#my camera is a proper potato

[lets-ignore-that]

ah it looks like I've taken these in a sewer tunnel but it's my wonderful camera, made a little tail inspired by all the arts I've seen of him with one.

[pandapetals]

I have a request!! You don’t have to write it but I’ll tell you anyway

Idk if you’ve seen the trend on tt where guys are picking up their gfs to sit on their shoulders and omg imagine Logan doing that😈😈

-⭐️

Hi, I hadn't seen the trend but went and Logan would totally do something like that just to prove his strong lol. I wasn't going to write anything but this kinda pulled me out of my slump so thank you!

logan howlett x fem!gf reader - established relationship, fluff, cute, teasing banter, wade being wade, tiktok trend

“Hold still, will ya?” Logan growled, his fingers brushing your sides as he tried, for the fifth time, to get a proper grip around your waist. His voice was gruff but there was a softness buried in it—hidden beneath the sheer frustration of the task at hand.

“You’re the one moving too slow, Grandpa,” you teased, leaning just enough to make his attempt harder. The corner of your lips curled mischievously as you twisted out of his reach again, sending him stumbling forward with a muttered curse.

Logan straightened, glaring at you. “You wanna get tossed like a sack of potatoes? ‘Cause I’ll do it.”

“Promise?” you shot back with a grin, earning a low, rumbling growl in response.

From behind the camera, Wade cackled like he’d been waiting his whole life for this moment. He adjusted the angle of your phone, squinting at the screen. “Oh, this is gold. Are we witnessing the tragic downfall of the great Wolverine? Or is this just an elaborate mating ritual?”

“Shut up, Wade,” Logan snapped, his sharp eyes briefly cutting to the man-child behind the camera.

“I’m just saying,” Wade continued, unfazed. “For a guy with animal instincts, you’re not exactly pouncing, buddy. You’re more…like a wounded bear. Slow, cranky, probably rabid—”

“Keep runnin’ your mouth, Wilson, and we’ll see who’s slow,” Logan snarled, his claws snikt-ing halfway out for emphasis.

Wade gasped theatrically, clutching the phone to his chest like a pearl necklace. “Violence? In front of your lady? I thought you were all about the chivalry, peanut.”

“Wade,” you said with a laugh, stepping closer to your grumpy boyfriend. “You’re not helping.”

“Who says I’m trying to help? I’m here for the content, babe. And maybe the sweet, sweet sound of his back snapping when he fails this lift. Again.”

Logan didn’t dignify that with a response. He shook his head, his jaw clenching as he crouched slightly, motioning for you to come closer. “Alright, enough screwin’ around. C’mere. This time, I got it.”

“Okay, okay.” You stepped into his reach, but not without one last playful jab. “Don’t throw your hip out, old man.”

His hands clamped around your waist firmly this time, and for a moment, you felt the raw strength coiled in his arms. With a grunt of effort, he hoisted you upward—just a little too hard.

“Whoa, Logan! Not the ceiling!” you yelped, flailing as your head nearly collided with the light fixture.

“Stop wigglin’!” Logan barked, his voice strained as he adjusted his grip. You landed awkwardly across his broad shoulder, not quite balanced but not falling either. “There! Told ya I could do it.”

“Yeah, sure. Super graceful,” you teased from your perch, giggling as you tried to hold still.

“Oh, honey,” Wade chimed in, zooming the camera in on Logan’s scowling face. “You are the picture of elegance. Look at you. Like a slightly hairier, angrier ballerina. Ten outta ten. I’m titling this masterpiece: ‘Beauty and the Beast, But She Regrets It.’”

Logan flipped him off without missing a beat, his free hand holding you steady as you laughed so hard your sides ached.

“Alright, we’re done here,” Logan grumbled, beginning to lower you.

“No, no, no, not yet!” Wade protested, practically lunging to block the shot. “I need the slow-mo drop! Or maybe a blooper reel. You two are TikTok gold, and I will exploit it for likes.”

“I swear to God, Wade,” Logan growled, turning to face him, which meant you were now dangling awkwardly off his shoulder like a sack of grain. “If you don’t quit, I’ll—”

“Oh, don’t threaten me with a good time, Wolvie,” Wade quipped, blowing him a kiss.

By the time Logan set you down, both of you were doubled over in laughter—yours genuine, his tinged with exasperation. Wade was still narrating the moment like a sports commentator, throwing in dramatic sound effects and zooming in on Logan’s face for emphasis.

“You’re both insane,” Logan muttered, shaking his head.

“And yet,” you said, sliding your arm around his waist, “you love us anyway.”

He grumbled something under his breath, but the tiny smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth was all the answer you needed.

[rottenpumpkin13]

Angeal gets a cooking show of his dreams

*Angeal is cooking vegetable stew*

Angeal: Now that we're done chopping the vegetables, I'll have my assistant bring in the meat we'll be using.

*Sephiroth walks out carrying potatoes*

Angeal: Where's the chocobo meat?

Sephiroth: Chocobos are beautiful, intelligent creatures who should not end up in—

Angeal: You're fired. Bring in Zack.

-

*Angeal is showing the audience the perfect cake recipe. Zack is in the background cooking chocolate sauce*

Angeal: The trick is to not use too much sugar because you want the sweetness to be just right without being overwhelming. Now, blend the butter until it's smooth and creamy...

*The entire pot catches fire. Zack tries to put it out with a kitchen towel but now that's on fire too*

Angeal: Once you have your butter and sugar mixture ready, go ahead and prepare your eggs. Make sure they're room temperature before separating the yolk....

*Cloud runs in with a fire extinguisher and tries to put it out. Doesn't work. Everything is covered in foam but still very much on fire*

Angeal: Next, you'll want to sift together your dry ingredients—flour, baking soda, and a pinch of salt—and slowly incorporate them into your wet mixture!

*Cloud slips on the foam and falls on the floor. Zack tries to help but knocks over a set of knives directly into the fire. Zack then grabs a flaming knife and stands over Cloud in the flames. Cloud is screaming*

Angeal: Finally, add in some vanilla extract for extra flavor.

*Everything is on fire. Cloud is trying to wrestle the knife away from Zack*

Angeal: I thought of adding in some mint for a fresh, cooling effect, but we don't need that! It's not like our kitchen is on fire hahahaha—WHAT THE FUCK? PUT THE KNIFE DOWN

*Sephiroth runs in front of the camera with a sign that reads "SAVE THE CHOCOBOS"*

-

*Angeal is showing the audience how to bake the perfect Banora White pie. Genesis is his assistant*

Angeal: Now, our pie will turn out exactly like this example pie I have ready here. While my assistant chops the apples, I'll start preparing the shortcrust.

Genesis: Everyone knows that Banora White Pie needs a graham cracker crust. It's the only way to properly balance the flavors.

Angeal: A traditional shortcrust is the key to a perfect texture. It holds up better and doesn’t get soggy.

Genesis: Perhaps if you knew how to bake it properly, it wouldn't get soggy. The graham cracker crust adds a dulcet sweetness that complements the Banora White apples.

Angeal: What we need is balance, not an overwhelming sugary taste. Bedsides, a graham cracker crust will fall apart on the plate.

Angeal:

Angeal: Like you.

Genesis: Angeal Hewley you take that back immediately.

Angeal: Why don't you take your graham cracker crust back to the apple farm, Genesis?

Genesis: Maybe I will! And I can bring our audience with me so they CAN FINALLY TRY A PROPER BANORA WHITE PIE.

Angeal: ARE YOU REALLY SO PETTY THAT YOU CAN'T ACCEPT THAT YOU'RE WRONG?

Genesis: WRONG? YOUR LOGIC IS A JOKE!

Angeal: SAYS THE GUY WEARING A RED LEATHER COAT IN JULY.

Genesis: SAY THAT AGAIN AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS.

Angeal: GLADLY. YOU WOULDN'T KNOW A GOOD PIE IF IT HIT YOU IN THE FACE!

*Genesis smashes the apple pie in Angeal's face*

Angeal: ........

Genesis: Ha! How's that for a pie hitting you in the face!?

Genesis:

Genesis: What are you doing with that rolling pin?

Genesis: HEY! PUT IT DOWN! HELP! THIS IS AN ATTEMPT ON MY LIFE! HE'S TRYING TO ASSASSINATE A PUBLIC FIGURE AND END LOVELESS.

*Angeal is now chasing Genesis around the kitchen using the rolling pin as a weapon*

*Sephiroth appears, holding Cloud up in front of the camera*

Cloud: ?

Sephiroth: For the modest sum of two gil, you too can rescue chocobos like this one from a grim fate.

Cloud: 💢

[captainlunaxmen]

All For the Camera

Chapter 6

Finnick Odair x Fem!reader.

Finally! Here we are. I'm sorry, it took me so long. I had to create a new account and transfer all the fics here. And then I never had time to put my mind into this😅

I'm sorry, I hope you guys will like this chapter and let me know if you want to be tagged in the next chapters.❤️❤️❤️

Chapter summary: the interviews!

Chapter warnings: mention of death, Cal is a warning, suicide hint (very light, but still)

Tag list

@guacam011y @justtrying2getby @idontevenknow1359 @alexandra-001 @bambikitten @maggiecc @redh00dsbf @haneybunny @1-800-styles @sisiking99 @merromimo @yourdailymemedelivery @regsg18 @gordorio @bambikitten @gracieeleanorr @shev3nom @honethatty12 @savingprivatecass @erindiggory @martahabla @sterredem @aawdrea @wpdarlingpan @strawberry--fawn @barbarathewanderer @ih8books @a-mysterious-potato @mayonesavegana @celinaiscrying @katherinejess @meri-soni-meri-tamanna @abaker74 @syd649

I'm sorry if I can't tag everyone😔🥺

Masterlist

I walk into the living room, towards the big table finding Katniss, Peeta and Haymitch already there having breakfast... well Katniss and Peeta are, Haymitch just started drinking.

