#I think we should give them all different accents. let them have some fun not understanding each other

[coff33andb00ks]

Rule Breaker - Pt 2

max verstappen x single mom!reader

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warnings: cursing, reader y/nsplains, jos is an asshole, fluff, barely proofread, logan tries to flirt, y/n's bestie is a tumblr girlie at heart, kiddo steals the show Summary: Max has it all...right? Besides, he's too busy collecting trophies and completing side quests for anything else. Until... You moved across a whole ass ocean to start over, uprooting you and your son's lives to become social media admin for cars that drive in circles. word count: 6833 auth.note: thank you all so much for the love for part 1!!! ily all and i'm having so much fun writing this

The paddock was relatively quiet so early in the morning. Unable to sleep, y/n had left the hotel and made her way to the track. She was taking the opportunity to explore the settings on the camera and getting her bearings since she didn't have any work duties to complete until later in the day. She had expected Kevin to want to come with her, but he'd opted to sleep in with Ellie, who would bring him to the track later. So she wandered, exchanging the occasional greeting with others. Stopping to take a photo of a bird perched on the fence in front of pit lane, she backed up, crashing into someone.

"Whoop, s'cuse me, sorry," she said, turning to apologize properly. She recognized the two men by their faces but her mind blanked on their names.

"It's alright, ma'am. Didn't mess up your shot, did we?" His American accent was a happy surprise.

"I don't think so." Smiling, y/n lowered the camera. "My fault, and I'll blame it on being new."

"Marketing?" The other man guessed.

Australian. And suddenly she remembered their names. "Social media. I'm y/n."

"So great to meet you." Logan tipped his head slightly. "Carolina?"

"God, you can take the hick outta Carolina, but you can't take the Carolina outta the hick." He grinned and she laughed. "North Carolina, yeah."

Oscar stared at Logan. "How did you guess that? She just sounds plain American?"

"No, dude, it's the lilt. It's like when George got pissed we couldn't pick up on the different English accents."

"Can he pick up on the different American south accents?" y/n asked.

Logan rolled his eyes. "He knows Brooklyn, Midwest, valley girl, and just south."

"In his defense it's hard to pick out each individual one," Oscar pointed out.

Y/n shrugged. "You've got a point. I sound different from people that grew up just an hour from me."

"Yeah! And I know mine's been butchered from so much time in Europe." Logan nodded.

"You still sound more like home than anyone else I've met."

"I was gonna say the same thing – you sound like home." He smiled, a soft, genuine smile that had her smiling in return.

"And what do I sound like?" Oscar asked with a grin.

"A magical place far, far away," y/n told him. She covertly checked the time and wondered if hospitality had finished setting up so she could get some coffee.

"Hear that? I sound like Star Wars."

"She's using southern charm on you, dude," Logan snorted.

"Well it's working, I'm charmed."

A giggle bubbled up her throat and she let it free, raising her camera and giving them a hopeful look. "Okay?"

"Hang on—" Logan fussed with his hair, and y/n laughed when Oscar reached to help him, then they both had to fuss with Oscar's hair. "Think we're presentable enough?"

She nodded, moving so the sunlight was beside them. She got several photos and thanked them. "I'll send them to y'alls social media teams?"

"You can just send it to me." Logan began patting his pockets for his phone.

"Unbelievable," Oscar muttered under his breath, and y/n barely heard it, giving Logan her number and adding him to her contacts once he'd sent her a text.

"I should get going – Sorry for bumping into you."

"Don't apologize, I'm glad you did."

As she walked away she gave her head a little shake, smiling to herself when she overheard Oscar's grumbling that Logan had flirted with fuckin' Red Bull's social media admin. Something told her to glance back and she did, amused to see Logan watching her. Don't show interest, don't show interest, don't—

He gave a little wave. And she smiled, waving back.

Fuck.

Ducking around the corner, she wandered until she found hospitality, grogginess taking over as she made her way to the back to fix herself coffee. She recognized a couple engineers and mechanics that she'd met in Milton Keyes and greeted them, settling into a corner to drink and look over the pictures she'd gotten.

She was on her second coffee, had uploaded the pictures to her laptop, and was editing the first batch for a short video when the chair across from her was pulled out, taking her shoe with it.

"Sorry," Max said when she yelped, chuckling as he bent to pick up her shoe. "Didn't know you were attached."

"Bad habit I'm afraid." Taking the shoe, she shifted to put it back on. "Picked it up when I was pregnant now I do it without thinking."

"For the swelling?" he asked, sitting down and taking a sip of his coffee.

"Yeah." After tying the shoelace she shifted, tucking one foot beneath her. "Good morning, by the way."

"Morning. Already working?"

"I'm gonna do a short photo tour of the track. I got some nice shots."

"You walked the track?"

"I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep, so… It's beautiful first thing in the morning."

Max nodded, picking up his coffee again. "Why couldn't you sleep?"

"Max, you should know that hotel beds suck. Especially with a three year old sleeping sideways and a snoring friend in the other bed. Is this where you tell me you slept great?"

"Haha, no. My sleep was shit but it wasn't because of the bed. I didn't get enough." He rubbed a hand over his face. "I was up late sim racing."

"Okay, explain sim racing to me," she requested, slipping one earbud in so she could check that the music she'd selected went well with the photos. Tweaking it as he began to talk, she realized she was barely paying attention to her work, exporting and posting the video to all the platforms then closing her laptop to focus on him. He talked with his hands. It was something she'd picked up on already, that if he was focused on the topic he used his hands. Maxplaining the fans called it. Finishing her coffee, she listened intently, propping her chin on one hand.

 He smiled, almost shyly, as he finished. "It's something I truly enjoy. I'm not very sociable. I like going out once in a while, but I prefer to stay in, yeah? And I can spend hours in the sim without thinking twice."

"I spent the last few days watching a lot of interviews. Not just of you and Checo, but everyone on the grid," y/n said softly. "Leclerc talks about piano and his family, Norris talks about gaming and DJing, and Hamilton has his six hundred side projects."

"Yes?" He didn't look or sound impatient for her to get to the point, and she appreciated that.

"The thing is, they all have passions outside of racing. This – formula one, fastest cars, all that – is a goal, a dream, but they all have something else they love, that they can pursue now." She paused, meeting his eyes. "The only thing I've seen you passionate about is racing."

He blinked once, nodding his head. "Because it is my passion."

Y/n regarded him carefully for a moment. "You're very lucky, Max."

That must have surprised him, because his brow furrowed. "Why do you say that?"

"Not everyone is able to be successful following their passion. Being able to do what you love for both a job and hobbies is almost unheard of, yet you're doing it. You break records and win races and yeah you've had a few setbacks but you're still in love with this. And on your off time you're training to be better and studying tracks and you go home and race on your computer." She shook her head in amazement. "You're incredibly lucky, that your passion is not only something you're good at but something you can be immersed in nonstop, and that you haven't lost your love for it."

"I guess I am lucky," he said carefully. "But luck had nothing to do with me getting into formula one."

"I know." She held up her hands, not wanting him to think she thought he was in the position he was purely by chance. "I can't imagine how much work you've done over the years, or how many sacrifices you've had to make. It's just… In my experience, passion doesn't always equal financial stability is what I'm trying to say."

"What's that saying? Do something you love and you never work a day in your life?"

Y/n snorted. "That's bullshit. I love sleeping and yet I still have to work."

That made him laugh and she rolled her eyes, even though she enjoyed the sound. "Surely you love more than sleep."

"I love a lot of things. Maybe that's been my problem all my life. I find things and fall in love with them and when I think hey this might be it something new and shiny comes along and I fall in love with that."

"There's nothing wrong with being passionate about many things," Max said gently.

"That's what I keep telling myself. And yet—"

"Are you saying you don't love your job?"

She froze, a wave of panic rippling through her. "Uhmm… Since it's technically my first day I can't answer that."

"Okay. Do you love your social media?" he asked, leaning forward and resting his arms on the table.

The table which was, suddenly, smaller than she remembered.

"I like engaging others. I like creating conversations and seeing my work appreciated," she finally said.

"You sound like a PR person. Do you love it?" He enunciated each word slowly.

She couldn't say yes. The answer wasn't no, either, because she didn't hate it. "I personally hate it. But you've learned how to make it work for you, yeah? How to word things to spark a conversation among followers? What type of content people appreciate?"

"I like to think so."

"Stop being so unsure of yourself. You study it, right? At your last job when you posted a video and no one liked it what did you do? "

She exhaled harshly. "I compare it to ones that did well and pick it apart to see why it didn't work."

"Why?"

"Why?" she echoed.

"Why did you pick it apart?"

"Because I wanted it to do well," she said slowly.

"And these conversations you want to create, do you join in or sit and watch them happen behind the safety of your screen?" He reached over, gently turning her laptop so he could see the screen.

"I engage. I reply and ask questions to make the viewers want to keep the conversation going."

"Why?"

"Because—" She clicked the mouse, bringing up the comments below the video she'd posted to Instagram. "These comments? Come from people that love this brand – or sport. Some of them are trolls who just want to start up an argument to make their boring lives more interesting for a few minutes, but for the most part it's people who care. People who want to see this team do well. People who had the dream of doing it themselves but life got in the way. People who watched it with their parents and still watch to stay connected to someone they love. It's little kids who want to be like you. It's people who spend their hard earned money on a t-shirt or a hat or a ticket to see someone they admire live out their dream." She took a quick breath, scrolling through the comments. "If I don't like or respond to them, they feel like their opinions don't matter. And maybe they don't in the grand scheme of formula one. But they want to be seen and heard. When I click and they see that Red Bull Racing liked their comment or replied with an emoji or whatever, they have a few seconds of elation, and their support of this team is cemented just a bit more."

Max blinked at her, and she continued even though she heard him draw a breath to speak.

"I know very well how horrible social media can be. However, I've seen how it fosters growth for a company. You're not stupid, I'm sure you've seen how TikTok challenges or Instagram livestreams have brought in more support. Not to mention money. If a post of you wearing your Red Bull shirt gets a million likes, I can probably pull the data and show you that a hundred thousand people went to view the shirt on the official shop and probably twenty-five thousand ordered one. A silly picture of you arriving for race day or a new helmet design pulls people in and gets them excited. And, yes, it makes money. Which in turn pays the salaries of everyone on the team."

"Y/n."

She sucked in a breath. "I'm—"

"Passionate," he whispered before she could say sorry.

"I know what it's like to enjoy something and never feel included," she murmured. "So, yeah… I guess I love what I do, because I like that I can include people in something they love."

His hand covered hers briefly. "For a moment there, I even loved social media."

She watched his fingers squeeze hers before they slid away, wondering why his touch lingered. "Yeah?"

"It's easy to forget that there are real people saying nice things. Sometimes all you can see is the negativity."

"Negativity only breeds more negativity—"

"And when you look at it, it's all you'll see," he murmured.

"Well… So far everything I've posted today has been met with positivity."

"That's good."

"Okay, a few comments about wanting to see Lando on the podium. Thank you for letting me rant about why I do what I do," she said, glancing at his hand without meaning to.

"You let me do the same," he reminded her. Lifting his chin, he waited until she looked at him again. "Are you too busy to see what I was talking about?"

"I don't have anything scheduled until after lunch."

"Perfect." He lightly drummed on the table and stood. "Do you want to see my rig?"

"You do know I won't have a clue what anything but the computer and monitor are, right?" Smiling, she stood and began packing away her stuff.

Closing her laptop, he handed it over, catching her earbud when it fell off the edge of the table. "Maybe you'll like it so much you'll want one of your own."

*-*

He was rambling, he knew he was, telling her about the setup and his plan for the 24 hour race over the weekend and how he had everything scheduled so he could do two of the things he loved most. But he could tell she was paying attention, actually listening, as if she really cared. Rubbing his palms against his thighs, he finished and looked up at her.

"So this is your actual job and the f1 thing is just a hobby?" she teased.

Laughing, he got to his feet and got himself a can of Red Bull. "It's just racing, y/n."

"And racing is life."

"Absolutely." He watched her muffle a yawn behind her hand.

"Am I allowed to mention it in my posts? Because it sounds so badass. Sim race stint then qualifying, chug a Red Bull, sim race stint then race."

"You can mention it, not like it's a secret." He watched her hide another yawn and cleared his throat. "Looks like you need a Red Bull."

She shook her head. "Can I tell you a secret?"

Nodding, he checked the time. Just over an hour before he had to meet with his trainer. "Of course."

"I hate Red Bull," she whispered.

He choked on a laugh. "You what?"

"I've tried so many times! I can just about stomach one of the flavored editions, but the original? Tastes like battery acid to me." She looked embarrassed and covered her face with her hands. "Please don't tell anyone."

"You hate the drink. So you accepted a job with a team owned by the drink company." He wanted to laugh. It was so absurd to him.

"Yes," she groaned.

"That would be like me taking a job at Instagram."

"I know it's so bad. What makes it worse is I love Monster—"

"Of course you do," he said with a roll of his eyes.

"Please say you won't tell anyone. If corporate hears, I'll probably get fired. It's in my contract that I can only drink that while in pubic during race weekends which means I've got to either stick to water or learn to fake it."

"Your secret's safe with me," Max promised, breathing in the aroma of her perfume as she moved past him to get her bag.

"Thank you. I think Ellie would kill me if I told her I have to find a new job."

He didn't want her to go so soon. Ridiculous because he knew he'd see her in just a few hours. By the end of the weekend he'd be sick of seeing her. Sipping his drink, he finally sighed and cleared his throat. "You can take a power nap."

She whipped her head around, sending a wave of her perfume his way. "What?"

"A power nap." Before he could stop himself he was setting down his drink and taking her bag off her shoulder. "Thirty minutes, and you'll feel great."

"Max—"

"You need to be alert and focused, and I don't have a Monster for you to drink. Please, I insist." He motioned to his bed in the far corner, gently nudging her shoulder when she hesitated.

"You're sure?" she asked softly, and when he assured her he was she bent to take off her shoes, looking almost elated as she walked over to the bed. "Wait, I need to set an alarm."

"I'll wake you."

