#fast lane 2023

[jeysbvck]

i love them seperately & i love them together. i am obsessed with these two as a tag team and i need this to stay for a while bc they are hilarious😭

[jeysbvck]

i died & came back to life multiple times, pls don't send help!!

Jey took his shirt off WE ARE BLESSED

[libraryleopard]

Adult standalone urban fantasy novel

In an alternate version of present-day Vancouver inhabited by the reincarnated Knights of the Round Table and other figures from myth and folklore, a college student from an Arthurian family and a valkyrie both become entangled in a murder investigation

Gay autistic main character with anxiety; bi ace main character; M/M + F/F romances; Chinese Canadian trans girl side character

[racingliners]

Life In the Fast Lane Chapter 15 - Celebrations

Rating: Teen & Up

Warnings: None apply

Pairings: Original Female Character(s)/Original Male Character(s); OFCs & OMCs

Work Tags: Re-write of a previous work; not beta read; dual/multiple pov; mentions of IRL current and past F1 figures; Eventual romance; friends to lovers; found family/work family; actual family; occasional swearing; racing drivers and their various shenanigans; how to handle pressure (and how not to); with a sprinkling of the power of friendship; tags will be updated as work progresses

Chapter 15/57 Word count: 5.8k Summary: History made, records broken, and the champagne on ice

Sunday 30th July – Hungaroring, Budapest

It was much quieter inside the pit building. The cheers from outside barely drifted through the thick walls creating a muffled white noise. It meant that Sophie had a few blissful seconds for the past two hours to sink in as her feet walked the familiar route to the cooldown room on automatic pilot, where Nathan, Benedikt and Chris were already chatting away.

“Ah there she is, congratulations!” Ben called out as Sophie walked in. She smiled and said thank you as she set her helmet down on the table at the side of the room while Nathan walked over to shake Sophie’s hand and clap her on the shoulder.

“Congrats again, great race.” He said with a warm smile.

“Thanks,” Sophie grinned back. “You too.”

“They just replayed your overtake on the screen, it was brilliant!” Benedikt walked over and clasped Sophie’s hand, and pulled her in for a warm one-armed hug. “Hopefully today’s the first of many.”

“But still leaving some wins for you I assume?” Sophie teased. Benedikt joked that they could split the remaining races between them fifty-fifty, which Nathan very loudly objected to. As the two drivers mock-bickered Sophie finally got to properly hug Chris, who was there as the constructors representative, round the shoulders.

“Sorry if I ruined everyone’s blood pressure.” Sophie huffed, and quickly towelled down her face before downing half a bottle of water.

“After China I think we’re all used to it.” Chris joked with a wry smile as he carefully handed over Sophie’s winner’s cap. It was exactly the same as her third place cap from Shanghai, except for the 1st that sat above the Hungarian flag embroidered in yellow thread.

“I really did it,” She said with a breathy sigh as she brushed her thumb across the embroidered laurel wreaths before gently fixing the cap on her head. Sophie out a long, shaky breath and leaned on the table as her knees started to buckle, and Chris rested a supportive hand on her shoulder.

“Enjoy it, okay?”

All Sophie could do was nod as tears started to pool in her eyes as the realisation and weight of what she’d just achieved finally started to sink in. She was the first woman in all of F1’s seventy three years to win a race, with the same team her Dad had once worked for. It felt almost dream-like and completely overwhelming all at the same time, as suddenly the drivers were given the signal to head out one by one onto the podium.

Sophie and Chris clapped each other on the shoulder and quickly made some last minute checks on the other’s appearance. Sophie smoothed down the collar of Chris’ team polo shirt while Chris fixed the Velcro neck strap at the top of Sophie’s overalls. With a final nod, as the podium announcer shouted Sophie’s name to the loudest noise she’d ever heard, the two colleagues walked out onto the podium together.

The cheers of the crowd plus the mechanics and engineers below formed a wall of noise hitting Sophie at full force as she ran to the very front of the podium to see her team and family again. James had appeared and was stood at the front with Vanessa and Richard, he shouted something but Sophie couldn’t quite make anything out past the bright smile on his face. She turned to wave at the crowd, and beamed at the few British flags that were dotted around the mass of spectators before she stepped up to the top step of the podium and removed her cap for the British anthem.

Sophie tried to take in everything at once. The physical feeling of standing on the top step of the podium for the first time since her last F2 win, the sun on her face, the gentle breeze, the sound of her mechanics singing along, even though they changed the words to ‘send her victorious’ – which they all belted out at the top of their lungs. It made Sophie smile through the fresh tears on her face. She mouthed an ‘I love you’ to her family as the anthem ended and she fixed her winners cap back onto her head and quickly wiped her tears away, as the FIA President Alonzo Garcia of all people was the one to approach Sophie with the winner’s trophy.

It was styled after a traditional Hungarian vase, with a blue floral design painted on in watercolour and metallic gold accents. Sophie wasn’t sure if it was made out of porcelain or just made to look like it until she held it in her hands. Suddenly her greatest concern was not dropping it.

Alonzo gave Sophie a firm handshake, and said congratulations before stepping aside once he was happy Sophie had a firm grip on the trophy. She quickly kissed it before lifting it up as high as she dared for hear team to see – which got an almighty roar from them and the crowd.

The constructors trophy was a large ceramic plate with lace-like trim and the same watercolour details, only it had an outline of the track painted in gold in the middle. Chris had the biggest smile Sophie had ever seen on his face as he lifted the trophy into the air. By comparison Nathan and Benedikt were more modest in their celebrations. And Sophie was far too distracted by the emotions of the day and applauding for everyone else that she didn’t notice the two drivers exchange a look as they they picked up their champagne bottles until the cold spray was dousing her from both sides.

Truthfully she should have known it was coming, and poor Chris hadn’t been left unscathed either as Ben and Nathan quickly turned their attention to the startled engineer. Sophie quickly wiped her eyes and popped the cork of her own bottle and sprayed as much champagne as she could over Nathan and Benedikt before the three of them called it a day, and clinked their bottles together. After each taking a sip of champagne the quartet stepped back up onto the podium for the winners picture. There was some jostling of places as Nathan insisted that Chris should be next to his driver, and Sophie exchanged one last clap on the shoulder with her engineer before he had to leave.

A teary-eyed Amy conducted the podium interviews. While broadcasting impartiality meant that she couldn’t hug Sophie on the podium, she did at least give Sophie a squeeze around the shoulders and say how proud she was before she asked the crowd to give the drivers another massive cheer.

Sophie barely managed to string a sentence together thanks to the lump in her throat. She just about managed to repeat everything she’d said over the radio, thanking everyone at McLaren both for giving her a chance this year and for their hard work. Saying how much she loved and was grateful for her family and Vanessa’s support. That she would try to remember this day for the rest of her life.

Nathan and Benedikt’s comments were practically identical. They both said it was Sophie’s day, that she’d driven an incredible race, and that she had every right to be standing on the podium as they did.

Back in the cool down room, Amy finally managed to give Sophie a hug before she had to dash back to the paddock, and Annika, Matt, Nathan’s press officer Marika and trainer Carlos all congratulated Sophie on her win. She thanked all of them with a beaming grin, before making a beeline for Vanessa and Richard. Sophie just about managed to set her trophy down before Richard almost crushed her in a colossal bear hug.

“Well done mate.” Sophie didn’t need to look up to see the grin on her press officer’s face.

“I am so proud of you,” Vanessa sniffled as Sophie stepped out of Richard’s hug and turned to face her trainer. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” The two women pulled each other in for a tight hug while Richard asked Annika if she could take a picture of the McLaren trio with the winner’s trophy, and Nathan and Benedikt looked at each other as if they’d had the same idea at the same time.

“Can you take one of the three of us as well?” Nathan asked.

“With the trophies.” Ben added.

Annika took both pictures in quick succession, and just about managed to squeeze in one of all the personal trainers together with the trophies before the press officers all had to take their drivers down to the post-race press conference. It was a long walk through the mass of internal corridors that felt like it was never ending, and part-way along Nathan quickly pulled Sophie aside and they slowed to a good few paces behind the group.

“I don’t know how much Richard or McLaren have kept from you… but there’s been some journalists trying to pit us against each other over the past few weeks.” Nathan said in a quiet voice with a heavy frown and a hint of disappointment in his deep brown eyes.

“Yeah, I heard,” Sophie shrugged with a small sigh. “I think McLaren have been trying to ignore it in the hope people find something more newsworthy to write about.”

Nathan let out a small hum. The fact that he’d left McLaren at the perfect time right before their dip in form had been noted by more than a few pundits. That and with Sophie effectively being hired as his replacement, she could see why some of the tabloids were all too happy to say things that weren’t true. And while Sophie didn’t say it, both her and McLaren were aware of Nathan’s and Mercedes’ efforts to quash any rumours of a rift. When Nathan spoke about Sophie in the press it was always with glowing respect, something she always tried her upmost to return whenever she could.

“I just want you to know that I’m having absolutely nothing to do with it. And I’m actually really glad we got to have a podium together.”

Sophie briefly thought back to Canada, when Nathan had went out of his way to introduce his parents to Sophie’s Dad while also saying that if any of them needed anything, all they had to do was ask.

“Me too.” She gave Nathan a warm smile and quickly reached out to put a friendly hand on his shoulder. “McLaren still have your title winning cars on the boulevard at the factory you know.”

“I should hope so!” Nathan grinned, squeezed Sophie shoulder in return, and the two drivers hastily caught up with their press officers who had finally reached the press conference room.