"Morning," I say sitting down.

"Good morning." Peeta smiles at me, a little forced, which I get... tomorrow they'll be sent to the arena.

"Hi." Katniss says.

"Morning, princess." Haymitch hands me a tea cup, I look at it rather suspiciously and when Haymitch smiles proudly I know he put some alcohol in it... so I take it.

Gladly.

"Good morning, everyone. Today's an important day!" Effie cheery voice echoes in the whole apartment as she enter and sit with us for breakfast.

"Indeed." I say with a sigh.

"When the whole team supposed to be here, Y/n?" She asks me.

"Uhm... around 5pm." I tell her.

"This means we will use this time to come up with a proper strategy, since you refuse any alliance." Haymitch then turns to me, "you'll help?"

"I can't... Plutarch wants to see me." I sadly say, "last minute details to fix, I think."

Haymitch nods.

"Can't you give us a tiny bit of hint?" Peeta jokes.

"Unfortunately, I can't say anything." I shrug standing up taking my jacket with me.

"Fine, keep your secret, Princess." Haymitch says, winking at me as I near the elevator doors. I smile at everyone and enter the elevator.

"Beware of the time, guys. Always." I say before the doors close.

------------------

"No allies?" Plutarch asks in disbelief, handing me a glass, he stands next to his desk in his office.

"No allies." I reply, slowly shaking my head no.

He sighs deeply, then stands up and moves a hand to his chin thinking.

"But..." I start, pointing his attention back on me, "Haymitch and I will take care of it." He arches an eyebrow, questioning, "I promise."

"They know nothing, right?" He checks.

"They know less than nothing." I tell him.

"Good." He nods, "the president doesn't want you to participate in the interview this year."

"Really?" I ask.

Usually Snow insisted on me being interviewed after all the tributes', to have the Capitol's people being represented, as he put it. It's a relief.

"Yeah, he only wants you to be interviewed almost at the end." He informs me, "you know, to have more people follow, waiting to hear from you, both about your tributes and your... wedding."

"Please, do me a favour... don't mention my wedding." I groan, "I'm not really planning on attending. You know."

He sends me a knowing look, then proceeds to hand me a piece of paper.

"What is it?" I ask, examining it.

"The 12 threats in the arena."

"I see he did enjoyed my ideas..." I say swallowing hard.

"You fooled him. He does think you're... coming around." Plutarch compliments me.

"No," I shake my head, reading the list, "no one can fool him. He doesn't trust anyone. He never underestimate anyone."

"Oh, my dear, we did." He smiles. "He has no suspects, whatsoever."

"You think?"

"We would be dead now, if he did." He reason and I nod, agreeing.

"It makes sense... but I still don't feel secure enough." I tell him.

"And you shouldn't." He sits next to me, "we're at the point we can't afford feeling secure. Not even for a moment."

I nod.

"Did... uhm..." I start, my mouth feeling dry all of a sudden, "did... Cal come by... recently?"

"Cal Kingslay?"

"Yeah..."

"No."

"Do you know if he talked to any of the other Gamemakers?" I insist.

"Not that I know of... and trust me, I would know." He tells me, "did he tell you something?"

"Just that he would make sure to not have... competition anymore." I sigh, closing my eyes frustrated.

"Just another thing to keep an eye out for." He pats my back, "now, "he stands again, "tonight's interviews. The tributes will try all they can to stop the games."

"Good fucking luck." I scoff, sadly.

"They'll try everything. So... we need to talk about the remote... very remote chance that they succeed." He continues.

"Yeah... sure." I say, fully unconvinced.

"It might happen." He keeps a dead serious tone, "loved victors, tributes the Capitol consider 'family', they just might succeed."

"Now, that's pretentious." I say, taking a big gulp from my glass, "but okay... so what if they succeed?"

"It's quite simple," he starts, "you will get to-"

A hard knock on the door interrupts him. Plutarch looks at me, tensing, giving me a look to say to stay calm and natural.

"Yes?"

"Sorry, Mr Heavensbee, Cal Kingslay is here to see you." One of the other Gamemakers announces, I look at Plutarch hoping to find comfort. He does looks at me with determination, so I know he will take care of it.

"Let him in." Plutarch agrees.

Not long after, Cak enters the room, before he can greet Plutarch, he notices me.

"My sweetness, what a surprise!" He exclaims.

"Hi, Cal." I say forcing out a smile.

"Miss L/n is my apprentice, I'm sure you knew she would be here." Plutarch says.

"Yes, I admit I was hoping to catch her. With all of her... obligations, I barely see her." Cal tries to justify himself, "I'm sure you can understand how love can be."

"Yeah... I have an idea." Plutarch smiles, after getting to know him, I can recognise when he's true and fake, and that's definitely a fake smile.

"So you get it..." he sighs, dreamily, "I can't wait to marry her," he looks at me, slightly biting his lips, "I'll finally have her full attention."

"Oh well, I hope you'll let us spend some time with her too," Plutarch challenges him, "she has a great brain. Plus she's my apprentice, she might be the next head Gamemaker one day."

"Yeah," Cal grits out, not liking at all the idea, "I'm sure we could think of something. "

"But, Mr Kingslay, tell me, did you want to talk to me about something?" Plutarch asks, putting his hands in his pocket, to show Cal he's not intimidated.

"Oh yes, actually I do." Cal nods, then turns to me, walking up to me taking my hands in his, "would you mind leaving us, sweetheart?"

"Sure." I say, probably way too quickly, my eyes fall to the clock on the wall "of course. I have to get back and help some of the Tributes get ready, anyway."

Cal kisses my hands softly, I fight the urge to snatch my hands back.

"I'll see you tomorrow for the beginning, miss L/n." Plutarch smiles.

"Of course, Mr Heavensbee."

I start to walk to the door, Cal reluctantly lets me go and I subtly rush out as soon as I can.

I jump immediately into the car ready to get back to the tributes centre.

------------------

I go to check in with Cinna about Katniss' outfit for tonight.

He leads me to the dressing room and my jaw drops as I spot the wedding dress in the middle of it.

"Oh my god..." I breath out.

"Glad you like it." Cinna says.

"If anything goes South and I end up marrying that cunt, I'm glad you're the one they chose to make my dress" I tell him, getting closer to the dress to inspect it better.

"You'd be a beautiful bride. Regardless of the husband." He compliments me and I genuinely smile at this.

"Thank you."

"I also added a special touch to it." He whispers.

"What did you do?" I ask, getting nervous.

"You'll see tonight." The determined look he has as he says this freezes me to the stop.

"Cinna..." I start, "what did you do?"

He just winks at me. "C'mon, go take a seat."

I reluctantly follow him out so he can be ready to help Katniss put on the dress, and I go find Haymitch, I take my seat next to him as Ceasar starts the show.

As always Ceasar hosts the show with his usual laugh and cheerfulness.

"Thank you, thank you!" He address the audience once he took his place in the center of the stage, "Thank you for being here tonight! On the eve of the 75th Hunger Games!" He laughs, "we have never seen anything like this and we will never see anything like it, again. Because tonight, on thus stage 24 of Panem's brightest starts will view for the ultimate crown. Tonight will be their final opportunity to express their thoughts. Our final opportunity to express our love and heartbreakingly to say goodbye to all but one."

Hypocrisy.

"What a night." He softly says, before screaming again, "let's hear it!"

And the crowd cheers louder than before.

"And I know, I know all of you want the gossip about THE wedding of the year, but you will have to wait."

The crowd makes sounds of disapproval, even though the cheering atmosphere remains.

"Can't spoil all the fun, can we?" He laughs again, "but don't you worry, the royal couple will tell us all the details eventually." He winks at the audience and finally the interviews can start.

"Kill me now." I whisper to Haymitch.

"And steal the fun to the president? Nah..." he jokes and I can't help but chuckle and move my attention back to the show.

Of course they start with district 1, Cashmere and Gloss, they interview them together and of fucking course, Cashmere will use the tears to try and make people stop the games... not the smartest choice, but still a choice.

Then it's 2 turn, then 3 where Beetee obviously tries to use logic, but unfortunately the Capitol's people are not smart enough to understand.

Then four...

I take a deep breath, hoping Finnick won't say anything he might regret.

"Finnick," Ceasar addresses him, "I understand that you have a message for somebody out there. A special somebody." He laughs, and Finnick shows his perfect smile, his perfect forced smile the Capitol loves so much, "can we hear it?" He then asks.

Finnick looks quickly out in the audience, I see him spotting me and I can see the slight hint of an actual smile on his lips.

"My love," he starts seriously and my breath is caught in my throat, "you have my heart, for all eternity, and" he pauses for a moment, " if... I die in that arena, my last thought will be of your lips."

"Guess he didn't listen to you, uh?" Haymitch says before drinking from his flask.

"No, he didn't." I sigh. I just hope Cal won't think anything of it.

Each victor has their own way of dealing with this special games and interviews. Some tries to pity the audience, some treats it as a normal interview and then there are some like Johanna who just want to let out all the anger they feel. Which is exactly what I would love to do myself.

Cinna arrives, and takes a seat on the other sode of me, Katniss must be ready.

