#it actually hurts when you look at lando's expressions this closely be careful

[inchidentally]

fan fiction examples for "his eyes softened as he looked at Oscar" "his eyes sparkled when their eyes met" "his face lit up in a smile" etc

can you blame him

[twirlyleafs]

“Bet”

Lando Norris x Verstappen! Reader

TW: Angst, betrayal, huuuurt

A/N: this pained me

~~~~

Lando started to sense something was wrong when you weren’t in the garage after qualifying. Usually, you’d be there, waiting with a bright smile and open arms. Just before he got into the car, he’d kissed you, feeling his chest tighten with affection as you laughed, cheeks dimpling, when he barely ghosted his lips over your skin. Like always, you’d whispered the same playful, “Break a leg,” but then softened, as you added, “Just… be careful, okay?” He’d winked, like he always did, flicked down the visor, and sped away.

When he returned, he instinctively searched for you, expecting that warm, familiar presence, only to feel the slight pang of disappointment settle in his chest when you were nowhere to be found. A hint of a frown tugged at his lips as he asked around, and one of the team members mentioned they thought they’d seen you leave. The uneasy feeling took root in his stomach, coiling tightly.

By the time he checked the Red Bull paddock, Lando was certain something was wrong. He found your brother, Max, and casually tried to play down his worry, not wanting to raise suspicions. Max’s relaxed shrug was far from reassuring. “I haven’t seen her,” he said, and Lando’s heartbeat drummed a little faster. Why would you leave without telling either him or Max? The question buzzed in his mind, feeding his anxiety. He tried texting and calling, but each time he was met with silence, the unanswered messages adding weight to his growing dread. In between interviews, he dialed your number, his patience thinning with every call that went straight to voicemail.

When he finally returned to the hotel room that night, the relief he’d been hoping for evaporated in an instant. You were there, but instead of the embrace he’d longed for, he found you frantically stuffing clothes into your suitcase, your expression stormy, tear-streaked, and entirely closed off.

“Baby?” His voice was tentative, almost afraid, as he quietly shut the door behind him. You didn’t respond, didn’t even look up. He took a few slow steps closer, his hand reaching toward you as if touching you might make you turn to him, might ease whatever pain seemed to radiate from you in waves. “Angel, what’s going on? Are you okay?”

“Save it, Lando.” Your voice cut through the room like a blade, as cold and sharp as he’d ever heard. Lando’s breath hitched, and he withdrew his hand, caught off-guard. He had never seen you like this. His fingers found your arm again, a gentle, almost desperate attempt to ground you, to ground both of you.

But the instant he touched you, you flinched away, spinning to face him with a look that made his heart feel as if it had shattered on impact. Your eyes were red-rimmed, and fresh tears shimmered there, but what undid him was the sheer intensity of your gaze. Anger, betrayal, and hurt mingling together into something he could hardly bear to look at.

“Baby—” he tried, his voice cracking as he spoke, but you cut him off, every word like a dagger.

“Don’t. Don’t you dare call me that.” Your voice wavered despite your anger, and the way it broke only mirrored the turmoil he felt. Lando’s confusion deepened, a tangle of emotions twisting inside him.

“What is going on?” he asked, voice thin with barely restrained panic. His mind raced, every possible explanation slipping out of reach, leaving only the dread settling deeper in his chest.

“I heard them, Lando. I heard them talk about us.” Your lips twisted, the disgust evident in your expression. “How crazy it is that we’ve been together for this long. How crazy it is that you actually kept up a bet,” you took a deep breath. “That a bet has been going on for over a year.”

A surge of cold washed over him as he realized what you were saying, the pit in his stomach opening wider as he saw the pieces fall into place in your mind. His eyes squeezed shut for a split second, regret flooding his face. How could he have been so careless?

“I can explain,” he said quickly, desperate to salvage the fragile remains of the trust he felt crumbling between you two. But the scoff you gave felt like another slap. He reached for you, voice trembling with emotion, “Y/N, please—”

You took a step back, wrapping your arms around yourself as if to shield from him. Your voice broke, anger and sorrow mingling together in a heartbreaking mix. “A bet, Lando? You’re dating me because of a bet?” Tears slipped down your cheeks, and you didn’t bother to brush them away, too devastated to care about holding yourself together.

“No, no, of course not!” He took a hesitant step forward, his hands raised slightly as though approaching something fragile.

“Why?” you choked, hurt radiating from every word. “Why did you let it go on so long? You could have just, had your fun and ended it. But now, after everything we’ve shared, after I’ve—” Your voice caught, and you angrily wiped at your cheeks. “I thought we had something real. I love you, Lando. And you…“

“I love you, too,” he whispered, almost to himself. The sight of you in such pain was unbearable. He gently pushed your suitcase aside, capturing your wrists, and brought your hands to his face, his thumbs brushing away the tears spilling from your eyes. “I love you, baby. Of course I do. God I love you so-.”

“You don’t love me,” you whispered, voice hollow, the spark that once defined your every smile and laugh extinguished. “If you did, you wouldn’t have kept this going. You wouldn’t have let me fall so deeply.”

“Please, it’s not what you think,” he pleaded, voice breaking, his heart pounding in his chest as he held you, praying you’d let him explain. “It was a stupid mistake, something I never took seriously. You have to believe me.”

For a fleeting moment, he saw hesitation in your eyes, a glimmer of hope. But it vanished as quickly as it came, replaced by steely resolve. You pulled your hands away from him, and the emptiness that filled the space between you left him frozen, helpless.

“You’re cruel, Lando. Cruel. And I never want to see you again.”

The weight of your words crushed him. He was drowning in the guilt and the sorrow, unable to breathe as he watched you bend to zip your suitcase, your movements quick and determined. Desperation took over, and he dropped to his knees, his hands pressing down on the suitcase to keep it closed.

“Please, please don’t go,” he gasped, his voice barely above a whisper as the tears fell freely down his cheeks. “Just let me explain, don’t walk away without letting me explain.”

A knock at the door interrupted, and both your heads snapped toward the sound. Your brother’s voice called your name softly, and Lando’s heart sank even further. Max stepped in, his expression darkening as he took in your tear-stained face and Lando’s distressed form on the floor. Instinctively, Max wrapped a protective arm around you, pulling you behind him as if to shield you from the man who had broken your heart.

“Please,” Lando whispered, his voice hoarse, but the words felt useless, meaningless in the wake of the devastation he’d caused. He felt paralyzed as Max picked up your suitcase, his gaze hard and unyielding, offering no sympathy as he guided you toward the door.

And then you were gone, the door clicking shut with a finality that echoed through the silent room, leaving Lando alone, his world collapsing around him. He stayed on the floor, staring blankly ahead, numb with the knowledge that he had lost you.

[passengerprincessblog]

“A Little Attention” ~ Lando Norris x reader short

WARNING: smut, NSFW, lowkey fluff

Summary: Y/N is totally focused on her project, but Lando isn’t having it—he aches for her attention, willing to do anything to pull her away from the endless photos and glitter. When he wraps his arms around her and presses a soft kiss to her neck, all her resolve begins to melt.

I hear the door creak open, followed by a familiar groan echoing through the apartment. Lando’s home. Without looking up, I smirk, focusing on the photo in my hand, carefully cutting it to fit perfectly into the page.

I hear his heavy footsteps padding across the hardwood floors as he walks toward the kitchen table where I’m hunched over, sorting through piles of photos, glitter, and little scraps of decorative paper. The moment he stops right next to me, his shadow looms over my project. I know he’s watching, but I keep my attention fixed on the paper, trying not to laugh.

“You okay?” I ask, keeping my voice casual, as if I haven’t noticed his obvious attempt to make his presence known.

“Oh yeah… totally,” he says, dripping with sarcasm.

I can feel his stare burning into me, but I don’t take the bait, pretending to be fully absorbed in my best friend’s scrapbook. This only seems to fuel his irritation.

“You know…” he says, his tone laced with the tiniest bit of irritation, “you could… maybe fix that piece there.”

I finally glance up, raising an eyebrow as I see him pointing to a tiny, tattered corner on one of the photos. I smile, not giving him the satisfaction of a reaction. “Good eye,” I say sincerely, like I’m actually considering his feedback.

He huffs, louder this time, clearly annoyed that his “constructive criticism” has only been met with politeness. I hold back a laugh as I glue down the next piece.

“Put the photo down, Y/N…” he whines, drawing out each word like a little kid. “My whole body hurts, and here you are… ignoring your boyfriend.”

With an exaggerated sigh, I set down the scissors and turn to face him, my expression one of pure confusion. “Lando, baby, I have to finish this tonight. You know that.”

But he’s not having it. He lets out another exaggerated groan, stepping closer and leaning down to wrap his arms around me from behind. His face is dangerously close to my neck, and I can feel his warm breath on my skin.

“Please, take care of your baby…” he says in that adorable pleading voice, the one he knows I’m weak to. He punctuates it with a soft kiss on my neck, sending a shiver down my spine.

“Lando…” I try to sound annoyed, but my resolve is already cracking. “Come on, I’m so close to finishing.”

“No,” he murmurs against my skin, “I’m taking this away…” He reaches down, gently tugging the piece of paper out of my hand and placing it aside, like he’s grounding me from my project.

“Lando!” I protest, but he’s already smirking, tugging me up from my chair and into his arms. I can’t help but laugh as he presses his forehead to mine, a playful glint in his eye.

“Yes,” he says, his voice low and teasing. His cheeks are flushed, and there’s that mischievous smile tugging at his lips. Before I can argue again, he pulls me closer, his hand finding the back of my neck as he leans down to kiss me.

I melt into him, finally surrendering, wrapping my arms around his neck and letting him steal my attention – just like he wanted. His hands slide to my waist, pulling me even closer, and suddenly, I can’t remember what I was even working on.

I let out a soft gasp as Lando drags me into the bedroom, his hands already working to undress me. "Lando..." I breathe, looking up at him with lust-filled eyes. His own gaze is intense, filled with a desperate need for me.

"I need you, baby," he growls, pushing me down onto the bed. His fingers make quick work of my clothes, tugging them off and tossing them aside carelessly. I'm left bare beneath him, my skin already flushed with desire.

"Please..." I whimper, reaching for him. He answers by pressing his lips to mine in a searing kiss, his tongue delving into my mouth possessively. I moan into the kiss, arching up against him, craving his touch.

His hands roam over my body, caressing every curve and dip. When his fingers find my aching center, I cry out, bucking my hips into his touch. "So wet for me already," he praises, sliding a finger inside me. I clench around him, desperate for more.

He adds a second finger, pumping them in and out, curling them just right to make me see stars. "Lando, please..." I beg, my hands fisting in the sheets. He answers by leaning down, capturing one of my nipples between his teeth, biting down just hard enough to ride the line between pleasure and pain.

"You feel so good," he groans, his voice rough with desire. "I can't wait anymore, I need to be inside you." With his fingers still buried deep, he reaches down, freeing his aching cock from the confines of his pants.

He positions himself at my entrance, teasing me with the head of his dick. I'm practically vibrating with need, desperate to feel him inside me. With a single thrust, he buries himself to the hilt, filling me completely.

"Fuck, you're perfect," he moans, starting up a steady rhythm. Each snap of his hips drives me higher, the pleasure building inside me. I wrap my legs around his waist, urging him deeper, harder.

Our bodies move together in perfect sync, lost in the heat of the moment. With each thrust, I can feel my legs twitch.

His fingers find my clit, rubbing tight circles around the sensitive bundle of nerves. "That's it, baby, let me make you feel good," he coos, his voice dripping with adoration. "You're so perfect, so responsive. I love watching you come undone for me."

