#a circuitous post about loving dramas

[madelynn-sienna]

coney island p. I (max verstappen x reader)

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･ﾟ·:｡･ﾟﾟ･ ✩ ･ﾟ ･ﾟ·:｡･ﾟﾟ･ ･ﾟ·:｡･ﾟﾟ･ ✩ ･ﾟ ･ﾟ·:｡･ﾟﾟ･･ﾟ·:｡･ﾟﾟ･ ･ﾟﾟ･ ✩ ･ﾟ

★ prompt: ❛❛ what's a lifetime of achievement? if I pushed you to the edge? ❜❜ ★ pairing : max verstappen x reader ★ face claim : lily collins (+ one picture of kelly piquet and margot robbie each) ★ genres : angst ★ a/n : this will be a two-part hurt/comfort story inspired by the song coney island. be rest assured while this half is quite sad, the second half will make up for the angst and we will get a happy max x yn ending! also, per some creative liberty i took, max is only 23 years old here (he started racing in 2019, won his first gp in 2021 and was in school with the reader before he dropped out to pursue racing full time). ★ feedback and requests are always appreciated!

･ﾟ·:｡･ﾟﾟ･ ✩ ･ﾟ ･ﾟ·:｡･ﾟﾟ･ ･ﾟ·:｡･ﾟﾟ･ ✩ ･ﾟ ･ﾟ·:｡･ﾟﾟ･･ﾟ·:｡･ﾟﾟ･ ･ﾟﾟ･ ✩ ･ﾟ

liked by yourinstagram, redbullracing, landonorris and others

maxverstappen simply lovely race 🏆 what an amazing weekend and victory in jeddah, thank you all for your incredible support 🇸🇦

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yourinstagram another fabulous performance #mv01 🔥🔥🔥

redbullracing incredibly strong race today, a 1-2 finish is all we could have asked for 💙

user1 tu tu tu du max verstappen! user2 fastest pit stop too.

yourinstagram made me so proud max, ik houd van je 💕

maxverstappen ik hou ook van jou mijn liefste ❤️ user3 they said they loved each other in dutch. user4 he also called her 'his sweetheart' 🥹 user5 max and yn are literally the it couple on the circuit rn. user6 right? three time world champion and a bestselling author. user7 they so need to make a movie about it. user8 or a book, imagine a twisted lies style drama 😭

ruthbuscombe the strategy 💯

landonorris congrats mate!

maxverstappen thanks. user9 we're waiting for a win from you too lando! user10 this aged well haha

schecoperez ¡bien hecho!

user11 presenting our four time world champion everyone!

user12 we're only on the second race of the season 😭 user13 i mean if last year's anything to by, that's enough.

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text exchanges between yn & max dated 23/07, 02/08 and 04/08.

･ﾟ·:｡･ﾟﾟ･ ✩ ･ﾟ ･ﾟ·:｡･ﾟﾟ･ ･ﾟ·:｡･ﾟﾟ･ ✩ ･ﾟ ･ﾟ·:｡･ﾟﾟ･･ﾟ·:｡･ﾟﾟ･ ･ﾟﾟ･ ✩ ･ﾟ

liked by yourbestfriend1, lilymhe, francisca.cgomes and others

yourinstagram it's supposed to be fun, turning twenty-one...

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user1 faster than the flying dutchman?

user2 yoo-hoo, @.maxverstappen where are you? user3 right? like he's usually the first one here...

carmenmmmundt happy birthday🥂

danielricciardo happy 21 yn 🍾

user4 why isn't max in the pictures?

user5 he's been busy with the belgian gp! user6 dude, that finished on sunday — it's the next saturday. user7 he's prolly just really stressed, he hasn't won since canada. user8 yeah, but yn through him a massive party last year. user9 so? circumstances were different... she isn't busy 24/7. user10 she literally has a job.

alexandrasaintmleux belle fille❣️

charlesleclerc joyeux anniversaire 🎉

user11 that caption's giving me bad vibes...

user12 me too! user13 its from all too well, that's such a sad song 😭 user14 i wonder why she chose it? user15 this better not be a sign.

user16 seriously? where is max, it's been 24 hours...

user17 check their stories, they're like done done. user18 nooooooooo😭 user19 she gave so many signs...

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･ﾟ·:｡･ﾟﾟ･ ✩ ･ﾟ ･ﾟ·:｡･ﾟﾟ･ ･ﾟ·:｡･ﾟﾟ･ ✩ ･ﾟ ･ﾟ·:｡･ﾟﾟ･･ﾟ·:｡･ﾟﾟ･ ･ﾟﾟ･ ✩ ･ﾟ

yourinstagram added to their story. maxverstappen added to their story.

･ﾟ·:｡･ﾟﾟ･ ✩ ･ﾟ ･ﾟ·:｡･ﾟﾟ･ ･ﾟ·:｡･ﾟﾟ･ ✩ ･ﾟ ･ﾟ·:｡･ﾟﾟ･･ﾟ·:｡･ﾟﾟ･ ･ﾟﾟ･ ✩ ･ﾟ

liked by charlesleclerc, redbullracing, landonorris and others

maxverstappen 5 wins in 5 races - thank you for your support in monza, baku, singapore, texas and sao paulo. you've made me happier than you know, happier than i've ever been before.

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user1 he really do be out here pretending he didn't break yn's heart.

user2 of course, he needs to maintain his bravado. user3 otherwise people, and he will realise, he messed up. user4 i can't believe he's trying to snub our girl yn.

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･ﾟ·:｡･ﾟﾟ･ ✩ ･ﾟ ･ﾟ·:｡･ﾟﾟ･ ･ﾟ·:｡･ﾟﾟ･ ✩ ･ﾟ ･ﾟ·:｡･ﾟﾟ･･ﾟ·:｡･ﾟﾟ･ ･ﾟﾟ･ ✩ ･ﾟ

･ﾟ·:｡･ﾟﾟ･ ✩ ･ﾟ ･ﾟ·:｡･ﾟﾟ･ ･ﾟ·:｡･ﾟﾟ･ ✩ ･ﾟ ･ﾟ·:｡･ﾟﾟ･･ﾟ·:｡･ﾟﾟ･ ･ﾟﾟ･ ✩ ･ﾟ

liked by visacashapprb, schecoperez, maxverstappen and others

redbullracing max verstappen wins the world drivers championship 2024, after an outstanding race at the las vegas street circuit that leaves him at with a 62 point lead in the standings ❤️ 💛 💙

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user1 max, max, max, super max, max

user2 tu tu tu du max verstappen user3 i called it! i said he'd win the wdc back in jeddah 🏆

user4 were you standing in the hallway with a big cake? happy birthday.

user5 of course, he just painted yn's bluest skies the darkest grey. user6 you are getting pressed for a breakup you know zero about! user7 max literally said it in his interviews and his statement. user8 they broke up because he was too busy. user9 ergo, he wasn't there for her, not even on her birthday!

lewishamilton amazing work - congratulations max

user10 what a goat ❤️

danielricciardo maaaax verstappennnnn! four time world champion.

user11 why'd I read that like pierrreeee gaslyyyyy? user12 me too😭 daniel's an icon.

fernandoalonso ¡muchas felicidades!

user13 real question here is, what's a lifetime of achievement?

user14 especially when he pushed her to the edge. user15 right like did you see her in miami, she looked so sad😭 user16 we all know she was just too nice too leave. user17 i'd have dumped his ass ages ago.

user17 definition of a LEGEND

･ﾟ·:｡･ﾟﾟ･ ✩ ･ﾟ ･ﾟ·:｡･ﾟﾟ･ ･ﾟ·:｡･ﾟﾟ･ ✩ ･ﾟ ･ﾟ·:｡･ﾟﾟ･･ﾟ·:｡･ﾟﾟ･ ･ﾟﾟ･ ✩ ･ﾟ

liked by f1wags, yourinstagram, aston martin and others

f1 🚩 Red flag in the Abu Dhabi as Max Verstappen suffers a huge crash. The medical rescue team is currently trying to get the Red Bull driver away the resultant debris and fire as safely as possible.

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[helvegen-s]

point of no return | two

index

Pairing: Charles Leclerc x driver!OC

Summary: Love and rivalry collide on the Formula 1 circuit as Ferrari's star drivers, Astrid and Charles, push the limits of their relationship alongside the boundaries of speed. Can their love survive the pressure, or will their ambition become their downfall?

WC: 3.4k

Warnings: misunderstandings, feelings of inadequacy, codependency, jealousy, toxic relationship dynamics, major crash (no one injured), fear of failing

A/N: things are going fast hihi, but this series is short sooooo fasten your seatbelts. hope you enjoy it as much as i did writing it. if you want to be added to the taglist just let me know :))

The season had started as every other had since Astrid joined Ferrari: a mix of camaraderie and rivalry, their love woven tightly into the fabric of their shared ambition. But as the season neared its climax, with both drivers neck-and-neck in points, the harmony they had worked so hard to maintain began to fray.

For the first time, their names weren’t just mentioned in tandem as "the Ferrari power couple." Now, every headline seemed to pit them against each other. "Whitmore edges out Leclerc in thrilling finish," one article proclaimed after Astrid claimed victory in Spain, while another read, "Leclerc regains footing, takes crucial win in Canada." The media thrived on the drama, and though they tried to block out the noise, it seeped into their world like water through a crack.

In the garage, the tension was palpable. Team orders, once clear and uncontroversial, now carried a weight that neither wanted to confront. Astrid’s mechanics whispered among themselves when Charles’ side of the garage seemed quieter after her wins, while Charles’ engineers grew defensive every time Astrid received praise in team briefings. The once-shared celebrations after a race became muted, polite, and laced with unspoken words.

Astrid had never been one to shy away from pressure. She thrived in it, lived for it. But now, it was different. The whispers about her being "just as good" as Charles were no longer satisfying; she wanted more. She wanted to prove she wasn’t just equal to him—she wanted to be better. Every race, every qualifying session, every lap became a battleground, not just for the championship but for her sense of self-worth in a sport that had always demanded she prove her place.

