Qualifying order:
| Pole: | 1. SOY | 2. KAL | 3. EDZ | 4. NOX | 5. ØTS |
| Q3: | 6. STR | 7. KAC | 8. PAJ | 9. WIL | 10. ARN |
| Q2: | 11. FØR | 12. SAE | 13. INT | 14. KOB | 15. NYA |
| Q1: | 16. DUB | 17. TIR | 18. SIO | 19. EDI | 20. ISV |
Pedro Wilson makes a robust defence of his position:
Marlan Kalming takes several attempts at the hairpin:
Race classification:
Qualifying order:
| Pole: | 1. ØTS | 2. NYA | 3. KAL | 4. NOX | 5. EDZ |
| Q3: | 6. SOY | 7. KAC | 8. EDI | 9. KOB | 10. MAR |
| Q2: | 11. DUB | 12. ARN | 13. STR | 14. WIL | 15. PAJ |
| Q1: | 16. INT | 17. TIR | 18. SIO | 19. SAE | 20. FØR |
Qualifying order:
| Pole: | 1. SOY | 2. KOB | 3. KAL | 4. NYA | 5. EDZ |
| Q3: | 6. NOX | 7. ØTS | 8. PAJ | 9. ARN | 10. KAC |
| Q2: | 11. MAR | 12. EDI | 13. INT | 14. STR | 15. FØR |
| Q1: | 16. DUB | 17. SIO | 18. SAE | 19. TIR | 20. WIL |
Qualifying order:
| Pole: | 1. NYA | 2. KAC | 3. PAJ | 4. FØR | 5. SAE |
| Q3: | 6. TIR | 7. ARN | 8. MAR | 9. STR | 10. WIL |
| Q2: | 11. SOY | 12. KAL | 13. NOX | 14. EDZ | 15. ØTS |
| Q1: | 16. INT | 17. EDI | 18. KOB | 19. DUB | 20. SIO |
Mitch Noxal attempts a first-lap overtake:
Race classification:
N.B. Championship ties are broken by comparing race finishes. Matthieu Soyer has 7 wins, and Marlan Kalming has 6.
Qualifying order:
| Pole: | 1. EDZ | 2. ØTS | 3. NOX | 4. SOY | 5. NYA |
| Q3: | 6. KAL | 7. ARN | 8. EDI | 9. KAC | 10. DUB |
| Q2: | 11. PAJ | 12. STR | 13. INT | 14. WIL | 15. MAR |
| Q1: | 16. KOB | 17. SAE | 18. FØR | 19. SIO | 20. TIR |
Race classification:
Ylva Førnørn takes a five-place grid penalty following a crash with Sølvi Ny’Aæn:
Qualifying classification:
| Pole: | 1. KAL | 2. EDZ | 3. NOX | 4. ØTS | 5. SOY |
| Q3: | 6. PAJ | 7. MAR | 8. SAE | 9. FØR* | 10. NYA |
| Q2: | 11. KAC | 12. WIL | 13. STR | 14. ARN | 15. INT |
| Q1: | 16. KOB | 17. EDI | 18. SIO | 19. TIR | 20. DUB |
* Førnørn starts the race in 14th
Matthieu Soyer goes three-wide at the S-curves:
Ylva Førnørn attempts an overtake:
Federation-Norgsveldet diplomatic relations reach an all-time low:
Race classification:
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Qualifying classification:
| Pole: | 1. SOY | 2. KAL | 3. NOX | 4. NYA | 5. ØTS |
| Q3: | 6. EDZ | 7. PAJ | 8. KAC | 9. ISV | 10. STR |
| Q2: | 11. INT | 12. EDI | 13. KOB | 14. DUB | 15. WIL |
| Q1: | 16. MAR | 17. SIO | 18. FØR | 19. SAE | 20. TIR |
Race start:
Sayyed spends millions of dirham to plant trees in the desert to get in the way of the helicopter shots:
Race classification:
Final championship standings:
Joint-Post with Socdyl, my enabler
[Neo-Fantøm; Rikevaarland]
[Aunte Maddie’s Credit Union’s Low-Income and Temporary Worker District]
[More commonly called Maddie’s District]
[15 December 2023]
The district was old grounds for Sølvi Ny’Aæn, it was horrid then, and it is not-so horrid now. Still somewhat rough, but it was cleaned up, food trucks and drink stations lining along the street. The local Hoshi outfit in the district performing security and making sure nothing gets too out of hand. Speakers attaching themselves to all the street lamps and buildings. All of these preparations for a party of grand proportions, for the two rookie drivers who stepped into the cars that with the wrong turn could roll over and splatter them across the ground. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case and they’re quite fine.
