#just a side story on a different continent

[mv1simp]

I love your stories so much, please write more dark manipulative Max, maybe something with mindbreak or bimbofication of an innocent reader? It would be fun if she was Toto's daughter and Max so holds it over Toto.

this is for all the dark!Max/toto’s daughter/bimbo/mindbreak reader requests all you freaks have been requesting 😼😼 for the first time i have something for the dark!lando girlies!!

Double Fantasy ♥️

Max Verstappen x Lando’s Fuckbuddy!Reader

I can tell that you think that I’m right for you, I already know that it's not true, but girl I'll lie to you (even though it's wrong)

Recently becoming a media executive for the FIA, you can’t deny that your dream job has given you access to your dream men. Sadly, your top pick, Max Verstappen doesn’t look twice your way - not interested in the daughter of Toto Wolff, who he openly dislikes. But you gladly enjoy your consolation prize of being Lando Norris’s fuckbuddy. You didn’t realise just how far Lando planned on extending your arrangement when he pisses the Dutch champion off one step too far - and now needs to figure out the perfect gift to give Max and make amends.

Content includes: 18+ MDNI, smut, dark! max, dark! Lando, but bimbo!reader is into it lol, have done a twist on the usual innocent! reader, she’s toto’s daughter also, dubcon, blindfold, BDSM, no threesomes sorry I can’t share max with anyone else, WC 5.6k

Multiple heads turn your way as you make your way down the FIA garage, your YSL black and gold heels clicking smoothly on the floor. You can’t hold back the pleased smile on your pink glossed lips at the appreciative glances over your curvy figure. At 22, you’ve landed your dream job as a marketing and media executive for the FIA. Glowing recommendations, a perfect GPA and of course a touch of good old fashioned nepotism via your dad, the Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff, landed you here, dressed in luxury outfits and regularly networking with some of the richest people on the continent. What can you say? You’re a material girl, after all, with a pleasure for the finer things in life.

And that included an appreciation of rich, powerful men that you inherited as a result of a strict and emotionless father who preferred to spend his time running a motorsports corporation instead of at home. Daddy issues, one might even say (actually your therapist had said exactly that.) So the Formula One grid, filled to the brim with hot, millionaire drivers who have no issue flirting with the new pretty little toy on the paddock, was the perfect place for a girl like you to work. You definitely had your fun, arriving a few months ago for your first day, dressed in a tight yet full length maxi dress, giving you the perfect blend of sexy and demure that had much of the paddock panting after you.

But you were a girl with a taste for luxury - you weren’t going to settle for any dirty mechanic or plain news reporter. No, what you wanted more than anything, was to get the best of both worlds like your lucky bitch of a stepmom Susie Wolff had done - FIA executive and WAG of the hottest and richest team principal. Even you had to admit, apart from your dad, the rest of the principals were a little bit too far on the balding old men side. But the drivers, you thought wickedly, the drivers were a completely different story. And they knew they were some of the most desired men on the planet, with their fame and status. Their egos were sky high - especially since multiple women would be throwing themselves at them every race weekend or media day. So you had made sure to play the game very, very carefully - unlike the other sultry models on the paddock, or conservative women dressed head to toe in basic team gear, you were the very picture of innocence with your sweet makeup and dark curls, cute girly dresses and heels, all shy giggles one minute and then serious, no nonsense businesswoman the next to keep them on their toes.

A lot of the drivers ate it up, too, flocking to Toto Wolff’s pretty daughter when they’d see you doing the occasional post race interview or brazenly flirting with you at a drivers’ meeting. But the one man who you truly wanted, the 26 year old in the Redbull gear with 3 world champions and a multimillionaire contract to his name, with intense blue eyes and thick thighs and broad shoulders, with a deep voice that sent shivers down your spine one second then flutters in your heart the next when you’d hear him laugh - he was the man who didn’t look twice your way. Despite your attempts to flutter your eyelashes, wearing tight outfits and bend over just so in a certain angle, or pressing your generous tits up against his bulging biceps as your breathlessly whisper Congratulations on the win, Max he wouldn’t even show a flicker of reciprocal interest. You were the daughter of Toto, after all - a principal who he was quite well known in the media for having ongoing disputes with for numerous years. As if Max Verstappen was going to be seduced by the likes of a gold digging daughter who was probably just as two faced as her father.

You’d pouted for weeks, growing bitter with jealousy at seeing Max instead walk around with Kelly, a pretty, tall and slim model who’d apparently outplayed you. But to your delight, you stumbled upon the best consolation prize. With all your pining you hadn’t realized you’d snagged one of the hottest and most desirable drivers on the grid - McLaren’s Lando Norris. Well, snagged was one way to put it - after all, a playboy like him was hard to pin down, especially when he knew how much pull he had over women. But you’d thought about that to, even going so far as saving your virginity like the perfect daddy’s little girl you were. Lando ate it up, twistedly enjoying getting to corrupt the paddock’s pretty princess, the one everyone wanted to get a piece off. So unlike the other women he slept with, the ones kept secret and hidden from the media, you were his favourite toy - one that he paraded around whenever you’d be in the same city. Not quite a girlfriend, of course, he was far too much of a flirt to put such a label on you so soon - more of a friends with benefits, a high maintenance fling, a fuckbuddy, some might call it.

And once you had your manicured hands clinging onto his arms at the races you sure as hell did not plan on letting go. Toto was not overly happy at the news that his eldest daughter was involved with a driver, of course, but had accepted it as Lando was still a good choice compared to many of the other drivers he wanted you to stay well away from - like Mad Max. So you stayed loyal to Lando, not wanting any rumours about you flirting with multiple drivers to impact your dad’s important reputation. You’d only flutter your lashes at Lando, kissing his cheek diligently with your glossed lips, sending the naughty photos of you in expensive lingerie just for him - because the rewards you got as his paddock arm candy were just too good. Always making sure your face was well cut out from any pictures, of course - you would die if they got leaked and your father found out.

But being Lando’s fuckbuddy came with a whole line of luxuries you’d quickly grown accustomed too. Tickets to whatever show you wanted, the finest food at the most expensive restaurant, the papparazzi going crazy at whatever outfit you’d wear when clinging onto Lando’s arm, and of course one of the most coveted men in the world between your legs, teaching you how to come apart on his fingers. That’s right, his fingers, and very rarely his cock, because you needed to secure that diamond ring, after all. And you sure as hell weren’t going to give him wife privileges 24/7 when he hadn’t even made you his official girlfriend yet. So instead you tried to push him to the limits, testing his patience to give up and retire his playboy ways if he finally got to bury his desperate dick inside your heavenly tight pussy again, after having taken your virginity.

Truly, you had outdone yourself, you thought, as every passing race this season Lando got more and more tense as tensions for the World Championships grew, with McLaren finally being able to threaten the Verstappen Red Bull reign for the first time in years. And with each passing race, he couldn’t relieve the tension enough, trying to furiously fuck his way through all number of vogue models but somehow always finding himself back with you, desperately begging to be let in between your soft thighs. And like always, you’d blink innocently and coo that you felt too shy, wasn’t last time enough, you didn’t want to ruin yourself for the man you were going to marry, remember?

And Lando would groan, because as much as he wanted you, he also knew there was no way in hell he was ready to take you to the altar over this. Although it had been getting harder and harder to resist, lately, because although you were truly so talented with your small hands and sweet, drooling mouth, he would endlessly replay the heaven that your pussy had felt like the rare few times you’d let him enter you with his cock.

But as the season went on even you couldn’t calm Lando down, especially after the Zandervoot race. Tensions were at an all time high between him and his normally good friend Max, after Lando stole his home race under him and even sealed the deal by throwing the Dutchman’s simply lovely phrase back at him cockily. Max was well and truly pissed off at Lando then, not even turning upto their weekly Padel games or replying to his texts. Although Lando wanted to win the championship, he also wanted to remain good mates with Max - especially because he knew being on Mad Max’s bad side always ended with the opponent finding themselves crashing into a wall at the next race. So as he pondered just what he could do to get his friend’s forgiveness, a wicked idea came to him, one night when he was out at a Monaco nightclub with you and had run into Max partying with his friends. He’d tried to talk to Max, but had been rudely ignored, so instead Lando stood off the corner, rather crossly glaring at the Dutchman, when he noticed you’d disappeared from his side to tipsily wander to the bar and get another drink.

He was about to go help you when he saw you stumble, maybe take you to the bathroom for a quick sloppy blowjob - but was suprised to see Max appear at your side, his intense blue eyes watching your tinier frame carefully as he rested a large palm over your plump ass to secure you. And Lando watched as you giggled happily, twirling your hair as Max handed over his black Amex to pay for your drink, rewarded with a lingering lip glossed kiss on his cheek from you, before you scampered back over to where Lando was hidden in the shadows. And as you loyally returned to Lando’s arms, whispering that you were going to make him feel so good tonight, he seemed so tense, the Brit found himself ignoring your seductive words entirely to instead focus on how Max’s hungry gaze lingered on your ass as you had strutted away from the tall blonde man. A sinister grin appeared on Lando’s face as he pieced it all together. He’d always thought it was weird that Max chose to completely ignore you, given that he normally was a friendly guy off the track. Turns out his good mate was just trying to avoid getting involved with Toto’s paddock bunny of a daughter, huh?

Turning his attention to you, Lando whispered if you could pretty please try out something new for him tonight, because he was really stressed, okay? He watches you nod eagerly, foolishly thinking your plan to get Lando so desperate for you that he was ready to put a ring on your finger was working. Too bad you had no idea that instead, your fuckbuddy was thinking about how he’d just found the perfect present to gift to his angry rival.

So that’s how you found yourself in a plush hotel bed later that night, all dressed up in a pretty white lace and mesh set and still in your heels, your eyes blindfolded with your hands tied behind your back. You eyes had gone wide with excitement, thighs clenching when Lando had pulled the ropes out, and you’d had to blush and act all innocent when secretly you couldn’t be happier that you were drawing out the dirtier desires in Lando. Because that meant he was falling for you all the more, right?

You had no idea about the private conversation your fuckbuddy had been having with the driver you’d previously desired, just outside the club in a dark alleyway, where Lando had finally cornered Max to apologise. The furious Dutchman had, as expected, been in no mood to hear it - but had stopped in his tracks and turned around when Lando slyly suggested that as he had taken something of his, it was only fair that Max get one of Lando’s precious things in return. Like maybe…you?

At the mention of your name, Max furrows his brows, telling Lando he wasn’t interested in the latest toy on the grid who spread her legs for whichever driver gave her some attention. Oh, Lando all but purred, that’s the catch, mate. She’s basically still a virgin, was one when I met her, only let me fuck her a couple of times, wants to save herself for the one or some shit. But I trained her how to use her holes, and fuck does she know how to suck a guy off with that sweet mouth of hers.

That’d caught Max’s attention, and he smirked to Lando, calling him a fucked up asshole for selling out the girl who was loyal to him like this, who was Toto Wolff’s daughter, no less - a powerful man someone like Lando wouldn’t want to make an enemy off. The Brit shrugged. Toto’s never going to find out. What’s mine is yours, mate. Enjoy. And with that, he tossed his room key to Max.

That night, Lando didn’t feel bad, not even one bit, as he tightly wound the rope around your delicate little wrists, knowing that you loved to act all innocent but secretly kinky shit like this has you dripping. Especially if you were going to be ruined tonight by a man who you secretly still had desires for - and Lando was certain you did, judging from the way he’d seen you look at Max like he was a God you wanted to worship on your knees. Really, he was being a good friend to you both by letting it happen - just this once of course, he wasn’t going to just hand you over to his track rival after putting in so much work to train you to be the perfect sex toy. So he’d left you there all alone in the room, abruptly saying he had an urgent call and would be back.

The drinks you’d had earlier certainly had their affects on you, making you whine against the tight ropes on your flushed and sensitive skin, almost grateful for the blindfold as you felt overstimulated already. When you finally heard the hotel door reopen, you sighed in relief as your fuckbuddy - soon to be boyfriend, you hoped! - finally came back. In your wildest fantasies you’d never have guessed that instead of Lando locking the door, Max stood in his place - and had taken one look at your tempting, restrained form and realized that the sly Brit had definitely not told you about his plans for tonight. Keeping you blind and tied up while you were tricked into thinking it was your beloved Brit entering you and not your daddy’s enemy, Max Verstappen? It was so dirty that Max got an instant hard on. He’d seen the looks, the touches you gave him too - they were rather hard to miss, after all. But he’d played aloof, not wanting to give into your gold digging ways - but he’d admit that he’s been rather disappointed when he found you’d settled for Lando instead. You’d surprised him with how loyal you remained to the McLaren driver, dutifully remaining by his side and avoiding Max’s intense gaze when it would occasionally flicker over to you. But when the alcohol had loosened your inhibitions tonight, Max had seen the desire in your blown pupils, in your hardened nipples that peaked just at the edge of your dress, and had cockily smirked at the realisation that Lando’s little toy, Toto’s precious daughter - that she was still lusting after him.

And now that this opportunity had presented itself….well, let’s just say that it had Max grinning wickedly as he plotted up all the ways he could walk away with both you and the world championship from Lando this year. That would certainly teach the younger male to mess with what was his, wouldn’t it? And even better, it would put that arrogant prick Toto in his place, keep him from daring to speak out against Max in the media when Redbull trashed Mercedes - because his adored little daughter would be spending the race weekends on her hands and knees for the Dutch world champion, if Max had anything to say about it.

So that’s how Max found himself at the foot of the bed, stripping off his clothes and lazily jerking himself off as he watched you squirm underneath your ropes, pouting as you couldn’t do your usual bit of trailing teasing hands all over Lando and rile him up. Baby? You crooned, tilting your head in the direction you thought he was in. Aren’t you going to-Oh!

You felt his warm, large palms cup your cheek, tracing your glossy, pink lips and you automatically poke your tongue out to circle his finger. Good girl, he sighed, the words making your tummy flutter. He sounded a little different to usual, his voice deeper, lower, but it was hard to think clearly over how much your head was pounding from raw desire, and you liked how he sounded tonight. You were feeling really horny and couldn’t wait for him to finally fuck you too - having had to desperately ride your tiny vibrator after stopping Lando fucking you multiple times this month.

His hands continued their path, trailing over your delicate throat and teasingly encircling it with his large hand, making you gasp - you hadn’t remembered it being quite so large that it wrapped around the whole width of your neck. But maybe your senses were more attuned now since you were blindfolded? It felt really good.

You promptly forgot to think about that any longer when those large hands moved downwards, roughly palming your bouncy tits and making you giggle from his attention. He teased and squeezed them, tugging down on the lace to free them in the open air, twisting on your hardened cute nipples. You squealed from the abuse to your overly sensitive areolas, distracted, and didn’t notice when your hands ended up being untied - only to be guided to a very large and hard cock.

Baby, you’d giggled, it’s been so long that you’re even bigger than I remembered. He swore under his breath as you diligently jerked him off with your two small hands barely wrapping around his length, spitting on it cutely to ease the glide. And then he’s rubbing his leaking cock all over your tits, slapping them with it and chuckling darkly as they jiggled, all wet from his precum. Before you know it, you were drooling and suckling all over his cock, sweetly moaning how good he tasted, even more than last time. Suckling his balls and then licking all the way the very tip, just like he’d taught you, placing messy lip gloss stained kisses down the wet shaft before sucking them clean off. You made sure to pay extra attention to the thick veins that ran underneath his length, even the new ones you hadn’t felt before, because he’d told you it drove men wild.

And when he grabbed your pretty curls, you let your mouth go lax so he could pump his full length furiously down your inviting throat, groaning how much of a good girl you were, maybe your full time job should be sucking his cock instead of trotting about the paddock. You moaned excitedly at the idea, and when he cums, all thick and creamy, you obediently swallow it all up.

Look, daddy, you say rather sluttily, dropping your mouth wide open, tongue out as you showed him how well you’d drank all his cum. Fuck, that’s so dirty, calling me and your father the same name, huh? Should’ve known you’d be into kinky shit like this.

You scrunch your brows cutely in confusion, not sure what he meant by that because you’d called him daddy many times before. But you don’t get to ponder too long because you suddenly hear the sound of a camera click and can see the flash go off through the blindfold. Your tummy lurches, because Nooo, baby, no photos, please, what if my dad sees-

Your pleas are ignored as you’re being lifted by two broad arms and tossed onto the bed, your hands dragged up and over your head as your wrists are tied to the headboard. You’re whining, asking him what he was doing, this was too much, you wanted to see him now, to touch him, but again you don’t get an answer.

Instead, you feel his thick fingers hooking around the sides of your soaked panties and sliding them off, lewd strings of your wetness clinging to the lace as it’s pulled away. Then you hear him deeply exhale a fucking hell, making you blush as strong hands grasp your ankles and push them far apart so your intimate parts are exposed for his hungry gaze.

That’s all the warning you get before there’s a foreign sensation of his warm breath blowing on your puffy folds, making you gasp, and before a broad tongue licks a stripe clean up your pink slit. You squeal in suprise, again stupidly babbling and asking what he was doing, because normally Lando didn’t like going down on you, finding it too much effort for a quick stress relieving fuck - he much preferred having you suck him off instead.

But the mouth currently lapping at your folds seems to have realized just how unfamiliar this pleasure seems to be for your sensitive cunny, because he buries his face right in, licking and slurping up all your dripping wetness. You thrash against your restrains, incoherently moaning because it feels so good baby, mmmh, why didn’t he do this more?

He laughs huskily, still buried inside your folds, and the deep vibrations make you almost cum right then and there. Your whole body is burning up with need now and you’re begging for him to put the condom on and slide in it, daddy, please, you needed it so bad-

You both moan as he finally sinks home, your creamy pussy gushing around him as it welcomes him in. You feel breathless at the size of him, because again he’s bigger and thicker than you remembered - not even just his cock, but his whole body, his bulging biceps and broad chest being able to hold you down with ease. You let him know it, too, whining that he’s so strong, it was really hot, had he been working out more?

