#because i didn't really follow the races and only heard about him winning

[chussyracing]

Can I ask why you don’t like mclaren?

TLDR: I'm just not the target audience for this team, but agree they can be appealing to lots of especially younger people.

I'm in my mid-twenties and teenagers don't do it for me. If I wanted kids, I'd either produce my own or take more babysitting shifts.

I don't even fall into the new audience category either, because I've been on and off fan since I learned to walk.

I don't enjoy the lack of personality showed by Oscar, nor the plethora of it showed by Lando.

I'm not the fan of the humour if all those digs and jokes can be described by "humour".

I'm not even the fan of the team in general, last person I liked was Charlotte Sefton and she left afaik.

But yes, there was a time I thought they would be a nice team I could follow. Fortunately you grow and learn with time spent in the fandom.

[no-144444]

the grid: No Nut November!

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Featuring: Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris, Lewis Hamilton, George Russell, Alex Albon, Franco Colapinto, Logan Sargeant, Daniel Riccardo, Liam Lawson, Charles LeClerc, Max Verstappen, Paul Aron, Arthur LeClerc.

thank you to the person that requested this!!!

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Oscar Piastri: wouldn’t do it. 

Even if every driver on the grid was offering 1,000€ each as a prize, he was not giving up fucking you for an entire month. 

Even though he looks like a sweetie pie he would absolutely be a freak in the sheets and he was not about to give up the only way he actually gets his frustration out (aka fucking you). 

Everyone kind of boos him for it but then half way through the month he gets to be smug while they’re all miserable and complaining, because he can fuck his girlfriend whenever he wants. 

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Lando Norris: would try, but definitely fail. 

He wouldn’t care about the prize, he’d just have such a ‘how hard can it be?’ attitude. 

Newsflash: extremely. 

You would not make it easy for him either; wearing the sluttiest clothes, basically giving him fuck me eyes all the time, enjoying it when you see him get hot and bothered. 

He snaps on his birthday, and fucks you for hours straight. You can barely walk the next day. 

He decides to own up and pay his part of the bet with no shame, he has a hot girlfriend and he likes fucking her, sue him! 

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Lewis Hamilton: wouldn’t even try

He’s uninterested in the things most of the grid do in their spare time, and he knows they’re uninterested in him too. They don't need to know about his sex life, but what people can guess is that it is very much alive. 

I mean… you two had a baby literally 8 months after your wedding, to the day. 

The other 3 kids don't exactly help his case… 

He’d say yes, just so he could be added to the group chat and he would tell you who is winning and losing.

He’d lose on the first day with no shame. Everyone knows he's just here for the public shaming of others. 

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George Russell: would win

Not saying he’s not a freak in the sheets, but he would set up the entire thing (group chat, the money pool, etc.) and he cannot be seen lacking. 

Even if it wasn’t his idea, he still needed to win. 

You do make the entire month absolute torture though. 

Matching sets, showing as much skin as possible, everything. 

Even walking around the apartment naked. 

But somehow, he doesn’t budge. 

At the end of the month he does fuck you for ages, and you literally cant get out of bed, let alone follow him to a race. He tells the media you’re sick and all of the drivers have the dirtiest laughs as he explains. Despite every question, they keep their mouths shut. 

George did announce that he won at the end, much to your chagrin. 

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Alex Albon: he’d last a while

 He would honestly be pretty good. 

He kind of breaks the rules, he constantly gives you oral and jerking himself off, but it wasn’t specifically stated in the rules (apart from the name… but whatever)

He makes it like halfway through the month until a particularly bad race result. 

He fucks you all night. 

When you both get to the paddock in the morning, George pays him a visit to collect the money like the smug bastard he is. 

He heard you two last night. 

He was 4 doors down. 

Oops. 

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Franco Colapinto: he’s the one who accidentally tells the press. 

We all know Franco is awful at keeping his mouth shut, and in an interview he somehow lets it slip that he needed to find George to give him money. 

They ask him what for. 

He says ‘the bet’ and explains that they’re doing NNN this year and that he lost. 

It was worth it though, you two hadn’t seen each other in months (you were busy in uni, he was busy at races) and he just had to have you. 

He made it like a quarter of the way into the month. 

He didn't really care. 

The drivers honestly just found it funny that he told the media. 

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Logan Sargeant: would make it most of the way, but just fall short by like 4 days.

He had done so well, ignoring all of your sexual advances for the majority of the month…

Then he got drunk. 

Drunk Logan and drunk you? Yeah, you’re fucking. 

He couldn’t keep his hands off you, and he paid the price. 

He paid up sheepishly the next day, George looked at him with the smuggest smile ever. 

Logan didn’t even care. He fucked you twice as much as before. 

He has to make up for lost time, right? 

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Daniel Riccardo: he would lose immediately.

This man is a 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓀 

He would kind of do the same thing as Lewis, pay to just watch the rest of them loose. 

He does last a little bit longer though (in their eyes).

 He doesn’t pay up until the second week even though he’s been fucking you the entire time. 

He has absolutely no shame about it either. 

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Liam Lawson: he would almost win.

He's such a cutie. I think he’d somehow abstain for a while. 

He’d get to around the 26th, and then give up. 

The month was torture though. 

You literally would beg him every night, and he would just have to say no. 

You were impressed at how long he lasted. 

But then he gave in after he scored points in mexico...

Yuki ratted him out to George, he was very embarrassed.

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Charles LeClerc: he would lose immediately.

Charles is an idiot. 

He would lose the first day by accident, and then try to pretend that it doesn't count until George actually comes knocking on his drivers room door looking for the money. 

He heard you, of course. 

Charles reluctantly watches the rest of the month play out, bitter that his own forgetfulness took him out so early. 

He vows to win next year. 

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Carlos Sainz: wouldn’t do it. 

He’s not giving up fucking you for a month. No way. 

He also wouldn’t be interested in the sex lives of others enough to even pay into it like Lewis. 

His sex life is his own, and as much as he loves healthy competition, this is a race he’s happy to lose. 

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Max Verstappen: would be a huge bitch all month.

Dude is like a moody teenager when he’s not getting it. 

Daniel persuades him to do it and he makes it a few days in.

Literally turns into the biggest moody bitch ever.

By the 8th day everyone is begging you to just fuck him so he’ll stop being such a cunt to them.

You do. 

He pays up and spends the rest of the month fucking you. 

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Paul Aron: he would almost win.

He would last pretty long. Like maybe more than half the month

Despite his playboy facade, he’s actually more into cuddles and shit like that. 

 But after a bad race…

Yeah, he pays up with zero shame. 

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Arthur LeClerc: he would lose, in two ways. 

Y’know how quickly Charles lost, yeah he’d be worse.

He wouldn’t forget, he’d just think that he can get away with fucking you all month but of course, that doesn’t happen.

George comes knocking after Charles tells him he can hear you two.

You are deeply embarrassed that your boyfriend's brother heard you two having sex, and you impose a ban for the rest of the month. 

You say it’ll help you both be more aware of when and where you’re doing it, and how to not get caught by his brother again. 

He curses out his brother the next time he sees him.

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navigation for my blog :) (masterlist)

[leletha-jann]

Headcanon on reasonable evidence, actually: Every Heterodyne gets their own specific pack of Jägermonster guards.

Yes, the Jägermonsters are all sworn to the family in general, but Heterodynes do unreasonable and dangerous things on absolutely no notice, and it's helpful to have a specific set of personal guards who know them as individuals well enough to respond immediately. (Of course, Jägers think this sounds like fun.)

Agatha having Dimo, Maxim, and Oggie on more or less permanent assignment to her isn't unusual; it's normal. They know this, and have encouraged her to fall into a pattern they were expecting, actually, and she didn't take any steering at all. On some instinctive level she was expecting it too. Even if Dimo keeps his promotion to General, he'll be a General on the move, from wherever Agatha happens to be. They'll be with her for the rest of her life.

Consorts get their own squads, too. At some point in the future, Gil and Tarvek both acquire a handful of their own personal Jägers, sottle-like. (They notice it happen anyway.)

Jorgi is absolutely one of Tarvek's squad, because there's no way he wasn't designed to be Tarvek's personal guard Jäger, and it will be hilarious.

I'd also love to see Agatha assign Jenka to him, because Tarvek's recently on record as missing his personal spy network, and he and Jenka would have that up and running in no time flat. They'd have fun. (Jenka doesn't hold "being Andronicus Valois' descendent" against him, because Tarvek's loyalties are firmly with Agatha, and they share a "to hell with that family in particular" attitude.) Also, it would be a neat little parallel with Tarvek giving Violetta to Agatha. Agatha could give him a sneaky lady who can kick his ass (and will if when needed) right back. For maximum humor, Füst should take to Tarvek exactly the same way the wasp eaters did.

(this, but with JAGER BEAR)

I don't know if Gil ends up with Vole as one of his pack, because I don't know where the Foglios are going with him. But I nominate this guy from book one:

And this guy from book 14:

to follow Gil around and be reassuring to him periodically.

Higgs has sort of ended up as immediate supervision of the entire triumvirate. Whichever of them is in reach, or all three of them at once. Insert Higgs looking really deadpan tired here. This face. Forever.

Jägers get EXTREMELY excited when they learn a new baby Heterodyne is on the way, and start campaigning to be on the baby's personal guard squad immediately. Of course, being Jägers, there's a lot of biting involved. I imagine months of Jägers challenging each other, not just to fights, because they did all that already, but to increasingly ridiculous and pointless challenges that they're both making up on the spot and obsessively keeping track of. The only real rule is that if you challenge someone to something, you have to do it too (otherwise how will you know who won?) They challenge each other one on one, or everyone in sight. This leads to things like most of the Jägerhorde running a screaming, pushing, biting, brawling egg-and-spoon race down the longest street in Mechanicsburg. The townsfolk line up to watch and cheer. (They're considered a course hazard, so they get to throw things.) Whoever's currently winning (don't ask me how that points math works) when the baby is born gets assigned to the baby.

Bill and Barry both had their own Jäger squads and never knew it, because their guards weren't allowed anywhere near them. Theodora was pretty much out there with a shotgun if she heard even the hint of a Jägermonster accent. Those Jägers still resent it. They feel robbed of their (most recent) chance to be trusted favorites. They might get special-pleading rights in the next tournament-to-guard-the-new-baby, assuming their brothers aren't completely fed up with their whining about it by now.

Klaus Barry had his own guards, but Bill didn't know because the Jägers were barely even allowed in the Castle by that point, so they just didn't tell him. Master of Mechanicsburg or not, the Jägers didn't trust him not to send them away even further (and rightly so).

Nobody volunteered to guard Lucrezia. Bill didn't understand the insult in that, and the townspeople didn't tell him. But every single one of them NOTICED. Ho yez.

There are only so many Jägermonsters, so by this point everyone who's still alive has been in a personal guard squad at least once. Collectively, the Jägermonsters know all the gossip, going back centuries. They'll never tell. If pressed, they suddenly lose the ability to remember last week, much less 1528. They can't be bribed, not even with alcohol, although they encourage people to try.

Canon: Jenka was in Euphrosnia's personal guard.

Seen elsewhere on Tumblr but I forgot to reblog it: Vole was one of Saturnus' pack, which is why he tried to kill Bill and Barry. Saturnus had tried, after all, and Vole was most loyal to Saturnus in particular. (If this was your theory, let me know! Credit to you.)

TL;DR: Jägers running an egg-and-spoon race through Mechanicsburg. There. Now you have the highlight of this post.

Also: ä is alt-132 (using the keypad). NOW YOU KNOW. (hopefully I also now know, because this is like the fifth time I've tried to memorize that)

[sf1enjoyer]

꧁Truth and apologies꧂

Part 3 of the LN4 series:New Start

Warning: implied sexual themes

Word count:1280

Summary: After accidentally colliding into Lando and ignoring him for a few weeks you were at a post race party just drinking your nowhere to be found partying mood away until Lando walked up to you.

@fishyfishersticks

Part 1, Part 2, Part 4

Over the 2024 season, he grew bold. Too bold for his sake but also matured a lot in such a short time. He was no longer that pleased with something less than a win after his first victory in Miami, and you guys slowly started having little fights because you tried talking some sense into him and telling him that he doesn't always need to win, but he was too blinded by this fight for the championship when he saw that he had a chance to win the title.

Things were okay until one catastrophic race. You were fighting for the first place and you were behind him. You were having a shitty weekend and one wrong move ruined peverything, for both you and Lando. You collided sending both McLaren cars into the wall and he came out furious.

"Lando are you oka-" you tried talking when he interrupted you

"Y/N what the fuck is your problem?"

"Excuse me?"

"God.. you're such a pain in the ass. I'm fighting for a championship and you pull stunts like that!"

"The hell are you on? You turned towards me as much as I did into you!"

"It's your fault you got that close. If you can't overtake someone,keep your position."

Your jaw dropped at Lando's harsh words. You were furious at him because it wasn't only your fault.And what enraged you more was the fact that he didn't have the guts to admit that he was in the wrong too.

"Cry me a fucking river. You're an asshole."

You and Lando didn't speak again that race and refused to give any answers to the question that involved one another.

The following race which was hungary Lando won and you got p2. Sure you congratulates each other but the words were cold and the podium celebration was really awkward. You avoided him just as much as he avoided you.

You weren't going to apologize when you knew he was wrong. You're not saying sorry just to fix something you didn't ruin. Even though your heart told you to but you were too stubborn for that.

Later that night a bunch of F1 drivers organiser and went out to a club,with you being one of them. You got dressed up in a dress,not too

short but showing the right amount of skin for a party. To be honest you were there more for the drinks because you weren't really in the mood to party and you were told that Lando wouldn't be there so you saw it as an opportunity to have a bit of fun to forget about your whole argument which was still heated.