For Charles, it was harder to admit what he was feeling. He was proud of Astrid—of course he was. He’d been her biggest supporter since the start. But there were moments, fleeting and unwelcome, where her success felt like a mirror reflecting his own insecurities. When Astrid took pole in Austria by two-tenths, it stung more than it should have. When her radio message after winning in Spain was broadcast, the overwhelming cheers from the crowd left him feeling more like a spectator than a fellow champion.

“It’s amazing how Astrid is leading the championship fight now,” a journalist had commented during a post-race interview, their tone casual but the words striking deep. “Do you think Ferrari’s focus is shifting towards her?”

He’d forced a smile, the perfect PR answer tumbling out of his mouth. “She’s been incredible all season, and we’re both giving it our all for the team. That’s what matters.” But later, alone in his driver room, he’d replayed the question over and over. Was Ferrari favoring Astrid? Was she becoming the face of the team? And worse: was he okay with that?

Their moments together, once filled with easy laughter and shared dreams, had become quieter. Astrid noticed the change but wasn’t sure how to bring it up without sounding accusatory. Charles, on the other hand, tried to ignore the growing distance, hoping it would resolve itself once the season ended. But the closer they got to Abu Dhabi, the tighter the knot in his chest grew.

It was one of those rare mornings when they didn’t have to rush to the track or answer to the incessant demands of the media. It was a two-week pause in between Silverstone and Spa-Francorchamps, the villa they’d rented near Lake Como, with its sprawling garden and view of the water, felt like a small bubble away from the chaos of their world.

Astrid was in the kitchen, barefoot and still in her oversized hoodie, humming softly as she poured coffee into two mugs. The smell of freshly baked bread wafted through the air, and the early sunlight streamed in through the wide windows. Charles was at the dining table, scrolling through his phone, wearing sweatpants and a worn T-shirt that Astrid had teased him about for years but secretly loved.

“You want butter or jam?” Astrid called out, glancing over her shoulder at him.

“Both,” Charles replied without looking up.

Astrid shook her head, smiling. “You’re such a child sometimes.” She brought the mugs over and placed his beside him.

“Merci,” he muttered, finally putting his phone down to take a sip. He looked up at her then, his eyes softening. “You’re humming.”

She raised a brow. “Am I not allowed to hum?”

He shrugged, a small smirk tugging at his lips. “Just means you’re in a good mood. You haven’t hummed in weeks.”

Astrid paused, leaning her hip against the counter. “Maybe because it’s the first time in weeks we’ve had a moment to breathe.”

Charles nodded, his expression thoughtful. “It’s nice,” he said simply.

For a while, they ate in companionable silence, the clinking of cutlery and the distant sound of birds filling the room. It was the kind of moment that reminded them of who they were outside of the paddock, outside of the helmets and the pressure.

But even in the quiet, there were cracks.

As Astrid refilled her coffee, she noticed Charles glancing at his phone again. She didn’t have to ask to know what he was looking at—it was probably another article speculating on who Ferrari should favor in the championship fight.

“Charles,” she said gently, setting her mug down.

He looked up, his brow furrowing slightly. “What?”

“You’ve been glued to that thing all morning,” she said, nodding toward his phone.

“It’s nothing,” he replied quickly, but the tension in his voice betrayed him.

Astrid crossed her arms, leaning against the counter. “Is it?”

He sighed, running a hand through his messy hair. “I just... I want to make sure I’m staying on top of things. The media... they’re relentless right now.”

She tilted her head, studying him. “You mean they’re relentless about us.”

He didn’t answer, which was answer enough.

“You know it doesn’t matter, right?” she said softly, her voice tinged with a vulnerability she rarely let show. “What they say, what they think—it doesn’t change what we’re doing out there. Or what we have.”

Charles looked at her, his eyes searching hers. “But what if it does? What if... what if all of this starts to change us?”

Astrid swallowed, her chest tightening at his words. “You think we’re changing?”

“Don’t you?” he countered, his tone gentle but pointed. “We’re not... we’re not the same as we were last year. Or the year before that.”

She wanted to argue, to tell him he was wrong, but she couldn’t. Because deep down, she felt it too—the subtle shift, the unspoken tension that had crept into their relationship like a shadow.

“I think...” she began, choosing her words carefully, “I think we’re under more pressure than we’ve ever been. And it’s not just the championship. It’s the media, the team, everything. It’s a lot.”

Charles nodded, his gaze dropping to his coffee. “It is.”

“But,” she continued, stepping closer to him, “that doesn’t mean we’re broken. It just means we have to work harder to stay us.”

He looked up at her then, his eyes full of something she couldn’t quite place—hope, maybe, or fear, or both.

“I don’t want to lose this,” he said quietly.

“You won’t,” she promised, reaching out to place her hand over his. “We won’t.”

The moment lingered, a fragile truce in the midst of their unspoken doubts.

As the day went on, they fell back into their usual rhythm—laughing over breakfast, teasing each other as they planned their afternoon by the lake. But there were moments, fleeting and subtle, that hinted at the cracks beneath the surface.

When Astrid made an offhand comment about needing to focus on the next race, Charles’ smile faltered for just a second. When Charles mentioned the team’s strategy meeting, Astrid’s grip on her coffee mug tightened imperceptibly.

They were small things, easy to miss if you weren’t paying attention. But to them, they were reminders of the storm waiting just beyond the horizon.

The following week brought them to Spa-Francorchamps, one of the most iconic circuits on the calendar. The winding, hilly track nestled in the Ardennes forest promised unpredictability—both in weather and racing outcomes.

For Astrid and Charles, however, the unpredictability wasn’t just on the track. The simmering tension between them had followed them to Belgium, and though both tried to push it aside, the cracks in their relationship felt more prominent with each passing day.

The paddock had been buzzing all day, as Spa’s famously temperamental weather forecast predicted rain for the race. That evening, the motorhomes were quieter, with most of the drivers retreating to rest and prepare.

Astrid and Charles found themselves in their shared motorhome, the sound of rain pattering on the windows. It was one of those rare quiet moments between races, and for once, neither had meetings or interviews to attend.

Astrid sat cross-legged on the couch, scrolling through her tablet, while Charles leaned against the kitchen counter, nursing a cup of tea. It was a mundane, almost domestic scene, the kind they used to cherish when the pressures of their careers felt like a distant hum rather than an all-consuming roar.

But tonight, the silence felt heavier.

“Long day?” Astrid asked, glancing up at Charles.

“Yeah,” he replied simply, not looking up from his tea.

She frowned slightly, setting the tablet down. “Charles, are we going to talk about this?”

“About what?” he asked, though his tone suggested he knew exactly what she meant.

Astrid sighed, standing up and crossing the room to face him. “About whatever it is that’s making you act like this. You’re distant, you barely look at me after meetings, and it feels like... I don’t know, like you resent me or something.”

Charles set the mug down a little harder than necessary, his jaw tightening. “I don’t resent you, Astrid.”

“Then what is it?” she pressed, her voice rising slightly.

“It’s nothing,” he said, running a hand through his hair in frustration. “It’s just... it’s everything. The championship, the media, the team orders—”

“And me?” she interrupted, her tone sharp. “Am I part of that ‘everything’?”

He looked at her then, his expression conflicted. “No. Yes. I don’t know. Astrid, it’s not that simple.”

“Well, it feels pretty simple to me,” she said, crossing her arms. “You’re upset because I’m ahead in the championship, and you can’t stand it.”

“That’s not fair,” Charles shot back.

“Isn’t it?” she countered. “Because that’s exactly how it feels. Like every time I win, every time I do something right, it’s just another reason for you to pull away.”

The words hung in the air between them, sharp and unyielding. Charles opened his mouth to respond but found he didn’t know what to say. Because deep down, he knew there was truth in her words.

Eventually, Charles broke the silence. “I don’t want to feel this way,” he said quietly. “I love you, Astrid. I’m proud of you. But sometimes... sometimes it’s hard.”

Her expression softened, the anger giving way to something more vulnerable. “I know it’s hard,” she said. “It’s hard for me too. But I can’t keep guessing what you’re feeling, Charles. If we’re going to make this work, we need to talk to each other.”

He nodded slowly, his gaze dropping to the floor. “You’re right. I’ll try. I promise.”

Astrid reached out, placing a hand on his arm. “We’ve always been a team, Charles. On and off the track. Don’t forget that.”

“I won’t,” he said, meeting her eyes. “I just... I need some time to figure this out.”

“Take the time you need,” she said softly. “But don’t shut me out.”

They stood there for a moment, the tension between them easing but not disappearing entirely.

As Astrid returned to the couch and Charles stayed by the counter, the rain outside continued to fall, a steady rhythm that filled the silence between them.

It was a fragile peace, one that felt more like a truce than a resolution. And as they both turned their attention back to their own thoughts, neither could ignore the unspoken truth: the season wasn’t over, and neither were the challenges they’d have to face—together or apart

The rain had come and gone over Spa-Francorchamps, leaving behind a damp track and a heightened sense of unpredictability. It was the final lap, and the stakes couldn’t have been higher. Astrid was leading, her car gliding through Eau Rouge with precision, while Charles was right behind her, locked in DRS range.

Their fight for the championship had come down to this moment. Every overtake, every defense, every decision on that last lap felt like a culmination of the tension that had been building between them all season.

“Let them race,” came the call from the pit wall after Astrid’s engineer hesitated over issuing orders. Ferrari knew better than to interfere now. This wasn’t about the team anymore—this was personal.

Charles had one chance, heading into the final chicane. He went for the inside line, braking late, his car inches from Astrid’s. But Astrid, unwilling to yield, closed the door.

It happened in an instant.

Their wheels touched, and both cars spun out, skidding into the gravel. The crowd roared in disbelief as the race leaderboards adjusted—neither Ferrari would finish the race.

Smoke curled from their engines as Astrid struggled to unclip her steering wheel, her breath heavy and panicked. She turned to see Charles climbing out of his car, visibly unharmed but moving with frustration in every step. Relief surged through her—he was okay—but it was quickly overshadowed by the realization of what had just happened.

Astrid climbed out of her car and ran toward him, her racing boots kicking up gravel. “Charles!” she called, her voice cutting through the noise of the crowd and the chaos of the marshals.

Charles didn’t turn.

She reached him just as he pulled off his helmet, his face set in stone, his jaw clenched tight. “Charles, are you okay?” she asked, her voice trembling, unsure whether it was the adrenaline or the emotion that made it shake.

