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identityarchitect · 2 years

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[18/12 version; check notes to see if theres an updated version]

quick summary:

- newt schottelkotte posts an article about RQ mismanagement & exploitation (https://medium.com/@newtschott/whos-afraid-of-alex-j-newall-ae3a67f3a5e1)

- the first version of the article didn't note that newt is a marketing director at fable and folly, another podcasting network; this has now been edited in

- they cite approximately three sources in total, mostly coming back to unverifiable anonymous RQ affiliates (ex employees, people who were offered a position, etc). the other two sources are a tweet from RQ specifically about the official discord, and a line in the beginning stating that "The information presented in this article is not only taken from interviews with my sources, but publicly available data that I was able to find and access.". there is no further clarification of what data, where it came from, etc, and the only time a source is linked or references is the aforementioned tweet from RQ.

ETA: this is false! there are multiple sources on multiple different things.

- (https://rustyquill.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Operations-Update-2020-PUBLIC-RELEASE-1.pdf) this RQ operations update was used to source two quotes on RQ's payment structure. it's worth noting that the payments listed in the article are all above both the uk minimum wage and (with the exclusion of the £11 figure) the national living wage (https://www.gov.uk/national-minimum-wage-rates, https://www.livingwage.org.uk/calculation)

- (https://twitter.com/TheRustyQuill/status/1438175815615791111?s=20&t=m1Z2vI0Fmpvq3gVt72gIvQ) this rq tweet was used to source a screenshot from rq's statement about the discord.

- (https://twitter.com/TheRustyQuill/status/1408001969218859008?s=20&t=ngBXzvyzl4PJY9XpOL7DjA) this rq thread was used to source a screenshot from rq about the transcripts.

- there is a relevant link to the unofficial fan transcripts, although i personally wouldn't necessarily call this a source.

- (https://medium.com/acast/how-to-go-from-0-to-millions-growth-strategies-for-fiction-podcasters-fde8d6dc0cb5) this callum dougherty interview was used to source a quote from callum dougherty about TMA's success.

- the interview is misquoted. newt's article quotes:

"Believe it or not, Magnus was something of a hit right out the gate. Comparative to I guess what would be considered a popular audio-drama podcast now. It found an audience quite quickly… To borrow a phrase from Alex Newall [Rusty Quill CEO and founder], I’d also mention that nothing at Rusty Quill — despite what it might seem — has ever happened by accident. And the factor that I would consider — and this may be my own ego — is the show began to grow really dramatically because this was the point that I came in."

- this misses out a relevant paragraph, reading

"Though what I would certainly say is that it was in 2019 that the show began to grow, and it went on what I would describe as a 10-month journey from being considered a very popular podcast, to the most popular fiction podcast in the world. That was a line of growth that looked pretty much like a straight line upwards, where we were finding month-on-month listenership doubling at a point. Every single month you could see it — there were hundreds of thousands, now there was a million this month, and it would go in that direction." (emphasis my own)

- newt's article goes on to state

"As someone who engaged in the fandom side of audio drama for a long time, including the period of Magnus’ rise to popularity to its finale, I remember things quite differently. TMA wasn’t nearly the smash hit Dougherty describes until about 2019, when the season four finale saw the consummation of Jon and Martin’s slow-burn enemies-to-lovers storyline. Until that point, I had never heard of TMA." (emphasis my own).

- it's also worth noting that newt's article didn't include the typical ellipses in square brackets to indicate missing text from a quote - it simply has an ellipses, which makes it seem that dougherty trailed off and then continued.

- at the end of the article, there are multiple links to social media accounts of people who may provide a list of laid off employees, intended for those looking to hire ex-RQ employees

- the rest of the claims made are either unsourced or from newt's anonymous sources.

- RUSTY QUILL HAVE RESPONDED: https://rustyquill.com/2022/12/13/public-response-to-an-opinion-piece/

- FABLE AND FOLLY HAVE ALSO RESPONDED: https://fableandfolly.com/2022/12/15/our-statement-on-the-article/

- rq has posted crew testimonials: https://rustyquill.com/crew-testimonials/

- tal, one of the editors, not affiliated w/ f&f, says this isn't a marketing thing, was run past two editors and multiple lawyers

- there's some truth in the article, mostly a lot of plausible but unverifiable things, and some plain misinformation / bad faith readings [i.e; article states that "there’s a very good chance that the list on Kickstarter of stretch goal guest writers may be the totality of the people in the audio fiction indie world that have still not had an experience with Rusty Quill." this is provably false; many of the guest writers have RQ podcasts or have interacted with RQ before, although it may be intended to mean bad experiences rather than simply an experience]

