#so much has happened and they do their best to improve

[ice-man-goes-bwoah]

Brother||Platonic!Max verstappen x Fem!reader

Summary— Max has to say goodbye to the little sister he took under his wing

The beginning of this fic is based on this video

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP81gqepM/

Tagging— @ironmaiden1313

Warning character death sad angsty read at your own risk

Max sat on the chair next to y/n's bed looking down at the girl. His friendship with her was important as she was like a little sister to him. Even then he saw himself in the younger girl — another version of him, hardworking and dedicated to the sport.

Max always thought Y/n would make it to Formula One if it wasn’t for the accident. She would have been a possible contender for the second Red Bull seat, which Max would do anything to make happen. Just like he’d do anything to wake her up.

He thought back to when they had that interview when y/n joked saying that “Max wasn’t allowed to retire until they were teammates,” something that he was fine with.

"Hi, I'm Max Verstappen, and I'm a Miami taxi driver," Max joked. Y/n smiled at the camera and introduced herself, "Hi, I'm Y/n l/n, and I'm an F1 academy driver."

The two drivers were seated in the rear of the car, with Max holding a can of Red Bull, and Y/n clutching her water bottle. They both were wearing a Red Bull team polo shirt and a hat to match.

Max turned to Y/n and teased, "That sounded better than my intro," which led to a chuckle from both of them. "Stroopwafels or Poffertjes?" Y/n asked, sparking a friendly debate. "I would go with Stroopwafels, but that's only because I think I had too many Poffertjes when I was growing up," Max replied with a grin. The interviewer then asked about their most memorable races.

"For me, it's Barcelona because my first win was there," Y/n said, smiling and nodding her head. "Winning my first Formula 1 race, as well " Max responded with enthusiasm. "That was your first win in Barcelona, right?" the interviewer clarified. "Yep, Barcelona is good to us," Max confirmed, looking over at Y/n. "Yeah, Barcelona is good to us," Y/n chimed in.

The memory of the thrilling moment lingers vividly in her mind. She vividly recalls the exhilarating instant she surpassed Lia Block just as they crossed the finish line, securing first place. Her veins pulsed with adrenaline as she gingerly rose from the car, feeling the weight of her legs and the trembling sensation. With a triumphant smile, she emerged from the car and dashed toward the barrier where her team awaited, leaping into the air amidst the cheering crowd. Y/n's heart pounded wildly in her ears, reminiscent of the thundering sound of galloping horses in full stride.

The interview moved on to discussing their racing career and their experiences. Y/n shared how she started in karting and worked her way up through the motorsport ladder. Max chimed in, recalling his karting origins as well as the passion and dedication throughout his journey. The interviewer asked, "What's the best part about being a driver?"

Max answered, "It's the adrenaline rush of racing and the feeling of success when you win a race." "I agree," Y/n added. "The thrill of racing and the satisfaction of improving." The interview continued, and the conversation shifted to their off-track lives.

"What's your favorite pastime outside of racing?" the interviewer asked. "I like to relax and spend time with friends and family," Y/n replied. Max chuckled and added, "I'm a bit of a video game enthusiast."

"I've learned that playing video games requires as much focus and skill as racing," Y/n teased. "So, Max, any special someone in your life?" the interviewer jokes, prompting smiles from both drivers.

Max chuckled and jokingly replied, "Yeah, my two cats." Y/n joined in, chiming in with, "I have a goldfish, does that count?" Causing everyone around them to laugh at her statement. The interview took a lighthearted turn as they began discussing their favorite tracks and memories.

"Apart from Barcelona, what's your favorite track?" the interviewer asked. "Spa," Y/n responded without hesitation. "The Belgian crowds are amazing, and it's a historic track."

Max nodded, adding, "Spa's a good one. For me, it's hard to beat my home track, Zandvoort."

“Oooh I love Zandvoort” y/n responded with a gleam in her eyes. Max grinned, looking at Y/n's enthusiasm. "I knew you had good taste in tracks," he teased. "Zandvoort has a unique atmosphere, and the fans are passionate." The interview moved on to questions about their relationship, and the conversation took a more serious turn. "It's no secret that you two have a close relationship," the interviewer said. "How would you describe your bond?" Max looked at Y/n, waiting for her to respond. Y/n smiled and spoke with confidence, "We're like siblings. We know each other inside and out, and we can rely on each other no matter what." Max added to her answer, saying, "We support each other both on and off the track. It's a rare connection, and I'm grateful for it." The interviewer smiled and nodded “And lastly do the two of you see yourselves as teammates in the future?” They asked.

Max looked at Y/n, and they both smiled before Max responded with a hint of determination. "That's the plan. Y/n and I have been working together for years, pushing each other and learning from each other. Together, we could make history." Y/n nodded in agreement.

“I also told Max that he’s not allowed to retire until we become teammates” Y/n jokes. Max chuckled and jokingly retorted, "I guess I'll have to stick around for a bit longer, then." Y/n smiled, adding, "You better keep that promise. We have big dreams to fulfill." The interviewer wrapped up the interview, expressing gratitude to both Y/n and Max for the insightful conversation. As they walked out of the studio, Max turned to Y/n. "You know, you have a way with words." Y/n shrugged, "What can I say? We're a great team." "We are," Max agreed, putting his arm around Y/n's shoulder. "But I have to admit, you saying that I can't retire until we become teammates was pretty funny."

“Oh I was serious” Max chuckled, raising an eyebrow. "Are you saying you'll try to block my retirement?” Y/n shrugged with a mischievous smile, "If that's what it takes to become teammates, then you bet I will."

Max shook his head in amused disbelief. "You're something else, you know that?"

Y/n just smiled, enjoying the lighthearted banter between them. “Trust me Max I know”

Wiping away the tears from his eyes Max's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the hospital room door opening. A nurse entered, checking on Y/n's vitals and making sure everything was alright.

Taking a moment to observe the girl, Max couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness. Despite the steady beeping of the heart monitor, Y/n lay eerily still in her bed, her condition critical.

The nurse, sensing Max's concern, walked over to him. She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder rubbing her thumb against his shoulder.

“You should go home and get some rest” the nurse suggested in a soft but firm tone. Max scoffed at her statement he wasn’t exactly in the mood for unsolicited advice from anyone at the moment.

"How is she doing?" Max inquired, his voice filled with worry, he didn’t care about anything else that wasn’t his friend.

The nurse glanced at Y/n's chart before responding, "Her condition remains critical, but no change so far."

Max nodded, staring at Y/n's still form, praying for some sign of improvement.

“I meant what I said before Mr.Verstappen you should go home and rest. I don’t think your friend would want you to sit here and beat yourself up over something you can’t control.” The nurse says with a tight-lipped smile and a soft tone.

Max turned his attention back to his friend. He reached out to hold Y/n's hand, feeling the coolness of her skin against his own.

"Come on, Y/n. You've got to pull through," Max whispered, his voice cracking slightly.

Max closed his eyes, recalling the memory of the accident vividly. He could still hear the sound of the collision and the sight of Y/n's car spinning out of control. It was a scene that he had replayed countless times in his mind.

He remembered the rush of fear and adrenaline when he first saw the accident and the way his heart stopped when he realized it was Y/n in the mangled car.

Max clenched his fists, the emotions from that day flooding back to him. The helplessness he had felt as he watched the paramedics rush to the scene, the desperate hope that she would be okay. And the sickening feeling in his stomach when he was informed of the extent of her injuries.

Y/n’s skin was covered in dark purple bruises and cuts that were covered with gauze, curious Max reached over and grabbed the folder that contained the information about Y/n’s injuries. She had eternal bruises and a fractured rib followed by two broken ones; her femur, the radius, and the ulna in her right arm were also broken. The more Max read on her injuries the more he felt sick to his stomach.

Y/n also had a small hairline fracture in her skull instinctively Max touched the side of his head from when he had his big accident back in 2021 during the Silverstone Grand Prix realizing how lucky he was. Continuing reading the charts y/n was also punctured by a piece of carbon fiber slicing through her Kidney, Liver, and aorta artery causing major blood loss the more Max read about y/n the sicker he felt.

The accident had happened during a pre-season Barcelona test. It was supposed to be just a routine session, a chance to try out some new car parts and strategize for the upcoming season.

But things went awry when Y/n lost control of her car on the rain-dampened track. Her car skidded out of control, slamming into the safety barrier with a sickening crunch.

The impact had been severe, and Max's heart stopped as he watched the chaotic scene unfolding before him. Max watched on the monitors as the medics worked on pulling her bloodied and unconscious form from the wreckage.

In that instant, Max's world had shifted. The laughter and banter they had shared just moments ago in the interview room now felt like a cruel echo of the present. As he sat by her bedside, holding her motionless hand, all Max could think about was how unfair life could be.

Somehow by the grace of god, Max was convinced that he should go home, shower, and rest. Sighing Max walked into his apartment tossing his keys onto the table by the door he was also greeted by his two cats Jimmy and Sassy who he was grateful to see.

“Hi guys,” Max says squatting down to pet the cats who were happy to see their dad. “Are you hungry?” Max asked walking into the kitchen to feed the cats. Once the cats were fed and happy Max went to his bedroom turning on the light he walked over to his dresser picking out clean clothes to put on after his shower. Emptying his pockets Max plugged in his phone to charge while he was showing.

In the bathroom, Max gazed at his reflection in the mirror. He appeared worn out, with a complexion flushed and swollen from tears. His eyes were bloodshot and stung from sleep deprivation, and the dark circles beneath them were a deep shade of purple. Once Max took in his appearance he turned in the shower to the desired temperature of water and stripped out of his clothes.

The hot water felt good on his sore muscles, something Max was grateful for in that moment. He stood there underneath the water until it turned cold. That's when Max got out of the shower and got dressed. It wasn’t long after his shower Max got into bed for the night sleep welcoming him as soon as his head hit the pillow.

Max was woken up by the sound of his phone ringing groaning out in exhaustion. He sat up in bed and looked at his phone to see who was calling him. Max felt his heart race at the sight of y/n’s calling him. Max immediately. Answered her phone call.

“Mrs. L/n is everything alright?” Max asked, standing up to pace around his bedroom.

Max was met with silence from the other end of the phone “Oh Max I’m so sorry” Mrs. L/n lets out shakily and Max’s heart breaks even more than it already was.

“No no she didn’t— she’s still here she has to be,” Max says in denial refusing to accept the harsh reality that his friend was gone.

"Max, I'm sorry. She’s gone," Mrs. L/n says, letting out a broken sob, and with a single sentence Max's whole world came crashing down around him with a choking sob and an anguishing scream.

———-

The warmth she felt was a kind of warmth that radiated from the sun and she also felt safe, which was kinda ironic since the last thing she could remember was her car spinning out of control just before crashing into the barrier before her whole world had gone pitch black and cold.

Opening her eyes Y/n noticed that she was lying in soft green grass looking around she noticed a group of people standing around a freshly dug grave. Confused, Y/n stood up brushing off the black dress pants she was wearing. Black pants that she didn’t remember putting on hell Y/n didn’t even remember how she got here in the cemetery.

The closer y/n got to the group of people she realized that these were her closest friends and family. Looking around she noticed Max who stood tall and composed, dressed in a black suit as he looked out over the funeral service. It was a beautiful ceremony, yet the grief weighed heavily in the palpable air.

As Y/n approached the group, no one seemed to notice her presence. They were all deeply immersed in the funeral service, their faces etched with grief and sadness. The air was heavy with a mix of sorrow and acceptance, a stark reminder of the reality they were facing.

Her parents were seated in the front row, silently weeping. Max stood nearby, his gaze fixed on the open grave where her coffin would soon be lowered.

Feeling out of place and utterly confused, Y/n tried to approach Max, hoping to get his attention. But as she neared him, her body passed directly through him, making her gasp in surprise.

Max didn't react, not even seeming to notice the feeling of her presence passing through him. It was a surreal and unsettling experience for Y/n, who couldn't make sense of what was happening.

a realization dawned on Y/n as she took in her surroundings, the people gathered at the funeral, and the grave that was awaiting her. She remembered the accident and the blackness that followed, the absence of any feeling or sensation.

