#literally on the plane to qatar

[alonsoings]

max verstappen loves making it clear time and time again that f1 is nothing compared to his true love of playing video games

[lucy90712]

Insecure- Pablo Gavi

A/n: hey all this if my first Gavi fic if you have any requests for him or Pedri feel free to send them to me

Wc: 1600 There is no way to escape the news it's every Instagram, Twitter, the actual news and even texts from my friends. No one will let me forget about the fact that literal the princess of Spain has a crush on my boyfriend. I'm used to people having a crush on Gavi because I mean look at him but usually it's just random people not the princess of Spain. I have tried my hardest to not let it bother me as I know Pablo will think I'm being stupid but it's so hard when everyone is talking about how the two of them could end up dating and what that would mean for his football career and whatever else.

I had managed to sort my head out and convince myself that if Pablo didn't love me he would have broken up with me but when I woke up today to find out that the king had been to visit the squad and gotten Pablo to sign a shirt for his daughter all my worries came back. The more videos that came out the more insecure I felt as he had such a big smile on his face signing the shirt and taking a photo with the king. All of this isn't helped by the fact that he's in Qatar while I'm still back home in Barcelona as we don't get to talk as often because of the time difference and our schedules. Not getting much time to talk means I never bring up my worries as I don't want to waste the time we get to call on what is definitely me being stupid.

Despite all of this I'm still excited as I'm actually going out to Qatar to watch the next game which Pablo doesn't know about so I get to surprise him after the game. We haven't seen each other in ages as of course he's been at the World Cup and even before that we were both so busy we didn't get to see each other so it's probably been about a month since I've seen him in person. The only person that knows I'm coming is Pedri as I told him so that he could help me organise everything as I have no idea where the best place to stay is and I know you can't get tickets so last minute but he helped me with all of that. Having to hide my plans has been difficult as all I want to do is tell Pablo that I will be there especially when he says he wants me to see him play but I've stopped myself from telling him as I hope he'll like the surprise.

There was a a lot of delays on my flight as the plane was late to board so then we arrived into Qatar late and then it took ages to get my bags so my schedule has been thrown out the window as I need to drop my bags at the hotel and head straight to the stadium to make it for the start of the game. Of course there is a whole load of traffic but luckily once I made it to the hotel I could walk to the stadium so I grabbed my bag and sprinted to the stadium and just about made it before kickoff. There was no time to catch my breath as the match had started and it was already pretty tense as this game determines whether the team make it out of the group stages.

It was very tense the entire game as at times they were going out and others they were top of the group and then they were second. The guys were trying so hard to score another goal but Japan were playing really well and just not letting it happen. Pablo was subbed at 68 minutes which I could tell he wasn't too happy about but he still sat and watched the team for the rest of the game. The match ended 2-1 to Japan but the boys made it through 2nd in the group which means they will be facing Morocco in the next round which I think will be a hard game as they have been playing incredibly well but I know they will put up a fight.

After the match finished I left my seat and went with all the other family of the players to go and meet them outside the changing room. Up until I was stood waiting to see Pablo I was excited but standing there I got nervous because what if he doesn't want to see me? What if he has thought about our relationship while we've been apart and thinks he'd be better off with someone like the princess. So many thoughts were swirling around my brain that I didn't even notice Pedri come out and walk over to me until he tapped my shoulder which got my attention.

"Hey are you ok?" He asked

"Yeah I'm fine just nervous" I replied

"Ok well he'll be out in a minute I'll see you both later" he said giving me a hug and then walked away

Once again I was on my own just waiting which made all the thoughts come right  even though it was just a few minutes I got myself so worried that my hands were all sweaty but also shaking with nerves. This time I was paying attention so when Pablo came out the door I locked eyes with him and tried my best to give him a smile. He came over right away and gave me a quick hug before linking our hands together and dragging me out of the stadium. I thought seeing him would make me feel less insecure but after that reaction I honestly feel worse. To me it just seemed like he didn't want me to be there and he didn't want anyone to see me there as normally after a game we will stand together for a bit before we leave but this time he just dragged me straight out. It also hurt as when he came out the dressing room he was smiling but when he saw me his smile seemed to disappear which almost made me cry but I held it together just about.

We made it back to the hotel and went up to the room together where I hoped he might actually seem excited to see me but no he just sat on the bed and went on his phone. I crawled on the bed next to him and rested my head on his shoulder to see that he was on Instagram looking at edits people had made of him and the princess together. That was the last straw for me and the tears started to fall rapidly down my face so I got up and shut myself in the bathroom where I just let all my pent up emotion go until I was sobbing. I tried to my best to be quiet but Pablo must have heard me as I heard him knock on the bathroom door before it opened as I didn't lock it. As soon as we looked at each other he came and sat on the floor next to me and pulled me into his lap. He tried to wipe the tears from my face but they just kept falling so he tried gently rubbing my back to calm me down.

"What's wrong mi amor?" He asked

"Do you still love me?" I asked back instead of answering

"Of course I do so much what makes you think I don't?" He questioned

"Well you didn't seem too happy to see me back at the stadium and when we got here you were looking at edits of you and the princess if you would rather be with her I'd understand but just tell me now" I said

"Oh sweetheart I'm sorry I didn't meant to give you the wrong impression I don't want to be with anyone other than you I promise" he said

"Then why did you act like you wished I wasn't here?" I asked

"I didn't mean to love I'm sorry I was just upset about the match and I wasn't expecting to see you I should have acted differently so I'm sorry but I'm very happy you're here" he said

We talked things through a bit more and he made me feel a lot better about my insecurity without making me feel stupid which I was worried about. Communication is all we needed but it was the one thing we weren't doing so when we actually talked about everything going on in our heads it made everything so much better. I promised to tell him when if I was feeling insecure and he promised to not let games interfere with our relationship which I think will help us in the future.

He said he wanted to make it up to me so he picked me up and carried me to the bed where he attacked me with kisses all over my face until I was laughing and smiling. When he'd cheered me up he turned the tv on and we watched a film together while cuddling. We also ordered room service most of which I ate as Pablo has a diet he is supposed to follow but I did make him eat a few things and promised not to tell anyone. We stayed up longer than we probably should of but eventually we fell asleep cuddling and much happier than we were a few hours ago.

[inchidentally]

(screencapped to stay out of the tags)

I'm going to be bundling my other tricky asks as always in one post under a cut but this one as actually a learning curve for me as someone who doesn't really follow Max stuff.

I genuinely hadn't realized just how much time Lando had spent with Max privately and non-F1 weekend related. I'm not esp a Max fan which would explain me missing a lot but I did know they had a pretty solid friendship that dated more closely to his friendship with George and Alex - but damn that's way more time spent with Max than any other driver this season!

what's funny too is that Max is actually super happy to be physically affectionate in a flirty way with other guys similar to how Lando is. Carlos is only like that with certain guys, namely Charles and guys his own age that he deems as "pretty". but as someone who pulled shippy shit from any car|ando interaction I can honestly say that the "ooh they touched in a sexy way!" stuff was just how Lando is with guys. Carlos firmly has Lando in the little brother/friend space and literally says he thinks Lando is "cute" and that it's weird when people ask them to kiss. and yes, they have dinner sometimes and travel on the same plane sometimes to the next race - but just this season Lando did that with Daniel and Oscar and Max as well.

so surely Max including Lando in all this personal life stuff and spending time together online and in Monaco during the winter break is a HUGE threat to car|ando? I genuinely can't and don't want to try and understand the larry mentality of RPF but if I had to guess then it's something as wild as them considering Max as already part of a major RPF ship (|estappen or maxtie|) that's supposedly ALSO taking place under cover of all these "fake" girlfriends? man I wish I could remove the terms "beard" and "escort" from these people's vocabulary.

