#battle of the overpass

[todaysdocument]

Walter Reuther, Richard Frankensteen, and other @UAW leaders stand outside the Ford Motor Company’s River Rouge Plant. On the left, Ford security forces are about to assault the union organizers, 5/26/1937.

Series: Franklin D. Roosevelt Library Public Domain Photographs, 1882 - 1962

Collection: Franklin D. Roosevelt Library Public Domain Photographs, 1882 - 1962

Image description: Three men, not smiling, walk toward a group of four men who have just finished posing for a photo. In the background there is a building with “FORD MOTOR COMPANY” on it.

#archivesgov #May 26 #1937 #1930s #unions #labor #united auto workers #ford motor company #detroit #battle of the overpass

[playitagin]

1937–Battle of the Overpass

 Walter Reuther and members of the United Auto Workers (UAW) clash with Ford Motor Company security guards at the River Rouge Complex complex in Dearborn, Michigan, during the Battle of the Overpass.

#May.26.1937 #Battle of the Overpass #Dearborn #Michigan

[losticaruss]

chronicles of narnia: prince caspian will forever be a tragedy to me, especially in the way the movie presents it. it opens with peter, desperate to return to the respect he deserves (or thinks he deserves), a fully grown man trapped in this child's, this stranger's body, still adjusting to the life he'd long since forgotten. he gets into a fight because it's natural to him. don't they realize who is he is? not selfishly (a little bit selfishly) he expects people, his siblings, the crowd, to be with him in battle. it's another battle to him, and edmund, lovely edmund, young edmund, edmund who was 12 and on the verge of death, edmund who loves his siblings the most one could ever love your own blood, is in the fray with him, and they fall back into the rhythm they were used to back home- back in narnia, and lucy and susan are screaming at them to stop, and edmund and peter see the soldiers coming home from war, and all they wants is to go back with them, and they understand how these soldiers feel, shell-shocked and distant and they want to fall into line with them, but they're kids and they're fighting other kids, they're not undisciplined, they're unadjusted. nothing changed but so did everything.

and they hop on the train and none of the pevensies want to talk about what happened and they end back in narnia and they're finally back in narnia they're home on the beaches of their home and it's a joy so grand that there's nothing they can do but go back to being kids- again, and they find cair paraval, and everything's gone- and the chessboard that edmund loved, the chessboard he played on when he first beat peter, is gone, there's nothing left of it, and they fall through the ruins like ghosts. here's the dining hall, the ballroom. remember this, lu? it used to be your bed. do you remember when you were so homesick you begged me to stay with you until you fell asleep? do you remember the way the garden bloomed in the spring? and they fall naturally in step into the dais, empty, not even the familiar sound of their shoes clacking against the polished floor. everything's gone now, of course it is. they knew how time worked in narnia, but it didn't happen to them. how could it move on without them? and they make their way into the lower floors, peter naturally falls into the trait of the leader, hes the first to forget the world they came from, but edmund, clever edmund, desperate edmund, brings a torch. he doesn't say how he packed it in his bag every day, how he packed it and prayed that they'd return. and everything is still there, in that room. nothing prepares you for seeing statues of your face- not your face, but what will be your face, what used to be your face- cracked and covered in moss. their crowns are there. everything is there. peters sword returns to his side, and it's the first time he looks complete since they left narnia. and they adventure- how much had changed? the trees are so much taller. how long now had they been gone? it was natural for narnia to have moved on, but they were meant to move on with them. peter tries to bring his siblings through his usual shortcuts, through an overpass, far from the well-trod paths that had cropped up since theyd been gone. he can't have been abandoned by his home, not so soon.

but he was. and there's a kid here, claiming to be the new ruler of narnia. who is he? he looks so young, and susan is looking at him and he's... looking back? and the civilians are looking at this stranger, this kid, like he's supposed to know what to do. had he even fought a battle? he rubs his beard- and is blocked by the bare skin of his chin (of course it's not there. he forgot.) and peter wants to be the bigger person, he's the high king, that's how it should be. but there are all these emotions he hadn't felt before- he thought, not in narnia at least. and he doesn't want to be the bigger person, he finds. stop looking at him like he should know what to do! he stands up to take over- his people forgot about him. he left and they forgot. and he sizes up this child as he speaks- high king peter of narnia, he says. the magnificent. and there it is, he thinks. the familiar look, shock, awe and- confusion? that's a new one- but not incorrect, as he realizes his situation.

he wants to be recognized how he used to be. the pevensies have returned to what they were, the warrior, the archer, the diplomat, the healer. and this new one, the one who wanted to be all four at once so desperately it made ed look wise. and finally- finally he gets his chance to shine, where he belongs, on the field, against The Enemy. of course, not how he'd like it, not in broad daylight, sword and armor gleaming, but it was the smart move. and he's filled with these emotions- not dread, or worry (maybe a little worry), but excitement, and everything is pounding in his head and the adrenaline- he forgot how good it feels- and he leads the army, his army. he's the warrior, the high king, and for a night, the people remember, they remember the golden age. and ed is brilliant, and peter can't help but grin with glee as he sees him pull of a maneuver that pete knows took months of training.

and then the hoards come and they're losing- they can't be losing, this was his chance! he's right, he's the king this was his chance to show them. and he cries for a retreat but it's too late- he was a fool, he watches his army, the army who trusted him, he watched them be slaughtered against the gates that had sealed their fate. he watched the blood spray and stain the metal, oozing between the stone bricks and he just stares. and it's all he can do and he wants- what does he want? to say he's sorry? to save them?

no- no, nothing like that. he should be in there with them. he should be gutted like the rest of them (a hero's death, not this cowards life). he went in too fast, too proud, he knows that. but to have these innocents follow him in willingly, blindly, and he's the one to make it out? it's unforgivable.

and then he's given another chance. a fight- a duel, to the death. he leaves the arena a victor, or he dies a martyr, and everyone forgets his sins of the night of the ambush. and he fights the best he can, he loses his helmet, he's injured and he can hear death whistling it's grim tune, and he almost doesn't pick up his sword, and he sees edmund, lovely edmund, young edmund, with hope in his eyes- with faith in his eyes, and peter knows, he certainly doesn't deserve the life he's been longing for, but he picks up his sword because his little brother, his little brother who almost died, whom he loves with all his heart and so much more. and he accepts it. he realizes he won't get it back, his golden age, but he can fight for edmund, for narnia. and he fights. he fights and he fights and he fights.

and when it's over he breaths the sweet narnian air, and he clasps the hand of caspian, another brother, not a blood one, nor a narnian one, but one of a deeper connection, deeper than any love, and he sees susan smiling. the pevensies and caspian are celebrated like kings, and the pevensies help caspian, still a child, overwhelmed with all this love, they guide him through it, preparing for the many days in the future when parades and celebrations fill the streets, and the people adore their rulers- their king.

it's their last time, he tells the others. once they leave, him and susan can't return. there's more on the other side, the other world, another way to return to narnia, to Aslan, and he doesn't share the fear in his heart. another way, but not this way. not through his home, where he's surrounded by it, drenched in it. not the same not the same, never the same again. they could stay, of course, says a foolish side of him. but not, they couldn't, it's stupid to say so. his mother- had he forgotten his mother so soon? she would go mad with loss. his golden age, it's come and past, and narnia moved on without him, and he steps through to the train station, not to his home, (no. he can never go home again.) and susan follows him, and she grasps his hand, a look shared between the two of them that she understands. and peter, one last chance to be the bigger person, he sees her loss and he squeezes her hand back. edmund and lucy they think they understand, and they grasp their elder siblings hands, and it's comforting, but peter and susan know, they know they won't understand, not until it's their turn, they won't know how empty it is, how lonely it is in this world.

so yeah. it's a tragedy

#whoops thinking about the pevensies. #haven't done an absurdly long essay on characters who's tragedy has worked its way into my brain and rotted it through in a while so #here ya go #the pevensies #the chronicles of narnia #prince caspian #didn't mean for this to be most about peter but #HES GOT SO MUCH TRAGEDY AND ITS PORTRAYED AND WRITTEN SO WELL #peter pevensie #susan pevensie #edmund pevensie #lucy pevensie #also used read more cause DANG it got long fast

[withacapitalp]

Forehead Kiss

For the STWG prompt today!

In the end, they had decided to keep getting married a secret. 

“Do you, Steven, take this woman to be your wife? To live together in holy matrimony, to love her, to honor her, to comfort her, and to keep her in sickness and in health, forsaking all others, for as long as you both shall live?”

“I do.”

It was just easier to not have to explain it.

“And do you, Robin, take this man to be your husband? To live together in holy matrimony, to love her, to honor her, to comfort her, and to keep her in sickness and in health, forsaking all others, for as long as you both shall live?”

“I do.”

Dustin would crow about how he was right that they had been together they whole time, and be kind of a buttface about it. The kids would have an endless list of questions that had no satisfying answers. 

“Then repeat after me- I, Steven Harrington, take you, Robin Buckley, to be my wife,”

I, Steven Harrington, take you, Robin Buckley, to be my wife,” 

Hopper and Joyce would want to sit them down and discuss the importance of knowing what their plan was for the future, which would be well intentioned, but extremely stressful. 

“To have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love, and to cherish, till death do us part.”

“To have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love, and to cherish, till death do us part.” 

But most importantly, Steve and Robin kept it a secret, because Robin wanted to be able to come out to the rest of their family. And if any of them ever found out Robin was a lesbian after they got married, they might think that the marriage was a joke, or just some cover to hide who she was. 

That wasn’t why they were doing this. 

“Repeat after me- I, Robin Buckley, take you, Steven Harrington, to be my husband,”

“I, Robin Buckley, take you, Steven Harrington, to be my husband,"

They were doing this because it felt wrong to sleep alone in their beds now, and because of the terror that had gripped Robin’s entire body in a vice when they told her she couldn’t see Steve in the hospital after their final battle against Vecna. 

“To have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love, and to cherish,"

“To have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love, and to cherish,"

They were doing this because there wasn’t anything in their vows that wasn’t true. Steve was it for Robin, and Robin was it for Steve. In Hawkins, in Chicago, in a mansion, or under an overpass.

"Till death do us part.” 

"Till death do us part.”

Robin knew now more than ever that there wasn’t anyone else on Earth who would understand her the way Steve understood her. There was no one he would feel safe with the way Steve felt safe with Robin. 

“Then by the virtue of the authority vested in me under the laws of the state of Indiana, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss your bride.” 

Two rings on chains around their necks, a marriage license slipped into Steve’s back pocket, and a soft kiss to the forehead was all they had to show for what they had just done, but that was more than enough for Robin. 

#stwgdailyprompt #Steve harrington #Robin buckley #Platonic stobin #Just to be clear #PLATONIC #lavender marriage yall #aka marriage dont Gotta be romantic

[skcirthinq]

I may have read "I May Be Invisible, But I Still Look Good" by @dandylovesturtles again.

So I drew. Again. (Small spoilers ahead)

The first piece is a little comic adaptation from chapter 2; context is that Leo is cursed out of his body, intangible, and unable to communicate.

And well. His family doesn't know about the curse.

And Donnie's been running some tests on Leo's empty body. They're not. Coming up with good results.

Dandylovesturtles's writing is so much more impactful than what I got here, so like! If you haven't, go read their works!

The other pieces are random scenes from the rest of the fic, with some descriptions under the cut.

Image 1: colored and rendered comic adaptation of a scene from chapter 2 of "I May Be Invisible". Raph is hitting a punching bag, while Leo walks in and watches him. Raph cannot see or hear Leo. They're both upset, with Raph's knuckles splitting open and bleeding, and tears gathering in his eyes over the panels. Leo begins to sit down, as Raph stops punching, and falls to his knees, crying in earnest. Leo turns around to give Raph some privacy, and talks to Raph, who eventually curls into himself and unknowingly rolls into Leo.

Dialogue is taken from chapter 2 of "I May Be Invisible, But I Still Look Good", Leo is the only speaker, and reads as follows: "Well, the good news is, Donnie's wrong about this one." "I know it looks bad. Donnie's not wrong about that, I mean, I saw the EEG, I know it's..." "It looks bad." " But... thanks for sticking up for me in there." "Don't give up on me, big guy." "I promise I'm doing whatever I can think of to get back to you." "I wish I could talk to you. I wish I could tell you not to worry. I mean, I know you'd worry anyway, but at least you'd worry a little less." "You don't deserve this, Raph. I wanted to take some of the weight off your shoulders, but I messed it all up again. And now you're having to deal with it, just like we make you deal with everything, and I'm just... I'm so sorry." "At least, do me a favor, and talk to Dad? Or April, or ... Or someone." "Not Donnie, obviously, that could Not have gone worse. But you don't need to deal with this on your own. I hope you don't deal with this on your own..." "Sleep, big guy. I'm with you, I promise. I'm not going anywhere. "

Image 2: when your cursed brother yeets himself off an overpass and through a van's roof and the artist won't draw cars. (A partially rendered set of drawings featuring a blue, glitchy Leo falling through the roof of a moving vehicle, while an upset Mikey crouches on the roof. It's night, raining, and lights are zooming past at high speed.)

Image 3: Leo activated his ninpo after a character arc, just in time for the final battle! (Partially Rendered; a blue glitchy Leo, holding katanas solidifying from his ninpo, turns and looks over his shoulder. Behind him is a wall of pink-magenta flames being pulled up by the big bad.)

Image 4: Leo's family and friends are seeing him (image 3) for the first time in days. While also beating up some elementals. (Sketch)

Images 5-10: sketches of various scenes from the rest of the fic, except for 7, which did Not happen. But I thought would be a little funny if it had. 5 is Mikey and Donnie playing catch with the cursed amulet. 6 is Raph busting out of a dome made of rock. 7 is April accidentally letting the baseball instincts take over when being tossed the Leo ball. 8 is Raph trying to squeeze through a narrow cave passage, and Leo walking through the cave walls. 9 is Casey Sr. getting one last punch in on an elemental. And 10 is Leo looking up at his overjoyed family, once he gets back into his body.

