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kwisatzworld · 1 year ago

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Vale's First Year in 250cc - 1998

Japanese GP, Suzuka “Maybe the perfect thing about 250 is I can get out of bed later! I used to get up around 7am every day for 125 practice, and that’s too early, a big problem for me. Now life is very much better because 250 practice later so I can stay in bed until 9am. I keep strange hours – at home I never go to bed before one or two in the morning, and I never get up before 11am if I can help it.” “I like Suzuka very much because it’s fun and Japan is a paradise for me because I love computer games. The track is great and I love all the shops and amusement arcades in the circuit complex – it’s like a big amusement park. Suzuka has to be the most expensive GP for me! This year I spent so much money on new games for my PlayStation and on souvenir F1 models of Hakkinen and Senna. I also bought a very trick radio-controlled Tamiya Subaru, with all the special parts that are impossible to buy in Italy.” “I think I will ask Beggio - he’s the Aprilia boss - to fix it for me to meet the Spice Girls. They are now promoting Aprilia scooters, and I’m a big fan. It would be fantastic to meet Scary Spice. Maybe I should join the band – I’d be Fast Spice!” “It’s good to be racing again after such a long winter and so much testing. I only had one real holiday – I went snowboarding for the first time. I crashed so many times. Now I’m a racer I’m more careful on skis than when I was a boy, but not too careful!”

Malaysian GP, Johor “Johor was another expensive grand prix for me – very expensive! On Sunday I lost the prize money for first place and earlier in the week I lost one million lira in a bet with Loris Capirossi. We stayed at the same hotel and I bet him that he couldn’t jump off a first-floor hotel walkway into the swimming pool. It was a pretty risky jump because he had to jump away from the walkway and there was a four metres drop to the pool, and no room for a run up! He nearly chickened out, but I’ll never pay him. Well, I’ll see if he forgets first.”

Spanish GP, Jerez “I didn’t miss the discos either, because I had a lot of late nights in clubs before I went to Malaysia. Maybe you know, but there’s a big fight in Italy at the moment to make clubs shut earlier. They close at 4am on Saturday night, but some people want them to close at two, because a lot of the kids have accidents when they drive home. But it’s crazy, if they shut the clubs at two, for sure there’s no way I’ll go home. I’ll go to another bar or to a party with my friends. I always stay up until six or seven on Sunday morning! Okay, maybe some of the kids drink too much or take drugs, but you don’t only get drink and drugs in clubs.” “It’s great to be back in Europe after the first two races. I have my camper which makes life very comfortable, the camper only holds two people, but that’s okay. I don’t like my dad to sleep with me, because when it gets to ten o’clock he starts saying: ‘Vale, Vale, go to bed!’, but I can’t go to sleep before one or two. We did share a motorhome in ‘96 and it made life very, very difficult for me. Dad didn’t make it to Japan or Malaysia and it’s good to have him around again. He knows what it’s like to be a GP rider, so he keeps in the background, maybe watches a bit out on the track, and lets me get on with it.” “Next race of course is Mugello, which is fantastic – lots of Italian fans. But I hope it doesn’t get too crazy for me in the paddock. Someone told me I should hire some security gorillas to look after me, but the organisers of the Milan motorcycle show did that for me, and they pushed the fans around. I didn’t like that, so maybe I’ll do what I did at the Bologna motorcycle show last autumn – dress up with dark shades, a wig like Ruud Gullit [the Dutch football star] and a baseball cap. I looked just like a fan and didn’t get hassled once all day. Or maybe I will dress up as a Spice Girl!”

Italian GP, Mugello “The noise at Mugello is mad – the fans on the hills rev up engines all day and all night. Some people bring big, old car motors in the back of vans, with big, open megaphone exhausts. They just rev them on the rev- limiter until the engines blow: pa-pa-pa-pa-pa... boom! It’s very funny! It’s fun to go up on the hill on Saturday evening. Two years ago I wasn’t so well known and I went up there and blew up someone’s CBR engine. Ooops! Last year was very dangerous for me – everyone shouting ‘Rossi! Rossi!’ and jumping on me. There was this big wall of people and only one way out – through the showerblock, so I rode my scooter through the showerblock. If I hadn’t, I’d probably still be up there.” “Mugello is always a lot of pressure for me, but maybe this year isn’t so bad as last year when I was on top of the points in 125s, so I had to win. This time as usual I spent so much time signing autographs, taking photographs with fans and talking to journalists and TV people. It’s okay, but it’s a little problem, because I need so much time to set up the 250. It’s not easy like the 125. You must think a lot and speak to your technicians all the time about your engine, your gearbox, your suspension, your chassis. Busy! Busy!” “The other thing that takes a lot of time is the girls! There are always a lot of girls at every Grand Prix, but a lot of really young girl fans come to see me in Italy, 12 and 13-year-olds. I prefer older girls who are real fans of me as a racer – not teeny-boppers.” “I wasn’t so confident before Mugello because while I was at home I played football and lost, I played tennis and lost, I rode motocross and lost. The only thing I won was minicars – I am the champion! We got beaten in a five-a-side soccer match, six-one, then a friend beat me at tennis, six-one, then Marco [Melandri] beat me at motocross. I’m always fighting with Marco on motocross but he’s faster than me. I’m getting better though – at the start of the year he’d beat me by five or six seconds, now it’s only one or two. I have much fear when I ride motocross because I’m not good at flying. We don’t go crazy; it would be stupid to get hurt doing that. Motocross is great for my muscle power though. I don’t go the gym much in the summer because I want to be outside, so motocross is perfect.”

French GP, Circuit Paul Ricard “Of course I’m looking forward to the World Cup. I love football and you get a great atmosphere for the World Cup. For sure I will see all of Italy’s matches on TV with my friends. I may also go to Paris for one of our matches to work with Italian TV. I hope it’s the final! But I think it will be difficult for Italy. For me, Brazil are the favourites, maybe also France; they have some good players.”

Madrid GP, Jarama “The Saturday before Jarama I went to a crazy disco in Riccione – a lot of people were out of their minds, really high! It’s incredible what the young do for enjoyment! I nearly got into a fight in the club too. This guy came up to me and asked for a cigarette. I told him I don’t smoke. So he asked me again, and I said I don’t smoke. He said ‘You don’t want to give me a cigarette because you’re Valentino Rossi’ and he wanted to fight me! Luckily a friend of mine – a big friend – arrived just in time. That’s another reason why I must get bigger muscles!”

Dutch TT, Assen “I love Assen – it’s a fun track – so it was great to win my first 250 GP there, especially after I won there on the 125 last year. The only thing I hate about Assen is the weather, but it didn’t rain until the 500 went out. God must like 250 racing!” “Maybe my new hair style gave me good luck. I dyed it orange before I left home for Holland, but only when I got to Assen did I realise that orange is the country’s national colour. So far I’ve been blue, blonde and orange, which leaves so many more colours to choose from. I think silver will be next.” “The weekend before Assen I went to the Misano World Superbike round. The track is only 10km from where I live, so I rode there on a scooter with some friends. It was like being a kid again! We watched from the side of the track, not from the paddock. We just laid down in the grass, sunbathed and cheered like crazy when Aaron Slight won both races. I’m a big Slight fan, so it was another perfect day. Aaron’s a really nice guy, but I’m also a big fan of Haga. He didn’t have such a great day – he crashed in both races – but that didn’t stop him having a big party on Sunday night. I went out to dinner with him and the Yamaha team that evening. I had already met him at the Suzuka GP and although he doesn’t speak Italian or English we had a very good Japanese/Italian interpreter. He’s incredible – he drank so much beer! He’s a good guy and very funny.” “The Superbike paddock is great, very different from GPs. Everyone is so serious in GPs – they have to be because the racing is so competitive. In Superbike it’s not like that, the whole Yamaha team was drinking on Sunday night: chief mechanics, mechanics, riders and even the number one guys of Yamaha Japan and Yamaha Italy. I think it’s better like that, but the scene in GPs is too intense for that kind of thing.” “A few days before Misano I went to Paris to be a studio guest on Rae TV for the Italy v Cameroon game. Three-nil! It was fun, but I didn’t get to talk much and I never met the Italian team, because I was in Paris and they were playing in Montpelier!”

British GP, Donington Park “It was a bad end to a bad week for me. We watched the Italy v France World Cup game on Friday night in the Aprilia hospitality unit – there were a lot of Italians and a lot of French making a lot of noise, so it was very funny. Of course I was sad to see Italy get beaten, especially on penalties. For sure if they’d won the cup there would have been a really huge party all over Italy. I was looking forward to that. Now I want Brazil to win. I was glad to see Germany go out on Saturday because I didn’t want them to win. Sorry, Germany!” “The guy who really impressed me during the World Cup was Michael Owen, the English striker, he’s only 18 or something and he scored an amazing goal against Argentina. Maybe he’s the Valentino Rossi of football!” “We had our own paddock World Cup at Donington on Thursday, which was really shit, because we played three games and lost three games. I played in the Italian team with Melandri, Boscoscuro, Scalvini, Locatelli, Borsoi and Carpani. First we played the Suzuki 500 team and lost, then we played Team Rainey and lost, and finally we played Dorna, and lost. Dorna were all Spanish and very good. But the games weren’t so much fun because the pitch was tiny and really bumpy. Last year we had the paddock World Cup at Imola on a full-size pitch, and I scored twice. Nice!” “I have to say I don’t like leaving home to go racing at this time of year - there are too many beautiful girls around where I live, and they don’t wear so many clothes during the summer. Before I left home for Donington we played this really fun game of football in Riccione, on a soft rubber pitch, covered with soap and water, so you slide all over the place! It’s very difficult even to touch the ball, and you spend most of the time crashing into each other. We were laughing so much we were crying.” “I’ve got a new PlayStation car racing game at home: Grand Turismo. It’s fantastic and I’ve been spending a lot of time playing it. You start off with a not-so-good car, and then win prize money to get trick tuning gear for the engine and chassis. Now I have a Subaru with 350bhp. It’s so fast! I’ve heard there are also some good bike racing games coming out soon – a World Superbike game from Virgin, and the Aoki brothers are working on a GP racing game with Namco. Maybe if they’re really good, I’ll just give up racing and stay home with my PlayStation. It doesn’t hurt so much when you crash.”

German GP, Sachsenring “Now we have a four-week holiday before Brno, but I’m going to spend most of my time on the beach near my home – it’s sunny and the girls are nice, that’s all I need! But I am going away for one week – a racers’ holiday with Loris Reggiani, Roberto Locatelli and Melandri. We’re going to Tunisia to mess about with jet skis and fast boats. Should be a lot of fun!” “People ask me why I don’t have a really flash car, but I like the Impreza. And anyway I live in a town with small streets – not so great with a supercar. Maybe next year I will buy a Porsche S4. At the moment I think I am maybe too young for a Porsche. I guess I can afford one but I don’t want to have everything I want too soon. I’m still young and have plenty of time ahead of me for doing things.” “Perugini has a Ferrari, but I think a Porsche has more class. Capirossi has a Lamborghini Diablo with 500bhp, like an F1 car. They’re great cars but they’re like a Fiat 128 inside! Also you can lend your Porsche to your mother so she can go and do the shopping. Try doing that with a Lamborghini – Iimpossible! For me, Porsche is number one, for sure.”

Imola GP, Imola “It’s nice to win again – especiallly at home. Maybe my Italian hairdo worked, which makes me think, because I won in Holland, when I had my hair orange, which is their national colour. So maybe I’ll dye my hair like the Catalan flag for Barcelona – red and yellow. Only problem – I’ll look like an oil flag!” “I could hardly move for girls outside my pit at Imola. Too many girls. Also some very nice girls, but I don’t have time! Maybe they like my new hairstyle. Imola was a tough race for me. Not because of the girls, but because it’s a very technical track with many slow chicanes, so we had trouble finding the right settings for my Aprilia.” “I’ve decided I prefer 125 riders to 250 riders – they’re much more fun and much more honest. It’s better. If you do something bad on the track, the other 125 riders come and tell you to your face. If you do something bad in 250, they just smile and say hello, and then say bad things about you behind your back.” “A lot of the 250 riders aren’t as friendly or as well behaved as 125 riders. 125 racing is like a family – everyone is friends, it’s not like that in 250, and I guess it’s probably the same in 500.” “Back at the start of the season, Ukawa got in my way on purpose when I was on a fast qualifying lap, to try and slow me down. He said he didn’t see me, but for sure he did see me. The same has happened other times. No one ever got in my way on purpose when I was racing 125 GPs in ‘96 and ‘97. In 250, the other riders seem to get angry if you’re fast, they like you more if you’re slow.” “Everyone knows that 125 battles are often very close and very crazy, but we still manage to stay friends. I don’t like the way some 250 riders behave. Before I came into 250 a lot of the riders were my heroes, but not any more. I hope I don’t become like one of them – if I do, I hope you will tell me.”

Catanlan GP, Catalunya “I don’t think the GP bosses liked my friend the chicken at Catalunya. The rules say you’re not allowed to give people pillion rides, but the rules don’t say anything about chickens. Maybe I’ll get into trouble, maybe they’ll put me in jail, but I won the race, so I don’t care. As long they let me out in time for Australia. Why a chicken? Simple, a friend of mine runs a chicken farm, and he’s one of my sponsors.” “We had a big party after I won at Imola – a lot of people, but I didn’t have a hangover the next morning, because I don’t drink alcohol. Maybe the occasional beer, for fun. But I’m only 19, plenty of time for drinking later!”

Australian GP, Phillip Island “I got to Australia on Wednesday and left on Sunday night after the race, so I had no time to see anything, apart from some koalas, kangaroos and possums at a nature reserve on the island. I spent some time in Sydney in ‘96 and I think Australia is my favourite country, outside Italy. I love the people and they’re very passionate about bike racing. They were all behind Mick [Doohan] over the weekend and I saw there were some shops at the track selling black flags with a number six on them. Very funny! [The flags were taking the mickey out of number six 500 rider Max Biaggi who had been black-flagged at the Catalan GP.]” “Since they cancelled Rio I lost all chance of winning the world title. But I’m happy we’re not going there because the track is shit. So the last race is Argentina. I’ve never been there before, so I’m looking forward to it, especially since some people tell me the girls there are the most beautiful in the world.”

