'm still surprised that they're not trying to build up any kind of team loyalty from the start, just league loyalty.

The closest I get to being a hockey fan is occasionally reading hockey RPF (there are a TON of great writers in that fandom, if you've never checked it out before). But I support women's sports, and with games being on Youtube it will be pretty easy to just stream it on my TV (muted) while I go about my evening. I know it doesn't ad up to much in ad revenue, but it's something that costs me nothing. (And it's not like I'd be going to a game in person even if I lived in one of the six cities that has a team.)

*If you're wondering "why do they pay base salary + housing allowance instead of just saying what the whole salary is up front" I'm guessing there are tax incentives to do it that way. It might be either tax deductible for the team or untaxed for the player, or both.

[lady-ashfade]

Reaction/HC’s: Aura reading reader.

Characters: Kaz brekker, nina zenik

Prompt: Using your powers on them for the first time.

Notes: Pictured female reader, this can be read as romantic if you want out up to that, the reader being sweet and kind. I could do more like this! (Pretty sure I use female terms)

Warnings: Panic attacks, comfort, little bit of angst

Kaz brekker:

Kaz hated when you first started working for him, he liked to keep his emotions to himself and never let anyone see them. But then here you are who can sense them without trying, he made you swear to never read any of his thoughts and to keep him so far away from your thoughts.

But when he heard of you it was just perfect, a new talent to have on his team. You could add so much and make thinks much easier. He had to make you one of his crows.

You kept your promise to him and never looked into his feelings or thought, to your abilities. He was a strange man to you and you wanted to figure him out, but you didn’t use your powers. You swore to do it yourself.

But at times he was just to loud. His emotions taking over himself and you couldn’t push the thoughts away. It was usually anger and sorrow, not the best mix. He was always angry but more times then others.

But as the two of you grew together and he began to trust you. He was more then a boss, the others more then friends, they were your family.

Sitting in your room calmly reading a book, your back pressed to the wall as your scan the pages. Then the overwhelming feeling of panic filled your body, out of nowhere you begin to gasp for air. Your head light and spinning around as your lungs and stomach dropped.

That’s when you knew it was kaz.

His room was right next to yours, clearly he was having a panic attack and it was so strong for you to feel. Making your way out of bed and out the room to see him, you burst open his door and look for him. “Kaz?” His body dropped on the floor as he pressed a hand to his heart, it was a hard sight.

“Kaz, it’s okay. I can help,” dropping to your knees you move just a few inch forward and staying away from him. You didn’t want to spook him. “I know it’s hard right now and the world is caving in, I need you to look at me okay.” You hated the pain in your heart but you calmed yourself quickly as to help him.

His eyes finding yours slowly, his breaths getting louder and louder. “I can ease your mind, make you calm down. Can I do that?” Asking him softly. It surprised you when a few seconds later his head nodded and his eyes closed, he was feeling guilt in that second.

After you had calm him down you sat back and took a breath as he tried to catch his. Sweat dripped down his hair and face, his shoulders rising and falling. But he was calm. Just too much for him to handle. He looked over at you when he collected himself, “Thank you.”

You turn to him and smile, “Kaz brekker, I didn’t mean to make you that calm. You never say those words.” He rolled his eyes and his face went back to its normal expression. “I will never do it again.” You laughed at his reply. “Kaz, I will always help when I can. I mean that is what you pay me for,” you grin as he looks into your eyes, “But you’re welcome.”

You could almost see a soft smile on his lips as he stares at you, almost.

“Never speak a word about this to everyone, or the only thing you will feel is pain.” 

“Glad to see you’re back to normal, boss.”

Nina zenik:

She understood to a level of what you must feel like. The heartrender was overall so fascinated by what you could do but felt sorry for you at times. Sometimes it was easy for her to hear someone else heartbeat if it was too fast.

She could also tell what someone might feel just my listening to their hearts, but you went beyond that. It was beautiful to her.

She took a liking to you from the moment she met you, you were nothing but kind. She felt protective over you, she was by far your best friend.

Nina asked you a lot of questions about what you could do and how it works, showing you what she could do as well. Often you went on walks together with just her being a listening ear or you being her output.

Needless to say she understood you completely, she was offended worried for your well being. Always feeling what others feel, hearing their wants or sorrow, must be hard for you. But you assured her that it was very few moments where you get beyond overwhelmed. You stayed in your room at the crow club and only went out for jobs, but you felt happy to know she was by your side.

The wind blowing her hair and yours, the cold breeze cooling your warm skin as the moon shined down. She was sitting right next to you with a bottle in her hand as she giggled at a joke you two had said.

“What’s it like, in Kaz’s mind?” She asked curiously. You shrugged and smiled, “I try not to listen or think about it. But I can say most of the time he feels how he looks, that’s all I wish to say.” Taking the bottle from her hand you took a sip.

She hummed in response and looked out into the small patch of grass, it was nice to take a breath. “What’s it like for me?” Turning her head to look at you, her eyes filled with wonder and curiosity. You smile at her softly and looked away for a moment thinking of what to say.

“I don’t go into people heads unless I’m asked, unless I can’t control it. But,” leaning back on your hands. “You’re offended a comfort to be around, it’s like your happy a lot. Just smiling and enjoying things when you can, especially around food. But there times…” you paused and shook your head to not go any further.

“But what? You can’t just stop like that.” She shouted and pushed her shoulders against yours playfully mad. You laughed in defeat. “Fine, don’t beat me up.” Throwing your hands up.

 “You get sad, defeated and it’s easy for me to feel. Then the only thing I hear is his name, like your mind is only speaking of him. I understand it though, but I want you to know we will get him out.” You place your hand on hers.

She stayed quiet and her emotions dropped, you knew you shouldn’t have said anything. “Look I’m sorry- I shouldn’t have said it, I know it’s hard for you to-”

“Make me feel like he’s with me again.”

You stopped and looked at her as her eyes begged you. Then hand you held gripped yours, “Please.” She whispered. “Nina…” you sighed as her eyes glanced over your face. Her sad eyes pleading for a release from the pain and to feel that light again.

“Lay down.” You caved in and she smiled and did as you said quickly and her mood getting better. “Think of a memory you have of him, something only of joy. Just focus on the good things.” She closed her eyes and you place your hand on her head, closing your eyes as well.

The sound of laughing and muffled talking, the feeling of warmth and happiness overflowed within you. You brought out the feeling of her body just like the memories in her mind like she was truly their again.

You heard her giggle from below you and her body move, only living in the past. You felt happy you could do this for her even if it was temporary. She stayed like that for a few minutes of just comfort, like he was with her again.

Thank the saints for you.

[after-the-end-times]

Continued from here

Trent finally sits back from his laptop, stretching his hands out in front of him. He'd been writing and editing for hours, using the quiet time while the team and coaches were out training on the pitch.

He spins idly in his chair.

Ted's chair his brain helpfully reminds him. He thinks he should get up and check out what fruit they have stocked in the other room before the team comes back in.

It's only been a couple days since his gaffer- the gaffer left to go back to his family and Trent's been feeling off ever since. Maybe he's just hungry. He gets up to go in search of a snack, hopefully that'll quell the squirrely feeling in his belly.

Ten minutes later he walks back to the coach's office, tossing the two clementines he successfully found back and forth in the air pretending to juggle. He was doing pretty good, if he did think so himself, until he entered the office and dropped them both.

"Ted"

Ted, who's standing there by his their? desk, like he'd never left and looking at all of Trent's things scattered everywhere.

Trent had tried to limit his footprint on the desk, not wanting to look like he was moving in too fast. But now Trent sees what Ted sees and a blush spreads across cheeks.

His laptop sitting center stage with notebooks piled up to the side, white printed pages with too much red ink scattered and balled up, his bracelets, rainbow mug, and so many pens. And the single photo of his daughter he allowed himself to bring to work.

