#i just made it the same as the header when i put this theme together last night but idk what else to make it

[ofpd]

i wanna change my icon hmm

[romanarose]

About a Girl: Chapter 3

Beautiful header by my beloved @not-a-unique-snowflake-blog

Joel Miller x Trans!Fem!Reader (Nickname, Blue)

Summary: Blue surprises Joel by rebuffing everyone advances in favor of him.

Warnings for whole fic, not chapter by chapter: 18+ ONLY!! I cannot warn against everything, but these are major themes. Joel is a lil ignorant but not out of hate. He just doesn't know. He's trying his best. There will be smut. Penetrative sex, all of the anal play, oral. There will be transphobia from other people. Addiction and alcoholism. QUICK child neglect not by Joel but I promise, Sarah is fine and is having a great time in life. Fetishization of women attracted to women by a shitty guy. Will update as needed. Again, this is adult content. Expect adult content.

Immersivity: Reader is transgender, AMAB female, reader has had gotten bottom surgery, not top, and is on hormones. reader has visible hair and a blue streak in hair, but not described. Could be braids, could be natural hair, whatever. Header is for aesthetics only. Reader is about Joel and Tommy's height. Let me know if i miss anything!

AN: FIRST DAY OF PRIDE EVENT!!!

A note on langauge. This is a 90's au, different langauge was used than we know know, words we find offensive now. While no one uses slurs theres langauge used that may not be comfortable. Just remember in the 90s there wasnt such a unified community all over, especially in the south. Blue isn't going to talk the same as say, a new york queer today. I want to remain as most "time period realistic" as i can.

TRANS LIVES MATTER! TRANS YOUTH MATTER! TRANS ELDERLY MATTER! TRANS WOMEN MATTER! TRANS MEN MATTER! NON BINARY TRANS MATTER!

Tommy woke up hungover, just as Tess, Talia, Max and you probably were. 

Joel only had one, but he was up early packing things for Sarah. Jessica didn’t have much as far as clothes and other stuff for a 5 year old, so Joel wanted to make sure she was prepared. It was supposed to rain and she definitely didn’t have rain boots or coat, not enough kids stuff to entertain Sarah inside all weekend. He made sure to pack her barbies, etch-a-scetch, and a few cassette tapes. Sarah wasn’t even up yet when Kayla knocked. 

“Hey Kayla.” Joel tried to be nice and welcomed her into the home they used to share together. 

She smiled at him, said hi to him and Tommy. She must’ve calmed down after last night, as she usually does after a spiral. “Sarah up?”

Joel shook his head, getting a few granola bars Sarah could eat for breakfast. “Naw, I let her stay up a little later with Jessica, you can wake her if you’d like, or you can hang out.” He nodded to the coffee pot. “All yours.”

“Does she know I’m coming?”

“No, she was fast asleep when I got home.”

Kayla grinned. “Great, she’ll love the surprise.” and dashed upstairs.

“She’ll love the surprise.”  Joel muttered to Tommy, not looking away from his task. “But she’d love regular visits she could count on more.” 

Tommy patted his back. “You’re a good man, Joel. I don’t think I’d put up with all that you did.”

But Joel just shook just head. “It’s for Sarah.”

“Most things are.” He looked up from his coffee. “Hey! I’m meeting everyone for brunch, Sex and the City style. Since Sarah’s gonna leave, why don’t you come with us?” Tommy teased Joel with a nudge. “Blue’s gonna be there.”

Joel harshly shushed Tommy, wide-eyed. He looked down the hall to check for Kayla, but heard Sarah squealing mommy up in her room. “C’mon, man, you know how she gets.”

Tommy laughed, “I know, I know!”

But he didn’t really know. Tommy didn’t know about the screaming, the threats to hurt herself, the way she smacked his chest and arms… it wasn’t hard, he was a big guy. He could handle it. It wasn’t abusive, no. He could stop her if he wanted to because he was so much stronger. It was his fault he let it happen so he can’t really complain, can he?

Kayla reappeared with Sarah. “Daddy look! Mommy’s here!”

“I see baby!” Joel feigned enthusiasm. “Mommy’s gonna take you for the weekend, gonna stay the night, isn’t that exciting?”

Sarah was beyond excited. 

Setting her down, Kayla told Sarah to go put on her shoes. To her credit, she’d gotten her dressed already. She spoke to Joel quietly. “Hey, Joel, could I borrow some cash maybe? My um… my tank is almost empty, you know how prices are right now. Fucking Clinton, right?” She chuckled nervously.

Joel wanted to sigh. He saw Tommy looking at him from over his coffee mug. But… he didn’t. Instead, he opened his wallet. And grabbed a $20. “You got food there?”

She shrugged. “Enough.” Joel grabbed another bill and handed the $40 to her. “Thanks, Joel.” She turned to Sarah who had walked up with her shoes on the wrong feet. “You ready, baby?”

Joel said goodbye, hugging and kissing tight. “Be good for mama, okay princess?”

Next, Sarah ran to her uncle, who whispered loudly. ”Be bad, okay squirt?” Joel glared at him, making him carry out the bags for Sarah’s things to the car. 

*

He spent way too long trying to find a nice shirt. In the end, he settled on a green shirt. And his only pair of jeans without holes.

When Joel saw you ride up on a motorcycle, he knew it was all over for him. The way you lit up when your eyes connected with his… fuckign hell. He remembered your eyes when you were on your knees, his cock stretching your mouth… fuck he needed to sit down before he got a hard on.

“Joel!” You run up to hug him, taking him by surprise but he hugs you anyway. Joel likes the way you are very clear about what you want. Joel didn’t have to guess or walk on eggshells. He could want you and know you wanted him too. You took his hand to the table that Talia and Tess are at, not letting go when you both slide into the both.

Everything was going great. Tommy ordered unlimited mimosas, and Joel took one single look at the prices and ordered 2 eggs and toast. And you… Joel learned more and more about you, eating up every bite.

You were a school teacher, elementary english. You loved grunge, the color blue, and horror movies, Halloween being a favorite. Right now, you were horrifying him with a scene from Candyman.

“And then he opens his shirt,” You mimic the actions minus the undress. “And his chest is just like, a cavern of bees! And he kisses her with his mouth full of bees!!”

“Bees?” Joel grimaces, and you laugh, asking if it was too much. Joel loves laughs along; with you, when you laughed, it didn’t feel like it was at him. “Well,” He chuckles. “Maybe a little graphic for brunch.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” You continue with a smirk. “Should we maybe talk about sex, like Sex and the City? Maybe you’d like to fill us in on your latest sexcapades, Miller?”

Joel coughs, choking on his coffee and you pat his back as memories of last night once again popped in.

“I’m-” Cough cough. “I think I’m good there.”

Tommy spoke up, “WELL, since you asked-” Joel told him to shut up, not to talk to a lady like that.

“You let me talk like that around Tess!”

Tess leaned over, her tone teasing. “Joel doesn’t think of me as a lady.”

This led to Joel scrambling to defend himself, which he does, actually! Joel left out the part that if he didn’t see her as a lady he wouldn’t have slept with her all those years ago. Tess is different. Tess is family.

The conversation went on, and Joel noticed how closely you sat next to him while eating your food, your jeans pressed up against his. 

“Frank finally scheduled his knee surgery.” Tess mumbles with a mouth full of waffles. “After harvest, so plenty of time to rest.”

“Why not during harvest?” Talia asks. “You said he doesn’t do farm work.”

Tess stumbled on her words a moment, glancing at Joel before mumbling something about Bill needing to take care of him, even though it was pretty minor.

Joel cut her off. “She's tryna let me save face because I can’t afford a babysitter. Frank has watched Sarah every harvest and planting season since she was born, except the first plant.”

Not meaning to pry but unknowingly waltzing into sensitive territory, you ask why not the first. Joel swallows hard but Tommy answers.

“Because his bitch of an ex was still around.”

“Tommy!” Joel chastises, but Tommy looks bewildered.

“What?! She is, and you know it. She’s-”

But Joel cuts him off. “What she is is none of your business and not the point. I told you we don’t talk like that about women.”

Putting down his silverware, Tommy stared Joel down. Joel knew how Tommy felt about Kayla. “Joel, she was nuts, she turned you into someone I didn’t recognize and she left my niece alone to get f-”

“Enough!” Joel was louder than he meant to be, noticing people around them turning. Heat crept up his neck in embarrassment and shame. He didn’t like snapping at Tommy, but he especially didn’t like raising his voice in front of you. Joel wondered if he scared you, if he lost your trust and ruined everything- He felt your hand on his knee, and when he turned to look at you, he didn’t see fear, just gentle compassion. He spoke quieter now. “I understand how you feel… but that is the mother of my child, and I ask you treat her with respect.”

Tommy opened his mouth to say more, but Tess whispered to knock it off. There was silence for a while as Tommy stewed, eating his giant plate of food, stewing. Tommy’s anger problems were nothing new to Joel, but this stressed reaction Joel was having to it was. Why did his chest feel so tight?

You noticed, because of course you did, and took his hand. “Wanna step outside?” You whispered, but Joel shook his head.

“”M Alright, thanks.”

From across the booth, Tess, Talia and Tommy all talked while you and him sat on your own side. As you chatted, it felt like you were in your own world. You had a tendency to help him forget everything else. 

“I think it’s so neat y’all know an older gay couple, ya know?”

He didn’t. “Howdya mean?”

You took a bite of toast. “Well, you don’t see that much. We’re just now starting to get to a point people can really come out. Then the AIDS crisis took so many…” You shake your head. “I just think when I was a gay teen, how much it would have meant to me to see a future that wasn’t about hate crimes and death, you know?”

Oh. Gay? Were you a lesbian? No, no had blown him, quite enthusiastically… Maybe you were just trying something new? Was that offensive to think? Goddammit, Joel, what is wrong with you? “Oh, are you…” He trailed off.

You laugh a little. Joel hadn’t realized the three others had gone silent, watching what was happening unfold. “Gay? Well, I guess not anymore.”

Joel was confused. “Did it… go away?” He’d been told some people grew out of it, like a phase, or that some people went to therapy to change…

You laugh again, but slightly nervous. “No… I just mean, like, I transitioned so… now I’m a woman, so it’s not gay to be attracted to men…”

Joel blinked. Transitioned? What did that mean�� 

You turn to Tommy. “I thought you’d told him?”

“Told me what?”

Tommy shook his head. “Hey I may be stupid, but I know not to out someone.”

Tess confirmed she hadn’t said anything and Talia looked intensely uncomfortable, asking you if you wanted to go.

“Joel… you do know I used to be a man, right?”

A flash of warmth covered his skin, eyes burning and chest tighter. He had, of course, heard of people like that… but he didn’t know the first thing about it. Did that mean you were a guy doing dress up? Was this drag? Or transvestite, is that the term? Most of all, he was confused, because he liked you. Was he gay?

“Joel?” Your voice breaking him out of his spiral. It was small, meek. Unlike anything he’d heard from you before. “Can we talk outside?”

*

You stood a few feet away from him, wringing your hands. He hated how you were shaking.

“Can you just…” He sighed, stuffing his hands in his pockets. “I'm gonna be real honest Blue, I don’t really know what you’re talk’n about. Can you just… Tell me? Is this like a transexual thing?”

Despite the tension, you give a small laugh. “I guess people used to call it that. Or transvestite. I don’t really know if there's a difference… I think people call a lot of thing under the same umbrella, like cross dressing…”

“Is that…” He swallows. “That's what you’re do’n? You a man that likes women’s clothes?”

You shake your head vigorously. “No, no that’s not it… at least to me, I guess. Some people say that’s all I am but… I don’t think so.”

“”Please.” Joel begs, a slight huff of a laugh. “I’m just an old farmer, I ain’t never left this town, no college, no life experience. I practically raise Tommy and when he was finally grown, I had my daughter so I just…” He sighs, heavily. He’s very confused, but he doesn’t want you to think he’s disgusted or hateful. “Please just explain it so I can understand.”

You nod, looking a little hopeful. “I was born a boy, but I never felt like one. My whole life, it just felt… wrong. I can’t really explain it, but it's just this… this knowledge inside myself that my body was wrong, a gut feeling…”

A slight breeze rustled his shirt, blowing your hair around and drawing his eyes to the blue.

“So… you’re a woman?”

Once again, you nod, crossing your arms over your chest. Joel didn’t know if that was from nerves or the fall beginning to settle in. “I am. Yeah.” You take a deep breath, and exhale in a ramble of words as your eyes plead to him. “Joel I’m really sorry! I thought, I thought you knew! I met Tommy a few times with Talia and it came up so I just assumed he told you! I know you probably don’t wanna be with me but I swear, I wasn’t trying to trick you!” Your voice cracks at the end.

Concerned, Joel frowned. He didn’t know why you were shaking. He stepped forward, wanting to hold you. “Hey now, darl’n, don’t cry” But he froze when you scrambled backwards, fear in your eyes. “Whoa there… I ain’t gonna hurtcha…”

You didn’t look like you believed him, eyeing his movements. “You won’t?”

“No, oh my god no. Why would I do that? Wait, that’s stupid, I know how people are but… I ain’t like that, I promise.”

Shoulders relaxing, you appear to be calming down. “Some men… well, they get really violent if they find out the person they… they did anything with was a man…”

“That aint me, I swear it, Blue.” He shuffles his feet. “I can’t say I really understand all this but… I ain’t like that.”

He could sense your dejection from where he stood. “I understand. I won’t bug you. Again, I’m really-” You turn to leave.

His eyes went wide. “Hey, hey, hey wait-” Joel grabs your hand, but not tight. You could pull away if you want to.  “Do you… do you still wanna be with me?”

You giggle softly, still looking sad. “Of course I do… Joel, I barely know you but… of course I do. But you don’t wanna be with me.”

“I didn’t say that, Blue…”

You look at him curiously. “Joel, you just found out what being trans was 2 minutes ago, are you sure you wanna be with a trans woman?”

Joel let go of your hand to rub the back of his neck, smiling. “I’ll be honest, I don’t really know if I’m ready to date at all. I got my kid,” He thumbs back to the restaurant, chuckling. “I got Tommy. It’s a lot right now. And honestly? I don’t know if this makes me gay or not but… I’d like to try to be with you… if you’re cool taking it slow.”

Looking directly at him, you smile. “I would absolutely be okay taking it slow. And, listen.” Reaching you, you take both of his hands in yours. “Would it help if we just got together and I let you just… ask whatever you wanted? Like, having a little learning session.”

“Yeah.” Breathed out a laugh. “Yeah that would be great, asking.”

*

It was 3 am when Tommy came stumbling home. Normally, Joel wouldn’t notice but he heard a loud crash, running downstairs with a gun to find the coffee table nocked over and Tommy trying to bake pizza bagels. After some back and forth shouting at him, it clicked.

“Jesus, Tommy, are you on coke?” He gawked in disbelief. 

Tommy just laughed. “You said I couldn’t use when Sarah was around!”

“That’s not an excuse to to hard drugs the second she’s out the door! You’ve been gone since 6, what if she came home early?”

Tommy waved Joel away, putting pizza bagels in a cold oven. “She’d be fine.”

His blase attitude was pissing Joel off even more. “I don’t want you high around my daughter!”

Standing up and apparently thinking the oven was on, Tommy glared at Joel. “Relax, Joel. She ain’t here!”

Joel fisted his hand into Tommy’s shirt, voice bellowing in the kitchen. “I don’t give a shit Tommy! Don’t you ever come into my home coked up again, you understand?!” He le go and shoved Tommy away.

Half an hour later, Joel came downstairs to find Tommy crashed out on the couch. Joel took off his shoes, pulled a blanket over him and placed water by his side. He cleaned up the messed up coffee table, turned off the oven that was now on and burned bagels and locked the door again.

*

Blue’s POV

You were nervous, to say the least. Sure, you liked to play it cool but really, Joel scared you half to death. He was so fucking… perfect. Tess had thought you’d like him. She told you so much of his personality, you’d assumed he was ugly: hardworking, good father, responsible, loving, kind, protective… When you saw him you were dumbstruck. How is a man that good of a person and that fucking hot?

You’d just wished Tess had told him you were trans, since  she was trying to set you up. Still, you understood she didn’t want to out you. Not a lot of people here knew, and you needed to keep it that way. As far as the parents and faculty at your school knew, you had been born with two tits and a vagina… okay maybe not tits but you passed a just flat chested. If anyone found out, technically they could still fire you. 

Still, Joel was kind and had taken the information in stride. You didn’t think it was going to work out between you… you’d figured Joel wouldn’t but up for dating you, especially if he wanted more kids... But you suppose today would tell.

Joel looks genuinely happy to see you. “Hey, come on in.”

You’re impressed to find the house is still clean. There’s things on counters and a little mud on the floor but you like it looks lived in. Still, he obviously takes care of his house.

“I really hate to do this,” He starts and your stomach drops. “Sarah’s mom called, wanting to bring her back early, like in a few hours.”

You understood. Bringing everyone over on Friday was one thing, but bringing a women over (that wasn’t Tess) around Sarah might confuse her, and he wanted to be careful. “I totally understand.”

“You eat yet?”

You watch, smiling as Joel cooks you breakfast. ���Where’s Tommy.”

Joel grunted, a slight tonal change. “Upstairs sleeping off a binge. He’s a dumbass.”

Ah, so the tension hasn’t subsided.

After eating, you and Joel sit down on the couch.

He looks as nervous as you are. “Just… stop me if I saw anything offensive.”

You shake your head. “Nothings off the table today, you can ask whatever, I just wanna be straight forward. In fact, I’m gonna go ahead and answer the question I know you have. No, I don’t have a dick.”

Joel coughed, choking a bit. “I wasn’t going to ask that!” He begins to laugh, and so do you.

“Yeah, because you’re polite, so I just said it. I got bottom surgery a few years ago.”

“What’s that?”

“They turn my dick into a vagina.”

He nods. “I’ll be honest, that is a positive.” His eyes go wide in that way you noticed he does when he thinks he’s said something wrong. “Not that- well I wouldn’t- I could… umm..”

You reassure him. “I understand, Joel. You’d have been working with whole knew equipment. I promise, this is probably what you’re used to working with. Maybe if you get lucky, one of these days you’ll get to go for a test run.” He turns bright pink, but smiles. “Your turn, go ahead.”

He took a deep breath. “Does this make me gay? I ain’t got nothing against be’n gay, I mean, Tess is my best friend and I work for two of ‘em” the phrasing there almost made you laugh. He was so clunky sometimes, but he was trying. “It’s just, I didn’t think I was.”

You shake your head. “No. I mean, some people think that but, no. I don’t think I’m a man. Do you think of me as a man?”

“Not one bit.” He was earnest. 

“Then you’re not gay, Miller.”

For the next hour, he asked a lot of questions. Some were more in depth, like what transitioning looked like, or what you felt like as a child.You told him you were on E and he had lots of questions about that. You explained you hadn’t gotten top surgery, and his eyes only flicked to your chest once. Respectful cowboy. He asked if you wanted “uuhhh, you know…” breasts, and you said you honestly didn’t feel the desire for it. You liked yourself as you were right now. Some were a bit fun, like how you chose your new name or if you stopped growing facial hair.

What you loved about him was he came from a place of genuine curiosity. He wasn’t judging you, he was trying to learn. You check the clock.

“I think Sarah will be coming soon. Did you have any other questions?”

Joel thinks for a bit. You imagine he probably had a lot about between your legs, but he was too polite to ask and honestly, details of surgeries, although you were comfortable, were a lot for someone you just met, even if it felt like you knew him already. 

“I don’t think so. This has been nice, actually, so… thank you.”

He walks you to the door and as you bend over to put your shoes on, you look up at him. “I’m gonna give you some time to sit on that information… if you wanna go on a date, I’d love to. If not-”

“What about friday?” He hurries out, hands in his pockets. “If I can find a sitter, I mean.”

You stand up straight, unable to stop the beaming. You feel giddy. “I’d love to. We can even go later in the evening, like after dinner so you can spend time with Sarah.”

His face falters just a bit. “I um… I should be honest. I usually don’t have this much free time. I can’t really afford a regular sitter and Kayla isn’t really around with Sarah much… so I guess I don’t really know how well this will work…”

You kiss his patchy beard cheek. “Let’s just take it one day at a time then, okay?”

Joel smiled at that. “Yeah, that’d be nice.”

PRIDE EVENT TIME!!!!

love yall

i know thi doesnt get much notes but somewhere out there is a trans woman seeing this... is going to feel so fucking seen and thats what matters to me.

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[inklore]

Hey dear! How long since I wrote to you, I don't know if I can ask but could you give me some advice on how to edit/theme/customize your blog in an aesthetic way?

Idk, even basic tips are fine, I really love seeing your blog and I think you have really good taste in aesthetics ❤️

hey lovey! it would be my pleasure to try and help you <3. i say try because my explaining skills are the absolute worst but i will do my best lmao. gonna do this in bullet points ok:

have an idea / inpisration / a crumb of what you want your blog to look like! you can find inspo literally anywhere, a friends blog even (but please remember to always ask and don't take it harshly if said person declines you doing so). pinterest is also amazing for this, looking up graphics, different aesthetics, templates, i literally have a board on my pinterest i've had for years now where i get graphic inspo or where i go when i just need to feed my creative juices to put me in the mood to create something. canva is also great, i literally go on there and look up headers, moodboards, etc and just star them for later. keywords are everything as well, so like 'aesthetic here + color, vibe, look, graphic, template' helps sites like canva and pin lead you in the right direction. same with just typing things like 'green, grunge, lovecore, etc'.

edit on desktop! now i know not everyone has a laptop or ipad or the ability to do this but i highly rec it over editing on the janky mobile app where sometimes things save and sometimes they don't. plus i always use one of the random saved user blogs i have to make a test layout / theme so if i don't like it everything on my main blog is fine, didn't change, and i didn't waste all that time on a theme i don't even want to look at lmao. so making a side blog where you do that is also great cause you can just copy and paste your nav post over, you can take the graphics you've already made and upload them onto your main without second guessing if they look good because you've already seen what it all looks like!

start small! by that i mean start with a simple theme or idea and build up from that. don't just start with seven graphics and ideas and overwhelm yourself. sometimes i just think of a color and be like yeah i'm make something with this color or wrapped around that color and i create something great.

ask a friend for help! i can't tell you how many times i've asked friends if this theme looked good or to send me inspo pics or what theme they think i should do, or even asked them to help me find resources. utilize your besties and mutuals.

not everyones aesthetic is the same! some people like messy themes, some like overdone, some like super simple. don't compare yourself to anyone!!!! everyone creates differently, everyone sees colors and aesthetics amd themes differently. no matter what you decide to go with is all your own and great and special.

etc: putting all your most important links in your nav is always a good rule of thumb (anything you really want to highlight as well), if you use pngs they're all over tumblr and pinterest 'transparent' + 'png' at the end or beginning of what you're looking for will always lead you in the right direction, and when it comes to pngs i highly rec adding them to a white background or transparent one and make the size of the background 500px and move the png halfway / towards the bottom (centered) of the background so tumblr doesn't make your header all the way at the top and ugly, don't make your nav post too long, take colors from your images / aesthetics to incorporate throughout the whole theme so everything meshes well together, don't use flashy dividers because it's not good on a lot of users eyes and unless you state a tw in the tags it's just not as cool as some people think lol.

that's all i can think of but if you have any more questions bby my pms are open!!