You sat at the bar ,ordered a bunch of shots to down your tiredness and frustration. You heard a familiar voice from your left and when you looked, it was Lando ordering a whiskey. Thequestion is why the hell was he here? You were told he rathered go to sleep with how tired he was. At least that's what Carlos told you.

You downed your last shot and scrunched your nose slightly ,when he spoke up.

"Can't handle your alcohol, Y/N?"

"Weren't you supposed to be sleeping like the whiny baby you are?"

"I was going to do that but getting a drink sounded better at the moment."

You rolled your eyes and sighed

"Oh how lovely,now can you go bother someone else?"

"No." He answered firmly as he took a sip of

his drink

"And why the hell not?"

"Because we need to talk Y/N"

Oh wow he wantes to talk to you after a week of ignoring you and blaming you for his crash.

"What an honor."

He sat there in silence for a bit and finished his drink in the meantime

"I'm serious Y/N"

You order two more shots and pass one to him.

"Go ahead,i guess..."

He sighed

"Look i wanted to say I'm sorry for lashing out on you like that. I was pissed that you crashed into me and i took it too far."

You downed your last shot and shot him a glare

"Yeah go ahead and blame me. Definitely i turned into you on purpose.. Thanks for the apology."

You stand up and go outside of the club with Lando quickly following you and calling after you

"Y/N wait! For fuck's sake... That's not what I meant. Why are you so difficult,Jesus!"

You snapped at him your tone slightly raising

"I'm the one who's difficult? I'm sorry I'm realistic and that your whiny ass couldn't admit that the crash was our fault,not just mine because apparently that hurts your new bought fragile ego. I'm so tired of your shit!"

He took your hand when you walked away and his featured seemed softer. He finally had that glint of regret in his eyes that you haven't seen in so long.

"Y/N you're right. Look i know I'm not the best with words and that i acted like and asshole but i really mean my apology. The crash wasn't just you,it was me as well and I'm sorry that this fight for the championship made me act like I'm better than you and that i have the right to treat you like that.."

You were still pissed so you pulled away again and sent another rude remark his way

He grabbed your hand firmly and pulled you close to him,one hand snaking behind to hold you by the waist so you wouldn't leave again

"Y/N just listen. We can't keep going like this. I hate being mad at you,I hate not talking to you.We're teammates but more importantly, we're friends...and things won't work out if we start a rivalty so just please forgive me."

You look up at him and you see his sincere gaze eating you, making you feel guilty

"Please.."He repeated his words. He was practically begging you to forgive him.

You just looked at him and in that moment it came down on you. One hand on your wrist,the other on your waist and his face so close made you want to kiss him and run a hand through his stupidly perfect curls and oh boy you being slightly drunk didn't make things easier for you.

You felt like it was just the two of you. You just gave in and let your body take the decisions for you so you just pressed your lips softly against his and placed a hand on his cheek

To your surpise he didn't pull back immediately and when he did he had his typical smug smile

"I'll just take it as a sign that you forgive me."

With those words being said he kissed you again but this time more fierce but also soft, moving both hands to hold your waist. You automatically wrapped your arms around his neck and slid a hand into his curls from the back of his head. You didn't expect him to reciprocate this but it was fucking amazing.

You felt those two hands creep lower and then squeezing you gently. It took you slightly by surprise but you did enjoy it.

He slowly pushed you against the wall and he kissed your neck, his lips trailing along your jawline until he found your mouth again. He kisses you hungrily, his tongue exploring your mouth in a passionate but sweet way the music and the neon lights of the club and the music fading in the background.

When you pulled back a little ,you desperately reached for your phone to call an uber and you needed it now. You needed to get back to the hotel with Lando as soon as possible.

[streets-in-paradise]

Blessed Once, Cursed Twice

Gladiator (2000) Oneshot

Pairings: Maximus x Fem Reader/Maximus x Lucilla. (One sided) Commodus x Lucilla (just implications of his obsession with his sister)

Warnings: Pre movie, decontextualized party scene ( because i want to get it written without wasting creative time in thinking how it can make sense lol). Commodus is the reader's wingman helping her to approach Maximus because he wants him to abandon the pursue of Lucilla. Reader gets a bit mean to him because he is careless for exposing her in order to speed the thing.

Summary: For reasons beyond your understandment, Commodus has convinced you of letting him help you win over Maximus despite knowing that would go against the wishes of his sister. Trying his way goes way out of your safe zone, making you feel exposed and midly humilliated. Through your playfull little payback you find yourself before the handsome soldier.

Note: The foreshadowing elements here were Inspired in some ideas I came up with after doing this post.

Tags: @wildsaltair

The night was still young and full of promises, like your hopefull self to the thought of seeing your crush. Knowing that Maximus would be among you kept you in a beatutification race with Lucilla during your preparations, dreaming to be the one to catch his attention for once. You weren't resentfull of your dear friend, but you knew she had the upper hard and it was hard not to feel envy on your wishfullness always negated. The spaniard noble was too low to aim for her anyways, reason that should have made him more attainable for you.

Aware of your situation craving the affections of the same man, she could have showed kindness and allow you to have him knowing that he was an impossible marriage choice for her. She didn't, and you knew you would never win. Still, the flames of your lovefull hope could not be entirely estinguished and you were willing to comform with less. A sweet glance, polite conversation and some lovely smile followed by courtesy compliments would be enough to feed your daydreams for months. Lucilla could crown herself champion and you would humbly accept the second place in the race for his heart, doomed to admire him in silence for respect of your friend. It was the only arrangement you could aspire for in noble terms, because desperation haven't made you open to questionable paths to fullfill your dreams.

As an insidious temptation allways waiting for a moment of weakness to strike, Commodus repeatedly tried to open that way for you. Suspicious enough was finding him approaching you as a caring friend wanting to help, but worse was hearing his advice pushing you for a betrayal.

" You look beautifull, Maximus would be plain stupid if he ignores you tonight. " You heard him whisper from behind as he joined you in the wait for his sister. " What you really need is just release yourself from your moral restrictions and fight for him. Remember that you have as much right as my sister to aim for his affections , ... perhaps even more. "

Looking aside with caution only find him positioned in the right angle to whisper near your ear, you gave him a skeptical side eye.

" I have a concience, Commodus. It's not my fault you weren't born with one. "

He simply chuckled, advancing further to place himself beside you.

" Your stoical attitude is your curse ... Why sacrificing yourself for someone who would not return this heroic gesture? My sister had her chance of stepping aside, but it's clear she doesn't care enough about your silent suffering for that. There is no betrayal if she backstabbed you first, only an act of justice. "

He had a way with words that made the most despicable act sound sensical, logical and desirable. A true wonder of wicked rethoric, but you were well trained to spot it.

" There should be an entire academia dedicated to the study of the dark corners of your mind. We would learn a lot of how evil works its deeds. "

The callout wasn't enough to make him desist from his misterious interest.

" ... And yet I remain the onlyone who tries to help you. I must not be so horrible after all, ... the only friend of your purposes."

He leaned a hand on your shoulder and you shrugged with indifferent distrust.

" For your own convenience, although the reason keeps escaping from me ... "

Commodus gave you his softest glance, and in that moment he felt almost sincere to you.

" I find you longing relatable. "

" What can you possibly be longing for? The throne of your father? ' Emperor Commodus, the altruist' ... Or should I say Commodus, the matchmaker? It makes no sense to me, ... unless in your wicked delusion you fear a noble man like Maximus being welcomed into your family could steal your father and your throne from you. In that case I must warn you: his union with Lucilla is not your problem. He wouldn't betray you, as I would not betray your sister. "

Despite you felt closer to exposing him, he remained calm as if you wouldn't have figured out a single glimpse of his motivations.

" As soon as we will find your beloved, you will see what my wicked ways can achieve working for your cause. "

It didn't took long for him to find Maximus and practically push you towards him with a scheming smoothness that made it look a perfectly natural and casual approach. You could have admired his odd talent, if you wouldn't have been so careless of him from the moment that you saw the man of you dreams.

Splendid as usual, so handsome and naturally tantalizing before your eyes, Maximus was all smiles for you in complete unawareness of his effect in your behavior. His imponent presence made you feel small, but it did in a comforting way. You could only think of how good you would feel trapped in his strong arms, how safe and loved you would be if he would choose you for a wife.

"Pleasure to see you again, good lady."

His voice brought you back to reality and you could only smile, to what he concluded the introductory gesture taking your hand to place a kiss on your knuckles.

Strenghts were abandoning you. So easily you were falling apart for him and he began to notice it.

" As it's mine, brave lord. "

Frustrated with the slow pace of your shy demeanour, Commodus redirected the attention towards himself in order to start his interventions.

" We have found you in excellent time, Maximus. Turns out were having a very productive conversation about wants. "

His tease intented to work as encouragement for you to start flirting, but the heavy erotical undertones circunstantially lead into a wrong guess.

" Very well, your highness. As you don't interfere with my conquests, I won't disrupt yours. "

The mere sugestion weirded you enough to forget how overwhelmed you intially felt because of the inminent need to correct the claim.

" Commodus has nothing to do with any want of mine, neither I belong among his desires. "

The quick clarification delivered without thinking forced you to improvise an explanation for the words of the prince.

" … It was a theorical discussion. He despises intellectuals, but I am well read and I find arguments stimulating. "

There was a shade of relief in the semblance of Maximus when he sweetly encouraged you.

" I know, the last time we talked the notion of fate in Virgil. "

" … And you left me picking an interest in cartography. " You added for him, ecstatic of realizing he did remember you. " You are a fascinating man, Maximus. "

The polite praise impulsed his compulsion for humbleness.

" … Not as much as the brilliant minds in Rome, but I enjoy reading during the few moments of calm the life of the soldier allows. "

His admiration for what he believed to find in the capital as someone who never stepped there was almost naive.

" Rome was founded in the choice of a bribed judge. "

The satirical comment was clever as a response, but it deviated too far from the discussed intentions and Commodus interpreted it as a sign of regret that he wasn't going to allow you.

" She got polemical so quick! It's a good sign, that means you are stimulating her. "

The shame painted in your face said enough, so you pretended to laugh your blush away after his surprising and clearly purposefull lack of subtlety. He was being too direct, as if all he cared about was making it happen without considering your opinions on the process. You didn't want your feelings revealed before you could tell if there was any real chance with the man of your aspirations.

That would have humilliated you, but Commodus only cared about himself.

" I am not closed to challenging perspectives, but yours would need of a more explanation." Maximus interrumpted the silent disagreement you were having with the son of the emperor, reminding you with his attention why you were willing to make a deal with him in the first place. " That is a peculiar interpretation for the roots of Rome."

An idea came to you in order to prove Commodus you too were capable of ruthlessness. If he wanted so badly to help you out in the pursue of Maximus, he would under your own terms. Even if that would turn out uncomfortable for him, as it was for you finding your limits for tolerance to expousure constantly mocked by his lust inciting contributions.

" Because nobody wants to acknowledge Paris as the true, accidental responsible for the glory of Rome. Not when we also have Romulus. Ascanius, Aeneas or Hector. All greater men than him, yet their fates were submitted to the choice of Paris. Troy was doomed to fail no matter what path would have been taken ... but would there be a Rome without the support of Venus and Mars to the trojan cause?? Philosophers are so concerned in doing moral sanctioning of his verdict that they miss sight of what he discarded. We owe to Paris more than what we dare to acknowledge, because he represents everything the roman spirit isn't. Vain, selfish, lazy, sensuous, effeminate ... "

The callout to the prince's insecurities worked well as a playfull revenge, observing him fall for the trick as fast as the goddesses pouncing on the golden apple at the wedding of Thetis.

" His choice was an impossible one. Abandoned from birth, expected to die and then raised as a shepherd ... How would Paris learn to value noble virtues that no father taught him in? We would never know if Juno would have made of him a great king building the empire earlier with Troy as capital. Nobody encouraged him for rulling, not like the did Hector ... They casted him out. "

Using him as device to impress Maximus, you trully iniciated an intellectual discussion with Commodus.

" There is a big problem with your position: you are implying that a correct choice exists and Paris should have aimed for the throne. The underlying dilemma on the Judgement of Paris is that the intersection of curses from the loser goddesses turn your accepted bribe useless. If he favors Juno, Venus and Minerva become his enemies. "

Maximus must have found some sort of amusement or investment in what you were saying, because he was listening attentively. Perhaps it was wishfull perception of your delusional infatuation, but you could swear there was pride in his eyes as your reasoning overcame the point of the prince.

" Blessed once, cursed twice. " He summarized for you both. " He has the throne, but lacks love and military direction. Soon he surrounds himself of flatterers and starts taking bad choices while his competent generals turn against him. "

Leaning closer to him with complicit demeanour, you seeked the proximity you craved for with the argument as excuse.

" You are being too generous, my dear Maximus. That is an oversimplification of the fate that awaits this boy king. "

Acting secretive because you were about to get even stranger, you were ubicated with enough closeness to talk lower as if you aimed only for him.

" Venus is vindicative and we already know that Paris doesn't mind about being betrayed by the wife he already has, because he so easily left her for Helen. No, for him the curse would be different from Diomedes'. She would drive him mad with repulsive desires out of his control: if Minerva favoring his best general against him doesn't end his rule, the scandall would. And so, I doubt the empire Juno promised to Paris would become a reality before he would lose everything. "

Maximus was following you, but you could only stare at his lips while he delivered a complementary reply fixing the one flaw in your exposed point.

" You forgot to mention he is not the rightfull heir to the throne. In order to receive his bribe, he would have to kill the eldest brother or win an unleashed civil war, what would be hard to achieve without the guidance of Minerva."

Ignoring the annoyance menacing with turning into anger on part of your failed accomplice, who was aware that the list of adjectives you used for the portrait of Paris were a mock to him, you rushed to praise the contribution of the lovely soldier.

" That would have never occured to me! But is fantastic how alike our minds work ... Don't you think? "

The sweet smile you directed him could have melted the snow on the cold north he never wanted to get used to.

