#then it comes to esteban's reaction that he decides to fight back

[estebunny]

fernando alonso talking about esteban ocon's reaction to the sprint shootout collision

[thewritingofspencerrose]

straight from the books | masterlist

this is very light enemies to lovers

2018

"I'm just glad you're okay-"

"Margaux, I told you on the radio, and I'll say it again, It was a light jostle, both cars were able to finish," Este assures, and while I know that's the case, it doesn't change the fact that he's my older brother, and his profession will never not make our family's heart race.

"I know, but I heard Verstappen's commentary and he sounded beyond angry, so I just wanted to be sure. The way he played it, it sounded worse."

Valteri snickers to my side, the second Mercedes driver clearly amused, but I understand why the Redbull driver is angry, he lost first. But to threaten the other driver like he did was beyond-

"Ocon!"

Oh no.

My ears catch his harsh tone before my eyes catch his body, shoving his way through the crowd of drivers awaiting their weigh in and straight towards my brother who awaits on the scale.

"What the fuck were you pulling there?" Verstappen's anger is as loud as his voice, hands shoving my brother with more force than I can remember a driver-on-driver interaction. He's shoving him back by his shoulders, the other drivers around simply looking on in awe as Esteban tries to talk himself out of the reaction his driver garnered.

"Man-" But Esteban's words get fainter in my mind as I want Verstappen continue on in Dutch, pushing enough for my brother to walk off of the platform with his opponent right behind him.

A track hand approaches first, separating the boys enough for Verstappen to start to back away, still angrily yelling at my brother but relenting back to Redbull.

Or attempting to, until Esteban gets a look. One I know good and well from years of sibling treatment. He's feeling full of himself, with an attitude of invincibility he used to get when our parents walked into a room. And now Este is shoving back.

"Esteban!" Why am I stepping in? Why?

My feet carry me forward before I can answer my own questions, hands resting on both drivers' chests as I stand in between.

Eyes on fire, eyes of ocean blue meet hazel, and I want to simply pause and stare. But his eyes are only pure anger, and I've now joined the list of people who have angered him.

"He didn't mean to effect your race, your shoving and hollering are not going to change the results."

He does NOT like this rationalization.

His eyes leave mine, looking over my head with every bit of spite. "What? Having your little sister fight your battles with you since you don't have a car to get me with?"

"Don't speak on my sister!"

"That's enough!" It's Redbull's team principal, hand on Max's shoulder as the driver glares between Este and I. "Apologies, Ms.Ocon," the older man is kind enough to apologize, ignoring my brother in a whole before dragging away his still complaining driver.

"What? An angry Dutch comes at you and you decide to smile and mock him into a fight?" Now I've turned on my brother.

"You're eighteen, I'm twenty-one. Go find a seat in hospitality and I'll find you when I'm done." Esteban's face has lost it's mocking smirk, now riddled in seriousness, as he turns his back on me and walks to his assistant, gesturing towards me and away.

And now there's someone who knows I'm meant to go back, and not disappear completely back to the hotel.

Brilliant.

2024

"Just please, try to behave yourself," Esteban is quick to request, voice low as we approach the entrance to the paddock, passes in hand.

"I always behave, Este, you're the one to be concerned about," my voice is just as low, but holds very little humor as I fiddle with my dress. I'd like to continue, but he's already beaten me through the gates, me quickly scanning my pass to catch up and enter beside him, much to the photographer's delight.

With Esteban being a grid menace, much like Kevin this year, the Alpine team loves when Flavy or myself join, a boost of positive attention for their most turbulent driver.

"Ah! And here's Esteban, pilot for Alpine," Laura, my favorite journalist greets, smile directed at me, "And who have you brought with you today?"

"Ah, ma sœur, Margaux," He introduces to the camera, Laura nodding brightly.

"It's been a while, has it not, since you've been able to join us Margaux?" Oh, they're directing questions to guests now?

I have to pause, leveling my smile and head to my practiced mode.

"It has been about two years since I've been able to attend, the last being for our mutual friend Mick Schumacher's most recent race," Most recent, the kindest way I can think to put Mick's current situation.

"Well, it's lovely to see you here again today. I actually believe we follow one another on Instagram, and I saw recently that you graduated from University with a degree in geography, specifically population geography, congratulations! What are your plans for the future?" Her words make me blush, and I can't help the laugh that escapes at the question.

"Mon Dieu," is the first thing out of my mouth, leaning in slightly to the microphone, "I feel as though I'm a driver who's destination is unannounced," The joke earns a laugh from both Laura and Este, "Since my next stop is not an F1 seat, I can happily say I will be teaching history and general geography at the sixth year level starting this fall."

Her smile could not be larger, face full of joy. "Another congratulations on that! We have to move on, but I hope to see you more during the weekend."

"We'll see each other eventually," I assure, her nodding and leaving Este and I to ourselves in the busy area. "I adore her."

Esteban just laughs, moving forwards with his team, leaving me to follow behind, eyes wandering in every which way. The experiences that come from going to races are ones that will never fully be able to comprehend.

The hustle and bustle of the paddock is electric, drivers and teams everywhere with even more places to be.

"Baby Ocon!"

The speed at which my neck turns should be studied, because it's with all the speed of one of the boys cars that I'm turning at that voice, smile wide as my eyes land on the perfectly styled blonde head of my best friend.

"Baby Schumi!" My feet carry me to him before I can decide against it, his body pulling me in and lifting me into a spin, my entire world spinning in joy. "Esteban didn't tell me you'd be here!" Is the first thing out of my mouth when my feet hit the ground, glancing around to notice Mick had been talking with Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen. Yikes.

'Max, Charles, this is Esteban's sister Margaux. Margaux-"

"I know Schumi, but thank you," I interrupt, knowing the grid my brother is constantly fighting. "It's nice to see you both, congratulations on your seasons to date," I greet, offering an awkward little wave that seems to earn a smile from the Ferrari driver in front of me, the Redbull driver simply staring.

I don't have the time to think on it though, Mick's already started on again, asking about our friend in green.

"I haven't had a chance to catch up with his yet, but I did see Lawrence earlier and I may grab a coffee with him and Lance's girlfriend later."

"Lance has a girlfriend?" Charles is the first to introduce himself to the conversation, he and Mick starting on the walk further into the paddock, continuing with their schedule for the morning and leaving Max and I to follow along, like two little ducks trying to keep on with their parents.

"The state of California in America has more people than all of Canada."

I'm not positive I've just heard the words leave Max Verstappen's mouth, but when I glance over, his eyes are on me, an almost... hesitant, glean to his eyes.

"Excuse me?"

The man shakes his head, simply shrugging off his earlier muttering, but I want to know what he said.

A little nudge is all I give, my should meeting his arm and garnering his attention. "Come on, I want to know."

His smile is small, barely distinguishable from a grimace, "The state of California has more people than all of Canada."

Oh wow.

"Really?" He nods, smiling like he has a reason to be shy. "I didn't know that, that's actually super cool, thank you."

"I figured you would like a geography fact given your degree," Max explains, and the thought behind his process let's me know that no matter what happened between him and Esteban years ago, he no longer holds anything negative towards me.

He's actually being quite sweet with his thoughtfulness and little smile.

He's actually kind of handsome.

[formulavilla7]

Max Verstappen x Horner daughter reader Chapter 5

Here’s the 5th chapter to my Max story. I’m so so sorry for the long wait, I know it’s been ages since I posted chapter 4 and thank you so much for sticking with this story. I was really struggling for ideas for this chapter and I had a writer’s block so thank you to those of you who helped. I’d like to give a special mention to @kiimmie33 and @laura-naruto-fan1998 for their help as I was really finding it hard and they gave me inspiration. I’m hoping to have the next chapter ready quicker than this, I’m looking forward to writing it as I have lots of ideas that I hope you’ll enjoy.

The Hungarian Grand Prix, held at the Hungaroring near Budapest, always had a high attendance. The fans were passionate and loud and it was always a great race. Well, ‘always’ was subjective on this occasion.

The weekend had started quite well for him. He’d been in the podium positions across all three practice sessions and had qualified third overall, which he didn’t mind too much. Qualifying third could be beneficial on a race start anyway. He knew that

Going into the race, he’d tried to banish all thought of Silverstone from his mind. His bruises had healed and he’d had two weeks to train and return to his strong mentality. It wasn’t only physical bruises he’d had from the crash. His pride had also suffered but he’d patched it up. This could be his race.

The optimism he’d had wilted on the first lap. It was chaos. Their previous tyre strategy all went out of the window as the rain forced them to use intermediate tyres rather than the preplanned softs

Hamilton had got away well from the beginning but Bottas hadn’t and had dropped back to allow Max to come up alongside him. The Finn then dropped places and had contact with Lando Norris which created a chain reaction of crashes like a line of dominos falling. Both Max and Sergio were caught up in the crash alongside some of their fellow drivers. Then Lance Stroll arrived quickly onto the scene and crashed into a Ferrari and a McLaren, causing the stewards to red flag the race.

Max was furious, he’d fallen down the order and his car had a lot of damage. His race had become tougher now and he was without Sergio following his retirement from the race.

Everyone pitted for the standing start besides Hamilton, which Max had never seen before. The track had dried so most people had decided to change their tyres. Following his pit, Max came out 13th and managed to quickly climb to 12th.

Hamilton pitted allowing Max and the rest of the field through and then Max rose to 11th after Mazepin’s retirement.

Max was fighting hard with Mick Schumacher to get 10th position. Mick wasn’t giving up and Max went off the track in the process, with the Haas driver staying ahead. The Dutchman went for the overtake, going round the outside of the German and banging wheels with him, finally getting ahead at turn 3 and into the points positions. Max had always liked and respected Mick. They’d been friends since they were children when their fathers were racing and he remembered himself and Mick creating their own Dutch-German hybrid language to communicate and how kind ‘Uncle Michael’ had been. They were fond memories but at the moment Max had no time for sentimentality.

He rose to 9th. Hamilton was setting the fastest laps in the race but was currently behind him in P11 and pitting. Max pitted a lap lately to try and hinder the Brit’s advantage but Hamilton managed to undercut him as Max was coming out of the pits, which only added to the frustration Max was feeling.

The chequered flag arrived and the emotions still bubbled within Max. Hamilton had come 3rd following the race and later on it was revealed that he would be boosted to second as Sebastian Vettel, who’d taken second in the race, had been disqualified because they couldn’t complete the fuel check.

Esteban Ocon had won his first Grand Prix in Formula 1. He wasn’t the closest with Esteban, they’d been rivals in karting and the lower Formulas and they’d had a very public disagreement in 2018 at Brazil when the Frenchman had hit him trying to unlap himself but Max was happy for him. He knew that Ocon was a talented driver and that it meant a lot to win your first race and so he briefly congratulated him.

Now he was sitting in his hotel room, the race result still swimming in his thoughts. He’d finished 9th and taken two points from the race whereas Hamilton now had 18 points

His phone buzzed. It was Daniel. ‘Hey mate, I know today’s race was a bit of a mess for a lot of us but we were going to go out and try and forget it for the night. You in?’

Max considered it for a short time, trying to decide if he was up for that. He sighed, he didn’t exactly have anything better to do and he didn’t want to wallow in self pity all night. ‘Sure’ he replied before he got off the bed and started to get ready.

They arrived outside a club in Budapest and Max began to wonder if he was really up for this. He saw some of his fellow drivers like Lando, Pierre, Yuki and Mick alongside Daniel and Charles Leclerc. They all turned when he walked in and smiled but Max knew that for some of them it was more of an effort. The majority of those drivers had been affected by the crash besides Pierre and Yuki who’d finished 5th and 6th.

“Hey guys” he said, trying to force a smile of his own

“Hey” came the various mumbled replies

“Right” said Daniel abruptly “That’s enough of that. I know most of us didn’t finish where we’d like but we’re going to forget about that and have fun. Okay?”

“Okay” they all agreed

“Good. Now who’s buying the first round?”

The evening progressed rather well after that with Max slowly beginning to forget the race and enjoy himself after a few drinks, relaxing a bit and having fun with his friends.

Then he saw her. Y/N. She was standing on the opposite side of the club, wearing a beautiful dress and chatting animatedly with a tall man.

Jealousy reared in Max and he began to lose his enjoyment again. She laughed at something he’d said. He highly doubted she was flirting with the man but that didn’t curb the growing insecurity within Max. Did she find the man more attractive than Max? Did she think he was funnier?

He scolded himself for thinking like that and at that moment she turned her head and a bright smile appeared on her face. She said something to the man and left, coming towards Max.

“Max!” She said cheerfully “Hi! I didn’t expect to see you here”

“Hey Y/N” he said trying to act normal “Daniel invited me. We all thought we’d try to take our minds off the race”

She turned smiling at the other drivers, who were all looking at them curiously. Daniel, however, was giving them both a knowing look and Max was getting the brunt of it. He glared slightly at him

She turned back to Max, still with a warm smile

“Who were you talking to over there?” Max blurted, unable to stop himself. He winced straight after, knowing how he sounded and met the wide eyes of Daniel.