[m1ckeyb3rry]

The way that you actually searched up what the length of a novel is LMAO but omg…and you exceeded it by 1.6k words too…honestly this is top tier novel content (WAY better than um. Some interesting concepts. That get put out there….!!! I mean no shame ig but from a subjective standpoint I’d like to think so…)

I’m crying the inspo you get from tv shows though is actually really funny even if it is just a more minor detail LMAO no because that random reference had me laughing and cringing…it really brings more depth and engagement to the story though and I love it!

SAMEE ugh when they don’t know their own feelings and have to navigate through them >>>>> LMAOO yeah I don’t blame you from what I see even without being on like “mhatok” or whatever the fandom is uh….yeah….from what I have seen of the story it’s actually not awful though (you should look up a picture of Aoyama though just for the visual because I fr laughed a bit everytime I saw the name)

Wait you’re so right….we fr need a second egoist bible with more info because iirc that’s where we saw Isagis parents and Bachira’s mom???

Dense y/n is my fav in scenarios like these like DO YOU HEAR YOURSELF LMAOOOO

Otoya in his boxers too made me laugh too like it truly embodies his closeted loser go with the flow personality like that little detail fr just captured his character so well!!

Petition for you to change your header to be Karasu once (not if because surely we will will it into existence) we get a Karasu focused epinagi panel!!

Shshshs YOU GOT THIS!!! In Mira we trust pt. 10…sending inspiration your way LMAO just think about another loser who doesn’t understand what love is…./hj…….maybe listening to more tv osts and tiktok audios will help /j

Omgg enjoy!!! But stay cool SHSHSGS and I hope your nose doesn’t get assaulted any further by any odd odors…..

- Karasu anon

LMAOOO i had to know the truth!! i’ve def written book length stuff before (cough pomegranate ink cough) but 40k is right at the edge so i wasn’t sure if it technically counted or not FJDKJD i guess it does though!! PLSSS baby karasu solos booktok let’s be real /j

i like throwing in references to my obscure favs HAHAH especially that particular show omg i’ve love using lines from it it’s just so funny and nobody knows abt it so it’s like a little easter egg for me 😩 and adding in small stuff like that like you said makes everything just feel more engaging and real!!

HELP MEEE I JUST LOOKED UP AOYAMA FROM MHA I’M CRYING that is baby karasu’s biggest opp right there 😭😭😭 FHDKJD who would pick him over tabito fr 😵‍💫

i’m afraid a second egoist bible would not give us any more canon female characters LMAOO i lowkey think kaneshiro is allergic to women but ykw i honestly don’t mind i’d rather there be no women at all than poorly written ones which get slandered and sexualized by male fans (as we’ve discussed before)

NO LITERALLY WDYM YOU’LL DIE IF HE LEAVES YOU?? WDYM YOU’RE ALWAYS HUGGING HIM AND CLINGING TO HIS ARM?? WDYM YOU DON’T LIKE ANYONE IN THE WORLD AS MUCH AS YOU LIKE HIM?? like she was so so in love with karasu the entire time it was hilarious for her to be like “yeah i just see him as a little brother 🤩” especially because i have a little brother of my own LMAO like that is not how you treat a sibling girl!! tbh i based a lot of tabito and yayoi’s dynamic off of my brother and i’s interactions so hopefully it feels like a realistic sibling dynamic because i can’t even lie sometimes people write siblings so weird and you can tell they’re only children because it just sounds off 😰

OTOYA’S BOXERS >>> no the way he was just wandering through the apartment complex in the boxers during y/n and karasu’s emotional reunion cracked me up because it’s so unserious but so him 😓 he was fr putting in the WORK to get those two together

no because i’m so tempted to make my blog karasu themed but at the same time i love my current theme 😨 which is a surprise because normally i change my theme like once a month 😭 but given how much i love karasu and talk abt him i feel like it might be time to give him the spot of honor especially since nagi had his time as my theme a while ago 🤔

BFISJDSJ i tried listening to songs and audios and whatnot and it just made me think more abt karasu (and also nagi for the few songs i associate only with him) like EVERY song is abt him it’s so bad but i need to lock in and stop thinking abt him for a few hours so i can write for my requests 😩 although i’m seriously considering starting a long fic for him now because as much as i love hollyhock and will not be abandoning mr ninja it’s giving me sm second lead syndrome and karasu isn’t even a second lead or a lead at all he just exists in-verse 😓 i need to write smth extensive and insane for him too!!

[dear-ao3]

hungary. round 13 of the 2024 world championship. we are now officially halfway through the season. and well. it didn't disappoint. why do i say this? well. in every possible meaning of it: welcome back brocedes (and others)

today is july 27, 2024 (yes I KNOW ITS A WEEK LATE I KNOW SPA HAS ALREADY STARTED IVE BEEN BUSY OKAY) and lets fucking go

now. this post is going to be a disaster. more so than the other ones. im terrible sorry about it but that is just simply the way that it is. when we get to the disaster part i will let you all know but look. its a double header, we're hurtling towards the summer break and ive, as ive said i think last time, had a lot of things going on so. please tolerate the disaster i beg of you.

there was a lot that happened leading up to the race that i am just going to speed run fly through otherwise we will be here forever and i dont want to be here forever

-ralf schumacher (michael schumacher's brother, ex f1 driver) came out as gay via posting a photo of him and his partner on his instagram

-he happened to do this literally while his nephew, mick schumacher, was driving his leg of an endurance race in brazil

-most of the drivers went to either the euros or Wimbledon. carlos had fun with the fact that spain won and england did not and left lando this note on thursday

-lando responded by blocking carlos's spot on sunday

-if you were charles leclerc you went to neither the euros or Wimbledon. you were photographed wearing a big floppy hat.

-charles also went to the eras tour in milan with his girlfriend, alex. and there he met up with pierre and his girlfriend kika. aparently, according to the two of them, this was entirely unplanned and they had no idea that the other was coming and just kinda ran into eachother. there were some funny pictures of charles on the phone waving around and looking for pierre

and then of all of them together

(they are kind of wearing matching outfits?)

-and this might have been at silverstone but charles was asked how leos training is going and he said that leo and wait and he can sit but he cant do much else. he doesnt turn around unless there is food and he doesnt know how to lay down because he is already so short.

-we also had the very much anticipated leo and roscoe meet up!!!!

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-leo and roscoe also totally overshadowed pierre and kick getting a dog, a toy poodle named simba

-and max and checo won the MTV MIAW award for couple goals? apparently this is a latin american music award. and also apparently max and checo won. which is incredibly funny for several reasons, the first of which being that they are not a couple (i think they were the only same sex people nominated also? and maybe the only people who weren't actually dating)

-esteban ocon now has his race winning car in his garage

-esteban has won exactly one grand prix and that was the 2021 hungary gp and this year he also made his helmet themed after his trophy from that race

-someone else did the same thing and it was lando norris, though he didnt win a hungarian gp, he broke max's trophy last year.

-they made a whole big deal out of it and the trophies are handmade porcelain so lando went with max to get a new one for max and blah blah, big thing

-anyway, lando also made his helmet after the trophy to commemorate the whole silly incident

-other important f1 drama from pervious years in Hungary was when kevin magnussen told nico hulkenberg to "suck my balls" on live tv. clearly they have gotten over that feud.

-alex and logan tried and almost failed at solving Rubik's cubes

-and stake (and others) continued to be goofy and insane when the severe rain storms earlier in the week flooded the whole paddock

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-the rain storm ripped the roof off of the mclaren hospitality

-oscar said that "last time our motorhome caught on fire, lando put it on pole"

-which will take us right into silly season (yes i know im probably missing things, theres a lot to come here ok, just deal w it)

alright so lets just fly through this

first and foremost haas announced that kevin magnussen will not be re signing with the team in 2025, this is likely to make way for esteban ocon, who is heavily rumored to be going to haas, though no announcements have been made about it yet.

who is replacing esteban at alpine? well we still dont know. pierre hinted that it could be carlos sainz as he said in the press conference that "i welcome the fastest guy, we all know who that is" carlos meanwhile was asked if he had made a decision yet and he said "ive been busy watching the euros and i havent taken a decision. sorry." though he is probably waiting for a seat still from either mercedes or red bull. its unlikely that he will get a red bull seat, but mercedes could be back on the table as toto wolff said later in the week that his gut instinct is to wait on signing anyone (more on this later).

of course, jack doohan and mick schumacher are still on the table for seats, if not at alpine then elsewhere. mick did some testing this past week. one was a tire test for mclaren which had nothing to do with anything silly season. they had to do some mandated pirelli tire testing, in order to do it the person driving the car needs a full super license and meet some other requirements (which mick does) and none of McLaren's test and reserve drivers have a full super license and instead of bothering lando and oscar during the triple header they borrowed mick under the engine agreement because mclaren uses mercedes engines and mick is the mercedes test and reserve driver.

and he also tested for alpine along with jack doohan. apparently (according to alpine and toto wolff) he kinda knocked peoples socks off and went way faster than jack and teams like alpine and audi and williams are all some level of interested in him. audi having interest in him is not really surprising as mick is german and they have already signed nico hulkenberg who is also german and they are a german team. we've seen teams do this (have an all nationality line up) when entering the grid before, most notably with nico rosberg and michael schumacher at mercedes when they first started as a team we we know it back in 2010 (?).

which then takes us to liam lawson who ran a test in the red bull at silverstone (which is exactly what daniel ricciardo did last year) but aparently liams times were underwhelming and he was .200 off of max (which is not good enough in modern f1), and considering that perez was not instantly swapped as happened with daniel and nyck de vries last year, it seems that wont be happening.

and in any case, sergio perez said during this weekend that "Even if I win the race or even if I finish last. I have a contract with the team and I am going to fulfill it.” yuki tsunoda very clearly said that he thinks he deserves the seat next to max and said that if they chose liam, "it would be weird." but yuki has never been given a red bull test (daniel and liam both have) and christian horner pretty much said well one say it could happen, "you never know." but as we know, checo might have those stipulations in his contract saying he cant be more than 5 places or 100 points behind max in the championship by spa (next race) so who would replace him? the only other option is daniel ricciardo who said "i have two races to kick some arse and thats where my energy is right now" why two races? well because helmet marko said that "we wait until the next race in spa and then we make a decision."

and there you have it. silly season is sillying as per the usual.

now there is one thing that i have yet to mention, that is only adjacently related to f1 and it is this:

yes. that is in fact nico rosberg. aside from being a world champion, and the only person to beat 7 time world champion sir lewis hamilton in equal machinery, he also has an insane youtube channel which is pretty much dedicated to cars and f1 and environmentalism and vlogging and whatever else he feels like. anyway its been like over a year since hes posted anything. and he close. the middle of the hungarian gp week. to make a reappearance.

the video came out slightly later in the week and it is here. and just a quick tangent here about the video: he basically took his f1 engine from when he was in f1 and put it into a street legal mercedes hyper car. and aside from looking like there was light and joy and happiness in his eyes, he decided to paint the car silver. at first glance you might be thinking oh that is a normal shade of mercedes silver. incorrect! it is not! aparently he gave them a random code of color and was like hey i want this and didnt say why so people were like yeah alright probably just a good color. false. wrong. incorrect.

nico rosberg is good at one thing and that one thing is being absolutely fucking insane. so the color code was for a ferrari color called grigio ferro. a FERRARI COLOR on a MERCEDES POWERED CAR. nico. buddy. what on actual earth. (you know cause lewis was the mercedes driver and hes going to ferrari and yeah how can one not read into it?)

anyway. so we have nico floating around. and the weekend was shaping up to be another insane race. what could go wrong? (hint: a lot)

lets get into practice.

specifically practice 3 because i didnt watch 1 or 2. (charles ran into the wall in practice 2 and idk what else happened) and i only watched practice 3 because i was on a train stupid early and watched it live. and i was half asleep on this train and was like yeah ok ill watch the boys go vroom.

so there they were, they being crofty and ted, talking about who the favorite was (lando) and the car performance and the temperature when suddenly:

"now i am going to jump in here unannounced” said a certain blonde 2016 world champion, knocking the socks off of everyone

thats right everyone. not only is nico rosberg back vlogging, he is back in the paddock commentating for the first time since china. and since everyone on here has made it well known how much they like hearing about nico, im going to include him as much as possible (tho thats what will lead to the impending disaster later.)

and he had, as usual, a whole lot to say

the first thing that he chose to speak about was checo perez and his mental health

checo, as know, is getting speculated about left right and center by everyone and their mother about what's going to happen with his red bull seat. his teammate is max verstappen, arguably the best driver in F1 right now and perhaps one of the best ever.

nico rosberg, as we also know, was notably teammates with michael schumacher (admittedly, at the end of his career) and sir lewis hamilton. he knows a thing or two about being overshadowed by your teammate.

and so he said:

nico: “it’s difficult to see the mental struggle and for someone like perez now in this situation it’s really really hard yeah cause you into this big negative spiral uh you start to doubt yourself you have one of the greatest of all time next to you that’s verstappen um so… the media pressure starts as well in every press he’s at he’s like there’s fifty people in front of him saying are they gonna kick you out next race or how long will (you stay there)” crofty: “so can you empathize with sergio perez cause you were up against one of the all time greats as well? and you found a way to beat him over a season and become world champion?” nico: “well of course i can empathize that’s why i’m talking about it. i was in the same position!” crofty: “so what does sergio need to do then?” nico: “it’s it’s really uh it’s hard…of course work super hard and also a bit of luck that you hit the ground running on a weekend a fresh you know? and that you need to just find those little positive momentum’s to go back in an upwards spiral also the expectations are really re set. so now anything like within 3 4 tenths of max verstappen can already be a success so that also helps cause the expectations at rock bottom so that can help get him back into a positive momentum.” 

despite checo's poor recent performance, nico also pointed out max's recent performance when the graphic flashed up on the screen saying "well thats not a very good run there...well we just saw max verstappens race results and it was a very unusual picture with a 6th in there and a fifth and a two wins and a second which is great. great for all of us.” great as in, it is entertaining.

there was also discussion about lando and mclaren

“mclaren and lando are at least as strong as max at the moment but have not maximized their opportunities," nico said. “max already knows how to fight for the win he’s done it so many times with lewis. lando needs to still learn and he’s learning quickly” 

then, we started to have some runs on the soft tires. previously everyone else was running on the hards. and esteban ocon put some softs on, but was still .8 off of max, who was on hards.

nico did not hold back: “that’s looking like quite a struggle so far unless of course they’re running a lot more fuel but um i wouldn’t assume that so it’s a bit strange”

he also had a lot to say about the return of flavio briatore:

“but what a comeback we’ve seen from flavio briatore at that team, hm? he arrives at the track and the team jumps 10 places ahead instantly, have you noticed that?”

at first, crofty chalked this up to a coincidence but then asked, “what does he bring to a team like alpine?”

and nico once again was brutally honest: “well it’s such a mess over there that you really can do with an experienced hand as a consultant who takes a look from the outside and says ok listen this and this and this worked best in our day when this team was the best team in the world we should try and work back towards that. he also will definitely play a role in the drivers i’m sure of that. he can be very helpful”

it wasnt too long after this that pierre spun off the track, claiming that there was something wrong with the front brakes

and it was on a soft tire, which was bad because according to nico: “i was just going to say there with pierre gasley locking up into turn one that’s one of the horrible things that can happen in fp3 cause you ruin one of your sets of tires. cause it gets flat spotted and vibrates so much in the front that you don’t learn anything.” 

then nico told some very insane story about how james vowels, back when he worked at mercedes, would only call nico "rosberg" so nico only called him "vowels"?

the camera then panned to a banner that someone had made:

crofty was speculating about whether or not toto was a cat person or a dog person and nico said "well he loves the flag”

crofty was confused “he loves the flag?”

“yes he seems very happy about that," nico said because aparently that is a pleased toto face.

nico also praised george, saying that he was doing "magical laps" while once again psychoanalyzing Lewis's driving down to the exact amount of tenths that he lost in each corner

and then he started to pull out the stats:

“well let’s remember lewis this is one of his best tracks, or one of his best with 9 pole positions but it’s also a track where i think george is extremely strong cause he put it on pole here just..two years ago? with a car that did not deserve pole at all so he’s also extremely quick here” 

and if you're thinking, oh he just knows everyone's stats. incorrect.

because they started talking about fernando alonso a few minutes later and:

“but qualifying was never his (fernando’s) strength cause he only has twenty three pole positions? crofty if you could pull out the stat?” “uh he has got 22 pole positions” “22, which for the career fernando had that is surprisingly low. versus his thirty plus, what is it thirty race wins?” “…32” 

i rest my case.

then the teams started putting in the fast laps. george and lewis both did fast laps. lewis on a new set of tires and george on an old set of tires. but despite the fact that lewis was on a new set of tires, he was still .2 seconds behind george.

nico started arguing with crofty over it: nico: “but this is a brand new set compared to george’s old set, yeah? and it looked all over the place that lap also so lewis…..” crofty: “but it’s an improvement of sorts to be 2 tenths back instead of 6.5 tenths back” nico: "sure but now george was only able to improve by what is it two tenths? his own lap? something?” crofty: “he’s gone one tenth up”  nico: “yeah ok so then it’s not so bad for lewis to be just over two tenths behind that’s still acceptable at this point in time you can still make that up in qualifying.”

lando did a fast lap. and just like in china, nico continued to be president of the lando norris fan club:

“wow i was like shaking my head through that lap that was phenomenal to watch no that was phenomenal to watch that was so close to perfection between driver and car, magical, like as you said it was just the exit on the very last corner where there was a Slight imperfection with the rear stepping out cause the rear was blazing hot obviously by the end but wow incredible”

max also did a fast lap, but he was not satisfied with it. he was shaking his head as he crossed the finish line. this might prove to be an omen for the rest of the weekend.

and max was followed by checo, who continued to have an underwhelming performance

“wow miles away." nico said. "even on the hard tire he was 8 tenths off verstappen and now six tenths off still which is kinda where weve seen him lately but still so far off wow” 

as far as the stand outs after practice? it was ruled that was daniel ricciardo, alex albon, and nico hulkenberg of the back marker cars. and then the two mclarens and max. lewis and the ferraris were not stand outs.

lewis then proved he was really not a stand out by sprinting out and going in the grass briefly.

“yeah this is not what you want to have happen before qualifying obviously cause you can tell that he’s not in the sweet spot and thats really not a nice place to be in,” nico said.

and then, well, practice was over and nico's services were needed elsewhere.

"we will see you and your shirt on screen in a few moments," crofty said to nico.

and what shirt was he referring to?

this one

yeah idk either guys.

and. nico nearly harassed toto and george threw peanuts at them:

but anyway. we dont really have time to unpack that

qualifying

and heres where the disaster begins.

this race weekend saw the return of a lot of dynamics (brocedes, sebastian vettel and mark webber, multi 21, mad max, etc etc.) so theres gonna be some interspersed lore in here with the everything else thats happening. and to top that off, nico rosberg was still commentating, but he was commentating on sky sports italy. and i do not have sky sports and i dont speak italian so i was watching crofty and martin and ted on the international broadcast so theres going to be weird intercut scenes and quotes from nico mixed from the other broadcast and yea. disaster. try to keep up i guess????

anyway. it was raining.

which aparently no one saw coming?

but it was raining for around an hour. and it was Damp. so could go inters. could go slicks. regardless, it was crunch time to get a lap in before the rain hit again.

despite the fact that rain was only Approaching, the track was still slippery, as logan sargeant demonstrated as he went off track, but managed to rescue it before he hit the wall.

mercedes was really having an absolute time of it. lewis was up in p1 meanwhile george was way down in p14. right on the cusp of getting knocked out. rain was coming in.

max was also not having a great time. and he was getting angry about the weather and the strategy over the radio, which is pretty typical of max. over the radio he said, to his race engineer, gianpiero lambiase (gp)

max: mate i dont think we can improve like this gp: what's your concern, the temperatures or the- max: the rain! THE RAIN! gp: okay. calm down max. then if youre concerned about the rain we can box, we cam come back to the garage its not a problem. you were talking to me about tire temps.

that plan pretty Immediately went out the window though because there was a big crash and crofty screamed "ITS PEREZ HES IN THE WALL"

and he was indeed

this was exceptionally bad news for checo. it was, as Martin said "the last thing that sergio perez needed today"

and nico, over at sky italy, speculated that potentially, checo's damages due to crashes could be costing red bull updates due to the cost cap

this sparked some more Speculation about checo's future and crofty said: “we get a lot of comments that are like when are you going to stop speculating about sergio perez’s future? and the answer is when he stops having moments like this. because there have been a lot of these.”

then ted said: “we’re not (speculating) it’s red bull who is and we are reporting on it that’s all we’re doing. when you’ve got helmut marko the special driver advisor at red bull saying that in terms of drivers ‘everything is open’ then we’re just reporting that they’re doing it but yeah christian horner's gonna have to have a round to his kitchen for another cup of tea isn’t he?”

but. the car was cleared. the track was damp. and qualifying resumed. there was some speculation that it might rain again and nico again bitched that engineers “will look at the radar to check if it's raining instead of just going outside.” reguardless all eyes were on one george russell, who as i said was down in p14, and came out on new softs

there was speculation from crofty that the cars were going to be fueled for three to five laps, so that the tires could get up to temperature by the last run.

five cars started on track but then gradually everyone came out, except for esteban and pierre as the result of a bad strategy call (the pit lane was saturated) (nico called this strategy "foolish") , and checo obviously

george though, came in just as the track was really starting to dry out again, which was surprising.

not as surprising though as daniel going fastest, a whole .037 seconds ahead of lewis.

and then! bottas knocked george russell out of qualifying.

george owned up to it on team radio, first saying "i’m sorry everyone that one is on me” and then later saying “why are we not putting enough fuel in the car to complete the session guys? traction is getting better and better” 

toto later said it was mostly the teams fault, but george stuck true to the statement that he shouldn't have put the team in that position for the rest of the weekend.

over on sky italy, nico had some interesting things to say about george getting knocked out:

“... you know hamilton is happy about that. george has been doing better than him all weekend and now he's out...” [other commentators make shocked noises] “... maybe that was too blunt. i should have said, hamilton is sobbing over russell not making it into q2?”

george was interviewed during q2 and here was what he had to say about the ordeal:

george: “well there’s two factors. the first was i didn’t do a good enough job at the beginning and that was why i was down in p15 and then the next one was we put the new tires on at the end and we didn’t have enough fuel to complete the session and i was on track when it was wettest and when it was dryest i had no fuel so it was a disaster from both aspects we should have gone through comfortably on that last lap but we had no fuel so as i said that was on me for being in the position in the first place.” lawrence: “that’s an unusual mistake to make isn’t it?” george: “um. yeah. it’s not our usual standard for sure. but yeah we need to go through it, i need to understand what happened at the beginning but i mean having enough fuel for the whole session is a fundamental so we uh as a team we made a big error.”

the only other interesting thing to happen in q2 was that charles came very close to hitting the garage when he pulled out and crofty said "now that is either incredibly fortuitous or the most precise piece of driving charles leclerc will put in all weekend long”

and well. we've all seen his parking.

oh and! logan sargeant made it to q2! for the second week running! he was happy about that. alex albon, his teammate was not happy though that he didnt make it to q3 because he thought he would have been able to if he had been able to go out again at the end. this was the start of some of the Bonkers Strategy Calls that we were going to see throughout the weekend.

which takes us to q3.

and it was going to Rain

which meant speed run! to the track! get in a lap as fast as possible!

max got the ball rolling with a 1:15.555. and he was complaining about his front win. oscar tried to beat him. he failed by .308 seconds. but lando DID beat him and put himself on provisional pole with a 1:15.227. by now it was raining in the pit lane. people were getting antsy.

and yuki crashed!