As Sophie sat down in the middle seat of the long black table, she saw Lee Howard give her a small thumbs up as he mouthed ‘well done’ before he continued to scribble in his notebook. It was standing room only in the press conference, accompanied by a constant clicking of camera shutters from a very large group of photographers.

“I never got a reception like this after my first win.” Benedikt huffed in exaggerated mock disappointment.

“You have three titles dude, come on.” Nathan reached past Sophie to give the Red Bull driver a playful shove and the three of them all laughed as the photographers continued to snap away. The more overwhelming of Sophie’s emotions had subsided, and she now felt borderline giddy and just couldn’t stop smiling while her, Benedikt and Nathan made more small talk about the race.

Eventually Lee got the signal in his earpiece to start the press conference. As the race winner, Sophie got to answer the first question.

“How does it feel to be the most successful female F1 driver of all time?”

The weight of the question almost physically knocked Sophie back, and she briefly felt overwhelmed again, until a small but significant statistic popped into her mind.

“Well actually,” She said with a small smirk. “I still need to pass Lella Lombardi’s number of race starts. So you can ask me again after that.” A quiet chuckle rang round the room as Sophie took a small sip from her drinks bottle. While some journalists would have argued that Sophie was already F1’s most successful female driver even with three fewer race starts, in her mind she was happy for Lombardi to hold onto that record for just a little bit longer.

Sophie was set to match Lombardi’s thirteen race starts in Monza, all things being well, which was rather fitting considering she was Italian. She made a mental note to hopefully remember to get in touch with Max about an addition she wanted to make to her helmet design for the Italian Grand Prix. Truthfully, she had been trying to not think about it too much, but she realised there and then that she just had to make a tribute of some kind past words in a social media post.

“Question for all the drivers,” The next journalist asked. “How does it feel to have been on the podium of such a historic race?”

All three of them huffed out a puff of air, and looked at each other before Sophie went first. She spoke about how proud she was to be able to share the podium not just with two world champions, but also incredibly talented drivers – and good people.

Nathan gave a very heartfelt speech about the importance of representation in F1. About how he and Sophie were the result of efforts by Lewis Hamilton and Susie Wolff to improve diversity in the sport both on and off the track. And that it was important for people to not just see himself and Sophie compete in F1 – but to be successful too.

Benedikt just gave a small smile, and said that it was a privilege for him to be the driver that got to share the podium with Nathan and Sophie today.

Some athletes said sportsmanlike things because it was the right thing to do and their teams and press officers wouldn’t have it any other way. But others, like Nathan and Ben, said it because they genuinely meant and believed it. Because they respected Sophie and had done since day one. And truthfully, that was all she wanted. To be seen by her fellow drivers and accepted as one of the group.

No us and her, just us.

As they had done in Shanghai, the whole team had gathered in front of the McLaren garage for the celebratory team picture. Everyone was excitedly chatting away or taking selfies with the ‘Sophie P1’ pit board that stood front and centre while they waited for her to come back from the press pen. James watched as his Mum carried out her self-appointed ‘emotional support for fellow parents of a racing driver’ duties (her words). All Natasha had done was give all the Knightsbridge’s a big hug, a soothing pat on the back if she’d felt it had been necessary, and well wishes of congratulations on a day that James knew he wouldn’t forget.

The sheer eruption of noise that had come out of the garage alone when Sophie crossed the line would be burned into his memory forever.

All of Sophie’s engineers and mechanics were beside themselves as they had a picture taken with the winner’s trophy. Steve was very reluctant to let it go when Leon asked for it, but the number one mechanic eventually relented, and watched as Leon carried it back to the space that had been set aside for Sophie, her family, plus Richard and Vanessa.

“God I hope I can stop crying for five minutes.” Vanessa huffed as she wiped her eyes.

“On today of all days I think it’s allowed.” James said as he patted her shoulder. “I’m pretty sure Mike cried more when I won the title in 2018 than when he got married!”

“Oh piss off!” Came the distant jibe from James’ trainer. Vanessa just shook her head and laughed.

The team’s head of hospitality emerged from the garage, and dashed over to Leon and Martin looking more than a little relieved. The team been trying for the past hour to find somewhere available to celebrate Sophie’s win properly, since everyone was flying home tomorrow. Judging by the look on Lucy’s face – she’d managed to find a venue.

Sophie and Richard finally returned from the press pen ten minutes later. They clearly hadn’t had time to stop by the motorhome since Sophie was still in her race suit with her hair twisted in its French braid, though a few strands at her temples had come loose. Not that any of it was noticeable past the wide, bright grin that lit up her entire face tenfold.

Martin, Leena and Leon were all ready and waiting to properly congratulate Sophie on her win, and James also stepped out from his spot near the front to see her.

“Amazing job team mate!” He said with a wide smile. They looked at each other for half a second before both stepping forward to pull the other into a warm hug. “Congratulations, you deserve it.”

After he’d returned to the paddock and spoken to the press, James had ended up watching the rest of the race from the garage. Because deep down he knew that if he wasn’t going to get a win or podium for the team, he’d want Sophie to do so instead. And he was genuinely and utterly thrilled for her that she’d managed to pull it off.

“I’m sorry about your race.” With her smile briefly flickering away, James could tell that she meant it.

“Ack,” He let Sophie go and waved a dismissive hand at her. “At least it didn’t cost me the championship this time.” He scoffed at the thought of the Mexican race from 2019, and very quickly pushed it right to the back of his mind. “Go on,” With a tilt of his head James gestured to Sophie’s family, who had now all gathered in front of the pit board.

James watched as Sophie nestled herself in-between her parents, with Will next to Mark, Julian on Mary’s other side, and Richard and Vanessa bookending the group. A close up picture of just the Knightsbridge family and the trophies was taken first, before the team photographer fell back in line with the paddock photographers that had managed to blag their way into what had become a very well attended photocall.

A couple of people, no one found out who, had managed to sneak out a couple of smaller champagne bottles from hospitality on the way over, and they started spraying the contents over anyone who was within reach once the photographers had taken all the pictures they needed. Some let out quiet yelps as they tried to dive out of the way, while others just accepted their fate and at the very least tried to keep the spray out of their eyes.

“Whoever that was is buying the first round!” Martin called out, having been completely drenched on one side.

As usual, he’d taken his spot at the side of the picture. He had always been the last person to take credit for anything, forever insisting that any and all of the team’s successes were down to everyone’s hard work – not just his. Even with how many years James had been at McLaren, he could still count on one hand the number of times Martin had been the constructors representative on the podium. And it was either because Andrew had told him to, or the rest of the pit wall had twisted his arm into doing so.

Once everyone had piled into the engineering trucks Martin as always ran the debrief to precision, despite the fact that even the most composed engineers found themselves way beyond giddy. And he dismissed everyone with a rare but genuine grin in the hope that he would see everyone at the afterparty venue.

Which funnily enough, turned out to be the same rooftop bar James and his entourage had celebrated his win at last year, only this time the team had managed to book out the entire place.

Plush black armchairs and polished coffee tables were dotted around the stone tile floor, with space set aside for a small dancefloor that was shadowed by an even smaller DJ booth. Glass railings gave an unobstructed view of the Budapest skyline, while a combination of string and outdoor lights lit up the venue enough that people could clearly see where they were going, but still created a casual atmosphere.

Some people had packed their glad rags either for dinners earlier in the week, or in the case of James with his white shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows, charcoal trousers and matching waistcoat, for sponsor event requirements. Others wore their best t-shirts and jeans but none of it really mattered. Everyone knew deep down that unless another miracle happened, this would likely be the only win the team would be celebrating all season, so they were going to make the most of it.

Sophie seemingly had the same idea, as she walked in with Vanessa and Richard wearing a sparkling fitted pale gold cocktail dress. Her arrival brought with it a chorus of cheers as she skipped over to the bar in a short pair of heels. She was without her family, as they all had jobs to go back to on Monday morning and were on one of the evening flights back to the UK, but James had assumed that Sophie moved mountains to spend as much time with her family as she could before they left.

“Uh…” She quickly looked over her shoulder and saw Steve holding up his fingers in her direction. “Six beers and a glass of house red, a negroni and a Drambuie with ginger beer please.” Sophie reeled off with a polite smile at one of the bartenders, who instantly sprung into action. “Hi!” She looked up at James, who had been leaning against the bar taking in the view, with another one of her beaming smiles.

“I should have known you’d dress the part.” He couldn’t help but notice that the shade of gold fabric brought out the brown in her eyes.

“Oh,” Sophie blushed. “This wasn’t me… Vanessa has had this in her suitcase all season just in the off-chance I won a race.” She shook her head, and her hair which had been styled into loose curls bounced across her shoulders.

“She is one committed performance coach,” James chuckled, and had to find himself holding back a sigh. “You look lovely though.”

“Thanks,” She blushed again, this time more red than pink, as the first part of her drinks order was placed on a tray in front of her. “You don’t scrub up too bad either, I’m starting to see why everyone keeps saying we look so great on posters.”

James properly laughed, so much so he had to set down his drink on the bar so he didn’t spill it. He then pulled his phone out, and sheepishly asked if they could get a picture together, not just as team mates – but as friends. They posted for a couple of selfies, which Sophie made James promise he would send her, and when Mike returned from his phone call home the two team mates stood together with their arms round each other for some proper pictures.

“Congrats again Soph.” Mike said with a small smile as Richard and Steve came over to help dish out the drinks. “Mine’s a vodka and coke when you’re next buying!” He teased as Sophie headed over to join her mechanics.

Mike then fixed James with a knowing look, a shake of the head, and a quiet sigh.

“So you do have a crush on her.”

