#it's not a case of ferrari just not building a good enough car and having that hold them back as was the case in the years prior

[leqclerc]

Sigh. As much as I love and respect Laurent and personally believe he’d be a much more palatable TP than Binotto this unfortunately points towards a bigger issue within the team, this idea of constantly reiterating that nothing’s wrong, there’s no reason to change anything, most of their poor results are down to outside factors, no one really understands their plight, etc.

Granted, they’re hardly going to openly admit morale is poor or whatever, but not taking responsibility and doggedly defending bad decisions, when everyone else can clearly see many, many costly mistakes were made, is not a good look either. It’s difficult to feel sympathetic when the team’s policy so far has largely been denial (there’s no reason to change anything within the team), deception (claiming the race in Hungary was unwinnable regardless of strategy simply because the car had “no pace,” which was absolutely not true for Charles), and delusion (there’s no reason we can’t win the remaining 10 races), or some mix of the three. It’s frankly insulting. To Charles, to all the people back at the factory who worked so hard to make a championship contending car, and to all the fans tuning into this clown show. In all my years of following F1/Ferrari, I don’t recall a time when they so blatantly made so many bad calls with such frightening consistency. It’s not just a genuine mistake here and there. It’s week in, week out; the rule, more so than the exception at this point. You can comfortably go into a weekend and predict that the pitwall will do something to compromise Charles’s race and be correct more often than not, and that’s concerning.

And now, a little over halfway through the season, they’re closer to Mercedes in the standings (30 points difference) than Red Bull (97 points), who started off as their main rival for the championship(s). My prediction? They’re going to be pipped for second by Mercedes and ultimately finish the season in P3 in the Constructors’ standings. Mercedes. The Mercedes whose resurgence was supposedly a good thing for Ferrari, because it would “take points away from Red Bull.” Yep. P3. From P1. P3, where they finished last year, a result that was considered a massive success for their then-midfield car, coming off the back of a disastrous season. And the worst part is, should it happen, it will be absolutely deserved. P3 is just a more accurate reflection of their goals and ambitions than P1. After all, Binotto shamelessly moved the goal posts while the championship fight was already well underway and downplayed their ambitions from winning a title to just winning some races here and there.

In its current form, with its current attitude, this is not a team that has a genuine hunger and determination and desire to win championships. When Red Bull or Mercedes lose out, they are sick. They’re disappointed, they (generally) hold themselves accountable, and they analyse their weaknesses in order to come back stronger at the next opportunity. To them, anything less than a win is not good enough, especially when they know they have the car and drivers to achieve such results. They’re always pushing for more, bigger, better. There’s ambition there to win - and not just a race, but races, and, crucially, titles. Ferrari, meanwhile, seem to be content with mediocrity, treating the ultra-competitive sport that is Formula 1 like it’s a school sports day, where everyone’s a winner simply for showing up and participating.

In the past their title bids have also been flawed and ultimately fruitless (2017, 2018) but, I don’t know, at least I could feel they tried, they wanted it, which is more than I can say for the current pitwall/management. It’s this feeling that they just don’t care, that they’ve thrown in the towel much too prematurely and are now pretending this was the plan all along...that’s the inexcusable part. To have everything in your grasp, have the driver, have the car at your disposal...and then so carelessly dismantle everything for no discernible reason. If there is one given behind the scenes for this fiasco, then we’re not privy to it.

If the management, the people who hold actual executive power, who are responsible for making important decisions, really and truly see no issue with how the team is being mishandled at the moment, the way it’s failing to reach its full potential, then this malady is more serious than we initially thought. If there’s only talk of “learning lessons” and no actual, tangible action follows - worse, if the same mistakes keep being repeated over and over and keep being defended in the face of fair, constructive criticism, then the team has a massive problem, and I can’t, right now, see any clear solution. They are insane for this (derogatory). After all:

[britney-rosberg06]

about Those tags because i need to talk about your opinions but also am not sure on the tumblr etiquette of just ranting on ops post:

what do you think was the thinking process behind merc building the junior drivers on kimi?

i understand thinking kimi would become a good driver and should be invested in but building it up only for him seems insanity to me. mercedes surely has enough money to have a couple more drivers like ferrari and redbull so why cut paul aron (after what seemed like to me some good top3 championship results) and not even pick someone up so they could have options in case kimi needed more time or turned not to be what they hoped for?

No you’re totally right, it is insanity

Simply put, Toto Wolff kinda has an ego.

If you didn’t know, Kimi was discovered by the Minardi’s before he was even ten, who are also his managers. The Minardi’s got him in contact with Toto Wolff.

Toto has been in contact with Kimi, long before he ever joined the junior team. Kimi’s father would test Mercedes cars (not open wheel real cars) and the Wolffs and Antonelli’s were in pretty clear communication as to Where kimi would eventually go.

So he’s been watching this kid for years now and when he finally signs him (finally old enough to be signed) he keeps winning. Now, he’s got something to prove, that Merc can make drivers into greats, and he has generational talent in his team. Talent that he’s known since he was a child.

Money is no issue with Kimi. He is sponsored solely by Mercedes. While other teams (like Ferrari and Red Bull) have their drivers get their own sponsorships in order to pay for the racing fees with their academy paying a portion, Mercedes juniors - at least now that there’s only 4 of them - are all completely Mercedes funded.

Mercedes pays for everything Kimi wants to do in racing because they believe he’s that great of a driver. Because Toto tells them he’s that great of a driver. And then they see the results on track and are like “well that paid off let’s keep going with throwing money at him”

In Toto’s mind, there is no other option. Paul Aron is a great driver but he isnt the coach of Toto’s son’s karting team. Kimi is. Paul is good and fast behind the wheel but Toto didn’t watch him as a kid karting. He watched Kimi. Paul is frankly, F1 quality, but he didn’t have Giovanni Minardi whispering into Toto’s ear about how great the kid was when he was still in elementary school. Kimi did. That’s not a fault of Paul or Kimi’s it’s just the nature of how things worked out. Paul isn’t an option in Toto’s mind

And because Toto has deluded himself into thinking there’s no other option, and he’s quickly realizing that Seventeen Year Old still doing homework Kimi isn’t exactly ready. But he’s backed himself into a corner and he’s got too big of an ego to back out now.

So, he’s throwing Kimi into rigorous testing sessions and jumping him past F3 and telling the whole world he’s found the next whoever, and somehow somehow convincing the FIA to lower the superlicense age.

Toto Wolff’s massive ego has essentially caused all this imo. He saw a great driver several years ago. Was butthurt about losing Max to redbulll and decided to throw millions at this driver to try and just make the next Max himself. Hurting his other juniors in the process

(clarifying, i totally also think Kimi is a great driver, im a fan of his and I want to see him succeed. If his career is ruined by how Toto is fast tracking him, it’s Toto’s fault)

[hey-kae]

Trust me

Pairing: Charles Leclerc x female reader

Request: Hello, me again! Just a fluffy thought: the reader goes with Charles to the track for one of the Ferrari promotions and she gets to ride with him in the three seater car? So she gets to talk with him over the radio and experience a day of driving with him? Maybe she freaks out over how fast they go and keeps telling him to slow down lol

Warnings: language and one sexual joke

Sidenote: sorry this took me so long to write😬. Do i know if Ferrari have a double seater? No but I didn’t want to include a third person in the car. Also we’re gonna pretend they would actually have a radio in this case for the sake of the imagine.

After a peaceful night of comfortable sleep with Charles in his apartment in Maranello, you woke up in the morning to him moving around the barely lit bedroom, trying so hard to be quiet but failing even harder to do so as stuff kept dropping from him onto the floor. In an unusual behavior at such ungodly hours of the morning, you found yourself chuckling at his hunched posture as he tiptoed around the bed, heading to the bathroom, barely dressed but carrying a pile of red clothes in his arms. You smiled to yourself as you watched him cringe at the slightest sound, not aware that you had woken up and were watching him.

“Good morning, baby.” You greeted, slightly startling him, causing him to immediately straighten up.

“Shit. I’m sorry, mon amour. Please go back to sleep, i will be quieter.” Charles was quick to apologize, his voice still barely above a whisper.

“Don’t worry about it.” You shrugged it off, gesturing for him that it was okay.

He padded barefoot access the room, right back to the bed and leaned down to give you a kiss that you happily returned before you asked him what was on his schedule for the day.

“Carlos and i are filming a video in the two-seater F1 car.” He grinned, his excitement about that clearly shining through his delighted expression, his passion being clearer than ever. It made you smile up at him.

“You look really excited, chéri.”

“I am. It will be- Actually,” he titled his head to the side as if he was considered something, “why don’t you come with me?”

You sat up and stretched up your arms with a yawn before speaking.

“Oh, no. I wouldn’t want to get in the way.”

“Get in the way?! Mon amour, non! I want you there, that way we can spend more time together and you can watch me drive!” His hand wrapped around your arms and he started literally dragging you out of bed while chuckling.

“Charles!” You squeaked, laughing along with him.

“What has gotten into you?”

“Je veux bien t’emmener avec moi, chérie.” I really want to take you with me, darling.

You looked at him, eyes practically begging you to accept his offer and lips almost pouted making it nearly impossible to say no. You shoulders slacked and you sighed in surrender.

“Fine.” You exhaled and let him drag you off the comfortable mattress.

“Merci, baby.” He grinned and kissed you again before he disappeared into the bathroom, leaving you to stare at the few items you had brought with you hung neatly in the closet, trying to put together an outfit decent enough for the day.

The drive to the Ferrari Factory was short and mostly silent on your side since you were still a bit sleepy. You just listened to Charles ramble on about the car he’d drive today. You loved listening to him talk, especially when the subject was something so close to his heart. It calmed you beyond words and made you smile.

Once the two of you stepped foot into the building, Charles’ attention became divided between you and the people there. It seemed that everyone who passed by him made it a point to stop and greet him and therefore you.

“Come on, i need to quickly stop by Mattia’s office before we go to the track.” Charles intertwined your fingers with his and started guiding you down hallway after hallway as if he knew them like the back of his hands.

Once the two of you reached the Italian man’s office and after polite but brief conversation was exchanged, you took a seat in a chair next to Charles and mindlessly listened to him and Mattia talk in Italian, not understanding most of what they’re communicating until they both stood back up, exchanging “ciao”s and shaking hands.

Charles, still switched onto his Italian mode, held you hand and tugged on it as he poked his head towards the door and said, “Andiamo.”

“Huh?” You asked, already following him out of the office.

“What?” He frowned, “Oh, sorry. It means let’s go.” He smiled at you as you walked.

“Oh, okay. Andiamo.” You grinned at him and started walking faster, passing him.

Charles chuckled at that, pulling on your hand so he’d be able to hook his arm around your shoulders.

“T’es trop mignone.” You’re so cute. He kissed the top of your head as the two of you exited the building, a blush spread across you cheeks.

That didn’t go unnoticed by Charles.

“Look at me, mon amour. I still make you blush, love?” He grinned and tugged you closer.

“Oh, please. Have you ever looked in a mirror, Mr. Leclerc?” You teased him and he burst out laughing, the sun illuminating his face so beautifully, further proving your point that a day where this man wouldn’t make you blush might never exist.

“Listen, Carlos is already on track. It’s about a fifteen minute walk from here, do you mind walking?”

“That’s fine by me, baby.” You sprinted out of his grasp, running in front of him as he threw objections your way.

“Better try to catch up, then.” You giggled back at him, walking backwards so you’d face him. You watched as he started running to you, a big smile shining on his glowing face.

When he was close enough, he grabbed your waist and pulled you to him, laughing into your neck, raising goosebumps on your skin as the vibrations coursed through you.

“I caught you.” He teased, turning your head towards him to plant a kiss on your lips. You were thankful that the area was mostly empty of people at such an early time of the day since you were highly appreciative of any moment of privacy you had with Charles.

“No shit, sherlock. Thanks for telling me.” You teased him before the two of you resumed the walk, now actually heading for the track while exchanging soft remarks and talking softly to each other.

Half an hour later, you watched the two-seater carrying Charles and Carlos shoot down the track from your spot in the red and white garage, the sound of its engine thrilling you. It was barely seconds before the vehicle was out of sight and a matter of less than a minute before it reappeared. You took your phone out, taking a brief video as it zoomed past you to immortalize the memory of today.

After a few laps around the track each, the team members gestured for Charles and Carlos to stop, giving them a thumbs up to let them know they probably got enough footage to work with.

You observed as the car stopped back in the garage and the two drivers got out of it, Carlos immediately taking off his helmet and balaclava while Charles kept his on as he crossed the garage to talk to a team member in what seemed to be a rushed tone. The guy he was talking to nodded and Charles high-fived him before making his way to you.

“Come on.” He put out his hand for you to take.

“Wait, where are you taking me?” You reluctantly took a step.

“T’as confiance en moi?” Do you trust me? His voice sounded muffled since he still had his helmet on.

“Bien sûr! Mais, que-“ Of course! But, what- Charles cut you off.

“Do you believe i’m a good driver?“ He asked as someone handed him a plain black race suit and a white helmet.

That’s when it clicked in your mind.

“Oh, fuck no. I’m not getting into that death contraption!” You tried to pull your hand out of his but it was in vain.

“Tu m’as pas repondu. Do you believe i’m a good driver?” You didn’t answer me. He stopped moving and turned towards you.

“I know you’re an amazing driver, but Charles,” you moved closer to him and lowered your voice so no one would hear, “what if the engine blows up or catches on fire? Or the throttle stops working? Or you lose the brakes? Or-“

Charles was laughing.

“Baby, stop overthinking! Just trust me on this one.” He handed you the suit and helmet, “Please, for me? I promise you’ll enjoy it. We won’t go as fast as I normally would.”

For the second time today, you sighed in surrender. You snatched the race gear out of his hands and huffed a “fine” before you started slipping the suit over your clothes.

Even with the helmet on, Charles’ grin was obvious as he helped you secure your own pair of earphones, microphone and finally the helmet under your chin, tightening the strap just enough and making sure it fit you perfectly.

“Perfetto.” He mumbled before he took a step back to make sure the suit was properly covering your body.

“Andiamo.” He gestured to the car with a cheeky smile once he finished inspecting if you were safe enough.

“Shut up.” You mumbled through the thick helmet, finding that it made it a bit harder to breathe and made your head feel slightly heavier.

“Remember, you can always talk to me, love.” He reminded you as a staff member brought a step to the side of the car so you’d be able to get in.

Charles, very meticulous about your safety, helped you into the vehicle and made sure himself to attach your seatbelt and secure you in your seat before getting into his own place up front.

“Charles, wait. Can you hear me? Do you copy?” You started freaking out.

“Yes, love. I copy.” You heard him chuckle, “It will be okay. Just relax and you’ll enjoy it, baby.” His voice startled you since it took you a second to register that you were hearing him through the earpieces.

“Wait, so whatever i can say, you can hear me?” You spoke even if it felt like you were talking to no one.

“Yes, cherie. Don’t worry.” Silence took over for a few seconds before you heard his voice again, “Ready?”

“Um, no?” You stated to obvious, receiving a small laugh from Charles just as the car launched like a missile down the race track.

“Oh my fucking god!” You screamed at how fast you were moving.

“Baby, less screaming please.”