That made him laugh again, lips grinning right by your ear, as he tilts your hips up to meet his and starts fucking your gushing pussy roughly. Through your euphoric daze, you feel familiar butterflies swirl in your stomach at the deep laugh, the accent sounding so different from Lando’s but still familiar to you for some reason - yet you still couldn’t quite place it. It was impossible to focus with the way he was thrusting into you, his hands pressing your hips down into the mattress in a bruising grip, making your tits bounce with each pump, your breath come out in soft pants as you gasped for air. You’re about to cum, you can feel it, the intensity building up-

And then, finally, he takes off your blindfold. Your brown eyes take a second to adjust to the bright lights - and then you widen them in pure shock as you realize just who’s wide cock was splitting you open.

You scream as Max grins wickedly down at you, pulling back to leave just his leaking tip inside your tight cunny, before slamming back in and, setting a bed breaking pace and drowning out your panicked wails with the loud banging of the headboard against the walls. You’re doing so good for me, schatje he croons, his voice sickly sweet but his actions pure evil as he grabs your dirty panties and meanly shoves them past your plush lips. Grabbing your soft thighs, he tosses them over his shoulder as he bullies his cock into you even deeper from this angle, repeatedly hitting your poor cervix. Tears pool in your brown doe eyes as you look at where he enters you, horrified as you see he’s making you take his cock raw - something Lando and you never did despite how hot it sounded as a baby outside of marriage would be too much for both of your families. You cry and wail and scream, tears streaming down your face at the embarrasing and degrading treatment you’re experiencing. Really, it’s such wicked and sinful behaviour and you should hate Max so much for this, hate Lando for leaving you all tied up and alone and defenceless against his evil and twisted rival to take advantage of you like this, to bully your practically virgin cunny with each deep thrust from his massive cock.

So why are you rapidly reaching your orgasm even faster than before?

Max has apparently learnt the signs of your pliant body underneath him far too quickly, because he slides his thick cock out of your swollen cunny and instead rests it just on top of your folds. Almost lovingly wiping your tears away with a flick of his thumb, he demands that you beg for it, for his cock to split you in half, to cum inside you, for him, Max, to be the only man you ever let inside your sweet pussy from now on.

You frantically shake your head, your muffled no no nos an obvious contrast to what you secretly wanted, as you’re simultaneously bucking your hips up against his hard length, drenching it in new slick. He smirks, leaning down so your foreheads meet and sweetly kissing up your tears. Despite the depravity of the situation, you’re finding yourself blushing from the unexpected gesture. Schatje, he whispers darkly, sending shivers up your spine because you’d always gotten jealous hearing him call other women that, you’re making this so much harder on yourself. It’s going to be so fun to watch you fall apart for me.

With that, he agonisingly tortures you, dragging just his tip through your folds again and again, slapping your throbbing clit with his head, biting and sucking on your sensitive nipples that leaves you arching your back into his talented mouth. You’re struggling to make sense of what’s going on, of trying to keep coherent. All that hard work and patience to try and lure Lando in was gone the very second your pussy had welcomed Max into it, because you knew Lando would never take you back if he found out about this. Your desperate brain reasons that then, it shouldn’t matter, right? It was too late for you and Lando. And now, you had Max Verstappen using your pretty body however he wanted, making you fulfill all his twisted desires. If you showed him how good you could be for him, be the perfect little pet for all his frustrations to be let out at, maybe he’d keep you around…permanently?

Max didn’t miss the dazed look that had overtaken your wide doe eyes as your whines quietened down. Guess all his teasing had finally melted that scheming brain of yours. Yanking your panties out of your mouth, he asked you if you were ready to behave and ask him nicely.

You nod obediently, looking at him with heart eyes as you confess that his cock felt so good, so addictive, you don’t think you could ever go back to Lando after being stretched open so wide, and could he pretty please fuck you hard and good?

Max growls at your submissive words. You’re offering yourself up to me so sweetly, baby. How can I say no?

He unties your aching wrists, running his soothing palms over the rope marked skin, bending down to give you a passionate, open mouthed kiss. You greedily slurp at his intruding tongue, letting yourself get lost in the pleasure as he lines himself up at your entrance before easily sinking into the wet folds. This time, he doesn’t stop his wicked thrusts, not when you’re squirting on his cock, eyes rolling to the back of your head, not when a creamy ring forms around the base of his cock from your cum, not when you’re tangling your hands in his hair and whining that it’s too much, you’re going to pass out.

He only stops once he’s tensing above you, one hand squeezing your neck and the other gripping the headboard as he drains his entire load into your tight cunny desperately clenching around him. Yours is truly the sweetest pussy he’s ever fucked. He’s never letting you go. He cums so much that it spurts out past your pussy lips, all over your soft thighs.

After a while, when he’s done whispering praises into your ears, your gooey brain soaking it all up, he slides out of you, admiring how his cum leaks out of your cunny that had treated him very well tonight. He places a gentle kiss to your temple and lets you doze off for a bit. It takes you a while longer to come to your senses, and when you sit up, you gulp down the glass of cold water that has been placed on the bedside table. You see Max spread out on an armchair across the room, shirtless and in some grey sweats, smirking at something on his phone - but he looks up when he hears you and lets his gaze drift down your marked up body. You flush under his intense ice blue eyes, heart fluttering at finally getting attention from the richest and fastest driver on the grid.

He beckons you over, calling you his pretty schatje, and in your blissed out state you obediently crawl over to him on your hands and knees, settling in between his spread legs and resting your head against his large thigh. And when he tells you that you looked so cute crawling for him, maybe next time he’ll get you a leash and collar with his name on it, hmm? you bite your lip and shyly nod, telling him of course, you’d do whatever daddy wanted.

He grins darkly, pleased with your submissive response, knowing you’re completely his. Forget Toto, forget Lando, the only man you’d ever be loyal to from now on was him. So you eagerly open your juicy lips wide at his command, drooling all over his cock to clean up the sticky mess your pussy walls had left behind. And when he points his phone at you, hitting record, you glassily stare straight at the camera, letting it capture how you hollowed your cheeks and licked up the creamy ring coating the base of Max’s cock. Gonna send this to your father if he keeps lying about how I’ve going to sign a Mercedes contract next year, Max teases meanly. Or to Lando if he tries to overtake me on the track again. You whine at him, brown doe eyes distressed, and start deepthroating him even faster to please him more, hoping if you did he wouldn’t show your daddy or ex fuckbuddy how much of a slut you were for the champion driver.

Being on your knees and obediently blowing Maxie was a position you became very familiar with. Because like he had wanted, every race weekend you would break your FIA contract clause of remaining unbiased and be dressed in a skimpy little outfit in Redbull colours, your lush tits pushed against Max’s thick biceps as you clung onto him through his paddock walk. Max couldn’t resist smirking at the Mercedes garage where Toto would glare, arms crossed, at the sight of his well accomplished daughter following the reckless Redbull champion around like a lost bunny. Placing a possessive large palm across your ass as he guided you into his private jet, giving it a good squeeze, Max made sure the paparazzi caught a good pic of that, too, for your father to see later when he opened Twitter.

And Lando, who knew how much Max despised sharing his toys, skulked from his seat when he saw you entering Max’s plane for the ride back to Monaco. He’d make sure to never make the mistake of flying in the Verstappen jet again, he thought as he moodily shoved his headphones over his ears to drown out the filthy sounds and desperate moans you let out as Max fucked you raw on the other side of the cabin divider. You’d never let Lando fuck you in such a public place or so often, no matter how often he’d begged you.

Fuck it, might as well make the most of it, the Brit thought once he stopped moping and realised his music wasn’t going to block out the obscene squelches as his rival continued to greedily bounce your creamy pussy on his thick cock. Shoving his hand down his pants, Lando slowly started jerking himself off, smirking when he sees one of Max’s air hostesses blush and bite her lip when he catches her looking. Apparently he hadn’t learnt his lesson of keeping his hands off what belonged to the Dutchman after all, because soon he’s thrusting into the hostess’s willing mouth with the same rapid pace that Max is fucking you with.

Your father had always said birds of a feather flocked together, after all.

—————————————————————————

A/N: POST FIC CLARITY HIT HARD IN THIS ONE AHHHHHH 😳😳 hope this satisfies the dark max hoes (yall are so real for that)😼😼 as usual let me know what you think and send in more requests!

[nymphea0]

Kurkans Mate.

The Beast And The Bunny.

Yan! Ishakan x Reader

Part 2.

.

.

.

Manhwa :약탈혼 / predatory marriage

/ 약탈혼 (완전판)

: Adult Manhwa (18+)

Author/Illustrations : Saha / Hera(Art)

Word Count : 2.34K Word.

Hello.. Neva again here, I hope you are well and happy and have a nice days

might have some bad grammars, correct me if there are any mistakes in the words in the story I wrote. Anyways i hope you all enjoys my story,love much.- Neva🦋🦋.

- Kurkans Mate Pt.1

.

.

.

.

It's been about 3 months since you lived with Esmera, you helped Esmera not only because she saved you, Esmera was also willing to take you in.

Your activities are very ordinary, not much different from how you spend your days in Antra village, looking for herbs and mushrooms and planting vegetables, and collecting firewood.

It's been 3 months since you last met an exotic-skinned man who was injured in this forest.

You sometimes think is this a good choice to save this man? Indirectly you also reveal your identity to the foreign man through your blood healing.

And from the bottom of your heart, you feel a very bad feeling, but you don't know what causes that worry.

.

.

.

Ishakan, a man from the Kurkans tribe, has an extraordinarily handsome appearance and abilities that are above average humans.

The Kurkans have no shame and are openly hostile to anyone they don't like, the Kurkans will kidnap those they consider to be their partners. Either by force or not.

The Kurkans tribe, is a tribe with the blood of the beast. Animal blood. For some of the continent's inhabitants, the Kurkans are barbarians.

However, on some continents, the Kurkans are also used as slaves, either sexually or just as guards. But slaves are still slaves.

Ishakan is one of the slaves of the nobles, freed by a princess from the kingdom of Estia, Princess Leah Von Estia.

.

.

At night in a brothel, Leah walks in wearing a robe and wig to cover her real hair, which is white as the moon.

Walking slowly towards a man with an athletic body covered in a black robe.

"So you are my bed partner?" The voice that sounded quite rough, it can be seen that this is the voice of a noble lady.

Ishakan who saw the princess, could only grin and guide the princess into the room that had been prepared.

Closing the door, then with one push Ishakan pushed Leah against the wall, causing her wig to fall off, her face flushed red when she saw how handsome Ishakan was.

"Why would a princess go to this dirty side of town?" Grinning slightly at Leah, with a voice that sounded seductive, Ishakan asked.

Leah gave explanation after explanation to Ishakan. Leah had no hope of living anymore, with the fact that her family sold her to a nobleman who was as old as her father, Leah could not accept her virginity being given to that nobleman!

Chastity is the highest honor in the kingdom of Estia, because it concerns the dignity and self-esteem of the family, especially a royal family, so Leah has a mission before she gets married, she will embarrass her family by removing her chastity.

Ishakan looked at Leah with a difficult look, on the one hand he didn't want to take Leah's chastity, and on the other hand he also couldn't let his savior suffer, even though Ishakan was sure Leah didn't remember him, because the incident was so long ago.

.

. .

Morning finally, the experts took Leah's purity, Ishakan negotiated with Leah, he would help Leah, although at first Leah really didn't trust Ishakan especially when she found out Ishakan was a kukrans!, a barbarian with animal blood.

A delegation took place between the Estia kingdom and the Kurkan kingdom, where this delegation included peace and an end to war as well as looting and slavery.

.

.

It has been about 3 months since Ishakan has worked as a Kurkan king, the case of the gyipsey that sold drug and sorcery and the case of the attempted release of the Estia queen who turned out to be a dark witch or as the sorceress

And it has been 3 months since he last saw his wild rabbit, you.

Ishakan still remembers the taste and smell of you and your blood. So much that Ishakan is looking for and exploring about your blood, a blood that can heal wounds!

The Antrabeth tribe, Ishakan only knows as a mythical tribe that is said to be a tribe that fights nature because their blood can heal every kind of wound and disease, as well as long life, a tribe that is loved by nature.

However, all of his efforts to find traces of the Antrabeth tribe were in vain, once the world was shocked by the appearance of soldiers carrying blood and a head with blue hair, the Antrabeth tribe became extinct.

The witches, kings and nobles, tried to drink the blood of the Antrabeth tribe, instead of getting long life and healing from the illnesses they experienced, they actually experienced very terrible conditions!

Their skin blistered with bumps all over their bodies that moved, until a nature witch discovered that the blood of the Antrabeth tribe would not work.

if the owner of the blood does not give consent to the blood that is drunk. Those who drink, take and kill the Antabeth tribe, the child of nature by force, they will experience the curse of 1001 nights, a curse where they will not die but also not live.

.

.

Closing the book entitled History of the Child of Nature, Antrabeth.

Ishakan sighed, grinning slightly, something inside him screamed very loudly since he met you, his animal instinct, the kurkans instinct.

If the Antrabeth tribe is extinct, then you are the only one left, Ishakan can't help but claim you, make you his mate!

'Tok'

'Tok'

'Tok'

Genin, Ishakan's aide who doubles as his right hand, entered the room while carrying several rolls of old parchment.

"Your Majesty, here are some carefully selected candidates for the kurkans queen."

Genin handed the scroll to Ishakan.

Ishakan just nodded and opened the scroll, several names of princesses and noble ladies were visible, one of them was Princess Leah Von Estia.

"Take it away, I have found my mate" with his deep voice Ishakan said while grinning.

Ishakan stood up slowly then looked at the genin and said.

"Prepare my horse, I will pick up my wild rabbit" laughed softly as he left his king's room.

Leaving the Genin who stared at Ishakan with goosebumps, every time Ishakan laughed there were only 2 conditions, 1 Ishakan was in a bad mood where usually Ishakan would return to the palace in a state of blood from his victims, and the second condition Ishakan was in a good mood, where every object of his pleasure would definitely end between happiness or... death.

Genin, who never believed in the god of the kurkans in her entire life, prayed to the old gods for the poor creature who managed to catch the attention of Ishakan, the strongest king of the kurkans in the history of the previous kings of the kurkans.

.

.

.

Ishakan with his stallion as dark as night moved almost more than 5 hours to the place where his wild rabbits were. Normally if he rode a horse he would need 12 days to get here, but because of his animal instincts which also led to his horse, what was originally 12 days, became 5 hours, strange but it's the kurkans we're talking about.

Ishakan with his sharp memory and navigation from your scent, of course he could easily find the forest where you live.

The same forest where Ishakan was injured and resting.

Looking around the forest, Ishakan with his golden eyes like an animal shone brightly as soon as he found the forest he was looking for in front of his eyes, Ishakan could feel the circulation of illusion magic around this forest.

Smirking softly, Ishakan then got off his horse, walking slowly but full of unstoppable enthusiasm, Ishakan entered the dark forest, as soon as Ishakan entered a thick fog covered the forest.

.

.

You, are helping Esmera make gingerbread cookies, and various other cookies.

You are currently not in the disguise of the 1 drop potion for your hair and eyes.

Esmera saw you who was right across the kitchen table could only stare in awe. Your bright blue hair shone brightly at night caused by the reflection of the moonlight, which was as bright and blue as the sky or aquamarine crystal.

But it wasn't just your hair that fascinated her, but your eyes were also very enchanting, as if your eyes were sky stars, a mixture of purple, blue, yellow and gray and there were small white spots around your eyes, like beautiful sky stars.

Sighing softly, Esmera continued to mold gingerbread cookies, while asking you who looked so enthusiastic about decorating gingerbread cookies.

"So excited, huh? Have you never baked before?"

You who were so excited decorating the gingerbread that now looked like a person but in a small and bald version, looked at Esmera and shook your head slowly.

"My family doesn't have much money, so every week we can only bake bread that lasts for at least 1 week.".

In Esmera's eyes you are like a very small, cute and weak kitten! A kitten that needs to be protected and kept safe from the cruelty of this world.

Before Esmera could speak again, the door of the hut was forcibly broken down by someone who broke in!

Esmera was as fast as lightning even though Esmera was old, Esmera was still a nature witch. Esmera placed you behind her, with a silver dagger in her hand.

Esmera's heart screamed in panic!, how could she not feel the ringing of her illusion magic when someone entered the forest?!. There were only 2 answers, one could be that this person had a low life force so that her illusion magic considered something harmless, and the second was a kurkans, kurkans are strong, more stronger the kurkans, more useless a magic is!, but how could kurkans be here? The desert oasis of the kurkans tribe takes at least 12 days to get here

Both you and Esmera look in horror at the entrance to the kitchen.

The sound of heavy footsteps can be heard getting closer to the kitchen.

You of course hold a kitchen knife in your hand.

.

.

Ishakan walks through each forest carefully, until he stops and sits sweetly on a tree trunk, looking towards the hut, Ishakan can see an open window, looking around the room, it must be the kitchen.

Grinning softly until he sees you taking a tray of cookies, your hair that he thought was brown, turns out to be as blue as the sky?!, oh by the old gods of the kurkans, Ishakan wants to come to you, claim you as his!.

You are so beautiful, so fragile and weak, so perfect for him!, his life partner!, his mate!.

With one kick, Ishakan came down from the towering tree, walking towards the door of his wild rabbit hut.

With one kick, Ishakan entered the house whose door had now been destroyed and fell to the floor miserably due to his powerful kick.

Walking slowly until he entered the kitchen, looking towards the corner of the room, where Ishakan was sure the old woman in front of you was a natural witch, because only natural witches used bone necklaces.

.

.

Esmera stared in horror at the figure not far in front of her, tall, with a black leather robe, and a long-handled sword, and a smell that reflected an animal, kurkans!

With a sharp voice full of alert Esmera asked.

"Who are you?!, what do you want from our little hut?!"

Instead of an answer, a laugh! That deep and rich voice was what laughed at them.

