#i was gonna include lance but he didn't want to show up

[coco-loco-nut]

Book Club - Part 8

Pairing: Grid x Reader, mentioned Lance x Reader

Summary: Headcanon-ish, book club reacting to clips of reader, short but utterly adorable

requests open masterlist

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In honor of your fifth season and your birthday, the F1 social media team has gathered your best friends to comment on some moments across your five years in F1:

Moment One

When you joined your first team, a video resurfaced of you from your days in F3, you admitted that your Formula One crush is Nick Hülkenberg, "I mean, look at him when he was driving for Sauber!". Naturally, your team brought you in for a media video, made you watch it, and surprised you with THE Nico Hülkenberg standing behind you. Cue you crying, blushing, and hugging him. Kevin was there too, no one really knows why.

Nico and Kevin laugh, it's one of their favorite memories with you. Despite your mortification and admiration, they invited you to hang out with them in Haas. They genuinely wanted to get to know the newest member of the paddock, which started the best grid friendship. "I knew right away that we were going to be good friends," Kevin tells the interviewer. "My wife surprisingly found it hilarious, she loved Y/n from that moment, probably because she agreed with Y/n," Nico adds. "Not to brag, but we are her best friends,"

Moment Two

In your first year as a driver, you had the absolute pleasure of sitting in an interview with Lando, George, and Alex. It wasn't a press conference, so it was a lot more relaxed. As the three boys joked around and acted like, well, boys, your irritation was clear on your face.

"Oh! I remember that day, she went to find Nico and Kevin, who I was with at the moment and was complaining about how some of the younger drivers were too immature. We invited her to lunch with us and Valtteri," Fernando's face lights up at the clip. "I joked that we were like an old person book club, it ran from there," Valtteri says, smiling at the memory. "How many drivers are in the club now?" The interviewer asks. "We started with just the five of us, the number stands at 10 including Checo," Fernando says, having to think for a second. "I miss Checo, he really was the epitome of our club," Valtteri sighs.

Moment Three

One morning, you were walking into your motorhome, tired and not really paying attention, you slipped on a slick step, not quite having had the chance to dry after the overnight rainfall. You quickly got back up, acting like nothing happened.

"Ouch, poor Y/n, that must've hurt," Lewis grimaces, meanwhile George and Logan are laughing. "She hasn't gotten any better, still uncoordinated," Checo says, he returned just for this surprise. "Yeah, but she got right back up and acted like nothing happened, our unbothered queen," Daniel points out. "Guys, quit laughing at Y/n," Lewis looks at George and Logan disapprovingly. "Don't act like you didn't laugh when the video first came out," George replies, giving the older drivers a knowing look. "She's gonna murder us all," Logan's face loses its color, suddenly remembering the video is recording.

Moment Four

After a night out, you were dragged out of your bed by your wonderful boyfriend, you show up to the paddock with a wealth of juicy gossip. You quickly find Valtteri, Fernando, and Checo just past the gates. As the four of you speak, you spot a camera focused on you. The dirty look you sent it quickly became a meme.

"Haha, that was a great day for gossip, and I usually don't like it," Checo says. "Before you ask, no, we can't tell you what it was. Swore an oath never to share," Valtteri stares at the camera. "It was-" Fernando starts then pauses when the other two look at him. "haha, you thought I was going to spill the tea. I am not,"

Moment Five

Most of your career has been spend on bottom of the grid teams, so when you made your first podium, you couldn't help but to celebrate. Lance ran over to you as you pulled your helmet off. You pulled him into a kiss as the crowds cheered you on.

As soon as the video is shown, the group collectively gags and cringes. "We love them, but sometimes she forgets that we didn't sign up to watch them be all lovey," George tells the interviewer. "There is your proof that she loves someone more than me," Nico chuckles. "We were all so proud of her, we forced her to go to a celebratory dinner with us instead of Lance and Kimi," Logan provided some insight.

Moment Six

Your first win came with your return post injury. But the video that the drivers are shown doesn't just show that, it shows a part of one of your post-race interviews that was previously edited out. "Yeah, the car was good, I drove well too, but I genuinely think that if it weren't for my support system, I wouldn't be here. There were times when I thought about not resigning because I wasn't performing like I thought I should. My support system, they know who they are, reminded me why I drive and have reminded me of my passion. They provided so much guidance and wisdom, they introduced me to Kimi who is now, in every way that matters, my dad, I've taught them slang. More specifically for this race, they helped me recover from my injuries, especially after free practices and qualifying when I would be incredibly sore. Sorry that I'm yapping, I just love them all so much."

All of the guys are trying not to cry. "If it isn't clear by now, we all love her too," Lewis says, passing around tissues. "She really does glue us all together, doesn't she?" Kevin hums. "I've certainly enjoyed the past 4 years, it's hard to believe it's her fifth year here," Nico agrees. "She won before you did," Fernando teases him. "Seriously, we love her so much, not because she is the only woman, but because she is so easy to get along with. She is friends with everyone on the track, never spreads malicious gossip, and is just so down to earth," Daniel says, refocusing the group. "She immediately got Kimi, the Iceman, to like her, that says so much about her," Valtteri agrees.

Similarly to Nico and Kevin in the first clip shown, you are snuck in to watch the last bit. "Guys," you cry a little, pulling them into a group hug. "Happy birthday, hija," Fernando says, starting a euphony of similar comments. "I love you guys so much," you are fully crying. "We love you too, kiddo," Daniel wipes your tears, pulling you into a bear hug.

#f1 imagines #f1 x reader #f1 imagine #daniel ricciardo #f1 grid x reader #f1 grid #george russell #logan sargeant #nico hulkenberg #kevin magnussen #fernando alonso #lewis hamilton #valtteri bottas #checo perez

[albon-o-positive]

rating the drivers based on their current haircuts

lewis: 100/10. undeniably the best hair on the grid. when he had his hair up in the two little buns(?) near the start of season I damn near became teamlh

george: 6/10. I personally don't think it serves cunt but it gets the job done. preferred his williams haircut but this one does make him look older so

charles: 9/10. to be fair I think any haircut this man could possibly get it'd still look amazing. life is so unfair

carlos: 9/10 also. ferrari should rebrand to the good hair team. mattia is not included because he wears a clown wig constantly

max: meh. 4/10. don't love it. to be fair I feel like I only see his hair when it's really gross and sweaty when he takes his helmet off

checo: 5/10. just a man's hair

daniel: 8/10 for the glow up. because godamn his hair in toro rosso was not serving cunt. it was doing the opposite. removing cunt so to speak

lando: 6/10 I am a lando curl enjoyer who also likes consistency. I have not been receiving either of that from him. to be fair like, he had that r e a l l y bad haircut a while ago which like anything in comparison is better, but max f's brother has not been doing his hair well I'm jusy gonna say it

mick: 6.5/10. he got a haircut recently and I really didn't like it. I can't exactly remember what it looked like before but I want him to go Back. I like it when he is boyfriend shaped

kevin: 6/10. viking hair. I respect it

alex: 8/10 for the red hair. personally I think he should bleach it and then re-dye it red so that him and I can match and also because then it'll show way more. but I think that's just me being selfish

nicky: 4/10. not a fan. can't really remember what it looks like (I'm writing all of these without looking a refrence) but I know I'm not a fan

seb: please don't hate me. please don't hate me. please don't hate me. 2/10. I don't like the long hair I'm so sorry please don't hate me

lance: -100/10. I'm sorry lance but what the fuck. his hair looked way better last season what did he do to it????? just like ferrari I think Aston need to rebrand...

