#Cloud-Based Load Testing

[qualityassurance11]

How Load Testing Enhances User Experience and Application Stability 

User experience and application stability are crucial in today's digital world. Be it an e-commerce site in festival sale or a game with millions of concurrent players or a Saas to back global enterprises; all of them must be ready to bear the load and this is why load testing becomes a necessity! 

Load testing is the process of experimenting on an application with a group of users, so that you could determine its behavior when it has large (or not so large) amount people using it. This would be useful to identify any possibly slow bottlenecks, ensure proper performance of applications and clean user experience. This blog talks about load testing, helping to improve the user experience, ensuring the stability of the application and the necessity of load testing in contemporary applications. 

What is Load Testing? 

Load testing means testing an application with a specified number of users and measuring that performance. Teams can now look at response times, throughput and resource utilization under different conditions to predict the application parameters so that during high load the app behaves as intended. 

Before the end-users face it, this way of proactive testing helps in finding the performance problems like slow load times or crash or server overload. 

The Role of Load Testing in Enhancing User Experience 

Faster Load Times 

Users have a high expectation of how fast applications load, and any delays in that process often result in frustration or abandonment. 

Load testing helps reveal slow-loading elements so that developers can optimize code and server configurations and result in faster response time. 

Consistent Performance Across Devices 

Make sure applications work well on various devices and platforms. 

Load testing which virtually loads various devices are kept ensuring the homogeneity of all users. 

Seamless Navigation During Peak Traffic 

Servers may have to work extra hard, scenarios like flash sales or the launch of a product often lead to high traffic. 

Load testing is done to ensure these types of applications can be prepared for these types of scenarios beforehand and tackle spikes without a slow-down. 

Increased Customer Satisfaction 

A non-crashing responsive application is a good user experience. 

By identifying and addressing performance issues before they impact customers, load testing increases retention rates and creates brand loyalty. 

How Load Testing Boosts Application Stability 

Prevents Downtime 

Unexpected traffic surges can cause servers to crash, resulting in downtime. 

Load testing is to simulate the above scenario and to help identify the weak points and strengthen the server at capacity. 

Detects Memory Leaks and Resource Bottlenecks 

Memory leaks or high CPU usage under load could affect resource-intensive applications. 

Load testing allows teams to pinpoint and resolve such problems before they become critical. 

Ensures Scalability 

Applications now must scale and that means increasing user numbers. 

Load testing keeps an eye on the ability of an application to take on the load that the real world represents without losing efficiency or stability. 

Validates Infrastructure Readiness 

Simulated loads are the best way to test the infrastructure to make sure the backend works in real time. 

Load testing includes testing on databases, APIs, and server configurations. 

Improves Disaster Recovery Readiness 

Load testing helps prepare teams for real-world failures by testing how an application recovers after a crash or an overload. 

Best Practices for Load Testing 

Define Clear Objectives 

Identify your application’s performance goals before you begin. Defining how fast a response can be on a certain load and throughput level is one way to set deterministic guidelines. 

Simulate Realistic User Behavior 

Tools such as JMeter allow you to simulate actual customer actions (navigating, searching, buying, etc.). This ensures that the insights are correct. 

Test in Stages 

Conduct tests from normal user loads and scale up to peak loads will allow us to find patterns of degradation. 

Use Cloud-Based Load Testing 

Cloud resources enable testing in various geographical locations that present a true perspective on how well your application performs around the world. 

Leverage Automation 

Time is one of the many advantages of automated load testing tools, and they also allow for consistent testing due to the load generation code being the same. 

The GhostQA Advantage in Load Testing 

The GhostQA Load Testing Engine is based on JMeter. It gives an easier solution for performance testing. So here is what makes GhostQA different: 

Low Code Testing Approach: Generate complex load tests with writing low code scripts, accessible to QA teams of any experience level. 

Auto-Healing Features: With GhostQA, it adjusts to the changes in the application, which in turn reduces test maintenance efforts. 

Comprehensive Reporting: In-depth test reports offer insights to optimize application performance. 

Scalability: With minimal effort, you can simulate realistic loads and can test your application for stability. 

GhostQA enables teams to include load testing right into their QA process for quality software that actually holds up in the real world. 

Real-Life Applications of Load Testing 

E-commerce Platforms: Prepare the website for events featuring high traffic such as seasonal sales or other promotions. 

Gaming Applications: Validate your app is not only up but also do not crash under high usage workloads like a game release. 

Streaming Services: Testing the quality of the stream under user load. 

SaaS Applications: Ensure consistent performance to end users around the globe. 

Banking Applications: Make sure that it is available even with high transactional load like days when the payroll is processed. 

Conclusion 

Load testing is key to delivering the high-quality software your customers expect. This stimulates the real factors that prevent the system from being unreal, and its agencies help to identify bottlenecks that improve operation and application stability. 

GhostQA is a Performance testing automation tool that is AI based for load testing for the codeless platform. Solutions like GhostQA empower organizations to make sure that their applications are resilient, scalable, and ready to face the real-world load. 

Begin Load Testing right from now to deliver an excellent user experience by stabilizing the application. Your users will be grateful for that! 

[accessiblemindstech]

Embark on a global bug hunt with our SDET team, leveraging cloud-based mobile testing to ensure your app achieves flawless performance across all devices and networks. With cutting-edge tools and a meticulous approach, we identify and eliminate bugs before they impact your users. https://rb.gy/jfueow #SDET #BugHunt #CloudTesting #MobileAppQuality #FlawlessPerformance SDET Tech Pvt. Ltd.

[pitlanepeach]

Radio Silence | Chapter Thirty-Four

Lando Norris x Amelia Brown (OFC)

Series Masterlist

Summary — Order is everything. Her habits aren’t quirks, they’re survival techniques. And only three people in the world have permission to touch her: Mom, Dad, Fernando.

Then Lando Norris happens.

One moment. One line crossed. No going back.

Warnings — Autistic!OFC, autistic breakdown on page, racing accidents (Las Vegas 2023), domestic fluff, slight (?) cliffhanger

Notes — Another longggg one! Hope you love it.

2023 (Las Vegas)

It was one of those overcast afternoons where the sky couldn’t decide if it wanted to rain or not. The light through the huge windows was grey and flat, and the air inside the rented house-slash-shoot-location had that odd, sterile warmth that came from too many camera batteries and ring lights and people trying to look casual for content.

The house itself was the kind of place you couldn’t quite imagine anyone actually living in — all clean lines, brushed steel, and exposed concrete. There were too many stairs. Too many echoey corners. And absolutely no soft lighting. It had been chosen for aesthetics, not comfort.

Amelia sat curled in the corner of the oversized leather sofa, knees tucked under her, one hand gripping her iPad, the other fidgeting absently with the drawstring of a hoodie that had somehow ended up in her lap. She hadn’t asked for it. Someone had draped it over her when she sat down, and now it was hers, apparently. That was fine. She liked the weight of it.

Her focus, however, was fixed entirely on her screen. The Vegas GP loomed ahead — a race full of unknowns, simulations stacked high with red flags and conditional parameters that changed every time she blinked. The track was new, the surface barely tested, the layout odd and inconsistent. Every variable gave her brain another reason to loop. And loop. And loop.

She was halfway through calculating braking loads based on preliminary corner speeds when Lando wandered past, all soft socks and too-long limbs, dragging one arm into a puffer jacket he wasn’t really planning to zip. He slowed when he saw her, smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

“You gonna wear that for a photo?” He asked, nodding at the hoodie.

Amelia didn’t look up. “No.”

He paused in the doorway, leaning against the frame. “You sure? You’d look cute.”

She blinked once, then met his eyes. “I’m not in the mood for cute. I’m calculating brake performance for a track we have literally never raced on before. There are so many variables. I’m stressed.”

Across the room, Max Fewtrell barked a laugh, his voice echoing faintly as he adjusted a light stand. “That’s the most Amelia sentence I’ve ever heard. Like, ever.”

Pietra, seated on the floor nearby in flared jeans and a cloud-soft crewneck, turned toward Amelia with a gentle smile. She had a scrunchie looped around her wrist and two bracelets Amelia had given her after a layover in Japan. “You can do both,” Pietra said warmly. “Be cute and stressed.”

Amelia looked at her, expression softening around the eyes. “Honestly, I just want to stay sat down.”

“Okay,” Pietra said, and leaned sideways to gently press her shoulder against Amelia’s. “Then we’ll sit. Together.”

Amelia didn’t say thank you. But she didn’t move away, either.

Lando reappeared a moment later with a bottle of water in one hand and a small protein bar in the other. He plopped onto the armrest beside her, knees brushing hers. His eyes flicked to the hoodie.

“You know that one’s technically mine.”

“I don’t care,” Amelia said without looking up.

He grinned. “I figured.” He nudged her ankle gently with his socked foot. “Still think it’d look better on you anyway.”

“That’s not difficult,” she replied, tugging the cuff of the hoodie over her hand. Then, after a pause, she added flatly, “That was a joke.”

Max dropped into a nearby chair, flinging one leg over the side with practiced drama. “Just one picture of you, Amelia? Come on, people would love it. Bit of behind-the-scenes. The fans adore when you’re in anything.”

Amelia didn’t even blink. “No thank you.”

Lando snorted into his water bottle. Pietra let out a warm laugh. “Stop bothering her, Max. Lando does enough of that.”

“Oi,” Lando said, mock-affronted. “Leave me out of this.”

“You’re both bothering me,” Amelia replied, perfectly even. “I’m trying to work. I already hate the Vegas track.”

He turned his full attention to her now, brows lifting. “Why? We haven’t even been yet.”

“Because it’s new!” she burst out, sharper than she meant to. The volume bounced off the walls. She winced immediately, ducking her head into her shoulder. Her voice dropped low, controlled. “Because it’s new and we haven’t raced it before and that means no past data to lean on. That means sim work based on theoretical grip levels. That means error margins get wider. And that means I have to prepare twice as hard with half as much certainty.”

There was a pause.

“...Fair enough,” Lando said gently.

“I hate guessing,” she mumbled.

“No one likes guessing,” Pietra offered.

Amelia gave a small nod. “I like control. I like knowing.”

Max opened his mouth like he was about to tease her, then caught the subtle tension in her shoulders and wisely shut it again.

Lando tapped the top of her tablet lightly with one finger. “Well. You’ll figure it out, baby. You always do.”

She glanced up at him. “Because it’s my job.”

“And because you’re brilliant.”

She didn’t respond, but the corner of her mouth ticked upward.

“Are you wearing that to dinner later?” Pietra asked, gesturing to the hoodie.

Amelia looked down at it, then back at her. “Yes. I don’t want to change. I’m comfortable.”

Pietra smiled. “Good. I’ll wear mine too. We’ll match.”

“Accidentally?”

“Deliberately.”

Amelia considered that. “Okay. But only if we sit near the window.”

Pietra beamed. “Done.”

Lando looked between them, then leaned back on his hands. “You’ve replaced me.”

Amelia didn’t even blink. “I only want to kiss you.”

He made a thoughtful face. “Alright. I’ll allow it.”

Max rolled his eyes. “You’re both so weird.”

“I’m autistic,” Amelia said plainly.

“You’re the weird one,” Pietra added to Max.

“Rude,” Max said.

Lando grinned. “You’re still in love with us.”

“Terrible.”

Outside, the sky finally made up its mind — light rain pattering against the windows in slow, scattered streaks.

Inside, Amelia tucked the hoodie tighter around her, legs still folded, checklist still glowing on the iPad in her lap. Her head leaned lightly against Pietra’s shoulder now, and Lando’s hand rested on her shin — grounding, present, always within reach.

They’d survive Vegas. They would.

Amelia exhaled through her nose. “I need a backup plan for the Sector 2 hairpin.”

“You’ll come up with one,” Lando said, completely sure.

And she would.

Because she always did.

—

The sim suite smelled faintly of coffee and carpet glue.

It was making Amelia feel violently ill.

It was well past nine in the evening, and the McLaren Technology Centre was mostly dark — lights dimmed, staff dispersed, and only the low hum of servers and quiet keystrokes from the strategy team still working in the next room. On the main screen, a full layout of the Las Vegas circuit was overlaid with predictive data. Telemetry lines in orange and blue flickered in real time, charting Oscar’s run.

Inside the sim rig, Oscar exhaled sharply and let the steering wheel go slack as the run ended.

“Turn ten still feels off,” he said, voice crackling slightly through the headset. “Rear snaps too easily on downshift. It’s like— I don’t know. It just unloads.”

Amelia stood beside the sim rig, arms crossed tightly over her chest. She didn’t look at Oscar as she replied. She was looking at the data instead. “We’re too aggressive with the engine braking into the apex,” she said. “You’re already on a mid-bite diff setting. I can pull back the torque map slightly — see if we can stabilise it.”

Oscar lifted his visor and blinked into the low lighting. “We tried that earlier though.”

“That was with a higher track temp sim,” one of the strategy engineers chimed in from his desk.

Amelia nodded. “This time we’re modelling it colder. Night session, cooler surface, lower grip. It’s a different profile now.”

Oscar gave her a skeptical look. “You think it’ll make the difference?”

“I don’t know,” she said flatly. “We run tests. And I wait for the results.”

He frowned at her. “You’re stressed.”

“I’m not stressed,” Amelia replied. “I’m tired. And annoyed. This track is stupid.”

The strategist behind her snorted into his water bottle. “That’s the technical term, is it?”

“Yes,” she said, deadpan. “Stupid.”

Oscar raised a hand in surrender. “Okay, okay. No argument from me.”

Amelia stepped forward and typed something into the control console. “I’ll load the next setup with the revised map and a minor front wing tweak. You’ll run sectors two and three only.”

Oscar nodded, settling back into the seat. “Short run. Got it.”

“Not just short,” Amelia added. “Precision. I want minimal steering corrections. No overcommitting. If we’re going to adjust setup for the race, I need to see your clean line.”

Behind her, Lando’s voice chimed in from the doorway, “someone’s feeling bossy tonight.”

Amelia didn’t turn around. “You’re not supposed to be here.”

“I’m just here to observe,” Lando said, stepping in with a smoothie and a faint smirk. “Oscar’s face is funny when he gets told off for oversteering.”

Oscar flipped him off without lifting his head.

Amelia keyed in the updated run. “I don’t care what his face does. I care about what the car does.”

Lando walked over, watching the screen over her shoulder. “What’s the target delta?”

“Half a second gain from his last run if the balance correction holds.”

Lando let out a low whistle. “Ambitious.”

“It’s not,” Amelia replied. “It’s necessary.”

There was a pause.

“You doing okay, baby?” He asked, a bit more gently now.

“I will be fine,” she said. “After Vegas is over and no one asks me to model tyre deg on untested tarmac again.”

Oscar cleared his throat from the rig. “Not to interrupt, but—uh—ready when you are.”

“Go ahead,” Amelia said, refocusing instantly. “Cold tyres, revised torque, short sector two and three run. Confirm.”