"It's our turn, princess." Haymitch pats my knee as Ceaser announces Kantiss' arrival.

As Katniss joins Ceasar on stage I can finally admire the dress properly. She looks absolutely beautiful, it makes me even angrier knowing it's not her choice.

"You look fabulous!" Ceaser compliments her, "doesn't she?" He asks the audience who claps their hands vivaciously as Katniss just stands there, smiling, acting like the happy bride the Capitol wants.

"Now, Katniss, this is a very big and very emotional night for all of us. Wouldn't you say?"

"Don't go crying on me now, Ceasar." Katniss teases.

"I can't make promises you know me." He laugh with her, enjoying the exchange.

"You know I wouldn't believe you, even if you did." Katniss, surprisingly, jokes again and Ceaser laughs even harder.

"I love her!" Ceaser exclaims, "the firl on fire is so cheeky!" He slowly turns more serious, "but Katniss, on a more serious note. I think we're all a little disappointed, more than a little disappointed, that a certain wedding did not take place. We all hoped to celebrate a double wedding this year. Didn't we folks? Alas. But am I correct in assuming that this is the gown that you would have worn on that day, yes or no?"

As Ceaser speak, I watch Katniss tensing.

"Yes, president Snow thought everyone would want to see it." Katniss answer, with a fake sweet smile at the end.

"Well, President Snow, as usual, was right. Was he not, folks?" He cheers. "I love it! I love it! Don't you love it, folks? It's incredible. It's so gorgeous. Will you do us the honour? Please? Please? Please?"

Ceaser looks like a child asking for candy as he steps back a little to let Katniss have more space to spin.

I tense up in my seat, glance slightly to Cinna next to me.

As Katniss spins her dress, as expected, catches on fire... but it's burning the dress now, I look at Cinna questioning then back at Katniss.

The dress burns to the point of having wings appearing on her...

"It's a bird!" Ceaser exclaims, trying to guess, "it's got feathers. It's like a bird..."

I recognise the Mockingjay.

I look at Cinna, then at Haymitch, who has a stern look on his face.

"Your stylist certainly has outdone himself this time, hasn't he?" Ceaser comments, shock written all over his face, " what theatricality! Cinna!" He then calls, "take a bow!"

The cameras are now on Cinna who stands and takes all the applauses the crows is giving him.

But Snow is not going to like it...

I pretend to cheer like everyone else, but inside I'm scared, defeated...

As the cheers die down a little, to let Katniss exit the stage and join the other tributes, we sit back down and I feel Cinna taking my hand to give it a reassuring squeeze before letting go. A way of saying "it's okay."

Once Peeta gets on stage, Ceasar doesn't waste any more time and asks again about the wedding.

"But, Peeta, the wedding, the marriage, never to be?" He asks.

"Well, actually, we got married." The crowd whispers and gasps, "in secret." He adds.

Nice move, Peeta.

"A secret wedding?" Ceasar asks with a laugh. "All right. Do tell."

"We want our love to be eternal."

A bunch of 'awws' erupt from the audience.

"You know, Katnis and I, we've been luckier than most. And I wouldn't have any regrets at all if it weren't... if..." he starts to stutter.

I wonder what he has in mind, I again try to look for answers in Haymitch, but he is just as interested as I am.

"If it weren't for what? What?" Ceasar urges him.

"If it weren't for the baby." Peeta finally says.

The audience explodes at this. People shouting, gasping, waving their hands, ceasar tries to contain the situation, but fails.

I see Peeta looking towards us, with the faintest smirk and me and Haymitch nod at him, quite surprised.

"Did you suggest it?" Haymitch asks.

"Nope." I say, "you?"

"Neither."

Ceaser motion for Peeta to join the others, clearly he has no idea what to do to calm the people, who simply keep on screaming to stop the games.

But as Ceasar keeps trying to contain the theater, the tributes behind him grab each other's hands to raise them together.

This fills my heart with hope, but the lights are cut off soon and the whole room falls into darkness.

-----------------

I can't help my bouncing leg as we all wait for Plutarch to come out and tell us the fate of the games.

"He won't cancel them." I whisper to Haymitch, making sure the other mentors and guards can't listen, "not now that he has a chance to kill her for good."

"I know." He sighs, patting my legs.

"And Cinna.." I choke out.

"I know, I know."

The doors open and Plutarch comes out with a look that doesn't bring good news.

"The games are still on." He simply says before walking off.

Everyone, walk away to the elevators.

We meet Effie on the way.

"So?" She asks and we shake our heads, "oh poor kids..."

The elevator ride to 12 is silent.

We find Katniss and Peeta in the living room.

"Baby bomb was a stroke of genius." Haymitch starts, I nod, "Unfortunately, games are still on. This is a goodbye, for now."

Katniss nods, determined and defeated at the same time.

"Presents." Effie chimes in, I can see her eyes are humid though, "for you three."

She hands me, Haymitch and Peeta a small box.

"What is this?" Haymitch asks, opening his box and finding inside a golden bracelet resembling flames, I open mine and find a golden ring, similar to Haymitch's bracelet.

"Your token, remember?" Effie tells him, "hair for me, pin for Katniss. Gold bangle for you, gold ring for Y/n and for Peeta the medallion we talked about."

"Thank you, Effie." Peeta says, voice soft with gratitude.

"We're a team." She says, "aren't we?"

I can tell she cares so much about this two, it warms my heart.

Katniss nods, giving her a sweet smile.

"Of course we are." I agree.

"And I am so proud of my Victors," she says, hugging Peeta, "so proud" she hugs Katniss, "you both deserved so much better." She's fully crying now, so I gently rub her back, "I am truly sorry."

She lets out one last small sob and walk away leaving us four.

"Thank you, both." Peeta hugs Haymitch while Katniss wraps her arms around me.

"Thank you, Y/n. Really." She whispers and I nod, giving her one last squeeze before letting go.

I turn to hug Peeta.

"Don't lose yourself in there, okay?" I ask.

"Never." He hugs me tightly, "Thank you."

We pull away, I give him a smile, both to assure him and to give me strength.

"Any last advice?" Katniss asks Haymitch.

"Stay alive." He answers.

And we both walk away, though Katniss calls Haymitch back and I keep going towards the elevator.

To district 4 apartments.

I step into the room, looking around, I hear someone coming and my eyes lock with Mags'. With just one look, she knows why I'm here.

She walks to me to embrace me, squeezing me tighter to assure me she's okay.

I pull away to look at her.

"I'm sorry." I whisper and she shakes her head, puts a hand on her heart and hugs me one more time before walking away.

Soon after Finnick comes out, clearly looking for me. He softly smiles at me and shrugs.

"Hey," he greets, "think positively... You'll get to see me in action again."

I roll my eyes, I still keep a distance, none of us dare to step closer.

"Don't do anything stupid." I warn him.

"As if..." He's still smiling, "you got me out once. I trust you."

I nod, my eyes burn and I blink to keep the tears at bay.

"Stay alive long enough to let me." I say, softly, he nods.

We stay silent for a moment. I'm scared, I don't know what could happen in the arena, I don't know if any of the threats will hurt him, I don't know if he will survive...

I rush to him, I hug him tightly and he immediately reciprocates, holding me to him.

I don't need him to speak to know all he wants to say. That everything is going to be okay, that we will get them all out, that we will finally go to 13 and start this rebellion... just like I don't need him to speak to know he's scared, just like me.

I don't want to let go, I just want to stay like this, in the warmth of his arms.

He kisses the top of my head, giving me one last squeeze before pulling away just enough to look at me.

"I trust you." He repeats, "my love."

I nod, determined to get him and everyone out of there.

I see him moving a hand to my face, wiping away a tear I haven't noticed. He keeps the hand there and I really wish I could just give in... for once.

Thankfully, or not, we hear the elevator's doors opening so we pull away, I quickly wipe my face from any possible tear and pull myself together.

"Is there any... oh!" Cal's voice makes me jump, I wasn't expecting him at all, "My princess! What are you doing here?"

I can sense his tone is accusatory and I don't like it, not one bit.

"I was simply wishing him and Mags good luck for the games, Cal." I quickly explain, I can see in the corner of my eyes Finnick nodding his head, forcing out his confident smile.

"Aw... how sweet." Cal says, flatly, which means he is either not convinced or he doesn't like it, both option aren't good.

"But what are you doing here?" I ask, walking to him.

"Oh you know," he starts, wrapping an arm around me, possessively, "general's duties to perform. After the caos in the theatre we wanted to make sure there were no more... inconveniences." He says looking straight at Finnick, whose expression turns serious, angry.

"Well, as you can see, everything is in order." I tell him, putting a hand on his chest, maybe this will distract him.

"Is it?" Again with the accusatory tone.

"Of course." I smile, "why wouldn't it be?"

Cal considers me for a moment, that seems endless, he then smiles, as if to appease me.

"No reason, of course." He turns to look at Finnick, tightening his grasp on me, "May the odds be ever in your favour."

"Thanks, Cal." Finnick nods, " I can't wait to be back to you."

Finnick says this both to show Cal he's not scared and also as a message for me.

"Neither can I." Cal say through gritted teeth.

He then walks back to the elevator, dragging me to with him.

I take one last glance at Finnick, his fists clenching, he winks at me before I have to turn away from him.

Cal's arm is still around me when the doors close.

"Is there anything you want to tell me?" He asks.

"Uhm... no?" I pretend to be confused, "why? Is something wrong?"

I turn to face him, but his hand is suddenly grabbing me by the neck, pushing me against the elevator's wall. My eyes widen and immediately hold his wrist to push him off.