- ben meredith retweeted the article w/o comment; not sure what he's agreeing with. he also liked a tweet reading "Alright, read the thing. I’m terribly sorry for everyone who has been dealt with so badly by Rusty Quill - and I can only imagine the distress that must have incited this action. I hope these concerns are taken seriously, and that these issues are resolved swiftly.“ (https://twitter.com/GejWatts/status/1602420853630697475)

- ben meredith has now un-retweeted the article, although he hasn’t unliked the tweet about it

- malevolent podcast's official twitter posted

"I don't know much but I will say that if you decide to stop listening to my show; a show I work so very hard on, because of an article that presumptively and poorly attempts to speak for me, then I think you're hurting the thing you intend to be helping." (https://twitter.com/MalevolentCast/status/1602441871992782849?s=20&t=Z_86aECzgsdU9OgtfoiU6g)

- "harlan guthrie [creator of malevolent], quoted above, spoke on the topic in his discord server, invictus. i'm nor comfortable posting screencaps of his words, which were not intended as a public statement, without permission, but the highlights include: "The timing, authorship, and intent of this article doesn't sit well with me." "Overall, this isn't a watergate, neither is it an expose of a dangerous company, it's akin to a glassdoor report with half truths. My experience with RQ has been absolutely fine across the board." "The contract is in no way misleading nor manipulative the way the article would make it seem (no moreso than any other contract)"" (via orchidbreezefc on tumblr; i am not personally in this discord)

- malevolent podcast’s tumblr also posted this:

https://www.tumblr.com/malevolentcast/703493906802868224/you-probably-already-know-about-this-but-an

- the creator(? correct if wrong) of The Town Whispers and Tiny Terrors tweeted:

"What do I say here? I work day and night on @/TheTownWhispers & @/tinyterrorspod. I personally create, fund, produce, and direct my shows. What a shame to see someone speak on behalf of what I and others have built for years at our own expense dominate the conversation. No one reached out to me about "the article" ahead of time, no one asked me if I consented to be spoken for, I don't appreciate people victimizing me & weaponizing it for personal gain, & I don't appreciate that it's being passed off as a benevolent act of courage on my behalf." (https://twitter.com/ColeWeev/status/1602447361045065728?s=20&t=aAf1T5fen0FzXuAAllevLA)

- woe.begone's official twitter tweeted: "The only thing I want to say about The Article is that I am concerned that readers will believe things about my show and my relationship to my network that have not been my experience. I think this is what others mean when they describe feeling "spoken for."" (https://twitter.com/woebegonepod/status/1602453798332538881)

- the cellar letters twitter tweeted: "About the article: I am not going to attempt to invalidate anyone's thoughts or feelings... but I will say that it absolutely does not speak for me or align with my relationship and experiences with the network or anyone involved at the company. Love you all. Go create stuff." (https://twitter.com/CellarLetters/status/1602457106271330304)

- multiple people have reportedly been blocked by newt on twitter for criticising the article, or asking questions about it. (https://twitter.com/ReassessHistory/status/1602425447098228737?s=20&t=IQ9wZJuHgqX2mgfDvTizqA, https://twitter.com/ReassessHistory/status/1602455204557127681?s=20&t=j22xMz0Hxw0yvW6Oz7B8SQ)

- alexander j newall has given a statement to podnews! it reads;

"Redundancies can be a highly emotional topic but this opinion blog is full of provable factual inaccuracies and its writers include individuals that hold senior positions at competitor companies that stand to monetarily gain from a reputational attack. We were approached for comment under false pretences and were not given a copy of this piece by the author. Numerous cast, crew and contractors have notified us directly in solidary about similarly misleading approaches made to them for this blog.

Rusty Quill has already internally released its 2023 Operations Update which included factual information on these topics along with information on out 93% RQ Network creator retention rate and our independent Employee Satisfaction Survey which scored an exceptional minimum of 4.3 out of 5 in all areas. This Operations update is due for public release in the new year."

(https://podnews.net/update/audio-drama-company-drama)

- audio editor michelle snow made a thread about this: https://twitter.com/MeeshSnowDoes/status/1602717570729132035?s=20&t=mMfAO5TjNFBNWQ_aMfhsHw

- in the (unofficial) “Rusty Quill PLEBS” discord, the creator of the storage papers said “The RQN stuff - I'll just say it's not entirely accurate or, at least, it's not the full picture which means it's painted in an unnecessarily bad light. I can't comment on the RQO stuff because I'm as much in the dark about that as anyone. But, as others on RQN have said, there's at least some of that that hasn't been my experience (and, for the record, I myself am not legally obligated to not say negative things about RQ).”