Argentine GP, Buenos Aires “It's great to win again - my fifth win of the year - hooray! But I lost the championship by just three points, so, shit!” “It's been a long season, but I could still do another few races no problem. Which we' 11 have to do next year because we have 16 or 17 grands prix in 1999. In fact I' m still not finished - I have a rally at the end of November and next season I' m doing a big event at Misano, racing against lot of other bike racers, doing motocross, karting, rally cars and Formula Renault. It should be a lot of fun - I think I' Il be racing with [Kevin] Schwantz, Reggiani, Mamola, Harada, Melandri, Haru and Nobu Aoki, [Luca] Cadalora, [Roberto] Locatelli and Criville. I' not too worried about winning, I just want to have a laugh.” “On Saturday he took a short cut. round the back of the circuit, and was going through this corner at about 20kph when I arrived on a very fast lap. It was really frightening, so I paid him back by kicking him as we returned to the pits. That was my first trip to Argentina, but Buenos Aires is good: nice place, nice girls!”

#valentino rossi #motogp #250cc #the valentino rossi files: everything i've ever written about vr #by mat oxley #reading

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gracefullou · 2 months ago

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I don’t believe that the recent article was targeted at us, his fans. We know every detail about him. To me, this felt like it’s an effort to fine-tune their pitch for a larger audience. The emphasis was on his songwriting, which I believe he’s most proud of. Also, talking about a long-term strategic approach is also important because of his long-term objective of potentially his own management company, and/or record company.

There was no need to list out his every accomplishment. Three key takeaways for a general audience, music insiders, and industry was to convey he’s a talented songwriter, thinks long-term and it’s very ok to like him. If it works or where it goes from here, I have no clue. But this is not an a random article.

My guess is we get one more 28 drop this year, then early next year he will release his 1st single off his new album. With his newfound confidence, I think we will see a greater push to market him to a broader audience and focus on increasing his streaming numbers. I know we are always the first to criticize team for being incompetent and only relying on us, but we should keep the possibility open that Louis himself wasn’t confident enough to be pushed out into the general market.

I don't really agree. I think we're getting way ahead of ourselves thinking about the strategy for promo and rebranding his team might be doing just from one article. The article was nice enough as in it didn't paint Louis in a bad light and praised his songwriting but i don't agree with some points and it did lack some accuracy and blazed through many of his achievements (his live streams and the Guinness record, aotv, the arenas and stadiums he played..). I maybe a bit biased bc it is hard to encapsulate Louis' career and what happened through the years to the outsider without hinting at the blacklisting (which i don't expect Billboard to aknowledge ofc) but idk it's not hard to check out some facts 🤷‍♀️. Anyway, it was ok overall and we'll see with time what happens. What I strongly disagree with though is that Louis wasn't confident enough to be pushed to the gp. Louis wanted (s) commercial success and a breakthrough to the gp. I know that it seems like he's given up on that now and is content with what he has but i can't say it's bc of his lack of confidence, more like he wants total control especially creatively and he believes the way things are now is the only way. Can't say he didn't try either. He changed labels under Sony multiple times and they f*cked him over everytime, his album was pushed back 2-3 years and when it was finally released it got no promo (i will never forget the way he kept answering that the dominant emotion prior and during walls' release was: relief), he did the useless radio interviews, did the live performances (no matter how nervous he was). Remmember when he was asked in Zach Sang's fitf interview about those streaming parties in the middle of nowhere and he answered that it was great to meet the fans but also his label (BMG 😵‍💫) told him to. Louis may have confidence issues, he may sing too many covers in his set and his stubborn loyalty towards 1D have done him way more harm than good throughout the years, he is in fact keeping a team that isn't doing him any good but i think it's not fair to assume he'd choose to be confined to the fandom spaces given an honest chance to breakthrough the gp only bc he was vocal about his confidence issues

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sistermclarens · 4 months ago

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Hungarian GP 2024: McLaren Race Radios 1

Or the race radio bits I'm interested in, at least. If it matters, I'm listening to Oscar's radio first (mostly because I think it will be less interesting) and Lando's radio second, but I'm integrating my thoughts on both radios in lap order. I think it's important to consider both of these radios together because, while each driver is only hearing his own side, the combined radios demonstrate what's going on at the pit wall, which is really what I'm more interested in anyways. If Lando and Oscar want to duke it out by getting their asses kicked at Monopoly by Alex Albon then that's their business.

Laps 1-30 | Laps 31-39 | Laps 40-54 | Laps 55-70

So before any real analysis can take place, I think we need to establish four things that have been confirmed in the days since the race.

McLaren's post-race recap says that Lando had an issue switching to second gear when accelerating. (I don't think this came up literally at all as I was writing this analysis, but it's included for completion's sake.)

2. One of Oscar's race team mechanics confirmed that Oscar and Lando had pre-race instructions that they could race before the last round of pit stops but not afterwards.

3. Andrea Stella, the McLaren team principal, told media that any McLaren driver who does not follow team orders is in jeopardy of losing their seat.

4. Lando's grandmother passed away very recently. I'm not discussing this out of respect for him and his family. Grief is an extremely complex and personal emotion anyways, so it would be pointless as well as disrespectful to speculate on how it might be impacting him at work.

With that being said, here we go.

Ok before the race even starts, I just have to shout out this line from Will Joseph, Lando's radio engineer: "Perez, Russell, and Gasly is in the pit lane, they all have hard ons." NOOOOO WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT 😂 It's also interesting that Will talks to Lando over radio a LOT more than Tom talks to Oscar. Even just "meaningless" things like timing countdowns. He also just talks a lot more in general, like uses more words in a sentence than Tom does.

Lap 1

LN: "Max has to give the position!" WJ: "We're on it." LN: "Yeah he committed to the outside so he knew he would run off." WJ: "Copy that."

Lap 2

Tom Stallard (Oscar's radio engineer): "Gap behind 1.7. Good job. And straight into tire management now, straight into tire management."

Tire management is Oscar's historic weakness so it's never too early to remind him about it. Meanwhile Team 4 is still fighting with Max:

WJ: "Understood Lando. We've informed race control [bargaining?] the regulation that they should give the position back or face a more severe penalty; DRS enabled." LN: "Yeah he was only ahead cause he braked way too deep. He committed to the exit."

Lap 4

TS: "Verstappen has let Lando through following the turn 1."

This is Oscar's first confirmation that McLaren has the 1-2 post Max driving cross-country to cut off Lando for P2.

I know people have commented on this in the past but it's hilarious how McLaren's pit wall refers to the drivers of other teams by their last names even when it makes the radio messages significantly long. DON'T FORGET THAT'S YOUR HATED COMPETITOR VERSTAPPEN WHO YOU MUST DESTROY AND NOT YOUR CHILDHOOD F1 ICON MAX.

WJ: "He has been told; he has been told. [garbled]" WJ: "Check right hand throttle; check right hand throttle."

Here we get the first message indicating Lando's throttle issue. This is not the gear issue that I linked earlier; it's a separate problem that the team was apparently fixing 15 minutes before the race was supposed to start 😂 It never gets mentioned again over the radio afaik and McLaren's post-race analysis only mentions it impacting Lando's driving in the very first lap (specifically that he might have lost P1 to Oscar at that point because of the throttle issue). The car is fast but it's held together by child-safe glue 😂

Lap 5

WJ: "0.8; 0.8."

Not the "nought point eight" someone please stop the British 😭

Lap 6

WJ: "1.0. He doesn't--he does have DRS. He does have DRS."

Laps 5-7 Lando is starting to build a gap over Max.

Lap 7

TS: "And tire management looking good. Opportunity for slightly bigger lift turn 3 perhaps."

The first of many messages that Oscar is doing well with his tires. Positive reinforcement training 😂 I can't claim to really know what the lift instruction is, but basic googling indicates that it's lift and coast (lift your foot off the gas pedal and let the car coast on it's previously-built momentum). It's a technique for saving a tiny bit off fuel on a straight before accelerating through a curve. Google is mixed about whether it's really helpful in modern F1 cars. EDIT: Google was right & here is Lando on McLaren's YouTube to back me up. This seems to be the only real critique of Oscar's driving that he's gotten to this point.

WJ: "1.2. He does not have DRS; he does not have DRS."

Lap 8

TS: "Alonso in P7 doing 1.258, so we're doing a good gap on those cars."

WJ: "So Lando we're currently thinking Plan A target lap. At the moment one sample of the hard, but the pace is ok but high deg, but it's only Hulk[enberg]. The soft looks poor."

Plan A will come up again repeatedly across both radios. It's the pit stop plan. I've not really been able to piece together when the 1st pit stop was meant to take place other than they definitely pitted earlier than planned. The target lap for the second pit stop (the mid-40s stop and the one that caused all the controversy) seems to have been lap 50, tho. More on this as it comes into play. Note that this is Lando's first warning that the hard tires are showing high degradation, which will return as a prominent theme when he begins to blow his tires out in the last third of the race.

Lap 10

TS: "How's the tire now, Oscar? How's the tire." OP: "Still good. [something unintelligible] really push it that much more than this."

I have no idea what he's saying 😭 don't forget he fucking looks like he can't move his face while wearing his helmet. Plus the accent my dude you're seriously incomprehensible 😭 my best guess based on his tone is that Oscar doesn't think he can push his tires much harder than he currently is. At this point he is ~2.5 ahead of Lando and Lando is ~2 up from Max.

Lap 11

TS: "Opportunity to gear the car minimum speed turn 7, and we are in the window for a full safety car only. Full safety car only." OP: "Ok."

WJ: "And Lando just manage the pace a little bit in turn 11, and rear slips turn 7. And turn 9."

Turn 11 👀 this one as well as turn 4 obviously return to haunt Lando later in the race. We see here that it's early that he begins getting tire instruction. The broadcast commentators made this out to seem like it was a weakness of his race, but in the context of some later team radios it becomes more clear that good tire management is Lando's plan is putting on speed over Max. Lando asks several times for Will to give him instruction on how to better use his tires. Oscar gets a radio later in lap 20 reminding him that being in the dirty air of lapped traffic is going to wear his tires more. Lando, already in Oscar's dirty air at the start, is probably keenly aware that his tires are going to wear quicker and that he needs to micromanage them much more closely than Oscar, especially if he wants to continue building a gap on Max.

Lap 10

WJ: "And Lando how's the pace and tires compared to Friday?" LN: "I'm feeling a little bit more rear limited, at the minute. Little bit more rear limited."

Maybe a car issue? Maybe a traffic issue? He's about 3 seconds behind Oscar but I'm not sure how far back the slipstream off the car in front can affect cars behind.

Lap 12

TS: "Ok Oscar cars behind will soon build pit windows on uh Stroll in P7. So this is a good chance to try and pull away if you can." TS: "Lando 3.2, Verstappen 5.3."

Oscar does pull away through the next lap.

WJ: "And Lando, still on plan; any updates?" LN: "Um, not at the minute."

Lando still on target for Plan A's first pit stop, whenever that was meant to be. Again he's not damaging his tires in this first stint quite the way the commentators made it out on the broadcast since both he and Will seem convinced they can still reach their mid-20s pit stop goal despite all the tire feedback Lando is getting.

Lap 13

TS: "Half a second quicker than Verstappen, good job."

WJ: "Lando the pitch behind is Verstappen 2.4, then Hamilton, then Leclerc, then Sainz is at 9; Stroll, 17." LN: "Where am I losing at the minute?" WJ: "Entry turn 2, turn 8, turn 9."

Like I mentioned earlier, here we get Lando asking for tire info. Without the pit wall data it's impossible to know of course, but this to me doesn't seem like scolding about poor tire management (although it gets there in the end). At this point we see Lando actively seeking out more info to get a clearer picture of what he needs to do better. He's also clearly processing the feedback and putting it into practice as best he can. In lap 11, his feedback was on turns 7, 9, and 11. Here it's on 2, 8, and 9. So at this point in the race I don't think you can say that he's making the same mistake repeatedly. (Which I do think I said in my broadcast analysis, but again, the commentators made these tire exchanges sound much more combative than they actually were.)

Lap 14

WJ: "And Lando we believe our race is with Verstappen. Continue to open a gap; this is good. It's now 2.9."

In retrospect this is SUCH a key line for Lando's downward spiral. At this point he is 3.6 down from Oscar and 3 up from Max. By telling Lando to ignore Oscar's lead and focus on Max, the team is effectively rescinding their pre-race standing order to race the papayas until the last pit stop. I think there are two ways to look at this. One is that, realistically, increasing your gap to P2 should help decrease your gap to P1. These aren't competing goals, just a reframing of the priority. The second way to look at this, tho, is that psychologically reframing the race from "win" to "defend" IS against the hyper competitive mindset that these guys have, even if the same physical actions are required to do both. Sport IS mental as much or even more than it is physical. I don't think Will necessarily should have told Lando to go against his competitive instincts this early on (if at all), even if no matter how you think about it the solution is "drive fast."

Lap 15

TS: "Kay, we're now in the window for a safety car or virtual safety car. Confirm that." OP: "Confirm."

Oscar has built enough of a lead that he can't be passed or undercut if there is a safety car. I think. I understand the safety car rules but I have trouble piecing together how they can be used for strategy purposes in practice.

Lap 16

TS: "Gap to Verstappen is now 6.9."

WJ: "And Lando both safety car windows are open for Plan A; please confirm." LN: "Confirm."

Lap 17

TS: "Hamilton has pitted." TS: "Oscar once past use the pace."

WJ: "Lando, Hamilton has just pitted for a hard tire. 100% pace, please, 100% pace." WJ: "Lando box this lap, please, box this lap. How's the balance? Box this lap; box this lap."

Lewis (P4) uses this pit stop to undercut Max. By this point Lando is 3.5 behind Oscar and 4 ahead of Max. There's no chance of a McLaren undercut here; pitting Lando 1st is purely about making sure he keeps a good gap on Lewis/Max.