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nico made a joke about this. what the joke was, i am not sure, but one of the other commentators told him "your COLLEAGUE is IN THE WALL!! BE NICE!!"

he was okay! but there was a red flag

lando was on pole still, oscar was .022 behind him and then max was .046 off of oscar

and then something interesting happened

obviously there was a red flag and obviously it was starting to rain more. but there was still enough time in the session left for everyone to be able to just barely have enough time to go out again.

despite this! max and fernando started getting out of their cars and taking off their gloves and helmets, clear signs that they were not going to be getting back on track (yes, drivers sometimes do this during red flags and can still get back in the car but this was not a particularly bad accident and so it would heave been impractical to get out of the car)

fernando threw a bitch fit about it, throwing his clothes literally on the ground as he complained about how the fia had handled the red flag and he said later that he thought he could have been able ti improve his time if the fia had handled the red flag better, but thats not the point here. the point is that george russell walked past the bitch fit filled with swagger, only to turn around and go back because he remembered that he has a job and its to listen to the drivers complain. (hes the head of the drivers union)

but max and fernando both ended up getting out because they were "reasonably sure that they would not improve their lap time"

meanwhile. oscar.

he was waiting on the pit exit to be able to go back on track, smack in the middle of the queue behind lando and lewis. his race engineer, tom, came over the radio and said:

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then after that he said

"priority here oscar is not getting any sporting infringements of penalties. so that means not excessively impeding cars in the pit exit."

and oscar had the perfect reaction:

once everything got up and running again it was a mad dash to the start line. or well. kinda. the two mclarens took their sweet time to slow down the other cars. nico was asked what he thought of it and he said "I think it's fine but they change the rules so often I can't keep up." the order was lando, lewis, oscar, Daniel, lance, charles and carlos. everyone but carlos made it to the line and time and.....no one improved upon their times except for daniel who moved into 9th.

so all that kerfuffle was pretty much for nothing

but! we had a mclaren front row lockout! with lando on pole and oscar p2. and the mclaren twitter admin got a little bit too excited about this:

now this is clearly a very bongled stat. this is the third time mclaren has locked out the front row in hungary but the 64th time in the teams history that theyve locked out the front row. the tweet was soon after deleted.

lando said in his post race interview that he was expecting to win. oscar said that they wanted to get a 1 2. and max said “of course i love competition but i would like to be on top of the competition” 

nico had a prediction on sky italy and it was "Lando not even bothering celebrating pole position... I bet that tomorrow, by turn 2, Max will have overtaken Oscar and be second. After turn 2.”

this was right in line with what nico said earlier in the week that "ive heard rumors that the middle eastern bosses were very much fuming because a couple of wins have been thrown away now/"

that though did not stop him from rambling on about the "amazing grip" of the mclaren

and now before we get into the race, unfortunately we need to talk about some back story. and that back story is Sebastian vettel and mark webber.

sebastian vettel, as i have talked about before, is an ex formula 1 driver, most notably for red bull and ferrari, a 4x world champion, the youngest ever world champion, bee enthusiast, environmental enthusiast, and also the proud owner of several terrible pairs of shorts.

mark webber, as i have also talked about before, is an ex formula 1 driver most notably for williams and red bull, oscar piastri's manager, australian, notable number 2 driver, and he coined nico rosberg's britney nickname

the two were teammates at red bull for the entire time sebastian was there, from 2009-2013 (though i think mark was there from 2007? on?) this was also during the time that seb won his 4 championships from 2010-2013.

by all accounts, sebastian vettel was an absolute menace on the grid but especially in his red bull days. and this was exemplified by nothing better than the infamous multi 21 incident at the 2013 Malaysia gp

so now, briefly, cause we still have a. whole race to get to, lets se the scene. (this is a really shit a brief retelling of the story, if you want more detail i implore and beseech you to google it)

seb is a 3x champion at this time, 25, and absolutely dominating the sport

mark is a 0x world champion, basically just seb's number 2 driver, 36, and in his last year in f1

seb was starting on pole, mark p4 and then both mercedes (nico and lewis) were behind them. mark ended up taking the lead from seb early on and towards the end of the race both cars were told to hold position, which we now know as the multi 21 instruction. (mark was car 2 seb was car 1, car 2 must remain in front of car 1)

mark was on older tires, seb was on newer tires. marks engine power was also turned down slightly and i think he was told that seb was going to slow down as well. this was not the case.

with 13 laps to go, seb passed mark, defying team orders and winning the race.

over radio, seb was told "this is silly seb, come on"

as he was trying to get past, mark said "yeah thats good teamwork!" (he had been told the race was his) and he got the following response "okay mark, he was told, he was told!"

over radio after passing seb said "i was really scared, main straight. all of a sudden he was moving and i had to lead the line, to repeat, i had to get over the line"

after he had won, sebs race engineer said "good job sebastian, good job. it looked like you wanted it bad enough, but there will be some explaining to do"

in the cooldown room after the race, mark said "multi 21 seb" *throws hands in frustration* "yeah, multi 21" *slams down water bottle*

seb said nothing and angrily chugged his water bottle

on the podium mark said "in the end seb made his own decision and will have protection as usual and thats the way it goes" (seb told mark at the next race in china that he had no respect for him as a person after making that comment)

and seb later did apologize for it in a post race interview, saying "i put myself above that decision today, i didnt mean to i can only you know, say sorry, apologize, i know it might sound very dull now to mark and to the team but its the truth"

their relationship had already been rocky, and it was never really the same again after that

years later, mark said he wasnt angry about this but more sad that the team had reached that point. many have pointed out that sebs actions were likely payback for the previous year's championship deciding fight in brazil when mark squeezed seb against the pit wall at the start, which seb was really angry about. malaysia was at the start of the 2013 season, so it was only 2 races after brazil, despite the fact that it was separated by several months.

seb was ultimately not punished for the incident because his lawyer sent red bull a two page letter a few days later saying that the team order breached his contract because it had been an unreasonable team order.

so thats, basically, multi 21.

lets also remember that mark webber is none other than oscar piastri's manager. mark webber was a very very infamous "number 2 driver" (with him even saying "not bad for a number 2 driver") meaning that youre just there to help your teammate win. he has said or implied before and of course i cant find it that oscar has it in him to be a number 1 driver and win championships. this will all come back in a few minutes.

lets also also remember that who is in the paddock this weekend? nico rosberg. the very same nico rosberg who was involved in one of the most insane and intense teammate rivalries in f1 (we've been over this before but in case you forgot, nico and lewis battled head to head for three straight years at mercedes, destroying their childhood friendship, playing mind games with eachother and actively trying to sabatoge eachother in order to win the world championship. lewis won the first two of those years, nico won the last year and then announced his retirement from f1 at the prize giving ceremony)

nico also made a prediction for who he thought was going to win:

and there had been speculation that the infamous rosberg curse had been broken last weekend when lewis won after nico predicted that he would, but we will see.....

also, prior to the race, max had stayed up late and by late i mean until at least 3 am to do a shift of racing for his sim racing team. this is not the first time that max has done this, he also did this before imola and everyone was fine with it. max also won the race in imola (albeit by like .7 seconds or something but he still Won)

and with all that in mind. the race.

our starting order:

lando norris oscar piastri, max verstappen carlos sainz lewis hamilton charles leclerc fernando alonso lance stroll daniel ricciardo yuki tsunoda nico hulkenberg valtteri bottas alex albon logan sargeant kevin magnussen checo perez george russell zhou guanyu esteban ocon pierre gasly

and i think pierre started from the pit lane? yes no maybe idk?

what i do know is that the race started and lando Immediately lost the lead

like Immediately

to oscar

so oscar was p1 and lando had been trying not to hit oscar so he went a little bit wide which caused max to react and go off the track. max rejoined the track in front of lando in p2 which lando and mclaren said was leaving the track and gaining an advantage.

"max has to give back the position!" lando said over the radio.

max was pissed about it over the radio and said that he was shoved off and refused to give the position back. max of course didnt know that lando had not been shoving him off the track and literally had nowhere else to go because he was trying to not hit oscar. so the incident went to the race directors

max was told rather sternly to let lando past on lap 4. and he begrudgingly did. there was no further investigation.

"okay, so you can just drive people off the track then?" max asked over radio. "then you can tell the fia thats how were going to race from now onwards. just driving people off the road"

and everyone that statement was very exciting for all of us because it meant that mad max was making a reappearance.

who the hell is mad max?

well that would be max verstappen, but more angry.

prior to dominating f1 for the last 2 years, max had plenty of angry radios, but since he hasn't been fighting too many people for race leads or been stuck in the mid field recently, we havent heard too much of it. until this weekend. and believe me, there was more to come.

speaking of the midfield, they were starting their pit stops. albon, k mags and ocon pitted on lap 7 while alonso ricciardo and zhou all pitted on lap 8. which was a little early for some for pitting, but they still did it.

mostly because the undercut is strong here. meaning that you pit before your enemies for best results. supposedly.

with all the pit stops though, checo and george had made it up to p11 and p12 but were now very effectively stuck in the mid field. and by lap 12 everyone who had pitted already was lapping faster than them.

speaking of undercuts, hamilton who was in p4, went for the undercut on max, pitted on lap 17 and came out behind yuki in p7. over at sky italy, nico rosberg yelled excitedly "it's got to be hammertime now!" lando, still up in p2, also pitted on lap 17.

max, meanwhile, was having problems. "i cant brake, i cant enter corners, front and rears" despite these apparent issues, max kept driving the car

it was at this point when they started bringing up that max had been sim racing for awhile the night before.

meanwhile, oscar was still out in p1 and he had built up an 8 second lead over max who was in p2 since lando had pitted. oscar pitted on lap 19.

checo and george did not pit. they were still stuck behind yuki in 8 and 9th.

also not slaying was aston martin. fernando and lance were down in 12 and 13. they started on soft tires and were now trying to get past nico hulkenberg. they were failing as of lap 27. but on the next lap fernando managed to get passed when nico locked up.

"CAN LANCE GET PAST TOO???....no." crofty yelled

and also also not slaying was williams

their tire strategy was leaving much to be desired. it was a little hard to figure out what had happened but they basically told alex one tire strategy initially and then changed it mid race kinda without notice. he was less than pleased.

"we're now thinking were going to have to go to plan b" his race engineer said

"yeah" alex said "but i dont appreciate when you do that. and now the tires are dead. we're just too indecisive."

for some context, alex was able to get 5 spots up to p9 at the start of the race, then had a really slow pit stop and this call ultimately led to him being stuck on the same very dead tires for 40 laps. worry not everyone, this was not the last bad strategy call that was made this weekend.

while all that was happening max and carlos had pitted. max came out in 5th behind lewis.

checo finally pitted on lap 29 right along with pierre, daniel and alonso.

and yuki pitted, for the First time i might add, on lap 30.

this was another weird ass strategy call because by the time daniel had pitted twice yuki was only just pitting once. and this was generally a two stop race. and 70 laps. hm hm. maybe it'll pan out for daniel whos to say!

oscar meanwhile had managed to get back out to the front and was ahead by 4.413 seconds on lap 33.

on lap 43 lewis was under pressure from max. over at sky italy, nico rosberg had a lot to say about that:

"you cant imagine how difficult it is to have verstappen behind! right now lewis has to give it his all!"

and while that battle was happening, pierre retired his car on lap 35. for the SECOND week in a row. due to a hydraulic leak.

oblivious to that though, lewis and max kept battling. max briefly got past lewis but he went wide and lewis was able to pass him back.

again nico had a lot to say. (not sure if this was said specifically here but im making educated guesses). one of the other commentators said that lewis gave up his position, and nico disagreed: "no no! he braked early and max simply braked late! lewis did not give up anything!"

max got back on radio after locking up: "im minus five brake bias and this thing just doesnt fucking turn its undriveable"

crofty was unimpressed with this. "he sounds like a man who could have done with a better nights sleep last night"

and over on sky italy, nico was saying similar things. though he was saying it a bit more unhinged.

"last night lando's bed time was 11:05. wake up at 8:05. so hyperprofessional. at the same time you have verstappen, who until 3am was sim racing. thats a bit disappointing. it shows hes too used to his ease of domination."

and why did he know lando's exact bed time? aparently he called him??? baffling man. anyway.

hamilton and leclerc pitted on lap 41. and we havent talked about ferrari too much i know but that was mostly because they were actually having a pretty decent race. and by that i mean that other people were fucking up far worse than they were. though, nico rosberg did compliment charles's tire use.

they both came out in fifth and sixth behind sainz and verstappen

max was once again, unimpressed.

"its quite impressive how we let ourselves get undercut, and just completely fucked my race," he said.

that was not what ted thought tho. he said "max does not have a car that hes comfortable with." hm.

meanwhile. as interesting as that was. something else even more interesting was about to happen. and that was that lando was about to make his second pit stop.

this was interesting because as i said and as max brought up, the under cut is powerful here. at the very beginning, lando was also told that his fight was Not with oscar with first, but with max for second. and then, a few laps before his second pit stop he was told that he could fight oscar. hm

in any case. lando pitted.

this was aparently to protect against lewis in p3.

nico rosberg, undoubtedly reliving the silver war in real time, said "they should then let piastri pass him, let's see how they manage it"

oscar was told not to worry about it when he came in two laps later on lap 47 for his pit stop. he was told not to worry about lando because they were going to reinstate the order.

lando was now ahead of oscar.

max was leading cause he hadn't pitted again yet, then lando and then oscar.

on lap 49 lando was told to give the position back at his convenience. remember that this is a 70 lap race. that is plenty of time to swap back.

on lap 50 nico rosberg was once again loosing his mind: "i would be worried in piastri's shoes! we'll have to see what lando does ... and they told him, let him pass when you want, i'd do it on the last lap!"

he also predicted how lando would swap the position back (if he did):

"he's gonna slow down. he's gonna make it so obvious. he's going to humiliate him... kind of like Lewis when he was asked to give me the position and was bitter about it"

max went to box and came out in fifth so now lando was leading.

and he was still pulling away from oscar. oscar who he was supposed to swap back with.

lets get a little refresher on the driver's championship standings. while we wait for lando to give the position back.

max: 255 points lando: 171 points charles: 150 points carlos: 145 points oscar: 124 points checo: 118 points george: 111 points lewis: 110 points fernando: 45 points lance: 23 points nico: 22 points yuki: 20 points daniel: 11 points ollie: 6 points pierre: 6 points kevin: 5 points alex: 4 points esteban: 3 points guanyu, vlatteri and logan: 0 points

so. max and lando are only 84 points apart. first place gets you 25 points. second gets you 18. hm. all things to think about.

"once you get to lando we will swap positions" oscar was told over the radio. which is Not what they had told lando, btw. lando was told originally that they would be swapping positions.

nico rosberg once again had things to say: "im suffering with piastri! because theyre telling him, if youre not as fast as norris, we might not let you past! ai ai! horrible!"

he also criticized McLaren's inability to give unclear instructions, saying "im not in agreement with mclaren's strategy, you have to be precise in your instructions"

meanwhile, there was some speculation that mclaren might have to keep lando in front because max was picking up speed again.

max disagreed with this though. gp tried to be positive with him over the radio and max said "no mate dont give me that shit you guys gave me this shit strategy, okay? im trying to rescue whats left"

crofty once again said "not to be critical but it sounds like max stayed up too late playing a sim race which he did and got up early to do a sim race session with he did instead of getting a good nights sleep" and then anthony davidson came on and defended max, saying "the last time max did 24 hours of sim with his team he won the grand prix. some of us dont need that much sleep."

max though was oblivious to all of this as he tried to pass charles but failed. he was trying to very politely pass charles as well, because charles as we all know will not hesitate to send max off the track and into a wall if provoked. he finally managed to get past him on lap 57.

lando had still not swapped back the positions. but he had gotten a whole earful from his engineer about how much he was over using his tires in pretty much every corner.

on lap 57 lando was told "lando we still think youre using the tires too much...i know you'll do the right thing." the gap between him and oscar had grown to 3.876 seconds. lando hadn't actually responded in awhile during all the tire talk and they did a radio checo to make sure he could still hear them cause they thought that was the problem (he could hear them)

this is when multi 21 started to get brought up. you remember, multi 21 from the Malaysia gp between sebastian vettel and oscar piastris very own manager, mark webber?

"oscar piastri's manager has a thing about team orders not being followed" crofty said. they also said that it would have been a breach of trust if lando didnt switch back.

meanwhile, nico also had things to say about the multi 21 comparison: "when you feel like your team is giving more importance to your teammate, that's a horrible feeling" and nico would know this first hand because again he was half of the great silver war.

10 laps to go. lando was still out in front. 4.7 seconds ahead.

"okay lando," will, his race engineer begged over the radio. "10 laps to go. both cars are using tires too much. remember every single sunday morning meeting we have, okay?" basically saying, remember that oscar has been there for you in strategy before, you need to be there for him now.

lando was not phased. "okay well then tell him to catch up please." lets remember that lando is nearly FIVE SECONDS AHEAD RIGHT NOW

nico rosberg had started to leave the commentary box because he had to get ready to interview the winner, but when that radio came back through he ran bACK INTO THE BOX AND SCREAMED

"guys LITERALLY COPY OF WHAT LEWIS USED TO SAY! when they'd say "let nico pass" "well he needs to come get me first". FOR REAL COPY AND PASTE SAME WORDS."

and aparently when he was asked why he wasnt leaving to get ready for the interviews he giggled and said "I CANT LEAVE NOW FOR SURE IM STAYING HERE!"

he did eventually leave though, sadly :/

and lando's race engineer was still losing his mind. "lando, he cant catch up, you've proved your point."

but that was briefly abandoned because max decided to take red bull gives you wings literally:

he locked up and bumped into lewis, and it was flagged for causing a collision.

miraculously, max kept racing, but he was now definitely behind lewis, actually 2 spots behind lewis in 5th. and he was pissed.

"yeah, i moved out of braking" max said over radio.

gp was kind of done with him at this point. "im not even going to get into a radio fight with the other teams, max. its childish on the radio, childish."

the crash was hard enough to trigger the sensor that requires drivers to be checked by the medical team post race. so gp came back on and said

"i understand the medical delegate neds to have a look at you and examine you."

max was having none of it. "we can send the medical delegate to the stewards team and they can have a look. see if they are all okay. im absolutely fine."

regardless of all that though, nico did give us his thoughts on this crash in the post race show:

"im assuming here that maybe max hasn't seen it (the crash) yet on tv? otherwise someone needs to tell him that there was actually a corner which is why lewis was turning in? i mean, lewis was taking the corner."

regardless. there were now five laps left. and lando had still yet to give the spot back.

"lando," will begged again. "there are five laps to go, the way to win a world championship is not by yourself its with the team"

this is about when crofty started saying that “would lewis hamilton move over, would max verstappen move over, would fernando alonso move over? lando is coming of age and learning to say no. i’m your number one driver.”

mclaren though were simply not having it. despite the fact that they were the ones who had put themselves in this situation in the first place.

and oscar, who had been quiet this whole time, finally said on lap 66 "the longer we leave this the riskier it gets"

by lap 67 will was absolutely Done with lando. "Please. Do. It Now."

and so on lap 68, lando finally slowed down on the straight, and let oscar by. "you dont need to say anything." lando said over radio.

lando did manage to stay within DRS of oscar, and for a quick second everyone thought he might try to pass him back again, but he didnt.

and so, OSCAR PIASTRI WON THE 2024 HUNGARIAN GP!!!!

his post race radio though was anything but celebratory:

"well done oscar, well done. checkered flag. really good." "yep. thank you everyone. thank you very much. thank you for the coordination. sorry i made the swap a little more painful than it needed to be but yeah thank you, appreciate that. well done. come good points. really good weekend. first f1 win. thank you everyone, thank you, thanks."

now oscars a very chill guy so no one was expecting him to be insane and celebrating but it was still a little more subdued than everyone thought it would be. people are usually screaming and cheering. this was anything but.

and will buxton (who was not present this weekend) tweeted pretty much that:

anyway. that aside. we had the interviews. for the top three.

who were the top three?

oscar, lando and lewis. lewis was in fact celebrating his 200th podium in f1 (the record)

and who was conducting the interviews?

why none other than NICO ROSBERG!

yes. a brocedes interaction in 2024. a real live brocedes interaction in 2024. who would have thought.

idk when the last time these two spoke publically was, but i know its been awhile. and this did not disappoint:

and yes it was a very nice and civilized interview and once everyone got over the holy shit theyre Talking aspect. well. lewis fucking WINKED at nico at the very end of it.

brocedes, no one will ever be as insane as you.

while that was happening, oscar did the p1 sebastian vettel finger

crofty was beside himself about it

also really quickly because it is in fact 1 am and i do need to sleep but ted lost his mind over the hat that oscar was wearing. cause pretty much everyone at mclaren was wearing one. and ted had a right proper crisis over How the hats were made when When they were made and Where they came from and it was really quite funny please watch it

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charles also came over to congratulate his son

also, in case you were wondering, lando was the first person to congratulate oscar on his win:

and they had this moment while lewis was getting interviewed:

so they seemed to be okay? whos to say.

especially because this happened in the cool down room

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so lets unpack that.

first lando chucks to p2 hat ala nico in the cool down room 2015 in cota right after lewis won the world championship:

and then kinda insulted lewis. which btw, no one (not even lewis) really blamed him for because hes still coming off of his adrenaline high. racing cars takes a lot of work.

the podium was also interesting.

oscar first shielded his trophy from lando (because you know lando broke max's last year) and before lando champagne popped he gave his trophy to an official to be taken off stage so that he didnt accidentally break it

this did not stop oscar from holding his own trophy as lando popped his champagne.

although! lando did not spray oscar! he sprayed lewis! interesting!

lando, of course, was hard on himself again for the race result and i cant find what he actually said but i can find nico defending him:

"well lando is always a little bit, hes on the more sensitive side psychologically and also he criticizes himself a lot even on the start you know now on the start he criticized himself but actually it was the shift that caused the bad start and the shift is most likely not him, actually its 100% not him if thats the case he always exaggerates i find with criticizing himself."

one things for certain tho, the rosberg curse is clearly still very much a thing.