- annie (an RQ editor) retweeted this (https://twitter.com/serhawke/status/1602375132579827713?s=20&t=Q3iAjLLwsdIqYShTKinvHw)

- this thread also has a useful tweet further up on how to assess the utility of a source:

"PURPOSE - what was it meant to achieve? ACCURACY - can the facts be proven or disproven? CONTENT - what does it actually tell you? LIMITATIONS - what is it NOT telling you? Why? AUTHOR - biased? DATE - was its publication date "convenient" for any reason? Firsthand or hearsay?"

[this method is from their partial study of history in uni]

edits: added crew testimonials, updated tl;dr

tldr: newt (marketing director at a different podcast network) posted an article making serious allegations of mistreatment & worker exploitation towards RQ. the article has some plain misinformation, some truth, and mainly unverifiable info from anonymous sources

multiple rq creators stated they weren’t asked about this, and that their experiences w/ rq aren’t accurate to the article and/or that it doesnt speak for them. all of the crew testimonials from rq’s post are positive.

rq have responded, saying that the allegations made in the article are false. fable & folly have responded, saying that newt made + posted the article of their own accord. i think newt’s working on a followup article, which i’ll add here when it’s released

#rusty quill

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ell-arts · 11 months

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Here's a little something I've wanted to do for a while! This was made mostly out of curiosity, as a way to speculate on what colour genetics could've influenced the look of characters we've heard of but were never shown (Elli's dad, Bet and Stratos's sister, why Spheria is not yellow like Sunny, etc)

Some of these look pretty empty, so I will revisit this in the future to add more members to each family tree. These trees are also sprinkled with some oc's and my own headcanons.

Here are a few notes/reasonings/headcanons I have for each family:

Spheros:

My headcanon for the Spheros siblings' father is that his name is Exo Spheros, and his colours were quite dark. Both Exo and Rotunda came from families that were very mixed, and as a result, their children came in a variety of colours. Exo's side tends to have darker colours, while Rotunda's side has lighter colours.

Exo has bright red eyes, while Rotunda has green eyes. The clash of these colours caused a range of muted browns and reds in their children's eyes.

Rotunda's hair was white in the show, most likely from old age, therefore I made it so that her natural hair colour is the same as her daughter's hair colour, in order for it to make a bit more sense as to how her granddaughter (Elliptica) ended up with pink hair.

Partial Albinism is a dormant and recessive gene that runs in Rotunda's side of the family. It's a mutation where only the skin of the individual is affected: their skin lacks pigment and turns out white, while their hair and eye colour retain pigment and inherit a mix of their parents' colours. This mutation has been dormant throughout Rotunda's family line, until it showed its face in Betrayus' colours. Since Rotunda's side of the family has lighter colours, the overall lack of pigmentation has a link with this gene.

My headcanon name for Stratos and Betrayus' sister is Radia Spheros. Along with Betrayus, she has very little resemblance to either parent, precisely because of their mixed heritage. There is a little bit of dark red on Exo's side of the family, and this combined with Rotunda's lighter colours made Radia come out as a muted pink. Radia is the oldest, followed by Stratos and then Betrayus.

Unironically, all the Spheros' siblings have hair that is styled in a similar way to their father's.

Headcanon name for Elli's father is Ellipton (Ellip for short). Unlike Radia's side of the family, Ellip's family had a long line of consistent purples and blues, so these genes are stronger. Therefore, Elli looks a lot more like her father than her mother, and this is also why Elli was named after him.

Pac:

Headcanon that the reason why Spheria is not yellow like Sunny is because Spheria and Sunny are only half-sisters.

Sunny's father had an affair with a red woman before he married Sunny's mother, thus Spheria was born a little bit before Sunny. The affair was a point of conflict between Sunny's parents for a while, but eventually things settled down when Sunny was born.

Unfortunately, at some point Spheria's mother passed away and she was placed in her father's care, effectively making Spheria part of Sunny's side of the family. This is also why Spheria still has an accent; she grew up in a different state far away before she moved in with her father and his family.

Despite not having the same mother, Sunny and Spheria still grew up together and came to see each other as full sisters instead of half.

Zac's side of the family are pure yellows, while Sunny's side of the family have a tiny bit of mixing in their earlier ancestry, but the yellow genes are still strong enough for Sunny to have all of the powers and qualities that comes with being a Yellow One.