Lap 18

TS: "Oscar box this lap, box this lap." OP: "Copy box."

WJ: "This is out lap 2, or 3. Stint 2. We are not trying to undercut. Tsunoda and then Hamilton at the start/finish line; they're behind. And we're gonna need to go long on these tires."

Confirming what I said in the last lap--this pit stop wasn't about Lando undercutting Oscar. Will makes that explicit even though it's not really possible with the time gap between them. We also get a reminder to Lando that he's going to need to manage these tires for longer than initially planned because they pitted earlier than planned.

Lap 19

TS: "Ok Oscar, Lando is 3 seconds behind. We stopped earlier than planned to cover Hamilton; you can bring the tire in."

Again reiterating from Lap 18, whatever Plan A was for the first pit stop, it has been overthrown in favor of protecting the 1-2 from Lewis. I don't really have a sense of when they were planning to pit, but given that this is usually a mid-20s pit stop and that the later pit stop target seems to have been lap 50, I'm going to guess that 20-22 was the goal. One possible plan might have been 20 laps on med tires, 30 laps on hard, and 20 laps on med/hard.

WJ: "Hard tires have shown high deg, so we'll have to manage them. Oscar will be the car ahead. So Lando we've potentially stopped earlier than ideal, so this is a cruising run on this tire; the pace in the car is there."

Again we get the same feedback as the initial hard tire assessment in lap 8--high degradation but good race pace. Reminder about managing tires as well as the cruising lap comment, which if I understand correctly means they basically want him to ease off the accelerator as much as he can to preserve the tires. If the lap target of Plan A really was lap 50, both cars now have an additional 2-3 laps to get through on these tires.

Lap 20

TS: "And Oscar reminder, with cars ahead now tires will need a bit more management. Verstappen 24.5."

Lewis has closed the gap to Lando to 2.4 compared to lap 19 when Lando had a 4 second lead over Max. This trend is going to continue for the next few laps.

Lap 21

TS: "Small opportunity for more saving in turn 3." TS: "We think Sainz will pit."

WJ: "So Lando we think this is Plan A target lap." WJ: "And Lando, opportunity manage peak pressures in turn 4, turn 5, turn 11."

Turn 4 👀 turn 11 👀 ok seriously tho, turn 11 is the only repeat tire instruction Lando gets here. He's still clearly listening to and applying feedback. The pit wall still thinks he can make it to their Plan A mid-40s pit stop, so lap 45 at the very least. Probably lap 50. Again the commentators were I think misunderstanding WHY Lando was getting so much radio feedback on his tires--he's not being scolded, he's being coached. The team very actively believes he can and is and will successfully manage his tires. Note too that Oscar has now gotten turn 3 feedback twice (lap 7 and now).

Lap 22

TS: "Keep managing peak pressures turn 1 turn 12. Verstappen's pitted as well."

WJ: "Ok Lando, Verstappen and Sainz have pitted. We need to manage the pace a little bit more in turn 4. Hamilton is the car behind 2.2."

Turn 4 now joins turns 9 and 11 as a repeat tire instruction to Lando. Lando is 2.5 behind Oscar and Lewis is 2 behind Lando.

Lap 23

TS: "Turn 6 there's a good step, but you're using the tire a bit much in the exit of 7."

Oscar 🤝 poor tire management. He got hit with turn 7 feedback all the way back in lap 11 and now it has returned, so both he and Lando are (in some capacity) making the same mistakes repeatedly. Re: who is doing better with their tires, I think it's mostly a difference in pit-driver communication style between Team 81 and Team 4. I mentioned at the very beginning that Will tends to talk more than Tom: more frequently, for longer stretches, and using more words. Presumably these guys understand their driver very well and what he wants/doesn't want to hear during a race. I think we're seeing that Lando prefers a lot more proactive feedback where Oscar prefers to be left alone unless he's making a noticeable error. This sets up a sort of artificial contrast where it looks like Lando is "doing worse" by getting more feedback, which I think is the trap the broadcast commentators fell into.

Neither here nor there but Tom also praises Oscar much more frequently than Will does Lando. Kinky.

WJ: "Hamilton 1.7. Lando, our opportunity ahead and behind is potentially to extend."

Will's message is more interesting here because I think it's a repeat of lap 14's "our race is with Verstappen." Again Will is saying that extending the gap over Hamilton is key to both keeping Lando in P2 and giving him a shot to fight for P1. I do think this is better phrasing than in lap 14; here we get "Lando these goals are aligned" rather than "Lando don't try to win". However I have an English degree and the pit wall is probably all math people so I'm rolling my eyes and accepting that they not going to wordsmith their way around these problems 😂

Lap 24

TS: "Leclerc's pitted; now you have clear air. Tire management looks similar across cars. You're doing a good job. 3 second gap behind."

TIRE MANAGEMENT LOOKS SIMILAR ACROSS CARS. I mentioned in my broadcast analysis that the commentators spent lap 23 talking about how Lando's race pace was worse than Oscar's because of his poor tire management. Here we can see that the team disagrees. Either they're both doing fine or they're both sucking ass 😂

WJ: "Ok Lando, Leclerc has just pitted, so everyone has now pitted. Everyone has gone hard." LN: "Yep, [but?] where's my biggest time?" WJ: "Opportunity, turn 1 breaking, 10 meters later."

EVERYONE HAS GONE HARD WILL JOSEPH WHY DO YOU KEEP SAYING THESE THINGS. Note that Lando has asked for tire feedback twice now, here and in lap 13. He's listening. He's thinking. His poor little jock brain has not yet overheated 😂

Lap 26

TS: "Pace is very good, pace is very good, but opportunity turn 6 brake release."

We can see here that Oscar is backsliding in his handling of turn 6 a bit. It was good in lap 23; now there's room for improvement. Repeat feedback on turns 3 and 7, etc. you know the drill.

Lap 27

WJ: "So Lando, we need to manage rear-locking, turn 1, turn 2; [bar?] center braking; and opportunity turn 8, minimum speed."

Omg counting all these stupid tire comments is the dumbest thing I've done in my life. Lando has now gotten repeat feedback on turns 1, 2, 4, 8, 9, and 11.

Lap 28

WJ: "Lando, opportunity turn 5: less peak break pressure, and carry your entrance speed."

Repeat 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9, and 11. By now, Oscar is up by about 4 seconds.

Lap 29

TS: "Oscar that one was a bit too much in turn 7, zero oversteer. And don't overdo the brake in turn 6."

Oscar poor tire management my old friend 😂 since lap 23 turn 6 has degraded from "good" to "overdone." It's also worth pointing out that here he gets his first warning about oversteering, which (I think) is what he does both times he runs off the track later in the race.

WJ: "What you did in turn 5 was good; same now in turn 13."

Lap 30

TS: "Oscar how's the tire?" OP: "Ah yeah, feels good. Consistent." TS: "Would it be ok if we had to restart a safety car?" OP: "I think so, yeah."

WJ: "Lando I want you to think about, if a safety car came out now, it would be pretty bad, but in two-three-four laps or so, we might be forced to take it; that might mean another stint. What are your thoughts?" WJ: "Perhaps a simpler question is, would you be able to restart these tires and do another 15 laps?" LN: "I mean I think yes but that'd be, uh, little bit tricky."

This is like. THE example of what I mean when I say both that Will talks more than Tom AND that the pit wall is just not up to snuff with their language & communication skills. Wtf is that massive jumble of words that Lando is suppose to somehow hear and sort through at 200 mph? Will and Tom are trying to get driver input on the same problem, but they go about it at such different levels of clarity and conciseness that it's genuinely shocking. I really think the team should invest some money into like public speaking training or something just to cut down on the mental workload they're throwing at the drivers to process.

This is one of the moments where I think it's most clear that the oft-referenced Plan A is to have the next pit stop around Lap 50. Will specifically asks if Lando could do 15 laps on his current tires, which would put him at running these tires to lap 50-51. Lando understandable thinks that's pushing it; he pitted in lap 17, so 33 laps on his tires when he's been in bad air (likely most of the race but definitely since they started lapping after lap 20) is a lot to ask of them at this point.

That brings me to my final point: I think this is the first moment where it's clear that Oscar is doing a better job managing his tires than Lando. All of the previous times this came up I could see an argument for why Lando was doing worse that was outside of his control, but in this case, Oscar's tires are only one lap newer and they both basically came out of the pit and immediately went into lapping backmarkers. Oscar specifically gets to them at lap 20. So they're both in the same dirty air on tires that are basically equal in age, but Oscar not only maintains but actually extends his lead from 3 to 4 seconds in this period of time. Moreover at this specific lap, Lando is unsure if his tires can last another 15 laps, but Oscar is pretty confident his can. The longer time goes on, the more it becomes clear that Oscar's lead is due very much to his skill, not just extenuating circumstances.

Also hilariously I think the pit decided everyone needed to have this safety car discussion at this point because Max is quickly gaining on Lewis in the battle for P3. Their crystal ball was humming with foresight 😂

#lando norris #oscar piastri #mclaren #max verstappen #red bull racing #lewis hamilton #mercedes #hungary 2024 #f1

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ask-serendipity-sky · 1 year ago

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Hi Sky, I don't know if this is a question, a thought or a mixture, you decide, but here I go, also English is not my native language so I'm sorry if I don't use the words correctly or you don't understand what I mean

On the day of the BBA nominations, the Jjks complained that 7 was nominated in the Kpop category and not in the general category, arguing that both lyrics, producers, etc. were in English and therefore made more sense, from what I heard and I read these days that I know that the BBA uses different data that gives points (please correct me if I'm wrong)

Therefore, 7, not being nominated, would mean that It did not reach those points, which brings me to the next point

I get the impression that since its launch, the fandom in general measured the success of 7 only based on the streams which is not fair given everything that surrounded it in terms of promotion, radio play, etc., we also know that the only reason being a 7 was to position Jk as the outstanding soloist especially in the US, so not being nominated in the general category could serve as a way to measure success in the US? Why, in that case, the winner would be LC

I also know, in case anyone asks, that LC has more time, but without forgetting that it has not been restocked since the first week, while 7 have been restocked even before the end of that first week

so do you think that 7 not being nominated means that in the end it did not make it into the GP despite all the effort and money behind it or that the industry will always treat people from outside as a separate category, although in this Is everything thinking from a US market point of view?

woo, I'm sorry for this essay and if you read the whole thing and give me your opinion or point of view I would appreciate it, thank you

Hi anon,

So I'm not an expert at these things but this is what I understand:

We view these kpop categories as somewhat xenophobic but, in reality, they are giving kpop a chance. If it wasn't for these categories, all these kpop artists wouldn't have been nominated. Only Jimin would have been nomimated for Top Selling Song and that's with the fact that it never got its cd restocked like Seven did.

Like you mentioned, BBMAs are based on chart points during tracking period. Jk was simply released too late into the tracking period to be able to compete with songs that had been accumulating points since January and February.

People also failed to recognize that BBMA focuses on each version of a song. Each song has its own points so Seven having a lot of versions didn't help as the streaming and buying has to be divided into all the versions and Like Crazy having 2 versions helped because people focused only on those 2 versions.

In this case, I don't feel like the BBMAs are treating kpop as outside people. I think they gave kpop a chance and it increases their viewing numbers, which is probably what they like the most.

Leaving the charts aside, I think that Seven is not as popular as people think it is. It's hard to know that considering all the resources that were used to push the song and because army is a fandom that will hype anything just for records. But this is just my opinion.

Awards seem to always be unfair when they are based on nominations coming from the labels or fans, but since these awards are actually data driven, I think it shows organic success for Like Crazy despite not being playlisted, being separated on Spotify, a bunch of weird problems with Spotify, not having radio play, not getting promo in the US despite having an English version of Like Crazy, and no restocking of cds.

Hope this answers your question!

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sisididis · 1 year ago

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*winks at your from across the continent, very mysteriously and anonymously* rank all the GPs from sexiest to least sexy ;)

I hope you meant the sexiest to least sexy GPs of this season, because they're all I know here they are.

Sexiest — Singapore GP. Why?

Ferrari radio: “Lando 0.8 behind with DRS.” Carlos: “Yeah, it’s on purpose.”

Hands down the SEXIEST team radio of this season, and the most entertaining GP I’ve watched until now. “We know about the bromance, Martin. Sainz and Norris, what a double act they’ve been.” Two former teammates and close friends working together without any prior planning to come out in P1 and P2? And did you see the post-race celebrations? Their embrace against the fireworks and the sea of fans cheering? That image lives rent free in my mind. Singapore GP 2023 will forever live rent free in my mind. My heart was bursting with love for them.

2. Sexiest / Lando Norris leads the British GP — Lando’s home race and my second favorite race of this season. I tuned in just in time to watch Lando’s overtake of Max at the beginning of the race and I’ll never forget the sound of the crowd cheering for him. Then there’s the Budapest (Lando-broke-Max’s-porcelain-trophy-with-his-champagne-popping) GP and Austin.

Suzuka is somewhere between the second tier and “Okay, what damage do you have? Talent.” (these are all Lando catchphrases btw!) because he. did. not. kiss. his. trophy. and neither did Oscar. Ugh! Had he kissed it, Japan would have easily been in the second tier, but now it has been demoted to the third tier.

3. In Mexico, Lando climbed 12 positions from P17 to P5, which in my book is incredibly sexy. Apart from his collision with Checo, which puts Abu Dhabi in the “Chaos? Chaos.” tier, I’d say that P5 is a pretty sexy result.

4. Oh Qatar…Qatar was a rollercoaster of emotions. McLaren won a double podium in the end, but we’ll never forget how HARD Lando was on himself after he got his lap time deleted during qualifying. It broke my heart to see him so down. It's a good thing that he recovered quickly after that.

5. And the least sexy title goes to Las Vegas, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. Lando’s DNF in LV after that terrible crash was a real heart stopper. Also, he had to pit six times in Bahrain.