" Has anybody told you that the quick sharpness of your mind could have made of you a good strategist? "

It turned to a smirk with his praise, a rush of confidence struck you on the sudden finding of something that you knew for sure would impress him.

" Marcus Aurelius himself, ... although not in those terms. But I would rather not to talk about that, at risk of troubling our prince. He is abnormally silent and I have learn to fear that. "

Calm on the outside, his complacent yet somehow wicked semblance warned you of the comeback.

" … I was merely wondering how our friend would solve the debate. Which are Maximus' strongest wants? After all, that is the esence of the issue: a man being comfronted with his more longed aspirations. "

Detecting a tease of some kind, Maximus replied to Commodus being too faithfull to himself.

" I believe I would simply reject the bribe, your highness. "

Even if his answer wasn't necesarily a clever one, it was the most selfless presented in centuries of revisions for the episode.

" Then you would be three times cursed, because you can't reject a divine gift. " You sweetly adviced him, trying hard not to be evident in your admiration. " Three different paths shape three different men: the powerfull emperor, the victorious general and the eternal lover … Follow your instincts and pick one. "

Your voice sounded almost seductive on the invitation, what surprised you of yourself.

" I am a soldier, lady. I can't risk loosing the blessings of Minerva." Maximus added, hinting his definitive answer. "And i don't claim this as a personal ambition of becoming general, but because duty demands it. "

Commodus released a few chuckles, amused by what he perceived as naivety.

" … But you would become an invincible general of brilliant tactical wisdom! Only alone and powerless. Enjoy a lifetime of endless fighting for the gain of those you serve."

His sadly precise observation left you in a good place to present an advance in terms you felt more confortable on.

" Maximus, … would you endure a life without love? "

He turned his glance exclusively to you, making your heart race as you waited with expectation.

" It would be the hardest sacrifice, because there is more of me to consider regardless of my profession. I have no interest in joining the fate of Achilles, of dying crowned with glory as a single man. "

In his words you read the chance you were waiting for and you didn't hesitate.

" I'm tired of Rome and its innate corruption, the simple life on the province would suit me well. "

He chuckled with you, what successfully masqueraded the move as a subtle joke, but you trully hoped he would consider it.

The arrival of Lucilla would soon take the attention away from you, enforcing you again in the role of a mere watcher, but you endured it with satisfaction.

[munchcorner]

Hawks has been assigned to Osaka for a month and deeply misses his family. He calls them every night, and sometimes, he calls in the middle of capturing a villain.

During his last week in Osaka, Dabi forbade him from contacting them. Hawks tried to ask him for an explanation, but Dabi put down the call and blocked him.

First ending:

Although sad, Hawks didn't have any other means of contacting Dabi, so he went to work, sulking. Later that night, Hawks was notified of an intrusion into his hotel room. He quickly returned and found Dabi fighting with authorities.

"You dumb fucks, don't you know we're married? We have a daughter, for fuck's sake!" Dabi yells, showing his wedding ring while protecting their daughter's identity.

"We've heard that story multiple times. You aren't the only person claiming to be married to him." The police say as he pulls out the handcuffs.

Hawks chuckles at the absurdity of the situation.

"Ah, Hawks," The chief officer says upon seeing him.

"Hey," Hawks greets and walks toward them, a genuine smile plastered on his face as he approaches.

"This is a minor problem. There's no need to worry yourself over it," Another officer reassures.

Hawks ignores him and walks toward Dabi, wrapping his arm around his shoulder and kissing his neck, "well, there's really nothing to worry about here because he's telling the truth,"

"See?! You stupid police officers! You never get anything right!" Dabi continues to scold the officers while Hawks bends and greets their daughter, who is hiding behind Dabi.

Hawks scoops her in his arms and shields her with his wing before telling the police to leave. Dabi is still fuming when they enter the hotel, and the Hawks do their best to appease him.

Second Ending:

Although sad, Hawks had no other means of contacting Dabi, so he went to work, sulking. Later that night, Hawks is asked to respond to an attack at the airport. Upon arriving, he sees a familiar blue flame surrounding the area.

"What's happening?" Hawks asks, panicked. He can feel his heart rate racing.

"There was an attack, and someone had been fighting the attacker," A hero explains.

Hawks feels his heart drop. He rushes into the fire, not caring if he's burned, "Dabi!" Hawks screams his name repeatedly until he finds Dabi in the middle of the fire with their daughter crying beside him.

"Papa," Their daughter cries as she continues to cool Dabi's body, "Daddy isn't breathing,"

Hawks gets on his knees, taking Dabi in his arms. " Dear, listen to me," he says to his daughter. We're going to play a game. So, listen carefully, okay?"

Their daughter hastily nods, "okay,"

"Let's race out of the fire. The first one out wins; if you win, papa will buy you the latest merch you want. Is that a good deal?" Hawks asks. Their daughter nods, "Yes,"

"Okay, on the count of three. One, two, three," Their daughter quickly dashes out of the fire, leaving Hawks with Dabi's burnt body.

"Stay with me for a while. I'll get us out of here," Hawks whispers as he flies through the fire with whatever feathers he has left.

After getting out, he finds their daughter standing in the crowd, waiting for them. Hawks sighs in relief and sends his last feather to her before rushing Dabi to the medics.

"Papa!" Their daughter yells, running to them after following Hawks' last feather. "I won," she whispers.

"I know. You did well," Hawks whispers, calming her.

"I'm sorry," their daughter apologizes. It's because the bad guy took me away; that's why Daddy's like that."

Her tears continue to fall as she cries into Hawks' shoulder. Hawks shakes his head, "No, it's not your fault. Daddy will scold you if he hears you saying that. Besides, Daddy is strong, isn't he?"

Their daughter looks away, guilt written all over her face. Hawks cup her cheeks, forcing her to look at him, "Don't blame yourself. Why don't we follow Daddy to the hospital and tease him about it when he wakes up?"

Their daughter continues to cry but nods and follows Hawks to the ambulance, praying that both her dads would be okay.

[singsweetmelodies]

Hello Katie 👋🏼👋🏼 :D

For the 50 romance prompts ask meme, I'll like to request for 44: soulmate AU: timers <3

but if possible... with a twist...? (you don't have to include a twist if it's too difficult to work it in!)

The twist being, for whatever reason, their countdown timers for each of them to the time they meet their soulmates doesn't match, so they think "we're not each other's soulmates. that's cool. (no it's not)" but it turns out that they're each other soulmates anyways. or they choose to be with each other in spite of not being each other's soulmates. idk. *nervous laughter*

hiiii charlotte 🥰 first off, i am SO sorry for the incredible delay with this answer!! i saw this prompt and i absolutely LOVED IT (and the twist!! 🙏 *chef's kiss*) but unfortunately i got struck with a horrible case of writer's block/work deadlines, and just couldn't get to it at all.

until yesterday: i decided to just open my inbox and see what came to me. no thinking, just following the vibe of a prompt and writing. and uh. this happened... not only did it get ridiculously long (oops?) but it also somehow became a mini "investigate montreal" fic?? so in that vein, i'm tagging @1016week and submitting a belated entry for Day 6 "Montreal"... ❤️

i love this one. hope you love it too!! 👀⌚

~

Charles' soulmate timer stops when he is seven years old, and he meets the boy with the bluest eyes he's ever seen.

He's been vibrating with excitement all weekend - not just because it's a karting cup, but because his soulmate timer has been ticking down to this day for months now. Well, not just months, not really. It's actually been his whole life, but Charles doesn't remember all of that. He only remembers the past few months, when the little numbers had been getting smaller and smaller, until there were only ten days left and Charles gasped when he realised that the day would fall on the same day as the Bridgestone Cup.

"Of course the girl I marry is going to like racing, too," he'd told Maman and Papa, confidingly. Not a lot about soulmates made much sense to him, but this did.

His Maman had tried to smile, and Charles had hugged her tight to let her know it was going to be okay. He would find his soulmate, and then everyone would be smiling, because that's what people do when you meet your soulmate.

(Later that night, when Charles had been too excited to sleep and he'd gone to the bathroom quickly, Charles had heard his parents having an argument in their room. The door was closed, so their voices were muffled, but Charles could still make out his Maman saying "I just don't think it's a good sign, to meet your soulmate so young!" But Papa had countered, "Many people do, and they have beautiful stories. You have to trust that our Charles will meet his perfect match tomorrow." And then there had been an icky noise, like kissing, and Charles had flushed the loo quickly and ran back to his room.)

Now, with the beautiful blue eyed boy standing in front of him, Charles thinks of Papa's words again. Our Charles will meet his perfect match tomorrow.

Charles thought it would be a girl who really liked karting, but this is even better. This is a boy who wins at karting, because he's holding a trophy in both hands and grinning like he couldn't be happier.

Of course Charles' perfect match would be someone who wins at karting. It's only right, because Charles also wins at karting.

Charles clears his throat. "Hi," he says shyly, and the blue-eyed boy jumps.

"Oh! Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't see you there," he says apologetically, and then he laughs. He has a nice laugh, Charles thinks - like he knows how to have fun. "You are a bit short," the blue-eyed boy adds, and hey.

"Hey," Charles protests. "I'm tall for my age. I'm seven."

"Well, I'm nine," the blue-eyed boy says, like that's the most impressive age in the world.

It is a bit impressive, but not very, because Lorenzo is much older than that. Still, it is a little scary - Charles is only seven. What if this blue-eyed boy doesn't like him because he's only seven? Older kids can be mean like that.

No, he is your perfect match, Charles reminds himself. This blue-eyed boy won't be mean to him, because that's not how perfect matches work.

Charles takes a deep breath, then he sticks out his hand. "I'm Charles," he says.

The blue-eyed boy takes his hand, and it feels... weird. A little bit like when you get shocked by static electricity.

Charles giggles, unable to stop himself, and the blue-eyed boy smiles, as though he likes that.

"Hello, Charles. I'm Pierre," he says, squeezing Charles' hand. His eyes widen a moment later. "Oh! You've met your soulmate?!"

Charles doesn't understand what he means. "Well, yeah," he says. "It's y-"

And then he notices it.

Pierre's soulmate timer, right there on his wrist, right above where Charles is gripping his hand - it's still ticking.

Now, Charles doesn't know a lot about soulmates yet, but he knows that that's not good. Not good at all.

"I, um," Charles stammers, and then he does the one thing Maman and Papa said you should never do to your soulmate. Charles lies.

"I met so many new people today. I don't remember who it was."

Pierre's face falls. "Oh," he says, and he sounds unbearably sad for Charles. "But..." He chews his lip, shaking his head with a deep frown.

Then, mid-shake, Pierre's expression changes to one of determination. "I will help you find them," he says, with the kind of confidence Charles can only dream of when he's not on the racetrack.

He tugs on Charles' hand - which he still hasn't let go of - and Charles is helpless to do anything but follow.

~

They don't find Charles' soulmate anywhere, of course, and then Charles has to go win his race - but Pierre makes him promise that they will find each other at the next French karting event, and Charles will tell him all about his soulmate.

Charles promises, even though the idea makes his stomach feel all funny. I shouldn't be lying to my soulmate, he thinks, guiltily.

But Pierre's soulmate timer didn't stop ticking, and... that's not how soulmates are supposed to work.

The moment he's in the car with his father after the race, heading back home, Charles asks him about it.

Papa is quiet for a long moment, then: "Are you sure there wasn't someone behind Pierre, Charles?" he asks, in his careful, kind way. "Someone who's timer stopped at the same time as yours?"

Charles thinks about it for a moment, but even the idea of that feels - wrong, somehow. Like going into a corner and knowing you braked too hard, and you're going to flip the kart.

He shakes his head decisively. "No," he says. "It's Pierre."

He hears rather than sees his father blow out a soft sigh. Charles catches his eye in the rearview mirror, feeling confused and a little shaky inside.

When Papa sighs like that, it's never good news - it's usually something about sponsorship, which is a word Charles is already coming to dread.

It doesn't make sense how this could be about sponsorship, though. It probably isn't.

Charles waits for his father to gather his thoughts, like he needs to do sometimes to make sure he says exactly what he means. (It's something Maman keeps telling him he should try doing as well, but he's not so good at that yet.)

"You know how even the greatest racing drivers make mistakes sometimes?" Papa asks.

Charles frowns, but he nods. "Yes?"

"Sometimes the universe is like that, too. Sometimes the universe makes a mistake, and stops the timers too soon," Papa explains.

Charles frowns. He hasn't heard about that before, but he guesses it makes sense. It's true what Papa said - not even Senna was a perfect driver who never made mistakes. It makes sense that the universe is the same.

"But this doesn't mean you don't have a soulmate, okay, Charles?" Papa says before Charles can spend too much time thinking about the whole thing. His voice is firmer than Charles was expecting, and he reaches up to tilt the rearview mirror to see Charles better.

"It doesn't mean you don't have a soulmate," he repeats, like he doesn't want Charles to ever doubt that. "It just means it's going to be a little harder to find them."

Charles frowns, and he can't help but be a little annoyed. Isn't the whole point of soulmate timers to make it easier to find your perfect match?

It's just his luck that his soulmate timer doesn't work properly.

"I understand," Charles says, though, because he can tell it's important to his father.

Papa nods, but he keeps watching Charles in the rearview mirror for the rest of the drive, like he sometimes does after a race where Charles crashed the kart badly and he needs to keep making sure that Charles is fine.

Of course Charles is fine. He doesn't think this is comparable to a bad race at all! It's a little annoying, yes, but it's not that bad. It's just a bit of extra work, isn't it?

Charles shrugs his shoulders, glancing quickly down at the stopped soulmate timer at his wrist.

Whatever. Racing is more important than soulmates, anyway.

~

Almost twenty years later, Charles still says that to himself almost every day, even if he doesn't believe it with nearly the same careless seven-year-old confidence anymore: racing is more important than soulmates.