I've also got an ask that apparently charlos causes rage for both |estappen and car|ando bc they have an agenda that Charles and Carlos hate each other but then keep getting infuriated when Charles mounts Carlos or Carlos won't stop touching Charles' thighs or they try to kiss for the millionth time. akgfsakfgaf how exhausting must it be keeping these theories going I caaaan't

but returning to your ask yea fact is that Lando is way closer and more of a friend outside F1 with Max than Carlos. they meet up probably the same amount during the drivers parades as car|ando and sometimes even get handsy. but I guess somehow that's different ?? even when Lando has teased that RB would be his only temptation away from McLaren and Christian Horner wants to en plein air fuck Lando ???

from what I can tell, Daniel was never considered a threat to car|ando which continues to be bizarre bc purely objectively again, I would say he's more of a friend outside F1 to Lando than Carlos. not by a whole lot but Daniel and Lando share road trips and private flights and Lando fits into Daniel's friend group really well. I guess maybe since Daniel's just widely loved in fandom in general there was less motive to try and tear down his relationship with Lando?

that's true, I also seem to recall starting to see this anti-landoscar BS starting around Japan/Oscar's contract extension. I suppose if I were trying to look at it through their angle then the Japan and Qatar double McLaren podiums coming right after Singapore - including Oscar's extension - would be seen as some kind of "insult" ? I guess Oscar went from being cute and non-threatening to suddenly cockblocking the Carlos back to McLaren pipe dream (that Carlos would literally only do as a fifth or sixth option and only if Ferrari gave him the boot lol). especially since Lando insisted on being crazy happy about the double podiums instead of I guess wistfully thinking of how much he wishes he could play second fiddle to Carlos getting the only non-RB win of the season instead of trying to idk help his team and himself in the standings.

then there was the crazy mood swing when Lando and Carlos went to dinner after Mexico and flew to Brazil together (with Rebecca) - to the rage when it turned out that Lando hanging out in Brazil for a day or two after the race wasn't car|ando bc Lando went to Cali almost immediately for sponsors meetings while Carlos and Rebecca both posted pics and video of their private holiday together that went right up until the day before the Vegas race. I definitely saw the uptick in car|ando agit prop after that whole shebang bc then Carlos wanted Rebecca at the "car|ando cup" and kept checking in on her. the hatred towards her truly took on a whole ugly and dark turn after that.

it is still so damn weird that Oscar/landoscar is the target that it is for them though. I have another ask where in some F1 group Christmas art the artist depicts Lando interacting with Carlos and not Oscar and ??? it's a drawing??? and I'm assuming they don't rate Lily's existence as security for car|ando since apparently any woman can be conveniently written off as a fake gf. but Oscar doesn't play gay with Lando and he didn't push for a bromance and generally keeps himself to himself unless Lando wants him around! he's a Lando fanboy but he's not even hardcore pushing content of him and Lando on his sm! the poor guy is literally just standing there catching strays bc of a mainstream bromance that has nothing to do with him

I'm sorry anon this went so wide of what you were saying but genuinely I used to spend so much of my time on car|ando accounts and it's slowly turning into a larry "they are looking to each other" edit type fandom ;__;

but fr why does Oscar get put in the "we hate the real life girlfriends" category ?????? I genuinely laugh bc it's so insane why isn't he like Max or Daniel why is he That Fake Bitch Standing In Our Ship's Way and they aren't is it bc he's prettier and serves natural cunt afglajfgalgfslafg

[33max]

@dancinginthestreet9 tagged me to do a f1 wrapped! this was so fun! I’ll be honest I don’t remember half of the races so please don’t judge me i’ve misremembered my top five!

the only race I missed was the qatar sprint because I was literally on a plane and of course that’s where max won the championship

I tag @fourmula1 @thatsapodium @danifesting @formula-maxiel & @speedyseastars ♥️

link below to make your own

[moonystoes]

the whole Elisa in Qatar thing reminds me of when Vale, Vero and Manu were in London, oml the way my chest was hurting cause if I had the energy to go outside, I could’ve just bumped into them😭😭

No because my sister took a plane from Qatar to the US right when psg were traveling there. I sent élisa's story to my sister and said 'bitch you better be in the fucking airport right now' and she responded 'I'm literally flying'

Seeing them all vibing there knowing my sister was 2 hours close to actually seeing them at the airport killed me. Especially because Qatar is really small and she would've seen them outside either way.

Anyways... I'm gonna kms 😍😍

Living in London must be insane since a lot of celebrities go there 😭

[bu1410]

Good morning TUMBLR - March 7th - 2024

''Mr. Plant has owed me a shoe since July 5, 1971."

Ch. VIII - 1985- 1989 - Bahrain - Part 4

HOTEL HILTON While waiting for the apartment in the new condominium to be ready, I was invited to move from Awali to the Hilton hotel in Manama. Obviously I hoped that the work on the condominium would never end, or at least last for a few weeks. The room and treatment at the Hilton were not bad at all, and I could enjoy all the comforts that a modern 5-star hotel offers. During the Bahraini weekend – Thursday and Friday – we witnessed the invasion of the Saudis and Kuwaitis (the most hated nationality in the Gulf, no one cried when their country was invaded by Saddam). They took advantage of the recent opening of the bridge that connected the island to the mainland. Before the inauguration of the bridge that connected the island to the mainland, tourists from other Gulf countries were limited in number, given that they had to use the plane. With the bridge, especially immediately after its opening to traffic, there was a real invasion. Bahrain offered what was strictly prohibited in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Iraq, namely women and alcohol. It is true that the latter are two things equally prohibited by the Koran, but we know ''man is not made of wood''. The relative proximity of Mecca made it easier to give in to temptation, so after visiting Bahrain many tourists went on a pilgrimage to the holy city to ask for forgiveness. Then the worst Saudis of the lot arrived, those, so to speak, with Mercedes 600s with the interior covered in sheepskins . People of a rudeness and incivility amplified only by their sudden wealth. Usually they had food brought to their room, so they could eat sitting on the floor and with their hands, which in the restaurant would have attracted the looks and criticisms of other customers. Many of them took advantage of the Filipino maids who served the floors, to the point that the hotel management was forced to employ only male staff for room service. We then learned of a case in which the body of a waitress originally from Sri Lanka was found in a rubbish bin at the Sheraton hotel. The new barbarians went crazy in the lobby and in the swimming pool of the Hilton, there were numerous cases of people falling into the water while dressed, because they never took off their disdasha. One Friday evening I was in the hotel lobby when a Saudi man came in, a guy in his 60s, who literally couldn't stand up. He walked around for a long time, staggering and babbling incomprehensible words, before landing in front of the reception asking out loud:

Miftah…aetani almiftah…. (the key…give me the key…) The Indian employee at the reception looked at him with contempt, and said to him in English:

But don't you see the condition you're in? you're ashamed of the show you're putting on? At which the Arab seemed to regain a little strength, and leaning on the counter he replied: You do not know who I am! Respect! I am SAUDI!!! And I'm so rich that tomorrow I'll buy this shack hotel and you'll be fired!! The Indian suddenly remembered that he was an Indian (and therefore with rights equal to 0.0) made a thousand apologies, called a valet and made sure that the drunk guy was accompanied to his room without further incidents.