Y/N’s eyes widened and the smile flickered on her face slightly “He’s someone that I used to know. He moved to Hungary years ago and I haven’t seen him since”

“Were you close?” Max had started now and he had to know

“Not particularly, we talked and got on but we weren’t close”

“Right” Max said. He believed her but still that insecurity was there. Her eyes were truthful and her face was honest but Max was still questioning himself

“He was telling me about a Hungarian girl he met anyway, they’ve been dating for a while now. He showed me a picture”

That made Max feel a bit better

She lowered her voice, noting the company they had “You don’t have to be jealous Max. I like you and only you. You don’t have to be insecure, I think you’re amazing as you are.”

Max was overwhelmed with emotion and only one thing was on his mind “Ik hou van je, schatje”

She smiled “What does that mean?”

“I’ll tell you one day” he smiled secretively

She rolled her eyes fondly “Come on, let’s enjoy the rest of the night”

And so they did. They chatted and laughed with the others, dancing and drinking and just being carefree. The other drivers began to get a clearer idea of their relationship from the looks in both of their eyes and their previous behaviour but they were happy for them. Some of them even pushed Max’s buttons in a friendly way by asking Y/N to dance and watching as Max tried not to get jealous, his attempt at a smile more of a grimace as if he’d sucked on a lemon but he visibly brightened every time she returned to his side.

It was now Spa. Max’s honorary home Grand Prix. He was Dutch and had always felt more Dutch despite being born in Belgium yet Spa was one of his favourite races. The circuit was iconic and part of the history of Formula 1. It had a famous corner in Eau Rouge that he wished was safer but for the most part he enjoyed his time racing at Spa.

They’d had a long break for the summer and Max had appreciated having the time off to relax and take his mind away from racing. He’d spent time with his family and also gone on holiday to soak in the sun whilst he could. He’d kept in contact with Y/N of course. They’d had video calls late into the night talking or watching a film or anything they could think of, which usually ended with Y/N falling asleep on the other side. She’d even come to Monaco for a few days and had managed to keep it hidden from Christian and Geri somehow. They’d walked around the principality, spending hours sitting by the harbour and they’d eaten ice cream together. He’d laughed when she’d accidentally smeared some on her nose and he’d wiped it off. He’d had a lot of fun.

Now he had to return to racing. He was still battling for the title and he couldn’t let his guard down now. The weather was a different story now, it had not stopped raining since they’d got to Belgium. It wasn’t light rain either. The rain was pelting down.

He’d managed podium places across practice and qualified first for the Grand Prix ahead of a surprise inclusion in George Russell. The Williams driver had done amazingly well and had relegated Lewis Hamilton to third in a much slower car, helping Max as Hamilton was 8 points ahead in the championship.

The day of the Grand Prix came and the weather was no better. The FIA were delaying the race in the hope that the weather would improve and they’d even cancelled the Formula 2 races before them. All the teams stayed sat in the garages trying to keep warm and entertained whilst they waited for more information. Y/N had decided she’d try and be helpful and had been making warm drinks for the team. It was a small thing but it was the least she could do and everyone seemed to appreciate it. She’d just handed steaming cups of tea to her dad and Max’s race engineer, GP and was now on her way over to Max.

“Hey Max” she said with a warm smile “I um, I brought you a cup of tea. I don’t really know if you like it but you looked cold.” She held it out to him with a hopeful look

He glanced at the cup with the brown liquid and at the look of hope in her eyes. He didn’t really like tea even though he’d tried to drink it in the past but she’d been kind enough to think of him so he accepted it.

“Thanks” he said, taking a sip. He still wasn’t really a fan but he tried to drink it and not show that on his face.

“How is it?” She asked

“It’s good, thank you” he said, as convincingly as he could

She smiled though she wasn’t certain she believed him. “You don’t like tea, do you Max?”

His eyes widened at being caught

“Erm… I do” he said, voice wavering at the lie

She gave him a look that said “Really?” and he caved

“Ok fine, I’m not a huge fan of it but I do try to drink it. It’s better than coffee”

“Next time just tell me. It was sweet that you drank it anyway but you don’t have to lie”

They stayed chatting for a little while longer, standing close to each other. Some of the team did double takes at seeing them so near each other but most knew that they were amicable with each other but they didn’t know the extent.

Christian was staring at them suspiciously, watching as Y/N giggled at something Max said and the young Dutchman couldn’t help but join in. There was something about them, something in their behaviour and in their eyes that suggested to Christian that there was more under the surface. He’d been oblivious to it but there were small signs. Then again, he could be reading too much into it. He had no idea. He shook the idea from his mind and concentrated on trying to find out more information about the race.

A few hours later and the information was clear. The race would go ahead but they wouldn’t complete the entire race distance as it was too dangerous. They would instead complete two laps under the safety car to allow the race to be classified.

As a result Max was declared the winner and was awarded 12.5 points. Russell received his first podium in F1 and Hamilton gained 7.5 points for finishing third. Naturally Max would take the extra points and the race win but it wasn’t an entirely satisfactory win as there was no racing. He celebrated the win but felt conflicted by how the race had been run. He felt that the fans had been the best by sticking behind the race even when it looked as though it would not go ahead.

He saw people criticising him for his radio message announcing that his visibility was fine because he was at the front. Of course he recognised that for people behind him the visibility wouldn’t be as good but he was answering a question from GP. He tried to ignore them.

He went back to his hotel feeling exhausted after the long, draining day out in the cold and wet weather. He pulled some warm, dry clothes on and had a chill evening watching a film.

He was excited for the next race, his home Grand Prix and he hoped he could be the first Dutch driver to win it. He’d have to wait and see if a dream could become a reality.

[bard-llama]

New Lambert Crack Universe

So, for the witcher rare pair bingo, I got the prompt Author AU, which naturally led me to decide that Lambert is a secret romance novelist whose protagoinsts Gerard and Esteban have a lot of sex. Like, a lot. They might be more erotica than romance novels, but whatever. I am genuinely unclear on where bodice ripper fits into that continuum. 

Anyway, Lambert, the genius that he is, chooses the penname Burt Lamb the Third and lists Kaer Morhen as his address. This leads to letters with royalty checks going to Kaer Morhen - or attempting to. More importantly, Burt’s books took off and housewives whisper about them in back corners. Also, a lot more of them start propositioning Eskel and Geralt, because they look just like their favorite characters. Like, just like, and they know that because the books come with illustrations made by the author.

(Does the Witcher have the printing press? No? It does now. Don’t question it.)

Details under the cut

I’m writing the fic now where the other wolves find out about Lambert’s secret second career, but I have more planned. Chronologically, I think the series is:

Lambert pines and is haunted by an idea and decides to write it. Not quite sure how/why he decides to publish, but he doesn’t think much of it. Until he starts to hear people talking about his stories and wtf if so many people are reading them, where’s his fucking money??

Turns out, it was getting sent to Kaer Morhen via a handful of very brave couriers and a whole lot of sensible couriers who hired Geralt to deliver them. (my current fic)

A few years pass and no one thinks much of it. Lambert updates his address ASAP and like, gets a PO box in Novigrad or something. And wow, this writing thing is pretty profitable in fantasy land and he hates being on the Path/being a Witcher, so like... why not rent a nice room in Oxenfurt or maybe a cabin in Skellige (except Lambert’s a canonical baby in the cold) or wherever and just write for like half the year. Then he’ll spend fall doing a few contracts just so he has stories to bring back to the Annual Bitch Session/Drinking Binge (it lasts all winter long). He still pines, but at least now he pines in style.

And he starts getting bold too - he knows Geralt and Eskel don’t read his books, so when he’s searching for inspiration, he recalls some of their stories about people they’ve met on the path. This leads to some interesting rare pairs and some awkward first meetings where everyone around the two think they’ve already boned, but they’ve never seen each other before in their lives. (AKA Lambert/Llama writes random pairs like Eskel/Iorveth for the Scar WorshipTM and then we get to see the reactions of people reading these books.) (like fr i wanna write these, but as Lambert writing them lol)

Like, imagine Lambert going all “huh, Geralt said that elf guy was pretty, and he matches Eskel on the fucked up right side of the face thing, so like, why not?” So he starts writing and then we get a scene break and actually get the porn (with character names or actual names?). THEN we cut to like the Blue Stripes reading the book and Reacting. Ves names her knife after Esteban/Eskel ‘cause ‘I want it to penetrate Iorveth too’. Roche is not amused.

Dandelion, who is an epic shipper of Gerard/Esteban/Burt Lamb the Third, mentions the books when Geralt and Eskel just happen to be at the Chameleon at the same time and the idiot witchers slowly realize that Lambert writes about THEM. Them having sex. A lot of sex. And sure, it’s gotten them a surprising amount of action over the past few years, but that’s still kinda creepy, right? And Dandy is That Fan who some casual viewer has said something hugely contradictory to Their Canon and they have to decide if they wanna fite or not. And Dandy has never seen a fight he didn’t take and lose. So he gets all offended like “no, you’ve got it all wrong! Yeah, the books are filthy porn, but the whole thing is really a love letter to Gerard and Esteban (aka you two, you dumbasses).” So then Geralt and Eskel are uncertain enough to be convinced to go back and read the books - all of them. And by this point, there are rather a lot. Like, Lambert is the Chuck Tingle of fantasy medieval Poland. And while, yeah, Lambert is clearly very horny, he also shows Gerard and Esteban as like... pretty awesome people??? Sweet and nonjudgemental and brave and dumb as a bag of bricks, but that’s just facts.

So now they gotta DO something about their realization that Lambert wants them and maybe kinda loves them? I... have no idea how they actaully get together. Maybe... maybe Geralt and Eskel are divided and uncertain, so they don’t say anything when they all see each other that winter. Except idk something happens/they just get drunk and stupid(er) and they blurt something out? idk, I’ll figure that out. But endgame is Geralt/Lambert/Eskel. And they live happily ever after on the funds from Lambert’s horny writing (which he continues to publish).

So yeah, new universe lol. It’s been fun to write Lambert again. He’s such an asshole.

[themadauthorshatter]

Alright, everyone, LET'S GET CHARLES HOME! I've been looking forward to this part, not even joking 😁😃

LIGHTNING FAST CATCH UP: Galeforce has acquired the means to get Charles home(thank goodness), while Henry tells Charles something that he didn't need to know in his current circumstances. Rather than make him come running toward Henry, it made Charles's resolve that much stronger.

For all the juicy details, catch up with the links provided:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4 and revision

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8

Part 9

Part 10

Part 11

Now then, LET'S GO!!!

We start off with Charles again, but in a TV perspective, POV shot where he repeatedly blinks blinks on a dark room, each time resulting in Henry seemingly teleporting closer like a vampire or like Five, minus the blink sound he makes.

At some point, Charles blinks and Henry disappears. Charles looks around and finds Henry sitting next to him and tucking some hair out of his face and then reaches forward to civer his eyes.

What's out of this perspective? Well, I'll tell you. It's a close up of Henry holding Charles, who's got his hands tied above him(wink, wink for astute viewers).

Henry leans close to Charles go whisper something in gis ear, but we don't head it because a slap in the face wakes up Charles.

It's the next day, Charles is still gagged and restrained, and that slap did nothing but send him into a small panic.

Who slapped him? Right, who's been watching him for a while.

"Morning," Right says. "Sleep well?"

Charles glares at him instead.

Right counters with a bored look. "Cute. Think you're doing yourself any favors?"

Charles only continues to glare, because it's all he can do.

Right mimes punching him and Charles gives possibly the worst flinch anyone can see- well, anyone except Right, who chuckles at his reaction.

"Not so tough now, are you?"

Charles kicks at Right, but Right grabs his foot in his cybernetic hand.

Right narrows his eyes(eye, I guess), and tightens his grip on Charles's foot, even to hurt, even through the dress shoes on.

Charles yelps behind the tape and tries pulling his foot free, but only results in Right further tightening his grip.

"Better stop that now, kid. It's not gonna help you."

That's when the door opens and Henry walks in, gesturing for Right to politely leave him alone with Charles.

Right drops Charles's foot and nods, obliging to leave the two alone.

Once the door closes and Right's gone, Henry turns to Charles and holds up a bandaged hand, sciwling at him.

"I guess your bite's worse than your bark."

Charles glares at Henry and nods at the duct tape still in his mouth before raising both eyebrows; 'I'd do it again, if I could. Try me.'

Henry holds a hand against his forehead and sighs, shaking his head.

"When will you ever learn, Charles? Really, when?"

Charles turns his head slightly and gives a, "Hm?"

Henry strides toward the wall next to Charles, and Charles, knowing there's nothing cybernetic about Henry, kicks at him.

He gets electrocuted for it, Henry watching in what seems to be disappointment and that 'you're making me do this' narcissism.

Charles screams behind the tape and convulses for a while before Henry stops.

Charles groans as it stops, his head hanging even as Henry approaches, lifts his chin, and snaps his fingers to get his attention.

"Charles? Hey, stay with me. We need to talk."

Charles only gives him a weary look before weakly glaring.

Henry fights the urge to roll his eyes and moves both his hands to either side of Charles's face.

"Think this is going to do anything? How long have you been here? And when will you learn that you're not leaving?"