It looks like it's his desk. And now Ted's back. And will probably want his desk back.

With his blush deepening he rushes forward to start packing up his things. He just wishes Ted would move out of the way so this wasn't so awkward.

"What're you doing?" Ted asks with a quizzical smile. not moving away.

"Oh! I'll get this all moved. I wasn't- This isn't- Beard said I should sit here for the moment until- There wasn't enough- With Nate back-" He doesn't know what's wrong with him.

Part of his job for 20 years was to be able to eloquently put sentences together into thoughtful paragraphs and now here he is not able to finish a single thought.

All Trent knows is that he innocently went to get a clementine and now he's panicking because feels like he betrayed Ted...for the second time, his brain again helpfully adds

Ted is still standing in front of him, arms crossed, hip resting against the desk, not letting him snatch up all his stuff and run.

Trent finally looks at Ted, instead of looking everywhere but him.

Oh. He doesn't look mad, Trent realizes. He kinda looks- Great, now he can't even finish thoughts in his own head. He mentally gives himself a baleful side eye.

"I wanted it to be you", Ted says. He has a slow smile spreading across his face as he looks at Trent.

"And here I heard you preferred Sleepless in Seattle" Trent responds with a small smile, proud of himself for finally successfully bantering back.

"And while that is true, and I am still correct that it is the far superior Nora Ephron film," Ted glances over at Beard's desk as if continuing a on ongoing silent argument, before looking back and holding Trent's gaze, "Miss Kathleen Kelly and Joe Fox have the right scene for the job here"

Trent's breath catches in his chest, "Oh?" He can't seem to pull his eyes away from Ted's, heart on display for anyone looking.

Trent stands frozen as Ted reaches up, cups his cheek, and swipes his thumb under his eye as if dabbing away a tear that might be there if this were a movie.

"You're the only one I want to share a desk with", Ted's smile turns a little rueful, his hand slipping into Trent's hair, pushing it back from his face before pulling away. He pushes his hands into his pockets and sways toward Trent.

Trent's sure his eyes couldn't get any wider and he's horrified to realize they really do feel teary, "So you're staying? But what about-"

Ted sways back a bit, "Yeah, so I went home. Thought that was were the story was always leading me to. Turns out not so much. The moment I got off the flight in Kansas, ready to start my life over there, I-," He cuts himself off looking out to the locker room, collecting himself, "God, Trent I just about started bawling I missed you all so much."

He turns a crooked, slightly sad smile back to Trent. "Michelle and I are gonna work something new out. Not sure exactly what yet, but she agreed this wasn't working, that it wasn't fair to me or to Henry," He takes a deep breath. shoulders relaxing as his smile turns sweeter, less sad, "So yeah, I stayed a few days to catch up with some friends, family, and then got the next flight out."

"To come back for the team?"

Trent's trying really hard not to read too hard into all of this. He couldn't handle it if all of this, the quote, the thumb brush, the hair tuck, if it was all for the bit by a man so wholly obsessed with rom-com moments. He'd heard about Ted's Notting Hill moment with Roy.

Ted looks at him with a look that says he knows what he's doing.

"Sure, the team, Beard, Rebecca, heck, my whole street that sometimes feels like walking out into Cheers." Ted takes a half step forward, bringing him inches from Trent so he now has to look up slightly to meet Ted's eyes.

Ted's so very gentle as he slowly brings his hand back up to cup Trent's cheek again, his fingers tangling in his hair.

"And I came back for you. You have to know, Trent," he leans in those last few inches, lips almost meeting, "I came back to you."

And finally, finally Ted kisses him.

~Fin~

[thrandilf]

do you have a guide as to the extra materials for The Dragon Prince? i keep seeing stuff about comics or books but idk where to start

Not on hand but I can make one here! :D

There are two, soon to be three, canon graphic novels.

Through the Moon takes place between seasons 3 and 4, like a little season 3.5 It isn't Necessary to read it before watching S4 but the story is cool and the extra information is neat. It feels like we might get more info regarding what happened to Rayla while she was gone later in the show

Bloodmoon Huntress takes place when Rayla is a child around when her parents leave. Lots of Runaan and Ethari, also introduces Kim'dael who will be in S5. Again, not Required reading but a fun extra story.

Puzzle House is coming out August 1st and is about Claudia and Soren as children, and we also get a look at younger Viren and other people. Harrow's father, King Atticus is still king in this one so interesting Katolis lore, SUPER hyped for when we get to read all of this one. The Scholastic link has a 15 pages preview if you wanna take a peek.

There are novelizations for Dragon Prince Season 1 and Season 2, they add a bit of introspection and small extra details. Viren in particular gets more of his internal thought processes laid out and for me it just Confirmed a lot of things. Season 3's novelization is coming out April 2nd, 2024. I'm sure all 7 seasons will eventually have novelizations.

Tales of Xadia is the ttrpg book and it's gorgeous and is probably the most lore heavy supplemental material as far as world building goes. The system also looks fun! The website has a character builder too for OC making. As a writer, it's been a great help as far as seeing some aspects of the world laid out. The system looks fun and there are videos of some of the cortex(?) team playing ToX official tales/campaigns but I haven't watched them yet. The campaigns are also available to look at online too.

I think that ToX is getting an expansion at some point since the base game doesn't touch much on Ocean or Star magic, I imagine due to spoilers for the seasons we're coming up on.

There's also a tabletop game called Battlecharged which I haven't personally played and I don't think it Adds lore but I've heard it's fun.

Also, it will likely be a long time before we see it, but there's a video game in the works as well that's in alpha testing right now called Project Arcanum. Wonderstorm is pretty busy!

BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE

The Free Stuff:

Reflections are official short stories hosted on TDP's website and all of them are excellent and provide little extra scenes. Some of them are quite impactful, and the ones in this second batch are promising an absolutely wild S5. The first batch was released pre S4 and the second batch is being released now pre S5 as we count down to the new season. They aren't Required reading since the most key information from them will be in the show (going by the S4 ones) but I highly HIGHLY rec reading them all. Banger after banger. As of posting this there may be one more coming.

There's also little 4 panel comics called Everyday Xadia that have been also released during countdown mode and they're just fun/cute. Volume One and Volume 2 (still coming out). Sometimes when people say comics they might mean these, or the graphic novels lol.

Thank you for the ask, I'm always happy to share the TDP love and I hope this was helpful to you and anyone else who'd like a ref!

[martyrmystik]

I think Tumblr needs to know about my dumbass Poppy Playtime AU I literally JUST made today so uhm... Here's the AU I've been hyperfixating on-

More information under the cut!

This is the first half of the Smiling Critters references (I loved making their designs omg)

Basically to summarize why they are a significant part in this AU:

This is an AU where the Smiling Critters survive, using anything and everything they can to continue to do so. It's a small resistance group (hence the AU name, "RESISTANCE") trying to fight against The Prototype! They still have their dynamics and everything else but they have more freedom to express themselves (hence, the clothes and accessories. And how Kickin' Chicken is wearing two bandana's because yes, he is extra.) AFTER the events of The Hour of Joy. By that time they were like what? 1st-2nd graders considering the experiments that were done? Now they are more like teenagers in this AU since I still follow the plot-line of the actual Poppy Playtime story taking place 10 years later-.

As for how the group works, everybody has their own little role and is in charge of something, they aren't made useless as it is a group based off of teamwork and friendship (despite the casualties.) Here's some of the roles they fall into:

(IF I SEE ANYBODY SEXUALIZE THESE CHARACTERS ISTG. THATS ICKY AND GROSS and I will make sure you get smited by lightning, because even if these guys are aged up THEY ARE STILL MINORS!!!)