“I don’t.” James said far too quickly even for his own liking. Mike just raised an eyebrow, and sat down in one of the high barstools. “At least, I hope I don’t.” James huffed, and sat down next to his long-suffering trainer.

“There is a very high chance it’s a combination of six quite stressful months working in close quarters, all the emotions of said work paying off in an unexpected but well-earned race win… and that she’s walked in looking absolutely stunning.” Mike reeled off before ordering two classes of water with ice. “Or, it’s just because you’re lonely.”

James knew better than to argue with him, and instead ran a hand down his face.

“I swear I’ve tried to see and treat her like any other driver. I didn’t go into the season wanting or thinking this would happen, I wouldn’t…” James genuinely liked Sophie as a person. It was why he had agreed to have coffee with her at the factory on that day back in April. She was genuinely great to be around, and James really had been happy back then to have her as a friend somewhere down the line.

“Oh I know, I would have knocked you on your arse if you hadn’t been anything but decent towards her.” Mike said matter of factly, and passed James one of the glasses of water when they were placed in front of him. “It might pass.”

“It might not.” James frowned, tracing a finger through the condensation already forming on the glass. “I don’t want her to be uncomfortable around me.” There was no guarantee that Sophie would either now or ever feel the same way about him, and James certainly didn’t expect her to. If all she wanted to be was friends, then friends they would stay. “I just wanted to be a good team mate.” He said with a long sigh.

“And you are,” Mike gently nudged James with his elbow, and even had a hint of a smile on his face. “Just don’t get to a point where you let Sophie beat you. Because she will find out and I’m pretty sure she’d never forgive you.”

James snickered, and took a long sip of water. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”

“Good.” Mike slapped James on the back, and left the conversation at that as louder music started to play out of some speakers.

What James didn’t know, was that Sophie had spent the past few minutes glancing back and forth in his direction, trying to decide if the compliment she’d paid him earlier had been friendly banter or something else entirely. Eventually she’d shaken her head, told herself it was a fleeting thought, and that for the sake of her career they could only ever be team mates and friends, and took a long sip of her drink. (She also blamed the whiskey liqueur.)

The party passed by in more drinks, dancing (some of it questionable), a few brief but heartfelt speeches, and everyone singing happy birthday to Chris again. It had been a good night. It wasn’t the rager some people outside the sport thought F1 afterparties were like, but it was clear that everyone had enjoyed themselves judging by the gentle laughter that had been the soundtrack for most of the evening.

James had stopped drinking quite early on. Both because of his muddled feelings about Sophie, and that he was driving himself back to the site where the motorhome he used for the European races had been parked for the week. It had been a good decision, as he’d ended up driving Sophie, Richard and Vanessa back to their hotel when it turned out that actual taxis were thin on the ground in late night Budapest.

He'd seen the three of them inside and insisted on walking them back to their rooms to make sure they got back safely. And either by luck or fate, Sophie’s room was last on the list.

“Did Mike get back okay?” She asked with a furrowed brow as they walked down the beige and cream corridor.

“Yeah,” James replied. Mike had been one of the lucky ones to grab an actual taxi back to the hotel, along with Katie and the rest of the press officers. “So…” James paused, for the first time in quite a while not knowing what to say to his team mate. “You’re sure you’re alright?”

“Oh, I hardly drank anything,” Sophie replied with a small if slightly exaggerated nod, her high heels swinging from her hand as she walked. “I just really want to remember today you know, you only win your first race once!”

James smiled a little. Granted his first win had been many years ago now, at Valencia in the baking sun, but he could still recall every moment to this day.

“Ah ha!” Sophie seemingly clocked her hotel room door, and skipped the final few paces towards it. “Oh.” She looked down at the clutch bag and shoes in her hands and frowned. She began to juggle her belongings, presumably in an attempt to retrieve her room key without dropping anything.

“I’ll take your shoes,” James held out one of his hands as he caught up with her. “Or open the door, your choice.”

Sophie’s beige suede heels landed in James’ hand with a small thump, as she opened her small bag and pulled out her room key. Sophie pushed the door open, humming as she strolled inside, and James quietly followed her in. He set the shoes on the floor next to one of the armchairs and awkwardly stuffed his hands in his pockets.

“You’ll be alright now, yeah?” James asked as Sophie carefully sat down on the armrest of the large cream sofa in the middle of the room, facing her team mate as she buried her toes in the plush carpet. He’d done his job and gotten her back to her room in one piece, he didn’t really have a valid reason to stay any longer.

“Yeah, I’ll be fi-” With a loud squeal, Sophie fell backwards. And for a second all James could see was a pair of shins and swinging feet before the room was almost filled with giggles. James took a few steps towards the sofa, and saw Sophie on her back on the seat portion of the sofa, her face creased with laugher. “I fell!”

“Yeah, sure, you didn’t drink that much,” James said sarcastically, still stood at the corner of the sofa with his arms now folded across his chest. “What are we going to do with you?”

“I’m sorry, you must be used to having much more serious team mates,” Sophie pursed her lips together, probably in an attempt to be sober, and ended up giggling again. James shook his head with a small chuckle, and sat down on the wooden coffee table opposite. There was probably only half a metre or so between them.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” He eventually asked once the giggling had subsided.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Sophie paused and brought a hand to her pearl necklace, the same one she’d worn in Monaco. “I’m fine…” Her voice faded with a small sigh.

As silence began to fill the room James went to stand up, but he was frozen in place when Sophie turned her head to look at him with a small, sweet smile.

“You really are a perfect gentleman you know,” She said, as if it were an honest truth. James smiled nervously and looked down at his feet, a blush beginning to form him his cheeks. “I mean it you… you’ve been really nice to me this year.”

He had no idea what to say in reply, because it was true. In some ways he had gone above and beyond in how he’d welcomed Sophie into the team, while still trying to treat her the way he would any other team mate. But a lot of it, especially when it came to answering questions about her to the press, was in his mind the only thing he could have done.

So he shrugged and clasped his hands together in his lap.

“Just doing the decent thing.”

“You’ve been more than that though,” Sophie spoke softly, either because she was tired from celebrating or because she didn’t want anyone else to hear, which was odd considering they were the only two people in the room. “All year… well from when we had that coffee at the factory,” Slowly, she pushed herself into a seated position and flicked her hair off her shoulders. “You have been a wonderful friend.”

James didn’t know what to say, so he stood up instead and brushed his hands down his waistcoat. When he did finally think up something to say, it was completely knocked out of him when Sophie stood up from the sofa, and hugged him tightly.

With the air around him now filled with the scent of orange blossom, and something else he couldn’t quite place, James felt frozen in place. But eventually, some small part of his brain told his arms to wrap themselves gently round Sophie’s shoulders. He had no idea how long it lasted for, especially when James realised the other scent was Sophie’s hair that smelt softly of apples.

Eventually it was Sophie who leaned out of the hug first. And James had to try really, really hard not to notice the fact that Sophie’s eyes hadn’t really stopped sparkling since he’d first seen her after the race, the sweet smell of her perfume, and that she was at best tipsy meaning it would not be right or fair to lean down and kiss her.

And that she was so, so beautiful.

“I should probably let you go back to your flashy motorhome,” She said quietly, and slowly dropped her arms down by her side. “Thanks for walking us all back.”

James inhaled and drew out a long breath. “Don’t worry about it, you sure you’re alright?”

“I’ll be fine, promise.” She smiled, and went up on the tips of her toes to kiss James’ cheek, likely leaving a small trace of lipstick behind. “Goodnight, team mate.”

When James was finally back in the sanctuary of his motorhome, he made a beeline for the bathroom at an alarming pace. He turned on the cold water tap and cupped his hands underneath it for a couple of seconds before splashing the water on his face. He winced as some of it splashed into his shirt making the fabric cling uncomfortably to his skin, and with his eyes squeezed shut he turned off the tap and reached for the hand towel to his right, and pressed it firmly against his face.

“No James, absolutely not,” He told himself, firmly, while recalling Mike’s words to him at the bar. “She’s your team mate. You’re nearly ten years older than her, and she’s your team mate,” He patted his face dry before messily putting the towel back on its hook. James pressed both hands firmly on the doorframe, bracing against them for support as his heart thumped in his chest. “Do not even think about going down that road.”

He feared it would only end up in heartbreak, for both of them.

[slyandthefamilybook]

okay because I'm seeing some misinfo, here's the story on the Key Bridge collapse

What was the Key Bridge?

The Francis Scott Key Bridge (also called the Key Bridge, the Beltway Bridge, and the Outer Harbor Crossing) was steel-arch continuous-through-truss bridge spanning the Patapsco River south of the Baltimore Harbor. The bridge took 5 years to build and cost an estimated $145 million ($735 million in today's dollars). The full bridge project (including approaches) was 10.9 miles long, but the stretch over the Patapsco was 1.6 miles long and 4 lanes wide, and comprised a length of I-695, the Baltimore Beltway. It traveled between Hawkins Point and Dundalk, and in addition to the I-895 Harbor Tunnel was the primary way for Marylanders to cross from the Eastern Shore to the West. The bridge carried an estimated 11.5 million vehicles per year. There is a lane for ships to pass under the Key Bridge with enough clearance.

Was it structurally sound?

The bridge received its latest inspection in 2022 and received a 6/9 score, which is considered "fair" by federal standards. There was a concern with one of its columns, which was downgraded from a health index of 77.8 to 65.9, but it is not clear yet if this was one of the columns struck by the ship. In 1980 the bridge was struck by a different cargo ship which destroyed a concrete support structure, but the bridge itself was unharmed. There is as of yet no evidence that the bridge collapsed because of poor condition. Experts say the lesson to be learned is about the size and weight of modern cargo ships, and that the bridge was not to blame. Engineers have noted, however, that the bridge's piers lacked protective devices such as fenders.