He didn’t answer. He didn’t even look at her.

“Charles—” Astrid reached out, her gloved hand brushing his arm, but he pulled away as if her touch burned him.

His silence was louder than any words.

Without so much as a glance back, Charles walked away, his helmet tucked under one arm, his other hand gripping the zipper of his suit as he stormed toward the exit. Marshals and officials parted to let him through, their confused expressions mirroring Astrid’s as she stood frozen in the gravel.

Astrid remained rooted in place, her own helmet dangling from her hand. Around her, the noise of the circuit felt distant, muffled by the ringing in her ears.

She turned to look at their two cars, still sitting helplessly in the gravel trap. It was a perfect metaphor for the state of their relationship: broken, stuck, and far from the finish line.

Her chest felt tight as she watched Charles disappear into the tunnel that led out of the paddock. He hadn’t even waited for the team, hadn’t stopped to talk, to explain, to fight. He had just left.

And in that moment, Astrid knew. This wasn’t just a bad race. This wasn’t just a fight they could patch over with whispered apologies and stolen moments.

This was a breaking point.

She blinked hard, swallowing the lump in her throat, and forced herself to move. A marshal gently guided her toward the medical car, but her mind was elsewhere. The championship no longer mattered. The race no longer mattered.

All that mattered was the sinking realization that the man she loved had walked away, not just from the collision, but from her.

The evening sky over Spa-Francorchamps was painted in hues of orange and purple as the sun dipped behind the trees, but Astrid hardly noticed. The paddock was bustling with activity—mechanics swarming over cars, journalists trying to piece together the story of the day, and fans still murmuring about the dramatic ending to the race.

Astrid sat in the back of the Ferrari motorhome, staring blankly at the half-empty bottle of water in her hands. The collision replayed in her mind like a cruel loop: the break point, the touch of their tires, the helpless spin into the gravel.

But it wasn’t the crash that haunted her the most. It was Charles’ silence.

When she had returned to the garage, he was already gone. His name was whispered in hushed tones by team members, but no one dared to speculate aloud where he had gone or when he’d be back.

Astrid glanced at her phone, hoping for a message, a missed call, anything. But the screen was blank.

The door opened, and Fred, their team principal, stepped in, his expression grave but calm. “Astrid,” he said, his tone measured. “Are you alright?”

She nodded, though the answer felt hollow. “I’m fine. Physically.”

He studied her for a moment before stepping closer. “It was an unfortunate incident. The team will handle the media, but... this won’t be easy to move past.”

“I know,” she said quietly, her gaze dropping to the floor.

He hesitated before speaking again. “Charles left the circuit. He’s... not in the best state of mind right now.”

Astrid looked up sharply, a flicker of concern breaking through her own turmoil. “Where did he go?”

“I’m not sure,” Fred admitted. “But give him time. This is hard for both of you.”

She nodded again, though her heart felt heavy. Time. It was the same word Charles had used before. But time without communication felt like a chasm widening between them.

That night, Astrid found herself sitting on the small couch in the hotel room, no signs of Charles, the faint hum of the heater the only sound in the room. She had replayed every word, every look, every silence between her and Charles over the past weeks, searching for the moment they had started to unravel.

Her phone buzzed, and for a brief moment, her heart leapt—until she saw it was her race engineer checking in on her. She replied with a quick “I’m okay. Thanks,” and set the phone down again.

The silence in the room felt oppressive, but she didn’t have the energy to turn on the television or music. Instead, she sat in the quiet, facing the reality she had been avoiding for weeks.

The crash wasn’t the cause of their problems; it was the result. They had been heading toward this breaking point long before they collided on track. The pressure of competing, the strain of balancing love and rivalry—it had all been building, and now it had finally spilled over.

Astrid closed her eyes, leaning back against the couch. She thought of the way Charles had looked at her—or rather, the way he hadn’t. His silence had spoken louder than any argument they could have had.

For the first time, she wondered if they could come back from this.

The following morning, the paddock was a whirlwind of activity as teams packed up and prepared to move to the next race. Astrid moved through the motions, speaking to journalists, debriefing with engineers, but her mind was elsewhere.

Charles still hadn’t returned any of her messages.

As she walked back to the motorhome, she spotted a small group of fans gathered near the fence, holding signs and calling her name. She forced a smile, walking over to sign autographs and take pictures. Their enthusiasm was a stark contrast to the heaviness she felt inside, but she didn’t let it show.

“Are you and Charles okay?” one young fan asked, her eyes wide with innocent curiosity.

Astrid paused, her marker hovering over the poster she was about to sign. “We’re just... focused on racing,” she said, her smile tightening.

The answer seemed to satisfy the fan, but as Astrid walked away, she couldn’t ignore the knot in her stomach.

Focused on racing. It was the truth, but it wasn’t the whole truth. And as the motorhome door closed behind her, she realized that the distance between her and Charles wasn’t just physical anymore—it was emotional, and it was growing.

Astrid sat down at the small table, pulling out her notebook. Racing had always been her way of coping, her escape. But now, even that felt tainted by the weight of what had happened.

She stared at the blank page, then wrote down the words that had been echoing in her mind since the crash: point of no return.

As she underlined the phrase, a single tear slipped down her cheek. She wiped it away quickly, straightening her shoulders. There was still a championship to fight for, even if her heart was breaking in the process.

[zeroseuniverse]

Lights, Camera, Action!

Word Count:725 Summary:“Relax, it’s just acting. It’s not like we’re actually in love.” “Right! Exactly!” she said, maybe a little too quickly. Pairing: Yuta X Fem Reader A/N: Posting this early because I adore him so much

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If someone had told her years ago that she’d one day be stuck in a romantic drama with Yuta Nakamoto, she would’ve laughed in their face.

Not because Yuta was a bad co-star—he was one of the most charismatic actors she knew. And definitely not because she hated the idea of being in a romance with him. No, the real reason was far more ridiculous.

People already thought they were in love.

She and Yuta had been best friends since they both debuted as rookie actors, climbing their way through the industry together. They had the kind of friendship that was full of playful insults, dramatic threats, and way too much time spent in each other’s personal space.

If she had a press event, Yuta was there hyping her up in the comments section. If Yuta was seen with any female co-star, she was the first to start fake crying about being “betrayed” in their group chat. Fans adored their chaotic dynamic.

Which is why, when they were cast as the lead couple in Love at First Overtime, the entire internet collectively lost its mind.

—

“I cannot believe this,” she groaned, sprawled across the couch in Yuta’s dressing room. “They did this on purpose.”

Yuta grinned from his spot across the room. “Who’s ‘they’?”

“The producers. The casting directors. The universe.”

“Oh, definitely the universe.” He tapped his chin thoughtfully. “Or maybe it’s just fate.”

She grabbed a pillow and hurled it at him. “Shut up, Nakamoto.”

He caught it easily, laughing. “Relax, it’s just acting. It’s not like we’re actually in love.”

“Right! Exactly!” she said, maybe a little too quickly.

Yuta’s gaze lingered on her for a second too long before he shrugged. “Guess we’ll just have to make it really convincing, huh?”

—

Everything was fine until the kiss scene rehearsal.

She had kissed people on-screen before. So had Yuta. They were professionals. This was nothing.

Except, it was something.

The moment Yuta stepped closer, something inside her brain short-circuited.

His scent—clean, musky, familiar. His eyes—watching her like he was waiting for something. His hands—resting on her waist with a touch so light it sent shivers up her spine.

Her heart wasn’t supposed to be doing this.

Yuta hesitated, brows furrowing slightly. “Why are you holding your breath?”

“I’M NOT,” she blurted out, shoving him away. “I just—I just remembered I left my stove on at home!”

Yuta stared at her. “You don’t cook.”

“…Maybe I started today.”

The director sighed. “Alright, take five.”

Yuta followed her backstage, arms crossed. “Okay, what’s up with you?”

“Nothing!”

“You literally ran away from me. Twice.”

She groaned, rubbing her temples. “I don’t know, okay? Maybe it’s just weird! We’ve been best friends forever, and now we have to pretend to be in love—”

“Pretend?” Yuta cut in, raising an eyebrow.

She froze. “Uh. Yes?”

He took a step closer. “You sure?”

Her stomach flipped.

“I—Of course I’m sure!” she snapped, feeling a little too warm under his gaze.

Yuta smirked. “So you wouldn’t mind if we kissed right now?”

She let out a choked laugh. “What kind of question is that?!”

“Just checking.”

She turned away, completely ignoring the way her cheeks were burning.

—

Later that night, She found herself scrolling through clips of their past interviews.

“Yuta, do you have an ideal type?” The MC asked, the camera shifting to watch a sweet smile form on Yuta's face.

“Mmm. Not really. I think I already have the perfect girl in my life.” He answered.

“You and Yuta seem really close! Have you ever thought about dating him?” The MC asked, shifting the focus towards her swiftly. 

“Hah! No way. We’d probably end up murdering each other.”

“You wound me.” uta added from the background his hand clutching his chest in faux hurt. 

She stared at her screen.

OH.

OH NO.

Had he…? Had she…?

No. There was no way.

Right?

—

The next day, the kiss scene went way too smoothly.

Their lips met.

It was soft. Warm. Lingered just a second too long.

The director shouted, “Cut!”

They didn’t move.

Yuta pulled back slightly, eyes flickering down to her lips before smirking. “So… still method acting?”

She groaned. “Shut up and kiss me again.”

And just like that, the two biggest idiots in the world finally figured it out.

(Their fans? Lost their minds.)

[mothiepillie]

POV: You're a roach

"You've gotta be fucking kiddin'..." - The Thing, 1982

Mimic is a new OC of mine I wanted to post because I'm finally out of my art block for now. Also can you tell I'm into transformers now lmao. I started watching transformers prime earlier in 2024 and went down the transformers hyper fixation rabbit hole like a dumbass and I've been loving Megatron more and more. Surprise shawty, another villain crush. But I remembered I have the power of art and can make anything I want and made Mimic and her backstory. So it's stupid and cliche but I like it. I'm still thinking of making a comic about it but I'm so lazy and can't focus on making one page let alone a panel so it's a hard maybe.

