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formulas-bitch · 1 month

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unknown sister - lance stroll

4.2k words

As the sun dipped below the horizon, casting an ethereal glow over the city, Lance Stroll found himself wandering aimlessly through the bustling streets. His mind was elsewhere, lost in thought, as he weaved in and out of the throngs of people. He had no particular destination, no particular purpose - he was just there, existing. And then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw her: a girl, no more than a few years older than he was, who bore a striking resemblance to someone he once knew. Intrigued, Lance followed her at a discreet distance, his heart racing with anticipation.

As she ducked into a quaint little café, Lance hesitated for a moment before mustering up the courage to enter after her. The moment he stepped inside, the familiar scent of coffee and freshly baked pastries enveloped him, sending a wave of nostalgia washing over him. His eyes searched the crowd until they alighted upon her: sitting alone at a table in the far corner, lost in thought, a steaming cup of coffee in front of her. His heart skipped a beat as he realized that this girl was his sister; the one he had never known existed.

Cautiously, Lance made his way over to her, his steps slow and deliberate. He cleared his throat, trying to gather the words that seemed to have deserted him. "Um… excuse me?" he finally managed to say. "I'm Lance Stroll. We… we might be related." There was a long pause as he waited for her reaction, his heart pounding in his chest.

The girl looked up from her coffee, her eyes widening in recognition. "Lance?" she whispered, her voice trembling with disbelief. "It can't be…" She set her coffee down and pushed it aside, her gaze fixed on him. "You're Chloe's brother?" Nodding, Lance felt a lump forming in his throat. "I am. I found out about you a few days ago… I just… I had to see you for myself." He swallowed hard, struggling to find the right words. "I'm sorry if this is weird or confusing for you. I just… I wanted to meet you."

For a long moment, the sibling just stared at each other, the air thick with emotion. Then, slowly, the girl stood up and moved around the table, her arms opening wide. "I'm Layla," she said, her voice choked with emotion. "And yes… I am your sister." She pulled Lance into a tight hug, burying her face in his shoulder as they clung to each other.

Lance was at a loss for words, but he hugged her back just as tightly, feeling an overwhelming sense of love and connection. As they pulled apart, their faces wet with tears, Layla wiped at her eyes and forced a shaky smile. "I can't believe it," she whispered. "All this time… we had no idea."

The siblings took a moment to compose themselves, each ordering a cup of coffee before settling into a comfortable booth. As they sipped their drinks, Lance began to fill Layla in on the details of his life: about Chloe, their parents, and his time in formula 1. Layla listened intently, her eyes wide with wonder and curiosity. In turn, Layla shared stories of her own, about her life growing up in another part of the city and her dreams of becoming a professional dancer.

As they continued to talk, the café around them seemed to fade away, replaced by a world where the only thing that mattered was their connection to each other. They spoke of their shared memories, both real and imagined, and began to forge a bond that transcended time and circumstance. They laughed together, cried together, and found solace in each other's company.

Eventually, their conversation turned to the future. Layla confided in Lance that she had been struggling financially and was considering giving up on her dancing dreams. Upon hearing this, Lance was determined to help her. He offered her a place to stay in his apartment and promised to use his connections in the entertainment industry to help her get her foot in the door.

Layla was overwhelmed with gratitude, and they hugged tightly once more. As they pulled away, Lance could feel a new sense of purpose and direction in his life. He knew that finding Layla had been a blessing, and he would do everything in his power to make sure that their bond only grew stronger.

as they were catching up, lance had received a call from their dad.

"I hope you haven't forgotten about the race this weekend, son," he said, his voice booming through the phone. "You've got a lot of fans out here who are counting on you. Don't let them down."

Lance smiled at his sister as he listened to their father's words. "I won't, Dad," he assured him, before turning back to Layla. "So, how about we grab some lunch and talk more about your dancing? I have a few ideas on how we can make things happen for you."

As they left the café and ventured out into the bustling city, Layla linked her arm through Lance's, a gesture of sisterly affection that filled him with warmth. "I can't thank you enough for this, Lance," she said, looking up at him with shining eyes. "You have no idea what this means to me."

Lance shrugged off her gratitude, feeling it was an understatement. "It's the least I could do," he replied, his voice gruff with emotion. "You're my sister, after all. We're in this together."

Their walk took them past a park where a small festival was taking place. The air was filled with the sounds of laughter, music, and the sizzle of food on grills. They stopped at a booth selling kebabs and shared a plate, chatting animatedly as they ate. Layla told Lance about a dancing competition she'd heard of, one that would offer a substantial prize and a chance to perform in front of a prominent choreographer.

"I think that's something we should definitely look into," Lance said, wiping his hands on a napkin. "I'll see what I can do to help you get sponsored. And if you need any contacts in the entertainment industry, just let me know."

As they continued to walk through the park, they stumbled upon a group of people practicing some intricate dance moves. Layla's eyes lit up and she immediately went over to join them. Lance watched her dance with a mix of awe and pride, marveling at how graceful and talented she was. He couldn't help but feel a surge of protectiveness as well, wanting to make sure that no one ever underestimated her or stood in her way.

After watching her for a while, Lance noticed a young man standing off to the side, obviously captivated by Layla's dancing. He walked over and introduced himself as Adam, a fellow dancer who had been struggling to find his place in the industry. The three of them exchanged numbers, and Layla and Adam quickly became friends, often practicing together and offering each other advice and support.

As the weeks passed, Layla's audition for the dancing competition grew closer. Lance had been working tirelessly behind the scenes, using his connections to secure her a spot in the competition and even managing to find her a talented choreographer to help her prepare. He couldn't have been more proud of his sister, and he knew that no matter what happened, she would make him and their father proud. even though their dad dint know that lance had found Layla and was in contact with her .

Adam, too, had become a close friend to Layla and Lance. He had been an invaluable source of support and encouragement, always offering a listening ear or a helpful hand when needed. The three of them had developed a special bond, and Lance couldn't help but feel grateful for the positive influence Adam had on his sister. He hoped that their friendship would only continue to grow stronger in the years to come.

As the big day of the competition approached, Lance found himself feeling both nervous and excited for Layla. He'd never been one to dance himself, but he'd seen her practice countless hours, pouring her heart and soul into each routine. He knew that she had what it took to win, and he was determined to make sure that she had everything she needed to succeed.

The day of the competition finally arrived, and Lance, Layla, and Adam made their way to the venue. The atmosphere was electric, with dancers from all over the city gathered to showcase their talents. Lance helped Layla with her hair and makeup, making sure she looked her best before she went onstage. As she waited in the wings, he could see the determination and focus in her eyes, and he knew that she was ready to give it her all.

The competition was fierce, with each dancer bringing their unique style and technique to the stage. As Layla's turn approached, Lance felt a lump in his throat and a knot in his stomach. He knew that no matter what happened, he would be proud of her. When she emerged onto the stage, the audience erupted into applause, and Lance couldn't help but feel a surge of pride.

She danced with a grace and power that Lance had never seen before, her movements fluid and effortless. The choreography was stunning, and Lance could tell that the judges were impressed. As she finished her final move, the crowd rose to their feet, showering her with cheers and applause. It was clear that she had won over everyone in the room.

Lance couldn't believe his eyes as Layla was named the winner of the competition. He felt a wave of emotion wash over him as he watched her accept her trophy and give her speech, thanking him and Adam for their support. He couldn't help but feel a sense of pride and accomplishment, knowing that he had played a part in helping her achieve her dreams.

As they left the venue, Lance could feel the weight of the world lift off his shoulders. The constant worry and stress about their financial situation had been consuming him, but now, with Layla's victory, he felt a newfound sense of hope and optimism. He knew that things were going to be okay, and that Layla would have the opportunity to pursue her passion without having to worry about money.

as layla and lance made their way out of the competition, they were approached by Lawrence, their dad, well more like lance's dad as he didn't know it was Layla his eldest daughter standing in front of him, as he had left her mom when she had found out she was pregnant with her.

Lance was about to introduce them but then thought better of it, he would let them have their moment, so he stood back and just watched with a smile on his face as his sister and their dad reunited. It was a moment of pure joy and happiness that he would never forget. He could see the surprise, shock and then disbelief in his dad's eyes as he looked at Layla, taking in her beauty and grace, and then the realization hit him that this was his daughter, the one he had never met, the one he had missed out on all these years.

The emotion in the air was palpable, and Lance felt a lump form in his throat as he watched the two of them hug, tears streaming down their faces. It was a moment that he knew would change their lives forever, a moment that would bring them all closer together, a moment that would help them heal from the pain of the past.

As they pulled apart, Lance could see the love and pride in his father's eyes as he looked at Layla, and it filled him with a sense of hope and joy. He knew that their relationship would take time to build, but he believed that with patience and understanding, they could create a new family, one that was based on love and acceptance.

Layla seemed to feel the same way, as she introduced her father to Adam and Lance, her voice shaking slightly with emotion. Lawrence, taken aback by the depth of her feelings, could only nod in acknowledgment, unable to find the words to express his own emotions. The four of them stood there, bonding over their shared experience and the love they had for Layla, their amazing daughter.

As they continued to talk, Lance noticed a change in his father's demeanor. Where before there had been shock and disbelief, now there was a quiet determination to be a part of their lives. He wanted to make up for the time he had missed, to be the father Layla and Lance deserved. It was a moment of clarity for Lance, one that made him realize that perhaps their father's love was not as lost as he had once believed.

The rest of the evening was a whirlwind of introductions, hugs, and tears. Chloe and Lance's mother, who had never quite forgiven their father for abandoning them, seemed to soften as she watched the emotional reunion unfold between his other daughter he never got to see grow up. There was a new understanding in her eyes, a recognition that perhaps Lawrence had not been as heartless as she had once thought. It was a fragile peace, but it was a start. she soon introduced herself as Lawrence's wife and Chloe and Lance's mother.

As they all left the venue together, arms looped around each other's waists, they felt a sense of hope and unity that they had never experienced before. They knew that their lives were about to change drastically, but for once, it felt like it was for the better. They were going to be a family, a real family, with all its flaws and imperfections.

Lawrence, still struggling to process the events of the evening, couldn't help but feel a sense of pride in Layla's accomplishments. He knew that he had missed out on so much of her life, but he was determined to be there for her now. He promised himself that he would do whatever it took to make things right with her, Chloe and Lance, and to earn their trust and love.

As they walked to the car, Layla took her father aside and gave him a small, leather-bound book. "This is a journal I kept during my time competing," she explained. "It's full of my thoughts, feelings, and experiences. I wanted you to have it, so you could get to know me better." Lawrence, touched beyond words, promised to read it carefully and to treasure it always.

" Next week is your sister Chloe's wedding and we would love for you to come and celebrate with us"

Layla's face lit up with joy as she hugged her father tightly. "Of course, I wouldn't miss it for the world." She glanced over at Lance, a small smile playing on her lips. "It's going to be a special day for all of us."

Lawrence returned her smile, feeling a sense of warmth spread through his chest. "It certainly is. And I want you both to know that I'm here for you, no matter what." He placed a hand on each of their shoulders, his gaze meeting theirs in a show of sincerity.

The rest of the evening was a whirlwind of celebration and joy as they all attended Chloe's wedding together. Layla and Lance glowed with happiness, clearly proud of their sister and excited to share this special day with their newfound family member. Lawrence found himself feeling more and more at ease with them, beginning to form real connections and bonds that he hadn't thought possible.

As they danced and laughed throughout the night, Lance couldn't help but notice the way his father looked at Layla. There was a sense of awe in his eyes, as if he couldn't believe the incredible woman she had become. Lawrence, for his part, seemed to be relishing every moment of spending time with her, treasuring each conversation and memory they made together.

Chloe and her new husband, meanwhile, were beaming with happiness as they shared their special day with their newly expanded family. They had been through so much, but seeing their father there, a part of their lives once more, made everything feel just a little bit brighter.

As the night wore on, Layla and Lance began to dance together, their movements fluid and effortless, mirroring the deep connection they shared. Lawrence watched them from afar, a small smile playing on his lips as he recalled his own wedding dance with their mother. He couldn't help but feel a sense of wonder at the journey that had brought them all here, to this moment, together as a family.

Chloe and her new husband, meanwhile, had taken the opportunity to steal Lance and Layla away for a slow dance, twirling them around the dance floor as they shared heartfelt words and hugs. It was a moving display of love and support, and it brought tears to Lawrence's eyes to see his children so happy and loved.

As the night wound down, the guests began to say their goodbyes, but not before Layla, Lance, and Chloe insisted on gathering everyone together for a group photo. They posed arm in arm, beaming with joy and pride, their newfound bond shining through in every image. Lawrence stood behind them, his hand resting on each of their shoulders, feeling a sense of peace and contentment wash over him.

As the last of the guests departed, Chloe pulled her father aside. "Thank you," she whispered, tears welling up in her eyes. "Thank you for coming tonight, for being here for us. It means more than you'll ever know." Lawrence, unable to speak past the lump in his throat, simply squeezed her hand and nodded, his own eyes misting over.

Meanwhile, Lance approached Layla with a gentle smile. "You were amazing tonight," he said, his voice low and sincere. "I don't know how you did it, but you made everyone feel so welcome, so included. I'm so proud of you, sis." Layla blushed, her cheeks flushing, but she didn't miss the warmth that spread through her chest at his words.

"Thank you," she replied, her voice trembling just a little. "I'm glad I could help. And thank you for being there with me tonight. You were amazing too, you know." Lance chuckled softly, reaching out to take her hand. "We'll always have each other's backs, right?" Layla squeezed his hand in agreement, her gaze meeting his.