It is, because it has to be.

The thing is this: his father's explanation to Charles' seven-year-old self had been true - if a little oversimplified, and painted with an overt layer of kindness.

The truth Charles knows now is that there are two reasons, two categories, for people whose timers stop when the other person's keeps running.

One is, like Papa had said all those years ago, a simple case of mistaken timing - cases where the universe or fate or whatever controls it all stopped one person's timer a little too soon, or the other's a little too late.

It's harder to find each other in those cases, but it's still quite possible.

And then there's the second category. The unrequiteds. People whose timers stopped at the right time - when they met the person who would be their perfect match - except that they are not that person's perfect match in return. It only goes one way.

It's rare, but it happens sometimes. No system is perfect, after all - not even a system of soulmates.

For years and years, Charles tried to convince himself that he fell into the first category. His soulmate timer simply stopped too early, by some cosmic accident - but it's okay, Charles insists to everyone who asks and to himself as well, because what it's done is given Charles more time to focus on his racing instead. He's not constantly glancing down at his wrist and wondering when his timer is going to stop ticking - he can just get on with the racing.

He'll find his soulmate eventually, but on his own terms. There's nothing bad about that, surely.

Charles believes that. Really he does.

Except.

Except, if it's true and Charles falls into the first category - the mistaken timing category - then it would mean Pierre isn't his soulmate.

Pierre, who kept the promise he'd made to a seven-year-old who wasn't even his soulmate (because, yes, he had found Charles at the very next French karting cup, and he'd asked to meet Charles' soulmate - and when Charles had to admit that he still hadn't found them, Pierre had hugged him and told him not to give up and that he would find his soulmate someday. Pierre had held Charles' hand and explained that his parents almost didn't find each other, but they did. So it might take Charles some time, but that was okay, because it had taken Pierre's parents some time too, but now they were happier than ever. He'd been so convincing, firm but kind and absolutely sure of himself, and he'd made Charles believe it. He also made Charles smile, genuinely and truly, when he promised he'd stick by Charles' side no matter what anyone else said or whispered about his stopped soulmate timer.)

Pierre, who kept that promise about sticking with Charles, too. Pierre who never stopped being kind, and loyal, and the best friend Charles could ask for, whether he was seven or thirteen or nineteen or twenty-six.

Honestly, how was Charles supposed to not fall hopelessly in love with him?

He tried to deny it. For years and years, Charles tried to deny it - I will find my soulmate someday and it will all make sense, he'd tried to convince himself - but the thing was, what made more sense than Pierre being his soulmate?

It was roundabout the time of Pierre's first win (when Charles was standing under the podium in Monza with an aching back but a heart soaring with joy for his best friend despite the disaster of his own race) that Charles resigned himself to the truth: Pierre is his soulmate.

He has to be. Isn't a soulmate meant to be your perfect match; the person who understands you better than anyone and makes you happier than any other person in the world?

There's nobody else who could make Charles as happy as Pierre does. Nobody, nobody. There's no point in even trying to deny it anymore.

Pierre is his soulmate. But he is not Pierre's.

And that's okay. It's okay.

It has to be.

~

It isn't okay, not really, but that's true of a lot of things in Charles' life, and he's learned how to deal with them. He can deal with this, too.

On the whole, Charles thinks he does a pretty good job of dealing with it. He gets to be Pierre's best friend, after all - isn't that just a different kind of soulmate? True, Charles might want more, but it isn't like he has nothing. He has Pierre, and he will have Pierre for the rest of their lives.

Not in the way he wants, but - at least he will have Pierre.

The one thing he tries never to think about is Pierre's actual soulmate. Because Pierre has one, he knows, and he will meet them at some point.

Charles doesn't know how the hell he's supposed to look at some soulmate of Pierre's, and smile at her, and not be hopelessly, heartbreakingly jealous.

(He will do it, though. He will learn to smile at Pierre's soulmate - for Pierre's sake. He'll do it for Pierre.)

But that's a bridge he will cross when they get there. He doesn't have to worry about it yet (or at least, that's what Charles keeps telling himself even as the months tick by, and he knows there aren't year figures left on Pierre's soulmate timer anymore. Just months now, and then... weeks.)

Charles isn't thinking about it. He's put it out of his mind completely - which is easy enough to do, thankfully, given everything that's been happening on-track this season.

That's probably why he accepts Pierre's invitation to dinner in Montreal without thinking twice about it. (Even if he had realised, though, Charles doesn't think he would have been able to say no, either. He would give Pierre everything, if he only asked.)

So they go to dinner in Montreal, and it's perfect, and wonderful, and laughter-filled, and all in all exactly what Charles needed to distract himself from the fact that he has yet another engine penalty, and the sinking feeling that the championship is beginning to slip out of his reach.

Pierre seems to realise it, because he's in even finer form than usual - teasing Charles and tickling his ribs playfully and making him laugh at every possible opportunity.

Even on the drive back to the hotel: they stop at a red light, and Pierre steals Charles' cap, and Charles is giggling and filming it while Pierre is giggling back, and he's pretty sure neither of them are thinking about it at all, until-

Until Pierre's face changes from laughter to something almost ashen. "Charles," he says, and for all the years Charles has known him, he's never once heard Pierre's voice like that. "My soulmate timer just stopped."

For a few seconds, the words don't even register in Charles' mind.

Then they do, and Charles can feel his heart drop. "What?" he breathes.

His hands shake, and he doesn't even register the fact that the light has gone green as he glances all around them, craning his neck to see if there's anyone behind the white Ferrari, or around to the side.

Just a few minutes ago, their car had been surrounded by fans on all sides, all jostling to try and get pictures of them. But now, somehow, they're all alone in the Montreal night.

(The irony of it all is not lost on him - is this how Pierre felt all those years ago, when he was trying to look for Charles' soulmate at a karting cup, but not finding anybody it could be?)

"Are you sure it stopped just now? And not earlier?" Charles asks, willing his voice not to shake.

"Yeah," Pierre whispers. He sounds... devastated.

"But," Charles says, and then he has to take a deep breath. "But there's no-one else here, Pierrot."

"I know," Pierre says, somehow even softer.

Charles' fingers clench reflexively around the steering wheel, and he's moving in blank autopilot as he puts the car into gear and starts driving forward again.

He doesn't even realise he's shaking his head until Pierre says softly, "Charles." There's something wounded about it.

Charles stops shaking his head and slams on the brakes instead, jerking the car into something he hopes is a parking space at the side of the road.

"I don't understand," he says, far more calmly than he feels. "You can't - I can't be your soulmate."

Okay, maybe he's not so calm after all. But he doesn't think... he doesn't think anyone would be calm, in this situation.

Pierre makes a sound that could almost be a laugh, except that it sounds too strangled. "Do you know," he says, "that I have spent half my life wondering if the soulmate system got something wrong in my case? Because if you're not my soulmate, then who is? Who could possibly..."

Pierre does laugh this time, shaking his head. "You know, I asked to go out with you tonight for a reason. I knew - I knew it would happen tonight, so I needed to..." He swallows. "I needed to see you, one last time. Before I wouldn't be allowed to love you anymore."

It jolts through Charles then, what Pierre is trying to say. "Pierre," he breathes, and now it's his turn to say his best friend's name in a way he doesn't think he's ever said it before.

But Pierre's not finished yet. "I thought I could have one last night with you," he says. "One last night, before I had to say goodbye to my feelings, and try to love someone else."

My feelings. Try to love someone else.

Charles Leclerc is a lot of things, but an idiot is not one of them. He knows what Pierre is saying. He's...

Pierre loves him too. All along, Pierre has loved him too.

Only, he never had the option of thinking we're soulmates, Charles realised, and his heart twists in his chest.

Because Charles, for all that he accepted his soulbond toward Pierre was unrequited - at least he'd had the option of them being soulmates. Yes, it was in a twisted way, but at least he'd had that.

Pierre didn't. And he still fell in love with Charles.

The thought hits him like a shell-shock, and it's enough that Charles can only sit there for a moment, staring blankly, as Pierre continues talking beside him.

"I meant for tonight to just be a quick dinner together, something fun but normal for us," Pierre is saying, wringing his hands. "But I lost track of time. I always lose time when I'm talking to you, Charlito, I could talk to you forever - but the point is, I forgot to tell you I need to go back. I forgot that I was meant to meet my fucking soulmate tonight, because I was spending time with you, and - "

He takes a deep breath, and then he laughs again, leaning forward to drop his head into his hands. "I felt it happen, you know? I knew exactly when my soulmate timer stopped, because I could feel it, and it's - it was when I put that fucking cap on my head, Charles."

The cap that he's still wearing. Charles' 16 Ferrari cap.

Charles' hands shake as he reaches out to touch it, just the brim. "Your soulmate timer stopped when you put my cap on," he says, because a part of him still can't believe that this is real, that he's not living in some kind of heartbreakingly wonderful dream.

Pierre straightens up so fast that Charles is left with his fingers dangling awkwardly in mid-air. "Yes," he says, suddenly looking wild, "but this doesn't have to change anything, Charlito, I promise. I will still help you find your soulmate, and I will - I'll learn how to live with an unrequited bond, it's -"

"No!" Charles interrupts, half-throwing himself across the car to catch hold of Pierre's hands. "No, no, no, no. No more unrequited bonds, Pierrot."

Pierre starts to shake his head, but then he stops in the middle of the movement. "What do you mean," he asks, very carefully, "no more?"

And suddenly, Charles feels giddy, of all things. "I mean, your timer didn't stop when mine did. So for years, I have thought that we can't be soulmates, or at least that you couldn't be my soulmate. But now your timer stopped when you put on my cap, so -"

"Stop, stop, stop," Pierre says, squeezing Charles' hands tightly. "What do you mean, my timer didn't stop when yours did?"

"Oh," Charles says, and then he winces, the weight of the only real lie he's ever told his best friend (the only real lie he's ever told his soulmate) settling onto his shoulders with uncomfortable heaviness. "Um. Well. Do you remember when we met, and you thought I already met my soulmate?"

"No," Pierre breathes, but it's not the kind of no that says "no I don't remember." This no is more like "no way."

"Yeah," Charles says, and he can't help but look down at his own wrist, where the soulmate timer has been stopped for years and years. "My timer stopped the moment I met you, Pierrot."

"You..."

Pierre doesn't look like he knows how to finish that sentence, but Charles understands him anyway. "How was I supposed to tell you? I was seven, Pierre, and your timer didn't stop. I thought it was a mistake for years."

"But?" Pierre asks, like he can tell there was a but.

Charles beams at him. "But, I realised that there was nobody else who could be my perfect match. So I thought you were my soulmate after all, but it was unrequited."

"Never," Pierre says with a fierceness Charles doesn't expect. "Charles, never. If I knew... if I thought I had even half a chance, I would have been with you anyway."

Charles tries to laugh, but it comes out all breathless. "No you wouldn't."

"Yes, I would," Pierre argues, and his voice is heartbreakingly sincere. "I don't care. I would have chosen you."

Charles hears a punched-out noise, and it takes him a moment to realise it came from him. The next moment, he's unbuckling his seatbelt and climbing awkwardly over to sit on Pierre's lap.

It's not quite comfortable, because for all its luxury, the white Ferrari does not have a lot of leg space - but Charles doesn't think either of them give a single fuck, in this moment.

"I love you," he tells Pierre, reaching up to cup his cheek. "I've always loved you, but I never would have stood between you and your soulmate."

"Funny," Pierre says, his hands coming up to grip Charles' hips, "because that's exactly what stopped me from kissing you senseless."

"Well," Charles says, and if he grinds down just a little on Pierre's lap, he'll swear to everyone who asks that it was accidental. "It doesn't have to stop us anymore."

"Never again," Pierre agrees, tightening his grip on Charles' hips. "Never."

"So kiss me senseless, please," Charles whispers, and then he adds "soulmate," and that's what does it. Pierre surges up and kisses him, wild and desperate and more than a little clumsy, but without question the best kiss Charles has ever had. His own cap digs into his forehead a little, but Charles can't even bring himself to care about that - they owe too much to this cap now, honestly.

Maybe the universe does know what it's doing after all, Charles thinks. Maybe the universe just wanted to write a good story for them. A story that goes like this:

Charles' soulmate timer stopped when he was seven years old, and he met the boy with the bluest eyes he'd ever seen.

Almost twenty years later, Pierre's soulmate timer stopped in a white Ferrari in Montreal, and Charles finally got to kiss the boy with the bluest eyes he's ever seen, the man who is his best friend and his soulmate.

The odds of it working out this way have to be... a million to one, probably, or maybe even less.

But then again, what are the odds that two boys who met at a French karting cup and became friends with a shared dream would both make it to Formula 1?

Maybe the answer is just that Pierre and Charles have always liked beating the odds.

~

(50 Romance Prompts Ask Meme) <- not currently taking more prompts, sorry!

[s3lcth]

The way back to you

pairing: myung jaehyun x reader

genre: fluff, a little of angst

n/a: so here it issss!!! it turned out pretty long hshahakak. i hope u like ittt!!! 💕💕

"I'm telling you that school's about to be the end of me, and all you can think of is inviting me to a damn study group?!" Leehan groaned at his best friend's proposal "The afternoon is for resting, right Yn?"

"Yeah, but if you used it to study a bit it wouldn't be a big deal" you opined as you sipped some of your juice. "Try not to fail so many this term, come on."

"You don't understand" he complained, offended "I don't want to be your friend any more".

"As you wish" replied Taesan dryly.

"Well, better not" he rectified himself, grabbing your arm.

"Anyways, see you later, little guys" you said goodbye, ruffling both boys' hair.

"Just because you're a year older than us doesn't make you taller, you know" Leehan defended.

"Shut up, I'm five foot seven, I'm the tallest in my class" you pleaded, making a seven with your hands.