“Charles, I don’t think i’m gonna make it out alive.” Your jaw clenched and you fisted your hands as nerves took over your body.

“Eh, mon amour. I don’t want to hear you say that. I need you to trust that i will always keep you safe, okay?”

You had no doubt in your mind that Charles would never put you in any dangerous position. Quite the opposite actually, he’d go out of his way to protect you from any hazard.

You sighed and relaxed your hands as much as possible, watching as the trees you passed blurred into nothing but green flashes of color.

“I need you to answer me, y/n. Tout vas bien?” Is everything going well? Charles, concerned by your lack of reply insisted.

“Tout vas bien, chéri.” Everything is going well, darling. You reassured, still not fully at ease but your mind had finally registered that it was none other than Charles who was driving you around.

However, your heart had leaped out of chest as he drifted into the first corner and every corner after it.

“Fuck, go slower. Please.” You squeaked.

“Je ne t’ai jamais entendu dire ça.” I’ve never heard you say that. Charles’ laughter filled your ears.

“Pervert on and off track i see.” You found yourself smiling, even if he didn’t diminish the speed at all.

Once you got used to the feeling of the helmet and the tight space of the car as well as seeing everything as nothing but colorful flashes zooming past you, you found yourself actually enjoying the thrill of such absurdly high speeds. The screams during every corner turned into small, barely audible shrieks you’d let out as your breath caught.

The steady sound of the engine made your blood rush and the screeching tired against the asphalt shot electricity through your body.

“I see why you chose to do this for a living.” You blurted out.

“Wait.” Charles dragged on the word, “you’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” His smile was practically audible.

“Well, I don’t hate it?” You laughed.

“Brace yourself then.” His tone sounded devilish.

You watched as the car raced down a road that didn’t seem like a part of the main track. Soon enough, a vast circular spread of black asphalt came into view.

“Don’t even think about it, Leclerc!” You warned him through the radio as soon as you understood what he had in mind.

“Relax, baby.”

“Don’t tell me to fucking relax.” The sentence ended with a screech as the car began spinning with the two of you inside of it, your body titling with every move of the vehicle.

“I hate you.” You screamed and heard him laugh in return.

“Feel free to do that but i love you.” You heard him chuckle.

The sound of the tires was so loud and you could faintly smell the burnt rubber as smoke rose from the tires, clouding the air so quickly.

Through the radio, you could hear Charles giggle to himself, clearly enjoying this.

He kept spinning the car for a few more seconds before he stopped it right in the center.

“Are you okay?” You heard him ask.

“I’m okay, don’t worry.” You panted like you’d ran a marathon.

While the car was still stopped, Charles reached behind him, putting out his hand for an awkwardly angled high five.

You hand met his briefly then he gave you a thumbs up and started heading back to the garage, the speed this time not as high.

Once the car was parked, Charles jumped out of it and helped you out. He helped you get rid of the helmet then removed his own before hugging you to his chest.

“Told you i would never hurt you.” He smirked.

You looked up at him with a painfully wide smile, the adrenaline still coursing through your veins from the thrill of the experience.

“Did the two of you forget we could hear everything?” Someone with headphones over his ears pointed out before you got the chance to reply to Charles, making you blush furiously under the gaze of the many team members.

“You know i love you, right? You didn’t say it back out there on the track.” Charles, after flashing the man a smile, attempted to distract you, his arms still loosely pulling you to him.

“I love you too, idiot. You know that.” You smiled back at him, suddenly not caring about the prying gazes, only caring about him.

[f0point5]

Ferrari will tell Lewis he isn’t the shit if he isn’t performing. Ferrari won’t let him do everything the way he wants to run shit because they haven’t let seb, kimi or Charles do it either. And Charles is their predestined prince. He is the first of their fda drivers to get the Ferrari seat, the one with the longest contract in history even longer one than Michael, he is managed by Jean todt‘s son, the fda was build for jules, he got this contract now because Ferrari wants him to succeed. They want to win with him. Binotto was biased and in my opinion heavily influenced by the sainz camp. But Fred isn’t like that. Fred cares about Charles and about making Ferrari Ferrari again. And if the team fails Charles the fans will riot. And I believe there will be protests in front of Maranello if they screw him over.

Lewis isn’t owed anything. He didn’t drive well enough in 2021 to win the title because he got cocky. He didn’t defend successfully enough against max so max overtook him and won ten race and title. Lewis got benefits from the fia for years and if he got penalties they weren’t as big ones as for the other teams. The sport is biased towards the British teams but mostly the British drivers.

I think Alex said it best „when I’m doing well I’m a London born driver“ I don’t have the exact thing in my head but it was along those lines. The media doesn’t care that he races under the Thai flag when he has great results but as long as he isn’t good they ignore his heritage.

Let’s see how much Charles will be dragged through the mud when he is beating Lewis. Or how much Lewis will be glorified again when he is beating Charles.

I don’t think Ferrari will tell Lewis anything. They will know, but they won’t say. Because they didn’t spend £200m on him just to piss him off while he’s driving the car, which will be a short stint compared to the continuing relationship they will likely have. Ferrari will Ferrari for sure, they won’t let him do things his way, but I don’t think they’ll want to piss him off either. They’ll placate him in the way they do. And Lewis will languish there for a couple of years before retiring and promoting Ferrari Style, or whatever.

I am of the opinion that Ferrari has failed Ferrari, and Charles is failing Charles. I think they’re both to blame for their current predicaments and this will likely be the case for the duration of Charles’s career. Fred may want to win a WDC, I don’t think anyone above him cares as long as the brand is still standing, and that’s the brand as a whole, not the F1 team.

I think the Charles/Lewis pairing will be a mess. They will trip over each other constantly, more than just on track. At the end of the day you have the guy the team says they’re behind…and the guy they paid a quarter billion euros for. With two of the most fanatical fan bases in the sport…in the team with THE most fanatical fan base in the sport…no chance this works well.

And for all this “Fred wants Charles to win”…Fred recruited Lewis, and he was the only one who could. I don’t think Lewis will be there that long but I don’t think it wi be plain sailing for Charles while he is.

[heckhector]

Vice City: The Right Step on the Wrong Staircase

Compared to it's predecessor, Vice City really does go above and beyond, but, given where Rockstar went in it's game design, writing, world building, detail and gameplay it's become more of a relic of what could have been. Even BOTW doesn't open up in such a well paced and deserved catharsis like Vice City does. San Andreas by far still has the best rags to riches, toil to triumph story, aside from Bully, but Vice City ramps things up far faster and more suddenly until you fit into your new environment as the king of the city faster than you can realize how shallow the world and story is.

This is partly achieved by not having to drive or walk or do errands for the first six missions of the game. You are almost encouraged from the very start to get a car, run people over, get a gun go on a rampage and revel in the bloodshed and bright lights of the city right after the very first mission. Despite how much better the gunplay in San Andreas was, the mayhem and subtle whiff of freedom and irresponsibility in the buildings and cars of Vice City take you right out of the fog and grime of III to what people remember a GTA game should be. Without even knowing what to do or where to go, you are seconds from jumping a motorcycle in satisfying slow motion or leading a monster closet of Miami Vice leading actors into a bullpen above a parking garage to set off a heap of Maseratis and Ferraris into a chain reaction of fire balls with a single grenade you found that would make the mythbusters scowl.

If you can manage to pull yourself away from what can at best be described as a mindless catharsis and at worst a poorly aged, self conscious reflection on a pedestrian's fears, you can find a surface level story with undeveloped, stereotypical characters with just enough charm and character to be the most memorable second fiddle in a Death Wish or the myriad of straight to vhs gangster movies in the wake of Scarface but before Goodfellas. The GTA game with the best vehicles in it also has them as it's characters.

Their isn't much to truly say about the characters in Vice City despite San Andreas calling back to them. Tommy Verceti is certainly the most interesting and fleshed out, but not because of the writing. The objectives and the world he discovers are his greatest strengths and they're never of his own volition, much like other rockstar protagonists. He will discover the various but disconnected versions of corruption in Vice City in the first act, but never have a through line to each. He's not quite a mercenary or a gun for hire or even a Mad Max kind of protagonist. I wouldn't really call him an audience surrogate either. Even without being silent like Claude, the assassination missions in this game work far better because of how quickly he rushes to getting the briefing over with before his employer can even dictate his master plan when he does have a speaking role in the cutscene. It presents an even more endearing quality to Tommy when he doesn't even have an inner monologue after he's ordered to assassinate a team of bank robbers without a word, let alone frantically harping on why he should be doing it. When he is in charge of an operation however, the plan always comes out of the blue to the point you'd think he's become self aware of the game but won't let you know just in case it makes you shut off the PS2. Theirs a subtle middle ground between the silent Claude, the verbose CJ and the contemplative and musing Niko that Tommy hits on that is carried on into Arthur and John Marsden, but, he never truly finds a good tone or consistency like his successors.

However, once he crosses the Rubicon, his character, inner self and even his very purpose in the story ceases to exist so the player can take over to use him as their vehicle in this world of cutthroat success and brick upon brick of a criminal empire. Any sort of consistency or personality he brought with himself from Liberty City falls away for the sake of exploring the gang war between the Cubans and the Hatians or the plight of the Bikers and their dwindling, almost viking empire. To experience the pinnacle of rock before it's indefinite hangover and the heights to which unchecked wealth could soar.

Complaints have been levied against the use of money in rockstar games until it came to a head in RDR2 when even that game didn't even bother to let you sink it into pointless save points or means to make more money, but, Vice City hit upon a much more pointless but endearing system of real estate assets that Yakuza 0 would then go on to simply and perfect with it's own sort of parallel charm. The asset missions seem almost like a prototype for the stranger missions of later Rockstar games but with a literal investment to them that also had the most endearing characters in the game. With each one came a mundane first mission that culminated into a satisfyingly, disjointed finale that squared away this now larger aspect of the city.

Even to this day, their is something kind of magical about cruising through the city, discovering the print shop or the ice cream factory, buying it and being brought into a sudden, brand new criminal enterprise without even realizing it. Even V tried to create a necessity to tear you away from the massacres to work a normal job, (Which I sincerely hope every single AAA, open world game does.) in the hopes of fleshing out it's world. RDR2 used riding and escorting to flesh out it's characters and world in intricate ways. But, nothing quite does it like Vice City. Theirs an aspect of undermining the player's intelligence to simply drop these side missions into your lap like a single shot in an 80s montage. One moment you're buying that fancy night club and the next, you're setting up a heist for some reason.

It all opens up the world and the possibilities, never really giving you a reason to ever do them but giving you the option to almost create your own story that would wind up as a single scene in The Many Saints of Newark or Narcos. Without it, I'd imagine the ending would feel even more rushed than it already is but we're not their yet.

Back to the characters,

Ken Rosenberg isn't much more than a contrast to Tommy at both ends of his story. At first he is nebbish, neurotic, afraid and anxious before becoming ambitious, conniving and not making a good case for rockstar having a good opinion of jews while Tommy becomes more level headed, tempered and wise to the methods of Vice City.

Lance Vance almost does seem like the true successor to Vice City when you first meet him. Almost a mentor and then almost a partner and then almost a rival. For as bad as Vice City Stories is, it almost gets him right with how gung-ho and both ends burning he is. Not even a good contrast or the other side of the coin to Tommy, he's more a Tyler Durden that grows weaker the stronger Tommy gets to the point he loses any kind of comradery by the end, but not even in a deserved way.

A better but also wasted dichotomy is between The Colonel Cortez and Diaz. The Colonel truly does speak low and carry a big stick, never wielding his power or even raising his voice even in his most desperate hour, he is a true, pragmatic observer whose machinations you will never know. He doesn't bother to put the wool over Tommy's eyes, he simply asks and has the clout to have it be done without tricks or deceit. Diaz on the other hand, is truly the worst culmination of the decade's anti-heroes. The reality of Tony Montana. The glorified conqueror without the rose tinted glasses and the well paid historians. A zit, a blemish, a clear and present mole that you should really have looked at, Monica. Seriously, I don't think it's supposed to be that red around the edges. His fate comes in contrast to the inspirations for the story, the "Not your daddy's Scarface!" kind of catharsis with a well paced and accurate grindhouse 80s method. The with how they expand the world is that, Diaz becomes too much of a focus when he should be nothing more than an obstacle with how all the other characters treat him. The joke is, all his problems are petty and far smaller than how big he looks, much like his stature, but that in turn robs the triumph of taking over his empire. Colonel Cortez on the other hand is humble and even meek and kind at times and simply vanishes from the story. Now, that may be the entire joke, like The Duke in Layer Cake if you're familiar, as I said, it takes away from the catharsis of harming and helping them.

Avery Carrington almost finds a better form of commentary to the condition of Florida in the 80s and what it would become in 2002 but falls short even with his ambient and almost insidious radio ads that you might catch between missions. I am glad Rockstar managed to split his kind of mission between The Truth and Zero in San Andreas since they don't make much sense even in the context of his real estate empire and the current stable of GTA games miss the mark when it comes to it's more absurd aspects.

Phil Cassidy could also be lumped into the Florida condition, but was also a little too undercooked for what they would come up with for American commentary in the RDR games or even with Marty in Vice City Stories. Gary Busey still brings himself out in the role. I wouldn't put it past you to remember Phil with a ragged mop of blonde hair and a wild, uncontained jaw.

Mercedes and Kent are also in the game.

The biggest issue with Vice City, despite what it gets right, is that it was too early on in Rockstar's legacy to tackle such an iconic time and place. Just like how I'm putting too much effort into something this long winded for my first review. Despite how far they took things after III and the previous games no one has ever seen or played, they simply did not have the means or the chops to fulfill what a game like this should have been. Tracing the legacy of Rockstar, every single game they have made has pushed far past the previous one in spite of it's franchise or even the technology of it's platform. Their games have had an exponential growth to the point it seems even they don't know where to take them after programming the height of a character's shoes on a stairwell or the change jangling in an npc's pocket. Vice City has more potential to be bigger and say more than any of the other GTA games. Their is a mountain topics, themes and archetypes to unpack from such a setting that we have now seen Rockstar do since it came out. If old is new again and Rockstar does in fact enjoy knocking everyone else out of the genre and setting of the games it makes, I could see no better time to take another shot at Vice City than 3 years ago when they had a golden opportunity. For the last 6 or 7 years, 80s revival has been a very big, very profitable, very tiresome trend. Most people do not trust Rockstar with remakes now, myself included, but, even just turning a blind eye to Tommy and Lance and Vice City itself, despite what came out in some revelations from last year, I think this game is the most deserving of another shot knowing what we know now.

[vro0m]

vro0m’s rewatch - 92/301

2012 Malaysian GP

Disclaimer for this season. It turns out that I only have the footage of the race for a lot of the GPs (no build-up, no post-race content) so there will be way less GIFs unfortunately. I will let you know for each of these reviews if there are GIFs or not. THIS ONE HAS GIFS.

No build up :/ round 2. It's raining in Malaysia. Oh no, it’s not. It might. The Safety Car is going around the track to check but so far everybody is planning for a normal, dry start.

So it's a McLaren front row with Lewis on pole again! Schumacher 3rd, Webber 4th. Seb is only 5th, followed by Grosjean somehow. Rosberg 7th, Alonso 8th. Perez and Raikkonen complete the top 10.