Mr. MASTRONARDO Mr. Mastronardo was a short, fat Sicilian, one of the many guys originally from Gela, Sicily. People who worked at the ENI rafinery there. Head of Planning Dpt, Mastronardo was a patient, affable and friendly person. At a certain point, his wife and 22-year-old daughter arrived in Bahrain, who later became engaged and then married to the son of the American director of the BAPCO refinery. I was invited to the engagement ceremony, and we had a nice funny time. To paraphrase local customs a bit, the boy's father gave a speech, accompanied by Mastronardo:

We are happy to announce the engagement of our children, and as the father of the suitor, I must undertake to provide you with the ''countervalue'' of your beautiful daughter. We have established that she is no less than 200 camels, so now I give you the first five, with the commitment to have the other 195 follow as soon as possible. And so saying, the American gave Mastronardo five camels made of wood and fabric, the work of local artisans.

On the occasion of a return trip that coincided with political elections in Italy, I made the trip with the entire Mastronardo' 's family. The mother and daughter carried with them a cute kitten - Moki - in a cat carrier. It was all like ''Ohhh.....Moki nice, don't worry, umm how nice you are, see you in Rome etc'' when they left him on the boarding carousel so they could put him in the hold.

Once we arrived in Rome, drama was lurking. We stood at the baggage carousel anxiously waiting for Moki. When the blue carrier appeared, Mrs. Mastronardo and her daughter let out screams of joy… which turned into screams of pain and anguish when they realized that Moki wasn't inside the carrier !!! The girl was desperate! But how is it possible, she screamed crying. Will it be in the hold? Will it be on the trolley that transported the luggage? Look for him, she shouted, as he tried to enter the suitcase tunnel.

It was all useless, the protests, the crying, the begging, the cat had disappeared, and was never found again. His disappearance remained an unsolved mystery, the most probable hypothesis was that he had never been on the flight: perhaps a baggage loader at Manama airport had seen Moki as the perfect gift for his daughter.

ELECTRICAL ENG. FROM VARESE, ITALY Mr. Carcano was an individual who arrived in Bahrain on a Friday evening to assist the shift electrical Engineers who was inside ''the aquarium''. The manner of his arrival was another of those little 'masterpieces' of Italian ingenuity. He didn't speak a word of English, and naturally at the airport he didn't see the driver hoisting the sign with his name on it ''CARCANO LUIGI''. The fact is that the local driver returned from the airport without him, but saying that on the passenger list he had arrived regularly. They found him the following day at the Marriot hotel, where he had managed to get a taxi to take him, and after he had called in Italy complaining ''that no one came to get me''. The dispute over who should pay the hotel bill went on for months. On a Thursday evening we went to dinner at a Thai restaurant in Manama. Among us Carcano too, who, when asked by the waitress if he wanted shark fin soup ''hot'', surprisgly replied ''how hot??……very hot'' he said after consulting the small Italian/English dictionary he always carried in your pocket. We heard the conversation but we all kept silent…. When the soup arrived, we were waiting the possible consequences for Carcano - which were not long in coming: after the first spoonful his eyes seemed to pop out from his head!! He became all red, he tried in vain to speak and then someone said to him 'The bathroom …go to the bathroom!!'' Carcano managed to go, while the waitress looked at us astonished saying ''he ask for very hot…not my fault…!!'' Carcano came back after a quarter of an hour, it seemed had recovered, drank ice-cold water, had the soup taken away, and asked an ice cream as dessert. One day Carcano shared some of his curious theories on the curvature of the Earth. He claimed, for example, that traveling from North to South ''we were going downhill'' - ''otherwise how do you explain that in the summer, when we go with the family to spend our holidays in Mazara del Vallo, Sicily (his wife's place of origin) is it commonly said ''I'm going down to Sicily''? And then when you return to Milan, you say ''I'm going up North''? In fact – he continued – during the outward journey I spend long stretches with the gearbox in neutral, precisely because we are traveling downhill! And on the return journey he consumes much more petrol than on the outward journey!!

Once, during the Easter weekend, Carcano went from Varese to Nice, France, with his family in tow. For that Murphy's law that says ''If something has to go wrong, it will'', in fact something went wrong. Upon returning from the beach, Carcano realizes that he has forgotten the keys to his light blue Ritmo 60 3P L inside the locked car: desperation!! Anyone at this point would have tried to open the car with makeshift means, a screwdriver, a can opener - perhaps breaking a deflector, anyone but Carcano. The solution to the problem was to send his wife to VARESE to recover the spare key! And since the Ritmo certainly couldn't be left unattended with the key inside, Carcano spent the night on the comfortable bench on the Promenade des Anglais, right in front of the car, sheltering from the humidity of the night with beach towels which fortunately were they were brought from Italy. From the series: ''They are here…and they're walkin among us…''

[lindsaystravelblogs]

Departure - 15 July

Disclaimer: This has been written in many short segments so the timeline has been muddied on numerous occasions. Consequently, even I have become confused as to whether some parts are in the present tense or the recent (or not so recent) past. Make of it what you will.

Well, we are finally on our way after doing heaps of last-minute things at the last minute. Harry from Tony’s Taxis arrived a little early to take us to the airport - thanks always to Bev who gave us our transfers gratis - best travel agent ever! Some sad news yesterday when Heather’s Auntie Jean died aged almost 104. Very sadly, we won’t be able to go to the funeral but wanted to send condolences to some of the cousins and by the time Heather wrote the cards, Harry was waiting so we had to post them from the airport.

You would think there would be a postbox in the terminal, but no, the only one is way out, long past the end of all the terminals in a very dark and scary building site. I took the plunge and set off to post the letters and was quite glad to get back safely inside the terminal.

It was surprisingly quick through all the formalities: a bit of a queue to offload our bags, but quite quick through security with none of the usual absurdities. Immigration was quick and easy and the Tourist Refund Scheme procedure was a snap, with a guy who really seemed keen to help. Then it was just the (almost) 3-hour wait to board. We had lots of time so went to a cafe and enjoyed quite a nice wine ($10.50 a glass) and perhaps the worst bacon and egg sandwich ever created at $13.50). Presumably that was all duty free? Quite forgettable - at least I am trying to forget it.

We are flying Qatar and boarding was very slow, over an hour, with very hard-to-hear announcements and all a little officious, but we made it and are now probably somewhere over the Nullarbor or maybe the Bight at present. Just checked the flight data onscreen and I was a bit optimistic - we are just approaching Whyalla with more than 13 hours still to go on this leg. No wonder I dislike flying so much.

There is an excellent range of entertainment on board. Literally hundreds of movies an heaps of other stuff. Alas for me, even on maximum volume, I can’t hear enough over the ambient noise to follow any of it so maybe I will read or do some puzzles. They fed us plenty, but the food was nothing special - typical airline food just out of longtime storage, with only Cathay ever excelling in the culinary stakes in our limited experience.

As it turned out, I didn’t do many puzzles. It was very cramped, especially when the ignorant people in front of us all tilted their seats back to the limit - another reason I hate flying. Idiots design planes with reclining seats and thoughtless yobs think it OK to take advantage of the design fault, without regard for anyone else’s comfort, believing their right to extra space overrides the rights of everyone behind them. We encountered this problem a few flights ago when one loony reclined his seat and everyone behind him followed suit. We were in the very back seats that can’t recline so we spent the whole trip unable to move except to continually brush the filthy dreadlocks on the guy in front out of our faces.

