#Some of this stuff is just damn impressive

[kathlare]

sneaking glances

Lando Norris x Amelie Dayman

Summary: During a post-race debrief, Lando struggles to focus as a live stream of Amelie's final performance on the Eras Tour captures his attention. What begins as a secret moment quickly turns into an impromptu team viewing party, exposing his feelings to his colleagues in a humorous and heartwarming way.

Wordcount: 1.1 k

Warnings: just fluff

request over here!

March 9th, 2024 - Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

The post-race debrief felt like it had been dragging on for hours. Lando sat in the dimly lit McLaren meeting room, surrounded by engineers and strategists dissecting every second of his race in Saudi Arabia. P6 in qualifying had felt promising, but slipping down to P8 during the race was frustrating.

As the head engineer clicked through lap data on the screen, Lando leaned back in his chair, his leg bouncing restlessly under the table. His phone, strategically tucked in his hoodie pocket, vibrated softly—a notification from Instagram Live. His heart jumped.

He didn’t need to check to know what it was. Amelie’s last night opening for Taylor Swift on the Eras Tour was happening in Singapore.

Lando had known how much this tour meant to her, how thrilled she was to perform on some of the biggest stages in the world. And tonight was special—her final show. She’d been glowing over FaceTime earlier in the week, buzzing with both excitement and a tinge of sadness that it was coming to an end.

He shifted in his chair, pretending to adjust the waistband of his hoodie as he slid his phone out. Keeping it low and angled away from the team, he unlocked it with a swipe.

The live stream loaded almost immediately, and his chest tightened as Amelie’s voice filled his ears.

Her silhouette was bathed in soft purple light, the crowd roaring as she belted out the final notes of her song. She was dressed in a sparkling outfit that shimmered with every movement, her hair flowing as she twirled across the stage with her signature energy.

She looked breathtaking.

—Lando?— Andrea, his performance coach, nudged him gently, bringing him back to the room.

—Yeah, yeah, I’m listening,— Lando replied quickly, his eyes darting to the screen and back. He adjusted his posture, tapping on the table as if he were fully engaged in the conversation.

But his mind was anywhere but there.

Amelie laughed into the mic, her voice warm and effervescent as she addressed the crowd. —This is my last night opening for Taylor, and I just want to thank every single one of you for making this journey so unforgettable.— The audience erupted in cheers, and Lando couldn’t help but smile. She always knew how to command a room.

He angled the phone closer, careful not to make it obvious, but the subtle glow of the screen caught the attention of Oscar, who was seated beside him.

—What’s that?— Oscar whispered, leaning slightly over to peek.

Lando flinched, quickly tilting the screen away. —Nothing. Just checking... stuff.—

Oscar raised an eyebrow, unconvinced. —Is that… a concert?—

Lando sighed, realizing he wasn’t getting out of this one. He lowered his voice. —It’s Amelie. She’s performing in Singapore.—

Oscar’s eyes widened in recognition. —Wait, Amelie? Like, your Amelie?—

—Shut up,— Lando hissed, his cheeks flushing.

But it was too late. The exchange had drawn the attention of one of the engineers, who leaned over curiously. —What are you watching?—

Lando groaned, sinking lower into his chair as the small crowd around the table grew more intrigued. —It’s nothing, guys. Just focus on the debrief.—

Andrea’s sharp gaze narrowed. —Lando.—

—Fine!— he relented, holding up the phone. The live stream displayed Amelie mid-performance, her voice soaring through the room.

There was a beat of silence before someone muttered, —Damn, she’s good.—

One by one, the team leaned in, captivated. Even Andrea, who had been ready to scold Lando, seemed impressed.

—Isn’t she friends with you?— one of the engineers asked.

Lando shrugged, trying to play it cool. —Yeah. We’re... close.—

Oscar snorted. —Close? Mate, you’re grinning like an idiot. You’re in love.—

—Shut it, Piastri,— Lando muttered, but his smile betrayed him.

The debrief quickly devolved into a makeshift watch party. The engineers abandoned their laptops, the strategists leaned against the table, and even Zak Brown appeared in the doorway, raising an eyebrow at the scene.

—What’s going on here?— Zak asked, his tone amused.

Andrea gestured to the phone. —Lando’s watching his... friend’s concert.—

Zak crossed his arms, clearly entertained. —Friend, huh?—

Lando groaned, burying his face in his hands. —Can we just finish the meeting?—

But no one was listening anymore. Someone connected the phone to the meeting room’s projector, and within seconds, Amelie’s live stream was on the big screen.