Formation lap.

And they're racing!

Jenson is level with Lewis into turn one but Lewis stays in the lead. Schumacher is losing places. He spun! It's raining very hard in the pitlane now but most of them are on inters and not full wets.

A couple laps in, some midfielders change for the wets already. Grosjean is beached. Jenson pits for the wets and Alonso too. Lewis is 7.8 seconds ahead of Webber on inters but he reports aquaplaning. They both pit! Redbull is double pitting. Mercedes is also double pitting. What are the standings, come on!

Lewis is still in the lead, Jenson 0.45 behind him though. Perez 3rd, but I don't think he stopped, then Webber and Vergne (double take everytime I read VER). Oh wait Perez did stop actually. That was a good call then. But he just went off track. Tyres don't suffice. Safety Car? There's lighting bolts in the sky, Ted says. What is the Safety Car about? Just weather conditions? Ah it's a red flag.

Ted is very amused by the fact that all teams seem to have invested in gazebos to protect the cars and drivers since the 2011 season in case rain red flags happened again.

Ah, later on someone from McLaren explains they had to talk the gazebos through with the FIA to get permission to use them from now on lol.

Alonso and Seb are just chatting on the grid under umbrellas.

Oh Valtteri Bottas is here! He's a reserve driver for Williams at the time.

Oookay we got the 10 minute warning. It's going to be a Safety Car restart.

Here we go again!

The drivers are saying the track is dry enough to go and already planning for inters. OK Safety Car in at the end of lap 13. A bunch of cars pit immediately. Seb and Webber are racing each other. Lewis pits in the next lap as does Webber. Awful pit stop! He's behind Alonso! Jenson is ahead. He went ahead of his mark and then they had to keep him because Massa was coming in really slowly because Ferrari stacked their cars and Alonso was already there. He's 10th now. Jenson made contact with someone (it was Perez I believe) and let Lewis through because he had too much damage. Seb comes in and we've heard on the radio he might be having issues?

A few laps later Lewis is back in 3rd behind Alonso and Perez. Jenson is struggling with his tyres for some reason. Seb overtakes Rosberg for 4th. Nothing much happening at the front now, the gaps are quite big.

I zoned out for a good 10 minutes and nothing has changed in the front so yeah. Boring race actually. I mean we're following the fight between Massa and Jenson and occasionally Ricciardo for 16th. That tells you everything there is to know.

Some teams are expecting the rain to make a comeback. Perez is right behind Alonso somehow. Jenson pits. Alonso goes in, Perez stays out. Seb pits. So now Perez is leading 12s. ahead of Lewis himself 9s. ahead of Alonso. 15 laps to go.

Perez pits. Lewis pits. Alonso is back in the lead. Lewis stop was slow, they'd put tape on a duct or whatever for wet conditions and had to take it off again now that it's dry. Now the RedBulls are closing on Lewis. Lewis is not closing on Perez. 10 laps to go.

Oh Vettel has a puncture! He manages to pit but that's a lot of lost time. He clipped the front wing of whoever. Perez is just one second behind Alonso. Honestly wtf is happening with him that day. Ah but his team tells him they need the position and to be careful. He's gone wide! He's 5 seconds behind now. 5 laps to go.

I don't think I'll get much content out of this race unfortunately. There's only 20mn of video left.

Maldonado's car is smoking. He DNF on the penultimate lap. Omg Seb also has to retire the car, on the last lap! No 'stay out, stay out' now. What is going on. 'Stop the car!' Well.

It's the end of the race!

Alonso wins, Perez P2 and Lewis P3. The Sauber team is crying. Lovely. Lewis congratulates Perez. He doesn't wait for Alonso though lol. We barely see the podium. Lewis seems in good spirits. That's all I have for this race unfortunately!

See ya next time!

[f1]

Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2023: Carlos Sainz says Ferrari are in a 'bad situation'

Carlos Sainz (centre) finished fourth at the Bahrain Grand Prix while his Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc retired from the race Carlos Sainz says his Ferrari team are in a "bad situation" at the start of the Formula 1 season. Ferrari lagged behind Red Bull at the season-opening race in Bahrain. Sainz's team-mate Charles Leclerc starts this weekend's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix with a 10-place grid penalty because of reliability problems. He said the start to the season had been "tough", the team were "relatively concerned" and their difficulties had "caught us by surprise". "We have faced an issue with race pace and reliability that we did not expect," Sainz said. "It caught us a bit off guard. "But we are putting in place things to stop it happening, The right exam has to be later in the year - we have a good place on development, and we know where the car is weak and what we want to do." Sainz and Leclerc believe Ferrari will be more competitive in Jeddah than they were in Bahrain but Sainz added: "Enough to beat the Red Bulls given how competitive and strong they were in Bahrain? it is going to be extremely difficult. But I think we have a good chance to get back on the podium." Leclerc's penalty is for using more than the permitted number of engine parts for a season, in only the second race. Two electronics control units broke on Leclerc's car on race day in Bahrain, one when the car was fired up in the morning and one to cause his retirement from the race. That meant the team needed to fit a third for this weekend's event on Jeddah, taking Leclerc over his allocation for the year. Leclerc said: "It's kind of a challenge but we like the challenge like this where you start a little bit on the back foot and we will give everything to have a special weekend. "Of course this is not ideal, but we all know that. We need to be fully motivated and push in the same direction and this is the case." Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton said he believed Ferrari were the only team who could prevent Red Bull's Max Verstappen from dominating the season. Hamilton said: "They will run away with it most likely this year unless Ferrari can stop them. We will wait and see but at some point this year we are hopeful we can close the gap." The seven-time champion said after the Bahrain race that Mercedes "didn't listen" to him when it came to choosing their design route for this year's car. He said on Thursday: "In hindsight, it was not the best choice of words. There are times where you're not in agreement with certain team members but what's important is we continue to communicate." Hamilton is out of contract at the end of this season but he said Mercedes' problems had not made him rethink his desire to sign a new deal. "I still have 100% belief in this team," he said. "Also, I don't plan on going anywhere else, but we all need a kick. We have seen where the performance is and we need to start making some bold decisions and close the gap to these guys." Hamilton has said that he knew as soon as he drove the 2023 car that it was not going to make Mercedes competitive. "The comments I would hear [from the team] are we would not hit the ground straight away at the front but we should be there or thereabouts," he said. "So it was a bit of shock when it wasn't the case. I knew we weren't in the right place - when you saw the car for the first time it looked so much different to the competitors." He added: "I will win again but it is just going to take some time. Of course in 2021 we were hoping to be fighting for a WC. But it is how you deal with it and tackle the issues you are faced with and that's what my energy is going into. "We are in a similar mentality to last year, working as hard as we can. Staying positive. But we are working on a solution. You don't lose the ability to build great cars. We just need to keep working on it." via BBC Sport - Formula 1 http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/

[scuttle-buttle]

WC: 1973

Rated: E

Tags: technically unprotected smut, fluff, tiny bit of german

✈

“Have you checked the gauges?”

“Yes, Niki,” you huff at his question through your microphone. This was at least the third time he’d asked you to go over everything.

“What about fuel?”

You point to the little meter that showed the tank levels. “Still full.” Your husband turns to face you in the cockpit of the small plane. The look he gives you is one of false annoyance. You know he’s just doing this to be as safe as possible, to minimize risk. “Sorry, sorry,” you offer him a guilty grin. Your husband’s brow cocks before he turns back to the dashboard panel.

His little private jet only held capacity for maybe 8 people total, but today it was just you and your husband. He always said he would teach you how to fly but you never figured that you would be brave enough to follow through with learning. Now here you sit, engine purring under you, a pair of thick headphones over your ears. For the first time Niki was going to let you handle your flight - all of it. Of course, he still had the ability to use the controls on his side of the small cabin, but he made it clear that he would only do so in case of a serious emergency.

“Everything has been checked over and ready for flight,” you confirm.

He tilts his head to offer you a smile. “Gut. When you are ready, Liebling.”

Taking a deep breath, you open up the radio communication line with the air traffic control tower. You recite the technical jargon that Niki had taught you. “This is Lauda 1 requesting clearance for taxi and take off on runway B, north side, over.”

Static comes over the line for a second. “Lauda 1 you are cleared to taxi and take off from runway B, north side, over.”

You release the brakes before pushing the throttle the faintest amount. With one hand on the yoke and the other on the lever you slowly guide the plane towards the runway. It had taken a good six months of Niki being annoyed at you calling it a ‘steering wheel’ before you finally called it by its proper term.

You lined the nose of the plane up with the lines on the runway tarmac. Once you are satisfied with your positioning you pause to let the turbines rev and build up power. With a swallow you lean towards Niki. “You won’t let me fuck this up and kill us both, right?”

“Of course not. But you don’t need to worry about that, you will be fine, Liebe. I know it.” He’s relaxed next to you, as though he’s at home sitting on the couch reading one of his racing magazines.

“If you say so. I love my brother but I’ll be damned if James gets custody of the girls,” you snark with a laugh, all while releasing the brake and pushing the throttle again. Niki’s own snort can be heard over your radio headset.

The plane accelerates under your guidance. You maintain a firm but steady grip on the controls; finally you push the thrust lever all the way. The small aircraft wobbles with friction as it speeds down the track. Suddenly, the front lifts, giving a weightless calm as the nose begins to ascend into the air.

Once you have gotten far enough off the ground you flip the switch to raise the landing gear. Niki has been silent letting you work the last five minutes or so. Over the crackle of your headsets he instructs you “that was very good. Now get us to cruising altitude.”

“Yes, sir,” you acknowledge with a mock salute.

This is by no means the first time you have been in a plane, let alone flying a plane, with your husband. But it is the first time that it is you truly flying. As you travel you admire the view in front of you. It felt like you were seeing the clouds and the sunshine for the first time. The blue nearly overwhelmed you with its vibrancy. You couldn’t help but bite your lip to hold back the way your cheeks threatened to split with how hard you were beaming. Every so often you remember to check back on the gauges and meters to ensure that everything is working properly.

You don’t notice how your husband watches you from the seat beside yours. He admires your confidence at the new skill, completing the tasks with ease. He admires how bright your eyes are, lit by happiness and the light of the sky outside the windows. He admires the fact that even after close to fifteen years of marriage you still humor him and his passions.

When you finally break away from the view to look over at Niki he’s already got his eyes on you. His bottom lip is caught in his teeth. “What?” He raises his brows in question at you. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Can I not look at my meine schöne Frau?” he teases you. Even after so many years you still feel the heat rise in your cheeks when he calls you beautiful. “You look good flying my plane. You should do it more often.” Both of your hands remain on the yoke; his hand comes to rest on your thigh, giving you a little squeeze. He leaves it there the rest of the flight.

After maybe an hour or two you have circled the jet back towards the airport. Calling in, you get clearance to land on the same runway you had departed from. Carefully you lower the plane’s altitude to prepare for landing. Flipping the switch, you can just hear the grind of the wheels as they lower.

“The trick here is-”

“You want to line the stripes on the runway next to the nose visually, otherwise it’ll be crooked and I’ll go off the tarmac,” you finish for him.

He chuckles. “See, I don’t even know why I’m here. You don’t need me.”

“Of course I need you, I always need you, Niki.”

He lets you focus as you pull back on the throttle and slow your speed, further lowering to the ground. You line up just as he taught you with the painted runway up ahead. Gently you touch down, the plane jolts as it makes contact. You brake the jet to an acceptable speed to taxi. Adrenaline courses through you. I just flew a plane! you cheer to yourself.

Once the vehicle is parked within the hangar you shut off the engine. Quickly you leave the cockpit to stretch your legs in the spacious passenger cabin. Turning to your husband, your jaw is dropped. “Is this what it feels like? Every time you drove the car? Christ, Niki, I feel like I could do anything! The absolute rush!” Niki has come up behind you, so you face him before bringing his lips to meet your own.

The kiss is full of passion and energy. It deepens as you stand there in the middle of the cabin. You push him away and down into a couch-like seat. He grunts in surprise when you forcibly yank his pants from his hips. When they are to his knees you give up in favor of pulling off your own. Niki wastes no time in tugging you back to him, his mismatched lips attaching themselves to the column of your throat. You, in turn, drag your heat along his hardening shaft. When he is ready you push his cock inside your throbbing core with a groan.

Breathily, you ask “why have we never done this before now?”

His mouth moves away from your jaw to meet your gaze. “Fucked on a plane? I didn’t know you wanted to,” he huffs in amusement.

You start to push and pull your hips at a dizzying pace above him. With each pump the ridge of his cock hits you perfectly. Niki tosses his head back in pleasure, a long moan tumbling out as your walls squeeze him. His hands help to guide your hips as you ride him. “They don’t call it joining the Mile High Club for nothing, love.”

“Not sure-” he grunts at a particularly hard snap of your pelvis “-this counts.”

You shove your fingers between his curls, a bit shorter and a few streaks of silver lining near his temples, and pull his head to rest against yours. “Are you complaining?” you breathe out along his lips. Never once does your pace falter. Instead of answering he gives you a bruising kiss.

It isn’t long before his thumb finds your center, rubbing harsh patterns against your aching clit. He knows exactly how to toss you into the abyss; exactly when you are near shattering. Within seconds you are shouting out his name, clenching around his still-pistoning cock. His own cries of bliss come shortly after.

Resting atop him, Niki rubs his fingers along your clothed back. You hum into his throat where your head lays. “You did so well today, Liebling. I’m very proud of you. Pretty soon you’ll be a better pilot than me.”

You smile into him. “Bullshit,” you laugh. “Me compared to the great Niki Lauda? Impossible.” You pinch the softness of his side.

He gives a laugh of his own, his chest rising with the action. “You never know, could surprise us all.”

You roll your head onto his shoulder to be able to look up at him better. “Mmm, but with you I’ve always known.”

Niki drops a sweet kiss to you. His expression is delicate as he peers down at where you sit atop him. He scrunches his nose as he tells you “I think I knew first. I know I did.”

You study his face for a moment. His tone is confident, like there’s no way he could possibly be wrong about when you first got together so many years ago. You know that the moment for you was pretty early, before you officially even went on your first date. Curiosity wins out. “Oh really?” You sit up on his lap. “And when was that, since you’re so sure?”

“I asked if you would rather go with Hunt than come see me at Ferrari. You nearly jumped out of your skin with how hard you cringed at the idea of him.”

You’re shocked by his confession. “Alright but he’s my brother,” you groan and laugh at the same time, “and…” you think back to that day, “wasn’t that maybe five minutes after we’d met?”

“Yes, but I did not know that at the time. I thought, ‘hmm, an attractive woman that doesn’t want to sleep with that arschloch but instead visit me at the track? She’s someone special’. And I wasn’t wrong.” He brushes a thumb on the skin of your cheek.

“You know, you always tell me that you aren’t good at these things. Romance and the like.” You look up at him from under your lashes.

“And?”

“That was such a lie, Niki. You’re always so sweet to me.”

“Only you, Liebe.”

The two of you right yourselves to leave the airport for the day. The sky is clear as you walk to his car parked outside the hangar. Reaching out, you find your husband’s hand and hold it tight. “So, when can we do this again?”

He turns to face you from where he stands next to you. “That eager for more already?”