Obviously, all credit goes to Dandylovesturtles!

#illustration #rottmnt #rise of the tmnt #rottmnt fanart #slapping some color on some sketches~ Im trying to work on like. doing comics? more sequential art. so like. yknow. #i know the dialogue is pretty small. sorry about that! im trying to find a balance between art and dialogue and i kinda. faceplanted on thi #i gotta post now or i will never stop fiddling with everythinggggg

[kitaro2709]

|| Day 5: Action Magic - Overpass

Whoops, someone seems to have mixed up our cast's scripts! Bracelet boys? Riding Duel King Kurosaki? What is this?? Whatever shall we do?? Show us your wildest swaps today- be it roleswap, bodyswap, or whatever else you can think of! ||

Bracelet boys with...emmm what is the term of the girls in this case? idk lolololol

Serena and Yuri are one of my favorite characters of ARC-V!! They are so cool--- and funny too! (Even so, i like Serena more-- she is just so cool...)

My headcanons for this Role Swap: -Serena probably is more cruel and don't care about the war, the only thing that she is interested is in making the Professor happy.

-Yuri doesn't care about the war or the professor, he just wants to get out of Academia (He probably most of the time is locked in a special room, bcs the professor needs him for the proyect) -Serena is aware that she is a part of Ray, and isn't worried about disappear after the proyect is done.

-Leo don't know the whole thing about Ray and Zarc, he thinks that Zarc is the villain- Sadly, for his desfortune he is gonna learn that his daugher is the villain in this story

-In this universe, Ray was a pro-duelist that can feel the feelings of the monsters, she go crazy because of all the bad feelings that many monsters have(? idk i really don't know how this can work. Zarc with the help of the power of his dragons fight Ray and in their battle the original dimension split up in 4

-Lunalight Cat Dancer in this universe is more generic monster in terms of summoning, nows requeirs 2 monsters of dark attribute. And the condicion of tributing a "Lunalight" monster to activate her effect, can be now used with the condicion of tributing any monster and not only "Lunalight" monsters.

And yes, Yuzu is the main protagonist in this universe-

@arcvmonth

#serena arc v #yuri arc v #role swap au #role swap #yugioh #arc v month #arc v #yugioh arc v #arcvmonth2023 #day 5 #fanart

[berryhobii]

i’ve been really into street racing.

hobi is reader’s boyfriend and he takes us out to the track one night to be the count down girl.

maybe you can have him go up against one of the other boys. maybe one of them tries to taunt hobi by flirting with us.

you can decide whether he wins or not but either way he gets some lovin’. also you can dictate if it’s just a kiss, heavy petting, or full blown smut.

i’m not super picky; i just wanna see some rivalry and fast cars😭

Hi! Thanks for your request! I don’t know much about cars or street racing outside of movies so I don’t know how accurate most of this is but I did my best! I really hope you enjoy and please tell me what you think! Much love🩵🩵

~

The summer air was surprisingly cool against your brown skin. The sun had disappeared hours ago, making way for the beaming light of the moon to illuminate the dark overpass.

Everyone was off in their own worlds, beers and wine coolers being tossed back and discarded on the concrete, joining multiple cigarette butts and condom wrappers.

Pulling your compact mirror out of your purse, you double checked your carefully done makeup. Hot damn, you looked fine as hell. This was a special night. It was only appropriate that you looked your best.

“Princess.”

Snapping your mirror closed, you were met with the panty dropping image of your boyfriend in all his leather clad glory—leather jacket, fingerless gloves, even a pair of leather pants that made his bulge look particularly delicious. This outfit alone deserved a blowjob. Good thing you sprang for smear proof lipstick.

As if he could read your mind, he snapped his fingers to get your attention, your eyes reluctantly lifting to meet his. “My eyes are up here, princess.”

You smirked, reaching out to hook a finger in his belt loops to pull him closer. You leaned your head back to stare alluringly into his own, your cat like lashes fluttering. “Well my eyes are down there so I guess we’re at an impasse.”

He rolled his eyes at your vulgarity but you knew he wasn’t really annoyed at you, his own smirk tugging at his lips.

He cupped your cheek, thumb stroking over your plump bottom lip. At the movement, your mouth wrapped around the digit, giving it a light suck. He could feel his own cock jump at the sight but he couldn’t let himself get horny here. Not now. No matter how tempting you were.

“Aish, you’re impossible. Save it until after the race.” He sighed but not before pressing hard on your tongue making you gag a little. That tiny display of dominance went right to your cunt, the thin panties you were wearing already soaked through.

“I’ve been saving it since we left the house.” You purred, your index finger trailing along his bulge through his pants. He shivered and cursed under his breath. You were dangerous—very very dangerous.

“Hey Jung! Maybe you should be more worried about blowing the race instead of getting blown by your girl!” The deep voice of Kim Taehyung called from the other side of the overpass. Laughter reigned from his posse, his hooded eyes sparkling with mirth at calling out his rival.

Your eyes glanced from them back to Hoseok who was already glaring at the man he would be competing against tonight. No one got under Hoseok’s skin like Taehyung did, that smug bastard was still riding the high of winning the last race which left them tied.

Tonight, Hoseok would wipe that cocky smirk right off that rich boy’s face.

“Hey baby, why don’t you come over here with a real winner? I’ll show you a good time.” He whistled at you, eyes locked in a fierce battle with Hoseok. He was taunting him, loud and clear in front of everybody. Hoseok didn’t mind a little trash talk but he drew the line when people disrespected you.

You knew Hoseok better than anyone and you could tell by his face that he was reaching his breaking point.

Standing from the hood of his car, you brought your hand to his cheek to turn his face to you. “Hoseok, baby.”

That fire was burning in this eyes, that unflappable spirit and unwavering confidence that you fell in love with spreading like liquid fire through his veins.

“You get out there and win. I want to rub that bastard’s face in it.”

The sneer on his lip was gone, replaced by a wolfish grin, one that told you he was ready to go.

Gripping your ass over your mini skirt and giving it a hard squeeze, he pulled you closer to his body, the heat radiating from him sinking into your bones.

“I will, princess. Then I’ll come back and fuck you on the hood of this car.”

You smiled, poking his nose with your finger. “I’m looking forward to it.”

~

Soon enough, the atmosphere had changed from a casual hangout to electric chaos, nerves buzzing and the crowd practically bursting with anticipation.

Taehyung gripped the steering wheel of his car, looking over through his passenger window to Hoseok who was staring ahead. He must have felt Taehyung’s stare because he turned his head, their eyes blazing with a surge of emotions.

Neither of them wanted to lose. Losing meant no bragging rights. Losing meant inferiority.

Losing was not an option.

The corner of Taehyung’s lip turned up, his foot pressing on his gas pedal, his car roaring in challenge. A psych out method that Hoseok wouldn’t fall for. He didn’t have time for Taehyung’s games.

Flipping Taehyung off, Hoseok focused back ahead to where you were stepping from the sidelines to stand in the middle of both of the rumbling cars.

Your lace up heels, mini skirt, and crop top combo was driving him crazy, the pure sex appeal that dripped from you sending the crowd into a frenzy. The wolf whistles and claps were only riling Hoseok up more.

He was gonna win. Not only for himself but for you.

Your heart was thudding in equal parts excitement and nerves. This was your first time doing this and despite the job being relatively easy, you were still nervous. Everyone knew you were Hoseok’s girl. How would it look if you started the race and then he lost? Racing was his pride, his passion. You didn’t want to mess this up.

Then you captured the gaze of the man you loved through his windshield. He flashed you that beautiful smile along with a wink and all of a sudden, those nerves disappeared.

Taking a deep breath, you raised the flags in both of your hands. Their engines revved, the crowd growing more and more excited. Casting Hoseok a final glance and mouthing a ‘good luck’, you brought the flags down.

Foots on the gas, both cars sped off with a deafening screech of their tires. Dust whipped around you, tiny rocks hitting your skin and the crowd cheering loudly for who they wanted to win.

You turned around, barely catching sight of their tail-lights as they sped on the course and out of sight.

All you could do was wait.

~

Taehyung glanced into his rear view mirror, Hoseok coming up on his left. Blocking his path, Hoseok was forced to slow down a little to prevent crashing into Taehyung. Taehyung smirked; maneuvers like that was his strong suit. He blocked his competitors and secured his win. It’s how he’s beaten Hoseok all of those times before. Hoseok was a good driver but he was too careful.

Taehyung was a fierce competitor with an amazing car but even with all of that, he was impulsive, hasty and too cocky. That’s where his weakness was.

Little did Taehyung know, losing wasn’t on Hoseok’s agenda today. Today, he would let loose.

Taehyung looked into his rear view again, finding Hoseok trailing further behind him.

“Ha. Giving up, Jung? Smart.”

Around the final bend, the overpass just in sight, Taehyung was feeling confident about winning this one. He’d win and then he’d watch Hoseok’s pretty girlfriend become absolutely devastated. It would be too easy.

He would relax and cinch this win.

Just a few hundred yards from the finish line, Taehyung began to slow down just a little. Hoseok was too far behind to catch up anyway. He could cruise into this win.

Hoseok took a deep breath, just the thought of you waiting for him enough to give him that last burst of confidence he needed. Shifting gears, he slammed on the gas, the needle on the speedometer flying from 90 to 140 in seconds. Like a bullet, Hoseok flew past Taehyung.

Taehyung could barely react, pressing on his own gas in an attempt to regain his lead but it was too late. The cheers of the crowd hit his ears but they weren’t for him.

You could have cried seeing Hoseok’s car cross the line with Taehyung just milliseconds behind him. You couldn’t even hear the people around you, focused solely on your boyfriend who had stepped out of his car.

His eyes frantically looked around, searching for the one person who he knew would be waiting for him.

You ran the best you could in your heels into his open arms, wrapping your legs around his waist as he spun both of you around.

Pulling away, you cupped both of his cheeks, letting out a watery laugh before connecting your lips in a desperate and yearning kiss full of joy, love, and overwhelming pride.

“I won, princess. I won.” He said against your lips.

He won.

~

“Ooooooo shit, fuck me harder with that fat cock baby! It feels so good!” You moaned/screamed as Hoseok’s thick cock pummeled your walls in back shots so deep that you could feel him in your stomach. Tears streamed down your cheeks, drool leaking from your mouth and forming tiny puddles on the hood of his car. You could feel yourself ready to burst, all of the pent up energy and adrenaline from the race still coursing through your veins.

After his win, Hoseok immediately drove you two to an empty parking lot and then he was on you. He kept true to his promise, pulling you out of the car and hauling you up on the hood before eating you out like a madman. He didn’t even remove your panties, simply moving them to side before diving into your succulent cunt.

Hoseok cursed, working his hips back and forth faster than his car, the squelch of your walls spurring him on faster. Your creamy cunt was making the filthiest noises along with your pleasure fueled babbles and pleads.

The cool hood of his car was doing nothing to alleviate the heat radiating off of you, your nipples rubbing against the surface to the point where they hurt a little bit but it was only adding to the mind numbing pleasure.

“Yeah? Hold that ass open for me.”

Reaching your hands back, you spread your ass cheeks for him, giving him a view of your twitching ass. Gathering some saliva in his mouth, he let spit dribble from his mouth down to your little hole. He rubbed his thumb over the tight ring of muscle making you whine out. There was no warning, no gentle touches, no preparation before he shoved his thumb right into your ass, hooking it and using it as a type of leverage on forcing your ass to clap against him.

Your mouth dropped in a silent scream at the feeling of the sudden intrusion, the new sensation hurtling you towards orgasm. You felt so fucking full, both of your holes stuffed and your knees quivering as they threatened to give on you.

Hoseok must have sensed it because he grabbed one of your legs and propped it up on the hood. Not only did this position open you up more, it let him reach so much deeper, the tip of his cock rubbing against your gspot with every stroke.

You choked out a moan, head lifting and your eyes rolling to the back of your head as your pleasure crested.

“I’m gonna cum Hoseok! Fuck I’m gonna cum! I-I’m…!” You slurred, nails scratching the paint off and leaving thin marks in the metal.

His thumb dug deeper, cock reaching unexplored places of your pussy. “Cum princess. Shit shit shit.”

You both reach your highs at the same time, your walls constricting around him and milking him for everything he had, his cum coating your squishy walls. Your head banged forward on the car, shivers going down your spine despite the heat of the night.

Your chests rose and fell as you tried to regain your breath. You felt Hoseok’s hand travel up your shoulder to grab your face, peeling your sweaty body off the surface. He craned your head backwards, bringing his lips down on yours in a feverish kiss. You hummed, your tongues dancing and licking at each other.

“Congrats on your win, baby.”

“Thanks. Do I get my prize now?”

You laughed because he was so ridiculous but so were you. That’s why you fit together so well.

“Get in the back, loser.”

#askberryhobii #bts #bts smut #hoseok smut #bts x black reader

[the-friendly-entity]

Can I request: Headcanons of you fem s/o being albino shy and gentle to male characters of Raiden, Kung Lao, Kenshi, Lui Kang, Baraka, Syzoth, Havik, Reiko, Shang Tsung and Rain please?

