#mentions of jules

[prokopetz]

Okay, so: in early drafts of Jules Verne's 1870 novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Captain Nemo is a Polish guy bent on revenge against the Russian Empire for the murder of his family in the January Uprising. Verne's editor objected on the grounds that Russia was a French ally at the time of the book's writing, and in the actual, published version of the story, Nemo's national origin and precisely which empire he's pissed off at are left unspecified.

Later, in the 1875 quasi-sequel The Mysterious Island, Nemo is retconned as an Indian noble out for revenge against the British for the murder of his family in the Indian Rebellion of 1857 – basically the same as the original plan, simply substituting a different uprising and a different empire. Verne's editor raised no objections this time around, because fuck the British, right? Though Twenty Thousand Leagues and The Mysterious Island aren't 100% compatible in their respective timelines, this version of Nemo has customarily been back-ported into adaptations of Twenty Thousand Leagues ever since.

Now here's the funny part: perhaps as a jab at his editor, Verne made a specific plot point in Twenty Thousand Leagues of Professor Aronnax repeatedly trying and failing to figure out where the fuck Nemo is from. At one point his attempt to pin down Nemo's accent is frustrated by Nemo's vast multilingualism. At another point, he tries and fails to trick Nemo by quizzing him about latitude and longitude.

(To contextualise that last bit, at the time the book was written, there was no international agreement on which line of longitude should be zero degrees, and many nations had their own prime meridians; Aronnax hoped to identify Nemo's national origin by calculating which meridian he was giving his longitudes relative to. Nemo, however, immediately spots the ploy, and announces that he'll use the Paris meridian in deference to the fact that Aronnax is a Frenchman.)

The upshot is that at no point in the course of any of this Sherlock Holmes bullshit does Aronnax ever bring up the colour of Nemo's skin as a potential clue. In light of the book's publication history, this is almost certainly simply because Verne hadn't decided that Nemo was Indian yet. However, taking into account The Mysterious Island's retcon, it retroactively makes Aronnax the least racist Frenchman ever.

[starfish-spencer]

Just wanted to bring attention to Lassie's list of Do's and Don'ts for shark-fishing because it's really funny:

Don't foul language the shark

@iceeericeee @arrowheadedbitch @therealstonks

[loucifersbitch]

Lou Ferrigno Jr, the man that you are

don't mind me, I'll just be in a puddle on the floor for the rest of my life because of this 😭

(I couldn't afford a video on Cameo but the messaging was in my price range, and I'm so incredibly happy I went for it)

[ef-1]

I remembered in 2021 (?) you posted a video of Daniel breaking down in the cool down room otw to the podium a couple of days after Jules' death and I thought "that's sad, the drivers were really impacted". But my moot on twitter is posting about Jules and she shared that Jules and Daniel lived together and how Jules helped Daniel settle in Europe when he felt so Alone ☹️ do you still have it by any chance?

yeah :( Hungary 2015 he broke down and Charlie Whiting (Race director) and a couple of people from the FIA really freaked out, I think they thought he was gonna collapse or had a health related thing. + he was also uncharacteristically withdrawn on the podium :(

[amberjazmyn]

oh my god we're having a baby! 🫶

pairing : charles leclerc x fem!reader

summary : all the moments leading up to the birth of baby leclerc 

warnings : mentions of herve leclerc and jules bianchi, pregnancy, happy tears, some dodgy french translations in tiny italicised text, reader has a name (lilia)

a/n : this is for sure a one-shot i'm also going to do for carlos just because i love the idea of c2 as dad's lol - anyways, enjoy my lovers and don't feel shy about putting in a request or a comment

finding out about the pregnancy

lilia leclerc felt like shit. for the last two weeks she had been waking up at the break of dawn, sprinting down the hallway and straight to the bathroom. puking her guts up for an hour only to lose the nausea and disgusting scent and taste of vomit for the rest of the day. thankfully, this had been happening during the summer break so charles wasn't away racing since he was a well-known formula one driver for the scuderia ferrari. 

"...mon ange my angel, are you okay?" charles' morning voice his wife found so attractive came up from behind her

"sorry, did i wake you, bebe baby?" lilia whined, lifting her head up out of the toilet as charles breathed a sigh of relief 

"no, i've been awake for a couple of minutes. are you sure you're okay?" charles lowered himself down to reach his wife, a comforting hand on her back 

"i still feel bad that you're awake, charlie! it's summer break, you should be relaxing! and, honestly, i've been feeling like shit the last two weeks..." lilia trailed off as her eyes widened and it seems as though charles' did as well 

"...two weeks this has been going on? bebe, when was the last time you got your period?" charles asked, remembering that it had now been an entire year since she had her birth control implant removed 

her eyes widened even more, "umm, the last time i got my period?" charles nodded his head, "i...i don't know? i can't remember the last time i had my period..." lilia was now slightly worried that she was now pregnant 

not because she didn't want to be pregnant. of course she did. it was her biggest dream to be a mum. in the same way it was charles' biggest dream to become a dad. however, with him now as the number one driver for ferrari, she was worried that maybe right now wasn't the right time. they hadn't even been married for a full year yet and the topic of babies hadn't been mentioned since lilia had went to get her birth control implant removed because her and charles were wanting to start the journey of trying for kids. however, during that period, every time lilia missed a period or thought she had morning sickness like right now, all the tests she and charles excitedly took always came back negative. so, they gave up and just decided to stop trying so hard with the hope that maybe, the one time that they weren't trying so hard, that they'd get a positive. 

"...bebe, do you still have any pregnancy tests left from months ago?" charles then questioned after silence as lilia nodded her head, the nausea suddenly disappearing in the same way and at the same time like it had been the last two weeks 

"umm, yeah, i think so. they should be in the top shelf next to the basin," lilia sat up more, leaning against the wall, charles taking a proper look at his wife 

and it was clear that like every other day the past two weeks, the nausea was gone and she was no longer pale and sweaty. at this point, there was no other explanation other than lilia being pregnant. in charles mind, this was the worst bout of morning sickness he had ever seen her go through. even during all the negatives when they were actually trying to get pregnant, all the signs and symptoms they thought were because of pregnancy were never at this extreme. 

so, charles grabbed the pregnancy tests and gave them to his wife. only hoping and praying that a miracle would happen. at this point, with charles job being so hectic, it was clear that now he was married, he was beyond ready to start the motions of slowing down and building a life outside of formula one. and, he had already completed the first step by making lilia his wife. now, his next step was making them maman and papa. 

after lilia had taken three of the pregnancy tests, now it was the waiting game for mr and mrs leclerc. and it was agonizing. the waiting was the worst part of it all. charles and lilia were usually patient people however, when it came to waiting for the results of something as life-changing as a pregnancy test, it was brutal and excruciating. they just wanted to know if they were going to be parents or not. it didn't make sense to them that they had to wait an entire three minutes to see if the pregnancy tests had come out as positive or negative. 

and three minutes later, their life was forever changed. with her phone recording every moment of this, the best moment of the video was when it had been captured that all three pregnancy tests had come back positive as well as the reactions of lilia and charles. lilia had unknowingly been pregnant for an entire trimester when she and charles went to visit her ob/gyn just to make sure the positives weren't false later on in the week. 

"...oh my gosh...charles...i'm pregnant!" lilia whispered, her hands shaking as she handed him the three tests that all read positive - the iphone camera still recording

charles' eyes immediately welled with tears as his hand covered his mouth, "je suis tellement heureux! nous allons être parents, chérie!" his voice cracked, tears streaming down his cheeks as he pulled his wife in for a hug i'm so happy! we're going to be parents, darling

not caring that this video of him crying over finding out his wife was pregnant would eventually be made into a youtube video and put on the internet, charles was overjoyed with emotions that he didn't care that he was crying his eyes out. at this point, he was now just waiting for the moment that he could shout this secret out to the world. 

announcing the pregnancy

and thankfully, charles and lilia leclerc wouldn't have to wait too long before they could announce the exciting news for the whole world to see. after doing a cheeky photoshoot with the help of charles' brothers, arthur and lorenzo, the married couple posted the photos to their instagrams in a joint post. using that as their announcement to those that they couldn't tell in person. having only told charles' family as well as lilia's in person. sadly, the rest of the f1 grid, because it was summer break, found out over text in their cheeky little f1 group chat that they have together. but, to fully announce it publically, they decided an instagram post by the both of them would be their best bet. 

liked by arthurleclerc, leclerc_pascale, maxverstappen1, scuderiaferrari, carlossainz55, pierregasly and 12,000k others

charlesleclerc and lilialeclerc well, how has your summer break been everyone? this has been ours, the leclerc's continue to grow 

