#a lot of thought and effort went into winning this race

[petit-papillion]

Highlighted where he talks about his race, but the parts about seeing the fans and having his Mum there... 🥹🥹🥹

Read the full article here:

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/nobodys-perfect-but-leclerc-came-close-with-final-monza-stint-/10650874/

[freshxsturniolo]

4th July - Part 6 - chris sturniolo x femreader

pt1. pt2. pt3. pt4 pt5

you flop down on the seat with a frustrated sigh, finally admitting defeat. you'd played the 3 games you had paid for and had chris had beat you every time. of course he had. you'd never played a game of top golf in your entire life.

chris smiles at you cheekily as he walks his way over to you, before he flops down and instantly puts his arm around your shoulder, pulling you into his chest.

"dont be a sore loser, pretty girl" he whispers in your ear, his voice sending shivers across your whole body before he lets you move away from him again, leaning forward and grabbing his drink.

you pull your hair away from your eyes as you look at him.

"you could have let me win at least once" you moan, and he chuckles again as he puts down his drink.

"and not teach you how to play properly? never. i tried to help, didn't i?"

yes. he had tried to help. your heart was still racing with it now.

you had let out a frustrated cry as the ball once again went no where, and you had automatically looked to chris for guidance. he didn't even notice you weren't hitting the ball right to start with, his eyes trained all over your body. the jeans your wore showing off your ass. the skin of your exposed stomach as you wore a off the shoulder crop top, shoulder moving as you swung the club. your make up the most beautiful he had ever seen it. he could tell you had made an effort for him, and it made him smile, even thought he thought you were beautiful with or without it.

he had chuckled as he walked over to you, taking position behind you. hands on your hips as he angled you better before his hands held onto the backs of yours, as he practically took the shot for you, just your body entwined in front of his. when you and he hit the ball and watched it fly further than it had done all night, you turned your head over your shoulder to look at him, but your nose brushed together. he had smiled and looked down at your lips, before you uttered out a thank you, and pressed your lips against his.

it was your first kiss of the night, and you had lost count of how man kisses you had had since that moment just a little under an hour ago.

you rolled your eyes at him now, but a smile escapes you. "okay, yes. you did."

and he leaned forward and gave you another kiss. you weren't sure you were ever going to get enough of him and those lips.

he looked down at his phone now and saw the time was just nearing 6pm, because yes, you had called him the moment you were ready earlier in the day as you simply couldn't wait till the evening to see him, and he looks to you.

"so, what now? do you wanna go somewhere for drinks?" he said, his hand coming to your thigh. you look down at his fingers before placing your hand over his.

"you want to keep the date going?" you tease. he smirks as he bends forward now, his lips just inches from yours.

"i fear i want to keep this going forever." and then his lips press yours again. your hands come up to the nape of his neck as his hands rubs against your thigh, and for a moment you forget where you are. you forget the prying eyes likely upon you. you forget that people might even recognise who you both are. but you don't care. this felt right. this felt comfortable and so okay.

he pulls away from you now and theres a hazy look in his eyes, like he's contemplating saying something. so you wait. his eyes scan your entire face for a second, hand squeezing at your thigh, a sharp breath escaping your lips.

"i might be crazy, but-"

"are you done with these?" a voice comes from the side of you. you jump, turning your head to look at the voice and noticing the staff member pointing towards your plates and trays of food. you'd gone for a mixture of things, picking at them as you went along. wings, fries, ribs. but truthfully you hadn't eaten a lot, both too infatuated

"uhm, yeah, thank you." you smile.

the staff member smiles at you as he picks up the plates and trays, and when he finally walks off you give him a smile before turning back to chris. but he's shifted in his position and his cheeks are slightly red. his hand no longer on your thigh but clutching his phone, his knees doing a nervous jig. when he knows you're looking at him again, he smiles and stands, shoving his phone back in his pocket before holding our your hand.

"shall we go, then?"

"yeah," you start, lifting yourself from the seat and grabbing his hand. he pulls you forward immediately before you can even finish your sentence.

you make your way to the exist, the hustle and bustle of the place becoming quieter as you get to the car park, but you don't reach for your car keys just yet.

"what where you gonna say in there?" you ask.

he ignores you. you can tell he's ignoring you.

"chris" you press on.

"hmm?" he says, but he still doesn't turn to look at you, so you stop. you'd be lying if you said your heart didn't hurt a little. had you done something wrong? was he about to get in the car and tell you that actually, he didn't want to go for drinks and if you could drop him off home?

"are you okay?" you ask, and he stops now to look at you. luckily theres no cars wanting to come through the car park because you'd be swiftly moved along.

"yes. sorry. im good. really good. are you?"

you can see him panicking slightly, but it only stresses you out more.

"i just - im not sure. you dont seem yourself."

he smiles before he grabs your face in his hands, his eyes looking all over your face.

"sorry, i didn't mean to give you that impression. im okay, promise."

"its not me?" you blurt. you're being annoying. you're being overbearing, you know you are. but damn, there is something about this boy.

"oh my god" he says, shaking his head. "its never you. you're everything, pretty girl."

and then he kisses you. soft. but lingering for a second or two. when he parts he looks at you, and you can tell he's sincere, so you giggle. you actually giggle.

"so fucking cute" he laughs, but you push his hands away and roll your eyes, which only makes him laugh more, head back and hair flowing with him. you're addicted to him. you're actually addicted to him.

"come on then, pretty girl. where are we going for drinks?"

you laugh as you walk back towards your car, chris by your side.

"well, do you mind if we take my car back to mine and uber there? the night is ours then"

he comes behind you, hands on your hips, continuing to walk forward.

"sounds perfect."

___ the drive back to yours is filled with laughter. continual yapping about anything and everything, and his rests on your thigh the whole way, only taking it away to sometimes send a few texts to his brothers.

you throw your car keys on the side and show him into your living area, and he smiles as he looks around. you were proud of your house and everything you'd done to achieve it, so to see him enjoy it made you smile.

"do you fancy a drink whilst we wait for an uber?" you say now, walking across to the fridge in the kitchen. you can hear him on your heel.

"what you got?"

you open the fridge and let your eyes scan.

"uhmmmm," you start. but you feel him behind you. his breath on your neck, his fingers brush against yours as he takes the fridge door in his hand too and opens it wider, and suddenly you can't speak. suddenly the tension fills the air.

"beer will do" he says, his voice low.

and you both go to grab a bottle at the same time. he's leaning over your shoulder as your fingers brush the bottle and you both stop. your breathing higher, his breath hotter down your neck.

and then your phone rings, and you almost jump out of your skin.

"fuck" you whisper, and chris chuckles into your ear as he grabs the beer from the fridge, and you feel the heat of him move away from you.

you close your eyes before fishing for your phone in your pocket, and you screw up your face when you see the caller ID. spinning around, chris has perched himself on your kitchen table, and he sees the look on your face.

"everything okay?" he asks, genuine concern lacing his voice, and you smile.

"yeah, its carrington."

you see his smile fade. "oh."

"he never calls."

he raises his beer to you. "answer it, check hes okay."

you smile as you watch him take a sip, before sliding across your phone screen to answer the call. you hear the chatter of people before you even press your phone to your ear.

"babeeeeeee" carrington calls, and you can't help but laugh as a rush of relief washes over you. he's okay.

"hello, carrington" you laugh, and chris raises an eyebrow. you smile at him.

"where the fuck are you?" he shouts. its a quiet bar but you know the amount of people he's going to be surrounded by.

"im at home." you admit, walking back to the fridge and taking out your own beer. you walk over to chris and pass it to him, and he laughs as takes off the lid for you. you mouth a thank you before taking it off of him.

"what?! are you not coming out?"

"erm,"

"oh. fuck." you hear him say. "you're with chris, aren't you?"

"yes." you say, and you can tell chris can hear him on the other end, his eyes are surveying you as he takes another sip from his beer.

“shit.” carrington says “wait, at your house? did i just call you mid FUCK?”

he’s drunk, so drunk, but you laugh.

“no carrington, you did not.”

“oh thank god. put me on speaker” he slurs.

“not a chance.”

chris is eyeing you further. and you give him a sorry smile, and he shrugs. he shrugs.

your mind instantly goes back to the party. you in the pool and him sitting on the edge after you’d been thrown in there, and you instantly remember his words. words you’d forgotten about until now. ‘is there anything going on between you and carrington’. and then you realise the shrug and the eyes, are jealousy. you smirk almost. something about him thinking of you with another guy and being mad about it only makes you find him so much more attractive.

“go onnnnn” carrington pleads in your ear, and then the pull the phone away and press louder speaker.

“you’re on” you say. and chris looks towards your phone.

“CHRIS” carrington shouts, and chris laughs.

“hey, bro” he says as you walk closer to him so he can be closer to the phone. he doesn't look at you once.

"you guys should come here. the whole gangs here and it would be good to see you."

chris looks at you now and you realise in the excitement of the day, you hadn't mentioned the drinks. truthfully, you were going to text tara and tell her you wouldn't be going, as you didn't want the alone time to end with him. you were having fun, and you knew your friends would understand.

but you begin to tell him. "we have drinks at this bar. is usually pretty lowkey but its just a place to catch up properly." you shrug, and chris nods.

"you wanna go?" he asks, the chatter of people around carrington as he awaits for one of you to speak to him.

"we dont have to." you say, and chris studies your face for a second before he leans into the phone.

"we'll get an uber there now, bro." he says, and your eyes widen.

"urgh, thank god. i miss my girl.” carrington speaks.

you close your eyes, hoping chris doesn’t latch onto it, but he laughs as carrinton hangs up. you open up your eyes just in time to see him staring at you, but he looks away quickly. and that look on his face again.

“you know” you say, and he diverts his eyes to you again. “i meant what i said. there’s nothing going on between me and carrington.”

he shrugs. again. that damn shrug. “i know.”

and you look at him for a second, before walking closer to him. you force your legs in between his and he opens up immediately, your hands coming to the nape of his neck again. it takes him a second but that beautiful smile emerges on his face again as he puts his free hand on the back of your thigh, giving it a small squeeze.

“tell your face that then”

and then you kiss him.

TAGLIST : @spencerstits @chrissturnsss @slut4chriss @valkatriee @sturnsjtop @viiiwwwee @gwennysturniolo @melanch0lybby @sturnioloblues @mattstrombolii @sturnsbella @hearteyes4chris @le4hsblog @nervoussagittarius @chrissypook @sarosfilms @somegirlfromasgard @carringtonsgirlfriend @h3arts4harry

[socksracoon10]

𝐇𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐮𝐧

𝗦𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘆: 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦… 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵. Pairing: Carlos Sainz Jr. x F!Reader, Charles Leclerc x F!Reader, Max Verstappen x F!Reader A/N: Alright gang, I caved like I said I would, here's my first f1 fic lmao Read The Second Part: Hit and Run (Part 2)

𝘾𝙖𝙧𝙡𝙤𝙨 𝙎𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙯 𝙅𝙧.

"You had a pretty nasty crash with (Y/N) (L/N) during qualifying today, do you have any words to share about the collision?" A reporter had asked Carlos, bringing the microphone closer to his lips. Boy did he have words, a very strong choice of them that he desperately wanted to spew out on national television. He bit the inside of his cheek, his eyes focusing in on the said driver just a few feet from where he stood. She was most likely giving her side of the story to the press, and it boiled his blood. He wanted to be nice, he wanted to be supportive. He liked to welcome everyone into the sport, make them feel like they belonged. Yet all his efforts to try and be the better person went down the drain as soon as she had rammed into him on track. That was his final straw. If it wasn't for the fact that she had been getting much more cocky during interviews, talking about how Carlos was an easy opponent and was practically no competition to her, he would've let this crash slide. His eyes drifted back to the patient reporter and he shook his head,

"I don't uh... want to talk about it. It happened, let's leave it at that." He sighed, shrugging his shoulders. The reporter furrowed his brows, a doubtful pout on his lips as he tilted his head,

"Interesting you say that. (L/N) had a lot more to say."