“It’s addicting, Lauda,” you shoot back playfully. So many times since you met he had described the drive or flying as addicting. To be faster, to be better, to go harder.

Niki stops suddenly, lips pursing. “Just to be clear, are you talking about flying or the sex?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” you wink.

Tag list: @ay0nha @apparrio @livvyshmiv @fictionlandslanddreams @vinylrosess @typical-bistander @ntlmundy @mymagicsuitcase @anteroom-of-death @somethingthatsaysbubbles @lieutenantn @multiversemarielle @trashbin2 @whatawildone @metalbreakfast @laura-naruto-fan1998 @greeneyedblondie44 @godidontevenknowwhat @marchingicenotes7 @mysticalexpertdaze

@loliissmut @fandom-princess-forevermore

[designatedbreadbox]

☆ The Brother's Power ☆

Okay so, ya'll know how the brothers ages don't actually matter since they're listed and seen in order of power and not age? I believe that their power is tied to how influential their sin is in the human realm.

i clearly had brain fog the further down you do-

☆ Pride

Anyways, my dumbass just realized their power comes from influence in human realm. Like, if a cruel king can't defeat an opponent, and continue fighting, they ain't fighting out anger, but from pride as being seen a fearful king. Pride is a long last motivator for people to do things; like lawyers. If a lawyer is given a hard case where they might lose, do they back down? Probably not, bcuz if you were one of the top lawyers to exist and you turned down a case, wouldn't that hurt? Wouldn't you want to prove you could do something regardless of the stakes for the sake of your reputation, for your pride as a top lawyer?

Like, pride in a certain field or skill set carries people throughout their career. Having pride in what you do or accomplish is what motivates people to contantly do better than what they have done previously. Lucifer' fast speed is hard to place in terms of his sin because pride isn't something that can be spread easily. It takes time to build it up and drive for it to amount to anything.

☆ Greed

I also think that the reason Mammon is as fast as Lucifer is bcuz greed can spread to other people quickly; people can lose themselves, their morals, and humanity from money despite how well they say they can avoid the temptations of it. Greed is passive-aggressive since people have numerous ways to attain money, ranging from scamming people of their entire wallets to murdering them for their wealth. Passive because as mentioned above, it can be scamming people or secretly taking money. Also can be aggressive as people murder others for money or rob them outright.

Celes from Danganronpa: THH is a good example of this; no one knew who would take the bait for money and Celes did a good job of lying to everyone that no one would be tempted enough to kill for money. Granted, it was also a killing game, but nonetheless, it kinda shows how far people would go for it.

☆ Envy

Then there's envy! People desire what other have and would do anything to get it, or go to dangerous lengths for what other people have. Like, society as a whole envies what the Rich have (not best example). Envy can lead people to do horrible things for the sake of envy, possibly like the way people would do whatever it takes to have what other people have, that they don't. Like a good house, job, or reputation; lying to get what they want bcuz they can't stand not having those things.

Envy can be as quiet as the guy being jealous towards their bestfriend that now has a girl/boyfriend. It can look like the guy that didn't get a certain character in a gacha game that others have. Envy can be as loud as someone on Facebook complaining that people can just buy a Ferrari at the drop of a hat when they had to save up for a car. Envy can be a long-lasting feeling that's hard to make go away; and it can either push people forward or drag them down into the dirt.

☆ Wrath

Movin' on, people who act out of rage have motivations, but rage itself can only get people so far in life before: A. your either consumed by wrath/rage and lost sight of your original goal or B. you give up and go home. Besides, people can't be angry forever, so it makes complete sense why Satan is 4th in terms of power. Wrath is a force to be reckoned with, something everyone should be careful of, but I feel like it's a short fuse, of sorts. A fuse that can quickly die out since people will eventually lose the rage they once had over something/someone that wronged them.

Wrath is destructive, hostile; it makes the nicest people do or say unthinkable things they normally wouldn't. It's aggressive; its what fuels people in history and it can lead to people'a downfall.

♡ Lust

I firmly believe the reason Asmo isn't as "aggressive" as the rest of his brothers is bcuz lust is passive. Lust requires some level of trust between people. Lust is one form of intimacy, and you can't get that through threatening someone. It's silent, to say the least. It can be harmful, yea, since one wrong one night stand is all it takes to bring someone down, ya know? Asmo can get TONS of dirty secrets and such from people as they rant about their lives.

Lust itself and Asmo are 5th listed since there's limitations on how lust can be used against people unlike greed or pride. Lust is something that's kept underwraps; hidden from the public eye.

☆ Gluttony

Then there's Beel. Gluttony is kinda like sloth in this case. You do nothing until it affects you; such as ignoring all your problems until, uh oh! No more food, which will lead to starvation; smthn that affects you physicaly. Hunger and gluttony only affects the poor, weak; everyone who aren't middle class or rich. Which is why Beel's strength as a demon would be slightly higher than Belphie's had it not been for his physical strength he himself built throughout the centuries. Gluttony isn't really seen or present in humans unless food has run out and peoole begin starving.

☆ Sloth

Sloth is "passive" bcuz you aren't actively doing anything to harm people. Sloth is harmful bcuz it's the opposite; you do nothing all the time unless it's in a time of dire need or emergency. If someone is in an accident and they need help, you're not going to do much to help them. That'll lead to them thinking you're unreliable and will refrain from asking help from you in the future. Sloth is when someone makes no effort to change who they are or their life scenario; ultimately, it stops people from growing into someone new.

[crowdedimagines]

Who Is That? (Harry Styles)

“Can I get two daiquiris and a shot of tequila, please?” I ask the bartender leaning over the bar. As I wait I turn to my left and see the man who walked into the restaurant only minutes ago, seemingly capturing everyone’s attention, including mine.

“Hi.” I greet, turning to look into his green eyes.

He gives me only a tight lipped smile before taking a sip of his own drink. Not even bothered to fully look in my direction.

“My friend sent me over here, and I normally don’t do this but-” Before I even get the chance to finish my sentence the man interrupts me. I had been on my way over to talk to him and introduce myself after I was highly encouraged by my friend at our table.

“We can take a picture, but please wait a while to post it and you can’t tag the restaurant. I’m about to have dinner with my family and I would prefer to keep this quiet.”

“What?” I ask, my brows furrowing. This is not at all where I thought it would go. Who does this guy think he is?

“A picture? That’s what you were coming over here for? C’mon, let’s do it then.” He states as if it’s obvious, looking at me as if I’m daft.

I let out a laugh and shake my head in disbelief.

“Do you know who I am?” He seems genuinely curious now, not quite as entitled as he was acting earlier. His brows express how shocked and confused he truly is. “You don’t need to pretend or anything, it’s fine. It happens all the time.”

“Am I supposed to? Do we know each other?”

“You honestly don’t know who I am?” He doesn’t bother to answer my questions as he scratches at his chin for a few seconds. He lets out a scoff as he takes a sip of his drink.

“I haven’t a clue who you are, and I’m not sure how much I care anymore. I was coming over because I thought you were handsome, but now I kinda think you’re an ass.”

Finally the bartender comes back with my drinks, I quickly throw back the shot.

“Cheers. I hope you have a lovely evening.” I mutter, not even trying to hide the sarcastic tone in my voice.

I set down the shot glass and take a daiquiri in each hand and start to walk back to my table. His hand gently catches me on my shoulder, forcing me to stop.

“I’m sorry, you’ve just caught me at the end of a rough day. It’s not very often I come across someone who doesn’t know who I am.”

“It’s fine.” I keep walking not caring to hear anymore from him and he lets go of me.

I don’t know what I expected. I never should have bothered to say anything. He could have remained that beautiful stranger, rather than the ass who opened his mouth.

“How’d it go?” Hannah gushes as I set down the drinks and sit down. Her cheeks must be burning for how wide her smile is.

“Do you know who that is?” I ask. It takes all of my willpower to not completely turn around and get one more look at him, to see if his eyes are still on me. The way she keeps staring behind me proves that I’m right.

“Well duh! You just talked to Harry Styles!” She can’t wipe the smile off her face, “And he’s totally still checking you out!”

“Yeah, who is that?”

“Do you remember hearing about One Direction before you left?” She asks, trying to jog my memory from years ago. My knowledge of pop culture from the past years is severely lacking.

“Kind of. A boy band, right?”

“Yes! He’s one of the boys, they’ve all gone solo. Harry’s done really well, he’s even been in movies. Unless you’re ancient, literally everyone knows who he is.”

“You sent me over to say hi to him knowing that he’s some big hot shot famous guy?” I laugh. Of course Hannah would think that's a lovely idea.

“What? What was the harm, if it went well that’s awesome. If not, you never have to see him again!”

Well, she has a point there.

For the past six years I’ve spent my time with Love Volunteers to teach Ghanaian youth creative arts. It was some of the best years ever, it felt amazing to give back and feel like I was making a difference. Eventually it had to come to an end, so that led me coming back home to Los Angeles. Ghana will always hold a special place in my heart, along with all of the people I met there.

I’m pulled back into whatever Hannah was saying when she throws her head back in a loud laugh, thankfully off the topic of Harry. I tried to ignore it when a few minutes ago he walked by with two other people. He did say that he had dinner with his family tonight.

The rest of the meal goes well. I get to catch up on everything that I’ve missed that didn’t come across well in the letters we exchanged or since the last time I visited. It’s nice to be back in the states and be able to live more freely. It was time for me to come home, I spent the past week with my family who were glad to have me home. Today I moved into my new apartment and back in my city. I start my new job in a few days, similarly I will still be working with kids. Teaching was always the plan for me to come home to, I just never knew I was going to be gone so long. I was able to skip my student teaching year and use my time spent in Ghana as a form of credits.

“Alright, will that be all for you tonight? Could I get you any desert?” Our waitress politely asks, smiling down at us. She reaches for the menu to run through a few of the different things they offer. Hannah and I already both agreed that we are too full at this point to add on.

“Just the bill please, that would be great.” Hannah smiles, “We need it split if that could be possible.”

“Actually that’s been taken care of.”

“What?” I question, brows furrowing.

“Yes, a man at the bar took care of it earlier. He said he owed you an apology.” The waitress smiles as if it’s the best thing she’s ever heard. Obviously she knows who he is. She wishes us a good night before walking away.

“Can you believe that?” I ask, walking side by side with Hannah to the door. We both sat for a minute, Hannah trying to figure out what it means that he paid for our meal.

“No! Can you believe that Harry Styles paid for our meal? He’s so kind.” She gushes.

“Yeah it would be if it wasn’t out of guilt.” I push open the door, we’re met with a warm breeze as the sun is setting. It casts a perfectly pink and orange haze over everything in its reach.

“Okay, so I’ll see you later? Are you absolutely sure that you don’t need a ride?”

“I’m positive! My apartment is in the complete opposite direction of yours. I’m calling an Uber right now!”

“Okay, fine! Call me later, text once you’re back home. Love you!”

“Love you too.”

Hannah gets in her car and waves as she pulls away and I get my phone out of my bag. The Uber will pick me up in twenty minutes, so I wait patiently outside the restaurant. The restaurant was sort of on the outskirts of L.A. if you can even call it that. It doesn’t exactly surprise me that it’ll take a while to get someone out here.

The door bursts open and it grabs my attention with the sudden noise. It’s Harry and the two women he was with. I catch his eye while he hugs one of them, giving them each a kiss on the cheek, before wishing them a goodbye.

He takes a few steps closer to me, while he waits for the valet to bring him his car.

“You didn’t need to do that.” I pull my purse a little tighter over my shoulder.

“No, trust me, I did. My mother raised me better than that, I’m sorry I was being rude. I promise, I’m never like that.”

“Well, never say never.” I fight looking down at my phone to see how far away “Adam” is. This might be the longest twenty minutes of my life if it continues like this.

“Ouch.” He grins, it seems like either his meal or his company put him in a brand new mood.

“Sorry.” I smile over my shoulder, “My friend actually lives in the real world and she seems to think you’re really kind, so I’ll get off your case.”

“You don’t live in the real world?” He questions.

“I do now, but I didn’t for a while.” I laugh, “I’ve spent the past six years volunteering in Ghana. I really had no clue who you were. I wasn’t exactly staying up to date on the new music when I was over there. According to Hannah, you’re a pretty big deal.”

Harry lets out a wide grin, a blush gracing his cheeks. So he is humble. Okay, maybe Hannah was right, he’s alright.

“Some might say that, yes.” He looks down at his shoes, tapping one against the other.

“Don’t get all shy on me now.” I tease.

“I’m not shy, I’m just trying to figure out how I can change your image of me. I’m always going to be my first impression, right? Some ass at the bar with a grumpy attitude?”

“I think you’re doing fine. Thankfully, no one is made up of one moment. You’ve done more than enough to make up for it.” I place a reassuring hand on his shoulder, “Your slate is clean.”

“Well thanks for that.” He laughs, “Are you waiting for someone?”

“Yeah, just waiting for my ride.” I check my phone to see that Adam has canceled the ride for some reason. I’m sure he’s just realized how far it is to get here and then turn right around to go back into the city to my apartment building, “Which was just canceled, lovely.”

I try to find another Uber, but there is no one close by. I spend a minute refreshing, waiting for anyone to accept my request.

“I could give you a lift if you needed.”

“What?” I ask, shocked.

As if on cue, the valet pulls up with his car. They give him his keys and thank him, I look between him and the car with doubt. This man is a total stranger to me.

“I mean, it’s getting late. Your options aren’t going to get much better as it gets later.” Harry explains. He could be right, even by now the sky is starting to take on a dark blue.

“How do I know that you’re not trying to kidnap or kill me?” I ask, “I don’t know you at all.”

“Look me up then, google me.” He shrugs, his smile never wavering.

“Google doesn’t know if you’re secretly a creep.” I roll my eyes.

“Fine, then you drive.”

“You’re going to let me drive your 1972 Ferrari Dino?” I ask skeptically.

“You know cars?” His smile widens.

“Better than boy bands.” I tease, I bite back a smirk.

He throws his head back in a loud laugh. It makes me smile just seeing him laugh. It’s refreshing to see someone so happy and easy to laugh at my sassy remark.

“Fair enough.” He throws his keys up for me to catch.

“Are you sure? I haven’t driven a car in six years.” I laugh. I drove atvs when I was over there, but never actually a car.

“Well what’s life if it’s not a risk.”

“What if I’m a crazy person?”

“I’m trusting you. Same way you’re trusting me.”

“You might actually be crazy.” I scoff, looking at the keys in my hands.

“Maybe.” He grins, his eyes go wide for a second.

“C’mon, let’s go.” He’s already seated in the passenger spot. I roll my eyes and walk around to the other side of the car to get in.

“You might be the most mad person I’ve ever met.” I pull my sunglasses out of my bag and put them on my head to keep my hair out of my face. Since I started the car, Harry’s taken the top off the car.

“Maybe. Or maybe the most sane.” He flashes me a grin, “I guess we’ll find out.”

“Are you sure about this?” I tease, revving the engine a few times.

“No one’s stopping you, love. The brake is the one of the left.” He leans back without a care in the world, even throwing in his own banter.

I didn’t realize how much I missed driving until this exact moment. Or maybe it’s because I’ve never driven like this. A one of a kind sports car with the top down. A famous rockstar picking the music as we drive down the 101 in towards the city. The feeling of being free, and in complete control. The music is loud, my hair flying back behind me, wild and untamed.