Kickin Chicken: The vice president if you will, the leaders right hand man. (Because Dogday is the leader.) He's kind of full of himself but the confidence and pep talks help the team keep motivated, even if he is a bit self-centered

Bobby Bearhug: Assistant to Kickin Chicken (although they have a rivalry.) and also the medic. Is also the one who helps Dogday with anything considering in this AU he still has half of him torn off. (More on Dogday in his own section sometime later)

Hoppy Hopscotch: Basically explores the facility in any area at any time to gather new information on ways to try and get out (all of them are actively looking to escape btw!)

Craftycorn: Maps out stuff (maps, plans, other things) using her drawing abilities, although she also acts as the therapist friend because her art is soothing to others.

Bubba Bubbaphant: THE LITERAL. EMBODIMENT. OF. THE NERD EMOJI. He is a actual know-it-all which can come in handy but that makes him seem like a dick sometimes because of his knowledge.

Picky Piggy: I don't really have anything important to add to her, since I want to keep some of her lore a secret [might be revealed through the ask page I just set up for the AU on my page] HOWEVER she is the chef of the group and is literally the only one that can cook, if anybody else tried they'd all get food poisoning LMAO.

Here's some extra things in this AU that won't go in my other posts about this AU (maybe):

(So take notes if you want.)

- Catnap is redeemed, but it takes a VERY long time for him to get out of "old habits" as I'm going to word it. (Without spoiling too much of what I have planned.)

- I don't know what to plan for The Prototype yet but I'm talking with a couple of my mutuals on discord so maybe I'll figure it out eventually

- Dogday can normally stand and do other things because of the belts he has, however he can't put them on for too long (for like at max, more than 4 hours a day.) because they will wear into the plush, and he needs to put the belts on tight or they will come loose. He only uses such method when the group goes to hunt for food or similar activities, otherwise, he just uses a wheelchair when in the groups safe environment (the Playhouse!)

- This is going to be a shock to some people, but there is NO player character in this AU, not only is this a what if the Smiling Critters survived, but it's also a what if the player character never returned to Playtime Co.! This does come with some issues, like on how the asks are going to work, but trust me, I got everything taken care of when it comes to that!

- There also isn't really any shipping in this AU at all, I'm focusing on the story/friendship dynamics more than that, so if somehow you were looking for Dogday X Catnap this is, unfortunately not the place for that.

- This AU also has the personal interpretation of Dogday being part of the experiments some of the orphanage kids faced, as I don't really vibe with the idea that Dogday might be a Playtime Co. worker??? I don't know, I'm sticking with my idea for now but I will be keeping a close eye on canon if anything confirms or denies it, and I may adjust the AU accordingly if that's the case.

- Future posts may or may not contain other Poppy Playtime characters but the main focus is the Smiling Critters and The Prototype.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

References of Dogday and Catnap are already done but I may wait a bit on Tumblr to see how well this AU is being received :)

(I spent 6 hours on all references in total 😭😭😭)

[insurrection-if]

Stat Changes

For anyone interested in some behind-the-scenes mechanics and stat variables, here's an overly wordy peek into that below the cut.

Please don't consider this a substantial status update or anything like that ゞ ◎Д◎ ヾ; I don't want anyone to be disappointed by what I talk about below if they read ahead with that expectation. This is just talk about two variable mechanics I wished to disclose since one is an update to a personality stat on the Mechanics page and the other is something I am a little worried certain readers might not like.

With that said . . .

(；´∀｀) I will need to update the "Mechanics" page soon, but I have decided to change one of the personality stats for Mockingbird.

Protective vs. Independent has been changed to Cooperative vs. Independent. This stat will now measure Mockingbird's willingness and comfort towards working alongside others and accepting their help: where they stand between the edges of a lone wolf or team player. ＼（★´−｀）人（´▽｀★）／

A shy Mockingbird can have a high cooperative stat, which would translate into them being someone who isn't overly fond of social environments but generally wishes to be proactive in assisting and accepting the assistance of those around them. A social Mockingbird with a high independence would be someone who is comfortable meeting and socializing with a vast array of people but is resistant towards having to rely on another person in situations dire or mundane.

The Protective stat has become an independent variable. It is now a trait called protective_general which will note whether Mockingbird is indiscriminately protective of anyone placed in their care. A Mockingbird with this stat set as true will generally care for the defense and protection of everyone, placing no less value on the life of a random civilian than they would their own teammate. Cruel Mockingbirds with this stat will angle this protectiveness as them not crossing the line into mindless / needless violence or death (while still accepting brutal or aggressive tactics against whatever they oppose), and merciful Mockingbirds will have this treated as an extension of their compassionate nature.

This comes with a sub-stat (which is the term I am using for now since I am not sure if there is a more official one for this sort of stat out there). Here's a vague look at it below:

This stat has only been extended to potential love interests thus far since they will be available for the closest relationships - in either a romantic or platonic sense - in the first book. If Mockingbird is not generally protective of everyone (or is already generally protective of everyone), it would make little(?) sense for them to be specifically and distinctly protective towards the likes of Bacara, Boar, Kalyna, Gabriel, or Uriel who are far less available emotionally, objectively, or physically to Mockingbird. (Adding Mishka at this time might be a little much to add at this point too, but there are justifications to be found from a pragmatic, cautionary, or ideological standpoint.) Maybe Yadon and Nasrin should be added to this sub_stat mechanic as well, but that can be amended at a later time. This is, at present, more so for my own record and disclosure to anyone interested.

Essentially, this sub_stat marks whether Mockingbird is particularly protective over (a) specific individual(s). This can occur in purely platonic, or even conflicted, relationships as well for the sake of roleplay. If Mockingbird is generally protective, then activating a protective sub-stat for a specific character just means that their instinct to keep them safe has a more personal and heavy weight on their shoulders compared to when they feel this way for others. There might be some flavor dialogue if Mockingbird is only distinctly protective of their romantic interest(s), is protective of everyone but their romantic interest(s), is not generally protective at all yet is specifically protective towards all of the individual HAWKS, etc. and so forth. This would be much farther down the road, however, since those around them will need time to take notice of whatever trend Mockingbird might have that's worth a comment - it's all nebulous right now, but at least it's there for me to pull out and implement whenever I find a nice chance to call attention to it.

The trigger points for this stat towards individuals might vary character to character and will be available for activation at multiple stages of the narrative (shortly after a first encounter, at end of the first book, after a time skip, etc.).

In other words, I do not want players to feel pressured into being protective of someone as soon as possible if it makes more sense for their character to develop this sentiment at a later point in the story. If Mockingbird is not protective of a character shortly after first meeting them then there will still be multiple opportunities in the future to activate this stat / sentiment at a later time.

I figured I should mention all this now in case anyone had a notable issue with this change. There is another mechanic I have tenuously added and hoped to gather some feedback on, but I am concerned that such feedback would be a little hard to give when readers have yet to greatly familiarize themselves with their guardians.

For now, while I am referencing Mockingbird's parental figures, I will more so explicitly state that their relationship with Mockingbird will not be measured by a point or percentage system (as I had initially planned so long ago). Since their physical presence is largely scarce after the first chapter (for a long span of, uh, "temporarily unavailable") I hope to avoid players being overly careful with appeasing, agreeing, and never challenging or being upset with their guardians in order to keep a good relationship with them beyond the first chapter (and the vice versa of that for a poor relationship) in a way that causes heavy, immersion-breaking relationship management.

Instead, the reader / player (whichever term one prefers, haha!) will be given a choice for the type of relationship they would like to have with each of their guardians. Those options are (with placeholder + general descriptions):

Hostile - The relationship is in tatters, hanging by a worn and fraying thread that should have been severed long ago.

