#and lns 1 2 and 6

[pepper-steam-milkshake]

my word doc has just reached 200k. jesus fucking christ

[kitsquared]

O.rv being gently nudged at me everywhere I go lol not yet

[injvns]

nerf this! - a lee haechan smau

progamer!haechan x streamer!femreader

in which overwatch streamer yn ln is on a winning streak one night, and sorta kinda ends up killing professional overwatch player lee haechan on stream…multiple times. she didn't even know who he was, let alone that he was super hot?! c'mon, she wouldn't have smoked him THAT hard if she knew!

or

yn starts overwatch beef with haechan accidentally. romance ensues.

warnings .. sexual & violent (?) jokes

status .. 11-13-24 - ?

taglist .. open!

profiles 1 - profiles 2

1. theres actually no way

2. we lost her

3. okay lock in um

4. oh so you're a liar

5. the unbeatable girl shrug

6. rainbowsweetiepie42

7. skibidi_ethan

8. gomdo lee's importance

9. d-day

10. how do u know pinkamina

11. i swear that on mark lee

[cheriladycl01]

ANGST ( friendship ended, ego battles, Championship, Ferrari, Red Bull, Dutchman, American Girl, unrequired love, Title battle)

Y/N and Max have been friends since their go-karting days. She was a driver for Alpha Tauri and achieved spectacular results with the team and was hoping to take the second seat at Red Bull, but as other drivers are ahead of her to take that spot, she accepts a million-dollar proposal from Ferrari. Max is bewildered by her decision and breaks up a years-long friendship for a trivial reason, as she is thinking about the good part of her career and at Ferrari she has a chance to fight for titles. She is devastated by Max's reaction and his contempt for her, the Dutchman starts to pretend that the American doesn't exist and ignores her both in the paddock and in Monaco, where they live. Fans, fellow riders and the media are devastated how such a lasting friendship ended in such a heavy climate, the American media blasts Max, while the Dutch media trashes Y/N. Y/N and Max enter into a brutal and fierce dispute for the 2024 championship, more tense than 2021, due to the entire context that involves the two. Max felt betrayed by her leaving Red Bull and by her never realizing that he always liked her, but now she's the one who doesn't want anything to do with him in her life anymore and she's going to do whatever it takes to be world champion. They arrive in Abu Dhabi tied and in the wheel-to-wheel dispute, Y/N becomes world champion, and Max realizes that he made a mistake with the love of his life and is humbled by her forgiveness.

This is the story of us! - Max Verstappen x FerrariDriver! Reader

Plot: In the style of a documentary find out what really happened in the year of 2024 between Max Verstappen and Y/N Y/L/N.

“Audio test in the studio please Y/N” the Documenter asks from behind cameras.

“10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1” you say your face on camera as some continues to fix your hair.

A News Broadcaster pops up from 2023 on Sky Sports News.

“Today the shocking news has come that rather than signing with Red Bull Y/N Y/LN has made a million dollar move to Ferrari”

“Y/L/N to drive in Red for the 2024 season”

“Red Bull decision to not sign Y/L/N leaves them out no options says Adrian Newey”

News articles play in overlay over each other as they get more frequent about your career change 2 years ago.

“Hiya Y/N” the interviewer for the documentary asks.

“Hello” you smile back politely on the footage.

“So this documentary is about the Formula One season of 2024 and … your intense battle for the championship”

“Mmmmm all very interesting no?” You joke before serious music comes on. Showing some shots of you racing, and some of the radios that came from that season.

“This isn’t right! Why isn’t my team working together” your voice come through.

“Y/N it’s time to back off. You can’t win this one”

“I’m never going to give up, it’s me or him in this dust and I don’t care which as this point as long as I know I pushed”

“Y/N are you okay? Y/N?”

“What the fuck was that?”

“Guys this is my last chance let’s put it all in”

“FUCK THIS GUY MAN”

“Yes it was … a heated season for sure” you chuckle.

“So start by telling us about your early life” she asks after a small compilation of early photos of you karting before it’s edited to flick back and forth between your interview and clips of you karting and in the feeder series.

“I started karting from a very young age, around 6 and worked my way up like any other driver. Eventually Red Bull … saw potential in me and decided to sponsor me and make me a part of their Young Drivers Programme. That eventually fed me into a seat in AlphaTauri or what is now Visa CashApp RB” you start, hands clenched together.

“I saw everyone else get a chance at that Red Bull seat before me regardless of my performance. And when they signed Sergio Perez, someone from a different team, that tipped me over the edge” you admit, knowing that it was one of the hardest heartbreaks you experienced.

“And that’s when Ferrari came in?” The interviewer asks.

“That’s when Ferrari came in, they wanted something fresh and new and I’d pretty much grown up with Charles just like I had Max, so there was no concern about us being Team-Mates. It was … despite Ferraris struggles in recent years, my only way forward” you nod your head, before the documentary shows your driving in your AlphaTauri and your incredible win in that car, that should have been the reason Horner wanted to sign you.

“Max … wasn’t happy with this decision” she asks and you nod.

“He wasn’t … i thought if anything was to ruin our friendship it would be an external relationship that didn’t appreciate our bond. Not … because of a job” you laugh thinking of his reaction and how he’d cut you off in all aspects of life.

That year was difficult for you, even though you’d had more people around you than you’d ever had in your life you had never felt more lonely.

Max had pretty much axed you out of his life. He’d blocked you on every social media, every messaging platform and even put your emails into his junk folder. You thought it was a step too far writing to him so, you left it.

You left an eleven year friendship to just go down the drain. You didn’t realise until he was actually gone how much of an impact Max Verstappen had on you and your life. He was there for you for every major thing that happened in your life and this move to Ferrari felt like your next step. But he had no longer wished to be a part of that.

“What did it feel like when you announced going to Ferrari?” Your asked and your paused for a while before you face the interviewer.

“I think everybody dreams of driving for Ferrari, no matter what team your currently with as … it’s the pinnacle of motorsport. But to be the first female to drive for Ferrari is a statement. The day I made the announcement and it went onto the F1 page that my contract was up with RedBull and AlphaTauri for the 2023 season I couldn’t have been happier because it felt like I was finally moving forward and not stuck in the same spot” you answer and she nods.

“And how did that affect your friendships?” She asks and you almost scoff.

“Why didn’t you just say Max” you chuckle before sighing. You never mind talking about it especially now, of course you were upset and heated back then. You normally tending to be after racing if it didn’t go your way anyway, but when it came to Max leaving you there were times you were pretty nonchalant about it because you didn’t know how to react.

It was the later reaction that was more frightening.

“Well, that would spoil that kind of answer, clearly there’s more of an issue here than with any other driver” she asks.

“You’ve done your research, you know exactly what happened”

Media floods in the documentary American News anchors sending hate to Max Verstappen especially when he came to home turf for a race and the Deutch fans butchering you in the Netherlands.

SkySports -

“Max Verstappen is brutal, can’t imagine ever being as petty as he is”

ESPN News -

“And today we have news that Red Bull Driver Max Verstappen has cut all ties with new Ferrari Driver Y/N Y/L/N, for her change of team”

Fan at the Track -

“You know Max is incredibly overrated and childish for what he did to our American pride and joy”

News in the Netherlands

“ze is gewoon een vreselijke chauffeur”

Fan at Zandvoort

“neuk haar”

It pans back to you looking down at your hands before the interviewer speaks up again.

“So before the season started did you and Max have any heated arguments that contributed to the start of the season?” She asks and you shake your head.

“He blocked me on everything, I was with my ex-boyfriend at that point and we were travelling during the winter break so it didn’t bother me too much. I tried to keep myself distracted knowing I had great support around me, a new team to get to know and work with.

But as the 2024 started to get closer and you came back home to Monaco, sensing Max had disappeared from your life finally sunk in. You had many days at home wrapped up in blankets crying, wondering where it all went wrong.

Making you feel lonely in Monaco was one thing, but it only got worse in the paddock when racing resumed for the testy 2024 season.

A video plays of the Bahrain testing in 2024 you on track in a semi fast Ferrari that people cannot tell whether you are sandbagging or not Max breezing past you.

Strangely that was the closest you’d been to Max in months.

“Monaco was different now that you didn’t have your best friend … how did you occupy your time instead?” She asked.

It showed videos of you partying in Monaco with Charles your soon to be team-mate, Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo.

Then it flicked to you and Lando golfing with Max Fewtrell, while vacationing.

It flicked to a very public argument between you and your boyfriend which proceeded to your breakup.

“Well, it was an interesting build up to the season. Let’s just say that” you smirk knowing at the start of 2024 before preseason testing you caused a lot of chaos all to try get your mind off the absence of Max.

“Then we find ourselves at Bahrain 2024… a race I think that will be in the history books as one of the most tense season openings ever” she admits writing something down on the notepad she had that she really didn’t need.

“Yes, it was an interesting race. I think that was the first time I was in equal machinery to Max, at the start of the season we didn’t start off as good as RedBull but Charles and I were giving him a run for his money” you admit knowing Sergio Perez didn’t have the greatest start to the season and now that you were locked into Ferrari, Red Bull were beating themselves up over the loss of you.

“So Max took pole and you were only 0.003 seconds behind him, what a margin! You started P2 both front row” she smiles and you nod.

“Yeah I think that’s the most scared I’ve ever felt in a race car, P2 has been my best qualifying position and I couldn’t let it go to waste. But having Max next to me with everything that was going on was a massive headache” you tell her and there’s a clip of you looking over at Max sat next to you just before the formation lap was about to begin.

“Let’s talk about turn 1 Bahrain …” she asks and you nod.

“I mean, I was racing and I was racing hard. I gave Max plenty of room, I had the inside line and I got past him and led. It was a good overtake and the team didn’t exactly tell me not to go for it” you explain and she nods.

“But after your pit stop stuff got real” she adds and you nod with a roll of your eyes.

“Tell me about it” you laugh.

“AND VERSTAPPEN GOES FOR THE OVERTAKE GOING INTO TURN 5, Y/N DEFENDING BEAUTIFULLY AND HE GOES AGAIN EDGING HER INTO TURN SIX AND OMG HES OFF INTO THE GRAVEL! MAX VERSTAPPEN IS OUT IF THE BAHRAIN GP” it shows the commentary from Crofty when this was all happening showing Max getting out the car and slamming his helmet down.

“WHAT THIS Y/N HAS DAMAGE THERE WAS IN FACT CONTACT AND SHES HAD TO PULL OVER NOT MAKING IT BACK TO THE PITS FOR A NEW TYRE” is shown also you getting out of the car, your escorted back to the pit wall while Safety Car is deployed.

“Yours and Max’s argument that day while the race was still underway and Charles was leading, was intense who actually started it?” She asks.

“Oh Max did 100%. I was just talking to my race engineer and he came over all pissy and yelling in my face. Seeing him so red and angry was funny though” you admit.

“I think that’s the first time people had seen seriously Mad Max since the Ocon incident”

“I guess I just bring that side out of him” you admit with a nod.

“What the fuck was that” Max came over to you, you took a step back hoping to defuse the situation knowing their was cameras around and you didn’t really want to bring attention to either of you.

“Look Max we were both racing hard. It happens, you went into me, we both ended up out the race … it happens” you explain and the camera men all get closer.

“You went into me! Are you having a laugh!” He says until he starts ranting in Dutch and his PR manager and a Marshall take him away from you.

“Bahrain was incredibly dramatic for a race. The champion of last year was sat at the bottom of the leader board and Charles, Lando and George were looking at the top spots. How did the make you feel?” She asks and you nod.

“Obviously it’s concerning. Coming back isn’t easy after a feat like that, so we knew we’d have to come back in Saudi and make it better than it was. It’s also hard to come back from something like that mentally? Yano. So Saudi was hard especially all the media around me” you explains and it cuts to clips of all kinds of media swarming around you asking you stuff about Max and your race in Bahrain.

“In Saudi you and Max raced hard but eventually it ended up with Max in P1 and you in P2 and Lando P3… that podium was tense” she explains and a video of the podium came up, showing Max celebrating with everyone but you. You ending up leaving him and Lando and leant over the fence of the podium to spray your team down below.

“Lando and Max are close, but you and Lando are aswell so how did it feel having no celebration up there with you?” She asked.

“Lando is actually the sweetest person I’ve ever met. He cares about everybody and everything and he worries when he thinks he’s upset someone. He messaged me after that podium, apologising for leaving me out of the celebration and he didn’t even realise he had as he was so caught up in Max spraying him he thought it was both of us. I obviously replied saying I wasn’t upset and that it was okay. I had my team and that’s all I really needed at the end of the day” you nod knowing it WAS a hard podium to be up on but you made the best of a bad situation.

“The comes Australia, and this is your first time to regain the points lost in Bahrain. So what did you do?”

“Man … the first time I won was so nice … that I just had to do it twice” you quote Anthony Joshua with a little laugh. Before it shows you’re victory.

“AND FOR THE SECOND TIME IN HER FORMULA ONE CAREER THE AMERICAN TAKES HOME THE CHEQUERED FLAG TAKING VICTORY IN AUSTRALIA, TEAMMATE CHARLES LECLERC BEHIND HER IN P2 WITH LANDO NORRIS CLOSING UP THE PODIUM” Ted commentates.

“It was an incredible feeling, knowing I was now making my way back up the ranks and was in P3 in the championship, Max was behind me and I felt like I was back in the game. To DNF’s for him was almost laughable.

“The points were very amusing come China, you were leading the championship and Ferrari were at the top for the constructors championship. And Max, Lando and Charles were all on 76 points and you were on 78… how tight!?” She adds.