You who were behind Esmera were increasingly panicking in your heart, afraid and thinking that this person was an enemy soldier who was still looking for you!!

"Calm down woman, I'm only here to take what is mine, my mate"

That deep voice that sounded very arrogant... have you heard it before! That exotic skinned foreign man with golden eyes like an animal?!.

"You?!"

Loudly and pointing a knife at the figure you pointed at him with full courage.

Esmera looked at you confused, wondering if you knew this figure.

Ishakan he laughed, seeing you in the corner of the room, very small like a rabbit or kitten that was growling at him, oh.. his partner was so cute and fragile. So soft and weak, really in need of protection.

Ishakan gently opened the hood of his robe, revealing his handsome face, decorated with a wide grin showing a row of neat and clean teeth and some of his fangs.

"You remember me right? I came here to take what is mine"

Esmera, she immediately knew what this figure meant!

"Listen Kurkans! You can't take her as your mate! This child is mine, I found her first!"

Emsera ran while carrying a silver dagger in her hand towards this stranger.

But what Esmera fought was a kurkans, of course Emsera was immediately defeated with just one flick of the sword handle that Ishakan didn't even open!

Esmera fell unconscious on the floor.

You who saw Esmera, the figure of the witch and your savior was already on the floor, in a state of fainting caused by the stranger you saved.

You froze stiffly, not realizing that the stranger you saved was already in front of you!

Your chin was raised, your galaxy eyes met the eyes with the golden irises of the animal.

The stranger spoke in his deep voice.

"Don't we know each other, my wild rabbit?"

Chuckling softly while stroking your face and your bright blue hair, a stark contrast to his brown hair, so smooth like silk.

The man brought his mouth close to your ear, whispering in his deep voice.

"I am Ishakan, Ishakan Kurkans, Your life partner. Your mate."

You stared at this man named Ishakan in horror as he stared at you with eyes full of love, passion and animalism.

His grin was the last thing you saw before darkness descended upon you.

.

.

.

*Source Image : Pinterest

©️Nymphea0 2024 ,OG story, Project Dark Manhwa Character Series.

Tag list; @snowflakes666 @nerdygoateepeanut @blurryperrtymoonlight @luminethebest @scenicelixir @n4muqr @cannyyyyy @athena-roy @sirenetheblogger

Please dont steal my work, or use without my permissions, Always be good people Dear. Much love, Neva🦋🦋.

[visenyaism]

jaehaerys administration dashboard simulator

🫧maidenpooled Follow

listen i know all kingsguard are bastards but jonquil darke put a cigarette out on me. i think i huave shivers

♟️redwhine

ok bootlicker. you know what she did

🫧maidenpooled Follow

boots not the only thing id lick

🌸queencrowned Follow

this could literally be me and my brother if it weren't for my bitch mom trying to send me to the other side of the fucking continent

🍒saerious

GIRL STAND UP

🤎bowlofbrown

doctrine of exceptionalism meatriders when someone asks them why 75% of dragonstone is blonde and me and half of flea bottom have gleaming amethyst eyes and/or beautiful delicate cheekbones

🥀maegorwife Follow

that's different...targaryens are literally divinely ordained by the seven to rule because they're stronger and better than us...that's why they have the dragons it is in their sanctified valyrian blood

🩸knifeinthedark

SO TRUE...THEY WANT TO ABOLISH THE RIGHT TO FIRST NIGHT BECAUSE OF WOKE. AND YET THEY STILL DO IT. BUT NO ONE CAN SAY ANYTHING ANYMORE OR THOSE GENDER-NEUTRAL DRAGONS WILL BURN YOUR KEEP DOWN

🤎bowlofbrown

cannot stand this fucking website. spending my last silver stag on tyroshi blue hair dye im not going to be associated with you people.

🍒saerious

oh so when maegor has seven wives he’s “aegon’s true son” and “cool” but when i have three boyfriends suddenly im a “whore”

🫀lustywench Follow

op i support you but they did call him “the cruel” for that it was a very important part of the story that he was in fact maegor “the cruel”

🌟sevenpointedstar

🌗maidensgrace

doing all of this with a FAITH OF THE SEVEN URL...girl you better pick a hell and start hoping

#bring back the faith militant

❄️theythemderly

hey isn’t it weird that so many of the king’s children have suddenly and mysteriously died lately. under the care of the maesters. what if they’re planning something…,

🕯️glasscandled

ugh i wish🙄 speed that shit up fr

🥵ullerscorpion

likes charge reblog cast

😈themarcherrrrrr-deactivated5699

me when im in a being dead combination and my opponents are jaehaerys' whole army of childraeyn of the corn

🙌fleabottomtop

yoooooooo theyre quarrelling again.

🙌fleabottomtop

alysanne targaryen if you're reading this i could change your life just give me one chance let me hit

🙌fleabottomtop

there are gold cloaks outside of my house

⚔️errantmaid Follow

kingsguard dick is good as fuck when you don't have a motherfucker in your ear saying it violates a sacred vow made in the eyes of the king and the seven😜

⚔️errantmaid Follow

the king chopped it off and sent him to the wall i fucking hate this place can't have SHIT in king's landing

🏵️floriansjonquil

hey has anyone seen princess gael. it's been literal months and she seems to have up and disappeared with no official announcement from the palace? would be the third female relative to go missing in the king's custody after aerea and saera....

🐝beeeeeeeeeeeeesbury Follow

damn that's crazy. im sure shes fine though anyways i'm a big fan of this new road the king built theres a lot of nice new roads does anyone else like the roads

🐦‍⬛cloakedinfeathers Follow

day 18262 of not fighting the brackens. this is boring as fuckkkkk what am i supposed to do. pretend to care about the triarchy?

🐎brackennation

kill yourself

🐦‍⬛cloakedinfeathers Follow

192.158.1.38. doxxed. get your dumbfuck horse breeder knights ready because our strongest and noblest raven warriors are on the way to your nasty ass keep right now bitch

[its-avalon-08]

Hi, could you write a Carlos x reader story where the reader is an actress and she’s promoting her latest film with her co-stars? There are a lot of rumors that her two main co-stars are very close to her, especially the lead actor, and they even went to an award ceremony and walked the red carpet together because Carlos couldn’t attend at the time. Carlos has a hard time dealing with the rumors, but the reader reassures him. However, during a viral interview, the reader’s co-star admits to having had a major crush on her and says he thinks she’s the most beautiful actress in the film. Carlos goes crazy, as does the internet, and he decides to accompany her to the Venice Film Festival to silence the rumors and show the guy that he’s the reader’s boyfriend.

{ i loved this one so much }

love bites and interviews (cs55)

✦ pairing - carlos sainz x female!reader

✦ genre - angst, arguments, inappropriate comments, comfort

Carlos Sainz had never been the type to wear his heart on his sleeve. At least, not until Y/N came into his life.

She had this effortless way of bringing out his softer side, pulling out the parts of him that even he didn’t know existed. It was as if everything clicked the moment he met her. The busy life of a Formula 1 driver, filled with races, media obligations, and constant travel, felt more grounded whenever she was around.

It wasn’t just that Y/N was stunning, though she certainly was. It was the way she made him feel. When he’d come home after a grueling race weekend, tired and worn, she was always there, waiting with a warm smile and open arms.

Carlos could still remember the first time they realized what they had was something different, something extraordinary. They’d been dating for about six months, her rising star in the film industry clashing with his career’s demands. But no matter how hectic things got, they always made time for each other.

"Come here," he whispered, pulling her closer to him on their couch one night after a particularly long day. They didn’t need to say much; words weren’t necessary when they were together. The way she curled up against him, her fingers tracing absentminded patterns on his chest, was enough.

"I missed you," she said softly, her voice barely above a whisper, as if confessing something profound.

"I’m right here," Carlos replied, his hand running through her hair. "I’m always here."

And that’s what they were—each other’s constants. They laughed, teased, and supported one another through everything. He would be on the track, pushing the limits of his car, and Y/N would send him little messages of encouragement just before his qualifying lap. She understood him in a way no one else could, and Carlos, in return, was her biggest fan, always there at her premieres, on the red carpet, or watching from the sidelines with pride glowing in his eyes.

Y/N loved how Carlos was both her biggest cheerleader and her calm in the storm. When the pressures of her own career weighed on her, she knew he’d be there, offering a sense of security she had never experienced before.

"Don’t worry, cariño," he’d say, pressing a soft kiss on her forehead whenever she was feeling overwhelmed. "We’ve got this. You’re not alone."

Their relationship wasn’t without challenges—between her film sets and his races, they were often separated by continents. But they never let it come between them. Instead, they embraced the distance, always making time for each other. Late-night phone calls, quick weekend visits, and thoughtful surprises were part of their routine. It was a love that thrived despite the odds.

"How did we get so lucky?" Y/N asked one evening as they sat by the fire, her legs draped over his lap, a content smile playing on her lips.

Carlos looked at her, his eyes softening in that way they always did when he was around her. "I don’t know. But I’m not letting it go."

And he meant it. He loved her fiercely, with all the passion and loyalty he poured into everything else in his life. Carlos Sainz might be known as a skilled racer to the world, but to Y/N, he was her best friend, her biggest fan, and the man she wanted by her side for the long run.

"Te quiero," she whispered, nuzzling closer.

Carlos smiled, pulling her even tighter against him. "Te quiero más."

There was no place he'd rather be than right there with her, no race more important than the one they were running together—building a life full of love, trust, and the kind of partnership people only dreamed of.

time skip

Carlos sat on the edge of his hotel bed, his helmet lying discarded on the floor. It had been a long day of practice laps and debriefs, and all he wanted to do was check in on Y/N. She was promoting her latest film tonight—one of her biggest projects yet. He had seen her glowing face on the live stream just before he hopped in the car for his final practice session, and she had looked stunning.

But now, scrolling through his phone, Carlos’s jaw tightened. The comments on her latest red-carpet appearance had shifted from admiration to something darker. Rumors.

"Y/N and Liam are so close! They should totally date." "Did you see the way he looked at her? Definitely more than co-stars." "Where’s Carlos? Trouble in paradise?" "Carlos didn’t show up. Maybe she’s better off with someone who can make time for her." "Look at Liam and Y/N—perfect red-carpet couple."

Carlos’s stomach twisted as he read through the comments. His fingers hovered over his phone, scrolling past photo after photo of Y/N, dazzling in her gown, standing next to Liam, her handsome co-star. The two of them looked great together, but the press seemed to think too great.

He shook his head, rubbing a hand over his face as he switched to Twitter. It wasn’t any better. In fact, it was worse.

#YNLiam trending. "It’s like they’re already a couple! Where’s Carlos???" "Y/N looks happier with Liam than she ever did with Carlos. Just saying." "Carlos who? Liam’s the real leading man."

Carlos’s eyes narrowed as he read the flood of tweets. He tried to remind himself that it was all just noise—fans making drama where there wasn’t any—but it hit him harder than he expected.

"Where’s Carlos?" He could almost hear them taunting. He hated that he hadn’t been able to be there. He should have been the one standing next to her, not Liam. But racing came first, and the schedules had clashed. That’s how it was in their relationship sometimes.

Still, seeing people speculate—no, assume—that he wasn’t there for her, that Liam was somehow taking his place, it made his blood boil.

The door to the room clicked open, and Carlos quickly turned off his phone as Lando Norris walked in, slinging his backpack on the chair.

"You alright, mate?" Lando asked, glancing at Carlos’s tense expression.

Carlos tried to shake it off, but his frustration bled into his voice. "Have you seen the posts? About Y/N and her co-star?"

Lando raised his eyebrows, pulling out his phone. "No, but… I’m guessing it’s not good?"

Carlos let out a bitter laugh. "Not at all. People think… They’re acting like she’s with him, like he’s taking my place just because I couldn’t be there."

Lando frowned as he started scrolling. "Ah, I see what you mean. Man, the internet is a crazy place. You know it’s all just nonsense, right?"

Carlos nodded but didn’t say anything. He knew Lando was right—fans made up stories all the time. But this felt different. Seeing Liam next to her, the way people talked about them like they were some perfect red-carpet couple, it gnawed at him.

"It’s not the first time, you know?" Carlos muttered. "They’ve been like this since filming started. Always hinting that there’s something more between them. But this… It’s everywhere now. And I’m stuck here, in a completely different country, doing laps while they’re making up stories about my girlfriend with someone else."

Lando leaned against the wall, arms crossed. "Mate, it’s just rumors. She’s your girl. She wouldn’t give them a second thought."

"I know," Carlos said, though his voice lacked conviction. "But the fact that people even think it’s a possibility… I hate it. I hate that I’m not there to shut it down."

Lando nodded, understanding the frustration in his friend’s voice. "Look, Y/N is your girlfriend. She’s with you for a reason, and everyone else? They’re just looking for drama. You’ll see her soon, and it’ll blow over."

Carlos didn’t answer. He glanced at his phone again, his eyes narrowing at one particularly snide tweet: "Carlos better be careful, or Liam’s gonna steal his girl."

Shutting off his phone with a sigh, Carlos leaned back against the bed. "I just want this to stop, Lando. I don’t like people questioning what we have."

"You’re the only one questioning it," Lando pointed out. "Y/N isn’t."

Carlos stared up at the ceiling, knowing Lando was right but still feeling the weight of everything press down on him. The race, the distance, the rumors—it was a lot to handle.

He just hoped Y/N knew that, no matter what anyone else said, he wasn’t going anywhere.

time skip

Y/N had just wrapped up another full day of press junkets, her phone buzzing in her hand as she walked into their apartment, exhausted but eager to see Carlos. She immediately spotted him in the living room, scrolling through his phone, his jaw set tight.

"Hey," she greeted with a soft smile, kicking off her heels as she walked over to him. "Long day?"

Carlos barely glanced up, his eyes glued to the screen. "Yeah," he muttered, but something was clearly bothering him.

Y/N sat down beside him, tucking her legs under her as she gently placed a hand on his arm. "Carlos, what's wrong? You’ve been distant all day."

Carlos finally looked at her, his brow furrowed. He hesitated before handing her his phone. The screen was paused on a viral clip—Liam, her co-star, sitting in a live interview, grinning like he just revealed something monumental. The headline underneath it read: Liam Opens Up About His Massive Crush on Y/N.

Y/N's heart sank. "What is this?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper as she clicked play.

On the screen, Liam laughed, clearly enjoying the attention. "Yeah, I’ve had a huge crush on her from the moment I met her. I mean, who wouldn’t? She’s not only talented, but the most beautiful actress I’ve worked with."

The interviewer’s eyes widened in surprise, clearly eating it up. "Wow, so are we saying there was some real chemistry on set?"

Liam winked. "Let’s just say… it wasn’t all acting."

Y/N’s eyes widened in shock, her stomach flipping as she watched. What the hell was he thinking? This was inappropriate—totally unprofessional. She couldn’t believe he’d said that, let alone in a live interview.

Carlos’s voice cut through the silence. "He thinks it’s funny," he said, his tone edged with frustration. "He thinks he can just say that, and people will laugh it off, like it’s a joke."

Y/N immediately placed the phone down, turning to him. "Carlos, I had no idea he was going to say that. I swear, I’m as shocked as you are."

Carlos ran a hand through his hair, clearly agitated. "This is exactly what I was worried about, Y/N. People already think there’s something going on, and now he’s feeding into it. That crush comment? It’s not a harmless joke—it’s fueling the rumors."

Y/N could see how upset he was, and it broke her heart. She grabbed his hand, pulling him closer. "Carlos, I’ve told you before—there is nothing going on between me and Liam. I don’t know why he said that, and I don’t find it funny. At all. It’s inappropriate, and I’m going to have a word with him about it."

Carlos shook his head, leaning forward, elbows on his knees. "It’s not just about what he said, Y/N. It’s about the fact that he’s doing this publicly. He knows we’re together. He knows how this looks, especially after everything the press has been saying."

Y/N sighed, knowing he was right. Liam had crossed a line. "I’m going to fix this," she said softly. "You know how much I love you. None of this means anything to me. Liam is my co-star, nothing more, and I’ll make that clear to him."

Carlos glanced over at her, his eyes dark with frustration. "I don’t doubt that, but the world doesn’t know that, Y/N. And I don’t like how comfortable he feels saying those things. It’s disrespectful—not just to me, but to you."

Y/N nodded, feeling the weight of his words. "You’re right. It’s not okay, and I’ll handle it. But please, don’t let this come between us. We’re stronger than some stupid comments Liam made on TV."

Carlos exhaled sharply, his eyes softening as he reached for her hand. "It’s not about us, cariño. I trust you, I really do. But this… it’s just hard to ignore when everyone else is making it into a bigger deal."

Y/N moved closer, wrapping her arms around him, pulling him into a tight embrace. "I hate that you’re feeling like this," she whispered. "But you’re the only one I want, Carlos. Always."

He leaned into her, his arms wrapping around her waist. "I know," he murmured into her hair. "I just don’t like seeing people act like we’re not solid."

Y/N pulled back slightly, cupping his face in her hands. "We are solid. Don’t let some stupid interview change that." She leaned in, pressing her lips softly against his, and for a moment, Carlos melted into the kiss, all the tension draining from his body.

But as they pulled apart, Y/N’s eyes hardened with determination. "I’m going to fix this, Carlos. I’ll talk to Liam, and I’ll make it very clear that this kind of behavior isn’t okay. No more rumors, no more inappropriate comments. Just us, like it’s always been."

Carlos sighed, his forehead resting against hers. "Thank you," he whispered. "I just need this to stop."

"It will," Y/N promised. "I’m on your side, always."

time skip and location change to - venice film festival

The Venice Film Festival buzzed with excitement, the flashing cameras and a sea of glamorous stars lining the red carpet. Y/N walked confidently alongside Carlos, who, for once, was right by her side at a major event. Fans had been waiting for their appearance together, and the internet was already on fire with the pictures flooding in.

But what really had people talking was the little love bite just peeking out from the collar of Y/N’s elegant gown. It wasn’t obvious, but anyone paying close attention—and the fans always did—could see the faint mark on her neck, and they definitely noticed Carlos’s proud, smug smile every time the cameras clicked.

