okay so you wanted the essay. i will deliver.
i love the way you’re writing y/n not as though she’s turning a blind eye to what lando’s done BUT as if she’s starting to understand him, what drives him (ahem, her) and why he is the way that he is. the way you introduced his boys to us through her pov was gorgeous and is that gateway to her understanding the nuance that not everything is black and white. sure, they’re all bad guys but they’re not BAD GUYS, they’re all these sad little dudes with love and tragic backstories and they protect that gremlin bc they are FAMILY! something she doesn’t have! and with her own, like, complications, i think that her understanding fewts, osc, etc and how they are all so defensive and protective of him, how they fit into his life, she will finally understand what his love looks like and that it’s REAL! he loves her so bad and her finding his investigation has tied this all together so nicely for me so let me be delusional! you said “not everyone gets second chances” or whatever tf you said to try and hurt me personally, but i DISAGREE! she is simply understanding that love isn’t coffee and peonies, it’s the lengths someone will go to to GET the coffee and peonies, something that she won’t be used to because of her backstory.
(this was incoherent and i’m sorry for spamming you lately, saff, but you have to understand that this beautiful fucking story and these FOOLS keep me up at night and i WISH i had the brain and the skills to craft something half as stunning as what you have)
j, when i saw this in my inbox i smiled so wide it nearly split my face in half. i did not expect you to pull up with the whole essay — you’re actually such a legend for this!
allow me to be a bit emotional for a quick sec. it means so much to me that there exists a person out there somewhere who notices these details I try to tuck into the little corners of my writing. the fact that some characters that months ago existed only in my mind are capable of making you feel emotions tells me that maybe i really have done something right.
i won’t bore you with the details, but second chances came to at a time where i desperately needed an outlet, and so i poured so much of myself into these characters and this story. there are countless details i could tell you that are based off my real life experiences or challenges or emotions or inspired by my favorite characters.
y/n who gets a second chance at family in the form of margot. lando who gets a second chance at family with circle. y/n who gets a second chance at belonging with lando, who believes in her enough for the both of them and who loves cares about her without condition. lando who gets a second chance at being human with y/n, who takes up more and more of his time with things like hallmark movies and senseless debates and long drives, because there’s more to live than money and surviving. y/n who gets a second chance at love, because even though alex cared about her, love is a force of nature that comes without rhyme or reason. lando who gets a second chance at love, because for once in his life he’s not seen as a provider or a protector or a puppet, but as person.
and the most main arc i’ve tried to have throughout this story, as cliche as it may sound, is hope. this ragtag team of unwanteds and criminals became something resembling a family, because they’ve all learned this is where they’re wanted, where they’re needed. lando, who looked into bustling shops with wide, innocent eyes when he was barely tall enough to reach the windowsill to imagine what it would be like to be able to afford fresh food, who becomes richer than anyone this city has ever seen and spends it on others.
every member of the circle represents something different too — just like each of them has their own skill set, they each represent a facet of love all their own.
carlos, the romantic — care bleeds out of him in every way, whether through his sacrifices, his advice, his cooking. family is the people who will make sure you go to bed fed, even if it’s in the middle of the night.
oscar, the loyalist — loyalty follows him like a shadow everywhere he goes. it is the reason he does not ask questions, the reason he is always there, and the reason he always will be. family is the people who have always got your back.
max verstappen, the protector — who protects others because he knows what it’s like to not have the protection. so he learns to take up space, to take up strength, to be the man between the arrow and its mark. family is the one who does everything to keep you out of harms way
max fewtrell, the brother — bc of all the members of the circle, he is the one that lando has known the longest. they have yelled, they have fought, and they have been at each others throats. but when the house is quiet and it’s late at night and lando comes home heart in hands? family is the people that wait with the light on.
logan, the innocent — who pulls pranks and leaves knives stuck in random surfaces across the mansion and dares to meddle in Lando’s love life, because he knows that lando was the one to take him in when he had no one. family is the people that you can trust with the softer parts of you.
daniel, the heart — who kept photos of sunny beaches and handmade mistakes and laughed with his chest. who was always the one to notice when someone didn’t smile as bright or grimaced in hurt because he knows that the world will chew you up and spit you out if you let it. family is the people who will happily smile enough for the both of you until yours is as bright as it used to be
all this to say — you’re right. you’re 100% right. sometimes there’s more than one way to love a person. sometimes you learn to like them because you love them. sometimes you learn who they through the people they surround themselves with. sometimes love isnt about the neat meet-cutes or the simple storylines, because it’s about the effort, never the suffering but the sacrifice, the choice.
hope can be a choice. love can be a choice. family can be a choice. it may not always be there for you to reach out and grab, but when it knocks on your door?
it your choice to open it and give it a second chance.