Lando and Oscar went from finishing P17 and P20 in the first race of the season to P2 (and P1 for Oscar after the Qatari Sprint). Final result: 10 / 10 sexy season, will root for the same outcome or an even better one in 2024.

#thank you for your question!#i hope i wasn’t too predicable #my entries

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leam1983 · 2 years ago

Text

The Whale - Thoughts

This is a long one, and it touches on topics some might find sensitive. See the appended tags for content warnings.

One of the leading lines of thoughts on here is that Charlie's character has tinges of fatphobia. As someone whose boyfriend is a self-admitted chonker, I'm used to hearing derogatory comments aimed at him, and I know how - in-context - it can feel demeaning or crippling.

That said, this is a movie. It's a movie, yes, but also a movie rooted in a play, which itself has some lived experience scaffolding its structure. It might be uncomfortable to see a big guy wracked with guilt as he caves in and snarfs a bucket of KFC on his own, but it doesn't mean that morbidly obese people can't be subject to bulemia or to other eating disorders. Fat acceptance goes a long way, sure, but the human body is like any assembly of struts bolted to a foundation: it has a certain stress tolerance that varies from person to person, and some of us shouldn't allow themselves to gather too much body habitus.

Let's dial things back down, for perspective. My BF is verging on three hundred pounds. He's five feet six, so he feels quite obviously rotund, at that weight. He dresses it well, having a yen for Business Casual that doesn't drop, ever - not after hours and not on weekends. Walter feels naked without a vest and necktie, he loves flashing his fob watch, and honestly asks me which cufflinks he should wear for this or that meeting at the office. He doesn't have an ounce of shame in regards to his weight, and even has surprising levels of cardio, being known for short straight-backed sprints down his floor's main hallway whenever he forgets to bring a document or two over to the meeting room. He, in his own words, knows he's obese, and he's never let that slow him down.

The main issue is that since we've officially started living together, his increased happiness more or less translated into an increase in appetite. He was about 260 when we first took drinks together and redid his entire wardrobe last year. That's a little over five years since, with three of them marking a notable slackening of his dietary habits.

He still doesn't mind it, or so he tells me. He's still the same cheerful and chipper guy I fell for, the same faux snob who's actually really glad to speak of his more highbrow interests to whoever'll care to listen, from high-end audio to unique pieces painted by local artists that he wants to acquire.

The problem is that he gets drowsy at an increasingly rapid pace. He keeps himself alert at work with a little radio piping Big Band standards practically every day, but the occasional serious traffic jam can sometimes result in my needing to nudge him awake once the coast clears. He also hasn't managed to be active during evenings in about a year, now. We settle in for some after-hours TV or rounds of light discussion, and there's always a point where Walt's chin dips, his breath deepens and then transitions to soft snores. If I let it go, he'll eventually rip-roar himself half-awake with a bonafide Cartoon Snore. He's been given the CPAP talk by his GP, but refuses to consider it. I've always known he had a bit of a napping fetish, but what involved charming little kips before meal prep now sees him sink quite deeply.

I've made it clear on multiple occasions that while I wanted to respect his choices, I didn't feel like losing a loved one on the cusp of their sixties. I'm lucky, in that he understands I'm not interested in Walter George the Suited Six-Pack-Packer; I just want the same old warm, kind and decent man I've fallen for to last for at least a decade or two.

His response is almost always the same. He smiles, pulls me in closer, and kisses me; pulling at my lips a few times.

"It'll be okay," he then tells me. "The moment I feel like I'm losing control, I'll take the necessary steps."

He tells me that, and falls asleep mid-sentence a few hours later, at barely a few minutes past 7 PM.

I'm not blind, I know what Sleep Apnea is. Dad has it, and he, at least, sticks to his CPAP regimen. He's also cut back on salt, reduced his red meat intake, and used the dog as a handy excuse to get out more.

Walter just sits there and pulls the William Taft card. "It's just how I am," he says, his smile radiating warmth and love even while I can recognize the telltale signs of sleep pulling at his mind: the slow eye-squints, the malapropisms, the occasional sentence that goes nowhere, the marred recipes with one or two ingredients missing when a foodie like him would not have allowed himself to omit details; the now-frequent nights where I feel like I'm lying next to a beached whale gasping for air even while he swears that he's really, seriously, super comfortable...

That, in essence, is what The Whale is referring to. Fatphobia would involve heckling someone who, despite their weight, has a clean bill of health or easily manageable quirks. Telling your morbidly obese boyfriend to be a bit more careful is not fatphobic. Brendan Fraser's character has it even worse: he's bulemic! Food is his single coping mechanism for a gaggle of real and imaginary personal flaws, and he's entirely aware that he's digging his own grave! How can it be fatphobic to have such a character realize that he needs to move forward and make amends in order to find enough courage to save himself?

If anything, Charlie's progress is slow, hard - and indubitably noble. His own white whale is a return to the life he destroyed in shutting everyone out and finding solace in food, in his working past his own self-loathing. It's not my place to keep badgering Walter on his own flaws, but there's a point where you have to admit that in the absence of a divulged weight gain fetish and in his added weight being a constant product of dietary negligence - as opposed to concerted efforts to gain weight - "how he is" is a really pithy excuse for something else. Depression, avoidant behavior or some weird form of call for help - whatever it is, something's clearly at play.

The problem is I'm not Walter. Because I love him, I can't force him to act. I can try to get him to open up, sure, but I haven't made much progress in that regard. Because I love him, I owe him to at least make it clear that I'm trying. If he wants to go down in a stroke after gaining so much weight his suits become impossible to afford, I'll be right there alongside him.

#the whale #darren aronofsky #brendan fraser #sadie sink #on obesity #on fatphobia #on bulemia

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filmbyjy · 1 month ago

Text

ONE NOTE

SYNOPSIS > When you turned 18, you heard your best friend’s favourite song. Turns out, it was just one of the various signs to finding your soulmate. However, you couldn’t bring this up to jake. Not when he was in a happy relationship with your other best friend! Would you choose heartbreak or sacrifice your happiness for the sake of keeping the friendship?

TWENTY-SEVEN – love makes you truly blind

MASTERLIST | PREVIOUS | NEXT

WC: 1.5K words

a/n: it's getting spicy! also there is a written part below so don't forget to read it ;)

WARNINGS: slightly suggestive - just jake being a slight pervert and noticing your chest area

jake pulls up in at the driveway of aria's home. he parks the car and exits it after making sure to grab the blindfold. aria excitedly looks over at jake as he approaches her.

"are we going to lotte world?" she smiles.

"sorry, darling. I am keeping my mouth completely shut on this one."

aria pouts at his words. jake never notices this but the way she pouts makes her look like a botched face and lip filler.

'love makes you truly blind, jake' he tells himself. he can never get that thought out of his head now. how did he fall in love with her? why didn't he choose (name). these were the questions he asked himself everyday.

"okay, well close your eyes. I have to put you in a blindfold!" jake says. aria allows him to do so without any hesitation. which was perfect.

"great, now. hand out, I'll lead you to the car." jake adds after he places the blindfold on aria. aria does as she’s told, jake grabs her hand and pulls her towards the passenger seat. he carefully settles her down onto the seat and grabs the seatbelt to strap her in (though we he gets the urge to kinda leave the seatbelt off so she could possibly let her fly off if there were to get into an accident)

once the seatbelt was on, aria pecks jake’s cheeks and thanks him. a shiver falls down his spine, and not a good one. he smiles awkwardly and shuts the door before going over to the driver’s seat and starting up the car. he pulls up the direction to the gynaecologist which your aunt worked at.

you: drive around the back. if she walks in from the front door, the hospital smell might send some alarms ringing in her head. my aunt says the back door is usually for VIPs and important people but just for this, she allowed us to go through it.

jake makes a mental note and thumbs up your message. he puts in the direction to the hospital into the GPS and starts the engine. after driving for 20 minutes, jake arrives at the back door of the hospital. he quietly prays and puts on a fake smile.

“darling, let’s go.” he tells aria after opening up the passenger door. she was still singing (horribly) to the song that was on the radio. she puts out her hand and jake takes it. he leads aria towards the back door to which he only assumed one of the nurses which worked with your aunt was standing at.

“baby, where are we now?” aria asks, a little suspicious but still clueless.

“we’ve arrived but i’m bringing you inside the most important that i wanted to show you!” jake explains in the most excited tone he could muster. aria smiles.

“then, what are we waiting for! lead me there!”

jake almost laughs. she was stupid to trust him honestly. the nurses led him right into the ultrasound room to which the door shuts close and locks. aria could feel the adrenaline rush into her.

jake leans down and whispers in her ears, “i’m going to tie you up.” it sounded seductive and sexy. aria almost melts at his voice.

“please.” she practically whimpers out. in situations like this, jake would find it kinda hot but right now? when you were staring right at him as he has yet to tie aria up? nah, it felt wrong. his whole body wanted to just gag and throw up. either way, he had to tie aria up and he does so very quickly. a very hard knot to remove, only way was to snip it.

“ready?” jake says. aria nods a little too enthusiastically. jake smirks before removing the blindfold.

aria’s eyes adjust to the lighting. she spots you, jake and 3 other people that she didn’t know off. you were folding your arms.

“babe, where are we?”

“gynaecologist. i need to know if you’re actually pregnant. it wouldn’t be great if you lied to me, you know.” jake says. it was comical with the way aria’s jaw drops.

“you- you don’t believe me?” aria shouts. your aunt shushes her and she closes her mouth. jake lets out a scoff.

“it’s not that i don’t believe you. it’s just…a suspicion.” jake states. aria’s eyes falls onto you.

“it’s because of her, right? she’s manipulating you!”

you had rolled your eyes, “if anything, you’re manipulating jake. by the way, i should’ve suggested to tape your mouth with duct tape. you sound annoying.”

“you’re annoying!” aria fires back. you laughed.

“that’s the best you can come up with? quite pathetic.”

aria doesn’t say anything further and so you looked towards your aunt. she prepares the necessary things. if aria tried to anything she would glare at her which shuts her up immediately. both you and jake watched it unfold. it was silent between the both of you, awkward honestly. jake tries to start the conversation up.

“listen, if this whole thing is fake. i will break up with aria and dedicate my life to saying sorry to you.”

“well, you better start because i know she isn’t pregnant.” you had told him as you looked directly into his eyes. jake almost felt overwhelmed by your gaze. his heart races, he gulps and nods.

“right.” was all he could say. when did you get so pretty. also why were you in a top that showed off your cleavage perfectly. jake was only a man with desires. he tried to focus on the most important part at hand.

your aunt places the ultrasound gel right onto aria’s stomach. she shuts her eyes as she knew she was about to be exposed.

“well, as you can see. there is no sign of baby growth or a baby in the first place. normally, in the womb there would be a bean shape to show the baby is growing but there is none.” your aunt explains. “in other words, she’s not pregnant.”

jake breathes in, he stares right into aria’s eyes. “tell me from a-z why you dragged me into your scheme or whatever this is. you were using me for 6 years and you also lied about your ‘pregnancy’ when i’m about to break up with you.”

“can i at least be untied.” aria mutters up the best puppy eyes she could to jake. unfortunately, there was no sympathy inside of jake towards aria. he had just been betrayed.

“no.” he simply says. aria sighs.

“this whole 6 years was just something that i was having fun with. i just wanted to use you for your body and comfort. i also mainly wanted to steal you away from (name). after all, she’s just a pick me. 3 guys around her all the time. might as well steal one and get her all upset. it so happens that i noticed she really liked you and so i devised my plan. act stupid and get you to tutor me. then form a relationship, all to see (name) get so upset. i loved the tears that fall from her face. it’s perfect. i wanted to ruin her.”

as aria went on, jake’s disgust went up further. how could he fall in love with her? the worst person on earth.

“and why are you so in shock about soulmates?” you asked. she laughs.

“soulmates? what even is that? everyone keeps going on and on about soulmates that it’s so fucking annoying. soulmates aren’t even a thing.”

it was obvious to both you and jake that there was something further than this. why didn’t aria know soulmates?

“so you don’t have a soulmate mark?”

“what mark? i’m honestly so pissed that you keep asking me about this. let me go now.” aria says.

so, no mark. jake turns to you and points towards aria. you smirked and walked towards aria.

“one kick that time for capturing sunghoon isn’t enough. have fun getting a nose job.” you gave her a huge punch to the nose. you were sure her nose broke but who cares.

2 of the nurses came up to aria and untied her but kept her close.

“we’re sending you to the insane asylum. have fun.” you told her. aria grumbles and was not able to do anything else. once they left with aria, you turned to your aunt and thanked her.

“we’ll delete the footage of you punching her and hand over any evidence to the police in case she has done anything.”

“no deals that i have to strike?” you asked your aunt jokingly. she laughs.

“we’re family, don’t worry about a thing. some people just have to do things, even if it’s a little illegal. just a little.” she winks at you and leaves the room.

you were left alone with jake.

“so umm…” jake starts off.

“tomorrow.”

“huh?” he tilts his head.

“the deal starts tomorrow. start making up to me.” you say before leaving the room.

‘right. okay. tomorrow.’ jake mutters under his breath.

13 more episodes…he could this. make it up to you. make everything better and maybe figure out his feelings.

taglist[open]: @sumzysworld @mitmit01 @moon3verland @baribaaari @byty2k @alex-is-sleeping @viagumi @txtlyn @belovedsthings @woninluv @dreamiestay @niniissus @kyutiepeachy @yoongisbaguetteshoes @squiishymeow @jjaammm @enhaz1 @illvding @woniejjang @bee-the-loser @laurradoesloveu @ckline35 @ningx2stan @hoonlvly @clampclover @xyzyx01 @victoriasimm @eneiyri @nshmrarki @woorcve @bubblytaetae @i03jae @soobieboobiedoobiedaboobie @l1wv00n @onlyhyunjin @kyanmeai @isa942572 @lisaswifey @alisonyus @firstclassjaylee @szkstay @enhamysunshines @milanco @hsbae @zyvlxqht @lixiebokie @wth121 @enahasblog @gongiz @anuisamazing @heestrawberries @gyehyeonist @nshmurarki @heelovesmeknot @silquids

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fcb-mv33 · 2 years ago

Text

The Perception of Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen entered f1 as a baby faced 17 year old and once he was called up to Red Bull he straight away was known as aggressive, cold, and an all-round asshole which could not be further from the truth of who Max is.

