#Web Series News Updates

[scribblefoxstudios]

SO EXCITED!!

[kittydeliverycomic]

Sometimes nostalgia is just not powerful enough.

[johntimothy19]

The Fantastic Four

Marvel Studios has unveiled the first official trailer for Fantastic Four: First Steps, offering a compelling glimpse into the upcoming film that reintroduces Marvel's first family to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The trailer reveals a blend of personal stakes and cosmic threats, setting the stage for a narrative that intertwines family dynamics with intergalactic peril.

A New Chapter for the Fantastic Four

Set years after the team's initial transformation due to space radiation, Fantastic Four: First Steps departs from the traditional origin story. The film features Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards (Mister Fantastic), Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm (Invisible Woman), Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm (Human Torch), and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm (The Thing). The trailer highlights the team's established role as Earth's protectors, showcasing their powers and camaraderie.

Personal Stakes: The Arrival of Franklin Richards

A significant revelation in the trailer is Sue Storm's pregnancy, hinting at the introduction of Franklin Richards. In the comics, Franklin is the son of Reed and Sue, possessing immense reality-warping abilities. His potential inclusion in the film suggests a deeper exploration of family dynamics and could pave the way for future storylines involving younger superheroes in the MCU.

The Silver Surfer's Warning

The trailer introduces Julia Garner as the Silver Surfer, a powerful cosmic entity who arrives on Earth to deliver a dire warning: the planet has been marked for destruction by Galactus. This portrayal marks a fresh take on the character, with Garner bringing a new dimension to the role. The Silver Surfer's arrival signifies the escalation of threats the Fantastic Four must confront, blending personal challenges with universal stakes.

Galactus: The Cosmic Devourer

Galactus, the formidable cosmic being known for consuming entire planets, is hinted at through ominous visuals in the trailer. Portrayed by Ralph Ineson, Galactus represents an existential threat that forces the Fantastic Four to confront challenges beyond their previous experiences. His presence introduces a new level of cosmic danger to the MCU, expanding the universe's scope and the team's responsibilities.

Visual and Thematic Elements

Directed by Matt Shakman, known for his work on WandaVision, the film promises a blend of grounded storytelling and cosmic spectacle. The trailer showcases the team's powers, from Reed's elasticity to Johnny's fiery form, while also emphasising the emotional weight of their personal lives. The juxtaposition of family moments with impending cosmic doom underscores the film's exploration of heroism in the face of overwhelming odds.

Integration into the MCU

Fantastic Four: First Steps is poised to play a significant role in the broader MCU narrative. The film sets the stage for the team's involvement in upcoming projects like Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars. Their introduction into the MCU not only expands the universe's roster of heroes but also introduces new story lines and dynamics that will influence future films.

Anticipation and Impact

The trailer's release has generated significant buzz, with fans eager to see how the film will balance its intimate character moments with the grandeur of cosmic conflict. The introduction of characters like Franklin Richards and the Silver Surfer, along with the looming threat of Galactus, suggests a narrative rich with potential for both emotional depth and epic storytelling.

Fantastic Four: First Steps is scheduled for theatrical release on July 25, 2025, marking a new era for Marvel's first family and their place within the expansive MCU.

[idepict]

Discover Netflix’s latest true-crime docuseries Worst Ex Ever, exploring shocking tales of toxic relationships, betrayal, and violence. Premiering August 28, 2024, this four-part series dives deep into the dark side of love with gripping testimonials and intense footage.

[glimpsesofeuterpe]

if you live in countries alike mine, you'll have to google to do steps every time before trying to download apps like clippaint, stream and co

they kinda did their best to push a simple user toward going full pirate mode, aand keep coming up with v interesting updates on that every now and then

[screentones-webcomicresources]

Webcomic platforms can help get your comic published when you want something quick and easy to start out! They generally share a few qualities:

They format everything in a basic way so you don't have to do much set up your own space to look nice on web/mobile

They have no fee to publish your comics there, because you are using their web hosting

They may get your comic in front of other readers with mobile apps or online catalogs

If you meet their criteria, you may also be able to find hosting with digital comic stores, publishers, and collectives, and this may get you a bit more in the way of money, promotional opportunities, or editor assistance.

Even if you choose to host your website on its own webhost with a comic CMS, you might also consider finding a platform that aligns with your comic goals and "mirroring" your pages there.

In this post, we look at all the webcomic platforms out there we could find in our research!

This post may be updated as time goes on as new platforms enter the hosting arena, or other important updates come to light.

Questions:

💻 Everyone uses social media, could I just use that as a platform for my comic? - One-shot or strip comics without a continuous story that can be read in any order can do okay on social media, and people have adapted Tumblr to display a series of pages. But for continuous long-form stories, social media platforms are better for keeping your readers updated and general promotion.

📚 Wait, what if I want to build my own website and drive people there? - We have another masterlist of website hosts for that!

🕵️‍♀️What kinds of restrictions can I expect? - Many comic platforms have restrictions on NSFW content, links to other sites, or could be invite/application-only. We've tried to note those on the cards, as well as a list of comic platforms that have predatory business practices at the very end that we recommend avoiding. Always do your research!

Webcomic Platforms

Webtoon Canvas

Tapas

Webtoon Originals

SpiderForest Webcomic Collective

Hiveworks

ComicFury

The Duck

Saturday AM

GlobalComix

NamiComi

DillyHub

Shrine Comics

[chvoswxtch]

the devil and the widow

[status: in progress]

summary: matt murdock is recruited by S.H.I.E.L.D. to help take down a trafficking ring run by a new crime organization that rose to power in fisk’s absence. he’s forced to work agent y/l/n, who’s just as thrilled about the pairing as he is. as the investigation unravels more webs of lies, haunting details are uncovered, and matt starts to question who he’s actually working for, especially as he digs further beneath the skeletons of his mysterious partner’s dark past. every revelation leaves matt with the same unsettling question; who’s the real villain?

a/n: there was an idea...and it got out of hand and so here we are. i'm so excited to finally share this with y'all. it's been in the works for quite some time now. if you loved the bodyguard, I really hope you'll love this one. it's another slow burn, so get comfy. there's also going to be a lot of mature themes in this series, as well as spice (duh), but as always, I will post specific content warnings for each chapter as they drop.

if you've been in the daredevil fandom this whole time, it's great to see your beautiful faces again. if you're new here from dd born again, on behalf of all of us, welcome. we're glad you're here.

without further ado, sit back, relax, grab a drink and a snack, maybe some tissues, and enjoy.

»— anything marked with an astrik contains explicit content. minors dni.

»— all work is my own. please do not repost anywhere else without my consent.

chapter one: the head of the snake

chapter two: follow my lead

chapter three: by any means necessary

chapter four: an olive branch

chapter five: lucky

chapter six: the entertainment

chapter seven: back up plan

chapter eight:

chapter nine:

chapter ten:

chapter eleven:

chapter twelve:

chapter thirteen:

chapter fourteen:

chapter fifteen:

chapter sixteen:

chapter seventeen:

chapter eighteen:

chapter nineteen:

chapter twenty:

chapter twenty one:

the devil and the widow soundtrack

taglist sign up for updates

[leeyricality]

MASTER POST

A Desert Duo web comic inspired by HC 6 and the Life Series! Scar Goodtime is a quickly-rising movie star, supported by a dedicated team. Grian, his tailor, runs himself thin by taking on side jobs and chasing the actor around per Scar's request. Photoshoots or TV appearances, sure, but signing events, doctors appointments, and coffee runs? A bit odd to bring your tailor literally everywhere with you, right? Scar doesn't think so. Grian on the other hand, does. Especially when Scar suggests he starts attending events as a guest. However, Scar gets an idea that just might solve Grian's worries after a downtown drag night

CHAPTER 1: Drag Queens

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3

CHAPTER 2: New Tailor

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3

CHAPTER 3: Business Trip

Coming soon...