[ ~"Angel"~ ] - Mortal Kombat 1

Ohhh what an interesting prompt!!! I never knew humans could be albinos! this was so interesting to learn! thanks human! I hope you like what I make up in here <3

What contains? Albino Reader, Female Reader, Shy Reader, Gentle Reader

How is visualized as? Cople Relation Ship, Family Relation Ship, Friend Relation Ship

Raiden

-He definitely is surprised looking at you, is very rare to find albinos humans so your interesting traits caught his eyes, of course, he will be respectful and not make you uncomfortable, but he has to admit you are hard to not stop looking

-Your being shy makes Raiden see this as very cute and he understands, he will be nice to you and respect your boundaries, he will never force you if you do not feel ready for something, he will let you feel comfortable and ready with anything

-Another thing Raiden finds cute but mostly, respect and trust with you is your gentle personality, even though you are shy you are there for people, like after he trains you always give him towers and even fruits if he feels hungry after the training, he really appreciates all this actions from you

-He of course, is interested in knowing more about you, it is very common for you two to talk for hours, being Raiden the one who talks and you hearing him, or the opposite way, is not matter as you two having a good time, normally in the gardens of the template

Kung Lao

-Ditto but oh man, he not hiding his surprised, straight-out mouth open, wide eyes looking at you, this makes you feel even more shy of looking Kung Lao expression, eyes never leaving you, Raiden is the one to put Kung Lao to his place

-He will take any moment to be near you and talk to you, for not say giving you praises of your appearance and albino traits, this makes you so shy! Your white skin will not hide your blush, something Kung Lao likes, of course if you dont like this kind of interaction Kung Lao understands and respects your boundaries, after all he does not like Jhonny

-He finds adorable like even though you are shy you are gentle with everyone, is normal Kung Lao to get a little injured after training, sometimes due he overpasses the limits and gets into the adrenaline of the battle, you always there to help him with this injures, even are not serious you always insist to help hi with it, and who is him to denied this gentle request?

-He likes to admire you when you are in places where the sunlight is giving they best, due he can admired you, is like you are a angel who fall from he heaven ya know? i think the best thing you two like to do is take walks, where? who cares! as long you two are together and talking and enjoy the time

Kenshi Takahashi

-Sadly he can't see your albino traits :( but at least with Sento (sometimes) can see how pretty you are, he will not say anything mostly to not make you uncomfortable, but if you ever have insecurities about your appearance he will be there to tell you otherwise, his words are always honest

-He understands why you are shy, after all his appearance is not the best to give "friendly" vibes, and lest not mention he was a yakuza...but he will never will give this information to you, the least he wanna do is scared you and be more afraid of him

-He flushed in your gentle personality, how always you insist on helping him with his "eyes", he always says he ok and that already healed even so he let you check him, so your fingers carefully touch near his "eyes" all light touches, and you always came up with some medicine recipes to make him feel better (mostly cream recipes) he dont see any of this necessary after all, his injures as bee already heal, but that not mean he very thankful and flushed from you gentle actions

-He likes to hear you, after all, he is not a very talker person, but he will indeed talk if you have questions or you are interested to know what he did for the day, etc. The most common topic is always about him, you are just very curious about how he deals life being blind, and you always praise him, you gentle behavior as seems to have no limits

Reiko

-He dint know humans could be this pretty, that the first thing that crossed his mind, looking at you from the distance, looking at each of your albino traits, at some point he can't believe humans could look like that, something of course make you shy from feeling his eyes on you

-He thinks you are shy becuse of him, his appearance are not the best, after all, he is a soldier and you tenecly an angel was a discreet difference, but he never crosses your limit, he lets you feel comfortable around him as long you need

-Even though you have that shy behavior, your gentle behavior was most stronger one, you are always there to help him with any injury he has after a battle, he most of the time shows himself stronger denies your request, but after insisting he let you attend his injures, even he dont show thankful for this gentle actions from you, he inside he is

-I think he most of the time ask you about your appearance, of how humans can look like this and how happen to be that way, good thing you know how to answer him, after all a lot of people as ask you almost the same questions, even this questions can be seen just Reiko being curious, he worried about you, you are a easy target being so white and so pretty, he will make sure you not fall from any danger

Rain

-Thanks of your Albino's traits, now he is interested in knowing Human biology and every aspect of it, but besides that he will not be like the rest just watching in the distance, he will approach at you and talk to you fully interested to know about you and of course, praise you albino traits something make you feel shy

-He understands why you are shy, i mean, your albino traits make you be in the spotlight, eyes always on you, people are always interested about you, he can understand that overwhelming experiece you have to deal all the time, and not starting the people who will take any chance to use you, i guess sometimes being so pretty and unique can be also a curse

-He finds it cute that your gentle behavior of always want to help him, any magic he wants to try, always you helping him giving him the ingredients he needs, but he mostly appreciate when you gentle is a pure state, just being nice with people in general, is something he respect

-Yall like to walk at the beach, enjoy the sound of the water while the sun is slowly fading away to give the welcome to the moon, Rain is the most talked one in these moments, but if you need something to say he all hears, posebly you two like recollect shells and if any luck pearls

Baraka

-Eyes on you, he feels overwhelmed by your appearance, is this a joke? Is he hallucinating? or you are an actual angel finally gonna take him to the other life? he needs time to process what he seeing so surely you already left due feeling shy about having his eyes on you :(

-After that he will apologize of his before behavior he dint want to make you uncomfortable, he feels very sorry about it, and mostly...after all you two are so different, you are an angel and he was a monster, he understands you feel afraid of him and he will not have hard feelings if you think that way

-but gentle behavior kicks in fast if Baraka shows or talks about it, telling him he is not a monster, none of this is he fault due is the Tarkat, and mostly even he looks a "monster" outside you know Baraka was the sweet and kind person in the inside, something that flatters him for you gentle behavior and words

-He keeps more distance from you, he dont want you to get the tarkat from him so he makes sure to be very distant but still egnoft you still can see each other, he thinks the same as Reiko, you are an easy target, anyone can take you due you beauty, even he can't be al the time with you he will make sure does time you two are together, keep you safe from anyone

Shang Tsung

-Ho,ho,ho~ he is very interested in you, and already has a smug expression as looks all your albino traits, nonetheless, he is impressed and seeing you shy due he looking at you feel his ego, he will not doubt to get close to you and use that snake tongue to give you praises and nice words

-Seeing you so shy around him, he adores it~ and he will take this for his on enjoyment and fun, how you blush, how you shake you body of how shy you are, you just so fragile, so easy~

-Even so, he is impressed of gentle you are with him, he can't understand why you are that way, he sees you like a very easy target, someone too easy to break, after all he is a bad guy, you are just a rabbit talking to a snake, you was in such danger, but dont worry, Shang Tsung will not hurt you....yet

-He wonders if your Albino traits are just to make you look pretty or have something real useful for sorcery, dont worry like I say he will not hurt you yet, so mostly he will take parts of your hair without you noticing and use it to investigate what he can found with it

Syzoth

-Eyes on you in awe, you are just so pretty, he dont have words another that look at you in the distance, he noticed you noticed him and how you go away, soon realized he acidently make you uncomfortable

-He will approach, giving you personal space and apologies for what happened before, telling you you are pretty and more praise, he was shy as you so you two have very small talks before feeling comfortable arround each other

-He flushed at your gentle behavior, if his tail is out you can notice it moving back and forth anytime is near you, you already know about is a zaterran, possibly because he told you when was presenting to you or some of his friends told you, curious to know his Zaterran form, sadly he won't show you, he dont want to scare you, but telling him you not gonna be scared of him and he not need to be insecure about his appearance, is something calms him...maybe in a near future he will show you his zaterran form

-You remind him Ashrah and surely in no time he presents you at her (Soon you three become the best friend group), he likes to give you white flowers and white gemstones and white feathers, gifts that remind him to you, is something at always make you blush of his gentle behavior

Havik

-He thinks you are an Angel, he never saw a human like you before, so he makes him hard to believe you are a human, its a confusing scenario for both of you

-Havik understands why you are shy at him, or more easily to say scared, his appearance and mostly his face are not the best for a first impression, and let's not mention his powers...so he does not mind if you scared to arpoche at him

-Even if you are shy your gentle behavior is most stronger, worried about the big injury Havik have in his mouth, he dont care about it but he let you to touch it, feeling that light touches on his injury, you ask him why his powers dint work to health this injure? he questions that too long time ago, Quan Chii powers look like have some flaws

-He thinks the same as Baraka and Reiko, you are an easy target, you pretty appearance can get you a lot of problems with people wanna use it, and he will not let that happen, he not let someone hurt you

Liu Kang

-He looks at you but has a very calm and even tender expression, is a surprised to see an albino human so is a nice surprise for him, even though you feel shy having his eyes on you somehow you also feel comfortable and safe, maybe a difference of the others just look in surprised, liu kang was more calmest one and his expression give all the hints of "you are pretty" sings in the most honest way

-He understands why you are shy, and he gives you all the space and time you need to feel comfortable to approach, is been times Liu Kang is just sitting meditating, eyes closed and cleaning his mind, when he can feel your steps getting close to him and you just sit next to him, sometimes doing the same, is a nice experience, no words, just enjoying both company

-He saw what you do with his friends, how gentle you are to help him in any kind they need, you always there for everyone and that sweet and admirable, that has to be rewarded right? you dont need to be sweet to him, he already knows you are a kind heart, so please, just enjoy the picnic!

-Knowing is a god, you surely ask him about your albino traits even personality, if was all his plan to be this way, he responds you with a no, he dint plan you come out with all these traits, he only interfered and did stuff to the world, but most of the time he not interfered or control people life, so you came out like this normally

#baraka #havik #kenshi takahashi #kung lao #liu kang #mortal kombat 1 #raiden #rain #reiko #syzoth #reptile #shang tsung #Albino #Albino Reader #Shy Reader #Female Reader #Mortal Kombat Masterlist #Y/N #Reader #You #You as a Albino

[rubyvroom]

This is possibly leftover eggnog talking, but it strikes me that the wilder animal activists are really a kind of animal separatists. Not only are they against obviously abusive practices, they also don't believe in owning pets, rehabilitative zoos, etc. Which is not necessarily centered on the well-being of animals but more on the thought that people and animals should not interact at all.

And I wonder what the radical opposite of that would be?

I imagine that would be a kind of activism focused on sharing environments equally, human and animal co-existing. Making room for wildlife in the world we have already created. I mean things like the wildlife-only highway overpasses, the insect-friendly yard reclamation projects, etc.

I'm thinking of this largely because of bears. And raccoons and moose and all sorts of wildlife who are venturing into human spaces more and more to scavenge food as human spaces encroach more and more on their territories. I mean ideally we would NOT have expanded into so much wild territory that this became a consistent phenomenon but like, it's already done. The chicken is in the nugget. What can we do to coexist? Obviously feeding them outright is suboptimal, but simply discouraging them is not effective either. It just becomes a never-ending battle and it seems like there should be a better way?

Humans are animals after all. Rather than insisting that we are separate and therefore pushing animals into diminishing wild places until they have nothing left, we should be trying to coexist. Modify our spaces in a way to allow wildlife to thrive.

#I'm pulling this out of my ass entirely but it's been on my mind

[highdio]

All Star Battle R, New Stages: Cairo Overpass // Boyoyoing Cape // Colosseum // Everglades // Rocky Mountains Village.

#jjba #jojo's bizarre adventure #jjba asbr #all star battle r #dio brando #mp #dioposts #jojo no kimyou na bouken #jojo #myasbr

[obixwan]

don’t deny me

pairings: jesse x padawan f reader

word count: 3.3k…

blurb: after an argument with Jesse on the battlefield, he seeks you out to clear up some unresolved issues.

warnings: 18+!!!!!, enemies to lovers ig, light choking, Jesse’s ego, edging, pet names, unprotected sex (wrap it before you tap it), p in v sex, etc etc etc etc. mention of blood/wounds, crying.. i think that’s it??

notes: im sorry i am unwell this is FERAL

masterlist // join my tag list // almost all my works are crossposted to my ao3

:･ﾟ✧:･.☽˚｡･ﾟ✧:･.:

As the scenes from your day replay in your mind like a bad accident replays on the news reel, the walls of your rooms on board the Endurance seem to be closing in with every breath you take. You’re not sure if it’s the pain from the blaster shot in your side that you still haven’t had seen too or the humiliation of your all too public berating from Master Windu, or maybe it’s everything about this gods damned misson but tears are threatening to spill over your lashes.

Jesse’s screaming at you in the middle of the battlefield. For the men who have been with you for the past three days on this campaign, this is not an unusual sight but the both of you have thrown caution to the wind, the battle forgotten as you scream back at him. Your lightsaber is deflecting stray blaster fire as if it has a mind of its own. It probably does at this point. And you’re angry. So outraged at the pure nerve of the man standing in front of you, you feel like you’re about to burst out of your own skin. You need an outlet and it comes to you in the form of a tidal wave. An explosion of pure, primal energy that pushes everything around you back. Clones and droids alike are knocked to their feet, even the ships are pushed off balance. Everything is off kilter but Jesse. This only makes you even more angrier.

“How dare you question my lead? My allegiance? As if my very life hasn’t been sacrificed?” Your voice is rising over the sounds of battle, the blasters firing, men shouting, shells exploding.

He’s shouting back at you. “I have every right to question you! If I don’t, who will? My interests lie with my men and you,” He stabs a black gloved finger at you. “are going to get us killed!”

Your grip on your lightsaber is deathening, your knuckles turning white, the leather strap absorbing the sweat from your palms, no longer a source of comfort. There’s a drumming noise inside your head and you can barely think around it. “They are my interests too!” You shout.

Jesse squares up, setting his shoulders back and strengthening himself to his full height. Even in your heeled battle boots, he towers over you. “I find that hard to believe, Commander. If they were, we wouldn’t be stuck between an impossible overpass and half the separatist army.”

You do not back down. You step up, squaring your own shoulders. “That was an oversight on your behalf, I pointed out the overpass and you said it would be fine.”

Jesse growls, his lips curling back with a sneer. “It was your poor planning that led to the oversight in the first place.”