Mimic, Conjunx of Megatron/ Queen of the decepticons. She had the ability of taking on the appearance of any other cybertronian and using their powers to her advantage. She could also manipulate any part of her own body to transform into weapons or jets, wheels you name it to get by. But in her original form she's quite weak and relies on her reflexes to dodge a strike. Her chest and legs are made of a flexible material to change color, shape and any material to accommodate for her various forms whether robot/vehicle, the rest of her is pure metal and circuits. Her voice can change as well so it could be quite uncanny even to her when she's hunting down her target. She's still getting used to her body as she isn't 100% cybertronian. Whether or not she's actually a threat or just someone for Megatron to squeeze is totally up for debate to the other decepticons/Autobots since Megatron barely lets her out in fear she could get hurt again.

Mimic used to be a young woman named Violet, a energetic, kind hearted girl that lived alone on a small farm. And there's the cliche, a giant alien robot crashes on her farm. Violet earns the trust of Megatron by repairing him even enough he threatened her multiple times he'll kill her afterwards. She was determined to make sure he was functional and would die trying if she fails. Violet becomes his pet among the Nemesis, yet overtime Violet became more than a pet to him. He protected her from the other cons that found out about her presence on the ship. She was severely injured by a stray Autobot blaster shot which Megatron was devastated. He had her remaining intact organs used to power her new body that was made up of dead Vehicons and whatever was left of Makeshift after his demise. Since Violet renamed herself Mimic, she's still trying hard to fit in even though she knows she's an abomination. She can't eat, barely sleeps because of nightmares, nor can she feel pain, only hot or cold or pleasure. Now that she was crowned queen, she's determined to lead her new army to either victory or peace with the Autobots, though she is protecting her own home world by keeping the fights away from other humans.

Just a couple things of Violet before she became Mimic. Violet's past is a bit weird but I'm still trying to figure it out. Making new OC lore is so hard, especially when they start out with the cringe stage of making them. Right now I'm trying to make her story work and not too lovey dovey robot/human romance even though it kinda is lol. I like a little bit of angst n drama. I'm still trying to make her work by not making her that one OP character that can beat Goku lmao. I just want to make a cool character idea without making her sound cringe 😭 anyways. Thank you for reading if you read everything. I don't post on here often because I don't draw often and don't have a lot of good drawings to post initially. Also yes, I use bases because I'm super bad at perspective.

[office-anomaly]

I mean, I’d love to hear your varcie thoughts!

(again, these are my opinions only. we can discuss to avoid fighting if ever there is disagreement lol ;w;)

READ UNDER THE CUT

ok so i will preface this by saying that everything is framed in the context of SDMI since marcie appears in that show only. vaphne and varcie are both good ships, but i prefer varcie a bit more due to how in sync velma is with marcie in a way that i think is even more aligned than she is with daphne in the show. and an extra element that i think seals the deal for me!

the first is the most obvious, which is velma and marcie being more aligned in interest and intellect. daphne is also intelligent, but it manifests more in her empathy and social navigation rather than hard knowledge and investigative method. this difference in approaching problems is important, and since marcie has the same (or near the same) informational understanding of the world as velma, this allows her to help velma in more straightforward ways. one example is how they were able to reverse engineer a tracking device from a chip they found, making investigation easier. given velma's one-track mindedness for mystery-solving, this could be read as commitment on marcie's part.

velma and marcie also both come from the same circuit. while different interests have not hindered velma and daphne from forming a meaningful friendship, it did affect priorities for them, the most obvious one being personal pursuits. having similar approaches to problem-solving allows velma and marcie focus on the task at hand most, if not all, the time. this lessens the likelihood of derailment and friction. a fair thing consider though is there's speculation here due to how brief marcie's appearance was in SDMI.

second is how they made each other better people in the short time they had on SDMI. as i said in a previous post that i like vaphne because V&D make each other better people, but we see this across the span of many shows and movies rather than being contained in a single storyline, so it feels less urgent and more stable. i felt like in SDMI, it was more of a given that V&D would be there for each other rather than a development i'm supposed to follow. in the case of velma and marcie, it was such a delight to see them develop into each other's support systems, even if its origins were off-screen in the time between seasons. personally, this feels more heartwarming because you see how big the changes are in velma when she came to terms with who she is and dropped whatever pretense she had about what she thinks she needs. it was refreshing and freeing to see her not want to change anything about marcie because she already knows that this is what she needs.

in marcie's case, she finally found a friend (and possibly more) in velma and doesn't feel like she has to put up walls around her. it's fairly simple since she's a secondary character, but it doesn't feel any less earned.

the whole rivals-to-friends-to-lovers thing is honestly so peak, i have to say.

third and last is...there's an element of reckless abandon that adds a lot of drama to this ship--which is ironic since both girls are shown to be very logical and grounded. what does this mean? you have to excuse me for being a bit delusional, but it reads like love to me. i think this is a unique factor of varcie, where our girls make dangerous, borderline bonkers calls in the name of love for each other.

we all know what happened at the end of marcie's arc, but there were other instances where she willingly laid down her own safety just so velma can achieve her goals. it almost feels kind of like a soap opera, where love takes over logic by way of self-sacrifice (figuratively and *sigh* literally). like you gotta realize how insane it is for marcie to say yes to going into the heart of Mr. E's lair to steal the disks for velma (and mystery inc). that is not a light favor to ask, and not a light favor to agree to!

on velma's end, she has to swallow her grief and see things through to not waste marcie's sacrifice. that is not an easy thing to do either. there's a tinge of madness happening in this ship that's driven by love and i think that's bittersweet and beautiful :( i try to be normal about this ship, but i fail most of the time lol

so yeah, that's pretty much it. thanks for being patient and reading my thoughts on varcie. i wanted to make sure what i'm writing made sense, so hopefully it does (??). if there are any violent reactions, let me know, we can talk about it :D

[chronolojay]

gwen stacy, arachnophobia. a web weave based on the incredible fic by @rappaccini

this fic changed the way I think about gwen as a character and got lodged in my brain since I first read it. its a fic that makes you want to make art about it and it is absolutely worth your time.

Sources under the cut

PART 1: The Fall

IMAGES:

The Amazing Spider Man 2. Directed by Marc Webb, performance by Emma Stone, 2014. Gerry Conway, writer. The Night that Gwen Stacy Died. Pencils by Gil Kane. Inks by John Romita. Colors by Dave Hunt. Letters by Artie Simek. The Amazing Spider-Man #121, 1973. @gui_la_ume, TikTok, 2023, LEGO Spiderman Animation, https://www.tiktok.com/@gui_la_ume/video/7245780799251860763. Lavergne, Max. "Coming Up With a Complete List of Ways to Die", Infinite Gossip, Sep 28, 2023, https://infinitegossip.substack.com/p/coming-up-with-a-complete-list-of. Pal, Marijan. "Ajshil, Oresteja, SNG Drama in Ljubljana",  Wikimedia Commons,1968,  https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ajshil,_Oresteia,_Drama_SNG_v_Ljubljani_(4).jpg. Spider-Man 3. Directed by Sam Raimi, 2007.

TEXT:

the garages. "solar eclipse". https://open.spotify.com/track/23y7JvIq11f1NHnwxWC27P?si=7b4482b1601e40de Madison, Piper. "Phonograph" . https://open.spotify.com/track/13ypXt9ag0Rq8uLBe2tZqn?si=d0aab028801e419d “Memento mori.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/memento%20mori. Accessed 1 May. 2024. Oates, Joyce Carol. Blonde: A Novel. 2000, ci.nii.ac.jp/ncid/BA68593021. The Oresteia, Aeschylus rappaccini. arachnophobia. https://archiveofourown.org/works/48363238/chapters/121980043  Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson, 2023.

PART 2: Rage, OR: Tear It All Down

IMAGES:

Area 51 circuit board, "I'M NOT DEAD YET" via https://arcadeheroes.com/2014/04/20/arcade-games-easter-eggs/ are you in hell via https://www.tumblr.com/screenshotsofdespair/705113397985968128 A Softer World. www.asofterworld.com/index.php?id=891. bloody knuckles. https://i.pinimg.com/originals/68/68/62/686862f692cfb5e02b76013701ff3347.jpg burn it all lighter via https://png-heaven.tumblr.com/post/675085348575084544/love-still, https://www.etsy.com/listing/717241294/personalized-lighter-zippo-engraved caitlynsarah95, "Hands". Deviantart, May 3, 2019, https://www.deviantart.com/caitlynsarah95/art/Hands-796203302. Daley-Ward, Yrsa, "all the wrong colours" "DIY Three Ingredient Venom Slime", elledoingstuff, https://web.archive.org/web/20201126155036/https://shedoesstuff.com/2018/10/22/diy-three-ingredient-venom-slime/  Gerhard Richter Untitled (5 Jan 1990), 1990 Marchese, David. “Kathleen Turner, in Conversation.” Vulture, 7 Aug. 2018, www.vulture.com/2018/08/kathleen-turner-in-conversation.html. MarianneCreates, "live with this", via https://www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/98874045 McGuire, Seanan, and Rosi Kampe. Spider-Gwen: Ghost-Spider Vol. 1. Marvel, 2019. Melissa P. Directed by Luca Guadagnino, 2005. Paskow, Linnea "Splitter", 2020.  https://linneapaskow.com/paintings-/18 Roland Arhelger, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Verrazzano-Narrows_Bridge_(New_York).jpg Sin, Nata. "Menotaxis", November 8, 2022. https://instagram.com/nata__sin__?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== "Spider PNG image image with transparent background", via https://pngimg.com/image/4537. "Spider Transparent #1558430", via  http://clipart-library.com/clip-art/spider-transparent-2.htm. "Spider PNG Image" via https://www.pngall.com/spider-png/download/1726 Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson, 2023. "Transparent Spider Gif #1587577", via http://clipart-library.com/clip-art/transparent-spider-gif-23.htm. "Transitions Purple T-Shirt + Download", august, via https://store.augustalsina.com/products/transitions-purple-t-shirt-pre-order-download

TEXT:

Boyer, Anne. "WHAT RESEMBLES THE GRAVE BUT ISN’T". 2017.  Moyers, 17 April 2017, https://billmoyers.com/story/poetry-month-what-resembles-the-grave-but-isnt/ Carson, Anne. H Of H Playbook. New Directions Publishing Corporation, 2021. Euripides. Grief Lessons: Four Plays by Euripides. New York Review of Books, 2008. Lord Huron. "Not Dead Yet", https://open.spotify.com/track/5NRbNXwXHM9mYgxMhzVWTP?si=d55caaf2461a4675 rappaccini. arachnophobia. https://archiveofourown.org/works/48363238/chapters/121980043 