(as a very brief aside, aparently they asked nico what he thought of lewis going to ferrari and he thought it was an april fools joke)

despite all the drama though, oscar said later that he thinks that mclaren can definitely win the constructors championship. and andrea stella (the mclaren team principal) said that he trusts "lando 100% and ultimately he made the right decision"

(zak brown, the mclaren racing ceo, was i think at the indy car race this weekend, mark webber (oscars manager and multi 21 victim) was at the formula e race, oscars girlfriend was also not present and his mom was not at the race because she never comes because they scare her, but she did tweet that her 6 am pilates class was cancelled, likely because she would be celebrating)

this did not stop nico rosberg again from interviewing andrea stella and really giving him a piece of his mind.

i cannot find the exact quotes but it was something to the nature of ANDREA WHAT ARE YOU DOING PLEASE YOU NEED TO BE MORE CLEAR WITH YOUR INSTRUCTIONS PLEASE BELIEVE ME I HAVE EXPERIENCE IN THIS ANDREA PLEASE

and andrea, to his credit, was just like. okay. yes i trust you. i will take your advice. you have experience here.

nico was still Displeased though

but enough of that. lets look at some of the other flops of the weekend. cause there were many.

so, this was the finishing order:

oscar, lando, lewis, charles, max, carlos, checo, george, yuki, lance, fernando, daniel, nico, alex, kevin, valtteri, esteban, and guanyu

so we've talked about the top 3. Ferrari, somehow, given everything that happened seemed like a big happy family of a team. which is saying a lot when we remember everything ferrari's been doing recently.

checo also had a pretty good race. p16 up to p7. and so did george, p17 to p8 and he took fastest lap.

yuki ended p9, which was good. he had started p10. but his teammate daniel, who if you will remember is trying to potentially be on deck for the red bull seat (though we dont know if there will be a swap because daniel is horner's pick and helmut marko wants to leave checo blah blah bureaucracy) finished p12 after starting p9 because of the shitty tire strategy he had been put on. remember, he was called to pit after a very short first stint on the mediums (he pitted when people who had started on softs were pitting) (and came out in traffic in a drs train) and ended up doing both of his pits before yuki had done his first.

ted even said post race about daniel:

"Not the greatest strategy in the world. It was not Daniel's fault that he was P12. Some people would say that but there was nothing he could do about it, Yuki had the better strategy so ended up P9."

there was even briefly worry that daniel was skipping media. which was pretty worrying because even when daniel was getting fucked over left right and center at mclaren (thats another post entirely), he still came to all the media sessions. but he did eventually appear.

moving on from that. aston martin. they also aparently had team orders, but their team orders got ignored.

fernando was told to let lance past to try to get past yuki. if lance could not overtake, then he was supposed to give the spot back. he did not overtake yuki and he did not give the spot back. so lance ended in the points and fernando did not.

and we already talked about williams

there were a few other things that happened post race. nico rosberg got incredibly pissed at the sky sports team for trying to get him to back liam lawson as the best replacement option for checo at red bull and he said something to the effect of: SURE! YES! HES THE BEST CHOICE MAYBE. VERY HIGH RISK THO. ITS A BAD IDEA TO PUT A ROOKIE INTO A RED BULL SEAT

speaking of rookies, kimi antonelli won his second f2 race, but he did openly admit to the press that he's not sure if he's ready for f1 yet because he is still learning a lot in f2 and he s not doing everything correctly yet. and ill have you all know that i tried to find the link to that article and my google literally froze. its time to wrap this damn thing up. tho he will be testing the mercedes again after the belgian gp

and max verstappen had a lot to say after the race, mostly in response to what people said about his angry interviews

"i not know why people think you cant be vocal on the radio," max said. "this is a sport"

max was also banned from late sim racing before gps by red bull. which is kinda funny. cause that was the squeaky wheel that needed the grease!

and carlos also defended oscar's win and the swap, because his own first win also had a lot to do with team orders.

and i really think that the last thing that i need to talk about is oscar's post race celebrations. which he said were not very glamorous because

"we had a flight back from budapest that was significantly delayed and then flew into a different airport. i didnt get home until about 5am and my girlfriend was waiting at home for me. spent a few hours with her that were asleep and that was about it. had mcdonald's - we were flying back with a few of the drivers, lando was there, alex albon, a couple of others. in our wait for the alway we got a cheeky maccas, ad a big mac, got home at 5am and that was the celebrations. just a couple of f1 drivers, getting some burgers and nuggets really. we didnt take any trophies or anything, not that you can put anything in those trophies anyway. we had three or four hours of delays and there wasnt any food around so mcdonald's was the nearest and the most convenient thing so that was what we chose."

he also said that he and lando "were good" because they shared mcdonald's and "we were playing monopoly on the way back on the plane, were all good apart from alex albon teaching us a thing or two about monopoly!"

about not having his family there, oscar said "of course its nice to have people that are close to you there, but its impossible to predict where youre going to get good results so its just luck of the draw of whos there in some ways. marks not missed many races in y f1 career, maybe three or four. he was very busy with mitch in london, so i dont blame him at all for going to do that. but i got to see lily that night, a little bit later than id planned, but it was still nice to go back and see her."

and despite the fact that it was clouded by all the team orders drama (just like how oscars first sprint win was clouded by max winning the world championship) oscar piastri is still a race winner. he had excellent moves in the first corner and was able to hold p1 until the team made the terrible pit stop decision. oscar and lando both deserved to win, but it is mclaren here that is really at fault.

reguardless. oscar piastri is a race winner.

last but not least, a very very big shoutout to everyone who posted quotes and clips from nico on sky italy and on the post race show. i didnt tag anyone cause i would hate to crash anyones computer or phone opening this post but i did link everything if anyone is curious :)

and i will see all of you very soon in our last race before summer break: spa

Sorry i tried to scroll past but, i know nothing about f1 other than max verstappen is fast, my dad doesnt like lewis hamilton, fast car goes in a loop and sometimes expodes. Could you give me a crash course in f1 drama? Im very intrigued. Whats the tea as it were?

a terribly loaded question, but i will do my best. i’ve talked about some of the drama before like the red bull second seat and the chronicles of haas but allow me to briefly try my hand at explaining the nightmare that is the upcoming silly season

under the cut we go

silly season is when the drivers go through contract renewals, extensions and switches. usually it’s confined to the first half of the season (march-july) but it has been known to extend all the way to the last race of the season and they like to switch people around at random sometimes. driver contracts are complex, there’s a lot of money involved and basically You Are The Face Of The Team so if you have a shit season then you make the team look bad. but at the same time you could have a shit season because you have a shit car. it’s sticky stuff.

so. there are only twenty seats in formula 1. 10 teams. each team gets two drivers. (there’s also reserve drivers but we’re not going to get into that). who ends up with a contract is largely up to the teams, they can pull the contract out from under people they can also cut you mid season. they’ve done it before.

of the 20 drivers on the grid, 14 of them have contracts expiring at the end of the year. yes. 14. you see how this could get complicated.

so let’s meet the teams.

red bull racing. they came first this year (and last year) in the championship. like aggressively first. like they won the championship by over 350 points. they are definitely the team to beat. but if you end up with a seat at red bull, you do have to deal with max verstappen being your teammate and he won all but three of the races last year. he’s the golden boy. red bull are also notoriously silly when it comes to contracts and famously swap people mid season who aren’t performing.

mercedes. merc is home to 7 time world champion lewis hamilton and they have won the championship a great many times, though not since 2021. they are kind of in their flop arc and their car the last 2 years has been pretty garbage, but they have still made it work because they were able to come in second last year.

ferrari. god help the poor little meow meows with a ferrari contract. ferrari is a notoriously great team and they’re trying to get back to the top again but their strategy every single time has fallen short. to the point where their drivers are the ones doing the strategy in their cars while driving. they came in third last year and have been decently consistent at getting first in qualifying and then getting beat by max verstappen on race day.

mclaren. they’ve definitely worked their way up over recent years. they ended fourth last year and have had some championship wins before but not nearly as many as say merc and ferrari. their team ceo (owner? director?) is a little interesting and their car started out a pile of flaming hot garbage at the beginning of the year but they did manage to get their shit together.

aston martin. they are owned by canadian billionaire lawrence stroll, father of lance stroll (one of the drivers for the team). they’ve undergone several name changes over the recent years (force india, racing point, etc). they positively slayed at the start of the season and then one day they sucked. they finished fifth in the championship.

alpine. the frenchest french team. they’re (i think?) still partially owned by the french government. both of their drivers are french. (their drivers also hate eachother but we’ll get to that. just know they’re in the middle of a modern french civil war). they had the opportunity to have a good rookie driver (oscar piastri) this past year but in a thrilling twitter battle, he publically flamed the shit out of them and went to mclaren instead (and slayed). they're usually solidly middle of the pack. they ended sixth in the championship.

williams. williams has been one of the back of the grid teams for the last many years but they have finally started to get their shit together and don’t quite suck as much as they used to. all of the points this year were scored by only one driver though (except one but we’ll get there). they came in seventh.

alpha tauri. they are the sister team of red bull. so technically redbull owns both teams (meaning they can swap drivers between teams. they like doing this.) they’ve just kind of been There for awhile but they did slay towards the end of the season when one of their drivers led the race for several laps. basically tho, this team is the gateway to redbull. they came in eighth.

alpha romeo. recently renamed to stake f1 team (but sometimes they are going to be called kick sauber. this is a whole other drama post and i’m not getting into it). they’re also just kind of there. generally unproblematic. seems that really great drivers who get ixed out of a contract for a younger driver end up here or young drivers who are in their early years are here before they go to a better team. they ended ninth this year.

haas. oh haas. goofy team. they suck. point blank they suck. they keep loosing sponsors because they suck, they don’t win ever (one time they came first in qualifying last year). they cursed themselves in australia in 2018 by not tightening their tires and its been downhill ever since. they came 10th. their team principle got let go (fired?) who’s to say today.

so those are the teams. it is important to note that:

-there is a cost cap. each team is allowed to spend no more than 135m per year.

-not all cars are equal. some things are standard. they all undergo the same testing. but the cars are all very different. so you can be a good driver but stuck in a shitty car. which makes it impressive if you are doing well in a shitty car.

let’s meet our drivers!!!

starting with the guys who’s contract is not ending in 2024:

max verstappen. 3 time world champion. 26 years old. general beast on the track. he dominated the whole season. he’s currently racing for red bull and has a contract with them through 2028.

lewis hamilton. 7 time world champion. 39 years old. he drives for mercedes. he will not leave mercedes until he retires. he really really wants to win an 8th world championship and is willing to stick it out a few more years as long as merc still believes in him. his contract expires in 2025.

george russell. the other merc driver. 26 years old. hes aggressively british and says thinks like blimey unironically. walking meme. got his merc seat in 2022 right when they entered their flop arc by getting his tractor of a williams to finish second in qualifying in the middle of a rainstorm. his contract expires in 2025.

lando norris. mclaren driver. 24 years old. he has notably never won a race in his five years of formula one (mostly because right when his car finally was good enough max verstappen was 20 seconds ahead of anyone) but he is regarded as Very Good. he has only ever driven for mclaren. and even though there is another year left on his contract there is mass speculation that he will not renew his contract with mclaren after it expires and he may move up to one of the top teams (red bull, merc, ferrari) (tho i think he doesnt hate himself quite enough to go to ferrari). his contract expires in 2025.

oscar piastri. the other mclaren driver. 22 years old. this was his rookie season and he positively slayed. like people compared his rookie season to lewis hamiltons rookie season. he also had the positively funniest start to his rookie year because alpine announced that he would be driving for them (he had been their reserve driver and in the alpine academy) and he posted a tweet that basically said yeah thats false i never singed anything with you and im going to race with mclaren instead (he dodged a bullet) and then alpine tried and failed to sue him for $4m USD. he signed a contract extension with mclaren this year and his contract expires in 2026.

lance stroll. aston martin driver and son of the aston martin owner. hes doing ok, tho there was conspiracy that he wanted to quit and have a tennis career awhile ago. but basically since his dad owns the team it seems that hes guaranteed a seat for as long as he wants one.

so now. moving onto the good shit. the people who have contracts expiring in 2024. hold onto your hats people.

charles leclerc. (everyones favorite slutty little soup can). 26 years old. he is currently at ferrari and he has been since 2019. notably, he was given the longest contract in the history of ferrari after a stellar rookie season at sauber (renamed to alpha romeo, renamed to stake f1) where he got the tractor of a car consistently into the points. having the longest contract in the history of ferrari was a flex at the time, but now its likely how he will introduce himself at therapy sessions. ferrari have fucked this man left right and center up the ass with a plastic lunchroom spork. hes talented, he can drive, and he can drive well. but the strategy that ferrari has absolutely sucks. either something is wrong with the car (see him blowing out his gear box on the formation lap in monaco, his car completely crapping out and spinning into the barrier in brazil before the race even started) or they fuck up his pit stops or put him on the wrong tires and honestly its just frustrating. but will he leave??? likely not. you'd have to pry ferrari out of his cold dead hands and at this rate that might be where this is headed though there has been some minor speculation of him going to another team like merc or red bull, but merc doesnt have any open seats and red bull is a whole other dumpster fire of drama. ferrari are going to have to pay him a boatload of money to make him stay.

carlos sainz. the smooth operator. 29 years old. ferrari driver. previously carlos was at toro rosso (renamed to alpha tauri), renault (renamed to alpine), and mclaren before signing with ferrari. he has been at ferrari since 2021 and has voiced that he would like to stay with them for however long he can. there is speculation that lando might replace him at ferrari (but landos contract is not up until 2025) and there is also some speculation that alex albon might replace him. while charles is clearly the golden boy at ferrari, carlos is slightly slower but also definitely consistent. he was THE ONLY non red bull driver to win a race this past year, in Singapore after max verstappedn was knocked out of qualifying by alpha tauri reserve driver liam lawson (more on him later) and because he basically came up with his own strategy in the car while he was driving.

sergio perez. aka checo. red bull driver. 33 years old. and oh boy here's where we open the can of worms. checo was previously at racing point (renamed aston martin) and it was very near the end of the 2020 (?) season and he was out of a contract. he had a bonkers race where he was knocked to the back of the grid and then overtook everyone and somehow ended up winning (there is more to that story but just trust me) and christian horner, red bull team principle, mr ginger spice and definite disney villain called him and said congrats sir you have a seat at red bull! well. fast forward. hes been causing problems. problems as in crashing a lot, generally not doing great and pissing the crap out of red bull. it is basically guaranteed at this point that he will not be getting a contract extension. there was actually talk this year of him losing his seat mid season to one of the alpha tauri drivers, because remember, red bull owns both teams and they can switch them whenever they want to (and they have!) but ultimately this did not happen. even though checo has a seat at red bull until the end of 2024, its mass speculated that he is going to get switched with an alpha tauri driver, probably daniel ricciardo (more on him shortly) mid season because there is a speculated clause in daniels contract that says that if checo isn't performing well in the first few races daniel is getting his seat.

daniel ricciardo. 34 years old. alpha tauri driver. man oh man what a guy. outside of being the prankster of the paddock, he has one of the most batshit careers of anyone currently on the grid. he started out at red bull and was showing real talent and skill and was on track to win things (and was!) and was there until the end of 2018 when max verstappen (his teammate) started getting preferential treatment and also red bull started having a lot of problems with their engines (which were being outsourced from Renault (now alpine) and another team on the grid) and well very very long story short he made the surprise move of the century and decided to sign with Renault (which makes no sense they're the one with the engine problems) and was there for 2 years before moving again to mclaren where he was reportedly not treated very well and had a hard time driving the car so they mutually ended his contract with them early and he basically retired at the end of the 2022 season and became a red bull reserve driver. then halfway through the 2023 season alpha tauri ixed one of their drivers, nyck de vries, because he wasnt doing well and promoted daniel back up to a full time driver at alpha tauri (which we know is only a step down from red bull) but then he broke his hand in a crash in zanvort (?) and then he was replaced for a few races by formula 2 driver liam lawson (who we will also talk about) and then he came back to finish out the season in alpha tauri after he was cleared. daniel has admitted openly that he never should have left red bull and he was given bad advice to do so. hes towards the end of his career at this point and its well known that he Really Really wants to finish out his career at red bull again. he and max have already been teammates before and they do work well together and daniel is great driver (see his comeback in texas (or maybe it was brazil?) this year). so. Pretty Sure that daniels going to get either an extension at alpha tauri or go up to red bull. thats what we all want. get this man in a red bull we need him there biblically.

liam lawson. now technically liam is not actually a formula 1 driver. hes a formula 2 driver, but he was daniels replacement for five races and there has been some speculation and some confirmed news about him so hes getting included. when he was racing for f1 he was at alpha tauri. hes 21 and looks like he belongs in the movie grease. no one was expecting him to slay in formula 1 and he positively knocked everyones socks off. the scene: Singapore. which, if you'll recall, is the one race that a not red bull driver won. this was largely because liam lawson slayed the absolute game in qualifying. the qualifying part of racing determines what order the cars start in on the grid for the race and theres three parts, the first two parts the bottom 5 drivers each time get knocked out and then the top 10 complete for the last 10 spots. liam lawson knocked BOTH max verstappen and checo perez out of qualifying in the second round by going very slightly faster than them, effectively fucking up red bulls race and allowing carlos to win. and he also scored points in that race, which no one was expecting. now thats all fine and dandy, but here's the speculation: hemlut marko (im pretty sure) (who is somehow decently involved in the decision making at red bull though i couldn't tell you how) said that he thinks that liam lawson will be in an f1 seat no later than 2025. meaning that he will probably get offered a contract this year. and hes already raced for alpha tauri. red bull have sunk a good amount of money into him. they clearly want him. so if he gets offered an alpha tauri seat in 2025, that means theres a good chance danny rics is going to red bull. do you SEE how the plot here is THICKENED

yuki tsunoda. age 23. currently at alpha tauri. and fun fact, the only alpha tauri driver to race there the whole year. he had three separate team mates. he is slaying and hes often slept on. he has a bit of a temper and likes to shout on the radio and also hates working out (they had to force him to move to italy or something to work out, long story) but hes been kinda killing it. he led several laps in the abu dhabi race this year and hes decently consistent. people think theres possibility that he could get moved up to red bull on account of the fact that he is younger than daniel and clearly has more years in him,, but there is also possibility that he might not because red bull like to make stupid decisions. and if he doesnt get moved up to rebel, will he stay with alpha tauri? we don't know.

alex albon. age 27. currently a williams driver. alex albon is another one with a batshit career. he started out his rookie year in 2019 at alpha tauri then got moved up to red bull halfway through the year when red bull decided that pierre gasley wasnt doing a good enough job (more on him later) and stayed with red bull for a solid year and a half until he lost his seat in 2021 to checo. he has been with williams for the last two years and is basically carrying the team. like. williams as a team scored 28 points this year. and alex albon scored 27 of those 28 points. and as we know, williams is still kind of in their shit arc (though they are doing much better. they didnt score any points for a solid 2 (?) years. so this is an improvement.) and if you can get a shit car to perform you catch the eye of bigger teams. now, alex has already been a red bull driver. and he was on the cusp of podiuming two separate times when lewis hamilton ran into him. this (among a few other things) basically killed his chances at getting resigned at red bull because he wasnt ""performing"" and red bull are bitches who love to win. but some people think that red bull should give him another shot. like daniel, hes already been max's teammate and he can definitely drive. but theres also talk he might go to ferrari because ferrari think that he might compliment charles's driving style (or something). but going to ferrari at this point is kind of suicide. so.

logan sergeant. age 23. the only american on the grid. the other williams driver. he just finished his rookie year. he scored a grand total of one single point this season, in texas, and it was because charles leclerc and lewis hamilton both got disqualified because the floor of their car had more wear (by literally less than millimeters) than it was allowed to, bumping him up from 12th to 10th. he has never done better than alex albon. he was also the very last driver to get a contract for 2024, with williams waiting until i think december of 2023 to announce his contract extension. clearly, hes on thin ice. but people have also said that he needs time to get used to formula 1 (other people have pointed out that oscar piastri slayed his rookie season this year and this statement about needing time is largely false). where logan ends up next year though will largely depend on how well the 2024 season goes for him.

fernando alonso. 42 years old. many people like to point out that oscar piastri is actually younger than fernando's racing career. he won tiktok creator of the year (somehow) and is also a 2 time world champion. he retired a few years ago, just to show back up again and slay. during the first half of the season when aston martin had a zoom zoom car he killed it, and then they had problems on top of problems and he didnt do well. except for that one race in brazil where he came in third, beating checo by literally .05 seconds. he hasn't really made any hints about retiring a second time and he is kind of carrying aston Martin right now (he scored 205 points this season, coming in 4th and tying in points with charles leclerc, lance stroll only scored 74 points this year.) and they did have their best year yet this year. (though they are relatively new).

pierre gasley. 27 years old. french. drives for alpine. the french team. previously he raced with toro rosso (now alpha tauri), then got promoted to a red bull driver in 2019, then halfway through the season they decided he wasnt doing a good enough job and he got demoted back down to alpha tauri. then he won a race with alpha tauri just to stick it to red bull. after the great oscar piastri contract twitter war, he was signed as alpines second driver, with Esteban ocon being the other driver (more on him soon). estie bestie and pierre (both french) were childhood friends and now hate each other for unknown reasons and basically feuded on the track for most of the season. french civil war at alpine. he scored 62 points in 2023 and came in 11th. not really sure where he will end up, it is possible that he will stick it out at alpine.