val: 5/10. just a guy's haircut. neither here nor there but it's solid I suppose

guanyu: 9/10. very very very solid hair cut. looks good. accentuates his features. I like your cut g

pierre: 6/10. it's... okay. I really liked the blonde streaks he had during toro rosso. bring them back pls. or is there not enough money in the rbr budget for bleach

yuki: 5/10 okay I love yuki soso much yeah but I just Do Not vibe with the hair cut. I will let him off gently though because he looks like he takes good care of it

fernando: 4/10 it's okay??? I've never really thought about his haircut prior to this. can't say im a fan though

este: esteban I am so sorry but it's a 3/10 from me. there's just. so. so much better haircuts you could have

this is all in good fun and also just my opinion so pls don't take this as me attacking any of the drivers :)

EDIT: I manifested blonde Alex for you all ur welcome xx

#mait speaks #lando norris #yuki tsunoda #alex albon #mick schumacher #daniel ricciardo #george russell #carlos sainz jr #charles leclerc #esteban ocon #feel like i'd get on with alex the best based only on vibes #fernando alonso #sebastian vettel #lance stroll #pierre gasly #lewis hamilton

[erithel]

A good example of how much this fandom shifted in its opinion of lance and how not invested the fandom is in him as a character is by comparing any lance-centric and keith-centric character posts.

If someone posts about lance, just about his character or reactions to scenario and looking for introspection, the post will get 1 or 3 notes/likes/metric. It will inevitably have someone bring up keith and how he would react to the situation and make mention of klance or shipping.

If someone makes a keith character post about his reactions/pov and looking for introspection, that post will get a crazy amount of notes, no one will bring up lance or klance cause rightfully it’s not about that.

This is the same with art pieces. Same artist can draw the boys at separate times but if keith isn’t in the lance art piece it’ll never be noticed.

There’s just a sad shift in fandom thinking Keith is worth more in value and can stand alone if he wants to but Lance’s character isn’t worth as much unless he’s in the ship or Keith is included. And with post season 8 and him dating allura, they think all his bad traits outweigh his good so there’s no value in giving him the time and care.

It really fostered this environment where Lance’s positive canon traits or distinguishing canon scenes are just overlooked and ignored. Or worst, they’re given away to other characters. I guarantee you that if you asked klancers about lance and the blade of mamora they will have no idea that he canonly led them on a mission and protected them from slander and scorn. And people still react to Lance dying for allura that one time as brand new information they never heard of, or it isn’t as important as Keith almost dying for the team because he did it for Allura. Or they take his and keith’s dynamic or him being the comforter to his teammates and gave it to James Griffin or Hunk.

The way the fandom dismisses his issues is already frustrating(having seen things like Lance has no problems or cause to feel bad or to dissect) evident enough but when klancers tie his worth to keith like they do with any of the other characters, the state of the fandom just makes me sad. He’s not a character unless he does something for Keith otherwise he can easily be replaced by any other character, who people also don’t invest time into, but isn’t as “mean” to poor Keith.

Don’t get me wrong I love Keith a lot. He’s one of my favorite boys of all time. But it’s hard to deny the way the klance fandom currently treats him and lance is exactly like how the showrunners do.

So I was thinking about this while reading this post, and initially I was gonna say that I guess this just didn't enter my social media sphere because I mainly post comics, so I don't see the difference in likes for individual art pieces etc.

BUT

Then I started thinking about some of the comments I've gotten on my ongoing comic GONE, and it...kindof fits.

I got a couple comments directed at Keith that were in the vein of "just go hug your man, get over yourself," but they soon switched into those same comments directed at Lance.

And basically the whole comic is meant to showcase how traumatic it would be to almost lose someone you love, and how Lance wouldn't just be able to bounce back from it. It is meant to show that Lance's anger and grief and guilt are all emotions to be taken seriously. That those are valid things to feel, and that it's not just immediately going to be okay.

And I can't even tell you how many comments I got directed at Lance that were basically pushing him to just be okay already. To just get over it. Telling him "what's your problem? Keith's alive and that's all that matters, right?"

(The whole thing basically turned into a study of how people react to physical trauma vs mental trauma, but that's a whoooole different rant subject).

I think the part I'm having the hardest time comprehending is how it has come up several times that Lance is being written as an [insert character here] type. And I just...???

I love Keith, too, don't get me wrong, but Lance is so much more fun to write and to draw because he can have all the emotions, and they are all strong. And imo he had the most potential for growth and character development out of the whole team - which means that they gave us hints of all that in canon, even if they didn't follow through.

So actually, you know what? I'm just gonna link my friend's fic here, because if you haven't read it already and want some seriously well written Lance validation that makes total sense, you should read this fic: Pitch Black. (you should read it anyway)

#lance mcclain #asks #voltron legendary defender #erithel's hot takes

[mrcrowblargs]

Did a guys' night out for the end of act 2 -- first time ever taking Wyll out of camp and I was REALLY tempted to spec him as a fighter since my party has always been Tav (bard) - Astarion (Rogue) - Gale/Shadowheart (both Clerics) - Karlach/Lae'zel and well... I wasn't sure if Bladelock would keep up because it's underwhelming in traditional D&D. But I like what Larian did with the pact boon. Just putting the main draw of hexblade right into it and making Extra Attack included.

rest of rambling under a cut for end of act 2 spoilers!

When I scouted around Moonrise earlier I noticed these rafters and was immediately like OH it's Shattered Sanctum all over again lmao -- to kill the goblin leaders I basically had Astarion sneak all about the rafters and snipe from where he was hidden above. Didn't QUITE work the same at Moonrise because they had archers already up there but was still effective.

Also Wyll uh... got his ass handed to him. a lot lmao. I don't think I've had anyone get downed so often. But he had the moon lance from Aylin and hit hard with it!

Ketheric kinda... surprised me? The first battle with him was TOUGH dude could fucking smite the shit outta my guys. and then WOAH THE MINDFLAYER COLONY??? HELLO???? I was screaming the entire time

I was very keen to tie up quest lines before going to find the Nightsong but there was nothing on Zevlor so I kinda just, hoped he would show up in the VIP Prisoner Suite where the senator guy supposedly was and yup, there was the guy's tail sticking out of his pod lol. Was glad to make it out of that fight with everyone alive.

yeah sure connect yourself to the weird neural apparatus surely nothing will go wrong there.

And then of course encountering Ketheric with the other two chosen of the death gods... man I actually felt really bad for Gale since like. I had accidentally romanced him and recently dumped him to be with Astarion, but then when talking Gale down from activating the Nether Orb he was like "No, I don't want to kill you" and aauuhhh that got me tearing up a bit. Like despite the hurt the dude still cares.

The Persuasion roll to to apparently talk Ketheric out of a rematch seemed WAY too low and it was like. I immediately knew there was going to a way worse fight and I WAS RIGHT AAAA A FUGGIN GOD SHOWED UP AAAA but!! I think I handled it pretty smoothly despite my usual "camp in darkness and wait for mooks to get whacked by Spirit Guardians" strategy not working lmao. Dimension Door to get Aldrich and Wyll over to Aylina and free her, Astarion I had sneak onto a platform before the fight so he could easily nuke the skellies with a fire arrow, and Spirit Guardians still having use as Gale dashed around destroying them lmao. Only thing I dont want to admit is how long it took me to realise that boss guy is stationary and I could just... plop down Wall of Fire on top of him lol.

Really admire Aylina's intensity and her being like "I was trapped in 100 years of sorrow, vanquished the great evil, now I am reunited with my lover and GONNA FUCK"

She's just so intense I love her. I hope she sticks around!