As they made their way down the red carpet, hand-in-hand, the fans went wild, chanting their names, and Twitter exploded with hashtags like #CarlosandYNGoals and #CoupleOfTheYear. Carlos had kept her close all night, making it clear to everyone, especially to those starting rumors, that Y/N was his, and he wasn’t going anywhere.

"Smile, cariño," Carlos whispered into her ear as they posed for yet another set of photos. "The whole world’s watching."

Y/N grinned, turning her head slightly, showing off the faint love bite more boldly than before. "I think they already got the message," she whispered back, giggling at the cheekiness of it all.

Carlos chuckled, his hand gently squeezing her waist. "Let’s make sure they don’t forget."

But amidst the excitement, Y/N had another matter to attend to. As they reached the entrance of the festival, she spotted Liam with the rest of the cast, standing just inside the grand hall. Her expression hardened slightly, and she felt Carlos tense beside her when he saw him too.

"I’ll handle it," she murmured, giving Carlos a reassuring glance before slipping away from his side. He nodded, though his eyes stayed locked on Liam, clearly displeased.

Y/N approached Liam with calm determination. He turned to her, smiling, clearly unaware of the storm he had created. "Y/N! You look amazing tonight."

"Thanks, Liam," she replied, her voice cool. "We need to talk."

Liam blinked, surprised by her tone. "About what?"

"About the interview," Y/N said, crossing her arms. "The one where you said you had a crush on me and implied that we had ‘chemistry’ off-screen."

Liam shifted uncomfortably, rubbing the back of his neck. "Oh, that… I didn’t think it was a big deal. It was just a joke, Y/N. You know how the press is—they eat that stuff up."

"It wasn’t a joke to me," Y/N said firmly. "Or to Carlos. Do you have any idea what kind of rumors you started? People think there’s something going on between us. You made it worse."

Liam frowned, clearly taken aback. "I didn’t mean to—"

"But you did," Y/N cut him off. "And it’s disrespectful, not just to me, but to my relationship. Carlos is my boyfriend, and what you said crossed a line. We’re here to promote a film, not feed gossip. I need you to stop."

Liam’s face flushed, and he looked away, clearly uncomfortable now. "I… I’m sorry, Y/N. I didn’t realize it would blow up like this."

"Well, it did," Y/N said, her tone softening slightly. "I need you to be professional from here on out, Liam. No more comments like that, okay?"

Liam nodded, looking genuinely apologetic now. "Okay. I get it. I’m really sorry, Y/N."

"Good," Y/N said, glancing back at Carlos, who was watching them like a hawk from across the room. "Because you’re about to get another conversation, and it won’t be as nice as mine."

Liam followed her gaze, his eyes widening when he saw Carlos approaching. "Oh, crap."

Carlos strode over, his usual easygoing demeanor replaced by something much more intense. Y/N could feel the tension radiating off him as he approached. She gave him a small nod, signaling that she had said her piece, but Carlos clearly had something to add.

"Carlos, man," Liam started, already sounding nervous. "I—"

Carlos didn’t let him finish. "You thought that was funny? Saying you had a crush on my girlfriend on live TV?" His voice was low, controlled, but there was an edge to it that made Liam visibly shrink back.

"It wasn’t like that, I swear," Liam stammered, trying to backpedal. "It was just—"

"Just what?" Carlos took a step closer, towering over him now. "Just you feeding into rumors? Just you making her uncomfortable? You know we’re together, and you still did it. Not cool, man."

Y/N could see Liam growing more and more flustered under Carlos’s icy stare. "I already apologized to Y/N, Carlos," Liam said, his voice shaky. "I didn’t mean to disrespect you, honestly."

Carlos’s eyes narrowed. "You didn’t mean to? You should’ve thought about that before running your mouth. Don’t let it happen again. If you care about your career, keep things professional. I don’t want to hear anything like that from you ever again."

Liam nodded furiously, looking like he’d rather be anywhere else. "It won’t happen again, I promise."

Carlos gave him one last hard look before stepping back, his hand automatically reaching for Y/N’s again. "Good. See that it doesn’t."

As they walked away, Y/N squeezed his hand, a small smile playing on her lips. "You didn’t have to go that hard on him, you know."

Carlos smirked, his fingers brushing against the love bite on her neck as he leaned down to whisper in her ear. "I’m just making sure everyone knows you’re mine."

Y/N laughed, feeling the tension melt away now that it was all out in the open. "I think they got the message loud and clear, Sainz."

As they entered the grand hall, the cameras continued to flash, capturing their every move. Fans were already going wild on social media, uploading the pictures of them together, Carlos looking impossibly proud, Y/N smiling with that cheeky love bite on full display.

Twitter exploded with admiration:

“Carlos accompanying Y/N to the festival?? Power couple!” “Did you see the love bite?? Carlos is marking his territory 😂” “I need someone to look at me the way Carlos looks at Y/N. 🥺” “Carlos putting that co-star in his place? YES, KING.”

As they took their seats, Carlos leaned closer to her, his hand resting on her knee beneath the table. "I told you we’d shut this down, didn’t I?"

Y/N smiled, resting her head against his shoulder. "You did. And you were right. No more rumors. Just us."

Carlos pressed a kiss to her temple, his voice low and content. "Just us."

[writingtraumaforever]

SONIC 3 MOVIE REVIEW (SPOILER FREE ABOVE LINE, SPOILERS BELOW IT):

I am so mixed feeling’d about this movie right now. On one hand, I loved it. It had such a good telling of Sonic and Shadow’s dynamics and stories and how they view one another, and I loved that and will be elaborating more on this in the spoiler section. The changes they made from the video game were 50/50 to me. Some I get, others I just was really disappointed in. The action scenes are AMAZING. Battles are SICK, and I have admittedly been on the fence about Keanu voicing Shadow, but he won me over completely after watching the film.

Team Sonic’s dynamic is top tier in this movie. Knuckles, Sonic and Tails are the lights of my life, I love these brothers so much.

But if you are going into this film expecting a SHADOW movie???? You’re gonna be disappointed. This is, do not be mistaken, absolutely a Jim Carrey movie. This is a Robotnik movie 110%. Idk if they just couldn’t afford too many lines from Keanu or what, but Jim stole most the screen time. Which was hilarious and all, but it definitely stole from the deeper/darker story that was suppose to be at play. They went the insane/funny mad scientist route with Gerald rather than the vengeful and broken man he was, and this kinda falls flat and makes the whole thing feel less dangerous and life-threatening than it actually is.

I will say that what little we ARE given of Shadow is amazing. Thankfully us die-hard Shadow fans are use to picking up whatever scraps SEGA throws at us with this hedgehog and absolutely running with them. And in terms of that, we were given a MEAL. But Shadow’s story was definitely rushed rather than fleshed out. It’s like they gave us about 4 minutes of background for him and were like “Alright. That’s it. That’s him”. And then we just roll with it from then on. My hopes on the reason they did this is because we’ll perhaps get a Shadow the Hedgehog show or movie in the future where they elaborate on all this even more. But as for this movie??? Just be ready for a LOT of Robotnik.

I still think Gerald should’ve just been dead so Shadow could have more screen time instead of them cashing in on Jim Carrey. The movie as a whole was so unserious because of him.

That’s really my biggest letdown.

The whole plot felt VERY rushed. Like they were too worried about getting to the next action scene to really flesh out the story properly. Sadly this happens a lot when writers just ASSUME we know the story already so not all of it needs to be told when we just REALLY want all of it to be told. It’s also obvious they cut back on some plot points so it could stay kid friendly.

But don’t let this discourage you too much! Like I said, it really was a good movie. And it’s probably still up there as my fav simply because Shadow IS in it and Team Sonic’s moments save it for me. Not to mention Sonic and Shadow’s interactions, though few, are absolute perfection and capture them both so dang well like—

I will cherish those scenes forever. Sonadow fans have a FEAST with the scenes they were given, okay???

I give it a solid 7.5/10. Maybe 8 if they add more deleted scenes later or announce a Shadow show. :)))))

10/10 if you’re only there for Jim Carrey (whom I personally don’t care for).

Now for Spoilers:

Pros:

LIVE AND LEARN WAS USED AND WAS THE ABSOLUTE BEST.

The moon is successfully pissed on.

They very much did their best to make it apparent that Sonic and Shadow are the same but were simply given different fates and it’s SO GOOD BUT SO SAD. Like. Two sides to the same coin very much came across.

Them punching each other across continents was SICK.

Shadow pinning Sonic by his head was GAY.

Sonic pinning Shadow by his chest fur was GAY.

Sonic and Shadow’s talk on the moon is easily my favorite thing in the movie. Followed closely by their Super battle against each other and then their Super battle in space. I’ve recently written in my stories about how being super together creates this special bond between them, and these scenes 100% confirm/reinforce that!

Maria and Shadow scenes are PRECIOUS! Her playing guitar for him, him dragging her around the compound with her in skates, them watching the stars together- it was all beautiful!

I’m really glad they allowed a brief moment of clarity that Gerald did in fact love Shadow and care about him at one point because he’s literally the biggest butt the rest of the movie and just uses him.

StoneXRobotnik shippers will be both elated and heartbroken.

So many perfect Sonic and Tails and Knuckles bro moments omggggg their dynamic in this movie was so dang good I died. From Tails saving Sonic’s butt multiple times to Knuckles putting his angry and fiery disposition aside for his brother and handing over the master emerald— it was perfect. Knuckles is big lovable idiot energy, absolutely, but it’s not overdone. He’s serious when he needs to be and is SUCH an oldest brother. I loved his conflict with Sonic AND how he was the one who saved both Tails and Sonic at the end.

WADE IS THE GUARDIAN OF THE MASTER EMERALD.

Shadow being a feminist with his latinas.

“Vengeful guac.”

Shadow and Sonic fighting together in space and constantly checking in on the other! Shadow asking Sonic where he is and using chaos spear to absolutely annihilate every robot after Sonic ahsjdkglg boyfriends protecting each other vibes.

Tbh, the entire scene where Shadow and Sonic are fighting side by side gives such huge soulmate vibes like oh my god they were VERY MUCH CONNECTED.

Their banter is EVERYTHING.

Shadow quoting Maria “even when the star is gone, its light remains” and then looking at Sonic?! GAAY.

Tom and Maria both poking Sonic and Shadow in the chest and telling them who they are in their hearts and who they choose to be is what counts. THIS being what brings them together?? PERFECTION.

Despite my annoyance at the amount of Robotnik in the movie, Eggman’s sacrifice and message to Stone was very touching.

Tails and Stone are the dream team.

Knuckles is forever scared of ghosts.

Shadow going after Tom ONLY because he thought it was the General and then immediately regretting it and feeling guilty when he sees it’s not and then having to watch Sonic cry over his body while Shadow sees himself crying over Maria is PEAK. BROKE MY HEART.

Sonic revisiting his cave. Shadow HAS to find and live in that at some point.

THE DID THE POSE THEY DID THE POSE

“HOT TOPIC”.

AMY ROSE AMY ROSE AMY ROSE AND SHES SO PRETTY AND STRONG OMG SHES SO SICK I LOVE HER SO MUCH ALREADY it looks like they’re trying to make her appear older than she is in the games, so I’m pretty sure they’re gonna be putting her with Sonic at some point. Which is fine by me cus I ship Sonamy too and to me, movie Sonic would be the one of all the versions of Sonic to want to settle down with some girl one day. I mean. His whole story is LITERALLY based around him finally getting to settle somewhere and have a family instead of continuing to run. Makes sense.

METAL SONIC METAL SONIC METAL SONIC

SHADOW PICKING UP HIS INHIBITOR RING AT THE END

Cons:

Um. The words “Faker” and “Ultimate Lifeform” are not ONCE uttered in this movie, and to me?? That’s absolute slander. That alone brought this movie down a whole point in my 1-10 scale, okay??? Negative 5,000 aura. Disgusting. Maybe the Commander possibly mentioned him being the Ultimate Lifeform, but Shadow never did and that’s just WRONG. This is a whole plot point in the game and in their characters from then on in the franchise, and it’s just glossed over!

Maria isn’t sick. The ARK isn’t in space. She isn’t shot. It’s all kinda dull in comparison to the game, tbh. They’re definitely still after her and shooting to kill because the soldier says “we have our orders” when Walters tries to stop him, but he still don’t shoot her so like— again. Dimmed down.

No Prison Island scenes other than the beginning when Shadow breaks out. Which was. Super disappointing.

It’s all just so unserious. Especially the Robotniks.

Chaos are just Japanese mascots. Which is big sad for Cream and Cheese fans.

No creation of Shadow = no Biolizard

No “Sayonara, Shadow the Hedgehog”. They tried to reference this with a joke from Jim Carrey, but it fell flat imo.

Indifferent/Open to:

Shadow came from a meteor. He wasn’t created. While I hate Gerald didn’t inherently create him, I am also glad this leaves room for the Black Arms to become a thing. It’s also very possible GUN and Gerald were both just lying about this. Because it very meticulously did NOT show Shadow actually coming from the meteor in any scenes. It just showed the meteor crash site and how it had Shadow/Balck Arms coloring. So maybe Gerald still did experiment on a hedgehog and stuff and it’s just lied about because that’s like— not okay??? But also, I noticed it never showed any like. Major accident that would’ve caused GUN to suddenly invade like that?? They just suddenly decided Shadow was too powerful and they needed to kill everyone while in the games, there were multiple incidents where people were hurt or compromised by the artificial chaos experiments before GUN invaded. PLUS Towers had seen and reported Gerald making a deal with the devil (Black Doom). So like— why would GUN just suddenly decide to annihilate everyone in Project Shadow like that??? It would be one thing if they just decided to shut them down, but they were actively going in there to KILL! So like— I feel like we’re missing pieces and being mislead.

Rouge isn’t there. Which I GET because how/why would she be?? By the end of the movie, there’s definitely ways for more mobians to start appearing (Amy is a prime example). So it makes sense that Rouge isn’t there yet because it’s EARTH so how WOULD she be??? And Shadow using chaos control at the end could open ways to other worlds (like in Sonic X when Sonic went super the first time and more Mobians started arriving on earth). But there were SO MANY MOMENTS SHE WOULDVE BEEN PERFECT. So it’s a shame, but understandable. Plus, how could they have made room for Rouge when they barely had room for Shadow with all the JIM CARREY.

I’ll probably continue to add to this as I process this movie over the next few days.

[coraniaid]

Speaking of Faith, Hope & Trick: that first conversation between Buffy and Faith must be so different from Faith's point of view.

I mean, the episode itself is very much told from Buffy's perspective. She's only recently reclaimed her identity as "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer" and she just started to reconnect with her friends as of the end of last episode. Of course she feels challenged by Faith's arrival; of course she feels like Faith's deliberately trying to upstage her. Of course she feels Faith is trying to intrude on her life. She reacted much the same way when she met Kendra, and that was when she was a lot less keen on being "the Vampire Slayer" and much more comfortable with her place in Sunnydale. As she tells her mother later, she's "just getting her life back […] not looking to go halfsies on it".

But think about it from Faith's side. Even while she's lying about where her Watcher is, she admits that she came all the way from Boston looking to meet "the infamous" Buffy Summers. She presumably set up the earlier encounter with the vampire deliberately to try to lure Buffy out (she's the one to lead him outside and she only starts fighting him seriously once Buffy and the Scooby Gang have arrived looking for her). She must have picked out her never-to-be-seen-again outfit and practiced her slightly too casual introduction of "I've got it. You're, uh, Buffy, right?" (as if she came all the way to California to meet some girl whose name she didn't quite remember) well in advance. She's already calling her 'B' while the vamp's dust is still cooling. You think she hadn't planned that too?

And Faith is trying to so hard to connect with Buffy in this scene. Yes, she tells a lot of "tall tales" (as Scott Hope will later put it) -- she wants to seem impressive! she wants Buffy to view her as an equal! -- but she's also the only person in the group who keeps trying to get Buffy to share things. It's not her fault that the rest of the gang talk over Buffy's attempts to talk about her own past battles or that they undermine her attempts to tell equally impressive stories. It's not even really her fault that she ends up sharing things about being a Slayer that Buffy as obviously been trying to keep secret from her friends (I mean, it's her fault a little, sure, but I don't think it would even occur to Faith to be embarrassed by anything she says).

"Did you really use a rocket launcher one time?" Faith asks, having already heard the story from somewhere and so done her best to convince Buffy that she too has done equally cool things (she hasn't). "What was your toughest kill?" she asks, having fled most of the way across a continent to escape a vampire she couldn't kill herself. "Isn't it crazy how Slaying always makes you hungry and horny?" she asks and "You and I are gonna have fun," she promises. What can that mean but: don't you feel the same way I do? Aren't you just the same as me? Aren't you glad I'm here?

Yes, Faith is jealous of Buffy's friends and her Watcher and her Mom, right from the start, but she didn't arrive in town looking to meet them. She came looking for Buffy; and look at how quick she is to accept Scott's description of her as "Buffy's friend" the next day. But Buffy (very understandably, from her point of view, because of experiences Faith has no knowledge of) just keeps trying to shut her out. The harder Faith tries to impress her -- by trying to win over Buffy's friends, and her Watcher, and her possible boyfriend, and her Mom -- the more aloof the other Slayer seems to get.

No wonder Faith gets annoyed by the rejection. No wonder she starts to get angry. No wonder she's ready to start exchanging threats once they're alone on patrols and the vampires aren't even showing up the way they're supposed to. Like she'll complain later in the season: she came to Sunnydale, she slayed, she did the good little girl routine, and what did she get? Not Buffy, that's for sure.

[asunsetgrace16]

✧ 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗥𝗢𝗗𝗨𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦⎥ 𝗠𝗖71

Pairing: Macklin Celebrini x fem!reader

Warnings: one swear, little brothers being little brothers

Summary: Mack meets the parents.