Charles shakes his head to get Henry off him, but Henry holds on and only leans closer.

"I told you before, Charles. You're not leaving, so drop the idea that you will."

Charles headbutts him, which makes Henry stumble back and holds his now bleeding nose.

Henry glares and raises his fist.

Charles inhales sharply and flinches, his entire body tensing as he waits for a punch or to be electrocuted again.

Neither happen and Henry walks around Charles and holds him from behind, arms around his chest and waist.

"You need to stop," Henry says. "All your doing is hurting yourself for nothing."

Charles wriggles to get Henry off him, but it doesn't work, evidenced by Henry wrapping his arms tighter and holding Charles close enough that Henry is physically against Charles, like his chest is touching Charles's back.

Regardless, it makes Henry snicker. "Guess you're not listening." He's silent for a second before an idea comes to him.

Henry lets Charles go and walks back to the wall, where he pushes a button that releases Charles fully.

Charles falls and fumbles around for a little bit before Henry speaks up.

"Before you decide to attack me, I want you to know that this is your only chance to get out." Henry nods to the panel used to get in and out of the cell. "I won't stop you from trying. If you get out, I'll take you back to Earth and surrender myself and the clan to the government."

Charles's eyes widen and Henry leans against the wall, nodding again at the panel before watching Charles shakily approach it and bring his hand to it.

He's seen people open the door using the panel. Hell, Henry SHOWS him the pattern used to open the door. He's seen it, he was paying attention, but he doesn't fully remember it.

Charles uses the pattern he's seen everyone else use, but the door stays shut. His eyes widen as his chest hollows, shaking his head and fighting a sob as he tries again. Nothing.

Henry smirks as Charles tries again and again to open the door, using both hands, using more than one finger, even using his knuckle, all the while Charles is becoming so upset and frustrated that he actually bursts into tears and just starts trying random patterns.

Henry gives a sympathetic hum. "That's unfortunate. Guess you don't have the right fingerprints."

Charles charges at Henry, but Henry quickly pushes himself off the wall, grabs and spins Charles around, throwing him to the ground, putting his shoe on his neck to keep him down; Henry doesn't stomp on Charles's neck or grind his shoe in, it's just more of a threat than anything.

Charles still tries to get up, though, shouting at Henry behind the tape. Henry quickly kneels down, remives his shoe, and holds Charles down by his wrists from on top of him.

Charles continues to try to break free, until Henry pushes his wrists down and leans closer to Charles.

"I gave you your chance, didn't I? You. Are not. Leaving. I'll make sure you don't."

Charles, even though his eyes are puffy and red, glares at Henry, non-verbally telling him to go to Hell.

Henry simply brushes some hair out of his face before restraining him once more.

"Make sure you don't bark or bite for a while. Don't want the General brining the army with him."

With that Henry leaves.

Charles sighs and rests his head against his arm, staring at the panel as he lets tears fall from his eyes.

TIME JUMPCUT TO EARTH!!!! Approximately a month has past, maybe less. The prototype has been completed, tested, and approved, with a team of Galeforce, Canterbury, and maybe three others joining, maybe less. Meanwhile, Henry has continued to mindfuck Charles, who hopes Henry gets fucked over by the clan.

On Earth, it is decided Rupert, Victoria, and Amelia Esteban. The twins have volunteered to go, but were immediately dismissed; Galeforce orders Victoria to keep an eye on them, so they don't leave or try sneaking with them.

With the sapphire and guns and ammo loaded, they head off to a take-off point and set off to get Charles back; you'll see what the guns are for in a minute😉.

With Charles, he's getting showered and cleaned up again, but this time is given his old clothes back, which have been washed. He also gets a hair trim, because Henry, who's cutting his hair, likes him better with the short. He's a little more bruised from getting aggressive and trying to be defiant, and his lips are chapped raw by the tape, wrists raw as well from being restrained.

Speaking of, he gets put in a simple pair of hand cuffs this time, his hands in front of him.

Once it's all said and done, Henry holds Charles's face and caresses his cheeks, noting the very upset and hollow look he has.

"Leave everything to me. It'll be over before you know it, and then it'll be me and you here. No more cells, after today."

Charles lowers Henry's hands, closes his eyes, and takes a breath as he leans up to kiss Henry, which shocks him beyond all reason before returning it, holding the back of Charles's head. TV perspective, we don't see how passionate it is, we just see Charles's hands on Henry's chest, which stray to his coat(HMMMMMM!?)

After a little while, there's a knock on the door and they pull away.

"Henry?" Ellie calls from the other side of the door. "They're here."

Henry sighs and turns to a still slightly panting Charles, smirking at him.

"Show time."

CUT TO A LOUNGE AREA NEAR THE 'EXIT,' THE ONE FOR THE GOVERNMENT, WHERE THE DESTROYER IS WAITING!!!!

Everyone is tense. They're all armed, all ready to rittle the other side with holes, if need be.

Beside Galeforce, Canterbury, Rupert, and Amelia is the crate, where the replica sits inside, still in one piece(thank goodness).

Before anyone can make any introductions, Ellie and Henry strut their way in with Charles in toe, eyes on the floor.

When I said Charles is bruised, I mean there's a bruise under his eye, on the bridge on his nose, the side of his jaw, cheek, some on his throat(because he got mouthy), and his lip is split.

At the sight of him, Galeforce and Rupert almost race toward him.

Big mistake because Charles flinches back while Toppats aim at them with semi-automatics.

Henry also pulls Charles closer to him, smug-ass smirk growing.

Rupert goes for his gun, but Galeforce stops him.

"Don't," he says under his breath.

Rupert backs down and both rejoining Canterbury and Victoria.

Satisfied with the cooperation, Henry takes his place with the Toppats, his hand on Charles's shoulder.

"General."

It surprises the group that Henry doesn't sign to them, but Galeforce keeps his eyes locked on him.

"Henry."

Henry nods. "Been a while. You look good."

Rupert, fed up with Henry for getting his friend killed, other friend kidnapped by the Toppat Clan(Dave's free, btw, he's just at the home he and Rupert share because he's scared to go out), getting screwed over countless times, and seeing his best friend injured, hunted, kidnapped, and tortured, snaps at him.

"Shut it! Give Charles back or we'll blow this station to kingdom come with you, this clan, and this stupid gem inside it!"

"Price, stand down," Amelia barks.

Rupert whips his head to her, Henry, and back again, biting his tongue as he, indeed, backs off.

Galeforce nods at them both and taps the crate with the replica sapphire inside. "Before we waste any more of your time, here's the sapphire, like you asked."

Henry's smirk drops slightly at the fun being over, but he nods again.

"Right." He sighs and turns to Charles, who's staring at the floor with his fists clenched. "A deal's a deal."

As Toppats take the crate, Henry removes the handcuffs and stands back, letting Charles rub his wrists, once the metal's gone.

"It was fun, having Charles here."

That's when Henry draws a gun and aims at Galeforce.

The group jump right into action, drawing their guns as well.

Before any shots are fired, Charles shouts as he takes Chekov's knife out of his sleeve and slams it into Henry's side, making Henry scream as he fires the gun at the ceiling and falls.

HELL. BREAKS. LOOSE.

Ellie, Reginald, and numerous other Toppats race to Henry's side, Right and the other Toppats draw their guns and start shooting, and the group makes a run for it, Charles following.

No time to take cover and continue because Canterbury takes a bullet to the calf, Amelia gets into a tussle, and Rupert and Galeforce concert them both and Charles, who had to get the bullet out of Canterbury's calf with the knife(don't worry, he wiped it off as much as he could, before doing so.).

Yeah. There's a little bit of a firefight, which even includes a Toppat aiming at Galeforce before Charles races in front of him.

The Toppat decides, 'Fuck all,' and aims at Charles, but Henry shouts at him to hold his fire.

The team quickly make a run for it, the Toppat shooting Charles anyway, and barely missing him.

Keyword: BARELY, evidenced by Charles holding a bleeding ear.

They get to the Destroyer right as they're being shot at, loading up and leaving, but not without a paying gift, courtesy of Charles:

A shot to one of their satellites, which breaks it.

Kind of a rushed escape, I apologize, I'm not good at impromptu escapes.😅

Regardless, while the team finally takes a breather on the ride back to Earth, and Amelia wraps Canterbury's wound, Charles looks out one of the windows and watches as the station shrinks further into the distance.

Rupert sees him staring and gives a small, nervous laugh. "You good back there, Charles? You've been quiet."

Charles rigidly turns and stares at all of them, though Canterbury's kind enough to give a wave.

"Is... is this... real?"

They all turn to him, even Galeforce, who gestures Rupert to take control of flying for a little while.

Galeforce leaves his seat and throws his arms around Charles, who tenses, and both find out that the other is violently trembling.

"It's real. You're going home, son."

The pure, unbridled reflief Charles feels is immeasurable as he lets out a shuddering breath, which turns into laughter before he passes out.

Back at the orbital station, Henry's done getting patched up and his resting in his room, with an arm over his eyes as he lies on his bed.

Ellie's leaning against the wall next to him, uneasy, but still there to make sure he's alright.

"At least we got the sapphire."

Henry moves his hand until it's over one eye and, after a moment, gives her a small smile and nods.

"Sorry about Charles, by the way."

Henry sighs and sits up, grunting. "He'll be back. The General's going to see that his most experienced pilot has all the best qualities of a thief or a criminal and will leave Charles alone, with no one to run back to, but the clan."

Ellie huffs/snorts at that. "You really want the guy who stabbed you to be a member of the clan?"

"What else is he going to do?"

They exchange smirks and get calls from Sven via ear pieces in their top hats, though Henry's is on his desk.

"Chief? Right Hand Lady? You might want to come to the treasurie."

Ellie and Henry's smirks drop and we cut to the two arriving and weaving through a crowd of pale faced Toppats.

Once they reach the front, Ellie gasps and Henry's eyes widen.

The replica is broken, shattered.

TV perspective, we see the Toppat that grazed Charles shot twice, the second shot being the graze. The FIRST shot, however, made the bullet break though the crate and get lodged it the replica, which was then dropped by accident as it was being put away; they were putting it in a high container.

Everyone turns to Henry, who's wide eyed and clenching a shaking fist.

He slowly looks up and at the Emerald he'd stolen with the Clan, and asks them all a question.

"Where is he?"

He doesn't have the sapphire, and probably won't be having it, but he'll have something else instead to make up for it:

Charles.

[formula365]

Making the pendulum swing - Turkish GP review

There are a lot of reasons motorsports fans love a race in a wet track. For one, rain is a great leveller, reducing the advantages of superior machinery and enhancing driver ability. Another reason is that it is fun to see some of the greatest drivers in the world have to wrestle with the steering wheel; reduced grip, at least to this level, is not a desirable outcome for every single race, but to have it on occasion makes for some great entertainment. And some spins are always a bit of fun to watch.

But the main reason why racing in the wet is so exciting is the unpredictability. These are special races, in which the logic of faster driver in a faster car will win does not (always) apply. Everybody loves an underdog, and these races are the biggest opportunities for unexpected winners in modern F1. Wet races can also provide plenty of changes in momentum, with the pendulum swinging in favour of one driver or another; if someone looks like being in control by lap 10, they might be out of it by lap 20 and back in it by lap 40.

This is exactly what we had in Istanbul this Sunday. Particularly in the first half, several drivers seemed to have the upper hand but, for one reason or another, they ended up falling down the order or, at the very least, could not compete with the eventual winner. In different periods of the race, Stroll, Perez, Verstappen and Albon all seemed like having the perfect set of circumstances to win the race. But Stroll couldn’t keep his tyres from graining, Verstappen and Albon spun out of contention and Perez decided to roll the dice and take the old tyres to the end, sacrificing pace for track position.

Perez’s strategy almost worked. Yes, he was significantly slower than several drivers behind him, and almost lost a place in the podium on the last lap, but he did manage his tyres superbly, as he usually does, to finish in a fine second place. It was, however, not enough to deal with the one man that continues to rise and astonish with how he makes the pendulum swing towards him.

Lewis Hamilton knew after qualifying that he didn’t need to do much in the race to clinch the world title. Bottas had struggled even more than he had, and was three places behind. Stay out of trouble, avoid crashing early and ensure Bottas finishes behind. The Finn made his job even easier by spinning on the opening lap and falling towards the back, from where he never recovered. A scoreless Bottas meant the title was in the bag. Hamilton didn’t need to push.

But he still went for it. He was stuck behind Vettel for a considerable period of time, which meant the Racing Points were too far down the road. As the pendulum swung between different drivers ahead of him, the champion-elect never really seemed with a shot of winning. But Hamilton bid his time and once he had clear air, he saw there was still an opportunity. And he is not one to waste opportunities. He clearly wanted to win the championship in style, not simply have it fall on his lap. In the past, he hasn’t often had the change to secure the title with a win. He wasn’t going to let that go this time around.

In the end, while all the other drivers who were there, or nearly there, made mistakes and lost their cool, Hamilton disappeared down the road, finishing a whopping 30-seconds-30 ahead of the pack. It was another demonstration, as if we needed more, that he does stand head and shoulders above everyone else on the grid. The young pretenders will have to wait a bit longer to dethrone him, because he shows no sign of losing his ability with age.