This meant that my screen was so close to me that I couldn’t even read the flight data displayed. It was also very hot and there was no room in the overhead lockers so we had our bulky backpacks between our knees. I was so hot and uncomfortable that I became seriously distressed, very claustrophobic (and I am usually not) and on the verge of a panic attack - and that would have been a first for me too. I simply had to stand up and move and being in the window seat complicated the process. I swapped places with Heather and the woman on the aisle stood up to let me out - until the cabin staff drew attention to the Fasten Seatbelts sign and made me sit down again. Fortunately, the FS light went out after 20 minutes or so and I leapt up and went to the extreme back of the plane, where I paced and stretched and did exercises for 2 or 3 hours until I was so exhausted that I had to return to my seat. I may have dozed off for a few minutes, but I experienced more distress and took myself aft for a few more hours until we were served breakfast and almost ready to land.

I reckon that is my worst flight ever and I have had a few beauties over the years.

We arrived in Doha about half an hour earlier than expected, but I didn’t complain about that. It took a few minutes to find out where we had to go - at the far end of the terminal, but at least we had about half a kilometre of moving walkway that probably covered two-thirds of the distance. Then it was just a couple of hours wait. I spied some birds outside the window so photographed them in the hope of identifying them later. They were a long way away, but I think I will be able to identify them from the photos. (No joy so far.) I saw another one (a Common Starling) out the window of the plane when we boarded so I hope I will be able to start a Qatar list with two lifers on it.

I believe it was 30 degrees in the terminal and a lot hotter in the bus on the way across the tarmac to our plane.

An interesting observation from the airport bus was when we drove beside a security fence where all the poles had structures on top to contain the razor wire - and almost half of them had large bird nests contained in them too. No wonder in a desert country with few trees.

The trip to Oslo was another rough one but only six and a half hours instead of 14 and my noise cancelling headphones worked much better on this leg for some reason and that helped too. This plane has really strange windows. When we first boarded, the scene outside was quite surreal: a soft, otherworldly pearly sort of hue that turned glaringly hot and white when the plane turned into the sun. And soon after we took off, everything started getting dark: tinted as dark blue as late dusk and the cabin became quite dark as a result. All very strange - very clever glass. I do recall one daytime trip to Sydney a few years ago when all the windows were completely black and miraculously became completely transparent as we approached the terminal at Mascot. The cabin crew told me it was all controlled centrally by the Captain. Certainly very clever! (Captain Heather subsequently found a button under the porthole that enabled us to manually adjust it from opaque to completely transparent - we chose the latter. So much for the cabin crew’s expertise.)

I thought I would be fine on the shorter leg and in daylight, but a couple of hours into the trip, I was back in the galley, exercising, but at least I could watch the ground go by if I crouched and looked out a tiny window at knee-height. Soon after I returned to my seat a couple of hours later, Heather found the button to adjust the window and I was pretty good after that.

Once we were able to see out, the whole area appeared to be enveloped in smog for hundreds of kilometres out to sea and right across the entire land area. Australia is obviously much less impacted by pollution than this part of the world. It really brings the issue home.

The Passport and Immigration process was surprisingly quick and easy at Oslo - why can’t Australia learn how to do these things properly? - and we were soon on the very clean, comfortable and fast train into the city.

[semperama]

Ok, so I actually wondered the same thing about the motorhomes/hotels/flight thing for fic writing purposes and actually paied a bit attention to that in interviews and such a while ago. Don’t quote me on this and don’t ask me for sources, because I haven’t remembered them but:

A good way to gauge where they are staying is the general logistics and infrastructure of the place. So for exemple: City circuits, or circuits that are in direct proximity of a big town usually don’t allow the space for motorhomes, there is just no room. In Monaco they even have reduced offices and smaller hospitalites because there literally is no space for it. Aka - they stay in hotels. Or, in the case of Monaco specifically, like half of them at home, lol.

Then, places where they are far away for a single race. Most teams are situated in europe, and they wouldn’t ship entire motorhomes for spending like, 4 days in Japan and then be back in switzerland or whatever. So that’s a hotel case.

But if you have a triple header line up of let’s say … Austria, France, Spa it’s all realtively close and road connected and it’s places that are a little remote. Like there’s a town, but it’s small, or like a 20 mins drive away or something. That’s a motorhome situation.

Especially the middle east destinations are a bit of a mystery. I think mostly it’s a hotel situation, but then there’s like … qatar, which is literally in the middle of nowhere so would they ship a motorhome to that?! No idea. But I do think the trend generally seems to go towards hotel.

Now, who flies how is more tricky. My theory is that it’s mostly a question of personal preference, distance, timing, and how likely they are to get recognized. So like … long haul trans continental flights are more likely to be commercial, shorter flights more likely to be private. Max is obviously different lol because his plane actually can go the distance, which is like ?!!!! I think the trend is towards private. They obviously don’t all own a plane, but for exemple Lewis still only flies private even after he sold his jet, which makes sense for privacy and such. I do get the impression that they are more likely to fly commercially when they are at the destination longer before or after the race privately, which would make sense for team coordination and shared planes reasons, because they all seem prone to share the private planes when it fits, which makes sense of course.

I hope this helps, lol, sorry. I should get a life.

This helps SO much, omg. Thank you!! I honestly think they should add an episode to Drive to Survive that's just...a true behind the scenes. How they ship the cars, how they assemble all their various mobile buildings when they get to a place, day in the life type stuff. That is what's fascinating to me! It must be like a circus has come to town at some of the places they go, except...larger.

So no, I don't think you need a life, anon. Even if this stuff weren't helpful for fic purposes, it's still interesting in its own right!

[spaceskam]

retrouvailles

Summary: Kyle and Michael pick Alex up at the airport.

Tags: reunions, post season 2, fluff, POV Kyle Valenti

for @caitlesshea !! happy birthday, I hope you enjoy it!

ao3

“What if I set off a sensor or something?”

Kyle stopped, pulling Michael to a stop with a firm grip on his arm. Michael looked at him with wide eyes as if he didn’t understand why he stopped him.

“Do you have something on you that’ll set off a sensor?” Kyle asked. 

“No, but what if, like, my organs do it?” Michael said. Kyle let go of him and sighed.

“Isobel has been on a plane before and she was fine,” Kyle said, walking through the entrance of the airport, “Besides, I’ve done a lot of tests and as far as I can tell, none of you have any metal that’ll set off metal detectors in your blood. You’re fine.”

“Okay,” Michael said, taking a deep breath before following.

They walked further into the building, Michael trailing him and very clearly uncomfortable. Which. Fair. The only reason Kyle was even here was because Michael was very clearly uncomfortable with this whole thing trip. Kyle was just kind enough to be his friend through it‒and also because Alex asked him to.

Twenty-eight days ago, Alex had to leave for some special secret military thing that he couldn’t talk about for special secret military reasons, but he promised it wasn’t a full deployment. It was just a short, month long trip because he was needed at the US embassy in Qatar. No explanation further than that, but, from Kyle’s research, it didn’t seem to be the worst place to travel, so he tried not to stress. Maybe he was training someone. Or something.

That didn’t stop Michael from being an absolutely hellish person to be around since Alex was gone. They’d apparently just got on good terms, a romantic prelude of sorts, when Alex found out he had to go and politely asked Kyle to keep an eye on Michael. They’d been speaking and Michael was staying sober and busy, but Michael was keeping busy by annoying the shit out of everyone else. Kyle was thankful Michael would have someone else to call at 3AM when he had some sort of scientific breakthrough and needed someone stat. Liz had started turning her phone off, but Kyle felt too guilty to do so.