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arthurleclerc do you know how hard it's been to keep this secret for? 

charlesleclerc arthurleclerc how do you think i feel? 

leclerc_pascale my babies are having babies! 

lilialeclerc leclerc_pascale we love you maman, we can't wait for baby leclerc to meet her grand-mère

maxverstappen1 congratulations you two! you'll be amazing parents! 

lilialeclerc maxverstappen1 thank you maxie! we cannot wait!

scuderiaferrari cannot wait to meet the little leclerc! making all the baby ferrari merch as we speak

lilialeclerc scuderiaferrari and we'll be the first to purchase the merch!

carlossainz55 congratulations, baby leclerc will be the most spoilt baby in the world! 

lilialeclerc carlossainz55 thank you carlitos! and yes she will and we cannot wait to shower her with all of it

pierregasly congratulations to you guys! i call being godfather! 

lilialeclerc pierregasly thank you pierre and don't be announcing things too early!

finding out the gender of the baby

the next exciting milestone for baby leclerc after announcing the news was finding out the gender. even though charles and lilia wanted to wait until birth so it could be a surprise, which is what they had told the technician at their last appointment and she respected that. but, it was at their most recent appointment that when it was offered to tell them the gender, that they couldn't wait any longer. they just had to be told now that the ob/gyn had mentioned it that she could absolutely tell them the gender of their baby if they had changed their minds about waiting until the birth. 

"...lilia and charles, from the looks of these scans, baby looks amazing which is always what we want to hear. and now because it's gotten to the point where we are absolutely confident about the gender, if you guys have changed your mind and no longer want to wait until birth, would you like me to tell you guys the gender of your baby?" the ob/gyn asked, her smile bright and her voice soft and calm 

with her head trying to look over at the ultrasound screen so she could see the baby, it was clear that the husband and wife were done with waiting and were wanting to know the gender of their baby. 

"i know we said we wanted to wait but, is it okay if we get told the gender? i don't think we can wait any longer!" lilia giggled in embarrassment, her face flushing a sweet pink colour as the technician nods her head and smiles back 

"*giggles* i can absolutely do that for you, lilia and charles! so many mums, first time ones especially, think they have the patience when it comes to knowing their baby's gender but they never do. so, this happens majority of the time however, i think by the time you get to your second or third, you become more comfortable with having the patience to wait until the birth to find out the gender," the techncian giggles which causes lilia and charles to giggle as well 

their 'guilt' of not being patient enough dwindles away quickly for the leclercs as the technician quickly prints out two pieces of paper. one that shows the gender of the baby on a printed out ultrasound photo and another one that has the colour to indicate if the baby is a boy or a girl.

but, before giving them the documentation and the little coloured square, she tells them, "so, if you just look here, at the screen, lilia and charles, i am happy to announce that you guys are having a baby girl..." the technican announces, a soft smile covering her face as she notices the tears that had welled up in the eyes of charles had made their way down his cheeks, lilia's face not too far away from being identical to her husbands 

"...oh wow..." charles' voice breaks, his lips trembling and his shaky hand that wasn't squeezing his wife's shoulder was over his mouth to cover his shaking smile that took over his entire face

lilia could only smile at how emotional her husband was getting at the news of them having a baby girl. however, if she had looked at the image on the ultrasound screen of their baby girl, she too would have cried the same exact way as charles currently was. 

"...oh, bébé, ne pleure pas. c'est bon!" lilia giggled, her voice lightly emotional as she brushed her hand against charles' chin as his tears weren't stopping, the ob/gyn now out of the room oh, baby, don't cry! it's okay

"j'essaye mais je ne peux pas m'arrêter de pleurer!" the husband and wife giggled, charles' tears really weren't stopping, even with the amount of tissues lilia had given to him in an effort to stop them i'm trying but i can't stop crying

finally, five minutes later, charles's tears did eventually stop and after notifying their ob/gyn, lilia got cleaned up from the gel that was used for the ultrasound and after getting some additional information about when their next appointment was, their current appointment was finished. and then they were allowed to leave their appointment with an extra exciting piece of news that their baby leclerc was a girl. now all they had to do was announce in some sort of other interesting way that they were having a little girl. and, the way they did that was with a gender reveal cake that they had done together. since lilia's mum and sister were bakers, she asked them to make the cake, telling them it was a girl which was a very sweet moment. 

then, announcing it to everyone else, with that cake, charles and lilia with their two plastic wine glasses, dug them into the cake and out to reveal the pink buttercream icing that was in the middle of the all white loveheart cake. 

liked by francisca.cgomes, maxverstappen1, leclerc_pascale, kellypiquet, pierregasly, carlossainz55 and 21k

charlesleclerc and lilialeclerc baby leclerc is a girl 🩷

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francisca.cgomes i'm still crying! baby girl is going to be so loved and spoilt by her aunty kika! 

lilialeclerc francisca.cgomes don't cry you'll make me cry! baby girl loves her aunty kika already!

maxverstappen1 baby leclerc's now going to be even more spoilt 🩷

lilialeclerc maxverstappen1 of course she is! wouldn't expect anything less from her uncle maxie!

leclerc_pascale cannot wait to meet my first granddaughter 🩷

lilialeclerc leclerc_pascale she can't wait to meet you either, maman 🩷

kellypiquet having a baby girl is wonderful! you guys will be amazing girl parents 🩷

lilialeclerc kellypiquet we truly cannot wait, kelly! 

pierregasly this little girl is blessed with the best parents and aunties and uncles! 

charlesleclerc pierregasly you just made lilia cry! 

carlossainz55 charles as a girl dad is for sure what i expected 🩷

charlesleclerc carlossainz55 another comment that has made my beautiful pregnant wife cry

the birth of baby leclerc

since finding out the gender and before lilia went into labour, it was coming to the end of the summer break before the season started back up again. and because lilia was pregnant, it had felt like summer break had just come and gone by the click of a finger when really, to the other wags and drivers, it felt like the summer break had started to drag on towards the end. but, because lilia wasn't too far away from giving birth, fred vassuer, ferrari's team principal, had actually very sweetly, given charles early paternal leave so he could at least be in monaco when lilia gives birth. which meant that ollie bearman, the reserve driver for ferrari who was still driving for f2 was once again brought in after he had his debut whilst carlos had his appendix taken out at the beginning of the season. however, all the drivers had kept the leclerc's in the loop about what was going on and how midseason training had been progressing since charles had been exempt from that as well since lilia was so far along that it was now a matter of when not if to the date of her falling into labour during the first week back of the season. 

and it seemed as though no one was more ready for the day that lilia fell into labour then charles. it had been a quite slow, lazy day for the family of two until it had become obvious that they were now hours from becoming a family of three. 

lilia had been feeling as though the little baby had dropped even lower in her womb as though the little girl was ready to be welcomed into the world. however, it wasn't until she tried to move herself off of the exercise ball and her waters broke that she realised it was finally time for the baby to be born! 

"...charles...i think my waters just broke..." lilia's voice came out as shaky and it was the first time she had sounded so scared, her eyes huge and frightened at her husband who shot up from his spot on the kitchen counter 

"...okay...it's okay bebe, just breathe alright? we'll be fine, we know what we're doing, i'm here, you're here! everything that we need is in the car so all we now need to do is get ourselves into the car and down to the hospital! just keep on breathing baby, you are doing perfectly well!" charles' voice came out as strong, confident and completely sure of himself and what he was doing 

it broke his heart to see the tough exterior that his wife had put up throughout her entire pregnancy finally falter at the exact moment of her waters breaking. whilst it wasn't obvious to everyone, not even fully obvious to charles since she wasn't one to let anyone know, but it was clear to charles just from this interaction as they got into their car to drive to the hospital, that lilia was utterly terrified to actually get to this stage of the pregnancy and give birth. everyone that knew lilia knew she hated showing fear but, if she was to show fear about any place or anything, it was the hospital. to her, the hospital meant bad things. to her, the hospital meant death and despair. because for lilia, every time she had been in a hospital, it ended with her on the sterile floor in hysterics because someone she loved had died. 

with charles' strength and confidence on the way to the hospital that everything was going to be okay, it was clear that that strength wasn't going to stay for the entire duration of the labour and delivery of their little girl. because, like every other to be father before him, charles was always confused why so many new fathers would be crying whilst watching their wife/significant other give birth. it made sense if their partner was crying since it was them doing all the hard work of growing the baby for nine months and then giving birth to the baby. however, what charles was yet to realise was the reason why the new fathers would be so emotional. it wasn't a lie that it made charles upset to see his wife in so much pain. it was agonizing for charles whenever he had to bear witness to his wife being in pain or in tears. however, he didn't realise just how upset he would be to see his wife in the excruciating pain that she went through whilst giving birth to their baby girl. 