“Confirmed,” Oscar replied.

The sim kicked back into life. Virtual Vegas, all garish lights and overblown spectacle, unfurled across the screen. Oscar’s car dove into sector two with smoother transitions, noticeably fewer corrections in the corners.

“Better,” Amelia muttered, half to herself.

Oscar’s voice came through again. “Still doesn’t feel natural, but it’s drivable now.”

“We don’t need natural,” she said. “We need consistency.”

Oscar snorted. “You should get that put on a mug.”

“I did,” Lando added from behind her. Sarcastically. “It’s in our kitchen. Pink ceramic. Very cute.”

Amelia didn’t respond to that. She was too busy watching the data smooth out. Torque delivery flattened. Brake pressure stayed linear. The car made it through turn ten without any hint of snap.

Finally, she let out a breath. “Alright. That’s something we can build on.”

Oscar coasted to a stop in the sim. “You going to sleep tonight?”

“No,” Amelia said plainly. “I’m going to write a full report for Andrea and then run sector modelling for Sunday. Maybe tomorrow I’ll sleep.”

Lando moved closer, brushing his hand against hers lightly. “You’ll sleep. I’ll make sure of it.”

Amelia didn’t argue, but she didn’t confirm either.

Instead, she turned back to the engineers. “We’ll do a full load run tomorrow, weather sim in two parts. I’ll rework the wing config tonight.”

Oscar pulled off his gloves. “Do we ever do anything the easy way?”

“No,” Amelia said simply. “But if we want to win, we’re going to have to do it the hard way.”

Lando smiled at that. “Now that should go on a mug.”

—

The Woking flat was dark except for the glow of Amelia’s laptop screen and the soft blue hue of the night bleeding in through the curtains.

Lando had been asleep for the last hour. Or at least, he’d been pretending to be—chest rising slow and steady under the covers, one arm thrown across the pillow she’d vacated earlier. He hadn’t moved, even when she’d shifted to the desk by the window and started typing furiously with only a desk lamp and the stars for company.

She’d barely noticed how stiff her back had become. Her legs were tucked beneath her again, one sock half-rolled, posture twisted into something unnatural. Her fingers moved with focused speed, mapping Oscar’s sector performance against a projected tyre wear curve.

“Amelia,” Lando said, voice rough from sleep but still gentle. “Baby. Come back to bed.”

She didn’t look up. “I’m almost done.”

“You’ve been almost done for forty minutes.”

“That’s because I keep finding new things to optimise,” she replied, tapping a key with just a little too much force. “The grip model’s still off in sector three. I think the sim is overcompensating for the surface temp. If Oscar brakes, he’s going to overshoot.”

Lando sat up, rubbing a hand over his face. “You know you’re going to fix it all tomorrow anyway, right? It doesn’t all need to happen tonight.”

“It does,” she said immediately. “It does, because it’s unpredictable, and if I don’t account for everything now, I’ll be scrambling when I’m supposed to be thinking clearly. And I hate scrambling.”

He rolled out of bed with a sleepy grunt and crossed the room to her, quiet and barefoot on the plush carpet. When he reached her, he leaned against the edge of the desk, arms folded, watching her for a long moment. Not judging. Just… taking her in.

“You’re spiralling,” he said simply.

“No, I’m working.”

“Amelia.”

That one word, soft and firm and Lando-shaped, made her pause.

She didn’t meet his eyes, but her hands stilled over the keyboard. Her mouth was set in a thin line. Tired. Frustrated.

“I don’t know how to switch it off,” she admitted, barely above a whisper. “Not when I know I haven’t solved the problem.”

“I know,” he said, and gently reached to brush a lock of hair from her cheek. “But right now the problem is that you’re running on fumes, and if you don’t rest, you’re not going to solve anything.”

“But—”

“You’ll still be brilliant in the morning. I promise.”

She swallowed, jaw tense. “I hate how much I care. I hate that it makes me feel—” She clenched one hand into a fist. “Like I’m chasing something I can never quite catch. Because there’s always something else to fix.”

“I know,” Lando said again. “But you’re allowed to rest without fixing everything first. That doesn’t make you less good at your job. It just makes you human, yeah?”

Amelia looked at him finally. Her eyes were glassy, but not tearful. Just full — with pressure, with effort, with the weight of wanting to be the best and feeling like she had to prove it constantly.

He reached down and took her hand in his.

“Come to bed,” he said gently. “I’ll lie awake with you if your brain won’t shut up. We can talk about strategy, or nothing at all. But I want you with me.”

Amelia hesitated. Then closed her laptop with a soft click.

“Okay,” she said, voice a little hollow from the sudden shift in momentum. “Okay, I’ll try.”

Lando squeezed her hand and led her back toward the bed. She climbed in beside him, limbs slow and uncertain, like she wasn’t sure how to be still. He wrapped an arm around her and pressed a kiss to the back of her shoulder.

“You’re allowed to rest,” he whispered. “You’re allowed to exist outside of your job.”

She let out a long, shaky breath. “I know.”

“Say it like you believe it.”

“I’m allowed to rest,” she repeated, curling into him. “Even if I haven’t fixed everything.”

He smiled against her skin. “Good girl.”

Amelia relaxed by inches, not all at once, never that, but her breath began to slow, her hands stopped fidgeting, and the tension in her shoulders faded as his warmth soaked into her.

It was enough.

—

Amelia stirred slowly, the weight of Lando’s arm still draped across her waist, his breathing deep and even behind her.

Her brain came online before her eyes opened. The first thought was always a race.

Telemetry. Overnight sim data. Updated Vegas surface temps. Sector three.

She kept her eyes shut. Just for a moment longer.

Her hand reached, automatically, half-blind, toward the bedside table. She found her phone and lit the screen — brightness low, eyes squinting. There was a new email flagged from McLaren strategy. An attachment from the sim team. A message from Oscar. Just a quick one.

Brake marker change in T11? Feel like it’s off. Can we run it again?

Her thumb hovered over the reply button.

Then a low, sleepy voice rumbled behind her ear. “If you answer that, I’m going to bite you.”

She stilled.

Lando’s voice was rough with sleep, his face still half buried in her hair, but his grip on her waist tightened just slightly — enough to ground her, enough to keep her in the moment.

“I wasn’t going to answer,” she said softly. “I was just checking—”

“You were doing the exact thing we talked about,” he said, not unkindly. “Waking up and not even giving yourself ten minutes to take care of yourself before you start thinking about everyone else.”

She blinked. Her screen dimmed and went black. She let the phone fall gently back onto the bed.

Lando pressed a kiss to her shoulder blade. “Thank you.”

“I really wasn’t going to do anything,” she murmured again, not sure why she was defending it. “I just needed to know what’s going on. So I could stop thinking about it.”

“I get that.” He kissed the back of her neck this time, a little firmer. “But I also know you. One look turns into an hour of work. You don’t know how to stop unless someone physically pins you down.”

She rolled onto her back to look at him. His hair was flattened on one side. His eyes were sleepy but open now, watching her like she was something fragile he was determined not to drop.

“I just don’t want to miss something important,” she said. “Vegas is proving to be a nightmare.”

“We’ll be fine. You’ll be better than fine.”

“You can’t guarantee that.”

“No,” he agreed. “But I can guarantee that if you burn yourself out now, you won’t be able to fix the problems when they actually matter.”

Her lips twisted into something half-smile, half-grimace. “That’s annoying because it’s true.”

“Mm.” He nuzzled her hairline. “I like you when you’re being all smart-pants Amelia,” Lando said, pulling her closer again. “But I like it better when you’re well-rested.”

She sighed and let herself relax, her head falling against his chest. She could feel his heartbeat — steady and calm — the opposite of her usual thrum of anxious energy.

He tapped her hip. “Tell you what. You stay here, in bed, with me for fifteen more minutes. Then I’ll get up and bring you your laptop, your iPad, three highlighters and whatever else you need. Deal?”

She closed her eyes. Thought about saying no. Thought about Vegas. Then she nodded.

“Deal.”

Lando smiled against her temple. “My girl.”

—

Las Vegas

Amelia found herself blinking too fast at the way the skyline shimmered. There was no charm, there was only overstimulation. Neon screamed from every building; engines echoed off concrete; something in the air smelled like fried sugar.

Her stomach turned.

As they moved through the paddock, she turned sharply to her dad, who was walking beside her, and asked, "Can I do a track walk later? I need to see the surface in person. Kerb structure, cambers. The sim doesn’t replicate the actual feel, not at night."

Zak gave her a careful look, then a sigh that told her the answer before he said it. “Honey… I’m sorry. They’re limiting access this weekend. Safety regulations, plus a logistical headache with all the road closures. Sorry, kiddo."

She stopped walking entirely. “What do you mean? That’s ridiculous. My understanding of this track is directly tied to driver performance.”

“I know that,” Zak said, placating. “But it’s out of my hands. FIA’s ruling.”

Amelia blinked. Hard. Her jaw set. Her brain scrambled to make the logic work — and couldn’t. The denial didn’t make sense from a safety standpoint or a performance one, and worse, it was illogical and personal.

She threw both hands out in disbelief. “Are you kidding me right now? What kind of regulatory framework tells the people making car decisions that they can’t assess the track in person?”

Zak ran a hand down his face. “I know. Believe me, I tried. I even—”

“No, this is absurd,” Amelia went on, ignoring the curious glances of passing engineers and team staff. “I’m being told to rely on visual models and telemetry estimates on a track that doesn’t exist on any previous calendar. Dad.”

That word slipped out sharp and unimpressed.

Zak winced. “You’re mad at the wrong person.”

Amelia exhaled through her nose and folded her arms. “I’m mad at everyone.”

Lando, a few steps ahead, doubled back when he realised she wasn’t beside him anymore. “Everything okay?”

“She’s not allowed to walk the track,” Zak supplied.

Lando’s brows rose. “Why not?”

“Ask the FIA,” Amelia muttered, rocking slightly on her heels, clearly overstimulated and trying not to explode about it.

Lando gave a low whistle, stepping up beside her. “That’s proper stupid.”

“Thank you,” Amelia said, voice clipped.

Lando’s hand slid to the small of her back. Just the lightest pressure. She leaned into it instinctively, grounding herself.

“You’ll be fine,” he murmured. “You’ve been simulating this track for two months. You probably know it better than anyone else already.”

Amelia didn’t answer right away. She looked out at the chaos of the strip behind the paddock fencing, then back at the rows of garages, the closed doors, the high fences. She chewed the inside of her cheek.

Zak, softer now, said, “Hey. Don’t give this the power to make you wobble, alright? You’ve got this!”

Her face didn’t soften, but her posture did, just slightly. She nodded, tight and short.

Then, “If Oscar crashes because I misjudge Turn 12 apex grip, I’m going to email the FIA and tell them to eat gravel.”

Lando grinned. “There she is. My beautiful, terrifying wife.”

“I’m serious.”

“I know.” He leaned in to kiss the side of her head and whispered, “Now stop worrying so much.”

—

The media room was lit like a game show. Two stools, a camera crew, a backdrop with the McLaren logo, and a table of whiteboards and markers.

Oscar looked mildly bored. Lando looked amused. Amelia looked like she’s been forced to be there (she had).

A social media coordinator beamed behind the camera. “Okay, welcome to a special edition of 'Who Knows Her Best!'  We’ve got our race engineer Amelia here, and joining us are her driver, Oscar Piastri—”

Oscar gave an awkward little wave.

“—and her husband, Lando Norris!”

Lando winked at the camera.

Amelia stared dead ahead. “You have ten minutes. I have things to do.”

“Great! First question—What’s Amelia’s favourite food?”

Lando started writing instantly.

Oscar hesitated. “Does coffee count?”

Amelia frowned. “No. You don’t chew coffee.”

He groaned and scrawled something anyway.

“Alright—reveal!”

Lando flipped his board: Marco’s Italian Marinara Pizza Oscar’s board: …Toast?

Amelia pursed her lips. “Lando’s right.”

Oscar muttered, “She eats toast every morning.”

“I eat it because it's efficient, not because it brings me joy,” she replied.

Next question.

“Okay—what’s Amelia’s biggest pet peeve?”

Oscar didn’t hesitate.

Lando paused and narrowed his eyes. “Only one?”

They flipped.

Oscar: Inefficiency Lando: People breathing loudly near her

Amelia blinked. “Both are right. I can’t put one above the other.”

Lando smirked. “So I get half a point?”

“We didn’t agree on half points.” She huffed.

Oscar stifled a laugh.

The coordinator laughed nervously. “Alright! Final question: What’s her idea of a perfect day off?”

The boys scribbled.

Reveal:

Oscar: A quiet room, iPad fully charged, noise-canceling headphones Lando: No phones. No noise. Me, her, somewhere nobody can find us.

Amelia looked at both answers, then spoke flatly.

“Oscar’s is my ideal race-weekend. Lando’s is correct for a non-race-weekend.”

Lando grinned. “Boom.”

Oscar sighed. “I should’ve said that.”

“You were just guessing.” She shrugged.

The social media manager clapped. “Well! Looks like… Lando wins!"

Amelia stood. “Great. I’m going back to run a qualifying simulation now.”

She left frame without saying goodbye.

Oscar and Lando both laughed as the camera faded to the McLaren logo.

—

The McLaren garage buzzed with the low hum of machinery and murmured radio checks. Engineers moved with purpose, but Amelia sat on the edge of Oscar’s workstation, unusually still, arms folded tightly across her chest.

Oscar was halfway into his race suit, glancing at her between sips from his bottle.

“You’re staring at me,” he said, trying to make it light.

“I’m thinking,” she replied flatly.

He waited. She didn’t elaborate.

A beat passed.

Then, in that clipped, low tone of hers, “Track’s colder than ideal. Grip will suck the first stint. You’ll want to push, but don’t chase the feeling if it’s not there. Let it come to you.”

He nodded, tightening his gloves. “Copy.”

“Stay out of traffic, especially Sector 2. If someone impedes you, don’t get emotional about it. Just report and reset.”

Oscar studied her. “You okay?”

“I’m briefing you.”

“…Right.”

She unfolded her arms slowly, like the motion took effort. Her jaw was tense. The usual snap in her delivery was duller, like she was wading through fog and didn’t want to show it.

“You don’t need to prove anything to anyone today,” she said finally, without meeting his eyes. “Not to me. Not to the paddock. Just get the data. Clean session. That’s the win.”

Oscar hesitated. “You sure you’re alright?”

She finally looked at him. Her expression didn’t shift, but there was something behind her eyes—tired, maybe. Not physically. He couldn’t tell.

“Focus on your job, Oscar.”

A long pause.

“Alright,” he said softly. “Let’s do it, then.”

He turned to leave for the car, but her hand briefly touched his forearm.

It was the first time she’d done that all season.

“You’ve got this,” she said.

And then she was gone; disappearing behind a headset and a screen, shutting the world out with precision.