Notes: Requested by luvzty

masterlist⎥ navigation

Word Count: 1k

For the first time, Macklin is joining Y/N’s family for dinner and meeting her family in person. Of course, they had talked over FaceTime, but it is a whole different ball game to meet the parents in person. His schedule with games and both of their class schedules, along with being on the opposite side of the continent, made it impossible for it to happen during the season. Now, with both school and hockey over, Y/N and Macklin flew home for the summer. They drove through Vancouver, out into the suburbs. The sun began its descent as they drove east. Y/N flipped the radio to a classic rock station, minimal conversation being made. As they neared her parent’s house, Mack blew out a breath, his knee bouncing nervously. His hand flexed on the wheel, a nervous tick. Y/N noticed, reaching over the console and resting her hand on his knee. Her thumb rubs soothingly over the fabric of his jeans. 

“Why are you so nervous, baby? They’ve always liked you.” Y/N asks softly, keeping her eyes trained on Macklin’s face. 

“I know, but what if it’s different now? Besides, I think it’s tradition to be nervous before meeting your girlfriend’s parents.” He says and looks over at her briefly. The joke makes them both smile a little. 

“I guess there’s that. But don’t worry, dad will talk your ear off the whole night if my brothers don’t get to you first.”

“A welcome distraction. I’m not sure who I’m scared of more, your dad or your brothers.”

“Preteens are remarkably harsh.”

“And brutally honest. RJ has more of an attitude than the three actual teenagers in our house combined.”

Y/N laughs, shaking her head and says, “It’s always the youngest ones.”

She has many times been a witness to the youngest Celebrini’s antics, hilarious, annoying, and exasperating in equal measure. She turns as much as her seat will allow, content to gaze adoringly at Macklin, a soft smile on her face all the while. Macklin moves to turn up the radio, and before long, they are singing along to Bon Jovi at the top of their lungs. The rest of the drive passes quickly, with each of them taking turns doing karaoke to whatever song plays next. As they pull into her parents’ driveway, Macklin is nervous again. He wipes his palms on hsi jeans, closing his eyes for a second. 

“It’ll be ok. Just be you.” Y/N says encouragingly, “C’mon, they’re probably waiting.”

They climb out of the car, and Mack immediately grasps Y/N’s hand, interlocking their fingers. They mounted the porch steps and just as Y/N reached for the handle, the door flew open to reveal her parents. A flurry of activity had Mack and Y/N in the house, passed between parents for hugs and ‘nice to meet you’ handshakes.

“It’s wonderful to meet you, Mrs. Y/L/N. I just wish it could have happened sooner.” Macklin says, going to shake her mom’s hand. She goes for the hug instead. 

“Just Anna, Macklin, Mrs. Y/L/N is my mother in law. And technically we have already met.” Y/N’s mom says warmly, smiling at him.

Y/N’s dad is less warm, opting for a firm handshake that Mack returns no problem.

“Nice to meet you, sir.” 

“Brian. Not ‘sir’. It makes me feel old. I’ve heard a lot about you.” He tells Macklin. 

“Good things, I hope.”

“Oh yes, as Y/N called it, ‘a grade-A teenager level crush’ which tells me all I need to know.” Her dad winks, and Y/N covers her face with her hands and groans.

“Dad, don’t embarrass me.” She pleads.

“What, it’s my job to embarrass you. I get the feeling that Macklin here isn’t going to run for the hills when he hears an embarrassing story,” He and Macklin share a grin while Anna rolls her eyes and heads to the kitchen, “besides, who knows what stories your brothers will spin and share at dinner.”

Y/N just groans, following her mom out of the living room. The group settles in the kitchen while dinner finishes cooking.

“It smells amazing, Mom. What are you making?” Y/N asks.

“Beef stroganoff and broccoli salad.” Anna answers, sliding the salad bowl and dressing over to Y/N. 

A thunder on the stairs announces the arrival of Y/N’s younger brothers, 13 year old Chase and 10 year old Reese. Y/N introduces them to Macklin, both of them pulling a disgusted face at the words ‘boyfriend’ and ‘don’t embarrass me’. Chase pretends to puke. Before long, they whisked Macklin away to shoot pucks outside. Y/N’s dad laughs as she watches the three of them out the window, her mom smacks him with a towel. The boys are called inside to wash up. Dinner passes quickly, with the conversation of school life, the hockey season, and how Macklin and Y/N met, punctuated periodically by her brothers grilling Macklin about the NHL players he knows. 

Y/N and Macklin help clean up before heading on their way. Copious amounts of leftovers are sent with them. Her brothers give her a quick hug, Reese holding on for a second longer. Reese even awkwardly side-hugs Macklin, who simply smiles, while Chase goes for the grown-up handshake. They finish saying their good-byes, hard to do when Brian likes to talk as much as he does, and head back into the city. 

“I’d call that a success.” Y/N comments. It’s dark out now, but the stars can’t quite be seen. 

“I think so. I had a good time. Your dad really likes to talk.”

“I’m glad, and I told you he would. I lived in that house for seventeen years. Mom’s been pestering me since we got back that we need to come for dinner.”

Macklin hums in acknowledgement, “Your brothers are hilarious, by the way.” 

“Oh yeah? What did they tell you about me?”

“Oh nothing important.”

Y/N can hear the quiver in his voice. He’s trying not to laugh, the fucker. She tips her head back and sighs, eyes closed. Macklin rolls his lips together to fight off a smile, hand flexing on the steering wheel.

“You’re never going to tell me, are you?” 

“Nope.”

[bloodcursecycle-if]

When a person commits a rather horrendous act against others, a karmic-like phenomenon called a Blood Curse is placed upon them and their bloodline. Terrible events occur every generation until someone is able to right the wrong committed. Your twin sister was the most recent victim of the Curse, being poisoned at her own coronation celebration ball. Now it's up to you to figure out how to break this curse before it claims you as well.

The Blood Curse Cycle is a WIP and new interactive CYOA novel. The focus will mostly be on the plotline, characters, and relationships. It's inspired by many JRPGs/RPGs. It's being written in ChoiceScript. While it will have a more story-based focus, there will be stat-based mechanics as well.

This is the revamped version of my first interactive fiction project, Under the Eyes of Themis. The premise is similar, but a few changes have been made.

You play as the youngest member of the Grasslands' royal family. Your family suffers from something called a Blood Curse, a supernatural karmic-like phenomenon placed onto people and their bloodlines for committing horrendous crimes against others. Sufferers from the curse will experience tragedy after tragedy until the Curse is broken or the bloodline ceases to exist.

Your sister is the most recent victim of the curse, dying from poisoning at her coronation celebration ball. Deciding you would like to not die a tragic and/or painful death, you set out on a journey to figure out exactly what your family did and how to break the curse.

Note: Because this is still a WIP, some names of characters or places may change during development.

Genre: Fantasy Adventure, Romance, Mystery

Rating: 18+

Tracked Tag: #blood curse cycle

Status: On Hiatus

Demo || Romance Options || Side Characters || FAQ || Ask Guidelines || Tag Navigation || World Lore || Dev's Main Blog ||

Create and customize your main character. Select their gender, pronouns, appearance, and personality.

Explore the continent of Runnet and its 8 nations, each with different views, cultures, and hidden secrets.

Join and lead a group of other Blood Curse sufferers to find out how to break your curses.

Romance any of your 5 companions: the Prince from the Woodlands, the Knight from the Dustlands, the Scholar from the Palmlands, the Healer from the Fieldlands, or the Assassin from the Floelands.

Choose to help or hinder your companions in their own quests to break their Curses.

Discover leads, find clues, and dig deep to figure out why your bloodline was cursed and how to break it before time runs out.

Alceste Claudius d'Emeraude (he/him) - The Prince of the Woodlands Kingdom. Flirty and laid-back, he tends to not take anything too seriously... including his Curse.

Larisilla Cornaline (she/her) - The Knight from the Dustlands. Serious and blunt, it takes a bit for her to warm up to people. She is the most vocal about getting rid of her Curse.

Dionys Topaze (he/him) - The Scholar from the Palmlands. Kind and intelligent, his main area of study are Blood Curses, the types and how to break them. He is the closest to breaking his Curse.

Somnia Disthene (she/her) - The Healer from the Fieldlands. Shy and helpful, she specializes in treatments that neutralize a Curse's affects. Just don't ask about her Curse.

Enyo Perle (he/him) OR (she/her) - The Assassin from the Floelands. Loud and outgoing, they are eager to help out the group. Although, it's a bit strange that they've never brought up their Curse.

[dollypopup]

I can't stop thinking about Colin on his travels. Colin, alone, on a journey to 17 different cities, across several countries. Colin on his own.

Colin who writes letter after letter, to his family, to his friends, and barely gets a response back. How long before he understands that they didn't get lost in the mail? How long until he realizes that, just like when he was a boy, no one has the time for him? The space for him? How many letters unanswered before he lets it finally take root and fester in his mind?

He could have died on that tour.

Would they even notice? Would they see when the letters slow until they cease? Would they wonder why? His mum, surely (maybe, possibly, but she has enough on her hands, besides, and he's never been a concern, in need of her assistance, before), but anyone else? Anthony on his honeymoon, Eloise a stormcloud personified, Benedict taking on the familial responsibilities, Fran preparing for the marriage mart and in Bath, regardless. Daphne, his closest sister, a mum running her own estate.

Greg and Hyacinth who enjoy his stories, but are children.

Pen who ignores him. No explanation, no goodbye.

Colin who has no one in his corner. Colin who travels city to city, putting on personas. Will they like me? What about now? Colin who has hardly anything to read from the people he loves. Who do not think of him.

And yet he thinks of them. Brings them back gifts, writes his recollections for them until it hits him that, oh, they don't care. They don't care what he's doing, how he's doing. They didn't want to hear it before, when he was there with them, and they do not want to hear it now, either. Did they even open those envelopes? Did they see them come through the post, just as proof he's alive, and shrug off the contents? Did they look? Once, Colin sends an empty page. No one notices. Easier, then, to send just the outsides. People only ever care about the outsides. Pretty and prim in neat packages, uncaring of what lies beneath. Sea sick on the rocking boats, staring up at stars on the continent, Colin grows aware, but not bitter. Sad, but resigned.

He loves his family, he loves Pen, loves them to grace, loves them to it's okay. It was him, he determines. Too chatty, his letters too long, uninteresting, his passions dull or droll, or else, worse, he's displeased them in some way. Colin who takes refuge in stranger's arms and homes, who dreams and tries to sate his curiosity. Colin who pretends, because anyone, anyone but him would be received better, he's sure of it. Colin who must talk too much, surely, and with no one to listen. Colin who learns to hush.

Yes. Remarkable- as in, I have many remarks about it.

How many times did he go to excitedly write of what he did that week, and stopped himself, knowing it was a waste? How many times did he write and throw into the fire a letter asking Why don't you see me? Why don't you care?

If he didn't make it, how long would it take for anyone to notice? A month? Two? A year? Would they wave it off as his frivolity, denounce him as a flake and fume about the funds? Would they wonder where it was he had lost himself off at?

He cannot fall into that, so, he writes in his journal, instead. Of the ache of it, of how he longs for connection, for understanding, for someone to take him seriously. He keeps it with him, this log of his discontent, of his folly and felicity, of his pitfalls and pains.

If he didn't make it, would they realize all that's left of him is what he sent them, not even a body to bury? Did he look over the side of a bow of a boat and look at the churn of the ocean and think of how many bones it held? Did he tip his face to the sun? How many new scars did he earn? Who did he befriend?

Who did he become?

Somewhere along the line, Colin learned. He learned the real him wasn't wanted.

Somewhere along the line, somewhere between Patmos and Paris, Colin left Colin behind.

And, somewhere along the line, Colin laid face to face with loneliness in his bed, and it wrapped its arms around him.

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

Dirty Work 2

Warnings: this fic will include dark content such as bullying, familial discord/abuse, and possible untagged elements. My warnings are not exhaustive, enter at your own risk.

This is a dark!fic and explicit. 18+ only. Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Warnings have been given. DO NOT PROCEED if these matters upset you.

Summary: You start a new gig and find one of your clients to be hard to please.

Characters: Loki

Note: Let me know if you want more. Didn't get too much on Part 1 but I have ideas so...

As per usual, I humbly request your thoughts! Reblogs are always appreciated and welcomed, not only do I see them easier but it lets other people see my work. I will do my best to answer all I can. I’m trying to get better at keeping up so thanks everyone for staying with me.

Your feedback will help in this and future works (and WiPs, I haven’t forgotten those!)

I love you all immensely. Take care. 💖

Your third week begins in the same place. Before the iron gate, the code unlocking the green maze within. You’re still just as impressed as your first day there. To you, it’s like a fantasy. Entirely unattainable but it’s right there. You can look, but you can’t touch… not beyond cleaning.

You linger outside, not thinking. You admire the tall tulips and the hedge trimmed to resemble some landmark you can’t quite place. You could see a place like this in an Austenian film or perhaps something Victorian. You don’t have an eye for the difference.

You key in the code for the backdoor and continue on. You put covers on your shoes and grab a fresh set of gloves. You’re getting into a pattern, though each client differs slightly. You put your things away and bring your water bottle with you. You bought a cool strap that keeps it against your hip, a small splurge with your first paycheck. The rest went to bills.

As you start on your usual journey through the many rooms of the airy house, you wonder how its sole resident isn’t lonely. Or perhaps he is. He doesn’t seem the type to admit to it. You turn your thoughts back to your work. You try not to think of him, truly, you don’t know much of him.

You take a candlestick and polish it. You move on the small globe; an ivory orb on a silver axes, the outlines of the continent carved into the surface. As you put it back, you notice something. An item you can’t recall being there before. You reach for it but stop as you realise it’s a camera.

You retract your hand and move on to dust the shelf itself. Does he not trust you or was it there before? Of course, somewhere like this would need security. There was a story just the other day about a break-in, but that was closer to your father’s where those culprits dwell.

The second floor is always easier. It seems even less lived-in than below. All but the study and the main bedroom. You flit in and out, checking points off the list until you’re content. You can only hope he will be too.

As you descend, the epiphany tickles your brain. It’s the first shift he hasn’t appeared. It’s easy to assume he’s busy. You don’t expect him to hang around. As if he would supervise you. Besides, that’s probably what the cameras are for.

You pack up and get your single refill of water. You leave the way you came, as you have twice before. The keypad flashes red to signal the lock is in place. You haul your kit higher on your shoulder and tread slowly along the little path along the side of the house.

You look at the gazebo trimmed in hanging ivy. It’s beautiful. You’d like to venture up and sit on that bench. Just sit and watch and smell and feel. You force the thought away and turn back along the stonework.

You’re going home. Not to pollen but tobacco smoke. Not to lush gardens but wilting strands in soggy mud. Not to immaculate floors and pristine decor but to stained walls and broken springs in your mattress. 

Home, to another man that makes you nervous.

🧹

Your father is as he always is, smoking on the couch. You say hi as you come in with a bag of groceries, the prize for what was left of your check. He grumbles and flicks through the channels. You go to the kitchen to put away the food.

You’re almost at the end of your first month, a third of the way through your probationary period. Hopefully after that, you can pick up more clients. You shut the cupboard and go back to the living room. Your father coughs into a crumpled tissue. He sounds horrible. You can’t say so, he doesn’t seem to care.

“I got some fresh produce,” you announce proudly, “I’ll steam some veggies with the chops.”

“You get fries?” He growls.

“Uh, no,” you admit, “I thought we could eat something healthier–”

“I don’t like steamed veggies,” he drops the remote and grabs his pack of smokes.

“Oh, sorry, I was only thinking–”

“Don’t lie and say you were,” he snorts as he pulls out a cigarette and taps the end of the pack. “Go on, I’m tryna watch this.”

He nods at the television and you follow his gaze to the rerun of All in the Family. He’s seen them all before. You take the dismissal and retreat up to your room. Like you always do.

It’s always been like this. You don’t hate your father but sometimes it feels like he hates you. You put your kit and your water bottle on your dress and change into clean clothes. You lay in bed and close your eyes, trying to let go of the tension in your muscles.

You don’t remember your mom but he does. You assume that’s why he’s like this. It’s not you, it’s what happened. Tragic. A loss he won’t talk about.

You rub your forehead and let your arms fall to bend on either side of your head. You only ever saw one picture of your mother. You don’t think you look like her. She was pretty. And young. You were always too afraid to ask about her but you could tell she was younger than him. No one could’ve expected her to go so soon.

You close your eyes. It’s a strange sort of grief to miss someone who is only a shadow in your mind. Not even a voice, just this ghost you know by name. Mommy…

You blow out a deep breath in an effort to bid away the sadness. That was so long ago. This is now and you have a lot to worry about.

🧹

The Laufeyson house greets you once more with its elaborate brickwork. It’s starting to feel familiar, like a habit to put in the new code and walk along the winding path around to the back door. Six more numbers and you’re inside; shoe covers, gloves, bottle, and the list.

You always check the new email sent by the agency. There’s always something small and new squeezed into the bullet points. This week, you notice the first task is laundry. 

‘Retrieve hamper from hallway. When hamper is left outside door, it means clothes must be washed.’

Easy enough. You go upstairs first and take the tall hamper from beside the door frame. It’s heavy and there’s no wheels to aid in your struggle. The laundry room is downstairs. Your descent is treacherous, one step at a time as you haul the basket down step by step. If Mr. Laufeyson is there, he can’t happy with the noise.

You finally get to the machine and follow the instructions about cycle type and separating colours from whites. However, there is only the bedding to be cleaned. You load the linens in and take a moment to figure out the touchscreen. Your father’s machine has a dial that only works on one setting and gives off a dingy stench.

You leave the basket in front of the washer and retreat to start your usual progression through the urban manse. Mop, sweep, dust, vacuum, polish; hallway, kitchen, dining room, sitting room… Nothing unusual or unexpected.

As you cross the narrow foyer to the den, the sunshine glows a warm orange through the slender windows on either side of the front door. The patterning of the glass reflects prettily on the floor. Despite your best efforts, you can’t help but imagine residing somewhere so brilliant.