PART 3: Live

IMAGES:

277: Venetian Memento Mori Earrings, Ragoarts.com. www.ragoarts.com/auctions/2021/07/summer-jewels/277 beigeandrose. “The 1990s Goth Faux Leather Lace up Chunky Heels Platform Boots Size US 8.” Etsy, www.etsy.com/listing/117460104/the-1990s-goth-faux-leather-lace-up. “Clasped Hands of Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning.” The Metropolitan Museum of Art, www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/11156. Coello, Iban. Carnage-ized Variant Cover, Spider-Gwen: Ghost-Spider Vol. 2 - Impossible Year. Marvel Entertainment, 2019. Forcibly Feminized at the Pharm, The High Femmes, 2022 Hodan, George. "Spider Web." PublicDomainPictures.net, https://www.publicdomainpictures.net/en/view-image.php?image=21073&picture=spider-web Home, pinkshift, 2023 "Nice While It Lasted." Bojack Horseman, created by Raphael Bob-Waksberg, season 6 episode 16, Netflix, 2020. Rainbow, Kesha, 2017 Shinkai, Makoto, and Midori Motohashi. The Garden of Words. Kodansha Comics, 2016. Skin-N-Bones. “An top down image of red soup, on a blue background, with noodles spelling out ‘Everybody Dies.’” Tumblr, 12 June 2013, skin-n-bones.tumblr.com/post/52800040011. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson, 2023. "Spiderman Graffiti, Pittsburgh", by chronolojay “THAT’S BELIEVABLE!” Tumblr, 3 Mar. 2024, www.tumblr.com/thatsbelievable/743968419651665920?source=share.

TEXT:

Latour, Jason. SPIDER-GWEN VOL. 6: THE LIFE OF GWEN STACY. Illustrated by Mike Ploog, Cover Art by Robbi Rodriguez, vol. 6, ‎ Marvel Universe, 2018. Limón, Ada. “Dead Stars.” Poets.org, 1976, poets.org/poem/dead-stars. rappaccini. arachnophobia. https://archiveofourown.org/works/48363238/chapters/121980043  Zusak, Markus. The Book Thief. Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2007.

[myownwholewildworld]

wherever you go (a joel miller’s ff) - chapter 8 snippet

chapter 7 | masterlist | chapter 9 coming 30th aug

pairing: outbreak!2003!joel x f!reader. (it's actually 2004 now)

out on: 23rd august, ~7-8pm BST (unless i get anxious and decide to post it sooner lol)

a/n: i ain't saying nothing 👀 i'm just leaving this here before running to the hills. please join me in thanking joyce bc she's the real mvp. this next chapter is... a rollercoaster, i think. tysm for reading <3 okay bye!

snippet warnings: just cutesy fluff. established relationship (my babies 😭). reader is female, no other description given. reader is mid-late 20s, joel is 37. no use of y/n.  joel’s and reader’s pov.

tags aka the drama wagon (let me know if you want to be added/removed from the list pls!): @yesjazzywazzylove-blog @pedrospurplerain @missladym1981

@fancyyoouu @smolbeanzzz @guelyury @bishtrouille

You patted his hand with a chuckle, unconsciously leaning towards him, your shoulders touching. You always gravitated towards Joel, you just couldn’t control it. Your eyes met and you giggled ― his smirk widened. “Guilty”, you whispered, his hand enveloping yours under the table. You had forgotten Joyce was sat across you until she cleared her throat. “So, you two lovebirds are a couple yet, or what?”, her not-so-innocent question caught you completely off guard. Shit, shit, you thought, almost choking on your food. You had not talked to Joel about what you two really were. You loved him wholeheartedly, but you didn’t need to put a label to your relationship. At least not yet. You didn’t want to pressure him ― you knew Joel would come around when he was ready. “Uh, well, we…”, you stammered, your heart racing so fast you thought you were going to throw it up in your bowl. Joel’s hand gripped yours tighter. “Yeah, we are”, he replied, matter-of-factly. Your soul literally left your body. You scrutinised his face in awe ― your lips dissevered, sparkly eyes, speechless. A wave of relief washed over you. He did love you; you just knew it in your heart. The immense love you suddenly felt almost throttled you. If your brain was a functioning organ, you would have hugged and reciprocated him ― but your mind was still short-circuiting.

[batsplat]

slskslsls context for “what’s the matter honey you’ve hardly touched your fleeting experience of your time on earth” 😭😭😭 tho I’m a little terrified to find out what that means lmfao. Also what race is the last one after?? Or I should say — what race comes next after the one in the last picture lol

(text posts here) I got another ask for 'fleeting experience'... so I'll leave that one for the next post. you've actually struck jackpot on the other one and the explanation got worryingly long. crazy how many thoughts you can have about a text post meme you're trying to just do in a nice and casual way

anyway!! THE LAST ONE I am delighted somebody picked up on. very pleased with that one icl, it's kinda a funny photo anyway for obvious reasons but it somehow just has an. extra little something. when you know the context

three readings of the text post should be kept in mind here - the element of 'watching your back', as in danger coming from behind; acts of betrayal of either explicit or assumed trust; and the element of issuing a warning to the recipient of the message

and the photo is from misano 2008!! specifically after qualifying, when casey snagged pole position and valentino starts from just behind him, second on the grid! which ALSO means it's two races!! after laguna!! great time

so to give you a basic sense of the chronology, you've had laguna, drama bla bla, tHEN you have the summer break followed by brno where casey showed up contrite, apologised to valentino... but the key element to that presser is that it's kinda... yeah, they're going peace and love, apology accepted etc etc - BUT on valentino's end he's very much making it clear that he thought laguna was FANTASTIC and casey should be expecting more of the same. just something for casey to keep in mind <3 so then you have the race itself at brno, where casey is leading relatively comfortably but valentino is starting to seriously catch him... and then casey crashes. which is obviously extremely not ideal psychologically. inevitably, a lot of people looked at that and thought he'd crashed because he was scared of fighting valentino again... and y'know, crash like that, there probably was an element of him pushing just a little too hard to maintain that gap. like I said. not ideal. especially because obviously this is making valentino's bloodhound senses prick up. like he's never going to leave you alone again if you do this, right

so that's where they're at headed into misano, which obviously has Extra Significance since it was valentino's home race. it had only returned to the calendar the year before and literally only because of valentino. dorna had vowed never to return to the circuit after the crash that ended rainey's career in 1993, before going 'oh shit' when they realised the most popular motorcycle racer of all time was born three minutes away from the circuit. that's why they go the wrong way round now and why the circuit kinda sucks, because that was basically their concession... you know, sure, they're going back to the circuit, but it's going the other way now!! as a way of pretending it was way safer now. except it hadn't exactly been a glorious homecoming for valentino in 2007. casey had won the race by a country mile while valentino had his ninety-eighth mechanical dnf in that 2006-07 span. this time, however, everything was different... casey's championship bid was now already looking shaky with the points gap after brno... if he was to still have any chance, he needed to have a good misano

but. well. he didn't. he crashed out of the lead again, this time an even more comfortable gap to valentino that vale probably wasn't going to breach. which meant that valentino got his fairy tale home win... and also made it three races in a row where casey had crashed either out of second place or out of the lead. in laguna, he had valentino right ahead of him when he went down - in brno and misano, he had valentino chasing him down. watch your back, because valentino is coming for you

I used a photo from misano 2008 in another text post edition, in a way that's a bit less strictly related to the text:

and what you'll see there in the background is casey's hand injury, which had flared up during the misano weekend and is a mitigating factor in this crash. I do want to properly properly delve into this in a future laguna post because this stretch of races is honestly FASCINATING to me. it's just an overload of narrative juice... you've got the reality, which is uncertain, you've got valentino's adept authorial hand, which provides you with a narrative that is painfully easy to believe. you've got casey fighting internal and external demons - because even if valentino didn't make him crash, of course three in a row starts looking awfully suspicious. like, can we just take a moment to appreciate the crazy psychological implications of what is going on between the two of them here (from after brno):

The biggest question of all, though, hangs over the reason for Stoner's crash. After the race, the champion had no explanation, saying that the front just went away too quickly for him to catch, as he had done several times previously during the race. But losing the front end is a return to Casey Stoner's old habits, a trait he displayed pushing too hard on the third-rate Michelins he was forced to use in his first year in MotoGP. And after his crash at Laguna Seca, it's hard not to draw the conclusion that Stoner succumbed to the pressure. Last year, Casey Stoner seemed almost unassailable and completely impervious to any pressure Valentino Rossi, Dani Pedrosa or anyone else tried to put on him. But this year, he has occasionally shown signs of weakness, such as when he ran off the track twice at Jerez. More worryingly, the Australian has previous form in this area. In 2005, at his home Grand Prix, he threw away his chance of becoming 250cc World Champion by crashing out of the lead. Stoner has come a long way since then, grown a little older and gained a great deal of maturity. But his crash at Brno puts a dent in his image as Mr Perfect. Did Stoner crash as a result of the pressure Rossi had put on him? Was it because he feared getting caught up in another race-long battle like Laguna Seca, and pushed too hard when he saw Rossi closing? Or was it just one of those things, a mistake all riders make? The jury is still very much out, and it will take more than just his crash at Brno to prove the case one way or another. The next race, though, will be crucial. Valentino Rossi will arrive at Misano, a track just a few miles from his home town, hoping to take his 68th victory in the premier class. This would see him tie the record for most wins with another Italian, the legendary Giacomo Agostini. It would also allow him to wipe away the humiliation of his exit from last year's race, when the first outing of Yamaha's pneumatic valve engine ended in mechanical disaster. Finally, it would mean he had taken a win at every track the MotoGP circus currently visits. It is impossible to overestimate just how much Valentino Rossi wants to win at Misano. There is a huge amount at stake, and he will not let any man stand in his way. There can be no doubt that Rossi believes that the mental pressure he is placing on Casey Stoner is working, and at Misano, The Doctor will be dishing out more of the same medicine. How Casey Stoner responds will be the measure of him as a racer, but also as a man. If you thought Laguna was big, and Brno even bigger, just wait till we get to Misano.