Tags:

#tailored to you : Comic parts

#ddtau : Includes the comics as well as all my little doodles, thumbnail wips, and progress updates!

#ddtau fanart : All the lovely art that fans have made!

[proxycrit]

I love your au!!! I love how the hylian duo look like gremlins, I LOVE the expressions and sass constantly and the changes to the lore, the worldbuilding and also the emotions (OUCH). I love their relationship with purah and each other and the new champions. I love the depth you gave Yona and her relationship with Sidon and Mipha. I love how link feels comfortable talking to sidon in addition to sign, I don't know if he does that with anyone else but Zelda unless its absolutely necessary (eg: just launched out a cannon and is paragliding down, so hands are busy) (side note: i love how much of an adrenalin junky/gremlin he is!!)

I do got a few questions! Will the pair get the sheikah slate again (so say link has the slate and zelda the pad), and can both slates do the warping and item storage (food, ingredients, armor, weapons, etc) (if so: no WONDER link was so upset! His collection!)

Does link have access to the ultrahand abilities (ik you said not The ultrahand, but what about fuse or ascend or rewind etc?) Where is the mastersword??

Does Link still have the champions' abilities, or did he lose those when their spirits moved on at the end of botw?

I know these are a lot of questions but I can't stop thinking about it!! The last few updates sent me back rereading the whole au and now its just vibrating in my head and giving me no piece

This is long and rambly, just know I am very much enjoying this au! Its silly and fun and touching and cute. Thank you for working on it!!

Oo some notes (also ty for circling my au haha im glad other people fixate like i do)

(Prewarning— i did not finish totk despite putting triple hours in it, so a lot of this story is being written while playing, though i know the big broad strokes thanks to cultural osmosis and video essays. A lot of Familiar Familiar builds from my playthrough with BOTW over TOTK, so the sheikah influence is significantly stronger and I will always choose botw characterization over totk characterization as a result.)

That aside

1. Sheikah slate’s dead. Rest in pieces, link’s rare collectable korok poop. Purah’s extracting as much data as she can to put on the purah pad but you can see the dread in her eyes whenever she has to tell link resurrection is not possible.

2. No idea about the zonai arm powers yet— im thinking about ascend, but the longer i go through this story the less likely ill hand it to him just due to immersion breakage. He and zelda will be getting sheikah gadgets from purah though! Maybe ill have a scene of him wandering through the sky island shrines, but without zelda warning rauru he and sonia wouldnt have prepared anything for the hero of the future. (But i DO love ascension and fuse. Lowkey dislike the building mechanics from a concept art pov because the green glue makes me want to cry, but it’s FINE i GUESS)

2b. Master sword’s chilling in korok forest. Link put it back in this au because of Reasons (part of his and zelda’s characterization in this au is to discard their past roles and embrace the present, not as knight and princess but as hero and researcher. They both have to face the reality those roles aren’t dead, but it’s a work in progress. I may also never address it. This “one off hehe lemme draw some guys” idea quickly spiraled into a web comic series so apologies for the vagueness, because i too am watching them adventure with dread and awe and i don’t know where they’ll go with it. They literally write themselves.

3. Rip champions, their ghosts are Gone (but their influence remains. You go mipha, keep haunting the narrative girl, i love you)

I know that some of these story notes don’t quite match up to what totk states is stone cold canon, but that’s the joy of fan work! Anyways sorry for folks who i have NOT answered asks of— i have a lot of them and I’m much better at the drawing and writing part then the socialization aspect (please feel free to peak in to my zoo enclosure ever so often though. I need the enrichment)

[monkey-wrench-series]

Boy howdy it's been a fun couple of days!

Reception for Ep 4 has been pretty swell, beating out Ep 3's 24 hour record by 50k views.

Let's see if we can crack 500k by this coming Wednesday.

In other news we're hoping to start work on Ep 5 soon. If we can get the Kara plush campaign over the 400+ sold mark we should have enough money to at least start the voice recording for the new ep.

Find her here

Merch not your thing? Check out the series patreon!

As always we thank you guys for the support and hope you have a happy chrimbo~

We'll update everyone on ep5 come the new year.

[melpomenelamusa]

Melpómene´s whump stories archive

To celebrate the new year, I've decided to share with you some of my favorite whump stories I read this year as a thank you to all the authors who share a little bit of their world with us 💜✨

My plan is to update this list annually and have it function as a sort of personal archive for me, hehe, but you can use it too if you'd like! 😁

Melpómene's personal favorites:

🩸Shattered (by @oddsconvert): An anti-human-blood-drinking vampire doctor tries to save the life of a human who for years was the bloodbag of a vampire I really hate.

🔪Total $hit$how (by @befuddled-calico-whump): 5 misfits escaping prison for their criminal records are hired by a mysterious organization to stop another mysterious, but more evil, sci-fi organization (Benji, my son).

🩸Blood and tears (by @whumpisgoodwhumpislife): A little half-vampire is suffering too much and a human decides to take care of him and protect him (They are both my babies).

🪄Forsaken (by @inhurtandincomfort): A young wizard, condemned by a pact he made with a misterious entity in the past, is trained and used as a living weapon by a malevolent institution in a fantasy world. Ft. some loser boy mad scientist.

🎣In troubled water (by @whumpisgoodwhumpislife): A little mer anglerfish suffers. That's it. Also known as "my poor fish baby".

⛅Worthless (by @livelaughwhump): The best example of "trauma changes you". (P.S. When I catch you, Christian...).

Others amazing stories I've read/I'm reading:

📸Smile for the camera! (by @morning-star-whump ): A boy is kidnapped by a psychopath from the deep web. His parents and his little boyfriend try to find him (Andre Vazquez is the best character).

👑Darius & Mianu (by @geode-crystal): A traumatized prince and his faithful knight/boyfriend want to live happily ever after, but something always happens.

👹The Bahkauv (by @deluxewhump): Three friends decide to buy a magical creature to study; but what seemed like nothing more than a monster or an animal may turn out to be a companion.

⚡Overloaded (by @fleur-a-whump): The son of a supervillain wants to join the good guys, but discovers that "heroes" can be just as cruel as villains.

⚓Voyagers (by @sorrowful-hyacinth): A jerk sea captain captures a jerk mermaid prince and they torture each other. They both deserve it because they're such bastards, but you also feel bad for them and it's complicated.

⛓️A taste of your own medicine (by @oddsconvert): Whumper gets kidnapped and torture along with his ex-whumpee by an even evil whumper. Only one person is having fun here.

👨‍👦With me (by @greatgigintheskiess): A bitter guy living in the woods accidentally rescues a little boy who escaped from an evil laboratory. Parental caretaker my beloved.

🪐Humanity Collector (by @rabbit-flaying): A cosmic creature who likes to collect human things decides to add a real human to its collection (A cosmic horror one-shot).

🧵Writemas 2024 (by @tildeathiwillwrite): A woman suffers the mysterious death (or murder?) of her husband. This is the kind of story I would love to read in a printed book and recommend to my entire family.

🦌Whumpcember 2024 (by @kabie-whump): An evil wizard has turned Santa's reindeer into humans, who now have to live with their new bodies. A series of shorts with very interesting and cute characters that I definitely need to keep reading if I could.

🪢My favorite stories by @writinglittlepains: Speedster, Aleksander's Plight and Sweet Fins are my favorites!

⚖️Guilt & Revenge (by @what-if-i-just-did): A traumatized ex-bully is kidnapped by the kids he used to bully as a kid because he couldn't afford therapy and is brutally tortured by those who actually happened to be the ones who needed therapy.