She lifted an eyebrow and he pulled out his phone to set a thirty minute timer. Satisfied, she sat on the edge of the bed, thanking him several times as she laid down and curled up on her side. "Thirty minutes."

"Thirty minutes," he murmured, sitting on the couch to answer emails. It was fifteen minutes before she stopped shifting and kicking, and when he heard her breathing even out he knew she was asleep. Resetting the timer, he stood and carefully pulled the blanket over her, then returned to the couch and tried his best to ignore that she was sleeping in his room.

Her phone started buzzing on the table. She didn't stir so he ignored it, focusing on his email. That was impossible though so he cleared out his unread texts, one foot bouncing each time he heard her breathe. A mistake. It had been a mistake. He jumped up when her phone began to buzz again and, glancing from it to her, he realized she would undoubtedly sleep through it. He picked it up and was about to silence it when he saw the name on the screen. Ellie. That was her friend that was helping with Kevin… Something could be wrong, so he answered the call and lifted the phone to his ear. "Hello?"

"Hey, we just— Who's this?"

"Max. This is Ellie?"

"…Yes…" The woman sounded wary. "Why are you – Oh! Max! Right of course. Um, is y/n okay?"

Max looked over at her, smiling faintly when she shifted. "She's fine. Taking a nap, actually."

Ellie snorted. "Of course she is."

"Is everything okay with Kevin?"

As though aware of the question, Kevin began chattering in the background. "Yeah, he's perfect. I was calling to let her know we just got here but I ain't got a clue where to go."

"Are you at the main entrance?" he asked, slipping out of the room so he wouldn't wake y/n. Ellie told him where they were and he nodded as he pulled out his own phone to text one of the team assistants. "You're going to walk down to the turnstiles, scan your passes and come through. Someone will be there to meet you and bring you to the motorhome."

"Ok perfect. Thank you so much."

"You're welcome. We'll be downstairs to meet you." Ending the call, he checked that the assistant was going to meet them then reentered his room. He closed the door and silenced his timer. "Y/n?"

She hummed in her sleep, and he smiled while he crossed over to the bed.

"Y/n," he called gently. She groaned, shifting to face away from him and it suddenly occurred to him that when he went to bed that night he would smell her on the pillow and the sheets. Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea, but it was too late now.

Would he be an asshole if he had his sheets changed before the end of the day?

Leaning down, he gently touched her shoulder. She inhaled sharply and he saw her eyes snap open. "You have company on its way," he said softly, tugging the covers back in case she tried to get comfortable again. His eyes swept down, locking on the skin bared by her shirt, which had ridden up in her sleep. "Come on, you had a nice nap, time to wake up."

"This bed is so much more comfortable than the one at the hotel," she mumbled, slowly sitting up and turning to face him. Smoothing down her shirt, she stretched and sighed, blinking as she focused on him. "Oh! Ellie and Kevin!"

He laughed as she leapt to her feet, his hands immediately moving to steady her. "It's fine, they haven't even made it to the paddock yet. I've sent someone to meet them."

"Oh," she murmured. "Thank you."

His hands were on her hips, and he forced his breathing to remain calm as she rested her hands on his forearms. The space, which had felt roomy and open, now felt tiny with how close she was to him. He was painfully aware of the scant space between them and each place their bodies touched, but more so of her. That heady floral scent of her perfume and the softness of her palms against his skin. The gentle lushness of her hips. He could hear every breath as his gaze traveled up from her hands to her face, lingering on her slightly parted lips before settling on her eyes. "You good?"

"Yep."

"Right. Sorry," he mumbled, releasing her hips and taking a step back. "I'll get your shoes."

What was wrong with him? It hadn't been so long that he got turned on like a teenager just from touching a woman… As he bent to retrieve her shoes he counted back, dragging a hand over his face in humiliation. What must she think of him? He'd brought her to his room, showed off his fancy toys, then let her sleep in his bed. She probably thought he wanted to fuck her—

You do.

—which couldn't be further from the truth. He was just being nice. Because she was nice. That was all.

Wasn't it?

And why, he wondered as he handed her shoes to her and told her about answering Ellie's call, did he care what she thought? Not caring was his specialty.  

"How do you feel?" he asked, finishing his drink in one gulp.

"Refreshed. Thank you so much, Max." She tied her shoes and ran her fingers through her hair. Her lips moved but he didn't hear a word she said, watching her gather her hair and twist and twirl it, securing it with a band from her wrist.

Witchcraft.

"That okay with you?" she asked, slipping her phone into her pocket.

"Of course," he answered automatically.

She clapped her hands together. "Great! I'll put up a post asking for fan questions."

Max blinked, pinching his brows together. "Fan questions."

"Well we can't do an impromptu Q and A without questions." She had her other phone out now, fingers flying across the screen. "We'll do it this afternoon? Just let me know the best time."

Fuck's sake. What had he agreed to? More importantly, how had she gotten him to say yes? Everyone knew he had a low tolerance for marketing. He could take it back and say no, he couldn't do it today. He could tell her to get Checo to do it, that he would do it another time. He'd gotten out of marketing and social media stupidity without a problem plenty of times before. But he was already opening his calendar, going over his schedule, already telling her the open slot he had at 5, and was already putting Q and A with Y/n in that space.

"Perfect," she enthused, shouldering her bag and heading for the door, her fingers still tapping swiftly on the screen. "They should be here about now, right?"

Nodding, he followed her out the room and down, smiling when Kevin came through the front door with a woman he assumed was Ellie. The boy dropped her hand and sprinted over to y/n, who dropped down to hug him tightly. Max looked on, chest squeezing, searching for something that had been lacking, as mother and son talked and hugged, their words overlapping. They both understood each other perfectly, though, and he smiled at Kevin's excited retelling of what he'd had for breakfast. Introducing himself to Ellie, he reached to shake her hand.

"Mister Max!" The boy squealed.

"Kevin!" He was down in a split second, Ellie forgotten and chest constricting tighter as Kevin hugged him like a long lost friend.

"I saw two cats and a horse!" Kevin tugged at his shirt, grinning as he showed off his Red Bull merch.

"You did? What kind of cats?" he asked, taking the boy's cap and beginning to roll the brim for him while the boy described the cats and then the horse. Returning the cap, he enthused over animals, telling him about his own two cats and pulling out his phone to show him a few pictures.

"I miss Cotton," Kevin said with a small pout.

"Is that your cat?" Max saw his trainer approaching and gave him a quick nod.

"Yeah. We can't bring him to Eng-a-lund so Aunt Ellie's sister has him." Kevin's pout melted into a faint smile. "But she sends lots of pictures!"

"That's good. And maybe you'll be able to get him soon."

"Mama says it's s'pensive." The boy sighed as though he had to earn the money to bring his beloved cat to England.

"I know," Max sympathized. "Go with your mum, yeah? I've got to go train."

Kevin's face puckered in confusion. "Train? Like Shang?"

Y/n cleared her throat. "We watched Mulan on the flight last night."

"What did Shang do?" Max vaguely remembered the movie, but it had been years since he'd seen it.

"He made a man out of 'em."

"Okay, doodle bug, we have to let Max get his workout in," y/n said, flashing Max a smile. "If you ask another question he'll start singing the song."

Max stared at her then turned his attention back to Kevin. "What song?"

Because he had to. Because hearing her groan as her son began singing a song about being a man was priceless. And the dramatic way she hung her head when Ellie joined in made him laugh. Kevin giggled, cutting off his singing and looking at Max hopefully. "Will you watch it with me?"

"I—"

"Mister Max is too busy to watch a movie," y/n cut in.

"We'll watch it this weekend," Max promised, hating the sadness in the boy's eyes. Relieved when it disappeared in a flash, he gave him a high five and stood.

"Yay!"

He exchanged a look with y/n, who sighed and nodded, reaching for Kevin's hand. "I'll see you later," he said.

"5 o'clock," she reminded him as he headed out.

*-*

"So…"

Y/n groaned at Ellie's knowing tone. Watching as Kevin was snatched up by Lando so he wasn't crashed into by Charles in the impromptu game of football, she folded her arms over her chest. "So?"

"He had coffee with you."

God, here we go.

"Showed you his private room and his expensive computer setup… Let you take a nap in his bed—"

"He's just being nice," y/n insisted.

"And he's gonna take time out of his ridiculously busy weekend to watch a movie with Kevin." Ellie hummed, taking a sip of her tea.

Ignoring her, y/n looked on as Lando, Oscar, and Logan pretended to fight back the others while Kevin kicked the ball towards the goal. They were all shouting, dramatic and over the top, and above it all she heard the sweetest sound of her son's laughter. When the ball rolled into the net there was a roar that rivaled a championship game, and she joined in the cheering and applauding.

"You could do worse," Ellie murmured.

"Would you stop?" Y/n rolled her eyes, giving Logan a thumbs up when he gestured to the football and Kevin, understanding they wanted to have another quick game.

"He's cute."

"They all are," y/n muttered without thinking, lifting her camera for a few photos for her personal collection. Recognizing Checo when he suddenly appeared in the viewfinder, she snapped more photos, lowering the camera to watch.

"You know—"

"I can't wait for you to start your job so I can come and try to partner you up with a coworker," she huffed, snorting when Ellie gasped.

"You wouldn't."

"In a heartbeat."

"Besides, there's only one person in that group that's technically your coworker," Ellie said.

"I'm not here for that."

"I know." Ellie leaned against her briefly. "Wouldn't be me if I didn't encourage a delusion, though."

"Yeah…" Y/n laughed softly. "It's my first day, of course everyone's already in love with me."

"Exactly."

It was what she loved about Ellie. No matter what, she could make her laugh. Grinning, she watched Kevin bump into Oscar, who immediately collapsed with an exaggerated howl of pain, holding the leg that Kevin hadn't touched. "And they're all so good with kids."

"Total dad material, every one of them," Ellie agreed. "Not a stepdad, a dad who stepped up."

She choked on a laugh, playfully swatting her friend's arm. Because she knew Logan had overheard them. "Stop—"

"And probably more than willing to crack your back—"

"Oh my god." Clapping a hand over her face, she sensed someone approaching. "I have to work with these people."

"Only until they fuck a baby into you."

"Hey, y/n, your kid's so cool," Logan said.

Her face burned but she slowly pulled her hand away, giving him a weak smile. "Thanks."

He propped his hands on his waist, breathing heavy as he watched Kevin dart between Lando, Oscar, Checo, and Alex. "He always this energetic?"

"Fify-fifty. He's either like this or so quiet I worry he's up to something."

Logan chuckled. "Is he a troublemaker?"

"Nah, if he's quiet it's because he's focused on his cars or studying a bug."

"Christ! Get it away from me!"

Y/n's heart lurched at the sudden shriek from Lando, and she barely saw him sprinting away from her son, who was holding something in his hands.

"It's a frog, mate!" Oscar shouted behind him.

"Don't care!"

Kevin slowly walked over to y/n. "Mama, look!" he said, eyes shining with excitement. His cheeks were a little flushed from the hard play and he was giggling. "Mister Lando scared of a l'il frog."

"He's just not a country boy like you, honey," she soothed. "But maybe we should put the frog somewhere he'll be safe?"

"C'mon, Kev, I'll help you," Logan offered.

"Hmm," Ellie hummed once Logan had scooped Kevin up, cupping one hand over the boy's to keep the frog from jumping away.

"Shut it."

"I didn't say a word."

"Please, that hmm contained at least two paragraphs, ten innuendoes, and a pointed reference," y/n said, trailing behind Logan. Looking on as he set Kevin down near the tree line, she got a few pictures of them releasing the frog. She cringed when her son wiped his dirty hands on his shorts but Logan didn't seem to mind, lifting him up and carrying him back to her.

"He's free!" Kevin squealed. "Thanks, Mister Logan."

"Anytime, Kev." He tousled his curly hair after setting him down, flashing a shy smile at y/n.

She returned the smile, eyes following Kevin as he ran back to the game. "He's gonna pass out as soon as we get back to the hotel."

"He could probably run circles around all of us all night," Logan chuckled.

"True…"

"So like…" He cleared his throat. "Are you married?"

God, she loved Floridians. "No," she answered, turning to look at him. "Are you?"

"God no." He made a face at the thought. "So you're single?"

She nodded, already formulating how she would turn him down if he asked her out. She was too busy. Not interested in anything romantic at the moment. It never hurt to be honest, right? She couldn't lie and say she just had a messy breakup or—

"Would you be interested in – I'm not trying to hook up or anything," he said quickly when she opened her mouth. "Just, like, as a friend? I know how it is to feel like a fish out of water here. I'm kind of used to it but I can remember feeling like I was alone and surrounded by people who didn't understand my Americanisms."

"Oh." Aw. Damn it, she couldn't say no to that. "I… Yeah, sure, I'd like that."

He smiled. "Awesome. Maybe we can do something tomorrow after practice?" he suggested.

"Sure, sounds great. Text me?" she requested. Her phone alarm started going off and she pulled it out to silence it. "I gotta go. I'll see you later."

She waved to Ellie and mimed that she had to get some work done, waiting for her friend to wave back before making her way to the garage. While walking she got a message from one of the mechanics that the cars were photo ready and quickened her pace, envisioning the photos she would get of the mechanics and engineers. As she worked she asked questions, truly interested in what everyone did, a small idea forming that she'd run by Mr. Horner later. She knew that she would enjoy mini profiles on the team, with just the most basic of information like their names and where they were from. Maybe how long they'd been on the team, what had brought them to formula one…

"Thanks so much guys," she said as she finished up, declining the offer of a cold Red Bull. Her alarm went off again – twenty minutes to get ready to meet Max in the lounge back at the motorhome – and she switched off the camera, waving bye and turning to leave the garage.

She slammed into a human wall, grunting in surprise as she stumbled back. Twice in one day, really? The bump had caused the camera to slam against her ribs and she rubbed the spot gently. "I'm sorry! Wasn't looking where I was going."

She expected a chuckle, a reassurance that it was a hazard of the job. Maybe even an apology in return. Instead, the older man sneered at her, looking her up and down in such a way she felt like a child caught misbehaving. "You need to learn your place."

She gulped, fear prickling through her embarrassment. And even though she knew she hadn't done anything wrong, she found her mouth opening to apologize. "S-sorry."