You sigh and carry on. You’re sure to open the long drapes to let in the late spring sunshine. It’s not so bad working in the light and you can see where the rare spec of dust is hiding. You go to the tall shelf beside the record player and pull out the albums to wipe beneath them. Music would be jarring in a place always so silent.

You slip the albums back into place, pulling out one to admire the cover; Ane Brun. You’ve never heard of them. You read the track list curiously. You know you shouldn’t be wasting time.

“I don’t believe I’d have anything to your taste on my shelf,” the mocking slither has you pushing the album in line with the rest.

You almost apologise but you remember. You don’t speak. You just clean. So clean.

You glance over at Mr. Laufeyson as he struts in, a book held in one hand as his other is tucked in his pocket. He wears his usual pressed attire; a dark button-up and even darker slacks. You note that he has no tie that day. A single curl dangles by his temple as the rest of his black hair is precisely combed back.

You return to your tasks, gently wiping the cover of the record player and along the stand. You  hear the book drop onto the low table before the sofa before his footsteps continue on; closer. He approaches as you get to the next shelf, a collection of EPs in unmarked sleeves.

You wince as he stops near you, flipping up the cover of the sleek record player before stepping back to peruse his selection. You do your best to keep on as he looms. The air is thick and suffocating. Should you go to the next room and come back?

He slips a record free of its sleeve and places it carefully on the players. He moves the needle over and flips the switch, a crackle before the sound drones from the tall standing speakers. Acoustic guitar with a gritty feel to it. The sudden addition of a woman’s voice jolts you; her tone is peculiar but not unpleasant.

When I woke I took the backdoor to my mind And then I spoke I counted all of the good things you are

He backs away without a word. Not an explanation. You finish cleaning the second shelf and dare to glance over. He reads his book on the couch, unbothered by your existence. That isn’t too unfamiliar.

You finish the space but leave the vacuuming for later. You wouldn’t want to ruin the music. You go into what you can only call a sunroom. The french doors peek out onto the garden and a patio set with a large dining set in white iron and glass.

The music drifts in and keeps you company. It almost makes the work easier. You make quick work and go to check the washer to switch over the load. Once you have the dryer figured out, you begin on the second floor.

It’s only as you come out of one of the guestrooms that you notice the silence is returned. You turn down the hallway and near the next door. You enter the study with your usual reverence. Something about the space is intimidating. 

The large leather chair with its dimpled back and the even bigger desk; slabs of marble set into polished ebony. Shelves of a similar material, decked out with numerous volumes and the occasional ornament. Some appear even to be genuine artifacts. The rug at the centre is patterned in Persian style.

Behind the desk are a set of doors that open onto a balcony. The drapes are drawn shut. You find that is often the case. It’s a sombre and dark space hidden from the bright gardens without. Your tasks here are minimal. You use the hand vacuum and dust the shelves. You aren’t to touch the desk at all.

A shadow startles you as you drag the cloth along the edge of the bookshelf. Your eyes round and you look over as Mr. Laufeyson enters. You blanch but he doesn’t acknowledge you. He sighs and goes to the desk, sitting in the chair and wheeling it closer. You narrow your sights on the shelves; focus.

You feel a tremble but quickly shake it away. This is his home, he must be able to exist within it, but this feels strange, almost deliberate. Is he trying to make some point? To scare you? You remember the mention of those who came before you. Did they quit or did he dismiss them? Regardless, you can’t afford either.

It isn’t that difficult to follow the rules. Don’t speak? You haven’t much to say. You get closer as you advance along the shelves to the back of the office. He lets out another long exhale. His chair creaks, once, twice, and again.

“Hm,” he rolls back and swivels, an action you observe from the corner of your eye. He tuts and wheels back to the desk, resuming tapping on the keys of his slender laptop. The glow limns his silhouette sinisterly.

You rustle the drapes as you pass them and cross to the opposite shelves. As you brush over the spines of the books, you nearly drop the cloth. His low hum frightens you as he mimics the same melody that played from the speakers below. His tone is deep and sonorous, even delightful.

You squeeze the cloth and pause before regaining your composure. This cannot be a coincidence. The camera and now he’s following you. Or so it seems. Does he distrust you? What reason have you given him?

You are mindful to wipe down the bronze statue of what you assume is a viking warrior. You place it back staunchly, making sure your work is entirely visible to him. You are honest and you like to think you do your work well. Or at least, you try to. Perhaps if he sees that effort, he won’t be so suspicious.

As you head for the door, he quits his humming. His chair squeaks again.

“You are rather more thorough than the last,” he muses.

You stop and turn your head. You nod. He’s baiting you to break his number one rule.

“And you take orders well,” he adds blithely, “that is rare these days.” He taps a key again, “as you were.”

You take the dismissal in stride and flit off to your next task. It isn’t much, maybe only a statement of fact, but it’s something. He isn’t unhappy with your work. So far, neither are you.

[deception-united]

My biggest difficulties are some of these things in my medieval fantasy story: how to start a war? When to introduce the war? Any tips on the ideal length?

Starting a war in a medieval fantasy story can be a difficult process. Here are some tips to help you get started.

Starting a war:

Establish tensions. Build up political, economic, or ideological tensions between nations or factions before the war.

Create a casus belli. There should be a clear reason (or a combination of factors) for the war, such as a territorial dispute, a betrayal, or a religious difference.

Show the buildup. Depict the mobilisation of armies, diplomatic efforts, everything that goes on leading up to the war.

Here are some ideas you may want to consider:

Wars often begin due to escalating political tensions. Create a backstory involving conflicting interests between kingdoms or factions, such as disputes over territory, resources, or succession rights.

Economic struggles, such as famine or trade embargoes, can drive nations to war (control over vital resources, such as fertile land, water, or trade routes, amongst others).

A high-profile assassination or kidnapping will often become a catalyst for war, since it forces one side to retaliate.

Deep-seated religious or cultural differences can also lead to war. One group might feel oppressed or threatened by another, leading to an uprising or a holy war.

A personal vendetta between powerful leaders or nobles can escalate into a full-scale war, especially if they rally their followers to support their cause.

When to introduce the war:

Early introduction: Have the war present from the onset of your story it's central to your plot, so the rest of the narrative can focus on the consequences, battles, and the impact on your characters.

Rising action: Having a gradual build-up to the war by developing the political social tensions over the first part of your story allows for deeper character development and more detailed worldbuilding.

Midpoint: Consider starting the war at the midpoint of your story, marking a turning point in the narrative to drastically alter the direction of your characters' journeys.

Climax: Introducing the war as a climatic event is effective if you're focusing your narrative on the events leading up to the war. It can also leave room for sequels.

Ideal length:

Pacing: Balance action, dialogue, and description to maintain a steady pace. Alternate between intense battle scenes and quieter moments to develop characters and explore the impact of the war on their lives.

Relevance: The length of the war should be proportional to its importance in the overall plot. If it's the main focus, it should take up a significant portion of the narrative.

Scope: Consider the scope of the war: a small skirmish or a epic, continent-spanning conflict?

Character arcs: Ensure the war serves the character arcs and story goals—don't include it just for the sake of a plot element. The length of the war should also allow sufficient time for character development. Show how it personally affects your characters and how they grow or change as a result.

Subplots: Use subplots to add depth to the war narrative. Political intrigue, espionage, romantic entanglements, and personal vendettas can enrich the main plot.

Additional tips:

Make it personal. Connect the war to your characters' motivations and emotions. They may have a friend, family member, or significant other participating in the war, or you can make it impact them directly in some way.

Show the consequences. Depict the impact of war on civilians, soldiers, and the environment.

Do research. Draw inspiration from historical wars and medieval history for inspiration, and to add depth and authenticity.

Plan the resolution. Consider the aftermath and how the world and your characters are changed by the conflict. This will provide a sense of closure to your readers.

Remember, the key is to make the war serve the story and characters, not the other way around. Thanks for asking! Hope this helped ❤

Previous | Next

[0aurelion-sol0]

An Arcane Hexplanation: Noxus

For the first post in this mini-series of posts, that will elaborate on elements of Arcane that were only superficially touched upon in the show but also elements that might remain confusing for some, I wanted to touch on this faction that has now become an integral part of the story of Arcane but which was not very much explored in and of itself. I will try to be as informative as I can without going into spoilers but beware that there may be informations that might give hints about the shows's ending and the franchise's future.

Especially for parts of the audience that haven't played League of Legends or haven't been that interested in it's lore which is quite a lot actually when you look at the people who watch the show. Which is also one of the reasons why it was made to first place, to reach as many people as possible in the hopes they would be interested in the games or the lore that comes with it but I digress.

Keep in mind that what I am using here is both the old and current pieces of lore I have at my disposal of the world of League of Legends since now that Arcane has become fully canon to the story of Runeterra, the world in which Arcane takes place, elements may change and vary in the future given that the old and current lore of Piltover & Zaun had quite different elements of it that got retconned by Arcane when it became canon. I expect the same for the other parts of that world

We have two main characters that are connected to Noxus, Mel and Ambessa, the current known members of the Medarda Clan. They provide some background info and elements about Noxus relating to their pasts and current motivations but much of it remains unclear or a mystery in some cases with one of them about Mel that is probably going to be revealed in Act 3. So...

What is Noxus ?

Basing ourselves in the old and current lore of the world of Runeterra, Noxus is an expansionist empire that is considered brutal and threatening to most people that lives outside of it's borders. It worships and respects the strengths and talents of it's population, especially in combat and war. Which oddly makes it a quite inclusive society as success through strength, of many kinds, is what is mostly rewarded in that society which contrasts with it's colonizing and "war-prone" attitude.

It is quite powerful and probably the most powerful nation on the continent of Valoran where it is located on the eastern side of it but given it's expansionist endeavours, it's borders also reaches into the Shuriman continent located south of it and in the archipelago called Ionia located further east and north of it, it enters into The Freljord. It also goes west towards the nation of Demacia, which it has quite the rivalry with. (Noxus also has multiple spies in multiple nations or cultures around the world, that are led by different types of forces that are in Noxus who do this for different reasons for each and everyone of them, but we will get back to that later down this post.)

In between the Valoran & Shuriman continents lies the main setting of Arcane, Piltover & Zaun. It connects the two continent together and as such is quite prized by many people in the Noxian empire, not just by Ambessa.

It's strategic position is important both in terms of trades but also power. The City of Progress makes the most of it's geographical position economically by being both a trading route by land and sea; but also it's incredible evolution in technology could provide Noxus with the means to expand it's empire all over Runeterra. Especially if it gets it's hands on Hextech.

But Piltover & Zaun being so important to the continents' global trades (evidence with Noxus itself having Holsek in Arcane shipping his products there) and also being a cultural center for most of the other nations makes it difficult to obtain, first because while Noxus might have a bigger army, Piltover & Zaun are still far more technologically advanced than them which gives them an advantage in battle and two, because many other nations might unite to take Noxus out if it ever tried to actively take power there.

Noxus thrives on being expansionist because it needs people, it needs war and it also needs land. But also it seeks challenges, as challenges makes you stronger based on the Noxian dogma.

Because the capital of Noxus is located in a part of Valoran which is not very fertile and so part of that expansionist attitude is also to survive and meet needs for it's population that aren't met. It has a very diverse wildlife though ranging from giant arachnides, drakes, big reptiles and more Jurassic Park-like creaturs. And of course, Poros, because Poros are everywhere! 😉

That capital is named Noxus Prime or more commonly known as...

The Immortal Bastion.

It was built long ago, after an important catastrophic event, by someone that I can't talk to you about because it's likely going to spoil Season 2's Act III of Arcane. Just know that this person is bad, REALLY bad.

That person raised that city in what was called long ago, the Noxii territories but given that the reign of that person was extremely violent and tyrannic, they got betrayed by people from their own inner circle who forged an alliance with the tribes that lived there and was able to "defeat" that person.

Centuries passed, as well as wars and invasions, and as of today it has remained intact and is hardly penetrable by anyone or anything by force due to it's architecture. At least, one that is below or similar to Noxus' level of power.

(I'm not sure if the city Mel painted is this one as in the old/current lore, it is not by the sea but the show could retcon that and make it close to it. It could be Basilich since it is by the sea and was mentioned in Arcane in relation to the Medarda family. But know it be could another one as the architecture for the bigger cities of Noxus is quite similar to represent who is in charge.)

It's also important to remember that compared to Piltover & Zaun, Noxus isn't afraid of magic. In fact, it weaponizes it and it's history has been the most influenced by it. Noxus respects strength but anything that can make the empire grow and evolve whether it's trade, craftmanship, magic, intelligence or even art is respected if it challenges the people and Noxus to become stronger.

You CAN start from nothing and rise to the highest places of Noxus if you show that you are worthy to be there.

Which is why when Noxus conquers, it gives you a choice: follow the empire or die. Noxus will be your life from now on, you will be under their command, follow their laws and culture. Oddly enough, people who embrace Noxus will find that their life improves in a good way but those who don't bend the knee, follow or are able to live by the Noxian culture will be destroyed or be outcasts in that society. Especially since now that you live under Noxian law, it will make sure that everyone knows it by: appointing a leader to make sure that Noxian culture and law is followed where you live and put Noxian architecture + any ways to show authority there as a means to make sure your whole life is dedicated to it- (However it doesn't change the facts that even thought Noxus puts his culture and law firsts, in many cases the cultures remain and merges with, with Noxus having many languages and religions within it that all contributing to the power of it's empire given the nature of those elements.)

-Much like what Ambessa did with Cailtyn in Piltover & Zaun but that came from her own motivations rather than something asked by Noxus.

Because as we know, Ambessa is being targeted by someone from Noxus and that someone is very important.

But this also makes sense when you consider what Noxus is, given that Ambessa is a general, she holds a certain amount of authority, or at least used to hold, in Noxus which can clash with other people who have as much or more authority than her there. And given the need of a challenge or to pursue a goal that would be able to show your strength and/or maintain a power for every Noxian, especially if it can contribute to the empire or their vision of Noxus; it will clash with different visions and people as well.

But in the case of Ambessa, it's little a bit more complicated. It's part of it but it's not just that. Before we get to that, we need to talk about the leadership of Noxus.

Because you would think that Noxus would be ruled by an iron fist by one person, some dictator or oppressive leader, well it used to be 🤭 and still is to some degree but it's more complicated than that as what Noxus fears the most in the world might be what would come from the outside of the empire or what rebellion could happen somewhere in a land they've conquered, but from inside of the empire itself.

You see Noxus was a monarchy and when you have a culture & dogma like Noxus, people will try to reach the top, they will eventually come into contact with people who also want to go there or are already there.

This has created many problems for Noxus in the past with one person taking over the empire or inheriting it and doing not so great things with it, followed by many others after that. This created a lack of stability for Noxus, which made it vulnerable. It also doesn't help that those leaders could easily be influenced by groups and noble houses who have their own agendas for Noxus and themselves.

So to remedy to that, something was created to ensure something like this would never happen again...

The Trifarix.

The Trifarix (also known as the "Council of Three") is the current form of government of Noxus, which embodies the fundamental tenets of the Trifarix doctrine, or the "Principles of Strength." which are Vision, Might and Guile.

Sounds familiar ? Yes! It is what Ambessa says to Caitlyn during their training. She also believes there is a fourth one: Sacrifice, which she thinks heightens the three other principles.

This structure happened after a revolution led by Jericho Swain which transformed from a monarchy, led by emperors like Boram Darkwill, the last emperor killed by Swain himself during the night of the revolution, to a meritocracy led by three different people, each representing a different principle.

The first being Vision, represented by Jericho Swain, The Noxian Grand General. Main face of government for the Empire and overthrew the previous ruling House of Darkwill.

According to Swain's reasoning, while one person could ruin Noxus through incompetence, madness, or corruption, or the three combined, a group of three people would always have two people to hold one of the members accountable, ensuring that no one could rule Noxus alone and with no opposition.

The second being Darius, the Hand of Noxus who embodies Might. Commander of the elite Trifarian Legion, the most elite and loyal legion in modern Noxus.

And The Faceless. The current identity of that member is unknown. Rumored to puppeteer the dark underbelly and politics of Noxus. Unknown status to outsiders suits the Trifarix's and the Faceless' purposes: sowing fear, suspicion, and unease among the enemies of Noxus allows the Faceless to walk more freely among those who might have their guard up.

And while all of this on paper might sound great, the noble houses, despite some privileges being taken away by The Trifarix, and other secret groups can still influence Noxus plus the Trifarix in some way and remnants of the old monarchy still exists, even if they are being hunted down by the Trifarix and it's army.

The culture of Noxus is still brutal and expansionist just like under the monarchy, plus most of it's population live in austerity given how harsh Noxian dogma is. Plus the presence of class differences & inequality is just as present in Noxus as it is in Piltover. Swain himself is from a noble house that was hungry for power and who helped the very house he was going to overthrow at some point before creating the Trifarix. And though his vision of Noxus is everyone being united for the empire regardless of who they are, the reality is that most people still plot against it & he knows it.

But there is one more problem that I have yet to talk about and that is relevant to Arcane's plot. You know where I'm getting at here...

...The Black Rose.

Without revealing too much as it will be explored in Season 2's Act III of Arcane & possibly the future show that will likely be about Noxus, at some point Swain realised that the Black Rose was influencing Boram Darkwill in the shadows of Noxus to do what they wished when he was sent to an invasion of Ionia where all the conditions he was led into would lead him to meet his death there.

However Swain, during his younger years, "defeated" The Black Rose. He was manipulated by the matron of that group to execute the most prominent members of it, including his parents since House Swain was part of The Black Rose, not him but his House and staged an execution for said matron so that she could hide her existence to strike at the right moment and regain power over Noxus.

This eventually all led to Swain killing Darkwill & his followers to make sure that person wouldn't get full power over Noxus and destroy any trace of the Black Rose as well.

That person is called...

...LeBlanc.

You've all already met her but haven't as well. You know her voice but have never heard it. They are everywhere, she is everyone.