“Yes, it was crazy how varied this season was with wins, especially with how RedBull were insanely dominant the year before and RedBull took all wins bar Singapore. At this point I wasn’t just fighting Max in he championship there was word at Ferrari that team orders were going to come into play to help Charles win but when we were both so close in points it was easier to just let us race” you explain happily, knowing that it was a fun season to be a part of.

“But after China was a sort of turning point for Max correct?” She asks and you nod again.

“It was for both of us. After China it was a constant change between me and Max of who was going to win, Lando and Charles remained close, but not enough to win.” You explain but her look tells you you didn’t give her the answer she was after.

“I meant about Max trying to rekindle that friendship you both once had” she asks and you scoff.

“Mmmmm you’ll have to ask him about that… at the time I could only assume he wanted to be my friend to distract me from what was important … winning” you answer.

“Hello Max” the interviewer says as their special guest for the documentary comes in. He takes a seat, a stoic nod as he does.

“So, Y/N didn’t seem to be able to tell us what happened after the Chinese Grand Prix, it seems from sources that you unblocked her on everything and attempted contact?” She asks and Max nods.

“I- I did. After seeing her wins, and her face once she realised it was a full fight this year and how excited that made her I knew I was in the wrong for ever letting our bond go. I don’t think she even cared about the championship that year, just being in a team that was letting her drive a good car, with a good team and actually help her improve. I was in the wrong but at this point … she was only focused on racing” he sings and a compilation of videos of the pair of you arguing on track came up.

“It was just affecting you guys either was it?”

“No, it was hard especially for Lando, Daniel and Charles, we’re all so close and Lando and Y/n are like siblings so when it came to the both of us not talking it was difficult for them. Y/N being … well Y/N didn’t want to make it a big deal and started hanging out more with her other friends like Yuki, Logan, Zhou, George and Alex but it still meant it was … awkward to say the least” he admits.

“Yeah, that sounds rough, do you ever regret it?” She asks and he nods.

“For a long long time, I didn’t think that I would be able to reconcile our friendship like Nico and Lewis did” he admits.

“But you think that now?” She asks and he smiles.

“I know so” he smirks

It was the end of the season, you and Max were tied in points so for fans it was like Abu Dhabi 2021 all over again. Max was starting P1 and you were starting P2, you’d overtaken him down the straight having better straight line speed than his car did. You were practically flying round the track, Max chugging along behind you eventually setting the fastest lap, and you just knew the cheer from the crowd would have been phenomenal if you could hear it.

After great strategy from Ferrari you ended up winning that race, along with the Championship. Getting out the car was a feeling like no other, you bend down by the wheel of your car, tears streaming out your eyes and dripping on the still closed visor as your knees give out from a tricky and hot race as you sob.

You run over to the Ferrari team, them all pulling you into hugs along with Charles and his girlfriend who looks so excited to celebrated with you.

“OMG” you cried into Fred’s arms. What surprised you the mot was a tap on your back and a blue race suit. You were silent looking at Max.

“Congratulations” he says and tears are still in your eyes. You just nod at him politely.

“Please Y/N I’m so sorry, I - you deserve the seat and the championship. You’ve done so well this year and I’m so proud of you” he smiles and more tears flood your eyes. All you’d wanted to hear was those words.

“Do you ever think you could forgive me, because I love you Y/N and I cannot loose you” he says tears brimming his own eyes.

“I forgave you a long time ago Max, this was all really stupid” you smile at him. Before your team I pulling you away to get you to the podium.

“After the podium, come meet me at the bay, 3rd yacht along… okay I have to tell you something” he shouts after you and you nod grinning.

“What happened on that boat Max?” The interviewer asks.

“That’s for me to know and no-one to ever find out …” he smirks before laughing and giving you as kiss on the cheek as you come back into the room.

“Y/N?”

“Mmmmm I’m with Max, but let’s just say … we rekindled” you laugh and the cameras cut out the documentary ended.

“So you guys are obviously together … what changed?” She asks off camera curiosity getting the best of her.

“We worked out that we had feeling for each other for a very very long time before the fight!” You answer and well, that was that.

Taglist:

@littlebitchsposts @hockey-racing-fubol @laura-naruto-fan1998 @22yuki @simxican @sinofwriting @lewisroscoelove @cmleitora @daemyratwst @lauralarsen @the-untamed-soul @thewulf @itsjustkhaos @purplephantomwolf @chasing-liberosis @summissss @gulphulp @starfusionsworld @jspitwall @sierruhhhh @georgeparisole @youcannotcancelquidditch @tallbrownhairsarcastic @ourteenagetragedy @peachiicherries @formulas-bitch @cherry-piee @spilled-coffee-cup @mehrmonga @eiraethh @curseofhecate @alliwantisadonut @dark-night-sky-99 @i-wish-this-was-me @tallrock35 @butterfly-lover @barnestatic @landossainz @darleneslane @barcelonaloverf1life @r0nnsblog @ilove-tswizzle @laneyspaulding19 @malynn @viennakarma @landosgirlxoxo @marie0v @yourbane @teamnovalak @nikfigueiredo @fionaschicken @0picels0 @tinydeskwriter @ironmaiden1313 @splaterparty0-0 @formula1mount

[project-sekai-facts]

doubt you'll ever update that tierlist about how canonically attractive the proseka characters are but just wanted to say that shiho is called a cool beauty (alongside haruka and kanade) and l/n meiko is called handsome in the cheerful live party names if that counts for anything

that post is old as shit so i'm redoing it from the top hope you don't mind anon

Tier 1:

Shizuku and Haruka are the most attractive in-universe, this is pretty obvious if you've read some mixed events with them in. Most character's first reaction to Shizuku is to comment on/react to her looks, and a few characters have had this reaction to Haruka too (most notably Kohane). Shizuku seems to be more conventionally attractive, while Haruka is generally described as being cool and handsome. Shizuku is also treated as more attractive generally but Haruka is treated as more attractive than the other characters as well so I let them share tier.

Tier 2:

One of Ichika and Kaito's kizuna titles is "ikemen whilst performing". EN opted to translate ikemen as cool, but it still encompasses the idea of handsomeness.

Mizuki comments on Honami's looks in Caring Companion, and in Honami's Unseen Feelings card story, her classmates say she has an "aura" that might make them fall for her (ty to @/itsgreatmp3 for this one and Saki/Emu/Nene)

One of Ln!Meiko's cc names is "ikemen captain".

Shiho, An and Kanade have a cc team name called "cool beauties". An and Kanade have also both been scouted for modelling.

Minori says that Nene looks pretty in a wedding dress in the Wedding Live event, and also comments on her hair and makeup.

Mafuyu is incredibly popular at miyajo in part because of her looks. She often is given lots of valentines and birthday gifts.

Ena has a social media account dedicated to posting selfies of herself and has a decent following.

Tier 3:

Akito and Toya are called handsome in a puchiseka episode and in the sanrio collab by kuromi. Neither of these are canon but considering they were said about the characters in official media it is probably true.

In the 2021 vday vlive rui mentions getting valentines chocolates in his locker (one could possibly be friend chocolates from Mizuki but he received multiple). Based on the context of the conversation and the gag of it, these were probably given with some level of romantic intent. However, it could just be Tsukasa's assumption. The game also keeps giving him yumebait cards so I think they designed him with the intent of being attractive.

Tier 4:

Minori, Airi, and Kohane are all called cute by various people in-universe. Mizuki dressing cutely is a huge part of her character. MMJ!Luka calls her WxS self cute in a 2022 april fools area convo. She calls herself cute in the same convo. Airi calls Saki and Emu cute in Operation Secret Valentine.

Tier 5:

All the idols can be considered cute or handsome or pretty. Depends on the character. They definitely have been called these things in universe I just don't have specific examples to hand. Whether or not their idol aura affects how they're perceived is unknown, since the idol aura can represent different things based on context. For example, Minori sees an idol aura for Len and KAITO because she's a huge idol fan, but she otherwise only expresses attraction towards women. Akito and Rui see the idol aura from Luka in april fools 2024 because they see her as far more reliable than their sekai's Lukas. Kohane sees the idol aura from Haruka and Shizuku in BFST and Wishing For Your Happiness respectively because she is attracted to them.

Tier 6:

Coming back to the valentines vlive from tier 3. In that Tsukasa brags about getting chocolates from girls after Rui reveals he was given some. However he gets carried away and ends up revealing that the only chocolates that he received were from girls who gave them out to everyone (ie he got friendzoned). That said Asahi seems to like him to the point of using ambigous-but-romantic-leaning language to describe how he feels towards him (or. a character Tsukasa depicted. but up until he said "i fell in love with him" he had been talking about Tsukasa). This was also changed significantly in the English translation. He's also canonically babyfaced (inferred from character design being different to the other boys) but I'm not sure how this affects things.

Men like him, women think he's mid.

[formula-ghost]

Wildflower (OP81 x fem!reader x LN4)

Chapter 6

SUMMARY: A baby, a hearing, and an ultimate question

WORD COUNT: 12.1k

WARNINGS: Mentions of pregnancy, vomit, abortion, blood, hospitals, medical emergencies, miscarriage, death, etc (MENTIONS not spoilers lol). Incorrect and vague descriptions of medical problems/systems. Use of YN/LN (your name/ last name). So much angst, as per usual. Also I fucked up the timeline again so we’re gonna pretend like Zandvoort/Monza/Baku is a triple header for storyline purposes thanksss

TAGLIST: @at-a-rax-ia @henna006 @linnygirl09 @cassielikereading @judelina @supertrashbread @fastandcurious16 @widow-cevans @czennieszn @irisesinthegarden @wierdflowerpower @sweetwh0re @reginalaufeyson-holmes @honethatty12 @suns3treading @obxstiles @mimiastroos @mrs-reeves-17 @milkysoop @amalialeclerc @starksztony @llando4norris @ginsengi @angxlzinthesky @makanirock05 @htpssgavi @lilypat @ameliaalvarez06 @scriptedinkbyxim @nefsburneracc @1-queenofpotatoes-1

A/N: Thank you all for being so patient with me as I try to wrap up this story during finals <3 I hope the extra length and melodrama make up for it!

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5

The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and Oscar Piastri woke up to the feeling of you curled up in his arms—everything should have been perfect. 

The house, it its stillness, beckoned him back to sleep, where he could greet your resting form, your chest softly rising and falling as you breathed in and out, still firmly cozied in your dreams. He hadn’t seen you this peaceful in a while. 

Instead of giving into his want of rest, he watched you, the way your eyelids fluttered with the rapid movement beneath them. He wondered what you must be dreaming of. You never did remember your dreams. 

Right now, all he dreamt of was snuggling closer to you and letting the birdsong of the Australian winter morning take you both away from the painful reality of wakefulness. But he couldn’t be so lucky.

His phone was buzzing, obsessively, and he knew exactly who it was. 

Carefully, he peeled the covers off his sore form, taking caution not to wake you, before grabbing his phone and stepping into the hallway before pressing the call icon. 

“Hi, Mum,” he said, bracing for the incoming lecture.

“Good morning, Oscar,” Nicole responded, in a tone far too calm to be genuine. “How was your flight?”

“It was fine,” he said, rubbing the sleep away from his eyes. 

“That’s good.” Silence rang over the line. 

“You can go ahead and ask, Mum, but none of it’s true,” Oscar said. He knew neither of you could run from the new reality of your reputation, but the least he could do was shield you from the initial awkwardness of the conversations that were bound to happen again and again.

“Really? That’s disappointing.”

“What do you mean?”

“I thought Lando might be treating YN better.”

“Mum—”

“Don’t,” she warned, her voice sharper than he’d ever heard it. “Don’t act like you don’t know exactly what I’m talking about. You’re lucky I’m not there. I don’t care what you do for a living, I am your mother and you’re never too grown for me to grab you by the ear and knock you upside your head.”

Oscar knew her words were empty, but the anger beneath them was very real. “Things have changed between us,” he explained, choosing his words carefully. “We’re a lot better now, Mum. Lando was…it was nothing, really. They just want to destroy her reputation.”

Nicole hummed in response, clearly awake that her son wasn’t telling her the whole truth. “If things are so good, why haven’t I gotten a phone call in months? Two crashes and you can’t so much as call your own mother.”

“I’m sorry,” he said. “It’s just been a lot, mum.”

She sighed, her voice hefty with an unfocused anger. “I know. I’m just worried about you, Oscar. And I’m worried about YN.”

“I am too,” he whispered, though you must still be asleep. “I’ll warn you, she’s… a bit of a wreck.”

“She never used to care about these kinds of things. What’s gotten into her?”

“It’s…complicated.” Oscar didn’t know how much to give, what to reveal and what to hold back.

“Oscar, I’m going to say something that’s hard to hear, but you both need to hear it.” He swallowed, listening intently to his mother on the other line. “This isn’t good for her. I don’t think…whatever you all have going on, is good for her.”

“But things are getting better—”

“Oscar,” his mother asserted, cutting him off. “You aren’t good for her.”

He was silent, his hands clammy against his phone.

Nicole continued, “I know you all love each other, but love isn’t enough. Her entire life, she’s been right there for you, but what does she have of her own?”

“She has me. She has us.”

“Son… you need to let her go.”

“She doesn’t want to go. She wants to be with me.”

“Well, of course she does. She doesn’t know anything else.”

His mother was right. Who was YN, without Oscar, without the Piastri family?

“You know how badly it would break her heart to hear you right now?”

“I told you this was going to be hard to hear.”

“Mum, she’s my best friend, she’s everything to me. I’m not leaving her. If she wants to leave, I won’t stop her, but I fully intend to stay by her side through all of this, to fix everything I messed up.”

Again, Nicole sighed. “It’s never that easy, son.”

“I know. I’m not choosing this because it’s easy, I’m choosing this because I love her and she’s worth it.”

“I’m not saying that either of those things aren’t true,” Nicole began, but Oscar wouldn’t let her continue.