"Horner know better than to hire amateurs," he muttered, scoffing. "He obviously didn't hire you for your looks."

She bristled at that. "I beg your pardon?"

"As you should." He brushed past her.

She felt weak. Clammy and cold. Shuddering slightly, she swallowed hard and left the garage, heading straight for the motorhome, where she was able to catch her breath. Who the hell had that been? He'd been wearing a Red Bull pass, so he had to be on the team. He was obviously important. She couldn't imagine him being considered her boss, not when everyone else had been so nice and—

"Ah, y/n, are you ready to do the Q and A?" Max asked.

Y/n felt her lungs burn and sucked in a breath, staring at the cup of coffee she'd made herself. "Y-yeah, I'll meet you up on the deck?"

Please go up, please go up, please go—

"What's wrong?"

Goddammit.

"Y/n?" He looked and sounded concerned, and she ducked her head as he walked over. "Hey…"

"I'm fine," she lied.

"You're a terrible liar," he said, leaning against the counter. "What happened?"

"Nothing, I'm just overreacting." Rubbing her hand over her face, she shook her head and reached for the coffee. "Just a run-in with an asshole."

"But I haven't seen you in three hours." Max's lips barely twitched at the corner.

"Not you, a different asshole." She felt her cheeks burn and groaned. "I'm not saying you're an asshole!"

"You don't have to, I already know I can be an asshole at times." Folding his arms over his chest, he met her eyes. "Who was it?"

"That's the thing, I don't even know. I was coming out of the garage – You know, I went down to get pics of the mechanics? Anyway, I was about to text you about the Q and A and wasn't looking where I was going and bumped into him."

"Who?"

"I don't know. Older, kinda tall? Sour faced." She raised a hand to the man's approximate height. "I apologized and he told me I need to learn my place, then said I was an amateur and Horner obviously didn't hire me for my looks – I didn't ask his name because I was in shock. All I know is he had a Red Bull pass."

Max's brow furrowed, and she felt him tense. Then, to her surprise, he described the man perfectly.

"Yeah, that's him." She bit her lip. "You know him?"

"Unfortunately," he muttered. "It's my dad."

"Oh." Y/n looked down at her coffee. "Sorry."

"Me too." He sighed, pushing away from the counter. "Don't listen to him, yeah? You have more right to be here than he does, and you're not an amateur. As much as I hate social media, even I can tell that you're excellent at your job."

"Thank you," she whispered. "I just… I've spent my entire adult life working to improve myself and discover my own worth as a human being, and I can give other women empowering pep talks, but I still freeze when a man that thinks he's better than me talks down to me."

"Fuck him," Max said simply. "He's not your boss, he can't control anything you do in your life."

"Either you're really trying to make me feel better or you really don't like your dad," she murmured. When he didn't reply, she slowly lifted her gaze. Seeing the muscle in his jaw twitch, she felt a pang of sympathy. If the man had been that rude to her, a stranger, she couldn't begin to imagine what he'd been like to his own son.

"If he speaks to you like that again, you let me know."

"I don't want to cause a fuss—"

"Not wanting to cause a fuss is why he thinks he can get away with it," Max pointed out. "I'll speak to Christian—"

"Max, no, it's literally my first week!"

"Which is why you have to set boundaries now. He'll either treat you with the respect you deserve or he'll be banned from the paddock."

Y/n blinked in shock. "You'd have him banned?"

"In a heartbeat." The look on his face told her he was serious, from the determined set of his jaw to the way he kept his eyes level with hers. "So either you mention it to Christian in the team meeting or I will."

"God," she groaned, knowing that this had to be just one tiny item among a long list of infractions for Max to want him banned. "Okay. I'll tell him before the team meeting tomorrow."

"Good. Come, let's do the Q and A. You ready?" he asked, taking her empty cup and throwing it away.

"Yeah." Grateful for the distraction, she walked to the stairs with him. "I did a clip of you looking confused and posted it on TikTok and Instagram that went viral because I captioned it When You Ask Max Verstappen About Anything But Racing. Oh and I found out Tumblr fans love making gifs of you laughing. Twitter likes making memes out of your face. Whereas Facebook is mostly a bunch of boomers commenting about how I'm ruining the integrity of the sport."

"I really do hate social media," he snorted.

"And that is why I'm doing social media," she teased. Halfway up the stairs, she slowed, turning to look at him. "Thank you, Max."

"For hating social media? You're welcome."

taglist

@spookystitchery | @halleest | @lyannesworld | @llando4norris

[woso-dreamzzz]

Tia Tana II

Magdalena Eriksson x Hardersson!Reader

Aitana Bonmatí x Hardersson!Reader

Part of The Big Adventures Universe

Summary: Tia Tana takes you to meet Spain's keepers

Alexia smiles at you as you and Tia Tana approach.

You smile back.

She nudges both of the girls in Keeper shirts. "She's going to be better than both of you when she grows up."

"Huh?"

"This is y/n," Tia Tana introduces," Pernille and Magda's daughter."

"The little girl in the hallway at the final against Chelsea?" One of the non-keeper girls asks," She's grown."

"Kids do that Jenni," Alexia says with an eye roll.

"Yeah but she was so little then and now she's like a teenager."

"I'm still little," You say," Because Morsa and Momma still pick me up."

It's the girl with the tattoos on her arm. She's a very vague figure in your mind. You think she took one of your Ahlgrens Bilar during the break of that match.

"y/n," Tia Tana says," This is Jenni. She used to play for Barca."

"Hi," You say before tilting your head to look at the keepers. They don't look like Zećira or any other keeper you know. But that's okay though because Momma says everyone is different and that's good because otherwise the world would be boring.

"This is Misa," Tia Tana says," She plays for Real Madrid. And Cata, she plays with me and Alexia at Barcelona. And I think you must have seen Ona before too."

"Briefly," Ona confirms," How can I forget the assistant coach of Chelsea?"

You decide that you like Ona. She has a fun accent that's different to Momma and Morsa's when they speak English. She also recognises you as the important person you were for Chelsea and that's important too.

"Used to be," You say," But now we're leaving for Germany to Bayern."

You must make a face because the girls all laugh.

"You don't like Germany?" Jenni asks.

"I like Germany because of Wolfsburg," You say," Bayern's okay, I guess, because they've got a red jersey like Arsenal. Arsenal's my second most favourite. I'm going to play for Arsenal when I'm older."

"As a keeper," Tia Tana continues, adjusting her grip on you. She jerks her chin at Misa and Cata. "That's why she's going to be better than you too."

Misa and Cata laugh and Misa gets a bit closer to give you a fist bump.

"You know," She says," If you really want to be the best keeper in the world, you need to come to Real Madrid. We're the best!"

There's outrage from the rest of the girls and Alexia easily plucks you from Aitana's arms to speak to you. You know it must be important because Momma does this sometimes too.

"Don't listen to Misa," She says," Barcelona's the best and don't let anyone else tell you differently."

You think for a moment. "Daan says Lyon is the best."

There's more outrage.

"Van de Donk thinks Lyon is the best," Alexia says," She's entitled to her own opinion."

"But it's wrong," Cata appears over Alexia's shoulder," Because Barcelona is the best and you should definitely come over and join us when you're older."

You tilt your head to the side as you think. "Tia Tana, is Barcelona good?"

"Very good," Tia Tana promises you.

Misa scoffs and rolls her eyes. "Don't indoctrinate her! She's just a baby!"

"We can't help it if Barcelona outclasses Madrid every match," Jenni chuckles.

"How many El Clásicos have you won again?" Ona teases and Misa shoves her away with an eye roll.

"Watch it, Batlle," She says," You'll see when you come back this year. We've been working on some stuff."

Cata scoffs but doesn't get involved with the little squabble. She strips her gloves. "Here," She says, pressing them into your hands," It's probably poor taste since I just beat your mum with them but, here. Every keeper needs a good set of gloves."

You beam at her. "Thank you!"

"I don't know how you guys came into custody of my baby," Morsa's teasing voice says from behind you," But I'd like to get her back now, please. Pernille would kill me if I let you take her back to Spain."

"I'm sure we could come to an agreement," Tia Tana says, smiling a wide smile at Morsa," Fifty-fifty custody? We've got Frido in Spain too. It's not like she'll forget her Swedish."

"I think Pernille's more worried about her losing her Danish than her Swedish," Morsa says. She takes you from Alexia. "And I'm actually quite fond of her."

"I got new gloves, Morsa," You tell her, holding them up so she can inspect them.

"Very nice, princesse," Morsa says," But I think it's time to say goodbye to your new friends. You look very tired."

A crinkle appears between your brows. "I'm not tired."

"Yes, you are." Morsa's chuckling now. "Come on. If we head back now I promise you can have a sleepover with Frido and Amanda."

You look at her suspiciously. "And I get to bring Rocky?"

Morsa sighs deeply. "Yes, you can bring the rock."

"Okay!"

"Say goodbye."

"Bye!" You wave at the Spanish girls happily, blowing a big kiss for Tia Tana before turning back to Morsa. "Momma lets me have sweeties when I sleep over with the Denmark girls. Can I have sweeties with Frido and Mandy?"

"Can't you just be happy that I'm letting you bring the rock?"

"Rocky would have come anyway. Can I have sweeties?"

"Fine, you can have sweets."

[marigoldwriter]

NOBODY ASKED, BUT I DID IT!

Incorrect quotes from Descendants! Specifically with characters from my fanfic!! (read here)

—-–—‐–—‐–—‐–——-–—‐–—‐–—‐–—

Letty: I don’t care what anyone thinks about me.

Corwin: Ok.

Letty: Wait, why such a muted reaction? Did that not sound cool?

(I saw someone doing this with Red and all I could think of was Letty, like mother like daughter)

—-–—‐–—‐–—‐–——-–—‐–—‐–—‐–—

Murderer: Any last words?

Cherise: Do you think I'm cute? Be honest.

(little by little they will understand that she isn't afraid of death, not even a little bit)

—-–—‐–—‐–—‐–——-–—‐–—‐–—‐–—

Micah, looking at the Hearts's children: Okay, so I need to become a therapist faster.

(it's a spoiler, yes, but no one will understand)

—-–—‐–—‐–—‐–——-–—‐–—‐–—‐–—

Manon: Just be yourself. Say something nice to her.

Letty: Which one? I can't do both.

(I should put Letty as red, she's so her mother)

—-–—‐–—‐–—‐–——-–—‐–—‐–—‐–—

Corwin: Do you have a self-care routine?

Rosa: "Keep going bitch" said to myself in different accents.

(In Riddles, French, Spanish, and a british accent, to be precise)

—-–—‐–—‐–—‐–——-–—‐–—‐–—‐–—

Arley, about Letty: She’s speaking some kind of French.

Rosa: Let me handle it. I speak Spanish. It's the same thing.

(Nobody knows who Arley is, but I'm going to put her here anyway. And this is very canon)

—-–—‐–—‐–—‐–——-–—‐–—‐–—‐–—

Letty, to Eva: If you see Corwin, give him this message *makes a neutral face*.

Letty: He'll know what it means.

*Later*

Eva: oh, and Letty said to give you a message.

Eva: *makes a neutral face*

Corwin: Oh no. The neutral face of displeasure.

(NOBODY KNOWS WHO EVA IS BUT— yeah, you'll understand)

—-–—‐–—‐–—‐–——-–—‐–—‐–—‐–—

Montreal: If we don’t get out of this alive… If we’re both about to die… I love you, Letty!

*Neither of them die*

Letty: …

Montreal: …

Montreal: So do you wanna talk about somethi-

Letty: No thanks.

(Spoiler, maybe, but that would happen. AND YOU WILL KNOW SOON WHO MONTREAL IS)

—-–—‐–—‐–—‐–——-–—‐–—‐–—‐–—

Cherise: I wasn't hurt that badly. The doctor said all my bleeding was internal, that's where the blood's supposed to be!

(Dearest, you've been like this since you were ten, please, you'll break another bone if you stay like this)

—-–—‐–—‐–—‐–——-–—‐–—‐–—‐–—

Mal: While I’m gone, you’re in charge, baby dragon.

Micah: Yes!!!

Mal, whispering: You’re secretly in charge, little dragon.

Manon: Obviously.

(THERE’S NO OTHER COLOR FOR THEM OTHER THAN PURPLE. I'll do this to Hearts family if I do this again)

—-–—‐–—‐–—‐–——-–—‐–—‐–—‐–—

Red: In your opinion, what’s the height of stupidity?

Letty: *looking at Chloe out of the corner of her eye* How tall is she?

(this will probably happen, at some point, out of sight of the readers)

—-–—‐–—‐–—‐–——-–—‐–—‐–—‐–—

Eva, banging on the door: Letty! Open up!

Letty: Well, it all started when I was a kid...

Micah: No, she meant-

Corwim: Let she finish. I'll be next.

(it would be funny if they didn't really need therapy)

—-–—‐–—‐–—‐–——-–—‐–—‐–—‐–—

Cherise: *Gently taps table*

Rosa: *Taps back*

Corwin: What are they doing?

Letty: Morse code.

Rosa: *Aggressively taps table*

Cherise: *Slams hands down* YOU TAKE THAT BACK-

(They were arguing about who won the card game last time)

—-–—‐–—‐–—‐–——-–—‐–—‐–—‐–—

That's it! I was really inspired by @ronance4everbrainrot to make this post, I just wanted to have some level of interaction about my fanfic and for it to be fun.

[poppetsisters]

So, what/how do you think and feel about the FF suit that Joseph was wearing in that video message for D23?

I'M GLAD YOU ASKED BECAUSE I WAS GONNA MAKE A POST ABOUT IT!

My gut reaction was that I got a little scared. The combination of white AND black with the base colour reminded me a lot of Professor Impossible from Venture Bros, especially when leaked set pictures of Vanessa Kirby seemingly show her in a black skirt/shorts/it's hard to tell

But let me start from the top. I'm gonna recount a few points in my Valentines Day video but time has given me more thoughts.

Let's start with the Logo on the suit, which is best rendered in the Title graphic. It's such a nice, elegant logo, smooth curves with subtle accent lines. the way the line crosses into itself on the 4 makes it look like a star. It's not sharp like the teaser logo we got (and was used on MoM Reed) but friendlier, bouncier, while still keeping a strong structure.