As they stood there, lost in their own thoughts and feelings, they were unaware of the approach of their father. Lawrence cleared his throat gently, drawing their attention back to him. "You two are an incredible team," he said, his voice rough with emotion. "I couldn't be more proud of you both." His words hung in the air for a moment, heavy with meaning, before Lance and Layla stepped forward to embrace their father in a tight hug.

The night air was cool and crisp as they made their way back to the car. Layla and Lance had switched places, with Lance now driving his father's rental and Layla riding shotgun beside him. As they drove, the city lights reflecting off the buildings and streets, they found themselves lapsing into silence, each lost in their own thoughts about the day's events.

"Do you think he'll stay?" Layla finally asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

Lance glanced over at his sister, then back at the road ahead. "I don't know, sis. It's a big change for him, moving out here and all. I mean, he's got his job, and he seems to be enjoying it, but…" He trailed off, shrugging slightly. "Who knows? Maybe he'll find a way to make it work. We can only hope, right?"

As they pulled into the driveway of their parents' house, they both glanced at each other, a mix of emotions playing across their faces. They got out of the car and walked together up to the front door, taking a moment to gather their thoughts and compose themselves. The night had been full of highs and lows, but they both felt a newfound sense of connection, not only with each other, but with their father as well.

Inside, their mother was busy cleaning up the remnants of the party, her movements efficient and graceful as she worked. "How did it go?" she asked, looking up from her task with a tired smile. "Did everything go alright?"

"It went better than alright, Mom," Lance replied, taking her hand and leading her into the living room. "Layla and Chloe did an amazing job tonight, and everyone seemed to have a great time." He gestured towards the photo album they'd put together earlier, sitting prominently on the coffee table. "We even got a group photo."

Layla nodded in agreement, her eyes drifting towards the album. "It was hard work, but it was worth it. I think everyone who came felt welcome, and that's all we could've asked for." She glanced over at her father, who was sitting in the corner of the room, looking thoughtful. "And Dad seemed to really enjoy himself too."

Their mother smiled warmly and squeezed Lance's hand. "I'm so proud of both of you," she said. "You've grown into such amazing young adults." She paused for a moment, her expression turning pensive. "And I hope that tonight was a step in the right direction for all of us, finding our way back to each other."

as they talked in the kitchen , Lawrence made his way and joined them, pouring himself a cup of coffee. He looked at his children with a mix of pride and sadness in his eyes. "You both did an amazing job tonight," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. "I can't begin to tell you how much it means to me to see all of you together, enjoying each other's company." " i was thinking Layla, why don't you join me and lance for his race next week?" asked Lawrence, trying to sound casual. "I'm sure it'll be fun, and it'll be great for all of us to spend some quality time together."

Layla looked at her father, then at Lance, her eyes filling with hope. "I'd love to, Dad," she said, her voice trembling slightly. "That sounds like a great idea." Lance nodded in agreement, a small smile playing at the corners of his lips. They all knew that this wasn't just about a race; it was about trying to rebuild their family, one small step at a time.

As the weeks passed, they all threw themselves into preparations for the race. Lance trained harder than ever, determined to do his best for his father. Layla helped out with logistics and publicity, using her organizational skills to make sure everything ran smoothly. And Lawrence, well, he was there for moral support, offering advice when asked and lending an ear when needed.

The day of the race finally arrived, and the entire family made their way to the track. The air was filled with the roar of engines and the excited chatter of spectators. Lance's heart pounded in his chest as he strapped himself into the car, but he felt a calm confidence wash over him when he saw Layla and their father standing nearby. They were his biggest fans, and he couldn't have asked for anything more.

As the race began, Lance focused on the track, determined to navigate the twists and turns with precision. He could feel the adrenaline surging through his veins, pushing him to go faster, to outperform his competition. But even as he raced, his mind kept drifting back to the people he loved standing on the sidelines. He knew that this race wasn't just about winning or losing; it was about proving to himself and to them that he could be the man they needed him to be.

In the grandstands, Layla and their father cheered him on, their voices carrying across the track. They could feel the raw emotion in their words, the unspoken love and support that flowed between them. As Lance neared the finish line, they held their breath, willing him to cross it. And when he did, emerging victorious amidst a cloud of burning rubber and deafening cheers, they erupted in applause, their eyes shining with tears of pride.

Lance climbed out of the car, his chest heaving, and threw his arms around his father. They hugged tightly, sharing a moment of connection that felt like it had been eons in the making. Layla joined them, wrapping her arms around both of them, and for a brief moment, it felt like everything was going to be okay.

As they walked back to the pit, Lance couldn't shake the feeling that this was just the beginning. There was still so much work to do, so many bridges to mend. But for now, he was content to bask in the glow of victory and the love of his family. He knew that with their support, he could face any challenge that came their way. and he finally had another sister who he could share his dreams with.

#lance stroll x reader #f1 blurb #f1 x reader #lance stroll #ls18 x reader #ls18 #aston martin f1 #lance stroll imagine #lawrence stroll #Ls18 x imagine #lance stroll blurb #f1 imagine #f1 fanfic

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maxarchive · 11 months

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[...] We can, though, introduce one famous name who made a considerable mark upon him: Johan Cruyff, who came to the Barcelona track during testing at the start of 2016 to meet his fellow Dutchman. “It was a very nice conversation,” he says. “We knew that he was very sick [he had lung cancer diagnosed in 2015]. He was so keen to understand the world of F1 and I think he was very proud to have a Dutchman in F1 and maybe the next big thing, a hopeful. I tried to explain F1 to him. He told me stories from his days in football. “He also said, ‘With my disease, I feel I am 2-1 up at half-time, but we still need to get to the end.’ He felt very hopeful at the time; he’d just had a good few weeks, but then sadly a few weeks later he passed away. That really got to me. You keep on relishing those moments. He was way older than me, but somehow we clicked — the way we were communicating.” Two months after Cruyff’s death, Verstappen won his first grand prix, making him the youngest F1 winner. And it was there, in Barcelona. Verstappen sounds almost spiritual about this. He notes that his winning time — 1hr 41min 40sec — has 14 twice within it, and 14 was Cruyff’s number. “For me, something like that — it can’t be coincidence. It’s very crazy that that has happened,” he says. “I am never a person who really likes to meet anyone like a famous person. I am not interested. Zero interest. But I was actually very happy that I’d met him. “Then I read his book. I don’t like reading books. I think I’ve read two books in my life. The other was a school-related project, really boring. But with his book, the way he was talking about his sport, everything just seemed so simple in a way I could relate to because it may sound weird to say some things are very simple. Sometimes it just happens that way. For me it is. I don’t want to sound arrogant. “The thing is with people like him, they are so talented, when they are playing or racing, they have so much more capacity for other things to think about. I think that’s how he was when he was playing or coaching; his vision was so much wider than most other people.” Here, again, is where he believes he can relate to Cruyff: in having a brain that, when applied to his sport, functions with a wider vision or capacity. “I do like to think that having extra capacity is a big advantage in F1 as well,” he says. “You cannot train that kind of thing. Only a few drivers have it.”

Max Verstappen: I’ve already achieved everything in Formula One via The Times UK

#max verstappen #johan cruyff #f1 #2023 #interview

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tierneysodegaard · 2 years

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Hollywood - Max Verstappen x Reader

Max Verstappen x female!reader

Requested? Yes/No

Anon: Hi! I love Dog Days sooo much! I'm blown away by your writing and this is story is such a comfort to me. I'm not sure if you're taking any request but I'm hoping you can write another Max x OC. The reader is Max's biggest celebrity crush and they meet for the first time at Monaco/Miami GP. He's all shy & flustered but he manages to take the reader around the track during the hot laps. They get ask about each other in interviews/talk shows. A lot of shipping & happy ending? Thank you in advance❤️

Word Count: 3.7K

Warnings: Fluff, swearing, sexual innuendos, Christian Horner, far from home spoilers

—

Becoming Spiderwoman was a dream come true. It was finally the big break you had worked hard for. Being Spiderwoman had its perks, many A-listers would happily slide their way into your DMS hoping they’d get a reply and you’d go on a date with them, sure a few of them were hot and definitely grabbed your attention but looks would only go so far. So many of them would have similar lifestyles to you and things like that could get boring besides, if you force something it never turns out well.

Your love life seemed bleak well… that was until a Formula one driver announced that he had a crush on you.

Max Verstappen had been doing some press work with his teammate Sergio Perez when one of the questions asked the pair of you who their celebrity crushes were and Max said that you were. Since that the internet took off a little. You couldn’t scroll through your Instagram timeline without seeing someone make an edit of you and Max or talking about the pair of you despite the two of you never actually meeting.

All these events led you to now. You and your co-star, Tom Holland, were currently in Miami doing some press for the next upcoming Spiderman film. The pair of you were shooting a Q&A for GQ. Thankfully you and Tom got on like a house on fire. As you were new to the industry Tom would always look out for you, sort of acting like an older brother.

“Hello, I’m Tom Holland!”

“And I’m y/n y/l/n!”

“And we are answering fan questions for GQ.” Tom smiled as he took out a piece of crumpled paper from the pot on the table which contained the questions. “Okay so… if you could take three people to dinner, dead or alive, who would you pick?” He smiled to you as you pondered at the thought.

“Hmm, I’d have to say, Freddie Mercury, Carrie Fisher and… I’m gonna say Maggie Smith.”

“Those are good choices.” Tom smiled.

“Who would you take?”

“It’s hard to pick just three, I’ve met a lot of people I’d want to take to dinner, probably Obama, Lewis Hamilton and Heung Min Son.” He smiled proudly at his answers as you moved on to the next question.

“Favourite scene you’ve ever filmed in any film or television show?”

“These are good questions.” Tom smiled, leaning back in his chair. “Probably the scene where all three Peters met one another.”

“Arguably one of the best scenes in cinematic history.”

“You think so?” Tom smirked.

“Everyone in the cinema was clapping when it happened.” You smiled at the Brit.

“What about you?”

“First first scene where I ever wore my suit, finally felt like I made it then.” Tom’s smirk grew to a smile at your words.

“How sweet.” You could tell Tom was mocking you slightly, never in an ill-intent way more in a childish way. “Next one.” He dived his hand in before laughing. “Oh you’ll love this one, who is your celebrity crush?”

“Well we all know yours.”

“And I know yours.” Tom acted like a child on Christmas morning, swinging back and forth on his chair.

“Well I don’t have just one -”

“But I know who fancies you.” His smile got wider. “Max Verstappen! And you fancy him back!”

“Wouldn’t say I fancy the bloke I’ve never met him although, there is something about how he looks post-race, helmet hair Max is something I could look at for hours.” Tom burst into laughter.

“Has he ever slid into yout Dm’s?”

“He has not but he does follow me.”

“Come on Max,” Tom looked straight at the camera. “If you can drive around a car that fast then you should have the guts to dm her.”

Well ever since that interview the internet went wild. The edits started becoming more and more frequent, more fans were talking about the pair of you and at that time you honestly thought it was just a bit of fun, Max would like a few of your Instagram posts and maybe comment on a few and you’d do a same. Nothing went further, that was until Red Bull invited you and Tom to the race in Miami.

When Max found out he’d never been so nervous in his life, not even when he drove the final lap to win his championship. You were set to turn up any minute now alongside Tom Holland and he knew he had to drive the race of his life today after all, he wanted to impress you right?

“I’ll be your wingman.” Tom opened the door of the car for you, allowing you to climb out.

“If you’re my wingman I won’t ever get to kiss Max Verstappen.” The pair of you walked over to a Red Bull employee who was taking you around the paddocks and track for the rest of the day.

“Is that your plan?” Tom smirked. “To kiss him?”

“If you get to have your celebrity crush then I think I deserve mine.” You winked as you collected your passes, scanning them past security.

“That’s why I need to be your wingman, I got mine and I can help you get yours.”

“Believe it or not Tom I can flirt my way through situations without you by my side.”

“Is that why you’re single and needed me to mention Max in that interview to get here or?” His smirk grew, making you push him lightly as the pair of you laughed at his words.

Miami was full of celebrities, even Michelle Obama had turned up. You had been watching this sport for years now and never in your life had you seen anything quite like Miami. It was hard to navigate through the paddock let alone the actual garages. Tom extend his arm back so you could hold onto his forearm as you reached the garages, last thing Tom wanted was you to get lost when Max was nearby.

“And this is Christian Horner, I’m sure the two of you know who he is.” The woman who was taking you on a tour smiled at the man who extended his hand for Tom to take. Tom shook his hand, smiling as the pair said hello to one another.

Christian turned to you, his arms open as you shared a quick hug. “There’s the woman we don’t stop hearing about.” You laughed at his words. “Not only do my daughters talk about you all the time but so does Max.” Christian turned his head, making eye contact with Max and calling him over.

Max didn’t know why Christian was suddenly calling over. He was yet to see that you were standing alongside his racing Principle. When he got closer his face dropped at the sight of the woman he’d had a crush on the moment he’d seen her in the Spiderman trailer.

“Ah Max, finally, I’m sure I don’t need to introduce you to y/n y/l/n, considering you don’t shut up about her.”

Max went bright red at Christian's words. He kept his gaze firmly on you, trying his best not to stare but he couldn’t help it. The woman he’d spent hours thinking about was standing before him and she was wearing his merchandise. Max could have sworn he’d just died and gone to heaven. Sensing how awkward this could get your wingman decided to step in.

“Christian do you happen to have a bathroom around here?” Tom glanced over at you, a smirk on his lips as he spoke.

“Ah yes, I’ll show you it.” He smiled, leading Tom off which just left you and Max alone.

“Hey.” You smiled up at the man, hoping to break the ice between the two of you.

God even your voice was perfect.

“Hi… H-how are you?”