“So, what are you doing now that you’re back? I assume you’re staying here for a while then if you have an apartment?”

We finally start talking again once we’re downtown, it’s easier to hear each other without the wind from the freeway.

“I am.” I look over my shoulder to switch lanes, “I actually have a job as a teacher that I start pretty soon.”

“Well that’s lovely, what grade?”

“Sixth.” I smile. “Yeah, I’m really excited. When I was in Ghana I was teaching youth creative arts. I was only supposed to go for nine months, a year max, but I really loved it there.”

I glance over at him, to see if he’s listening, or if he even cares.

“Have you ever just had that feeling like you were exactly where you needed to be? Just a place that felt exactly like home?”

“Yeah, once or twice.” He admits, “If that’s how you felt, why leave?”

“Because I couldn’t stay forever. My life is here. I’ve had that feeling twice in my whole life. Once was there, and the other was here. I don’t know what it is, but it makes me happy being here.”

“I know the feeling.” He smiles.

Shortly after that we make it to my apartment building, I pull into a spot in the front. My doorman gives us a nod making us laugh.

“Thank you for getting me home, and letting me drive. I think this might be my new favorite car.” I run my hand along the dash with appreciation.

“I think I’m going to miss her.” I tease with a pout.

“She’s always the best until you’re on a grocery trip.” He jokes.

“Well thank you Harry.” I take off my seatbelt and walk around to the sidewalk. I wave over my shoulder seeing him get out as I walk up the steps.

“Maybe I could get your number.” He pauses to clear his throat, “You know, so you can see the car again.”

“Just to see the car?” I grin.

“Well, I’ll be there too.” He

“I think we could make that happen.”

He reaches his phone out toward me to fill out a contact.

“Y/n.” He grins reading it off his phone.

“That’s me.” I simper.

“I’ll be calling you, Y/n.” Harry smirks and takes a few backwards steps towards his car.

“I’m counting on it, Harry.”

plz let me know what y’all think! xoxo

PART TWO

[kingonafiftymetreroad]

Fic Rec Post

Hey everybody! One of my secret santas asked me what my favorite fics are so I decided to make a full blown rec post just for them. These are a little all over the place so I hope you can find something that you enjoy here! ☁️✨ 

Please make sure to read all tags and warnings before reading a fic. And don’t forget to kudos/comment!

🌙 The Finish Line (Is A Good Place For Us To Start) by LoadedGunn 122k

Louis Tomlinson, one-time Formula 1 World Champion, is looking forward to the 2013 season. He’s got Zayn in his garage and Liam in his ear, he’s got Cowell Racing backing him despite former indiscretions, he’s got experience and the best race car out there. Not to mention he’s the only racer they have, after Oliver dropped out late last year.

It hasn’t occurred to him that Oliver would have to be replaced by February. That is, until he finds himself at a party celebrating Harry Styles leaving Ferrari for Cowell. Harry hotshot Styles, who broke a record last year and is probably looking to make a big splash. Harry Styles, who is talented and somewhat intimidating. Harry Styles, who left Ferrari for reasons unknown and seems kind of lonely and harmless in person. Lonely, harmless, hot as fuck. Whatever.

The first thing Louis does is take him under his wing. From there it’s nine months of slow-burning romance, the past catching up to them, turning into the human puppy pile that is OT5 and a lot of feelings until, of course, reaching the finish line.

🌙 a promise lives within you now by sarcasticfluentry 46k

A Lord of the Rings-inspired Middle Earth AU. Louis is an Elven prince, next in line to become King of Mirkwood, and Harry is the orphaned Human boy who grows up alongside him. They fall in love, but Louis’s obligations to the throne, Harry’s mortality, and impending war threaten to tear them apart.

🌙 if you're for real and not pretend by brownheadedstranger 21k

In which Harry works in a bakery and Louis can't seem to find what he's looking for.

🌙 Into The Blue by zarah5 117k (story is locked, ao3 account required to read)

AU. In which Louis is Harry's scuba instructor and quite happy to provide the requested special treatment, pun fully intended. It can't be all that difficult to convince Harry that they're on the same page, right? Also, Niall and Liam may or may not be dating, and Zayn is surrounded by emotionally stunted idiots. He bears it with dignity.

🌙 Don't Unplug Me Or Shut Me Down by slashter 7k

Louis scowls. "He's a photography student. He works with gorgeous models and probably breaks hearts with his smile. I'm a nerd. I earn my money fixing broken crap, and for some stupid reason, I like it. He wears short skirts, I wear t-shirts, he's cheer captain and I'm on the bleachers, et cetera, et cetera." Louis sighs. "I swear, the coolest thing I've ever done is wear contacts."

Basically, Louis is a self-proclaimed nerd who fixes things and Harry seems too perfect to keep breaking as many things as he does.

🌙 You Are The Blood by sarcasticfluentry 175k

A seventh-year Hogwarts AU in which Niall gets all the girls, Liam goes on a journey of self-discovery, Zayn falls in love, Harry wants something more, and Louis tries to figure out once and for all why he, a Muggleborn, was sorted into Slytherin.

🌙 this must be what all the fuss is about by youcomecrash 3k

"You're sweaty," he mumbles matter-of-factly. Louis opens his eyes and raises his head from between his arms. Harry's just staring up at him with a lazy expression and Louis kind of wants to kiss him to sleep. "That's because it's a hundred degrees in here, babe."

🌙 I Fell From the Sky For You (Like a Shooting Star) [by louserz] by waddupjordan (orphan_account) 8k (This was originally posted on tumblr by @louserz and this person had permission to post it on ao3 for the author. if the original author sees this and wants me to take this off of my rec post please DM me and I will. This fic displays elements of depression and homelessness although it is not tagged that way so please take caution in reading this. I don’t want to accidentally trigger anybody.<3)

Harry owns a bookstore, Louis is homeless, and apparently even shooting stars fall in love.

🌙 Sail Across Me by iwillpaintasongforlou 21k

Harry is a prince that is about to be forced into marriage against his will and running away to sea seems like a much better option. Louis is the captain of the infamous pirate ship The Rogue and he has a thing for helping defenseless creatures. Especially when they're as pretty as this one.

🌙 but maybe im just in love when you wake me up by theonewiththelarrystories 6k

lazy morning sex, prompted by Asher: "like a whole sleepy sunday morning vibe of waking up together and then louis pulling a sleepy harry into a warm bath and louis washing harry all over. a bit of body!worship, louis gently working conditioner into harrys curls and him practically purring. Then louis taking it slow with kisses on harrys neck and gentle touches and then fingering harry until hes whining with his head thrown back against louis’ shoulder little needy noises coming from his perfect fucking lips. and then harrys boneless and content while louis leads him back to their bed and spreads him out face down and rims the fuck out of him until hes screaming and then he fucks him gently and then they cuddle on the couch and harry wears louis’ white sweater and louis calls him ‘sweetheart.’"

🌙 strawberry milk fic by Wankerville 158k (3 parts)

This is a 3 part story. The 1st part was originally written alone and then the author added the rest. You can just read the 1st part (19k), and you’ll still be satisfied without feeling added pressured to read the whole thing. Please read all the tags and warnings for each fic beforehand!

🌙 and we live like legends now by soleilouis 16k girl!direction 

harry works at a juice bar, and louis is the cute girl that skates at the park right next door.

🌙 Through Eerie Chaos by MediaWhore 102k (story is locked, ao3 account required to read) @mediawhorefics​

For as long as anyone can remember, Old Hillsbridge Manor has always been believed to be haunted. Everyone in the village agrees and keeps a respectful, fearful, distance. New in town after a bad breakup and an internship that led to disappointment rather than a permanent job, Harry Styles figures taking pictures of the decrepit building could be a great new creative project. Or at least a much-needed distraction while he searches for a job and crashes at his parents’ new house. No one warned him about the apparitions though; about the music, the laughter, the people who flicker and vanish when you call after them, the echoes of a past that should be long gone… Harry has never believed in spirits but even he can admit that there’s something weird going on. What starts as mere curiosity evolves into a full-blown investigation and soon enough, Harry finds himself making friends with an aristocrat from the 1920s and struggling with finding the best way to tell him that he’s dead.

The Ghost Hunter AU where Niall lives to prove ghosts are real, Zayn is a skeptical librarian and Harry gets caught up in a century-old mystery and catches feeling in the process.

🌙 jump in the deep end by istajmaal 5k 

Louis’s stomach lurches as he closes the last bit of distance, Harry’s nose settling between his arse cheeks and pushing them apart. Harry’s lips brush against the puckered skin around Louis’s hole in a kiss and Louis lets out a whine so high-pitched he barely recognizes it as coming from himself—what if I'm not clean enough, what if Harry hates it, what if Harry pushes me away—but then Harry’s long, wet tongue swoops in a circle around Louis’s rim and Louis feels like all the breath is knocked out of him. He grabs for Harry’s hand, still digging into his thigh, and squeezes over it, until Harry releases his vice grip on Louis’s thigh and laces his fingers through Louis’s.

or, Louis's arse is a sensitive subject, so Harry approaches it gently. With his tongue.

🌙 the wheel breaks the butterfly by embodied 4k girl!direction @aliensingucci​

“Out with it, Styles,” Louis groans. Harry’s suddenly regretting this whole thing, and she’s sure she’s beet red now, so she just blurts it out so fast she’s not sure if Louis even understands her right away.

“I’ve never gotten head before.”

AU. harry and louis are roommates. girls' night ends a little differently than usual.

🌙 you flower, you feast by stylinsoncity 18k

He's King of the Underworld, but don't assume Louis has it all. He could stand for some excitement in his monotonous, eternal life and maybe, even.....a soulmate.

(Despite not having a soul.)

And along came "Harry".

🌙 you change, water sea by got2ghost 4k girl!direction (ziam with side larry)

“Zayn wants me to teach her how to make a girl squirt,” Louis says, like it’s the most casual thing in the world. Liam chokes on the water she’d been swigging from her thermos, which makes Louis throw her head back and laugh. Zayn’s brows pinch together and she pats Liam gently on the shoulder, muttering, ‘you okay babes?’

🌙 The Case Of The (Definitely Not Haunted) Styles Mansion by BriaMaria 40k

“So there’s a sense of humor buried beneath all that condescension, huh?” Louis said when he’d stopped laughing.

“It’s not condescension, it’s intelligence. I understand you might not be able to recognize it yourself,” Marcel said, then slapped a hand over his mouth. “Oh god, I’m sorry.”

Louis stepped closer, his eyes on Marcel’s face. “For being an asshat?”

“For being rude,” Marcel said, from beneath his palm.

Louis shifted a half-step closer until he was at the very edge of Marcel’s personal space. It felt like he was nudging at it, asking to be let in. Marcel flushed hot for no reason.

“Lucky for you it takes quite a lot to actually insult me,” Louis said taking one step closer. Too close. Too close.

Marcel met Louis’ eyes. Those blue eyes that reminded Marcel of poetry instead of science, lyrics instead of formulas. They were so pretty he wanted to drown in them.

---

Or the Nancy Drew AU where Marcel is a man of logic, Louis is a private detective who believes in ghosts, and the Styles Mansion is definitely, absolutely, positively *not* haunted.

🌙 You are the Lyrics by TheIfInLife 4k @larryficwriter​

or, Harry wears lingerie for the first time and Louis definitely approves.

🌙 Wild at Heart Ain't Hard to Find by QuickedWeen 11k girl!direction @becomeawendybird

Louis and her best friends Niall and Liam always take an annual vacation together. This year Niall has picked Redwater Canyon, a small tourist town where everyone lives like it's the Old West. There are saloons, stagecoaches, and limited access to WiFi.

The town boasts tours, excursions, activities, and the hottest woman Louis has ever seen in the form of the local blacksmith.

🌙 Withdrawal Was the Weeping by QuickedWeen 11k girl!direction

Confined by life and society, Harry spends her Sunday afternoons walking aimlessly about the countryside as it's her only source of freedom. One Sunday she is aided by the most beautiful woman she has ever met, but not everything is as it seems. Was it a trick of the light? Was it Harry's own active imagination? There is nothing to do but try to find her again.

🌙 i must admit i thought i'd like to make you mine by disgruntledkittenface 50k @disgruntledkittenface​

Louis fell apart when her ex broke up with her and moved across the country. Just as she’s starting to move on, Zayn comes back to town for their mutual friends’ wedding – with a new girlfriend as her plus one.

Blindsided and scrambling to save face, Louis lets herself get talked into a fake relationship with her new friend Harry. Their arrangement makes Louis feel pathetic and embarrassed, but it’s only going to last a few weeks. She just has to get through the wedding – what could happen?

🌙 tempted by the fruit of another by disgruntledkittenface 3k (zayn/louis/harry)

Zayn didn’t mean to look. And she certainly didn’t mean to watch.

It’s just that Louis and Harry are the worst hosts in the world; they’re in their bedroom, clearly fucking (again), and so loud that Zayn can’t concentrate on her game of Among Us in the living room. Liam has killed her twice. Liam. So she just went down the hallway to make sure their bedroom door was at least closed.

It wasn’t.

Zayn stumbles into a world of possibility when she stays with Harry and Louis for a few weeks.

🌙 I have more favorite fics but they are not included here due to them being deleted from ao3. They’re saved in PDF form both on my laptop and my phone (I go back and read them all the time) so if you’re interested in those you’re welcome to reach out to me and ask privately and I’ll share what I can.

This turned out a lot longer than I had expected. If you read through the whole thing thank you! ✨

[hectabdr]

Dragon Raja IV - Chapters 9 & 10 (Abridged)

Hi everyone, in today's update we start learning a little more about Johann's father and that vision that Luminous experienced.

Previous Chapters

Chapter 9

Luminous woke up in a white room. In front of him there was an old man in a white doctor's coat. He explained that once Luminous left the library, he fell and hit his head on the pavement, so his friends brought him to a hospital to check if he had a concussion. Behind the mirror, however, they were being watched by two psychiatrists, next to them, Nono and Finger observed as well. Luminous had to answer many questions, he answered as logically as he could. According to the lead doctor, this wasn't a good sign, a person who knows that they're suffering from some sort of mental disease will always make an extra effort to demonstrate their sanity and Luminous was definitely going the extra mile.

They actually brought him there after Finger threw a rock at his friend's head and knocked him out. Truth be told, they already suspected the doctor's diagnostic, their friend was schizophrenic. Luminous's tantrum didn't help his case either. The young S-Rank was yelling, then threatened the personnel to let him go and almost flipped the table. Minutes later, he was already constricted by a straitjacket, resting on a small hospital bed.

Trying to ignore the other patients with whom he shared a room, he slowly vanished under the effects of a sedative injection. As soon as his eyes closed, his body felt the cold sensation of heavy rain. He was in the number 0 highway all over again, trapped in that same vision, the one where Nono would die in minutes, yet the shadowy creatures were not trying to eat them alive, but frozen like statues, while a small figure walked among them. Carrying an oversized umbrella, the little devil greeted his brother and made an interesting contribution.

The dream that Luminous experienced was not simply a prediction, but a simulation of it, and as such, it could be experienced all over again. In fact, he could repeat the same scenario as many times as he needed to find the one where Nono would survive. It was like the "save" feature in a video game and there was no need to exchange a quarter of his life for this service.