What was the ship?

The MV Dali is a container ship flying the Singapore flag. It is owned by Grace Ocean Private Ltd. and operated by Synergy Marine Group Ltd. The ship is currently being chartered by Maersk, a Dutch shipping company. It was built in 2015 by Hyundai. The ship is 980 feet long and 157 feet wide. The ship's gross tonnage (its internal volume) is 95,128 tons (190,256,000 pounds). Its deadweight (the weight of cargo it can carry) is 116,851 tons (233,702,000 pounds). The ship was carrying 3,000 containers. The engine is a MAN-B&W 9S90ME putting out 41,480 kilowatts (55,626 horsepower).

Over its lifetime the Dali has been inspected 27 times, and only 2 faults were ever found. On June 27, 2023 the Dali was held in port in Chile due to an issue with the propulsion system. According to an inspector the pressure gauges on the heating system were "unreadable". The fault was fixed before the ship left port.

The Dali is crewed by 22 Indian nationals including 2 maritime pilots.

What happened?

The Dali arrived at the Port of Baltimore on March 23, 2024. At 12:44 AM on March 26, 2024 the Dali left port, beginning its journey to Colombo, Sri Lanka. At 01:26 AM the ship suffered a "complete blackout" and began to drift out of the shipping lane. It is not yet known what caused the electrical failure. The backup generator did not power the propulsion system. At around 01:26 AM the crew of the Dali sent a mayday distress call to the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) informing them of the loss of power and that a collision with the Key Bridge was possible. The anchors were dropped as an emergency measure to attempt to slow or stop the vessel. At the request of one of the pilots traffic flow over the bridge was immediately halted. Black smoke was seen coming from the Dali, which experts believe was the result of the crew managing to restart the power system to regain some maneuvering capability.

At 01:28 AM the Dali, traveling at 8 knots (considered to be a fast speed) collided with a support strut beneath the Key Bridge's metal truss at the southwest end of the bridge. A Baltimore resident said he heard the collision and that it "felt like an earthquake". Emergency teams began receiving 911 calls at 01:30 AM, and the Baltimore Police Department were alerted at 01:35 AM. One of the officers present radioed that he was going to go onto the bridge to alert the construction crew as soon as a second officer arrived, but the bridge collapsed seconds later.

What was the damage?

The Key Bridge has completely collapsed. The metal truss relies on structural tension from the bridge itself to maintain its rigidity. As soon as one of the support columns was destroyed, the rest of the bridge quickly followed.

The damage to the Dali is reported as minimal. The ship was impaled by the bridge's structure above the waterline, but has maintained watertight integrity. The crew has not reported any water contamination from its 1.8 million gallons of marine fuel. 13 containers carrying potentially hazardous material were damaged, and are being inspected by a team of Coast Guard divers. At least 5 vehicles including 3 passenger cars and a cement mixer were detected underwater, but authorities do not believe they were occupied

Who was hurt?

The crew of the Dali reports no casualties, except one crewmember who was hospitalized for minor injuries. There was a crew of 8 construction workers on the Key Bridge filling in potholes. 2 were immediately pulled from the water by rescue crews, with 1 being rushed to emergency care and the other reporting minor injuries and refusing treatment. The hospitalized worker has since been discharged. 1 of those rescued was Mexican. The remaining 6 remain missing. Of those 6, 2 have been identified:

Miguel Luna from El Salvador

Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandoval from Honduras

Of the remaining 4, 2 are Guatemalan nationals. Neither have been identified, but the Guatemalan Foreign Affairs Ministry has stated that they were a 26-year-old from San Luis, Petén, and a 35-year-old from Camotán, Chiquimula. The other 2 are presumed to be Mexican.

Rescue Efforts

The Coast Guard was immediately deployed for search-and-rescue operations. Military Blackhawk helicopters were seen over the river. Rescue efforts were ended at 07:30 PM on March 26, 2024 due to darkness, fog, and cold temperatures. Rear Admiral Shannon Gilreath said "Based on the length of time that we've gone in the search, the extensive search efforts that we put into it, the water temperature -- at this point, we do not believe that we're going to find any of these individuals still alive". Recovery operations resumed at 07:30 AM on March 27, 2024 with all 6 workers presumed dead.

No divers have yet entered the water underneath the bridge. Supervisory Special Agent Brian Hudson of the FBI's Underwater Search and Evidence Response Team said "the debris field is pretty sizable and I know that’s why they’re hesitant to send divers down because some of the debris is still shifting, the heavy weight of the rocks". The FBI has deployed Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) equipped with cameras and SONAR.

Aftermath

At 05:08 AM on March 26, 2024 Transportation Secretary Pete Buttegiege posted on X (formerly Twitter):

"I’ve spoken with Gov. Moore and Mayor Scott to offer USDOT’s support following the vessel strike and collapse of the Francis Scott Key bridge. Rescue efforts remain underway and drivers in the Baltimore area should follow local responder guidance on detours and response."

At 07:30 AM on March 27, 2024 President of the Maryland State Senate Bill Ferguson posted on X (formerly Twitter):

"Over 15,000 in the Balt region rely on daily operations at Port of Baltimore to put food on the table. Today, with Del. @LukeClippinger and colleagues representing Port, we are drafting an emergency bill to provide for income replacement for workers impacted by this travesty."

At around 09:40 AM on March 26, 2024 Maryland Governor Wes Moore and Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott declared a State of Emergency to take effect at 10:30 AM March 26, 2024, and to last 30 days. Baltimore's Emergency Operations Plan was put into effect.

More than 1,000 personnel from the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) have been deployed to assist with clearing the debris and rebuilding efforts. President Joe Biden has pledged that the federal government will pay for the entire reconstruction of the bridge.

Jennifer Homendy, the chair of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has recovered the Dali's data recorder, and will be inspecting both the Key Bridge and the Dali to determine the cause of the crash and the collapse. She says the investigation could take up to 2 years to complete.

Was it intentional?

According to William DelBagno, head of the FBI's Baltimore field office: "There is no specific or credible information to suggest there are ties to terrorism in this incident".

Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said: "There are no indications this was an intentional act".

At least 3 people have been killed in accidents related to ships operated by Synergy in the past 6 years. In 2018 a person on board a Synergy ship in Australia was killed in an accident relating to the vessel's personnel elevator. In 2019 an officer aboard a Synergy vessel in Singapore fell overboard while performing maintenance. In 2023 at least one sailor was killed when a Synergy ship collided with a dredging ship in the Philippines. In the first two cases safety inspectors noted that proper safety procedures had not been adhered to.

Sources

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

[cartierre]

RACE MY MIND | tom blyth

SOCIAL MEDIA!AU tom blyth x fem!driver!reader

side note: that's my man right there aaaaahhhhh side note pt2: for story purposes, we're just going to act as if tbosas came out before the end of the 2023 season! side note pt3: went a lil overboard with the interviews oops

♡ liked by charles_leclerc, lewishamilton, tomblyth and 637,948 others

yourusername anything for my number one fan

view all 5,349 comments

user1 Y/N IS SO INSANE

user2 okay hold on okay hold ON

tomblyth president snow? no, president of y/n's fanclub comment liked by yourusername

user3 ik her dropping tom in her dump is insane but yk what is also insane? how much cunt she's serving ⤷ user4 someone finally speaking the facts

user5 no podium for the last race but she still ate with this post

♡ liked by arthur_leclerc, carmenmmundt, tomblyth and 601,283 others

yourusername fan service went a lil crazy with this one

view all 6,394 comments

user6 wait does this- are they dating?

user7 oh wow they really took the fast lane huh

user8 y/n did what lucy gray couldn't

tomblyth guess snow lands on top after all ⤷ yourusername i-

user9 TOM SO FUNNY LMAO

user10 he manifested that shit so hard

[vettelsvee]

CITY OF STARS UNIVERSE

❝ Where all their dreams came true, except not in the way they all expected... ❞

🏁 City of Stars is a Formula 1 AU (Alternate Universe) in where all drivers (except one of them) will not be drivers, but have any other job and a completely different life as well 📚 All stories will be connected between them, and the different characters will have appearances and cameos in all of them. You don't have to read all the stories, but it'll definitely help you in case you want to understand certain actions of said people 🏎️ As most drivers won't be drivers, we'll be having a fictional Formula 1 grid, starting on the 2023 season 📓 Taglist is open! Just DM me, tell me on the anon inbox or just comment on this post which(s) fanfic(s) will you be interested to read, and I'll tag you! 💬 You can make me your questions and comments on my inbox!