People were already streaming into the district and the residents taking part of the free food on offer. It is surprisingly easy to see who was and wasn’t from the district or even being from out of town. All you had to do was look at them to see if they’re a kemonomimi or not. Surprising number of rich kids from southern districts are here as well, most certainly not telling their parents or the security detail that they are located in the ‘rough’ part of Handelvaar.
Sølvi kicked her feet up onto the table, overlooking the celebrations below her. She had the roof separated from the rest of the party, only VIPs up here and the Hoshi Ursines at the stairwell made sure of it. Compared to the rest of the party, it was more reserved and limited. Assuming several crates of vodeer is something one would consider to be reserved.
It is a bit quieter up here, which the once-get-away driver quite so enjoyed every now and again. She left a chair open next to her for driving partner, though Sølvi wasn’t sure if Azznup cared much for partying despite all their time working and training together. Nevertheless, she left the chair open and an unopened bottle on the table for her.
Azznup-Øtsypflæ, as a man regarded most often as hard-to-read in his diplomatic, socially passive attitude to most matters, was probably about as used to these sorts of celebrations as one might expect - even if his career had acquainted him to them well enough. The sort of individualistic dedication of the event would forever be an uneasy concept for him, especially with the social obligations such a position entailed. Perhaps such a sentiment of being ill-fit was natural considering his surroundings, the silvery-gray complexion of the elf making him seem far more in kind to the Zrei children than his work partner or the other attendees. Yet he was not Zrei, and did not have such a familiarity with the culture to appreciate what commonalities they did offer.
Still, he wasn’t so deterred by the foreign atmosphere to not try and find some enjoyment out of the event. It was the reality of this chapter in his life that Azznup had learned to make the best of these sorts of uncomfortable respites, adjusting to the world that had often felt hoisted upon him with tempered optimism. There were some things that transcended homelands, and an affection for free food was one area that the driver felt entirely in tune with those around him.
There was a lot to be said about the therapeutic role of food - from the bonds formed and animosities diminished with a shared meal to the exhausted laborer relying upon thoughts of a hot meal to carry through their turmoil. The Zalyra had many a memory of taking his share of a large pot of fish stew and commiserating with his peers on whatever the day had brought, and he had always found himself less bothered by the world around him when there was a bowl in front of him. Southern Borea was always far more enthused about noodle dishes than the thick stews he reminisced about, but there was no shortage of good fish on offer - benefitting both from the coast and mixed Akuan sentiments towards other meats.
Finding his way up the stairwell and past the Ursines, Azznup had managed to get himself a tray of various foods, if rather more seafood-centric than what would have been a more general spread of accompanying carbs and vegetables. For all the inadequacies brought along with being the topic of celebration, the Az’ra took at least enough pride in his efforts to forgo a balanced diet for the time being. He was glad to see a familiar face in Sølvi, especially when the alternative to having his racing partner to sit with was the rather grim-sounding notion of having food by himself. Azznup made his way over to the table, resting his tray as he looked towards his colleague for the green light to sit.
“I brought some food if you wanted to share,” he addressed Sølvi, attempting to offer something in exchange for the company, “I always think it tastes better when it’s free.”
Sølvi turned their head giving a smirk, “Didn’t think this is your kinda scene. Take a seat, save you a bottle and I love to share a meal with the second fastest driver in the team.” She gave a joking tone, taking a sip from her bottle. “Good to see you partner, hope the Hoshi suits didn’t give you too much trouble now.” She turned her head back forward, looking at the people having fun below. Singing and dancing along with the Adurasznian DJ.
Azznup made an exaggerated sigh as he sat down, placing the tray between them as he took a bottle, “Isn’t having a party in your honor enough fuel for that ego there? You’re lucky I think it’d be weird eating alone.” As much as the two had a more working relationship, Azznup did have some appreciation for the type of friendly banter his partner offered. A nice change of pace, if nothing else, to have a more blunt conversation. Even if Sølvi … took some getting used to. “I suppose they recognized me, so there wasn’t any bother. I like carrying ID just in case, but I get the feeling I stick out enough for it to stay in my pocket.”
“Hey now, it’s for the both of us. I paid for the extra wording to include your name.” She grabbed a set of the extra wooden utensils from the tray leaving the main pair for him. “So, did you have to fight your way through the adoring fans to get up here?” She gave a cheeky grin.