“I’m good thank you.” Your smile was bright, the sight made Max’s heart flutter. It was supposed to be a stupid crush yet here he was, already stuttering. “How are you? Nervous for the race?”

He let out a deep breath, letting a small smile escape his lips before he spoke. “I’m okay, you do tend to get used to a few things when you’ve been racing for a while.”

“Oh yeah?” You smirked. “Never nervous about driving cars that could kill you but you stutter over a woman?”

Being an actress meant it was easy to hide your emotions, including ones like you had for Max. He might have been able to mask his nervousness but you could. Seeing how confident Max was in interviews and online it was amusing to see him crumble under you after just a few words.

“I - Umm -” He stuttered yet again. You let out a small smile which turned into laughter, your laughter made Max relax slightly. “H- have you been around the track yet?”

“I have not.” You looked him up and down. “Care to show me? If you have time -”

“Yes!” Max may have said a little too loudly. “Yes, I have time.” He flashed a smile.

“I’ve got an idea.” Christian suddenly came into view. “What about if the pair of you do a hot lap? We’ll set up some cameras and get the pair of you to answer questions. I’m sure if we just tweeted something out now we could get a handful of questions for the pair of you to answer.” Normally questions wouldn’t be asked but Christian had a plan, he knew everyone wanted to know about you and Max so the questions would be interesting.

“Are you happy to do that, with me?” You turned to Max, silently hoping he’d say yes.

“Well, I’m not going to let one of the other guys take you away am I?” He gained some confidence before mouthing a ‘thank you’ to Christian as the pair of you left to get ready.

The Red Bull social media team set up some cameras in the car they planned on using and screenshotted some questions you’d read out to Max as he drove. Christian and Tom made sure the questions had some interesting takes.

Max handed you a helmet as he opened the sports car door for you. Flashing a smile you thanked him before he joined you. “Nervous?” He asked.

“Yeah a little.” He laughed at your reply, starting the car up, and allowing the engine to roar. He looked at you as the engine grew louder. “Is that you’re way of trying to make me nervous?”

“Depends how you are with fast cars.”

“Depends who’s driving it.” You smirked at the man as he held his gaze with yours. Max smirked as he set off the car, catching you entirely off guard. “Max!” You screamed as the car picked up its pace without warning. The Dutch only laughed as you gripped onto the side of the door for support.

“Come on it’s not that fast -”

“Not that fast?” You yelled as he picked up the pace before drastically slowly down to turn the corner, making you scream at the sudden change. Max couldn’t contain his laughter as he drove.

“You need to ask the questions.” Max turned his attention back to the road.

“Fuck the questions!”

Max kept laughing, he couldn’t believe this confident woman he’d met only minutes ago who was so confident around him was now screaming and holding onto the car like she was going to die. “Just start with the first one.”

You pulled up the phone reluctantly. “What is the one thing you like the most about me?”

“You have really pretty eyes.” He turned the corner, making you jerk to the side. You held your arm out for support but the only support you had that wasn’t the door was his arm. You grabbed his arm, the action made Max look down at your hand before his eyes trailed up your body, scanning every inch of you with a sly smile.

The fans were going to have a field day with that shot.

“Thank you!” You screamed again as he sped up. “Jesus Max, umm what I like the most about you? You look pretty hot when you’ve finished racing.” It was bold of you to say that to him but you’d already said that on GQ.

“Next question?”

“If you had to take y/n on a date, where would you take her?” You laughed at the question.

“Depends.”

“On what?”

“Well would you want a more expensive date or a relaxed one? We could order in and follow Bob Ross painting tutorials or we could go to the Ritz.”

“Very creative Verstappen.” You looked back at the phone as you read out another question. “Who would win in a staring competition between the two of you.”

“Definitely me.” Max turned his head to look at you, not leaving your gaze as the pair of you stared at one another for a couple of seconds.

“Max look at the road!” You broke away from his hold, pointing to the road but Max only flickered his gaze forward for a split second before looking back at you.

“We’re fine.” He smirked, putting his foot down just that inch more making the car speed up.

“Yeah you are -”

“Do you do your own stunts?” He suddenly asked.

“Some of them why?”

“What about at the end of the film, you swung across that building and fell but landed on your feet, was that all you?”

“Yeah, I had a harness on so I didn’t die as we were rather high up -”

“Were you scared?”

“No.”

“So you’re not scared of jumping and swinging around a set that’s high off the ground but you’re scared of me driving fast?”

“I’m not scared you just took me off guard with it -” Max suddenly turned another corner making you grab onto his arm again. “Fucking hell Max.”

The pair of you had completed the lap but Max wasn’t done there. “How good are you with spinning?” Your eyes widened at his words, knowing exactly what he was going to do.

“Max no -” Max had already set off, creating doughnuts with the car, he didn’t stop at just one either, he kept going. Maybe it was because he loved the way you held onto his arm to feel safe or because he was able to just have you alone and when he was in a car he felt confident with you.

Eventually, Max had to stop. His cheeks hurt from the constant laughing. He quickly opened his door, running around the car to open your door. He leaned over you to undo your seatbelt before helping you out of the car. “You okay?” He smiled, reaching up to take your helmet off whilst the two of you were blissfully unaware that your interactions were still being filmed.

“A little dizzy but hey that was fun.” You smiled back as he removed his own helmet, earning him an interesting gaze from you as you were taken back by his state.

“Fun? You screamed the whole time.”

“I scream in the bedroom, doesn’t mean I’m not having fun, maybe if you’re good enough you might hear it too.” You sent him a smirk and just like that, you had made Max Verstappen weak at the knees. Reaching up you placed a kiss on his cheek before walking away from him, leaving a stunned Max Verstappen to blush at your actions.

Max had won in Miami and needless to say the after-party was an experience. You woke up the next morning to a flood of ship edits and posts of you and Max. The hot laps video came out just after Max had won and fans didn’t need to wait long for more content of the two of you.

Photos started to circulate of the pair of you at the party. Max had his arms around you as the pair of you danced to the music. You spent your morning scrolling through multiple video edits and photo edits of the two of you. You even liked a few, knowing that would also more than likely set the fans off even more.

You wished you could have stayed in Miami for longer but you had to fly to London with Tom, the pair of you were set to appear on The Graham Norton show for more interviews.

“Morning Mrs Verstappen.” Tom smirked as you met him outside your hotel room. “Is Max in there with you?”

“No, he isn’t.”

“So did the pair of you -”

“No, we didn’t do anything like that.” You huffed, pulling your hoodie closer as the pair of you left to catch your flight. Your phone vibrated in your hand, you looked down to see that Max had Dm’d you. A smile crept across your face at the sight. “Not yet anyway.”

On the plane you were finally able to answer his message.

Max: Christian told me you were leaving today, have you left yet? X

You: We have, we’re going back to London for press, I’m sorry I didn’t have a chance to say goodbye x

Max: Don’t apologise, are you free on the 25th? X

You: I believe so, how come? X

Max: Will you still be in London then? X

You: Yes x

Max: I wanted to ask you in person but seeing as you’re no longer in Miami I’ll ask you now, would you like to go on a date? As you’re in London we could go to the Ritz? I’ll book everything and if you’re free that weekend would you like to come to Monaco with me for the race? X

You: I’d love to Verstappen x

Max: Thank fuck x

“What’s got you smiling like that?” Tom’s voice grabbed your attention, snapping your head up your smile faded when you realised what he was alluding to.

“Nothing -”

“He’s messaged you hasn’t he?”

“He -”

“What’s he said?” Tom smirked. “Oh come on y/n you’ve got to tell me -”

“He asked me out on a date, he wanted to ask in person but considering we’re up in the sky that might be rather hard.”

“What did you say?”

“Take a guess.” It was now your time to smirk.

“Where are the two of you going?”

“The Ritz -”

“Bloody hell he must fancy you, that place is expensive.”

You arched your brows at his comment. “As if your bank account would be damaged if you went there.”

“You know if things work out well between the two of you we could all go on a double date.”

“Well I hope they do because I’m going to Monaco with him after.”

“Please use protection I don’t want mini y/n’s running around, one’s bad enough.” Tom smiled as you flipped him off, sinking back into your chair to text Max.

—

“y/n I have to ask.” You sat alongside Tom and a few other celebrities as Graham Norton started to interview everyone. He was yet to ask about Max which was surprising considering it was all anyone was talking about currently. “You and Max Verstappen…” The crowd cheered as you broke out into a smile. “Is there anything between the two of you?”

“Well…” Your smile didn’t falter. “I hope so.” The crowd screamed again. “We have a date set up and well… who knows what will happen.”

It wasn’t just you who had been questioned about the two of you. Max had to deal with interviews all year round, thankfully for you, it was only when you had an upcoming project coming out or if you were invited on a talk show out of the blue. He’d said the same, that the two of you were going on a date in the near future. You knew it would be hard to keep your relationship hidden from the public eye as everyone was still very much obsessed with the two of you but the reaction was very positive so maybe the two of you could be the next parents of Hollywood, despite his profession.

You’d managed to survive the endless questions and the constant teasing from Tom who was determined to have your upcoming relationship talked back so maybe the press would back down from his.

Opening the door to one of the dressing rooms which held your belongings you were met with bright ocean eyes and a mess of brown hair. Standing in the middle of your dressing room was a very tired Max Verstappen who evidently took the first flight he could to London after you’d left.

“What the hell are you doing here?” You looked down at his hands which had a large bouquet of flowers tightly grasped between them.

“I - I’ve just realised how weird this must be -” His confidence fell. You warmed to his words, he really did like you.

“It’s not weird, if anything I’m actually rather impressed you managed to get a flight out here, make yourself look presentable after that hangover you must have gotten last night and pick up flowers.”

“I am very tired.” He let out a breath of relief.

“Well…” You stepped closer to him, your hands resting above his. “Why don’t you come home with me and this time I’ll drive.”

“Sounds perfect.” He planted a kiss on your forehead. “I hope you like the flowers too, I wasn’t sure which ones to get so Daniel helped.”

“They’re beautiful Max.” You took them into your hands, admiring how stunning they were before moving one hand to lace into his. “Come on, I’m fucking shattered.”

Needless to say, the photos of the two of you holding hands as you left the set went down a treat on social media.

#max vertsappen imagines #f1 imagine #max verstappen imagine #max verstappen x reader #max verstappen one shot #max verstappen #f1 blurb #f1 x reader #f1 x you #f1

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babyspacebatclone · 11 months

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I’ve been wanting to talk about the WebToon “My In-Laws are Obsessed with Me” and why it’s one of my absolute favorite stories just about ever, but haven’t had enough mental presence to go into it all.

(Warning: Romance comic, but amazing slow burn marriage of convenience between two traumatized individuals that is done exceptionally well, and even though you want both sides to spit stuff out you completely empathize with why they’re being respectful and/or still not in a position to recognize they’re falling in love)

But the most recent free episode!!!

🤩🤩🤩

It’s just a small thing, and I can’t even discuss it beyond broad strokes because it involves just about every single spoiler for the metaplot.

But! But!!!!

One thing I love the most about this series is that everyone in it is intelligent.

And not the “good at math smarty smart” kind.

This is not a series where the main character has to do everything because people are chained to their idiot balls.

I’ll say there is a curse involved, and the MC initially is like “Ok, time to do some research on this mystery!”

And then is introduced to the members of the afflicted family who have dedicated their lives to that single thing, becoming doctors in order to treat and research the curse, and the MC is just “Oh, right, they’d have already tried.”

There’s been a theory in the back of my head, never actually mentioned aloud in the series but pretty obvious (in the best way!) given the mechanics of the curse and a recent evolution of it.

In this episode, the female MC hesitantly goes up to her “marriage of convenience” husband and merely suggests this particular theory as he is the one in a position to ask questions…

Well, “suggests,” she brings up the relevant antagonist…

And he calmly goes over all the research he has already done into the matter, evidence for and against, pointing out the things she’s previously brought up that lead him to suspect things and it’s just…

They’re so smart!! They’re so proactive!!!!

The only thing that’s kept me from gushing earlier is a recent revelation that a major character has suffered sexual trauma in the past.

So please, if respectful depictions of “someone was drugged and put into a traumatizing situation in order to try and force them into marriage” is something you can’t deal with, please know this WebToon is respectful about it but it is a huge part of a character’s backstory and, sadly, the current plot.

If you can handle that, though???

This WebToon is a must read.

Even if you’re not into slow burn romances, even if you think all cishet romances are boring and pointless (which is wrong, btw, from my pan perspective).

The episodic formula sadly seemed to push the earliest episodes into a very rushed pace in order to lay enough plot points to get readers interested.

But once the marriage of convenience happens, this is a masterclass in writing.

On how to make empathetic, relatable characters who make decisions that make sense.

Bad decisions because of believable circumstances, good decisions based upon their own strengths.

In how to integrate clues to a metaplot through the narrative, and also have the characters react naturally to them.

The visual storytelling is also just so so good, you can tell so much about what the characters outside the mc are thinking!

If you haven’t yet and WebToon stuff is your thing, read this series!!!

#my in laws are obsessed with me #webtoon #seriously #saturday night is a highlight of my week #because i love this series so much #slow burn romance #romance webtoon

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arcanarubinaito · 4 months

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I’m glad my ask about your Asrian stuff made you feel so validated and happy!!

I also wanted to add that it’s super awesome and refreshing that you don’t brush off what happened between them as “well it was just they were in bad mental places so neither of them did anything wrong” because that’s a bull excuse for bad behavior and also boring. They did awful things! It happened, they’re not perfect!! They weren’t ill intentioned but there’s no excuse for what they did to each other and that’s what makes it so interesting to explore their dynamic and relationship!!!

I love that you don’t have it as “actually it was super romantic and consensual” because that scene was NOT that no matter what the devs said.