🫂We Are TroubleD (by @whumpty-dumpty-doo): Two best friends are kidnapped by a guy who originally planned to capture one of them for ransom, but now is just torturing them for fun.

⛈️Ventis and friends (by @kabie-whump): A half draconic half air elemental and his varied adventures in a fantasy world *kindly slaps Ventis* This bad boy can fit so much trauma in him.

🛡️Drusus & Keme (by @whumperofworlds): Don´t know why it took me so long to add the whumpable husbands to the list. There´s whump! And fluffy married love! And used as bait!

🪦Curse of Withering (by @sir-fenris): A magical boy with the power to kill everything he touches is imprisoned and used as a living military weapon.

🎀Pretty whumpee (by @string-of-broken-hearts): Pretty whumpe and carewhumper. I really need to know the context, I'm so intrigued.

👿Karma's B*tch (by @whumpthusiast): A pathetic guy kidnaps the wrong woman and now it backfired.

👥Group Whumpees (by @haro-whumps): A young man inherits his eccentric aunt's house after her death and discovers that she had enslaved and tortured five servants. It's now his job to try to restore them to a sense of humanity.

🧜‍♀️Fish out of water (by @bilightningwhumper): The unluckiest mermaid I know. This story gives me the vibes of a dramatic soap opera, in a good way.

[ladyinsanity]

Preserving Your DHD Library

Dark Horse Digital is closing up shop and is ending support March 31st.

All purchases through DHD are on a "license the right to read" basis - we do not "own" the books. While they say we have until March 30 to download to our Bookshelf library, the ability to read on the website will only be available "at least through summer".

Well, that's awful.

If you want a way to preserve all your books, detailed instructions under the cut.

As a disclaimer, this may not be legal in all jurisdictions. Use your best judgment. Also, this method does not work for all titles, and has not been updated since 2017.

That said...

How to Download your DHD Library

Step 1: Install Tampermonkey extension via Chrome web store. (If other browser, check Step 1 here.)

Make sure to also enable "Developer mode" in extensions. On Brave you can access it through the Settings - Extensions - Manage Extensions. For Chrome, refer to this video to enable.

Step 2: Copy (CTRL+C) all the code from the Dark Horse Downloader script by oxguy3, under "Code" tab.

Step 3: Click the Tampermonkey extension in your browser and choose "Create a new script."

Delete the default code and Paste (CTRL+V) the script. Then, click File - Save.

Step 4: Log into Dark Horse Digital and go to your Bookshelf. Make sure "Stack by Series" is disabled. You should see something like this image - press "Download" for the title you want to keep.

Step 5: Download will start automatically. When it is done, it should pop up in your Downloads folder as a CBZ file.

CBZ files are basically an archive of all the images from the title. You can use an app like YACReader or CDisplayEx to view like a book.

If you want a more visual explanation, this video on how to bulk download Kindle titles has a similar method.

(And FYI, Amazon is also removing access to download Kindle titles after February 26. Isn't that a fun coincidence. /s)

Anywho, best of luck!

EDIT: I added a step in Step 1 to enable Developer Mode.

[wintfleur]

𝓣HE ONLY EXCEPTION ⊹ au masterlist part one

━━━ ❛ but darling, you are the only exception

👩🏻‍🎨 ━━━ 𝓮stella 𝓱ughes the 𝓲nternet’s sweetheart, the n𝒽l’s little sister and an 𝑜lympic silver medalist for figure skating 𝓯alls for her brother luke’s best friend 𝓇utger mcgroarty

paring 𝗌𝗍𝖾𝗅𝗅𝖺 𝗁𝗎𝗀𝗁𝖾𝗌 𝗑 𝗋𝗎𝗍𝗀𝖾𝗋 𝗆𝖼𝗀𝗋𝗈𝖺𝗋𝗍𝗒

˗ˏˋ PART TWO OF THE ONLY EXCEPTION ´ˎ˗

∿ ABOUT OUR GIRL !

she knows she’s just that girl (stella’s profile)

what if? ; a spinoff AU series with stella hughes

stella’s discography

stella on the web ! (a visual breakdown of stella’s social media accounts)

∿ HER RELATIONSHIPS !

my family line (stella and her brothers relationship analysis)

if we were a movie (stella and rutger’s relationship analysis)

her relationship with her besties

her relationship with sunghoon

her relationship with daisy

her timeline w/ juraj & rut

∿ FICS !

Boys suck anyway!

we’re just really good friends!

talking bodies ꒰nsfw꒱

∿ SOCIAL MEDIA AUS !

tis’ the season of snow and soft launches 🎄

V-day with Pookie

Pretty boys b-day!

BABES IN BAHAMAS!

PRETTY GIRLS B-DAY!

EEPY ETHANS B-DAY!

the start to a chaotic summer !

impromptu escape !

happy birthday lukey

happy birthday quinny

summer bummer babe

santa tell me

surprise birthday gift

tiny hughes wins the gold!

∿ SHORTER FICS !

my sleepy girl

dog pile!

my captain!

sugar cookies and peppermint chapstick 🎄

hat tricks and kisses

broken bratz dolls and hello kitty band-aids

put a bow on it

tears, wishes and kit-kats

passing out spells and a misinformed quinny

it’s just a prank !

going home (featuring Stella Hughes!)

old nicknames and quick byes.

you’re my future . . .

Faceoff: inside the NHL 𝓯eaturing Stella Hughes

super bowl sunday

∿ BLURBS !

juraj and stella moment

rutger and stella on plane coming home from Sweden

best big brother ever!

mischievous three

happy birthday jacky!

∿ STELLA N JURAJ !

∿ TIKTOK TRENDS !

it’s just a prank !

he’s so pretty when he goes down on me!

best big brother ever!

stella updating her brothers throughout her day

suspect . . . suspect is about to get throttled !

∿ ASKS !

Stella and her journey with anemia, w/ protective Jack

more facts about Stella

pictures that remind me of Stella and Trevor

pictures that remind me of Stella and Rutger

pictures that remind me of stella and luke

pictures that remind me of stella and Jamie

people who have/had a crush on Stella

what do Jack and Quinn think about Stella and Rutger

more Luke thoughts about Stella and Rutger

Nico and Stella

Stella and ruts fav physical thing about each other

Stella and Molly

rutger reacting to stella’s nightmares

Nico finding out about Stella and rutger

people’s reaction to walking in on Stella and rut making out

random questions about Stella and Rutger

five fun facts about Stella

Stella’s brothers helping with her anxiety

thoughts on Stella and rut getting walked in on by her brothers

Rutgers favorite pictures of Stella

stella at the New Jersey devils family skate thoughts

pictures that remind me of Stella and juraj

Stella on Trevor’s birthday

pregnancy scare

what if Stella got injured

the aftermath if Stella go injured

there future thoughts

love songs that remind me of Stella and rut

Stella and mark

Stella with an injured and clingy Jack

everyone’s reaction to Stella and juraj getting exposed

jacks birthday post

who would be Stella and Ruts children’s godparents?

Stella’s figure skating style!

six random questions about Stella

more thoughts on Luke finding out about Stella and rut

Stella’s favorite figure skating programs & costumes

more details from the ‘impromptu escape smau’

Luke and Stella yapping during the sibling road trip

favorite short n’ sweet songs

lily and Carmen’s relationship with Stella’s brothers

∿ SMUTTY THOUGHTS !

morning sex

rut’s obsession with Stella’s boobs

rough sex thoughts

oral headcanons with our hottest couple

Luca, rut and Stella after the frozen four loss thoughts

random thought of them seeing each other during long distance

roro’s note. MY BABIES 😫 stella is so dear to me, i hope you enjoy this!! feel free to send as many thoughts / questions / requests as you want, this is an interactive au !! send in a ask or comment to be added to the taglist!