The colour scheme itself was a surprise to me when I first saw it back in February. Instead of any traditional colour combination, we're getting white on azure, this is a combination I've only ever seen on season 1 of the 90s cartoon.

Unlike my reaction to that show, the choice of colours looked way better than I expected. The blue really pops with the white, and (as I'm sure was intentional) gives them a fun astronaut aesthetic. Honestly, it's such a relief after so many dull grey militaristic MCU costumes that we're finally getting something based on 60s NASA instead.

These suits also look very comfy. I know the actors are for sure gonna have a different opinion on that, but they look snug on the actor's body, not needing any muscle suit underneath to portray strength. I don't know what material the suits made out of, but it gives off something that allows for stretch and warmth, like a sweater. Great choice.

Now let's look at the elements itself. The Logo is clear and readable, something I was nervous about with previous suits having their logo too small. It's centred on a good part of the suit, maybe I would've raised it higher but then it'd be intersecting with the brim, so I'm not gonna be fussy about it.

The brim itself is much wider than I was expecting, and the turtleneck isn't too large, which is nice since you don't want to make the actors have a double chin.

The biggest departure from traditional suits is the white from the collar extending Spider-Man like down the arms. It seems a little odd that a detail like that doesn't connect to the gloves, leaving a blue gap between that and the entrance to the glove. It reminds me of a symmetrical version of the Jim Lee suits from 1997. I'm trying to find a precedent for this design decision in 60s NASA era space suits, but I can't find any. Aesthetically, it feel unnecessary, but maybe they want to call attention to the arms in the design for some reason. Maybe it's something to do with his fire form.

The gloves however being starkly white on the outside and black on the inside do hold a precedent. Some space suits, indeed most practical gloves, use a different material for the inside of the hand to aid in grip. I believe that's what's happening here. The gloves appear to have that same strap that Carlos Pacheco introduced in 2001.

Since we don't get a good shot of the legs, my final notes are on the belt. A friend of mine commented that Johnny has a camera on his belt, but I think the reference is to the Belt-Buckle Solenoid, the micro-beam key that unlocks the elevator to the Fantastic Four's residence. This is a really cool detail to put into the belt, and it's silver colour blends nicely with the while so it doesn't interfere with the colour or shape language.

The last point I want to make, speaking of Sue, is that according to this suit reveal and the leaked Susan Storm pictures, it appears that every member of the team gets a distinct costume, and that's probably for the best. My only real desires is that they should all still look like they're on the same team with a unified colour scheme and logo, which is probably a given but I still wanted to point out anyway.

Overall, this costume is leagues better than the 2015 costumes and even the 2005 costumes. They're bold, colourful, proud of their 60s design heritage, and most important of all, fun!

[jaded-jezz]

Secret Smiles

Hi, this is my first one-shot so I obviously had to have Jack Champion kick off this account! Let me know your opinions or requests too!

Please do not repost this, reblogs are appreciated.

Jack Champion x F!Reader

☁︎ Fluff

summary: your relationship with Jack is still private so you communicate across events in different ways.

The Emmy Awards. I've heard that so much recently that its starting to sound like a made-up word. I still get goosebumps every time I remember I get to attend these prestigious awards with my cast, friends and-

"Y/N, as beautiful as you look right now, it is time to get up"

And- my boyfriend.

Jack and I have been together for almost 7 months and due to me living in England most of the time, we have been able to keep it a secret. Our relationship is like that Taylor Swift song “London Boy” but flipped. Because god he loves the English.

I give in to the whispering voice and slowly start to stretch to wake my body up. As I open my eyes I realize the curtains have been opened and warm yellow light is pouring down onto the mop of curls bouncing around me.

"Compliments already Champion?" I ask grinning as Jack whips around to see I'm awake now, "Maybe I should stay asleep forever if you think I look that good."

"Yeah but then all my bad jokes would never be laughed at again" he says as he walks towards me offering his arm and bowing slightly, "M'Lady, breakfast is waiting and it'll be cold if we don't hurry" he exclaims in his best British accent before grabbing my hand and pulling me through the hotel room in a fit of mischievous giggles.

He had ordered my favorite from room service and had it set in front of the window with a view of the beach in the distance. Although I woke up later than planned we were still ahead of schedule so we took our time eating and just talking to try and ignore the nerves for tonight.

A knock at the hotel door made us jump and we remembered Jack was supposed to stay in his own room. I tried to whisper that he should wait somewhere until it was safe to leave but my manager and the rest of my team walked in. I'd forgotten they had a key.

"Oh... I let myself in as I thought you over slept but I can see-" She glances at Jack trying not to break her serious face, " you are awake and have company"

Everyone glances at each other for a few moments before erupting into laughter as it's almost an unspoken tradition that me and Jack don't listen to staying separate before something so nerve wracking as The Emmys.

Sadly, Jack was kicked out swiftly so that my team could help me with my hair and makeup and eventually get into my dress. This is one of my favorite parts of the day because everyone is talking and having fun while music plays as background music for us to dance, sing or just listen to. One thing we love to do is make TikToks about the process of my makeover.

I thrive off musical.ly transitions and the fans love it every time, and it makes me so happy. My fans have always been some of my favorite people. When I first started out I followed the first fan accounts and we continue DM regularly after all this time. But even though they are lovely, Jack and I are still wary of hate and also some of the threats that his fans may throw at me. We will tell people eventually but right now its fun to mess with them and give subtle hints for the detectives among the followers.

I am finally ready. I've finished the last parts of TikToks, taken photos and grabbed my bag of essentials like plasters, gum and tissues. I shoot Jack a text and he's at my door in less than 30 seconds. Even though he has seen pictures of my outfit, his eyes almost pop out of their sockets when I open the hotel door.

"Hey-" My face starts to go red after realizing why he has stopped talking "Jesus Y/N, you look gorgeous, like actually breathtaking, I need an inhaler, Do you have to pay for inhalers? Where do you even buy them from?" He rambles as he becomes flustered in front of the beautiful woman he gets to call his girlfriend.

I grab his face, to stop the word vomit, and kiss him trying not to smile too much. "Thank you Jack, you look as amazing as always" I retort "Is it hot in here, somebody catch me I am going to faint, Cause of death: Jack Champion" We both laugh before our managers tell us its sadly time to separate for the ride to The Emmys.

We text non-stop throughout the journey talking about everything that has ever happened because neither of us can stay on one topic without branching off into a rant or an important piece of backstory to the first conversation. But Jack has to arrive at the theater first so that he can walk the carpet at a similar time to his cast mates, and so that I can do the same. So we text our goodbyes.

Stepping out of the car onto the carpet with fans shouting and cameras flashing is a feeling I will never get used to. The rush hits me as I remember to smile and walk properly to not look like Bambi on ice. My manager is that my side lightly guiding me towards the queue of celebrities next to the paparazzi for our official photos. I use the waiting time to scope out the brown head of hair that will calm me down.

I hear him laughing before I see him. He is doing an interview with one of his favorite cast mates and I feel my face already start to ache from smiling at him. However he doesn't spot me until I'm on the carpet.

(Jack's Interview- Jack's POV)

"So yes, we are extremely proud of this movie" I end my answer for the interviewer. They start to ask another but I am distracted by the roar of noise from behind me. Y/N.

She looks stunning. I can tell why she has such dedicated fans, I mean look at her. I finally catch her eye and we do our little signal.

It's like we have made up our own language for these events. Little head wiggles, eyebrows and nose scrunches and sometimes we risk it by lip syncing the words and we just pray that no one can see we are communicating with each other.

I laugh to myself before I'm pulled away from the trance she has put me in. My cast mate is elbowing me and I realize a few people are staring at me, expecting an answer.

" Oh I'm so sorry, I got distracted" Y/N is never going to stop talking about this, "What was the question?"

(Back to Y/N's POV)

As I walk off the end of the carpet my manager appears, telling me all about Jack's distraction and I already knew he was going to be so embarrassed about this even before I pulled out my phone to be met with the long stream of manic texts from Jack.

(Later that night, in the comment section of Jack's Interview)

jackonion: Is anyone else trying to work out what got Jack so distracted? ↳user142: no omg i was trying to do that too! ↳Y/N's.heart: It was definitely Y/N, you can see her dress at the end of the video. I might be going delusional but it's because I ship them.

"Uh Oh" Jack and I say at the same time.

Wow! So that is the end of my first piece?! Please let me know if its too long or doesn't make sense as I am now paranoid that I just wrote a random bunch of words with my eyes closed. I don't really know if this can have part two but if you think of anything let me know.

Requests are open, so send them through! Use as much detail as you want or have.

Please do not repost this, reblogs are appreciated.

[kkatastrophic]

DR VA Tierlist:

I made a Daganronpa Tierlist based on their Voice Actors performance, (THIS IS NOT MY OFFICIAL RANKING FOR THE CHARACTERS AND NOT HATING TOWARDS THE VOICE ACTORS AT ALL!!!) this is probably quite biased, and I haven't finished V3 so I don't have too much to say about that game! :)

SPOILERS FROM HERE ON OUT!

Here we go! (quick notes bc alot of characters)

I COUNTED WRONG THERE ARE ONLY 50 BUT I'M NOT BOTHERED TO CHANGE THE NUMBERS SORRY GUYS.

Did not hear you talk once blud:

51: Twogami: did not hear him talk once. Probs same as Togami.

50. Mechamaru: Same as last but with Nekomaru.

49. Kiyondo: Augh bb they gave you nothing before killing you off...

48. Rantaro: Not many voice lines, but his voice is satisfying when they are delivered. Ult. Wasted Plot Potential.

Nothing too noticeable:

47. Peko: I love her, but tbh her voice was quite bleh. Suited her character well though.

46. Sonia: I love Sonia but she was kinda mid tbh.

45. Keebo: Nothing much other than "ROBOPHOBIC!" but that might change I'm not sure.

44. Chiaki: I love her, her voice suited her, but there were no powerful lines.

43. Akane: I love her sm, one of the best DR girls, but she didn't have much going tbh.

42. Hifumi: I like how his VA portrayed the otaku thing e.g "booblust" which was funny, but honestly nothing noticeable.

Overrated:

41. Sakura: I like her, she's okay, I just don't think she did too much yk?

40. Toko: When she stutters she sounds like that one mf from "It" and that kills me every time I hear it.

39. Makoto: I dislike Makoto anyway, but saying "SHIT!" once is not a worthy performance Bryce.

38. Kyoko: Eh, her VA is good, but didn't do it for me ig

Wait I just realised I forgot to put Mukuro in the last section oopsies. And Junko should be in decent performance, mb guys don't come at me.

37. Mukuro: LOOK THIS IS WHERE SHE'S SUPPOSED TO BE OKAY? Cool concept, good lines from what we heard, meant to put her in "didn't hear blud talk once"

36. Byakuya: Cool VA, nice delivery of the lines, I just think it's overrated.

Didn't Cut it For Me:

35. Yasuhiro: He was in 6 trials... and what did he give me? "OH NOOOOOO" sorry, he didn't cut it for me.

34. Chihiro: I like him (her, them? UGHH CHIHIRO GENDER DISCOURSE SUCKS BRO) but it didn't GIVE yk?

Decent Performance:

33. Ryoma: Very talented VA, but that's his normal range (a bit lower) and not many POWERFUL lines were delivered (unlike Tanaka's.)

32. Kazuichi (bc I alr did Mukuro): Ay I love Kazuichi, his performance was nice, just not the best yk?

31. Tsumugi: Haven't finished V3, I love Tsumugi but her performance is like her catchphrase. Just "Plainly-Plain" (might change later idk bro.)

30. Maki: I've grown to like her, (I'm up tp CHP.4 yippers!) but I'm WAITING for her to have her MOMENT where she's crying and screaming. I know she will. C'mon DR LET HER CRYYY-

29. Mahiru: She's decent, I like her, just not much giving yk?

28. Ibuki: Very talented VA, amazing and fun range, nice energy. Nothing jaw dropping, I enjoyed it.

27. Hajime: He drops some banger ass lines bro like goddam lil bro chillax buddy. I quite like it... I like when he realises it's Nanami and is in denial. Good job VA.

26. Mondo: AUGH HIS VOICE IS SO SATISFYING IMMA BE REAL- It's not the usual stuff his VA does but I enjoyed his performance.

25. Gonta: Ay better performance than his counter-part (same va) Hiro. He's pretty good so far, innocent too.

24. Aoi: I don't really remember trial 4 that well tbh... I didn't like it though. But I do kinda enjoy Aoi. She has nice pitch, and when she gets mad her VA puts alot into it, almost top of her tier gj.

23. Same VA as Aoi, I enjoy her performance. Her voice is fun and different, contrasting the rest of the cast with her accent. Bonus points for going from Aoi to Angie in 5 seconds.

NOT TALKED ABOUT ENOUGH!!!

22. Teruteru: Augh I love this stupid litte man for his stupid little voice. Even though he's a creep his lines are delivered VERY well, and even his accent is great. That's some talent that we NEED to talk about more often.

21. Sayaka: Babes talked three times in official-art moments and does NOT get enough credit. I enjoyed her scenes and wish that she was in a class trial.

20. Leon: Omg leosaya order?! /hj. Y'all sleeping on Grant George, like goddam. When he gets mad, he gets mad. Talk about Leon more, give this man some credit his performance was excellent!

19. Miu: Augh I don't know how to explain the itch Miu scratches whenever she speaks. Even her "VIRGIN WHORE" moment voice lines just AUGHHH. The VA was picked SO well here, it suits her perfectly and I'm tired of pretending Miu = Hifumi because they're both pervy characters. GODDAMIT MIU WAS USEFUL!

18. Hiyoko: I do not care what you say, she ATE. She fucking devoured that second trial bro, my respect went up when she did all'at. God bro I find Hiyoko mid, one of my least favourite characters, but god her VA is so talented.

17. Shuichi: I don't think I need to explain too much, but god SHUICHI!!! When Grant George is given the time to develop... augh. "Kaede... that's just so cruel..." YOU CAN HEAR THE PAIN. TALK ABOUT THIS MAN MORE!!!