#crowbar plays bg3 #aldiirn bg3

[ivegotalongmemory]

twd 11x19 thoughts but this time i have 3 episodes to catch up on (spoilers!):

-i saw that this one was called variant so I BETTER be seeing something crazy in the next 40 minutes

-daryl coming to drag eugene out of there aw<3 I feel like we deserve more scenes of them

-something so satisfying about seeing Sebastian dead xoxox

-award for most "done with everything" face goes to rosita I think. Ezekiel and princess in at a close second

-i need a jerry in my life to feed me this positivity all the time (and fettuccine!) AARON STOP RUINING JERRYS POSITIVITY

-i would sign up for an hour of rosita being fed up with everyone, she's just so funny for some reason (have I made it obvious enough yet that she's my girl crush)

-why do I have a feeling that eugene is just gonna turn himself in anyway

-i just know Jerry is thinking "fuck u guys I told u we shouldn't take the wagon off the road"

-pamela stop petting ur sons corpse

-"what's the point of this place if a good man is put to death" might just end up being quote of the episode i think

-aaron talking about Eric bye I am going to cry

-THE WALKER HAND???

-eugene trying to fight daryl is genuinely the funniest thing that has ever happened on this show

-i want eugene to think highly of himself just for once

-oh i honestly forgot lance was still existing

-hes such a pathetic little man I hope he picks the wrong hand so that he dies

-ffs nevermind

-princess is legit gonna make me cry with this story

-also I cheer everytime someone gets to say fuck in this show

-mercer been looking like a lil kicked puppy all episode

-also I'm so invested in this mercer and princess romance which is really saying something because I usually don't care about any twd couples very much but God Angela Kang please let them have a happy ending

-the walker grabbing the stick wtf?????

-jerry is literally slaying though

-u guys don't understand how excited I was to find out they were gonna introduce variant walkers but I so wish they would have done this a lot sooner because they could have done so much with this if they didn't leave it until the last few episodes to do it, like yes pls give me walkers that can open doors and shit that makes them an actual threat

-holy shit it climbed

-okay Lydia and elijah I see u being a couple of cuties

-stop it this eugene and rosita scene is making me emotional and why do I get the feeling this is gonna be the last time they see each other, it better not be

-ALSO WHAT THE FUCK?? WHO IS GOING AFTER ROSITA LEAVE MY GIRL ALONE

-anyway that was a rollercoaster

-also they better not have only included the variant walkers for this one episode and then forget about them, I want more!

#the walking dead #twd #twd spoilers #the walking dead spoilers #twd season 11 #11x19 #the walking dead season 11

[words-with-wren]

WORDtober Day Two - Various, Excited, Idiotic

Plus a bonus prompt: “You mean the thing we just set on fire?” Kinda bad, kinda rushed but I had fun! 

Words: about 500 

Fandom/Genre: Tangled the series. 

__

“I was away for two minutes!” Varian shouted, gripping the vial he had run to collect in one hand. Angry and Catalina exchanged a glance, Catalina at least having the grace to look a little sheepish. Angry just grinned.

             “And you should have thought about what leaving us alone would result in!” she said. Varian narrowed his eyes, surveying what was left of the lab. Ruddiger sat on the table in the centre, looking a little singed, giving a slightly apologetic chirp. There were various other burnt spots scattered through the lab, and both girls had ash in their hair.

             “You’d think I’d have learnt my lesson by now,” Varian muttered.

             “Hey, you’re always trying to experiment!” Angry said, skipping along behind him as he moved to what was left of the work bench.

             “Yeah, but at least I know what I’m doing!”

             “It’s not like you never make explosions,” Catalina pointed out, and Varian glared at her. Both girls snickered at his face and Varian sighed, a reluctant grin slipping across his face.

             “At least I don’t destroy the entire lab,” he muttered. Angry darted past him to sit on the edge of the table, kicking her dangling legs slightly.

             “Are you sure about that?” she asked. Varian glared at her and she stuck her tongue out. “Lighten up, V! We didn’t completely destroy everything.”

             “How were we to know that those two things would explode,” Catalina added. Varian put the vial down on the table – as far away from Angry as possible – and move to begin cleaning up.

             “You didn’t. That’s why you’re not supposed to touch anything,” he muttered.

             “That’s so boring,” Angry said. She reached out to ruffle Ruddiger’s fur and watched as Varian began to clean up the broken glass on the floor.

             “Catalina, hand me the prototype,” he said heavily, wanting to make sure it was still undamaged. A hesitant silence followed, then Catalina spoke up quietly.

             “You mean – that thing we just set on fire?” she asked. Varian looked up quickly, eyes narrowed. Sure enough, the prototype was charred – a tongue of flame still licking at its side.

             “You’re kidding me!” he cried, lunging forward to rescue it before Angry could pick it up.

             “In our defence, we didn’t see it?” she tried. Varian glared at her, realising with a sinking heart that it likely wasn’t salvageable.

             “Out,” he said shortly. “Out of my lab, come on – get out before you break anything else!” He shooed Angry off the table, herding them both out of the lab.

             “Love you too, V!” Angry called.

             “We are sorry,” Catalina added, and Varian rolled his eyes, shutting the door behind them.

             In reality, he wasn’t hugely upset – and he knew they knew it. He did enjoy the girls visiting his lab, and while it tended to result in his work being pushed back or stalled, it was worth it to spend time with them.

             But for now he wanted to recreate the prototype in peace.

#tangled the series #tts #rapunzel's tangled adventures #varian #angry tangled #keira tangled #catalina tangled #WORDtober #WORDtober day 2 #i was gonna include lance but he didn't want to show up

[guigz1-coldwar]

"'First' day" : New chapter for "Redemption in a Spirit in a Cold War" is out !

"'First' day"

Chapter Summary : Yirina is now officialy an MI6 agent working with Park and they both planning their moves for their new mission.....

To read it on AO3, click here !

Words : +3100

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

I couldn't believe it with all my might but today.....I was given a new chance in my life, a new chance to be able to redeem myself further and all of that was thanks to Park herself, the one I'm loving so much right now. Now, I was no longer acting as an simple ex-Perseus agent, helping the CIA & the MI6 in their fight against Perseus like a free-lance mercenary but now, I was Yirina Grigoriev, an MI6 agent specialized in cryptography & on the Special Operations along with Park. I was now an full member of her Majesty's Secret Service......I never thought that would be happening but here were are....the KGB, Perseus and now.....the MI6.

When I left the meeting room, having met in person the two directors of the two british organizations and literally the Prime Minister herself, I was so relieved, so happy, so amazed by the events that I was feeling indebted with the MI6. If they gave me that chance, I have to give my best to not deceive them....to not deceive Park herself. I'm owing my entire life to her and she owes her life to me, it's time for me to do my best.

Once we were out, we returned back to her office where I could sit back on that chair and my body was still chilled by the news I just had in me. While Park was putting her box back in the drawer she found it, I looked outside, observing the view of the city.

"Thank you, Park." I breathed, lost in my thoughts. "Thank you for giving me an chance."

"You know that I had to do it." She affirmed, closing the drawer, looking at me with her left eye. "By giving you an job in the MI6, I'm protecting you from any attempts the CIA can do on you."

"They can try now, I'm waiting." I scoffed about it, putting my arm on the chair armrest.

"I'm pretty sure that Hudson would be so pissed off by hearing that." She exclaimed before she got sit back on her desk chair.  "Guy maybe want your head but he know that he will have the whole MI6 against him if he do a thing."