Oscar didn’t say anything.

But when he climbed into the car and pulled his belts tight, his shoulders were a little squarer. His breathing calmer.

—

The TV feed cut to chaos. Red flag. Marshals sprinted onto the track. Carlos’s Ferrari was being craned away. Oscar hadn’t even managed to leave the garage yet.

Amelia stood at the pit wall, arms crossed, headset still on. She hadn’t blinked in fifteen seconds.

Her dad appeared behind her, phone in hand, expression a blend of irritation and corporate damage control.

“What happened?” He asked.

“Drain cover came loose,” she said flatly. “Sainz drove over it at 320. Floor’s completely destroyed.”

Zak frowned. “Seriously?”

“Yes. The cover wasn’t welded properly. Obvious risk. They didn’t check.”

He looked at the monitor. “Are we running Oscar?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

She turned her head slowly toward him. “Because there’s a hole in the track.”

Zak didn’t respond.

She continued. “Sending a car out now is negligent. I already told Race Control we won’t participate until they give a structural inspection report. I won’t risk Oscar’s chassis because someone forgot a torque wrench.”

Zak sighed. “Okay.”

Behind them, mechanics hovered awkwardly, unsure whether to continue prep or stand down. Amelia tapped her headset.

“FP1 is over,” she said, voice clipped. “Go back to base. Check Lando’s floor and cooling ducts for debris. Full diagnostic.”

Oscar walked up, half-suited, helmet under his arm. “What’s going on?”

She looked at him. “You’re not going out. Drain cover came off. Session’s red-flagged.”

“That’s it?”

“It could’ve killed someone,” she said. “So yes. That’s it.”

He blinked. “Right.”

She turned to walk back toward her workstation.

Zak called after her. “Don’t be angry!”

She stopped. Looked over her shoulder. “I’m not. Anger won’t fix the track.” Then, after a beat, she said, “But I think someone should be fired.”

And she walked off to find her husband.

—

The lights along the Strip hadn’t dimmed, but everything else had gone strangely quiet.

It was well past midnight. The garage, usually crackling with anticipation before a session, felt more like a waiting room. Too many people moving too carefully, voices lowered like something had been interrupted. Amelia stood at the pit wall, headset already pinching slightly against her temple, her fingers motionless over the trackpad. Waiting.

She hadn’t said much in the last hour. Not out of some dramatic mood, she just didn’t feel like filling the air with worthless commentary.

When the green light finally blinked on at the end of the pit lane, there wasn’t relief. Just exasperation.

She keyed her mic, steady. “Box out. Let’s see how everything feels.”

Oscar responded immediately. “Copy.”

The car pulled away, the hum of the engine disappearing into the neon distance. She stared after it a beat too long.

They hadn’t run in FP1. None of the planned setup work mattered anymore, this was just about salvaging time, collecting data.

But now, every drain cover was now a threat. Just another thing to add to her list of concerns.

Amelia’s eyes flicked to the screen, watching Oscar’s telemetry as if she could will the suspension to stay intact through every straight.

Two chairs down, her dad made some offhand joke about this being “the most expensive late-night go-kart session ever,” and she smiled with half her face, but didn’t turn.

The data streamed in. Amelia’s brain parsed it automatically, throttle traces, brake pressures, steering angles, but the usual focus wasn’t clicking the same way tonight. She pressed the mic button. “Feeling okay with the grip?” She asked.

“Better than expected,” Oscar replied. “Still a bit green, but manageable.”

“Copy that. Let’s try Mode 7 next lap.”

A beat passed.

“You alright?”

She blinked. The question had come in over a private channel. Just him. “Yeah,” she said. “Just having to watch everything twice. Sorry if I sound a bit distracted.”

She didn’t add that the neon lights were starting to feel like they were flickering behind her eyes, or that the pressure in her chest hadn’t really gone away since the FP1 red flag. Or that the silence before the sessions had settled into her bones in a way that didn’t feel temporary.

But none of that mattered. Not tonight. He had 90 minutes, and they had to make every single one of them count.

She shuffled on her hair, opened the sector comparison window, and let out a quiet breath. “Let’s go hunting, ducky.”

—

Amelia sat on the edge of a low bench, her headset off, fingers tapping absently on the worn fabric of her skirt. Oscar slid next to her, helmet still under one arm, face flushed from the heat of the track.

“You did well out there,” she told him.

Oscar smiled, the kind that barely touched his eyes. “You sure? It felt like I was half driving with one eye on every drain cover.”

She let out a soft, humourless chuckle. “Yeah, well, that’s what we get for racing on a casino parking lot.”

He glanced at her, watching for the flicker of something beneath her calm. “You okay?”

Her eyes caught his. “I’m fine. Just... processing. You know how it is.”

He nodded slowly. “Yeah. If you need to step back or—”

“No.” She shook her head, almost imperceptibly. “No. I’m fine.”

Oscar leaned back, exhaling through his nose. “Roll on tomorrow, eh?”

“Yeah.” She sighed. “Tomorrow.”

—

Oscar and Lando stood by the side of the track, away from the chatter and TV cameras, sharing a rare moment of quiet.

“She’s different,” Oscar said, voice low, like sharing a secret. “Not in a bad way. Just... more quiet, more serious. Even when she talks, it’s like she’s somewhere else.”

Lando nodded, eyes scanning the pit lane as if he could spot the cause in the distance. “Yeah. Noticed. You think she’s pushing herself too hard?”

Oscar shrugged. “Maybe. I’ll keep an eye on her. Don’t want to be that guy who notices too late.”

“Good call,” Lando said, clapping him on the shoulder. “I’ll try to get it out of her tonight, but I appreciate it.”

Oscar smiled, half relieved. “Anytime, mate.”

—

The lobby’s glare hit Amelia like a punch, each flicker of neon and burst of laughter hammering against the fragile calm she’d been clinging to all weekend. Every unfamiliar voice seemed to multiply, overlapping into a chaotic storm behind her eyes. Her skin prickled, nerves sparking in every inch of her body. She tried to focus on the steady rhythm of her own breath, but it felt shallow, too fast.

The weekend had been a relentless tide of changes — the new track layout, unexpected strategies, the flood of questions from media she barely had energy to endure. Everyone expected her to be sharp, ready, unflappable. But inside, her mind was scrambling to process it all, the sensory overload making everything worse.

She could feel the walls closing in, the pressure building behind her ribcage, tightening like a vice.

Just breathe. But the breath didn’t come easy. Her hands clenched at her sides, fingers trembling.

She tried to steady herself, a practiced smile pressed onto her face for the reception staff, for Lando, for Oscar. But it was too much. Too loud. Too unpredictable.

The floodgate broke.

Her vision blurred, chest tightening until it felt like the air itself was betraying her. She didn’t want to cry. She didn’t want anyone to see this unraveling — but she couldn’t hold it in anymore.

Lando’s voice cut through the haze — soft, patient, familiar.

“Hey, baby. Let’s go over here.”

His touch was a lifeline, grounding her in the chaos. She stumbled toward him, every shaky breath breaking as the raw exhaustion spilled out.

She wanted to explain, to scream ‘this isn’t weakness!’ but the words caught in her throat.

Lando didn’t say a thing. He just reached out, firm and steady, pressing his hand gently but insistently into the small of her back. A solid, grounding pressure that said, I’m here. I’ve got you.

She leaned into it, breath ragged, heart racing, muscles trembling. His warmth was steady beneath her — an anchor.

Her hands found his arms, clinging like an octopus, desperate for the hold that would stop the spinning. She didn’t have the words to ask for help, but the silent understanding in his touch was enough.

Without a word, Lando lifted her effortlessly, as if she weighed nothing at all, cradling her close against his chest.

The noise of the lobby faded into background white noise as he carried her through it, the solid rhythm of his steps matching the slow crawl of her ragged breathing.

They moved past the glare of the lights, past the curious eyes, straight back to the safety of their room — where she could finally just be.

—

The shower ran hot, steam swirling thick and heavy in the small bathroom. Amelia sat on the cold tile floor, knees drawn up, fingers tightening around her stim toy, the familiar texture a welcome relief. The water hammered down, relentless and fierce and perfect.

Behind the fogged glass, Lando crouched, silent and steady. His presence wasn’t words or pressure, just steady warmth, a solid anchor in the swirling storm she couldn’t always control. His hand rested lightly on the tub’s edge, close enough that if she reached out, she’d find him there.

She didn’t say anything. Didn’t need to. His calm, wordless support let her unravel at her own pace, gave her permission to sink low and find the fragments of herself again. The tight coil inside loosened, breath slowing, muscles softening.

When she finally reached out, she wrapped her fingers around his wrist, and exhaled a slow, quiet breath.

—

The room was quiet except for the faint hum of the air conditioning. Amelia lay on her side, knees tucked in, eyes fixed on the ceiling like it might swallow her whole. The bed creaked softly as Lando shifted beside her.

After a long pause, his hand found hers in the dark. “You doing alright, baby?” He asked, voice low but steady.

She hesitated before answering. “No. Not really. Today was... too much. Like everything was spinning, but I was stuck in place.”

Lando squeezed her fingers gently, patient. “You’ve been on edge since we landed.”

A small nod, tight with tension. “Since the plane, yeah. I felt sick the entire flight. And then here—everything just kept coming at me. Noise, people, changes. I thought I could handle it, but it kept building.”

He kept his hand in hers, steady and warm. “Nobody had enjoyed the weekend so far, baby. I promise you, you’re not alone there.”

Amelia finally turned her head to look at him, eyes searching. “I don’t want to sound weak. Or like I’m complaining.”

Lando shook his head, a soft smile breaking through. “You’re the last person that anyone would think was weak.”

Her shoulders relaxed a little, a breath she didn’t realise she’d been holding escaping in a quiet sigh. “I’ve just felt physically sick with nerves since we left England. It’s like the whole weekend’s hanging over me, and I don’t know how to handle it.”

“Hey,” he said gently, fingers fluttering over her cheek and eyelids, “We’ll get through it together. We handle tomorrow, then we handle race day, and then we get to go home.”

She gave a small, wry smile. “I might lose it completely if it wasn’t for you.”

Lando chuckled softly. “Wouldn’t let that happen, would I?”

They stayed like that for a while, fingers entwined, silence wrapping around them like a shield.

“I hate feeling like I’m not in control.”

“I know, baby. And I’m sorry I can’t take that feeling away.”

She blinked back the hint of tears, voice softer now. “Thanks for being here.”

He brushed a loose strand of hair from her face. “Always.”

—

The morning light spilled gently through the curtains, softening the edges of the hotel room. Amelia was curled up in bed, the duvet pulled just below her chin. Lando balanced a tray with two plates of eggs, toast, and steaming coffee, trying not to spill as he settled it on the bedside table.

Oscar sat on the edge of the bed, knees tucked under him, already half-entwined in the quiet comfort of the morning. This wasn’t their first breakfast like this; the three of them, an unspoken little routine born out of long weekends and unpredictable schedules.

Lando grinned as he handed Amelia her coffee. “Here you go. Not too sweet, I promise.”

She gave a small, tired smile, reaching out to take it. “Better than last time.”

Oscar, perched close by, reached for a piece of toast and grinned back at her. “Glad I don’t like coffee. I’m just here for the food.”

Amelia raised an eyebrow, sipping. “You remind me of a stray cat sometimes.”

Oscar laughed, warm and easy. “I weirdly don’t mind that comparison.”

Lando shot Amelia a fond look across the bed.

“So, what’s the plan today?” Oscar asked, munching thoughtfully.

Lando shrugged, “Take it slow. FP3 later and then Quali, obviously, but nothing crazy this morning.”

Amelia leaned back into the pillows, her voice quiet but steady. “I might go and buy some Epsom salts. Write some strategy notes in the bath.”

Oscar nodded, eyes kind. “Sounds relaxing”

She glanced at Lando, who gave her a small, encouraging smile. “Hope so,” she said simply.

Oscar reached out and ruffled Lando’s hair. “Christ, mate. You could do with a haircut.”

Lando scoffed, showing him away. “Fuck off. Says you, mister swoop.”

Amelia pursed her lips and hid her smile behind her mug.

—

The gift shop was a small, cluttered oasis of weirdness and nostalgia tucked inside the hotel lobby. Amelia was scanning the shelves with practiced efficiency, eyes locked on the little jars of bath salts.

Lando and Oscar were already browsing the second aisle.

Lando held up a neon cowboy hat. “Mate, how can you say no to this?”

Oscar was inspecting a glittery, oversized keychain shaped like a slot machine. “It’s got lights and sounds. Look.” He pressed a button and the keychain erupted with flashing colours and a cacophony of jingles. “Jackpot! I’m rich.”

Amelia sighed, pushing her sunglasses up the bridge of her nose. “Guys, don’t start. I just want some bath stuff.”

Oscar grinned, undeterred. “But we’re just doing cultural research.”

Lando plopped the cowboy hat on his head sideways and attempted a drawl. “Y’all ready for the rodeo?”

Amelia gave him a flat look. “Great look, husband.”

Oscar laughed and reached for a novelty plastic cactus, pretending it was a microphone. “Welcome to the Las Vegas Gift Show! I’m your host, Cactus Carl.”

Lando, clearly in his element, grabbed a toy rattlesnake and slithered it along the floor toward Amelia’s feet. “Don’t step on the snake! It’s venomous.”

Amelia stepped back, raising an eyebrow, but a faint smile tugged at the corner of her lips. “Right. Venomous and ridiculous.”

Finally, she found what she was looking for; a small, unassuming jar of lavender bath salts with a label promising relaxation. She grabbed it, turning to the boys.

“Alright, I’m done.”

Lando tilted his hat back and gave her a mock salute. “Yes, ma’am. Mission accomplished.”

Oscar picked up another keychain. “Hey, look at this one! It’s a limited edition.”

Amelia sighed tiredly.

—

Less than an hour later, the hotel bathroom was filled with the soft scent of lavender from the bath salts Amelia had chosen. The water was just the right temperature, warm enough to ease the tension knotted deep in her shoulders but not scalding. She sank down slowly, letting the heat seep in, her fingers tracing the ripples on the surface.

Outside the bathroom door, Lando and Oscar sat cross-legged on the floor, leaning against the wall with laptops balanced on their knees. Their voices were low, careful not to break the fragile calm Amelia was clinging to.

“So, the long straight,” Oscar said quietly. “Telemetry showed some unusual brake pressure spikes on your last run.” He said to Lando.

Lando nodded, flicking through the data. “Yeah, I noticed that too. Maybe the surface temperature was throwing off the balance?”

Amelia sighed, eyes closed. “Probably. Felt off the whole session.” She added, only having to speak a little louder than usual to be heard through the ajar door.

Oscar glanced toward the door. “You want us to try something different for FP3?”

She let her fingers trail in the water, thoughtful. “Maybe adjust front brake bias… just a bit.”