from the very beginning of the leclerc's arriving at the hospital in monte-carlo, it was obvious that this labour wasn't going to be an easy simple one. it was going to take hours and it was going to be painful and excrucitating. at first, they had hoped that lilia would be able to have a natural birth however, it had been discovered quite quickly that a natural birth was not going to be happening. so, they had to unfortunately induce lilia and have the baby delivered via c-section and the entire time, charles had to watch helplessly whilst his wife was put under, having no clue what was going on and that their little girl had been born. 

the entire time that his and lilia's little girl had been delivered via induced c-section, charles was inconsolable. he was crying more than he was the last time they had an appointment about baby leclerc. the midwifes and other doctors and nurses that were in charge of taking care of his wife could tell just how much agony and grief this entire situation had put charles through but they couldn't do anything more than offer him comforting words and comforting hugs whilst they assured him that both his baby and his wife were fine and that as soon as baby was out, that lilia would be taken out of the induction and would be woken up again. 

however, those words of comfort and sweet hugs only did so much. it wasn't until the cries of his little baby girl and of his wife were heard, announcing to the world that both baby and mum were okay that charles would finally breathe. now the tears pouring down his cheeks weren't tears of agony, fear and grief but of relief and utmost joy that he was finally a dad to the most gorgeous looking baby he had ever locked eyes with. 

with his head resting against the hospital bed, his hand tangled in lilia's hair and the other one hovering over the back of their little girl, charles was in heaven. he finally understood why new fathers got so emotional when their partners gave birth to their children. it all made sense to him now that it had happened to him. not only were the tears there because it was excruciating watching his wife in so much pain but also because it now settled in that he was now a father himself. the tears no longer tears of grief and agony but of pure happiness and joy. he was now the parent of this little miracle that was laying atop her mother's body, their breathing intertwining into one whilst charles kept his focus on his two girls. tears still streaming down his cheeks, quietly this time, the sobs no longer present as he was now as calm as the little girl that was fast asleep on the body of her mother. 

finally, lilia spoke up in their native french, whispering, "...même si j'aime le calme, nous devons choisir un nom pour notre petite fille, char..." the look on his wife's face as she said that was never going to leave charles' mind as he smiled at her as much as i love the quiet, we need to choose a name for our little girl, char

"...et juliette marie antoinette harriett leclerc? jules pour faire court?" charles whispered back, his voice sounding light like a feather as lilia smiled at the name choice what about juliette marie antoinette harriett leclerc? jules for short

"juliette marie antoinette harriet leclerc...c'est un personnage parfait." lilia smiled sweetly, her lips kissing his cheek, not able to reach his forehead due to the way she was inclined in the hospital bed juliette marie antoinette harriet leclerc...it's perfect char

wiping away one of many tears from her husband's cheeks, she then picked up little jules and wordlessly gestured if he wanted to hold their little girl. since he still hadn't done that yet since there was so many things going on that he hadn't yet had the chance to even get his first skin to skin with his daughter yet. 

"tu veux tenir jules, char?" lilia questioned, her voice getting tired as charles didn't hesitate in nodding his head you want to hold jules, char

and magically, as if lilia's midwife had powers of some sort, just as the husband and wife were getting ready to do the safe handover of baby jules from mum to dad, the midwife entered the hospital room. 

"mum, dad? sorry to bother you but, there are some guests that are itching to meet the little one...but, first, does dad want to hold her and does the little one have a name?" the midwife, emilia, smiled, slowly walking into the room and closing the door behind her as the new parents smiled up at the health professional 

"hey, you aren't bothering us at all, emilia, and we'd love to have the guests come in but, yeah, charles is wanting to hold her since he wasn't able to earlier because of everything that had happened. and, yeah, we have actually just finished up the name conversation, little leclerc finally has a name," lilia giggled as emilia smiled, walking over to the computer so she could input the name into the birth certificate that was to be printed out 

"amazing! i'll let the guests in soon after we give daddy and baby some skin to skin which i'll help with so, no worries there. but, now that you've mentioned that you've got a name for the little one, i'll be happy to hear it!" emilia smiled excitedly with a cheeky giggle as they quickly decided that inputting the name first would be the better option and then have emilia show and help charles in holding their little girl

 "thank you, emilia! and baby's name is juliette marie antoinette harriett leclerc," lilia announces as emilia's face scrunches up, a hand on her heart as she types it out on the birth certificate 

"any meaning behind the adorable name?" emilia asks as she finishes typing before sending it off to the receptionist printer 

"juliette for charles' godfather jules bianchi, marie because it was my mum's name, antoinette for one of charles friends who we lost during an f2 race, anthoine hubert and harriett is what we're saying the female version of charles' dad, herve who sadly has also passed away," lilia explained as charles nodded his head, the joy in his eyes not going way even at the mention of the fact that every single name of his daughter was in tribute of someone he's lost in his life, with the exemption of lilia's mother, marie

emilia smiled softly, "that's a perfect name and i'm sure jules, marie, anthoine and herve are bursting at the seams with joy from wherever it is they are watching from. baby jules is going to be so protected. well, the birth certificate has now been sent for printing at the receptionist printer but whilst we wait for that, lilia if you could give me juliette, i'll now be able to assist charles in his first skin to skin with her," emilia moves away from the computer and to lilia's bed and without hesitation, lilia happily hands baby juliette over to her 

emilia then holds baby juliette easily as she waits for charles to take off his shirt and figure out whether or not he's comfortable to stand for his first hold of his baby or if he'd feel more comfortable sitting down. deciding to sit down first, just to be safe, emilia easily hands baby juliette over to her daddy and instantly, baby juliette just curls into her dad's body with ease. as though she was her dad's missing piece. holding his baby girl felt like heaven and earth had finally joined together like a jigsaw piece. because he never imagined he'd have this moment. to charles, having a baby was a heavenly thought, a dream, that he thought he'd never get in his life because he was so focused on his job with formula one. however, for charles, formula one no longer felt like his only purpose in life. his new purpose in life was now this little baby girl, little juliette, that was sleeping soundly in his arms as tears rolled down his cheeks. it seemed as though charles' tears would overflow the hospital because it seemed as though ever since arriving at the hospital, he hadn't stopped crying. and of course, with the help of emilia, charles and lilia were able to have photographical and video evidence of just how emotional charles had been the entire time. but, it wasn't something that charles was ashamed of. how could he when all this emotion was all due to this beautiful little girl that rested on his bare chest, his wife who had just given him this heavenly gift of their little girl, meters in front of him.

then, it was time for the rest of the family to meet little leclerc. the grandparents had already met little juliette and when lilia and charles told them, especially pascale, juliette's name, it was obvious just how meaningful her name was to them. however, those weren't the guests that emilia was referring to earlier. the guests that she was referring to was charles' f1 teammates. they had all been buzzing with every emotion under the sun as they waited for the moment them to finally get permission to meet their niece. 

f1 grid meeting baby juliette

charles was still having skin to skin time when emilia had allowed in the first influx of f1 drivers in the room to meet the little baby. with the permission of lilia and charles of course, the first group to meet baby juliette was pierre, carlos and max. their girlfriends francisca, rebecca and kelly had also joined in but were at the hospital bed next to lilia whilst the guys had gone straight over to charles before coming back to congratulate lilia as well. 

"...hey guys, come in!" charles whispered, lilia's face lighting up as she saw who it was that had walked in as he stood up, juliette still asleep in his arms 

max, pierre, carlos and the girls' faces all softened when they made eye contact with the newest arrival to the f1 family. all the emotions suddenly coming up, moreso from the girlfriends then the drivers. 

max being the most comfortable and composed one to speak up, "oh my gosh, charles, lilia, she's gorgeous and so tiny! what's her name?" he questioned, his eyes showing an emotion that was very rare to be seen by anyone as charles smiled at his childhood friend 

"thank you max, thanks guys! her name is juliette marie antoinette harriett leclerc," charles smiled, his voice still shaky from the tears he had finally stopped crying

at hearing the name of the little girl, the room fell into a silence, so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. the looks on the faces of each of the drivers and their girlfriends were immediately the same as the faces made by the leclerc's when they had been told the name of little juliette. it was obvious to lilia, from one look at the drivers, pierre specifically, that those middle names, especially antoinette for him, was more meaningful than anything else. 