Since Drive to survive, the Netflix show on formula one came out there was always going to be a villain and for Max they chose him. From playing Max off as someone who only cares for himself, no care for other drivers and having an apparent dislike for teammate Daniel it was clear what the new fans were going to think about Max, and the hate they would have for him. This did all lead to Max boycotting the show after saying they took his radios and used them to make him look like this awful person. We can also look at the level of shit sky sports have put Max through over the years. From calling him immature to aggressive there has been very little care by the media to show who the real Max is. They simply saw this teenager and it seems like from the very start they knew how talented Max was and straight away decided the way they would play their part in making him look.

But they could not be further from the truth of who Max is. People calling him cold and nasty and plain rude could not be further from the real person Max is. The red bull team are his family and we have never seen anyone who has worked with Max ever have a bad word to say about him. His engineer GP who Max clearly has a lot of love for has said “And then there is Max’s first title, my first title. It was and is an insanely emotional moment. I will never forget it”. While this one line from Max has always stuck with me “As soon as GP says it’s safe to drive, I mean, he would never put me in danger,”

Max has always called red bull his second family, and in the media from red bull you can see the genuine love Max has for his team, how soft and happy he is to be around him. He has always said that “I am having a great time with my team”. It doesn’t to take a genius to see the love Max has always held for his team. His team everytime you see them with him you can tell how much they like and really adore Max.

We also then have the obvious way Max acts around the drivers. Fernando, Daniel, Charles, Lando, Alex, Mick and Carlos especially are the drivers you can see Max holds a whole lot of love and respect for them. He has always been quick to defend them and others in the media when he has had to. He defending Lando when it came to how the latest season of DTS portrayed him.

Max Verstappen has never been a cold, nasty, aggressive person but has been the target for the media to make him into the villain they need. Max Verstappen is a soft, loyal, kind and really just a sweetheart to people he truly loves.

#he’s Red Bulls baby boy #and their his family #lmao I didn’t want to do college work #so you can all deal with my thoughts #on how Max is simply a soft loving boy #rambles #f1 #max verstappen #formula 1 #red bull racing #🦁🧡

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topazy · 3 years ago

Text

Inside, outside

Pairings: 10K x reader, Addy Carver sister x reader

Warnings: Blood, swearing

Chapter: 2.10

“I dunno how much longer this old bucket of bolts is gonna keep running.”

“Talking about yourself or the van?”

“Both,” Doc let out a laugh, “I think we’re getting near the Grand Canyon.”

The camper-van Doc was currently driving was probably the most comfortable vehicle you’d travelled in since the apocalypse started. It had plenty of space for everyone. You were currently laying on one of the fold-down beds, trying to get some sleep, but the bumpy roads made it difficult.

“I went there once as a kid. It was beautiful.” Murphy frowned when you said that everyone stared at him. “What? Can’t believe I was a kid once?”

You didn’t reply. The idea of Murphy being a kid didn’t shock you, but the idea of him actually enjoying something instead of moaning did. You’d also never heard him use the word 'beautiful' to describe anything aside from Lucy, who mysteriously vanished.

You watched intensely as Addy tried to contact Citizen Z again. “Northern light. Northern light. Do you copy? Northern light. This is Delta Xray Delta. Do you copy?”

“When was the last time anyone spoke to that guy?” Murphy asked. “He’s probably dead.”

“Optimistic as always.”

Murphy shot you a look. “Well excuse me, princess, but some of us are cranky because we haven’t had a decent cup of coffee in half a decade.”

You flipped him off. You didn’t doubt for a second that citizen Z was still alive. The radio signal was terrible, and you had a theory that the moment he heard Addy’s voice, he’d drop whatever he was doing to talk to her.

“Citizen Z: Do you copy?… come on, Citizen Z. I know you’re out there. You've got to be. Do you read me?”

“Addy. Addy, I hear you. I copy. It’s me, Citizen Z.”

Your sister let out a laugh before winking at you.

“Man, it’s great to hear your voice.”

“It’s so good to hear your voice. I can’t believe you’re still alive.”

“How’s the package?”

Murphy frowned at his question. “He hates being called that! The name is Murphy! The Murphy! Thanks to you, blabbermouth!”

“Yeah, I’m sorry about that. I … I didn’t mean to send the whole world into you.”

“Yeah, excuse me,” Warren interrupted. “We’re gonna need those coordinates.”

“Right,” Addy said, nodding. “Ah hey, Citizen Z? We need you to transmit the GPS coordinates again. The transmission was breaking up the last time. We didn’t get them all. Repeat. Re-transmit GPS coordinates. Over.”

“Roger that. I’ll send them as soon as I can find them. This place is a mess. Zombie issues.”

10K looks directly at you, “guessing Z’s don’t hate the cold after all.”

You squeeze his hand reassuringly. 10K had been so set on living somewhere that it snowed until the cure was made, after Murphy was dropped off in California. There had been a rumour circulating for years that Z’s hated the cold.

“Listen. There’s a massive Z storm headed your way. I strongly suggest that you turn south. Possibly as far as Mexico before you can outflank this horde. It’s miles wide, and it’s moving fast.”

Warren shakes her head. “No, no, no. We need to go west, not south.”

“West is a no go. Repeat. West is a nogo. At any time, you should be making visual contact with this horde.”

Looking out the window, you finally realised what the huge dust cloud was. It was the fast paced zombie horde Citizen Z had warned you about.

—

Warren places her hands on her hips as she says, “There is only space for two more. So who’s going?”

“Me, Doc, and Astra can make our way to higher ground on foot.”

An amused facial expression crosses Murphy's face, as he turns to look directly at you. “So he speaks for you both now?”

“I don’t speak for her,” 10k bites back. “But nobody can blame me for wanting to keep my girl away from a creep like you.”

Butterflies danced in your stomach; they always did when 10K got protective of you, but the last thing anyone needed was another argument before parting ways. “Okay,” you interject, smiling at Warren. “Be safe, and don’t forget to pick us up when that massive horde arrives.”

Addy hugs 10K and Doc before pulling you in and kissing your cheek. “I’ll see you soon. Be safe.”

You watch as Addy Murphy and Vazquez drive away on quad bikes, with your sister and Warren on the back of them.

Sighing, Doc puts an arm around both you and 10K’s shoulder. “Just the three of us again, huh? Yip. I wonder what trouble we will get into this time.”

—

“Looks like you might be getting to ten thousand a lot sooner than you thought.”

You kept repeating Doc’s words to yourself as a way to push forward, to keep you focused. And to stop you from looking down. Your eyes sting when sweat drips into them and heavy panting rings in your ears.

A fear of heights wasn’t something you’d had until this moment. You, 10K, and Doc needed to climb a small cliff to escape the dead that were getting closer to you, but you made the mistake of looking down, and now you are paralysed with fear.

“Kid, just concentrate on my voice and look up at me.”

You looked up to see Doc staring at you with a calm expression on his face. 10K, on the other hand, looked like he’d seen a ghost.

You took a few deep breaths and somehow managed to finish your climb. 10k reach down when you nearly reach the top, “grab my hand.”

You squeezed his hand tightly as he and Doc practically yanked you onto solid ground. “I never thought I’d be this happy to be laying on dirt,” you chuckled. “Thanks guys.”

You cleaned the dirt off your jeans with the back of your hands before stalling your actions. The sounds of twigs snapping hit your ears. “Zombies?”

“I don’t think so.”

Two rocks connected by a piece of string were thrown from behind a bush, hitting Doc on the head. He fell to the ground with a thud. “Oh my god,” you crouch beside him. “We need-”

You were cut off when a pain that you’d never felt before entered your body. An electric jolt pierces your body before you black out. When you finally wake up, your wrists are bound together before you are tied to 10K and Doc with rope by a man you’d never seen before.

—

“What are they saying?” You whisper. “I can’t make it out.”

You had been dragged as prisoners into a small village built in the middle of the forest.

“What does zendigo mean?”

The man who took you stops walking. He turns quickly and shoves 10K back. “I’ll tell you what zendigo means. It’s a plague all three of you carry. A disease.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Doc says, confused. “But I can assure you that we have all had our shots.”

“Your people have infected us before. Zendigo nearly destroyed my people. We vowed never to allow that to happen again.”

You noticed that when the man continued to drag the three of you along as his prisoners, others watched wide- eyed and concerned.

—

“Stop it! Just stop!” You scream as the nameless man who took you punches 10K in the face, causing blood to pour from his mouth.

The man squares up to you. “Then tell me, what are you doing on tribal land? You’re trespassing on sacred ground.”

You open your mouth to respond, but Doc beats you to it. “We didn’t know anything about it being sacred anything!”

Anger boils inside you as you watch 10K spit blood out. “We were trying to get away from a zombie mega horde, which was headed straight this way.”

“Your trespassing is the only thing that would lead them to us.”

“Are you fucking serious?” You hiss. “Lead them to you? Have you somehow missed the world going apocalyptic? All we’re trying to do is get back to our own people before we get killed.” The past takes a step closer to you before you refuse to back down. “Your people should leave too. If they don't, the zombies will get them. Because believe it or not, the dead don’t care about sacred land.”

“Leave our land again? Never. I will die here,” the man looks away from you to face his own people. “This horde is no different than any other that has come before. These creatures aren’t interested in our people.” He turns to face Doc, “They’re only after you. They’re a manifestation of your disease!”

“That’s enough!” A woman steps forward. “Gordon, you’ve got to give this zendigo bullshit a rest.”

“You know, I don’t go by that name anymore,” he says, with a hint of embarrassment.

The woman rolls her eyes. “If mom was alive, she’d smack you upside the head.”

Of course, they are siblings.

An older woman approaches you and starts to gently lead you away from Gordon and his man, towards their village infirmary.

—

You shifted awkwardly on a small wooden log as Gordon’s sister approached. She sat down across from you, “that’s an interesting scar.”

You let out a small chuckle as you looked down at your hand. Memories of you cutting your hand because Murphy crashed a truck into a wall flashed before your eyes. You felt a sudden wave of sadness when you remembered how mad Garnett was at him.

God, you missed him.

“Sorry, bad memory?”

“Uh, no… just… not everyone who was there when I got it is here now.”

She placed her hand on top of yours and smiled, “It’s hard to lose people you care about.” She gently rubbed her thumb across your scar, “is it sore?”

“It stopped hurting a long time ago. Sorry, I never caught your name.”

“It’s Ayalla.” You smiled back at her politely. Ayalla suited her. You glanced at all the women nearby, noticing how clean they looked. You envied them. Despite how friendly most of them had been, it still made you feel uneasy not knowing if you were still a prisoner or not. “I’m sorry about what my brother did to your friend.”

You look over at 10K, who was getting his lip cleaned up in the infirmary. “It wasn’t you who hit him.”

“Is he your brother?”

You snort out a laugh, “God no, he’s definitely not my brother. I do have an older sister called Addy though.”

Ayalla sits back as she studies you. Your cheeks redden slightly from being stared at, “what does zendigo mean?”

“Zendigo?” Ayalla’s face lights up at the question. “It can mean a lot of things, but it usually refers to the disease of the soul. It’s when a person takes without regard to the damage it causes to others,” Ayalla pressed her hand against your chest. “But it never really fills the hole inside of them.”

She let out a chuckle, “does your friend always stare so much?”

A grin spreads across your face as you notice 10K’s pupils getting wider. His eyes were practically glued to Ayalla’s hand above your heart. “Only when he likes what he sees.”

—

“Hey, kids. I tell you, you’ve got to go talk to their ancestors.”

You stand beside 10K and laugh, “is Doc high?”

Before he can answer, you are roughly grabbed by one of Gordon’s men. Ayalla argues with her brother, “what the hell are you doing?”

“You’ve patched them up. Now it’s time for them to go.”

The men walk you to an invisible line before shoving you forward. You mutter, “Assholes.” Stepping back, you let out a scream as you were suddenly caught in a trap. “Tommy!”

10K and Doc get trapped in different traps as they attempt to get you out. You glare at Gordon as he steps forward with a smirk on his face, “thanks for volunteering to be our early warning alarm.”

“This is crazy! Let us go! You’ll never see us again!” 10K yells.

“You got that right,” Gordon lowers himself to 10K, who is hanging upside down. “You and I both know what will happen if I let you go. You’ll find your party and then turn around and come look right after me and my family.”

“No, we wouldn’t!” You argue.

“Yes, you would, and so would I.” Gordon stands up again, “If I am wrong, then it doesn’t really matter anyway, does it? We are all dead.”

You cuss Gordon off as he leaves you all to die.

—

You try your best to get out of the net you're in, but it’s useless. You can’t get out. You let out a frustrated sigh as you listened to Doc talk about how free he was for the fourth time. Whatever drugs they gave him must have been strong enough for him to not realise he was trapped.

10K had been trying to escape, but his movements had started to slow down.

“What was that?” You asked.

“I- I don’t know.”

“Tommy! Tommy, listen to me! You need to stay awake!”

When a Z appears, you bite down on your bottom lip to avoid making a noise. Just as the Z started to walk in your direction, it was shot in the head by Ayalla. She cuts you down first.

As soon as you hit the ground, you jump back up and rush to cut 10K down. You grab the knife from his belt and cut the rope that’s binding his feet together. When he lands on the ground, you cup his face in your hands and say, “Can you hear me? You hurt?”

He nods, “how high is Doc?”

You turn back to see him bowing before Ayalla and calling her his guardian angel. “I hope he sobers up soon.”

—

“I don’t think we can ever thank you enough,” you say, looking over at Ayalla as she walks beside her horse.

“I need your help.”

10k stops beside her, “name it.”

“Our people who still stay in the casino with my father are just as stubborn as my brother. They won’t believe me if I tell them what’s coming, but they might believe you.”