"Am I...am I dead?" she asked aloud, her voice barely above a whisper.

The realization hit her like a ton of bricks, crashing down on her with the weight of finality. She wasn't just injured or in a coma; she had lost her life in the tragic accident.

Tears welled up in Y/n's eyes, her chest feeling tight as the reality of her situation sank in. She had been so focused on her dreams and ambitions, so determined to become a Formula 1 driver, and now it was all over.

She looked at her parents, grief-stricken and tearful, and then at Max, a man who had become like a brother to her through their shared passion and friendship.

The weight of sadness and regret settled deeply in her heart as she watched Max standing there, stoically carrying on without her. As the ceremony continued, Y/n realized that she was nothing more than a specter, an observer of the event that marked her death. She was a ghost, unseen and unheard, a silent witness.

The realization was both heartbreaking and surreal. She had dreams, aspirations, and a future that had all been snatched away in a single instant.

At that moment, Y/n just wanted to reach out and touch Max, to tell him how much he meant to her and how much she would miss him.

But she knew it was futile. She was trapped in this ghostly state, unable to interact with the living world in any meaningful way.

All Y/n could do was watch from the sidelines as her friends and family said their final farewells, her heart aching with a mixture of sorrow and longing.

Soon the funeral came to an end and y/n watched as Max placed a single flower on top of the coffin.

“Vaarwel Zus,” Max says with a whisper.

As Max stepped back from the grave, the finality of the situation weighed heavily on him. Y/n saw the grief etched on his face, mingled with a sense of loss and acceptance.

"Vaarwel," Max whispered again, his voice filled with nostalgia and sadness.

Y/n watched as her mom approached Max, her voice filled with a mixture of gratitude and sorrow. Tears streamed down her face, and she struggled to find the right words.

"Max," she said, her voice quivering, "Thank you for being there for my daughter. She always spoke so fondly of you. You were like family to her."

Max, his expression filled with a hint of sadness, placed a comforting hand on her mom's arm.

"Y/n was also family to me," he replied softly. "She was one of the strongest and most determined people I've ever known. I'm honored to have been her friend."

Y/n smiled faintly as she listened to their conversation. Despite the circumstances, it warmed her heart to know that Max cared deeply for her and that their bond extended beyond their shared passion for racing.

“Oh Max you should have been there" She got the call for pre-season testing in Barcelona. She was so excited I've never seen her so happy Y/n was excited to become your teammate” Mrs.L/n says

Max's eyes softened upon hearing those words. He remembered how Y/n had joked about them becoming teammates, and a pang of sadness hit him. That dream would never become a reality now.

"I remember," Max responded, his voice filled with nostalgia and regret. "She deserved that chance. Y/n had more talent and determination than anyone I knew."

Mrs.L/n nodded, tears still streaming down her face. "She looked up to you, you know."

Max looked down, guilt and sorrow filling his heart. "I should have been there to guide her, to support her. But it's too late now."

Mrs.L/n reached out to grasp Max's arm gently. "Don't blame yourself, Max. You were an excellent friend to her. Y/n was an amazing girl, but fate had other plans."

Max's eyes met Mrs.L/n's, and he saw a mixture of pain and acceptance. "I'll always feel like I could have done more. She was so young, with so much potential and ambition."

Mrs.L/n's voice trembled as she spoke again. "She had so many dreams. She wanted to make her mark in Formula 1."

"And she would have," Max said, his voice filled with conviction. "Y/n was born to race."

They stood there in silence, the weight of the loss hanging heavily. Max's mind was flooded with memories of Y/n - the laughter, the banter, the shared passion for racing. The emptiness she left behind felt immense.

The connection they had was unique, and now with Y/n gone, Max felt the absence more than ever. He could only hope that wherever she was, Y/n was surrounded by peace and happiness.

Mrs.L/n looked up at Max, gratitude filling her eyes. "You were like a brother to her, Max. Thank you for being there for her. Thank you for being a part of her life."

Max gently squeezed her arm, his voice cracking with emotion. "I was lucky to have her as a friend. Y/n was one of the best people I've ever known. She'll always be in my heart."

They stood there, two people connected by a profound loss, each silently honoring the memory of Y/n. The bond they shared, forged through their love for her, would endure with time.

Mrs.L/n hugged Max tightly, her body trembling with grief. "Please take care of yourself," she murmured. Max nodded, holding her close and providing comfort and unwavering support.

"I will," he assured her. "I'll make sure to honor Y/n's memory and continue living passionately. That's what she would have wanted."

They shared a moment of silent understanding before Mrs.L/n pulled back, her eyes still filled with tears. Max stepped back, watching as she walked towards the car with her husband and children, leaving him alone at the graveyard.

Y/n stood there with tears streaming down her face as she listened to her mom and friend talk about her. All she could do was smile sadly at the two of them as they had their conversation. She watched as her mom and Max had one last hug before parting ways.

“Goodbye, Mom I love you,” Y/n says, reaching out fingertips lightly brushing against her mom's arm causing her to falter in her steps looking over to where her daughter stood, seeing nothing she shook her head and kept walking the car.

Y/n turned to look at Max who stood firm in his position “Thank you Max for everything” she said reaching up to try to wipe away one of his tears.

Max was overwhelmed by a sense of comfort that washed over him as If it was warm and comforting. Looking up and around, Max couldn't shake the feeling that Y/n's presence was with him. He was certain that she was right there with him.

“Thank you for everything Y/n” Max says, smiling a small smile.

“tot ziens broer” Y/n whispers before going into the light.

[cherrychilli]

18+ Eddie Munson x F! reader, reader has an oral fixation, slight blood play, biting, tiny bodily injury (it's all consensual) WC: 771

A/N: It's been a while so I can't remember what exactly spurred this idea on but I thought it was super romantic and I had to write it. Think of that what you will. Enjoy!

It started when you began biting your finger nails when you were younger. The urge only stayed with you, progressing as the years went by, the only improvement being that your nails were no longer marred because you found other things to latch your lips and teeth on.

Eddie knew about it long before you two got together, never showing any judgement even those few times you forgot yourself and left bite marks on the pencils he let you borrow. He used them just the same, even favoring them over his unmarked stationary whenever he mapped out a new campaign or song, running his thumb along the little depressions carved in the shape of your teeth.

And when you started seeing each other you couldn't help wanting to place your lips on him in this way too. For a start, you'd bite him over his clothes, always making sure to be gentle. Then on his bare shoulder, his bicep, his forearm, his waist, anywhere you could fit your teeth over him.

He found the whole thing endearing, lucky for you.

It's always gentle at first, light biting and nibbling to calm yourself. But then you found yourself wanting to mark him too.

At first it was just a bunch of hickeys, like splashes of wine on his alabaster skin but when you sucked on his fingers your mind turned full with thoughts of a particular kind of mark you wanted to leave on him.

A mark much more significant than the rest.

You tried to hide it at first but he could always tell whenever you were holding back. Eddie treated you delicately when he managed to coax it out of you one evening, large, warm hands cupping your cheeks, the sweetest smile on his lips and all just for you.

You were reluctant at first, afraid of possibly hurting him but once you finally let it out, Eddie was onboard instantly.

"Are you sure? it's going to hurt", you tell him, still not entirely convinced this was a good idea.

"Baby, I'm built for pain, look at me", he pulls up his sleeve to show off the puppet master tattooed on his forearm, gesturing to the others as well as a reminder that he's more than capable of enduring pain after all those lengthy stick and poke sessions.

"Okay...but if you change your mind at any point you have to tell me Eds, promise?" you make sure to let him know only for him to reply, grinning. "There's no way this isn't happening, babe. I'm all yours so let me have it".

So carefully, you hold his left hand by his wrist, kissing the pad of his ring finger before you slowly take it into your mouth, sucking lightly on the digit, taking more and more of it into your mouth until you could reach the knuckle.

There's always that whisper of arousal that rises up like smoke whenever he lets you do this to him, the sight of your soft lips circling him so perfectly, the slippery silk of your tongue draping over his callused fingers.

But the best is yet to come.

Your eyes flick up to his face and he gives you the go ahead with a nod, no hesitation evident on his face. Only excitement.

So you bite down, harder than all the times before but still showing some restraint. Copper and salt flood your mouth, confirmation that you've broken the skin and you immediately pull away to look at Eddie's bloody finger. You lick up as much of the blood as you can, red working its way between your teeth.

You both sit there staring when most of the bleeding ceases, a thin, jagged bleeding ring carved into his skin.

If anyone were to ask him which of all his rings he liked best he'd say it's this one - the one that'll never come off. The one that matters the most.

"Okay. Now it's your turn, beautiful", he smiles at you and you smile back all excited, eagerly placing your left hand in his.

When Eddie bites down it feels like the beginning of something new, your ring finger throbbing with a matching bite mark and you couldn't feel happier about it.

Once the blood clears and the wounded skin heals over the next couple of days you look at your matching scars, overcome with emotion because they mean so much more than any band of gold or silver or any of the finest jewels ever could.

Your commitment to each other is bone deep and written it blood and you wouldn't want to have it any other way.

[yanderedrabbles]

Yandere Movie Week [review]

Day 1 - Fear (1996)

Yandere Scale: 8/10

Overall Rating: 7/10

Fear does exactly what it's supposed to. Not perfectly by any means, but well enough that I don't mind spending an hour and a half in its world.

A very fun world too - cute fashion, a great score, pleasing cinematography and a male lead who slowly becomes more despicable the longer the film goes on. Alyssa Milano, Mark Wahlberg and Reese Witherspoon look incredible the entire movie. And I guess their acting isn't bad either.

We start off with a man out on a jog. And we know it's going to be a thriller because a) shaky cam and b) very dramatic music just two minutes in. Great start. After that, we're introduced to Nicole (Reese Witherspoon), a high schooler with a slightly strained relationship with her dad and teenage angst lite.

She's cute. The girl next door with a daddy's girl bracelet and a kid brother who loves her. If she didn't have the bad luck of running into a bad man, I'd say things would have worked out just dandy.

But no such luck. Not for you kid.

Enter David.

He walks on screen to audible screams from the audience (me). He's hot. And the way he's introduced is hot. Shady bar, music in the background, leather jacket delinquents playing pool. From the get go, he screams bad boy. Rubbing (read: jerking off) his pool cue - at hip height - while looking at our female lead? C'mon, that's too easy.

I won't go into detail, but they obviously end up in a relationship. And it's hot stuff. At one point, he has his hand up her her skirt while they're on a rollercoaster. Yeah, we all see the symbolism. Coming (down) must be pretty fun on a ride like that, huh Nic?

It's not great the entire movie - their first conversation is stilted and awkward, filled with clichés. But the build up in tension is what does it for me.

There are plenty of little things that tip you off from the get go. David isn't as nice as he seems, not by a long shot.

It starts with a few tense looks between him and Nicole's dad. Just a father being a bit picky, right? Nope. He turns back the office clock so he can have a little more time with Nicole before curfew. He flirts with her best friend. He tells Nicole to, "Get me a coke." Bossy. Commanding.

I'll be honest, if I didn't know the synopsis of the film, I'd say dear old dad was being overly protective. Nope. Those red flags are about as red as they can get.

When things start going off the rails, the movie handles it pretty well. The scenes are decently tense, even though they're missing that little bit of careful handling that would make them terrifying.

As a yandere, David does everything you'd expect. He's manipulative. He's violent. He doesn't know where to draw the line in anything. Oh, and he's hot. Did I mention that already?

He's a Levi's and t-shirt kind of guy, with a great car, a nice voice, and biceps you want to sink your teeth into. When it comes to deranged stalkers, you can do a LOT worse.

The third act is a ball of a time. There's room for it to have been a bit more tense - it suffers from being a little too short, the twists not having enough time to breathe. The pace doesn't feel quick in the so much happening, I'm at the edge of my seat sort of way, but in the oh no, we only have the budget for thirty more minutes of run time sort of way.

Still, it's very enjoyable. David says and does plenty of very yandere things. I'm absolutely stealing some of his lines.