"that's a gorgeous name you two. and she suits the name as well." max whispers as his head tilts as he looks at the sleeping newborn, his finger lightly brushing her forehead as she smiles at the touch 

the drivers and girlfriends all look at one another after that touch. it seemed as though from that touch and smile response that juliette and uncle max were going to have a special bond. however, whilst that would be true, it wasn't until carlos came over, lightly brushing his lips against her forhead that she woke up. her eyes locking with carlos' and smiling at him. 

that very moment, charles and lilia knew that they had to have carlos as juliette's godfather. which was another thing that because of the whirlwind of emotions, the husband and wife had forgotten to discuss. however, it seemed as though it didn't need a discussion because it seemed like baby juliette knew for herself that uncle carlos was also going to be her godfather. with maybe uncle max as godfather number two or the godfather to her future sibling. 

whilst you'd think there would be a lot of talking between the group of nine, there really wasn't. it was a calm and serene quiet as each of the drivers and their girlfriends got to quickly hold little juliette with charles taking photos of each of them with their little niece. however, the one that they wanted to be printed out was carlos'. they wanted to announce to him, once they had gotten everyone else out of the room, that he was juliette's godfather. 

godfather carlos

saying their final goodbyes, the group of six drivers and girlfriends were now leaving charles, lilia and juliette, thinking that another group of drivers was going to be allowed in to meet little juliette. however, just before carlos could leave with rebecca, lilia and charles stopped him before he was fully out the door. 

"...carlos...wait, can you stay, for a minute? we want to ask you something..." lilia calls out, just before carlos could leave 

nodding to them, he then lets the other five know that he'll catch up with them later. giving a quick hand squeeze and kiss to rebecca, he then walks back into the room and closes the door behind him. 

"...yeah, i can stay, is everything okay? what do you want to ask me?" he questions as he notices charles and lilia, it was as though they were communicating with each other without speaking 

they then look back over at carlos and they ask him to sit down, which he does. now that he was seated, charles and lilia felt more comfortable telling him just in case he fainted or his legs turned into jelly. charles then asked if carlos wanted to once again, hold juliette, he accepted of course and holding her ever so carefully, waited patiently for what lilia and charles were going to ask him. 

"everything's perfectly fine, carlos, we just wanted to ask if you wanted to be juliette's godfather..." lilia asked softly as carlos' eyes widened as his grip on juliette tightened slightly but not too much to cause concern 

"...are you serious?" carlos' voice shook, his emotions now coming out now that it was just the three of them plus juliette - carlos not really one to cry in front of a lot of people 

"we're dead serious, carlos. you saw the way juliette seemed to latch onto you seconds after she did similar to max. we did think of making max maybe godfather number two *giggles* however, i think we'll make him godfather to baby two when we decide to have baby number two. but, right now, we seriously think that you're the right choice for juliette's godfather and we know we can trust you fully with her if anything god forbid was to happen to us before she's old enough..." lilia assured as carlos' eyes became watery and his lips started to quiver 

charles and lilia became a little worried when he didn't respond for a little bit. carlos' head had dipped down to rest on juliette's (which, in all honesty, nearly made charles and lilia cry at how sweet it was and before either forgot, they made sure to capture a quick photo) as his body started shaking. it had now become clear to the husband and wife that the simple question of them wanting carlos as juliette's godfather had hit an emotional chord for the spaniard and it also struck an emotional chord with them. 

sniffling, carlos finally lifted his head up and nodded his head, "...i'd be honoured to be juliette's godfather you two! i promise i won't let anything bad happen to juliette for as long as i am able to," carlos sniffled, his tears hitting his shoulder as his head was resting there in a bid to not get any of his tears on his goddaughter 

and seeing that image was priceless for charles and lilia. they both adored carlos and they really treasured their friendship with the spaniard. i think the reason why carlos was so emotional was because of everything with him leaving ferrari at the end of this season was now starting to hit him. and now that halfway through his final season with his teammate and with ferrari, the kid decides to have a baby himself, it made him even more emotional because he thought he'd never get a proper relationship with little leclerc because of his departure from ferrari. however, no matter where carlos would be in f1, whether that was alpine, mercedes, audi, charles and lilia would always look for him first when it comes to juliette. the baby now born before the end of their last season together. now it made sense why carlos had been so quiet when he had first come in to meet the baby with pierre, max, kika, kelly and rebecca. carlos was holding back all of this pent up emotions that were now coming out when asking him to be godfather. 

"we trust you carlitos. that's why we asked you. and it doesn't matter that you're leaving ferrari at the end of the season. no matter where you end up on the grid, whether it's mercedes, alpine, audi, we will always and we mean always look for you first when it comes to juliette. we love you carlos and you leaving ferrari doesn't change that. we really want you in our lives after this and that means you being a vital part of juliette's life!" lilia was adamant in getting carlos to believe that they really wanted him as their baby's godfather 

and, it finally seemed to be working. nodding his head and wiping away his tears, carlos held juliette ever so securely as he allowed the two parents to take more photos of them together. 

because, after that, it would be the announcement that everyone that was all caught up in the bubble of the birth of baby leclerc was hanging for. the announcement that baby leclerc has been born and introduced into the world. so, that's what they did. 

announcing baby juliette

liked by leclerc_pascale, arthurleclerc, maxverstappen1, kellypiquet, carlossainz55, pierregasly, scuderiaferrari, landonorris, francisca.cgomes and 13k others

charlesleclerc and lilialeclerc introducing juliette marie antoinette harriett leclerc 🩷

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leclerc_pascale parfaite petite juliette 🩷 perfect little juliette

arthurleclerc juliette is perfect you two 🩷

maxverstappen1 uncle maxie loves you juliette. she's beautiful you guys🩷

kellypiquet the sweetest baby girl ever! you'll be beautiful parents 

carlossainz55 godfather carlos loves you, juliette, forever and ever🩷

pierregasly i've only just finished crying, mon dieu my god

scuderiaferrari isn't she just a precious little thing? can't wait to meet little juliette 

landonorris she's gorgeous, i'm actually going to cry when i meet her! 

francisca.cgomes i still can't get over her name! it's so beautiful 🩷

forzacarlos oh my gosh, juliette's name is all in tribute to those the leclerc's have lost! jules, herve, marie (lilia's mum) and anthoine, i can't i'm actually sobbing! 

fewarrifwends forzacarlos oh my gosh, you're right! that's actually so sweet and now i'm crying too! 

fin

this was a completely different format than i normally do but honestly, i love it more than i thought i would! i know i said in the authors note at the beginning that i'd do this for carlos as well but, now i'm actually really considering it because i loved this charles version so much! and, yes, i came up with baby juliette's name all on my own and i'm actually kind of proud of it! i truly do think that whenever charles and (possibly) alex or whoever he's with when that happens, decide to settle down in that regard of having kids, i do think no matter if it's a boy or girl, he'd pay tribute to jules and his dad herve in some type of way. and this was my version of it with the edition of anthoine hurbert and the fictional mother of lilia because i also feel like people forget that charles was also friends with anthoine, not just pierre so, i just wanted to honour that as well in the best way i could. 

©⠀amberjazmyn's original work. do not translate or steal any of my fics. 2024

[mobilislnmobile]

Just a doodle I did during a phone call

[inquisitor-julia]

Bioware like...quick question...did you have to make me love felassan then mourn him for years and then have him haunt the fuck out of the veilguard narrative and then also make him look like that like excuse me??

[love-laugh-daydreamarevolt]

Watching the bollwood episode of psych and shawn cannonically says "lots of things say they're built for one but can easily fit two people" while standing next to Jules and lassiter. I don't need to further my poly shawn/ poly psych agenda, the show us doing it for me

[cultivating-wildflowers]

tagged by @thejonderettegirl to share six books I want to read in 2025 (and Gigi, your six books are all EXCELLENT choices 👏🏻)

tagging @eddis-not-eeddis, @rubyintheskywithdiamonds, @stormsouls, and anyone else who wants to join (yes, that means you!)

[thesarahshay]

Capt Nemo: Imma tell you how my ship works and how I stay alive underwater in excruciating detail

Prof. Aronnax: Oh hell yeah gimme all that science

Nemo: And I'll tell you exactly how I managed to build this ship without anyone finding out

Aronnax: I believe every word of this increasingly ridiculous story

Nemo: Now it's time for my diatribe about how I hate land and will remain underwater forever

Aronnax: Go off, queen

Nemo: Aaaand that's all you need to know I guess

Aronnax: Cool cool cool. I definitely don't need to know who your crew is, where they came from, how many there are, or how you managed to convince ~100 people to give up life on land and just live underwater for the rest of their lives

Nemo: Yeah lol why would you care they're not like PEOPLE

Arronax: lololol totes bestie

Nemo: oh btw we don't have a doctor

[a-star-that-fell]

augh work wants me at our main site again tomorrow and i have to drive 40 minutes by myself and i feel like im gonna throw up

[loucifersbitch]

Ooooh tell me about drunk Eddie buddietommy please!

