#but I sure am bad at it

[vroomingrussell]

Charles Leclerc x Plus Size Reader

When online haters began to body shame Charles’ childhood best friend, he confesses something he’s been holding in for years. Some angst but mostly positive affirmations.

First F1 fic…. Enjoy.

You stood unmoving in the Ferrari garages; unable to peel your eyes away from the scene unfolding infront of you. Charles, you best friend since childhood, was moments away from fulfilling a dream he has had for years, a dream that had seemed unlikely, breaking the ‘Monaco curse’.

You were very aware of the cameras set on you and the rest of his family; they were feeding off the tension in the room, displaying a vulnerable moment to the crowd; and then it happened, he crossed the finish line and finally you felt like you could breathe again; with tears brimming in your eyes you embraced Arthur and then his mother. The cheers of victory ringing out in your ear.

Charles was elated and right fully so; he drove brilliantly and worked hard for this moment, in that moment he was the king of the world and you were happy to be a loyal subject. The celebration went on through the day and late into the night.

You smiled as your best friend looped a hand around your waist, drunkenly singing to the song in the club. “Charlie I have to use the bathroom” you called out to him.

“No stay, dance with me” he begged, but you needed to put some separation between you; the prying eyes of the other club goers left you feeling more exposed that the short black dress you wore did.

Monaco was home to beautiful models and heiresses, actresses and singers, beautiful woman that did not have shop outside of the sample sizes the designer boutiques that was on every street in Monte Carlo. You knew you were beautiful, you were confident in the body you had been given, curved like the goddesses your mother had said. But being around Charles always garnered attention you didn’t like. People that didn’t know you always had a lot to say, nothing nice. Women that wanted his attention hated you for having it; even though you were nothing more than best friends.

Reluctantly, Charles let you go “you owe me a dance Y/N” he called after you as you rush to find the bathroom.

You stood in the toilet stall, trying to ease the anxiousness that had settled in your chest. The bathroom door swung open and you could hear a hushed conversation.

“Did you see the girl that he was with?”

“Ick, horrendous whale” one girl giggled “Charles is such a pretty boy, it’s a shame he’s friends with someone like her”

“She’s so in love with him, poor thing does not realize he only likes models” the other said.

The rest of the conversation was drowned out by the loud beating of your heart. Online comments were something you were used to, the harassment from trolls never took a toll on you, but hearing it for yourself from girls you can imagine looked nothing close to you was a different kind of pain, and the reminder that Charles wouldn’t date someone like you, well you didn’t want to dwell on that, not when you had drilled it into your head since you were teens.

-

You skipped out on the rest of the celebrations after that. Heading home instead to your dog, the comfort of your paints.

By the time you had showered and changed into your favorite sleeping shorts and t shirt; the sun had began to rise over the beach, which you had a perfect view of from your balcony. The soft pinks and peach mixed together beautifully as you tried to replicate the view in front of you on canvas; for the moment you were in grossed by creating you didn’t hear the door open and close to your apartment.

“Y/N” Charles shouted, startling you.

“Christ Charles” you answered, hand over your heart as you stood up “do you want to kill me?”

“Why’d you leave?” He asked, not beating around the bush.

“Nothing- I was tired” you lied. Charles rolled his eyes at that, he knew you better than anyone, he could tell there was something on your mind.

“Truth”

“Would you date me?” You asked.

“Y/N” he said softly

“No, no I know, we’re friends, you don’t have feeling for me like that, but would you date me, or someone that looks likes me?” You gestured down to your body, soft stomach and thicker thighs, arms that weren’t toned nor defined.

“Who said something to you” He looked at you with a frown.

“Does it matter? Answer the question”

“Of course I would, specially you if you wished”

“Char, don’t joke” you pouted.

“Y/N.. I’m not”

“Charles, please” you sighed softly.