I can only moan in response, lost in the overwhelming pleasure. His cock pistoning in and out of me, hitting all the right spots, combined with the relentless stimulation of my clit, is almost too much to bear. "Lando, I... I can't..." I whimper, my body tensing as I teeter on the edge.

"You can and you will," he commands, his grip on my hips tightening. "Come for me, baby. Let go. I've got you." His words, combined with the intensity of his thrusts, send me flying over the edge.

My orgasm crashes over me like a tidal wave, my inner walls clamping down around his cock. "Yes, just like that," he groans, continuing to thrust through my climax, prolonging the intense waves of pleasure. "So beautiful when you let go."

I'm boneless beneath him, my body still trembling from the aftershocks. But he's not done with me yet. He flips me over onto my stomach, pulling my hips up as he enters me from behind. "I love you so much," he murmurs, peppering my back with soft kisses, a stark contrast to the roughness of his thrusts.

His hands roam over my body, squeezing my breasts, pinching my nipples. "You're mine," he growls possessively, his hips snapping harder, faster. "All mine."

I can only nod, too lost in the sensation to form words. He's everywhere, surrounding me, consuming me. I've never felt so owned, so cherished.

"Again," he demands, his fingers finding my clit once more. "Come for me again, baby." His words, combined with the relentless stimulation, send me hurtling towards another peak.

This time, when I fall, it's with a scream of his name.

My body spasms with another intense orgasm, waves of pleasure crashing over me as Lando's skilled fingers work my clit through the aftershocks. "Lando!" I cry out, shocked at how easily he can bring me to the brink.

"That's it, baby, let it all out," he praises, his voice rough with his own impending release. "You're so responsive, so perfect."

Each thrust of his hips grows more erratic, more desperate. I can feel him throbbing inside me, ready to explode.

The added stimulation sends me flying once more, my inner walls clenching around him like a vice. "Fuck, I'm gonna..." he groans, his thrusts becoming erratic. With one final snap of his hips, he buries himself deep, his cock pulsing as he fills me with his hot cum.

We collapse together onto the bed, both panting and spent. He rolls us onto our sides, still buried deep inside me, unwilling to separate our joined bodies. "That was incredible," he murmurs, pressing soft kisses to my shoulder. "You're amazing."

I can only nod, too blissed out to form words. I've never experienced anything like that before, never been able to cum so easily, so intensely. And the fact that he came too, filling me with his essence, makes it all the more special.

We lay there for a while, basking in the afterglow, our bodies entwined. When he finally slips out of me, I feel a twinge of loss, but the warmth of his embrace more than makes up for it.

"I love you," he whispers, his voice thick with emotion. "I love you so fucking much."

"I love you too," I reply, tangling my fingers in his hair. "More than anything."

————————————

Forgive me for anything that doesn’t make sense or typos. I didn’t get to review this well.

Please like and follow! It means a lot!

[fanfictionismyaddiction]

Crash Course

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3

word count: 822

pairing: Lando Norris x driver!reader

summary: Y/n returns to the paddock after recovering from her injuries, and Lando confronts her with his growing feelings

______________________________________________________________

The days following the crash were a blur for Y/n, filled with recovery sessions and endless interviews about the accident. The media buzzed with speculation, talking more about the rivalry between her and Lando than about the championship itself. Everyone wanted to know if the tension between them had reached a breaking point.

But Y/n couldn’t stop thinking about what Lando had said. His confession kept replaying in her mind, stirring something she hadn’t allowed herself to feel before. She kept pushing it aside, trying to focus on her recovery and the upcoming races, but it lingered in the back of her thoughts, persistent and confusing.

A few days later, Y/n was back at the paddock, still moving a little stiffly but determined to show everyone she was ready to race again. She walked through the garage, her team bustling around her, making sure everything was in place for the next practice session.

As she sat down to review some data, she felt a presence behind her before she heard the voice.

“Back so soon?” Lando’s voice was light, but she could hear the edge of concern behind it.

Y/n glanced over her shoulder, seeing him leaning casually against the wall, hands in his pockets. He looked relaxed, but his eyes were studying her closely, as if assessing whether she was really okay.

“Did you expect me to stay away?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. “I can’t let you have all the fun, can I?”

Lando smirked, pushing off the wall and walking closer. “Just making sure you’re not pushing yourself too hard.”

“I’m fine,” Y/n insisted, though the slight wince as she shifted in her seat betrayed her.

Lando noticed, his eyes narrowing slightly. “You sure about that?”

Y/n sighed, rolling her eyes. “You sound like my doctor.”

“Maybe I should be,” he teased, but there was an underlying sincerity in his tone. “Look, I just… I don’t want to see you get hurt again.”

Y/n paused, the playful banter between them losing its edge. There it was again—that concern, that softness. She wasn’t used to this version of Lando, and it made her feel off-balance.

“Why do you care so much?” she asked quietly, looking up at him.

Lando hesitated, his playful smile fading. He glanced around to make sure no one was within earshot before sitting down on the chair next to hers. “Because I meant what I said, Y/n. After the crash, when you almost collapsed… I realized how much I care. More than I probably should.”

Her heart skipped a beat, the air around them growing thick with tension. “Lando…”

“I know we’re rivals,” he continued, his voice low and serious. “And we’re both fighting for the championship, but… that doesn’t change how I feel.”

Y/n’s pulse quickened, her thoughts racing. This was happening—he was actually saying it, putting into words what had been unspoken between them for so long. She opened her mouth to respond, but no words came out. How could she explain the way she felt, when she wasn’t even sure herself?

Seeing her hesitation, Lando sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “Look, I get it. This is complicated. And if you don’t feel the same way, we can forget it—”

“No,” Y/n interrupted, her voice firm. She took a deep breath, gathering her thoughts. “It’s not that. I just… I’ve been so focused on beating you, on proving I’m the best, that I didn’t stop to think about anything else.”

Lando’s eyes softened, a glimmer of hope flickering in his expression. “And now?”

Y/n looked at him, the weight of her feelings settling in her chest. “Now, I’m starting to realize there’s more to this than just the rivalry.”

For a moment, they sat in silence, the noise of the paddock fading into the background as they looked at each other, a silent understanding passing between them. The tension that had always existed between them was still there, but it had changed—shifted into something neither of them had expected.

Lando leaned in slightly, his voice barely above a whisper. “So… what now?”

Y/n swallowed hard, her heart racing. She knew they couldn’t just flip a switch and change everything. They were still competitors, still fighting for the same title. But maybe—just maybe—they could be something more, too.

“I guess we see what happens,” she replied softly, her eyes locking with his.

Lando’s lips curled into a small smile. “I like the sound of that.”

Before they could say anything else, Y/n’s team called her over for a briefing. She stood up, feeling Lando’s eyes on her as she turned to leave. Just before she walked away, she glanced back at him, a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips.

Maybe this wasn’t the end of their rivalry—but it could be the beginning of something else. Something that neither of them had been prepared for, but now seemed impossible to ignore.

[weraceasone]

Summary of Max Verstappen’s documentary ‘Whatever It Takes’

TRIGGER WARNING: abuse • the whole documentary can be summed up in two words: ‘Jos Verstappen’. he talks more than Max and almost everything is about him and how “he made this happen”. there’s only about ten minutes that actually focus on Max as a person. Max’ karting days: • Max actually played football for a bit and liked that more but Jos didn’t like that so he had to stop • Max’ parents got divorced and Max went to live with Jos while his sister Victoria went to live with their mom Sophie and Victoria said to be separated from her brother hurt her a lot • a close friend of Max said that even when Max won, Jos wouldn’t be happy because Max would have made a small mistake and the friend recalls Jos flipping out on Max several times • literally EVERYONE in the whole documentary mentioned how Jos would get angry if Max didn’t do well on track • Max recalls being called “a (r slur) asshole” and “a stupid pig” by Jos and said that was a summary of how karting was for him • when Max lost a race in Italy, Max started crying and Jos just smashed all of their stuff into the van. a friend recalls being scared of Jos and comforting Max, but Jos didn’t appreciate him comforting Max. Max wanted to drive home with that friend but Jos didn’t allow that. this is when Jos left Max alone at a gas station, in the middle of Italy. Max called his mom crying and then Jos came back for Max but he didn’t talk to him for a week • Sophie said that she missed Max a lot when he was growing up and she thinks Max feels sorry but he doesn’t know how to express that so he visits her often and texts her a lot. she said “I feel as if this is his way of making amends” • they dedicated a whole ten minutes to Jos F1 career and how he was a second driver so his team didn’t focus on him too much and that’s why he wasn’t able to show his potential (sound familiar? lol)

Max’ Formula 1 career: • Mercedes were interested in Max, but Jos lied to them and said Toro Rosso wanted Max for two years instead of the actual one year Helmut Marko offered so Mercedes ended up declining • Max knew they were going to drop Daniil for him half a year before it actually happened. he said “I can say that now, can I? yeah who cares, I’ll say that now” • Jos almost starts crying when he talks about the moment when Max got into F1 and he couldn’t control him anymore (that’s literally what he said) • Max justifies this by saying; “I just don’t feel that emotion cause I don’t have any kids. I mean, not that I know of” • Max says he doesn’t listen to the Dutch fans because “they don’t even understand the sport” • there’s a shot in which Max gets a haircut in Monaco and the hairdresser asks “are you here for the Grand Prix?” and Max says “yeah, yeah I am” and the hairdresser says “back in the day, drivers used to come by my salon” (💀) • Max’ mom burns a candle for him every race weekend because she believes it’s good luck and then she always sends a picture of that candle to Max. Max shows all the pictures to the camera while laughing

the last ten minutes that are actually focused on Max: • on Max’ birthday back in 2019, Daniel texts him “birthday boy, are you ok?” and then they show Max and Daniel getting drunk on the plane the night before. Max recalls “oh yeah, I remember that night…”. then they show a video of Max not being able to find the key for his apartment door and then struggling to open the door. then Victoria and her boyfriend are in the apartment to surprise him but Max just looks drunkenly at them and doesn’t say anything (LMAOOOO) • just a lot of shots of Max getting drunk and partying • Max’ friends talk about how Max pays for the holidays with his friends because he says he doesn’t deserve that amount of money and he wants to share it with his friends • his friends call him introverted, he likes to be alone and just race on his simulator • Max mentions how he loves F1, but he actually doesn’t want to get recognized in real life and he wishes he could change that • Max plays Fifa in his pajamas and screams “SHIT STUFF” then goes to his simulator and says “let’s try something I’m actually good at” • Max just wants to enjoy himself in life and he says he is my honest review: don’t watch it if you expect it to be focused on Max, cause it’s not. Daniel’s name is not even mentioned, there’s no Lando, no teammates and barely any focus on how Max actually is as a person. it’s literally just Jos Verstappen talking about all the sacrifices he made.

[someone-worth-racing-for]

When @welshie72 has commented this under my post from today (see above), I got so inspired that I just needed to write this down..

So, thank you @welshie72 for the unintended inspiration 😉🤗

Carlos had currently been telling Lando some story about his days in Spain during last week, when they drove around the corner to their hotel and the smile the younger one had gifted his former teammate the entire ride long suddenly faded away from his lips from one second to the other.

Even more, his whole face had paled, while Lando’s suddenly in panic widened eyes also weren’t focused on Carlos anymore. Not knowing what had happened and why Lando was suddenly feeling this way, the Spaniard asked carefully “Lando? Are you okay?”

He could see and even hear the younger one swallowing hard, his eyes still fixed on something outside the wind shield. Carlos finally followed his eyes, just to see the massive crowd of people right in front of their hotel. “Wow, there are a lot of people.” The Spaniard said more to himself than to his friend. It was really the first big crowd of fans since already over one year.