✧˖° BOOK 0.5 TILL WE MEET AGAIN Sebastian Vettel x Diana Wagner (Original Female Character) 📚 SUMMARY: Just two best friends since they were babies that decide to take the next step and take the risk, even they know that might be the end of it all 📓 TROPES: Friends to lovers, right person, wrong time 🗓️ SETTING: 2000 - 2008 📌 TAGLIST: @myescapefromthislife @padawanoftheyear @wherethezoes-at

✧˖° BOOK 1 BIRDS AND BEES Sebastian Vettel x Diana Wagner (Original Female Character) High School teacher!Sebastian Vettel x Primary School teacher!OFC 📚 SUMMARY: The goodbye they said to each other 6 years later was just a lie and now, they're forced to work together. The problem? They know they're each others soulmate, even he's having an existential crisis on his late 20s, and she's not really sure if her engagement with Mark Webber is really what she wants 📓 TROPES: Workplace romance, forced proximity, friends to lovers, ex lovers, second chance 🗓️ SETTING: 2014 - 2015 📌 TAGLIST: @myescapefromthislife @padawanoftheyear @wherethezoes-at

✧˖° BOOK 2 THROTTLE EQUATION Oscar Piastri x Louisa Schifer (Original Female Character) McLaren Intern!Oscar Piastri x McLaren Intern!OFC 📚 SUMMARY: Being part of Formula 1 is their team, so when both Oscar and Louisa are selected among other 18 students all around Europe on the McLaren Formula 1 Team internship for the 2023 season, they know it might be a sign. However, when they're told by none other than team principal Fernando Alonso that just one of them can really get a job by the end of the season, it's when the real championship starts for them 📓 TROPES: Enemies to lovers, rivals to lovers, grumpy x sunshine (reversed), workplace romance 🗓️ SETTING: 2023 📌 TAGLIST: @myescapefromthislife @padawanoftheyear @wherethezoes-at

✧˖° BOOK 3 FAST LANE GAMES Lando Norris x Irene Castro (Original Female Character) Content creator!Lando Norris x Videogames developer!OFC 📚 SUMMARY: Being a videogames developer, she decides to take the opportunity and take part in a contest by her favourite Twitch streamer, Lando Norris. However, it wasn't in her plans being selected because, now, she'll have to fake being a man and working side by side by on of the most content creators around the world... even when he also knows her as herself 📓 TROPES: Secret/double identity, forced proximity, friends with benefits 🗓️ SETTING: 2023 📌 TAGLIST: @myescapefromthislife @padawanoftheyear @wherethezoes-at

✧˖° BOOK 4 NOT A TROPE Max Verstappen x Heather Spencer (Original Female Character) Formula 1 journalist!Max Verstappen x Writer!OFC 📚 SUMMARY: Max is forced to interview Heather after his workmate calls in sick last minute. Even he doesn't like reading, she offers him to read her book and, also, dedicates it to him. Little did they know that they won't only get closer, but also he'll be the main source of inspiration to write her upcoming romance novel settled in the Formula 1 world 📓 TROPES: Slow-burn, friends to lovers, he falls first but she falls harder 🗓️ SETTING: 2023 📌 TAGLIST: @myescapefromthislife @wherethezoes-at

✧˖° BOOK 5 FREE PRACTICE Mick Schumacher x Heidi Davenport (Original Female Character) McLaren driver!Mick Schumacher x PR!OFC 📚 SUMMARY: After his PR immediately left him for a better offer to represent a famous actor, and his dad leaving his manager duties to retire after he won his first Formula 1 championship, Mick finds himself having Michael's best friend and former race engineer, Sebastian Vettel, as his newest manager, as well as his very own best friend as his PR. Even when he knows that's definitely some sort of comfort for him, what he didn't know is that that comfort will end up with them expecting a baby 📓 TROPES: Friends to lovers, unwanted and secret pregnancy, secret relationship 🗓️ SETTING: 2023 📌 TAGLIST: @myescapefromthislife @el-bibi

✧˖° BOOK 6 NANNY ON DUTY Fernando Alonso x Natalie Hawkins (Original Female Character) McLaren Team Principal!Fernando Alonso x Nanny!OFC 📚 SUMMARY: His professional life is the best it's ever been, but his personal life is getting more and more miserable. After divorcing his wife for 20 years, Fernando finds himself not really knowing how to be by himself and, worse than that, how to really care about his 15 and 9 years old kids. Solution? Easy: try finding a nanny who can really help him without his ex wife finding out about that by trying faking a relationship with her 📓 TROPES: Fake dating, age gap, boss x employee romance 🗓️ SETTING: 2023 📌 TAGLIST: @myescapefromthislife @valeelavvale

✧˖° BOOK 7 CADENCE OF US Charles Leclerc x Nora Laurent (Original Female Character) Pianist!Charles Leclerc x Ballet dancer!OFC 📚 SUMMARY: They're both living different lives, with different opportunities, even they're meant to live the same ones. When music and dancing make them meet during a gala, Nora's family realizes that arranging a marriage with the middle son of the Leclerc's might be the best option to help her make her life easier... even when she doesn't want to 📓 TROPES: Small town romance, forbidden love, marriage of convenience 🗓️ SETTING: 2024 📌 TAGLIST: @myescapefromthislife

✧˖° BOOK 8 I'LL SEE YOU IN THE MOVIES Carlos Sainz x Elena Márquez (Original Female Character) Cinema worker!Carlos Sainz x Debut actress!OFC 📚 SUMMARY: Going to the cinema and dreaming about getting out of a town that cuts her wings is her daily routine even when his brother's best friend, Carlos, is there. No one knows the real reason why she goes, daily, to the cinema, and spends her afternoons there until one day, Carlos sees something that makes him worry for her more than he should even when she tells him it's nothing 📓 TROPES: Brother's best friend, grumpy x sunshine, toxic relationship 🗓️ SETTING: 2024 📌 TAGLIST: @myescapefromthislife

✧˖° BOOK 9 CASE CLOSED... SORT OF George Russell x Amelie Parrish (Original Female Character) Lawyer!George Russell x PR!OFC 📚 SUMMARY: She thought leaving her job as Mick Schumacher's PR would make her life better, but he wasn't expecting having to be the right hand of one of the most problematic celebrities in the Hollywood world and, worse than that, having to work side by side with an annoying lawyer just to keep her job 📓 TROPES: Workplace romance, forced proximity, enemies to lovers 🗓️ SETTING: 2024 📌 TAGLIST: @myescapefromthislife

✧˖° BOOK 10 FAR FROM FICTION Daniel Ricciardo x Edith Gauthier (Original Female Character) Actor!Daniel Ricciardo x Actress!OFC 📚 SUMMARY: They both fucked up their reputations by being stupid and doing crazy things they knew was wrong. In order to make their reputations better than they ever were, they decide to not only fake a relationship, but also fake a wedding and fake that they've been dating, secretly, for 6 out of the 9 years they've known each other 📓 TROPES: Fake marriage, fake dating 🗓️ SETTING: 2024 📌 TAGLIST: @myescapefromthislife @padawanoftheyear

MORE TO COME SOON!

[verstappen100]

An ongoing Daniel Ricciardo video collection ❤️🍯🦡☀️

adding links to vimeo and youtube finds (under the cut, so it'll update reblogs as I add more links over time!)

hello!! This is definitely not a comprehensive list, mostly filing under things that are just new to me as a more recent fan! it's cool when I stumble upon a vid I haven't seen or one I recognize from a gif set! so I'm adding them in a list of links here in case anyone else is curious ❤️ some are like 30 second commercial spots & others are longer interviews, most so far from 2014-2020 🎥🎤✨

okay allons-y!!

Sourced from Vimeo

not chronologically organized (yet!) so I've just added the upload date atm for a date approximation; have yet to look into all the uploading accounts, too, so there is definitely way more out there to see!

📍Update 01-01-2025:

Btw if you click a link in the tumblr app and it shows a tumblr page saying "There's nothing here" sadly many of the vimeo links are not redirecting correctly atm 😭

the videos are still up and available (thankfully!! and they can be found by searching the titles on vimeo [which are listed for each vid before the upload date part below]) but!! I will be making like a Google doc with all the links, since tumblr insists on adding this redirect bologna and I'm not tech savvy enough to know why its not working hehe 🙃 I'll be back this weekend with a fix and the new link list!

lastly here's the link for DR's brand vimeo which also has the overall site search option at the top for easy access 🔍 not linked but copy-and-pastable into Google or Safari etc: https://vimeo.com/user50821531

thanks y'all!! ❤️

update 01-05-2025 I'm sorry y'all!! I have been fighting a fever all weekend 😭 so I have yet to compile everything, but the Google doc with all the working links will be here asap!! ❤️ (update 02-02-2025 omg I'm taking 5ever! Sorry y'all, I've not forgotten, life has been hella busy but I'll be adding all the vimeo links to a file soon!! Thanks for being so patient with me! hope everyone is well!! ❤️)

definitely starting with the dozens of videos on DR's official brand Vimeo (which has the delightful Sunday Night Flights series of casual post-race recaps) link

Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen paint Aston Martins in Hosier Lane - Uploaded on Mar 21, 2018 - link

Daniel Ricciardo - T Magazine Aus BTS spot - Uploaded on Jan 14, 2023 - link

Ricciardo, favorito para el GP de Singapur - Uploaded on Oct 25, 2016 - link

Red Bull - Camper Race BEHIND THE SCENES | Max Verstappen und Daniel Ricciardo - Uploaded on May 29, 2017 - link

Red Bull InFrames - Singapore GP with Daniel Ricciardo - Uploaded on Oct 25, 2017 - link

Daniel Ricciardo drives Renault Clio - Uploaded on Jul 24, 2014 - link (ah the image in the collage above is for the other Clio commercial linked below and vice versa!! I got them mixed up when adding screenshots hehe. Pobody's nerfect)

Daniel Ricciardo | Race Service (parallel parking with some slightly haunting editing) - Uploaded on May 22, 2022 - link

Season Break - Daniel Ricciardo - Uploaded on Jan 30, 2020 - link

Daniel Ricciardo x Hilton - Uploaded on Feb 7, 2023 - link

Optus TVC Daniel Ricciardo - Uploaded on Dec 17, 2024 - link

Fox Sports - I Am Daniel Ricciardo (bananas editing /positive) - Uploaded on Apr 9, 2017 - link

ESPN AUSSIES ABROAD: DANIEL RICCIARDO - LIFE IN THE FAST LANE Opener - Uploaded on Apr 21, 2016 (I have yet to watch the full documentary!) - link