Distant - The relationship had become cold, a wedge keeping them afar. You retreat from their care, and do not associate with them any more than is necessary.

Neutral - You are indifferent to them, not revering or condemning their guardianship in any particular manner. The relationship is fine, and rarely does it fluctuate into anything much better or worse than this.

Content - The relationship is satisfactory, one that remains largely civil and warm. You love your guardian, but do not cherish your bond to the point of immense attachment.

Close - The relationship is one full of love and care, a close-knit bond that will forever keep your Guardian secured in your heart.

Grateful, but Tense - You appreciate your Guardian and all they have sacrificed for your sake, but it is difficult to force a sense of closeness with them. You wish you could love them more, accept them more, and yet . . . you cannot shake the discomfort you have towards their memory, actions, and affection.

Please me know if these options seem subpar or limiting!

These are all Mockingbird's sentiments towards their guardian. Each parental figure in their life loves them unconditionally, and always will, but that doesn't mean Mockingbird can treat them with animosity or coldness without consequence. Uncle Fletcher will gripe and raise his voice towards a hostile Mockingbird, their stepmother will cry at the (in her eyes) harsh coldness of a distant Mockingbird, and their father will hide his pain behind stiff smiles around a Mockingbird who is grateful towards but tense around him.

Mockingbird can later re-evaluate their feelings towards their guardians before reuniting with them at some point post-induction into the HAWKS. Shift from Close to Distant, from Hostile to Grateful and Tense, and so on. That reunion, however, is a far distant future for them.

( ᐛ )و That concludes my horribly composed ramble on two statistics.

My plan for a demo is to, perhaps, finish key early childhood scenes for Mockingbird and post a short "demo sample" with little fanfare or announcement so a small pool of players can assist me with some feedback on the opening of the game (which I continuously toil over as being considerably decent or terribly sloppy). Feedback on elements such as the depiction and their perception of the guardians, readability, choice amount and variance, stat descriptions and implementation, and so forth. Then, once I have concluded Chapter 0 (Mockingbird Pre-Hawks), I'll have that be a more advertised demo on the main post of this blog but, since the ROs will have a sparse presence up to that point, I'll hold off on anything in the forums until Chapter 1 has been substantially written.

In other news, I feel like I'm finally reaching the other side of a hill. I have managed to settle things at work to a more tolerable level of stress. For now, at least, since one of my co-workers keeps ominously warning that the worst has yet to come. (´͈ ⌓ `͈ )

My eldest dog (old man Charlie) has also been undergoing a serious health crisis since last Thursday. Thankfully, he's finally back home and has shown notable recovery! ✧⁺⸜(●′▾‵●)⸝⁺✧ The next two or so weeks are critical for him, but (according to the vet) the roughest patch is over. I've been crying my eyes out over him so much, and to see his health returning slowly but surely has been such a relief! It's been a stressful, and expensive, struggle but seeing some of his pep come back to his step has been a such a curative to the bruise this whole ordeal has left on my heart . . . and wallet, haha! (；´∀｀)

There's other stuff happening around me that are a cause for distress, but it's all beyond my control. So, I'm trying to stay positive while hoping to convert my anxious energy into more productivity!

Sorry for the pointlessness of this post overall. (´ﾟ 艸ﾟ)∴ I just felt like I needed to clarify these stat changes and ramble into the void of the internet about everything above.

For anyone who has made it this far, thank you for your time and patience throughout this long spiel! (●・ω・) I wish you all the best, and hope nothing shared above was too upsetting or disappointing!

Thank you! ヾ(＾-＾) ノ

[leportraitducadavre]

What do you think about Rock Lee? I rewatched his fight with Gaara recently and feel very nostalgic. He was my favorite, but I only know realize that probably a lot of it came from this whole sympathy for the underdog. I wonder what you think of his character and how his story went 😊

Hi Anon.

I apologize for how long this took to reply, hopefully, my answer will satisfy you enough to oversee the time it took.

I'll be honest, I'll analyze Lee solely from the first part of the manga because it's when his character is mostly developed (I might add the second part later on, but for now, I'll focus just on the gënin timeline).

In order to organize the reply and my feed, everything will be put under the cut. Apologies for doing it but I don't want to have to deal with another claim on any of my posts.

Once this has been clarified, let's start analyzing Rock Lee

Introduction and First Impression

Lee is introduced in chapter 36 (Sakura's depression) -the beginning of the Chünin Exams. His first "interaction" with Team 7 happens when he stops Sasuke from fighting a proctor, and Sasuke notices that Lee's chakra is weird.

After that, he introduces himself to Sakura and asks her out, getting immediately rejected. By that point, we saw that the main point of the chapter is, like the title says, Sakura's depression, a condition that gets immediately fixed after Sasuke praises her.

From what we can see, Lee knows about Team 7 and each of its members; we aren't told why or how he knows, but we can infer that he looked for information of Kakashi's team when hearing of the prodigious Uchiha, as he mostly focuses on him.

After this moment, Lee seeks a fight against Sasuke likely because both of a sense of jealousy (he got rejected by Sakura not a few pages ago, and Neji was curious about Sasuke's identity); and as a way to prove to himself that he can beat those that are considered prodigies.

The reason why he wanted to fight Sasuke makes little sense, which is why I find it weird that people find Lee's actions as noble (most of it has to do with the fandom's hatred towards Sasuke), sure, they're young and their emotions can get the best of them, but considering his military training, Lee should have known better than to lash out to a boy he just met.

"I want to test the effectiveness of my techniques against the last surviving member of your legendary clan" (x)

The phrase is followed by Lee winking at Sakura, so his reasons to fight Sasuke go beyond testing his techniques. Lee, according to this interaction, knew about Sasuke's identity all along and investigated him in order to gain more information when challenging him.

Another thing we learn from his fight with Sasuke: Lee is willing to break the rules of his master and use a dangerous technique against someone younger than him and with whom he had never interacted previously if it means winning.

In addition to Lee explaining why Sasuke can't keep up with him despite having the Sharingan (x), we have the panels above: Why is Lee being so adamantly cruel to Sasuke? And no, I'm not talking about his words, he's explaining his technique -I'm talking about the move he is about to perform against him -someone who it has been proven already can't keep up with him. Lee is projecting all the frustration and hatred he has for Neji onto Sasuke, who shares the same "prodigy" status as his teammate.

[And sure, the reader doesn't know about Neji and Lee's dynamic yet -we are presented with that conflict at the end of the exams, yet the observation stands, I'm only providing the information in order to understand why Lee was so adamantly out of line].

He not only is being unfair but also abusive -had Gai not intervened, he would have injured Sasuke for no real reason other than because he wanted to prove a point to himself.

Like I said before: Sasuke couldn't keep up with Lee's speed, it had been proven that Lee was to win the fight even without using the technique he was about to try. His rival was pretty much defeated, yet Lee continued to elevate the level of difficulty of his attacks to make further and further damage:

1) Sasuke is trembling. Wouldn't that be enough reason to stop?

2) The victory had already been established previously to Lee's performing his ultimate technique. In addition, as I established before, because of its level of damage the move is strictly forbidden, however, Lee tries to use it regardless.

It's true that later on, he tells Sasuke "I was blowing smoke before" regarding the use of the Forbidden Technique. But since Gai interrupted Lee and punished him, it's not that far-fetched to think he isn't telling him the truth as of now. He even thought about it before starting the fight, so he was willing to use the "move" (we learn It was the Lotus technique a few chapters later) but was prevented from doing so.

Chunin Exams and his willingness to sacrifice himself in lieu of others

We see him again during the second stage of the exams jumping through tree branches and training (trying to catch leaves before they touch the ground to see if Sakura would love him), and after that, in Chapter 51 -when he saves Sakura from an attack from Dosu.