"Oh, did she now?" Carlos raised an eyebrow; he couldn't help the way his body turned to completely face the reporter, his curiosity taking over him. He wanted to know what that idiot must've said to the press.

"She said, and I quote, 'Even if you give Carlos a million practices, he'll still fumble the bag like he did today...' what are your thoughts, Carlos?"

Carlos gaped at the reporter, his mind reeling with at least a thousand different responses, each of them having to deal with the fact that he was racing against an absolute asshole but he shook his head, trying to calm himself down. He knew his words would have weight, and he figured he might as well let her have fun for the time being. Let her have that confidence boost that she desired so strongly.

"Well, we'll see how it plays out during the race." Carlos snapped, forcing a thin smile before heading out of the press pen. 𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙡𝙚𝙨 𝙇𝙚𝙘𝙡𝙚𝙧𝙘

Charles was having a wonderful weekend. Had P1 in all the practice sessions, got pole for qualifying and he was set to the win the race. He was so happy and hopeful, he knew that after a long while he was going to taste victory. Carlos had draped his arm over Charles's shoulder, giving it a little squeeze before exclaiming, "You're going to win tomorrow, I can feel it."

And then in came (Y/N) (L/N) like the absolute hurricane that she was, bopping her head to whatever stupid song was playing in her headphones. She glanced over to him, taking off one side of her headphones before scanning him from head to toe,

"You think I'd look good in red?" She asked, her head still moving side to side as she hummed with the song. Charles didn't understand it at first, and he frowned before it eventually clicked in his head,

"You'll never be in Ferrari," He scoffed, and she snorted,

"We'll see about that."

And see he did when he saw her coming up right behind him, ready to overtake him on the turn coming up, only to lose her grip and crash into him. As both cars spun towards the barriers, it wasn't hard to miss the way Charles began to scream over the radio, his voice hoarse and dry from the fact that all his hopes were diminished within seconds. He scrambled out of his bottled car and headed towards (L/N) who was looking over at her own car's damage. "You fool! You moron! What were you doing?" Charles roared, and she turned around with an exasperated sigh, "Trying to overtake you, and then I lost grip." She crossed her arms, and Charles clenched his fists, taking another step towards her, "You leave space! Leave space! I literally-" "Oh, quit whining. What's done is done, you can't be wallowing over it," She scoffed and as Charles was just about ready to shove her onto the ground, some of the marshals jogged over to break up the fight.

"You're lucky I didn't break your face," Charles spat, feeling the marshals drag him away. He glanced over his shoulder to see (L/N) mirroring his glare. He watched her lips twist into a scowl before she was taken out of his sight.

"We're sorry about that crash, Charles," A reporter sighed, shaking her head as she gave him a look of sympathy.

"I'm sorry for (L/N) for the next few races," Charles bit back, knowing that he was going to give it his all during the next race. 𝙈𝙖𝙭 𝙑𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙣

A championship battle would've been much easier to win over an argument with (Y/N) (L/N). Max had figured that out the hard way. He had the fastest lap and was just about ready to overtake (L/N) when she had suddenly divebombed randomly into him, forcing him into the barriers. Max was beyond just pissed, he was fuming. He had never felt such strong rage in a very long time, and as he hopped out of his car with the help of the marshals, he knew he was about to start a war back at the garage. He had dropped his gloves onto the floor, shoved the helmet onto the ground before ripping off his balaclava with one intention in his mind: sort out whatever bullshit (L/N) kept bringing into these races. She was only 6th in the driver standings, but she sure acted like she was 2nd and that only did little to calm Max's anger. He had marched over to her team's garage much to the chagrin of those with him at Red Bull Racing.

"So, are we letting blind people race now?" Max barked, and he watched (L/N) crane her neck to get a good look at the man approaching her. She stood her ground, crossing her arms with that cocky look on her face. It drove Max wild looking at her, he hated her guts.

"Listen, it just happens. My bad," She put her hands in the air, taking a step back as she noticed Max losing his mind.

"Just happens? Just... happens? Seriously? Are you fucking stupid? That shouldn't be happening! I have a championship to win and you just ruined it for me!" "Hey, I DNF'd too. We're both in the same boat," (L/N) exclaimed.

"I'm fighting for the championship, you're fighting to secure your seat for the next season because you are nothing but shit!" Max hissed which earned a couple gasps from those at the garage. Within seconds he was dragged back to Red Bull Racing's garage, but he couldn't help but notice the smirk on her face. A part of him wondered if she did it on purpose. After all, (Y/N) (L/N) had nothing to lose at the moment so it wouldn't surprise him. He sank down onto a chair, impatiently tapping his foot as he watched the race continue without him.

He couldn't wait to wipe that smirk off her face next time.

[verstappensrealwife]

Race to remember - Lance Stroll x Reader

[lance stroll masterlist  / f1 masterlist]

ʚɞ in which... reader rewards lance after he wins a grand prix. ʚɞ fluff, smut  ⋆⭒˚.⋆ 1300 words ʚɞ warnings: p in v, fem!receiving oral, smooching, lance P1

-୨♡୧-

It had been a long time coming. Lance was finally leading the race. With just three laps left, the Aston Martin roared around the track at an immense speed, and you were on the edge of your seat. Metaphorically, that is, because you were actually standing, mere inches from the screen in the garage—a definite strain on your retinas, but you didn’t care.

Two laps left. You hadn't moved an inch. The tension in the air was palpable, every fiber of your being focused on the car darting across the asphalt.

One lap left. You watched him intently, noting the six-second lead over second place. Your heart was pounding, probably double its normal rate. Your palms were clammy, your skin too hot, sweat trickling down your back. Anxiety gnawed at you, a wild mix of hope and dread.

On the final turn, he could see the checkered flag waving. The moment seemed to stretch endlessly, every second a universe of possibility and fear.

All the Aston Martin mechanics had rushed to the metal fencing beside the track, cheering and shouting his name. The air vibrated with their excitement.

Your body felt numb.

You didn't initially realize you were moving, guided by Lawrence Stroll towards the parc fermé barriers. Before you knew it, you were at the front, watching as Lance's car pulled into the first-place spot. He jumped out, stood atop the car, basking in the thunderous applause. Not only was this his first win, but it was also a home win. The crowd's roar was a symphony of triumph.

He hopped off the green machine and quickly went to get weighed before spotting you.

As soon as the scales flashed his weight, he dashed toward you, ripping off his helmet and dropping it to the ground without a second thought. He leaped at you, the metal fencing separating your bodies. Tears streamed down his face—you were almost certain—even though you couldn't see his expression clearly. The intensity of the moment, the culmination of all his efforts and dreams, overwhelmed you both.

"You won!" you cheered as he pulled away from the hug. He could only smile and gently pull your face towards his for a kiss.

It wasn't a long kiss, but it was deeply romantic. His lips were a bit dry, and his facial hair scratched your skin, but it was loving and tender. In that moment, it was just the two of you, lost in the joy and intimacy of his incredible victory.

Post-Race Interview

“So Lance, congratulations on your first win, and a home win!” the reporter began. Lance smiled broadly. “Do you have anything you’d like to say to the people to celebrate or to thank?”

He cleared his throat, shifting slightly. “Erm, yeah, I’d like to thank my the fans, and the team, obviously. Without them, I wouldn’t be in a winning car…” He paused for a moment, glancing down at his feet, then back up. “And my girlfriend, Y/N, for actually believing in me and supporting me… uh, yeah.”

He wasn't used to this much attention. Sure, he got a lot, but never quite like this.

—

“Hello, race winner,” you purred as he walked into the room. He had insisted you go home after the podium ceremony, knowing he’d be a while.

You were wearing thin, lacy lingerie in his favorite color.

He immediately dropped his bag with his race suit and helmet on the floor. “Fucking Christ…” he whispered, more to himself than to you.

He crossed the room in a heartbeat, his hands finding your hips and gently squeezing. His touch was electric, sending shivers down your spine. He was already uncomfortably hard, his desire palpable.

His hands moved slowly, almost reverently, up and down the sides of your body. He carefully unhooked the band of your bra, letting the straps slide down your arms, the delicate fabric cascading to the floor. His eyes never left yours, filled with a mix of love and longing. Every touch was tender, every movement deliberate, as if he was savoring this intimate moment with you, the culmination of a day filled with triumph and joy.

You took off his shirt, your fingers trailing softly along his skin and faint outline of abs, then unbuckled his belt, his shorts falling to the floor. The moment was quiet, yet sensual. No words needed to be said. You both knew exactly what the other wanted and needed. He undressed completely before guiding you to the bed.

He lay you down on the mattress and settled between your legs, gently pushing the lace aside. His tongue traced a slow, deliberate path up your pussy, drawing a soft sigh of relief from your lips. For nearly ten minutes, his tongue worked magic, each stroke sending waves of pleasure through your body until you finally pushed his head away, overwhelmed.

Crawling up your body, he placed tender kisses along the way—your thighs, stomach, chest, neck, and jaw. Each kiss was a promise, a declaration of his love.

“Ready?” he whispered, his voice husky with desire. You hummed with a small nod, and he gently pushed inside you. A moan erupted from both of you—his low and gruff, yours high and breathless.

“I love you,” you confessed, your voice filled with emotion as he moved his hips slowly, rhythmically.

“I love you so much,” he replied, his voice muffled as he buried his head in the crook of your neck and shoulder. His small groans were like sweet nothings whispered into your ears, each movement slow and gentle, savoring the closeness and intimacy of the moment. Every touch, every kiss, every whispered word was a testament to your love, making this moment incredibly sensual, romantic, and deeply personal.

His movements were slow, deliberate, and filled with a tenderness that made your heart swell. Each thrust was a reminder of his love and devotion, a silent communication of the depth of his feelings for you. His hands roamed your body, caressing your skin with a gentle reverence, as if you were the most precious thing in the world. The sensation was overwhelming, a perfect blend of physical pleasure and emotional connection.

Your fingers tangled in his hair, pulling him closer as he kissed your neck and whispered sweet nothings against your skin. The warmth of his breath sent shivers down your spine, and you arched into him, seeking even more of his touch. The world outside ceased to exist; it was just the two of you, lost in the euphoria of each other. His lips found yours again, and the kiss was slow, passionate, a melding of souls as much as bodies.

He held you close, his body pressed intimately against yours. His pace remained steady, unhurried, allowing you both to savor every second of the moment. The sounds of your mingled breaths and whispered endearments filled the room, a symphony of love and desire.

As you approached the peak of your pleasure, your grip on him tightened, your nails dragging down his back, your bodies moving in perfect harmony. The intensity of your connection grew, and you felt the world around you blur, your senses overwhelmed by the love and passion you shared. His whispered "I love you" echoed in your mind, grounding you even as you felt yourself soaring. The crescendo built, each wave of pleasure bringing you closer to the edge.

When you finally reached your climax, it was like an explosion of light and warmth, filling you with an indescribable sense of bliss. He followed moments later, his groan a deep, satisfying sound that sent aftershocks of pleasure through your body. He held you close, his movements slowing as you both came down from the heights of your shared ecstasy. In the aftermath, he continued to shower you with gentle kisses, whispering his love as you lay entwined, your hearts beating in perfect synchrony.

--

felt cute x

[sphireath-wisp]

#just for me.

Sypnosis: Things that remind you of them that they keep for themselves (O.P. version)

Warnings: Messy interchanging tenses, not proofread

Featuring: Monkey D. Luffy, Roronoa Zoro, Vinsmoke Sanji x GN! reader

Monkey D. Luffy

I feel like this guy is always covered in bandages. I just feel it. With the amount of trouble he literally leaps himself into, he is almost always covered in injuries 24/7. Chopper would always nag him and chide how reckless his captain can be. It's always 50/50 with Luffy. It's either he totally forgets that the bandages are there or peels them off whenever he has the chance. "The bandages feel so itchy, they always get in the way whenever I fight!" or so Luffy would whine. You know how much of a hassle it can be to keep bandaging him up to Chopper because he'll almost immediately rip them off - not to mention the waste of Chopper's already limited bandage supply on the sea. If your lover wants to act like a kid, you'll treat him like one. You scribble on drawings of you and him and even let him help decorate. Whenever you bandage him up, he doesn't rip them off because he genuinely likes the doodles on them. Though, he's gotten attached... too attached. His wounds should have already healed by now, but he continues to wear them with pride.