ESPN AUSSIES ABROAD- DANIEL RICCIARDO - LIFE IN THE FAST LANE Preview 2 - Uploaded on Apr 21, 2016 - link

Daniel Ricciardo: Uncut (😳🥴 sorry mind in the gutter, this is a longer interview tho!) - Uploaded on Sep 17, 2017 - link

Daniel Ricciardo Feature - Uploaded on Mar 28, 2018 - link

Renault Clio I Ricciardo I Augusto Gimenez Zapiola - Uploaded on Sep 3, 2020 - link

Sky Sports Ident - F1 - Ricciardo - Uploaded on Jan 5, 2018 - link

PIRELLI: DANIEL RICCIARDO P ZERO WORLD - Uploaded on Aug 12, 2016 - link

C4F1 Daniel Ricciardo Interview Australia 2019 - Uploaded on Mar 20, 2019 - link

Daniel Ricciardo_comp_1005 - Uploaded on Dec 11, 2017 - link

Daniel Ricciardo x Artura - Uploaded on Feb 10, 2021 - link

Daniel Ricciardo drives the Triple Eight Project Sandman V8 Supercar - Uploaded on Mar 16, 2016 - link

Red Bull Racing x PUMA USGP Launch at Austin Speed Shop - Uploaded on Mar 7, 2017 - link

TAG Heuer Aston Martin Red Bull Racing 2018 Global Commercial - Uploaded on Jul 12, 2019 - link

Red Bull : One day in the life of Daniel Ricciardo - Uploaded on Apr 15, 2016 - link

Carsales // Celebrity Drive with Daniel Ricciardo - Uploaded on Aug 1, 2023 - link

On_set_with_Daniel_Ricciardo.mov - Uploaded on Nov 22, 2021 - link

Castrol EDGE Daniel Ricciardo Live on The Edge - Uploaded on Jun 4, 2020 - link

Aston Martin Racing - Daniel Ricciardo vs Darren Turner - Uploaded on Dec 17, 2021 - link

Red Bull Racing Daniel Ricciardo Photoshoot - Behind the scenes - Uploaded on Sep 16, 2020 - link

Dan Ricciardo and Alissa Smith - Silverstone 2018 Interview - Uploaded on Apr 14, 2019 - link

YouTube

omg I have yet to properly dive into YouTube! probs this section will just be as I come across things (Vimeo is much more manageable for perusing)

[2017 F1]日本GP ダニエル・リカルド&マックス・フェルスタッペン トークショー Daniel Ricciardo & Max Verstappen's talk show - 10-08-2017 - link

Added 01-01-2025 - Daniel Ricciardo on Malaysian GP - 09-27-2017 - link

Added 01-02-2025 - Q & A with Tonio Liuzzi and Daniel Ricciardo - 08-31-2011 - link

Added 01-05-2025 - Trackwalk with Daniel Ricciardo, Korea - 10-17-2011 - link

Added 02-02-2025 - Daniel Ricciardo's "Ultimate F1 Track Layout" interview - 09-22-2016 - link

more to come soon!! ❤️ thank you for stopping by!

[dylanalexanderart]

All 15 of my "Character Posters" for Superman!

a little story:

Rewind back to the summer of 2019 and Superman was all but non-existent on the silver screen, with plans to put the character on an indefinite backburner. I was tired of it. So I decided to just do it myself. I wanted to create my own depiction of Clark Kent and Lois Lane's world and I decided to really focus down on drawing. From then on, I kept my eyes out whenever I was watching a film or TV show for any actors that I could use for reference when drawing Lois and Clark. And by happenstance, I came across both David Corenswet and Rachel Brosnahan within a couple of weeks from each other. I had never seen two people who looked and felt more like how I viewed Clark Kent and Lois Lane. From then on, I would use their likeness as inspiration for when I would draw Lois and Clark.

Fast forward to the summer of 2023, both David and Rachel were cast as Clark Kent and Lois Lane in the upcoming Superman reboot. Somehow and someway the stars aligned and everything was working out the way I had always fantasized. And for the the first time in so long, I was the happiest I had ever been.

Now with the teaser trailer and sneak peek having been released, I believe, without a shadow of a doubt, this is THE movie I have always wanted. It feels as if it is being made exclusively for me. For this is so much more than a film to me, this is my livelihood, my lifeblood, my passion, my very DNA.

From the bottom of my heart, a monumental thank you to the entire cast and crew, for crafting something so beautiful. Your work has already changed my life and the film isn't even out yet.

July can't come fast enough!

[kingofthecotas]

paperweight pt. 2 | ao3

luca & marc teammate fic

––

The bike—

The bike is good.

Luca knows it isn’t even the finished product; there’s more to do before the development shutdown, and even more progress they can make in the new year. But it’s good.

Even if he couldn’t feel it himself, Marc’s smile is enough. The smile is a warning, and it’s not directed at Luca; the cameras are on them, more than they have been the past couple of years, but that’s a natural consequence of moving up the grid, and also of having Marc Márquez in the same garage.

It should mean more. Luca should be excited. He should be nervous. He’s coming off the back of his best season since 2023, and this bike is going to be even better. Maybe he’s compartmentalised a little too well.

They’re in a lull now, the team running some data, making some changes, and Marc has disappeared; Santi is still there, poring over his laptop. 

Luca steps out into the pit lane, sends a cursory glance up and down; Bez is still running laps, Cele is nowhere to be seen, and Pecco is never good company on a test day. He does, however, spot a familiar figure leaning on the pit wall, leathers around his waist, shoulders hunched.

Marc has never been one to admit to pain if he can help it. He’ll sit in it, muscle through it, even as it cuts lines across his face.

With something in his stomach, a knot, a sickly lump, Luca wanders towards him. It’s easy to call out in Spanish, “Marc? Are you okay?”

Marc twists his head, smile already painted on. “Fuck, Luca, I think I am still hungover.”

That startles a laugh out of Luca. “Well, it was a good championship. And you did not get to celebrate at the time.”

“I think Ducati are sabotaging me,” Marc groans. “No, I am joking. I cannot drink the same. I am not twenty.” A pause. “Getting old.”

“Shut the fuck up. You’re thirty-three.”

It’s Marc’s turn to laugh. 

“I thought—it might have been your arm, so…”

“No. Just my liver.”

“Well, if you are this bad, I should maybe check on Bez. I didn’t hear from him yesterday at all.”

When Marc laughs this time, it’s real; not the protective skin he’s worn for years. “Good thing the test was not yesterday.”

They both fall into a comfortable silence, leaning over the pitlane wall. One of the BMWs shoots past.

“What do you think?” Marc nods towards it as it disappears around the first corner.

“I think doing well in another series has made them cocky. We’ll find out their real pace soon enough.”

“Mm. And Ducati?”

“Always they will be fast. Pecco will be the strongest.”

Marc tilts his head. “And us?” 

“You can see how the bike is,” Luca says. “We are there.”

“Yes. It will not try to kill me this time.”

“Hopefully. How is it, compared to Ducati?”

“Different,” Marc admits. “I need to—learn how to ride it again. I can see the work you have done.”

That—it warms Luca, because Valentino Rossi may be his brother, but Marc is Marc, and it’s different coming from him. “Ah, broke my collarbone for it. It better be good.” 

Another smile, readily given. “Worth it, I hope?”

“We’ll find out.” 

A Ducati rolls down the straight: Pecco, sitting up, steering one-handed, allowing Fabio’s Yamaha by. Luca waves.

“Marc!”

“Ah.” Marc straightens, turns to greet David with a soft smile. “I thought you had forgotten me now that you’re a real MotoGP rider.”

David ignores that, pressing himself against Marc’s side, and leans back on the pitwall. “This is—the coolest thing.”

“Enjoying it? Gresini are looking after you? I will speak to Frankie.”

David launches into it, almost tripping over his words as he tells them how the braking is—like they don’t know—how the tyres feel, how the start took him by surprise. “And the grip when you take the second turn—hi, Vale—it’s just, you can get so much more speed through the corner.”

Luca whips his head around, finds Valentino hovering a few steps away. It takes everything he has not to roll his eyes. “Uccio was fine, then?”

And Valentino grins. “You are all, ah, slacking. Should be doing laps.”

“Fuck off.” 

Marc snorts; he’s smiling still, but placidly, too calm. Dangerous. David looks fucking starstruck, glancing between them. 

“Good weather,” Vale offers.

“Good weather?” Marc says.

“Warmer than normal, yes?”

“Yeah.” 

“It is normally cold this time of year. In Valencia.”

Marc says nothing this time, just blinks. Runs his tongue across his bottom lip. 

Luca wonders if—it should be possible, he thinks, to be able to combust on command, which would surely, surely be less excruciating than whatever his brother is trying to do. Would make a firm point, too. 

“I am not telling you how the bike is,” he says instead, pressing through the strange tension, nails through cling film. “Team secrets.”

“Of course, of course.” Vale claps his hands together. Shoots a glance towards Marc. Sends a cheerful smile in David’s direction. “Congratulations, David. You deserve it.”

There’ll be cameras on them soon: champion, champion, champion, and Luca. He squirms under it. “How is Cele doing?” 

“Ah, it is a lot, yes, but he will learn.” A step closer, hands in the pockets of his hoodie. “The team will look after him, I think. Yamaha has done a lot with the bike also.” His shoulder is probably hurting, too, but Valentino, always protective, always careful, won’t give that away. 

“Good.”

Silence.

Spontaneous combustion, Luca prays, and he really fucking means it this time. Valentino stays where he is, a pace and a half away, seemingly held at bay by Marc’s blank stare. 