There, we learn that he's good enough to notice Dosu's pattern and fighting style (also being able to know when a genjutsu is in place), we also get to know how he got to learn the technique only he was able to study: according to Gai's words, neither Neji nor Tenten were able to master The Lotus (meaning, Gai seemed to have tried to teach it to all of them, only succeding with Lee).

The Lotus Technique consists of:

One use of the technique brings Lee to the brink of exhaustion, as we see here; Dosu hasn't been defeated despite his best efforts because Kazu used his sound techniques to soften the earth. Lee's speed, while inhumane, can't keep up with sound's speed. Kishimoto is quite great when writing fights, isn't he?

Lee is actually and quite literally in love with Sakura, as Tenten states, had Lee been alone when fighting the Oto-nin, he would have won. He's willing to sacrifice his life in order to save her from the Sound-nin, as she literally means "the world" to him.

The impression of Lee's sacrifice (and Naruto and Sasuke's, who are still unconscious at this point) is so significant for Sakura that she considers all of them her "teachers", and people whom she will and needs to protect. Lee's significance in Sakura's development has increased (and will continue to do so).

Later on, during the preliminaries for the Third Stage of the Chünin Exams, Sasuke shows that he was able to memorize Lee's fighting technique due to his Sharingan and also master his moves -despite not being able to keep up with him only three days prior.

In that sense, Sasuke thinks that he was able to live thanks to Lee and his moves. We are also able to see Lee's appreciation of the matter, and his new perception of Sasuke -it seems that his hostility towards the younger boy has dissipated.

When Tenten gets beaten and tossed aside by Temari, Lee jumps in order to both catch his teammate (showing the bond he shares with her) and to kick Temari for insulting her. It's something I introduced before when he fought Sasuke, but Lee is particularly emotionally driven -he's constantly reacting and giving in to his impulses. It's not until Gai tells him to stop that he does. Furthermore, Gaara calls Temari and says, "how long do you intend to trifle with that homely little prince charming?" and the way Lee looks is absolutely enraged, even if he can't retaliate physically.

Gai

Gai's character is so central to Lee that I've decided to make a separate sub-title solely for him.

1) Lee can't use Ninjutsu or Genjutsu. I know that we as fans know this already, but it doesn't hurt to have it written, since is the core of Lee's character. Furthermore, as Gai points out, Lee wasn't able to do anything; he literally had no ability or talent whatsoever -not even at Taijutsu, which Gai taught him.

2) While it's commendable of Gai to teach Lee and put him on harsh training to allow him to grow in a specific field -we're introduced from the get-go that Gai's methods are questionable. He's pushing Lee to an extreme training and, as we saw during his fight with Sasuke and the time he defended Sakura, Lee often refers (or apologizes) to Gai's figure; meaning, everything he does is to make his sensei proud.

3) In addition to the previous point, he taught Lee The Lotus move (which is a technique that opens the First Inner Gate, Kaimon, or Gate of Opening), a dangerous power that, as he explains, strains the body to such extent that it leaves Lee defenseless against another attack should he fail -as it happens with Gaara.

To counteract that problem, Gai taught him to open more than one Gate (remember, every single one is a forbidden technique) to his student (at this point in time, Lee can open five out of eight Inner Gates), Lee's achievement is so incredible, that even Kakashi calls him a genius.

[The explanation of the different Inner Gates inside the body. The Reverse Lotus (the second technique Lee uses, after not being able to defeat Gaara with the Forward Lotus, which opens the first gate), opens two more gates: Kyumon, which boosts his strength, and Seimon (Gate of Life).]

As we know, Lee loses his fight against Gaara because while his attacks proved to be effective against his ultimate defense, Gaara still possessed the Gourd -which he turned to sand to protect himself.

Lee's use of the Lotus technique, in addition to Gaara's attack (Sabakukyu), put such a toll on his body that he ended up "destroyed" enough to be told that he'll never become a full shinobi.

This is a direct consequence of Gai's teachings that never gets truly explored, as his actions are immediately dropped after Lee recovers.

4) I've mentioned before that Gai's character has such importance on Lee's development that he takes immeasurable risks in order to make him proud (being willing to sacrifice his body and keep fighting), but I haven't explained why:

Gai, unlike any other character before, is the first person who trusts Lee's capacity, who thinks (and tells him) about how great/strong he can become, and that he's a genius in his own way. Without Gai's encouragement (and specific training that I've already talked about) he would have never achieved the title of "Taijutsu specialist" that Gai gives him and everyone else acknowledges.

Regarding Gai's perception of Lee, besides the great lengths he went to ensure Lee's success, we also need to point out that Gai is the only reason why Gaara wasn't able to kill Lee. He was the only one who jumped in to protect him (which is the main reason why Gaara wants to kill him after, as he witnessed an act of love that he can't comprehend). The proctor Hayate, meanwhile, did nothing, as well as the rest of the jönins that jumped before to protect Hinata from Neji. In addition, Gai calls him (and only him), his "lovable, precious protégé!" (x) Furthermore, it's directly stated by Lee himself how important Gai's presence is to him (x, x), Gai not only gave him support, but he also gave him a goal to rely on (have a rival and work hard).

"If, by a one in a trillion chance, it ends in failure... I'll die with you!"

Source

Neji

Besides Gai, speaking of Lee without speaking of Neji is also another disservice to his character, since the entire reason why Lee pushes himself to train harder is that he wants to beat Neji.

Sure, the relevance of Neji isn't really as strong as Gai's, but that doesn't mean his presence isn't important when it comes to Lee's development.

We get to see how Lee recognizes Neji's strength, how he craves some sort of recognition from him (although that objective isn't as strong as Naruto's desire for Sasuke to acknowledge him), and how he puts him as a milestone to surpass and, as consequence, reach his goal.

We are even told that Lee's commitment to learning how to open the Inner Gates was a consequence of his desire to win a match against Neji.

Lee's Perseverance

I already introduced this notion, since the whole point of Gai's character is to introduce the idea of "hard work" surpassing natural geniuses, and we find this idea again on CH 93 where Sakura and Ino find him training outside the hospital after his defeat at the hands of Gaara.

He's so driven by his goal, that he overexerts himself and ends up fainting.

Once Tsunade returns to the village, she tells Lee that he won't be able to return to his Shinobi duties, as the operation she needs to perform in order to fix his spine has a 50% success rate, which incredibly depresses him to the point where his ninja way (hard work), isn't enough to take him off of that state.

It's incredibly sad because Lee's entire dogma has been shattered and he has, again, no control over his body or destiny; as everything relies upon Tsunade. For that reason, he seeks Gai's advice, who finally tells him to get the surgery despite the possible consequences, as losing his dream will hurt far more than dying. Furthermore, Gai promises he'll die alongside Lee should the operation fail, as his ninja way was to make him a "Splendid ninja" (x).

The great lengths Lee's willing to go to (not without the support of a very questionable mentor) in order to achieve his dream, putting in line his own life is very telling of the system's (and those that live by such system) priorities, as it teaches young children that their bodies and life alike are expendable and a sacrifice to be made in order to climb within the military ranks and become "useful" to the village.

[Lee's quality of life has been extremely lowered in lieu of his wounds, that's true, however, those wounds exist because he pushed himself too hard in order to please his commander; someone hypocritical enough to question Kakashi's decision to enroll his team in the Chünin Exams as he deemed them too young and inexperienced to participate, yet saw no issue in teaching forbidden and dangerous techniques to his own student.]

Lee's fight with Kimimaro brings, to me, nothing entirely new about his character other than introducing us to his poor tolerance of alcohol. We get to see how Tsunade succeeded with the surgery and how Lee, despite having spent months depressed and having just been saved by Tsunade's skills (without whom he would've lost his entire shinobi career), is able to "forgive" Gaara, as he's a powerful ally.