16. Jill/Syo: I know she has tiktok sounds, but she did so well. She ate every single line up, she used all of her screentime so well! I genuinely love her performance, and I don't even like her!

15. Tenko: So talented... you guys please hear me out (I'M NOT BIASED AT ALL.) but when she gets official art and moments in trials that's when she flourishes. "QUICK! OPEN THE CURTAIN, ALREADY!" like so satisfying Idc what y'all say she ate it up.

14. Himiko: After Chapter 2 she just... utilised the rest of her screentime. SHE CRIED, SHE SCREAMED, SHE USED HER EMOTIONS LIKE TENKO SAID!!! I love Himiko, and she is super underrated.

13. KOREKIYO: <- THIS DUDE IS THE REASON I MADE THIS TIER LIST. GOD HE IS NOT TALKED ABOUT ENOUGH!!! I don't care about the incest plot, his FANTASTIC voice acting lets him off the hook.Not just when he snaps, but when he screams!

Listen to this exact moment. HE LITERALLY USES SO MUCH OF HIS VOICE, YOU CAN HEAR HOW WELL HE DOES IT OH MY GOD. "THERE WAS NO EVIDENCE WAS THERE, SHUICHI?!" LIKE PLEASE CAN WE TALK ABOUT HIM???

He can also speak like a girl he gets bonus points for that. Holy shit. I just love this so much. "No. I will not acknowledge it." like yes bbg u ate.

*Chefs kiss!*

11. (I KNOW I SKIPPED A NUMBER I JUST NEED IT TO BE CORRECT!!!) Nagito: He goes insane, there's no reason for me NOT to put this here. He does so well, he went from Mako-Hoe to NAGI-HOEEE!!! He ate, I fear.

10. Mikan: WHEN SHE SNAPS AND GOES INSANE, OH MY GOD SHIVERS. SHE DID SO WELL. "WHY DOESN'T ANYBODY FORGIVE ME?!?!!?!?" LIKE I CAN HEAR IT SO CLEARLY SHE DID SO GOOD BRO AUGHHHH.

9. Nekomaru: "THIS IS NEKOMARU NIDAI'S FINAL FIREWORK!" "AIR CONDITIONERS?!?!?!?" "SHIIIIIIIITTTTTT!!!" He put so much power and energy into every. single. line. EVEN HIS SINGLE-FILE VOICE LINES!!! He made it sound so natural like he talks like that every day, and props to the VA for such dedication. Respect for Neko-Nation.

8. Gundham: Augh he delivers every line so beautifully in his trial. "THIS IS FOR THE TANAKA EMPIRE!" the power behind his voice and his hero-complex make me so happy. Every time he lost it in his trial I got LITERAL CHILLS. A fantastic perfect performance oh my goddd.

7. Kaede: I don't care what y'all say she WAS SO GOOD. "I'm nothing but a cold-blooded killer!" and that scream at the end of argument anament was FIREEE! I love her sm, and her VA did so much better as Kaede then as Kyoko.

6. Celestia: I dislike Celestia, but oh my god she did so well. The quiet reserved character snaps is definetely a chapter 3 trope favourite. I hate Trail and Chapter 3 THH, but that just shows how well Celes performed, her VA went INSANE for this role, and I love that she ate it.

5. Kokichi: He deserves this spot, he does so well, every single trial, every single performance, every voice line, every interaction. It truly embodies the spirit of "chaos" yk? (Just finished trial 4 and he deserves to be 3rd on the list.)

4. Kaito: LUMINARY OF THE STARS! I don't need to say more do I? (I'm lazy pls send helppp)

YOU POURED YOUR HEART AND SOUL INTO THIS PERFORMANCE!!!:

3. Fuyuhiko: AUGH SO SATISFYING, ESPECIALLY IN THE SECOND TRIAL. He does an amazing job, has fantastic range and AUGHHHHH HIS VOICE IS SO SATISFYING.

2. Ishimaru: The amount of sheer power in every voice line astounds me every time he speaks. From "I assert that the one who was murdered was Miss Sayaka Maizono!" to "Why are you all trying to frame him?!" and everything in between, he deserves this spot on the list.

Kirumi: All we see of her is calm and reserved until she snaps. She KEEP FIGHTING until the very end. You can hear the pain in her voice, how she IS BREACHING HER LIMIT during her "I WILL NOT DIEEEE segment." also, YOU CAN HEAR HER SCREAMING IN HER EXECUTION, let me show you.

This exact moment is where you can hear her scream. JESUS CHRIST GIRL I CAN'T EVEN-

[livseses]

Yay! We had our first session of @nyroka 's PF2e campaign!

We were so nervous leading up to it. We got tons of prep work done before hand, so the few hours before were that sort of "hurry up and wait" anxiety. We were ready to run, so there was nothing we could do to settle ourselves while the clock ticked closer to game.

It was great! Well, rocky and awkward as any roleplay heavy session 1 should be expected. Maybe less so. Technical difficulties from playing with some features for the first time popped up. A couple of blind spots in our prep shook our confidence. But in the end, we were more prepared than we weren't.

Speaking of prep, we had a bunch of maps! There were 5 separate scene locations (plus the starting city itself). Foundry VTT added a feature recently where you can set up regions that trigger automatic stuff in them (usually when a character's token walks into them). So we had all of these maps set up to have exits that teleport a character to the city map (and spots on the city map that teleports them to those individual scenes). It was all very slick! The PCs could move from their starting scene into someone else's smooth and organically.

We also made a few handouts. The built in journal is frustrating to work with, but we eventually figured out how to properly make a document that had the NPCs picture on one side, and information about them on the other, without the formatting going wonky. We also used a meme maker to make parchment scroll notice thing (an advertisement one of the characters posted to get the other PCs to join their adventure). We spent a few hours yesterday morning futzing around in GIMP trying to figure out how to remove the white background. Lol it felt silly spending hours trying to turn the background transparent, when a white background would be fine. But! Now we know, and that upgrade is going to be applicable to so many documents we make in the future!

We also had a cool quest tracker mod installed (Simple Quest), but sadly we were too busy to use it how we intended. We wrote up some quests for the individual PCs that were partially complete. It was a cool bit of story telling having stuff like having "Hire the eccentric wizard" marked as complete, followed by "Don't let the eccentric wizard distract you with info dumping about extradimensional spaces" marked as failed. We had planned to reveal more quest items, and check items off as the scenes progressed, but we were too busy with all of the NPCs to remember!

Which fried our brain! Most of the time, when we run games in Cellaphage (the setting for this game, that Ny, Ahri, Aros, and Kelspur also come from) we don't so much roleplay the NPCs as we channel them. It's not like our normal switches, but "possession" is a pretty close description. We hand the character our voice and they just do their own thing. So part of our exhaustion was from all that switching.

Speaking of voices, omg we got to do so many voices! We use accents as an auditory shorthand for the different regions/languages of Cellaphage (e.g. giving a French accent to the vampires). We surprised some of the players by springing on them that the country they start in uses an Australian accent. That was super fun doing 4 separate character voices, but applying the same accent to them. Idk how well others could hear it, but we could tell the difference! I think by the end of session we had voiced like 11 NPCs? Again, brain fried by all this switching 😆

We like the suspense of doing cliffhangers, but we don't like how cliffhangers means that the game is in stasis between sessions (we like when our players roleplay outside of session). We found a really cool best of both worlds though! At the end of the session, I narrated a scene taking place from the villains' perspective, that sets up the encounter the party is going to face. It did the dramatic set up of "Oh no how does this turn out" but leaves the players able to think, plan, and roleplay what their characters are doing between sessions. Also I got to make it nice and creepy to fit the "haunted woods full of vampires" they're going to.

We're excited for next week! And we're so so so happy to finally be running a game of Ny's design that let's us just relax, be crazy, and ride the waves of dissociative madness.

[asttralhell]

It's a 10 but(t)

Rules: List your OCs as “tens but” to give us a not-at-all comprehensive scope of their characters

Thanks @squarebracket-trickster for tagging me. You actually forced my hand into working and I named most of the characters rn on the spot bc so far they had traits and core characterists but not names.

It was such fun to do it and to read yours and read the other authors too! Let's all be friends and share stuff, guys hahah

Okay, picking Kissing some cats and other fairily tale struggles to do this + my resident headcat Fábio:

Catty/Catarina Maria: She's a 10 but... won't accept help, won't see any value in herself, thinks of herself as a background prop in people's lives thus she thinks her life isn't of much value anyways. Will chuck a human-turned-cat into a wall if he pees on her out of spite (it's ok, she won't do it to any other cats. Unless they speak to her).

Fábio Américo Lucídio Aurélio Vinícius Rolando Celestino de Miriam Filiberto Hélio Garza e Cavalcante/FabiAm: He's a 10 but like a -10 or else he wouldn't get into a fight with a cosmic horror cat (see Fábio bellow) and get US ALL TRANSFORMED INTO OLD ASS HOUSE APPLIANCES! LOOK AT ME, FABS, I'M A HANGER NOW!!!! A JACKET HANGER! I don't even like mahogany.... I wish I was cherry wood or... Also, makes EVERYONE who tries to break the spell run away and sinks everyone's chances to NOT BE A MAHOGANY COAT HANGER I HATE IT SO MUCH. FABS, YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE, and also is very much a dick. Did we mention he's totally the worst? Worst human-turned-cat ever.

Mahogany Coat Hanger (actually named Florian): he's a 10, but... DID HE EVER MENTION HOW MUCH THEY HAVE WOOD PREFERENCES AND MAHOGANY WASN'T ONE OF THEIR FAVS? DID THEY EVER STOP YOU AND TELL YOU HOW DREADFUL IT IS TO BE A *MAHOGANY* HANGER? MAHOGANY! Also, they will push all the other character down even tho I made them rn on the spot, he didn't have a name 2 hours ago. But he's very close to a 9.5 bc best gossip and best burns. Also, worst accents ever done (I made this one up NOW. I didn't know gender or name, I just felt their deeply hatred for.... mahogany)

Walter Akito Sachi/Mr. Sachi: He's a 10 but... He's actually an 11. Beautiful cinnamon roll, too good for this world, too pure. But he will send you weird work messages in your Academia-edu that will make you wonder if he's trying to harvest organs, so maybe he's a 10.5. Chaotic good boy.

Kris: He's a 10... but he's a 8-door mahogany (cries in Florian) wardrobe that ran away one night and no one discovered how yet. Runs a queer club. You know, he is a closet but he ain't in the closet. Very much taken, Florian won't tell you who tho. Can be Kristoff or Kristian, we ain't sure.

Ermengarda: She's a 10... But no one can see my real beauty IF I AM JUST A STUPENDOUS TEA POT, MY DARLING! Only speaker ever and forever when they are pulling the all tea set in a trenchcoat persona. ALWAYS AND FOREVER THE ONLY SPEAKER, SHUT UP, Chips!

Chips and Timmy: they a 10.... A 10yo. Well, more like Chips is 10, Timmy is kinda 11 or 9, no one really answered that yet. But the medium would be a 10, right? (Their names seem to be Clotilde and Timóteo, they won't tell me tho)

Karina Yumie Sachi: She's a 10 but... She will feature in 2 different wips and steal your girl. Even more chaotic than her cousin (see Mr. Sachi).

Oh yeah:

Fabio: He's a 10... As in ten-rrible, horrible. Hate that little guy. Transformed Fabs into a cat because he himself is a cosmic cat that lives in my head and sometimes we have mental talks but mostly he gives some weird advice like you should enable yourself.

I will tag the Cows but I forgot their users (i promise to edit it later): @lirhin @raiswanson @lady-redshield-writes @tundra-tiger

And the non-CoW friends @valhalla-awaitsfor-us @1ll-def1ned

[fipindustries]

ttrpg microfiction

a group of friends sits down to play mage the ascension, its going to be a technocracy campaign. one player chooses iteration X, another chooses the progenitors, another still wants to be a void engineer.

the last of the players wants to play the syndicate, they call their character joel gurion finklestein. the player is not jewish.

the DM, who is, looks at him for a while not super sure what to do here. was that on purpose? is this is a microagression? should she let it go? the DM decides to gently ask why they choose the syndicate? the player says that they always like to play the "leader" class in every WoD game, he likes playing Ventrue in vampire, the silver fangs in werewolf.

now the DM is in a bind because she could correct the player that a more appropriate choice would be the new world order in technocracy but for obvious reasons she is even less confortable with the player choosing that convention as well.

"why did you give the character that name?" she asks, even more gently.

"i just never played a jewish character, i wanted to have fun with a new religion i never tried before"

thing is, the player does have a history of trying on different cultures and races for his characters so this is not really out of character for him. problem is he also likes to do voices. which means he likes to do accents. and this was not a problem when he was playing irish characters or french character or even swedish characters but if she extrapolates his skills (which werent great) in doing those voices into how this new character might sound...

"and where is he from?" she asks, with the same tone she might ask who's his avatar.

"eyy from nu yahrk!" he says in a thick east coast accent, which is more thick than accurate.

ok, this might just be more of a new yorker thing rather than a-

"he's a son of immigrants from israel" he adds, unprompted "they came to america during the second intifada"

ok first of all, why would he feel the need to add that? but second, it seems he did *some* research into the history of jewish people so that might speak to a genuine desire to represent the culture respectfully? but if he did this research surely he knows the stereotypes he is playing into right? right???

to make matters more complicated, she's starting to wonder if she herself might not be playing into some weird stereotypes and prejudices by interrogating so hard her good friend, Omar Baştürk. he is turkish, fifth generation at that. and the turks and arabs are very different people, but he looks brown enough, specially when he grows his beard. is not like her friends at the table can tell the difference.

"ok, cool, well" she adresses the rest of the players "like i said, this is supposed to be a more drama/horror oriented campaign, so as much as i know we all like to fuck around at the table the tone im going for is somber horror, so keep the jokes at a minimum"

everyone nods, Omar enthusiastically among them. whatever, if he was planning to make uncouth references hopefully this was going to curb that a little.

just let it go rebecca, she thinks to herself, just let it go.