"You wouldn't lie to me, would you, my sweetness?" He asks, with a sweet tone, which terrifies me even more.

"No... Cal..." I weakly mutter out.

"No?" He asks again.

"Of... of course not." I keeo try to push him away, "you're.. you're hurting me, Cal." I choke out.

"I hope you enjoy your little job..." he move his face closer to mine, "because once we're married... you belong to me, my princess, do you understand?" He growls, and I nod, "say it."

"I... I understand." Speaking feels so hard.

"Good girl." He smiles.

"Let... let go..." I ask, never once stopped pushing at his hand.

"Your fight is one of the things I love the most about you, you know?" He whispers, his lips too close to mine now, "but I won't tolerate it much longer."

I nod in understanding.

"Yes... C-cal." I say, after he slightly glared at me.

"Good girl." He says before kissing me.

He lets my neck go and I gasp for air, pushing him away as I catch my breath. His hand find its way into my hair, he grabs it and pulls me up again.

"Have a good night, tomorrow's is a big day." He whispers into my ear.

He leaves a kiss on my cheek, and thankfully the doors open again to the first floor, and he steps out of the elevator.

I still catch my breath, but when the doors close, I collapse on the floor. I can't keep in the sobs forming in my throat. I softly caress the skin of my neck, it's going to bruise tomorrow, I'll have to ask Effie to help me cover it up.

I take a very deep breath, pull the jacket around and wait for the elevator to arrive back to 12.

Everything is quiet and dark, maybe everyone is asleep, so I walk into the kitchen to get some water.

"Hey."

I jump and turn around, Peeta looks at me alarmed. I let out a sigh of relief once I see him.

"Sorry... hi." I say.

"Are you okay?" He cautiously walks closer.

"Yeah... yeah, I'm okay, Peeta." I tell him, I notice his eyes are on my neck and I quickly cover it.

"What happened?" He asks.

"Nothing, really don't worry about me." I smile at him.

"You remember my first night here?" He asks and I nod, sighing as I already know what he's hinting at, "I asked you not to worry about me, but you ignored me, stayed and helped me feel better."

"That was different," I try to smile, "you were about to face death. I'm not."

"But you're my friend." He states.

I look at him, it warms my heart, I know we all created a bond, but hearing him openly calling me a friend makes my heart ache in a good way.

I sigh, deciding to just tell him.

"I met Cal in the elevator." I say, "he found me talking to Finnick and... he definitely didn't like it." I see him opening his mouth to say something, "I'm okay. And I can handle him."

"It... it shouldn't be like that..."

"Just like you all being thrown into an arena to fight for your life." I sadly smile, "I'm okay, Peeta, really."

He nods, gives me one last look, to check on me, and walks back to his room.

I sit in the kitchen, still caressing the skin of my neck. It hurts. I let the tears fall freely.

I need this to go well, we all need this to go well, I don't think I would survive this time if I lose them all...

I wouldn't want to survive.

[redflagshipwriter]

Hi, it's Tim (just Tim) Chapter 4

Masterpost

Tim paid cash for a mid range hotel room. He had to use his ID, so the odds weren't zero that it was eventually going to be found when the hotel registered their current guests. But there was nearly infinite data out there. Not even Barbara could monitor every upload in real time.

Kon was hovering a nervous centimeter off the ground behind him when Tim swiped the door open. He flicked his eyes down pointedly and raised a single eyebrow. Subtle much?

“Thanks,” Kon said, apparently misinterpreting that as an invitation to enter first.

Ah well. Tim walked in second and surveyed the room. They'd been given a two queen setup. He gave the one near the window a disdainful look. Like he'd be caught dead directly under a viable entrance. That was just begging for some dickbag to shoot a bazooka at you, like what happened to that one mask creep a couple weeks back.

Kon plopped down on the bed by the window and posed, crossing one ankle over his knee.

“I thought you were going to get supplies so we can stay in?” Tim said, knowing he was ruining Kon’s attempt at seduction.

Kon stared blankly for a moment and then flipped up in a way a human never could. “That's right. What do we need?”

“Two boxes of poptarts, two pizzas, a pack of bottled coffee- I'll write down my preferred brand.” Tim ripped off the first page of hotel stationery and started scribbling out his list. Hmm. He looked at it and made some changes so that Alfred would be less upset at him. He wrote ‘vegetable’ before pizza and added “bottled water”. Tim looked over his list once more, frowning slightly in concentration. He was hoping to hole up here for 24 hours or until a bat came and dragged him out, whichever came first. Would this be enough food for Kon?

“How much do you eat?”

“Uh-”

“Daily calorie intake?” Tim clarified.

Kon blinked at him. “I eat until I'm not hungry, man.”

Tim sighed. “Make sure to get some things that you like too,” he prompted. He moved over to where Kon was still hovering over the bed and folded the paper into neat quarters. Kon watched curiously as Tim stepped to the edge of the bed and leaned over slightly to tuck the paper into his jacket pocket.

Then he dug his wallet out of his back pocket and did some quick calculations. “Use the blue-green card,” he decided. “PIN is 8516, if you need it. How fast can you fly without a human passenger?”

Kon rattled off numbers.

Tim nodded decisively. “Good. Can you use the card like, two cities over? Make sure to stay off of camera,” he clarified. “So my family doesn't spot you and realize it's not me.”

He took a moment to consider how Bruce would react if he thought Tim was missing and someone else was accessing his money.

Hmm. Tim frowned. “Be really careful to stay off camera,” he amended. He reached around and put his wallet in Kon’s back pocket. “I think that's all.”

He was going to have a hell of a time explaining this and paying for it. Tomorrow.

“Okay,” Kon said, strangled. He was gone in a blink.

Tim took the time to do a proper check of the room for surveillance equipment and any biohazards. It came up clean, or clean enough, considering it was a hotel room. He plugged his phone in on the bedside table without turning it on. It was just a burner but Bruce would check for it eventually. He didn't need to make it easier.

Knock knock

Tim heaved himself up silently and padded to confirm if it was Kon without a key, an assassin, paparazzi, or (worst of all) Dick.

It was Kon. He opened the door.

“Thanks man.” Kon breezed in and started unloading bags at high speed. Tim watched his teammate open up the mini fridge and start packing in coffees. He smiled. Then Kon started putting in vegetable puree style juice. Tim frowned. A bunch of bananas and “What even is that?” Tim complained. “A potato? You brought a potato?”

Kon gave him a piteous look. “It's a mango, Tim.”

Tim crossed his arms. “I don't see why we need it,” he muttered suspiciously. It still looked like a potato. He knew all about potatoes. Maybe Kon just ate raw potatoes like a- like a chicken or something.

“Why…” Kon smiled in disbelief and shook his head a little. “You don't have to eat it. You might like it, though.”

He chose to keep his thoughts on that to himself.

Kon let out a delighted laugh anyway and floated over, dubious potato still in hand. “Don't be so grumpy, baby,” he crooned.

Tim huffed. “I am not grumpy,” he lied. “I am just rightfully suspicious of unidentified produce in my vicinity-”

“I identified it,” Kon pointed out. He leaned down and brushed hair off of Tim’s face. “I promise it's a mango. Let me give you a taste?”

Ugh. Fine.

Kon rightfully took his posture as agreement. He looked under his eyelashes coyly as he peeled some skin off- and okay, that didn't look like a potato. Tim relaxed a little. Kon brought the mango up. Tim leaned towards it but Kon brought it to his own mouth and took a bite, releasing a sweet scent into the air. He swallowed. He put the mango down and crowded into Tim.

Oh. Tim realized where this was going. He smirked up at Kon and trailed his fingers up the bigger boy's biceps. God, they were enormous. When Kon leaned down, Tim lifted his face to match their lips together.

They were soft and- weirdly big. Tim wrapped a hand around Kon’s neck to pull him down more firmly so he could explore the new feeling. Was that how it just felt to kiss someone with bigger lips than yours? He licked the bottom one and dug his fingers into Kon’s scalp. Kon sighed and slid his hot hands around Tim’s back. Fuck. Tim pressed back into them. The one spanned the back of his whole waist and the other was splayed over both of his shoulder blades. Fuck.

Unfortunately, Kon took the movement as asking for an end. He broke the kiss and took a step back, eyes hazy. Tim let his hands drop to his sides. “How was the mango?” He asked, husky.

Tim had to take a moment to process. “I have no idea.” He squeezed his hands into fists. “I didn't notice that at all.”

Kon preened.

Ah. Tim frowned. He should have realized that would fuel Kon’s ego. “Are you hungry?” He checked.

Kon blinked. “No, not really.”

“Good.” Tim fisted the lapels of Kon’s jacket. He pulled in to get Kon off balance– and Kon let him. Tim pushed back. Kon went backwards onto the bed with pure confusion on his face. Tim swallowed a laugh and crawled into Kon’s lap. He knew he was making the smug expression that Stephanie had hated in bed, but Kon didn't seem put off at all. “Can I?”

Kon swallowed. “Y-yeah.”

[madaims]

Hi Aims💖 For the Good Omens Themed Asks:

hot chocolate Queen South Downs Cottage?

Aww thank you Mari! 🥰

Sorry this took a while, I’m an idiot who doesn’t check their inbox.

Hot Chocolate: So my favourite comfort food/drink…. Hmmm…. 🤔 Food would be those potato smiley faces and my favourite comfort drink would be a proper cup of tea with milk and sugar.