She was mid-song, the crowd swaying to the rhythm as she poured her heart into every note. Lando couldn’t take his eyes off her, his chest swelling with pride.

—You know, you could’ve just told us you’re dating her,— Oscar said, nudging him playfully.

—We’re not...!— Lando started, but the room erupted in laughter.

Zak clapped a hand on his shoulder. —It’s okay, kid. We’re rooting for you.—

As Amelie finished her set with her traditional Nonsense outro, Lando’s phone buzzed again, a text from her.

Ames💛: You better not be ignoring your meeting to watch me.

He grinned, typing back quickly.

Lan🧡: Busted. The whole team’s watching now. You were incredible.

Her reply came almost instantly.

Ames💛: Told you you’d fall for me all over again ;)

Lando chuckled, shaking his head as he pocketed the phone.

—Alright, alright, back to work,— Zak called, though his tone was far from serious.

As the team reluctantly turned their attention back to the race debrief, Lando couldn’t help but feel a warmth settle in his chest.

Amelie had always been his biggest distraction—and his greatest joy. And as he glanced at the projector one last time, watching her blow a kiss to the crowd, he realized he wouldn’t have it any other way.

[wolfwoocl]

Vash already knows the answer to that one, so he doesn’t need to dignify that with an answer. If anything, Vash ought to be more impressed that he hasn’t fought anyone else either. Petty is the most he can reach for when he can’t in good conscience retaliate to Vash’s protective incredulity. 

And then some.

Wolfwood sighs heavily, determined to take the hail of anxious questions in stride. In a way, it’s nice to be lectured instead of the other way around. It’s good. Good that Vash has something to focus on instead of his newfound doom and gloom, even if it means fixating on perceived self-neglect on Wolfwood’s part. He lets Vash fret all he wants.

Two hundred years, plenty worse for wear. He isn't a scientist. He doesn't know if he can fix Vash's erratic power surges. He just knows Vash doesn't have to figure it out or hide from it alone anymore.

“Oh, I was lookin’ to get started on self-care sometime this week or the next,” Wolfwood drawls lazily. He was in no particular rush to do anything but find Vash, and he’s accomplished that. The satisfaction of gazing back into Vash’s eyes, tinted a pretty shade of violet as they are like night blooms, is worth more than all the sleepless nights leading up to their reunion. There’s a certain thrill in their proximity and the frenzied ions in the air, like a two-step along the edge of a cliff in the middle of a burgeoning storm.

Zap!

Straight to his heart, that particular jolt of energy. Purple clings to the edges of his vision and he swears for a split second he can see the brilliant curving and angled Plant lines on Vash's skin, clear as day, and gone as quickly in the blink of an eye. Power: undeniably Plant, undeniably Vash. 

Something else, too.

He'd go so far as to call it love, except it's not his. Vash's love. Tender, sweet, like everything he's ever convinced himself he didn't deserve. The way Vash is looking at him, he isn't hallucinating. 

“Of course, ya damn idiot. And given a chance to do it all over again, I wouldn’t change a damn fuckin’ thing,” Wolfwood assures patiently. He leans his face fully into Vash’s hand, never once breaking eye contact from beneath his fringe of messy, dark bangs. 

Funny, when he thought of the future, he never really considered picturing himself in it. 

“I dunno,” Nicholas says slowly, taking a moment to really think about what he wants. Something that didn't involve the utter violence so much of his life was mired in. “Would be nice to just make stuff fer once.”

Woodwork was too personal. He had no desire to make his hobby into a profitable craft. 

“Somethin’ lame, I guess. Like openin’ a bakery.”

"You've already fought some of them?!" Vash squawks in disbelief, concerned primarily with the priest's health above his own... as usual. It's Wolfwood... what did he really expect? Of course he won't just sit and twiddle his thumbs while the Eye searches night and day for Vash. He'll do quadruple the work with half the resources the organization has, that's just how he functions.

He pouts, his one hand holding onto the abrasive, yet gentle, palms that he loved what feels like thousands of years ago. Still loves. Still loves... Will love until he can't love anymore. Even then, he'll love and love again and if he's recycled into a new Plant or whatever happens to him after death Vash will still find a way to love Wolfwood.

"You gotta take care of yourself..." the pot calls the kettle black, "How much have you been sleeping?! Eating?"