“Okay. Um,” Tommy pauses and Eddie can hear a rustling on the other end of the line as Tommy sits up, “not that I think you’re a liar, but you sound like you need to talk about something.”

There’s more background noise, and Eddie can hear a second voice murmuring, which means Buck was sleeping next to Tommy, and Eddie has now woken both of them.

“I’m sorry, Tommy, I shouldn’t have ca-”

“No, no, none of that, Eddie. You okay if I put you on speakerphone so Evan can hear too?”

He wants to say no. He wants to hang up and pretend this conversation never happened.

“Of course.”

There’s a pause and a shuffling, and then Buck is on the line, too.

“Eddie? What’s wrong?” Buck’s voice is gravelly but alert, and Eddie is the biggest asshole to ever walk the planet.

“Really, it’s nothing,” he says, and he can hear the way he slurs the ‘s’ that time.

“Have you been drinking?” Tommy asks.

“Yeah, but I’m fi-”

Buck cuts him off by asking, “Did you take anything?”

“Wh- no? What would I -” Eddie rolls his eyes. “I’m not suicidal, Buck.”

Another rustling on the other end of the line. 

“We’ll be there in 15 minutes,” Tommy says, hanging up before Eddie gets the chance to say anything.

He’s going to strangle them both when they walk through his door.

“I’m not suicidal! I’m just in love with you!” he yells to the empty room and his locked phone.

[honkceasar]

Thinking about how in the “Announcement” video, when Sneeg and Charlie appear, there is text under their pictures that says “found them!”. In the finale, Hetch mentions they must’ve upped security since SOMETHING happened, but doesn’t say what. Then I thought about the fact that Showfall sends out missing posters for runaway actors… Sneeg and Charlie definitely escaped at some point didn’t they

[sagesolsticewrites]

bestieeeeee <3

from the prompts: 5 for Brady and Jules, 14 for Benny and Vika 😘

Thanks so much for the request chickie, these were so much fun! 🥰 so sorry for the wait 😅 Blurbs are under the cut!

From this prompt list (inbox is open y’all!)

Brady & Jules

5.) "I never want us to forget why we fell in love in the first place."

With a sigh, Juliet climbed into bed, avoiding looking at the place where her husband should be.

He was away at a marching band competition, and he had assured her he’d be home before they went to bed, but Olivia and Janie’s bedtime had come and gone with no sign of him, and Juliet had tucked them in with soft promises that their father would be there to say hello in the morning.

She heard the familiar sound of the garage door opening and the jingle of keys in the dish by the door, her husband clearly trying to enter as quietly as he could.

As she heard him come upstairs and peek into the girls’ room, part of her longed to turn over, to see him enter their bedroom with what surely was a reasonable explanation for his tardiness and kiss her worries of the evening away.

But a larger part of her leaned into her stubbornness, and she feigned sleep as their bedroom door opened and John climbed into bed with a whispered apology and a brush of his lips to her cheek.

There was an odd distance between them now, John apologizing the next morning, saying there was an accident on their way back and traffic had backed up, so they hadn’t gotten back to the school until well after dark. Juliet had accepted his apology, and tried to get things back to normal, but there was still something nagging at her as she threw herself into the daily routine of kiss husband goodbye, get kids off to school, do housework, pick kids up from school, make dinner—

She was clearing out one of the cabinets in the study— her little library, as John liked to call it— when she came across an old photo book filled with pictures from when she and John had first started dating. Grinning as she flipped through the memories, she tried to think back to when the two of them had last had some true time alone and…

She couldn’t.

Since Janie had been born, they’d tried to have at the very least two date nights a month, but then John had taken on more responsibilities as director of the Victor High School marching band, and Jules was trying to juggle taking care of two wonderful children instead of just one and alone time had fallen by the wayside.

She’d planned to ask him about a potential date night when he came home from work that evening, but it seemed her husband had come to a similar conclusion and spoke up first.

“What would you say to us having a weekend away?” He’d said as he dried dishes at the sink beside her, their daughters off watching tv in the living room.

“Us and the girls?” She asked, already mentally planning what she’d need to pack for them.

“No,” John said carefully, “I was thinking just the two of us.”

Seeing the protests already forming in her mind, he continues, “I already called the Crosbys, and Harry said he and Jean would be happy to have the girls over for the weekend.”

He sets the dripping plate in his hands on the drying rack, turning to face Jules as he takes her hands in his.

“I know it’s been too long since we’ve had time together just the two of us, and I’m so sorry about that, sweetheart. Will you let me fix that, please?”

Unable to fight off the tender smile growing on her face, Juliet nods.

“Of course, Johnny,” she says softly, her thumb stroking gently along his cheek.

That weekend, they drive into the city to drop the girl off with their Uncle Harry and Aunt Jean— “be good!”— before turning towards the mystery destination that John still hasn’t told her about.

“You’ll know it when we get there,” he’d assured her.

And as they drove along increasingly familiar streets towards their hotel, Jules realized she did.

“Johnny, did you—?”

“Cornell territory,” he grins, recalling her words to him the first night they met.

Jules lets out an incredulous laugh as she looks out at her old stomping grounds as a student.

Once they’ve dropped off their luggage, John takes his wife by the hand and takes her out for a stroll that’s a near step-for-step recreation of their first date, down to the diner they stop at next to one of many old bookstores she’d dragged him to back in the fall of 1940.

“Johnny, this is lovely,” she gushes over their milkshakes, “But… how in the world did you think of it?”

He smiles, the shy shrug of his shoulders bringing her back to that college senior she’d met in a bar all those years ago.

“You’ve been the love of my life since we met, Jules,” John says, “And I never want us to forget why we fell in love in the first place.”

There simply aren’t words for the emotions welling up in her at his tender words, and so she leans across the table to capture her husband's lips in a kiss— just like they’d done all those years before.

Benny & Vika

14.) “Let's get dressed up for dinner tonight." "We just cooked-" "We don't have to go out!"

“Let’s get dressed up for dinner tonight.”

Benny DeMarco sees his wife stiffen out of the corner of his eye where she’s setting the table and quickly realizes he made a mistake not giving her more context.

In his defense, he was mostly just thinking about a way to get her into that red dress he likes.

Vika— who on any other night would love her husband to whisk her away for a night out— is confused and more than a little upset at her husband’s sudden idea as she glances back to the pots simmering on the stove.

“We just cooked—”

“We don’t have to go out!” Benny scrambles to say, moving from his place on the couch to stand in front of her, trying to placate her. “Just… I thought it might be nice for us to have a date night in tonight. We haven’t had much of a chance to get dressed up just because lately.”

“Oh,” she softens, deep brown eyes melting like chocolate, “Benny, that sounds lovely.”

“I try.” He grins.

Vika glances back to the stove, doing some mental math.

“Alright, well… I’ll keep an eye on the stove while you get dressed, and then when you’re done all you need to do—”

“Vika,” he says, directing his wife’s attention back to him, “You just go get changed, tesoro, I’ll worry about dinner.”

“Benny…”

“Don’t worry, I’ve got it all under control.”

Luckily he does have it all under control, as tonight’s dinner is the pasta that Benny himself taught Vika how to make, and he relies solely on muscle memory as he waits for Vika to re-emerge.

The click clack of heels on the kitchen tile alerts him to his wife’s arrival as he’s plating dinner— having swapped out their usual plates for the slightly nicer ones that were a wedding gift from the Bradys.

As he looks up, Vika twirls shyly, a gold pin nestled in her dark waves complementing her usual jhumka necklace, and— Benny thanks every deity he can think of— the skirt of his favorite red dress fanning out around her.

“Will this do, Mr. DeMarco?”

Benny works his way around the table to pull Vika into his arms, his smile growing impossibly wide.

“You look perfect, Mrs. DeMarco.”

He beams at her attempt to bite back a smile— hearing her married name never fails to bring a smile to her face, and Benny adores it— and continues.

“You always look perfect, of course, but tonight…”

His gaze traces over her wide brown eyes sparkling with joy, gorgeous red-lipped smile, down to the dazzling diamond on her left hand.

“God, how did I get so lucky?”

Vika leans up onto her tiptoes to press a tender kiss to his mouth.

“I ask myself that every day, my love.” She smiles, pulling him back into the dining room, “Now come on. I’m hungry, and somebody made me go get dressed up instead of letting me finish dinner.”