Cylindria:

The pink highlights in Cyli's hair are 100% natural and not dyed. This is thanks to a common gene that runs in her family, in which streaks of colours are present in their hair. It mostly comes from Starchild's side of the family, as seen in Granny's case. Elliptica has this gene too, inherited from her father's side of the family.

We never saw Moondog's real eye colours because he wears shades/custom glasses, so I gave him light purple eyes.

Moondog's side of the family is also a little bit more mixed, compared to Starchild's family who has been more consistently pink. Therefore Cyli inherited her black hair from her father and her pink skin, eyes, and hair streak gene from her mother.

Headcanon that Granny's real name is Windsong, and "Granny" is just a nickname that she's more fond of.

Additional headcanon that Granny became the first person in the family to think that their naming traditions have gotten a little silly, and so she strongly advocated for giving her granddaughter a "normal" name as opposed to a hippie name, which is how they ended up with Cylindria (her parents wanted to name her Moonchild instead. Cyli was eternally grateful that Granny stepped in to suggest a different name lol).

Spiral:

We literally know nothing about what Spiral's family looks like, other than a vague hint in one of the Chrsitmas episodes. So for now both his parents are red.

Though I am playing with the idea of giving Spiral a step-father, so that might be added in the future.

General Pacworlder colour genetics:

The more a certain colour is present in a family line, the stronger that colour gene is. For example, if the father's line is pure red, and he has offspring with a blue mother with a mixed lineage, then their children have a 75% higher chance of being red rather than blue or mixed.

Overall, mixed families usually produce offspring with stronger genes because of their diverse genetics. The only downside to this is that their mono-colour genes are weakened. The more a particular colour is present in a family-line, the more likely that offspring may get weaker genes in other areas outside of colour because of the lack of diverse breeding. This is seen in old medieval times when royal families married their cousins in order to keep the bloodline "pure" but it resulted in poor health among the descendants. Aside from this example, it is still entirely possible to have a healthy, pure colour bloodline without inbreeding, because Pacworlders with all kinds of colours are broadly populated across the planet.

More to be added in the future :)

#my art #pmatga #pacman and the ghostly adventures #pacster #cylindria #spiral #betrayus #pmatga headcanon #stratos spheros #betrayus sneakerous spheros #lord betrayus #rotunda spheros #pmatga zac #pmatga sunny #pmatga fanart

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oshlet · 1 year

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Ellip Systems 'Tiptoe' light utility helicopter, modified and repainted for use in Könist Hydropower's 'River Patrol' paramilitary organisation. Ellip is a moderately sized aerospace company supplying recreational and utility drones, as well as light and medium helicopters.

The River Patrol variant of the tiptoe is only slightly altered from the original, the most apparent change being the large sensor pod attached to the right side, in addition to extra waterproofing across the machine to better operate around the Könist and its many tributaries.

Tiptoes are supposedly only used by the river patrol to watch over the waterways and assist in raids against smugglers, however they've also been tasked to assist local police forces and perform general surveillance on civilian populations across the Könist.

#scifiart #scifi #art #system11 #könist #scumsetting

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officiallythatboi · 3 months

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doodled a few ocs of mine

#judy #wrap #bita #bluster von spookington #neta #ellip #character design #artists on tumblr #original character

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sparks-chaotic-cove · 8 months

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Those winter skies were oh so brumous

their pattern revealing feelings held true

between the hearts of those destined to undo

all these towers, all these lands

all these flowers, all those in command

Every pillar, every foe

died here, laid to rest below.

The culprits never felt sonder

they never decided to wonder

about each life that they struck down

both good and bad, all around.

The crowned heads fell

while they rang those gold bells.

Do you think those monarchs ever felt ellipism?

Did they happen to once desire what finally met them?

Sat at royal tables, broken

Anecdoche all that was spoken.

Connection lost to the dance of society's expectations

Their hearts all yearning for liberosis,

they never really thought they'd win this.

(Words used:

Brumous - Adj - Of gray skies and winter days; filled with heavy clouds or fog; relating to winter or cold; sunless weather

Ellipism - the sadness that you’ll never see how history turns out \

Anecdoche - a conversation in which everyone is talking, but no one is really listening

Liberosis - the desire to care less about things )

#Sparkwrites #Obscure word poem of the day! tehe #you get a 4 for 1 !#poetry #poem #poetry?#this is really talking about a moment between two villains(?) that overthrew the peaceful lands around them #those leaders saw those villains power and simply knew they'd never win #So whats the exact point in trying?#tehe #:]

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osusumate · 5 months

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disco-elysium-via-polls · 7 months

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3. [Leave.]