“Can we.. Isn’t there maybe another entrance to the hotel?” Lando finally said with a thin, shaking voice and then his friend finally understood. Lando was scared about those many people waiting there for him, the whole scene probably remembered him about the Wembley incident from a few weeks ago.

Carlos was aware about what that night had caused by the younger one. His already before always present fear of crowds like these only became worse since that incident. Lando had also told him, that he had nightmares since those happenings and Carlos himself had experienced it first hand the way Lando shrugged together, whenever someone touched him without him noticing the person being that close to him before.

The Spaniard hated it to see his friend all frightened, insecure and angsty like that. Already now all shaking and sweating next to him. His face looked dangerously pale and his eyes also already began to glisten in fear and panic.

Quickly, because he could never deal to see his friend like that, not even mention the big weak spot Carlos had for his former teammate, he reached out to take his cold hands into his and gave them a soft, reassuring squeeze, before he whispered “Lando, hey. It’s okay. Don’t worry, yeah. We will get through this together.”

Lando really tried to return the so well-meant smile of the older one, but he failed pitifully, his smile looked still more tortured than relieved in the end, why Carlos finally really asked the taxi driver if there was another possibility to get into the hotel. To Carlos, but especially to Lando’s horror, the man only shook his head. There was no other way, they had to get through the crowd.

“Carlos.” His friend cried out, holding his hands even tighter, while the panic already seemed to take the upper hand over him. The Spaniard tried to shush him, to calm down his tensed nerves, before he promised “You don’t have to get through this alone, cariño. I’m by your side and make sure no one will come too close to you, okay? You will see, we will be inside the hotel in less than one minute.”

Carlos almost regrated his promise, when the car finally stopped and they were instantly surrounded by hundreds of fans. But of course he will still keep his promise, he will do everything to get Lando inside the safety of the hotel as quickly as possible.

“You ready?” He finally asked back over his shoulder to a very frightened looking Lando, who had nothing with the Lando of just a few minutes ago in common. But still, the boy eventually nodded his head, even when Carlos knew at the same time, that he best wanted to stay inside the taxi forever.

“Alright. I will go first. Just keep on holding my hand.” Once again, Lando nodded his head, he did look relieved about the body contact and that Carlos will stay that close to him. Also the Spaniard gave him a little nod, before he finally opened the door and quickly climbed out of the car.

A very shaking and frightening looking Lando followed him instantly, never letting go off his hand during the process. All those people around them, them screaming their names, holding items into their direction and trying to get even closer to them, scared Lando to his bones, why he pressed himself all closely into his friend’s side.

Even over the noises of the crowd, he could hear Lando whimper in fear and he could also feel him shaking next to his side. Luckily, also some securities were instantly by their sides, trying to shield up as many fans as possible. Carlos squeezed Lando’s hand in support once again, while looking down at him and studying his nervous expression.

“C’mon then.” The Spaniard decided, because he wanted to bring his friend out of here as fast as possible, knowing that he couldn’t handle this for too long. Surrendered by the securities, Carlos made his way through the crowd, right into the direction of the entrance of their hotel.

So far so good, they had almost already made half of the way. Carlos was holding Lando’s hand all tightly, while the boy had his other hand wrapped around his arm as well, trying so to be as close as possible to him, so no one could take them apart.

The older one could already see the entrance of the hotel and for a brief moment he already felt relieved, when Lando right behind him suddenly began to scream from the volume of his lungs. With in concern widened eyes, Carlos instantly turned around and could only see how some fan was holding Lando back by his wrist.

Carlos was sure that the fan didn’t have any bad intentions, but still the body contact and the fact that the fan tried to hold him back, caused Lando to freak out. The fan instantly let go, when they noticed their idol’s reaction and panic, Carlos could even hear an apology, but that didn’t help Lando at all at the moment. The boy felt right back into that one night, right back into one of his biggest nightmares.

The moment his hand was free from the fan’s grip, the young Brit searched for protection in his former teammate’s arms, crashing into his embrace, literally pressing himself against his chest with wrapping his arms all tightly around his belly. His shoulders were already jumping because of those deep sobs escaping his lips, causing Carlos to realize that he really had to get the boy out from here. Right now.

“I have got you, Lando. Everything will be good. We are almost there.” The older one whispered reassuring into his curls, while he did manoeuvre themselves finally into the safety of the hotel. Carlos made sure that no one came too close to Lando again, shielding him completely, when he had pulled him even closer into his embrace, while whispering calming words into his hairline. He was carrying the boy in his arms, when he even ran the last distance.

The moment they stepped onto the marble floor of the lobby, the doors closed behind them and the noises of the crowd got quieter, Carlos whispered into his friend’s curls “It’s over, cariño. You are safe. No one can get too close to you any more.”

But still, Lando didn’t or maybe also couldn’t stop crying into the curve of his friend’s neck, holding all tightly onto him by the back of his shirt, not willing to let go anytime soon. One of those securities gave Carlos a questioning look, if everything was alright with the younger one in his arms or if he had maybe got hurt.

The Spaniard gave the man a quick nod, telling him so that he was alright and that he will take care of him. And oh, how Carlos will. And he also promised the younger one, when he whispered so into his hairline “It’s okay. I have got you. I will take care of you, cariño.”

The quickest way, Carlos hurried over to the elevators bringing them upstairs. He was cradling the still crying and shaking boy in his arms, while they waited for the elevator to finally stop on their floor. Luckily Carlos’ room wasn’t that far away, being then finally alone, after he had kicked the door of his hotel room close with his feet behind their backs.

All gently, he dropped Lando on top of his bed, joining him instantly to carefully pull the boy up his body, so he could rest against his chest. Carlos had lost his sense of time, since how long the two of them were already laying like that. Lando in his arms, still lightly shaking from the shock, but it had already become better.

After the older one had pulled the duvet over their bodies, also his friend’s heartbeat finally steadied and at some point even his sobs and tears stopped. But still Lando kept quiet. He seemed to enjoy the closeness with his former teammate and also the comforting warmth. He had even buried his face once even deeper into his friend’s shirt, while his lips had also left sounds of comfort and gratefulness.

And even though Lando was already feeling better again, Carlos didn’t let go off him. The contrary, actually. He probably won’t stop holding him for the rest of the evening, humming soft Spanish melodies into his curls and kissing his forehead in affection.

He was pretty sure that Lando was already on his way into the land of dreams, with hearing his soft, regular breaths and how relaxed his body felt against his own. But still, shortly before he did indeed fall asleep in his best friend’s arms, Lando whispered with his last strength “Thank you.”

“Don’t worry, cariño. I will always be there for you, whenever you need me.” Carlos breathed into his curls with a tender smile on his lips and only minutes later, also the Spaniard followed his friend into the land of dreams.

[lallyloo]

The Ball Bath

(Yesterday ~someone~ sent me a link to the Testicuzzi website and suggested that it would be a great gift for Rhett to give to Link.. Apparently I can’t resist crack fic prompts so here we are..)

Having both families together at Christmas is a new thing, and there’s excitement in the air as everyone tears at their gifts. With kids and adults distracted unwrapping, Rhett leans over to slip a gift bag to Link. He’s got a mischievous grin on his face, and Link furrows his brow at him, smirks, and takes the gift from him.

Link reaches inside the bag and pulls out a square-shaped object wrapped in tissue paper. He carefully unwraps it and looks at it for a second. It appears to be a large ashtray so Link turns it around in his hand to get a better look at it. There are letters on one side.

Testicuzzi

“What’s that, Dad?”

Link jumps a little, nearly dropping the testicuzzi. “What?”

“That.” From his spot on the floor, Lando points to the thing in Link’s hand. “What is it?”

“Oh it’s a– ” Link quickly slides his thumb over the lettering and holds it up for Lando to see, “it’s an ashtray.”

“For what?”

“Ashes.”

“But you don’t smoke.”

“That’s right, and you shouldn’t either.”

Link drops the testicuzzi back into the gift bag and crams it down between his thigh and the chair.

Lando gives him an odd look but doesn’t ask anything more and his attention turns back to his own gifts.

Link shoots a glance Rhett’s way and he finds Rhett smirking at him.

Later, when the kids are off in another room distracted by their new gifts, Link, Rhett, and Jessie finish tidying up the last bits of torn wrapping paper, ribbons, and bows. Christy is out in the kitchen checking on the turkey, and Link has the gift bag shoved under his arm, where it’s been since he left the chair he’d been sitting in.

There’s a twitter of laughter from behind him and then Jessie says “Link, you gonna test out your little hot tub?”

Link spins around to look at her, his eyes wide, “does everyone know about this thing?”

“Everyone but you, hun,” Jessie winks, “Rhett’s been itching to get his balls into it.”

“Hey,” Rhett says loudly from across the room, “please don’t say itchin’ and my balls in the same sentence.”

Jessie just laughs. “You two should go somewhere private and test it out.”

“Right now?”

Jessie waves them off. “Dinner’s already cooking, and Christy’s opening the wine. We don’t need you guys around right now. Go hop in the hot tub together.”

“I don’t think we’ll both fit,” Rhett interrupts. “You know I got big– ”

“Hush!” Jessie laughs, gesturing to the other room where the kids are. “We know, but they don’t want to know. I’m sure you two can make it work.”

Christy steps into the room holding two glasses of wine. She hands one to Jessie, and then looks over at Link who is still holding the bag under his arm. “What’re you up to?”

“He’s about to go test out his ball bath,” Jessie answers for him, and Christy laughs.

Link just stares at her. “You knew about this too?”

“It’s all Rhett’s been talkin’ about for weeks. I’m surprised he didn’t let it slip to you.” Christy gestures to the doorway. “You boys better hurry before supper’s ready.”

Rhett walks over and takes the bag from under Link’s arm and pulls him towards the door. “Come on, let’s go upstairs.”

“Ball bath!?” Christy’s laughter trickles into the hallway behind them as Jessie replies, “Sack soak?”

Link can still hear the girls laughing as he follows Rhett up the stairs.

“What in the world made you buy me this?” Link whispers as they walk.

“Well you like your bidet so much,” Rhett replies, looking back over his shoulder, “I thought you’d like a bath for your balls.”

It’s true, Link does love his bidet. So having a tiny bath for his testicles might be nice.

“Does it actually work?”

“I don’t know,” Rhett laughs, “but we’re gonna find out.”

They step into Link’s bedroom and Link shuts and locks the door behind them. He sets the bag on the bed and heads to the bathroom to fetch some towels. He can hear the clink of Rhett’s belt buckle and by the time he’s back with an armful of towels Rhett is already stripped naked.

“You in a hurry, brother?”

“Man, I’ve been waitin’ to test out this thing!” Rhett replies. “I already put batteries in it and everything! I was gonna try it at home but Jessie said it was your gift so I should wait for you.”

Link shoots him a hurt look, though he’s not really hurt over it. “You were gonna do it without me?”

“Just to test it! I was gonna do it with you too,” Rhett smiles, gesturing to his naked body, “and look, here I am.”

“Well, help me put these towels down and then we’ll get some water. I assume it needs water.”

“Yeah,” Rhett speads out a towel at their feet, “pretty sure that’s all it needs.”

“And balls.”

Rhett laughs. “And balls.”

They get the towels spread out and Rhett volunteers to fill the testicuzzi with water while Link undresses.

"Hot?" Rhett calls to him.

"Yeah, but not crazy hot. Don't wanna burn my boys"

He can hear Rhett chuckling to himself in the bathroom, "Your boys.."

Link strip off his clothes, not wanting to risk getting them wet, and he’s naked when Rhett returns. Rhett’s balancing the little hot tub carefully, trying not to spill any water on the floor.

"You can go first" Rhett offers, and Link smiles at him. It’s his gift, but he knows Rhett’s been waiting to try it, so its a nice gesture.