“Of course, we’ll do anything we can to help save them.”

Ayalla smirks at you, “do any of you know how to ride a horse?”

“I do.”

10K looks surprised. “Let’s go then.”

—

You tried your best not to laugh as 10K held onto you tightly. His body was stiff as it pressed against your back. “I told you, you should have got a ride with Doc.”

“I think that would have been worse somehow.” Your eyes moved to Doc, who was currently talking to himself while he rode the horse towards the casino. “When did you learn to ride horses?”

“One of my mom's friends worked at a summer camp built on a farm. She taught me. I love horses. I think they are beautiful.”

You felt 10K press a kiss to the back of your head as you slowed down when you finally reached the casino.

You felt relieved to see the same red quad bikes you saw the rest of your group drive off in earlier parked outside. At least you know they made it.

“Uh guys,” 10K jumped off the horse. “I don’t think we have long until they reach us.”

You look back over your shoulder and notice how much closer the dead have gotten to you.

—

“It’s gone! Demolished by zombies!” Aylla sobs in front of her brother.

You feel sorry for her. Her father refused to leave the casino, meaning that he would have gotten caught up in the death storm made of Z's.

To your surprise, when Gordon hears what his father did, instead of getting angry like you thought he would, he apologises to you, 10K, and Doc just as a Z fell from the cliff above into the village.

“I got it,” you quickly grab one of your arrows and stab it in the head, just as another one follows. “We won’t be able to kill them all.”

“She’s right,” Murphy says. “This whole canyon will be full of them in an hour's time. We’ve gotta move.”

“They will catch up with us.”

“Not if we divert them,” Warren says sternly. “We gotta come up with a plan.”

Doc walks over to a wall with drawings on it before spinning back around. “I’ve got it! Fire!”

—

As soon as the fire you started starts to spread, you jump onto the back of the quad bike and grab hold of Vazquez's shoulders as he speeds away. You hoped Doc’s plan of lighting a fire big enough to divert the Z’s into the opposite direction would work.

The fire you were lighting was the largest one you’d ever seen.

When you reach the meeting point, you jump off the bike and step further back from the flames. Addy fist pumps as you walk by before you lean back against the vehicle she had been driving. You all watch in silence as the Z’s get closer, just as Warren drives back towards the rest of the group.

Murphy suddenly starts running towards the flames, “I need to save them!”

“Murphy no!”

You and Warren rush after him to pull him back. You are taken aback by how upset Murphy is; you’d never seen him this distraught before. “We need to save them!” You link your arm around his and pull him back. “Now I understand! They can feel it! They can feel it!”

You lifted your head up and saw burning zombies.

“I have to save them!” He continues to fight against you and Warren's grip. “I have to save them!”

“What the hell is going on?” rushed Addy to your side. “What is wrong with him?”

Murphy continues to cry out, “I think he can feel their pain.”

“Look,” Gordon points to the horde. “They are turning away.”

“We need to get to higher ground.”

You let go of Murphy so Vazquez could force him to move. You didn’t understand. Was Murphy able to feel their pain a new thing? Or was that why he acted the way that he did?

—

Your group returned to Gordon’s village so he could thank you all for helping save his people.

“For you,” Ayalla handed you two beaded bracelets that had been painted with bright colours. “It brings inner peace and protection. When the apocalypse is over, you’ll need to come back and see us.”

“We will,” you say, smiling. “And thank you.”

She smiles back before handing out more gifts. Sighing, you head towards the mini bus that Gordon, or Red Hawk, as he’s known, gave Warren the keys to.

When you step inside, Murphy lets out a grunting noise, “here to lecture me as well.”

“No, actually… I came to see if you are alright.”

Murphy continued to sulk and stare out the window. “Since when have you cared enough to check up on me? You don’t even like me.”

“You're right, I don’t. I can’t stand you, and most of the time when I’m near you, I have a fantasy about punching you in the face.” You slide a bracelet over your hand before sitting down beside him and holding out the other one. “But then I remember you're half human, half zombie... so we can't always expect you to be human.”

“I thought I was the bad guy,” he huffs like a child.

“You can be at times. Like when you left us all to die in the lab. That was a pretty screwed up thing to do, but you have done the occasional act of kindness. You have done bad things, Murphy, but you aren’t a bad guy.”

He looks awkward. “I thought you were coming in here to kick my ass.”

“Oh, I will still do that if you keep messing with 10K or anyone else that matters to me.”

He scrunches his nose up, “What’s that ball thingy?”

“It’s a gift from Ayalla. I got two so-”

“You're lucky, the Murphy suffers the most and gets nothing as usual.”

You roll your eyes before placing the other bracelet in his hand. “It’s meant to bring inner peace and protection. Who knows, maybe they will help us get to California.”

Murphy stares at you for a moment before putting it on. He says nothing, but you didn’t expect him to.

Even with all the bad things Murphy had done, and would probably still continue to do, you still hoped he had some humanity in him.

—

The mini bus was filled with the sounds of soft snores coming from mostly everyone. Vazquez was awake because it was his turn at the wheel, and you couldn’t sleep because the sight of countless Z’s burning in front of you was engraved in your mind.

“You're not asleep.”

You relax, feeling 10K brush a strand of hair behind your ear. “Neither are you.”

10K sits up slightly to see if anyone else is awake. When he knows they aren't, he slouches back down for you to lay your head against his chest. “I heard you before,” he whispers. “Talking to Murphy.”

You turned your head to look up at him. You knew something was bothering him by the way he was clenching his jaw, “yeah?”

He began running his fingers through your hair, “Astra, I know you want to see the best in everyone, but not everyone is good.” You feel a twist in your stomach upon hearing his words. “He has no humanity in him.”

“I saw Murphy’s arrest record when we were in that weird basement with the fancy screen. He got arrested for postal fraud. I guess I just wanted to believe… I don’t know, he wasn’t all bad.”

“My mom always used to say Satan wore a Sunday hat. I never really knew what it meant until the apocalypse.” Murphy could be our savior, but I don’t think he wants to be." He let out a sigh, “Astra, I- I need to ask you to do something.”

“What is it?”

“Please stay away from him,” he says, his gaze meeting yours. “He’s made it clear nothing is off limits to him. I’ll admit I’m scared he will use you to get to me or you’ll get hurt.”

You link your fingers with his and nod. Despite your limited knowledge of everything that’s happened between 10K and Murphy, you know 10K wouldn’t be asking unless he had a good reason. “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents. Luke-”

“Luke 15:10,” Addy cuts in. “Grandma used to read to us from the Bible before we went to bed.” She sits further up in the seat across from yours. “Today was a close call, huh?”

“Yeah, we were lucky Doc thought of the fire.”

She gave you a tired smile before yawning. She reached her hand to yours and 10K’s. “We will be alright. We have got each other’s backs. We will get through this together.”

“Together.”

#z nation #10k x you #10k x reader #10k z nation #z nation fanfiction #z nation fandom #addy carver #addy carver sister #z nation warren #Vazquez z nation #doc z nation #murphy z nation #inside outisde #10k/reader #10k/oc #10k/you #roberta warren #alvin murphy #steven doc beck

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hansolmates · 4 years ago

Text

g.p.s - god, parents suck | m

summary; seokjin just wants to enjoy the disney treatment and you are more than happy to deliver pairing; dilf!jin x hotelier!reader genre/warnings; crack, humor, gets a lil emotional, teenage daughter issues, one very minor allusion to a daddy kink LOL, a very vaguely implied sex scene, so CHEESY w.c; est. 5.1k a/n; wee my first jin fic! this is for @btsghostiewritersnet #DynamiteDads event! I was supposed to go to disney this year but sadly miss rona had to cancel our plans so this is just pure self indulgence. as always thank u to @eerieedits/ @chillingtae for the disney dream fic banner!

if you like it give it a bippity-boppity-boop on the like and share buttons! ✨✨✨

“Left, left!” Seokjin cries, holding onto the emergency break for dear life, “not my left, your left!”

“We’re facing the same way! We have the same lefts!”

“Clearly not if we’re going right, Sweetheart.”

“But the GPS says to go right!”

“In four-hundred feet, keep left at the fork,” Google Maps interrupts pleasantly.

“That’s it. Kim Yeji, pull over!”

“But Daaaaaaaaad,” yet his daughter complies, sadly pulling over at the edge of the road. She doesn’t even have to step on the gas, just turns the wheel slightly so she can land slowly, pathetically on the gravel.

“Angel,” Seokjin says levelly, reaching over to unclick the seatbelt. “I will drive the rest of the way, I gave you time to practice for you have to drive to college but we can’t get on the highway like this.”

“You never let me do anything.”

“What, I do! Who let you go to prom in that sequined excuse for a dress?”

“Uncle Namjoon!”

“Fine, I’ll give him that! Who let you dye your hair to a crisp—”

“Uncle Hoseok!”

“Uncle–” Seokjin is affronted, jabbing the seatbelt in it’s locked position when he gets in the front seat. “Forget it, let’s just have a peaceful drive for the next few hours until we get to the hotel,” he removes Yeji’s phone from the holder, placing it in her lap.

“Dad,” she waves her phone around, pointing to Google Maps, “you need the GPS to get there.”

He scoffs, “No, I don’t. We’ve been to Disney plenty of times. I know where we’re going.”

“Oh yeah? When’s the last time we went to Disney?”

“When you were two? Three?”

Yeji relaxes in her seat, not ready to argue with her dad once more. “Alright, lead the way,” she gestures vaguely to the empty parkway, devoid of life for miles.

Seokjin is undeterred, reaching over the console to pat Yeji’s blonde hair. He turns on the radio, only to be met with the sound of crunchy static and terrible country music. Cutting the radio, he immediately switches to an old Disney CD, telling Yeji to let it go as he pulls into the open road. Reddish dust clouds around the car briefly, ripping against the tires as they drive off to their hotel.

“Is this the Princess Hotel?”

“Nope, this is the Prince S Hotel.”

You can’t help but grin at the way your current customer’s face falls. He’s a handsome thing, all plush and pillowy in the cheeks and lips. Despite his daughter hanging off his arm like a limp noodle—after all it’s past 2AM and they’ve probably been driving for hours—he still manages to look somewhat put-together despite you telling him they’ve got the wrong place.

“Told you, use the GPS,” her daughter chastises weakly, tucking her cheek in his shoulder.

His kid’s a pretty girl, kind of reminds you of when you were a teenager. “The Princess Hotel is about an hour away on the other side of the Disney resorts,” you say slowly, noting from the way the girl is swaying on her feet that her father must be equally as tired, “although, I would suggest staying here for the night. Your daughter’s about to fall asleep on my counter.”

At the pointed look you’re giving the teen, Seokjin puts a protective hand on her slim shoulders. “Yeji-bear, why don’t you lie down for a bit,” he leads her over to a spare couch. “We’ll call our booked hotel,” he says shortly, looking over his shoulder to give you a forced smile.

Ah, you’ve seen this scene one or two times in your days working at Prince S. A father too prideful to admit he may have messed up just a little with the directions, and a child that probably argued or simmered so hard on the way they’re passed into a stupor on your lobby couch. Tonight, or your early morning is a little special though, you’ve never seen a father as handsome as the one in front of you, exasperatedly calling up their real hotel reservations.

“What? My reservation has been revoked?” her daughter groans when he jostles around his lap, knocking her head, “how can you do that? Past the time? I thought this was Disney!”

You drum your nails against the counter, using your other hand to pull up your guest list for the night on the computer. The father, now furrowed in the face, walks up to you and leaves his daughter on the plush couch.

“One double bedroom for the weekend, please,” the father pulls his cards out, flicking it to your side of the counter. He places down his car keys in the available holder, “I parked out front, you do valet right?”

With a nod, you get to work. “Take it they weren’t very accommodating?”

“They gave our hotel room to some Make-A-Wish Foundation kid!” he cries exasperatedly, hands in the air as you patiently book the room. Your eyes linger longer than usual on his driver’s license and ID: Kim Seokjin. Even his driver’s license mugshot looks handsome. He rests his arms against your counter, despondent. “Is it terrible for me to hate on some kid with a terminal illness?”

“A little,” you shrug, slipping his keycard under his elbow, “but I mean according to your, Yeji-bear,” you can’t help but giggle at the nickname, “if you used the GPS you’d be at the correct hotel.”

“Don’t remind me,” Seokjin glares, hauling his and Yeji’s luggage in one hand, “baby, let’s go upstairs c’mon.”

You watch the small family trudge to the elevators, sleepily walking forward like zombies. No one spares you a second glance, they never do, so it gives you ample courage to take a look at Kim Seokjin’s toned body. Broad shoulders, a Dorito-trimmed waistline, and long legs that you want to climb up on.

Oh, daddy.

“Hey,” Yeji pops up on your counter, looking much perkier than she did hours before, “do you have my dad’s car keys?”

Trying not to raise your brows at your young guest, you give her a smirk, leaning over the counter. A spunky thing, with sharp eyes with a pretty cat-tipped eyeliner shape that has her looking well put-together. You wish you had your shit together as a teenager, you barely have it together now.

“I do,” you quip, “why?”

“I wanna get Starbucks,” she says simply, “the pineapple matcha is to die for, and I want to drink as many summer specials as I can before it’s over.”

“Valid,” you reply, going into your master key to retrieve all the guests’ keys. Taking Seokjin’s from its holder, you note the expensive make. Peering up from your desk, you look at Yeji’s innocent features. Before you place the key in her waiting palm, you snatch it away, “Why do I have the feeling you’re doing something that you’re not supposed to be doing?”

Yeji tilts her head, “I don’t think it’s any of your business,”

Sassy. You like it. “Get me a grande matcha frappe and your secret’s safe with me.”

“Deal.”

Watching Yeji drive off in the large Hyundai Palisade gives you a little twinge of worry, but you quickly tamp it down to motherly instinct. If you were Yeji’s mom—which you’re definitely not, you’d be worried. Naturally, you feel similarly.