I try to not focus too much on the winners of a race, and not to write too often about Hamilton, but he makes it really difficult not to. He is a unique talent in the history of the sport and we should very much enjoy watching him while we can. Although there is plenty of talent in the coming generation, we might not see another driver like him for a long while.

Talking points * On Saturday it seemed impossible that we could see a Hamilton win. The Mercedes were completely out of pace, and it was Racing Point and Red Bull who had the fastest cars. It was an intense qualifying, that finished with a first pole for Lance Stroll. The Canadian gets a lot of stick because of his father’s money, but he does have bags of talent and he showed it on Saturday. The race might not have gone his way (Racing Point reporting there was damage to his front wing which caused the excessive tyre graining) but he should take comfort that, after a tough couple of months, he showed what he is capable of. He should use Saturday as a motivator to finish the season strongly. * Saturday also provided another concerning moment in terms of safety. At the start of Q2, drivers were sent out on track while marshalls were still in a run-off area, with a crane, recovering Latifi’s car. If your heart went racing back to Suzuka 2014, you were not alone. Race direction justified it by saying they had been informed the crane would be gone by the time drivers reached that point of the track, but there is no justification to even take that risk. A delay of 2 minutes would have been fine. After the issue with the marshalls on track at Imola, this is the second race in a row with less-than-optimal decisions from race direction. We should hope it’s not a trend, but Michael Masi appeared defensive afterwards and said he didn’t think anything should have been done differently. More than the decision itself, his reaction after the fact is not a good sign. * Wasn’t it great to see Vettel up on the podium again? He has had a torrid year, but had a quietly good race and was there to take advantage of his teammate’s error on the final chicane. It was probably his last podium in red, to leave a slightly sweeter taste to the end of his years with the Scuderia. * It was also great that he was there congratulating his great rival on another title. The respect Seb and Lewis have for each other is exemplary, both of them clearly aware of the hardships they had to go through to reach the very top. It’s a shame we didn’t get to see them go toe to toe more often in their careers. It should have been the great rivalry of this generation. * Sergio Perez’s form since it was announced he wouldn’t stay at Racing Point: P5, P4, P4, P7, P6, P2. And those P7 and P6 would have been P5 and P3 without strategy stumbles from the team. It’s ridiculous if he’s not on the grid next year. * McLaren continue to do what teams that reach the top do well: maximise their results and score valuable points even when their car is not the fastest. Both their cars started behind both Racing Points and Renaults, and yet, of those four drivers, only Perez finished ahead of them. Sainz had a bullet start and kept a cool head to finish P5, just behind the group fighting for the podium. His teammate had a horrible start and was last off the line, but recovered brilliantly to P8, and had a blistering pace towards the end, setting a fastest lap that was a second faster than the next best one. The car’s development might not have gone the way they hoped, but in every other aspect, this is a team firing on all cylinders. * Bottas had a nightmare race, seemingly incapable of keeping his car on the road. The team revealed he had suffered damage in a first lap contact with Esteban Ocon which could help explain his miserable day. Regardless of the causes, P14 is not a results anyone expects at Mercedes. At least now he is free to race the last 3 GPs without the title in his mind. I wonder if a pressure-less Bottas might put up some more of a fight in the coming weekends. * The two Red Bull drivers missed out on huge opportunities this weekend. After the first round of pit stops, the race was arguably Verstappen’s to lose, and, well, lose it he did. He was too greedy when trying to overtake Perez and destroyed his tyres in a spin, which forced to a second stop that effectively ended his race. If he was miserable after missing out on pole, I can’t imagine how he must have felt after the race. As for Albon, he is very much running out of time to impress the Red Bull hierarchy. After Verstappen spun, he was in great position to at least claim a podium, but like the Dutchman, he couldn’t keep his car on the road, and opened the door to Hamilton. To make matters worse, the driver who is apparently being considered to replace him finished second. Red Bull have said he will have until the end of the year to grab that seat, but one has to wonder how much can he genuinely do in the last 3 races after missing out on so many opportunities before? * What a tremendous qualifying from Alfa Romeo. Their pace disappeared on Sunday, but on Saturday Kimi and Gio were two of the stars, putting their cars in Q3. That this happened on Sauber’s 500th Grand Prix entry was only fitting; they couldn’t score points, but there was something for the team to celebrate about the weekend nonetheless.

* Renault’s topsy-turvy season continues. After 2 podiums in 3 races, they leave Turkey with just one point and their hopes of reaching third in the constructors’ championship dashed. They should do well in the final races of the season, as the power hungry Sakhir and the long straights of Yas Marina will favour their car, but if they want to be in the mix up front, they need to better understand the car and what makes it work (and what doesn’t). They have shown they can put together a competitive car, but they can’t win titles if they don’t show up every weekend.

[sinnamonfox]

~ Sean x Finn - Rival mechanics AU ~

Exam period’s dying down, still, I should be writing essays rn yet here I am, spewing out AUs. Oh well.

Hope you guys enjoy it too! <3

I imagined Blood Brothers Sean and Daniel cuz hot damn, plus Parting Ways Finn, his dreads in a bun. Since Daniel just turns 21 I guess Sean’s 28 and Finn’s maybe a year or two older.

Both of the boys are mechanics in Seattle. They have their own, separate business in the same area, not too far from each other. Finn has been dealing with cars all his life and Sean's watched Esteban during work, often gave him a hand too. Now, that Esteban's been gone for a few years, Sean's taking over the garage with the occasional help of his little brother, although he wasn't so little either anymore, only turning 21.

As far as Sean can remember Esteban hated the McNamara Salon. Said they were no good troublemakers, knowing the owner from when Esteban started up his business here after freshly settling down in the country. He was suspecting that him and his sons were actually living off of illegal deals. Although the other man never explicitly said so, something was just.. off. Turned out, his dad was right.

Finn's own father isn't a good man, he's far from it. He's still in jail for drug dealing, car stealing, domestic violence and putting his minor sons up to his kind of work. Finn ended up in juvie but he's out now years later and he's running the garage all alone, under legal circumstances. It's a lot of work, especially after his father put a permanent mark on the garage's reputation, but he's doing his best to get by. Being a mechanic is the only thing he knows how to do anyway.

It's a warm summer night when they accidentally meet at a bar. Sean's taking Daniel out drinking for his 21th birthday with Lyla, Chris, Noah and some of Daniel's college buddies. Sean goes up to the bar to buy the first round of shots, leaning on the counter, waiting with his fingers tapping the surface.

Finn.. he's fucking smitten the minute he spots Sean. There's just something about him that stands out in the crowd. He's also kind of.. familiar. Sean has a slightly rugged look with a goatee. He's all lean muscle, broad shoulders in a plain white tshirt that compliments his natural tan skin so well, a long, black wolf medallion hanging by the middle of his chest. The veins on his arms are prominent from all the smoking and heavy lifting, and his legs.. well, fuck.

Finn doesn't hesitate for a second before sliding up to him, calling him sweetheart right off the bat.

Sean's considerably less shy than he was a years ago as a teen. He's still quiet, more brooding than he used to be but definitely more upfront as well. He flirts back because Finn's very attractive and it's flattering that someone like him is showing interest in Sean. With Finn's dreads put up in a bun his sharp features are fully visible, there's a septum hanging from his nose. His face tattoos are strangely endearing, he pulls them off by being so confident in his own skin.

They banter flirtily, there's no doubt about the attraction between the two. Finn notices the Diaz tattoo on Sean's wrist and it clicks where he's seen those brown doe eyes before. They met once because of their dads. He comments something about his looks and how he’s changed. Sean's confused at first. As it dawns on him, he starts acting more reluctant, recalling Esteban's warnings about the no-good McNamara family. Finn, despite sensing the shift in his behavior, doesn't give up.

When Sean gets his shots, he excuses himself back to Daniel's, but before he could go back Finn hands over his phone number, scribbled down quickly on a scrap of paper with a goofy smiley:

"*call me, Sweetie

xoxo ~ Finn*"

Finn gets back to his own crew but all he can do through the whole night is steal glances of Sean. Sean tries to focus on Daniel, it's his birthday after all. He's giving him the keys to his old car but playfully warns him not to give it a go tonight. Daniel's ecstatic, it's the first (official) time they're getting drunk together.

Still, even after finding out about who he was, Sean's eyes can't help wandering over to Finn.. the two men's gaze occasionally meet from across the room. Turns out, both Lyla and Daniel notice, they saw the two interact at the bar and what they're doing now is obvious. They tease Sean because of it. "Think you've got some drool on your face, man." Daniel knocks his elbow against his with a cheeky grin, Lyla has a similar expression on her face as she sushes Daniel. "Sssh, careful, dude. You're interrupting the eye-fucking."

Sean decides he needs a smoke. He downs his (third) shot before grabbing the lighter and cigarette pack from his coat then heads out alone. He can't resist checking on Finn one last time despite how his head is full of warnings. Finn catches it and follows not too far behind, ignoring his friends' perverted comments.

Sean's leaning against the brickwall in the alley with his left leg bent when Finn joins him. "Ain't usually into smokers but damn, sweetheart. That's a good look on ya." Finn's accent is impossible to miss, his voice is smooth and so relaxing. The grey smoke cascades out of Sean's mouth as he exhales, disappearing into the dark night, his own cheeks slightly pink but the neon lights conceal it. His lips wrap around the cigarette one more time before they part softly, looking erotic even though it's not his intention. Finn follows the motion with his eyes, not at all hiding his interest.

At first, it's mostly Finn flirting, Sean's still undecided, his heart in a constant fight with his brain. They chat for long, their friends completely forgotten. They end up laughing together, a lot. Sean finds out Finn's got a way with words and Finn.. he learns that Sean doesn't really but it's okay because he gets him on a deeper level. Sean's eyes are more expressive than he is verbally but luckily Finn's excellent at reading people. The tan male finds himself liking this punk more and more.

The topic turns more serious. They connect. Neither of them knows how but they end up chatting about their families. Finn he reveals more than he normally would to strangers, Sean (sort of) knows his situation anyway. Sean talks about how he's alone with Daniel, the only family they have is each other and Finn can relate to that, his brothers are the only family he's got left.

As silence falls upon them once more, Sean realizes Finn's somehow drifted closer to him and he can feel Finn's breath on his face. There comes the moment which seems to be a turning point, somehow. Both of the guys are thinking the same. Finn's eyes flickering down to Sean's plump lips. Their heartbeats quickening, breathing turning faster. Finn makes the first step, bringing a calloused hand up to Sean's face, thumb swiping over his cheek, curiously awaiting his reaction.

Sean's heart wins. His lips part, he couldn't look away from Finn's piercing blue eyes and doesn't think before he closes the distance, their lips meeting in a sensual kiss that's excruciatingly slow and passionate. Sean feels like he's forgotten how to breathe, the wind's knocked right out of him. Finn's lips are massaging against Sean's for minutes, they're getting lost in the sensations. Sean's hands are now resting on Finn's hip, not wanting to pull back because it's so damn good.

When Finn goes to break away, Sean chases after him and tugs on the neck of his tshirt to pull him back which causes their bodies to collide accidentally.

Finn downright moans.

Pins Sean against the wall with his forearm by his head, which in turn makes the younger whimper into his mouth. Finn swallows up the sound, the make out session suddenly turns more heated. Sean’s long fingers slide up the front of Finn's tshirt, feeling up the flat of his stomach and it sets off something in the tattooed man, his tongue pushing into Sean's mouth to explore it eagerly. Finn grabs Sean's ass over those tight black jeans and they're both getting carried away, it's too much and Sean's stopped thinking..

Hannah interrupts, looking for Finn because Cassidy knocked herself out. They're both visibly flustered, Sean's feeling shy suddenly. "Sorry, darlin'. Duty calls but.. would love to do this again, sometime. All'uv it." Finn winks suggestively before disappearing inside, leaving Sean there alone. He brings his fingers up to his lips, the taste of Finn still lingering.

[cartoonfangirl1218]

EoA ships fluff headcanons part 6

Most unexpected compliments

Eleteo: Mateo praising Elena for her governing smarts. I mean Elena knows she’s smart but she tends to view smarts as in the stem-kind Isabel is or lots of book knowledge like Esteban. She’s more of impulsive type. But when Mateo praised her for natural talent in diplomacy and just the sheer amount of names she had to know plus their habits and quirks, that was a smarts all on her own. As for Mateo, the compliment she gave him would be almost anything about his muscles as minx like she is. Mainly because Mateo is such a skinny thing as a child, he can’t believe someone would call him an Adonis. Gababel: Gabe praises Isabel for her inquisitiveness and how interesting she is even though many people wouldn’t find science as fascinating, whenever she tells her about it, he thinks it’s the most interesting thing in the world. Isabel praised Gabe whenever he showed his emotional vulnerability. All his life he had been put down by Roberto to act like a man so Isabel giving him sort of “permission” to cry and be sweet and gentlemanly, it is another thing that he loves about her. Estenaomi: The time that Esteban complimented Naomi for being prettier than any noble lady was a secret thrill for her. Though she shrugs it off and pretends she doesn’t compare herself to those snobby royal ladies, she can’t help but worry that Esteban will go back to his own class. That praise lifted her spirits to the clouds. As for Esteban, he was over the moon when Naomi told him that he was always number one to her. After being El Segundo, just those words, as corny as he teased her for, he loved it. Estoma: The compliment Esteban loved was when Doña told him that she could see no else being a better Chancellor than him. After all, the circumstances of how he became Chancellor is somewhat undeserved so he never felt like he was truly good at it. Especially with the added guilt of hurting his family and having to fulfill Shuriki’s horrid orders. So for someone to say that he was a perfect Chancellor. That meant a lot. Anyway, once Esteban called Doña adorable. She had thought he was being sarcastic after all she had been called “Gorgeous” “Sophisticated” “Hostile bitch”- “Adorable”? Never. But he meant it. She joked that love was making him hallucinate traits that weren’t there but she secretly appreciated it.