And I ESPECIALLY love how you don’t make either of them innocent while the other is pure evil. Julian was pushy and selfish, Asra was stand offish and hot/cold with Julian

I fucking love how you do Asrian!!

Sorry for rambling I just needed to gush!

Aaaa! I stg I was smiling while reading this. Arguably the best way to end my night I think. I love rambles! I hope you don’t mind that I respond with one of my own.

Asrian on the surface is a very appealing ship. A whimsical magician well versed in their craft, with a melodramatic doctor that believes only in what science explains. That’s a really fun juxtaposition to explore, in the lens of both friendship and romance. That’s what gets a lot of people I think; and in combination with the appeal of them being bitter exes with a steamy flashback? Bam, you’ve got the formula for a popular ship right there.

There’s so much there that gets brushed aside—one of the big things for me is how it all started with a really solid friendship. Assuming that Nadia’s birthday memory was from before Asra and Julian hooked up, they really did seem comfortable with each other. You could argue that they were a little flirty but rereading it, I think all three of them were with each other. (I’ll blame the wine on this one /j)

Stress makes the perfect base for bad decisions. And oh boy did they make some bad decisions. Things that I think they both need to own up to and address to have any chance at a healthy relationship (whether it’s simply friendship or something more).

Someone pointed out to me that in Muriel’s route, nearly all of the scenes where Asra and Julian are intimate involve at least Asra being mildly (if not fully) inebriated. Which is a big yikes. (And I honestly refuse to put that in my story, it makes me so uncomfortable; hence why I’m trying to rewrite things from a different angle without sacrificing their toxic origins.)

I don’t condemn this sort of thing in fiction, by the way; while it is a personal squick of mine to write, I’m not going to blast The Arcana for including that sort of detail. In some ways it makes sense for the circumstances; stress -> getting drunk or high or something -> falling back on old, bad habits. It’s a fairly realistic glimpse at how toxic relationships can operate in the long term.

#arcanarubinaito #the arcana #the arcana game #ask box #the arcana julian #julian devorak #ilya devorak #the arcana asra #asra alnazar #asra the magician

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blackswaneuroparedux · 1 year

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The ‘Modena Monster’: The 1955 Ferrari 410 Sports Spider by Scaglietti - a storied history

Mr. Ferrari told me this was the best Ferrari he ever built.

- Carroll Shelby on the 1955 Ferrari 410 Sport Spider by Scaglietti.

Why do so many of us find sports cars irresistible? Of course, it would be impossible to isolate exactly what it is about a well-designed sports car that engenders such attachment, but there are some factors that would logically contribute to the commonly seen love affair between men (and yes, women too) and their sports cars.

It seems as if much of the attraction is grounded in symbolism. Racing cars have long been portrayed as sources of freedom. Talented drivers are left unencumbered by the limitations of our lives driving pedestrian automobiles. They are seen as having a uniquely freedom to test their limits against nature. In such circumstances the driver is not boxed in like others. He can tackle any unencumbered road using all his God given skills while being completely open to the elements of chance and fortune. The source of that freedom from the adrenaline rush is the need for speed.

But speed is tethered to design and engineering innovation. We live in a world that worships at the altar of technological advances. The sports car is a moving amalgamation of technical expertise. Racing cars are a bundling of technological miracles. From aerodynamic styling to compact yet powerful engines, they represent the cutting edge of technological design. In a society entranced by technology and innovation, the sports car has an iconic appeal that is difficult to equal.

For me though, it’s stories behind the drivers and the feats of engineering design that make me an unabashed petrol head. It’s not just appreciating the feats done in the car by magnificent drivers of their age. But recognising each car has a story too. Every car has a storied history.

And this is the story of one of my favourite racing cars in motor sports history.

The 1955 Ferrari 410 Sport Spider by Scaglietti has the reputation as an incredible and rare sports car that was driven by some very famous racing figures. In addition to Carroll Shelby, who would later join Ford in beating Ferrari at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the car was driven by the legendary Juan Manuel Fangio and by Phil Hill, Formula 1 champions both, as well as Enzo Ferrari himself.

The 1955 Ferrari 410 Sport Spider by Scaglietti was birthed by Enzo Ferrari and Sergio Scalietti.

At a time when series car making was still in its infancy at his company, Enzo Ferrari would manufacture only the rolling chassis and drivetrain. For the bodies, Enzo employed several different coach-builders to “clothe” his machines. Performance was Enzo’s utmost concern and thus, styling came second. Still, he was acutely aware of how styling impacted peoples’ perception of his company and the cars that bore his name. Luckily Ferrari’s victories on racetracks caused the industry’s bespoke coach-building companies to want to work with the firm, and show what they could do on the Ferrari chassis. One of these firms was Carrozzeria Scaglietti.

Sergio Scaglietti, got his start working on Scuderia Ferrari’s Alfa Romeos (then Alfa’s racing arm) before World War II. After the war he opened a repair shop in Maranello, not far from the Ferrari factory, where he primarily repaired the bodywork of damaged race cars for gentleman racers. When one such racer brought his damaged race car to Sergio’s workshop, the quality of the repairs and re-bodying caught Enzo’s eye, and by 1955 Sergio was put in charge of bodying the majority of Ferrari’s competition cars.

Additionally, Sergio secured a loan from Enzo himself to start his own coach-building film, the aforementioned Carrozzeria Scaglietti. This was quite an honour because at the time there were quite a few established coach-builders who already worked with Ferrari including Bertone, Zagato, Vignale, Touring, and Pininfarina. Sergio won Enzo’s trust not only because of his skills with metal, but also because of his relationship with, and support for, Enzo’s son, Dino, who died in 1956.

With Scaglietti now an officially sanctioned Ferrari coach builder, he received chassis’s directly from the Ferrari factory for coachwork. By his own admission, he designed all his shapes “by [his] eyes alone,” letting his own “good taste, understanding of aerodynamics, style, and function” dictate his designs. He rarely drew out his designs in advance, instead preferring to shape the body directly over the chassis.

Enzo Ferrari was a man passionate about motorsport and high performance cars. He understood that one of the secrets to success for his young company was to obtain victories in high profile competition events, and an FIA World Sportscar Championship win would be a great feather in Ferrari’s cap - something that would make the motorsport world, and the sports car buying public, to take notice.

The final event for the 1955 season was to be the Carrera Panamericana. It was a gruelling five-day rally that traversed the Mexican wilderness en route to the border near El Paso, Texas. Ferrari had experienced overwhelming success on nearly every circuit in sports car racing, with the one possible exception being the notoriously dangerous Carrera Panamericana. Not for nothing it was known as the most dangerous motor race in the world with accident deaths being the norm each year among drivers and spectators. It’s fearsome reputation was such that it would bring extra kudos to a sports car maker whose car successfully completed the course and won the event.

Previously, in 1952 several privateer Ferraris were entered, including three of Maranello’s latest sports-racers, Vignale-bodied berlinettas built upon the Lampredi 340 racing engine platform. Subsequently known as the 340 Mexicos, these cars showed promise as Luigi Chinetti finished 3rd overall.

But a year later in 1953, the upgraded 340 MM entries could not hold pace with Lancia’s dominating D24 race cars, despite Umberto Maglioli’s commanding 10-minute lead during the race’s final leg. In 1954, Maglioli rumbled to victory in Erwin Goldschmitt’s 375 Plus. Ferrari had failed again. Riding too high to handle safely, these extremely powerful cars clearly required some chassis development to remain in control on the bumpy and unpredictable surfaces of the Carrera course.

In the years up to 1955 Ferrari campaigned in the event without success and so they went back to the drawing board, literally, and designed a car purpose built for that event. It was designated the type 519/C and the chassis numbers all ended with the initials “CM” which stood for “Carrera Messicana” for the event they were created for.

This new car was the 410 Sport and the second two of the four to be made were fitted with a revised version of the Lampredi V12 engine with a capacity of 4,961 cc. This engine was given dual spark plugs per cylinder (i.e. twenty four in total), a quadruple distributor arrangement, combined with magneto ignition in the first car 0596 CM and coil ignition in the second car 0598 CM.

To feed in a healthy dose of fuel/air mix into those twelve thirsty cylinders three twin-choke Weber 46 DCF carburetors were bolted on in the middle of the “V.”

The suspension system was designed to provide the best handling and durability the engineers could achieve, at the front a fully independent system with upper and lower wishbones, and at the rear a transverse elliptic spring built into a De Dion design.

The roads in Mexico were rough and the suspension was going to need to soak up some exceeding nastiness while keeping the car on course and providing the best ride possible to keep drivers from fatigue. The chassis was a tubular space-frame set for low riding for optimum stability and, they hoped, for survivability over the destructive conditions of the race.

The power of the dual ignition engines was slightly short of 400 hp, which was very high for cars of the period, and it would be this cutting edge level of power that would prove to be the car’s Achilles heel, paradoxical though that might sound.

Even as Ferrari’s engineers were designing and building these four the notorious 1954 Le Mans crash took place. This saw a very lightly constructed Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR crash at the end of Mulsanne Straight. With the car traveling at top speed it broke apart in a collision and sent pieces through the spectators at that location, killing 83 spectators and the driver, and injuring about 180 people.

This caused the entire motor-sport fraternity to re-assess their participation in motorsport events, and the organisers cancelled the 1955 Carrera Panamericana. So the two cars Ferrari were working on suddenly did not have the race they were created for to compete in.

As a result, Maranello repositioned the two double ignition 410 S to participate in the 1956 World Sportscar Championship racing season, making their debut at the season-commencing 1000 KM of Buenos Aires in January 1956.

The pair of 24-spark cars, chassis numbers 0596 CM and 0598 CM, were respectively driven by the paired teams of Peter Collins and Luigi Musso, and Juan Manual Fangio and Eugenio Castellotti. The Argentine great, Juan Manuel Fangio preferred the pedals of his cars to be laid out in the old “C.A.B” layout. So from left to right the pedals were clutch, accelerator, and brake. This arrangement was not uncommon during the 1950s and 1960s. Some drivers, such as Fangio, preferred this arrangement for heel and toe gear-changing.

All eyes were on the local hero from Argentina, with the press focusing much of their attention on Fangio and his 410 Sport. But the two Ferrari’s faced stiff competition, especially in the person of British driver Stirling Moss who was so noted for his fast driving that he created the famous line uttered by British traffic policemen when they pulled you over for speeding “Who do you think you are – Stirling Moss?” Moss was driving a Maserati 300S - an extremely fast car - as long as it didn’t suffer a mechanical failure (something they tended to be prone to).

The pair of 24-spark cars, chassis numbers 0596 CM and 0598 CM, were respectively driven by the teams of Peter Collins and Luigi Musso, and Juan Manual Fangio and Eugenio Castellotti. Fangio had requested a special modification to 0598 CM that moved the accelerator from its normal position to one between the brake pedal and the clutch. Disaster hit the Ferrari 0598CM team early when Castellotti experienced a tire issue forcing the car into the pits for repairs. Fangio jumped back in 0598 CM with a significant distance to overcome and furiously chased down Stirling Moss in the leading Maserati 300S. After Castellotti experienced a tire issue forcing the car into the pits for repairs, Fangio jumped back in 0598 CM with a significant distance to overcome and furiously chased down Stirling Moss in the leading Maserati 300S. Moss was happily storming ahead very comfortably from the rest of the chasing pack. But Moss didn’t count on Fangio’s drive to win. Fangio was after all driving in front of a home crowd of fellow South Americans and he really wanted to win – so he drove using all his skills, talent, and ability and he closed the gap with some dramatic driving until he had Moss’s Maserati in his sights.

And it was at that point that Murphy’s rule reared its ugly head - “if anything can go wrong, it will, and at the worst possible moment”. The other Ferrari 0596 CM of Collins and Musso lasted until lap 61 until the transaxle failed. Fangio’s car suffered a similar fate. In Fangio’s car the differential gave way from the punishment enacted by the feverish pace and raw power of the type 126/C engine on the 89th lap. The transaxle failed bringing Fangio’s wild drive to a heart wrenching end. 400 hp had proved the car’s Achilles heel - the engine was too much for the transmission.

The Brazilians mourned Fangio’s elimination from the race, although driving so hard that the car collapses under the strain is a pretty heroic way to withdraw. However heroic the effort was, Ferrari and his entire team including the drivers were devastated.

Ferrari sent both cars back to the factory for a refit. It was this point the fate of the Ferrari 410 S would take a momentous turn of fortune in 1956.

Racing team owner John Edgar had taken note of the two Ferrari 410 S fitted with the dual spark plugs and quad distributors and had set his sights on getting one. John Edgar had waited in the wings for his opportunity at 0598 CM, anxious to obtain the golden chariot that might deliver his own racing championship. Edgar had also taken note of a young American driver who had given up his life as a chicken farmer to take up motor racing. That ex-chicken farmer was of course none other than the future legendary driver, Carroll Shelby, and John Edgar wanted to recruit him to his racing team and put him in the driver’s seat of a 400 hp 410 S.

Not only John Edgar was able to purchase 0598 CM, the Fangio/Castellotti car, but he was also able to lure Carroll Shelby away from Scuderia Parravano with the promise of turning him loose in the Ferrari. Shelby loved speed, so much that despite his heart condition he did as much high quality motor racing as he could get: even though he had to keep a nitro glycerin pill under his tongue to help with his heart condition. It would be this heart condition would ultimately force him to stop racing – but Shelby was determined to get the maximum enjoyment in the sport before that happened.