“How very considerate of me you are,” Azznup sarcastically noted, a small smile emerging upon his face as he picked up his own utensils, “I imagine you have the home team disadvantage in terms of being showered with adoration, but the people I met were nice enough. Only a few weird looks, which I’ll take.”
The elf skewered a piece of fish and mumbled a quiet Kæzhyn ward under his breath before putting it in his mouth with a nod of appreciation. While such rituals tend to be a more elaborate matter when amongst his peers, Azznup had adapted his tradition into a much shorter, informal practice - translating more into a hope to not get food poisoning then a matter of temperance and communion. He had not been devout enough to stay within his authority, so he was hardly pushing himself to perform the full ritual, but it felt nice to pay homage to it in his own sardonic little gesture.
“Better weird looks than getting your pockets ran.” She picks up a small piece of grilled fish with her chopsticks. Gently blowing on it before eating it. “Spirits be kind, how I missed this. Fish sourced from noyb and spiced with ‘stuff.’ Then deep fried to unhealthy perfection.” The kemonomimi gave a nod towards the elf, “Never lived here but I certainly ran jobs ‘ere. Gave my ol’ fix a few boxes of t-shirt to hand out… She probably sold them to tourists.” Sølvi gave a shrug.
As much as most people would say having neither would be the preferred outcome, Azznup just found himself nodding in agreement, thinking about the security as not exactly easy to approach if he did run into any issues, “It’s nice being able to get Borean fish that probably isn’t Twin Penguin,” he thought aloud, finding some nostalgia in the food even in a form he hadn’t had often, “Wouldn’t be surprised considering where we are. At least you can say your t-shirts are worth a lot if they’re being pawned off on the tourists.”
She started to give a laugh, “Oh spirits, you have no idea. My lil scamp of a brother right? I took him and some of his friends to the office, let ‘em see where his big sister works. So this little twerp, the first thing he does, was to have his buddy in a wheelchair to hide the box they were stealing from my office so they can resell it on the street.” Sølvi took another bite from the plate, “Slide the box under the wheelchair seat, and then proceed to steal that photo of us in Mrs. Tonnesen office. The whole lot of them was loaded merch’ and random crap around the office.” She shakes her head, chuckling still.
Azznup smirked, imagining the heist in his head with suitable comedic effect. “Stealing office supplies is an important part of work experience, you know. Maybe not all at once usually, but it’s not the worst thing to learn on the job.” He took another few pieces of fish in his mouth, chuckling a little. “Besides, it teaches them for not having stairs to slow them down.”
“At least they’re not checkin’ Aurorandies wallets again.” Take a sig of her drink to help with the food. “Or stealing tires off of fancy cars again. They did a decent job hiding everything Mrs. Tonnesen phone started to ring in his pocket.” She shakes her head, “It’s even worse that he openly confessed too, I thought I raised him correctly. Didn’t turn on anyone though, none of them did so I guess that’s a plus.”
“Laes take my mind, my first thought was ‘so that’s where you’re going to get pit crews from’,” Azznup laughed, taking a sip of his own drink as he imagined the same sort of news coverage that his partner’s change in status brought, “I suppose I take back all the credit I gave his entrepreneurship at least. The moral option tends to only really work before you do the stealing.”
“One would think so.” Shaking her head again, “I place him in one of those fancy boarding schools that has uniforms and uh, whatcha call that one sport uhh from Aurora.” Sølvi snaps her fingers for a few moments, “Lacrosse! That nonsensical thing. Got his friend enrolled too, so they don’t gotta work the tourists up. He was always good with inventoryin’ and math. Unlike his big sister.” She laughs at her own self-insulting joke.
“Boarding school, huh?” Azznup thought for a moment on that, thinking back to his very loose understanding of the term, “I never really got the point of those. Sending people away to school for so long, you’d only get half an education right?” He lingered on the thought a moment, before shrugging again and putting more food in his mouth. Schools were probably different in other parts of Borea, but the notion of learning only through the state system seemed… well, like it would mean only learning stuff that lets you pass exams unless you get a job using it. “I guess it keeps you out of trouble, at least.”