What spirit guide would their SO choose?

Eleteo: I'm just gonna stick with what they have because I agree with the choices and I really liked how well they fit. Elena is like a fox, crafty, sometimes impulsive  and loves to be free in the world. Mateo is like a sloth being calm and patient in his doings and can be quiet good at insight to his surroundings. Gababel: Isabel would choose a wolf for Gabe because of it's fierceness, it's loyalty to it's pack/family and it can be quiet caring and nurturing. Gabe would choose a hummingbird for Isabel because of it's inquisitive nature, and the fact they both have a fondness for sweet substances. Estenaomi: Esteban would choose a sassy dolphin for Naomi and Naomi would say Esteban is a total preening peacock! No question about it. Proud of his great hair and clothes and can squawk quite a bit when he doesn't get his way which Esteban protests wholeheartedly. Estoma: I couldn't think of them saying nice ones so here it is. Esteban chooses Doña as a magpie. A shrill, annoying, chattering bird with a penchant for shiny things. Doña would say Esteban is a lapdog, enjoying luxuries people give him but is all bark and no bite when it comes to confrontation so he has to stew with what others decide for him. Whose more protective?

Eleteo: Since Elena inherited Luisa's mother hen tendencies, she's a lot more outwardly protective like when she gave Gabe those warning glares for dissing Mateo in Spellbound or getting a bit more distressed when Mateo is in danger even at the cost of an important jewel like in Jewel of Maru. But that's not to say Mateo is equally protective of Elena when danger comes calling. Spellbound and Song of the Sirenas is a big example of that. The sweet cinnaomon roll gets spicy when someone threatens his beloved shining light, and Ninjateo comes out with vengeance. Gababel: Gabe, obviously. It's part of his knight in shining armor charm. Isabel does want Gabe's protection but sometimes he can go overboard like when they are exploring an island and Isabel just needs to get these last few rock samples but Gabe thinks its too dangerous for her to trek through jungles even though she has done it thousands of times before. Estenaomi: Naomi is. Naomi is generally much more suspicious and streetwise than young!Esteban who wants to go adventuring everywhere and is willing to talk to anyone to get information even if those sources are less than reliable. Plus young!Esteban has a tendency to overestimate his own mortality so she has to pull him away from swinging over lava and crocodile invested lakes among other things even though he assures her he can totally climb that thousand feet mountain without proper safety gear. 

Estoma: Esteban is. Blame it on everything he lost, but he is a bit protective about making sure no one hurts his family again. Nor the ones he loves.

Whose more protective of their food?

Eleteo: Neither is particularly. But Elena can be possessive of her pan dulces when she has them. So when Mateo teasingly takes a few from her plate, then the food fight is on. Of course, that just leads to some licking off each other's cheeks and fingers. A bit like that Gababel drabble you did on the private group chat. But Elena would also totally put a strawberry in her mouth and taunt Mateo into kissing her. Or even do an orange smile and think it's incredibly hilarious. Gababel: Isabel is. We all know Gabe will do anything for Isabel, including sharing food. Isa would do the same. Except when it comes to the pan dulces. Isabel loves those pan dulces and will basically hoard them in her cheeks if she is able to manage it. Gabe finds the image adorable and always teases her for the chipmunk cheeks. Estenaomi: Esteban. Let's just face it. Pan dulces and Flores family are like inseparable. So, Naomi often teases Esteban by hiding the food or stealing it for herself. Esteban's "tortured" reaction to her "betrayal" is often amusing to watch but Naomi has learned to be careful because Esteban often retaliates with creative pranks that she never sees coming. Also it bugs him when Naomi sometimes obliviously double dips. Estoma: Doña. Especially if she is already in a bad mood. "IF YOU DARE TAKE MY DANISH, I WILL REACH DOWN YOUR THROAT, PULL IT OUT, AND BEAT YOU TO DEATH WITH IT." (Not my quote. But it's such a overwrought reaction to food being taken that I had to use it). Whose more picky?

Eleteo: Neither really. Elena is very enthusiastic about experiencing new cultures which includes eating their foods and Mateo has never been picky, he just doesn't eat a lot due to his studying as you hc. But Mateo is the more hesitant of the two when it comes to trying things like a kelp taco. BUT he also can't resist Elena's puppy dog look and enthusiastic face when she urges him to try a little bit. And that's when he learned that Marisa and Elena have the right idea when it comes to the deliciousness of kelp tacos. (I still can't get over that food choice) Gababel: Isabel is. Not because she is scared of the food but let's just say biology has made a big impact on how she views salmonella and E. coli. But that's more with regular foods. She will say yes to about any sort of dessert. Especially if her handsome baker boy makes it just for her. Estenaomi: Esteban is. Naomi is more adventurous due to having to adjust to eating new foods. Sometimes she likes to taunt him about that like by shoving the fried squid tentacles in his face. But she has also tried to help him get over his pickiness by sometimes putting the food in her mouth for a kiss or dousing it with sugar or using some sort of new meat in a tamale.   Estoma: Esteban still is. Though Dona once tried to guilt him into eating new foods with this (not my) quote- "I had a pet goat growing up, Jenny. When I was eight, my parents ran out of food so they made me go outside and kill her. I had to skin Jenny, cook Jenny and eat Jenny. After that, I guess I just tried not to think too much about what I was eating anymore. And, well... I made damn well sure I wouldn't be in a position where I'd have to eat my favorite pet again." The plan backfired and instead of feeling grateful for food, Esteban lost his appetite completely.

Insecurity/flaw they help the other with

Eleteo: Elena tries to help Mateo with his insecurity and self doubt that eats him up inside. After years of hiding in the shadows of his basement (and okay partially inspired by Becky’s Mateo backstory from Magic Within) Mateo really doubts his worth, his ability and his value within the kingdom as a wizard and as a person. He berated himself for not being enough. Elena has a similar problem that though Mateo can see her greatness, sometimes Elena is too consumed with her failures as a queen. But moreover, he tries to help her ease the burden of when she tries to take on everything herself. That somehow all responsibility falls to her all the time. Gababel: Gabe tries to help Isabel when it comes to her perfectionism and need to have everything right. Though he adores how Isabel’s mind works, he gets concerned about when she overanalyzes and overthinks to the point of paralysis. Meanwhile Isabel helps Gabe with his need to repress his weak emotions and how no matter how much glory he achieves as Captain, the doubt in his head in the sound of his father’s voice that says he’s not doing enough and that he’s letting people down. Estoma: Isn’t it obvious what Esteban deals with. Survivors guilt. Big time. Also a overwhelming bouts of anxiety, depression and hopelessness along with a bit of a superiority inferiority complex coming from being “El Segundo.” She tries to help ease past the sins that make him an “evil man” and see that sometimes it’s okay to allow yourself to be loved. Which is almost like pot calling kettle since Doña has major emotional repression issues. Or asEsteban says emotional constipation since it annoys her. He tries to encourage her to you know, talk about her feelings at the moment instead of bottling it up for months, cracking and being an useless emotional  wreck for a week. First impressions and how they’ve changed

Eleteo: Mateo’s first impression of Elena was first like freaked out amazement that they lost Princess was alive. Then just awe because of how brave, talented, etc etc she was. Though that sort of hero pedastle stayed, Mateo slowly got over his amazement of Elena as his queen and princess and began seeing her as a friend. He appreciated her kindness and that song during Spellbound made him realize how much Elena truly trusted in his magical expertise and cared for him. I also hc that was when Mateo first started feeling signs of a crush. Elena’s first impression of Mateo was one of relief since he got her out of the amulet. And she mainly saw him as adorkable. He was blushing, geeky wizard and of course she saw him in a very kind way but that also began to change as they developed their friendship. She saw his bravery, his dedication and enthusiasm and his moral need to do what was right and she began to see him as a true confident and ally and friend and eventual lover. Gababel: Obviously Gabe’s first impression of Isabel was that she was Elena’s kid sister. Nothing particularly big. But he did find her enthusiasm for science and inventions to be amusing even when they had been younger and the gap mattered more. The change came after Isabel grew up, went to college and returned home. He began to see her enthusiasm and sweetness in a new light. He came to know her dedication to science that was so similar to his focus on become a guard. He learned how fierce she was when it came to those she loved and her sweetness was not because of any passiveness but because she cared. Isabel saw Gabe as Elena’s cool, brave Guard Captain friend when they were younger but she did also note his kindness to her even when he didn’t really need to. So when they grew up Isabel began to see that kindness even more. How Gabe’s sense of duty wasn’t a need for glory and control but because he cared too about the well beings of those he loved. She became to understand how his anger connected to how he was raised by his father, and that confident exterior shielded a more complex and strategic mind underneath that she admired. Estenaomi: Naomi saw Esteban to be a snooty, impulsive guy-guy that thought too much of his ill-planned out plans. Esteban saw Naomi as someone who was much too sassy and hellbent on annoying him in every which way. But as the two began to hang out more together they gained a deeper understanding. They both bonded over how they wished to become something special, to do something more and make a lasting contribution. They also bonded over some of their similar insecurities in just staying in the background, Naomi as a commoner and Esteban as a pity case. Besides that Esteban began to appreciate how Naomi tried to keep things grounded and her practicality while Naomi enjoyed Esteban’s overdramatics and sense for adventure despite the consequences as thrilling and fun. Estoma: Esteban saw Doña as universal retribution sent to make his life even more difficult with her judgmental comments and two default modes- disdain or superiority when pointing out his mistakes. Doña saw him as a know it all, unfairly entitled, incompetent royal (to be fair Esteban was working for Shuriki who probably kept a long list of demands and orders that Esteban had to do while dealing with all the issues of the kingdom that she was neglected so he was more than a little harried and couldn’t give it all his 100%). However, at sometime during all their talks about finances, Esteban decided it would be a challenge to break her ice queen act and started pointing out all her mistakes in order to get her to snap. It took at least two months but it worked  and then their great rivalry went off. And though it seemed like they never stopped bickering long enough to properly talk to each other, their first impressions did change a little bit. Doña saw that Esteban wasn’t incompetent, just overworked but that didn’t change just how much effort Esteban did put in when he was put in charge of something. He was methodical, dedicated, still too proud about his knowledge but he also had a soft heart. Esteban began to see that under the haughty arrogance was someone who valued hard work even above the amount of riches earned, still far too opinionated but also concerned with tradition and stability which he could appreciate after what he had lost. How do they handle disagreement between each other and making up afterwards?Eleteo: It would be tense I think with clipped words and some high emotions. But generally, they try to keep calm and they have a rule that they cannot walk away from the other in anger. The two talk out their disagreements and then have a cooling off period. By the time they return to the other, they both apologize and hug. Making up consists of extra time spent together so to assure each other that there are no hurt feelings and to calmly discuss that previous argument which means so little in the long run. Elena heaps up a lot of cuddles too. Estenaomi: The two usually separate after they have a major fight so they can cool off and think about things in a more rational manner. Then Esteban might come by her house with a treat or Naomi would stop by his room. Then they would try to talk it over like adults. Afterwards, they would spend some time on her ship, eating food and go back to their usual bantering since that is their version of normalcy and everything is okay again. Gababel: It would actually have a lot of yelling. Isabel is as stubborn as Gabe sometimes so they both refuse to budge on the issue. There would be a point that neither has anything else to argue so they stop, take a breath and return to the beginning. Most of the anger/passion is gone so they could approach things more rationally. Making up consists of lots of apologizing from both ends, hugging, and reassurances. If Gabe made Isabel cry, you can bet there would be some groveling too even if it goes a bit overboard. Estoma: In business disagreements, their general professionalism allows them to look past it to get a solution. In more personal disagreements, they are just very passive aggressive until one of them snaps and they start yelling at each other. Their make ups comprise of reluctant apologies and cautious small talk with a calming dinner afterwards. If one really feels bad, there might be a present the next morning. Gababel: It would actually have a lot of yelling. Isabel is as stubborn as Gabe sometimes so they both refuse to budge on the issue. There would be a point that neither has anything else to argue so they stop, take a breath and return to the beginning. Most of the anger/passion is gone so they could approach things more rationally. Making up consists of lots of apologizing from both ends, hugging, and reassurances. If Gabe made Isabel cry, you can bet there would be some groveling too even if it goes a bit overboard.