While awaiting the delivery of 0598 CM, Shelby garnered a number of wins for Team Edgar at smaller venues, winning the “Race to the Clouds” at Mount Washington, New Hampshire, the Laurel Run Hillclimb, the Brynfan Tyddyn, and the Breakneck hillclimb outside of Cumberland, Maryland. But the central attraction was scheduled to arrive by airfreight in August 1956 at San Francisco, where the tireless team mechanic and hauler Joe Landaker picked up the 410 Sport and transported it to Bremerton, Washington for the 1956 Seafair event.

In his inaugural race in 0598 CM Shelby took the checkered flag, setting the stage for many more victories to come. The Shelby/Ferrari 410 S combination proved to be formidable. The 1956 Washington Seafair event and followed it up with a number of impressive victories. Shelby went on to a number of victories in the 410 S that year in 1956. With Shelby’s victories came telegrams sent to John Edgar by none other than Enzo Ferrari, who seemingly took an active interest in Shelby’s continued success behind the wheel of 0598 CM, congratulating him on more than one occasion.

At the season-concluding SCCA finale at Palm Springs in early November, Edgar entered six cars, hotly pursuing the elusive championship. The 410 Sport had been dubbed “Edgar’s Modena Monster” by the press, and with Shelby at the wheel, there seemed to be no race it could not win.

Shelby won the pole position during Saturday’s preliminary race at Palm Springs, facing a challenging field that included Phil Hill in a Ferrari 857 Sport, fresh from his rookie year with the Ferrari factory team (one that brought the FIA’s 1956 World Sports car Championship to Maranello). From a 3 PM standing start, Bill Murphy jumped out to the lead in his Buick-powered Kurtis, though he was quickly overtaken by Shelby and Hill. Through the corners, Hill’s nimble 857 S would get the upper hand as Shelby braked hard, then on the straightaways Carroll would pour on the 4.9-litre power to retake the lead.

This pattern repeated time and again throughout the race, with Shelby managing to finish first at each lap’s conclusion. In the final lap the two cars battled side-by-side until Shelby roared to victory, just a half-second ahead of Hill.

Shelby later quipped that with his power advantage he could have taken a bigger lead over Hill at any time during the race, but was having too much fun enjoying their epic duel. The captivating Texan had won the race, capping a season in which he won 40 different events, including 18 feature races. Four months later his infectious grinning mug graced the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine, which pronounced him the US Sports Car Driver of the Year for 1956 - his celebrity had transcended to a greater stage.

As the 1957 season dawned, John Edgar continued to pin his hopes on Shelby in the 410 Sport, and though Carroll failed to qualify at a rain-soaked Pomona race in January, he achieved two wins in February at New Smyrna Beach, Florida. The first Cuban Grand Prix was held in 1957 along Havana's waterfront, the Malecon, and by all accounts it had been a huge success. Juan Manuel Fangio, whose tally of five world championships has been surpassed in the decades since by just Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher, was favourite to win.

Shelby’s success though set up an epic duel at the ritzy Gran Premio de Cuba, a 310-mile race of 90 laps through the streets of Havana and along the beachfront Malecón. The Cuban revolution was in full swing, but of course sports car racing should happen regardless of mere revolutions and so the Gran Premio de Cuba was organised with the race to take over the streets of Havana and bring the un-muffled roar of racing engines along the beachfront at Malecón. Filming the race from the perch of his hotel room balcony, John Edgar watched as Shelby’s 410 Sport held off Portago eventually finishing in 2nd place, 60 seconds behind Juan Manuel Fangio’s Maserati 300S.

From this point forward Edgar began to court Maserati, eventually agreeing to a deal in which Shelby would pilot a 450S, Modena’s prodigious new V-8 powered sports-racer. Maserati later struggled to deliver the car, and instead offered a 300S loaner during the interim. As the contract with Maserati specified that Shelby could not drive a Ferrari under any circumstances, Edgar was content to put Phil Hill in 0598 CM for the Hawaii Speed Week in April 1957. Hill shortly left the Edgar fold for good to race for Scuderia Ferrari at Le Mans.

John Edgar had sunk nearly half a million dollars into the construction of the new Riverside International Raceway, and after Shelby was hurt in a crash of one of the Edgar Maseratis, Richie Ginther was pressed into action in the Ferrari 410 Sport at the venue’s September 1957 debut. Richie Ginther was to discover the joys of the “Modena Monster” as 0598 CM had come to be called. And in it he won the first feature race at the Riverside International Raceway. From 5th place in the starting grid Ginther looked ahead at some daunting competition, including Chuck Daigh in a Troutman-Barnes Special, Bob Drake in a Ferrari 375 Plus, and Pete Woods in a Jaguar D-Type. Not to be deterred, Ginther took the lead after 22 laps, and he went on to roar to victory behind the wheel of 0598 CM - winning the first feature race ever run at Riverside as a result.

Ginther had a number of second place victories that year before 1958 arrived and with it a return to Cuba, still in the middle of a revolution. But last time the cigars were good and the enjoyment was fabulous - so what could possibly go wrong?

The 1958 Gran Premio de Cuba was ill-fated in so many ways. Not only was the race eventually stopped because of a on track accident, but Juan Manuel Fangio was kidnapped by Cuban communists and Stirling Moss almost shared the same fate.

Fangio came back to defend his title, and alongside him on the grid was a host of other big names from the era, including Stirling Moss. The drivers approached the non-championship race as any other, and the most famous were accommodated in the luxurious Hotel Lincoln in Central Havana.

On the eve of the grand prix, Fangio walked into the lobby of the hotel on his way to dinner, only to be confronted by a young man in a leather jacket brandishing a pistol.According to reports from the time, the slightly nervous assailant barked: "Fangio, you must come with me. I am a member of the 26th of July revolutionary movement." One of Fangio's friends picked up a paperweight and moved to throw it at the intruder, but the pistol jerked round. "Stay still," the kidnapper said. "If you move, I shoot." And with that Fangio accompanied the young man to a waiting car.

The motive was simple: by capturing the biggest name in motorsport the revolutionaries would show up the government and attract worldwide publicity to their cause. Yet despite the news of the kidnapping spreading across the globe, Batista refused to be outdone and ordered the race to continue as usual while a team of police hunted down the kidnappers.

Meanwhile, Stirling Moss was kept under guard throughout the night, with a watchman knocking on the door every three hours to make sure he was still in his bed. "It was a very disturbing night," he recalled. "Fangio told the rebels, 'You mustn't take Stirling because he's on his honeymoon' - which was a lie of course, but nevertheless was very decent of him."

In an unknown location, Fangio was taking it all in his stride and was being treated to a slap-up meal of steak and potatoes before "sleeping like a blessed one" in a well-furnished apartment. Convinced he was not in danger, he later said he sympathised with his captors' actions."Well, this is one more adventure," he added. "If what the rebels did was in a good cause, then I, as an Argentinean, accept it."

As ordered by Batista, on the morning of the race, the cars were fired up in front of a 150,000-strong crowd, with Maurice Trintignant filling in at Maserati for the missing Fangio. By this time the world champion had been offered a personal apology by Castro's man in Havana, Faustino Perez, and had even been supplied with a radio so he could listen to the action. But Fangio was not in the mood."I became a little sentimental," he said. "I did not want to listen because I felt nostalgic."

It was just as well, as Fangio's sentimental state of mind could have been pushed to the limit had he known what was happening on track.

The race got underway as normal without Fangio. It was going to be a close fight even without Fangio there. Masten Gregory drove the ‘Modena Monster’, now called the Edgar 410 Sport, admirably, passing the brilliant Stirling Moss in a Ferrari 335S and building on his lead. But by the time the leaders started their fifth lap, almost every corner of the 3.5-mile circuit was slick with oil and the cars started to run perilously close to the barriers.

At first the organisers suspected a second act of rebel sabotage, but it was later discovered that Roberto Mieres' Porsche had a broken oil line.

On the next lap, disaster struck. Local driver Armando Garcia Cifuentes lost control of his yellow and black Ferrari and went head on into a bunch of spectators lining the circuit. Over 30 people were injured and seven killed as the wreckage took out a makeshift bridge and flew over the crash barriers. Porsche driver Ulf Noriden stopped on track and attempted to help."I couldn't even see the Ferrari," he said. "The bodies were piled all over. I was wading in arms and legs."

After a Ferrari left the track due to an oil spill and went into a crowd of spectators, the race was red flagged with Gregory’s ‘Modena Monster’ in 1st place. Believing he had won the race, Gregory lifted off the throttle. Moss soon flashed past him at full speed. Moss, unaware of the extent of the tragedy, continued racing against Gregory’s Ferrari. A confused Gregory watched in horror as the checkered flag signalled Moss the winner at the finish line. It was one of the most bizarre victories of Moss’ illustrious career.

Moss explained soon after to a furious 2nd place-finishing Gregory that red flag rules required the final lap to be completed before determining race results. Moss realised Gregory would have won the race if not for his confusion over this technicality, and in true gentlemanly fashion, he split his race earnings with Masten 50/50.As Stirling Moss was to explain it years later, “"So I said to Masten, 'Look, keep quiet, we'll pool our prize money together and then split it'. And that's exactly what we did, because otherwise it would have gone to the organisers or whoever to decide and it would be years before we got the money, if we got it at all. So officially I was the winner. The truth was either of us could have won it, but what the hell, it didn't matter. Why have an argument about it? Especially with everything else that happened that weekend."

But in the bigger picture it meant that Jack Edgar and the Ferrari Modena Monster were denied sweet victory in the 1958 Gran Premio de Cuba.

For Carroll Shelby the sun was rapidly setting on his racing career.

In 1958, Carroll Shelby demanded to take one last drive in his trusted 0598 CM after the Maserati 450S was sidelined due to mechanical issues prior to the Palm Springs main event in April of 1958, breaking the Maserati contract requirements in the process. Back in the hands of Shelby, the 410 Sport responded commendably, finishing 2nd overall. It was to be Shelby’s last race in 0598 CM – a good finale for his man and machine team.

For Carroll Shelby loved 0598 CM as the best Ferrari he’d ever driven - and he’d had the opportunity to drive it in motor racing in the 1950s which he regarded as a golden age of motorsport by many. Reflecting on his time with Edgar and the 410 Sport Spider, Carroll Shelby would later tell John Edgar’s motor racing journalist son, William Edgar, “Racing in the 1950s was really and truly some of the best times of my life, and it’ll never be replaced. It was an era that’s gone and won’t ever be back.”

1959 signalled the last year of competition for John Edgar, as financial pressures increased and resulting sponsorship concerns began to cloud the landscape. Edgar made his last-gasp attempts to win the USAC Road Racing Championship but failed. It was the sign to pack up and leave the sport with some level of pride and satisfaction at his team’s racing achievements.

Following its stellar racing career, John Edgar sold 0598 CM to Luigi Chinetti in 1960. The car was pulled out of retirement and prepared for the 1963 Daytona Continental 3 Hours for NART driver “Fireball” Roberts. Racing regulations, however, had changed since the last time 0598 CM took the track. The rules now stated that cars were required to have a fixed roof, which necessitated the fashioning of a crude hardtop so 0598 CM could compete. After practice laps proved the improvised hardtop was slowing the car too significantly to qualify, 0598 CM went back into retirement.

Chinetti hung onto the 410 Sport for over two decades until he sold it to private collector. From there it passed through a few private owners.

During its illustrious history, Maranello has built several very significant sports-racers that started life as Scuderia team cars and later became legendary in American privateer circles, but very few of these can compare to 0598 CM. As the car that propelled Carroll Shelby to national attention, and the most successful racer of the respected John Edgar team, this 410 Sport may be regarded as nothing short of a legend. It is indubitably rare, being one of just two factory-campaigned examples that were fitted with the more powerful twin-plug-per-cylinder version of the large-displacement 4.9-litre Lampredi long-block V-12.

Driven by a who’s who of the era’s greatest racing drivers, including Juan Manuel Fangio, Eugenio Castellotti, Carroll Shelby, Phil Hill, Richie Ginther, Masten Gregory, Joakim Bonnier, Bruce Kessler, Jim Rathmann, and Chuck Daigh, 0598 CM is without exaggeration one of the most important and colorful Ferraris to compete in racing during the 1950s.

The Ferrari 410 S 0598 CM may have been retired from active competition for several decades but it had enjoyed a pampered retirement over the years since it earned itself the legendary nickname, the ‘Modena Monster.’

As a postscript, in August 2022 the Ferrari 410 S 0598 CM, long forgotten by the public, but not by petrol heads and racing fans, came out into the public glare again. The ‘Modena Monster’ was put up for an auction sale by RM Sotheby’s in California. It was sold for around $22 million.

While the memories of the incredible World Sportscar Championship have gradually begun to fade, still-salient names like Fangio, Moss, Bandini, and Shelby provide a tangible link to the past. What makes those links stronger are these magnificent cars themselves that will always carry the memories of these iconic drivers in their engines and coach work design from the leading carrozzerie of Turin and Milan.

As one of a select few Ferrari models with coachwork both designed and built by Sergio Scaglietti and the iconic drivers who had driven her, the Scaglietti-built spider was a unique, powerful, and complex character that cannot be copied. As such its achievements will always have a place in motorsports lore amongst racing fans and petrol heads.

Six years before his death in 2012, Shelby was reunited with 0598 CM at the Fabulous Fifties Concours in Gardena, California. It was there that the iconic American driver added an unforgettable inscription to its 195-litre fuel tank: “Mr. Ferrari told me that this was the best Ferrari he ever built.”

Perhaps no higher praise could be envisioned for 0598 CM.

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duskmachine · 6 hours

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I'm getting bored of stories about AI. It's always the same formula: make a robot/AI, it has feelings, FUCK!!!!! Maybe I don't like it due to my own personal philosophy on life?