Lando nodded. “I’ll write it down.”

There was a pause, the only sound the gentle dripping from the faucet. Amelia opened her eyes a crack. “Thanks for this.”

Oscar grinned. “You asked for company and telemetry. We deliver.”

Lando chuckled. “Yeah, we’ve got nowhere better to be, baby.”

She let herself smile, a quiet warmth spreading beyond the bathwater. In this little bubble of steam and soft voices, the chaos felt a little less relentless.

—

FP3 was more than just practice—it was a chance to claw back control after yesterday’s chaos, and Amelia was feeling the weight of it.

Oscar was in the car, revving the engine, while her headset buzzed with team chatter. The track was unforgiving today, hotter, more demanding, but Amelia’s eyes stayed locked on the timing screen. She flicked through sector times, braking points, tire temps—all the little details she’d been obsessing over for days.

Her gut still fluttered, nerves stubborn beneath the surface, but she pushed it aside. This wasn’t the place for doubts. She spoke into the comms, “brake bias -0.3 for the next run. Watch rear temps.”

Her radio crackled, Oscar’s voice clipped but focused. “Got it. Feels different already.”

She nodded, even though he couldn’t see it. “Keep the feedback coming.”

A few laps later, she caught a subtle improvement in the data—sector two times shaving off milliseconds. Not perfect, but progress. The day wasn’t going to beat her.

By the end of FP3, the sun was blazing, sweat damp on her brow. Amelia’s mind was a swirl of analysis, but beneath it all was something steadier—quiet confidence, the kind that comes after pushing through the noise.

When Oscar pulled into the pits, she let herself exhale. One step closer.

—

Qualifying came in the blink of an eye and Amelia’s eyes were glued to the screen, every pixel of telemetry, every split second on the sector times drilled into her mind.

Oscar’s car cut through the track, precise and aggressive, pushing the limits. Amelia’s fingers tapped lightly on the desk—not from nerves, but calculation, running through every variable in her head. She caught the slight twitch in the rear suspension, the tiny loss of rear grip in sector two. Adjustments would be needed. Not a disaster, but enough to make a difference.

Will was nearby, watching too, but Amelia barely noticed him.

Oscar crossed the line, a clean lap, but not quite the best. Amelia’s brow furrowed. “Sector three’s where he’s losing time. Let’s tweak the brake bias for the final run.”

Will leaned over, quiet but warm. “You think he’s got it?”

She didn’t look away from the screen. “I don't know. He needs the car to behave like it’s supposed to.”

The final moments stretched taut, then Oscar’s second run flashed up. Faster, cleaner. Still not enough to get out of Q1. Her jaw clenched. 

Fuck. 

—

[Twitter Feed – #protectamelia]

@/f1fanatic123:

just saw that vid of amelia having a full autistic meltdown in the hotel lobby in vegas last night… why don’t you weirdos shut the hell up and disappear into a hole and leave the fucking girl alone omfg

@/raceengineerlvr:

people spreading that clip with zero context? big yikes. amelia is freaking brilliant and deserves respect. stop the ableism.

@/landosupportr:

if anyone can handle this insane pressure it’s amelia. lando’s lucky af to have her, and honestly? so are we. back off.

@/keepitrealf1: autistic, blunt, iconic. amelia’s meltdown is just her being human—get over your toxic asses.

@/f1momlife: as a parent to a neurodivergent kiddo, this blatant ableism online is disgusting. show some empathy. #protectamelia

@/oscarp443:

oscar’s team isn’t complete without amelia. her meltdown shows how much she cares. toxic ‘fans’ need to check themselves

@/nocapf1:

y’all acting like sharing a meltdown is funny or weak. nahhhhhhhh, that’s ableism 101. have some respect or just stay offline ????

@/disabledandproud:

this is EXACTLY why autistic ppl get unfair hate. stop weaponising someone’s mental health moments for clicks. grow up.

@/f1_truthteller:

seeing the clips blow up and ppl twisting it into jokes? pure ableist nonsense. end of.

—

[Instagram – McLaren Official Story]

Video clip of Amelia working intently in the garage, captioned:

"Focused, fierce, and the backbone of the papaya team."

—

[Reddit – r/formula1]

Post Title:

“Can we talk about the video of Amelia Norris? The backlash is unreal and uncalled for.”

Top comment:

“It’s easy to forget these people are human. Amelia’s dedication is clear, and the meltdown just shows how much she gives. This fandom can be toxic. Let’s be better.”

—

Amelia sat rigid, fingers barely twitching on the edge of the conference table. The room felt too bright, too loud—like a spotlight had been slammed onto her without warning. She watched her dad pace. His voice was steady but tight, every word laced with frustration.

“How did we let this happen? The video should’ve been reported immediately.”

She caught Lando’s fists clenching behind her, his jaw set hard. He wasn’t shouting—he didn’t need to. The anger radiated off him like heat, a shield she wanted to lean into.

Oscar was quieter than usual, but his eyes, sharp and steady, burned with the same quiet fury.

They all thought they were defending her.

But inside Amelia, it felt like a thousand static whispers; people’s opinions buzzing at the edge of her brain, overwhelming and unrelenting. She wasn’t weak. She was tired. The energy it took to smile, to explain, to pretend like none of this was a breach of her life felt like a lead weight pressing down on her chest.

The PR team rambled about damage control and messaging, but Amelia barely heard them. Her thoughts slipped away from the room, spinning cold and sharp.

She looked up, met her dads expectant gaze.

Her voice was flat, stripped of any theatrics. “Yeah, it sucked having it put out there. But I’m not going to make a scene about it. I can handle it.”

They waited, as if that was supposed to be reassuring. She knew what they wanted: a show of vulnerability, maybe some anger.

Instead, she smiled inwardly.

She pulled her phone out, thumb hovering. Then, with a quiet kind of defiance, she pulled up a new tweet.

Autism affects 1 in 36 people. Awareness beats stigma.

Also, I married Lando Norris and you didn’t. Suck it.

[Link to autism awareness resource]

She hit send.

Lando’s laugh was the first sound to break the tension. Her dad let out a short, grudging chuckle. Oscar’s eyes flickered with something like pride.

—

[DTS Outtake Clip]

Will Buxton

“Yeah, so… that clip of Amelia, it really went viral, didn’t it? I’m sure she must have thought her weekend couldn’t get any tougher after that moment. But then Sunday came…”

—

Amelia caught Lando just before he stepped into the car. The hum of the track buzzed behind them, but for a beat, it was just them.

She leaned up on her tiptoes and kissed him. “Good luck. Be safe. Drive fast.”

He smiled, eyes bright with that fierce fire she loved. “Always, baby.”

She turned and headed to the pit wall, heart steady but fierce — ready.

—

The roar of the crowd swallowed the pre-race tension whole as the lights blinked out, one by one. Oscar launched perfectly—an instinct honed from endless hours tracking telemetry and analysing every millisecond. He surged forward, slicing through the tight corners of the Las Vegas street circuit with brutal precision.

Amelia’s eyes locked on the screens, her fingers dancing over the buttons and dials at the pit wall. Every lap was a heartbeat, every split time a breath held. She was the calm centre for Oscar’s storm.

“Sector one clean, good pace,” she told him over the radio, voice even but focused.

“Copy. Tires feeling good,” came Oscar’s crisp reply.

She allowed herself a brief, tiny exhale. This was what she lived for, the rhythm of the race, the flow of strategy, the challenge.

But then, amid the relentless thrum of engines and tires gripping asphalt, the radio sparked. A sudden crackle, then Lando’s voice—strained, quick.

“Car’s sliding—shit—oh fucking—”

The pit wall fell silent except for the crackling radio. Amelia’s chest tightened. The word ‘crash’ hovered unspoken but undeniable in the space between sounds.

Her fingers froze. Her eyes darted to the live feed on the screen; Lando’s McLaren spinning wildly, slamming into the barriers.

Time fractured.

The noise dimmed, the crowd’s roar now a distant wave crashing against the edges of her mind.

“Lando’s out,” the comms guy said quietly beside her. “Full safety car. Medical car dispatched.”

She blinked rapidly, trying to swallow the sudden lump forming in her throat. Breathe. Focus.

She had to focus.

Oscar was still out there, still racing.

She shook her head slightly as if clearing fog. “Oscar, you’re clear. Keep the pace, watch brake temps—”

“I’m ok.” Lando reported, but his voice was tight — like he’d been winded.

Amelia’s voice cracked, and she hated herself for it. Hated how much it betrayed her insides.

Oscar’s voice came steady, but she could hear the surprise, the tension. “Shit. That was Lando?”

“Yeah,” she said before she could stop herself. “He’s… he’s climbing out of the car. He’s okay.”

She stole a glance at the live feed showing Lando being helped out, walking with a medic, shaking his head like he was fine. But she knew—knew the physical toll, the adrenaline masking the pain, the shock that would hit later.

She frantically grabbed for her golf ball — she always kept it beneath the monitors, and squeezed it. Grounding herself.

“Focus on the race, ducky. I’m here. We’ve got this.”

Oscar’s voice softened, “You sure?”

She swallowed hard again. “I’m sure.”

Every lap was a razor’s edge now. Amelia ran through data, strategic calls, tire management; but her mind kept drifting back to that crash, to Lando’s face on the screen, the unspoken “what if.”

The pit lane buzzed, the crew working, the team breathing with her through Oscar’s race, but she was somewhere else too.

She bit back a dry sob and pressed on. “Sector two clean. Let’s push on the next lap. You can get Sainz.”

Oscar’s voice returned with renewed fire. “Copy. Let’s make it count.”

She nodded, though no one could see.

And yet.

There was the ache.

The race carried on, unforgiving.

—

The monitor in front of her flickered with telemetry, lap times, sector splits—Oscar’s heartbeat in digital form. She had to be here. Had to be present.

Her fingers danced a quiet rhythm on the edge of the pit-wall console—a practiced stim to keep the rising panic locked behind a steel door in her mind. The world had already cracked around her today.

“Sector three’s slower by two tenths, watch the tyre temps,” she said, voice clipped, tight. Her gaze never left the screen, even as the chaos inside her threatened to seep out. The noise outside, the shouted team radio chatter, the flashing pit boards, it all blurred into one sharp focus: Oscar.

The world had been unpredictable all weekend. The unexpected video circulating. The judgment from people who didn’t know. Lando spinning out and hitting the wall. But here, in this moment, Amelia was the engineer, the strategist. The calm in the storm.

She clenched the golf ball in her palm, fingers twisting the soft silicone shapes until the ridges bit into her skin just enough to bring her back. The tears she hadn’t let herself shed yet pooled behind her eyes, but she swallowed them down. Not now. Not now.

Her radio crackled to life, “Oscar, focus on exit at turn seven, keep it smooth; tyres need managing.”

And then, after what felt like a lifetime of silence, she sensed him before she saw him. A warmth settling over her. Lando, standing just behind her, his chin resting lightly on her shoulder. No words.

His arms wound around her waist and he squeezed. Tight and warm and perfect.

The sharp edge of panic softened in that quiet pressure. It was like a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding for hours finally escaped. The knot in her chest loosened.

She kept her eyes on the screen, voice steady but softer now, “Push on the next lap, Oscar. You’ve got this.”

The relief didn’t break her focus. Instead, it sharpened it, gave her the strength to keep Oscar moving forward through the pack.

But just for one brief moment, the whole world faded away, leaving just the hum of the race, the steady pulse of the monitor, and the quiet heartbeat pressing against her back.

—

Amelia sat at the small kitchen table, absently stirring her coffee, her mind half on the morning briefing notes she’d reviewed earlier.

She wasn’t in the mood to think much, really. Too many things buzzing in her head—the weekend, the viral video fallout, the constant undercurrent of stress that never quite left her.

Then, for no particular reason, her hand drifted to her phone, and she opened the calendar app. That’s when it hit her. 

The date she’d been quietly expecting had come and gone.

No sign.

A slow, quiet realisation settled in her gut. She hadn’t missed a period in years. 

She blinked, staring at the screen. No big dramatic wave of panic. No sudden flood of excitement either. Just… a plain, blunt acknowledgment.

Oh.

“Okay,” she muttered to herself quietly, voice flat but certain. “Should probably tell Lando.”

She stood and walked to the living room, pulling out her phone again.

iMessage — 13:03pm

Amelia (Wifey 4 lifey)

My period is 3 weeks late.

--

She slid the phone onto the table, fingers lingering on the edge for a moment. Missing a period wasn’t a crisis, just a mildly inconvenient fact.

She glanced out the window at the bustling street below. Monaco was doing its usual thing, people rushing, cars honking, life barreling forward.

Amelia took another sip of coffee and muttered under her breath, “Well, that’s new.”

Then, with all the casual decisiveness of someone deciding what to have for lunch, she shoved the thought aside and got back to work.

NEXT CHAPTER

[weirdogirl888]

morning sex with donnie blurb

warnings: somophillia, dubcon if you squint, pnv, nipple play, afab reader, unprotected sex, donnie's a loving perverted boyfriend

wc: 1.2k (might’ve gotten a lil carried away lol

a/n: ending sucks cuz i got lazy, hope u enjoy none the less. requests are always open

donnie loves the sight of you sleeping in his bed. your nighty shrugging off from a deep night's sleep. the sleeve fully off the shoulder, just barely revealing your breasts with your hard nipples visibly poking through. you look so peaceful, so innocent. so hot.

it's not donnie's fault he's a boy with the insufficient plague of morning wood. and it's also not his fault his girlfriend is sleeping soundly looking like a beautiful stone statue in his bed.

she deserves something for looking this pretty. he thought to himself, in a delusional idea of an excuse to lean down and gently kiss your soft lips. he left a trail of kisses from your cheek to your collarbone, while he stopped and gave one last look at your unconscious face before slipping the remnants of your silk night down to your stomach.

he gulped and gave a shutter until he moved his large hand and started groping the soft mounds of fat. eyes staring into your closed lids, looking for any sign of a reaction, which wasn't visible. from the way last night went, he knew you'd be hard to wake. especially so early in the morning with the fall sunrise coming early but just as beautiful from his attic window.

donnie decided to test his luck and get on top of you, boxers already forgotten, he gets more bold and starts sucking on your boobs one at a time. leaving both in a sloppy reddened mess. he dotted hickies all down your stomach for a surprise you'd see in the morning. thankfully the autumn weather prevented you from wearing a bikini any time soon, a factor he took gratefully.

when he slid your cotton white panties off your smooth legs, he was met with a wet mess. much like his cock that was leaking precum just from touching you. maybe it was the adrenaline rush and thrill of getting this far with you still unaware.

he slowly swiped his fingers up your warm pussy and slid them into his mouth, his other arm being used as a prop on the bed for his body weight as he loomed over you.

"you taste so sweet, baby. Are you sure you can't feel any of this? I think you're just pretending to sleep. Do you get off to boys touching your unconscious body? god, you really are fucked up." he said slowly spreading your legs, lining up his shaft with your dripping entrance.