“I should go back to the team, yes?” Valentino says after a pause. “Maro, you will make sure Pecco eats lunch?”

“Sure.”

“Good luck for the year, David. You do not need it, of course.” Vale smiles, ducks his head in that falsely bashful way of his, and retreats. The air clears; David lets out a long breath, eyes wide.

Just for a moment, Marc’s expression changes, and Luca catches it. Only a second, but he smiles at Valentino’s retreating back, full of wonder and humour and—

Tenderness, maybe. Something like it. 

——

It’s a short winter. Christmas passes in a flash, as does New Years Eve—spent at the ranch, as it has been since before Luca can remember. Domizia gives birth in the middle of a cold January, and Luca lets Pecco cry down the phone in sheer exhausted joy. 

And—Luca would say he’s good at compartmentalising. Too good, maybe. So good that it doesn’t truly hit him until it’s launch day, and Marc is beside him in the backstage area that’s serving as a dressing room, pulling Honda leathers over his ankles. 

BMW, brash with the confidence of newcomers, had come knocking; Joan, still with a championship under his belt, had been lured away. And Honda didn’t panic. They didn’t send the men in suits. They sent Santi Hernández to have a beer with an old friend.

At first, Marc with his eight championships and too much on the line, had politely refused. But then Luca finished in the top five, then on the podium, and Joan came close to a win, and they kept getting better, and Marc wrapped up his ninth title with two races to go.

And now he’s in the makeshift dressing room next to Luca. 

The air seems thick, and Luca swallows; it’s like Valencia never happened.

“Nervous?” Marc asks, like he can read minds all of a sudden. 

“I hate these things.”

“They’ll have more questions for me.” Marc bends his elbow, testing the leathers. He frowns at it; the different colours, the unfamiliar sponsors. 

“Are you nervous?” Luca asks before he can stop himself. 

“Of course. Always.”

“You are good at this, though.”

“I have to be,” Marc says quietly. “I was never given a choice.” 

Luca doesn’t know how to answer that one, not when he’s always had the protective flare of Valentino: Valentino, acutely aware of how the media operates; Valentino, who turned their heat-seeking scrutiny on a kid. Marc grew up too fast, the boy king, but it was Valentino who forced him to retreat behind a shield wall. 

He never wants to think about that too hard, because he doesn’t like his brother when he does.

They’re ushered towards the main room, introduced with a flare of graphics and some over-the-top music, like they’re fucking Formula 1 drivers. Luca has always tried to take it in stride, but if he ever wins a race and they put him on a moving platform, he’ll retire on the spot. Marc does as he’s directed with the ease of someone who’s been doing these for years, unblinking in the bright lights, and takes his microphone. Luca can only follow.

The questions are easy, at first, looking forward to the season, asking about the bike—but they can’t hide from it forever, and they turn to Marc eventually. He’s ready, of course.

“Ducati have been like a family to me.” 

A media-friendly lie. Ducati are not a family; they are a church, another Italian religion wrapped in red bringing riders to the altar of success, willing sacrifices, crushed under the weight of expectation, gnawed away to bone when they don’t deliver. Marc had squared his shoulders, withstood it, because he is Marc. Pecco has never resisted, instead letting the red tendrils worm around him, into him, until they’re indistinguishable from his own muscles and sinew: their perfect godling. 

“But Honda has always been my home,” Marc continues. “I always said I would come back if things got better.” 

“Back where you belong,” someone comments. “Do you feel like you can jump straight back into leading the team?”

Luca swallows; he can’t say why that stings, exactly, but it does.

“Well, I have been riding Ducatis for three years,” Marc says, “and you cannot forget the work that everyone has been doing to improve, especially Luca.”

Against his will, Luca’s head snaps around to stare at Marc; it’s lucky his default expression is calm, because his mind is spinning. 

“You can see the improvements, and it will be a different bike from what I remember and what I am used to, so I don’t—I don’t want to say I will be the, the leader straight away. I cannot leave and come back and expect this. But I am excited to work with Luca.” Marc turns to meet Luca’s gaze, intense, focused—and then he smiles. “He has improved a lot the bike, and also himself. So it should be good.”

Sometimes, when Marc smiles, it’s the slow creep of a stalking predator, the first sign of danger. Sometimes it’s unbridled jubilation, high off the thrill of battling and emerging victorious. This is neither; it’s gentle and open, not a warning, not a battle cry. 

Luca smiles back. 

“And Luca? Are you looking forward to having Marc as your teammate?”

“One of the best ever, no?” Luca says with a shrug. It’s never been a problem for him to say, not like it would be for Bez, the poster child of Valentino adoration. “I know how much Pecco has enjoyed him as a teammate, and he said he was still learning from him, so looking forward to it. Good for the team, and good for me.” 

“He is lying,” Marc says into his microphone, with that tone of letting the whole audience in on their joke. Just like Vale, when he has to be. “Pecco hated it.”

Everyone laughs, cameras flash, and Luca keeps smiling.

[jeysbvck]

jey & cody at the press conference have me crying with laughter at 5am😭😭

[jjmcquade-misc]

California's Endless Highway: A 17-Year Odyssey Under Governor Newsom

March 27, 2025

SACRAMENTO - For 17 years, California Governor Gavin Newsom has presided over a highway project that has become a symbol of ambition, delay, and political theater. What began as a promise to revolutionize the state’s transportation infrastructure has morphed into a saga of grandiose announcements, ballooning costs, and minimal progress. As the current date marks March 27, 2025, this article chronicles the timeline of this elusive highway, critically examining the gap between Newsom’s triumphant rhetoric and the stark reality on the ground.

2008: A Vision Takes Root

The story begins in 2008, when California voters approved Proposition 1A, authorizing $9.95 billion in bonds to fund a high-speed rail system, not a traditional highway. Newsom, then mayor of San Francisco, championed the project as a transformative step toward a sustainable future. While this initiative was technically a rail project, it laid the groundwork for Newsom’s later focus on transportation infrastructure, including highways, as he ascended to the governorship. The rail’s promise of connecting Los Angeles to San Francisco captured imaginations, but it also set a precedent for ambitious timelines and optimistic funding projections.

2019: Newsom Takes the Helm and Shifts Focus

Upon becoming governor in January 2019, Newsom inherited the high-speed rail project, already mired in cost overruns and delays. In his first State of the State address, he acknowledged the rail’s challenges, scaling back the original vision to a 171-mile segment between Merced and Bakersfield. Yet, alongside this recalibration, Newsom began emphasizing broader infrastructure goals, including highway improvements. That year, he signed an executive order redirecting some gas tax funds, raised under Senate Bill 1 of 2017 -from road repairs to rail and transit, prompting criticism that highway maintenance was being sidelined. Still, he promised accelerated highway construction to complement the rail, framing it as part of a “build more, faster” agenda.

2020-2022: Promises Amid a Pandemic

As the COVID-19 pandemic gripped California, Newsom’s administration leaned into infrastructure as an economic recovery tool. In 2021, he touted a $13 billion investment in transportation, including highway upgrades, funded partly by federal stimulus dollars. Press releases highlighted plans to repair bridges, widen lanes, and enhance safety on major routes like Highway 99. Yet, progress reports were scarce, and critics noted that much of the funding was earmarked for planning rather than construction. By 2022, Newsom announced the “substantial completion” of preparatory work on several highway projects, but ground-level evidence, such as visible construction, remained limited.

2023: Streamlining and Celebration

In May 2023, Newsom unveiled a legislative package to streamline infrastructure projects, including highways, by cutting bureaucratic red tape. Standing at a solar farm site in Stanislaus County, he declared, “We’re building more, faster,” promising thousands of jobs and modernized roads. The Los Angeles Times reported that this initiative aimed to leverage $180 billion in state and federal funds over a decade. Later that year, he signed the package into law, celebrating it as a historic reform. However, specific highway projects, like the widening of Highway 46 in San Luis Obispo County, remained stalled, with funds still held in reserve.

2024-2025: Milestones or Mirage?

Fast forward to 2024, and Newsom’s administration claimed $13 billion had been invested in transportation that year alone, with a focus on “climate-resilient roads and highways.” Press releases cited new bike lanes, bridge repairs, and wildlife crossings along Interstate 15 as evidence of progress. On January 7, 2025, Newsom broke ground on a railhead near Bakersfield, doubling down on his transportation legacy with a nod to highway synergies. Yet, as of March 27, 2025, no single highway project spanning his 17-year political career, from his mayoral days to now, has been fully completed and operational under his direct oversight, raising questions about the substance behind the fanfare.

The Money Trail

Financially, the picture is murky but staggering. Since 2008, the high-speed rail project alone has consumed over $20 billion, with estimates now exceeding $128 billion for the scaled-back Merced-Bakersfield line, according to official updates. Highway-specific spending is harder to isolate, but Senate Bill 1 has generated billions since 2017, supplemented by federal funds like the $6.5 billion from the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Caltrans reports suggest hundreds of millions have gone to highway planning and repairs, yet tangible results, completed miles of new or upgraded highway, remain elusive. Critics estimate that at least $2-3 billion has been spent on highway-related efforts under Newsom’s watch, with little to show beyond press conferences and partially funded initiatives.

The Current Reality

Today, California’s highways are a patchwork of aging infrastructure and incremental upgrades. Highway 99, a frequent target of Newsom’s promises, still suffers from congestion and unfinished widening projects in Madera and Tulare counties. The Sacramento Bee noted in 2019 that $17 million for such work was deferred, a pattern that persists. Meanwhile, the high-speed rail, often conflated with broader transportation goals, inches along with 119 miles under construction in the Central Valley, hardly a highway, and far from the statewide network Newsom once envisioned.