"So, everyone in here knows of my identity ?" I asked as I was looking a bit curious when miss Thatcher said that I had a troubled past.

"Well, for an part." She started, putting her arms on the desk. "It was better than we didn't mention the brainwashing part." She continued, having her eyes trying to look away.

"You had your reasons, I don't want to put an scare to those I will be working on with." I admitted, it's already for me difficult to deal with my past, I don't want to make it harder if everyone is knowing on my brainwashing. "I guess that now, you're my superior ?" I joked.

"Oh, Yiri...." She whispered as we both joined hands together on the desk. "We're on the same level and we're taking our decisions as a group." She looked at me, her eyes moved.

"You're looking so lovely." I said, focused on her eyes.

"And you too, I love your redhead hair...." She confessed, looking at it, even the part with my scar on it.

"My god, if there weren't that ban on people like us here, I would have jumped on you on that desk." I expressed, resisting the urge to really do it actually.

"Mmhm....seems a little bit cliché, darling." She smirked at me as we slowly start to get closer above the desk. "Cliché but sounding very exciting." She added before we share a kiss on the lips, my first as an MI6 agent.

"We are going to do this, aren't we ?" I asked her and she nodded at me after we broke the kiss.

"Pretty sure we're gonna do this." She affirmed before we decide to go back on our respectives seats, now trying to refocus back on the actual situation. "So at first, we need to return back to West-Berlin to get the remaining of our stuff at the safehouse."

"And once we got it, where do we install ourselves ?" I asked and she rolled her eyes, making me think and I know that the place was already chosen by her "We're staying at West-Berlin, right ?" She nodded, biting her lips.

"It will be in a MI6 safehouse that isn't some sort of warehouse with an dorm but more like an house with bedrooms....like in the New Orleans." She replied, reassuring me a little.....even if we had to return in that city. "It's sure that we ain't going to stay permanently there."

"Of course, if Stone do this moves somewhere else, we're moving..." I guessed, making me have hope about our mission. "About the team we will have ?" I questioned her

"I will call them once we're fully set in that new safehouse but we will be only 4." She responded and I was reassured, I don't want to have too many people around me in that safehouse. "It will be mainly 2 of my friends.....including Greta." She showed me the group picture of her desk "The other would be him." She pointed the man with a small beard, looking at the same age of ours.

"What's this name ?"

"Garrett Donovan, I'm sure that you will like him." She replied, winking at me.

"I can say that your friends can become mine, then." I suggested and she was happy to hear that.

"Excuse me ?" It was the voice of a man that knocked at the opened door of her office. By looking at him, he was an member of the MI5. "Miss Grigoriev ?" He asked for me.

"Yes ?"

"We learned that you had some skills in cryptography and we wanted you to have a look at this." He walked next to me to give me an piece of paper that was encrypted as hell.....but it was my code I created in Perseus. "We received this in the morning from our usual mysterious source."

"Do you have a pen and a empty paper ?" I said, causing Park to find me quickly what I needed before I decided to get myself to work on that message.

I took a deep breath at looking at the encrypted message and I launched myself. Thanks to my knowledge on cryptography and to the fact that this system was the one I created, I could be able to decrypt it in no time and during the decryption, I was feeling observed by Park and this man but it wasn't troubling me at all as I was focused on having this message fully readable for someone who don't know anything on cryptography.

"Done." I breathed as I was finally finished with that message, I took only 5 minutes to have it done.

"Wow, that's very fast." The man exclaimed, amazed by the time I took. "What does the message is saying ?" He asked me.

"Apparently, Stone has been seen in an Perseus warehouse.....in West-Berlin." I looked at Park, rolling my eyes at talking about another Perseus warehouse. "The message mentioned exactly what is this warehouse usefulness and where it is." I then looked at the man "Who is this R. ?"

"It's the initial our mysterious source is using." He replied.

"You said that this mysterious person is someone that came often, does this person is sending you willingly these messages ?" I asked him, mentioning what he said earlier, he nodded at me.

"Yes but we don't know why they're doing this." He was looking as someone trying to look in his mind but nothing could help him to clear his mind. "I can't help you with that."

"It's okay, you just gave us a perfect start." I told him with an smile.

"I'm glad to have helped." He then start to walk away before looking at us "Goodbye, ladies." He closed the door behind him, leaving us with Park.

"I'm already loving to work in the MI6." I confessed to her who make a discreet laugh to me.

"Told you !" She affirmed before taking her dial phone in hand, a secured one. "I'm going to ask for our safehouse to be ready." She winked at me. "It's time for your first day within the MI6."

After that, she picked up the phone to call her contact that will set up our safehouse in West-Berlin and honestly, I was quite nervous to return back to this city. I thought that we will just go there to take back the remaining stuff we left there and then, maybe fly back here with an new safehouse but now, with our new piece of intel we got thanks to this MI5 agent, our first mission is of course located in West-Berlin and again, it was an warehouse that we are going to strike, like in my first days one month ago....all over again.

Once Park was done with her call, I helped her packed up some things in a new bag, especially things about Stone and our recents moves against Perseus, and after that, we took our respectives bags and we decided to left Century House in her car to return back to the airport where we could take the same private plane before leaving London behind us to go back to West-Berlin.

During the flight, I wasn't going to take a rest since the travel will not last long, making us arrived in the german city in 2 hours at the middle of the afternoon. Instead, Park took with us some old messages about that mysterious R who started to sent the MI5 encrypted message a year ago in February 1983 and what Park told me about them, each time, it was always correct. This mysterious person inside Perseus group is helping the british secret services for a year now, explaining the success the MI5 & the MI6 had on these operations, explained by Park.

I was wondering of something : my system is still used by Perseus...so is Perseus has been able to train someone to take the lead after my supposed death...or one of my friends has took the lead...it's impossible, all of my friends wanted to flee Perseus, no one would have ever wanted to stay with that guy and it couldn't be Freya at all, she wasn't an expert on it and cryptography need a lot of training.

There weren't anything else for to see except for the message I have decrypted in Park's office, leading us to another Perseus warehouse and finally, we arrived in West-Berlin at 4 PM, landing at the Tempelholf Airport, the one I almost got breathless with Freya and saved Park. We didn't stay any longer in here before getting on our way to the E9 safehouse for the last time in my life, I really hope to be the last time.

"Last time, Yiri....Last time...." I whispered to myself once we were arrived at the safehouse as Park let me drive to get here, after I insisted to do it and she helped me with the direction.

"Woods & Mason must be there." Park exclaimed as we could see the garage door of the safehouse open with an car in front of it backwards, its trunk opened. "Come on, let's get inside." She added, closing the door of her side before we start to walk inside.

"Look who is there." It was Woods standing next to Adler's old desk, having finished to talk to a man before he moved to get to us. "How was London ?" He asked to both of us.

"Pretty good." I replied with an smile, shooking hands with him.

"Where's Mason & Sims ?" Park questioned him as she was looking around inside to find them.

"Mason is already settled in the safehouse we're having in Ukraine as Hudson told us that he had a lead for us." He shook hand with her. "Enough for all of us."

"Uhm....we need to tell you that we're not coming." Park said to him, making him confused at hearing this. "MI6 has given me the order to form a team to track Stone."

"Shit, I almost forgot about that guy." He breathed, thinkful.

"I'm taking Yirina along the way, away from the CIA." She then looked at me with an grin "Show him." I knew what she wanted me to show and I took my credentials in hand, showcasing it to him.

"Say hello to the MI6 agent Yirina Grigoriev !" I scoffed as he looked at me with wide eyes, surprised by that.