Kim is waiting for us just here, out of the rain.

There's still lots of the coast to explore, but we have something *time-sensitive* to take care of first.

BACKYARD WALL - Just an ordinary wall. Nothing to see here.

[Conceptualization - Impossible 18] Why am I looking at this wall?

+2 In the dimming light, some things become clearer. +1 You have a keen aesthetic sensibility. +2 Cindy's artistic impulses are infectious.

CONCEPTUALIZATION [Impossible: Failure] - Yeah, why? It's a wall, an ordinary wall.

KIM KITSURAGI - The lieutenant sighs. "Why must we stop to look at this wall every time we pass by? We have business to attend to."

Damn, I really thought we had it that time.

Hard to see the details -- the colors, all warm and welcoming, are cozy though.

A flower trough where nothing really grows. Maybe in spring.

BOOK "A PRIMER FOR SMALL KIDS"

A textbook for the first grade in primary school. On the cover a humanoid bear is pushing a wheelbarrow full of letters; he's not doing a good job. The letter S is dangerously dangling from the cart, while E fell off a long time ago. Children should pay more attention!

>INTERACT

PRIMER BOOK - You hold in your hand the colourful primer. The title reads: "A Primer for Small Kids." There's a bear involved.

Exactly what I need!

Flip through the pages.

[Put the book away.]

PRIMER BOOK - Mhm. This book will show you the score; get you oriented with those basic concepts you appear to be hazy on. The anthropomorphic bear will give you the *low-down* of your life...

On what?

PRIMER BOOK - The alphabet.

2. Flip through the pages.

PRIMER BOOK - Every page has one word designating one letter of the alphabet, with a faded illustration -- most of them are scientific and cultural principles. It goes as follows...

Let's do this.

No time.

PRIMER BOOK - A is for Azimuth, B is for Boreas, C is for Cosign, D is for Diamat, E is for Ellips, F is for Flogiston, G is for Gamut.

Mmhm.

PRIMER BOOK - H is for Homeboy, I is for Iikon, J is for Jura, K is for Kollaps, L is for Laudanum, M is for Myriad, N is for Nadir, O is for Oreole, P is for Perihelion.

Yeah!

Nod stoically.

PRIMER BOOK - Q is for Quasar, R is for Rhododendron, S is for Sinus, T is for Tricoleur, U is for Ultra, V is for Vector, W is for Warheit, X is for Xylophone, Y is for Ystävä, Z is for Zenith.

That's it?

PRIMER BOOK - That's it. You know the alphabet now.

CONCEPTUALIZATION [Challenging: Success] - In what is called the IL -- the International Language, developed by scientists from Graad in the Twenties! Sinus means 'Sign', for example.

3. "Kim, I know the alphabet now."

KIM KITSURAGI - "Good. I also know the alphabet."

ESPRIT DE CORPS [Medium: Success] - It is a very useful skill to have, he thinks. For all sorts of life-activities. Like reading, and...

4. [Put the book away.]

These must be the drunks we heard about.

INLAND EMPIRE - You stop mid-step and put your hand on the garish necktie.

HORRIFIC NECKTIE - That bottle, *bratan*! Just look at that bottle!

Where? Bottle? What?

I really don't care about any bottle. I don't want to look at it.

Okay. Cool. What do I do next?

[Discard thought.]

ROSEMARY - In this drunk's hand -- on the pipe there. Glowing blue, a mysterious, otherworldly blue. Filled to the brim with holy mysteries!

ELECTROCHEMISTRY [Medium: Success] - It's hard to know what exactly your vivid interior is speaking of here, but I'm guessing it's got a lot of alcohol in it.

2. Okay. Cool. What do I do next?

HORRIFIC NECKTIE - Oh I think this is about so much *more* than cool. Please go talk to him. See what it's about. I'm *drawn* to it.

I'm going to ignore that for now and start from the left.

IDIOT DOOM SPIRAL - "Hey, Tequila!" A thirty-something man clad in a two-piece Lickra(TM) tracksuit puts down his pilsner and extends his hand in greeting.

"Good to see you! How's business? How's the whole *reality situation* treating you?"

Shake his hand.

Don't shake his hand.

IDIOT DOOM SPIRAL - "So what's happening?" He picks up his beer.

"Wait, Tequila?"

"Well, nice meeting you but I've got to go." [Leave.]

IDIOT DOOM SPIRAL - "Yeah, Tequila Sunset!" He takes a sip, "How are the, uhm, high-concept, reality-based adventures proceeding?"