"Yeah, whatever you say" and Taesan pushed you into your class.

As you walked in, your eyes darted to your seat, which was occupied by someone else resting their head on the window. You thought about saying something to him, but let it pass. It was the first day of term and they would still have to change places.

"Yn!" you heard your name being shouted "Why the hell haven't I seen your face all holiday?" exclaimed one of your friends.

"You know my law" you announced, responding to your friend's hug "Holidays are for resting and school is for suffering"

"Well, you could have at least not left me and the rest of us stranded" and when you were about to speak, she interrupted you "And don't tell me it's for your health" then, the girl walked towards a free seat.

When the class started, the first thing the teacher did was to change the seats.

Your friend was placed next to a short-haired girl and you next to the boy who had stolen your seat.

"Hello" you greeted him "I'm Yn".

"Hi" he replied with a shy, but at the same time big, smile "I'm Myung Jaehyun" Myung Jaehyun. For several seconds, his name kept repeating over and over in your head. It was him. There he was, after so long.

For a while, his eyes only looked at you I amusement.

"No way... It's really you?" he whispered, his eyes wide as saucers "You remember me, don't you? Don't you?" he exclaimed, excited.

"Of course I remember you, Jaehyun. How could I forget you?" you said with a smile identical to his. "What are you doing here... How come...?"

"You two in the back, be quiet!" a teacher shouted at you. You both fell silent, giggling under your breath.

The class soon began. It was merely introductory: the teacher introduced himself, talked about what he was going to teach during the course, and then had you introduce yourself to the class. You were rather absent for the whole hour, exchanging glances with your deskmate from time to time, until it was time for him to introduce himself.

"Hello, my name is Myung Jaehyun. I'm new to Seoul and my hobbies are sports, especially football. I also like dogs very much." His presentation was brief, but it reminded you of some of the childhood moments you spent with him.

......

"Jae, your mom says let's go home!" you shouted to him from the side of the small football field in your village, where he played with other children. You never liked football, so you usually stayed on the side playing basketball.

"But it's still too early!" he protested, although he was walking towards you. "I'll race you to my house, whoever wins has to buy the other a lemon candy tomorrow" he bet, before running off. You didn't take long to follow him either, but Jaehyun was always faster.

"Someday I'll beat you.... Someday" you swore, panting, leaning against the door of your house.

"Pinky promise?" he asked, showing his little finger.

"Pinky promise" you assured.

......

After school was over, you rushed to the bathroom. When you came back, you found Jaehyun at the door, talking to your two friends.

"Speaking of the devil..." whispered Taesan, waving to you. You walked over to where everyone was standing.

"We were talking about going out this afternoon, have you already started the academy, Yn?" Leehan questioned.

"I'm starting today, but I'm leaving earlier. I think around six" you reported, walking into class to get your backpack.

"So... How about we meet at the football field near your academy?" suggested Leehan, in a somewhat excited tone. If one thing was clear to you from so many years of friendship, it was that the boy loved meeting new people and befriending them, so you weren't opposed to the idea, in fact, you were even looking forward to it.

"Fine by me" said Taesan, scrolling down his phone.

"If you want to..." you commented, as you didn't really care what they were going to do. What you wanted was to be with Jaehyun, to know why he was here, what had become of his life.

Suddenly, you all looked at the young boy, who seemed lost in thought.

"Aren't you going to say anything?" asked Leehan, snapping his fingers in your friend's face.

"Me? Eh... Sure! Anywhere's fine. I'm not quite settled yet, you know..." he explained, scratching the back of his neck, smiling. Oh, that smile.

"In that case, have Yn give you the address of his academy and the two of you go there together, right?" proposed Taesan, with a small sideways smile. "After all, the two of you already knew each other before."

Jaehyun and you looked at each other, small smiles escaping your mouths. "Sure" you said.

......

"If I don't try harder this year, I'm going to fail everything!" your friend complained, leaning her head on your shoulder. How come all your friends were failing?

"It's the last year, what can you do..." you comforted her, patting her head. In the distance, you saw someone look sideways, probably looking for you.

"Oh, here you are!" he exclaimed when he saw you. It was Jaehyun, who came running up to your side as you waved goodbye to your friend.

"Shall we go?" you proposed, trying to hide your excitement. He nodded his head, signalling for you to pass in front of him.

On the way you talked about everything. You found out that he was in Seoul because his father had been promoted in his job, which made you very happy, as you remembered that, when you still lived in the village, his family had a hard time making ends meet.

When you arrived at the field, you saw your friend's mouth drop open in amazement. Although it wasn't the biggest, it was much bigger than the one in your village.

"Are you telling me this is a public facility?" he asked, surprised, hesitating whether or not to enter.

"If it were private, they'd all be there?" you pointed to your two friends and your brother, who must have joined them at some point "Come on in" you offered, giving him a little push in the back.

From afar, you watched as Leehan waved his arm to greet Jaehyun. He walked over to them, who started playing on a patch of field, while you were in the bleachers, until you decided to go for a basketball. You put on your headphones and started practising your shots, as you had a tournament coming up and it wouldn't hurt to practise.

Suddenly, you noticed someone hugging you from behind. Startled, you looked back at Jaehyun, who had stolen your headphones. They were playing 'Will you kiss me' by Playful kiss.

"Do you still listen to this song" questioned the boy grabbing the ball that you had dropped from the scare. " Wanna play?" he offered.

"And the rest of them?" you nodded your head towards where they were.

"Never mind, they're resting" he clarified, passing you the ball.

......

You were humming your favourite Playful Kiss song while playing basketball, when your ball escaped and hit the light blue radio resting on the floor.

"There you are!" shouted a small Jaehyun in the distance. You turned to him, ball in hand. "Are you done playing, Jae?" confused, you asked. Suddenly, the boy grabbed you from behind to take the ball, starting to bounce it.

"Wanna play?" he offered, passing you the ball. "Whoever loses has to buy the other one a lemon candy."

Getting carried away by the competitiveness, you played against him, although he ended up winning.

"Someday I'll beat you" you vowed, taking your ball back.

"Pinky promise?

"Pinky promise" you assured, interlocking both fingers.

......

It had been several days since Jaehyun's arrival in the city and you couldn't be happier. You were together almost every day with the others. But there was something that didn't quite fit.

Every time he gave you a smile, yours came out without a thought. His unintentional touches on your hand when you walked side by side made your cheeks turn pink. When he opened a door for you or when he shared his food with you, your stomach seemed to want to escape from inside you.

And you didn't want to accept what you felt. You didn't want to ruin what had just re-formed between the two of you over a useless feeling. That's why you tried to let it go, until that day came.

It was a hot summer afternoon and the amount of clouds in the sky ensured a storm, yet your group of friends decided to go out and play on the football field for a while.

This time, Jaehyun played basketball with you all afternoon, which was not beneficial to your plan to end your apparent feelings for him.

Suddenly, you noticed a drop fall on your face. Then another, another, another... And a great storm formed under your heads.

Taesan, Leehan and Sunho took shelter under the bleachers and, as you were about to follow them, Jaehyun grabbed your arm and pulled you, making you run after him unconsciously.

Both your bodies were covered in water from head to toe, but it didn't seem to matter. Holding hands, you and your friend ran aimlessly through the city, your laughter the only thing that could be heard. Suddenly, Jaehyun stops.

"I'll race you, whoever wins has to buy the other a lemon candy," he said, as if you had suddenly gone back in time. Then he ran off. But this time something different happened. You won.

"You kept your promise, I guess I'll have to buy it this time," sighed Jaehyun, feigning annoyance.

When he gave it to you, you quickly popped it in your mouth. "It tastes like victory" you thought.

"There's one thing I've always wondered," you began, "why do you like lemon candy so much?" he smirked.

"Because they remind me of you" you looked at him confused "They produce a bitter sensation at first, but then it's so sweet, they're refreshing and, most importantly, I love them" He looked straight into your eyes, then, he and directed his gaze to your lips, then to your eyes again.

He gently placed the palm of his hand on your cheek, still wet from the rain. Slowly he brought his face closer to yours, when an unexpected gust of wind blew all your hair into your face. He let out a little chuckle, as you felt the ground fall away from you in embarrassment.

"Wait... Let me just..." He whispered as he put your hair back in place "We're good now, can I?" you just nodded, letting yourself get caught up in the moment. At that time your plan was a thousand miles away.

His lips were soft and savoured the taste of the candy you had just eaten. One of his hands was still on your cheek while the other rested loosely on your waist. Your hand went up to the nape of his neck, playing with his hair; the other was on his chest.

As soon as you parted, Jaehyun hid his head in the crook of your neck, hugging you while smelling your scent, which was more wet than anything else.

"I love you so much, you can't imagine how this years without you have been" he said, keeping his head in the same place. You started rubbing his back up and down.

"I love you too, Jae" you said that in a really soft whisper "I mean it, I don't think I can ever let you go again" you lifted his face with both your hands, his watery eyes looked at you as if he could see your soul, and in a way he did. You ran your hand through his hair, uncovering his forehead to leave one more peck there. He coughed, suddenly feeling nervous, cheeks on fire.

"Well... Don't you think the rest of them are looking for us?" he asked, scratching the back of his neck.

"Yeah,I think so, come on" you ordered, taking his hand as you laughed.

[waru-chan8]

Okay, I have a small challenge(?) for you, since you’re a Dani Pedrosa fan. I’ve watched a lot of interviews and press conferences with him, but since Dani is kind of shy and/or private, it’s hard to pinpoint certain personality traits, like I know him but not really.

So, could you describe Dani Pedrosa to me as the person he is? What traits and small things have you noticed about him? Both good or bad traits please!

Thank you!

Hi anon 👋👋👋 I'll do my best because I don't know him personally and I can only talk about what he has done or act in interviews.

Dani is indeed shy and private and that made him look bad towards media. Or at least it used to be a problem when he was young. I remember so media tittles and it just implied Dani was at war with all the journalist as he preferred to be elsewhere except there. I think he has said it in the past, but Dani would have loved to race when media and media training was not a thing because he hate it so much. It takes a while for him to warm up and talk, but a way to do it is start talking about bikes and then his on track and out of the track experiences will follow.

We all have seen Dani as someone serious, but apparently he is a prankster. No one was safe at Honda when he was Marc's teammate. And according to Marc, when they where at Japan... well havoc happen. Apparently once Dani ended up on someone else shoulders dancing and singing shitless (Valencia Pres conference 2018).

He seems to be a bit obsessive in the sense he needs to know everything surrounding the bike. There's no need for him to go to the factory, but he is there a lot, he talks with the riders and "coaches" them. And his job description doesn't include that. He is passionate. A lot, and that makes him a good pundit because he explains stuff in way that everyone can comprehend. Another pundit (a mechanic/technic) sad that it was probably because Dani had to ask himself all those questions and get the answer on his own. So basically Dani loves to learn. returning to the coaching, it's not just about KTM riders, or now that he is retired. Apparently in 2018, Maverick complained that the Yamaha was not working and Dani, who has never rider a Yamaha (or a non-Honda at that point) suggested some modifications to a rival. Apparently it was what he needed because Maverick went to win the next race.

He is not kind to himself. He heard his own stats and gets down because he is no a MotoGP World Championship. I think that Dani sees himself still as a kid fighting against his idols/top riders without realizing that he is now a legend and his the idol of other riders. (Marc and Álex M (especially Álex) are open about Dani being his idols. Also Ana has him as an idol!). Don't get me wrong, he is proud of what he has done and accomplished, but when you see his numbers compared to Vale, Marc, Jorge or Casey, he feels like he did nothing.

He never will see a bad thing about anyone. I'm serious even with all the Puig-Honda stuff that has gone on, Dani still talks about Puig and how he is the reason he is there. That without Puig he would had never done it-. The worst think I heard him said about Honda is 'a serious of bad decision made them be there'. And lets be a honest this is not a bad thing. He could drag them through the mud, but he is a gentlemen.

He is also a fighter, and not just on track. He has always had to fight with the bike and his body and also with Honda because he was not always listened.

And the worst thing, which also could be seen as good one, it's actually something he picked from Puig. Apparently people around Dani said that he would come to you, ask the questions and once he got the answer, h will leave. Some times even leave you with the words on the mouth. Apparently it's because they are hands on the job and are not in the mood to do small talk when it's not time for it. I think people mentioned it got better, but that definitely didn't help with his unapproachable aura he had back then.

He also seems to have a terrible memory when is not properly on track stuff or not something that blow out of proportion. Recently (December 2022) an interview wit Dani and Jorge (and other ex-riders) was realized and Jorge was the one who knew about all the intricacies and little details about them, while Dani was 'I don't remember you/me was there' which was funny because it's your husband enemies to lover friends slow burn.

And that is all I can think about at the moment. I hope this helps you/you were after

[befuddled-calico-whump]

the last two wildfire drabbles have awakened an intense craving for lex comfort…. guy is split between wanting to be a lone wolf and kinda wanting someone to care for him. the part where he‘s unsure if he even wants to be alone………

can i humbly request more of lex caretaking? he needs it. i need it. everyone wins (of course only if you have the time and energy for it)

part one //// part three

cw: aftermath of a fight, broken bones, adult language

When you were hiding from the law, the best way to gather any kind of information was to take a leaf out of a fantasy novel and hit up a tavern. Or in Sarah's case, a Neath bar. Her team had been safe long enough that she wanted to move to the next step, and the next step was gathering allies.

Which was admittedly really hard. Even when she overheard a promising conversation, she had no idea how to approach the speaker and make it covert. So far, listening in was as far as she'd gotten.

It was nearly three in the morning by the time she gave up and walked away from another night of rumors that were interesting, but not particularly useful. The streets were practically empty when Sarah stepped outside, and she kept one hand on the miniature stun gun Hugo had insisted she bring.