[saintmeghanmarkle]

The Telegraph's review which includes thoroughly disrespectful paragraph about Queen Camilla by u/Von_und_zu_

The Telegraph's review, which includes thoroughly disrespectful paragraph about Queen Camilla Omid Scobie’s Endgame is ludicrous propaganda for Team Sussex... The reporter’s much-trailed study of the Royal family is laughably partial, devoid of insight and bizarrely misogynistichttps://archive.ph/mJGXXIt begins with a spot on observation:"Hell hath no fury like a royal reporter scorned. Omid Scobie’s Endgame is billed as the real story of what has been going on inside the Palace walls. But what runs through its 400-odd pages is Scobie’s sense of burning indignation that he was shut out." This indeed seems to me like Scoobie in a nutshell. Edit: This also reminds me of the effect of grey rocking the UnSussexfuls -- burning indignation that they have been ignored.Then it goes through some of the mean spirited nasty things he has to say about the main characters in this drama. But then it provides this excerpt about the Queen, and I must say, this is so off-putting, I really cannot believe anyone even pretending to be a serious journalist or author would publish it:" As for the Queen, is that a tone of misogyny I detect in Scobie’s prose? “Camilla,” he writes, “might not have stood on the barricades in the ’60s, but she did enjoy the sexual freedoms ushered in by that radical generation.” “Some who knew Camilla” have described her as “the sort to throw her knickers on the table”; he quotes, from one of the tabloids he despises, a housekeeper saying that she knew when Camilla had been to stay with Charles because there would be knickers all over the place. “Camilla’s undergarments making yet another appearance,” Scobie adds."Later, the review includes this: There is little gossip to be had here, unless you count Scobie regurgitating a rumour that one of Charles’s bodyguards found him with Camilla “doing what Lady Chatterley enjoyed best” in the garden at Camilla’s grandmother’s house. He caveats the story by saying it is “an old (but probably false) fable in royal circles”...It futher includes this paragraph that says to me that the UnSussexfuls really have no respect or regard for the Monarchy which was the life's work of the late Queen and his father and provided them with the titles to which they so desparately cling:There is a lot of petty detail, but Scobie’s target is bigger than any one individual. It is the monarchy itself, described here as “a desiccated system”, “a cratered Firm”, “an unstable family business” and “an institution in decline”. The family is “debilitatingly out-of-touch, even expendable” because it hails from “an incredibly shrinking, old-fashioned world of land barons, polo fields and posh formality”. “The rot has set in,” Scobie warns, “and it’s eating away at the monarchy’s undergirding.”Surely, this really must be the end of the Monarchy insofar as it heretofore included Harold and Madame. I hope as it goes forward, it does so without reference to them.​​ post link: https://ift.tt/2XpNaPi author: Von_und_zu_ submitted: November 28, 2023 at 05:06AM via SaintMeghanMarkle on Reddit

[charlescoded]

It's been a little while since I last posted some snippets, so here's a few lestappen concepts that might never get finished:

1.) photography

The camera practically launches up into the air and as the guy he just bumped into leaps up to catch it, he practically jumps into Max’s arms on the way down. He lets out an oomph, stumbles back, but manages to steady the two of them before they tumble down to the ground. “Fuck,” He’s going to be black and blue where the guy hit him in the chest with his elbow. “Shit, are you okay?”

The guy lets out a laugh that sounds equal parts stressed and relieved, and nods his head. “Yeah, yeah, totally fine. That was too close…”

Max chuckles, a nervous little sound. “The camera’s fine?”

“It is,” He confirms after inspecting the camera closely. “It still works,” Then he pauses. “You can let me go, also.”

“Oh! Right, sorry.” Max lets go of the guy’s waist, not having realised he was still holding him, and takes a step back. “Wait, Charles?”

The man looks up at him, startled by the sudden exclamation, and seems to realise who he had just collided with. “Max Verstappen?” He almost drops his camera again, and Max can see a flush rise from his chest up his neck and to his face. “Wait, no,” Green eyes look at him in disbelief. “You remember me?”

It’s Max’s turn to blush. “Uhm… Yes?”

Charles stares at him with open mouth. “That was 4 years ago!” 

He clears his throat awkwardly. “I remember, yeah.”

“That is…” He trails off, still unable to believe that Max remembers him. And that’s fair. It’s embarrassing that Max still knows his name, even years later. They’d slept together exactly once, and Max can’t say he remembers the names of every single person he’s gone home with, but… Charles was the only guy he’d ever taken home.

“I guess you left an impression.” He says, because he doesn’t know what else to say. Because he doesn’t know how to explain himself. It’s true, of course, Charles certainly left an impression on him that night, maybe more than Max is willing to share. Is willing to admit.

...

2.) instagram

“I want you to go and follow Charles on instagram.”

Max pauses. “What?”

“You heard me,” Lando pats the hand that’s holding onto his phone. “Well?”

“But why?”

Lando stays silent, expectant, like he thinks Max is just going to do that without a proper explanation. The answer is no, he’s not going to do that without a proper explanation. He has no clue what’s going through Lando’s mind right now.

His shoulders slumps. “Okay, fine,” It didn’t take long for him to break. “People would freak out of if you followed him.” He explains.

“They’d freak out?” Max frowns, before clarifying, “Because I’d follow Charles on instagram?”

“Yes!” His eyes are bright and Max shakes his head at his best friend’s antics. “Come on, mate! It would be really funny, they’d start screaming about how Charles now has to follow you back.”

Max allows himself to smile slightly, both indulgent and amused. “I didn’t even know Charles didn’t follow me.” He says honestly.

Lando sputters, flails as he tries to grab hold of Max’s phone, before landing halfway his lap. Max sighs, shifts so Lando’s in a more comfortable position, and drops his phone into Lando’s greedy hands. The grin he sends Max’s way is worth it. “He unfollowed you,” Lando starts, already opening the app. “After Austria.” He adds.

That… stings a little. He’s not sure what he did to get Charles to unfollow him, but that’s fine, he doesn’t normally care about who follows who on social media anyway. “Of course you would know that.” Max says, focusing back on Lando, fond and exasperation all at once.

“Can I?” Lando asks, thumb hovering over Charles’ page.

Max lets out a questioning hmm?

“Can I click follow.” He clarifies, looking back up at Max. 

From his upside down position, Lando’s eyes look wide and pleading, and Max can’t help but laugh. “Yeah, go for it, mate.” He really doesn’t care. His PR team’s who keeps track of his instagram most of the time anyway.

Lando’s grin is blinding—bordering on mischievous—as he presses his thumb down on the follow button. “Great!” Then, Lando’s stomach growls and just like that, his focus is on something else entirely. “Can we order food? I’m getting kind of hungry.”

Max plucks his phone from Lando’s hands, who makes a noise of protest, but doesn’t actually try to get it back. “Sure, what do you want to get?”

“Can we try that donor place? With the nice sauce?”

He makes a face. “The döner kebab, you mean? With the garlic sauce.”

“Yeah, that one!”

Max sighs. “Yeah, sure, I’ll just have to go run an extra lap tomorrow.”

Lando shrugs. “Sucks to be you.”

He rolls his eyes. Yeah, he definitely indulges Lando too much.

...

3.) collar (toxic lestappen)

“Predestined, don’t make me laugh. Predestined for what? To bring glory to Ferrari?” Max’s fingers slide over his neck, tracing strong muscles as he closes the leather strap. It feels possessive, it feels forbidden. His cheeks go red as blood rushes south. “The only way you can bring glory to anyone is on your knees.”

“I’m not— this isn’t—“ He struggles to put his protest into words.