"Damnit...." He looked away for an second. "It's an big occasion you got here."

"All thanks to me." Park proclaimed, proud of herself as I was proud of her. "Should avoid Hudson to do something against her or he will have the whole MI6 against him."

"He already have pissed off some CIA guys like me..." He joked, making us laugh about it. "So, how things will happen ?" He questioned Park.

"Well, since your team will be focused on having Adler back and ours to neutralize Stone, we can cross intels with one another if for example, we found something on Adler." She explained to him who nodded. "By the way, do you have anything new on that lead Hudson told you ?"

"Said that the CIA was able to maybe track down an agent that was there in that mall, couldn't tell more." He replied, not sure of Hudson infos about it. "Guess you're staying here at West-Berlin ?" We nodded to him slowly. "At least, it's not here you're staying, we're abandoning the place once you got your things back."

"Yes and anyway, I hate that place....bring too many bad memories." I whispered before I looked over his shoulder to see Sims, sit at his old desk, not looking happy and Woods saw me.

"Sims is still mad over yesterday." Woods exclaimed to us, taking a quick glare on him. "Better to leave him quietly for the moment."

"Okay, we will get our things and we will be out of here." Park said before she start to walk to her old desk with me.

We started to take a look for the last time around the safehouse before we worked on getting Park's belongings in some boxes and put it into our car. In fact, we came only for her own belongings as I didn't have one when I came back here, it was her who gave me everything. During the multiples travel we had to do between her desk, the dorm for her clothes and the car, I was thinking about a lot of things that happened here...mostly bad things on me and the only good things I had was with Park & Lazar.

"Finished." I was putting the last box inside the car after spending more than 30 minutes to have everything in it, she did have a lot of things in her possession.

"I'm gonna talk about some details with Woods, you can stay in the car or take a last look inside if you want." Park exclaimed before she walked back inside to get to Woods as I closed the car trunk.

I didn't know what to do apart from staying near the car to do nothing so I decided to go back inside, the place was looking more empty now : the dashboard was no longer there anymore, the Dark Room was closed down and all the desk hads nothing on them. As Park was discussing with Woods, I could see Sims, still alone at his desk and even Woods told us to not talk to him, I decided to get to him.

"Sims ?" I said in a low voice, getting next to him, seeing him holding an old picture of him & Adler.

"I heard that you got promoted into the MI6, congratulations." He told me in a passive voice, not sounding happy I can say.

"Listen, I'm...."

"You what ?" He started, cutting me straight "You're sorry ?" He added, looking at me with an raised eyebrow

"Yes." I whispered suddenly ashamed to have maybe put him into that state.

"I can't believe that you let that agent go away and allowing Stitch to get his hands on Adler." He complained, the story about me letting Freya free was inadvertently told by Bulldozer after we came back at Fort Dix and now everyone was aware of it.

"Hey, it's not my fault that Adler has gone berseck against him." I spoke up, almost raising my voice but keeping it down, not wanting to get angry for real. "He should have evaluate the risk of it."

"And ?" He looked at me, almost angry.

"And what ? What do I need to tell you more, Sims ?" I asked him, confused. "Adler nearly got everyone killed."

"Maybe...." He pronounced, sounding like if Adler's life was suddenly more important "You could have save him but you didn't do a thing." He removed his eyes off me back to that picture he was holding in his hands. "You preferred instead to have a talk about your 'old best friend'." He said, mimicking like Bulldozer.

"She was not my old best friend...." I took a deep breath. "She was my old fiancee." At hearing this, he looked at me slowly, almost troubled at this but still keeping his anger towards me.

"Even with that, that doesn't change a thing : Adler is in Perseus hand." He affirmed at my face.

"Listen, we will save him, Sims." I admitted, not even believing that I was going to say that.

"Pfff...." He muttered "We both know that you don't give an fuck about Adler and what happened yesterday was a proof of it."

"For an part, you're right !" I raised my voice, finally getting my thoughts out. "I don't give an fuck about Adler like he did the same for me." I pointed to myself. "He treated me like shit and you did nothing to counter him." I sniffed as Sims nearly stand up from his chair to face me. "I'm doing the big part of the work but what I got is 'you could do better' or 'is this it ?' as a reward."

"Yirina." I could hear Park voice coming behind me, calling me out.

"You need to know that I'm not happy to have to go save Adler's ass but we have no choice so act like everyone will did : save your friend like I'm trying to do with my own !" I confessed to him before I looked around, holding back my tears as I didn't want to get angry with Sims, to look at Park.

"I'm finished with Woods, we can go now." She affirmed, gesturing at me to follow her outside.

"I'm coming." I told her before I gave a last look to Sims. "I'm trying to save my own life aswell as Adler's one, think about it." I finished with him, looking away from him as I got next to Park, holding my anger inside of me as I don't want to be angered now...

"Let's get out of here, this place is making me sick !"

#black ops cold war #bocw #call of duty cold war #cod cw #cod black ops cold war #cod cold war #fanfic #fem!bell #yirina grigoriev #helen park

[dukereviewsmovies]

Duke Reviews: The Fast And The Furious

Hi Everyone, I'm Andrew Leduc And Welcome To Duke Reviews, Where I Realize That It's Been A While, I Know I Haven't Done Anything With This Page In A While (Mainly Because Of My Other Tumblr Pages And For Those I Suggest You Check Out Power Rangers/Sentai Reviews (prreviews) Duke Reviews TV (dukereviewstv) Oncer Reviews (oncerreviews) And Arrowverse Reviews (arrowversereviews)) But I Hope To Do More Because As Of Today I Am Back With New Reviews On The Fast And Furious Movies...

I Say The Fast And Furious Movies As I'm Going To Be Going Over All Of Them And Not Just Do 4 Movies And Make A Month Out Of It, That Made Me Feel Compressed For Time And I Really Don't Want To Feel Like That When Doing This, I'm Gonna Do This The Way I Want To. So, The Fast And The Furious...

Starring Vin Diesel And The Late Paul Walker This Film...Well, I Would Talk About The Plot But That Would Spoil Some Twists That Happens In The Movie So, No Plot For This Episode...

But Instead Let's Get Right To The Fast And The Furious...

The Film Starts As Some People With Helmets And Fast Cars Hijack A Truck Full Of Electronic Goods...

The Next Morning, We Meet Brian Spillner (Played By The Late Paul Walker) Who Stops By Toretto's Market And Cafe Where Mia (Played By Dallas' Jordana Brewster) Works With Her Brother, Dom (Played By Vin Diesel) But When Dom's Crew (Which Includes Dom's Longtime Girlfriend, Letty (Played By Lost's Michelle Rodriguez) Vince (Played By Matt Shultze) Who Is Sort Of The Muscle, Jesse (Played By Chad Lindberg) Who's The Brains And Leon (Played By Johnny Strong) Who's Just There, He's Not The Brains Or The Muscle, He's Just There) Arrives On The Scene, Vince Gets Into A Fight With Brian (When He Doesn't Like Brian Flirting With Mia) Which Forces Dom To Get Involved...

What Kind Of Fight Song Is That?

That's Got To Be The Worst Song I've Ever Heard In A Fight Scene...

Telling Brian To Never Come Back Here, Brian Says That That's Bull But Knowing That Brian Works An Autoshop With A Friend Of His Named Harry, Dom Tells Brian That He's Fired. Going Down To Harry's, He's Mad At Brian, Saying That He's Messing Around With His Buisness...

He's Good, Man! Really Good...

Telling Harry, He Needs Nos...