-Odin, what is he?

-You could understand him as a dead soul, trapped in this Nibelungen. He possesses infinite power, yet for some reason, he couldn't leave this place for many years, until now.

Odin's restriction was about to end, after all, he managed to lock Nono with the Gungir lance and it was a matter of time before he could leave the Nibelungen to reach her. Once you're locked by the lance, you're doomed to die, however, it cannot be locked on the same target twice, since theoretically said target should be dead already. Therefore, the solution was simple, if Luminous managed to prevent the lance from hitting Nono, Odin wouldn't be able to try for a second time. According to Ming·Z, someone in the past already escaped the Gungir lance, he just didn't know how. Luminous would have multiple chances to find a way, with a clear objective in mind, he started the second round.

The scenario resumed and the creatures started moving towards them. The pair once again fought for their lives, with a big difference: Luminous performed exceptionally well. Being able to remember the behavior of the servitors allowed him to know exactly how and where to shoot them, leaving Nono speechless. She was particularly surprised when he blew up her car, since he forgot the part where they agreed to escape in the Maybach. Wasting time to explain his course of action, a servitor took advantage of their distraction and cut through Nono's neck with its hands, killing her in an instant.

He woke up in his hospital bed, extremely frustrated. Ming·Z·Lu left a phone in his bed with a message that invited him to try again. The only problem was that he couldn't fall asleep. Luminous threw tantrum after tantrum until the nurse came in and he requested another sedative injection, which surprised her. According to the doctors, these sedatives weren't addictive, so Luminous had little to no reason to want another one. He had to lie about his condition, saying that there were voices in his head yelling to one another. The nurse injected him again and he fell asleep, ready for his third attempt.

In the middle of the battle, he noticed that one of the servitors had a little number next to it, just like the stats in an RPG, and the creature was a "level 600 enemy". According to Ming·Z, a very strong regular human should have a combat level of 100, so this thing had six times the strength of a tai chi master. Enemies that strong should be avoided in close combat and shot from a distance instead. Odin's power level and other stats were displayed as a bunch of question marks. It was a sign of their abysmal difference in strength. When Luminous tried to analyze Ming·Z·Lu, his stats were hidden by question marks as well.

Chapter 10

Days later, Finger and Nono were drinking in Luminous's old bedroom, trying to figure out what to do next. They believed they understood the situation, their friend was mentally ill. He knew about this boy called Lu Mang, who died in an accident and he created an imaginary version of him. He projected most of his own accomplishments into this made up president of the Lionheart club and got two of his former classmates involved in his delusional quest.

Finger suggested giving Luminous back to the college, despite of the risk that it might represent to his safety. If they apologized for their actions and brought back the number one target of the secret party, they might have been able to get pardoned. Maybe Caesar could ensure his well being. Nono still insisted in analyzing the inconsistencies on everyone else's perspective on Luminous and Finger suggested that she just couldn't accept the truth of her sidekick's mental condition.

Finger's suggestion was tearing her apart on the inside, because she knew that she was supposed to be the one who suggested they give up on Luminous, then Finger would be offended and start defending his old roommate, this didn't make much sense, why was she the one who was hesitating? She expressed her disgust at his proposal and left Luminous's old house.

-Even if he's the disoriented puppy that you say he is, it's still mine! I'm the one who picked him up from the women's bathroom!

Meanwhile, Luminous just lost his 46th attempt at saving his former senior. After all of those attempts, he suffered 22 serious injuries, including 12 fractures, 7 deep wounds and 1 broken finger. His previous attempt was devastating, he managed to get in the car with Nono, but the death servitors lifted the car up in the air and they couldn't accelerate anymore. Nono was visibly terrified, while the creatures destroyed the vehicle, they sat down, waiting for their end to come.

Ming·Z tried to dissuade Luminous from pursuing Nono, or even saving her, but his brother refused. The little devil was confused about his brother's feelings and revealed that he had been writing a small webnovel inspired by the real life relationship between Luminous and Nono. His readers weren't particularly happy with her character and wanted her to be more clear about her intentions.

-I learned more about humans to understand the feelings that you have for your senior sister.

-Did you find your answer?

-Yes, your feelings are in all the wrong places.

-Nonsense!

Perhaps there was something he could do. Ming·Z couldn't stop the Gungir lance, but he would be able to kill Odin if Luminous was willing to trade his last quarter of life. As expected, Luminous refused, so he gave him another gift: he would provide him with any weapon he could ask for on his next attempts. Luminous asked for an apache helicopter but Ming·Z forced him to settle for something smaller, a bazooka.

The next round started and Nono freaked out when she saw Luminous's new rocket launcher, where did he get it from?

Back in the real world, Nono arrived at an abandoned building that belonged to the Media Asia Group. The boss of the Black Prince Group was an old acquaintance of hers, a devoted one at that, the same young man who lend her the red Ferrari: the young master Shao. His business card was enough to allow Nono to request information about an old employee: a man whose last name was Chu.

The middle aged man that guarded the old building was curious about this girl and her credentials. She went straight to the point and asked for the long deceased man, Mr. Chu. The guard recognized the surname immediately, his full name was Chu Tianjiao. Long ago they used to be colleagues and drank together from time to time.

Tianjiao was married to a dancer and had a young son, he wanted to earn more money, so he quit his job working as a driver for members of the taxation bureau and became the personal driver of a wealthy man, who owned the Maybach that Tianjiao drove every day.

Nono kept asking for more information, but there wasn't much to say, he loved spicy chicken wings and braised pork belly, he barely spoke unless it was to brag about simple things. But there was something more, Tianjiao lived in the factory, so she asked the man to take her to Tianjiao's room. In her way, she noticed a reflection in the window, powerful flames, but it only lasted a second.

Tianjiao's bedroom hadn't been opened for many years, but the air inside was surprisingly clean, just a little dusty. The furniture was simple, a double bed, a bedside table, a writing desk, a chair and a mini-refrigerator. Some strings in the corner of the room were used to dry his clothes and a jacket was hanged in them. This was everything that Chu Tianjiao had. Nono stepped in, asking to be left alone and she closed the door to allow her profiling ability to fill the missing details. She analyzed every aspect of the small place and came across a photograph. A family of three, a boy who was five at most, a woman with a bright smile and a man in a white shirt and woolen pants combing his hair, hugging his wife proudly. Was the boy Johann Chu? She couldn't recognize his face.

Nono sat down on the bed, closed her eyes and allowed her ability to put her in that man's shoes. She saw him, a man with no name arriving at the town for the first time, carrying nothing but a suitcase. He sat down at a food stand and ordered braised pork belly, but the vision was interrupted by the pain of heavy mental exhaustion. 

Her skills were demanding and she found herself trapped in that state, feeling like the was sinking in deep water as she desperately tried to escape. The experience sent her back to the Three Gorges Dam, where she almost died, a monster came to her aid and yelled "Don't die! don't die! don't die!"

She wasn't completely sure about how she survived on that mission. Caesar and Luminous put a story together, in which Norton approached the diving bell and attacked her, the dragon then attacked the Monach, where Caesar skillfully slayed the monster. Luminous brought her back to the boat, where she woke up in her boyfriend's arms.

But there was more to it, a monster, one that ordered her not to die and saved her with powers that broke the rules of the world she knew. Was that an illusion?

Nono felt the whole place trembling and got out of the room, outside, the rainfall had flooded the building and the whole structure was sinking in the muddy ground in which it was built. Nono tried to make her way out, she was trained for this, swimming as fast as she could, she got trapped by the tons of stored garbage and slowly passed out from suffocation until someone finally grabbed her wrist.

She woke up in an ambulance, where she discovered the identity of her savior: the boring middle-aged man that guided her to Tianjiao's room was in fact an olympic swimmer who almost joined the national team! He even had an 8-pack and all, Nono wondered, when did that old man become so interesting?

Anyway, while everyone clapped and celebrated the local hero, she contemplated the ruins of the sinking building. Her last connection to Chu Tianjiao was now lost.

In a simulated combat situation, inside of his dreams, Luminous was now on his 62nd attempt to save Nono. His routine was well practiced, not a single bullet was wasted. He pushed Nono back into the Maybach and prepared to fire the Bazooka at the death servitors, but the projectile exploded inside of the cannon, killing them both in the resulting explosion. Ming·Z excused himself for the defective product, after all, Luminous already used dozens of them so at least one could be expected to have some sort of flaw.

77th load, by this point he already managed to make it out oof the servitor battle and they drive deep into the highway. He tried to pass through the toll booths but accidentally hit a concrete isolation block.

He woke up again at the hospital and asked the nurse for another sedative. He had been sleeping for five or six consecutive days with the help of those injections, only waking up to eat and occasionally chat with his fellow patients. The nurse was growing suspicious of him but he faked a mental episode and the nurse ran away to ask for the doctor's instructions.

Finger showed up to visit him and brought some apples, he also reassured him about Nono's trust in him, informing Luminous of Chen's quest to find more clues about Johann's dad. They also found more about Chu's mother, who probably developed her psychological pregnancy after the death of her real son.

To lighten up the mood after the arrival of the nurses, Finger turned the TV on and they watched the news together. Apparently the airport was closed due to the incessant rains, and they were showing the departure of the last plane right before the lockdown, but something startled Luminous.

Odin's flames were reflecting in the water, the god swung his lance and the wind and water were quickly turned into a blade that cut through the airplane like butter. The airport was covered in flames and some of the passengers were injured.

Luminous tried to warn everyone in the hospital and begged them to call the police, but his apparent prediction meant nothing to them, after all, the footage shown in the news was a repetition from days before. They pushed him back into his bed and sedated him immediately.

Odin was indeed too much for regular humans, and he was about to start tormenting the city, just waiting to get out.

[pierregasly]

Would love to hear your full take on Pierre,,,

Sorry this took me a few days to get to, I meant to answer it immediately but never found the motivation :( Anyways, onto Pierre. 

I believe you are commenting on a post of mine where I stated my fear that the Middle Generation of drivers (Charles, Carlos, Pierre and Max specifically) have/are going to miss out on opportunities and will never reach their full potential in F1. This is similar to what happened to the “Lost Generation” which is comprised of drivers such as Daniel, Kevin, Nico and Checo. To reiterate something that another asker was confused about: it has nothing to do with talent. The generations are not lumped together based on talent but based on their similar ages/entrance into F1 and I am speaking on the wasted potential that this group never got to achieve. (For example, Nico’s full potential was podiums--he never got here. And Daniel’s full potential was a championship--which he’ll never get.) 

I am not going to waste your time and state what I said briefly about Charles, Carlos and Max but I will go into depth more so about what I hardly touched upon with Pierre. As I said, Pierre is a phenomenal talent. As much as his podium and race win may have proven it to the world, many still call him a “luck driver” who is not good enough for a higher team. This is, obviously, because of  his time at Red Bull dramatically overshadowed his career. 

I started following Pierre around 2017 when I first got interested in F1 because of the history. In 2017 he wasn’t racing in Europe but in Super Formula so I took the time to catch up on his career thus far (I will go into depth on this in a moment). I didn’t start watching F1 until 2018 and the only driver (non-historical) I really was attached to was Pierre (others would comes later). Obviously, if you remember, Pierre ended up taking P5 in qualifying and P4 in a Toro Rosso in front of the whole world in only a few races at Bahrain. It was absolutely incredible and for the rest of the season until his Red Bull announcement, Pierre was dishing points place after points place after points place in only his first full season in F1. Therefore, while it was only his FIRST FULL SEASON, the jump to Red Bull ultimately felt justified. 

Of course, this did not end up being the case. Our joy over Pierre getting to be in a higher team made us completely and utterly forget the track record Red Bull has left with its second drivers. For those of you who are new to F1 (either coming in 2019, mid-2019 or 2020) you missed out on Pierre’s debut season which was fantastic for the car he was given. Furthermore, if you came in during mid-2019 or 2020 and you think that the treatment RB gave to Alex is horrible--you are hardly touching the surface. The treatment that RB is giving Alex versus Pierre is like taking your sons on summer vacation and then having one of them sleep on the comfy twin bed with two blankets and the other kid on the floor without so much as PJs. We haven’t even touched upon Daniil. Daniil would be like the parents leaving the kid outside to sleep. 

Let’s move on. It is very easy to look at Pierre’s season and tout only negative things. It was not his best moment and, yes, he certainly could’ve done better. However, with what he was given? Are we even sure about that? For example, Pierre become open with the media following his demotion. Not only did RB leave it to the very last moment but they also would:

1) Use Pierre’s car and car parts to test Max. 

2) When Pierre requested a more experienced engineer, he was denied. However, when Alex requested the same thing, he was given it. 

3) RB consistently spoke horribly of him in front of the media. They constantly spoke that he needed to do better and never tried to build him up. 

4) Emotionally pressured Pierre to his breaking limit.

Now the difference between RB and many other teams is that when the going gets tough for their drivers, many teams choose to build their drivers up to set them up for success. RB’s method is to tear their drivers down and hope that they can pick up their own pieces once they become annoyed with humiliation. The demotion was far, far too quick. Think of Alex--he has been getting worse and worse and worse with a year and half of time at Red Bull. Pierre managed half a season before they gave him the boot. The boot was also without warning even despite Pierre getting better and better each race. 

This is all information you probably already know, I said earlier I would touch upon his younger career and how this has been overshadowed and forgotten due to his time at RB. Here are some facts/statistics that will be important for my point later:

Finished 3rd in the French F4 championship with four wins, two poles and seven podiums over the course of only fourteen races despite having three retirements (the 2nd placer had 0 and the 1st placer only had 1). 

In his first season at Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 he finished 10th of 51 different racers and every person but one who finished before him in the championship was older than him. Pierre was only 16 when Stoffel V was 20, Daniil K was 18, Oliver R was 20, Norman N was 20, Nyck V was 17, Paul L was 21, Oscar T was 16, Melville M was 18 and Alex R was 18. 

In his second season of Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 he finished first in front of the likes of Esteban Ocon, Oliver Rowland, Jake Dennis, Nyck de Vries, Luca Ghitto and Alexander Albon.

Finished 6th in the 2013 Formula Renault 2.0 Alps Series despite missing half of the season and there being 42 competitors total (everyone ahead of him completed the full season). 

Finished 2nd of 28 competitors in the 2014 Formula Renault 3.5 Series and lost to none other than Carlos Sainz Jr. 

Finished 1st in his second full season of GP2 (now formally classified as F2).

The GP2 race he won in Silverstone happened right after a huge roadcar accident in which his mother ended up in the hospital. Pierre himself fractured his vertebrae and still went on to win the race while his mother was in the hospital and he had a broken bone. 

Was called in to replace a Renault edams driver in Formula E. He was jet lagged, tired and got only a few hours in the sims. He still managed to secure P4 in qualifying and then was set for a P3 finish but he crashed into the wall on the last corner of the last lap and came home in P4. THIS WAS HIS FIRST TIME EVER IN AN FE RACE OR AN FE CAR.

Finished second in Super Formula in 2017 but lost by only half a point. One of the races in the season was abandoned when he was set to win because of flooding and storm. Had it not been abandoned he would’ve finished first at the end of the season. 