Max tuts softly, his finger sliding into the metal loop of his collar. “Didn’t I tell you?” His voice is gentle, but Charles can feel the tension of the leather against his skin. “You are, this is.” Max smiles, sharp and remorseless. Mocking. With intent. Charles’ skin heats up in anticipation.

Slowly, Max pulls, and Charles goes down with him. His heart is beating wildly in his chest, his hands trembling as he sinks onto the floor. It’s like his body is moving on its own, following Max’s lead, obeying him. Like Max is his master, and all Charles can do is submit.

His mouth feels like it’s filled with cotton. He knows he doesn’t want this, he knows this isn’t what his future is supposed to be, but… Charles looks away, shame burning in his veins. If this is wrong, why does it feel so right?

...

4.) vampire!charles (tw for blood)

Max’s breath halts in his throat as Charles’ hand cradles his cheek. His touch is cold, his teeth—fangs—flash as he smiles, and there’s blood smeared everywhere. On his lips, dripping down his chin. On his clothing, drenching the fabric. On his skin, now staining Max’s jaw in red. 

His thumb swipes over Max’s lips and paints them red, too. There’s an eager, hungry look in Charles’ eyes. Max knows it’s not for his blood, not when his eyes go dark with the promise of pleasure, rather than the swirl of madness he’s grown accustomed to.

“No longer hungry?” Max asks. It’s a wonder that he can keep his voice steady. He’s not afraid of Charles, he knows he doesn’t have to fear him, but that doesn’t mean he’s comfortable with this, with blood, and death, and the massacres he has to witness.

Yet. He still accepts it. Maybe that makes him a bad person—he knows it does—, but love is a flaw, and Max is willing to bear the punishment if that means loving Charles. He already does.

Charles’ grin widens and he slings his arm around Max’s neck, his bloodied hand leaving a trail down to his chest. To his heart. He’s listening to the beat of it, feeling it, because his hearing is good enough to tell him when Max’s heart is freaking out. “I’m never full, chéri,” He murmurs, darting his tongue over the red of Max’s skin. “You know I want more of you, always.”

[pudding-parade]

Via Discovolo by MomSonSimFun

Do you like Monte Vista but maybe not the size or pre-population of Monte Vista? Then this world might be for you. It's a smaller island (1024x1024), with many of the buildings in Mediterranean style. It gives me a bit of Isle of Capri vibes, with its multi-level terrain sculpting, and with many of the lots built cliffside.

It's an old word, uploaded in August of 2010, when the only EPs that existed were World Adventures and Ambitions, and this world uses items from both. It uses a few decorative things from the Store, but there's no CC. All of the lots that are built are fully furnished/decorated, with about 15 empty lots, most of them also cliffside. So if you fancy that kind of building, this would be a good world to mess around in. It would also be a good world to "dress up" with Mediterranean-ish items from the Store/Monte Vista and/or later EPs, not to mention CC. But, if you're not into building/decorating and just want a world to plop some Sims into and play, this world is ready to go as-is, as well, though of course it lacks community lot types from later EPs. It does, however, have all basegame rabbitholes as well as all of the "standard" basegame and Ambitions community lots, plus a few extras, like a church that can serve for weddings and a drive-in cinema. (Which doesn't have an actual, functional movie screen, but you could maybe add the one from the Store movie theater, if you have that). It doesn't have a standard "big park," but it does have many smaller ones. There's also a big-ass waterfall on the "back" of the island with a fishing spot at the top of it.

According to its Exchange page, the world has 37 community lots and 65 residential lots. So, there are a lot of lots packed into this little island. Many of them are small, especially in the "downtown" area, where there are many densely-packed smaller lots, mostly 12x15, with either rabbitholes or 3-story townhouses on them. But, the other residential lots range from a studio-style military bunker(!), to a residential lighthouse, to "standard" starters, to larger family homes, to a couple of small farms with pre-planted harvestables, and then up to sprawling Spanish-style seaside villas and one castle-type place on its own private terrace. Most of the bigger/non-starter homes outside of "downtown" come with cars or motorcycles, even. The "downtown" area is more old-looking, while some of the outside-of-downtown lots are quite modern in style. So, there's something for everyone. And, for the collecting-minded, there are all the spawners that existed at the time the world was made except for the WA China and Egypt fish spawners. You can catch frogs and snails, though, if your Sims are hankering for some frogs' legs or escargot. (I've always wondered why there isn't an escargot recipe, since you can catch snails...)

Overall, it's a cute little world made by, if the username is any indication, a mother-and-son team, which I think is cute. I'm pretty sure they made all the lots (except the firehouse, which is EA) as well as the world. And if you like this one, they uploaded two other (even smaller and older) worlds, too, which you can find on the Creator tab of this world's Exchange page. I have one of them, Bougainvillea Bay, in my "active" in-game-available worlds. It's also quite nice if you want a small, ready-to-go tropical island.

Anyway, as usual, the title of this post is a link to the world's Exchange page or, if you don't want to deal with the Exchange or with the Launcher/sims3packs, I have uploaded a .world file here as well. If you download that, it goes in your install files under GameData - Shared - NonPackaged- Worlds.

Now, let's move on to more pics and stuff, behind the cut.

Here are map view and Edit Town view of pretty much the entire world:

Next, some of the community lots.

An interesting thing that the creator did is to build overlapping walls around and roofs over the rabbithole buildings, to sort of disguise them and make them blend in better with the surrounding buildings. This is an interesting compromise between rabbithole buildings that just don't fit into a town's theme and the practice of hiding rabbithole buildings in basements. It's a neat idea, I think, and one that that I haven't seen done very often. All of the rabbithole buildings except for the bistro in this world are "disguised" this way.

The cliffside building on the right of this pic is the library. The entire back of the building is two stories of glass, so your sims will have quite the view while they're reading or studying.

This is the drive-in cinema. Apart from parking spaces for cars, grills, and the little decorative ticket booth that you can see, there are two buildings with restrooms and another with a fridge, counters, a coffee machine, and seating. (I'd put a food register in there instead.) There's also a small playground and a dumpster, which I think might be the only one in town. LOL Like I said, the screen isn't an actual screen, but you could maybe rig up something with the big movie screen Store item, if you have it.

This is part of one of the three cliffside parks on the highest terrace in the world, just down the street from the city hall. They're hard to take pics of because they're narrow and have a lot of trees. This one has this bit that juts out over the cliff, though. It has a telescope and a nice view of the town below and the ocean beyond.

This is the cemetery, which makes use of the henge rock formation and is overlooked by two big cliffside homes.

This is one of the small parks in the world. It has a playground, a picnic area with grills, the little fishing pond, and the area to the right surrounded by white picket fence has harvestables in it.

From left to right in this pic, we have the disguised day spa rabbithole and then two of the three-story townhouses typical of the "downtown" area of the world.

The teeny-tiny junkyard is squished between the laundromat on the left (which has three entire empty floors that you could finish with stuff if you wanted to) and a townhouse on the right. Behind is the disguised theater rabbithole.

And there are of course more community lots, but that's enough pics of them. Let's move on to residential lots.

This is the "castle" lot, with a nice porte-cochère. It sits on its own private terrace overlooking the town below.

And here are a bunch of others, from the hilarious little bunker to the grandest of the villas.

And, here's probably my favorite of the residential lots in the town:

I, as a claustrophobe, can definitely appreciate a three-story-tall tower of windows. LOL

And that's about all I have to say. Nice little town. Small in size but packed with lots that can be dressed up with a little remodeling/updating or left and enjoyed just as-is. I love the terrain sculpting with the multiple terraced levels and the use of rocks, and I appreciate what was done with what, at the time, was limited resources in terms of existing EP/Store content.

I'll leave you with a couple extra scenery pics because it wouldn't be a post from me without a pic of a big-ass moon. :D

[archiesoniconline]

Sonic Universe Online #53 Behind the Scenes!