"You want me to hold it for you? Or you wanna..?" Rhett awkwardly offers him the testicuzzi, hesitating a bit as if he's trying to decide whether to put it in Link’s hand or hold it down near his balls.

"I'll hold it the first time," Link replies, taking the device from Rhett and switching it on.

The water starts to bubble immediately and the little hot tub emits a low hum and a bubbly sound as the water churns.

Link glances up at Rhett who is looking at him expectantly.

"You sure this is safe?"

"Yeah, man,” Rhett nods, “it's battery powered. It's not gonna zap you."

Link lowers the machine towards his groin.

"And you're shooting blanks anyway so.."

"Dude!"

"I'm joking! Well, not about the blanks.."

"Rhett, shut up!"

"Link, you're gonna be fine."

They just look at each other for a moment.

"You want me to go first?" Rhett offers.

"No," Link says, "I'm gonna do it. Just shut up."

He lowers the machine a bit further while trying to look down at it at the same time.

"So my balls go in there.. but where's my dick go?"

Rhett reaches out to tap the little silicone piece on the top. "Right there, like a little bench."

Link lifts his flaccid dick, pulling it up so he can maneuver his balls into the mini hot tub. He's hunched over a little awkwardly, his hips jutting out, and he's up on his tiptoes as if somehow that will help.

Rhett is standing right in front of him, watching closely, ready to lend a hand if Link needs it. He's watching with curiosity as Link lowers his sack into the bubbles.

"Oh.." Link says, almost unsure about it at first because his testicles feel like they’re floating in the swirling water. He rests his dick on the silicone and he’s surprised to find he’s already growing hard as the hot water licks and teases at his balls.

Rhett watches as his cock swells. "Does it feel good?"

"Yeah, it’s kinda moving them around in there," Link replies, trying to find the right words to describe it. "It feels nice."

Rhett laughs. "Just nice?"

"I mean, yeah, it's warm and wet and just.. nice."

He soaks in it for a few minutes, just enjoying the warm tickly feeling. Rhett watches, seemingly interested as he leans down to examine it and looks back up to check Link’s expression.

Eventually Rhett reaches down and grips his dick with one hand and cradles his balls in the other, as if he’s debating whether or not to step forward and shove them in alongside Link’s.

After staring for a bit longer, he tries it, pushing his balls against Link’s groin, trying to slip them into the water. But it’s clear there’s no way two sets of testicles will fit.

“I don’t think my balls are gonna fit in there with you,” Rhett finally says.

Link shakes his head. “Definitely not.”

Rhett lets go of his sack and stares, distracted, as he gives his half-hard dick a slow tug.

“Can I put my hand in?”

“Yeah.”

There’s not really room for his whole hand, but he eases a few fingers in and gently touches Link’s balls, cupping his sack as best he can and and running his fingers along it.

“Feels soft.”

“Yeah..” Link smiles, his voice trailing off, “it’s the water..”

His cock is full, resting on the silicone, but he’s long and the head of it is right off the bench. He drips a little from the end of it and Rhett is distracted by it as he eases his hand out of the hot tub.

“Is that just water, or..” Rhett thumbs at it and lets out an “ahh” when he realizes it’s slick.

He immediately drops to his knees and takes the tip of Link’s dick in his mouth.

“Oh god, Rhett..” Link watches him, enjoying the warmth of Rhett’s lips and tongue on him combined with the warmth of the churning water. “That feels good..”

He tips his head back, throwing himself off balance for a second and some water sloshes out of the testicuzzi.

“Careful,” Rhett says, his voice a low rumble, and Link knows Rhett isn’t really worried about the water. He’s likely more concerned that Link will get distracted by it and want to pause what they’re doing so he can clean it up.

But Link isn’t even thinking about the water, he can only focus on Rhett’s mouth on him and the ticklish warmth rushing around his balls. Rhett sucks him deeper, pulling his cock up off the silicone, and Link thrusts his hips forward, sloshing more water onto the floor.

“Gonna be empty,” Rhett grumbles as he licks over him.

“We can refill it,” Link gasps, reaching down to card his fingers through Rhett’s hair.

Rhett gives him another slow suck. “You wanna go like this?”

It takes a moment for Link to even realize what he’s talking about and he shakes his head, pulling his dick out of Rhett’s mouth. “You need a turn.”

Link is frantic with it suddenly, wanting to be fair, and wanting Rhett to see how it feels before they come. He eases his balls out of the water and they feel a little sensitive and soft after being in the bubbles for so long. The cool air hits them and they shrink up a little, pulling in closer to his body.

He grabs Rhett by the forearm, trying to ease him up off the floor. “I’m gonna refill it and you can go.”

“You sure?” Rhett stands, wrapping a hand around his cock and giving it another stroke, and Link realizes he’d been too distracted by the blowjob to notice Rhett was already hard.

“Yeah,” Link grins at him, “you’ve been waiting. You’re gonna love it.”

Link rushes into the bathroom, his own dick still hard between his legs, and he refills the device with hot water. Rhett’s standing in the same spot when he returns, holding his dick in one hand and his balls in the other. He looks excited as he waits to dip them, so Link just reaches over with the device and holds it still while Rhett eases his sack in.

Rhett immediately lets out a high pitched giggle. “Oh ho ho ho ho! Ohhhh!”

Link just grins up at him, holding the little hot tub in place. “You alright, brother?”

“It tickles so much!” Rhett’s eyes close and Link can see his body tense up. “It’s like tickle fingers for my balls!”

“You like it?”

“Man, I LOVE IT.”

“You want me to– ” Link gestures awkwardly, trying to figure out how he can make Rhett feel good while also holding the bubbling device in place. “I can– if you just hold– ”

“Okay, yeah,” Rhett regains his senses for just a moment, attempting to grab the testicuzzi, but he’s overcome with the tickle sensation again, “ohhhh hee hee ahhhhh oh ho ho! Oh god! Oh god it tickles!”

Rhett’s hand moves from the device up to Link’s shoulder and settles there, gripping tightly as if he’s using Link for balance.

“Dude.”

“Just hold it,” Rhett gasps, “hold it there. I might come just like this. I might.. Oh god, Link, it’s so tickly...”

Rhett’s stiff cock rests on the little silicone bench and Link watches as it strains and leaks.

“It really feels that good for you?”

“Man,” Rhett gasps, “you should know, you were leakin’ too. Ahhhh ha ha ohhhhh god!”

Link stares at him, wide-eyed, holding the bubbling device in one hand while Rhett loses his mind in the testicuzzi. With Rhett’s hand on his shoulder, Link is sort of stuck in one place and can’t bend down to suck him off. He could stroke him a bit, but Rhett seems more than happy with his current situation, so after a moment of consideration Link licks his fingertips and raises his free hand to slide a couple fingers over Rhett’s nipple, teasing.

“Oh fuck...” Rhett breathes, “yeah, do that, Link, do that, ohhh..”

Link skims his wet fingers over him, teasing one nipple and then the other, giving them each a soft slick pinch before licking his fingers and starting again.

Rhett’s eyes are closed, his head tipped back, and soft little ‘ahh haa haa ahhh’ sounds fall from his mouth as his balls bob around in the bubbling water, and his dick lifts and strains on the tiny silicone bench as Link slicks wetness over his nipples.

“I’m gonna come,’ he groans, “Fuck, Link, I’m gonna come.”

“You want me to– ”

“No, just keep– ahhh fuck..”

Rhett’s grip tightens on Link’s shoulder, and Link watches as Rhett’s dick pulses and shoots, untouched, spurting ropes of white cum onto the towels on the floor.

After a moment, Rhett eases his head up and gives Link a lazy blissed-out smile as he lifts his balls out of the testicuzzi. Their lack of time seems to dawn on him suddenly and he grabs for the device, motioning for Link to put his balls back in it. They’re in a hurry, because they know dinner will be ready soon, and Rhett is anxious to make Link come.

“Your turn! It’s your turn again.”

Link waves away the device “I don’t want that.”

“You don’t? What’d’ya want?”

Link grins. “Just your mouth.”

“Well that’s easy,” Rhett grins back at him and steps forward.

“Watch it!” Link warns. “You’re gonna step in jizz!”

Rhett bends down and grabs the offending towel, crumpling it up and firing it through the bathroom door. Then he kneels in front of Link and reaches for him, grabbing the back of one thigh and pulling him forward. “C’mere.”

Rhett takes Link in his mouth and Link sighs as he’s enveloped in soft wet heat.

As Rhett sucks, his hand comes up to touch Link’s balls, rubbing gently over them. Link can tell they’re still smooth and soft from their soak.

“Soft?” he asks, and Rhett hums confirmation against his dick.

Rhett slides his tongue down, licking over the smooth skin of Link’s balls. It’s different than the usual feel of it, better, and Link spreads his legs wider, planting his feet as he slips his fingers into Rhett’s hair.

Rhett licks over him, and Link’s legs are trembling as Rhett sucks on the tip of his dick and fingers over his balls, slick and wet and smooth and soft, teasing the water-soaked sensitive skin there.

Link sighs, “feels so good.. so soft..”

The words seem to push Rhett on, and he’s sucking Link down, taking him as far as he can as he strokes and teases his balls. Link can feel his climax coming, starting right where Rhett’s fingers touch him and rushing through his sack and straight up his dick.

“Rhett..” he manages to choke out, and Link can only grip Rhett’s hair as he comes.

Rhett’s hands move to grab Link’s thighs and he pulls him as close as he can, burying his face in Link’s groin as Link’s dick pulses in his mouth and shoots wet heat down his throat.

There’s a soft knock at the door, and Link quickly pulls his spent dick out of Rhett’s mouth.

Jessie’s voice echoes from the other side, “Dinner’s almost on the table. You boys better get dry and get downstairs.”

“Almost done,” they reply in unison, and they can hear her laugh as she heads back downstairs.

Link leans over to cup Rhett’s chin and kiss him.

“Maybe you should take that thing home with you. I think you like it more than I do.”

Rhett gives him a mild look of disappointment. “You don’t like it?”

“Dude, I like it.. But you came all over my floor and we didn’t even touch your dick.”

“Okay, true.” Rhett smiles and gestures to Link’s groin. “But it made your balls nice and soft.”

“It did,” Link laughs. “So maybe I’ll come to your place and use it sometimes.”

“Deal.”

They quickly wash up and redress, and Link shoves the testicuzzi back in the bag before tucking it under Rhett’s arm. They give each other a quick kiss and then they head downstairs for Christmas dinner.

“Great ashtray,” Rhett says loudly as they walk down the stairs to rejoin the rest of the house.

Link laughs, “shut up.”

[griftercricket]

Information on Kaz can be found under the cut! 

Biography

Roya Kazemi

Roya was born on the road. Both of her parents were professional scammers, spending their lives travelling. They made their own rules, living outside of the law and never remaining in one place long enough to get caught. Their specialty was small towns, the kind of places the Emperor and those who serve him cared so little for that they didn’t even bother investigating their crimes. Their only child, Roya, was born on the backseat of their car, pulled over on the side of the road. They were back on their way within the hour, heading towards their next target. 

For as long as she can remember, Roya has been adored. Her parents showered her with praise, constantly telling her how pretty she was, how clever she was, and granted her every request. Despite spending most of her childhood on the road, she never wanted for anything, and knew everything she owned was stolen. Her parents passed their trade on to her, positioning it like a game, and the thrill of taking what was not hers is a feeling as familiar as an old friend to Roya. 

