#01: charles

[chancedarling]

The 'might be a doc' keeps on with the questions... and while he might have hinted at being on the right track for the briefest of moments, he's now spiralling into obscurity.

"Not unless it was a tournament, no."

Generally, Chance despised the streamers. Sure there were a few that didn't make him want to topple their precious little 'popularity-palaces', but they were few and far between. And the ones he couldn't stomach were now so far beneath his ambitions as to be unworthy of the effort. If it was too easy, then really what was the point. A trivial and trite little victory. Not exactly what Chance was about.

"Nope. But - I do find it helps to loosen up physically... Even though my ability isn't specifically physical. I mean, some of them are. One person can change their size. One person can turn into a wolf. One can teleport through space... But y'know - I think those people should be the ones to talk to you about their abilities direct. Plus... imparitality might give you a unique perspective on things. For your.... Uh... Research."

Have you used it in any other situation?

Yes. Yes he has. But for now, Chance is keeping those cards closer to his chest. He's offered quite enough to Charlie without getting much in return. And other than being a potential information gatherer and self-professed doctor (moderate but limited use so far), Chance isn't exactly sure how much it's worth investing in this guy just yet. How much fruit would that research bear? And if he did manage to glean anything from it, would he be willing to share? Or would he (like most academics) also keep those discoveries close to his chest. And with an unknown ability lingering - there's only so much he'll do to be the friendly cooperative guy... And Chance has just about reached his sharing limit...

"Uh... It's kinda hard to tell really. Like, I could tell you what hand you held your bracelet in, but those choices were wholly yours to make. I didn't influence your choice. I just understood the probabilities."

He does, however, visibly relax as Charles pops the bracelet back onto his wrist. Unstable and unknown powers weren't something to be taken lightly... Even to sate Chance's curiosity. There's a nod at the thanks, Chance raising his brow at the next question...

Ahhh... He's hearing what Chance has to say, but is he really listening.

"Nah man. It feels like caffeine withdrawal when I take the bracelet off. Piercing headache. Like someone is taking an ice pick to my sinuses. Putting it back on is immediate relief. Other people have experienced different things. Whoever made these things made sure to dissuade people from removing them sure enough."

Charlie nodded, he’d heard of twitch, his youngest liked watching streams during the day when she was eating her breakfast. “Those are a lot of abbreviations I cannot make sense of,” he admitted with a slight laugh. “But you must be good at them. Do you also do those live streams?” Or did it have to be “did”, afterall, there was now on the island and a before out in the real world. 

Alas, they were different games. Not games of chance, he suspected. Perhaps something else in Chance’s life that connected to such a thing. Or perhaps it wasn’t chance at all, Chance simply knew how to win his games.

Ever the doctor, Charlie noted the stretching. “Does your neck hurt after using your abilities?” he asked. The explanation was still vague enough, but of course he believed Chance blindly, what reason would anyone have to lie. “I think that already is a good way to explain it, the just knowing. More than a feeling. Perhaps it goes much further than simply guessing games. Have you used it in any other situation?” 

“I will, thank you for your concern and warning,” Charlie said, warmly. He took the bracelet back and put it on his wrist. Chance was right, better he try it out when he was on his own. He did not wish to harm anyone. Though he did not think his power would be anything harmful. Though if it was connected to his job, perhaps? He wouldn’t want to be able to stop someone’s heart on command. “Caffeine withdrawal, interesting. That doesn’t seem to be connected to your ability at all.” 

[blondebrainpowered]

Martin Luther King, Jr., arrested for “loitering,” Montgomery, Alabama, 1958

Photographer: Charles Moore

[f1archives]

Charles Leclerc on the podium - Monza, September 2024

[take2intotheshower]

Praise and Glory.

(The Musketeers Season 2, Episode 1 - Keep Your Friends Close)

[justformula1]

Starting grid for the Grand Prix of Spain

[hearthandhallows]

Closed starter for Leo (@blackcatxmagic)

Location: Cardinal Hill Cemetery

‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Cardinal Hill Cemetery wasn’t somewhere Charles spent a lot of time. Not unless he had to, and today, apparently, he had to. He stood there, hands stuffed in his jacket pockets, staring down at the patch of earth that would one day hold his father. It wasn’t a grave yet. Just a plot, marked and waiting, an inevitability set in stone. Charles let out a slow breath, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, then back again. He hadn’t known what he’d feel when he saw the plot. Sadness? Fear? Regret? A bit of everything? Mostly, though, he felt off, like his skin didn’t fit right. Another sigh escaped his mouth as he pulled a small flask from his pocket, lifting it to his lips. This shit is so stupid. Dad doesn’t even look sick. He couldn’t help but roll his eyes at the thought. Everyone was freaking out, but why? 

‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ The longer he stood there, he noticed his breath had started coming out in short, choppy bursts. He took another swig from his flask and turned away from the gravesite. Before he could register the panic attack he was about to have, he spotted someone else among the graves, like a damn miracle - a familiar someone. 

‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Leo.

‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Charles had seen him before; after all, he had not been making great decisions lately and often spent his time at the bar, ignoring his piling responsibilities, but he hadn't expected to see him at a cemetery. And definitely not when he was standing knee-deep in existential dread. Perfect timing. His expression shifted in an instant, the tension smoothing out, a grin sliding onto his face like it belonged there. He turned toward Leo, shoulders rolling back into something more relaxed - effortlessly casual, like he wasn’t just standing over the future resting place of his father.

‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ “Well, well,” Charles drawled, taking a few steps closer. “Didn’t expect to run into someone as pretty as you in a place like this.” He tilted his head, giving Leo a once-over. “Must be my lucky day.” Flirting was easier than thinking, and Charles sure as hell wasn’t in the mood to be thinking anymore. “I know you won’t judge me,” he laughed before pulling his flask out again, taking a sip and offering it to the other. 