Nickname they give each other 

Eleteo: As taken from a fandom consensus, Elena calls Mateo, ““Wizard King” along with other endearments like mi amor and mi querida. Mateo does the same, but also calls her “Shining light” (Never while they’re in Paraíso of course).

Gababel: Isabel calls Gabe all the usual affectionate terms and he does too, but her significant one for him was “My Knight” both for the literal description of him and for how she admires his strength and chivalry. Gabe calls her his brain, and more often, his soul because she is able to help him come down from the stoic battle guard captain mask he had to take on when in a fight and remind him of the lighter sweeter things he is protecting Avalor for. 

Estenaomi: I put this under embarrassing nicknames but over time, Esteban comes to sincerely mean ““Miss Fiestypants” as an endearment since that feistiness is one of the things he loved about her. Naomi calls Esteban the Duke of Sin which she meant as a joke but he took as the highest of compliments and he insists on living up to it. Not that she’s complaining.  Estoma: Doña calls Esteban, “El Primero.” Well the full nickname is “El primero en mí corazón.” But El Primero is shorter and a nice reverse of his loathed El Segundo nickname. Esteban calls Doña the usual mí amor or mí querida. He’ll occasionally call her “Pretty Bird” or “Labia Plata” which means silver tongue. 

[a-lilacsong]

Elena of Avalor Live text reaction: Giant Steps

I enjoy reading other people's posts where they watch episodes of shows and write reactions to things in the episode while they're still watching it. So I decided to make one for this new episode: Giant Steps. 

Reaction starts under the cut (Spoilers for the episode since this is a reaction)

She needs a crew 

Wait has she gone to Australia 

Also I love that fish on the wall 

To bad it wouldn't be able to sing most likely

Is that a wanted poster for the bat on the wall?

And it looks like she's selling Esteban’s hat as well 

oooooh I think I feel a song coming on

 also the letter text is so clear I could probably translate this

if I felt like it 

Man, Elena is a fast writer 

I really like the accordion in this song but so far it's been pretty casual 

I don't know, I guess I was just expecting a big old villain song 

What a cute parrot! Naomi should get a parrot

Oh that's a sword for a second I thought it could be a chainsaw 

Don't mind him that's just casual Joe, casually showing off his casual sword to his casual friends Casually 

Wow there's a lot of lens flares in this song, was it directed by JJ Abrams?

Maybe it's not even a big threat Naomi's coming to warn them about, maybe she's just going to come back to say hi at this point, she seems like she's really missing Elena 

This is why she needs a crew, then she wouldn't be lonely 

Having a good cry together?! All of the hurt comfort and angst fanfiction possibilities! 

Oh look there's the not-Ash little girl 

yes the Elena and Naomi feels are strong with this one 

Ship does not rhyme with fate! this is the second time a line hasn't rhymed and it bugs me 

And she's broke

Maybe she should have asked for some money along with a ship eh?

The Bat Wanted poster Is hilarious 

And so starts her career as a bounty hunter 

“So how much gold are you giving for his capture?” “heaps of it.” “But how much gold exactly?” “HEAPS. OF. IT.”

Yeah when you just draw bags of money on the poster it's probably a scam 

Naomi unrolls the wanted poster, Me: *Gasps out loud* They all look so good!

 I wonder if you captured those three along with the bat if they give you an extra gold for that or if they just only give you a reward for the bat

You probably wouldn't get any gold though cuz it's probably a scam

Sudden zoom in on the poster while there's a bell in the background like what

 reminds me how they always always seem to do that during dramatic moments in Star Trek

What's in the bag a knife, a phaser, or is she just giving her the bag 

Maybe a special knockout powder?

Oh cool it's one of those endless Space Bags 

also what a cute red bird 

This episodes giving lots of birds 

But the Winged being I want to see most is Chatana

Oh look she sells harpoons! What does the store not have?

The necklace, of course she wants the necklace, I was thinking about was oddly noticeable with Naomi wearing two necklaces so of course she's going to have to give one away

Will she give it to her, Probably

Yep now she has the Magic Bag

And she got the take the wanted poster as well?! Wow !

It's not illegal to take down wanted posters?

Boy there is probably some kid out there who has fifty wanted posters just up decorating their room because they are very well drawn 

I mean if I lived in that world and knew I couldn't get punished for it I would totally have a few of them up 

Ash and Chatana just look so snug in their pictures, when why was Esteban just looks so innocent compared to them 

Wait so ash gave Chatana the diadem off screen? okay...

I've been waiting months for this, yes, YES team Ash team Ash team Ash YES!

Now I finally get to see more of Chatana

 I will finally get to see what her personality is really like yes

~~ but now I have to eat supper so intermission

Sarah give me spoilers Darn it ~~

 Anyway

 the bat can shape-shift!? wow I always thought that Esteban’s teleportation powers would take them to Vestrella but I was wrong

Of course they're seen immediately, probably because of Ash’s yelling

Wait if you Caught the Jaquin babies, what would you do with them Esteban?

He seems better at this villain stuff than I thought 

Also both Ash and Chatana seem way too confident about this 

I'm predicting it will be their Achilles heel 

Bold of Mateo to assume that she would be looking for her friend instead of the villains 

Probably spied on Naomi before 

It seems Mateo's more Curious boy Then I thought he's willing to spy on someone if they're a friend 

And she's right there, she probably ran past Armando and everyone else that's why they didn't get it notified of her arrival 

Like she always does 

Yay clumsy Mateo

And he didn't drop it!

No one expected you back this soon Naomi not even the audience 

Lesbians lesbians lesbians 

It's great other than the crippling loneliness 

Mateo asks the kind of questions that I asked on tumblr ask blogs anonymously 

“Ancient at least I thought she was ancient '' if she said that to Chatana’s face which you take it as a compliment or an insult I wonder?

Also continuity!

And of course she's only going to bring Gabe because he is the only guard She Knows by name 

Sarcasm aside though I'm glad that these four will get to have another adventure together 

They are the Ultimate Adventure team 

Well Isabel is always welcome on it 

But it is illegal for her to try to fight Esteban 

Or Witness Elena seriously killing him 

Wait is she going because she wants to be with Elena 

Or to get the prize money 

Probably both 

I sure hope Elena doesn't feel betrayed if Naomi tries to get that prize money I mean she has to make a living somehow 

Yes Elena, the team 

It is the only team strong enough to defeat the evil team 

Oh boy every time Chatana walks she looks like she's on a Runway! She is so poised and confident looking 

Also it seems that they have gotten past that cloaking spell 

And Esteban gets smacked in the face

They just love you using him for slapstick don't they?

I just love it how bat says casually that they're being watched 

And Ash and Chatana flip out like they're about to be caught by the thought police 

Okay, Esteban is hilarious 

*Ash Eyeroll*

I wonder who has done more eye rolls in the series Ash or Esteban?

And she blocked it again, I guess it wears off over time?

SOME kind of cloaking spell!? it looks like the same one they were using before!

I sure hope Philly wasn't conscious with Chatana all those years

She CAN fly!

And we finally get to see her make a monster and it's so cool!!!

Spiders spiders everywhere!

Flying spider tornado!

Ash and Esteban’s reactions are valid

BABY spider Eagles! that changes everything 

Now that means that they're really cute 

I would still be distracted by them though

Esteban sass 

Ash threats

If they weren't so evil they make a great sitcom team 

~~~break to watch final episode of Pride and Prejudice with my family~~

Gabe makes yet another strategy which will be most likely ignored or never brought up again 

Points for trying, Captain 

Oh good, that’s just webs, thought it was something else for a moment 

Down they go, too bad she can't use levaloop with that sceptre and they're going to have a hard Landing 

Woo he didn't use levaloop he's learning new spells 

Yay team Ash back views! I've been needing these for artistic purposes 

Did Phili just spit fire Let me back that up 

Wow I think he did

Awww,  “Little one”

They must train together a lot, Ash just needs to give Esteban a look and he does what they need 

That's the same unlocking spell as before

 do the Maruveians only have one kind of lock spell

Also wait did Chatana teach that to Ash at some point?

Because she certainly didn't use that on the gate before to unlock Chatana...

Oh nice unlocking effects 

some...BODY ONCE TOLD ME

MAMA <--May I also mention that my theory was right 

Wait all of Chatana's creatures are locked up here?

I guess there are the Sunbird jars 

True she was captured, (much better excuse than Pink Diamond’s)

And here is Esteban, the king of sucking up 

In a way, Kizin Reminds me of Sarah

He Likes the tall funny man 

Good recovery Esteban, you didn't make any snide comment that time 

And now everyone else sucks up 

Except Phili 

Chatana smile 

Kizin has other friends? AWW, he Just wants to help his friends! 

Ash has done nothing other than that spell so far except yell and complain to others

And there goes a bat

We will probably get him later... or maybe we will just leave him

Oh look will team Avalor attack him immediately or will they try and reason with him first 

If you needed more guards why didn't you just grab them in the first place 

I know Migs and Skyler are Guardians but couldn't you have gotten another Guardian to go and get reinforcements? 

Elena never planned ahead for things

Gabe the running LOL 

So you're going to just attack him instead of reasoning with him? okay 

I think that trip wire might be a little high Naomi

Wait Shouldn't Elena and Mateo wait on the other side of the tripwire so that they can surround Kizim just in case 

Naomi tie the tripwire you won't be strong enough to hold it up yourself 

Or maybe you will you are pretty strong 

Hey look there's the bat

No Naomi, no Naomi no tie the rope Naomi, and then go after him 

Tell Elena of your financial troubles don't risk it all 

(to quote Ash:) foolish child....

Looks like the bats in the bag 

Also why was he attacking ships in the first place, for the LOLs?

More Gabe running 

*Sigh* should have tied it...

She hurt him he hurt her 

Very good, Gabe protect 

See Don't Use Magic on Kizim, use Magic on yourself 

Oh yeah use the wizard to unlock the pots

And then an extra 

You know it seems like every episode where Elena could do a lot more she gets injured and then another character has to save the day 

It happened in the episode with the merman Prince 

Naomi just sort of stands there and watches 

Okay that scene is funnier in context than it is in the trailer 

First aid! Someone actually knows how to do first aid!

Mateo disobeyed a plan and now Naomi disobeyed the plan

When will they learn that disobeying plans always leads to bad things 

Sorry Princess I'm broke 

And Too Proud to Beg 

Okay, this is a complicated situation, on one hand Naomi is a big help in defeating villains on the other, why don't they just get a royal guard who is good with a lasso? 

I mean there are definitely some personal emotions running here 

But also it might have been better to wait to become a Captain until after the villains had been caught

I just think this might be both their faults

Although running out to the bat and not tying the Rope yeah

Little scared Mateo noise

I thought it was just going to run head-on into a wall 

LOL if one man can't do it get the other guy to do it

Gabe with magic well that would be interesting…

Well yeah, he's normally there 

Wait he's not going to attack Keatamos is he?

Gabe and Matteo wouldn't allow that 

“Hello friends” awww

Uh-oh is right, that many shaking pots is never good 

And now they're here to save the day 

When you forget you have an injury 

Although she Naomi should have felt the arm first to see how the sling should be set 

He likes one cousin and dislikes the other

Wait magic wands are handed?

Don't worry that Blaze probably didn't hit the wood that's everywhere around here 

How would releasing the bat help, I feel like he'd be on Kizim's side 

Couldn't you have just caught him in the bag with the bat still inside 

Actually no, the bat would get squished 

Well Gabe, you are bringing the burn today

Esteban reacts to waiting for things the same way I do 

Esteban knows he's the universe is punching bag 

Ash facepalm 

Chatana does care 

And Phili never will 

OOOOh Other allies!??!

It just seems like the Delgados inexplicably know about every different darkforce and possible magic thing there is 

She is angsting, Naomi, Which she always does alone 

Wow her arm is in a cast

Couldn't they just fix it with magic?

Does no one in this world know a healing spell? 

Actually that wouldn't surprise me.

Get a room you two! Oh, you do have a room 

now kiss 

They love each other 

You know you can hire your own ship crew at some point right?

I mean Captains classically command other crew members.

Wait is she coming back to the council

No Naomi don't ruin your life with politics! 

Get out while you still can! 

Wait, Naomi doesn't know she was replaced 

Well it would be easier on Julio if he didn't have two jobs… 

Which is the responsible thing to do 

She lives to serve 

Hugs 

Every episode with Chatana so far has had Elena Naomi angst 

That's the end of my reaction.

~~~~~

So here's my Mini review. Overall I liked the episode, sure the big conflicts could have been avoided if people actually talked with each other about their feelings first before the disasters, but that happens so often in TV shows I'm almost used to it. I loved seeing the villain force again (especially Chatana). Hopefully we will see them again soon. I wonder what job Naomi will get now, (Maybe being the minister of ships)?

[lactosecarrotsoup]

My thoughts on Sean & Finn’s kiss

This will be long and of course contain spoilers, as if you can’t tell by the title... thingy. So, be warned. This will also contain my opinion(s); which is a very sensitive subject in this fandom. 