“You reassured me the overpass wouldn’t be a problem. You gave me your word!” In your anger and what feels akin to betrayal, your guard slips and your saber is lowered for half a second. That half a second was more than ample enough time for a blaster shot to find its mark at your side. It hits you with such blunt force that it almost sends you flying into the ARC troopers arms.

He lets out a feral sound, ripping from his throat and turns, shooting the droid that got you in the head. From that moment on, Jesse coordinates the retreat, saying your life and his men’s. But the mission is deemed a failure and that’s enough reason for you to argue with him all the way back to the pick up point.

The mission should have been simple. Windu would lead a small attack force through the old mining tunnels of the mountains of Tunnack, a planet that had been seeped in separatist control since the beginning of the war. Skywalker and his men would advance from the western side of the capital city, Baden. Tano would keep track of everything in the skies. You and Jesse, and a small group of soldiers, a mix of the 501st and 91st, were to advance through the mountains, securing the trade pass and pushing the droid army back into the abandoned city until they were sandwiched between yourself, Windu and Skywalker. It was almost a textbook campaign. Until it wasn’t. You couldn’t pinpoint where it went wrong for you and Jesse.

Once upon a time, before Jesse had become an insufferable ARC trooper, the two of you had actually got along. But now, your interactions are limited to aggressive negations and heated debates and sour sneers. But you have never actually reached a critical and explosive point such as this.

As the words from Windu start to replay, the look of pure disappointment on his face flashing behind your eyelids, your tears finally overspill. You let your utility belt crash to the floor, your lightsaber clanging as it hits the steel floor of the ship. Your boots are next to go, the soft leather landing with a soft thump. You fling your outer layey of your tunic off, and let yourself flop into bed and cry. You sob, your wails disguised into your pillow.

You cry because you should know better. You cry because instead of sobbing like a child, you should be meditating, or talking all this out with your master, or even… Jesse. But you cry because you really, really cannot stand another second on this damned ship, another minute on this campaign, with Jesse glaring at you like you’re the worst person in the entire galaxy.

A knock at the door halts your tears. You wipe your face and inhale a deep, cold breath of air into your lungs. “Come in.”

When the door reveals Jesse, it takes everything in you not to sob again. You watch as he surveys your tiny quarters, the only space on this ship that is truly your own. He walks over to your lightsaber that lies abandoned on the floor and reaches down for it.

In an instant, any thoughts of tears disappear. You’re on the defensive at the sight of your weapon in his hands. You jump from your cot, landing on both feet, despite the pushing pain of protest from your side. The way he twirls the hilt of your saber in his hands, as if almost appreciating the workmanship in the weapon, is enough to make you feral with rage. Again.

“What are you playing at?” An edge to your voice betrays how uneasy this situation makes you feel.

Jesse walks around you, taking a seat on the edge of your cot. Leaning elbows on knees, he brings the weapon closer to his eyes to inspect the detail. The carvings of vines native to your home planet etched into the dark metal the leather wrapped around the grip, the beads that were a gift from Master Windu hanging off the end. “What am I playing at? I think the question we should be asking is, what are you playing at, ad’ika jetti? What was that bullshit out there today?”

“I could ask you the same thing, ARC Trooper. You never should have questioned me.”

“So Rex and Skywalker say. Say it’s bad for the men to see me question you… But it’s about time someone did, don’t you agree? You think you’re above the rest of us…” Jesse pushes himself up from the bed and takes a step closer to you. “Just because you have a lightsaber and a silly little braid in your hair.” His hand is wrapped around your lightsaber so tightly, you hope the rough spots you have learned to accommodate are cutting into his hands.

“I don’t think that.”

He takes another step closer to you and there’s a hint of a 5 o’clock shadow on his face, and he reaches out to pull your padawan braid over your shoulder, giving it a tug. “Prove it then. The men don’t trust you anymore. I don’t trust you, either.”

In a moment of clarity, perhaps the first you’ve had since the start of this force forsaken campaign, the teachings of your master come to the forefront of your mind and you take a step back. ‘I’m not doing this with you anymore. We hate each other. That’s fine. After the campaign, I’ll avoid you the best I can until we reach coruscant. Then, with any luck, we’ll never see each other again.” You were not going to take Jesse’s bait for a fight that did not have to happen.

You try to step away from Jesse, but he’s not moving and he’s not letting you move either. “It’s not that. It’s not that at all. You don’t hate me.” He takes another step, backing you into the wall of your quarters. The cold of the metal bites through the light layer of your under tunic. “If you really hated me as much as you claim, you wouldn’t dream about me the way you do.”

You freeze, the breath caught in your throat. There’s no way he could know about your dreams. You haven’t told a soul. Those dreams betray your every waking thought, everything you have worked so hard to achieve. They’re vivid happenings of the most filthy things. Hands wandering all over your body, praises falling from lips. And they’re always about him. They are everything you don’t get from him. The dreams ruin your nights, leave you aching and drenched in sweat and desperate for relief. They ruin your days, the lack of sleep shortening your temper, turning you into a snappy and brash version of yourself.

“I know the way you moan my name in the middle of the night. You can’t stay away from me forever. We all need what we need, don’t deny me.”

You push him away, eyes narrowing. “Where has this come from?”

He shrugs. “You tell me. You’re the one sending me the dreams every night. And then you spend the majority of the day trying to get me killed.”

You shake your head. “No, no, no,” You say, pushing him away again. This is not want you need right now.

“You need me.” He says, your eyes squeezing shut as you refuse to acknowledge how his voice has dropped in tone. Before you can register what’s happening, Jesse has your chin between his fingers, turning your face to him. He’s closing in on you again, deep golden eyes flickering between your own eyes and lips. “I want to hear you moan for me for real.”

You gasp, and instantly regret it as Jesse uses it as an opportunity to kiss you. You're so surprised and confused and gods knows what else that all self control has left you. Jesse’s tongue slips between your lips, exploring your mouth.

Every instinct is shouting at you to push him away, wipe your mouth, get rid of him. This is against everything you have learnt. This is crossing every boundary you have ever set yourself. But you can’t deny it feels good… right. His hands start to slide up your body, leaving goosebumps in their wake. Your heart rate is doing double time for what feels like the one hundredth time today.

“You have no idea,” He says between kisses up and down your neck, gentle nips at the sensitive skin. “how long I have waited for this.

Your brain is in overdrive. You can’t make top or tail of anything and you can hardly breathe. “I thought you hated me.”

“You don’t know the half of it. You infuriate me. I’ve wanted you ever since Ryloth.” Jesse says, making short work of your tunic, letting it drop to the floor. The cold of the ship brings fresh goosebumps to your skin, making your nipples harden.

“You never said anything.”

Jesse rolls his eyes. “This is me saying something.” But his fingers stop at the edge of the burning blaster wound. “You need to get this seen to.”

You brush him away. “Doesn’t hurt.” You say, bringing his lips back up to yours.

His fingers are toying with the waistband of your thick battle leggings, still dirtied with the dust of Tunnack, eyes locked on yours. “If you want me to stop, just say.”

It occurs to you, just briefly, that you are possibly about to throw everything away for a man you thought had hated you for the past five years. But then you remember, he still does hate you. But he wants you. You want him. There are too many loud thoughts swirling around in your mind to make any sense of anything. The logical side of your brain is telling you this has to be some sort of trick, designed to get you expelled from the order and ruin your life. The other not so logical side, probably the side responsible for the dreams, is telling you that you want him, he wants you, what more do you need?

Your tongue is stuck to the roof of your mouth and you can’t find it within yourself to speak. So you just nod.

But Jesse tuts at you, “Ah, ah, ah,” with a shake of his head. “Need you to use your words cyar’ika.”

The “yes” that slips out of your mouth is small and wavering and nervous and everything that Jesse is not as he slips you out of your leggings. You inwardly curse the plain black undergarments you had chosen. But he does not seem to even notice as he slips you out of those too.

“There’s my good girl.” He smiles, going in to kiss the bare skin across your collarbones. Your knees are about the buckle beneath him and the next thing you know, Jesse’s armour is falling to the ground, until he’s pressing up against you, only his backs separating skin.

Jesse kisses you again and suddenly it’s like all the air inside your lungs is going stale and you can’t breathe because no matter how much you want him, you’ve only had sex once before and that was just a quickie in an alleyway on Coruscant. You never saw the boy again. But this is Jesse. Before it becomes evident that you happen to be mildly freaking out, your reign your feelings back in and as Jesse pulls away from you, you take the opportunity to heave some air into your lungs.

“Cyar’ika…” He stops, fingers caressing the bare skin of your stomach. “If it’s too much, we can stop.”

You shake your head.

“Words,” He says, eyebrows creasing in a small frown. “Use them.”

“No.” You say. “Don’t want to stop.” For a few seconds, he’s quiet and all you can hear is the hum of space travel, your heartbeat and his breathing. “I want you.”

His smirk turns into a feral grin as he steps back to shed his undersuit. And then there he is, standing before you, in all his battle hardened glory. Scars you have never seen decorate his brown skin. His hands are all over you, in places no one else, not even the boy from the alley, has touched. Your nipples have perked under his attention and you can feel yourself getting slicker than you ever have been.

His nimble fingers slip between your legs, swiping gently, mouth opening softly as he feels just how warm and wet you are. “All this for me, ad’ika jetti?”

You whimper softly as his thumb grazes your clit just barely, the simple touch sending shockwaves through your body. “Yes, Jesse,”

He slips a finger into you quick, feeling the warmth of your soft walls as they clench around him, he hum sin contentment and begins to pump his fingers in and out. “All this for me,” He repeats. “Must mean you’re all mine, wouldn't you agree?”

You nod, eyes squeezing shut as pleasure seeps within you.

“Open those eyes. Want to see my ad’ika jetti looking at me so she knows who is making her feel like this.”

Jesse’s other hand comes to wrap itself around your throat, squeezing just enough to make you lightheaded as the hand between your legs continues. You’re watching him, honeyed eyes meeting your own. The pleasure builds and builds, the pressure threatening to overfloor as it pushes low in your abdomen and you’re so sure you’re about to cum all over Jesse’s hand.

But then everything stops. You whine at the loss of contact and he laughs, a deep, chesty sound. “So desperate to come for me.” He laughs again. “I appreciate the effort, little girl.”

“Please Jess, please.”

“Don’t worry baby, you’re going to get everything you need.” He says, leading you over to the bed.

His touch returns to you, hands making quick work of your body like he already knows your most intimate thoughts. Had you accidentally, somehow, projected your dreams on to Jesse? Had your intense wanting connected you somehow? Had he woken up hot and needing like you had? Before you can ponder the questions any longer, he switches the motions of his fingers, now curling towards that sweet spot within you.

“Stars Jesse— Please, I need- Can I-?” You can barely get the fucking question out. “Can I cum, please Jesse?”

“Not yet, sweetheart.” He says, withdrawing again. You let out a frustrated groan as your hips buck for him, searching for his touch. He flips you over on the bed, knees and face pressed into the mattress. “Gonna be good for me, my baby? Gonna take my cock well?”

You whimper as you nod. “Yes, please.” You can feel the head of his cock nudging the opening of your cunt, and stars, you can barely breathe. He is about to give you everything you have ever wanted.

He eases into you and the sound that leaves your mouth would make even the most devoted Jedi blush. You can feel him pushing deeper and deeper, stretching you out and around him and it is divine. It is better than you could have ever dreamt of. Your blood is pulsing, humming through your veins, your body is shaking with the effort of keeping your orgasm at bay. His hands find your hair again, pulling you up until you’re arched against him. With this new angle, Jesse is hitting places you have never even felt before. It’s too much, everything is too much.

“Pretty girl crying for me?” He says, a thumb catching your tear.

You mumble an incoherent answer, eyes rolling back into your head. He’s pounding into you mercilessly, whispering praises into your ear. He has a hand wrapped around under your chin, the other arm reaching around your front and down to your clit, holding you up in an inferno of pleasure. His name is falling from your lips like a prayer and you’re confident that anyone that happens to be walking by your rooms right now knows exactly what’s going on behind the doors. But instead of that thought bringing you shame, it just brings you closer to the edge.

“Gonna come for me, pretty jedi? Gonna scream my name? Want everyone to know who’s making you feel like this, I want the whole fucking ship to feel it.” Your eyes are squeezing shut as Jesse picks up the pace, relentlessly slamming into you over and over again, his fingers still dancing over your clit, focusing all his intent on your release. When you finally let go, it’s with a cry of Jesse’s name, nails digging into his thighs.

Jesse is not far behind you, hips stuttering with his own orgasm, your name falling from his lips in a sinful moan. The two of you sit for a second, bathing in the glowing aftermath. Jesse eventually pulls himself out, laying you gently down on the bed.

“Back in a second,” He says, placing a kiss to your forehead. You watch as he disappears into the refresher, and you hear the medical cabinet open and close. Seconds later, he returns with a bacta patch. “You should still get Kix to look at this.” He says, as he places it over the wound on your side. “But for now, sleep.”

#jesse x reader #arc trooper jesse x reader #i have no words #shameless #smut #star wars x reader #sw #sw x reader #tcw x reader #tcw #star wars smut #arc trooper jesse #obixwan #ao3

[thembo-apocalypse]

So, What is Beastars' Second Half like Anyway? (Spoilers, duh.)

If you're friends with me, following this blog, or stumble upon it because of the tags or manga scans featured throughout, you're probably roughly familiar with beastars. Therefore the series needs no introduction, so I can just skip it. Go read it or watch it if you haven't already, because this is going to be a spoiler fest. Beastars starts off as a pretty unique take on a teenage crime drama. For its first half (or roughly the first 100 chapters or so) it follows a pretty steadily escalating narrative of Legosi unravelling the case of the tragic murder of his classmate Tem. After a long build up Legosi gets revenge on Tem's murderer, and the two have a climatic battle under an overpass in true teen drama fashion. It's excellent, it's brutal, it's everything you expect it to be and more.