esteban ocon. 27 years old. also french. currently driving for alpine. another one with a silly bonkers career. he started out at force india and had a baller few seasons there but his teammate at the time was checo, and checo didnt really cooperate with him too much and caused some drama that cost estie bestie some places and some points. max verstappen also beat him up in the garage once. thats not really relevant but it did happen. anyway, after the owner of force india was arrested for .... i don't remember what maybe it was embezzlement or bankruptcy or something money related, the team was backed by lawrence stroll and became racing point. but all of that happened mid season and lawrence was basically like look ill back you guys for now but next year my son gets a seat (lance) so one of you two (checo and estie bestie) have to go. and ultimately they let estie bestie go even though he was more consistent because checo had more sponsors and they needed money. so he was out of formula 1 for a few years (but was a merc reserve driver) and then went to Renault, which then became alpine. he did come in 12th though overall this season, just behind pierre. so. will alpine keep both him and pierre and keep the civil war going? whos to say.

nico hulkenberg. 36 years old. haas driver. in his 200+ f1 races he has never been on the podium and he really really wants to be on the podium. unfortunately this will never happen in a haas because haas fucking sucks. and everyone knows it. he is getting towards the end of his career though. though! stake f1 will become the mario Andretti and audi team in 2026 (don't question it) and they have supposedly voiced interest in nico. so we will see if he hangs on that long to end up at audi. for now tough, hes definitely hating it at haas. though, haas are going to have a different team principle next year so maybe that will change things. i have a sneaky feeling through that haas will probably end up with another 2 rookie drivers because everyone else is smart enough to not race for them.

kevin magnussen. 31 years old. haas driver. hes another deeply interesting character. he has had one podium. in his rookie season. in his first race. and none since. kevin started at haas in 2017 and then left at then end of 2020 when he basically got kicked off because the team needed money and they wanted to bring in drivers with more sponsorships. these drivers were mick schumacher and nikita mazepin. so kevin basically was forced to retire after the 2020 season. this went decently well for haas. until russia invaded ukraine right before the start of the 2022 season and, well, nikita was Russian and it was never distinctly proven that his dads company (who was sponsoring the team) wasnt also funding the invasion. so nikita got fired and they were literally like 2 weeks out from the start of the season, down a driver. who are you gonna call? kevin magnussen! and hes been back ever since. but hes clearly getting annoyed with haas. there was one great clip from this year where his car caught on fire and he kind of just stared into to, clearly hoping it would burn for a long time. so the likelihood of him extending his contract is looking slim.

valtteri bottas. 34 years old. currently a driver for stake f1 (alpha romeo, kick sauber, whatever you wanna call it). previously, he was a mercedes driver and notoriously helped lewis hamilton win a great many championships, until he lost his seat to george russell in 2022. there was a rather awkward part of the 2021 season where valtteri knew that he was out of a merc seat the following year and kind of just chose violence. he slayed. then he went to alpha romeo, grew a mullet and made a calendar of his ass. quite the glow up if you ask me. hes also very interested in cycling. honestly though, i have my own personal speculation that hes going to retire at the end of this year.

zhou guanyu. 24 years old. driver for stake f1 (alpha romeo/kick sauber, etc etc). hes doing alright. he just finished his second season, in his first season he was majorly out qualified by valtteri but this past season he managed to out qualify him a good 6 times. which is decently good for the tractor of a car hes driving. its possible that he could get a contract extension, but like logan, its probably going to depend on how the 2024 season goes for him.

and thats all the drivers. theres also a few others i didnt talk about, like some other f2 drivers who want seats and mick schumacher, who is currently a merc reserve driver, all of which could be contenders for f1 seats. but one things for sure. this is going to be the silliest fucking silly season.

feel free to add on and peer review me

[linda-darnell]

hi y'all!! anon asked me how I made my mobile header and sidebar gifs on my desktop theme so I figured I would make a little tutorial. (this is my first one which is super exciting, but also please bear with as i try to do this lol. if you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask!) you will need a basic knowledge of gifmaking. I use photoshop 2022 on mac :)

step 1: making your gifs

you're going to make two gifs in two separate documents. both are going to be black and white, cropped however you want, but if you want it for your mobile header, the dimensions are 640 x 360 — that's what I'm using.

do your normal coloring settings (i'm keeping mine pretty basic since they'll be b&w)

make sure they're the same length. if you're using frames, make sure they're each the same frame length. i'm using video files so if you do too, just make sure they're both the same length when they're together on the video timeline.

to make the gifs look better together, use contrasting shots (for this gif, I have a far away shot of marina dancing and a close-up of her singing)

step 2: making the gradient

choose which gif you want the gradient to be on. i chose the close-up shot

go to layer > new fill layer > gradient. click ok and then this will pop up:

click gradient, then choose three colors you want for your gradient. these are what I chose:

click ok, then go to the angle adjuster (idk what it's called) and make your gradient diagonal (doesn't have to be exact)

click ok, then go to your blending mode drop down in your layer panel and change the blending mode to multiply

now your gif should look like this:

step 3: converting gifs to smart objects & putting them on the same timeline

now here's where the magic happens. on the gif we just worked on, select all the layers and merge them into one smart object. do the same thing to your black and white gif.

i don't know how to explain this in writing, so just follow the gif for what to do next:

now, align the black and white gif onto the gradient gif, then change the blend mode to lighten. now your gif should look like this:

step 4: finishing your gif!

woo, we made it! now to finish, make both layers into one smart object, and add noise (these are my settings)

then i go to my timeline panel, click the four lines on the top right, then go to convert frames > flatten frames into clips. wait for it to process, then go back to convert frames then click "convert to frame animation".

once you're in the animation timeline, click the four lines again, then click "make frames into layers". delete the first frame on the timeline (that's your smart object), then change the speed of your frames to .05.

all there's left to do is to make sure your gif is under 10mb and you're done! here is the final gif:

hope this helps! again, if you have any questions, hit up my ask box!

[riddle-me-ri]

Heya, Ri! Could I request something fluffy for the BTAS Hatter hedge maze date? I can’t stop thinking about it after the conversation in the server. :’D

Hope you’re having a lovely day! 💚

A/N: AAAAHHHHH YES YOU ABSOLUTELY CAN. I’ve been so excited to get a request from you hehe, if that’s not too weird to say lmao. I love doing requests for my mutuals and I’ve always wanted to fulfill a request for you! And for it to be such an adorable idea…I couldn’t say no…omg this is so cute, I haven’t stopped thinking about the scenario in my head either lmao (also this is a x reader, but like Jervis mostly refers to y'all as March Hare, more so in spirit of Marchie hehehe but it still works!)

Also, also still working on header stuff don’t mind me rip, but I am still stupid proud of this screengrab I took of Jervis from that character shot in The Worry Men episode.

Trigger Warnings: just an obtuse amount of fluffy sweetness

Word Count: 1.6 k

BTAS Mad Hatter x Reader - Maze Date Craze

There truly was never a dull moment with Jervis. 

Even if you too fancy a night in and some reading or watching a film, he somehow still managed to make you laugh until your sides hurt or he made you think somehow outside of the box.

The same especially went for dates when you were out on the town. 

“Where are you taking me, Jervis?” You giggled, confused but excited all the same. 

“It’s a surprise, my dear. You’ll know what it is soon enough.” He chuckled at your enthusiasm. 

You looked up as you two passed the opened gates to Gotham City Gardens. You gasped when you two approached the entrance to a large hedge maze. 

“I-Is…is this a maze?” 

“Indeed it is. Would you like to uhh…perhaps explore it with me?” He took off his hat and slightly bowed to the side, allowing you to enter first. 

You beamed happily, always ever the gentleman. You hooked your arm through the one that was tucked behind him and slightly dragged him with you through the maze opening. 

“I’d love nothing more, Jervis! Let’s do it!” 

You don’t think you could ever do a maze by yourself. You could maybe count on one hand a few people you could depend on to complete a maze with. 

One of the main people being Jervis, but then again, you wished you could spend every and any waking moment with him anyway. Aside from just that, he was the best with these whimsical mazes and puzzles. They always sort of spoke to him in a way…especially to a certain theme.

"Oh Jervis, this is perfect, it's like the maze was made for us! It's designed like Wonderland!" 

It truly was Wonderland inspired. Every now and then down a certain passage there were portraits of iconic Wonderland characters. 

Alice, Queen of Hearts, the Caterpillar, the Cheshire Cat, the Walrus, and Carpenter…

"Look, it's you!" You giggled.

The iconic pencil illustration of the Mad Tea Party was displayed in front of you. Your finger pointed at the Mad Hatter on the far right. 

Jervis came up behind you and smiled warmly. He put his hands on your shoulders and leaned his head down beside your ear. He pointed over to the March Hare. 

"And there's you, darling." 

You snuggled your head closer to his as you giggled in delight. 

"Although, I must say," you grabbed his hands and turned around to face him. 

You pulled him in closer to you, hands strongly clasped together. Your faces were inches apart. You leaned in close, pressing your nose against Jervis'. 

"My Hatter is far more handsome." You sealed the compliment by softly rubbing your nose side to side against his; a bunny kiss. 

Jervis didn't think he could ever fall in love with you more, but yet you continue to make him fall deeper and deeper, time and time again. 

He absolutely adored you, and he hoped he was able to show it every day…and especially today. 

You two continued through the maze hand in hand. Along with portraits and decorations of Wonderland strewn about. There were also little cards that stood out from the hedges.

"I don't recall collecting things as part of mazes…" You pondered as you looked at the card. They felt oddly thicker than most cards but you figured it was to make them last through the environs. 

"Well perhaps this isn't an ordinary maze…we should collect more of them," Jervis suggested and you ultimately agreed.

It'd be a neat little momento if anything else. 

Jervis helped hold the cards for you in his suit jacket pocket for the meantime. Your hands should be busy holding his hand anyway.

You were adamantly by Jervis' side as you depended on him to reach the end. However, after a couple twists and turns you couldn't help but feel certain plants and bushes looked oddly familiar. 

"Jervis…" 

"Yes, darling?" 

"I feel like we're going in circles…?" 

"Huh, really?"

"Yes…I…I recognize that red rose bush…and that broken hole in the bush.." You look up at him. 

Jervis was sheepishly looking off to the side. Eyes moving every which way but at you.

"Jervis..have you been taking us around in circles?" You asked lightheartedly. 

He bit his lip slightly, before ultimately sighing. "I'm afraid so, darling." He chuckled embarrassingly. 

"But why?" You asked, more confused than upset. 

He hummed. "I am guilty of slightly leading us astray but…only because I just…" his face started getting redder now. 

You put your hand on his warm cheek, bringing his eyes to look at your own. You smile up at him but don't say anything, silently encouraging him to continue. 

"...I just wanted to spend more time with you alone…lost and alone with you…holding my hand." He muttered his confession. 

Your heart skipped a beat, as if this man couldn't be anymore endearing. 

"You could've just told me, Jervis! I would love to stroll through the maze with you." You smiled sweetly as you tightened your arms around him. 

"Oh, if it were up to me it would never end, but there is another…surprise to come for you at the end…"

"But Jervis this maze was a lovely surprise enough…how can there be more?" 

He grabbed your hand that was on his face and kissed the palm of it. "There's always a possibility for more when it comes to you, my love." 

This time when Jervis took your hand and took the lead, you actually started making headway. 

This made you realize something else…

“Wait, Jervis!” 

You knew he was good at these kinds of puzzles, but not…not this good. 

“All will make sense soon, my beloved. Just follow me!” 

Curiouser and curiouser. 

You continued to follow him until you finally reached the end. When the two of you exited the maze, you noticed a quaint little round table with a red cloth over it. On the table a teapot, saucers, cups, and tiny finger delicacies were strewn about. The table was set for two. 

“Y-You did all of this, Jervis? H-How? When?” You slowly approached the table, almost uncertain whether or not to disturb the beautiful set-up. 

Jervis followed closely behind you as you took it all in. “I did…well with some…uhh…outside assistance.”

Surely mind control for non-illegal purposes wasn’t a crime? 

Jervis quickly went around you, and pulled out one of the seats for you to take a seat. You gratefully accepted as you still tried to wrap your mind around this revelation. 

“So…the maze, the pictures…and the cards..”

“Oh yes,” he got down on one knee in front of you and handed the cards to you. “They’re envelopes, open them…”

That explains their weird thickness.

You gasped when you opened the first card, you were close to tears as you kept opening the next few. They were all pictures either of you or you and Jervis together. Smiling, kissing, laughing, you remember the exact moment each of these was taken.

“Oh my goodness, Jervis…this is the sweetest—” 

You put the pictures down on the table to embrace him, but you were speechless at what you saw next. 

Sitting there in his palm, was a diamond ring. 

You tried to gulp down the nerves and the tears that were starting to rise. “J-Jervis…”

He chuckled sheepishly, removing his top hat. “A-All my life, I’ve been waiting for someone…to love me for me. For the longest time I thought I was incapable of finding that someone…that like Wonderland…it was all a hopeless fantasy…” 

The tears began to slowly creep out from your eyelids, as your hand covered your mouth, taking in every word he said, waiting for your moment to answer him. 

“...but I found you, and I’m so grateful every day that I get to spend another day with you. Every day I get to love you, my darling March Hare, is a day I believe more and more that my Wonderland doesn’t have to be a fantasy…it can be a reality but only if you’re in it…will you join me? W-Will you marry me?” 

“Yes! Yes, Jervis yes!” You hoped he made out your answer in between your excited squealing. You jumped out of your seat and embraced him tightly as you knocked him off his knees. 

Jervis laughed fullheartedly, as he wrapped his arms around you. He took a deep sigh of relief, although he knew deep down you wouldn’t say no…he was always aware of that possibility. 

Even when you let up on your embrace, it wasn’t enough. You were so overcome with love and affection for him, you weren’t sure what action to do next. Jervis took the moment of pause to slip the ring onto your finger. 

You looked down on it and smiled widely. “It’s perfect…” You looked back up at Jervis. “You’re perfect, Jervis…this was…I-I can’t even begin to describe it all…” 

Jervis kissed your temple. “You don’t need to say anything, beloved. Your reactions speak louder than any words. And your darling smile is worth more than any compliment.” 

Jervis propped himself up off the ground, but not without offering your hand up as well. You happily took his hand, but not without grabbing his top hat as well for your ascension.

You gently placed the hat back on his head, tentatively turning it backwards and forwards, left and right to make sure it was back in it’s proper place. He chuckled softly as he grabbed your hands back down in front of his face and kissed along your knuckles. 

You giggled at the sensation as you leaned your face closer to his. He met your face halfway as your lips finally met in a deep sweet kiss. 

After years of lonesome solitude, and almost giving up on the possibility…The Mad Hatter had finally found his March Hare. 

Wonderland was no longer just a fleeting fantasy, it was a glorious, loving, and sweet reality for the both of you.  

[scarlettriot]

Mina Ashido Headcanons!

@jewel116 requested some headcanons of our Alien Queen and I am here to deliver!

Some of these also could be considered BakuSquad HCs, hope that's alright.

I also went ahead and included some Adult Mina and 18+ Mina Headcanons too. Both are below the cut and clearly stated. Warnings are posted at each header mark.

If anyone has any other requests, lemme know!

Basic Mina Headcanons

Warnings: It's as fluffy as her dang hair! (Swearing)

. Most definitely has ADHD! In class, she is constantly tapping her foot on bouncing her leg as a means of trying her best to keep focused.

. Has a collection of shirts that she has designated for sleep and loungewear because she's burned acid holes in them by accident. Sometimes she'll wear them to concerts and shows if the design is cool enough.

. Loves piggyback rides! Frequently will run and jump on the backs of the guys in the BakuSquad. Even Katsuki himself puts up with it after a while.

. While Katsuki is the 'mom' of the squad, Mina is the one everyone goes to when they need comfort. Denki will curl up in her lap after a long day, Eijiro frequently goes to her when his insecurities creep back in, Hanta shows up late at night and they talk in her room about nothing just because he doesn't want to be alone, and Katsuki, well, he shows up to her room, slams the door and complains for a solid half-hour after reading a particularly heartbreaking scene in a manga while she listens to every word and validates his feelings.

. Mina worries far more than people believe she does. Her bubbly, loud, personality usually masks it but she knows when people are lying to her about what's going on in their heads.

. Sitting properly in a chair physically bothers her. She'd much rather be hanging upside down off it.

. She lowkey likes that the boys get protective over her.

. Mina is the type of person who gets A LOT of random thoughts that pop up in her head and one of the few people who actually will engage with the sheer randomness of the ideas is Shoto. Not only does he engage, he comes up with his own! The two can talk for hours.

. Loves hosting 'spa parties' in the common area of the dorms, everyone is welcome to join.

. When road trips happen, she's making the playlists (technically, she and Kyoka switch off).

. Tries teaching Tenya, Izuku, and Shoto how to flirt. After a very embarrassing first hour, Shoto didn't learn a single thing, Izuku was only good at it when paired with Shoto and Tenya... Tenya had her SHOOK! Man has game and she made sure everyone knew!

. Has weekly meetings with Yuga where they drink tea and spill the tea.

. She is so damn ticklish. Hanta was teasing her one day, she warned him to stop, he received an elbow to the face for not listening.

. Tried to grow her hair out once but it didn't grow down... it grew OUT. Mina thought she rocked it, and she totally did but ended up having it cut back down so poor Tsyu could see in class.

. Wakes up early three days a week to practice her hand-to-hand combat with Eijiro. Mina wants to improve her technique and Eijiro needed to work on his mobility, it benefits them both.

. Just Dance is her favorite game, she dominates.

. Easily forms new interests.

. Won't admit it but she gets jealous super easily.

. Will be the first to attempt to throw hands for a friend! I HC she was picked on as a child for looking so different but it never really phased her too badly, she likes looking different but understands that not everyone thinks like she does. So, if someone were to say something about Mezo's facemask, she's stepping in to defend the guy without hesitation.

. Knows every TikTok dance EVER. If a new one comes out, she's mastered it by end of the day and her account is always up to date.

. (Popular idea but important to reinforce) Mina and Eijiro co-founded a club, Horn Buddies, specifically to make Eri feel more welcome. They take her on trips and group outings. The only horned person who's not allowed to join is Pony because she was rude as heck to Mezo.

. Mina gets extra competitive over board games.

. She can ice skate and roller skate like a champ.

. Mina is resilient, dedicated, and passionate. She has goals and the girl will achieve them.

Pro Hero - Adult Mina Headcanons

Warnings - Mentions of alcohol use and swearing

. Gets several tattoos and piercings.

. Starts a roller derby club with most of the girls from 1A.

. Loves going out to the hottest dance clubs just as much as she enjoys staying in and munching on take-out food with friends.

. The Horn Buddies club she formed with Eijiro has now expanded into regular society and both young heroes couldn't be more proud. Together they've formed a foundation that strives to help those with non-flashy, unconventional, or misunderstood quirks feel welcomed and loved.

. Does her best to shop small whenever she can. Mina wants to help her community in as many different ways as possible.

. Becomes a fashion icon for many small, just starting out, alternative clothing lines. They love her look and the standard she sets.

. Goes to fashion and runway shows with Momo on the regular. While Momo prefers buying right off the rack, Mina goes to thrift stores and buys items that are coming back into style.

. Does her best to stay in touch with her classmates. She really cherished the friendships she made and goes the extra mile to make sure everyone stays connected.

. Has told off Shoto's father. Sent the man an anonymous bag of flaming dog shit as well for making his son so damn stressed. Sorry, not sorry.

. As long as she isn't in the middle of a fight, Mina will always stop to take a photo with a fan or sign an autograph. In or out of costume, she doesn't care.

. In high school, Mina's room was always decked out for the holidays. She goes decoration crazy and it is always done well. But, now that she's an adult with that pro hero money and her own place, she's the best house on the block decorated for each and every holiday! Inside and out! Also throws holiday-themed parties.

. Got absolutely trashed with the BakuSquad one night and taught them all how to twerk. By the end of the lesson, she deemed Katsuki was the best of her students.

. Loves to drink. Is a lightweight. Katsuki and Eijiro have carried her home more times than they can count.

NSFW 18+ Mina HC Below - Minors DNI

Warnings: Drinking, rough sex, mentions of orgies, handcuffs, impact play, and praise kinks. Subtle sexual relations with BakuSquad, Jiro, Todoroki, and Ochaco.

. The Queen of stripteases and lap dances.

. If any of her friends are at a party or some event and they need a fake date, Mina is their go-to person. She's handsy. She's flirty. And has no problem with platonic make-outs.

. Always encourages kissing-themed games at parties. Seven Minutes in Heaven, Spin the Bottle, those sorts of games. Mina also loves to play cupid and has rigged a game or two to get people together.

. Has made out with every member of the BakuSquad at least once as well as Kyoka, Shoto, and Ochaco simply because she was curious.

. Has attempted to start an orgy with the BakuSquad before when intoxicated. Still mentions it in passing just in case they change their minds.

. Has gone further with Katsuki and Eijiro though. Maybe both at the same time once or twice or several times...

. Wonderfully filthy dirty talk. Can even make Katsuki blush.

. (A personal favorite of mine that was in a previous post) When they were first years, Eijiro asked innocently enough, to touch her horns. He was gentle but that didn't matter. Our poor girl was so damn flustered! Her face turned red bright, she felt hot, and she had to go take a very cold shower!

. Ei felt terrible about it. It took them both maturing for her to explain exactly why she reacted that way... and then asked him to do it again.

. Is likely to send NSFW texts and photos while people are indeed at work. She is a Pro Hero though so only certain people are allowed to have those photos. A scandal is the last thing she wants.

. Very good at communication and is not afraid to speak her mind about what she wants and needs out of a relationship and her sex life.

. Loud, very loud, very needy.

. Fuzzy handcuffs in every color she can think of and adores impact play.

. Let her know she's doing a good job, Mina responds well to praise.

. Big cuddler after sex. Wants to snuggle into you and more than likely take a nap.

[rubistella]

Regulations

Private & Selective Owing to time constraints and the demanding nature of roleplay, I'm highly selective about whom I write with, as I firmly believe in valuing quality over quantity.

This is not a self-insert/projection friendly zone The title says it all! Projection and self-inserts make me very uncomfortable, so I will terminate interactions immediately if I catch whiff of that.

Dashboard Stuff I often overlook the dashboard since I rarely check it. When I do, I might choose to engage with a few people, but it's pretty infrequent!