[miraakulous-cloud-district]

Snippets someday

Thank you for the tags @dirty-bosmer (you had an amazing idea with this tag game!), @mareenavee, @blossom-adventures, you guys are the best <3 <3 This tag game is amazing, and while it was hard to pick favourites, I had so much fun, and looking back on my first chapters, I love to see the similarities, but also the differences. ‘Wherever you go, there you are’ is such a fulfilling and fun journey for me! Starting to write and post fanfic was the best decision ever, because not only did it boost my confidence and made me develop my own writing style, but it also lead me to meet some amazing people along the way. Just know that I appreciate every single one of you who reads my work/leaves kudos and comments/tags me in tag games/or interacts with my posts! I love this little community to pieces! But enough sappy ramblings, let’s get to the rules!

Rules:

Revisit an old fic (or earlier chapters of your current WIP) and share a snip from: 

 * Your first chapter 

 * Your favorite chapter 

* Your most challenging chapter 

 Alternatively, if you don't write longfic, feel free to share your one-shots. Provide as much or as little commentary as you want.

The snippets under the cut are from my longfic, WYGTYA

*Snippet from my first chapter! These are from chapter two, because chapter one is just a prologue to put readers into context with where the story starts :)

~

“I think I’d make a good bartender.” Inigo says, finally turning to them from the treasure chest, wearing a cravat and a monocle. Making exaggerated gestures with a golden goblet, decorated with small emeralds and putting on his most fancy accent, “May I take your order, my lord?”

“Ah, yes. Give me some of your most exquisite wine. I am, after all, a mer with expensive taste.” Rumarin responds in the same fashion while Ravonna and Lucien are laughing so hard the boat’s shaking.

“Very well, My lord. Coming right up!” and, to everyone’s surprise, he actually finds a bottle of Gods-know-what and opens it.

“Wait, did you get that out of the chest?” Ravonna asks with a mixture of amazement and concern.

“Yes, my lady. Do not worry. It is very exquisite indeed!”

“We’ll see about that. I’m a wine expert, after all.”

“Rumarin, are you sure that’s drinkable? It’s been there for hundreds of years at least!”

“You know, Lucien, I have a philosophy in life. A few, actually. One, wine would never hurt me. Two, always try to drink something that resembles wine, but you have to smell it first. And three… cheers, mate!” and he quickly downs the so-called wine, much to Lucien’s horror.

“Did he just do that? Did you just do that?”

“I did.” He grins.

“Well how is it?” Ravonna asks.

“It’s… exquisite.”

“I wanna try that!”

“Me too!” Inigo says, already looking for more fancy goblets.

“Guys I don’t think we should – ”

“Luci, the dremora pirate says everything’s fine to use. I guess this includes the wine. Now give me that bottle!” Ravonna grabs the bottle taking a careful sip. “By the Gods!”

“Well I’m not going to drink it, just in case y’all get poisoned and need someone to save the day.”

“Uuh, guys?”

“It’s fine, really. I know a thing or two about brewing. The older the wine, the better, and the more expensive, I tell you. My father had this wine back at the tavern, almost two hundred years old! I used to sneak in and take a few sips.” Ravonna laughs.

“Guys?”

“You know what? You’re right. And it’s definitely wine. I know wine when I tase it, or smell it, believe me. And I’ve got another philosophy for you, Lucien.”

“Guys?!?”

“What?” they all turn to Inigo, in unison.

“Please tell me I’m not the only one seeing masked people all dressed the same waiting for us at shore.”

“Shit, you’re right.”

Fun fact, this first chapter is one of m absolute favourites. I still remember the sheer amounts of excitement I felt while writing it! 

~

~

___________________________________________

*For the favourite chapter, I chose chapter 9, because the Skaal Village party, as well as all the metaphor of rebirth and the bonding that took place between the characters is so near and dear to my heart <3. Chapter 10 was a very close second, though! 

“I’m sorry.” She barely says between giggles. “It’s just so funny to me how life works.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, some nights ago, we were killing each other, and now we’re almost fighting over who is supposed to be apologizing. How did we get here?!”

He laughs along with her, feeling lightheaded from the alcohol. “I have no idea. I'd call it a pleasant surprise.”

“Well then, let’s make most of it! I need another one of those magical shots, and they are a lot more fun to drink with somebody.” She says, getting up and offering her hand.

“There’s magic involved?” He says, taking her hand and trying to get up, but she lets go of his hand, falling on the snow. She was laughing again and she almost dragged him with her.

“Oh, Gods!” she gets up and shakes the dirt and snow off her robes. “I thought a man as well-read as you would be able to spot a figure of speech. I didn’t mean actual magic!”

“Oh, give me a break, vahdin (woman)! It’s been a long night and I haven’t had a drink in five millennia!”

“Whatever. Your fancy dragon words don’t make up for it!” She looks directly in his eyes. They’re close to each other. Just like in Apocrypha when she got up and in his face. The pose so similar, yet so different. Like looking in a mirror and seeing the complete opposite.

“Hi los ful brit. (You are so beautiful)”

“Shut up, s’wit.” She says, not understanding a word from his dovahzul, but her face doesn’t indicate any trace of anger.

“I know what that means.”

“You know everything, don’t you.”

He thinks for a moment. “Not everything, no. I’ve read books, yes, but I don’t know much about you.”

“Okay, alright. Here’s a fun fact about me: I really want to go take that shot.”

“Fiiiiiiine.” He lets himself get dragged to the main area of the party.

~

~

___________________________________________

*For the most challenging, I chose chapter 11, because it legit took me two months to write this thing! The battle with Vahlok was someting that I kept putting off because it’s very action and angst filled and that can be tricky for me to write. Also, the Dovahzul language is killing me hahaha!

“Tiid fah hi wa kos nahlot ahrk dir (loosely: time for you to shut up and die)” Vahlok screeched, and shoved Ravonna into a wall as hard as he could with his telekinetic powers. This awakened something in Fenrik. Something he hasn’t felt since he killed his first dragon.

“Fin gein ahraan dii fahdonne (no one hurts my friends)!” Fenrik shouts, breaking free from his grip.

“Fahdonne?(Friends?)” Vahlok tilts his head in bewilderment. “Un fron lost nid fahdonne, sonaak! (Our kind has no friends, dragon priest!)” He says in a mocking tone.

“Tol los ni wo zu'u los! Ni alun aan ziist tiid! (Loosely: That is not who I am! Not anymore and not ever again!)” and with that, he strikes him with a sparks spell and all hell breaks loose.

I’m going to tag @bougainvillea-and-saltwater @kiir-do-faal-rahhe @thelavenderelf @sheirukitriesfandom with no pressure, of course! And tagging anyone else who would like to share! Consider yourself tagged! 

[hopetorun]

Weird writer ask game - 🐺💣👑🔔🏛️

🐺 Build a NHL starting line up (3F, 2D, 1G) based on a really weird criteria for comedic effect (e.g. guys with names that sound like Dylan).

please be glad i didn't choose a starting lineup of guys with names that could or do lead to sex-related nicknames. anyway here's guys with two first names.

nick paul - robert thomas - jack quinn

matt roy - dennis gilbert

devon levi

💣 Blow it up: pick one NHL team. Change its name, mascot, logo/colors. Tell me why you chose the new elements.

okay chicago is the obvious choice here but i don't feel like being obvious. the chicago nhl team should rebrand in real life. actually they should probably be folded in real life. but that's not a fun meme answer. my second thought was the flames, because they didn't rebrand when they relocated and now have a team name that has nothing to do with their location, but it's been decades and has led to local and affiliated spinoff names (the heat, the inferno, rip to them both).

all this to say: im rebranding the jets. i don't like the military so they get a new theme. i think they could really lean into the north thing, since they do it in a lot of their marketing anyway. i know fuckall about winnipeg but idc. i think a cool tundra animal would be the move here. it's a bummer the moose are already their ahl team or obviously i'd pick that but maybe the grizzlies. yes that's already an nba team but it's fine, the jets are also an nfl team so it's a wash. mascot is a grizzly bear obviously. named northy or something to lean into the far north of it all. they can call the arena the den.

colorswise ... ooh the jets colors suck. imho. they're way too muted! brighten up that maroon, maybe go all the way into purple. a kind of reddish purple maybe, and then brighten up the blue. yellow as an accent? i am NOT a color theory gal, we're hoping this is something. please do not tell me if it isn't

👑 If you could add an award to the NHL awards, what would it be and who would be its inaugural recipient?

there are lots of good and serious awards that should be added but EYE think that we should add another really arbitrary poorly defined one like the lady byng. what does it mean to be gentlemanly? we won't be defining that.

so in that vein: i think there should be a reverse lady byng. a grittiness award. a sandpaper award. i think the arguments about it would be really funny. brady tkachuk is a strong contender, sure, but maybe he takes too many penalties. sandpaper, yes, but is he leaving his team shorthanded too much? can you be gritty without getting penalized? who's a good example of that? i am simply here for the endless trivial discourse. anyway i think brady is the inaugural recipient despite the objections. i am taking name suggestions for this award.

🔔 Who is an NHL player you are convinced you can best in a physical altercation?

i think i could take johnny gaudreau. i'm taller than him and i weigh more than him and he gives me more would not hit a girl vibes than some of the other little guys. and i do think i would need the edge of him being reluctant to hit a girl because they are all extremely fit.

🏛️ Here, have a soap box. What is one thing you feel really strongly about that you think everyone should know?

ooh i've got awards on the mind so! i think people should be more thoughtful about the distinctions between most valuable player and most outstanding player! if you don't have both awards then sure i can understand the conflation but the nhl does have separate awards for those things and i think letting them be meaningfully different would be a lot of fun. give the ted lindsay to cmcd every year except for like once every four years when auston matthews or nikita kucherov gets it, but an actual debate every year about which player was the biggest individual difference maker on their team would be compelling. setting my own biases about last season's awards aside, i think that opens the door for more acknowledgement of season-changing goaltending performances (shesterkin in 21-22 perhaps). the hart and the lindsay don't need to be so closely tied! let them be different things!

oh also while we're on the topic it is beyond stupid that it's basically impossible to win the hart unless your team makes the playoffs. "oh the team didn't make the playoffs how valuable can that player really be" idk chucklehead, there are math people who can approximate a player's value in standings points, probably. do i trust their math? not entirely. but i trust it enough to know that argument is bunkum.

[astro-break]

Thoughts on the 13th and final ep of Hypmic Rhyme Anima+. For one last time, spoilers beware

Season 1 | Ep.1 | Ep.2 | Ep.3 | Ep.4 | Ep. 5 | Ep. 6 | Ep. 7 | Ep. 8 | Ep. 9 | Ep. 10 | Ep. 11 | Ep. 12

Final episode lets gooooo I'm sad that it been such a ride but all good things must come to an inevitable end

Damn i hoped there would be a chuuoku girls song

HAHAHA FOLDING LIKE PAPER

good, let it be destroyed, it would save the plot honestly

OOO new secret aliens song? Oh that english was smoothhhhh tom's VA's pronounciation has become very nice

LMAO poor kuko

awwww thats so soft of him, living in a willing illusion

as they should, good for them. Honestly i don't hate chuuoku but it just find it weird that get why the main characters wouldn't team up with him when their goals align

LETS GO I CALLED IT, I hope they actually don't use jakurai to heal him tho it feels like it would be a waste of character to do so

ah so a battle of differing ideals to a common goal? unfortunate if only they talked and let themselves come to a compromise, they would have been fine

oh thats cool, i like that speaker concept. very crumbling empire. very litterally hyakiyakou huh

hahaha that upsidown star is so on the nose that this man is The Big BadTM oh my gods hypmi does not know the meaning of subtle

awwww even in spirit they are still alive. Its the whole you die twice, once with your physical body and second with your memories

I love the typography for kaibyakumon's rap, its really pretty and the effects? damn the eam who worked on this particular rap really busted their asses huh.

something i do with they had akira and satoru speak with a bit more of an accent. like i get it, they moved to tokyo when they were young but they did come from nagoya and oosaka respectively. Betcha didn't know that huh, its only a tidbit on the official site

wwwww return of the sunfish!

hm, at least he makes some sense. I still don't like it but it does seem like a logical conculsion

oh thats proper body horror imagery there i do like it, very creepy

aww power of gay and friendship

i do think this song is nice, it has good flow and the beat is pretty nice with lots of oppertunies to change the genre. Like this big group piece is probably the bridge which is a nice connector to any more hard hitting places

and honestly i do like that they went for a softer approach here, that the thing that won in the end wasn't perpetuated violence but something gentle.

please don't actually, it would be fun if they were dead

oh i like the fact that []'s face is covered in shadows giving her the feeling of evil intent.

noooo poor doppo rippp

LMAO rip them their all stuck here

ah i do like having them being battle idiots, theyr so silly

eyyy hoodstars! ah, this was a nice final episode

i feel like it wasn't the best ending out there but it was satisfying. tied up some ends pretty nicely and kept the status quo without mucking canon up too hard. As an anime original storyline i think they handled it quite well

WHile I don't have all the thoughts to encompass this episode yet, it was overall really nice! i enjoyed the story overall and while the pacing was meh as always and you could tell where the budget went, the anime introduced really good characters that I really enjoyed. Beginning Gate quartet was so much more intresting to me than Secret Aliens. THe only thing I wish they could have done better is put some more focus on BAT and DH as it is their anime debut. Oh well, I'm happy with what we got anyways.

[serendipitouswasteland]

Out of Context

Note: This was transcribed from my AO3.

ship: buddie pov: outsider, first person written: March 30, 2022 first published: March 30, 2022 word count: 1,038 - summary: Two men wearing nice suits walk into the room, shoulders brushing as they walk past each other. One is slightly taller than the other, the former wearing a maroon suit over a black turtleneck, his counterpart wearing navy blue. The one in navy has brown hair and some stubble, an amused look on his face as he adjusts a gold watch on his wrist. The one in maroon has dark copper curls, his face being more serious. They one in blue looks at the other, stifling a slight laugh that slips out and pulling his mouth into a closed-lip smile, shaking his head. I turn to Simone, asking for his input.

"What do you think?" I ask, and Simone takes a moment, nodding when he's made his judgement.

"They love each other."

"You think so?"