ahhhhh GOD fskjdhjkhdsf PAINFUL this is PAINFUL knowing what happens next

here's them actually shaking hands after misano qualifying, rather than valentino just... uh, patting him:

third race in a row where casey was on pole and valentino started p2 like they were locked tf in

and then you have the horrors of the race:

Unlike Brno, though, there didn't seem to be an obvious explanation. In the Czech Republic, Stoner was only a second ahead of Rossi, and had just seen the Italian take 3/10ths out of his lead. At Misano, Stoner was comfortably in the lead, and looked able to parry anything Rossi could throw at him. After the race, two theories were popular. The first was that the pain from Stoner's broken scaphoid had caused him more problems than he would admit to. This was plausible, as the pain was particularly bad in some right handers, where Stoner was having to push on the bars to get the bike turned. The second, and most popular among those clothed in yellow, was that Valentino Rossi's voodoo had worked its magic once again, and Stoner had crumbled under pressure. But the evidence for this is thin at best, as Stoner was matching Rossi lap for lap, held a comfortable 3 second lead, and had run 0.6 seconds faster during free practice on race tires. Stoner himself put his crash down to a strange feeling with his front tire. The team had elected to scrub the tire in during the morning warm up, and Stoner told journalists that the heat cycling from running hot on the bike to cooling slightly under tire warmers had changed the right-hand side of the tire, and made it lose some of its grip. They had scrubbed the tire in so that Stoner could push hard from the outset, with the pain in his wrist leaving him little appetite to fight his way forward through the pack. Whatever the reason, be it injury or sorcery, the outcome was the same. Coming into Misano, Casey Stoner was 50 points behind Valentino Rossi, and with a big hill to climb if he wanted to keep hold of his title. With no score from Misano, the hill was likely to turn into a mountain.

be it injury or sorcery!! and it's really really REALLY key to this whole narrative that for all three races, there ARE extenuating circumstances that explain why casey crashed... like, there's no definitive PROOF that valentino's pressure did the trick. but it went against casey all three times!! it's this hellish dynamic, right, where again - if you're casey, sure, you can absolutely rationally present your arguments for how you just got kinda unlucky. but somehow everything just kept working out in valentino's favour, and it all started out with that awful race at laguna. see this misano preview:

The most likely candidate to rain on the Italian's parade is Ducati's Casey Stoner. Like his predecessor before him, the reigning World Champion is finding the #1 plate heavier than expected, and is now 50 points, or two whole race wins, behind Rossi in the title race. The remarkable thing about this is the fact that Casey Stoner is clearly the fastest man in the world at the moment. Ever since Barcelona, Stoner has been the fastest man in practice, taking pole in the last 6 races, and often leading the rest of the field by well over half a second. The reigning champ has also won 3 of the last 5 races, and was seemingly on his way to sweeping the rest of the races, winning three on the bounce at Donington, Assen and the Sachsenring. During practice at Laguna Seca, Casey Stoner was looking his old, unstoppable self again.

it is KEY that when casey says after laguna that he's faster than valentino, he is right!! casey extends that six pole streak to SEVEN at misano, which is kinda crazy of him given the quality of the opposition. valentino in turn goes on a five race win streak without being the fastest rider for at least three of those races!! it's got to be one of the wilder achievements of his career, again given the quality of his opposition. and it must make you genuinely homicidal if you're casey

which is how we get to some of my favourite passages in motogp writing. again from the misano race write-up:

If you just look at the result of the San Marino Grand Prix, you could easily believe that fairy tales do come true. By coming to his home race and equaling a record which had achieved almost mythical status, at a track just a few miles from the town he grew up in and where he has returned to live, Valentino Rossi made us believe once again that MotoGP is a story, a tale written by an expert storyteller. Casey Stoner's fall, crashing out while in the lead for the 2nd time in a row, added more credence to this belief, with many seeing Rossi's invisible hand behind Stoner's mistake. They were careful to give it a rational explanation, blaming it on Rossi's mind games, or the pressure Rossi put on Stoner, the more adventurous and imaginative putting it down to Rossi's voodoo, referring back to tales of dolls which Rossi was alleged to have of Max Biaggi and Sete Gibernau. The human impulse to impose a single, coherent narrative on a chain of events proved irresistible, as always. Yet this impulse could be telling a story which is not there. Rossi's victory at Misano, though impressive, was anything but inevitable, and anyone putting money on the Italian would have got good odds on Sunday morning before the race. And though Casey Stoner's crash certainly gave reason to suspect that Stoner had been under pressure, the evidence that it was a direct and inevitable result of pressure from Rossi is flimsy at best. Casey Stoner's modus operandi has always been simple: to get away if he can, and to run the fastest rhythm possible to the end, winning by as big a margin as possible. In this light, Misano was no different. After all, it's not just during the race. The reigning world champion usually manages to hit the top of the timesheets within 2 or 3 laps of hitting the track for free practice, smashing lap records a few laps later. So for Stoner to be pushing hard from the start is hardly a surprise. What is a surprise is that Stoner has made two mistakes in a row, depriving himself of a possible 50 points in the process. This could just be a factor of Stoner stepping up the pace as he goes in pursuit of ever faster laps, or it could be a response to Valentino Rossi being able to match Stoner's pace. But to attribute it directly to the kind of panic which Rossi managed to instill in Max Biaggi or Sete Gibernau is to go a little too far. Rossi is famous for his mind games, and an absolute master at them, but so far, Stoner has seemed impervious. Whether that invulnerability to Rossi's pressure is over remains to be seen.

isn't this just FANTASTIC. this is crack for rivalry lovers. this is what it's all about. and again, all of the logical explanations for casey's crashes are probably the CORRECT ones - certainly more correct than the ones blaming it on valentino sticking pins into a doll of casey (god I love this sport). but it almost doesn't even matter!! because valentino's still somehow gotten his way. he's flexed those authorial muscles and everything just SOMEHOW happened to work out for him. and it's the worst possible way things could have gone for casey, who is now unsurprisingly very much facing the mentally broken allegations

honestly insane respect to casey for his resilience, because if this happened to me I do think there's a decent 50% chance you would never hear from me again. like yeah I get why valentino has a reputation for breaking people, can you IMAGINE how horrendous it is to go through everything related to laguna AND THEN have these two follow-up races?? strangling valentino isn't enough, you'd want to throw him off a cliff. strangle him and THEN throw him off a cliff

and in the end, obviously valentino didn't permanently break casey. though.... I will still get into this in more depth, but I also don't think these two races can be disconnected from how laguna was SUCH a turning point in casey's narrative, to the point where it reads as quite traumatic. it's a horrible stretch of time!! it's not just the race being bad, but then afterwards it feels like casey's constantly trying to flee the repeat and... it just all goes horribly wrong. and maybe valentino had nothing to do with that! but everyone's still thinking it and casey knows it and so does valentino and casey knows that valentino knows it and maybe he's also asking himself... and it's always at risk of summoning up old doubts, of old sprees of crashes he thought he'd put behind him, like 2006, like phillip island 2005 where he handed the title to dani. you don't get over those emotions easily

anyway, that's what this text post was inspired by: 'many seeing rossi's invisible hand behind stoner's mistake'. you've got this initial element of betrayal, where valentino completely flipped the script at laguna - essentially rewrote the dynamic of that rivalry in a single race, and in doing so violated what casey had thought were the acceptable terms of conflict. laguna does not work without being a massive surprise (see here)... it's valentino catching casey off guard, making casey feel like a fool... there is a little bit of an undercurrent of betrayal there TO ME. and then you've got valentino always lurking behind his rivals, silently prompting them to make a fatal error... mr perfect who had been so immune to any pressure from behind, until valentino had found new ways of tormenting him. and now valentino just reminding casey again and again and again... promising him that this is what casey will have to deal with if he wants to fight valentino. it all started at laguna - where valentino blindsided casey, woke the entire sport up out of absolutely nowhere, suddenly escalated the hostilities without any prior warning. and from then on, valentino was never going to let casey forget that lurking danger. valentino will never leave casey alone

[fear-is-truth]

GIRLIE I NEED HELP (you don’t know me, however, i know you like tea) BUT basically I made an alt account to post content for a fandom my friend is not in. cue a couple months later, friend joins the fandom, i sent them a fic i wrote without telling them it was my account bc i didn’t think they’d actually read it (they would’ve found it eventually it’s a small fandom and it’s the only x male reader for the entire fandom, however i suffer from “zerocriticalthought-itis”)

they read it, they followed me, they liked, commented, sent a ridiculously sweet ask, etc. the issue here is before they did all this, i panicked and said it wasn’t me and now i feel so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so bad but also how tf do i say “so surprise actually that was me the whole time i just panicked and lied even though i also 10000% was the one who sent you the fic my bad chat”?? i fully got myself into this situation but like i feel so bad how do i even explain this to them

anon, first of all, breathe. you’re not the first person to panic-lie about something small & weird—it happens. your friend sounds super sweet n supportive, so the odds are they’re not gonna be mad abt this. here’s a way to handle it with honesty and a bit humor to lighten things:

☆ step 1: admit it casually

next time you’re chatting, bring it up like, “okayyyy, so i need 2 come clean about something that’s been eating me up because i felt so bad about it. remember that fic i sent you and said wasn’t mine? … it actually is mine. i panicked for literally no reason, which is so dumb because you’ve been nothing but amazing about it.”

☆ step 2: explain why you panicked

“i didn’t think you’d read it, and when you did, my brain short-circuited. i was so nervous about what you’d think, so instead of just owning it, i panicked and lied. i realized i should’ve just been honest from the start because you’re literally the nicest person, and i feel so bad about being weird about it.”