Then Legosi wakes up the next day, and has to deal with the aftermath.

This is already bizarre, because most drama series would probably pull curtains shortly after Legosi initially succeeds the night before. But this is the turning point, where the series radically shifts for the latter half of its runtime. Mainly, Legosi's out of highschool. He has a criminal record. He's broke. To top all of that off, he's working food service while living out of a crummy apartment.

The world suddenly pans out, radically so. It's no coincidence that the chapters immediately succeeding this dramatic shift in perspective also quickly introduce factors that were previously just outside of the peripheral vision of the cast. Legosi's family, The current Beaststar, and the Horns Conglomerate all suddenly come into focus. A series that had so completely hinged its identity around its high school setting has suddenly just blown that completely away. While some other important cast members remain in school for the duration of the series, from now on the story is largely concerned with the outside world.

I think it makes this moment where the highway underpass fight I mentioned earlier gets interrupted by the police much more meaningful. Yes, this is undoubtedly where Legosi (and Louis) succeed, Riz is captured and detained by law enforcement. But this is kind of an unorthodox way for that all to happen, right? In most shows like this, Legosi would simply turn Riz in at a station and disappear silently into the night. But that's fantasy. It all gets blown away in this exact moment. From now on, the main cast will be subject to adult life. There is no school to shelter any of these characters anymore. This is as liberating as it is tragic. I think this is brilliant. While the later half of beastars is undoubtedly still a crime drama, this new way of living gets a lot of attention for the rest of the series. Legosi changes almost completely from this point forward.

Beastars for a period, becomes about being a downtrodden youth living at the fringes of society. Not only in the difficulty of that lifestyle, but how you can find community pretty much anywhere.

Legosi is, despite everything, fine. His work is taxing, and adult life can be exhausting in a million different ways school life could never be. But, Legosi is successfully carving out a life for himself despite everything. He has new friends, a genuine bond with a decent amount of his neighbors, and even gets to meaningfully reunite with his father. It's genuinely extremely touching.

This is what beastars is really about to me. Please don't fuck this up, studio orange.

#beastars #legosi #spoiler #spoilers #beastars spoilers #manga #rant #blog #beastars manga #anime

[bitterkarella]

Midnight Pals: Future Art

Christopher Paolini: look at you suckers Paolini: still drawing with your hands? Paolini: think fast, grandpa, the future is now! Paolini: check out my new book, the cover is all AI generated King: why doesn’t the astronaut have arms? Paolini: Paolini: oh I uh meant to do that

Paolini: see, with AI you can just make any cover you want King: wow! Poe: what does this mean for human artists tho Paolini: uhhhh Paolini: what’s that? Sorry I can’t hear you, I must be going under an overpass

Paolini: this is going to revolutionize the fantasy art landscape Paolini: where we’re going, we won’t NEED artists Paolini: get outta here, ya losers! Paolini: we don’t need boris Vallejo when the AI can draw sweaty barbarians Paolini: we don’t need frank frazetta when the AI can draw chunky amazons Paolini: we don’t need the brothers Hildebrandt when the AI can draw a wizard! Beard and all!

Edward Lee: but bro Lee: that’s all well and good Lee: but could the AI draw a girl with big titties? Paolini: oh you’d be surprised Hearn: step aside, let me give the AI a REAL challenge Lafcadio Hearn: could it draw an ANIME girl with big titties?

Paolini: it’s been a long battle but finally we’re free from the tyranny of paying artists for their work Paolini: but I’m sure they’ll keep paying writers for our hard work Paolini: no way this could bite me in the ass

King: but Christopher aren’t you afraid that AI will eventually replace writers too? Paolini: haha replace writers? Haha what a concept! Paolini: please edgar I’m Christopher paolini Paolini: author of the inheritance cycle! Paolini: an epic fantasy about elves and dragons! Paolini: I’d like to see the AI that can think of that

Paolini: please people I wrote eragon! Paolini: a fantasy story about a guy spiritually bonded with a dragon Paolini: an idea totally original to me Anne McCaffrey: Gordon R. Dickson:

Laurel Hightower: so for the cover of this book, I’d like to see a mothman Slimyswampghost: you got it Hightower: can you give him a caked up ass like the statue Slimyswampghost: Slimyswampghost: ok Hightower: see this is why you use a real artist Hightower: Hightower: no Hightower: more caked up

#midnight pals #the midnight society #midnight society #christopher paolini #stephen king #edward lee #edgar allan poe #lafcadio hearn #anne mccaffrey #gordon r dickson #laurel hightower #slimyswampghost

[formulauno98]

Once Upon a Time in Miami | Chapter One

You're the new Director of Communications at Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team and it's your first weekend on the job, in Miami.

Word Count: 9.7k

Warnings: None

Author’s Notes: Sorry it's long but I hope you like it! Disclaimer, purely fiction, no-one is married in this alt-universe.

Thursday PM

“C’mon Y/N, you can do this…” you repeat to yourself, taking a deep breath and mentally preparing yourself as you take a step off of the plane.

The warm, cloying air hit you immediately, Miami was exactly as hot as you had remembered, even at 7 o’clock in the evening. When you’d been offered the role of Director of Communications of the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 team you had expected to travel but spending your first day on the job in Miami had come somewhat as a surprise. HR had given you the choice, fly out to Miami a few days before the inaugural Miami Grand Prix or hold off and start on the following Monday. You always liked a challenge so thought that the former route would be a good baptism by fire. They had promptly sent you a work laptop and phone so you had been able to get up to speed with every project that was currently underway.

You moved through the airport quickly, arriving at baggage claim in record time. You couldn’t help but smile at the huge Formula 1 billboards scattered around the airport. You were joining one hell of a money-making operation and a large part of your new role would be securing the funds to keep the team at the leading edge. Brokering deals between sponsors and the team was a key part of the business and it would be your job to ensure everyone was happy.

Exiting baggage claim you spotted a smartly dressed man holding a board up with “Y/N” written across it.

“Hi, I’m Y/N,” you say as you approach him.

“Good evening ma'am, nice to meet you. My name is Carlos and I will be your driver throughout your stay here in Miami. Please allow me to take those.” He gestures towards your two rather large Rimowa suitcases.

“Lovely to meet you, Carlos. That’s so kind of you, thank you very much.” you blush as it does seem like a lot of luggage for a four-day trip. HR had warned you of the possibility that you may need to travel straight to Barcelona after Miami and to pack enough to last a few weeks so you’d taken your trusty suitcases and packed them to the brim.

You followed Carlos as he cut through the throng of people, leading you to the parking garage to a rather glossy Mercedes S-Class. He opened the door for you and made quick work of putting the suitcases in the trunk as you ducked into the back seat.

“I know this shouldn’t come as a surprise but what an incredible car!” you exclaim, sinking back into the luxurious cream leather seats.

“Only the best for the best team.” Carlos winked as he backed out of the parking space.

You chatted away to Carlos as he sped along the twisting overpasses that exited the airport. He was a Miami native and full of travel tips and places to visit during your short stay. As you gazed out the window you took it all in. Miami was a strange place, a clash of cultures with glossy high-rise condos on one side and down-to-earth bodegas set behind. You’d visited a few times before and knew which side you preferred. You hoped to be able to escape the built-up areas for a little post-race fun.

As you pulled up to your hotel it sunk in. You had one night to compose yourself and then would meet the team tomorrow morning, ahead of qualifying. Having worked for Porsche for quite some years, working your way up from a Marketing Assistant to Comms Director you were more than familiar with motorsport but Formula 1 was a different kettle of fish. Fortunately, you had a fair amount of knowledge to draw upon as your father was an avid follower of the sport and you’d grown up watching stars such as Alonso and Raikonnen battle it out on track. It was surreal to think that Alonso was still racing to this day. 

Check-in was breezy and you found your room easily with the help of a very friendly bellhop. Your hotel room was simple but luxurious with a large cloud-like bed, marble tub, and floor-to-ceiling windows with a breathtaking view out across the harbour. There was no point in unpacking your suitcases but you took out a few of the outfits you had planned for the next few days.

In a bid to beat jet lag you decided to make it an early night, running yourself a bubble bath and cosying up in bed in a fluffy white towelling robe.

Friday AM

You woke up bright and early at 5:00 having slipped off to sleep quickly and forgetting to close the curtains. It was still semi-dark outside but car headlights were flashing from the boulevard below. You didn’t need to be at the track until 9:00 for a welcome breakfast so had plenty of time to get ready.

You were never the kind of person to feel nervous about getting dressed for work but today felt different. All team members were expected to wear a branded uniform on track and you were no exception, however, you were yet to receive it so would have to improvise for today. Luckily you’d brought options and tried on three different looks before settling on a simple pair of navy trousers and a navy shirt. Accessorising with a tan leather belt and sling-backs, you felt confidently chic, if a little old before your time. You’d blow-dried your hair and done full glam, hoping to make a good first impression.

You grabbed your handbag and made one final fit check in the mirror before making your way down to the hotel lobby.

As promised, Carlos was waiting outside to take you to the track. It was an easy fifteen-minute drive from here and you got there in no time at all. You’d seen hundreds of GPs in your time, however, you weren’t quite prepared for the hustle and bustle that met you at the paddock entrance. Everywhere you looked things were being wheeled in, from tyres to huge crates, journalists waiting lined up with cameras, snapping away to capture a glimpse into paddock life. 

You made your way to the security gates as you needed to have your photo taken for your pass. 

“So you’re joining Mercedes huh?” said the security guard, his tone seeming unimpressed as he snapped your photo.

“Yes, I’m super excited to be joining at such an interesting time.” You said tactfully.

The man laughed, “You could put it that way, those guys haven’t won all season.”

“Well I’m sure things will turn around in no time, I’ve heard they have some star engineers back in the factory. We’ll figure it out.” You winked.

He shrugged, not convinced by your optimism “Let’s see. Here’s your shiny new pass ma'am. Director of Communications, fancy.” 

As he handed you the glossy purple pass you inspected your photo. 

“That’s actually not so bad, I’ll have to come back to you when I need to renew my passport,” you laughed, putting the pass around your neck.

“Well, it’s not hard to take a great picture of someone so beautiful. Good luck on your first day.” he chuckled as you made your way through the gates.

“I try my best” you blushed, silly as it felt, your confidence was buoyed by the compliment.

Walking through the entrance you started scouring the horizon for the Mercedes logo. HR had asked to meet you in the hospitality building for a welcome coffee. Finally, you spotted it, right at the far end.

As you made your way through the paddock you recognised a few familiar faces, the drivers surrounded by a sea of cameras and eager fans angling for a selfie. It was only 8:45 but music was already pumping, Bad Bunny making sure you remembered where you were in the world.

You finally reached the hospitality area, a glossy room that you couldn’t believe was temporary. Although you were early, you spotted a small delegation at one of the tables with stacks of paperwork. Hedging your bets that this was HR, you approached them. “Hi, I’m Y/N, the new Director of Communications. I'm supposed to meet with HR at 9:00 and wondered if you might be them.”

An older blonde woman stood up to greet you, “Oh great, lovely to meet you Y/N, you are absolutely talking to the right people. I’m Pamela, I believe you spoke to my colleague Holly on the phone?” she gestured at a younger blonde woman sitting at the table.

“Oh yes, lovely to meet you both.” you shook their hands.

“Please take a seat and let’s get everything we need signed right away. I already have your contract but I’ll need you to sign this NDA and waiver.”

“Sure, thank you for organising everything,” you sat down and began to read through the paperwork in front of you. It was all pretty standard for this industry, the NDA (non-disclosure agreement) forbade you from sharing company information and the waiver asked that you agree to work hours outside of your contracted forty.

“If anything is unclear, please let us know.” Pamela said.

“Thank you, it should be all straightforward.” you continued reading.

Satisfied with the paperwork, you grabbed the pen and signed on the dotted line.

“Perfect, thank you Y/N. Welcome to the team,” said Pamela, filing the contracts away in a glossy branded folder. « Now the only thing left is to get you your team uniform. Holly will be able to help you with this if you follow her. »

Holly stood up, “Would you like to grab a coffee or a drink before we go? Once we go upstairs it might get rather full-on.” 

“Sure, that sounds good.” You stood up and followed Holly to a rather snazzy barista setup.

“Hi, what can I get you?” the girl at the counter asked.

“Just an espresso for me please” You always liked your coffee strong, it was the only thing that bolstered your spirits on long working days.

“No problem, one coming up.” The girl turned to the machine and started busily making your drink.

You made the classic first-day small talk with Holly, discussing if she’d ever been to Miami before (she hadn’t) and how hot it was (extremely).

The barista handed you a small cup with your espresso. You smiled as you noticed that even this was branded. This industry never missed a trick with branding opportunities.

“Great, so if you’ll please follow me Y/N, let’s get you your uniform.” Holly gestured towards a staircase you hadn’t noticed on your way in.

Leading you up some rather neat wooden steps, you follow Holly through another communal meeting room to an office. Inside, there was a white table with clothes and shoe boxes laid out.

“Right, so our uniform consists of a white shirt, black trousers, trainers and a black parka.” Holly gestured at the table, “We received your sizes and have brought those, along with one size smaller and one size larger to ensure a perfect fit. I will leave you for a moment to try them in privacy and if you need a mirror there’s one on the back of this door.” She gestured towards a door on the adjoining wall. “When you’re done, please come and grab me from next door.”

As Holly left the room, closing the door you came through behind her, you looked through the clothes laid out. You figured it would be most sensible to start with the sizes you requested, feeling a bit awkward as you undressed in the middle of the office. As you slipped on the black pants, you were pleasantly surprised to find they were a perfect fit, hugging your butt in all the right places. The shirt was a little tight so you reached for the larger size.