“You really think I should leave her?” he said, his voice almost cracking.

“I just think she deserves better.”

“Then I’ll be better,” he said, a finality in his words. He could tell that his mother didn’t believe it. 

Nicole was forced to change the subject. “Hattie and I will be home later today,” she said. 

“I’ll see you then.”

When Oscar went back to the room, he prayed to God that you were still asleep, and therefore hadn’t heard any of the conversation that had just gone down. Thankfully, for once, his prayers were answered.

When he stepped into the room, he saw a sliver of light that had come to rest across your face, illuminating the surface of your skin. You were an angel in the flesh, curled up in the stitches of the old quilt, still sleeping to your heart's content. God knows you needed the rest.

Again, he carefully got back into the bed so as not to wake you, but you still stirred, instinctively reaching for him in your sleep. When your skin met his, you scooched up close to him, laying your head on his chest, and fell back into your deeper sleep.

He felt like his heart would burst. At this rate, he’d wake you up from the sound of his rapid heartbeat alone. Every day, it seemed, this feeling in his chest he couldn’t quite name grew bigger and bigger. It was something aside from love, which by now he couldn’t deny he felt for you, and had for a long time. 

But his mother’s words swirled around his head. He knew what she meant—it wasn’t really about you. Nicole had always loved you as if you were her own child, welcomed you into their home, and wanted the best for you. No, it was about him. She didn’t believe that he could be a better man.

And as you slept peacefully at his side and the initial anger subsided with your gentle breathing, he realized that he couldn’t blame his mother. After all, he hadn’t done much to prove otherwise. 

He could crash his car a million times, make gentle love to you every night, but what did it really mean, if at the end of the day, you still struggled, falling into restless sleep even when curled up next to him?

He brought his hand up to trace his fingertips up and down the surface of your arm. If it were up to him, you’d never struggle another day in your life. He was going to be better. He had to. 

He just hoped you’d stay by his side.

You fully woke up an hour or so later, and Oscar’s eyes traced your skin as you sat up and stretched, your palms to the sky, muscles straining underneath his old t-shirt you had donned in the middle of the night. He was enamoured with you, tracing your every movement as you stumbled out of bed and to the bathroom to brush your teeth and fix your hair. You weren’t gone long, though, and soon you got back under the covers and found your way back into his open arms, where he hummed as he traced circles into your bare skin.

“I don’t want to get out of bed today,” you said, a faint smile on your lips.

“Then don’t,” he replied, mumbling into the pillow, a testament to his own tiredness.

“I have eight billion emails to respond to.”

“It’s break—”

“And I’m the internet’s public enemy number one,” you snorted, your sarcasm unmissable. “You know they want us to have a meeting at MTC after break?”

“Us?”

“Yeah, your manager already scheduled it. Seems like the entire HR department will be there.”

“That’s a bit ridiculous,” Oscar said, opening his eyes fully to look at you across from him, though you anxiously stared at the ceiling. “All this for some internet drama?”

“It would be just internet drama if I wasn’t a Formula 1 employee. This is a professional misconduct hearing. I’m not allowed to fraternize with the drivers after hours,” you joked, moving closer to Oscar, scrunching your nose and pressing it to his in a gesture of intimacy. He smiled. 

“Well,” he laughed, not even taking the breath to make the joke. He didn’t need to; your closeness transcended words, though inevitably you’d have to clarify what had transpired between you two last night.

That realization hit you, and your smile faded. 

“Answer your emails, if you must,” Oscar said, shifting in the bed to get more comfortable, “and then come back to bed. We won’t have much time to just lay around and relax when Mum gets back, anyway.”

You took his advice, but sighed at the reality that kept dawning on you. You couldn’t ignore the emails, the inevitable conversations you’d need to have with Nicole and the rest of the family. 

But as you wrapped up your work, turned off your phone, and snuggled one last time next to Oscar under the old quilt, you could pretend, at least for a moment, that everything was alright. 

And it was. Oscar had put some random show on the television, but that was just background noise, your focus rather on the steady thumping heartbeat under Oscar’s chest, where you laid your head, and you both laid quietly in the half-sleep, drifting between dream and wake. 

You broke the soft silence. “When will Mum be home?”

Oscar turned over to glance at his old alarm clock on the nightstand. “A few hours, probably around dinner.”

You hummed. “Have you spoken to her about…?” Your voice trailed off.

Oscar bit his lip, remembering the conversation from the early morning. A soft anger still burned inside his chest. “Yeah,” he whispered. “I didn’t tell her much, though. Didn’t know how much you wanted me to say.”

“I don’t even know what to tell her. It’s all just…embarrassing.”

“You don’t have to tell her anything. We’re grown.”

“I guess,” you said, biting your own lip, deep in conflicted thought. “I’m just worried she’ll agree with what everyone else is saying. That I’m a…a whore, or something.”

“She’d never think that,” Oscar said, sitting up. “YN, she loves you like you’re her own.”

“Did she say anything about it, on the phone?”

Oscar took a beat, contemplating how much of the truth to tell. He cursed how you all always thought in sync. “No,” he said, deciding on a white lie. “She was more mad at me for hardly calling.”

You didn’t quite believe him, and he could tell. You knew you’d just have to hear it from her. 

But you pushed the thought out of your mind, choosing instead to take your place back in Oscar’s arms, drifting between sleep and wake, safely cocooned away from the world. 

Of course, the utopia was shattered when Nicole and Hattie arrived home.

Oscar could feel your anxiety from a mile away. When he heard the door open and you all shifted up in the bed, he pulled you closer to him, kissed your forehead, and said, “I’ll distract Mum. You’ll have to deal with Hattie on your own though.”

You laughed, though Hattie was the one person you really needed to see right now. 

When you met them at the door, you all exchanged hugs and pleasantries, and Oscar, true to his word, distracted his mother long enough for you to “help” Hattie lug her suitcase upstairs.

She thumped it on the floor and crawled onto her bed, sitting cross-legged, as you slumped into her corner beanbag, as if you all were still teenagers again.

“YN,” she laughed, “you look like shit. Is that why you haven’t been answering my texts?”

“Thanks, glad to see you too” you joked back, though you felt more lighthearted than you’d been in a while. “Really though, I swear, I can’t remember the last time I had a conversation with a woman who doesn’t hate me. You don’t even know the half of it,” you said, nervously scratching the back of your neck.

“And I have the entire night off, so I expect to hear the all of it!” she said.

“I don’t know how much I should say…”

“YN. Be real.” You nervously chuckled, knowing that you couldn’t keep anything from her. 

“Okay, okay, I’ll tell you everything, “ you said, then sighed. “But first I need to ask you the most embarrassing question I’ve ever had to ask anyone in my whole life. Do you still have that emergency plan B?”

Hattie laughed, thinking you were joking. “What, did you sneak Lando in last night?”

“Not Lando…” you said, giving her back a half-hearted laugh. 

“Wait, you’re serious?” she said, getting up to find the box and hand it to you. 

“Yes, unfortunately.”

Before she handed you the box, she tilted her head and raised a brow. “Wait, so who…?”

You grabbed the box anyway, and looked away from her. “Don’t make me say it,” you begged.

“What?”

“Who do you think I was here with last night?”

She looked perplexed for a second as you took the pill from the box and swallowed it, but her eyes widened when she finally realized. 

“I—you—my brother? Eugh!”

You playfully rolled your eyes, sipping your drink to get the taste of the pill out of your mouth. 

“I mean, Carlos Sainz is literally right there and you’re willingly sleeping with MY BROTHER?” 

“Hattie, hush!” you said, hearing Oscar and Nicole’s voices downstairs. 

“Do not let him baby trap you! Oh God, I’m too young to be an aunt. Wait, how long have you and Oscar been…?”

“It’s not like that—”

“Well apparently it is!” she whispered. 

“Look, I’ll tell you everything, but for now, just don’t say a word to anyone.”

“My lips are sealed,” she said, dragging her hand like a zipper along her mouth.

Your weeks at the Piastri family house flew by. Though you had been forced to tell Hattie at least some of the details, you were thankful that the rest of the family had donned a false amnesia to spare you some of the embarrassment. 

A problem remained, though. Your period was late.

A day or two, that was fine. Though it scared you to death, you knew your period tracker wasn’t perfect. It could be stress, or the effect of the pill, or a million other reasons you ran over in your head as you snuck into Oscar’s room at night, as if the entire house didn’t already know that something was going on between you two. 

But as the day turned into a week, and a week into two, you were losing your mind. The night before you all were set to leave for your flight to your mandatory disciplinary conduct hearing at the MTC, Nicole has taken it upon herself to insist on a “going away” dinner with the whole family. 

You didn’t want to go, but it was no use. 

Your stomach churned with nausea, from nervousness or…something else, you couldn’t tell. You couldn’t stop the train of thoughts that kept running in your head. 

“Okay,” you said, spritzing yourself with perfume, “how do I look?”

Truthfully, you felt like garbage. You had donned a simple dress, and the question was more one of approval rather than admiration. Still, when Oscar looked up from his phone, his eyes widened. 

“Wow,” he said. “You look beautiful.”

“You don’t have to flatter me,” you said, fixing a stray strand of hair in the mirror. Oscar walked up behind you, placing his head on your shoulder, leaning into you and gazing at your reflections. 

“I’m not,” he said. “You really are beautiful.” You resisted the urge to make some self-deprecating comment, biting your tongue both literally and metaphorically. 

“Can I kiss you?” Oscar asked, his voice low. Since that fateful night in the house, all alone, your affection had been practically nonexistent, reserved for the secret sanctuary of the nighttime, as you skittered around the house in fear of judgement. 

You just hummed in response, unsure of what to say. Usually, Oscar’s touch felt like home to you, his warmth being the one thing you needed to ground you. But now, it felt like just a weight, bringing you down to Earth in the worst way.

He meekly kissed your cheek, sensing your discomfort, and pulled away so you could lean down and fasten your heels. When you rose, and your expression was still sour, he reached out, running his hands up and down your arms.

“You okay?” he asked, and you looked away. You nodded. “Just nervous,” you said, praying he’d buy it.

He did, for now. “You’re gonna be fine. I’ll be there with you, and this’ll all be swept under the rug. People will forget about it and move on to the next stupid scandal.”

You gave him a flat smile in response. 

“Now, can I give you a real kiss?”

“Didn’t you just give me one?”

“Is that a no?”

Instinctually, your smile turned real, and you leaned forward, allowing him to give you, as he said, a real kiss. It was brief and safe, knowing that at any second, the sanctity of his room could be shattered.

But he didn’t care, instead wrapping his arms around your waist and pulling you closer to him. 

“Third time’s the charm?” he asked, his eyes full of a lovesickness enough to melt even the coldest heart.

“Your family is downstairs waiting for us. And you have my lipgloss on you.”

“I don’t care—”

“Are you all gonna take all day?” Hattie said, yelling from the hallway, and you scurried away, out of Oscar’s arms, grabbing your purse and making your way to the door. 

At the dinner, you found no reprieve. Despite Nicole’s best efforts at avoiding the subject, the air was thick with an unspoken awkwardness regarding the events that would transpire tomorrow. 

In between plates of pasta, a group of random girls had come up to the other side of the table, focused intently on Oscar.

“I’m sorry, are you Oscar Piastri? Can we get a picture?” 

“Erm…” he said, looking for a convenient way to say no. The girls glanced at you, and their expression immediately went cold, as they eyed you with a look of disgust. 

“We’re having a family dinner right now,” Nicole chimed in, “but it was lovely seeing you all, and Oscar appreciates all the support!”

You were thankful for the distraction, but wanted nothing more than to be out of there. 

Even back at the house, though, you couldn’t escape this embarrassment that ran deeper than your own bones. 

“Alright, everyone, time for a real send off,” Nicole joked, as you gathered in the kitchen for homemade desserts and, more importantly, a bottle of wine.

A glass of wine to drown your sorrows sounded wonderful. But you couldn’t, not knowing if… you couldn’t even bring yourself to imagine the word. You wanted to puke.

It’s too early to tell. There could be a million other reasons why. It was going to be okay. You repeated it again and again in your head, but you couldn’t believe it, not truly. 

“Oh, I’m fine,” you told Nicole as she poured you a glass. 

“Oh no, YN, this is the good stuff, you can’t refuse!”

“No, really, I’m—”

“C’mon, YN,” Oscar teased, playfully elbowing you in the side. 

“I… I should just get to bed, I’m not feeling well,” you said, excusing yourself and running upstairs before anyone could argue with you. 

“Something’s up with her,” Nicole said, sipping from her glass, glaring at Oscar over the rim. He swished the burgundy liquid in his glass, avoiding his mother’s eyes. 

“Don’t start,” he warned. “She’s just stressed. You know how she gets.”

You fell asleep in the guest bedroom, but snuck into Oscar’s room sometime in the darkness of night, where he was solidly sleeping, aided by enough wine that you could still smell it off of him. 

Curled up next to him on the edge of the bed, that night, you dreamt, and for once, you remembered it. 

You never were the type to remember your dreams, at least not in anything beyond fleeting moments that vanished when you woke. But tonight was different. 

You were in a bedroom, a condo in Monaco, the soft waves lapping outside the window as sunlight spilled in. You sat in a rocking chair in the corner of a nursery. Across the room, huddled over a pink crib, was Oscar. He leaned down, and with a heave picked up the small swaddle of blankets and held it in his strong arms. Your newborn daughter looked smaller than a button in the vastness of her father’s arms. 

“She’s tiny,” he said, his voice soft as the morning birdsong right out the window. He gazed at her with love the like of which you’d never seen, as he held and gently rocked his entire world in his arms, humming to her. He leaned down and kissed her forehead and she cooed, and you sat and rocked, quiet in the early morning. A tenseness filled the room.