As she grew under her parents tutelage, Roya grew greedy and entitled. She believed that if she could get away with taking something, she deserved to have it. However, petty theft and small-scale operations ceased to satisfy her like they used to. By the time she was in her late teens, newly an adult and unfamiliar with any other life but the one her family had shown her, she was already looking to something bigger and better. The only trouble was, building something bigger was hard to do when you had to start from scratch every few weeks. Just before her twentieth birthday, Roya bid goodbye to her parents, and set off for the first time on her own.

Mystic Roya

Her first few months in the city weren’t easy. She had never even seen an attempt at putting roots down, and had no clue how to do it for herself. That changed when her mark appeared. Every resourceful, Roya had always had a lucky streak. With her mark, her life-long bout of good fortune made all the more sense. Suddenly, the path ahead was clear. 

It was the biggest con of her life, setting up as “genuine” psychic. She assumed there would be a learning curve, a certain art to reading people that she would learn over time. For the most part, people were far less complicated than they liked to believe themselves to be. All it took was a few vague statements from Roya, blanket “predicitions” that could have applied to anybody. It wouldn’t have been enough on it’s own, but when combined with her talismans, created with her powers and sold to desperate believers, it was hard to deny the power of Mystic Roya. When she promised good luck, she delivered. When she promised love, it was found. She laughs about it behind closed doors, delighting in the games she plays with those who reach out to her for spiritual guidance, but at least she’s laughing all the way to the bank.

Casino Kaz

She loves what she does- really, she does, but Roya has never been very good at the monotonous life. Being in one place for so long is stifling enough, without succumbing to something as mundane as regularity. Roya was naturally restless to begin with, but the storm in which she grew up in only exaggerated this trait. The psychic fraud was fun, and she has no intention of giving it up, but the need for something more developed. Having spent her life chasing thrills, she’s never done well when the thrills disappear. 

Having done so well with her first cultivated persona, it made sense to add another deception to her bow. Mystic Roya was one aspect of who she was, not-quite her, but with enough of her in it to come naturally. The second side of the coin was easier still to slip into. Kaz. Unlike Mystic Roya, there was nothing spiritual about Kaz. They gambled, and cheated, and conned and lied, and loved every minute of it. 

The thrill has always faded quickly, but for Kaz, every day is different, every game is different. It’s enough to keep the excitement alive, and something about her double life keeps her even more exhilarated. Though she still chases excitement where she finds it, for the most part, she’s totally content, happy amassing her fortune and revelling in her success. 

Headcanons

Her mark, the Grifter Cricket, appeared on her lower back, to the left of her tailbone (think a typical tr*mp stamp). She doesn’t know how long it sat there before she noticed it. For her, the transition from human to Night Monster was slow and seamless, reflecting the more subtle nature of her powers. It would be very easy for Kaz to lay low, but her own ego forbids it. She’s always been the flashy type, and never one for laying low when she could be taking center stage. A reckless risk-taker, she never fully thinks of the consequences of her actions. She has luck on her side, though, and for her, that’s all the protection she needs. 

Like most things in her life, Kaz doesn’t take her status as a Night Monster too seriously. She knows the danger, but she simply doesn’t believe anything could happen to her. She knows that everything she has is a direct result of her powers, and isn’t shy about using them to get herself out of almost any situation. Though she doesn’t necessarily shout about her abilities (she’s dumb but she’s not stupid), she enjoys using them and is fairly proud of what she is, even if she can’t express that in the ways she wants to. 

Kaz had a good relationship with both of her parents, but never really stayed in one place long enough growing up to form bonds with anybody out of the family unit of three. Though she was loved, being an only child with no opportunity for friends was a lonely experience for a little girl. She more than makes up for it now, though. Kaz loves making friends, but isn’t the best at keeping them. She’s very much the type of person you’d have a blast with on the odd night out, but keeping up with her over long periods of time can be quite tiresome. For those who can, however, she’s quick to embrace them as found family and accept them as one of her own. 

Kaz has a taste for fine things, and wants nothing less than to surround herself with the best of everything. With the money she has gained, she bought a fancy apartment in the heart of the city. It’s not quite Empire Gardens, but the pace of life there suits her better, anyway. Though she paid for the apartment, she didn’t purchase anything in it. It came fully furnished, anyway, courtesy of the previous owner, and all of Kaz’s own additions have been stolen or swindled. 

Kaz is loyal to the Madhouse Renegades, but only because they best serve her interests. She doesn’t really care very much at all about their mission, nor the plight of the other Night Monsters. Her main concern is what is going on in the here and now, how it effects her, and ensuring her own prosperity. As a result of never settling anywhere any longer than two weeks, she doesn’t really realise the extent of the emperor’s tyranny, nor why what she’s doing matters. It’s all a bit of a game to her, and while she loves the thrill of it, she could easily switch sides if she saw enough benefit in it. She’s pledged her loyalty, but her actual commitment is flaky. 

Despite her success in amassing a small fortune, Kaz is terrible at math. Numbers and data are too objective, and hold very little interest for her, doing little but making her head hurt. She can’t tell you exactly how much she is worth- only that she wants more, and there’s no job too small to be below her consideration. 

Inspo

Pinterest

Character Tropes: Winds of Destiny, Change  Phony Psychic Karma Houdini Born Lucky Hard-Drinking Party Girl Money Fetish

Character Inspiration: Domino (Deadpool) Crickee (Mulan) Oda Mae Brown (Ghost) Faith (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) Lando Calrissian (Star Wars)  The Thénardiers (Les Mis)

Personality Type  ESTP

Alignment Chaotic Neutral

Enneagram Type 7 - The Enthusiast 

Western Astrology Leo Sun Aquarius Moon Gemini Rising

Deadly Sin Greed

Heavenly Virtue Gratitude

Connections

Paper Butterfly - Potential Victim

Cinder Fox - Frenemy

Demon Cat - Mutual intrigue

Carbon Caiman - Found Family

Night Eagle - Dumbass Duo

Sacred Maggot - Client

Ghost Moth - Stole her home/belongings

Cipher Mole - best friend

Severed Chimera - former assignment

[nonasuch]

“ben solo vs. the darkest timeline” is not a real title but it’s what I’ve got for now. continued from here.

4. coming in for a landing

Most of the Resistance -- the survivors of Crait, their allies, the new recruits who’d flocked to them in the days since -- had gathered in a handful of bases and camps, scattered through territory that was far enough from the First Order’s reach to be safe. But someone needed to be the public face of the fight, still, again, and so the General was working her way through the Core, meeting with planetary leaders, negotiating, giving interviews: all her least favorite parts of the job.

When she sent Poe on the Falcon with Finn and Chewbacca and the others, he protested. She only had a handful of trusted staff with her. She only had a handful of trusted staff left.

But she held firm, like she always did. “You’ve been overclocking your engines as much as any of us -- more, even,” she said. “Go fly the Falcon for me for a few days. It might be nothing, but if the Force is telling Rey she needs to go back to Ach-To, I’m not going to argue with it. And maybe we’ll have some X-wings for you, by the time you get back.”

What she didn’t say, but Poe heard clearly anyway, was: they weren’t fighting for their lives every minute, any more, but Poe was having a hard time acting like it. He’d already gotten people killed. If he didn’t get his head together, he’d be the kind of liability that the General couldn’t afford.

So Poe went. And when they got to Ach-To, they found someone impossible.

Poe knew Ben Solo, was the thing. He’d known him as a spotty, scowling kid with a whipcrack sense of humor. It was a lot easier to imagine that kid growing up into the guy they found than into the monster that still dogged Poe’s nightmares.

But the monster was what had really happened, and so it was hard for Poe to look at Ben Solo and see anyone else.

Ben seemed to sense this, or maybe he’d just grown into someone who could read a room better than he ever did as a kid. If Poe came into the main cabin when Ben was there, he found some polite excuse and left by the time Poe’s palms got clammy. If Ben came in while Poe was there, he didn’t stay long.

Their third day in transit, Poe found Ben sitting on the floor by the dejarik table with his eyes closed. The handful of times Poe had been to the Jedi temple or the school, before they were destroyed, he’d seen people meditating: sitting tailor-fashion, breathing slow, faces peaceful. But Ben had his knees drawn up in front of him and a frown on his face, though his eyes were closed, and he didn’t seem to notice that he wasn’t alone.

Poe was supposed to relieve Chewbacca at the helm, but he found himself caught, stuck there standing in the middle of the cabin and staring at Ben like an idiot. Poe wasn’t Force-touched, but he had the dim sense of something filling the room, some presence bigger than a person could possibly be.

He’d felt it around Kylo Ren, too, only then it had seethed with menace, a thick fog of fear and rage that made it hard to think straight. This was nothing like that. It wasn’t all joy and light, but it thinned out at the edges, bleeding off the turmoil at the center: the kind of cloud his X-wing could skim over and through in an instant, where Kylo Ren had been the center of a cyclone.

After a while, the cloud dissipated entirely, and Ben opened his eyes. He blinked up at Poe, surprised and a little bleary. Poe knew that expression. He’d found the General drooping over reports, half-asleep at her desk, and seen it there.

“Sorry,” Ben said. “I can go.”

“It’s all right,” said Poe. “I have to go take over for Chewie in a minute. What was that? I could feel it, and I’m not even Force-sensitive.”

“I mean, you probably are a little,” said Ben. “Most good pilots are. But I didn’t mean to be that loud, I’ve just -- got a lot on my mind.”

“No shit,” said Poe. Ben smiled, and Poe knew that expression too: the same grim amusement the General wore, when you were both stuck in the same bad situation.

“Listen,” said Ben, “I don’t know what happened, and to be honest I don’t know that I want to. Finn said he helped you escape from the other version of me. You clearly don’t want me around, and I’m sure it’s for a good reason. But you’ve spent more time with Ma -- with this version of her -- than anyone else here, so if you can stand it I’d like to talk.”

Poe’s palms were clammy again. “Talk to Chewbacca,” he said.

Ben shook his head. “He says they haven’t spent much time together at all, since the other me fucked everything up. She’s your commanding officer. You’ve known her your whole life. Is she -- is she doing okay?”

Poe took a breath, and wiped his hands on his pant legs as discreetly as he could. “It’s complicated,” he said. “C’mon, take the co-pilot’s seat and we can talk.”

Ben followed him in, at enough of a distance that he didn’t loom. Chewbacca made a questioning noise when he saw that Poe wasn’t alone, but Ben said “It’s fine, I won’t be long.” Chewie shrugged, and gave up his seat to Poe.

Ben folded himself into the other seat with familiar ease. He studied the console, reached out as though he was about to start flipping switches, and then drew back. He stayed silent, contained, all that Force-presence under wraps again.

Poe looked out through the viewscreen, at the stars flashing by. Having flight controls under his hands was steadying, like it always was. “She took it hard,” he said. “First General Solo, and now her brother. Most of our people who fought in the Rebellion are gone. She’s doing too much, carrying too much, but there’s no one to hand it off to.”

“Yeah,” said Ben. “That sounds about right.”

It was easier to sit like this, both of them looking out at the path ahead. Easier to separate them: the monster, and the man he could have been.

“He fucked with my head,” said Poe. “Kylo Ren. He wanted information, and he wasn’t careful about getting it.” He didn’t turn to look, but he heard Ben sigh, and the chair creaked like he was slumping into it.

“Yeah,” Ben said again. “That sounds about right.”

“Can you fix it?” said Poe, eyes still fixed on the viewscreen.

“I don’t know,” said Ben. “I don’t know exactly what he did -- I didn’t want to look any closer without permission, under the circumstances.”

“Permission granted,” Poe said. It came out sounding a little strangled, but he meant it.

They arrived a few days later, ship’s evening, mid-afternoon by local time. Poe didn’t feel any better, exactly, but he didn’t break out in a cold sweat every time Ben came near him, and he’d unloaded all his worries about the General to someone who might actually be able to help.