In terms of style, the movie is a knockout. I think it's a big part of what carries my recommendation. The cinematography is really pleasing, with lots of reds and dark greens. Very 'Seattle on a rainy day.' The sound track is totally 90's, with a nice mix of rock, pop and indie. It gives the movie a sense of place and time that exponentially improves the story.

How does it hold up as a piece of yandere media? It doesn't do anything radical or new, but the classics it sticks to are done well enough that it's worth the watch.

Oh, and David is very hot. I don't know if I mentioned that. 

Day 1 - Fear (1996)

Day 2 - Secret Obsession (2019)

Day 3 - Hush (2016)

Day 4 - The Perfect Guy (2015)

Day 5 - The Boy Next Door (2015)

Day 6 - The Invisible Man (2020)

Day 7 - Til Death Do Us Part (2017)

[intimidating-fettuccine]

can we have zalgo with a sick s/o on their perioddd if u haven’t done it yet, thank you in advance ilyily 💞

You most certainly can <3 AFAB reader, and very soft Zalgo coming right up~!

Zalgo, despite the small amount of time he generally gets to spend with you, is very adept at noticing when something is wrong. It's like this man has a sixth sense for noticing things with you, because the second you get sick he can almost physically feel it, and he's immediately taking a break from his work to come find you and check on you. When he does find you, curled up in his bed and feeling quite weak, he's by your side in an instant, checking your temperature and asking if you're feeling alright. When you tiredly answer that you're feeling sick that's enough to have his heart clenching, but when you add on additionally that you've just started your period, he's making a sympathetic noise right alongside you.

I feel like Zalgo is the type to keep track of things like that, and he feels foolish for being so caught up with his work that he didn't realize it was already that time of the month for you. In an act of concern for you, Zalgo decides to take the rest of the day off to remain by your side (something he rarely does due to the high volume of work he has), because he can't stand the thought of you suffering through sickness and a period by yourself. He rushes to get you whatever it is you might need, be it more pillows and blankets, a heating pad, your favorite foods and drinks, any activities you might want to do, or the finest medicines he can get you, running you a hot bath with the most expensive scents and soaps, nothing is too much for his lover. It's easy to forget how truly caring and attentive he can be, with how often he's taken away from you due to his work as the king and his side business, but his love for you fully shines through in a situation like this. When he's not getting things for you, he's curled around you, snuggling you and covering you in kisses, just wishing for you to feel better. Even when you eventually fall asleep he can't tear himself from your side, looking for even the smallest signs of discomfort. As a demon, he's quite resilient to things, but with you being a human you're so much more fragile, and it makes him so worried that something could happen to you, a thought that he can't bear to think about.

The following day he must return to work, but he doesn't want you to have to suffer alone, so he has a luxurious bed moved into his office for you so that you can rest comfortably and he can keep his eyes on you. He has the best doctor he can find to attend to you, and should you need anything he calls upon his employees to fetch things for you (because let's be honest, his employees worry about you just as much as he does). He chats with you throughout the day as he works, making sure you're feeling alright and that you have everything you might need, and it brings him great joy when you tell him you're already feeling better than yesterday. He takes breaks to sit with you (and give you even more cuddles and kisses), and to eat with you and make sure you're doing well. Throughout the coming days, he beckons you to continue joining him in his office, even when your symptoms have calmed down and your period isn't as uncomfortable, just so he can make sure you're truly improving. It's quite funny how soft he is on you, considering he's the demon king of the Underworld, but nothing will stop this man from worrying over you and making sure you're well taken care of. He just loves you far too much to let you endure anything by yourself.

[yanderes-galore]

Hii!! Could I get Mikasa from AOT with your prompts 4, 14, and 38?

As for the plot, maybe the time takes place somewhere around season 1? Where Mikasa desperately tries to convince Darling to not join the Scouts and to choose any other regiment instead. Of course, she'll follow them wherever they go, she just can't bear the fight of them dying to the Titans and the outside world, she just wants to protect her love :(

Yandere! Mikasa Ackerman Prompts 4, 14, 38

"My heart belongs to you, I'll adore anything you do to it."

"It's too dangerous in the world. You need me, you should know that!"

"My life has been so barren without you...."

Pairing: Platonic -> Romantic (Implied to turn romantic near end of fic)

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Obsession, Overprotective behavior, Paranoia, Fear of loss, Manipulation, Dubious companionship/relationship.

Mikasa has always cared for you since you were children.

You and her had met when she was following Eren and Armin around. Since then, she's never been able to forget your smile as you offer to hang out. At first she was hesitant with that idea...

Yet when Eren encouraged her, she relented.

You had often hung around her and the others. While she was quiet most of the time, she can't deny that she found your company soothing. You... added something to her life.

For better or for worse.

It had been rough when the Colossal Titan and Armored Titans broke in the walls of your childhood district. Mikasa was worried the titans had gotten to you. However... You showed up as a cadet to train against the threat outside the walls.

Since then, Mikasa has never truly taken her eyes off you for long.

Even when you don't notice her, Mikasa watched you through your cadet days. You go into a lot less trouble than Eren... But Mikasa is always worried about you. You had all trained together for two long years as cadets.

Enough time for Mikasa to realize things about herself that she never thought she would.

In the early days together, Mikasa took on the role of your best friend. Maybe even like a sister to you. You, other than Eren and Armin, were family to her

She's always vowed to protect you just like the rest of her friends. For the longest time, that's all it was. She was meant to help you grow, improve, and survive.

When you were just training as cadets together, it felt oddly... innocent. Despite what you were all training to do, Mikasa couldn't help but find the time with you comfortable. It reminded her that you're both comrades.

Yet she didn't realize that as those years ticked by you meant a lot more to her than she thought...

Not until it was time for graduation, at least.

"I want to join the Scouts like Eren."

You had pulled her aside after a training session to speak to her near the barracks. You knew how adamant Eren was in his goal to destroy the Titans. It seemed you shared the same sentiment....

Mikasa didn't realize how much she dreaded hearing those words until you said them. The Scouts... the regiment that would send you off to fight Titans. The very same regiment that had the highest death toll out of the three.

While you were entitled to your choice... Mikasa couldn't help but feel ill at the thought. Truth is she wished Eren would also join a different regiment. Yet she knew better than to change his mind.

For some odd reason... She can't bear the thought of what could happen to you. The thought of you getting yourself hurt caused her heart to be faster. Normally she tries to be silent about this...

But Mikasa still found herself speaking up.

"No! You shouldn't." Mikasa finds herself admitting, almost surprised by her sudden objection.

You look puzzled by Mikasa's refusal, your friend realizing she now needs to explain herself. There's a tense yet concerned silence between you two before you speak again.

"... Mikasa... why–?" You ask cautiously, noting the concern on her face.

The woman in front of you changes her expression to look more stern when you ask her such a question. Why? What did you mean why?

Have you been unable to tell how hard she's been trying to protect you?

She's harsh on you during training. She's always followed you around to prevent you from getting into trouble. You... don't realize how much she needs you...

She pauses, eyes narrowing when she realizes what she just thought. She... needs you. You make her feel alive, you make her feel like life's worth living for...

Maybe Eren can handle himself... but you?

"It's too dangerous in the world. You need me, you should know that." Mikasa states coldly, watching you with a darkened gaze.

You shift against the wall of the barracks. Mikasa was known to be stern and stoic. Yet the tone she uses feels... disapproving.

As if she's scolding you for your decision.

You try to protest, yet immediately go quiet when Mikasa steps closer. Such behavior puts you on edge. Mikasa has always been passive and observant...

But now her gaze holds conviction, as if she's determined to keep you in her sights at all times.

"... My life has been so barren without you...." Mikasa finds herself confessing, gaze wandering before glancing back at you. Her scarf covers her face a bit.

Despite being so overprotective and stern around you... You weren't expecting to see her become so vulnerable due to your decision.

You almost feel bad.

"Mikasa, I'm sorry...." You murmur. The woman in front of you just watches you, as if scanning for any sign of you lying.

Then you're met with a sigh and a hug.

"I can't lose you... I won't let it happen..." Mikasa whispers, keeping you caged against her chest. It's as though she's afraid she'll lose you to the Titans if she lets go. "I need... I need to protect you."

In reality Mikasa found herself wanting to say she needs you. She wants to be the one around you all the time. She wants to keep you hidden behind the walls... To keep you in her sight....

Although, when she sees you're unwilling to change your mind, Mikasa realizes what she must do. Truth is, Mikasa was going to follow you wherever you went. If you were going to join the Scouts... If you were going to follow Eren's example...

She was going to be there anyway.

"You... won't listen to me, will you?" Mikasa asks quietly. "Even if I say I don't want to lose you...?"

You hesitate but confirm what she asks. Yes, you were going to join the Scouts. In your mind... It's the least you can do to protect humanity.

Mikasa processes your answer... yet soon she accepts it.

You weren't leaving her though... Even if others wanted her to go to the Military Police for her skills... It isn't worth it if you aren't there.

"... I'm coming with you."

Once again, Mikasa's tone is stern. It's as though she's stating it. You can't negotiate with her and she can't negotiate with you. So, just like she did with you, you accept that statement.

"... Are you sure?" You ask, Mikasa not bothering to answer.

It was obvious how she felt...

You weren't going to leave her sight, she's been like this since you were all young.

"... Then, let's rest, there’s a big day ahead of us...." You answer, patting Mikasa's back before leaving for your quarters.

Mikasa takes a moment to watch you go, readjusting the scarf on her neck for a moment. As she observes you, she begins to wonder about how she feels towards you.

Did... she really see you as a friend...?

Or was this fueled by something else entirely?

"... My heart belongs to you, I'll adore anything you do to it." Mikasa quietly whispers to herself, hiding her mouth with her scarf.

This must be love... Why else would she follow you to hell and back?

Why else would she protect you from everything?

No matter where you went, Mikasa would follow. To her, it didn't matter what happened. She always felt she had to shadow you... She loves you... she knows that now....

So even if she has to follow you onto the battlefield, even if she dies...

Mikasa will devote herself to you, no matter the cost if it means you're hers... one way or another.

[fantasystrangers]

❛most often i prefer to be the one who’s playing... though it’s fun watching someone else play also, almost like you’re looking over the shoulder of a friend as you sit at his parents’ computer.❜ anton chuckled, wrinkles of laughter appearing for a moment around his eyes. ❛voice acting is different from talking, though, it’s... almost like you’re recording an audiobook. some of my friends listen to those and i’ve heard how that sounds. the narrator has to put on their storytelling voice, so to say. i imagine a stammer would just get in the way,❜ he grimaced sympathetically. ❛i get what you mean.❜

❛...ohh. sorry! some of my friends have lost people from their families, so my mind wandered to a dark place there.❜ anton rubbed his arm, sinking into himself for a moment, shaking his head. way to brighten up a conversation, huh? but then again, death was a part of life, as much as it hurt happening to a beloved person. and despite it happening, that person would want their living beloved to try to find reasons to keep walking and be happy. right?...

❛bardbarian. nice.❜ he laughed, content to move onto a happier topic. ❛i also play a bard- umm, played, once, when my friends and i tried dungeons and dragons. but the party had a healer and a fighter type characters as well. life often challenges us, even if just in little ways, and we gotta stay on our feet and try to be flexible. easier said than done, of course, but, yeah.❜

he felt himself smiling. ❛i try to keep my inner child alive. treat others the way you want to be treated.❜ then his face became serious. ❛again, better in theory than in practice... but life is about finding what you like doing and what you’re good at, checking out different ways to improve your skills, and being helpful to others in the way that makes you feel the best way. among other things.❜

he had to admit, russell had a really nice laugh, too. definitely a sound he was going to try and make happen more often...