All this pretty much brings you up to speed to when he entered into F1 (which all his amazing stuff you should be familiar with). Moving more onto my “take” regarding Pierre. I have shown evidence for why he is an incredible driver, however, now we’re moving onto the not so great bit. I suppose I must answer one question before I move on. 

Do I think Pierre is good enough, against all the rest of the talent in F1, to get consistent podiums if given the proper car? Absolutely. Do I think Pierre is good enough, against all the rest of the talent in F1, to get consistent wins if given the proper car? Absolutely. Do I think Pierre is good enough, against all the rest of the talent in F1, to fight/win a championship one day if given the proper car? This I firmly believe is possible (other thing I’ll get into if someone wants).

The reason I worry and am distressed about Pierre is because I don’t believe he’ll ever get a go at a higher team again. RB really put a shadow over his career, a shadow that is going to worry other teams from placing him into their cars. He has ultimately proven himself with podiums and, of course, the race win. However, seeing as there is so much young talent coming into F1, I don't see there being a place for him. 

Mercedes is set to most likely be Max and George when Lewis retires. Red Bull would never dare to put him in that seat again. Ferrari has their “golden generation” of Charles and Mick to look after. And those are the seemingly “top teams” (if you can even all Ferrari that). Let’s look at the others. Racing Point is going to be Lance and Seb until Seb retires. I don’t see Pierre ever going to Alpha Romeo. And McLaren is set up for the next few years with Lando and Daniel. Haas--I don’t think so. This is ultimately dangerous for Pierre’s career because RB likes to keep fresh meat in their B team car (or if you trust Horner it’s their “sister team” lol). Pierre’s best chance is the escape the RB family. AND I UNDERSTAND that the regulations could make things VERY different in F1 for the future. These are just my hypothesis and guesses--all is subjective and up to interpretation so @ anybody reading this--relax, buddy. So where does Pierre fit in in the future? These are some scenarios I have conjured up. 

1) Mercedes. Let’s say that, possibly. Max never ends up moving into that second Merc seat and instead remains at RB wasting away until they can get him a better car for the rest of his career (ooo burn sorry it’s for the scenario don’t hate me). This would open up a place at Merc for Pierre to truly shine his potential. Most likely, he would play second fiddle to George but hey--it’s still a seat where can utilize that potential. 

2) Red Bull. This would be if they get desperate. I don’t think if given a second chance, Pierre would say no. If Max were still in the team, he would be second fiddle. I can see Pierre going to RB if Max leaves for Merc in the next few years and they want him to lead Yuki or if Yuki doesn’t shine in AT and they end up dropping him they are going to be slim Pickens... I don’t know if being at RB will give him a place where he can utilize his potential but it’s a possibility. 

3) Ferrari. This would be only a chance if Mick doesn’t do great in Alpha Romeo and they need someone to fill the seat of their obvious place holder Carlos. He would be alongside Charles. Other than that.... Ferrari seems pretty set and there isn’t any space. 

4) McLaren. This I don’t see as very possible? I would love to see him in orange but they seem pretty set with Daniel and Lando. I think Daniel is probably going to ride out the end of his career there. Lando seems very integrated into the team and I can’t see him leaving unless he got a better offer like Merc. If Max didn’t end up taking the second Merc seat in the future and remains at RB then Lando might be given an offer which would open up a place that Pierre could possibly take. Do I count this as realistic? Not really, but it could happen. At McLaren I could see Pierre utilizing his potential. 

5) Renault. This is one of the options that seems most realistic to me. They're set with Fernando for the next few years. If they decided, after 2021, to give the boot to Esteban, that would open up a place for Pierre in a French team that would love a French driver (they already have one but Pierre is a FRENCH WINNER). You know that teams loves their nationalism.... Anyways. Or, possibly, Fernando retires after two years (again lol) which would open up a seat for Pierre to take along Esteban. However, I don’t really see Esteban staying long term because Renault probably needs to put one of their Renault babies like Guanyu or Christian in there. 

6) Williams. Lol. No. 

7) Haas. I don’t see it happening really??? I have my reasons but my gut just says... Au revoir.

8) Racing Point. THIS. This I see as 100% 100% a possibility. Let’s say that Seb retires after two years--this would open up a seat. Pierre is a strong, consistent and stable driver who doesn’t make mistakes. Here he could really use his potential!! #PierreInGreen!!

9) Alpha Romeo. As I said... I really don’t see it. They seem pretty busy with all their young guys. 

So to conclude, the future for Pierre lies at either Renault or Racing Point (less chance but possible includes Merc to McLaren). To not take up any more of  your time, this is what I mean by Pierre being an incredible talent who may or may not get a chance at a higher team. He deserves to have more and to have a second chance. He has really proven himself and is pulling the absolutely maximum out of himself. I really want to see him with more, like he deserves. 

Even Charles wanted him as his teammate at Ferrari back in April... that’s saying even more. Everyone on the grid except Esteban rate him highly as a person and as a driver. His potential deserves smth better. He has proven himself time and time again against everyone who told him he wasn't good enough and who still say it was all just luck. There exists luck. But firmer than luck, there exists skill. 

Pierre Gasly is a race winner in an Alpha Tauri. Do not forget that. 

[heresathreebee]

Garrote part 12

[Starz Power Diego Jimenez X Jazmine Mann (Black!OC)]

Summary: Healy and the Jimenez’ are gearing up for war. Jazmine’s getting antsy waiting for something to go horribly wrong. Previous Masterlist Next

Rating/Warning(s): Mature (+18 or I call the police). post-coitus fluff, swearing, anxiety, time skip, canon typical violence (I think...?), all plot, gringo using google translate Spanish and half remembered high school classes (sorry in advance), mentions of grooming/pedophilia (don’t worry, Porsche’s OK)

Word count: 2.2k words

Author’s Note(s): yeah so I wrote this back in December and just didn’t have the heart to put it out. I wanted to try and finish the other chapters (thinking I’m gonna wrap up at seventeen chapters) and I couldn’t. I have a problem with finishing anything I start, it never feels strong enough. I’m gonna try not to let that stop me though, promise. 

Waking up in Diego’s arms, Jazmine never expected to feel so calm. Truth be told she didn't really wake up, but drifted in and out of sweet harmonious consciousness to find Diego, whether he was cradling her or sitting up or rubbing her back. She finally managed to convince herself to get out of bed and by then it was already 2 in the afternoon. Diego had his pants and shoes back on but nothing else, so she relaxed a little. 

"You need to eat," he whispered, "come on, get dressed." 

Jazmine blinked slowly. "I need a shower. Maybe a wheelchair, too." 

She didn't miss the proud smirk that suddenly graced his handsome features. As he put on his shirt, Jazmine glanced past him at the open door of the closet. It was empty inside save for a few hangers, but it left a bad taste in her mouth and a lump in her throat. Diego followed her line of sight and said nothing. He let her shower, never more than five feet away (which is exactly how far the shower curtain is to the bathroom door). They ate somewhere family friendly, a pancake house she barely remembered the name of. Her legs still suffered from tremors and her pelvic region ached, but they were good feelings and she tried to make them last as they put a smile on her face. 

~

It's been about a week and Jazmine has seen neither hide nor hair of Haagen and it's starting to worry her. 

The only relief she had been able to accrue these past few days had been Healy's announcement that they had made a huge connection and were in the process of setting up task forces to take Haagen down. Alicia was confident that Haagen knew nothing and was continuing on with business as usual (or so she heard through the grapevine), and even Diego seemed to be relaxed about it. 

That was another thing that bothered her. Diego, relaxed. Diego doing more hands on business and clubbing at all hours of the night. He'd barely said two words to her after coming to the rescue and fucking her silly in front of Haagen. 

Sitting alone in the penthouse, Jazmine scratched at every itch and tugged on every baby hair like her skin was diseased. She didn't want to go outside, she was too afraid of Haagen's next move. She had been texting her mother regularly again just so she wouldn't call and have to explain why she sounded so nervous. It would have taken LaShawn all of ten seconds to realize something was wrong: so why couldn't anybody else see it? 

Maybe she was overreacting. Jazmine drew a hot bath in the jacuzzi sized tub and turned the jets on, finding bubble bath solution and a pink rubber ducky to cradle. The bathroom had a dimmer switch she turned down to near zero and let silky smooth R&B from the 90's wash her worries away. Her fingers worked to squeeze the ducky like a stress ball, and a traitorous part of her brain whispered longing thoughts. 

I wish Diego was here to massage my back.

She shushed her thoughts: at least the bath is perfectly hot. 

She washed her body and spent the better part of the day deep conditioning her hair and shaving her legs just for the hell of it. The music never stopped, it simply rolled from R&B to classic rock and then back again. Miguel checked in only to make sure she ate, and Jazmine managed to convince him to eat with her and play a co-op mobile game for a few hours. She plucked at the listening device in her ear for the thousandth time and decided to just call Healy. 

"Hey can't talk right now," were all the words she got out of him on the second call and then an immediate hang up. 

Jazmine growled and crossed her arms, suddenly reminded she was still wearing nothing but a bathrobe. She slipped into a pair of jeans and a tank top, and feeling bold, she marched up to Diego’s room and swiped a black button down that smelled like him. She tucked it unbuttoned into her pants and swanned up to the penthouse roof with a bottle of wine and one glass. 

She knew she would miss this level of extravagance. Never worrying about paying for rent or for food or selling her time and labor for someone else and next to nothing pay. Jazmine wondered what Diego would say to becoming her sugar daddy after this whole human trafficking business was over, but shook her head and topped her drink off. 

Probably overstayed my welcome, she thinks, that’s why Diego’s been distant lately. 

~

Jazmine was unnaturally quiet on her end, though Healy recognized the tinkling sound of bottle to glass. Probably on her fourth drink if he was counting correctly. No matter– she was safe for now at Diego’s penthouse suite and there were more pressing matters to attend to at the moment. Brasa was leaning over each and every agent sat in the boardroom as if to intimidate them into obeying her every command. She was a good detective, really she was, she just needed to work on trusting the people who trusted her. Her partner Holbrooke was no help at all– selective mutism was a nasty habit to overcome. Brasa had not breathed a word of thanks in Healy’s direction, but he had expected that. This wasn’t about the praise– it was about justice. 

When he could finally break away for coffee and a piss, he sent a text to Alicia. No doubt los hermanos Jimenez would be thrilled with the intel– but what would happen next? 

The safest place for Jazmine right now is Diego’s place, he thought, but for how much longer?

~

An address and a transcribed photograph of the documents they came from. Healy had told them that the most likely scenario for Porsche’s whereabouts was ‘adoption’ by people who did not want any adoption documents to surface later on. The family probably has prestige, they may have lost a child recently and are looking to replace it like a goldfish and hope no one notices. 

It didn’t stop Diego’s trigger finger from inching closer and closer to his gun at every small pump of the breaks. 

“Tranquil, hermano,” Alicia soothed. “We’re almost there. We can kill them after we get la pequena back.” 

Diego sniffed and hopped out of the car as soon as it finally parked. Alicia was right behind him, checking her peripherals on the well lit streets of this upscale neighborhood. It was them two and one guard each, a second car bearing two underlings coming in from the back door and four cars with heavily armed back up around the corner in case things went south. Brother and sister climbed the porch steps idly, slipping their guns back into their hidey spots before knocking on the front door…

~

“Fuck.” 

Jazmine’s phone battery flashed at 3%. She didn’t remember finishing the bottle, but she did really have to pee so she stood up from the pool’s edge to relieve herself. Miguel was asleep on the white leather couches in the living room, mouth open and drooling with his gun on the table. The woman’s steps were a little unsteady and her vision came in waves, but she felt that fuzzy warm buzz and decided she had better not drive. 

She shook the young man awake with a sigh. “Hey, I left something at my apartment. Can you drive me?” 

Miguel pursed his lips. “I don’t think jefe would want–” 

“Please,” she said, “it’s important.” 

Miguel relented, swiping the keys to a Ferrari from the rack by the elevator and handed Jazmine her coat. Just a few more items she couldn't live without. The way Miguel drove meant they were there in no time at all, and every light they passed by in the dark somehow made Jazmine feel lighter, less jittery and anxious. She had Miguel drop her off by the backside of the apartment and climbed the steps alone after insisting she would only be a minute. All of her doors and windows were locked, the place looked exactly as she had left it. 

“Thank god.” 

She had to search for her charger, a sparkly teal thing with a cat and an alligator charm on it. She found it hiding under her bed, then found her way into the bathroom to check on her face in the mirror. Jazmine fingered the black hickeys on her neck, smiling to herself. She caught sight of something white hanging out of the trash and dug it out: her Chicago shirt. Stuffing it into her back pocket next to her phone charger, Jazmine took one last look at her apartment and blew a kiss to it. 

“Bye,” she whispered, peaking into the dark and lingering on the memories she was about to leave behind forever until finally the lock clicked into place. Oh shit, this was the wrong door. Miguel was waiting out back– 

Pop-pop-pop

Gunshots rang out from behind the building, the returning fire was short and stilted, overwhelmed by the repetition of an automatic. Jazmine took to the stairs at the far side of the building and ran down them wishing she was in something other than slippers. Her heart began to pound in her chest and her breath billowed in heavy clouds before disappearing. The second she stepped off of the last stair, she tripped. Her flimsy footwear slid on the thin layer of ice and she fell, her eyes and ears following the clink clink plop noise of her phone literally going down a storm drain. 

She barely had time to scramble back to her feet before she heard tires come screeching around the corner down the street and she stumbled into a run. 

Jazmine wasn’t sure how far she’d gone, and she can’t recall how many streets she turned on, or even if she was being chased at all. Every sound made her jump, and every car coming her way made her anxious. Her lungs burned for air as she finally collapsed against the window of a minimart. There were tears streaming down her cheeks as she pushed the door open to hide among the tiny rows of snacks and gum and cigarettes and refrigerated beverages. The store owner was wearing headphones and didn't bother looking up. Deep breath in. Exhausted, shaking breath out. Jazmine curled tightly around herself to try and calm down before her heart exploded in her chest. 

~

Alicia and Diego have the father on his knees and bloodied. His wife and children are being held upstairs in one of the bedrooms, terrified. Diego wipes at a small spot of blood from his sister's face. 

"Donde esta el bebe?," Diego said, grasping the man's ear and dragging his head back to look at him. "I won't ask you again." 

"What baby?" The man coughed dryly, his eyes nearly swollen shut but still glimmering in fear. "I don't know what you're talking about." 

Alicia kneeled down in her white pantsuit. "The baby you bought from Jeremy Haagen, Mr. Fletcher. A beautiful little girl with dusky hair and big brown eyes. A baby that belongs to us." 

Fletcher squirms under the murderous gaze of los hermanos Jimenez but doesn’t break. 

“You know, Diego,” Alicia said leaning on her brother’s shoulder, “I didn’t see a fourth bedroom.” 

Diego pursed his lips. “So?” 

“So the contract specified a room for our mariposa, and he already has two children. Where’s the other room?” Alicia’s heels clicked as the gear turned in Diego’s head. “I bet la senorita Fletcher might know.” 

“No, please,” he begged, “leave my wife out of this– she’s got nothing to do with this!” 

“So you do know what we’re talking about,” Diego’s aha motion garnered a vague threat with the point of his gun– gold plated, of course. Emeralds in the hilt this time. 