Queen: My top 5 favourite bands/artists are… Queen (strangely enough), David Bowie, Fall Out Boy, Panic at the Disco and Fleetwood Mac.

South Downs Cottage: My ideal happy ending would be… Aziraphale and Crowley finally managing to help fix Heaven and Hell for good (or bad in Hell’s case), and then officially retiring as representatives of their respective companies; still keeping their powers and immortality. I want them to finally tell each other the “L” word, have that lovely kiss that they deserve, get married and move into their cottage in the South Downs. It will start and end in a garden. The ending garden will be theirs, we’ll see Crowley out in the garden working the land and Aziraphale sat reading, drinking tea in the shade. I want it to end with them, both arms around each other, Crowley covered in dirt and sweat from the garden, Aziraphale all cosy in his little old man clothes and them just gazing lovingly at their world (each other). Then they turn and look out at their garden and the camera pans out and their garden is hugeeeeeee and goes on for miles! The End. Then the credits sequence shows images of them getting up to shenanigans with other characters we’ve seen through the series as the theme tune plays. Then hopefully there’s an end of credits scene where it’s just them in the cottage and they are sat in their living room, holding hands, having a bit of banter as the screen fades to black.

Yeah I wrote a lot. Basically a South Downs ending and a little bit more hopefully? 🙏🙏🙏

Manifesting Season 3!! 😇😈

Thanks @sabotage-on-mercury 💛

Ask subjects are here if anyone else wants to ask:

[sims3fiend]

Sims 3 performance tweaks

OLD OLD OLD OLD OLD OLD OLD OLD

GO HERE INSTEAD THANKS BYE

Updated 24/11/23 - RIP DXVK 😭for now

Updated 12/10/23 :) - added some more details, including important info about ObjectSizeCullFactor, which could be the holy grail for potato PCs. Also updated the linked files.

I figured I'd make a proper blog post instead of just random scattered discord posts. Here are some of the things I've done to improve my sims 3 performance, and (mostly) remove stuttering, as well as some stuff to increase the graphics quality. I don't know how accurate any of this is, but it's helped my game a lot  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Please note that I have a 2070, and I would recommend having >2gb for your GPU if using these tweaks (and just in general). While these settings and tweaks might help you if you're on an older card, I have no way of really checking that.

This guide is mostly focused on reducing stutter, with a few tips thrown in for reducing memory usage for the girlies with the large luxurious games and Error 12 problems.

Stutter?

Stutter (or frame drops) are sadly a part of the sims 3, th-e-y're th-e frequ-ent hitches where the game "freezes" for a second, often when moving the camera.

The main tweaks will help reduce stuttering while the game is paused, sadly while playing the game, you're still gunna chug along. Object and sim loading/unloading/displaying/hiding causes a large amount of the stutter, so unless you have an older computer, most of the graphics settings aren't going to help you, but will (in a few cases) help with reducing memory usage.

If you'd like to try this out, there's the (top secret super hidden) config value prop $ConfigGroup ForceHighLODObjects 1, which forces everything to high LOD, which should make the game overall a whole lot smoother both paused and unpaused (high detail lots will still lag it when loading tho) compared to the default settings. Just add a new line under one of the settings fields with it in. Do not use this in your normal gameplay unless playing in a small map, as it greatly increases memory usage. Looks real pretty though.

!!THESE CHANGES SHOULD BE MADE ON TOP OF A GraphicsRules.SRG FILE THAT SUPPORTS YOUR GRAPHICS CARD!!

Either download one that has been updated, update it yourself, or use the tool. No longer providing my own but might in the future.

Main Performance Tweak - LODs

The main setting that helped alleviate most stuttering for me was RenderSimLODDistances in the GraphicsRules.srg file (\The Sims 3\Game\Bin). Essentially we change it to load the low quality LOD models from muuuch further.

prop $ConfigGroup RenderSimLODDistances "70, 70, 9999999, 9999999"

The values for this are highres lot distance, highres world distance, low lot, low world. In an ideal world we would be able to max out high res, but due to how the culling works, that just increases stuttering. I would also recommend turning off ForceActiveLotObjectsToHighLOD if you're using high detail lots > 1, and MinSimLOD to 0

I recommend tweaking the highres values if you get lag when zooming in.

For more memory

I would HIGHLY recommend dropping ActiveLODLimit and ObjectSizeCullFactor, as they are a much better way of reducing loaded in assets. You can be fairly ruthless with them, I recommend dropping ObjectSizeCullFactor down to <75~, and ActiveLODLimit (dunno if this actually does anything) the same (too low and the game will never load). Raise it up if you're noticing pop-in. IIRC your household lot loads everything regardless(?)

If you're frequently running into Error 12, or playing large households, I, sadly, recommend keeping "Max Detail Lots" at 1. I would also recommend DropTexMipsOnLoad = 0 (shouldn't help but it does), and maybe tweaking some of the texture sizes to lower res, depending on your preferences (a lot get crushed anyway). Other options like culling and LOD distances have basically no impact on overall memory use and are safe to increase. Make sure you're also using my memory notifier/freer thing too ;^)

Graphics

Things that didn't have any/much of a performance impact but make the game look better (in my opinion)

Clip planes

Bane of my existence

prop $ConfigGroup ClipPlaneMapViewDistances "1.0, 12000.0" This is basically how far you can see, I recommend raising this, as I noticed 0 performance hit at all, and I like to be able to see the pretty maps (You'd be surprised at how good some look!). Some maps look a little scuffed with it maxed out, or have seams, however this can be reduced with…

Fog

FogDistances I have mine set to FogDistances "300, 600, 3000, 8000" and FogCurveModifier "9, 1" This is personal preference, and I'd recommend playing around with it to find something that works for your world and clip distance. Neither options have any noticeable performance impact for me (objects still load regardless of clip/fog distance).

AllowImpostorUnload no clue what this does, I set it to false

Trees

Max em out

setting $VeryHigh prop $ConfigGroup RenderTreeLargeLODDistances "-100, 999999, 10, 3300" prop $ConfigGroup RenderTreeSmallLODDistances "-100, 999999, 10, 3300" prop $ConfigGroup RenderTreeShrubLODDistances "-100, 999999, 10, 3300" prop $ConfigGroup RenderTreeGroundLODDistances "-100, 999999, 10, 3300"

There's no real reason not to. You could change the values so it loads the low(er) res ones further away and then higher ones in after, but the performance hit was nothing for me. Having all the trees there looks reaaaallllyy nice on some towns.

Random other tweaks

Things I changed from default ShadowMapSize 4096 - I think this does something??? 🤷

prop $ConfigGroup TextureSizeThreshold 4096 prop $ConfigGroup RttSizeSmall 1024 prop $ConfigGroup RttSizeLarge 2048

these don't really have any impact, but in my mind it makes sense to increase them

DXVK and dxwrapper

!!!! THIS MIGHT NOT WORK FOR EA LAUNCHER IDK !!!

UPDATE: I no longer recommend DXVK due to it increasing overall memory usage, having said that, dxwrapper is still very nice, I'd recommend using it over LazyDuchess's ASI loader. Keeping this here down the bottom just in case.

If you are using dxvk, I use(d) dxvk-async but you should be fine to use the main repo. On top of this I use dxwrapper for the exception handling features.

One thing you'll have to keep in mind is Your Options.ini file will need to be remade if using dxvk since it looks like you've installed a new GPU.

To install, just shove the right dll's into your \The Sims 3\Game\Bin folder - d3d9.dll for dxvk, everything from dxwrapper and the ddraw.dll from its Stubs folder. If you're using Smooth Patch, which you should be, it's okay to delete the ddraw provided with it, as dxwrapper can do .asi plugin loading itself (LoadPlugins = 1 in ini). You should see a few new files pop up when you launch the game if installed correctly, dxwrapper.log and TS3W.dxvk-cache

If you're using reshade, rename the reshade dll to dxgi.dll

depth buffer might not work, I'm not 100% sure, so keep that in mind

[tiikerikani]

Eiryss, Angel of Retribution by Privateer Press for Warmachine

(this model is discontinued, hence linking to its game stats page)

I wanted a winter theme for this, so I knew it had to be blues and greys. I was going to do a more realistic white/grey snow camo but adding the blue gives it better contrast against the grey stone (I mean it's the point of camo to blend in but this is an art piece) and ties it to the rest of her outfit.

I could psychoanalyze here about why I paint the sorts of characters that I do... (there is definitely a rhyme and reason to it) ...but I won't ;)

Here's some WIP pictures.

I spent so much time filing down the 2 pieces of the base so the brick pattern would align across them and it still doesn't, but you don't really notice it because the misalignments are between the front and back of the model. Those 2 pieces didn't fit together very well either, so I had to fill in that big gap across the top.

It looks like people usually assemble this so the right hand is a little bit higher. I rested the crossbow on her thigh just because I prefer having 2 points of contact (over spending time drilling holes for pins) and I think it looks a bit more natural.

And a couple of pictures before I ruined it putting the snow on... the snow looks way better in the pictures than it actually is; I'll try to fix it once I actually get some proper texture/flock.

(The light box really brings out the potato in my potato phone camera, doesn't it.)

[wardrobeoftime]

what do you think about hotd costumes?

Some people think these ara bad.

What is your opinion?

I think the word bad is too simple to express my feelings because they are quite complex. In general, I think season 02 improved to season 01 and I really like a lot of costumes. But let's start on the fandom attitude.