❛you have a cat? aawww! what colour is she?❜ anton put his phone down, tapping the screen so it would stay on for a bit longer to make the photo visible. ❛roffe. though if you ask him, he’s probably called “best boy”.❜ he laughed again, then sighed happily, looking at the photo once more. ❛he’s very clever. and he loves to play. i taught him how to fetch frisbees. and i love snuggling with him...❜

❛cartoons make me wish i could be a voice actor. it’s probably less fun than you think it is, like with every job, but it’s certainly not something ordinary that might get boring. if you have the opportunity to do so, you should try to work something you like, to make life a bit easier and more enjoyable. and that being said, i’m amazed. not just by the voice actors... the artists who draw the characters, the animators... it’s awesome.❜

after another dreamy sigh, anton seemed to return to reality. ❛first work, then play. no kid likes to do homework, and i can’t say i was any different. my parents did get tired of me groaning about how boring history lessons were a bunch of times.❜ he chuckled at the memory. ❛but i tried to do my homework before putting on music to jam to... most of the time.❜

he gave an impressed nod, then surprise washed over his face, and he gave russell’s shoulder an awkward yet gentle pat. ❛i’m sorry.❜

❛boy i had a field trip with those. i usually hate fighting, both in real life and in games, but you can’t smooth talk your way out of everything in a game. unless you’re playing dungeons and dragons as a bard with reeeeally high charisma levels. it was definitely a challenge getting used to the switch from easy to normal. life is like that, in a way, though, when you’re a child and then you turn into a teenager and then into an adult. hard at first, but once you learn what you want from life and figure out how to get it and how to take care of yourself, it gets less hard and less hard every day,❜ anton mused. then he chuckled as well. ❛yeah, it is like that a bit. i like it, too.❜

those thoughts made anton shudder. ❛hah. now with that thought we enter unknown territory, and unknown is scary. that goes right on the list of things i would like to stay only on tv, thank you very much.❜ he gave an uneasy laugh.

❛ah, a stammer is never going to stop me from talking with someone. i’ve had my fair share of talking with people. crowds, sound crew, friends, folks who like the music... we all come in bringing something different, but we’re all people in the end of the day, trying to make it each in his own way, even if some of those ways might be less than kind. better make coexisting together as easy and pleasant an experience as possible for everyone else, ya know? plus that makes me happy.❜

anton laughed, ❛exactly! hah. that meme is relatable. i love it when people post pictures of their pets with funny captions. probably one third of my gallery is photos of my dog with silly hats. want me to show you?❜ he clicked the side button of his phone, and russell would be able to notice a photo of a labrador with a christmas elf hat on and its tongue sticking out.

[schneiderenjoyer]

The game reaching its first year shouldn't make me tear up, man...

[hongjoongpresent]

BANGER AFTER BANGER AFTER BANGER

[beatcroc]

did the old tumblr live toggle actually work for yall? mine literally never has lmao

[joyridingmp3]

why did bert mccracken tell me in a dream that i should keep chasing my dream of being a musician in the future? why did i dream of my childhood best friend who I have not seen let alone spoken to in over a decade and why were we at a the used show and why did bert read a tarot card for me at the show? why was i walking around my best friends childhood house and backyard where im sure she no longer lives? and why was i saying things like "it's so nice to be here" and "i never thought id set foot here again"? and most importantly why can i remember every detail of her house but i cannot recall anything about my childhood bedroom? the one that i lived in for 10 years.

[irregularbillcipher]

thinking about kryptos post bill death again and honestly i gotta explore that at some point because it’s such a juicy scenario for this little freak. like he knows bill has to still be alive in some form because bill is the only reason he and the other henchmaniacs have been able to live so long since none of them exactly have the power to live for millennia and they’re not withering or dying or dead so like. bill has to be alive. and that isn’t denial, it isn’t denial because kryptos is still alive and he wouldn’t be without bill so it can’t be denial

and since it’s not denial and he knows for sure, with absolute certainty that bill is alive he just has to wonder what bill thinks happened to him (and the rest of the maniacs he guesses but who cares about them.) because he doesn’t know how to start finding him to help him (he definitely needs help no matter what happened and this isn’t just because kryptos Does Not Know what he would do if bill didn’t need their stupid eons long codependency)

and like the natural conclusions are “maybe bill thinks i’m dead because of whatever happened to him” and “maybe bill thinks i just don’t care enough to find him” and he’s not sure which one would be worse but he thinks it would probably be better if bill thinks he’s dead, for both of them. at least until he can find him and Fix Everything. he doesn’t think bill would cope super well with the idea that he’s dead (because he certainly isn’t coping well anytime he entertains that idea about bill) but he knows neither of them would be able to cope with the idea of kryptos being a traitor

[themyscirah]

Did I seriously just finish an art piece??? I know I'm me but did I get abducted by aliens or something like who is this person

[suiana]

(yandere! golden boy x reader)

you don't think you've ever felt special. well, maybe your mom or something told you that when you were younger but you never really believed it.

you're too normal.

not exceptionally good at one thing, nor are you decently good at everything. you're okay at some stuff and you don't have any particular interests that you're really passionate about. and you know bevause you've tried changing. it's never worked, it never will.

because you're just you.

sometimes you wish you had talent, because then at least you'd be good at something. to lack the passion but have talent, that would be a dream for you. could you imagine? being effortlessly good and having people flock to you without trying? or even the opposite would be nice. being passionate about something sounds... like a life worth living. like your life has purpose. meaning. so what if you don't have talent? at least you'd want to be better, to improve yourself, to have the drive to live.

you have neither, what can you do?

all you do is go through the motions. wake up, go to work, come home, repeat. you don't have any hobbies other than watching the occasional television. it's not like your life is exceptionally hard either. you're blessed with good parents who love you and a select few friends that you're thankful for.

yet there's this... aching gap in your chest that's yearning for something more. something you can't give it. why? because you're just not special enough. you never are. you know this already, there's no use trying to change it.

so you scroll on social media constantly, trying to fill the empty gap in your chest.

but if anything, it only makes the gap worse.

it shows how much you're missing out, how others have it better than you. how others have something going on for them that lets them stand out. something that makes them alive.

maybe it's just the way things are, the way your life was always destined to be. to be the background character that admires others, never the one being admired. the supporting character that stays stagnant with no character growth.

you're just too average.

just plain old you.

plain like a cracker.

never the first choice, never a choice at all.

you merely exist on this world, you're never truely alive and living life like others. and it's a rather unfortunate thing to be doing when you could be achieveing so much but you're just... you. you don't even know who you are. you're just someone, really.

or at least that's what you think of yourself. he could never see you like that. not when he thinks that you're the best thing to ever happen to him.

he's the exact opposite of you. charming, handsome, an absolute adonis on earth. he's perfect in every sense of the word. and he chose you to give his heart to.

you have no idea why he even fell for you in the first place. you're average. not pretty, not ugly, just somehwere in between. you're not particularly charming or whatsoever, a little awkward but can hold a conversation. sure you've dated once or twice but they weren't serious and you didn't feel bad about break up either. you didn't feel much to begin with.

but with him... well, you think that maybe you just might have a chance.

those encouraging words and affectionate gazes, do you think that perhaps there's someone out there who could potentially change the way you live? the way you've been aimlessly drifting about?

there's just no way.

but you think you'll take the chance. with him, you'll get to do things you've never done before. if not, you'll just go back to where you were before. stuck in the middle, living out your days in an endless cycle of contributing to the Earth's death. there's nothing bad in accepting his hand, his promise for a better life.

at the very least, you'll have someone who tells you he loves you. someone who tells you that you're special and that you mean something. someone that partially fills the hole.

you just want to be somebody, and he'll gladly help you out. he might be a little bit too obsessive and protective, but you guess it's just part of him. he can't change something that makes him who he is, change isn't easy. you know that well.

and doesn't it feel nice to be wanted?

just trust him, everything will be fine. he'll teach you how to live, what love feels like. he'll protect you, take care of you...

"i love you, darling."

are those lies or the truth? you don't know, but you don't really care. would someone who wants someone as average as you ever lie about something like that anyway?

his affection burns with such a hot intensity that you're pretty sure could never be fake. you can see that, you're not blind. he very obviously adores you. that much you're sure.

so just give in already, would you? it would make things a whole lot easier if you stopped trying to resist and make sense of the world. sometimes... some things are just destined to happen. like how you see yourself as shit and he thinks you're perfect. that destiny also includes being with him. he won't accept anything else anyway.

don't worry, you'll be very happy. he's sure of that.

[thankskenpenders]

Thoughts on two specific areas of the writing in Sonic X Shadow Generations

The best new 3D Sonic game in over a decade (or even two, depending on who you ask) dropped late last year. And I didn't write anything about it! Sometimes life happens. Well, I've finally sat down to finish Shadow Generations, and by now everyone has already been singing its praises for three months. This is the rare instance where the entire Sonic fandom, and even mainstream reviewers, are in agreement on something. The level design is the best it's been in a long, long time and the cool factor is off the charts, embracing Sonic's peak cringe era in an incredibly confident way. It's great. If you're even reading this post, you probably don't need me to tell you that. So I won't!

No, what I'm really interested in here is the writing. Because this is me we're talking about. But I actually don't want to talk about the main narrative of Shadow Generations, which is really solid little story about Black Doom trying to mold Shadow into his perfect soldier. No, I'd like to zero in on two other aspects of the writing here: the revisions made to Sonic Generations, and Gerald Robotnik's unlockable journal.

The updated Sonic Generations script

The new package mostly presents Sonic Generations how you remember it. There are some tweaks, but it's not a major overhaul. Graphically, I don't think the game has been touched much, if at all. I certainly can't notice any difference without a side-by-side comparison, despite playing it on a PS5. The most notable update is that the game's script has been rewritten by Ian Flynn.

Naturally, this caught my attention. Generations always had a nothingburger story, so with Ian rewriting Pontac and Graff's lame dialogue there was nowhere to go but up. (I don't like to pin the blame for those games' stories entirely on them, as a ton of it was dictated to them by Sonic Team, but, well, I don't think they're very good dialogue writers.) But it's less a complete rewrite and more like Ian was brought on as a script doctor for some minor touch ups here and there. Many lines of dialogue are completely identical to how they were originally written in 2011, and many others only have slight wording changes. Ian was clearly not allowed to request additional scenes or extend the ones that already existed. He has to match the original beat for beat so that they can reuse 99% of the cutscene animations. Don't expect it to be a whole new experience compared to the original.

Still, I think the new script is an improvement, albeit a minor one. Various things have been tweaked to maintain characterization consistency. Cream calls Sonic "Mr. Sonic" instead of just "Sonic." Instead of calling Sonic "buddy," Rouge uses the pet name "Blue," like she tends to do in things like the IDW comics. Espio doesn't have to remind you in the dialogue that he's a ninja, and he no longer has a line making it sound like he has some kind of soul reading power. I also like that Modern Sonic now actually has responses to what his friends say when he rescues them, rather than being silent like Classic Sonic. They won't blow you away, but they make Sonic feel a little more engaged with everything.

In general, the altered dialogue just seems tighter to me, and some of the more childish or trite wording of Pontac and Graff's script has been altered. Here, let's actually make a direct comparison, just because this stuff is interesting to me as a writer. Here's a couple lines from after the Egg Dragoon fight late in the game, in the original script:

Modern Eggman: Ooooh... I can't believe this! I was supposed to beat you this time. Modern Sonic: Aw, I'm sorry! I didn't get that memo. I beat you every time! [Turns to Classic Sonic] No, seriously, we beat this guy every time. It's like it's our job or something!

This is a simple exchange. Eggman is mad that he lost. Sonic is unflappably confident because he always beats Eggman, and he explains this to his younger self. But the wording here isn't particularly good. Eggman's simple and direct wording makes him come off like a little kid who's mad because his older brother beat him at Mario Kart, rather than a mad scientist who just had his plans foiled. It's making light of the situation.

And I've never liked Sonic saying "It's like it's our job or something!" That doesn't feel like a thing Sonic would say, it feels like a thing an outside observer would say about Sonic. This is a frequent problem with so-called "MCU dialogue," where quips meant to echo the commentary of a casual, somewhat disinterested audience are inserted into the story itself so that the writers can be like "See? We get it. We're genre-savvy, too!" It also just reminds me of bad Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric lines like "Rings! It's like they're made for me!"

And then here's Ian's rewrite:

Modern Eggman: I recalibrated everything! This was supposed to be my time! Modern Sonic: Oh, please, keep dreamin', Egg-head. I beat you every time. [Turns to Classic Sonic] No, seriously, we beat him every time. Our score card's flawless.