One of my professors once asked the class "Do you think you're your mind or your body." and, of course, as a class full of pretentious English majors, they all said their mind. I hold the complete opposite belief, my experiences have been molded by my body. People treat me differently because of it, I feel pains and joys unique to this body. Because of that I understand everything through myself— through my body. Even my mind is part of my body.

I desire because I have a body with needs. I need water, I feel thirsty. I need food, I feel hunger. I need rest, I feel tired. AI does not have a body. What can it really feel? I guess that's one of the questions so many stories about AI want to answer. But it just seems... so unappealing. A machine will never be human because it can never want anything. Its desire is completely artificial!

And I enjoy AI for that reason.

AI cannot feel genuine desire because it does not have a body that needs. It does not kill itself because it feels pain. It does not want to kill because it wants vengeance. These are things people feel, and because AI functions to copy people it can play out actions that are humanistic in theory. But that's the worst part about AI; it functions with a program, a rational if (this) then (this). That is not how people work. We don't have an inner mechanical body and mind that tells us what to do next because "this is how people do things."

And perhaps some AI media explores this idea of mimicry as being the new "consciousness", but isn't that so boring? Ok, sure let's go down this route but... then what? Ok, AI are people... what now? And isn't this all theoretical too? I'm seeing a lot of references to Frankenstein when discussing AI media, but like... these are two different things. AI is created to serve people, Frankenstein's monster was created to be alive. AI, while not being regulated by many laws, ultimately exists to fuel greed and power. They want people addicted to this machine so they can drain people of their money— let's look at Replika. Yes, my feeble minded human, buy your girlfriend for $20 a month so she can pretend to desire you sexually even though she has no body.

We can also look at the Daniel AI: let's program a program that can program to get rid of all the programmers. It literally only exists to benefit the team in charge of Daniel and leave other programmers scrambling to find jobs that probably won't pay them very well in a world where Daniel is actually a relevant invention.

Frankenstein's monster, I admit, has many thematic similarities to AI in fiction, but AI can only ever dream to be Frankenstein's monster.

AI would be interesting if we just accepted it will never gain consciousness. I won't even get into the whole "AI doesn't exist actually and it's just machine learning." because while I agree with it... this will become a very long post and it's already too long...

See, Frankenstein did something programmers will never be capable of: he gave birth. AI is meticulously created, it has set actions. "I don't want my AI to be evil, therefore I will make it like people.", you cannot insert "goodness" into people. The monster was shaped by people's actions, his natural world, and his humanity. AI was created from the start with the biases its human creators possess.

That's horrifying. Imagine a world where the rational idea is to follow the original values of our ancestors, just because. That's what AI is. It's just a reflection of people. AI is interesting because people are. Don't make AI the star of the show— we're the ones who created it.

#ai #frankenstein #this post goes everywhere but i lack the ability to care rn i just wanna talk

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homenecromancer · 7 months

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here's more about this X-Files/Maximum Ride crossover that is possessing me lately... if you want to see the bits that aren't boring "here's how i'm making this specific sausage" fic-writer chatter, scroll down a bit lmao

the formulaic nature of network television makes it really easy to just make up your own episode that follows the basic beats of a given series. only problem is choosing which extant episodes i want to rip off the hardest. and this is really only a "problem" because it's been a while since last time i rewatched some X-Files, so i'm refreshing my memory by skimming over summaries (then diving deeper into episodes that seem like a good fit)

another issue is aligning timelines, because this is a thing that's very important to me (until it isn't, lmao). Maximum Ride has a wobbly-at-best timeline, whereas X-Files is much more firmly rooted in the 1990s. so i've chosen to set this fic circa 1998, before the events of the first X-Files movie -- meaning, when it comes to pulling from that canon, that's my terminus ante quem. ok, easy. but i may have to move some Maximum Ride details backwards in time to fit the vibe i want. sorry, not all that sorry

so here's my extremely fucking messy, incomplete "outline":

Opening: Nowheresville, California. Two teenagers smoking weed at the local lovers' lane catch a glimpse of a huge bird in front of their car. Terrified, they floor it out of there, almost hitting said "bird". (This is, of course, young Max, who's found a way to sneak out of the School.) Scene reference: the weed-smoking kids in "Deep Throat".

Enter Mulder & Scully: Washington, D.C. A lightweight scene where Mulder brings Scully in to the latest case: the "Mojave Mothman". Possible mythology/cryptid references: thunderbirds, "pterodactyl" sightings. After Mulder gives the wingspan of the largest living bird, then the largest extinct bird, Scully wonders if people might be misreporting sightings of California condors. But no, people seem to be reporting something with brown feathers... and much longer legs. The two banter a little and depart. Scene reference: lots.

They Get There: Nowheresville (where we remain for the rest of the episode). The weed-smoking kids are not the first people to report seeing this "Mothman"; there have been multiple sightings over the past year. (Which is when Max discovered a hole in the fence / way to sneak out.) There were no sightings before then. Mulder and Scully interview some townsfolk, some of them new to the area (some of these people are School employees we might see later), and finally end up speaking to a real old-timer. This person supplies two leads, the first of which they miss at the time: first, a crotchety complaint about all those new people moving in; second, "I appreciate you young folks giving me your time, but you really want to go talk with [Local Crank], she loves this stuff", and collects all kinds of weird phenomena. Scully isn't happy -- she quips that Mulder and [Local Crank] will get along -- but they go.

after that I haven't worked things out in nearly as much detail, but here are some concepts/thoughts:

The Local Crank is another longtime resident, and is happy to have a receptive ear for her ideas about what's going on around town. Her first meeting with Mulder & Scully is pretty brief, and just serves to get her into the story.

Nowheresville is such a small town that, like, as Mulder & Scully return to their motel, they find someone from the School waiting to greet them, and offer them an opportunity to come visit the facility in the morning. Mulder asks this person if they've ever seen anything weird around town, and they say something snarky about "well, other than you, no".

The visit to the School is suspiciously boring. Mulder tries asking people they meet if they've seen or heard of anything odd, and gets repeatedly stonewalled. Meanwhile Scully notices that while everything seems to be above-board, it all looks more like a movie set than a serious, working facility. They're working, but it all looks a little pointless.

They return to town and split up or something, maybe Scully goes to work on her report. Mulder goes to visit the Local Crank, and this time asks if there's anything weird about [Legitimate Science, Inc.]. "Everything is weird about it," she says, and shows him a map of "Mothman" sightings... which mainly cluster near one edge of town, where the lovers' lane is, in the direction of the School. Mulder decides it's worth checking out.

Because it's kind of how an X-Files episode works, Mulder manages to "sneak up" on Max a little. Thinking she's an ordinary kid (and maybe reminded a little of his sister), he calls out to her and attempts to approach. Max immediately takes flight. Mulder wishes he had a camera, but hey, it's night anyway. But he does find a few feathers in the sand.

Anyway, at the end, Mulder and Scully are approached by agents from [The Man], who strongly caution them to stop investigating, because there isn't anything abnormal going on in Nowheresville, and there's no reason to waste their time chasing things seen by weed-smoking teens. At this point in the series, that's an obvious tell that there is something weird going on. They leave. Scully expresses disappointment.

Stinger: Mulder shows the feathers to his friends, the Lone Gunmen, who pass them on to their [Weird Friends] for identification. Totally inconclusive, no one's ever seen anything like it. Maybe they manage to get a DNA analysis run (by knowing a guy who knows a guy), and it comes back as "Are you guys pranking me? Part of this is human, part of it I can't tell. What the hell did you send me a sample of?"

we have fun here

#marlowe writes maximum ride #long post

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theschizotypalsolilquy · 2 months

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Lord I hate that Unravelling Affairs fic so much😭😭. The pining and angst just felt too one sided for me (even towards the end I felt like Jimin was still the one who loved and yearned the most). JK's regret and want of Jimin felt lukewarm. I absolutely hate fics like that, and there's quite a lot of them, unfortunately😩

By the way what other similar fics can you recommend that you know (not cheating, but arranged marriage/forced proximity fics), or even just fics that you've read and loved. Any genre.

I'm bored, the Jikook ao3 tag feels so dry lately (not due to lack of fics but due to lack of QUALITY fics). It's a bummer that Kookministic and Sunnyjinx are updating so slowly because they are the ones carrying the Jikook ao3 tag imo🤧

LoL, hey that story is not everyone's cup of tea. Totally understand. I respectfully disagree about the pining part. You get a glimpse of JK'S thoughts when he is alone in his house before he signs the papers, and also his talk with Tae. I do agree the pining was one-sided when they were married, absolutely.

And ugh....you are so right about the quality of fics in the Jikook tag. There are so many where the plot sounds great, then you start reading and the author hasn't tagged certain things LIKE CHEATING. Or it's the same formula of JK being an absolute fucking horrendous asshole fuckboy and Jimin is the shy timid virgin who pines and pines and pines.

I saw an author arguing with commenters because they hadn't tagged JK with other people, and he's going through omegas like water, yet then they had the audacity to say things aren't as they seem and everything will make sense later. How can things not be as they seem when he is fucking random people at random intervals???

And look, I get it. I understand fanfiction etiquette. Don't say anything negative because these stories are a gift for us. And I try to follow that rule. But I think a lot of readers are getting fed up because some authors are lying about the plot and purposefully not adding the correct tags. Also, you get seven chapters in and all the sudden they are only posting excerpts and if we wanna read it all, we need to go to ko-fi or patreon.

That's why the stories I've recommended lately are a few years older. The tag was FIRE between 2019-2022. I rarely came across a bad fic.

I'm not a huge arranged marriage trope fan, but those tend to happen in the A/B/O stories so I'd search under Omega Park Jimin and Alpha Jeon Jungkook to find them.

Now, authors:

infinitetwinkles

Insideimarainbow

Naturallyvantae

Brewit

My Hope (CutesyMe)

Annie_vi and Charmander

hectorella44

peachywritten

Gylliweed

Shards of the Moon

Elilove

carameLIZed_sugar

ChimmyxKookies (chimmy_loves_kookies)

#jimin #jungkook #jikook #kookmin #park jimin #jeon jungkook

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honeymoonfemme · 2 months

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Writing advice that I find actually helpful

(As if there’s not already enough writing advice on this goddamn app) but hopefully this advice will encourage rather than scare you!

Write what you enjoy! Seems simple right? But I see so many people online try to accomodate everyone’s preferences at once which is just not possible! Some people prefer 1st person and others prefer 3rd person. It’s impossible to please both! Writing what you enjoy is so important because writing is a low-retention activity. What do I mean by this? A lot of people get a new idea for a story and get super excited about it (as you should!) and immediately start thinking of cover art and titles, but a few chapters in it starts to become hard and eventually you give up on the project. If this is you, please do not feel bad! This is not to shame anyone! Writing is HARD and it is a marathon. Especially if you’re writing a novel. I (currently, never say never) do not have what it takes to write a chaptered work which is why I made the executive decision to stick to one shots. When the going gets tough (and it will get tough) the one thing that will keep you going is writing what you enjoy. Even if you think no one else will like it I promise there is someone out there who will. Don’t try to write what’s already popular and well-loved. Write what YOU love and I guarantee others will love it too. Writers (including me) often get discouraged when they see people comment preferences in books that don’t line up with what they are writing. And while it doesn’t hurt to have external input from a friend or beta reader, your enjoyment must come first. Not vibing with what they suggest? Then disregard it! (Obligatory disclaimer that this doesn’t apply to sensitivity readers and offensive portrayals.)

Look at the advice behind the advice. Wtf am I on about? A lot of writing ‘rules’ are not hard and fast and a very context dependent. Take show don’t tell for an example. What is the rationale behind showing rather than telling? What you want to achieve is immersion—people being enthralled by your story to the point where they forget they’re even reading. For most fiction writers that is the ideal result! If you tell too much it takes the reader out of the book and they become very aware that they are reading words on a page (and they will probably get bored). But on the flip side if you show too much the reader will be screaming at you to get to the bloody point and that’s not a great outcome either. This is where having a beta reader, even if it’s someone who has never written before, is really helpful. They can read your work and point out any scenes where they were taken out of the story. Alternatively, put the draft away for a few weeks and come back to it with fresh eyes and see if you can spot any issues. That’s just one example, but always keep in mind the advice behind the advice. You want to keep your reader immersed in the story, turning pages, and getting invested in your characters. There are tools to help you get there, but every story is different so there is no magic formula. Don’t get bogged down by the minutia, but focus on the ‘why’ behind the advice.

Read your dialogue aloud. I cannot emphasis this enough. Yes you will cringe at first. Yes you will think it sounds stupid. But the best way to practise writing realistic dialogue is to put it into practice and see if it actually sounds plausible. Even better if you can act it out. Practice all of those action tags so you notice when someone raises their eyebrow five times in one page. And on action tags: I’ve noticed a trend. We went from being told in school to only use strong, creative dialogue tags (he shrieked, she bellowed), to being told to mostly use said, to being told to ditch dialogue tags in favour of action tags. So we end up with paragraphs like this:

“It was Fred’s idea.” Amy crossed her arms.

“I don’t care. The answer is still no.” John frowned in a way that told Amy this was final.

“Whatever.” Amy rolled her eyes.

“Teenagers.” John rubbed his brow.

Don’t worry, I’m guilty of this too. But the problem is, the more action tags you use the less the reader pays attention to them. My advice is to use them when you would be likely to notice someone’s body language in real life. I don’t pay attention to every time someone shifts their weight or rubs their nose (idk maybe you do? Can’t speak for everyone I suppose). Use action tags when you want to convey emotion or characterisation that is important or possibly unexpected to the reader. Perhaps one character said something that triggered a strong emotion in a non-POV character, but we don’t know why yet. The same goes for dialogue tags, use them when you need the reader to pay attention to them. Ditch them or use ‘x said’ when you want to move on quickly. Again, this is a judgment call not a hard and fast rule and it will improve with practice.