So that was something.

As they came in to land, Ben leaned over the back of the copilot’s chair to look out at the view. Rey frowned up at him for a moment, distracted, but Poe had the helm and the Falcon flew steady and true.

Ben said, “You know, I haven’t been back to Chandrila in months. There’s this little Corellian-style noodle joint by the spaceport that’s just unbelievably good, in my version of the universe.”

“Huh,” said Poe. His hands on the controls didn’t waver. “I think we have that one, too.”

5. chandrila

They put in at the edge of the spaceport, well away from the pomp and circumstance of the diplomatic landing zone. Ma was waiting at the foot of the ramp, no one else in sight but Threepio and Connix a little further back.

Ben tried to do the polite thing and keep his shields up, reining in his Force-sense as far back as he could pull it. He saw Rey notice him doing it, and try to imitate him, as they prepared to go out and meet the General.

“Don’t try to stuff all that power into a box that can’t hold it,” Ben told her. “It’ll pop, or scorch, or worse. You can just let some of it go, for, now; it’ll come back when you need it.” He tried to show her what he meant, easing up his hold on the Force around him long enough for her to see.

“Oh! I get it,” said Rey, with a bright flash like circuits connecting. She closed her eyes for a moment. The perpetual spotlight she walked around in stopped being quite so blinding, with some of the extra wattage safely returned to its source.

Ma saw the whole thing, Ben knew, even before he came down the ramp and they could see each other with just their eyes. But she was better at shielding than him, always had been, and the Force didn’t tell him much about her reaction to it.

She looked tired. Thinner and greyer than the version of her he’d seen last. More lines on her face than his own Ma, the one who reigned calmly over the controlled chaos that was the base on D’Quar.

Ben felt huge and conspicuous under her steady gaze, awkward in a way that he hadn’t since shortly after his last growth spurt. “Hi, Ma,” he said.

“Chewie tells me that you’re from a parallel universe,” she said. “That’s a new one.”

“Yeah, for me too,” he said. “Sounds like your version of me is a real shithead. I’m sorry.”

“For what?” she said. “It wasn’t you that did -- any of that. Was it?”

“No, but,” Ben began, and then stopped. It wasn’t, after all. “I’m just sorry, I guess. That it happened. That he couldn’t sort himself out, and he hurt you and Dad.”

“Oh, Ben,��� she said, and her shields cracked, enough that Ben could see how much she was hurting. He gave up on propriety.

Ben flung himself across the space between them, and found yet another thing that was the same across universes. He was still so tall that hugging Ma properly meant folding himself up around her in a way that made his back hurt, and was still absolutely worth doing.

Ma was staying in the same neighborhood where she and Dad kept an apartment in Ben’s version of the universe. But this apartment was in a different building and, apparently, on loan from the Calrissians.

“Lando’s okay?” Ben said, with undisguised relief. Ma nodded.

“He didn’t get our distress call from Crait until after it was all over,” she said. “So he’s trying to make up for it with lavish gifts.”

Not the only one, said Chewbacca. The kitchen of the place was crammed with fruit, flowers, baskets of delicacies from Ma’s political contacts and admirers, most of which she hadn’t even cracked the wrappers on. I’m appointing myself your poison-taster again, yeah?

“Sure,” said Ma. “Knock yourself out.”

You three, with me. You all need feeding up, Chewie said.

He herded Rey and Rose and Finn into the kitchen. Poe had already gone off with Connix, and the droids chased Threepio after them. So it was just Ben, and his mother. The General. The version of Leia Organa who’d lost nearly everyone and everything she loved.

Ma looked at him like he hurt her eyes, but not looking would hurt more. She looked small, sitting there on the big expensive couch that, in any of the places his parents had ever called home, would have lasted about ten minutes in its current pristine state.

“So,” she said, “How’re you holding up, kid?”

Ben laughed, the kind that was halfway to crying, and sank down onto the seat next to her. “No offense,” he said, “but I don’t know if I like your universe all that much.”

“Tell me about it,” she said.

Ben mm-hmmed emphatically and tugged at her elbow, until she unbent a little and let him put his arm around her. He could see it, now, how much she was carrying, how much better off she’d be if she let the Force take some of the weight. But he wasn’t sure he had any right to tell her so. She wasn’t his Ma, not really, and he wasn’t the Ben who had broken her heart.

He asked the Force to lend him some of the peace he couldn’t summon up on his own, and when it answered he felt Ma’s wonder at how easily it came.

“You just have to ask,” he said. “It’ll never turn a Skywalker down, you know that.”

“That’s always been the problem,” Ma said. Which was fair enough, considering.

Ben nodded. “The hard part’s knowing what to ask for. That, and admitting you need the help.”

“Tell me about it,” Ma said, wry as his own Ma, but so much wearier.

“Yeah,” was all Ben could think to say. It was easier to just leave his shields down than try to put any of it into words. He’d been so relieved to be rescued, when he was stranded back on Ach-To. Knowing what he knew now, he might have preferred to stay stranded, but for the way Ma was radiating relief, the solace he seemed to be providing somehow.

After a while, Ma nudged him a little in the ribs. “You can, you know,” she said. “Tell me about it. How things turned out, for you.”

“Would that help?” Ben said. If it were him, it would just make him regret the might-have-beens even more.

Which he didn’t say out loud, but Ma still said “Oh, I’ll regret the might-have-beens anyway. Go on, it’ll be nice to hear some good news for a change.”

Ben could feel Rey’s curiosity leaking in from the kitchen, and Finn’s a little quieter behind that. He asked the Force to shoo them back out, and it obliged. This wasn’t any of their business, just yet.

“Okay,” Ben said. “Well. Before we evacuated to Ach-To, I was at the Temple with Luke. We only had a few people get their Mastery this spring, and the new crop of candidates was bigger than usual.”

“You’re one of the teachers?” Ma asked.

“When I’m not doing your paperwork or putting out Force-sized fires,” Ben said.

“It sounds like you’re good at it,” Ma said.

“I do okay,” said Ben. “Honestly I prefer the Force-sized fires.”

“Mm-hm,” said Ma. “That runs in the family, too.”

[dalekofchaos]

Ways they could’ve handled Rose Tico in The Last Jedi  and what they did instead

My other Sequel Trilogy Wasted Potential posts

Rey

Finn

Poe

Luke

Han

Leia

Kylo Ren

Captain Phasma

Hux

Snoke

List of ways they could’ve handled Rose in the sequel trilogy

Make Rose the Hacker. It’s not unrealistic for the Resistance to have one. She could still think her skills aren’t useful considering most Wars have been won by soldiers and Jedi, not hackers. Paige is a Resistance fighter and her sister is a hacker. The Tico sisters fight the war in their own way. Finn and Poe go to Canto Bight to get Rose. Rose is on the planet to make the war profiteers hurt, and Finn and Poe must convince her. Her character arc could be learning that the war is much bigger than just her and that her sister, and the galaxy need her.

Finn and Rose’s mission is to find the master codebreaker. The Master Codebreaker they are meant to find is none other than Lando Calrissian. Lando is the person Finn and Rose are meant to get help from. They leave with DJ, but Lando was expecting to meet two members from the Resistance, so he leaves Canto Bight and on his way out he gets Leia’s message and mobilizes old friends from the Rebellion(a cameo from Wedge Antilles) and goes to give the Resistance some reinforcements. So instead of a hopelessly outgunned Resistance at Death’s door, when all hope seems lost, Lando brings the cavalry and shows The Rebellion is alive and hope still lives. We then see a little reunion with Lando, Leia and Chewbacca and Lando revealing that he was who Finn and Rose were meant to meet. 

Rose is a highly valued Resistance Mechanic fighting for The Resistance her own way as Paige was a bomber

Actually letting Paige live and actually giving us the sisterly bond between Rose and Paige and you know, GIVING  Ngô Thanh Vân SPEAKING LINES

Letting Rose empathize with Finn’s trauma and acknowledge that they are both cut from the same cloth. Rose and Paige lost their family and home and Finn lost his family and home, they have something in common and a reason to fight for The Resistance

Have Finn tell Rose about Rey and Rose being in awe of the Jedi and hopes to someday meet her and understands why Finn loves her

Letting Finn and Rose’s plan to disable the tracker succeed and only be captured upon reaching the escape pods.

Finn and Rose convince Poe that the speeder run will end in disaster and the three of them mount a desperate defense in the bunker, until Luke arrives. After Luke leaves to confront The First Order, they all leave and escape thanks to the Crystal Foxes.

We get to see Rose meeting Rey and the start of a beautiful relationship friendship

What they chose to do with Rose instead

Poorly written. I wanted to like Rose…Bad writing and direction prevents that. The Supremacy is tracking them through hyperspace, but Rose sees this as desertion….Desertion? You taze people for desertion? How exactly am I supposed to root for either side again? This is probably the same only less lethal treatment one could expect from The First Order. And what if The Raddus took critical damage? Are you trying to tell me Rose would taze anyone going to the escape pods? I thought she was supposed to be a mechanic, not someone who prevents escape. Finn is then tazed by Rose, which is understandable, she thought he was running away and she was in mourning. He also was objectively posing absolutely no threat to her, wasn’t running away, and was even trying to explain himself. Additionally, just the threat of the taser seemed to have been enough to stop him from leaving. But Rose attacked him anyways. The difference between Rey and Rose attacking Finn is Rey subdued Finn just enough to stop and interrogate him, Rose went completely overboard by paralyzing him and knocking him unconscious. It was completely unnecessary and gratuitous and is supposed to be played for laughs. Rey and Finn have a real friendship and partnership from the last movie. Rose, on the other hand, spends the rest of the movie belittling Finn and talking down to him. The book also says that she thought about using violence against him more than once after the tasing (for annoying her) and even pushed him. This displays a really problematic pattern of violence and disrespect towards Finn so yeah,  multiple uses of violence and expressed desire to inflict violence on him as being abusive. I would argue that she is undeniably verbally abusive with Finn. In the movie and in the book (more so in the book) she often belittles him by calling him names and using other put downs. It seems she wants to make him feel bad about himself and bring him down, which is abusive. Of course, it doesn’t really matter what her intent is, even if she doesn’t “mean to be mean” it still counts as verbal abuse. So, in summary, her repeated threats and use of violence against Finn and her continual use of insults and put downs causes me to come to the conclusion that she is abusive to Finn. And I am supposed to root for them to be in a relationship?

Cared more about space horses than saving slave children. Who cares that these children are gonna be left at the mercy of their violent slave owners and face merciless abuse, because after all, it was all worth it to free the animals!!! Look at us, we’re so progressive!!!….Please kill me

The plan to disable the Hyperspace tracking is made to pointlessly fail. Finn, Rose and DJ are close to fulfilling their objective and fail for no reason whatsoever. Okay first of all, Finn and Rose are captured because neither Finn or Rose bothered to get to a parking spot. So instead of going to find the ACTUAL Master Codebreaker(which told a better story) we are instead shown to DJ. This is a character who is made to be untrustworthy from the beginning and even sounds like a snake. So obviously he betrays them. And instead of letting them disable their tracker and just being caught when heading towards the escape pods, their plan is made to fail, making everything they’ve been trying to do ultimately pointless. It effect the plot even in the slightest. You could remove it and nothing would change in the slightest. Nothing mattered. Apparently the people of color needed their white hero savior to show them up…..*sighs*

Rose stopping Finn. “that’s how we win, not by fighting what we hate, by saving what we love.” That makes no sense and ignores the entire narrative of Star Wars and heroism of the saga. Paige, her sister sacrificed herself to save The Resistance. Holdo sacrificed herself to save The Resistance. The Rogue One crew sacrificed themselves. Kanan Jarrus sacrificed himself to save what he loved. Finn’s entire arc in the movie was learning not to just think about running away with Rey and fight for a greater cause and when the time comes for Finn to prove that he’s grown as a character, he can’t? What was the point of Finn’s arc in the movie? And let’s talk about Poe. Shouldn’t Poe be sacrificing himself? Poe has spent the entire film watching others die and give their lives and he’s never backed down, so shouldn’t Poe be in Finn’s place? And if Rose stopped Finn who would save The Resistance? We saw after Rose stopped Finn, the bunker was blown up by the battering ram. Absolutely NO ONE knew that Luke was going to make his surprise entrance and save everyone. For all we knew, The First Order would’ve moved into the bunker and killed everyone and The Resistance.