Eggman's still mad about his defeat, but the line "I recalibrated everything!" makes it more specific. He put all this work into the engineering side of his latest scheme and got tunnel vision, thinking if he got his creations just right there'd be no way he could lose. "This was supposed to be my time!" also turns it into a time travel pun, which is a bonus. He's still pitching a fit over losing, but it feels more like Eggman pitching a fit, rather than sounding childish.

And then instead of saying that beating Eggman is "like his job or something," Sonic says he's got a flawless score card against Eggman. He doesn't take Eggman seriously as a threat—at least, not to his face. He acts like it's all a game. But he conveys this in a way that feels truer to the character, rather than feeling like the words of a real world observer poking fun at the tropes of the Sonic series.

Is this amazing, A+ dialogue that blows me away? No. Again, it's not a completely different scene from the one we already had. Ian had to fit the beats of what was already there. He couldn't go all out and write an all new story confirming his longstanding headcanon that the Time Eater is a remnant of Solaris or whatever. But the wording here makes the existing story land a little better and feel truer to the characters in subtle ways.

But to me, the main change is that the Sonics and Tailses seem to have a more solid understanding of what's going on with the timeline and the Time Eater, compared to how idiotic they sometimes seemed in the original game. Which is good! No more standing outside Green Hill and wondering why it seems so familiar. Thank god. As part of this, yes, there are a few more references to past games in the dialogue, like Sonic briefly being confused about the fact that they're time traveling without the Time Stones, or South Island and Westside Island being acknowledged as the normal locations of Green Hill and Chemical Plant. Yes, ha ha, insert joke about how Ian loves references here. Look, it's Sonic fucking Generations. It's a game built entirely out of nostalgic references. Just own it! And, again, in this instance Sonic and Tails come off as less stupid when they make it clear that they do, in fact, remember their adventures from presumably less than a year ago in-universe.

Eggman, too, seems to have a better understanding of the powers he's toying with. Where in the original vesion his focus was simply on going back in time to undo his previous defeats and he seemed kind of oblivious to how much the Time Eater was actually fucking up the universe, here Eggman says he wants to use the Time Eater to give himself complete control over the entire timeline. Eggman also makes way fewer references to his own failures and shortcomings. Of course he won't admit that Sonic has defeated him time and time again. To him, he's never truly lost—Sonic just keeps delaying the inevitable total victory for the Eggman Empire.

So, yes. The new Sonic Generations script is better. It won't blow anyone away, but it's better than it was. It's been elevated from "kinda lame" to "fine." No, if you really wanna see Ian flex his ability to breathe new life into old Sonic stories, look no further than...

Gerald Robotnik's Journal

Hoo boy.

The story of what happened aboard the ARK has always been... a bit confusing, to say the least. Fans with encyclopedic knowledge of the script for every route of Shadow '05 may disagree, but it's the truth. We've had all the pieces to understand the story for a long time now, but that info was given to us out of order by a pair of unreliable narrators—Gerald, who became a vengeful lunatic shortly before his death, and Shadow, who was subjected to multiple rounds of amnesia and altered memories. Some of the ambiguity left by Sonic Adventure 2 was cleared up in Shadow '05, but that game also retconned in a bunch of new elements to Shadow's backstory (aliens!) that lead to further confusion. Not to mention the fact that that game had multiple routes and only revealed the truth about Shadow if you sat on the ultimate final boss battle for WAY longer than the fight would normally last. Or the fact that Sonic X made its own tweaks in its telling of the story. Or the fact that none of these things ever had the best English translations. I can't blame anyone who hasn't played those games in two decades for not remembering the truth about these characters and getting some details mixed up.

What we needed was something to piece together all of the info we have into one coherent backstory, told in chronological order. And thanks to Shadow Generations, we have that, in the form of an official journal tying together what we knew from Sonic Adventure 2, Shadow '05, and Sonic Battle into the tragic tale of Gerald's rise and fall.

Ian Flynn was the perfect man for the job here as the guy who started his career by tidying up the mess that was the first 159 issues if Archie Sonic. This is what he excels at: taking disparate bits of weird Sonic lore from multiple different sources, boiling them down to their most interesting elements, and connecting it together in a way that will make the audience see the dramatic potential he's always known was there. Rather than feeling like a cynical exercise in franchise building, going back and explaining things that never needed explaining so that people can add more bullet points to the wiki, he puts a new spin on things that retroactively enriches those past stories. The story here means something to the characters involved and gives us a better understanding of them as people, rather than as plot devices to motivate Shadow.

(And, of course, Ian didn't do this journal alone. He wrote the story, but I also have to give a huge shout out to Evan Stanley, who made the final product. All of her handwritten journal entries, sketches, and "photos" included throughout. The physical damage done to the journal over the course of 50 tumultuous years, passing from Gerald to Eggman to a certain special someone at GUN. The way Gerald's handwriting gets less and less legible as his mental state declines. So much love was put into what could have been a mere text dump in a menu, and it really elevates it to the next level. Congrats on officially getting hired by Sega, Evan, you've sure as hell earned it!)

The main idea the journal conveys is that Gerald was under a lot of pressure from a lot of different parties—GUN, the President, his colleagues aboard the ARK, Black Doom, even his own family—and boy did it get to him. The known incidents aboard the ARK mentioned in previous games are put together here to form a story where everything slowly spirals out of control as Gerald keeps compromising his morals to further his research, thinking he'll eventually find some way out of all this because he's a genius. I won't recap that whole story here (if you haven't already played the game and read the journal entries, I would highly recommend at least reading it on the Sonic wiki), but I'd like to highlight my favorite elements of the story, as Ian tells it here.

1) The Eclipse Cannon

Here's something that never quite made sense in Sonic Adventure 2: why does the ARK have a laser that can blow up the Earth built into it? It was supposed to be a peaceful research colony. Sure, Gerald went crazy and swore revenge on the Earth, but, like... when did he have an opportunity to go back up to the ARK and modify it? Did he have someone else do it? How? The ARK was raided by GUN and shut down! And then they arrested him, held him in prison for an unclear period of time, and executed him by firing squad when he was no longer useful! It doesn't add up. Shadow 'the Hedgehog '05 would give its own answer by introducing the Black Arms and saying that the Eclipse Cannon was always supposed to be a secret trump card against the Black Comet. But, like... we know that's kind of a bullshit answer, right? You don't need enough power to blow up a whole planet just to destroy a comet.

Well, the new journal retains what we already knew, but it paints a much more complete picture.

See, long before Gerald ever made a Faustian bargain with Black Doom, he had already made one with an even greater evil: the military. GUN gave Gerald much of the funding for the ARK, Gerald's personal utopian research station in space, but it didn't take long for GUN to start pressuring him to design them weapons. Gerald tried to get GUN off his back by personally contacting the President of the United Federation, and the President gave him an alternative: how about, instead, you just use your genius brain to figure out the secret to immortality for us, so our soldiers can be immortal? Gerald was initially sickened by the notion and found it completely absurd, like chasing a shadow... but given no other option, the sarcastically named Project Shadow soon began in earnest. (Maria would later put a more positive spin on the name after Shadow's awakening, pointing out that a Shadow can show us the direction of the light, like she says in the game itself.)

Of course, this search for the ultimate life form didn't go very well, and without any results on that front GUN kept hounding him for weapons. Gerald would throw them a bone here and there to get them off his back. His research on Chaos resulted in the Artifical Chaos prototypes, which he worried would be used for warfare but could at least theoretically be used for search and rescue missions in floods, in his mind. But that wasn't enough. So he gave them Chaos Drives to power their mechs. And that still wasn't enough. He's got Emerl. He'll give them Emerl. They're not impressed by Emerl. They'll shut the whole ARK down if Gerald doesn't give them something big.

Fine! GUN wants something big? Gerald builds a huge fucking laser cannon into the ARK. However, as a middle finger to GUN, Gerald makes it so powerful that it would destroy the Earth if it was ever fired at any target on its surface. In other words, GUN now has their ultimate weapon of mass destruction, fulfilling his contract, but they can never actually use it. Oh, the delicious irony. (And also Shadow will blow up the Black Comet with it in 50 years yada yada yada.) Is this perhaps extremely shortsighted and naive of Gerald, to believe that such a weapon would never actually be used just because of the risk? Of course. But hey, that's Gerald for you. And I love this as an answer.

(Also, this, uh, kinda echoes something from real life! Remember the bit in Oppenheimer where he says all nuclear war will become unthinkable, and Edward Teller responds "until somebody builds a bigger bomb"? Yeah, Teller went on to conceptualize a superweapon codenamed Project Sundial that would have been able to kill all life on the planet, as the ultimate deterrent for war. This was never made for obvious reasons, but hey, there's a basis for this sort of thinking outside of heightened sci-fi! There's a whole Kurzgesagt video about this if you're interested.)

2) The Biolizard

The Biolizard is, of course, brought up as the initial failed prototype of the ultimate life form, from before Gerald met Black Doom. We don't really learn all that much about it that we didn't already know, but I just love the way it's framed in the story.

As you can see above, we actually get to see a picture of Maria holding up the cute little salamander that would end up mutating into the Biolizard through Gerald's experiments. (Researchers want to figure out how to replicate salamanders' regenerative abilities for humans in real life, too, so this was a natural starting point for the project.) And then, after it grows to a monstrous size and goes out of control, Gerald has to lock it away in an unused sector of the ARK. He needs to keep the poor thing alive for his research into harnessing Chaos Energy, building life support systems directly into it, but he doesn't have the heart to tell Maria what happened. So it just becomes this first dark secret weighing on his conscience. The Biolizard becomes Gerald's Tell-Tale Heart beating beneath the floorboards of the ARK. I love that.

3) Lost Impact was the breaking point for the ARK

Remember the level Lost Impact in Shadow '05? The flashback level on the hero path where Shadow is running around fighting Artificial Chaos enemies on the ARK 50 years ago? Yeah, that wasn't just a random incident. That was important, as we now know due to its placement on the timeline.

See, Emerl's rampage aboard the ARK that was chronicled in Sonic Battle and Dark Beginnings set off a domino effect. Emerl riled up the Artificial Chaos, causing Gerald to lose control of them. They became violent, and so Shadow had to stop them, as depicted in Lost Impact. The thing is, that incident sent an SOS signal to GUN telling them that shit was going down on the ARK. Gerald didsn't fully understand the trouble he was in and assumed that he'd simply be reprimanded by the higher ups, or maybe face legal action. But, well... the next time he heard from GUN, armed troopers were raiding the ARK.

So Lost Impact was the straw that broke the camel's back. I just really like that detail.

4) Maria

And, of course, there's Maria herself. Maria has often been more of a symbol than a character, this perfect embodiment of everything that's good and pure in this world who gets killed to motivate Shadow and Gerald's revenge plots. But I really like the wrinkles this journal adds to her and Gerald's story, and their relationship. This is the most fleshed out they've ever felt.

For one, the journal leans into the idea of Maria's intellectual potential. The rest of the Robotnik family is all geniuses, after all, and she was proving to be a really bright kid. She excelled in her studies on the ARK, and she even helped design Shadow's jet skates and inhibitor rings. When Maria died, the world didn't just lose a symbolic personification of purity. She genuinely could have been a hugely influential scientist who did so much good for the world. That's what Gerald wanted for her. But we'll never know, because GUN killed her.

Speaking of her family, their presence isn't just mentioned for the sake of fleshing out the Robotnik family tree. It's mentioned that as Gerald struggled to find a cure for Maria's illness through his genetic research, he faced mounting pressure from his family. They didn't want Maria to be up on the ARK forever. They wanted Gerald to hurry up and find a damn cure, or otherwise just send her back home to Earth so she could be with her family again. She'd been up on the ARK for so long that Gerald's coworkers started thinking that she had been born up there. Eventually she gains a baby sister on Earth who she's never met. A rift forms between Gerald's two sons, and he's unable to really deal with it because he's so consumed by his work. There's this sense that the family is falling apart, and that everyone is dreading the possibility that Gerald will never find a cure and that Maria will just spend her final years up in space and die far away from her family, because Gerald just couldn't let go. If that happens, it'll break the whole family. But he can't stop now. So he just keeps working. Curing Maria is the only way to win his family back, in his eyes. It can't all be for nothing.