“Secretly adopting a baby girl,” Alicia tsked, kneeling before Fletcher and brandishing a knife, “when you have two perfectly healthy girls of your own? Ay dios mio, what’s the matter? Three’s your lucky number, but your wife doesn’t put out anymore?” 

Fletcher stumbled hard over his words and made next to no sense. One thing that did make it clear through the haze of nonsense struck a nerve with the Jimenezes: “I didn’t know she’d be that young!” 

Alicia exchanged a queasy look with her brother. She had heard of it before: grooming. Usually starts when a girl is anywhere between nine and eighteen. Fletcher continued to ramble, about hiring a nanny and raising the baby anyway since Haagen didn’t do resales. He was probably just trying to get the baby off his hands…

Before Diego could pull the trigger, his phone rang. So did Alicia’s, both projecting the same number from a burner phone and three emojis to designate the caller: Healy. Alicia answered for Diego, jerking her head towards the door and mouthing, ‘I’ll take care of it from here.’ Diego reluctantly slipped outside, glaring at the nosy neighbors in the window who disappeared in a flash. He put the phone to his ear just in time to hear:

“– I need you to get to Nassau now: Jazmine’s in trouble.”

@mental-bycatch @kid-from-new-zealand @1zashreena1 @girlpornparadise @nicke0115 let me know if I missed anybody, I’m sorry it’s been so long

[vro0m]

vro0m’s rewatch - 8/288

2007 French GP

(You know the usual disclaimer by now : those are just my thoughts throughout the race. Don’t have expectations. But I make GIFs !)

So this time Massa is pole. Lewis is 2nd on the grid. There’s been rain during the weekend. The forecast for the race is unclear. Omg there’s accordion in the build up intro music because France™.

Ouuuuh and apparently there’s serious drama at Ferrari with, direct citation, “allegations of espionage and sabotage”? Can’t wait to hear about that.

Alonso is P5 (?) as he had gearbox problems. The journalists also say they were at a barbecue with Lewis the night before and he was very calm and confident. What a weird info.

Lewis’ media presence is growing at a crazy pace. It seems a bit overwhelming to him though very cool. He talks about Pharrell being there at the US GP and meeting Kanye and Beyonce. He’s all star-struck. Adorable.

Oh and Kubica is back after his big crash and placed 4th during quali which is a career best! Good for him!

Ah and here comes the ferrari drama, are you ready? The Italian police are investigating the senior race engineer of Ferrari, Nigel Stepney. Rumours and allegations (you have to imagine the dramatic piano music halfway between sad and thriller soundtrack in the background while you read this). Stepney announced he wanted to leave and now he’s charged with sabotage! They “found something not proper in [their] factory” says Luca Colajanni, director of communications. They asked the police to investigate and enough evidence turned up to bring Nigel to court + internal disciplinary procedure against him and someone else whose name I didn’t quite catch. There’s talk of a tampered fuel rig ahead of the Monaco GP, something about white powder around the rig and the fuel tank. But these are probably false rumours as they don’t appear in the official court documents. It seems unlikely the FIA wouldn’t have noticed such a thing if it was true. So people think this sabotage thing is made-up. Stepney is now in Asia on unapproved leave (?), still a Ferrari employee and he denies everything. Massa says he’s suprised because Stepney always did a good job. Raikkonen in true Raikkonen fashion says he doesn’t wanna get involved. Jean Todt says he can’t comment because of the legal case and gets rather pissed off when the journalist insists. What a weird story.

Omg Zinedine Zidane is there ! Hilarious. Somehow totally forgot he had a accent marseillais even though he’s litterally from Marseille. Also ew young Horner with mid-long hair.

Anyway, here’s the grid :

All of a sudden they are pouring grip sand or whatever it’s called on the track because there’s oil ? And now formation lap. Someone’s car is being pushed off the grid.

And they’re racing !

Ahhh Lewis immediately lost a place to Raikkonen. Also a car spun and was stuck backwards in the middle of the track. Alonso had a bad start ? Trulli is already retiring his car. He had contact with Liuzzi who’s supposedly also out? Actually, there was A LOT of contact in that first corner.

Alonso had an opportunity to overtake Heidfeld but then went wide and lost the place immediately. Sorry not sorry but overall during these last 8 races he’s not doing a very good job.

Lap 12. Actually Alonso started 10th and is now 7th so my bad but still. He’s making a lot of weird mistakes quite often.

Ah someone is pitting. It’s Lewis. Lap 16. And now Alonso too. So early? He’s right behind Rosberg. Massa pits 2 laps later. He gets out 2nd behind Raikkonen. Rosberg also pits. Alonso is 9th. Lewis is 4th. Everybody is pitting.

Lap 26. It’s Massa, Raikkonen, Lewis in the front.

Alonso did the same thing again : he overtook Heidfeld and then couldn’t slow down enough to make the turn and lost the place.

Oh wow! Albers left the pits too quickly, there’s been a miscommunication. He threw a mechanic to the ground and tore the fuel thing off. It’s dragging behind his car and he’s now stopped in the grass right out of the pit lane. Smoke coming out the back of his car. (We later heard that the mechanics were okay, some were a bit bruised.)

Lewis is now faster than the Ferraris by .5 seconds per lap. Is he gonna catch up? We’re halfway through the race. But he pits! He gets out side by side with Kubica! He’s forced to concede to him.

But a few corners later, he overtakes him down the inside! Beautiful!

So smooth! Now there’s only clear track in front of him, but we learn he hasn’t used the soft tyres yet! What a weird mistake. He’ll have to pit again at some point. In the meantime, it’s Alonso in the pitlane.

Lap 43, Massa pits, then Raikkonen on lap 46. He’s leading in front of his teammate. Hamilton is third but he still has to pit for the soft tyres!

And here it comes, with 19 laps to go. He gets back out and he’s still third!!! He lost a lot of time on the Ferraris but not the podium. Amazing.

And Speed is in the gravel trap. DNF.

5 laps to go and Lewis is not really trying anymore. He can’t catch up to the Ferraris who are now 30 seconds ahead, and Kubica is 10 seconds behind him. Nothing is going to change anymore.

And it’s the end of the race !

That’s 8 races - 8 podiums for Lewis! Raikkonen wins the race. Kubica is 4th which is pretty amazing.

Very funny seeing Roselyne Bachelot there to give Kimi his trophy. Of course at the time she was Minister for Health and Sport so it makes sense but at the same time it doesn’t. Can’t explain it better than that.

Lewis still leads the WDC by 14 points.

Now the disgusting neon yellow drink in the interview room is orange. Kind of better?

Lewis says he had a bad start, did his best to stay close but after a while you lose downforce and it becomes impossible to catch up.

[spicysoftsweet]

A Very Important Episode starring Hisoka

Or the one where Hisoka learns Bungee Gum is not a food group.

A/N: We all know that Hisoka likes candy and Bungee Gum but we would like to encourage Hisoka to make healthier choices and prevent diabetes complications. There will possibly be a part 2. I hope this is educational.

---

This time Hisoka had actually done it. He’d actually managed to fuck up his entire body beyond what he could repair with Bungee Gum or Machi’s services - which she was charging higher and higher for - and now he was somewhere almost unthinkable - an emergency room.

“Illumi~~~~” he half-sang, half-whined now that he was finally lucid, after undergoing an exploratory laparotomy to stabilize his profuse internal bleeding - the surgeons had been in awe of just how much of his body had been purely synthetic due to Texture Surprise exclaiming that he’d be an incredible case to write up - and being amped up full of pain meds. He probably didn’t need the pain meds, but it was fun to go in and out of consciousness; he couldn’t remember the last time he had an actual night of sleep.

His unwilling friend sat at the side of his hospital bed, legs crossed and focusing his jarringly large, black eyes at the fluid and blood that was being transfused into him by IV drip. A small part of him was surprised that Hisoka could be transfused with regular looking blood and regular looking fluid. He was almost sure that he was made up purely of nonsense and Bungee Gum.

“Illumi~” Hisoka moaned dramatically a second time. His gaze slid now to him, with lips pressed into a flat line of distaste.

“Don’t ever use my name as your emergency contact again.”

Illumi had to hide the fact that he was impressed Hisoka could spell clearly enough to make out the letters of his name and had actually retained his phone number. He had been surprised to get a call, but made his way over as soon as he had finished gutting an enemy and stringing them up for display as requested in his latest contract. The idea of Hisoka being dead was incredibly alarming, for he did enjoy his health and company, but also sparked a morbid curiosity in him. Could Hisoka actually die?

“But you came, didn’t you?” Hisoka teased, with a shit-eating grin.

He had him there.

There was a soft knocking on the door, and a young woman in a white coat, followed by a taller man wearing a pair of scrubs came in. The young woman glanced at Hisoka and then Illumi, visibly wincing at the hard stare of the latter in the semi-dark room, then raised her badge to introduce herself. 

“H-hello, I’m Dr. Rhgyl, I-” her eyes flickered to Illumi briefly, unsettled by the fact that he hadn’t yet blinked in the past two minutes, then shifted back to Hisoka, whose devilish smile was almost more unsettling. “I was one of your surgeons and am here to answer any questions you have.”

She turned to Illumi, and gave a nervous nod of the head. “And who is in the room with you, Mr. Morow?”

“My husband,” he said, in a sickly-sweet voice. Illumi gave him a glare, then crossed his arms.

“Sure,” was all he said.

Sure, what? What is sure? Just answer the damn question... The poor young doctor’s face fell as she already knew this was something she’d have to spend unnecessary minutes during her already excessively long call night clarifying in her documentation. She turned to her nurse behind her, who gave her a small shrug. 

“So uh, Mr. Morow, how is your pain?”

“It’s wonderful!”

The doctor again tried to conceal her internal screaming, and continued to keep her professional smile plastered on her face. “In that case, please let us know if you have any more pain, and your nurse will take care of it.”

“We do have one other issue, however, “ she added, making sure to communicate this next part as clearly and effectively as possible. Hisoka perked up in surprise, and Illumi continued to sit perfectly still, as still as a statue. “Your blood sugar. Your blood sugar was extremely elevated, and we were concerned about a diagnosis of prediabetes or diabetes.”

“Diabetes?”

“We expect you to make a fast recovery… surprisingly fast in fact, but we would still like you to follow up with a primary care doctor about your blood sugar. We’ll draw a lab test to check how your sugars were for the past 3 months, called a Hemoglobin A1c test, and then we’ll have your primary care doctor follow up the results and help you with strategies to have better control.”

Illumi turned to Hisoka, who he could tell that whatever the medical team was telling him was going in one ear and out the other, and he was now only thinking about either his next fight or Bungee Gum based on the elated smile on his face.

Bungee Gum.

Bungee Gum was the fucking problem. 

As the doctor and the nurse finally exited out of the room and Hisoka went back to telling Illumi battle stories, Illumi started to clear his schedule in his head, to figure out when he could best drag Hisoka to his follow-up appointments, which he would have to make for him. Someone had to be the adult in this relationship. 

---

Hisoka’s new primary care doctor, another similarly young woman, but less easily intimidated as the tired one from the hospital sat at a computer, pulling up his chart to review his lab results from his hospitalization.

Illumi and Hisoka noticed how she visibly paled as she scrolled, then turned to Hisoka and gave him a reassuring smile, that looked to reassure her more than them. 

“What is it? Am I dead?” Hisoka asked. Illumi gave him a look to quiet down.

“Well, you’re diabetic, all right... Your A1c is 14%.”

“Is that bad?”

She swiveled in her chair to face him, hands in her lap. 

“Well, diabetes is diagnosed at an A1c of 7%. So... unfortunately,  yes.”

Hisoka started counting on his fingers and Illumi forcefully put his hand down.

“Hisoka, listen to the doctor. Diabetes is serious. My great-grandaunt was diabetic.” Illumi said in an even, impassive voice.

“Oh, how old was she when she was diagnosed?” The doctor asked, attempting to build rapport with the patient and the patient’s loved ones.

Without skipping a beat, he replied, “206, exactly. She loved nothing more than to unwind with Mountain Dew after her assassination missions. She ended up on dialysis.” 

The doctor seemed to be at a loss of words briefly, so she turned back to Hisoka, pulling out a pen and a notepad to focus on rather than lose her cool. 

“So, uh… let’s start by talking a little about what you usually eat,” she began. “What do you eat in a typical day?”

“Hm... “ Hisoka didn’t usually keep track of what he ate, so it took him some time to come up with an account. “Ah! Okay, so in the morning, I usually skip breakfast, but sometimes I’ll have some Bungee Gum.”

Odd choice, the physician thought, but she nodded and wrote that down, allowing the floor to Hisoka to speak.

“For lunch, I try not to eat too much, but I also have a couple pieces or ten of Bungee Gum.”

Hm…

“Oh and for dinner, I have a bowl of gummy candy if I’m feeling particularly peckish and also Bungee Gum.”

She looked up from her pad and paper to see Hisoka looking blissfully unaware that he had just revealed that he subsists solely on sweets. She suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to pull at her hair repeatedly. This would be a ton of education, and she still wasn’t exactly sure what exactly Bungee Gum was.

---

Illumi parked his custom Ferrari minivan, purchased entirely for this shopping trip, outside the Costco Wholesale, and gave Hisoka, a long, hard look. 

“Do you have the list?” Illumi asked, hand outstretched as Hisoka handed over a partially crumpled sheet of paper, outlining the basics of a balanced, carbohydrate-controlled diet for people with diabetes.

Hisoka looked outside to the large building, then looked back at Illumi. “Isn’t this for families? I thought we were shopping for me only, and sometimes you when you come over.”

“I don’t know, the butlers told me that they come here to stock the kitchens. It seems from the website that this store provides high quality bulk goods for very competitive prices so this will be an appropriate next stop.”

This was just one out of countless stops today - Hisoka had spent the earlier part of the day searching frantically for sugar-free Bungee Gum in every supermarket in a 25-mile radius unsuccessfully, and demanding to see the manager every time, only to kill them when they told him they didn’t have his particular brand. Illumi warned him that there would be no such shenanigans any longer.

They stepped out of the car and walked right past the door greeter who was waiting eagerly for them to present their membership card only to recoil once they both turned to look at him in unison with intent to kill. 

The first things Hisoka noticed as he walked in were the multiple little free sample kiosks at the aisles every so often and curiously wandered over to them. 

“Make sure to avoid anything glazed or with a sauce,” Illumi called after him, poring through the list as he wandered over to the produce aisle. He didn’t understand the draw of free samples; if he wanted to try something, he would simply buy it.

Hisoka made his way to Illumi and Illumi’s overfilled grocery cart about a half-hour later after wandering the entire store, arms filled with small paper cups and tasting spoons. It was clear that he had sampled literally everything, possibly twice or thrice. Illumi let out a sigh and moved to the front of the store to check out. 

Keeping Hisoka’s blood sugar low would be a daunting task, but he was determined that by the next visit to his PCP, he’d have some improvement in his A1c. Texture Surprise can only replace so many amputated limbs at once. He’d just have to buy every supermarket’s supply of Bungee Gum and possibly halt every single production chain devoted to it or something similar. A pain, but it was worth it. Hisoka was annoying as all hell, but still, he was worth it.