UPDATE ‼️I ran out of space on this masterlist, so everything new will be linked here, in the second part!!

you can find everything under #👩🏻‍🎨 ͡ ꒱ Stella Hughes!

˖ ་ taglist : @cixrosie @toasttt11 @winterbarnesblog @lovings4turn @bunbunbl0gs @petite-potato4 @lesrflms @iceflwers @littlesoulshine

©️WINTFLEUR ; you can't copy, translate, reproduce, repost my fic, use my plot or layout.

[crowsofdarkness]

A Fight For Darkness: Chapter Five

-gif not mine. credit to owners-

Pairings: Eric Draven(Bill Skarsgard) x Female!Reader.

Content Warnings: language, violence, mentions of murder, mentions of taking own life, blackmail, blood, smoking, drinking, mentions of drug use, arranged marriage, 18+ smut that I will mention at the beginning of the chapter.

Summary: An unknown text and a list full of questions for what happened to your sister leads you down to the underground fight ring that belongs to none other than Eric Draven, The Crow. Once he captures your eyes with his, the web you were desperate to untangle suddenly tightens.

Authors Note: This is not cannon to The Crow(2024). Shelly nor her and Eric's love story exist in this series. Eric does have his fast ability to heal though. Tags are open for this series as well!

We are now getting into the darker parts of this story so you have been warned.

Tags: @corawithfanfiction

A Fight For Darkness Masterlist

READER

Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. 

The sound of time ticking away was the only noise that filled the space of Eric’s office in the fight club, besides the sounds coming from the gym area. I shifted on my spot on the couch, trying to find a more comfortable position while scrolling through my notes on my iPad. Although it was futile, nothing changed from when I last looked at them a week ago. 

My sister had been missing for seven months now with no news. No new leads. Silence from the authorities ends. I called the detective that was assigned to her case the other morning for updates to which he swiftly cut me off with a harsh tone. 

“All due respect, miss. If there are any updates, I will call you. You don’t need to keep calling.” 

Before I could get another word in, the detective hung up. There were moments this last week where I nearly showed up to the police station to demand answers in person. Yet the strong arm wrapped around my arm when I woke every morning stopped me. 

Daring over a quick glance to Eric’s desk, I sighed at how empty it was. It was nearing five in the evening and he’d been down at the fight club since 10 this morning doing whatever he usually did. Eric never really told me what he did down here all day, every day. But I never asked. All I needed to know was that he ran an illegal fight club and apparently, that took a lot of his time. 

There was a fight coming up in a few days and according to the men who worked for Eric, it was a big one. The semi finals in the tournament and Eric was set to face someone from the Russian mob; the same mob whose leader was found murdered here a few weeks ago. So while I hid away in his office, Eric was training in the cage. The office door was open, giving me a clear view as he moved about the ring, punching and kicking his training opponent. 

I think his name was Jay and from the brief that Eric told me, Jay was his best friend and right hand man. Greg was below Jay on the ladder which I could tell bothered him from watching them nearly every day since I’ve moved in. 

Even with the distance, I could see the sweat gather on Eric’s bare back and I licked my lips with the want to taste him. The muscles in his back teased with every punch he threw. 

Fuck, he was gorgeous even with all of the tattoos. As much as I tried to tell myself I wasn’t attracted to him, deep down I knew it was a lie. The more time I spent with him, the more I found myself wanting his warm body wrapped around me.

I could tell it was weighing heavy on Eric’s shoulders because the last two days, he’s been very short with me. This “marriage” was very one sided besides him holding me while we slept. 

Internally, I snickered at the word marriage. This wasn’t because we loved each other. It was far from it. It was to protect me from Roeg’s men but also to help me find what happened to my sister. I tried to tell myself over and over again, especially when I would wake with him holding me or when my mind wandered back to what happened on his desk the last fight night. 

Neither of us would talk about what happened, no matter how heavy the words weighed on my tongue. I repeatedly told myself that it was a one time thing and Eric only needed something to take the edge off post fight. I’d been tempted to ask him if he needed to take the edge off again but decided against it. 

Setting my iPad on the couch next to me with a sigh, I glanced at my watch to see what time it was. Since Eric’s office was underground, I had no idea what time of day it was and if the sun was still out. According to my watch it was just before six in the evening meaning we’d been down here for a few hours now. 

Gathering my things, I walked into the gym area just as Eric rose from the mat, Jay taking him down in some sort of headlock. 

“You’re distracted, Crow. You need to shape up otherwise you’re going to lose your first match,” Jay said while running a hand through his sweaty hair. 

Eric pushed him away, cursing Jay under his breath. “Fuck off, Jay. I’ve got a lot going on.”

“Marriage troubles already?” Jay teased. 

“This wasn’t how I envisioned my marriage, that’s all.” Eric said before taking a large gulp of water. 

My lips parted to call to him since he couldn’t see me but with his words, I opted not to. Instead I turned towards the back staircase that leads up towards the apartment. My heart felt heavy in my chest. Yes, I knew that this fake marriage wasn’t for love but it still hurt hearing that Eric wasn’t too fond of it although it was his idea. 

My attempts to leave unnoticed failed when I crashed into a body causing me to drop my things. More so, my iPad fell, screen first and instantly I knew it was broken. 

“Got your head in the clouds or something?” 

I was kneeling to pick up my things so when I gazed up through my lashes, I noticed Greg glaring down at me. 

“Wh-what?” I asked. 

“Maybe if you watched where you were going, your iPad wouldn’t have broken. Maybe you wouldn’t have been in any of the mess you’re currently in if you fucking paid attention.” 

“Excuse me?” I exclaimed while shooting to my feet. 

Greg was about to say something else but I felt a looming presence behind me. I didn’t have to look to see if it was Eric. His familiar warmth wrapped around me, protecting me from Greg’s wrath. 

“Watch what you say next to my wife, Greg,” Eric’s voice was deep and even as he stood behind me, his chest pressed against my back. I could feel the sweat through the thin material of my shirt. 

Greg’s upper lip snarled as his eyes continued to glare at me, never taking his gaze away. Not even when he spoke to Eric. 

“I need to talk to you.” 

Eric’s hand rested low on my hip. “Then talk.” 

Although I loved the way his hand felt on me, I didn’t forget the words he said moments prior to Jay. So I couldn’t stop the way my body tensed under his touch, something I was sure Eric noticed.

“Privately,” Greg said with a voice thick with annoyance. 

Eric’s chest rumbled behind me. “Go sit in my office. I’ll be there in a minute. 

After giving me one last glare, Greg left the two of us alone so Eric softly turned me around to face him. 

“Are you alright?”

His question fell away as I let my gaze track over every design of tattoos across his chest  and like every time I did, I wanted to trace over every single one. 

“Y/N.”

Snapping my gaze away from his tattoos, I gave him a small nod. “Yeah, I’m fine.” 

“Where were you going?” He asked, slowly dragging his fingers up and down my arm, leaving goosebumps in his wake. 

“I think I’m going to head back up to the apartment to get something to eat.” I couldn’t look him in the eyes, my heart still hurting from what he said earlier. 

So instead, I kept my gaze on his abs and noticed how low his black gym shorts rested on his hips. The defined v line was so sharp I bet it would cut my finger if I dragged it over it. The small dark hairs of his happy trail I was sure led to pure happiness, if Eric allowed it. 

“I’ll come with you,” he said.

I pointed towards his office. “What about Greg?”

Eric let out another annoyed noise from the back of his throat. “Asshole can wait. Did you want me to make you something to eat?”

At the mention of him cooking, my stomach rumbled to life. Since I’ve moved in, Eric has cooked me atleast one meal a day and he was an amazing cook. 