Again, I can't say a lot but just know, she is such a bad bitch. She is truly a great character, one of the better ones of LoL's lore.

She is the matron of the Black Rose. The leader of this cabbal, both older than Noxus itself and quite important to the history of the empire. She is a powerful sorceress that has influenced Noxus' and the worlds' events for a long long time. She has her own sets of spies, outside of the ones Noxus has, that she uses to keep track of everything that happens in the world and influence the politics of it to meet her wants with of course the help of people who follow her and the Black Rose, including it's members.

Most members that are part of the Black Rose don't even know she is LeBlanc, hell that she is even named LeBlanc or that she is their leader or what she even looks like. In fact, the name LeBlanc is not even guaranteed to be her real name anyway.

And since that no one knows who is the person that represents Guile, there was an idea and rumour that she was that secret third member in the Trifarix. But given her nature and her relationship with Swain, it is unlikely but who knows...

...maybe she's already influencing him or the two of them were able to make a deal that benefits each party in the end.

But there's a reason for all this manipulation & trickery, there's a reason why she influences the world politics... and why she kidnapped Mel.

But I can't tell you, because it would spoil you. X)

However know that her inclusion opens the gate to LoL's lore and universe in a way that is so immense that I am impressed she even is a player into Arcane, at least such an active one. At best, I thought Swain would be the one to show up but it would make sense that with the appearance of something as powerful as Hextech, she wouldn't stay in the shadows for long.

This is where it leads us into the next show that comes after Arcane and that will continue some of the plotlines that were started in it, which will likely be in Noxus. And we will find out what it will be and what is the reason for it in this final act-

(Again to remind that everyone, these informations are from the current/old LoL lore, some aspects of it will change, just like with Arcane, to fit whatever story they might want to talk about in the future.)

-But while in Piltover & Zaun, the reasons for our characters' actions and motivations are more personal but obviously still influenced by politics and the world around them, falling into shades of gray that we can see ourselves into...

...with Noxus, the shades are darker. And more red too, but compared to the city of progress, we might lean more into horror than tragedy this time around.

_________________________________________

If you are interested in more League of Legends lore or lore about Arcane, I invite you to check out the current Runeterra map which features every information you might want to know about the universe.

Plus here is a... short animated film ? that was done for the card game Legends of Runeterra which won't spoil you anything and just show you what Noxus is about in a way that is closer to what Arcane is. It features Darius and his troops fighting a king that refuses to surrender to the Noxian empire.

Hope you enjoyed the post, I will be back soon, this time to talk about... Felicia! There are certain things that I think need to be talked about with the revelations surrounding her character.

In the meantime, let's finish the last three episodes of Arcane and celebrate what this show gave to use.

[kitschysandglass]

So, about earth 11 jondami (AKA Laurel & Talia)

Laurel Kent & Talia Kane are the Earth-11 version of Jon & Damian. Most of their stories are from Multiversity: Teen Justice, if you haven't read it the team's pretty cute and these girls are insane.

Anyway, different from the main universe, it's implied that Laurel's parents are somehow reluctant to let their daughter befriend with Robin (unlike Supes and Bat who had practically set them up) The reason was never stated - well it's not like Laurel actually listened to them :P So she's still sticking with Talia probably everyday.

Mom really doesn't appreciate their ✨friendship✨

As I had mentioned in the other post. Laurel can actually hear Talia calling out from the other side of the earth (or at least another continent) and locate to her whereabout only by her voice. Also to think Talia simply calls out Laurel's name, trusting that wherever she is she will hear her is absolutely insane...

Laurel also flew over the whole continent in mere seconds (not looking where she's heading, solely by tracking Talia's voice) just because she thinks Talia sounded genuinely distressed.

And the way she immediately left without saying a word as soon as Talia called 👀

“OVERWHELMING displays of physical force”im sorry but are you flirting

Everyone is so tired of them went to secretdate I mean patrolling

Talia has the access to Fortress of Tranquility's (basically earth-11 version of Fortress of Solitude) security cameras + matching mugs with Laurel (remember that Superwoman isn't actually thrilled about them hanging out together so LAUREL KENT WHAT HAVE YOU DONE).

Secretly (blatantly) gossiping in front of the whole team

And somehow they just need to snuggle together in a group photo session while everybody else is posing on their own 😭😭😭 JUST PLEASE

[queenvhagar]

It's interesting that Rhaenyra is consistently framed as being "not like other girls" in such an extreme attempt at feminism that it veers way over to other side in that all the other girls in the story, especially those who act differently than she would or who act in opposition to her wishes, are somehow not as good as her or even evil.

As the show loves to show us, Rhaenyra's not like other girls. She loves being a bit of a rebel. She defies the rules of the world and doesn't care what anyone's opinion of her is. She embraces her sexuality. She's bold and says what's on her mind. Now, these are fine things for her as a character, for sure. The problem comes when looking at how the other girls are depicted and how the show expects you to feel about them vs Rhaenyra.

Alicent accepts her position in life as the daughter of a second son and marries for her family against her wishes. But it goes against what Rhaenyra wants, so she's evil. She should have just been more like Rhaenyra! Defied her father, said no to Viserys, went against the patriarchy... except Alicent does not have the privilege that Rhaenyra has as a dragon riding Targaryen princess, the king's beloved daughter and heir to the throne. What power did she have to resist the wishes of her lord father and the king? She acted like any girl of her time would, given the circumstances of her powerlessness, and yet somehow the show wants you to believe that's a character flaw.

Laena is second to Rhaenyra, something the show made painfully obvious when depicting her marriage with Daemon (which sucks especially because there was no indication that this was the case in the books; rather, her and Daemon were happily married and both were extremely close to Rhaenyra the entire time). Her death is changed from its original and unique tragedy to prop up Rhaenyra's eventual fate and its "epic" quality, so when it eventually happens we can view it as a true "dragonrider's death." Then, on the night of her funeral, her husbands finally gets with his first choice Rhaenyra. Laena who? She is made to look less in comparison to Rhaenyra.

Baela and Rhaena, despite having huge roles in the Dance and the aftermath, are largely sidelined by the writers. Baela's a fierce dragonrider like her mother... yet the only scene allowing her to show any aspect of that is left on the cutting room floor. Rhaena wants a dragon and is the only one of her family who isn't a dragonrider... yet the writers have yet to give her any personality beyond that or explore this aspect of her character with any depth. The twins' adult versions barely have any screen time or lines. Even when they are betrothed, seemingly without their prior knowledge, they can only smile by the side.

Helaena is a dragonrider, a dragon dreamer, a mother, a daughter. Forced to use her Targaryen royal womb to make heirs. But the writers aren't interested in exploring any aspect of her character in depth or showing her relationships with her family.

One woman is the exception, as she does share some qualities with Rhaenyra in that she's also not like other girls and the audience should root for her too... it's Rhaenys! She's got a dragon! She'll put it in the Greens' faces (never mind hundreds of innocents killed - so cool!). She'll call someone out for toiling their life in the service of men (even though she's done no differently with her own life!). And because girls support girls no matter what, of course she's Team Black all the way (even though her daughter died a continent away because of Daemon and her son was clearly killed because of Rhaenyra). Rhaenys will hitch onto the Black train despite everything that's happened, and in supporting Rhaenyra she'll take away Baela's claim to Driftmark and instead link both her granddaughters to the people who are the reason both of her children are dead...

[walkintomymystery]

Fall Into Me

(Set after Sonic 3 - Alternate Ending)

Defeated, world-weary, and impossibly lost, Shadow allows himself to be taken back into G.U.N custody. While his fate is decided, he is housed in a secret facility hidden deep in the heart of one of the country’s National Parks. Still reeling from the heartbreaks that have shaped his life, Shadow never expected to find the closest thing to a home he’d known in over fifty years.

Pairings: Shadow the Hedgehog x Original Female Character

Warnings: i’m gonna be putting this hedgehog in some situations so expect existential dread, guilt, self-hatred, depressive tendencies but also a lot of love and friendship

A/N: this story will take place immediately after the end of Sonic 3, the plot of which i had completely guessed at when i started writing this, but now i’ve seen (and loved) the film, this is now officially an AU with a bit of plot divergence! i am also still very much an entry-level fan, i’m kind of rediscovering everything i loved about this world, so bear with me if there are any mistakes!

//

Chapter One

Evening had fallen. That was all Shadow could glimpse of the outside world. That, and the dizzying blur of trees flashing by.

The transport van was cramped and uncomfortable, but that was all Shadow had known for the past fifty years. He’s spent his whole life in captivity, his current circumstances weren’t novel in the slightest. Perhaps he should have relished the opportunity to stretch his legs and breathe in the fresh air while he had the chance. Too late now.

The metal walls that blocked him in rattled and shook as the van trundled down seemingly endless narrow roads. The whole vehicle vibrated at a bone-trembling pitch; Shadow’s body had started to feel numb after just a few minutes into his journey. G.U.N cared little for his comfort.

Time passed with agonising lethargy. When there was nothing but the constant, sluggish drone of the engine and one image out the window to occupy his mind, the minutes dragged by as if through molasses.

More trees rushed past. The small, opaque window in the side of the van was high above his head and granted him a limited view, but Shadow could catch glimpses of their rounded, bulging bases. They were tall, far taller than he would’ve thought possible, and their branches stretched and reached for each other like grasping hands.

A forest, then. It had to be. Shadow closed his eyes and tried to summon a map of the area. His limited knowledge of the surrounding terrain irked him.

He wished he’d taken more time to memorise the roads, the towns, the whole damn continent, but he had some vague idea of where he was. Or he used to. He couldn’t remember seeing a forest on any map. But then, it hadn’t seemed important at the time.

He opened his eyes again and stared out of the tiny window. So many trees. Had he ever seen so many? They were different from how he’d imagined them. The flat, lifeless images in the books he had once studied hardly came close to the towering pines that rushed by.

In all the information he and Maria had devoured about the Earth, in all their wildest dreams, he was sure neither of them could have imagined how these giants would look up close. They were so full of life. So green. He was a long way from the ARK.

Shadow curled his fingers into tight fists, making the thick handcuffs that bound him stretch and creak. One of G.U.N’s soldiers had nervously slapped them round his wrists, possibly thinking he’d fight back. He was right to be nervous, but for some reason, Shadow let him, then allowed himself to be led into the back of this van to head off into the night.

Shadow eyed the van doors. They were heavy and firmly sealed, but surely not strong enough to hold him. Even if he did try to escape, it would be difficult to find his way. They would locate him, capture him, and shove him back in this van with much less civility than they had the first time.

He sank back in his seat, a painfully hard wooden bench attached to the wall with thick chains.

An uncomfortable thought settled onto Shadow’s weary shoulders. Even if he weren’t completely lost, he had nowhere to go. Even if he did get away, even if he could figure out where he was, he had nothing, no mission to urge him onwards, no reason to keep going at all.

If he wanted to, if he really wanted to, he could be free. He could run and run until his body finally failed. But what was the point? What did it matter? Freedom to him was as nebulous and vague as a dream. Even in his youth, when Shadow thought he had the whole world at his feet, autonomy had been an illusion. He had always been owned, bartered over, and controlled.

Silent and hollow, he watched as any hope of breaking out, of finding his own way, slipped like sand through his fingers.

He had nothing. He was nothing. And he’d never known any different. There was nowhere to go. No one to run to. He was aimless, directionless, completely without purpose. Whatever the humans wanted with him, perhaps he should just let them do it.

One of Shadow’s ears flicked. The slightest whir of hydraulics, pads pressing against rotating discs. Grinding metal. Friction. Brakes. Silence finally cut through the roar of combustion and the old engine sank into sleep.

They’d arrived.

His whole body tensed instinctively. This was the moment. This was where he decided if he was going to fight tooth and nail to get away from these awful, violent humans, or stay docile, let them put him back into that godforsaken tank, and allow them to switch him off for another fifty years.

It would be easier. It would be so much easier. Shadow could be alone with his dreams once more, a peaceful place where there was no noise, no tang of copper on his tongue, and no one wanted anything from him.

In his dreams, it was just him and his sister, laying side by side in a meadow of stars. Shadow had nowhere to be, no one to answer to, just the deep navy sky and her gentle voice. He’d never know a heaven, but he was sure that was as close as he would get.

A sudden shout caught his attention.

Through the thick walls of the van, he could interpret very little, even with his excellent hearing, but Shadow’s ears swivelled in the direction of a second voice. The muffled sounds rose suddenly, then fell silent again.

Shadow straightened his back. He waited. Nothing. He held his breath.

A sudden, shrill hiss split the monotony in two. Shadow whipped his head around, eyes wide, to find a thick, grey gas spilling in through the crack between the van’s doors.

He jolted, instincts kicking in, and scrambled to his feet. They’d taken his shoes when he was arrested, but even if they hadn’t, there wasn’t nearly enough room to build up the momentum and speed he’d need to burst out of the van.

The thick, curling gas pooled on the floor around his feet, rising quickly like water until it was up to his neck.

Blind with panic, Shadow swung his bound hands against the driver’s cabin, sending a shockwave through the van’s metal sides.

He stumbled and fell into the wall, the gas obscuring his vision, his thoughts. He tried to shout but his tongue was heavy in his mouth.

“Hey!” Shadow swung his hands against the cabin again, throwing his whole weight behind it. “Hey! Anyone!”

But there was no response.

Shadow stumbled back and fell into the bench. All he could see now was a grey haze. Though he tried to hold his breath, it seeped into his lungs, his racing heart forcing his body to pull in more and more of the toxic oxygen.

His head felt foggy but he had just the wherewithal to climb up onto the bench, trying in vain to get away and find a pocket of clean air, but there was none.

Shadow’s eyes began to grow heavy. He fought against sleep but his body felt clumsy and unresponsive. He swung his hands one final time against the side of the van and barely made a sound.

He felt his head loll against his chest as the world blurred all around him. At the edges of his vision, a darkness crept steadily closer, until it had overwhelmed his acute senses.

Gravity turned on him, and the last thing Shadow knew was the floor rushing up to meet him, before the world went black.

/

He was in the medbay. He knew before he opened his eyes. The reek of disinfectant, the squeak of rubber shoes against the polished tile floor, the constant noise of the machines. He knew it all by heart, a symphony of pain and longing.

Shadow woozily raised his heavy eyelids. His whole body ached. It was a familiar feeling but not one he’d known for some time. The doctor used to send him for evaluation every month or so, then every two weeks as Maria grew weaker-

Maria.

Shadow’s eyes widened as she suddenly appeared before him, floating above his hospital bed like a pale spirit. She was sickly white, practically translucent. Ghostly and faint, her wide blue eyes gazed down at him emptily.

“Shadow…”

Hardly able to catch his breath, he tried to raise his hand up to touch her but his body refused to cooperate. Shadow tried to blink but an age seemed to pass between his eyes closing and opening again.

“Shadow, you’re hurting me…”

Panic tightened his chest. He looked down, following the cannula as it ran down her chest to where it tangled with another.

With agonising sluggishness, Shadow tried to raise his hand to help her, and found the other cannula attached to his own nose.

“Shadow, it hurts, please…”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

Shadow wrapped his fingers around the plastic tube and tried to rip it from his nose but it was stuck fast. With every sharp tug, the cannulas only seemed to tighten and twist further, until they were impossibly intertwined.

“I’m sorry, Maria, I’m trying. I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”

Hot tears began to fall from her dull eyes, hitting his cheeks, his forehead and his jaw like bullets.

The more he tried to pull at the tubes that connected them, the more Maria cried and the more suffocated he felt, until Shadow was clawing for breath.

He could only watch, paralysed, as a thin river of scarlet blood began to dribble from her nose, staining his white fur, the bed-

The transport van tripped over a dip in the road, forcing Shadow into consciousness with a jolt.

He gasped for breath, pulling in a huge lungful of air to steady his pounding heart.

Four blank walls stared back at him. He was still in the van. Shadow stared at the doors, then lifted his head to the roof. No sign of any gas. He couldn’t smell any trace of it. Just a dream. It was all just a bad dream.

Slowly, his tensed muscles began to relax, and Shadow sank back against the wall behind him.

It wasn’t like him to fall asleep like that. He didn’t need to rest, his power made sure of that. It was only something he indulged in when he needed to pass the time, or when Maria would beg him to snooze beside her in her hospital bed. He could only allow himself to sleep when he was sure that he was completely safe, and he definitely wasn’t now.

Shadow pushed down the anxious uncertainty that rose in his chest and forced himself to focus on the present.

The transport van was freezing. It had crept up on him slowly. Nothing at first, then a gnawing chill. Shadow found he had to keep tensing his muscles to encourage some warmth into them.

Worry nagged at the back of his brain again, an unfamiliar emotion. He couldn’t remember the last time the cold had affected him.

He tried to rub his eyes but found he could hardly lift his hands. He looked down.

The stiff, black cuffs were gone. In their place were a pair of thick, brass rings that covered his own inhibitors. Heavy and clumsy, they seemed to have some kind of mechanism hidden within. He could feel a hum of static reverberating off of them, tapping into his bones and sending a faint current throughout his body.

Shadow frowned. Where had they come from? Had they put them on while he slept? Surely not. On the rare occasion he did rest, he was a light sleeper. He would have felt it. Why couldn’t he remember?

He turned his wrists fractionally, examining the rings and testing their strength. They were broad and heavy, and felt cold against his skin, even through his fur. With a sinking feeling, Shadow wondered if they might be the reason he felt so weak.

As he studied the rings with sharp eyes, he wracked his brain, trying to remember if he’d ever seen anything like them before.

Shadow lifted his right index finger and gingerly hooked it under one of the rings.

Before he could make another move, a voice snarled at him from the corner,

“Keep still.”

A soldier was sat propped up in the very corner of the transport van. Half shrouded in darkness, Shadow couldn’t get a good look at his face, but he could tell that the soldier was tall and broad, and so relaxed that he must think he had nothing to fear.