Final Considerations: Propaganda vs. Reality

Governor Newsom’s 17-year highway narrative is a masterclass in political optics. His annual triumphant announcements, laden with phrases like “world-leading,” “transformative,” and “faster”, project an image of decisive leadership and progress. This propagandistic angle leverages California’s appetite for bold solutions, casting Newsom as a visionary tackling climate change, economic stagnation, and infrastructure decay. The reality, however, is a sobering contrast: billions spent, years elapsed, and a state still waiting for its promised highways.

The disconnect lies in execution. While Newsom’s administration excels at securing funds and crafting legislation, the follow-through, turning dollars into asphalt, lags. Environmental reviews, legal challenges, and shifting priorities (e.g., rail over roads) have bogged down projects, a fact he acknowledged in 2019 but has since glossed over. The money spent to date, potentially exceeding $3 billion on highways alone, has yielded planning documents and piecemeal repairs rather than a cohesive, completed network. The citizens skepticism, and with users decrying a “$128 billion train to nowhere” and questioning highway progress after 17 years.

In fairness, Newsom faces systemic hurdles, California’s stringent regulations and a fragmented funding landscape, but his reliance on hype over substance invites scrutiny. The governor’s narrative suggests a golden age of infrastructure is imminent; the facts reveal a state stuck in neutral, with taxpayers footing the bill for a dream deferred. As 2025 unfolds, Californians await not just announcements, but results.

[honeydippedfiction]

Fast Lanes: Crossing Worlds

Narrative: Follow Y/N, a fearless street racer from Barbados, as she visits the 2023 F1 Grand Prix in Singapore. Catching the attention of top drivers, she navigates flirtation, rivalry, and the allure of professional racing while staying true to her street-racing roots. What adventures lie ahead for them? What are the chances of them seeing her again? (This takes place over the course of the ending of the 2023 season and maybe into the 2024 season)

index

Prequel Ep.1 Ep.2 Ep.3 Ep.4 Ep.5 Ep.6 Ep.7 Ep.8

updates every Tuesday & Saturday (On Hiatus)

• you DO NOT have my permission to copy my work, upload as your own, translate, or repost on any other website •

send an ask or click here to join any taglist

[silvyysthings]

Let’s take a stroll down Memory Lane because for some reason Timmy always finds a way of always taking us all back to that beautiful experience he had in a small town in Italy set in 1983 and the co star he shared it with. Remember the beautiful photoshoot of Armie and Timmy back in 2017 by photographer Mario Sorrenti? The one with Timmy in the pink shirt? Now fast forward to 2023 and look at who the photographer was for his Chanel Ad and Play the accompanying song “Nights in White Satin by The Moody Blues that an article said Timmy chose himself. Purely coincidental I’m sure 7 years after filming? He remembers “Everything”. Your Welcome.

😍 I love this anon , so much 😍

Thank you ❤❤

[dear-ao3]

Ask for f1 drama

i shall continue my tales of regaling you all

this edition: las vegas

so as it currently stands (november 14, 2023) there are two races left in the 2023 f1 season. one is this weekend in las vegas and one is next weekend in abu dhabi. we already know who has won the drivers and contractors (team) championship (max verstappen and red bull) but theres still some loose ends in the form of second third fourth etc place that need some tying up.

and the standings for the lower places of the championship are all quite tight:

theres still a whole lot of action that can come there

which brings us to las vegas

vegas is a new race on the calendar, meaning no one has ever raced there on this track before (and likely no one will again based on how its going) and it is a street circuit, so they are literally racing on the las vegas strip.

now, prior to all the new stuff that came to light for this weekend, f1 royally managed to piss off las vegas by (probably) making tax payers (the people of vegas) pay for the strip to be repaved (several million dollars), wreaking absolute havoc on their town, shutting off the fountains, blocking things off, making traffic a nightmare and most terribly, saying that they would block off/put blackout on any stores or windows of stores or hotels who didnt want to pay a several thousand dollar fee to f1, basically making the race not viewable to anyone for free. (note that they have several other street circuit races in the calendar and they don't do this there). so it was already a nightmare.

now it gets more fun!

the race is in the middle of november in las vegas (which, for all intents and purposes, is a desert) and they decided for some unholy reason to make this a night race. i think it starts at 11 pm local time. and low and behold, the organizers just happened to forget (and they admitted that they did indeed forget) that it gets very cold at night in the desert. right now its projected to be 44-47 degrees f ( about 4/5 degrees c). f1 cars are fragile little machines that get grumpy in the wrong conditions and boy let me tell you, this is absolutely the wrong conditions. if it is indeed This Cold at the race, it will make it the coldest race in f1 history. last i heard people weren't entirely sure that the cars would work or that the tires would cooperate.

the track set up is woefully abysmally. to get the tires warm, the lads would need some good corners to zoom around to get the tires up to temperature where they can go vroom zoom fast, but, there are not too many corners. below is the track. as you can see, theres a lot of straights, and thus, not many good opportunities to get the tires nice and hot, further affecting car performance

the pit lane (you know where everyone usually goes at least once or twice to change their tires) is quite possibly in the worst spot it could be. it is on the tiny straight right before turn 1. when you go into the pitlane, the tires lose a good amount of heat (or all of it if you're going in to get fresh tires) and they need to warm the tires back up. problem is, they're going to be zooming out of the pitlane basically directly into turns 1 2 and 3, on cold rubber, in a cold race. but it gets better, because of the way the track is set up, this positioning of the pitlane, if the exits are not timed correctly, will cause collisions because the pitlane exit it basically right where the cars on the track need to go in order to get the most speed (its more technical than this and someone else can fully explain the pitlane disaster better, but this is it in very simple terms i think). the pitlane is around where that arrow is.

so not only will it be cold and the pitlane cause accidents and the cars won't work, they don't have names for any of the corners and straights. so right now the map of the track looks like this which is batshit hilarious

and to top it off!! no one has raced here! no one knows how the cars will perform!! its going to be a shit show! god save the poorest little meow meows!!

and unrelated but there is a chapel in the paddock at the race, just for some spice, called race to the alter

[encyclopika]

Animal Crossing Fish - Explained #246

Brought to you by a marine biologist with some recent history...

CLICK HERE FOR THE AC FISH EXPLAINED MASTERPOST!

Look - all sharks are cool. They're the reason I became a marine biologist. Even now, in my 30s, I am still fascinated with them and their diversity and their mystery. Today's shark really exemplifies both of those things as it is a deep sea weirdo, but perhaps the most mysterious of them all. AC Pocket Camp gave us the Megamouth Shark!

I gotta tell ya, my eyebrows were in my hairline when I was checking to see if ACPC had given us any new fish since I last left off with this series. Not only did they do the frilled, but the megamouth, too?! Holy shit. It was available for the Deep Sea Shark goals in July 2023 for a measly 4 day stint and it was tier 4 RARE. (Honestly it should have been Tier 5, but I understand in a game something has to give.) If ACPC plays on the accurate rarity, though, this guy should never ever show up in the game again. In real life, that's how rare these are and I'm gonna get a little more history than biology here in a moment, but you know I gotta do the taxonomy.

The Megamouth (Megachasma pelagios) is a large shark in the Order Lamniformes, the mackerel sharks, meaning that of all the sharks in the AC franchise, it's most closely related to the Great White and the Smalltooth Sand Tiger. Which is so mind boggling because those sharks, and most of Lamniformes, are amazingly modern, fast, active sharks and the Megamouth...isn't. In fact it spends its life in the slow lane, taking basically all day and night to make its vertical migrations to the surface at night and back down to depth in the day time. This is a big shark though - it can grow to be 17 feet or a little over 5 m, we think - so it doesn't really have to be doing that to avoid predators. Instead, it's a filter feeder simply following its planktonic food up and down the water column. The Megamouth is in its very own family all by itself - Megachasmidae.

I don't think I'm a fan of the ACPC sprite and I'm allowed, considering how accurate some of them have been. They got the head shape right and all the fins, but. The megamouth has teeth, but they are tiny and I just don't think they needed to be in the sprite. It makes it look toothier than it really is. The eye is actually really accurate, though, so I will give credit - someone was looking at pictures of this thing and doing their best.

But what I really want to focus on is the fact that it hasn't been very long that we've known this thing existed. The very first specimen was captured, by accident, by the US Navy off Hawaii in 1976. For some of you whose birth years start with a "2", I get it - that seems like eons ago, but it really isn't. I'll be 35 this year. My PARENTS, NOT my grandparents, are a decade OLDER than our collective knowledge of the Megamouth shark. And this thing isn't small. It's not every day that we discover a new species this big and not need DNA to say "Oh, yeah, that's different." This discovery was about as sensational as the discovery of the (living, extant) coelacanth.

And since its discovery, less than 300 megamouths have been seen (these being official sightings...the sharks seem to be regularly encountered in fisheries off Taiwan, so many probably go unreported *sigh*). Many of those were dead, but with targeted scientific capture, many more are being studied alive and are tagged. I know 300 sounds like a lot, but that is actually so few that each of these sightings and captures have been recorded. Sharkmans-World.org seems to be keeping the most up-to-date records of this that I could find, so check that out for photos and videos of the specific specimens. For some more in-depth reading on the specimens, check out the Florida Museum's website. The write-up for the very first specimen in 1976 by Hugh Gallagher (all the way down at the bottom) is a great read and also hilarious. Please take the time to read it - it's everything you could ever want in a 70's at-sea US Navy tale.

And there you have it. Fascinating stuff, no?