She knew this was the dangerous side of town, but the nicer parts wouldn't offer much in way of help for the rogues. Most believed whatever safe lies Corp fed them, and the rest just couldn't be bothered to risk their own security.

Sarah kept her eyes peeled and her ears sharp as she started to make her way back to the house. Half the streetlights seemed to be out, which was sketchy as fuck, but also easier on her hearing than the full-blown buzz she'd usually be up against.

A sound cut through the background noise; the chtunk of something heavy hitting the pavement, accompanied by a human cry.

Sarah froze, holding her breath and trying to listen. The sounds were followed by a panting that was either fearful or frustrated, and the drag of cloth on concrete. Had someone been hurt? Should she check on them?

Because that wouldn't add to her already-towering stack of problems.

Still, it didn't sound like there was an active fight going on, and she only heard one person breathing. Worst case, she'd only need to deal with one attacker, and she had the stungun for that.

Sarah crept towards the sound, turning a corner and seeing a figure sprawled in the street, trying to pick themselves back up without much success. Her breath caught when she saw the metal arms, shimmering red in the light.

They really had to stop meeting like this.

"Cinder," she said, nearly regretting it when the assassin flinched, but how else was she supposed to get his attention? "Cinder, hey."

The man stopped moving, his limbs going slack, head sinking onto the pavement, and Sarah couldn't tell if it was because he recognized her or because he'd passed out.

She inched closer to him, crouching a few feet away from his face. His eyes were open, but there was a glazed-over look to them. Was he drunk? No... Not that.

There was a fresh cut on his cheek, a bruise forming under it. When she sharpened her hearing further, she could hear the wheeze in his breath and his racing heart, and under those, the click of grinding bone that came with every inhale.

Broken ribs. Sarah dulled her ears with a shudder.

"Cinder," she murmured, leaning closer. "Can you stand?" Probably not, considering where he currently was, but she hoped he'd appreciate her asking.

"Don't... think so," he mumbled. His teeth were bloody.

"Can you stand if I help you?" Could she even support his weight? She'd have to. She wasn't about to leave him here, and it wasn't worth the risk to go and grab a helping hand from the house. Someone else might get to Cinder before she returned.

The assassin seemed to consider her question, her offer, eventually giving a slow nod. Sarah came up on one knee, hoping it would give her enough leverage, and extended her hand. No cover, no protection from his metal if it started to burn. But he wouldn't do that, would he?

His fingers curled around her own, the metal cool and smooth on her palm. Seeing his artificial hand move had been fascinating enough, but actually feeling it was a whole different story. Aside from the texture, it moved and curled exactly like a human hand would.

It is a human hand, she corrected herself. It's still a human hand.

She expected Cinder's grip to be crushing as he struggled to stand, but it was gentle. Even with her help though, the man couldn't manage to get his legs beneath him, falling back onto the pavement with a whimper he tried to bite back.

She'd need to get closer. It wasn't like she hadn't been close to him before. She'd sat right next to Akeela on the way home from the river, Cinder's legs draped across her lap. But he'd been completely unconscious then. This was different.

"I'm... I'm going to come up right beside you, okay?" Sarah said, waiting for the assassin to give another nod before moving at all. Once she was lined up next to his shoulders, she carefully took his wrist.

"On three?"

"Mm."

"One, two, three."

He half-pushed himself up as she pulled his arm around her shoulders, somehow managing not to stumble as she stood, legs shaking with the effort. Cinder leaned heavily on her, his head lolling forward, but at least he was off the ground.

He was also warm. Way too warm. She could feel the heat radiating through his clothes.

"I think you have a fever," Sarah grunted as she tried to adjust herself beneath him.

"I think so too," Cinder murmured back. She honestly couldn't tell if he was being a smartass or not.

What now? The house was at least a mile away, and it would be an excruciating walk with a half-conscious assassin hanging off her. But... would that be what he wanted?

"Where to?" Sarah asked.

"Ch-Chopper."

Was that a person, or was he talking about helicopters? Both were equally plausible. She wouldn't be surprised if he was delirious with the fever he was running.

"Okay," she said, carefully taking a step forward. It was difficult. Made even more difficult by the knowledge that she'd have to take a thousand more just like it. "Where's the chopper at?"

"No... th' auto shop. McCarthy's."

Sarah had no idea what he'd want with an auto shop in the middle of the night, but she wasn't about to question it. Maybe it was code for 'Healer for Neath Assassins'. The guy sure as fuck needed one of those.

"I haven't heard of it."

"I'll... g-guide you," Cinder said.

Sarah nodded, taking another step. Navigating would hopefully keep him awake long enough for them to reach their destination.

She just hoped it wasn't too far away.

•°•°•

@whumpacabra @enteredin2eternity @kixngiggles @whumpsday @kiichu @whump-for-all-and-all-for-whump @shywhumpauthor @distinctlywhumpthing , @bloodinkandashes , @fleur-alise , @whumpy-daydreams , @whumpwillow , @honeycollectswhump

[fenicenera83]

ⲏⲉꞅⲉ ⲱⲓⲧⲏ ⲙⲉ

(Marius/Daniel- fan little tale)

Whispers in the night were like a distant melody. Exclusive and unobtrusive company. Though that place, not too long before, had been crowded with human intent pastimes, that made Marius smile and sometimes took him back in time. To the dances that pompously spun and charmed in the streets in his Venice during Carnival, such as the games of balance or strength, that boys enjoyed putting on display in the squares. Masks paraded and promised anonymity to those pranks and provocations.

Marius had seen boys, amusing themselves with scary masks, won at stalls, make the girls they were with run away laughing. Although, there was nothing hidden, as it was in the ancient city of the Doge, likewise the girls were laughing and screaming, chased by the boys who were engaged in making the strangest noises. There were games that seemed dangerous, with people being catapulted upward, others screaming with their arms in the air, thrown at impossible speeds on carts of the strangest shapes.

There were water features and tunnels that looked like a haven for lovers. The lights were bright and colorful, there was the smell of sugar and roasted meat. Marius had almost refused to follow Daniel to that luna park, Marius knew he wasn't exactly a lover of that kind of place. At the same time, Marius knew that it didn't matter the place, he would go anywhere for Daniel. And that Daniel was safe and happy was the only thing that really mattered. When he felt himself being pulled by the sleeve of his coat, and turning around he found himself reflected in Daniel's violet eyes, Marius realized that unintentionally he had lost the thread of the conversation.

" Make me a participant?"

Daniel asked, resting his hands on his hips with a playful smile and raising an eyebrow.

"I was thinking about how some things never seem to change."

Said Marius with a gentle smile. Daniel seemed to consider those words thoughtfully.

" Maybe good things don't change, maybe only the protagonists change."

And Daniel seemed wistful but happy at the same time.

" Maybe. Or maybe the protagonists make a journey, and in the end those moments come back, maybe they are given to us by someone else,maybe in other places, in other times, but they are no less strong or beautiful than the ones we keep inside us. Here,"

and Marius gently stroked Daniel's forehead, "And here."

And he caressed the chest where a heart should have beaten.

"Here with me always. In everything, in every hour, in every step, though far away always near.Everything that comes from you is beautiful and precious to me."

Marius stared at a boy who seemed to strut in front of other boys, because he had hit harder than anyone else, a tool that had a bright yellow writing on it that read punch ball.Marius smiled, even he as a boy had strutted when he had won races or strength contests against his brothers. Amadeo had also strutted in front of Riccardo and Albino, because, he had managed to win at cards both of them. And not a short time before, Daniel had strutted, about how he had managed to reconstruct an alleyway in ancient Rome to perfection. So accurate and true that Marius had almost heard again the merchants' voices shouting in Latin. So many things, they had passed, beautiful and precious, and so many had returned to knock at the door of his heart, but out of weariness or pain Marius had not paid attention. Or had not given It the attention he should have. It was hard to realize this especially after all the time that had passed, after all the love he had had and had now. It was enough for him to stare into Daniel's violet eyes to realize that that love so strong that trust so unwavering was for him and him alone. And if out of love, even though he had suffered, he had decided to let Daniel have his chance to find a new relationship with Armand, he knew even just by looking at Daniel's eyes, that the purity and the limpid burning love in those shades of purple, only appeared when Daniel looked at him, even if from a distance. That adoration and that trusting smile had given Marius a heart to open again, a heart Marius wanted to open again.

" Here with me."

Daniel said, and his eyes seemed larger, as if he were holding something back, as if he were unable to say more or the feelings would overwhelm him.

" Always."

Said Marius with a smile.

[simiansmoke]

From your Mixed-Bag Sentence Starters post: "No time to explain, get in!", but it's just DK taking Mario out for a date in a place where they wouldn't be disturbed.

(And maybe it ends with a make-out session because there is a sincere lack of Mariokong content in this fandom, and I'm starting to feel deprived-)

//aw-...dn't worry bb I got u. 𝐌𝐈𝐗𝐄𝐃-𝐁𝐀𝐆 𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒

It wouldn't be a proper Kong hosted kart-race without some monkey business. Said business entailing that all racers made it their personal mission to see to it that their sole guest participant from the Mushroom Kingdom was thoroughly given enough attention at the event. Meaning - the point of the race shifted from anyone winning to just making sure Mario didn't. And honestly, DK was not about to interfere with that energy, though the thought of trying to win the race instead of watch the ah..."festivities" going on along the track was definitely his lowest priority over the latter.

By the time Mario had been bashed a few times by fellow karts, and even trapped between two for a while to help guide him into some banana peels along the track on purpose, it was soon all over for the other when his kart came to a puttering halt...tires too gummed up from countless banana peels to continue without a pit stop. But seeing as how Mario had relinquished himself to resting his chin heavily into an open glove and grumbling to himself about 'fatherless monkeys' in Italian, it was evident he would be tapping out of the race early and hiking back to town along the dusty track.

Well, until DK rolled up and happily slammed on his brakes to slide a donut around Mario's banana-beached kart to churn up some dust around the plumber and leave him coughing and swatting the air to clear it faster. A glower followed. "DK! C'mon, I'm not even racing anymore. No thanks to YOUR buddies-"

"Heh! What can I say...they don't like outsiders winning our competitions." With a smug expression that only served to rub salt in the wound further, DK leans back in his kart, one hand poised cockily on the wheel. "Now that you're out, they can finally start having some fun!"

"Well good!" Mario spat back, already trying to untangle himself from his seatbelt as he worked on making a hasty retreat from the vehicle in case the racers looped around and decided he was still a ramp to try and launch off of. "Why don't you go and JOIN them then?"

The smirk DK wore slid into more of a smile, though still heavily smitten with amusement as he watched the other struggle to free himself. The way that Mario tried to hoist a leg over the door only to catch his ankle on the way over and flop down onto his hip only caused the Kong to chuckle. His kart tires shifted slightly in the dirt as it creeped forward and sidled up beside Mario now struggling to stand quickly and dust off his knees while his cheeks burned the same color as his outfit.

"Awh, aren't you just a ball of sunshine today~? Ehh, I don't need to hang with those nerds. Besides, I'm gonna lose too many laps to win now that I gotta kart your ass down the mountain." He added, waiting to see if Mario even heard him since the plumber was already trying to set off on his own down the track towards the moon where it lay in the sky waiting for dark to fall further.

Pausing momentarily once the slew of Italian curses in his brain had died down, Mario glanced over his shoulder to question the Kong with a quirked brow.

DK merely waved the other over while expelling an impatient sigh. "No time to explain...just get in!"

The ride down the mountain was a bit rough given DK's customization on his kart this go round, and he wasn't trying to hide that by purposefully hitting every bump in the road and swerving unnecessarily as if he were trying to come up with the best way to launch Mario out of the kart.

Mario simply busied himself with white knuckling the dash board and muttering under his breath in Italian about really not wanting to die today. With his eyes screwed shut, he didn't notice the sudden turn DK took off the main track, nor the sudden drop earned from driving casually off a cliff and dropping into a parachute glide towards a glittering glade below.

The landing is a watery one, but the flooded glade itself is at most ankle-deep. Once he'd turned the kart off and hopped out to a wet landing on his feet, DK snorted when he noticed Mario was still death clutching the kart, face frozen in a grimace and eyes screwed shut.

"Careful, your face'll stick like that." DK grinned, sidling around the kart until he could give Mario's hat a pop forward to knock it into his eyes. "C'mon, loser. We're here."

It was only after he had to straighten his hat out did Mario stir, seemingly taking his first breath since they'd first hit a turn too hard and sputtering through it. "You're nuts! I thought you were supposed to be dropping me off, not drOPPING me-ah off a mountain side?!" Shifting his frustration towards the slowly retreating Kong, Mario can't help but blink and look around at the area. "This isn't-...uh."

The glade is flooded with shallow waters, and ripples are left behind DK's feet and fist as he sloshed forward and turned to give Mario a raised brow. "You coming, or what?"

"...coming to what?" Mario grumbled, throwing himself up over the kart and thankfully not landing on his face this time. Though his knees hit the shallow water briefly before rose and stumbled over to the Kong's side. "This isn't the place we all started in, if you didn't notice."

A snort and a head shake later, DK doesn't spare the other's proddings a glance as he heads towards the center of the large, watery circle in the middle of the forest. "Whaaat? I had no idea. Thanks for telling me where things are in my own damned kingdom." He added, stopping after a moment when they'd made it more to the center of the glade when they were equal distance from every wall of trees in the distance, which was oddly far - perhaps a half mile of nothingness but the subtle shine of the water in the developing moonlight. "Heh. Can't you just chill for a minute? I was gonna show you a reason to come out here some time."

"Hmm?" Expression flustered out of annoyance for the Jungle Kingdom prince's persistence in poking fun at his expense, Mario couldn't help but feel a bit curious about the random bog they seemed to be sloshing around in. "A reason to come out to some wet nothingness and stand around in the dark?"