I saw people criticising that Alicent has too many costumes and then also that characters rewear clothes too often. It feels like you can't please the fandom whatever you do. I personally don't support either opinion. Costumes should be worn more than once, to safe money but also storywise. Even in universe all clothes are handmade and throughout our own history clothes were not only worn once, even by the wealthiest people, but altered and refashioned again and again. I wish however, we saw the alteration part a bit more. Game of Thrones for example added further embroidery to many of Cersei's dresses for the second and third season and gave them a different look this way. I think some of the first season's costumes could be altered to fit the actors better as well as the new art direction.

Which I agree is bad is actually the quality of many season 01 costumes but we must not forget this was a Covid season and we don't know how much budget was actually allocated to costumes. From what I read and saw, they couldn't really do proper fittings due to social distancing. So costumes not fitting 100% became only worse with the unfortunate choice of some of the fabrics which looked cheap on camera, e.g. Alicent's red & black dress or Rhaenyra's golden dress that some dubbed the potato sack dress which I found hilarious. I don't know how to fix Rhaenyra's tbh but Alicent's dress in velvet or brocade would have looked amazing in my opinion. I will still cut the designer and costume department some slack since we don't know budgeting. Covid safety measures were for example so expensive that Good Omens season 02 cut its episode lengths from 60 to 45 minutes to budget for them. House of the Dragon definitely didn't safe on the special effects, actors or set building from what I saw, so my best guess is that costuming got way less founding than we'd expect. Still I think some dresses worked out well, like young Rhaenyra's orange dress and the brown coat or older Rhaenyra & Alicent's dresses at the last dinner with Viserys.

In conclusion, I don't think they are bad or the people making them lack talent. I think the fandom is impossible to please and there were outside factors that influenced decisions to the worse. But overall these costumes are fine and are doing their jobs. I personally can't wait to see what they'll do for the third season.

(Off topic but I also think people are talking way too bad about Reign's clothes and only superficially look at the first few episodes. But that's a topic for another day.)

[celestialmazer]

Foo Fighters

Hampden Park, Glasgow 17.06.24

Certainly and expectedly the most emotional concert I've ever been to for so many reasons (crying/welling up well into the double digits throughout 😂)

Got spooky for me too the times Josh sounded like Taylor but was blocked by the crowd and my mind's eye was just filling in the blanks with memory 🫠🙃

Important notes:

(woke up with a really sore lower back for no reason the day before which hadn't eased, but tbh - standing for hours on end aside - my subdued movements matched the expected overall vibe of tentatively sombre initially meets let's go fucking mental when the mood takes us! Lots of first timers in the crowd too so a bubbling sense of the unknown pervaded ✨ surrounded by almost entirely good sorts including a wildcard wee lady who appeared out of nowhere when the music started, ready to thrash so hard her hair got my eyeball and mouth at one point 😂 the most polite vibe tall guy I've ever come across at a gig and the most hilariously polite off-their-nuts group excusing themselves to go to and from mosh pit area, one had a comedy large backpack which I reckon he needed as a travelling apothecary)

• Rami aced his intro again by playing Flower of Scotland - it's an easy win that is always going to work 😂 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

• At this performance Josh's t-shirt read

"God gave rock and roll to you Satan wants it back"

• And couldn't quite get a pic that captures it properly but Rami had a lil guy with a hat labelled executive potato I think 🤷😂🥔💗 (Very last image)

ICYMI - didn't notice this detail during the concert, found out after, but for a brief moment during My Hero the headlight of the big red delicious turned to projecting a hawk �� - had one accidental photo of it which I've made more obvious. Proper video link from Foo Fighters live below

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C8frGS0SCIy/?

Treated to a walkway performance of Skin and Bones (written in Scotland during a T in the Park turns out!), Under You (Dave still didn't quite manage through this time but keeps trying! 🥲) and Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners!! (and he shared he only later discovered the trapped miners requested an iPod of Foo Fighters not cos they were big fans but cos they wanted something to drown out the drilling 🤣) (and we found the German man at the front of the queue got to! 😂🙌 Like a Euros exchange programme)

Violet Grohl came out for her tour debut to sing Show Me How, such a pretty voice 💜

Aurora dedicated to Taylor 🥹😭

Dave swigging some Buckfast - had no concept of what it was when a photo went viral a while back so became an accidental, begrudging spokesmodel - thinks it's actually not that bad 😂

The Teacher visuals were beautiful, emotional, psychedelic and felt like they crossed realms which... was a lot 🙃

Have literally never seen Nate look so buzzing as coming up for this bow 👏 🙌 the chill had set in so Pat got a hoodie on and was milking his exit 💗 thrown sticks and picks landed nearby, quickly snatched up but not by us

Sooo, we realised we practically filmed the whole concert between us - a great distraction attempt from crying 😂 so have put a playlist up for posterity... swithering about going through the digital camera archives and filing in the gaps in my upload history, but that's so far down the current to do list it's unreal (would've been unstoppable if I'd got a smartphone years ago at concerts, lol)

Supported by Honey Blood and Courtney Barnett

Tour: Everything or Nothing at All

Setlist

1. All My Life

2. No Son of Mine

(with snippets of "Paranoid" by Black Sabbath and "Enter Sandman" by Metallica)

3. Rescued

4. The Pretender

5. Walk

6. Times Like These

(Dave and Rami only into full band)

7. White Limo

8. La Dee Da

9. This Is a Call

10. Guitar Solo / Sabotage / Keyboard Solo / Flower of Scotland / Blitzkrieg Bop / Whip It / March of the Pigs

11. My Hero

(acoustic into full band)

12. The Sky Is a Neighborhood

13. Learn to Fly

14. Arlandria

15. These Days

16. Skin and Bones

(tour debut; acoustic with Rami on accordion)

17. Under You

(Dave solo acoustic)

18. Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners

(acoustic into full band)

19. Nothing at All

(with a snippet of "Blackbird" by The Beatles)

20. Unconditional

21. Monkey Wrench

(with added audience “Here We Fucking Go” and “No Scotland No Party")

22. Show Me How

(with Violet Grohl) (tour debut)

23. Aurora

(dedicated to Taylor Hawkins)

24. Best of You

Encore:

25. The Teacher

26. Everlong

Oh and we got our pic in the paper as we were there and getting merch so early on the photographer asked us (his first fans of the day) and we were like ...😐 Why not 😂 (cue wind and sun)

https://www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/news/scottish-news/24393473.crowds-foo-fighters-fans-arriving-glasgows-hampden/

[rattlyglitch]

The Secret's to Tell

Epel walked out of the mirror to the Pomefiore dorm wearing a dark teal suit with a white undershirt and a black tie. He couldn’t express how happy he was when the clothes on his bed were a suit and not some more wavy outfit like the one Vil had chosen to wear. Vil followed close behind Epel in a dark purple long-sleeved shirt with ruffled cuffs, black pants, flats, and a black shoulder cape. “Are you trying to look like a king or something?”

Vil simply shook his head no. “That is not the point of this outfit. Anyways baby potato are you ready to go? Our ride is waiting outside one of the school mirrors in the mirror chamber and Headmaster Crowley permitted us to leave.” Epel took a deep breath in before releasing it slowly and gave a nod. “I’m ready, let's get this started.” Vil gave Epel a soft smile before the two began their walk towards the mirror chamber. During the walk, Vil and Epel were silent not speaking a word to the other but once they entered the limo Vil looked at Epel with a calm expression.

“I can see that your nerves are getting the best of you, Epel. If you would like it may be possible for me to change your outlook on this event. Epel looked at Vil desperately. “Please do. I don’t know why but I really can’t see this whole thing different from the first day the class met Professor Crewel.” Epel knew he would be of interest to whoever was at the event. If he had to guess from what Rook said Vil wasn’t usually seen at athletic events and he had brought a guest with him to it.

“Think about everyone you might see as a customer that you're selling apple juice to. You have to be kind and proper in your responses but remember to not lose face. I will do most of the talking for you but there will be questions I am not able to divert from you.” Epel gave an understanding nod. “Will I have to answer any odd questions? I prefer tha I didn’. I don’ like a thinkin about all tha personal stuff.” Epel nervously twiddled his thumbs around each other waiting for an answer. Vil shook his head.

“You shouldn’t have to. Your name and the school we go to should suffice for personal questions. Just make sure you don’t slip back into your accent in a spout of nervousness. That will just make you of more interest and gain you more questions.” Epel felt the limo come to a stop after Vil had finished talking. Vil was helped out of the limo and Epel soon followed after. “Now Epel make sure to smile,” Vil said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Epel smiled confused but understood what Vil met when he was met with several people who had flashing cameras. He kept smiling as the two entered a building that was called “The Spelldrive Museum”. Most questions were directed towards Vil who managed to answer them with ease. “Who is the guest you brought with you?” one of the female reporters asked. “My guest's name is Epel Felmier.” ANother reporter looked at Epel.

“Are you a student at Night Raven College Mr.Felmier?” Epel smiled nervously. “ I’m from Night Raven College and in my second year. I’m also on the spelldrive team.” Vil moved to stand in front of Epel, his hand still on his shoulder though. “That is all the questions available to be answered from him. Thank you.” Vil waved to the reporters and Epel did the same as the two walked into the museum. “Wait Mr.Vil we have more questions please-” The doors to the museum closed and Epel sighed in relief. “Those reporters were so loud I couldn’t even hear my own thoughts.”

Vil shrugged in response and took his hand off Epel’s shoulder. “I thought they were rather tame actually. They could have prevented us from entering the museum by blocking the way. They were more civil though. The guards at the door did help though and seemed to be able to comprehend instructions on their job possibly more than those in the past. Now you can lead the way. I’ll follow you to make sure you make it to your intended destination. You are free to look around though. I am not forcing you to remain here. We must go see the spelldrive teams in an hour though to meet them.”