“I don’t think I can do it,” he said. His gaze never shifted from the baby in his arms. “I can’t leave her.”

“We’ll be fine. We always are,” you said. 

“I know,” he whispered, his voice on the edge of tears. “But she’s so small. I don’t want to miss any more of this. You don’t get this time back.”

“I know,” you said, your own voice tinged with a sense of melancholy. 

The somber peace was broken by the screeching of a little boy, the spitting image of his father, roaring into the room with plastic dinosaurs in hand. He roared as he pivoted the dinosaur towards his sister, the middle child, who stumbled in after him. 

“Hush,” you said to the two children, “the baby is sleeping. Go tell your father goodbye.”

The boy dropped his dinosaurs and ran over to Oscar, hugging his leg. “Don’t go, papa!”

Oscar put the baby back in her crib and picked up his son, who rested his head against his father’s chest. “You know I don’t want to, kiddo.” 

“He has to go drive the race cars!” whispered your middle daughter. 

“That’s right,” he said, fluffing her hair. He put down his son, who was growing too big to be held for that long. The boy bounded with energy, jumping as he reached the floor, his father now kneeled before him. 

“I’ll drive the race cars!” he exclaimed. 

“Yeah?” Oscar said, his smile wide.

“Yeah, I’ll go like vroom, and—”

The baby was crying.

No. You were awake, and your alarm was going off. And as you groped in the dark for your phone, a sudden wave of sickness hit you. You had approximately 30 seconds to get to a bathroom before last night’s dinner would be on the floor. 

You hit your phone off the nightstand, ending the alarm while also making far too loud of a noise, and half-stumbled half-sprinted down the hall to get to the bathroom. Kneeling on the tile floor, you made it just in time to, quite literally, spill your guts. 

A hand pulled your hair back out of your face as you heaved, and when you were finally done, you saw Oscar sigh and sit on the edge of the bathtub. You were a wreck: your dream had brought forth unstoppable tears, and your stomach still rolled and flipped even as you slumped against the sink cabinet. 

“YN,” he said softly, “you’re not okay.”

“I’m fine,” you insisted. “Just a little sick.”

“Then why are you crying?”

“I just had a bad dream. I’m sorry I woke you up—”

“I was already half awake,” he said, cutting you off. “YN, you’ve stressed yourself out so much that you’re sick. Talk to me.”

“I promise, I’m fine—”

“YN,” he said, and you were finally forced to look at him. His hair, still messy from sleep, endeared you to him; you locked eyes with the same orbs that had, in your dreams, gazed lovingly upon your newborn daughter, and you lost all semblance of order.

He kneeled down next to you. “YN,” he whispered. “What’s wrong?”

“My period is late.” The room stood still. 

Oscar froze. “How late?”

“Two weeks.”

His internal voice could only say one word: Shit. But physically, he couldn’t say anything.

“Are you just gonna stare at me like I’m crazy, or…?” you asked, as Oscar’s mind was clearly elsewhere, lost in thought.

“It doesn’t make sense. You took the pill, right?”

“Of course.” you sniffled.

“Are you sure? Because—”

“Yes, I’m fucking sure!”

“Then how could you be—”

“Because that shit isn’t 100% effective, Oscar!” you said, your voice low but harsh. Oscar, the unfortunate target of your anger, winced at your words. “You think I didn’t take it? Ask Hattie.”

“Hattie?”

“Where do you think I got the pill from?”

“My sister has plan B?” Oscar asked, his face contorting with disgust. 

“Really?” you asked, incredulous. “That’s what you’re concerned about right now? I’m… I could be…” Your voice trailed into a choked sob, as you couldn’t even get the words out.

“Hey, I’m sorry, look, it’s okay,” Oscar said, moving down to sit cross legged across from you.

“It’s not okay, Oscar,” you sobbed, as he reached out to hold you, and you were too weak to push him away.

“No, I promise, it’s gonna be okay. We’ll be okay,” he said, and you gave up, crying into his shoulder, the weight of too many bottled up tears. He ran his hand up and down your back as you tried, and failed, to pull yourself back together.

“What are we gonna do?” you whispered, your breath stabilizing in the comfort of his arms.

“We take it a day at a time. We go to the MTC, get this hearing over with, and then get you a test.”

“And if I’m…”

“If you’re pregnant,” he said, and you felt your stomach drop at the utterance of the word, “then we make it work.”

“No, no, we can’t do this. We cannot have a baby. I cannot have a baby with you.”

Oscar was hurt by your words, though you said them without thinking, too deep in your own panic. “Why not? What’s stopping us?”

“Are you serious? We’re too young, you’re a fucking Formula 1 driver, and I’m about to lose my job. I’d barely be able to provide for myself, let alone a baby.”

“YN, if you’re pregnant, you’ll never worry about having to provide for anyone ever again. I have more than enough money.”

“But you’d be gone all the time. And even if you weren’t, we’re… Oscar, we’re a mess! Hattie thinks you’re trying to baby trap me,” you snorted, your voice dripping with malice.

“Do you really believe that?” Oscar asked, his voice serious.

“No,” You sniffled. “It’s my own fault for sleeping with you when I’m not on birth control. I’m so fucking stupid.”

“None of that, YN. We both should have been more responsible. But I promise you, it will be okay.”

“If I am pregnant, I can’t keep it. Would you…be okay with that?”

Oscar looked at the floor, biting the inside of his cheek. “Honestly,” he began, “it’d break my heart. But I know it’s not my decision. And whatever you chose, I’d support you.”

A silence fell in the room. 

“I had a dream, just before I woke up. We had three kids. And they were perfect, but you were gone all the time. I don’t want that.”

You looked up at Oscar, the fluorescent lights hitting his eyes at the perfect angle to reveal the sheen of his own tears. 

“This dream… it was so real. And it terrified me.” You continued, “You’re so close to winning the championship, I can’t take that away from you.” 

“The championship is the last thing I care about right now,” he whispered. “We just need to take it step by step. First, we get on this flight. We get through the hearing. Then, before the next race, we get you to a doctor. Can we do that?”

“We can do that,” you echoed, though you felt incapable of anything besides crying on this bathroom floor. 

Oscar scooped you up in his arms again, gentler this time, as if his arms were the only thing keeping you whole. 

“We’re gonna be okay. Let’s go catch this flight, yeah?” he said, kissing you on your forehead.

And that’s what you did, taking a quick shower and readying yourself to be seen in the public eye again. You said a quiet goodbye to the Piastri family as you and Oscar made your way to the airport, where he refused to drop your hand despite your protests.

“Oscar, someone might see,” you whispered.

“I don’t care,” he said. “Let ‘em watch.”

Despite your instincts, you had checked social media earlier in the morning, only to find that the girls from the evening before at the restaurant had taken pictures of the entire family from across the building and sent them to the gossip pages. The comments were full of disparaging notes towards both you and Oscar, calling you every name under the sun. 

On the long, long flight to the UK, you couldn’t sleep, instead drifting in and out of some semi-conscious state that offered no real rest. 

When you landed, you felt like a zombie. You had only a few hours before you needed to be at the MTC. 

“You all have a good flight?” Zak Brown asked, those few hours later as he led you through the long, billowing halls of the MTC. You had made it, only just in time. Oscar’s words echoed in your mind—you just needed to get through it. 

“Yeah,” you said, giving a polite smile, lying through your teeth. Oscar had come before you, giving you a much needed nap, but it meant you were alone as you walked to meet your impending professional doom. 

Zak stopped in front of the door. “Look, YN, I’m so sorry we have to go through this, but it’s outside of my wheelhouse.”

“I understand,” you said. 

“Well, this isn’t just a formality. HR is on our asses about this. Of course, we’ll do everything in our power to let them know that you’re a good asset and that this is all a big misunderstanding. But before I open this door, I just want you to be ready.”

“Thank you, Zak,” you said, truly thankful that someone was looking out for you. “I’m ready, I’ll be okay.”

You weren’t ready, though. Zak opened the door, and you felt like you were going to puke all over again.

A line of stone faced, suit-clad human resource robot-people sat on one side of the room. On the other, a line of familiar faces. 

On the far side, Oscar, who you locked eyes with, his gaze pleading, I’m sorry. 

Next to him, Lando.

Next to him, Lily.

And then, the last open seat in the room, that had to be yours. 

You sighed, walked across the room, and took your seat.

“Oh, you must be YN LN, just on time,” one of the human resource people said—a woman, her hair in a perfect slick back bun, so polished and put together. “Let’s begin.”

You nodded.

“Well, thank you all for your time,” she began, “I know all of you have much more enjoyable things to be doing. We’re here today investigating allegations of professional misconduct that would violate the terms of YN’s contract. You all have been implicated in this as well.” 

You stared at the floor as she droned on. 

“Miss LN, I understand you’ve known everyone here for a while.”

“Yes.”

“How so?”

“Oscar and I were childhood friends.”

“And what is the nature of your relationship with Mr. Piastri today?”

You stuttered internally. Technically, you were violating your contract by doing…whatever it was you were doing with Oscar.

“Um…” you hesitated.

“She’s my girlfriend,” he interjected, causing all heads to turn to the end of the table. You locked eyes with him. “She doesn't want to say it because she doesn’t want to get in trouble. But this is all on me, really—”

“Please refrain from interrupting, Mr. Piastri,” the woman said. “Is that correct?” she asked you, and you nodded. Of course, Oscar had never asked you to be his girlfriend. But what else could you be called?

“And what is the nature of your relationship with Mr. Norris?”

“There isn’t one,” you answered, too quickly for comfort. 

“So you’re just complete strangers?”

“No, I know him. But I don’t talk to him.”

“How long has this been the case?”

“Since May.”

“Why is that?”

“He was rude to me.” Your words cut through the tension of the moment. You looked your interviewer in the eye, as if to say, are you really asking me this?

“This moment of rudeness, did it happen within the context of your working duties?”

“No. It was at a restaurant in Monaco. I told you all of this in the written report. Is there anything else you need to know?” Your anger grew with each question.

“Miss LN, you are facing serious allegations—”

“Remind me of them.”

“Engaging in illicit meetings activities with Mr. Norris, and being in a longstanding affair with Mr. Piastri, both in violation of the privacy terms of your contract.”

“I told them, nothing of the sort happened,” you said, your voice strained with exasperation. “Oscar and I have been together since…well, off and on since April, and yes, that violates my contract, I guess, but there was no affair. And Lando and I met in Monaco outside of work twice, as friends. If you want to have my job over that, go ahead, I don’t care anymore. This is ridiculous, having an entire hearing over a few grainy pictures on Instagram? You’re wasting all our time, especially since I wrote everything I had to say in the report—” 

“Miss LN, perhaps you should leave the room while we conduct the rest of the hearing.”

You inhaled sharply and left the room, fighting the urge to slam the door behind you. In the hallway Zak waited, and he raised his eyebrows when he saw you exit, so angry and far before he expected you.

“Done already?” he asked.

“No,” you huffed. “But they’ve decided to not let me ask any questions at my own hearing, so they’ll be having it without me.”

Zak sighed, running a hand through his hair, and said, “Look, YN, I get that you’re frustrated. Hell, I’m frustrated too. This is a waste of everyone’s time. But what HR says, goes. Just gotta get through it.”

“I know,” you said, taking a deep breath to calm yourself. “But, are they even trying to find out who leaked all this? Did they read any of the evidence or look at any of the statements?”

“I think we all know who leaked this,” Zak said, and you raised your brow. What did he know? “I don’t know much about the investigation. But like I said earlier, I’m gonna do everything in my power to help.”

“Thank you,” you said, giving him a weak smile. 

You didn’t know how long you sat in that hallway, only half there mentally, waiting for the hearing to end, until finally, you heard the voice of the same woman beckoning you back into the room.

Again you entered, avoiding Oscar’s pitying glance, and sat back down next to Lily, whose gaze was glued to the floor. 

“Thank you for your…cooperation, Miss LN,” the woman said, through politely gritted teeth. “The committee has come to the decision that your employment will be suspended through the next 3 races.”

“I—”

The woman verbally barrelled over you, continuing, “This suspension will give us time to finalize our decision, at which point we will let you know whether we have decided to reinstate or permanently end your employment. Unless, of course, you want to resign, in which case we will accept a letter of resignation at any point.”

“You want me to quit?”

“That’s your decision to make,” the woman said. 

You bit your cheek, keeping quiet only for the hope of maybe getting your job back. 

As everyone filtered out of the room, you went ahead, walking as fast as your legs could carry you just to get out of the oppressive environment. Still, behind you, you could hear the scuffling of three pairs of legs, memories of a once unbreakable bond now fractured. 

“So,” Lily said, her voice low in an attempt to avoid you hearing, “You and YN are official now, huh?”

“Don’t,” Oscar said, looking ahead. He didn’t stop walking.

“How long has that been? Since before or after you lied to me?”

“Lily,” he warned, his voice sterner now, “Not today.”

“When, then? When are you going to admit that you’re a fucking liar?”

You turned back, the air in the hallway noticeable thicker with the tension of Lily’s words. Everyone has stopped walking. Oscar nodded to you, a sign to keep going, though you walked slower now, unable to escape Lily’s magnetizing fury. Oscar hurried, though. 

“All you do is run. Run to YN, run from hotel to hotel, run from your mother, run from Lando. You can only run from the truth for so long, Oscar.”

“Let’s go, Oscar,” you said, sensing his anger rising.

“Don’t act like you’re innocent,” she said, “You know you’re just his safe bet. When he finds something better, he’ll leave you too. But of course, you won’t leave, since apparently you’ve been at his beck and call your entire life—”

You finally made it out the doors, but Lily didn’t stop her tirade until Oscar slammed the door behind him and cut her off. 