Sølvi gave a shrug, “I have no idea what is going on there honestly, I just asked what was the most expensive school here and put them all in that. Keeps them off the streets, and apparently he is doing good in it? I don’t understand what a grading system is, and I spent too much money on asking what it is now.” What the fuck is a ‘A+’ and ‘Algberia.’ She quietly thought to herself, “I never did much learnin’ growing up, but rather not have them all grow up like I did. So I guess it works, plus he likes something called ‘theater’ or something like that.” She takes another bite from their shared plate, “I guess it’s like storytelling but with costumes.”
“I’d explain it to you, but honestly most classes it was just whether you passed or not - most adults didn’t really care too much what the Toryne’yner schools said anyway,” He thought back to his time in school, as one of the more engaged students if only for the sake of trying to get the certification for a job in Ra-kup, “I used to want to be a civil engineer before I got into driving, so I get it a little. Though I can’t help with theater, never my thing.”
“Ah, I never went to school. I figured once I knew how to write my name, I was good to go. I had to go out and work to help my family.” She gave a shrug, “Never knew what I wanted to be in life, I just always had a nack for speed.” Sølvi took another bite of fish. “Used to ride a bike, now I drive a car for legal money.”
“Our school was compulsory, but as far as I’ve heard, the government - or well, the old one, weren’t so strict about it so we could still learn from doing work around the community. Which I mean, was mostly how to do manual labor and chores but you could make up a life lesson out of most of it,” He nodded, shrugging in kind, “Still, guess in terms of our job, being good at going fast is most of it.”
“Oh schools here are just uhhh, I think whatcha call it when you’re forced to go but it’s managed and done by Brewmasters. Old folks around the community are supposed to make sure you’re learning but things work differently in the Fantøm. I mostly was a fox delivery for parties for the Rikevaari folks. As long as the svarakk isn’t a Kelf or Kemonomimi, they weren’t checking my bag.” Sølvi gave a small smirk, “Got older and finally started driving now that was good fun. Still remember my first car, I had to use a broom and a couple of books to reach the petals.” She remembers her 8th birthday, good times. “Best birthday ever, the crew even bought me some dice to hang up on the dashboard and got a booster seat installed so I can see over the wheel.”
There was a moment where Azznup thought about how Sølvi would have gotten a driver’s license, before realizing that he did not actually want to know that information. In fact, the less he knew about whatever was going on with a broom as a driving tool - the better. Rarely was there a moment when an East Borean thought about not asking such things because it would make them uneasy to think about, but Azznup was raised in a nice enough place and Sølvi was… well, whatever that was, “That’s… nice of them.” He finally concluded, having realized he paused just a little longer than he intended to in order to explore the implications, “I used to share the car with my siblings when I passed my theory exam. Which, to be fair, was mostly figuring out what the signs mean without 30 minutes and a dictionary.”
“What’s that?” Sølvi finishes her bottle, reaching over her side to grab another bottle. “A dic-tor-nary?” The kemonomimi ‘gently’ pounds her new bottle onto the table, popping the cap from the brewing pressure and causing a popping sound. The lid flew off onto the concrete floor. Taking another sip of it. “Is it a phone?”
Azznup sighed, a little disappointed that the joke now needed more explanation than it was worth. “It’s a book listing words and what they mean, though the ones I was talking about are more for going from one language to another. Since Syrtænzna has never been all that decisive on what language it’s going to use for, well, anything.” He paused for a moment, realizing that road signs were, even for professional drivers, not a topic that would carry very far. “You can get them on a phone, so you weren’t completely off. Just mostly.”
“Huh, learn something new everyday.” Sølvi ponders for a moment, “Never really left this part of the ice plains, what is Syrtænzna like?” She never really read the news, mostly because she can barely read as is and the only radio channels she listens to is purely musical.
The table fell to near-silence, as Azznup slowly tried to put together his thoughts. The elf’s hand slowly moved towards another piece of fish, skewering it and placing it in his mouth so as to allow him additional time to not speak. Even so, he couldn’t help but feel as if the moment went on forever, some tortuous eternity for him to contemplate how to take a question so naive as to be painful. A little part of him wanted to be angry at his partner’s ignorance, that they had worked together for this long and she had clearly made no effort to try and understand his situation. But that wasn’t right. That hateful blip in his mind was more about the home he had lost than what some colleague thought about it. Azznup took a long drink, the taste awful and the alcohol sitting uncomfortably in his throat, “Well I’d tell you but, well…” he began, thinking of how he might explain something like that before shaking his head and letting out a small chuckle at the absurdity of it all, “You really never listen to the news, do you Sølvi?”
“I listen to sports broadcasts, does that count?”
“No.”
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