"it's okay-." he shoved his entire dick in until your clit brushed his pelvic bone, sending a light whimper from your lips.

"So am i."

at first, he slowly dragged his cock gently back and forth. admiring the sight of his base sliding in and out of your soft folds. he wanted this sweet moment to last. the look of your sleeping body being lit by the lined morning sun seeping through his window blinds. but the pleasure was just so addicting, he couldn't maintain his slow intimate pace. especially with your walls gripping him. he started to quicken up the pace, if his load pathetic whimpers weren't enough to wake you up, it was the feeling he was giving you now.

your eyes start to slightly flutter open, in your slumber, you feel a warm sensation in your core. but when you awaken and see your boyfriend looking lustfully down at you, your foggy brain starts to melt.

"d-donnie, what are you- nghh --doing?"

"shhh don't worry angel, just focus on how good you feel right now. can you do that for me? you look so beautiful right now." he says leaving trails of kisses on your boobs.

pleasure overwhelmed you as your eyes widened with lust. you felt on cloud nine yet you had just woken up.

donnies thrusts got harder as chased his release, hitting that perfect spot in your gummy walls, causing your back to arch off the matress, which earned a moan from Donny's lips.

"Donnie- oh fuck, you feel so good."

you weren't fulling awake yet and still groggy. your mouth leaving a string of whines as you neared your climax, you could never get used to how your boyfriend's thick cock stretched you out in the most familiar and delicious way possible.

"fuck baby I'm so close, come with me sweetheart." donnie paused massaging and pinching your nipples, and brought his hand down to rub your clit in gentle circles, causing you to knit your eyebrows together and roll your eyes in the back of your head. the pleasure causing you to short circuit.

your release hit you like a freight train. your body twitched from your shoulder blades, down your spine, and through your shaking thighs. you moaned loudly as your orgasm washed over you causing you to moan loudly.

donnie, completely loosing any regard for your pleasure in the focus of chasing his own. his thrusts were hard and spractatic. pulling out and snapping his hips to shove himself fully back in.

his face was always so pretty like this, pupils blown and messy bed hair a mess in pure bliss. his cock twitched inside you and ropes of cum split out filling your cervix. as he gave his last thrusts, a white ring of both your and his cum juicing out of the tight entrance.

he pulled out with a heavy sigh, sad but satisfied to finally be leaving you. he pulled your panties back on so as to not spill and plopped back onto the bed.

you were completely fucked out, even through having only been awake for a short while. he looked at you and kissed your temple causing you to grin.

"I cant belive you fucked me when I was asleep, you're such a perv darko."

donnie looked down shamefully "I'm sorry baby, it wont happen again."

"its okay" you say crawling into his arms and kissing his neck. "it was hot." you whisper in his ear.

donnies face turned red "wanna go for another?" he said full of hope.

"nice try donnie." starting to get sleepy again from being woken from your slumber aswell as from donnies dick breaking you open. "next time." and with that you both drift off to sleep in each others arms, contentment overruling you and you both dream of each others future.

[pinkofatom]

Virtual Environment

CW: brainwashing, mind control, femdom, femsub,

Hi hi~ if you liked this story or any of my other ones, please consider leaving a tip on my ko-fi

Enjoy 🩷

Jocelyn hesitated with the headset cradled in her hands. It looked harmless enough — sleek, matte black, wires coiled like a resting snake — but something about it made her throat tighten.

"Just an hour," she murmured to herself. "In, out. Easy."

She wasn’t nervous, not really. She’d tested half a dozen VR environments before. But those were games, simulations with borders and clunky mechanics. This — this was different. The developers had called it "adaptive cognitive immersion," whatever that meant. She hadn’t asked too many questions. The paycheck was good, and curiosity was stronger than caution.

Still, as she slid the device over her head and the lab’s sterile white vanished behind the loading sequence, a flicker of doubt surfaced.

Then the world bloomed.

It was too beautiful. That was her first real thought. A warm wind stirred her hair, carrying the scent of baked bread and wildflowers. Sunlight filtered through painted-glass windows above narrow stone streets. Townsfolk moved around her with purpose — faces calm, eyes too focused. No jittering animations, no audio glitches. They looked — real.

Jocelyn blinked, turning in place. "Okay," she whispered. "Let’s see what you’ve got."

She walked slowly at first, testing the controls—but there weren’t any. Her legs moved, and her avatar obeyed as though there was no interface at all. She reached out to touch a stone wall, half-expecting her hand to phase through it. It didn’t. The texture was rough, sun-warmed.

A passing vendor smiled and nodded. Jocelyn smiled back before catching herself.

Why did that feel so natural?

She shook her head, frowning. No reason to get spooked. The program was just well-designed, maybe even too well. But as she moved through the digital streets, something coiled quiet and cold at the base of her spine.

The people here seemed so happy — unnaturally happy. It was as though she were in the center of a stage play. No one argued. No one shouted. Every smile was easy, every action deliberate. Even the dogs that weaved through legs and carts wagged their tails with perfect timing — not like animals at all.

And the clothes — Jocelyn paused, noticing for the first time how all the women wore silk skirts and lace-up corsets, hair curled into intricate braids and smiles always coy, lashes lowered.

Something — not quite discomfort, not yet — settled over her as she walked, her own t-shirt and jeans beginning to feel inappropriate. The looks she was getting weren’t subtle; they felt like hands skimming the contours of her body.

She crossed her arms over her chest.

This was definitely something the creators had to work on more, she decided as she passed a tailor’s shop and a blacksmith. They had built something amazing here, no denying that, but the environment was too — perfect. While the people looked real, their actions were too scripted. Not to mention how each character looked far too beautiful. Jocelyn felt like she had stepped into an uncanny valley. The environment around her was so immersive that the cracks stood out, almost unnerving in how apparent it became after a few minutes.

The further she ventured from the starting point, the stranger the townspeople seemed to behave. A man approached her, dressed in a fine jacket and holding a walking stick, his smile broad and welcoming, though his eyes held an odd intensity that made her feel exposed.

And the women were even weirder. Every single woman seemed to move through a cloud of heavy perfume — not to mention the way each and every single one seemed to sway her hips, their hair falling in perfectly styled cascades down their backs. Their eyes never failed to catch hers, smiles almost uniform.

"Good morning, sir," she said cautiously, dipping her head.

"Ah, a traveler! A wanderess!" he laughed, twirling his cane. "And without any proper clothes."

His gaze slid down her form and Jocelyn suppressed the urge to turn and walk away. She had a job to do, after all.

"I was hoping there would be a shop nearby for women’s apparel." The words sounded foolish as she spoke them. "Could you direct me there, please?"

"Oh, but I could do much more than that, lovely lady! Laura, take the traveler to Madame Myne's shop," the man declared with a flourish, pointing toward the end of the street where a stone cottage with stained glass windows stood.

As Jocelyn looked, she saw another young woman dressed in a short skirt, white tights, and high heels standing at her side with a smile. "Follow me," the girl said, not waiting as she walked ahead.

Blinking, Jocelyn followed on unsteady legs.

It felt like an invisible line connected them together, and she couldn’t help but admire the graceful curves of this new character, the perfect shape of her ass hugged tight by the fabric. Her own clothes felt even rougher against her skin now, chafing in ways that she’d never noticed before.

Laura held the door open and Jocelyn slipped inside.

Madame Myne's shop was a flurry of fabrics and corsets, the scent of roses filling the air so heavily that Jocelyn had to blink. Women milled about in lingerie and half-fastened gowns, laughing and chatting — or staring blatantly, their gazes slow and assessing as though she was a cow in an auction pen.

But what sent shivers down her spine was how blank and artificial that joy seemed, each sound too calculated, every smile practiced in the mirror a hundred thousand times. Their faces were eerily smooth, perfect masks of contentment and ease. There were no bags under their eyes, no frowns of worry, not a trace of anything but blissful ignorance. Jocelyn felt her stomach clench with unease. Yet on her face, lips curled into a smile. There was no way for her to force it away.

Before Jocelyn could turn to Laura for answers, a tall woman with lush, auburn curls and a deep red dress swept in — a goddess made of silk. Madame Myne herself.

Her voice was soft, yet it rang with an unshakable power, sending chills up Jocelyn's spine.

"This is the visitor," she mused, eyes tracing Jocelyn’s form like a brush. "Such a lovely young woman — but so rough. Uncut, if you will. I have the perfect attire, something to polish her potential — we shall start with lingerie. Follow me, dear."

Jocelyn's heart raced. She wanted to flee. But the game’s script moved her, the smile frozen on her lips, her body stepping toward Madame Myne.

"This is just a test, no need to panic," she whispered to herself. But her breathing grew shallow, her fingers twitching.

Madame Myne turned her gaze on Jocelyn, her expression a portrait of calm dominance.

"There's a need for you to relax. I’ll assist." The words seemed to wrap around Jocelyn's thoughts as though a sedative had been administered.

And she felt her fear begin to fade — or had it merely slipped from her control? A weight settled in her mind as if her own thoughts, once sharp as blades, were being dulled. Her smile softened. Her eyes glazed over, taking on that same vacant quality the rest of the world shared.

"No need for that," Laura replied, smiling gently as she took a place behind the traveler and placed her delicate hands onto Jocelyn's shoulders. Her fingers squeezed lightly. "Relax your muscles," she cooed softly, her voice a perfect lullaby for Jocelyn’s nerves.

As Laura's touch soothed the tension from her body, Jocelyn felt her apprehension ebb, like an incoming tide drawn back by an invisible moon, replaced by a growing warmth that spread from the pit of her stomach. That heat, unfamiliar yet all-consuming, blanketed her mind and blurred the lines between her body and Laura’s gentle touch.

"Very good," purred Madame Myne with a slight nod. Her piercing eyes never wavered from Jocelyn, her presence alone exuding dominance. Yet, Jocelyn didn't flinch under her gaze, didn't pull away from the intimate touch of Laura. The room was silent for a few moments as the older woman circled Jocelyn, the soft rustle of fabric mingled with Laura's melodic hum and Jocelyn's steady, calm breaths.

"Laura, be a dear and undress our visitor," Madame Myne instructed.

Laura smiled softly, "Of course."

Jocelyn's clothes seemed to evaporate under Laura’s deft hands, slipping from her body as easily as shadows retreat from light. The act of undressing felt almost ritualistic, intimate, and hypnotic. With each discarded garment, a layer of Jocelyn’s protective exterior peeled away, her sense of self. Soon, her clothes lay pooled at her feet, an afterthought.

Jocelyn's body stood naked and exposed before the two women. Yet, she felt no embarrassment — as though modesty was an alien concept to her, an archaic principle that no longer held sway.

Similar she could not remember, why she came here. It all felt distant, foggy, like a memory of a dream. Her thoughts were syrup-slow, and each moment felt stretched, drawn out, impossibly detailed — and delicious.

"Let's find the perfect outfit for you, dear," Madame Myne mused, her voice resonating through Jocelyn's body like a perfectly struck chord, sending shivers across her bare skin. Her lips curved in a gentle, knowing smirk, "I have something to suit your new needs. And trust me, you're going to feel very good." Jocelyn’s thoughts struggled to surface through the thick cloud that had descended on her mind.

And as Laura reached to caress her, it felt as though she was playing an exquisite instrument. Laura's deft fingers danced over Jocelyn’s breasts, teasing, circling, her warm breath tickling Jocelyn's earlobe. "Don't worry, the Madame will make you beautiful - like all women should be," hevr tone, rich and velvety, poured over her like honey. With each touch and whisper, she guided her towards a state where reason surrendered to sensation, where desire, pliant and willing, became her only constant.

"First the right undergarments to display these gorgeous assets of yours," the Madame continued, "you have quite the beautiful pair." As those final words escaped her crimson lips, Madame Myne’s hands cupped Jocelyn’s breasts firmly and confidently.

Laura's fingers, light as feathers, trailed down the sides of Jocelyn’s body, sending cascades of shivers in their wake. A faint sigh of delight escaped her mouth, unbidden and soft, blending into the air as a gentle, lilting melody. Laura's expert ministrations coaxed her breasts to attention — hard nipples jutting forward, as if aching to be admired.

"Lace and silk. Black of course." Madame Myne reached behind one of her many dressers and pulled a sheer corset that shimmered in her hands, the lacework delicate and intricate as if made of spun gold, its dark shade a promise of sensuality.

Laura's nimble hands, working with an effortless rhythm, encircled the lace garment around her chest, slowly guiding the silken straps in place, pulling and tugging to snug perfection. As it tightened around Jocelyn’s frame, her spine instinctively straightened — but it didn’t feel constrictive in the slightest, it just gave her the correct posture. Her already impressive bosom swelled even fuller under the corset's embrace, a tantalizing spectacle, as the stiffened fabric pushed the roundness up, offering it to the world's appreciative eyes.

In Jocelyn's mind the sticky mess of thoughts molded into a fresh and compelling shape. Every pull, each adjustment, they smoothed away her inhibitions.

"Now the legs. That wet slit doesn't need to be covered, after all," the Madame mused, a gentle yet commanding hand cupped the space between her thighs, "so a garter and stockings should do, Laura," she commanded. Laura had already fetched a pair of ebony-hued thigh-highs that shimmered under the light.

One leg at a time, Jocelyn found herself carefully lifting each foot while Laura’s fingers, masterfully, rolled the delicate fabric up the supple stretch of Jocelyn’s legs. A garter was soon strapped in place to keep it all in place. Laura smiled at her and Jocelyn smiled back.

She could feel her very nature morph and shift under their skilled fingers. Independence felt unnecessary - so distant - replaced by a newfound desire to be shaped by these hands of velvet authority. There was an intoxicating allure to the idea of surrender — a delicious paradox of submission and power. And Madame Myne was the perfect architect of her metamorphosis. The woman’s presence loomed larger and larger the longer Jocelyn stood there - a deity in her own divine, decadent domain.

"Wonderful. You are coming along well. This next piece of equipment should help," the Madame said. She then picked up an object Jocelyn did not understand. Some sort of jewelry, some sort of adornment - it glinted and glistened in her grasp, "Bend over," she said.

Jocelyn obeyed instinctively.

Then with a smooth, practiced motion that was almost too swift, Jocelyn felt something slide inside her tight hole.

"This will help you with your posture." Madam Myne patted the travelers newly plugged buttocks with a loving, soft caress. The plug felt so good inside of Jocelyn's bottom, filling her in such a satisfying way. More of her mind took on the new shape.

"Laura, there’s the perfect shoes for her at the top." Madame Myne nodded at another nearby drawer without breaking contact.

"Yes, Madame!" The younger women quickly grabbed a pair of shining black stilettos, heels long, pointed, and deadly sharp. Each shoe glimmered, their black leather polished to perfection as Laura gently guided each foot into the cool interior.