“How many people a year go missing in airports?” Michael asked as they headed towards the waiting area. They didn’t have to go through any metal detectors to wait out here and so that seemed like the safest place to be, all things considered.

“Excuse me?”

“I’m just saying, I feel like a prime target here. There’s so many fucking cops and military people. How many people do you think go missing from airports that aren’t even reported because they’re just kidnapped by the cops and the military?” Michael asked. Kyle closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

“Your boyfriend is in the military and your brother is a cop,” Kyle said slowly.

“Yeah, exactly how I know how fucked up it can be. And I’m‒you know. They could have heat sensors on me and know, ” Michael said. Kyle resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He knew Michael was just exaggerating as a way to release actual tension. He was nervous. But Alex was almost here and he was going to take over soon enough.

“It’s fine. Anyone tries to take you and Alex will literally kill them, just relax,” Kyle said. Michael furrowed his eyebrows and frowned like he was annoyed that he wasn’t being indulged which, to Kyle, meant Alex had been doing a great job at talking to him despite the miles between them.

Michael tapped his foot as they sat and watched the screen that displayed projected landing and take off times. Alex’s was on time, thankfully, and he should be landing any minute. Then Kyle wouldn’t have to babysit anymore.

“This is the sixth time Alex has come home and this is the first time I’m here to meet him at the airport,” Michael said. Kyle blinked and looked over at him, almost shocked with the honesty. More than almost. That being said, he kept his mouth shut and listened. “That’s a lot of times, you know?”

“I mean, yeah, but you’re here now. You guys were at a different place then,” Kyle tried. Michael took a deep breath and looked up. “Look, you’re just stressing yourself out because you’re nervous.”

“I don’t think I should’ve come. I don’t think he wants me here.”

“What? How the hell did you draw that conclusion?” Kyle asked, trying not to be too harsh about it. If there was one thing he learned from Michael and Alex, it’s that they were both fucking impossible. “Didn’t he say he wanted you here?”

“No,” Michael said, “He said I could come if I wanted, but no pressure. Sounds like he doesn’t want me here.”

Kyle’s eyes drifted to the monitor and saw Alex’s flight had turned green to announce that it’d landed. He just had to hold Michael out for a few more minutes and then Alex could do whatever Alex did to de-escalate his brain.

“I think he does want you here and he’s just so busy feeling the exact way you’re feeling to tell you that,” Kyle pointed out. Michael shrugged and stared at the screen that displayed all the plane landing times. His hands tightened where they rested over his knees. “Look, Alex is getting better with telling you what he wants, but no one is perfect and no one can heal super fast. He wants you here. It’s been a long time.”

“He’s been gone longer.”

“Yeah, he has. But something tells me this time is a little different,” Kyle said.

That something was Alex himself who Kyle imagined to be spinning around in an office chair as he waxed poetic about how good things were going between them. Better than ever before, namely because they were actually speaking while he was gone and they’d gotten a proper goodbye instead of Alex fleeing into the night while he was asleep. They had spoken about how, when Alex got back, they were going to start dating. They were going to be the annoying couple that is concerningly attached at the hip.

And, honestly, Kyle couldn’t fucking wait.

“What if he’s changed his mind?” Michael wondered.

“Then, knowing Alex, he’ll be honest and tell you to your face.”

Michael, groaning, sunk into the chair even further. Kyle rolled his eyes and reached over to pat him on the shoulder. He knew it was just pent up emotions. Alex would be walking out any moment now and all of his fears would be gone. He almost felt bad that Alex was by himself because he was probably going through the same mini freak out.

One day, hopefully, there wouldn’t be any hesitancy and he’d get to gag freely as they excitedly mauled each other in the middle of an airport. One day.

Time passed slowly as they waited for Alex to appear. Occasionally, Michael would say something off the wall, just to get some sort of reaction or response, and Kyle would entertain him and tug him back to reality. All things considered, this was the same version of him that called people at ridiculous times of day and night, just a little more anxiety-induced (as if that version wasn’t already anxiety-induced). Nothing Kyle couldn’t handle.

Something Alex would probably enjoy handling.

They had lapsed into silence for only a few seconds whenever a throat was cleared behind them. Kyle very casually looked over his shoulder while Michael quickly jumped up and turned to face him as if he’d just been caught doing something he shouldn’t. Kyle almost rolled his eyes, but he was too busy being thankful that Alex was stood there.

He looked tired, but he was in civvies and had his bag already and his hair was starting to grow out a bit again. His eyes were trained on Michael, clearly waiting with baited breath to see what to do now that they were face to face again after a month apart. Kyle would’ve felt like he was intruding if the situation was any different. But they were still figuring it out and they were both a little anxious and they definitely needed some kind of crutch. Kyle was happy to be it.

“Hey,” Kyle said, speaking first.

“Hi,” Alex said, glancing over at Kyle and giving him a nod with a smile before looking back to Michael.

“Hey,” Michael jumped in, his fists clenching and unclenching like he wasn’t sure what to do with his hands before deciding to shove them in his pocket because he had nothing better to do. “Um, how was your flight?”

“Fine. Long. Had a layover in Dallas, lasted too long. Got coffee though,” Alex said, shrugging and smiling at him, “How was the ride here? Where’d you guys park?”

“Not too far,” Michael said quickly, “Waited to get an up close parking spot so you didn’t have to walk too far. I figured it’d be uncomfortable since you’ve had your prosthetic on the whole flight and stuff.”

“Yeah, thanks,” Alex said.

“Good to see you back,” Kyle said to spark more conversation. As soon as they just got a good hug out, they could just go to the car and leave and then Michael could drop them off at Alex’s house and they could do whatever they did in private with Kyle having done his job.

“Yeah, it’s good to be back. I like the work, it’s just challenging enough, but it’s good to be, uh, home, I guess,” Alex told him, though the word sounded a bit unsure as if he had a different word in mind.

“I bet.”

“Hey, um, I watered your plants,” Michael jumped in, still looking a little out of sorts. Alex smiled wider. “None of them died.”

“Thank you,” Alex said sincerely. Michael smiled.

Then they just stood there awkwardly like two teenagers before a dance. Kyle felt like he was supposed to shove them together to take pictures. Instead of doing that, he kicked Michael’s shin and gave him a look whenever Michael turned his head to him with a glare. His jaw clenched and he took a deep breath before looking back at Alex. 

“I missed you,” Michael said slowly as if it was rehearsed and practiced. Kyle had to resist the urge to roll his eyes as he looked away, giving them some semblance of privacy. “Like. A lot.”

“I missed you too,” Alex said, “And I was thinking that maybe we could‒”

And then Alex’s voice was muffled and, when Kyle looked over, they were very occupied with each other’s lips. Kyle huffed a laugh and pushed himself onto his feet and decided saying ‘ finally’ would ruin the mood.

“I’ll wait at the car, don’t stay too long or you might get security called on you,” he told them. Alex pulled out of the kiss long enough to laugh. His hands gripped Michael’s biceps and he squeezed.

“Come on, let’s just go home so we don’t have to stop again,” Alex said. Kyle scrunched up his nose, but he decided not to say anything more.

The drive home was pretty casual. Michael drove (for an alien, he was way too susceptible to car sickness) and Kyle rendered the passenger seat to Alex who shared the stories he could from his time in Qatar. He had developed a software for their embassay’s security a few years prior and they needed some updates as well as training their IT team how to work the updates, he’d said, and it gave him an opportunity to freshen up his Arabic. He’d spent most of his days at a computer.