☆ step 3: end on a light note :)

“so yeah, sorry for the unnecessary drama—it’s me, hi, i’m the writer, it’s me. i hope this doesn’t make things weird because i honestly love that you’re enjoying the fic and being so sweet about it.”

being upfront is the best move here, and adding a little humor will keep it from feeling super heavy. your friend will probably laugh it off and reassure you that it’s fine because at the end of the day, they like your work, and most of all, they like you. you’re good, promise. 🤍🤍

[thislovintime]

Photo by Matthew Asner:

“First day of school in 9th grade. I am nervous as hell because it is my first day of high school and it’s all new. I walk into my Social Studies Class and am greeted by the teacher who just happens to be Peter Tork of The Monkees. A guy I watched goofing around on TV religiously as a child was teaching me about the world. He was a tough teacher. We had a thing in his class where he would always think that I wasn’t paying attention. He would always make a point of stopping what he was teaching and say to me, ‘What did I just say`’ I would always answer him correctly and it always seemed to frustrate him. He was very smart and loved to read from Mao’s Little Red Book. I was truly happy for him when The Monkees started touring and he found success again. I took this picture in our schoolyard at New Dimensions High School.” - Matthew Asner (Ed Asner’s son), Facebook, July 1, 2023

“Since September he has been teaching English, math, drama, Eastern philosophy and ‘Rock Band Class’ at Pacific Hills, a private secondary school in Santa Monica, Calif. A college dropout, Peter got the job on the strength of his interview with Dr. Penrod Moss, the school’s director. ‘I like to hire people who are independent and creative,’ Moss said. ‘I was impressed by his personality and his ability to speak.’ […] While Tork the musician still has dreams of one day returning to the rock circuit, Thorkelson the teacher is happily planning his next course, ‘Mao, Marx and Mama.’ ‘I’m doing something important,’ he says. ‘I never do anything less than important.’” - People magazine, April 5, 1976

“For some time, [Tork] said, the students in his high school classes had trouble forgetting their teacher was once a teen idol. ‘Until I gave out a few F’s,’ he added, grinning.” - The Clarion Ledger, November 1, 1979 (x)

“I was a schoolteacher in Southern California, and I taught music as well as academics, and I really very much love to teach, and, and I think that if circumstances show me that I am not to entertain anymore or my entertaining career per se winds down, I would very, very much love to coach young entertainers.” - Peter Tork, Headquarters radio, September 1989

“[A]s a teacher, I realized that in order to teach something well you need to understand what your student is going through as they try to learn.” - Peter Tork, The Journal Times Online, August 12, 2005

On a 2018 blog post at the Monkees Live Almanac, one former student, Mark, commented: “Best high school teacher I ever had […]. Tremendous empathy.” (x)

“I taught English and social studies. And sure, the kids probably saw me as a Monkee, but they got over that in a hurry. Once I lost my temper at the kids, they’d see I was just like all the others — and I probably lost my temper too many times, since I was in an angry state back then. I have a life now, that’s the difference. I have a spiritual core. I’m not Shirley MacLaine but I believe in greater or lesser worlds and consciousness. Most people think of themselves as cut off from each other; others know there’s a connectedness that can be tapped into.” - Peter Tork, The Boston Globe, August 10, 1989

“In the mid-’70s, Tork got jobs teaching English, social studies and music at two private schools in the Los Angeles area. The first job, which he enjoyed, was at ‘a radical progressive school in Santa Monica.’ The second was at a school he describes as ‘a holding tank for budding fascists. I couldn’t hack it. I found more integrity in being a singing waiter’ — his next job.” - Los Angeles Times, October 20, 1992 (x)

More about that next job here.

[clvr-the-insect-enthusiast]

IT IS I! YA GIRL!

Hello, humans and Pokémon alike! I am Clover, a student from Naranja Academy, and Champion-Ranked Trainer! My pronouns are she/her and I'm the main person behind this blog.

And I'm Rotom! He/They pronounzzz for me! I'm Clover'zzz partner in crime and navigator!

Arceus was here too for a while. If it ever appears again you'll probably see text like this

(Made with https://picrew.me/ja/image_maker/1469769)

I joined Rotomblr so I can share my thoughts and experiences as I explore Paldea, but things kinda snowballed so now I'm just documenting every absurd event that happens in my day-to-day life.

If you have any questions, I'd love to answer them, just send an ask! This post may or may not be edited as time goes on to include more details. Also feel free to ask for a Union Circle/Union Room if you wanna battle or something.

If you wanna read about my party, here's a list of all the fellas I've caught!

And also here's a link to my Pokédex's Master Post.

(OOC/Tag information below)

Pelliper Mail is ON

Musharna Mail is ON

Mystery Gifts are ON

Union Circles are ON, DM this blog or @elpendrive for more information

Magic Anons are ON

TAGS:

Arc Tags (Current Arc: Intermission between arcs):

Treasure Hunt Chapter

#treasure hunt: General Paldea adventure shenanigans. From start of journey until the very end of the main story of Pokémon Scarlet.

#victory road: Treasure Hunt posts specific to the Pokémon League's gym circuit.

#path of legends: Treasure Hunt posts specific to the mission to save Arven's Mabosstiff + slay all Titans.

#operation starfall: Treasure Hunt posts specific to the quest to take down Team Star.

#the teal mask: Clover's field trip to Kitakami.

#the way home: Treasure Hunt posts specific to the voyage to Area Zero.

#blueberry exchange program: Posts about the BB League challenge and second voyage down Area Zero.

Hisui Chapter

#hisui arc: That one time Arceus sent Clover like 200 years to the past and asked her to write the first encyclopedia.

"Mystery Inc." Chapter

(crossover with @teamoracle)

#return to kitakami: Clover goes back to Kitakami and engages in shenanigans. Mostly catching the Bloodmoon Beast since Carmine and Kieran aren't there.

Character Tags:

#rotom shenanigans: When Rotom takes over and posts stuff, usually in orange-colored italic text.

#arcposting: The occasional Arceus cameo, much less frequent now that Clover isn't in the past. Usually accompanied by bolded italic blue text.

Other Tags:

#clover responds: Clover responds to asks

#magic anon weekends: Every month's last weekend, an event is hosted in which basically every Magic Anon ask has an actual impact in the story, even if the effects end after said weekend passes.

#pokédex register: Clover's entries for the Hisuian Pokédex.

#legendary pokémon entry: Pokédex entries covering Legendary Pokémon.

#mythical pokémon entry: Pokédex entries covering Mythical Pokémon.

OOC INFORMATION:

Any out-of-character notes/comments will be marked with a //

Sticking close to canon but not too close.

Anyone is welcome to interact, rp blog or not, sentient pokémon or human.

Let us avoid drama! DNI bigots and NSFW blogs.

Magic Anons are open!

During most months' last weekend, I'll be hosting Magic Anon Weekends, in which Magic Anons will be unrestricted until the month is over. Might extend if there's a holiday on friday or monday as well.

Mod @elpendrive is same age as character and uses he/him pronouns also uses She/Her (as of Jan 29 2025)

Previous arcs (Treasure Hunt/Hisui)

[neveralarch]

I need you to know how humungous of an impact the fencing au had on me

I am watching bouts on YouTube during my study breaks when my exams are like four days away (oh dear). I am cultivating my Pinterest algorithm to show me more fencing stuff. I created a Spotify playlist with a competitive, intense fencing vibe. I have followed r/fencing on Reddit. I am looking up clubs in my area and I am actually considering picking up fencing. If I had it my way I would do it right now but EXAMS ;-; and then I have Even Bigger Exams next year so I probably can't even do it until the end of next year :(

In summary, my brain and my body are itching for fencing

Do you have any recommendations for rabbit holes to dive into the world of fencing? Anything you would yell to a friend as you grab their shoulders and shake them with excitement after they tell you they're convinced to try fencing would be very helpful in scratching the itch HAHA

Lots of love,

Wildstreak :)

Wahhh this is the greatest compliment to receive, I'm so glad that you're being dragged into the world of fencing through my robots au lmao

Like a lot of niche sports, fencing is a little hard to get into but is also desperate for adults to come learn how it works and then stick around and do lots of organizing haha. Even if you don't have time to jump into learning right now, there are probably local or regional tournaments around you. These are pretty much always open to the public, and you can just go and watch and mention to someone who looks not too busy that you're interested in fencing and do they have a second to tell you about it. It's a great way to learn about the sport and also get an in with the local fencing community. I'd say I end up explaining fencing at about a third of the tournaments I go to.

I'm not a big social media person besides tumblr and I will say that when I glance at reddit, youtube, facebook etc it makes fencing feel way more drama-filled than it feels like irl. There's also a lot going on right now about international refereeing scandals that sounds wild but will not affect a newbie local fencer at all. I definitely recommend looking up bouts on youtube - for sabre, my fave fencers to watch are Olga Kharlan, Cecilia Berder, Misaki Emura, Aron Szilagyi, Oh Sang-uk, and Bolade Apithy. Obvs there's a lot of video available right now bc of the olympics, but cyrus of chaos on youtube also posts a lot of videos from the international circuit throughout the season

Also check out para fencing (wheelchair fencing) which is so so fun to watch. It's done entirely stationary and is very very fast, especially in sabre. Saysunee Jana and Gu Haiyan are both super dominant in wheelchair fencing generally and sabre specifically, and are very fun to watch.

Also. I gotta recommend By the Sword, the best/worst movie about fencing ever made. Ideally watch it with friends and be ready to pause frequently to yell about it. Some saint put the full movie on youtube and I guess it's also available on the Roku channel? You just gotta search the title. I've seen it like 10 times and I also wrote a fanfic of it that is BASICALLY the prototype of the transformers fencing AU but tragically without the robots.

Yayyyy swords :) hope you do try it out once you're less busy and have funnnn

[mochidreambubble]

From Golden Grove, Love Sunset Bird

[ongoing fic]

Ao3 link

Chapters on Tumblr ~ 1 2 3 4 (you're here!)

previous - next (WIP)

{Baxter doesn't know it yet, but when he's back from his dance circuit, he owes you the biggest milkshake.}

[I left a long note on the previous chapter so it may be worth looking through that if you'd like to know about how this fic may be going on forward?

Also chapter title will say step ‘1.2’ because this happens the next year after Step 1. A short interlude of a chapter if anything. Chapter title makes sense in context, I promise.]

Out of all the seasons, you can say for sure you like summer the least . No amount of pictures or pretty postcards of Sunset Bird in this season would deter you from that. 

It was your first summer in your new home though, so that was something. Summer, when you lived in the city meant trips to the pool sometimes, and small carnivals set up in the parks. You mainly got dropped off at the library or at dozens of art or drama week-long day camps before Mama had to make a mad dash to work.