But my favorite detail regarding Maria is this one paragraph:

Maria is growing into a lovely young woman. It breaks my heart that someone as bright and energetic as her is diminished by disease. There are no visible effects, and I've caught my fellow researchers muttering to each other, doubting her illness. It is infuriating. I find all my reason and restraint vanishes when she's slighted.

This is SUCH a great addition to the story! It's always been true that Maria doesn't really seem all that ill, just looking at her in cutscenes. With this one little comment, Ian flips that issue on its head and turns it into a story about invisible disability. She doesn't act like she's in chronic pain, so she must not be, everyone thinks. And this really, really gets to Gerald, as does the pressure from his family. He's dedicating his whole LIFE to saving her, and they think she's faking it?! It's such a small addition, never referenced elsewhere in the journal, but it adds so much flavor to the story, as does the implied family drama. It grounds Gerald and Maria and makes them feel more like real human beings, rather than being pure archetypes. It's just enough info to let my imagination run wild filling in the blanks.

You also get the feeling that Maria being such a walking ray of sunshine was the only real source of joy Gerald had left in his life before Shadow was awakened, and the only thing keeping him from snapping under pressure sooner. All this stuff just keeps piling on, everything's spiraling out of control, but at least Maria is keeping her chin up, right? It makes so much sense that losing her would make him go off the deep end when it's framed like this.

It's just... man, I never thought I'd care so much about Gerald and Maria. But that's the Ian Flynn touch. After years of less than stellar Sonic writing that seemed to be embarrassed of itself, I'm so happy to have new games coming out that fully embrace the history of the series like this, making its world feel so rich and real instead of just serving as an excuse for a string of platforming levels. I don't even like Shadow '05, but I'll be damned if Ian and the rest of Sonic Team didn't make something amazing by "yes, and"-ing Shadow's cringe past here. Sonic has truly reached levels of "we're so back" never thought possible.

[katsu28]

snowfall

pairing: lando norris x best friend!reader

summary: when plans with your family fall through at the last minute, lando invites you to come home with him for the holidays. (3.8k)

a/n: the big finale!!! lando is so best friends to lovers coded, i couldn’t resist. does it snow in the uk in december, probably not but it’s for the plot so bear with me pls <3 happy holidays everyone!!

“Yeah, of course. Yes, mum, I understand. No, I’ll be fine, I promise. Okay. Okay, I love you too. Cheers, see you when you get back.” 

You end the call with a heavy sigh, tossing your phone away from you on the sofa.

That was your mum on the phone, telling you that her and your father wouldn’t be home for Christmas this year. You’d planned on going home to celebrate with them like you always do, but for the first time ever in your life, it looked like you were going to be spending Christmas alone. 

It was bound to happen sometime in your life, really. You’re an adult now, still trying to find your place and your people in this world. 

Speaking of your people, Lando has just made his way into McLaren hospitality, head on a swivel until his eyes land on you. He takes notice of your downtrodden demeanor immediately, marches his way over to where you are with gusto and plops down next to you, bumping his shoulder against yours. 

“What’s wrong?” He asks bluntly, dark brows furrowed in concern. 

You inhale a deep breath, forcing a smile onto your face to respond. “Nothing. How was testing?” 

“Fine. Seriously, what’s going on? Why do you look so sad?” He demands, but not unkindly or rudely. Just simply how Lando is with you, direct and to the point. It’s one of many ways he is around those he cares for. 

“I was planning on going home to spend Christmas with my family, but my parents aren’t going to make it home in time,” You confess. Your finger picks at the loose thread of your sweater sleeve, a welcome distraction from the lump threatening to form in your throat. 

Lando frowns. “Oh. M’sorry to hear that. That sucks.” 

“Yeah. Looks like I’ll be spending the holidays on my own this year.”

“What? No, you can’t spend Christmas alone. That sounds so sad.” 

“I’ll be fine, Lando,” You chuckle, patting his knee. It does indeed sound sad, but you won’t have Lando all worried about you when he should be celebrating with his loved ones. He’s got a lot to celebrate this year, and you don’t want your situation to take away from any of it. “Don’t worry about it.” 

“Come spend Christmas with me.” 

For a moment, you’re at a loss for words. Lando is one of your best friends, sure, but joining him for something like this seems too imposing of you. Despite being close with his family, you can’t do this to them so last minute. After a long year, this is their time with Lando. 

You shake your head immediately, wrinkling your nose. “No way. I wouldn’t want to barge in on your family time.”

“C’mon, you wouldn’t be! My family loves you.” He shrugs. “I mean, you’re basically an honorary Norris already at this point, and I think my sisters might love you more than they love me.” 

That makes you laugh. “Shut up, no they don’t!” 

“Uh, yeah they do.” 

“Okay, maybe they do. I’m just that easy to love.” 

“Yeah, you are,” He says, smiling softly. Your head cocks to the side at the pure warmth in his tone, and it seems to make him snap out of whatever trance he’s in, because he gives his head a subtle shake. “Seriously, come home with me. It’ll be fun. Way more fun than just sitting around at home watching those boring home improvement shows you seem to like so much.” 

“Hey! Those shows are fun!” You huff, swatting him on the thigh. 

“Sure they are,” He says, still unbelieving. “So what do you say? Christmas with the Norrises, how ‘bout it?” 

You let out a breathy chuckle, nodding. “Okay. Yeah, that sounds lovely.” 

“Mint! I’ll go let my mum know.” He beams, bouncing to his feet. “Better let Flo and Cisca know too, they’d kill me if I brought you round and didn't tell them ahead of time.” 

“Lando?” You call after him. He whirls around with an arched brow, phone already in hand. “Thank you.” 

“Of course. I’d never let you spend the holidays alone.”  

Looks like this Christmas might not be so bad after all. 

-------

The first thing you hear when you climb out of the car at Lando’s family’s house is a shout of your name. 

Before you can even register who might be calling you, a little body crashes into your legs, arms wrapping around your knees tightly. Now you know who it is, and you grin. 

“Why hello, miss Mila!” You chirp, kneeling down to be at her level. She giggles loudly at the finger you boop against her nose, throwing her arms around your neck as best she can, and you lift her up onto your hip. “Are you excited for Christmas?” 

“Christmas!” She cheers. Lando wanders over to the two of you from the boot of the car at that moment, and the second Mila spots him, she grins even wider than you’d thought was possible. “Lala!!!” She squeals, reaching out for him. 

Lando takes her into his arms, swings her around a little bit, beaming brightly at the peals of laughter that escape her with every swing. “My goodness, you’ve grown! You might be almost as big as me now!” 

Lando’s brother, Oliver, emerges from around the house now with his other daughter nestled in his arms, raising his free hand in greeting as he makes his way over. 

“Guess my brother finally gathered the nerve,” He says cheerfully, clapping Lando on the back. Lando not-so-subtly steps on Oliver’s foot, garnering a hiss of pain from the older Norris. “To…make it home when it’s still bright out! Yeah, he usually doesn’t come around til the girls have gone off to bed.” 

“It’s nice to see you too, Oliver,” You chuckle, pushing aside your confusion as you give a small wave to the toddler in her father’s arms. She waves back shyly. “Thanks for letting me join you guys this year.” 

“Please, you’re welcome here anytime,” Oliver replies, sounding more than sincere. “C’mon, let’s head inside. Mum and everyone’ll be stoked to see you.” 

Mila wriggles out of Lando’s arms to come hold your hand, dragging you towards the house excitedly. You don't notice Lando and Oliver dropping back, nor the hushed conversation they have that is definitely about you. 

Much like both boys have said, the rest of their family welcomes you with open arms.

His parents tell you how good it is to see you again, and that they’re happy you’d decided to come home with Lando, Flo and Cisca glue themselves to your side immediately to catch up with you, even little Athena starts to warm up to you the longer she watches her older sister play with you. 

You feel right at home with all of them like you always do, and it makes you start to forget about spending your first Christmas without your own family. Though, in a way, Lando’s family is starting to feel like yours too. 

-------

It’s Christmas Eve and you can’t sleep. You’ve been at Lando’s house a few days now and everything’s been great—the food, the company. Lando. 

You’re used to him being a little forward with his affections towards others, because that’s just the way he is. So when he pulls your legs over his lap while you’re watching a holiday film with the whole family, or rests his head on your shoulder during Monopoly, you don’t think anything of it at first. He likes cozying up to friends and being close to them. But as the days go on, it starts to feel different this time. 

At first you just assume it’s because he doesn’t want you to feel awkward, but then you catch him staring at you a few times in a way you can only describe as pure fondness. While you're on the sofa cuddled up with Mila and Athena watching one of their shows. As you're helping Cisca figure out what to wear for her next date with her boyfriend, or helping his mum in the kitchen. 

It could be platonic, but it feels a little too intimate to be so. 

You don’t want to think too much into it, though. It wouldn’t do you any good to get your hopes up about the possibility of something more with Lando when it could just be all in your head. 

Sitting up in bed, you scrub your hands over your face. Too many thoughts run their way through your brain for you to fall back asleep, no matter how tired you may be. You glance out the window beside you, and suddenly your attention is captured at the scene outside. 

It’s snowing. 

Sure, it’s an ungodly late hour, but seeing snow makes you want to go outside. Doing your absolute best not to wake anyone up as you swing yourself out of bed and creep down the hallway, you make your way down the corridor to Lando’s bedroom. 

You knock on his door quietly, listening for anything that could give away whether or not Lando was up. For a few seconds, there isn’t a sound. Then you hear the clacking of a keyboard and the faint sound of him talking, and you know he’s awake. He probably didn’t hear you knock. 

Pushing open the door slowly, you pad into the room to see him slouched over in his gaming chair with his back towards you.

“Yeah, mate, I’m gonna tell her—no, I’m not! Fuck off,” He says. There’s a lengthy pause—whoever he’s on call with is talking, you assume. “I’m just—I’m waiting for the right time. Like, I’ll know when it comes, won’t I?” 

Your heart gives an involuntary pang in your chest and you sigh, having already had enough eavesdropping on this conversation. 

You pad towards Lando, going for a gentle tap on the shoulder. Your hand just barely touches his arm, but he jumps about a foot in the air, flinching so hard you think the poor boy might’ve given himself whiplash.

“Jesus! What the—don’t sneak up on me like that!” He yelps, pushing one side of his headphones above his ear. On the screen, you can see he’s playing Tarkov again. Alway playing Tarkov instead of sleeping, that boy. 

This time, it works out for you. Now you can drag out into the snow with you. Not that you weren’t going to do it anyways even if he was asleep.

“You couldn’t hear me! What was I supposed to do?” You huff. Squinting at the other username on screen, you smile, pushing into Lando’s space to reach his microphone. “Is that Max? Hi, Max!” 

Lando’s voice sounds a bit strangled when he relays Max’s response a few moments later. “He says hi.” 

“What else did he say?” 

“What? Nothing,” He replies quickly, swallowing hard. “Why?” 

“That was such a long pause, there’s no way he just said hi.” 

“Well, he did, so…it’s whatever. What’s, uh, what’s up? Everything okay?” 

Now you remember what you came here for. Grinning, you bounce on the balls of your feet. “There’s snow outside!” 

“No way!” He says earnestly, cocking his head to the side. He abandons his game in favor of shuffling over to the window and peering outside, letting out a pleased little noise when he sees that it is indeed snowing out in the garden. “That’s wicked.”  

“Will you come outside with me?” 

He exhales sharply, giving an amused chuckle. “Yeah, right. I’m not going outside.” 

“It’ll be fun!” 

“Don’t see what’s so fun about freezing my ass off in the cold,” He grumbles, but you can tell he just needs a little more convincing. You jut out your lower lip, giving him the pout of yours that he can never seem to withstand, and his resolve starts to crumble. “No, don’t do that. Stop that right now. I’m not going outside with you at this time of night.” 