[amberjazmyn]

grief is just unexpressed love💔

pairing : charles leclerc x platonic fem! aston martin driver reader, platonic fem!driver reader x f1 grid

summary : everyone knew how tough being the youngest on the f1 grid could be. but only few understood what it felt like to grieve someone during a grand prix weekend.

warnings : mentions of minor character death, mentions of illness, slight mention of herve leclerc, slight mention of jules bianchi, angst, argument between mother and daughter, manipulating mother, manipulated mother

a/n : this was a request from an anon and whilst i loved the original request, i decided to tweak it slightly so to whoever requested this, sorry it's taken this long and i hope you enjoy it! flynn drives for aston martin alongside lance and fernando has moved to kick sauber alongside zhou (sorry valtteri!) and her race number is 19!

a/n : readers name is flynn like mentioned in anon's request and some things about the race, f1 and f1 academy may be explained incorrectly <3

death anniversaries were never easy, no matter what number it was, ease was not in the oxford dictionary under the word grief nor was it the definition either. unfortunately, formula one driver, flynn l.n was new to the term of grief and she wished she had been better prepared for it. it was the one year anniversary of the death of her beloved father and it was also the italian grand prix in monza. and she wasn't sure how to feel about it. however, there was one person in particular who was close with flynn that did know a lot about grief and what it felt like. and that was her best friend, fellow formula one driver, charles leclerc.

and because of this being the first anniversary without her dad and a grand prix happening at the same time, charles was conscious in making sure he was keeping a watchful eye on flynn. making sure that she was as okay as she could be and that if she needed anything and he means anything, that she knew he was right there to help her. however, it was clear to everyone, not just charles, that the one thing that flynn wanted more than anything was the one person that she could never bring back and see ever again. and that was the last thing she remembered shouting at her mother when the mother and daughter were arguing over flynn's wishes of returning back to racing so soon after the bereavement.

six months after the death

the shouting was endless between mother and daughter. shaking the house, for a moment or two, onlookers to the fight thought that the house would cave in on them if they continued to shout this loud. flynn and her family had just gone through the worst thing any family could go through. flynn's father henri ln had unfortunately died due to a very long and debilitating brain tumour that rendered him back into the mental state of an infant. it was devastating and whilst henri could barely communicate in his last few days, he still managed to have enough strength to communicate to his formula one driver daughter that she wasn't allowed to stop racing. even after his death, he basically forbade her to stop and if she did stop racing, he made sure to let her know that if he was able to, he'd make sure that decision would be the worst decision she could ever make before she was ready to stop driving. and if she did stop, he would find every possible way to haunt his daughter. those were his own words by the way, and some of the last words he ever spoke as well before the end of his life. and that death bed conversation that flynn and henri had was the base of the current argument between flynn and her mother helene.

it infruiated flynn that her mother couldn't understand the reason why she wanted to return back into racing so quickly after the loss of her father. henri had managed to stay alive right until the final race of the season, abu dhabi, and just before winter break started, marking the end of the season that had just gone on. meaning training for the 2024 season was about to start in bahrain and that was what helene was fuming about. that flynn could even think about going back into training so soon even though helene was certain that her team back at aston martin would be ever so understanding in regards to the bereavment and they were. however, there was no way that flynn was going to disrespect her father's literal dying wish and not race just because of this argument she was in the middle of with her mother. especially when flynn knew that helene hated that her daughter was a formula one driver and not doing a more 'feminine' job like a waitress or gymnast.

"...flynn, why don't you understand my side of this?" helene sighs, her voice sore from all the screaming as her hand brushed against her hallowed out face

"i do, mum, i really do understand your point in this argument. however, do you understand my side of this whole argument?" flynn sighed, her voice also slightly irritated from the yelling as helene shrugged her shoulders and shook her head - she really couldn't comprehend why her daughter would still want to race only six months after the death of her father

"okay fine, no i don't get it! i don't understand how you could even think about wanting to put yourself into a car after the loss of your father, flynn! so tell me, enlighten me flynn as to why you feel like it's okay for you to fly to bahrain for pre-season training after only six months after losing your father because i want to know! i want to know how you can still be a formula one driver even after everything that's happened!" helene huffed out, her voice exasperated as flynn sighed as well, her hands clenched tightly

"i know you weren't present when this happened mum, but one of the very last conversations i was blessed to have with dad, he requested that his last dying wish was for me to keep on racing, even after his death. and that if i didn't, it would be the worst mistake of my life because he knows that just because of he's dead, that shouldn't send me into early retirement. he knows that i've still got so much left in me that if i was to stop racing now that he's gone, that it would be a waste of everything i went through as a kid all for it to end just because he's dead. and i promised him, mum, i gave him my word that after he took in his last breath days later that i would keep to my word and i would keep on racing! and now, i know you've never liked the fact that this is my job, and please don't lie to me because i'll never forget how many times dad had to force you just to come to a race of mine! but when it was in regards to one of my brothers or best friends that were boys, you jumped at the chance to watch a race. as well as all the other small things you did in the way of little snide comments and hiding my simulator so i couldn't train! so i know you don't like it that your daughter is a formula one driver and you no longer have to lie to dad and pretend that you enjoy it now that he's gone, you can shout to the rooftops how much you hate it that i'm so successful in my specific job! you can whine and cry that i'm not in a job that's more 'feminine' but it's time you suck it up and you either support me wholeheartedly and come to my future races this season or you don't suck it up and you don't support me ever again from this day forwards. i say this because i am sick of you and your manipulations in trying to get me to leave my dream job and into a job that you want me to do just because it's 'safer' and because it'll make you happier!" by the end of flynn's explanation, there was no way that helene could argue with anything that her daughter said to her

it was very true that helene hated that her daughter was a formula one driver rather than in a sport that was dominated more by women than men. and don't get it twisted into helene looking out for her daughter because it's nothing like that. helene wasn't looking out for her daughter at all, whenever henri wasn't watching and flynn was about to begin sim training or anything in regards to karting or motorsport, helene would try to hide the simulator. just so flynn couldn't train and practice as if helene's sabotage would stop flynn from continuing what she really wanted to do. because it didn't, flynn would always end up finding where her mum attempted to hide her simulator and after the girl was finished with it, she'd store it in a secret cupboard in her father's office just so helene could't find it and attempt to hide it again.

sighing, helene knew she couldn't lie to her daughter especially after being exposed like this so, she didn't, "okay, flynn, you're 100% right. in everything you've just said. including your father's dying wish and i shouldn't have yelled at you for wanting to honour that. and i am also sorry at the way i've tried so hard to sabotage you and tried to continously force you into a dream job that was never yours but always mine from the beginning of this journey. when i was growing up, i had visions of what kind of mother i would be depending on whether i was getting a boy or a girl. if i was to have a boy, i always invisioned him being like his father, a motorsport racer and everything adventurous. something that father and son could bond over whilst mother and son bond over other things. if i was to have a girl, i always invisioned her being like me, an olympic gymnast--"

"--you never made the olympics, mum..." flynn sighed, interrupting her mum, exhausted at her mum's lousy excuse

"...no, i know flynn but, still! that was my biggest dream as a kid, i was a great gymnast, it was just an injury that destroyed that olympic gymnast dream for me. which was why if i was to have a little girl that i'd want her to continue that dream for me..." helene trailed off as she realised just how wrong and sour that sounded in her mouth

whilst she had these dreams and hopes for her future children, she always said that she never wanted to live vicariously through them like some parents do. and, only now did she just realise that's exactly what she had done for all of her children as they grew up. because it wasn't all of her sons that became motorsport drivers or all of her daughters that became olympic gymnasts. in fact, only one out of four of helene and henri's boys were motorsport drivers, the other three stopping after trying karting and not enjoying it, enjoying mens gymnastics better and pursuing that as their job instead. and the same happening with helene and henri's girls, only one of four girls becoming an olympic gymnast whilst the other three went into the motorsports world professionally. flynn however, the only one that continued as a driver, the other three girls going in as strategists and engineers.

and it was clear to flynn that helene finally realised just how awful and skewed those words were when she finally heard them, "...hearing yourself say those words sounds weird, doesn't it mum?" flynn asks as helene can't help but nod her head as flynn smiles out the corner of her mouth

"i'm sorry, flynn. for everything and i mean everything. you didn't deserve to be treated that way from me all because you didn't want to become an olympic gymnast but rather a formula one driver. you deserved to have support and a mother telling you that you're amazing and that you can do anything and everything you put your mind to. and quite honestly, i would love it if you'd let me go to a grand prix weekend with you. i'd love to see you race and i would also love to see your three sisters but only if you'd let me because i know in the past when you have invited me, it hasn't always ended well..." helene trailed off as that took flynn by surprise - her mum wasn't a horrible person intentionally, she just grew up differently with parents that didn't like change in regards to women playing sports alongside men and other stereotypes in regards to gender

smiling, flynn nodded her head, "i'd love it if you came to see a race, mum. and thank you very much for apologising and i also want to apologise for my part in the argument as well, i shouldn't have raised my voice and used dad as a scapegoat, it was wrong of me and i--"