"The king of pirates should look like one." Something Luffy firmly believes in. He loves to collect anything Pirate-related. Gold and jewels don't fascinate him as much as that pirate hat or golden hook. Luffy will hoard everything he feels like the king of pirates would or should have. He doesn't care about fame, power, or money - but he wants to feel that rush of adrenaline pumping through his veins, that hunger for the next adventure that makes his heart race, and that wave of joy and relief once he wins a battle. You know how much he loved such an idea, so you couldn't help but buy him a gold necklace, with a miniature fake skull in the middle. You'll watch as he fidgets around with it or shows it off to the crew, beaming with pride. It's like his treasured straw hat, it's almost always on him.

Roronoa Zoro

Zoro likes to wear Bandanas. He doesn't wear them often, but he does like to wear that black bandana he keeps around. You've noticed how dirty and torn up it's gotten, and it would look more like a spider web on Zoro's head rather than a bandana if he wore this. You recently bought a red bandana for Zoro and Chopper picked out a pink one for him, just for shits and giggles. He appreciates the thought you put behind it and you'll notice both of the bandanas tied around his upper right arm. He's started to use his left arm to fight more other than his right, it's almost as if he doesn't want the bandanas to get scraped up in battle. Of course, when there's an actual capable opponent facing him, he will fight will all three of his swords.

You often place bentos next to his swords, insisting that you were just helping Sanji give the bentos out. Being so focused on his training, he almost never properly takes care of himself (like taking showers). His main source of energy is always sake, but there's no way that's good for him. Sanji will help you make bentos for the whole crew, but you feel like he knows it's an excuse to sneak in reminders for Zoro to take care of himself in his bento. Zoro feels like these notes are too precious to throw away, so he has this noticeboard in the crow's nest to stick up all of your notes. Often when you walk in to check up on him, you'll catch him staring at the board of sticky notes signed by you.

Sanji

He probably has a whole collection of knives that he uses to prepare food for the crew, but I feel like a lot of them have already become dull. Obviously, Sanji could just sharpen them again without much time or effort. However, you've heard him grumbling under his breath about being unable to cut up tough parts of meat. You can still remember the struggle he went through to cut open a coconut with his knife. Being the sweetheart that you are, you gave him a whole new knife set for him to use to his heart's extent. He loved much happier while cooking. While he was always focused while cooking, he almost seemed... satisfied to cook with a gift from you. "A kitchen knife is the soul of the cook and my darling, you are the love of my soul and the key to my heart."

I just know this guy keeps a camera around, snapping photos of you from the best angles ever. It's like... when did you get so pretty??? He always keeps at least one in his wallet and because of that, whenever he pulls his wallet out to pay for something in a store, he has to fight that overwhelming urge to buy something for you. He loves to treat you in the best way possible. You are royalty, you are the sun, you are life. You make him the happiest and he could be when you're around. If you wanted to buy out the whole store, there wouldn't be a single second of hesitation before he's emptying his wallet for you.

[eocon-fr]

“Becoming world champion, that’s clearly my goal!”

ᯓ Translation of an interview of Esteban Ocon by Victor MOLLET, Dircom ADEKWA Lawyers, dating from 2017.

Esteban Ocon is one of the greatest hopes of Formula 1. Since the start of the season, the 21-year-old driver has taken his place in the Force India team. From his first race, he made an impression by becoming the youngest Frenchman to score a point in F1. Between two flights and two grands prix, he took the time to answer us, in a relaxed manner. One-on-one with a friendly and smiling driver.

When you were younger, your father asked you this question: "Do you want to be a pilot or a cashier at McDonald's?". What was your answer?

My father asked me this question because I wasn't very sporty at the time. I think he said that to tease me. It was direct but it made me react. Result? I immediately went running!

How did your passion for motorsport come about?

I have always loved cars. Motorsport is my whole life! My father is a mechanic and when I was little, I always had my nose in cars, in engines, in petrol…

Today, many young drivers advance their bank account to be introduced to a team. On your side, you have rather highlighted your talent…

Thanks already (smile)! Let's say that I don't have the same background as the majority of drivers, it was more difficult than for others. But in the end, with or without money at the start, the important thing is to win titles to be able to have a chance in Formula 1.

When did the F1 world start to get interested in you?

When I won! Starting with F3, when I started winning a lot of races.

How do you prepare to have a good season?

To be ready for the first Grand Prix of the season in Melbourne, Australia, I spent two months in Font-Romeu, at an altitude of 2,000 metres, in my physical training centre. I really did a complete preparation, with nine hours of cardio per week, ten hours of weight training, but also work on reaction, coordination, speed of visual detection or breathing at altitude.

Is it true that you gained more than four kilos of muscle during your preparation?

Exactly! I even gained five kilos in total! It was really very hard, not only did I have to push and make efforts during physical exercises but also at the table. I had to force myself to eat a lot, with a lot of proteins, almost ten eggs a day in addition to meat and starches… It was quite difficult.

What is the hardest part when you start a race, once inside the car?

Managing the others around you I think! Having the right reaction at the right time, in a fraction of a second. Decision-making is also extremely important to be able to position yourself in the right place when needed. And for that, mental precision is essential.

By finishing the first race of the season in tenth place, you became the youngest French driver to score a point in Formula 1. What does this do to you?

Pride, of course! I think that with the journey I had, it wasn’t easy to get to Formula 1. So to achieve something like that is great! I’m happy to have accomplished that and I hope to set other records in the future.

Is this the first line of a long list to come?

I'm working on it (laughs)!

What goals have you set for this first season in F1?

Clearly for me, my main goal is to score points in every race, to achieve as many “top 5” finishes as possible and, why not, to fight for podiums when possible. There is still a bit of work to do to get there but that is my goal.

How would you define your driving style?

In races, I try to be as thoughtful as possible. I don’t take unnecessary risks. I take them when the situation is right but I really think before starting a maneuver. But I also know how to be aggressive when necessary!

What do you think about, under your helmet, when you are at 300 km/h?

Nothing (laughs)! Mainly concentration in fact, but it is not particularly different from driving at 90 km/h.

What are your passions outside of F1?

Sport in general. I really like bodybuilding, I do a lot of it with my sporty friends, especially boxers. I also like mountain biking and tennis or table tennis. And spending time with my friends is what I like to do when I have a bit of free time.

Do you take the time to visit the countries you travel through between races?

When I have time, a little bit. But often, honestly, not really. Hotels, roads, airports, circuits, that's about all the visits you can usually make (laughs)!

Throughout a season, you are led to visit the four corners of the world... What is your favorite destination?

For now, I would say Monaco. It is one of my favorite destinations. I also like Abu Dhabi. I generally like the sun and the heat!

When you were younger, you regularly beat Max Verstappen, who is promised to play a leading role in the coming years. A sign for the future?

If I can fight with Max in the future, at the forefront, why not. I am working for it! Becoming world champion is clearly my goal, that is what I want to be in the future!

What is your relationship with the other drivers?

There is really a good atmosphere in the paddock, with a lot of respect. With some, there is not much more than respect, we will not go on vacation together but we get along well most of the time. Personally, I am close to Lance Stroll, Stoffel Vandoorne or Kevin Magnussen. These are drivers that I really like outside of racing. We have a good time between sessions when we have time to see each other.

What do you miss most about France when you are abroad?

Family and friends are definitely what I miss the most! And French TV too (laughs)!

Your main quality?

I always have trouble judging myself but I am often told that I am thoughtful and quite mature.

Your biggest flaw?

I am late, I take a long time to prepare! And I am clumsy!

Your favorite circuit?

The Hungaroring, the Hungarian Grand Prix!

The driver you get along with best in the paddock?

Kevin Magnussen

Your favorite driver?

Currently, I don't have one, even if Fernando Alonso still impresses me a lot. Historically, it is Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna.

If you had a song to listen to in your headphones during the race?

“Can't be touch”, by Roy Jones, a song that motivates quite a bit!

The “pink fashion” look of the 2017 Force India, what do you think of it?

It's good for Formula 1, it's a bit of a change.

Your hobby to disconnect and clear your head?

YouTube, definitely! I watch a lot of videos, especially from French YouTubers, is that what I like to do to clear my head.

A saying, a motto?

The important thing is not to win, it's just what matters!

[batsplat]

https://www.tumblr.com/bikefuckersoftheworldunite/768294388486045696?source=share

PROF BATSPLAT THINGS WENT DOWNNNN IN THE SETE/VALE RIVALRY

(link) yes ahaha luckily I have been fortunate enough to be privy to that particular discovery for a while. trust I've been turning it over a lot in my mind, truly one of my favourite things I've learned all year. it's provided me with such joy

I think what always gets me about the t-shirts is like. the logistics of it all? I mean this was already very pertinent with the cleaning company shirts, but just gets progressively funnier the more shirts we add. the time frame, right -

this all happens in a month. sete started out october 2004 in a reasonably sane and reasonably normal world and ended it in fucking nightmare-ville. between qatar and sepang, valentino has to go off to get his finger fixed - you know, the one with a hole in it - and also maybe prepare himself for the critical stretch of races ahead?? fourteen points between the pair of them with three rounds to go, lest we forget

but never mind all that, valentino has time to brainstorm mean t-shirt ideas. and again, they need to come up with this idea, pass it on to get the design made, actually make the shirts, while also travelling from qatar to italy to malaysia. in eight days. the title-winning shirts, okay, valentino had already come up with that idea so that's not too strenuous. but then he clearly decided he couldn't get enough of this stuff and additionally ensures he has another shirt made to mock sete, either by phillip island or valencia

the whole thing is just so gloriously petty, so malicious, so downright cruel... while also obviously being incredibly funny. the worst thing valentino ever did to sete was turn him into a joke. it's not fair, obviously it wasn't - sete did deserve a lot better than the humiliation followed by the dismissal followed by the erasure. it does not do justice to his career or his accomplishments. it does not do justice to his rivalry with valentino. but valentino got what he wanted and was able to free himself entirely from sete. he has escaped the unique burden that rivalry placed on him

and it's crucial that he does it with the t-shirts. like the sweeping at sepang, t-shirts are part of the repertoire of pre-planned celebrations - the most important ones of all, since they generally only get made for winning a title. I've talked a fair bit about valentino's arc over that 2003-04 season, how he returns to his roots in the middle of 2003 and leaves honda as an expression of individuality... and how he marries those two sides of himself, joy and cruelty, in ruining sete. 2004 is all about integrating those parts of himself, because they're all part of the same deal. you don't get one without the other where valentino is concerned. these are planned celebrations, it is staged, it is theatre. valentino put a lot of thought, dedicated time and effort, to figuring out how he wanted to humiliate sete. how badly he wanted to twist in the knife and continue to twist it, to not just beat sete but hurt him. what was it about sete specifically that could draw out such a reaction from valentino? and why did valentino feel ever so threatened by sete? knowing the answers to those questions will give you a far better understanding of valentino and how his mind works, I can guarantee that much

[creepercraftguy]

My Thoughts on OMNI-MAN VS BARDOCK

Death Battle made its triumphant return today, and I've decided I'm gonna start posting short reviews of each new episode that comes out.

This isn't gonna be a long-winded review, just me sharing my basic thoughts.

And I'll be putting all of my stuff under the cut so that I don't spoil it for anybody. Please, make sure, if you're interested, that you watch the episode first, and don't read on so that you don't get spoiled.