“Please, Lan?” You plead, taking his face into your palms so he can’t look away. For a split second, his gaze seems to flicker down to your lips, but before you can process the tiny movement, he’s squeezing his eyes shut. 

“Oh my god, fine,” He groans, shoulders sagging. You beam, wrapping your arms around him in a quick hug. “Let me go tell Max I’m being held against my will and then we can go.” He crosses back over to his desk and mutters something into the microphone that you can’t quite make out. 

As you’re pulling on layers to guard yourselves from the cold, he pauses, turning to you with one shoe on. “You didn’t, erm, happen to hear anything when you came in to get me, did you?” 

“No, why?” 

You’re not sure why you choose to lie about what you’d overheard, something about Lando telling some girl something at the right time. He hadn’t told you anything about having a crush on anyone, but then again, these past few weeks have been hectic. 

“Oh, nothing. Just wondering.” He pulls the front door open right then, suddenly seeming so eager to get outside despite his previous grievances. Something in his tone hints that it might not be as nothing as he says it is, but you won’t push. 

You traipse out into the garden after him, making careful sure to close the door behind you so the cold doesn’t seep in. Fresh powder crunches underfoot as you make your way further out. 

The falling snow has already begun to coat everything out here in layers, and you drag your finger through it, smiling to yourself at the clean cut line it makes.

It feels like another world out here. In a life that is so often always hustle and bustle all the time, the quiet of this time of night in the countryside seems deafening, but in the best way. Peaceful can only begin to describe how you feel right now. 

“Why is it so fucking cold out here?” Lando grumbles, burrowing deeper into his three scarves. Along with the two jumpers and thick coat he’d shoved himself into before even stepping foot outside, he looks well freezing.

“Don’t be such a grinch, Lan. It’s snowing!” 

He scowls. “It’s freezing.” 

“C’mon, at least try to have some fun! You’re killing my vibe, mate,” You huff, bending down to scoop up a loose handful of snow to chuck in his direction. It scatters into the air before it even makes it to him, but hey, at least he’s laughing now. You turn to say something else, but you’re immediately stopped in your tracks. 

A snowball explodes against your forehead before you can say a thing, spraying bits of icy snow everywhere. 

“Oh fuck, I’m sorry!” Lando yelps, nearly tripping on his own feet in his scramble towards you. You’re too stunned by the snow dripping its way down your face to even register his words. “I wasn’t aiming for your face, I swear! Are you okay?” 

You blink owlishly at him, at the concern and horror mixing in his expression as he takes you by the shoulders to check you out. He uses his teeth to pull off one glove, tossing it off to the side as he reaches to brush the snow from anywhere he can reach.

“For a professional athlete, you really do have shit aim,” You huff, playful annoyance in your tone. 

Lando’s teeth dig into his bottom lip, eyes crinkling happily at the corners as he giggles quietly. “I know. S’terrible, innit? Good thing my job doesn’t require me to do any throwing.” 

“Good thing,” You echo. 

His palms cup the expanse of your cheeks, the pads of his thumbs brushing across your cold skin delicately, and he’s looking at you in that way again, the way that makes you feel like you’re the only other one in the world. Blue-green eyes like sea glass flit around your face, thick brows furrowing ever so slightly as he inches forward. Slowly, like he’s giving you a way out if what he’s about to do isn’t what you want. 

You’re holding your breath as he gets closer, closer, closer, until—

Fireworks. 

As if kissing your best friend isn’t cliche enough, all you can describe of the feeling of his lips against yours is fireworks, bursting in your chest like little explosions. 

“Wait—” You breathe, splaying a hand across Lando’s chest to push him back a bit before the kiss can go on any longer. Despite how much you want it to continue. He makes some sort of displeased noise out the back of his throat, pink lips turning down into a pout. “What about the other girl?” 

That gets him to pull back a little more, head cocking and nose scrunching in genuine confusion. “What other girl?” 

“I lied. I did hear you talking when I came into your room, you said something about waiting for the right time to tell her something. You can’t be kissing me if you like someone else, Lando!” You exclaim incredulously. 

He regards you blankly for a few seconds. Then he starts to laugh. You’re trying to save his ass and he’s laughing at you. You scowl at him. “Why the fuck are you laughing?” 

“Oh! Oh, that was so good! That was gold, really,” He splutters, tears in his eyes. You swat indignantly at him and he holds up his hands in surrender, doing his best to catch his breath. “There is no other girl, you muppet! I was talking about you.” 

“Oh.” 

“Yeah, oh. Guess this is the right time then, huh?” He says, chuckling nervously as he rubs at his reddened nose. “So, here goes it. I think I’m in love with you.” 

“Why?” You ask, disbelieving. It’s a blunt response, you’re fully aware, but you want to know. 

“What d’you mean, why? Have you met you?” He scoffs, like he’s astonished you even have the nerve to question him. “You’re amazing. You’re kind and funny and so smart, and you make people happy—you make me happy, even when I’ve had the absolute shittiest day, I know everything’ll be fine as soon as you find me. You know what I need, even when I don’t know what I need.” 

You’re at a loss for words hearing all this now. How has Lando been in love with you all this time, with you none the wiser? 

“Why’ve you never said anything?” You ask softly.

Lando smiles almost sadly, letting his hands drop back down to his sides. “You’re one of my best friends. I’d rather keep my mouth shut if telling you meant losing you. Losing what we have because you didn’t feel the same way.” 

That, you understand. The fear of ruining your friendship with Lando is one of the reasons why you’d kept your feelings for him secret as well. So to both of you, it was better to ignore your feelings and stay this close than to let the other know and possibly lose one of the best things in your lives. 

“We’re idiots,” You sigh, closing your eyes. 

“You’re not an idiot,” He says immediately. Then he frowns. “Wait, why would you be an idiot? I know I am, but why you?” 

You grab Lando by the collar of his puffy jacket, pulling him into a firm kiss. If he’s surprised, it only shows for a split second before he’s kissing you back fervently, drawing you flush against him by the hips. His nose against your cheek is much colder than before, but the warmth that spreads from your chest down to your toes is more than enough to remedy it. 

“Please tell me that means you do feel the same way,” He pants, looking entirely dazed when you pull away. 

You raise an amused brow at him. “No, I just kissed the living daylights out of you because I don’t feel the same way—what do you think?” 

“Best Christmas gift ever, is what I think.” He smiles warmly. Then he shivers, blowing out a sharp breath. “Now can we please go back inside? I can’t feel my face anymore.” 

Once you’re inside and have shed your coats and shoes and anything else wet with snow, Lando nudges you towards the kitchen. “I’ll make us some hot cocoa.” He murmurs, quiet so as to not wake anyone in the house. You pause, causing him to look back at you. “What?” 

“The package kind or the real kind?” 

“What sort of question is that? The real kind, of course,” He snorts. “With milk and everything.” 

“Oh, you do love me!” You say gleefully.

Lando rolls his eyes playfully, giving your hand a firmer tug that has you sliding right in under his arm on your socked feet.

Despite all his moaning and groaning about being cold, he’s pleasantly warm, and you sigh, nuzzling in closer. He welcomes your closeness, dropping a kiss to the side of your head as he shuffles his way towards the pots and pans cupboard with you latched onto him, not even trying to wriggle out of your grasp.

It feels natural because you’ve always been close. Though now, things have changed. Now, you can kiss him if you want to, instead of wondering what Lando would do if you did it. You’re not just friends to each other anymore. 

You press your lips against his quickly as he’s piling marshmallows on top of two mugs of hot cocoa, pulling back right after just to see his reaction to the impromptu kiss.

As expected, his mouth curves into a grin, dimples on full display. He flicks a marshmallow at you, and you reciprocate, tilting your chin up at him in challenge.

Soon enough, now you’re both chucking the tiny white sweets at each other, trying and failing to catch them into your mouths. The first of you to catch one of them is you, and you cheer, flinging your hands in the air. 

“Oh my god, shush, you! People are sleeping!” He breathes, lunging forward to press a hand over your mouth as you’re mid-shout.

Your eyes widen in comical realization and it makes him laugh, which makes you laugh. His hand falls from your face as you both fall apart in quiet giggles. 

You’re laughing because he’s laughing, he’s laughing because you’re laughing, and neither of you can stop until your sides hurt. 

“C’mere,” He murmurs, stepping in close and sliding a hand around the back of your neck. His gaze flits all around your face, taking in the sight of you with eyes that twinkle with happiness even in the darkness of the kitchen. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas, Lan." You smile.

He kisses you then, long and sweet and with such gentleness that it makes your stomach do somersaults. 

In the morning, you’ll need to figure out how you’ll play things with Lando’s family, and then everything after. But not now.

For now, you’ll watch the snow fall outside while you snuggle up on the sofa with the boy you love and a mug of not so hot cocoa. 

So maybe this Christmas hadn’t gone exactly as you’d planned, but really, you aren’t too sad about it anymore. You wouldn’t have it any other way. 

follow @katsu-library to be notified when i post new writing :)

[kekewrites]

tw. Dark content, noncon, dubcon, creampie, size kink, magic onahole/toy/fleshlight, coercion, mind-break, corruption, obsession, gaslighting(?), objectification(?)

part 2 of the onahole troupe

***

"Sweetie~ Are you already out? Come on, you can still keep going."

Hot... It's so hot.

Whining, your body continue to bounce on him, hole swallowing his fat cock. Sweat and cum staining your thighs, sticky and wet as it mixes with your juices.

Such a hot sight. His hands gripping your hips, helping you bounce on him and sometimes meeting your hips with his own, making you whine and sob.

You were so sensitive, having no idea how much time have passed. How many orgasm he pulled out of you.

"I'm helping you, remember?" He sat up, wrapping his arms around as he pulls you close. "Ha... You're so cute. That bastard won't touch you anymore, ok? I'm here."

Barely hanging on, you nodded as your ears started to ring. If there was still a rational part of you awake, you would've find his words suspicious, but you were just too dumb for that. Blindly trusting your friend, believing him with your being.

He promised to help you.

So why does it feel like you made the wrong choice?

That tiny rational thought of yours was pushed as you felt his lips on your own.

***

It was odd how the phantom disappeared after his help.

Your complexion improved, the shadows under your eyes fading as if the weight of their presence had been slowly draining you all along. Sleep came easier now, uninterrupted by restless nights and unwanted pleasure, able to focus studying without it whisking your attention away.

Sitting in class, you were finally able to listen without dreading for the touches.t was freeing.

You were glad you told him.

Smiling a bit, you open your cellphone as you think of hanging out with them. You really missed them, thinking about how you three rarely hang out nowadays. It used to be so easy to hang out with your closest friends, without having to plan anything elaborate. Just a quick text, and before you knew it, you were all together. But lately, it was about you two without your more or less busy friend. You know how much he took his studies seriously, often holding back to invite him whenever you discover a film you'd both like to watch.

Determined, you found yourself texting him, sending him a little message of, "Are you busy? Let's meet at the library when it's lunch time!"

You nervously shifted on your sit as you await his reply, a minute after you feel your phone vibrate.

"Sure."

You couldn't wait for the class to be over.

***

"Hey, what's up?" You heard his voice as he sat down beside you. Your usual hangout spot, comfort place, and your solace before those events happened.

Beaming, you turned to him, grateful for the simple presence of someone you're comfortable with.

"Are you done with your studies? I was hoping we could hangout soon, all three of us..." You speak, your confidence dipping down as you let out the last part.

Resting his chin on his hand, "Hmm... We have a quiz for next week in my major," He observes as your smile fades, "But I suppose, I'll make time for you," He swears it's like watching a dog wag its tail as he see you regain your smile.

It couldn't hurt to relax a little, it's been a while since you two hangout. He did notice how you were with that stupid guy in the past few days

You softly clap your hands, "That's great! Oh, we should do a movie marathon!" As you babble your plans, he couldn't help but notice how more... alive you look compared to before. He was still wondering why you were so troubled back then, but he's glad you got it solved out.

Humming, you started typing on the notes in your phone, making plans and listing movies to watch, throwing in snacks to buy as well. It was safe to say that you're really excited to be able to be with your best friends.

It would be just a fun night with the guys, right?