If Michael and Alex held hands the whole time and bounced back and forth between who’s lap they belonged to, Kyle said nothing.

When they got to Alex’s, Kyle gave him a hug and they promised to go get lunch the next day. Then he gave Michael a nod before taking back the driver’s seat of his own damn car and started heading home, a smile finding his lips as he thought about it. Alex was happy. And not only that, but he and Michael were on good terms. Which was good.

Of course, he’d never admit it, but he kind of liked hanging out and working with the two of them.

It wasn’t until he got home, though, that he realized he had a text.

Michael Guerin: Thanks. You’re not as bad as you could be.

Kyle snorted and dropped his phone on the couch as he headed to the kitchen.

He was so glad Alex was back.

[shirkers2018dirsanditan]

being very compassionate and declaring afghans as somehow being privileged over haitians because the united states let them come to military bases in germany and qatar after occupying their country for 20 years, killing thousands of civilians, and then killing 10 more (SEVEN which were children) in retribution from an ISIS (which we also helped create) attack that killed hundreds of afghans as they were begging and desperate to get on a military plane so they could APPLY for asylum. and then exercising my empathy and demonstrating how much i care about others by pretending like this administration was not literally mass deporting central american migrants in the spring of this year. yes, everyone else is so privileged clearly

[lucy90712]

Jorge Martin- First race

It has been a long break over the winter but racing is finally back and this year I'm even more excited because it's Jorge's first year in MotoGP and I'm so proud of him he's been working so hard the past few years and especially over the winter to be ready for this moment. It's been one of his life goals to get to the premiere class and now he's made it I couldn't be happier for him but of course thats not enough he wants to win the title but firstly win races which I know he can do. Watching him work so hard has been so inspiring because he just never gives up no matter what is thrown at him and that makes me want to do better in my life.

One of the only downsides is that the first race is in Qatar which means quite a long flight plus its been a lot of work to find a way for the both of us to go out there because there is no way I was about to miss his first race, what kind of girlfriend would I be if I did. It's been a lot of going back and forth between options but I managed to get some time off work so we can actually fly out together and spend a little time in Qatar before the race and then fly back together. Despite the winter break we haven't been able to spend a whole lot of time together because I've been so busy with work in fact we didn't get to go away together at all he just went away with some friends without me which was so sad but now we get the holiday we have been wanting all break.

Our flights out there are booked for Monday which happens to be in a few hours because it is currently 2am and I'm still packing because Jorge made me stay cuddled up with him on the sofa and literally wouldn't let go until the early hours of the morning when he decided we needed to pack. Our flight leaves at 7:00 which means that neither of us are probably going to sleep tonight and if we do it will only be a few hours but at least the flight is about 7 hours so we can try and catch up then. We are going on Monday because it gives us a few days to spend together and there is a slight time difference that we will need to get used to. I'm still so excited to go though because it will be nice to see Jorge race his MotoGP bike for the first time and to get a bit of quality time together.

I was sat on the floor when folding clothes and placing them in the empty suitcase in front of me when suddenly my hair was all ruffled and I could no longer see what I was doing but then it was moved and I could see Jorge out the top of my vision leaning over to kiss my forehead. He sat down behind me reaching his arms around my waist to hold me to his chest as I continued to pack our things, for whatever reason he has been super cuddly today and now I'm not complaining its just kind of inconvenient at times. After just watching for a bit he moved a little to help me fold things in his own way which is not as neat as mine but it will do honesty because we really should attempt to get some sleep.

Eventually we were ready to just leave in a few hours but until then I want nothing more than to just lay in bed, my wishes were granted when Jorge picked me up from my position on the floor and carried me to our bed that he jumped on holding me which was actually really scary but he kept a tight grip on me the whole time so I just ended up laying on his chest. He pulled a blanket over the two of us as I glanced at the clock which told me it was 3am meaning we needed to be up in 2 hours to leave for the airport.

"We definitely should have gone to bed earlier we need to be up in two hours" I said

"Nah its all good we'll just sleep on the plane" he replied

"You might but you know I won't you can sleep through anything I swear" I joked

"Then lay down and sleep now I'll wake you when its time to get up" he offered

Safe to say I laid my head on his chest right away settling in closing my eyes trying to drift off which was helped by Jorge massaging my head and drawing shapes on my back to help my mind relax. He whispered in my ear just as I was about to fall asleep saying he loved me which made me smile.

~~~~~~~~~~

The amount of sleep I actually got was no where near enough but probably about an hour and a half after I went to sleep Jorge started to scratch my back gently which woke me up quite quickly because I'm a light sleeper so can wake up from the smallest touch. Both of us were super tried and groggy as we got up to sort out the last few things we needed before we left for the airport but our minds were so out of it I'm glad we put most things in last night or I don't  think we'd have most of the stuff we need. Seeing as it was so early neither of us wanted to eat anything plus we have may have eaten some ice cream at like 1am so safe to say we weren't really hungry.

Soon enough came our usual argument over who is going to drive because I don't want him to feel like he always has to drive but each time I offer he declines and normally I give up but today I was more persistent because I know he hadn't slept and it felt unfair to me to make him drive. I tried to state my case but he wouldn't listen so in the end we compromised and agreed that I would drive the car back from the airport when we come home and he will drive us there now. This man can be so stubborn sometimes and it is literally impossible to convince him of anything other than what he is thinking but luckily I'm a bit more easy going so we match each other quite well.

With it still being 5am it was still dark outside but the sky looked so beautiful there was so many stars out and the moon looked huge not to mention that it was providing so much light to make the mountains around where we live visible ever so slightly creating an amazing skyline. I've never seen anything like it before having only moved here in the last few months to live with Jorge.

"It is so beautiful out I can't believe we live in such a pretty area" I said

"Yeah but you are so much more beautiful" he flirted

"Stop it you flirt" I teased

He is always doing this to me because he knows it flusters me every time no matter how often he does it, I'm convinced that he gets some sort of kick out of it and thats why he continues to do it even in front of a bunch of people which he has been known to do. As much as he can be embarrassing to be around at times I would never wish him to be any different because when he does little things like that it makes me feel appreciated and he somehow manages to do it when I am not feeling my best and it always lightens my mood.

~~~~~~~~~~

our week together went by super quickly but we got to spend some really nice quality time together just chilling and going to the beach together. The beaches here are just beautiful and it is super warm despite it being still early spring which has meant we have both been spending a lot of time outside and in the water. It's been so great getting to spend so much time one on one with Jorge because we don't get too much of that during the season. There has been a lot of late mornings and early evenings with the two of us cuddled up in bed which has been one of my favourite parts of this whole trip so far other than the perfect date we went on.

The whole date was a big surprise to me one night Jorge just told me to get dressed up and we went to this super fancy restaurant that had great views over the city. The whole thing was so well thought out because after we had our dinner we went on a walk in the evening heat which was just perfect. He then took me to the beach and we watched the waves as the sun continued to set on the horizon, we were sat with Jorge behind me with his head rested on top of mine while his arms were wrapped tightly around my waist. It was really like we were in a movie it was that perfect and it ended even more perfectly by watching our favourite tv show together in bed.

As much as I enjoyed our week together we had to head to the circuit for the real fun to begin and with it already being Sunday I can say that it really has been a lot of fun. Jorge has been doing so well for it being his first race and he's been practically bouncing off the walls with excitement all weekend. He managed to qualify 14th which he wasn't overly happy with but I reminded him that its just his first race and to even do that well is good which seemed to help lift his spirits. Sometimes all he needs is someone to give him a more outside view and that will bring him back to reality and not in racing mode where he wants to do the very best even when thats not always possible.