To start off with, the matchup itself did really interest me. I remember around the time that Omni-Man vs Homelander came out that people were trying to come up with ideas for who would be a better opponent for Nolan, because frankly, Homelander was an absolute piece of piss for him.

And everyone, including the companies that own both Invincible and The Boys, knew that going in. So it wasn't really a hyped episode for who would win or not, but more so what was actually going to happen during the fight itself. Creating a spectacle was more important than creating a fight.

Not that Omni-Man Vs Homelander was bad. It is actually one of my favourite DB's from its execution, but the fact was it was not a difficult fight for Omni-Man AT ALL.

So when people started to think of who would be a much fairer fight for him, and one that had a lot of connections, Bardock was a big one, and it wasn't hard to see why:

Both are powerful alien warriors who are known for...kind of being dicks. Nolan is a Viltrumite, a race of highly advanced, powerful beings who conquer and dominate other planets. His mission on Earth is initially hidden but later revealed to be part of this expansionist agenda. Bardock is a Saiyan warrior, a race known for their battle prowess and ability to get stronger after every fight. The Saiyans, under Frieza's rule, conquer planets, wiping out their inhabitants for Frieza’s empire.

Both are the blood-related fathers of their series protagonists, Mark, AKA Invincible, and Kakarot, AKA Son Goku, respectively.

Both characters suffered conflict with their own people. Omni-Man's conflict comes from the fact that he is torn between his Viltrumite duties and the love he develops for his family and Earth, and eventually, he decides to defy the Viltrumite empire to some extent after being confronted by Mark’s humanity. Bardock becomes disillusioned with Frieza and attempts to fight back after learning about Frieza's plan to annihilate the Saiyan race. While his resistance is ultimately futile, he still stands against his ruler in an effort to protect his people.

Both characters are initially presented as being ruthless, unforgiving, and bloodthirsty, but this changes over time (across multiple iterations in Bardock's case) Initially, Omni-Man is ruthless in his mission, killing thousands to assert Viltrumite dominance, showing little regard for human life. However, as he develops a bond with his family, especially Mark, he begins to reconsider his values.And while Bardock begins as a battle-hardened warrior who cares little for the planets he conquers, he undergoes a transformation when he learns of Frieza’s betrayal and seeks to protect his home and his son.

And a few more on top of that, but I'm not sure I need to go through all the connections myself.

So, I start this off with the analysis portions of the episode, and I immediately noticed something when I went through Nolan's analysis.

I know this probably has to do with Death Battle trying to preserve their budget and keep their independence up, but unfortunately, it seems that we no longer have any cutaway scenes showing Wiz and Boomstick. They host the show as always, but we don't actually physically see them at all, not even during the post-analysis.

This is kind of a shame because, while yeah, the cutaways are normally hit or miss, the jokes they try to make land a lot better with them.

But on the other hand, it does make retaining the information a lot better. And to the credit, the analysis really made it clear where each characters strengths lay.

Going into this, I was under the impression that Bardock held an advantage, because I know the Dragon Ball scaling goes way above the scaling of Invincible. However, when I actually saw some of the feats Nolan achieves in the comics, compared to Bardock's...honestly kind of messy timeline, I started to change my tune.

I still held out for hope for Bardock, but when the fight ended and Omni-Man took the win...I understood why.

So yeah, the analysis and post-analysis were good because it really made me understand how the fight went the way it did.

With that being said, this was, to no one's surprise, a much harder fight for Nolan than Homelander was. Saiyan's just ARE stupid powerful aliens, and Omni-Man would actually have to put in the work for a win as opposed to completely stunting on the guy.

Okay, so now for the fight. If I had to rank it on a scale of 1 to 10, I think I'd give it a solid 7.

That's no fault of DevilArtimis, or Death Battle themselves though. Unfortunately, with the respective abilities these guys are known for, there's a severe limit to what you can have them do in the span of a 5 or so minute fight.

Besides Bardock's ki blasts, neither really have any powers of their own that don't just involve beating the shit out of people, tearing them apart, and just sheer brutality, so ultimately, what you are left with is a battle that just shows these two evil daddies pounding each other.

And no, I'm not taking back my phrasing there.

However, while that does limit my enjoyment of the fight, it doesn't do so severely. There's still a lot to love about the clash.

I always like to talk about my thoughts on the voice acting, and in this case, Omni-Man was reprised by Tom Schalk (also previously voicing Kool-Aid Man, Dio, Spongebob, and Megatron) and Bardock was voiced by Kamran Nikhad (previously having voiced Sephiroth, Mario, Boba Fett, Black Adam, and Martian Manhunter)

Schalk is one of the best voice actors that Death Battle have in their cast. He killed it as a sinister, condescending, and stern Omni-Man in Omni-Man Vs Homelander, and though he doesn't speak nearly as much in this one, he does equally well as a despaired, enraged, protective Omni-Man too. He killed it once again. As for Nikhad, he was fine, but definitely not the same sort of inflections that Sonny Strait gives Bardock that make his voice so iconic. Just a minor complaint.

Another minor complaint I have is Bardock's model looks a little weird, at least the mouth movements do, especially when shown from the side, and Nolan's model is kind of uncanny because it's weird seeing Omni-Man in 3D. Sure, he's 3D in Mortal Kombat, but that's also a realistic art style that would have clashed with Bardock, so I'm glad they didn't go that route. Still cool though.

And props to DevilArtemis for doing what he could to keep you engaged with this fight, and capturing both characters behavior, transformations, attacks, and inflections really well with the movements.

Considering, as I already mentioned, this fight would not go as easily as the fight with Homelander did, Omni-Man's attacks feel a lot more damaging, and ferocious than they did in his previous episode. My favourite part of the fight is when he grabs Bardock's tail, brutally tears it off, and then just whip slaps him with it. Definitely in line with the Viltrumites knack for tearing people to bloody chunks.

And for Bardock, considering he's an early Dragon Ball guy, it's really good to see some more recent recontextualization and coverage for classic feats. Also, for some reason, this is the first time we're ever seeing an Oozaru in Death Battle.

If I have any complaints for the fight, Bardock's Death was...kind of flat. It was brutal, but I didn't expect it, nor want it, to be so graceful. But that's all I really have to say about it. The sequence itself was really solid.

And in case I didn't make it clear, while I DO like Bardock more than Nolan as a character, the result did not dissatisfy me because, like I said, it was explained very thoroughly, and very well, in a way that made me understand.

Also, two little side notes, I want to address my take on a few arguments that I kept on seeing in the build up to this episode, and when the episode dropped. The first being whether or not Bardock should have been allowed Super Saiyan, and how it was kind of unfair for Bardock to be given a composite version of his character. To that, I say this.

First of all, if Bardock wasn't given all of his abilities across his iterations, this fight wouldn't have been nearly as cool. If you have the choice between seeing Bardock go Super Saiyan, or not seeing Bardock power up and go gold, why would you ever choose the latter? Death Battle tried to justify their decision, but for me at least, they didn't really need to.

What I wanted to know, in regards to Super Saiyan's conclusion, is this: Would Bardock having Super Saiyan be the edge he needs to win the fight? And would he lose if he didn't have it?

If the answer is yes, then I take issue. Because I don't like it when characters in this series win all because of one minor feat they have, especially if that feat is only semi-canon, like Super Saiyan Bardock is. However, in this case, the answer is no.

Super Saiyan definitely gave Bardock a boost that put Nolan on the ropes, but it wasn't enough to net him a win. So there's no real issue because having Super Saiyan ultimately didn't affect the results, so I'm fine with it.

The second argument I keep seeing is that Omni-Man wouldn't have been able to take down that giant planet without the 2 other characters that were with him. In the comics, he needed the assistance of those two, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to do it.

However, I want to note that the point that DB were trying to make was that Nolan, even if he was a third of the power required to take down that planet, is still VERY CAPABLE of wiping out entire planets on his own, and far more efficiently than Bardock would be. Bardock's own planet-busting feats weren't even his; he was scaled off of King Vegeta, so that's honestly more of a loose connection than Nolan smashing the planet.

And it's not as if that feat alone is what gave Nolan the edge in the fight. He still had all the other stuff like smart atoms on his side.

I will quickly remind everyone that this was not a stomp for Omni-Man. Death Battles usually aren't stomps, and they show off what both characters are capable of by pushing them to the brink. The aforementioned Omni-Man Vs Homelander is only one of few examples of unfair stomp fights.

And the last thing I want to talk about is the music track, though I don't have much to say on it. I know that Brandon kind of struggled with this track, but he did a great job, as he always does. With that being said, I still like Diabolical Invincible Me more than Solid State Invincible, not because SSI is a bad track, but because DIM is just...SOOO good, by a large margin. In fact, SSI even takes lyrics and beats from DIM.

So that's about it...A REALLY solid comeback for Death Battle. Not one of my top fights, but definitely a super strong opener.

...

...Although I feel like I'm forgetting something...There was one other thing that I really liked but I can't quite remember-

...

...

...

...

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-

[blues824]

This anon saw a Ron Swanson MC with TWST first years request, and I think I also sent a Ron Swanson MC with the Obey Me brothers before? If not please add this to the requests to be made masterlist

I’m being honest here, but I have never seen Parks and Recreation before. So, I am basing his personality off the Wiki and YouTube video compilations of him. Also, I do not see your request from before, so here it is.

Gender-neutral reader. TW: alcohol, toxic exes, mentions of sex but this is not smut

Lucifer

He actually really appreciates your to-the-point perspective, but he wishes that you would be more open. As closed as he is, you don’t like conversations that exceed 100 words

Another thing he really doesn’t like is that you would go the extra mile to make sure that nothing is done, mostly to piss him off

It was clear to him that you were scared of him, however

All of a sudden, there was a woman who just burst into the council room. She walked with purpose and it was then that you got up and ran

As unathletic as you are, you sure made it out of there quick

Once Lucifer finally found you, you explained by saying the following statement:

“That’s Tammy 1. You know sometimes you eat chicken and you get food poisoning, and even the sight of chicken makes you sick? Tammy 1 is my blonde chicken”

There was nothing in your (rather blank) file that indicated you had been romantically involved with anyone

He actually escorted you to a safe space where your ex wouldn’t find you, and he went to properly deal with Tammy 1, thus ending your thought process in thinking that he and your ex were comparable.

Mammon

He finds you unsettling, to say the least. You are able to see right through his cold exterior, and you make it clear that if he is going to say anything, make sure that it’s something you care about

One time, he brought you a packaged meal which contained a steak burrito, and you both became best friends… or what you would consider best friends. You honestly didn’t know his name

You appreciate how he doesn’t like getting things done, especially since he is an Avatar of the Devildom

The one time he had seen you run away was when a lady burst into the room and you seemed to recognize her 

Mammon chased after you, and once he found you, you explained who that lady was

“That’s Tammy 1. I don’t date blondes because of her. You know sometimes you eat chicken and you get food poisoning, and even the sight of chicken makes you sick? Tammy 1 is my blonde chicken”

It would have been funny to the Avatar of Greed had he not just watched you run a marathon to get kilometers away from the woman who burst into the council room

Now, he might be just a tad jealous that someone managed to win you over romantically before he was, because that means he isn’t you first

He also goes to deal with Tammy 1, if there is anything to deal with because the other brothers as well as Diavolo and Barbatos want to ensure the wellbeing of their human exchange student

Leviathan

If you don’t want him talking to you, he won’t. You have a very standoff-ish attitude, and he is intimidated by it. However, you like how he doesn’t make an effort to talk to you and how he is very quiet, so you tend to stick closer to him anyway

What really solidified your relationship was when he ordered food online. He asked what you wanted, and you stated that you wanted a cholesterol-loaded burger with a lot of bacon. He paid for it, and you were basically in love at that point

I feel like Levi and you clash because you are against Diavolo’s dream because it’s basically going to annihilate the human race, but he thinks it’s going to change everything

One day, as a meeting was being held in the Council Room, a blonde woman burst into the room that made you drop your bacon and run back to Levi’s room, your safe haven

Levi found you there, and he asked who that lady was and why she made you run away

“That’s Tammy 1. I don’t date blondes because of her. You know sometimes you eat chicken and you get food poisoning, and even the sight of chicken makes you sick? Tammy 1 is my blonde chicken”

Because he is the Avatar of Envy, he is definitely jealous that she got her claws on you first (wait until he finds out about Tammy 2)

Anyways, you are welcome to stay in his room as he fights back the urge to summon Lotan to absolutely destroy Tammy 1

Afterwards, he makes sure that you are alright and that this event didn’t damage your psyche too much. It would be a shame if you started opening up more 

Satan

You both absolutely despised each other at first, but bonded over the fact that you both didn’t like Lucifer. However, your distaste for the Avatar of Wrath here came from the fact that he was blonde

Anyways, he doesn’t really approve of all the meat you consume, because he knows that you need to eat some more vegetables

Also, the alcohol you brought with you was much stronger than demonus, and he once drank it out of anger and bro got wasted

That aside, there was a meeting within the Council Room one day, but a lady with blonde hair burst into the room and was looking for you. Luckily, you weren’t there because exchange students weren’t required to be there

The woman was properly dealt with and sent back to the human realm, as she was not allowed to be in the Devildom without proper clearance

Satan later told you about it, and you looked genuinely scared. 