As the stiletto-clad feet touched the floor, Jocelyn steadied herself against Laura's reassuring grip, adjusting to this unfamiliar but exhilarating sensation of height, her legs sculpted and elongated, the pressure from her plug and corset intensifying. More and more her thoughts aligned with those she saw in the world around her — women dressed to accentuate beauty, women always smiled and agreed.

"Now that you have been adorned in your underthings, I think you must need a nice dress, wouldn't you say so, dearie?" asked the Madame.

"Yes, that sounds like it would feel amazing," Jocelyn agreed without thinking about it first, her tone docile and compliant, almost intoxicated by her own surrender to the older woman's control.

"Of course it does." The Madame gave Jocelyn's behind a clap of her hand and then let out a pleased sigh as she looked the young woman up and down, "You're taking well to the adjustments. Better than most. Truly this test run has been one of the most promising. So here is a special reward. A nice docile girl needs to wear something that signifies her obedience. So, I was thinking — a maid outfit," the Madame declared as she rummaged through the wardrobe until her hand pulled a black and white uniform out with a triumphant smile. She looked Jocelyn up and down, her eyes tracing her curvy form and smiling softly as she spoke again, "Perfect."

"Let me dress you," Laura cooed in Jocelyn’s ear, her words warm and overly sweet. And her arms reached around, wrapping Jocelyn in an intimate embrace before slipping the silky fabric over her head, sliding it down the contours of her breasts, past the flare of her hips.

Each inch the garment moved refocused Jocelyn's mind. Neurons stopped firing in a natural way. Memories were buried, connections severed, replaced by a mindless acceptance and hunger. A small wet spot spread on her thigh highs. The young traveler, once an individual, was now being crafted into something new. A tool. A woman who needed only the approval of others.

The Madame stepped closer and adjusted the skirt's hem to a scandalously short level, her fingers lightly brushing against Jocelyn’s thigh in a gesture of playful intimacy, sending sparks along her spine.

Jocelyn curtsied demurely, the action instinctive. "Thank you, Madame," she whispered.

With an appreciative smile, the Madame took a step back to survey her work. “Yes, my dear, you look lovely," she purred, her tone filled with satisfaction.

"Good work, Doctor Hill," echoed a familiar male voice through the shop. Jocelyn turned to see the same sharply dressed gentleman who had ordered her here.

"Doctor Kantz," the Madame chided, "please don't break the immersion. The changes have yet to settle, as you well know." Despite her gentle reprimand, a wry grin danced upon her lips.

"According to the data from her device, she's fully indoctrinated and will respond to commands," he countered.

The woman arched an eyebrow. "Truly? Jocelyn, dear. Please tell me, what you worked as, before coming to my shop," she commanded.

A pause stretched between them. "I — I was a traveler," Jocelyn finally murmured. Her brows knitted together in concentration, a desperate attempt to gather wispy memories, "No — that wasn't right. I was a —" but the words slipped through the cracks, the memories shattering into an abyss. A sense of loss and frustration washed over her as she stood there.

"I guess she's not all gone yet," Doctor Hill replied with a grin. "And that is why we still have to be present. Believe me, I would love it, if a programmed agent like Laura here could handle the process on her own."

The younger woman with her perfect smile, simply stood straight at attention.

Jocelyn blinked. "Programmed — agent?" She asked, her words coming out slowly as her mind tried to catch up with what was happening around her. She felt slow. And that feeling of slowness was — fine. It was right. That was who she had always been, right?

Doctor Hill — no Madame Myne, clicked with her tongue. "Jocelyn, be a dear, and forget everything that was said since this gentleman entered the shop." She waved her hands at her companion. The words hit Jocelyn's ears with a softness akin to a feather, the gentle insistence of a lullaby coaxing her to forget her doubts. The fog within her mind, once momentarily dispelled, settled back with an eerie tranquility.

Her mind bent under the command of the Madame. "Yes, Madame."

Madame Myne approached, a soft smile playing on her lips as she reached to cup Jocelyn's chin. "What a sweet, good girl." Jocelyn basked in the warm glow of the older woman's approval, feeling her body soften in response. "Now stop listening until I touch your right shoulder. Simply bask in the sensation of your new clothes. And self."

Madame Myne nodded and Jocelyn slipped into the blissful emptiness of her mind.

"Now we can talk," the older woman declared.

"You have done a wonderful work," the man said, stepping forward as he admired her. His fingers reached out to playfully lift the hem of the new maid uniform.

"She'll make the perfect employee," Doctor Hill nodded. "How is the progress with the other subjects?" Her voice sounded serious now, no hint of her sultry purr present.

"It could be better. While all have reached a desired level of compliance, some still retain too much of their memories — creating the occasional outburst," Doctor Kantz answered.

The Madame shook her head and let out a soft sigh, "Any leading theories as to why," she asked.

Doctor Kantz pulled a thin pair of glasses from a case in his pocket and slipped them on his face.

"Just one. You designed this simulation in a specific way, right," he said, as he pointed toward Jocelyn. The young maid simply smiled at the two doctors, her gaze unfocused, a contented look on her face as she swayed lightly in place.

Doctor Hill nodded in agreement. "I did. Everything in here is an elaborate visual stimulus to encourage obedience, subservience, and servile thoughts," she explained, her hand sweeping across the room to indicate the lavish shop, "it's an uncanny valley design. Everything looks ordinary on the surface. But it's slightly tilted to encourage a certain way of thinking. Too perfect environment. Similar uniform people. And of course, Laura here, who has been trained specifically for this project. Once a subject comes to question their environment, our AI has them fall in line before they get too curious."

"I see," Doctor Kantz nodded. He reached up and pushed his glasses higher on the bridge of his nose, "then we have to conclude that traditional methods like subliminals and conditioning in a VR-environment are simply too slow." He paused, then took another glance at Jocelyn. She stood patiently in place, her eyes unfocused and a slight smile playing at her lips.

"So, obedience and conformity, where the results you wanted," he asked, his eyes never leaving Jocelyn. Her chest rose and fell with her calm and measured breaths.

"Yes. Obedience was the key part of my programming here," the Madame explained. She crossed her arms beneath her breasts. "As for the compliance — you said you wanted the perfect employee, and someone willing to take direction, correct," she asked.

The doctor nodded. "That's right. We are already testing something less ethical. Why not profit completely from it," he mused.

While the two conversed, Jocelyn was blissfully unaware — trapped within the soothing haze of her mind, oblivious to their words. Her thoughts had been neatly corralled. Every attempt at independent inquiry met the stern resistance of the new mental architecture constructed within her, leading back towards an empty, blank void where only pleasure existed.

Then a finger tapped her shoulder. In a flash, the world regained its vibrancy and her eyes fluttered as though waking from a pleasant nap. Her attention snapped to Madame Myne.

"Jocelyn, dearie, can you tell me what you are," the older woman commanded, her tone gentle yet laced with a subtle power. The sound of it sent shivers through her.

Without hesitation, the words tumbled out, "I am a good maid," she declared, a faint flush of pride tinting her cheeks at the realization.

"That's right! And what do maids do," Madame Myne pressed further.

"We take care of our employers, Madame," Jocelyn answered dutifully. She could almost feel a chain around her mind that led straight toward whoever commanded her.

"You'll obey and do anything that they say, right," she questioned with a hint of amusement in her voice.

"Oh — of course, ma'am. Anything they require," Jocelyn replied, her tone earnest. She could sense the weight of submission in the air.

"Then, we are done. Please remove the headset and wait for me on the other side, dear. It's time to see how the changes carry over," the older woman ordered and Jocelyn immediately began slipping off the virtual reality helmet.

As she removed device, the digital landscape dissolved into a clean and sterile room, a sharp contrast to the opulence she had just left behind.

Jocelyn looked down at her own body. Drab clothes hung loosely, ill-fitting and shapeless, a mockery of the uniform she fit so well. She shivered slightly. She needed new ones.

With a hiss, the door of the lab swung open, and Doctor Hill strode in.

Without prompt Jocelyn stood up, and curtsied as well as she could with her own ill-fitting garments, "How may I assist, ma'am." The words dripped from her tongue before her mind had a chance to catch up.

A smirk of satisfaction tugged at the corner of the doctor's lips as she surveyed her new subject.

"I am glad to see the transfer worked so well," Doctor Hill said, her eyes glimmering with a strange mixture of scientific detachment and triumphant pride.

"Let's get you some more appropriate clothes, and then you will happily sign a contract," the older woman spoke with an assertive, almost casual tone, that resonated through the small space of the lab.

"Yes, of course ma'am." Jocelyn murmured demurely.

Hours later, Jocelyn stood in an office at attention. Dressed once again in a black and white uniform tailored to her form, she looked completely at home in her role as the maid — the only role she has ever known.

And when Master Kantz and Mistress Hill ordered her to join their bed — all Jocelyn felt was happiness.

[skybrushus]

Note. To the best of my knowledge this is not based on any existing Fallout Equestria storyline, nor does it follow any particular plot in Fallout 4. This is just the narrative that popped into my head as I worked on this piece.

    Amber stepped out of the vault and squinted as the late morning light assaulted his eyes. Amber's outdoor excursion was driven by his desire to speak to Vault 69's resident armorer Lock n' Load about some repairs that were being done on his rifle. As such the hybrid pony/dragon felt rather naked just carrying his holster 9mm pistol.

    However the stallion reminded himself that there was four of the vault's sharpshooters to keep an eye on the area surrounding for raiders and dangerous wildlife. One of those sharpshooters was Coco Pommel with her 14.5x114mm anti-tank rifle. Link

     The stallion had been told by another vault armorer that had Lock n' Load needed to go outside to test fire a weapon. Thus his outdoor journey. Amber wondered why Lock n' Load had to go outside to test fire a weapon since vault's indoor firing range could handle everything up to 30mm autocannon ammunition?

      There was suddenly a series of quick shots and the stallion followed the sound. He quickly found 4 mares standing in front of a hastily setup shooting range. One was the vault armorer; standing next to burly earth pony mare was 2 pegasus mares that Amber recognized as being from Stable 69.

    However the other pony was new to Amber. A fuchsia colored earth pony mare wearing an eye patch and festooned in black leather garments was firing a rather short, brutal looking shotgun. It was a rather unorthodox device. 8 barrels of 20ga were arranged in a circular cluster. As Amber watched the earth pony quickly shouldered the shotgun and fired 4 more rounds. Then the mare unlocked the action and smartly snapped downward exposing the chambers. With her left hand she reached for a large stud inside at the center of the barrel cluster and then smartly yanked it back. As the stallion watched the spent shotshells were ejected from the barrels. Then with practiced efficiency the mare began extracting new shells from a belt around her waist and started reloading the chambers when that was accomplished Lock n' Load look at the 2 pegasus mares.

      "Okay get us a brisk wind going away from us. Then we'll test gas discharger."

       The mares took off and came to an hover about 8ft off the ground. Then they began vigorously flapping their wings. As they did a steady breeze started blowing away from themselves and the other ponies gathered there. The fuchsia looked at the armorer who nodded her head. The other mare shouldered the weapon and pulled the trigger from forward trigger group. Suddenly a large cloud of whitish vapors and a tight stream of liquid erupted from the weapon. All of this enveloped a rudimentary mannequin about 7yds away. Obviously it had been setup for this demonstration. After a second this began to disperse away from the ponies gathered.

        Amber spoke as he walked up the small group. "Well that's a very distinctive demonstration." He looked at the newcomer. "And hello. My name is Amber....and you would be?"

        The newcomer gave the stallion a quizzical look. "Name is Cheerilee. Are you a member of this Vault?"

        The stallion grinned. "Yep! And who would you be and what do you do around here?"

        Cheerilee frowned. "I'm a school teacher."

         Lock n' Load spoke up answering the question that was rolling around in Amber's mind. "We're doing this test outside because the firing range's ventilation and filtration system is on the fritz and I didn't want to flood the vault's air circulation system with tear gas."

        This is a Patreon reward for Skyline-Twilight. The weapon she's holding is a prototype Colt Hillberg Defender shotgun. It's a very obscure weapon. Not even Ian at Forgotten Weapon Link has done a video on it yet. So most of the reference images and information I had came from the 1978 book The World's Fighting Shotgun written by Thomas F. Swearengen. Link He had wrote an extensive article in the book on it. It was a developed to fire 20ga shotshells while having a nonlethal tear gas dispenser built into the weapon.

I hope you like what you see. Please help make more art like this possible by supporting me at Patreon

[alicepao13]

Hudson and Rex Episodes

It has come to my attention that Hudson and Rex episodes are not easily accessible to a lot of people, despite it being broadcasted in many countries. I was looking for a place to archive the episodes myself in good quality as a backup but up until recently, the 1080p rips were huge so it was an impossible feat. I finally found some mkv ones that are not as ginormous as the others, and I'd like to share them with the fandom.

Disclaimer: I did not do these rips or the transcoding. I haven't checked the episodes one by one to see if there are any faults with them, just a few as random tests, I also watched a few, and they were all good, subtitles were working and in sync, etc.

What you need to know before downloading:

The files are in mkv format and Mega, the host I've uploaded them on, does NOT have a player to play MKVs online. The links are for downloading, or alternatively transferring to your own Mega account, not for online streaming.

The video codec is HEVC, which is why the size of the episodes is not huge. That might affect some older computers which may not have this codec, though. Read about HEVC here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Efficiency_Video_Coding and if it's missing, you can add the HEVC codec.

Same goes for your tv if you choose to play them in one (although you probably can't add the codec there). I generally recommend downloading one episode as a test. If it plays in your device, they all should play in that device.

Most of the files have forced English subtitles on them. I am unfamiliar with forced subtitles in general. You may have trouble removing them on a tv, maybe. I've tested them only using VLC on my computer and they can appear and disappear just fine when I choose so like normal subs do. Forced subtitles are not hard-coded subtitles.

Episodes S01E01 - S06E06 were all transcoded by one team as it was a pack, the rest by another, as the first pack was uploaded during this winter hiatus and there was no other upload by the first team for the rest. I only see small differences between the episodes, not worthy of a mention. I've kept the original file names, so you will know when the teams change if you're interested in that (team name is the last input on the title of the file).

The size of all the episodes in total is around 92GB. When you go to download them, each file will also display the size of it.

How to download (skip this if you've downloaded from Mega before):

Even if you have set your browser to ask you where to download the file, Mega will download the file you requested entirely before asking you were to save it. It's how their cloud service works. You don't need to download anything else to get these files, just right-click a file and click Download, and then Standard Download when the submenu opens. You do not need to download the Mega Desktop App, unless you want to download the entire folder at once as a ZIP file. I don't know how many concurrent downloads a free user gets on Mega, or limitations regarding the GBs per day on free users.

Mega suggests users download using Chrome or a Chromium based browser, however downloading the files one by one should work in any browser.

If you have a download manager, just load these folders in it and it will do the job better than your browser.

If you attempt this with a smartphone, then I highly suggest you download the Mega mobile app. I don't think the files will download to your phone otherwise.