INLAND EMPIRE [Easy: Success] - Good, these people know your *true* name. Looks like it has preceded you, Mr. Sunset. More on that later.

HORRIFIC NECKTIE - I like this guy. You should, too. He *respects* you by calling you your *true name*.

#disco elysium #kim kitsuragi #idiot doom spiral #horrific necktie

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mmmn-thirsty-for-vinegar · 2 years

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For the Avian AU -- do the wings actually let everyone fly? If so, are some Persona users stronger fliers than others? :)

Yes! Their wings do allow flight!

And some are stronger, better flyers than others simply because of wing shape and experience. But it mostly depends on wing type on where they're stronger than others.

I'll use my Thief boys for my examples-

Akira has Passive Soaring Wings

[Bird Example: Eagle] He has an easier time taking off and can fly higher up than others

Zenkichi has Active Soaring Wings

[Bird Example: Albatross] He can ride air currents with little effort and simply fly farther than most of the others. His wings are also fuckin huge

Akechi has Ellipical Wings

[Bird Example: Crow] He can fly in tight spaces and in short bursts. However, he cannot fly for long periods of time

Ryuji has High-Speed Wings

[Bird Example: Falcon] He can fly really fast, and dive even faster

Mona has Hovering Wings

[Bird Example: Hummingbird] You guess it, he can hover. He has a faster wing beat than the others and can zip around

Their wings aren't very affective in Mementos but they sure do help a lot in Palaces.

No art cause I had to research this

#persona ask series #persona 5 #avian au

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tuuliii · 1 year

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✨When you get this, you have to put 5 songs you actually listen to, then tag 10 of your followers✨ (non-obligatory)

Thanks for the tag @maryloohoo

Another LOTR victinm here🙋‍♀️, but I've also had to listen to a lot of stuff for gigs that I wouldn't necessarily listen to otherwise.

1. Dance the Night, Dua Lipa

2. Mercy, Duffy

3. Maailma on rikki, Ellips

4. Look at me, from the Bridges of Madison County

5. Välikuolema, Käärijä

Tagging @runawaymun @unpredictablyquirky

#personal #tag game

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raitrolling · 2 years

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Southeastern Circuit, Four Sweeps Ago

[Easy reading version on Toyhou.se]

Qualifying in thirteenth place is unlucky for some, Sharle included. He barely scrambled past the first round of qualifying, and with only twenty seconds left to pass the chequered line to complete a final push for the second round, he lost control of the back end of the car and spun out. Another disappointing session for the rookie.

His teammate had qualified in fifth place. They expected as much from the senior driver, Konnen had been racing since before Sharle had even hatched. Not long enough to race against the legendary Torpedo, but hadn’t retired quick enough to not get stuck with Eryton’s scrappy little descendant. Sharle always felt that bitterness from his older teammate, from the way he looked at him to the derisive comments he’d make at the younger blueblood. Aggressive, egotistical, sloppy - The real Casini would not be making these mistakes. He wouldn’t push another driver onto the gravel mid-overtake, or lose his front wing on a first lap incident, and he certainly wouldn’t still be sitting at zero points ten races into the championship.

Sharle knew the pressure was on him to score points in the race, to prove his worth as both a member of Aeon Racing and the descendant of a four-time world champion. He rolls his car into unlucky position number thirteen after completing the formation lap, tapping his fingers against the steering wheel in anticipation. On this track, a good start means everything. If he can just overtake three drivers on his first lap and maintain position for the rest of the race, he’s in the clear. Three drivers is nothing. He watches the lights start to count down.

The commentators start to hype up the crowd as everyone is watching in anticipation. Three… Two… One…

‘And its lights out, and away we go!’

Eleventh place has a horrible start, the driver is not focused enough and puts the car into an anti-stall. Sharle reacts quickly and swerves around the car in front of him, forcing fourteenth place to also run wide. The cars behind Sharle don’t matter to him, what matters is who’s ahead.

The commentators are struggling to keep up.

‘And Xersta Komaii has a great start, leaving the pack behind him as he takes the first corner, followed by Paseri Ellipe and his teammate Nivali Nardoh. The two Laudis are wheel to wheel, who’s going to get ahead- Or was that contact? We’ll have to check the replay. In the midst of it all there’s Liburr Konnen and further back his teammate Sharle Casini trying to barge his way up the grid to join him…’

The first few turns are tricky at the beginning of the race, when so many cars are wheel-to-wheel vying for any advantage available to them. He gains a position, he loses a position, he gains it back and shuts the door behind his rival to prevent them from overtaking. Some would argue it was a dirty move as the other car had to slow down to avoid a collision, but the stewards aren’t looking so closely during the first lap. He acknowledges his racing is unsportsmanlike, but anyone watching could understand the desperation behind it.