"--flynn, you have nothing to apologise for, including your part of the argument because i was the one that started it, you just finished it and you finished it in the correct way. you were telling the truth the entire time whereas i was not. i was only saying the things that i was manipulated into believing were gospel. in the same way i was manipulated by my own mother, i manipulated you and i never meant to do that. i was manipulated into finding formula one or any motorsport to be too dangerous and not something i find amazing. because growing up, i loved watching formula one, it was something i did with my own father and grandfather every single race weekend. but it wasn't until the loss of my grandfather that my mum finally felt like she was able to truly say how she felt about it. saying that it was destroying my brain and that i shouldn't be enjoying a sport that's only meant for boys...after that, i never watched a grand prix after that until i met your dad..." helene trailed off as flynn relaxed and she just listened to her mother explain how she too was manipulated by her own mother

"...when i met your dad, he was a rally driver at the time and it was then, when i finally left mum and dad's place that dad and i, alongside your father, would start to watch races again without my mum ever finding out. then, she found out after our wedding and once again, forbade me from even thinking and talking about motorsports. so when you and the kids were growing up and going karting, that's why your dad sometimes had to force me to attend, especially when it was one of your races, because my mum made me believe that i hated the sport with a passion when really it was her own genderphobic view of women shouldn't be watching and consuming male-dominated sports," helene huffed as flynn shook her head in shock - never realising just how awful her own grandmother was, no wonder why she and her siblings never saw her

present day

thankfully after that argument six months after the loss of henri, helene and flynn forgave one another. and since then, the mother-daughter relationship had never been better. and just like they agreed on, helene accompained her daughter for the first three races of the season before she had to fly back to her hometown for work. since helene was an anaesthetist at her local hospital, she could only get so many days off from work. thankfully she had more than three days off but she wanted to make sure she could still make it to their hometown race as well as the last race of the season at abu dhabi. and because of that, helene and flynn were apart from each other on the one-year anniversary of henri's death.

but, just because helene couldn't be with her daughter physically, didn't mean she still couldn't look after her. so, that was why charles was keeping an eye on flynn the entire race weekend. helene had very sweetly asked the monegasque to keep a watchful eye on flynn. since it was the one year anniversary of henri's death and a race weekend all crammed into the one and she wanted to make sure that flynn could handle it all. and of course, charles was happy to assist his best friend's mother's request especially when he knew why helene had asked him specifically. it wasn't new that charles and the leclerc family had also gone through tragedy which included the devastating death of charles' father, herve leclerc, in 2017. so, helene felt comfortable knowing that if flynn did want to race on her father's one-year anniversary, that she at least had someone alongside her that understood her pain and her grief.

similar to basically every driver on the grid, charles and flynn grew up together. the l.n's and the leclerc's were tightknit friends, alongside the bianchi's and gasly's that those four families did everything together. but charles and flynn were inseperable. where charles was, flynn was never too far behind and where flynn was, charles was never too far behind. arthur & lorenzo leclerc and pierre gasly included in that mix as well. so when the news came out about the deaths of jules, herve and henri, it was devastating to those four families. however, the only positive that came out of those devastations were that the families didn't grow apart from one another, they grew closer and more tightknit. and that was what helene knew that her daughter needed this weekend. flynn needed to feel that feeling.

the entire weekend leading up to the race, flynn was feeling pumped up and excited. the season for her so far had been going amazingly well. whilst the aston martin had been working splendidly for her and giving her podiums and points, it hadn't been doing the same for her teammate, lance. and now that they were at the italian grand prix, all flynn and her team at aston martin wanted was a win. whether that was with lance or flynn, they just wanted a win. however, because lance hadn't been getting podiums and in the points like flynn had, they let both drivers know that for this race weekend, flynn was the priority because she had the bigger gap and the biggest chance of getting that podium/win. and, when talked about, lance had no arguments and argued that if anyone deserved to win the monza grand prix this year that it was flynn. everyone on the grid knew about henri's one-year death annviersary being during the race in monza and every single driver in every single team had the same argument as lance did. not that they were all just gonna give up and not fight for a win, if it all came down to who had the fastest car and got first place, every single driver on that grid wanted it to be flynn.

and, from what it looked like, it seemed as though everyone was getting their wish. flynn and her aston martin were flying through the monza circuit like a lightening bolt, she was driving so fast. the gap between first and second was astonishing that by this point, there was no way the current world champion and current second place driver, max verstappen, was going to match that let alone close the gap between him and flynn. so, he didn't and neither did third place driver, lando norris. charles leclerc and carlos sainz only just missing the podium with fourth and fifth places respectfully.

however, the second the girl got the radio call that she was in first place and won her first ever grand prix, it didn't give her the same joy she imagined it would have. maybe driving a grand prix on her father's anniversary wasn't the best idea for future races. parking her car in the parc femme in front of the first place placard suddenly felt strange to her. sure, it wasn't the first time she had ever won a race in motorsport, she was a formula renault champion but, this was the first time she had won in formula one. the big big leagues and it was on the one day that was the worst day of her life one whole year ago.

"...well done baby girl, flynn, that is first place! what an amazing race you had today, we are so proud of you for your maiden win in formula one at team 19! and i am absolutely certain that your father is smiling down on his baby girl right now! you can now do your slow lap to first place! once again, that is first place, flynn!" davide, flynn's radio engineer crackles over her car radio as the girl can barely crack a smile

"grazie davide! grazie ragazzi, it truly was a fantastic race and, happy to finally get my maiden win here at monza!" flynn tries to sound upbeat but when she doesn't, no one crucifies her since they all knew why she wasn't

by the end of the race, she's so exhausted and grief-stricken that she can barely get out of her car before she collapses next to her car. but, thankfully lando and max were right next to her immediately so she didn't completely collapse to the floor next to her car. max and lando helping her take off her helmet and balaclava, flynn's eyes fill with tears. she had never been treated so carefully and with love by any other teammates like she had with her f1 grid.

"...congratulations schatje! you just won your first ever race!" max's voice was soft, not loud and joyful like it usually was when they podium together and flynn appreciated that

hugging max back before pulling away, lando wrapped his arms around the girl as she, like she did with max, burrowed her head into lando's shoulder. she really didn't want to cry during this race but she couldn't help the tears that welled in her waterline and she hadn't even weighed herself or gone through any of the pre-race interviews or the cooldown room or the podium or press conference. lando comforted her to the best of his abilities but he knew he was way out of his wheelhouse and if only charles was able to be here with them.

however, flynn and lando couldn't hug forever so, finally they pulled out of the hug and got themselves weighed before being interviewed before having to leave for the cooldown room and podium ceremony.

"...walking over to us is our winner of the monza grand prix, aston martin's flynn l.n! flynn, i can only imagine what you've been going through this week only for it to be doubled by getting your maiden win so, please, how do you feel?" nico rosberg is her interviewer as flynn tries to crack a small smile for the former mercedes driver

"hello nico and thank you so much, umm, yeah, this weekend...this weekend has been a whirlwind of emotions for me and the family for sure! but, i'm just satisfied that me and team 19 were able to pull out a win for aston martin but also a maiden win for me which is also pretty monumental as well," flynn smiled, her teeth grited when she felt herself getting emotional as nico could only smile softly

"we all know that unfortunately, a year ago today you lost your beloved dad, henri and now, you've just gone out and won your first ever grand prix on his anniversary. do you feel as though you had your dad with you since we all know what a talented rally driver he was," nico questioned as flynn couldn't help the smile again, she loved talking about her father and every single interviewer this week had been so respectful in regards to mentions of her father

"yes, losing our dad was devastating and, the fact that it's already been a year is mindblowing, time has gone by so quickly yet so slowly at the same time it feels like it just happened yesterday. and, i fully believe that my dad is with me in everything i do, not just formula one but, he is definitely a stronger presence when i'm in the car on the track for sure. and yeah, my dad was a rally driver for the longest time and, it's only been very recently that me and my brothers and sisters have seen the videos that are online of him rally driving. so, yeah, it's been very cool seeing how well he is in a car only for him to have four of his daughters in the motorsport world, one of them a driver and the other three engineers and strategists!" flynn took in a shaky breath as she felt her wall she had built up to finish the grand prix weekend begin to crumble - nico noticing and letting her leave so she could "celebrate"

"that's beautiful, flynn! well, once again, big congratulations to you and the fantastic race you just had and, i'll let you go and celebrate in the cooldown room before the podium ceremony!" nico finishes as flynn smiles, her eyes thanking the former driver as nico discreetly gives her a wink as she walks away - max the next driver to be interviewed

🥀

the top three, flynn, max and lando had made it to the cooldown room, watched some of the highlights of the race before they had to be called for the podium ceremony. by this point, all of the walls that flynn had built up were gone and it was only a guess to the moment that her dam breaks and it floods. flynn was on the verge of crying the entire podium ceremony and it was very clear by the look on her face that she was exhausted and that she just didn't want this win nor did she want this trophy if it meant her dad was never going to see it in his daughter's trophy cabinet. yet, she knew she couldn't just run off so she didn't. she stayed the whole time except, max and lando got the memo that it wasn't the moment to be spraying and dousing the three of them in champagne so, they didn't. they just very calmly drunk the alcoholic drink out of the bottles before all three of them gently chucked the bottles to people in their respective teams; aston martin, red bull and mclaren. and then, after the podium ceremony finished, they walked off and now it was just time for one last media thing before they could finally leave for the evening. and that last thing was the winners press conference.

and the entire time during the press conference, it was clear that flynn's mind wasn't at the press conference but elsewhere. it was clear that she didn't want to be there but had to because she knew she couldn't say she was unwell. although, the fia should allow drivers that are grieving to have the opportunity to pass on media, they didn't. they only allowed exemptions if the driver was sick and needed to visit medical for them to be exempt from media duties. so, because of that, flynn was sat in the middle of max verstappen and lando norris at the winners press conference at the italian grand prix at monza.