Epel hurried off after he heard what Vil said, not waiting for him. The exhibits were all amazing. Epel was able to marvel at all the different brooms that had been used over the years and even see tactics that had been used by different team members throughout the years. Night Raven College even had an exhibit at the museum. Epel was quick to answer any questions Vil had to ask. Whenever he asked “What does that broom do?” or “Which player used that move?” Epel was able to answer them without fail happily.

Spelldrive was a game Epel had learned from the moment he was born. Vil only interrupted Epel when it was time for them to head over to the teams. You do want to meet them right?” Epel quickly responded with a “Yes!” before the two of them headed over to the teams. Immediately as they walked into the room they were met with reporters. “Mr.Vil, Mr.Felmier did you intend to come here together?” Vil raised a brow. “Of course we did, why wouldn’t we?” A beast woman was next to ask Vil a question. “Mr.Schoenheit, how did you get to know the son of Estelle Fumino?” Vil raised a brow. “My father's ex-fiance never had a son?”

A bear beastman reporter raised his hand. “Does that mean you lied about Epel Felmier’s name?” Vil shook his head no. “That is truly his name, why would I lie about that?” A female reporter spoke up. “Estelle Fumino’s true last name was Felmier. She was responsible for almost ending your father’s career. Could this boy be your half-brother?” Epel felt himself begin to panic.

He always knew that somehow his mother's past would come back to get him. It was hard though to even hear Vil speaking to the reporters over his own thoughts. “There is no possible way that she is related to Epel and he can clarify these misconceptions.” Vil looked down at Epel who only looked up at Vil with terror in his eyes. Epel could see as his housewardens face changed to shock at the realization. “Are they telling the truth, Epel?” Epel gave a small nod.

“I-I’m going to leave.” Epel took off running, not stopping until he reached the limo which still remained in front of the museum, and had closed the door making sure it was locked. Once he was safely inside the limo Epel screamed.

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

[fakegingerrights]

Kiss and Tell ~ Fives

[Enemies to Lovers? I'll raise you another: Enemies and Lovers. Fives x Smuggler!reader]

For all your time, you never quite got used to Republic cells. They were just cold metal and a bench, the red of the rayshield casting an eerie glow over everything as you lay on your back in the middle of the cell, hair splayed out around you. You hear clone voices outside your cell and grin slightly as the rayshield goes down and a familiar armored figure leans against the frame of the cell door.

"I must say, the CIS cell I was in the other day was much more comfortable than this one. They gave me a blanket and there were fresh flowers and a window and everything." You say, looking at the grey featureless ceiling.

"Yeah? Did they catch you with the same contraband we did?" Fives's voice is dry, humoring you.

"Pfft, contraband. No, they wanted me for my connections to the GAR." You spit back, leveling a glare at the ARC trooper you so often dealt with.

A flash of worry crosses Fives face, then he rolls his eyes. "I'd hardly call stealing our medical supplies and weapons on a regular basis 'Connections.' Those were going to support injured troopers on Mimban, you know." Something in his tone stings you.

"Puh-lease." You drawl, pushing up into a sitting position. "The republic is rich. Far richer than poor worlds in the outer rim. They can replace some bandaids and blasters like it's nothing."

Fives snaps. You don't fight as he grabs you under the arms and hoists you up against the wall of the cell, out of sight of the surveillance camera.

"Men are dying out there. My brothers. It could just as easily be me, Troublemaker. They don't have time to wait."

There are bags under his eyes, and his usually neatly trimmed goatee is shadowed by grown out stubble around it. His pale skin makes the 5 tattoo stand out like a bruise on his temple.

"Neither do the people of Lysatra. And you can fight seppies, they have flesh opponents to deal with.” You spit back. “The republic professes peace but all you do is turn a blind eye.”

“That’s not-“

“You fight the CIS, who were peaceful until provoked, but never the openly hostile terrorists. Death watch, the Pikes, The Hutts, Black Sun, Kessel, all of them have flourished.”

“You honestly think I have a kriffing choice? I get tossed around like a hot potato, always waiting for my next mission.” Fives sounds so tired. “And you aren’t making this any easier.”

“You call me Troublemaker for a reason. Now, are we gonna sit here and argue more or can we get on with this show, Trooper.”

Fives sighs heavily. “Always pushing your luck, Mesh’la.” He sets you down and leans against the wall above you. “I told you last time I can’t keep getting you out of this cell.” You smile coyly.

“Well, meet me on Nar Shadda in a week and I’ll trade you intel for a proper reunion.”

The corner of Fives’s mouth lifts and he tilts your chin up to kiss him, the overgrown stubble scratchy against your skin. He bites softly on your bottom lip, then something hot and metallic and distinctly not his teeth presses into your mouth. Fives squeezes your wrist slightly as you tuck the lockpick under your tongue and pulls away, kissing up your cheek until he’s right by your ear.

“Bay 7, I left your ship just as it was. Nothing has been unloaded yet. You have ten minutes, Troublemaker.”

“Thank you.” It’s barely a whisper as you slide your fingers in the gaps of his wrist armor, reveling in the small taste of warmth as your fingers graze his blacks. “I’ll see you on Nar Shadda.”

“You’ll be the death of me. I’ll see you there.” He pulls his wrist away from your grasp and stalks towards the door, glaring at you.

As you smile with the lockpick glinting between your teeth, there’s also the flash of something soft in his eyes.

[ratwars]

Hiiiii Lue

Do you have any tips and tricks on writing gore? Oftentimes when I try to describe injuries it comes out either too medical or too tame

Hi hello Sin 🙏💜 Sry sry for taking a bit to respond my brain is mashed potatoes and when I got your ask all I thought was "make it sound wet" which was a bad answer but I was still onto something with that I think so here is my advice (just thinking to what I do but also since I read a lot of whump which usually has gore though I prefer softer gore to actually heavy gore I pulled from that too) just keep in mind I really don't think I am qualified to give writing advice and I would warn you I am bad at explaining things but you have known me for long enough now that isn't a suprise hopefully. And yet you still asked me this so:

In addition to sight, try focusing on the other senses of the "observer" as well, or the person experiencing the injury if it is from their point of view.

I visualize scenes in my head more like a movie when I write, the words come after. For instance when I wrote the scene with Chuuya tied to the chair (in my current whump fic) I imagined his side cut open, the wet sounds his blood made falling to the floor, the pull of the instrument used to create the wound against flesh, the splatter and where it fell from the weapon, Chuuya slumping but held by the restraints, and this happening again hours later leading to a mixture of old and new blood on the floor. It is more than I included in what I wrote but still very little to do with the physical look of the wound when you come down to it. Instead of describing the exact nature of the injury with knowledge of what caused it, I feel like I wrote it more from the perspective of what a "viewer" would experience if the camera panned to him (even though it was written still from Chuuya's point of view).

Think about the initial impression of the wound in the first few seconds of seeing it. If it is fresh and bleeding the details are going to be obscured, and if it is a grievous wound there will be other things going on, fatty tissue exposed and in places it shouldn't be, ligament showing, bone shards or bone. If you feel like what you wrote was too plain then including things like this might help but I still would keep it somewhat vague, because for most people seeing that is going to be very shocking and they wouldn't pick out details or visualize them to the level of being overly descriptive when it comes to "where" things are or proper terminology for things I don't think.

I like to think about the "feeling" from the scene too. What might my reader feel witnessing this scene/thing I have tried to express. When I write and edit (not just for gore but other key scenes or things I am unsure about) I like to do this and imagine what a person's expressions or reactions might be to what I have created for them and if that matches up with the feeling I want them to have. Imagining how they would react to what they see, then only include the things they would react to (or add things that I think would enhance their reaction, and delete things that don't). I don't get hung up on if I am "accurate" or not with the potential reader's response, it is more a helpful exercise to put myself in someone else's shoes since that does not come naturally for me really.

Describe what's missing instead of a description of what is there. Everyone knows where everything is supposed to be since we all have bodies and look at them all day, and something not being where it is supposed to be causes visceral reactions in people. I can provide real life examples of this too tbh from previous jobs. When someone is horrified or in shock trying to describe to you something that happened, often they focus on what is missing (if something was missing). "His jaw was just gone" "Her foot wasn't there anymore." "The skin was just gone". The idea of this is disturbing and sticks with people, and doesn't require a lot of additional exposition to express the weight of the injury. So even something like "half his face was gone, leaving only a mess of red" to me paints a clear picture of a very grotesque and serious head injury, I can visualize it easily, and it isn't overly specific or medical.

Idk if any of this is helpful but hopefully something in here might be.

[animehouse-moe]

No Longer Allowed In Another World Volume 2: Ningen Shikkaku

The stage is set, a world in front of the characters with infinite futures at their fingertips. All it takes is a single step, one small stroke of a pen to begin. But, since this is a parody series, it goes nowhere and a whole bunch of ridiculous (equal parts comedic and cool) happens. The real question is where to begin?

How about with the titular Osamu Dazai himself? The writer of "No Longer Human" (which this manga's title is a parody of), as well as other novels such as "The Setting Sun" or "The Flowers of Buffoonery", though some may know him as the lead character in Bungo Stray Dogs. Osamu Dazai is a twisted man, himself seeing the irony in his own existence.