"Oh, I know so. Look at how they react to each other. They remind me of you and I when we were younger."

or a fic from the perspective of the two men and the (unseen) bartender off to the far left in the photo of buddie playing poker. - A/N: The mere thought of these two guys and the bartender gossipping about Buddie and doing some people watching makes me so freaking giddy. Like, you can't tell me that's not what they're doing. (Well, technically you could, but I just wouldn't listen.) I really hope you guys enjoy this one, as it was really fun to write. Really, it's just to give us all a good laugh (seriously I can't stop giggling while writing this, that's how ridiculous it is).

Simone and I sit at the bar counter, talking away with the bartender as we share life stories. After just over thirty years of partnership, ten of those having spent being married, we've garnered a lot to say. Our favorite thing, though, isn't sharing our own stories, but admiring other's stories from afar. Watching as their lives unfold or fall in place right in front of them, sometimes without them even realizing it, is truly beautiful, even when what's happened isn't necessarily good. I take Simone's hand, getting another drink from the bartender, the three of us talking about the different people in the room. That's when a certain pair catches my eye. 

Two men wearing nice suits walk into the room, shoulders brushing as they walk past each other. One is slightly taller than the other, the former wearing a maroon suit over a black turtleneck, his counterpart wearing navy blue. The one in navy has brown hair and some stubble, an amused look on his face as he adjusts a gold watch on his wrist. The one in maroon has dark copper curls, his face being more serious. They one in blue looks at the other, stifling a slight laugh that slips out and pulling his mouth into a closed-lip smile, shaking his head. I turn to Simone, asking for his input.

"What do you think?" I ask, and Simone takes a moment, nodding when he's made his judgement.

"They love each other," he says, his accent thick, and I smile as I look back at the two men.

"You think so?"

"Oh, I know so. Look at how they react to each other. They remind me of you and I when we were younger," Simone says, and I let my mind wander for a moment down memory lane in search of the memories he's reminded me of. "I just don't think they know it yet."

The one in blue pulls out a chair for the other at a poker table in the center of the room, the two sitting unbelievably close. Looking around, I notice the amount of room they have. They could have their own personal space, be in their own bubbles, but they're choosingly sitting as close as possible while remaining in their own seats. They seem to know the woman to their left, quickly engaging in conversation with her, the three of them smiling. The smile on the man in maroon's face disappears quickly, though.

"What should we call them?" I ask, this time getting a response from the bartender.

"They're firefighters," he says, and both Simone and I turn to him.

"How do you know?" Simone asks, as intrigued as I am.

"Well the one in maroon was one the news forever ago when he saved a bunch of people from a rollercoaster. He was also on the news after a ladder truck crushed his leg. The other was on the news not too long ago, a year or two maybe, after getting shot by this guy targeting firefighters."

"Jesus," I say, shaking my head. "What a line of work to be in."

The bartender shrugs, cleaning some glasses. "There's been worse. Besides, either of them could have died. More than once. I think there's a reason they're still alive."

"Told you," Simone says, and I give him a kiss on the cheek while I pat his hand. "They don't know that they're in love yet."

"That still doesn't answer my question," I say, and the bartender nods.

"The one in maroon is Evan Buckley. The one in navy is Edmundo Diaz."

"Evan and Edmundo," I hum, seeing the appeal.

They look like an Evan and Edmundo with how they're dressed, their fancy suits sounding like they need proper names. Something tells me, though, that those aren't the names they go by. Then, I hear it. A loud exclamation from Edmundo, a frustrated smile on his face as he hits his palms on the table, shouting 'Buck'. So, Evan does not go by Evan, but 'Buck'. It's a shortened version of his last name, I assume, making sense with his job. It would be easier for his fire captain to call him Buck than Buckley. As for the other, Edmundo still feels off. It's in the way he smiles, I can see that it's not what he has people call him. I continue listening, waiting for the one in navy to say something, but he doesn't. He remains mostly silent, few words coming out, and they aren't relevant to what I'm searching for. Then—

"Eddie– Eds," Buck says, and he's laughing, and he's hitting his hand on the table as he doubles over, his other hand falling onto Edmundo's– Eddie's– shoulder, slowly falling until it's sitting on his knee.

"Buck!" Eddie shouts, falling into laughter too, his hand following Buck's.

Their laughter stifles, the two smiling at each other as they lock eyes. It's a beautiful sight to see two people so in love. Eddie pulls back first, Buck following suit. They turn back to the poker table, each one giving the other a glance one right after the other without each other seeing. Their game goes on, and it seems as though Eddie is doing really well. There is, though, the body language of the dealer that suggests she has a thing for Eddie, likely flirting with him in some way. He simply smiles and laughs, and I notice Buck is staring at him without him noticing, a look of jealousy on his face. When prompted by the woman to his left, however, all of that washes away, and he's back to being focused on the game. There's more to the story, but I don't dare go up and ask. I take Simone's hand, bringing it up to my mouth and kissing his knuckles.

"I think that's enough people watching for tonight," I say, setting more than enough money under my glass to pay for our tab. We leave our seats, arms linked, and as we're about to exit I take one glance back at the poker table to find both Buck and Eddie staring back at me. Maybe my thoughts about them aren't entirely out of context after all.

[jonathanvik]

Luyten V - Chapter 12

“I’m sorry, Rose,” her father said, catching his daughter’s attention. The car ride home had been quiet. Even the usually boisterous Danny hadn’t made much of a fuss. Rose herself had been staring into the distance, not engaging anyone. Her meeting with Macauley had left her with much to consider.

“For what?”

“This whole weekend vacation was a harebrained scheme from the start,” her father said, rubbing his thick mop of hair. Because he was still recovering from a concussion, his wife had taken the wheel instead. “I’d hoped for better. You all deserved better.”

“Hey, Dad, don’t beat yourself up,” Sophia replied. “You couldn’t have known. I still had fun. We need to do this more often, without the alien part, of course. I won’t see you as much when I leave for college.”

“Yeah! I had fun too!” Rose said, giving her father an emphatic nod. “Besides, the attack worked in our favor. We’ve learned something about the enemy! Besides, I’d rather Okab attack me out in the open instead of at home or at school. ”

“I suppose.” Her father still didn’t seem that happy. “You three are growing up so fast, and I fear I’m not seeing enough of your lives. And now this Altair nonsense? I’m out of my depth! There! I admit it!”

“Oh, Dad.” Rose sympathized. She barely felt in control of anything anymore either, any sense of normalcy was slipping from her grip like wet soap.

An idea struck her. While the future remained dark and uncertain, she would enjoy today with everything she had. She refused to let that stupid Altair ruin her vacation. “How about we sing some songs?”

This earned a smile from her father. “We haven’t done that since you were in second grade, Rose.”

“I thought, what the heck?” Rose replied.

“I’m up for it,” Sophia said.

“Songs!” Danny said, enthused by the prospect.

“What about you, Mr. Gauss?” Rose asked her bodyguard, whose massive frame took up much of the van’s backseat.

“If I must,” the man said begrudgingly. Unlike Brown, he didn’t seem to like children as much. Still, he took his role as guardian seriously, willing to go the extra mile if needed.

Her mother laughed, pleased. “Should I start? ‘Row, Row, Row Your Boat.’”

“We’re starting with that one?” Rose had hoped for a pop song, but she didn’t complain and continued the chorus.

They laughed, sang out of key, and made general fools of themselves, but Rose loved every moment. She wanted to end this vacation on a high note, if just to spite Okab and his monstrous kin. For this brief moment, she forgot about them and her troubles. Today was a family day.

---

“You will be most pleased,” Doctor Vasiliy Idelson said in his thick Russian accent. “We have made a major breakthrough.”

“Oh?” Sandage asked, intrigued. He’d welcome some good news. He needed it after the Minneapolis debacle.

The higher-ups were hopping mad over Rose’s close encounter with death, mostly blaming him. Not that Sandage disagreed. He’d approved the trip, after all. Still, it wasn’t a total loss. The revelation that the Altair were intelligent, thinking beings had sparked a wildfire in the scientific community. Some politicians were hopeful about a possible diplomatic solution to the crisis. Sandage himself wasn’t holding his breath.

“We’ve gained a better understanding of the Altair’s structure,” Doctor William von Fraunhofer said. “We’ve discovered the Altair are digital creatures.”

“What?” Sandage said, his voice flat. “We don’t live in The Matrix, Doctor von Fraunhofer.”

“No. But the Altair are alien beings beyond anything we’ve ever seen before. They literally come from a different reality,” von Fraunhofer replied.

“Okay, but digital beings?” It made Sandage’s head spin.

“It’s a far-out theory, but a credible one,” Idelson said. “Using a sample of their cells, we were able to digitize it, a perfect copy. It ruined the computer we uploaded it onto by becoming an unstoppable virus, but it worked.”

“What?! No one told me about this dangerous experiment!”

“We were careful,” von Fraunhofer quickly added. “The computer we used wasn’t connected to any network. Anyway, it explains much about their structure that we didn’t previously understand.”

“I suppose it explains the pixelation when they die.” Still, this revelation was beyond absurd. “Can we use this against them? Like design a computer virus, or some counter agent?” Sandage said, throwing out random ideas.

“We’re not sure,” Idelson replied. “But we’ll look into it.”

“Keep at it. Good work.” Any lead was welcome, in Sandage’s opinion, even if it was totally bonkers crazy. He paused as he noticed Cecilia watching them. “Perfect, exactly the person I was looking for.”

Cecilia gave him a stilted nod, ushering him over. “Can we talk somewhere in private?”

“Sure.” A pit gathered in Sandage’s gut as he guided the cloned girl to an office room and locked the door. “What’s wrong?”

“In the next fight, Rose will die,” Cecilia replied, her visage pale.

“You said that before, but…”

“I got another vision. My first one was brief, but this one had greater detail. This one showed a digital clock on a nightstand. It displayed 4 PM on October 9th.”

Sandage released a startled gasp. That was only six days away.

“Thanks to my time with Rose, I recognized where it will happen: right outside her house. Okab was there, standing over the ruined remains of her house.” Cecilia shuddered, clearly having seen something unpleasant.

“Okay.” But Sandage didn’t despair. Instead, it only made him more determined. He gave Cecilia a confident smile he didn’t feel. “That just gives us the perfect opportunity to ambush him. Excuse me.”

“Yes, hello. I need to speak with General Kuiper. It’s urgent.” Sandage wasn’t sure how he’d explain his future knowledge, but he’d devise something. It was best Cecilia’s odd abilities remained a secret. “Sorry to bug you at this late hour, but we have a situation.”

Convincing the general was the least of his problems. They needed an effective strategy against the Okab. Luckily, inspiration had just struck. “I have an idea how we might make Project Bird Bath more effective.”

---

“Why is everyone staring at me?” Rose asked as she passed through her school’s front door.

“You’re a double hero now. It should be expected,” Vera replied.

“Okay.” Though Rose had to admit, the looks of expectant awe were making her queasy. She’d known she’d gained a reputation since becoming Luyten V’s pilot, but this was getting crazy.

“And if I fail them, they’ll hate me!” Rose thought, fighting back panic. But she kept her expression cool, doing as Brown had advised her. If she pretended to be confident, real confidence would come.

“A lot of suited types have been hanging around here lately. One might assume you’re the president or something,” Georges said, warily eying the black-suited men scattered across the halls.

Gauss followed close behind them, eyes on constant alert. Not that Rose could blame him. They’d learned the terrifying truth that Altair could steal human form. Rose’s eyes constantly scanned faces, searching for any hint of another secret monster.

“Ignore them. Consider them as, um, wallpaper,” Rose replied. Instead of calming Georges�� worries, it only increased his anxiety.

“Cecilia!” Rose waved to the taller girl, who responded with an enthusiastic wave back. It was a major improvement from their more awkward interactions when Cecilia first joined their school. Unfortunately, they didn’t share their first class together, but they’d speak later at lunch.

It amazed Rose how calm everyone was when the latest Altair attack was only yesterday. Were they trying their best to pretend everything was fine so they wouldn’t always be afraid? Rose envied them. She didn’t have that luxury. Sandage had announced they’d do a Luyten V training session later tonight.

The day passed without much incident, though Hans had invited himself to eat at Rose’s table, most unlike him. Despite his typical silence, Rose sensed his worry for her. Despite herself, she liked his company. Shame Vera saw it differently, making insinuations that caused Rose’s cheeks to blush despite her protests. Georges was huffy the entire time, making his displeasure known. He shot Hans scathing glares the entire lunch period. Cecilia watched the scene with amusement, exchanging a few words with Hans. Despite their lack of conversation, they appeared to get along.

“Hey, Rose, mind if I join you?” Cecilia asked as she walked with Rose to the LUVOLT facility. Gauss trailed her as usual, thankfully not butting into her personal life.

“Uh, sure. But I won’t be able to hang out much tonight,” Rose replied. “Agent Sandage is having me do drills in the Luyten V all night.”

“I don’t mind,” Cecilia said. “There’s something I wish to ask you.”

“Oh?”

Instead of replying, the taller girl began to figit. Clearly, she didn’t want to ask what was on her mind.

“Is something the matter?”

“I just… please promise me you won’t freak out. That you won’t think of me differently.”

“Never. As long as you’re not secretly an Altair, or something,” Rose joked. Much to her surprise, her levity only made her friend more anxious. They walked in silence for several minutes as Cecilia gathered her courage.

“This is something serious!” Rose thought, making her more curious. She cursed as they approached the warehouse that had become LUVOLT’s makeshift headquarters. “Sorry, but here’s where we part ways. Agent Sandage isn’t patient about delays. You’ll have to be quick about what you want to say.” She waved at the guards, who greeted her with a nod.

Much to Rose’s surprise, Cecilia walked confidently forward. “Don’t worry. We can speak inside.” She gaped as the guards allowed them both inside without protest.

“Cecilia, what’s going on?” Rose asked, a million questions ready to flow out.

“It’s complicated, but I’m a member of LUVOLT, too.”

“What?!” Rose gaped, lost for words.

“It’s a long story. My past is complicated.” Cecilia paused, steeling herself for her next confession. “I was designed in a lab as a prototype super-soldier—that was the plan, anyway.”

Rose’s eyes only boggled, disbelieving her own ears. She remained speechless, her brain sluggish as she processed this information.