Had he been there this whole time? Shadow couldn’t remember. He was having a hard time summoning back his short-term memories. His thoughts were in complete disarray, his nightmare still clouding his mind.

The blue hedgehog, his friends, defeat, this van - but the details were fuzzy, and the more he tried to grasp for them, the further they slipped away.

That worry gnawed away at him again.

All of Shadow’s senses felt dull and distant, as if the sights, scents and sounds that often threatened to overwhelm him were now nearby, but just out of reach. He felt as if he was in one room and his soul was in another, disconnected from the world around him. He didn’t feel right, he couldn’t feel anything.

Shadow shifted in his seat, testing the waters. The guard sat in the corner didn’t move but he knew behind his dark sunglasses, a pair of keen eyes were trained on him.

Shadow disregarded him and turned his attention back to the window. More green blurs. They were still in the forest. Where could they possibly be taking him?

He twisted his wrists again and focused on moving his hands. Static coursed through his veins, making him flinch, but he kept going. Though his body still felt heavy and unresponsive, Shadow was able to raise his clenched fists from his lap.

“I said, keep still,” the soldier muttered, and this time, he lowered one hand to rest against an impression in his jacket.

He was armed and probably more than happy to shoot. But they couldn't kill him. If they wanted to, they would have done it already. They wouldn’t bother driving him out to the middle of nowhere just to do away with him. No, he was too useful for that.

And then, it stopped. Unlike in his dream, the van gently rolled to a standstill, then the driver switched off the engine.

Shadow looked back at the doors. The guard assigned to watch him was speaking again but he barely registered his presence.

Where was he? It had taken hours to arrive, but logic dictated he couldn’t be too far from civilisation if they were going to keep him contained.

He felt a hand on his shoulder. He was pulled to his feet.

Shadow ignored the twist in his gut and just tried to focus on his next move. They needed him, but for what? It could be anything. They could use his blood for testing, extrapolate his DNA for an all manner of projects, send him out on missions, use him as an attack dog.

It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered now, apart from getting out of here.

Another soldier dressed all in black opened the van from the outside and Shadow was led out into the night.

They’d stopped at the edge of a clearing. Just a few feet away, a huge hill rose up out of the ground, rolling backwards and backwards, growing and forming into a distant mountain. Beneath his bare feet, the earth was cold and damp and unpleasant.

It was so dark, Shadow could only see a few paces in front of him. Another of his usually sharp senses had been dulled.

He tried to remember everything he’d learnt, everything Gerald had taught him. Keep your eyes up and keep your head down. Run and run and run, and never ever look back.

The hand was heavy on his shoulder. The two guards that flanked him chatted amongst themselves, swapping stories about the long drive as they guided him towards a low, squat building that appeared to be dug into the side of the towering hill, which seemed almost as tall as the pines that surrounded it.

A door opened. Burning orange light spilled out, pushing through the black night and illuminating his path. Two figures stood in the doorway, just silhouettes, contrasting shapes that didn’t make sense to him.

The cold air awoke something in Shadow’s brain. A spark ignited, a glint of hope.

He wouldn’t let them take him. He wouldn’t just give in. He was the Ultimate Lifeform, he was the descendant of a great power, he could go wherever he wanted. And he didn’t want to be trapped, he didn’t want to be locked away under layers of earth and metal and rock for another fifty years while the humans decided what to do with him. He wanted to be free.

With a rough cry that began in his belly and tore from his throat, Shadow ducked under the hand that held him down and swung his leg round, knocking one of the guard’s feet out from under him.

The other made a grab for him but Shadow jumped and swung his arm around the man’s neck, knocking his sunglasses off as he dragged him to the ground. Shadow untangled himself from the soldier before he could even think to reach for his gun.

He stumbled to his feet, chest heaving, and sprinted towards the tree line. But he only made it a few steps.

He felt all the breath leave his body as some invisible force clapped down on his back and knocked him off-balance. Shadow grunted as he hit the leafy ground, hard, his heavy hands awkwardly jammed beneath his chest.

Whatever had pushed him down had enough force behind it to knock the wind out of him. One of the guards? Surely not. The blow had felt all-encompassing and formless, as if the sky had fallen down on his head. Shadow groaned as his ribs smarted. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt real pain.

He tried to get up but something weighed on his back, pressing him down into the earth, though he couldn’t actually feel anything, as if he were just an ant under the heel of an enormous boot. He couldn’t move, couldn’t speak, couldn’t think. Then he felt his body move without his say so, and he was turned over onto his back.

Shadow lay there, staring up at the black sky. There were thousands of stars, almost as many as he’d been able to see on the ARK.

A memory, faint and ephemeral as breath on a cold day, floated through his mind. Maria had countless astronomy books. She would point out the constellations to him, one by one, until they had almost mapped out the whole cosmos. There were still countless systems they’d never got around to learning about.

Shadow closed his tired eyes.

If this was the end, if this was how his lonely, painful life was finally snuffed out, maybe it wasn’t so bad. The ground was hard and cold but he’d never known anything else. His chest ached, but again, that was nothing new. If the stars Maria had given him were the last thing he ever saw, he could make peace with that.

“The Ultimate Lifeform, huh?”

Footsteps crunched through the dry leaves that littered the ground all around him, growing steadily closer and closer, until they finally stopped by his head.

“Says who?”

Despite every instinct telling him not to, Shadow opened his eyes.

A Mobian stood over him. Dark, dark fur, a black jacket that was two sizes too big, and almost comically large ears were all Shadow could make out against the sparkling night sky.

”Hey. I’m Kit.”

Even though she was shrouded in twilight, Shadow could still pick out a self-satisfied smile.

“I’ve heard a lot about you.”

The Mobian flicked her fingers and Shadow felt his body rise off the ground as if he weighed nothing at all.

Once his feet were safely back on terra firma, the Mobian sighed and shook her head.

“Please don’t try to run again. It’s pointless and honestly, I can’t manage more than a fast walk, and even then I’m out of breath. I’d much rather we got to know each other over dinner.”

She nodded towards the rectangle of orange light in the distance, still smiling.

“Shall we go inside?”

//

Next Chapter

Master List

[fanwarriorfictions]

Help Me, Help You - Part Two

Fenrys x F!Reader

Summary- Embarking on their journey, Y/n and Fenrys slowly start to learn a little more about each other, to Y/n’s utter annoyance.

Warnings- none

Series Masterlist

Part Two

Y/n follows the golden male, her own pack strapped to her back. Only the essentials, clothes, weapons, and gold, if she needed anything else she could buy it along the way.

They walked for what felt like eternity, the road was well worn into the forest floor, coated in dry fallen leaves, winter would hit here soon. The wind held that chill, bringing it from the northern point of the continent, a familiar feeling on her skin.

The nearest port city would take them nearly another whole day to walk to, and who knew how long after that to get passage to the southern continent.

Y/n had been half tempted to shift and run to their destination, but she stuck to Fenrys, after all she’d sought him out for a reason. As night soon approached, Y/n found herself walking closer to the male’s side. Her brother had told her many stories of the creatures that lurked in the shadows.

“So,” Fenrys says, breaking the long silence they’d fallen into, “If you don’t mind me asking, where’d the cat form come from? Vaughan is the furthest thing from feline.”

A question she’d heard most of her life, one she dreaded deeply.

“None of your business,” Y/n says, and there’s a bite to her voice that she can’t hide.

“No need to get testy, kitten.” The nickname had stuck long after they’d left that little village to her utter dismay. “Just trying to get to know my new partner in crime.”

She glares at him, “We have different fathers, that’s all you need to know.”

It was the simplest version of the story, the only one she was willing to share.

“See was that so hard?”

The male is grinning at her, the expression pulling uncomfortably on the large scars that adorned the side of his face, from his brow to his jaw, just barely missing the onyx eyes that examined her just as closely as she did him.

“Why’d they send you out to look for him?”

Fenrys raises that scarred brow, “I volunteered.”

She hums, looking back at the path before them. The sun was starting to set, turning the sky a deep orange.

“We’ll set up camp here,” Fenrys says, taking his small pack off his shoulders, “Start the fire and I’ll find us something to eat.”

He didn’t give her any time to respond, shifting in a flash into a brilliant white wolf. Y/n took a step back from the to large creature, her heart leaping in her chest.

Her brother had told her of the Moonbeam twins, of their opposite colored forms that could tear men in two with a simple snap of their jaws. She didn’t want to find out what those teeth would feel like around her throat.

The wolf stared at her, a knowing look in those onyx eyes. He turned, darting into the woods, leaving her alone, leaving her to figure out how to start a damn fire.

It didn’t take him long to hunt down a few rabbits, Fenrys was already on his way back before the sun had turned the sky a deep purple.

He’d expected to find a small fire, not Y/n glaring intently at a bundle of sticks and some dried leaves. She clutches another small stick in her hand, holding it tightly enough that it bends beneath her grip.

“I don’t think you can threaten it into starting,” he says, “Though I’d sure love to see you try.”

She startled, looking up at him with wide eyes, her posture rigid, like she was ready to bolt. It takes her a second to really look at him, to realize he’s not a threat, before she relaxes, turning her glare back on the little pile of sticks.

“I can’t get it to start,” she says, throwing that poor bent stick down on the ground.

“Staring at it isn’t going to help,” Fenrys laughs, “Do you even know how?”

Her glare shoot up to him, snapping, “Yes.”

The way she says it, the harsh tone, the self conscious edge to it, tells him that, no, she doesn’t know how to do it.

“What? No one taught you any survival skills, kitten?” Fenrys asks, “I would’ve thought dear old brother would have at least shown you the basics. He always was the outdoorsman of the group.”

Y/n doesn’t snap back like he thought she would, only glares back down at that little pile, as if she could will the fire into starting.

Fenrys sighs, kneeling down in the dirt beside her, taking one of the larger sticks into his hand, placing the slightly sharp edge against one of small pieces of tree bark. Using both his hands to turn the stick back and forth, pushing down with each turn to create more friction. It only takes a few moments for the bark to start smoking, and then a small flame catches, spreading to the dried leaves packed around it.

Fenrys glances at the female beside him, those keen eyes watch his hands closely, like she was trying to memorize the motions.

She seemingly feels his gaze, her eyes jumping up to meet his own, he sees the embarrassment as soon as it hits.

“I haven’t left home much,” she explains, “No one saw fit to teach me.”

She shifts uncomfortably beneath his gaze, so Fenrys looks away, turning his attention to their dinner. He sees her watching in his peripherals as he prepares the the little creatures to be cooked. Her eyes are intently on his hands, watching each cut of his knife. Fenrys takes his time, slowing the motions down, silently teaching.

Fenrys throws the meat onto the fire, “I don’t know much about your brother if I’m being completely honest.”

“Not many do,” Y/n answers, those eyes still on the roasting rabbit, “He’s always been very private, even at home.”

“And where’s that?” Fenrys asks, “Home?”

Finally, those keen eyes look up, lit up by the fire, they look even more cat like than usual.

“North,” she says, quietly like the information was a secret, “A very small village in the Cambrian Mountains.”

Fenrys wouldn’t ask the name of the village, it’s likely he’s never even heard of it, “How’d you get so far from home?”

He didn’t add the fact that she didn’t know basic survival skills, yet the narrowed eyes tells him she heard the unspoken words.

“I traveled much in my other form,” she explains, “The Oakwald Forrest Cats are well used to the cold.”

With the long thick coat he’d seen, it wasn’t a surprise.

“I knew I’d recognized that cat,” Fenrys says.

He’d seen them near Terrasen, yet he’d never seen a fae shift into one. Though many of the fae of Erilea had been long hunted down, the few that remained, the ones he’d found to help them, there hadn’t been a cat among them.

“A gift from my father,” she says blandly, an edge to her voice like the last time he’d asked about her family. Seems her father was a sore spot for her, he tucked that knowledge away for later.

He hums, turning the stick holding his dinner to roast the other side. She did the same with her own, staring into the flame intently for several long minutes.

There was a familiar look in her eyes, one he’d seen in his own many times, like she was lost in a memory, lost in the emotion it came with.

So Fenrys took his dinner from the fire, nudging her own towards her, “Eat up.”

Without even looking at him, or looking away from that spot in the fire, she took her food and ate silently, methodically.

Once she was done, she shifted in a bright flash, curling into a small ball by the fire, her back to him. A clear statement, I don’t want to talk.

He knew the feeling all too well.

They arrived at the small city just south of the Naval port around midday, far quicker than she expected. Fenrys had gone to the docks to look for passage, leaving Y/n to wander the city by herself.

It wasn’t much, yet it was bigger than what she was used to, louder too. There was many voices, vendors hawking their goods, children playing, musicians singing and dancing to music played on improvised instruments.

Overwhelming, Y/n could only stare at it all in her cat form. Moving through crowds and over high beams, dodging hands that reached to pet her soft coat, hissing at to curious people who tried to grab her.

“Here, kitty kitty kitty,” a voice behind her, familiar and annoying.

Fenrys stood there, the human crowds parting around the obviously fae male. He was smiling devilishly at her, holding out what seemed to be a piece of ham from the wrapped sandwich in his hand.

She hissed at him, swatting the offering.

“Awe, come on,” he coos, “Don’t you want a treat, kitten?”

A man walking beside them fell straight on his ass when Y/n shifted, growling at Fenrys.

“Stop calling me that.”

“What? It suits you,” he leans closer to her, drawling out the word, “Kitten. Hey!”

He yells as Y/n rips the sandwich from his grasp. Turning on her heel to stalk away from him while she took a pointedly large bite.

“That was mine,” Fenrys whines, catching up to her in a few strides.

“And where’s mine?” She asks with a raised brow, taking another bite.

“I asked if you were hungry earlier,” Fenrys sighs, throwing his hands in the air, “You’re the one who said no.”

Y/n shrugs, “What’d you find at the docks, anything?”

Fenrys sighs again, turning his gaze away from his stolen sandwich to glare at the sky. That wasn’t good, Y/n thought, they’d be stuck here for weeks waiting for a ship to take them across the sea. Vaughan could be well on his way to the other side of the vast southern continent, and she’d never find him.

“Nothing?” She asks, lowering her hands from her mouth.

Fenrys moves quickly, snatching the lunch from her, “No, actually we leave in the morning.”

She gapes at him, “That was-“

“Mine actually,” he cuts in, biting directly where her mouth had just been, “Did Vaughan not teach you to always keep your guard up either? That was like taking candy from a baby.”

Y/n snarls at him, and Fenrys just laughs. She tries to grab it from him, but the male just held it high above his head, far far above her own.

“Oh quit with the hissing, kitten,” Fenrys laughs, “I’ll get you your own, we need to stock up for our trip anyways.”

“Quit calling me that, you oaf,” she snaps.

Fenrys smirks, patting her head with his free hand once, snatching the hand back as she went to swipe at him.

“Quit reacting so much and maybe I’ll stop.”

She doesn’t respond, only bearing her teeth at him, to which he only laughs, turning on his heel to saunter through the market. Y/n quickly realizes he wasn’t going to wait for her, assuming she’d just follow.

Swearing under her breath, she did just that. Jogging to catch up to the male, who still had that insufferable smirk on his lips as she settled into step beside him.

“I thought you were going to sit there and pout all day,” Fenrys says.

She was half tempted to claw at his smirking face and give him a matching scar on the other side.

“You owe me a sandwich.”

He laughs, “Someone’s mean when she’s hungry. Good to know, I‘ll pack extra snacks.”

“Shut up.”

They spent a several hours traversing through the vast city markets, stocking up on dried meats and cheeses that would hold well on the trip down to the southern continent. Once their bags were packed to the brim, they made their way to the ship, where they’d spend the next few weeks. It was set to leave first thing in the morning, so they hadn’t bothered to find an inn to stay the night in.

Fenrys had been relieved to find a ship that would take them, let alone one that was headed straight to the continent. And in his time on ships, he could say this was one of the nicer ones he’d been on.

The owner was a merchant, one that traded in silks and thread, he claimed to have tailored for Hasar herself. Knowing the female, Fenrys highly doubted she would let the sniveling man anywhere near her.

Fenrys had more than enough gold to pay for the trip across the sea, and enough to splurge on a private room away from the shared hammocks below deck.

He dropped his heavy pack onto the small desk by the door, falling face first onto the small bunk pressed against the wall with a satisfied groan. Fenrys appreciated the gentle sway of the ship beneath him, mostly because it was about to take him far away from this suffocating continent.

Behind him, Y/n quietly shut their door, carefully arranging her bag onto the opposite bunk, much more refined than his careless approach.

Fenrys turned his head just enough to see her. Either she didn’t notice his gaze or didn’t care, her focus stays on her bag, on the clothes she dug out. She methodically arranged her items, something Fenrys noticed she did a lot, she’d done it that morning when they packed out their little camp, later in the market when she stored away her things. Like there was something soothing about the repetition, like it calmed whatever was happening in her mind.

Fenrys would like to learn something similar, if only to stop the endless thoughts and emotions that, even after several months, still ran constantly through his head.

Her eyes finally turned to him, catching his stare. Suddenly he felt like he wasn’t meant to be watching, and the embarrassment of being caught had his cheeks darkening. There was really no reason for it, it wasn’t like he’d been watching her change.

“I’m going to go freshen up,” she says casually, her eyes not missing the blush, “Don’t miss me to much.”

She moved to the door, and Fenrys found himself tracking the movement, pushing up to rest on his elbows. She moved silently, like she always did, that feline grace that would put the silent assassins of the red desert to shame.

“I miss you already, kitten,” Fenrys sighs dramatically as she opens the door.

A hiss, a slam of the door, and she’s gone. Fenrys smiled to himself, settling back into his bunk. The gentle sway of the ship had him yawning before to long, the somewhat comfortable bunk didn’t help either, compared to the last few sleeping arrangements it was like laying on a cloud

As he drifted off to sleep, he saw keen eyes watching him, directly through his mask of confidence and swagger, staring into his soul, broken and dark, yet not seeming to care. Fenrys could only stare back, wishing he could see past her own shields.

Tag List

@emma-andrea