“I’m serious, you are the most beautiful, talented and smart woman I know, you are ways out of my league” he steps closer, hands reaching out to rest on your hips. “I did not think it would be possible for me to confess this is how I fell, how I’ve felt for a long time”

“Why?”

“Because everytime anyone mentions it, you said we are just friends, I thought you did not want to be with me”

“I’d be crazy not to want you, but we just can’t” you shook your head “I already get so much shit for being your friend, could you even imagine what they’d put me through if we dated?”

Charles shook his head and cupped your cheeks “sweet Y/N, why does it matter what anyone says, especially when they don’t know us?”

“It shouldn’t matter but it does, it hurts to be picked apart and shamed for existing… I have to think twice about the clothes I wear or what I eat in public, I cannot even fall in love without being afraid that I will be judged because I don’t look a certain way or because I am a certain size. It’s frustrating even when i am at my most confident, I worry about what other will say”

The silence stretches for a long moment before Charles pulls you in his arms “you know what I love the most about you? You are most radiant person I’ve ever met, you radiate this kinda of energy i cannot put into words, you make me feel calm and happy and confident.. you have not seen the effect you have on people; you can always put a smile on someone’s face, you are always so kind and gentle… I have seen the comments; the words people have said about you, the nasty ones and the good… and there’s so much good… you have inspired so many young women to embrace their own beauty… Y/N I love you, you might not believe me today because of the doubts that’s been planted in your mind but I will show you” he kisses the top of your head, vowing to show you just how true his words were.

[skrunksthatwunk]

see 0 note flop posts aren't that bad when they're personal but 0 note fandom posts feel literally so bad. like if you don't wanna play toys with me anymore just say that. i'll pack up my super cool awesome things and go and i'll sit on the other side of the playground by myself and i won't even look at you. fuck

[floccinaucinihilipilificationa]

[cobblestone-butch]

Love love love watching Pearl, Etho, and Tango talk game balancing and rule clarification. Pearl sees games as a skill to master, and her perspective is concentrated towards what feels both achievable and fair, throughout a journey from beginner to pro. Etho sees games as a puzzle to solve, a system to optimise, and his concerns about game balancing focus on where the loopholes are or what could be exploited in a way that produces skewed results. Tango's role is creating and running a game that is engaging, so he curtails pure 'game design' suggestions by asking if something is going to be fun, for the players of all levels and the viewers, too. In conversations between them, the points they raise are how they show their personal investment in their game and its players. I think that's neat

[oh-gh0st]

i heart these rivals so much. maybe they'll kill each other. maybe they'll kiss. maybe they'll make ou

[platoapproved]

So? Who broke the ice? insp (x)

[ruporas]

it's time to go, my love (ID in alt)

[kizzer55555]

The Vampire Aesthetic

Ok so Danny knows two billionaires personally and they really couldn’t be more different. Yet they had one thing in common. A vampire aesthetic. Sam is fully into goth. Spiderwebs, bats, the color black. She enjoys fangs and fake blood and the darkness of her soul. Meanwhile, Vlad is Vlad. If his name wasn’t enough, the dark clothing, pale skin, and flying around with a cape and fangs with coffins in his mansion really sells it.

Danny doesn’t know many rich people so he thinks this might be some kind of trend. (If Paulina is rich, her family likes the chupacabra) So he just thinks that all rich people have some kind of vampire thing going on.

Cue Danny somehow ending in the Wayne household. Maybe he was brought over as a friend of one of the bats, maybe rescued from a field trip/vacation gone wrong, maybe some other situation. But he is there in civilian form with civilian Waynes and Danny just takes a good long look around the inside of the mansion.

“So where’s the vampire aesthetic?

Everyone freezes.

Danny just starts looking around, checking behind paintings and feeling the walls for secret levers. Used to secret passages with Vlad and possibly Sam. The Fentons definitely had them when they were temporarily rich.

“Come on, I know you guys are hiding it.”