[magpieandpossum]

Mirror universe for the Enterprise crew favorites (I know they have outfits but the TOS ones are so much more fun :(

Also these are such rough sketches I’m sorryyy :(

[principessaarchive]

L'Officiel Italia N.53 2023

15. 12. 2023 Article by Alessandro Viapiana Charles is wearing a Ferrari Jumpsuit and wool neckcrew. Collaboration with APM Monaco. Jewelry is from the "Monaco" and "Divine" collection. He also wears his personal watch from Richard Mille, RM 72-01.

GROOMING Nadiia Hlukhenka - MARIE FRANCE THAVONEKHAM PRODUCER Joshua Glasgow PHOTO ASSISTANT Eloise Bombeau STYLIST ASSISTANT Maxence Velin LOCATION APM MONACO store Paris

[tughrul]

It is Spain that has turned brother against brother. They promised you the throne and they betrayed you. [...] Spain is going after England now. Believing they've already succeeded in tearing this house apart. REIGN — 04x16: All It Cost Her

[unabashedqueenfury]

Reign 2013-17/01-02

Toby Finn Regbo as Francis Valois

[chancedarling]

"Uh... pretty much everything. First person shooters, COD, PUBG... Some of the MMORPGs like Skyrim and Fallout... Bit of RDR, Witcher, DBD.... Believe it or not, y'can make a decent enough living through tournaments and stuff if you can get into the right tier."

There were also the online poker tournaments, blackjack, standard gambling fayre, but they leaned too easily into Chance's power - he'd like to see what Charlie made of the generic gamer charade. That and he wonders just how many of the acronyms he just spat out might be recognisable to the other.

When the 'test' is over, Chance just rolls his neck again, loosening out those slightly taut muscles. While it didn't feel like any kind of stretch of this abilities, there was still anough focus there to feel a difference when he let loose those threads, stopped following their paths and let them stream freely once more. It wasn't the thump to his chest that he'd felt when battling the Bobs with Selin. It wasn't the incredibly unlikely shade from a flock of startled birds as it had been with Darcy. This was the small fry stuff. The tetering on the edge stuff. The low probability, low effort, basic gambit stuff.

"Yeah, more than guessing. It's not a certainty, but I think, somehow the likelihood of it being one thing or the other is something I kinda just know? I... Honestly don't know how to explain it."

He honestly does - he's just not gonna. He really does want to see what conclusions the doc comes to via his own observations. At least that way, he'd have a gauge of how accurate his 'survey' of the other powers might be. Or not.

"Aye, well. Be careful. If y'don't know what your ability is... Taking off the bracelet can cause them to become... uh... unstable. So like, if you can vapourise people with a thought, I'd rather not be a target? Maybe find out what you can do before you risk turning someone inside out by accident?"

As if to prove a point, Chance is currently scooting his chair backwards, trying to create a little space, in case of another 'Maria' blunder.

"When I take mine off, feels like I'm having a caffeine withdrawal. Headaches.... Dizzy spells..."

“A gamer? What kind of games did you play?” Could it be something related to probability? If a power was connected to the person, it might settle more in Charlie’s knowledge that this was all a dream, and powers were connected with good reason. A reflection of something about the person who received them.

In his mother’s stories all the actors were animals, perhaps the powers were a link in such a way. And he’d simply watched too much Heroes with his kids.

They played the game of chance for a few turns, and Chance guessed correct every single time. Not even guessed, therr was some way about him as he answered that seemed more certainty than guess. But it wasn’t manipulation. 

When he shoved it into his back pocket with barely an additional move, Chance caught it too. 

He retrieved the bracelet and let out a laugh. “You’re doing more than guessing, correct? You know which hand, or pocket in the case of the last. Mon dieu, remind me to never play cards with you.” Could Chance thus be the fox character, or the monkey? Perhaps even the spider. As long as he was not against Charlie, he did not worry.

“It does?” The surgeon asked, looking at the bracelet with newfound interest. He hadn’t given it any attention or thought before. It held a stone that looked more like mashed together glass, than a mineral. He put it in his pocket. “No time like the present to figure out what it does for me.” He wasn’t a scientist, but he was most certainly interested in experimantation.

[blondebrainpowered]

Happy New Year, Charlie Brown!, 1986

[f1archives]

01/06/25 (Scuderia Ferrari)

[take2intotheshower]

3. Old Friends.

(The Musketeers Season 3, Episode 1 - Spoils of War)

[justformula1]

Starting grid for the Grand Prix of Qatar

Let the fighting begin tomorrow

[hearthandhallows]

✿ Closed starter for Tripps (@angstfactory) at Charles's house.

‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Charles didn’t so much wake up as he did regain consciousness. The sunlight stabbing through the curtains was an act of violence. The birds outside were conspiring against him. His own pulse throbbed behind his eyes like it had a personal vendetta. He groaned and flung an arm over his face.

‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ “Oh, my God. This is how I die. In silk boxers, dehydrated, and tragically under-caffeinated.” His voice was gravelly, almost pained, and barely carried across the room - which was when he noticed he wasn’t alone. He peeled his arm away from his eyes, blinking toward the blur on the other side of the room. “...Tripps?”

‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ His brow furrowed. “Are you a hallucination? Did I finally snap?” ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ He pushed himself up onto one elbow, wincing at the movement. “I don’t remember how you got here, or why you’re in my room, but I am flattered. I must’ve said something devastatingly charming last night.” Or fucking stupid. The two of them had no business hanging out, but they did it anyway.