Hatched into the bloodline belonging to a champion. The wealth of a noble and the privilege of his ancestor’s legacy granting him easy access into the racing world. Driving karts the moment he was allowed behind a wheel. Practising night in, night out. Attracting attention from sponsors enthralled by the weight his surname carries. Forever living in the shadow of a man who died before Sharle could ever know him. That’s so unfortunate, they tell him. Imagine how you would be if he was here now, if you could be mentored by The Torpedo? Maybe you’d be better behaved, maybe you wouldn’t be making so many costly mistakes. Maybe then you’d deserve your place on the grid. That name’s the only thing you’ve got going for you, kid.

That name has been nothing but a burden to him, but without it he would have been passed over like every other driver fighting tooth and nail for one of those elusive twenty seats on the grid. A blessing and a curse.

He throws his car around the hairpin of turn 8 and slams into high gear, distancing himself further from twelfth place and slowly gaining on tenth. The Aeon may be closer to a midfield car, but its speed on the straights is where it truly shines. The gap decreases.

The gap decreases again around the chicane - thanks to Sharle cutting one of the corners by taking the turn too quickly. There’s no position to be gained, but his engineer warns him over the radio that doing that again will result in a penalty. Sharlie replies with a brusk “Copy, understood” and keeps pushing.

By the time he rounds the final corner of the track and makes it to the main straight, tenth place is within his sights. Once again relying on the car’s impressive top speed, he closes the gap without requiring the DRS to assist him. But it’s not enough, the two cars are rapidly approaching the braking zone into turn 1, and he’s not positioned correctly to perform the overtake. Passing on the outside on a right-hand turn is always risky.

‘And there goes the Aeon belonging to Sharle Casini, and it’s looking like he’s going to make a pass on Bayshi, but is that a good idea?’

‘He’s certainly got the speed, but…’

There’s not enough space for him to make it, but there’s still a gap. He has to go for it. That tenth place is just within reach…

The car in front suddenly lurches to the left to take a wider turn than Sharle expected, and his front right tyre connects with their rear left. The friction of the wheels connecting tears apart the rubber of the blueblood’s car, disrupting the axles and causing both cars to spin wildly out of control.

‘They’ve touched! Ohhh, that looks to be a big crash!’

The television feed quickly cuts to the battle for fourth place.

The front wing of the Aeon Racing car shreds into the body of the other car before fully dislodging. Carbon fibre flies everywhere and Sharle’s balance is thrown completely.

At three hundred kilometres per hour, Sharle’s car skids off the track and hits the kerb at an angle that sends it launching into the air and barrel-rolling through the gravel. He keeps lurching the steering wheel with all his might, desperate to right the car before his brain can catch up with what’s happening.

He sees the sky, then the ground, then the sky again, then the ground once more.

The crowd at the turn 1 grandstand watch in horror. Some jump out of their seats to try and get a closer look. Marshalls across the track start waving yellow flags to warn the other drivers. The TV feed does not cut back to the scene.

The top of the car slams against the tyre barrier with enough force to shove it against the fence, causing it to rattle and shake. The car rocks back slightly, and then rests against the barrier, leaving Sharle positioned sideways.

The dust cloud kicked up by the cars starts to dissipate. Debris of rubber and carbon fibre litters the ground. Smoke pours off the tyres of the other car, caught in the gravel trap. Bayshi throws his hands up in the air, his race has been ruined by a rookie’s arrogance. His engineer asks if he’s okay, and his response is saved for the future replay of the crash.

“What the fuck is Casini doing? Is he fucking blind?”

The crowd is silent. Only the sounds of the rest of the cars passing around the corner echo through the air.

Sharle is conscious, but with the amount of times his head was knocked around and only held in place with the HANS device, he wishes he wasn’t. The medical light flashes on the car in front of the cockpit, having registered a crash with well above 15Gs of impact.

‘It looks like the race will have to be red flagged after that, but we’ll still need confirmation that the driver is okay first…’

Filled with adrenaline, Sharle feels the tension more than he does the pain. He needs to get the car back on the track now. If he’s injured, he can’t race. If he can’t race, he won’t get the points. If he doesn’t get the points, his future as a driver will be at stake. The crowd is watching him, TV viewers are watching him, the rest of his team are watching him.