"I mean...I wouldn't be against that either." DK joked, though he pushed its authenticity by reaching out to scoot a large paw behind the other's lower back and drag him in close to the Kong's side. Once in place, DK rose onto his hind legs and waited.

"U-uh?" Mario questioned the action, eyes swiveling from DK to behind his shoulder where the other's palm rested against his back. A gloved hand rises to cup his own cheek again and lean into it, sighing. "You're always so difficult, you know?"

"Walking back and waiting in the kart is like the least difficult thing you've had to do today. But I guess you're too curious to do that, huh?" DK knew he was right too when Mario's core temperature seemed to rise a degree or two under his palm. Which wasn't the worst thing for the flare up of racer's wrist he had going on and now had a willing participant to stand there while he ground his wrist in place against rough denim.

"Maybe not..." Mario changed his mind with a shrug, though to what, DK couldn't be sure.

"Come again?" He pushed, glancing down and finding it hard to see much of the other except the sheen from his eyes pouring through the deepening night.

"Well-" He was cut off by a sudden intrusion of lights - each a shade of pink or soft purple lighting up one by one around them and spreading out across the barren landscape only to show it wasn't as barren as he thought in the dark. For the half mile all around them, water lillies bloomed and their petals seemed to almost absorb the moonlight above until they radiated a portion themselves, dying it the color of their petals. "Wow-...there's so many."

DK nodded, somewhat smug the other seemed so impressed that he'd even forgotten to relay his earlier comment. Not that DK was going to let him. "-hey. You were saying?" Now able to see his company a little clearer thanks to the field of flower lights, DK leaned down to hear better, his tie's end draping until it tickled the back of Mario's neck.

With a swat or two that turned into a half-hearted grab and squeeze of the cloth, Mario sighed and tilted his head up to regard the Kong with one eye open, though its shade under the soft pink and purple hues almost seemed a shade of lavender than blue. "...I just meant that-...you know!" Frustrated, he squished his feet up and down in the flooded ground, he finally opted for pressing his cheek into his gloved hand again - this time with the DK imprinted end of the tie included. "...'the easiest thing'? It's...being out here with you."

DK had already turned his attention down and reddened noting the fate of his tie. Though instead of wresting it back and give a warning growl, he decided he was fine with the arrangement for now. Well, until he realized he could lean his head back and slowly lift Mario off his feet as long as the other held on to the tie.

A little 'hup' from Mario and a surprised kick towards the ground that once held him was his last duty for standing that night as far as DK was concerned as the Kong took a moment to balance large hands beneath the other's hamstrings and then scooted him up against his chest to rest in place. Though there was little resting at first when DK took the moment to lean in and grumble. "...I'm 'easy', huh?"

"Oh come on-...not what I meant!" Mario protested only to soon find his face pressed close to DK's while the Kong prince smiled briefly before pressing in to pass it to Mario's mouth. Well - his mustache first since it was in the way.

For the moment they remain locked together, DK only moved to hike the other up higher when he felt Mario's gloves gripping at the fur along the back of his neck and hanging on tight, and only slid his tongue forward to meet the breathy exhale Mario emitted, mid-break in contact that left them both a second for air before their mouths began a round of crashing quietly together as the distant sounds of karts crashing continued on into the night.

[42bakery]

Sorry this is about something you said a while ago and something everyone has talked about but I just wonder how accurate and helpful it is to make Marc prove himself when conditions vary year to year. For example, this year's tyres are different, right? So I just wonder how helpful it is when conditions can't really be replicated and so comparing Marc's and Pecco's/Martin's performance can't be done as accurately? Like apart from the obvious, which is that he is the only GP23 regularly up there with the GP24s, there must be some way to say that yes, this 31 year old with a resurgent injury is better than the younger guy currently leading the championship (regardless of the older man being an 8 times world champion, people get worse as worse as they age because of a myriad of things).

I don't know maybe I just wish they would sit down and explain what they've seen to me lol.

Although I did see an interview a while ago that said they had chosen Marc not because they wanted him there as much as they didn't want him at KTM.

This is in no way Marc hte okay like I would have chosen him too but I just wonder how accurate the comparisons can be

Hi there anon 👋👋👋👋

You all like to put me in a tight spot with some of your questions and just expect me to know everything. Just a reminder I'm not an engineer or Watched MotoGP for a long time (since 2020).

It's actually something very smart from Ducati. They knew the 2023 bike was a winning bike, and that Marc was a World class rider and a winning one, so by giving them the Qatar winning bike and make him constantly adapt, and compare the data in the same conditions (weather apart), it gives you how much ahead or behind Pecco, Enea and Martín he was/is in every moment of the season. It also allows them to see if Marc's necessities in each moment aligns with their and what other riders needed too, and in case that the solution Marc needs is different from what Pecco needs (because Martín usually just does what Ducati ask him and don't complain) is also something they can do or will over perform their own solutions. I don't know if I'm explaining myself, so is like putting Marc in the 2023 season and make him fight with Pecco and Martín all year long and see who is best.

It's true that the tyres are different, but that is something Ducati can control. For once, when they test a bike, like the one they are doing in 2025, they do it with the 2024 tyres, which is why choosing the testing (privat) allocation is so important. We have seen cases, KTM for example, where they bike is very good, but when their front tyre gets changed it's a complete disaster. I think it was in 2021 or 2022, where they only work really well with the asymmetric tyre because Michelin hadn't change that. On top of that, Michelin does their own test we don't get any info, and send them to the teams via their engineers in the teams. So basically they would have numbers like in slow right corners the 2023 tyre is slower than the 2024 by 0.002 seconds. So Ducati and other factories can look at it and compare to it.

In their fancy computers they also might have programs that allows to look at that data by taking away those variables. I'm not sure how they do it, but teams have a way to compare data from different bikes when they are running different specs and different aeros and come up with the numbers and say 'we are 3 tenths faster with solution A in the straight, but we lose 0.15 in acceleration or lose 2 km/h on top speed', etc.

The way fans can do this is by looking the lap times Pecco or Martín did in 2023 and comparing them directly against Marc's. I don't remember the numbers, but I heard Marc is like 0.3s faster than the top GP23 in each race. We know tyres have a paper in this, but I don't think is that alone when no other GP23 is able to follow the GP24. Like yes now in the Asian and Australian part of the season they will be closer, but that's because Ducati focusses on the European races and struggle with low grip circuits, which are mainly in Asia and Argentina, and it's also where Marc excels (maybe Ducati wants to revert this trend?)

You also are comparing Marc's data against Bezzecchi's who last year was close to Pecco and Maertín, and look how big the gap is. This also allows to minimize the impart the weather and the tyres had in Marc's performance. So they are not just speculating like we are, Ducati is directly comparing number by number and making the corrections to see how much faster Marc is. And just a reminder, they saw it like in Portugal/Jerez, so it was nearly clear form the start.

Lol i also would like to see their data and see what they see in there. I what to know, which is the tyre impact? Is it a regular thing across all the field? Is it not? Each rider's top speed, how each riding style affects the speed at the corner entry, mid corner and exit, etc. Because yes, each riding style affect to all of this and it also explains Bezzecchi's flop. Bezz is a late breaker, but the GP23 forces an early breaking to get a better acceleration in the exit of the corner, which is the opposite of the GP22, and that suits Bezz style much better. martín also likes more the GP22, and he hates the GP24, which is supposed to be an hybrid. I also think Marc would have loved the GP22, but as he didn't use it, he's not having to re-learn the breaking like Bezz had.

Now Ducati can say what they want, but they kicked Martín, Enea and Bezz on top of letting Pramac go just to keep Marc. If they just wanted him so KTM doesn't have him, they could have let him stay in Gresini, but no, they wanted him in red because they know how dangerous Marc is. They also said that to align themself with that they had already said in 2023, that the Factory doesn't need Marc because they already had Bagnaia.

And yeah, I might agree that Marc with a KTM was something Ducati (or any other Factory might want). Basically the KTM is like the Honda in behaviour, but less temperamental and less prone to throw you out because the front closes less. Still, is a very difficult bike to ride. On top of that, KTM has Dani as a test rider, who already knows what Marc likes and needs, and Marc knows how to work with Dani, so they could have cooked something, specially for the new reg cycle.

Okay I think I went on a rant a bit. I'm sorry.

So short answer, They have ways to take away the different factors by having the other 4 GP23 in the grid and is more complex than just comparing the lap times. They probably use engine sensors, tyre usage, speed values and fuel consumption too among a million of things we don't know to come up with a number. And yes, Marc was that much fast that made Ducati change all their plans

[casspurrjoybell-20]

FOOLS IN LOVE - Chapter 21 - Part 2 BOOK THREE: 'Fools Fall in Love' Trilogy

*Warning - Adult Content*

Samuel Moretti

"Carter," I called to him with a wave when he looked up from his phone and waved back.

He gave me a quick hug when I got to him and we both settled into his car.

"We haven't talked in forever," Carter said.

"I have so much to tell you."

"Yeah, I'm sorry, I've been so busy with school," and having a mental breakdown every night, no big deal.

"But tell me everything."

And by the time we got to my house, I had heard two months worth of Carter's life that I had miss.

I gasped dramatically.

"Carter Matthews, are you in love with Elliott Wheeler?" I asked like it was the craziest notion.

We got out of his car and headed up to my house.

"Shut up, I'm not. Love is stupid," he claimed and I rolled my eyes but chuckled.

"But... I don't know," he shrugged.

"I really, really like him."

I smiled at Carter's confession

"Well I'm glad you made up but honestly... I'm surprised you're in an, not only exclusive relationship but a committed relationship with him. That's huge for you."

"Yeah. It's crazy that he still likes me after all the shit that went down and we've been officially together for a month, now."

I shoved his shoulder as we got up to my front door.

"Don't talk like that. There's a reason you're my best friend."

I stopped before opened my front door and switched to a serious tone.

"I'm sorry we haven't talked much. That's on me. It's just that... ya know, after..."

"I know," he said.

"It's okay."

Once I got into UIC and started seeing Noah again, part of me felt guilty about still being friends with Carter.

Like I couldn't talk to him and try to rekindle my friendship with Noah, so I stopped reaching out to Carter as much as I used to and he started texting me less and less.

But nonetheless, Carter said...

"You're still my best friend too."

I smiled and opened my front door.

My parents weren't home and I knew wouldn't be home for another couple hours but who I really wanted to see.

"DJ," I exclaimed as my cat came into view.

I knelt down and picked him up.

"Hi buddy, I've missed you. Gimme a kiss," I told him and he bumped his nose to mine.

I chuckled.

"I'm so sorry I've been gone."

"Damn, you show that cat more love than me," Carter said, shutting the front door behind us.

"Because DJ's my child, you're just.. you," I said jokingly.

"Ouch," Carter said with his hand over his heart.

I set DJ down and stood up but he followed me all the way to my bedroom as did Carter.

In my room, Carter spoke.

"So... how's college life?" he asked, sitting on my bed.

"Actually, I don't care about your classes. I want to hear the drama because for you to last minute call me up to come get you from the train station, either something happened with Benjamin or with Noah. My bet is on both."

I groaned and laid down on my bed, DJ hopping up and pressing his paws into my stomach until I pet him.

"You'd win that bet," and I told him everything up to Noah confessing to me in the bathroom.

"Holy shit, I thought I had an exciting two months. You have two guys pining over you. What the fuck?"

I rolled my eyes.

"Like you didn't have every girl and gay boy pining over you in high school."

"That's true. I guess my glory days are over."

"This has been far from glorious for me."

"I don't know what you're talking about. The love of your life told you he loves you and you're still questioning everything?"

I sat up and gave Carter an incredulous look.

"It's not that simple."

"It is. Sam, you got into UIC and ISU 'where your current boyfriend attends' and you chose the college your ex attends. If you didn't want him back, you wouldn't have done that. You want Noah back, so fucking take him, he basically put himself on a platter for you."

I shook my head.

"It's..." my heart was racing because of course what Carter was saying was the truth.

But then I registered what he said.

"How'd you know I got into ISU?" I questioned him because I never told anyone about that.

I told people I got rejected from ISU.

"Ah, cause I'm not a fucking idiot," he spoke with the 'duh' implied,

"You're obnoxiously smart, no way they denied you with your perfect GPA and every voluntary bullshit thing you did in high school."

"It wasn't a 'perfect' GPA," I muttered but Carter was right.

"Plus, really? Applying to the school your ex-boyfriend goes to? Might as well write on your forehead that you're still trying to get that Noah D."

I gapped at Carter and shoved him off the bed which only made him laugh.

"You're gonna tell me I'm wrong? I've seen the dick pic he sent you, I know he's..."

"Okay, okay," I said quickly.

"Jeez, don't bring up that mortifying moment. You guys traumatized me," I said dramatically, referencing to the time Noah sexted me 'back when we were together' during my lunch period and my old friends and Carter saw a very private photo of my boyfriend.

Carter found my mortification very humorous.

"Shut up."

Carter sat up on his knees with his elbows on my bed, facing me with sparkling eyes.

"Just tell me how long Benjamin's dick is because there's no way you're choosing him over Noah if his dick isn't as big or more lengthy than Noah's."

I rolled my eyes and shoved his face back.

He leaned up on his elbows on my carpeted ground, DJ walking over him like he's a jungle gym and asked...

"Okay but seriously... Benjamin and Noah... tell me."

I sighed but gave in.

"Fine, if you want to know... yeah, Noah is better in bed and is dick is bigger..."

Carter sat up as he hollered and wolf whistled before I could even finish my sentence.

"But," I added loudly.

"But Benjamin... he's... he's just more... comforting."

"Oh my God," Carter exclaimed then made a jerking off motion with his hand.

"Oh my God. Drop him, Sam."

"But I like him. He's kind and..."

"And blah, blah, blah. For fuck sake, I don't even care if you get with Noah at this point but do yourself a favor and dump Boring Benjamin."

"You guys are such dick-heads with that nickname," I said yet still chuckled.