“Listen,” he said, his voice angrier than you’d ever heard it. “I love YN more than I ever loved you. She’s my soulmate. And every day I curse myself for actually being faithful to you and wasting my time when I could have spent it with her. The only reason I ever was with you was because I was too much of a coward to be with her. Not anymore. Say whatever the fuck you want about me, I don’t care. But leave her out of this.”

“You’re evil,” Lily retorted, her voice shaking. 

“I’m evil? Every time I’ve seen you, you’ve done nothing but accuse me of things I didn’t do! And harassing YN when she’s pre—when, when she’s going through all this…”

“When she’s what?” Lily asked. 

“Oscar, let’s just go, please,” you begged.

“What did you say?” Lily questioned, though Oscar turned to leave.

“Pregnant,” Lando interjected. He had been forgotten in the background, lurking, listening. “That’s what you were gonna say, right?”

“You’re pregnant?” Lily asked, looking at you with horror in her eyes. 

“I—I’m not…” you protested, but your expression gave you away, and any reputations were in vain. 

“Oh my God,” Lily said, tears finding both of your eyes.

“Okay, we’re leaving,” Oscar said, grabbing your hand and nearly dragging you away and to his car, walking fast enough that neither Lily nor Lando could keep up.

It wasn’t until he was speeding away in his McLaren, you safely in the passenger side, that he spoke again.

“I… I know I massively fucked up.”

“Don’t,” you whispered. “I’m not mad. But I can’t right now.” 

Oscar conceded, remaining silent until you made it up to your hotel room and collapsed on the bed. 

He just sat next to you, gently rubbing a hand up and down your back. 

“Do you want me to tell you what happened in the hearing, while you were in the hall?” he asked.

“No,” you whispered as you sat up, tears now flowing without restraint. 

He wrapped you in his arms again, but even his embrace couldn’t fix it. “What can I do to make it better?” he asked.

“I just want to go home,” you sniffled. He wordlessly got out his phone and booked you both a flight back to Monaco in the morning.

The words came later in the night, in that familiar and safe space, his arm around you, your leg draped over his. 

“It just isn’t fair,” you said, your voice barely a whisper against his skin. “If they fire me… we’ll hardly see each other.”

“They can’t ban me from bringing you whenever I want.”

“It’s not the same, though,” you said. “Besides, I don’t want to be a kept woman.” 

He sighed in contentment. It was only wrapped in the presence of the other that either of you could release all the tension and rest in the quietness between you. 

“I’m sorry I…answered for you, at the beginning of the hearing,” Oscar said.

Oh, yeah. He had called you his…girlfriend. The thought had escaped your mind, but it came back with a vengeance now, a familiar wave of nausea and nervousness resting in your stomach. 

He continued, “I didn’t mean to…to force you into anything. I mean, I don’t even know where we’re at, like, between us, it just kinda—”

“You want me to be your girlfriend?” you asked, cutting him off. 

Oscar, not expecting your interjection, was silent for a moment. “Of course I do,” he answered. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“I’m the same person I was before, when you said you could never be with me.”

“I’m not,” he said. “I still make stupid mistakes, but this isn’t one of them. I mean, we live together. You fall asleep in my arms almost every night. I tell you my fears and my hopes and my dreams. Your childhood plushie is stowed away in my closet back home—”

“Mr. Koala?” you asked, a rare smile crossing your face. “I thought I lost him!”

“No,” Oscar laughed, “I stole him. Got jealous of all the attention you gave him.”

“When we were ten?” you asked.

“Yes. YN, it’s always been you. And I want it to stay that way.”

Despite all the fear that ran through your veins, for once, you believed him. You pushed it aside. You had to. 

“Okay,” you whispered, tracing circles into his bare skin beneath you. “Then…we’re together.”

The moment was simple, quiet, the room full of nothing but the soft rhythm of your breathing, and the unspoken understanding of what had just happened. It had been too long, in that back and forth, strangled by fear and guilt and shame. But it held no weight in the space between your warm bodies, away from the world, your little haven of each other. 

“But I want my koala back,” you said. 

And when you fell asleep that night, the world continued spinning, though in your little hotel room, everything had changed.

Even back home, the light in Monaco seemed different. Brighter, somehow. 

The sunlight was infectious as you and Oscar walked the narrow streets, hand in hand, no longer caring who saw. 

Of course, this came back to bite you when you glimpsed the familiar face of Lily across the street.

You both kept walking, not acknowledging the other, though once she passed, you leaned over to whisper to Oscar, “What’s she doing in Monaco?”

“Shit, yeah,” he replied, “she mentioned it in the hearing. Orientation for a new company.”

You sighed, not angry at her, but more flustered and ashamed. Oscar tightened his grip, squeezing your hand, an unspoken reassurance.

But her image haunted you as you made your way back to your apartment.

“We should get a bigger place,” he said, closing the door behind him.

“I like it here,” you replied, opening the door to the balcony. “I like the view.” You walked out and leaned over the railing, basking in the light. Oscar followed you, wrapping an arm around your shoulder, resting his head in the space between your neck and shoulder. “Clingy much?” you teased.

“I’m not gonna see you for nearly a month,” he mumbled. 

“We’ll live,” you said, though you cracked a small smile. It felt nice to know you’d be missed. 

“Are you sure you don’t want me to—”

“I’m sure.” He huffed in mock annoyance at you. 

Days before, you had booked a doctor’s appointment for after Oscar returned from the triple header, unable to get one any sooner. The store-bought tests you had secured, sneaking in the middle of the night to a corner store to avoid any wandering eyes, had gone unopened. You were too scared, though now, it had been an undeniable amount of time; either you were pregnant, or something was very wrong. 

But you’d have to wait until he returned. You couldn’t do it without him there. Though, he had asked about a million times if you wanted him to cancel on McLaren and take you to a doctor now.

“I’ll be fine,” you assured. “You just focus on driving fast.”

“I can’t focus when I know you're here alone. What if something happens?”

“Well, the faster you drive, the sooner you can come home.”

He rolled his eyes at you, then gave you a peck on the cheek, before you both went back into the apartment to enjoy your last night together. 

When he left the next morning, you couldn’t lie to yourself and say that it wasn’t tough. It was only 3 races, not even a month, but when he closed the door behind him, your apartment was quiet in a way it hadn’t been in a long time. 

With no Oscar, and no work to do, what could be done to fill your time? It hit you then, how little of a life you had, outside of your new boyfriend and his job. It hurt. 

You confided this to him when he called after he landed that night. 

“How was your day?” he asked, clearly exhausted from his flight.

“Boring,” you confessed. “I have no life outside of F1. It’s kind of sad, actually,” you said, laughing, poking fun at yourself, though the admission cut deeper than you’d care to admit.

“Neither do I,” he said. “But what about those pictures you’ve been trying to edit?”

“Huh?” you said. “I’m not allowed to post any pictures. They literally changed your Instagram password.”

“Ew,” he said. “But I don’t mean photos of me. I mean, you’ve always got your camera, and you always say you don’t have enough time to edit all your shots. Hell, I don’t end up seeing half of them.”

“Because they’re bad.”

“Then fix them.”

The conversation didn’t last much longer, but eventually you did take his advice, going through the backlogs of all the shots you had acquired in your paddock days and nights on the town with Oscar. The shots often hurt; full to the brink with memories, from times before, when things were stiffer, more closed-off. 

And even if you didn’t have the memories at your disposal, you could tell from the subtle details of Oscar’s face what he was feeling. He was actually quite easy to read, and his smile ran from photo to photo, sometimes hiding pain, but sometimes hiding a deeper truth beneath them, a love he had been so scared to confess.

And as you clicked away at your computer, for a second, you thought, maybe I’m good at this. 

Your editing consumed your days, when not watching content from the race, of course. You worked into the night, taking breaks only to fulfill your most basic needs, as if you could lose yourself in all the snapshots you had taken long ago.

And in a way, you did. You could ignore the silence of your apartment, the nervousness as the day of your appointment inched closer, the nausea that always sat in wait in the pit of your stomach, waiting to strike. You stopped only when you were going to collapse from exhaustion.

The night before Zandvoort, that’s what happened; you had worked into the early hours of the morning, ignoring the clock, until you were forced to take a nap and set an alarm before the race.

But when you woke up, your room was dark, and you couldn’t quite move. Something was wrong. 

You dragged yourself out of the bed, only to be met with a horrifying sight: you were bleeding. And it was everywhere; staining your clothes, the sheet, and deep into the mattress. You barely had enough energy to hold yourself up, let alone register what was happening. 

You looked up at your TV, which you had left on as you slept. You saw Oscar’s frame, dashing down the pit lane, as the race was about to begin any minute now. He was there, unreachable, so close, yet further than he’d ever been. 

You were alone. 

Oscar was just as tired when he crossed the checkered flag and claimed the coveted first place trophy for the Dutch Grand Prix. 

He had coasted above the competition, winning easily. But he couldn’t shake the loneliness that had settled deep into his bones, knowing that you weren’t in the garage or in the crowd below the podium, waiting for him with a warm embrace and a smile wider than he could imagine.

But you were at home, cheering him on. He looked ahead past the crowd, into the reflective lens of the camera he knew was staring at him right now. He knew, somewhere, you could see him. 

And, he thought to himself as he exited the podium and went back to the cooldown room, you would always leave him a sweet congratulatory text for him to look forward to. 

He exhaled, truly, in the cooldown room, the cameras now gone. George and Max, his podium companions, chatted to themselves as Oscar stretched. Lando had been caught in an accident in the early laps of the race, a result of a lack of focus. DNF. Oscar was now ahead in the championship.

He knew it was too early to celebrate, and if he wanted that championship, he’d have to claw his way towards it, fighting for every point. But he couldn’t lie and say that a twisted part of him didn’t enjoy overtaking Lando, both on track and off it. 

But when he finally got back to his driver’s room and got his phone, he was disappointed to find no text from you. Nothing. That wasn’t like you.

He stuck his phone in his pocket. Maybe you were waiting to call him back when he was at the hotel.

But even then, no text, no call. His own texts went unanswered, his calls to voicemail. He made a sour face after going to your voicemail a third time. What else could you be doing?

He suddenly remembered, he had your location. Maybe you had just fallen asleep. Or maybe you were at the supermarket, or maybe…

You were at the hospital. 

Your little icon was in the middle of a hospital. And you weren’t answering him. 

He called again, and again went to voicemail.

“Hey YN,” he said, trying not to let fear waver his voice. “Just wanted to make sure you’re okay. Call me when you can. Love you.”

Straight, to the point, just like Oscar. But when another half hour went by with no word, he couldn’t help but panic.

Who could he call? His family was halfway across the world. All his coworkers were here. Monaco was a ghost town during race weekends. You truly were alone, and he was terrified.

He took a deep breath, his hands shaking as he dialed the one number he never wanted to call again. 

“You have got some nerve calling me,” Lily said, her voice sharp with venom.

“And yet, you answered,” Oscar said, unable to keep his snarky comments under wraps. “Look, Lily, I need you to listen. I need to ask something of you.”

“You really think you have the right to ask anything of me?” she questioned.

“It’s not for me. It’s YN.”

“I don’t care.”

“She’s in the hospital,” he said, his throat choking. “Lily, I haven’t heard from her since last night, and her location says she’s in the hospital, and you are the only person I know who’s in Monaco right now.”

On the other line, Lily was silent.

“She’s pregnant, Lily. And I am fucking terrified right now. Please, just find her and tell me she’s okay. Please.”

Though he couldn’t hear her, Oscar could picture her face in his mind, how she was biting her lip, turning the gears in her mind.

“You’re lucky I’m off tonight,” she said. “I’ll go check and call you back.”

“Thank you so much Lily, seriously, thank—”

The call ended. 

Lily’s shoes clicked against the sensible tile of the hospital floor as she made her way to your room. Her breath was tense with stifled anger. She knew this wasn’t about you. But to hear Oscar plead for you, in a way that he had never cared for her, hurt more than she would ever admit to. 

She gently knocked on the door before entering, but you were clearly not conscious. Your phone sat on the counter, your home page (a photo of you and Oscar, to add insult to injury), full of his frantic notifications. 

She sighed as she sat in the lone armchair next to you, watching as you drifted in and out of consciousness.

“Are you family?” a doctor asked, startling Lily. 

“No, just a…friend,” she said, forcing her lips into a smile. “Her boyfriend asked me to come check on her. Can you tell me what happened?”

“She stumbled here a few hours ago. Hemorrhaging pretty bad. We gave her a transfusion, but she’s been in and out.”

“Is she going to be okay?”

“Yes, she’s just in shock.”

“What about the… um,” Lily paused, unsure of how to continue. “Um… she’s pregnant.”

The doctor made a face, looking down to his clipboard of papers. “Give me a second,” he said, exiting the room.

Lily bit her cheek. Of all things, this is one she wouldn’t wish on anyone, even Oscar, angry as she was still from the way he spoke to her back at the MTC.

She typed up a quick text. I’m at the hospital with YN. She’s fine, but not awake. I’ll call when I know more. 

It wasn’t until an hour or so later that you came to, though you thought you were dreaming. The last thing you could remember was the deep red stain of blood soaked through the mattress…you thought you were going to die. Yes, you must be dead, because your personal hell would be what faced you now; sitting incapacitated in a hospital room across from none other than Lily Zneimer. 

Though you were awake, you were visibly confused. “Hey, YN,” Lily said, her voice gentler than you’d heard it in a long, long while. “You okay?”

“What’s going on?” you asked. 

“You had an… um, an emergency, I guess. I don’t really know.”

“What are you doing here?” 

“Oscar was scared because you weren’t answering his calls.”

“But Oscar’s racing,” you said, your speech slurred.

“YN,” she said, “It’s late.” You raised your head and craned your neck to see the twinkle of Monaco’s street lights against the velvety water. Lily was right—it was late, and you had no idea what had happened, how you had gotten here, and what was going on at all.