“That’s Tammy 1. I don’t date blondes because of her. You know sometimes you eat chicken and you get food poisoning, and even the sight of chicken makes you sick? Tammy 1 is my blonde chicken”

Well, that explains why you have rejected his rather clear advances

Now he’s really angry at the woman for ruining his chances with you, even if you were with her before you even knew him

Asmodeus

You were rather rude, which was a clear indicator that his charm didn’t work on you

However, it’s not just because of that. What he didn’t know was that you had two toxic exes, one of which was a sex-crazed, manipulative maniac

I will say that since he is the Avatar of Lust, he does want sex, but he’s looking for an emotional attachment to you as well, so the fact that you stay away from him makes him even sadder

On one fateful day, when everyone was in the Council Room, a brunette woman stormed into the room looking for you. You took one look at her and ran off before she had the chance to do anything

As the others dealt with the lady, Asmo went looking for you, and he was surprised to see you in his room when you said it was revolting

“Every time she laughs, an angel dies. Even telemarketers avoid her. Her birth was payback for the sins of man. But you know the worst thing about her? She works at the library.”

He also would have laughed had you not explained that that was your ex, Tammy 2, and she was a seducer who managed to get in your mind and tempt you. Now he knows why you don’t like him

It wasn’t him! It was a past experience with an ex!!!

Is also angry that she ruined his chances, but he can show you what a real partner, a healthy relationship, looks like! Just give him a chance!

Beelzebub

You two are best friends. You don’t even talk to each other, you just eat with each other and sometimes drink with each other as well. You even drank him under the table on your own alcohol. 

To be fair, your alcohol is much more potent than demonus, so even on a full stomach he can still get utterly wasted. It was laughable how you had to help the large demon to his room where he promptly passed out on his bed

He woke up to the worst hangover imaginable, but he saw a bottle of water as well as painkillers that you bought at a nearby pharmacy along with a note. How the hell have you never had a hangover?!

Anyways, weeks later, there was a meeting in the Council Room and you both were snacking on some bacon when a blonde woman burst into the room and started walking towards you

Beel was not prepared for the cloud dust you left behind as you boot scootin’ boogie’d out of the room and ran all the way to the House of Lamentation

He had to stay to properly deal with the blonde lady, as she was not permitted to be in the meeting, let alone the Devildom at all

Then, he found you in the kitchen, eating some leftovers from Hell’s Kitchen

The Avatar of Gluttony sat beside you and asked who that woman was and why she was looking for you, and he was both mad and sad at what you said

“That’s Tammy 1. I don’t date blondes because of her. You know sometimes you eat chicken and you get food poisoning, and even the sight of chicken makes you sick? Tammy 1 is my blonde chicken”

Belphegor

You two are also ‘best friends’ because you both believe that it is a rather dumb idea to mix humans, demons, and angels together, but you believe it for different reasons

Your perspective is that humans stand no chance against the two other beings, and one would try to rule over all the others

His perspective is a lot more personal because of his sister

Anyways, everyone was in the Council Room one day and suddenly a woman burst into the room. She meant business with how she walked, and you meant business when you ran faster than the speed of light out of the room

Belphie was honestly intent on killing her, but he was the only one with that idea, so he went searching for you instead

You turned out to be in the attic, absolutely annihilating what seems to be a full pack of cooked bacon, staring into space

When you noticed that the Avatar of Sloth was there, you knew he wanted answers so you just gave it to him plain and simple:

“That was Tammy 1. I don’t date blondes because of her. You know sometimes you eat chicken and you get food poisoning, and even the sight of chicken makes you sick? Tammy 1 is my blonde chicken”

Well, that pretty much sums it up. Now he really wants to dispose of that lady

[exosmutfactory]

Only Forever 008

Originally posted by byunvoyage

How long could you wait for the love of your life to decide you are his as well? How many times could you witness all his best moments of winning over agencies and the amount of clothes left overnight from his daily one night stands?

Main Masterlist | Bookclub zone | Chapter 8✓

networks — @/superm-net @/bbh-net

pairing — Baekhyun x You

word count — 3.7k

genre — model! baekhyun, playboy! baekhyun, friends to lovers! romance, angst, fluff, smut (eventually)

[ This chapter contains: a conversation, a night out, and a night in 🌻 ]

⏰💋 Only Forever Tag List: 💋⏰

@to-all-the-stories-i-love @you-n-me-e-e @insta1010 @bellamendoza @bbhflrt @weirdoome @marovekian1 @pearliejoy @soonvivi @jairahxelle @dynqstyna @xuxibelle

Chapter 8

You got me so high

“Let me get this straight.” Shea takes a long sip of her tea, staring you down from across the living room. She sits back and crosses her legs, her intense gaze and her arched brow leaving you feeling chastised even before she says what she is about to say.

“Let’s recap so that I make sure I got everything straight: you went on vacation together, skinny dipped, rubbed each other down under the pretense of ‘needing sunscreen’, came back home, got drunk, kissed him, many times, went on a date, got head, finally talked about everything with him and now you’re freaking out?”

You flush at her words despite your best efforts. Well, when you put it like that… You cough, hastily sipping your own herbal tea to give yourself time to respond. She hit the bull’s eye as always; her words are brief yet her message is effective. Leave it to Shea to get straight to the point; all facts and no bullshit, compiling your problems into a concise and cohesive way that eases up your worries, even if just a little, from how confidently she breeches the issue. “Yep,” you reply after a moment. She’s got everything down and out in the open, after all. What else is there to say?

—a lot, but you can’t even begin to put your feelings into words.

“That’s pretty ass backwards,” May mumbles from your left, followed by the quiet sounds of her munching on food and the crinkle of plastic containers.

“May!” you exclaim at her words, turning to her in surprise. You immediately freeze when you meet her gaze. The look in her gray eyes has you sliding down on the couch as if you could disappear if you tried. The bubbly woman has paused in her quest to sample the newest flavor of donuts from your favorite pastry shop downtown to regard you with an unwavering stare, similar to the woman sitting elegantly across from you both. You know it’s serious when your normally cheerful friend has stopped mid-bite to give you a pensive glance, studying the expressions on your face like an abstract painting hung up in a gallery. Very fitting, considering the fact that you feel very much like a well-preserved piece of organic material being pinned against a wall underneath your best friends’ pointed stares.

—Okay, maybe you are being a little dramatic with that statement. Just a little bit.

…

You rub the back of your neck, resisting the urge to wipe away the bead of sweat lingering on the edge of your eyebrow. Okay, okay, I take it all back. I feel hella intimidated right now.

‘Intimidated’ is the perfect word to sum up how you feel about this entire situation.

“She’s right. It is ass backwards,” Shea sighs, making you snort despite your racing heart. “But you guys talked it out, at least.”

“Yeah…” you trail off, looking at the far wall in the room as if it could give you all the answers to all the questions that you have in your heart yet can’t even decipher in your mind. Your hands curl tightly around the warm cup of tea in your hands, trying to slow your breathing by inhaling the familiar lemon and ginger scent. Citrus and spice. Just like—you stop that train of thought right in its tracks, but it’s already too late. The damage has been done. The memory of messy black hair and soulful brown eyes plays vividly behind your retinas.

Inhale. Exhale. You hold your breath for a moment and sigh deeply. Really? Is this who you are now? You have a lot going on in your life lately between school and work. There always seems to be so much to do in so little time. All the long hours bent over counters and laptops. Your bathroom sink has been added to the mix as well. The bags under your eyes call for a half-hour dedicated to concealing your sleepless nights in front of the mirror. Are you really about to add your social life to your endless list of stress too? I mean it wouldn’t be the first time — but you haven’t had it this bad since high school!

Shea’s voice pulls you out of your thoughts before you can fall into that rabbit hole. Seriously, the last thing you need is to dive into those memories right now. Thank you, next.

“But you still have questions?” Shea states the obvious, reading you like an open book.

Yeah, 7 years of friendship will do that to you. All you can do is nod slowly. You can play cool and nonchalant all you want. You’ve always worn your heart on your sleeve. Even if you mask it behind a dozen layers of steel, one good hit to your feelings and all your walls shatter like fragile glass. If anyone knows that, it’s the two other women in this room. There’s no point in hiding how you feel. “He’s so- I don’t know how to put it… Guarded?”

Shea nods in understanding and May lets out an exaggerated sigh followed by a quietly uttered “men” in a voice full of disdain.

“I can see both sides,” Shea admits, forever the voice of reason in your friend group. “The Fashion Industry is cutthroat. It is in everyone’s best interest to keep their personal lives separated from business.”

“But she is his personal life!” May interjects, emphasizing her point with a wave of her hands.

“I’m his girlfriend, not his entire life, May,” you gently remind her. You rarely jump in when she gets this fired up, but even if you’ve daydreamed about being the center of Baekhyun’s world in your youth, you knew better than to think that in your 20s now. 

“Yes, which is why I can see why he’s cautious about where and how you guys meet up together.” Shea goes to take another sip of her tea but then pauses. “However, there is a difference between trying to keep your relationship private and safe behind closed doors, and trying to keep you held back at arm’s reach in an emotional aspect.” A brief look of irritation passes over her beautiful features, but the expression is gone in a flash.

“That’s what I’ve been thinking,” you mumble, worrying your bottom lip with your teeth.

“Yes, but is that what you have been saying?” Shea pointedly raises her eyebrow, taking a long sip of her tea. Even May takes a ridiculously long time chewing on the sprinkled donut in her hand, her gray eyes piercing into the side of your face.

“...No.” You’ve known Baekhyun since you were kids, but there is still a lot about him you don’t know about — especially in a relationship context. Wait, has Baekhyun ever had a serious girlfriend before? Maybe one, or something close, but you can’t remember her name…

“You have to communicate with him, girl.” Shea sighs.

“Yeah, Baekhyun is amazing, but he isn’t a mind reader,” May points out, her cheeks puffed up with a honey-glazed donut.

“You… have a point.” Of course they do, as usual, but you’ve never been good at having these types of conversations. You’re learning. You’re trying your best but things still manage to fall through the cracks and it never seems like your efforts are enough.

“What is stopping you from communicating with him...? Has he been giving you the cold shoulder?”

Your eyes widen in horror at the dark expressions that flicker over your friends’ faces. “No!” you nearly shout, not wanting them to go there. “I-it’s not that at all.” They have good reasons to make that assumption based on your past, but it isn’t like that now.

“Then what is it?” May tilts her head, peering at you with curiosity.

“What is the issue?” Shea reiterates, her eyebrows furrowed in deep thought.