He has been a little nervous this morning after warm up which I didn't expect because its quite unlike him to get nervous before a race so I kind of don't know what to do to help him I know so little about actually racing and what might be going through his mind. All I could think to do was distract him so I attempted to get him to watch something with me but I could see him zoning out so instead I dragged him out to watch the moto3 race because I kind of wanted to watch it anyway and that seemed to do the trick he was so engrossed in watching the race he forgot about his own.

As we watched the race I settled in stood next to him with his arm around my waist which is another thing he does quite often without realising which is just the cutest thing I also rested my head on his shoulder because it was just more comfortable. This got his attention a bit because he moved and stood behind me letting me lean against him pressing a few kisses to my cheek as we waited for the riders to come back over the start finish straight.

Once the race was over he had to go and get ready while I stayed talking to a few friends plus some of the riders when they went back to their garages which was nice because I've not got the chance to meet many riders from the other classes. Soon enough bikes were being prepared and I had to head back to the garage because I wasn't about to miss my chance to give Jorge a pep talk before his first race. He was sat in his chair looking very focused but also a little nervous as he fiddled around trying to put his gloves on.

"You got this love don't focus on anyone but yourself and don't get too disappointed with whatever happens because you can always do better next race ok just do your best and enjoy it" I said

"Thanks baby you always know what to say" he said giving me a kiss before pulling on his helmet and getting on the bike

Watching him speed off down pit lane filled my body with nerves like always, I've never not been a little nervous for any race and the start and ends of each season are always the worst. I know he will be fine but I will never stop worrying about him. The wait for the lights to go out felt way too long even though they did their warm up lap first it still felt like it took years for the lights to go out once they came on but the race was underway. Things were going so well he dropped a few places in the first corner but was quickly making his way back up and definitely had the pace to keep going, he may not be able to win this race but I can see him winning in the future because his pace looks really good on the bike.

As he crossed the finish line in the last lap there was a celebration throughout the garage because he finished 15th which may not be considered very good by some but to score points in the first race wasn't something anyone expected because the field is just so competitive. He rode back into the garage and all the team celebrated with him patting his back and giving him hugs before he could even get get off the bike. Once they did let him off it was my turn to celebrate with him, I gave him a super tight hug while he picked me up and jumped up and down with me in his arms which was very unexpected but I would never tell him to stop because it was so much fun.

Luckily with finishing 15th he didn't have too many interviews to do so we got spend the evening together not that we did a whole lot. We ate dinner with the team which was delicious but we went back to the motorhome afterwards to eat our favourite ice cream together in celebration of the first weekend of the season being complete. It was such a nice evening because there was nothing happening and we didn't have anything to do in the morning so could stay up as late as we wanted without being too tired. We really took advantage of that and spent a lot of time sat under a blanket cuddling talking about everything and nothing at the same time which is usually how we do things, it just felt good to finally have some time to be like we always were before.

[96thdayofrage]

640 People Cram Into A C-17 Leaving Afghanistan

A heroic effort by USAF C-17 crew

The Boeing C-17A Globemaster III left Kabul (KBL) on Monday for Qatar. According to reports, the crew crammed around 640 people in the Globemaster’s cargo bay. Shortly after taking off, an orbiting KC-135R tanker refueled the aircraft.

“Okay, how many people do you think are on your jet?” a flight controller asks the crew. The crew, not knowing the exact count, responded by saying “About 800.” 

“800 people on your jet? Holy cow. Good job getting off the ground!”

Millions of people around the world have closely watched a series of US-led evacuation flights from Kabul.  In scenes compared to the fall of Saigon 40 years ago, Taliban gunmen have roamed Kabul’s Airport terminal as desperate civilians stormed the apron, literally climbing onto departing planes. At the time of publication, flights to and from Kabul are halted because of the situation at the airport.

Chaotic scenes at Kabul Airport

Late on Monday, scenes emerged of crowds running alongside taxiing aircraft. It is being reported three Afghans holding on to the side of a USAF C-17 as it taxied across a runway were killed when they fell off and run over. Footage of people falling from the undercarriage of USAF aircraft after takeoff is also circulating online.

The 640 fortunate people on the Globemaster made it to the safety of Al Udeid Air Base southwest of Doha. The C-17A is designed to fly 134 military personnel along with their equipment. But reports suggest these people flew out with nothing more than the clothes on their backs, and USAF crew packed them in like sardines.

[ded-blog-for-posterity]

My take on a superior version bayverse transformers movie franchise pt.1

- start off in the intro sequence as normal, before time began, cube, war, too late, etc etc etc...

- add the Archibald Witwicky scene here where he continues up until he falls down the hole and gasps at the sight of a robotic finger.

- move to Qatar area with Lennox and Epps and co arriving, only this time rather than Lennox the guy's name is in fact Spike Witwicky. Who upon arriving to the base calls his wife Carly and son Daniel, or if you want to keep the girl then his daughter Danielle.

- Blackout arrives and attacks as normal, blah blah cut the hardlines, Epps takes a picture of Blackout and vice versa and the entire base is destroyed with full casualties aside from Spike's small group. The general guy who cut the hardline's corpse being the last thing that is seen. Blackout does not in fact send out Scorpinok this time as his place is not needed

- Sam and Mikaela subplot is entirely removed from the movie for having literally no purpose other than to show off bumblebee and add meaningless human interaction in a movie about robots anyway

- the scene then goes on to the NSA people explaining the attack and the whole ordeal while Maggie listens on and all

- we then go back to Spike who is running along with the desert to find Mafoos' (the arab kid) parents

- then cut to the pentagon and air force one scenes where they finally namedrop Maggie instead as Marisa Fairborn as frenzy, this time in an accurate blue color scheme infiltrates and escapes with the data on the Witwicky's, returning to a blue tinted security van (ie Soundwave) only to find info on Archibald and the glasses as well as a picture of Spike which he forwards to a Qatari Police vehicle (Barricade) who acknowledges and begins pursuit.

- Marisa then continues her whole schpeal about how it might not be the NK or human-based attack to the secretary and whatnot, and gets deterred as normal

- We then meet back up with Spike's group and they get attacked as normal, only this time it is Barricade who calls out Spikes name (in english of course) as he starts hunting them through the town, having killed everyone but Epps and Spike since none of them mattered anyway as they try to call for help from the army. Eventually the army does arrive with their fancy planes and shit but they all of course get immediately noticed and easily defeated by Barricade because humans are shit and should never have been able to take down a decepticon in the first place. All seems lost until a yellow beetle (Bumblebee) shows up and beats up Barricade with voiced banter because he can in fact speak, driving him away as he tells his cohorts to try the second location ie, Spike's house. Bumblebee is a bit damaged but retains his voice and tells Spike that the decepticon's want his grandfather's glasses.

- Marisa then goes to find Glen, now renamed Chip, who breaks the code before the arrest as normal, sector seven reveals itself to the SecDef and Marisa and Chip are removed from jail

- The army pick up crew arrives at last for Spike and they go on to return home with Bee to save Spike's family, something something sector seven reveal here,

- They get there too late though but its fine since Optimus Prime arrives with the other autobots to stop soundwave first, OP and Bee take Spike, Epps and Carly over to a clearing where the other autobots arrive, Bumblebee becomes a Camaro yadda yadda whatever, the autobots then explain the whole glasses problem, Archibald backstory again, and and they, meet up with S7 folk who take them to the hoover dam with everyone else and they see Megatron and the cube which Spike touches and it reacts with him a bit

- Decepticons track them and find Megs, freeing him and he flees before getting his hands on the cube but chaos erupts anyway, OP damaged and taken out of commission for a while by Megs who chases after Spike (carried by Bumblebee) who now has the cube as it for some reason bonds with Spike at his touch before shrinking down.