Your question was answered when Lily stepped out of the room and you finally got a visit from a doctor, who explained how you had dragged yourself, weak and bloody, into the emergency room before passing out shortly after they got you into a bed.

“You’ve had a transfusion, but all your other tests came back normal,” he said. “So nothing immediately life-threatening. We can release you in a few hours with a referral.”

“But what about my baby?” you asked, and the question nearly made you faint again. You had said it instinctually, not feeling the weight of the words until they had already left your mouth. It had always been ‘the pregnancy’; something sterile, detached, a condition. Not your baby. Not a real, tangible sign of your love with Oscar.

Your baby. Oscar’s baby. Our baby, you thought, and you wanted to cry.

“Miss YN, you’re not pregnant,” the doctor said, matter of factly. 

“I…I miscarried?” you asked.

“No,” he said. “Your tests showed no signs of pregnancy. You weren’t pregnant when you walked into this emergency room.”

“That’s impossible. I missed a period. I—I had unprotected sex and then I missed a period. That’s not how that works.”

“Missed periods can be caused by many things—”

“I don’t understand. How am I not pregnant?” 

“Well, it could be from—” The doctor’s voice droned on, but you weren’t listening. 

There was no baby. There never was a baby. Your mind went blank.

How were you supposed to tell Oscar?

“So, Miss YN, we’ll get that referral set up for you. I’d like to keep you here overnight, just in case, but you’ll be good to go in the morning.” 

You nodded, numb, as the doctor exited the room and Lily returned. She saw the expression on your face and immediately softened.

“YN, I am so sorry…”

“Don’t be. I’m not pregnant. I never was.”

Lily paused. “False positive?”

“Something like that,” you muttered. 

“Still,” she said, sitting tentatively at the foot of the bed, “I’m sorry. I can tell you aren’t happy about that news.”

“Lily, you don’t have to do this,” you said. What you left unsaid: you don’t have to pretend like you’re not relieved that I’m not carrying your ex-boyfriend’s baby. You don’t have to pretend like you don’t hate me. You don’t have to pretend like you care.

Lily bit the inside of her cheek. Even though you hadn’t said it, she knew. “I still don’t wish that on anyone,” she muttered.

“Not even me?”

“No. Not even you, or Oscar.”

The two of you fell silent, and the air was thick with tension.

“Erm, speaking of, you should probably call him. He’s freaking out.” You glanced over to your phone on the counter, but it was now dead.

“Can you just tell him I’ll call in the morning?”

“You can just use my phone. Seriously, YN, he’s scared. Just give him 5 minutes.”

You grabbed Lily’s phone from her hand, your hand shaking. It wasn’t that you didn’t want to call him, but you thought of him staring at his phone, hoping for a call from her name and number, and still, deep down, it made you sick.

Lily left the room again, and you found his number in the recent calls; his contact had been deleted. 

Many miles apart, Oscar couldn’t sleep, couldn’t rest, couldn’t hardly breathe. He knew better than to call and pester Lily again. But when her number showed up on his phone—he too had deleted the contact—he picked up within a single ring.

“Hello?”

“Hi Osc,” you said, your voice weak and shaky.

“Oh my God, YN,” he said, and you could hear an equal fear in his tone. He tried to swallow it down. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” you said. 

“You scared me.”

“I know,” you said, choking on your own words. “I’m sorry.”

“What happened? Why didn’t you call me?”

“I don’t really know what happened. I just woke up and I was bleeding everywhere. And, uh,” you said, a small laugh in your voice, “you were a bit busy running from Martin Brundle in the pitlane. So I just went to the hospital, but I don’t really remember how I got here, or anything really, between that and, like, 30 minutes ago.”

“Jesus Christ,” he muttered. You could imagine him rubbing the sleep and worry from his face.

“I’m sorry.” 

“Don’t apologize,” he said. “Is…everything with…” He didn’t have to finish his sentence. You knew what he was trying to ask.

There was no easy way to say it. “I’m not pregnant, Oscar. I never was.”

“Oh.”

The silence hung in waves, from Monaco to Zandvoort, across the line. 

“Are you…” he began, “Are you okay?”

You were silent for a moment. 

“Am I allowed to be sad?”

The tremor in your voice broke his heart. “Of course you are,” he answered. 

“I knew it wasn’t the right time. But I guess I had already…accepted it, I don’t know.”

“I understand,” he said. “I was already thinking about names.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. If we had a girl, Charlotte, or Amelia.”

“And if it was a boy?”

“Maybe Caleb. Or Elijah.”

The tears now flowed down your face unrestrained. “You’ll be a great dad one day,” you said, trying to hide the cracks in your voice, evidence of your weeping.

“And you’ll be a great mum,” he said. “I can already tell you loved the little one.”

“But it never existed.”

“But we believed it. And we loved them anyway. Isn’t that enough, for now?”

You couldn’t answer him. He continued, “We knew we weren’t ready. But now, we can wait until we are. We can be there for them, raise them everyday instead of being gone at races all the time. Because our little one deserves better than we could give them right now.”

“Stop calling it that. Don’t get that idea in your head,” you said. There was no baby, no ‘little one’, not even a clump of cells. All that rested in your womb was an empty idea. 

“It’s already in my head, YN. It’s in yours too.”

Again, silence fell. 

“They’re gonna keep me here overnight, but I should be back by tomorrow,” you explained. 

“Good, you’ll be home by the time I get back.”

“Oscar, you don’t need to come back,” you protested.

“Of course I do. You’re sick.”

“I’m fine, and you have a triple header to drive.”

“I don’t give a fuck about the races right now, YN.”

“Well I do!”

“You didn’t even watch the one today, because you were too busy bleeding out!” he retorted, his voice gaining a sternness to it. 

“We are both on thin ice right now. There’s no way I’ll get my job back if I cause you to miss a race.”

“YN—”

“No, Oscar, you’re not coming home. I’ll lock you out of the apartment.”

“YN,” he said, his voice like that of a tough father, “I thought you were dead today. I’ve never been more afraid in my life. I can’t drive knowing you’re at home, sick and alone.”

You refused to budge. “If anything else happens, I’ll call you, and you can come to my rescue, I promise.” 

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re impossibly stubborn?”

“Never,” you said, a soft smile on your lips. ‘Look, I’ll call you in the morning. If I feel good, you stay, and if not, you can come back. Deal?”

He sighed, “Fine.”

“Good,” you said, satisfied with your deal. “By the way, how did the race go?”

He echoed himself. “Fine.”

“What’d you place?”

“P1.”

“Oscar, that’s great!” you said, though a small pang of sadness rushed through your heart. You had never been absent for a victory. “We’ll celebrate when you get back.”

Celebrations were the last thing on Oscar’s mind, but he knew it was pointless trying to redirect you. “Can’t wait,” he said.

“I should probably give Lily her phone back,” you said, feeling it buzz with a notification. 

“Oh, yeah. I’m sorry I had to call her, I just…didn’t know anyone else to call.”

“It’s okay,” you said. “I’ll call you tomorrow. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

With that, you hung up the call. 

A few minutes later, Lily reentered the room, and you handed her the phone with a small thanks.

“I grabbed my charger,” she said, plugging up your phone.

“Thanks,” you said. 

A silence settled in the room after Lily curled up in one of the armchairs beside your bed, passing the time scrolling. After about half an hour of silence, you spoke up. 

“You know, you don’t have to stay here all night.”

She furrowed her brow. “I’m not going to leave you here alone.”

“Look, I really appreciate it, more than you know, but I know you don’t want to be here.”

“It’s not you I’m upset at,” she said, her voice lower. 

“You take it out on me, though,” you replied, refusing to lower your own voice. “And I mean, I get it, I’d do it too. But as you can tell, not everything on my side of this is sunshine and roses, so…”

“YN—”

“Lily, just, let me say this, please,” you said. “What was said outside the MTC… Oscar and I obviously didn’t go about any of this right. He didn’t just leave you and come to me and start treating me like a princess. He used me to get over you and I let him, because I wanted him for so long now. I mean, I don’t know who I am without him.”

“And at the end of the day, you still forgave him.”

“Because I love him. Because I want to be with him despite it all. But Lily, my life is falling apart. The entire internet hates me, and I deserve it. I lost my job, and I lost the baby I thought I was going to have, and…yes, Oscar and I are official. But it didn’t come without pain. And it breaks me because I know that this is what I get for all of it.”

“YN,” she said. “That’s not true. In that hearing, you think I didn’t realize that Lando was just using you? He was using me, too, I know. I got so overcome with anger, and I lashed out at you and Oscar, I just…” She locked her gaze toward the floor. “I sometimes feel like I’ve gone crazy. One day, I believe everything you and him said. But some days I think everyone was just lying to me for years, and I don’t know what’s real anymore.”

You could see her trying to hold back tears. “And I’ll admit it, even after all this time, I still love him, and I miss him, and God, I wish I was you. I want to be with him more than anything, but I’m angry and I want him to suffer for what he did to me. How did you not feel this when you were betrayed?”

“Because I didn’t love him,” you said, the image of your ex-boyfriend flashing in your mind. “Oscar is the only man I’ve ever loved. Ever. Since we were children.”

“It’s an endless pain, to be that consumed with love. He will hurt you. He already has.”

“I know,” you said. “And I’ll hurt him. That’s how it goes”

“That’s what I said, too. I told myself that’s the nature of love. But I always loved him more than he loved me. And then he left me. And even after everything, if he came to me today and apologized, I’d forgive him in an instant. But he never will. He never will.”

“I’m sorry, Lily.” You were bed bound, but you wanted nothing more than to hold her, for her tears to wet your shoulder as it had so many months ago, when you had assured her that none of this would ever happen.

“Deep down, I think I know he didn’t cheat,” she said. “At least not physically. But it’s easier to say that than to accept that he never loved me like he loved you. And he never will.”

What else could be said? The silence filled the room, like a funeral for what once was. Lily still never moved to leave.

“You should leave him,” she whispered. “Not so I can have him. But because you deserve better. And he’ll never be better.”

“You know I won’t ever do that. I can’t.”

“I know. Trust me, I know.”

In the morning, she helped you get home, then texted Oscar from her car in the parking lot of your apartment. Many arguments had been had in that garage. But today was different.

YN is feeling better. Got her set up at home. I can come check on her a few times until you get back, if you’d like. 

That would be great. Thank you so much for this. 

She gave the message a heart reaction, fully intending to leave it there.

Her phone buzzed again. 

And I should apologize for the exchange outside the MTC. I was really cruel to you. I’m sorry. 

Lily took a deep breath, unsure of how to respond. 

He kept texting. For you to go above and beyond for YN after I treated you like that shows the difference between us. Really, I am sorry. 

Lily knew she should send something distant. Like, ‘thanks for the apology’ or ‘no worries’ or ‘I appreciate it’. But she couldn’t. She poured her heart out into the message. 

I’m not going to sit around and let someone you love suffer. I did it because I know you love her, and I love you still. I’m not asking you to be with me, I know better. But I have to say it because it’s driving me crazy, going back and forth between anger and love. I know you meant what you said, that you’ve always loved her more than you ever loved me, and I have to live with that. It’s just hard. 

The three dots that bounced up and down sent Lily’s heart rate to dangerous levels, until his message finally appeared. 

Thank you for loving me when I couldn’t love you back. I’m sorry for wasting your time. I hope we can forgive each other. 

Lily was thankful for the privacy of the parking garage and her tinted windows. 

It wasn’t a waste to me. Was it a waste to you?

Oscar’s reply was lightning fast. 

No. But I do wish I could have been honest to you and myself. I just hurt us both.

Lily’s hand began to cramp with how fast she was typing.

I just wasn’t the one. You don’t have to apologize for that. Besides, I never wanted the wag life, all the attention. She’s good at that, despite everything she’d tell you.

When Oscar didn’t immediately reply, she sent another. 

I don't want to live with this anger. The years we had were good. I got to see the world, and I’m thankful for it, and even with everything, I want you to be happy. 

No reply. She sent another. 

Please tell her I forgive you both.

Oscar’s reply was swift again. 

I think you need to tell her yourself. It haunts her.

Lily typed a short message. I know. 

And that was it. There was nothing more to say. 

As Lily drove off, she soaked in the streets of Monaco, a place she had come to hate. It was Oscar’s world, your world, a place she was never meant to call home. Soon enough, she’d never have to come back here. She thought to herself, I hope he has a good, long life here. I hope they raise their children here. I hope this place treats them well. And I hope I never hear about any of it. 

The next day, you are awoken by the ringing of your doorbell. When you open the door, no one is there, but at your foot rests a card with Lily’s signature on it, and a bouquet of wildflowers. 

[icefeather22]

ermmm... On a side note I accidentally erased the poll for my Little Nightmares designs, but the winner was both cat designs and pony designs, which I'm very happy about!!

I'll be posting them alongside my Danganronpa designs, and I'm planning to make a masterpost to keep everything organized and tidy.

Can't wait to draw my little rascals

Omg Mono as a changeling, please and thank you

This seems like a cool idea! I already have Mono in my MLP AU as a unicorn (with a broken horn) but I might draw a version of him as a changeling too ^^

[biancadoes1]

Hey hey y'all.

I have some things to point out.

Thank you to @biancadoes1 for talking this stuff over with me and encouraging me to share my thoughts. 🩷

1. Look at how crowded Jake's side of the table is while Nicola has allll that space. Jake's items are ALL over the edge.

2. See that orphaned spoon in Nic's pic? Now look at the bottom left corner of Jake's pic where what could well be a spoon is hanging off the edge. Definitely not a match.