Talking with Carter felt good and helped me untangle some of the mess in my mind.

By the end of the day when Carter dropped me back off at the train station and we said our goodbyes, I wasn't scared anymore of my decision with breaking up with Benjamin.

Noah, on the other hand... I needed more time to think about.

But time really did work in funny ways.

[notebookmusical]

Hi! This is part 2. Wow I just watched the video of him singing since I had a chance and was pretty impressed. His voice was low and Stars is such a hard song to sing so I guess I'm not worried anymore, that he can't pull off the role because of singing. We will see how it goes but hopefully I can watch the proshot of Merrily first lol.

Speaking of pro shots, I also heard about the Bonnie and Clyde one and would love to watch Jeremy in that so hopefully I will at some point but I'm not sure when. Like I'm worried If I rent it, my sister and I won't have time to watch or she will be tired idk. I also don't know whatever happened to the Waitress one either. Btw, for your vibes, my instinct was to go with Les Mis cuz it reminds me of you. Not just because of your name either, but because how much you love it..but your vibes also match with Waitress too! It just makes sense.

Anyway I was able to find an Aaron Sweeney bootleg and a Jeremy Little Shop one so maybe I will watch them this week. After some digging, I guess it's alright or easy to find but I was more interested in ones currently still on Broadway and I'm not sure they will be available yet. However there might be a Gatsby video out there since I think I saw it giffed. I didn't have a chance to watch the Lempicka one yet either or listen to the Gatsby cast album yet, but I'm listening later today and will share my thoughts. Also I just found a copy of the book the other day so maybe I will finally read it! I need to get back into reading again as a better distraction haha. Instead I listened to The Notebook, Illinoise and Water For Elephants. Suffs is fine..I listened to it twice and it has some catchy songs but wasn't into the story or anything and found it slightly hard to follow, but it was also the only original musical the season so I guess that's something. I don't really have too many thoughts about it but people always like different things. Like I love the Outsiders based on the story and music but I know a lot of people absolutely hate it for winning best musical. I would hope you would like it but if you didnt, that's also okay. I think what I loved about the Notebook and The Outsiders is that they feel almost totally separate from the movie to me now, in a good way. Like I love both, and I was using the movie to follow the story listening to the songs, but i wasn't like..this is exactly like the movie..they truly offered something a little different and the songs matched the stories. What are your favorite songs from the Notebook? Also, what did you think of the casting choices and how the parts were swapped with their races with the old couple? At first my sister and I were confused but then they said that was the point. Also are you an Ingrid Michaelson fan? I found out she has an album coming out next month too. If you wanna share more about what watching the show is like, with the rain scene maybe, I would love that too!

I am not as familiar with the Water for Elephants movie..but listening almost made me wanna watch it again to see if it was similar or different. I only watched it once so I couldn't really remember much about it. I'm a fan of Izzy Mccalla, Grant Gustin and Paul Alexander Nolan so I enjoyed it. I'd say it did have parts of a more Broadway sound with some of the circus stuff and in general talk singing dialogue in the show. My sister and I noticed that 3 and a half shows had to do with an affair from the women being taken and we thought that was funny. The Notebook, Gatsby and Water for Elephants lol. Anyway you might like it if you wanna give it a listen. I liked Illinoise but also couldn't get much of the story and it felt like listening or imitating Sufjan so I'm sure it's better to watch since I couldn't get much of the story. Hell's Kitchen I was able to follow some or most of the story and am a fan of the singing and performers too, like Shoshana Bean so it's maybe worth a listen. We also said how there was a mix of stories that were teen and adult, and also a lot they were looking back on the past. That could be cuz a lot of them are based on books though lol.

Omg of course I've watched the Spring Awakening bootleg haha. Sometimes I just pick a few songs to listen to, that's why instead of the whole thing or watching but I love it so much! I love that there's nothing else quite like it. I think the only thing I really compare it to is like Next to Normal, and that could be biased. One because of Aaron and Jonathan who are similar performers to me, and two because these were the first musicals I learned about that werent based on anything and also the first bootlegs I watched lol. I think a performance of the show would be so cool so i'm sorry you didn't like the show! What was so wrong with it if you don't mind saying?

Also happy anniversary to Speak Now TV! I might be a day late but still. How does the album hold up for you and what's your opinion of the vault songs? Idk if we ever talked about it. I haven't really been into Taylor as much but I forgot to mention that she sang Castles Crumbling with Hayley Williams about a week ago and it made me nostalgic for my show. Hayley Williams also posted about it being 1 year and Taylor didn't lol. She also sang Mary's Song! But too bad it was only part of it. I haven't been guessing surprise songs as much but I actually guessed that she would sing a song from debut and mash it up with a song from Red..which was right, but just the wrong songs lol. She also sang a I Can See You and Mine mashup which actually sound a bit similar in the beginning of the songs. It's too bad she already played it instead of doing something to celebrate it. I'm guessing she will be singing Last Kiss tomorrow cuz of July 9th and i am putting it here so I can be right for once! Idk if it will be on guitar or piano cuz it could go either way. I also think she might sing the whole song instead of mashing it up..and maybe she will sing Timeless again since she seems to be in a romantic mood. I just noticed they sort of rhyme so they could be almost mashed up lol but I think that's all I'm gonna guess for now haha. I hope I'm right! I haven't got around to listening to those albums yet but I will next week. I am spending another week on Broadway stuff with Gatsby, a musical cast album called The Violet Hour that Jeremy and other Broadway people sing on, and possibly Lempicka after I watch it this weekend. That also reminds me I need to watch Hazbin Hotel too, which he is a part of. I usually only listen to three ish albums a week so ya. What have you been listening to? Sorry this got kinda long again too but I hope you have an awesome week!!! I hope you enjoy my long messages but you can always take time replying. I guess I missed talking to you! 🩷

🩷 i'm so sorry for the awkward delay in replying! my friend showed up early to get me for the basketball game we went to tonight </3 although honestly... if i hadn't been distracted (buying oh mary tickets) i definitely would've had time to answer the rest of this ask before i left. in the time it took for me to answer that last ask and start answering this one i bought tickets to see the thursday oh mary 5pm matinee. bailey loves me and is putting up with me and my nonsense. i also have a packed schedule now. oh well!

i was also impressed when i heard him sing! i was like oh! okay! i am really, really excited for the merrily proshot and i hope it does not take years for it to be released. but at least it's been filmed!

i haven't gotten around to watching it yet but i do need to! loveeee bonnie & clyde! i was listening to the west end cast recording earlier! you could always wait to rent until you know you have time! i did laugh about the les mis thing; i was definitely expecting it to win and was pleasantly surprised when waitress won! waitress is one of my favorites though (obviously) so i am quite pleased with that result.

a lot of the songs on the notebook took a while to grow on me! my days is obviously a favorite, so is iron in the fridge, but there are just so many that really get to me (i always cry when i listen to it). i think it was a bit odd! i remember being like ?????? when i saw it and also when i heard the casting announcement and a lot of the audience was like ??????? but! they are all such good actors. and i am! i love ingrid michaelson's music! the chain is one of my favorite songs of all time. very excited for her album! oh gosh the rain scene is done SO well!! i will elaborate on this after i've seen it again but i remember being SO impressed with it!

i will give water for elephants a listen soon! my friend saw it and liked it but didn't love it :( i think the big sell of illinoise is that it's dance heavy ( i heard it's more like vignettes rather than a cohesive plot of a show ) so i really hope we get a bootleg and that it tours someday!

oh gosh there was so much that went wrong with the production i saw! i have a lot of ... thoughts on that theatre and their artistic direction. i love love loved the revival, and i think the direction + staging + double casting added a lot of complexity to the show. and so i think seeing anything after that would've been a disappointment, but i think my mediocre show experience was really down to two things: 1) a bad show + 2) a bad audience. i think shows do themselves a disservice when they treat their audience like they're stupid. everyone knows that the songs in spring awakening are about ... what they're about. we do not need it spelt out for us. the set didn't do it any favors (it was very bare/minimal — wooden chairs, some trees, and two big rocks that the actors kept tripping over). the casket in the left behind scene was a chair and it was very ... odd. the costumes weren't very great, but the one thing i will not understand is the choice to put wendla and moritz in grim reaper sims-esque outfits (i get why i just think they were very off putting and also jarring in comparison to everything else). a lot of the reviews said the wendla and moritz were terrible; we had an understudy moritz (who admittedly also wasn't great) but i really don't think the wendla was bad at all — she just didn't come off as naive/innocent as i feel like wendla starts off being, but she wasn't like that terrible. the moritz and martha were the saving grace of this show; very clearly talented, out-acted and out-sung everyone else. just very, very good in a very, very mediocre production of spring awakening. a lot of the actors chose (or were told to?) riff as much as they could, which ... well could is a stretch, but also spring awakening is not a show you riff through. and audience etiquette was just absolutely horrid, like why are you laughing at the most inappropriate scenes? why are you hooting and hollering like it's a sports game? it was just ... so deeply terrible. i hate to say it but i understand why one of our local reviewers called it a two dimensional one note show.

happy (incredibly belated) speak now taylor's version anniversary to you too! i haven't actually listened to taylor much lately, but i think the album holds up fine and my favorite vault songs from it still haven't changed (foolish one, castles crumbling, timeless). i still think red has the best vault, and then i would say fearless, then speak now, then 1989. what about you? i really wish she had sung mary's song in full :/ same with a place in this world. i think the mashups are a fun concept, but i don't think i like them all that much — i'd rather hear the songs in full, and i think sometimes they're mashups just for the sake of having a mashup vs. something that has a clear theme + is thought out. if you could hear her do any two mashups (one on piano, and one on guitar), what would you choose?

i haven't really been listening to a whole lot! i listened to the new clairo album today and loved it (i love clairo, so i wasn't shocked that i loved it), and have still been mostly looping brat! aside from that i haven't really been listening to much!

i love your long messages! i always love chatting with you, even if it takes me a while to reply — i usually do read your messages at they come in and then it takes me a while to reply over time but i love it! speaking of, did you know our one year anniversary is coming up? july 14th!! i can't believe we've been chatting for almost a YEAR! happy one year, my friend! 🤍 i hope you're having a good july so far! any fun plans for your weekend or week? sending love!

[little-corritrice]

George ~ Christmas Eve

Sitting in the train booth, I was picking at my hands as we were so close to getting to the platform. The twins sat in front of me, Fred semi-glaring at me, while George looked at me with a look of love, and somewhat sympathy. See, I was a Malfoy. I wasn't a Slytherin, but a Gryffindor by some weird chance. Everyone was skeptical of me, not liking that a Malfoy was in the Gryffindor house. Everyone automatically assumed that because I was a Malfoy, I was like them. They were wrong, of course, and George learned that one day when his prank went seriously wrong on me, and I had broken down. He apologized, of course, and since that day always was joking and sometimes flirting, with me any chance he got. That sparked his family to hear about us dating one day, and let me tell you, I would be dead if looks killed.

As the train came to a stop, I was very much racing my mind on excuses to leave, but George always turned it down, and told me I was coming home with him. I just decided to give up after a while, knowing that I wouldn't win. The ride home was very awkward and there was definitely tension in the air. As we got to the Burrow, I quickly got out, grabbing my bags. Mrs. Weasley was standing outside, smiling brightly as everyone ran to her. I walked behind them slowly, and stood behind everyone. It seemed the mood shifted as soon as everyone gathered behind her, Fred whispering something in her ear. I stepped forward slightly, looking at the ground. "Um...hello. My name is y/n. Thank you for having me." I said, raising my hand to shake. She looked at it for a second before shaking it, giving me a short smile. "You're welcome." She said, and let me go. "George, why don't you take her to Percy's room?" Mrs. Weasley said, and I looked down as everyone was still glaring at me.

George led me up the steps, and into the room. I set my stuff by the bed, and sat down. "Hey, they will warm up. Just like I did." He said reassuringly, but it didn't really help my feelings. "C-can I just have a moment alone? Please?" I mumbled, and George frowned. He nodded, kissing my forehead before walking out. I placed my hands over my face, and took deep, shaky breaths, trying not to have a break down. I gathered myself, and George knocked on the door, telling me it was dinner time. I followed him downstairs, and he made me sit next to him. Mr. Weasley joined us, and he looked over everyone smiling. Until he got to me. He didn't say anything, but just looked at me. I felt like such an outcast, and my anxiety was creeping up more and more. The dinner was going over, no one talking to me, except George.

The next couple of days were absolute torture. George's siblings made it clear I wasn't liked by pulling ruthless pranks, and just all out bullying me. I hated every minute of it because I couldn't say or do anything in fear that they would only dislike me more. I cried endless amounts of time at night, making sure to sound proof the room. I couldn't understand why they couldn't see I was nothing like the Malfoy name. I was the total opposite of them, but everyone was too wrapped up with the image of me being another Draco that it clouded how I really was. It was Christmas Eve, and I wasn't at all feeling the holiday spirit. Fred had made it very hard to with all his pranks, and words he whispered to his siblings. Some of his pranks left me with scars and bruises, or burns. Again, I couldn't say anything in fear. I just wanted to get away from it all.

As I sat outside on the grass, the sun was going down and everyone was either inside or already in bed. I watched as the color slowly drained from the sky. Out of nowhere, I suddenly was drenched in cold water and a slime-like substance. "Haha!" I heard behind me, seeing Fred laughing and Ginny and Ron smirking, laughing as well. Tears welled in my eyes, and I ran inside, going straight to the room. I shut the door, locking it after. I slid down the wall, holding my hands. I started crying, everything becoming too much. They obviously didn't like me, and were trying to drive me away, and I was so fed up with it. I wasn't like my nasty brother, or father. I was different, and they didn't want to see that. A hard knock on the door snapped me from my thoughts. "y/n! Please open the door." George said, desperately, panting slightly. I ignored him, burying my head in my knees.