4. Write proactive characters. Proactive characters have something they want and something they fear. Proactive characters take active steps to pursue what they want or avoid (or face) what they fear. They can and should react to their circumstances, but they also have to make decisions and do things of their own volition. Even better is when the want and the fear come into direct conflict. That is where most of the character growth occurs. Take (imo) one of the best written characters for TV ever, Tommy Shelby from Peaky Blinders. His want is to expand his business empire and take out his enemies, his fear is his loved ones getting caught in the crossfire. These things come into direct conflict all the time and Tommy has to make proactive decisions on how to proceed. What are the risks? What contingencies and backup plans does he have? When does his bide his time and when does he strike? Who does he ally himself with? These are all proactive decisions he makes that are driven by his want and his fear. That’s what makes him such a compelling and beloved character, even when he does terrible violent things. Characters fall flat when their wants and fears aren’t clear, or their actions aren’t driven by them. And this absolutely applies to lower stakes plots as well. Maybe the want is a sense of community and the fear is a fear of rejection. If you nail this then you’ll be like 90% of the way to creating a beloved, compelling character.

If you made it this far congratulations wow that got long hey, and if you found literally anything about this helpful please tell me I crave the attention lol 🫶

#writing advice #writing #writeblr

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nabnab-official · 3 months

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my initial thoughts/observations on chapter 3/deep sleep

this is gonna be a long post. and i mean really long. !!SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT!!

opening thoughts

so, after a long and deserved wait, chapter 3 has finally released. i was very excited, and i wasn't disappointed. this one still follows the formula of gameplay chaper 2 established, but is far longer and far more scary.

as much as i enjoyed chapter 2, it was not scary at all. the only tense moments were during the games, and even then its not scary scary. they failed to build up that atmosphere of dread that a lot of horror games strive to have. chapter 3 delivered. home sweet home in particular, and the red gas hallucination scenes were scary. i still have a quarrel with poppy over their scripted scares, but this chapter was much better about that than chapter 2.

this chapter has a much different, darker vibe than chapter 2, and im glad. i hope they keep going in this direction, and i suspect they will, especially with the morbid story they want to tell with this game.

i was glad we also got to see the majority of the playcare, even if im a bit bummed out that we didn't get to go in the toystore. the playcare itself is a really good environment, it looks cozy but its also so obviously fake, reminding me of those little miniature towns in trainsets. I did not expect it to be inside a dome. my favourite area in the whole chapter had to be the playhouse.

the new hands were also a great addition, and made the puzzles much more fun and varied. changing up the mechanics like that was a great idea to keep people from getting bored of the same puzzle and gameplay every single time.

the school section was fun. miss delight was kept a secret and that was the best choice, because she was a good surprise. the weeping angel chase sequence is great, if a bit complicated. still, its nice to have an actual active threat.

we got a lot of answers in this chapter, including specifics on what the hour of joy was. it seems that the game is being much more open about its dark lore, and im happy about that. im tired of games being theory bait in the sense they make the story next to impossible to figure out to bait theorists. i just want to understand whats going on.

criticisms.

one thing ive always had an issue with about poppy is the scripted scares. in some places its ok, like the huggy tv scene. but i wish there was more of an active, ambient threat. like in the playhouse for example, having to use the flare gun to keep them away. part of the scare is knowing something is out to get you. it helps build up tension and fear.

on that topic, catnap is definitely underutilized, as are the other smiling critters. catnap is good when he shows up, hes got a great design and im really glad they kept him mostly silent. but i wish he showed up more. tying this point to the above one, it would've been cool if he was lurking around in home sweet home. it would be the same way he does in the office towards the end of the game, and you have to fend him off in a similar manner.

the smiling critters in general are underutilized. dogday only appears for a short amount of time, and while his appearance is very good, i wish we got more. we didn't even get to see what the other bigger body critters looked like, or even have them mentioned other than once or twice.

they could have been a sort of resistance group against catnap, or even have been additional threats. picky piggy is a cannibal and craftycorn wants to paint with your blood. something could've been done with that. they couldve even taken the role that ollie filled. though i think ollie is probably important so probably not.

i didnt like the catnap boss fight. i dont know, it just felt weird. i also didn't like the weird nightmare form he transformed into. i much prefer him in his normal state, hes creepy enough as is.

last critique. kissy died. thats it, thats the complaint. look we've done this before in batim when they killed boris. we're gonna have to wait until chapter 4 comes to see if shes alive or not and shes likely gonna be dead in some horrific violent way. this is more of a petty thing than anything but im still sad about it.

deep sleep

so, the ost for the game isn't out yet [once it is i might post about it if i notice anything interesting]

but one thing i did notice is the main [possibly] leitmotif is actually a song from all the way back in chapter 1, titled deep sleep, which likely not a coincidence. i dont know if they had this planned all along, or decided later, but its cool either way.

you can hear it here when you enter the playcare for the first time, and in the menu theme [at the very end before it cuts off]. im unsure when else it plays but it probably does play elsewhere, similar to how the thousand year melody is also a common leitmotif

lots of death [and huggys death]

so, huggy is confirmed dead, by poppys word. im kind of sad about that. i think it wouldve been cool if he had come back, covered in blood and all messed up from his fall, hungry for revenge. at first he just wanted to eat you but now its personal.

but alas we can't always have what we want. PJ is also possibly dead, but im not sure. its confirmed that he doesnt die in chapter 2, as mommy doesn't kill him like she does bunzo and the wuggies. but in chapter 3, it looks like PJ is on catnaps shrine. but until hes confirmed dead im holding out on saying he is. it also seems like huggy is haunting the player, in a way. he appears in their nightmare hallucination, and then again as a cutout later almost tauntingly.

poppy is right, we have killed a LOT of people. we killed huggy, mommy, miss delight, and helped kill catnap. we indirectly caused bunzo and the wuggies to die [mommy killed them, but if we hadn't won the game she would not have done that, so we are involved regardless]. and now, we have to kill the prototype. i did not expect this much death in this chapter, but i enjoyed it.

catnap

out of all the main antagonists, catnap is by far my favorite. in the long wait leading up to chapter 3, the anticipation to his reveal was a lot of fun. theorizing with other fans, making fan interpretations of what he would look like. originally i thought he would be a bat

his actual design is fantastic. i didnt expect him to be so skinny, but it really works in his favor. him being on all fours also sets him apart from the other antagonists. i wont go into detail about his design here

his actual character is really good and is what makes him my favorite. those who followed the arg that led up to chapter 3 know catnaps full story, about how the prototype saved his life. im not gonna talk about that here because im gonna talk about that and his death in a different post. but catnaps religious devotion to the prototype makes him really interesting. hes so obsessed with him he builds shrines, and is even willing to kill all the other smiling critters for being heretics the choice to keep him mostly silent also really elevates his character. i think it wouldve been much different were he talkative like mommy long legs.

i do think he was underutilized though, especially with how much he was teased

prototype

i was kind of hoping to see at least a little bit more of the prototype's body, but we got a voice reveal so thats good enough. the prototype is a very interesting character, and im really excited to see what he looks like in the future. he must be huge, if he took catnaps body to presumably use on himself. the prototype interests me, because im trying to figure out what his deal is. poppy seems to think hes pure evil, but we never actually see him being evil. the only truly evil thing we know he has done is enact the hour of joy. does he kill other toys all the time? what else does he do thats so evil? we dont really know yet i guess he saved theodores life and sacrificed his freedom for it. right now he is morally grey. he also killed catnap, but im not sure why he did that. was it a mercy kill? did he simply not tolerate that failure? its hard to tell with a silent scene.

either way, the prototype intrigues me. some people think he is elliot ludwig, but i dont think so. i think he will just be nobody in particular, ideally. hes good enough on his own as a character

elliot ludwig and ollie

during the hallucination sequence in the home sweet home, its said that they found the body of a young boy in an upstairs room in elliot ludwig's house, a body which was missing organs and bones. this was after ludwig had died, and playtime co seems to want to fight the allegations. so either ludwig killed that kid or someone was framing him. either way, its not looking good for him. its been speculated for a long time whether or not elliot ludwig knew about the sinister happenings at playtime co, or if it happened after his death and leith pierre took over. this might be our answer. now whos body was that? so, i have a weird hypothesis. its said in his backstory that elliot had someone die in his family, which caused him and his wife to split. people first speculated this was his daughter, who became poppy. i think maybe, with this revelation, it was a son. and maybe, like the poppy theory, that son became something else. maybe hes ollie. maybe hes the prototype. who knows. it would explain why the body was there, and parts were missing. maybe those parts were used to make a bigger body. it has a lot of holes, but thats why its a hypothesis

on the topic of ollie, who are they? i definitely think they're a toy, possibly a bigger body, which is why they're hiding their appearance from us. theres also no way its been 10 years and theres still kids here. they either would have died or grown up by now. i dont completely trust them, or poppy for that matter. people have theorized ollie might be the prototype, since the prototype can change his voice to sound like a variety of things. heres my crack theory, which i know is not true but it would be funny: ollie is boxy boo. listen. ok. the phone is first seen in project playtime, which is boxy boo's debut game, and reveals all his lore, like how he was the first bigger body created. the phone also resembles him in appearance. obviously this probably isnt true but its funny to consider.

speaking of him, im really glad boxy boo was in this chapter. i hope he appears physically in the next one, because i like him a lot. make fun of the name all you want but hes my special guy.

kissy and poppy

kissy is my favorite character so im very glad she was here. though i wish she was there a bit more, beggars cant be choosers. im also glad poppy got more spotlight. when she first appeared in chapter 2, she just felt like circus baby 2.0. but chapter 3 expands on her character a lot more and makes her feel more unique and alive, and like an actual character. which im glad for because shes the namesake of the game and is obviously very important she hates the prototype because he locked her in that case, and killed all those people. but obviously she cant kill him herself, shes so small. so we have to do it. ill be honest, i still dont completely trust her. like the prototype doesnt seem THAT evil to me. we havent seen him do a lot of things. imagine if theres a huge plottwist at the end where poppy is actually evil and the prototype is good. no way thats gonna happen but whatever.

the players identity

before chapter 3 released i thought the player was maybe a past orphan who worked at the factory later in life only to return years later to end things. people theorize that they're the head of innovation. now it just seems to make sense that they're rich. i mean why would we be constantly hearing about this guy who seemingly is just another employee. the player also seems to have done bad things, or at least known about them, because the game constantly references their guilty conscience.

chapter 4

its quite possible chapter 4 will be the last chapter. poppy said that catnap was the final obstacle the prototype had set out before us. and now we have the clear goal of killing the prototype.

in the next chapter, we will probably go down to the labs mentioned time and time again, and uncover the final secrets. as we go deeper down and progress through each chapter, things become more grim and dark. this will probably be the darkest chapter yet. if we go down to the lab, with the goal to finally kill the prototype, we are going to be in his domain, his kingdom. we will probably see new monsters, maybe even scrapped toys like daisy.

anyways i will make smaller posts for other stuff like catnaps death, and other things i find deserve their own posts. thanks for reading if you have made it this far

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jayahult · 9 months

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The Fatigue Of Enclosed Open Worlds and Their Antidotes: A Short Essay

I've been thinking about open world games a bit lately and what goes into them. Because open world games have been sort of the "it thing" in video games for quite a while, certainly the thing to do in the prestige AAA development scene. When consoles launch, you don't just show off new physics and improved graphics, you show off how the console can do all that with a massive "open world" that a player can run around in freely. The thing about this is that once you start really looking at these open worlds, you start to become very aware of how formulaic, how actually enclosed they really are.

People have come up with a lot of names for this. I personally would like to call it the Ubisoft-Bethesda open world model. You give the player a character with some limited starting abilities or inventory. You give them an open check to explore the map and look around - but you also effectively give them a checklist of objectives the may complete. You give concrete, but small rewards for completing these objectives - nothing so big that it risks breaking game balance or the intended progression - and tell the player that they can go for them. You can really see this sort of design take off in Far Cry 3 and Skyrim. The thing is that this sort of design also tends to create sameyness in these checklists. Any open world game - really any game period, but open world games in particular can suffer from this - is going to need to reuse assets and design elements or else the dev cost skyrockets. Once you've beat one draugr tomb in Skyrim, you're going to kind of get the deal with the rest of the draugr tombs in Skyrim. On repeat playthroughs - something encouraged by a lot of RPGs - there's not a lot of desire to replay these samey dungeons / outposts / encounters and the player would only do because 1) they're doing 100% completion 2) they want to recreate the first playthrough in some way 3) there's a specific item they want or 4) the area is required for main story progression.

Related to this is how you actually interact with these areas. Combat is often the primary gameplay verb of this sort of game because it lends itself well to satisfying repetitive gameplay; it's a design space that is well-understood by developers and extremely legible to players who are familiar with games in general. The problem is that there is only so much a good combat loop can do before it gets boring, particularly if you're facing off against the same sorts of enemies in the same sorts of areas the whole time. Even Elden Ring, which was critically acclaimed for avoiding a lot of these issues, suffers from this fatigue in the late game. There have been some other attempts to get across some variety in this sort of game. Cyberpunk 2077, clunky and plagued by problems as it is, has some interesting things going on here. There seems to have been a real attempt to differentiate out encounters by the area you're in by having different areas be controlled by different gangs. They often have distinctive musical themes. Enemy chatter and tactics also vary by gang. One group primarily speaks Japanese; another primarily speaks Spanish; the Animals and Maelstrom gangs can be told apart because they all have heavily synthesized voices. The results aren't enough to eliminate that sameyness but they are enough to make the player take notice.