3. Isn't the picture of Jake oddly angled and weirdly more close up than Nic's? His shoulder and arm are also cut off.

4. Most people taking a selfie at minimum center themself and don't oddly cut off just one side of them if they are the only subject.

5. Isn't Jake supposed to be pretty interested in photography? Why would an amateur go so avant garde on a restaurant selfie?

6. The pictures to me look like they could have been taken by someone tall and left handed. Jake's is close to him and a bit awkward for it. Nic's is further away but she is nicely framed and level, but clearly shorter than the person taking the photo while Jake is about the same height.

7. Who do we know that is left handed and a prominent figure in Nic's life?

8. Oh, did you know that opposite handedness couples (like my parents) gain the habit of sitting with their non dominant hands together to avoid elbow bumping while eating?

9. That also makes hand holding while eating easy.

10. Who really, really, really likes holding Nicola's hand? Give ya a hint: his initials are LN.

11. Ignore the knife reflection in Nic's pic. The only thing I can tell you it that it's not Jake. It's not the color of his shirt. It could be a ceiling fixture for all we can tell.

12. They posted the pictures at the same time! ... so what? Maybe the person who took them finally remembered to send them? Maybe Nic was like awh shite we should post those and texted Jake. We will never know. Chill about it.

All this leads me to be very close to certain that there was at least one other person at that table. And I find it pretty damned reasonable that it could have been Luke.

And if not Luke? I'm fine with it. But I really think there are too many signs pointing to this being a meal with at least three people to just assume it was only Nicola and Jake.

/takes a bow, exits stage left

You laid this out way better than I ever could have, friend!

Everyone give @greeneyessmize a round of applause 👏👏👏

[humbertozero]

How to read Fate/Strange Fake Light Novel

Read the First Volume: Fate/strange Fake Vol.1 (2015) PDF

Read the Second Volume: Fate/strange Fake Vol.2 PDF

Read the Third Volume: Fate/strange Fake Vol.3 PDF

Read the Fourth Volume: Fate/strange Fake Vol.4 PDF

Read the Fifth Volume: Fate/strange Fake Vol.5 PDF

Read the Sixth Volume: Fate/strange Fake Vol.6 PDF

Read the Seventh Volume: Fate/strange Fake Vol.7 PDF

Read the Eighth Volume: Fate/strange Fake Vol.8 PDF

Read the Nineth Volume: Fate/strange Fake Vol.9 PDF

Volume 9 PDF updated 2/3/2025:

Volume 9 updated and completed

Note: From this point onwards I don't think I'll be able to keep up with the updates. I barely read it anymore, a lot of years have passed and I have more pressing matters to attend IRL so these PDFs will only work as a quality of life for those that want PDF reading but are not desperate to read the updates as soon a translator picks them up. Sorry for the inconvenience.

It's all about the sauce:

The chapters translations are made by OtherSideofSky and Comun. You can read the original raw text submitted by the translator in The Beast Lair along with epub versions.

About the Manga:

You should also read the manga. It has a sharp and beautiful art style (by Morii) and complements the story already being told in the LN.

Credits to:

Thanks to Nakula for translating the initial version (2008) of F/SF Vol 1, and Mew and Food for the extra chapters to complete the final Volume 1. Thanks to OtherSideofSky for translating the Volumes 2 to 6 and Comun for Volume 7 onwards. And thanks to Ryohgo Narita for writing Strange Fake!

I suggest following me on Twitter if you so desire getting updates when I... update... these PDFs. It's also a better way of communicating with me in case it's necessary since this post is a revision of the original I made back then in 2017 but the Tumblr account was breached and deleted the pinned post (this one) so... yeah, there's that.

@ZeroDestreza on Twitter (I’m not calling it “X”, that’s dum dum)

[loafysainz]

the parent trap (remake) | CS 55

cast: carlos sainz x fem!reader

warn: 100% fiction & remake

chap 1, chap 2, chap 3, chap 4, chap 5, chap, 6, chap 7

PART 6 MEETING MOM

As the summer camp buses lined up, Mr. Hamilton stood on the main lawn, a megaphone in hand, his voice cutting through the chatter of children reluctant to leave.

“Okay, everyone, I hope you packed everything! Don’t forget anything, and we’ll see you next summer!” he called, hugging children who clung to him in farewell.

Amidst the emotional goodbyes, a pair of boys stood under the shade of an old oak tree, whispering fervently.

“They’re staring at us too much, Matheo. Do you think they know?” Mattia adjusted the collar of his shirt nervously, shifting from foot to foot.

Matheo, ever the confident one, rolled his eyes. “No way. Stop being so weird, or they’ll suspect something. Do you remember the plan?”

Mattia hesitated before nodding. “Yes, but… maybe repeat it? Just in case?”

Matheo sighed, exasperated. “You’re hopeless. Fine. I’ll go home to Mom, and you’ll go to Dad. We’ll ask them why they split and figure out how to fix it. Got it?”

Mattia nodded fervently, clutching his suitcase. “Got it. This is for the greater good.”

“Mattia Y/LN! Your car is ready!” Mr. Hamilton’s voice boomed, making both boys jump.

Mattia grinned and gave Matheo a quick hug. “Good luck with Mom. And remember, don’t mess this up!”

Matheo smiled nervously, his hands trembling slightly as he adjusted his suitcase. “You too. Tell Dad… I said hi, okay?”

“I will.” Mattia smirked, ruffling his brother’s hair and let him jogging off toward the car.

****

London was breathtaking. Matheo pressed his nose against the car window, taking in the winding streets, the azure sky, and the amazing architecture of London. His heart raced as they approached the house—a beautiful, modest villa with ivy climbing the walls.

When the car stopped, he hesitated for a moment before stepping out. A wave of unfamiliar scents hit him—fresh sea air, blooming flowers, and something else... coffee? He clutched his suitcase and stepped inside, greeted by the cozy interior and a handmade sign that read, "Welcome Home, Mattia."

He smiled despite himself. As he wandered further, the smell of coffee grew stronger. Following it, he found a man sitting in an armchair, newspaper in hand.

“Grandpa?” Matheo ventured.

The man lowered the paper, revealing sharp blue eyes and a graying mustache. “Mattia! Is that you? My favorite little gentleman?”

Matheo grinned. “It’s me, Grandpa.”

Grandpa stood, pulling him into a tight hug. “My god, you’ve grown! But what’s this?” He leaned back, eyeing Matheo curiously. “Are you smelling me?”

Matheo nodded earnestly, "I’m memorizing it.” His grandpa chuckle a little and say "You’re as peculiar as ever.”

Before Matheo could reply, a soft voice floated down the staircase. “Mattia? My baby?”

Matheo froze. His heart thudded as he turned toward the sound. There she was Y/N—his mother, descending the stairs, her arms outstretched.

“Mom!” Matheo cried, running to her. She swept him into a hug, kissing the top of his head as he buried his face in her shoulder.

"I can't believe it's you," Matheo tried to say through his sobs.

"And I can't believe it's you, baby. Tell me, who was the person who dared to cut your beautiful hair?" she asked, raising an eyebrow as she ruffling her son soft hair.

"He was a friend from camp, is it bad?"

"No, of course not. It suits you very well"

Then Y/N noticed Matheo's hair color. "What? A dyed hair too?"

Matheo tried not to get nervous so he grimaced

"Does it bother you?"

"As long as you don't turn into a bad kid, it's all good. Is there another surprise you have to tell me, baby? A piercing? A tattoo?"

Matheo cried more at his mother's sincere concern, he needed this, he had longed for it so much. Y/N worriedly watched as his son shed more tears.

"What happen baby? are you feeling hurt or something?"

"No, it's not that. It's just that I missed you too much."

"I missed you so much too. It felt like an eternity the time you weren't by my side."

She cupped his face, her smile softening. “Welcome home, my little man. You’re finally here.”

Matheo clung to her again, his heart swelling with a mix of relief and joy. For the first time in months, he felt like he was exactly where he belonged.

****

His mother pulled back, her hands on his shoulders, and smiled warmly. "Come now, tell me everything! Did you like everyone at camp? Was it fun?"

Before Matheo could answer, Martin, the ever-dutiful butler, appeared at the door with a small, unexpected guest.

"Excuse me, madam," Martin said, holding up a small, scruffy real madrid tightly. "It seems we have a plush in the suitcase."

Matheo's eyes widened in panic. Madi?! His real madrid plushie, he snatched the plushie from Martin's hands. "Oh! Uh, that belongs to my... friend," he stammered. "The one I told you about from camp. I have no idea how it got into the suitcase."

Y/N raised an eyebrow, amused. "Well, since it’s not ours, shall we dispose of it?"

"No!" Matheo blurted, clutching the stuffed real madrid tightly. He cleared his throat, trying to sound casual. "I mean, no. I’ll mail it to him. He loves this thing a lot. Like, he can’t live without it. Especially not in, say, a foreign country."

"Very well," his mom said with a smile, clearly not buying his story but letting it slide. "Martin, that’ll be all. Thank you."

As Martin left, Matheo exhaled, holding Madi close.

[bnnygrimes]

THE MAN WHO CAN’T BE MOVED park sunghoon

Cause if one day you wake up and find that you're missing me, you'll see me waiting for you on the corner of the street

synopsis: yn and sunghoon were deeply in love since their high school days, everyone assumed so at least, they even were voted “most likely to get married!” but when yn started training with hybe to be apart of their global girl group, KATSEYE, their relationship hit rocks, yn ending up breaking up with him and pursuing the training program. when she finally was chosen to be the seventh member of katseye, she underestimated how often she would see sunghoon, which was often!

pairing: sunghoon x katseye!yn

featuring: all of enhypen, all of katseye, your faceclaim as ezrela!

genre: smau, fluff, crack, kindaaa fast burn…, exes to lovers, brainrot and chronically online humor

MEET ME AT OUR SPOT!

SONGS DEDICATED TO YN LN!

song 1. he sang you a song …

song 2. nonchalant and beautiful?

song 3. the gay earring

song 4. sisters wedding invite (✏️)

song 5. aftermath

song 5. dating rumors

song 6. another chance

song 7. i don’t like him

song 8. moving on

song 8. fuck

… more tba!

[boiohboii]

Starstruck

(Max Verstappen x idol! Reader)

When a video about 2 very famous is leaked, the public expects a specific response due to the nature of these people's jobs, luckily for them- or not- these 2 are just built different

Or

In which a kpop idol is not media trained that well

Requested ✅

N.B: this had been sitting in my drafts for a long ass while tbh, i really loved the idea but struggled to write out yn's character cause I didn't want it to be repetitive or too much, so thank you to @vixxen-lou for helping me out and also a thanks to @mirrorball-6 for helping me come up with how max and yn met (there is another part just for that cause I couldn't fit it in here, sort of like a prologue). HUGE THANK YOU TO BOTH OF YOU, ADORE YOU! ♥️♥️. Also big love to @dark-night-sky-99 and @lifeless-firefly for interacting and willing to help, appreciate it really!💖💖 HOPE YOU GUYS ENJOY READING IT!

WARNINGS: NOT PROOF READ, swear words (dick, if I missed anything else lmk), timeline isn't that accurate.

Masterlist

Faceclaim: Jihyo from Twice

youtube: Buzzfeed interview-->stray kids talk about formula 1 and meeting max verstappen

Liked by Twice_official, pierregasly, lilym and 1,728,093 others

Maxverstappen1: what a break.

username: is he trying to soft launch? After whatever tf happened within the past 2 weeks?!?!

Lilym: I can't believe THE YN LN IS A FELLOW WAG!

Twice_official: oh please, you flatter me, I really want to meet you and all the girls, I bet it'll be such a blast! -YN

Lilym: it'd be such an honor omg, marry me? I had a poster of you in my closet

Alex_albon: babe!!!

Lilym: shush, she has always been my celebrity crush

Twice_official: and what a weekend it will be -YN

officialskz: dear fia officials, BE SCARED! RUN FOR THE HILLS -han

username: if I were the fia, I'd listen these boys grew up with her

(Ps: just imagine the elvis suit and it's at night)

[onlyangel4]

forget about the party. ln4. smau.

lando norris x reader

request: Hi for the song request can i request “forget about the party” by majid jordan with either lando or charles (whoever you see fit) maybe a scared of love reader + driver that doesnt have the best relationship history but him and reader are like perfect for each other, THANK YOU!!!

in which reader has only ever been hurt by men and lando has an awful heartbreaking track record but they just work.

faceclaim: maisie peters

y/ninsta

liked by taylorswift, landonorris, gracieabrams and 1,231,001

y/ninsta: i can't believe i am writing this rn but i am on this month's cover of rolling stone magazine. as a little girl this was my biggest dream. guess now i have to dream bigger

view all 34,581 comments

landonorris: so proud of you my love

y/ninsta: couldn't have done it without your support

user1: leave mother alone she does not need you to break her heart

taylorswift: so proud of you angel

y/ninsta: thank you tay !!

user2: the preview on the rolling stone website says that she will be talking about her relationship history. i hope she finally addresses the hate she gets for her relationship with lando because honestly i love them

landonorris posted a story

written: my girl is on the cover of rolling stone and i could not be prouder ! she had the courage to speak out about the hate that we have been getting surrounding our relationship and i couldn't have worded it better myself. get the issue now.

y/nlandofan

liked by y/ninsta, landonorris, user5 and 56,991 others

tagged y/ninsta and landonorris

y/nlandofan: to celebrate THAT interview let's look back at my fav y/nlando moments.

1- the video that y/n hardlaunched their relationship with. y/n and lando dancing in y/n's kitchen to blank space by taylor swift. really giving their all.

2- the peace + quiet hat that lando got made for y/n for before her shows so that people know to give her peace and quiet so she can get in the zone.