We’re all entitled to our own thoughts, opinions, beliefs, etc.

With that said, let’s get started!

For those who are new to this game... I will give you a short summery. Life is Strange is a video game series ran by DontNod. A great company who loves to make players cry. This season has new characters from the other season and DLC. This season takes place in Washington where you play as a 16 year old boy, Sean Diaz, who’s a regular teenager. He loves drawing, skating, and of course stereotypical teen stuff such as drugs and parties. Taking away the partying and drug usage, he’s your typical shy-ish guy. He also has a little brother named Daniel, he’s 9 years old.

Both of them are Hispanic, including their father (Esteban), making this season’s cast more diverse than the first season, where the main characters were mainly white.

Speaking of their father, he dies. Yep. After Sean forces Daniel out of his room, Daniel runs to their hot-headed neighbor and accidentally spills homemade zombie blood on him. Sean over see’s the neighbor about to hurt Daniel and rushes out the house, protecting him. After a few racial slurs/crude remarks to Daniel, Sean decides to fight him. Sean shoves the neighbor onto a small rock (which I still dont understand how that injured him), and he lays on the ground in shock/going unconscious.

A cop shows up and hell breaks loose. The cop only see’s the “blood” on the neighbors shirt and Daniels, thinking nothing but the worst of the situation rather than questioning them. The dad comes out, trying to reason with the officer and he gets trigger happy, shooting Sean & Daniel’s dad, killing him. Daniel screams in shock/anger/horror and Sean blacks out. Whenever he wakes up, the entire street is destroyed and more people are dead/unconscious. He grabs Daniel and they runaway, not wanting to get involved with the crime. It’s later found out that Daniel has powers (similar theme to LIS season 1) and can move objects with his mind.

More shit happens, yada yada yada.

NOW.

Episode 3 just released. In episode two, the brothers meet quite a few people. But most notably for this post, Cassidy and Finn. These two are regular friends (or maybe even “fuck buddies” as Finn and another girl described their relationship), who are a lot like Sean and Daniel. Cassidy left her old home life to live on the road. Finn, I can’t remember if he said anything or not. But I would think it would be for the same reason or something crime related.

Anyways, point is, they all group together and live in the woods. But, they all also work for this dude who runs a farm with nothing but pot.

Yep.

A nine year old and sixteen year old kid are working at a pot farm.

This leads to Finn, Cassidy, and Sean to get high, drunk, etc.

Finn get’s a hair up his ass and decides; “Hey, why don’t we steal all the cash from our boss? Who cares if he may know about Sean & Daniel’s backstory, has security footage evidence of them, and shotguns?!”

Cassidy is against this. But you, the player, have the option to accept or refuse his plan to rob the big dude with the cash.

And in the words of Chloe Price from season one; he’s got some “hella cash”

SORRY I HAD TOO.

But still, you can either rob from the guy or go against it. But HO HO HO! This choice doesn’t matter that much. Finn does it anyways (with a fUCKING NINE YEAR OLD HELPING HIM AND RISKING THAT KID’S LIFE) and Cassidy gets upset and worried. So, if you disagree with Cassidy, you end up meeting with them anyways so you can stop them. You get in trouble either way, btw.

But, let’s back it up.

If you agree to join Finn’s plan, he’s happy and you have the chance to romance him. Which, at first thought (including mine), was great! In the first season, Max was bisexual. You can flirt/romance with Chloe and/or Warren. With Sean romancing Cassidy and Finn, the developers made him bisexual.

But... it’s not all roses. Let me give you my first reaction. I do actually have it recorded.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGJ8lg5clHM

2:29:55 - 2:34:24

If you don’t watch it, basically I was excited and shocked. I didn’t like Finn at first but in that moment, I shipped them. I wanted Sean to be happy and happy enough to open up about his sexuality, if he hadn’t already.

But, I realized something.

Finn is most likely 20+. Sean is still 16. This means Finn is an older guy kissing a minor, which is of course, illegal. Not to mention that earlier in that episode, he was teaching Daniel to throw knifes and such. He smokes and drinks and admits his sexual relationships in front of a kid, too.

Speaking of his sexual relationships, it would be highly toxic if Sean and him dated/had casual sexual intercourse. Just based on Sean’s personality and how he had a crush on that Jen girl in the first episode, and how close him and Cassidy warmed up to each-other, he wears his heart on his sleeve. One thing this season has done WONDERFULLY is not distribute toxic masculinity. Sean and Daniel have both cried several times. Most men don’t like to talk/show their feelings because they feel weak and such, which is horrible. No guy should feel that way and should openly express them-self.

Sean does this, which is amazing. Yet, still can harm him.

Right after you agree to Finn’s plan, you can kiss him. Throughout the episode, he also flirts with Sean. Of course you have the CHOICE to kiss him... but it’s only after you accept his agreement. You can kiss Cassidy (and sleep with her) but she will storm off, angry, without kissing you, if you agree to Finn’s plan. Which is reasonable. Or, you can lie to her, saying you thought his plan was dumb, and she’ll kiss you. Both reasonable (in my opinion) responses to each situations.

But, how come you can’t kiss Finn regardless? Sean can say no and they could still talk about their feelings, leading to a kiss. Instead, they do nothing.

Finn is manipulative. He used Sean’s emotions to get to him. He probably noticed how close him and Cassidy were and how much love he has for Daniel, openly saying it every now and then, and wanting to protect him. Finn noticed how open Sean is and took advantage. 

Imagine if this wasn’t a choice base game and the story automatically follows Sean agreeing with Finn.

He flirts with him throughout the episode and is very charismatic. Since Daniel notices how close Sean and Cassidy are getting, he rants to Finn. Finn takes in this information and uses it against them. He becomes “cool” in Daniel’s eyes by being super chill, rebellious, and showing him how to violently protect himself/hurt others. In a sense, he becomes Daniel’s temporary older and “cooler” brother, making Daniel look up to him. With Finn’s flirting, he admits (once again, if your choices didn’t matter) that he has feelings for some guys.

Finn takes note of this.

The idea pops into his head to steal from the man who runs the pot farm... thing. I’m an innocent bean who hasn’t done anything harder than prescribed drugs for anxiety and stuff. So forgive me if I’m getting these terms wrong, LOL! But, the point still remains, he tells Daniel who is automatically on board. I doubt a 9 year old boy truly cares if they have enough money or not. I bet his main thought was “If I do this, then Finn will think I’m cool! He’ll treat me like an adult and so will others.”

In fact, I bet you that was his exact thoughts, just based on what he said to Sean and how he acted towards others.

If you really look at it, guys... it looks similar to a Mark Jefferson/Nathan Prescott relationship in season 1. I’m not going to go into many details for the people who haven’t played/watched season 1 yet, but I’ll give you guys a basic rundown by what I mean.

Nathan was mentally ill. He suffered from possibly multiple disorders and had an abusive father. His father wanted him to be the best of the best, not for his sake, but for the families sake. This got to Nathan and he hated his father. Mark Jefferson was a teacher who noticed this, befriending Nathan, and becoming a fatherly figure. The two teamed up to do sickening plans and crimes together which ended up getting them caught in the end.

Now, who does that sound like?

Daniel just lost his father and he’s angry. He probably has PTSD and anger management issues, based on how he’s acting and the situations he’s been through. Finn is an older figure and tricks Daniel to follow his plans and crime, as they’re stealing. They end up getting caught by the boss no matter what they, Sean, Cassidy, or the player does.

Sean is in the same boat, minus the anger issues. He probably suffers more from depression and PTSD (since he talks about the past a lot to others and how they know their story). Since he does talk about his feelings, Finn uses to his advantage.

When Sean agrees to the heist, Finn and him (can) kiss as an award. An award for falling into his trap and doing whatever he wanted.

Nathan got fatherly love and praise from Jefferson, resulting in him to continue their disgusting plans in order to feel loved.

Sean (and Daniel) and becoming the Nathan of this season.

We have to watch out who will be our jefferson.

I also have to address another elephant in the room.

We’re the reason this happened.

If you go through old DontNod/Life is Strange official posts (I suggest instagram or facebook, where i saw mine), I saw nothing but comments saying how much they want Chloe and Max back. I assume this is because of how you can romance Chloe. They want their love story/friendship to continue. Even though we did get a comic series based on them, it wasn’t good enough.

DontNod probably got sick of it and forced this to happen. While they were probably writing Cassidy as a love interest in the beginning, and Finn as probably just a random stranger or a brother of hers, the noticed all the hate and said “fuck it!”

As a result, we got the chance to kiss Finn... before you could write him off by injuring or killing him. Which, many people were pissed about.

But if you REALLY think about it, we were the cause of that. They probably didn’t want that, wanting to focus on Cassidy and the actual story. But many people wanted LGBTQ+ moments (which is understandable) but didn’t want Sean and Daniel’s story. Or they did get involved in their story but wanted a LGBTQ+ character.

The story of Life is Strange (both seasons + DLC) is nothing more but teens/young adults finding themselves through very difficult times. This with the responsibility of super powers, which are hurting those around them. It’s not meant to be a romance. It’s meant to be a drama, sci-fi, and angst story. (And thriller bc of Max’s nightmare bc that shit scared me)

While yes, I was happy and excited at first about Sean & Finn kissing. I was happy that there was potential for things to be “normal” and Sean to be happy, there was a lot of red flags. The age differences, the manipulation, the parallel's, and how forced it was.

Thanks for coming to my TEDTalk! Before you leave a hateful response, please know my opinion is valid like yours and others. Not only that, but I’m not the first to point some of this out. :)

[lovelikeelena]

Song of the Sirenas Review- Part 1/4

Firstly, I wanna say muchas gracias to my best friend, Becca, along with DisneyNerd, DisPrincess3 and others for helping me with some of the visual aspects of this awesome, incredible and amazing movie!

  As many of you know who read my tumblr, I’m almost blind.  That means this review will be unique.  While I’ll be touching on some important visual aspects, I’ll mostly be focusing on storyline and the friendships formed and established bonds between our favorite characters throughout the movie.  There will also be some shipping as well, just so you guys who aren’t Elenaomi shippers know ahead of time.  One more thing before we officially get started:  How cool was it that this movie premiered on international peace day?  This makes it even more timely and relevant than ever!  Okay, let’s dive in!  Pun intended wholeheartedly.

  We open with a spectacular view of the Turner’s boat skimming through the water.  The royal familia, royal guard Gabe and Naomi , along with her parents Captains Scarlet and Daniel Turner, are heading somewhere.  Hmmm?  Where could they be going?  Maybe they’re dropping the douche of Avalor, Esteban off on a deserted island and continuing without him.  Only one can hope.  (I DID NOT come up with that nickname for the chancellor.) Oh yeah, Mateo’s there too.  Well, Esteban isn’t being dropped off anywhere.  No such fortune is shining upon us.  Instead, Elena is stuck with her cousin for the entire journey.  It’s not long into her magical bow and arrow practice that Naomi gets Esteban right in the butt!  Elena giggles, even though she tries to remain stern.  Oops, Sorry!  never mind.  That’s my fanfic version of events.  Back to the actual movie. 