Nos? What's Nos?

Researching This I Discovered That Nos Is Another Word For Nitrous Oxide Otherwise Known As Laughing Gas...

However, It Is Used In This And Other Motor Sports As A Rocket Propellant...

However, Harry Knows That Brian Is A Amateur And Isn't Ready For Nos Just Yet But Needing It Now Brian Tells Harry To Place 2 Containers In His Vehicle. That Night, Brian Goes To A Street Race That He Knows That Dom And His Crew Will Be At There He Meets Edwin (Played By Rapper Ja Rule) And Hector (Played By That One Guy Who's Known For Playing Mexican Gangsters In Movies) I'm Serious That's All He's Known For, But I Guess It's Better Than Saying The Guy That Got A Monkey Out Of His Ass In Bruce Almighty...

(Start Video At 1:06)

When Dom Arrives, Everyone Places Their Cash In Except For Brian Who Places The Pink Slip To His Car, Stating That If He Wins He Takes The Cash And The Respect...

Looking At His Car, Dom Accepts His Terms As They All Drive To Where The Race Is At.

With All The Racers At The Starting Line, The Race Begins!..

Activating The First Nos Canister, Brian Passes Edwin And Another Racer But When He Activates The Second Canister, He Loses The Bottom Of The Back Of His Car As He Passes Dom, But Dom Gets The Better Of Brian By Activating His Nos Canister...

But As Brian Finally Makes It To The Finish Line, The Police Start Showing Up Which Causes Everyone To Get The Hell Outta There, Ditching His Car, Dom Is Nearly Arrested By Police, However He Is Saved By Brian Who Says He Only Saved Him In An Effort To Keep His Car...

Losing The Police, Dom Tells Brian He Had Jesse Do Research On Him Discovering That Brian Did 2 Years In Juvie For Boosting Cars...

But They're Soon Followed By A Rival Gang On Motorbikes With Machine Guns That Is Led ByJohnny Tran (Played By Rick Yune) And His Cousin, Lance (Played By Grimm's Reggie Lee)

Saying That They Just Got Lost, Tran Lets Dom Go However...

They Place Bullets In Brian's Car, Setting The Nos On Fire And Causing The Car To Blow Up...

With A Long Walk Home, Dom Explains His History With Tran To Brian, As It Turns Out That It Was A Buisness Deal That Went Sour, Plus He Slept With Tran's Sister

Arriving At Dom's House, Dom Tells Brian To Come In For A Drink Before He Gets Mad At His Crew For Not Going Out And Finding Him...

With Dom Going Upstairs With Letty To Give Her A Massage Which Is Code For...

Saving Brian From Another Fight With Vince, Mia Talks With Brian In The Kitchen...

The Next Day, Brian Is Arrested By Police And Is Taken Back To A Safehouse Where It's Revealed That Everything We Know About Brian Is A Lie!

Turns Out His Real Name Is Brian O'Connor And He Is An LAPD Officer Who Is Involved In A Joint Mission Between The LAPD And The FBI To Find Out Who The Gang That Has Been Stealing Electronic Goods Is And To Arrest Them

The Officer That Arrested Him Is Sergeant Tanner (Played By Ted Levine Who Played The...

Guy In Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom) And Is The LAPD Officer In Charge Of The Mission And The Black Guy Is The FBI Agent Bilkins (Played By Thom Barry) Who I Suggest You Get Used To Seeing As He's In The Next Movie As Well...

They Go Over A Bit Of Exposition Stating That People That Are Good With Precision Driving With Three Honda Civics With Green Neon Glow Beneath The Chassis And Have Mashimoto Z-X Tires Have Done 4 Truck Hijackings In 2 Months And If They Don't Have Something Soon They'll Have A Revolt Of Truckers On Their Hands...

But Despite Knowing That The Street Racing World Revolves Around Dom, Brian Doesn't Think That He's The One Behind These Attacks But He May Know Who Does All He Needs Is Time...

But Bilkins Says That Brian Doesn't Have Time...

Before Brian Leaves, Tanner Warns Brian To Be Careful Around Dom As He Nearly Beat A Guy To Death...

Getting Another Car From Tanner..,

And A Shitty One At That...

He Gives It To Dom Saying It's His Car...

Telling Jesse To Pop The Hood, Shows Dom To Not Judge A Book By It's Cover...

Dom Tells Brian That When He's Not Working At Harry's, He's Working At His Garage...

We Get A Brief Montage Of Dom And The Crew Buying Stuff From Harry's For The Car, While Jesse Shows Brian What The Car Will Look Like When The Car Is Finished...

Going To A Barbecue At Dom's House, Vince Takes Off The Minute He Sees Brian But Let's Not Put A Damper On This Scene As Everyone Sits Down To Eat We See One Of Dom's Traditions Which Is Whenever Somebody Grabs Food First That Somebody Has To Say Grace...

Just They Eat, Vince Arrives Mainly Because He's Hungry And Not Because He's Dropped His Beef With Brian...

Helping Mia With The Kitchen, Brian Asks Mia Out But Despite Her Saying She Doesn't Go Out With Her Brother's Friends She Does This When Vince Bosses Around Brian Again...

The Next Day, Hector Visits Harry's Shop For Equipment For 3 Honda Civics...

This Is Starting To Get Suspicious...

That Night, Brian Sneaks To Hector's Hangout Over Near The El Gato But Unfortunately The Cars Don't Match The Description. Getting Out, He Is Caught By Vince Who Takes Him To Dom Who Demands An Explanation Which Is Where Brian Tells Him That He Was Only In Hector's Garage To Analyze The Competition For The Upcoming Race Wars...

Despite Vince Believing He's A Cop, Dom Takes Both Brian And Vince To Johnny Tran's Where Dom And Vince Look At Tran's Car To See That It Has No Engine But Brian Is More Interested In All The Electronics That Tran Has...

But They Get A Call From Jesse Who Says That Tran And His Gang Are On Their Way Back A Fence Named Ted Who Was Supposed To Get Them An Engine For Their Car But He Didn't So They Decide To Torture Him...

Telling Tanner And Billkins What He Saw, Billkins Wants To Move On Tran Believing That They Have Enough But Brian Wants Hard Evidence Before They Do...

He Also Mentions That Hector's A Dead End And Dom Is Too Controlled For This, Vince Maybe But Not Dom, This Leads Tanner To Show Brian A Picture Of The Guy Dom Beat Up Years Ago...

That Afternoon, Brian Works At The Garage With Dom As He Tells Him That Tonight Is His Date With Mia...

Wow, Not One For Subtlety, Are You Dom?

Taking Brian To His Garage At His House, Dom Shows Brian A 1970 Dodge Charger That He Worked On With His Father When He Was A Kid, It's Here We Learn That Dominic's Father (Who Was A Pro Stock Racer) Was Killed By A Fellow Racer Named Kenny Linder Who Knocked Into A Wall (Which Set His Car On Fire) And That The Man That Dom Attacked Was Linder Which Leads To The Best Line Of The Entire Movie...

Taking Mia Out, She Tells Brian The Story How How Dom And The Gang Met, Saying That Vince Knew Dom Since They Were Kids And Letty Was Basically The Girl Next Door Who Was Interested In Car But Could Never Get Dom's Attention But Then She Turned 16...

So, Their Relationship Is Basically Like Phineas And Isabella's...

And Jesse And Leon Just Showed Up One Night And Never Ever Left. Mia Then Compares Her Brother To Gravity Stating That Everyone Who Comes Around Him Gets Pulled In, But Brian Tells Mia That The Only Thing That Pulled Him In Was Her...