Adults Only (21+) Given the mature and dark themes my writing frequently explores, as well as Astarion's past, this roleplay blog is not suitable for minors. I personally prefer that only those 21 or older engage. Every potentially triggering content and/or interaction will be put under tw; dddne and "ask to tag" for blacklisting purposes.

Astarion & Headcanons My portrayal of Astarion will stay unfiltered. For more details, click here. Also, please don’t assume Astarion will choose your muse— there are other people in camp (NPCs) he could be feeding from, or other plot devices we could use instead.

Duplicate Friendly Space While I love connecting with fellow Astarion enthusiasts and sometimes follow duplicates, I avoid reading their headcanons to keep my portrayal unbiased. Any shared ideas or plots are purely coincidental—great minds and all that!

Credits & Disclaimer This blog's avatar is by artbyvi, and the graphics were commissioned from ilithid-psds. Some icon screenshots aren’t mine, so if one is yours and you want credit or prefer I don't use it, just let me know, and I'll make the changes.

Unfollowing & Re-following I'm mutually exclusive: if I don't get a follow back in a few days, I'll unfollow. I also unfollow blogs inactive for over a month without notice. If you return and want to be mutuals again, just drop me a line, and I'll gladly follow back.

The Mun I'm Milky, 21+. I like cats, tea, a good book and playing video games with my friends. Even if we can't, for whatever reason, roleplay together, feel free to send Astarion IC asks or approach me OOC for a chat. :) Toodles!

Ship Exclusives I won't always extend exclusivity to ship partners, and by no means do I force anyone into that position. While not all my ship partners fall under the exclusive category, for those with whom I do ship exclusively, it’s been mutually agreed-upon beforehand. For transparency's sake, here is the list!

[dienamights]

Road Mishap | K.Bakugou | Drabble

Where Dynamight pays you a little visit when someone is being a little too friendly on the road.

» Pairing: Katsuki Bakugou x Fem!Reader.

» Word count: 1.1K 

» Genre: Crack, Prohero!au, fluff if you squint real hard but basically reader being a simp.

» Warning(s): Swearing, guys being assholes, suggestive themes(?), basically Kacchan flexing that he’s getting some ass. Characters are aged up.

» Author’s notes: ahahaha, what are you talking about, this isn't self-indulgent, no I didn't cry for hours after it happened to me today. @tteokdoroki​ iloveyou come laugh at my pain

I know its too long for a drabble but I HAD FUN WITH IT AND I ALREADY MADE THE BANNER AS A DRABBLE SO SUE ME)

» Masterlist | Requests

“Hah? The fuck you mean you’re being tailgated?” you heard the hoarse voice of your boyfriend through the speakers of your car as you looked through your rearview mirror, the fucking shit-piece of car swerving left and right to irritate you, the heads of five guys swaying with the car and grinning evilly.

“I mean I’m being tailgated Katsu, the fuck else would I mean?” you sneered, sending a glare to the center console of your car, hoping it would reach your dumbass of a hero boyfriend. You honestly didn’t know why you were calling him, Katsuki was busy being on the top 10 ranked heroes and you didn’t expect him to drop everything and run to save your quirkless damsel in distress ass.

But the car behind you sped up, the front bumper of their car kissed the rear bumper of yours, making you screech, a sob escaping your throat when your car jerked forward, hearing the maniac laughter of the douchebags despite your closed windows. You wished you didn’t leave the comfort of your home, knowing that no one in their right mind would even come close to harming the home of Dynamight, unless they wanted their asses blown off.

Katsuki was silent for a few seconds, before you heard frantic shuffling on the other end of the phone as you slowed down at a red light, the car behind you jolting left and right as the boys danced at their loud shit music. Yet, your ears couldn’t miss the deep growl in his voice.

“Send me your live location.” It wasn’t a question, nor a request, it was a demand. And even then, you were pretty hesitant to do as he told. You took a few deep breaths, wiping the few tears that managed to escape during your panic and tried to sound as convincing as possible.

“N-no its alright Suki, I’m almost home a-and besides you’ve got more important things to-”

“Y/N.” You gulped, not used to him directing that threatening voice at you, “I’m not asking you; I’m telling you to send it to me. Now.” No ifs ands or buts, so with a shaking grip, you did as you were told, right as the light turned green, the honks and tires screeching making you whimper as you pressed on the gas pedal to keep driving back home, only then realizing the fact that your boyfriend hung up on you.

“Great. Shouldn’t have called in the first place, real useless of you to call him knowing he’s got more serious things to take care of, people to save! Not just-” your self-scolding was cut short when you heard it, that loud, deafening, awful sound that always made your ears ring for hours on end. The earsplitting sound of your boyfriend, your hero. His explosions blaring and shaking your windshield as he all but flew to you, propelling himself and dropping down on the road between your car and the assholes behind you.

You slowed down and looked back at him through your mirror, watching as he brought both hands in front of him, palms lighting up in that scorching color that reminded you of fires that should never be put out, because they were so damned beautiful, the mesmerizing color of burning sunsets, the entrancing color of those crimson eyes that light up a smidgen, a speck – too quick you almost always miss it – at the sight of your smile.

The car behind you swerved to the left, – whether because of the man popping out of nowhere and standing in front of them or because his hands are about to blow a hole in them, you weren’t sure – crashing into the railing and activating the airbags of the car while stopping all together.

You turned on your hazard warning lights and slowed down to a stop at the side of the road by the sidewalk, getting out to check on your boyfriend – lowkey wanting to see him kick some ass.

You tried your best to hide your laughter as you saw him dropping his gauntlets, biting off his gloves while stomping his way to them and grumbling about ‘tearing their asses up to pieces for coming for his princess’, the – very oblivious – boys’ eyes lit up at the sight of the number 6 hero, cheering at him for being so quick to come rescue them.

Oh, you poor pricks.

Neither you nor the men expected what happened next, as Katsuki blew the door of the driver’s seat up, hauling the guy out of the car and holding him up by the shirt, yelling and swearing profusely at the cowering figure, while his friends hesitantly tried to free him from the hero’s grip. Only to be growled at and promised their turn in being murdered with no hesitation.

“You mean to tell me, that it took Red Riot, Chargebolt and Cellophane to get your punk ass off of these civilians?” The manager huffed, eyes glaring at the scuffed hero in front of him, falling onto the tv playing the news, the header “Hero Dynamight assaults innocent civilians” rolling at the bottom of the screen before looking back at the hero standing in front of him, who wore a scowl and simply rolled his eyes back at him, not caring about the reporter spitting rumors and accusations that were obviously told by the assholes standing behind her.

“Are we done here?” Dynamight huffed back, the shuffling feet of his comrades behind him irritating him because one, they dragged him away from those bastards before finishing beating them up and two, he wasn’t done kicking the motherfuckers’ asses. Yes, they were the same reason and no, he doesn’t give a fuck.

“You’re off of duty for the week, think about what you did and how you could improve as a hero while not harming the innocent.” The man at the desk declared, dropping his glasses on the surface and pinching the area between his eyes and preparing himself for the chaos Dynamight was about to make for being put off duty.

To his – and the other heroes’ surprise – all Bakugou did was scoff, mumbling a fine and asking if there was anything the manager wanted before he went home.

“W-wait a minute.” The man stuttered, “you know that means you’re only to come by next Monday, right?” an affirmative hum met his question and the man could only inquire for the reason behind the absence of the tantrum the hero always threw when it comes to him not working.

“Oh, its just Y/N is waiting for me at home to rail her for saving her life, and honestly I’d rather do that than hang around with you fuckers, later bitches” and then he just… left.  

its 3:35 am rn and now i feel better about myself so i can go to sleep without crying, thank you for coming to my ted talk

[softboywriting]

Sunflower | Nathan Bateman | Ex Machina

Summary: You’re the opposite of everything Nathan is, and he adores you. [fluff][female!readerxNathan] [Plus size/curvy Reader] [Mild NSFW themes] [Light love at first sight trope] 

Word Count: 1.8k

|Masterlist In Bio|

The day you walked into the living area of the facility Nathan knew you were going to change his life. From the sunshine yellow dress to the neon orange luggage, your soft round thighs in bumble bee striped tights and your round face beaming at him from behind a pair of round glasses. Everything about you was the opposite of everything he knew and loved. Nathan was a man of simple things, neutral and natural tones, quiet and practical. How had you managed to end up here? Well. To put it simply you were the top programmer in the Blue Book internship and Nathan had noticed your work almost immediately. He wanted to meet you. How better than to allow you a month long internship with himself?

The first week provided much information for him. You liked to talk. You liked to share. You liked to touch. Oh the first time you touched Nathan he just about went berserk. It was nothing inappropriate, just a simple arm touch. But Nathan had been so starved for human affection it just about short circuited his brain. Not to mention you're the most adorable, beautiful, dorky woman he's ever met. You're so very much the opposite of everything he ever thought he wanted. You're perfect.

"Good morning." You say as you walk into his lab on the dawn of the second week. You've made yourself comfortable, familiar with everything he does. "No sleep?"

"Few hours." Nathan looks up from his work table and raises his eyebrows. "That's a new dress."

"It is. I wasn't sure if I'd like it. I got it before I left and I thought maybe it was too short." You pull down the back a bit. It sits just above mid thigh but your butt makes it lift a bit higher. "I think it's okay?"

"Turn?"

You turn around slowly and Nathan hums. "It's too revealing isn't it?"

"No, I like it." He smirks and you flush hard. "Don't tell me you didn't wear that on purpose. I know you're not that shy."

"Of course I wore it on purpose, I picked it out."

"You know I meant for me." Nathan sets his work aside and circles the end of the table to stand before you.

You swallow hard and he looks at you over his glasses. "What? Stop staring at me."

He hums. "You're hard not to stare at in a bright red dress. I feel so distracted. How ever will I work?"

"Maybe get your head out of your ass?"

"Oh you know I like when you talk dirty." He teases and you shove his chest making him giggle. This is how it's been since day one. Nathan made sure of that. He said fuck the employee employer relationship and just be people. Just be two people hanging out and doing cool shit. It wasn't too hard. You and him have a lot of the same type of humor and thought processes. Teasing came naturally.

"What am I doing today? Coding something? Programming some wetware?"

Nathan looks over at his work table. "I've got something else to do. Let's take a day off."

"A day off? I'm an intern. I don't really get days off. I'm supposed to-"

"Yeah yeah." He raises his hand to cut you off. "I wanna watch a movie with you."

"That doesn't take all day."

"A few movies." He takes your hand and pulls you along to the hall. "I'll even make dinner later. Lunch first and some breakfast. Whatever. We'll snack or something."

"Is this a date? Nathan, are you asking me on a date?"

Nathan looks back sheepishly. "Maybe?"

"How long has it been since you went out with someone?"

"A while."

"I figured." You thread your fingers into his. "Usually people ask each other out on a date, not just say they're gonna go on one with them."

"Right." Nathan spins you around with your guidance and you giggle. "What are you doing?"

"Dunno, just wanted to see if you'd spin me."

"You're so strange." He pulls you in and your heart stops as you press against his chest. Suddenly you're nervous because surely he can feel your tummy against him. He's so fit and you're not nearly as such. "Would you mind if I ask you on a date?"

"You're sure?"

"I don't mince my words, you know that."

"I mean even though I'm not like...your AI?"

Nathan looks confused. "What?"

"You make them how you prefer women right? Skinny? Small chest?"

"Oh, oh I see." He lays his hand on your arm, thumb rubbing just under the sleeve of your dress. "Let me tell you a secret."

"Uh huh?"

"I make them like that not because it's what I prefer, but because it's easier to fit the synthetic skin on the body frames. Sure I could make the frames larger but I don't need to because they're just prototypes based on a standard human muscular and bone structure and I use them for parts when I decommission them. It's easier to reuse the same size parts over and over. My finished product will come in all sizes."

You nod. "So, you still wanna date me, or rather go on a date with me?"

"I'd like to do much more than that but one step at a time." He chuckles and pulls away from you. "We'll start with breakfast and a movie. Deal?"

"Deal."

___________________

Another week passes and you're not sure where along the lines you went from internship to relationship with Nathan. All you know is that in a week you're supposed to leave, return to your life in New York and right now you're laid out on his bed while he works at his computer a few feet away.

You shift, the soft sheets slide against your bare skin. It feels so good, warm and safe. Nathan even has the lights down low, the tint on the windows set to evening mode. It seems to be early morning, the sun just barely rising.

"You're up early."

Nathan turns and looks at you, stretching his legs out. He's got on a pair of shorts and that's all. "Good morning, Sunflower."

"Sunflower?" You giggle. "That's my new nickname?"

"Absolutely."

"I don't hate it."

"Good." He turns back to his computer. "Go back to sleep. It's too early for you."

You stretch and curl into his pillow. "Come back to bed with me. You look exhausted."

"I'm working."

"I'm cold."

He scoffs. "No you're not, the bed is heated."

You huff softly. "Nathan, I'm only here one more week. You shouldn't waste time."

That gets him to stop. He doesn't turn but just stares at the screen.

"What's wrong?"

Then he turns and crawls on the bed, lifting the blankets to get in with you. He doesn't stop until he's on top of you, holding himself up on his elbows, knees bracketing your hips.

You run a hand over his short buzzed hair. It's so soft. "Use your words Nathan."

"One week?"

"Mmhmm. I'm only supposed to be here until the fifteen of this month."

"Do you want to stay longer?"

"Do you want me to?"

Nathan drops his head to your shoulder, kissing down until he's mouthing at the soft flesh above your boob. "I definitely don't want you to leave yet. I'm not done exploring."

"So I'm an experiment now?" You giggle as he presses his nose between your boobs, pushing them up with his hands.

He hums. "Maybe. If I were doing an experiment in falling hard and fast for a woman who is my polar opposite."

"Are you serious?" You grab his face and pull him up to look at you. "Nathan, do you really like me that much?"

"It kills me how much I like you. I thought maybe it was just because I haven't been with anyone or even been around someone in a long time. Maybe that still is part of it, but I can't get enough of you. You're so sweet, and smart and cute."

You pull him close and kiss him softly. "Everyone told me you were a hardass, a real stuck up piece of shit. That I shouldn't take this internship, that your last intern went home in tears. So you must really really like me."

"Well that's not very nice." He ducks his head and kisses along your shoulder to bury his face into your boobs again. "I do really like you though. I like your soft skin, and your soft tummy." He pushes your boobs up, filling both hands. "And these tits. Fuck I love them." He latches on to your left nipple with his lips and you squirm. After a moment he releases you and crawls lower, kissing down your chest as his beard tickles your skin. "I like your bright clothes and your soft hands and your sweet pu-"

"Nathan!"

"Yes, Sunflower?" He looks up, kissing gently along your bare navel.

You push the blanket back to expose him to the cool room. "Promise me that you want me to stay."

"I promise." He moves back up and lays his cheek on your boob and rubs his beard against it. His weight against your body is warm, comforting as he settles into you. "I want you to stay with me and be a part of the greatest thing I've ever made. I want you to stay and make me think, make me question everything I thought I knew."

"You're such a softie."

"Just for you. Everyone else can fuck off."

"That sounds more like the Nathan I first met."

He grabs the blanket and pulls it back over his head before taking a nipple into his mouth and sucking hard. His beard tickles against your skin again and you squeal, squirming under his affection. "Did I mention I love these?" He mutters and you hum in response.

"Only every time you touch them."

"Can't let these babies go." Nathan changes to your other nipple and you arch up against him. "So responsive." He looks up from under the blankets and you take his glasses off, setting them on the pillows above your head. "You should be proud of these."

"They weren't my favorite until you got ahold of them honestly."

He clicks his tongue. "They're nothing short of perfect."

You shove his face and he laughs, resting his head against your chest once more. "You seem tired. Did you get any sleep last night?"

"Not much. Couldn't get my mind to settle down."

You rub over his soft short hairs, massing along his temple. "Then let's sleep together. You don't have to worry about me leaving in a week. We've got all the time in the world to build AI. Close your eyes and go to sleep."

Nathan nuzzles his face against you, sighing softly. "My soft Sunflower."

"Mmm all yours."

"All mine."

end 

---------

Header by delicate-venus

Thank you for reading! Please reblog if you read or enjoyed and support content creators like myself - A

*****Note: none of my works should be posted anywhere outside of my linked accounts. I do not give permission to repost with or without credit to my accounts. Please notify me of any reposted works.*****

[lisxarchives]

　❝ › About Requests

　Requests are currently CLOSED

Read the RULES before requesting! More info under the cut ↓

❝ › Rules

DESCRIBE YOUR REQUEST: Please specify the type of edit you'll like: characters, aesthetic or color, size, etc. Be as specific as you can !! That will make my work way easier.

　

ONLY ONE REQUEST PER ASK: Please don't put two completely different requests in the same ask, keep it up to 1 so I can work properly on it.

　

ONLY REQUEST FROM MY SOURCES: I tried to be as clear as possible in my 'sources' section, so please don't request things from any other source because I'll delete them.

　

BE PATIENT: I'm a student, I have a life too! don't expect me to finish your request in a couple of days, editing is something I only do when I'm inspired because I don't want to feel burnout. Also you're getting this for free so like,,, yeah

　

BE POLITE: A please and thank you would be great too! I want to keep everything as friendly as possible here, please be kind to me when requesting.

　

CREDIT ME: I'm not a fan of people who repost my edits in other sites, but I don't mind as long as you give me the proper credits and link the original post !! Also, don't go over there claiming my edits as yours.

❝ › What I'll make

— ✦ Icons

I'll make 4-9 icons depending on the request itself.

Default shape is square and size is 1200 x 1200, I'll go with that if you don't specify otherwise.

✦ Types of icons:

Simple: In-game CGs, renders, etc!

EXAMPLE 1　EXAMPLE 2

Matching icons: The way they'll be made will depend on your specifications AND/OR the resources I can find.

EXAMPLE 1　EXAMPLE 2

Sparkly icons!: This is more of a plus than a different category, just tell me "mAKE THEM SPARKLY" and I'll go ✨✨ because I love making them

EXAMPLE 1　EXAMPLE 2

　

— ✦ Wallpapers

I'll make 2-3 for simple wallpapers, and ONLY 1 for collage.

Default size is 1080 x 2340, I'll go with that if you don't specify otherwise.

Please specify if you want a desktop wallpaper, since I'm used to making phone wallpapers only.

✦ Types of wallpapers:

Simple: overlapped CGs that cover the background OR a render put in a simple background with lil' details (I'll normally make one and one from each unless you specify otherwise)

EXAMPLE

Collage: Basically a lot of images put together ♡ these are limited to 2 characters max.

EXAMPLE

　

— ✦ Layouts

I'll make 3 icons sticked with 3 headers that match the theme.

Default are Twitter layouts! If you want any other type (ex: Tumblr) please specify.

Layouts are my creative area, so please keep in mind that the way I make icons or headers may vary from post to post!

EXAMPLE

❝ › How to specify your request

CHARACTERS: tell me the characters you want the edit to have! Max number of characters allowed is 3. (the only exception comes when requesting an entire unit in enstars case or dorm in twst case). Max number for layouts and collage wallpapers remains in 2 characters, without exceptions.

　

COLORS: tell me any color/s you want and I'll base the edit on that/those color/s!

　

AESTHETICS: Do you want a specific aesthetic instead of just a plain color? Sure, tell me which and I'll try my best (ex: cottagecore, steampunk, etc!)

❝ › Sources

Ensemble Stars!

Twisted Wonderland

Hypnosis Mic

I WON'T take requests from other sources.

If I edit for other fandoms once in a while it'll be because I'm in the mood and completely self indulgent.

❝ › Disclaimers

The max amount of requests I'm aiming to take atm is 5. Every request turned in when requests are closed will be deleted.

I'm constantly updating my rules, so please return to check them every once in a while!

I'll only use official art for my edits. Don't request anything involving fanart because I won't accept it.

I have the right to delete/refuse any request for whatever reason If I feel like it.

I won't make icons from the 3D MVs for enstars. I'm really sorry but gacha literally hates me so I have very little MV costumes (｡•́︿•̀｡)

I experiment a lot when I edit, so if your request isn't specific enough I'll make whatever I feel with it (maybe try new techniques or choose the aesthetic myself).

I disappear every once in a while and then return as if nothing ever happened. mostly because of my motivation or for mental health issues, consider this when requesting!!

💌 I tried to be as clear as possible with the rules. But if something remained unclear, feel free to shoot an ask so that I can respond any remaining doubts !! Tysm for reading.

[finrelia]

Warm

Request: Yes! From @yanginthere​ (Request is too long to have in header)

Summary: You get a mild case of hypothermia working at noonans one winter day and Alex comes home to find you in bad shape. She comforts you, and a little bit of hurt/comfort occurs.

Warnings: Mentions of illness/hypothermia. Self doubt, depressing themes. Cursing. Hurt/comfort slightly.

Word Count: 1,709

A/N: I’m not as happy with this one as I wanted to be! But I rewrote it about three times before it was good enough to post! I hope this is alright! 

“Off to work already, Y/N?”

“You know me!” You say with a light laugh as you place a quick but loving kiss on your girlfriend’s cheek.

“Oh no you don’t” Alex says, as she wraps her arms around your waist, pulling you into a close hug. You smile sweetly and soak in the hug as much as you can. You look up into her eyes, and grin widely before grabbing your car keys off of their hook by the apartment door.

“You’ve been working an awful lot lately.” She says from behind you.

“You know how noonan’s gets around the holidays… Especially with Kara as out number one customer. But hey! It’s not like I’m out saving the world or anything!!!”

“Hey… Saving the world or not, It’s still cold outside, and I know the kitchen heater broke last week. Just- be careful for me, alright?” Alex responds, her tone more serious than you expected.

“I’ll be safe if you will, Agent Danvers.”

With one final firm kiss you say goodbye to your loving girlfriend and make your way out the door to head to work.

The second you left your apartment building, the shocking cold air slammed into you with a forceful gust of wind. You pulled on your coat, and wrapped your arms around your sides, sprinting on your tiptoes to your car. You pull hard against the wind to slam the door to your car as you sit down on the chilled leather. Your car sputters slightly before finally starting, the cold weather making it difficult to get going. It seems like it takes ages to heat up, but eventually you start to drive towards noonans. It’s only about a seven minute drive, and you take your usual parking spot on the street next to the staff entrance.

You wave hello to your manager and immediately get to work. It seems pretty okay at first, but the cold of the kitchen starts to get to you a bit, with your nose beginning to run, growing numb, and your fingers get sore. To make matters worse, it was an incredibly busy day, and you simply didn’t have time to take a break, fulfilling constant orders. It wasn't long before you developed a pretty nasty headache, and your coat simply wasn't warm enough for you.