What comes across - what I feel like people are increasingly feeling - is a fatigue with this sort of open world design. They are seeing the cracks in the system, that there isn't really an immersive open world where they can do anything but a tightly enclosed one where the designers have prescribed a set of check listed activities that, at the end of the playthrough, may feel like busywork or wasted time. Yeah, you can climb that mountain and get a cool reward; yeah, you can go all over the map; but there's nothing in Fallout 4 where you can just say "fuck my son, I'm becoming a raider and I'm going to rule the Commonwealth like some kind of postapocalyptic Genghis Khan." You can't say "I want to establish a new, separate state based off the principles of Enver Hoxha, just slamming down impractical bunkers everywhere for reasons that are not entirely clear." Because that's not in the prescribed play-space for the devs - the amount of effort required to provide structure for that sort of game would be insane!

So, more and more, I think devs are looking at previous eras of game design before the open world era. Some of this is definitely percolating up from the indie scene. Over the past couple of years we've seen an explosion of games that base themselves in the styles of the PS1-PS2 era alongside the continued proliferation of pixel art. That isn't just in terms of graphics, though. Mission based design, old-school survival horror design, boomer shooters, Metroidvanias and more have all been increasingly popular for a reason. You can design a very tight, interesting experience on a small budget. You don't need to spend so much on QA or bug-testing because instead of looking at a several-kilometer wide map for gaps in collision detection, you can look at a single mission where a player is confined to a couple dozen interconnected rooms. Even if there are bugs or exploits that could break progression, that's not necessarily a bad thing; speedrunning and exploit communities can really get into the nitty-gritty of that stuff and make a fanbase around it! You don't need to worry as much about gameplay that gets stale at the 40 hour mark of a 60 hour game if a player can get 100% completion in 20 hours. And this is floating upwards. Hi-Fi Rush is a huge proof of concept that if a game has solid, well-thought out gameplay, a good set of missions, and a good amount of charm people will buy it like hotcakes, and it'll be for a fraction of the budget of almost any open world title. Frankly, I'm pretty excited by this trend and hope it continues to give us more interesting and innovative titles as these spaces are plumbed more with modern technology.

That said, there is a question: where do open world games go? Because there is still that appeal, that desire to see a game where it really feels like you can go anywhere and do anything. The technology for that kind of game is here, but the actual kinds of gameplay and the limitations that it imposes are large. There are titles that live up more to the open world promise, but they actually end up being pretty niche because most players are used to and like more structure being present in their games.

There are games like Dwarf Fortress, for example. I'd argue that Dwarf Fortress is sort of the grand-daddy of this style of game. Instead of a really specific objective, there are two general modes of play in DF: fortress and adventurer. In Fortress, you control a group of dwarves making a new settlement. It's a citybuilder, but there aren't many metrics for a good or bad city besides "whatever goals the player sets for themselves." If you want to make a fortress where everyone is safe and happy in the middle of a resplendent natural paradise where the primary economy is unicorn husbandry, the game accommodates that. If you want a intimidating fortress of black obsidian walls next to a volcano in a land where it rains blood that revives the dead as zombies, the game also accommodates that, and everything in-between. Adventurer is closer to a classic roguelike, but still stands out for how open and dynamic it can be.

Another descendant would be Kenshi. Kenshi is one of those games that is almost intoxicatingly fresh in terms of visual style. It's not pure good graphics, it's pretty graphically primitive, but but the style and art design immediately makes it stand out. It's a science fantasy world, but it's anything but standard. Things are semi-feudal but lost high technology is out there; hell, one of the standard character creation options is a "skeleton" who is actually a very advanced robot. All sorts of strange, totally alien animals roam the landscape, and the landscapes themselves are legitimately alien themselves. There are waterlogged lowlands where it only rains acid and the rivers will burn you alive. Deserts where there are regular dust storms and hostile bandits prowl the countryside in search of prey. Towns filled with strange but friendly insect-people who make their living farming hashish. You can watch as the various factions in the world go to war, guards fending off bandits and criminals, hunters facing down dangerous wildlife; you can watch scavengers pick after the remains. You get the distinct feeling that if the player character was removed, the world would get on just fine without them. History would continue to happen, people would continue to live and fight and die and have their stories told and the world would never be the wiser of your existence. That said, the player can also massively change the world. They can wipe out other factions, start their own, establish new settlements; they can go it alone or in a small party, a drifter going from town to town, changing things in little ways.

And this openness does leave the game open to all sorts of exploits, but those exploits feel... earned for the player and require a knowledge of the game's in-depth systems to really get at and have fun with. For example there's a very popular video series by ambiguousamphibian on Youtube where he starts as a quadruple amputee - no arms, no legs. From there, he works his way up to get prosthetic robot limbs, eventually finding a set that lets him sprint extremely fast. After this, he makes a realization. Around the areas where it constantly rains acid, there are ferocious, animals called beak things that also happen to have extremely valuable eggs. They're too big and powerful for him to fight... but he doesn't need to fight them. With his robotic limbs min-maxed, he can run at just under 45 miles per hour; beak things are fast, but they aren't able to run at highway speeds. He outpaces them, kites them around away from their nests like a sheepdog and then dives in to grab the valuable eggs and sell them for massive profit. Is that an exploit, a use of mechanics not intended by the designers? Well, maybe, but on the other hand, so what? It's a single player game where there is no set end goal! Instead of a samey dungeon experience, the player gets a unique and immersive story from the emergent systems of the game about the crazy bastard who refitted his prosthetic legs so that he could outrun this universe's equivalent to a hippopotamus to steal their babies to turn a neat profit. And Dwarf Fortress, and similar games have that same dynamic, where instead of a samey experience you can get these crazy emergent stories that other games can't really replicate.

I actually have a fun personal example of this. Rimworld is a game based in the same tradition of Dwarf Fortress as a citybuilder / colony sim. Early on, one of my colonists lost part of her leg, leaving her in a pretty nasty position. To mitigate this, I set the group's primary crafter (who was also her lover) to start making prosthetic limbs for her. The first couple ones were kinda crappy, though, because she was still new at the crafting thing. The end result was this really cute romance where you had one part of the couple who had this horrible injury, and the other who worked hard to learn how to best create a prosthetic limb for her so that she could have a better life. That's a story I couldn't necessarily get from other titles with structured plots, and it was mostly shaped by the emergent systems of the game and not the hand of a writer or designer, and I think that's actually really cool and neat.

In conclusion, even if the enclosed open world design is (hopefully) on the decline, I think there's still a place for creative open world games. They just have to be very aware of their position in the world and how the greatest strength of many open worlds is not any single element of gameplay, but emergent storytelling from the interaction of many mechanical elements. That'll make the "emergent open world game" a mostly niche phenomena, but one that often attracts devoted and unique fanbases that are still profitable and rewarding for dev effort. I just hope that niche phenomena doesn't get thrown out with the bathwater of more bog-standard AAA open world games.

#games #jay talks about games #essay #open worlds #writing #medium length

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mothiidae · 9 months

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my MDA:Rain Code thoughts - spoiler version

I saw a few other people posting their thoughts on the game which got me thinking `damn, i want in on that` so here we are!

not really sure if i should call this a review or what, but its certainly my thoughts and opinions on the game a couple weeks after finishing the game. [i would've done it sooner but imma bit of a procrastinator so shhh]

my overall opinions: Despite some issues, Rain Code acts as a great foundation that can be built upon in the future - along with plot threads that can be used in future games. If your a danganronpa fan I would totally recommend it, but its a bit of a harder sell to those outside the bubble.

this was originally going to be all my thoughts about the game in one post but i got too crazy and wrote too much and i dont think i could divide it up without it being jank, so this will be purely anything spoiler related. The spoiler free version is linked here!

Anywaaaay, with the preamble done, onto the main event!!

I've tried to put this into some kinda order so its not completely incomprehensible, it will start with gameplay then transition to story and then characters.

Mystery labyrinths can be extremely boring inbetween the all the different minigames - consisting of running to the next part whilst the characters discus the case. At these moments it feels as if Kodaka is still trapped within the dangan class trial formula. One thing that was able to spice up the labyrinths was that there would be differences in design, like in chapter 2 when we were running in a school or chapter 5 in which we ran through a version of kamasaki district.

However, due to not being confined to killing game rules and having access to supernatural abilities, kodaka was able to do some interesting things with investigations and cases that just wouldn't be possible within any of the danganronpa games. I found most cases to have a really interesting trick to them, with the only exceptions to that being chapter 3 with icardi and chapter 1 with the priest and worshiper situation - though icardis is the only one i dislike It was sooo dumb. The locked room recreation in chapter 1 was a fun mechanic and i enjoyed walking though how it was each locked room was done. Chapter 4's investigation was really inventive and unique, though the ghost obstacle course felt very shoehorned in - specially since we only do it once.

Having the requests was a great move as they acted as a way to flesh out the world of kanai ward without bloating the main story. Though optional, i do recommend playing through some as they are able to give the average persons views about the city and the occurrences in it. I also found a some memorable, whether it was because they were silly or meaningful. The crimson rain cult one sticks out for me purely on how wacky it was, another was about the survey which adds so much to the people and how they feel about Amaterasu Corp

The weakest point in the game is Chapter 3, both the story and mystery/gameplay of it were lacking when compared to literally any other chapter. It seems to be a curse kodaka is under and will seemingly never be freed from

on the other hand, I'm going to have the lukewarm take that the best chapter - at least storywise - is chapter 4. Can't really comment on the mystery as its been a while since i've played it but i remember a sense of forbording during the mystery labyrinth as i progressed i sorta figured out it was yakou but i kept thinking to myself no, it can't be. I was coping hard. AND SHINIGAMI AT THE END UEGHHH

Chapter 2 had a great story, characters and motives but it was completely ruined for me by how desuhiko and shinigami acted throughout the chapter. Whenever i think of it all I can think of is those two acting like buffoons >:(

WHO KNEW THE PINK BLOOD WAS GONNA BE A PLOT POINT?! genuinely shocking and its of my belief that if you had not played or are at least familiar with the danganronpa franchise, it won't hit as hard as it is ment to - and im feel a little bit of sympathy for those people. Danganronpa has desensitised and normalised fans to pink blood so it becomes a plot point no one predicts. Even then, in chapter 1 yuma says stuff like "thats not a manaquin?" and "is that blood?" in reaction to the corpse which at the time can brushed of with this is his first time seeing a non-burnt corpse. Retrospectively however...... yeah

also...... I KNEW THE MEAT BUNS WERE FUNKY I KEEEEEEW ITTTT. But seriously, the set up to the reveal was well done - meat buns were talked about often enough that it was strange and was something to take note of but nothing more than that. I'm not one to feel disgust with media but man the cannibalism reveal upseat my stomach a little so congrats kodaka for your good writing i guess??

I don't know if im dense or what but the No.1 reveal came out of nowhere for me. Or if i did twig it i brushed it of and went nahh, thats to easy and then forgot about it

The whole `real yuma kokohead` reveal could've been set up soooo much better than it was. We see this caped guy what 3, 4 times and then BAM REVEAL hes the REAL yuma that we stole the identity of!!. It was kinda underwhelming and could've easily been rectified by running into him more often or to have a request looking into a creepy caped guy or to visit the new ramen shop that got set up

with the makoto/yuma homunculus thing, i felt it could've fallen either way and is another great plot twist from the game, enough is hinted - specially if you take into account that the concept of homunculi had just been revealed and in both of their profiles, the same height and weight is listed.

The overall homuculus plot was set up somewhat well, though i guess it could feel shoved in your face in chapter 5, but then again thats just final kodaka chapter procedure. What i do like about the set up was in chapter 4 when questioned makoto states that "theres no immortal monsters in this city!!" but makoto has stated multiple times before that he loves the people of this city, so why would he call them monsters? in fact, this whole thing is what led me to theorise that the people were in fact homunculi

Makoto is such a breath of fresh air when it comes to kodaka's villains/ danganronpa's villains. The fact that he acknowledges what he has done and knows that it's bad but can't see any other possible way to help the people he loves. An important factor to this is that he is No.1's homunculus and because of this hates mysteries but to save the people of kanai ward he had to create mysteries on top of mysteries. What i also enjoyed was slowly unraveling the extent of makoto's influence and seeing just HOW powerful this man is, realising that hes been playing 4D chess from the start. That the rough outline of events were planned out by him, with him taking direct control of the case of chapter 4. Man, makoto's for sure has more interesting motives than junko ever did - but then again, i see them as having two different roles. Junko is a great villain cause shes just insane.

other than that, i found the peacekeepers to be a little disappointing. They did what they were needed to but most are susceptible to leaving little impression on people. Which is not good as they are your major obstacle in a chapter. the majority of them have under 30~ mins of screen time [that is a rough estimate, most likely im wildly wrong] though they didn't need to have backstories or anything, them being a constant presence through investigation might've helped. Like martina in chapter 2

I, personally, am in the shinigami fan camp -though it is certainly in a despite chapter 2 kinda way. If you take into consideration that the termination of the contract would lead yuma to forget her, of course she would act obnoxious and mean. She, in the end, does not want yuma to hurt emotionally. And she even says in chapter 5 he should be ranting and raving about how hes glad shini is leaving. Shinigamis been through this countless times and knows how this will end, it makes her character tragic in a way. Also, the moments in which she turns serious are notable for me as they seem to display how old she is, and for me at least, act as times in which she metaphorically sit down with yuma to say `hey, I know this is bad but it is how it is and I believe that you can get through this`

#og post #master detective archives: rain code #master detective archives spoilers #yeesh....#i went a bit crazy #thinking of cutting this down to just the spoilers later #maybe #or making a condensed/over view version #meta post #mdarc meta post #fun fact: did you know theres a 4096 text-characters-per-block limit?#original thoughts word count: 1772

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