  As I was saying, it’s not long before we find out Scarlet doesn’t take any crap from anyone-including her husband!  She finds Daniel standing, using a barrel as a table.  Poor Daniel just wants to eat a sandwich, but instead he’s told to trim the sail.  He tries to get out of it by assuming bc his wife is captaining the voyage that he would get a well-deserved brake.  No such luck buddy.  Say adios to that break you were hoping for.  Turning, Daniel goes to complete the task.  Before leaving his post, he snatches up his sandwich, knowing his daughter too well, not to mention the fact that there are two hungry teen boys on the ship.  It’s then that Isa answers the question that’s been on our minds since the movie started-especially if you haven’t read the book companion that was released in June or kept up with spoilers before the movie premiered.  The royal familia is on their way to Nueva Vista on the west coast of Avalor.  Isa is excited to get there and her abuela feels the same way.  Louisa mentions sitting on the terrace of the summer palace and napping in the sun.  Esteban puts his two cents in, commenting that Francisco has gotten a head start, indicating him sleeping on a chair.  On another part of the ship, Elena is hanging out with Naomi and Gabe, practicing with her scepter.  Elena demonstrates a few powers we’ve seen in the past-including envision and glow.  Then she shows off a newly acquired power, which is making objects invisible by saying the word vanish.  She uses Naomi’s lasso for this test.  It works and Elena beams.  Gabe asks how many powers the scepter has.  Naomi chimes in by requesting teasingly if her girlfriend can test them on something else bc she wants her lasso back.  Unfortunately, this is the last time in the movie that we see Elena and Naomi treating each other with the love and respect we’ve come to know they possess.  Just knowing this makes me sad.  Hopefully, they’ll resolve things fully in Snow Place Like Home.  I love how Isa comes up to them and is fully welcome by Elena and not told to go away like most older siblings say to the younger ones when with their friends and significant others.  Isa tells them that Scarlet said they’re almost there.  Elena starts to reminisce about her and Isa’s first paternal cousin, Christobal, telling everyone how she remembers going fishing with him every summer.  Gabe is puzzled and says he thought Esteban  was the girls’ only cousin.  Naomi throws her usual jab at the Chancellor by stating “Leave it to Esteban to exaggerate.”  She lays a hand on Elena’s shoulder, initiating the only loving contact they have for the rest of the movie.    In making that jab at the douche, she exemplifies why I love her so much!  Mateo, yup, he’s there, tells Elena she’ll have plenty of time to reminisce when they arrive and it’s time to get back to practicing.  Come on, dude, give Elena a break!  Mateo encourages her to try to make herself vanish.  Elena protests that she only knows how to make objects vanish.  Mateo is insistent, so our favorite future Avaloran ruler obeys.  Elena, there’s no law that says you must listen to him!  You make the laws or will be doing so in three years!  After trying the power, Elena mildly succeeds.  Her body disappears, but her head is still visible.  Mateo makes a lame joke that doesn’t even make any sense by saying “You’re headed in the right direction.”  Leave the quips to Naomi, por favor.  Elena reforms just as all five of them hear a bell ring, followed by Scarlet yelling about approaching sirenas.  All four young adults have different reactions to Scarlet’s announcement.  Elena is confused, while Mateo is all excited and looking every which way like a puppy who is trying to find his new bone.  Apparently, he’s never seen a sirena before.  Gabe is also curious.  Naomi is ready to obey her parents’ instructions at a second’s notice.  Scarlet commands her to take the wheel, calling Naomi Nomes, which I despise!  Naomi does so while her parents ready the crossbows.  Elena shakes her head upon hearing this and asks why they need the weapons?  And this is where I get a little irritated with Naomi.  I know she’s panicking, but still.  She whirls around and snaps at her girlfriend for no reason.  “Sirenas are dangerous!  Everyone knows that!”  Excuse me, Naomi, everyone knows that?  Not everyone has traveled as extensively or has the knowledge you do.  Especially your girlfriend who was trapped in an amulet for 41 years!  Daniel explains to Elena that sirenas sing a song that put sailors into a trance, crashing their ships.  Even though he too is panicking, he doesn’t snap at her.  Take a lesson from your Dad, Naomi.  Elena points out the sirenas aren’t even singing and Mateo chimes in that he can’t remember the last time sirenas caused a ship wreck.  Still, the Turners go through with their defense plan.  Glancing down into the water, Elena locks eyes with a female sirena.  We later learn her name is Marisa.  In the moment their eyes meet, Elena is captivated in wonderment-never having seen a sirena before this.  I’d like to think  she’s also silently assuring Marisa that she knows Marisa isn’t doing anything wrong and that she, Elena, won’t let any harm come to her.  Meanwhile, Scarlet commands Gabe to get everyone below deck, which he does immediately.  Elena commands Scarlet to stop firing.  Instead of listening, Scarlet fires anyway.  Correct me if I’m wrong, but that’s grounds for treason.  Scarlet defied Elena’s direct command.  Eighteen or not, Elena is in charge.  If she says stop firing, you stop firing-no questions asked.  Scarlet, you just keep slipping further and further down my like meter.  It looks like there’s one more in Esteban’s party on that deserted island if they find one.  Elena keeps her silent promise to Marisa and fires her scepter, knocking Scarlet’s crossbow out of her hands.  This affectively saves Marisa and her male companion from injury.  We switch points of view and see Marisa, her friend and seahorse dude in the water.  We discover that the male friend is actually Marisa’s twin brother.  Marisa is just as amazed by Elena.  She asked if her brother saw what Elena did, then must keep him from retaliating.  She calls him Marzel and tells him to stop!  Marzel argues that the people on the ship tried to fillet them to which Marisa points out,  “But the princesa stopped them with that magic thingy.”  Marzel advises they better leave before she decides to use it on them.  Their seahorse friend agrees, and they dive beneath the waves.  Meanwhile, back on the Turners boat, Naomi again turns on her girlfriend, demanding,  “Why did you do that!”  Elena doesn’t take her crap and shoots back with,  “I’m not going to attack someone who hasn’t attacked me first!”  As much as I love watching Elena stand up for herself, my heart breaks a little more.  I don’t like it when Elena and her future wife fight.  I know it happens in every friendship-whether it’s destined for romance or not.  Even so, it’s still hard for me to watch when it's Elena and Naomi. Meanwhile, under the sea, Marisa and Marzel are swimming towards the palace they share with their parents.  Marzel points out that “Sirenas haven’t sunken a ship since before we were born.  And still Humans come after us.”  Marisa counters with,  “That’s because no one has told them we’ve changed.”  Marzel doubts they would listen.  “Maybe the princess would.  You saw what she did.”  Marzel disagrees.  He shakes his head when he sees an all too familiar look in his Hermana’s eyes.  “I hate that look!”  Marisa ignores him.  “We can tell her, then she can spread the word to the rest of the Humans.”  Their friend tells her to keep dreaming.  Marzel reminds him that’s what Marisa does best.  Marisa declares she’s going to talk to their father.  Marzel tells her she’s wasting her time while watching her swim off.

And that’s where I leave everyone off for now!  Part 2 is coming in a few days!  Feel free to leave comments or send me asks!

[ultrasfcb-blog]

Jolyon Palmer Q&A: Mercedes, Ferrari, Vettel, Raikkonen & Alonso

Jolyon Palmer Q&A: Mercedes, Ferrari, Vettel, Raikkonen & Alonso

Jolyon Palmer Q&A: Mercedes, Ferrari, Vettel, Raikkonen & Alonso

Former F1 driver Jolyon Palmer, who left Renault at the end of 2017, has joined the BBC team to offer insight and analysis from the point of view of the competitors.

In his latest BBC Sport column, Jolyon Palmer gives his views on the title race and the 2019 driver market in a Twitter Q&A.

Are Mercedes mistakes coming from Ferrari’s pressure in pushing the limits of engine and car development? – @calta1985

I think so, yes. The championship is still close and the cars are evenly matched, even if Mercedes seem to have had a bit of an advantage since they brought their upgrades on engine and aero. But in the races, with the mistakes on strategy, Mercedes are feeling more pressure, I’m sure. In Australia and China they lost race wins, and they made a mistake in Austria last Sunday.

Ferrari are doing a good job by and large on strategy and it is a problem that Mercedes would not really have had for the last few years because they have had such a dominant car. So the pressure is up just because they have other people who can beat them if they made mistakes, whereas from 2014-16, even if they made mistakes, they were probably still winning.

Are Sebastian Vettel’s mistakes (like Baku and France first corner) re-countered by Lewis Hamilton’s supposed ‘off’ weekends such as in China and Canada? – @f1fanatic96

I guess so, at the moment. I don’t think Vettel’s mistakes are that big. The crash with Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas at the first corner in France was definitely bigger, but he still finished fifth, so I guess he was lucky in that respect. The Baku one, he went for a move that was on, and just slightly misjudged it, dropping from second, or a possible win, to fourth. But again I don’t think it was a huge mistake.

But Hamilton has these weekends where he can be absolutely sublime, which we have seen already this year in Melbourne, Barcelona and Paul Ricard. But then he can have anonymous weekends as well, like Montreal, where he is normally so strong but this year just didn’t get going.

Vettel is more consistent but making more mistakes, whereas Hamilton is having some blindingly quick weekends and others where he is just shaded by Bottas. Across nine races, so far, it has evened out for there to be nothing in it.

It has been argued that Vettel should not have been given his three-place grid penalty in Austria because he’s in the middle of a championship battle. Do you think there should be a “cut-off” point for penalties to those in a championship fight? – @StegTheDinosaur

No. You have to take every incident in isolation.

Clearly there should be the same penalty for someone whether they are in the title battle or not. But I don’t think Vettel should have got a penalty because it did not affect anything in qualifying. He did clearly block Renault driver Carlos Sainz, but it did not cost anyone in terms of grid positions. The Vettel one was maybe a reaction to everyone thinking his France penalty was light.

Will Raikkonen continue yet another year with Ferrari? If not, what he will do? – @oilinki

It seems not, judging by the reports by Italy’s Gazzetta dello Sport and the BBC in recent days. And if not, I think he will retire.

There have been rumours of him going to McLaren, but he is 39 in October. He has had a good career but he is not performing at his best at the moment, and I don’t see him taking a drive further down the field just to stay in F1. I am not sure he would be motivated enough to do that. But sometimes he is deceptive, so we will have to see.

Fernando Alonso drove a great race for McLaren in Austria. Has he burnt too many bridges to get himself back into a better car? -@lordwaldron

That definitely seems to be the case. He is one of the best drivers out there, and his driving in Austria showed how good he is, driving from a pit lane start up to eighth place in a car that is still massively down on performance.

But the top teams are Red Bull, where he won’t go because he is out of favour, Mercedes, who don’t want him back after he fell out with McLaren in 2007 when they were a shareholder, and Ferrari, who he left to go back to McLaren.

So he has had a good chance in the top teams and has been quite a controversial figure when he has been there, and that is seen as a lot of baggage for the top teams to take on, when they all have good line-ups anyway.

What do you think of the progress made by Force India driver Esteban Ocon in the last two years ? Should he get the Mercedes drive for 2019? – @RafaelDeNito

His progress has been very good. It’s just not as obvious as it should be because the pace of the Force India has dropped away this year. But if you compare him to his team-mate Sergio Perez, who I rate highly, Ocon is doing a very good job. You could argue that, in the same way as Ferrari should take a punt on Leclerc, Ocon should go to Mercedes.

However, Valtteri Bottas is doing a very good job matching Hamilton for pace. He has just been very unlucky, but he seems like a very good partner for Hamilton. Maybe Mercedes would not want to rock the boat, whereas Ferrari have got Raikkonen performing not as well.

It’s a tough call, because Ocon looks very good, but Bottas is also fitting in very well.

How does the Renault works team feel, being embarrassed constantly by their customers Red Bull? -@dibhayles

They’re not embarrassed because they are not spending as much as Red Bull. Even though Renault are a manufacturer team, Red Bull have got far more employees and a far bigger budget.

They would like to close the gap because they are a manufacturer team and the whole reason they came in was to get towards the front, but they are realistic and know it takes a bit of time. Renault are only in their third year. Red Bull took a long time to get to the front, four or five years.

Renault are making progress and they are investing more and more as well, just not as much as the big three teams.

With Williams & McLaren struggling so much, how long do you think it would take for them to get nearer the front again, and is drastic change needed at both to achieve this? – @Amit_Mandalia

Yes, drastic change is needed.

Williams are a long way away and don’t have the budget, drivers or car. In the last couple of years, they have really just fallen massively away with the same engine/chassis package. Don’t forget, Williams-Mercedes had a front-row lock-out in Austria four years ago, and finished third in the championship in 2014 and ’15. Now they are tail-enders, and they don’t have the budget to get out of it, and that’s why they’re taking the drivers they are taking, not necessarily based on talent.

McLaren are a different case but have been on a slide for a while and I think they have got themselves into a spin where they are struggling to diagnose their own problems. That is a serious issue. But if they can get on top of it, they have the resources to at least get themselves back to the upper midfield and then they can put a platform together like Renault.

Will Nico Hulkenberg ever get the break we’ve been told he deserves ? – @joeystrange

Hulkenberg’s chance of a break relies purely on Renault having a championship-winning car again, because the way Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes are all going with their young drivers, I don’t see a chance that Hulkenberg will get in unless there is another Rosberg-like shock departure/retirement, which is the only real reason Bottas is in as well.

It is a tall order for Renault to get into a championship-winning position but, having been his team-mate for a year, I think Hulkenberg is very talented and would deserve a place at the front. But it’s tough to see that happening.

Do you think the virtual safety car rules need looking at if a car can pit during one and gain a huge time advantage? – @Berger_UK

No, not at all. It is the same as a normal safety car. That can be called at any moment and it’s up to the strategists to make the best of what they’ve got. It’s a team sport. In Austria, for example, Mercedes dropped the ball, which cost Hamilton a potential win, until his car failed anyway. But it takes many elements to win a race.

You need the driver, the car, the reliability and the strategy, and the safety car is the same for everyone, apart from in China where I think the timing was slightly unfair on the leaders, because it was called just a couple of seconds after Valtteri Bottas and Sebastian Vettel had passed the pit entry, so they could not benefit and everyone else could.

It is where the strategists come into their own to make the right calls – and for the fans, it clearly makes for a better race.

Which team do you think the remaining races will favour? – @DarkSlayer_09

It is tough to look past Mercedes at the moment, simply because they have had a front-row lock-out for the last two races since they have had their engine and aerodynamic upgrades. They have clearly had the fastest car.

Hamilton is always extremely quick around Silverstone. They have historically gone very well at circuits like Spa and Monza, even if Ferrari have better straight-line speed this year. I just think the development race is going to decide it, and that is heading towards Mercedes.

Jolyon Palmer and the rest of the BBC F1 team – commentator Jack Nicholls, pit-lane reporter Jennie Gow and chief F1 writer Andrew Benson – will be doing a phone-in on BBC Radio 5 live after the British GP from 18:00 BST on Sunday. Race build-up is from 13:00, with the race starting at 14:10.

BBC Sport – Formula 1 ultras_FC_Barcelona

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