Six hours later and your shift was finally coming to a close, thankfully. It was the middle of the afternoon, but it was so incredibly overcast it seemed like it was dusk. The cold outside was somehow worse than inside, and you said goodbye to your coworkers before beginning the walk to your car. You could barely walk in a straight line, the pounding from your head making it feel like you were about to be sick. You placed your hand against your left temple in a protective motion, stumbling as you walked. In the time you were working, it had begun to rain, which is NOT what you wanted to hear, seeing as your rickety old car tends to refuse to start when it gets frozen over.

Sure enough, the second you turn your key in the ignition, your heart sinks. You are met with a rattle, a grind, a rattle again, and then nothing. Sighing loudly, you put your head in your freezing cold hands, your fingers numb to the touch. You tried all day to keep your stress in, but things just keep getting worse. You sit there, and erupt into tears. You end up crying in your car alone for upwards of ten minutes, before deciding to check your phone, contemplating calling Alex. Shit… she’s on a mission with Kara today… You felt like your day was getting away from you, forgetting even the most recent conversations you had. You shake your head and decide to set off on foot to head home, hopeful to make it relatively quickly, despite the rain. You were just looking forward to curling up in a warm bed with Alex.

Low and behold, it starts to not snow, not rain, but SLEET as you get about four minutes into your thirty minute walk home. You bow your head and clench your jaw, walking quicker, willing yourself to make it. Your clothes dampen up pretty quickly, the cold of the water seeping into your skin, coating you uncomfortably. The sound of the rain on the streets intermingling with the honking of cars, falls on deaf ears, as you begin to experience some kind of cloud over your consciousness. Barely able to walk straight, you begin to walk at a slant, slamming your shoulder into a corner store brick wall, but this barely elicits a whimper out of you, almost entirely unable to process what is happening.

You must’ve walked through four red lights, and you’re lucky you weren't hit by a car, but you finally made it home. Mostly frozen water drips off of your pants and pools into your boots as your shaky hands fumble through your pockets to find your house key. Eventually you manage to unlock the door, but you are shaking so profusely that you are barely able to even turn the knob.

You figured you should probably get out of your wet clothes, but you were so tired… you just didn't have the energy to slip off your jacket. Actually, you didn't even have the energy to make it to your room. You place your hands on the kitchen counter and sway slightly, shaking your head trying to snap out of your freezing daze. The breath leaves your chest and the world goes dark around you as you collapse onto the tile floor.

“Y/N?” Keys jingle together as Alex walks inside, a tired smile on her face, relieved to finally be home to see you.

“Baby? Are you home?” She calls out, bummed at the thought that you might’ve gone out to get food without her.

She rounds the corner to walk into the kitchen, and her coat falls out of her arms as she sees your sopping wet form completely motionless on the floor. She rushes over to you, sitting on her knees, and takes your head in her hands, brushing your hair out of your face.

“Y/N?!” She says, panic clear in her voice. You murmur slightly in response, barely coherent.

“Oh my god you’re freezing cold.” She feels your cheek with the back of her hand. “Let’s get these wet rags off of you.” She scoops you up into her arms and carries you to the bathroom, slowly beginning to peel layer after layer of clothing off of your limp body. Your eyes flutter open and closed, occasionally letting out a slurred comment or two.She shushes you and cups your face in her hand.

Your eyes open slowly and you take in your surroundings, confused. You had no idea how you got home, or how you ended up wrapped in your favorite blanket with a warm cup of tea in your lap, but what you did know is that you were with Alex, and that she was taking care of you. You found yourself cozied up in bed, with your favorite show put on, and Alex holding you in her arms. She feels you slowly coming to, and rubs your arm saying: “Hey… how’re you feeling?”

“I- I’m okay I think…” You say, confused. “What happened?” “I was going to ask you the same thing.”

“The last thing I remember is my car breaking down outside of work, and then this.”

“Your car broke down?” Alex says, sitting up to get a better look at you..

“Yeah I-” “Why didn't you call? You walked home in the rain, you could've died!” Alex sounded frustrated, but there was no anger in her voice, just concern.

“I didn’t want to bother you… you and Kara were out there doing heroic things and actually making a difference in society, I was just working in a stupid kitchen without a heater.” Your voice cracks slightly as you speak.

“Still no heater? I’m going to have some choice words with your manager…” Alex says more to herself than to you. “You could’ve called, baby. It doesn't matter what I’m doing, your safety is far more important to me.” She turns your chin up to hers so that you are staring directly into each other's eyes. You pull away gently, looking to your feet. Causing a small frown to show on Alex’s face.

“I don't like bothering you. I dont matter half as much as you do anyways, I mean, why would someone like you take the time to help me? I’m not even out of college yet, and I can't handle myself. You’d think a soon to be ER doctor could self diagnose hypothermia, but apparently not. I’m too busy bein-” You hadn't even noticed yourself derailing until you were already sobbing.

“Hey hey hey, it’s okay.” Alex says as she pulls you closer, wrapping her arms around you. You cry silently into her arms as she begins to think about everything you just said. You sit there together, shaking and sniffling until she finally pulls away and positions herself directly in front of you. She puts your face in her hands and locks eyes with you.

“You, Y/N, are far from the burden that you think you are. You are so incredibly important to me and to others. Never, NEVER think less of yourself. Especially in a situation where you could have gotten hurt. You can always call me, no matter what. Supergirl can handle herself. I love that you are strong. I love that you are hard working, despite those terrible conditions. I love that you put others first. I love that you care. I love YOU so incredibly much-” She stops, realizing that she just said that she loved you for the first time since you had started dating.

“Alex…” You respond slowly.

“Hey it’s okay. You don’t need to respond. I just want you to know that you matter to me.” She pulls you closer.

“I love you too” You mumble, cuddling up against her chest and closing your eyes. You were so comfortable in that moment. You were finally so… warm.

[bnha-butterfly]

So you’ve officially created your Tumblr blog. What now? In this post I’ll cover graphics and setting up your navigation! I’ll also mention what you should do before you start posting your own content or before you have content to post at the end!

Graphics!

Icons

Your icon is how most people will recognize your blog on their dashboard. An easy way to do icons is to use a manga cap or an anime screenshot! Alternatively there are people who make icons that you can find it by searching Tumblr, but please check whether or not these people require you to re-blog the icons you use or give them credit in your description! If you’re using art, make sure that the artist either gives you explicit permission to use it or has stated publicly that it’s OK to use their art. (please note that if the artist is OK with repost of their art they are generally OK with you using their art in icons but make sure you credit them!) PicCrew is also another popular source to make icons but make sure you credit the artist/link the picCrew!

Headers/banners

As far as using an artists work the same rules that apply for icons apply here! Either get the explicit permission from the artist or make sure they’re OK with their work being used for these things/being re-posted. Generally I don’t use work from the artist and I just use manga caps (which you can find just by googling or searching on Pinterest for [insert character here] manga caps)

You can search Tumblr for headers because there are people who make headers and other graphics. Just make sure you pay attention to peoples rules!

If you want to try your hand at making your own banners or headers. You can use Canva to make gifs and plain banners/headers. I personally use PicsArt to make my post banners. Mainly just because I can do it on my phone and can work on it really easily. Generally any photo editing app should work. PicsArt just has a lot of stickers and effects that can really pull together a banner.

Dividers

Once again there are people who make dividers on Tumblr! But you can also use PicsArt again to do your own personal dividers so they’re more custom to your blogs theme. Although it’s important to note that you won’t be able to do those super thin line dividers on PicsArt because there is a minimum pixel width!

(If you’re iffy on the size of things I’d actually advise you to download somebody else’s banner/divider and use that as a template for sizing!)

Setting up navigation!

Your navigation will be the place where the theme or aesthetic or color palette for your blog should really shine through!

(Edit: I forgot to mention this when I originally wrote this. But when I personally created my navigation I drafted everything in one very large Google Docs file. I recommend that you have everything with its links set up in a Google Docs file. Just because Tumblr has a habit of deleting posts and if you have it in a Google Docs file at the very least that auto saves and you have a back up.)

Your navigation should be broken into at least four parts! You’re about me, rules, master list, and tags (tags are optional technically but is a nice added touch). Remember this is not a Bible for what your navigation is supposed to look like, you can add and subtract to this general structure as you feel necessary!

About me!

Give as much information or as little information as you’re comfortable with. Generally you want to have your name or pen name, The pronouns you use and your time zone if you’re comfortable with it. Most people also have fun facts about them in there about me section. If you are a Black or Neurodiverse writer it’s good to have that also in your about me! A lot of people put their astrology stuff in there about me section, also the results of personality tests and things like that! This is also where you should put your BYF (before you follow) and DNI (Do not interact)

Rules

What do you put in your rules it’s really up to you. I’d advise you to look at a lot of other people’s rules to get a general idea of what you might wanna put in yours. The only thing you want to include in your rules is that you reserve your right to reject asks/request! Be sure to also include what characters you right for. Here are some things to consider in making your rules!

What demographics do you write for?

What demographics do you not write for?

Are you comfortable writing touchy subjects (things like eating disorders or self harm)?

Do you write NSFW content? Or do you cap it at mildly suggestive content?

How many characters will you limit per request?

Do you write Angst?

Do you write for ships or do you only write reader inserts?

Masterlist

Another portion of your navigation I would recommend you look at other peoples to get an idea for. There are tons of ways to organize a masterlist. The way you organize your master list will depend on the series you write for and the content you make. So look at the way people who run similar blogs to yours organize their masterlist.

Tags

So you do not need a tags portion for your navigation! The main reason people have a tags section in their masterlist is so people can blacklist tags related to anything they don’t want to see on the dashboard!

If you run both a NSFW and SFW blog (that you allow minors to follow you on) you need to tag your NSFW things so minors can block that tag. Your tags can be themed, but they don’t have to. The best way to create tags is to create things that you’re going to remember!

I stress that you create a writing tag that you put on every single piece you publish. You can also create character tags or series tags outside of the standard tags used in that fandom. (for example your character tags might be a nickname you have for a character instead of their actual name)

You can make tags for the asks you get sent and for your mutuals or named Anons! (if you get emoji anons it’s best to write out the name of the emoji instead of putting the actual emoji. Just so it’s easier to search because Tumblr does not recognize emoji‘s in it search!) you might also want to create a tag that you put on everything you re-blog for the people who only want to see your content, A tag you put on all your posts that aren’t writing (for example my “Morpho talks” tag), and a tag for the fics that you would recommend to your followers!

What if I don’t have any of my own content to post?

So this is a pretty easy one. Re-blog stuff, I didn’t start posting my own content until a month after I started this blog and at that point I already had a few followers. Bye setting yourself up as a fandom blog you’re letting people who are interested in that fandom know what you’re going to post. Don’t be afraid to shitpost and don’t be afraid to do things that show your personality! This is also a good way to practice getting into the habit of using your tags!

Don’t only re-blog art but also re-blog fics with comments in the tags! i’ve literally made a handful of mutuals just by re-blogging their stuff and the things they write with comments in the tags! Writers do not get a lot of comments on this platform but comments really encourage writers to keep on writing!

So this is a really long post. Please tell me if there’s anything else specifically you’d like me to talk about in this series!

[joezworld]

Memories

A continuation of this

January 29, 2020

“Well, despite my extensive protestations, I cannot find any reason whatsoever to keep you here.” Anton, the head of the Crovan’s Gate diesel shop, said as he shut his toolbox with a petulant clang.

55 010 and Wendell looked at each other with no small amount of relief. Since the events of Christmas, the works had been beside themselves in trying to find a cause of 010′s existence as well as fixing the damage to Wendell’s chassis from when he fell off the jack stands on Christmas day.

A naturally superstitious man, Anton had refused to clear 010 for traffic until he went over her with a fine-toothed comb. This was a process that had taken over a month, and had insulted Wendell more than it had 010, as the Class 47 had believed that Anton was looking for a way to keep 010 out of traffic (he was), while the Deltic - who hadn’t been properly serviced since the late 1970′s - found the whole process very therapeutic.

All that being said, the pair were anxious to get out of the sheds and onto the main line once again - Wendell wanted to stretch his wheels properly, while 010 was deeply excited to see the bright future of the year 2020.

Anton left, shutting off the lights behind him. The two engines would have kept talking, but they’d honestly exhausted their conversational reserves after being together for over a month, so instead they fell asleep, dreaming of the world outside the sheds...

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

December 26, 1981

Doncaster Station, Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England

55 010 sleepily opened one eye to the sounds of an argument. Some men were clustered around the Class 47 that was on the siding. They sounded like they were trying to figure out what to do with her.

One group was saying that she should be shoved onto the out of use lines, while the others were saying that doing that would take too long. The 47 seemed to be stuck in the middle, unsure of which side to take. At one point, he opened his mouth to agree with the shunting plan, before he stopped. A flurry of emotions passed across his face in an instant, before he shut his mouth, glared at the men he’d been about to agree with, and put his wheel down.

“I’m not going to miss my path and spend all day in passing loops just to put her away - look at all the switches you’d have to hand throw! It’d take ages!”

With that the other men now held a majority, so without much more discussion the 47 was coupled up to her, and the train set off for parts unknown.

-

“Where are we going?” She’d sleepily asked the 47 - who’d introduced himself as number 556 - as they rattled across the Pennines.  

“Dunno,” He’d said quietly - they were coupled face-to-face, and she felt vaguely bad that he was driving backwards on her behalf. “Some coach depot I’ve never heard of - Titfield or Tidmouse or something like that.”

-

December 27, 1981

Tidmouth Station, Tidmouth, Tidmouth and South Haltraughshire, Sodor

47 556 and 55 010 eventually made it across the bridge and onto the Island very early on the morning of the 27th. It was a quiet little Island railway out here in the west country, and they met few trains on their way by.

A class 86 shouted hello from an electrified branch.

A old Hymek, somehow still in service, honked amiably as he passed with a goods train.

Even an old blue steam engine clattered by on a rail tour. This one looked at them funny, but the expected malice wasn’t there, merely confusion at the unusual double-header.

Eventually arriving at the big station at the end of the line, the two engines were met by a older gentleman in a top hat.

He introduced himself as the Controller for the region, and asked what they were doing here.

As 556 explained why he was also carrying a broken-down Deltic on his train, 010′s attention wandered to the rest of the station.

It was a beautiful design, like King's Cross, or Euston before they ruined it, but the roof of the trainshed was simply covered in soot - it was almost like they hadn’t cleaned it since before the end of steam.

Then there was a whistle from outside the platforms.

Both diesels goggled as a tender engine, painted an almost gaudy shade of bright blue with red lining, rolled into the station with a train of teak coaches.

At almost the same time, two more whistles were heard, and a train of GWR autocoaches complete with a Pannier Tank in the middle rattled in alongside a green saddle tank engine of indeterminate origin towing a pair of ancient compartment coaches.

“What is that?” 010 asked, shocked to see clean and well-maintained steam this far into the 1980s.

“Those are Gordon, Duck, and Percy.” Said the controller kindly.

“Are they all on rail tours?” Asked 556, causing the controller to laugh.

“No! They’re my engines! They work every day because they’re still useful.”

Neither diesel said anything. 556 was shocked that BR was allowing this to happen, but 010 suddenly felt a surge of hope. If they were still running steam here, maybe she could convince 556 to leave her here on his way home...

Something must have shown in her face - or maybe even 556′s, because the next thing the controller said was: “If I may, my railroad is currently experiencing a locomotive shortage. We have to keep relying on the other railway for temporary engines, but they aren’t the most reliable. Would either of you happen to know where I could find some strong, hardworking locomotives?”

-

They stabled 556 and 010 in the sheds with the steam engines over the New Year’s holiday. It was an almost out-of-body experience for 010, who was used to the cold and unfriendly atmosphere of Finsbury Park TMD, and had no idea how to deal with engines who, when told to treat her nicely, immediately made sure to include her in their singing of  Auld Lang Syne.

A few weeks later, both engines had been successfully outshopped at the massive works complex in the west of the island. 556 had required little repairs, but had rolled out with a new coat of paint and a new name, Wendell, chosen after a friendly dog that hung around the works.

It took longer for 010. She had many, many worn out parts that required removal and repair, and her engines needed a full overhaul. During this time period, some of the female welding staff had spoken to her about needing to choose a name before one was chosen for her - apparently the Hymek she’d seen was named Bear, and she didn’t want that did she?

After a few days with books on baby names, a set of brass nameplates were bolted to her sides - they read “DAPHNE” in big letters.

While she was there, the workmen asked her what she wanted to be painted. When her request for a new coat of Rail Blue was met with groans, the men explained that they were bored of normal paint schemes and would paint anything she wanted.

-

Two weeks later she rolled out of the works feeling like a new engine. Her motors fired on all cylinders, her grease and oil was fresh, and her new paint sparkled in the sun. She’d always liked how Deltic - The Deltic, DP1 - had looked, and the men had grinned at each other when she told them about how the irritable prototype had spent most of his free time whining about not having stripes that went the whole way down his body.

Daphne found out why when she rolled into Tidmouth Shed that night. There was another express diesel on this island - a big Class 46 - and the similarities were striking. Both had similar designs, and had non-standard paint - the 46 was red, she was blue - with gold stripes down their sides. The 46 was named Delta - a very similar sounding name, and when she opened her eyes and took in Daphne and her nameplates, it took her all of two seconds to begin smiling broadly.

“You look like you could be my big sister!” She said.

Daphne, expecting some sort of hostility, wasn’t sure how to respond. “Well, all of my sisters are dead, so it would be nice to have one again.”

She began to backpedal when the 46 stopped smiling, but the look she gave was thoughtful instead of hurt. “Come to think of it, all of mine are probably dead too. Shall we make our own family then?”

And so it was.

-

A few weeks later, Daphne and Wendell finally met all but one of the other diesels on the region - a Class 28 named BoCo, Bear the Hymek, and Daisy, a deeply customized Class 101. According to Daisy, there was also a Class 01 named Mavis who worked on a private quarry at the end of her branch line.

“You know,” Daisy said after Delta finished introducing everyone. “Aside from having one of each power rating, I think all of us but Wendell would have been scrapped by now if we were on the mainland. I think we should do something to celebrate the fact that we aren’t dead.”

The other diesels agreed - word had already spread about Delta and Daphne’s nontraditional sisterhood - and they agreed to form a club: the Non-Standard Survivors Society.

“But, I’m not non-standard?” Wendell asked as they dispersed. “Am I?”

“No, but you are really cute,” Delta joked. “So we’ll give you a pass.”

Daisy chuckled as she headed for the platform. “I’ll have to remember that when I tell Mavis about this club she’s in now.”

Daphne was confused. “Cute? What do you mean cute?”

Wendell was similarly puzzled.

Bear and Delta looked at each other meaningfully. “You two have so much to learn...” The type 3 said as he backed into the station.

That didn’t make Daphne or Wendell feel any better!

-

1983  

“You know,” Said Delta one morning in the newly-refurbished diesel shed. “We should have nicknames for the society.”

“My name is Bear,” Said Bear. “yours is a Greek letter. How much more nickname-y can we get?”

“The rest of us should get nicknames then. And I feel like I could get a great nickname, like Tiger Stripes!”

Daphne giggled as Bear growled under his breath. “And why, pray tell, are you Tiger Stripes?”

“Because I’m fierce like a tiger! And I have stripes like a tiger does! It also matches the animal theme we’re going with.” Either Delta could think at a mile a minute, or she had been considering these nicknames for a lot longer than she let on.

“A tiger does not have stripes like you do.”

“How do you know?”

“My name is Bear. I know about animals. I have to.”

“I figured it was so that we could be ‘Lions, Tigers, and Bears, oh my!’” Quipped Daphne. “I guess that makes me Lion Stripes then.”

Delta’s sputtering and spluttering made it very clear that she hadn’t thought of that, and Bear and Daphne roared with laughter.

-

Later that year

The Thin Clergyman’s son made another trip to Sodor to research for his next books.

Daphne, as an express engine, had been rather removed from the strife among the rank-and-file engines caused by the Thin Clergyman’s books, and had no idea why Delta wanted to hide from him.

After a “short” explanation that took almost an hour, Daphne was now furious.

While she did help Delta by hiding her deep inside an old carriage shed, she did not stay there herself; She was an engine of action, and would deal with the problem directly.

Two days later, the Clergyman’s Son approached her to ask her some questions.

“If my sister shows up in one of your books you won’t survive to write another.” She said darkly to the author, who retreated immediately! 

The Clergyman’s Son’s next book focused about Diesels and James. Much to everyone’s amusement, Delta was nowhere to be found in it, despite her being being the biggest reason why James was more accepting of diesels.

Unsurprisingly, Daphne did not appear either, and everyone wondered if the story of the rude diesel who crashed through a wall was based on her in some way. Delta, on the other wheel, stayed uncharacteristically silent!

Wendell was most offended that they hadn’t even bothered to include his name in the book, and refused to speak to the Clergyman’s Son again!

-

1985

Bear and Wendell had both gotten very scruffy looking after several years without a repaint, and went into the works with the intent of coming out looking the same as they had before.

They had reckoned without Delta and Daphne, who had very kindly asked the paint shop workers to be imaginative on their friends.

Bear had rolled out first, looking furious about the deception, but rather pleased with his paint. The men had been inspired by some American locomotives, and he rolled out of the shop in a dark shade of green with metallic gold stripes down his sides.  Any lingering discontent he had felt lasted until Henry saw him for the first time and dragged him away behind a shed without a word. Daphne tried to ask what was going on, but Delta, laughing too hard to even speak, had pulled her away to the station.

Wendell came out a few days later. Whatever the men had originally tried hadn’t been to his liking, he explained, and he’d asked them to try a different design from the same book that they’d pulled Bear’s paint scheme from. When he came into the sheds painted a glossy black with grey and white stripes, Daphne felt both of her crankshafts do a flip-flop.

Delta took one look at the slack jawed expression on her adopted sister’s face and sighed deeply. How had Jamie seen this coming before she did?

It took all of a week for Bear and Wendell to have nicknames foisted on them by the express sisters - Ursus and Cobra stripes, respectively. Delta explained that she liked the predatory animal theme that went with Lion and Tiger, while Daphne innocently pointed out that it had absolutely nothing to do with how much it annoyed Bear.

The nicknames did eventually stick though, in no small part because Henry had taken one look at how irritated Bear was and started calling him Ursus!

It took a month after that for Tiger Stripes to take pity on her sister and the piteous faces she made when she thought Wendell wasn’t looking, pulled a Flying Scotsman, and told her and Cobra Stripes exactly what those feelings meant. She was very unsurprised when Wendell revealed that he was also growing attracted to Daphne.