Would I say I'm disappointed in his characterization? Sort of, yeah. They sort of glorify his appearance as the suicidal novelist, which I don't really mind, but they drop a lot of his more negative aspects, which I feel help contextualize much of his reason for acting. Without that layer of depravity it feels like Osamu Dazai's.... sort of a good guy? He provides life lessons to those around him, and even supports people for the sake of "good". Without any sort of negative aspect to his character, you don't get the sentiment of pity or salvation that should arise from good deeds. You don't get the feeling that Dazai is acting to absolve himself, to delude himself into believing that he can still be a normal person.

Alas, this is a parody manga and not many people read much of Osamu Dazai's work so I don't really expect much more, but for once I wished to throw my words into the void.

Moving forward, the comedy is still fun, and with a proper direction and foundation under its feet it can do really well. Runnings gags already arise, and the whole straight man act works pretty well for it.

Even though I griped about Dazai's characterization in this manga, I really must admit that it's enjoyable in its own way. I think if you just take the overall "idea" of Osamu Dazai as the suicidal novelist it's very enjoyable. It's just that it's a far cry from Osamu Dazai. His personality is still very prickly, and pivots to focus on scaring others with his actions. In truth, it's miles better than a lot of genuine isekai protagonists, so maybe they should start taking character inspiration from famous historical figures.

While on the topic Osamu's character, I want to drift over into art for a little bit. The overall world is somewhat simplistic, but the characters have a nice degree of charm to them when there's a concept in mind. However, as you can see with the young boy above, when there's not something strong to latch onto, they can end up rather vague and stereotypical. The worst part of the art though is building exteriors. It's well hidden with angles and other details, but they're more than likely just models copied over from some 3D software.

A good example is this great scene. The camera angle, the layout, how it leads the eye and the feeling it elicits is really good, but the buildings (especially the church) stick out like a sore thumb.

Now, the meat and potatoes of this volume: where it's going and what it wants. I've got to say, I think it's a really fun idea that incorporates a name drop for the series and incorporate some of Dazai's passion for writing into it. The idea of the "fallen angels" and exploring the depravity of humanity instead of what wrests inside of Dazai is fun, and having the girl he died with on the other side is a really nice plot point. At this point it's more a matter of how they execute on it if it's able to be good, but I have faith they'll find a way.

All of this said, I really don't think my stance on the series has changed between volumes. No Longer Allowed In Another World isn't a catchall manga, it probably doesn't even have a huge audience. It's a sort of trashy but rather fun isekai parody that plays off a gimmick to establish substance and a comedic routine. If you don't like parodies and non-sequitur humor, this probably isn't something you'll like. If on the other hand though, you do find those aspects interesting, you might enjoy reading this series.

[obsessivedilettante]

January 2023 round-up

Rang in the new year with Mean Girls: The Musical. It was not Wednesday, therefore we did not wear pink. But we did have a great time.

Went to my first concert of the year: P1harmony! We saw them last year and decided these talented puppies* were worthy of adopting, although I can only name all the members for maybe a day or two after the concert. *They are aged 17-21. I just can’t stan a group that young without feeling like I need to pat them on the head and give them a hard candy I found at the bottom of my granny purse.

Binged the following TV shows whilst becoming a feral couch potato with SAD:

She-Hulk. I knew this show was meant for me when her annoying relative called her “Jenny” and she mumbles that it’s “just Jen.” Girl, I feel you.

Andor. It took me months to get through the first two episodes so I tried it again and this time it stuck and was definitely worth it.

Station 11. Debating if it’s worth reading the book because of how much I enjoyed the show.

Only Murders in the Building (s2). Not as good as season 1, but I like the character growth. And the glitter explosion that I will rewind because it makes me laugh every time. Also technically this was a re-binge because I watched it last year but this was Mum’s turn to binge.

Got my glazed pottery back! Check it out, I’m an artist! You can’t buy quality like that in the shops (probably for good reason, ha).

Bought a new phone to replace my c. 2018 phone. The camera is much much much nicer. I no longer have a permanent watermark from a weird speck of dust(?) that got into the lens. Things focus properly now. I actually enjoy taking photos now!

Bought a lot of proper winter clothes. Not just because we’re having one of the coldest Januarys in decades, but because we’re going on holiday to Antarctica next month. So next month’s round-up will probably be loads more interesting.

[pages-of-us]

Sport Day

The Zane household had been buzzing with excitement ever since the announcement of the upcoming sports day at the kids’ school. Every student was expected to participate, and the school strongly encouraged parents to attend. While Andrew meticulously packed lunches and extra water bottles the night before, Ralph was charging his camera, muttering about needing an extra SD card for "proper documentation."

The kids were equally abuzz. Yazmin, naturally competitive, had been training in the backyard for weeks. Her eyes sparkled with excitement at the thought of dominating every event. Ellias, who was also athletic but less outwardly competitive, was mostly happy to team up with Yaz for the class relay.

Elliot, on the other hand, wasn’t as thrilled. “I’m more of a strategist, not a sprinter,” he’d told Andrew at least five times that week. Still, he’d been seen sketching out potential game plans for his classmates to maximize their chances in the tug-of-war competition.

**********************************************************************

The morning of sports day was a frenzy. Ralph was busy checking and double-checking his camera bag, while Andrew inspected the kids’ uniforms.

“Yaz, your shoelaces are too loose. Let me—”

“Dadda, I’ve got it!” Yazmin said, rolling her eyes but letting him fix them anyway.

Ellias was quietly eating toast in the corner, unbothered by the chaos, while Elliot sat with a clipboard, scribbling last-minute notes for his team.

When they arrived at the school field, it was a sea of color. Classes were organized by grade, each wearing brightly colored shirts. Yaz and Ellias’ class sported a vibrant green, while Elliot’s older grade was in bold red. Parents milled about, finding their seats or chatting in clusters.

Ralph wasted no time setting up camp near the track, his camera slung around his neck. Andrew followed with a bag that could rival a paramedic’s kit, fully stocked with bandages, antiseptic, ice packs, and extra sunscreen.

**********************************************************************

The day started with simpler events—three-legged races, potato sack hops, and a tug-of-war between classes. Yaz and Ellias immediately took the lead in their events, their coordination shining in the three-legged race. Yaz’s determination was fierce, her grin wide as she dragged Ellias forward when he stumbled.

Elliot, meanwhile, had his own moment of triumph during the tug-of-war. His strategic coaching paid off when his class executed a perfectly timed pull that sent the opposing team tumbling into the mud. Andrew and Ralph burst into applause, Ralph loudly cheering, “That’s my boy!” while Andrew clapped enthusiastically and snapped pictures of the victorious team.

**********************************************************************

The highlight of the day came during the relays. Yazmin was up first for her class, and she was electric. The moment the whistle blew, she bolted like a shot from a cannon, leaving the other competitors in her dust.

“GO, YAZ!” Andrew shouted, his voice echoing across the field. Ralph captured the moment through his camera, grinning so wide it hurt his cheeks.

Ellias ran the final leg for their team, his steady pace sealing the victory as their class crossed the finish line first. Yaz tackled her twin in a victorious hug, both of them laughing as their classmates swarmed them in celebration.

Meanwhile, Elliot’s class came in a respectable second. Though not the fastest, their strategy had been flawless, and Elliot’s careful planning was evident. He stood on the sidelines with a small, proud smile as his teammates cheered.

**********************************************************************

The obstacle course was next, and Yaz, true to form, was dominating. But when she tripped on the final hurdle, the crowd collectively gasped. She scrambled to her feet and finished with ease, but Andrew was already halfway out of his seat.

“Sit down, Andrew!” Ralph said, tugging on his arm, but Andrew was determined.

“Yaz! Let me see!” he called, marching to the sideline where Yaz was brushing dirt off her knees.

“Dadda, I’m fine!” she groaned, but Andrew wasn’t convinced.

“It could get infected,” he muttered, pulling out an antiseptic wipe from his bag. Yaz, embarrassed, let him fuss, while Ralph snapped a picture from afar with a laugh.

“Protective much?” one of the other parents joked, and Andrew didn’t even blink.

“Always.”

**********************************************************************

As the day wound down, Yazmin and Ellias’ class was crowned the overall winner of sports day, thanks in no small part to Yaz’s athletic prowess and Ellias’ quiet reliability. Elliot’s class, meanwhile, earned a well-deserved second place, cementing his reputation as the mastermind behind their success.

Ralph couldn’t have been prouder, his camera now nearly full. He clapped Ellias on the back, hugged Yaz tightly, and ruffled Elliot’s hair as he gushed about how amazing they all were.

“You kids make me look good,” he joked, though his voice was thick with genuine emotion.

Andrew, meanwhile, stood off to the side, watching his family with a soft smile. He discreetly wiped a tear from his cheek, but Yaz, ever observant, caught him.

“Dadda, are you crying?” she teased, wrapping her arms around his waist.

“Just a little,” Andrew admitted, laughing through the lump in his throat.

“Thanks for being here, Dadda,” Ellias said quietly, leaning into Andrew’s side.

“Always,” Andrew replied, pulling all three kids into a hug.

**********************************************************************

On the drive back, the car was filled with chatter. Yaz recounted every event in great detail, while Ellias chimed in with his own perspective. Elliot, though quieter, occasionally interrupted with corrections to Yaz’s exaggerated storytelling.

In the front seat, Ralph grinned as he drove, listening to his family. Andrew glanced over at him, his hand resting on Ralph’s arm.

“Good day?” Andrew asked.

“The best,” Ralph replied, his voice warm.

And as the car sped toward home, the Zanes knew they’d remember this sports day for years to come—not for the medals or victories, but for the moments they shared as a family.