Cue the entire batfamily thinking that this is another Tim and that he is fully aware that these people are the batfamily. Danny hangs around the mansion more and the bats just start dropping their disguises and not even bothering to hide stuff around Danny because they assume he already knows. (Possibly even trying to recruit him to be a new bat) Meanwhile, Danny, who does not know these people are batman and his birds, just does not pick up on any of it.

He grew up in a health violation with a giant ballon observatory lab above his head and a portal to the afterlife in his basement. He is a half dead teenager who has tea with the god of time and his godfather is the other parent to his clone child. He’s used to death lazers being scattered across his home and mysterious stains on clothing.

People are weird! He doesn’t judge!

[isabelleadjani]

LINGLING KWONG in makeup by homeless_makeupb

[egophiliac]

just thinking about hair and faces

[softinvasions]

DIRECTOR'S NOTE • Nov. 2023

You can't go home. This play has a particular care for and interest in its victims. The resident

inciting event is endless. tragedy is much more concerned with footnotes than it is with gods.

well acquainted with what happens afterward, storytellers claim they can't diverge from what's

written: resist. rage against what must be. tell a story about war without talking

about love. survive its aftermath. fail to find resolution. make this suffering

a home. There's no breaking this chain— fate, as always, gets its way.

Poetry assembled from the program of an Oresteia production. Nov. 2023.

[astral-aromance]

I feel like 99% of the Silmarillion fans forget that Fëanor was actually a very likeable guy for most of his life.

That is literally a significant part of why people followed him. A lot of people loved and admired him. He wasn't mean to random people, and definitely not "a toxic husband/father." The whole point of his story is that he was universally beloved, which is what made his fall so impactful.

[inkskinned]

he says i hate everyone except you and that is addictive and that is kind of romantic and beautiful because you're young and you're kind of a sarcastic asshole too and you don't like bad boys, per say, but you don't really like good ones either. and you like that you were the exception, it felt like winning.

except life is not a romance book, and he was kind of being honest. he doesn't learn to be nice to your friends. he only tolerates your family. you have to beg him to come with you to birthday parties, he complains the whole time. you want to go on a date but - people are often there, wherever you're going. he's just so angry. about everything, is the thing. in the romance book, doesn't he eventually soften? can't you teach him, through your own sense of whimsy and comfort?

at first - you know introverts often need smaller friend groups, and honestly, you're fine staying at home too. you like the small, tidy life you occupy. you're not going to punish him for his personality type.

except: he really does hate everyone but you. which means he doesn't get along with his therapist. which means he has no one to talk to except for you. which means you take care of him constantly, since he otherwise has no one. which means you sometimes have to apologize for him. which means he keeps you home from seeing your friends because he hates them. you're the single exception.

about a decade from this experience, you'll type into google: how to know if a relationship is codependent.

he wraps an arm around you. i hate everyone except you. these days, you're learning what he's actually confessing is i have very little practice being kind.

[markscherz]

Bad Newts: Amphibians are in Serious Trouble

My colleagues and I have just had a paper published in Nature, based on our efforts to assess almost all amphibian species for the IUCN Red Lists. The major takeaway messages:

It is a bad time to be an amphibian

Two fifths of all amphibians are threatened with extinction.

Salamanders are the most threatened group; three fifths of all salamanders are threatened with extinction!

Climate change is a major driver of amphibian declines globally

Habitat loss, especially due to agriculture, is a problem for the vast majority of amphibians

Chytrid pandemics have caused and continue to cause catastrophic declines of both salamanders and frogs

Protected areas and careful management are working as strategies! They are actively improving the outlook of some species

As many as 222 amphibian species may have gone extinct in recent times; of those, 185 are suspected extinct but not yet confirmed.

Our paper is Open Access, you can read it here!

Photo of Atelopus hoogmoedi by Jaime Culebras, used with permission

[sopuu]

ARCANE IS HEREEEE 💥💥💥

[tangledinink]

it's the gemaversary so leo gets to go off, as a special treat.

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( next update is already available on patreon! )