Again, they do have a point and make a pretty strong argument. But why are you so anxious? It’s just Baekhyun. Baekhyun, who protected you when you couldn’t look out for yourself. Who pushes you to be a better version of yourself every day, not just for everyone around you but for yourself as well. Even when he isn’t around, he is forever on your mind. Living rent fucking free. It frustrates you as much as it comforts you to constantly be thinking about him. He is one of the few people who has stuck by your side for all these years, through the thick and thin… and dammit, the thought of losing him keeps you up at night so often that you might just die a little inside — if you aren’t already.

“You’re scared.” Shea’s strong and crisp voice rings across the silent living room without an ounce of doubt.

“I…” you take a deep breath, running a shaky hand through your hair. “Yeah.” Once you admit it aloud, it feels so much more real. You hold onto the cold cup of tea in your hands for dear life, hugging it to your chest.

The dead silence in the room is crushing until Shea stands up from the couch. “Alright, cancel all your plans.” She’s already on her phone, crossing out the list of errands that she mentioned about completing earlier today. “We’re going out tonight.” 

And that’s how you find yourself at the newest club in town hours later, skipping the mile-long line outside thanks to May and her networking connections.

“Oh?” The happy-go-lucky woman acted surprised when you mentioned the odd look on the bouncer’s face before he hastily let you three walk in. “I may have tapped that,” May admitted in a cheerful tone, hiding her coy smile behind the glass in her hand.

You and Shea locked eyes and hid matching smiles, sipping alcohol-free drinks. That bouncer was quite the looker though…

What can you say? Great minds think alike — you’ve all been friends for almost a decade for a reason.

Let’s make it clear though; you only came out here tonight to let loose and spend quality time with your friends and only your friends. Girl’s night only. After this, you all will most likely go back to Shea’s place and crash on her comfortable couch until the morning. But right now? You indulge in crowd-watching, your eyes zeroed in on the dancefloor.

You lean back on your barstool and cross your legs, observing the suave men and seductive women going full out during a popular pop song. The flashing lights and disco balls make the nightclub look like something you would see in a 70s Motown music video. You’re not surprised that Shea wanted to check this place out. It’s lively with a nostalgic feeling in the air, plus the juice they serve is great and the DJ has played nothing but back-to-back bangers all evening.

You spot May in the middle of the dancefloor, dirty dancing with a tall woman in a little black dress. The stranger’s classic attire contrasts with the neon green dress that your bubbly friend manages to pull off flawlessly. You can hear May’s twinkling laughter from all the way over here in the brief transition between songs.

At least she’s having fun, you smile. The sight reminds you of that one time you told Baekhyun that you don’t dance, which was a half-truth. You have rhythm; you know how to read the room and catch a vibe. But that’s the problem, you get too into it and then the next thing you know some guy’s jealous girlfriend is pouring her drink down your dress because her man decided to glue himself to your backside like a leech — but we digress.

Your smile slowly fades with a deep sigh. There you go again. Like clockwork, once you think of Baekhyun you can’t get him out of your mind. You made sure to text him earlier today to tell him that you would be out with your friends tonight. Doing it made you feel uneasy, but it was necessary, right? Aren’t you supposed to let your significant other know when you are going out to a nightclub in your not-so-freakdum-but-not-completely-modest-either dress with your best girl friends by your side?

You don’t know. You don’t know and hours later you are still worried about it.

It’s not like Baekhyun reacted badly to you telling him. He told you to be safe and have fun, the usual reaction when you told him the same thing in the past — he has a life-long habit of showing up unannounced at your place — but that’s the problem. It was the same as usual. The usual as in how he responded back when you were just friends, not boyfriend and girlfriend.

Does he not care? What if he doesn’t? What if he does? — your endless stream of worried thoughts is relentless tonight.

Honestly, the fact that you keep thinking about it has you upset. It’s girls’ night! You’re supposed to be having fun, yet here you are, sitting alone at the bar, sipping at a drink that is more melted ice than citrus juice while worrying about whether you’ll go home to a screaming match in the morning, which is absurd! Why is your mind so set on comparing Baekhyun to the partners of your past?

Your ex’s face flashes through your mind, a vivid image of his face as he gave you that ultimatum: him or Baekhyun.

Oh brother. Fuck it. You clench your teeth and order a fruity cocktail. You need to be buzzed to get through the rest of the night after that memory pops up. Actually, scratch that — you need to be buzzed and shake off this feeling of dread. So you take your drink, chug it, set the empty glass on the counter, and make your way to the dancefloor to meet your two best friends.

Shea’s red bottom heels and May’s gray eyes reflect the club lights, leading you straight to them through the crowd of sweaty bodies. You smooth down the front of your loose yet form-fitting dress and stride right up to them. They take one look at you and pull you closer with one goal in mind: dance the night away until your makeup smears and you want to kick your heels off.

♡—♡-♡—♡—♡-♡—♡

A few days later you find yourself at Baekhyun’s door. You’ve only seen him once since the day you established your relationship. The summer months are always jam-packed with runway shows and elite events, but as the end of August draws nearer, he gets a few days off before the fall fashion season gets its claws dug into him.

Your baggy t-shirt slips off of your shoulder and you don’t bother readjusting it. It’s no use anyway, the oversized material will just fall down again like it has the other 100 times you’ve fixed it. You smooth down the front of your athletic shorts that sit loosely around your waist yet snug against your hips and thighs. Normally wearing an all-black outfit this time of year would be a death sentence, but with a cold front blowing in from the ocean, the nights have been cooler lately. Pair that with your slip-on running shoes and you are the embodiment of casual — which is ideal, considering the fact that you saw a camera flash on your walk into the apartment building.

You shuffle on your feet, nervously shifting your weight from side to side while having a staring contest with Baekhyun’s front door. The oakwood merely stares back, and if an inanimate object could judge you, you believe that his door would be at the top of the list from the number of times you have come here for one young adult crisis or another. Just remembering the amount of petty stuff you’ve bothered him about at 1 a.m. over the past 2 years has you flushing. God, why? Of all men to fall for, why did it have to be your best friend who knows practically everything about you?

Suddenly, the door opens and Baekhyun regards you with such a knowing look that you find the answer to your question within 15 seconds flat. This man knows you better than you know yourself in so many ways, and the familiarity in that, the comfort of being known for who you are and not what you can be is such a relief on your weary shoulders. You don’t have to make pretenses with him. He knows it all.

As a friend.

It strikes you right in the heart at that moment while you look into his warm brown eyes that reflect the brightly lit hallway lights, shimmers of stars sparkling in those soulful irises that you could spend lifetimes admiring. Baekhyun has accepted you as a friend time and time again. Through thick and thin. For better or for worse. But… will he do the same with you now? As the woman he is committed to?

“Hey.” Baekhyun’s low timbre pulls you from your thoughts. Just a single word from his lips has you filing away your worries to think about later. You take a good look at him as he braces his arm on the wall and leans against the doorframe. He’s wearing a black t-shirt that matches your own, but while yours is oversized, his fits snugly on his broad shoulders and defined biceps, stealing your breath away. Not like you have much breath in the first place when you’re standing in front of him, but still. Between that and the sweatpants resting low on his hips, you have half the mind to turn on your heel and run back home. Home date be dammed.

“Hi,” you utter in a small voice before hastily clearing your throat and standing up a little taller.

“I noticed you standing out here.” Baekhyun leans closer, his brown eyes scanning over you like an X-ray machine.

“Oh,” you reply, as smart as always under his unwavering gaze, “yeah, yeah I was.”

He hums and you think you are scot-free until he opens his mouth again. “Care to elaborate?” he tilts his head, his eyes dancing in amusement while he backs out of the doorway.

You sigh loudly as you step into his apartment. Dammit, you can’t get anything past this man. “I… might have been debating on whether to run away or not,” you admit in a guilty murmur, readjusting the collar of your shirt.

“Why? If I may ask.”

His words make you freeze in the middle of taking off your shoes. Baekhyun doesn’t usually ask if he can ask a question. He just asks. You glance over your shoulder at him, your running shoes still in your hand, and something about his earnest expression and the way his hands are in his pockets makes you lower your guard.

“I’m lost,” you admit quietly, struggling to maintain eye contact. “I know that we established our relationship and what we are to each other but I…” you take a shaky breath, running a hand through your hair. “I don’t know where to go from here. I don’t know what I’m doing. Please tell me what dating and a relationship means to you because I-I,” your voice cracks as you stand up and look at him with a helpless expression. “I don’t want to mess this up.”

You bite your lip in an attempt to mask your vulnerability, surprised by how open you were just now. Usually, you would brush things off and downplay your stress and worries, not lay out all your cards on the table like this. It makes you feel raw and exposed. A sensation that you hate from all the times you’ve been dismissed in the past. If expressing fragile emotions was a chess game, you would keep your strategy under lock and key. But right here, right now, you’re willing to take that risk. Like your friends told you before, how will Baekhyun ever know what you are thinking if you don’t tell him about it? You just hope that he will take you seriously.

Baekhyun calls your name, his voice no louder than a whisper. He steps closer to you and cups your face in his hand, his brown irises gazing over your features. “You’re overthinking this,” he murmurs, brushing his thumb over the apple of your cheek. “What does dating mean to me?” he tilts his head before kissing your cheek. “Spoiling you, taking you on dates, exploring places we’ve never been to before.”

Your skin tingles and flushes as he brushes his lips over your cheek and kisses the tip of your nose. “What’s a relationship to me?” Baekhyun pulls away slightly to look into your eyes and your breath hitches at the fond expression written all over his handsome features. His lips brush over your temple before he presses a lingering kiss to your forehead, slipping his fingers into your hair as he cradles the back of your head in his hands. “Spending time together, holding you close, and talking with you like this when you get stuck in your head like the little idiot you are.”

“Hey!” you immediately protest and pull away from him, giving him a halfhearted glare.

“Come here.” Baekhyun chuckles and takes your hand, interlocking his fingers with yours. His brown eyes shimmer brightly like midnight stars while he guides you further into his home and to his living room. You gasp at the amount of snacks scattered across the coffee table and one of your favorite movies on the TV, waiting in the streaming service queue. And you gasp again when Baekhyun plops down on the couch and pulls up onto his lap, wrapping his arms around you. His citrus shampoo lingers in his hair, his clothes smell like French vanilla, and the mint on his breath leaves you speechless when he firmly presses his lips to yours.

In that moment, you finally let yourself relax, leaning back against his firm chest while taking a bite of the candy he holds up to your mouth. Baekhyun’s eyes crinkle with one of his rarest sweet smiles and you just live in the moment and block out the rest of the world for a while.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | PRE 7 | Part 7 | Part 7.5(M) | Part 7.75 | Part 8✓ | Part 9 | Part 10 |

A/N:

Hello! I’m up to my chin with schoolwork, but I pulled a few all-nighters to get this chapter done and I’m pretty satisfied with the outcome. This chapter will serve as a bridge between the first 7 chapters and the next 20+ chapters. And yes, there will be multiple parts to chapter 8 (those decimals shall strike again!) I just really needed to add more character and thought behind showing our OC’s thought process because for 3 whole years she even had me confused and I’m like??? Girl me too lmao.

This author’s note probably makes little sense (2am type of brain power right here) but I just want to say thank you for all the support you loves and readers have given this story. Thank you, Infinity team! Part 2 of chapter 8 will have more fluff between our couple, so look forward to that! See you next time~ (^-^)

[f0point5]

I've js seen the daniel post on ur page and I neeeeeeeeed to say this

Daniel has changed and its understandable but imma be real rn I thing the only reason that rbr gave him the at seat was for pr purposes bc they were being mega hated on for the consistent max wins and it would be too conravertial for checo to be booted and yuki is there for Honda so the only viable was for nyck to go out

Like I hate to say this but like Daniel himself has accepted it atp because he's not rlly there for ppl to watch him race hes there for pr bc he has a likeable personality and is very bubblely

Obviously he has the right to take the seat im not saying anything on that front but he also needs to have in his head if he's not gonna put in the effort then he should js leave bc I think its unfair that ppl like liam and nyck have been given such an unfair and biased chance

I agree that they hired him for PR, but I think it was symbiotic. At the end of 2022 RB was still dealing with the bad PR from the cost cap scandal, and Max is always a polarising figure, and that was a lot worse after the Brazil thing. It’s clear they thought bringing Daniel in would soften Max’s/RB’s image. Giving Daniel, who’d been beaten down by the McLaren situation, a second chance with the team that made him, “feeding” him, building his confidence up again, it’s a good story. And it gave Daniel something to do. Everyone benefitted.