At least things were going to be pretty different this summer. You even had a camping trip with the Murrays coming up soon! A little weird to be spending summer break with a teacher, as both Tamarack and even Qiu would remind you, but it was going to be so much fun! You had your school activities too, but you were mainly looking forward to all the sleepovers and adventures your two friends promised to do.

Well, it wasn’t really gonna be different from what you three usually did, but summer break just made it extra special. You knew that all three of you would still prefer the season that came after, but it's not like it could be autumn all year round after all.

As you think of the two of them, the fact that they weren’t with you made itself known even harder. Qiu had promised to hang with Darren and Tamarack had left a note for you that she was helping out Granny today. Mama still had work to do, and with no activities on your list, you decided it was time to get some new postcards and stationery. Maybe some stickers too! Anything to distract that you were by yourself today…

You liked the cosy post office of Golden Grove, and you’ve been there enough times since you moved in that the people working there knew your name. They even knew you were sending letters to your pen pal! 

You were skipping to your destination when you spotted Mr B.A.W, looking at a window display of the bookstore. You can’t say for sure if Baxter liked you. He was always really nice, and he was never mean to you or Tamarack, but it felt different from how he treated the original members of the Boys Club.

Baxter recently dyed his hair, the dark grey now unmistakable to be black. He was still dressed in muted tones, just like the first day you’ve met him. You haven’t seen him in anything as eye-catching - blue beanie aside. 

He didn’t seem to notice as you walked closer, so you stand on the tippy toes and whispered “Hey Baxter, watcha doin’?”

If you caught him by surprise, you couldn’t tell. He simply smiled and turned to you. “Simply browsing the new books that came in. Hello to you too.”

You on the other hand, liked him quite a bit. You both had the same two favourite colours and Baxter always had the best taste in books. He had recommended quite a list when you asked and enjoyed them thoroughly. 

You bounce back and forth from your toes to the back of your foot, swinging as you look at the window display too. “I’m surprised you aren’t hanging out with Autumn and Darren today.”

Baxter gives a small snort and sighs. “I’m afraid biking with the two of them right now would not be the best of ideas, considering the dance circuit is around the corner.”

Oh right, Autumn had mentioned something about that too, that Baxter was going to be away for a little while. “Right, around California and some other places nearby, right? Make sure to bring back snacks for us.”

“If I can manage,” he simply shrugs.

“You don’t sound very excited.”

“Do I? Hm, it’s simply another round of contests, so it’s not as if I’m travelling to play.”

“Boo,” you stick your tongue out at him. “Where’s your sense of adventure, Baxter? C’mon, think about it for a bit! Dancing out of town, new places to be!”

You clasp your hands in a sudden thought. “Oh, oh!” You felt like glitter and starlight as you pictured it. “What if you, like a mysterious stranger, sweep someone off their feet and you start some type of fairy tale?”

He raises a brow, one side of his mouth upturned. “I had forgotten for a moment that you’re quite fond of such romantic ideals.”

“I’m serious Baxter! You fit the look of a prince, you know?”

He snorts again. “Mm, I suppose I do have the family fortune for it.”

“Not only that silly! You dance, you’re charming. Whose to say you won’t be someone’s Prince Charming, hm?”

A car honks catches both of your attention before he could respond. It was one of the Ward’s family car. Baxter looks back at you apologetically.

“It may not be midnight, but it seems my pumpkin calls, fair friend,” he gives you a bow and you laugh, returning it in kind. “See you when I get back.”

He turns to enter the car as you call out. “You owe me a milkshake or something if I’m right! You’re totally gonna meet someone!”

Your Mama wasn’t back yet, so you went up to your room to unceremoniously dump your shopping bag into your bed. You’re half tempted to call your Mermaid pal, but you weren’t sure if they’d be home. Their summer always seemed to be filled with activity, more so since Cove arrived. 

Calling them up seemed to be a more common thing between the two of you these days, but that didn’t mean you stopped sending them things. There was just something different about a letter, postcard or package. It was nice when you got to hear their voice for the first time, and Cove was there too!

Last time you managed to check in with your Sunset Birdies, they had just returned from a short road trip. Apparently, some silly loft-sharing shenanigans and pretty nature walks were in the mix. You were promised pictures of trees from said walk.

“Mine won’t look at good as yours but you asked for them, so no complaining!” Your Mermaid friend had always insisted the pictures from you were always nicer somehow.

Said letter had yet to arrive, sadly. Your own letter was sitting on your desk, still blank. Not much had happened on your break, mostly the same ol` same ol`. It’s funny you can say that when it hadn’t even been a full year in Golden Grove, but Tamarack and Qiu had managed to make a stable rhythm in most of your day-to-day.

You ponder for a moment, wondering if you should write about your short encounter with Baxter. You’ve never really mentioned him to your pen pal at all. You’ve written about Darren a few times though. With a shake, you decide against it. It be kind of out of the blue to start talking about your elusive kind-of a friend. Pity, as Baxter would be in California for a short bit too. You’re not sure when would your letter arrive anyway, and you don’t know when and where exactly Baxter would be during the dance circuit. 

You think it be kind of funny if the two of them met by chance though. But what even were the chances of that happening anyways?

[last note from me: sweats in: look this was gonna be a Cove/OL1MC fic but since the last time I wrote this fic at all like… Uh…. A lot of Baxter related stuff happen and uhhHHHHH so Maybe it will also Baxter/OL1MC fic also. IDK, I haven’t added the Baxter ship tag on Ao3 yet-]

[sixdegreesofbali]

One last post as a bit of a followup on my last one:

After having been to Austria for a week and being back home, it's made me realise how much time I'm wasting away behind screens.

I absolutely loved my time in Austria. Driving through the mountains, being in gorgeous, quiet nature with just the sound of crickets, being active every day just by walking up hills next to the circuit, truly being immersed in the experience of watching F1 without a screen and just actually living life.

Now that I'm back home and am being sucked into the drama of F1 I'm back to spending way too much time on the internet and it's actually somewhat depressing. This is not really what life should be...

But then you look outside and even though it's supposed to be Summer it's constantly gray, rainy and stormy... And it's not at all inviting me to go outside and do things.

Not sure what to do about that but it's been making me think of how to improve the quality of my life.

[the-44th-chronicles]

Lewis Hamilton's Wet Weather Masterclass: A Thrilling Victory at the Austrian GP

Pre-Race Conditions

The weekend at the Red Bull Ring is marked by unpredictable weather. Friday practice sessions see intermittent showers, while Saturday qualifying takes place on a damp track. Hamilton qualifies 3rd, showcasing his adaptability in tricky conditions.

Race Day Morning

Heavy clouds loom over the circuit

Air temperature: 15°C (59°F)

Track temperature: 18°C (64°F)

70% chance of rain during the race

Race Start

Lights out: Verstappen leads into Turn 1, Leclerc 2nd, Hamilton 3rd

Lap 1-5: Light drizzle begins, all drivers on intermediate tires

Lap 6: Hamilton puts pressure on Leclerc, attempting an overtake at Turn 3 but backs off

Mid-Race Drama

Lap 15: Heavy rain hits the track

Verstappen and Leclerc pit for full wet tires

Hamilton stays out, radio message: "Lewis, we're extending. Track position is crucial."

Lap 16: Hamilton pits, emerging in the lead thanks to the overcut

Lap 20-30: Hamilton showcases his wet-weather prowess

Consistently 0.5-1 second per lap faster than pursuers

Team radio: "Incredible pace, Lewis. Keep this up, we're pulling away."

Bono: "Okay, Lewis, it's hammer time!"

Strategic Gamble

Lap 35: A dry line starts to appear

Several midfield drivers gamble on intermediate tires

Verstappen pits for inters, dropping to 4th

Lap 37: Bono: "Lewis, rain expected in 10 minutes. Stick to the plan"

Lap 40: Rain returns with a vengeance

Drivers on inters struggle, including Verstappen

Hamilton's lead extends to over 30 seconds

Bono: "Get in there, Lewis! This is your race to win."

Closing Stages

Lap 60: Hamilton navigates through lapped traffic masterfully

Team radio: "Great job, Lewis. Smooth and steady."

Lap 68: Team radio: "Two laps to go, Lewis. Bring it home."

Final Lap: Hamilton crosses the line with a 22-second lead

Leclerc 2nd, Verstappen recovers to 3rd

Bono: "YES, Lewis! You beauty! Get in there, bud!”

Post-Race

Hamilton performs his signature leap onto the top step of the podium

In parc fermé, he hugs his race engineer Peter Bonnington, saying, "Bono, that was for all the doubters!"

During the press conference, Lewis remarks: "Days like this remind me why I love this sport. It was all about reading the conditions and trusting the team. I'm so proud of everyone at Mercedes for this result. This one was special."

[real-total-drama-takes]

Here's a couple of hot takes that don't matter much(from 🚬 anon)

I'm so tired of Himbos. Raj, Wayne, Geoff, all of them are so boring. Zee can kinda be included in this too unfortunately. I would take five hundred annoying twinks over a single himbo. Tldr: Noah>Geoff

Branching off the previous one, Geoff was most interesting in season 2. Idgaf. Give me Geoff who started out as a kind person but had his morals chipped away by the reality TV show circuit.

Noco isn't overrated. People still act like it's the most popular ship but that's just not the case anymore. I can't even remember the last time I saw a noco post in the wild of the total drama tag. Yall have PTSD from the fujoshi wars of the 2010's, it's alright noco can't hurt you anymore

Yes Owen is implied to be bisexual. But you need to remember this was a joke the writers wrote because they thought a (fat) man being gay was funny. They never took Owens bisexuality seriously so putting him on the same level as Raj/Wayne is a new level of delusion.

I'm tired of people talking about the Gwen/Courtney/Duncan love triangle. Even those dirty Canadians in the writers room had enough sense to stop beating that dead horse. Why do I still have to see posts that are like "oh Gwuncan stinks" like it's a hot take.

DJ's animal curse was funny. Not my favorite plot but ya know it's fine. right when it started losing its welcome DJ got the boot.

Villains don't have to be master strategists, it's fine if they're just some asshole. This fandom focuses way too much on how good/bad someone's strategy when all that really matters is their personality.