Just as you turned around to face the mirror and button your shirt, the door burst open, revealing a very surprised, tall brunette man. You immediately recognised him as Toto Wolff, the Team Principal, aka your new boss. 

“I’m so sorry, I was looking for my assistant.” he stammered, blatantly taking an eyeful of your rather see-through lace balconette bra, as you hurriedly pulled your shirt together, then awkwardly looking away towards the window behind you. 

“No worries, you’d see more on the beach,” internally you were mortified but outwardly tried to downplay it. “Holly from HR said I could try these in here, I hope that’s okay? I’m new, it's my first day today.” You tried to salvage the awkward situation having successfully covered your almost naked breasts.

“I suppose that’s true, but you don’t often go to the beach with your colleagues in our line of work.” He laughed, breaking the tension and stepping into the room.

“Does that mean we’re not hitting South Beach at our team briefing later?” you smiled, a glint in your eye.

“If only.” His embarrassed expression dissipated into a warm smile, his eyes crinkling “It’s absolutely fine to be in here though, I’m so sorry again. So if today is your first day, you must be Y/N?”

Surprised he knew about new starters, you replied “Yes, I’m the new Director of Communications.”

“Lovely to meet you Y/N, we’re looking forward to having you join us. I’m Toto by the way, the Team Principal and CEO. I’m sure we will be working very closely together.” he reached out a hand to shake yours, again rather awkwardly, “ I think my assistant has put some time in for us later today before the team briefing, maybe we can do a real introduction then?”

Shaking his hand, you laughed “Nice to meet you too Mr Wolff, that sounds good to me.”

“Please, call me Toto and I’m sorry again for walking in,” he apologised again, a blush creeping across his face.

“Honestly, don’t worry Toto, these things happen and you weren’t to know I was in here.” you reassured him.

“Well, I will leave you to try on your uniform. See you later Y/N,” he said, ducking awkwardly back out of the door.

Smiling, you bid him farewell, “Nice to meet you and see you later!”

“Likewise, welcome to Mercedes Y/N.” he grinned, closing the door behind him.

You continued to try the rest of your uniform until settling on the perfect fit, thankfully this time uninterrupted. Of all people, you couldn’t believe it had been the team principal to walk in on you half-naked, the man you had been most nervous to meet. Although you were beyond mortified and regretting your choice of transparent underwear, it had at the least broken your nerves. Nothing could now be worse or more embarrassing and he had been very apologetic.

Ten minutes later you emerged from the room with your chosen pieces in your arms, making your way to the room next door where Holly was waiting. “Hi Holly, I’ve tried everything on and settled on these,” you said, gesturing at the clothes in your arms.

“Great, can I just grab those and note the sizes so that I can get five sets ordered?” She extended her hand towards you, taking the clothes and shoes and noting the sizes down.

“Five? Wow, that’s a lot more than I was expecting!” your eyebrows raised.

“Trust me, in places like Miami and Singapore you’ll thank me.” Holly laughed and handed you back the pieces you had chosen.

“That’s true I suppose, should I put these on for now?” you asked, trying your best to fold the shirt whilst holding onto the trousers and trainers.

“It’s totally up to you, however, you feel comfortable. You can leave your clothes in the office where you changed if you’d like. We don’t have any other new starters today so no one will go in there. Once you’re done, perhaps could you please make your way back downstairs?”

“Except for Toto.” you thought to yourself. Choosing to stay quiet on that particular encounter you replied “Great, thank you, I’ll just go and change and then meet you back downstairs.”

You made your way back to the room to change, this time choosing to face away from the doors just in case. Folding your carefully chosen first-day outfit you regretted the amount of time you had spent this morning choosing an outfit no one had seen. Stepping back and inspecting your new uniform in the mirror you were pleased, it was a good fit. Fitted without being too tight but fitted enough to showcase your gym-honed body, all in all, a good uniform that you wouldn’t hate wearing every day.

Satisfied with your new look, you made your way back downstairs to the hospitality area where Pamela and Holly were both waiting for you with a now full table.

“Doesn’t she look great!” Exclaimed Pamela.

“I know!” Said Holly, their colleagues nodding in agreement. “Welcome to the team!”

“Thank you, very excited to be here.” You blushed, not used to the compliments.

You spent the next hour in hospitality meeting an endless stream of new faces, trying to mentally keep track of everyone’s names and positions within the company. It seemed as if everyone and their mother was coming in for a cup of coffee to start the day. Engineers, mechanics, logistics, they were all there. Finally, it was time to meet your direct team, the Communications department, a group of eighteen people who you would be overseeing. You were met with a sea of friendly and enthusiastic faces, as well as some surprise at how young you were to be stepping into such a prestigious role. When you had been offered the role, you were aware that your predecessor was retiring and knew that the team wanted someone younger with a fresher perspective.

Introductions were short and sweet as Holly was adamant she needed to whisk you away for your meeting with Toto Wolff. Of course, she was not aware that you had already met him earlier this morning and you hoped that it wouldn’t be too awkward.

She led you back upstairs, into the room where you had gotten changed, knocking on one of the doors Toto had burst through earlier, “Toto, I have someone for you.”

“Yes, come in” called out a voice from inside the room.

“Hi Toto, this is Y/N, our new Director of Communications. Y/N, this is Toto, our Team Principal, and CEO. I will leave you two to get acquainted.”

“Hi Toto, nice to see you again.” You said with a smile, causing Holly’s eyebrows to raise in surprise as she exited.

“Hello Y/N, likewise. I still must apologise for this morning, I am very sorry if I caused you any distress. It’s not the way I normally like to meet my new members of staff. Please have a seat.” He gestured towards the seat facing him.

“Honestly, no worries at all. We’re all grown-ups and you didn't know that I was in there.” You sat down across from him, “I must admit I was a little nervous for my first day but it has definitely broken that. I’ve spent the morning meeting the team and they’ve all been lovely so far.”

“I’m glad to hear it, I pride myself on the fact that our team is one of the friendliest in the paddock. We work hard but ultimately we like to feel like one big family.” He smiled. “So, tell me about yourself Y/N? I know that you have come to us from Audi, so not so different. And before we get into it, can I offer you a drink?”

“Water would be great please,” you continued to tell him about your previous role as he poured you a large glass of iced water from a branded carafe. As you spoke you couldn’t help but be a little unnerved by him. He was an extremely tall, imposing man, even sat down behind a desk and you could sense that he was someone you would not want to get on the wrong side of.

“So what made you want to join our team?” He leant forward, not breaking eye contact and giving you the impression he was trying to psycho-analyse you.

“Well, I fancied a change of pace and I’ve always enjoyed the travel aspect of my career and this opened up that opportunity. My father was an avid Formula One fan and I have followed the sport since I was a child so it felt right.”

He leant back, folding his arms, still gazing into your eyes. “Interesting. Well, we certainly travel around a lot Y/N. You’ll have to bring your father to one of the races once you are settled in.”

You laughed “That was the first thing he asked when I landed this role, when can I come?” 

Toto smiled, you couldn’t help noticing that he really was rather handsome. His white Mercedes shirt was cut to perfection to showcase his muscular arms and broad chest. “Everybody’s family says that, including my own. You would think they would be fed up with it by now but no.”

“I suppose it’s the nature of the job.” You smiled, echoing his body language and leaning back into your chair, “So Holly mentioned that we have a team briefing this afternoon. Obviously I do not have anything to add at this stage but I would like to introduce myself, would that be the appropriate time?”

“100%. I will introduce you and then we can take it from there. I am aware that you have, how do you say? Jumped out of the frying pan into the fire? It’s not an easy way to start but I hope you will start to get the measure of how we work and the expectations from our sponsors.”

“Great, that sounds good.” you replied, satisfied that at least there was some kind of plan. You continued discussing the ins and outs of your role for the next twenty minutes, Toto assuring you that although this weekend was going to be a sharp learning curve, he understood that you were new to the company so was willing to give you a grace period.

As you wrapped up you started to make a move from your chair, “ Thank you so much for your time Toto, I really appreciate the warm welcome. I will leave you alone now as I know you must be a very busy man.” 

“Not at all, it’s been my pleasure. We will be working very closely together and I hope that you know my door is always open at any time.” He got up to show you out, his imposing stature even more evident.

“Thank you, Toto, I’m looking forward to it.” You made your way out, pleased that your meeting had not been too awkward following the morning’s encounter.

As you exited his office, Toto called out to you, “The uniform looks great by the way!”

And there it was, the awkwardness was back. You turned around, trying to hide your blush “You would say that, we’re twinning!” You inwardly cringed at your response but it seemed to win over Toto who was laughing as he closed his office door. Hot-footing it back downstairs you weren’t sure what to make of your new boss. He had an air of authority but equally seemed receptive to having a laugh. He was also incredibly handsome, more handsome than someone in motorsport had business being.

As you made your way down the stairs, you were met with a small camera crew. Not sure whether you should be in the shot, you tried to skirt around the edges when you were suddenly whisked to the side by a harassed-looking Pamela.

“Y/N, I am so sorry but I realised we forgot to ask you to sign one more document, the waiver for you to feature in the Netflix documentary, Drive to Survive. It is unlikely they will want to heavily feature you but it is standard practice for all of our employees as they can then have free reign to film all areas and not worry about having to avoid certain faces.”

“Sure,” you had forgotten about Drive to Survive, one aspect you were less keen on. You had no ambition to be in the public eye and the documentary had transformed certain team members into TV stars. Even Toto had not been so much of a household name prior to the show. Hoping to give a good impression, you signed without protest, praying that you would not be featured. You knew that as Director of Communications you would undoubtedly be involved as it was a huge part of the team image, but hopefully you could keep behind the scenes and manage things from afar.

You spent the rest of the morning being briefed by various teams on how they worked with the Communications team. Time flew by and it was lunchtime before you knew it. You had a lowkey lunch in the hospitality area with a few members of the Communications department who would be working under you. They were noticeably nervous about eating lunch with their new boss so you tried to put them at ease by asking them about Miami. It emerged that everybody was excited and hoping to get to the beach on Sunday evening if the race went well for the team. You crossed your fingers that Sunday was going to be a success.

Friday PM

As the afternoon rolled on, the team got into practice and everyone was very much focused on the task at hand. You shadowed your team, learning where you would be needed on qualifying and race day. It was almost an overwhelming amount of information to process but once you got used to the structure of the team, it felt familiar.

The atmosphere in the post-practice team briefing was lively and boisterous after Lewis and George had performed above expectations with everyone excitedly chatting about the positive results. You heard a door open and a hushed tone took over the room. You turned your head and saw exactly why. Toto has entered. You could see from the way the noise dampened as he entered that the team had a huge amount of respect for Toto.

He made his way to the front of the room and clapped his hands together, “Well, firstly I would like to say thank you and well done to everybody. These results are the best we have had all season and I know how much hard work, blood, sweat and tears have been put into making the car more drivable.” A small burst of applause broke out and he paused, “But I think we should all be aware that we should not be complacent, good performance in practice is one thing but qualifying and the race are different beasts. We need to continue to push tomorrow and on Sunday and get back on top, where we belong.” Approving nods went around the room as he continued to assess the day's performance, highlighting the good as well as areas of improvement.

The discussion continued for quite some time, with active participation from the team. You were impressed with how collaborative the team felt, Toto was right, it was like a big family. As he wrapped the practice analysis, he looked over towards you and gestured for you to come and join him. Gingerly making your way to the front of the room you turned to face the team.

“Last but not least, it is my pleasure to introduce you all to Y/N, our new Director of Communications,” he paused for another round of applause and murmurs of welcome, “She is joining us from Audi’s racing team and we are very much looking forward to welcoming her to the family. I am sure many of you may have already met today but I would like you all to make her feel welcome and introduce yourselves if you haven’t already. She will be key in preserving our brand image and communicating our values to the wider world, including sponsors.”

“Thank you Toto, I am thrilled to be joining the team and I look forward to tomorrow and Sunday.” You kept it short, unsure what else to add but Toto beamed away and seemed happy.

“So, that brings today to a close, I look forward to seeing you all bright and early tomorrow. I have a good feeling and I think we will soon get back on top.” Toto once again clapped his hands together, signalling the end of the briefing. The team immediately began to file out so you followed suit.

“Y/N,” called a voice from behind. You turned around to face none other than Lewis Hamilton.

“Oh hello, you must be Lewis?” You said politely, well aware of who he was.

“Yes, nice to meet you. I think we’ll be spending a lot of time together moving forward and I just wanted to introduce myself and welcome you to the team before the crazy of the weekend.” He held out his tattooed hand to shake yours.

“Lovely to meet you, I appreciate that. I expect I’ll be bugging you to film social media content, wear watches and drink Monster all the time from now on.”

He smiled, “It’s never a bother, I know how tricky it must be to manage those relationships. It’s good to have someone with a new outlook. Toto mentioned that you would be a little younger than Sarah, your predecessor, and I think it’s a good thing. She was amazing but times have to change.” 

“That’s interesting to hear, I’ve heard a lot about Sarah. Feels like big shoes to fill.” 

“Indeed,” Toto suddenly loomed out of nowhere, “She was an incredible team leader and I know that the team will miss her a lot. But as Lewis said, it is exciting to get a fresh perspective.”

“Well, I will use this weekend to gauge where we are at and let’s see.” You replied.

“I can’t wait. Lovely to meet you Y/N,” Lewis made a move towards the door, “I had better head off for some shut-eye.”

“Nice to meet you too Lewis, sweet dreams,” you turned to Toto, “Thank you for the glowing introduction, it was a little daunting getting up there in front of so many new people.”