I have to say, I don’t think they went in with a clear plan of what they were going to do with Daniel. I do also have in the back of my mind those rumours about him not being able to drive until mid season as part of his McLaren pay out deal.

I do think Daniel in putting the work though. It’s clear he wants to do well at AT and to move up and finish his career at Red Bull. I think he’s having fun and maximising his opportunities, but he is also doing his job driving.

I also think it’s a bit unfair to say that it’s Daniel’s fault that Liam’s not getting a shot. There’s two drivers in AT, and a management that makes the decisions. There’s a shortage of seats and many drivers deserve seats that don’t have them. It’s just how it is.

[womensworldtour]

2024 Giro d'Italia Women in review

With a week to think about the Giro d'Italia Women, we have some thoughts on the race overall, just as we did with the Vuelta Feminina. And since we're in the beginning of the Olympic break, let's look back at one of the most exciting Giros we've ever seen.

Heat was a constant companion.

Possible the biggest—and certainly most constant—factor in this year's Giro was the heat, which stayed punishingly high throughout the race. Domestiques had to make constant trips back to the car for bottles, multiplying the effort they had to make to keep their teammates hydrated and safe. We can't think of many things less daunting than to have to go back to the car on a 9% climb, load up an extra 10 kilos of water and then chase to get back in the group, only to have to do it again and again.

The heat affected the standings, too. Clara Emond was in the blue mountains classification jersey when she had to abandon due to heat-related issues. There was quite a bit of attrition among the teams, with only one or two finishing with their full squad. (This might be a good idea to mention that heat would be more manageable if the race was later in the year, see below.)

2. Forza Italia!

For the first time since 2008, the Giro has an Italian at the top of the podium, and it just seems right. Elisa Longo Borghini showed herself to be the strongest across different stages and terrains, and after being on the podium thrice before, we can't think of anyone more prepared or deserving of the win.

3. Chapeau to the race organizers.

This was the first year that RCS Sport, the organizer of the men's Giro, had taken over the women's Giro, after a few rocky years of poor (or non-existent) media coverage and organizational issues. The change appears to have been generally positive. Media coverage of the Giro was good; even though it wasn't start-to-finish, we had no trouble watching the race. And the stages and courses were thoughtfully designed, keeping the race interesting throughout. Previous Giros have seen the GC locked up in the first or second stage, but this year the tension built throughout the week and we saw a fair amount of shake-ups in the third through tenth places, a good sign of a challenging and competitive course.

4. The schedule still isn't perfect.

With perhaps the most exciting and competitive Giro d'Italia Women ever, it's a shame that it still has to compete with the Tour de France Hommes. Lots of avid cycling fans understandably prioritize the Tour, which we have to admit was incredibly exciting this year. We think it's definitely an improvement to have the women's Giro take place during the second week of the men's Tour rather than the first, but we still would prefer to see this oldest women's grand tour to have its own space on the calendar, and there is room to do it, if the organizers are willing to break with tradition. We personally would prefer late summer, closer to when the men's Vuelta is being held, but we're open to suggestions. A race this exciting doesn't deserve to be drowned out.

5. Young riders announce themselves.

We saw several young riders stamp their name on this race, which was a delight to see. We loved to see Kim le Court's last stage victory, or Clara Emond's long-range solo attack, or Neve Bradbury's stage win to follow up on her Tour de Suisse stage win. These riders are flying, and they are so much fun to watch, we are excited to see what more they will do.

6. Love for the non-super teams.

Stage racing in 2024 was basically the SD Worx-Protime show, until July. We can't blame someone like Demi Vollering for showcasing her talent, and she certainly had the strongest team—when they chose to support her. But it was nice to see a really competitive stage race that went down to the line, with multiple teams battling for the podium. AG Insurance-Soudal had a great Giro, rewarding steady effort by the whole team with a stage win by Kim le Court and the mountains classification by Justine Ghekiere. EF Oatly Cannondale scored a stage win with Clara Emond's solo breakaway win, and Bepink–Bongioanni was represented by Ana Vitória Magalhães in both the mountains classification fight and several breakaways. Neve Bradbury made Canyon-SRAM proud by taking a stage win, the young rider jersey, and the third step on the GC podium.

With the Giro in the books, and particularly since Baloise Ladies Tour wrapped up, we now have a long break in most schedules to allow for the Olympics to take place, before we once again turn our attention to the road and the Tour de France Femmes in August!

[eadanga]

The Royal Romance Chapter 8 Part 2

Riley looks around the ice and sees the nobles falling all around her. She hold in her laughter as she watches Kiara slide across the ice on her stomach. A blur goes past her face “What?” The blur comes from the left then Hana’s smiling face stops in front of her.

“Looks like Olivia stole Liam from you”

Riley sighs then gives her a small smile “It’s fine Liam has obligations I don’t take it personally”

Hana smiles “That’s level headed of you” She twirls gracefully

“You’re really good at this where’d you learn to skate like that I know it’s not from all these people falling on their asses”

Hana laughs “Ice skating is one of the many things my parents sent me for lessons for”

“That’s an unusual choice I had soccer and basketball”

Hana sighs “It’s a skill I learned to appeal to suitors I was told a display of elegance can go a long way”

“Ice skating was apart of your training? That’s weird but do you like it?”

Hana shrugs her shoulders “Oh you know it’s ok”

“That’s not very convincing”

“When my parents were selecting my activities whether I enjoyed it or not wasn’t a factor they considered now I find myself with a whole set of skills that I haven’t much interest in”

Before Riley can respond Olivia skates to the middle of the lake with Liam “Ok everyone let’s hit the slopes!”

Everyone grabs their skis and rides the ski lift to the top of the mountain Riley finishes lacing up her skis and takes a deep breath Ok good thing that I went on that ski trip I remember how to do this

Drake skis up beside her “So Brooks you finally made it to the slopes”

She raises an eyebrow “What’s the matter Drake? You missed me?”

“Hardly was just getting bored”

“I didn’t see you out on the ice”

“Figure skating isn’t my thing”

Riley smirks “Really? I think you’ll good in a tutu”

Drakes shudders “Some mental issues aren’t worth the effort”

“So skiing is manly enough for you”

“I hardly call this skiing but I wanna change that how about a race”

Riley raises an eyebrow “What makes you think I can ski?”

“Maybe I’m starting to have faith in you Brooks”

Riley smirks “You’re scaring me with your niceness”

Drake chuckles “I’m scaring myself” He nods down the mountain “Anyway I’m gonna start skiing down this slope in a minute and if I get to the bottom before you” He smirks “Well let’s just say I’m calling that a win and I might not let you hear the end of it ready set don’t wipe out!” He takes off down the mountain

Riley sputters “Hey no warning or anything I wasn’t even ready!”

“I was ready!”

 Riley takes off after him and quickly catches up to him. Out the corner of her eye she sees Olivia and Liam skiing together “Oh Liam you’re so funny”

Riley grits her teeth and mocks her in a high pitched voice “Oh Liam you’re so funny” She smirks “Well let’s see how Liam likes this” She soars elegantly by them “Cowabunga!”

Olivia looks over shocked “What?”

Riley grins as she lands “Glad you enjoyed the show Liam”

Liam grins “Go Riley!”

Drake swerves around a fallen branch and calls out “Watch it Brooks!”

Riley spots the branch immediately then leans forward to pick up speed the jumps like a gazelle over it she lands with a huff “That was close”

Drakes eyes go wide “Wow”

Riley takes advantage of his distraction and speeds pasts him she stops then jumps up and down “I win!”

Drake looks at her still shocked “Not thrilled about it but if you make a jump like that you deserve to win” Drake smiles “Nice moves Brooks” He takes a deep breath “Trip hasn’t been bad so far half bad so far shame that tomorrow is back to waltzing and bowing and all that”

“At least I ski better than I waltz which is barely at all”

Drake looks at her surprised “Wait you can’t waltz I thought you danced with Liam”

“Yeah but he did a lot of the work is it important?”

Drake shakes his head “Oh what would you do without me Brooks there’s a ball tomorrow and the ladies are expected to dance the Cordonian Waltz”

Maxwell didn’t mention that to me She sighs “It’s fine I’ll figure it out”

Drake smirks “It’s very complicated”

Riley shrugs “No biggie I’ve survived this far”

“Whatever you say Brooks”

“But let’s say I’m curious how does one dance the Cordonian Waltz”

“Can’t help you there don’t know the steps you should ask Hana she knows everything backwards and forwards”

“Yeah maybe”

Olivia claps her hands to get everyone’s attention “It’s time to head to my spectacular lodge to warm up!”

Drakes nods “Thanks for the race I had fun”

Riley grins “You’re not as bad as you seem”

Drake chuckles “You’re getting soft on me Brooks”

They head back to the lodge with Maxwell and Hana they sit by the fire sipping a mug of hot coco

Maxwell smiles “Did you have fun today Riley ”

Riley grins “Today was super fun now it’s time for hot chocolate”

Hana grins “This is wonderful just look at the little marshmallows shaped like hearts”

Drake rolls his eyes “Yes just adorable”

Maxwell looks over “Watch out we’ve got incoming”

Riley sighs as Olivia struts in “Well hello my dear guests hope you’re enjoying my spectacular hosting”

Riley plasters on a smile “Oh it’s wonderful” She mutters under her breath Not

Maxwell nods “I always enjoy my time here with you Olivia”

Drake doesn’t look up “It’s something”

Olivia narrows her eyes at him “Did you see that we had eclairs Drake they always remind me of dear darling little Savannah She’d gobble it down like a saw through”

Drake frowns “Don’t talk about my sister”

“Why ever not she was such a fixture at court then she up and disappeared you never told us what happened to her and usually gossip is quick to spread”

“She left cause of people like you”

Olivia sighs “She was always a sensitive sort” She grins “Ladies like that don’t last long here”

Drake sets down his mug “You know what I just remembered something I’ve got somewhere I need to be excuse me”

He walks towards the door

Olivia tries to hold in her laughter “Oh wait Drake dear I wasn’t finished talking to you!”

Riley sets down her mug I’m so sick of this bitch She stands then pushes Olivia out the door

“What are you doing?! How dare you touch me?! You commoner! You” Riley slams the door in her face

Maxwell laughs “Never seen anyone who had the guts to do that!”

“Someone had to get rid of her”

Tags: @mfackenthal @indiacater @the-soot-sprite @twinkleallnight @princess-geek @gkittylove99 @iaminlovewithtrr

[glassofspoiledmilk]

Going gold | Yuri P.

Chapter 4, the bet | TW language

I woke up to my alarms like usual. I stood up from under my covers and put on some leggings and one of the new shirts I had bought while shopping with Yuri yesterday. I pulled back my hair and walked downstairs to see Yuri making a pancake. He put syrup on it and sat down, it was then that I realized he was wearing an apron. I looked over and he saw me and almost flipped out. His face turned bright red and he started frantically trying to untie the knots that held  the apron together. I burst out with hysterical laughter and he got so angry I thought he was going to burst.

"STOP LAUGHING ITS NOT FUNNY YOU PIECE OF SHIT" he yelled but that only encouraged my laughter.