Meanwhile, Another Heist Goes Down Which Makes Bilkins Decide To Move On Tran In 1700 Hours, And They Let Brian Know About This As He's Screwing Mia...

Bad Timing, Guys...

The Arrest Of Tran And His Boys Looks Similar To The Baptism Scene In The Godfather To The Point That All That's Missing Is The Murders And It Could Use A Guy With A Horse Head On His Bed...

And If You Thought Brian Having Sex With Mia Was Hot During The Raid We Get Scenes Of Dom Having Sex With Letty, She Was Hot In Girlfight So Why Not?

However, Tran And His Boys Are Innocent, Turns Out The Electronics Are Legal And All They Got On Them Is Low Rent Weapons Charges And Outstanding Speeding Tickets, Bilkins Tells Brian To Bring Toretto In In 36 Hours Or He Can Get A New Job.

Knowing That Brian Can't Look Past Dom Because Of Mia, Brian Tells Tanner That Knows Dom Won't Go Back To Jail Easy...

With The Car Ready And Raring To Go, Dom And Brian To A Test Run Down To The Coast Where They Stop By This Restaurant Called Neptune's Her Where Brian Tells Dom That He Knows He's Doing Something On The Side To Pay For Everything And He Wants In, Dom Tells Brian To Win Race Wars Then They'll Talk...

And What Can I Say About Race Wars? It's A Mix Of Woodstock And Coachella Except No Music Just Racing...

With Letty Racing First, She Beats The Hell Out Of This Ass That Tried To Hit On Her...

You Just Got Owned, Pal...

Meeting With Brian, Jesse Tells Him That He's Up Next In A Pink Slip Race, That Is The Good News, The Bad News Is That He's Driving His Jailbird Dad's Jetta And That His Competitor Is Johnny Tran....

Can't Wait To See How This Goes Down...

Yep, Jesse Loses But He's Like No Way In Hell I'm Giving Up My Dad's Car And Drives Off Til He's Out Of Fuel...

I Have A Feeling We Won't Be Seeing Him For A While...

Telling Dom To Get Jesse's Car For Him, Dom Tells Tran To Watch Who He's Talking To Which Is When Tran Tells Him That S.W.A.T Raided His House...

Shermar Moore Was At Your House, Boy, I Wish I Was There...

Thinking That Dom Was Behind It, Dom Gets Into A Fight With Tran...

That Night, Brian Watches Dom And The Others Take Off To Go On Another Heist Which Leads Brian To Confront Mia On It Forcing Him To Tell Her That He's A Cop..

(Start At 3:41 And End At 3:44)

Despite Telling Her That Everything He Felt For Mia Was Real, Brian Tells Her That The Truckers Aren't Laying Down Anymore And That If She Cares About Dom And The Crew She'll Help Him...

Mia Tells Brian Where The Cats Are Stashed But Brian Knows That The Highway Where They Are Is Too Well Patrolled So, He Decides To Do A Cell Phone Trace...

Driving Up To The Cars, Dom's Ready To Go But The Others Don't Feel Right Doing This Without Jesse But Dom Doesn't Want To Give Up On This One Saying That It's The Motherlode That They've Been Waiting For. So, Getting In The Cars They Ride Off...

But As They Go To Pull Their Heist, The Driver Tries To Shoot Vince With A Shotgun Vince Tries To Untether But He's Just Stuck...

Eventually Though Vince Gets Tossed To The Side Where His Arm Gets Stuck, Dom And Letty Try To Save Him But Dom Loses A Tire And Letty Gets Sideswiped Off The Road With Dom Telling Leon To Go Check On Her...

Dom's Engine Gets Hit Causing Him To Pull Off The Road But Luckily Brian Arrives With Mia To Save Vince...

With Dom Arriving, Letty And Leon Drive Out Of This Movie And With Only Letty And Vince Returning For Sequels We Say Goodbye To Leon. We Hardly Knew Ye...

With Vince Bleeding Out, Brian Calls The Police To Bring An Ambulance While Also Blowing His Cover. Returning To Dom's House, Brian Confronts Dom Saying There's Nowhere To Run But Dom Tells Him That He's Not Running Because He Has To Find Jesse Before Tran Does But Luckily Jesse Finds Them...

With Tran And Lance Closing In, Dom, Brian And Mia Take Cover While Tran Kills Jesse...

With Both Dom And Brian Going After Tran, Tran And Brian Both Shoot At Each Other As Lance Goes Behind Brian To Shoot Him But Dom Stops Lance From Doing So By Causing Him To Jump Into A Field...

It All Eventually Ends When Tran Is Shot By Brian Killing Him Instantly. With Tran Dead, Brian Sets His Sights On Dom Who He Follows To A Railroad Track Where Dom Tells Him That He Used To Drag Race Here In High School And That On Green He's Going So, The 2 Decide To Race Each Other One Last Time Or Until Fast And Furious But That's A Different Story...

Jumping At The Track As The Train Is About To Cross, Dom's Charger Gets Hit By An Oncoming Truck Causing To Flip Out Of Control...

Surviving, Brian Lets Dom Take His Car Saying That He Owes Him A 10 Second Car And So Dom Rides Off To Fight Another Day...

And That's The Fast And The Furious And It's A Good Film....

The Cast And Story Are Great, The Stunts Are Fantastic, The Car Designs Are Amazing I Just Love This Series. A lot Of People Around My Mom's Age Say That These Films Are Just Violence , Sex Basically Stuff You Would Find In A Grand Theft Auto Game And While It Does Have Some Violence And A Few Sexy Scenes It's Not Just That Throughout The Entire Movie It's Much More Than That, So, I Say See It And Give It A Chance...

Till Next Time, This Is Duke, Signing Off...

#the fast and the furious #vin diseal #paul walker #jordana brewster #michelle rodriguez #fast and furious

[silverylion]

Can we talk about Lance for a bit ?

There is something that really bothers me in season 8. I mean everyone is kind of still recovering but I feel like I need to say it anyway.

They chose to heavily feature Allurance from episode one cause they planned to kill Allura. It's a fact. As much as I don't ship it, they make a really cute couple with adorable scenes that made me smile and support them and I could have got over my disappointment regarding who I wanted to end up with Lance if only Lance had shown a bit of happiness by being with her.

No manner how we look at it, he isn't happy ! Why is that ? He finally got what he always wanted so why did they depicted him like that ? I really don't understand and that's what makes me so angry about all of this.

He doesn't seem like someone in love who finally got the girl! He seems hurt! Why is that ??

I'm ready to ignore the messy plotline of this season, the inconsistencies and everything that is wrong because overall, what I really care about is Lance as a character.

He means a lot to me because he is so different from the characters we normally meet in this kind of stories. He began as an annoyingly flirty boy who was desperately searching for glory to calm the insecurities he only show to few people. He was talented but needed someone else to acknowledge it to fully realize it himself. He was defined by his loudness and his love for love. He was looking for validation and a special person who would love him as profoundly as he love others. He had big dreams, big expectations, a bright future ahead of him. He wasn't overly masculine, liked being pretty and throw terrible pick up lines. He was funny, adorable I fell for him as much as I identified with (even if we are so different). He wasn't perfect, far from it, but it's also why I love him.

For many - including me - he was also representation. Not only for another kind of complex character but also by being Cuban and supposedly bisexual, something that seemed to be heavily implied so many times but I won't even talk about it.