“Rose, Cecilia. Good,” Sandage said, walking up to them. “There’s a lot to do tonight.”

“So… Cecilia is a designer baby?” Rose finally asked.

“You told her?” Sandage said, raising an eyebrow.

“She needs to know,” Cecilia said, her tone defensive. “I’m sick of keeping secrets from Rose. And she needs to know she might die in five days!”

“Okay, what’s going on now?” Rose rubbed her temple. “Please explain from the start!”

Rose listened again, hoping her ears were working properly. “Okay, I think I understand where you’re going. It’s a lot to take in.” Cecilia was an unusual girl, but a clone? And she caught glimpses of the future? How was this her life now?

“So you’ve told her everything. Are you sure this is a good idea?” Though, Sandage hadn’t tried to stop Cecilia from spilling her secrets.

“I had to! I’m tired of keeping it from Rose,” Cecilia said defiantly. “Besides, Rose needs to know what’s going to happen!”

“Okay, just keep this between ourselves, okay?” Sandage replied. “Your origin is a national secret.”

Rose gathered the thoughts, putting everything together. She threw out a stab at the dark, but guessed it was probably the truth. “You say I’m about to die? Let me guess, in my next fight with Okab, I’m toast?” Rose said, her words calm despite the dire pronouncement. When she caught Cecilia’s surprise, Rose only laughed and shook her head. “It wasn’t hard to guess. It’s written all over your face!”

“How are you so calm about this?!” Cecilia sputtered.

“Since Luyten V arrived, my life has been nothing but one long horrible rollercoaster. It’s just another bump on the ride. Rose wanted to live day by day. Let future problems work themselves out.

Cecilia only stared at Rose, unsure she’d heard her friend properly. “But—”

“Besides, the future can change. Luyten V is proof of that. I mean, it came from the future, after all. I was the one who designed it.” It was nice to spill that secret. If her friend was going to be totally honest, so would she.”

“You designed it in the future, Rose?” Cecilia bit her lip. She muttered to herself, more confused than alarmed. “I knew Luyten V was from the future, but this…”

“Again, please keep this between us! That’s a national secret too!” Sandage said, exasperated. 

“Still, this isn’t the same thing. The Altair Records…” Cecilia tensed, biting her lip harder. “They are the archive of the universe.”

“Books can be wrong,” Rose replied.

“Not these,” Cecilia shot back, more insistent. Rose’s unimpressed huff only incensed her further.

“Girls, girls,” Sandage said, calming the tense air between them. “We can worry about changing the future later. Let’s focus on our current problems first. Okab’s coming, and we need to be prepared.”

“Right,” Rose said, nodding. While not happy, Cecilia gave a reluctant nod. “Mr. Sandage, you know more about operations than I do. Will Luyten V’s new weapon be finished before Okab attacks?” She had overheard the engineers talk about it.

Sandage flinched, pained to give bad news. “I’m not sure. We’ve finished construction, but the circuitry is complex for something of that size. The military is on high alert, but we all know their limited effectiveness.”

Rose pondered this, frustrated. There must be some way to use this knowledge to their advantage. There was Luyten V’s Full Sync mode, but its abilities were untested. Five days gave them a tight window to learn its capabilities. Worse, even Macauley was unsure if Rose’s young body could survive the process.

“I’ll just have to push harder, train harder.” If everything else was out of her control, she’d focus on what she could affect.

“Rose?” Sandage asked as his charge stood up.

“Keep thinking. I’ll be in Luyten V training,” Rose said, her voice full of determination. If she was about to die, she’d make Okab pay for it.

“Rose,” Cecilia said, her voice concerned.

“Just keep your eyes open for more visions, or however it works. Let me do my part. Five days isn’t much, but I’ll make it work,” Rose said, feigning more confidence than she felt.

“You aren’t alone in this, Rose” Sandage said. “We have some experimental weapons we plan on trying out.”

“Cecilia, we got this, okay?” Rose said to her friend’s worried expression, grabbing her hand and squeezing. “We’re changing fate. That’s why Luyten V exists.” By God, Rose swore she’d do everything in her power to save everyone. The future wasn’t written. Or at least, Rose prayed to God this was true.

[pterodactylterrace]

"I’d say this

1-Don’t have Laenor simply decide to abandon his grieving mother and father after the death of his sister while also murdering someone in the process. That turned a sympathetic character into someone I honest to god hope suffers forever. The face of Rhaenys when she thinks her son died is gut wrenching

2-Keep Aegon a rapist, but remove the fighting pits. The first is in line with his character. The second is absurd, the guy who supposedly drank and raged after the death of his sons would not watch his bastards murder each other for fun.

3-Entire Green council gets changed pretty much. Remove the Viserys nonsense. Let Criston Cole actually just murder beesbury instead of it being an accident. Let the greens present their actual arguments (Great council precedent, Bastards, Daemon, fear for their safety) and let Aegon and Helaena have their big moments. Allow Cole to crown Aegon and convince him to take the throne. Remove the getting to Aegon first plot line entirely.

4-Daemon should have had his caring moment of carrying Laena’s body. It makes a very evil character seem more human to me.

5-Give Rhaenyra some teeth. She’s just sulking around non stop and constantly asking for her father and Daemon to fix her problems. Either portray her as that (a petty vain noble girl who wants the throne while not willing to fight for it) or commit to her as the girl boss Dany 2.0 they want her to be. This nonsense of Rhaenyra being simultaneously Visenya reborn (unironically in the show instead of a hypocritical lie in the books) doesn’t work if she’s just asking the men around her for help

6-Alicent should have been an active schemer after Driftmark. During the death of Viserys we should have gotten an Alicent monologue where she talks about her life with him and the neglect of the kids. And how she will defy him and crown Aegon

7-No accident for Luke. Let these characters actually intend to do what they do. Aemond was already sympathetic with the changes of the bullying; they didn’t need to whitewash him while demonizing Aegon.

8-DAERON !

9-Have Rhaenyra murder Vaemond like she does in canon. Show that the greens have reasons to fear her.

10-Stop with the Larys Strong feet thing. I get it’s not a feet fetish, but all it does is victimize Alicent further instead of developing the characters.

11-Have Otto show some concern for his family more often. He’s not Tywin Lannister. Otto is a Grey character, he’s a schemer and uses his family members for it, but he does love them. Make that more clear for the audience.

12-Aegon and Sunfyre needed more scenes.

13-Remove the white hart. It’s pointless and just pandering to the Blacks for no reason. And it even fails at that since Criston was there too and he crowns Aegon.

14-I wanted Helaena to be portrayed as a happy young woman, a couple of scenes with Jaehaerys , Maelor and Jaehaera would have been a great way to contrast her character pre and post BC. While also humanizing the children.

15-Remove the Mysaria accent. Please

16-In general we needed a couple more episodes in the season"

https://www.reddit.com/r/TheCitadel/s/2Fyp7C9taw

Oh boy. A LIST!!!

Okie dokie, I’m just gonna go in blind and respond to each point as I go!

Not sure what character was made particularly sympathetic. I agree it was messed up and a pointless change only made to make Rhaenyra look better. It didn’t make Rhaenyra sympathetic imo. Laenor was trying to recommit himself to Rhaenyra, break up with Qarl and play his part. She took everything from him. He was sent away penniless without his dragon, his family or even his shoes. I mean, yeah, it’s great that Laenor escaped, but an innocent person still died.

Still not sure how “pinching and fondling” translates into “rapist”. I mean, I made a whole post about how the two are different, but hey, what do I know? Also, in the books, Gaemon (the kid in the pit) is actually from a sailor from Lys, according to his mother. Also, also, how did Erryk know about the pits if Aegon slips away and evades him? Seems convenient that Erryk just knows about his doings while also admitting to Otto that he doesn’t know what he gets up to. Pick a narrative, does Erryk know what Aegon gets up to or not?

I’m all for changing it to Alicent wanting Aegon to take the throne without the stupid misunderstanding. I would have loved to see him and Helaena flying around KL after being crowned. Instead, they had to take away the one shining moment the greens had and turn it into Rhaenys’s gIrLBoSs moment where she kills hundreds of innocent people, all for the sake of just looking cool. (But they aren’t biased AT ALL) (Like seriously, there was a back exit to the pit that the dragons use, why did she crash through the ceiling and kill a bunch of small folk rather than just going out the big open door???)

Umm… they changed her manner of death. This can’t happen with her canon death. Vhagar roasted her. There wouldn’t be much left to carry… Also, they were going with the angle of “Daemon didn’t care for his second wife, Rhaenyra 4eva!” So, there’s that.

Honestly, I just hate how whiny Rhaenyra is. Nothing is ever her fault, even when it is absolutely her fault and something she could have easily prevented.

All for Alicent wanting the throne for her son.

If it being an accident is what it takes to get some nakie Aemond time… I’m just a ho 🤷🏻‍♀️

All we wanted was a throw away line. They cut it but left in the Rhaenyra and Daemon fucking on the beach scenes. Couldn’t have cut those down to introduce a whole ass character? (But again, they aren’t biased!)

I mean, the same amount of fucks were given in the show and the book. Blows my mind that Daemon can behead a nobleman from a prominent house in open court and face no consequences. No wonder Rhaenyra turned out how she did. Viserys just apparently doesn’t believe in consequences for Targaryens.

It’s meant to show the creepy hold he has over her. She doesn’t want what is happening to happen, but feels she has no choice.

Seems he likes Helaena. That’s enough for me 🥰

Agree. Also, can the dragons just be COLORFUL? So sick of these murky ass color schemes because they wanted to make dragons look “realistic”.

Yeah, I’m not sure what they were trying to do with that whole thing. Was it meant to be a good omen to kill it or something? Usually good omens aren’t achieved through killing things.

We definitely needed more of Helaena and the children. Maybe even highlight how little Aegon seems to care for them.

Was I the only one not offended by it? Yeah, it was odd, but it wasn’t as bad as everyone seems to think, imo.

That is hard to debate because they definitely wanted it to end where it ended, so we need more specifics on where to put these episodes. There were a lot of time jumps to deal with as well, so it gets tricky to lay a blanket statement requesting more.

[tumblerislovetumblerislife]

hey olly. hey olly.

well damn i wasn't planning on another ao3-style comment but nooooo, you had to go make another beautiful gifset (lmao i love both you and your gifset so much!!) literally saved this until i can fully appreciate it, i feel like a little kid wanting to open a present slowly to keep the suspense longer, like i'm trying not to look at the gifs first (impossible) because i want to give you my FRESH response. i adore colour palettes (to no one's surprise)!! so excited for the ep2 gifs!!

gif 1: NIKO MY BELOVEDDDD. i love love love the green-pink contrast, i feel like that is just very niko!! we see her in other colours, sure, but in my mind they're her main two. obviously the pink is the sprites (and the lesbianism of course lmao) but the colour palette just really draws attention to it which is soooo pretty. and the yellow and greens!! the way her school clothes actually look green makes the whole thing SO cohesive and satisfying. also also the different shades of pink, like if i didn't look closely i would've thought it was one shade of pink except the colour palette made me look! *heart eyes motherfucker*

gif 2: ohhhhhhh my god turquoise+gold my beloved!!!!! sooooo in love with this palette it's not even funny. everything is so turquoise and kinda monotone with the funky lighting, and then you just have a few gold lights to give the whole thing life ough. (also a fun callback to the ep1 cat leash, aka the conflict they're headed towards??)

gif 3: HI LESBIAN NIKO HI! i love how the animations reflect in her eyes omg, i wonder how they did that? the purple that's the reflection of the light on her hair :o i never noticed it!!! and the other non-pink colours, the sort of pastel-y light green and yellow is so perfect for this scene WOW, actually all of the animations seem to be all pastel-y! and the green coming from the background (window?) is SO COOL

gif 4: hhhhhhhh SUCH a fun base shot but not one that i think is usually giffed? at least i haven't seen it around. it's really lovely to get those scenes like little treasures! and the greens!!! god i love a good green and these are the BEST. the monotone? *chef's kiss* (also i think i said something about it in the ep1 reaction and i know there's an aesthetic reason for it BUT it really does make the boys feel more ghostly since the only colour on them that's represented is the greenness of the forest reflecting on them. it looks amazing, basically)

gif 5: oooooh neutrals + gold? did not expect it, but i LOVE. also very fitting for the bathroom as this sort of very mundane place. nothing supernatural's going on in here, no sirree. also also very fun camera angle! something something about the light itself being white, but the light it casts being this warm gold? also the reflection of the light in the water, never noticed that!! i know the water is for crystal to splash her face with, but it just gives off scrying vibes and i am such a big fan. they should let the gang explore more supernatural methods in s2! but i digress. (oh and crystal being much more present, the dark colour picking up in her hair as well as the tiles, and the beige and white in her rings, just like the taps! crystal is so alive)

gif 6: another green with some red this time!! lmao it's like an optical illusion, my brain refused to see the reds until i actually stopped and looked for it. so nice and autumn-y <3 again the accent colour being the most prominent example of that colour is SUCH a vibe. also. they are so teeny-tiny omg who let them out to solve cases T-T

gif 7: PIIIIIIIIIIIINK (god i love a good monotone) plus the (weird) perception we have of pink as this innocent colour vs this horror that niko's going through?? the good sauce man! also i love how the pink shifts until the middle colour basically fades against the background, that's really fun

gif 8: sprites sprites sprites! lmao i love them, they're terrible but at least they're funny about it <3 the colours?? obviously the greens, the gold in the coins and litty's dress, the white in their hats and clothing (and litty's highlights, damn girl), but that blue?? iconic. i probably wouldn't have seen it if not for the colour palette omgggg

overall: i didn't expect you to be able to surpass the ep1 colour palettes but i should never have doubted, oh my godddd olly!!!! just. WOW. loved all the nikos! loved the bright colours! loved the monotones! loved the greens! loved the pinks! loved the golds! (honestly it might be faster to mention everything i don't love, which is..... nothing) THANK YOU FOR GIFTING US MERELY MORTALS WITH YOUR DIVINE GIFSETS <3

Dead Boy Detectives (2024) 1.02 — The Case of the Dandelion Shrine (insp)