“I’d like that,” I smiled, excitement filling me for spending some time with him. 

I allowed him to wrap an arm around my shoulder and leaned into him as he led me towards the back staircase, talking about what we should have for dinner. There were a few of Eric’s men working around the gym. I didn’t miss the way some of them gave me a leery look underneath Eric’s arm. It wasn’t a secret that his men questioned our marriage, a lot of them thinking we rushed into this. But none of them knew the truth. 

“You stink,” I teased while tapping his sweaty chest. 

“Do you want to shower with me?” He winked

Yes please. 

Before I could answer, Greg poked his head out of Eric’s office, yelling at him. 

“Dude, forget about the broads pussy for two fucking minutes and get your ass over here. I need to talk to you!” 

“Mother fucker. I’m going to bleed him dry,” Eric’s body tensed against mine and there was a dark glimmer in his usual bright eyes. 

I watched for a moment, perplexed at how fast this kind of inky blackness filled his eyes and a thunderous beat sounded in my ears. 

“Eric,” I spoke quietly, resting a hand on his chest. “You can’t beat up people for me.”

“I have killed for you, little crow. Don’t think I won’t hurt anyone who wrongs you.” 

Momentairfly that inky blackness seemed to disappear from his eyes when I spoke his name once more. 

“Go. I’ll wait for you upstairs,” I assured him. 

His eyes darted from Greg to me, softening once he saw my face. “Ten minutes. Give me ten minutes to deal with this asshole then I’m yours for the rest of the night.” 

Will you ever really be mine?

Shaking the thought from my head, I nodded and left Eric with a small smile and took the back staircase up to the apartment. As soon as I stepped inside the threshold, something felt off. Different. Like someone had been inside of here but nothing seemed out of place. I told Eric a handful of times that he should really lock the door whether we were inside or not. Anyone can find their way up here. 

Tossing my broken iPad on the bed, I walked into the bathroom with the thought of taking a warm shower. I stripped out of my clothes while the large shower warmed up and stared at my reflection in the mirror. My hands dragged over the bare skin of my stomach, up between my breasts, and farther up my neck to let my hair down from its messy bun. Ever since I watched Eric train in the ring shirtless and felt his body pressed up against mine, I’d been so wound up. I haven’t had a release since that night in his office and I’d become desperate for one. I felt awkward touching myself inside of Eric’s apartment but right at this moment, I didn’t care. 

I needed to fucking let go. 

Standing underneath the shower head, I let the burning water ease away my tense muscles and propped one hand on the wall, the other traveling down to my pussy. My fingers pressed against my clit causing me to let out a loud moan. I threw my head back, letting the water splash across my face as I worked fast circles over my clit in the way I knew I liked. 

“Oh, oh fuck,” I spat out some of the water from my mouth, slipping a finger inside of me now. 

My eyes were closed, imagining it was Eric’s fingers inside of me. His lips leaving marks all over my neck. His tongue between my legs devouring me. 

I removed my hand from the wall and began pinching and pulling at my peaked nipples. I rolled the buds between my fingers as I began rubbing my clit against my palm while my fingers worked quickly inside of me. The familiar burn at the base of my spine made my body shiver before tensing up. I was ready to let go with a yell so forceful, I was thankful no one would hear me. 

“Eric,” I moaned, nearly falling to my knees as I felt my orgasm wash through me with such force. 

My breathing was deep as I slipped my fingers out of me and went to wash them underneath the spray of water when a familiar deep voice froze me in place. 

“If you needed me, little crow, all you had to do was ask.”

Turning around, I saw Eric sitting outside of the shower. He was on top of the counter, long legs dangling in the air, and the smug smile he wore told me everything I needed to know. 

He’d seen the entire thing. 

“I-I-didn’t,” I shook my head, spraying water around me as it flung from my hair. 

Eric raised a brow. “Really? Cause it was my name you were calling out.” 

The water ran cold by now and it cooled my heated skin as I worked up the courage to ask him the question that was on the tip of my tongue. 

“Did you like what you see?” I asked with my bottom lip between my teeth. 

He jumped off the counter and took two large steps towards the shower door, pulling it open. The shower door had this frosted tint to it, making it difficult to see everything. Now he could see all of me as I stood in front of him, naked and wet, and Eric reached in to turn off the shower. 

“What do you think?” He asked, bright eyes shining down at me.

I glanced down towards his shorts and gasped at how hard his cock was underneath the material. 

Yeah, he definitely liked what he saw. 

My hand reached towards Eric, him taking in a sharp intake of breath, yet before I could cup his cock, there was a pounding on the front door of the apartment. I jumped, nearly slipping in the wet shower, and in a flash there was a body inside of the bathroom calling for Eric. 

“Crow! There’s someone-Woah.” 

Rather quickly, Eric yanked my towel off of the hook to wrap around my naked body and then hid me behind his large frame. 

“What do you want, Jay?” Eric asked with a slight edge to his voice. 

“Am I interrupting?” Jay questioned with a fox smile.

I placed my hand on Eric’s shoulders when I noticed he was getting tense as the two men conversed. 

“You have less than ten seconds to tell me why you’re interrupting time between me and my wife, otherwise I’m going to knock your teeth out.” 

I couldn’t ignore the way my body flushed with heat when Eric said wife. 

Jay rolled his eyes and stuffed his hands deep into his leather jacket. “It can wait. I’ll let you two love birds continue.” 

Just as fast as he came, Jay left and when I made sure to hear the front door click shut, I walked past Eric towards the main area of the apartment. 

“I told you we need to start locking the door,” I sighed, reaching for a pair of sweats and a shirt from the dresser. 

Eric was leaning against the door frame of the bathroom, watching me intently. “And I told you, there’s no need. Well, that was before Jay walked in and saw you naked. I’m going to have to burn his eyes for that.” 

I rolled my own eyes, clutching the towel close to me. “You do know we’re not actually married, right? It’s all for show. Other guys can see me naked. And you can’t threaten to beat up people because they looked at me.” 

Something shifted in Eric, that familiar blackness seeping into his eyes, and he pushed himself off the door frame. I expected him to stalk towards me, a predator after its prey, yet instead he gave me his back and slammed the bathroom door behind him. 

“What the hell did I say?” I shook my head to myself before getting dressed. 

ERIC

Darkness. It’s all I’d known growing up. It’s the only thing that was familiar in my life. I let it in every time I felt it creeping on the edges of my vision because it was the only thing I knew. I was sure that it would be a part of me until I took my last breath. Yet when Y/N entered my life, I rarely felt that darkness anymore. It was as if she brought in a sense of warmth and light which was the opposite of cold and darkness. I found myself having this weird sense of purpose to give her a life that wasn't filled with the worry of Roeg’s men finding her. Although it seemed we had become too comfortable in this facade of a marriage. Y/N made it clear that what we had wasn’t real. 

Little did she know it was real the moment I saw her inside of my office that first night when she was running in fear. 

The last two days had been filled with such tension, it was making me sick to my stomach. We hadn’t spoken much since she claimed other men could look at her naked cause what we were doing wasn’t real. On paper, yes. But the feelings between us were fake. 

Right. Cause it was so fake when my little crow called out my name when she was touching her pretty cunt? 

Fuck. Remembering her naked and wet as she called out my name instantly made my cock throb inside of my shorts but I had to practically yell at it to not get hard right now. Not when I had someone pinned to the mat, laying fist after fist into their face. 

It didn’t help that not only were Y/N and I not talking, I had been keeping something from her the last week and guilt ate away at me knowing she deserved to know but I kept it from her for her own safety. Not to mention, I’ve noticed someone had been inside the apartment a few days ago. I only noticed because my laptop had been slightly askew from his normal spot on the kitchen counter. 