During the series he has grown to be more self assured through the missions he accomplished with his friends, the people he met but most importantly Keith who trusted him and relied on his abilities, which definitely shown him his worth. I'm not even gonna talk about Klance as romantic. Keith is an important person for Lance's character, a friend he needed by his side along the way and that still was there for him in season 8. Which is really great, by the way.

I'm not gonna talk about the 'first choice' thing or the 'someone he needs, not someone he wants' or even the 'endgame' aspect of his romance. But yeah, that was all lies.

On this photo, Allura seems calm and happy, she seems like she can finally see a future with Lance and it's great. What is not so great, though ? When I saw this particular part in the episode, I stopped and watched Lance's face for about 5 minutes to try to understand. I don't see a happy boyfriend, here. I see a guy kind of unsure of what he is doing. I see a guy who doesn't know if what he is having is for real or even if it's what he really wants. He seems quite uncomfortable, tensed. It's maybe just a projection on my part but I genuinely cant see happiness here no matter how long I look at it. But maybe I'm really biased and don't see what actually is, you tell me.

Throughout the season, he was here to support Allura on her journey and it's great, but I would have wanted her to reciprocate it in a way or another. It's what Lance always needed and he didn't got it.

And in the end, he cried. I feel like he never really believed that this relationship would stick, that for whatever reason, they would end up parting paths. And the crew chose to kill her... In all honesty, Allura is not a character I really care about. I thought nothing about her in s1 and in s2, I started disliking her with what happened with Keith. But even thought I don't really care for her, making her die ? For seemingly no reason ? It's tough. And once again, I'm not even talking about how they killed representation or how people in the fandom can feel crushed by that, betrayed, even. I'm only remaining on Lance's side.

He never really had someone to reciprocate his love, something confirmed by his mom. He fell for Allura, casually at first, really hard when the series continued. What he feels for her is genuinely profound and I really liked that he confessed to her but even then... why did he seemed so sad ?

Just look at him !

He probably never loved anyone as much as he loved her. He sees a lot in her but he never felt like he was on equal ground with her. She is an awesome gorgeous space princess. He is just a boy from Cuba. (An awesome funny adorable space ranger but what do I know...). He never felt like he had a chance or deserved her affection. What about that ? It wasn't mentioned even once and I think that this is the reason of his constant sad face while he confesses, while he kisses her, while he conforts her...

I just don't understand and it makes me sad to see him like that. I know, he is just a character, I know this is just a cartoon, I know this just a kid show. But seeing a character you so much love becoming this sad guy that only support without reciprocation, this guy that loved love and is betrayed by it ? I just can't feel anything else but anger and disappointment for the wasted potential.

He ended up losing the woman he loved. The only person who seemed to reciprocate his feelings and because of that I think that he will always be a little more cautious about it because he has always been disappointed. He shot for the stars and fell hard. I fell hard with him. And as someone that feel that love will never go both ways, it just makes me even more bitter about this.

About the altean markings I don't know what to think. Some people think Allura turned him altean, others think she just left him something to remember her by. In both cases, this is wrong.

If the first theory is true, then what? What does that mean beside the ridiculous impossibility to change race? Did she make him altean to 'level him up' from his human status because he wasn't a match for her? Because altean are so much better? Because there was no need for that! Alteans are not all dead so why? For all I know, it wasn't to make royalty knowing that he ended up farmer so... once again, why?

If the second theory is true, well... That's even worst. She wants him to remember her ? I think he has enough around him for that, the status, the commemorations, the legend that will follow her, stories, his friends that gather to talk about her and how they miss her and what she meant for them... Giving him this will only prevent him from moving on. And it's harsh. I personally think that he should have moved on a long time ago. She never loved him, she was annoyed by his flirty attitude, by his simple presence sometimes. He should have seen that blatant rejection and accepted that yeah, he wants her but cannot have her. Romantic love wasn't something she cared about for so long. And then she fell for Lotor who betrayed her. And I think she honestly still doesn't care about Lance this way.

I think Allura didn't fell in love with Lance. She was heartbroken because of Lotor, because of the altean, because of the crown she lost, because she saw everyone with families while she lost hers. I think Allura just wanted someone that would take care of her and lift her burden with her. Just someone that would remind her that she is not alone in the universe, a distraction from the pain she was feeling. Someone that would ground her to prevent her from losing hope. He was easy, he loved her, she just accepted it not reciprocated it.

I see this like that because there was no real build up for their relationship. It wasn't a slow burn. It wasn't even reciprocal. She was sad that Lance felt so strongly about her and accepted their relationship for her own balance and because she didn't want to see her friend so sad. It didn't solve the problem for him though. Plus when the vision of Lotor, her ex boyfriend, told her to go get the creature thing she did but when Lance, her current (well past cause well, she's dead) boyfriend told her not to because it was dangerous and he cared to much for her safety, she didn't listen to him... Great. That's love folks.

I really could have fell for their story but seeing Lance so sad, so taken advantage of... He was so dull, no charisma, no joke, no stupid lines, nothing. He wasn't himself. He wasn't the Lance we saw grow during six to seven seasons. He wasn't the hero, second in command, courageous sharpshooter we all know.

And the sword ? Was it to foreshadow his future encounter with Alfor and Allura giving him blue markings ? Well, that was unnecessary. They could have done that without making people think that something more exciting would happen, that he would actually use the sword.

And the game show ? If they were to be together why the fuck didn't Lance chose her ? Why the fuck didn't she chose him ?... Well, she didn't because she didn't love him more than she loved the other Paladins. But why Lance didn't? Why make Lance and Keith chose each other? If they didn't want to involve them in any romantic kind of situation (they totally failed), they could at least have made them hug. And an emotional scene to express how much they care for each other to justify being worth choosing the other over anyone else to leave and not spend eternity in the game show. Keith was there for Lance and Lance was too obsessed with Allura to even ask about him. Great, even in a totally no homo friends kind of look it was badly handled.

Can someone explain to me the reason of the sunset setting ? Or why Lance freaked out when Veronica asked him to "put in a good word for her" with Keith ? They are friends, now, there was no allusion to their past rivalry. There was therefore no need for that kind of reaction.

He didn't save Shiro, for absolutely nothing. They never talked about it again. They never gave him the opportunity to make up for how bad he felt about that. He didn't event get a conversation with Shiro. They never gave a closure to Lance's arc.

Why do I feel like they did all that to make everyone pay for the shippers that made the toxic reputation of this fandom ? Why do I feel like the writers hate Lance ? Why do I feel like they totally baited us ?

The guy so in love with the idea of love ended up a lonely farmer. That's a great message for kids : don't even think that life will live up to your expectations no matter how hard you work for it. Don't even think that you can find any kind of fulfillment in your life, neither in love nor career.

I've never been in a fandom while a series was still going but I engaged in the Voltron fandom. I discovered it quite late but fell hard for it, it brought me so much happiness, so much hope ! I will never do it again because I'm not sure that the sadness and disappointment I feel right now are worth it. I will never be mad at the theorists and meta writers, they are good people who saw the extraordinary potential of Voltron, they probably feel worse to have spent so much time and energy picking up clues that definitely existed and only served to bait us.

In conclusion, everything Lance did this season was in a way or another related to Allura, as if he forgot he was someone of himself. As if the writers forgot who this character was. And it's painful.

At least there are still the beautiful fan art and fanfictions that really make him justice.

#voltron : legendary defender #season 8 was a disappointment #lance deserves better #allurance was so badly handled while it could have been so great #i just need to rant to be able to finally move on #i'm just sad right now #i will certainly drown my frustration in fanfictions #i'm still really grateful for the amazing people in this fandom though #this season contained good parts but didn't live up to the potential of the series