in TLJ novel she is made bitter and jealous of Rey when Rey is trying to save them….great, we are actually putting the only two main female characters of the sequel trilogy against each other because Jason Fry and Rian Johnson are misogynists and complete and utter fucking morons

Rose Tico could’ve been a great character, but because she was in the hands of Rian Johnson, she had no chance of succeeding. I can only hope she is handled better and by someone competent. Rose Tico and Kelly Marie Tran deserved better

[alien-rainbow]

By Your Side Until My Death (7/?)

Chapter 7: Deep In The Meadow

Available on AO3

Princess Artemis, the eldest daughter of the kingdom of Olympus is to be married to her childhood nightmare. In a land where anything remotely magical is banned, Zoë fears for her and Ladon's life but knows that she could never leave the princess's side if she tried. Magical beings, a forbidden romance, family secrets, and safety for magic all wait beyond the kingdom's borders.

- 3rd person, will be completed eventually, teen, not completed, Zartemis

Artemis woke to the sound of Zoë's voice ordering the others on the dragon that this is where they needed to land. The princess sat up and gazed across the grounds that were still covered in moonlight. The forest was green and lush, and surprisingly quiet.

The large dragon landed on the ground with an ungraceful thunk that rattled the surrounding area. Zoë then slid quickly off the back of the dragon and called into the forest. Soon after their names were called. The to woman stepped into the clearing. Both Reyna and Thalia looked shocked to see the golden dragon but made no comment about it and chose instead to interrogate Zoë for information. While they were doing that Artemis sat up and followed Zoë's lead and slipped from the dragon's back while not waking her sister.

On the ground, she could see her surroundings more clearly. Everything seemed to glow with magic and seemed to alive. Like if you really wanted to you could touch it and use it. Artemis ran her hand along with the bark of one of the tree's closets to her. The bark was soft underneath her fingertips and seemed to glow more when she touched them. The grass had the same effect and seemed to glow the more pressure you put on it.

Armies could not have fathomed its beauty, she had heard tales, read books, and seen quick sketches but nothing more. People always described the forest as alive and ready to kill you but this felt calm and free. Like you would never be alone because the magic that flowed through this place was real and held the place together in warm arms.

"Your highness?" Artemis heard Zoë's voice behind her snapping her out of her trance.

"We are no longer in the palace Zoë, you need not call me that," Artemis said turning to smile at her friends. Thalia and Reyna stood behind Zoë with their hands positioned on their swords. Seeing Thalia with a sword was uncommon, to say the least. Thalia favored her spear and shield over all else. She still had the two items strapped to her back in an awkward position. Reyna used just a sward but was terrifying to come face to face with.

"Then Artemis, are you feeling alright?" Artemis nodded and locked back into the deep forest in the opposite direction of her friends. They were in a small clearing that was bearly big enough to hold the golden dragon. Artemis was about to turn away when she something racing towards them.

When the creature arrived in the clearing Artemis could see it was a horse. The caramel-colored stallion shook out its charcoal mane letting out a proud winy as he trotted fearlessly up to the dragon. The dark girl, Hazle slid from the dragon and over to the hours before taking a lump of... gold? Out of her pocket and feeding it to the horse.  

"Did you miss me?" The horse shook its head gratefully and took a step back from the short girl snorting at the question. "I'll get a ride back with Arion, does anyone want to come with?" At the question all the people still seated on the dragon quickly shook their heads, a few turned a little green.

"Be careful," the one with glasses said as Hazle lifted herself onto the beings bareback. She nodded to him the spoke to the horse and they were off. Artemis could now tell why some of them looked sick. The horse ran faster than anything the princess had seen before.

"What was that?" Thalia asked still looking in the forest which had now swallowed up the girl and horse.

"An Assero creature," Annabeth stated, and after seeing the blank looks on their faces she continued. "assero in Latin means to claim, to defend, to appropriate, to attach, or to join too. The animals are like spirit or soul guides. Or platonic soulmates. Everyone has one but it's the creature's decision to make themselves known to you. They also chose when and if ever to tell you their name. They are different for each person, and usually, come when you need them most." Annabeth then smiled before continuing. "Mine found me when I ran away from home."

"So everyone in the world has one?" Reyna asked astonished.

"Yes, everyone with magic is born with one. And technically, we are all magic, some just have close to none or chose to hate and ignore it. An Assero pair is made up of an Assero mortal and Assero creature"

"What is your animal?" a new voice chimed in. All eyes turned to see that Athena had finally woken up. The girl started intensely at Annabeth expecting an answer. "Do you know their name?"

"Yes I have met mine, I do not know his real name but everyone calls him Bobbito, meaning small Bob. He looks like a small saber tooth tiger, but is quite nice to everyone." Annabeth said smiling even more at the thought of the small cat.

"But how did you know?" Athena asked leaning towards the blond girl with suspicions eyes.

"They always talk to you the first time, you have a connection with them and they may talk to you again, and well, you, ah-, you just know, " She said shrugging. Athena tilted her head to the side giving the taller girl a look hoping that she would continue. But before Annabeth could continue, a loud hissy snarl filled the surrounding air.

One of the teens let out a curse before yelling to them to get on the dragon if they wanted to live.

"What is that?" Anthea demanded.

"One of the oldest and powerful dragons that still live around here, and he does not like visitors," Nico said as he reached out a hand to help pull the three on. But Zoë hadn't moved from where she was standing.

"Zoë, we should go," Artemis said grabbing her friend's hand pulling her towards the smaller dragon.

"He won't hurt us, he won't hurt me ," Zoë said quietly turning to look at Artemis. "I promise Ladon won't hurt us."

"Are you sure that the thing trampling through the forest is Ladon?"

"Yes, I know him, he won't hurt us, please don't leave, trust me," Zoë said turning to look deeply into the younger girl's eyes.

"Okay, I trust you," Artemis said turning to the sound of the dragon tramping through the words keeping her hand intertwined with Zoë's. Neith seemed to want to pull away.

"What are you guys doing! Your gonna get melted into a pile of sizzling mush!" Leo shouted. Seconds later the dragon broke through the top of the trees flatting some of the greenery in the process. The dragon's serpentine body was thicker than a booster rocket, and his bright scales shimmer like hot copper. He smelled of acid most likely because of the poisonous gas that streamed from his mouth and nostrils. But the actual liquid that the dragon was capable of spiting was worse. Artemis had seen first had the burns that the poison could cause.  

But the worst part was the huge dragon's heads, where about sixty necks should have been, There were only angry read scards and seeped the top of the lumps. The huge dragon let out another shriek that caused Festus to back up flapping wildly. Ladon could sit on the golden dragon and crunch him if he so pleased.  

"Ladon," Zoë said letting go of Artemis's hand and stepping forward towards the dragon causing the people behind her to start screaming at her to come back. "We won't hurt you," Zoë said softly. The dragon seemed to calm down at hearing and seeing Zoë. He brought his head down to her and breathed in her scent. After confirming it was her, he brought a few of his heads down to wrap around the girl and pull her away from the others.

Zoë laughed and said something else to the dragon that caused him to look up and stare at the group with unblinking eyes. After a minute of staring at the group, Lando pulled away and allowed Zoë to walk back to Artemis.

"He doesn't like people getting too close," Zoë said looking past Artemis as the group on top of the dragon whose all wore shocked expressions. "He wants them to leave him alone but he won't hurt anyone."

"How did you do that?" Percy asked breaking the two out of their world.

 "I've known Ladon almost my whole life, he would never hurt me. I just had to explain the situation."

"You, talked to him?" Will said shocked, "Just like, walked up to him and asked him not to kill us, and he listened?"

"Yes? Why is that so shocking?" Zoë asked though not letting the others see how confused and uncomfortable with the attention she was. But Artemis grew up with her and could read her like a book.

"Dragons will only ever listen to their Assero mortal, and even then... they don't back down easily," Annabeth stated not moving from her spot beside Percy.

"Ladon's my Assero..." Zoë mumbled turning to look back at the huge dragon. He responded by bringing a few of the remaining heads up to Zoë to nuzzle her. After a few minutes of stunned silence, a voice broke the trance.  

"So, do you want to camp with up and learn more about who you are?" Artemis saw that it was the tiny pale kid that had spoken. He appeared to be sixteen, the same as Will, though the ravenett was significantly shorter.

"Who we are ?" Reyna asked slowly turning to look at Thalia who stood next to her with her spear still out.

He looked at the women still on the ground then shrugged and said simply, "Magic."

------------------------------

Okay so let me clarify, Assero creatures are animals or mythical beings that are platonic soulmates/familiar/BFF/Spirt guides for mortal creatures which are called Assero Mortals.

Example (Annabeth): "My Assero is a cat I named Bobbito because he has yet to talk to me." They are magic and could be 1,000 years old or 7. Assero pairs share a connection/bond and can tell when the other needs them, though it's like 90% of the time the Assero creature popping up and being like "You good my dude?" Some are more friendly and interactive like Bobbito and Pipers. Some are more mysterious and antisocial like Bianca's and Artemis's

[lajulie24]

Beneath the Milky Twilight

“Kiss Me” by Sixpence None the Richer was the inspiration for this piece, and put me in mind of Endor. I decided that if I’m doing a Disney canon Endor wedding, I’m setting it in the Epic Love ‘verse (my TFA fix-it). I’m not necessarily wedded (ha) to the idea that this is when the wedding happened, and will probably write other weddings happening at other times and places, but…I couldn’t resist.

Almost nobody had bet on a wedding.

Wedge and Tycho had come the closest; they’d bet on an engagement, although even they didn’t think it would be announced for a while. There had to be some reason Solo and the Princess kept sneaking off together with serious faces, then returning all smiles and hugs and meaningful looks.

The other Rogues were betting on explanations of a much cruder sort: would someone catch Han and Leia en flagrante in the woods somewhere? Would they appear at one of the many post-Endor battle briefings late, bearing telltale love bites on their necks or leaves in their hair? But none of them had bet on an actual wedding. On Endor. In two days.

Leia had started to doubt the wisdom of telling the Rogues anything, but Luke assured her that they would be more helpful with the preparations if they weren’t wasting their time trying to figure out what was going on (or trying to catch her and Han having sex in a tree or something).

Their plans were a bit sudden, Leia admitted, but once they’d decided to marry, it felt like it made no sense to wait. Han knew about her parentage and loved her regardless; they had a rare break in the action in the wake of the Endor victory; it felt like they’d already waited long enough for each other. And this was a beautiful place, with most of the people Han and Leia considered family and friends already here.

So they were doing it. And now they were both splitting their attention between post-Endor battle plans and wedding logistics. One of which had Leia a bit stymied.

“What’s with the long face, sweetheart?” Han asked her. They were eating dinner in the Falcon and talking details. For what was supposed to be a rather simple ceremony, there sure seemed to be a lot of things to talk about. I just wanted to get married, Han lamented in his head, but he recognized that this was nothing compared to the big state affair that would normally be a royal wedding. He was getting off easy.