***

"Come on, don't be upset. Something probably important came out that he won't be able to come."

It seems that the three of you wouldn't be able to hangout, as the two of you sit on the couch.

Grumbling, you hug the couch pillow close to your chest as you glance at the text message left by your friend. It was upsetting but you couldn't be that upset since he rarely wasn't able to come in your hangout session, and since he's the one who helped you after all.

"Yeah, you're right. It can't be helped, I guess…" you sigh, trying to hide your disappointment as you sink further into his couch. The soft fabric and cozy atmosphere of his apartment help ease your mood a bit.

"I'm sure the three of us will meet up soon. Plus, the two of us haven't hangout for a while."

Come on, it's not so bad to be alone with him, you know?

"Yeah, that's true," you say, trying to shake off the disappointment. You steal a glance at him as he queues up a movie. It's been a while since the two of you just hung out alone like this, and despite the change in plans, it feels nice.

As the movie starts, you realize he accidentally picked a horror film—complete with dark shadows, creepy music, and plenty of jump scares. You’re both laughing it off at first, but the sudden shocks get you clutching the couch pillow a bit tighter, scooting unconsciously closer to him.

The atmosphere shifts when an unexpected scene appears—a moment that’s more... explicit than either of you anticipated. You feel your face heat up as you quickly avert your eyes, feeling a mix of embarrassment and tension settle between you. You catch him glancing away too, clearing his throat nervously.

What is he, five? Getting flustered with such scene, not like he hasn't done any worse than it.

"I... think I need to use the bathroom," he mumbles, standing up hastily and heading out of the room, leaving you alone on the couch.

You’re left there, pulse racing slightly as you try to shake off the awkwardness.

This is bad, you suddenly remember all of your other friend's help. Clutching your legs close, you try to avert your attention somewhere while waiting for your friend to come back.

Though, you felt your stomach drop as that familiar and unwelcome touch came up.

***

What the hell is he even thinking?

He tries to find his reason as he stares at the onahole on his hand, that idiot's gift to him. It's been a week since he had last use this thing, yeah it felt good and feels like the real deal but after one use he never touched it again.

So why the hell is he using it while thinking of you? The same girl who's sitting on his couch right now, in his apartment?

His eyes glance at the lube on the counter, putting the wet lotion on his free hand. It's your fault he got hard, you were too squirmy and... cute. That shitty horror movie wasn't even that good with the corny soft porn scenes but you... were just having an effect on him. So damn shy and innocent reactions, he needed to get out before he'd lost his composure and pounce on you.

But he's not a brute, no he isn't like those rabid animals.

Imagining does not count, no, no, he's only letting his frustration out.

So with the touch of his fingers, rubbing the entrance of the onahole he let himself go.

***

Jumping from the couch, you looked around frantically as you felt that horrifying touch on your nether region. 

That's impossible! You though he already fixed it!

Silently crying on your hands, you tried to keep your noises.

You've experienced that ghostly touch countless times however this time, it felt a bit calculative yet desperate, as if another entity was touching you. It felt weird but you can feel how different this one was touching you.

Is there another ghost who's harassing you?

Will it ever go away?

You cried as you felt something big goes inside you.

***

Shit, he forgot how realistic this onahole was. When was the last time he used it? Weeks ago? He doesn't remember but he might use it again now. Since his darling is always inviting him to hangout, this little gift might save him from pouncing on you when you're just a little too cute for his liking. Not only that but because of the hectic projects and assignments coming in, he hasn't had the time to relieve himself.

His thrust is fast and uncaring, yet a bit desperate for release. He felt himself feeling more sensitive as he imagine if this was your cunt instead, squeezing and twitching around his cock. He loves how automated this thing was, his mind just running wild as he imagines you sitting alone in his couch unsuspected of his vulgar and filthy thought of you. It's wrong but it damn this onahole just feels so right.

Slamming himself on the tight hole, he pinch the little clit and felt the walls squeeze tight making him come undone. Hissing and twitching as his cock shoots down his massive load inside the toy. What a waste, it would've been better if he could shoot it down your womb. Exhaling, he slowly pulled out of the toy, savoring the way the wall clung on his shaft before his head pops off.

Fuck. He's really a goner now. 

He's no better than a scumbag for letting his mind wander to thoughts about his best friend, his childhood friend… his first crush, his first and only love. He remembers how he was when you two first met—a boy who struggled to connect with anyone. He didn’t see the point in making friends, preferring to stay on the sidelines, reserved and detached.

Though, him, was the exception as both of their parents were business partners and have good relationship with each other. It's only natural for them to build a connection, solely for maintaining good connections with their business partners. Over time, he realized how strangely alike the two of them were, as if they shared the same quirks and preferences.

Well, he shouldn't think of that while thrusting his dick on a toy but he can't help but reflect on the way they are alike. He certainly knows, that guy shares the same affection he has on you, and he hated how he can't feel jealous because... he's fine with sharing you if it's him. But he's a little pissed at how you two were hanging out lately, he only have himself to blame by taking his studies seriously unlike that guy.

That's not important now, he has you in his room alone with no one else to ruin your moment with him. Shit, he felt the toy tighten around him.

His mind goes blank as he felt himself getting closer.

***

"Hey, sorry I took a while, but I'm... back?" he said, sitting down on the couch. His voice trailed off, quieter and confused, as he noticed you hugging yourself with your head hung low.

"What's wrong?" he asked immediately, placing a hand on your back as he tried to see your face. His eyes narrowed as he waited for your response, only to widen when he saw your tear-streaked face.

"I-It... touched me again..."

"What do you mean?"

And you broke down, crying as you told him about the phantom.

Any sane person would be skeptical, hell they would probably put you in the asylum for the things you swore happened to you. He'd get you help if it weren't for that one specific detail, an oddly timed and complete coincidence. Where that phantom touched you the same time he had gotten the toy... and the way it touch you just minutes later he went to the bathroom.

No way...

Surely, it was just a coincidence...

He supposed testing that theory wouldn't hurt.

With a lousy excuse of getting you a glass of water from the kitchen, he went straight to the bathroom to take that toy, sure it was big enough to be seen by you, but the way you were staring down on the floor as you quietly sob made it easy to sneakily place the onahole behind the couch pillow. Close for his hand to touch but unnoticeable from your teary eyes.

His hand goes behind the pillow right where the toy is.

"Ah!"

It can't be... Such an impossible story.

"J-Just now... it touched me!"

His finger went in.

"No! It went inside...!"

This is crazy.

He knows it's wrong but watching you panic and look around with frantic and terrified eyes made his cock throb. Not knowing that the source of your trouble being right in front of you made it immoral, so bad, and it made his cock harden.

"Hey, I'll... chase out that bastard for you." His wandering finger pulls out of the toy, his other hand cupping your tear stained cheek, "You don't have to worry anymore. You said that guy made that phantom disappear, right?" He sweetly cooed, a rare tone in his voice, "Just trust me on this one like he'd done with you, yeah?"

Your back gently hits the couch as he straddles you, "Be a good girl and relax, I'm just going to help you."

Doubt and wariness swirls in that doe eyes of yours. He can see the uncertainty in that stupid head of yours, but he knew you'd agree with him. You always do.

"O-Ok... Please help me."

And he's right about that.

You're just too trusting, aren't you? Stupid girl.

It's your fault he's like this to you.

All your fault.

There’s a faint metallic click as his belt buckle comes undone, and the soft rasp of fabric follows as he frees himself from his pants. His cock springs free, the swollen head brushing against your inner thigh. He can't believe he's finally doing this. The girl he ever wanted right beneath him, all bare and for him to ruin.

It's fucked up how he doesn't feel guilty for doing this, doesn't feel guilty as he rubs his tip on your wet entrance. Everything about you is soft, the only thing he's afraid to do is to bruise your pretty skin. He can feel your breathe quicken, you heart thumping in anxiety and he smiles at that.

"I'll be... gentle." For now.

The blunt head nudges against your entrance, the slick heat of your hole enveloping him inch by inch as he presses into you slowly. Fuck. It's completely different from a toy. He wished he'd done it sooner, the walls of your inside and the wall of the toy was like night and day. His cock pulses within them, the heat and tightness driving him to the edge of his patience. Hissing in pleasure as your walls clenched around him.

"So cute..."

With that, he leaned down, his lips pressing against you. His tongue invaded your mouth, claiming you, owning you, just as his cock claimed your body. He knows he should let you adjust and wait for you to be ready but hell he'd wait for more than a second. Setting a fast pace, fucking into you with abandon, his hand gripping your hip hard enough to leave bruises-- the one he was dreaded on doing. He panted, his head thrown back in ecstasy. 

If it were that easy, he should've done this sooner. Manipulated that stupid head of yours, your naivety being the one who'd get you in trouble when you were younger.

It was different back then when he was alone. Socializing was unnecessary and draining, didn't have any purpose or value to him. He supposed having one friend is enough, he didn’t have patience for others, especially kids his age who, to him, seemed immature and exhausting.

Then you came along with your bright smile, bold laugh, and endearing quirks. You weren’t stunning or wealthy, and your background was humble—a stark contrast to his world. And yet, every time you called him by that silly nickname you made up, something in his chest stirred, an ache he couldn’t ignore. A foolish girl, treating him as if he were just another friend, another kid to play with.

So why can’t he push you away? You're just like any other kid who wants his attention. So why is it so hard to say no to you?

You're the one driving him crazy. So you only have yourself to blame, this is only happening because you're letting him. You're the one doing this to your self.

He could feel the pleasure building, the pressure in his balls as he neared his release.

"Be my onahole, ok?" He demanded, his voice rough with lust. He needed to hear you say it, needed to know that you understood.

Your mind was swirling, head foggy as the pleasure was starting to mix with the confusion. As your cries grew louder, body writhing beneath him, he felt his own orgasm approaching. He could feel the heat building, the tingling in his toes as his balls drew up tight.

O-Onahole? What's that? What is he talking about?

"Everyday, you'll be my onahole." he panted, his words punctuated by the sound of flesh meeting flesh, the obscene squelch of his cock pumping in and out of your pussy. "I'll save you from that phantom, ok?"

I don't know anything....

"Ok?!" he warns, hips losing their rhythm as his climax approaches, "Shit...!"

"Ah! I-I will! I'll become your onahole!"

With a final, brutal thrust, he buries himself to the hilt inside, his cock pulsing as he empties himself deep in your womb. He holds you tight against his chest, grinding into you to prolong the waves of pleasure.

"Fuck, you're so good for me," He praises breathlessly, peppering your sweat-dampened neck with kisses. "Taking my cock so well, milking me dry. That phantom is gone now that I'm with you."

All you could feel was the light kisses trailing on your neck to your cheek and finally on your lips.

"One more time? I mean you are my onahole now."

***

"Wow, you didn't hold one bit eh?"

His eyes narrowed as he saw him standing on the door with a smug grin.

"What are you doing here? I thought you wouldn't be able to make it?" His tone accessory as he cleans up the aftermath, gently tucking in your passed out figure on the bed.

"So defensive for what?" He chuckles, sauntering as he glance at your peaceful fresh-fucked face. Such a lovely sight. He  licks his lips at that but for now you'd need to get your beauty rest after a rough day. "So, did 'ya like your present?"

"..."

"I'd take your silence as a yes then." Giggling, he places his hand on his shoulder, "I knew you'd like it I mean, we are similar in taste after all."

His jaw tightens before sighing in defeat, "Where did you even get that toy?"

"Oh, some shady website~! I was planning to buy another one but the website mysteriously disappeared!" He exaggerate his movements which earned a grimace from him.

"Shut up, you'll wake her up."

"No, she won't. You made her pass out, how ungentlemanly of you."

"Says you."

"Whatever, I came to ask you a question," His hand drop to his side, his smug smile still on but something sinister behind it, "So, we're going to share, right?"

The answer should've been obvious but it was hard to let the word out of his mouth. Was it pride or possession?

"Yeah..."

"I knew you'd say that."

"But I want her on Mondays."

"Oh brother, why pick the worst day?" He grunts in disappointment.

"Because it's the worst day, I need her on that day."