Y/N always told me we should lock the door to the apartment because anyone from the fight club could wander up there but in the years of having this place, no one dared to venture above. 

“Holy shit! I think Crow broke his nose!” 

“There’s no way he can lose now!”

The cheers from the crowd meant nothing as I rolled off of my opponent, some low level drug dealer, and brought my foot to his stomach, breaking a few ribs from the force of how hard I kicked him. My knuckles were bloody, along with specks of blood across my chest, but all I did was smear it everywhere. Showcasing that yet again, no one could beat The Crow. 

Tonight was the semi finals and while others were looking to win the grand prize of 5 grand, the money meant nothing to me. My goal was to win the entire thing and donate the money to the local animal shelter. 

The same thing I had done the last two times I’ve won the tournament. 

As the ref raised my hand in victory, I glanced around the packed room, looking for those pair of doe eyes that haunted my every waking moment. Even though we hadn’t spoken much the last two days, her staying up in the apartment all day while I hung out down here in my office or training, Y/N said that she would be here to watch my fight tonight. 

I’d just about given up hope of finding her and was ready to head to my office when I paused from stepping out of the cage. Far off in the distance, close to the little bar area, I saw Y/N. She was wearing a green hoodie and a pair of biker shorts. Her hair had been pulled back into a tight braid, showcasing off her sharp cheekbones. Those doe eyes scanned the room, scared, and when they landed on me it was as if she let out a breath of relief. 

That’s when I saw him resting a hand on her hip. Some nobody asshole was touching my wife and making her feel uncomfortable. I watched for a moment as she brushed this man's hand away politely only for him to touch her again. By now, that inky darkness had fully engulfed me, dragging me down to the depths of hell and there was nothing that could pull me out. 

Pushing my way through the crowd as they cheered and congratulated me for making it to the final round, I came up on Y/N and this guy pretty fast that he hadn’t had the chance to prepare for the wrath of The Crow. The sound of bone breaking seemed to overpower the cheers as I laid my fist in the man's face, instantly knocking him on his ass. 

Y/N let out an ear piercing scream as she watched me clamber on top of the guy to continue my onslaught. The darkness was all consuming now, there was no way to fight against it. The guy never stood a chance, my first hit knocking him out cold, so it wasn’t a fair fight. But that didn’t stop me from beating him damn near to death. 

“Eric! Stop it! You’re going to kill him!” Y/N’s muffled voice begged but I didn’t stop. 

My knuckles were without a doubt bruised but I knew it would heal by the morning. 

“ERIC PLEASE! STOP IT!”

Now Y/N was crying as the crowd around us fell quiet, watching everything unfold. I was sure Jay and Greg were trying to push their way through to get me off of the guy. 

A soft hand on my shoulder caused me to whirl around with my fist raised, ready to hit whoever dared touch me but halted when I saw those familiar fear filled eyes staring at me, shocked that I had raised a fist to her. My name came out as a shaken whisper and when Y/N started to step away from me, it was then that the darkness seemed to have lifted slightly cause I was quick on my feet to wrap an arm around her. 

“Let me go!” She cried, trying to fight against me. 

Momentarily, I ignored her and guided her through the sea of bodies towards my office. I knew people wanted to intervene but they knew better. All they had to do was look at the broken and bloody body behind me to know what would happen. 

Once inside of my office, I locked the door behind us just as Y/N freed herself from me and pushed my body against the door. 

“FUCK YOU, DRAVEN! YOU CAN’T JUST MAN HANDLE ME!” 

“The fuck I can’t!” I shouted back. “You were about to leave!” 

Wild eyes stared up at me, Y/N slowly shaking her head. “You were going to hit me.” 

“No,” I stood up straighter. “I would never do that. You need to believe me, Y/N. I would never lay a hand on you.” 

She was quiet for a moment but then eventually nodded. “I know. But you nearly killed that guy all because he touched me!” 

“He touched something that didn’t belong to him,” I stated while walking over towards the closet and pulled out a towel to clean the blood off of me with. “Plus, it also looked like you were quite uncomfortable.” 

“I was,” she agreed while running a hand over her face with a sigh. “But you can’t just-.” 

I slammed a fist down on my desk, causing her to jump. “I swear to the fucking gods, little crow, if you say I can’t fight anyone who touches whats mine I’m going to remind you that you are in fact mine.” 

Her lips parted slightly as she took an intake of breath. It was clear she was watching the way my bare chest rose and fell with my own breathing. She wanted me to remind her, that much I could tell with the way her eyes flicked down to my cock in my shorts. 

But there was something I realized about Y/N early on. 

She was stubborn as hell. 

“I’m not yours, Eric!” She yelled while throwing her hands up in the air. “This whole marriage isn’t real. We’re only doing this to keep Roeg off of my trail so he doesnt kill me for what happened that night. As soon as he gets bored of waiting to find me, we can get a divorce and you can go back to your fucked up life of running this piece of shit fight club.” 

Ouch. That hurt. 

One thing about me? I’m a dick when pushed to the edge. 

I scoffed, closing the distance between us again. “My fucked up life? What about yours, hm? Chasing cold lead after cold lead about your missing sister. Give it up, Y/N. She’s probably dead, her body decaying in a ditch somewhere. You’re just wasting everyone's time looking for her. Including mine.”

The sound of skin on skin echoed in the small space when Y/N slapped me, her palm hitting directly on a bruise that was forming from my flight earlier. I bit the inside of my cheek, trying so hard not to retaliate. I meant when I said I would never lay a hand on her. 

“I fucking hate you, Eric Draven. I’m packing my shit and leaving. I don’t need your help anymore,” she spat with tears in her eyes. 

What’s this new feeling surging inside of me? Guilt? Regret?

Oh, I fucked up. I took it too far. 

“Y/N,” I reached for her hand, only for her to smack it away and run out of my office

READER

I sat on the edge of the bed, eyes raw and puffy from crying. My head felt heavy and all I wanted to do was sleep. I told Eric that I was going to leave but as soon as I started to pack my things, I realized I had nowhere to go. After the break in of my apartment, Eric had everything stripped clean down to the studs to get rid of evidence and last I checked, it still wasn't livable. I thought about staying in a hotel but the fear of Roeg finding me without Eric kept me rooted in place. 

Unfortunately, much to my dismay, I was stuck here. 

Eric’s words from our fight a while ago burned deep into my soul. I wasn’t innocent in what I said but he took it too far. The beating someone nearly to death because they touched me. Not to mention, I caught sight of Greg who was sporting a missing tooth and Jay who had a black eye that he wore with a proud smile. I didn’t have proof that Eric dealt those injuries but it was pretty clear. 

I half expected him to follow me up here but it had been nearly an hour of me crying to myself, alone in the apartment. 

You said you didn’t want to see him again, dumbass.

Grumbling at the voice in my brain, I rose from the bed and dragged my feet into the bathroom. A warm bath and a glass of wine sounded wonderful and then I would finally crawl into bed to sleep everything away. I’d deal with where to go tomorrow morning after a full night's sleep. 

Once the bathtub was full, I turned off the water and walked back into the kitchen area to pour myself a glass of wine. Just as I popped open the bottle, the front door busted open and I expected to see Eric. The bottle slipped from my hand, crashing to the ground when I took in the sight of four men in masks. I didn’t stand a chance because they were on me in seconds, two of them lifting me up from the ground and holding me onto the bed, knees pinning my arms in place. My legs began to thrash wildly so the third man held them down while the fourth stood off in the distance, almost looking for something. 

No, not something. Someone. 

“Eric’s going to kill you,” I seethed. 

The fourth man laughed darkly, pulling something sharp from his pocket. “Not if I finish the job before he gets here.” 

Blood drained from my veins as the fight against my captors became weaker. 

“Roeg wants it quick,” the first man, who was holding onto my legs, spoke. 