The hotel phone rings, the red light from 921 blinking on your switchboard. Flipping down the room number you pick up the receiver, “Prince S Hotel, how can I help you?”

“You do booking, valet, and housekeeping?” Seokjin’s exasperated voice says in your ears, “who would I call if I want breakfast?”

“That would also be me,” you reply wryly, twisting the curly wire between your fingers, “we advertise ourselves as a hotel for the quality, although we are much smaller with only thirty rooms. Sort of like a bed n’breakfast, getting the true royal treatment.”

“Would the royal treatment consist of some extra towels and a continental breakfast?”

“You got it.”

A little cliché of you to do the whole “whistle while you work” segment—a lacy apron to make sure your uniform doesn’t get dirty, a spot of coffee to keep you peppy and setting everything up on a gold trimmed cart. You didn’t think you’d see Seokjin again, especially after how upset he was about his room.

With a little rap on his door, Seokjin invites you inside to set up. Their room overlooks the valley as opposed to the busy roads, so it’s a perfect way to rise with the sun. He immediately reaches for the coffee as you drag your little cart in, completely ignoring the cream and sugar on the side. After a long sip, he moans in pleasure.

“Ah,” he exhales, a sound that has you teeming. You grip the handlebars a little tighter than usual, “Maybe it was fate that we ended up here.”

“Maybe,” you fight the urge to bite your lip, because Seokjin has no idea how cliché of a line that is. He isn’t even speaking directly at you, talking in front of the sun like it’s his morning routine. “Say, have you seen Yeji around?”

“Ah,” you shug, pretending to be oblivious, “I think she went out for a walk.”

He turns to you, giving you a quivering brow, “She hates walking. Probably calling her friends in Korea or something.”

Of course she doesn’t like walking, you think, that’s why she took your car for some overpriced drinks.

Instead, you place the fresh pancakes and sides on the guest table, making sure everything is organized and in order. You place the towels atop the haphazardly made bed, making sure to put two mints on top. It isn’t customary to include mints, but you think the mints your hotel has taste great and deserve to be shared around more often than not.

“So, it looks like you’re ready for Disney,” you remark, taking note of his outfit. He has on blush mid-thigh shorts, stretchy and made from a canvas fabric that looks airy and comfortable. Around his neck is a little portable fan, and on his head is an old Mickey baseball cap.

“Ah, just for today and tomorrow! Sunday is my ‘me’ day,” Seokjin says, dashing across the room at the sight of fresh food, “Yeji is meeting with some cousins and will be spending the rest of the weekend with them.”

“Sounds like a fun weekend,” you remark, turning to leave.

“Will you be working the rest of the weekend?”

This is supposed to be small talk. You try to convince yourself that Seokjin is just being polite, wondering if his service is going to be impacted by you being around or not. There must be nothing sexual, or just mere attraction, going on between the two of you. Well, maybe on your side of things. The pink shorts and the baseball cap are doing things to your body that you barely understand. Unfortunately, the eager apples of his cheeks and the innocent upturn of his lips lets you know that any possibility of returned affections is virtually nonexistent.

“It’s my weekend off,” you fight the twinge of excitement when you see Seokjin pout, “but Park Jimin relieves me, and he’s definitely a much better host than I am. He’ll make sure everything’s taken care of.”

“Does he make better pancakes than you?” Seokjin asks, swirling a bite in a ribbon of maple syrup.

“I’m afraid not,” you smile, “he makes a mean breakfast burrito though.”

He shrugs listlessly, eating slower. He takes his time to make sure every pancake is cut in equal two-centimeter pieces, taking his time as if he’s savoring the last of your home-cooked meal. “Not sure if I’ll be completely satisfied then.”

With a firm smile, you wheel your cart out as fast as you can. You can’t keep up the facade now, not with your trashy mind and your dampening panties ruining your sense of self. Quietly slamming the door behind you, you’re met with Seokjin’s spitting image.

Yeji tilts her head at you, eating you alive with her dead-on stare. She places the keys and your matcha beverage on your cart.

“Did my dad confuse you or something?”

“Is it that obvious?”

“He’s like that,” Yeji shrugs, taking a long sip of her drink, “don’t worry, I’ll put in a good word for you.”

A good word? With an uneasy smile you wheel away, ignoring the burn in your cheeks.

“Can I have the keys?” Yeji asks the next morning, minutes before your shift ends.

You fight the urge to roll your eyes. You’re sure Yeji is a wonderful kid and has a good heart, but she’s seriously putting your five-star Yelp review on the line. Cocking one eyebrow you say, “What, need your Starbucks fix?”

“Do you know how to parallel park?”

“Why, need a teacher?”

“It’d be better to have someone nearby to make sure I don’t park into a guard rail.”

“Does Seokjin approve?”

“You obviously know the answer to that,” Yeji replies, “and you and my dad are on a first-name basis, huh?”

Fighting the heat in your cheeks, you busy yourself by locking up the money box and key tin, but not before grabbing the keys to the Palisades. “I’m doing this for you because I have impeccable customer service skills,” you feign haughtiness, leaving your front desk and scanning your ID to clock out.

“Not because you think my dad is hot?” she follows you out the door.

“Do you always talk about your dad like that?”

Yeji is silent as she takes the keys from your grip, and you follow her in the passenger seat. A scent that’s fruity yet musky fills your nostrils, and you hug your arms for comfort. This is painfully awkward, at least in your point of view, but Yeji pays no mind as she connects to her Spotify playlist and turns on the air conditioner.

“I’m not one of those prissy daughters that try their damn hardest to make sure their dad doesn’t date,” Yeji murmurs, adjusting the mirrors, “anyone my dad dates will be better than Hyehwa. He deserves to be happy for all that he’s done for me.”

“Hyehwa?”

“The biological carrier for nine months,” Yeji replies dryly.

Your heart pinches, squeezing against your ribcage as you put two and two together. Hyewha, who you’re assuming is, or was Yeji’s mother, is definitely out of the picture. Yet seeing how confident Yeji is with herself, and how much he loves her father and wants him to be happy, is clear in your eyes.

“You are one cool kid,” is the only thing you can say, hoping you don’t have that silly heartened look in your gaze.

It seems that you do, because all she does is roll her eyes and put the car in drive.

It’s nearly one in the morning when you get the call.

You’re off the clock, but it’s graveyard hours and you and Jimin are craving pizza. So while Jimin tends to the last minute guests, you pick up a cheesy pie and hide behind the desk while Jimin does his job.

You’ve polished off half the pie when the main phone rings, and Jimin sighs heavily. Late night and early morning calls are the absolute worst.

“Get the hospital on speed dial,” Jimin jokes, but not really because the last time someone called at one, you really did wish you had an ambulance on-site.

“Prince S hotel,” Jimin spins the cord between his fingers, looking like a dreamy teen heartthrob as he leans against the counter. He immediately swings the phone over to your greasy fingers, “it’s a personal call.”

Wiping your hands on the box, you raise a brow. “Hello?” you ask, wholly confused.

“Mm, it’s Yeji,” the voice slurs on the other line, “I need help.”

“A-are you drunk?” you say, incredulous.

“Yeah, me and my cousin snuck a bottle downtown,” Yeji sounds nervous, and you unconsciously grip the phone tighter, “can you pick us up? I can drop you my location if you give me your number, please. My dad trusted me with the Palisade this weekend, I can’t let him know what happened. I know I’m always trying to get under my dad’s skin and whatever but I don’t want him to lose my trust, what we did is a dumb mistake.”

A part of you feels for Yeji, you’ve done dumb shit like this when you were young. All those fond memories are nothing but memories, and definitely not reflective of your current life now.

The rational, intelligent part of you knows that you should probably call Seokjin right now and tell him what’s going on. You don’t really want to get involved in their family matters, especially when as of late you’ve been inserting yourself in Yeji’s antics.

With a sigh, you pull up your Lyft app, already knowing whose side you’re on.

It takes no more than fifteen minutes for you to arrive at the scene, Yeji and what you assume is her older cousin sitting on the curb of a dilapidated Krispy Kreme, sadly polishing off a whole box of glazed donuts, Well, her cousin is polishing off the box, Yeji is taking nibbles at her proffered donut.

You sigh, pulling Yeji up. You see tear-streaks, her previously perfect cat-eye smudged off and running down her cheeks. “I’m sorry,” she whispers, sounding not as inhiberated as she did before, “I bothered you.”

“Not at all,” you soothe, running a hand down her braids. You try not to melt when Yeji nearly leans into your warmth, but backs up at the last second, “I’m happy that you called. Would rather know that you’re safe now than later, yeah? I’m not mad at you,” you assure, pulling a crumpled brown napkin from the pizzeria to dab at her ruddied cheeks.

“Hi, I’m Jungkook,” you turn your head dangerously slowly towards the cute muscle pig who’s still sitting on the curb, “Ya deserve a five-star Yelp review for this service—”

“But I’m mad at you,” you pointedly ignore his drunken charm. He looks old enough to drink, which only further annoys you because he should be the one taking care of Yeji, “get in the damn car, Youngkook.”

“It’s Jungkook—”

“Get in.”

He swallows his tongue, and you notice Yeji stifling a giggle at your attitude. She wordlessly hands you the keys, clamoring in the front seat while Jungkook takes the whole back row. Yeji tiredly informs you the address to her cousin’s hotel, and you drive off into the night.

“Did I ruin my dad’s chances with you?” you think that Yeji has no clue what she’s saying, but there’s a little sliver of heart in her tone. Her face is pressed against the window, the cold glass on the verge of keeping her awake as she stumbles in and out of consciousness.

“You could never do that,” you mumble, and you smile when her eyes willingly flutter shut.

“Hey, babe,” you practically hear desperation in Jimin’s voice.

“Jimin, no,” you already know that his request is sitting prettily on the tip of his tongue, “it’s my weekend off. I’m not getting out.”

“But someone requested your pancakes,” he whines, and you can practically feel his pout on the other line, “and he said and I quote ‘I’ll be able to tell that you made them.’ I feel threatened!”

“Did they offer to pay in diamonds?”

“N-no. But he said it’s his daughter’s special weekend and he’d be really thankful if you’d come by and make your breakfast for him.”

Daughter? Yeji. You sigh, rubbing a hand over your face. You have your own room separate from the hotel, a deal that has you living rent free in exchange for your hard labor five days a week. “Heat up the stove for me and crisp the bacon,” you mutter, hanging up and throwing the phone under the covers.

Tugging your hair back and throwing on a large hoodie, you put on your slippers and pad down the little sidewalk that leads to the hotel. The sun beats down on you immediately, willing you to go back to your air-conditioned room to fall back asleep. Swimming through the soup that is the Californian air, you shuffle inside Prince S and make a beeline for the kitchens. You brush through busy employees, flashing a quick smile and “good morning” as you get to your station.

Jimin is already there, sitting at your workspace. All your ingredients are sitting out: flour, eggs, butter, vanilla, baking powder, baking soda, buttermilk, and fresh berries. However, Jimin makes no moves to attempt cooking, instead looking at you with pursed lips and waiting for you to get a move on.

“Get your butt off my counter,” you slap his thigh disapprovingly, pulling your sleeves up to start mixing the ingredients, “you’re dirty.”

“I embrace being dirty,” Jimin replies majestically, kicking his legs back and forth. His Doc Marten creepers wave in your vision, “thank you for swinging by. He said that it was really really important that you come in and make them. Daughter’s request.”

“They’re lucky they’re a cute family,” you mutter under your breath, although the words aren’t laced with malice.

The batter is fluffy and puffy, rising with the scent of melted butter and caramelized sugar. You take careful fingers towards the berries, creating a smiley face in the uncooked pancakes.

“Is your maternal side kicking in?” Jimin says in your ear, and you swing at him with your spatula.

“Leave me alone, art is being made.”

“Sure,” Jimin hops off the table, patting your shoulder, “I got a date with room 69,” you roll your eyes, there is no such thing as room 69. “So please continue to be awesome and finish off this favor by delivering it to Mr. Kim’s room.”

“Jimin, no!” you don’t care that half the staff is staring at you amusedly, the other half uncaring because they’re so used to the two co-managers. “I’m not wearing—I’m not wearing pants.”

You gesture to the obscene amount of bare legs out in the open. California’s hot as hell, you try to wear as little layers as possible. However, in the workplace you like to keep a modicum of decency. Even though Kim Seokjin is fine fine fine, you have decorum.

But Jimin’s already off to visit the guest in room 69 and you’re stuck with a pile of fresh hotcakes and none of the workers want to get involved in your shenanigans. Typical. Begrudgingly, you force your Hallmark-esque smile and arrange the gold trimmed cart, taking care to put extra berries in the fruit dish.

It’s a simple transaction. Get in, drop off the food, accept the tip if Seokjin feels generous, and get out. The door to room 921 looks larger than life, intimidating like the gates to heaven. You knock firmly, but gingerly. “Room service?” the voice that escapes your lips is your sugary professional voice, one that makes you wince immediately.

A muffled “coming!” has you bristling at the door. You curse yourself, looking at your bunny-clad feet and your legs disappearing under your hoodie.

As soon as Seokjin pops his head open you blurt, “I swear, I’m wearing shorts underneath this.”

“Uh,” and that forces him to look at your legs. Dammit, it was a good intention but the wrong way to go. “Good to know,” he coughs, opening his door wider.

The room is much messier on Seokjin’s side of the room, now filled with Eeyore and Baymax memorabilia. A large, white Baymax plush sits innocently at one side of his untouched bed. You crack a smile at that.

“Where’s Yeji?” you ask lightly, putting both stacks of pancakes down on the available table. You absently wipe the crumbs off, leading the little pile of food-crust to the garbage can.

“Yeji?” Seokjin asks, “why would Yeji be here?”

The way you put the cutlery down instantly slows, “You called Jimin this morning saying you needed pancakes specifically made by me to give to Yeji.”

“Who?”

“Jimin?” you raise a brow, losing your high-pitched commercial tone. “Tiny, annoying blond guy?”

Seokjin stares.

You stare back.

“Yeji’s at her cousin’s townhouse,” Seokjin states plainly.