Henry and James both joked that one day, Bear or Delta would put one of them through a wall, but three weeks later, Daphne managed to put herself and Wendell into the parking lot behind Barrow Sheds.

-

1990

After realizing that Mavis and Daisy both technically had stripes painted on them (making them Wasp and Cougar stripes), the other diesels began to seriously peer pressure BoCo into getting repainted with stripes so they could complete the set.

He’d held out for many years, but after Daphne took a special train to the clay pits, there was suddenly pressure from within the Brendam Branch as well, and he folded like a house of cards in less than a week.

When he came back from the works, he was now green, gold, and white, but also red, if you counted the angry blush on his face.

“I asked them for Southern Railway Green with a gold stripe.” He seethed. “But clearly there was a misunderstanding.”

The howling from his compatriots was earthshakingly unsympathetic, but nobody could deny that he looked striking, and he was quickly dubbed Jaguar Stripes, even though - as he and Bear were quick to note - he did not look like a Jaguar at all.

-

1995

James asked Delta to marry him. The other engines were overjoyed, even if they BoCo and Daisy needed some catching up on how exactly that was possible.

Daisy groaned. “Mavis and I are going to have to have a talk, aren’t we?”

The other diesels - which by this point included James and Henry in an honorary capacity - hadn’t quite processed that when BoCo announced that if he was being honest, he and Edward were “so emotionally codependent that we’ve probably been married for twenty years without realizing it.”

Henry couldn’t take it any more and screeched with laughter at the conversational disparities - he’d just left the steam sheds, where the engines were still unaware that London had multiple termini, and were therefore having a rousing argument as to whether the impending fall of British Rail meant that London’s terminus station would magically return to being King’s Cross or Paddington instead of the current Euston.

-

1996

James and Delta were wed in a quiet ceremony behind the diesel shed - Siobhan, her fiancé Declan, and all the members of the “Non Standard Society” - including Mavis, who traveled down specially for the event - were present, with Daphne and Henry acting as bridesmaid and best man.

By design, the engines had arrived in pairs, with only BoCo “going stag”, as he hadn’t yet told Edward how he felt. The officiant - a kind looking man from the Arlesburgh judiciary - had taken one look at the rest of them and asked if he should be preparing for any other weddings in the near future. Daphne and Wendell were the only ones to say yes instinctively. (Much to each other’s surprise!) When Daphne looked over at Bear and Henry, they said with no small amount of irritation that it wasn’t legal yet for them to be wed. Similar grumblings then erupted from Mavis and Daisy, which briefly made the quiet ceremony very loud, as none of the other engines had been aware that either diesel was dating!

-

2000

Dull yellow smoke billowed out of Percy’s funnel as the men did a pressure test. Before Daphne or Wendell could do anything, they were enveloped by the choking cloud. 

Daphne shut her eyes to avoid getting any of the strange metallic soot in her eyes, and when she opened them again, the works looked... different somehow. 

A few of the new inspection pits were gone, while the diesel shop building had one less door than it should. 

Daphne opened her mouth to ask Wendell what was going on, and then stopped dead in her tracks when a workman ran right through her. 

Looking down at herself, she appeared to be fully transparent, floating above the rails like a ghost of Deltics past. 

“Who are you?!” Wendell squeaked. 

Daphne looked at him for a moment. His paint was a different colour than it had been a minute ago - Rail Blue instead of Black and Gray - and he seemed like he didn’t remember her at all. 

“Cobra,” She said, not even thinking that this was not the time for nicknames. “It’s me, Lion. You know me.”

“I know exactly who you are.” He said frantically. “You’re the ghost of the engine I killed! It’s not Christmas! Begone with you!”

“What?!” Daphne was horrified. “Wendell, what on Earth are you talking about!? Nobody’s dead! How can you say that?!”

“Don’t you overreact here Lion!” Wendell snapped. “I should be the one screaming! Ignoring whatever it is you are, there are dinosaurs eating the ballast! That water tower has a face!”

Daphne suddenly understood that there was something in the yellow smoke that was making both of them see things that weren’t there. With that in mind, she spent most of the next few hours keeping Wendell calm until the hallucinations stopped, and he turned back into the black and gray diesel she’d fallen in love with.  

A few weeks later, and Daphne asked Wendell about what he saw in the yellow smoke. 

“I saw a bunch of brightly coloured horses singing about friendship. Why?”

“Just curious...” Daphne said as she realized that maybe her hallucinations had been much stronger than she thought!

-

Later That Same Year

A new high speed trainset arrived on Sodor. Their names were Pip and Emma.

They had been on the island once before in the early 80′s, but somehow none of the diesels had met them in anything other than passing.

After three nights on Sodor, Delta declared that she liked them and was “keeping them”, giving them no choice in the matter on the subject of express engine sisterhood. Daphne explained that Delta was less of an engine and more of a force of nature, to which Emma responded that she and Pip were ‘the Dragon Sisters’ and could take care of themselves.

Both Dragons realized that they had even less of a choice when Daphne's face lit up like a Christmas tree upon hearing that!

Learning that the duo already had animal-themed nicknames for themselves made it much easier for Lion and Tiger Stripes to press-gang their new sisters into the “Non-Standard Survivors Society”, and even easier to get them painted into the old Intercity “Swallow” paint scheme.

Even for express locomotives, the speed at which the two went from Pip and Emma to Dragon Stripes was remarkable.

-

Even later that same year

Donald screamed all the way to the Little Western, unable to shake the image of a unified force of Red Eyed, Soul Stealing, Mind Controlling, Memory Altering, Diesel Electric Monsters!

-

2001

Pip and Emma taught the other diesels how to breathe fire.

Being the sort of sisters that they were, Daphne, Emma, Pip, and Delta soon began hosting competitions to see who could shoot fire the furthest. This did not help Oliver’s mental state at all.

-

2004

The United Kingdom allowed same-sex couples to enter into a “civil union” on the 14th of March. The engines knew it wasn’t actual marriage, but it was more than they’d been allowed before, and Daisy and Mavis, and Henry and Bear were wed by The Magistrate that night, with Delta and James acting as best man and bride/groomsmaid in all the ceremonies.

Immediately afterwards, Daphne and Wendell - who had agreed not to be wed until their friends could - tied the knot as well.

The rest of the Society (BoCo, Pip, Emma) and Siobhan and her husband Declan cheered until they were hoarse.

The next morning, Stephen and Richard Hatt, as well as most of the steam engines, could not understand how every James, Henry, and every diesel on the island were somehow exhausted and happy at the same time.

-

Later that same year

Flying Scotsman showed up on what would turn out to be his last railtour before his overhaul. Not realizing what he’d started way back in 1979, he jokingly asked if Henry and Bear had ever done anything in regards to their relationship.

When they and seemingly every other diesel on the Island regaled him with wedding stories he almost burst a boiler tube!

-

2007

Pip managed to convince the paint shop staff to paint huge fire breathing dragons on herself and Emma for Christmas.

Within two weeks all the other diesels had their own respective animals painted somewhere on their bodies.

After a while, they all started to notice that the animals seemed to be in different places on different days... Daphne's Lion and Wendell's Cobra would even swap locomotives sometimes - not that they'd ever admit it!

After an even longer while they noticed that an identical Bear and Tiger had ended up on Henry and James - despite neither of them having gone near the paint shop in months!

Richard Hatt has asked why this happened, but nobody has yet said anything close to the truth. It may be because they don’t know themselves...

-

2017

A certain Class 5 diesel convinced her driver to hang some mistletoe over the turntable.

Everything was going well until Donald chuffed in unexpectedly and saw Henry and Bear under it.

A lot of explaining was required.

-

2020

Wendell loved Christmas, and had spent every year since the early 90′s covered in lights and pulling the N.W.R.’s holiday train. In more recent years Daphne also joined him, and they usually spent a few days in the first or second week of January getting the lights removed and their paint touched up.

This year, heavy traffic in early January meant that they couldn’t make it to the works until late on the 28th, and spent all of the next day getting de-lighted and touched up. They went to sleep eager to go to work the next morning...

-------------------------------------------------------------------

January 30, 2020

Wendell woke up with a start. What a dream that was! It felt so realistic, and...

55 010 was staring at him, eyes wide to the point of bulging out of her face.

“What?” He asked, trying to shake off the feeling of strangeness - in his dream, they were married, but engines can’t get married - can they?

“Wendell,” She said quietly, her voice shaking. “I just had the most amazing dream.”

“Really?” Maybe they could compare notes, Wendell wondered. Maybe in her dream they were all brightly coloured crime fighting action heroes.

“We were married.” She said after a moment.

Wendell felt the world go fuzzy around him. The last thirty-nine years of his life flashed before his eyes in some sort of visual stereo - one side sad and depressed, the other side...

“Daphne?!” He gasped as he returned to reality.

That was all the confirmation the big Deltic needed. “It wasn’t a dream!” She cried joyously.

“It was,” Wendell said, his brows furrowing under a sudden and massive headache. “But it wasn’t. How can it be both?”

“I don’t know and I don’t care.” Daphne/55 010 said, her voice laced with quiet joy. “I have sisters. I have a family. I have you.”

Wendell could feel his mind short circuiting. On one wheel, he was in his shed in the works. It was his home. He’d lived here since the 80′s!

On the other... He lived at the diesel shed in Tidmouth. He’d asked The Fat Controller in 1982 if he could stay there so he could be with his friends - with Daphne. His home was the road between Daphne and Bear in Tidmouth.

Bear. His eyes widened as he thought of the Hymek.

He didn’t know the diesel that well, but - he did. Did he? Was this all a shared dream between him and 010, or was Bear really Henry’s husband? Were Delta and James married? What about Daisy and Mavis? Was 010 actually Daphne? He didn’t know what was real or not anymore.

He looked back at Daphne/010. As much as he wanted to believe it was true - that he really did have thirty years of family and love - but as he looked over at the Deltic and down at his own buffers, he didn’t see the blue-and-gold or black-and-gray of Lion and Cobra Stripes, just the basic Rail Blue of two anonymous British Diesels.

Then...

As he looked at 010/Daphne, her dark blue paint started to muddy and shift before his eyes. Starting at her buffers and moving backwards, a ripple of colour began to work its way across her body. The rail blue and yellow warning panels faded away, leaving a trail of sky blue paint and metallic gold stripes. A roaring lion, standing atop a crushed double arrow, appeared below her cab window.

He would have watched the transformation in more detail, but a sudden and intense itching caused his him to look down at his own body. Where there had previously been blue and yellow was now a dark gloss black with grey stripes. The very hint of a snake's tail could be seen stretching around the corner of his bodywork.

It was over almost as quickly as it begun, and when the two diesels looked back up at each other, they didn’t see Wendell and 55 010, they saw:

“Lion?”

“Cobra?”

---

The drivers who went to take Wendell and 010 back to the works had no idea why the diesels were crying like babies, but assumed it was due to the outrageous paint schemes the works had elected to cover them in. They were in no mood for shenanigans, and coupled up the engines and left before the works staff could notice and ask questions.  

In a remarkable parallel to the 1981 of their dreams, Wendell hauled an unpowered Daphne and a rake of coaches from the works down to Tidmouth in the predawn light of winter. They passed Abbey, who shouted hello from the electric branch, and passed Edward, who stared at their paint in utter bafflement.

The train arrived in Tidmouth, but there was no Fat Controller to meet them that day, so they left the coaches at the platform for The Limited and departed for the diesel shed.

Wendell felt another headache come on as he rolled up to the concrete-and-steel structure. With only Bear and Delta permanently in Tidmouth, The Fat Controller hadn’t built the shed until Pip and Emma arrived in 2000, knocking down an old brick warehouse to do so.

But, with Daphne and Wendell, that old brick building had been spruced up and expanded in the 80′s. Looking at the building, Wendell felt woozy as his mind layered an image of the cozy warehouse overtop of the sleek shed.

“There’s supposed to be windows there.” Daphne whispered as she looked at the blank wall of the shed.  

Wendell grimaced as he looked up. That blank concrete wall was in no way special, but at the same time, the light that streamed in through bank of windows set into the brick had been the source of many arguments - nobody wanted to be the one in that road because the morning sun was at just the right angle to shine into the eyes of whoever was parked under them.

But that wall was blank specifically because the architects had realized that - in 1999.

But it was an old shed - from the 1920's, right?

Wendell grimaced and hoped that his mind would pick something and stick to it.

Arriving in the shed to the sound of Genesis drifting through the doors - dream or no dream, Henry had apparently still infected them with his prog rock obsession - the men first shunted Daphne onto one road before putting Wendell next to her,  powering off off his motor and scarpering to the staff canteen and its coffee maker, leaving the two diesels outside.

Their presence was noticed after Bear’s voice drifted out of the shed with a command to turn off the voice activated speaker. In the silence, the quiet pinging of Wendell’s cooling engine was heard, drawing eyes to the outside.

“What the hell are you painted like that for?” Called BoCo from inside the sheds. “And who are you?” He asked Daphne.

“Hi Jaguar, it’s so good to see you.” Daphne evidently did not care that BoCo had no idea who she was.

“Good morning!” Said Wendell, trying to figure out how on earth he was going to explain this. “We had a doozy of a dream last night!”

The other diesels poked out of the doors to gawp at the oddly-painted engines.

Delta in particular looked like she wanted to say something, looking down at her own stripes before looking at Daphne’s.

“You look like you could be my big... sister...” She didn’t make it all the way through her sentence before her jaw dropped and her eyes glazed over. Wendell imagined that this is what he looked like earlier that morning.

“You...” Delta was on the verge of tears. “You were at my wedding. You all were!”

“Your what? You know this engine?” BoCo was more confused than ever.

“Yes! And so do you! We all do!”

“Delta, I have never... met...” BoCo stared in shock after his eyes glazed over for a long moment. “Oh soot and oil... Daphne?!”

And so it went through the other engines, who all suddenly remembered.

“How?!” Bear eventually managed. “How did this - what?”

He was cut off as his paint rippled and changed, an effect that quickly rolled across the other engines. From within the shed, Emma and Pip swore loudly as their NWExpress livery roiled and shifted from blue and yellow to black, white and red. BoCo grimaced as his BR green suddenly became a lot more American. Bear grinned unconsciously, suddenly remembering how well Henry had taken his stripes last time.

Within a few minutes, the disparate group of diesels were gone, replaced with the members of the Non-Standard Survivors Society.

Daphne, who watching this happen with no small amount of glee, squealed with happiness.

-

In the station, Henry and Daisy were congratulating Richard Hatt on his recent promotion to assistant controller of the railway. As they spoke, both engines kept one eye on the diesel shed in the distance - two new diesels in some absolutely ludicrous paint schemes were parked in front of the diesel shed, and a commotion was quietly audible, much to their consternation.

Richard eventually took notice of the new engines as well, and took a long moment to try and figure out why the original Deltic prototype was on his railway. A gasp drew him back to the engines on the platform, both of whom now looked like they’d seen a ghost.

“Are you all right?” he asked with concern.

Daisy, who was wide eyed and shaking on her suspension, was the first to react. “I’m married!” She shrieked before setting off for the junction almost before her signal dropped. Richard wasn’t sure, but as Daisy left, frantically blowing her horn to the diesels in the yard as she did so, she seemed to shimmer in the sun for a moment.

“What?” Richard asked. He thought he’d heard what Daisy had said, but was really hoping that he’d misheard her. He looked back at Henry, suddenly forced to remember that he had to give the engine a day off every March.

“I don’t think I could explain that to you if I had all day.” Henry said quietly.

Richard wanted to investigate the sudden faraway look in the engine’s eyes, but remembered what usually happened to him when he asked the engines personal questions.

As he left the platform, he noted with some amount of confusion the elegantly-painted bear that was on Henry’s cab side. It definitely hadn’t been there when he walked up.

He turned around to ask Henry about it, when James raced into the station, a wild look in his eyes.

“Henry!” He demanded. “What just happened to me?!” The pouncing Tiger painted on the side of his tender gave some idea as to the “what” he was talking about.

Richard turned and fled for his office. The pub didn’t open until noon, and he was not about to deal with any new earthshattering revelations sober.

[jinterlude]

Mik’s Follow Forever

↳ Resource Credits: Seokjin | Floral PNG 

Hi and hello everyone! Wow. Can we just take a moment to appreciate that we survived the shit storm that is 2020? Ranging from the pandemic to politics to social injustice happening around the world, we manage to stay resilience to the say the least. With that said, I wanted to finally acknowledged that I hit a big milestone as of November (?) or was it September (?) [I don’t even know anymore LOL😂]! Before I get into my letters underneath this cut, I wanted to say from the bottom of my heart, thank you so much for following me! Even though, I post once in a blue moon, and my blog is run on queue 24/7, you still hit that follow button! For that, thank you so much for giving my blog a chance, whether it’s for the multi-fandom content I reblog or my very own creations, something made you stay 💙 Alright let’s get to the personal letters 💌 

To Jey @softjeon : 

Jey. Honestly, where do I begin with you? The End. Just kidding! Damn. I can’t believe you’re one of my oldest friend on this website. We have had our ups and downs, but our friendship always manages to come out strong in the end. You and I always manage to be on the same wavelength in terms of story telling, talking about everything and anything, or just shooting some random ass, extreme ideas that manage to go to the WIP pile in our brains. While, we do not talk as frequently as we used to (I blame school + internship on that part), I just know that I can always go to your DMs whenever I need someone to talk to or if I want to randomly bug you. You my hardworking queen is a force to reckon with, and I am forever in awe of your work ethics. Like who can simultaneously run 20+ blogs? You. That’s who. Granted, knowing you, there’s some tears and sweat (mainly tears with that), but the finished product is worth it in the end. I honestly can’t wait for the day when we have our own apartment, and we can just sit in silence in our living room couch with our fur babies. Can’t wait to see what 2021 has in store for you and know that I’m cheering you on every step of the way (whether it is in silence or vocally). Love you, Queen Jey! 

Signed, 

Your first wife, Kimi 

p.s. thank you for giving/helping me with the idea of creating KWW and creating our seasonal themed headers (all while promoting girl groups)! Seriously, thank you for being and staying in my life. T-T

To my fellow BHQ Admin/Mod Team [ @chillingkoo @/guktro @mygsii @dee-ehn @nightowls388 @yoonqiful @taerseok   @btsxdoll @minloop @namluve ​ ]: 

What can I say except this is an amazing team to be part of in terms of Networks? The Head Admins Vivi, Gray, & Renae are like the board of directors that help make sure that the operation runs smoothly. Then, us Admins (Danica, myself, & Daria) are like the VP’s followed by the amazing Mods (Beezy, Penelope, Daija, & Dani) are the Supervisors/Managers of each division. What I am going with this business analogy is that BHQ is nothing without the amazing team members that make up the network, and I am grateful to be part of a cohesive team where I truly felt like I was with Gray since the beginning of the network establishment. It is thanks to this network (BHQ) that I learned how to run my own network more smoothly and professionally. I can’t wait to see what 2021 has in store for BHQ. Thank you for being amazing and wonderful people and just being a rock for the members during the major events that occurred throughout this year. You’re the best! 

- Mik

To my fellow KWW Admin/Mod Team [ @queen-of-himbos​ @atiny-piratequeen​ @sugarcookiesandsins​ @meraki-mark​ @samuelkimz​ ]: 

First, can I say to the fellow admins, thank you for keeping me sane and helping me run this network while I was swamped with school + internship. Forever grateful of both you (Kes) and Fie for being a driving force and keeping the network afloat while I focused on my school work. It is no secret that I had confrontation, so I’m thankful that either Kes or Fie agrees to being the enforcer and messages someone for me T-T Also, Kes, thank you so much for taking over the coding/member page for me all while still doing the queue. I can never say this enough, but thank you for doing that. Fie, thank you for lightly slapping me and keeping me sane whenever I feel quick to jump the gun. You are there to help me see reason and point out things that I overlook a lot. (This is why I have Jey too lol) To my wonderful Queue-tie Pies! Thank you so much for dedicating a few hours out of your day to add content to the queue and keeping our blog alive! KWW is nothing without you amazing mods. I hope you all know that! Let’s kick butt together in 2021!

- Admin Mik 

To my fellow supportive and loving SIMPS [ @ppersonna​ @jinned​ @sunkissedjk​ @hongism​ @monotape​ @wintertae​ @dreamyhan​ @koophoriia​ @j-sope​ ]: 

First of all, how are you doing on this lovely Wednesday (well it’s Wednesday when I wrote & posted this lol)? I hope each and every one of you are doing fine! I feel bad that I haven’t been in touch lately uwu but I do silently stalk/lurk on the Bangtan University discord server or on your personal blogs (totally not weird whatsoever). I hope you all had a wonderful holiday! Now, simply put, I want to say that I’m thankful that you all came into my life this year. In some shape or form, you made my 2020 incredibly bright and filled with so much inspiration and passion for writing that I honestly believed that I would not get back. Whether it is by joining a collab with you all, simply talking about ideas or just in general, or even screaming about potential AUs, you made me want to write again. For that, I am extremely appreciative of it and know that I will forever be a silent cheerleader for you all! 2021 will be the year I invade your ask box a lot more and just scream how much I love you all! You are all rays of sunshine on this website!

- Owner of Mikdonalds, home of the famous Mikimchi

To Kat @yeoldontknow​ & Sarah @yehet-me-up​: 

First, long time and no talk! How are my resident EXO wives doing? Are Chanyeol and Junmyeon treating you ladies well? I hope so! Anyway, I honestly can’t not include you two ladies in my Holiday thank you post because how can I not include the two authors I look up to the most on this website. With how you write your characters, the scenery, background information on the reader/OC, you just leave me completely speech less whenever I finish reading your works. Ah, I might start tearing up as I write this section because I just can’t thank God or fate enough for allowing me to meet two of the most beautiful souls on this website. While we do not talk as frequently as we used to, I wanted to let you both know that I hope you had a wonderful Holiday! Whatever 2021 has in store for you both, just know that you have a silent cheerleader in good old CA! 

- Mrs. Kim Kim 

To every single one of my followers (mutuals or not): 

From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much, again, for following me and just staying with me. For my newly established mutuals, I can’t wait to talk and get to know you all in 2021! Granted, I suck at talking and keeping the conversation going, so I apologize for that. I promise I will be better!! I want more friends, okay! T-T 

Anywho...

TLDR: Let’s kick butt together in 2021! Also, I’m establishing my New Year Goal of that I will become more consistent of writing + posting content. Instead of once every blue moon, it will be once every full moon. See? That’s doable, right? Right?!

- Mik