“I know, I hope I didn’t put you on the spot there, as you may have guessed, they are very excited to have you on board.” He smiled down at you, “I suppose I should also get going, we always try to have an early night before qualifying.”

“That’s good to know, I am feeling a little jet lagged so will also make an early night of it.” You started walking towards the door, thinking that Toto would be staying behind but instead he followed you, asking, “Are you getting a car back to the hotel?” 

You turned back towards him, “Yes, I think my driver, Carlos, should be waiting for me, I dropped him a message as we were wrapping the briefing.”

“Efficient, I like it. Well, I need to go and take care of a few things before I head off. Are you okay to walk back to the parking lot alone, or would you like me to walk with you? It’s getting dark outside,” His eyes showing genuine concern.

“That’s really kind but I should be fine, I did the same route in the morning so hopefully I can figure it out,” you made your way out, not sure what to make of his offer. As a new member of staff, you didn’t want to show any weakness but equally didn’t want to come off as rude so you added, “Thank you so much for offering though,”

“If you’re sure, get back safe okay?” He paused at the bottom of the stairs that would take him back to his office, “And thank you for not saying anything about this morning to Holly or Pamela, HR would not be kind about it.”

You laughed, “Don’t worry Toto, it was as awkward for me as it was for you and I figured it’s better off being our little secret. Let’s agree to never speak of it again.”

“Well, I appreciate that, it’s a deal.” he winked at you, “Goodnight Y/N.”

“Goodnight Toto.”You made your way back to the paddock, which was somewhat emptier than earlier but still bustling with people. Glad that you hadn’t taken up Toto on his offer, you made your way quickly back to the parking lot.

You set your sights on the familiar silver Mercedes saloon where Carlos was patiently waiting “Hi Carlos, thank you so much for waiting for me.” 

Opening the door for you, Carlos replied “Good evening ma’am, my pleasure. How was your first day?”

You chatted away to Carlos as he drove you back to the hotel. It hit you as you entered the lobby just how tired you were and you decided to forgo dinner in place of an early night. Making your way back up to your room you reflected on how your first day had gone, aside from the flashing the boss, it had been smooth sailing and you couldn’t wait for Saturday when you could really get stuck into the role.

Saturday AM

Jet lag was definitely going to be an issue, you woke up at three o’clock, four o’clock and five o’clock before realising that there was no way you were dropping back to sleep so you made the executive decision to head down to the hotel gym. Slipping on your favourite workout fit, pink shorts and a matching sports bra, you made your way down the elevator and through the heavy glass doors. Unsurprisingly the place was empty so you made the most of it, running for half an hour and then moving onto the free weights.

Pumping your music through your headphones you hadn’t noticed that you were no longer alone in the gym and got quite the shock when you turned around to see Toto making his way towards the weights bench. He made eye contact so you slipped your headphones off.

“Good morning Y/N, I didn’t expect to see anyone down here. No one ever comes this early so I always make the most of it.” He said, clearly looking at your skimpy pink outfit up and down.

Glancing back at him, clocking his tight black tee and grey workout shorts, you responded, “Morning Toto, I’m sorry, I can leave if you prefer to work out alone. I just couldn’t sleep, still a little jetlagged.” 

“No not at all, please don’t go on account of me, there is enough space for us to work out together and I could do with a spotter.” He said, gesturing towards the weights bench.

You smiled politely “Well if you’re sure. I’m not sure if I am the best spotter if you lift as much as I’m thinking you do but I'm happy to help.”

“How much do you think I lift?” He smirked, “For all you know I might be bench pressing ten kilos.”

“Something tells me that’s not true.” You laughed, “Let me know when you’d like me to help, I have two more sets to do and then I can be all yours.”

“Perfect, and if you ever need a spotter, I am here too.” He smiled, getting onto the treadmill to warm up.

You felt a little awkward continuing your squat set but it would have been weirder to stop and start another exercise so you made a start.

“You have great form, you know.” You turned around to see Toto running on the treadmill, watching you intently.

“I try my best,” you replied, still unsure of what to make of this man. Was he just being friendly or was there a spark? Surely it would be extremely unprofessional for him to flirt with his new colleague, especially one who reported directly to him.

“I can see that.” He smirked yet again, “Sorry I will leave you alone to finish your sets.”

You powered through your sets, hyper-aware of the fact that you were now being watched, praying that your shorts weren’t too see-through every time you bent down. Eventually, you finished and glanced over to Toto who was sitting on a weights bench wrapping his hands.

“I’m done so all yours,” you wandered over to him.

“Great, thank you Y/N. Could you please stand behind my head?” He got onto the weights bench, lying back with his head at one end and feet firmly on the floor. 

“Sure, I’ll be here if you need me.” You made your way over and got into position, standing directly over his head as he reached his arms out to the barbell. “How many reps?”

Toto glanced up at you, “Twelve, think you’re up to it?”

“Sure, let’s go.” You got into position, hands hovering ready, clocking the double plates on the barbell. This guy was strong. “Shall I count you down?”

“That would be very helpful.” Toto wrapped his hands around the barbell.

“3, 2, 1, Go.” Toto proceeded to lift the weight, his face strained in concentration. As he reached his twelve reps he began to slow, having reached his limit.

“Eleven, Twelve.” He counted his last two lifts and placed the barbell back on the rack, satisfied with his set, “I now rest for two minutes.” He stayed flat on his back, out of breath, looking up at you, making you suddenly aware of the fact that he was getting an eyeful of your underboob from this particular angle. Tactfully taking a step back, you glanced down at him.

“That was impressive Toto, but maybe next time you can try and bench more than ten kilos?” you grinned, hoping he would take the ribbing the right way.

“Very funny.” he cracked a smile, “Maybe you can try and squat five?”

“Touché” you replied, enjoying this light banter. “So how many sets do you do?”

“Just three, I don’t do too much but I try to do enough to stay in shape in my old age.” he said effusively.

SIlently thinking to yourself that he was doing more than enough, you smiled, “Three is plenty and you’re not old!”

“How old do you think I am Y/N?” he said, a cheeky glimmer in his eye.

Catching onto his playful banter, you replied “That’s a trick question. If I have to answer, you do too.”

“Okay, but you go first.” he smiled, clearly enjoying messing with you.

“I don’t know, forty five?” you shrugged your shoulders.

“Close, but not quite. One more guess.” he teased.

“Okay, forty seven?” you guessed again.

He smiled, “Closer, I’m fifty. So definitely old.”

“Wow, okay, well then I hope you’re flattered that I shaved five years off of that. The only reason I didn’t say younger is that I know you’ve been with the team for quite some years and unless you were a baby Team Principal I took a punt” you glanced down at him, hoping you’d said the right thing.

Still smiling, he looked as if he was sussing you out, “Very logical. I’ll take that, five years is okay.”

“So how old do you think I am?” you gazed down at him.

He deadpanned “Not a day under seventy three.” 

“Oh my gosh, how did you know?” you laughed, feigning surprise.

“I’m the Team Principal, it’s my job to know everything.” he winked at you, “I’m kidding Y/N, I saw your CV, I know exactly your age.”

Surprised he had even seen your CV, you smiled at him, “With brilliance like that, I can see why you’re the boss.”

“Maybe I can teach you a few things.” his gaze hardened, “Two minutes is up, time for the next set.”

You repeated the process twice through, until he could lift no more, sweat pouring off him.

“Thank you very much Y/N. It was good to be able to do my full workout without my trainer. Perhaps I will see you more in the gym?” he eased himself up, mopping his brow with his t-shirt, flashing you a glance of some surprisingly solid abs.

Snatching your eyes away you replied hastily “Yes, perhaps. Let’s see how the jetlag situation goes.”

“You’ll get used to it, don’t worry Y/N. It takes some time but we all do.” his brown eyes filled with concern.

“I hope so, thank you Toto. That certainly woke me up. Now I had better go and get ready for the day.” You turned around, making your way towards the double doors to exit.

“Me too, I’ll see you at the track.” he waved goodbye.

Saturday PM

Having taken your time to get ready that morning and catch up on the deluge of emails that had already come your way, you made your way to the track for what would be your first quali. As Miami was a new track you were to pay particular attention to the worldwide press and corporate sponsors’ race day experiences, with some of your team assigned to the Yacht Club and Beach Club areas to keep an eye on.

Now feeling like a seasoned professional, you scanned your pass at the gates and made your way to the Mercedes Hospitality Area, where you were greeted by Holly.

“Good afternoon Y/N. How was your evening? Did you manage to get out and about?” she bounced up to you, clearly not as jet-lagged as you were.

“Hi Holly, it was nice thanks, I actually went straight to bed. How about you?” you replied.

“Ah, jet lag? You get used to it, I promise.” she said, “Can I get you a coffee or anything?”

“Yes, I hope so! That’s fine, thanks, I try not to after lunchtime.” you knew caffeine was a slippery slope and you hoped to get through the day without it.

“If you’re sure, perhaps then I can show you up to your office?” Holly gestured back towards the spiral staircase.

“My office?” your eyes widened, “I didn’t think I had one, I thought this was it.”

“Oh no, you have an office in a prime spot.” she laughed. “Come with me, I’ll show you the way.”

“Great, very handy!.” you followed her up the stairs where you had gone yesterday and made your way through the room where you had changed and towards Toto’s office. She stopped short of his door and turned to a door just to the left, entering into a compact but sleek workspace.

“Wow, this is neat,” you exclaimed, looking around. It still blew your mind that this entire building was essentially a glorified trailer. You had a glossy white desk, black leather chair and acrylic laptop stand. Opposite was a black leather sofa and a small drinks fridge, stocked full of iced water and soft drinks. You immediately felt right at home, confident you would be able to work easily from here.

“I hope you like it, apologies I didn’t bring you here yesterday, I didn’t want to overwhelm you. It’s up to you where you work but when things get going it’s useful to have a space to escape to and crack on.”

“It’s perfect, thank you, Holly. Perhaps I might stay up here for the next hour or so until I’m needed in the garage?”

“That’s no problem, please make yourself at home.” Holly left, closing the door behind her, “I’ll see you later.”

“See you later,” you called out, not sure if she heard you.

Just as you had gotten settled in and put your head down to work your phone buzzed with a text.

Hi Y/N. I’m sorry to bother you but there is a situation down at the Marina and I’m not sure how best to deal with it.

It was Tom, the Partnership Manager, who worked on your team. A little unnerved by the vague insinuation of a situation, you replied. 

Okay, I’m on my way. Give me ten minutes and I’ll be there.

You gathered your laptop, a notebook and phone and rushed out of the door, smack bang into a very tall and solid man’s chest. Throwing your hands up in your face instinctively, he grabbed your arm mid-air stopping you from falling backwards from the force of the thud.

“Y/N. We have to stop bumping into each other like this.” you looked up to see Toto looking down, his large hand still wrapped around your wrist.

“I’m so sorry Toto, I’ll check both ways next time I open that door.” you stammered, freeing your wrist, a little unnerved being so close in his proximity.

“No worries, I’m a big boy, I can take it.” his eyes widened realising how his words sounded, “Sorry that was crass, you know what I mean. It didn’t hurt, don’t worry about it.” 

You blushed at his comments, not sure what to say. “I know what you meant. Well, I had better get going, my team needs me down at the marina.”

“Okay Y/N, I’ll see you back in the garage then.” he now looked bemused.

“Sure, see you soon Toto.” you half ran away, fifty percent from embarrassment, fifty percent because you were late, hoping that the tall Austrian was not watching you.

Having successfully located your Partnerships Manager, Tom, it became apparent that the situation in question was none other than the famous fake marina. You’d seen it everywhere on social media but were surprised to see that it was somehow worse in real life. The vinyl water was pixelated and looked ridiculous alongside the fake boats. Tanned men in polo shirts and women in skimpy bikinis paraded around on the glossy decks, clearly making the most of their five-figure tickets as you sought to rectify the situation.

One of the key team sponsors was not happy with the bottle service on their yacht and was threatening to pull their involvement if it was not improved for race day. Fortunately, you were able to successfully smooth things over with the promise of two paddock passes and made it clear to the waitstaff that they needed to prioritise your guests. Tom was clearly grateful for your help and support and looked considerably calmer as you diffused the situation.

“Thank you Y/N, I was in above my head on that one,” he walked alongside you, back to your office, “Nothing I said appeased them”

“Ah, that’s where our paddock passes come in handy Tom,” you smiled, “They’re like gold dust round these parts.”

“Well that’s good to know for the future, hopefully, they will sort the marina next season!” he grimaced, “I can’t believe how expensive those tickets are.”

“It’s Miami, they were always going to be,” you paused and turned around, “Although even I must admit it’s bizarre to have fake water in a city full of waterways.”

“That’s what I said to everyone!” he exclaimed. “Well thank you again, I am going to head over to the Beach Club next and check in on what’s going on there.”

“Great, thank you, Tom, if you need me for anything I am going to be in with Marketing for the next hour.” you smiled at him.

“Thank you Y/N, hopefully not. I’ll see you soon,” he called out as he walked off into the throng of people making their way to the further corners of the track.

Thankfully the afternoon passed with no further drama and quali went just as well as the team had dared to hope, with Lewis scoring P2 and George P3. The team briefing that followed was equally as positive as the evening before and you were impressed with how everyone in the team discussed their highs and lows. Hanging around afterwards, you met several more new faces, including George Russell, the team’s other star driver, who seemed equally as friendly as his counterpart.

Eventually, the team started to dissipate and sensing it was time to go you started to make a move towards the door before a deep voice called out to you. “Y/N, did the guys invite you to our dinner?” It was Toto.

You turned back to face him, surprised to see he had changed out of his Mercedes uniform and into a pair of beige chinos and a light blue linen shirt. He looked rather dashing and a touch less intimidating. “Oh no, no one mentioned it to me, is it happening now?”