So these were Roeg’s men. It seemed like they finally found out where I was and were here to silence me for what I saw that night. 

“Y/N? Are you up here?” Eric’s voice called from the open doorway. “What the fuck?!” 

A scuffle happened, man two rolling off of my arm so man three could hold both of them down. Man Two and Four fought Eric, who had the upper hand for a few moments but soon, they worked him down to the ground, handcuffing him to the old heater in the apartment. 

“Are you alright?” Eric asked me. 

I shook my head, fear filling my veins, but he reassured me that everything would be alright with a small smile. 

“This is bad,” Man Three began rambling. “Roeg wanted us to kill her. He made it clear that The Crow was not to be touched.”

“I’m going to skin you all alive,” Eric promised with venom. 

Man Four shrugged. “We make him watch.” 

“You mother fuckers!” Eric cursed, pulling on his handcuff. “Don’t touch her!” 

“Eric!” I yelled out to him as Man one pinned me harder to the bed. 

“Shut up!” Man Four bellowed, back handing me. 

The taste of copper filled my mouth, his slap busting my lip open, and I yelped out in pain when Man Two forced my head towards Man Four so I could look at him as he knelt down next to the bed in front of me. 

“Did you really think The Crow would keep you safe forever? Roeg knew where you’ve been hiding but wanted to give you two some time to enjoy the honeymoon. He’s quite upset he didn't get an invite to the wedding.”

“Fuck you!” I spat blood against his mask. 

Man Four glanced over towards Eric and pointed at me. “You’ve got your hands full with this one, huh?” 

I noticed Eric’s wrist was raw and bloody from him trying to break free. 

“Leave her out of this. She has nothing to do with this life. She’s innocent.”

“Innocent?” Man One hollered, rolling off of my arms so he could bend down in front of Eric. “She ran from me that night. Made me look bad!” 

“Wait,” I shook my head. “You were the guy I ran from that night?” 

“Yes,” Man One whirled back towards me, pulling a gun from the back of his pants. “I had you dead to rights until Johnathon had to barge inside the room. Mother fucker deserved the death he got.” 

My eyes were no longer on any of the men, it was stuck on the gun Man One had been waving around. 

“How’s married life been, by the way?” Man Four asked while gripping my chin so I had no choice but to look at him again. “How well do you know your husband?” 

“What are you talking about?” I asked. 

“You’re looking for your sister right?” Man Three asked. 

I nodded at him. “Do you know where she is?” 

“No,” Man Three broke out in a smirk underneath his mask. “But your husband does.” 

It felt like someone had punched me in the gut as I looked at Eric with a broken expression at the revelation. No, it couldn’t be true. Why would he allow me to search for my sister for this long when he knew where she was?

“They’re lying, right?” I asked, tears brimming in my eyes. 

Eric’s face was hard like stone as he slowly shook his head and I let out a choked sob, forcing my eyes away from him. 

“She’s been with Roeg this entire time,” Man Three chuckled. “Your husband found out when he showed up on Roegs door step a few nights ago, looking to strike up a deal with him.”

“Shut the fuck up!” Eric yelled, trying so hard to break free. 

Snot fell from my nose onto my mouth and chin but I couldn’t wipe it away due to being held down. My head fucking hurt from all the cryhing I’d done tonight. I thought that maybe Eric and I could work past our stupid fight but now with this revelation, there was no way I could ever forgive him. 

“Alright, I don’t do well with tears,” Man Four sighed. “Shut her up.” 

Eric watched in horror as two of the men beat me readily. Fists hitting any part of my body. Face, stomach, and legs. I was sure it wasn’t a pretty sight due to hearing Eric cry out for me while promising vengeance against the men. 

My left eye was swollen and every time I took a breath, it felt like I was getting stabbed. I was pretty sure one of the men snapped my ankle but I’d become so numb to the beating, I barely felt it.

“Hand me the shotgun,” one of the men shouted. “I’m ready to end this.”

Before I could feel the cool blade against my throat or the gun barrel deep inside of my mouth, Eric had somehow broke free of his handcuffs and tackled man One to the ground. There was a small scuffle for the gun, Eric grabbing it and sending two bullets into Man One’s head. Man Two and Three dropped to the ground in a blink of an eye with their own bullet wounds to their chests. Man Four scrambled to pick up the discarded knife only for Eric to snatch it up from the ground. 

“This is for touching my wife,” he snarled right before dragging the blade across Man Fours neck. 

All four bodies lay in a heap of blood and I climbed off the bed away from it all, limping towards the bathroom. Eric reached for me but I smacked his hands away, letting out a strangled scream. 

“You knew where my sister was and didn’t tell me!” 

“I was going to,” Eric said, following me into the bathroom. “I wanted too, little crow.” 

I pushed against his chest. “Stop lying! Stop calling me that!” 

“Baby, we need to get you to the hospital,” he took a step towards me. 

“Fuck you!” I slapped him across the face. “I wish I had a gun so I could shoot you myself. You’re disgusting and deserve to die. I fucking hate you, Eric!” 

It was as if my words spoken into the air manifested because a loud gunshot echoed in the air causing me to cry out in shock. My hands patted all over my body, thinking I got shot. But my name coming out in a gargled mess had me looking over to Eric who had blood pooling from his mouth and a large wound in his gut. It was hard to watch through the tears as he stumbled back towards the filled bathtub, once more reaching out for me. It was clear with the look on his face that he knew what was about to happen, but he couldn't do anything to stop it.

My heart sank to the depths of my gut as I realized that he was shot and was about to die. Regret washed over me for the words I said to him, wishing for this to happen when I never meant it, but I couldn’t move. I could only watch as he fell into the tub, the water turning crimson as his body disappeared underneath it. 

[dalishious]

A BioWare Guide on How to Murder a Fanbase

I have been a Dragon Age super-fan for almost fourteen years, now. I have played every game, with every DLC. I have read every novel, lore book, and every comic — yes, even the terrible ones that are better off forgotten. I have seen the anime film, the animated series, and the web mini-series. I have enjoyed all of these pieces of the franchise over and over, more times than I can count. So, make no mistake: the negativity you’re about to hear comes from a place of love for this fantasy world, developed by many creative people over the years. I would love nothing more than to see the resurrection of passion in the Dragon Age fandom again. But the unfortunate truth is, that resurrection is only needed because BioWare took the fandom out back and shot it in the first place.

In December 2018, three years after the release of Dragon Age: Inquisition’s Trespasser epilogue DLC, BioWare first announced the then-untitled next Dragon Age game with a teaser trailer. At this point, most fans were anticipating this would mean within the next couple years, we would see the game. This assumption was based on the fact that Dragon Age: Inquisition was first announced in 2012, and released in 2014, with an extra year of development added last minute.

There have been dribbles of extra content since then, adding to the franchise. This was enough to keep some fans still breathing and interested. 2020’s Dragon Age: Tevinter Nights was a lovely anthology. 2020’s Dragon Age: Blue Wraith and 2021’s Dark Fortress were wonderful comics tying up the story started in Knight Errant. And 2022’s Dragon Age: Absolution was a well-animated series with an interesting cast of characters and story. But all these still left the fandom with a major question: What was going on with the next game? It was untypical of BioWare to be so secretive, in comparison to how they handled sharing information of the past games in the franchise. The only form of updates fans still have to go on is mostly just concept art and short stories, hinting that something must be in production. But why was the wait so long?

In 2015, the first version of the next Dragon Age began with a clear vision, clear scope of practice, and a reportedly happy developer team. Most gloriously in my book, there was no multi-player… but this did not align with the Electronic Arts typical money-mad schemes. EA’s push for “games as a service” meant they wanted to monetize all their games as much as possible, and therefore, they wanted them to be a live service — as Anthem demonstrated, that meant sacrificing things that are staples of good RPGs, like narrative and character choice. So in 2017, version one of the next Dragon Age was scrapped and replaced. This new version would have, in total or to at least some degree, an online portion of play.