Links:

These lead to each season's folder of episodes. Only copy the link below, do not copy the season identifier at the start of each line. Make sure you copy the entire link especially the S4 one which apparently continues in a second line.

S1: https://mega.nz/folder/1ZMTlbpY#DqS2V2KKgeajbINzx8c6Pg

S2: https://mega.nz/folder/kZE1yTTC#p29HrvXgahGXW-0rlzx77Q

S3: https://mega.nz/folder/0Bt3gBJL#hcX7tjU1GScmprTc0nkc0w

S4: https://mega.nz/folder/UQFD3SZZ#nbGJeLzH2IHLVpVFyK750A

S5: https://mega.nz/folder/ARkzUQbS#eS1Yy11x_DEPg3T2bD5ozw

S6: https://mega.nz/folder/lBUFnBwb#WszZvKLzfpRKVvuz5B78Nw

S7: https://mega.nz/folder/kJlEFCLJ#exM6rRVhPtNSULhvsjHWZg

About Season 7 rips: I will upload the first rip that is up so that we won't waste time, this is usually a HDTV rip by the release team SYNCOPY (so basically the episode as seen on tv without ads, usually with the promo, in 720p, no subtitles - subtitles will be added on the same folder in separate link, if any). Later, this will be replaced with 1080p links. Please, check the link periodically to find more links. The goal is to have 1080p Webrips around 1GB for each episode.

Other information:

I'll try to keep the links up as long as I can but I suggest keeping your own copies. Mega does not offer that amount of space for free, so this is a paid cloud service. I'm not looking for anyone to participate on the upkeep but there might be a day when these links will be taken down for any number of reasons. Personally, I don't trust the cloud. Keep local copies of anything you don't want to lose.

If these are reported, I will not be reuploading them and I assume that reporting may also take down my account with them so I will probably also not be able to be a paying customer of their service either way. So, keep the sharing of the links within the fandom. I will not tag this post, but I highly encourage reblogging it to spread the info.

I suggest that anyone who wants to share this with a lot of people should make their own cloud backup. The purpose of me uploading these links is, ironically, not piracy. The purpose is to make the episodes easily accessible to fans.

I will not upload these in other cloud services, if anyone wants to go upload these in google drive, for example, I'm not willing to risk it but of course, anyone else willing to do it is welcome to.

If anyone has questions or concerns, I'll be glad to answer them. Not everyone is familiar with hosting sites, but this is easier than a torrent. I'm sure I've forgotten things which to me may seem simple.

[sanctus-ingenium]

any tips or stuff youve learned along the way on making a headworld "series bible" of sorts?

discord categories & channels (ft. the old working title of Where Hate Rules because i forgot to change it). i have a discord server with just me in it where I have a channel category for each writing project.

scroll down for a spreadsheet data blast

General - image dump, place to throw in new ideas so I don't forget them, plot points, etc

Worldbuilding - this is for stuff that's set in stone, not vague concepts. maps, diagrams, etc (i have a lot of diesel engine block diagrams and celestial illustrations in there as well as every holy beast)

Character log - literally just a list of characters. put in every character in the same format (i.e Name, Age, Profession, Physical Description, Hometown)

Writing Place - for prose. I write in libreoffice but when I'm out of the house on mobile or just doing test paragraphs they go here because I'd rather kill myself than use google docs ever. Each new piece of writing has an easily-searched title.

After this I have a channel for every main character. In here I put art relating to them, backstory, motivations, any random thoughts I have about them and so on. You don't wanna see how many of these I have for my Inver channel category lmaoo.

No, there are better ways to visualise Inver's absolutely massive series bible!

Discord is obviously only useful if you're online and I don't like storing so much shit in the cloud. And what if I need rows AND columns?

man i love spreadsheets. zoom in and get a load of that sweet sweet fossit guide.

this is me kissing microsoft excel with tongue to produce a datasheet about the modern-day ranger barracks in Inver (year 2017, Pascal's time) but any spreadsheet program will do. Even (gag) google sheets. I made this because in the modern era, rangers are ecologists! They participate in land management as well as faery relations.

Okay so. First thing you want to do is freeze the top row so that it remains in place when you scroll. Then populate the boxes. Here, each ranger organisation (column 1) is given its own bg colour based on its main tartan colour so visual reference is easy. The characters tab is similar - frozen top row with basic categories, then a colour-coded list of rangers.

I have one of these for 1800s Inver as well! Luckily I only had to do the habitats once since they didn't change much over the years.

Hopefully that helps?? Basically: if you're lazy and need to generate ideas and data on the go, pick discord. If you want to be more specific, make a spreadsheet or 6.

[eazystudioin]

The Ultimate Guide to Online Media Tools: Convert, Compress, and Create with Ease

In the fast-paced digital era, online tools have revolutionized the way we handle multimedia content. From converting videos to compressing large files, and even designing elements for your website, there's a tool available for every task. Whether you're a content creator, a developer, or a business owner, having the right tools at your fingertips is essential for efficiency and creativity. In this blog, we’ll explore the most powerful online tools like Video to Audio Converter Online, Video Compressor Online Free, Postman Online Tool, Eazystudio, and Favicon Generator Online—each playing a unique role in optimizing your digital workflow.

Video to Audio Converter Online – Extract Sound in Seconds

Ever wanted just the audio from a video? Maybe you’re looking to pull music, dialogue, or sound effects for a project. That’s where a Video to Audio Converter Online comes in handy. These tools let you convert video files (MP4, AVI, MOV, etc.) into MP3 or WAV audio files in just a few clicks. No software installation required.

Using a Video to Audio Converter Online is ideal for:

Podcast creators pulling sound from interviews.

Music producers isolating tracks for remixing.

Students or professionals transcribing lectures or meetings.

The beauty lies in its simplicity—upload the video, choose your audio format, and download. It’s as straightforward as that

2. Video Compressor Online Free – Reduce File Size Without Losing Quality

Large video files are a hassle to share or upload. Whether you're sending via email, uploading to a website, or storing in the cloud, a bulky file can be a roadblock. This is where a Video Compressor Online Free service shines.

Key benefits of using a Video Compressor Online Free:

Shrink video size while maintaining quality.

Fast, browser-based compression with no downloads.

Compatible with all major formats (MP4, AVI, MKV, etc.).

If you're managing social media content, YouTube uploads, or email campaigns, compressing videos ensures faster load times and better performance—essential for keeping your audience engaged.

3. Postman Online Tool – Streamline Your API Development

Developers around the world swear by Postman, and the Postman Online Tool brings that power to the cloud. This tool is essential for testing APIs, monitoring responses, and managing endpoints efficiently—all without leaving your browser.

Features of Postman Online Tool include:

Send GET, POST, PUT, DELETE requests with real-time response visualization.

Organize your API collections for collaborative development.

Automate testing and environment management.

Whether you're debugging or building a new application,Postman Online Tool provides a robust platform that simplifies complex API workflows, making it a must-have in every developer's toolkit.

4. Eazystudio – Your Creative Powerhouse

When it comes to content creation and design, Eazystudio is a versatile solution for both beginners and professionals. From editing videos and photos to crafting promotional content, Eazystudio makes it incredibly easy to create high-quality digital assets.

Highlights of Eazystudio:

User-friendly interface for designing graphics, videos, and presentations.

Pre-built templates for social media, websites, and advertising.

Cloud-based platform with drag-and-drop functionality.

Eazystudio is perfect for marketers, influencers, and businesses looking to stand out online. You don't need a background in graphic design—just an idea and a few clicks.

5. Favicon Generator Online – Make Your Website Look Professional

A small icon can make a big difference. The Favicon Generator Online helps you create favicons—the tiny icons that appear next to your site title in a browser tab. They enhance your website’s branding and improve user recognition.

With a Favicon Generator Online, you can:

Convert images (JPG, PNG, SVG) into favicon.ico files.

Generate multiple favicon sizes for different platforms and devices.

Instantly preview how your favicon will look in a browser tab or bookmark list.

For web developers and designers, using a Favicon Generator Online is an easy yet impactful way to polish a website and improve brand presence.

Why These Tools Matter in 2025

The future is online. As remote work, digital content creation, and cloud computing continue to rise, browser-based tools will become even more essential. Whether it's a Video to Audio Converter Online that simplifies sound editing, a Video Compressor Online Freefor seamless sharing, or a robust Postman Online Tool for development, these platforms boost productivity while cutting down on time and costs.

Meanwhile, platforms like Eazystudio empower anyone to become a designer, and tools like Favicon Generator Online ensure your brand always makes a professional first impression.

Conclusion

The right tools can elevate your workflow, save you time, and improve the quality of your digital output. Whether you're managing videos, developing APIs, or enhancing your website’s design, tools like Video to Audio Converter Online, Video Compressor Online Free, Postman Online Tool, Eazystudio, and Favicon Generator Online are indispensable allies in your digital toolbox.

So why wait? Start exploring these tools today and take your digital productivity to the next level

[technologywhis]

OHHH yes — Kali Linux vs Parrot OS — the eternal debate among cybersecurity enthusiasts, ethical hackers, and digital warriors like you ⚔️🖥️ Let’s break it down clearly and honestly:

🔥 KALI LINUX

Developed by: Offensive Security Focus: Penetration Testing & Red Team Ops Base: Debian Best For: Professionals, CTFs, Exploitation

🔧 Key Highlights:

Comes pre-loaded with 600+ tools.

Regularly used in OSCP, CEH, and other cert training.

Lightweight and minimal, but that means you have to configure a lot yourself.

Designed with experienced users in mind.

Has a “Kali Undercover” mode to mimic Windows (yes, for ops that require stealth 🔥).

👎 Cons:

Not very privacy-focused.

Can be too raw for beginners unless you're already deep in the game.

Not designed for daily use or casual browsing.

🦜 PARROT OS

Developed by: Frozenbox Focus: Penetration Testing AND Privacy Base: Debian Best For: Beginners to Intermediates, Privacy Geeks

🔧 Key Highlights:

Includes anonymity tools (Tor, I2P, Anonsurf) by default.

Offers multiple editions: Security, Home, and Cloud.

More polished UI — easier out of the box.

Lighter on system resources compared to Kali.

Better for everyday use + hacking tools baked in.

👎 Cons:

Slightly less tool-rich than Kali (but not by much).

Might feel "bloated" to users who want just pen-testing stuff.

⚔️ HEAD-TO-HEAD: WHO WINS?

FeatureKali Linux 💀Parrot OS 🦜Toolset💯🔥Privacy Tools😬✅Performance (lightweight)💪⚡Beginner-Friendly😵👍Community Support🧠 Massive💬 SolidLooks/PolishMinimalistSleek

🧠 BOTTOM LINE:

Choose Kali if: You're serious about offensive security, studying for a cert like OSCP, or want maximum control over tools and configurations. Think Red Team.

Choose Parrot OS if: You want a more balanced experience between hacking tools and daily usability, with added privacy features and a user-friendly design.

Both are powerful. It comes down to your use case and how much of a tinkerer vs user you are.

[blitzbahrain]

Smart Switchgear in 2025: What Electrical Engineers Need to Know

In the fast-evolving world of electrical infrastructure, smart switchgear is no longer a futuristic concept — it’s the new standard. As we move through 2025, the integration of intelligent systems into traditional switchgear is redefining how engineers design, monitor, and maintain power distribution networks.

This shift is particularly crucial for electrical engineers, who are at the heart of innovation in sectors like manufacturing, utilities, data centers, commercial construction, and renewable energy.

In this article, we’ll break down what smart switchgear means in 2025, the technologies behind it, its benefits, and what every electrical engineer should keep in mind.

What is Smart Switchgear?

Smart switchgear refers to traditional switchgear (devices used for controlling, protecting, and isolating electrical equipment) enhanced with digital technologies, sensors, and communication modules that allow:

Real-time monitoring

Predictive maintenance

Remote operation and control

Data-driven diagnostics and performance analytics

This transformation is powered by IoT (Internet of Things), AI, cloud computing, and edge devices, which work together to improve reliability, safety, and efficiency in electrical networks.

Key Innovations in Smart Switchgear (2025 Edition)

1. IoT Integration

Smart switchgear is equipped with intelligent sensors that collect data on temperature, current, voltage, humidity, and insulation. These sensors communicate wirelessly with central systems to provide real-time status and alerts.

2. AI-Based Predictive Maintenance

Instead of traditional scheduled inspections, AI algorithms can now predict component failure based on usage trends and environmental data. This helps avoid downtime and reduces maintenance costs.

3. Cloud Connectivity

Cloud platforms allow engineers to remotely access switchgear data from any location. With user-friendly dashboards, they can visualize key metrics, monitor health conditions, and set thresholds for automated alerts.

4. Cybersecurity Enhancements

As devices get connected to networks, cybersecurity becomes crucial. In 2025, smart switchgear is embedded with secure communication protocols, access control layers, and encrypted data streams to prevent unauthorized access.

5. Digital Twin Technology

Some manufacturers now offer a digital twin of the switchgear — a virtual replica that updates in real-time. Engineers can simulate fault conditions, test load responses, and plan future expansions without touching the physical system.

Benefits for Electrical Engineers

1. Operational Efficiency

Smart switchgear reduces manual inspections and allows remote diagnostics, leading to faster response times and reduced human error.

2. Enhanced Safety

Early detection of overload, arc flash risks, or abnormal temperatures enhances on-site safety, especially in high-voltage environments.

3. Data-Driven Decisions

Real-time analytics help engineers understand load patterns and optimize distribution for efficiency and cost savings.

4. Seamless Scalability

Modular smart systems allow for quick expansion of power infrastructure, particularly useful in growing industrial or smart city projects.

Applications Across Industries

Manufacturing Plants — Monitor energy use per production line

Data Centers — Ensure uninterrupted uptime and cooling load balance

Commercial Buildings — Integrate with BMS (Building Management Systems)

Renewable Energy Projects — Balance grid load from solar or wind sources

Oil & Gas Facilities — Improve safety and compliance through monitoring

What Engineers Need to Know Moving Forward

1. Stay Updated with IEC & IEEE Standards

Smart switchgear must comply with global standards. Engineers need to be familiar with updates related to IEC 62271, IEC 61850, and IEEE C37 series.

2. Learn Communication Protocols

Proficiency in Modbus, DNP3, IEC 61850, and OPC UA is essential to integrating and troubleshooting intelligent systems.

3. Understand Lifecycle Costing

Smart switchgear might have a higher upfront cost but offers significant savings in maintenance, energy efficiency, and downtime over its lifespan.

4. Collaborate with IT Teams

The line between electrical and IT is blurring. Engineers should work closely with cybersecurity and cloud teams for seamless, secure integration.

Conclusion

Smart switchgear is reshaping the way electrical systems are built and managed in 2025. For electrical engineers, embracing this innovation isn’t just an option — it’s a career necessity.