Vash raises his hand to cup Wolfwood's cheek, pinching it slightly with his brows furrowed mid-pout. He meets his gaze for a long moment and searches it, seeing the exhaustion and relief in equal measure. Though his own eyes have been stained violet with exertion, there are still small flecks of marine blue for those close enough to examine them.

Subtle cracks of that same purple hue break along his jaw where his markings usually show. It's hard to make them go away these days. The stress he put on himself was literally enough to make him crack, yet he carried on anyway. He knew back then that it was causing his seemingly random outbursts of power, but admitting that it was a problem felt like tearing a fresh scab off of a bloody wound. Right now his power is dulled to a low sizzling static, raising the hairs on Wolfwood's arm and his scruffy facial hair to attention.

"I'm not letting them take you away from me again, Wolfwood," Vash tenses his grip slightly, remaining perfectly stoic. He doesn't go into detail about what he'd do to keep Wolfwood, the lengths he'd go. The priest doesn't know about what he had to do to save Livio, to save the one person that Wolfwood sacrificed himself for, and Vash isn't sure that he ever wants him to know. He supposes it will probably come up in conversation at some point, unfortunately. "I want you to live a life without worries for once. If this is—if I'm really part of the life you want to live, then I'll do anything to make sure you get to see it. Me. Wait—"

Vash pauses, allowing his head to empty itself of all thoughts. Blinking a few times, losing himself in those same whiskey-gold eyes, and putting puzzle pieces together, a small spark of pure inquisitive energy zaps the undertaker like a static shock. It sends with it the confusion and warm love that he feels in the moment, not that Vash is aware of it.

"You still want to—still want me even after all of this is over? I could really hurt you, you know! A-and, I mean..."

Of course Wolfwood still loves him, why else would they be like this? Why else would he come find him, search for years for him... Why would he do that if his only goal was to root out the Eye of Michael? Still... it's not like either of them ever really considered living a peaceful life after everything had been over. At least—well—he'd never thought... that far ahead. So he's only done the whole 'relationship' thing once in his life—they never really lived together and it was casual back then. What the hell does he do if all the trouble is gone, his bounty is cleared, and Wolfwood is back?

"What do you want to do when this is over?"

[goombasa]

Youtube Recommendation: Summoning Salt

Time for something quick and simple, I think. I might be sprinkling posts like this throughout the year here and there, just using this as an excuse to talk about another creator that I really like.

So, any speedrunners in the audience?

Speedrunners both terrify and intrigue me. Even when watching a middle-of-the-road run, or an old run that is vastly outdated by modern techniques, I am always stunned and mystified by the amount of skill, planning, and tenacity that goes into making them work, the hours and hours put into playing the same game over and over again, stripping it down to its absolute bare essentials and looking for breaks in the chain, openings in the plate, which can be exploited as much as possible.

And as much as I love hearing the technical side of all these things, what I love most is learning about the journey that a game takes to become a heavily played speed game.

If you've had any sort of interest in speed running a game, or the practice or people in general, chances are good you've come across videos made by a Youtuber named Summoning Salt. Summoning Salt's videos revolve entirely around speed running, which makes sense considering Salt himself is a very accomplished speedrunner, holding 1st place in six different categories for Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! on the NES. This intimate knowledge on the ins and outs on the process of speed running, and his own experience, lends his videos an important touch of professional knowledge.

His output primarily consists of videos covering the history of the speed running community and record for a particular game, and he doesn't just cover the big games either. While yes, he has touched on games like Mike Tyson's Punch Out, Super Mario 64, and the Mario Kart series, but he's also covered games you really wouldn't expect to HAVE a speed running community, like Wii Sports or the Lego Star Wars saga. He's also done videos spotlighting the careers and attempts to beat the records of prominent speedrunners, like Abney317 in Mario Kart 64 or Jimmypoopins in Ninja Gaiden 2, or videos concerning very specific categories within a community. He's done videos on blindfolded Punch-out and Super Mario 64, as well as a video on the Wii Sports Golf game specifically, for example.

And these videos are like potato chips. I can't watch just one, despite the rather impressive length of them. His older videos usually range between fifteen minutes and a half hour, but his recent videos range anywhere from between forty-five minutes to upwards of two hours as he goes into massive detail on the history of a game, going through every discovery for glitches and techniques, and probably most importantly, highlighting every player that helped to push the game forward or challenge the community's status quo, no matter how small of a role they might have played in the grand scheme of things. No detail is too small if it means talking about some interesting aspect of the game.