"...flynn, it has been mentioned a couple of times during the weekend that today is a difficult day for you and your family. if i may ask since i'm curious, what was it inside of you that made you have the strength to get into that car today and drive the way you did and achieve your maiden win?" a woman's voice came out from what was like the third row as flynn's head shot up as she found the face to the voice that had spoke up

"yeah, this whole weekend, not just today has been difficult but, especially today. it's been a year without my dad and, it feels like i'm still struggling to breathe and get up in the morning. so, to answer your question about what was it inside of me that gave me the strength to get into my car and drive all the way to my maiden win is a question i struggle to answer. because, in all honesty, i have no clue! it was truly supernatural because the entire race, i felt like i was watching myself in the car the entire time so, yeah, i have no idea what came over me to have what happened happen," she responded, her voice shaky as she placed the microphone back on the couch as max and lando watched her carefully

since charles obviously couldn't be at the press conference, he had asked max and lando to keep an eye on her whilst he went back to her hotel room and waited for her there. he knew that flynn typically stayed in her hotel room alone since her sisters who were strategists and engineers for other teams, had their own rooms on an upper floor to her. and, he knew that she wouldn't be okay on her own and he just wanted to make sure someone could take care of her considering helene couldn't be there with her.

🥀

finally, it felt like flynn could breathe. she had made it back to her hotel and was just about to grab her hotel key to unlock her room. that was until charles could sense that she had finally made it back and opened the door for her. shocking the grieving girl, flynn was spooked.

"...charlie? what...what are you doing in my hotel room?" flynn asked as she walked in before shutting the door immediately behind her

"you're not okay, flynn, you haven't been the entire day. you've not once been able to just stop working and pretending. you've been go go go the entire weekend and i think it's finally time you just let go..." charles trailed off as flynn shook her head as her hands rubbed her face

"...no, charlie, i can't do that, not right now! i still have to facetime mum and let her know how the race went and that i got my maiden win and i just need to do so many other things that i just can't right now. i need to do so much, charlie, i--"

"--no, you don't need to do so much, flynn! i'm sure helene already knows that you won your first race and she's bursting with excitement but doesn't want to overwhelm you right now so she's going to settle with a simple congratulatory text for now. there is nothing else that you need to do right now except for relax and do absolutely nothing! you even said it in the press conference that you still struggle to get up out of bed in the morning and breathe everyday. and you know what, i felt the exact same way after my dad died! it hurts losing your dad, flynn and you don't have to keep on wearing yourself thin just because you don't want to put yourself through the truth that it really has been a year and that he's never coming back..."

"...you don't have to be strong all the time, flynn. i was distraught when i won the f2 feature race days after losing my dad! and similar to you, it was as though it was a supernatural being that posessed me into winning because i simply couldn't believe that the strength i had to win that race was my own and that it was human strength! but, trust me when i tell you just how much i cried privately after that when there were no cameras watching me and i was all on my own. i cried for hours most likely because i was told by everyone around me that i didn't have to be strong all the time. so please, flynn, don't just bottle it up inside of you because you don't want to deal with it. the longer you leave it bubbling inside of you, the worse it'll be when the stick breaks..." charles was begging as flynn was struggling to stay strong all because of how true she knew charles' words were

she knew he was telling the truth. of course he was cause like he mentioned, he had been through the exact same thing as flynn. maybe not in the fact that she drove and won a race days after but it was still considered too soon by people online that flynn was driving again after only six months at the time when it was pre-season testing at bahrain.

"...charlie, please, don't do this, not right now!" flynn pleaded, trying to stay in control even though it was clear her hold was breaking

whilst charles didn't say anything to that, he didn't need to. all he had to do for flynn to just feel and grieve was just to hug her. and properly hug her. whilst lando and max were the only other two that did give the girl hugs, they were at the peak of flynn being in control of her grief and emotions. whereas right now, as charles hugged her, she was no longer in control of her emotions and the dam just broke at its seams. and flynn just cried and cried and cried. they were loud, they hit charles in his gut and they were painful. it was physically painful as each sob left flynn's body leaving her with chest and bodily pain. it felt like she was on fire as charles held her tightly as he just let her cry. whilst he did stay silent for a little while, he wasn't silent the entire time. after a while of silence, charles did begin to whisper small comforts in french to flynn which step by step began to soothe the grieving girl and lulling her into relaxation. flynn then fell asleep, silent tears that streamed down her face drying and leaving streaks showing others the story of what had just occured.

however, whilst she did sleep, it wasn't for very long. maybe only a couple of hours before she woke up to an empty bed. charles had laid himself down next to her whilst she slept in a bid of making her feel safe and secure. and when she woke up and didn't see charles next to her, she freaked out. thankfully though, it didn't take her very long to notice that there was a light on in the bathroom and she could tell that that was where he had gone. not very far and that he would be back soon. so, she fell back asleep, well, she tried to but it wasn't working since she had gotten so used to charles being next to her that it felt foreign and too cold for her to fall asleep on her own.

so, in a bid to make the time of charles being in the bathroom go by quicker, flynn picked up her phone from the bedside table in the hotel room and went straight to her instagram. since she still hadn't made an anniversary post about her dad like others in her family had done, she thought that was what she was going to do to past time whilst waiting on charles to come back so they could fall back asleep together afterwards.

liked by charlesleclerc, maxverstappen1, landonorris, helene.ln, lewishamilton, arthurleclerc, adelia.ln and 20k others

flynnln a year has passed and i still go back to the first race i ever won and remembering just how happy and proud you were of me. this maiden win at monza was for you papa, missing you forever and always 🤍

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charlesleclerc he's looking down on you with so much pride and joy, flynn 🤍

flynnln charlesleclerc thank you for saying that charlie! that means a lot 🤍

maxverstappen1 best maiden win in terms of skill for sure! henri is watching you always, flynnie 🤍

flynnln maxverstappen1 thank you maxie! love you always 🤍

landonorris love you so much flynn. henri was always the best part of every karting race growing up for sure! missing him all the time🤍

flynnln landonorris love you too lan and he definitely was! especially when he'd bring down his rally car and show it to us 🤍

helene.ln your father absolutely adored you, flynn! you were for sure the apple of his eye, all of his kids were 🤍

flynnln helene.ln and we adored him, mum! and he was the apple of our eye as well 🤍

lewishamilton what an incredible race flynn! you fought valiantly and won like a champion

flynnln lewishamilton thank you lewis! that means so much coming from you, especially in regards to how your race panned out

arthurleclerc we are all so proud of you, flynn! no one will ever win in monza the way you just did today 🤍

flynnln arthurleclerc aw, thank you thuthur! you are a sweetheart 🤍

adelia.ln proudest big sister in the world! dad is always proud of you flynnie, win or lose, he's still screaming the loudest no matter the result 🤍

flynnln adelia.ln awe, thank you adelia! best sister in the world! and yes, i think i could hear him screaming when i crossed the chequered flag 🤍

fin

holy balls this was insane guys! so, i had already had the version before this one written but then i didn't like it, scrapped it entirely and then rewrote it into this masterpiece all in the same day! i think that was why i had writer's block, i didn't like the way i originally wrote it all that time ago when i first got the request so i scrapped it and started all over again! so to the anon that requested this, once again, i apologise for the time it's taken to have this come out but, i hope you love this as much as i did rewriting it after learning that i hated the original version!

©⠀amberjazmyn's original work. do not translate or steal any of my fics. 2024