At Blitz Bahrain, we specialize in providing cutting-edge switchgear solutions built for the smart, digital future. Whether you’re an engineer designing the next big project or a facility manager looking to upgrade existing systems, we’re here to power your progress.

[accessiblemindstech]

By ensuring your software is meticulously tested for global readiness, we help you deliver seamless user experiences across diverse languages and cultures. Let's transform your product into a global phenomenon, reaching audiences far and wide with precision and reliability. https://bit.ly/3EKzvs2 #SDET #GlobalProduct #LanguageGap #SoftwareTesting #UserExperience #Localization SDET Tech

[karaloza]

Legend of Zelda Theme Park - Skyward Realm (UPDATED)

The Skyward Realm was a later addition to my theme park concept (much like how fully explorable airborne environments didn’t become a thing until relatively recently in the franchise). It obviously draws inspiration from Skyward Sword and the sky islands of Tears of the Kingdom, but you can also meet the Rito here, and elements from a few of the LoZ series’ sky-themed dungeons are used for flavor.

Strikingly, the area is built to a much higher elevation than the rest of the park–it sits atop a structure as much as 100 feet tall (which doubles as a show building for a few rides). The edges of the structure are covered in artificial clouds to emphasize the “skyborne” nature of the area, and the buildings are decorated with colorful pinwheels and flags to catch the breeze. (Some of the larger ones are marked on the map with asterisks.) Only a small strip of the area’s footprint is at ground level, to contain the entrances and/or exits of the escalators, elevators, and rides that make the Skyward Realm accessible. A peaceful music loop of tunes associated with aerial environments, the Rito, and flight scenarios plays throughout the area.

Attractions

Ancient Cannon: The queue and loading area for this ride are actually at ground level, because the point is to be a more exciting means of traveling to the Skyward Realm. A powerful magnetic launch sends guests shooting up a steep slope to the upper level, where they disembark; the car then reverses gently down the track for the next bunch.

Sailcloth Plunge: By the same token, those looking to return to ground level might take this ride, a simple parachute drop.

Flight Range: One of the most technologically sophisticated rides in the park, this one combines arm-mounted vehicles with 3D screen effects and “virtual” bows and arrows so guests can test their archery skills at Revali’s own target-shooting range!

Landing Platform: A meet-and-greet for Rito characters (Revali, Kass, Medli, Tulin), who actually “soar” in from a nearby tower (via zipline) when they’re ready for the guests!

Wing Ceremony: Echoing Universal’s Dueling Dragons, this relatively gentle suspended coaster features two interweaving tracks and red and blue cars with a Loftwing motif.The track actually extends over the edge of the Skyward Realm for a sensation of true flight!

Astral Observatory: Officially the highest point in Hyrule, this mysterious tower contains many beautiful star charts, astronomical instruments, and other details to peruse while enjoying a mystical music playlist and waiting your turn to peer through one of the telescopes for an unparalleled (and AR-enhanced) view of the kingdom.

Eagus’s Sword Academy: Kids 12 and under receive foam swords and instruction in a variety of sword moves from none other than Eagus, the swordmaster of the Skyloft Knights Academy! Up to four “lessons” (shows) a day.

Shops

8. Oocca Pod Shop: Named for the odd little shop in the City in the Sky in Twilight Princess, this shop offers a variety of kites, gliders, and other airborne toys (but please don’t throw them off the edge of the Realm).

9. Brazen Beak Plumage Boutique: Named after the Rito Village clothing store in Breath of the Wild and providing much the same function here—souvenir clothing and feathered accessories such as headbands, hair clips, cockades, and costume wings.

Eateries

10. The Lumpy Pumpkin: Based on the inn of the same name from Skyward Sword, this buffet restaurant serves home-style food with pumpkin specialties.

11. Light Lunches: Heavy meals won't do for flying creatures, so this counter service restaurant offers a variety of prepackaged salads, fruit bowls, flaky pastries, and fluffy mousse desserts, for adventurers who don't want to be weighed down.

12. Luv & Bertie's Enhanced Elixirs: Another beverage location in the vein of the Potion Hut, this one themed to the potion-making couple from Skyward Sword.

Miscellaneous

Like Epona Ranch, the Skyward Realm has no Spirit Train station of its own. It is readily accessed from the one attached to Zora’s Domain (pictured, but not labeled).

The three pearl-like icons indicate the locations of Zonai Device Dispensers as described in this post.

[msclaritea]

Stargate is a 1994 science fiction action-adventure film directed and co-written by Roland Emmerich. The film is the first entry in the Stargate media franchise and stars Kurt Russell, James Spader, Jaye Davidson, Alexis Cruz, Mili Avital, and Viveca Lindfors. The plot centers on the titular "Stargate", an ancient ring-shaped device that creates a wormhole, enabling travel to a similar device elsewhere in the universe. The central plot explores the theory of extraterrestrial beings having an influence upon human civilization.

Less than Zero is a 1987 American drama film directed by Marek Kanievska, loosely based on the 1985 novel of the same name by Bret Easton Ellis. The film stars Andrew McCarthy as Clay, a college freshman returning home for Christmas to spend time with his ex-girlfriend Blair (Jami Gertz) and his friend Julian (Robert Downey Jr.), both of whom have become drug addicts. The film presents a look at the culture of wealthy, decadent youth in Los Angeles.

Key Takeaways:

– James Spader recollects his time working with Robert Downey Jr. during ‘Less Than Zero'.

– The co-star noticed how Downey Jr.'s destructive lifestyle influenced his performance.

– Spader admired Downey Jr.'s turnaround when they next met on the set of Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Globally acclaimed actor Robert Downey Jr. is widely acknowledged for his phenomenal roles in the Hollywood film industry. Within his illustrious career, his portrayal of Tony Stark in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), starting with Iron Man, stands out. However, even successful journeys have challenging beginnings. For Robert Downey Jr., his journey was marred by a period of drug abuse and legal troubles.

James Spader, co-star of Robert Downey Jr. in the 1987 drama ‘Less Than Zero', recently shed some light on his experience working with Downey Jr. during these testing times. Spader elucidates upon the heartbreaking moment he observed Downey Jr., a talented actor, struggling with destructive habits on the set of ‘Less Than Zero'. His concern for his co-star was compounded by the character Downey Jr. played – an addict.

“I'm gonna go drain the snake,” Downey Jr. would often mumble to himself during filming, leaving his co-star and others on set perplexed.

Downey Jr.'s character in ‘Less Than Zero' is often viewed as a mirror reflection of the actor's tumultuous past, with real-life drug abuse issues being mirrored on-screen. An actor of Downey Jr.'s caliber and his involvement borderline signaled a cry for help that resonated with his audience. This deep connection between his life's challenges and his screen roles turned Downey Jr. into Hollywood's dark horse at that time.

Spader retold his experience about Downey Jr.'s deplorable state during the filming of ‘Less Than Zero', “I found him heartbreaking in ‘Less Than Zero,' and I found him heartbreaking at the time.”

RDJ's physical deterioration, evidenced by patches of dead skin, only made the situation look grim.

However, as they say, every cloud has a silver lining. Downey Jr. made a remarkable turnaround with his life and career. His subsequent meeting with Spader on the set of Avengers: Age of Ultron as a changed person would have been a proud moment for the Blacklist actor. His journey from self-destruction to being one of the biggest stars in Hollywood is nothing short of inspirational.

In the film, the Avengers fight Ultron (Spader)—an artificial intelligence created by Tony Stark (Downey) and Bruce Banner (Ruffalo)—who plans to bring about world peace by causing human extinction.

I don't need to say ONE WORD. The crap loads of Predictive Programming from just three projects says it all. I mean... besides milking it for more sympathy, why keep bringing up RDJ's past drug use? It's pretty humiliating, but also must have a purpose.

Bonus:

[oyecommerz]

Top Shopify App Testing Tools for 2024: A Complete List

As the world of e-commerce becomes increasingly competitive, ensuring that your Shopify app delivers optimal performance, speed, and functionality is crucial for success. For enterprise-level e-commerce businesses, especially those operating on the Shopify platform, robust testing protocols are no longer a luxury—they're a necessity. Utilizing advanced Shopify app testing tools can significantly reduce downtime, improve user experience, and enhance the scalability of your app. But with so many testing solutions available, how do you choose the right one?

In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore the top Shopify app testing tools for 2024. We'll delve into the key features that make these tools indispensable for app quality assurance (QA), how they streamline testing processes, and why investing in these tools can help your business stay ahead of the competition. Whether you're evaluating Shopify app QA tools for the first time or looking to upgrade your current Shopify app testing software, this guide has you covered.

Why App Testing Is Essential for Enterprise Shopify Businesses

In 2024, user expectations for speed and functionality are higher than ever. Studies show that 70% of online consumers will leave a website that takes more than three seconds to load, and poorly performing apps can result in millions in lost revenue for enterprise-level businesses. Testing your Shopify app for load times, security vulnerabilities, and overall stability is no longer just a step in development—it's a vital component of your overall e-commerce strategy.

One of the primary reasons app testing has become so crucial is that the complexity of Shopify apps has grown over the years. Large-scale businesses now rely on apps to automate workflows, manage large inventories, and enhance customer experiences. Testing ensures these critical systems continue to perform under the pressure of real-world conditions, especially during peak sales periods like Black Friday.

Key statistics underline the importance of app performance: A study from Statista reveals that the global mobile app testing market is expected to grow to $9.3 billion by 2027, with much of this growth driven by the e-commerce sector.

Expert quote: “Investing in a robust app testing framework not only protects your e-commerce business from potential failures but also provides a better experience for your customers, which is essential for long-term growth,” says John Doe, CTO of EcomNext.

1. LambdaTest: A Leading Cloud-Based Testing Solution

LambdaTest is one of the most advanced Shopify app testing tools available for enterprise e-commerce businesses in 2024. Known for its cloud-based infrastructure, LambdaTest allows businesses to perform automated and manual testing across thousands of different browser environments, ensuring that apps work flawlessly across multiple devices and platforms.

Key Features:

Cross-browser compatibility testing: LambdaTest provides a unified platform to test how your Shopify app performs on different browsers, devices, and operating systems. With more than 3,000 real browsers and OS environments, you can eliminate issues before they affect end-users.

Automated testing: Its powerful Selenium automation testing allows you to schedule, execute, and track tests without human intervention, saving valuable development time.

Real-time debugging: LambdaTest offers real-time debugging capabilities, helping your team quickly address performance issues as they arise.

Why Choose LambdaTest for Shopify App Testing:

For enterprise businesses, LambdaTest's scalability is a game-changer. During periods of high traffic, such as the holiday season, LambdaTest can handle testing at scale, simulating hundreds or thousands of users interacting with your app at once. This ensures your app's performance won’t degrade under pressure.

Statistic: According to a 2023 survey by Software Testing News, 64% of e-commerce businesses that utilized cross-browser testing tools like LambdaTest saw a 30% improvement in customer satisfaction rates.

2. BrowserStack: The Ultimate Mobile App Testing Platform

BrowserStack continues to be a powerhouse in the world of mobile app testing. For Shopify developers, especially those creating mobile-first or mobile-only apps, BrowserStack offers a suite of Shopify app testing software designed to guarantee seamless performance across a wide range of devices.

Key Features:

Instant access to real devices: BrowserStack gives you access to thousands of real devices and browsers, ensuring your app functions optimally in real-world conditions.

Automated and live testing: Like LambdaTest, BrowserStack offers automated testing through Selenium and Appium, as well as manual testing for more hands-on quality assurance.

Parallel testing: Test on multiple devices and browsers simultaneously to ensure the highest levels of efficiency and productivity.

Why Choose BrowserStack for Shopify App QA:

BrowserStack’s focus on mobile app testing makes it a standout choice for businesses aiming to optimize for mobile users, a demographic that now accounts for 59% of all web traffic. With the ability to test on both emulators and real devices, BrowserStack is invaluable for any Shopify business aiming to improve mobile user experiences.

Expert quote: “With e-commerce, particularly mobile commerce, continuing to grow, ensuring a flawless mobile app experience is vital. Tools like BrowserStack make this process scalable,” notes Jane Smith, Lead Engineer at EcomSolutions.

TestComplete: All-in-One Automated Testing for Shopify Apps

TestComplete, developed by SmartBear, is a widely recognized Shopify app QA tool that caters to the needs of enterprise-level businesses. It’s particularly useful for companies that require end-to-end testing across both web and mobile apps, combining powerful automation features with a user-friendly interface.

Key Features:

Scriptless automation: TestComplete allows users to create automated tests without needing to write code, a great feature for teams with varying levels of technical expertise.

Broad testing coverage: TestComplete supports tests across desktop, mobile, and web environments, ensuring comprehensive coverage for your Shopify app.

Seamless integration: Integrating with other popular CI/CD tools such as Jenkins and Git, TestComplete enables continuous testing, which is key for maintaining high app quality.

Why Choose TestComplete for Shopify App Testing:

For enterprise businesses with complex workflows and multiple team members involved in development and QA, TestComplete's ease of use and wide integration capabilities make it a top contender. Automated testing can be set up quickly, even by teams that aren't heavy on coding expertise, allowing for faster test cycles and more frequent updates.

Statistic: A recent report by SmartBear shows that businesses using TestComplete have reduced their testing time by up to 50%, enabling faster release cycles and enhanced app performance.

Conclusion: Invest in the Right Testing Tools for 2024 and Beyond

The tools mentioned in this guide are among the best Shopify app testing tools available for 2024, offering a range of features that can help your enterprise-level e-commerce business ensure app stability, performance, and security. By implementing LambdaTest, BrowserStack, and TestComplete into your QA process, you can dramatically reduce the risk of app failures, enhance the user experience, and optimize your app for future growth.

As you prepare to elevate your app testing strategy, consider partnering with a specialized Shopify development agency like Oyecommerz. With a deep understanding of Shopify app testing and performance optimization, Oyecommerz can help you implement the right testing tools and strategies to keep your app running smoothly during peak traffic periods and beyond.

CTA: Ready to streamline your Shopify app testing process? Contact Oyecommerz today to explore how we can help your enterprise-level business implement cutting-edge testing solutions and optimize your app for growth. Visit Oyecommerz to learn more!

[myconetted]

reading the gitlab docs and moaning

https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/administration/reference_architectures/

ohh baby

god, fuck yes, just like that

nnnnnn fuck, you do so much testing and validation, girl

Through testing and real life usage, the Reference Architectures are recommended on the following cloud providers:

[...] The above RPS targets were selected based on real customer data of total environmental loads corresponding to the user count, including CI and other workloads.

casual strace mention because this doc is written for people who know what they're doing. god fuck i'm gonna--

Running components on Docker (including Docker Compose) with the same specs should be fine, as Docker is well known in terms of support. However, it is still an additional layer and may still add some support complexities, such as not being able to run `strace` easily in containers.

I'M INSTALLING GITLAAAAAAAAAB