There is one part of Schreier’s article, “The Past and Present of Dragon Age 4,” that really sticks out to me, regarding this:

“One person close to the game told me this week that Morrison’s critical path, or main story, would be designed for single-player and that goal of the multiplayer elements would be to keep people engaged so that they would actually stick with post-launch content.”

The idea of splitting up components of a game into single-player and multi-player is a terrible idea, because it means that there would be a large bulk of content only accessible through online gaming; something many fans, like myself, are repulsed by. Even if I did enjoy it, I spent most of my life growing up with either no internet or shoddy internet incapable of playing online games. I know many rural people who are still in that position, losing more and more of their favourite gaming pastimes because they are locked out of the ability to play them. It is a disservice to hide content behind a wall like this, especially in a world that is so lore-heavy like Dragon Age. The news of multi-player in Dragon Age understandably upset many, and this is when I first noticed a large drop off in excitement over the next game.

However, in 2021, the failure of Anthem (multi-player) and success of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (single-player) led the executives at EA to bend to the wishes of BioWare leadership and allow them to go back to the drawing board yet again on the next Dragon Age. This meant removing all multi-player content!

While I am very happy that there will reportedly be no multi-player in Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, I can’t help but feel bitter and a little disgusted over the ridiculous development time spent on something no one but EA wanted in the first place. If it weren’t for this foolishness, Dragon Age: Dreadwolf would be in our hands right now. Instead, it’s been in development hell for nearly nine years and counting. Nine years is a long time to expect fans to carry a torch for you through radio silence, but it’s no wonder BioWare has shared barely anything about the next game; it’s been in flux for so long, they likely haven’t had anything concrete to show.

BioWare hurt its reputation even more when the news broke that the studio very suddenly laid off 50 people who were working on Dragon Age: Dreadwolf. This is pretty damning on its own, but BioWare took it a step further. Former developer Jon Renish shared a statement revealing that the studio was only willing to offer laid-off employees two weeks of severance per year of service, and denied health benefits. The denial of health benefits in particular is a pretty wild move for a studio with a reputation for “stress casualties”. The latest news on this is that BioWare has still so far refused to negotiate better severance packages, leading to a lawsuit. The lawsuit originally had 15 former employees, but this dropped due to the fear of not being able to afford to pay their bills. So now, while EA sits on $400 million net income, the laid-off employees are struggling to buy holiday presents for their children. These horrid business practices are not to be ignored when accounting for a lack of faith in a studio. What kind of monsters reward workers who make your games special with vaguely reasoned lay-offs?

The latest news on the Dragon Age: Dreadwolf front from BioWare came early this month, December 2023, with a trailer… announcing a trailer that will come next summer… that will announce the release of the game. Supposedly. Maybe. We’ll see. But by this time, BioWare is something of a laughing stock of their own fandom. Reactions to the video released with a pretty map graphic and a few rendered locations were, from what I personally observed, mostly sardonic in nature. People have commented on the vapourware nature of the game, and like all vapourware, that leads to disintegrating trust.

Despite all this, people like Mary Kirby, (one of the veteran Dragon Age writers who was a victim of the layoffs,) said, “it’s bittersweet that Dreadwolf is my last DA game, but I still hope you all love it as much as I do,” encouraging fans to still support the game when it eventually is released. But after every misstep BioWare has taken, that’s a tough sell now. Fans are finicky, RPG fans more so than others, one could argue. We have our favourites, and many of us stick to those favourites for life over our appreciation for the artistry — but that relationship between studio and fan should go both ways. EA and BioWare has betrayed that relationship, and it will take a hell of a lot to build it back up again, now.

[This piece is also available on Medium!]

[kk-ckffawards]

Cobra Kai Fanfiction Awards 2025 - Nominations Master List

Hello to all our badass Miyagi-Dos, Cobras, and Seikai Taikais!

We have posted all our nomination polls, so here's a master post of everything you'll need to know for this stage. There's still plenty of time to nominate your favorites, so make sure all of your beloved stories have a chance to win!

All eligible stories must be:

-- Started, updated or finished during the period of Jan 1, 2024 to February 28, 2025.

--Have a word count of 10k or more (this requirement is for Work In Progress only)

-- Posted on the Ao3 site under the tags “Cobra Kai (Web Series)” and/or “Karate Kid (Movies)” (You do not need to have an Ao3 account to nominate a story.)

And here are the links to all the polls so you don't have to search for them all over the blog:

NOMINATIONS POLL DAY 1

Hawk/Eli

Seikai Taikai arc character

Self-Insert/Reader

Action

Gen Fic

Best Tugboat (Moon/Piper, Amanda/Anoush, Dutch/Jimmy, Daniel /Chozen, Amanda/Carmen, Jimmy/Jenny, Sam/Demetri, Amanda/Johnny, Robby/Shawn, Daniel/Kreese, Daniel/Dutch, Bobby/Daniel, Tommy/Susan, Aisha/Tory, Daniel/Kumiko, Bobby/Barbara, Johnny/Chozen, Terry Silver/Wolf, Johnny Lawrence/Wolf, Axel/Samantha, Devon/Kenny)

Best Novella (10k+)

Best Reader

NOMINATIONS POLL DAY 2

Best Johnny (The Karate Kid-era)

Best Chozen

Best Demetri

Best Amanda

Best Event/Challenge Fic

Best Romance

Best Frigate (Johnny/Ali, Johnny/Bobby, Daniel/Ali, Miguel/Tory, Kenny/Anthony, Miguel/Hawk, Hawk/Moon, Demetri/Yasmine, Johnny/Dutch, Hawk/Sam)

Best Ficlet (101-999 words)

NOMINATIONS POLL DAY 3

Original Character

Terry Silver

Sam

Anthony

Comedy

Best Lawrusso

Best Completed longfic

Best multi chapter

NOMINATIONS POLL DAY 4

Best Daniel LaRusso (from The Karate Kid era)

Best OG Cobras

Best Tory Nichols

Best Carmen Diaz

Best Holiday-themed fic

Best Fluff

Best Cruiser (Miguel/Sam, Hawk/Demetri, Amanda/Daniel, Daniel/Terry, Johnny/Carmen, Kreese/Terry, Miguel/Robby, Sam/Tory, Robby/Tory, Robby/Sam)

Best Drabble (100 words)

NOMINATIONS POLL DAY 5

Best Johnny (Cobra Kai era)

Best Mr Miyagi

Best Miguel

Best Kenny

Best Returning Writer

Best Character Study

Best Whump

Best Platonic Dynamic

Best Series

NOMINATIONS POLL DAY 6

Best Daniel (Cobra Kai)

Best John Kreese

Best Robby

Best New Writer

Best AU

Best Smut

Best Polyam

Best Oneshot

Nomination Polls will be open until May 25th at 8pm Central Time.

Orphaned and Anonymous fics are not eligible.  

For the shipping categories Cruiser, Frigate and Tugboat please list the name of the ship you are nominating along with the fic title and author name.

If you would like us to remove your stories from eligibility, please drop us a line here or email us at kk.ckffawards@gmail.com before ballots close on May 25th @ 8pm CST.

Once we have all the nominations the fics will go through to voting to decide the winners of the most prestigious (and, so far, the only) fanfiction awards in the Cobra Kai fandom.  The awards ceremony will take place in our Discord Server, on a date that we will announce soon.

Please share this post to any forum or social media to help us get the word out.  There are a lot of talented writers in this fandom, and they all deserve love and encouragement!

Happy nominating!