- typical chase and fight scene where eventually Megs blows off Bee's legs but Spike has left as a diversion. Angered, Megs shoots Bee's throat, making him mute.

- Carly takes Bee and repairs him for further use to kill Brawl via the tow truck as normal

- blah blah fight scene blah blah cube in chest yay team insert Prime's message and cut to Linkin Park

- mid credits show Spike, Chip, S7 and Marisa join together to start the EDC/NEST alliance

- post credits show Starscream return to a ship near Mars where he meets shadowy figure and proclaims Megatron has fallen, shadowy figure says no matter, as there is another way of getting what they need now, and that revenge will soon be his.

MISC OTHER NOTES/CHANGES

- the camaro form bumblebee takes can be because Spike owned one before Soundwave blew it up

- the decepticons' nonsensical robot language would not be used and they'd just speak english

- the military would be more or less useless outside of Spike Witwicky and Epps, as the focus of the movie should always have been the transformers and not the humans (yes I know CGI and human actors for live action movies but guess what no one gives a shit)

[lindsaywesker]

Good morning! I hope you slept well and feel rested? Currently sitting at my desk, in my study, attired only in my blue towelling robe, enjoying my first cuppa of the day. Happy Hump Day!

Unbelievable scenes in Kabul yesterday! Totally gridlocked roads, with nobody going anywhere, as people tried to get to the airport (or somewhere else.) Tragic, desperate scenes at Kabul airport as a US army cargo plane takes off and people actually hang on to the wings, hoping they can escape by travelling on the outside of the plane! At least seven people plunged to their death. When the plane landed, human remains were found inside a wheel well. Imagine being that desperate to leave your country, carrying just the clothes on your back? This clearly shows how grim life under the Taliban must be! That US army cargo plane actually carried hundreds of Afghans to Qatar. I applaud that gesture by the US government.

As you know, the Congestion Charge is now seven days a week until 10.00 p.m. and the Congestion Charge zone has now been extended all the way to my underwear, so I literally can’t turn around without having to pay yet another tax! The Trouble doesn’t do public transport because, as we know, public transport is not safe for women, black people or gay people, so we are forced to pay this tax because she wants to drive everywhere. Plus, down in the Underground, lots of people think the pandemic is over, so they are walking around mask-less, and that will cause many people to stay over ground. What will ultimately happen? People will stay in their area and make do with local shops and restaurants. I’m certain many shops and restaurants in the centre of London will see a drop in trade.

I’ve also decided that, as I’m so sick of the nonsense I hear on mainstream radio, I’m going to spend more time songwriting so, if you’re a producer and/or a songwriter, and you want to write proper songs, check out my SoundCloud page (soundcloud.com/user-808540726), where I’ve posted five of the songs I’ve written. If you like the vibe, contact me.

Have a wonderful and well-endowed Wednesday. I love you all. Yes, a crazy, bald man loves and cares about you. If you like what you read in my status, you will enjoy my novels (available via Amazon) and, don’t forget, I am spinning proper choons for grown folk at The White Lion, Streatham High Road on Friday, August 20th.

[corvid-420]

Not to vague but I’m seeing a post about Al Jazeera being bad because ‘the Saudi monarchy and their friends back it’ and uhhhh y’all know the Saudis and the UAE have been leading a complete blockade of Qatar for over a year now?

Qatari planes can’t even cross Saudi/UAE/ its allies’ airspace and have to take costly detours, and given the Saudi/UAE/Bahraini resentment at what they see is Qatar’s alliance with Iran, the use of Al Jazeera to foment the Arab spring and spread the news of the killing of Jamal Khashoggi (who for the record is not a journalist but a literal spy), it’s silly to even think that the Saudis are paying for what they see as a knife at their throat but I’m asleep lol

[ratherashleigh]

I just saw that you answered my travel vague question with a question 1. What are your packing essentials? 2. How to deal with traveling alone? Not in the sense of feelings safe but like being able to enjoy myself? I guess... I spend a lot of time alone, but like at home, going to the store or getting work done, not getting on a plane and visiting another country Thanks

OKAY PACKING ESSENTIALS, WITH ASHLEIGH:

three shirts too many, but assume anything you forget can be purchased there. to be real honest, sometimes i leave stuff out that i won’t need immediately because i like buying foreign shampoo or toothpaste or whatever. it depends what i’m running out of. this is not an approach that works for everyone because creature comforts to one person are mental health necessities to another.

space bags are very important, but the trick is DON’T use them when you’re packing to go, use them for bonus space when you’re trying to fit everything in on the way home. ziplock everything that could even possibly maybe leak. i’ve finally abandoned taking my laptop anywhere now that i have an ipad with a keyboard, and it was the best upgrade to my travel life. unless you’re literally going to lie on a beach for a week, don’t bother taking the book you are deluding yourself that you’re going to read.

i also take a spare pair of glasses and a spare phone. they’re the only true emergency planning i do.

also, bonus category - for long haul flights:

a change of underwear and socks

the softest hoodie i own

toothbrush and toothpaste (i was on a flight once where there were little kits for free and i took a whole bunch and i’ve been using them forever. thanks qatar?)

eye drops, hand cream, face moisturizer - airplanes are super dehydrating and my skin hates it, staying hydrated helps reduce jetlag

NASAL SPRAY, the mist kind, not the one that stops your nose from running - this is a weird one but one of the best ways to fight off catching other people’s germs is snot, and keeping your nose from drying out helps

battery pack - most planes these days have a USB port for every seat (ALWAYS TAKE YOUR USB CABLE WITH YOU) but i once got stuck on a plane where none of them were working and my phone was at 50% and it was the most stressful 5 hours

also, buy a cute passport case. just because.

as for travelling alone, not gonna lie: it’s sometimes hard. it’s super fucking hard to stroll into a brand new place anywhere on your own. but if you’re visiting a new place, at the end of the day, you either be like nike and just fucking do it, or you miss out. my comfort levels are such that i’m mostly okay, but i find restaurants way too awkward to be fun. conveniently, i live the burgers across the universe life, and those are totally fine. i’ve accepted fancy restaurants aren’t in my travel life when i’m on my own and i’m happier not suffering through the experience than i am sad about missing out.

one of the things i’ve picked up is that, in a touristy situation, you’ll find friends. when i went to iceland, i was the only person on my own on my tour and that was kind of a bummer at the start, but then i made friends with the other people on the tour and it was great. that’s easier in a situation where you’re trapped with people for a longer amount of time. (my brother, who is a much nicer person than i am, makes friends literally wherever he goes. my parents now own the house that belonged to a couple my brother met on their honeymoon. he was best man in the wedding of a dude he met in a shitty hostel in los angeles where he stayed for one night. this shit happens.)

the other thing is that, you’re never really alone these days. you don’t have to go on vacation from your pocket friends. the weird thing happening in front of you in bumfuck nowhere on the other side of the planet that you really just want to look at someone and mouth WTF about? tell your pocket friends. livetweet your vacation. spam facebook. at the end of the day, we are a sharing species, and some people will be annoyed and some will be jealous and other will be delighting in your every adventure. fuck the haters.