His videos are also incredibly easy to understand as well, which lends them well to those who aren't really into speedrunning or might be new to the community. he does use language and terms that are intrinsic to speedrunning, but he generally does a good job of explaining what those terms mean in a way that is very accessible. I compare that to videos from mother speedrunning focused channels that are really into the technical side of things, like Bismuth. Bismuth is another great speedrunning channel, but focuses more on explaining, in great detail, the technical aspects of how certain tricks and glitches work. To give you an idea of their breadth of knowledge, their biggest project is an exhaustive 5+ hour long documentary explaining all of the history and technical aspects behind the A-button challenge, where people try to beat Super Mario 64 using as few A-button presses as possible. It's a really interesting watch, at least to me, but due to the technical nature of their videos, Bismuth's stuff is a bit more niche. Summoning Salt's videos are much more simple, and he uses languages and explanations that are pretty easy to understand, often not bothering to go in depth into the technical aspects of what makes certain tricks work beyond what is necessary to understand the idea behind it, or just skip over the technical details entirely if it would slow down the video, which is focused more on the human element of speed running, the drama and high emotion of trying to reach, and keep, a record.

Even if you're an outsider looking in, I would highly recommend checking out Summoning Salt's channel, just for the entertainment value alone. Ultimately, the videos are stories about the people behind the records, who made the community what it became, rather than focusing on the game itself, and I think that's what makes it so fascinating to watch. Here are a few recommended vids that I personally enjoy:

Recommending Videos:

The History of Blindfolded Super Mario 64: At the time of my writing this, this is actually the most recent video on Salt's channel. Not the first ‘blindfolded’ video he's done, but I feel like this one better exemplifies the absolute struggles of playing a well known game without the use of sight AND doing it quickly.

The History of Wii Sports World Records: An excellent example of just how Summoning Salt can take something that, conceptually, shouldn't be that interesting or epic, and through just telling you about the people and just how it started to gain popularity, he gets you to care about something as silly sounding as the world record for marathoning all the games in Wii Sports as fast as possible.

The Quest to Beat Matt Turk: This was the video that got me into Summoning Salt's channel, a story about how a dead speedrun community was given new life as a series of runners came together with the collective goal of trying to beat the individual times of the runner who held the world record in every single fight in Punch Out.

The History of Super Mario Bros 3 100% World Records: This is a good blueprint for how most of Salt's videos tend to play out, and it's for a game that is incredibly well known. This is a quintessential Summoning Salt video and will probably give you a really good idea as to whether or not you'd enjoy his content.

[canisalbus]

Hello I made you some more art!! IDK Why your little guys have just stuck in my brain as of late but yeah I'm just on a roll I guess!

This piece was inspired by wondering who was present around Machete's assassination, and how people around him would react to his downfall. So I had the idea for a portrait of a final lover's embrace, as Vasco holds his dying beloved in bloodsoaked arms.

I tried my best with the clothing -- especially the shoes -- and I think I did a pretty good job but BOY were they hard! XD Anyways, I hope you like this one, it was a blast to draw! I love machete sm istg <3

.

[sysig]

The brainworms are winning, clearly (Patreon)

[punkcherries]

everyone whittled me down and i watched arcane. it was alright

[the-physicality]

.

[fiendishartist2]

started watching the 80s astroboy anime and i need tenma to explode

[catkin-morgs-kookaburralover]

it's not even like I don't have fun at times. I had SUCH a good call with @stealingmyplaceinthesun this afternoon it was loads of fun and at times I got extremely giggly in a way I haven't for probably months. and afterwards I ate dinner and it was ALL FINE until it wasn't

[dredshirtroberts]

people?? being niceys to me???? for no reason except loves me?????????????

it's more likely than i think, apparently.

[spaciebabie]

I CAN'T FIND YOUR RECORDING OF ONLY GIRL BUT THE SONG CAME ON THE RADIO AT WORK AND I COULD ONLY THINK OF YOUR VIDEO

I love your animations and recordings so much I think of them a normal amount <3 they're so silly<3

oh you mean thissun right

waaaa ty ;-; im glad yu likkem so much............,.,.,.,i enjoy being a silly billy on main :3333

[chadsuke]

Books Read in 2023:

Liberated to the Bone: Histories, Bodies, Futures by Susan Raffo (2022)

Unflattering Photos of Fascists:  Authoritarianism in Trump's America by Christopher Ketcham (2020)

Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion by Elizabeth L. Cline (2012)

A Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid (1988)

Why are Faggots so Afraid of Faggots? Flaming Challenges to Masculinity, Objectification, and the Desire to Conform edited by Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore (2012)

The F*ck It Diet: Eating Should Be Easy by Caroline Dooner (2019)

The Road to Jonestown: Jim Jones and the Peoples Temple by Jeff Guin (2017)

Garbology: Our Dirty Love Affair with Trash by Edward Humes (2012)

The 100-Mile Diet: A Year of Local Eating (2007)

[ID: Covers of the aforementioned books. End ID.]