Toto caught up with you, “We’re heading out now, it’s a little tradition that we try to go for one team dinner with everybody per calendar month. Somewhere lowkey and casual where everyone can let loose and bond as a team.”

“That sounds lovely,” you paused, feeling foolish about what you were going to say next, “The only problem is I only have this.” you gestured down at your uniform. “Won’t it look a little conspicuous when you’ve all changed?”

Toto smiled kindly, “Yes, of course, well if you go now you can stop off via the hotel to change?”

“Great, I’ll ask one of my team to text me the details,” you said, returning his grin, “Thank you, Toto, it’s very kind.” 

“Perfect, see you there.” Toto turned to another member of staff and you could hear him asking the same. It was nice that he took so much time to talk to his employees and foster the team spirit. You were starting to gauge the way this team was run and you could already tell it was much less toxic than the one you had left behind. 

Sunday AM

You woke up late the next morning feeling warm and fuzzy. As the race was not until eight-thirty that evening you’d enjoyed a lie-in. Last night you’d all gone to a down-to-earth steakhouse, a little out of town. It had been a good opportunity to get to know everyone a little better and you were surprised to see that even Lewis and George were there, chatting away to anybody who would listen. 

As you had gone back to your hotel to change, you'd arrived a little later than everyone else and they had no qualms about all squashing up to make space for you, taking your place with the rest of the Senior Management. You’d enjoyed a pleasant chat over dinner with the Strategy Director and Chief Engineer with Toto interjecting every so often. You admired the way that after plates had been cleared he worked the room, making sure to mingle amongst even the junior staff. You tried to follow suit and did some of your own networking, checking in on your team especially. All-in-all a good experience and one that you looked forward to again.

Mindful of the fact that you needed to bring your a-game today you made sure to keep the drinks minimal and switched to soda and lime pretty early on in the night. A few of your colleagues were edging towards tipsy but you were glad to see that people seemed to be sensible.

Getting ready for the day, you took a little extra time doing your hair and make-up as last night Toto had warned you that Netflix would be filming some scenes in the garage. It seemed silly but you wanted to look as good as possible if you were in shot. Satisfied with your appearance you made your way down to the lobby and into the garage where Carlos was waiting. Having your own driver was a perk you had not expected and one which you’d quickly grown accustomed to. Greeting Carlos and ducking into the backseat, you could not quite believe your luck.

Sunday PM

Carlos kindly dropped you right at the paddock gates meaning you were able to go straight in. Having eaten brunch in your room you decided to go directly to your office and catch up on your work, grabbing an espresso on the way. As you made your way there you noticed a certain buzz in the building that had definitely not been there on Friday or Saturday. It was certainly race day.

Comfortable in your new chair and now stuck into work, you were thankful that there were no more hiccups this afternoon and your main priority was ensuring some content Lewis had filmed with Tom Brady went out in good time with the correct information. Satisfied with your team’s efforts you closed the lid to your laptop and leaned back, staring into space, pensieve.

A knock on the door snapped you out of it and you looked up to see a red-headed woman peeking around the door. “Hello Y/N, we haven’t met yet but I’m Toto’s EA, Lara. He would like to see you before the race, are you free now?”

“Nice to meet you, Lara, sure I can do now.” you stood up, gathering your things, “Is he next door?”

A voice called out “Yes I am.”

“You can hear me?” you asked incredulously.

“Crystal clear.” you could hear a deep, throaty chuckle, “The walls are thin and you are extremely loud.”

You made your way around to Toto’s office, Lara disappearing back into the main communal area.

“So no private phone calls?” you asked, taking a seat opposite him.

“There are no secrets in this team,” he said, looking smug.

“Noted. What’s on the agenda this afternoon?” you asked, trying to stay professional.

“I’d like to get your take on Netflix. As it stands they have asked if I am available to spend a full day with them in a few weeks.” he paused, looking unsure of himself, “They want to film another gym scene as they say the last one was very popular on social media. What do you think? I think it’s a bit weird, no? I would rather concentrate on the racing.”

“Hm, on one hand, those scenes make you more of a character, more personable but on the other, we only have limited screen time as a team. Would you not rather use the day to focus on Lewis or George?” you said tactfully.

“That’s exactly what I’m thinking, why would anyone want to see me when they can learn more about our stars? His brow furrowed, “I know that some of the other team principals relish it but it’s not my thing.”

“I have heard on the grapevine that you have quite the legion of fans though? It could make sense, especially if they are spending the same amount of time with the other Team Principals. We don’t want you to look starchy in comparison. We have to play the game a little.” You weighed it up, “I think let’s pencil it in for now. I will try to find out if they are doing the same with the other teams.”

“Okay, I had better get practising then, I have to keep up appearances.” he said, “Maybe you can be my spotter again?”

“Absolutely not.” you flatly refused, “I’ll be there behind the crew, making sure they don’t catch you only lifting ten kilos.”

“Let’s see,” he said, in a tone that implied you were not wiggling your way out of this one.

“Is there anything else you would like to discuss while I’m here?” you asked.

“No I think that is all, Lara will put it in the diary.” he folded his long fingers together under his chin, “I’ll let you know if there is anything else.”

“Thanks, Toto,” you bid him goodbye and made your way out.

“See you later,” he called out.

Now at T-1 Hour, you made your way back to the group hospitality area where you had set up some of your team for the race. The social team would be down in the garage gathering content, the sponsorship team down in the Yacht Club, and the press team with the drivers doing the media circuit, leaving you with the marketing and merch team. The race would be shown on a big screen within this space, giving you the bizarre experience of watching the race on TV despite being trackside.

Keeping an eye on the press and social media feeds you were satisfied with the way content had been delivered so far this weekend. Ironically the top performing post across all platforms was one of Toto sipping a cocktail by a pool. You made sure to note this down to bring up in your next meeting.

Soon enough it was lights out and away we go, the race a tense and noisy affair. Thirty-two laps in, Lewis managed to take the lead, leading the rapturous applause around the room, however, one unlucky safety car later and he dropped back to second. As the chequered flag was waved, Lewis took a respectable P2 and George a P4, having been just pipped to the post of a podium finish by Carlos Sainz. They were arguably the best results of the season and you hoped this was the turning point for the team.

You quickly made your way down to the garage to cast your eyes on the post-race interviews. Sky Sports had already grabbed Toto who was looking thrilled with the results. Wrapping his interview up, he came over to you.

“So your first race day, what did you think?” he asked, looking at you expectantly.

“It was great, there was a real buzz in the air. I’m so glad we’re back on top, where we belong.” you gestured at the TV repeating the footage of the podium, Lewis spraying a huge bottle of champagne everywhere.

“I hope so.” he smiled warmly. “Let’s see what next week brings.”

You couldn’t help but agree with him on that one, it seemed a little pre-emptive to dare to dream for a win. “Indeed.” Smiling back at Toto you realised that you were running late for Lewis’ photocall, “I have to dash but let’s catch up properly on Monday.”

“Sounds good, I hope you get out to see some of Miami tonight.” he replied, “It’s a fun city.”

“Let’s see.” you laughed, wanting nothing more than to crawl into your bed.

“Another early night?” he winked at you.

“Maybe,” you said shyly, knowing full well that is exactly what you were going to do, any minute now.

[kiramarien]

“Why is the “beskar” so important for the Mandalorians?”

This is actually a question that was asked in universe. There was a moment in Star Wars where the future of beskar (and the future of Mandalore) was called into question.

Throughout The Mandalorian series we are shown over and over again just how powerful beskar armor is. Especially pure beskar alloy.

It easily deflects blaster bolts, and it has even been shown to deflect lightsaber blades, something very few metals have been able to do. The purer the beskar, the stronger the armor becomes.

But beskar is not only one of the strongest metals in Star Wars; it also has enormous cultural significance to the Mandalorian people. This is best explained through the events that happen in Season 4 Episodes 1 and 2 of the animated series Star Wars Rebels, titled "Heroes of Mandalore." This happens before the Purge of Mandalore, a few years before Rogue One and A New Hope.

After years of civil war, Mandalore has fallen into Imperial rule.

Some factions have chosen to accept this, and others have even chosen to join the empire. But we all know Mandalorians. Most of them will never go down without a fight.

Hoping to subdue the rebellious factions fighting against them on their planet, the Empire tried to find some kind of tool they could use to subdue the people of Mandalore. And they did. They developed a prototype of a weapon that not only overpassed the protections of their beskar armor, but used it against them.

“(The) Arc Generator's energy pulse is drawn to the beskar alloy in the Mandalorians' armor, superheating it and instantly vaporizing the target,”

The weapon was used, and- well…

… It was devastating.

“You miss the true artistry of this weapon, Governor Saxon. It turns an armor legendary for its strength into a crippling weakness, and it strikes at the very heart of your people's tradition.“ - Grand Admiral Thrawn.

When the weapon is used, and they see the extent of the damage it can do, the Mandalorians we see are shattered.

Because of this, the Empire may just turn their world into a wasteland.

In this moment, the characters are mourning their dead and questioning the future of their entire people. Hoping to find a way to help, Ezra Bridger asks what seems to be an obvious question:

“Okay, so this weapon only targets Mandalorian armor, right? So why not make your armor out of something different?”

Silence is his response. After a very tense moment, and some very angry faces from the Mandalorians with him, Sabine slowly responds:

“Ezra… the armor I wear is 500 years old. I reforged it to my liking, but the battles, the history, the blood, all lives within it, and the same goes for every Mandalorian.”

“This armor is part of our identity. It makes us Mandalorians who we are.” - Aldrich Wren.

“And now it's going to make us dead.” - Bo Katan Kryse.

Beskar is clearly one if the strongest and most resilient metal alloys in the galaxy. But to the people of Mandalore it is so much more than that. It is culture. It is history. It is religion.

It is identity.

It doesn’t matter if wearing their armor will destroy them. After everything their people had been through, beskar had come to represent everything they were. And even as they stare death in the face, they would sooner die wearing it than give it up.

(Thank you for coming to my TED talk. Holy crap this took a while but it was a lot of fun. I answered this question on another site but liked it so much I decided to post here too. Thank you for reading!)

#Star wars #the mandalorian #beskar #mandalore #Star Wars rebels #bo katan kryze #star wars rant #sabine wren #The empire #kira rambles #rant post #lore rant #Mandalorians

[bekkachaos]

fuck it friday 🤘

oops it's absolutely not Friday anymore

tagged by so many beautiful people @prince-buck-diaz @monsterrae1 @heartbeatdiaz @spotsandsocks @alyxmastershipper @wildlife4life @elvensorceress @buddierights 🩷🩷

Not tagging anyone else because it's super late, but if anyone still wants to please tag me 😁

So I heard this song and got an idea for my angstfest fic in which Buck and Eddie both ended up down the worst possible paths in their lives, Eddie is living in LA, suspended from his job, his parents have taken Christopher back to Texas after a battle in the courts, and he's lost, standing on a bridge in the middle of the night looking out over the quiet, and he meets Buck, dirty and disheveled, more than likely living on the streets, and he's high, Eddie can see it in his eyes. It starts them down a winding path together that just might turn them around.

Have a little snippy snip below:

Eddie's fingers on the metal rail turned white. His teeth ground together so hard he should have been worried one or more might chip, but he wasn't.

There was only one thing on his mind, and that was how much he had failed. He failed himself, and Christopher. Eddie refused to believe that he was better off with his parents, and the fact that he hadn't been able to prove that to them, or the court, well, it just solidified his failure and it felt like cement sinking down through him.

Everything seemed to spiral after that. The underground fighting ring, getting suspended from his job at the fire department. And his parents wouldn't even let him speak to Christopher. Not yet, they kept saying. Let him get settled, we don't want to make this any harder. Call him when you've got your life back on track. You need to show him some stability.

He closed his eyes and sucked the biting air into his lungs, filling him with cold, fanning the fiery anger that consumed him and escaping back through his split lips in a heavy cloud.

"You know most people think your breath doesn't do that until below freezing."

Eddie flinched, turning back to see a tall man approaching slowly from behind, hands shoved into his front pockets and eyeing him with a tilt of his head.

"Excuse me?" was all he managed in reply.

"When you can see your breath in the air, doesn't have to be freezing, hell, only needs to get to about 45," he said, making an o with his lips until his condensated breath came out in a long thin line.

Eddie eyed him warily. He hadn't seen him when he arrived at the bridge, there's not much around save for a few derelict buildings and a foot path leading towards the overpass. On top of that, he could see the way his pupils were dilated, he was high on something, or maybe coming down.

"I'd say sorry, that I didn't mean to interrupt, but I guess I did," he said, keeping his distance from Eddie but not taking his eyes or his curious gaze from him.

Eddie just grunted back at him, not sure that he should turn his back on him. He could probably take him in a fight, as long as he doesn't have a knife, but he doesn't really want things to come to that. His knuckles were still cut and bruised from his fight earlier and his brow throbbed from the left hook he'd been too slow to dodge.

"Want to tell me what you're doing out here?" the stranger asked, and this time Eddie really didn't care what happened next, so he turned his attention back to the black over the bridge.

"Could ask you the same thing. You always sneak up on people? Start conversations about the air, how cold it is?" he said roughly.

"Only when they're holding as tightly to the bridge rail as you are."

Eddie let his teeth grind, letting his grip ease as some of the feeling came back to his knuckles, the ache of the pain now somewhat dulled.

"There," he said, turning back and folding his arms over his chest defensively. "Feel free to walk away now."

The man's lip turned up in a smile, and for the first time since he'd appeared, Eddie felt himself lower his guard.

It wasn't menacing or snide. It was somehow a thing of warmth in the coldness of the dark.

#fuck it friday #buddie #eddie diaz #evan buckley #angst fic #911 #buddie wip #bekka writes