Hello again, people! Since last time we covered the behind-the-scenes for StHO #52, today we'll be covering the next and final issue of the Bunnie arc, StHO #53! Admittedly, I might not have as much to say about this issue compared to the last one since I had no involvement in it's production, but I'll still do what I can!

As usual, let's start with the cover. There isn't much to say here since Crim penciled it fairly early into the arc, even before the cover for 52 was made. The biggest change that was made was adding to the bulk of her robotic arm, and moving the sleeves on her coat as a result.

This issue was fully penciled by @dariidrawsindreams, but @katonuchiha4525 provided the thumbnails to use as a reference. Although there had been some issues with artists coming and going, we managed to stick to a remarkably consistent style in this issue thanks to them.

Meifeng was designed by our former artist Pooj, who was meant to be a junior/daughter figure to Conquering Storm, though not her Kommissar. She's obviously more polite and less battle-hardened than her Grandmaster, and although she doesn't personally get involved in the action this issue, she's definitely not to be underestimated. Whether or not she's as easily impressionable as portrayed in the off-panel is yet to be seen.

When Khan has his flashback to issue 92, @alusniper had to correct the colors on the Overlanders' uniforms. But since the flashback was later given a sepia filter, it ultimately didn't make much of a difference.

On page 16, the positions of Bunnie's legionnaire partners ended up being swapped, due to not matching up with the order of the word bubbles in the panel.

One thing that keen-eyed readers may have noticed is that Bunnie is missing her jet pack throughout the issue, even in scenes where she's clearly flying. That was really nothing more than an honest mistake, and by the time it was noticed it was too late to add it back in.

Back in 52, we made sure to add a line about the coil generators carrying the oil shipment throughout the arc, so their role in defeating Jun Kun would be properly foreshadowed. We also made a reference to Espio providing the Fan of Fen Xing to Khan in issue 211, which is how Jun Kun was defeated in that issue.

@riggo-draws had actually drawn the final page at one point, but after he left the team we ultimately stuck to the version that Darii made.

Finally, there's the preview picture that we teased the day before the issue was released. @leroyalmess had made several drafts of Genesis-style pictures to use, but we ended up opting for a parody of the Sonic & Knuckles logo, but with Bunnie and Khan instead.

That's it for this one! Maybe a bit short compared to the others, but no less work involved in making it a reality! We'll have to say goodbye to Bunnie for now, but until she returns, keep your eyes peeled for the upcoming Blaze arc, and beyond!

[dhorrl]

So, my little self-ship headcanons with Katsuki <3 thanks @Bakubunny for the idea! (Also for some reason it’s refusing to actually link her page! This is dumb sometimes tumblr is so stupid, will play with it again later 🤦🏻‍♀️)

- K so let me start my saying that in my little pretend world, UA is a college. Here’s my logic. These guys are kids, and honestly I have to remind myself when I’m reading the manga and stuff because they’re going so through so much trauma at such a young age 😭 and if I’m also gonna be going to UA I’d much rather be going after I’m more emotionally developed just sayin’

- So as for me! I started UA because I wanted to be a hero, although not so much because of All Might like so many of the others. I just wanted to help people and find a use for my Quirk.

- Oh, so I manipulate Oxygen! I have a whole little world building in my based on some actually research I did once but the gist in this… take away oxygen, fire and explosions can’t happen… add oxygen, fire and explosions go big boom… got it? Got it…

- So my first little sparring match with Katsuki, he didn’t think anything of me, didn’t even know my name, didn’t even have an annoying nickname for me, that’s how little he paid attention.

- But when he tried to throw an explosion in my face and I snuffed it out before he could say “DIE,” let’s just say I had his attention then.

- By attention I mean he started by hating me almost as much as he hated Deku.

- Until the next time we had to do a training and we were teamed up together. He told me to just shut my trap and let me work, which I’m like naw I ain’t the one.

- So he went to throw a big ole explosion at Kiri, who was already prepared and fully hardening… so I through a bubble of oxygen and make his explosion a possible too big of a bang. (Eiji was fine, I promise, maybe a little time with Recovery Girl).

- So now I had his attention in a good way, even if he didn’t understand that yet.

- Kats is a tsundere, I’m sorry we all know it… so he had very roundabout ways of trying to see me but didn’t wanna just admit it. Honestly I was oblivious to it, I was focused on school and shit.

- Until one day Eijiro started to put two and two together, and made a plan. He set up a study session with Katsuki, then went and invited me, not telling his bro. Eijiro told me to meet him in Bakugo’s room and I said sure.

- I get there and Kats is looking at Eijiro like he’s about to rip his head off. Then Eiji plays dumb and says he’s actually gotta run and dips, leaving us alone. Shit was awkward for a bit cause he wouldn’t just tell me to leave I’m a stubborn bitch, but by the end of the study session I was starting to crush on him hard and he was pretty sure he was gonna… well yeah. 😂

[somefanficrecomendations]

Podfic Recs!

One of my favorite things about fanfic is the existence of podfics. That said, I'm excited to share a few of my favorites with you! I tried to go for a wide range of fandoms so there should be something for everyone.

Works Alone read by kbirb pods (kbirb) Batman, (gen), 20 mins, Crack, Batfam When trying to pull the team together, Bruce’s ideas are dismissed, because he 'works alone'. He goes home to his kids to pout about it.

Straight On Till Morning read by reena_jenkins DC Legends of Tomorrow, (Sara Lance/Mick Rory/Leonard Snart), 2-2.5 hrs, AU-Canon Divergence Left alone in the Refuge, Mick and Sara decide they're going to be proactive about their fate. They end up becoming time pirates. Because of course they do.

The Haunting of Harrison Wells read by luvtheheaven (VioletEmerald) The Flash, (gen), 2-2.5 hrs, AU-No Powers, AU-Ghost Story Harrison Wells died in 1958. Almost sixty years later, Barry Allen meets a ghost in STAR Labs.

Not a Damsel in Distress read by nickelmountain Supernatural, (gen), 10-20 min, Pre-Canon, Case Fic Mary smiles and shrugs when her dad looks at her. Mermaids. She hates water-creatures. She hates killing things on family holidays. “Mary can come with me,” David says grandly. or, Mary and a cousin go hunting. The cousin is less than helpful.

With a Conquering Air read by AceOfTigers The Witcher, (Geralt/Jaskier), 3-3.5 hrs, Accidental Warlord AU, Slow Burn Jaskier arrives at Kaer Morhen knowing his family gave him up without a second thought, and absolutely sure that the dreaded Warlord of the North will value him even less than his own blood did. But the White Wolf and his pack are not what Jaskier expected...and if he's unreasonably lucky, Kaer Morhen might become far more of a home than Lettenhove ever was.

both have sharp teeth read by Shmaylor Daredevil, (gen), 1.5-2 hrs, Angst, Black Widow!Karen "And there are stories about wolves and girls. Girls in red. All alone in the woods. About to get eaten up. Wolves and girls." -Black Widow, Nathan Edmondson She is one of 28. The story of the girl who would be Karen Page, through Russian winters and New York streets.

If They Haven't Learned Your Name read by quietnight MCU, (Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes), 24 hrs, Buck Barnes World Revenge Tour, Humor Steve gets out of the hospital in two days, but just barely. “I’m fine,” he tells Sam, Nurse Eunjung and the phalanx of doctors assigned to make sure Captain America didn’t bleed out and die and get bad PR all over their nice clean hospital.“I have an advanced healing factor. It’s fine. See? I’m standing.” “That is not standing,” Sam tells him. “You’re bending the IV stand,” Nurse Eunjung adds pointedly. “Let go and sit down, they don’t grow on trees.” aka Steve and Bucky's Global Honeymoon Revenge World Tour.