3- y/n's birthday gift from last month. winnie norris y/ln their first child

4- that time lando and y/n facetimed right before the australian gp when she was about to perform in singapore

5- the podcast they filmed which is just too yappers yapping

6- my personal favourite, the merch that lando designed for y/n's most recent tour

view all 329 comments

y/ninsta: i actually started crying seeing all our moments posted all together i love you thank you for supporting our silly little relationship

y/nlandofan: oh my god ! i can't believe you have seen this i love you so so so much!

user5: how could anyone ever hate them

user6: i'm so glad she put the haters in their place

[julietcpulet]

Jinmao: the star-crossed ending?

If you haven’t read the light novels there will be spoilers here so proceed with caution. So I’ve finished the last one available for now and I have a theory on how it could all end for Jinmao.

Of course just speculation but it revolves around their mutual agreement of not liking the end to Romeo & Juliet when Jinshi’s holding the antler away from MaoMao in LN 6. The way Jinshi says “I think there must have been some other way.” And the quote in the novel that follows it which is, “Impatient youth gave rise to burning passion, and love that ended in grief was counted beautiful because it was so tragic.” My thought here is twofold. 1. That the author doesn’t want Jinshi and MaoMao’s decision to be impatient and 2. That she doesn’t want their love to end tragically because that’s not actually beautiful.

Going off of those two takeaways in a scene where Jinshi is trying to get MaoMao to admit she’s his choice for marriage and everything that has followed after it, including her realization of deeper feelings and the political ramifications of what Jinshi has done, plus his choice to step back to protect MaoMao I think there might be some credence to the “star-crossed lovers having to escape parental bonds” theme here.

My thought is this thread could be the way their story is finally resolved. Not in the traditional way of Romeo and Juliet but in the subversion of it. Considering MaoMao wants the resurrection drug, she could pull a Juliet and fake her death but the catch is, instead of Jinshi finding her dead ala Romeo and actually dying, maybe this is a mutual plot and he fakes his own death as well. The country then gets to mourn the Moon Prince but like with SuiRei it isn’t his body it’s just a proxy and he and MaoMao are awoken, probably by Luomen, on a boat journeying away from the palace.

This way they succeed in escaping the clutches of the empire trying to suck them back into politics. While yes this might separate them some from loved ones and people in the palace they know, I think some of that will happen eventually and in the end I believe MaoMao’s greatest goal is to continue her life quietly as an apothecary. Jinshi just wants a chance to be anyone outside of the Emperor’s heir so for him getting a chance to know that life will be a gift.

If the author wanted to leave it on somewhat of an open end this is a good opportunity as well because it can be left after a small epilogue when they’ve found a place to settle and hopefully decided to get married but beyond that there’s still lots of possibility. We know they’re together but we don’t have every piece of the puzzle completed for them. It’s a future filled with hope like they want but still work which is realistic. I can be totally off track but just thought this was an interesting idea that’s been presented.

[thecreaturecodex]

Pachydermion

"Elephant Warriors" © ArtStation user CY, accessed at their gallery here

[The pachydermions appear in the Basic D&D Creature Catalogue and never again, seemingly memory holed in favor of the loxo from Forgotten Realms. Nowadays, with corporate synergy at an all-time high, the loxodons from Magic the Gathering are the elephant-people most associated with D&D. But I like the pachydermions, partly because they actually have a culture associated with them (you may notice I've complained about that not being the case for a number of these Basic D&D sapients) and partly because the three-weapon style with the trunk is such a cool mental image]

Pachydermion CR 6 LN Monstrous Humanoid This giant humanoid has the head and hide of an elephant. It wears ornate armor and carries three weapons, one in each hand and one in its long, flexible trunk.

Pachydermions are elephant-like humanoids found in warm regions of the world. It is said that a pachydermion never forgets, and while this may not literally be true, they have a deep respect for knowledge and long, detailed memories. Pachydermions never write any of their lore down, keeping it instead in the oral tradition, and storytelling is a common pastime for both entertainment and education. Pachydermion lore may contain secrets thousands of years old, and pachydermions charge a premium price to share their knowledge with members of other species.

Pachydermion culture includes a proud tradition of masonry, and pachydermions tend to live in stone cities in jungle clearings or carved into cliffsides. Living is communal, with all members of the clan sleeping in a central fortification that can be defended if necessary. Outbuildings are used for work or for storage. There is almost always a central pavilion in a pachydermion city, used for martial practice and oration. Pachydermions are herbivorous, and their cities are surrounded by food forests where edible plants are grown in high concentration. Their culture is matrilineal, and male pachydermions typically leave the city of their birth in order to marry into a new clan upon reaching adulthood.

Although they are not typically aggressive, pachydermions fight fiercely to defend their cities. Their long memories also accumulate long grudges, and they have been known to go to war to avenge some slight long forgotten by the other party. Pachydermions have thick hides, but tend to supplement them with metal armor. The trunk of a pachydermion is as strong and flexible as an arm, and they can and do wield weapons with their trunks. A three weapon style, with the trunk being used as the dominant “hand”, is common, and pachydermions prefer to use bludgeoning weapons in their trunks to make the most of their crushing strength. Some pachydermion warriors instead wield a two-handed weapon in both hands and a shield in their trunk, often making use of shield bash techniques to combine offense and defense.

Pachydermions advance by character class. Fighter and monk are common classes, and pachydermion spellcasters are often druids, focusing on the Earth or Plant domains, or psychics, harnessing the depths of the pachydermion mind to greater ends. They have lifespans equivalent to dwarves, with individuals surviving more than 400 years if not slain by violence.

Pachydermion CR 6 XP 2,400 LN Large monstrous humanoid Init +5; Senses low-light vision, Perception +16, scent

Defense AC 20, touch 10, flat-footed 19 (-1 size, +1 Dex, +4 natural, +6 armor) hp 59 (7d10+21) Fort +7, Ref +6, Will +9 (+7 vs. emotion effects)

Offense Speed 30 ft. (40 ft. unarmored) Melee masterwork warhammer +13/+8 (2d6+6/x3) or masterwork warhammer +11/+6 (2d6+6/x3), 2 short swords +10 (1d8+3/19-20) or slam +12 (1d8+6) Ranged masterwork composite longbow +8/+3 (2d6+6/x3)

Statistics Str 22, Dex 13, Con 17, Int 14, Wis 19, Cha 12 Base Atk +7; CMB +14; CMD 25 Feats Alertness, Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative, Multiweapon Fighting Skills Craft (masonry) +10, Diplomacy +8, Knowledge (history, nature) +11, Perception +16, Perform (oratory) +7, Sense Motive +13; Racial Modifiers +4 Knowledge (all) Languages Common, Loxo, Terran SQ martial training, never forgets

Ecology Environment warm forests and grassland Organization solitary, troop (2-6) or clan (4-20 plus 50% noncombatants) Treasure standard (Large breastplate, Large masterwork morningstar, Large masterwork composite longbow [+6 pull], 2 Large short swords, other treasure)

Special Abilities Martial Training (Ex) A pachydermion is proficient in all simple and martial weapons, light and medium armor. Never Forgets (Ex) A pachydermion gains a +4 racial bonus on all Knowledge checks, and can make Knowledge checks untrained. However, a pachydermion suffers a -2 racial penalty on saves versus emotion effects.

[eyeheartboobiez]

-> 𝗃𝖺𝗌𝗈𝗇 𝗍𝗈𝖽𝖽 𝗑 𝗌𝗂𝗇𝗀𝖾𝗋!𝗋𝖾𝖺𝖽𝖾𝗋

-> 𝗌𝗈𝖼𝗂𝖺𝗅 𝗆𝖾𝖽𝗂𝖺 𝖺𝗎!

-> 𝖺/𝗇: 𝗉𝖺𝗋𝗍 6!! 𝗌𝗈𝗋𝗋𝗒 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗌 𝗍𝗈𝗈𝗄 𝖺 𝗐𝗁𝗂𝗅𝖾 𝖻𝗎𝗍 𝗂 𝗁𝗈𝗉𝖾 𝗒𝖺𝗅𝗅 𝗅𝗂𝗄𝖾 𝗂𝗍💕

liked by bigdickgrayson, cass.cain, and others

@rred_hood: hey guys. sorry for the radio silence, but i needed some time to figure things out w/ everything that’s been going on. just to give a quick update: these past few months i’ve been working on bettering myself, both physically and mentally. mostly though, i need to re-evaluate the people i allow to be in my life vs. the people i actually want around.

as you all know, artemis and i were seen out together a couple of months back, despite our very toxic relationship in the past. i’ve mentioned her abuse towards me here and there before, but now i wanna set the record straight.

me and artemis were NEVER happy. point blank. the first few months of our relationship seemed amazing, sure, but every moment after that felt like hell on earth. im not gonna go into the specifics of her treatment towards me (bcs frankly it’s not anyone’s business but mine), but the only reason we met up last month was to hopefully make peace with what happened during the time we were together.

as for the copyright situation and my alleged involvement in it; everything will be revealed before of the judge. while im legally not allowed to speak on it at this time, i will go ahead and apologize in advance for the news you’ll be hearing in the upcoming days…

before i post this, though, i publicly want to say this: @y/nforeal im GENUINELY sorry for any of the pain or stress all of this has caused you. i betrayed your trust, and have absolutely no expectations for you to forgive me. believe it or not, every second of our time together felt like pure bliss, and you’re the last person i ever wanted to hurt. i sincerely hope that you get everything you’ve ever dreamed of in life, regardless of whether i get to be part of the journey, or have to cheer you on from afar.

to end off, anyone who really supports me knows idc to involve myself in drama, so please, all i ask is that you be patient with me as i figure out a way to right my wrongs. peace✌🏻

View all 1,521,791 comments

user1: all the jason antis looking mad goofy rn💀

⤷ user2: this man js opened up about his trauma and you’re staring fan wars… get a life fr

user3: praying for ur peace jay🙏

user4: yea enough is enough artemis need to be locked up for life

⤷ user5: matter fact, put her under the jail

user6: i just hope that y/n understands🙁

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Case Closed, Artemis Grace headed straight to the slammer! Where does this leave us now? (2/27/2023 1:42 PM PT)

From TikTok, to Instagram; almost all of social media has been flooded with people's response to the verdict of one of the biggest cases in Hollywood right now. Fans all over the internet have been posting nothing but support of the court's ruling. The hashtag "#WHOMPWHOMP" has even found itself trending on twitter in response to Artemis' behavior displayed throughout the trial.

The celeb's unsavory etiquette is nothing new though. From sobbing in the witness stand, to lashing out at her own lawyer, Artemis has shown nothing but discomposure since the day charges were pressed against her. But, for everyone new here, let's start from the beginning.

For those who may not have been keeping up with the story, back in September, acclaimed singer Y/N Y/LN took legal action against Artemis Grace on the grounds of copyright infringement. After months of speculation, investigators found that Grace had illegally distributed a song that had absolutely no business being in her possession in the first place.

Although the track was taken very favorably by fans and casual listeners alike, the actual artist was nowhere near pleased. Once sharing her feelings about the situation online, Y/N immediately put her emotions into a new album, the same album that led her to receive the first grammy of her career.

Aside from the copyright violation though, Artemis is also being sued for causing emotional distress in regards to all the drama she got wrapped up in with her ex-boyfriend, Jason Todd.

While Jason and Y/N were presumed to have been dating since March of last year (if not earlier), that fantasy was quickly ruined when Artemis and Todd were caught being uncomfortably close with each other outside of a club last August.

Of course, many fans on both sides were reasonably hurt by the news. Those who have been following Y/N for a while now may know that she has had trouble opening up to people in the past; something she has expressed quite a bit in her music. So, when word broke out that Jason seemed to be playing with her feelings, her supporters were beyond furious.

Even songwriter Cassandra Cain, Jason's adopted sister, made sure to support Y/N in every way that she could. The two have been friends for years now, having officially met back in 2020 at the billboard music awards. While Cassandra isn't a woman of many words, she made sure that her actions spoke volumes.

Late last year, she helped Y/N write one of the songs for her latest album, basically ensuring her win at this year's Grammys. Outside of music though, posts have been made by the two besties seemingly having the time of their lives.

Between the high emotions and the immense camaraderie being shown, fans have come to the conclusion that both women may have gotten together at some point while working together.

Without a doubt, there was an obvious tension between the duo while doing promotions for their shared single. Cassandra, though a notable lesbian icon in the community, has yet to speak up on the rumors (and, knowing her, probably never will).

Back to the legal proceedings, the heartbreaker in question was also present during Artemis' trial. In order to shed some light on the story, Jason Todd appeared before the court as a witness in hopes of ensuring that Y/N wins this case.

Unlike Artemis, Jason showed nothing but absolute remorse for his actions. About a month ago, the Gothamite made a post to his instagram page detailing the shame he felt by being involved in such acts, although in reality he had little participation to begin with.

While on trial, it was found that Todd actually had little to no involvement with the illegal distribution of the track. In fact, Artemis herself confessed that he only talked about Y/N having a song that was "in the works". He also revealed to her that the track was "something his girlfriend (had) dedicated it to him", thus confirming our suspicions of their relationship status.

Alongside this, she also admitted that their meet up back in August originally had nothing to do with music, nor were they trying to rekindle their disastrous affair. Jason did state that he was notably intoxicated that night, while Artemis indicated that she "hadn't had anything to drink" prior to their conversation.

In the end, after the grueling legal battle, Artemis is soon to be locked up after receiving a firm guilty ruling from the judge. The now former singer has been sentenced to three years in prison without possibility of parole, in addition to paying $25,000 as compensation for emotional distress.

Outside the courtroom Y/N and Jason were seen speaking together away from everyone else, as well as sharing a meaningful hug before parting ways. The heartwarming image that was caught by paparazzi has given shippers more than enough hope that the two celebs can hopefully rekindle the love they once had.

a/n: thoughts?

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