[didsomeonesayventus]

on one hand I get no joy from KH fanfic anymore on the other oneshot of Sora finding out Young Xehanort made it to Squareville and pinning him for some questions on what the he*k is going on

[bibiana112]

Me yelling furiously in the discord call about a random subject not because I'm mad but cause I'm just Opinionated™ and can't regulate how that sounds very well and feel safe enough to do so steadily actually getting annoyed because the one person in the call who doesn't know me keeps teasing about me being mad and for me to calm down is not a fun thing except when this one guy with the Kel icon does it because mine is still Aubrey and that fits their dynamic so much it's funny

[andragoras-in-vanity]

god i love james wans movies, theyre so bad but so good

[jadedbirch]

Gather around, my young friends and fellow dinosaurs, let me tell you about some BULLSHIT no one ever tells you about. I'm talking about menopause and perimenopause. Now, menopause has a very stringent medical definition. You have to not have had a period for exactly 12 months and a day to be considered in menopause. All the bullshit before that day once you start going through The Change is considered perimenopause. Here's some bullshit you might experience that people actually talk about when you're in perimenopause:

- shorter time between periods

- irregular periods

- hot flashes and/or cold flashes

- fucked up sleep

- OMG NIGHT SWEATS

- Vagina as dry as the Sahara desert

- lighter periods and/or endless bleeding like it's The Flood but it's in your pants

- lack of interest in Adult Fun Times

This time of joy can last anywhere from a couple of years to a god damn decade and there's no medical way right now to predict it.

Here's some of the REAL bullshit they don't tell you about but your dinosaur aunt is here to let you know:

- You can start perimenopause in your 30s, don't listen to idiot doctors who tell you you're "too young" because they don't know your body like you do.

- Perimenopause will make you HELLA DUMB. Seriously, I'm talking Bigly broken brain. Brain fog? Check. Short term memory? Wave goodbye to it. Ability to make words form out of thoughts? Yeah, good luck to you.

- Perimenopause can cause horrible fatigue because in addition to losing estrogen, you're also losing testosterone. Oh and that also leads to muscle wasting, cool cool.

- Things might suddenly hurt more because estrogen is known to be neuroprotective.

- If you're super lucky like I am, and like to collect rare illnesses, you might even get Burning Mouth Syndrome 💀

- And meanwhile, while you're going through this bullshit, you'll be getting gaslit by doctors who are operating based on 30 year old debunked data about how HRT causes breast cancer (not really) and that they shouldn't put you on it until you're in actual menopause. (Data shows starting HRT early can potentially prevent Alzheimer's in later years.)

- There are entire online clinics right now (I use Midi Health) focused on providing care for peri and menopausal patients and they will happily prescribe you HRT even if your regular PCP or OBGYN do not (if you meet the criteria). I've been pretty impressed with how holistically they view the patient. For full disclosure, I learned about them from my integrative health doctor and they do not accept Medicare (yet).

I'm 46 years old right now and I've been symptomatic for perimenopause for the last 8 years, although it's gotten the most dramatic in the past 2 years or so, which I hope means I'm almost done, holy hell. Yeah I was on the early side, but if it can happen to me, it can happen to you, so it's never too early to think about these things. And I hope to at least spare some of you the mind-fuckery I've been through because no one told me about most of this stuff, including my own mother who just DOESN'T REMEMBER what happened to her and now I completely understand why. And because I also have a connective tissue disease, I used to just dismiss my pain and fatigue as being caused by that illness rather than the loss of hormones.

Anyways, this is why we need Elders in our lives, so they can do Grandma Story Hour like I just did and validate you when the entire medical field tries to gaslight you. I hope you've found some or all of this educational/useful. Please share with your friends because we really do NOT talk about this stuff enough. (Ewwww Moon Blood!)

Stay well, and don't let the bastards grind you down!