“Sharle? Confirming you’re okay, Sharle?”

The radio crackles to life, and he hears the voice of his engineer. He reaches to touch the radio button on his steering wheel, but as he takes in a breath to answer-

Agony. Pain lances up his arm and fills up his chest. He can barely breathe, trying to force words out but only succeeding in coughing. There’s a metallic taste in his mouth. Blood. The wheezes of a punctured lung can only be heard through the communications. This message is not broadcast live.

“Switch off the engine. Switch off the engine if you can. The medical team is coming for you. That was a nasty crash, kid.”

The radio switches off, and Sharle switches off the engine as instructed. He hears the sound of the other drivers pulling into the pit lane in the distance as the race is temporarily suspended, and the footsteps of the marshalls approaching his car to assist him. Bayshi doesn’t pause to check up on him, leaving his own car in the gravel as he walks back to the pits. He didn’t expect that the other driver would care.

“You okay there? Hold tight, we’re gonna right the car for you,” calls one of the safety marshalls.

Sharle wanted to scream. He wanted to cry. He wanted to do something, anything to keep going. He can’t prove he’s worth his seat when he’s barely able to breathe. One hand desperately clutches at his chest as if still trying to hold his broken ribs together, while the other fumbles with the seatbelts. At the same time, the marshalls carefully roll his car over so all four wheels (or three wheels and one set of broken axles) are back on the ground. One radios that the driver is conscious, but they don’t mention the desperation in the blueblood’s eyes. A look that screams don’t tell them I’m hurt, I’ll get out on my own.

They don’t listen to him. They can’t, because he’s not speaking. They hear his ragged breaths and see the splashes of blood on the inside of his visor and tell him to keep calm, don’t worry, we’ll get you out so the medical team can send you straight to the hospital. They don’t realise that’s not where he wants to go. They are kind enough to finish unclipping his seatbelt for him and disconnect the HANS device from the harness. A marshall holds out their arms to begin to ease Sharle out of his seat, but he swats their hands away.

If nothing else, he needs to get out on his own. To prove he can stand on his own two feet.

He struggles. His legs don’t work how he wants them to, his shoulders and neck ache with even the most minute of moments, and his chest - No words can describe it. He grips onto the car’s halo for support, his figure wobbly and unstable in the T-cam view.

But as he stands, the previously-hushed crowd cheers.

That alone is enough to allow him to find the last amount of strength to climb out of the car. He turns to face them, barely able to see through the blood-smudged visor and his doubling vision, and waves. This is why he needed to prove he was okay. Some viewers will still see him as a good-for-nothing rookie who only got his seat thanks to his bloodline, but those in the grandstands will see the real side of him. The side that never wants to give up, who keeps pushing and fighting and struggling to come into his own and leave his ancestor’s shadow. The one who saw the potential end of his career flash before his eyes and chose to stand back up on his own two feet. The crowd is loving him, and his team will have to remember that.

Not too long after the moment of courage, he feels his legs start to give out underneath him. He sits back down on the ground to compensate, glad his helmet hides his pained expression and muffles the way he sucks in air through his teeth to prevent himself from screaming. The medical crew are then finally on the scene.

‘We’ve just received confirmation from the marshalls that Sharle is out of the car. The medical team has just arrived on the scene and it looks like he will be taken to hospital - As expected from a crash of that calibre. We’ll be showing the replays once we receive the okay to do so, and we have yet to be informed of when the race will restart. The track still need clearing of debris, and the tyre barrier will need to be repaired-’

The television feed cuts to a scene of the Aeon Racing garage. Expressions of pure relief on the faces of the engineers, the pit crew, the team principal.

Sharle removes his helmet as the medical team give him a quick triage, and he tastes the bitterness of the blood soaking through his balaclava. He hears them start to rattle off his injuries: Multiple potential broken ribs, suspected punctured lung, suspected muscle tears in upper body, scans required to check for head injuries. Immediate transport to the nearest hospital is required. He lets them move him onto the stretcher, and feels his consciousness finally start to fade…

…

When he wakes up, he is in a hospital bed. Through blurry eyes, he sees the team principal. And in his dazed, painkiller-addled mind, he swears he hears him speak:

“Sorry we pushed you too hard, Sharle. We’re still proud of you.”

#drabble #sharle casini #this one has no right to be as long as it is LMAO #not sure if i need to do a proper content warning but this does heavily feature a car accident #with some allusions to real-life (non fatal) motorsport crashes because i was watching them for reference #anyways have a scrappy lil rookie sharle and all his issues that were not apparent to me until i started writing this

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