“No, you called and said Yeji wanted pancakes—” No.

Yeji, or Jimin, or both called you and set it up.

“Oh, Jimin’s an idiot,” you tap your head lightly, wanting to bop out any potential embarrassing memory that has burned in your brain, “must’ve misheard. Or is hearing ghosts! Honestly he isn’t the right mind I’m so sorry I reallygottaneedto—”

You can’t even breathe let alone exhale the rest of your sentence, so you instead do the only thing you can do—run away. You don’t bother to exude grace as you plop any trash on the cart from yesterday’s room service, whipping the cart around so fast that the side wheels fly off and pop a wheelie.

“We don’t have to let the food go to waste,” Seokjin says pointedly, probably watching you like he’s watching a comic show as you try to bolt out of the room.

The door is closed, and the little hallway is too small for you to put your body and the cart between the walls. You’ve trapped yourself. Maybe you could just leave the cart and dip? You’re sure there’s at least two extras downstairs.

“It won’t,” you reply dumbly, “I can eat it in the breakroom or something, I haven’t made breakfast for myself yet. I mean, I was kinda craving an avo-toast this morning, but pancakes are always a classic.”

Seokjin snorts at your incessant rambling, carding a hand through his chocolate locks, “I’m trying to ask you to stay for breakfast.”

“You’re trying to—oh,” you mirror his expression, running a hand over your hair so it pulls out of its already messy style. You haven’t done much physical activity this morning, but you feel absolutely breathless as you’re glued to the cheap carpet, taking in Seokjin’s wide glassy eyes

“And if you stay for dessert, I’d like to thank you properly,”

“I didn’t bake dessert,” you hide the shudder in your throat when he steps closer, pinning you against the cart. Your knuckles must be transparent by now due to how hard you’re gripping the cart.

“You didn’t,” Seokjin agrees, “but you definitely brought it.”

You yelp, actually, a whole little dolphin-squeal escapes your lips as Seokjin puts his hand against the wall. You’re actually living a Disney-esque scenario that you do not want to be in. Seokjin’s either trying to give you the Eugene-Signature-Smoulder, or the Prince Naveen charm that isn’t very charming.

“You’re a cheeseball,” you try to snap back, but it only comes out as a small reply, fitting of your cramped situation.

His buttery brown eyes are clear and warm, and his sweet scent envelopes your form. You feel impossibly small, sinking deeper and deeper into your hoodie until you feel the heat of his voice sinking deep into your skin.

It’s then that he leans in and whispers in your ear, his voice a simple request, “Please tell me that you’re interested in me too.”

Something clutches softly in your heart, tethering you to Seokjin’s gaze. You wonder how many times Seokjin goes through this scenario. You wonder if he’s happy being a bachelor. You figure that many partners must have doubts being tethered by a teenage daughter, or if Seokjin is used to fleeting hook-ups.

“Have been since check-in,” you reply smoothly, finding your breath and looking up from your eyelashes.

Seokjin’s lips find yours, and you swear you’re lip-locking with Cloud Nine. They’re soft and supple and taste a little like maple syrup as they mingle with yours, and you can’t help but weave your hands through his equally silky strands, tugging him closer as he hooks his arms under your bare thighs.

He gives your bottom an experimental squeeze, leading you to the unmade bed.

Needless to say, breakfast has to wait.

“So, I’m going to throw a cliché.”

“Sure, we’re in Disney.”

“Why me?” you slap his bare chest when Seokjin laughs, pouting, “I mean it! All I did was look cute and give you pancakes!”

“So you admit you’re cute,” Seokjin smirks.

“C’mon don’t change the subject, tell me!”

Even though this hotel is partially yours, you’re still amazed at the softness of the Egyptian cotton as it engulfs both your bodies. Maybe it’s because you’re warm and bathing in the noon afterglow, maybe it’s your bed partner. Still, it feels divine as you lounge in bed, sipping champagne (left by the door, courtesy of Jimin.)

“Mm, caught you driving around with Yeji in my car.”

You sit up straighter, clutching the sheets to your chest, “You saw us last night?”

“You were also out last night?” Seokjin tilts his head, “I meant when you taught her how to parallel park.”

“Oh fuck—I mean,” you slap your forehead, knowing you can’t get away with this one, “Let’s just say I helped her out of a sticky situation. Don’t blame Yeji, blame Yeji’s bunny-headed cousin.”

“Noted,” Seokjin throws an arm around you, snuggling closer. You relax into his hold, melting between the sheets and his soft skin, “Knowing you’re pulling through for her. Let’s just say I’m a little soft for my daughter, no matter how old.”

“She’s wonderful,” you say genuinely, taking slow sips of your bubbly drink.

“Wanna go visit her for lunch? I’m supposed to be meeting her in an hour.”

You don’t feel deterred or nervous to see Yeji, or even the possibility of meeting Seokjin’s extended family. So you agree, run back to your room quickly to throw on a reasonable summer outfit that doesn’t consist of hooded sweatshirts and booty shorts.

Seokjin offers to drive your sedan, and since you feel a little princess-ish today you decide to let him take the wheel. After a few minutes attempting to drive in the direction of the townhouse however, you lower the volume on the radio.

“Jin? I think you’re going the wrong way,” not only do you live here, but you went to the townhouse last night and you’re sure it’s in the opposite fork, “do you want me to plug it in the G.P.S?”

“I know my way, hon,” Seokjin waves you off, confidently streaming through the oncoming traffic. You smile nervously, you have a feeling this situation has happened once or twice.

“Oh, is that why you ended up in my hotel?” you tease, “because you’re so good at directions?”

“Duh,” Seokjin reaches for your hand atop the console, “after all, my intuition led me to you.”

#jin x reader #jin crack #seokjin x reader #btsghostie #kwritersworldnet #seokjin fluff #seokjin crack #bts smut #bts fic

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hoochy-coo · 2 years ago

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OK honest album review after full day of lying to myself and Swiftie moots on Twitter

First of all, it's mature but repetitive. Like the sound on a lot of them are too similar for my taste. Again, maybe it's a personal opinion thing but I'm not a big fan of the excessive synth pop(strangely enough though, Style is one of my favorite songs from her)

Secondly, it's underwhelming that's all. Anyone else released it, it would be a solid A- like you said, but from Taylor "never has a bad album" swift, this one seems like one hat would be overhyped among the GP and critics because of the matured tone(which is I think exactly what she wanted so good for her) but overall it's just forgettable compared to the rest and again, doesn't have the Swift X factor.

You might say she set the standards too high for herself on Folklore and Evermore with the lyrics and on 1989 and Red with the production and this one just feels half baked with neither of her best qualities shining through on it.

It's also filled with hits and misses, has it's valleys and peaks you might say. Unpopular opinion but she hit the mark with the single choice this time because Anti hero is the perfect blend of the most catchy and well written song in the album and the sexy baby reference is actually going to be well received by the GP, methinks.

But some of them are, Im sorry to say this, but actual snooze-fests and what's ironic about that is the fact that the Folkmore albums were actually the indie ones but their songs were FAR more exciting than some ones on here, maybe because her penmanship was so spectacular on those.

Also wasted opportunities...like I get it, Taylor is THE consistent pop girly of the decade and we can't forget that and give her shit for not keeping the Folkmore indie vibes on this album...but but BUT, here's the thing, these songs are not even catchy enough to make up for the medicore-for-her-level lyrics like we had till Lover...Even ME! is more redeemable than some songs on here but this is an unexpected album from her so people will give her props for the experimentation and not acknowledge the rest.

Like Question, Maroon and Mastermind are great lyrically and I think they'd be far more popular if the melody was better. Anti hero is the only memorable one followed by You're on your own, kid.

The things is, even TS's #1 hater can't deny that she has potential for a perfect skipless album, I think where she fumbled here was trying to seem edgy and have a sharper sound to the things where it DOESN'T fit and sounds awkward and unsatisfying, but like she said herself on one song, she's just to soft for all of it...it doesn't suit Taylor Swift simply.

She should stop trying extra hard to appeal to gp or radio and stick with her storytelling format of songwriting, it's her at her best. Ofc if she's trying new stuff that's good for her but she should be careful not to lose her charm by overcompensating to certain bits of her audience which I'm afraid she might.

Good aspects are definitely the lyrics on particular songs and should've could've would've (or in whatever order it was, I forgot sorry) and basically the reminiscing songs are my personal favorites. Karma is too immature but it's fun, and some others are a bit too incoherent which doesn't let her main ability, which is immaculate songwriting shine through imo. Even 1989, her most mainstream pop album was thematically better and something just made it work, maybe the drastically different topics on the songs but held together perfectly in a way that it makes sense.

Overall, the rerecordings are on the way and I'm sure she'll provide great content soon.

This is a fair review and I agree with most of your points, except ME! Cause I hate that song with a passion

I’m really curious about the vault tracks for Rep

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youngbeezer · 3 years ago

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hey for the tiktok prompts, can you do dylan cozens for the stargazing one

Referenced Post

Prompt-- 3. Stargazing on top of a car (w Dylan Cozens)

A/N: Here's another blurb from the 14 oddly romantic things blurb set. I personally love to stargaze so much so I had a lot of fun writing this one!

Thanks for requesting this, hope you like it :)

Word Count: 1037

Warning(s): none super fluffy!

join my taglist :)

“I’m bored.”

I flip my body around to lay stomach down on top of my boyfriend. Resting my arms on his chest I pout at him and whine out, “What can we do?”

“What’d you mean ‘what can we do?’ Aren’t we doing something right now?” He voiced back, while bringing his hand to rub small circles along my shoulder blade.

I huff. “We have literally been laying on the couch for 3 hours watching reruns of a show that we have both seen multiple times.”

“Yeah, what’s wrong with that?” Dylan smirks down at me.

“It’s boring.” I whine out once again, this time dragging out the ‘g’ to add more emphasis.

Dylan smiles a little at my dramatics. He thinks for a moment before offering out, “Wanna go for a drive?”

I immediately leap off the couch and cheer out, “Yes.”

Going for a late night drive has sort of become one of Dylan and I’s favorite activities to do together. It’s such a simple thing to do, but we both love it and we love just spending that time together enjoying the simple things in life. Most of the time we just listen to our playlist we made for our late night drives with the windows down and the wind blowing through our hair. Other times we get food and park at a nice viewpoint and eat and talk for hours. A few times it may have led to us just making out and moving to the backseat…

Excitedly, I go throw on my sneakers and one of Dylan’s Sabres hoodies. I take a quick peak in the pantry and grab the party-size bag of gummy bears I bought just for this occasion. I walk back to the front entry hall to find Dylan already waiting there with his keys in hand. He laughs when he sees the gigantic bag of gummy bears I have in my hand and reaches out for my other hand before leading us out the door of his apartment and to the parking garage where his car resides.

Usually we never really have a destination in mind and kind of just drive around aimlessly until we find something interesting. But tonight it looks like Dylan has other plans as I watch him type something out into his GPS.

“Where are we going?” I ask curiously.

Doing that hot thing that guys do while backing out, a tiny smirk forms on Dylan’s lips as he replies, “It’s a surprise.”

Feeling a little intrigued, I let him have his fun and don’t pry for more answers. I plug my phone into the aux cord and go straight to our playlist titled ‘late night drives’ while Dylan rolls down all the windows. Once we make it onto the main roads, Dylan moves to only one hand on the steering wheel, while the other migrates to it’s usual spot on my thigh.

We simply bask in each other’s company while softly humming along to the music on the radio (and eating gummy bears).

We are driving for about twenty minutes before Dylan is slowing down and pulling into an empty parking lot near what looks like a lake. Dylan puts the car into park and turns the car's engine off, making me confused. He notices my expression and pats me lightly on the thigh before getting out of the car and making his way over to my side and opening the door for me.

“C’mon.” He takes my hand, helping me out of the car, and walks to the front hood. He grins at my face and gives me a quick little peck and mutters against my lips, “Look up.”

I do as I am told and am immediately greeted with the sight of thousands of shining stars staring back at me. It was overwhelming seeing how many stars were apparent in the night sky, but at the same time I still tried to count every single one of them with a child awed stare. There is something about stars that makes you just want to gaze at every single one of them in awe and wonder. Dylan seemed to notice the awestruck look on my face and smiles proudly to himself, while never taking his eyes off of me.

I feel his heated gaze on me and look over at him with that same gigantic smile still on my face. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“You’re just… amazing.” He grinned.

I’m hoping the darkness of the night hides the immediate blush that coats my cheeks at his words. I then get an idea, so I tug out of Dylan’s hand and boost myself up onto the hood of the car and start climbing my way to the top.

“Wah-- Baby you’re gonna dent the hood of my car.” Dylan whines.

“No I’m not. It’s fine.” I roll my eyes at my pouty boyfriend. I sit down on the very top of the car and look down at Dylan and motion for him to join him. “C’mon. Come up here. And bring the gummy bears!” I add.

He seems a little hesitant to follow my movements, but when he looks up again and notices me giving him the puppy dog eyes, he straight away hops onto the hood, caving in. I make grabby hands at him when he finally makes his way to the top. He chuckles at me and goes to wrap his arms around me as we both move to lay down.

Once again we just bask in the feeling of being in each other’s arms and company while we stare up into the starry night sky. It’s so easy to get caught up in all the mundane problems in life and forget about the simplistic things that can make you happy. There is also something that makes stargazing seem so deeply romantic. Just being able to disconnect from the outside world and realize how little we actually are compared to the thousands of stars and galaxies that surround us. And yet, we managed to find one another, and fall in love.

I snuggle even more into Dylan feeling so content and happy where I am right now and whisper out the words,

“I love you.”

Tagging a few people so this doesn't flop,,,

@heatherawoowoo @barzysandmarnersbitch @matbarzls @matbarzys @rosesvioletshardy @youngbeez @only-goalies-allowed @pucksnsticksnhockeyboys @samsteel @d-cozens @gigissports @cozycozzy @lovereadinghockeyy @carepriceisgoodathockey @prettyboyjackhughes @cherrylita @jamiesdrysdales

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