Leia frowned and gestured to the dress the Ewoks had given her. “This dress. It was lovely of them to give it to me, but…it’s just not what I think of for a wedding dress.” She scrunched her face up a bit.

Han grinned. “Well, I’d marry you in that,” he said, indicating the Alliance uniform she was wearing, “but you should at least get to have something special. We’ll get you a dress.”

Leia raised an eyebrow. “In a day and a half.”

“I’m very good at finding things, Sweetheart. We’ll get it done.”

Leia looked dubious. But she trusted him.

The next day, the Rogues were hard at work on some setup that Han really hoped was not going to electrocute everyone. Chewie kept chasing Han out of the Falcon, claiming he needed to practice his toast. And Han couldn’t seem to find a dress for Leia to save his life. By the time afternoon rolled around, he was almost relieved to have a briefing with the Pathfinders.

Kes Dameron lingered a bit after the briefing. “General,” he greeted, “I hear you need a dress.” His face had a teasing expression, and Han thought Kes was probably going to add to the good-natured ribbing he’d received about his search. Han nodded and grinned.

But Kes was serious. “I commed Shara. She’s on her way to the Princess now.”

 “Are you sure?”

 “Your Highness, I would be honored. It’s just been taking up space in the bottom of my trunk since the honeymoon.” Shara smiled at Leia. “And besides, after Poe, I doubt I’m ever going to fit into that thing again.”

Leia fingered the pale pink chiffon overskirt, covered with a sprinkling of appliquéd flowers. If it fit, it would honestly be perfect. Alderaanian wedding dresses were either pale pink or pale blue, and this dress was lovely but simple enough for an outdoor ceremony.

She and Han had discussed Alderaanian and Corellian wedding customs briefly, and Leia had realized that she almost was hesitant to incorporate some of them. She missed her parents so much right now; it hurt to think of the traditions they wouldn’t be here to carry out with her.

In the end, she had asked Han to take care of majority of the planning, announcing that the only things she was going to do were get dressed, do her hair, and get married. Han seemed to be doing all right with it; she’d seen him in close conversation with Carlist Rieekan, as well as giving Luke some kind of urgent assignment. And the important thing was that they would be married, no matter what traditions they chose to uphold.

Well, at least there was one tradition she could pull off. Shara’s dress was perfect.

 Endor was especially beautiful by twilight, the treetops outlining a deepening blue sky and the first flickers of starlight. At the foot of the Falcon’s ramp, Carlist Rieekan waited for Leia to emerge.

She walked down the ramp, and he smiled broadly, extending his arm to her. “You look beautiful, Your Highness,” he said.

She did. Her blush-colored gown had a lace bodice and a chiffon skirt accented with fabric flowers. The skirt had been a bit long, so Shara had suggested trimming the bottom to shorten it. The leftover material had been turned into ribbons and wound into Leia’s braided updo.

She gasped as they drew closer to the clearing. They’d invited everyone who was on Endor, the High Command, and all the Alderaanians in the Alliance who could safely make it to Endor with less than two days’ notice. She’d expected a crowd, but she hadn’t expected—

The guests and the Ewoks had formed a sort of honor guard on either side of the path leading to the ceremony site. She couldn’t greet each guest personally, but she smiled and nodded as she came down the line. She was glad to be on Carlist’s arm; she had expected to be emotional, but thought Han might get the wrong idea if she showed up to marry him bursting into tears.

The Rogues’ creation, a series of lights wound through the trees around the ceremony site, had taken every spare bulb available on Endor, but was clearly worth it. Provided it didn’t burn down the forest.

She began recognizing more of the smiles that greeted her as they walked up the path. When she reached Wedge, he took a step out of the honor guard formation and grinned at her.

“Commander,” he said, and winked.

“Commander,” she returned with a nod.

He pulled a small bouquet of flowers from behind his back. “Corellian tradition,” he said, handing them to Leia. They were wound with ribbons of green, the Corellian wedding color.

“Thank you,” she said.

He squeezed her hand. “Thank your husband,” he said, and winked again before stepping back into line.

She could see Han waiting for her, next to Mon Mothma, who was to perform the ceremony.  And around him was—a tent. An Alderaanian wedding tent. Holding the four posts were Luke, Chewie, Lando, and Tycho. After Carlist kissed her cheek and put her hand in Han’s, he took the fourth post.

“Hi,” Han said, almost shyly.

“Hi.” She squeezed his hand. “You did this?” she asked, indicating the tent, the decorations.

“Had help,” he shrugged. There was the crooked grin she loved.

For a moment, Leia thought she was going to cry, but then she couldn’t stop smiling. It seemed to be catching; for a minute, she and Han just held hands and smiled at each other sappily.

Mon looked at them with amusement, then started the ceremony.

She explained the purpose of the wedding tent, its symbolic shelter for the couple in their journey through life together, and the commitment each of the beings supporting the tent was making to support Han and Leia.

“Didn’t think it was such a thing,” Han muttered quietly. “Just thought it was pretty.” Leia suppressed a laugh.

Then there were the vows, as they promised by the stars and the Force to love, cherish, and support one another all the days of their lives.

The rings looked suspiciously like former engine parts, thought they had been melted and shaped slightly to look less like that. But somehow they fit, and Leia wore hers with pride.

Then Mon pronounced them joined forever, by the power of the Alliance to Restore the Republic and the future Alliance of Free Planets. She smiled at them. “Now give everyone what they’ve been waiting for and kiss.”

Han pulled her close, and their lips met. My husband, Leia thought. My husband. Their kiss deepened, and she felt his strong arms around her. Behind them, the Alliance was cheering.

Now she was crying. It looked like he was too.

After the toasts, after the laughter, after it all, it was the two of them, dancing in the starlight and sharing another kiss. “My husband,” Leia whispered.

“My wife,” he said, and kissed her again.

Kiss me beneath the milky twilight Lead me out on the moonlit floor Lift your open hand Strike up the band, and make the fireflies dance Silver moon sparkling So kiss me…

[i-just-like-commenting]

Star Wars rewatch, part 2: Episode V, The Empire Strikes Back

General Impressions, or the Movie on Its Own

Damn this is well-made movie. I mean it does have flaws, but it’s so well-directed, introduces great new characters, and it doesn’t matter how many times I’ve seen it, the moment where Vader tells Luke the truth hurts. That’s all because of Mark Hamill’s acting - he sells the horror and pain. I am really looking forward to him playing Luke again in episode VIII.

Overall, it’s a major step up from the first film, even though the first film is still great. They clearly had a bigger budget this time around, the set-pieces are mostly amazing, and again, Kushner directs it fantastically. The one moment that didn’t work so well for me was when the walkers collapse and blow-up in the snow. Something about the model scaling made it too obvious they were models rather than gigantic machines. Maybe something with the snow? I’m no expert.

Oh, and I did find the technical jargon hilarious. A hyperdrive motivator? an alluvial dampener? You guys just picked random worlds out of the dictionary, didn’t you?

The Special Edition Stuff

The additions to this movie work much better because they are much less obtrusive. I think they may have added a few shots early on, but nothing jumped out at me other than the new Emperor footage (to make it match ep VI) but especially Cloud City, which was an improvement. Kushner had apparently envisioned a much more open city, where you could see the outside, but they simply couldn’t manage it at the time. The simple switches in the background and a few shots of the city outside all look really good. This is probably because, as I mentioned last time, CGI at the time could handle buildings and robots but not people, and worked better in backgrounds than in the foreground. And again, it was something that Kushner had actually wanted rather than a retroactive decision.

Continuity, Part--actually, no, let’s talk about shipping instead

A while back io9 had an open thread for people to talk about their head canons, and someone gave one for Star Wars in regards to Han and Leia. There’s been a fair amount of justified criticism of Han seemingly to magically know that Leia likes him and pushing his interest on her. So, the person proposed, what if the reason he thinks Leia is interested in him is because they’ve already hooked up once? In their head canon, Han and Leia’s tension had already built to a one-night stand, and she’s been trying to brush it off as meaningless ever since then while Han insists it happened because she’s in love with him.

I decided to watch the film with that head canon in mind and holy crap does it work. From pretty much their first look, everything about them screams “We’ve already slept together.” Which, you know, the actors had, but I really like it as an in-universe theory. Han comes across as less of a dick, and Leia’s warming up to him works better too. And they do warm up - one of the really great things in this script is the steady, gradual change in their dialog as their romance develops, from always sniping at each other to being supportive and caring.

Now, I’m sure all of this made Luke and Leia shippers sad at the time, but I do like them a lot better as just-friends/siblings...and anyway, after this film I’d be less inclined to ship Luke and Leia and more towards shipping Luke and Han. Han risks his life to save Luke without a thought, and the long look they share as Luke is preparing to leave...it would be a pretty easy OT3 if two of the members weren’t related. Though as for me, I’ve read too much Homestuck and read them as a ♣ more than a true OT3 (Han and Chewie are ♦, of course).

Continuity, Part 2: Relation to the Prequel Trilogy

I will, of course, be jumping to episode II as my next installment (I already have it checked out from the library). Knowing that R2D2 knows who Yoda is, I found myself adding in “translations” of his beeping, since Luke doesn’t understand him without the ship’s computer. R2 is basically screwing with Yoda in their scenes, my friends, it’s hilarious. And Yoda knows who R2 is but doesn’t want to give anything away.

The reveal that Darth Vader is Anakin Skywalker was only partially foreshadowed in the first film, but heavily hinted at here. From the opening crawl, where Vader is “obsessed with finding young Skywalker,” to Yoda’s concern that Luke is too much like his father and sarcastic evaluation of Anakin as a great Jedi, to Vader’s persistence in keeping Luke alive, not to mention the vision in the cave, it all screams to the big reveal if you know it’s coming.

The prequel was an attempt to show how Anakin became Vader. Some of it worked, some of it didn’t, and I’ll be talking about it (plus the Clone Wars animated series, plural) over the next few months.

Knowing what happened in the prequels, it’s also impossible not to see Yoda and Obi-Wan as repeating the same mistakes they made with Anakin with Luke. They hide things from him, tell him to ignore his friends and repress his feelings - you do all realize that’s what made Anakin vulnerable to temptation from the dark side, right? Honesty, caring, and safe emotional expression need to be added to the Jedi code.

Continuity, Part 3: Relation to the New Films

“Some day you’re going to be wrong, and I just hope I’m there to see it.”

You have no idea how close I came to tearing up at this line. Because Han is wrong, but she’s not there to see it - she isn’t able to be with him when he dies and I have to stop now I’m having too many feels.

Rewatching this also reminded me again of how eminently awesome Lando Calrissian is as a character. He has one of the clearest character arcs with the most cheer-worthy culmination (blowing up the Death Star in the next film). I’ve got zero interest in learning the origins of Han Solo, but I am really looking forward to Donald Glover playing young Lando. Also, I want to know what Lando is up to now, where he is, in future episodes.

Update on the Droid Revolution

Okay, the change in behavior of C3PO between A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back is wild. He goes from being subservient and resigned to his fate as a perpetual slave to being the king of sass. He snarks at the humans around them, flinging around insults and backhanded compliments (”He’s quite clever, you know - for a human being.”)

What happened? Well, all I can conclude is that the rebel alliance, unlike both the Empire and the old Republican order (represented by the Organas) actually treat droids like sentient beings. They give them freedom, and with that freedom C3PO decided to passive-aggressively fire back at the privileged class that formerly oppressed him. The closeness between Poe and BB8 in the new episodes seems to bear out the idea that droids get more recognition and rights under the new order.

In fact, maybe C3PO and R2D2, their courage and their contributions, helped make that all possible. Made biological species realize that droids are people too.

And they are still the purest ship. “Do take good care of yourself” indeed. This is love, people. Pure ♥.