I finally calmed down and started apologizing to him but he just huffed and turned away. I stood up and got out a box of cereal from the cabinet along with some milk from the fridge. I sat down and ate. A few minutes later I finished and put my bowl into the sink. I started walking towards the ballet studio and Yuri followed behind me. We started our stretching and then it was hell, like always. After a very long and traumatic class we finally finished four hours later. While I was drinking water yakov walked in the door holding papers in his hand. Yuri and I looked at each other and we both knew they were the grand prix assignments. Yakov walked over and said "these are your assignments for this season."

"Y/N you will be at the Rostelecom cup, Trophée Laliquel, and skate America" yakov said looking at me.

I'll be going to the US and France! Now Im excited. "Yuri your assignments are the Rostelecom cup, Trophée Laliquel, and skate Canada. And hopefully you will both be going to Italy for the final." yakov said.

Yuri and I have two competitions in common, at least I won't be alone.

"This will be a breeze I could win this with my eyes closed" Yuri said very confidently which angered me.

"How are you so sure? I could probably get higher scores than you ever could" I said.

"Oh yeah? Well I bet I could place first in every event" he added.

"Is that a challenge?"

"Sure, like you could win anyway"

"Alright fine, the person who gets the most gold medals wins and the loser had to do whatever the winner wants" I said proudly.

"Ok bet" he said turning around and walking away.

This bitch was going doooown.

I was going to win no matter the cost. I got my bag and told yakov I was going out for a while. I think he knew that I was going skating but didn't really care. I walked out of the door and raced down the streets, I want to get in the most amount of practice time I can. The first competition we had was the Trophèe Laliquel which was in a week. I burst open the ice rink doors and throw my stuff down onto the floor infront of the benches. I unzipped my bag and took out my skates. I quickly laced them up, and then I was out on the ice. I hooked my phone up to the Bluetooth speakers and started my short program, I put as much effort as I could into it and finished it. I fixed all the things Yakov told me to fix and my program felt a lot smoother. When the music stopped I skated over to the side and grabbed my water bottle.

I felt nervous, scared almost.

I know Yuris a better skater than me, he's been doing it longer than I have and I don't know why I made that stupid bet. But I still have to try, I can't loose to him or he's never gonna let me live it down.

I took a deep breath and got back to practicing. I did my free program and it went just as smoothly as my short. I decided to take a small break and eat a snack. I grabbed my water bottle and skated off the ice. I was looking down at my phone when I tripped over my toe pick and fell flat on my face. I heard someone hysterically laughing. I immediately shot up from the floor and saw it was Yuri.

"SHUT UP" I screamed.

That only encouraged him, so I pushed him onto the bleachers. His face turned beet red within seconds, and he finally shut up. I didn't realize how close my face was to his and my face stated to heat up as well.

"Sorry..." I said sheepishly letting go of him.

"It's fine.." he replied awkwardly, and still quite flustered.

"Anyway I wanted to ask if you maybe wanted to watch a movie tonight? However that was before you decided to JUMP on me" He asked, getting slightly annoyed.

I stood up and then sat down on the bleachers next to him.

"I'm sorry! and yeah I'll watch a movie with you." I replied as my cheeks flushed a slight shade of pink at the thought.

We sat next to each other in an awkward silence

"What movie are we going to watch?" I asked

"I don't know, do you have anything in mind?"

"Ooo we could watch Dirty dancing!"

"What is that"

"It's a romance movie about this girl and guy who come from like different back, it's really good"

"Sounds cliche" he added

"Yeah but it's good" I argued

"Whatever" he said getting up and walking onto the ice.

I left my skates on the bench and headed up to the upstairs ballet studio for some off ice training. I connected my phone to the speakers and started stretching, but I couldn't help but stare out the window looking down onto the ice. Yuri was doing his program and he once again looked so beautiful. I continued my stretches but it was no use because I couldn't pull myself away from him. I decided to get myself together and  I started practicing my triple and quad jumps. I cant get distracted from my ultimate goal, beating Yuri.

[f1]

I dont think Ive ever experienced a weekend like this Russell glad to put Belgian GP behind him

Lewis Hamilton may have offered a positive outlook of his and Mercedes' efforts in Belgium, where the seven-time world champion finished fourth – but his team mate George Russell was happy to see the back of the weekend after crossing the line in sixth. Hamilton qualified fourth, but moved up a spot after Max Verstappen took a five-place grid drop for the race. And after surviving a close three-wide moment with Carlos Sainz and Oscar Piastri at Turn 1 on the opening lap, he settled into third. READ MORE: Verstappen charges to Belgian GP win as Red Bull bag 1-2 finish Verstappen then made his way past, leaving Hamilton to battle Charles Leclerc for the final podium position. However, the Mercedes driver could not quite get close enough, with the team opting to pit him at the end of the race to take the fastest lap as the seven-time champion accepted fourth place. Asked if he was satisfied with his Sunday at Spa, Hamilton replied: “Yeah. Started third but went backwards one place, but we expected Max to come flying by at some stage. [Red Bull] were eight-tenths to a second faster than everybody today, per lap, so not really in the same race. "We got some good points; we got fastest lap at the end which is great. And lots of consistent points finishes for us as a team. We’ve made big, big strides as a team, we've just got to keep working away.” Hamilton finished fourth in Belgium after being unable to reel in Leclerc in P3 Hamilton was also asked to describe the mood at Mercedes heading into the summer break, with the eight-time world champions currently second in the championship, but without a race win since the 2022 Sao Paulo Grand Prix. He said: “I think everyone is relieved they are going to get a break soon. It’s hard to assess – everyone is just head down, trying to work and trying to improve. Everyone is just pumped, just driven.” READ MORE: ‘It’s been a positive weekend’ – Leclerc pleased with podium in Belgium but says Ferrari still have 'a lot of work to do' Russell, on the other hand, admitted the summer break had come at a good time for him after struggling for much of the weekend. However, he believed that had it not been for some misfortune on the opening lap, he would have been fifth instead of sixth. Assessing his race, Russell said: “It was alright. I was very unfortunate at the beginning. I made a really strong start, and then I saw Oscar [Piastri going slowly]. I thought it was a puncture, but didn’t realise he’d lost his steering. Russell was glad to see the back of the Belgian Grand Prix weekend after finishing sixth “I decided to go to the left, he was just drifting to the left, I got boxed in, and I lost four positions. That probably cost me one position at the end of the race. I should’ve been ahead of Fernando [Alonso]. [But I’m] glad this weekend is over. “I don’t think I’ve ever experienced a weekend like this in my whole career. One, in terms of the weather changing so often. Like [Saturday], I don’t think I’ve lived a day of my life like [Saturday], it was just unbelievable.” READ MORE: Verstappen opens up on radio exchange with engineer in Belgian GP after dominant recovery drive to 8th straight win He concluded: “And from my own personal side, just a really challenging weekend. The [summer] break is coming at a good point. As a team happy with some good points on the board, opening that gap to P3 in the team’s championship. But were still eyes on Red Bull and clearly, we have a lot of work to do.” This feature is currently not available because you need to provide consent to functional cookies. Please update your cookie preferences Race Highlights: 2023 Belgian Grand Prix via Formula 1 News https://www.formula1.com

[whoperlokian-bendingismagic]

I'm so excited for the Tour de France this year, so I'm going to infodump about it. Strap in or skip, it's up to you.

So to get into why this year's TdF is exciting, we have to rewind a couple years to 2020. The Tour was delayed (cuz COVID) but the race did happen. The guy who was going to win it was Slovenian cyclist for Team Jumbo-Visma Primoz Roglic (I'm going to miss a lot of accents because reasons, no disrespect to anybody's names). Primoz Roglic had won the Vuelta Espana (Like the TdF but for Spain) and was seen as the race favorite. He comes into the second to last stage with the Yellow Jersey, and it's a Time Trial (a solo effort against the clock rather than a full-on race where everybody is riding the same road at the same time). Primoz Roglic is more of a climber than a Time Trialist, but he's still pretty good at TTs, and it's by no means a liability for him.

But then, his fellow Slovenian, Team UAE rider Tadej Pogacar happened, obliterating Roglic's time trial result and taking the race lead just before the final stage, which is largely a formality and a last chance for sprinters to win a stage. A lot of people accused Pogacar of being a doper, but there's been no evidence since then to support it.

So then 2021. Pogacar is back as defending champion of the TdF, Primoz Roglic is back to try and get his title. Primoz Roglic goes on to have a bad spate of luck and suffers enough crashes that he retires from the race. Team Jumbo-Visma isn't out of the race, though. They end up having a shockingly good TdF, with climbing domestique Sepp Kuss becoming the first ever Coloradoan to win a stage of the TdF, Belgian Champion Wout Van Aert winning a mini triple crown of a mountaintop stage, a time trial stage, and a sprint stage, and revealing that the scrawny danish kid they'd added to the roster was a secret Plan B weapon who came out as the only person who could threaten Pogacar's dominance. Pogacar won the Tour, but Jonas Vingegaard came out of nowhere to be the only potential answer to him.

2022: Pogacar is back again as the defending champion, Jumbo-Visma bring in the team again, with Primoz Roglic, Jonas Vingegaard, Wout Van Aert, Sepp Kuss, and four others. The race starts with a few stages in Denmark, and there's too much to coherently write out here, so I've got to dive temporarily into a bullet list.

Stage 1 is a time trial won by somebody nobody thought would be capable of winning a time trial. It helps that it was raining that day, which made a lot of the favorites ease back and take fewer risks

Wout Van Aert has a series of second-place finishes in bunch sprints, including one where he sat up to celebrate and somebody else kept sprinting (this was the second time this happened to him IN THE YEAR 2022, WOUT STOP DOING THIS)

EF Education-EasyPost rider Magnus Cort delights his home country of Denmark by becoming the king of immediately launching breakaways every stage in Denmark and keeps it up until a positive COVID test drops him out at Stage 10

Wout Van Aert did a better job of sprinting in the TdF than anybody had ever done since the Green Jersey (Sprinter's Classification) was introduced, blowing easily over the Sprint Points record previously held by Peter Sagan

The mini-Paris Roubaix stage went terribly for Jumbo Visma with double-bike changes for Vingegaard, and Primoz Roglic having some bad crashes.

Jumbo-Visma had a very clever plan to unseat Pogacar and get Jonas Vingegaard into the yellow jersey, and it worked perfectly.

On a mountain descent, Vingegaard and Pogacar were alone at the head of the race, Vingegaard almost crashed, and then Pogacar DID crash and Vingegaard SLOWED DOWN FOR POGACAR TO CATCH UP it was an incredible moment of sportsmanship for what is shaping up to become a cycling rivalry that I'm sure will go down as one of the greatest rivalries in all of sport.

Vingegaard won the Tour

So now, in 2023, both Pogacar and Vingegaard have been showing in the lead-up to the TdF that they are in a league of their own. Pogacar nearly won the Ardennes Triple Crown (a series of prestigious races in Flanders) before he crashed out in Liege-Bastogne-Liege. Vingegaard has completely wrecked the competition in Tour of the Basque Country and the Criterium du Dauphine. Vingegaard and Pogacar did meet in Paris-Nice and Pogacar won there, but just watching the two of them will be very exciting. Except there is more! Biniam Girmay is looking like he'll be in the Tour de France, and I don't think he's a threat to the Yellow Jersey, but he is a good time trialist and he's a great sprinter. In 2022, he won a stage of the Giro D'Italia (like the TdF but in Italy), by outsprinting one of cycling's greatest all-rounders, Matheiu Van Der Poel in Stage 10. That made him the first ever black African to win a stage of a Grand Tour. He had to retire because his celebratory champagne bottle launched its cork into his eye, but he's recovered and just won Stage 2 of the Tour de Suisse yesterday. I think he's a serious contender for the Green Jersey this year based on his performance against Wout Van Aert yesterday and what he did against MVDP last year, and I'm hoping to see some greatness from him.

Don't watch the Tour in full if you have better things to do, but I do recommend watching the extended highlights that NBCSN puts on Youtube, they're great.